History of Israel Collection (19 vols.)

by Lester L. Grabbe; K. Lawson Younger Jr.; David Small; Neil Asher Silberman

and

18 more

Publishers:

T&T Clark; Sheffield Academic Press; JSOT Press; Almond Press

, 1983–2007

Overview

Israel’s history is—to a large degree—the world’s history, because the people and events in the history of Israel and the texts which describe them have reached to the far corners of the world. Yet the history of Israel remains under-studied, under-appreciated, and often controversial. Who were the Israelites, and what kind of world did they inhabit?

The 19-volume History of Israel Collection brings together the most important scholarly works on Israel’s history. This collection contains the contributions of 90 scholars—biblical scholars, historians, archaeologists, and sociologists—in both edited volumes and book-length monographs. In addition to the Hebrew Bible, these scholars take into account a wide range of literature from the ancient Near East—including Eblaite, Amorite, Ugaritic, Akkadian, Phoenician, and numerous other sources—plus the latest archaeological and historical findings from the Near East.

With the Logos Bible Software edition, you have unprecedented access to the most important scholarly material on the history and culture of the ancient Near East in general and Israel in particular. The powerful search tools in your digital library help you locate the specific material relevant to your study. All references to the Old Testament are directly linked to the Hebrew texts in your library, along with your preferred English translations. What’s more, double-clicking any word in any language automatically opens up your preferred lexicons and searches for a match—giving you access to definitions, etymology, and usage examples. These advanced tools make the Logos edition of these important works on Israel’s history an important addition to the libraries of scholars, pastors, and students of the Old Testament.

Key Features

• 90 contributors
• Includes scholarly findings of Old Testament scholars, historians, archeologists, and sociologists
• Draws from a wide range of ancient Near Eastern literature, including Eblaite, Amorite, Ugaritic, Akkadian, and Phoenician sources
• All references to the Old Testament are linked to original language texts and English translations in your library

Product Details

• Title: History of Israel Collection
• Volumes: 19
• Pages: 5,837

Archaeology of Israel: Constructing the Past, Interpreting the Present

• Editors: Neil Asher Silberman, David B. Small
• Publisher: Sheffield Academic Press
• Publication Date: 1997
• Pages: 352

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This challenging volume offers a timely and extensive overview of the current state of archaeology in Israel. Including contributions by leading scholars, the essays focus on current problems and cutting-edge issues, ranging from reviews of ongoing excavations to new analytical approaches. Of interest not only to archaeologists, but to social historians as well, the topics include archaeology and social history, archaeology and ethnicity, as well as the overarching issue of how texts and archaeological knowledge are to be combined in the reconstruction of ancient Israel.

Contents and contributors:

• "Politics and Archaeology," Amos Elon
• "Archaeology, Political Culture, and Culture in Israel," Yaacov Shavit
• "Structuring the Past: Israelis, Palestinians, and the Symbolic Authority of Archaeological Monuments"
• "Historical Imaginings, Ideological Gestures: W.F. Albright and the 'Reasoning Faculties of Man,'" Burke O. Long
• "Tel Miqne-Ekron: An Iron Age I Philistine Settlement in Canaan," Trude Dothan
• "The Yigael Yadin Memorial Excavations at Hazor, 1990—93: Aims and Preliminary Results," Amnon Ben-Tor
• "Discoveries at Tel Dor," Ephraim Stern
• "The Excavations at Tel Beth Shean During the Years 1989—94," Amihai Mazar
• "The Revolutionary Effects of Archaeology on the Study of Jewish History," Lee I. Levine
• "Jewish Ritual Baths—Interpreting the Digs and the Texts," Benjamin G. Wright III
• "Pots and People Revisited: Ethnic Boundaries in the Iron Age I," Israel Finkelstein
• "Can Pig Remains Be Used for Ethnic Diagnosis in the Ancient Near East?," Brian Hesse and Paula Wapnish
• "Group Identification and Ethnicity in the Construction of the Early State of Israel," David B. Small
• "Philology, Theology, and Archaeology: What Kind of History Do We Want, and What is Possible?," William G. Dever
• "Text and Artifact: Two Monologues?," Baruch Halpern

Neil Asher Silberman is an author specializing in the history and politics of modern archaeology.

