Biblical Archaeology

The scientific study of material remains of human life and activity relating to the Bible or Bible times. History and Purpose . The purpose of biblical archaeology is the recovery of the history, culture, and religion of the ancient peoples of all Bible lands from Persia in the east to Italy in the west, with special interest in Palestine and the neighboring regions of Egypt, Syria, and Mesopotamia, which played a major role in Bible history. The archaeological exploration of Egypt began in 1798, when 120 artists and scientists accompanied Napoleon on his Egyptian campaign to study and report on Egypt’s ancient remains. Exploration in Assyria began in 1842 with the excavation of Nineveh by the French consul E. Botta; and that of Palestine, with topographical explorations conducted by the American scholar Edward Robinson, in 1838. Hand in hand with the fieldwork of excavation went the recovery of dead languages, such as the deciphering of Egyptian hieroglyphic script by J. François Champollion in 1822, and of Babylonian cuneiform writing by Henry Rawlinson and others around the middle of the nineteenth century. Since that time several other ancient scripts and languages have been recovered. Thus a wealth of ancient literature has become available for study, including historical records and annals, religious and mythological texts, prayers and hymns, laws, and documents of a judicial, economic, and scientific character. Excavations carried on at hundreds of sites in virtually every area of the ancient Bible lands have uncovered cities, temples, palaces, tombs, and graves, and brought to light objects of daily use such as weapons and tools, musical instruments, and works of art, as well as tens of thousands of written texts. Many biblical cities—for example, Babylon, Jerusalem, Nineveh, Shushan, Shechem, and Bethel—have been diligently explored. All of this—the labors of the field archaeologist and those of the scholar who deciphers and publishes ancient texts—has provided a veritable wealth of information about Bible times and thus about the Bible itself. It has clarified numerous formerly obscure passages of Scripture, supplemented information provided by the Bible, and confirmed many historical statements. Biblical archaeology thus has a threefold purpose and value for students of the Bible: 1. It provides contemporary illustrations of customs and practices mentioned in the Bible and clarifies obscure statements. 2. It furnishes much supplementary material, especially to the historical portions. 3. It corroborates the accuracy of the Bible record. Seventh-day Adventist Interest in Biblical Archaeology . For more than a century Seventh-day Adventists have taken note of archaeological discoveries that tended to confirm the credibility of the Scriptures. Beginning with volume 10 (1857), the Review and Herald occasionally carried articles and notes of archaeological news, taken mostly from newspapers and therefore not always altogether reliable. Sometimes articles written by prominent scholars were reprinted. Of these, the earliest appeared in the issue for Apr. 29, 1884 ( pp. 275–277). It was written by the American Assyriologist William Hayes Ward for the Sunday School Times , from which it was reprinted. Later, when archaeological material became more plentiful, series of articles, sometimes illustrated with pictures, appeared in SDA journals. One of these was M. E. Kern’s series of seven articles entitled “The Bible and the Ancient Monuments,” which ran in the Review and Herald during August and September 1905 and covered archaeological discoveries in Egypt, Babylonia, Assyria, and Palestine. Writers of SDA books also made use of new historical knowledge obtained through archaeological discoveries. For instance, in his earliest editions of Thoughts on the Book of Daniel , Uriah Smith referred to King Belshazzar of Dan. 5 as a grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. In reply to a reader’s query, he explained in the Review and Herald for Mar. 11, 1873, that he had followed Prideaux in equating Belshazzar with Nabonidus, known from ancient sources as the last king of Babylon. In 1888, however, he published an article in the Review and Herald for Dec. 4 of that year in which he referred to texts found at Tell el-Muqaiyar (Ur) indicating that Belshazzar was Nabonidus’ firstborn son. He therefore accepted a coregency for Nabonidus and Belshazzar during the last years of Babylon’s history. Later editions of Smith’s work on Daniel set forth this new information. Books on ancient history and the fulfillment of prophecy such as those by A. T. Jones, which