The History of Ancient Israel

This is the story of Jewish civilization from its beginnings to the destruction of Jerusalem & its Temple in AD 70. The book deals with Israel's relations with the empires which shaped its development & with the changing internal structure of the Jewish state. Part of the tale is told by excavations, which reveal many aspects of the material culture & everyday life of those times. However, the major source is the Hebrew Bible, the Christian scripture, which is an unparalleled, massively varied compendium that includes much of the world's earliest historical writing & has inspired the literature, art & ethics of half the world.