David Cohen has an interesting profile of this week in New Scientist on the controversial archaeologist Israel Finkelstein. Finkelstein, professor of archaeology and chair of the Institute of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University, is widely recognized as a leader in the field of biblical archaeology, a devout Zionist and one of the most vocal critics of those who read the bible as fact. You might remember a few years ago, Finkelstein argued for a chronological change in the history of Megiddo, and that the biblical descriptions of the importance of King Solomon are inflated.
In Cohen's insightful piece, Finkelstein comments that the bible doesn't have to be historically accurate for it to be the root of his identity.
More on Finkelstein
Balter, Michael. 2000. The Two Tels: Armageddon For Biblical Archaeology?
Science 287(5450):31-32
Cohen, David. 2008. Interview: Separating fact and fiction in the Bible. New Scientist 198(2658):46-47.
Lawler, Andrew. 2007. Judging Jerusalem. Science 315(5812):588-591.
Faculty page of Israel Finkelstein at Tel Aviv University.
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