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The Iron Age Revisited
It has been the accepted wisdom for more than a century that the Iron Age in
Israel was the "Israelite Age". That the entry of the Israelites into Canaan
occurred near the beginning of this period, and that the Iron Age saw the entire
history of the Israelites in their land.
Archaeologists, historians and theologians have wrestled with the fact that the
evidence of the Iron Age does not match the biblical depiction of this period. No
Iron Age evidence exists of a great invasion of Canaan as described in the book
of Joshua. No Iron Age evidence exists of a great empire, ranging from the Nile
to the Euphrates, as described in the book of Kings. Scholars from all walks have
been faced with a choice: Distort the biblical accounts to match the physical evidence,
or simply say that the biblical accounts are wrong.
In this book, I show that the Iron Age in Israel did not begin until almost 500
years after it is conventionally thought. Far from being the "Israelite Age", it was
in fact the "Samaritan Age". It was the age of the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions
of the land, in the twilight of the monarchy in Israel.
It will be seen that the archaeology of the Iron Age fits this period in biblical
history precisely, and to such an extent as to be intellectually compelling.
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The Bronze Age Revisited
A sequel to The Iron Age Revisited. In the Iron Age Revisited, two options were
presented: to leave the end of the Bronze Age in the 1200s BCE, thus creating a
Dark Age in Israel to match the one in Greece, Asia Minor, Anatolia and North Syria,
or to allow the end of the Bronze Age to come down--naturally--to meet the
beginning of the Iron Age. It is this possibility that The Bronze Age Revisited
pursues.
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In The Days of Ahasuerus...
For centuries, it has been known among Jewish scholars that a major conflict exists
between traditional Jewish history and conventional history when it comes to the period
of the Persian Empire.
According to the history books, which base themselves primarily upon Greek accounts
of the period, the Persian Empire lasted for 208 years, and was ruled over by no fewer
than 10 kings. Jewish history gives only 52 years to the Medes and Persians between
the fall of the Babylonian Empire and the rise of the Alexandrian Greek Empire.
Such a difference of a century and a half cannot be ignored. Until not long ago,
however, only three possibilities were recognized for resolving this problem:
- Ignore the Jewish account altogether (the choice adopted in most history
books)
- Ignore the Greek account altogether (the choice adopted in some extremely
religious Orthodox Jewish books)
- Find a way to fit the Jewish account into the general framework of the
Greek chronology (the choice adopted by a few Jewish scholars)
In the early 1980s, Dr. Chaim S. Heifetz of Jerusalem had another idea: Find a way
to fit the Greek stories and narratives into the chronological framework claimed
for the Persian period in Jewish sources. His initial work has been added to and
refined until the thesis has reached a publishable state.
This book makes the case for Dr. Heifetz's thesis. It includes a section which is
essentially a history of the ancient near east during the Median and Persian periods.
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36 Years
There exists a period in the history of the ancient near east when the entire region
was in ferment, such as it never was again. In this 36 year period, the following
events took place:
- The founding of Carthage
- The assassination of the kings of Israel and Judah at the same time, and the
usurpation of the throne of Solomon by Athaliah, who murdered all her grandsons
but one, who was hidden away, and would eventually replace her
- The Amarna Age in Egypt, including the reigns of the heretic king Akhnaton and the
boy king Tutankhamen, as well as the famous El-Amarna letters
- The rise of the Hittite Empire under Suppiluliumas I
- The founding the kingdom of Urartu
- The beginning of the rise of the Assyrian Empire
- The beginning of the decline of the kingdom of Mitanni
- The historical events which were the basis of the Oedipus Cycle
- The reigns of Ahab and Jezebel, and their nemesis, the Prophet Elijah
- The rise of the 19th Dynasty in Egypt: the dynasty of Ramesses the Great
In this book, I will take you, year by year, through the 36 year period in which the
entire world was reordered.
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Bright Angel's Redemption
I haven't decided yet whether this is going to be a novella or a novel. It begins with
a shy high school student being asked by another student to help her keep the future
world from which she has escaped from coming into being.
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The Eye of the Beholder (with Toby Britton)
My friend Toby read my story The Last Minute, and
really liked it. So she told me the plot of a story she'd thought of for years, but
didn't think she could write. If I ever get this written, it goes out with her in
the byline, because it's her story. Suffice it to say that it's a cautionary tale,
and that the ending will chill you.
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The Kings Trilogy
This is a trilogy of historical novels, which take place over the course of the
Babylonian, Median and Persian imperial periods, culminating in the conquests of
Alexander the Great.
The history in these books is according to the revision of Persian history proposed
by Dr. Chaim S. Heifetz, and as described in depth in "In The Days of Ahasuerus...",
which is described above.
The three books in this trilogy are:
- Nabonidus
Covers the period of the Babylonian Empire and the life of its last king, Nabonidus.
Characters in this book include the prophet Jeremiah, the young Daniel and Ezra, and
other biblical characters.
- Ahasuerus
Covers the lives of the kings Cyrus the Great and Xerxes; describes the events
which appear in the biblical Book of Esther, as they really happened.
- Darius
Covers the rise and fall of Darius the Great, king of Persia. The rise of Alexander
the Great and the governorship of Nehemiah in Judah are also depicted.
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Pieces of You
This novel is the story of a young girl, searching for the father she hasn't seen since
she was 3 years old.
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True Fire
This novel is the story of a young Jewish girl in ancient times, who is taken in and
raised by pagans after her village is destroyed in a pogrom. It is a fantasy full
of wonder and truth.
