Palestine Series, Episode 2 – The Rise and Fall of the Israelites and their Kingdoms during the Bronze and Iron Ages

E2.1 The Bronze and Iron Ages

• The Bronze Age is the historical period named for its production, use and trade of bronze artifacts and tools, and it roughly spanned from 3,000 BCE to around 1,100 BCE
  • It was a period of great cultural development, including the development of multiple religions
  • Big Empires developed
    • Like the Old Kingdom of Egypt, which built the Pyramids of Giza
    • The First Multi-cultural Empire (the Great Akkadian Empire under Sargon the Great)
    • Babylon emerged as the great hub of learning at the time
• The period from around 1100 to 500 BCE is regarded as the Iron Age, when bronze artifacts and tools were replaced by iron
  • This development did no take place at the same time everywhere, with the Hittites leading in this regard from about 1200/1100 BCE (while in Britain it only started from around 800 BCE)
  • There are differences of opinion on the dating of this period, but we’re following a widely held view that it lasted from 1100 – around 550 BCE
• Geographic names
  • Mesopotamia was the region around the fertile delta of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
  • From the early Bronze Age the wider area east of the Mediterranean (and west of the Euphrates) was known as the Levant
    • The Northern Levant: the northern parts of present-day Lebanon, parts of present-day Turkey and Syria
    • The Southern Levant: roughly present day Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan
  • Canaan. Canaan was an ancient term for the area which roughly corresponded to the Southern Levant, or at least formed a subset of it
    • Keep in mind that regions, boundaries and terminology were more fluid than the fixed nation-state mindset we now use to view historical developments
    • It formed the geographical link between two major fertile areas: Mesopotamia (which developed around the fertile Tigris and Euphrates rivers) and Egypt (which developed around the fertile Nile delta)
    • Canaan and its City States were influenced by the neighbouring populations like Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, and Egypt
    • For a time it was part of the Akkadian Empire under Sargon the Great
• During the Late Bronze Age there were two major empires
  • Egypt ruled parts of North Africa and the Levant, the latter from around 1550 – 1100 BCE. The Late Bronze Age Collapse (12th century BCE) heavily impacted the Ancient Near East and Canaan, and saw the withdrawal of Egypt. We don’t have a clear picture of this collpse yet, but there is a lot of evidence pointing to the arrival of the “Sea People” from the north
  • The Hittite Empire, ruling the Northern Levant and the area north of it (present-day Syria and Turkey)
  • It was during this time that the term Palestine became more common too. There is wide-ranging archeological and historical evidence for this term, as covered in detail by Nur Masalha in his book “Palestine – A Four Thousand Year History” [11]
• A few overview sources: [1] [1a] [1b] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

E2.2 The Layer 1 Narrative

E2.2.1 The Patriarchs

• God made a covenant with Abraham, instructed him to move from Mesopotamia to Canaan and promised him the land between the Nile and the Euphrates river
• Abraham complied, and he and his son Isaac and grandson Jacob wandered in and around Canaan (the three patriarchs of Israel)
• Jacob had 12 sons, who became the 12 tribes of Israel. 11 of them sold their brother, Joseph, to a caravan of merchants on their way to Egypt
• Joseph became the grand vizier of Egypt due to his dreams fortelling the future
• When Canaan experienced a severe drought Jacob sent 10 of his sons to Egypt to look for food where they found their brother Joseph in his powerful position. They were reconciled and the entire family then re-united and relocated to Egypt under the protection of Joseph, around 2100 to 2000 BCE
• After the passing of Jacob and Joseph a new Pharoah saw the multiplying Israelites as a threat and enslaved them

E2.2.2 The Exodus

• God selected Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt (the Exodus) and to the Promised Land (Canaan). This is roughly placed at 1440 BCE by Biblical archeologists
  • Based on the regnal dates of Israelite kings correlated with events listed in Egyptian and Assyrian sources
  • An example is the reference to Raamses in Exodus 1:11 and the first Egyptian Pharoah named Ramesses whose reign started in 1320 BCE
• They wandered through the desert for 40 years

E2.2.3 The Conquest of Canaan

• They then entered Canaan and violently conquered the powerful cities and their high fortified walls with the help of their god. This event is placed at around 1230-1220 BCE based on the explicit Bible references to specific pharoahs. It is relevant to look at 2 passages from the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible, which also forms part of the Old Testament):
  • Deut 7:1-2 “1 When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you— 2 and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy.”
  • Deut 20:16-18: “16 However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. 17 Completely destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the Lord your God has commanded you. 18 Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God.”

