Israel Finkelstein - The Quest for the Historical Israel: Debating Archaeology and the History of Early Israel

Brian B. Schmidt

S everal factors made the lectures presented by Professors Israel Finkelstein and Amihai Mazar, and their publication here, a reality. First was the urgent need for new syntheses of Israels early history. Second was the exceptional opportunity to convey the current state of affairs within the field of early Israelite history to an informed and highly receptive public as well as to fellow historians, and to do so from what is self described herein as two centrist perspectives. Third was Rabbi Sherwin Wines invitation to propose a theme topic for the Biennial Colloquium sponsored by the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism of Detroit. Fourth was the immediate interest expressed by Professors Finkelstein and Mazar in serving as the 2005 Colloquium plenary speakers. Last, but by no means least, were the many months of unswerving support, both leading up to and following the event, freely offered by the members of the colloquium organizing committee.

The timing of the presentation and publication of these lectures by two of the leading archaeologists of the southern Levant could not be more opportune. These lectures follow three decades of dialogue, discussion, and debate within the interrelated disciplines of Syro-Palestinian archaeology, Israelite history, and Hebrew Bible. As each of these fields enters a period of synthesis and re-articulation, even renewed cross-fertilization, following an elongated phase of reassessment and, at times, polarization, a balanced articulation of the issues and their resolution has become a desideratum. The occasional extremist tendencies of recent yearswhether of a radical minimalist or of a radical maximalist orientationare here complemented by alternative historical reconstructions emanating from a re-emergent, yet transformed, perspective. The essays contained here represent two moderating perspectives and have as their common ground the position that the material cultural data, the biblical traditions, and ancient Near Eastern written sources are all significantly relevant to the historical quest for ancient Israel of the Iron age (if not earlier). Yet, our authors articulate distinct views of Israelite history. Each gives different weight to these three lines of evidence as they bear on the interpretation and historical relevance of a particular epoch, event, or person of the past.