David's Jerusalem
David's Jerusalem

Author: Daniel Pioske

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-02-11

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 1317548906

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The history of David’s Jerusalem remains one of the most contentious topics of the ancient world. This study engages with debates about the nature of this location by examining the most recent archaeological data from the site and by exploring the relationship of these remains to claims made about David’s royal center in biblical narrative. Daniel Pioske provides a detailed reconstruction of the landscape and lifeways of early 10th century BCE Jerusalem, connected in biblical tradition to the figure of David. He further explores how late Iron Age (the Book of Samuel-Kings) and late Persian/early Hellenistic (the Book of Chronicles) Hebrew literary cultures remembered David’s Jerusalem within their texts, and how the remains and ruins of this site influenced the memories of those later inhabitants who depicted David’s Jerusalem within the biblical narrative. By drawing on both archaeological data and biblical writings, Pioske calls attention to the breaks and ruptures between a remembered past and a historical one, and invites the reader to understand David’s Jerusalem as more than a physical location, but also as a place of memory.

The David Story: A Translation with Commentary of 1 and 2 Samuel
The David Story: A Translation with Commentary of 1 and 2 Samuel

Author: Robert Alter

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2009-10-21

Total Pages: 452

ISBN-13: 0393070255

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"A masterpiece of contemporary Bible translation and commentary."—Los Angeles Times Book Review, Best Books of 1999 Acclaimed for its masterful new translation and insightful commentary, The David Story is a fresh, vivid rendition of one of the great works in Western literature. Robert Alter's brilliant translation gives us David, the beautiful, musical hero who slays Goliath and, through his struggles with Saul, advances to the kingship of Israel. But this David is also fully human: an ambitious, calculating man who navigates his life's course with a flawed moral vision. The consequences for him, his family, and his nation are tragic and bloody. Historical personage and full-blooded imagining, David is the creation of a literary artist comparable to the Shakespeare of the history plays.

David and Solomon
David and Solomon

Author: Israel Finkelstein

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2007-04-03

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 1416556885

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The exciting field of biblical archaeology has revolutionized our understanding of the Bible -- and no one has done more to popularise this vast store of knowledge than Israel Finkelstein and Neil Silberman, who revealed what we now know about when and why the Bible was first written in The Bible Unearthed. Now, with David and Solomon, they do nothing less than help us to understand the sacred kings and founding fathers of western civilization. David and his son Solomon are famous in the Bible for their warrior prowess, legendary loves, wisdom, poetry, conquests, and ambitious building programmes. Yet thanks to archaeology's astonishing finds, we now know that most of these stories are myths. Finkelstein and Silberman show us that the historical David was a bandit leader in a tiny back-water called Jerusalem, and how -- through wars, conquests and epic tragedies like the exile of the Jews in the centuries before Christ and the later Roman conquest -- David and his successor were reshaped into mighty kings and even messiahs, symbols of hope to Jews and Christians alike in times of strife and despair and models for the great kings of Europe. A landmark work of research and lucid scholarship by two brilliant luminaries, David and Solomon recasts the very genesis of western history in a whole new light.

The House of David
The House of David

Author: Mahri Leonard-Fleckman

Publisher: Fortress Press

Published: 2016-06-01

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 1506410197

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Current scholarly debate over the historical character of David’s rule generally considers the biblical portrait to represent David as king of Judah first, and subsequently over “all Israel.” The ninth-century Tel Dan inscription, which refers to the “House of David” (byt dwd), is often taken as evidence for the dynasty of Judah. Mahri Leonard-Fleckman argues, however, that references to Judah in the story of David as king do not suffice to constitute a coherent stratum of material about Judah as a political entity. Comparing the “house of . . .” terminology in the ninth-century Tel Dan inscription with early first-millennium Assyrian usage, then giving close examination to the “house of David” materials in 2 Samuel and 1 Kings, she understands the “house of David” as a small body politic connected to David, but distinct from any Judean dynastic context. One implication is that the identification of Judah as a later southern kingdom may have less to do with an Israelite secession from Jerusalem than with an Israelite rejection of David’s lineage and the subsequent redactional creation of Judah-centric language on the part of a Davidic coterie. Leonard-Fleckman’s arguments suggest a rethinking of the rise of monarchy in Israel.

