Hebrew Bible and ANE History Lists Commentary

Nadav Na'aman on Hezekiah

2006-12-12T10:14:00.000+02:00

King Sargon II (right) and his crown prince Sennacherib (left) on a relief from Khorsabad, now in the Louvre, Paris
Photo source: Livius website
Nadav Na'aman lectured yesterday on Hezekiah in view of the Biblical and archaeological sources in an evening in memory of Hayim Tadmor. He suggested that the recent trend to view Hezekiah as a powerful king is misplaced. Hezekiah received a very strong kingdom. However, Sargon II very quickly conquered both Israel and Ashdod and made them Assyrian provinces. Hezekiah found himself bordering the terrifying Assyrian empire on the northern and western border. Assyrian troops stationed at both provinces to put down revolts could easily have been used as a military force against his own kingdom. Thus, so long as Sargon II was in power, Hezekiah was careful not to do any move that might cause his own kingdom to become an Assyrian province. The uncertain future of Judah, however, eventually caused Hezekiah to join a revolt against Assyria when Sennacherib replaced Sargon II. The result was a devastating blow to Judah, coupled with a heavy tax, from which Judah did not recover for many years. The author of Chronicles, writing hundreds of years later, is totally oblivious to this reality and does not understand the threat that Assyria posed to Judah. Building upon the information in the book of Kings, Hezekiah is portrayed as a great builder and king, during whose time Judah witnessed a golden age. In fact, Hezekiah took a powerful kingdom, and led it to a devastating military blow from the Assyrian empire that now bordered his kingdom. It would be wrong for us as historians to take this utopian picture painted by the author of Chronicles and view it as historical reality.

Excavations in modern Bet El reveal a site dating to the Second Temple period

2006-06-06T13:15:00.000+03:00

Excavations at modern Bethel
Photo source: Arutz 7 report Arutz 7 (Hebrew / French) reported May 31st on the discovery of a site dating to the Second Temple period in the modern town of Bethel (not the village Beitin, but a nearby site called Khirbet Kafr Mer). The remains, including pottery and coins show a settlement dating from the time of Alexander Jannaeus until the Great Revolt. Remains of a Byzantine church and mosaics as well as an Umayyad bathhouse were also discovered. The Byzantine/Umayyad site was abandoned in the 8th century CE. The digs are set to take about a month. I was hoping this would be translated into English but it seems it was only translated into French. The article is very repetitive but here goes:

A large archaeological site dating to the Second Temple period has been revealed in a neighborhood of Bethel. The archaeologist Har-Even: "The entire site was covered with asphalt during the Mandate period and was revealed during infrastructure work. Various artifacts from the period of King Alexander Jannaeus (Alexander Yannai) were revealed, such as coins and pottery.

...

Excavations at modern Bethel
Photo source: Arutz 7 report
A large archaeological site was discovered in the town of Bethel, providing evidence for Jewish life during the Second Temple period and other periods. It was discovered as a result of infrastructure digging in the neighborhood of Maoz Tsur and they are being undertaken by the Staff Officer of Archaeology at the Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria.

The mayor, Moshe Rosenbaum, reported that artifacts providing evidence of a Jewish site during the Second Temple period were discovered - from the period of King Alexander Jannaeus as well as the Byzantine and Umayyad periods. The digs will continue for about a month.

Excavations at modern Bethel
Photo source: Arutz 7 report
The archaeologist Binyamin Har-Even says that the archaeological digs are taking place at the site of the drill field of the Training Camp #4 military base. The site was discovered as a result of infrastructure work in the nearby neighborhood of Maoz Tsur. The site was covered in asphalt during the mandate period, when the British military base was built, which was ultimately inherited by the IDF. The site disappeared from public view until these days of infrastructure work.

The site, known as Khirbet Kafr Mer, was surveyed first in the late 19th century, by British scholars who identified the place as a settlement dating to the Byzantine and early Muslim period.

Excavations at modern Bethel
Photo source: Arutz 7 report
The archaeologist Binyamin Har-Even adds in his report to the town citizens that during current excavations, additional strata are being revealed that show that there was repeated settlement and abandonment of the area. According to him, the artifacts point towards a Second Temple period site. The dating seems to point to the entire length of the Hasmonean kingdom (2nd century BCE). Excavations revealed amongst other things coins that were minted during the period of Alexander Jannaeus.

Excavations at modern Bethel
Photo source: Arutz 7 report Similarly, various pottery and daily use vessels were discovered. "We don't know when the Second Temple period site was abandoned. It is possible that it was abandoned after the Great Revolt or the Bar Kokhba revolt at the latest. We hope to answer this question during the current excvations," writes Har-Even. "As a result of the destruction of the Jewish settlement at the site, the site lay abandoned for 250 years until the Byzantine period. At that time, Christians resettled the site and remains of a church as well as additional buildings, some of which had mosaic floors, were discovered. The site survived until the Umayyad period, to which the remains of a bathhouse are dated. It appears that during the 8th century the site was finally abandoned, and was not settled anew until modern times. The excavations add another level to our understanding of the history of settlement in this area of the land."

New Ancient Mud Bricks for the Tel Dan City Gate

2006-05-24T01:36:00.000+03:00

The Middle Bronze Age city gate
Photo source: Avihu Shapira for ynet ynet (Hebrew) reported on Monday on renewed restoration effort at the Middle Bronze Age gate (contra article, which refers to it as the Late Bronze Age gate) at Tel Dan. The current stage of restoration, to last 10 days, involves building new mud bricks using ancient techniques. A translation follows:

The City Gate - Reconstructing History
by Hagai Einav
At Tel Dan this morning, experts began the third and central stage in the reconstruction of a gate initially built during the Late Bronze Age, considered to be one of the most important 13 sites in archaeology.

Great excitement was felt Monday amongst the representatives of the Israeli Nature and Park Authority and the Israeli Antiquities Authority in the north, as the third and central stage in the restoration of the "City Gate", built approximately 1500 BCE, in the area where the Tel Dan Park resides today in the Upper Galilee and which is considered an important discovery even amongst international experts.

...

The story begins in 1980, when the first signs are discovered of what is considered today to be one of the 13 important archaeological monuments. This is a gate, initially built during the Late Bronze Age, and which served for a long time those who entered the Biblical city found at the site of today's Tel Dan Park.

Elyakim Maman, a restorer from the Nature and Parks Authority in the north, described the uniqueness of the current "City Gate:" "It is an architectural structure with three arcs, one in the front, another in the inside section, and a third in the back. The gate stands 7 meters tall and its uniqueness lies in the use of such building technology at such an early time. The excavation of the site, its restoration, and its conservation are generating great interest across the world, and for us who are working to conserve the site. This is a very important and exciting moment."

New mud bricks made for the restored gate.
Photo source: Avihu Shapira for ynet In the first two stages, the appropriate type of earth was selected for the conservation work. In the second stage, a temporary wall was built, that withstood the test of time including withstanding extreme weather in the summer and winter. During the next ten days, the third stage will take place whereby the conservation workers of the Nature and Parks Authority, under the guidance of the Israeli Antiquities Authority, will create mud bricks for the restoration and conservation of the southern tower in the gate.

"One of the main problems with which we are dealing during the restoration is the slanting of the frontal tower forward and this requires complex work and great technical expertise," says Maman.

Hundreds of visitors and pilgrims visited the site Monday and one of the groups even saw the mudbrick making process up close, leading them to sing with great excitement at the impressive gate. The park workers hope that as a result of restoration of the gate and news of the excavation of the "City Gate", many pilgrims and visitors will come to visit the site at the center of the Galilee.

Related Links:

References:

Biran, Avraham. Biblical Dan. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society and Hebrew Union College - Institute of Religion. 1994. Show Reviews
Hide Reviews
- Eades, Keith L. "Review of Biblical Dan, by Avraham Biran". Journal of Biblical Literature 115/4 (1996): 724-726.
- Emerton, John A. "Review of Biblical Dan, by Avraham Biran". Vetus Testamentum 44/3 (1994): 418-419.
- Jacobs, Paul F. "Review of Biblical Dan, by Avraham Biran". Journal of the American Oriental Society 116/1 (1996): 139-140.
- Leibowitz, Harold. "Review of Biblical Dan, by Avraham Biran". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 308 (1997): 100-102.
Biran, Avraham. "The Discovery of the Middle Bronze Age Gate at Dan". Biblical Archaeologist 44/3 (1981): 139-144.
Biran, Avraham. "The Triple-Arched Gate of Laish at Tel Dan". Israel Exploration Journal 34 (1984): 1-19.

Jerusalem Municipality orders halt to City of David excavations

2006-05-11T20:21:00.000+03:00

The crack in the kindergarten wall
Photo source: Kobi Gideon
for Baubau/Haaretz Meron Rappaport for Haaretz reports (English and Hebrew) that the Jerusalem municipality issued a warrant ordering excavations by the Ir David Foundation to be halted:

Kindergarten management said they fear the building will collapse and that if disaster struck they will hold the municipality and those running the excavations responsible.

The kindergarten operates in the courtyard of a mosque in the Wadi Hilwe neighborhood of the East Jerusalem suburb of Silwan. The excavations funded by the Elad association for Jewish settlement of East Jerusalem take place a few meters away from the mosque.

The excavations nearby the kindergarten
Photo source: Kobi Gideon for Baubau/Haaretz The Hebrew article includes a little tidbit that the excavations are near the Siloam pool, which suggests the excavations are those conducted by Ronny Reich and Eli Shukran, currently focusing on probably late 9th century BCE remains in the Siloam pool.

Rena Rossner reported in The Jerusalem Post a few months ago that

Reich's and Shukran's digging has unearthed valuable finds. Most recently, they have uncovered over 60 bullae (broken clay seals) and six stamps used to seal letters, attesting to the fact that literacy and a system of administration were in place in Jerusalem as early as the ninth century BCE.

They have also discovered thousands of fish bones that, together with the bullae were found in an area that Reich and Shukran believe to be the Shiloah Pool, used as a ritual bath for the Temple Mount, and a tiled road which ends at the pool and has its origins near the Temple Mount. Ostensibly, this is the road that worshipers used to go back and forth between the Shiloah Pool and the Temple Mount.

The excavated pool and the steel scaffolding
Photo source: The Jerusalem Post To support the excavation, a huge steel scaffolding system was constructed underneath. My understanding was that right now, the remains found at the site were still being very carefully sifted for the bullae, seals, and fish and animal bones, so I am not sure if any true further excavations have been made.

Related Links:

"True size of Pool of Siloam discovered due to sewer blockage," Haaretz Dec 23, 2005.
"The Once and Future City," by Rena Rossner, for The Jerusalem Post Jan 30, 2006.
City of David website (Hebrew)
A nice website, including articles (in Hebrew), photographs, and a model showing how the City of David evolved through the ages. Worth visiting even if you don't read Hebrew.
Hebrew scholarship relating to the City of David, from the City of David website. The articles are in pdf form but do not include attached figures and images.
A Hebrew-language "virtual tour" of the City of David (wmv format), from the Maariv website.

Underwater Museum Opens in Caesarea

2006-04-23T13:24:00.000+03:00

Maariv reports on a new archaeological museum that opens this week in Caesarea:
Map of the Caesarea Maritima
Photo source: Combined Caesarea Expeditions home page

Diving equipment, a guide with oxygen-containers on his back, plastic maps, and a totally wet experience may sound like another regular diving endeavor, but in fact, this is the tour that the first Israeli underwater museum will offer, opening this week in Caesarea.

The archaeological park will open this Friday in Caesarea, on the remains of a port that King Herod built 2000 years ago, the Caesarea Maritima, and which sunk underwater after only a century. The park, a project in which hundreds of thousands of dollars were invested, under the direction of Sarah Aharonson, will allow anyone that has undergone a basic diving course to take off his shoes, wear the diving suit, and dive into the past - the port's remains.

The park is over 25000 square feet in size, and is divided into four tour routes along the ancient port: the port's entrance, the lighthouse remains, the remains of the piers, the breakwaters, and the docking platforms, remains of jewelry, statue bases, coins, and a shipwreck.

"This is a one-of-a-kind park in the whole world," says Dr. Nadav Kashtan, a lecturer at the Dept. of Maritime Civlizations at Haifa University, "the explorers-divers will enjoy a special wet experience of time travel."

Related Links:

Combined Caesarea Expeditions - Underwater Excavations of Sebastos: King Herod's Harbor

References:

Raban, Avner, and Kenneth G. Holum. Caesarea Maritima: A Retrospective After Two Millennia (Documenta Et Monumenta Orientis Antiqui, V. 21). Leiden: E. J. Brill. 1996. Show Review
Hide Review
- Magness, Jodi. "Review of Caesarea Maritima: A Retrospective after Two Millennia, ed. by Avner Raban and Kenneth G. Holum". In Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 308 (1997): 108-110.

