DS111.1.A28

- Includes bibliographical references and index - Includes black-and-white illustrations

1. Excavating Archaeology 2. Scientific Beginnings 3. Instituting Archaeology 4. Terrains of Settler Nationhood 5. Positive Facts of Nationhood 6. Excavating Jerusalem 7. Extending Sovereignty 8. Historical Legacies 9. Archaeology and Its Aftermath 10. Conclusion

Archaeology in Israel is truly a national obsession, a practice through which national identityand national rightshave long been asserted. But how and why did archaeology emerge as such a pervasive force there? How can the practices of archaeology help answer those questions? In this stirring book, Nadia Abu El-Haj addresses these questions and specifies for the first time the relationship between national ideology, colonial settlement, and the production of historical knowledge. She analyzes particular instances of history, artifacts, and landscapes in the making to show how archaeology helped not only to legitimize cultural and political visions but, far more powerfully, to reshape them. Moreover, she places Israeli archaeology in the context of the broader discipline to determine what unites the field across its disparate local traditions and locations. Boldly uncovering an Israel in which science and politics are mutually constituted, this book shows the ongoing role that archaeology plays in defining the past, present, and future of Palestine and Israel.