CIAA Books

This book is so apt to question the historicity of the Bible, it finds itself refuting orthodox history, because of its inherent bias. 'We can't be certain David and Solomon exist at all, can we?' I hope you detect my cynicism. It might as well deny Israel's existence prior to 200 B.C. Israel after all didn't appear to around Jesus' time, right?

This fact filled book is tough going. By telling the development of thought and how many theories were cast aside by subsequent research and writing, it makes me feel buffeted by waves, then thrown on the shore, out of breath. Just tell the best story you can, as clearly as you can, please. Sure, some parenthetical or footnote references to say that for a while "such and such" was thought, OK. But maintain the thread. Perhaps an editor doesn't have that latitude when dealing with a collection of world class scholarly authors.

Further, the book is printed in gray type so reading it is concurrently mind strain AND eye strain.

I'm sure in the hands of a good teacher, with discussion and re-reading, this book can be effective. My teacher says we can read it before or after the class discussion. I will need to read it before AND after.

But perhaps I'm spoiled. I just finished Richard Friedman's "Who Wrote the Bible" - an engrossing, absorbing story that carries you along. It is a wonderful "read" - at the other end of the spectrum from Shanks.

EOM

Having gathered works by renown scholars of the history and anthropology of Israel, Hershel Shanks created a masterpiece in Ancient Israel: From Abraham to the Roman Destruction of the Temple. The book itself is easily accessible to one who is unlearned in the history of Ancient Israel (as am I). It also is useful in an undergraduate college classroom setting - As it was used in a Biblical Archaeology class at my school. The only negative feedback I have on this book is that, by its very nature, it is far to concentrated with facts. At times, you may feel very overwhelmed with the information presented. However, if you familiarize yourself with the general history of Israel by quickly reading through the book and then following that reading up with a more indepth reading, this book may serve you well. However, trying to remember all of the dates, names, and rulers at once is overwhelming. I recommend this to anyone who is even slightly interested in learning thoroughly about Ancient Israel and has little background in history during this period of time.

If you are looking for a history of ancient Israel. This is probably as good as you can get.

I found this book to be fantastic prerequisite reading on Jewish history from Biblical to Rabbinic times. It provides the reader with a working background knowledge of a daunting timespan; even skimming it provides enough information for a satisfactory jumping-off point of Jewish scholarship. It reads like a textbook, though, so beware: this is not exactly pleasure reading.