Conference Announcement: David and Goliath - New Discoveries

2006-04-21T19:19:00.000+03:00

Dr. Jim West forwarded the following from the Agade mailing list:

ACADEMIC CONFERENCE:
DAVID AND GOLIATH - NEW DISCOVERIES
In the Fields of Archaeology, Ancient History, Philology, and Medicine (Lectures in Hebrew)

The conference will take place in the auditorium of the central building in the Industrial Park of Omer (near Beer-Sheva) on Monday, April 24, 2006 from 16:30 - 19:00. Free parking is available.

The Program of the Conference:

16:30 - Gathering and Light Refreshments
16:50 - Greetings and Introductory Remarks
- Prof. Rivka Karmi, President of Ben-Gurion University
- Prof Vladimir Berginer, Chairman of the 'David's Victory' Foundation
17:00 - Dr. Gabriel Barkai, "Jerusalem in the Davidic Period - Problems and Facts"
17:40 - Prof. Aren Maeir, "The Archaeological Excavations at Gath of the Philistines and the Evidence Concerning Goliath"
18:20 - Prof. Vladimir Berginer and Prof. Chaim Cohen, "The Nature of Goliath's Visual Disorder and the Actual Role of His Personal Bodyguard: נשא הצנה nś) hsnh (1 Sam 17:7,41)"

Immediately after the conference (for those interested), there will be a screening of the film "Footsteps of Goliath" (in English), a production of the History-Science channel of Canada-Holland TV.

Free parking is available alongside the entrance gate to the Industrial Park of Omer, opposite the Luzzato Building.

References:

Naaman, Nadav. "The Contribution of the Amarna Letters to the Debate on Jerusalem's Political Position in the Tenth Century B.C.E." Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 304. pp. 17-27.
Thompson, Thomas L. Jerusalem In Ancient History And Tradition (Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series). London: Continuum, 2003.

Kafr Cana Update

2006-04-16T18:56:00.000+03:00

Update April 17, 2006: A slightly different article is now available at The Washington Times. Details follow the main quotations.

An undated but recent photo made available by
the IAA of the Kfar Kana excavation site
Photo source: Yahoo / AP Photo / IAA, Mar. 13, 2006 The Toronto Sun has an article with some new information on the recent excavation at Kfar Cana in the Galilee, interviewing Yardenna Alexandre, "a British-born graduate of the Institute of Archaeology at University College London, who works with the Israel Antiquities Authority." Much of the article ties the village to the times of Jesus, but some information is also provided relating to the early Iron Age finds:

With bulldozers virtually waiting in the wings, they have exposed part of the Israelite city wall and the remains of houses built alongside it 3,000 years ago during the era of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. ... Referring to the Iron Age settlement that dates back to the previous millennium (1,000 B.C.), Alexandre said most of its structures were built shortly before the creation of the northern kingdom of Israel. This kingdom was formed when that of Kings Saul, David and Solomon was divided between Solomon's heir, Reheboam, and his Israelite rival, Jereboam.

She and her team uncovered the remains of a wall that enclosed the settlement's 1.2 hectare area. They also discovered the remains of a kiln where the diggers came upon a great deal of burned material.

Other finds included loom weights which were "well known to the people of the Iron Age," she said. The Israelite town was destroyed in the ninth century B.C., probably by the Aramaeans, who then ruled Damascus. Ancient Cana was rebuilt shortly afterward.

Among the foreign armies which attacked it was that of the Assyrians who carried off 650 residents as captives. This is cited in a tablet composed by the Assyrian leader, Tiglat Pileser III, which was found in the Assyrians' capital, Calah, located in the north of modern-day Iraq.

The article mentions the possibility that the site or part of the area will be made into an archaeological park. Read the full article here. Update: In contrast to this optimistic attitude, The Washington Times has what appears to be a slight revision of the earlier article. It notes that the site "has been excavated by archaeologists in a crash effort to uncover its ruins before they are pulverized by local building contractors." Other interesting details from the second article include the dating of the Iron Age settlement: "[The] earlier town was destroyed in the ninth century B.C., probably by the Arameans who then ruled Damascus, Syria, Miss Alexandre said. Ancient Cana was rebuilt before the ninth century ended." Of the much later settlement, it notes that "many of Cana's houses contained ritual baths and stone vessels indicating its inhabitants were Galilean Jews at the time of the miracle described in the Gospel of John. ... Miss Alexandre emphasized that her scientific work was not inspired or motivated by the miracle associated with Cana."

Related Links:

Earlier reports of the discovery
The website of the Cana of the Galilee excavation efforts
The reports refer to a "rescue" dig unrelated to the organized excavation efforts at the site represented by the website.
Introduction to the Cana archaeological site (from the organized excavation effort website).

A Song of My Loved One of His Vineyard: The Ancient Terrace Agriculture

2006-04-14T17:10:00.000+03:00

A Hebrew "Jerusalem in the Net" site has begun an archaeological column, and their first column involves an article by Yuval Baruch, Jerusalem District Archaeologist for the Israeli Antiquities Authority, on the terrace agriculture of Jerusalem. A translation follows:

Ein Lavan Pool
Photo source: Ein Lavan Website When one speaks of Jerusalem archaeology, the immediate impression is one of ancient sites in the Old City and its environs. These are sites for which all the superlatives are fitting: eternity, strength, faith, grandeur, and other words which were invented to be used by tour guides.

The faces of archaeology in Jerusalem are many and varied. ... Sometimes, the archaeological site is by the grocery store, near a parking lot, one to which you can just walk over and see, without planning months ahead.

Today's site involves the terraces of Lavan Valley, near the Ir Ganim neighborhood, in the Jerusalem mountains.

...

The Ancient Farmers

We will use the early spring to visit the Lavan Valley near the Ir Ganim neighborhood. The valley is a tributary of the Rephaim Valley, one of the main drainage basins of the Jerusalem hills. Along the valley are remains of abandoned groves, which make use of the ancient terrace structure.

The name of the place (the Lavan Valley) was apparently given because of the color of its stones, soft white chalky marlstone, which is typical of the Jerusalem hills.

A constructed water channel
Photo source: Gideon Sulemani via 02.net (Hebrew) A small spring gurgles in the center of the slope. The water gushes out of a hewn tunnel and its waters stream in a channel to a large pool. The pool and additional terraces near it were reconstructed by the members of the urban Kibutz "Reshit" that settled in Ir Ganim.

This steady source of water and the diligence of the ancient farmers made possible a farming village that began in the Second Temple period and was able to survive the hardships of the land at least until the end of the Byzantine period (7th century CE).

The spring flows on a marlstone layer that one of its very noticeable properties is that it is watertight, and so the rainfall water are collected upon it. The water flows onto the surface in a thin trickle. This kind of spring is called a "layer spring." The Second Temple period farmers, who knew a little hydrology and geology, cut horizontal tunnels, some very long, whose purpose was to increase the outflow of the springs. These tunnels channeled the waters from the depths of the land to collection pools in the end of the spring.

Terraces
Photo source: Gideon Sulemani via 02.net (Hebrew) The wide farming "steps" (the terraces) sprawl from the spring towards the south-west, utilizing the natural and moderate gradation.

Their construction allowed our ancient farmers to increase their fields and develop a thriving agriculture of groves: vineyards, olive groves, fruit orchards, and others by which our land is blessed. Small buildings are integrated along the terraces and served as small guard-towers to watch the fields. Around the spring are various farming structures: a wine press, a columbarium cave (no directional signs are present), as well as hewn burial caves.

This is the picture that is so well described in the Vineyard Proverb of Isaiah 5: "Let me sing of my well-beloved, a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard in a very fruitful hill; And he digged it, and cleared it of stones, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also hewed out a vat therein; and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes."

Ein Lavan Pool
Photo source: Gideon Sulemani via 02.net (Hebrew) Ein Lavan is part of an ancient dense settlement along the Rephaim Valley that included, among other sites, Ein Hania, Ein Yael, and Ein Al-Balad. In all of them, gurgling springs are found and these have become centers for a wide variety of tourists who enjoy nature and cold greenish water.

The Terraces: The True Remains of the Land. An authentic, and real testimony to its agricultural and rocky nature

The terraces, guard houses, and other elements of the ancient agriculture in the Jerusalem hills hold important historical, natural, educational, and scenic value.

For thousands of years, the farmers and ancient villagers around Jerusalem worked to build the terraces, and their efforts made possible the scenery that surrounds the city. It is hard to imagine the city and its new neighborhoods without the farming terraces that are built along the slopes of the hills, and we are all in debt to this great human effort.

These aren't remains of monumental buildings built of hewn stone and decorated with reliefs or mosaics, and it is also hard to attach ancient tales of bravery and historical episodes, but these are the true remains of the country, a real and authentic testimony to the agricultural nature, stony scenery, and the great efforts that the ancient dwellers of the land made to create a thriving agriculture and turn it into a land flowing with milk and honey.

The terraces are made of unhewn stones, and at times also from rocks that were taken apart from ancient buildings. They were placed along the rocks, making use of the natural gradation of the hill's slopes. The back of the terraces was filled with earth that was cleared of rocks. Piles of cleared rocks remain and are another testimony to the efforts of the ancient villagers.

Terraces on building remains
Photo source: Gideon Sulemani via 02.net (Hebrew) Between the terraces small guard houses were built, having various shapes: square, rectangular, and there are even beautiful, impressive circular ones. Some are only one story high, while others are made of two or even three stories.

The guard houses served as guard towers in the fields and the valuable agricultural produce and farming equipment was kept. On the top of the tower a hut was built on which the vines climbed.

An ancient collection pool
Photo source: Gideon Sulemani via 02.net (Hebrew) In the summer, and especially during the grape harvest season, the farmers tended to stay and sleep in the guard tower, near the fields and produce. In the area, various agricultural structures were built, mainly wine presses that were hewn in the rocks, columbarium caves, collection pits, and more.

The increasing development of the city makes it increasingly hard to see these remains of the ancient agriculture, and we, the public, and the Israeli Antiquities Authority, are obligated to preserve them.

Related Links:

Ein Lavan website
"Ancient Rocks in Jerusalem: You probably didn't think of Terraces" (Hebrew), by Yuval Baruch, 2006. (Source for this post)

Jerusalem Conference and Temple Mount Immer Bulla

2006-04-05T22:25:00.000+03:00

Update April 5, 2006: Rewrote the last two paragraphs.

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Temple Mount Bulla - Face (#1)
Photo source: Zachi Zweig Prev 1 2 3 4 Next

Temple Mount Bulla - Face (#2)
Photo source: Zachi Zweig Prev 1 2 3 4 Next

Temple Mount Bulla - Face (#3)
Photo source: Zachi Zweig Prev 1 2 3 4 Next

Temple Mount Bulla - Back
Photo source: Zachi Zweig The Jerusalem Conference a few days ago was very interesting. The proceedings were on sale during the conference. Apparently there is no order form available yet, but they can be purchased through the Ingeborg Rennert center at Bar Ilan University (Phone: 972-3-5317703). The price I paid at the conference was 70 NIS which is about $15 - $20, and I have no idea what shipping/international shipping is or if they are prepared for it. These proceedings are in the form of summary articles in Hebrew with English abstracts. Two of the summary articles are in English, however. Most include many accompanying photos, and while some summaries are only a few pages long, others can be quite long. There is a 70-page chapter on salvage excavations in Ramat Bet Hakerem and the Ramot Forest, providing new data regarding the Jerusalem agricultural periphery and hinterland during the late First Temple / Iron Age II period and the last Second Temple / Late Hellenistic and Early Roman period. Another interesting chapter is Dr. Gabriel Barkay's and Zachi Zweig's presentation which deals with the artifacts found from sifting the rubble dumped by the Waqf from the Temple Mount, and contains over 30 photographs of the artifacts. The conference also served as the first time the Yehukal bulla, which received widespread attention, was published in scholarship.

From my point of view, one of the most interesting artifacts that Dr. Gabriel Barkay and Zachi Zweig presented was another bulla that dates to the late 6th century BCE. As a matter of fact, this bulla has already been reported before. At first, after a press conference in September, only limited information was provided. Slightly more detailed information was reported in an article 3 months ago in a two line sentence, making it easy to miss. At the presentation, beautiful photos of the bulla were shown, which Zachi Zweig kindly provided to me. Their project is an ongoing work that began when the Waqf, planning to build a new mosque on the Temple Mount removed tons of rubble that they had dug from the Mount, dumping it originally in the Jerusalem municipal trash dump but later, in one great overnight mission, in the Kidron Valley. Today, the contents of that dump are being carefully sifted for remains under the direction of Dr. Gabriel Barkay and Zachi Zweig. A long background story on the dump is available here. This bulla may be the most important artifact uncovered so far. The project is financed by the Ir David Foundation. To donate or contribute to the project, contact Doron Spielman at doron AT cityofdavid DOT org DOT il.

... In its report, the Washington Times reported that Dr. Barkay presented:

a "bulla," or seal impression, thought to be used to close cloth sacks of silver. "It bears the name Gedalyahu Ben Immer Ha-Cohen, suggesting that the owner may have been a brother of Pashur Ben Immer, described in the Bible [Jeremiah 20:1] as a priest and temple official," Mr. Barkai said.

Dr. Gabriel Barkay gave a more extensive description in one of the update reports:

"And the third is a bulla with a seal impression. The bulla made of clay was originally attached to a document or a parcel, and still retains part of its original text on its face. The bulla is black in color as a result of being burned by the fire that ironically caused its preservation. The bulla became defragmented in ancient times and is incomplete. The letters preserved on the middle register are "ליהו" "...lyhw" while the bottom register reads "אמר..." "...)mr". In light of another published seal, it may be possible to complete the writing as "לגא]ליהו.[בן]אמר]" (Belonging to Ga'alyahu son of Immer). The house of Imer was a well-known priestly family at the end of the First Temple period, roughly from around the 7th - 6th Centuries BCE, and the days of Return to Zion." [See Jeremiah 20:1; Ezra 2:37, 2:59, 10:20; Nehemiah 3:29, 7:40, 7:61, 11:13; First Chronicles 9:12, 24:14]

This bulla is significant in several respects. First, it serves as evidence that the Temple Mount was probably an important administrative center in late First Temple period times, if the bulla of an administrative official was used to stamp something in its confines. The bulla was not, strictly speaking, found at the Temple Mount, and even the rubble where it was originally located before the Waqf removed it in trucks and dumped it in the Kidron Valley was not its original location. This rubble is probably the result of construction work during earlier periods at the Temple Mount. However, as Dr. Barkay pointed out in the presentation, the Temple Mount is a closed structure with a lot of open space inside and it is much more likely that the provenance of the bulla was originally in the Temple Mount than that it was brought in with other construction materials from outside. The many trucks used by the Waqf to remove all of it is a modern feat that could not be accomplished in ancient times, when large scale transportation of sand was avoided.

This bulla also joins an increasing number of 6th century artifacts that provide corroborating evidence for individuals mentioned in the book of Jeremiah. Thus, while the Bible presents the Immer family as an important priestly family in Second Temple period times, Jeremiah 20:1 mentions an individual of the Immer family who is described as "the Priest, chief officer of the House of the Lord." The bulla ends with the letters אמר )mr and while the word בן "son" is not preserved, it is reasonable and likely that אמר refers to a patronym "Immer" that appeared on the bulla. (Nor do we have to assume that the owner of this bulla was necessarily a "brother" of Pashhur. Immer might be a priestly clan name like Qorah or Sadoq.

Because traces on the back of the bulla show that it was not stamped to a letter but rather to some kind of cloth, such as a package or perhaps a sack of silver, the bulla was not necessarily sent on the back of a letter to the Temple Mount from elsewhere. While packages can also be sent from elsewhere, it could just as easily have been part of a Temple treasury or archive, indicating official ownership of the contents of the package. This bulla is not, by itself, evidence of an archive or treasury. In fact, all this means is that rather than discarding the Temple Mount as the original location for the bulla for the reason that, being a bulla, it must have been stamped to a letter sent from elsewhere, we can continue to consider the possibility that it was originally used only on the Temple Mount among other possibilities that it was sent from elsewhere. Since, however, it is conceivable that it was originally from the Temple Mount, this bulla provides some limited support for the possibility that an individual of the Immer family was an treasury or archive officer in the Temple, and it serves as possible corroboration for Jeremiah 20:1 which states that a different individual of the Immer family was the "chief officer" of the Temple.

The "Yehukal ben Shelamyahu" bulla
Photo source: Gabi Laron
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Institute of Archaeology
From the Taipei Times Possible corroboration means very little. However, this artifact joins other bullae obtained from archaeological contexts (as opposed to the antiquities market) that date to the 6th century and all of which seem to corroborate details about individuals specificially mentioned by Jeremiah:

The Gemaryahu ben Shaphan (Gemariah ben Shafan) bulla, found at the "House of Bullae" in the City of David. This official is mentioned in Jeremiah 36:10-12.
The Yehukal ben Shelamyahu ben Shobi found recently by Eilat Mazar in the City of David excavations. This official is apparently mentioned in Jeremiah 37:3 and in a slightly different spelling at 38:1. As I mentioned before, Eilat Mazar in her presentation covered this bulla as well.

There have been very few provenanced bullae uncovered so far that relate to possible Biblical figures. The books of Kings and Samuel mention some persons which have been identified in external inscriptions (Omri, Ahab, David, Hezekiah) but the books of Kings and Samuel span a great deal of time. The figures mentioned are extremely high profile and would be known centuries later. Two bullae uncovered in the City of David relate to biblical figures. One, the Gemaryahu ben Shaphan bulla, has been mentioned. The other is the ^cazaryahu ben Hilqiyahu bulla may perhaps relate to a high priest. However, these two names are extremely common in this era, and this high priest receives very little mention in the Bible. It is only through comparison between names in the genealogical lists of high priests in 1 Chronicles 5:39 and 9:11 and the name of the high priest in 2 Kings 22-23 (Hilqiyahu, no father mentioned) that this name can be ascertained. In fact, the possible identification was published in 1991, several years after the publication of the original bulla in 1986.

Unlike the book of Kings, the book of Jeremiah discusses events that occur in a very limited scope of place and time. The individuals are not high profile but rather court and Temple officials whose names may not have been known in other towns or later generations, had not some source been preserved from that time. This is why the increasing number of finds that all provide a similar background and which all locate individuals named in the book of Jeremiah may be very significant. This is a case where the sum is greater than its parts, forming the base for further conclusions. On its basis, we may even be allowed to suggest that the bulla was probably not sent from elsewhere but is indeed part of an original Temple archive or treasury. Another important conclusion is obviously that the book of Jeremiah is increasingly corroborated by external provenanced evidence. As Prof. Christopher Heard recently put it, "[This does not] demonstrate the historicity of any of the events reported for Jeremiah's life in the book of Jeremiah. However, the demonstrably genuine bullae do show that the narratives in Jeremiah are not complete fabrications of someone's imagination — they at least feature real people as characters."

On the negative side, perhaps prompted by the Gemaryahu bulla, it seems that individuals mentioned by Jeremiah have already become very attractive for forgers. It is partly for that reason, that I ignore such bullae as the Baruch or Yerahme'el bullae (one considered today definitely a forgery and another likely inauthentic and one I don't know about - see Yuval Goren's first comment here) or the seal mentioned above in the quote by Dr. Gabriel Barkay, on the basis of which the text of the Immer bulla is reconstructed as "to Ga'alyahu son of Immer." I don't know if that seal is provenanced but my guess it isn't, and from my point of view, it could refer just as well to Ga'alyahu, Gedalyahu or any other name that ends in ליהו lyhw. We simply don't know, and it's not even that significant of an issue.

Related News Reports:

Excerpts from first reports of the seal in Arutz 7 and the Jerusalem Post, September 27-28, 2005.
"A bulla fragment from the First Temple Period was uncovered at the Temple Mount" (Hebrew, with photo), by Nadav Shragai, Haaretz, September 27, 2005.
"Artifacts with links to Bible unearthed", by Jay Bushinsky, The Washington Times, January 2, 2006.
"Dumped Temple Mount Rubble yields Jewish artifacts". From Arutz 7, April 2005.

Related Links:

"Piecing Together the Holy Temple", From The Temple Institute, undated, with photo.
Zweig, Zachi. "For your servants wanted its stones" (Hebrew). In Makor Rishon, August 2005.
A discussion of the destruction by the Muslim Waqf on the Temple Mount
Zweig, Zachi. "What can we learn from this destructive dig?" At "Temple Mount Archaeological Destruction Website" (http://har-habyt.org)
"Yehukal Seal Picture and Discussion", in Codex Blogspot, by Tyler F. Williams, August 7, 2005.

References:

Ariel, Donald. T. Excavations at the City of David 1978-1985 Directed by Yigal Shiloh, Volume 6: Inscriptions. Qedem: Monographs of the Institute of Archaeology 41. Jerusalem: Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Institute of Archaeology, 2000.Show Review
Hide Review
- Dion, Paul E. "Review of Excavations at the City of David 1978-1985 Directed by Yigal Shiloh, Volume 6: Inscriptions, by Donald T. Ariel". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 323 (2001): 100-101.
Avigad, Nahman, and Benjamin Sass. Corpus of West Semitic Stamp Seals [ Israel Exploration Society / Amazon ]. Israel Exploration Society: Jerusalem (1997).Show Reviews
Hide Reviews
- Fox, Nili S. "Review of Corpus of West Semitic Stamp Seals, by Nahman Avigad and Benjamin Sass". AJS Review 24/2 (1999): 362-365.
- Pardee, Dennis. "Review of Corpus of West Semitic Stamp Seals, by Nahman Avigad and Benjamin Sass". Journal of Near Eastern Studies 59/4 (2000): 303-305.
Bahat, Dan. "A New View on the History of 'Solomon's Stables'" (Hebrew). Qadmoniot 122 (2001/2002): 130.
Barkay, Gabriel, and Zachi Zweig. "The Temple Mount Rubble Sifting Project - Initial Report" (Hebrew). New Studies on Jerusalem 11 (2006): 213-238.
Mazar, Eilat. "It Looks Like David's Palace" (Hebrew). New Studies on Jerusalem 11 (2006): 7-16.
Mykytiuk, Lawrence J. " A Royal Dignitary - Or a 'Royal' Disappointment? Who's Who in Biblical Texts and Ancient Inscriptions". SBL Forum 2/7 (2004).Show Blog References
Concentrates on identifying seven individuals mentioned in Jeremiah 36 based on inscriptions. However, only two are named in a provenanced inscription (the Gemaryahu ben Shaphan bulla).
Hide Blog References
- Davila, Jim. PaleoJudaica Aug 16, 2004.
- Davila, Jim. PaleoJudaica Aug 20, 2004 (Followup).
- Carlson, Stephen. Hypotyposeis Aug. 17, 2004.
- Carlson, Stephen. Hypotyposeis Aug. 19, 2004 (Followup).
Mykytiuk, Lawrence J. Identifying Biblical Persons in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions of 1200 - 539 B.C.E.. Society of Biblical Literature Academia Biblica 12. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature (paperback), and Leiden: Brill (cloth), 2004.Show Reviews
Hide Reviews
- Cathey, Joseph. "Review of Identifying Biblical Persons in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions of 1200-539 B.C.E., by Lawrence J. Mykytiuk" (PDF). [http://www.bookreviews.org] (2005).
- Kitchen, Kenneth A. "Review of Identifying Biblical Persons in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions of 1200-539 B.C.E., by Lawrence J. Mykytiuk". SEE-J HIPHIL 2 (2005) (http://www.see-j.net/Default.aspx?tabid=72).
- Sanders, Paul. "Review of Identifying Biblical Persons in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions of 1200-539 B.C.E., by Lawrence J. Mykytiuk" (PDF). [http://www.bookreviews.org] (2005).
Shiloh, Yigal, and David Tarler. "Bullae from the City of David: A Hoard of Seal Impressions from the Israelite Period". Biblical Archaeologist 49/4 (1986): 196-209.

Jerusalem Conference

2006-03-26T04:05:00.000+02:00

The Conference Program (Hebrew)
Source: Israel Antiquities Authority Events Calendar The following conference was publicized in Israeli newspapers this weekend. Maybe I'll end up attending. Here is a translation of the program.

The Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies, The Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, The Faculty of Jewish Studies, Bar-Ilan University, in cooperation with: Yad Ben-Zvi, The Center for the Study of the Land of Israel, and the Israel Antiquities Authority: Jerusalem District

are honored to invite the public for the 11th yearly conference on the topic:

"New Directions in the Study of Jerusalem"

This coming Thursday, Nissan 1, 5766 (March 30, 2006), in the Mintz Auditorium (Building 403), at Bar Ilan University.

The Program follows ...