E2.2.4 The Golden Era of the united Kingdom of Israel under King David

• A powerful united Kingdom of the 12 tribes was ruled by King Saul, David and then Solomon after the conquest of Canaan. Their rule is placed from around 1025 BCE to 931 BCE, in other words in the early Iron Age 
• This kingdom split into two: the northern Kingdom of Israel (10 of the tribes) and the southern Kingdom of Judea (the other two tribes)
• The Kingdom of Israel
  • This kingdom and its kings are judged rather harshly in the Bible as immoral and polytheistic
  • Omri established Samariah as the new capital, around 880 BCE
  • In 722 BCE the kingdom was conquered and destroyed by the Assyrian Empire
  • The Kingdom of Judea / Judah
    • Ruled by the Davidic Dynasty with its capital in Jerusalem and a central role for the temple
    • Very prominent in the biblical narrative (the heroes of the story), with some religious reforms
    • In 587 BCE the Kingdom of Judea was conquered by the Babylonian Empire (also known as the Chaldeans) under Nebuchadnezzar II. Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed with King Zedekiah blinded and taken into exile in Babylon with a part of the population

Deut 20:16-17: “16 However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. 17 Completely destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the Lord your God has commanded you.”

E2.3 Mythistory

The Layer 1 narrative above is truly one of the most well-known and influential stories in history, but is it true? This section will investigate the evidence. The archeological findings (especially that of the last 60 years) prompted some historians to coin the label “mythistory” [15] for this narrative above (mythology presented and interpreted as history), with the majority of new archeologists, and even Biblical scholars, now sharing this view. 

E2.3.1 Some of the best critical, and quite substantive, sources

• “The Bible Unearthed” by Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman [8]. Finkelstein is the Director of the Institute of Archeology at the Tel Aviv University and Silberman the Director of Historical Interpretation for the Ename Center for Public Archeology in Belgium
• “The Historicity of the Patriarchal Narratives” by Thomas Thompson [9]. He is an American born Danish Biblical scholar and theologian and Emiritus Professor of the Theology at the University of Copenhagen
• “The Early History of God – Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel” by Mark S. Smith [10] (Professor of Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at New York University). This is a very well-researched and objective book, but it is more academic in nature and does not make for easy reading. It nevertheless is a fascinating and worthwhile read
• Another relevant book by Mark Smith is “The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel’s Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts” [10b]. He is a very meticulous and objective scholar
• “Palestine – A Four Thousand Year History” by Nur Masalha [11] (Professor of Palestinian Studies at the University of London)
• “The Invention of Ancient Israel – the silencing of Palestinian history” by Keith W. Whitelam [12] (Head of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Stirling). This book convincingly points out the deep-seated bias which used to be inherent in Biblical Studies and Biblical Archeology
• “The Invention of the Jewish People” by Shlomo Sand [13]. He is an Israeli Emeritus Professor of History at Tel Aviv University. He wrote this very well-researched book in Hebrew, but it was translated into 19 languages. He followed the evidence where it went, and his research for this book changed his views 
• “Doubting the Exodus” by Teresa Wantanabe, a popular magazine article showing that even some rabbis came to grips with the overwhelming archeological evidence [14]
• Let’s look at the archeological evidence regarding the main themes of the Layer 1 Narrative

E2.3.2 The Patriarchs

• No archeologically evidence could so far be found for any of the patriarchs
• On the other hand, the archeological evidence uncovered major incompatibilities in the patriarch story. Some examples
  • The patriarch stories include many references to the use of camels. However, camels only appeared in the region in the 10th century BCE and were only domesticated and used as beasts of burden from the 8th century BCE
  • These stories also reference the Philistines and the Aramaens. However, the Philistines only appeared in the 12th century BCE while the Aramaens appeared in the 11th century BCE and only had a notable presence from the 9th century BCE
  • Thomas Thompson pointed out that some of the places mentioned in the Patriarch narrative only came into existence in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE, some of which were only occupied then
  • It is clear that the patriarch stories were written much later than the time they portray. There is a growing consensus that these are not historical records but foundational myths written in retrospect (most likely as much as 1400 years later). These writers simply did not know how different the area was many centuries earlier
  • Main sources: [12] [15] [16]

