Why is it difficult to connect ancient religious texts with excavated objects?

Connecting ancient religious texts with excavated objects in Syria and Palestine is challenging due to several methodological and evidentiary limitations:

• Lack of Clear Identification Criteria: Scholars have not always carefully established criteria for identifying which excavated materials are specifically religious in nature. Furthermore, there has been insufficient attention given to how religious life is generally reflected in material remains.1
• Difficulty in Correlation: Because of the ambiguity in identifying religious artifacts, it is often difficult to correlate written documents with unwritten materials with any degree of confidence.1
• Uneven and Limited Evidence: The available data is highly irregular. While the city-state of Ugarit provides a wide range of religious expression, many other periods, areas, and topics lack written remains entirely. Consequently, descriptions of these religions are often superficial or limited to mere glimpses.12
• Nature of the Texts: The texts that are best understood are often formulaic and provide only external information, whereas more distinctive, potentially revealing texts are frequently difficult to penetrate or interpret.1