Monday 9th October 2006
Garth Gilmour
RELIGION IN ISRAEL IN THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES
Recent archaeological research has revealed that the Early Iron Age (c. 1200-1000 BC) in Palestine witnessed a dramatic increase in settlement and population in the central hill country as farmsteads, small villages and towns were rapidly established in hitherto sparsely settled areas. The origins and identity of the new settlers have been the subject of debate. Some scholars, such as Israel Finkelstein, have suggested that they are local pastoralists and nomads who settled down in response to the changed political and social environment, while others, like William G. Dever, insist that they are more eclectic, incorporating nomads, survivors from the collapsed Canaanite cities and other elements living in the region.
A study of the archaeology of religion in these settlements reveals little uniformity in religious practice, and a variety of influences, both local and foreign, clearly demonstrates that the newcomers are much more diverse in their origins and traditions than formerly proposed. Their religious behaviour appears to be restricted to domestic, workshop and open-air sites, with temples declining in use and eventually disappearing. The absence of temples reflects the absence of centralized authority, both political and religious, in the region during this period, which is in marked contrast to the Bronze Age Canaanite culture that it replaced and the Israelite monarchy that succeeded it. This privatization of worship and ritual in the biblical period of the Judges is also evidenced in the artifacts, both in type and distribution, which display a marked individuality absent in previous and subsequent periods. The results of this study of religion support the spatial archaeological research that has been undertaken in the highlands of Israel in recent years, casting further light on the dramatic collapse of urban society and power vacuum that followed the decline of the Canaanite civilization, a situation that was only redressed with the rise of the United Monarchy in Israel in the tenth century BC.
This research has implications too for the identity of the biblical 'Israelites‘, who can now be considered to be but one of a number of peoples or groups that moved into the region at the time of the Canaanite collapse at the end of the Bronze Age. The conservative nature of religion and its cultural longevity, even in the face of severe assimilation, render it a useful indicator of cultural origins and roots, and the archaeological study of religion in this period confirms not only the wide variety of religious expression but also the diverse origins of these religious practices.
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