REL 226: Biblical Archaeology. RJDKnauth
Review sheet for first midterm exam on Mazar ch. 1-7, methodology, pre-Israelite period.
Review the time line (up to 1200 BCE) and map handouts, and term list from first two weeks.
Review your period outlines for each of the major time periods covered so far:
(Neolithic and Chalcolithic, Early Bronze, Middle Bronze, Late Bronze)
Review class notes and Mazar ch. 1-7.
Additional Terms/concepts to think about and be familiar with:
Tell/Tel as “Mound of many cities”
Sir Flinders Petrie, W.F. Albright, Kathleen Kenyon: contributions to the field
Architectural exposure method vs. Wheeler-Kenyon method (“Earth-layers analysis”)
Trench, Grid, Baulk, Stratum, Locus, Stratigraphy, Burn layers, Destruction layers
Pottery Typology: Significance of pottery as tool for dating archaeological contexts
Relative Chronology vs. Absolute Chronology
Significance of Neolithic Revolution
“Three Age” system: Neolithic(Stone)>[Chalcolithic(Copper)]>Bronze>Iron
Continuity/Discontinuity; Migration vs. local development
Conflict of (Semi-)Nomadic Pastoralism vs. Settled Agriculturalists>Urbanism
Trade Routes – Via Maris (Way of the Sea), King’s Highway, etc.: significance
Burial practices – variations, religious inferences, significance
Settlement patterns, burials, technology, etc. as indicators of continuity/discontinuity of people groups
Fortifications reflecting on techniques and technology of warfare, global politics and balance of power
Ramparts, glacis, walls, towers, gates (bent-access, chambered), waterworks, fortresses, etc.
Siege warfare, horses and chariots, battering ram, bronze vs. copper, etc.
Indicators of International Trade, availability of resources (e.g. copper, tin, basalt, turquoise, cedar, etc.)
Foreign influence/relations based on pottery style, decoration, imports, iconography, burials, etc.
Problems of interpretation, especially in pre-historic times
Significance for Bible of ANE Treaties, Law Collections (Ur-Nammu, Hamurabi, etc.)
Factors necessary for permanent settlement (access to water, trade routes, arable land, protection, etc.)
Why scholars think Rameses II was Pharaoh of Exodus
Major texts and inscriptions, and their significance
(Law Collections, Treaties, ANE Myths, Mari letters, Nuzi parallels, Execration texts, Story of Sinuhe, Amarna letters, Ugaritic texts, Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions, Merneptah Stella, etc.)
Standing stones (Massebot) and pillars in Canaanite practice and Biblical tradition
Religious iconography (imagery), crossover of divine attributes, Biblical connections
Major power shifts and people movements – Amorites, Hyksos, Hurrians, Hittites, Sea Peoples, etc.
Egyptian “Intermediate Periods” (vs. Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom)
Writing systems – Cuneiform (Old Babylonian/Akkadian), Egyptian Hieroglyphics,
Canaanite alphabet (proto-Sinaitic inscriptions), Ugaritic alphabet (cuneiform)
Biblical connections made in class (eg Tower of Babel=Ziggurat of Ur-Nammu, etc.)
Temple types, conservative tendency for continuity of style, but some development. Remember:
En Gedi, Hazor, Megiddo, Lachish, Gezer, Shechem, etc.;
Broad room style, open air precinct/courtyard, holy of holies, altars, pillars, etc.
Building types (round, rectangular, courtyards, etc.), building materials (stone, mudbrick, orthostats)
Major innovations of different periods (crop cultivation, domestication of animals, pottery, composite tools,
irrigation, copper, writing, potter’s wheel, bronze, animal-drawn plow, chariot, battering ram, alphabet, chisel, papyrus, maps, etc.)
Forms of art in various periods, particular examples. Monumental sculptures and reliefs, stelae, statues,
figurines, votive offerings, cultic vessels, cult stands, standards, jewelry, ivory carvings, etc.
Seals – stamp seals, cylinder seals, scarab seals. Glyptic art
Common artistic motifs, religious motifs
Major sites for each period
There will be slide identifications and map identifications on the exam!