 | By: Israel Finkelstein Neil Asher Silberman Binding: Hardcover Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd ISBN: 0743243625 ISBN-13: 9780743243629 Released: 16 Oct 2006 RRP: Average Rating:  |
This book follows some of their speculations & continues their methods of treading between the more fundamentalist 'the Bible is history & the only history' camp & the minimalist 'the Bible has nothing to do with history' camp. There is historical content & influence on the text of the Bible, according to Finkelstein & Silberman, but the Bible is not nor was ever intended to be a historical textbook of the sort we have today. This is particularly important when dealing with the greatest of Biblical kings, David & Solomon.
'Our challlenge will be to provide a new perspective on the David & Solomon story by presenting the flood of new archaeological information about the rise & development of the ancient society in which the biblical tale was formed. We will attempt to separate history from myth; old memories from later elaboration; facts from royal propaganda to trace the evolution of the David & Solomon narrative from its ancient origins to the final compilation of the biblical accounts.'
In this vein, the authors trace the biblical narrative of David & Solomon, & then combine it with what is known from archaeological & extra-biblical textual evidence. They look at issues of psychology & politics, institutional & cultural development, & later influences & growths from the earlier narrative strands.
I found the appendices to be particularly valuable in this volume. Finkelstein & Silberman discuss the recent Tel Dan discovery, a controversial rendering of an inscription that is the earliest mention of David outside of the Bible (the inscription refers to a king of the House of David who dies with the king of Israel, most likely the kings Jeroram & Ahaziah) - the authors state that this discovery deals a serious blow to the minimalist idea. Other appendices look at Jerusalem more specificallly, other cities that would have been part of Solomon's kingdom, & more.
This is a text written in a popular, accessible style - thus, footnotes/endnotes are scarce. However, there is a good index, & an excellent bibliography/selected readings section that is categorised by chapter & topic.
Finkelstein has a position at Tel Aviv University, as director of the Sonia & Marco Nadler Archaeological Institute, & is currently working on excavations at Tel Meggido (better known to modern readers as Armageddon). Silberman is director of historical interpretation for the Ename Center for Public Archaeology & Heritage Presentation in Belgium. Both are frequent contributors to major scholarly & popular archaeology magazines & journals, & each has published a number of noted books in the field of Syro-Palestinian archaeology.
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