BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY
Description and Purpose: Archaeologists retrieve information and objects from chosen
sites and then evaluate and interpret the significance of the finds.
The purpose is to recover the material culture of the peoples of antiquity, and so attempt
to reconstruct their history and lifestyles.
Biblical archaeology seeks to utilize the pertinent results of archaeology in the
interpretation of the Bible.
Limitations of Archaeology: Edwin Yamuchi points out that an archaeologist must live
with the following information “fractions”:
1. Only a fraction of the evidence survives in the ground.
2. Only a fraction of possible sites has been detected.
3. Only a fraction of detected sites has been excavated.
4. Only a fraction of any site is excavated.
5. Only a fraction of what has been excavated has been thoroughly examined and
published.
6. Only a fraction of what has been excavated and published makes a contribution to
biblical studies.
The reality then is that there is much information archaeology could potentially provide
