Table of Contents

Chronology of Events
Introduction
Chapter 1 The Search for Sinai: Archaeological Reflections on Moses, the Exodus, and the Revelation at Mount Sinai
Chapter 2 Searching for Kings David and Solomon and the Ancient City of Jerusalem
Chapter 3 Searching for Jesus in Galilee and Babylonia
Chapter 4 Searching Her-Stories: Women in Ancient Israel
Chapter 5 Searching for Synagogues: A Lost Synagogue Ritual Recovered by Archaeology
Chapter 6 Searching for the Mysterious Teacher of Righteousness at Qumran and in the Dead Sea Scrolls
Chapter 7 Seeking Mary: The Mother of Jesus and the Well and Bathhouse of Nazareth
Chapter 8 The Search for Bar Kokhba: One Biblical Character Who Was Found
Appendix: Exploring an Archeological Site
Acknowledgements
Bibliography

About the Author

Richard A. Freund is Maurice Greenberg Professor of Jewish History and director of the Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Hartford. He is the author of several books on biblical archaeology and has been featured on NOVA, CNN, and the History and Discovery Channels.

Reviews

Richard Freund's Digging Through the Bible is a personal account of excavating the most important sites of the Bible, and it is spellbinding. A provocative and fascinating account of the major controversies of the Bible, Judaism, and Christianity.
*Rabbi Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, New York University*

Richard Freund has produced a very readable and stimulating book that addresses a number of vexing biblical issues. Thanks to his direct involvement in excavations in Israel, he is able to offer new firsthand data to bolster the case he makes.
*James K. Hoffmeier, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School*

Digging through the Bible does something that no other book on archaeology and the Bible does. It brings the reader in a pedagogical as well as in a very updated and well-learned way from the Hebrew Bible through the New Testament, touching on most of the major contemporary controversies about Jerusalem, the Exodus, Jesus, and Qumran.
*Adolf Roitman, curator, The Shrine of the Book, The Dead Sea Scrolls, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem*

Richard Freund’s extensive knowledge of the literary and archaeological sources, as well as his insights and ability to make connections, make this a must-read for any student of the Bible. His work at numerous excavations in Israel and his experience as a professor and Rabbi make him uniquely qualified to write this lively book, which is comprehensible to both lay reader and scholar alike.
*Elizabeth McNamer, Rocky Mountain College; director, Rocky Mountain College Bethsaida Excavations Project*

A fascinating, riveting excavation through layers of history (and quite literally, earth and humankind) that will be of tremendous interest to both scholars and a general readers. Richard Freund is remarkable at casting a fresh eye on texts and artifacts that seem to be well known, but deserve more careful scrutiny.
*Michael Berkowitz, University College London*

Freund has put together a masterful and eminently readable study of these differences, not to resolve them, but rather to explore the rich traditions that produced these writings. In an invaluable introductory chapter, he leads the reader through the world of biblical archaeology, examining the methods of textual criticism and historical research. . . . He masterfully studies the rise and centrality of the synagogue system within the Hebrew community. . . . His commitment to objective research and sound exegesis will surely inspire and inform every reader.
*Publishers Weekly, (Starred Review)*

Well written and researched. . . . Recommended.
*Library Journal, December 2008*

For those who enjoy the study of biblical archaeology but don't claim to be experts, this will be a rewarding read. Freund is an informed and interesting narrator.
*The Bible Today, July/August 2009*

In fairly simple terms, [Freund] explains the different sides of each question and presents the available evidence. He describes the methodologies of biblical literary criticism and of biblical archaeology. . . . It is a good introduction to the problems of 'believing' the Bible in a post-modern, scientificized world.
*Jewish Book World, November 2009*

Freund offers an erdutite, clearly written study of the biblical Old and New Testaments, as well as inscriptional and literary evidence that relates to them. . . . Recommended.
*CHOICE, October 2009*

After providing a 46-page 'crash course' in biblical archaeology, Freund, professor of Jewish history at the University of Hartford and author of Secrets of the Cave of Letters: A Dead Sea Mystery (2004), uses archaeological finding to draw conclusions about key biblical characters and events.
*New Testament Abstracts*