:

8:00 - Gathering
8:30 - Opening Remarks and greetings

Prof. Moses Orfali, Dean of the Faculty of Jewish Studies at Bar Ilan University
Prof. Joshua Schwartz, Director of the Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies
Mr. Shuka Dorfman, Manager of the Antiquities Authority
Mr. Jon Seligman, Jerusalem District Archaeologist

Session 1 - Chair, Joshua Schwartz

8:50 - Eilat Mazar - "Have we uncovered King David's Palace?"
9:10 - Ronny Reich and Eli Shukrun, "Excavations at the 'Hewn Pool' near the Gihon Spring."
9:30 - Michael Avioz, "The Date of the Destruction of the First Temple in the Bible and Post-Biblical Sources."
9:50 - Uri Davidovitz, Yoav Pirchi, Shlomo Kol-Yaacov, Misgav Har-Peled, Dalit Weinblatt-Krauss, and Yoav Alon - "Salvage Excavations at the Ramot Forest and Ramat Beit HaKerem: A New Source for Understanding the Agricultural Periphery of Jerusalem in the First and Second Temple Period."
10:10 - Asher Grossberg - "How did Hezekiah prepare for the Siege by Sennacherib?"
10:30 - Immanuel Eisenberg and *Alon De Groot - "An Iron Age Fort near Ramat Rahel."
10:50 - Discussion
11:00 - Pause

Session 2 - Chair: Boaz Zissu

11:20 - Opening Remarks - Zvi Greenhut - "Survey of the Digs in the Jerusalem Area in 2005."
11:35 - Haim Barba and Tufiq Da'adla - "Jerusalem, the Old City, the Ohel Yitzhak Synagogue on the Gei Street."
11:55 - Jacob Billig - "The Many Facets of the Herodian Gates on the Temple Mount."
12:15 - Zvi Greenhut - "A Living District Dating to the Second Temple Period in the Slopes of the Upper City - Jerusalem."
12:35 - Yehoshua Peleg - "The Temple in the Dora Europos Synagogue Drawings."
12:55 - Ram Bouchnik, Guy Bar-Oz, Eli Shukrun, and Ronny Reich - "Animal Bones from the Late Second Temple Period at the Hewn Pool near the Gihon Spring in Jerusalem."
13:15 - Discussion
13:25 - Lunch

Session 3 - Chair: Jon Seligman

14:30 - Yael Israeli - "A Glass Factory in the Jewish Quarter from the Herodian Period."
14:50 - Hillel Geva - "Stone Implements from the Herodian Period in the Jewish Quarter - An Attempt at a Typology."
15:10 - Yuval Shahar - "What Happened to a Jerusalemite Exile: Did Rabban Yohanan Ben Zakkai leave Yavneh for Beror-Hayil?"
15:30 - Gabriel Barkay and Zachi Zweig - "The Temple Mount Dump Filtering Project - Initial Report."
15:50 - Amos Kloner - "The Dating of the Southern Dechomenos of Aelia Capitolina and the Wilson Arch."
16:10 - Yuval Baruch and Ronny Reich - "Remains of the Aelia Capitolina Period near the South Eastern Corner of the Temple Mount."
16:30 - Discussion
16:40 - Pause

Session 4 - Chair: Moshe Fischer

17:00 - Tziona Grossmark - "R' Zera said: 'Because no furnaces are made in Jerusalem.' (Bavli, Zevahim 96a)."
17:20 - Shlomit Weksler-Bdolah - "Possible Interpretations of the Repetitive Use of Building Materials from an Earlier Source (spolia) in the Monumental Building of Jerusalem in the Late Ancient Age."
17:40 - Haim Barba and Yechiel Zelinger - "A Monastery from the Byzantine Period near the Qidron Valley."
18:00 - Deborah Sklar-Parnes, Alon De Groot, Rachel Bar-Natan and David Amit - "New Excavations near the Third Wall."
18:20 - Irena Zilberbod and David Amit - "The Antilia Well at the Timnah Valley."
18:40 - Avi Sasson - "Water for the Walker and Pilgrim - Water Provision in Jerusalem from the Ayyubian Period to the Late Ottoman Period - Archaeological, Geographical and Social Perspectives."
19:00 - Discussion

The Conference is dedicated to the memory of Israel Shalem, of blessed memory, a colleague at the Rennert Center.

For Details, call the Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies, Bar Ilan University at +972-3-5317703

The public is invited.

Treasure Hunters Destroy Tell en-Najila and other ancient sites

2006-03-17T17:18:00.000+02:00

A Maariv article by Dalia Mazori reports (Hebrew) that treasure hunters searching for gold destroyed Tell en-Najila:

Tell en-Najila, Photo source: Yochai Gootwine, tiuli.com (Hebrew)

The site of Tell en-Najila lies on the banks of the Shiqma river, between Qiryat Gat and Bet Qama. The Tell was settled in different periods from the Chalcolithic period, some 7000 years ago, to the Middle Ages. Legend says that near a tamarisk tree on the top of the Tell, the Turkish army buried a crate containing soldiers' wages as it fled from the British army.

Last weekend, a group of antiquities looters chose to see if the legend was accurate. They came to the Tell with various mechanical machines and tools, metal detectors, trucks and digging tools. With these heavy tools, the looters began digging the tell, destroying anything that lies in their way: ancient walls, an ancient Muslim grave with the bones inside, and settlement layers from the Iron and Bronze Ages. The tamarisk was left with its roots out in the open, a big hole lying below it.

...

The looters also dug up Khirbet Abu-Hof, near Kibbutz Lahav, a site that was continuously inhabited from the prehistoric period to the Middle Ages. Illegal excavations have been carried out in this site in the past, only this time the looters used heavy tools that caused heavy damage to the entrance of the cave at the site. It seems the looters used a false map on which the treasure was marked.

Further excavations were carried out near graves of Sheikhs at Tell Haror, Sheikh Abu Obel, Beer Almuth, Rosh Maale Tsurim, and Beer Molada.

The director of the Antiquities Prevention Unit at the Antiquities Authority, Amir Ganor, said that the Turkish treasure legend has kept the IAA for years. So far, no real reports of treasure finding have reached the IAA and all the maps that were confiscated from looters were found to be false. "In the past, the looters even hired conjurors that were supposed to help them by conjuring and communicating with ghosts and animals." Ganor emphasized that damage and illegal digs at an antiquities site are felonies, for which the law specifies a five year prison term.

Kfar Cana Excavations reveal buildings from Monarchic Israel

2006-03-14T01:08:00.000+02:00

Updated!

Mar. 13: Added ynet, nfc, and longer Arutz 7 article links.
Mar. 14: Added Haaertz/AP report, the Jerusalem Post report, and Christopher Heard's comments.
Apr. 17: Added link to update post.

The Antiquities Authority reports on Iron Age remains found in recent excavations in Kafr Kana (Hebrew כפר כנא Kfar Kana, site of the ancient "Cana of the Galilee"). It says:

Complete storage jars found in excavations
Photo source: Israel Antiquities Authority

In salvage excavations conducted by the Antiquities Authority in Kfar Kana remains of a settlement are being uncovered that existed at the time of the United Kingdom of King Solomon and the Kingdom of Israel (following the split between Israel and Judah, from the 10-9th centuries BCE). During the course of the excavations a section of the city wall and remains of buildings were exposed. The director of the excavation on behalf of the Antiquities Authority, Yardenna Alexandre, reported that evidence was found there indicating the place was vanquished during the 9th century BCE, probably by an enemy. In addition pottery vessels, large quantities of animal bones, a scarab depicting a man surrounded by two crocodiles and a ceramic seal bearing the image of a lion were discovered at the site.

Jim Davila also blogged a shorter Arutz 7 report at the PaleoJudaica blog. A longer Arutz 7 article (with photos) is now available here. Joseph Lauer also points out that it has now been reported in an Haaertz/AP report and a report in the Jerusalem Post. In Hebrew, this has been reported also by Arutz 7, ynet and nfc. Surprisingly, no Hebrew Haaretz report yet, apparently. Christopher Heard posted some comments on the dig in his blog, Higgaion, suggesting Egyptian influence and noting the need for a deeper look. Unfortunately, this may never come about as these are salvage excavations - excavations performed ahead of private or commercial construction. In the case of the Megiddo Prison, the Antiquities Authority recommended that the prison be moved due to the early Christian remains found at the site. But this is the exception, and normally construction continues over the site.

Related Links:

References:

Finkelstein, Israel. "Hazor and the North in the Iron Age: A Low Chronology Perspective". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 314 (1999): 55-70.
Gal, Zvi. Lower Galilee during the Iron Age. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. 1992 (Eisenbrauns, Amazon). Show Reviews
Hide Reviews
- Joffe, Alexander H. "Review of Lower Galilee during the Iron Age, by Zvi Gal". Journal of Near Eastern Studies 55/4 (1996): 295-297.
- Laughlin, John. "Review of Lower Galilee during the Iron Age, by Zvi Gal". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 290/291 (1993): 131-132.
Gal, Zvi. "The Late Bronze Age in Galilee: A Reassessment". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 272 (1988): 79-84.

Mosaic Revealed in Tiberias Excavations

2006-03-09T20:06:00.000+02:00

Updated March 9: Added "Totally Jewish" news report and link to Modica conference blog entry

Silver coins discovered this week
Photo source: Yaron Kaminsky, Haaretz (Hebrew) Haaretz (Hebrew) reported that in excavations this week at Tiberias, archaeologists discovered a mosaic containing a picture of a lion or dog, a flying dove, and grapevine branches with grape clusters. The mosaic, dating to the 4th century CE, was uncovered in a semicircular niche in the basilica structure, where scholars believe the Sanhedrin was operating, after it had moved to Tiberias in the 3rd century CE. The archaeologists say that this shows how beautiful the basilica must have been. Unfortunately, a wall built later divides the mosaic. An inscription that may have originally been written in the mosaic has been destroyed and all that is left is a corner of the frame inside of which an inscription was possibly present.

...

Helping in the dig are dozens of local and international volunteers. Among them are the couple Judith and Lionel Kohn of Calgary, Canada. The couple, who are archaeology lovers, intend to help donate towards the excavation of the Roman theater that lies buried under large mounds of dirt.

Also uncovered in the dig was a hoard of 92 silver coins that were buried under one of the stores being uncovered currently, dating to the second half of the 11th century CE. Seljuk warriors were attacking the city during this period and one of the attacks, in 1078, ended in a large massacre. Perhaps the shop owner hoped to save his fortune should the security improve and he will be able to return to his shop. Prof. Yizhar Hirschfeld, who is managing the dig, suggests that he probably died. "In 1099, when the Crusaders reached Tiberias, they found a ghost town and rebuilt the city, north of the Roman town."

Update: Sammy Herman, apparently participating in the dig, describes the discovery of the hoard as follows:

Here and there, groups of volunteers struggle with buckets and spades. The professionals supervise from a distance, encouraging the amateurs with patient smiles at every shard of pottery they turn up. Bedouin from the north work on their own section, at a pace that makes the rest of the excavators look like they’re playing with sand at the beach. The sun beats down and a breeze catches the water on Lake Kinneret, making it glisten softly.

Then suddenly there’s a rush as news of the hoard spreads. Everyone runs to see what the fuss is about. The professor offers an impromptu lecture to the assembled crowd and magically we’re transported back to a distant past as a man, about to lose all he has, hides a few coins in his shop, which he’ll never see again.

Note last month, in a conference in Modica, Italy nine Mediterranean states signed an agreement to protect Mosaics in the Mediterranean area.

Related Links:

Tiberias excavations website
IAA Conservation Project file on Tiberias
"Digging into Our History," by Sammy Herman, describing the finding of the hoard

References:

Gross, Netty C. "Rediscovering Tiberias". The Jerusalem Reporter May 3, 2004. p. 18-20
Hirschfeld, Yizhar. Roman, Byzantine, and Early Muslim Tiberias: A Handbook of Primary Sources.
This book includes the most updated information available about Tiberias. In it you will find a wide selection of written sources, including coins and inscriptions from Tiberias and/or mentioning the city, as well as updated plans, maps and artist’s reconstructions of the city. All proceeds from the purchase of this book go directly to support the dig. The cost of each personally autographed copy of the book is $20.

New Comparative Biblical Hebrew and Akkadian Lexicon to be published

2006-03-08T09:59:00.000+02:00

The Yeshiva University official student newspaper Commentator reports that a comparative lexicon of Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Aramaic, and Akkadian will soon be released from CDL Press:

Dr. Hayim Tawil
Photo source: Yeshiva College Commentator

After eight years of diligent research, distinguished Yeshiva College Associate Professor (non-tenured) Hayim Tawil will be releasing a Biblical Hebrew and Akkadian Comparative Lexicon to be published by CDL Press within the next month. The Lexicon, which will be the first of its kind to focus on the comparative study and interpretation of Akkadian, Aramaic and Hebrew languages, is seen by many scholars within the field as a groundbreaking intellectual and spiritual endeavor.

...

