Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 2.pdf/118

80 THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Archeolog-y

by Joseplius (literally

in his great work, 'lovdaim) ApxcuoXoyla "Judaic Archeology," but usually trans'

lated " Antiquities of the Jews "), to cover the entire history of his people, their life, customs, religious in-

and literature. This comprehensive sense remained current until the time of the Reformation. Indeed, writers like Eusebius, Jerome, and Epiphanius, while they produced neither history nor archeology as such, contributed material valuable for the enrichment of both. It is safe to say that no treatise on Biblical Archeology proper made its appearance until after the Middle Ages. It was not until the sixteenth century that Carlo Sigonius (died 1584) gathered up and presented in his " Be Republica Hebrreorum " a discusFirst sion of sacred places, persons, and rites. Meaning This classification seemed to furnish of Biblical scholars with a clue to what should be Archeincluded in the term " Archeology " as ology. applied to the Bible so that De Wette (in 1814), followed byEwald(in 1844),

stitutions,



gives the first really systematic classification of the material that, up to the present time, is regarded as belonging to the field Of Biblical Archeology. Even as late as Keil's work (1875), the main divisions of the subject are treated in the following order: (1) sacred antiquities (2) domestic antiquities and (3) civil an;



tiquities.

The

historico-critical

method

Testament history claims

of investigating Old

have

80

the Old Testament, without due regard to the literary processes by which it was prepared. Much of the available material of archeology is secured from literature, but only after it has been subjected to the most searching critical processes. In fine, archeology at large finds in literature one of its best sources of information and one the testimony of which can not be set aside. Nevertheless, at the bottom, beneath the literary activity of the people, lie, of course, the conditions under which the Israelites produced their literature. Hence, while much that is of value

all

to archeology is found in Israel's literature, a knowledge of archeology will include information concerning the land which nourished that literature. There is, consequently, a kind of necessary interdependence between these two branches of knowledge literature and its native soil. The religious system of the Old Testament embraces both literary and archeological material both ancient documents and monuments. ArcheBiblical Archeology includes only so

—



ology and much

of this material as bears upon sacred places, persons, feasts, vessels, and ritual. It does not discuss religious ideas, either in their origin or their development. It does not present a systematized religio-legal system, nor the relations of that system to civil processes. Neither does it discuss the relation of Israel's rites and ceremonies to those of surrounding nations. These themes, proper in modern scientific subdivisions of material touching the ancient Jews, fall under the head of religion or of comparative re-

Religion,

rectified a former generally maintained that many of the records of the history of Israel originated at a date later than was formerly supposed, and that consequently many of the religious institutions, customs, and rites current among the Jews bear the marks of later ideas, conditions, and environments. It is further claimed that religious rites and customs owe their character largely to the domestic life and surroundings of a people. The recognition of this fact necessitates a reversal of the order of the themes usually included in the term "Biblical Archeology." Accordingly the present order of treatment is: (I.) Domestic Antiquities; (II.) Civil Antiquities; and (III.) Sacred Antiquities; but, as will be seen, there is still another section to add on the land of Palestine

The soil of the Orient is the treasure-house of one of the two great sources of Biblical Archeology. Palestinian ruins at Jerusalem, at Lachish, at Gaza, at the Dead Sea, and in the tombs on the hillsides, are all instructive teachers concerning the life and times of the ancient Jews. Fragments of documents of this people and of their neighbors are replete with information bearing upon the Archeology The Moabite Stone, for the ninth of the Bible. pre-Christian century, and the Siloam Inscription are valuable evidences of the character of the writing and of some of the customs of those early days

itself.

(see

error.

It is

to

now

In the treatment of this topic, as of many other topics relating to ancient times, no hard-and-fast line

can be drawn.

History proper

should cover the entire religious and Archeology and political life of a people. It should present their laws, customs, and manHistory, ners. It should also, when occasion requires, include their relations to neighboring peo-

Archeples, politically, socially, and commercially. ology has to do with but a part of this material. It concerns itself with the interrelationships of the people in domestic, civil, and religious life. It goes further, and includes in itself a consideration of the character of the land where they live, and of their social, industrial, artistic,

and

literary organizations

and features. Biblical Archeology depends for its material upon It will a mass of ancient literature and antiquities. be impossible for the student of archeology to ize to

util-

advantage the literary material, especially of

ligion.

Alphabet). The numerous small inscriptions from Phenician sources tell a fascinating story of tragical times contemporaneous with Israel. From Palestinian ruins, likewise, come many voices of the later periods, as the scattered and broken Greek and Latin inscriptions are deciphered and interpreted.

Coins also tell their tale of the past, often with gratifying precision. The revelations from the mounds of Babylonia and Assyria, made within the last half-century, vitally touch the people of Israel The cl ose relationship existing between the social, political, and religious systems of that ancient West and East has now been clearly ascertained. The close racial kinship .

existing between Israel and the great powers centered on the Tigris and the Euphrates Monumen- gives special significance to the antiq-

tal Sources, uities plains.

exhumed from those eastern The fact that Israel's ancestors

migrated from Eastern centers, carrying with them the characteristics of their early home-land and peo-