East of the Jordan: Territories and Sites of the Hebrew Scriptures (ASOR Books) [Paperback]

Burton MacDonald (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2000 | ISBN-10: 0897570316 | ISBN-13: 978-0897570312

This volume is a convenient tool for all those interested in the location of territories and sites attested in the Bible as "East of the Jordan" i.e. what is now the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. It presents the history of the identification of each biblical site and suggests the most likely location based on information provided by the biblical text, extra-biblical literary information, toponymic considerations and archaeology. The volume treats all territories and sites of Hebrew Scriptures in Transjordan from the "cities of the plains" (eg Soddom and Gomorrah), the Exodus itineraries, and the territories and sites of the Israelite tribes (Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh), to Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Gilead.

Product Details

• Paperback: 294 pages
• Publisher: American Schools of Oriental Research (January 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0897570316
• ISBN-13: 978-0897570312
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,019,267 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dating the Primary History (Genesis-2Kings) via Archaeology, October 8, 2002

By 

Walter Mattfeld (Millbury, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: East of the Jordan: Territories and Sites of the Hebrew Scriptures (ASOR Books) (Paperback)

Burton MacDonald's book is "A MUST HAVE" for all thoe interested in learning how archaeology has determined when the Primary History (Genesis- 2 Kings) was composed. MacDonald has first-hand experience in surveys of Transjordan, and is a trained archaeologist, as well as a biblical scholar. His conclusions from his knowledge of Transjordan, is that the Pentateuchal narratives were set in an Iron II world that the narrator's audience could relate to (Late Iron II, ca. 640-560 BCE). MacDonald surmises that ONLY in this era are MOST of the cities, towns and hamlets mentioned in the Exodus narratives in existence. They don't exist for Late Bronze Age or Iron I, it is ONLY Late Iron II ! MacDonald's observations about the archaeological evidence from Transjordan are remarkably like Israel Finkelstein's observations from his surveys in Israel/Canaan. That is, Finkelstein also finds that the Primary History (Genesis-2 Kings) was composed no earlier than the Late Iron II period for the same reasons- that is, NO OTHER PERIOD has MOST of the towns cities and hamlets in existence ! If I had to reccomend the two most important books for readers to possess who seek to learn how archaeology has determined when the Primary History was composed, it would be Burton MacDonald's above book, and Israel Finkelstein's _The Bible Unearthed_ ...Both of these books rank 5 stars with me. ...
All the best, Walter R. Mattfeld