The series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft (BZAW) covers all areas of research into the Old Testament, focusing on the Hebrew Bible, its early and later forms in Ancient Judaism, as well as its branching into many neighboring cultures of the Ancient Near East and the Greco-Roman world.
This work offers a reconstruction of the politics of ancient Israel within the wider political environment of the ancient Near East. Gottwald begins by questioning the view of some biblical scholars that the primary factor influencing Israel's political evolution was its religion.
A definitive text and resource for every student of the Old Testament, this fourth edition of John Bright's now classic work is newly introduced by William P. Brown.
In this volume Paula McNutt provides a synthesis of recent research on the nature and development of the society of ancient Israel. Focusing on Israelite history from the tribal period through the time of Persian domination, McNutt employs a social-scientific perspective to examine recent reconstructions of the social and cultural contexts that nurtured the literature of the Hebrew Bible. She also offers a helpful overview of the components and dynamics of ancient Israelite society. By investigating the intricate social processes that sustained the society of ancient Israel, McNutt enables the reader to discern the forces at work during key periods of transition and transformation in early Israelite history.
In how far do the traditions in historical writing reflect history in the Hebrew Bible? This momentarily hot-debated question is the central issue of the current volume, in which the author takes a firm stand against the sceptical approach to the unity and historicity of biblical traditions. Part One of the book opens with a systematic examination of twenty-seven lists of the original inhabitants of the Promised Land who were doomed to be dispossessed by the Israelites. Two essays are devoted to a historical investigation into the political leaders sopet and nagid. In the following special attention is given to formulae denoting dynastic change, royal succession and to the expression 'people of the land and house of Ahab'. Part Two deals with the historical interpretation of the narrative of Solomon's succession to David's throne. The author concludes the work with two comparative studies on biblical historiography and inscriptions from Y'dy-Sam'al and Assyria.
Covering the period of the thirteenth century B.C.E. to the fall of Jerusalem in 586 b.c.e., Isserlin, a senior scholar, synthesizes the social, historical, geographical, and archaeological materials relevant to studying ancient Israel in its ancient Near Eastern context. Isserlin has an accessible style and brings the latest in biblical research to students and general readers. The stunning array of 85 photographs -- plus maps, line-drawings, and charts -- make this a rich resource for scholars as well.
In this groundbreaking work that sets apart fact and legend, authors Finkelstein and Silberman use significant archeological discoveries to provide historical information about biblical Israel and its neighbors. In this iconoclastic and provocative work, leading scholars Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman draw on recent archaeological research to present a dramatically revised portrait of ancient Israel and its neighbors. They argue that crucial evidence (or a telling lack of evidence) at digs in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon suggests that many of the most famous stories in the Bible—the wanderings of the patriarchs, the Exodus from Egypt, Joshua’s conquest of Canaan, and David and Solomon’s vast empire—reflect the world of the later authors rather than actual historical facts. Challenging the fundamentalist readings of the scriptures and marshaling the latest archaeological evidence to support its new vision of ancient Israel, The Bible Unearthed offers a fascinating and controversial perspective on when and why the Bible was written and why it possesses such great spiritual and emotional power today.
A significant achievement, this book moves our understanding of the history of Israel forward as dramatically as John Bright's A History of Israel, Martin Noth's History of Israel, and William F. Albright's From the Stone Age ot Cristianity did at an earlier period.