The Changing Landscape of Israeli Archaeology (Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern History)

"Focused on the connections between archaeology and Israeli society, this book examines the development of Israeli archaeological research, taking historical, sociological, and political contexts into account. Adopting a Foucauldian framework of power and knowledge, the author begins by focusing on archaeological knowledge as a hegemonic discipline, buttressing the national-Zionist identity after the establishment of the State of Israel. The liberalization of political culture in the late 1970s, it is argued, opened the door for a more democratised archaeological discipline. Making use of in-depth interviews with archaeologists belonging to various groups in Israeli society as well as documents from the Israel State Archives (ISA), the book touches on multiple fields of research, including Near Eastern archaeology, religious Jewish society, Israel/Palestine relations and the status of women in Israel. Moreover, although the book deals with the sociology of Israeli archaeology specifically, the author's comparative approach - which highlights the mirroring of social processes and the archaeological discipline - can also be applied to other societies. The book will be of interest to researchers and students in the fields of archaeology, sociology and Israel Studies, as well as to readers with a general interest in the archaeology of the Holy Land"-- Provided by publisher Cover Endorsement Page Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents List of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgments Introduction Notes References Chapter 1 The place of archaeology in Israeli secular society The beginnings of Jewish archaeological research The religion of the soil and the religion of archaeology Changes in Israeli society’s attitude to archaeology Community archaeology The IAA Cultural Heritage Project Notes References Chapter 2 Religious society and its attitude to archaeology The flourishing and decline of Christian biblical archaeology The attitude of observant Jewish society to archaeology up to the 1980s Archaeology as a symbol of secularism “Archaeology of above” and “archaeology of below” Bible study in observant Jewish society Between theology and rabbinics The attitude to archaeology in religious Zionist society from the 1980s and onwards The Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University The influence of the Six Day War The attitude of the Haredi public to archaeology Notes References Chapter 3 Religious society and the attitude to excavating graves The halakhic prohibition of moving graves Between religious Zionist and Haredi society The first struggles The Area G excavations The cemetery on the Ophel slope The City of David excavations: 1981 The shovel test east of Area G Aftermath Notes References Chapter 4 The Palestinian citizens of Israel and their attitude to archaeology The attitude to archaeology during the Mandate period Between Jews and Arabs at the Palestine Archaeological Museum The attitude to archaeology after 1948 The attitude to archaeology from the 1980s onwards The archaeology of the abandoned Palestinian villages Notes References Chapter 5 Women in Israeli archaeology Women archaeologists during the Mandate period Women archaeologists after the establishment of the state of Israel Ruth Amiran: an exemplar of an Israeli female archaeologist Has archaeology indeed “escaped from the kitchen”? Notes References Conclusions Notes Reference Index