Table Of ContentLIBRARY OF HEBREW BIBLE/
OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES
519
Formerly Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series
Editors
Claudia V. Camp, Texas Christian University
Andrew Mein, Westcott House, Cambridge
Founding Editors
David J. A. Clines, Philip R. Davies and David M. Gunn
Editorial Board
Richard J. Coggins, Alan Cooper, John Goldingay, Robert P. Gordon,
Norman K. Gottwald, Gina Hens-Piazza, John Jarick, Andrew D. H. Mayes,
Carol Meyers, Patrick D. Miller, Yvonne Sherwood
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COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVES
ON ISRAELITE IDENTITY
Dermot Anthony Nestor
Copyright © 2010 by Dermot Anthony Nestor
Published by T & T Clark International
A Continuum imprint
80 Maiden Lane, New York, NY 10038
The Tower Building, 11 York Road, London SE1 7NX
www.continuumbooks.com
Visit the T & T Clark blog at www.tandtclarkblog.com
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher, T & T Clark
International.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN: 978-0-567-01297-5 (hardback)
Typeset and copy-edited by Forthcoming Publications Ltd. (www.forthpub.com)
Printed in the United States of America
This work is dedicated
to the memory of my sister
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xi
INTRODUCTION 1
Chapter 1
CLASSIFICATION AND CATEGORIZATION IN THE HUMAN SCIENCES 12
1. The Rise of the Concept of Race 12
2. Social Evolution and Race 21
3. Human Evolution and the Concept of Culture(s) 30
Chapter 2
NATIONALIST ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE EMERGENCE
OF THE CULTURE HISTORICAL PARADIGM 46
1. Archaeology and Evolution 46
2. Archaeology and the Question of National Identity:
Gustav Kossinna 50
3. Archaeology and Culture: V. Gordon Childe 59
4. Archaeology and the Identity of Israel 68
Chapter 3
ETHNICITY: A THEORETICAL REVIEW 77
1. The Emergence of “Ethnicity” 78
2. Primordialism and Instrumentalism in the Study of Ethnicity 84
Chapter 4
ETHNICITY AS COGNITION 101
1. Cognitive Perspectives on Ethnicity and Identity 104
2. Ethnicity as Cognition: Pierre Bourdieu 112
Chapter 5
ETHNICITY AND MATERIAL CULTURE 126
1. The Loss of Innocence 126
2. New Archaeology and the Ethnic Implications of Style 131
3. Style as Active Communication 137
4. The Archaeology of “Practice” 144
viii Cognitive Perspectives on Israelite Identity
Chapter 6
ISRAELITE IDENTITY AND ARCHAEOLOGY 157
1. The Identity of Archaeology and the Archaeology of Identity 157
2. Biblical Archaeology and La Longue Durée 158
3. Archaeology and Israelite Identity 170
4. Israel in the Merneptah Stele 178
5. “Israel” as an Essentialist Category of Social Cognition 187
Chapter 7
ISRAELITE IDENTITY AND THE HEBREW BIBLE 192
1. Israelite Ethnicity and Biblical Archaeology 192
2. Ethnic Sentiments in the Hebrew Bible 194
3. The Hebrew Bible and the “Creation” of Israelite Identity 208
Chapter 8
ISRAELITE IDENTITY: DEFINING THE BOUNDARIES 216
1. Ideology, Doxa and the Boundaries of Israelite Identity 216
2. Common Sense as Social Power 222
CONCLUSION 237
Bibliography 241
Index of References 269
Index of Authors 270
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Though presented as the work of an individual author, the completion of
the present study would not have been possible without the assistance,
guidance and support of a great many individuals. Principal among these
are Professor A. D. H. Mayes and Dr Ann Fitzpatrick-McKinley, who
encouraged me to revisit my original doctoral dissertation as a basis for
this study. For ensuring that virtually nothing of that dissertation has sur-
vived, I owe a tremendous debt to the students of the School of Religions
and Theology at Trinity College, Dublin. The honesty and enthusiasm
with which they responded to many of the ideas contained in this work
was a constant source of inspiration. I am also very grateful to my
colleagues in the School; their willingness to comment and critique on
drafts of this study went well beyond what could normally be expected.
Deserving of special mention in this regard is my “room-mate” at
Trinity, Dr John Scally. The opportunity to dissect all sporting matters
provided a very welcome release from the job at hand.
Special thanks are also due to Dr Andrew Mein, co-editor of the
LHBOTS series, who showed great faith in my work from the very
beginning and whose insight and analysis were offered with great
encouragement.
I would also like to express my immense gratitude to Dr David Deane
and Ms Alison Kelly, whose intellectual curiosity and critical sophistica-
tion played a signi(cid:1)cant role in bringing this study to fruition.
For (cid:1)nancial assistance that allowed for the completion of this work I
am greatly indebted to the generosity of Professor Sean Freyne and
Professor Brian McGing at the Centre for Mediterranean and Near
Eastern Studies at Trinity College, Dublin.
For so much, all so generously given, my greatest debt and deepest
gratitude is to my wife Mary and my son James. Without their unswerv-
ing love and support this work could never have been completed.
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