The stories of ancient Israel are similar to each other because they are similar to the story contained in the Bible. They are narrated in the same way, the same themes crop up again and again. This book restores the story of the birth of Israel to its original historic setting, taking account both of the influence of textual and literary criticism and of the contributions made by archaeology and epigraphy. Taking its cue from the observation that the biblical narrative is the result of a much belated elaboration of history, it reconstructs the development of political and religious ideologies over time, firmly placing Israel in its ancient-eastern context. What emerges is the ‘unfiltered history’ of the two small kingdoms of Judas and Israel, not unlike that of many other small local kingdoms and an ‘invented history’, that which the Judean exiles constructed during and after their exile in Babylonia, projecting backwards in history the problems and hopes of their times. An important book that will appeal to a broad spectrum of readers.