Product Description

In this lavishly illustrated book some of Israel`s foremost archaeologists present a thorough, up-to-date, and readily accessible survey of early life in the land of the Bible, from the Neolithic era (eighth millennium B.C.E.) to the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the First Temple in 586 B.C.E. It will be a delightful and informative resource for anyone who has ever wanted to know more about the religious, scientific, or historical background of the region.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #441135 in Books
• Published on: 1994-02-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 419 pages

From Library Journal
Profusely illustrated with sketches, diagrams, maps, tables, and photographs, this attractive book offers an excellent introduction to biblical archaeology. Editor Ben-Tor (archaeology, Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem) focuses on the lands connected to biblical history, beginning with the earliest evidence of human habitation in those areas and dividing its coverage into broad time frames. Ofer Bar-Yosef, Rivka Gonen, Ram Gophna, Aharon Kempinski, Amihai Mazar, and Gabriel Barkay are among the specialists who provide chapters, each with a different emphasis reflecting the approach and special interests of the individual archaeologist in this extremely interpretive field. Based on materials prepared for a university course, this engrossing overview of a fascinating subject will be appreciated by laypersons as well as scholars.
- Carol R. Glatt, VA Medical Ctr. Lib., Philadelphia
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Hebrew

Customer Reviews

A good introduction to biblical archaeology
This volume, which is an English translation of a Hebrew language university textbook, aims to overview and introduce the archaeology of the biblical period (the Bronze and Iron ages). Though completing this task quite well, the main drawback of the book is the lack of uniformity of the various chapters, each written by scholars with very different perspectives. Needless to say, due to its publication date, it is a bit outdated (in light of more recent finds and discussions) but it still can provide a better than average summary of this topic.

Archeology of the Levant
This is a very informative study on the modern view of the archeology in the Levant. It compares the traditional Judeao/Christian account with the secular view acknowledging that scripture was formed from many traditions more ancient. I believe that scripture is accurate and the dating of the Bible is more trustworthy than carbon dating. However, that said, it gives you a very detailed, general explanation of contemporary scholarship.