Structurally, the Lexicon, which features over 1,000 entries, involves a direct comparison of Akkadian, Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic. Tawil's central thesis states that unmediated comparison can assist in explicating otherwise difficult biblical lexemes and idioms. The assumption behind this thesis, as Tawil conveys in the Lexicon's introduction, is that Akkadian lexicography is further advanced than its Hebrew counterpart.

The Lexicon will aid both students and premier scholars in several areas of research. In particular, the work aims at uncovering meanings for Hebrew words that eluded clear definition in specific contexts and to propose nuances for Hebrew words suggested by similar Akkadian usages. In addition, Tawil's work attempts to illuminate idioms from related expressions in Akkadian, to correct a certain understanding of Hebrew words and expressions in light of their Akkadian equivalents, and to shed insights Akkadian literature may have on interpreting difficult Biblical Hebrew.

...

Read the whole thing. Thanks to Uri Hurwitz and George Athas for passing it along via the b-hebrew list.

Related Links:

Hellenistic Phoenician fortifications discovered in Galilee

2006-03-07T14:44:00.000+02:00

The Israeli Antiquities Authority reported yesterday (March 6, Hebrew) on discoveries dating to the Hellenistic period during salvage excavations that the IAA is carrying out in the home of a resident of Kfar Nahif. This includes Hellenistic fortifications built from chiseled field stones and large hewn stones. The fortifications include a large wall that is more than 3.5 meters high and 1.2 meters wide. Also discovered were large quantities of jug fragments, some of which are of local production while others were imported from Greece. Howard Smithline, who is managing the dig for the IAA, said that this is Phoenician building from 2200 years ago.

Related Links:

Related References:

Grainger, John D. Hellenistic Phoenicia. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Show Reviews
Hide Reviews
- Billows, Richard A. "Review of Hellenistic Phoenicia, by John D. Grainger" (JSTOR). In American Historical Review 98/3 (1993): 843-844.
- Pollard, Nigel. "Review of Hellenistic Phoenicia, by John D. Grainger". In Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 1993. http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/1993/04.01.13.html
- Walbank, F. W. "Review of Hellenistic Phoenicia, by John D. Grainger" (JSTOR). In Classical Review New Ser. 42/2 (1992): 369-370.
Sharon, Ilan. "Phoenician and Greek Ashlar Construction Techniques at Tel Dor, Israel " (JSTOR). Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 267 (1987): 21-42.
Stern, Ephraim. "The Excavations at Tell Mevorach and the Late Phoenician Elements in the Architecture of Palestine" (JSTOR). Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 225 (1977): 17-27.

A New Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew

2006-03-06T18:17:00.000+02:00

Jim West at Petros Baptist Church Blog announces the publication of a dictionary of Biblical Hebrew written in Modern Hebrew. An earlier version of the same dictionary published in the 1960s included only the letters Alef through Tet. This appears to be a totally revised and complete dictionary. He writes:

A DICTIONARY OF BIBLICAL HEBREW (Alef-Taw)
אוצר לשון המקרא מאל"ף עד ת"ו
Prof. Menachem Zevi Kaddari
The is the first book of its kind – a comprehensive academic dictionary of Biblical Hebrew written in modern Hebrew. ... This book will appeal to a broad educated public interested in the Bible as the foundation of Jewish culture, and especially to students and teachers of Biblical Studies and Semitic languages including Hebrew. They will benefit particularly from the comparison of biblical words with their parallels in other Semitic languages, as well as the clarification of difficult, seemingly irregular forms in biblical Hebrew. ... The entries are accompanied by copious notes commenting on the etymology and the roots of words and presenting opinions of biblical and linguistic scholars on grammatical issues.

...

1,256 pp. high-quality paper, elegant hardcover. Hebrew. 2006. List price: $ 120.-
Postage in registered surface mail is at our expense.

Read Jim West's post for the full description. Other titles from Bar Ilan are available at http://www.biu.ac.il/Press/ (note the capital "P").

I will be seriously considering buying this book come Hebrew Book Week in a few months. Although the price tag is a bit high, I am missing a Biblical Hebrew dictionary of any kind in my library. I hope some experts will be able to provide their opinions by that time.

See the order form provided by Jim West.

Phoenician Temple Discovered

2006-03-03T11:40:00.000+02:00

Aerial view of excavation area
Photo source: Monsters and Critics Science News Jim Davila at paleojudaica notes the discovery of a Phoenician Temple in Sicily. The Italian news agency report states:

The temple came to light last year after a portion of a lagoon surrounding the Phoenician city of Motya (present-day Mozia) was drained ...

Digs at the site, on the westernmost tip of Sicily near Marsala, have brought to light the ruins of a "monumental" temple including columns of a type used by the Phoenicians on Cyprus - as well as fragments of an obelisk .

"The similarity with the Temple of the Obelisks at Byblos, Lebanon, is clear," Nigro said .

Nigro believes the pool flanking the temple was used for water rituals and offerings to Baal, the Phoenician god of the sea and the underworld.

However, other Italian archaeologists do not agree with him.

...

Motya - whose name means "wool-spinning centre" - was founded in the 8th century BC, about a century after the foundation of the most famous Phoenician colony in the ancient world, Carthage in Tunisia .

...

Greeks also began to colonise Sicily at the same time as Motya's foundation and conflicts broke out between Greek and Phoenician settlements. The Greek tyrant ruler of Siracusa, Dionysius I, destroyed Motya in 397 BC.

There is no doubt that a Sea god was of importance to Phoenicians, who were known sailors. In Ugaritic mythology, Yam, not Baal, was the Sea and Underworld God. However, Ribichini writes that there may be several Phoenician dieties that could be associated as the "Lord of the Sea" and mentions Baal Malage as a possible Sea god. He also mentions dedications to the originally Tyrian Melqarth in Sicily. So it's not clear which Baal is refered to here.

Here is a slightly different shorter report (but perhaps that makes it more accurate). It also has an image gallery of the excavations that actually captions the photos. I couldn't tell from the Italian news agency article if the column photo was from the excavations, but thanks to the caption in the image gallery, it probably is.

References:

Clifford, Richard J. "Phoenician Religion". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 279 (1990): 55-64.
Ribichini, Sergio. "Beliefs and Religious Life". In The Phoenicians, ed. Sabatino Moscati. New York: Rizolli International Publications, 1999.Show Review
The book also has a chapter on Sicily by Vincenzo Tusa.
Show Notes
- Segert, Stanislav. "Review of The Phoenicians, under the scientific direction of Sabatino Moscati (1988)". Journal of the American Oriental Society 111/4 (1991): 811-814.

Rare 1489 Prague Bible Online

2006-03-03T11:38:00.000+02:00

The first page of the book of Esther in the Prague Bible
Photo source: The Prague Bible Yeshiva University News reports:

Imagine being able to study Torah using a rare, illuminated Bible written in 1489. Thanks to technology, today anyone can now enjoy this privilege by visiting Yeshiva University’s Library Web site. Individuals can see every page of the nearly 2,000 images of the Bible, even enhance the images, and literally use the Bible as a textbook. To view the Prague Bible click on the Digital Projects link at "http://www.yu.edu/libraries/".

One of the finest examples of a complete Hebrew manuscript Bible in existence, the three-volume manuscript includes 84 leaves with illuminated panels, gold calligraphy against foliate decorations and commentary by Rashi, the renowned medieval sage in a version of interest to scholars due to textual variants. The Bible was recently on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City as part of its “Prague, The Crown of Bohemia, 1347-1437” exhibition.

Read the rest of the article.

Links:

The Prague Bible

More on Jerusalem, Solomon, and the Amarna Letters

2006-03-02T12:59:00.000+02:00

Jerusalem in the Amarna tablets?
Photo source:EA 287 in Instituto de Filología Duane Smith has commented on my post in his blog. Reading it suggested to me that I better explain myself on my earlier post on the subject.

Duane noted a lack of clarity in my post. So I'll try to explain further. My current study embraces many more subjects than simply Solomon and Jerusalem. It deals with the Amarna period, the early Iron Age periods, and much more. At one point I use the common element "Shalem" in the names of Solomon and Jerusalem to suggest that the Biblical statement that "Solomon came from Jerusalem" is accurate and useful as historical evidence.

...

As the term "came from" is actually a wide term in English, even Niels Peter Lemche's essay on the issue could be considered to say that "Solomon" came from "Jerusalem" because Solomon is essentially a personification of Jerusalem, according to Professor Lemche. In the ANE-2 list, John Croft suggested that Solomon's and Jerusalem's names were "suspiciously theophoric". This generated a lot of conversation, and we may say that even scholarship was furthered as Robert Whiting corrected Niels Peter Lemche on that small point mentioned earlier. At the end of all this discussion, I feel that we don't know from the Amarna cuneiform whether the name "Jerusalem" was then linked to the diety Shalem or the word-component Shalem, which would suggest a connection with Solomon. But we know the identification was made a little over a thousand years later in attested Biblical manuscripts. The earliest such clear attestation is possibly the Genesis Apocryphon which was composed possibly in the 2nd century CE but dated paleographically to the first half of the 1st century CE or late 1st century BCE. Around column 22, line 13, it says "When the king of Sodom learned that Abram had brought back all the captives and all the booty, he came out to meet him; and he went to Salem, which is Jerusalem." Professor Lemche notes this in his article too. But what about earlier times? At what point did the Judaeans or Canaanites start identifying Jerusalem with the diety/word Salem? This is unclear. But if the late 1st Millenium Judaeans felt this way, the earlier inhabitants, even the Canaanite or Hurrian Abdi-Heba of Jerusalem, may have felt so too.

As I was working on this post, Blogger was having problems continuously. I used this time to try to figure out where in EA 287, one of the Amarna tablets sent by Abdi-Heba of Jerusalem, was the word "Jerusalem" written. Using Duane's post which contained a nice concordance of the word, Shlomo Izreel's online work, "The Amarna Tablets," and John Heise's pages on Akkadian cuneiform, I tried figuring out where it was written. It turns out, that a first important step was when I realized that EA 287 (2) was in fact the beginning of the letter and EA 287 (1) was the end, seen by matching Izreel's transcription which includes the missing lines around 8-9 on EA 287 (2) and the horizontal lines on EA 287 (1) which seem to be indicated in Izreel's transcription towards the end. Now I counted so many lines down and tried to figure out where's what. I think, that the cropping I have attached displays the word "Jerusalem," although I'm not sure. I read the left three downward wedgemarks as KUR. The next mark to its right would perhaps be URU. Then to the right of that, I see two horizontal lines intersected by three downward wedges. This seems to be ú. Then we have two signs that I couldn't locate in Heise's table and a mark that seems to match Heise's mark for "lim" at the rightmost corner of the above photo. So if those two unclear marks are "ru" and "$a10", respectively, then that would give us "KUR URU ú-ru-$a10-lim" as in Izreel's transcription.

Finally, a little note on Velikovsky. How did Velikovsky come into this? He comes in because the CIAS website has a glowing endorsement of his views. Originally, I linked to their website via the "Photo source" link as I normally try to link the photos to their site of origin so interested readers can look up more related information to the specific subjects. However, because I believe in furthering proper methodical scholarship, I don't see any reason to point readers to a pseudo-science site that would misinform them. This is why I had removed the "Photo source" link under the picture I took off their site as soon as I understood that they endorse him. If you want to read about Velikovsky, I suggest Henry H. Bauer's Beyond Velikovsky: The History of a Public Controversy (1999). In college, an earlier version of this book proved to be very useful for me and provided me with an objective review of his views. There's no need to spend any more bandwidth on him.

References:

Bauer, Henry H. Beyond Velikovsky: The History of a Public Controversy. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1999. Show Reviews
An informative and pretty objective discussion of the controversies and history of Velikovsky's suggestions.
Show Notes
- Goldsmith, D. W. "Review of Beyond Velikovsky: The History of a Public Controversy, by Henry H. Bauer". In Journal of the History of Astronomy 18/1 (1987): 72.
- Patterson, J. W. "Review of Beyond Velikovsky: The History of a Public Controversy, by Henry H. Bauer". In Science 228/4705 (Jun 14, 1985): 1304.
- Smith, Robert W. "Review of Beyond Velikovsky: The History of a Public Controversy, by Henry H. Bauer". In Isis 76/3 (1985): 428-429.
García Martínez, Florentino, and Tigchelaar, Eibert J. C. The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000. Show Review
The publisher notes that this work contains Hebrew and Aramaic transcriptions and English translations of the nonbiblical scrolls on facing pages, arranged by serial number from Cave 1 to Cave 11. It aims to be complete for the non-biblical scrolls. The work is primarily intended for classroom use and for use by specialists from other disciplines who need a reliable compendium to all the materials found.
Show Notes
- Norin, Stig. "Review of The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition, by Florentino García Martinez and Eibert J. C. Tigchelaar". In Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 17/1 (2003): 156-159.
Izreel, Shlomo. The Amarna Tablets. http://www.tau.ac.il/humanities/semitic/amarna.html. 2000.
Vermes, Geza. The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English. London: Penguin Books, 1997. Show Reviews
An authoritative translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls by an Oxford scholar. I used an earlier version of this book (1995) for the above quote of the Genesis Apocryphon.
Show Notes
- Gerics, Joseph. "Review of The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, by Geza Vermes". In History Teacher 32/4 (1999): 573-574.
- Wise, Michael O. "Review of The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, by Geza Vermes". In Journal of Religion 78/4 (1998): 602-604.
Woodard, Roger D. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Show Reviews
This is an easy-reading yet detailed and technical description of the various ancient languages. The book includes a long section on Akkadian that I have yet to read.
Show Notes
- Daniels, Peter T. "Review of The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages, ed. by Roger D. Woodard" (PDF). In Review of Biblical Literature [http://www.bookreviews.org] (2005).

