Enquire of the Former Age Ancient Historiography and Writing the History of Israel

When methodology relating to the history of ancient Israel is discussed, the issue of historiography is frequently injected into the debate. This includes both principles of writing history from a modern perspective and also historiography as it relates to ancient writings. The first part of this most recent volume in the European Seminar in Historical Methodology series contains essays on historiography, including such well-known scholars as Ehud Ben Zvi, Philip Davies, and Axel Knauf. The second part is made up of reviews of histories of Israel or related works by such writers as William Dever, Baruch Halpern, Steven McKenzie, Mario Liverani, Alberto Soggin, Lester Grabbe, Jens Bruun Kofoed, and Iain Provan, V. Phillips Long, and Tremper Longman, III. Reviewers include Rainer Albertz, Niels Peter Lemche, Joseph Blenkinsopp, Philip Davies, Bob Becking, Ehud Ben Zvi, and Lester Grabbe. The original authors had the opportunity to respond to the reviews, while the editor provides an introduction that summarizes the various contributions and a conclusion that provides personal reflections on the debate.

Lester L. Grabbe is Professor Emeritus of Hebrew Bible and Early Judaism at the University of Hull.He is founder and convenor of the European Seminar in Historical Methodology.A recent book is Ancient Israel:What Do We Know and How Do We Know it?

I. INTRODUCTION LESTER L. GRABBE, Introduction II. RESEARCH PAPERS
EHUD BEN ZVI, General Observations on Ancient Israelite Histories in their Ancient Contexts
PHILIP R. DAVIES, The Origin of Biblical Israel
E. AXEL KNAUF, Against Historiography--in Defence of History
CHRISTINE MITCHELL, Why the Hebrew Bible Might Be All Greek to Me: On the Use of the Xenophontic Corpus in Discussions of Biblical Literature
LUKASZ NIESIOLOWSKI-SPANÒ, (Pseudo-)Eupolemus and Shechem: Methodology Enabling the Use of Hellenistic Jewish Historians' Work in Biblical Studies III. BOOK REVIEWS AND RESPONSES
REVIEW OF: William G. Dever, What Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did They Know It? (2001) and Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come from? (2003)
RAINER ALBERTZ, Review of William G. Dever
WILLIAM G. DEVER, A Response to Rainer Albertz
REVIEW OF: Lester L. Grabbe, A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period 1: Yehud: A History of the Persian Province of Judah (2004)
EHUD BEN ZVI, 'From My Corner of the Field': A Preliminary Response to L. L. Grabbe, A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period:Volume 1. Yehud: A History of the Persian Province of Judah
LESTER L. GRABBE, Damn, I Thought They'd Never Notice: Response to Ehud Ben Zvi
REVIEW OF: Jens Bruun Kofoed, Text and History: Historiography and the Study of the Biblical Text (2005)
NIELS PETER LEMCHE, Evading the Facts: Notes on Jens Bruun Kofoed: Text and History: Historiography and the Study of the Biblical Text (2005)
JENS BRUUN KOFOED, Factualising the Evasion
REVIEW OF: Mario Liverani, Oltre la Bibbia: Storia antica di Israele (2003)/Israel's History and the History of Israel (2005)
JOSEPH BLENKINSOPP, A Different Kind of Minimalism: Mario Liverani's Oltre la Bibbia
PHILIP R. DAVIES, Way Beyond the Bible--but Far Enough?
MARIO LIVERANI, Response
REVIEW OF: Steven L. McKenzie, King David: A Biography (2000), and Baruch Halpern, David's Secret Demons: Messiah, Murderer, Traitor, King (2001)
BOB BECKING, David at the Threshold of History
BARUCH HALPERN, David and the Historical Imagination: A Counterpoint in Evocation
REVIEW OF: Iain Provan, V. Philips Long, and Tremper Longman III, A Biblical History of Israel (2003)
LESTER L. GRABBE, The Big Max: Review of A Biblical History of Israel by Iain Provan, V. Philips Long, and Tremper Longman III
IAIN PROVAN, V. PHILIPS LONG, and TREMPER LONGMAN III, 'Who Is the Prophet Talking about, Himself or Someone Else?' (Acts 8.34): A Response to Lester Grabbe's Review of A Biblical History of Israel
REVIEW OF: J. Alberto Soggin, Storia d'Israele/A History of Israel (1984-2002)
LESTER L. GRABBE, Alberto Soggin`s Storia d'Israele: Exemplifying Twenty Years of Debate and Changing Trends in Thinking IV. CONCLUSIONS LESTER L. GRABBE, Reflections on the Discussion