Israel Finkelstein is one of the foremost archaeologists in
Israel, a leading authority on Middle Eastern archaeology and
co-director of excavations at Megiddo. He is the Jacob M. Alkow
Professor of the Archaeology of Israel in the Bronze Age and Iron
Ages at the Tel Aviv University.
Finkelstein says that much of the Bible was written from the
seventh to the fifth century BCE. He has debunked the supposed
historicity of the Pentateuch, saying that much of it is in
complete opposition to archaeological knowledge. He even disputes
the biblical record of the United Kingdom, saying that the kingdoms
of Israel and Judah were always separate, with different life
styles, different pottery, different myths and legends, and the
same language Hebrew, but different dialects.