famine, but after many centuries they returned, taking the Promised Land force.
The saga of the Israelites from Ab-raham's era (c. 2000 B.c.) through the Exodus and Babylonian captivity to the successful revolt of the Mac- cabees against the Greek Seleucid rulers of Palestine in 168 B.C. is re- counted in The Pentateuch and Haf- torahs (Soncino, 1950; rev. ed., 1960), more commonly known as the Old Testament. To the surprise of some, much modern research vouches for the essential "historicity"...