tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20570989.post3595320900828624762..comments2009-04-12T16:34:34.631-05:00Todd Bolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06156730661243501832tbolen91@bibleplaces.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20570989.post-92229739772770604542009-04-12T16:34:00.000-05:002009-04-12T16:34:00.000-05:00ABSOLUTELY Tel Aviv is a major journal in the world of biblical archaeology, or--if you prefer--Syro-Palestinian archaeology. For example, if you want to find the conclusive pottery reports that verify that Tufnell and Aharoni were correct--while Starkey was incorrect--about the destruction of Lachish III (i.e. Stratum III) being dated to 701 BC (Assyrian invasion) and not 597 BC (2nd of 3 Babylonian invasions), you can find this only in Tel Aviv 29 (2002). Herzog and Singer-Avitz each wrote 100-page reports: the former on the overall site and the excavations of the 60's (an interim report) and the latter on the associated pottery. The findings of Singer-Avitz confirm conclusively that Tufnell was absolutely correct about Lachish III, even though the giants of the archaeological world balked at her conclusions for many years. In this case, knowingly or not, Singer-Avitz verified archaeologically what is inferred in the biblical text. For this reason, Todd's--and, by the way, I studied with him in seminary--warnings are just a bit too foreboding and doom-cloud-producing. He is correct, however, that so much in archaeology depends on interpretation. Then again, the tangential field of biblical studies has the same dilemma: hermeneutics is the key to everything! A hermeneutical practitioner with poor or flawed principles undergirding his views will almost invariably come to flawed conclusions. And by the way, this happens all of the time. Many such commentaries sit on your bookshelves and mine!!Doug Petrovichnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20570989.post-59172263564289885672008-01-26T22:39:00.000-06:002008-01-26T22:39:00.000-06:00Finkelstein is not the editor, although he is on the editorial board, as are three other Tel Aviv University faculty. Benjamin Sass is the editor.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20570989.post-91479396470138013482008-01-17T01:40:00.000-06:002008-01-17T01:40:00.000-06:00'Tel Aviv' a major journal? Maybe. But don't forget that Finkelstein is the editor. He can publish anything he wants, and on the other hand, can regulate it like a communist newspaper.dfresenoreply@blogger.com