enjoyed great popularity among SDA s around the turn of the century, also utilized new historical knowledge in a limited way, but were based mainly on classical Greek and Roman sources. The first book of a purely archaeological nature written by an SDA was W. W. Prescott’s The Spade and the Bible (Revell, 1933), a book of 216 pages. For many years an educator and later an editor of the Review and Herald , the author made use of a large amount of archaeological material that shed light on various phases of Old Testament history. Since the author was neither a professional archaeologist nor a linguist, and had to rely on secondhand sources for information, it is no surprise to find the material in his book not everywhere reliable, and, of course, rather out-of-date. The same can be said with regard to other, usually small, books on archaeology issued by SDA publishing houses, such as Roy F. Cottrell’s The Spade and the Book (1947). Not directly on the subject of archaeology, but utilizing archaeological documents, was a book on the chronology of Judah and Israel, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings (1951; revised 1965), written by Edwin R. Thiele, of Emmanuel Missionary College, and published by the University of Chicago. Unlike the preceding above-mentioned books, which were written on the popular level, this was a scholarly treatment (based on his doctoral dissertation) harmonizing the biblical figures for the reigns with the generally accepted Assyrian and Babylonian chronology, and it achieved recognition among Old Testament scholars and contributed to increased respect for the accuracy of the Hebrew historians. Archaeology and the SDA Theological Seminary. The SDA Theological Seminary, founded in 1934 as “The Advanced Bible School,” lists Lynn H. Wood for the first time in its 1937 catalog as “Professor [of] Eastern Antiquities and Archaeology.” During the following seven years various archaeological courses were continuously offered, but in 1944 a regular Department of Archaeology and History of Antiquity was organized with Wood as chair. This enabled students to obtain their master’s degree in this field of studies. In 1951 Siegfried H. Horn became chair of this department, and in 1952 Wood retired from active teaching. When the seminary was reorganized in 1955, Horn became chair of the Department of OT Studies, but remained professor of archaeology and history of antiquity and continued to devote most of his time to the teaching of courses in this area. The first master’s degree with a major in archaeology and history of antiquity was conferred in 1947; by 1967 a total of 43 such degrees had been conferred. Beginning in 1966, the Master of Arts in Religion with a concentration in archaeology was taken over by the School of Graduate Studies of Andrews University. In 1975 Gerhard Hasel was asked to direct the Ph.D./Th.D. program at the seminary. One of the cognate areas of this new doctoral program, Biblical Archaeology and History of Antiquity, has been selected by a large number of doctoral students since this program began. Also, a number of doctoral dissertations have dealt specifically with archaeological topics. These include “The Hellenistic and Roman Strata of Hesban,” by Larry A. Mitchell (1980), “Archaeology in Adventist Literature Between 1937–1980,” by Lloyd A. Willis (1982), and “The Byzantine Strata of Hesban,” by J. Bjornar Storfjell (1983). Most of these dissertations have been published by Andrews University Press and the Institute of Archaeology. Not only has archaeology expanded in the seminary’s academic program, but Andrews University has provided important research facilities for archaeology. In 1970 an archaeological museum was opened on the campus of Andrews University. In 1978 it was named the Horn Archaeology Museum in honor of its founder and first curator. The museum was housed in the James White Library until 1982, when it moved into its own three-story building (the former headquarters building for the Lake Union Conference and the Geoscience Research Institute) in close proximity to the SDA Theological Seminary. The museum contains some 7,000 artifacts of art and utility from the ancient Near East. Many objects such as coins, pottery, cuneiform tablets, sculptures, tools, weapons, figurines, jewelry, seals, and glass vessels have come to this collection through purchase or as gifts. Nearly 2,000 artifacts were obtained during the archaeological expeditions to Heshbon. These objects serve as visual aids for a better understanding of certain biblical passages of a historical, religious, or cultural nature. This museum houses also the