worth reading first...

Archaeology vs Religion in Ancient Israel

Herzog argues that 'the formative stages of the People of Israel were utterly different from those the Bible articulates. Nonetheless, such views have not percolated into the awareness of the public at large.' He believes that most 'Israelis (as well as Jews in the Diaspora) would still be shocked to read such conclusions as these: that the People of Israel did not sojourn in Egypt, did not wander in the wilderness, did not conquer the land of Canaan in a military campaign, and did not pass it on as inheritance to the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

The porti...

worth reading first...

Archaeology vs Religion in Ancient Israel

Herzog argues that 'the formative stages of the People of Israel were utterly different from those the Bible articulates. Nonetheless, such views have not percolated into the awareness of the public at large.' He believes that most 'Israelis (as well as Jews in the Diaspora) would still be shocked to read such conclusions as these: that the People of Israel did not sojourn in Egypt, did not wander in the wilderness, did not conquer the land of Canaan in a military campaign, and did not pass it on as inheritance to the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

The portion of the Levant known as Palestine has had many different names including Canaan and Eretz Israel or Land of Israel. After 132 CE the Romans renamed the region Palestine because the Jews had rebelled against Roman authority not once, but twice. Aware of Jewish history the Romans renamed the land after Israel's most bitter enemy, the Philistines, to humiliate the Jews. The Romans sought to make a point that this region was no longer Eretz Israel, but Roman land. The word comes from the Latin Palestina (Philistine Land).

This introduction to accompany Professor Herzog's article provides the reader with an outline of the beginnings of archaeological research in Palestine and Jericho.