Introduction
The fantastic Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and Faith in Biblical Times exhibition at the Discovery Times Square building in New York City is about more than just the Dead Sea Scrolls; it is about daily life in the Biblical world. The subtitle — “Life and Faith in Biblical Times” — says it all. The exhibition runs until April 15, 2012, in New York City, and then, in May 2012, it will be at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, where it will run for another five months.

The Bible is more than just another book with black (and sometimes red) letters on a page. The Bible is about real people, in real places, experiencing real events in history. Sometimes, because of our twenty-first century Western mindset and experiences, it is difficult to imagine how people lived in Biblical times. For example, the LORD metaphorically searched Jerusalem with lamps (Zeph. 1:12). When we think of a lamp, we think of a stand with a shade and a socket with an electric light bulb that illuminates when a switch is flipped. In the Biblical world there was no electricity, only olive oil and a wick to light the oil lamp. This exhibition will give you an idea of what those lamps actually looked like.

Through the exhibition you will get a glimpse into the material culture of the Biblical world and add a third dimension to your Bible study! You will also be able to experience “Oh, now I see [literally] what the Bible is talking about” moments!

As an archaeologist and a Bible teacher, I was fascinated by the whole exhibition, which is on loan from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). I was able to view some of the latest archaeological discoveries from Israel for the first time, objects that I had only read about in the newspapers or in the archaeological journals. The last time the IAA sent such a large display of antiquities to New York City was to the Metropolitan Museum of Art during the winter of 1986-87. Hopefully, it will not be another 25 years before the IAA sends another collection to the Big Apple! Let’s enjoy this one while we can.

A Guide for a Self-Guided Tour
I have written a 39-page guide specifically for an Evangelical Christian audience, but others will find it helpful as well. The guide can be used for a self-guided tour of the exhibition by home-schooled students, Christian school classes, Bible study groups, Sunday school classes, church youth groups, and individuals who are interested in the world of the Bible. Please feel free to download the guide and visit this incredible collection of rare objects from Israel that illustrates life and faith in Biblical times.

Get your Self-Guided Tour Here

Where, When, and How Much?
The Discovery Times Square exhibition hall is located at 226 West 44th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues, in New York City. The hall is across the street from the Shubert Theatre and also a parking garage. Please note that West 44th Street is one-way going east so, if you are driving, Discovery Times Square must be approached from 8th Avenue, which is a one-way street going north.

The exhibition is open Sunday to Thursday, 10 AM through 8 PM and Friday and Saturday from 10 AM through 9 PM. The last entry is one hour before closing. The exhibition will run until April 15, 2012 and then it will relocate to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and run for five months beginning in May 2012.

Ticket prices are $25 for adults, $22.50 for seniors and $19.50 for children. You can order tickets over the Discovery Time’s Square’s Wed site, or buy tickets at the window at the entrance. A group rate is available for groups of ten or more people. To purchase group tickets or to find out more details, please call 855-266-5387, or send an E-mail to groupinfo@tsxnyc.com

For a $5 discount off the ticket price, click here for the flyer. This flyer can be used to purchase up to 8 tickets at a time and is good for every day of the week except holidays.

Headsets are available for an audio tour of select objects with commentary by Professor Lawrence Shiffman of Yeshiva University; Professor Bill Dever, retired from Arizona State University; and Professor Ronnie Reich of Haifa University and the Israel Antiquities Authority. Headsets may be rented for $7 apiece.

Discovery Times Square Website:
http://www.discoverytsx.com/exhibitions/dead-sea-scrolls

For pictures of some of the objects on display:
http://www.discoverytsx.com/exhibitions/dead-sea-scrolls/press-kit/images

Introduction
Who would have thought that a small Judean city on the western fringes of the Kingdom of Israel, facing Philistia, might provide a partial answer to the question posed in the December 2010 issue of National Geographic: “Was the Kingdom of David and Solomon a glorious empire – or just a little cow town?” (Draper 2010)?

Between June 13 and July 15, 2011, I worked on the archaeological excavation at Tel Zayit (Zeitah) in the Shephelah (lowlands) of Judah. The site is 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of Jerusalem and situated in the Beth Guvrin Valley system. Compared to some of the larger sites in the area, at 7.5 acres, Tel Zayit is a small site.  It has been identified by the excavators as the ancient city of Libnah (Josh. 15:42; Tappy 2008). The excavation was sponsored by Pittsburgh Theological Seminary under the directorship of Professor Ron E. Tappy. I was also one of the recipients of the Biblical Archaeological Society travel scholarships, for which I am very grateful.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise
One of the goals for this season was to reach the 8th century BC level in Area K-20. If we reached the floor level of that period, there would be plenty of dirt to sift. I have a lot of sifting experience from working at the Temple Mount Sifting Project and on digs at Lachish and Hazor. I was also keenly interested in this period because my master’s thesis was on the Hezekiah/Sennacherib chronology problem. So, one of my jobs for the summer was sifting the buckets of dirt from K-20.

We began the season at the Early Hellenistic level. A vertical probe (1 meter x 2 meters) from previous seasons was extended in an attempt to reach the Iron Age level. I sifted every bucket of dirt that came out of that probe. Early on, I found a small piece of shiny black pottery that I knew was Greek Attic ware. I showed it to Goby Barkay, and he said, “This is bad! This Attic ware is from the Persian period.” As PFC Gomer Pyle, USMC, used to say in his southern twang, “Surprise, surprise, surprise!!!” Instead of hitting the Late Iron Age (7th/8th century BC) as we had anticipated, we hit floors from the Persian period (6th century BC). Finding this layer came as a surprise, because prior to this discovery, no coherent Persian period stratum had been found at Tel Zayit. Reaching the Late Iron Age period level will have to wait for another season.

Last Bucket, Last Day!
One of the axioms of archaeology is that all the goodies are found on the last day. That axiom seemed to be confirmed when a large stone that had an abecedary (ancient alphabet) on it was discovered on the last day of the 2005 season (Tappy, et al. 2006). This season, one of the volunteers had to go home a week early. She was clearing a Persian period floor, and I was sifting every bucket that she handed up to me. In her last bucket at the end of her last day, I found a spiny dye-murex shell (Bolinus brandaris). This type of shell was used for dyeing red-purple cloth such as the famous Tyrian purple (Ziderman 1990).

Terracotta-Sandbag Soldiers!
Almost every excavation in Israel uses sandbags to hold up their baulks and frame the squares for final photography. This innovation was introduced in 1974 at Lachish by Dr. David Ussishkin after having observed the benefits of sandbags in a foxhole in the Jordan Valley during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. A baulk, sometimes spelled balk, is the “vertical face of the wall of soil left around a trench or between squares in an excavation (usually 0.5-1 meter wide)” (Stern 2008: 2131). The baulk gives a vertical profile of the stratigraphy.

One of my other jobs was filling sandbags for use at the end of the season. We needed sandbags to frame the 10 x 10 meter square of K-20 as well as to hold down the tarps that are used to cover all the areas for the winter. I used “clean” dirt from the sifting area of our dump. Because the dirt had already been sifted and all pottery, coins, and other objects had been removed, there will be no chance of finding a cuneiform tablet in one of those sandbags next season, which did occur at another excavation in the past!

Over the course of three weeks, I filled over 300 burlap sandbags in preparation for the final week. I lined them up in straight rows of 20 sandbags per row. I was a bit amused to see the Sky View photographers, a team specializing in aerial photography from a blimp, taking pictures of the rows of sandbags. Dr. Zvi Lederman, the co-director of the Beth Shemesh excavation, also took pictures of the sandbags when he visited Tel Zayit. He quipped, “They look like the terracotta-soldiers in China!” Dr. Tappy and I looked at each other and laughed. I had been calling them terracotta-sandbag soldiers all season! The terracotta soldiers were clay funerary statues found at the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, who died about 210 BC. In 1974, over 8,000 clay warriors, lined up in rows, were discovered.

Pop Quiz
For all the budding archaeologists reading this article, here is a pop quiz. Why do archaeologists always look down when they are walking? Answer: Because small objects can be found on the surface. I was constantly looking on the surface for goodies. I was not disappointed. Among other things, I found half a glass bead; a bronze weight for measuring gold that might have an inscription, but we won’t know for certain until it is cleaned; and a coin, possibly from the Hellenistic period.

The Answer Lies in the Baulk
Another axiom of archaeology is that the answer always lies in the baulk. This summer that axiom was proven true again in one of the baulks of O-19. The famous abecedary was found in Area O-19 and dated by Professors Ron Tappy and Kyle McCarter to the mid-tenth century BC. They concluded their publication of this important discovery by saying: “The appearance of an abecedary in an outlying town some distance from the capital city of Jerusalem demonstrates a movement toward literacy in the extreme western frontier of the kingdom during the mid-tenth century B.C.E.” (Tappy, et al. 2006: 42). That statement has far-reaching implications for the question raised by the National Geographic article.

The leader of the minimalist school (those who deny the historicity of the Bible), Israel Finkelstein, wrote a rebuttal to Tappy’s and McCarter’s article and suggested that the “Tel Zayit abecedary is a ‘Philistian’ inscription of the second half of the 9th century B.C.E.” (2008: 1). The challenge of the date had to be answered so Dr. Tappy decided to excavate the baulk on the side of Area O-19 in order to clarify the dating of the stratigraphy.

The baulk measured ten meters long, one meter wide, and a half meter high. Most excavations would have removed that baulk in thirty minutes or less so they could get on with their dig. Not Tel Zayit. It took four diggers two weeks to meticulously and methodically excavate the half-meter depth of the baulk! I think this will be the best-documented baulk in the archaeology of the Land of Israel, because everything was carefully recorded, drawn, and photographed. There were restorable pottery vessels from the 10th century and organic material that will be tested by Carbon-14 dating method to ascertain the date of the destruction level. When the details about this baulk are published by Dr. Tappy, the minimalists will have to seriously rethink and reconsider their position in light of the finds from this well-documented and meticulous excavation.

Shaul Junior
For the previous nine summers, I worked at Tel Hazor. One of the notable people on that dig was Shaul. He drove the van, did the shopping, prepared breakfast, maintained the tools, and did a host of other tasks. Sometimes I would accompany him and help him with his tasks. Little did I know that one day I would be doing a similar job. One of the other hats I wore at Tel Zayit was van driver. Every day I drove the diggers from Kibbutz Galon, where we were staying, to the site and back, got the breakfast and helped set out the buffet breakfast, and drove the volunteers to Kiryat Gat in order to take care of any personal business. I think I learned my job well from watching and helping Shaul. In my mind, I was Shaul Junior!

Gourmet Food
In previous years, my friend Goby Barkay had raved about the food that they ate at the Tel Zayit dig. He said they had a South African kibbutznik named Mike who was a gourmet chef and had served gourmet food at all three meals. When I was considering working at Tel Zayit, the gourmet food was a good selling point. Needless to say, I was not disappointed with Mike’s cooking. The food was excellent whether you were a carnivore or a vegetarian!

Out and About
On weekends we were “free” to do as we pleased. Dr. Tappy arranged two study tours for us. The first weekend tour was to the Negev and the Dead Sea. I passed on that trip. The second study tour was to the Galilee. I joined the group for this trip, and we visited Caesarea by the Sea, Megiddo, Beth Shean, Capernaum, and the Mount of Beatitudes on the first day. On the second day, we explored Hazor, Dan, Caesarea Philippi, Omrit, and the Arbel Cliffs.

On another weekend we visited two nearby sites: Lachish and Maresha. Toward the end of our dig we visited Tel es-Safi and got a guided tour of the site by the director, Dr. Aren Maeir. I think our visit was right before they found the important two-horned altar so we did not see it. One of our diggers asked Dr. Maeir when he was going to retire. His answer was a classic: “Only when archaeology is not fun anymore!”

David in a Cave – Psalm 57
One of my goals for this summer was to revisit the sites in the Shephelah and to solidify in my mind the topography of that region and the Biblical stories that took place there. A friend of mine had a Nissan Largo that went anywhere and everywhere, even up the dirt roads on the side of ancient mounds!

One of the sites I wanted to revisit was the cave at Adullam. Each morning I made it a point to read Psalm 57. The superscription says, “A Michtam of David when he fled from Saul into the cave.” The historical accounts in the Bible state that David was in a cave on at least two occasions. The first time he was in a cave was at Adullam (1 Sam. 22:1-2; 2 Sam. 23:13-17) and the second time was when he was in the area of Ein Gedi (1 Sam. 24:3-22). Most likely this psalm was composed when David was at the cave at Adullam. The preceding psalm, Psalm 56, was composed after David fled from Gath of the Philistines, just before he stopped at Adullam. One Shabbat (Saturday) I was able to get out to the site and review the geography of the area, which explains the reason David fled there in the first place. Hopefully, I will finish an essay on this psalm and post it on my website soon.

