The OlD JePhThAh TAle IN JuDGeS 3 the 9th century, but complex literary texts (Tell Deir Alla, kun- tillet Ajrud) 14 are evident for the first time after ca. 800 Bce. 2) historical observations — the stories represent the territory of Israel, and there is no logic in dating them after the demise of the Northern kingdom. 3) clues in the layer which may be associated with the North Israelite author who committed the heroic stories to writing (more below). • The long period of oral transmission before the stories were committed to writing means that even the “original” oral tales could have been layered, though this is impossible to verify. • The first written version went through several expansions and redactions. These include late North Israelite, Deuteronomistic and post-Deuteronomistic layers, which evidently portray con- cerns and goals of their time. • considering the long oral and then literary history of the tradi- tions, materials — including essential information on the original tales — could also have been omitted. In order to study the geography and historical background of the old tale, it needs to be isolated from the later additions. Below is my suggested “peeling-away” of the story, based on inner biblical clues, linguistic and toponymic considerations, flow of the narrative and its logic, role of the deity, etc. I. Additions to the Old Tale Below I suggest removal of the later materials, from early to late (Table 1), starting with the North Israelite author who composed the first written text in the first half of the 8th century Bce. his hand is minimal; it includes: • 11,4-5a. expansion of the local story to an all (North) Israelite conflict. This is true also for 11,33b — “for the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel”. This kind of expansion of the tale to broader territory/groups than the original is also characteristic of other cases in the supposed Book of Saviors. • The expansion of the theater of operations to “Gilead and Manasseh” (v. 29a). Bronze II to Iron IIA: Archeological context, Distribution and chronology”, HeBAI 2 (2013) 149-220. 14 For the latter see recently N. NA’AMAN, “The Inscriptions of kuntillet ‘Ajrud through the lens of historical Research”, UF 43 (2012) 1-43.