Attending the Bible and Archaeology Fest 2010 Conference in Atlanta

[cyberjosh]

I will be attending the upcoming Bible and Archaeology Fest 2010 conference in Atlanta which is taking place the weekend of November 19-21, but I will only be attending the day of November 19th (which happens to be the best day for speakers IMO). It is hosted by the Biblical Archaeology Society which is headed by Hershel Shanks and which produces the Biblical Archaeology Review (BAR) magazine. This Bible and Archaeology conference is timed to overlap with the ASOR (America Schools of Oriental Research - a Middle Eastern studies organization/consortium) conference in Atlanta that same weekend and will siphon off some fairly big name Israeli & Syro-Palestinian archaeologists and Biblical scholars from it while they are there. The list of speakers is on that page linked above.

The schedule and lecture topics are shown on this PDF and as you can see for Friday there are two simultaneous tracks of lectures that you can switch between throughout the day. I am going to choose this schedule/these lectures: David Ussishkin (on Sennacherib's attack on Judah - a topic I've probably studied the most on in OT history, so I can't wait!), Yosef Garfinkel (the man who found the newly discovered oldest Hebrew inscription: see my thread here! This will probably be the most exciting lecture), James Tabor (a renouned scholar of 1st century Judaism & Christianity), Ben Witherington (a major Christian theologian and NT scholar speaking on Biblical infallibility- that ought to be VERY interesting), and lastly the plenary session with Amihai Mazar (a major Israeli archaeologist speaking about Beth Shean [mentioned in Judges 1:27] which was an ancient Egyptian stronghold city well into Israel's settlement of the land).

I'm excited about attending this conference and I will gladly post any summary information I learn from it here after I attend. One of my former professors at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) named Gregory Mumford will be speaking at the nearby & simultaneous ASOR conference on Egyptological topics (he is an Egyptologist). Although I will not be attending the ASOR conference I may get to meet with him while he is over there. I've asked him if he would try to convince a friend and fellow archaeologist of his, James Hoffmeier, a respected Christian archaeologist and scholar who has done much work in the Sinai, to join us (since he will be at the ASOR conference), but I fear that is pressing my luck. ;) I'll see how the whole weekend goes though while I'm over there.

Just thought I'd share!

~Josh

 

[sherri2]

sounds fun :yes

I think some outlines and summaries would be great.

 

[cyberjosh]

Alright everyone. Sorry it took me a week to get around to posting something here.

First of all the conference was awesome! The hotel I stayed in was even nice, the Westin Peachtree hotel (apparently the tallest hotel in the Western Hemisphere - 74 floors!).

I listened to lectures by (and often got to speak with them afterward) David Ussishkin, Yosef Garfinkel, Mark Wilson, Ben Withernington III, and Amihai Mazar. I also saw William Dever briefly (when I snuck into the last 5 minutes of his lecture on the next day - I had only paid for lectures on the previous day). I also met Hershel Shanks (the president of BAS and editor of Biblical Archaeology Review/BAR magazine) while I was there. He introduced Amihai Mazar's lecture on Beth Shean, apparently the two are good friends.

By far though, on the topics of archaeology, Yosef Garfinkel's lecture was hands down the most exciting and fascinating. He, and others, see the site of Khirbet Qeiyafa as nothing short of a ground breaking site showing early 10th century fortifications, and (as he is known for saying) he thinks it counteracts Finkelstein's theory of the low chronology because it cannot account for such an early fortified site in Judah. On a personal note I found Ben Witherington's lecture on verbal biblical inspiration in an oral Israelite/ANE culture the most profound and impacting lecture on me personally. I really want to get the video tape recording of his lecture when it comes out. I may talk more about that later.

Garfinkel was very friendly and quite animated (he’s pretty good at making jokes too – something I didn’t expect; he elicited a few chuckles throughout the lecture, especially when he tongue-in-cheek suggested his critics would sooner call Khirbet Qeiyafa a Japanese site than a Judean one - ). I also got to walk right up to him afterward among a few others gathered around, and he took turns talking to each of us individually and answering additional questions not asked in the Q&A session. I got to shake his hand, and he also personally invited me to come dig with him at Qeiyafa. I told him I’d love to but I’m not sure if I have the time or money! Anyway that was pretty cool.

