Reading
religious artifacts: The shrine room at Judahite Tell Halif by Paul Jacobs
Ph.D
ABSTRACT:
If we are to gain better understanding of peoples of the ancient world, non-Yahwistic
religious artifacts found in Judahite settings must be understood in their own
right as expressions of human concern to interpret reality, rather than as
illegitimate Yahwism or as syncretistic forms of Yahwism. Here ritual
materials, including a pillar figurine and an incense stand found in an 8th
century BCE house at Tell Halif, are used to argue that multiple religious
expressions were practiced by Judahites in their quest to comprehend their
world.
The
History of Israel in the Current Research by DA SILVA, A. J.
ABSTRACT:
This article surveys
some perspectives in the current research of the "History of
Israel", the challenges that this poses, and proposes some trajectories
for
those researching this subject. The scholarly consensus that
existed up until the middle seventies of the twentieth
century was shattered. The rationalistic paraphrase of the
biblical text that constituted the core of the handbooks
of the "History of Israel" is no longer acceptable
to most scholars. An increasing number of scholars
question the use of the biblical text as a source for the “History of
Israel”. The implementation of modern literary criticism
on the biblical text requires a moving away
from issues of historicity, and this allows the
"biblical" stories to be evaluated primarily from a literary
perspective. The writing of a "History of Israel" using
only the archaeological context and
non-biblical writings is a controversial undertaking, however, an
increasing number of scholars are attempting to do this. It appears a
revisionist “History of Syria/Palestine" will
compete against the traditional "History of Israel" as scholars from
both sides continue their research.
Este
artigo quer traçar um panorama das mudanças pelas quais vem passando a
“História de Israel” nos últimos anos, apontar as dificuldades
que a crise vem criando e propor algumas pistas de leitura para os
interessados no assunto. O consenso existente até meados da década de 70 do
século XX foi rompido. A paráfrase racionalista do texto bíblico que
constituía a base dos manuais de “História de Israel” não é mais
aceita. O uso dos textos bíblicos como fonte para a “História de Israel”
é questionado por muitos. O uso de métodos literários sofisticados para
explicar os textos bíblicos, afasta-nos cada vez mais do gênero histórico,
e as “estórias bíblicas”
são abordadas
com outros olhares. A construção de uma “História de Israel”
feita somente a partir da arqueologia e dos testemunhos escritos extrabíblicos
é uma proposta cada vez mais tentadora. Uma “História de Israel e dos
Povos Vizinhos”, melhor, uma “História da Síria/Palestina” ou uma
“História do Levante” parece ser o programa para os próximos anos.
