Need more evidence? There's not a shred of evidence that ANY of the Old Testement is based in fact, ALL of it made up later, completely made up fictions from the Creation to Abraham to Moses to Solomon, borrowed stories from previous cultures. The Jews around 1000BC were hill tribes worshipping fertility goddesses of the area and in no great numbers at all, very little culture , art or technology what so ever, smile at the camera:
socsci.gulfcoast.edu
A. ABRAHAM: According to the Bible, the history of the Jews begins c. 1800 BC when Abraham leads his people out of "Ur of the Chaldees" in Sumer (where they had wandered) and reached Canaan (Palestine). THE FACTS: "Many scholars today doubt that the early books of the Hebrew Bible reflect the true history of the early Israelites. They argue that the early books of the Bible, written centuries after the events described, preserve only what the Israelites came to believe about themselves and that recently discovered archaeological evidence often contradicts the details of the biblical account" (Spiel.7th 36-7). In fact, there is no evidence that the "patriarchs" Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ever existed, were ever more than legendary characters of myth. Major problems with these early stories include the following anachronisms:
1. Ur was long gone before the Chaldees, so Ur of the Chaldees is an anachronism.
2. The repeated references to camels (though we know through archaeology that camels were not domesticated as
beasts of burden earlier than the late second millennium and were not widely used in that capacity in the ancient Near
East until well after 1000 BC).
3. Isaac’s supposed encounter with “Abimelech, king of the Philistines,” at the city of Gerar (though the Philistines had not
established their settlements along the coastal plain of Canaan until sometime after 1200 BC) (BU 36f.).
In addition, rather than being original to them, the early Hebrews clearly absorbed some features of Mesopotamian
civilization:
1. parallels between biblical law and the Mesopotamian legal tradition
2. the obvious derivation of several biblical stories from the earlier Mesopotamian tradition (the Creation, the Flood, the Garden of Eden)
B. JOSEPH & MOSES: c.1600-1250 BCE (according to the biblical story) as a result of famine some Hebrews followed Joseph (son of Israel/Jacob, great-grandson of Abraham) into Egypt. Joseph's high position in Egypt and the hospitality to the Hebrews is attributed by biblical scholars to the fact that the Hyksos were in power in Egypt (conquered Egypt c.1720 BC). Supposedly, after the Hyksos were expelled by the Egyptians (18th Dynasty), the Hebrews were enslaved. Later a great hero Moses would lead these people out of bondage in the famous Exodus from Egypt.
THE FACTS: there is no archaeological or historical evidence for the story of Joseph or the Hebrews’ enslavement in Egypt! Remember, "The destruction of the Hittite kingdom and the weakening of Egypt around 1200 B.C. temporarily left a power vacuum in the Near East, allowing a patchwork of petty kingdoms and city-states to emerge, especially in Syria and Palestine" (Spiel. 6th Ed. 32). Shortly after 1300 BC (during the reign of pharaoh Ramses II, 1279-1213), as biblical scholars have reckoned according to details in the biblical story, Moses supposedly led the Hebrews out of Egypt into the wilderness of Sinai where they wandered for years. In the Sinai Covenant (Moses’ supposed "contract" with God) they agreed to worship Yahweh before all other gods and obey his law. Therefore Yahweh made them his chosen people (protected them and gave them Canaan). According to the Israelites, then, they were united into a nation by their belief in YHWH, the one God.
A major problem with the whole story is that “the Israelites emerged only gradually as a distinct group in Canaan, beginning at the end of the thirteenth century BCE” (BU 57).
Furthermore, the fact is that there is no recognizable archaeological evidence of Israelite presence in Egypt for this period. The border between Canaan and Egypt was so closely controlled that “If a great mass of fleeing Israelites had passed through the border fortifications of the pharaonic regime, a record should exist. Yet in the abundant Egyptian sources describing the time of the New Kingdom in general and the thirteenth century in particular, there is no reference to the Israelites, not even a single clue….we have no clue, not even a single word, about early Israelites in Egypt: neither in monumental inscriptions on walls of temples, nor in tomb inscriptions, nor in papyri. Israel is absent—as a possible foe of Egypt, as a friend, or as an enslaved nation” (BU 59-60). In addition, the Egyptians controlled Canaan at this time and had strongholds built in various places in the country, and Egyptian officials administered the affairs of the region! (BU 60).
Neither is there evidence for the myth of Israelite wandering in the wilderness: “Repeated archaeological surveys in all regions of the peninsula, including the mountainous area around the traditional site of Mount Sinai…have yielded only negative evidence: not even a single sherd [sic], no structure, not a single house, no trace of ancient encampment. One may argue that a relatively small band of wandering Israelites cannot be expected to leave material remains behind. But modern archaeological techniques are quite capable of tracing even the meager remains of hunter-gathers and pastoral nomads all over the world….The conclusion—that the Exodus did not happen at the time and in the manner described in the Bible—seems irrefutable when we examine the evidence” (BU 63).
