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Displaying 1 - 20 of 24 results
Hershel’s Crusade, No. 2: For King and Country: Chronology and Minimalism
Is the Hebrew Bible a reliable source of information about ancient Israel? Does it contain true histories or just constructs? Archaeologist William Dever presents an overview of the controversy between the extreme skeptics (minimalists) and the more optimistic Biblical maximalists, highlighting the vital role of Hershel Shanks and BAR in that debate.
Biblical Archaeology Review, March/April May/June 2018
The “House of David” and the House of the Deconstructionists
Davies is an amateur who “can safely be ignored”
In response to Philip R. Davies’s brief article (“‘House of David’ Built on Sand,” BAR 20:04), a few observations are in order. Apart from the details of the Dan (and now the Mesha) inscriptions, there is a wider issue that concerns both...
Biblical Archaeology Review, November/December 1994
A Temple Built for Two
Did Yahweh Share a Throne with His Consort Asherah?
First Publication: A Newly Discovered House Shrine Should We Ignore Unprovenanced Artifacts? A long, sometimes bitter debate has been going on in BAR as to whether Yahweh, the God of ancient Israel, had a consort. One of America’s most...
Biblical Archaeology Review, March/April 2008
Whom Do You Believe—The Bible or Archaeology?
Is the Hebrew Bible a bunch of tales with no value to a historian? Does archaeology hold the keys to truth instead? What are the limitations of both sources of information? Is it even possible to write a comprehensive and honest history of ancient Israel? Focusing on King David as a case study, eminent archaeologist William G. Dever attempts to marry archaeology and the Bible—giving BAR readers a sneak-peak of his upcoming book.
Biblical Archaeology Review, May/June 2017
Shasu or Habiru: Who Were the Early Israelites?
It is time to clarify for BAR readers the widely discussed relationship between the habiru, who are well documented in Egyptian and Near Eastern inscriptions, and the Hebrews of the Bible. There is absolutely no relationship! The first...
Biblical Archaeology Review, November/December 2008
What Archaeology Can Contribute to an Understanding of the Bible
Although Professor Dever objects to the use of the term “Biblical archaeology” (see “Should the Term ‘Biblical Archaeology’ Be Abandoned?” BAR 07:03), few are as articulate as he in describing what archaeology, and particularly Syro-...
Biblical Archaeology Review, September/October 1981
Divided Kingdom, United Critics
We present here two reviews of Israel Finkelstein’s recently published The Forgotten Kingdom. The first review is by William G. Dever, one of America’s leading archaeologists. Finkelstein is one of Israel’s leading archaeologists. I am...
Biblical Archaeology Review, July/August 2014
Yohanan Aharoni—The Man and His Work
Research in the land of the Bible has suffered a heavy loss in the untimely death of Yohanan Aharoni, chairman of the Department of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University. To his associates he has bequeathed the task of continuing and summarizing...
Biblical Archaeology Review, December 1976
Archaeology and the Bible—Understanding Their Special Relationship
The following article has been adapted from Recent Archaeological Discoveries and Biblical Research, by William G. Dever (Seattle: Univ of Washington Press, 1990). As a matter of principal Professor Dever does not write for BAR (see...
Biblical Archaeology Review, May/June 1990
The Death of a Discipline
As readers of BAR may know, I have long maintained a principle of not writing articles for the magazine, although I remain good friends with editor Hershel Shanks, and I do assist with...
Biblical Archaeology Review, September/October 1995
Save Us from Postmodern Malarkey
There are some who claim that the Bible contains little or no historical information about ancient Israel. I want to combat these “minimalist” or “revisionist” views of the history of ancient Israel by showing how archaeology can and does...
Biblical Archaeology Review, March/April 2000
“This is the Taste of Death”
A fleeing Egyptian bureaucrat reveals what life was like in ancient Canaan
Can a folktale from the Middle Bronze Age provide us with information about the remote past that has eluded even extensive archaeological expeditions? The answer is yes. The Tale of Sinuhe,1 composed during Egypt’s Middle Kingdom, may help...
Archaeology Odyssey, Fall 1998
Beer-Sheva Excavator Blasts Yadin—No Bama at Beer-Sheva
This is in response to your article in the March 1977 issue about alleged bama at Beer-Sheva (“Yigael Yadin Finds a Bama at Beer-Sheva,” BAR 03:01). There is not one scrap of evidence, Biblical or archeological, in favor of...
Biblical Archaeology Review, September 1977
Learning More About Israel? Or Israel?
Forgotten Kingdom
It is impossible to summarize Israel Finkelstein’s latest book, The Forgotten Kingdom, in a brief review because its numerous errors, misrepresentations, over-simplifications and contradictions make it too unwieldy...Biblical Archaeology Review, July/August 2014
Whatchamacallit
Why It’s So Hard to Name Our Field
Cynical observers claim that when a discipline falls to questioning its name, it is already moribund. I would argue, however, that periodic (and even painful) reassessment is a sign of...
Biblical Archaeology Review, July/August 2003
The Birth of Adonis?
Cyprus excavation suggests a connection between the Greek god and the Hebrew Adon
How does a site get lost? It happens. For nearly a decade—from 1867 to 1875—General Luigi Palma de Cesnola, a flamboyant Italian who served as both the American and Russian consul to...
Archaeology Odyssey, Spring 1998
Rainey’s Challenge
In a brilliant piece of detective work entitled “3,200-Year-Old Picture of Israelites Found in Egypt,” BAR 16:05, Frank J. Yurco analyzes the reliefs on a wall of the Cour de la Cachette in the Karnak temple in Upper Egypt. But he points to...
Biblical Archaeology Review, November/December 1991
Inside, Outside: Where Did the Early Israelites Come From?
Before they settled in the hill country of Canaan, where did the earliest Israelites come from and what was the nature of their society? The Bible is very clear. They were pastoral nomads who came from east of the Jordan. Much of the...
Biblical Archaeology Review, November/December 2008
Stemming from a popular symposium sponsored by the Biblical Archaeology Society and the Smithsonian Institution, Aspects of Monotheism: How God Is One presents an exciting, provocative and readily understandable discussion of the origins and evolution of monotheism within Judaism...