David Small is Associate Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Writing the History of Israel

• Author: Diane Nunn Banks
• Publisher: T & T Clark
• Publication Date: 2006
• Pages: 304

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No biblical historian is included in the standard dictionaries of historians. Banks’ study examines the boundaries as well as the links that exists between history writing in biblical studies and the practice of history in university departments of history. She argues that while the influence of the profession of writing history is apparent, there are countervailing forces as well.

The presupposition that the Bible is a book of history conditions the outcome of historical research in biblical studies. Banks argues that Julius Wellhausen’s history of Israel set in motion the general tendency toward ever greater congruence between historiography in biblical studies and in academic departments of history; that the initial tension caused by Wellhausen’s work produced a reaction which effectively stalled the movement toward accommodation between secular, academic history and biblical studies; and that a new generation of scholars applying the methods used by secular historians has revived and continued the tendency to promote the practice of secular, academic historiography in biblical studies. Banks applies her method to Wellhausen, Martin Noth, John Bright, and Thomas Thompson.

As she traces the course of this field of study, Banks does not avoid the challenging questions that arrive from an investigation.

—The Bible in Review

Diane Banks is an independent scholar who lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Forging of Israel: Iron Technology, Symbolism and Tradition in Ancient Society

• Author: Paula M. McNutt
• Publisher: Sheffield Academic Press
• Publication Date: 1991
• Pages: 240

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In this rich and elegantly presented interdisciplinary study, the theme is the impact of iron technology on the material and cultural life of ancient Israel. The author argues that iron itself and the processes of ironworking functioned as dominant cultural symbols, conveying meanings about significant transformations that establish Israel’s social and religious identity. This wide-ranging monograph is particularly valuable for its integration of material about ironworking in traditional African societies, anthropological theories on symbolism, and archaeological information on the development of iron technology in the Near East.

Paula McNutt is the senior vice president for academic affairs and dean of Carroll College in Helena, Montana. She earned a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible from Vanderbilt University. She has written two books and numerous articles, and participated in archaeological work in Jordan, Syria, and Israel.

The Unity of the Twelve

• Author: Paul R. House
• Publisher: Sheffield Academic Press
• Publication Date: 2009
• Pages: 262

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Scholars have long noted the consistent canonical ordering of the Minor Prophets, yet have not located their unity. In this instructive book Paul House presents a close reading that demonstrates the Twelve’s cohering principles. Both literary criticism and the Minor Prophets are succinctly introduced here. Biblical theology is also furthered through the study’s focus on unity.

Paul R. House is Associate Dean and Professor of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School, Samford University in Alabama. He is also the author of Old Testament Survey, available from Logos in the Hebrew History Collection (3 Vols.), and Old Testament Theology, available from Logos in the IVP Biblical Theology Collection (4 Vols.).

Scribes and Schools in Monarchic Judah: A Socio-Archaeological Approach

• Author: David W. Jamieson-Drake
• Publisher: Sheffield Academic Press
• Publication Date: 1991
• Pages: 235

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The question of the existence and nature of scribal institutions in ancient Israel has up to now been debated primarily on literary grounds. In placing the question of scribes and schools in a socio-archaeological context, as the present study does, this problem is reformulated. The focus shifts from the question of the prevalence of literary skills to the broader question of the function of those skills within ancient society.

David W. Jamieson-Drake is the director of institutional research at Duke University.

Ahab Agonistes: The Rise and Fall of the Omri Dynasty

• Author: Lester L. Grabbe
• Publisher: T & T Clark
• Publication Date: 2007
• Pages: 368

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In this volume, the European Seminar in Historical Methodology uses the period of the 9th and 8th centuries BCE as a field for investigating the question of writing a history of Israel. This period provides a striking example in which the biblical text can be compared with other written and artifactual sources. Contributors explore a variety of aspects of the history of the period of Omri and Ahab and the following Jehu dynasty. As a volume it provides a comprehensive picture of the sources, the historical problems, and the areas of major debate.

