Bible and Archaeology

Chapman, Allan. The Victorians and the Holy Land: Adventurers, Tourists, and Archaeologists in the Lands of the Bible. Eerdmans 2025. xiii+271 pp. Pb. $33.99   Link to Eerdmans

Allan Chapman teaches the history of science at Wadham College at Oxford University. He has published several popular books on the intersection of science and faith, including Slaying the Dragons: Destroying Myths in the History of Science and Faith (Lion Hudson, 2013) and Stargazers: Copernicus, Galileo, the Telescope and the Church (Lion Hudson, 2014). He has many videos available on YouTube, including several for the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion.

Beginning with Herodotus as a “Greek tourist” and Egeria (380-384), who described the Pyramids as “Joseph’s Granaries,” Chapman traces the history of European exploration of Egypt, Palestine, and Mesopotamia. The book tells stories about the early explorers. Chapman considers the first scientific explorer to the Middle East to be John Greaves (1602-1652), who visited Egypt in 1640 to measure the Pyramids. He was “less concerned with wonder, miracles, treasure, and legends than with measured and subsequently excavated facts” (14). According to Chapman, he was a “proto-Egyptologist.”

Chapman tells the story of John Ludwig Burckhardt’s rediscovery of Petra (in 1812) and the adventures of Giovanni Battista Belzoni, a circus strongman turned archaeologist. Belzoni recorded his adventures in the 1810s in A Narrative of the Operations and Recent Discoveries within the Pyramids (link to the book on Archive.org). Chapman says Belzoni’s “real-life story reads more like a fictional adventure than an authentic biography” (32).

A major part of this history is deciphering hieroglyphics, beginning with Napoleon in Egypt and the discovery of the Rosetta stone. Most readers will be familiar with Jean-François Champollion, usually credited with deciphering hieroglyphics, but Chapman tells the story of an English Quaker, Thomas Young, who influenced Champollion’s work.

In Mesopotamia, while some explorers looked for evidence of Noah’s Flood, Leonard Wooley excavated Ur and Sumer. Wooley’s excavations at Ur and Sumer did not “prove the Bible as true,” but they did show that “the Bible reflects a world of real places, figures, kings, and customs that form a wholly credible context, or backdrop, for the early Bible narratives” (81). This seems to be the main thesis of the book. While some of the adventures Chapman narrates are like the stuff of Hollywood, many of these explorers provided crucial context for understanding the Bible. Near the conclusion of the book, Chapman says, “While archaeology has never been able to provide proofs for specific difficult events, what it has certainly done, as shown on several occasions in this book, is to demonstrate that the wider world described in the Bible was real and plausible” (228).

One of the earliest explorers in Palestine was Edward Robinson. He was a “reverend doctor”, a congregational professor at Union Theological Seminary. He traveled with Eli Smith, another Arabic-speaking clergyman. Many consider Robinson to be the founder of biblical archaeology. Chapman suggests they did more than any other two individuals to open Palestine to scholarly understanding (107). One of Robinson’s major contributions is the creation of detailed, accurate maps. Robinson’s work led to the founding of the Palestine Exploration Society in 1865. This society eventually supported numerous archaeological explorations and supported T. E. Lawrence in his pre-World War I travels, mapping Crusader castles and other ruins in Palestine.

Another little-known chapter of the exploration of the holy land is Thomas Cook (1808-1892). Cook was a Baptist minister who essentially created “holy land tours.” He hosted his first group of holy land pilgrims in 1869 (145). Chapman concludes, “one cannot but admire the enterprise and energy that Cook, the one-time itinerant village missionary, displayed in opening up the Bible lands to European and American tourists” (159).

Chapman devotes two chapters to the development of museums and color printing in bringing the holy land to people in Europe and America. Britain’s first public museum, the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, began when Elias Ashmolean donated his “cabinet of curiosities to Oxford in 1677. During the nineteenth century, museums became important additions to cultured civic life. Large crowds were drawn to museums to see dioramas, and museum shows (who doesn’t want to see a mummy?) At the same time, publishers began printing books with illustrations of biblical scenes. Reports from the early explorers of the holy lands informed these popular books.

How did all this impact the study of the Bible? Chapman traces the development of biblical higher criticism, which often suggested the Bible was full of folktales and mythology. Certainly, there was skepticism about the details, but as these nineteenth-century explorers brought back reports from Egypt, Palestine, and Mesopotamia, it was clear that the overall context of the Bible is credible. This transformed archaeology from antiquarian collecting into a scholarly science. Chapman suggests that Sir Flinders Petrie was the first scientific archaeologist to explore the holy lands.

Conclusion. Allan Chapman is always entertaining, and I love the documentaries he hosts. Victorians and the Holy Land was a joy to read. There are a few well-known characters in the book, but most of Chapman’s history will be new to most readers. Although written by an academic historian, the book targets a popular audience and provides a solid foundation for understanding the exploration of Egypt, Palestine, and Mesopotamia in the nineteenth century.

