Some Reflections on the Politics of Ancient History, Archaeological Practice and Nation-Building in Israel/Palestine

EMANUEL PFOH

The Politics of Israel's Past: The Bible, Archaeology and Nation-Building

Sheffield Phoenix Press

Lugar: Sheffield, UK; Año: 2013; p. 1 - 17

Every work of scholarly character is produced under particular circumstances, whether ideological, political, historical or socio-cultural. Such truism is, however, notably underestimated by many scholars working on certain aspects of ancient history or archeology, especially in the field of biblical studies and so-called "biblical archaeology". The present article deals with three interrelated aspects involving the aforementioned epistemological awareness: (a) the contexts of historiographical production (Western/Eastern), (b) the politics attached to archaeological practice in Israel/Palestine, and (c) the cultural aspects of Zionist nation-building, as related to uses of a distant ("biblical") past, archaeological artefacts and monuments, and imaginary geographies.