The Bibles Prehistory, Purpose and Political Future

Week 1: The Riddle that has Yet to be Solved

1.2 Defeat and the Response to Defeat

The course deals with defeat and the response to defeat. In this case defeat refers to the
catastrophic defeats suffered by Israel and Judah at the hands of the Assyrians and Babylonians.

The Assyrians destroyed the Kingdom of Israel in about 720 BCE.

The Babylonians destroyed the Kingdom of Judah in 587 BCE.

The writings that became the Bible emerged under the inuence of ve successive empires: The
Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, the Hellenistic Rulers and the Romans.

The Assyrians and Babylonians deported the kings and elites of Israel and Judah and replaced
them with foreign governors. These territories were transformed into provinces.

These conquests had a profound effect on all aspects of life in these areas including economics,
demographics, location, mobility, family life, language and religion.

How did the biblical authors respond to this crisis and the effect it had on their communities?

1.3 The Oldest Reference to Israel

The rst explicit reference to the name Israel outside the Bible is on the Merneptah Stele, erected
in Thebes (Egypt) in about 1200 BCE.

There are older Egyptian texts that mention places that would become important towns in Israel
but Israel itself had not yet developed.

One such source is the Execration Texts from the 19th century BCE (Egyptian 12th Dynasty).
Some of these texts appear on pottery sherds and others on gurines. The names of the towns
were written on these pieces and then ceremonially smashed as a way of cursing the towns.

Some of these texts mention Ushalim, which some scholars (but not others) have equated with
Jerusalem.

The earliest context of these places that would become important biblical centres is therefore
defeat and suffering.

A second corpus of texts - the Amarna Letters - is the most important source on Canaan
immediately before the rise of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

Sir Flinders Petrie found a collection of 350 letters in 1887. The letters are correspondence
between Egyptian pharaohs and rulers in the regions of Syria, Turkey and Iraq, and between
pharaohs and their governors/mayors in Canaan.

The Merneptah Stele was named after the Egyptian pharaoh Merneptah, who ruled until about
1203 BCE. The monuments text is an account of his military campaigns (mostly against Libya),
with three lines about a campaign in Canaan.

The text refers to Canaan being captive and the people subdued by the pharaoh. Israel is
wasted, bare of seed. However, since this is a poetic text, not every word can be taken literally.

In the hieroglyphics on the stele, the determinative used before Israel typically refers to nomadic
people without an urban centre (a different determinative is used for cities in the same text).

The key takeaways for our purposes are: Israel is mentioned outside the Bible in 1200 BCE;
Israel is referred to as a non-urban population, not yet a state; and Israel has been defeated.

1.4 The Centres of Civilisation

Israels experience of defeat is closely tied to the rise and fall of empires throughout the ancient
Near East.

Jericho is one of the oldest cities in the ancient Near East, inhabited since 10,000 BCE. The
population was quite modest but they built a massive wall to surround the city. By the time of
Israels conquest of Jericho, it had become a small village.

Canaan was not the centre of ancient Near Eastern civilisation. Civilisation was greater at places
with more abundant and reliable water sources - around the Nile, the Tigris and the Euphrates.

Thus Egypt and Mesopotamia were the main centres of civilisation in the Near East. The
complexity of these societies was due to their population sizes which was made possible by their
access to water.

1.5 The Levant as a Land Bridge

Egyptian interest in / awareness of the Levant can be traced back to the predynastic period
before 3100 BCE.

The civilisation competition between Egypt and Mesopotamia will continue to determine political
developments during the time of the biblical states of Israel and Judah.

Canaan formed a land bridge between Egypt and Mesopotamia because the most direct route
between the two - the Arabian desert - was difcult to traverse.

Israels history was therefore very much affected by the competition between the two powers. If
Israel were located in a different area it may not have produced the Bible.

The two main centres later became home to two signicant diaspora communities of Jews.

During the Egyptian 2nd-3rd dynasties, there was an inux of foreign labourers from the Levant
into Egypt (and also from other areas into Egypt).

Egypt offered cultural goods for the elites and food and water during famines elsewhere; such as
in the case of Abraham.

In the New Kingdom (1550-1077 BCE), Egypt established an enduring imperial presence in
Canaan.

1.6 Egypts Presence in Canaan During the New Kingdom

One of the most important gures from the Egyptian New Kingdom for the purposes of studying
Egyptian expansion into Canaan is Tutmosis III. In the late 15th century BCE, he conducted
campaigns in Syria and turned Canaan into a province.

He extended the Egyptian empire to the borders of the Hittite Kingdom in Anatolia.

Tutmosis III conned his kingdom to the eastern side of the Euphrates.

