This volume collects essays from an international body of leading scholars in Old Testament studies, focused upon the key concepts of the question of historicity of biblical stories, the archaeology of Israel/Palestine during the Bronze and Iron Ages, and the nature of biblical narratives and related literature. As a celebration of the extensive body of Thomas L. Thompson's work, these essays enable a threefold perspective on biblical narratives. Beginning with 'method', the contributors discuss archaeology, cultural memory, epistemology, and sociology of knowledge, before moving to 'history, historiography and archaeology' and close analysis of the Qumran Writings, Josephus and biblical rewritings. Finally the argument turn to the narratives themselves, exploring topics including the possibility of invented myth, the genre of Judges and the depiction of Moses in the Qu'ran. Presenting an interdisciplinary analysis of the historical issues concerning ancient Israel/Palestine, this volume creates an updated body of reference to fifty years' worth of scholarship.

List of FiguresList of ContributorsList of AbbreviationsIntroduction, Lukasz Niesiolowski-Spanò and Emanuel PfohThe Publications of Thomas L. ThompsonPART 1: METHODChapter 1. The City of David as a Palimpsest - Margreet L. Steiner, Independent Scholar, the NetherlandsChapter 2. Living in the Past? Keeping Up-To-Date in Ancient Near Eastern Studies - Raz Kletter, University of Helsinki, FinlandChapter 3. What People Want to Believe: Or Fighting Against 'Cultural Memory' - Niels Peter Lemche, University of Copenhagen, DenmarkChapter 4. The Need for a Comprehensive Sociology of Knowledge of Biblical and Archaeological Studies of the Southern Levant - Emanuel Pfoh, National University of La Plata, ArgentinaPART 2: HISTORY, HISTORIOGRAPHY AND ARCHAEOLOGYChapter 5. The Abraham and Esau-Jacob Stories in the Context of the Maccabean Period - Lukasz Niesiolowski-Spanò, University of Warsaw, PolandChapter 6. Tell Balata (Shechem): An Archaeological and Historical Reassessment - Hamdan Taha, former Deputy of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Palestine, and Gerrit van der Kooij, University of Leiden, the NetherlandsChapter 7. 'Solomon' (Shalmaneser III) and the Emergence of Judah as an Independent Kingdom - Russell Gmirkin, Independent Scholar, USAChapter 8. On the Pre-Exilic Gap between Israel and Judah - Étienne Nodet, Ecole Biblique et Archeologique Francaise de Jerusalem, IsraelChapter 9. Perceptions of Israel's Past in Qumran Writings: Between Myth and Historiography, Jesper Høgenhaven, University of Copenhagen, DenmarkChapter 10. Is Josephus's John the Baptist Passage a Chronologically Dislocated Story of the Death of Hyrcanus II? - Greg Doudna, Independant Scholar, USAChapter 11. Thompson's Jesus: Staring Down the Wishing Well - Jim West, Ming Hua Theological College, Hong KongChapter 12. The Qur'an as Biblical Rewriting - Mogens Müller, University of Copenhagen, DenmarkPART 3: BIBLICAL NARRATIVESChapter 13. The Food of Life and the Food of Death in Texts from the Old Testament and the Ancient Near East - Ingrid Hjelm, University of Copenhagen, DenmarkChapter 14. A Gate in Gaza: An Essay on the Reception of Tall Tales - Jack M. Sasson, Vanderbilt University, USAChapter 15. Deborah's Topical Song: Remarks on the Gattung of Judges 5 - Bob Becking, Utrecht University, the NetherlandsChapter 16. How Jerusalem's Temple Was Aligned to Moses' Tabernacle: About the Historical Power of an Invented Myth - Rainer Albertz, University of Munster, GermanyChapter 17. Can the Book of Nehemiah Be Used as an Historical Source, and If So, of What? - Lisbeth S. Fried, University of Michigan, USAChapter 18. Chronicles' Reshaping of Memories of Ancestors Populating Genesis - Ehud Ben Zvi, University of Alberta, CanadaChapter 19. The Book of Proverbs and Hesiod's Works and Days - Philippe Wajdenbaum, Independent Scholar, the NetherlandsChapter 20. The Villain 'Samaritan': The Samiri as the Other Moses in Qur'anic Exegesis, Joshua Sabih, University of CopenhagenIndex of ReferencesIndex of Authors