The Emergence of Israel in the 12th and 11th Centuries B. C. E.

According to the biblical image of Israel s history, the time before the Israelite state can be divided into twoperiods: the conquest and division of the land (Joshua) and Israel s self-preservation against various enemiesin the now-occupied land (Judges). The description of both eras is, to be sure, largely fictitious, since thetraditions recorded in these books emerged only during the period of the monarchy. However, the basic kernelof the Song of Deborah (Judges 5) is an authentic...
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According to the biblical image of Israel s history, the time before the Israelite state can be divided into twoperiods: the conquest and division of the land (Joshua) and Israel s self-preservation against various enemiesin the now-occupied land (Judges). The description of both eras is, to be sure, largely fictitious, since thetraditions recorded in these books emerged only during the period of the monarchy. However, the basic kernelof the Song of Deborah (Judges 5) is an authentic text from this period, and in it we discover that, in theeleventh century, ten tribes settled in the region and resisted Canaanite power claims. According toarchaeological findings, although some Canaanite cities continued to exist in the eleventh century, the land waslargely populated by new people in small nearby towns in which the material culture of the Canaanites wastaken over. By carefully separating fact from fiction, Fritz offers an insightful and enlightening depiction of thisseminal period of Israel s history.