Review of Ancient Israel's History

Benjamin Kilchör, Staatsunabhangige Theologische Hochschule Basel (Switzer-land) gives a chapter-by-chapter review of Bill T. Arnold, Richard S. Hess (ed.). Ancient Israel's History. An Introduction to Issues and Sources. 

This book, edited by Bill T. Arnold (Asbury Theological Seminary) and Richard S. Hess (Denver Seminary), is initiated by the Institute for Biblical Research (IBR). It contains fifteen contributions, written by fifteen scholars, all of them specialists in the fields they deal with. Within the whole spectrum of research on ancient Israel's history, these scholars are rather conservative, which means that they "hold in common a respect for the biblical text as a legitimate source in the study of Israel's history" (p. 4), but within this consensus they represent a variety of different standpoints. The book is intended to serve as an introduction to ancient Israel's history. The first contribution lays the "Foundations for a History of Israel." It is followed by fourteen chapters that move forward "roughly according to the biblical story of Israel" (p. 21).

The introduction "Foundations for a History of Israel" is written by Richard S. Hess. After some general reflections on the purpose of the book, Hess gives a short overview on the history of archeological and historical studies on the topic, making the readers familiar with the most important scholars (e.g. Julius Wellhausen, Albrecht Alt, William F. Albright, etc.). It may be unavoidable that here and there the selection seems a bit random, but it is only Yigael Yadin whom I really miss. Subsequently, Hess presents different methodological approaches, from the so called "minimalists" with their "general skepticism toward any historical value to the contents of the Hebrew Bible" to more positive suggestions concerning the historical values of the biblical texts. Finally, Hess gives some general information on chronology, especially the distinction of relative and absolute chronology.

Bill T. Arnold is the author of the chapter on the "Genesis Narratives." He emphasises the difficulty of historical research on Genesis since there is simply not enough evidence to draw clear conclusions. Therefore, one has often to be content with mere possibilities. Arnold divides the treatment of Genesis in three parts, the "mytho-historical" or "pre-ancestral" accounts (Gen 1-11), the ancestral narratives (Gen 12-36) and the Joseph-narrative (Gen 37-50). While he seems to think quite positive about the historicity of these texts, he remains cautious with clear conclusions. Thus, he summarises the part on Gen 1-11 with the comment that many readers "will leave open the question of the historicity of these events, taking them as possible," while others will "admit the implausibility" of them (p. 34). With regard to the ancestral narratives, he points i.a. to the "Binu Yamina," mentioned in the Mari archives, which might be related to the tribe named Benjamin (pp. 38-39), or to the patriarchs' religious expressions according to the Genesis narratives, which suggest "that the Genesis traditions about the religion of Israel's ancestors are genuinely ancient and pre-Yahwistic" (p. 42). In sum, the extrabiblical evidence allows the historicity of the patriarchs according to Arnold. The same can be said concerning his short treatment of the Joseph-narratives. In my view, the whole chapter could have been a bit more elaborated. Much-debated issues like the occurrence of camels in the ancestral narratives or the Egyptian name of Joseph (Zaphenath-paneah) are not even mentioned and also the different peoples and places mentioned in Genesis are either not or only scarcely discussed.

Arnold's contribution is followed by the chapter on the exodus and the wilderness narratives, written by James K. Hoffmeier. It reads like an extract and update of his two former books "Israel in Egypt" (1997) and "Ancient Israel in Sinai" (2005). First, he argues that the presence of Asians in Egypt especially in the Second Intermediate period, as well as the oppression of such foreigners in the New Kingdom, fits well with the biblical picture. Furthermore, he discusses the geography of the exodus and the wilderness narratives, whereby he emphasises against Donald B. Redford, that the biblical data do not necessarily point to the sixth century, but rather correspond with what we know from the late second millennium B.C.E.. However, in most cases it remains unclear whether this early dating fits better than Redford's suggestion. The mention of Rameses in Exod 1:11 still seems to be the clearest indication for an earlier dating, since at the end of the second millennium this city was abandoned. The discussion on the route of the exodus clearly benefits from Hoffmeier's own excavations (e.g. at Tell el-Borg). Regarding the location of Mount Sinai, Hoffmeier convincingly argues for a southern location around Gebel Musa and Gebel Serbal. The chapter is finished by some suggestions about the tabernacle and its parallels from Egypt: "There is no good explanation for these Egyptian linguistic and technological elements in the book of Exodus if the narrative is 'a brilliant product of the human imagination.'"

