Books in Brief

Biblical Archaeology Today

(Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society and the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1985) 534 pp., $30.00

This is a magnificent volume! It is beautifully conceived and beautifully produced.

The text consists of the papers, comments and verbatim extemporaneous discussions presented at the International Congress on Biblical Archaeology in Jerusalem held in April 1984, which featured leading scholars from all over the world. Under the auspices of the Biblical Archaeology Society, over 70 BAR readers attended these scholarly meetings. Although they were laypeople rather than professional scholars, they were stimulated, excited and inspired by what they heard. Readers of this book will be as well.

Most of the papers are 10 or 12 pages long, so it is easy to dip in here and there as fancy dictates. After each session of four or five papers, a series of short responses, comments and questions are presented by as many as seven other scholars. Then the floor is opened to general discussion for about five pages. All this makes for lively reading.