Hartford Seminary Foundation Cuneiform Tablet Collection, consisting of about 3,000 ancient clay tablets ranging from the Sumerian period to Neo-Babylonian times. They are being studied with the aim of eventually publishing their contents. Curators of the Horn Archaeology Museum have included Lawrence T. Geraty, J. Bjornar Storfjell, and David Merling. In 1980 the board of trustees established the Andrews University Institute of Archaeology, under the administration of the theological Seminary, to coordinate and direct the archaeological programs and activities of the university. The institute is housed in the same building as the Horn Archaeology Museum and contains offices, workrooms, storage rooms, a darkroom, and the Horn Archaeological Library. Its first director was Lawrence T. Geraty, who served in this capacity from 1980 until 1986. William H. Shea served as director from 1986 to 1987, and was followed by J. Bjornar Storfjell, who assumed this role from 1987 to 1988. Randall W. Younker has served as director of the institute since 1988. In 1991 P. David Merling and Øystein S. LaBianca were appointed as associate directors of the institute. Ralph Hendrix was appointed that same year to serve as managing editor of archaeological publications. Seventh-day Adventist Archaeologists . For further information on Lynn H. Wood (1887–1976) and Siegfried H. Horn (1908–1993), see Wood, Lynn H. , and Horn, Siegfried H. Lawrence T. Geraty (1940– ) received his B.A. in Theology from Pacific Union College, his M.A. in Old Testament from Andrews University, where he also received a B.D. degree, and his Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible and Syro-Palestinian Archaeology from Harvard University under G. Ernest Wright in 1972. His dissertation was on “Third and Fourth Century B.C. Ostraca From Khirbet el Kom.” From 1972 to 1985 Geraty served as professor of archaeology and history of antiquity at the SDA Theological Seminary. From 1976 to 1985 Geraty also functioned as the curator of the Horn Archaeology Museum. In 1981 he founded the Institute of Archaeology at Andrews University and served as its first director from 1981 until 1985. He was on the Heshbon dig staff from its beginning and spent a year in Jerusalem (1970–1971), during which time he participated in several archaeological expeditions sponsored by the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, where he served as Thayer fellow. Geraty directed the 1974 and 1976 excavation seasons at Hesban, Jordan (taking over this position from Horn); functioned as senior adviser for archeological investigations at Ein-Gedi, Israel (1979), Tell Jalul, Jordan (1992), and initiated the Madaba Plains Project, Jordan, as senior project director in 1984. Geraty has continued in this role during the subsequent excavation seasons in 1987, 1989, 1992, and 1994. In 1985 Geraty accepted an invitation to become president of Atlantic Union College with the rank of professor of archaeology. He continued in this position until 1993, when he accepted the offer to become president of La Sierra University with the rank of professor of archaeology. In spite of his duties as a president of an academic institution, Geraty continued to be active in scholarly circles, serving on numerous committees for the American Schools of Oriental Research and as vice president and acting president of the American Center of Oriental Research in Amman, Jordan. He has served as coeditor for both the Hesban and Madaba Plains final publication series and has published numerous articles in church and scholarly journals. Larry G. Herr (1946– ) received his Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies from Harvard University in 1971. His dissertation dealt with scripts of ancient northwest Semitic seals. Herr taught at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, Far East, from 1978 to 1984. Since 1984 he has been a professor at Canadian Union College. Herr has done extensive archaeological fieldwork. He was an area supervisor at Hesban during the 1974 and 1976 seasons, director of the Amman Airport Project in 1976, chief archaeologist of the Hesban North Church Project in 1978, and chief archaeologist and director of excavations at Tell el->Umeiri during the 1984, 1987, 1989, and 1992 seasons. Herr also is a codirector of the Madaba Plains Project and wrote the excavation manual for that project. Herr has been active in professional archaeological circles, especially the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR), where he has served as an editor for some of their publication series. Herr also has been an