Land has been fought over in every century, and it continues to play an important ideological role in political struggles for territorial legitimacy. Today, there can be few more bitter ideological struggles than that in the Middle East, where nationalism and religious dogmatism have been integrated with the study of archaeology in order to 'prove' the authenticity of the Bible and legitimise the construction of the Israeli nation state. Political Archaeology and Holy Nationalism investigates this highly controversial topic, examining the ways in w chich the supposedly objective science of archaeology has been used in Israel to distort and buttress Israeli claims to the lands of Israel. Oestigaard shows how these claims hark back -- with a painful irony -- to the distortions and false claims make by Nazi archaeologists in the Third Reich. Until now no-one has shown explicitly that Israel has used archaeology in the same way as the Nazis because this has been a taboo topic. Political Archaeology and Holy Nationalism shows how fundamental questions must be asked about the nature of biblical archaeology, and demands that archaeologists take moral responsibility for their work.
As archaeology is a science there is no place for religious dogmatism, and scientific evidence must be based on facts rather than beliefs.
- ISBN10 074531855X
- ISBN13 9780745318554
- Publish Date 20 January 2013
- Publish Status Cancelled
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Pluto Press
- Format Paperback (UK Trade)
- Pages 144
- Language English