Avi-Yonah Michael. Archaeology

Kater Publishing House, 1974. — 275 p. — (Israel Pocket Library).The term archaeology is derived from the two Greek words archaios ("ancient") and logos ("knowledge"). In its modern sense it has come lo mean the study of the material remains of the past and is generally restricted to the study of artifacts dating up to the end of the Middle Ages. Although the discovery ol' written material is often the result of archaeological investigations, its study does not belong to archaeology proper: the disciplines of epigraphy, paleography and numismatics are thus related to archaeology, but they can be regarded as comprising separate fields of research. The importance or archaeology obviously decreases as written so urces become more plentiful. For the period before the invention ol' writing (throughout the whole of prehistory), archaeology is the sole source of information. The written record of the Bible, however, must also be supplemented by the study of material remains: mighty peoples such as the Sumerians and Hittites would be practically unknown but for archaeology. Its results have been decisive even for the later periods, as, for example, in regard to the existence of a Jewish figurative art.