Summary and Thank You
There were no spectacular small finds at Tel Zayit this summer. The most important discovery, however, was a clearer understanding of the stratigraphy of the site. In K-20 it was the newly discovered Persian period level as well as another phase of the Roman period. In O-19 all indications point to the abecedary being clearly dated to the 10th century BC. If this date is correct, it would demonstrate that Israelites living in this out-of-the-way city were literate and, therefore, not a bunch of hillbillies living in some little cow town!

There were twenty people, including volunteers and staff, working on the excavation. It was a pleasure working with this team. Everybody worked well together, and the most commonly used phrase was “thank you.” Even the smallest things that someone would do for another were appreciated. So “THANK YOU” Dr. Tappy and team for a great season.

Bibliography

Draper, Robert
2010    Kings of Controversy. National Geographic 218/6: 66-91.

Finkelstein, Israel; Sass, Benjamin; and Singer-Avitz, Lily
2008    Writing in Iron IIA Philistia in the Light of the Tel Zayit/Zeta Abecedary. Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palastina-Vereins 124: 1-14.

Stern, Ephraim, ed.
2008   The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land. Vol. 5. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society; Washington, DC: Biblical Archaeology Society.

Tappy, Ron
2008    Tel Zayit. Pp. 2082-2083 The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land. Vol. 5. Edited by E. Stern. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society; Washington, DC: Biblical Archaeology Society.

Tappy, Ron; McCarter, P. Kyle; Lundberg, Marilyn; and Zuckerman, Bruce
2006    An Abecedary of the Mid-Tenth Century B.C.E. from the Judean
Shephelah. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 344: 5-46.

Ziderman, I. Irving
1990    Seashells and Ancient Purple Dyeing.  Biblical Archaeologist 53/2: 98-101.

Introduction
The Lord, in His permissive will, allowed Satan to afflict “a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job, and the man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1, all Scripture quotes from the New King James Bible).

The Patriarch Job lived in the Land of Uz (Job 1:1), which is synonymous with the territory of Edom (Lam. 4:21). The Land of Edom was situated on both sides of the Aravah, the strip of land between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Akaba / Eilat (Crew 2002: 2-10).

Job and his three friends; Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, were completely unaware of the ultimate cause of Job’s afflictions. As they dialogued back and forth trying to discern why Job was suffering (Job 3-31), Job expressed his faith in God as his Redeemer and his confidence in the ultimate resurrection of the body. “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my flesh is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.  Now my heart yearns within me!” (19:25-27).

In this essay, I would like to explore the possibility that there might be some overlooked archaeological evidence for the concept of the resurrection of the body during the period of the Patriarch Job.

Chalcolithic Ossuary Jars
In the standard archaeological chronology, the Chalcolithic period is dated from 6,400 to 3,600 BC (Stern 2008:5:2126). I believe that these chronological dates need to be revised downward in order to conform to the Biblical Chronology.  Since there was a catastrophic, worldwide Flood in Noah’s Day, all the archaeological strata would be Post-Flood. The Patriarchs, including Job, should be set archaeologically in the Chalcolithic period and Early Bronze age.

In an intriguing study of Chalcolithic ossuary jars by Assaf Nativ of Tel Aviv University, he suggested the possibility that some of the ossuary jars function as models of cocoons and are symbols of metamorphosis (2008:209-214). He observed that ossuary jars are oval in shape with an aperture [opening] down the shoulder of the vessel. The top is domed and has a knob on top. He concluded that the “general form … of the ossuary jar bear some close similarities to a range of cocoons, particularly those of butterflies. The vessel itself resembles the encapsulating shell and the knob the cremaster – the part holding the body of the cocoon to the twig or branch from which it hangs. Further allusions to cocoons may be found in the patterns of decoration found on some of the ossuary jars. These may represent the ‘ribs’ discernable upon some cocoons surfaces, vegetal motifs alluding to the milieu in which they dwell, and possibly even patterns of butterfly wings” (2008:210).

The Metamorphosis of the Butterfly and Ossuary Jars
The butterfly is an insect that undergoes complete metamorphosis. The larva (caterpillar) turns into a pupa (cocoon) and during this stage; the larva is liquefied and then rebuilt into a beautiful butterfly when it emerges from the cocoon.

The Hebrew word ‘ash is translated butterfly or moth. Job knew these insects (Job 4:19; 13:28; 27:18), as did the psalmist (Psalm 39:11), and the prophets (Isa. 50:9; 51:8; Hos. 5:12).

Nativ has observed that the “place of the cocoon within the life cycle of the butterflies affords a powerful metaphor for utter metamorphosis, whereby the tissues of one form are liquefied and rearranged to bring about an entirely new being.” He goes on to suggest that the “deposition of human skeletal remains in a model of a cocoon alludes to the physical transformation of the caterpillar into a butterfly.” His suggested conclusion is that the “use made of ossuary jars in mortuary contexts during the Chalcolithic period symbolizes the cocoon and alluded to the physical and qualitative metamorphosis characteristic of the butterfly’s life-cycle. It is interesting to note in this regards that the reference to the cocoon, the inert and ‘lifeless’ phase, rather than the emerging butterfly, seems to emphasize the transformation proper rather than the actual emergence. Perhaps only the potential is certain, while the completion of the transformation and re-emergence are not guaranteed” (2008:212).

Of his analysis, Nativ states: “whether ossuary jars function as model cocoons and symbols of metamorphosis cannot be proven, nor can it be easily dismissed” (2008:213).

The Patriarch Job and the Resurrection
In the ancient world, death was not the cessation of life, but rather, a transfer from one state to another. The Patriarch Job, most likely set in the Chalcolithic period, expresses his confidence in the resurrection of the body: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my flesh is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.  Now my heart yearns within me!” (19:25-27).

In this passage he expresses his confidence that his Redeemer God is alive and well and shall one day in the future stand on the earth. Job also recognizes that his own body will die and there will be a time period before his eyes, in a new body, shall behold his God.

The Chalcolithic people expressed this concept of death and their hope in the resurrection by their act of secondary burial. The body died, the flesh decayed, the bones were gathered and placed in cocoon-like ossuaries awaiting the great transformation (metamorphosis) of the body at the resurrection.

The Conclusion of the Matter
The Apostle Paul describes what happens to the physical body after death in 1 Corinthians 15.

“So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?’ The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (15:42-57).

After Job died, his children gathered his bones and placed them in an ossuary, possibly an ossuary jar that looked like a cocoon, waiting the day when he, in his glorified body, shall see his Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, face to face. Job, in his life, exemplified the admonition that the Apostle Paul gave to the Corinthian believers in light of the resurrection of the body from the dead: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (15:58).

Bibliography

Crew, Bruce
2002    Did Edom’s Original Territories Extend West of ‘Wadi Arabah?  Bible and Spade 15/1: 2-10.

Nativ, Assaf
2008    A Note on Chalcolithic Ossuary Jars: A Metaphor for Metamorphosis.  Tel Aviv 35/2: 209-214.

This essay is dedicated to Dr. Gabriel “Goby” Barkay and Zachi Zweig, co-directors of the Temple Mount Sifting Project; and to the tens of thousands who have sifted the dirt from the Holy Hill of Zion (Psalm 102:14)

Introduction
It is always the archaeologist’s dream to find inscriptional material, such as a seal, bulla, stela, ostraca, clay tablet, papyrus, scroll, or even just graffiti on a wall.  In Israel, an inscription is a rare find, and some are revealed to be forgeries.

In the summer of 2005, the Jerusalem Post reported the discovery of a tenth-century wall in the City of David in Jerusalem by Dr. Eilat Mazar.  One of her area supervisors also discovered a bulla (a dried lump of clay with a seal impression on it) of an individual named “Jerucal ben [son of] Shelemiah ben [son of] Shevi.”  The name of this person appears in Jeremiah 37:3 and 38:1.  This seal impression adds a detail that the Bible does not mention: the name of his grandfather, Shevi (Lefkovits 2005:13; Mazar 2007:67-69).

In this essay we will examine the command that God gave to Jeremiah to redeem a field from his cousin, Hanamel of Anathoth.  Particular attention will be given to the archaeological background to this chapter and how it illustrates the Biblical text.  Jeremiah’s obedience to God’s command, in spite of a hopeless situation, was a vivid lesson to the people of Judah that God would return His people from the Babylonian captivity.  Jeremiah had publicly proclaimed to the people of Judah that God would restore them to the land after 70 years of captivity in Babylon.  Jeremiah’s faith in the promise of God was shown by buying the field at Anathoth, a city already destroyed by the Babylonians.  Jeremiah was literally putting his money where his mouth was!

Jeremiah Redeems a Field in Anathoth as a Sign of Future Redemption (32:1-15)

The Time Setting.  32:1, 2
The date that is given in this chapter is the tenth year of Zedekiah and the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar (32:1).  This date would be in 587 BC.  Two deportations of Judeans to Babylon had already taken place (605 BC and 598 BC).  In the tenth year of Zedekiah, the Babylonians were besieging Jerusalem (32:2).  Jeremiah was in the court of the prison in the king’s house, possibly on the Western Hill.

In the preceding two chapters (Jer. 30 and 31), Jeremiah forewarned the Judeans of the destruction of Jerusalem and Judah as well as the Babylonian captivity.  But he also predicted that the people would return to the land of Judah.  For this reason, these chapters have been called the “book of consolation” or “book of hope” (cf. Jer. 30:2).  At least nine times he predicts that the people of Judah will return to the land (30:10,11, 30:18, 31:3-6, 31:7-9, 31:10-12, 31:16,17, 31:18, 31:23,24).

King Zedekiah complains of Jeremiah’s prophecies.  32:3-5
The Prophet Jeremiah was not a popular preacher.  He did not say to the people of Judah that God did not care about their lifestyle and that they could go on living in their sins.  Nor did he say that the Babylonians were a peace-loving people with only good intentions toward Jerusalem and Judah.  King Zedekiah understood the words of the prophet: First, the LORD was going to use the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem (32:3; cf. 21:4-6); second, King Zedekiah would attempt to flee from the Babylonians but he would be captured and taken to see King Nebuchadnezzar face to face (32:4; cf. 21:7); and finally, King Zedekiah would be taken captive to Babylon (32:5a).  Jeremiah also added that it would be futile to fight the Babylonian army (32:5b).

King Zedekiah did not like Jeremiah’s “doom-and-gloom” preaching.  Yet everything Jeremiah said was based on the Mosaic Law as recorded in the Torah.  As history unfolded, everything Jeremiah said in his seven encounters with King Zedekiah (Jer. 21:1-7, 32:1-5, 34:1-7, 37:1-15, 37:16-21, 38:1-6, 38:14-28) came to pass (2 Kings 25:4-7; Jer. 39:1-10).  What Jeremiah had not told him was that his sons would be killed and his eyes would be put out by the Babylonians.

Jeremiah recounts the story of redeeming a field in Anathoth.  32:6-15
The city of Anathoth, Jeremiah’s hometown, is located 4 kilometers (2½ miles) to the north of the Temple Mount in the tribal territory of Benjamin (cf. Josh. 18:11-28; Jer. 1:1, 11:21-23, 29:27, 32:7-9; Hareuveni 1991).  It was also a Levitical city (Josh. 21:18).  Two of David’s mighty men, Abiezar and Jehu, came from this city (2 Sam. 23:27; 1 Chron. 11:28, 12:3, 27:12).  A high priest, Abiathar, was exiled to his estate in the city (1 Kings 2:26).  During the Syro-Ephraimite Campaign, Anathoth was a target for the invading army (Isa. 10:30).  After the Babylonian exile, some of the people of Anathoth returned to their hometown, just as Jeremiah had prophesized (Ezra 2:23; Neh. 7:27, 11:32).

Jeremiah was in prison when the Lord spoke to him and said that his cousin, Hanamel, was going to visit and ask Jeremiah to buy his field in Anathoth (32:6-7).  Jeremiah realized it was the hand of the Lord when Hanamel, the son of Shallum, showed up and asked Jeremiah to redeem his field in Anathoth partially based on the laws recorded in Leviticus 25:23-28.  Jeremiah might have been aware that Anathoth had already fallen to the Babylonians (cf. 32:25).  He redeemed the field because God commanded him to do so, rather than thinking: “This must be some cruel joke by my relatives who plotted to kill me a few years ago along with the men of Anathoth (Jer. 11:18-23). Now they are trying to sell me this field after the Babylonians destroyed the city.  What a scam!”  God commanded him to buy the field so that Judah would have a sign that they would one day return from captivity in Babylon.

