- #1
- 24,775
- 792
I recently became aware of the work of an Israeli historian and archeologist by the name of Israel Finkelstein who I gather is the director of the Institute of Archeology of the University of Tel Aviv.
He is also co-director of the Megiddo archeological works (or "digs") and co-author with Neil Silberman of the 2001 book The Bible Unearthed: Archeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel
HERE IS A 2007 INTERVIEW:
http://www.raco.cat/index.php/EstratCritic/article/viewFile/250119/334688
I was interested by what I interpreted as his careful scholarly objectivity and his insistence on separating his science from political and religious/cultural considerations. He points out that he celebrates Jewish traditions like Passover with his family and this does not contradict the fact that there is no archeological evidence that the Exodus from Egyptian captivity actually happened. He is a self-designated patriotic Israeli nationalist. A "Zionist" politically, even though the archeological evidence he finds does not support the entire biblical account of who occupied what land in ancient times. As he says, the modern state of Israel is a reality. One's political behavior should not be influenced by traditions which may be partly myth.
So I found myself respecting this person who seems to have analytical intelligence, combined with integrity and objectivity. He claims to keep his politics separate from his archeology. Other people may know more than I do about Finkelstein and may show me that I am wrong. This is just my first impression.
Personally I find it very interesting to see people evaluate our ideas of the past and try to find out what part of our concepts are mythical. And the myths, when they are discovered to be so, are interesting because one can try to understand why they were made up. For what political purpose, if there was one? What was really happening and why was a particular spin put on it?
So I am thinking that maybe Israel Finkelstein is an example of a reputable academic who does this kind of thing and unless I hear otherwise I would be very interested to read about his and his colleagues' archeological findings
He is also co-director of the Megiddo archeological works (or "digs") and co-author with Neil Silberman of the 2001 book The Bible Unearthed: Archeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel
HERE IS A 2007 INTERVIEW:
http://www.raco.cat/index.php/EstratCritic/article/viewFile/250119/334688
I was interested by what I interpreted as his careful scholarly objectivity and his insistence on separating his science from political and religious/cultural considerations. He points out that he celebrates Jewish traditions like Passover with his family and this does not contradict the fact that there is no archeological evidence that the Exodus from Egyptian captivity actually happened. He is a self-designated patriotic Israeli nationalist. A "Zionist" politically, even though the archeological evidence he finds does not support the entire biblical account of who occupied what land in ancient times. As he says, the modern state of Israel is a reality. One's political behavior should not be influenced by traditions which may be partly myth.
So I found myself respecting this person who seems to have analytical intelligence, combined with integrity and objectivity. He claims to keep his politics separate from his archeology. Other people may know more than I do about Finkelstein and may show me that I am wrong. This is just my first impression.
Personally I find it very interesting to see people evaluate our ideas of the past and try to find out what part of our concepts are mythical. And the myths, when they are discovered to be so, are interesting because one can try to understand why they were made up. For what political purpose, if there was one? What was really happening and why was a particular spin put on it?
So I am thinking that maybe Israel Finkelstein is an example of a reputable academic who does this kind of thing and unless I hear otherwise I would be very interested to read about his and his colleagues' archeological findings