NB: Thanks to Eerdmans for kindly providing me with a review copy of this book. This did not influence my thoughts regarding the work.

Strange, James Riley. Excavating the Land of Jesus: How Archaeologists Study the People of the Gospels. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2023. xvi+192 pp. Hb; $29.99.  Link to Eerdmans

James Riley Strange is the Charles Jackson Granade and Elizabeth Donald Granade Professor in New Testament at Samford University and director of the Shikhin Excavation Project in Israel. He co-edited with David A. Fiensy Galilee in the Late Second Temple and Mishnaic Periods, Volumes 1 and 2 (Fortress, 2014 and 2015). In this new introduction to archaeology, Strange says his book is not another “exercise in archaeological apologetics” but rather an explanation of what archaeologists think they are doing. Throughout Excavating the Land of Jesus, he repeats that archaeology is “problem-driven.” By this, he means that archaeologists begin with a problem and then try to solve it using existing archaeological methods or developing new methods.

The main problem addressed by this book is reconstructing the social reality of 1st century Galilee during the earliest years of the “Judaisms that became Christianity” (1). This requires balancing archaeological methods and the text of the gospels to understand first-century Roman Galilee. He is clear that archaeology is not about proving the written account true or illustrating the text of the Bible (14). Archaeology might end up doing that, but that is not the goal of archaeology.

Like most archaeologists, he defines archaeology first by pointing out that it is not swashbuckling treasure hunting, as often portrayed in the movies. For Strange, “archaeology is the systematic recovery and interpretation of ancient human detritus for the sake of understanding human technologies, societies, and values” (10). Strange is interested in using archaeology to understand the lives of people in the past (Roman Galilee, Jesus, and his early followers), and that requires both archaeology and the biblical text. He does not dispense with the gospels but does not prioritize them.

The first chapter deals with the basics of archaeology: how do you know where to dig? As a test case, he uses Magdala. Although the New Testament mentions a town named Magdala near the Sea of Galilee, information in the New Testament and Eusebius. However, the town is mentioned in Josephus, later rabbinic literature, pilgrim reports, etc. Based on this information, archaeologists began to work at the village of el-Mejdel, thinking they would find the ancient town of Migdal. These excavations have turned up two synagogues, several mikvoth, and other evidence illustrating life in first-century Migdal. (I will point out that Joan Taylor challenged this identification (“Missing Magdala and the Name of Mary ‘Magdalene.” PEQ 146 (3): 205–223).

In the second chapter, Strange deals with the problem of how to dig. Here, he outlines the basics of the scientific method of archaeology. In this chapter, he discusses the importance of asking questions and making observations before doing any actual archaeological work. He uses several hypothetical cases to illustrate how archaeologists make their decisions.

In Chapter 3, he illustrates how to use archaeology to understand ancient people. Using the gospel of John as a test case, he tracks the geography of Roman Palestine by tracing Jesus’s movements. He concludes that “the limited view that the gospel of John provides the Judean and Samaritan hill countries, the Jordan valley, and the Beit Netofa valley of Galilee matches well with what we know or can infer from archaeological surveys and excavations. This is often the case” (97). The point here is that archaeologists use ancient texts, like the gospel of John, but also references in ancient literature to the Gallus revolt in 351 or an earthquake in 363 to explain what the find (destruction layers in the region). “Why use the ancient texts? The answer is simple: the texts prove themselves to be useful” (97).

Chapter 4 addresses using archaeology to understand ancient technology. There are some limitations to what archaeologists can understand about ancient peoples based on and examination of their technology. First, many objects are made from perishable materials, such as clothing, curtains, baskets, farming implements, household implements, etc. Second, no excavation of Roman Galilee records every object found. For example, the most common find in archaeology is a pottery sherd. Although they are used to date a site, few archaeologists save and record the total number of pottery shards discovered. There are just too many! Third, archaeologists do not find every object that survives. Strange mentions as an example corroded coins, which are often difficult to distinguish from the dirt in which they lie. Archaeologists sometimes find nails but not what they once held together. This means archaeologists have only fragmentary knowledge about ancient technologies (104). Strange uses olive oil production in Galilee as an illustration. This section has a detailed description of the process of making olive oil, a labor-intensive and intricate economic system.

Chapter 5 discusses what archaeology contributes to our understanding of ancient values of group identity. He surveys the kinds of human detritus found in Roman Galilee. These are mostly Jewish household items that are used to fulfill Halakhah not based explicitly on instructions from Scripture (ceramics, mikvoth, Herodian lamps, cups carved from chalk; use of ossuaries for secondary burial, synagogues, etc.). But archaeologists also find things that raise questions about Jewish practice—for example, domesticated pig bones with signs of butchering. He asks, who did that sort of thing? It could be the case that Jewish farmers raised pigs and sold them to Romans. But it may be the case that some Romans lived in otherwise Jewish areas and raised pigs. There may have been Jews who raised and ate pigs themselves. Sometimes, archaeology creates questions that have no answer.

