Archaeology, History, and Identity Formation in Ancient Israel

Book excerpt: When did Israel begin? The origins of ancient Israel are shrouded in mystery and those hoping to explore the issue must utilize resources from three different fields – archaeology, epigraphy, and biblical texts – and then examine their interrelations, while keeping in mind that the name Israel was not used to describe just one state but referred to numerous entities at different times. This book attempts to provide a critical reading of Israel’s history. It is neither a harmonizing reading, which takes the picture painted by texts as a given fact, nor a reading supporting biblical texts with archaeological and epigraphic data; instead, it offers the reader multiple options to understand biblical narratives on a historical and theological level. In addition to presenting the main currents in the field, the book draws upon the latest discoveries from excavations in Israel to offer new hypotheses and reconstructions based on the interdisciplinary dialogue between biblical studies, archaeology, and history.