The contribution of Samuel Greengus on "Covenant and Treaty in the Hebrew Bible and in the Ancient Near East" does in my view not completely fit into a history of ancient Israel. To be sure, the comparative material of the ANE does play an important role in the dating of Pentateuchal material in particular. Yet Greengus investigates the material in terms of concepts and parallels rather than in terms of dating questions. Regarding the hotly debated relationship between the Esarhaddon Succession Treaty and Deut 28, he concisely notes that the similarities "are traditional curse themes and were used in other formulations in treaties and royal monuments from earlier periods as well as appearing in Neo-Assyrian treaties" (p. 117). Thus, the "Implications for Historiography" on pp. 125-126) remain quite general.

Lawson G. Stone is the author of the informative article on "Early Israel and Its Appearance in Canaan." He shortly discusses the different theories on the origin of Israel, from conquest to peaceful infiltration or settlement. After weighing the biblical material and the extrabiblical evidence, he prefers a conquest model, dated somewhere in the 13th century. In fact, he is very close to Albright's synthesis. The main elements of his reconstruction is, first, that "Israel consisted of elements already resident within Canaan" (p. 155), second, that certain distinctive features nevertheless point "to an influence from outside the native Canaanite sphere" (p. 156), third, that the earliest Israelite settlements appear "in the eastern zones of the tribal area designated for Manasseh" (p. 158) and fourth, that "despite current scholarly prejudice against 'conquest' models, it is difficult to imagine any people group establishing a claim over Canaan [. . .] without any acts of warfare against the urban centers that controlled Canaan on behalf of Egypt" (p. 158).

"The Judges and the Early Iron Age" is discussed by Robert D. Miller II. While it is impossible to prove 01־disprove the historicity of the events told in the book of Judges (p. 168), Miller investigates the archaeological evidence of the sites mentioned in Judges with a special attention on the areas around Shiloh and Shechem. He concludes that the book of Judges seems to reflect the "fact, that the real 'Israel' of IA1 was the northern hill country" (p. 173). The contribution is concluded by a synthesis of the archaeological and biblical evidence about the economics, lifestyles religion. The overall picture is that the book of Judges indeed might reflect an early Iron Age reality.

Daniel Bodi deals with "The Story of Samuel, Saul, and David." On the first ten pages, he outlines the biblical accounts. Afterwards, he collects compara-tive material from the ANE, with a special focus on Mari. In the conflict between two Amorite clans (the Benjaminite Addu clan and the Bensim'alite Lïm clan) he sees an analogy to the conflict between the house of Saul and the House of David. Furthermore, he points to analogies with the 'apiru and he suggests that "David may be perceived as an 'apiru warlord" (p. 217). The collection of comparative material is interesting, yet it remains a bit unclear what it contributes to a reconstruction of Ancient Israel's history. Bodi concludes that with regard to the comparative materials, the narratives about Samuel, Saul, and David "seem to reflect authentic historical reminiscence of a stage when ancient Israelite seminomadic chieftains were slowly becoming sedentary, adopting urban mores and lifestyle" (p. 226).

The contribution of Steven M. Oritz on the "United Monarchy" provides a good overview on the respective issues. After a short summary on the biblical evidence and some extrabiblical sources, he introduces to the state of discussion, mentioning William Albright's and Yigael Yadin's contributions to the archaeology of the united monarchy as well as Israel Finkelstein's "Low Chronol-ogy," noting that, ironically, "more biblical scholars than archaeologists have jumped on the Low Chronology bandwagon" (p. 238). According to Oritz, today's question is not whether David and Solomon existed but rather "What is the nature of the united monarchy" (p. 240). In the second half of the article, Oritz gives a short introduction in several issues: geopolitical context, the relationship between Egypt and Israel, Israel's settlement planning, Jerusalem as centralised capital, economics, military, temple, daily life, domestic houses, and literacy. He concludes convincingly that "the archaeology and literary sources provide enough data for the historian to reconstruct the nature of the united monarchy with a reasonable degree of accuracy" (p. 261).

The direct line from the united monarchy to the divided kingdoms is some-what interrupted by the chapter of James K. Mead on "The Biblical Prophets in Historiography." Mead gives an introduction to biblical prophecy, including the different terms used in the OT. Then he collects comparative material from Mari, Neo-Assyrian material, and West Semitic texts. All in all, this is rather a comparative study than a contribution to historiography. The outcome for historiography remains quite general, namely that "the textual evidence from ancient Near Eastern prophecy witnesses to the antiquity of prophetic phenomena also seen in the Bible, suggesting that the canonical prophets are not the stuff of later literary invention" (p.284).

