Ang mga taong Yisrir na pinakahulugang Israel ay unang lumitaw sa Merneptah Stele ca. 1200 BCE. Ayon sa mga arkeologo at historyan, ang mga Israelita ay lumitaw mula sa mga taong Cananeo at naging isang natatanging kultura sa pag-unglad ng monolatriya at kalaunan ay monoteismo nito na nakasentro sa pagsamba lamang sa diyos na si Yahweh na isa sa 70 mga anak ni El (diyos) ng mga taong Semitiko..[6][7][8] Sila ay nagsasalita ng wikang Sinaunang Hebreo na isang wikang Semitiko.[9]
Ang mga sinaunang Israelita sa simula ay mga politeistiko(pagsamba sa maraming Diyos) at kalaunang naging mga monolotraista(pagsamba sa isang pambansang diyos na seloso sa Aklat ng Exodo 34:14 ngunit pagkilala sa pag-iral ng ibang mga Diyos) at naging mga monoteistiko(pagkilala lamang sa isang diyos na si Yahweh) na lumitaw lamang pagkatapos ng pagkakatapon sa Babilonya ca. 587/586 BCE.
Ayon sa kuwento ng Bibliya, ang mga Israelita ay mga inapo ni Jacob na kalaunang tinawag na Israel. Pagkatapos ng isang tagtuyot, si Jacob at ang kanyang 12 mga anak na lalake ay tumungo sa Ehipto na kalaunang naging Labindalawang Tribo ng Israel. Ang mga Israelita ay lumisan sa Ehipto sa pamumuno ni Moises at kalaunan ay ni Josue na sumakop sa mga lupain ng Canaan. Ito ay sinasalungat ng ebidensiyang arkeolohiakl na walang nangyaring Exodo mula sa Ehipto at walang pananakop na nangyari sa Canaan sa panahon ni Josue.Ayon sa mga iskolar at arkeologo, ang kuwentong ito ay isang mitong pinagmulan na inimbento noong pagkakatapon sa Babilonya.[10][11]
↑Finkelstein, Israel. "Ethnicity and origin of the Iron I settlers in the Highlands of Canaan: Can the real Israel stand up?." The Biblical archaeologist 59.4 (1996): 198–212.
↑Finkelstein, Israel. The archaeology of the Israelite settlement. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1988.
↑Finkelstein, Israel, and Nadav Na'aman, eds. From nomadism to monarchy: archaeological and historical aspects of early Israel. Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi, 1994.
↑Finkelstein, Israel. "The archaeology of the United Monarchy: an alternative view." Levant 28.1 (1996): 177–87.
↑Michael G. Hasel, Domination and Resistance: Egyptian Military Activity in the Southern Levant, Brill, 1998
↑Mark Smith in "The Early History of God: Yahweh and Other Deities of Ancient Israel" states "Despite the long regnant model that the Canaanites and Israelites were people of fundamentally different culture, archaeological data now casts doubt on this view. The material culture of the region exhibits numerous common points between Israelites and Canaanites in the Iron I period (c. 1200–1000 BCE). The record would suggest that the Israelite culture largely overlapped with and derived from Canaanite culture... In short, Israelite culture was largely Canaanite in nature. Given the information available, one cannot maintain a radical cultural separation between Canaanites and Israelites for the Iron I period." (pp. 6–7). Smith, Mark (2002) "The Early History of God: Yahweh and Other Deities of Ancient Israel" (Eerdman's)
↑Rendsberg, Gary (2008). "Israel without the Bible". In Frederick E. Greenspahn. The Hebrew Bible: New Insights and Scholarship. NYU Press, pp. 3–5
↑Steiner, Richard C. (1997), "Ancient Hebrew", in Hetzron, Robert (ed.), The Semitic Languages, Routledge, pp. 145–173, ISBN978-0-415-05767-7
↑Faust 2015, p.476: "While there is a consensus among scholars that the Exodus did not take place in the manner described in the Bible, surprisingly most scholars agree that the narrative has a historical core, and that some of the highland settlers came, one way or another, from Egypt..". harv error: no target: CITEREFFaust2015 (help)
↑Redmount 2001, p. 61: "A few authorities have concluded that the core events of the Exodus saga are entirely literary fabrications. But most biblical scholars still subscribe to some variation of the Documentary Hypothesis, and support the basic historicity of the biblical narrative." harv error: no target: CITEREFRedmount2001 (help)
↑Lipschits, Oded (2014). "The history of Israel in the biblical period". Sa Berlin, Adele; Brettler, Marc Zvi (mga pat.). The Jewish Study Bible (sa wikang Ingles) (ika-2nd (na) edisyon). Oxford University Press. pp. 2107–2119. ISBN978-0-19-997846-5. As this essay will show, however, the premonarchic period long ago became a literary description of the mythological roots, the early beginnings of the nation and the way to describe the right of Israel on its land. The archeological evidence also does not support the existence of a united monarchy under David and Solomon as described in the Bible, so the rubric of "united monarchy" is best abandoned, although it remains useful for discussing how the Bible views the Israelite past. [...] Although the kingdom of Judah is mentioned in some ancient inscriptions, they never suggest that it was part of a unit comprised of Israel and Judah. There are no extrabiblical indications of a united monarchy called "Israel."