OUR NEW UNDERSTANDING OF
THE OLD TESTAMENT
Bronze Age
Middle
Major
Powers
 1976 BC. Traditional
Rabbinical date of Abraham's
birth.
1476 BC. Traditional Rabbinical
date of the Exodus.
Late Bronze Age
Canaan is an Egyptian province
Egyptian New Kingdom
until the end of the Bronze Age
Hittite New Kingdom
Collapse.
Middle Assyrian Empire
Traditional 20th Christian
scholarship dates the Exodus to
Ramesses II (c. 1250 BC).
Bronze Age Collapse
Greatest catastrophe of the
Bronze ancient Mediterraneon world, far
worse than the fall of Rome,
Age
1,600 years later. Cultural
Collapse collapse throughout the Aegean,
Anatolia, the Near East, and
Egypt following mass population
movements and invasions.
Widespread destruction of trade
routes and cities, leaving only
isolated villages.
Canaanite city-states decay,
Iron Age I
replaced by small villages.
Canaanite culture is absorbed
into the Philistines, Phoenicians
and Israelites.
Only Assyria – and to a lesser
extent Babylonia – escaped the
effects of the Collapse.
David
Philistine city-states
Rehoboam
Iron II
Asa
Kingdom of Aram-Damascus
Jehoshaphat
Jehoash (Joash) 
Ahaziah
(Jehoahaz I)
Neo-Assyrian Empire
 Amaziah 
Azariah (Uzziah) 
Jotham
Ahaz
Hezekiah
Manasseh
Egyptian XXVIth Dynasty
Jehoahaz II
(Shallum)
Neo-Babylonian Empire
 Josiah 
Jehoiachin
(Jeconiah)
 Exile
Sheshbazzar ?
Zerubbabel
Cyrus the Great of Persia allows
the Jewish deportees to return
home, and commands the rebuild-
ing of their temple.
Nehemiah
Ezra
Return
Nehemiah and Ezra
Modern scholarhsip reverses the order Asherah, survived only in the menorah.
Second Temple Period
of the Biblical books and places
Nehemiah about 50 years before
Ezra.
The returnees recast themselves as elite especially the inhabitants of the
'exiles' with a claim to Judean land
superior those who never left Judah, to Thus begins Second Temple Judaism,
the extent that they claim that they
return to an empty land (against all
archaeological evidence).
Under Ezra and Nehemiah, they
radically reconstructed their religion.
Traditional Judean polytheism was
Jonathon 
Simon 
John Hyracanus
Major Prophet
Minor Prophet
Other Prophet
This work by Garry Stevens is licensed under
Creative Commons licence CC-BY-NC-ND, and is
available for free from www.garryscharts.com. See
terms of use there. Vsn 1.7. Main sources: T. L.
Thompson, The Mythic Past (Basic Books, 1999); M.
B. Moore and B. E. Kelle, Biblical History and Israel's
Rabbinical
Judaism
Past (Eerdmans, 2011); Religions of the Ancient
World at www.philipharland.com/Blog.
1600 BC
1500
Patriarchs a period of migration, but of Gods of the Patriarchs and encounter El directly through
sedentarization. There is no dreams and visions (not through the
The patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Judges
evidence for a migration into mediation of prophets or priests).
Jacob (Israel) and Joseph were El and Asherah
Canaan from either Mesopotamia, They build altars and offer
traditionally dated anywhere from The chief gods of the Patriachs and sacrifices where they see fit (not at
or from the desert (the Amorite
1800 BC (Middle Bronze Age) to the Judges during the conquest of a central temple). El is clearly a
hypothesis). The account of Genesis
1400 BC (Late Bronze age). It was Canaan were El (later Elohim in
is full of anachronisms: camels were family god.
assumed that Genesis preserved Hebrew), the chief god in the
not in use at the supposed time of 'Israel', a Canaanite word, takes its
traditions handed down from that
the patriarchs, and many of the Canaanite pantheon, and his name from the god El.
time, more or less accurately consort Asherah (Astarte, Ishtar). El Asherah was later obliterated from
places mentioned did not exist until
depicting the realities of the
patriarchs’ lives, the origins of the
after the time of David, about has many titles such as El Elyon post-Exilic Judaism, and remained 1400
1000 BC. ‘God Most High’, El Shaddai ‘God only in the OT as a wilfully
Hebrews in southern Mesopotamia, the Destroyer’, or in personal forms misinterpeted linguistic relic taken
It is now believed that the stories of Yahweh on a winged throne.
and their migration into Canaan. such as the ‘God of Abraham’,
Genesis are literary creations, and to be 'totem', 'tree', or 'grove'. Jewish coin of the Persian period.
