wow - delightfully informative coverage and approach on the subject matter. super edifying - thank you.

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The Bible identifies Abraham as the progenitor of Israel, and he is portrayed disputing a well he has dug at Beersheba with Philistines. From Egyptian records we know the Philistines arrived in Canaan circa 1175 BC in the days of Rameses III, for he defeats their attempt to conquer Egypt from Canaan. In Beersheba's well were found Philistine sherds dating to the 12th century BC. This suggest for me that Abraham is really an Iron Age I individual. If this be so, then the origins of Israel might be sought among the Arameans of Syria, for it is at Harran that Abraham appears, before leaving Ur of the Chaldees. That is to say, perhaps Iron Age I Israel's sudden appearance on both sides of the Jordan, is that of Arameans, from Syria? Has anyone compared the pottery of these settlers with pottery from Syria circa the 13th century BC? In this scenario, Canaan was under attack from two waves of migrants, almost simultaneously, the Sea Peoples, which included the Philistines, and Israel as Arameans from Harran and Damascus. People need to eat, so cooking pots should be investigated in Iron Age I contexts for similarities with Aramean pots of that era.

Faust seems to be holding on to anything to try and bolster the view that Israelis are some separate ethnic group separate from even those who joined later and many lectures I have listened to seem to lean towards the wandering nomad lifestyle that slowly gained more and more other peoples but the "core group" was highly likely just canaanite nomads that for various reasons, possibly economic, political, etc joined in and the group grew. But in the end, they are canaanites, though many seem to hate that idea and would rather foster a us vs. them idea. I've seen fancy pottery from sites dated to 12th to 8th century and they have alters to the same gods as other canaanites did in rural sites even during the time of Hezekiah's supposed purges. So I don't understand this heavy desire not to be seen as another canaanite nomad group, except that maybe they fear it will not substantiate their territory claims and to deny a statehood for Palestine. It seems there are scholars at this conference who can put their biases to one side, but Faust doesn't seem that way to me. He wants to paint a tiny brush for his supposed pure Israel core group, but still never states how he explains how that happened. I don't believe in magic therefore I don't think they just proofed into existence one sabbath day. LOL!

לפי תעודות הפרעונים אמנחותפ 3 ורעמסס הוזכרו שאסו יהו שהיו נוודים בעבר הירדן ועבדו את ה' .

The torah tells you our origins. Canaan to Egypt to Israel.

Jews came out of the dark ages as lost as everyone else ... except for torah.