The lecture I took the most notes on was Yosef Garfinkel's and I typed it up in a 4 page Word document. If I could attach it here I would, but I think I will just copy and paste it in the next few posts (maybe breaking it up into two posts to make it more readable).

Please feel free to comment!

 

[cyberjosh]

November 19, 2010
Atlanta, Georgia
Speaker: Yosef Garfinkel
Notes:

Background on King David:
-Lived approximately 1000-965 B.C.
-Avraham Biran discovered the Tel Dan Stele during his excavations at Tel Dan in 1992-1993.
-The Stele’s inscription is an account by the Aramean King Hazael bragging that he had killed 70 kings. In the inscription the title ‘House of David’ is found.
-This shows, from the typical use of the word ‘house’, that David was the founder of a ruling dynasty in Jerusalem.

Paradigms put forth as alternate history:
1. The Mythological Paradigm (1980s)
2. The Low Chronology Paradigm (1996)
3. “Ethnographic” Paradigm (2008)


The discovery of the Tel Dan Stele has destroyed the mythological paradigm which claimed that David was a fictional person with no historical counterpart. We know there was a David and that he was a King in Judah.
The Low Chronology Paradigm (held by Finkelstein) is being seriously challenged by the recent finds at Khirbet Qeiyafa.

Information about Khirbet Qeiyafa:

The site was found in 2008 (although its tell/mound had been noted/eyed as a possible site for excavation previously – noted as early as 1883 by C.R. Conder & H.H. Kitchener during a British survey of Palestine) and it is located slightly north of Sochoh and Azekah (which are toward opposite ends of the Valley of Elah on either side of Khirbet Qeiyafa – within seeing distance).

It is close to Philistine territory, and the story of David and Goliath battling in the Valley of Elah would have taken place just below at the foot of the hill Khirbet Qeiyafa is on.

The site is surrounded by a 700 meter long fortified stone wall. Notable features include casemate walls near the gates, and the rare find of two gates at the site. It is the latter feature which is significant in properly identifying the site with an ancient city name (more on that later).

The feature of the casemate walls, Garfinkel says, shows urban planning for living quarters inside the casemate walls and is a distinctively Judean idea, not Canaanite. There were private quarters in the casemate walls, even an inner room at the outermost reinforcement of the wall where there was a several foot gap enough to sleep in. This is a rare feature. A few other Judean cities have casemate walls including Beersheba, Tell en Nasbeh, Beit Misrim, and (Meggido? – didn’t hear clearly). Khirbet Qeiyafa is the 5th such site to be discovered.

There was no fire destruction of this site. It simply fell out of use.

330 jar handles/finger loopholes were found with finger/thumbprint impressions on top. Garfinkel says this type of marking is an early predecessor to later LMLK seals which indicated that a far was from or to a king. The fingerprint distinguished this type of pottery from regular pottery.

The Khirbet Qeiyafa Ostracon: an immensely important find. Garfinkel did not talk much about it. He says maybe in 10 years we will have an agreed upon proper translation of the Ostracon (how encouraging…). He says lots of smart people are working on it. He made the note that the words/names Ba’al and elim (gods) apprear in the inscription. Other words like shophet/shaphat cannot easily be determined to be either a noun (judge), a verb (to judge/decree/dispense justice), or even if it is possibly a personal name.
One thing that this inscription does show is the “existence of sophisticated writing at the time of King David”. This may lend additional credence to some of the Bible’s accounts being penned at an early stage.

Returning to the site, only 1 Iron Age phase at Khirbet Qeiyafa was found, meaning it is a one phase site only, occupied for a relatively short period of time. Radiometric readings indicate the site dates from approximately 1050-971 B.C. Garfinklel says that this would overlap with kings Saul and David but is too early for Solomon.

