Text and Tablet: Near Eastern Archaeology, the Old Testament and New Possibilities

by Arthur Gibson, Brook W.R. Pearson

This title was first published in 2000. Text and Tablet balances a blend of logic, post-analytical philosophy, French philosophy and literary criticism to carefully introduce some of these issues to the reader. Just as writers such as Derrida and Kermode have been interested in relating religion and philosophy to literature, so this book extends the idea of multidisciplinary synthesis to connect ancient and modern issues. Linking philosophy to literature, Old Testament texts and studies, Near East archaeology, and Religious ideas and debates in fresh ways, the author explores ancient texts and sites and developing interpretations of some recent excavations. Addressing issues raised by leading thinkers (Chomsky, Deleuze, Wittgenstein, Renfrew, Barr) on language, life and history, Gibson seeks to challenge many entrenched views based on familiar discoveries and proposes fresh engagement between the interpretation of Old Testament studies and archaeology, using a new, multidisciplinary analysis.

292 pages, Hardcover

Published December 3, 2019

About the author

I live in Southwestern British Columbia with my family. I work at my Grandfather's old rolltop desk most days for at least an hour or two instead of actually sleeping since my mind rarely leaves me alone. Unfortunately my mind also does not have an edit button so I then am doomed to spend more time filtering and editing what comes out in the middle of the night in order to make it make any kind of sense. Naturally I would like to thank my family for putting up with me. I would like to take this opportunity to send them my appreciation for not drugging me every night in order to silence the clicking of the keyboard at 2am.