Kyle Greenwood discusses the "Late Tenth and Ninth-Century Issues." He first gives an overview on the biblical accounts, then presents the relevant extrabiblical texts (Tel Dan Inscription, Mesha Stela, Zakkur Stela, Hazael Booty Inscriptions, Melqart Stela, Royal Inscriptions of Shalmaneser III and of Adad-nirari III), subsequently, he points to the tensions between the biblical and extrabiblical evidence and finally, he discusses these tensions and proposes some syntheses. The most important issues are well introduced in this contribution. However, the structure of this chapter is not very helpful, since the respective issues are split in four parts. The Moabite War of 2 Kgs 3, for example, is shortly mentioned on p. 294 without any hint to the Mesha Stela. Then, on p. 297, the Mesha Stela is introduced without any mention of 2 Kgs 3. Then, on pp. 306-307, the historical problems arising in a comparison of 2 Kgs 3 and the Mesha Stela are listed. Finally, on pp. 313-315 a (convincing) synthesis is proposed. This splitting makes it for the reader difficult to follow the different strands throughout the chapter. In the end, Greenwood concludes that from a purely historical perspective, "the biblical text does overplay Jehoshaphat and underplay Ahab" (p. 318). By the way, Greenwood accredits the stabels of Meggido, which are dated to the tenth century by Oritz (p. 257), to King Ahab (p. 303).

A more straightforward structure has the excellent contribution of Sandra Richter on "Eight-Century Issues." She divides the century into two periods: "The first half (800-745 BCE) is characterised by the wealth and influence of Jeroboam II and Uzziah's allied kingdoms. The second half (745-700 BCE) is dominated by the rise of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, the collapse of the northern kingdom, and Hezekiah's reign in the south" (p. 321). The discussion of biblical and extrabiblical material is interwoven, what gives the biblical material the full weight of historical source material. The contribution contains two introductory excursus on Kuntillet 'Ajrûd and the Siloam Tunnel inscription. A special attention is given to "Hezekiah, the 'Poster Child' of Biblical Archaeology" (pp. 342-349).

Brad E. Kelle follows the issues of "Judah in the Seventh Century" along the kings of this period. A first focus is on King Manasseh and the question, "how the kingdom functioned within the larger political and religious context of the Assyrian Empire [. . .] and whether the remainder of the first half of the seventh century witnessed any kind of significant domestic political, social, or economic recovery in Judah" (p. 357). A second focus is on King Josiah, his religious reform, and the status of Judah within Syria-Palestine in his time. The contribution concludes with a few pages on King Jehoiakim and his relationship with Egypt and Babylonia. In sum, Kelle provides a good introduction to the seventh century issues.

One of the main issues Peter van der Veen deals with in his contribution on "Sixt-Century Issues" is the population of Judah after the fall of Jerusalem. After discussing the archaeological evidence, he follows Oded Lipschits in suggesting that "there was a 69.3 percent decrease of settled area between the late monarchic and Persian periods" (p. 396). There is evidence of destruction in Jerusalem in almost every part of the city. Ramat Rahel probably functioned as an administrative centre in the Babylonian and the Achamenid periods. Then, van der Veen briefly discusses the world of the Babylonian deportees, the first returnees under Zerubbabel and Sheshbazzar, and the rebuilding of the temple.

André Lemaire introduces the "Fifth- and Fourth-Century Issues." For the fifth century, the Book of Nehemiah is the most important source. Due to the efforts of Nehemiah, Jerusalem became the capital of Yehud (superseding Mizpah). Furthermore, there is little epigraphic evidence from the late fifth century (Elephantine and Wadi Daliyeh). Regarding the Babylonian Diaspora, the al-Yahudu and Murashu archives provides some insights. Compared to the al-Yahudu texts, the (later dated) Murashu archive "suggests that the Jewish people are only a very small local minority" (p. 416). Lemaire prefers for Ezra a dating after Nehemiah, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes II (p. 398). Then, Lemaire gives an overview on the coins, stamps, ostraca, papyri and bullae from the fourth century with some insights on political and economic issues. In sum, Lemaire describes the fifth-fourth centuries as a "time of revival."

The last chapter, dealing with "The Hellenistic Period," is written by David A. deSilva. He is outlining the Jewish history from Alexander to Pompey, when Judea becomes a Roman province. The most important sources he uses are 1-2 Maccabees, Josephus, and partly Dan 7-12. The contribution also contains a short overview on the archaeology of Hellenistic Palestine (pp. 446-449).

According to the preface, the book is "intended as an introductory volume" and its target audience are "students and researchers" alike. In sum, I think that this book indeed answers the claim of being an introductory volume. The state of research is outlined and the most important issues and controversies are at least introduced. Thus, the book is suitable as a first approach to Ancient Israel's History. Whoever wants to go deeper into the subject matters finds the hints he needs for further readings.

Benjamin Kilchör, Staatsunabhangige Theologische Hochschule Basel (Switzer-land) and Dept, of Ancient Languages at the University of Pretoria (South Africa), Strandbadstrasse 1, CH-8620 Wetzikon (Switzerland).Email: Benjamin.kilchoer@sthbasel.ch.