The Lives of Ordinary People in Ancient Israel: When Archaeology and the Bible IntersectWm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2012 M04 20 - 436 pages The Lives of Ordinary People tells the untold story of how the vast majority of Israelites the people who are usually overlooked in "typical" histories of ancient Israel lived during the eighth century b.c.e. William G. Dever applies the latest archaeological evidence and his own considerable expertise to answer the question What was it really like to live in Israel's divided kingdom? Writing as an archaeologist who is also a secular humanist, Dever relies primarily on archaeological data rather than the Hebrew Bible for his source material. He uncovers and analyzes rich archaeological troves that provide vital clues about how most people lived. Illustrated by photos, maps, charts, site plans, and specially commissioned drawings, Dever's work brings vividly to life a world too long buried beneath dusty texts and stony landscapes. |
Contents
On History and History Writing | 1 |
The Challenges of Writing a History of Ancient Israel | 11 |
The Natural Setting | 35 |
Sites and Hierarchies | 47 |
Cities and Towns | 106 |
Towns Villages and Everyday Life | 142 |
Socioeconomic Structures | 206 |
Religion and Cult | 249 |
Israels Neighbors | 294 |
Warfare and the End | 320 |
Conclusion | 368 |
| 382 | |
| 422 | |
| 428 | |
| 433 | |
Common terms and phrases
8th century 8th century b.c.e. acres administrative center Aharoni Ajrûd altar ancient Israel Arad Aramean archaeological archaeological data archaeological evidence artifacts Asherah Assyrian Barr Beersheba Ben-Tor Beth-Shemesh biblical texts biblical writers border buildings Canaanite casemate century Str Chapter circa city gate city wall courtyard cult cultic cultural destruction elite excavated Faust figurines Finkelstein four-room houses Fritz Galilee Gezer Grabbe Hazor Hebrew Bible Herzog history writing ideology inscription Iron Age Israel and Judah Israeli Israelite Jerusalem Jordan Judah Judean Lachish late 8th century Lemche Mazar Megiddo mound names Neo-Assyrian northern ostraca palace perhaps Philistine Phoenician population postmodernism pottery probably Rainey references revisionists rooms rural Samaria Sargon II Sennacherib Shephelah sheqel shrine square feet Stern stone storejars structure Tell el-Far{ah temple Tier Tiglath-Pileser III tion tomb towns typical Ussishkin Valley villages W. G. Dever Whitelam Yahweh Zevit