The Archaeology of Ancient Israel

Book Overview

For over one hundred years archaeologists have explored the land of Israel, investigating such fascinating topics as the migrations of the patriarchs, the Israelites' conquest of Canaan, and the establishment of the monarchy by David and Solomon. In this book some of Israel's foremost archaeologists present a thorough and up-to-date survey of this research, providing an assessable introduction to early life in the land of the Bible. The authors discuss the history of ancient Israel from the Neolithic era (eighth millennium B.C.E.) to the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the First Temple in 586 B.C.E. Each chapter describes a different era as seen through relevant archaeological discoveries. The reader is introduced to the first permanent settlements in the land of Israel, the crystallization of the political system of city-states, the nature of Canaanite culture, the Israelite patterns of settlement, and the division of the country into the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. The lavishly illustrated text explores and demonstrates developments in religious practices, architecture, technology, customs, arts and crafts, warfare, writing, cult practices, and trade. The book will be a delightful and informative resource for anyone who has ever wanted to know more about the religious, scientific, or historical background to the events described in the Bible, or to current developments in the Middle East.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300059191
• ISBN13: 9780300059199
• Release Date: February 1994
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 419 Pages
• Weight: 2.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 8.6" x 11.0"

Customer Reviews

Archeology of the Levant

This is a very informative study on the modern view of the archeology in the Levant. It compares the traditional Judeao/Christian account with the secular view acknowledging that scripture was formed from many traditions more ancient. I believe that scripture is accurate and the dating of the Bible is more trustworthy than carbon dating. However, that said, it gives you a very detailed, general explanation of contemporary scholarship.

A good introduction to biblical archaeology

This volume, which is an English translation of a Hebrew language university textbook, aims to overview and introduce the archaeology of the biblical period (the Bronze and Iron ages). Though completing this task quite well, the main drawback of the book is the lack of uniformity of the various chapters, each written by scholars with very different perspectives. Needless to say, due to its publication date, it is a bit outdated (in light of more recent finds and discussions) but it still can provide a better than average summary of this topic.