Archaeological evidence shows that
that the OT has no recoverable ‘God of Jacob’. The patriarchs
the period 2000–1650 BC was not
historical information. Asherah, the female consort of El
and later El-Yahweh.
Figurine of the Two Kingdoms period.
Exodus later than an earlier date. Gods of the Kingdoms Yahweh was identified with the old
Moreover, Canaan was an Hebrew god El to become the
Traditional dating places Moses Yahweh and Asherah
Egyptian province during the entire national god of the Israelite
and the Exodus anywhere from In the OT, while God is often called kingdoms. The OT remembers this
period. Had the Israelites fled to
Pharoah Thutmose III (c. 1450 BC)
to Ramesses II (c. 1250 BC). There
Canaan, they would have only El, his personal name is Yahweh process in the story of Moses’ 1300
emigrated to an area already The lingua franca of the Middle (just as the personal name of the father-law, Jethro the Kenite.
is no extra-Biblical evidence for East is the Semitic language national god of Moab is Chemosh). The identification of El and Yahweh
anything like the migration, which under firm Egyptian control.
A telling point is that the pharoah Akkadian. Yahweh was the god of several was probably accelerated by King
would have occurred during a tribes in northern Arabia, in
of the Exodus is never named, when Saul, an Edomite.
period of exceptional Egyptian particular the Kenites (or
strength. The OT reports that the the OT is full of names of foreign Asherah remained as El-Yahweh's
Midianites) and the Edomites.
Israelites met resistance from Moab rulers, many confirmed by consort.
and Edom, but there is no evidence archaeological evidence. Modern
of settlements in those areas until scholarship concludes that there
after 1300 BC, which indicates a was no flight from Egypt. Merneptah stele (c. 1210 BC).
First non-Biblical evidence for the
name Israel. Pharaoh Merneptah Origin of the Israelites villages sprang up in this time in
referred to in the Book of Joshua describes his destruction of the The archaeological evidence
sparsely inhabited territory, 1200
Conquest of Canaan replacing the Canaanite city-states
did not exist in the period, and people of Israel. The text specifi- indicates that the Hebrews/
Joshua and the Judges cally refers to a people rather destroyed during the Collapse.
those that did show no signs of Israelites emerged out of late
The picture of a lightening conquest destruction. than an organised state. Bronze age and Early Iron age These villages probably came to
of Canaan under Joshua and the However, the Book of Judges Canaanite society (1300-1100 BC) identify themselves as Israelite
united tribes of Israel in any in the northern central hill country through common experiences in the
broadly accords with
possible traditionally accepted between the river Jordan and the highlands, prohibitions on
archaeological evidence, depicting
period for the Conquest (anywhere a collection of warring tribes plains occupied by the Philistines. intermarriage, and an allegiance to
from 1400–1200 BC) is Large numbers of new agricultural the god El-Yahweh.
uniting briefly under a leader to
contradicted by archaeological
launch raids from the hill country.
evidence. Many of the cities
1100
Foundation of the Kingdom power beyond their borders. The Samuel because Saul failed to heed God's
Hittites were long gone. In Syria command to kill all the Amalekite
The Israelite united kingdom was Samuel is traditionally held to be
and Canaan, only small kingdoms women, children and infants
founded in an unusual time when the last of the Judges and first of
and city-states existed (the Syro- (1Samuel). Samuel thereafter
there were no strong states in the the Prophets. He installed Saul as
Hittite states), of which Israel and supported David over Saul.
region. Assyria, Babylon and Egypt king, but later denounced him The geopolitical situation during the time of the two kingdoms of the
Judah were to become typical
were in no condition to project their Hebrews, about 900–750 BC.
examples.
Samuel
Saul  Ish-bosheth 
United Kingdom Solomon's Kingdom kings was very small, with perhaps
1000
David no more than 1,000 inhabitants.
Monumental architecture formerly
There is no evidence for urban life All the kings of Israel were poly-
Solomon's Temple nant. Later tradition held that the dated to David and Solomon has
or a state-based society, let alone theists. Nine were murdered by
Temple rendered the old cultic sites been re-dated to the Omride
Solomon built the first temple in Solomon (Jedidiah) Solomon's mini-empire depicted in their successors.
('high places') venerated during the dynasty. Evidence now indicates
Jerusalem to be the dwelling place that the Jerusalem of these two the OT.
period of the Judges not only re-
of El-Yahweh and repository of His
relics, such as the Ark of the Cove- dundant but blasphemous.