E2.3.3 The Exodus from Egypt

• The Egyptian Empire was one of the major empires during the Bronze and Iron Ages, and they kept meticulous records (including of small nomadic groups passing through their land), which have been uncovered to a large extent by archeological excavations
• In all their records they never mentioned Israelites living in Egypt, rebelling or migrating from it
• The Merneptah stela/stele from the 13th century BCE has one reference to Israel which was destroyed in Canaan by their army. So there is evidence for Israelites from the end of the Late Bronze Age. This evidence suggests that Israel was one of the small city states in Canaan which was conquered by Egypt
• A large group of people wandering through the desert for 40 years posed insurmountable logistical challenges and would have left archeological evidence behind. No evidence was found of this despite widespread excavations in which smaller and older events were detected
• Most importantly, during the late Bronze Age when the Exodus supposedly took place, Egypt ruled the entire Canaan with a strong military presence (with extensive archeological evidence). An exodus from Egypt to another part of the Egyptian Empire seems highly implausible
• Like for the patriarch narratives, we have growing archeological consensus that the exodus was not a historical event, but another foundational myth that was created in the late 7th and early 6th century BCE (a good 700 years after the supposed event)
• Main sources: [12] [15] [17]

2.3.4 Conquering Canaan

• Some of the archeological evidence discussed above regarding the exodus are also relevant for the story about the conquest of Canaan (like the fact that Canaan was ruled by Egypt with a strong military presence there). There is sound archeological evidence about this from the more than 400 el-Amarna tablets scattered among many museums around the world. These contains pledges of loyalty from the vassal Canaanite city-state rulers to Egypt
• All the major cities mentioned in the conquest stories were excavated, but no evidence was found for such a violent conquest
• Additional, more specific evidence:
  • Israel under Joshua supposedly conquered the strong walled cities, like Jericho, Ai and Heshbon
  • In the late 13th century BCE Jericho was an insignificant unwalled village, while Ai and Heshbon were unpopulated
  • The reason why the Caananite cities of the 13th century were not walled, is that they were part of the Egyptian Empire and under the protection of Egypt 
• Another foundational myth created centuries later and in retrospect
• Main sources: [12] [15] [18]

2.3.5 The Golden Era of the united Kingdom

• There is no mention of David or Solomon in the extensive Egyptian and Mesopotamean records. A discovery at Tell Dan in 1993 of an Aramaic inscription references the “House of David” and the kings of the House of David conquered and killed by them. This is the only evidence about David, outside of the Bible, and it paints quite a different picture
• David was therefor a historical figure. However, there is no archeological evidence for Saul, Solomon and a powerful united kingdom, to the contrary
  • A powerful kingdom would have left unambiguous archeological evidence, of its riches, its weapons (especially in the Iron Age), its army and administration, and specifically its architecture
  • The biblical story claims that Solomon married the Pharoah’s daughter
    • There is no evidence of this in the comprehensive Egyptian records
    • It is a farfetched claim since the kings of the mighty Hittite Empire did not even receive this honour [12a]
  • There is no evidence of Solomon’s great construction works, like his fabled palace and his temple. Jerusalem was very thoroughly excavated and no signs were found of this, despite evidence of older and smaller structures
  • The structures Biblical archeologists traditionally classified as Solomon’s building programme in the north (Megiddo for example) turned out to be later structures from the Northern Kingdom under Omri and Ahab
• The archeological evidence point to two small kingdoms (one in the north and one in the south). There is sufficient reason to doubt the existence of a united kingdom, and if it existed it was only a small tribal kingdom, with the stories about it written centuries later, glorifying and exaggerating it for a specific religious agenda
• Main sources: [12] [15] [19]