Contents and contributors:

• "Can Prophetic Texts Be Dates? Amos 1–2 as an Example," Hans M. Barstad
• "The House of Omri/Ahab in Chronicles," Ehud Ben Zvi
• "The Kingdom of Israel from Omri to the Fall of Samaria," Lester L. Grabbe
• "Was Omride Israel a Sovereign State?," Ernst Axel Knauf
• "The Tel Dan Inscription (KAI 310) and the Political Relations between Aram-Damascus and Israel," Ingo Kottsieper
• "The Mesha Stele and the Omri Dynasty"
• "Royal Inscription Versus Prophetic Story: Mesha’s Rebellion According to Biblical and Moabite Historiography," Nadav Na’aman
• "Royal Samaria—Capital or Residence?," Hermann Michael Niemann
• "What Is in a Text? Searching for Jezebel," Dagmar Pruin
• "A Testimony of the Good King: Reading the Mesha Stele," Thomas L. Thompson
• "Samaria, Jezreel and Megiddo: Royal Centres of Omri and Ahab," David Ussishkin
• "The Architecture of Israelite Temples," David A. Warburton

Lester L. Grabbe is Professor of Hebrew Bible and Early Judaism at the University of Hull. He is founder and convener of the European Seminar in Historical Methodology.

History of Israel’s Traditions: The Heritage of Martin Noth

• Editors: Steven L. McKenzie, M. Patrick Graham
• Publisher: Sheffield Academic Press
• Publication Date: 1994
• Pages: 326

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In 1943, the famous Old Testament scholar, Martin Noth, published the monograph in which he established the hypothesis of a Deuteronomistic History and gave his treatment of the Chronicler’s History. It quickly became one of the classics in the field and is probably Noth’s most enduring legacy. This book brings together essays from an international symposium of scholars celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Noth’s important volume and reviewing his other contributions to Old Testament study.

Part one discusses Noth’s life and work, his view of the Deuteronomistic History and the Chronicler’s History, his contributions to the history of Israel, traditional criticism, and Old Testament theology, as well as reflections on Noth’s impact on current and future study. Part two analyzes the scholarship over the past fifty years on Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, 1–2 Samuel, and 1–2 Kings.

Contents and contributors:

• "Martin Noth: Notes on his Life and Work," Christopher T. Begg
• "Martin Noth and the Deuteronomistic History," Antony F. Cambell
• "Martin Noth and the Chronicler's History," Roddy L. Braun
• "Martin Noth and the History of Israel," Thomas L. Thompson
• "Martin Noth and Tradition Criticism," Rolf Rendtorff
• "Martin Noth's Uberlieferungsgeschichtliche Studien and Old Testament Theology," Timo Veijola
• "Martin Noth: Retrospect and Prospect," David Noel Freedman and Jeffrey C. Geoghegan
• "Martin Noth and the Future of the Deuteronomistic History," Walter Dietrich
• "The Book of Deuteronomy," Thomas Römer
• "The Significance of the Book of Joshua in Noth's Theory of the Deuteronomistic History," Brian Peckham
• "Judges and the Deuteronomistic History," Mark O’Brien
• "The Books of Samuel," P. Kyle McCarter, Jr.
• "The Books of Kings in the Deuteronomistic History," Steven L. McKenzie

Steven McKenzie is Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament at Rhodes College, Memphis, Tennessee.

M. Patrick Graham is Margaret A. Pitts Associate Professor of Theological Bibliography at Candler School of Theology, and Director of Pitts Theology Library, Emory University, Atlanta.

Cult of Molek: A Reassessment

• Author: George C. Heider
• Publisher: Sheffield Academic Press
• Publication Date: 1985
• Pages: 446

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Both scholars and popular writers have long been fascinated with the cult of Molek in the Old Testament. Writers from John Milton to Charles Dickens have been tantalized by the awful rite of sacrifice. Heider’s volume evaluates the significance of the Molek cult with regard to the biblical, archaeological, and literary evidence. He begins with a broad history of scholarship on Molek from the seventeenth century onward, paying special attention to the contributions of Otto Eissfeldt and Moshe Weinfeld. He also surveys the literary evidence—in particular the Eblaite, Amorite, Ugaritic, Akkadian, and Phoenician evidence. He also examines the archaeological evidence from the Mesopotamian region. The book concludes with a detailed look at the relevant biblical texts, with a detailed look at Leviticus 18 and 20, Genesis 22, and various passages in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Minor Prophets.

