Facts on the Ground: Archaeological Practice and Territorial Self-Fashioning in Israeli Society

by Nadia Abu El-Haj

Archaeology in Israel is truly a national obsession, a practice through which national identity—and national rights—have long been asserted. But how and why did archaeology emerge as such a pervasive force there? How can the practices of archaeology help answer those questions? In this stirring book, Nadia Abu El-Haj addresses these questions and specifies for the first time the relationship between national ideology, colonial settlement, and the production of historical knowledge. She analyzes particular instances of history, artifacts, and landscapes in the making to show how archaeology helped not only to legitimize cultural and political visions but, far more powerfully, to reshape them. Moreover, she places Israeli archaeology in the context of the broader discipline to determine what unites the field across its disparate local traditions and locations.

Boldly uncovering an Israel in which science and politics are mutually constituted, this book shows the ongoing role that archaeology plays in defining the past, present, and future of Palestine and Israel.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction, Anthropology, Archaeology, Middle East, Ethnography

363 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2002

About the author

Nadia Abu El-Haj is Ann Whitney Olin Professor in the Departments of Anthropology at Barnard College and Columbia University and a recipient of numerous awards, including the MacArthur Fellowship.

Reviews

[Lionel Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an academic book that examines the politics of archaeology in Israel and the implications for the national identity of the nation. The author makes the argument that archaeology and the forging of nationhood particularly in the case of Israel. Many of the early archaeological digs ignored any history after periods associated with the biblical stories and digs that and artifacts from certain time periods were interpreted as Jewish sometimes without good evidence of this. According to the author, this is because the archaeology of Israel and other countries that are in search of national identity is used to forge that identity. A good but of the book focuses on the artifacts of a series of digs done near the western wall in Jerusalem. This is an especially politically sensitive area in Israel and the dig due to its location and the artifacts and ruins uncovered have a large amount of political significance. But this consensus has not gone unchallenged from other groups in the country as the author points out in the latter chapter. This is a very interesting book that, while it is not the easiest read, is necessary for understanding the history of Israel and as well as the politics involved in the interpretation of it's past.

[Elizabeth]

As discussed in Jane Kramer's "The Petition" in the 14 Apr 2008 issue of The New Yorker. Nadia Abu El-Haj was also formerly associated with the University of Chicago, and this book was published by the University of Chicago Press.

On the other hand, I don't know if I'm equipped to read a scholarly archeology text.

[Misamay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Important argument, horrible execution-just like the author, the book alienates the reader with it's pontifical word selection and elitist veneer.

[Coolguy]

Controversial, yet obvious