Digging for Truth Beneath Faiths
Avraham Burg sits down with Dr. Katja Soennecken, who has been part of numerous excavations across the Holy Land. Together, they explore the question of “what is biblical archaeology” and how much is it affected by modern political and religious motivations. Dr. Soennecken highlights the academic independence of the field of archaeology, even with an ideologically charged climate which often seeks to utilize archaeology for its own ends. Soennecken also addresses the complicated question of the history of Jerusalem and what that does and does not mean for modern identity politics.
Experience the Episode
Presented by Notre Dame Jerusalem
Avraham Burg sits down with Dr. Katja Soennecken, who has been part of numerous excavations across the Holy Land. Together, they explore the question of “what is biblical archaeology” and how much is it affected by modern political and religious motivations. Dr. Soennecken highlights the academic independence of the field of archaeology, even with an ideologically charged climate which often seeks to utilize archaeology for its own ends. Soennecken also addresses the complicated question of the history of Jerusalem and what that does and does not mean for modern identity politics.
MoreMeet the Speaker: Dr. Katja Soennecken
Dr. Katja Soennecken is an assistant professor of biblical archaeology at the Luxembourg School of Religion & Society and deputy director of the German Protestant Institute for Ancient Studies of the Holy Land in Jerusalem. She is working on her habilitation with the working title “Sea Peoples outside the Pentapolis? Material culture, cult and political power beyond the Pentapolis.” In cooperation with Katia Cytryn, she is leading the excavations in Tiberias, a joint project of the DEI and the Hebrew University.
She studied classical archaeology, jewish studies and protestant theology and completed her doctorate in biblical archaeology at the University of Wuppertal. She is also a pastor of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland.