By far, the most common type of reconstruction that seeks to use the Bible, ancient texts, and the results os archaeology to answer the questions of the identity and unity of early Israel is called the "mixed multitude theory." The archaeologist Ann Killebrew is one of the most recent promoters, but theories that envision Israel as a conglomeration of different groups have been around for several decades and are almost universally accepted by historians. Some groups commonly assumed to have been part of early include the aforementioned Hapiru and Shasu, which appear in ancient texts. The Hapiru may be related to the Hebrews of the HBOT. A different group, the Shasu were described in Egyptian texts as originating in the Transjordan ("the Shasu of Edom") and being nomadic pastoralists. The Hapiru and Shasu appear side by side in some texts, and seem to be similar groups of people. Both were on the margins of society, and both caused problems for the Canaanite city-states. Also making the Shasu attractive as potential early Israelites is the ancient report that at least on group of them appears to have worshipped Yahweh, as there is a territory known to the Egyptians as the "Shasu-land of Yahweh."
Besides the Hapiru and Shasu, mixed-multiple Israel has room for many groups attested in the Bible or implied by the biblical stories, including some, or even all, of the groups assumed to be Israel in the three classic models. Thus, a group who escaped from Egypt, or their descendants, could have a place, as could some of the groups named in some of the stories of early Israel, such as the Calebites and Kenites, that Israel appears to subsume. Killebrew summarizes this hypothetical early confederation nicely: "t most likely comprised diverse elements of Late Bronze Age society, namely, the rural Canaanite population, displaced peasants and pastoralists, and lawless 'apiru [Hapiru] and Shasu. Fugative or runaway Semitic slaves from New Kingdom may have joined this multitude. Nonindigenous groups mentioned in the biblical narrative, including Middianites, Kenites, and Amalekites … may have also formed an essential element. In short, the mixed multitude theory's answer to the question of Israel's identity is very broad. Israel could have potentially included almost every group that the HB/OT mentions in the stories of early Israel, along with many of the groups that appear to have made up the rural population of Late Bronze Palestine according to ancient texts, and all the groups that scholars believe may have inhabited the Early Iron Age highland villages. This depiction of early Israel as composed of many different types of people is the norm today.