David's Jerusalem: Between Memory and History(Routledge Studies in Religion)

The history of David’s Jerusalem remains one of the most contentious topics of the ancient world. This study engages with debates about the nature of this location by examining the most recent archaeological data from the site and by exploring the relationship of these remains to claims made about David’s royal center in biblical narrative. Daniel Pioske provides a detailed reconstruction of the landscape and lifeways of early 10th century BCE Jerusalem, connected in biblical tradition to the figure of David. He further explores how late Iron Age (the Book of Samuel-Kings) and late Persian/early Hellenistic (the Book of Chronicles) Hebrew literary cultures remembered David’s Jerusalem within their texts, and how the remains and ruins of this site influenced the memories of those later inhabitants who depicted David’s Jerusalem within the biblical narrative. By drawing on both archaeological data and biblical writings, Pioske calls attention to the breaks and ruptures between a remembered past and a historical one, and invites the reader to understand David’s Jerusalem as more than a physical location, but also as a place of memory.

Introduction: Place, Memory, and the History of David’s Jerusalem 1. Between Memory and Modernity: Retracing the Traces of an Ancient Past 2. David’s Jerusalem in Samuel-Kings: Commemorating a Davidic Past 3. David’s Jerusalem in The Book of Chronicles: Redressing the Past 4. David’s Jerusalem: The Early 10th Century BCE, Part I. An Agrarian Community 5. David’s Jerusalem: The Early 10th Century BCE, Part II. Stronghold and Ideological Apparatus 6. Conclusion

"Pioske’s study uniquely combines critical understanding of the archaeology of ancient Israel with sound, genre-sensitive interpretation of the biblical text, while fully conversant with current trends in historical theory. The result is not only an exposition of where text and archaeology match and do not match, but an examination of why the text preserves memories in light of contemporary understanding of orality, writing, and cultural memory." --Robert D. Miller II, The Catholic University of America, USA

"David’s Jerusalem brings the reader on an exciting and provocative journey into the city of Jerusalem from its origin as a highland stronghold to its glory as the capital of Israel and Judah, and to its memory for those who called it home in subsequent generations." --Pauline A. Viviano, Loyola University Chicago, USA