Theology
and archaeology collaborate in this project to investigate the relationships
between different social and religious groups living at the site of ancient
Colossae, Turkey.
Colossae was a unique and important site in the ancient world, and was a
central place for the growth of early Christianity.
Currently, the site is unexcavated and holds interest for archaeologists,
biblical scholars and theologians. The trans-geographical and cross-cultural
bridge the site offers in terms of ongoing research is unique.
Its participants will move between Australia and Turkey; between our contemporary
Western world and the ancient Middle East.
This is a timely collaboration of two schools from the Faculty of Education,
Humanities, Law and Theology of Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia,
providing the possibility of international cooperation in education and research.
Archaeology & Theology in Dialogue
The project relies on a particular philosophy of education and a style of
research that is inter-disciplinary and collaborative. This approach highlights
the nature of archaeology and theology and confirms the possibility of inter-disciplinary
collaboration without one discipline having hegemony over the other. The project
also indirectly explores the purpose of a University in its effort to expand
the horizon of knowledge accessible to the wider community.
From
this educational context, theologians and biblical scholars will help deepen
the interpretation as they seek to offer insights into the religious and mythological
context of the city's inhabitants. Their insights into ancient texts and especially
those specifically related to Colossae will help archaeologists in their ethnographic
interpretation of the material culture excavated. On the other hand, archaeologists
will assist biblical scholars to appreciate the cultural world of the people
addressed by the New Testament texts. The synergism created in this collaborative
enterprise will either confirm approaches to exegetical interpretation to
New Testament texts that are socially or culturally focussed or suggest fresh
ones. The possibility of such an approach to biblical research will be challenging
and exciting.
Students involved in the project will learn from each other, will grow in
respect for the other discipline and provide an expanded context for their
own specific research. For students of theology this will mean that the study
of early Christian texts will be grounded in the real, cultural world of their
writers and audience. Students of archaeology will see how theology can be
a helpful conversation partner in the study of material remains and an authentic
ethnographic interpreter of meaning, rather than a tool for evangelism