American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) fellow (1974–1975) and a resident scholar at the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem (1993–1994). Herr has numerous publications in church and scholarly journals and has served as senior coeditor of the final publication series for the Madaba Plains Project. Øystein S. LaBianca (1949– ) received his Ph.D. from Brandeis University in 1987 in anthropology. He has been a professor of anthropology at Andrews University since 1980. He also served as chair of the Behavioral Science Department from 1981 to 1992. With Geraty, LaBianca helped establish the Institute of Archaeology at Andrews and initiated the Madaba Plains Project in Jordan. In 1991 he was appointed associate director of the Institute of Archaeology at Andrews University. LaBianca’s archaeological fieldwork includes serving as staff anthropologist (intially with Robert Little of Andrews University) for the Hesban excavations (1971, 1973, 1974, and 1976 seasons), chief anthropologist of the Wadi Tumilat Project in Egypt in 1979–1985, and director of regional survey for the Madaba Plains Project during the 1984, 1987, 1989, and 1992 seasons. He also has overseen the ecolab and initiated careful analysis of bone remains that provided the foundation for his food systems theory. LaBianca has been active in professional archaeological and anthropological societies, in which he has organized and chaired several sessions. He has been an Albright fellow at the American Center for Oriental Research (ACOR) in Amman, Jordan. He also has been active in archaeological publications. In addition to publishing numerous scholarly articles, he is coeditor for both the Hesban and Madaba Plains final publication series. His dissertation “Sedentarization and Nomadization” ( vol. 1 of the Hesban series) provided an anthropological framework for interpreting the history of Heshbon. Randall W. Younker (1953– ) graduated from Pacific Union College with a B.A. in religion in 1975 and an M.A. in biology from that same school in 1977. After additional graduate studies in archaeology and anthropology at California State University, Sacramento, and Andrews University, Younker joined the Old Testament Department of the SDA Theological Seminary in 1986 as an assistant professor of Old Testament and Biblical Archaeology. That same year, he was appointed director of the Institute of Archaeology at Andrews University. Since then Younker has continued his doctoral work in Near Eastern archaeology at the University of Arizona under William G. Dever. His archaeological fieldwork includes five seasons on the staff of Tell Dor in Israel (1980–1984), staff ecologist and surveyor for Tell el-cUmeiri in 1984 and 1987, cordirector of the Madaba Plains Project (MPP), in charge of excavations at Tell Jawa and El-Dreijat in 1989, associate director of excavations at Tell Gezer, Israel, with William G. Dever in 1990, and director of excavations at the MMP’s newest site in Jordan, Tell Jalul in 1992. In addition to fieldwork, Younker served on the board of the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem as a corporate trustee for the 1992–1994 term. Younker has coedited two books and published more than 30 scholarly articles and reviews dealing with archaeology. Douglas R. Clark (1947– ) received his doctorate in 1984 from Vanderbilt University. He has served as Old Testament professor at Southwestern Adventist College (1975–1987) and Walla Walla College (1987– ). Since 1990 he has been dean of the School of Theology at Walla Walla and professor of Old Testament and Archaeology. Clark has been active in archaeological fieldwork. He served on the staff of the Hesban excavation as a square supervisor during the 1973 and 1976 seasons and was a field supervisor at Tell el->Umeiri during the 1984, 1987, 1989, and 1992 seasons. He has overseen the excavation of the most extensive ancient fortification system in Jordan. Clark also has been the consortium director for the Madaba Plains Project in Jordan. He has published a number of archaeological articles in both church and scholarly journals and is a contributor to the Madaba Plains Project final publication series. David P. Merling (1948– ) received his B.A. and M.Div. from Andrews University, where he also has pursued doctoral studies with an emphasis in archaeology. From 1984 to 1986 Merling was the assistant curator of the Horn Archaeological Museum. Since 1986 he has been the curator for the museum and assistant professor of Archaeology and History of Antiquity at the SDA Theological Seminary. In 1991 he was appointed an associate director of the Institute of