E2.4 Spotlight on the origins of the Israelites and monotheistic Judaism

E2.4.1 The first appearance of monotheism on the world stage

• One of the new stories which developed during the Bronze Age in Mesopotamia and Egypt, is that of monotheism
• In a polytheistic world, with many religions and even more gods, the first two monotheistic religions appeared during the Bronze Age in this wider region (in Persia and Egypt specifically). However, Judaism was not one of them
• Zoroastrianism is most likely the first, as it probably started around 1500 BCE in Persia (present-day Iran), when the Persian prophet Zarathustra/Zoroaster proclaimed that there was only one real god (Ahura Mazda, the Lord of Wisdom) and that he alone should be worshipped. It is still practiced in Iran today
  • He introduced other dualistic concepts, which influenced the later Abrahamic faiths and the West in general, like the eternal struggle between god (and the forces of good) against Satan (and the forces of evil), angels and demons, heaven and hell
  • The history of Zoroastrianism is long and complex, which cannot be addressed here. To just mention a few examples of complexities:
    • Initial Zoroastrianist doctrine includes a pantheon of supernatural beings. Some argue that this was inherently polytheistic, others argue that Ahura Mazda was the only supreme being and that the other beings were created by him and are more akin to the angels and devil/demons in the dualistic biblical stories
    • It changed over time, like any other religion, and its political role was also complex and dynamic
    • Terminology is neither that precise nor static over millenia (and never that clear within completely different world views).
• Atenism. Around 1350 BCE Pharoah Akhenatan established the worship of Aten in the polytheistic Egypt. He did not only replace Amen-Ra with Aten as the main god of the Egyptian pantheon, for the first time a single god was promoted in Egypt. Akhenatan built several temples for Aten, with the main place of worship at Luxor. Atenism died with Akhenatan in 1336 BCE, it is no longer practiced today and was a lost religion, only rediscovered in the 18th century
• Sources: [36] [37] [38] [39]

E2.4.2 The gradual appearance of Israelites

• We already saw that the exodus from Egypt and the conquest of Canaan did not happen historically, but are foundational myths. What does the archeological evidence tell us about the most plausible origins of the Israelites?
• Biblical archeologists came up with 3 main theories about the origin of the Israelites in an effort to reconcile it with the biblical narrative
  • First and foremost the violent conquest theory (closest the Bible story)
  • The peaceful infiltration theory
  • And the peasant revolt theory, in an effort to explain the major archeological problems with the violent conquest story.
• Finkelstein and Silbermann concluded in Appendix C, as follows about these theories “All three theories of the Israelite conquest – unified invasion, peaceful infiltration, and social revolution – endorsed the pivotal biblical notion that the rise of early Israel was a unique, singular phenomenon in the history of the country. New discoveries of recent decades have shattered that idea”  [40] [40a]
• It is fairly clear that:
  • The Israelites were not an external group who arrived in whichever way in Canaan
  • They were Canaanites themselves – they emerged from within, peacefully and gradually
    • For example, the northern parts of the later Kingdom of Israel included a large population of Arameans, and Deut 26:5 even describes Jacob as a “wandering Aramean” [40b]
    • We’ll see in later episodes how Arameic became the lingua franca of Judea, and that Jesus and his disciples spoke Arameic
  • They were typical pastoral nomads who settled in villages and started agriculture, as they withdrew from the surrounds of the city-states on the coastal planes which started to decline and were not available for trading
  • They started to settle in villages on the highlands from the Late Bronze Age, but on a larger scale during Iron Age I (roughly 1150 – 900 BCE)
  • Archeological evidence shows there was very little difference in their culture and that of other villages (the layout of the settlements themselves, burial customs, rituals, dress, or language)
  • They also worshipped the same pantheon of Canaanite gods. Their monotheism took many centuries to develop(see E2.4.3 below)

‘The Israelites were Canaanites themselves – they emerged from within, peacefully and gradually… They also worshipped the same pantheon of Canaanite gods‘

