Sign up to receive our email newsletter and never miss an update. of the Hexateuch, 311- 12). The wide range of techniques employed by the archaeologist vary in their application to different kinds of sites. Prof Israel Finkelstein and Prof Eric Cllne say these are myths so who created the Menorah and the Sabbath? These are just some examples of the metaphysical, aesthetic, epistemological, ethical and theoretical concerns at the heart of the practice of archaeology.[1]. The theory of the chronology of the early portions of the Old Testament, which made it to be so exactly on the principle of the system of chronology in vogue in our western world today, which, indeed, assumed that there could be no other system of chronology, and which was universally held as a working hypothesis by all classes of critics and commentators until very recently, has been greatly modified, if not utterly discredited, by both archaeological and ethnological research. As it is only archaeology that is able to instruct us concerning the exact circumstances of certain portions of the Bible it is evident that, in those portions, without the instruction which archaeology can give, we cannot be assured of correct presuppositions in the critic. This prerogative of archaeological facts in the testing of critical theories must, then, of necessity be given wide and positive recognition. In addition to these general questions, the philosophy of archaeology is also concerned with fieldwork methodology, integration of theory and collaboration with other disciplines, theories of measurement and data representation. What has supposedly made scholarship more factual has sucked the life out of the very process and made it a whip rather than a joyful pursuit of discovery. Similarly, the first cache of the Dead Sea Scrolls was discovered in 1947 by a Bedouin looking for a stray animal. But, in the 7th century BC Thales of Miletus, taking the concept of the arché from mythology, was the first to say that it was not divine in origin, but natural. Actually, much of the work of excavation is careful work with trowel, penknife, and brush. Theory must always give way to facts. Article Images Copyright © 2020 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated.

Some of the instances of the testing of critical theories concerning the Scriptures by the facts of archaeology, for which unquestionable historical proofs can be offered, are here presented. Its development was interrupted by the rise of Christian scholasticism and the re-establishment of divine origin explanations in western culture in the 4th and 5th centuries AD. What archaeology can do in the case--the powers, rights and authority, that is to say, the Function of archaeology in criticism; and II. Joseph Smith wrote “was of God” and the bible not rewritten by smith wrote “was God” did Smith striped Jesus of His deity ? Because of the damage that may be caused by inexperience and haste, the untrained amateur archaeologist often hinders the work of the professional.
(the supposed lifetime(s) of author(s) of the Books of Samuel) could not know about earlier centuries.

And then he goes on to declare triumphantly (55) how the progress of archaeology has refuted aH these statements. Any ancient document deserves to be treated with respect. ; Petrie, Hyksos and Israelite Cities, chapters i-iv; Researches in Sinai, 188-223; Spiegelberg, Aufenthalt Israels in Aegypten; Steindorf, Explorations in Bible Lands (Hilprecht), 623-90; Sayce, Higher Criticism and the Monuments; Hommel, Ancient Hebrew Tradition, xi; Jeremias, Das alte Testament im Lichte des alten Orients). Only archaeology is bringing forth any new facts on the questions raised by criticism. Vivian James [8] carries this further by saying that context is the epistemological result of archaeological praxis.