Fabric of History: Text, Artifact and Israel’s Past

Overview

In Fabric of History, six scholars explore the nature of history and historical reconstruction and the place of history within biblical studies. The uncritical use of both text and artifact that continues to dominate histories of Israel and Judah testifies to the need for a wider grassroots awareness of the basic issues involved in doing history as a biblical scholar. A growing number of scholars are questioning the theoretical underpinnings of the main schools of research and are calling for an approach that makes a more critical evaluation of both textual and artifactual material before using it in historical reconstruction.

Contributions to this volume include:

• “Doing History in Biblical Studies,” Diana Edelman
• “From History to Interpretation,” Ernst Axel Knauf
• “Text, Context and Referent in Israelite Historiography,” Thomas L. Thompson
• “Is it Possible to Write a History of Israel without Relying on the Hebrew Bible?” J. Maxwell Miller
• “Archaeology, Material Culture and the Early Monarchial Period in Israel,” William G. Dever
• “The Role of Archaeological and Literary Remains in Reconstructing Israel’s History,” Gosta W. Ahlstrom