Dia: 6 de outubro de 2009

Em The Bible and Interpretation, com data de outubro de 2009, Eric H. Cline, arqueólogo, Professor do Departamento de Literaturas e Línguas Clássicas e Semíticas da Universidade George Washington, em Washington, D.C., pergunta: Did David and Solomon Exist? [Davi e Salomão existiram?]

Diz a apresentação que o texto é uma adaptação de trecho de seu mais recente livro:

The debate as to whether or not David and Solomon existed has been one of the “hot-button” topics in biblical archaeology since the early 1990s. The introduction of a variety of new data has put to rest some aspects of the debate but intensified other aspects, and the debate itself shows no sign of coming to an end. The majority of the arguments by various scholars, on both sides of the debate, have been published in scholarly journals seldom read by students or the general public. In the interests of putting this debate in front of such audiences, the following article is adapted from Biblical Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction by Eric H. Cline…

CLINE, E. H. Biblical Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009, 168 p. – ISBN 9780195342635.

Eric H. Cline aborda a questão da interpretação de bytdwd da Inscrição de Tel Dan, a cidade de Jerusalém no século X a. C. e seu tamanho, o pretenso “Palácio de Davi” de Eilat Mazar em Jerusalém…

E há mais no artigo. Leia.

Conclui seu texto Eric H. Cline:
Clearly, there remains much to be discovered, and much to be excited about, in the debate about David and Solomon in particular and in the field of biblical archaeology as a whole. Although the discipline is not a new field, having been seriously practiced for more than one hundred years, it has kept pace with modern developments. At its inception, the principal tools were the pick and shovel. Now biblical archaeologists use magnetometers, ground penetrating radar, electric resistivity meters, and satellite photography alongside traditional methods of excavation, enabling them to peer beneath the ground surface before physical excavation begins. Radiocarbon dating is used alongside time-honored chronological methods such as pottery seriation and typology. And biblical archaeologists are working hand in hand with specialists in ceramic petrography, residue analysis, and DNA analysis, in order to answer more anthropologically-oriented questions concerning ethnicity, gender, trade, and the rise of rulership and complex societies.

Sometimes these tools help to confirm the biblical text and sometimes they do not. Upon occasion, the archaeologists can bring to life the people, places, and events discussed in the Bible. But ultimately biblical archaeology is not about proving or disproving the Bible, or even determining whether David and Solomon existed. Instead, biblical archaeologists are more concerned with investigating the material culture of the lands and eras in question and reconstructing the culture and history of the Holy Land for a period lasting more than two thousand years. And that in itself is absolutely fascinating, for professionals and the general public alike.