Bryant G. Wood (born 1936) is an American
biblical archaeologist
''Near Eastern Archaeology'' is an American journal covering art, archaeology, history, anthropology, literature, philology, and epigraphy of the Near Eastern and Mediterranean worlds from the Palaeolithic through Ottoman periods. The journal is ...
and
young earth creationist
Young Earth creationism (YEC) is a form of creationism which holds as a central tenet that the Earth and its lifeforms were created by supernatural acts of the Abrahamic God between approximately 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. In its most widesp ...
. Wood is known for arguing that the
destruction of Jericho could be accorded with the
biblical literalist chronology
Biblical literalist chronology is the attempt to correlate the historical dates used in the Bible with the chronology of actual events. Some of the better-known calculations include Archbishop James Ussher, who placed it in 4004 BC, Isaac Newt ...
of c. 1400 BC. This date is some 150 years later than the accepted date of c. 1550 BC, first determined by
Kathleen Kenyon
Dame Kathleen Mary Kenyon, (5 January 1906 – 24 August 1978) was a British archaeologist of Neolithic culture in the Fertile Crescent. She led excavations of Tell es-Sultan, the site of ancient Jericho, from 1952 to 1958, and has been called ...
and subsequently confirmed with a variety of methods including
radiocarbon dating.
Academic career
Wood attended
Syracuse University, graduating with a B.S. in mechanical engineering, later earning a M.S. in mechanical engineering from
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany ...
. He later pursued biblical and archaeological studies and received an M.A. in Biblical History from the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
in 1974 and a PhD in Syro-Palestinian archaeology from the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...
in 1985. Wood is a specialist in Canaanite pottery of the
Late Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
. He is author of ''The Sociology of Pottery in Ancient Palestine: The Ceramic Industry and the Diffusion of Ceramic Style in the Bronze and Iron Ages'' (1990), as well as numerous articles on archaeological subjects. He received international attention for his proposed redating of ancient
Jericho, arguing for the historicity of a
biblically literalist account of the capture of the city by the Israelites. He has also written on the entry of the
Philistines
The Philistines ( he, פְּלִשְׁתִּים, Pəlīštīm; Koine Greek (LXX): Φυλιστιείμ, romanized: ''Phulistieím'') were an ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan from the 12th century BC until 604 BC, whe ...
into
Canaan
Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...
and on the historicity of the Biblical story of
Sodom and Gomorrah.
He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Near East Archaeological Society.
''Bible and Spade'' and other contributions
Wood serves as editor in chief of the quarterly publication ''Bible and Spade'' (published by the
inerrantist organisation Associates for Biblical Research), which describes itself as "
Christian Apologetics Ministry Dedicated to Demonstrating the Historical Reliability of the Bible through Archaeological and Biblical Research". The magazine concentrates largely on matters relating to archaeology and Bible history, but also touches on general
apologetics
Apologetics (from Greek , "speaking in defense") is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics an ...
(especially the relationship between science and evangelical religious belief) and Christian devotion. ''Bible and Spade'' is a quarterly
magazine committed to the use of
archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...
to demonstrate the historical veracity of the
Old and
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...
s. The
editor-in-chief
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies.
The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
is listed as Wood. The headquarters is in
Akron, PA.
It states its creationist commitment as follows:
*We believe the accounts found in Genesis 1–11 contain factual and real-time, chronology, historical events, places, and persons. This includes the accuracy and real historicity of the persons, ages, and events recorded in the genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11, which may or may not be exhaustive. These records incorporate the accounts of those who were eyewitnesses to the events recorded. We find no biblical, hermeneutical, or exegetical basis to interpret them allegorically, non-historically, or mythically. These accounts do not require knowledge of Ancient Near Eastern literature to be interpreted correctly. We deny that God used erroneous worldviews from ANE mythology to inspire the writing of Genesis 1–11.
* We consider the patriarchal narratives of Genesis 12–50 to be historically accurate in their reporting of chronology, persons, places, events, and cultural customs and background. Further, we believe that the extensive chronological data found in both the Old and New Testaments is historically accurate.
Wood is also a contributor to the ''
Biblical Archaeology Review
''Biblical Archaeology Review'' is a magazine appearing every three months and sometimes referred to as ''BAR'' that seeks to connect the academic study of archaeology to a broad general audience seeking to understand the world of the Bible, the ...
'', the ''
Israel Exploration Journal
The ''Israel Exploration Journal'' is a biannual academic journal which has been published by the Israel Exploration Society since 1950. It primarily covers research in archaeology, but also history and geography relating to Israel and the surrou ...
'' and the ''
Near East Archaeological Society Bulletin
The ''Near East Archaeological Society Bulletin'' (NEASB) is a peer-reviewed journal published annually by the Near East Archaeological Society (NEAS).
Since the first volume in 1958, the bulletin has printed articles and book reviews on ancien ...
''.
Jericho
During a series of excavations from 1930 to 1936
John Garstang
John Garstang (5 May 1876 – 12 September 1956) was a British archaeologist of the Ancient Near East, especially Egypt, Sudan, Anatolia and the southern Levant. He was the younger brother of Professor Walter Garstang, FRS, a marine bi ...
found a destruction layer at Jericho corresponding to the termination of City IV which he identified with the biblical story of Joshua and dated to c. 1400 BC.
It was therefore a shock when
Kathleen Kenyon
Dame Kathleen Mary Kenyon, (5 January 1906 – 24 August 1978) was a British archaeologist of Neolithic culture in the Fertile Crescent. She led excavations of Tell es-Sultan, the site of ancient Jericho, from 1952 to 1958, and has been called ...
in the 1950s, using more scientific methods than had been available to Garstang, redated Jericho City IV to 1550 BC and found no signs of any habitation at all for the period around 1400 BC. Wood's 1990 reversion of City IV to Garstang's original 1400 BC therefore attracted considerable attention. Wood based his belief on the story in the biblical
book of Joshua, Jericho was the first
Canaan
Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...
ite city to fall to the
Israelites
The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan.