Archaeology at that institution. Merlings’ archaeological fieldwork includes serving as a square supervisor at Hesban in 1974 and at Tell el->Umeiri during the 1984 and 1987 seasons, field supervisor at Tell Gezer in 1990, and associate director at Tell Jalul in 1992. Merling has been responsible for completing the renovation of the Horn Archaeology Museum. He has also been responsible for setting up the Horn Archaeological Library at the Institute of Archaeology, a research library with more than 5,000 scholarly volumes. Merling has published several articles on archaeology in church and scholarly journals. Most recently he has served as coeditor and contributor of the 25-year anniversary volume of the Hesban excavations published by the Institute of Archaeology at Andrews University. Boguslaw Dabrowski (1964– ) is a doctoral student in archaeology at the University of Krakow in Poland. He teaches at Polish Spiritual Seminary, Podkowa Lesna, Poland. His fieldwork includes excavation with the Madaba Plains Project during the 1987, 1989, and 1992 seasons. After the 1992 season Dabrowski was appointed field director of the tomb excavation for Tell el-cUmeiri. He founded the Levant Foundation Poland in order to further Polish archaeological research in the Middle East. He also has published several scholarly articles in both Polish and English. S. Douglas Waterhouse (1931– ) completed his Ph.D. in 1965 at the University of Michigan. His dissertation is entitled “Syria in the Amarna Age: A Borderland Between Conflicting Empires.” He has taught at Andrews University since 1963. His archaeological fieldwork includes participation in all five seasons at Hesban and the 1992 season at Tell el-cUmeiri. Waterhouse was responsible for starting the Hesban survey, which was then taken up by others, and the excavation of the Roman period tombs near Hesban. He has published several articles on archaeology in various journals, including Ministry and Andrews University Seminary Studies . He also is publishing an article on the Hesban tombs for the final publication series. J. Bjornar Storfjell (1944– ) received his Ph.D. from Andrews University in 1983. His dissertation dealt with the Byzantine strata at Hesban. Since 1980 Storfjell has been a professor of archaeology and history of antiquity in the Old Testament Department of the SDA Theological Seminary. He also has held both the position of curator of the Horn Archaeology Museum and director of the Institute of Archaeology at Andrews University. His archaeological fieldwork includes staff positions with the Hesban excavation during the 1976 season, the Tell el-Hesi Project in 1981, administrative director of the Tell el->Umeiri excavation in 1987, and ceramicist for the Wadi es-Siah Project during the 1988–1989 seasons. In addition to various articles he has written for church and scholarly journals, Storfjell’s dissertation on the Byzantine period at Hesban has been published as part of the Hesban final publications series by Andrews University Press and the Institute of Archaeology. Since 1972 Loma Linda University also has become involved in archaeological fieldwork by participating in the excavations of Caesarea, Israel, as one of the sponsoring institutions of a consortium. Kenneth L. Vine (1923– ), chair of the Department of Religion of the College of Arts and Sciences (now retired), and James H. Stirling (1921– ), associate chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology of the same college, took part in the excavations. Vine was granted a Ph.D. in Near Eastern studies from the University of Michigan in 1965 with a dissertation entitled “The Establishment of Baal at Ugarit.” He had participated also in the excavations of biblical Ai in 1966, and was president of Middle East College from 1965 to 1971. Vine continued to participate in the Caesarea expedition again in 1974, while Stirling transferred to the Heshbon expedition, which Loma Linda University also supported during the 1974 season. Vine’s publications include “Byzantine Written Lamps From Caesarea Maritima,” in the Robert Bull Festschrift (1986); “Ceramic Lamps From the Hippodrome of Caesarea Maritima, 1974,” in the Horn Festschrift (1986), and “Terracotta Lamps of Caesarea Maritima, 1971–1976,” preliminary report in The Joint Expedition to Caesarea Maritima (1982). Another important SDA archaeological scholar is William H. Shea (1932– ), who received his Ph.D. in ancient Near Eastern studies from the University of Michigan in 1976. He joined the Old Testament faculty of the SDA Theological Seminary at Andrews in 1972. In addition to various Old Testament classes, Shea taught