The Population of Palestine in Iron Age II

Abstract

The article examines the size of Palestine's population in the Iron Age II, specifically the eighth century B. C. E. In the first part the authors present an up-to-date discussion of the regional archaeological data: number of Iron II sites, their size, total built-up area, and population. The authors estimate the population for the entire country in the eighth century B. C. E. to have been ca. 400,000 people. In the second part of the article that number is evaluated against past estimates based on biblical and Assyrian sources. Finally, the authors make some general observations on demographic trends in Palestine during the third to first millennia B. C. E.