This work offers a reconstruction of the politics of ancient Israel within the wider political environment of the ancient Near East. Gottwald begins by questioning the view of some biblical scholars that the primary factor influencing Israel's political evolution was its religion.

In this volume, Nathaniel Levtow articulately interacts with Mesopotamian and Israelite iconoclastic traditions, locating Israelite polemics against cult images among a spectrum of ancient West Asian literary genres and ritual practices that target the embodied deities of political opponents. Levtow argues that Israelite parodies of Mesopotamian iconic cult were not unique expressions of aniconic monotheism but assertions of Israelite political potency during and shortly after the Babylonian Exile. By interpreting Israelite icon parodies in this context, Levtow rejects the idea of “idolatry” as a static, native Israelite descriptive category and highlights the ability of Israelite writers to compose authoritative classifications of cult that profoundly influenced ancient and modern understandings of iconic worship practices. He concludes that biblical representations of iconic cult reveal dynamic acts of Israelite social formation and exemplify the enduring power of the cult image in ancient West Asian societies.

Encapsulating as it does research that has been undertaken on the sociological, anthropological and political aspects of the history of ancient Israel, this important book is designed to follow in the tradition of works in the series sponsored by The Society for Old Testament Study which began with the publication of The People and the Book in 1925. The World of Ancient Israel is especially concerned to explore in greater depth than comparable studies the areas and degrees of overlap between approaches to the subject of Old Testament research adopted by scholars and students of theology and the social sciences. Increasing numbers of scholars have recognised the valuable insights that can be gained from a cross-disciplinary approach, and it is becoming clear that the early biblical traditions about the formation of the Israelite state must be examined in the light of comparative anthropology if useful historical conclusions are to be drawn from them.

5 by predations of the sea peoples. However, the weakening of Mycenean seapower, the destruction of the Hittite kingdom, and finally, the limitation on Philistine strength resulting from the alliance between David and the king of Tyre in the eleventh century, combined to open up "for the Phoenicians, in the first quarter of the first millennium B. C. E. vast overseas trading areas" (Oded 1979a, p. 228). By the end of the eleventh century, pottery from Cyprus, after a long absence could once again be found in Israelite-occupied sites (Albright 1960, p. 47). The expansion of the sea trade in the Mediterranean in which, judging by the song of Deborah (Judg. 5), the northern tribes of Asher and Dan (?) (see figure 1-2) would have parti cipated, was accompanied by the inauguration of camel caravans trans porting the goods of southern Arabia to and through Israel (see Bulliet 1975, especially p. 36). Military victories over the Philistines and Syrians, receipts of tribute, and the collection of tolls from the control of trade routes together with the general revival of trade all contributed to Israel's growing wealth. Indeed, the David-Solomon period (most of the tenth century) is often portrayed as the peak of Israelite economic development. In fact there is precious little extra biblical evidence supporting this portrayal. For example, in spite of the reported activity of David and Solomon's scribes, only one example of 6 "Hebrew" writing from this period, the Gezer Calendar, has been found.

The nation--particularly in Exodus and Numbers--is not an abstract concept but rather a grand character whose history is fleshed out with remarkable literary power. In her innovative exploration of national imagination in the Bible, Pardes highlights the textual manifestations of the metaphor, the many anthropomorphisms by which a collective character named "Israel" springs to life. She explores the representation of communal motives, hidden desires, collective anxieties, the drama and suspense embedded in each phase of the nation's life: from birth in exile, to suckling in the wilderness, to a long process of maturation that has no definite end. In the Bible, Pardes suggests, history and literature go hand in hand more explicitly than in modern historiography, which is why the Bible serves as a paradigmatic case for examining the narrative base of national constructions. Pardes calls for a consideration of the Bible's penetrating renditions of national ambivalence. She reads the rebellious conduct of the nation against the grain, probing the murmurings of the people, foregrounding their critique of the official line. The Bible does not provide a homogeneous account of nation formation, according to Pardes, but rather reveals points of tension between different perceptions of the nation's history and destiny. This fresh and beautifully rendered portrayal of the history of ancient Israel will be of vital interest to anyone interested in the Bible, in the interrelations of literature and history, in nationhood, in feminist thought, and in psychoanalysis.