Why Biblical Archaeology Still Matters

Biblical archaeology is not a niche offshoot of archaeology. It was there at the beginning. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, excavations in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Levant became laboratories for refining the methods that would define modern archaeology. These places—steeped in biblical history—helped establish stratigraphy, ceramic typology, and systematic field recording as essential tools for the discipline. While interpretations have evolved and been contested over time, the methodological innovations born in these ancient lands continue to underpin archaeology today. In a real sense, modern archaeology and biblical archaeology grew up together.

That shared origin makes our current moment particularly striking. In his recent essay, “Putting the Bible Back in Biblical Archaeology,” for the Winter 2025 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, Aaron A. Burke revisits long-standing anxieties about the field’s future—echoing earlier warnings from William Dever that biblical archaeology might be in decline. Faculty lines have been reduced. Funding has tightened. Long-term field projects have become more difficult to sustain. Burke acknowledges these pressures but argues that institutional strain is only part of the problem.

The deeper issue is identity.

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The question today is no longer whether archaeology should be driven by the Bible in a dogmatic sense. Few serious scholars would argue that it should. The era of excavating primarily to “prove” scripture has passed. Yet the pendulum can swing too far. If biblical archaeology dissolves entirely into generic Levantine archaeology—if the Bible is bracketed off—does something essential get lost?

Burke argues that it does. Biblical archaeology occupies a distinct intellectual space. It brings material culture into conversation with one of the most influential texts in human history. It serves as a check against both religious fundamentalism and political misuse of archaeology. It also guards against superficial readings of biblical texts by insisting that they be interpreted within historically grounded contexts. In short, biblical archaeology refuses to let either artifacts or texts speak in isolation.

That refusal is increasingly difficult in an age of specialization. Biblical archaeology sits at the intersection of multiple disciplines: field archaeology with its stratigraphy and ceramic chronologies; biblical studies with its demands of ancient languages, textual criticism, and literary history; ancient Near Eastern history; anthropology; and an expanding array of scientific methods—from residue analysis to isotopic and DNA studies. No single discipline can adequately address all of these dimensions.

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Burke worries about an “either-or” mentality taking hold: either scientific archaeology or textual scholarship; either laboratory data or literary analysis. But such fragmentation risks creating silos that no longer engage each other. Archaeologists who ignore textual sources may underinterpret their finds. Text scholars detached from material culture risk abstracting the Bible from the world that produced it. Scientific data, untethered from historical context, can generate headlines faster than understanding.

The future of biblical archaeology, for Burke, depends on scholars trained broadly enough to hold these conversations together—people who can read stratigraphy and Biblical Hebrew, evaluate laboratory results and historical criticism, and conduct question-driven research. Interdisciplinary competence is a necessity.

In this light, the field’s future is not simply about preserving a name. It is about preserving a mode of inquiry. Biblical archaeology embodies a productive tension: how to use the Bible as a historical source without subordinating archaeology to it; how to pursue scientific rigor without evacuating interpretation of textual depth. If modern archaeology was partly forged in that tension, perhaps its continued vitality depends on refusing to abandon it.

Can archaeology afford to forget the texts that shaped some of the major cultures it excavates? And can biblical studies afford to ignore the material world that gave those texts form? Burke’s essay suggests the future of the discipline depends on refusing that false choice.

For more, read the article “Putting the Bible Back in Biblical Archaeology” in the Winter 2025 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

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Lauren K. McCormick is an assistant editor at Biblical Archaeology Review and a specialist in ancient Near Eastern religions, visual culture, and the Bible. She holds degrees in religion from Syracuse University, Duke University, New York University, and Rutgers University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship on religion and the public conversation at Princeton University.

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