1. Land of the Bible 9 The Geography of the Land of Israel 10 Plants of the Bible 14 Trees and Shrubs 16 Animals of the Bible 18 Birds of the Bible 20 2. Archaeology and the Bible 27 Digging up the Past 28 Writing 37 Archaeology and the Old Testament 41 Archaeology and the New Testament 58 3. The Story of the Bible 67 How the Bible was Written and Became one Bool Translations and Translators 72 4. Understanding the Bible 85 Introducing the Bible 86 The Books of the Bible 87 Understanding the Bible 108 Biblical Criticism 110 5. Religion and Worship in the Bible 113 The Religion of Israel 115 The Commandments 116 Fasts and Festivals 119 Tabernacle and Temples 123 Priests, Levites and the Sacrifices 126 The Prophets 128 Between the Testaments 131 Jewish Religion: New Testament Times 133 The Teaching of Jesus 136 Christian Worship in the New Testament 138 6. Кey Teaching of the Bible 141 A-Z of Biblе words 7. Home and Family Life in the Bible 159 Life Within the Family 161 Special Occasions 164 Clother and Fashion 169 Town and City Life 174 Life in the Villages 177 Housing 180 Food for the Family 184 Social Life 189 8. People of the Bible 193 A-Z 9. Work and Society in the Bible 217 Amateurs, Professionals and Slaves 218 Farming 219 Building, Masons and Carpenters 222 Clother-making 225 Mining and Metalwork 227 Pottery 229 Other Jobs 232 Medicine 234 Trade and Commerce 237 Money, Weights and Measures 239 Goverment and Administration 242 Education 245 War, Weapons and Warriors 247 Travel and Transport 251 10. Places of the Bible 253 A-Z 11. Nations and Peoples of the Bible 279 The Egyptians 280 The Canaanites 284 The Philistines 287 The Assyrians 289 The Babylonians 291 The Persians 296 The Greeks 298 The Romans 300 Other Nations 305 12. Atlas of Bible History 311 Beginnings: Creation to the Flood and After 312 The World of the Old Testament 314 The Patriarchs: Abraham to Joseph 316 From Egypt to the Promised Land 318 Joshua, the Conquest and the Judges 320 Israel’s First Kings: Saul, David and Solomon 322 The Two Kingdoms 324 The Rise of Assyria 326 The Babylonian Invasion 328 The Exile 330 The Return to Jerusalem 332 The Greek Empire and Culture 334 Rome - and the World of the New Testament 336 The Jewish Hope 338 In the steps of Jesus 340 Pentecost and After: the Spread of the Church 342 Paul’s Journeys 344 Index to the non-alphabetical sections 346

For thousands of years, people have been turning to the Scriptures for hope, direction, comfort, peace. The Bible is beautiful; it is deep; and it is often hard to understand. Here at last is the key that will enable you to become truly knowledgeable about the greatest book ever written.