"Auf der Suche nach dem Alten Israel? Text und Geschichte in der alttestamentlichen Wissenschaft auf dem Hintergrund der Historischen Kulturwissenschaften"

The first part of the article deals with the methodology informing the new, "revisionist" approaches to the history of ancient Israel, especially the works produced by the "Copenhagen School" and P.R. Davies. It uncovers the assumptions underlying their attitude towards the ancient witnesses and their view of the relation between textual and archaeological sources, making constant reference to the epistemological discussion in philosophy and history. The "revisionist" approach is contrasted with the methods employed by ancient historians and archaeologists, with the discussion centring on the concepts of "text" and "artifact". II Reg 22f. is then made the object of a case study demonstrating the relationship between literary and archaeological sources and adequate ways of making use of both.