Professor Thompson,
You write: Writing a History of Israel from the biblical narrative is problematic because these narratives are allegorical. The writing of a History of Palestine is also problematic as long as the perspectives of our historical and archaeological research encourage us to read the myths of the Bible as if they were actual accounts of the past. In writing our history of Palestine, we need to turn away from origin stories and write a history of all the peoples who have lived in Palestine. Rather than writing a mythic past, we might consider such themes fundamental to history as the development and diversity of politics, forms of government, economy, religion, language and culture. Rather than following the claims and assertions of such myths of a fictive nation, rooted in eschatology, we might use the rich, archaeologically-based knowledge of the land and its many regions to identify the multi-cultural realities, which have marked Palestine’s ancient past throughout its history."
You say the Bible contains myths that are allegorical, then you propose using "the rich, archeologically based knowledge of the land and its many regions to identify the multi-cultural realities, which have marked Palestine's ancient past throughout it's history."
What happened to the allegories? Do you know what they mean? There is one German Jewish dialect: Yiddish, but there are 18 Judeo-Persian dialects yet the likely Zoroastrian origin of Judaism is rarely entertained. Palestine is studied archeologically because of its centrality in the biblical text. Why should we now abandon the biblical text to identify Palestine's multi-cultural realities? What happened to the allegories?
Professor Thompson,
You write: Writing a History of Israel from the biblical narrative is problematic because these narratives are allegorical. The writing of a History of Palestine is also problematic as long as the perspectives of our historical and archaeological research encourage us to read the myths of the Bible as if they were actual accounts of the past. In writing our history of Palestine, we need to turn away from origin stories and write a history of all the peoples who have lived in Palestine. Rather than writing a mythic past, we might consider such themes fundamental to history as the development and diversity of politics, forms of government, economy, religion, language and culture. Rather than following the claims and assertions of such myths of a fictive nation, rooted in eschatology, we might use the rich, archaeologically-based knowledge of the land and its many regions to identify the multi-cultural realities, which have marked Palestine’s ancient past throughout its history."
You say the Bible contains myths that are allegorical, then you propose using "the rich, archeologically based knowledge of the land and its many regions to identify the multi-cultural realities, which have marked Palestine's ancient past throughout it's history."
What happened to the allegories? Do you know what they mean? There is one German Jewish dialect: Yiddish, but there are 18 Judeo-Persian dialects yet the likely Zoroastrian origin of Judaism is rarely entertained. Palestine is studied archeologically because of its centrality in the biblical text. Why should we now abandon the biblical text to identify Palestine's multi-cultural realities? What happened to the allegories?