Kamal Salibi reveals startling linguistic evidence which controversially suggests that Judaism originated not in Palestine but in west Arabia. Whilst looking at the gazetteer of Saudi place names, he noticed a remarkable concentration of Biblical place names in an area of 600km long by 200km wide (the region of 'Asir). Ancient Hebrew, like Arabic, was written without vowels, Salibi believes that scholars of the sixth century might have added the vowels wrongly when standardizing texts, and so he went back to the original unvowelled Old Testament to prove his theory - and it did. The geography of Palestine has never corresponded in any way to the apparently specific stories on the Bible. Salibi's research authenticates the events as history for the first time - but within an Arabian setting. This book has caused a predictable storm amongst academics and politicians. The issue is of such importance that everyone should read the evidence first-hand.

The author of this volume, though a comparison of scriptural quotations with all present knowledge of the historical backgrounds of the Bible, shows that the Semitic people and their religion were more closely allied to Arabia than to the cultures of Egypt and Babylon.

In Salibi's latest book -- a sequel to The Bible Came from Arabia -- the well-known Bible stories of Adam and Eve, Noah and the Flood and other historical legends crumble under his startling claim that the Old Testament's actual setting was not Palestine but Western Arabia.

The authoritative new account of the BibleÕs origins, illuminating the 1,600-year tradition that shaped the Christian and Jewish holy books as millions know them today. The Bible as we know it today is best understood as a process, one that begins in the tenth century BCE. In this revelatory account, a world-renowned scholar of Hebrew scripture joins a foremost authority on the New Testament to write a new biography of the Book of Books, reconstructing Jewish and Christian scriptural histories, as well as the underappreciated contest between them, from which the Bible arose. Recent scholarship has overturned popular assumptions about IsraelÕs past, suggesting, for instance, that the five books of the Torah were written not by Moses but during the reign of Josiah centuries later. The sources of the Gospels are also under scrutiny. Konrad Schmid and Jens Schršter reveal the long, transformative journeys of these and other texts en route to inclusion in the holy books. The New Testament, the authors show, did not develop in the wake of an Old Testament set in stone. Rather the two evolved in parallel, in conversation with each other, ensuring a continuing mutual influence of Jewish and Christian traditions. Indeed, Schmid and Schršter argue that Judaism may not have survived had it not been reshaped in competition with early Christianity. A remarkable synthesis of the latest Old and New Testament scholarship, The Making of the Bible is the most comprehensive history yet told of the worldÕs best-known literature, revealing its buried lessons and secrets.

"Magisterial. . . . A learned, brilliant and enjoyable study."—Géza Vermès, Times Literary Supplement In this exciting book, Paula Fredriksen explains the variety of New Testament images of Jesus by exploring the ways that the new Christian communities interpreted his mission and message in light of the delay of the Kingdom he had preached. This edition includes an introduction reviews the most recent scholarship on Jesus and its implications for both history and theology. "Brilliant and lucidly written, full of original and fascinating insights."—Reginald H. Fuller, Journal of the American Academy of Religion "This is a first-rate work of a first-rate historian."—James D. Tabor, Journal of Religion "Fredriksen confronts her documents—principally the writings of the New Testament—as an archaeologist would an especially rich complex site. With great care she distinguishes the literary images from historical fact. As she does so, she explains the images of Jesus in terms of the strategies and purposes of the writers Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John."—Thomas D’Evelyn, Christian Science Monitor