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BAMBINO
(BRIT-AM BIBLICAL ISRAEL NEWS ) no.1
Contents:
1. Ancient
Jerusalem - A Very Large City?
Biblical Critics Never Weary
2. Ancient Jerusalem in Egyptian Records
and Egyptian Influence on Israel
3. URL on Clans of Manasseh and Hail in the Time of Joshua
4. Flood Waters Induced by Methane Releases?
5. Joseph, Fish, and Protection from the Evil Eye
1. Ancient
Jerusalem - A Very Large City?
Biblical Critics Never Weary
Note the misleading headline
New dig findings counter Bible's tale of Jerusalem
(Brit-Am Editor: It does nothing of the sort!)
http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/
9207/edition_id/175/format/html/displaystory.html
GIL SEDAN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
JERUSALEM -- A new archaeological discovery may require a revision of the
ancient history books -- and of the Bible.
Recent archaeological digs have provided evidence that Jerusalem was a big and
fortified city already in 1,800 BCE, about 800 years before King David conquered
the city from the Jebusites. The new findings contradict the theory that prior
to David's raid on Jebus, Jerusalem was a poor and small village.
Gideon Avni, a Jerusalem archaeologist, said earlier this month that the entire
concept on the City of David, the core of Jerusalem's Old City, would now have
to be changed.
The digs at which the discovery was made took place near the Gichon spring,
Jerusalem's main water source.
Findings there show that the sophisticated water system heretofore attributed to
the conquering Israelites pre-dated them by eight centuries and was even more
sophisticated than imagined.
At a recent press tour of the site, archeologists of the Israel Antiquities
Authority said the famed Warren's Shaft was only a natural fissure in the rock
that had nothing to do with the water system.
The 50-foot-high shaft, accessed from a tunnel, was previously believed to be
the way the ancients accessed the waters of the Gichon from within the walls
without exposing themselves to forces besieging the city.
Excavations in the past few months have exposed a tunnel that skirted the shaft
and brought residents of the city directly down to a pool near the spring.
Contrary to previous belief, the spring itself was heavily fortified and not
outside the city's defenses.
Dr. Ronny Reich, who directed the excavations along with Eli Shuikrun, said the
entire system was built as a single complex by Canaanites in the Middle Bronze
Period, around 1,800 BCE.
"We have to rethink all our concepts about the City of David that were formed
over the last century," said Reich.
Warren's Shaft was discovered by British explorer Charles Warren in 1867 and was
believed to have been the linchpin of the ancient water system.
Ceramics found in the current investigations tie the system firmly to the
Canaanites, 800 years before David's conquest, said Reich.
The excavations also uncovered on the lower eastern slope a fortified wall from
the Middle Bronze Period in an area believed to have been outside the city's
defenses.
This could mean that the Canaanite city was almost twice as large as previously
believed, said Avni.
2. Ancient
Jerusalem in Egyptian Records and Egyptian Influence on Israel
Cow Town or Royal Capital?
Evidence for Iron Age Jerusalem
By Nadav Na'aman
http://www.jewishhistory.com/jh.php?id=Egyptian&content=content/cow_town
Extracts
Jerusalem, called Urusalim in the Amarna letters, 8 figures prominently in
this diplomatic correspondence. According to the Amarna letters, Canaan was then
under Egyptian hegemony, and Jerusalem was ruled by a local king. The city was
the seat of a local dynasty in which governance passed from father to son. In
non-Egyptian correspondence these local rulers were also referred to as kings. 9
Egyptian messengers came quite often to the court of Jerusalem. The Jerusalem
king sent rich caravans loaded with gifts for the pharaoh.
Jerusalem's territory extended from just south of Bethel in the north to Tel
Hebron in the south, and from the Jordan River in the east to the hills of the
Shephelah in the west. 10
It is clear from the Amarna letters that in the 14th century B.C.E. Jerusalem
was a capital city from which a considerable territory was ruled (subject to
Egyptian oversight). It had a palace and a court with attendants and servants, a
temple in which the king played a central role, and an ideology that established
him as head of state.
