The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts

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.

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.

Israel Finkelstein is director of the Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University.

Contents

Prologue: In the Days of King Josiah

Introduction: Archaeology and the Bible

PART ONE

The Bible as History?

1. Searching for the Patriarchs
2. Did the Exodus Happen?
3. The Conquest of Canaan
4. Who Were the Israelites?
5. Memories of a Golden Age?

PART TWO

The Rise and Fall of Ancient Israel

6. One State, One Nation, One People? (C. 930-720 BCE)
7. Israel's Forgotten First Kingdom (884-842 BCE)
8. In the Shadow of Empire (842-720 BCE)

PART THREE

Judah and the Making of Biblical History

9. The Transformation of Judah (C. 930-705 BCE)
10. Between War and Survival (705-639 BCE)
11. A Great Reformation (639-586 BCE)
12. Exile and Return (586-C. 440 BCE)

Epilogue: The Future of Biblical Israel

Appendix A: Theories of the Historicity

of the Patriarchal Age

Appendix B: Searching for Sinai

Appendix C: Alternative Theories of the Israelite Conquest

Appendix D: Why the Traditional Archaeology of the

Davidic and Solomonic Period Is Wrong

Appendix E: Identifying the Era of Manasseh

in the Archaeological Record

Appendix F: How Vast Was the Kingdom of Josiah?

Appendix G: The Boundaries of the Province of Yehud

Bibliography

Index