Read ancient accounts alongside the evidence used to interpret them.
The main historical index begins around 1900. This smaller section looks much further back, at ancient Israel and Judea, their rulers and conflicts, and the sources through which those subjects are known. It provides context for readers encountering ancient names and narratives without treating ancient and modern political settings as interchangeable.
A biblical account, a later tradition, an inscription and an excavated site are different kinds of evidence. Each can answer some questions and leave others open. Articles identify which kind of source supports a statement and distinguish the text's narrative from a historian's interpretation. Where dating, identification or historical scale is debated, that disagreement remains visible. A familiar story is not automatically an independently established event; an incomplete archaeological record does not, by itself, settle every question about a text. Follow the sources and the qualifications attached to each account.
Ancient history
From Jericho to the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BCE, the wars of ancient Israel are told in the Bible, remembered in tradition and tested by archaeology. The three do not always agree.
Ancient history
Solomon is remembered as a king of wisdom, wealth and peace whose chariots guarded a wide kingdom. No ancient inscription names him, and archaeologists still argue about how large his kingdom really was.
Ancient history
The Bible tells how Jehu wiped out the house of Ahab. An Assyrian obelisk now in the British Museum shows the same king's tribute to Shalmaneser III, the earliest surviving picture of an Israelite king or his representative.
Ancient history
In the Books of Samuel, David rises from shepherd to king through a lifetime of war. Archaeology has found his dynasty's name, but the scale of his conquests is still argued.
Ancient history
Between 167 and 160 BCE Judah Maccabee and his brothers fought the armies of the Seleucid empire. Their victories gave Judaism Hanukkah; their defeats show how hard the war really was.
Ancient history
The revolt that began in 66 CE ended with the Second Temple in ruins and a Roman siege ramp at Masada. Josephus is almost our only witness, and archaeology both supports and questions him.
Ancient history
The Bar Kokhba revolt was the last great Jewish war against Rome. Its leader is known from his own letters, its end from the ruins of Betar, and its cost from a Judea left almost empty.
