Status Updates From Ancient Israel: From Abraha...

Jeroboam established a holiday during Heshvan! "He ... instituted a festival ... beginning the 15th day of the 8th month -- ' a month that he alone had devised' ... to rival the authorized festival of Sukkot, which was celebrated in Jerusalem one month earlier."

"The biblical writers were not consciously engaged in ... historiography. Their concern was with the didactic use of selected historical traditions for a theological purpose."

"... it is becoming increasingly clear that this 'dimorphic' pattern -- of City dwellers and tribal peoples ... living contiguously -- has been typical of the Middle East from ancient until modern times."