Garfinkel returning to analysis of suggested alternate paradigms. Garfield claims:
1. The Mythological Paradigm (1980s) - destroyed
2. The Low Chronology Paradigm (1996) – severely challenged destroyed
3. “Ethnographic” Paradigm (2008) – now a new tactic that is being used

With the challenge of an early 10th century (and possibly late 11th century) fortified site in existence Garfinkel says the Low Chronology is inadequate to explain the emergence of Judah’s kingdom (Garfinkel clarifies that he is talking about Judah in particular, as one cannot infer an united Israelite monarchy with north Israel from this site – but Khirbet Qeiyafa is relevant for the existence of a kingdom in Judah at that time).

Garfinkel says the Low Chronology argument has been set aside in trying to explain the existence of the site in favor of a new “Ethnographic” Paradigm argument/question, “Is it a Judean or Philistine (or a Canaanite, or a….) city”. Garfinkel animatedly and humorously (tongue in cheek – to elicit a few chuckles) remarked that the critics of his interpretation of it being a Judean site will always say that it is “either a Philistine, or a Canaanite, or a Phoenician, … or Japanese site, but never Judean!”

His evidence for it being being a Judean site is based on the following observations:


1. Presence of urban planning (casemate walls)
2. Cooking habits
· A) No pig bones were found (unlike Philistine sites)
· B) Pita bread was eaten there – not a Philistine food
3. The Hebrew Ostracon (unlike the Indo-European inscription from Tell es-Safi)
4. New Judean cultic sanctuary discovered in the summer 2010 (more details a little below)

Garfinkel says the site can also be likely linked, and is probable, to the Biblical ciy of Sha’arayim. The site is unique in that it have two gates, and the Hebrew form for dual is –ayim, hence “two gates” would be Sha’arayim in Hebrew. This matches the Biblical Shaarayim which is located near Sochoh and Azekah. See Joshua 15:35-36. Also see Joshua 19:6 (scribal error?) and 1 Chr. 4:31 = Joshua 15:32 (Shilihim). Notably 1 Chr. 4:31 lists Shaarayim among town that existed “until the time of David”, which is consistent with a one period site (Khirbet Qeiyafa).

Garfinkel suggests that we can infer for Judah at this time under the reign of King David (from evidence at Khirbet Qeiyafa):
- Real central authority & city planning (not villages)
- Fortified, defined borders
- Administration (jar handles, etc.)
- Writing from the 10th century

Garfinkel later said, a bit tongue-in-cheek, “This is a one period site only, you cannot play with the dates. You will just have to accept the Biblical tradition, unfortunately…” said with a slight grin and shrug when he said ‘unfortunately’.

 

[cyberjosh]

[Continued]:

And now, new information (not yet published) from this past summer’s 2010 dig season and some recent significant findings relating to cultic activities.
This past dig season 3 stone pillars, or matzevah were found at distinct locations which almost certainly functioned as cultic monuments. Jacob is said to have erected a pillar at Bethel after a theofany/dream/vision of God to commemorate the event.

The first stone was found standing in the first recess to the left in the 1st city gate, at the entrance to the city. Two others were found, one of them laying over inside an adjacent casemate wall (perhaps was moved).
The biggest find was a private cultic sanctuary in one of the casemate wall “rooms” where a private residence usually was. The “building/room” had a stone sitting bench on the left side of the wall (the only such bench found at the site) and had a basin in the floor with a bowl (possibly for libation). Someone later during the Q&A session asked why it was in a room, or if it wasn’t in fact a private residence itself, and Garfinkel responded that it very well could have been a private home used for cultic purposes, and he mentioned the example of how the Ark of the Covenant had been placed in a personal residence for a long time before it was moved to Jerusalem.

