Includes bibliographical references (pages 515-593) and indexes.

Introduction to historical geography / Paul H. Wright -- Regions and routes in the Levant / Carl G. Rasmussen -- Climate and environment of the Levant / Elizabeth Arnold -- Plants and animals of the land of Israel / Daniel Fuks, Nimrod Marom -- Introduction to biblical archaeology / Seymour Gitin -- Archaeology of the late Bronze Age / Joe Uziel -- Archaeology of the Iron Age I / Aren M. Maeir -- Archaeology of the Iron Age II / Amihai Mazar -- Archaeology of the neo-Babylonian and Persian periods / Constance E. Gane -- Archaeology of the Hellenistic Period / Jordan Ryan -- Introduction to Ancient Near Eastern literature / Adam E. Miglio -- Mesopotamian literature / David C. Deuel -- Egyptian literature / Nili Shupak -- Hittite literature / Alice Mouton -- Ugaritic literature / William D. Barker -- Northwest Semitic inscriptions / Margaret E. Cohen -- Hebrew inscriptions / Judith M. Hadley -- Early Jewish literature / Ryan E. Stokes -- Introduction to Ancient Near Eastern iconography / Izak Cornelius -- Egyptian iconography / Laura Wright -- Mesopotamian and Anatolian iconography / Daniel Bodi -- Canaanite/Israelite iconography / Brent A. Strawn -- The ancestral period / Richard S. Hess -- The Egyptian sojourn and the Exodus / David A. Falk -- The settlement period / Pekka Pitkänen -- The united monarchy / Steven M. Ortiz -- The divided monarchy : Israel / Jens Bruun Kofoed -- The divided monarchy : Judah / Eric L. Welch -- The exile and the exilic communities / Deirdre N. Fulton -- The Achaemenid Persian Empire in the West and Persian-period Yehud / Kenneth A. Ristau -- The Maccabean revolt and Hasmonean statecraft / Joel Willitts -- Akhenaten and the Amarna period / Mark D. Janzen -- The late Bronze Age collapse and the Sea Peoples' migrations / Gregory D. Mumford -- Sheshonq's Levantine conquest and biblical history / Yigal Levin -- The battle of Qarqar and Assyrian aspirations / Mark W. Chavalas -- The Mesha inscription and relations with Moab and Edom / Juan Manuel Tebes -- The Tel Dan inscription and the deaths of Joram of Israel and Ahaziah of Judah / K. Lawson Younger Jr. -- Sennacherib's invasion of Judah and neo-Assyrian expansion / Kyle H. Keimer -- Eighth-century Levantine earthquakes and natural disasters / Ryan N. Roberts -- The battle of Carchemish and seventh/sixth-century regional politics / Sara L. Hoffman -- Alexander the Great and Hellenism / D. Brent Sandy -- Interactions in the ancient cognitive environment / John H. Walton -- Monotheism in ancient Israel / Matthew J. Lynch -- The temple in context / John H. Walton -- Priests in the Ancient Near East / Gerald A. Klingbeil -- Worship, sacrifice, and festivals in the Ancient Near East / Roy E. Gane -- Prophecy, divination, and magic in the Ancient Near East / John W. Hilber -- Family religion in ancient Israel / Andrew R. Davis -- Death and burial in the Iron Age Levant / Christopher B. Hays -- Tribes and nomads in the Iron Age Levant / Thomas D. Petter -- Women in ancient Israel / Carol Meyers -- Family, children, and inheritance in the biblical world / Victor H. Matthews -- Seasons, crops, and water in the land of the bible / Oded Borowski -- Trade in the late Bronze and Iron Age Levant / Joshua T. Walton -- Slavery in the world of the Bible / Richard E. Averbeck -- The local economies of ancient Israel / Peter Altmann -- Metallurgy in the world of the Bible / Brady Liss, Thomas E. Levy -- Ancient technologies of everyday life / Gloria London -- Food preparation in Iron Age Israel / Cynthia Shafer-Elliott -- Feasting in the biblical world / Janling Fu -- Music and dance in the world of the Bible / Annie F. Caubet -- Kingship and the state in ancient Israel / Nili S. Fox -- Social stratification in the Iron Age Levant / Avraham Faust -- Law and legal systems in ancient Israel / David W. Baker -- Wisdom traditions in ancient Israel / Paul Overland -- Warfare in the world of the Bible / Mark Schwartz.