Ancient Conquest Accounts A Study in Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical History Writing [Library Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies] by Younger Jr., K. Lawson [T&T Clark,2009] [Paperback]
Ancient Conquest Accounts A Study in Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical History Writing [Library Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies] by Younger Jr., K. Lawson [T&T Clark,2009] [Paperback]
A comparative study of Assyrian, Hittite, Egyptian and Hebrew conquest accounts sheds new light on the Joshua and Judges narratives. Actually, it is quite old light, as it enables it to read the text as it was understood by its original readers, for the first time in probably a couple of millennia.
I am here because of "The Lost World of Scripture," by John Walton. Having read that book, I cried out for MORE. More answers! So, the reading of this book. This book is very not like Walton's book. They are similar in that they present well-researched, well-thought out arguments and presented new ways of thinking about the Bible as a piece of 'historic' literature. This book, however, is quite academic. It was just within my scope - so that I could understand most of what the author was communicating, but just specialized enough that I missed a bunch of it. Reading this book, while mulling my thoughts from "Lost World," my understanding of scripture as an ancient document continued to be expanded. As such, what I don't know also expanded, and, again, I am left with more questions. I'd love for more info from this author of additional conquest/war accounts outside of Joshua 9-12. I'd almost say, read the last chapter for the take-aways, but I really do think you need the background provided by the very scholarly research presented in the first chapters before you get that far.