The court also had a scribe, who was in charge of diplomatic correspondence with
Egyptian authorities. Six letters were sent by the king of Jerusalem to the
pharaoh, exhibiting the diplomatic sophistication of his court and the quality
of his scribe.
The picture as revealed by the archaeological record alone, on the other hand,
is rather opaque. As with the tenth century, there are hardly any remains from
the Late Bronze Age II (14th-13th century B.C.E.). Only a handful of Late Bronze
Age II pottery and a few building fragments have been unearthed in the extensive
excavations in the Late Bronze Age II city. Scholars would never have guessed
from the excavations of Jerusalem that any scribal activity took place there in
Late Bronze Age II.
Ostraca from both Israel and Judah dating to the eighth and seventh centuries
B.C.E. also demonstrate that writing was an important aspect of the
tenth-century court. These ostraca, in Old Hebrew script, contain certain
hieratic numerals and signs (hieratic is a cursive form of Egyptian
hieroglyphics) that are not found in the documents of Israel's neighbors, but
only in Hebrew script. Egyptian relations with the Philistine and Phoenician
kingdoms were much closer in the ninth and early eighth centuries than they were
with Israel and Judah, so it is hardly conceivable that hieratic signs would have
entered only the Hebrew script at that time. Moreover, no definite eighth- or
seventh-century paleographical parallels have been found in Egypt for many of
the hieratic signs found on the Hebrew ostraca. These hieratic signs must have
entered the Hebrew script before the division of the monarchy, namely, in the
tenth century B.C.E. 12
3. URL on Clans of
Manasseh and Hail in the Time of Joshua
Samaria Ostraca identifying Clans of Manasseh
http://www.accuracyingenesis.com/egypt.html
We have probably posted this URL before but it definitely is worth looking
at again.
see also (on the same URL which has quite a few notes of interest)
Joshua's Long Day, the Long Day of Joshua 10,
Can we Resolve the Confusion?
http://www.accuracyingenesis.com/joshua.html
The URL interprets the ceasing of the movement of the sun (10:12-14)
for a day to be figurative.
We think they are mistaken.
Nevertheless the article is interesting especially because of the notes on hail:
Extract:
<<One of the deadliest modern history hailstorms ever recorded was in northern
India in 1888, when hailstones the "size of a cricket ball" reportedly killed
246 people and also 1,600 sheep and goats. Some of the victims were hit
directly, others perished in drifts several metres deep, and some died from
exposure. In 1932 in the western Hunan Province, China, 200 people were killed
and thousands injured. (The record of Joshua 10 does not actually tell us how
many were killed by the hail.) >>
4. Flood Waters
Induced by Methane Releases?
From: Paul D Pruitt
Yair,
I saw on the Discovery Channel how some scientist now think that there are
occasionally catastrophic methane releases from sea water. These releases
resemble huge fountains of water and greatly expand the volume of water on
earth. In fact the sea level could go up 100 feet on a long term basis and
three hundred feet (100 metre) tsunami could be released.
The one scientist who is pushing the controversial idea the most said he was
astonished to read in Genesis about the account of Noah, where is discusses the
unleashing of all the fountains of the deep...
"In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth
day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken
up, and the windows of heaven were opened." Genesis 7:11 King James
If you notice, it discusses that the fountains of the deep are broken up.
Perhaps this refers to the methane locked up in methane hydrate ice, where most
of the methane is bound, and this ice was broken up leading to a catastrophic
release of methane.
Also maybe the methane clouds induced the heavy rain...
5. Joseph, Fish,
and Protection from the Evil Eye
The association of the blessings to Joseph, the Eye of Providence
(depicted on the great Seal of the USA)
and protection from the evil eye are discussed in the Brit-Am Commentary to
Genesis on the verse:
[Genesis 49:22] JOSEPH IS A FRUITFUL BOUGH, EVEN A FRUITFUL BOUGH BY A WELL;
WHOSE BRANCHES RUN OVER THE WALL:
http://britam.org/Genesis/Gen47to50VaYechi.html
We quote there from an article by Rabbi Haim Dynovisz
A related point may be made from the verse:
[Genesis 48:16] THE ANGEL WHICH REDEEMED ME FROM ALL EVIL, BLESS THE LADS; AND
LET MY NAME BE NAMED ON THEM, AND THE NAME OF MY FATHERS ABRAHAM AND ISAAC; AND
LET THEM GROW INTO A MULTITUDE IN THE MIDST OF THE EARTH.
