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The Archaeology of Biblical Israel University of Washington Course

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The Archaeology of Biblical Israel University of Washington Course The Archaeology of Biblical Israel University of Washington Course: NEAR E 311/511 Instructor: Stephanie Selover Term: Winter 2018 Office Hours: Wednesdays, 1-3pm Room: SAV 156 Office: Denny M220E Time: TTh 3:30-5:20pm Email: [email protected] Course Description: This course is a survey of the archaeology of ancient Israel, also called the southern Levant. The course will cover archaeological, Biblical, and other contemporaneous textual sources to explore this topic, from the Middle Bronze Age (Age of the Patriarchs) to the end of the Babylonian Exile (ca. 2000-300 BCE). The course will also explore the current state of the archaeology of the Bible, and consider the various viewpoints in this discipline. We begin with the history of archaeology in the region, and an exploration of the various schools of thought in Biblical archaeology. The remainder of the course is a chronological study what is known from archaeology about the various cultures and peoples of the southern Levant, from the Middle Bronze Age until the return of the Israelites from the Babylonian exile during the Persian Empire. This portion of the class will cover the known information of the cultures of the various peoples, including subjects such as religion, architecture, food ways, ceramic styles, decorative arts and subsistence patterns. We will study the archaeological material from these time periods to fuel discusses the various issues in understanding the Bible as historical text. The class will have both an undergrad and graduate student component. All students are responsible for all readings, a weekly online discussion of class themes and readings, one in-class map quiz, an in-class midterm, final, and paper. The graduate students are responsible for additional weekly readings and a longer final paper. Course Objectives: By the end of this course, students are expected to learn: • An introductory understanding of the practices of archaeology in general and in the southern Levant in particular • A knowledge of the recent archaeological developments in the modern countries of Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria 1 • A knowledge of the various cultures and cultural practices of Iron Age southern Levant • The various considerations necessary in the comparison of textual evidence to archaeological evidence • How to critically read archaeological publications • How to critically understand various archaeological schools of thought Course Format: Class will meet twice a week. Each class is expected to be a discussion rather than a straight lecture by the instructor, so students are responsible for all readings before the start of class and are expected to actively contribute. At times, the class will be split into smaller groups to further discuss the themes of the class and then each group will present their collected ideas. Each week, every student is required to consider and thoughtfully answer one of three given discussion questions based on the weekly readings and lectures on the discussion board on the class website. This forum will allow students to contemplate the themes of the class and perhaps to think of new questions of their own. There are no wrong answers, but students are asked to give thought to their responses. Students may bring in their own experiences as they pertain to the subject. Feel free to be creative. Answers are to be submitted to the instructor by 10pm each Wednesday. Late answers submitted before the start of class will be given half credit. No credit will be given to submissions after class. Each student is responsible for all assigned readings before the start of class and must be prepared to discuss them. The discussion section of the course will utilize both a voluntary method of question and answers, as well as a Socratic one, where the instructor may choose who will answer the question. In the second week of the quarter, on January 11, a short map and geography quiz will be given at the start of class. Understanding the geography of the ancient and modern Levant is of great importance in order to understand the various cultures and peoples covered in this course. Undergrads are required to write a final paper, 5-7 pages in length, on the topic of the student’s choice that relates to the topics covered in class. Graduate student are responsible for a 10-15 page paper, on the topic of the student’s choice that relates to the topics covered in class. All topics must be cleared by the instructor. The final version of the papers will be due by 10pm on Monday of Finals Week, March 12. Topics for the paper will be due to the instructor by the start of Week 6, February 6. Students are recommended to make an appointment with the instructor to go over their topic before then. 2 A midterm will be administered in-class at the start of Week 6, on February 6, covering all material from the first five weeks of the course. A final exam will be administered on the last day of class, March 8th, in SAV 156, covering material from the entire course, with an emphasis on the final five weeks of the course. Prerequisites: This