David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition"In David and Solomon, Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman, leading archaeologists and authors who have done a great deal to uncover and understand the breathtaking findings of their field, focus on the first two great kings of the Bible as a lens through which we can see the evolution of the entire biblical era. The Bible's chapters and verses on David and his son were written in stages, over many hundreds of years, by authors living in very different circumstances. Thanks to a combination of textual analysis and archaeology, we now know a great deal about which parts of the story were written in which era, and why those particular societies might have added to the legend precisely as they did. In short, David and Solomon offers a guide to a thousand years of ancient civilization and the evolution of a tradition of kingly leadership that held sway throughout the West for much of our history."--BOOK JACKET. |
Contents
The Shepherd and the Slingstone | 1 |
RECOVERING HISTORY | 25 |
Tales of the Bandit | 31 |
The Madness of Saul | 61 |
Murder Lust and Betrayal | 91 |
THE EVOLUTION OF A LEGEND | 119 |
Solomons Wisdom? | 151 |
Challenging Goliath | 179 |
HOW THE LEGEND SHAPED HISTORY | 209 |
AND SOLOMONS JERUSALEM | 267 |
INDUSTRY? | 282 |
MERCENARY BODYGUARDS | 289 |
Bibliography and Suggested Reading | 297 |
Acknowledgments | 325 |
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Common terms and phrases
Abdi-Heba Achish ancient Apiru APPENDIX Arad archaeological evidence Assyrian bandit Beer-sheba Beer-sheba Valley Bethel Bible biblical narrative biblical scholars biblical story biblical tradition centers chiefdom Chronicles City of David conquest cult David and Solomon David's Rise Davidic dynasty Deuteronomistic History Egypt Egyptian eighth century BCE elaborate excavations exile Finkelstein_David_01_001-326_print Gath Goliath Greek Hazor Hellenistic Hezekiah hill country inscription Iron Age Israelite Jerusalem Temple Jezreel Jezreel Valley Josiah Judahite Judean king kingdom of Israel kingdom of Judah land Late Bronze Age late eighth century later LORD MADNESS OF SAUL Manasseh Megiddo mentioned messianic ninth north of Jerusalem northern kingdom Omride palace period Pharaoh Philistine Philistine cities political population region reign religious royal rule ruler Samaria Samuel Saul's settlement seventh century BCE Shephelah Sheshonq Shishak Solomon story Solomon tradition southern highlands story of David tenth century BCE territory throne tion trade united monarchy villages Yehud