<<LET THEM GROW INTO A MULTITUDE>> In Hebrew "VaYidgu" from the root "DGH" which
connotes "multiplying in great numbers".
It is also the root of the word "dag" meaning fish.
The fish of the sea multiply greatly. The Hebrew expression "VaYidgu" could
also be interpreted to say "May they multiply like the fish of the sea".
In some opinions a fish was a symbol of Joseph.
In Jewish tradition the fish was protected from the "evil eye" and so were the
offspring of Joseph.
This ties in with the quotation from Rabbi Haim Dynovisz.
At all events it was said that fishes are hidden under the water and therefore
protected from the evil eye and thus enabled to increase and multiply exceedingly so too would the seed of
Joseph be so protected.
We may take this a little further and say that the seed of Joseph would be
"lost", and their Israelite identity hidden even from themselves. This would enable them to increase and multiply and
achieve the other blessings without having to encounter the antagonism and jealousy that befell the Tribes of Judah.
(BRIT-AM BIBLICAL ISRAEL NEWS ONLINE) no.2
Contents:
1. Methane Not responsible for Rise of the Flood Waters ?
2. Articles from JANES
3. Seals of Queens and Other Israelite Women
4. The "Stables" of Solomon really Should be Ascribed to Solomon!
5. Law-Halachah -Maimonides
1. Methane Not responsible for Rise of the Flood Waters ?
From: Aram <yarnia@charter.net>
Subject: Re: Flood Waters Induced by Methane Releases?
Yair,
I don't see how the release of hydrated methane from its solid state could
possibly raise the level of the oceans. The solid methane hydrate becomes
gaseous, rises through the water and immediately dissipates into the
atmosphere. The effect is similar, on a much larger scale, to opening a bottle
of beer or any carbonated beverage that has been shaken and warmed. If a
release is large enough, the result can be quite deadly to a vessel passing over
the eruption. Experiments have revealed that the rising froth of methane can
result in the sudden foundering of a ship due to the reduced density of the
foaming water. Methane in its gaseous form is also highly combustible. The
area known as the Bermuda Triangle is known to have extraordinarily large
deposits of solidified methane hydrate. Hence, a possible non-supernatural
cause of ship disappearances. But the cause of a global flood? I think not.
For a thorough and scientifically sound theory of the cause of the Noah's
cataclysm, see
http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/.
Also, the more scientifically inclined among your readers might enjoy pondering
the discovery described at this site.
http://members.aol.com/astroequation/index.htm
Aram Paquin
2. Articles from JANES
http://www.jtsa.edu/Audience_Pages/Scholars_and_Research/JANES.xml
There is a list of pdf articles on Ancient History and Biblical Studies
available for free.
JANES (Jewish Theology Seminary) is apparently some kind of Academic
Freethinking
establishment of the kind we usually keep away from.
There are articles that more or less take a Biblical Criticism approach some
more than others.
Nevertheless, if one can keep an even balance some of the articles can actually
teach us something.
e.g.
"Jeroboam and the Division of the Kingdom. Mapping Contrasting Biblical
Accounts"
by Amos Frisch, Bar Ilan University
http://www.jtsa.edu/Documents/pagedocs/JANES/2000%2027/Frisch27.pdf
This article shows parallels between Saul vrs David, Rehoboam vrs Jeroboam,
etc.
Uses the same Classical Rabbinical Commentators we often refer to (e.g.
Abarbanel, Malbim)
and adds a bit of "modernity" which one can easily ignore without loosing the
basic gist of his message.
Basically a good essay illustrating part of the Literary sophistication in
Scripture that we too often overlook
or take for granted.
3. Seals of Queens and Other Israelite Women
Dr. Margo C.A. Korpel's , "Seals of Jezebel and other women in authority,"
http://www.otw-site.eu/documenten/Korpel-Seal-of-Jezebel.pdf
(Source: Journal for Semitics 15/2, 2006, pp. 349-371)
This a fairly short pdf article with black-and-white illustrations at the end
that leave
much to be desired.
Nevertheless, the article is interesting and shows that in Biblical times women
could
and did achieve importance and an independent status of their own. This is
reflected in
their seals which according to the author reached a higher than average
aesthetic level
perhaps reflecting a greater appreciation for the nicer side of life.
Unfortunately
Concerning the Seal of Jezebel
(whether it is really genuine or whether it really belonged to the queen of that name)
see
"Precarious Scholarship:
Problems with Proposing that the Seal of Yzbl was Queen Jezebel's"
Response by Amihai Mazar
http://www.asor.org/mazar.htm
Another seal discussed,
the "Ma'adanah" seal,
is also of disputed authenticity,
see J. Braun, Music in Ancient Israel/Palestine,
Grand Rapids 2002, pp. 161-164
4. The "Stables" of Solomon really Should be Ascribed to Solomon!
"Davidic and Solomonic Bazaars, Barracks, Stables, Warehouses, Toll Stations, Tripartite Pillared Buildings, or Entrepots ...Whatever:
Beyond the Structures Themselves"
By Jeff Blakely
http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/Davidic_and_Solomonic.htm
Article shows that these structures were all located in border areas or
along trade routes belonging to a UNITED Judah and Israel and therefore should be dated to before the division into two kingdoms.
5. Law-Halachah -Maimonides
http://www.torah.org/learning/halacha-overview/archives.html
Every now and again Brit-Am gets asked concerning the Rabbinical interpretation
of Biblical Laws. This is not really our field though it overlaps with Biblical
Studies.
It is however not something we wish to discuss or be occupied with.
Maimonides probably gave the best and most authoritative summary of the Halachah
(Law) in most cases.
He also wrote in a very precise succinct manner that is quite appropriate for
modern taste.
The above URL offers translated extracts from much of the Code of Maimonides and what is lacking is in the process of being completed.
(BRIT-AM BIBLICAL ISRAEL NEWS ONLINE) no.3
Date: 20 Cheshvan 5768, 20th November 2007
Contents:
Important: When sending articles etc to this
list from the Web please include
the URL.
Contents:
1.
The Thinkers: The Bible and history of Israel shape a life
2. Noah's Ark opens in the Netherlands
3. Questions on the Monarchs of Israel
and missing Biblical Books?
1. The Thinkers:
The Bible and history of Israel shape a life
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07302/829332-85.stm
2. Noah's Ark
opens in the Netherlands
From: Craig Blackwood <cablack@westnet.com.au>
Working Replica of
Noah's Ark Opens
SCHAGEN, Netherlands -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/04/28/
dutch-creationist-builds-_n_47173.html
The massive central door in the side of Noah's Ark
was thrown open Saturday
- you could say it was the first time in 4,500 years - drawing a crowd
Of curious pilgrims and townsfolk to behold the wonder.
Of course, it's only a replica of the biblical Ark, built by Dutch Creationist
Johan Huibers
as a testament to his faith in the literal truth of the Bible.
Reckoning by the old biblical measurements, Johan's fully functional ark
is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide. That's two-thirds
the length of a football field and as high as a three-story house.
Life-size models of giraffes, elephants, lions, crocodiles, zebras,
Bison and other animals greet visitors as they arrive in the main hold.
"The design is by my wife, Bianca," Huibers said. "She didn't really
Want me to do this at all, but she said if you're going to anyway,
it should look like this."
A contractor by trade, Huibers built the ark of cedar and pine ---
Biblical Scholars debate exactly what the wood used by Noah would have been.
Huibers did the work mostly with his own hands, using modern tools
And occasional help from his son Roy. Construction began in May 2005.
On the uncovered top deck - not quite ready in time for the opening
- will come a petting zoo, with baby lambs and chickens, and goats,
and one camel.
Visitors on the first day were stunned.
"It's past comprehension," said Mary Louise Starosciak, who happened
To be bicycling by with her husband while on vacation when they saw
The ark looming over the local landscape.
"I knew the story of Noah, but I had no idea the boat would have been
So big."