According to the biblical authors, the Israelites arrived in Palestine around 1220 B.C. and were joined by other Hebrews already in Palestine, and the Israelites formed a confederacy of twelve tribes. They became an agricultural nation and eventually, after several generations, conquered the Canaanites (who had a material culture superior to the Hebrews). They were led by "judges" (war leaders), who were distinguished by their courage and empowered by the "spirit of Yahweh." The problem is that this story again contradicts the archaeological evidence.
For instance,
1. cities that the Bible says were conquered by Joshua, such as Jericho and Ai, were uninhabited at the time of Joshua (BU 82)!
2. Another major discrepancy in the Biblical story is the fact that “Canaan was an Egyptian province, closely controlled by Egyptian administration” (BU 77).
3. It appears that the Israelites were actually originally Canaanites themselves. These highland villagers eventually began to distinguish themselves from other Canaanites by dietary practice: a ban on pork. “As we now know…the Bible’s stirring picture of righteous Israelite judges—however powerful and compelling—has very little to do with what really happened in the hill country of Canaan in the Early Iron Age (BU 118-122)!
II. Stage of the Monarchy
A. David (1000-971): By c.1000 the Philistines who had arrived from Asia Minor with iron weapons had become such a threat that the Israelites decided they needed a king to survive. Saul (1020-1000) became the 1st king of Israel but committed suicide after a defeat by the Philistines (Palestine = “Philistine country”). After a brief period of anarchy, David supposedly reunited the Hebrews and pushed the Philistines back to become the ruler of the largest states in this area.
THE FACTS: The truth is that “As far as we can see on the basis of the archaeological surveys, Judah remained relatively empty of permanent population, quite isolated, and very marginal right up to and past the presumed time of David and Solomon, with no major urban centers and with no pronounced hierarchy of hamlets, villages, and towns….tenth century Jerusalem was rather limited in extent, perhaps not more than a typical hill country village (BU 133). In fact, though he did exist, David was no more than a tribal chief and there was NEVER a united monarchy!
B. Solomon (971-931)
1. According to the Bible, it was under Solomon that Israel reached its peak of power and splendor. He supposedly built a palace complex, a temple at Jerusalem, had a standing army (including 1400 chariots and 12,000 horses), and enjoyed a harem of 700 wives and 300 concubines.
THE FACTS: “A close reading of the biblical description of the days of Solomon clearly suggests that this was a portrayal of an idealized past, a glorious Golden Age. The reports of Solomon’s fabulous wealth (making ‘silver as common in Jerusalem as stone,’ according to I Kings 10:27) and his legendary harem (housing seven hundred wives and princesses and three-hundred concubines, according to I Kings 11:3) are details too exaggerated to be true. Moreover, for all their reported wealth and power neither David nor Solomon is mentioned in a single known Egyptian or Mesopotamian text. And the archaeological evidence in Jerusalem for the famous building projects of Solomon are non-existent” (BU 128). “[N]o trace of the Solomonic Temple and palace in Jerusalem has ever been identified” (BU 135). So Solomon, David’s son, was also in actuality no more than a tribal chief!
2. According to the biblical account, after Solomon's death there were two kingdoms: Israel in the north (10 tribes) with a capital at Damascus, Judah in the south (2 tribes) with a capital at Jerusalem.
THE FACTS: The truth is that “there were always two distinct highland entities, of which the southern was always the poorer, weaker, more rural, and less influential—until it rose to sudden, spectacular prominence after the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel” (BU 150).
“As far as we can see on the basis of the archaeological surveys, Judah remained relatively empty of permanent population, quite isolated, and very marginal right up to and past the presumed time of David and Solomon, with no major urban centers and with no pronounced hierarchy of hamlets, villages, and towns” (BU 132). “The land was overwhelmingly rural—with no trace of written documents, inscriptions, or even signs of the kind of widespread literacy that would be necessary for the functioning of a proper monarchy….it is hard to see any evidence of a unified culture or centrally administered state. The area from Jerusalem to the north was quite densely settled, while the area from Jerusalem to the south—the hub of the future kingdom of Judah—was still very sparsely settled. Jerusalem itself was, at best, no more than a typical highland village. We can say no more than that” (BU 142). “Archaeologically we can say no more about David and Solomon except that they existed—and that their legend endured” (BU 143).
C. characteristics of early Israelite religion:
“The existence of high places and other forms of ancestral and household god worship was not—as the books of Kings imply—apostasy from an earlier, purer faith. It was part of the timeless tradition of the hill country settlers of Judah, who worshiped YHWH along with a variety of gods and goddesses known or adapted from the cults of neighboring peoples. YHWH, in short, was worshiped in a wide variety of ways—and sometimes pictured as having a heavenly entourage….
“...So the clearest archaeological evidence of the popularity of this type of worship throughout the kingdom is the discovery of hundreds of figurines of naked fertility goddesses at every late monarchic site in Judah….
“…The condemnations of various Judahite prophets make it abundantly clear that YHWH was worshiped in Jerusalem together with other deities, such as Baal, Asherah, the hosts of heaven, and even the national deities of the neighboring lands” (BU 241-2).
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