This was the rst period of the Egyptian Peace in Canaan.

Egypt placed a heavy burden on Canaan. Tutmosis taxed Canaan in produce, leading to an
impoverishment in the Canaanite cities, and in manpower for his armies and labour force, leading
to depopulation, especially in the central hill country where Israel and Judah would later emerge.

The second phase of the New Kingdom period in Canaan includes the Amarna period of
Amenhotep III, Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) and Tutankhamun.

The mayors or governors of Canaanite cities during this time referred to themselves as kings and
wanted their subjects to do the same.

In the Amarna letters, these mayors complain to the Egyptian central government about their rival
mayors in Canaan and their ambitions to encroach on each others territories.

Examples of mayors who wanted to expand their territories are Labayu (who ruled in Shokmul)
and Abdi-Hepa (who ruled in Jerusalem). Saul and David are often associated with Labayu and
Abdi-Hepa (resurrected).

The Egyptians allowed this expansion of these cities into mini-states because they were in the
hinterlands of Canaan and this wasnt as important to Egypt as the coastal areas, which were
richer in resources and critical for the lines of communication and transport.

These hinterlands later became the core territories of Israel and Judah.

What we can take away from the Amarna letters is that Egypt wasnt that interested in the
highlands of Canaan that would later become Israel and Judah; and that the rulers in the
highlands wanted to expand into the lowlands.

As long as Egypt could keep these threats conned to the hill countries, Egypt was happy. But
when Egypts power declined, territorial states then begin to emerge in those areas.

1.7 The End of Egyptian Imperial Control

It took about 250-300 years after the fall of the New Kingdom for the geopolitical situation in the
region to allow for the development of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah (and others).

The reforms of Akhenaten had drawn Egypt out of international affairs and it wasnt until the
Rameside period that Egypt reasserted itself.

Ramses II held the Hittites in check, defeating them at the Battle of Kadesh, and established a
balance of power in Canaan.

Ramses son Merneptah, campaigned in Canaan and recorded this on his stele, though some
scholars debate whether he actually campaigned in Canaan or not.

The catastrophic collapse of the Near Eastern geopolitical system (owing to climate change,
internal unrest and the onslaught of the Sea Peoples) had a great impact on the situation in
Canaan.

After Ramses IIIs death in 1155 BCE, Egypt was beset by various problems and turned its
attention inward, leading to a power vacuum in Canaan.

The Philistine city-states were gradually formed in Canaan which represented the de facto
demise of the Egyptian imperial presence there.

Egypt later used these new states as bulwarks against the reconsolidated empires in
Mesopotamia.

Week 2 Supplemental Videos: Prehistory of Israel and Judah

1. Biblical Narrative: Building a History

The biblical history runs from the Book of Genesis to the Book of Kings and presents Israel
naturally evolving from Abraham to a prodigious nation. The 12 tribes of Israel were all founded
by the sons of Abrahams grandson Jacob.

Almost all scholars agree that the tribes were different populations/regions in the area, most of
them unrelated genealogically to each other.

The Tribe of Gad comes from the seventh son of Jacob in the biblical tradition. An 840 BCE stele
that refers to Gad says the Gad lived on the east bank of the Jordan from time immemorial but
was conquered by Israel, which contradicts the biblical account.

Within the unied biblical history, there are different histories that have been merged together
and we can identify building blocks that show how this narrative evolved over time.

The exodus and conquest story comes from the Book of Exodus to the Book of Joshua. This
history was originally separate from the account in the Book of Genesis. The exodus narrative
does not explain the origin of the Israelites and presupposes their existence - it does not refer to
a return to Israel, simply a conquest.

In contrast, the Book of Genesis presents an indigenous story born in Israel itself. This version is
more about the origins of the populations than the exodus story. The emphasis is on peaceful
coexistence; there are no wars (with one exception). In this story, Israel has much in common
with its neighbours as opposed to the exodus and conquest telling.

These are two different stories of Israels origins, later combined into one.

There were different versions of the exodus and conquest stories, later synthesised into one.

2. Israel in Canaan

Scholars telling Israels history have typically followed the biblical timeline and periodisation.

Since the 1980s, authors have been sceptical about the historicity of the rst two periods, the
Age of the Patriarchs and Exodus and Conquest.

Most modern scholars allow for a small-scale exodus from Egypt but dismiss the idea of the
exodus involving the entire people of Israel.

The two dominant models for explaining Israels history were peaceful inltration from the
Transjordan and dominant conquest, in which Israel was already a unied people before entering
Canaan. This second view has been discredited and the peaceful inltration model has persisted.

