GE O G R A P H Y
Geography is the science that studies the earth’s surface and its physical features, climate, and distributions of plant and animal life, and takes account of their varying effect on populations, cultures, and industries. The vital role played
I6 Joukowsky’s work is generous with bibliography on a host of topics, pp. 543-607. On methodology, see also W. G. Dever and H. D. Lance, eds. A Manual of Field Excavation: Hand- book for Field Archaeologists (Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, 1978), based on work at Gezer (1964-71).
I7 The Biblical Archaeology Society’s New Testament Archaeology Slide Set, ed. Dan F’. Cole (Washington, D.C., 1986), provides, in addition to the fine photographs, a manual with infor- mative articles drawn from BAR and BR.
236 Multipurpose Tools for Bible Study Contextuality 2 3 7
by topographical and other features in the history of lands and peoples is sig- nally exhibited in the fortunes of Palestine and its inhabitants.
Since Edward Robinson’s epoch-making trip through Palestine in 1838, the land has been subject to ever closer scrutiny; today only a few ancient sites remain unidentified. Much that was previously written on the geography of Palestine is therefore considerably antiquated but retains some advantages that derive from scrutiny prior to increasing industrialization and natural changes wrought by time’s relentless course. George Adam Smith, The Historical Geography of the Holy Land in Relation to the History of Israel and of the Early Church, first published in 1894,4th ed. (London, 1896), still remains, in its broader outlines, an accurate and in every respect a most captivating account. For encyclopedic information on the physical characteristics of Palestine, consult Denis Baly, The Geography of the Bible (New York: Harper, 1957; “complete revision,” 1974). Baly’s Geographical Companion to the Bible (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1963) shows how geography impacted the lives of the people portrayed in the biblical record.
Long a standard reference work is Felix Marie Abel, Gkographie de la Palestine, 2 ~01s. (Paris: Libraire Lecoffre, J. Gabalda, 1933,1938). This work is cited frequently in a fine textbook by Yohanan Aharoni, The Land of the Bible: A Historical Geography, trans. A. F. Rainey (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1967; 2d ed., 1979; rev. A. F. Rainey, 1980), which takes the reader down to the Persian period. For continuation past that period, consult Michael Avi-Yonah, The Holy Land from the Persian to the Arab Conquests (536 B.C.
to A.D. 640): A Historical Geography, trans. and rev. A. F. Rainey (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1977; orig. Hebrew, 3d ed., Jerusalem, 1962). In Martin Noth, The Old Testament World, trans. Victor I. Gruhn (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1966), a review of Old Testament texts and versions plus a survey of methods of textual critical work round out a savory blend of geographical and historical knowledge, with some accent on cultural details. The broader reading public will take delight in H. Donner, Einfiihrung in die biblische Landes- und Altertumskunde (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1976), and for those who wish to delve further, this book contains ample bib- liographies.
For a look at the flora and fauna along the way see Michael Zohary, Plants of the Bible: A Complete Handbook to all the Plants (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1982) and Garland Bare, Plants and Animals of the Bible ([London]: United Bible Societies, 1969). As in the identification of ancient colors, determination especially of botanical items is not done without risk, but both of these works offer needed guidance. In addition to discussion of botanical entities under nine headings, with relevant biblical texts, the first book includes two hundred full-color plates “taken in the natural habitat.”
Bare’s compilation, without pictures, was prepared for the Thailand Bible Revi- sion Company, but all biblical students can use it with profit, not least of all
for the value of its lengthy bibliography. All terms are transliterated and briefly defined in the lead column, with scientific equivalents noted, when ascer- tainable. Other columns include biblical references, translation in KJV and RSV, Thai/Southeast Asia equivalent, and two columns of workbook space.
An ambitious book by George Cansdale, All the Animals of the Bible Lands (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1970), requires some philological correctives but provides much useful information.
