Unpacking ancient Israel

Abstract

The book’s title reminded me of the title of William Dever’s book, What did the Biblical writers know and when did they know it? What archaeology can tell us about the reality of ancient Israel (2001). Before reading it, I could not but wonder whether Grabbe’s book is meant to be an improvement on what Dever has written. Why the similarity as far as the title is concerned? However, after reading the book, I realised that this book should not be judged by its title alone! Grabbe not only reflects on what Dever has written but on what a large number of other scholars have recently published on the history of Israel.