Introduction The Rise of Early Israel Archaeology and Long-Term History Israel Finkelstein Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University The question of the emergence of Early Israel has been in the eye of the storm of biblical, historical and archaeological research for over a century. Theological and cultural motivations made it a principal theme in Christian civilization. However, scholars could not reach consensus; theories shifted from complete reliance on the biblical text to total denial of its value as an historical record. Apart from the specific issue of the rise of Earfy Israel, it has become a debate over the historicity of the biblical text and the value of archaeology in historical research. Consensus has not been reached; but the spectrum of views is narrowing. First and foremost, most scholars agree today on what cannot be accepted, and that is a remarkable achievement in historical research. Most scholars today will find it easy to unite behind a rejection of the three schools of scholarship which dominated the study of the rise of Early Israel until the - the military conquest, peaceful infiltration and social revolution models. A methodological note is in place here. A minimalist school of ship (from the biblical point of view) has recently stormed its way to the frontline of research. Davies (1992, and :in different words also Thompson 1992, Whitelam 1996 and others) argue for a distinction between three Early lsraels: • Biblical Israel - mainly a literary, ideological construct, dating to post-exilic times; • Historical Israel- the history of the people of Palestine in the Iron Age, as revealed mainly by archaeological research; 7