Answer:
By c. 1080 BCE the Israelites had established a kingship in the land and developed a culture which drew on earlier civilizations. As scholars J. Maxwell Miller and John H. Hayes note:
Roughly two thousand years of recorded history and impressive cultural achievements preceded the beginnings of Israelite and Judean history. This earlier span of time witnessed major literary, technological, and scientific developments, particularly in Mesopotamia and Egypt. [Artifacts] unearthed at ancient sites in Palestine illustrate that the Israelites and Judeans were heirs to a long and sophisticated civilization. (27-28)
Explanation:
This interpretation of history is at odds with the traditional belief that the Israelites appeared in Canaan and imposed their culture on a pre-existing population following a military conquest of the region.
