• how this method, approach, or strategy was first developed and how its application has changed over time;
• what current questions arise from its use;
• what enduring insights it has produced; and
• what questions remain for future scholarship.
Archaeological exploration of Syria-Palestine and the ancient Near East has revolutionized our understanding of the Bible. In this volume, David A. Fiensy provides a brief survey of a discipline that was once called “biblical archaeology” and describes how the conception of the field has changed; recounts how key discoveries have opened up new understandings of Israel’s own history and religion as well as the ancient Near Eastern and later Greco-Roman environments, and the impact on biblical studies and theology; discusses how archaeological study has shaped the task of biblical interpretation, with illustrative examples; analyzes specific texts through archaeological perspectives; and provides conclusions, challenges, and considerations for the future of archaeology and biblical
David A. Fiensy is professor of New Testament at Kentucky Christian University in Grayson, Kentucky. His publications include Christian Origins and the Ancient Economy (2014) and Jesus the Galilean (2007), and the coedited works Galilee in the Late Second Temple and Mishnaic Periods, 2 vols. (Fortress Press, 2014–15) and The Galilean Economy in the Time of Jesus (2013).