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most Biblical archeologists and historians of ancient Israel no longer work with the periodization of the Biblical narrative

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Biblical narrative

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the patriarchs

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Abraham, Isaac, Jacob

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the matriarchs

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Sarah, Rebekah, Leah and Rachel

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exodus from Egypt

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conquest of Canaan

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have instead recognized that the Biblical narrative is a composite piece

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was composed over time from sources that reflect many different understandings of Israel's history

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look at a wide range of evidence

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the important is the archeological record

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many sites throughout the southern Levant

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there is a dichotomy between the lowlands and the highlands

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corresponds to significant changes at the end of the late Bronze age throughout the Iron Age (e.g. 1000 BC - 600 BC range)

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from ceramic pottery remains

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can identify a continuity from Iron Age I (1200-1000 BC) to Iron Age II (1000 BC - 586 BC, or the conquest of Judah)

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lack of decorations

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absence of imported wares

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the Iron Age begins as a poorer period than the earlier Bronze Age

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during the early Iron Age, the culture of the lowlands was much more sophisticated than the highlands

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but the poorer populations from the highland sites grew into a sophisticated society with formidable armies that conquered many territories

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period of the judges and united monarchy

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few scholars think anymore in terms of the patriarchs, matriarchs, exodus, and conquest

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but they do think in terms of

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period of the judges

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from Book of Judges

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period of the United Monarchy

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from Books of Samuel

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the Book of Judges, Samuel, and Kings

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written by authors that are living at a time that is closer to the time about which they writing

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describe a reality that is more complex and realistic

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unlike the legends in the Pentateuch and the Book of Joshua

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United Monarchy (1050-930 BC)

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the United Monarchy was formed when there was a large popular expression in favor of introducing a king to rule over the previously decentralized Israelite tribal confederacy

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rulers were: Saul, Ishbaal, David, and Solomon

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on the succession of Solomon's son, Rehoboam, in 930 BC the biblical account reports that the country split into two kingdoms

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Kingdom of Israel (north)

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Kingdom of Judah (south)

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if we want an accurate understanding of the history of Israel

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we need to think critically about the way the authors of the Book of Judges construe the period of the Judges that follows the age of Joshua and which precedes the period of the United Monarchy

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a more responsible way to approach Israel's history is to look for signs of state formation and centralization

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we can see a continuity from Iron Age I (1200-1000 BC) to Iron Age II (1000 BC - 586 BC, or the conquest of Judah)

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we see extreme changes in rural settlements in the same region

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almost all of the small settlements disappeared at the end of Iron Age I

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Iron Age II was when we start to witness the rise of centralized states in the highlands

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most of the new rural settlements did not continue from the earlier period of Iron Age I

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suggests that a military threat was prompting the settlements in the countryside to seek refuge in larger, fortified places

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perhaps by the Philistines along the coast

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this was supported by the European historical model that states are caused by common enemies

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and from the Biblical accounts from the Book of Samuel, which depicts Israel's first king Saul in battles with the Philistines

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it might be more accurate to think also in terms of a wide variety of warlords in the hill country fighting amongst themselves

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in any case, by the time this process of ran its course, it had produced the kingdoms of Israel and Judah

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urban centers that grew up in the Iron Age and reached their peak in the 8th century and for Judah in the south in the 7th century

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Dan

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Hazor

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Megiddo

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Jokneam

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Shikmona

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Dor

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Samaria

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Shechem

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Tirzah

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Jerusalem

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Gezer

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Beth Shemesh

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Lachish

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Beersheba