This is a remarkably comprehensive . . . thesis. . . . The main subject, the enigmatic Molek cult in the Old Testament, is thoroughly explored on the basis of earlier major contributions, particularly the important work of O. Eissfeldt, Molk als Opferbegriff . . . und das Ende des Gottes Moloch (1935). Much new light is thrown upon the subject through the consideration of the ancient Near Eastern comparative material, especially from Ebla, Mari, and Ugarit.

—Journal of Semitic Studies

George C. Heider is Associate Professor of Theology at Valparaiso University. He received a B.A. and M.Div. from Concordia, and earned masters degrees and a Ph.D. from Yale University.

Economic Keystones: The Weight System of the Kingdom of Judah

• Author: Raz Kletter
• Publisher: Sheffield Academic Press
• Publication Date: 1998
• Pages: 299

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This book presents a full picture of the weight system of Iron Age Judah, based on archaeological finds, historical sources and biblical texts. This book offers a complete picture of the weight system of Iron Age Judah, involving a careful study of the typology, date, context, weight standards, inscription and function of hundreds of weights (with a full catalogue). As against the common view, the author suggests that all the weights belong to one system based on one basic sheqel standard. The weights are mostly not royal weights and have nothing to do with Josiah's reform. The “sheqel of the sanctuary” was never used in practice in First-Temple Judah. The study leads to new insights about the relation of the Judean system to other weight systems, as well as about international trade and the economy of the Kingdom of Judah.

Raz Kletter is Lecturer in the Land of Israel Studies Department at Haifa University, and Excavating Archaeologist at the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Gibeah: The Search for a Biblical City

• Author: Patrick M. Arnold
• Publisher: Sheffield Academic Press
• Publication Date: 2009
• Pages: 200

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This work is a cross-disciplinary study of Israel’s first capital city from topographical, archaeological, historical, and literary perspectives. Challenging William F. Albright’s claim that the ancient city is to be identified with Tell el-Ful, the book develops the case for a location instead at modern Jeba, to the northeast of Jerusalem—a site-change which bears important consequences for several scholarly theories relating to Gibeah. Among these are the inquest into the historicity and literary composition of the story of Judges 19–21 and the nature of Saul’s kingship. Both of these texts are treated thoroughly as preparation for a concluding investigation into the meaning of the prophet Hosea’s references to Israel’s sins “in the days of Gibeah.”

Patrick M. Arnold was professor of Old Testament at the University of San Diego.

King Saul in the Historiography of Judah

• Author: Diana Vikander Edelman
• Publisher: Sheffield Academic Press
• Publication Date: 1991
• Pages: 352

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This volume contains a sustained close reading of 1 Samuel 8 to 2 Samuel 1 from a perspective of the intended ancient audience. A conscious effort is made here to read and understand the text through the eyes of an ancient Israelite, to the extent that the worldview and idioms of the late seventh-century BCE Judah can be reconstructed. This study reveals a coherent, carefully developed narrative of Saul’s career as the first king of Israel.

Diana Vikander Edelman is a Reader in the Department of Biblical Studies at the University of Sheffield. He received a B.A. in Religion at Smith College, and an M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Chicago. She has participated in numerous archaeological excavations in Palestine.

Like a Bird in a Cage: The Invasion of Sennacherib in 701 BCE

• Author: Lester L. Grabbe
• Publisher: Sheffield Academic Press
• Publication Date: 2003
• Pages: 352

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This volume focuses very specifically on Sennacherib’s invasion of Judah in 701 BCE. With information from a variety of sources—archaeological, biblical, Assyrian, Egyptian, and Greek—Sennacherib’s campaign should serve as a useful case study to investigate the question of historicity. The contributors to this volume examine the problem from a variety of points of view, with vigorous discussion about the correct way to evaluate the biblical text. The volume should make an important contribution to the ongoing debate about how to write the history of ancient Israel.

Lester L. Grabbe is Professor of Hebrew Bible and Early Judaism at the University of Hull.

Midian, Moab and Edom: The History and Archaeology of Late Bronze and Iron Age Jordan and North-West Arabia

• Editors: John F.A. Sawyer, David J.A. Clines
• Publisher: Sheffield Academic Press
• Publication Date: 1983
• Pages: 288

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Midian, Moab and Edom documents recent archaeological discoveries from the Late Bronze and Iron Age. It explores the connection between ancient Near Eastern cultures, and reflects a wide range of approaches—textual, linguistic, archaeological, anthropological, and technological.

