Customer Reviews:
 The attachment of a people to their homeland June 16, 2008
The Source is definitely a highly entertaining and extremely interesting work, and I never lost interest. It presents the panorama of history of the Holy Land, particularly the Galilee, through the ages
I had to read it a second time to realize what a work of genius it is.
There is so much in this incredibly long book, that does depict the experiences and spirit of the Land of Israel, and the Jewish people, who originated in this remarkable land.
In 'The Voice of Gomer' a Hebrew mother is commanded by G-D to take steps that are difficult for her and her family, but are necessary to save the Israelite Nation.
He introduces throughout the story, various beautiful and strong-spirited Hebrew women, who have kept the flame burning, such as the enchanting Kerith, wife of Jabaal the builder, in 'Psalm of the Hoopoe Bird', the beautiful , compassionate and spirited Jael, daughter of Rabbi Asher in `The Law' , the lovely and gentle Elisheba in 'The Saintly Men of Safed' and the tough and idealistic Sabra,, Illana Hacohen in 'Rebbe Itzic and the Sabra'.
He does illustrate the depth of the attachment of the Jewish people to their homeland, which was never broken, as well as the cycle of persecution, and the attempts by so many different groups throughout history to annihilate the Jews.
All of this is being repeated in the latest struggle today, of the Jewish people to hold onto their rightful homeland and survive, against an evil people, supported by a world in which it is fashionable to hate Israel.
A world, which, is once more, creating a great injustice against the Jewish people.
The young Hellenist Jew, Menelaus, in 'The Gymnasium' who is so determined to cut of all connections with his Judaism, reminds me of the leftwing Jewish intellectuals who find it fashionable to side with the enemies of Israel, by embracing pro-Palestinian left-fascism.
In 'King of the Jews' we learn about King Herod, and observe the portrait of a tyrant and about the cruel persecution of his people, and in 'Yigal and his Three Generals' we see just how fierce is the will of the Jewish people to rule their own land.
Always there are the wonderful sites and sounds of the Land of Israel, and it's wonderful people, especially it's beautiful children:
" `What has happened to our beloved Sephardim?' A man in still another corner shouted, while in the center, a group of women from Morocco sang and beat on drums precisely like the ones which had been used at Makor four thousand years before. The music was wild and imperative and four little girls danced beautifully, throwing their arms in the air and captivating the men, including Cullinane, as Jewish girls had done for generations out of mind" and
" His three sons where married and his principal joy was in playing with his eleven grandchildren, sitting on the steps of the Venus temple as they ran back and forth across the forum."
G-D bless the children of Israel!
Michener speaks about the birth of Judaism and Christianity in the Land of Israel and their place in the world giving insight with gems such as:
" In these centuries when G-D, through the agency of preceptors...was forging a Christian church so that it might fulfil the longing of a hungry world, He was at the same time perfecting his first religion, Judaism, so that it might stand as a permanent norm against which to judge all others. Whenever in the future some new religion strayed too far from the basic precepts of Judaism, G-D could be assured that it was in error; so in the Galilee, His ancient cauldron of faith, He spent as much time upon the old Jews, as He did upon the new Christians."
The discussion between Count Volkmar and a Jewish Rabbi in 'The Fires of Ma Couer ' illustrate how wherever Jews are, they always remember that their only true homeland is Israel, and 'The Saintly Men of Safed' explores the flowering of the spiritual life of Judaism in the town of Safed in northern Israel in the 16th Century, as well as how Safed was a town where Jews came from around Europe, to escape persecution.
Therefore we read in this chapter about the humiliation suffered by Jews in Spain, Germany and Italy during this time.
In 'Twilight of an Empire' we see even in the 19th century how the Arabs conspired with a powerful Empire to deprive the Jews of land in their own homeland, and how a young Jewish traveller from Russia comes across Jews whose ancestors always stayed in Israel throughout the Diaspora.