Jeroboam I Nadab 
Abijah (Abijam)
Elah 
Israel and Judah Baasha 900
Kingdom of Judah Some scholars hold that there
Kingdom of Israel
never was an ethnic, political or Omri
religious bond between the two Although the OT Zimri 
Jehoram (Joram) Judah was an insignificant rural state until an domains of Israel and Judah; and Elijah derides the Ahab
influx of refugees after the fall of the kingdom that the supposed relation was a Omrides, their
of Israel. This turned Jerusalem into a major fabrication of the Maccabean dynasty provides
town for the first time, increasing its population kings to justify their annexation of Mesha stele (840-10). First the earliest Ahaziah 
All the kings of Israel (Samaria as it was known Jehu
Athaliah  Judah descend from 1,000 to perhaps 10,000.
by that time).
Elisha non-Biblical evidence for evidence of Jehoram
the god Yahweh, depicted significant archi- (Joram)
from David. Five of
The evidence of the OT is that tecture, urban life, Jehoahaz
in a stone in which King
them were
David, a Judean warlord, Mesha of Moab boasts of and state  800
J assassinated, and Triumph of Monotheism Jehoash (Joash)
three were taken
imposed his rule on Israel after his victory over the House organisation in
Hezekiah and Josiah the death of Saul's son Ish- of Omri (Israel). Judah/Israel.
captive by their
In Hezekiah's reign Jerusalem was flooded with bosheth. David's dynasty lost
enemies. control of Israel to Jeroboam Jeroboam II Zechariah 
Israelite refugees, and Judean peasantry Shallum 
fleeing Assyrian depredations in the rural upon the accession of Solomon's Hosea Amos
areas. despotic son Rehoboam.
The urban priestly elites at Jerusalem exploited E Menahem
Micah the situation to insist on the worship of Yahweh
Pekahiah  Hoshea 
Isaiah alone, ban all other gods – especially Yahweh's
P Pekah 
consort Asherah – centralise all worship at
Jerusalem, and proscribe the ancient rural cultic
sites.
Assyrian Conquest of Israel by genetic evidence) claim to
be the descendants of the popu-
Aramaic supplants
Akkadian as the
700
The earliest Sargon II of Assyria completed
After a long lapse under Manasseh, Josiah re- lation that was not deported. lingua franca of the
introduced Hezekiah's reforms, backed by the
'discovery' of Deuteronomy.
clear
examples of
monotheism
the conquest of Israel (722),
and its ten of the twelve He- Rabbinical Judaism holds that
brew tribes. Following their usu- the Ten Lost Tribes disappeared
Middle East.
Assyrian
al practice, the Assyrians de- from history, and that later in-
Province
in the OT are
Amon  found in ported and dispersed perhaps habitants were Gentile immi-
25% of its population, mainly grants. It denounces the Samari-
Deuteronomy Isaiah.
from urban areas. tans as syncretrists with no He-
Jehoiakim Zephaniah Modern Samaritans (supported brew ancestry.
(Eliakim)
Jeremiah
Nahum Lamentations 600
Habbakuk
Zedakiah
Joshua Judges 1 & 2 Samuel 1 & 2 Kings
Babylonian
(Mattaniah)

Ezekiel Exile
The Babylonian Conquest of These books constitute the Deuteronomistic can rule (an attack on the legitimacy of the
Province
Judah history, created during the Exile by the former kingdom Israel).
Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon same school that created Deuteronomy in The books present a cyclic view of history in
captured Jerusalem (599) in- Josiah’s reign, and possibly associated with which the Jews alternate between fidelity
stalling Zedakiah as a puppet. Jeremiah. The history insists that the Jews and apostasy to Yahweh. They rationalise
Haggai Zechariah Zedakiah's failed rebellion led to must worship only Yawheh (but it is not clear
if the existence of other gods is denied);
the Babylonian destruction of Judah as the
Jonah
the destruction of Jerusalem. Per- long-delayed vengeance of Yahweh on the
haps the elite 10% of the popu- that this worship can only rightfully occur at sins of wicked king Manasseh, the virtues of 500
lation were deported to Babylon. Jerusalem; and that only the line of David good king Josiah notwithstanding.
Obadiah Yahweh's dwelling place, Solo-
Malachi mon's Temple, was destroyed
(587) and with it the ancient sa-
Persian
cred relics of the Ark of the Cov- Obadiah
Joel enant, Aaron's Rod, and the tab-
lets of the Ten Commandments. Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers
Aramaic– the language that Jesus spoke– be-
comes the common language of the Jews. He-
During the Exile, the Judean
scribes were forced to construct a
Province
brew lives on as a liturgical and literary lan- new theology and a new religion These books (and some of Deuteronomy)  J (kingdom of Judah). J refers to God as Joel
guage, much like Latin in the Middle Ages. to explain their god's defeat by were compiled in the Persian period by an Yahweh, a more anthropomorphic figure. J 400
the Babylonians. editor referred to as the Redactor, possibly emphasises mankind's relationship to the
Ezra. The Redactor used three sources: land, mankind's corruption, and the
 E (from the kingdom of Israel). E refers to boundary between human and divine.