Also found was a small basalt alter with curious diagonal lines going in opposite directions (symmetrical across the middle) and he compared it to an alter found at Tell Rehov where a tree was depicted in a similar manner with the branches angling up diagonally from the trunk. However the Tell Rehov alter had two goddesses/women standing on either side of the tree, whereas the alter at Khirbet qeiyafa had no iconography on it (other than the lines/semblance of tree branches). Garfinkel proposed from the lack of any other iconographic finds at the site that this could be an early indication of an Israelite observance of the ban on graven images, since the observance of abstinence from pork was also apparently observed that early as well – indicating adherence to the Law of Moses. Either way, Garfinkel labels the cult at Khirbet Qeiyafa an “aniconic cult”.

Garfinkel also made a fascinating observation (which followed on the heels of David Ussishkin’s earlier lecture on the Assyrian attack of Lachish) that in all the items shown in the Lachish relief which show detailed drawings of items being taken away from Lachish (like similar Egyptian releifs) that even with Israelite ‘cultic’ items, like the two 4-5 foot chalices shown being carried away by Assyrian soldiers, had no markings or icons shown drawn on them (a detail that some other Assyrian reliefs contained on such items). From this he adduces general evidence that Jews had aniconic religious observance (which is perfectly in line with what the Bible tells us). He says sites that Israelite sites that are aniconic include Lachish (Building 49), Arad, and now Khirbet Qeiyafa.

One note on the basalt alter found is that it had no burn marks, so it probably was used for laying bread or other foods as offerings on it.

A “dual bulbed” (my words) drinking vessel (two spherical cups ‘joined at the hip’ so-to-speak, with a small hole where their sides met - allowing the drink to flow from one vessel to the other) was found, and is comparable to a similar cup found at Tel Qiri (which however also had an extended bottom – like a wine glass). It is not known what such drinking vessels were used for (at either site), and may possibly be cultic, or Garfinkel non-committally suggested maybe a bride and groom sip from both sides of it at a wedding(?). Who knows.

[End of notes on the lecture]

 

[cyberjosh]

In case you are interested a good on-going source of information for discoveries and developments ar Khirbet Qeiyafa is Luke Chandler's blog here: Luke Chandlers Blog | Bible. Archaeology. Culture. Travel.. Luke has assisted in some of the excavations there, and dug over this past summer as well. He has lots of helpful pictures and I'm pretty sure I've seen a video of his on youtube surveying the surrounding land near Khirbet Qeiyafa (the valley of Elah where David & Goliath fought).

Also DO NOT MISS THIS:

Just a few weeks ago National Geographic released an article that gives an update on the ongoing debate of a 10th century kingdom in Judah under King David and contained lots of material and it quotes from Yosef Garfinkel and Israel Finkelstein extensively. The article is 12 pages long (broken into parts) and can be found here: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/12/david-and-solomon/draper-text. Also, even more excitingly just this past Tuesday on PBS a brand new National Geographic/NOVA documentary production (which Garfinkel said they stared filming last year – significant parts of it being shot at Khirbet Qeiyafa) was aired called “Quest for King Solomon’s Mines”. The video page is here, where you can see a short trailer and also buy the DVD: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/quest-solomons-mines.html. If you missed it on TV keep watching on PBS and they will probably replay it, or better yet buy the DVD! I watched it, and it was awesome! Garfinkel had told us last Friday that it would be coming out that following Tuesday so I made sure that I watched it, and it was very interesting!

About half of it was on Khirbet Qeiyafa (which I obviously have been following ever since they first started digging in 2008), and even more to my delight the other half focused on Thomas Levy’s excavations of Khirbet en Nahas (a dream come true for me – since I wrote an article on my website a while back about it, and I have also been closely following any further developments on the excavations there). I have also in the past year gone back and read several of Levy’s whitepaper/article publications on the site going back to 2004, and have found them very informative. When I saw the 3D animated reconstruction on the NOVA documentary of what Khirbet en-Nahas might have looked like in the 10th century my jaw dropped. As the video says the site was huge, but the 3D reconstruction was breath-taking and quite impressive. I also got to see some footage on it of the nearby tombs that Levy and Najjar found, which (though the documentary didn’t mention this) they believe may be the first archaeological evidence for the Shasu, since the graves indicated a nomadic group with no pottery found inside them. There was even a Hyksos scarab found in one of the graves belonging to the (presumably) “queen mother/matriarch” of the nomadic band, most likely handed down as an heirloom or gift.