In verses 9-15 the transaction is recorded in detail.  The first thing Jeremiah did was to weigh out the 17 shekels of silver scraps in order to buy the field (32:9).  During the Iron Age, money – minted coins – had not yet been invented.  So the shekels of silver would have been a weight of silver, not coins.  Today, we would call it “junk silver,” e.g., broken pieces of a silver ring, silverware, old silver coins.  In 1968, the largest hoard of junk silver ever discovered was in five Iron Age vessels in the ancient city of Eshtemoa in the Judean Hills.  These vessels contained a total of 27.21 kilograms (62 pounds) of junk silver (Yeivin 1987:38-44).

One shekel of silver weighed 11.33 grams (Kletter 1991:122,134).  Jeremiah would have purchased the land for about 182.61 grams (0.182 kilograms) of silver.  To give the American reader a contemporary perspective, that amount of silver would be equivalent to 73 Mercury-head dimes worth of silver.  Keep in mind; however, there is not a speck of silver in the dimes currently being minted because they have been debased by the federal government!

Unfortunately, the circumstances surrounding the transaction are not known.  One cannot conclude that the land was worth $7.30; the amount of silver used to purchase the land is equal to the amount of silver in 73 Mercury-head dimes, but its value is not.  Therefore, we have no idea what the value of silver was at the time or whether its value was inflated because of the siege.  We also do not know the size of the field being purchased or its market value.  All we know for certain is that Jeremiah paid 17 shekels for that field.

Jeremiah put 17 stone shekel weights on a pan on one side of the scale and proceeded to put seventeen shekels of silver scraps on a pan on the other side until the scale was balanced (32:10).  During the 1977 season at the excavations of Tel Lachish, half of a balance beam from a scale was discovered in Stratum IV of Area S, dated to the middle of the eighth century BC.  It was made of ivory, or polished bone, and was 10.1 cm (4 inches) long.  If it were complete, then it would be about 20 cm (8 inches) long.  The only other balance beam to be found in an archaeological excavation was at Megiddo (Barkay 1996:75-82).

To finalize the land purchase, two “purchase deeds” were written up:  an open one and a sealed one (32:10-14).  The deeds were identical, but, in case of a dispute, the sealed one was the one that was binding.  The sealed deed was put in a safe place so it could be opened if there was a problem.  Probably, the transaction information, including the price of the sale, a description of the field being sold, and the identity of the buyer and seller were recorded on the document, which was papyrus.  One deed was rolled up and tied with a string.  A lump of clay was then placed on the string, and an impression was made with a seal that contained the owner’s name and possibly his title.  This clay impression is known as a bulla (plural bullae).  Although it is not stated in the text, the witnesses to the transaction might have added their bullae as well (Avigad 1986:125-127; Shiloh 1986:36-38; for illustrations as to how the deed might have been sealed: Avigad 1986:123, Fig. 4; Brandl 2000:60, Fig. 6; 63, Fig. 9).

The deeds were handed to Baruch the son of Neriah the son of Mahseiah for safe keeping.  A bulla with the inscription “(Belonging) to Berekhyahu son of Neriyahu the scribe” was discovered in a non-provenanced hoard of bullae and published by Professor Nahman Avigad (1978, 1979, and 1986).  A second, identical bulla is in a private collection (Shanks 1996:36-38).  Baruch is the shortened form of the name Berekhyahu.  Most likely this bulla was used by Baruch to seal documents when he was a royal scribe before 605/604 BC.  Avigad suggests that “Baruch seems eventually to have left his official position [of royal scribe] and joined Jeremiah in his struggle against the pro-Egyptian, anti-Babylonian policy of the court, a policy which was soon to lead to the destruction of Jerusalem” (1986:130).  A word of caution is in order: recently one scholar identified these two bullae as forgeries (Rollston 2003:161), but there is still a scholarly debate as to their authenticity.

Jeremiah instructed Baruch to take both purchase deeds and place them in an earthen vessel so they would be preserved for a long time (32:13-14).  During the 1982 season at the City of David excavations in Jerusalem, 51 bullae (later revised to 53) were discovered in Locus 967 in Area G.  This is the “first time that so large a group of easily legible Hebrew sealings has come to light in a controlled excavation, in a clear stratigraphic context and accompanied by architectural, ceramic and historical evidence” (Shiloh 1986:16-17).  On the floor of what is now known as the “House of the Bullae” were found “two vessels of uncommon form – tall kraters with high trumpet bases.  The latter are distinguished by their exceptionally high-quality slip and wheel-burnish covering the entire body.  At the base of the body is a drainage (?) hole, made prior to firing” (Shiloh 1986:23-24; Fig. 6:2-3; Pl. 6A).  The excavator, Yigal Shiloh, suggested the possibility that these two kraters “may have served for storage of the papyri, the bullae from which were found scattered around them” (1986:36).  This collection of bullae dates to the end of the seventh and beginning of the sixth centuries BC, which would make them contemporary with the Prophet Jeremiah (Shoham 2000:30).

Conclusions
Jeremiah paid 17 shekels of silver to redeem his cousin’s field in Anathoth.  He signed the land deed, sealed it with his personal seal, which the witnesses probably did as well, and then delivered the deed to his confidant Baruch for safe keeping in a clay vessel, most likely in an administrative archive.  This account ends with the promise from the Lord that “Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land” (32:15).
The situation looked bleak, because the Babylonians were about to destroy Jerusalem and take the Judeans captive to Babylon.  Jeremiah, however, rested in the promise of God and proclaimed that the people would return to their land and rebuild their cities.  He put his money where his mouth was by redeeming his cousin’s field.
Perhaps one day, archaeologists will find a bulla or seal with the name of Jeremiah the prophet on it in a controlled archaeological excavation!

Bibliography

Avigad, Nahman
1978    Baruch the Scribe and Jerahmeel the King’s Son.  Israel Exploration Journal 28: 52-56.

1979    Jerahmeel and Baruch.  King’s Son and Scribe. Biblical Archaeologist 42: 114-118.

1986    Hebrew Bullae From the Time of Jeremiah.  Remnants of a Burnt Archive. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society.

Barkay, Gabriel
1996    A Balance Beam from Tel Lachish.  Tel Aviv 23/1: 75-82.

Brandl, Baruch
2000    Bullae with Figurative Decoration.  Pp. 58-74 in Excavations at the City of David 1978-1985 Directed by Yigal Shiloh.  Final Report VI.  Inscriptions.  Edited by D. T. Ariel.  Qedem 41.  Jerusalem: Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University.

Hareuveni, Nogah
1991    Desert and Shepherd in Our Biblical Heritage.  Kiryat Ono, Israel: Neot Kedumim.

Kletter, Raz
1991    The Inscribed Weights of the Kingdom of Judah.  Tel Aviv 18/2: 121-163.

Lefkovits, Etgar
2005    Shards of Evidence.  The Jerusalem Post August 11.  Page 13.

Mazar, Eilat
2007    Preliminary Report on the City of David Excavations 2005 at the Visitors Center. Jerusalem and New York: Shalem.

Rollston, Christopher
2003    Non-Provenanced Epigraphs I: Pillaged Antiquities, Northwest Semitic Forgeries, and Protocols for Laboratory Tests.  Maarav 10:135-195.

Shanks, Hershel
1996    Fingerprint of Jeremiah’s Scribe.  Biblical Archaeology Review 22/2: 36-38.

Shiloh, Yigal
1986    A Group of Hebrew Bullae from the City of David.  Israel Exploration Journal 36/1-2: 16-38.

Shoham, Yair
2000    Hebrew Bullae.  Pp. 29-57 in Excavations at the City of David 1978-1985 Directed by Yigal Shiloh.  Final Report VI.  Inscriptions.  Edited by D. T. Ariel.  Qedem 41.  Jerusalem: Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University.

Yeivin, Ze’ev
1987    The Mysterious Silver Hoard from Eshtemoa.  Biblical Archaeology Review 13/6: 38-44.

By Gordon Franz

Some have raised the objection that Mount Sinai could not be in the Sinai Peninsula because millions of Israelites died during the Wilderness Wanderings and no graves of any of these Israelites have been discovered in the Sinai Peninsula from this period.  Recently we received such an inquiry at the Associates for Biblical Research (ABR) website by an anonymous individual identified only as “Curious.”

This individual states: “How can it be logical to say the Israelites wandered in the Sinai Peninsula for 40 years, and the older ones all died, and kept the younger ones very busy burying their older generation (all the millions of adults who came out of Egypt), and yet archaeology in that location never has found a single gravesite from the entire time of the wilderness wanderings?  I don’t think the Sinai Peninsula is the right location for the 40 years of wanderings because there should be millions of graves there if that is where the Israelites wandered” (Italics by Gordon Franz).
Is this a valid objection to Mount Sinai being in the Sinai Peninsula?

First, we should start with the hermeneutical questions: Does the Bible interpret the archaeological finds?  Or, do the archaeological finds interpret the Bible?  In “Curious’” case, archaeology is used to interpret the Bible (see italics quote).  That is a very dangerous precedent to follow because archaeology is not an exact science and it is always changing with new excavations and new interpretations.  Views held by archaeologists today may be passé tomorrow due to new evidence.  So I would reject “Curious’” underlying presupposition.

I believe that the Bible is divine revelation and it should interpret the archaeological finds.  The Bible is clear, Mount Sinai is in the Sinai Peninsula, and so the Bible has to dictate how we interpret the archaeological finds (Har-el 1983; Rasmussen 1989:86-92).

Second, to say that there are no graves in the Sinai from the period of the Exodus / Wilderness Wanderings is very misleading.  One should first ask the question: In what archaeological period was the Wilderness Wanderings (Cohen 1983:16-39; for surveys of Sinai, see Meshel 2000)?  Does a preconceived idea of which archaeological period to look at happen to eliminate all your evidence?

Third, what kind of graves would Israelites have been buried in?  If the Israelites buried their dead in a simple trench burial in the ground, would they have even left a marker on top of the grave?  There would be no reason to mark the grave because they were heading to the Promised Land, the Land of Canaan, and not returning back to visit the graves of their ancestors as Bedouin in Sinai, the Negev, Jordan and Saudi Arabia do today, thus the markers on their graves so they can visit their ancestors!

Fourth, how do we know that most of the Israelites were even buried in Sinai?  The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers that: “But with most of them God was not pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness” (I Cor. 10:5 NKJV).  “Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert” (NIV).  One gets the distinct impression from this passage that most of the bodies were just left in the Wilderness, exposed to the elements … and the vultures, hyenas and jackals!  If that is the case, there will be very few graves at all, thus “no gravesites in Sinai” would be a dead objection.

Fifth, another possibility that should be pursued is the Hebrew practice of secondary burial.  In this practice, the dead would be buried in a cave for a year and then the bones would be gathered for “secondary burial.”  In the case of the First Temple period, the bones would be placed into a repository in the cave.  During the Second Temple period, the bones would be placed in an ossuary.  The phrase in the Bible that is connected with this practice is: “and he slept with his fathers,” or more literally, “he was gathered to his fathers.”

This practice began with the Patriarch Abraham when he bought a cave near Hebron and buried his wife Sarah in it (Gen. 23).  He was later interned there, as was his son Isaac and his wife Rebecca.  Jacob and one of his wives, Leah, were buried there as well (Gen. 49:28-33; 50:5, 13).  When Jacob died in Egypt, he wanted to be gathered to his fathers in the Promised Land.

Abraham, and later Jacob, bought plots of ground near Shechem and this was later used as a burial plot for others of their descendents, including Joseph (Gen. 33:19; cf. Acts 7:15-16).  Joseph clearly instructs the Children of Israel to rebury his bones in the Promised Land (Gen. 50:24-25; cf. Heb. 11:22; Ex. 13:19; Josh. 24:32).

The Bible places the burial of Rachel in the tribal territory of Benjamin (Gen. 48:7; I Sam. 10:2; cf. Jer. 31:15; Neh. 7:26).  Interestingly, in the territory of Benjamin, there are six or seven megalithic structures clustered together and preserve the Arabic name Qubur Bani Israil, translated “tombs of the sons of Israel” (Finkelstein and Magen 1993: 63*, 371-372, site 479; Hareuveni 1991: 64-71).

