The History of Ancient Israel

ix, 317 pp. "...provides a unique blending of material drawn from the Hebrew Bible and modern archaeological sources. Grant traces the evolution of the Israelites from the earliest permanent settlements in Canaan to the destruction of Jerusalem and the second temple in 70 A.D., and recreates the social, economic, political, and religious life of the times, placing Israel in the larger context of the Middle East. His history retells the stories of Abraham and Moses, the development of the kingdoms of Saul, David, and Solomon, and--in the ages which followed these kingdoms--Israel's repeated loss of independence to the Persians, the Greeks, and finally the Romans."--jacket