Solomon and Jerusalem

2006-02-28T21:43:00.000+02:00

Updated March 2: Added links to Duane Smith's comments and my followup/response.

"urusalem" in Amarna cuneiform according to CIAS
Photo source: California Institute for Ancient Studies A recent and still ongoing discussion on ANE focused on the names of Solomon and Jerusalem. The discussion spanned the times from the Execretion Texts in the early 2nd Millenium BCE to the Massoretes in the late 1st Millenium CE. It began when "John" suggested that Solomon's name and the name of Jerusalem, the name of the Canaanite god Shalim as well as other names of the period such as Absalom are related, theophoric, and are "suspicious." Now, I have paid quite a bit of attention to this in the study of the early Iron Age that I'm working on, so this was pretty interesting, although I did not want to involve arguments from my study. So I just asked questions: Why is it suspicious? What does it suggest?

Professor Niels Peter Lemche has been kind enough to respond and even later make available a study of his that deals with the issue (See Jim West's blog post here). Robert Whiting pointed out that in this paper, the assumption is made that Jerusalem is written with the Akkadian determinative URU as URU-salem, but in fact it is written URU u-ru-sa-lim. How well can we still identify the component of "urusalem" as the word Shalem or diety Shalim? It's not clear. I suppose that the Biblical books provide evidence that some identification was made, at least in the Second Temple period and perhaps even the First Temple period. If so, why are we to suppose that before then it wasn't so identified?

Subsequent to publishing this Duane Smith commented on my post in his blog and I published a followup/response.

References and Related Articles:

Izreel, Shlomo. The Amarna Tablets. http://www.tau.ac.il/humanities/semitic/amarna.html. 2000.
Lemche, Niels Peter. "Jerusalem and King Solomon: How Writers Create the Past." In Recenti Tendenze nella Ricostruzione della Storia Antica d'Israele, ed. by Mario Liverani. Rome, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei: 2003.

The articles of Finkelstein, Dever, Ska, Soggin, Lemche, Naaman, Davies, Garbini, and Thompson are all in English. Abstracts of the contributions to the book can be read here.

Another Antiquities Theft Bust

2006-02-28T17:08:00.000+02:00

The recovered antiquities
Photo source: Israel Antiquities Authority An Israel Antiquities Authority press release, an almost equivalent Arutz 7 news report, a ynet news flash, and an NRG (Maariv) news flash (all Hebrew) as well as other Israeli news sites report that in a search of IAA inspectors assisted by Hadera police, ten tons of ancient stones and architectural items (columns and column bases) that date to the Roman and Byzantine periods were recovered. These were recovered during a search, with a Hadera Peace Court search warrant, at a building materials storage site that belongs to a local Hadera citizen. The IAA suspects that the items were stolen from a Caesarea antiquities site.

The head of the Antiquities Theft Prevention Unit told Arutz 7 today that "lately we are witnessing a severe phenomenon where antiquities sites are destroyed by criminals that are dismantling ancient buildings and causing irreversible damage to our land's glorious ancient past and tradition."

The recovered antiquities were taken as legal evidence and have been placed in the IAA offices. The investigation continues.

Related Links:

Ashdod Museum Exhibit on Antiquities Theft

2006-02-27T22:02:00.000+02:00

Ynet and a Israel Antiquities Authority press release (both Hebrew) reported on a new stolen antiquities exhibit at the Ashdod Museum two weeks ago. Following up to the recent confiscation of antiquities in a Jerusalem souvenir shop, here is a translation:

New Exhibit: Antiquities Theft in Israel
by David Hakohen

Some of the items were stolen from the above cave
Photo source: Israel Antiquities Authority A new exhibit was opened recently at the Corine Maman Ashdod Museum, titled "Antiquities Theft in Israel," where ancient artifacts of all ages that have been confiscated by the Antiquities Theft Prevention Unit of the Israel Antiquities Authority are on display for the first time.

...

On display at the exhibit are dozens of items that have been stolen from Jewish burial caves of the Second Temple period, from sunk ships at the bottom of the sea, various pots and shards of the Byzantine period that were confiscated in a raid at the home antiquities thieves at Wadi Ara, glass items, clay lamps and jewelry that are typical of the Roman and Byzantine periods, and coin hoards and bronze utensils that were stolen from secret underground systems in the Bar-Kokhba period.

From the "World of the Philistines" exhibit
Photo source:www.ilmuseums.com The exhibit illustrates the issue of antiquities theft in Israel with the artifacts and pictures: the phenomenon, the people, the thieves, the middlemen, the trade and the collectors. Furthermore, some of the texts deal with the Antiquities Law and its enforcement by the Israel Antiquities Authority. The Museum's curator, Yael Wiesel, noted that some of the artifacts are of unknown provenance.

The exhibit will be on display until June 2006, next to the regular exhibit, "The Philistine's World."

Ashdod News reports that among the displays will be a thief during arrest, an ancient marble column found in a private living room, ancient architectural items that were placed as part of a Caesarea home garden, and an ancient coin hoard imprinted with the figure of Alexander the Great of unknown provenance.

Related Links:

The Ashdod Museum

Journal of Biblical Studies 6:1 published

2006-02-27T19:39:00.000+02:00

Photo source: JBS Website Jim West reports that the Journal of Biblical Studies put out a new issue dated January but he also said it's out after a certain hiatus. He also forwarded a call for submissions.

The following seem to be of interest to studies of the Hebrew Bible:

"Saul and David: Monarchy as a Personification of Anarchy," by James A. Diamond (University of Waterloo)
"Review of Historic Views of the Holy Land, by Todd Bolen," by Kris J. Udd

Related Links:

The January issue of the Journal of Biblical Studies
Todd Bolen's Historic Views of the Holy Land

References:

Malul, Meir. "Was David involved in the Death of Saul?" Revue Biblique 103/4 (1996):517-545 (Summary)
Amit, Yaira. "Three Variations of Saul's Death." (Hebrew) Beit-Miqra 30/1(q) (1984):92-102.

Antiquities retrieved in Jerusalem souvenir shop

2006-02-26T13:22:00.000+02:00

Updated Feb. 27: Added links to walla News report, English Arutz 7 report, and IAA news release

Arutz 7 and an Israel Antiquies Authority news release report (both Hebrew and almost word-for-word duplicates) that during a regular inspection of the Israel Antiquities Authority inspectors in the Old City of Jerusalem, dozens of ancient artifacts were retrieved from a souvenir shop . Among the artifacts are dozens of clay pots and shards from the Iron Age, the Second Temple period and the Byzantine period. These were most likely stolen from burial caves in the Jerusalem area. Also apprehended were miniature glass artifacts that are suspected to have been smuggled from the Persian gulf.

The items retrieved will be used as evidence in court, the operation of the store was halted, and the owner of the store was taken for interrogation on suspicion of breaking the Antiquities Law. The head of the Antiquities Theft Prevention Unit, Amir Ganor, noted that unauthorized trade in antiquities carries up to three years prison term according to the Antiquities Law.

The photo in the Arutz 7 website is unrelated to this report. Walla News (Hebrew) had a one line news update on the recovery following Israel Radio, just saying the IAA confiscated rare artifacts. Joseph Lauer also mentioned that Arutz 7 also put up a short English report.

See also: Ashdod Museum exhibit on Antiquities Theft

ירחו yrhw in the Gezer Calendar

2006-02-26T06:05:00.000+02:00

Updated March 4 - added link to negative comments on ANE-2 regarding Anson Rainey's Canaanite in the Amarna Tablets.

The Gezer Calendar
Photo source: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs Much of my recent discussions had related to the pre-exilic orthography. Now that the discussions are pretty much completed, I'm working on converting the mailing list arguments into posts. Among other things, I argued that certain letters normally taken to be matres lectionis (vowels) could perhaps simply be consonantal. For example, the third person possessive pronoun was written in pre-exilic inscriptions with a final ה h. Eventually, the masculine possessive developed into a final -o: vowel and in the Massoretic Text it is written with a ו w. In pre-exilic inscriptions, the spelling shifts from the use of ה h to ו w starting from the beginning of the 6th century BCE.

It is possible to reconstruct the development of the third person possessive pronouns in Hebrew. Originally, in Common Semitic, these were m. *-su, f. *-sa . In Central Semitic, these had become m. *-hu, f. *-ha. The feminine possessive suffix retained the consonantal ה h all the way to the times of the Massoretic vocalization appearing as a Mappiq. However, the masculine possessive suffix lost this, and eventually became -o: in the Massoretic vocalization. But the Massoretic vocalization represents a period no earlier than 500 CE What about the pre-exilic vocalization, before 500 BCE, more than 1000 years earlier? Did that vocalization have a consonantal ה h or just a simple -o: that was represented in the spelling using an ה h as a vowel letter?

Having read now some articles on orthography and the ancient Semitic languages, it appears that the Gezer "Calendar" provides some and perhaps the only evidence to the effect that the h was lost in pre-exilic times. ...

It is definitely considered the clearest evidence. The Calendar is a list of periods of the agricultural year. Throughout the calendar, two variants of the word ירח yrh "month" are used: the simple ירח yrh and the suffixed form ירחו yrh. The natural interpretation of the list of agricultural periods is to see the suffixed forms as dual forms, because this way all the agricultural periods fall in their correct places along the year and all the periods together add up to a twelve year cycle.

The standard interpretation is to see this as development from the conjectured Proto-Semitic form of the dual. This is reconstructed in Proto-Semitic as *warha:na in the nominative and *warhayna in the accusative/genitive (oblique) form. But if the final *-na is dropped, the word becomes part of a construct chain. It now means "two months of (what follows in the construct chain)" instead of just "two months." The construct oblique form, suffixed by the third person masculine possessive pronoun, becomes *warhaysu ("two months of him" = "his two months"). According to the commonly accepted derivation, apparently suggested by W. F. Albright, Proto-Semitic *warha:su > NWS *yarha:hu (prevocalic /s/ shifts to /h/ in many cases, and initial /w/ shifts to /y/) > *yarhayhu (the nominative case ending is lost and the oblique/accusative displaces it) > *yarhe:hu > ירחו yarhew. This derivation explains pretty much all the consonants in the text, the evolution of the word, and the meaning of the word in the text. It also has implications for the singular forms in the list - ירח yrh, suggesting that they also mean "his month" and are therefore suffixed by the possessive pronoun. But since there is no consonant to denote this possessive pronoun, it is conjectured that they had already developed into the vowel -o:. This is why, if one accepts this reading, the later use of ה h in Israelite inscriptions to denote the possessive suffix should probably be read as a vowel letter and not as a consonant.

Amarna Letter from Burnaburiash to Amenhotep IV
Photo source: The British Museum Although there are some problems with the above reconstruction (to be discussed in a moment), it does work out quite nicely. But I had raised my own pet theory in the discussion, which is the matter of this post. My solution is actually similar to an early solution proposed by H. L. Ginsberg and supported by G. R. Driver. This solution suggests reading the ו w as a vowel letter for -o:. According to this reconstruction, the oblique/accusative case endings had not yet displaced the nominative endings, and so the nominative was yarha:. But the Canaanite shift *a: > o: led to this form being yarho:. This solution has been criticized on grounds that we know the Canaanite nominative dual case ending had not shifted to o: from a Canaanite gloss in the Amarna tablets which normally display this shift: he-na-ia *^ce:na:ya "my two eyes" (EA 144:17 sent to Egypt from Sidon). A. Lemaire suggested that the dual nominative construct form -ay developed from an earlier form *-aw which is what the Gezer Calendar form represents. But this solution is very unlikely given that -ay is attested across many other Semitic languages and *-aw is not. G. Garbini suggested that this is not a dual at all but a plural, in which case the nominative construct ending would have been *-u: and this is what the ו w represents. It is hard to accept this solution since the ו w is consistently used for duals only in the Calendar. The main object to W. F. Albright's solution by the others has been that "his month" and "his two months" do not mention to whom the word "his" refers.