Contents and contributors:

• "Excavations at Buseirah," Crystal-M. Bennett
• "The Late Bronze and Iron Age Sites of the Wadi el Hasa Survey 1979," Burton MacDonald
• "Social-Religious Distinctions in Iron Age Burial Practice in Jordan," Khair Yassine
• "Painted Pottery of Tayma and Problems of Cultural Chronology in Northwest Arabia," Garth Bawden
• "The Edomite Pottery," M.F. Oakeshott
• "The Midianite Pottery," Beno Rothenberg
• "A Laboratory Reconstruction of Late Bronze–Early Iron Age Copper Smelting in the Arabah," John F. Merkel
• "The meaning of Barzel in the Biblical Expressions “Chariots of Iron” and “Yoke of Iron,” John F.A. Sawyer
• "The United Campaign against Moab in 2 Kings 2:4–27," John R. Bartlett
• "Midianites and Ishmaelites," Ernst A. Knauf
• "The Midianite Arc in Joshua and Judges," Elizabeth J. Payne

John F.A. Sawyer was Head of Religious Studies, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and is now Senior Research Fellow, University College of St Martin, Lancaster. He is also the author of Reading Leviticus: Responses to Mary Douglas, available from Logos Bible Software in the Pentateuch History and Origins Collection (10 Vols.).

David J.A. Clines is Professor of Biblical Studies and Head of Department at the University of Sheffield. He is also the author of the volumes on Job in the Word Biblical Commentary and The Theme of the Pentateuch in the Pentateuch History and Origins Collection (10 Vols.).

The Reforming Kings: Cults and Society in First Temple Judah

• Author: R.H. Lowery
• Publisher: Sheffield Academic Press
• Publication Date: 1991
• Pages: 272

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This volume presents an illuminating examination of the emergence of Deuteronomic theology in pre-exilic Judah. Judean Deuteronomism grew as a response to the social unrest of the Assyrian period, channeling popular discontent away from the Davidic monarchy and towards foreign imperialism. The author brings together different strands of current scholarship, studying the economy of monarchial Judah and Israel, and examining the commanding social role of the Davidic monarchy. Lowery also discusses Ahaz and the economic and religious impact of Assyrian imperialism, and concludes with a discussion of the Manasseh narrative in Kings as a systematic rejection of the pre-Deuteronomic First Temple status quo. In addition to other topics, this volume includes chapters on Rehoboam, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Athaliah, Joash, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, and Josiah.

Richard H. Lowery is Johnnie Eargle Cadieux Professor of Hebrew Bible. He has also served as president of the Southwest Region of the Society of Biblical Literature.

Sociology of Pottery in Ancient Palestine: The Ceramic Industry and the Diffusion of Ceramic Style in the Bronze and Iron Ages

• Author: Bryant G. Wood
• Publisher: Sheffield Academic Press
• Publication Date: 1991
• Pages: 148

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This fundamental study offers a reconstruction of the social world in which pottery was manufactured, distributed, and used in ancient Palestine. Part one concludes that ceramic wares in the Bronze and Iron Ages were mass-produced for commercial sale by small workshops, probably family owned and operated. The technological level was high, with potters’ wheels and permanent kilns being used. Part two argues that ceramic styles were rapidly spread throughout Palestine, primarily by itinerant merchants who sold ordinary household wares over great distances.

Bryan G. Wood received an M.A. in biblical history from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in Syro-Palestinian archaeology from the University of Toronto in 1985. He is currently the editor of the Bible and Spade and director of the Associates for Biblical Research. He is best known for his research on Jericho.

Understanding Dan: An Exegetical Study of a Biblical City, Tribe and Ancestor

• Author: Mark Walter Bartusch
• Publisher: Continuum
• Publication Date: 2003
• Pages: 328

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This book investigates the Dan/Danite tradition in the Hebrew Bible to determine not only what the Bible tells us about Dan, but also how far traditions about the territory, city, ancestor and tribe may have influenced each other. Bartusch argues that the political and theological interests reflected in the relatively late work of the Deuteronomistic Historian have cast a shadow over some earlier traditions, and that by combining social-science models and new literary criticism with the more traditional historical-critical methodologies, the original meaning of the traditions of Dan may be recovered and clarified. The conclusion of such a study is that the Hebrew Bible as a whole does not entirely support the negative portrayal of Dan in its later traditions.

