In the past decade or so, the deconstructionist mode of textual analysis—especially in the form of new literary criticism sketched above—has made such inroads in biblical studies that the traditional historical exegesis and criticism that have ruled for more than a century are often dismissed today as passé. If the search for “history” and for historical exegesis of texts is obsolete, the archaeology of the “biblical world” is irrelevant. That may explain why archaeology is neglected or at best misunderstood almost everywhere in biblical studies and theology today.