My solution is that ירחו yrhw represents an otherwise unknown dual form and has no possessive suffix attached. Now isn't that a simple solution? It solves all the problems. This is a dual form, not a plural one. The final ו w is a consonant, not a vowel letter for *-u: or -o:. The form with a ו w at the end is not to be traced back as the precursor of -ay but is a new if short-lived development. There is no "his" that suggests a reference to some person not mentioned in the text. The only problem with such a solution is that it appears to be otherwise without evidence, and the reconstruction of a new rare form that is otherwise unattested appears to be concocted to fit the evidence.

However, I have another example of this form in a very common word in the Bible: יחדו yahdaw "together." The root of this form is yahd-, which is related to Proto-Semitic *)ahad, and a variant form that appears in Central Semitic, *wahd- > NWS yahd-. This word means variously "one," "individual," or "singular." According to my suggestion, יחדו yahdaw "together" is the dual of -יחד yahd- "individual." This is a pretty attractive suggestion, and it forms the meagre "evidence" for the reading of final ו w as an independent dual form.

It is perhaps even possible that there are other instances of this form. For example, in Psalms 114:5, normally read ההפכי הצור אגם-מים, חלמיש למעינו-מים "Who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a fountain of waters." The last two words could be read as a dual of מעין m^cyn or עין ^cyn "fountain" = "two fountains." Perhaps the use of the same word for "fountain" as for "eyes" led to the use of a dual but there is nothing in the verse itself to suggest that this is necessarily a dual form. This word, however, is unusual, exceptional and not standard in Biblical Hebrew and it is always interpreted as an archaic poetic use. The reading ^cyn "eye"/"fountain" presupposes that the prefix is the archaic למ lm "to." The form of the noun ^cayn "fountain" is then exactly parallel to the previously discussed words yarh and yahd. This would suggest that the ו w suffix was a rare dual form that perhaps developed only in segholates or nouns of a CVCC/CaCC structure.

The Ahiram Sarcophagus Inscription
Photo source: Drews University course page Other objections to W. F. Albright's solution could be raised on the grounds that it assumes a very quick development for Hebrew. It assumes that *ay shifted to e. This is actually reasonable, given that it is attested earlier at Ugarit and contemporaneously at Phoenicia, and later in Moab and Israelite areas to which Gezer would be related. However, it also assumes a loss of the nominative case-endings which may be considered unlikely. These were not lost at Ugarit, nor were they lost in the Amarna Canaanite glosses. In the contemporaneous records, the consonantal script makes it hard to tell but there is evidence that they were not lost at Phoenicia either. It also supposes that after they were lost, the third person masculine possessive on singular nouns had developed from *-ahu > *-aw > -o:. If we can compare with the Phoenician 10th century evidence, the Ahiram sarcophagus suggests that all this has not yet occurred. (This development is attested in later Phoenician inscriptions). To top it off, all this is supposed to have happened in the three centuries between the 13th century (Amarna period where case-endings are attested) and the 10th century (the time of the Gezer tablet). During this period, almost the entire Ancient Near East was in a "dark age" and individual communities were relatively free from foreign influences. To me, such conditions suggest that the languages of the area would have been more conservative during this period. It therefore seems unlikely to me that such significant linguistic change beginning with the loss of case-endings would have occurred in this period.

The strengths of my theory are the relatively significant yet unlikely linguistic changes presupposed by the standard (W. F. Albright's) reconstruction, and the attractiveness of the etymology for the word יחדו yahdaw "together." The main weakness is that it presupposes that the form is a rare local form that is relatively unattested. The evidence from יחדו yahdaw "together" is useful, but more evidence would have been better. It serves to show that the assumption that final ה h was a mater lectionis for -o: in pre-exilic inscriptions is rather precarious. Perhaps the reason ה h was written in the third person masculine singular pronoun suffix is because Hebrew had not yet lost the consonantal h in that suffix, after all.

In the context of researching this, I had either made use of the following references and reviews or felt they pertain to this discussion:

Cross, Frank Moore, Jr., and Freedman, David Noel. Early Hebrew Orthography: A Study of the Epigraphic Evidence. American Oriental Series, no. 36. New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1952. Show Reviews
This is considered to be the standard reference on the subject.
Show Notes
- Baumgartner, Walter. Review of Early Hebrew Orthography: A Study of the Epigraphic Evidence, by Frank Moore Cross and David Noel Freedman. In Journal of Biblical Literature 73/4 (1954): 259-261.
- Moscati, Sabatino. Review of Early Hebrew Orthography: A Study of the Epigraphic Evidence, by Frank Moore Cross and David Noel Freedman. In Journal of Near Eastern Studies 13/2 (1954): 133-135.
- Rossell, William H. Review of Early Hebrew Orthography: A Study of the Epigraphic Evidence, by Frank Moore Cross and David Noel Freedman. In Journal of Bible and Religion 21/2 (1953): 140.
- Rosenthal, Franz. Review of Early Hebrew Orthography: A Study of the Epigraphic Evidence, by Frank Moore Cross and David Noel Freedman. In Journal of American Oriental Society 73/1 (1953): 46-47.
Garbini, Giovanni. "Nota sul 'calendario' di Guezer." In Istituto Orientale di Napoli Annali (AION) 6 (1954-56): 123-30.
Hallo, William W. and Younger, K. L. The Context of Scripture: Monumental Inscriptions from the Biblical World. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2003. Show Reviews
This and the accompanying volumes are a standard and up-to-date reference on Scripture-related inscriptions. The above volume includes both "The Sarcophagus Inscription of )Ahirom, King of Byblos" (2.55, p. 181) and "The Gezer Calendar" (2.85, p. 222).
Show Notes
- Howard, David M. Review of The Context of Scripture, ed. by William W. Hallo and K. Lawson Younger". In Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Mar 2004.
- Knoppers, Gary N. "Review of The Context of Scripture: Canonical Compositions from the Biblical World, ed. by William W. Hallo and K. Lawson Younger" (PDF). In Review of Biblical Literature [http://www.bookreviews.org] (2000).
Lemaire, André. "Za:mi:r dans la tablette de Gezer et le Cantique des Cantiques" (French). In Vetus Testamentum 25/1 (1975): 15-26
Rainey, Anson F. Canaanite in the Amarna Tablets:A Linguistic Analysis of the Mixed Dialect Used by Scribes from Canaan. Handbuch der Orientalistik. Erste Abteilung: Der Nahe und Mittlere Osten, vol. 25. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1996. Show Reviews
Some rather negative comments of this work by ANE-2 subscribers Ariel L. Szczupak and Peter T. Daniels can be read here.
Show Notes
- Pardee, Dennis. "Review of Canaanite in the Amarna Tablets:A Linguistic Analysis of the Mixed Dialect Used by Scribes from Canaan, by Anson F. Rainey". In Journal of Near Eastern Studies 58/4 (1999): 313-317.
- Rendsburg, Gary A. "Review of Canaanite in the Amarna Tablets:A Linguistic Analysis of the Mixed Dialect Used by Scribes from Canaan, by Anson F. Rainey". In AJS Review 23/2 (1998): 245-247.
- Van Soldt, W. H. "Review of Canaanite in the Amarna Tablets:A Linguistic Analysis of the Mixed Dialect Used by Scribes from Canaan, by Anson F. Rainey" (JSTOR, Questia). In Journal of American Oriental Society 118/4 (1998): 595-597.
Rainey, Anson F. Review of Matres Lectionis in Ancient Hebrew Epigraphs, by Ziony Zevit. In Journal of Biblical Literature 102/4 (1983): 629-34
Woodard, Roger D. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Show Reviews
This is an easy-reading yet detailed and technical description of the various ancient languages. For the purposes of the post, I referred to the articles, "Afro-Asiatic," "Ugaritic," "Phoenician and Punic," and "Canaanite Dialects."
Show Notes
- Daniels, Peter T. "Review of The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages, ed. by Roger D. Woodard" (PDF). In Review of Biblical Literature [http://www.bookreviews.org] (2005).

International Conference - "Mediterranean Mosaic: enhancing archaeological sites for shared development"

2006-02-23T04:32:00.000+02:00

Update - Feb. 23: Another news report after the signing of the "Modica accord" added.

Undersecretary Drago presenting the conference in Venice
Photo source: Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Today (Feb. 23) ends a two day international conference in Modica, Italy, that aims to seek ways to colloborate on protecting archaeological sites with Mosaics. It is titled also "Mediterranean Mosaic: promotion of archaeological sites with mosaics". More advanced forms of management for the areas that have archaeological sites with an important mosaic component will be discussed in Modica. These new methods will be examined with a view to arriving at ways of enabling the countries concerned to apply them in coordinated fashion. “By doing this we will increase the overall value of the archaeological sites in the Mediterranean, allowing for an easier use and promotion of them,” said Italian Undersecretary of State Giuseppe Drago.

Invited were delegations from Algeria, Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and, for the European Union, Cyprus, France, Greece, Malta, Spain and Turkey. However, according to a news report from yesterday, it appears that the delegations for Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Greece, Spain, and Turkey were not in attendance. Perhaps the absence of some or all of the delegations are simply a slip of the reporter and they are all there. Update: A news report about the actual signing of the accord suggests that only nine countries signed. Since nine delegations, not including Italy, were reported to be in attendance, it appears that none of the above listed countries bothered to show up.

Links:

Jerusalem Post: Caesarea Archaeological finds spark debate

2006-02-20T19:37:00.000+02:00

Part of a Byzantine wall discovered in Caesarea
Photo source: Com&Sense Communications in The Jerusalem Post The Jerusalem Post reported (Feb. 14) on claims that the Caesarea Development Company is pressuring the Israel Antiquities Authority to forfeit its control over certain areas currently marked as a recreational, nature zone despite "finds in recent weeks" that include "portions of a Herodean wall, as well as a Byzantine mosaic and a necropolis." This seems to be basically another round of publicity for a report coming just a couple of weeks after a similar report in Globes (via PaleoJudaica).

The opus sectile glass panel with gilded plates on the bottom right
Photo source: Orly Feister and Niki Davidov, via IAA It seems to me that these do not relate to the excavations reported five months ago that described various rare finds relating to a mansion in Caesarea. Perhaps they come as a follow up to those excavations. While those finds, including a glass opus sectile panel with glass gilded and colored platelets, have received wide publicity, very few photos have been released with the news reports. So here are various links and references that include such images.

Links:

"The Palace of the Bird Mosaic", an official Israel Antiquities Authority report on the 2005 discoveries in Hebrew and English.
"Who lived in Caesarea 1500 years ago?" (Hebrew), by Dr. Zohar Guri. The article, from a children's science monthly magazine, includes beautiful pictures of the Bird Mosaic and the opus sectile panel.
Another photo of the decorated panel, apparently from the press release in September
An informative page on the Caesarea National Park from the Israeli National Parks Authority.

References:

Porath, Y. "The Israeli Viewpoint, Archaeology: The golden opus sectile panel". National Geographic (Hebrew edition). 86 (2005).
Reich, Rony. "A Figurative Mosaic at Caesarea". ^cAtiqot (English Series) XVII (1985):206-212.
Porath, Y., Gorin-Rosen, Y., and Nager, J. "A glass opus sectile panel from Caesarea, Israel". Journal of Glass Studies. 2006. (forthcoming)

Rebirth of the ANE List

2006-02-19T21:17:00.000+02:00

Photo source: ANE-2 List Homepage This blog is about my posts in various lists, and the ANE List is pretty much one of the most useful tools for anyone interested in the Ancient Near East. All time time, one sees scholars ask for references, for emails of other scholars, or just general questions, and there's no doubt this list truly brings the power of the Information Age to the study of the ANE. It is sad that the ANE list in its old format had to go, but perhaps good can only come out of such a thing. The reborn ANE List is moderated by Chuck Jones, the original moderator of ANE, Jeffrey Gibson, who organized the effort to renew the ANE List, as well as other influential scholars such as Niels Peter Lemche, Marc Cooper, Robert Whiting, and Trudy Kawami. A great big thanks to all of them for taking up this task and giving us a new, better, ANE List.

I joined the ANE List in the aftermath of the Joash Tablet "discovery", trying to understand what it was about. After a while, it had occurred to me that the ANE List might be the perfect place to pose a question regarding a study I had tried years earlier in regards to a certain word in the Book of Esther ("pitgam") and its etymology. My post on the issue generated a lot of responses, and I was able to trace the history of the study of this word's etymology all the way to the 19th century. On the Linguist List, when I asked the same question a few years earlier, I received no responses. On the ANE List, I was able to continue off list, and in one case was able to suggest ideas and see how well they work out with someone who had studied Old and Middle Persian.