In fact, Noah's Ark as described in the Bible was five times larger
Than Johan's Ark.
But that still leaves enough space near the keel for a 50-seat film
Theater, where kids can watch the segment of the
Disney film "Fantasia" that tells the story of Noah.
Another exhibit shows water cascading down on a model of the Ark.
Exhibits on the third level show ancient tools and old-fashioned
Barrels, exotic stuffed animals, and a wax model of an
exhausted Noah reclining on a bed in the forecastle.
Genesis says Noah kept seven pairs of most domesticated animals and
One breeding pair of all other creatures, plus his wife, three sons and
Three daughters-in-law together on the boat for almost a year
while the world was deluged.
Perhaps it was only logical that the replica project would be the
Brainchild of a Dutchman: fear of floods are ingrained in the country's
collective Consciousness by its water-drenched history.
Lois Poppema, visiting from California, said she thought the Netherlands
Was exactly the right place for an ark.
"Just a few weeks ago we saw Al Gore on television .. Saying that all
Holland will be flooded" due to rising sea levels, she said.
"I don't think the man who made this ever expected that global warning
Will become (such an important) issue - and suddenly having the ark
Would be meaningful in the middle of Holland."
Under sunny clear skies Saturday, Huibers said he wasn't worried about
Another biblical flood, since according to Genesis, the rainbow is the
Sign of God's promise never to flood the world again.
But he does worry that recent events such as the flooding of New Orleans
could be seen as a portent of the end of time.
Huibers said he hopes the project will renew interest in Christianity in
The Netherlands, where churchgoing has fallen dramatically in the past
50 years. He also plans to visit major cities in Belgium and Germany.-
3. Questions on
the Monarchs of Israel
and missing Biblical Books?
From: Jonathan Tillotson <jon_tillotson@yahoo.co.uk>
Dear Yair,
I was wondering if you could educate me a bit about what rabbinic
sources say about the relative virtue, or lack of, of the various Kings of
Israel (Judah and Israel). Reading the Book of Kings I get the impression that
the author says ALL the Kings of the Northern Kingdom, without exception, "did
evil in the sight of the Lord". Compared with those of Israel the Kings of Judah
seem comparatively better, with fewer of them receiving such condemnation, even
though none of them match David's and the early Solomon's standard.
Other than this, detail seems fairly scant about what the northern Kings did or
didn?t do and I was wondering if there were any oral traditions saying much
more? On a number of occasions (for example I Kings 14 v.19, 15, v.31, 16 v.5,
14, 20, 27 etc) the Book of Kings says that the deeds of the various Northern
kings are recorded in "the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel", while
in other places regarding the Kings of Judah (for example I Kings 11 v.41, 14
v.29, 15 v.7,), it refers the reader for further information about the kings
either to "the acts of Solomon" (regarding Solomon) or else to "the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Judah" Are both of these references to chronicles
meant to be to the Book of Chronicles which we have in the Tankh, or to some
other books (known or unknown) which are not in the Tanakh? After all, if one
rejects modern Biblical criticism and keeps in line with traditional Jewish
thought in this regard, aren't we to believe the Book of Kings was written
first? How then could it contain references to books not yet written? Also the
Book of Chronicles itself refers to a book other than itself regarding Asa (II
Chronicles 16 v.11), which again suggests there are other books not in the
Tanakh being referred to. Or am I mistaken somehow? If these books are as yet
unknown, I wonder what they reveal. I wonder if they have survived somehow and I
wonder where they are.
In any case it is frustrating how little information is actually recorded about
so many of the Kings, and how much seems to be implied to lie behind these
frequent references to these mysterious books.
Presuming such lost books exist, What significance, if any, do you think
attaches to our inability to know what was in these books in the light of any
stated commitment to the authority of scripture. One might well declare that
nothing in the Bible would be contradicted by them if they were found. But one
might also add that a far richer understanding might also follow.
Is it possible do you think that these books might be buried somewhere? Or would
they have decayed by now?
