Ancient Israel (Development of Western Civilization Series)

By Harry M. Orlinsky, ORLINSKY HARRY M., Harry M. Orlinsky (Author); Edward W. Fox (Edited by)

Book Overview

This revised edition, published in 1960, brings up to date a book first published in 1954--a concisely organized, simply written account of the society that produced the Bible. As the author traces... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 080149849X
• ISBN13: 9780801498497
• Release Date: September 1960
• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Length: 164 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.4" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

A peek into the roots of Western Civilization

Ancient Israel by Harry Orlinsky is the first book in the Development of Western Civilization series from Cornell University Press. In it, Dr. Orlinsky traces the steps of the Jewish people from their early origins in the Fertile Crescent, through Egyptian captivity, the Exodus, the period of the Judges, the Kingdom, the Babylonian exile and eventually to the Restoration. Like many scholars, Dr. Orlinsky dismisses the historical credibility of the supernatural events recorded in the Bible and doubts the direct, personal interaction between God and people. Even so, he affirms the Bible as "constituting unusually reliable historical documents of antiquity." This good little book is an easy to read, relatively short survey of the Old Testament. He intertwines the historical record with the prophetic message to form a clear picture of the ancient Jewish life. As good as this book is, Dr. Orlinsky, I'm quite sure, would recommend that you just go straight to the source. Want to know the history of ancient Israel? Just read the Bible.