In this companion volume to his bestselling Ancient Israel: What Do We Know and How Do We Know It? Lester L. Grabbe provides the background history of the main ancient Near Eastern peoples and empires: Babylonia, Assyria, Urartu, Hittites, Amorites, Egyptians.
Grabbe's focus is on Palestine/Canaan and covers the early second millennium, including the Middle Bronze Age and the Second Intermediate Period and Hyksos rule of Egypt. Grabbe also addresses the question of a 'patriarchal period'. The main focus of the book is on the second half of the second millennium: Late Bronze and early Iron Age, the Egyptian New Kingdom, the Amarna letters, the Sea Peoples, the question of 'the exodus', the early settlements in the hill country of Palestine, and the first mention of Israel in the Merenptah inscription. Archaeology and the contribution of the social sciences both feature heavily, as does inscriptional and iconographic material. As such this volume provides a fascinating portrayal of ancient Israel and this definitive work by one of the world's leading biblical historians will be of interest to all students and scholars of biblical history.
Author(s): Lester L. Grabbe
Publisher: T&T Clark
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 374
City: London
Cover
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Preface
Abbreviations
Part I Introduction
Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Aims
1.2 Principles of Historical Method
1.3 Chronology
1.4 Terminology and Other Technical Matters
Chapter 2 The Third-Millennium Context
2.1 Egypt
2.2 Mesopotamia
2.3 Anatolia
2.4 Syria-Palestine
2.4.1 Archaeology
2.4.2 Ebla
2.4.3 Byblos
2.4.4 Palestine
2.5 Writing, Scribes and Literature
2.6 Conclusions
Part II Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000–1600 BCE)
Chapter 3 Ancient Near Eastern Context
3.1 Egypt
3.1.1 Middle Kingdom
3.1.2 Second Intermediate Period
3.2 Mesopotamia
3.2.1 The Isin and Larsa ‘Intermediate Period’
3.2.2 Old Assyrian Period (c. 2000–1750 BCE)
3.2.3 Old Babylonian Period (c. 2000–1600)
3.2.4 Mari
3.2.5 Elam
3.3 Anatolia
3.3.1 Hittite Old Kingdom
3.3.2 Mitanni
3.4 Conclusions
Chapter 4 Syria and Palestine
4.1 Sources
4.2 History of Syria
4.2.1 Ugarit
4.2.2 Byblos (Gubla)
4.2.3 Amorites
4.2.4 Yamhad
4.3 History of Palestine/Canaan
4.3.1 Archaeology
4.3.2 Egyptian Textual References
4.3.3 The Hyksos
4.4 The Question of the Patriarchs
4.5 Conclusions
Part III Late Bronze Age (c. 1600–1200 BCE)
Chapter 5 Ancient Near Eastern Context, Including Syria
5.1 Egypt
5.1.1 From the Hyksos to Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten)
5.1.2 The First Part of the 19th Dynasty
5.1.3 Table of Egyptian Kings
5.2 Mesopotamia
5.2.1 Middle Assyrian Kingdom
5.2.2 Kassite Babylonia
5.3 Anatolia
5.3.1 Hittite (Middle and) New Kingdom (1500–1200)
5.3.2 The Mitanni Kingdom (1600–1350) and Nuzi
5.4 Syria
5.4.1 Amurru
5.4.2 Ugarit
5.4.3 Phoenicia
5.5 Conclusions
Chapter 6 Palestine
6.1 Sources
6.2 Archaeology
6.3 The Search for Israel
6.3.1 Egyptian Incursions into Canaan
6.3.2 Canaan as Depicted in the Amarna Letters
6.3.3 Ethnic and Other Groups
6.3.3.1 ‘Nomads’ and Pastoralists
6.3.3.2 Canaan/Canaanites
6.3.3.3 'Apiru/Ḫaberu
6.3.3.4 Shasu (Shosu, Š3św, Sutu)
6.3.3.5 'Nomadic' Copper Producers
6.3.3.6 Conclusions about Ethnic and Other Groups
6.3.4 The Origins of Israel and the Merenptah Stela: Where Did Israel Come from?
6.4 The Question of the Exodus
6.4.1 Issues relating to Historicity
6.4.2 Conclusions on the Exodus
6.5 Conclusions
Part IV Early Iron Age (c. 1200–900 BCE)
Chapter 7 Ancient Near Eastern Context, Including Syria and Transjordan (1200–900 BCE)
7.1 Egypt
7.2 Sea Peoples
7.3 Mesopotamia and Anatolia
7.3.1 Elam, Babylonia and Assyria
7.3.2 Neo-Hittite States
7.4 Phoenicia
7.5 Aramaeans
7.6 Transjordan
7.7 Conclusions
Chapter 8 Palestine (1200–900 BCE)
8.1 Sources
8.2 Archaeology
8.2.1 Archaeological Survey
8.2.2 Analysis and Conclusions on Archaeology
8.3 Coming of the Philistines
8.4 The Settlement (of 'Israel'?)
8.4.1 Who Settled in the Hill Country?
8.4.2 Recent Models for the Settlement
8.4.3 Israelite Tribes
8.4.4 Israel versus Judah
8.4.5 The Book of Judges and the 'Song of Deborah' (Judges 5)
8.4.6 The Settlement: An Overview
8.5 Rise of the Israelite State
8.5.1 Models of Statehood
8.5.2 Beginnings of the Kingdom of Israel
8.5.3 Samuel
8.5.4 Saul
8.5.5 Eshbaal
8.5.6 David
8.5.6.1 Origin/Early Life of David
8.5.6.2 David's Wars
8.5.6.3 Jerusalem
8.5.6.4 Archaeology
8.5.6.5 Relationship of Saul and David Traditions
8.5.6.6 Conclusions about David
8.5.7 Solomon
8.5.8 Shoshenq I's Palestinian Raid(s)
8.5.9 Reversion to Two Kingdoms
8.6 Conclusions
Part V Conclusions
Chapter 9 The Origins of Israel – A Holistic Perspective
Bibliography
Index of References
Index of Authors
Index of Subjects