When the Wilderness Wandering narratives are examined, there are only three accounts of burials recorded.  The first is those who died of the plague at Kibroth Hattaavah [“the graves of craving”] after the LORD sent quail to their camp (Num. 11:31-34).  The second burial that is recorded is that of Miriam, the sister of Moses, at Kadesh Barnea (Num. 20:1).  The final burial is at the death of Aaron, the brother of Moses, on Mount Hor that is on the border with Edom (probably Mount Rimon, Har-el 1983:273-274).   Interestingly, in the account of Aaron’s death, there is no mention of his burial (Num. 20:23-29), but there is mention of him being “gathered to his fathers” (20:24, 26).  In the book of Deuteronomy, however, his burial is mentioned (10:6).

The fact that Aaron would be “gathered to his fathers” indicates secondary burial was practiced, at least with him, during the Wilderness Wanderings.  As was noted with the Patriarchs, their desire was to be buried in the Land of Israel (“Eretz Yisrael”).  It is a distinct possibility that the Israelites gathered the bones of their relatives who died in the Wilderness and carried them to the Promised Land and buried them in the Land of Israel (Gonen 1985: 53 [sidebar], 54 [map]).  If that is the case, there would be no graves of the Israelites in the Wilderness because they would be in Israel!

Finally, the tables should be turned on those who reject Mount Sinai and the Wilderness Wanderings in the Sinai Peninsula.  What is the nature of their “evidence” for graves at their theorized sites?  Again, the questions that need to be answered are these: (1) Where are these “Israelite” graves outside of the Sinai Peninsula?  (2) How does one know they are Israelites burials and not recent Bedouin burials?  (3) What archaeological period are you looking for the Wilderness Wanderings?  (4) What archaeological remains (if any) were excavated at these graves and are they from the period of the Wilderness Wanderings?  (5) Were these human remains carbon dated to determine the possible dates of the bones?  If so, are these dates consistent with the Biblical date for the Wilderness Wanderings?  (6) Were DNA tests done on the bones to determine the ethnic origin of those buried in these graves?  Were the DNA tests results compared to the local Bedouin in the area to see if it matched their DNA?

I think we should pursue other avenues of inquiries before we allow archaeology to interpret the Bible, thus abandoning the clear statements of Scripture and removing Mount Sinai from the Sinai Peninsula and placing it in Saudi Arabia or somewhere else.  Mount Sinai belongs in the Sinai Peninsula, right where the Bible places it!

Bibliography

Cohen, Rudolph
1983    The Mysterious MB I People.  Does the Exodus Tradition in the Bible Preserve the Memory of Their Entry into Canaan?  Biblical Archaeology Review 9/4: 16-29.

Finkelstein, Israel; and Magen, Yitzhak, eds.
1993    Archaeological Survey of the Hill Country of Benjamin.  Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.

Gonen, Rivka
1985    Was the Site of the Jerusalem Temple Originally a Cemetery?  Biblical Archaeology Review 9/3: 44-55.

Har-el, Menashe
1983    The Sinai Journeys.  The Route of the Exodus.  San Diego, CA: Ridgefield Publishing Company.

Hareuveni, Nogah
1991    Desert and Shepherd in Our Biblical Heritage.  Trans. by Helen Frenkley.  Kiryat Ono: Neot Kedumim.

Meshel, Ze’ev
2000    Sinai.  Excavations and Studies.  Oxford: BAR International Series 876.

Rasmussen, Carl
1989    Zondervan NIV Atlas of the Bible.  Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Introduction

The consequence of King Uzziah’s military strategy associated with his foreign policy is summarized by a proverb of wise King Solomon.  He stated: “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov. 16:18).  Let us examine the geography of King Uzziah’s military expansionist policies and show how these policies led to a proud heart and eventually to his downfall.  King Uzziah (also called Azariah in II Kings 15:1-7) is an example of a king who starts out spiritually on the right foot, but ends up on the wrong foot (II Chron. 26).

Chronology

At this point in Israel’s history the Kingdom is divided.  The ten tribes to the north called Israel and the two tribes to the south called Judah.  King Uzziah, also known as Azariah, reigned from 792-740 BC.  He was 16 years old when he came to the throne (792 BC) after the death of his father Amaziah.  Uzzaih “sought God in the days of Zechariah” which was about 25 years.  When he was 41 years old, about 767 BC, he rebuilt Eilat.  His expansionist policies led to a “strong heart being lifted up” and in the year 750 BC, the Middle East was struck with a devastating earthquake and Uzziah was struck with leprosy.  In the northern Kingdom, Jeroboam II was ruling from Samaria (792-753/2 BC).

The Rebuilding of Eilat

King Uzziah stepped out of the will of God as revealed in the Word of God, by taking territory that did not belong to him.  It is unusual for the writer of the book of Chronicles to mention the building activities in the summary formula of the king’s reign.  The Spirit of God included this statement of the building of Eilat because it a key to understanding Uzziah’s pride, and his subsequent downfall.

The southern border of Israel, which is also the southern border of the tribal territory of Judah, is explicitly given in Numbers 34:3-5.  It states: “Your southern border shall be from the Wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom; then your sourhern border shall extend eastward to the end of the Salt Sea; your border shall turn from the southern side of the Ascent of Akrabbim, continue to Zin, and be on the south side of Kadesh Barnea; then it shall go to Hazar Addar; and continue to Azmon; the border shall turn from Azmon to the Brook Egypt, and it shall end at the Sea.”  Joshua basically reiterates the same borders: “The border of Edom at the Wilderness of Zin southward was the extreme southern boundry.  And their southern border began at the shore of the Salt Sea, from the bay that faces southward.  Then it went out to the southern side of the Ascent of Akrabbim, passed along to Zin, ascended on the south side of Kadesh Barnea, passed along to Hezron, went up to Adar, and went around to Karkaa.  From there it passed toward Azmon and went out to the Brook of Egypt; and the border ended at the sea.  This shall be your southern border” (15:2-4; CBA 51).

There are two things to note in these passages.  First, the line of the border goes from the southern end of the Dead Sea, to the south of the Ascent of Akrabbim (the scorpion), through the Wilderness of Zin to a point south of Kadesh Barnea.  The second thing to note is that the territory of Edom lies to the south of the Land of Israel and the tribal territory of Judah (Crew 2002).

The city of Eilat that was built by King Uzziah was in Edom’s territory.  When King Solomon sent out his Red Sea fleet, they departed from “Ezion Geber, which is near Elath on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom” (I Kings 9:26).  “Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and Elath on the seacoast, in the land of Edom” (II Chron. 8:17).

In the description of the Children of Israel wandering in the wilderness, the territory of Edom is mentioned and Eilat and Ezion Geber are placed in this territory (Deut. 2:1-8).

When I was a student at the Institute of Holy land Studies in Jerusalem, I had a class on “Modern Israeli Society.”  One lecture was by a member of Israel’s parliament, the Kenesst.  His name was Yehuda ben Moshe.  He made a statement I never forgot.  He said his only claim to fame in life was: “I was the first mayor of Eilat in 1948 and it was a city that did not belong to us Biblically!”  I thought that was an odd statement when he made it, but when I began to study the life of King Uzziah, I realized he was right.  Eilat belonged to Edom, not Israel.

The Identification of the Eilat

The region of Eilat / Akaba was first surveyed by Fritz Frank in 1933.  He identified Tel el-Kheleifeh with Biblical Ezion Geber.  Nelson Glueck conducted three seasons of excavations at this site between 1938 and 1940.  He identified Tell el-Kheleifeh with Biblical Ezion-geber and Eilat (Glueck 1938: 2-13).

Prof. Benjamin Mazar challenged Glueck’s view.  He stated: “The immediate vicinity of ‘Aqaba is the most suitable spot for an Israelite fort to be associated with Ezion-Geber, located within the settled area of Elath.  The latter would be the earlier name of the site, and the fortress of Ezion-Geber would have been founded, after David’s conquest of Edom, as an emporium for the South-Arabian trade” (Mazar 1975: 119*).  He suggested that Tell el-Kheleifeh was Ebronah, one of Solomon’s “store-city” (Mazar 1975: 120*), also known as Biblical Abronah (Num. 33: 34-36).

Burno Rothenberg identifies the Ezion-Geber with Jezirat Fara’un, known as Pharaoh’s Island, to the west of modern Eilat (Rothenberg 1972: 202-207; Flinder 1989: 30-43).

Recently, a reappraisal of the excavations and identification of Tell el-Kheleifeh was done by Gary Pratico (1985: 1-32; 1986: 24-35; 1993: 17-23).  He concluded that the “identification of Tell el-Kheleifeh is both an archaeological and an historical problem.  One may argue the identification from the perspective of possibility or probability but the problem of verification precludes examination of the site in the context of Biblical Ezion-geber and/or Eilath (1985:27).

While we may not know precisely where the ancient site of Eilat is today, it is safe to say that it is in the area of modern day Eilat (Israel) and Akaba (Jordan).  It’s location on the tip of the Red Sea (Gulf of Eilat / Akaba) made it ideal for mercantile trade.  Sea trade and caravans through this port brought an increase in wealth for Judah because of this trade.  There were two other Israelite / Judean kings that took Eilat as well, Solomon (I Kings 9:26; CBA 112, 115) and Jehoshaphat (II Chron. 20:36).

The Military Preparations and Expansionist Conquests

The Chronicler records the military activity of King Uzziah.  He states: “Now he [Uzziah] went out and made war against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod; and he built cities around Ashdod and among the Philistines.  God helped him against the Philistines, against the Arabians who lived in Gur Baal, and against the Meunites.  And the Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah.  His fame spread as far as the entrance of Egypt, for he became exceedingly strong.  And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem …  And Uzziah built towers in the desert (midbar).  He dug many wells, for he had much livestock, both in the lowlands (Shephelah) and the plains (Coastal Plains); he also had farmers and vinedressers in the mountains and in Carmel, for he loved the soil” (II Chron. 26:6-10; CBA 141).

At the beginning of his military campaigns, Uzziah made war against the Philistines and God helped him (26:6, 7).  The southern border of Israel was the “brook Egypt”.  Nadav Na’aman places this border at the Nahal Basor, just south of Gaza city (1979:68-90; 1980:95-109).  Anson Rainey disputes this identification and places it at Wadi al-Arish (1982:130-136).  Judah should have driven the Philistines out of this territory long ago because they were a bad influence on Judah / Israel, a fact acknowledged by the Prophet Isaiah (2:6).

The securing of Philistia and the settlement of Judeans within the coastal plains had two economic benefits.  First, it gave them the opportunity to develop the agriculture in the area.  This was something that Uzziah had a keen interest in (II Chron. 26:10).  Second, Uzziah was able to extract tribute from the caravans that used the International Coastal Highway that went through the territory of Philistia (CBA 9, 10).

Uzziah also turned his attention to the Arabians that lived at Gur Baal (26:7).  The location of Gur Baal is a much debated topic, but it appears to be somewhere in the region southwest of Judah and near Philistia (Eph’al 1982: 77, 78).  The Meunites (26:7) appeared to have settled in the northern Sinai Peninsula to the west of the Aravah and Edom’s territory (I Chron. 4:41, 42; Eph’al 1982:65, 66).  In this military action, Uzziah is trying to secure his trade routes to Eilat from any attacks from the west.

The statement that the Ammonites brought tribute to King Uzziah (26:8), implies that Judah controlled the area as well as the strategic Transjordanian Highway that went through their territory, thus brining more tribute money (CBA 9, 10).

Uzziah built towers (migdalim) in the desert (midbar).  The midbar in view here is the Wilderness of Zin and its surrounding areas (26:10).  Rudolph Cohen has excavated a number of Iron Age fortresses in the Central Negev Highlands, the area of the Wilderness (midbar) of Zin (Cohen 1979: 61-79).  These fortresses, along the southern border of Judah, guarded the road to Eilat (Aharoni 1967: 15-17).  For a contrary view, see Finkelstein 1984: 189-209.

Uzziah also dug many wells, or cisterns (borot) in the area.  Some of which can still be seen in the area (Cohen 1981: xxvii, 62-64, site 101).

The Relationship of the Kings of Judah to Wealth and Power

Moses sets forth the rules and regulations concerning the future rule of kings of Israel / Judah (Deut. 17:14-20).  He states that the king will be chosen from “your brethren” (17:15).  He was not to multiply horses to himself (17:16).  This is to prevent the king from boasting about his own strength (cf. Josh. 11:6; II Sam. 8:4; Micah 5:10).  The king is not to multiply wives (17:17a).  An example of one who did was Solomon and the foreign wives drew his heart away from the Lord.  The king was not to greatly multiply silver and gold to himself (17:17b).  They need silver and gold to keep the kingdom functioning, but the instruction is not to “multiply” the precious metals.  The king was to write a copy of the (Mosaic) Law (17:18) and read the Law (17:19).  The king is subject to the Law and is not above it (17:20).

