Introduction: Where did the Ancient Semites come from?.............. 1
Chapter One - At Sources of Biblical History.................................. 11
1. The Origins of Patriarch Abraham and His Family..........................11
2. From Biblical Family to Historical Peoples..................................18
Chapter Two - Jacob and Israel:
the Two Forefathers of the Hebrew Tribes....................................... 29
1. The Family Tree of Hebrews and Their Relatives............................29
2. When was the Story of Abraham-Isaac-Jacob Written?....................35
3. Who were the Biblical Hittites?................................................37
4. Creation of Single Genealogy and Common History......................41
Chapter Three - The Hebrews and the Egypt of the Hyksos............ 47
1. The New Rulers of the Nile country: the Western Semites...............50
2. The ‘House of Joseph’ and the ‘House of Jacob’ in Egypt..................67
3. The Fall of the Hyksos Pharaohs and the Beginning of the
Exodus of the Western Semites from the Nile Delta...................... 68
Chapter Four - The ‘House of Joseph’ in Canaan.
15th – 13th Centuries BC................................................................. 73
1. The Habiru and the Sutu........................................................76
2. The Merneptah Stele ............................................................92
Chapter Five - The Exodus of the ‘House of Jacob’ from Egypt....... 97
1. Ramses II: the Oppressor Pharaoh............................................97
2. When Did the Biblical Exodus Take Place?................................. 102
3. The Moses’ Mission............................................................ 104
4. The Birth of Monotheism..................................................... 118
5. Conflicts in the Desert and the Break-up of the ‘House of Jacob’..... 122
Chapter Six - The conquest of Canaan............................................137
Index...............................................................................................201
1. The Ethnic Composition of pre-Israelite Palestine........................ 137
2. The Unification of the 10 Hebrew Tribes and the Segregation
of the Two Southern Tribes of Judah and Simeon.........................147
3. The Conquest of Canaan in the Light of the Biblical and
Archaeological facts............................................................157
Chapter Seven - In the days when there was no king in Israel......175
1. The Judges and their Gods................................................... 175
2. The Israelite Tribal Alliance: Its History and Make-up................... 180
Selected Bibliography.....................................................................195