Statement
At Beth Shemesh and other sites, archaeologists found practices that set the population, presumably proto-Israelite, apart from nearby Philistines: pig bones are almost absent there, whereas frequent at Philistine sites. Archaeologists theorize that the taboo on pork may have arisen in this period as a marker of difference and allegiance, and a similar explanation has been proposed for circumcision, which the Bible itself stresses as a mark of difference between Israelites and Philistines.
References
p. 15
supports · main text · ch. 1
Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman. The Jews: A History. 3rd edition. New York and Abingdon: Routledge, 2019.
Verification anchor recorded · checked against the page text
p. 15
supports · main text · ch. 1
Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman. The Jews: A History. 3rd edition. New York and Abingdon: Routledge, 2019.
Verification anchor recorded · checked against the page text
Scholarly debate
From what population did early Israel emerge?
2 positions · no single answer · take a seat →
- A
Immigrants or marginal groups
Hypotheses involving Hyksos, Shasu and Habiru
Mobile or socially displaced groups may have contributed to the population that adopted the name Israel.
- B
Canaanite majority
Archaeological reconstruction emphasized in the chapter
Material continuity, language and settlement patterns indicate that most came from Canaan itself.