King Uzziah followed all these principles in the first part of his reign.  In the beginning he learned to fear God (II Chron. 26:16a); he observed God’s statues (26:16b); his heart was not lifted up (26:16b); nor did not turn away from the LORD (26:18), thus his days were prolonged (26:21).  Yet after he took Eilat, he built up his military and it included multiplying horses for his army.  As a result of controlling the international highways and receiving tribute, he multiplied gold and silver to himself.  The Prophet Isaiah acknowledged this state of affairs.  “Their land [Judah] is also full of silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land is also full of horses, and there is no end to their chariots” (2:7).

The Earthquake in the Days of King Uzziah

In the mid-8^th century BC, the Middle East was hit with a devastating earthquake.  The prophets warned both the Northern Kingdom as well as the Southern Kingdom of impending danger if they did not turn from their evil ways and return to the Lord and His ways.

Two years before this earthquake, the Judean shepherd from Tekoa, cried out against the social injustices in the northern kingdom under the rule of Jeroboam II (Amos 1:1; 9:1).  The book that bears his name is replete with warnings of an earthquake to come.  In the southern kingdom, Isaiah warns of this earthquake as well because of the haughtiness of the people of Judah (Isa. 2:6-21).  Hundreds of years later, the prophet Zechariah reminds the people of Judah of the devastation caused by this earthquake (Zech. 14:4, 5).

Evidence for this earthquake has been uncovered by the archaeologists spade throughout Israel and Jordan.  Graphic evidence can be seen at Hazor and Ein Hazeva (Biblical Tamar).  I tri-authored an article with two geologists on this earthquake and it was concluded that the earthquake measured an 8.2 on the Ritcher scale and the epicenter was located in the Beka Valley, in present day Lebanon (Austin, Franz and Frost 2000: 657-671).  An earthquake of that magnitude would put the fear of the LORD into anybody.

Josephus, the First Century Jewish historian, described the events in Jerusalem during this earthquake.  King Uzziah was in the Temple trying to offer incense on the altar at Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, a duty only allowed the High Priest (Lev. 16 and 17).  The priests tried to stop him, but he was defiant.  Josephus records what happens next: “But, while he [Uzziah] spoke, a great tremor shook the earth, and, as the temple was riven, a brilliant shaft of sunlight gleamed through it and fell upon the king’s face so that leprosy at once smote him” (Antiquities of the Jews 9:225; LCL 6:119; cf. II Chron. 26:19-21, 23).  The Bible does not place the two events together chronologically, but Josephus may have had access to records that are no longer available to us.

Uzziah was so full of pride that he thought he was above the Law and could do anything he wanted to do.  The Chronicler again records: “But when he was strong his heart was lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed against the LORD his God by entering the Temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense” (II Chron. 26:16).  The same Hebrew words are used in Proverb 16:18 which states: “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.”  Uzziah paid a high price for his pride and disobedience to the Word of God.  He was put outside the city in an “isolation house” and was not allowed into the Temple again (II Chron. 26:21).

The Death of King Uzziah

The Bible records the death of King Uzziah in these terms: “So Uzziah rested with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of burial which belonged to the kings, for they said, ‘He is a leper’” (II Chron. 26:23).  He was buried with his fathers, but not in the royal tombs.  His burial cave is probably the cave in the City of David overlooking the “Tower of Siloah.”

In the 19^th century, a burial inscription was discovered on the Mount of Olives (Cameron 1973: 120, #255).  It read: “Here were brought / the bones of Uzziah, / King of Judah, / and not to be opened.”  The paleography of the inscription is late 1^st century BC.  Joesphus records that Herod the Great erected a monument over the tomb of David after he tried to steal some of the gold and silver from the tomb.  This was probably the time when Uzziah’s bones were moved and the inscription was written.

Summary of King Uzziah’s Foreign Policy and Spiritual Regression

King Uzziah began his reign on the “right foot” by being obedient to the Word of God.  Somewhere along the line, he stepped out of the will of God, as revealed in the Word of God, by taking Eilat.  When he did this, he had built up his military in order to control the Transjordanian Highway and the International Coastal Highway.  As a consequence of controlling these roads, he had to fortify these and other routes.  Yet with the control of these roads, the national treasury increased.  Yet the sad fact is, because of his military strength and wealth, King Uzziah developed a proud heart that led to his downfall (II Chron. 26:15, 16; Prov. 16:18).

Outline of the Life and Times of King Uzziah (II Chron. 26)

A.   Introduction.  26:1-5.

B.   The prosperity of King Uzziah.  26:6-15.

1.    Material possessions.  26:6-10.

2.    Military preparations.  26:11-15.

C.   The pride of King Uzziah.  26:16-19; cf. Deut. 8:6-18; Prov. 16:18.

D.   The punishment of King Uzziah.  26:20-23.

Bibliography

Aharoni, Yohanan

1967    Forerunners of the Limes: Iron Age Fortresses in the Negev.  Israel Exploration Journal 17/1: 1-17.

Aharoni, Yohanan; Avi-Yonah, Michael; Rainey, Anson; and Safrai, Ze’ev

2002   The Carta Bible Atlas.  Fourth edition.  Jerusalem: Carta.  (Footnoted as CBA).

Austin, Steve, Franz, Gordon, and Frost, Eric

2000    Amos’s Earthquake:  An Extraordinary Middle East Seismic Event of 750 B.C.  International Geology Review 42/7: 657-671.

Carmon, Efrat, ed.

1972    Inscriptions Revealed.  Trans. by R. Grafman.  Jerusalem: Israel Museum.

Cohen, Rudolph

1979   The Iron Age Fortresses in the Central Negev.  Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 236: 61-79.

1981   Archaeological Survey of Israel.  Map of Sede Boqer – East (168).  Jerusalem: Archaeological Survey of Israel.

Crew, Bruce

2002   Did Edom’s Original Territories Extend West of ‘Wadi Arabah?  Bible and Spade 15/1: 2-10.

Eph’al, Israel

1982    The Ancient Arabs.  Jerusalem and Leiden: Magness and E. J. Brill.

Finkelstein, Israel

1984      The Iron Age “Fortresses” of the Negev Highlands:

Sendentarization of the Nomads.  Tel Aviv 11/2: 189-209.

Flinder, Alexander

1989    Is This Solomon’s Seaport?  Biblical Archaeology Review 15/4: 30-43.

Glueck, Nelson

1938    The Topography and History of Ezion-Geber and Elath.  Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 72: 2-13.

Josephus

1937   Antiquities of the Jews.  Books 9-11.  Vol. 6.  Trans. by R. Marcus.  Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.  Loeb Classical Library 326.  Reprinted in 1987.

Mazar, Benjamin

1975    Ezion-Geber and Ebronah.  Eretz-Israel 12: 46-48, 119*.

Na’aman, Nadav

1979    The Brook of Egypt and Assyrian Policy on the Border of Egypt.  Tel Aviv 6: 68-90.

1980    The Shihor of Egypt and Shur that is Before Egypt.  Tel Aviv 7: 95-109.

Pratico, Gary

1985    Nelson Glueck’s 1938-1940 Excavations at Tell el-Kheleifeh: A

Reappraisal.  Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental

Research 259: 1-32.

1986    A Reappraisal of the Site Archaeologist Nelson Glueck Identified as King Solomon’s Red Sea Port.  Biblical Archaeology Review 12/5: 24-35.

1993    Nelson Glueck’s 1938-1940 Excavations at Tell el-Kheleifeh.  A Reappraisal.  Atlanta, GA: Scholars.

Rainey, Anson

1982     Toponymic Problems (cont.).  Tel Aviv 9/2: 130-136.

Rothenberg, Beno

1972    Timna.  Valley of the Biblical Copper Mines.  Aylesbury: Thames and Hudson.

This paper was first read at the Association of American Geographers meeting in Boston, MA on April 16, 2008.

By Gordon Franz

Introduction

Sefar Ya’akov, written by Ya’akov Ben-Zavdai, was addressed to Messianic Jews residing in the Diaspora, outside of Eretz Yis-rael.   This small epistle, only five chapters long, has a distinct Jewish flavor based on the teachings of Yeshua ha-Mashiach.

I believe that James, the son of Zebedee, wrote this epistle soon after AD 30, as a follow-up letter, in order to encourage Jewish believers in the Lord Jesus who had come to faith during the annual pilgrimage of Shavuot (Pentecost) in Jerusalem (Acts 2).

In the First Century AD, there was a Jewish community living on the island of Delos.   This island, situated at the center of the Cyclades Islands, was famous in Greek mythology as the birthplace of the god Apollo and his sister, the goddess Artemis.

This article will give a brief overview of the history of the island, and will discuss the Jewish and Samaritan communities that resided on the island, as well as the synagogue that was discovered during the archaeological excavations in 1912-13.   The setting of the epistle of James is a synagogue in the Diaspora.   I will use the Delos synagogue to illustrate several passages in the epistle.   Using our “sanctified imagination,” we will try to comprehend how a Jewish believer in the Lord Jesus on the island of Delos would understand the word-pictures in the epistle in light of the First Century AD history, geography, and material culture.   The archaeology of the islands of Delos and Rheneia, an island opposite Delos, will help to illustrate the word-pictures.   To conclude this study, I will discuss the implications for the dating of the epistle of James.

A BRIEF GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY OF THE ISLAND OF DELOS

Delos is a small island in the center of the Cyclades.   Pliny describes these islands as “lying round Delos in a circle which has given them their name”.   He goes on to state, “By far the most famous of the Cyclades and lying in the middle of them, Delos, celebrated for its temple of Apollo and for its commerce” ( Natural History 4.12:65; LCL 2: 165,167).

If one climbs to the top of Mt. Cynthus on a clear day, the islands of Siros can be viewed to the west, Tinos to the north, Mykonos to the northeast, Paros and Naxos to the south.

The island is 5 km long in a north-south direction.   At its widest, it is 1.3 km in an east-west direction.   The highest mountain is Mt. Cynthus which rises 112 meters above sea level.   From a spring on the side of the mountain, flowing for 1.2 km, is the River Inopus, that flows into the Bay of Scardanas.

The first settlement on the island of Delos was discovered on Mt. Cynthus dating to the 3^rd millennium BC.   It did not seem to last long and the island was abandoned until the late Mycenaean period (1580-1200 BC) when the plain below the mountain was inhabited.

It was colonized by the Ionians about 750 BC.   At this point in history, the island takes on its sacred status.   Homer’s Odyssey (Book 6, line 162; LCL 1: 233) and the Homeric Hymns, written about 700 BC, said that Delos was an important religious center.   It becomes important because, according to Greek mythology, the island of Delos offered Leto a place to safely give birth to Apollo and Artemis from the fury of Hera, the wife of Zeus ( To Delian Apollo LCL 325-337).

Athenian influence was exerted over the island in the 6^th century BC.   They “purified” the island by removing all the burials from the area around the Temple of Apollo in 540 BC.

The Persian Wars broke out about 490 BC.  An alliance of Greek city-states was formed, called the Delian League, against the Persians in 478/7 BC.   Delos became the center for this league and the treasury was kept on the island.

In the winter of 426/5 BC the second “purification” of the island occurred.   This time all the burials from the island were removed and reburied in what the archaeologists call the “Purification Trench” on the island of Rheneia (Catling 1996:443).

From 314-166 BC, Delos enjoyed a period of independence and prosperity.   The island began to develop as a commercial center with public and private banks.   There was extensive building activity and foreigners began to populate the island.

In 166 BC the Romans gained control of the island.   They put Athens in charge of the island and made it a free port.   With economic prosperity came foreign influence.   Foreigners from Italy, Egypt, Syria, Phoenicia, Israel brought their cults with them and built temples and shrines to their gods.

In 88 BC, Menophanes, an officer of Mithradates VI, “razed Delos itself to the ground”.   If one can believe the reports of Appian and Pausanias ( Description of Greece III:23.3-5; LCL 2:147), upwards to 20,000 people were killed on the island in this attack.   In 69 BC, the pirates of Athenodorus, sacked the island, and it never regained its glory.   It’s religious and commercial influenced waned.   As Strabo put it, “When the Romans again got the island, after the king withdrew to his homeland, it was desolate; and it has remained in an impoverished condition until the present time” ( Geography 10.5.4; LCL 5: 167).

