Scratched Silver and Painted Walls: Can We Date Biblical Texts Archaeologically?

This article is a contribution to ongoing discussions about the problem of dating biblical texts. Initially, it sketches briefly progress in dating—defining "progress" as movement toward a designated goal that is measurable by the success with which researchers are able to determine and eliminate incorrect answers to their questions—made by employing literary, socio-anthropological, and linguistic criteria. It then considers the usefulness of archaeological discoveries for such dating through an evaluation of what might be learned from Iron Age inscriptions with biblical connections discovered in excavations, concluding that "the contribution of archaeology to dating biblical texts is nil."