E2.4.3 The gradual appearance of monotheistic Judaism

• During the Iron Age a new story of monotheism gradually started to develop in Canaan as well
• Canaan was a polytheistic region, like virtually the entire world at the time. Their pantheon included:
  • El, their creator god (the kind, wise and bearded patriarch of the pantheon)
  • Asherah, El’s consort. There is also archeological evidence from Judea where she is described as Yahweh’s consort
  • Baal, the young storm-god from Phoenicia
  • Yahweh, the rather violent warrior-god from Edom/Sinai/Paran/Eidam
• Polytheism in early Israel
  • The early Israelites (during the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age) practiced  thriving polytheism. There are
    • Extensive archeological evidence for sites of worship for several gods across both kingdoms
    • Numerous biblical passages attesting to that, for example Jeremiah 11:13: “13 You, Judah, have as many gods as you have towns; and the altars you have set up to burn incense to that shameful god Baal are as many as the streets of Jerusalem”
  • All the Canaanite gods mentioned above are referenced in the Bible, and all were worshipped by the Israelites. They also worshipped a number of other Canaanite gods, like the Milcom of Ammon, Chemosh of Moab, Ashtoreth of Sidon and even a Mesopotamian god like Tammuz.
  • There are a large number of polemic biblical passages against the polytheism of Israelites and many of their kings, especially against the northern Kingdom of Israel
  • What is important to realize that all these passages date from the 6th century BCE at the earliest and originated in the Kingdom of Judea, within the context of the Yawhistic cult gradually winning the battle to establish monolatry and then monotheism. Some examples
    • I Kings 16:30-33. “30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him. 31 He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.”
    • I Kings 18:18-19. “18 “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals. 19 Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.””
  • Sources: [44] [45] [52]
• Syncretism
  • From pure polytheism we see the development of syncretism, where one religion is shaped/influenced by another. This happened through two processes [46]:
    • Convergence
      • All the Hebrew names for the god of the Bible were names of existing Canaanite deities (with El and Yahweh the two primary ones)
      • The process of convergence involves the merging of deities, their imagery, characteristics, powers and jurisdictions into others. In this case other Canaanite deities were merged with Yahweh as he gradually became the primary (and later the only) deity of Israel
      • A good example is Ex 6: 2-3 “And God said to Moses, ‘I am Yahweh. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as El Shadday, but by my name Yahweh I did not make myself known to them’”
    • Differentiation
      • The process of differentiation involved Israel over time differentiating them from their Canaanite roots and rejecting this heritage and some of the gods they used to worship
      • There is plenty of evidence that the cults of Baal and Yahweh co-existed for centuries in Israel, but over time the Yahwistic cult gained dominance and the retrospective polemics from 6th cetury BCE Judea portrayed the Baal cult in a highly negative light 
• Monolatry with Yahwism (or the cult of Yahweh)
  • The process of convergence and differentiation explained above, gradually led to the religion of the Israelites developing from polytheism to monolatry by the 7th or 6th century BCE. Monolatry involves acknowledging the existence of multiple gods, but worshipping only one of them [47]
  • A typical scenario is specific deities being the gods of certain areas. The inhabitants of one area will acknowledge the gods of their neighbours, but will rather worship their own god (and will regard him as more powerful). In this way Yahweh gradually became the protector god of the Israelites, like Ashur was the national god of the Assyrians
  • There are several examples in the Bible attesting to monolatry, with the 10 Commandments in Ex 20 being one: “2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 You shall have no other gods before me. 4 You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God…”
  • Evidence points to monolatry developing from polytheism with the Yahweh cult in Jersualem by the early 7th century BCE (only after the fall of the northern kingdom). Monolatry and polytheism continued to co-exist, but the influence of Yahwism continued to grow.
• Consolidation of monotheism, with Judaism
  • Until the Babylonian exile there were still widespread evidence of polytheism in Judea, with monolatry taking a foothold with the Cult of Yahweh
  • From the exile we’re getting a new perspective emerging: Yahweh is now seen as the only real god in the cosmos. Not only are the other gods powerless (or less powerful), they are actually non-existent. Isa 45:5-6 “5 I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, 6 so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting people may know there is none besides me.”
  • Scholars date the term “Judaism” (the religion of the Yehuds) to the Persian period after the return from exile
  • There were still incidents of polytheism in this period, but it was no longer officially tolerated. However, it was only fully expunged during the Hasmonean Kingdom (164 – 63 BCE)
  • It took at least 600-700 years for the religion of the Israelites to develop from polytheism to monotheism:  from about 1100 BCE during the Late Bronze Age (even before they formed their 2 kingdoms) to around 500 BCE during the Perian period (or even later). This is possibly as much as 1000 years after the monotheism of Zoroastrianism emerged in Persia
  • It seems likely that Zoroastrianism in Persia, during and after the exile, as well as the Persian rule in Palestine, had some impact on the emergence of monotheistic Judaism
  • “Had the supporters of the traditional modes of syncretistic worship won out in the end, we might have possessed an entirely different scripture – or perhaps none at all” [48]. In other words, completely different stories could easily have become dominant.

