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The Mythic Past: Biblical Archaeology and the Myth of Israel (British Commonwealth, United States, United Nations, 1993)
The Mythic Past Biblical Archaeology and the Myth of Israel - British Commonwealth, United States, United Nations, 1993 Author:Thomas L. Thompson One of the world's leading Biblical archaeologists concludes that the Old Testament offers absolutely no credible historical data on the early history of Israel The Jewish people's historical claims to Israel, the small area bordering the eastern Mediterranean, is not only the foundation for the modern state of Israel, it also lies at the very ... more »heart of Judeo-Christian belief. The Bible in History will be the first comprehensive overview and synthesis of the latest archaeological research from the Middle East written for the general reader. Its often startling assertions will make for a powderkeg of a book. Among the author's conclusions are these: There never was a "united monarch" [Saul, David, Solomon] in history We can no longer talk about a time of the Patriarchs The entire notion of "Israel" and its history is a literary fiction. The Bible in History provides refreshing new ways to read the Old Testament as the great literature it was meant to be, and not as history. At the same time, its conclusions about Jewish history are sure to prove incendiary in a worldwide debate about one of the world's most seminal texts, and one of its most bitterly contested regions.« less