Discovering Biblical Archaeology

Syllabus Summary

• 1. Introduction to Biblical Archaeology

  What is archaeology — and why does it involve so much careful destruction? We introduce the archaeological method as practiced in Israel and the Middle East, define what we mean by "biblical," and set up the geographical and chronological framework for the whole course.

• 2. The Amarna Period and the Emergence of Israel in Canaan

  We survey the great Canaanite city-states of the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages — Ugarit, Megiddo, Jerusalem, Shechem — before tracing the collapse of the Bronze Age world and Egypt's retreat from Canaan. We close with the Merneptah Stele: the earliest known mention of Israel outside the Bible.

• 3. The Rise of the United Monarchy: Academic Controversy

  The era of David and Solomon is one of the most hotly debated periods in the field. We weigh the material evidence — monumental architecture, writing, population data, international contacts — and ask what archaeology can and cannot tell us about the early Israelite kingdom.

• 4. The Divided Monarchy: Omride Period, Part 1

  We are introduced to the Kurkh Monolith and the reign of Ahab — a king who appears powerfully in the Assyrian record yet is portrayed as a failure in the Bible. We explore what biblical historiography is actually doing when it tells us about Ahab, Jezebel, and the spread of Baalism.

• 5. The Divided Monarchy: Omride Period, Part 2

  We turn to two remarkable objects: the Mesha Inscription — with its wild discovery story — and the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, which shows an Israelite king bowing before Assyria. Together they help us reconstruct the fall of the House of Omri and the rise of Jehu.

• 6. The Divided Monarchy: The Prophet Jonah

  We situate the book of Jonah in its historical context: the court of Jeroboam II and the era of Assyrian weakness. We then take a close look at Nineveh itself — its enormous dimensions, its pantheon of a thousand gods, and what a "three-day walk" might actually have meant.

• 7. The Divided Monarchy: The Syro-Ephraimite War and the End of Israel

  We trace the sequence of events — Tiglath-Pileser III's Syrian campaigns, the Israelite-Aramean alliance, Ahaz's submission to Assyria, and the eventual fall of the Northern Kingdom — that ended Israel's existence as an independent state.

• 8. Hezekiah and Sennacherib's Campaigns

  Sennacherib's siege of Judah is the most thoroughly corroborated event in the Hebrew Bible. We compare the biblical, Assyrian, and archaeological records — including the Siloam Tunnel inscription, the lmlk seal impressions, and the stunning Lachish reliefs — and ask what they agree and disagree on.

• 9. The Beginning of the End

  We follow Judah's final decades: Josiah's fateful gamble at Megiddo, the rise of Babylon, and the first wave of deportations — documented in the Babylonian Chronicle and the biblical record.

• 10. The End

  We examine the archaeological evidence for Babylon's final campaigns against Judah: the Arad Ostraca, the Lachish Ostraca, and the destruction layers of Jerusalem itself. What does it look like when a city is destroyed?

• 11. Daily Life, Part 1: The Four-Room House

  We walk through the most characteristic dwelling of ancient Israel room by room — from the courtyard and stables to the storage areas and roof — exploring what domestic objects tell us about everyday life: locks and keys, mills, lamps, and more.

• 12. Daily Life, Part 2: Farming and Food

  What did ancient Israelites eat? We examine the material remains of an agricultural society — wheat, barley, grapes, figs, olives, dates — alongside animal husbandry and the evidence for daily rations, with reference to Deuteronomy 8.

• 13. Daily Life, Part 3: City Life

  We move from the home to the city, exploring the two-part tel model: the upper citadel with its palaces, temples, and administrative buildings, and the lower residential quarters, connected by walls, gates, sewage systems, and street networks.

• 14. Daily Life, Part 4: Israelite Religion — Temples and Cultic Practice

  From the Tabernacle to the Solomonic Temple, we examine Israel's sacred spaces through their physical remains — comparing them with contemporary temples at Tel Tayanat and elsewhere — and study the cultic objects found within them.

• 15. Daily Life, Part 5: Israelite Religion — The Reason for Josianic Reforms

  The archaeological record reveals a religious world far more diverse than the Bible alone suggests. We look at evidence for Yahweh's consort Asherah, pillar figurines, incense altars, and ancestor cults — and ask why Josiah felt the need to reform all of it.

• 16. Neighbors, Part 1: Nomads and Arabs to the South

  We explore the nomadic and semi-nomadic cultures south of Israel — the Midianites, Old South Arabian kingdoms, and the trade networks that carried spices across the ancient world.

• 17. Neighbors, Part 2: The Transjordan

  We cross the Jordan to examine the material cultures of Edom, Moab, and Ammon — peoples who appear throughout the biblical text as rivals, relatives, and neighbors.

• 18. Neighbors, Part 3: The Aramaeans

  We look north to the Aramaean tribal states — Bit Guzana, Bit Adini, and the Luwians — examining key sites and the cultural remains of peoples who were both Israel's enemies and trading partners.

• 19. Neighbors, Part 4: Phoenicia

  The Phoenicians gave the world alphabetic writing and dominated Mediterranean trade. We explore their city-states, their maritime networks, and the deep cultural connections between Phoenicia and Israel.

• 20. Neighbors, Part 5: Assyria

  We take stock of the Neo-Assyrian empire — its history, its magnificent capital cities of Nineveh and Khorsabad, and the traces it left inside Judah itself, from governors' palaces to distinctive art and architecture.

• 21. Neighbors, Part 6: Egypt

  We survey Egyptian history and examine the physical footprint Egypt left in Canaan — from art and burial practices to administrative centers in Abydos, Luxor, and the Nile Delta.

• 22. Life in the Diaspora: Elephantine

  On a Nile island in southern Egypt, a Jewish military colony left behind a remarkable archive of Aramaic letters. We explore the site, its history, and what these documents reveal about Jewish life far from Jerusalem.

• 23. Life in the Diaspora: Babylon

  We enter the world of Israelites and Judahites exiled to Babylonia — their communities at Gozan and elsewhere, the administrative documents that record their lives, and the beginnings of the Talmud and other foundational religious writings.

• 24. The Return to the Land

  Persia's conquest of Babylon changed everything. We examine Persian foreign policy — including the famous Cyrus Cylinder — and trace the physical evidence of the Judahite return: the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls and the reconstruction of the Temple.

• 25. Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls

  We visit one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world, examining the nature of the Qumran community, its material remains, and the extraordinary biblical and non-biblical texts found in the caves nearby.

• 26. Israel in the Time of Christ

  We map the political and religious landscape of Roman Palestine — the Pax Romana, Herodian rule, and the remarkable diversity of Jewish groups (Essenes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and others) who populated the world of the Gospels.

• 27. Burial Practices in the Time of Christ

  We explore first-century Jewish burial customs — wrapping, bench burials, and ossuaries — and examine the proposed locations for Jesus' tomb, weighing the archaeological evidence for Golgotha, the Garden Tomb, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

• 28. Archaeology of the Early Church, Part 1

  We begin examining the material remains of the earliest Christian communities.

• 29. Archaeology of the Early Church, Part 2

  We continue our exploration of the archaeology of early Christianity.

• 30. Resources for Further Study

  For those who want to go deeper: we survey the best archaeological encyclopedias, report sites, major academic journals, and key conferences (ASOR, SBL) to help you continue your studies independently.