E2.5 The Rise and Rivalry of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judea

• What is historically accurate in the biblical stories is the existence of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judea. Although the first archeological evidence for the existence of Israelites in Canaan dates back to the end of the late Bronze Age, they only established 2 kingdoms during the Iron Age (from the 10th or 9th century BCE) [4] [5] [6] [7] [8a] [8b] [8c] [8d]
• Notice on the map above the Philistine State (and Gaza) west of Judea, Edom to the south and Aram to the north
• The Rivalry between the Kingdom of Israel (in the north) and the Kingdom of Judea (in the south)
  • As we know now, there was no Golden Era of a united Kingdom under David and Solomon. We also know that the northern kingdom (also known as Samaria) was bigger, stronger and more prosperous than the Kingdom of Judea and that there was some rivalry between them
  • The real Golden Era of any Israelite political entity was actually the northern kingdom under Omri and Ahab in the 9th century BCE, according to the archeological evidence
    • The splendour of the palace in Samaria, their effective administration and engineering feats, the size of their territory, and the relative peace they experienced
    • And with Ahab marrying Jezebel, a Phoenicean princess, the diplomatic success and regional status they achieved
  • The biblical stories about the northern kingdom comes retrospectively from the southern Kingdom
    • They do not mention the achievements of the Omride Dynasty, but portray them as the ultimate villians (immoral, unjust, polytheistic)
    • This is partly due to the rivalry which existed between them
    • It is also due to the agenda of the Judean writers: to emphasize and exaggerate the Davidic Dynasty and to promote the Cult of Yahweh with Yahweh as the primary deity of the pantheon
    • This was written in retrospect, and after the fall of the northern Kingdom, which gave them plenty of opportunity to use the fall of Samariah as proof of the religious error and sinfulness of the Kingdom of Israel
    • This retrospective portrayal of the northern Kingdom in the Bible is not accurate about this kingdom and its achievements, and even less so about the extent and status of polytheism in the 9th century BCE
• By the end of our Episode 2, when neither of the two Israelite kingdoms had independence left in 722 BCE, they were both still examples of thriving polytheism.

‘This retrospective portrayal of the northern Kingdom in the Bible is not accurate about this kingdom and its achievements, and even less so about the extent and status of polytheism in the 9th century BCE‘

E2.6 Palestine Series, Episode 2 – Critical Insights

E2.6.1 INSIGHT 1 – Layer 1 of the Zionist Narrative

‘The archeological findings (especially that of the last 60 years) prompted some historians to coin the label “mythistory” for this L1 narrative above (mythology presented and interpreted as history)’

• The main biblical stories about the Israelites (like the Exodus from Egypt, the conquering of Canaan and the mighty united Kingdom of David and Solomon) have been fully debunked, especially over the last 50-60 years. These Layer 1 stories are religious stories, not historical facts, as discussed in detail in E2.3 above
  • Narratives can be accepted and influential for centuries, regardless of whether they’re historically true
  • For example, this applies to the narratives of all the major world religions with their conflicting claims
• Even if it is obvious, it remains relevant to point out that these foundational myths (about their powerful god and them being his chosen people) were written by these “chosen people” themselves
• One of these foundational myths is especially significant for our series, the violent conquest of Canaan
  • According to this myth the god of the Israelites gave them the “promised land”, a part of Canaan, which was populated by a variety of Canaanite tribes
  • This conquest supposedly happened through what would be classified as genocide today (completing destroying the local Canaanites and taking their land), based on the explicit instructions of their god and his active help
    • Deut 20:16-17: “16 However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. 17 Completely destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the Lord your God has commanded you.“
  • Although this did not happen, it seems to me this narrative, is quite significant regardless: violently dispossessing the locals on some “divine” authority
  • It would be an example of presentism to simply judge Bronze and Iron Age civilizations and religions in terms of a modern world view and morality. But it is certainly relevant to
    • Point out how out of step these stories are with modern society and international law
    • Be cognizant of their potential impact in the present
    • Ask critical questions about the worldview of the Iron Age and the stories about violent deities from the Bronze Age
• The Israelites gradually emerged from the other Canaanites and did not arrive from elsewhere, neither violently nor peacefully. They were ethnically highly diverse and polytheistic. To quote Norman Gottwald: “The coalescing Yahwists were astonishingly diverse ethnically and culturally, but they had common social and political experiences and were forging together a common life of mutual life and self-development” [43]

E2.6.2 INSIGHT 2 – Retrospective Stories

• In dealing with biblical Layer 1 stories, as well as other stories about the Northern Kingdom, it is essential to understand the context. These stories were written in retrospect in the Kingdom of Judea at the end of the Iron Age, around 600- 500 BCE
• They are quite polemic and biased as they had a religious agenda to:
  • Establish the cult of Yahwism among the other gods worshipped by the Israelites
  • To bolster the importance of the Davidic Dynasty
  • To emphasise the importance the Kingdom of Judea and the power of its god among the world powers 
• These stories are at odds with the historical record
• This basic principle is quite important, and we’ll see more of it as newer stories continued to develop