There was always a significant continuous Jewish presence in that country which was never broken! This book shows the Jewish presence throughout the centuries in the Land of Israel, through the years, through the chapters, including the period between the Roman destruction of the First Temple in 70 CE and the rebirth of a sovereign Jewish State in Israel in 1948.
`The Law' recounts the vigorous Talmudic academies in Tiberius in the fourth century CE .
And then there is 'Rabbi Itzic and the Sabra' which draws on the sacrifices and ideals of the young Jews who fought and died to re-establish the State of Israel.
However, there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that the Arabs living in Israel, those who are today referred to wrongly as 'Palestinians', are descendants of the Canaanites. And in fact all historical facts point to these people as being Arabs originating from Arabia.
So I don't know what he means by referring to the Arab archaeologist, Jemail Tabari, as a 'scion of Ur', and a 'descendant of Jabaal the Hoopoe'.
He never refers to these Arabs as 'Palestinian', simply because when this book was written in 1965, the label ' Palestinian' had not been invented to refer to these people.
Nobody used this term in 1965. It only became fashionable later!
Will keep you out of mischief... October 13, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A huge book covering the stories of many different characters. The book is episodic in nature with a story from each 'era' in the history of the area in which the archeological dig is taking place. A couple of the eras are close together, so you get an overlap of characters, but mostly they are separated by significant periods of time. In each episode, at least one character is, unknowingly, descended from the main hunter/gatherer character in the first episode - these characters always have an instinctive connection with the site. As a story-telling device it is a bit contrived but doesn't detract from the story in general.
The episodes are interspersed with the contemporary on-going story of the archeologists and others associated with the site in modern-day Israel. This means that you are pulled back and forth between historical times and today. I found this helped to break up what would otherwise have been quite a heavy read. The episodic nature also means that you get a beginning/middle/end story in a bite-size chunk which makes putting it down when you need to a lot easier.
I first read the book in the 1980's and was completely absorbed by it. I knew nothing about Jewish culture and only that 'history' which I had learnt during childhood from the Bible and, of course, the more recent events in the 20th Century. The book was an interesting introduction to Jewish culture and made me think about its origins. It was also interesting to see the parallel history of other cultures in the area, particularly Arabic, and very depressing to read of the events that occurred in 1948 when modern Israel was born. You are left feeling that the rift between Israel and the Arab states is a tragedy but almost inevitable given the religious/cultural differences and human nature on both sides. The book also describes, through the stories from each era, how this kind of conflict between different religions and cultures has been happening in the area since prehistoric times and that resolution has often been bloody and violent. Quite thought-provoking.
The book is a little dated now but still a fantastic read. I have read a few other books by Michener and this is by far my favourite.
 Thoroughly absorbing December 30, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Really a series of stories using artefacts found on an archaeological dig as a theme and progressing to recent times. They are sentimental without being sloppy and possess an epic quality not found in more recent historical fiction. Though I found the earlier stories more interesting than the later ones I am pleased to have revisited the book in 2006, having first read it in the late 1960's. Michener's depiction of Stone Age life would probably be different if he were writing today - but this is hardly surprising.
fantastic reading April 21, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
anyone interested in archeology ,history or just a darn good read ,this book is a must read .It tells the story of a make believe Tell or settlement in Israel ,from the beginning of time to the present day ,starting with the archeologists in the present, starting a dig , and finding artefacts as they go from one level to the next deeper levels ,they discover more relics through the ages and you are then taken back to that particular age in history of the tell and the people who settle there
I could not put it down November 20, 2005
14 out of 18 found this review helpful
James A Mitchener - The Sourse, an absolutely exhillerating book, although a large volumn, I found it difficult to put it down, and many chores due to be done had to be put asisde.Starting at an archeological dig in Israel, the artifax found brought back stories from the days of cave dwellers right through the turmoils of the land through bibical times, the crusades, the world wards up to modern Israel. Very well written and highly recommended.
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