Customer Reviews

Ancient Israel at War 853-586 BC (Essential Histories)

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ANCIENT ISRAEL AT WAR 853-586 BC
BRAD KELLE
OSPREY PUBLISHING, 2007
QUALITY SOFTCOVER, $14.95, 96 PAGES, ILLUSTRATIONS, MAPS


War was so common in the Biblical period that the Old Testament makes specific reference to times of peace. As in modern times, the wars of antiquity were fought for political, economic, and religious reasons, and Palestine's position near the land bridge between Africa and Asia greatly multiplied the number of wars in which the inhabitants were involved. The weapons, strategies, and tactics used for war in the ancient Near East and the Greco-Roman world were highly diversified, and the methodology of war varied from people to people and from period to period. Nevertheless, some aspects of warfare were universal. For example, battles were fought on land and/or sea, with land encounters being subdivided into two basic categories: battles in open terrain and attacks on fortified cities. While only a few ancient peoples developed significant naval forces-Phoenicians, Greeks, Persians, and Romans; most ancient Near Eastern and Greco-Roman armies included two major divisions, foot soldiers and horsemen, and many armies made effective use of the chariots-the Egyptians and Assyrians. Infantrymen were divided into various contingents that specialized in the use of particular weapons-bows and arrows, slings, and sling stones. Although some field campaigns were provisioned 'off the land', the great imperial armies counted auxiliary troops within their ranks whose responsibility it was to provision the troops-the sophisticated logistical system that contributed to the success of Alexander the Great. Like their modern counterparts, ancient armies poured much human energy and technical skill into the preparation for and waging war. The number of soldiers involved in a single battle varied from a handful to many thousands, and the death and devastation caused by war was often enormous. Finally, students of ancient warfare can't help but be impressed by the technical skills that were employed in the production of weaponry. A careful examination of the archaeological evidence and artistic representations that relate to military activity allows one to understand that even ancient warfare was an art and a science that involved great learning. Since the Hebrew conquest and settlement of Canaan was partly accomplished by means of armed conflict with a number of people, Israel's early history (1225-1025 BC) is, to some degree, a history of the wars of Israel. Following these early phases of Israel's history, the Hebrew monarchy (1025-586 BC) was establsihed and maintained by means of war. Complex and unstable, in 922 BC, the Kingdom of Ancient Israel was divided into Judah, in the south, and Israel, in the north. For the next 200 years, there was almost constant warring between these kingdoms and their neighbors. These bitter feuds eventually led to the collapse of Israel, leaving Judah as a surviving nation until the emergence of the Babylonian Empire, the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC, and the exile of the Judean people. Using ancient Jewish, Biblical, and other contemporary sources, ANCIENT ISRAEL AT WAR 853-586 BC examines the politics, fighting, and consequences of Israel's battles during this period. Focusing on the turbulent relationship between the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, this book explains Israel's complex, often bloody, foreign policy, and provides a definitive history of these ancient conflicts.


Lt. Colonel Robert A. Lynn, Florida Guard
Orlando, Florida

EH does an excellent job presenting very basic history with vivid pictures and maps as aids. Israel at War is another example of their fine work--it contains contextual history of the Near Eastern empires to help the reader better understand biblical history. There are also several biographical portraits in the book (a warrior, a scribe, etc.), which I found to be a great way of presenting information about specific culture.

Indeed, this is a very basic book--it merely covers the Essentials. It doesn't claim to consider anything else.

Brad E. Kelle's ANCIENT ISRAEL AT WAR: 853-586BC is a fine pick for both in-depth college-level Middle East history holdings and specialty military collections with strong sections in early military force. It covers the complex kingdom of Ancient Israel and 200 years of constant warring between kingdoms and neighbors, and considers both the social and political relationships involved and the military conflicts. While a specialty item, it promises vivid reading for any studying early wars and military conditions.

This was a dissapointing purchase. The author has provided a cursory review of ancient israel history but nothing illuminating to the initiated. More could be found in a wikipedia search and written more consisely. While the series is recommended this unfortunately is one to pass on unless you need to have it as part of a collection

Exactly. You may get the same information out of an encyclopedia or the internet without paying a dime and without taking space in your library. I understand perfectly it is a tough topic, ancient history, few sources, the names are hard to pronounce, there are too many characters, etc, etc. Whatever. If you are going to make a book of it you are supposed to be able to tell a story out of it. Anybody can know facts (or make them up), the question is "do you know how to tell them?".

It is specially a pity that one can't make anything out of this book when it's supposed to be a general public's book, a nice edition with graphics, maps, pictures et al as they generally come from this publisher. Yes, that makes it even irritating.

Unless you are a specialist in the subject stay away from this one. The books of Kings are more fun to read than this. Oh, and the excuse that there are not enough physical evidence to give testimony that help should tell you not to write about it, and not the other way around.