The Great League of Israel?: Historical Scepticism and the Amphictyony Hypothesis in 20th Century Biblical Studies

Abstract This paper explores the social circumstances of 20 th -century Biblical Studies surrounding the popularity of the amphictyony hypothesis – comparing tribal Israel to the Greek amphictyony of city states. I argue that this theory allowed scholars to reverse-engineer the importance of the Pentateuch as an early but skewed historical source against German historical scepticism. The »Baltimore School« exemplified such efforts were mainly motivated by Protestant biblicism. The theory broke down because it relied on superficial readings of Classics scholarship and convoluted historical reconstruction.