Mark Walter Bartusch is Associate Professor of Theology at Valparaiso University and a minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Understanding Poets and Prophets: Essays in Honour of George Wishart Anderson

• Editor: A. Graeme Auld
• Publisher: Sheffield Academic Press
• Publication Date: 1993
• Pages: 448

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This volume contains a rich collection of essays by twenty eight of Professor G.W. Anderson’s students, colleagues, and successors in Edinburgh, and associates in the world of Hebrew and biblical studies. Contributors include:

• "Wilhelm Vischer and Allegory," J. Barr
• "Inscribing the Covenant: Writing and the Written in Jeremiah," R.P. Carroll
• "Clans, Etat Monarchique, et Tribus," H. Cazelles
• "Jeremiah 1–25 and the Deuteronomistic History," R.E. Clements
• "The Old Testament and the Church," R. Davidson
• "Lice or a Veil in the Song of Songs 1.7?," J.A. Emerton
• "The Anatomy of Hebrew Narrative Poetry," J.C.L. Gibson
• "Qohelet, the Rabbis, and the Wisdom Text from the Cairo Geniza," A.P. Hayman
• "The Deuteronomistic Cycles of Signs and Wonders in Exodus 1–13," W. Johnstone
• "Genesis 1 from the Perspective of a Chinese Creation Myth," A.C.C. Lee
• "The Great Commandment and the Golden Rule," J.I.H. McDonald
• "Old and New Covenant (Testament): A Terminological Enquiry," W. McKane
• "John 5 and the Limits of Rhetorical Criticism," D.L. Mealand
• "Notes on the Joseph Story," J.A. Soggin
• "Judges 1.1–2.5: The Conquest Under the Leadership of the House of Judah"
• "Isaiah 1.11 and the Septuagint of Isaiah," H.G.M. Williamson

A Word in Season: Essays in Honour of William McKane

• Author: James D. Martin
• Publisher: Sheffield Academic Press
• Publication Date: 1986
• Pages: 225

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This volume assembles essays and article written by scholars who have a close connection with William McKane, a dedicate scholar of the Hebrew Bible. McKane’s scholarship has focused on Wisdom literature, prophecy, and other themes from the Hebrew Bible, and he is best known for his commentaries on Proverbs and Jeremiah.

Contents and contributors:

• "Israelite Religion in the Pre-Exilic Period: A Debate Renewed," E.W. Nicholson
• "Sons of Cain," Philip R. Davies
• "Blessed Be My People Egypt" (Isaiah 19.25): The Context and Meaning of a Remarkable Passage," John F.A. Sawyer
• "Lamentations 1.3: Light from the History of Exegesis," R.B. Salters
• "The Great Tree of Daniel 4," P.W. Coxon
• "Guilt and Atonement: The Theme of 1 and 2 Chronicles," William Johnstone
• "Ben Sira—A Child of His Time," J.D. Martin
• "The Prophetic-Sapiential Origins of Apocalyptic Thought," James C. VanderKam
• "Food for Thought: The Septuagint Translation of Genesis 1.11–12," B. Paradis
• "Towards Dating the Targum of Ruth," D.R.G. Beattie
• "A Prelude to the Samaritan Pentateuch Texts of the Paris Polyglot Bible," J.G. Fraser

James D. Martin is Senior Lecturer in Hebrew and Old Testament at the University of St. Andrews.

Ancient Conquest Accounts: A Study in Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical History Writing

• Author: K. Lawson Younger, Jr.
• Publisher: Sheffield Academic Press
• Publication Date: 2009
• Pages: 392

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Works on Old Testament historiography, the “Conquest,” and the origins of Israel have burgeoned in recent days. But while others have been issuing new reconstructions, this novel work presents a close reading of the biblical text. The focus is on the literary techniques that ancient writers employed in narrating stories of conquest, and the aim is to pinpoint their communicative intentions in their own contexts. This reading is enhanced by engagement with the important discipline of the philosophy of history. Ancient Conquest Accounts, replete with extensive quotations from Assyrian, Hittite, and Egyptian conquest accounts, is a learned and methodologically sensitive study of a wide range of ancient Near Eastern texts as well as of Joshua 9–12.