Books in Brief

Primary Sources

Biblical Archaeology: Documents from the British Museum

T. C. Mitchell (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1988) 112 pp., 73 illustrations, $12.95, paper

With this book, T. C. Mitchell, Keeper of Western Asiatic Antiquities in the British Museum, continues in a long tradition of British Museum scholars who have utilized the unparalleled collection of inscriptions and other antiquities in their care to illuminate aspects of Biblical history and culture for a popular audience. The author has selected 60 “documents” that are relevant for a fuller understanding of the Biblical world. Most of these are, in fact, documents or are objects that bear inscriptions; but some uninscribed artifacts of pottery, ivory and statuary are also classified as documents for purposes of their presentation in this book. Mitchell also includes two inscriptions from outside the museum because of their special importance to Biblical history: the Merneptah stela (Cairo), which contains the earliest extra Biblical mention of the Israelite people in Canaan (late 13th century B.C.), and the Moabite stone (Louvre), which relates the story of the ninth-century B.C. conflict between Israel and Moab from the Moabite point of view.

After brief introductory comments on the scope and history of Biblical archaeology, on ancient writing systems and on the Biblical world, Mitchell presents his selection of documents in chronological order. Each is described and illustrated, and its importance in the context of Biblical studies is discussed.