David and Solomon

in search of the Bible's sacred kings and the roots of the Western tradition

By Finkelstein, Israel & Silberman, Neil Asher

Publishers Summary:
Discoveries of biblical archaeology have shed powerful light on the characters in the Bible. Here, archaeologists Finkelstein and Silberman focus on the first two great kings of the Bible as a lens through which we can see the evolution of the entire era. The Bible's verses on David and his son were written in stages, over many hundreds of years, by authors living in very different circumstances. The earliest folklore about David depicts a bandit leader, leading a small gang of traveling raiders. In later periods, authors added images of a poet, the founder of a great dynasty, a political in-fighter, and a sinner. A similar evolution of Solomon from the builder of the Temple, to expander of his empire, to wise sage, to rich trader similarly reflects successive stages of history. Ultimately, David and Solomon came to embody a tradition of divinely inspired kings.--From publisher description.

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ISBN
978-0-74324-362-9
Publisher
New York : Free Press, c2006.


REVIEWS

Library Journal

Reviewed on January 15, 2006

Biblical archaeologist Finkelstein (archaeology, Tel Aviv Univ.) and Silberman (director, Ename Ctr. of Public Archaeology and Heritage Preservation, Belgium) claimed in their 2001 book, The Bible Unearthed, that the traditional interpretation of the archaeological evidence of the Davidic and Solomonic period was wrong. Their new book expands on that thesis. Archaeological evidence, they argue, is not available for the constru...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

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