History is (wo)man-made. There are, however, some constraints to human actions. Climate, for instance, is a clear boundary of what can be done. In my presentation, I would like to discuss the interaction between topics like demography, technology, landscape, politics and climate in Iron Age Israel/Palestine (± 1200 – 331 bce).
Climate in the Holocene – from the last ice age until present – has not been constant but due to change. After a general global warning around 10.000 bce, the average temperature of today was reached. Warmer and colder, dryer and wetter periods, however, have left there traces. The traces are now been made visible thanks to the GISP II-project in Greenland. My question for today is: How have these oscillations influenced human behaviour and the flow of history.
In the Hebrew Bible, King David is portrayed as an intriguing and paradoxical figure. The depiction of this king is colourful and multi-dimensional. In the narratives of Samuel and 1 Kings, the reader meets a character of flesh and blood. Recently, some ‘lives of David’ appeared written by Steven McKenzie, Baruch Halpern, John van Seters and Joe Blenkinsopp. I appreciate much of this work. I will, however, first and foremost concentrate on the existing evidence. Not every narratio on David would be adequate. Not every appropriation of this king – be it in words or pictorial – can be assessed as successful.
