Ponder questions of the united monarchy under Saul and David in light of current historical and archaeological evidence

Reconstructing the emergence of the Israelite monarchy involves interpreting historical research, approaching questions of ancient state formation, synthesizing archaeological research from sites in the southern Levant, and reexamining the biblical traditions of the early monarchy embedded in the books of Samuel and Kings. Integrating these approaches allows for a nuanced and differentiated picture of one of the most crucial periods in the history of ancient Israel. Rather than attempting to harmonize archaeological data and biblical texts or to supplement the respective approach by integrating only a portion of data stemming from the other, both perspectives come into their own in this volume presenting the results of an interdisciplinary Tübingen–Tel Aviv Research Colloquium.

Features:

• Essays on Israel's monarchy by experts in biblical archaeology and biblical studies

• Methods for integrating archaeology and biblical traditions in reconstructing ancient Israel’s history

• New research on the sociopolitical process of state formation in Israel and Judah

Joachim J. Krause is Senior Lecturer for Hebrew Bible at the University of Tübingen. His publications include Die Bedingungen des Bundes: Studien zur konditionalen Struktur alttestamentlicher Bundeskonzeptionen (2020) and Exodus und Eisodus: Komposition und Theologie von Josua 1-5 (2014).

Omer Sergi is a Lecturer in the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures at Tel Aviv University. He is the codirector of The Archaeological Expression of Palace-Clan Relations in Ancient Israel Project based on the archaeological excavations he directed in Ḥorvat Tevet, the Jezreel Valley.

Kristin Weingart is Professor for Hebrew Bible at the University of Munich. Her publications include Gezählte Geschichte: Systematik, Quellen und Entwicklung der synchronistischen Chronologie in den Königebüchern (2020).