Doctor X

Sort of off-topic to answer your question, they can sometimes "fill" the lacunae in texts if they have similar versions/variants.

Also, given your "example" if "Rehoabram" is a king datable to the period described by the text--and they know "so-and-so" it is not such a bad reconstruction.

--J.D.

zog

I enjoyed this book but for me it adopts a far too minimalist and pedantic approach to the Bible, which is whatever else it is or is not a unique resource.

Some of the arguement does collaspe a little if the Dark Ages are shortened as suggested by a book that i am reading at the moment called 'The Centuries of Darkness' by Peter James etc.... which has an interesting chapter on Biblical archaeology