Other Editions: Hardcover
This book addresses one of the most timely and urgent topics in
archaeology and biblical studies -- the origins of early Israel.
For centuries the Western tradition has traced its beginnings back
to ancient Israel, but recently some historians and archaeologists
have questioned the reality of Israel as it is described in
biblical literature. In "Who Were the Early Israelites and Where
Did They Come From?" William Dever explores the continuing
controversies regarding the true nature of ancient Israel and
presents the archaeological evidence for assessing the accuracy of
the well-known Bible stories.
Confronting the range of current scholarly interpretations
seriously and dispassionately, Dever rejects both the revisionists
who characterize biblical literature as "pious propaganda" and the
conservatives who are afraid to even question its factuality.
Attempting to break through this impasse, Dever draws on thirty
years of archaeological fieldwork in the Near East, amassing a wide
range of hard evidence for his own compelling view of the
development of Israelite history.
In his search for the actual circumstances of Israel's emergence
in Canaan, Dever reevaluates the Exodus-Conquest traditions in the
books of Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, and 1 & 2 Samuel in
the light of well-documented archaeological evidence from the late
Bronze Age and early Iron Age. Among this important evidence are
some 300 small agricultural villages recently discovered in the
heartland of what would later become the biblical nation of Israel.
According to Dever, the authentic ancestors of the "Israelite
peoples" were most likely Canaanites -- together with some pastoral
nomadsand small groups of Semitic slaves escaping from Egypt --
who, through the long cultural and socioeconomic struggles
recounted in the book of Judges, managed to forge a new agrarian,
communitarian, and monotheistic society.
Written in an engaging, accessible style and featuring fifty
photographs that help bring the archaeological record to life, this
book provides an authoritative statement on the origins of ancient
Israel and promises to reinvigorate discussion about the
historicity of the biblical tradition.
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