The Invention of Ancient Israel: The Silencing of Palestinian History (Paperback)

~ Keith Whitelam (Author) "The conceptualization and representation of the past is fraught with difficulty, not simply because of the ambiguities and paucity of data but because the construction..." (more)
Key Phrases: incipient nation state, settlement shift, biblical specialists, Iron Age, Hebrew Bible, Late Bronze Age (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"... fascinating ... This is a timely, pioneering study ... ... author is to be congratulated for producing an extremely provocative and, for the most part, faithful mirror in which the discipline of biblical studies may behold its unflattering reflection." -- Journal of Biblical Literature

"The Invention of Ancient Israel is a remarkable work of scholarship, certainly audacious enough, despite its painstaking manner, to undermine many unthinking presuppositions about ancient biblical history . . . the book possesses that keen independence of spirit and vision that is so rare and so invigorating when one encounters it." -- Edward Said, The Times Literary Supplement

"This is a brave, fascinating and important book." -- Sunday Times

'An important contribution to the history of scholarship.' - Expository Times

'Anyone who feels K's work 'can be safely ignored' will only show himself up as a fool.' - History Geography and Society

'It is a masterly, courageous work, the result of careful reading, focused reflection and the appropriate moral passion, which richly deserves wide exposure and will surely prompt siginificant discussion.' - Heythrop Journal

'Keith Whitelam's work serves to remind us what a vital if fraught exercise it still is to engage explicitly with the unique cultural influence of the Old Testament on the contemporary world.' - The Friend

'This is a brave, fascinating and important book ... constantly thought provoking and controversial.' - Sunday Times

'Whitelam can (and will) be criticized for introducing politics into 'ancient Israel', he is merely exposing it - and the Palestinians are after all the major victims of a zionizing European and American biblical scholarship. This book should be in paperback, and compulsory reading.' - Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

An important contribution to the history of scholarship. - Expository Times

Anyone who feels Ks work can be safely ignored will only show himself up as a fool. - History Geography and Society

It is a masterly, courageous work, the result of careful reading, focused reflection and the appropriate moral passion, which richly deserves wide exposure and will surely prompt siginificant discussion. - Heythrop Journal

Keith Whitelams work serves to remind us what a vital if fraught exercise it still is to engage explicitly with the unique cultural influence of the Old Testament on the contemporary world. - The Friend

This is a brave, fascinating and important book ... constantly thought provoking and controversial. - Sunday Times

Whitelam can (and will) be criticized for introducing politics into ancient Israel, he is merely exposing it - and the Palestinians are after all the major victims of a zionizing European and American biblical scholarship. This book should be in paperback, and compulsory reading. - Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

Product Description

A controversial and provocative work, The Invention of Ancient Israel chronicles how the true history of ancient Palestine has been obscured. Keith W. Whitelam reveals how ancient Israel has been invented by scholars in the image of a European nation state; one that resembles the state of Israel created in 1948.

This book explores the prospects for developing the study of Palestinian history as a subject in its own right, divorced from the history of the Bible, and argues that Biblical scholars, through their traditional view of this area, have contributed to dispossession both of a Palestinian land and a Palestinian past.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; New edition edition (May 23, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415107598
• ISBN-13: 978-0415107594
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #738,204 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

126 of 186 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, April 30, 2000

By	[e-mail] (Jordan) - See all my reviews

Employing a Foucauldian geneology of history, Whitelam finally exposed the reproduction of truths biblical scholars have resorted to in an attempt to bestow legitimacy on their cause. Although, I read the book in Arabic, I felt compelled to comment on the original version and commend Whitelam's systematic and scientific methodology in exposing the myths that shroud the existence of the Zionist movement. Whitelam clearly draws a lot from Said's efforts in Orientalism furthuring the need to situate biblical discourse in the context of imperialism and colonial discourses. It is enough to remember that Israeli historians themsevles are beginning to question the body of 'knowledge' that was created during the course of the 20th century especially in light of the archeological discoveries that have failed to lend credence to the claim an ancient Israeli kingdom existedin the West Bank. In fact, all discoveries so far are corroborating the version of history that stipulates the existence of an Arab and Philistine socieities at the end of the Iron age and the early Bronze agg. The old testement itself contains many contradictions in relation to the manufactured history of the Zionists which served as the main source for biblical reconstructions of history.

20 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring, January 16, 2006

By	PR star (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

Historical research is usually not the search for pure data, but the search for legitimacy. Professor Whitelam protests, in his refined manner, the use of history "to validate modern political stances."

This book is about the politicization of history. It does not intentionally engage in politics outside of the author's academic discipline. However, the subject matter cannot help but appear more broadly political in our time, when Israel's affairs loom so large in American government and media discussions. The title does inspire reactions in people with strong political feelings, some of whom very obviously do not read the book before making negative (even acerbic and wildly digressing) comments in order to discourage others from reading it.

Prof. Whitelam does not deny that Hebrew settlements existed in ancient times; rather he demonstrates in detailed examples that in some ways the archaeological record has been misinterpreted, or frankly shoe-horned, to fit literal Bible passages. The primary offenders have been European Christian archaeologists and historians via whom "political and religious attitudes of modern scholarship conspire to obscure the ancient politics of the past."

There is no hatred of Israel or Israelis evident anywhere in the book. The tone is consistently unemotional and scholarly. The author did not set out to write about ancient Israel per se but about ancient Palestine, whose history has been ignored and silenced because of the pressure to preserve "an ancient Israel conceived and presented as the taproot of Western civilization."

I must add that Whitelam does not single out Palestine as a unique or special case of the politicization of history. Consider this quote: "European nation states from the Industrial Revolution onwards constructed national histories to justify and idealize their positions in the world. This is particularly true of Great Britain [whose] antiquarians and politicians found vivid illustrations of the people's unique 'national character' that explained and justified Great Britain's unique position in the world."

On nearly every page I found both -

- valuable data, such as a discussion of Pharaoh Merneptah's stele, which has the earliest mention of Israel outside of the Bible; and

- invaluable insights, such as the revelation that "supposed rational results of Western scholarship have been part of a complex network of ideas and associations which are tied to relationships of power."

I recommend reading The Invention of Ancient Israel with a copy of the Old Testament handy for reference. Also, as you can imagine with an academic work that has a 15-page bibliography, a good dictionary will be vital to handle the vocabulary. I like the Merriam-Webster Collegiate, in paperback or electronic form.

154 of 231 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An objective Reading of History, August 11, 2000

By	Fred (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This is one of the very few objective accounts one can find in the western world about the history of Palestine. The Creation of the so-called "Ancient Israel" is really but a Western literary idea. The Arabic historical reality of Palestine is confirmed in this fascinating Book. The conclusion of the book is that the Now-Israel is just a Myth which is enforced on the rest of the world through Western domination. A must read for any student of history and anyone who search for truth.