Do you think there might be something of a southern Kingdom bias noticeable in
the Book of Kings in the way it writes about the Northern Kings? Given that
their depiction is so consistently unflattering.I do not deny, however, that
this same book can be critical of southern Kings too, even of Solomon (i mean
Southern in so far as he was a Judahite). Indeed on my reading, according to the
Book of Kings it is because of Solomons excesses in later life that the Kingdoms
were divided. Nevertheless, I wonder if there is such a bias. On the other hand,
the Book of Chronicles seems even more orientated to a Southern Kingdom focus,
as well as a Priestly one.
With curiosity and best wishes
Jonathan.
Reply:
(a) Monarchs of
Israel.
The Kings of Israel did evil according to Biblical standards.
The Bible however records that in the eyes of the Gentiles round about even
these evil kings were regarded as good ones,
apparently by the standards of that time:
Ahab the King of Northern Israel defeated Ben Hadad of Aram (Syria) in battle.
The defeated BehHadad was hiding and in fear of his life. His attendants advised
him:
[1-Kings 20:31] AND HIS SERVANTS SAID UNTO HIM, BEHOLD NOW, WE HAVE HEARD THAT
THE KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL ARE MERCIFUL KINGS: LET US, I PRAY THEE, PUT
SACKCLOTH ON OUR LOINS, AND ROPES UPON OUR HEADS, AND GO OUT TO THE KING OF
ISRAEL: PERADVENTURE HE WILL SAVE THY LIFE.
We see here the Kings of Israel who the Bible describes otherwise as wicked as
being in the yes of others,
"THE KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL ARE MERCIFUL KINGS".
Incidentally this expression "MERCIFUL KINGS" (Malcei chesed") was applied by
Orthodox Jews to the British in the time of the Mandate when Britain ruled over what was then
"Palestine".
The Sages also often speak in praise of the Kings of Israel such as Jeroboam and
Ahab.
We have an ongoing Biblical Commentary dealing at present with the Psalms and
with the Historical Books of the Bible.
We are now reached 2-Samuel ch.19 but have not sent out further posts for some
time.
Hopefully we will renew these studies and soon progress to the Books of Kings.
There seems to be an interest in Jewish traditions concerning Biblical figures
so perhaps from now on we will put a little more emphasis on this in our commentary.
As for finding "bias" in the Books of the Bible we suggest that first we make
clear what exactly the Bible says.
(b) Additional
Books mentioned in the Bible.
None of the said books exist.
Anyone who claims otherwise is relying on forgeries or mistaken titles.
The Sages had traditions and there are also extra-Biblical books mainly in the
Greek language that the Sages warned against reading but I guess someone who is interested may
do so as some of the Sages themselves may have done.
Incidentally whatever the Sages said, from a Religious Jewish point of view, is
not binding as long as it does not concern how one should act in practice.
(BRIT-AM BIBLICAL ISRAEL NEWS ONLINE) no.4
Contents:
1. Recent
Archaeological Discoveries at Hazor in the Galilee
2. Daily Hebrew Bible [i.e."OT"] Learning Program
3. Nehemiah's Wall Found in Jerusalem
1. Recent
Archaeological Discoveries at
Hazor in the Galilee
http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/Hazor_Ebeling.htm
By Dr. Jennie R. Ebeling
Lady Davis Fellow at the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University in
Jerusalem.
Extracts ONLY:
Our knowledge of the site's history comes from intensive archaeological
excavations, textual sources dating to the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, and
important passages in the Hebrew Bible.
Hazor was the largest city in the southern Levant for much of the 2nd
millennium BCE and closely associated with the large and powerful Bronze Age
city-states in Syria. Texts unearthed at Mari, in Syria, Tel el-Amarna, Egypt,
and in Hazor itself describe the Canaanite city's role in international trade
and diplomacy and suggest Hazor's autonomy from Egypt during the New Kingdom
period when most of Canaan was under Egyptian control. The Late Bronze Age city
was destroyed sometime in the 13th century BCE, perhaps during the Israelite
incursions into Canaan described in the Book of Joshua, which describes Hazor as
the "head of all those kingdoms" (Joshua 11:10). After several centuries of
limited occupation, Hazor was rebuilt in the 10th century BCE, probably as part
of King Solomon's building activities described in 1 Kings 9:15. The Israelite
city prospered briefly before it was destroyed in 732 BCE by the Assyrians under
Tiglath-Pileser III (2 Kings 15:29). This brief sketch of Hazor's history during
the Bronze and Iron Ages may now be filled in with the results of the current
Hebrew University excavation project, which will enter its 13th season in the
summer of 2002.