SI T E S
Specific sites come up for treatment in numerous publications. Over four hundred Palestinian sites are discussed in The New Encyclopedia of Archaeo- logical Excavations in the Holy Land, 4 ~01s. (Westwood, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1993), edited by Ephraim Stern, assisted by Ayelet Gilboa, both from the University of Jerusalem, with Joseph Aviram, of the Israel Exploration Society, as editorial director!* The list of contributors reads like a who’s who in archaeology. For authoritative information on sites of interest to students of Greek literature, as well as of places mentioned in the New Testament, there is nothing that surpasses The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, ed.
Richard Stillwell with William L. MacDonald and Marian Holland McAllister (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1976).
Several earlier classic treatments also deserve mention. Heading the list is Gustaf Hermann Dalman, Orte und Wege ]esu, 3d ed. rev. (Giitersloh: C.
Bertelsmann, 1924). The translation of this edition into English by Paul P.
Levertoff, Sacred Sites and Ways: Studies in the Topography of the Gospels (New York: Macmillan, 1935), includes additional matter and is one of the finest introductions to the land of Jesus. Conjectures still bridge many gaps in our knowledge of the history of Jericho, but Miss Kenyon’s digging-see the joint expedition reports, prepared with the help of colleagues, in Excava- tions at Jericho, ~01s. l-5 (London, 1960-83) -has done much to undermine John Garstang’s claim to have found the victim walls of Joshua’s campaigns.
The expeditions and detailed explorations of Nelson Glueck, who dedicated much of 1932-47 to study of ancient Transjordan, are documented with text, photography, and drawings in several editions of The Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research. Supplementary results of his intensive study of
i* The first edition of this work was originally published in Hebrew, 2 ~01s. (Jerusalem, 1970).
Michael Avi-Yonah (d. 1974) helped mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Israel Exploration Society for the English-speaking world with an English-language edition under the title Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, 4 ~01s. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ.: Prentice-Hall, 1975-1978); M. Avi-Yonah edited the first two volumes, and after his death Ephraim Stern saw volumes 3 and 4 through publication.
Contextuality 2 3 9
238 Multipurpose Tools for Bible Study
the Jordan River area are to be found in The Other Side of the Jordan (New Haven: American Schools of Oriental Research, 1940), The River Jordan (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1946; rev. ed., New York: McGraw-Hill, 1968), and Rivers in the Desert: A History of the Negev (New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1959). Glueck visited more than 1,500 sites, whose iden- tification is in the main accepted by other scholars.
Sites and biblical references are linked in a series of essays produced by various scholars for Archaeology and Old Testament Study: Jubilee Volume of the Society for Old Testament Stud% 1917-1967, ed. David Winton Thomas (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1967).
AT L A S E S
Numerous atlases provide the basic cartographical materials for a more reliable and appreciative survey from a distance of the Palestinian landscape both ancient and modem. Atlases of Bible lands range from collections of only maps to maps accompanied by archaeological researches relating, as the case may be, to land areas, population movements, military campaigns, cultic practices, and numerous other topics. Meriting prime consideration is The Harper Atlas of the Bible, gen. ed. James B. Pritchard (New York: Harper & Row, 1987), published in Great Britain as The Times Atlas of the Bible (1987). This is a marvelous combination of masterfully produced photographs combined with informative text- the next best thing to visiting a museum of antiquities. In keeping with developments in the space age, some of the maps take account of the curvature of the earth and replace flat projection with a more realistic one. Also, the position of north varies on such maps, depending on the sub- ject that is depicted. But there are a sufficient number of maps with traditional orientation. A rewritten and more concise version of this atlas appeared under the title, The Harper Concise Atlas of the Bible, ed. James B. Pritchard (New York: Harper & Row, 1991), which makes use of dates in the third edition of The Cambridge Ancient History and also information on dates and terminology in the Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, vol. 4, ed. M. Avi-Yonah and E. Stern (Englewood Cliff, N.J.: Prentice- Hall, 1978). Of older works one may still consult with profit G. Ernest Wright and F. V. Filson, The Westminster Historical Atlas to the Bible, rev. ed. (Phila- delphia: Westminster Press, 1956). A special feature of Lucas Hendricus Grollenberg, Atlas of the Bible, trans. and ed. Joyce M. H. Reid and Harold Henry Rowley (New York: Nelson, 1956), is annotated maps that blend history and topography in remarkable fashion. Magnificent photographs contribute to its excellence!9
Detailed discussion of geographic and topographic references from Genesis to Revelation may be had in Emil G. Kraeling, Rand McNally Bible Atlas (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1956), which is designed primarily for advanced students. A remarkable feature of The Macmillan Bible Atlas, by Yohanan Aharoni and Michael Avi-Yonah (New York: Macmillan, 1968; rev. ed., 1977), is a handsome collection of 262 territorial maps prepared by cartographers and other specialists associated with Carta, at Jerusalem. Each of these maps illustrates a portion of text, ordinarily a paragraph of 150 to 200 words. Many of the texts and maps relate to individual campaigns and conquests. “The Sortie of the Moabites . . .” (no. 133) traces the route of invasion, and below the text is a photograph of the Mesha stele, which one can decipher without difficulty. Map no. 177 charts the travels of Zenon, to whom historians owe so much of their knowledge about the era of Ptolemy II, and the text offers a brief biography of this ardent collector of business documents.
