The book presents the results of a complete detailed survey of the eastern region of Samaria, mainly the Middle Jordan Valley, within the territory of Israel/Palestine. It is Volume 5 of the Manasseh Hill Country Survey publications. This project, in progress since 1978, and covering 2500 sq. km, is a thorough, metre-by-metre mapping of the archaeological-historical area between the River Jordan and the Sharon Plain, and between Nahal 'Iron and the north-eastern point of the Dead Sea. This territory is one of the most important in the country from the Biblical and archaeological view; and the survey is a valuable tool for scholars of the Bible, archaeology, Near Eastern history and other aspects of the Holy Land. This volume describes the area of the Jordan Valley between Wadi Fasael in the north and Wadi 'Aujah in the south. It is a fully revised and updated version of the Hebrew publication of 2012. "This rich volume makes an important contribution to the corpus of archaeological and historical knowledge about the land of Israel, and it will be a necessary acquisition for academic libraries. It will be of great interest to all those concerned with the study of the history and ar-chaeology of the land of Israel." - Ralph K. Hawkins, Averett University, Danville, VA, in: Near East Archaeological Society Bulletin 64 (2019)

The book presents the results of a complete detailed archaeological survey of parts of Eastern Samaria. It is Volume 6 of the Manasseh Hill Country Survey series of publications. This territory is one of the most important in the country from the archaeological, Biblical and other points of view, and the survey is a valuable tool for scholars of the Bible, archaeology, Near Eastern history and other aspects of the Holy Land.

The book presents the results of a complete detailed archaeological survey of parts of Eastern Samaria. This territory is one of the most important in the country from the Archaeological, Biblical and other points of view, and the survey is a valuable tool for scholars of the Bible, Archaeology, Near Eastern history, tourism, and other aspects of the Holy Land.

This book presents the results of a complete detailed survey of the north-eastern region of Samaria, mainly the northern area of the Jordan Valley, in the territory of Israel/Palestine. It is Volume 4 of the Manasseh Hill Country Survey publications. This project, in progress since 1978 and covering 2500 sq. km, is a thorough, metre-by-metre mapping of the archaeological-historical area between the River Jordan and the Sharon Plain, and between Nahal 'Iron and the north-eastern point of the Dead Sea. This territory is one of the most important in the country from the Biblical and archaeological points of view; and the survey is a valuable tool for scholars of the Bible, Archaeology, Near Eastern history and other aspects of the Holy Land. This volume (covering ca. 250 sq. km) describes the area of the Jordan Valley between Nahal Bezeq (Wadi Shubash) in the north and the Sartaba range in the south. It is a fully revised and updated version of the Hebrew publication of 2005.

The book presents the results of a complete and detailed archaeological survey in the area of ancient Shechem and Samaria. This survey is being conducted since 1978, and it relates to some 400 square kilometers of the heartland of the central hill country of Israel/Palestine. It is a detailed and thorough archaeological and historical work, which deals with the most important area for biblical and other researches. This territory and its survey is a most valuable tool for every scholar involved in Bible, theology, Ancient Near Eastern history, and other schools concerned.

The origin of the Israelites is one of the most frequently discussed issues among archaeologists and biblical scholars. Only a few decades ago, biblical stories such as the Conquest were heralded as confirmed by archaeology. But in the 1970s, Thomas L. Thompson and John Van Seters were in the vanguard of a movement among scholars that was intent on reassessing the historical reliability of the biblical narratives. This reassessment gained momentum during the 1980s and 1990s; today, the mainstream opinion is that there was no Conquest, and the Israelites, if they can be identified as a national entity or as a people, did not arrive in Canaan by means of a military conquest. For three days in March 2004, a group of scholars met to consider the state of the question and to provide a response to the predominant academic skepticism, a response that considers the biblical text to be an important datum in the construction of the history of the people of Israel. To do so, the authors of the papers read at the conference take into account both biblical and extrabiblical literary evidence, as well as the contributions of archaeology, to describe as completely as possible what may be known about the early history of Israel. Critical Issues in Early Israelite History publishes the papers read at this conference in the hope that the result will be a balanced portrayal of this watershed event based on all of the currently available evidence.

The volume presents the results of a detailed survey of north-western Samaria in Israel/Palestine. It is the third volume of the Manasseh Hill Country Survey publications. This project, in progress from 1978 and covering 2500 sq. km, is a thorough mapping of the archaeological-historical area between the River Jordan and the Sharon Plain and between Nahal 'Iron and the Dead Sea. The survey is a valuable tool for scholars of the Bible, Archaeology, Near Eastern history and other aspects of the Holy Land. This volume describes the area between Nahal 'Iron (Wadi 'Ara) in the north and Nahal Shechem (Wadi She'ir) in the south. It is a fully revised and updated version of the Hebrew publication of 2000.

