One of Italy's foremost experts on antiquity addresses a new issue surrounding the birth of Israel and its historic reality. Many a tale has been told of ancient Israel, but all tales are alike in their quotation of the biblical story in its narrative scheme, despite its historic unreliability. This book completely rewrites the history of Israel through the evaluation of textual and literary critiques as well as archaeological and epigraphic findings. Conceived along the lines of modern historical methodology, it traces the textual material to the times of its creation, reconstructs the...

The essays collected in this volume focus on methodological and historical topics related to the study of the history of ancient Israel. Contributors offer readers new readings of disputed texts, new methodological tools for study of the ancient world inhabited by an entity called aIsraela, and a variety of reinterpretations of biblical texts. Contributors include Thomas L. Thompson, Philip Davies, Niels Peter Lemche, Etienne Nodet, Mario Liverani, and many other leading academics.

The essays collected in this volume focus on methodological and historical topics related to the study of the history of ancient Israel. Contributors offer readers new readings of disputed texts, new methodological tools for study of the ancient world inhabited by an entity called aIsraela, and a variety of reinterpretations of biblical texts. Contributors include Thomas L. Thompson, Philip Davies, Niels Peter Lemche, Etienne Nodet, Mario Liverani, and many other leading academics.