However, in 58 BC, the Roman Senate confirmed privileges on the people of Delos.   Throughout the First Century AD, there was a community on the island, and life went on under the control of the Athenians.

In the second century AD, during the reign of Hadrian, the Athenians put the island up for sale, but there were no takers!   In fact, Pausanias states, “Delos, once the common market of Greece, has no Delian inhabitants, but only the men sent by the Athenians to guard the sanctuary” ( Description of Greece 33:2; LCL 4: 69).

At the end of the 3^rd century AD, there was a small Christian community on the island.   Toward the end of the 7^th century AD the island becomes abandoned.

For a detailed history of the island, see Laidlaw 1933.

THE JEWISH AND SAMARITAN COMMUNITIES ON THE ISLAND OF DELOS

Jewish and Samaritan communities on the island of Delos are well attested to in the contemporary literature as well as inscriptions discovered in the excavations on Delos and Rheneia.

The first mention in the literature to a Jewish community on the island of Delos is in I Macc. 15:16-23.   This passage contained a letter from the Roman proconsul, Lucius Calpurnius Piso (140-139 BC).   It affirmed that the Jews were friends of Rome and the various kings should protect them.

During the reign of Julius Caesar, two edicts were given that protected the rights of the Jews on the island of Delos, both are recorded by Josephus ( Antiq. 14: 213-216; LCL 8: 561-563 and 14: 231-232; LCL 8: 571-573).

Two funerary stela of Jewish women who were murdered on Delos were found on the island of Rheneia.   Each stela contained a prayer for vengeance against the murderers (Deissmann 1995: 413-424).   Interestingly, the Greek form of “El Elyon” (”God, Most High”) is used on both inscriptions.   This name also appears on one inscription found in the synagogue.

Recently, two Samaritan inscriptions were found 90 meters to the north of the synagogue building.   One read, “The Israelites on Delos who make offerings to hallowed Argarizein crown with a gold crown Sarapion, son of Jason, of Knossos, for his benefactions toward them” (Kraabel 1984: 44).   The second one said, “[the] Israelites [on Delos] who make offerings to hallowed, consecrated Argarizein …” (Kraabel 1984: 45).

One can assume that both communities were engaged in the trade and commerce on the island.

THE SYNAGOGUE ON THE ISLAND OF DELOS

Excavations on the island of Delos began in 1873 and were conducted by the Greek Antiquities Service and the Ecole Francaise d’Archeologie at Athens.   The most intensive excavations were carried out between 1902 and 1914.   During the 1912-13 excavations, a synagogue building was discovered by the excavator, Andre Plassart.   The site was later re-excavated by Philippe Bruneau in 1962 and published by him in 1970 and 1982.

The structure is located in a residential area in the northeast part of the island.   It consists of several rooms.   The main room, the hall of assembly, measures 16.9 meters north-south by 15.04 meters east-west, with a triportal entrance.   The assembly hall was divided into two rooms, probably after the War of Mithridates in 88 BC.   In the northern room, there are marble benches that line the wall.   In the center of the west wall is a kathedra (throne) with a footstool.   The entrance to a cistern is located In the southern room.

Four inscriptions were found in the excavations.   Each contained the words, Theos Hypsistos (”God, the Most High”) or Hypsistos (”the Most High”).   The former is translated El Elyon in the LXX (cf. Gen. 14: 19,20,22; Goodenough 1957).   This name of God also appears on the “Vengeance Inscription” from the island of Rheneia.   One also contained the word proseuchai, sometimes translated “prayer halls” and could refer to a synagogue.

The excavator concluded that the synagogue was in use from the First Century BC into the Second Century AD.   Recently, Monika Trumper published a comprehensive article advocating that this structure is the oldest original synagogue building in the Diaspora (2004).   She contents that there were five phases of occupation from the 2^nd century BC to the 2^nd century AD.   This, however, is not the final excavation report.

The identification of this structure has been hotly debated.   The original excavator, Andre Passart, identified it as a Jewish house of worship (1913).   E. L. Sukenik, in his Ancient Synagogues in Palestine and Greece, followed this identification (1934).   In 1935, Belle D. Mazur came out with a study, Studies of Jewry in Ancient Greece disputing this identification.   As a result of this study, Sukenik reversed his position on the structure (1949).   Edwin R. Goodenough, in his monumental work, Jewish Symbols of the Graeco-Roman Period (1965:2: 71-75) anaylized Mazur’s work and offered counter arguments.   However, he concluded that the structure “might almost certainly … be taken, without any protest, to be probably a synagogue” (2: 74).   So much for archaeological dogmatism!

Hershel Shanks concluded that the structure was actually a temple to Zeus (1979: 43-45).   There have been other studies by L. Michael White (1987) and A. T. Kraabel that reaffirm the synagogue interpretation.   For the purpose of this paper, the synagogue interpretation will be accepted and followed.

THE SETTING OF THE EPISTLE OF JAMES

It is not the intent of this article to imply or suggest that the epistle of James reached the island of Delos, or that James had this synagogue in mind.   This synagogue is used only as an example of a First Century AD Diaspora synagogue to illustrate two passages in the epistle.   Nothing more is implied.   James was writing to Jewish believers in the Lord Jesus in the Diaspora (James 1:1).

The setting of the epistle of James is a synagogue in the Diaspora.   The Diaspora is a technical Jewish term, in Greek, for the Jewish people living outside of the Land of Israel.   James 2:2-4 says, “For if there should come into your synagogue a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing fine clothes and say to him, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ and say to the poor man, ‘You stand there,’ or, “Sit here at my footstool,’ have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?” [2]

The early church met in synagogues before there was the split between the Church and the Synagogue (Acts 26:11).   The Delos synagogue can illustrate James 2.   On the west wall of the assembly hall was a kathedra (throne) of white marble that has been identified as a “seat of Moses.”   This was the most prominent seat in the synagogue where the rabbi would teach the congregation the Torah.   Below his feet was a footstool.   When the rich man came in, he was given a “good place”, probably the seat next to the “seat of Moses” on the bench reserved for the elders.   On the other hand, the poor man was relegated to stand in the corner or sit at the footstool of the rabbi.

The kathedra, or seat of Moses, illustrates the second passage.   James 3:1 says, “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.”   The teacher of the Word of God, like the rabbis, scribes and Pharisees, would sit in the “seat of Moses” and expound the Scriptures.   James warns the teacher about living a life that is contrary to what he is teaching.   James still has the words of the Lord Jesus that he heard only a short while before ringing in his mind.   “The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat, therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works, for they say, and do not do” (Matt. 23:2,3).

Most English Bibles translate the Greek word “synagogue” as either “assembly,” “congregation,” “meeting,” “place of worship,” or even “church”!   If we see the epistle of James in its Jewish Diaspora context it should be translated, as the New Jerusalem Bible translates it, “synagogue.”   For a full discussion and debate of the word “synagogue,” see Kee 1990; Oster 1993; Kee 1994.

THE WORD PICTURES FROM THE EPISTLE OF JAMES

Permit me to use my “sanctified imagination” for a moment.   Let’s assume that the epistle of James did reach the island of Delos and believers in the Lord Jesus read it.   How would they understand the word pictures used by James in the book?   They, like us, read the Bible in the context of the world in which the reader lives.   The believers on Delos would understand the epistle from the surroundings of their world.

Perhaps the believers were meeting on the Lord’s Day in the synagogue of Delos when somebody came from the harbor carrying a copy of the epistle of James.   With great anticipation they began to read it.   “James, a servant ( doulos) of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (1:1a).   Delos had an earlier reputation as a great slave market.   Strabo describes the slave market of Delos in these terms: “… Delos, which could both admit and send away ten thousand slaves on the same day; whence arose the proverb, ‘Merchants, sail in, unload your ship, everything has been sold.’   The cause of this was the fact that the Romans, having become rich after the destruction of Carthage and Corinth, used many slaves” ( Geography 14.5.2; LCL 6:329).

James goes on to say, “To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad” (1:1b).   The Jews who had come to faith were descendents of the tribe of Judah.   Also living on the island of Delos were Samaritans, those of the northern tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh.

They continued to read, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.”   James wrote this epistle to encourage the people as they go through trials and testings in their walk with the Lord.   He recounts the words he heard the Lord Jesus say on the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:11,12).   He then writes about testings from without (1:2-12) and temptation from within (1:12-18).

The believer who doubts the wisdom of God in testings is described as “a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind” (1:6).   James had in mind the eastern windstorms that he had experienced while fishing on the Sea of Galilee (Matt. 8:23-27 // Mark 4:35-41 // Luke 8:22-25 and Matt. 14:22-33 // Mark 6:45-52 // John 6:15-21).   The reader on Delos knew from experience the description of “holy Delos” given by Callimanchus.   “Surely all the Cyclades, most holy of the isles that lie in the sea. …Wind-swept and stern is she set in the sea, and, wave-beaten as she is, is fitter haunt for gulls than course for horses.   The sea, rolling greatly round her, casts off on her much spindrift of the Icarian water” ( Hymn to Delos 4; LCL 85).   One can experience the winds and the waves today on the ferry from Mykonos to Delos.

When he describes temptation he uses a word from fishing terminology, “enticed” (1:14; Kent 1986:51).   James the son of Zebedee used this word from his own fishing profession.   The readers on Delos would understand this word picture from their personal experience as well.   Callimachus continues in his Hymn to Delos, describing Delos as a place where “sea-roaming fishermen have made her their home” ( To Delos 4; LCL 85).   In the excavations of Delos, a number of fish hooks and implements used for mending nets (cf. Mark 1:19) were discovered.   The term “entice” depicts a live bait, either a worm or fish on a hook to prompt the fish to bit it.   The fish is deceived and caught.   The temptation to sin is the same way.   It looks alluring (Heb. 11:25), but when partaken of, it leads to death (James 1:15).

James gives an outline for the rest of the book in verse 19 (Hodges 1994: 15,16).   “Therefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.”   James expands on the theme, “be swift to hear” in James 1:21-2:26.   The believer is not just to hear the Word of God, but is also to do it (1:22).   The second section, “be slow to speak” is expanded on in chapter 3.   The third section, “be slow to wrath” is expanded on in James 4:1-5:6.   The final section of the book gives the key for going through trials and temptation.   James says the believer is to have patience (waiting for the Lord’s return) and pray (5:7-20).

The first section, “be swift to hear” is set in the synagogue, with its “seat of Moses” and footstool.   James admonishes the believers to be swift to hear the Word of God and apply it to ones life.   The setting of the synagogue has already been discussed.   However, within the context of the synagogue in James 2, James quotes the Hebrew Scriptures in verse 8 (cf. Lev. 19:18) and verse 11 (Ex. 19:13,14).   Passages that would be found in the Torah scrolls of the synagogue.   In his discourse on “faith and works” he says, “You believe that there is one God, you do well” (2:19).   The statement “one God” comes from the Shema (Deut. 6:4) that was recited in the synagogue as well as the Scriptures contained within the tefillin (Ex. 13:1-10; Deut. 6:4-9; Ex. 13:11-16).   Tefillin were used in the First Century as attested to by the ones discovered at Qumran (Yadin 1969:13).   James then gives two examples of people who expressed their faith before their fellow human beings by their works, Abraham and Rahab (2:21-25; cf. Matt. 5:16; Tit. 3:5,8).   He concludes this section with verse 26, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”   The Delians had an interesting custom concerning the dead.   Strabo describes Rheneia, the island opposite Delos, in these terms.   “Rheneia is a desert isle within four stadia from Delos, and there the Delians bury their dead; for it is unlawful to bury, or even burn, a corpse on Delos itself” ( Geography 10.5.5; LCL 5: 167).   Since Delos was a “holy” island, nobody could be born on the island for fear of infant mortality, nor die there.

The theme of “slow to speak” is addressed in James 3.   James admonishes the teacher who would sit in the “seat of Moses” and expound the Scriptures.   James uses seven illustrations from the Sea of Galilee to describe the effect the tongue has on other people.   At least six of these would be clearly understood on Delos.

The first illustration is the bit in the horses’ mouth that turns his body (3:2b,3).   On the walls of one of the houses was found a painting of a man riding a horse with the bit in the horses mouth.   The Delians would understand this because of the hippodrome on the island.   As previously mentioned, Callimachus mentions the course for horses.   Few archaeological remains of a hippodrome were discovered to the east of the sacred lake.

