Did David have a kingdom in this country?

If I could go back in time, I would have chosen for my undergraduate studies in federal Germany the science of ancient history and archaeology, rather than political science, modern history and international law. I am motivated by this hysteria, which is sweeping wide political circles in Israel, starting with the Religious Zionist Party headed by Bezalel Smotrich, passing through the Jewish Power Party headed by Itamar Ben Gvir, and ending with the Likud Party headed by Benjamin Netanyahu. This hysteria is not new today. It was latent in the so-called document of independence of this country, which came to this region on the wing of the Balfour Declaration, and not on the wing of a divine promise.
It is the hysteria of searching for history without historical support. This is the case of Benjamin Netanyahu, as is the case of Bezalel Smotrich and many others. It should be noted here that a fundamental disagreement is taking place in Israel on this level between two schools: the first reads the books of the Torah and conducts excavations on the basis of that in the length and breadth of this country in order to prove the validity of its myths, and the second conducts excavations, and then returns to the books of the Torah to refute these myths.
The kingdom of Benjamin Netanyahu goes far in history, to three thousand and five hundred years ago, as he claims, and so is the case with Bezalel Smotrich. As for the new state of Israel, it is the return of the soul to that kingdom. This was the case, in any case, in the declaration of the independence of this country in 1948, when Israel was resurrected again in that year. It is the kingdom of Saul, David and Solomon resurrected again. So what is the story of that kingdom?

In the beginning, the "Bani Israel", and specifically the priestly institution, were not enthusiastic about the idea of ​​ruling in a state or a kingdom. The Prophet Samuel, the greatest of their prophets, was very disappointed when those pastoral tribes of the "Bani Israel" put him before one of two options, either the kingdom, as is the case of the neighboring peoples, or bear the consequences of remaining in misery and submitting to the neighboring kingdoms, which in this case are the Canaanite kingdoms. Samuel had no choice but to submit to the desire of those tribes, to choose Saul and anoint him as king over the "children of Israel". It was coincidence that played a role in that, as Samuel was not previously acquainted with that shepherd, who went out looking for his father's donkeys, which got lost and lost their way. That shepherd was Saul himself, a tall boy, taller than his own skin by a head, and very handsome. Samuel admired him and anointed him without prior knowledge as king over Israel. This Saul did not build a kingdom, as he soon became involved in a conflict with the priestly institution, for nothing but that he himself offered the sacrifice before he went out to fight the Philistines, which aroused the ire and anger of Samuel. It is, in short, the well-known story of the struggle in history between the secular and theological. Samuel's anger turned into a search for an alternative king who was more willing to obey the priestly institution, so his choice fell on David, leaving Saul in a big dilemma, especially after he learned that Samuel had secretly anointed David as king over the "children of Israel." This Saul is the creation of the Prophet Samuel, nothing more or less. His luck was miserable, and that prophet predicted a miserable fate for him. He lived between the hammer of Samuel and the anvil of his obsessions with David. He did not build a kingdom and killed his two sons in a battle with the Philistines.

David's story is more complex. David was a problematic character from start to finish. Before he was anointed king over Israel, David was, according to the accounts, just one of the eight sons of a man from the tribe of Judah from Bethlehem. He was like a shepherd of his father’s sheep who was fluent in playing the harp, and his star shone in the well-known interesting story, The Fassa of David and Goliath. Goliath was a giant Palestinian knight, who stood in one of his battles with the "Children of Israel" challenging Saul and his army leaders to a duel for forty days without anyone appearing to him, until David came and what was the matter of the legend of David and Goliath. However, this myth contains a contradiction that still awaits resolution. In the first book of Kings, David is mentioned as the killer of Goliath, but the second book of kings refutes the account and states that Elhanan, who is from Bethlehem, is the killer of Goliath. This contradiction was resolved through the use of the texts of Mary. In those texts, David appears as a title or an adjective, and in this sense it means the leader. Thus, the Torah scholars resolved that contradiction and considered David (the adjective) and Elhanan as one person, and they called Elhanan the name David, in appreciation of him for his valor. However, the contradiction in the legend of David and Goliath did not stop at these limits, because the legend also states that David / Elhanan, according to the seventeenth chapter of Saqr I Samuel, moved Goliath's head to Jerusalem, which was exclusively for the Jebusites, and there was no presence of any of the "children of Israel" or of Saul and his followers.

Before he became king, David was the leader of a gang that included six hundred bandits in its ranks, and he was pursued by King Saul, and he often resorted to the Philistines asking for protection, and the Philistines granted him that according to the Books of Kings. And when he became king after the tragic fate of Saul, David was also expelled across the Jordan to his son Absalom, who usurped power from his father. The beginning of his reign did not suggest stability, which would allow him to build a kingdom capable of waging wars and expanding victories over neighboring kingdoms and establishing an empire. And what came in the account of the Book of Samuel and the Book of the First Kings regarding that empire, which extended from the Nile to the Euphrates, did not exist in the first place.
But what is the source of the legend of that empire? Many historians assert that this myth is a borrowing from Egyptian writings about the wars of "Thutmose III" and his victories over the alliance of kingdoms in Aram, Moab, Edom and Canaan, which called for repelling the Pharaonic expansion in this country down to Mesopotamia, and who built an Egyptian empire that actually extended from the Nile to the Euphrates. These wars and victories are inscribed in their details on the walls of the Karnak Temple. The biblical narrative about David's empire came in the form of a metaphor, almost without modification, and it appeared naked. This is indicated by the book of Samuel II in the eighth and tenth chapters, as they are completely borrowed from the wars of that pharaoh.

However, Israeli archaeologist Israel Finkelstein of Tel Aviv University goes further. In his report, published by the Israeli magazine Jerusalem Report on August 5, 2011, he denies any historical proof of the existence of David. warrior king Who took Jerusalem as his capital, and confirms that the personality of David, as a highly honored leader who united the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, is nothing but an illusion and imagination and had no real existence.

In conclusion, Benjamin Netanyahu, like that reckless fascist Bezalel Snotrich, reminds me of that coin that embarrassed Benjamin Netanyahu at the end of August 2017, after he posted its picture on his Facebook page, claiming that it was an exciting discovery and further evidence of the deep connection between the people of Israel and his country, Jerusalem, the Temple, settlements, Judea and Samaria, and that it dates back to the days of the Second Temple two thousand years ago, so that it quickly became clear later that the piece is nothing but a souvenir for children minted at the initiative of the Israel Museum about 1 5 years from that date. The story of David's kingdom is like the story of that coin.