 

[cyberjosh]

Oh, also, in case you were wondering I did get to meet Dr. Hoffmeier for lunch with my professor Gregory Mumford! We went to a Mediterranean restaurant and ate there with Dr. Hoffmeier and another archaeologist/museum curator from Australia (Nick should like that ;)). It was a long shot and I didn't really expect it to happen, but Dr. Mumford said it shouldn't be a problem for Dr. Hoffmeier to join us. I got to talk with him for about half an hour (the other 30 minutes was actually spent eating my food and talking with Dr. Mumford ) and I also got him to sign my copy of his book "The Archaeology of the Bible" which I had brought with me on the chance that we might meet. I restrained myself from asking a flood of questions but I did ask him a few questions on things that had stumped me or bothered me in the study of Biblical archaeology, and his comments were very edifying and uplifting coming from an intelligent man of faith. I also discussed some interests of mine in studying developments in Edom (the dig at Khirbet en Nahas by Thomas Levy) and at Khirbet Qeiyafa. I also asked him for some pointers on studies for the Exodus and he pointed me to his personal site. Maybe I can post the link here for those interested. Meeting him made for a very enjoyable experience and made my weekend at the conference even better!

P.S. As a thread cross-reference, see my post here with pictures of Ben Witherington III and James Hoffmeier, both of whom truly made my weekend delightful and uplifting with their demonstration of the convergence of faith and scholarship.

God Bless,

~Josh

 

[cyberjosh]

I am bumping this incase no one saw my updates yesterday.

 

[stovebolts]

Wow, fantastic update Josh! Let me know when his lecture comes out on video, I'd like one too!

I also asked him for some pointers on studies for the Exodus and he pointed me to his personal site.

That I am very interested in!

 

[cyberjosh]

BAS just put up a small blurb on the conference on this page.

They included some pictures on facebook.

I found myself among one of the pictures of the audience, here, although you can barely see me.

View attachment 1672

I am in the tan/white shirt (in the area circled) next to the man in the green shirt looking down at my writing pad. The picture from the link (or directly from facebook) is clearer, mspaint degraded the image quality slightly.

That picture was taken during the last session on Friday, the plenary session, at 7:00-8:00pm with Amihai Mazar speaking on Beth Shean. The woman sitting to my left had complemented me (quite unexpectedly) for asking a good question in the previous lecture by Ben Witherington about whether nations surrounding Israel listened or paid attention to Israel's prophets (Witherington emphatically said yes). I may give some details next on Witherington's lecture. But she was wondering if I was a student and I told her that I was just an enthusiastic, bible study hobbiest. :D

I think I was the youngest person there, although (amazingly) someone came up to me in the morning session after David Ussishkin's lecture and said "I recognize you, you wrote something about this conference in Atlanta and you made it sound interesting so I decided to come". It turns out the guy (who was about my age - maybe a little older) had googled the conference because he subscribes to BAR magazine (how I found out about the conference as well) and this thread right here (the OP) was in the top five search results for the conference. He recognized me from my avatar (at first I thought he had me confused with someone else but then it clicked). Amazing! :D

 

[cyberjosh]

Wow, fantastic update Josh! Let me know when his lecture comes out on video, I'd like one too!



That I am very interested in!

I'll definitely let you know when they come out. For some reason I was told that they will take at least 6 months to release. I don't know why, but I will keep on them and write to BAS for them to make the videos available as soon as posible.

Here is Hoffmeier's personal page on Trinity International University's website: https://portal.tiu.edu/uportal/teds/otdept/jhoffmeier.

P.S. The link about Tell el-Borg (which is dead now) that he has excavated at is the same location where my professor Gregory Mumford also dug. That is how they met, by working together on that dig.