be made by one fateful decision. Ancient Israel was born at one of the most critical crossroads in millennia—the end of the Bronze Age in the Levant. So, early Israel was a product of the movements of indigenous people in Canaan, a socioeconomic upheaval rather than a foreign invasion. The archaeological evidence is overwhelming. The only question remaining for scholars today is where within Canaan? A few archaeologists still favor some variant of the “peaceful infiltration” model already discussed.