Three cuneiform tablets were also found in the palace core, which led the
excavators to believe that an archive was close at hand. Indeed, in a palace
built on almost the exact same plan at Alalakh, in Syria an archive room with
the remains of hundreds of cuneiform documents was uncovered, and the location
of this room roughly corresponds to the spot in the Hazor palace where the three
tablets were found. Unfortunately, no other direct evidence for a royal archive
has come to light since these documents were excavated during the 1996 season,
although a few other tablets have been found in random locations around the
site. Some of the tablets date to the Middle Bronze Age and some to the Late
Bronze Age, suggesting that two archives might still be buried somewhere on the
tel. Most of these documents are concerned with economic and legal matters,
while others consist of fragments of a bilingual (Akkadian and Sumerian)
dictionary and a mathematical table. These latter texts suggest that a scribal
school functioned at Hazor.
The Late Bronze Age city was destroyed sometime during the 13th century
BCE in a fire so intense that it cracked the basalt architectural elements of
the palace, the gate shrine, and other structures and left a layer of ash up to
three feet deep in places. Yadin attributed this destruction layer to the
Israelite campaigns led by Joshua and dated it to 1230 BCE. Although his date
for the final destruction of Canaanite Hazor is a bit too late, it now looks as
though Yadin may have been correct in attributing the destruction to invading
Israelites. Noting the intentional mutilation and destruction of a number of
statues found at Hazor depicting Canaanite and Egyptian rulers and deities, Ben-Tor
discounts both the Canaanites and the Egyptians as the destroyers of Late Bronze
Age Hazor. The lack of evidence for the Sea Peoples at Hazor and the site's
location so far inland also make these invading groups from the Aegean world
unlikely candidates. Invading Israelites, along with disenfranchised elements in
Canaan, seem to have been responsible for the devastation of Late Bronze Age
Hazor, although this issue is far from resolved and likely to continue as a
source of debate.
If the Israelites did indeed destroy Canaanite Hazor, they did not
establish a permanent settlement at the site for some time. The Iron Age I (ca.
1200-1000 BCE) occupation of Hazor left barely a trace, but for a number of
refuse pits containing ashes, broken ceramic vessels and other artifacts dug
directly into the last Canaanite level, and a small shrine. These remains seem
to indicate that a semi-nomadic population inhabited the site either immediately
after the Late Bronze Age destruction or immediately before the 10th-century
reestablishment of the site; the pottery and other artifacts do not allow for a
more secure dating of this ephemeral occupation. These semi-nomadic people may
have been members of the early Israelite tribes described in the Books of Joshua
and Judges in the Hebrew Bible, although the relationship between the destroyers
of the Late Bronze Age city and the Iron Age I inhabitants of Hazor is still not
completely understood.
One of the most controversial issues in biblical archaeology in recent years
concerns the 10th century BCE and the archaeological evidence for the Israelite
monarchy as described in the Hebrew Bible. Yadin first suggested that the
nearly-identical six-chambered gates and casemate walls unearthed at Hazor,
Megiddo, and Gezer were evidence for King Solomon's building activities in the
10th century BCE, as described in 1 Kings 9:15. Yadin's conclusions have been
challenged in recent years by biblical scholars (especially the biblical
"revisionists") who cast doubt on the historicity of David and Solomon and a few
archaeologists who have dated these fortifications down to the 9th century BCE.
The recent excavations at Hazor have shown definitively, however, that the
six-chambered gate and casemate wall were built in the mid-10th century BCE,
along with a large public building connected to the earliest phase of the
casemate wall by a paved street. The ceramic assemblages found on the floors of
this four-phased public building corroborate a 10th-century date for these
constructions. This massive, well-planned building activity coincides with the
accepted date for King Solomon's reign, making this ruler of Israel's United
Monarchy the most likely candidate for the reestablishment of Hazor in Iron Age
II (ca. 1000-732 BCE).