courses in ancient Near Eastern history, archaeology, and languages. During the 1985–1986 academic year, Shea also directed the Institute of Archaeology. Since 1986 Shea has been an associate director of the Biblical Research Institute at the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. His responsibilities there have included, among other things, continued research on important biblical, historical, and archaeological issues and the direction of biblical studies and archaeologica tours of the Holy Land out of the church’s Jerusalem study center. In addition to field seasons at Gezer (1966–1967) and Hesban (1971), Shea has written extensively on archaeological topics in almost every major scholarly journal dealing with ancient Near Eastern studies. Some of his important publications include “Sennacherib’s Second Palestinian Campaign,” in Journal of Biblical Literature; “The Eblaite Letter to Hamazi,” in Oriens Antiquus (1984); “Date of the Exodus,” in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1982); “Menahem and Tiglath-Pileser III,” in the Journal of Near Eastern Studies (1978); and “The Date and Significance of the Samaria Ostraca,” in the Israel Exploration Journal (1977). Paul F. Bork (1924– ) received his Ph.D. from the California Graduate School of Theology in 1971. He began his college teaching career at Pacific Union College in 1967, where he was a professor of Old Testament and Archaeology. He chaired the Religion Department at PUC from 1986 to 1989. Bork also participated in several archaeological prects in the Middle East, including the 1971 and 1972 seasons at Tell Gezer, the 1976 season at Mount Zion area in the old city of Jerusalem, and the 1978 and 1979 seasons at the City of David. Bork also began and directed the PUC Religion Department extension program at Jerusalem, which continued for five years until taken over by the General Conference. Bork followed Horn’s tradition of making archaeological discoveries accessible to the average SDA layperson and minister by numerous publications in the Adventist Review and Ministry magazines. He also published several books on archaeology including The World of Moses (1978) and Out of the City, Across the Sands (1982). Udo Worschech (1947– ) studied theology and biblical archaeology at Andrews University (M.A., 1971). He has taught at the Marienhoehe SDA Theological Seminary, Darmstadt, Germany, since 1972 and the J. W. Goethe-Universitat since 1984. He directed several seasons of excavations at Tell BaluÔa, an Iron Age Moabite site in Jordan. His publications include Die Beziahungen Moabs zu Israel und Agypten in der Eisenzeit , a scholarly work on the emergence of the Moabite polity in Jordan, and Das Land Jenseits des Jordan: Biblische Archaologie in Jordanien , a popular work on biblical archaeology in Jordan. Archaeological Fieldwork. Beginning with the summer of 1968, Andrews University sponsored an archaeological expedition to biblical Heshbon in Jordan. The first three seasons of excavations (1968, 1971, 1973), which were supported also by the American Center for Oriental Research in Amman and by Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan, were directed by Siegfried Horn. The excavations brought to light remains of the ancient city of Heshbon from the twelfth century to the fourteenth century A.D. Among them were parts of the ancient city’s fortifications; a huge water reservoir, probably one of the pools mentioned in Song of Solomon 7:4 ; the remains of a Roman cult center consisting of a via sacra , a monumental stairway leading to a temple on the summit of the mound, and the foundations of that temple; ruins of the Christian church of the early Christian centuries when Heshbon was the seat of a bishop; and remains of later structures, including the only complete Mamluk bath ever found in Jordan. Several early Roman and Byzantine tombs, some containing rich contents, were also discovered and excavated, among them two family tombs of the first century A.D., each closed with a rolling stone. The excavations have brought to light no remains earlier than the twelfth century B.C., which leads to the conclusion that the Heshbon of King Sihon of the Amorites, conquered by the Israelites under Moses, must have been located at another site, from which it was transferred after its conquest by the Israelites to the site that for the past 3,000 years has carried the name of Heshbon ( Esbus in Greek and Latin, and H|esbaÆn in Arabic). Beginning with the fourth season of excavations (1974), the directorship of the Heshbon expedition was taken over by Lawrence T. Geraty, who was then assistant professor of