These are exciting times for all those involved in the history of ancient Israel, Judaism, and early Christianity, for the last few decades have seen an unprecedented amount of scholarly work upon both textual and artefactual evidence. A clear understanding of the relationship between archeaology and literary material is crucial for scholars who wish to reconstruct the history of emerging Israel.The papers assembled in this book use the most recent research in key areas - the early settlements of Israel, early Israelite religion, Qumran, Jerusalem, early Christian churches - to show that ancient writings and modern archeaology can illuminate each other, but only when used with professional care. The essays represent a new generation of archaeologists and historians, with new social, political and religious concerns who draw a fresh and vital picture of the emergence of ancient Israel.