The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
as they began their conquest of the Promised Land - an event which Wood places at around 1406 BC due to his interpretation of
1 Kings 6:1. In 1999, based on a reanalysis of pottery shards, Wood argued that Jericho could have been captured in the Late Bronze Age by Joshua.
Wood and Piotr Bienkowski debated this in the March/April 1990 issue of ''
Biblical Archaeology Review
''Biblical Archaeology Review'' is a magazine appearing every three months and sometimes referred to as ''BAR'' that seeks to connect the academic study of archaeology to a broad general audience seeking to understand the world of the Bible, the ...
'', with Bienkowski writing:
Wood has attempted to redate the destruction of Jericho City IV from the end of the Middle Bronze Age (c. 1550 B.C.) to the end of the Late Bronze I (c. 1400 BC). He has put forward four lines of argument to support his conclusion. Not a single one of these arguments can stand up to scrutiny. On the contrary, there is strong evidence to confirm Kathleen Kenyon's dating of City IV to the Middle Bronze Age. Wood's attempt to equate the destruction of City IV with the Israelite conquest of Jericho must therefore be rejected.
Wood responded that he had produced evidence to back his argument, and that any counter-claims should also be backed by fresh evidence. In 1995 new evidence became available in the form of charred cereal grains from the City IV destruction layer. Radiocarbon dating of these grains showed that Jericho City IV was destroyed "during the late 17th or the 16th century BC", in line with Kenyon's findings, and that "the fortified Bronze Age city at Tell es-Sultan
erichowas not destroyed by ca.1400 BC, as Wood suggested". Wood responded to the newer evidence in an article for the ''Bible and Spade'' magazine, concluding that he still held to the date ca. 1400 B.C. based on pottery finds. Wood also argues that the discrepancy is part of the ongoing dispute between Egyptologists and radiocarbon experts that centers around the
date of the Thera eruption. Kenyon's date is consensually accepted by mainstream archaeologists.
William G. Dever
William Gwinn Dever (born November 27, 1933, Louisville, Kentucky) is an American archaeologist, Old Testament scholar, and historian, specialized in the history of the Ancient Near East and the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah in biblical ...
dismissed Wood's theories stating: "Of course, for some, that only made the Biblical story more miraculous than ever—Joshua destroyed a city that wasn't even there!" According to Ann E. Killebrew, "Most scholars today accept that the majority of the conquest narratives in the book of Joshua are devoid of historical reality".
Khirbet el-Maqatir
Wood directed excavations at Khirbet el-Maqatir, a city which he and his associates contend may be the biblical city of
Ai. (The traditional location of Ai,
et-Tell
Et-Tell ( ar, التل, translit=, lit=the ruin-heap) is an archaeological site in the West Bank, commonly identified with the biblical city of Ai.
Location
The site of et-Tell is just beside the modern village of Deir Dibwan and about 3&nb ...
, was excavated most recently by
Joseph Callaway
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
and was found to have been abandoned during the entirety of the Middle Bronze and Late Bronze Ages.) Khirbet el-Maqatir has produced pottery of the Early Bronze, Middle Bronze, Late Bronze I, Iron Age I, late Hellenistic/early Roman, and Byzantine periods. Based on initial finds, including a small Late Bronze I fortress that was destroyed by fire - some two centuries earlier than the date usually considered for the events of
Book of Joshua - their "preliminary conclusion is that the LB I fortress meets the Biblical requirements to be tentatively identified as the fortress
Ai, referred to in
Josh. 7–
8." They see a nearby
wadi
Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water ...
as the hiding place of the Israelites before the ambush, and they have found that the fortress had a gate. These points fit the limited and commonplace topographic details ascribed to Ai in the Bible.
This identification has not gained acceptance. The present-day consensus is that there never was an Israelite conquest of Canaan.
Personal life
Wood is an
evangelical christian
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...
. He supports
biblical literalism
Biblical literalism or biblicism is a term used differently by different authors concerning biblical interpretation. It can equate to the dictionary definition of literalism: "adherence to the exact letter or the literal sense", where literal mea ...
and considers himself a
young Earth creationist
Young Earth creationism (YEC) is a form of creationism which holds as a central tenet that the Earth and its lifeforms were created by supernatural acts of the Abrahamic God between approximately 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. In its most widesp ...
. He is married to Faith Wood, and lives in
Manheim, Pennsylvania.
Works
Books
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Articles
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PDF
Notes
Bibliography
*Manfred Bietak and Felix Höflmayer, "Introduction: High and Low Chronology," pp. 13–23 in ''The Synchronization of Civilisations in the Eastern Mediterranean in the Second Millenium B.C. III'', eds. Manfred Bietak and Ernst Czerny, Vienna: Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschanften, 2007.
*Bruins & van der Plicht, "Tell es-Sultan (Jericho): Radiocarbon Results of Short-Lived Cereal and Multiyear Charcoal Samples from the End of the Middle Bronze Age," ''Radiocarbon'' 37:2, 1995.
*John Garstang, ''Joshua-Judges'', Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1978 reprint of 1931 edition.
External links
Wood's interpretation of the Jericho evidenceIs Bryant Wood's chronology of Jericho valid? A critical examinationBryant Wood's own site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Bryant G.
American archaeologists
American biblical scholars
American Christian Young Earth creationists
Living people
Old Testament scholars
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni
Syracuse University alumni
University of Michigan alumni
University of Toronto alumni
1936 births