Old Testament studies at the seminary. Preliminary reports on the results of the Heshbon expedition have regularly been published in popular form in the Adventist Review , and since 1969 in a more scientific form in the Andrews University Seminary Studies. About half of the dozen or so final report volumes of the Hesban Project have been published by Andrews University Press and the Institute of Archaeology. The successor to the Heshbon excavation, and the first project to be coordinated by the new Institute of Archaeology at Andrews University, was the Madaba Plains Project, begun in 1984 with additional seasons in 1987, 1989, 1992, and 1994. Leadership of this project includes Lawrence Geraty, senior project director; Larry Herr, director of the lang513Tell el->Umeiri excavations; Øystein LaBianca, director of hinterland surveys; Randall Younker, director of the Tell Jalul excavation; and Doug Clark, consortium director. The archaeological findings of the Madaba Plains Project include impressive settlement remains from lang513Tell el->Umeiri, including an Iron Age II (Assyrian and Babylonian periods) citadel and fortification systems, a Late Bronze Age occupation, and an Early Bronze Age (patriarchal period) residential area. The survey discovered numerous Iron Age farmsteads with features similar to those described in Isaiah 5:1–7 . Important Ammonite inscriptions have been found, including one that has the impression of a servant of Baalis, an Ammonite king mentioned in Jeremiah 40:14 (discovered by Lloyd Willis, of Southwestern Adventist College). Another Ammonite inscription testifies to the presence of an Ammonite province during the Persian period. New excavations at Jalul have found evidence of the city gateways of the ninth and eighth centuries B.C., as well as evidence of destruction from the premonarchal period (Iron Age I). There also is evidence of Late Bronze Age occupation from the period of Israel’s wandering and conquest. In addition to the Madaba Plains Project, the Institute of Archaeology sponsored a single season dig at Tell Gezer, Israel, in 1990. Randall Younker and David Merling, along with a number of graduate students from Andrews University, joined William G. Dever and a number of his graduate students from the University of Arizona for this excavation. This dig brought additional evidence for the existence of Solomonic building activity described in 1 Kings 9:17 . Specifically, it seems certain that, based on new stratigraphic and ceramic evidence, the famous “six-chambered gateway” and adjoining palace were indeed built by Solomon during the tenth century B.C. This building activity at Gezer was preceded by a dramatic destruction layer that can be associated with the sack of Gezer by an Egyptian pharaoh mentioned in 1 Kings 9:16 . Contribution of SDA Archaeological Scholarship . Careful fieldwork and prompt and unbiased publication of the results have created respect for Andrews University archaeologists on the part of the scholarly community at large. For example, Phil King, former president of the American Schools of Oriental Research, writes in his American Archaeology in the Mideast: A History of the American Schools of Oriental Research (1983): “The archaeology of Jordan owes an extraordinary debt of gratitude to the Hesban expedition, especially for its pioneering efforts in many areas of archaeological research.” “Through its field school, Hesban has touched almost every dig in Jordan by serving as the training ground for scores of graduate students, several of whom now direct their own projects.” Similarly, William G. Dever, former editor of the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (BASOR) and a leading Syro-Palestinian archaeologist, writes: “This combined project has long since become one of the most sophisticated and truly interdisciplinary of all American archaeological excavations in the Middle East. While others talk ad nauseam about ‘research design,’ ‘holistic approaches,’ ‘total retrieval,’ ‘ecology,’ and the ‘new archaeology’. . . these people do it. The publication of the Hesban excavations has propelled Seventh-day Adventist archaeology—against all the odds—into the very forefront of Near Eastern archaeology” (BASOR 190–191, 1991). While these accomplishments can give the SDA Church a certain amount of pride, we must never lose sight of the fact that our ultimate goal in pursuing this specialized area of biblical research is to help make God’s Word, which gives the world the good news of salvation, more understandable to those of us who are separated by time and distance from the world to which God originally communicated.