In his conclusion, Strange asks a question that may be the main problem he wants to solve as an archaeologist: “With the ministry of Jesus, does Christianity emerge as a religious system at odds with the Judaisms of the day, or is it one of the Judaisms of the day, and if it is, how long did it remain so?” (152) Although it is obvious archaeology does help scholars understand the religious, social, and economic situation of early Christianity, can it help trace the so-called “parting of the ways,” the point when early Judaism started to differ from early Christianity?

One of the most fascinating sections of the book is a collection of responses to the question, “Why do archaeologists dig?” These reflections from working archaeologists provide valuable insights into what archaeologists “think they are doing.”

Conclusion. Excavating the Land of Jesus is a fascinating look into the science of archaeology. Strange introduces readers to the technical aspects of archaeology without being overly technical. With clear prose and helpful illustrations, this book is enjoyable to read! Readers interested in how archaeology illuminates the New Testament will enjoy many of his conclusions, although that is not the book’s purpose.

NB: Thanks to Eerdmans for kindly providing me with a review copy of this book. This did not influence my thoughts regarding the work.

Richelle, Matthieu. The Bible and Archaeology. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 2018. 132 pages + 16 pages of color plates; Pb; $14.95.  Link to Hendrickson

This new publication from Hendrickson is a translation of Richelle’s La Bible et l’archéologie (Excelsis, 2012). This edition has been significantly revised, updated, and enlarged. Alan Millard contributed a forward and the book concludes with thirty-two color photographs (eight pages). As the title implies, this book is focuses the archaeology which would interest a reader of the Bible, although the concerns only the archaeology of ancient Israel. There is little in this book on the archaeology of Asia Minor or other sites in the ancient Near East.

The first three chapters of the book attempt to lower the expectations most people have for archaeology and the Bible. Unfortunately the only experience most people have with archaeology is watching the Indiana Jones movies. Although there have been some spectacular finds in the history of archaeology, most of the work of archaeology deals with far less exciting details. The evidence is always fragmentary and provisional (107). The first chapter describes what archaeologists actually discover, beginning with ancient cities. Richelle outlines the problems associated with even identifying an ancient location and the types of civic architecture associated with most sites.

Perhaps the most exciting discoveries archaeologist make are texts. The second chapter of the book is devoted to what kinds of texts are usually discovered, from royal stelae to clay tablets and ostraca. Richelle also discusses papyri and scrolls, including the Dead Sea Scrolls. Finding an inscription is only half the job. Richelle discusses the problems facing epigraphers as they decipher and interpret these written documents. He briefly mentions the extremely vexing problem of forgeries.

In the third chapter Richelle describes the limits faced by archaeologists as they try to interpret the data. For example, it is often extremely difficult to identify ancient sites and date finds accurately. Ultimately, archaeologists offer interpretations of data and all interpretations must be tentative. Excavations are always partial and often archaeologists fail to publish full reports for scholars to examine. As is often observed, real archaeologist love to dig, but hate to write.

The final three chapters deal with the relationship between the Bible and archaeology. This chapter begins with a summary of the often bitter debate over the role of the Bible in doing archaeology in Israel. Some of the earliest archaeologists went out with a spade in one hand and a Bible in the other. These so-called biblical maximalists accepted the Bible first and found what they expected to find in the archaeological record. On the other end of the spectrum, the so-called minimalists only use physical evidence from archaeology and have little interest in the Bible as source of historical information. Richelle argues for a balance view which makes judicious use of the Bible in archaeology. Since both sources are fragmentary, it is important to use one to illustrate the other. The Bible is “a precious source at the level of historical interpretation, but it must not prescribe in advance what should be discovered during excavations” (108).

To illustrate this problem, Richelle offers a case study using recent challenges to the traditional view of David and Solomon (chapter 5). The traditional view is that David and Solomon existed and biblical archaeology would point to several Iron Age sites as evidence for a central authority in Israel (the city gates at Megiddo and Gezer, for example). In Jerusalem the stepped structure at the City of David and evidence from the Ophel imply an Iron Age expansion of Jerusalem. However, all this evidence can be interpreted differently by re-dating sites (a “low chronology”).

The final chapter of the book extends this discussion to the lack of inscriptions from the time of David and Solomon. If there was a kingdom of David and Solomon in the tenth and ninth centuries B.C.E. with an extensive administration center in Jerusalem, where are the inscriptions? It is a fact there are very few examples of writing from the period, far less than in other areas explored by archaeologists (Egypt, for example). Richelle argues the absence literary texts in the archaeological record does not necessarily correlate with the development of a culture.  But he also outlines the development of a scribal tradition in ancient Israel.

Conclusion. This short book is a good introduction to the problematic nature of the Bible and Archaeology. It is perhaps too brief; since the book uses endnotes, there are only 108 pages of actual text. The Hendrickson website claims the book has 168 pages, but that is not the case.

NB: Thanks to Hendrickson for kindly providing me with a review copy of this book. This did not influence my thoughts regarding the work.