God as El. El only communicates in visions,  P. P was produced by the Temple
intermediary angelic messengers, or priesthood as a theologically acceptable
suppressed, expunged, or job
through natural phenomena. replacement for J and E.
reinterpreted in the sacred texts: the
tree of life, symbol of Yahweh's wife
The returnees demanded a
preservation of bloodlines that Septuagint (LXX) the OT from Hebrew and Aramaic texts,
excluded those who never left, and A translation of the OT into the Greek
later compiled into what is known as the 300
Masoretic text, which was standardised Psalms Ruth Esther Daniel
widely spoken by the Jewish diaspora at
northern kingdom of Israel.
the time, begun in the Egypt of Ptolemy II only in the 9th century AD.
about 270 BC. Tradition holds that the The LXX shows that the canon of the Torah
which emphasises new and more Torah (first five books of the OT) was first and the Deuteronomistic history was 1&2 Song of
important roles for the priesthood, a translated by 72 scholars, hence the name. decided by this time, but not the Writings. Proverbs Ecclesiastes
focus on the written law, and a
determination not to be polluted by
Later parts of the OT were translated and The LXX contains many books (known as
incorporated over several centuries. the Apocrypha) that are accepted as
Chronicles Solomon
Hellenistic
Client State
foreign blood. The LXX became the standard for early canon by Catholic and Orthodox These books, known in the Jewish canon as the Ketuvim or Writings, were written in Persian
and Hellenistic times. They did not secure a firm place in the OT until the 2nd century AD.
Christians, and partly for this reason was Christians, but rejected both by Jews and
rejected by the Jews by the 2nd century most Protestant churches (following Martin
AD. They developed their own versions of Luther's lead). 200
Judas
Maccabeus 
The Maccabean Revolt terns dating back to Saul and then through
the divided kingdoms, the Maccabean (or
Judas Maccabeus revolted against the
Hasmonean) kingdom collapsed into mur-
Hellenistic Seleucid kingdom (celebrated in
derous civil war, ended only by the impo-
John Hyracanus conquers and enslaves Hanukkah). His immediate successors re-
sition of a Roman peace. ‘What have the
Samaria – the former northern kingdom established independent rule over Judah
of Israel – and destroys its temple at Mt and Samaria. Following the regicidal pat- Romans ever done for us?’
Gerizim.
Alexandra Salome
Maccabean 100 BC
Alexander Jannaeus Aristobulus I
Kingdom
Aristobulus II Hyrcanus II
Second Temple Judaism the existence of the afterlife. Second Temple Literature from the past, such as Enoch or 63 BC. The Roman
They disappear after the 1st Antigonus
This is a large body of Jewish Abraham. They portray the general Pompey
The three major divisions or
Jewish-Roman War. religious literature flourishing present as bleak, but assert The Romans install brings Judah into
sects of Judaism described by Herod the Great
the Roman historian Josephus The Pharisees, of whom the Archaelaus from the Hellenistic period; much through often fantastical Herod as king after the Roman orbit as
apostle Paul was one, insisted influenced by Persian imagery the ultimate triumph of a civil war with the a client state.
are the Sadducees, Essenes and
Pharisees, all of which formed in on the existence of an Zoroastrianism, and in turn God and the nation of Israel. last of the 1 AD
the Maccabean period. independent oral law. It is Herod influential in early Christian Unlike the OT prophets, the Maccabeans.
Philip
There is little evidence for the
Sadducees apart from Josephus.
believed that modern Judaism
descends from them.
Antipas thought.
The only work of this genre
authors assert the resurrection of
the dead; the existence of an
afterlife; and introduce ideas of
Herod vastly
enlarges the
temple.
Roman
The Essenes were a smaller Herod Agrippa accepted into the OT is Daniel,
Client State
He describes them as elites
associated with the Temple and separatist movement dedicated although some elements are a Messiah.
the apparatus of the state, to an ascetic and communal life. present in Joel, Haggai, Isaiah, In this literature, God becomes
70 AD. 1st Jewish-
adopting a realpolitik in There is little evidence they and Zechariah. more transcendant; and vengeful Roman War.
accomodating their Hellenistic influenced later Judaism or Agrippa II The works provide a vision of the rather than just. Contrariwise, Jerusalem burnt to
masters. They rejected any Christianity. end times; as related by a evil becomes personified as
the ground. Second
notion of an oral law outside heavenly messenger, or a figure Satan and a fallen host of Temple destroyed.
the written Torah, and denied Roman governors thereafter angels, now termed demons. End of classical 100 AD
Judaism.