This course addresses the core issue of the Tanakh’s historicity. Does the Hebrew Bible contain accurate accounts about real people, places, and events, or, alternatively, are the Biblical narratives well crafted works of fiction and featuring only legendary figures? Is there a middle ground? To what extent can we make such assessments with confidence? Potential topics include “Did the Named Matriarchs and Patriarchs exist, and if so, when and where did they live?” “Moses and The Exodus: Real or Imagined?” “Was David the Ancestral King of Israel, and what was the extent of his territorial reign?” “The Rise and Fall of The Northern Israelite Kingdome/House of Omri,” “Hezekiah’s Tunnel and the Assyrian Siege of Jerusalem,” “Temple, Shrines, and Altars: The Nature of Sacrificial Religion,” “Did our Ancestors Worship only one God, or Many Gods and Goddesses?” Finally, we will also tackle the question “Why does this matter?”