Critical Issues in Early Israelite History

Published by Penn State University Press 2008

Critical Issues in Early Israelite History

Edited by: Richard S. Hess , Gerald A. Klingbeil and Paul J. Ray Jr.

Volume 3 in the series Bulletin for Biblical Research Supplement

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781575065984

Overview
Contents

About this book

The origin of the Israelites is one of the most frequently discussed issues among archaeologists and biblical scholars. Only a few decades ago, biblical stories such as the Conquest were heralded as confirmed by archaeology. But in the 1970s, Thomas L. Thompson and John Van Seters were in the vanguard of a movement among scholars that was intent on reassessing the historical reliability of the biblical narratives. This reassessment gained momentum during the 1980s and 1990s; today, the mainstream opinion is that there was no Conquest, and the Israelites, if they can be identified as a national entity or as a people, did not arrive in Canaan by means of a military conquest.

For three days in March 2004, a group of scholars met to consider the state of the question and to provide a response to the predominant academic skepticism, a response that considers the biblical text to be an important datum in the construction of the history of the people of Israel. To do so, the authors of the papers read at the conference take into account both biblical and extrabiblical literary evidence, as well as the contributions of archaeology, to describe as completely as possible what may be known about the early history of Israel. Critical Issues in Early Israelite History publishes the papers read at this conference in the hope that the result will be a balanced portrayal of this watershed event based on all of the currently available evidence.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Foreword Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Abbreviations Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction Publicly Available Download PDF	xv
Part 1 Textual Studies
The Rhetorical Structuring of the Joshua Conquest Narratives K. Lawson Younger Jr Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
The Jericho and Ai of the Book of Joshua Richard S. Hess Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	33
Merenptah’s Reference to Israel: Critical Issues for the Origin of Israel Michael G. Hasel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	47
The Persian Period and the Origins of Israel: Beyond the “Myths” Efraín Velázquez Ii Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	61
Part 2 Archaeological Studies, Broader Context
Classical Models for the Appearance of Israel in Palestine Paul J. Ray Jr. Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	79
The Appearance of Israel in Canaan in Recent Scholarship Patrick Mazani Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	95
“Between North and South”: The Archaeology of Religion in Late Bronze Age Palestine and the Period of the Settlement Gerald A. Klingbeil Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	111
The Context of Early Israel Viewed through the Archaeology of Northern Mesopotamia and Syria Mark W. Chavalas Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	151
Part 3 Archaeological Studies, Regional Contexts
The Survey of Manasseh and the Origin of the Central Hill Country Settlers Ralph K. Hawkins Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	165
Israelite Settlement at the Margins of the Northern Hill Country: Connections to Joshua and Judges from Tell Dothan Daniel M. Master Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	181
Rewriting Philistine History: Recent Trends in Philistine Archaeology and Biblical Studies Steven M. Ortiz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
The Search for Joshua’s Ai Bryant G. Wood Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	205
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	241
Index of Authors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	313
Index of Scripture Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	321

Language: English
Publisher: Penn State University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 352

eBook

Published: June 23, 2008
ISBN: 9781575065984