Jerusalem's Rise to Sovereignty
Jerusalem's Rise to Sovereignty

Author: Ingrid Hjelm

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2004-09-01

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 0567331970

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Ingrid Hjelm examines the composition of the Books of Kings, using the Hezekiah narratives in 2 Kings 18-20 as a focus. She argues that this narrative is taken from that of the book of Isaiah, with which it shares linguistic and thematic elements. In Kings, it is used with the specific purpose of breaking the compositional pattern of curse, which threatens to place Jerusalem on a par with Samaria. Jerusalem traditions are examined against theories of a late Yahwist author and the Pentateuch's origin within a Jerusalem cult. While the Pentateuch in its final form became a common work, acceptable to all groups because of its implied ambiguity, the Deuteronomistic History's favoring of David and Jerusalem holds a rejection of competitive groups as its implied argument.

Under Jerusalem
Under Jerusalem

Author: Andrew Lawler

Publisher: Anchor

Published: 2023-09-26

Total Pages: 481

ISBN-13: 0593311760

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A spellbinding history of the hidden world below the Holy City—a saga of biblical treasures, intrepid explorers, and political upheaval “A sweeping tale of archaeological exploits and their cultural and political consequences told with a historian’s penchant for detail and a journalist’s flair for narration.” —Washington Post In 1863, a French senator arrived in Jerusalem hoping to unearth relics dating to biblical times. Digging deep underground, he discovered an ancient grave that, he claimed, belonged to an Old Testament queen. News of his find ricocheted around the world, evoking awe and envy alike, and inspiring others to explore Jerusalem’s storied past. In the century and a half since the Frenchman broke ground, Jerusalem has drawn a global cast of fortune seekers and missionaries, archaeologists and zealots, all of them eager to extract the biblical past from beneath the city’s streets and shrines. Their efforts have had profound effects, not only on our understanding of Jerusalem’s history, but on its hotly disputed present. The quest to retrieve ancient Jewish heritage has sparked bloody riots and thwarted international peace agreements. It has served as a cudgel, a way to stake a claim to the most contested city on the planet. Today, the earth below Jerusalem remains a battleground in the struggle to control the city above. Under Jerusalem takes readers into the tombs, tunnels, and trenches of the Holy City. It brings to life the indelible characters who have investigated this subterranean landscape. With clarity and verve, acclaimed journalist Andrew Lawler reveals how their pursuit has not only defined the conflict over modern Jerusalem, but could provide a map for two peoples and three faiths to peacefully coexist.

Pilgrims’ Castle (‘Atlit), David’s Tower (Jerusalem) and Qal‘at ar-Rabad (‘Ajlun)
Pilgrims’ Castle (‘Atlit), David’s Tower (Jerusalem) and Qal‘at ar-Rabad (‘Ajlun)

Author: C.N. Johns

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-05-23

Total Pages: 423

ISBN-13: 0429761341

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First published in 1997, this collection includes papers on Crusader-era architecture in Palestine with a focus on ‘Atlit, the castle of ‘Ajlun and on the Citadel of Jerusalem, both the papers and sites of which have previously been difficult to access. The volume is presented partly to repair the very real deficit in the literature on Crusader architecture and partly as a fitting memorial to the author, who died in 1992. ‘Atlit in particular held a special significance for C.N. Johns, being the site of his first major project as a field archaeologist. His Guide to ‘Atlit, a masterly summary of his findings, remains the most complete and comprehensive account of the castle and its suburb. The studies collected here pay tribute to their author’s enduring contribution to the medieval archaeology of the Near East. The first part of the book deals with the ‘Pilgrim’s Castle’, the great Templar fortress and town at ’Atlit. The significance of Johns’ excavations at this site has been relatively neglected, because it remains in a military area, inaccessible to visitors, and because almost the entire stock of his major publication was lost in 1947. This ‘Guide to ’Atlit’, a synthesis of historical, archaeological and architectural research on the monument, is reprinted here together with all the interim reports relating to the medieval period. Also included are Johns’ studies on the Citadel of Jerusalem, the ‘Tower of David’, and on the Islamic castle of ‘Ajlun. Together, they represent a fundamental contribution to the study of the period of the Crusades and to the military architecture of the Middle Ages. The notes by Denys Pringle bring the accounts up to date in the light of recent research.

Kingdom of Priests
Kingdom of Priests

Author: Eugene H. Merrill

Publisher: Baker Books

Published: 2008-03-01

Total Pages: 560

ISBN-13: 1441217037

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From the origins and exodus to the restoration and new hope, Kingdom of Priests offers a comprehensive introduction to the history of Old Testament Israel. Merrill explores the history of ancient Israel not only from Old Testament texts but also from the literary and archeological sources of the ancient Near East. After selling more than 30,000 copies, the book has now been updated and revised. The second edition addresses and interacts with current debates in the history of ancient Israel, offering an up-to-date articulation of a conservative evangelical position on historical matters. The text is accented with nearly twenty maps and charts.