The second illustration is that of a small rudder on a large ship (3:4).   James the son of Zebedee, being a fisherman, knew the power of the rudder to turn a ship in the wind.   The Delians understood the workings of the rudder from watching the ships maneuver as they came and went from this maritime trading center in the midst of the Aegean Sea.

The third illustration is that of a forest fire (3:5,6).   James the son of Zebedee painted this word picture from the summer fires that were in the forests of Galilee and the Golan (cf. Amos 7:4; Joel 1:19,20; 2:3).

The fourth illustration is of the animals (3:7).   The “creatures of the sea” would be understood by James as the fish in the Sea of Galilee.   The Delians would understand it as the sea creatures in the Aegean Sea.

The fifth illustration is that of a spring (3:11,12).   James would have understood the contrast between the fresh water and bitter water from the time he spent at Tabgha, the fishing grounds for Capernaum.   There were seven springs there; some were bitter and some very sweet.   The island of Delos had only one source of fresh water, a spring on the side of Mt. Cynthos creating the Inopos River that flowed down to the salt water of the sea.

The sixth illustration James uses is of fruit trees, figs, olives and grapes.   These trees were local to the Sea of Galilee as well as most of the Land of Israel.   Today, if one visits Delos, it appears to be devoid of fertile land.    The reason for that is twofold.   First, during the nineteenth century, the island was used a pastureland for the sheep from Mykonos.   Second, today it is an archaeological park under the auspices of the World Heritage Federation and farming in not permitted (Reger 1994:95).   There are a few fig trees scattered here and there, but in antiquity there were farms that engaged in agricultural activity (1994:127-145).   One can see vines on funerary monuments from Rhenea that would have reflected the earthly activities of the dead.   Callimachus also mentions olive trees on the island ( Hymn to Delos 4; LCL 105).

In the final word-picture, James describes the “wisdom that is from above” as being “without hypocrisy” (3:17).   The word “hypocrisy” is a Greek theatric term for an actor that performs for the applause of the audience.   James was well aware of at least three theaters in the area of the Sea of Galilee.   From the northern shore of the Lake, one could see the Tiberias, Hippos and Gadara theaters.   The recipients of the letter on Delos knew the theatric term “hypocrisy” because of the theater on the island.   Also, a common motif of the period is painted masks on the walls and mosaics on the floors.   In a private house called the House of the Masks one can see such examples.

The third section, “be slow to wrath,” begins in chapter 4.   James asks, “Where do wars and fights come from among you?”   The implication of that verse is that the believers were fighting in the church meeting.   Whenever I speak on this passage in a church I ask, tongue in cheek, “Christians don’t fight, do we?”   I usually hear snickering from the audience.   Of course we always justify our fighting and bickering by saying, “We fight in Christian love!”   James also states that some believers murder and covet (4:2).   A sword found in the excavations reminds us of potential weapons that could be used to carry out this gross and sinful deed.   A wall painting of two boxers fighting each other from one of the houses would illustrate the fighting.

In this context as well, James says that some believers are adulterers and adulteresses (4:4).   Most commentaries say this is spiritual adultery, but in the context of the Greco-Roman world, it could be both physical as well as spiritual.   On the island of Delos, there were temples to a host of deities that would try to lure the believer away from the Lord Jesus Christ.   Some cults even used sexual immorality to attract people to it.   The most notable one on Delos would be the cult of Dionysos, the god of wine and merrymaking.   His shrine, called the Stoibadeion, was “a rectangular exedra which at both ends has a pillar which supported an oversize phallus, the symbol of Dionysos” (Zaphiropoulou 1993:32).   Dionysos was also discovered on mosaics in private houses on the island (1993:34-37).

In the section on “slow to wrath”, James addresses the source of the problem, which is pride (4:6,10).   James goes on to describe the arrogant merchants as saying, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’” (4:13).   James reminds them that they don’t even know what tomorrow brings because life it like a vapor.   Most of the Jewish community on the island of Delos probably engaged in trade and commerce.   For the self-sufficient believer, this would strike home.

After the tragedy of September 11, 2001, I was watching an interview with several New York firefighters.   One of them recalled the words of the chief chaplain of New York’s bravest, Mychal Judge, who died in the collapse of the World Trade Center.   He said, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him what you are going to do tomorrow!”   This caught the essence of James 4:13-17.   In this passage, James describes the arrogant merchants who plan their buying and selling activities and anticipate a profit, yet they do not realize that life is like a vapor.   James admonishes them to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall do this or that” (4:15).   It is a humbling thought to realize Someone else holds our future!

James goes on to address the rich in James 5:1-6.   During the Hellenistic period, Delos was a very wealthy island.   Several residential quarters of the city had very luxurious two and three story houses with beautiful mosaics and frescos on the walls.   There were farms on Delos that grew wheat and barley (Reger 1994:95-101).   James reflects the farmer / reaper who is being taken advantage of by the wealthy farm owner (5:4)

In the final section of the book, James returns to the opening theme, trials and suffering (5:7-20).   He encourages the believers to have patience and look for the Lord’s return (5:7-12) and to be persistent in prayer (5:13-20).   In each of these sections, the believer on Delos has a decision to make, either to follow the Lord Jesus Christ or one of the deities on the island.

In the first section, James encourages them to look for the Lord’s return and follow the example of the prophets.   Delos was famous as the birthplace of Apollo, the god of prophecy, poetry and music.   His temples stood in the center of the island.   An individual could go to his oracles to consult the future, but the believe in the Lord Jesus has a “more sure word of prophecy,” the Bible (II Pet. 1:19).   The prophetic Scriptures were given to encourage the believers to godly living, comfort in times of sorrow, and patience as the believer preservers through trials (I John 3:2,3; I Thess. 4:13-18; Rom. 8:18-30; Blackstone 1989: 181-183).

James asks the question, “Is anyone among you sick?” (5:14).   Most of the people on the island would go to the Asclepion at the headlands of the Fourni Bay for healing (Zaphiropoulou 1993: 52).   James instructs the believers to “call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.   And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up” (5:14,15a).   The response of the believer would be different than the society around.

THE IMPLICATIONS FOR THE DATING OF THE EPISTLE OF JAMES

The epistle of James was written by James the son of Zebedee (Bassett 1876), and not the half-brother of the Lord as most commentators suggest (Davids 1982: 2-7; Hiebert 1992: 24-32).   The view that James the son of Zebedee wrote the book is based on the internal content of the book and well as the word pictures.   Many of the statements in the epistle are based on the teachings of the Lord Jesus, primarily the Sermon on the Mount and parables given in Galilee.   James the son of Zebedee was an “ear witness” to these sayings.   Many of the word pictures that are used in the epistle are from the Sea of Galilee.   The authorship and date of the epistle will be discussed in greater length in another article.

It is also believed that the epistle was written soon (one or two years) after Pentecost ( Shavuot) of AD 30 to encourage those believers in their new found faith in the Lord Jesus as they return to their family and friends in the Diaspora (Acts 2:8-11,41; James 1:1).   These early Hebrew-Christians (or Messianic Jews) met in the synagogue buildings until the break with their Jewish brethren (Acts 26:11).

Archaeology and geography can add a third dimension to Biblical studies.   The black and white (and sometimes red!) letters on the pages of Scripture can be placed in a historical and geographical context that can be visualized.   The reader can say, “Now I see what the inspired writer is talking about.”   Just as the readers on Delos could “see” the word pictures used by James when they read the epistle, so we can as well.   Might we not just see the word pictures, but also apply them to our lives.   As James admonishes us, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only” (1:22).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bassett, Francis

1876       The Catholic Epistle of St. James .   London: Samuel Gagster and Sons.

Blackstone, William

1989       Jesus is Coming. God’s Hope for a Restless World .   Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel.

Bruneau, Philippe

1970       Recherches sur Les Cultes de Delos a L’Epoque Hellenistique et a L’Epoque Imperiale .   Paris: Editions E. de Boccard.

1982       Les Israelites de Delos et la Juiverie Delienne.   Bulletin de Correspondance Hellenique 106: 465-504.

Catling, Richard

1996       Delos .   Pp. 442-444 in The Oxford Classical Dictionary.   S. Hornblower and A. Spawforth, eds.   Oxford: Oxford University.

Callimachus

2000       Callimachus – Hymns and Epigrams, Lycophron, Aratus.   Translated by A. W. Mair and G. R. Mair.   Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.   Loeb Classical Library.

Danker, Frederick

1982       Benefactor: Epigraphic Study of a Graeco-Roman and New Testament Semantic Field .   St. Louis, MO: Clayton.

Deissmann, Adolf

1995       Light From the Ancient East .   Translated by L. Strachan.   Peabody, MA: Hendrickson.   Reprint of 1927 edition.

Fine, Steve, ed.

1996       Sacred Realm.   The Emergence of the Synagogue in the Ancient World .   New York: Oxford University and Yeshiva University.

Goodenough, Edwin

1957       The Bosporus Inscriptions to the Most High God.   Jewish Quarterly Review 47: 221-244.

1965       Jewish Symbols of the Graeco-Roman Period.   13 vols.   New York: Pantheon.

Hodges, Zane

1994       The Epistle of James.   Proven Character Through Testing .   Irving, TX: Grace Evangelical Society.

Homer

1998    Odyssey.   Books 1-12.   Vol. 1.   Translated by A. T. Murray.   Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.   Loeb Classical Library.

Homeric Hymns

2000       Hesiod, Homeric Hymns Epic Cycle, Homerica .   Translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White.   Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.   Loeb Classical Library.

Josephus

1980       Jewish Antiquities.   Book XV-XVII.   Vol. 8.   Translated by R. Marcus and A. Wikgren.   Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.   Loeb Classical Library.

Kee, Howard Clark

1990       The Transformation of the Synagogue after 70 C.E.: Its Import for Early Christianity.   New Testament Studies 36: 1-24.

1994       The Changing Meaning of Synagogue.   A Response to Richard Oster.   New Testament Studies 40: 281-283.

Kent, Homer

1986       Faith That Works.   Studies in the Epistle of James .   Winona Lake, IN: BMH Books.

Kourtara, Vasso

1995       Mykonos Delos .   Athens: Toubis.

Kraabel, Alf Thomas

1979    The Diaspora Synagogue: Archaeological and Epigraphical Evidence since Sukenik.   Pp. 477-510 in Aufstieg und Niedergang der Romischen Welt II.   Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter.   Pp. 95-126 in Ancient Synagogues.   D. Urman and P. Flesher, eds.   Leiden: E. J. Brill.

1981       Social System of Six Diaspora Synagogues.   Pp. 79-121 in Ancient Synagogues.   The State of Research. J. Gutman, ed.   Chico, CA: Scholars.

1983       The Roman Diaspora: Six Questionable Assumptions.   Journal of Jewish Studies 33/1-2: 445-464.   Pp. 1-20 in Diaspora Jews and Judaism.   J. Overman and R. MacLennan, eds.   Atlanta, GA: Scholars.

1984        New Evidence of the Samaritan Diaspora has been Found on Delos.   Biblical Archaeologist 47: 44-46.

1985    Synagoga Caeca: Systematic Distortion in Gentile Interpretations of Evidence for Judaism in the Early Christian Period.   Pp. 219-246 in “To see Ourselves as Others see Us:” Christians, Jews, “Others” in Late Antiquity.   J. Neusner and E. Frerichs, eds.   Chico, CA: Scholars.   Pp. 35-62 in Diaspora Jews and Judaism.   J. Overman and R. MacLennan, eds.   Atlanta, GA: Scholars.

1991       Unity and Diversity among Diaspora Synagogues.   Pp. 21-33 in Diaspora Jews and Judaism.   J. Overman and R. MacLennan, eds.   Atlanta, GA: Scholars.

Laidlaw, W. A.

1933    A History of Delos.   Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Levine, Lee, ed.

1981    Ancient Synagogues Revealed.   Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society.

Mazur, Bella

1935    Studies on Jewry in Greece.   Athens: Hestia.

Oster, Richard

1993       Supposed Anachronism in Luke-Acts’ Use of Synagogue.   New Testament Studies 39: 178-208.

Overman, J. Andrew

1992       The Diaspora in the Modern Study of Ancient Judaism.   Pp. 63-78 in Diaspora Jews and Judaism.   J. Overman and R. MacLennan, eds.   Atlanta, GA: Scholars.

Pausanias

1993       Descriptions of Greece .   Books III-V.   Vol. 2.   Translated by W. H. S. Jones and H. A. Ormerod.   Cambridge, MA: Harvard university.   Loeb Classical Library.

1995    Descriptionsof Greece.   Books VIII.22-X.   Vol. 4.   Translated by W. H. S. Jones.   Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.   Loeb Classical Library.

