An important reinterpretation of the Hebrew Bible as historiography, now available in paper.

The First Historians: The Hebrew Bible and History (Ancient Jerusalem Publications)

History

Halpern, Baruch

Europe

Penn State University Press

The First Historians: The Hebrew Bible and History

An important reinterpretation of the Hebrew Bible as historiography, now available in paper.

Biblical tradition portrays King David as an exceptional man and a paragon of godly devotion. But was he? Some scholars deny that he existed at all. Did he? This challenging book examines the textual and archaeological evidence critically in an effort to paint an accurate picture of one of the Bible's central figures. 
A leading scholar of biblical history and the ancient Near East, Baruch Halpern traces the development of the David tradition, showing how the image of David grew over time. According to Halpern, David was the founder of the dynasty that progressively exaggerated his accomplishments. Halpern's clear portrait of the historical David reveals his true humanity and shows him to be above all a politician who operated in a rough-and-tumble environment in which competitors were ready literally to slit throats. 
David's Secret Demons explores a number of provocative questions: 
Did King David actually exist? Was David an Israelite or a Philistine? Was Solomon really David's son? Did David take the throne of Israel by the consent of the people? How many murders did he commit on his way to the throne? Are the biblical texts about David reliable? 
Challenging, well argued, and written with accessible, at times humorous prose, David's Secret Demons will provoke discussion by scholars and general readers alike.

David's Secret Demons: Messiah, Murderer, Traitor, King (The Bible in Its World)

Religion & Spirituality

Christian Books & Bibles

Eerdmans Pub.Co.

Examines the Bible as an historical document, and argues that history is meaningless when divorced from the intentions that motivate it

Harper and Row

The Emergence of Israel in Canaan (Society of Biblical Literature, Monographic Series, No. 29)

UNKNO

Book by Shanks, Hershel, Dever, William G., Halpern, Baruch, McCarter, P. Kyle

The Rise of Ancient Israel: Symposium at the Smithsonian Institution October 26, 1991

Dever, William G.

Shanks, Hershel

McCarter, P. Kyle

Biblical Archaeology Society

The Rise of Ancient Israel: Symposium at the Smithsonian Institution, October 26, 1991

The birth of the West stems from the rejection of tradition. All our evidence for this influence comes from the Axial period, 800-400 BCE. Baruch Halpern explores the impact of changing cosmologies and social relations on cultural change in that era, especially from Mesopotamia to Israel and Greece, but extending across the Mediterranean, not least to Egypt and Italy. In this volume he shows how an explosion of international commerce and exchange, which can be understood as a Renaissance, led to the redefinition of selfhood in various cultures and to Reformation. The process inevitably precipitated an Enlightenment. This has happened over and over in human history and in academic or cultural fields. It is the basis of modernization, or Westernization, wherever it occurs, and whatever form it takes.

From Gods to God: The Dynamics of Iron Age Cosmologies (Forschungen Zum Alten Testament)

World

Mohr Siebeck

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Books by Halpern, Baruch