Well-known biblical archaeologist Freund (archaeology & Judaic studies, Univ. of Hartford) applies his considerable historical and archaeological knowledge to controversial archaeological claims and their further uses (and abuses) in biblical studies. For him, archaeological data are no more self-evident or self-explanatory than the Bible itself: "The fact that material culture and writings are ancient . and can be `discovered' is equated in students' minds as being verifiable, quantifiable, and therefore scientific and true. Nothing could be farther from reality." He shows the subjective influences of historians, theologians, and archaeologists in interpreting their data when seeking to prove (or disprove) the truth of the Bible. Women, for example, are poorly represented textually, and therefore archaeology has limited efficacy for enlightening our view. Conversely, despite historical claims to the contrary, literary and archaeological evidence suggests that synagogues as well as churches practiced incense burning through the fourth century C.E. Well written and researched, this book seems more popular than scholarly in nature. Recommended for religion and popular collections where interest in biblical archaeology is strong.-Sandra Collins, Byzantine Catholic Seminary, Pittsburgh Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

Richard Freund's Digging Through the Bible is a personal account of excavating the most important sites of the Bible, and it is spellbinding. A provocative and fascinating account of the major controversies of the Bible, Judaism, and Christianity. -- Rabbi Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, New York University
Richard Freund has produced a very readable and stimulating book that addresses a number of vexing biblical issues. Thanks to his direct involvement in excavations in Israel, he is able to offer new firsthand data to bolster the case he makes. -- James K. Hoffmeier, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Digging through the Bible does something that no other book on archaeology and the Bible does. It brings the reader in a pedagogical as well as in a very updated and well-learned way from the Hebrew Bible through the New Testament, touching on most of the major contemporary controversies about Jerusalem, the Exodus, Jesus, and Qumran. -- Adolf Roitman, curator, The Shrine of the Book, The Dead Sea Scrolls, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Richard Freund's extensive knowledge of the literary and archaeological sources, as well as his insights and ability to make connections, make this a must-read for any student of the Bible. His work at numerous excavations in Israel and his experience as a professor and Rabbi make him uniquely qualified to write this lively book, which is comprehensible to both lay reader and scholar alike. -- Elizabeth McNamer, Rocky Mountain College; director, Rocky Mountain College Bethsaida Excavations Project
A fascinating, riveting excavation through layers of history (and quite literally, earth and humankind) that will be of tremendous interest to both scholars and a general readers. Richard Freund is remarkable at casting a fresh eye on texts and artifacts that seem to be well known, but deserve more careful scrutiny. -- Michael Berkowitz, University College London
Freund has put together a masterful and eminently readable study of these differences, not to resolve them, but rather to explore the rich traditions that produced these writings. In an invaluable introductory chapter, he leads the reader through the world of biblical archaeology, examining the methods of textual criticism and historical research. . . . He masterfully studies the rise and centrality of the synagogue system within the Hebrew community. . . . His commitment to objective research and sound exegesis will surely inspire and inform every reader. * Publishers Weekly, (Starred Review) *
Well written and researched. . . . Recommended. * Library Journal, December 2008 *
For those who enjoy the study of biblical archaeology but don't claim to be experts, this will be a rewarding read. Freund is an informed and interesting narrator. * The Bible Today, July/August 2009 *
In fairly simple terms, [Freund] explains the different sides of each question and presents the available evidence. He describes the methodologies of biblical literary criticism and of biblical archaeology. . . . It is a good introduction to the problems of 'believing' the Bible in a post-modern, scientificized world. * Jewish Book World, November 2009 *
Freund offers an erdutite, clearly written study of the biblical Old and New Testaments, as well as inscriptional and literary evidence that relates to them. . . . Recommended. * CHOICE, October 2009 *
After providing a 46-page 'crash course' in biblical archaeology, Freund, professor of Jewish history at the University of Hartford and author of Secrets of the Cave of Letters: A Dead Sea Mystery (2004), uses archaeological finding to draw conclusions about key biblical characters and events. * New Testament Abstracts *