{"product_id":"the-bibles-first-kings-uncovering-the-story-of-saul-david-and-solomon-hardback-9781009526333","title":"The Bible's First Kings; Uncovering the Story of Saul, David, and Solomon (Hardback) 9781009526333","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eThe Bible's First Kings\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eUncovering the Story of Saul, David, and Solomon\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eUsing archaeological finds, critical Bible analysis, and ethnographic data, the book reconstructs the formation of the Bible's United Monarchy.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eAvraham Faust (Author), Zev I. Farber (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9781009526333, Cambridge University Press\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eHardback, published 20 February 2025\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e464 pages\u003cbr\u003e23.5 x 16.3 x 3.1 cm, 0.84 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e'Faust and Farber's impressive monograph is certain to become a very influential work about the origins, growth and collapse of this monarchy.' David Rodman, Israel Affairs\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eSaul, David, and Solomon are dominant figures in the Hebrew Bible, rulers of an expanding Israelite polity before it dissolved into two separate kingdoms. Saul's paranoid jealousy, David's killing the Philistine champion Goliath with a slingshot, and Solomon's meeting the Queen of Sheba are familiar stories to many people, but what is the truth behind the texts? While scholars long believed these three monarchs to have been historical personalities, over the past three decades many have questioned the historicity of this United Monarchy, some doubting even the existence of its founding fathers. Building on a vast amount of archaeological evidence, this book robustly argues that the Israelite kingdom of the Bible was a real mini-empire, and that Saul, David, and Solomon were kings of consequence – even if the biblical stories reimagine their lives to glorify and vilify them. Combining fresh archaeological evidence with astute readings of key texts, the authors offer a compelling reconstruction of this fascinating ancient polity which, though it lasted less than a hundred years, has bequeathed a remarkable religious and cultural legacy to the western world. Written in a clear and engaging style, this book will be of interest to scholars and general audiences alike.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePart A. The United Monarchy in the Bible and Contemporary Scholarship: 1. Israel's united monarchy: the biblical story\u003cbr\u003e 2. Untangling the threads of the biblical account with literary critical scholarship\u003cbr\u003e 3. Deconstructing (and reconstructing) the United Monarchy as historical: passing the baton to archaeology\u003cbr\u003e Excursus 3.1. Biblical timeline, philistines, radiocarbon dating, and the united monarchy: the rise and fall of the low chronology\u003cbr\u003e Part B. The Archaeology of the Tenth Century BCE: 4. Abandoned rural villages and the beginning of highlands fortifications\u003cbr\u003e 5. Ceramic repertoire and social change in Philistia and Israel\u003cbr\u003e 6. Resettling the Shephelah\u003cbr\u003e Excursus 6.1. The architecture of power and the longitudinal four-space house\u003cbr\u003e 7. What happened to Philistia in the tenth century?\u003cbr\u003e 8. Building in the swamps of the Sharon plain\u003cbr\u003e Excursus 8.1. Israelite expansion and the disappearance of temples\u003cbr\u003e Excursus 8.2. On the dating of the Sharon sites\u003cbr\u003e 9. The Beersheba valley, the settlement of the Negev highlands, and the copper mines of Edom\u003cbr\u003e 10. Edom, Moab, Ammon and the Gilead: a brief overview of the Transjordan\u003cbr\u003e Excursus 10.1. Israelites or not? The highland polity and the changing faces of identity\u003cbr\u003e 11. The cities and villages of the northern valleys\u003cbr\u003e 12. The Galilee and the Phoenicians\u003cbr\u003e Excursus 12.1. The second wave of abandonment: The fingerprints of the highland polity\u003cbr\u003e Part C. A New Paradigm\u003cbr\u003e 13. The (re)appearance of Solomon: the archaeology of the united monarchy\u003cbr\u003e 14. David's empire? The highland polity in historical and anthropological perspect\u003cbr\u003e 15. From tribe to empire to state: synthesis of archaeological, anthropological, and biblical data\u003cbr\u003e 16. Israel's highland polity: an attempt at history\u003cbr\u003e Afterword.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eSubject Areas: Biblical studies \u0026amp; exegesis [\u003ca title=\"See our other books on Biblical studies \u0026amp; exegesis\" href=\"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/search?q=%22Biblical%20studies%20\u0026amp;%20exegesis%20%5BHRCG%5D%22\"\u003eHRCG\u003c\/a\u003e]\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Cambridge University Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52462946418968,"sku":"9781009526333","price":30.89,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0730\/2037\/5320\/files\/9781009526333i.jpg?v=1785543430","url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/the-bibles-first-kings-uncovering-the-story-of-saul-david-and-solomon-hardback-9781009526333","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}