Biblical Archaeology

Hebrew and Semitic Studies 451

             Biblical Archaeology, Hebrew and Semitic Studies 451, meets on Thursday night between 6:30 and 9:15 in Room 2080 Grainger Hall. Jeffrey A. Blakely is the instructor for the class. Office hours will be Thursday afternoon from 2:00 to 3:00 at Café Espresso Royale and Thursday evening from 5:15 to 6:15 in the classroom should that be available, or, lacking that, outside and in front of the classroom. Other times can be arranged by calling my home number, 238-2227 (before 9 pm). I can also be reached by EMAIL at jblakely@wisc.edu. I can usually guarantee a response within 24 hours.

             Each class consists of a 120-minute lecture, a 15-minute break and a 30-minute discussion covering the lecture, the assigned readings, and, if desired, optional readings. Grading for the course will be based on two papers. The first paper will be a 20-page research paper and will be due 16 October at the start of class. Either, compare and critically contrast methods, goals, assumptions, and conclusions of the following four books:

Robinson, Edward

   1841   Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai, and Arabia Petraea, 2 vols. London: John Murray. DS 107 R65 1841 – Memorial Library.

Smith, George Adam

   1972   The Historical Geography of the Holy Land, 25th Edition. Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith. DS 107 S6 1972 – Memorial Library.

Albright, William Foxwell

   1960   The Archaeology of Palestine. Baltimore: Penguin Books. DS 108.9 A6 1960.

Wright, George Ernest

   1957   Biblical Archaeology. Philadelphia: Westminster Press. BS 620 W7.

Or, compare the use of archaeology in the following works, both at the times they were written and from today’s perspective.

Ahlström, Gösta W.

   1993   The History of Ancient Palestine from the Palaeolithic Period to Alexander's Conquest, ed. by Diana Edelman. Sheffield: JSOT. (Section on Early Israel only) DS117 A58 1993 – Memorial Library

Alt, Albrecht

   1989   Essays on Old Testament History and Religion (Kleine Schriften zur Geschichte des Volkes Israel). Sheffield: JSOT. BS1188 A4 1989 – Memorial Library

Albright, William F.

   1935   Archaeology and the Date of the Hebrew Conquest of Palestine. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 58: 10-18. – Memorial Library

   1939   The Israelite Conquest of Canaan in the Light of Archaeology. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 74: 11-23. – Memorial Library

Gottwald, Norman K.

   1979   The Tribes of Yahweh: A Sociology of Liberated Israel, 1250-1050 BCE. London: SCM Press, 1979. BS 1199 S6 G67 – Memorial Library

Lapp, Paul W.

   1969   Biblical Archaeology and History. New York: World Publishing Company. BS 621 L35.

Mendenhall, George E.

   1962   The Hebrew Conquest of Canaan. Biblical Archaeologist 25: 66-87. – Memorial Library

The second paper will be a 20-page research paper that is due 11 December at the start of class. The topic for this paper will be agreed to between each student and the instructor. Potential topics will be similar to those assigned to the undergraduate students.

Note, all students in Hebrew 451 are expected to read the required readings for the Hebrew 241 course and to participate actively in any class discussions. Should any student in 451 miss more than one class for anything but extraordinary reasons, or, the 451 students fail to participate in whatever class discussions that might develop giving evidence that they have studied the required readings, then all students in 451 will be required to take the final exam. This is necessary to provide a basis for evaluating exams given at a graduate level. The final exam would be due before 9:25 pm Tuesday 16 December. The final exam would be comprised of short answer and essay questions. In this latter eventuality, each paper and the final exam will be 33.33% of the final grade.

Auditors will be required neither to take exams nor to prepare papers, but will be expected to complete the readings and participate in class discussion.