Looking for secular Jewish history book

[Papillon Mom]

We are atheists and we are doing classical conversations. The timeline cards have Old Testament stories included and while some are easy to explain to my daughter others, I'm not so sure about whether they happened or not... Not that we can be completely clear on history from so long ago, in my opinion. I'm looking for a well respected secular Jewish history that would cover BC Jewish nation history that has been archaeologically verified.

Anyone know the perfect book for me?

Thanks.

[umsami]

I don't have a book but a long time ago (20+ years), A&E had a "Mysteries of the Bible" series which basically examined the archaeological evidence for some of the tale in the Bible.  They used to be on Netflix.  Found some here http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/mysteries-bible/   ALso try Youtube.

 

 

[alef]

Here are some resources:

 

http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/

 

http://religiousstudies.wvu.edu/r/download/39053 (This is the syllabus to a Biblical Archeology course from a public university, I thought the textbooks used might be worth looking at).

[JennyD]

A Short History of the Jewish People, by Raymond P. Scheindlin is secular and quite readable.  It is a one-volume trade paperback written for a general adult audience.

 

The History of the Jewish People, by Jonathan Sarna and Jonathan Krasner, is a two-volume history text designed for use with Jewish middle/high schoolers.  (There is also a one-volume adaptation, by Gila Gevirtz).  It explicitly distinguishes between biblical and historical accounts of Jewish history, but it is also very much written for a Jewish audience and therefore assumes that the reader will be interested in both.