Roger Pearse

Good!

The more finds of this kind occur, the more public interest there is, and the more possibilities for raising funds, public contributions, etc and digging for more.

Enthusiasm to confirm the biblical account is how most of our knowledge of the ancient Near-East came about.

All the best,

Roger Pearse

Toto

Yet another thread on this.

I will merge them.

Sauron

Actually, "enthusiasm" to confirm the biblical account did more to hold back honest Syro-Palestinian archaeology for centuries, than any other force.

Ray Moscow

I could expect someone to explain how "prince" means "eunuch" instead of him asking a smartass question.

Hmmm ... what translation are you using? The NRSV has it,

I see that the NASB and the NRSV uses "officials" instead of "princes" for Jeremiah 39:3. Certainly "official" is a broader term and would include "chief enuchs" and such.

Ray

Chris Weimer

That's just the point - prince doesn't mean eunuch. Look up prince in a dictionary, consider what it means in lieu of the variant translated word in the NSRV.

YLT.

Minimalist

And most of it was overturned by scholars who weren't looking to prove the bible correct but merely trying to find out what happened.

Roger Pearse

And once a number of these published widely-publicised books to make money and gain notoriety, the sources of funding all dried up and no-one today is doing anything much in consequence.

Which is better?

All the best,

Roger Pearse

Sauron

That's nonsense, actually. There are significant digs going on in Israel area all the time, as well as in neighboring Jordan.

If it comes down to a choice between:

(a) distorting history through abuse of archaeology; or
(b) a lack of investigation into the history at all

Then (b) is better. At least it leaves a clean slate, without any entrenched positions or religiously-invested attitudes.

Then at some point, interest in the history of the region will resume. When that happens, it will be easier for honest scholars and archaeologist to get at the historical truths, because there won't be a iron fortress of half-truths and religion that needs conquering first.

Minimalist

You are kidding yourself, Roger. Archaeology regards the issued of Israelite origins as "settled." There are fundamentalist groups still digging trying to breathe some life back into the corpse that was their precious bible history. Eilat Mazar's dig near the Gihon Spring comes to mind, although she is careful to distance herself from the more outlandish claims of her employers. Gabe Barkay's sifting of material removed by the Palestinian authority from the Temple Mount is also ongoing although he has found little from the 10th century.

Meanwhile, Finkelstein has moved on to Early Bronze Age Megiddo and Dever's last book was about evidence for polytheism among Jews in monarchial Judah.

ksen

There's evidence in the Bible for polytheism among Jews during the monarchical period . . . go figure. :huh: