The Future of Biblical Archaeology: Reassessing Methodologies and Assumptions

Biblical archaeology has long been a discipline in crisis. "Biblical minimalists," who believe that the Bible contains little of actual historical fact, today are challenging those who accept the historicity of Scripture. In this volume Jewish and Christian archaeologists, historians, and biblical scholars confront the minimalist critique and offer positive alternatives.

Bringing a needed scientific approach to biblical archaeology, the contributors construct a new paradigm that reads the Bible critically but sympathetically. Their work covers the full range of subjects relevant to understanding the context of the Bible, including proper approaches to scriptural interpretation, recent archaeological evidence, and new studies of Near Eastern texts and inscriptions.

Contributors:
Richard Averbeck
Thomas W. Davis
Daniel Fleming
William Hallo
Richard S. Hess
James K. Hoffmeier
Harry Hoffner
David Merling
Alan Millard
Cynthia L. Miller
John M. Monson
Steven Ortiz
Benjamin E. Scolnic
Andrew Vaughn
David Weisberg
Edwin Yamauchi
Lawson Younger
Randall Younker
Ziony Zevit

Alan R. Millard (1937–2024) was Rankin Professor Emeritus of Hebrew and Ancient Semitic Languages and Honorary Senior Fellow at the University of Liverpool in England. His scholarly interests included archeology, ancient Semitic epigraphy, and editing Akkadian cuneiform tablets and Aramaic inscriptions. He served on the editorial board of the Palestine Exploration Quarterly and also served as a translator for the New International Version of the Bible. His numerous publications include The Future of Biblical Archaeology and Reading and Writing in the Time of Jesus.
 

James K. Hoffmeier (PhD, University of Toronto), who has taught at the undergraduate and graduate levels for more than thirty years, is now professor of Old Testament and Near Eastern archaeology at Trinity International University. Born and raised in Egypt, he has been a refugee from war and an alien in two different countries, making him sensitive to immigration issues.