An adaptation of the peaceful inltration model has the Israelites being oppressed people in
Canaan and eventually taking to the hills where they joined a group recently arrived from Egypt.

Most scholars think of Israels history as a gradual process of identity formation, which had been
developed by 1200 BCE (the time of the Merneptah stele).

3. The Rise of the Kingdoms

There is a striking continuity in pottery from Iron Age 1 (1200-1000 BCE) to Iron Age 2 (1000-586
BCE). This consists of simplicity of style and the absence of imported products.

In the early iron age the culture of the lowlands was more sophisticated than the culture of the
highlands. But the highland area grows into a sophisticated society.

The periodisation in the Books of Judges, Samuel and Kings are still used by scholars. These
books tell much more realistic stories than Genesis and the events take place closer to the time
the biblical narrative was created.

Even though there is artistic continuity between Iron Age 1 and 2, there were extreme changes in
society between the two periods. Almost all the small settlements disappeared (abandoned or
destroyed) in the highlands around 1000 BCE, replaced by larger, fortied towns.

This might have come about because of competition between a variety of warlords in the region
which resulted in the need for protection. When this process had run its course, the kingdoms of
Israel and Judah were established.

4. Exploring the Material Culture

By the 13th century BCE, the highlands on both sides of the Jordan see an increase in small
agricultural settlements. The material culture differs from the previous bronze age settlements in
the area and differs from the lowland culture at the same time.

Pots from the late bronze age and lowland iron age centres were elaborately decorated, but iron
age highland pottery was not decorated and was purely functional.

This could have been due to the poor economic conditions of the highland sites at the start of
Iron Age 1. But as the society becomes more complex with the rise of centralised states, the
pottery continues to be unadorned.

Equally, there were relatively few imported wares throughout Iron Age 1 and 2 in the highlands,
again in contrast to the preceding bronze age in the highlands and the iron age in the lowlands.

Finally, there was a small variety of vessels in the highlands in Iron Age 1 compared with a wider
variety in the coastal plains and northern valleys. However, in this case, in Iron Age 2 we see a
change in the highlands, with a wider variety of pottery.

This dichotomy corresponds to other aspects of material culture. In the highlands there is modest
and local building design, simple burial customs, and open-air sacred places rather than temples.

5. The Nature of the Kingdoms

The Book of Samuel presents this scenario: after years of decentralised rule with power being
transferred to and from a series of judges (told in the Book of Judges), the people petition the
prophet Samuel to select a king. Samuel declines, saying YHWH is the king, but eventually he
relents and selects Saul as Israels rst king.

In the biblical tradition, Saul rules over both Israel and Judah and is succeeded by the more
successful David, who established a stable dynasty despite the civil wars that take place during
his reign. Solomon succeeds him and brings great wealth to the united kingdom.

Davids son Rehoboam causes the kingdom to split in two. The Davidic dynasty retains control of
Judah while Israel has a series of short-lived political dynasties but still manages to become a
powerful political and military player in the region. Judah lives in Israels shadow.

This view is the work of later authors writing for their own times and meant for Judahite readers.

From the Armana letters, we can see that the poorer highlands contained larger and more
sparsely settled territories than the lowlands. The Egyptian territories correspond quite neatly
with the later kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

The likelihood is therefore that the two kingdoms began as separate entities and not a united
kingdom as told in the Bible. It was important for the biblical authors to give a common history/
culture to the two kingdoms.



Week 2: The Rise and Fall

2.2 Israel and Judah

During the early iron age (1200-1000 BCE), the central highlands witnessed the growth of about
200 new villages, with about 50 inhabitants per village.

The villages lacked public buildings and fortications and theres no sign of collective political life.

By about 1000 BCE, the archaeological record shows signs of signicant changes, with large
population growth and a rise of prosperity (driven by olive oil and wine production and trade).

This process led to greater social stratication, and eventually to kingdoms.

The Kingdom of Israel developed earlier and was larger and more prosperous than the Kingdom
of Judah. Judah had 1/10th of the population of Israel and could more accurately be described as
a chiefdom, not a kingdom, in its early stages.

In 930 BCE, the Egyptian pharaoh Sheshonq campaigned in the highlands. A stele records his
victories but Jerusalem and Judah is conspicuously absent from this record. The biblical text
says that the capture of Solomons wealth in Jerusalem was the main purpose of the campaign.

This is possibly because the biblical authors wanted to explain why the wealth that they had
placed in Judah was no longer there.

The reality may be that Jerusalem and Judah was not as important at this time as the biblical
authors, writing from a Judahite perspective, would lead us to believe.

2.3 Omride Dynasty

In contrast to the political stability of Judah, Israel witnesses a succession of dynasties, most
lasting only two or three generations. The most successful of these (and the most vilied by the
biblical authors) was the Omride dynasty.

