A new book from the University of North Carolina Press
Coming November 24
“At once erudite and fun to read, Shadows and Solid Things delivers deep scholarship and literary grace at the same time!”—Heather J. Sharkey, author of A History of Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the Middle East
“An important reframing of previous North American cultural assumptions of the Bible—and a pleasure to read!”—David D. Grafton, author of An American Biblical Orientalism: The Construction of Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Nineteenth-Century American Evangelical Piety
In 1868, missionary-turned-archaeologist Frederick Augustus Klein was taken to see “a precious relic of antiquity” in the rocky hills of modern day Jordan, east of the Dead Sea.
It was an ancient rock of black basalt with a lengthy inscription in a long forgotten language – the tongue of the people of Moab. And upon this rock, Klein read of a people he knew to be “Israel,” for the inscription contained the sacred name of their LORD. This Moabite Stone, the Mesha Stele, remains the oldest archaeological artifact outside of the Bible’s pages to bear the name of the God of Frederick Klein and ancient Israel.
But why should such a rock matter to a missionary? What effect would it have upon Klein’s religious enchantment? Most importantly, what would it mean for the ancient stories that told Klein of a people called Israel and the LORD they claimed?
These are the questions behind my upcoming book, Shadows & Solid Things: A History of Religion and Archaeology in the Modern World (University of North Carolina Press, Fall 2026). Shadows & Solid Things follows the readers who became the first archaeologists into their excavated trenches and tombs. With a shovel in one hand and an ancient text in the other, the first age of archaeologists set out to uncover the historical realities behind their most beloved stories. What they brought forth was religious transformation – and we live in its shadow. Shadows & Solid Things is a narrative history of early archaeology that ultimately explores the foundation and fate of modern literalism.
Check back here for a schedule of book talks and speaking engagements!
