The texts of the Hebrew Bible want to trace a path in the memory of a people and of the world that lives: recent research indicates the creation of this "history" as a point of arrival and not of departure of the ancient Jewish literary tradition; different literary genres and different currents of thought contributed to this creative process. In the course we will start from the relationship between biblical narrative and history of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah (as can be reconstructed from sources and archaeology) to touch on other essential issues in the study of the scriptures: the canonical text in the light of the parallel traditions, the myth in the Bible and what functions it performs, the comparison with the historiographical traditions of the Mediterranean civilizations, both oriental and classical.