Invention of Ancient Israel

<p><em>The Invention of Ancient Israel</em> shows how the history of ancient Palestine has been obscured by the search for Israel. Keith W. Whitelam argues that ancient Israel has been invented by scholars in the image of a European nation state. He explores the theological and political assumptions which have shaped research into ancient Israel by Biblical scholars, and contributed to the vast network of scholarship which Said identified as 'Orientalist discourse'.<br>Keith W. Whitelam's groundbreaking study argues that Biblical scholars, through their traditional view of this region, have contributed to dispossession of both a Palestinian land and a Palestinian past. This is important reading for historians, biblical specialists, social anthropologists and all those who are interested in the history of ancient Israel and Palestine.</p> Introduction: The Silencing of Palestinian History, 1. Partial Texts and Fractured Histories, 2. Denying Space and Time to Palestinian History, 3. Inventing Ancient Israel, 4. The Creation of an Israelite State, 5. The Continuing Search, Reclaiming Palestinian History, Notes, Bibliography, Index.