Citation

Pitkänen P. Cogent Soc. Sci. 2016; 2(1): e1210717.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group - Cogent OA)

DOI

10.1080/23311886.2016.1210717

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper looks at the question of the origins of ancient Israel from the perspective of four social-scientific based approaches. These are the ecological-evolutionary theory developed by Gerhard Lenski, theories of migration and settler colonialism and a sociological approach to violence developed by Siniša Malešević. It shows how the four theories fit together well and provide a comparative framework for interpreting both biblical and archaeological data, rendering it plausible to see early Israel as a settler colonial agrarian frontier society that was considerably based on migration from outside and where violence played a significant part in the formation and development of that society.


Public Interest Statement
This paper examines the origins of ancient Israel. Except for general historical information, the question is important for the self-understanding of a variety of religious communities, such as Christians, Jews and Muslims. But it is also important for people in general as the concept of ancient Israel has exerted great influence on the world through these religions, and latterly through modern Israel and the current political situation in the Middle East. The paper argues that recent social scientific approaches that are based on comparing human societies across time and space, especially from the perspective of social stratification, migration, colonialism and violence can illuminate the question in a new way. Taking such approaches into account suggests that the ancient Israelites were migrants who settled and conquered an area in the ancient Near East (roughly today's Middle East), forming a new society in the process, with both positive and negative aspects to it.

Language: en