In the heart of the ancient Near East (modern Middle East), at a crossroads between once-mighty powers such as Assyria to the east and Egypt to the south, is a tiny piece of land – roughly the size of New Jersey – that is as contested as it is sacred. One cannot even name this territory without sparking controversy. Originally called Canaan after its early inhabitants (the Canaanites), it has since been known by various names. To Jews this is Eretz Israel (the Land of Israel), the Promised Land described by the Hebrew Bible as flowing with milk and honey. To Christians it is the Holy Land where Jesus Christ – the messiah, or anointed one – was born, preached, and offered himself as the ultimate sacrifice. Under the Greeks and Romans, it was the province of Judea, a name that hearkened back to the biblical kingdom of Judah. After the Bar-Kokhba Revolt ended in 135 C.E., Hadrian renamed the province Syria-Palestina, reviving the memory of the long-vanished kingdom of Philistia. Under early Islamic rule the military district (jund) of Filastin was part of the province of Greater Syria (Arabic Bilad al-Sham). In this book, the term Palestine is used to denote the area encompassing the modern state of Israel, the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan, and the Palestinian territories.

This book introduces readers to this complex and fascinating land, the birthplace of Judaism and Christianity, drawing on archaeological evidence and literary (historical) information, including the Bible. Archaeological remains give voice to the narratives of forgotten peoples who contributed to its rich cultural tapestry: Phoenicians, Edomites and Idumaeans, Moabites, Ammonites, Ituraeans, Nabataeans, Samaritans, Philistines. Today, scholars generally use the term “biblical archaeology” to refer to the archaeology of Palestine in the Bronze Age (ca. 3000–1200 B.C.E.) and Iron Age (ca. 1200–586 B.C.E.) – that is, the Old Testament period, when the land was inhabited by Canaanites and Israelites. In contrast, our focus is on the period from 586 B.C.E. to 640 C.E. – that is, from the fall of the kingdom of Judah and the destruction of Solomon's temple (the end of the First Temple period) to the Muslim conquest of Palestine. In other words, this book covers the “post-biblical” periods (from a Jewish perspective) or the New Testament period (from a Christian perspective), including the Second Temple period (516 B.C.E.–70 C.E.).