‘Accurate geographical information in the Bible, the Quran, a novel, or a comic book does not mean the rest of their content is factual‘

E2.6.3 INSIGHT 3 – The Bible and History

• Christian fundamentalists and Zionist historians alike tend to regard the Bible as containing an accurate historical record. This is an article of faith which was debunked by archeological findings
• That does not mean that the Bible only contains myths and no factual information
• The Bible contains quite accurate geographic information, it contains some accurate historical information, some quasi-historical information, lots of completely false historical claims, retrospective stories with a religious motive pretending to be historical (like the foundational myths discussed above) and it contains many supernatural myths
• It goes without saying, but the fact that the Bible contains accurate geographic information does not mean biblical myths have any truth value. It continues to surprise me how many functionally secular people naively place value on Christian or Zionist narratives, simply because some places which currently are relevant in the Palestinian conflict are mentioned in the Bible. Accurate geographical information in the Bible, the Quran, a novel, or a comic book does not mean the rest of their content is factual.

E2.6.4 INSIGHT 4 – The Emergence of Monotheism

• A significant development during the Bronze Age was the emergence of monotheistic stories in a polytheistic world
• Zoroastrianism developed in Persia, possibly as early as 1500 BCE, and is still practiced in Iran today
• This was followed by the gradual progression from polytheism to monolatry to monotheism in Judea by around 500 BCE (over a period of  about 600 – 700 years)
  • They initially worshipped the Canaanite pantheon of the time (including El, Asherah, Baal and Yahweh), with the cult of Yahweh gradually becoming dominant
  • Despite popular belief, Judaism did not introduce monotheism to the world, and the introduction of monotheism was by not a positive development either (as we’ll see as we continue the series)
  • Monotheistic Judaism is by no means 4000 years old, as the Layer 1 Narrative claims. It is at most 2100 – 2500 years old.

‘So the stories about Yahweh progressed from the violent warrior-god of Edom, to part of the wider Canaanite pantheon, to part of the Israelite pantheon, to the main god of the Israelite pantheon, to the only god of Judaism, to the “father” of the Christian Trinity‘

E2.6.5 INSIGHT 5 – The Progression of Yahweh

• An additional historical insight about Yahweh deserves special mention: the continued progression in the stories about him
• Yahweh was part of the original Cananaanite pantheon, as the rather violent warrior-god of Edom
• The Israelites were polytheistic until about 500 BCE, by when Yahweh became their dominant god and by 164 BCE their only god, when they finally completely settled on a strict monotheism
• Yahweh is still the god of Judaism and Christianity today, but Christianity turned him into a Trinity in 381 CE (as we’ll see in the next episode)
• So the stories about Yahweh progressed from the violent warrior-god of Edom, to part of the wider Canaanite pantheon, to part of the Israelite pantheon, to the main god of the Israelite pantheon, to the only god of Judaism, to the “father” in the Christian Trinity
• This explains his rather violent and vengeful character in the Old Testament, including his genocidal instructions to his chosen people
• The stories about the violent god from Edom also had quite an an impact on the Judaist, Christian and Zionist narratives and history, and more indirectly also on the Islamic narrative. 
• This series will continue to explore this, especially in Episode 4 and 5

E2.6.6 INSIGHT 6 – The Shortlived Kingdoms of the Israelites

• The Kingdom of Judea became a vassal state of Assyria in 734 BCE under Tiglath-Pileser III
• The Kingdom of Israel was conquered and destroyed by the Assyrians in 722 BCE
• The reason the Assyrians did not destroy Judea too was neither because it was too powerful nor protected by a divine figure. To the contrary, it was because it has already been a non-threatening (and mostly subservient) vassal state of Assyria
• There was no independent Israelite kingdom left after 722 BCE
• The Israelite Kingdoms did not have an independent existence for more than about 300 years
• More about the destruction of the Kingdom of Judea in the next episode.

E2.6.7 INSIGHT 7 – The Contrast between Technological Achievements and Worldview

• There was quite a noticable contrast between the technological advances of during the Bronze and Iron Ages on the one hand, and the mythological worldview they were locked into
• I want to conclude with a question: to what extent did we move beyond the mythological worldview of that time, and is the contrast between technological advances and worldview possibly an even starker contrast today?

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