More general guidance is found in the compact Oxford Bible Atlas, ed.
Herbert G. May with Robert W. Hamilton and G. N. S. Hunt (London, 1962;
3d ed. rev. John Day, New York: Oxford University Press, 1984) and in F. E Bruce, Bible History Atlas (New York: Crossroad, 1982). In Atlas of Israel, published by the famed house of Elsevier (Amsteidam, London, New York, 1970), even the paper, ink, and color mixes originated in Israel. An official work of the State of Israel, the atlas includes not only detailed description in standard categories of geographical documentation but also a history of Israel from prehistoric times to the present. Also of exceptional merit is J.
Monson, et al., Student Map Manual: Historical Geography of the Bible Lands (Jerusalem/Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1979). For quick locating within 48 pages, use Hammond’s Atlas of the Bible Lands, ed. Harry Thomas Frank (Maplewood, N.J.: Hammond, 1977; new ed., 1984).
For broader documentation of the ancient world, consult Antonius A. M.
van der Heyden and Howard H. Scullard, Atlas of the Classical World (New York: Nelson, 1959). This atlas, which deals exclusively with polytheistic Greco-Roman antiquity, is important for understanding the context in which Christianity was born and to which it took many directions of return. Its section on Hellenism serves as a bridge to Frederik van der Meer and Christine Mohr- mann, Atlas of the Early Christian World, trans. and ed. Mary F. Hedlund and Harold H. Rowley (New York: Nelson, 1958), which illuminates the early church. For key sites relating to Acts and Paul’s letters, consult Moses I. Finley, Atlas of Classical Archaeology (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1977).
in French as Atlas de la Bible (Brussels, 1954), on which the translation is based. Grollenberg’s redesigned, compact Shorter Atlas of the Bible, trans. Mary F. Hedlund (New York: Nelson, 1959) was also published as The Penguin Shorter Atlas of the Bible (Baltimore: Penguin, 1978).
Old, but a marvelous repository of contours and descriptions, is The Survey of Western Palestine, by C. R. Conder and H. H. Kitchener, 3 ~01s. (London, 1881-1883; reprint, Tel Aviv, 1970).
I9 This atlas originally appeared in Holland as Atlas van de Bijbel (Amsterdam, 1954) and
240 Multipurpose Tools for Bible Study Contextuality 2 4 1 The general reader will appreciate Clemens Kopp, The Holy Places of the
Gospels (New York: Herder, 1963), a translation by Ronald Walls of Die heiligen St&ten der Evangelien (Regensburg: Pustet, 1959) -something like taking a bus tour through the Gospels. To follow St. Paul in a similar way, use Henri Metzger, St. Pat&Journeys in the Greek Orient, trans. S. H. Hooke (London: SCM Press, 1955. For Jerusalem and environs, take the tour with John Wilkinson, The]erusalem]esus Knew: An Archaeological Guide to the
Gospels (Nashville: Nelson, 1983).20