Grounded in the latest archeological developments; Victor Matthews's A Brief History of Ancient Israel presents a concise history of Israel covering the ancestral period; conquest and settlement; the monarchy; and both the exilic and postexilic periods. Using supplemental figures and insets; the author concentrates on providing a cogent and condensed discussion of events. He examines historical geography; archaeological data; and; where relevant; comparative cultural materials from other ancient Near Eastern civilizations. With an accessible yet high-quality introduction; A Brief History of Ancient Israel will be of immense value to both students of the Old Testament and the scholars who teach them.
#187755 in Books Blackwell Publishing 2000-07-13Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.05 x 1.16 x 6.02l; 1.83 #File Name: 0631221611586 pages
Review
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Must eeasBy Karl KrotkeElias is an essential social theorist to read if you are in graduate school. His work in social theory is groundbreaking0 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Aha!By John KayThis is the book that explains why history happens. It requires a fairly large vocabulary or the occasional dip into a dictionary; Elias uses words well and more precisely than most current usage.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Probably the most thought-provoking work of Historical SociologyBy JPVSociologists usually tend to write about the nineteenth and twentieth centuries if they touch upon the subject of history at all; Nobert Elias; however; is intrepid in the sense that he plucks enough courage to write about the Medieval and Early Modern Periods of European History in 'the Civilizing Process.' He admittedly did challenge many conceptions that I have had of those two periods; in particular; he demonstrated to me the reality that the Medieval Period had been one fraught with violence and uncertainty. Often; one thinks of a shining knight in armor when ruminating upon Medieval history; however; few tend to think of the period as one which featured a precarious balance between peasants who struggled for survival and murderous knights who competed with each other for scarce resources. After reading this book; I became more sympathetic with the progressive view of history.There are many other benefits that the book has. Elias successfully demonstrates to the reader the differences that exist between French; English and German societies. During the Early Modern Period; Germany was a decentralized power which featured many states. In a learned manner; he instructs the reader on why this had been so as compared to France. However; Elias' most helpful contribution is his contention that the court system had been a means through which knights and nobles developed a super-ego. As the nobles became less powerful in time; the court system also helped the bourgeoisie become more civilized. In time; Elias argued that all classes (upper; middle and lower) became more civilized as more individuals came into contact with the bourgeoisie after migrating to the towns and cities; this process; however; was; of course; an incredibly slow one.A slight flaw of this work is that it can be too influenced by Freud; it can also be highly abstract at times. I nevertheless highly recommend this book. It is helpful for scholars from any discipline; despite being written by a sociologist; I would opine that it is helpful for fledgling historians in particular. It is a means through which they can theorize themselves; especially when one takes into consideration the changed nature of the academic discipline of history. However; I would also recommend this work to anyone who wants his conception of the social system to be challenged.
