Simcha York's Reviews > The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts

The Bible Unearthed is a rich informative book that manages to deliver a large amount of detail in a highly readable prose that entertains without overwhelming the reader.

The book focuses on the archaeology of the Bronze Age and Iron Age Levant and traces the story that this archaeology unfolds as compared with the accounts given in the Hebrew Bible. Despite the subject matter, however, the authors do not appear to have any particular axe to grind and would seem to be more interested in discussing what the current evidence tells us (or, in many cases, merely suggests to us) rather than trying to make it fit any particular pet theory about the history of the Levant.

While the authors do (convincingly) argue that the archaeological record reveals a history of the Biblical kingdoms of Israel and Judah that often departs from the accounts given in the Deuteronomistic history, they do not present this information as part of any agenda to debunk or rebut the Bible - at least, not beyond the acknowledgment that there is really no evidence to support a strictly literal interpretation of the "historical" information provided in the Bible. As the authors note in closing: "the Bible's integrity and, in fact, its historicity, do not depend on dutiful historical 'proof' of any of its particular events or personalities.... The power of the biblical saga stems from its being a compelling and coherent narrative expression of the timeless themes of a people's liberation, continuing resistance to oppression, and quest for social equality. It eloquently expresses the deeply rooted sense of shared origins, experiences, and destiny that every human community needs in order to survive."

This broad-minded willingness to distinguish between tasks of logos and mythos permeates this book, as does a commitment not just to the objective presentation of the archaeological evidence, but also to a rigorous effort to distinguish between evidence which compels us toward one theory or another versus that which merely suggests.

In short, this is a book which should appeal to anyone with any interest in the history of the Biblical Levant who is not already thoroughly invested in the belief that the Bible can only be viewed through the prism of a strictly literal and inerrant historicity.