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Biblical Archaeology Reading List

My friend Terrance, who is finishing up his Ph.D. in Biblical Archaeology, gave me this suggested reading list when I asked him the best way to become knowledgeable in his field. As he said in our conversation, if you spend one hour every day studying this or any other subject you should be an expert in 3 years. Whether that is true or not, this list of books and journals will probably keep you reading for that entire time, and I doubt you will end up any worse for the wear.

General Texts

• Archaeology of the Land of the Bible (Anchor Bible Reference), Vol. 1, by Amihai Mazar
• Archaeology of the Land of the Bible: The Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Periods (732-332 B.C.E.), Vol. 2, by Ephraim Stern
• The Archaeology of Ancient Israel, edited by Amnon Ben-Tor
• The Archaeology of the Land of Israel: From the Prehistoric Beginnings to the End of the First Temple Period, by Yohanan Aharoni
• Biblical Archaeology, by William Dever and Shalom Paul
• Biblical Archaeology, by George Ernest Wright
• The Archaeology of Palestine, by W. F. Albright

Historical Geography

• The Land of the Bible: A Historical Geography, by Yohanan Aharoni
• The Historical Geography of the Holy Land, by George Adam Smith
• Toponymics of Eretz Israel BASOR Article, by Anson Rainey
• East of the Jordan: Territories and Sites of the Hebrew Scriptures (Asor Books, V. 6), by Burton MacDonald

Israelite Settlement (Exodus)

• The Archaeology of the Israelite Settlement, by Israel Finkelstein
• Redating the Exodus and Conquest (Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series No. 5), by John J. Bimson
• Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition, by James K. Hoffmeier
• The Origin of Early Israel--Current Debate; Biblical, Historical and Archaeological Perspectives, edited by Shmuel Ahituv and Eliezer Oren

Chronology

• Handbook of Biblical Chronology: Principles of Time Reckoning in the Ancient World and Problems of Chronology in the Bible, by Jack Finegan
• The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, by Edwin R. Thiele

Journals You MUST Read

• Excavations and Surveys in Israel (English version of the Israeli Antiquities Authority's Hadashot Arkhelogiyot
• Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (BASOR)
• Israel Exploration Journal (IEJ)
• Palestine Exploration Quarterly (PEQ),
• Tel Aviv, Journal of the Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University
• Levant, annual journal of the Council for British Research in the Levant
• Journal of Near Eastern Studies (JNES), University of Chicago

Reference Works to Own

• The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land (NEAEHL)
• The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East (OEANE), by the American Schools of Oriental Research
• Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, edited by Jack M. Sasson
• The Context of Scripture, edited by William W. Hallo and K. Lawson Younger
• Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, edited by James Bennett Pritchard
• Ancient Near East in Pictures Relating to the Old Testament, edited by James Bennett Pritchard

History

• A History of Israel, by John Bright
• A History of Ancient Israel and Judah, by J. Maxwell Miller and John Haralson Hayes

Archaeology

• A Complete Manual of Field Archaeology, by Martha Joukowsky
• Benchmarks in Time and Culture: An Introduction to Palestinian Archaeology, by Joel F. Drinkard, Jr.; Gerald L. Mattingly; and James Maxwell Miller
• The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, by Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman