Early History of the Israelite People: From the Written & Archaeological Sources (Brill's Scholars' List)

502 Pages·2000·107.09 MB·English

by  Thomas L. Thompson

Early History of
the Israelite People
from the Written &
Archaeological Sources
Thomas L. Thompson
B R ILL
LEIDEN • BOSTON· KOLN

Thisjournal is primedonacid-free paper.
Des(lJn;TopicA(AntoinetteHanekuyk), Leiden
Ubrary ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The Library orCongress Calaloging-ill-Publicalion Data
are also available.
ISBN 90 04 119434
C Copyright by Koninklijke Brill NV,
P.O. Box 9000, NL-2300·PA Lcidel1,
The Nelherlands
f\1I righlll rcscn-ro. No part ofthis publication rna}' be reproduced,
tmnslatoo, stored in a retrie\,;tlsystem,or transmilled in any rorm
or b}'any me:lllS, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording
orothen"isc, without prior wrillen permission ofthe publisher.
Authorization to photocopy itemsfor imernal or person,,1 usc is
gr:lIltcd by Brill provi(kd tlmt the appropriate rees arc paiddirectly
to Copyright Ckarance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive,
Suite910. Danvers, 1\IA 01923, U.S.A
Fccsarc subjcct to ehangc.
I'RINTEO INTilENETlIERI.k"'OS
To
Shirley and Sarah

CONTENTS
Acknowledgements .........................•........•.. XI
Abbreviations .......................................•.. XIII
I. Historical-Critical Research and Extrabiblical Sources ..
I. The Documentary Hypothesis .
2. Synthesis of Biblical Tradition and History of the
Ancient Near East 5
3. The Rise of Biblical Archaeology 10
II. Social Anthropology and the History of Palestine ..... 27
I. Historical Polarities .. ... .. ... .. ... . 27
2. The Extrabiblical Sources 34
3. Amplifications of Alt's Settlement Hypothesis 41
III. Historicity and the Deconstruction of Biblical Historio-
graphy .. ... .. .. ... ... .. ... ... ... .. ... ... ... .. ... 77
1. The Conservative Movement of Biblical Archaeology 77
2. Early Alternatives to Settlement and Conquest Theo-
ri9.......................................... 84
3. The Systematic Critique of the Comparative Method 89
4. The Historicity of the Period of the Judges 96
5. The Search for a New Paradigm for the History of
Israel 105
6. The United Monarchy and the Origin of Israel ..... 108
7, The Synthesis of Syro-Palestinian Archaeology .. .. . 112
8. Ideology and Biblical Historiography 116
IV, New Departures towards in Independent History of Israel 127
I. An Anthropological Revision of Alt's Seulernent
Hypothesis. ... .. ... .. ... ... .. .... .. ... .. ... ... 127
2. Agriculture in the Central Hills 141
3. Sociology and the Rise of the Monarchy 146
4. Archaeology and an Independent History of Israel .. 158
VIII CONTENTS
V. TheOriginsofthe Population andSettlementsofthe West
Semites of Greater Palestine 171
1. Origin of the Semites in the "Green Sahara" 171
2. The Early Bronze Age and the Development of a
Mediterranean Economy 177
3. Early Bronze IV-Middle Bronze I Transition and
Desendentarization 181
4. Middle Bronze II and Early State Development .. .. . 193
5. The Late Bronze Period: Economic Stress and Regio-
nal Collapse ... .. .. .. .. .. .. . 205
VI. The Late Bronze·Iron Age Transition.. .. ... .. .. .. .. . 215
I. The Collapse of Late Bronze Civilization in the Wes·
tern Mediterranean. .. .. ... .. .. .. ... .. ... .. .. .. . 215
2. The Central Hills of Ephraim and Manasseh 221
3. The Galilee and Carmel Hills. . .. .. .. ... . ... ... . . 239
4. The Lowland Valleys. . .. .. .. ... .. .. .. ... .. ... . . 250
5. The Coastal Plain 260
6. The Shephelah and the Northern Negev 278
7. Benjamin and Judah. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. . 288
8. The Transjordan 293
VII. Israel and Ethnicity in Palestine ,............... 301
I. Palestine's Diversity 301
2. Israelites and Canaanites 310
3. The Mediterranean Economy of Greater Palestine. . . 316
4. Population Coherence and Proto-Ethnicity 334
5. The Destruction ofIsrael and Judah: Imperial Policies
of Population Transportation. . .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. 339
VIII. Israel's Tradition: The Formation of Ethnicity 353
1. The Literary Nature and Historicity of the Tradition 353
2. Biblical Chronology .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. 366
3. Historiography 372
4. Questions of Context and Reference 383
IX. Conclusions: An Independent History of Israel. . .. .. .. 401
I. The Separate Origins of ··Israel" and ··Judah" .... 401
2. "Israel" as a National Entity. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. 412
3. The Intellectual Matrix of Biblical Tradition.. .. ... 415
CONTENTS IX
Indices 425
Toponyms 425
Authors 431
General .........•.........•.........•............... 439
Bibliography 452