Patriarchal Palestine
Canaan and the Canaanites before the Israelitish Conquest

This 1895 work considers the history of Palestine in the context of new archaeological material discovered during the nineteenth century.

Archibald Henry Sayce (Author)

9781108082303, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 11 July 2019

286 pages, 1 map
21.6 x 14 x 1.7 cm, 0.3 kg

Archibald Henry Sayce (1845–1933) became interested in Middle Eastern languages and scripts while still a teenager. Old Persian and Akkadian cuneiform had recently been deciphered, and popular enthusiasm for these discoveries was running high when Sayce began his academic career at Oxford in 1869. In this 1895 work, he considers the history of the Holy Land in the context of the flood of new documentary and archaeological material which had come to light in the course of the nineteenth century. Sayce's approach opposed the 'higher criticism' which sought to demonstrate that the stories of the Old Testament should not be interpreted literally; in his opinion, 'in the narrative of the Pentateuch we have history and not fiction', and he believed that archaeological discoveries supported his view. Although this approach was already outdated, his reconstruction of the history of the ancient Near East remains of interest to historians of archaeology.

Preface
Lists of dynasties
1. The land
2. The people
3. The Babylonians in Canaan, and the Egyptian conquests
4. The patriarchs
5. Egyptian travellers in Canaan
6. Canaanitish culture and religion
Index.

Subject Areas: Archaeology by period / region [HDD]