Gosta W. Ahlstrom (1918–1992)

This little book represents the introduction to the author's significantly larger history of ancient Palestine. The introduction sets out the methodologies and questions involved in the historical analysis of ancient Israel. The author works well within his presuppositions, but I personally find those presuppositions about what history is and is not based entirely on modern philosophical tenets that have no more or less claim to exclusive validity than the older models that are looked down upon by modern historiography. I find no value in undermining the sources that exist, and find the primacy of other ancient sources above that of Israel to be indicative of a greater, almost atheistic, motive. Is the study of ancient Israel really trying to establish what happened, or is it just a reaction to complete confidence in the Biblical record? These issues get beyond the focus of the work, but are matters that demand deliberation when presenting a "history" of Palestine.… (altro)