Prof. Israel Finkelstein is indeed experienced archaeologist, but his theoretical «revelations» obviously need correction. He bring 3 controversial hypotheses on the basis of lack of available data, but haven’t bring data which may confirm his assumptions.
The first hypothesis states, that there was no influx of Israel clans of Egyptian origin, namely, all Israel tribes emerged «in situ». This hypothesis was debunked shortly after Finkelstein published his «revelation» book. Archaeological data from Mount Grizim near Shechem reveal just Egyptian artifacts in the place of supposed Joshua bin Nun alliance with God. In addition, Me personally have analyzed the names of clans of Menashe, Asher and other Israel tribes, revealing, that many of these clans have Edomite parallels. Obviously, at least part Israel tribes came from abroad, not inevitably from Egypt.
Regarding Canaan battles, the scale of these was obviously exaggerated by priests who wrote the scripture 500 years or more after settling Israelis in Canaan. This fact was well known before Finkelstein even started his archaeology studies.The fact of nomadic tribes settling, which lasted few centuries, is confirmed by revealed scattered «open» settlements in the open space between fortified Canaanite towns. The ancient Israel nation was formed due to slow assimilation process, both Canaanites and nomadic Israelis contributed to the new nation. The process is clearly seen from Judges book.
Finkelstein’s third assumption is, that King David and his son Solomon have never dominated over Israel tribes, they were simply kings of small Judah tribe. Actually, Finkelstein is «pro-Israel» in the sense that Judea king Yosia ostensibly «stole» Ancient Israel glory. The hypothesis has no positive evidence, it’s pure assumption.
But the worst problem with Finkelstein is that he established a sort of dictatorship over his branch of science, neglecting all revelations which may disprove his own hypotheses.
I’m satisfied with Prof Finkelstein resignation. We need objective researchers, not dictators.
