Actually, by definition, the OT ends with the New Covenant brought by Jesus. Not "to a few hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ".

"However, the Bible is not a history book per se. ...those events are not chronologically grounded in scientific archaeological facts and evidence". It sounds like you should get an understanding of oral history. Perhaps study Schliemann's discovery of Troy based on the oral history of the Iliad. Yes, the Bible is a history book.

"teachings of Jesus, particularly his emphasis on the love of God". Holy Mackerel. You miss the most important point... well, IMO. The anthropological record shows that for 70,000 before Jesus, there was continual and increasing warfare among humanity. We were moving from the previous cooperative strategy that the large human brain evolved for, back to the 'red of tooth and claw" blind competition strategy most common in nature. It was horrible. Two great philosophies, Stoicism and Buddhism, were developed to teach how to cope with war. Jesus came along and taught how to avoid and end war based on his teachings of "love one another" and "forgiveness". Those messages effect human survival, "love of God" does not. Long after the names of Amun-Ra, Jupiter and Athena are forgotten, Jesus will be remembered as the philosopher that taught humans how to use their instinct for cooperation so that war would not destroy them.