ABSTRACT
Setting the discussion on the revaluations of ancient Israel's history of the mid-1980s, this chapter addresses the question of the emergence of Israel in Palestine during the early Iron Age through sociological and anthropological considerations on the rise of sociopolitical complexity, as informed by different archaeological studies. The appearance of the monarchy in ancient Israel is thus explained by the theoretical contribution of anthropological and archaeological studies, rather than by means of a mere rationalisation of the biblical data.
