The House of David

In this rich volume Jerry M Landay traces the history of the Kingdom of Israel, under the monarchs Saul, David and Solomon. The book is richly illustrated with artwork through the ages about the subject matter, as well as photogrpahs of landmarks in the Land of Israel where the events took place, and monuments such as David's tomb. The evidence is so clear that the events recounted in the Bible were very close to historic events as they actually transpired, from documentation and archaeology. More and more archaeological evidence of the history of this period is being uncovered in Israel all the time. As for the lie by far-left new anti-semites that the Kingdoms of David and Solomon did not exist, this is as absurd and as evil as holocaust denial, and even a rudimentary knowledge of the history of the time, makes it clear that the Israelite Commonwealth of the time flourished under the great kings David and Solomon. For two hundred years after the Children of Israel had entered the Holy Land, from the desert where they had sealed their unique covenant with the One G-D, the Israelites existed as twelve disparate and impoverished tribes, eking out a living from the stony Israeli soil, and warding off hostility from the surrounding powers- the Canaanites,Phillistines, Amalekites ,Arameans, Edmites,Ammonites and Moabites. Governed loosely by men and women called judges, they developed their unique faith in Yahweh. To meet the dangers that threatened them, the Twelve Tribes united to form a kingdom. The great prophet Samuel warned the people against forming a monarchy, but finally gave into their wishes and chose Saul as king. The people honoured Saul for his bravery, but found that he lacked wisdom and steadiness. In time, they turned from Saul to the young David, a sheperd, who had killed the giant Phillistine warrior Goliath. When Saul died in battle, David became king. David was a poet as well as a warrior and statesman. his Book of Psalms contains some of the most beautiful writings in the Bible. David's son Solomon, followed him as king. Soon after Solomon became king, he built the first temple in Jerusalem for the worship of G-D. When Solomon died, political and economic troubles split the kingdom. His son Rehoboam increased the heavy taxes and ten of the tribes broke away and set up and independent nation in the north. They chose Jeroboam as king, and called themselves the kingdom of Israel. The two remaining tribes, Benjamin and Judah, formed the kingdom of Judah, in the south. The citizens of this kingdom were called Judeans. The word 'Jew' came from this name. After centuries of internal conflict and eternal power struggle withing thse kingdoms, Assyria destroyed Israel in 721 BCE. It's people were deported and eventually became lost. The Babylonians conquered Judah in 587 BCE, and destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem. The House of David had been ended, but the Jews would return to refound their nation. Landay recounts these events in a fa