The Archaeology of Myth

Israelite religion is studied overwhelmingly in historical categories, on the basis of its so-called 'historical faith'. Myth as a category is often explicitly denied as being present in the Bible. This volume resumes the author's concern (already addressed in The Mythic Mind, Equinox 2005) to recognize the importance of mythological categories in discussing any religion, and especially Israelite religion, as a means of redressing this perceived imbalance in the field. Having said this, myths themselves have histories, and the first five chapters in the present collection explore the shaping of various key biblical narratives and themes, with a view to showing how they developed from primitive forms into the distinctive final forms of the text. The last chapter resumes the author's discussion of the general theoretical issues involved in the treatment of myth in the biblical context, arguing that the concept shares many features with history, not least in the concern for both categories to reinforce and even shape social memories and values.