Jesus:Archaeology:Theology:Bible                    

The Tel Gezer Expedition is returning to Israel this summer to continue our quest for the Historical Solomon. That’s a rather simplified statement of our mission, but every journey starts somewhere, and as you try to imagine why we are going back to Israel, Solomon is a good reference point.

The Official Gezer Website has it that we are investigating the Iron Age — which is true. But the Iron Age is a large time frame, within which there is an important subset containing the Philistines, David, Solomon and the United Monarchy. It is that subset that has spawned a debate within archaeology regarding the arrival of the Philistines in Israel, the nature of the United Monarchy under David, and the size and power of Solomon’s rule.

I am writing a series of posts that will explain to you that debate, the key scholars and their positions, and the part that Gezer plays. For now, I want to update you on some of the preparation that goes into the dig as we are preparing for the 2007 season.

Sam Wolff and Steve Ortiz are the captains of the Gezer team. Dr. Ortiz is a professor down at Southeastern Seminary in Texas; he fled to Texas after the flooding of New Orleans. Dr. Wolff works for the Israeli government under the Israeli Antiquities Authority — the same group that let the Dead Sea Scrolls come to Kansas City.

From my vantage point — as a staff member under these guys — I’d have to say that running the Gezer dig is like starting a medium-size business every summer. For each dig season, the whole system has to be restarted, infrastructure has to be re-established, people have to be employed under a company hierarchy, and new and unforeseen obstacles must be overcome. This year, for example, we are missing two of our key people who ran our base camp operations (we stay at Neve Shalom). That loss is an administrative hurdle, especially as we expand our field of excavation.

Last season we had one Field Archaeologist, Gary Arbino, who managed six area supervisors. This year Gary returns and is joined by Eliot Braun, a very seasoned Israeli Archaeologist who will be our second Field Archaeologist. The two of them will have six supervisors each — our staff is growing.

As the excavation progresses, I will upload maps, pictures, historical notes, and theological reflections. My goal is to tell the story of history as it comes out of the dirt, and to find where Bible and archaeology meet. This, in itself, is a controversial maneuver, and great care is needed so that the Bible does not end up functioning like a treasure map, nor should it get forced to conform to our discoveries.

In Part 3 of this series on Preparing for the Field, I will speak about different methodologies that properly and improperly use the Bible. In Part 2 of this series on Preparing for the Field, I will explain “Why I Dig Gezer”… stay tuned.

Steve Rives
Louisburg, Kansas