It was named after the founding king Omri (d. 875 BCE), followed by Ahab and Joram. These
rulers placed Israel on the map.

They consolidated a large territorial state and introduced a developed infrastructure, building
programs, bureaucratic organisation, international diplomacy and a standing professional army.

This army had a chariot division, and Ahab provided 2000 chariots to a coalition against the
Assyrians in a battle further north (more than anyone else provided).

The chariot divisions represent the transition from small citizen armies to large professional
armies.

The Omride rulers extended the kingdom to the Jezreel Valley and further north into the Galilee.

Judah appears to have been a vassal to the Omrides, though the Bible insists that they were
more like partners.

Athaliah or Athilia was an Omride woman who ruled Judah for six years (Book of Kings).

Jezebel, Ahabs wife, came from Phoenicia, which shows diplomatic ties and inuence beyond
the kingdom.

According to biblical sources, the Omride dynasty ended in a bloody putsch led by Jehu, who
founded the Nimshaid dynasty.

Jezebel was thrown from her window and devoured by dogs (2 Kings 9-10).

Much of what the Omrides had achieved was lost under Jehu, including territory that had been
conquered. Some of these incursions are said to have taken place under the Omrides in the
biblical account but likely took place under Jehu.

2.4 Fall of Israel

The Assyrian black obelisk shows Jehu or Jehus representative bowing down to the Assyrian
king and kissing his feet.

In the late 9th century BCE, the Assyrian king campaigned in the region almost every year and
weakened Aram-Damascus. This allowed Israelite kings Jehoash and Jeroboam II to reconquer
some of the lost territories.

The Samaria Ostraca show receipts for the delivery for wine and olive oil and attest to the
centrality of YWHW in Israel at this time.

Tiglath-Peleser III conquered most of the kingdoms of the northern Levant in the rst 25 years of
his reign.

Samaria, the capital of Israel, was about 50 times smaller than the Assyrian capital Nemrud at
this time.

King Menachem of Israel (746-737 BCE) paid 37 tons of silver in tribute to Assyria according to
the Bible.

The remaining Levant states formed a coalition against Assyria in 733/732 with Pekah, the kings
of Israel, as one of the main players.

They tried to get Judah involved but according to the biblical text the Judahites appealed to the
Assyrians for help instead. The Assyrians destroyed Aram-Damascus and reduced Israel back to
its core territories in the Ephraimite hill country.

In Israel, Pekah was deposed by the Assyrians and replaced by Hoshea.

After Tiglath-Pileser IIIs death in 727, Hoshea attempted to form an alliance with Egypt. The new
Assyrian king besieged Samaria and it was later conquered between 722-720 and turned into an
imperial Assyrian province (I counted them among the citizens of Assyria).

Scholars believe about 10-20% of the Samarian population was exiled, leaving many to remain
and carry on Israels traditions.

2.5 The Kingdom of Judah

The Syro-Ephraimate war was an anti-Assyrian attempt to place a new ruler on the throne of
Judah.

The reign of Tiglath-Pileser III and the reducing of Israel to vassal state and then province
marked the beginning of Judah as an independent kingdom.

There was great internal development within Judah at this time, with more widespread literacy
and the lmlk stamps on pottery handles appearing.

Some scholars believe that Assyria was using states like Judah for economic and trade purposes
(particularly for olive oil), but since they later wiped out Judahs capacity for producing olive oil,
this view is still debated.

During an Assyrian campaign against Judah (now ruled by King Hezekiah) after the death of
Sargon II in 705 BCE, the city of Lachish was destroyed by the new Assyrian king Sennacherib.

The biblical account fails to mention this great devastation at Lachish and mentions a divine
liberation of Jerusalem.

The result of this campaign was that Judah lost its most valuable region (the Shephelah) and
was reduced to a rump state.

Jerusalem became more densely populated during the 7th century as a result of the population
of the Shephelah moving towards Jerusalem.

2.6 Fall of Judah

Josiah became king of Judah at age 8 in 640 BCE.

Once he came of age, Josiah sought to centralise and consolidate his realm which directly
affected Judahs relationship with Assyria, especially regarding religion.

Josiah was executed in 609 BCE by the Egyptian pharaoh Necho.

In 605 BCE, the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Assyrians. In 601, the
Egyptians managed to stop Nebuchadnezzar, and the Egyptians and Judah made an alliance.

Around 597, Nebuchadnezzar attached Jerusalem, deposing and deported King Jehoiahin.

Ten years later, Jerusalem was burned to the ground after Judahs attempt to revolt, seemingly
inspired by religious fervour.