The Israelite city reached its height of prosperity during the 9th century
BCE, perhaps during the reign of King Ahab of Israel. The population of Hazor
more than doubled in size, and a number of large public buildings were
constructed at the site along with an impressive water system. The city fell
into decline in the 8th century under the threat of the Assyrian kings and
Israel's other enemies, and Israelite Hazor was finally destroyed in 732 BCE by
the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III (2 Kings 15: 29-30). Although most of the
population of Hazor was probably deported to Assyria, some Hazorites remained
and continued to live both within the city limits and outside the ruined city
wall. Hazor was never occupied on a large scale after the Assyrian conquest; the
subsequent Assyrian, Persian, and Hellenistic settlement of the site was limited
mainly to defensive structures.
2. Daily Hebrew
Bible [i.e."OT"]
Learning Program
"Nach Yomi" means "Neviim (Prophets) and Cetuvim (Writings) Yomi (Each Day)
This is a radio program that teaches the Bible assumedly from a Jewish
perspective.
http://www.ouradio.org/nach
I never heard them and may not do so
but it looks OK and some people may find it of value.
3. Nehemiah's Wall
Found in Jerusalem
http://www.thetrumpet.com/index.php?q=4418.2664.0.0
BAMBINO-5
(BRIT-AM BIBLICAL ISRAEL NEWS ONLINE) no.5
Date: 18 Kislev 5768, 28th November 2007
Contents:
1. Tell Rehov Beehives, and Nimshi
,
2. Southern Jordan- A Bronze Age Metallurgical Center
3.New Brit-Am Article Presents
YDNA
in accordance with
Creationism
1. Tell Rehov,
Beehives, and Nimshi
"First Beehives In Ancient Near East Discovered"
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070904114558.htm
Extract
A particularly fascinating find at the site is an inscription on a ceramic
storage jar found near the beehives that reads "To nmsh". This name was also
found inscribed on another storage jar from a slightly later occupation level at
Tel Rehov, dated to the time of the Omride Dynasty in the 9th century BCE.
Moreover, this same name was found on a contemporary jar from nearby Tel Amal,
situated in the Gan HaShelosha National Park (Sachne).
The name "Nimshi" is known in the Bible as the name of the father and in several
verses the grandfather of Israelite King Jehu, the founder of the dynasty that
usurped power from the Omrides (II Kings: 9-12). It is possible that the
discovery of three inscriptions bearing this name in the same region and dating
to the same period indicates that Jehu's family originated from the Beth Shean
Valley and possibly even from the large city located at Tel Rehov. The large
apiary discovered at the site might have belonged to this illustrious local
clan.
The excavations at Tel Rehov were supported by John Camp from Minneapolis in the
U.S. with the participation of archaeological students from the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem and numerous volunteers.
2. Southern
Jordan- A Bronze Age Metallurgical Center
UC San Diego Archaeologists Discover Largest Bronze Age Metal
Factory In Middle East
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/06/020626070920.htm
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/06/0620_020625_metalfactory.html
Extracts:
Working in a remote desert area in southern Jordan, archaeologists from the
University of California, San Diego have discovered the largest Early Bronze Age
metal factory in the Middle East, dating to ca. 2700 BC. The discovery was
reported in the June 2002 issue of the British journal, Antiquity.
The discovery of the Early Bronze Age metal factory in Jordan and its vast
assemblage of artifacts, is due in large part to an earthquake that buried the
deposits in place for over four thousand years.
3.New Brit-Am
Article Presents New Brit-Am
Article Presents YDNA
in accordance with
Creationism
The explanations of DNA and how different haplogroups interrelate with each
other is given in sequential
terms from the simple to the complex. This automatically assumes an evolutionary
process.
An alternate, possibly more correct, presentation could proceed from the complex
to the simple.
This allows for a direct progression and does not make evolutionary assumptions.
See:
"YDNA Reversed
Were R1 and N The Forefathers?"
http://www.britam.org/DNA/YDNAreverse.html
Was Adam "R1b1c"? or "N"? Was Noah?
For List of Archive Contents see:
Bambino Archive Contents
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