Two Truths and a Bunch of Lies: Insights into Biblical Archaeology from a Conspiracy Theorist

This article was prompted by a controversial figure whose eloquent characterization of archaeology I heard by happenstance and felt it was important enough to share, with other thoughts on the topic.

The Torah content for this week has been sponsored by Isaac, out of Hakaras HaTov to Hashem for giving him a new job that will enable him to continue to learn and to grow.

Artwork: Meta AI’s response to the prompt: “aerial photograph of ancient ruins in the shape of a six-pointed Star of David hexagram.” You’d be surprised by how many attempts this took me.

Two Truths and a Bunch of Lies: Insights into Biblical Archaeology from a Conspiracy Theorist

Preface: My first attempt at organizing my thoughts on this topic took the form of a two-part shiur I gave in early 2021 entitled “Some Guidelines for Thinking About Biblical Historicity vs. Archaeology.” The shiur (which can be accessed here and here) was largely a repackaging of insights I gleaned from reading the writings of Rabbi Dr. Joshua Berman and Rabbi Dr. Dovid Gottlieb.

Part of me hoped that this article would turn out to be a definitive, comprehensive presentation of my thoughts on biblical archaeology. After several failed attempts to write such an article, and after spinning my wheels for a month-and-a-half, I decided to just wrap it up and publish it as is. This is also why I’ve decided to keep this article entirely behind a paywall. That, and because I don’t want to get canceled because of the name I mention in the first sentence of the article. 😬