Historical Documents and Archaeological Finds

Up until this point, we have been studying Jewish history through the lens of the Jewish Diaspora communities (the Edot). But I haven't had a chance to teach about how we know about the history we learn, and, in fact, if we can trust what we read in our history texts. So yesterday, this is precisely what we focused on during each session. We began with a discussion of the definition of history (the written record of the past), then I reviewed with the students what we had learned earlier in the year about the revolutionary Jewish linear concept of time and the concept of history expressed by the prophets of Israel as "the Way or Path of God." All historical events, they believed, were the results of moral decisions made by Israel. If Israel followed God's commandments, God would bless the nation and protect it from its enemies; but if Israel worshipped other gods and did not follow the commandments, God would punish the nation and send its enemies to conquer and even exile the people.

We then discussed how scholars have studied and interpreted ancient historical records. Using examples from ancient Babylonian and Judean history that we recently studied, students learned that kings often "exaggerated" or even "re-wrote" history on victory steles (inscribed free-standing stones), and enemies often had contradictory reports of battles won and lost. Only when opposing sides agreed on the events, can historians be sure that the events truly occured as described. And even then, they search for corroborating evidence. This corroborating evidence often comes from archaeological finds. Archaeology, we learned, is a science - that is, archaeologists follow the "scientific method" of developing a hypothesis and then following specific steps to determine the validity of the hypothesis. When it comes to Biblical history, the written records discovered (including the books of the Bible) are used to form hypotheses of where to dig, and whatever objects are discovered must be carefully evaluated and compared to written accounts. For example, King Nebuchadnezzar declared in a victory stele that he broke through the walls of Jerusalem, burned down the Holy Temple of the Judeans and led the elite and skilled of its citizens into exile to Babylon. His account agrees completely with the Judean account in the Bible. It also agrees with archaeological finds, for indeed archaeologists discovered soot and ashes on the level of digging which was dated to the Babylonian conquest - signs of warfare and destruction described in both Nebuchadnezzar's and the Biblical accounts.

The students, divided into 3 groups each session, were then given the opportunity to get a taste of how historians and archaeologists conduct their respective studies and learn from each other's finds. I set up 3 stations, each consisting of activities relating to ancient history and its study.

One station introduced the students to a pottery typology chart developed by archaeologists over the past century, which helps them date pottery to specific times and cultures using their shape, color, and intended use. Using this chart, students were asked to date four pieces of pottery on the worksheet above.

At the same station, students were asked to re-assemble a simple clay pot which I had broken into larger (and some smaller) pieces prior to this exercise. The idea was to give each student a taste of what archaeologists and their helpers must do to literally "piece together" the objects they find. Only after they have assembled an object can they begin to interpret its use, who the people were who used it and when it was used.

The process of re-assembling the pot took a lot of cooperation and a lot of patience!

A second station introduced a very important archaeological tool for the dating of ancient dynasties - the cylindrical seal. Hundreds of these seals have been discovered throughout the Middle East, going all the way back to the Sumerian civilization in Mesopotamia. Kings (and occasional queens) would sign documents they issued using these round seals. Thanks to advanced methods of dating, archaeologists and historians have been able to establish dates for the reigns of specific kings using these seals. Students at this station were given the opportunity to learn how these seals worked.

Each student was given a piece of raw carrot and a pen. Using a chart of the Phoenician alphabet symbols (from which our Hebrew alphabet evolved), they were asked to etch their name or initials into the carrot using the pen. Once this was accomplished, they slowly rolled the carrot onto a piece of PlayDoh, until the initials could be seen in relief.

The photo is blurry, but you can clearly see the Phoenician form of aleph (A for our purposes) on the top, and samech (S) below the aleph - the initials of one of our Edot students.

Finally, the third station gave the students a chance to compare two written records of the same event - the rebellion of the Moabite king Mesha against Israel. They were asked to read the English translation of the inscription discovered on the "Mesha Stele"  and then compare it to what is written in the Second Book of Kings, Chapter 3, verses 4 and 5. Both describe a revolt of Mesha against Israel after King Ahab's death. Both agree (with some slight differences) on what occurred.

After reading both accounts, the students were asked to use the Phoenician alphabet chart to decode the five-letter word written under the picture of the Mesha Stele (the word is Israel).

While some students decoded the word under the Mesha stele photo, other students worked on decoding a 6-letter word written on a Roman-era coin (the word is Jerusalem).

During the coming weekday sessions, I'll be introducing the history of the next edah we'll be studying - the Jews of Spain. The history of the Jews in Spain goes back at least 2,000 years (and perhaps even as far back as 3,000 years). As I share the history, I'll be reminding the students of how historians and archaeologists, working in tandem, interpreted documents and other objects to try to flesh out the history and culture of the peoples on the Iberian Peninsula, and that the process is not over. More finds are being made every day!