course is open to all students interested in archaeology, Biblical scholarship or the ancient Near East. No prior knowledge of these areas is necessary. Required Reading and Attendance: The readings from this course come from a variety of journals and book chapters. All readings except from the required textbook listed below will be made available in .pdf form on the class website. The textbook book is for sale at the campus bookstore. Readings from the course textbook will not be found on the course Canvas website. The assigned readings are to be completed by each student before the start of the class. Staying on top of the readings will maximize a student’s learning experience and prepare them for discussions. It also allows the students to ask relevant questions during class. Copies of the required textbook are also available at Odegaard Undergraduate Library on reserve. Readings are subject to change as determined by the instructor, with at least one week's notice. All assigned readings are to be completed by each student before the start of each class. Staying on top of the readings will maximize a student’s learning experience and prepare them for in-class discussions. It also allows students to ask relevant questions during class. The material covered in the readings will not repeat exactly the material covered in class, so both readings and good class attendance are a must for getting the most out of the course. Please arrive on time for class. It is rude and disrespectful to both your fellow students as well as to the instructor to arrive after the start of class, interrupting lecture or discussion. Everyone here is an adult, please be responsible for your own time management. Required Textbooks: • Finkelstein, I. and A. Mazar The Quest for the Historical Israel: Debating Archaeology and the History of Early Israel (Society for Biblical Literature, 2007) 3 Optional Additional Books of Interest: • Ben-Tor, A. (ed). The Archaeology of Ancient Israel (Yale University Press, New Haven, 1992) • Carr, David M. and Colleen M. Conway An Introduction to the Bible: Sacred Texts and Imperial Contexts of the Hebrew Bible (Wiley Blackwell, 2010) • Currid, John D. Ancient Egypt and the Old Testament. (Baker Books, 1997) • Finkelstein, Israel and Neil Asher Silberman. The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology’s New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of its Sacred Texts (Shimon and Schuster, 2002) • Freund, Richard A. Digging through the Bible. Modern Archaeology and the Ancient Bible (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2009) • Keel, Othmar and Christoph Uehlinger. Gods, Goddesses and Images of God in Ancient Israel (Fortress Press, 1996) • Killebrew, Ann E. Biblical Peoples and Ethnicity. An Archaeological Study of Egyptians, Canaanites, Philistines, and Early Israel, 1300-1100 B.C.E. (Society of Biblical Literature, 2005) • King, Philip J. and Lawrence E. Stager. Life in Biblical Israel. (Westminster John Knox Press, 2001) • Kugel, James How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now (Free Press, 2008) • Levy, Thomas E. The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land. (Facts on File, 1995) • Mazar, Amihai. Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, 10,000-586 B.C.E. (Doubleday, 1990) • Miller, J. M. and J.H. Hayes A History of Ancient Israel and Judah (Westminster John Knox Press, 2nd edition, 2006) • Sasson, Jack M. (ed.). Civilizations of the Ancient Near East. 2 vols. (Hendrickson Publishers, 2000) • Silberman, Neil A. and Israel Finkelstein. The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology’s New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts (Touchstone, 2002) • Steiner, Margreet, and Ann E. Killebrew The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant (Oxford University Press, 2014) Respect and Expectations This course will cover a number of topics that may be of a difficult nature, as the study of religion and its origins is often a contentious one that can cause strong emotions. It is essential to the success of this course for students and the instructor to be open and respectful of each one another. Disagreements may arise, and discussion is both welcome and encouraged; however, disrespect will not be tolerated. 4 Grading Policy • Class Discussion Participation (10%) • Weekly Reading Questions (15%) • Map Quiz- January 11 (10%) • Midterm- February 6 (15%) • Final- March 15 (20%) • Research Paper- March 9 (30%) Grade Scale: You can always track your grades throughout the quarter on the online grade book on Canvas. I encourage you to do so to gauge your progress in class. Please contact us as soon as possible if you suspect any errors. Letter Number Percentage Letter Number Percentage Letter Number Percentage A+ 4.0 >95% B- 2.8 83% C- 1.6 71% A 3.9 94% B- 2.7 82% C- 1.5 70% A- 3.8 93% B- 2.6 81% D+ 1.4 69% A- 3.7 92% B- 2.5 80% D+ 1.3 68% A- 3.6 91% C+ 2.4 79% D+ 1.2 67% A- 3.5 90% C+ 2.3 78% D 1.1 66% B+ 3.4 89% C+ 2.2 77% D 1.0 65% B+ 3.3 88% C 2.1 76% D 0.9 64% B+ 3.2 87% C 2.0 75% D- 0.8 63% B 3.1 86% C 1.9 74% D- 0.7 60-62% B 3.0 85% C- 1.8 73% E 0.0 <62 % B 2.9 84% C- 1.7 72% 5 Technology in Class: The use of laptops in class is allowed for note taking and for referencing class readings.
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