Archaeological exploration in the Central Highlands of the Southern Levant conducted during the 1970s and 1980s dramatically transformed the scholarly understanding of the early Iron Age and led to the publication of From Nomadism to Monarchy: Archaeological and Historical Aspects of Early Israel, by Israel Finkelstein and Nadav Na’aman. This volume explores and reassesses the legacy of that foundational text. Using current theoretical frameworks and taking into account new excavation data and methodologies from the natural sciences, the seventeen essays in this volume examine the archaeology of the Southern Levant during the early Iron Age and the ways in which the period may be reflected in biblical accounts. The variety of methodologies employed and the historical narratives presented within these contributions illuminate the multifaceted nature of contemporary research on this formative period. Building upon Finkelstein and Na’aman’s seminal study, this work provides an essential update. It will be welcomed by ancient historians, scholars of early Israel and the early Iron Age Southern Levant, and biblical scholars. In addition to the editors, the contributors to this volume are Eran Arie, Erez Ben-Yosef, Cynthia Edenburg, Israel Finkelstein, Yuval Gadot, Assaf Kleiman, Gunnar Lehmann, Defna Langgut, Aren M. Maeir, Nadav Na’aman, Thomas Römer, Lidar Sapir-Hen, Katja Soennecken, Dieter Vieweger, Ido Wachtel, and Naama Yahalom-Mack.

The Neo-Assyrian empire — the first large empire of the ancient world — has attracted a great deal of public attention ever since the spectacular discoveries of its impressive remains in the 19th century. The southwestern part of this empire, located in the lands of the Bible, is archaeologically speaking the best known region in the world, and its history is described in a plethora of texts, including the Hebrew Bible. Using a bottom-up approach, Avraham Faust utilises this unparalleled information to reconstruct the outcomes of the Assyrian conquest of the region and how it impacted the diverse political units and ecological zones that comprised it. In doing so, he draws close attention to the transformations the imperial take-over brought in its wake. His analysis reveals the marginality of the annexed territories in the southwest as the empire focused its activities in small border areas facing its prospering clients. A comparison of this surprising picture to the information available from other parts of the empire suggests that the distance of these provinces from the imperial core is responsible for their fate. This sheds new light on factors influencing imperial expansion, the considerations leading to annexation, and the imperial methods of control, challenging old conventions about the development of the Assyrian empire and its rule. Faust also examines the Assyrian empire within the broader context of ancient Near Eastern imperialism to answer larger questions on the nature of Assyrian domination, the reasons for its harsh treatment of the distant provinces, and the factors influencing the limits of its reach. His findings highlight the historical development of imperial control in antiquity and the ways in which later empires were able to overcome similar limitations, paving the way to much larger and longer-lasting polities.

In Josh 8:30–35, Israel constructs an altar on Mt. Ebal in fulfillment of the command of Deut 27:1–8. This structure had very important social, political, and religious implications for Israel, for it was the first structure to be built after the people entered the land of Canaan. Once the altar was completed, sacrifices were to be offered on it, and a renewal of the covenant was to be carried out (patterned after the ritual of Deut 31:9–13). This covenant renewal was necessary to integrate the people into the covenant who had not been a part of the Sinai experience. The event was significant enough to establish nearby Shechem as the tribal league shrine, and it was the first political and religious ceremony that the Israelites undertook following their entry into the land. As a covenant ratification, it could be described as their ratification as a nation. The altar on Mt. Ebal and its concomitant ceremony were, therefore, according to the claims of the Hebrew Bible, of supreme importance in the life of ancient Israel. In 1980, during the survey of the territory of Manasseh, Israeli archaeologist Adam Zertal discovered a site on Mt. Ebal dating to the period of Iron I, during which the Israelites began to sedentarize in the central hill country of Canaan. The site was excavated over eight seasons, from 1982 to 1989, under the auspices of the University of Haifa and the Israel Exploration Society. In 1985, Zertal published an article in which he suggested that the structure on Ebal may have been the altar of Josh 8:30–35. In The Iron Age I Structure on Mt. Ebal, Ralph Hawkins reviews the excavation on Mt. Ebal and its results, including the scarabs, seals, and animal bones found there. He examines the architecture of the site in relation to Mesopotamian watchtowers, altars, and the descriptions of altars in mishnaic materials, Ezekiel, and Deuteronomic passages. This fascinating book examines the Mt. Ebal site using a comparative method for both the physical data and the textual data. The site and its artifacts are analyzed and then compared with alternative proposals and literary traditions. The site is placed in its broader regional context in order to determine how it might relate to the larger settlement picture of Iron Age I. The primary purpose is to examine the data with a view to determining the nature and function of the site and its possible relation to Josh 8:30–35. A compelling read for biblical and archaeological students and scholars, who will better be able to envision sites of past events.