The Origins of the Israelites

In the first episode of our series on Ancient Israel and also Judah we are joined by Dr. Aren Maeir who guides us into the controversial and heavily debated origin or origins of the Ancient Israelites.

He discusses the scholarship on the subject such as:

Did the Israelites develop out of the Canaanite populations?

Did they migrate in over time? If so, then from where?

Or is the answer both? Did natives and migrants eventually come together to form a distinctly different group?

We also talk archaeology, ancient DNA, dietary laws, primary sources for the earliest evidence of the Israelites outside of the Bible and so very much more.

We also discuss thought provoking topics such as:

Is the term Israel derived from a pagan Canaanite deity?

How should we view the Old Testament when studying history?

Can we use both the term Israelite and Hebrew interchangeably?

But as we leave off Dr. Maeir reminds us to be cautious of how we use results from ancient DNA studies while reminding us how often the results get misconstrued.

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Attribution for video footage relating to the Philistines goes to the YouTube Channel of Dr. Aren Maeir.

[DelijeSerbia]

Finally someone explains the difference between culture and genetics. So many people dont understand that...
For example in my country Serbia a lot of people cant accept the fact that genetically we are connected a lot with old balkan tribes, but with migrations of Serbs and other slavic tribes a slavic culture became dominant.
That doesnt mean that all of our ancestors came to the balkans during the slavic migration or that all of our ancestors lived in the balkans before the migration. We are a mix of everyone, but the culture that became dominant was Slavic/Serbian....

[SAGEFTHEEAST]

The biggest misconception is that the people who call themselves jewish today aren't the same hebrews/jews from the bible. I know it's not easy for some to come to that understanding but it's not hard to see if you just look.

[--]

Missing you big time. Your Spirit is still here guiding us with some insights.

[Ravyne]

Watching this series for the third time. Still one of the best on YT. Sending love to Nick's family. He is so missed.

[artpsych]

I really enjoyed your discussion! Along with the introductory music and illustration throughout. Thank you both!

[hegel]

We Tamils have our sangam literatures which specifies that South Indian Tamils traded with the kingdom of Israel during the reign of Solomon like tusks of elephants, turmeric, peacocks... scholars should look for evidences in Tamil literatures also....

[veryforest]

"I think Israelite society was messy, just like a modern, traditional Middle Eastern society is messy" - This is a great quote by Dr. Maeir, and it reflects some of the facts and theories I've seen about the origins of the Israelites, i.e. that the original tribes were literal tribes of desert nomads and traders who were also well-connected to urban centers in the Levant until "something" brought the complementary tribes together as unit, thus pushing the majority firmly into urban life (though some percentage of families retained their nomadic heritage). DNA evidence shows that the Israelites and Canaanites were the same people, with the difference being the Israelites (until a point) were nomads while the Canaanites they later wrote about as enemies were the urban and mostly settled populace. Obviously, the Israelites eventually settled and became a political and religious power, but as Dr. Maeir points out that the evidence is scant for them suddenly overthrowing major citadels and urban cities as written in the Bible.

As a recent example, the closest comparison in a desert nomadic culture and mobility are the Bedouin, who were divided by (often violent) tribal lines but lived in a sympathetic relationship together as necessary, and who all shared the same cultural habits, trade routes, religion, and social system despite not being as closely connected though urban centers the way it appears the Israelites were. In the Bible, the basic premise for the Jewish patriarchs is that they were desert nomads who were constantly on the move and at the mercy of the harsh and dangerous desert lifestyle. Looking at older descriptions of the Bedouin can fill that imaginative void when wondering how the early Israelite tribes lived before settling where they did.

[CheefSmokealot]

I’m from the tribe of Benjamin. Handed down from father to son throughout the ages. We Jews are very particular about handing down the exact stories as told by my ancestors. We are proud of our Israel, our history, our Torah, and our laws.

[ericthegreat]

The debate about a violent conquest, a small migration, an indigenous growth and a conclusion of a mixed origin reminds me of the debate of aryan invasion in india. I am fascinated by the idea of it being kick started by migrations within Canaan itself following the collapse of the First Egyptian Empire during the Bronze Age Collapse, which led to greater autonomy in the Levant. The chaos of this period is similar to what happened in the Greek Dark Ages and would explain the complexity of the twelve tribes.

[ncarmstron]

Dr. Maeir packs a lot of information into just 40 minutes. Excellent interview.

[aaronhill]

Hikakasu ( ancient Egyptian )/Hyksos ( Greek ), means princes of desert uplands ( Land of Canaan)

[johnstebbins]

I don't think that Abraham being said to come from Ur of the Chaldeas is a problem for the historicity of the story. As an example, If it was written, for instance, that Zarathustra came from Kazakhstan, it wouldn't be evidence that he didn't come from that region, or had had to live there sometime after the region was known as Kazakhstan. It's just that "Kazakhstan" is the easiest way to identify to the modern reader precisely where Zarathustra lived. The only inference that could be made is that whoever wrote that he was from Kazakhstan, was writing some time after the region became known as Kazakhstan. So the only thing that can be inferred is that that part of Genesis was written during or after the time of the Chaldeans coming to Ur.

[geogoes]

Maybe I'm wrong, but it looks like the israelites and the philistines formed almost in the same time, 1200 BC, at the end of bronze age. I would say both groups invaded/established in Canaan at approximately the same time.

[gmsfaithfultildeath]

I’ve been watching this channel for a while now. I appreciate the historical information that’s brought out.

[bigdaddyrat]

I saw somewhere that some archeologists tag the earliest Israelite villages as those Canaanite villages that lack pig bones. Don't know if it's true, but their is a depiction of 'Israelites' outfitted in Canaanite garb on the Merneptah Stele dated around 1200 BC.

[eugenierichter]

I like studying ancient cultures. What I have noticed when checking dna of buried people it was found many various ethnicities. This makes sense if we look at different countries we can usually find varieties of people. I believe the same principles are with Jewish also.
Years ago I was watching a program about Jewish history were it was suggested they originated in Mesopotamia now days Iraq. The epic of Gilgamesh describes world flood which closely resembles Noah’s flood in the Bible

[ChapelMilitia]

In just learned that Nick Barksdale passed on, and so young. He was so cool. God bless his family.

[changer]

I once found an amateur website that makes the claim that the Amarna heresy was the Exodus. One claim I found to be interesting is the person they claim archeology has discovered named Ramose. The claim is that archeological evidence shows this person was prominent in Egypt, disappeared from the record, and returns as a general. The authors allege that during the whole aten thing "Ramose" would've become Mose when it became illegal to write old gods names, and that josephus says moses was a general.

It seems like an intriguing premise but I don't know of any scholarly critiques, would anyone here be aware of such a thing?

[historiaecclesiastica]

Modern historiography/archaeology is a story of scornfully doubting received traditions in favor of blind speculation based on weak presuppositions...until further archeological discoveries confirm the received tradition.

[NullStaticVoid]

just a suggestion. Dont start out your vid with music that is pumping out levels 6-8dB louder than the spoken content.
Had to run across the room to stab the mute button.