...This study has now been placed "on hold" while I work on a different study that has to do with the Song of Deborah and the Iron Age I/IIA. In this study, just recently I was wondering whether the Akkadian "Sutu" are the same as the Egyptian "Shasu." The two terms seem similar and they are used to refer to pretty much the same kinds of people in texts where the only difference is the language -- Egyptian or Akkadian. But do scholars think that they really be identified? For me, the first answer was to be found in, where else, the archives of ANE, in an old post by Niels Peter Lemche, who wrote, "an element of so-called Shasu (and/or Sutu to name the Akkadian equivalent) would have been present in the Iron Age population of Palestine." Later, I found a comment to the same effect in Gösta W. Ahlström's book, The History of Ancient Palestine.

If you are just starting to learn about the ANE, and you are interested in a general modern introduction to the subject, I can mention my recent query on the ANE List for just that. The offlist suggestion to read Amelie Kuhrt's The Ancient Near East proved to be very satisfactory. This is a very useful book that answers many of my questions and needs for a general overview of the ANE. On specific details, where I knew the material beforehand, I felt it was lacking. For example, it doesn't represent the state of studies as regards ancient Israel and Judah properly, suggesting a synthesis of Biblical and Archaeological data of the type which is controversial today. I felt it should have at least mentioned that this view is controversial. However, as a general introduction to the the history of the region on the large scale, it is great.

I'm sure these examples show just how useful the ANE List can be for scholars and amateurs alike. So, if you haven't joined the new ANE List yet, join now!

Driving out the off-road drivers from Tel Goded

2006-02-15T15:14:00.000+02:00

Photo source: Dafna Meroz,
Israel Nature Conservation Society
via ynetynet has a news report in Hebrew and English on the planned restoration of Tel Goded (Tell ej-Judeideh). It begins:

After years of unsuccessful campaigns, Jewish National Fund and Israel Antiquities Authority decided to act and protect the archeological site at Britain Park from modern-day trespassers – lawless off-road drivers who trample thousands of years of history and natural habitat, and refuse to stick to marked trails.

and finishes with the recommendation, that "it is possible and highly recommended to travel by foot through this important site, where history lurks under every cave."

Tel Goded is generally identified with Moresheth Gath, Micah's apparent hometown, which is also mentioned in the Amarna letters. Shmuel Vargon has suggested identifying it with an otherwise obscure place name, Gedud, apparentely based on Micah 4:14. The verse contains the term בת-גדוד Bath-Gedud, which normally translated as "daughter of troops" but comes in opposition to two other mentions of placenames in the chapter: מגדל-עדר Migdal-^cder and בת-ציון Bath-Sion.

Some more pictures of Tel Goded

Gibson, Shimon. "The Tell ej-Judeideh (Tel Goded) excavations; a re-appraisal based on archival records in the Palestine Exploration Fund". Tel Aviv 21,2 (1994): 194-234.
Sagiv, N., Zissu, B., and Avni, G. "Tombs of the Second Temple Period at Tel Goded, Judean Foothills." ^cAtiqot 35 (1998): 7*-21* (Hebrew), 159-61 (English).
Vargon, Shmuel. "Gedud, a place-name in the Shephelah of Judah". Vetus Testamentum 42,4 (1992): 557-564.
Vargon, Shmuel. "The book of Micah: Introduction" (Hebrew). World of the Bible: Minor Prophets II, ed. Zeev Weisman. Tel Aviv: Divrei Hayamim Publishing, 1995.

רעו rcw in the Siloam Inscription

2006-02-09T13:32:00.000+02:00

Update - Feb. 14: Bibliography updated. Feb.15: Bibliography updated, added paragraph following the quote of James Davila that surveys other views of this word in scholarship, added paragraph regarding spelling of this word in Jeremiah.

In the context of a discussion that dealt in part with matres lectionis - letters that sometimes stand for a vowel in the mostly consonantal script of the Hebrew language, I discussed the question whether the pre-exilic language spoken by the peoples of Judea ("Judaean" as it is called in the Bible) had final -ô sounds in words, and if so, if it denoted them by the use of matres lectionis. The most common case in the Bible is the use of the masculine third person singular possessive pronoun, when joined to a word: "His servant" is עבדו ^cbdw and the final ו w denotes the -ô sound. In pre-exilic inscriptions, we usually find a final ה h in these cases. One notable exception is in the Siloam Inscription,
Photo source: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairswhere the digging of Hezekiah's tunnel is described in very dramatic words. We find the phrases: "each crew toward the other," "the men calling out to each other," "the stonecutters hacked toward each other." In each of these cases, "other" is written רעו r^cw- "his fellow" - and is commonly translated in the singular. Sometimes, scholars have gone to great lengths to explain how the singular possessive ending -ô was not written with an ה h as is common in pre-exilic inscriptions, but with what appears to be a later convention - the ו w. ...

Jim Davila on PaleoJudaica, wrote:

the vocalized form of רעהו r^chw would have been *ri^cihu (with the normal u-vowel before the suffix assimiliated to the i of the noun, probably under the influence of the gutteral. Cf. BH re^cehu). This appears to have collapsed into the form ri^ciw, which is a reasonable possibility. (It may also be that the word is plural, in which case the orthography would be unremarkable.)

This goes along the lines of Saenz-Baedillos, who reconstruct the pre-exilic pronunciation as re^cew (p. 66). In a full length study that investigates the situation anew and takes into consideration additional inscriptions discovered since Cross and Freedman's work, Zevit (1980) reads this apparently as a m.l. for -ô. For support, he uses the Mesad Hashavyahu ostracon and reads the ו w in קצר ואסם qsr w)sm as a m.l. - "his harvest." This is criticized on linguistic grounds by Anson Rainey in his review of Zevit's work.

Perhaps the interest in reading it in the singular is based on Jer 6:21, but given the Vulgate's translation it may be possible to reconstruct שכן ורע ויאבדו ŝkn wr^c wy)bdw and suggest that perhaps due to the use of the perfect where the imperfect would be expected, the ורעו wr^cw received its second ו w from a redivision of the words. This suggestion can also explain the Qere/Ketiv as attempts to deal with the word.

As much as the reconstruction is interesting, I found his final comment more interesting. The common spelling of "his fellows" in the Bible is רעיו r^cyw but the יו -yw suffix which is the common spelling for the masculine third person plural possessive pronoun is commonly written ו w in the pre-exilic inscriptions. So a reader who knew no better who came and read this inscription would interpret רעו r^cw as "his fellows." This maintains the usage of ה h for third person singular possessive and ו w for third person plural possessive.

My רע fellow to the discussion questioned this and claimed that there is no such usage in the Bible of using the plural in the phrase of the form "each other." Fair enough, although I think that it is not necessary for pre-exilic inscriptions to have the exact same grammatical usage forms as the Biblical text and no additional ones. Indeed such usage does exist in the Bible:

Numbers 26:54 איש לפי פקדיו ⁾y$ lpy pqdyw 1 Samuel 30:6 איש על-בנו ועל-בנתיו ⁾y$ ^cl-bnw w^cl-bntyw

Interestingly, the second case features בנו bnw for "his sons" - like the pre-exilic spelling. There is therefore no reason to question the use of this phrase with a word in the plural.

So what do I think it all mean in the end, if we use plural? It is a reference to each crewmen's fellows on the other side. This is how I would translate the Siloam inscription in light of all this:

[...] the tunneling; and this was how the tunneling was completed: As [the laborers employed] their picks, each crew towards the other, and with three cubits remaining, the voices of each man calling to his fellow crewmen on the other side [could be heard], since it got louder on the right [and lef]t; the day the opening was made, each stonecutter hacked towards the crewmen on the other side, pick against pick. And water flowed from the source to the pool [twel]ve hundred cubits, and the height of the rock was hundred cubits above the stonecutters' heads.

In the context of researching this, I had either made use of the following references and reviews or felt they pertain to this discussion:

Cross, Frank Moore, Jr., and Freedman, David Noel. Early Hebrew Orthography: A Study of the Epigraphic Evidence. American Oriental Series, no. 36. New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1952. Show Reviews
considered the standard reference on the subject.
Show Notes
- Baumgartner, Walter. Review of Early Hebrew Orthography: A Study of the Epigraphic Evidence, by Frank Moore Cross and David Noel Freedman. In Journal of Biblical Literature 73/4 (1954): 259-261.
- Moscati, Sabatino. Review of Early Hebrew Orthography: A Study of the Epigraphic Evidence, by Frank Moore Cross and David Noel Freedman. In Journal of Near Eastern Studies 13/2 (1954): 133-135.
- Rossell, William H. Review of Early Hebrew Orthography: A Study of the Epigraphic Evidence, by Frank Moore Cross and David Noel Freedman. In Journal of Bible and Religion 21/2 (1953): 140.
- Rosenthal, Franz. Review of Early Hebrew Orthography: A Study of the Epigraphic Evidence, by Frank Moore Cross and David Noel Freedman. In Journal of American Oriental Society 73/1 (1953): 46-47.
Davila, James R. "Orthography", Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls, ed. Lawrence H. Schiffman and James C. VanderKam (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), 625-28. Show Reviews
contains an annonated bibliography on the subject but does not include references to Zevit's study on the subject.
Show Notes
- Cole, R. Dennis. Review of Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls, ed. Lawrence H. Schiffman and James C. VanderKam. In Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society June 2002.
- Williams, David S. Review of Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls, ed. Lawrence H. Schiffman and James C. VanderKam. In Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies 22/1 (2003), 179-181.
Sáenz-Badillos, Angel. A History of the Hebrew Language. Trans. by John Elwolde. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1993. Show Reviews
Hide Reviews
- Bolozky, Shmuel. Review of A History of the Hebrew Language, by Angel Saenz-Badillos, John Elwolde. In Modern Language Journal 78/4 (1994): 555-556.
- Glinert, Lewis. Review of A History of the Hebrew Language, by Angel Saenz-Badillos, John Elwolde. In Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 62/1 (1999): 124-125.
- Sanders, Seth L. Review of A History of the Hebrew Language, by Angel Saenz-Badillos, John Elwolde. In Language 71/3 (1995): 656.
Sarfatti, Gad B. "Hebrew Inscriptions of the First Temple Period-A Survey and Some Linguistic Comments", Maarav 3/1 (1982): 55-84.
Sarfatti, Gad B. "The Origin of Vowel Letters in West-Semitic Writing - A Tentative Recapitulation" (Hebrew), Leshonenu 58/1,3 (1994): 13-24,275.
Zevit, Ziony. Matres Lectionis in Ancient Hebrew Epigraphs, American Schools of Oriental Research Monograph Series, no. 2. Cambridge, MA: American Schools of Oriental Research, 1980. Show Reviews
Hide Reviews
- Barr, James. Review of Matres Lectionis in Ancient Hebrew Epigraphs, by Ziony Zevit. In Journal of the American Oriental Society 104/2 (1984): 374-75.
- Bruton, Pamela J. Review of Matres Lectionis in Ancient Hebrew Epigraphs, by Ziony Zevit. In Journal of Near Eastern Studies 42/2 (1983): 163-165.
- Naveh, Joseph. Review of Matres Lectionis in Ancient Hebrew Epigraphs, by Ziony Zevit. In Israel Exploration Journal 33 (1983): 139-40.
- Pardee, Dennis. Review of Matres Lectionis in Ancient Hebrew Epigraphs, by Ziony Zevit. In Catholic Bible Quarterly 44 (1982): 503-4.
- Rainey, Anson F. Review of Matres Lectionis in Ancient Hebrew Epigraphs, by Ziony Zevit. In Journal of Biblical Literature 102/4 (1983): 629-34

Who am I?

2006-02-09T12:32:00.000+02:00

Hello, and welcome to my blog.
I am Yitzhak Sapir. I am a software engineer in Petah Tikva, Israel. I am a frequent poster on various Bible and ANE related mailing lists, and this blog came about to store in a more readable form some of the posts and arguments I make on those lists. Many times I feel that my ideas get lost amongst the argumentation made on the list. It will also serve to highlight news events and scholarship, mainly related to the Hebrew Bible and Israel. I intend to provide references to scholarship, with an emphasis on critical and/or online forms of studies and articles. An emphasis on Hebrew articles will also be attempted. My ideas as presented here have not been subject to review except so far as they have been stated on mailing lists and criticized or commented there. I am also not a scholar, have no Biblical Studies related degree, and have not learned Biblical or related studies in any formal program. So while I try to follow methodological guidelines that would ensure my ideas are able to stand amongst the scholarship that I quote, I am never sure they do and I hope that I don't mislead you into thinking that they do. Maybe some of them will eventually grow and become published in the academic process and gain that special status that differentiates the scholarship from the popular.