Dig This - Kathleen Kenyon

1906–78

There are two main ways to study history. One is to study it in books; the other is to dig it up. Kathleen Kenyon’s father was a Bible scholar who became director of the British Museum, but his daughter preferred to play in the dirt. Kathleen became one of the foremost archaeologists of the twentieth century.

After conducting some important excavations in Zimbabwe and England, Kathleen moved to Jerusalem, directing the British School of Archaeology there. She turned her attention to the site of Jericho. Recent developments in carbon dating and site management led to a number of new (can we say “groundbreaking”?) discoveries. Kathleen pioneered a method of stratigraphy—analyzing layers (strata) of a dig. Since ancient cities were usually built on the rubble of older cities, archaeologists can find artifacts from different periods of history in different layers of the same site. Using stratigraphy and other methods, Kenyon determined that Jericho was probably the oldest continuously occupied settlement on earth, dating back to the 7000s BC or earlier.

The field of biblical archaeology was forever changed by Kathleen’s work—though some Christians criticized her for challenging the scriptural record. At Jericho, Kathleen did not find evidence of Joshua’s famous conquest, and this made her wonder publicly if there were other ways to read the biblical text. While she was a Christian, she was also a historian, and she had to report honestly what she found—and didn’t find.

In our lives, we are sometimes tempted to “sell” the gospel by making claims that aren’t entirely true. Will Jesus make all your problems go away? No. Has he turned you into a perfect person? No. Will he make you rich, powerful, and better looking? Probably not.

We need to speak truthfully about what God is doing in our lives. Excavate what’s really going on in your heart and soul, and that should give ample testimony to the reality of Christ. Don’t polish the story. Don’t “market” the truth. Just dig through all your layers of personhood and share your story as a flawed but faith-driven follower of a forgiving Savior. People will reject a sales pitch. They’ll respond to your honest story.

It was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho for seven days, and the walls came crashing down.

Hebrews 11:30