Lesson Plan: Edit a Summary Paragraph
Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
In-class editing (bold) on of summary/abstract (from Old Testament Abstracts) of the Maidman article:
(Insert Introduction) European interest in the archaeology of the ancient Near East developed seriously during the nineteenth century, largely as a result of significant changes in intellectual models, e.g., Darwinism. One effect of Darwinism was its challenge to the divinely assured truth of the Bible, and especially the early parts of Genesis. Archaeology, however, seemed to bring tangible evidence for the veracity of the Bible. The 'scientific' examination of the patriarchal narratives was led by W. F. Albright (archaeology) and J. Wellhausen (biblical texts). M. notes that Albright was a believing Christian and a historical positivist, which affected his research and interpretation of that research. Thus Albright focused his attention on the first half of the second millennium B.C.E., where biblical chronology seemed to place the patriarchs. Taking a different approach, Wellhausen applied Darwinian notions concerning organisms to societies and civilizations using the biblical texts. Wellhausen's major contribution was the articulation of the mature documentary hypothesis as an explanation of the composition of the Torah. His conclusion that even the earliest tales of the patriarchs are to be dated in the Iron Age undermines Albrightian positivism. M. concludes that the search for the patriarchs runs up against an insurmountable barrier: the stories of the Genesis and the record of the surrounding world of ancient Israel seem to exist in ignorance of each other.
(Note: This summary/abstract contains materials—such as the last, italicized sentence—that reflect quotations from Maidman's article that have not been cited properly. Emphasize to class that direct quotations from the article should have been marked as such by the author of this abstract.)
[Abstracted by: Jodi Magness] Abstract Number: OTA27-2004-FEB-230
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