Plassart, Andre

1914       La Synagogue Juive de Delos.   Revue Biblique 11: 525-534.

Pliny

1989       Natural History .   Vol. 2.   Translated by H. Rackham.   Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.   Loeb Classical Library.

Reger, G.

1994       Regionalism and Change in the Economy of Independent Delos, 314-167 B.C.   Berkeley, CA: University of California.

Renov, I.

1975       The Seat of Moses.   The Synagogue: Studies in Origins, Archaeology and Architecture.   H. Orlinsky, ed.   New York: Ktav.

Shanks, Hershel

1979       Judaism in Stone.   The Archaeology of Ancient Synagogues .   New York: Harper and Row.

Strabo

1988       The Geography of Strabo .   Vol. 5.   Translated by H. L. Jones.   Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.   Loeb Classical Library.

1989       The Geography of Strabo .   Vol. 6.   Translated by H. L. Jones.   Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.   Loeb Classical Library.

Sukenik, E. L.

1934       Ancient Synagogues in Palestine and Greece .   London: Oxford University.

1949       The Present State of Ancient Synagogue Studies.   Louis M. Rabinowitz Fund for the Exploration of Ancient Synagogues Bulletin I: 8-23.

Trebilco, Paul

1991       Jewish Communities in Asia Minor .   Cambridge: Cambridge University.

Trumper, Monika

2004       The Oldest Original Synagogue Building in the Diaspora.   The Delos Synagogue Reconsidered.   Hesperia 73: 513-598.

Urman, Dan

1995       The House of Assembly and the House of Study are they one and the same?   Pp. 232-255 in Ancient Synagogues, Historical Analysis and Archaeological Discovery.   D. Urman and P. Flesher, eds.   Leiden: E. J. Brill.

White, L. Michael

1987       The Delos Synagogue Revisited: Recent Fieldwork in the Graeco-Roman Diaspora.   Harvard Theological Review 80/2: 133-160.

1990       Building God’s House in the Roman World .   Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University.

Yadin, Yigael

1969    Tefillin from Qumran.   Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society.

Zaphiropoulou, Photini

1992       Delos Monuments and Museum .   Athens: Krene.

ben Zeev, Miriam Pucci

1996       Who Wrote a Letter Concerning Delian Jews?   Revue Biblique 103/3: 237-243.

1  This article is dedicated to my fellow travelers: Richard, Donna, Zion and Judy (June 4, 2002), Alan, Heather, John, Karin and Stephen (Oct. 26, 2002) who tromped all over the island of Delos with me and listened to my “crazy idea” on the epistle of James.

[2] All Scripture quotes are from the NKJV.

]]> http://www.lifeandland.org/2009/02/the-synagogue-on-the-island-of-delos-and-the-epistle-of-james/feed/ 0 http://www.lifeandland.org/2009/02/job-in-the-land-of-uz/ http://www.lifeandland.org/2009/02/job-in-the-land-of-uz/#comments Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:31:16 +0000 sherri http://www.lifeandland.org/?p=176

By Gordon Franz

The Book of Job, the oldest book in the Bible, has its historical-geographical setting in the Land of Uz. The book begins, “There was a man in the Land of Uz, whose name was Job; and the man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1 NKJV).

THE LAND OF UZ

Scholars are divided on the location of the Land of Uz. Some have suggested it was near Damascus; others, based on Lamentations 4:21, have placed it in the Land of Edom. Jeremiah wrote, “Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the Land of Uz!” The Edom location makes geographical sense in light of the Biblical statement of Jeremiah and the flora, fauna and material culture mentioned in the book.

The ancient territory of Edom is located to the east and west of the Aravah, the Jordan Rift Valley that goes from the Dead Sa to the Red Sea, also known as the Gulf of Akaba or Eilat. On the west side of the Aravah, in Israel today, it goes from the Wilderness of Zin in the north to Eilat in the south. On the east side of the Aravah, in Jordan today, it goes from the Wadi Hasa (Brook Zered) in the north to Eilat in the south (Crew 2002: 2-10).

THE OUTLINE OF JOB

The book of Job is divided into three sections. Chapters 1 and 2 describe Satan’s diabolical attack on Job. All through this section, Job does not have a clue where his suffering is coming from. He does not see the “big picture” and understand that Satan is behind these attacks. Yet through it all, he could say, “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD” (1:21). His dear wife, seeing the situation he was in says, “Do you hold to your integrity? Curse God and die!” (2:9). Bless her heart, she must have had the gift of encouragement!

The second section is Job’s debate with his friends. As the old saying goes, “With friends like these, who needs enemies!” This goes from chapter 3-37. Job begins the debate by cursing the day he was born, but he does not curse God. The final section is God’s one-sided dialogue with Job in chapters 38-42. In this section, God asks Job a series of questions out of the whirlwind. He begins by asking, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” (38:4). In other words, “Job, were you with me at the Creation?” The book ends with Job’s confessing his lack of knowledge, and he turns from his rebellious ways (42:1-6). The Lord restores double what Job has lost (42:7-17).

THE THEME OF JOB

Most commentators and preachers would say that suffering is the theme of the book. But a careful examination of the book seems to reveal a slightly different theme: that of lessons learned from suffering. The emphasis is on the lessons learned.

The two key verses in the book are Job 13:15 and 37:23, 24. Job expresses his faith by saying, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust Him.” “As for the Almighty, we cannot find Him; He is excellent in power, in judgment and abundant justice; He does not oppress. Therefore men fear Him; He shows no partiality to any who are wise of heart.”

CHRONOLOGICAL SETTING

The Patriarch Job lived soon after the Noahic Flood. This fact is reflected in the book. Job recalls this event several times (Job 9:5-8; 12:14-16; 26:11-14; 28:9). Job also recalls the post-Flood period when the earth is dried up (Job 14:11, 12). His friend Eliphaz mentions it in his third discourse. He said, “Will you keep to the old way which wicked men have trod, who were cut down before their time, whose foundations were swept away by a flood? They said to God, ‘Depart from us! What can the Almighty do to them?’” (Job 22:15-17). The Lord reminds Job of the Flood as well. When the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, He asked Job if he was at the creation (Job 38:4-7). The interrogation began, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” (38:4). God then asked Job if he was at the Flood in verses 8-11 (Morris 1988: 23-33).

After Job’s encounter with Satan and the LORD he lived another 140 years (42:16). Job might have been close to 200 years old when he died. Job would have been a Neanderthal (Cuozzo ????). His age would put him in the period of the Patriarchs. Perhaps he was a contemporary of, or slightly before, Abraham who lived to be 175 years old (Gen. 25:7).

At this point, we should raise the issue of the place of Job in the archaeological chronology. If we assume a Biblical date for the universal, worldwide Flood in Noah’s Day, with no gaps in the chronology, than the date for the flood would be 2459 BC (Whitcomb and Morris 1973: 478). If there are gaps in Genesis 11, then the Flood could be several hundred years before (Whitcomb and Morris 1973: 474-483). It is important to note, we are talking hundreds, not thousands or millions of years.

If you look at the standard archaeology chronological tables the so-called “Prehistoric” period for human history is as followed: The Paleolithic period – 1 million down to 18,000 BC. The Mesolithic period – 18,000 to 8,300 BC. The Neolithic period – 8,300 to 4,500 BC. The Chalcolthic period – 4,500 to 3,300 BC. This is in obvious conflict with the Biblical chronology. This is where evangelical archaeologists need to “rethink early earth’s history.”

Using round numbers for a moment, if the Flood is at approximately 2450 BC and Abraham is about 2000 BC, then one must take the archaeological chronology and compress 1 million years into 450 years! It will take an individual, or individuals, who will devote a lifetime (or at least a doctoral dissertation) to reading excavation reports, archaeological journals, paleontology journals and books on assorted subjects to rethink this chronology. One will have to define what the presuppositions of the evolutionary assumptions are in archaeology and remove the underpinning of those assumptions. Then, using a Biblical framework, harmonize the known archaeological and paleontological data with the Biblical record. Where exactly Job fits in the archaeological chronology, I do not know for sure.

THE FLORA, FAUNA AND MATERIAL CULTURE OF THE LAND OF UZ

The flora, fauna and material culture of the book of Job fits the Aravah / Wilderness. In his discourse on wisdom (Job 28), Job describes the mining operations in the Aravah region. “Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore. Man puts an end to darkness, and searches every recess for ore in the darkness and the shadow of death. He breaks open a shaft away from people; in places forgotten by feet. They hang far away from men, they swing to and fro” (28:1-4). While scholars debate the precise archaeological period of Job, the Timnah Copper mines just north of Eilat, did have small-scale mining activities during the Chalcolithic period (Rothenberg 1972: 24-64). It is interesting that the rock engravings from Chalcolithic Site 191 have ostriches on them, an animal mentioned several times in the book of Job (1972: 55, Fig. 14; cf. Job 30:29; 39:13-18).

When I take the Tablot Seminary students to the Timnah Copper mines during their January “Biblelands” program, I always have the host of the program, Dr. Richard Rigsby, read Job 28 at the deepest mine. Dr. Rigsby was the one who translated Job in the New King James Bible.

The most intensive exploitation of the Timnah Copper mines was during the Ramesside period by the Egyptians with Midianite help. There was also mining activities during the Roman period and Medieval Arab period.

In his discourse on wisdom, Job also mentions coral. “No mention shall be made of coral or quartz, for the price of wisdom is above rubies (28:18).” Coral was found in the excavations at the Timnah Copper mines. They came from some of the most beautiful coral reefs in the world, the eastern branch of the Red Sea. The port of Eilat is famous for its snorkeling in the coral reefs. Unfortunately, the coral reefs in the Red Sea are dying off today because of pollution. It is obvious; man does not have wisdom!

Elsewhere in the book, the (Red) sea with its sea serpents, fish of the sea, and ships are mentioned (Job 6:3; 7:12; 9:8, 26; 12:8; 26:12).

A number of animals mentioned in Job are indigenous to this region, most of which can been seen in the Hai Bar (Yotvata) Biblical Wildlife Reserve (Clark 1981: 22-35). Avraham Yoffe founded this reserve in 1968 in order to preserve species that were indigenous to this region in antiquity. One of their goals is to breed species that are on the verge of extinction and then have a controlled release of various species back into their open, natural habitat (Clark 1981: 22-35).

At Hai Bar, one can see the wild donkey and onager (Job 6:5; 11:12; 24:3, 5; 39:5-8). Mountain goats, also known as ibex are in the reserve (Job 39:1-4; Ps. 104:18). The deer, or gazelle (Job 39:1); the cobra and viper (20:14-16); jackal (30:29); ostrich (30:29; 39:13-18); hawk (39:26); eagle (9:26; 24:3; 39:27); stork (39:13) and locust (39:20) are in the reserve as well.

In Job 38:39-39:30, God asks Job questions concerning the animal kingdom. Of the ibex He asks, “Do you know the time when the wild mountain goat bears young?” Interestingly, when Dr. Rigsby translated the book of Job for the NKJV, he had not had the privilege of visiting the Hai Bar Reserve. If he had the chance to retranslate Job, he would have changed “wild mountain goat” to “ibex”.

One of my favorite animals in the Hai Bar is the oryx. This animal with its straight horns is classified in the antelope family. It is the Biblical re’em [Heb.] and has been identified by some scholars as the “unicorn” in the King James Bible (Clark 1984: 66-70). It has also been translated “wild ox” in some translations (Job 39:9-12; also mentioned in Num. 32:22; 24:8; Deut. 33:17; Ps. 22:21; 29:6; 92:10; Isa. 34:7). These animals also are depicted on the rock carvings of the Timnah Copper mines. There is also a relief found in Egypt with a side profile of this animal and it looks like it has only one horn! Interestingly, the Los Angeles Zoo presents this possibility on the plaque in front of the oryx pen.

The Cloisters in upper Manhattan has the famous “Unicorn Tapestry.” Usually artists depict the unicorn as a horse with a single horn. Yet if one looks at the unicorn tapestry closely, the unicorn is depicted, not in the equine (horse) family, but rather the antelope family (Clark 1984: 68). Perhaps the oryx is the basis of the unicorn legends. People might have seen a side profile of the oryx from a distance and thought the animal only had one horn.

The Lord asks Job some questions about this creature. “Will the re’em be willing to serve you? Will he bed by your manger? Can you bind the re’em in the farrow with ropes? Or will he plow the valleys behind you? Will you trust him because his strength is great? Or will you leave your labor to him? Will you trust him to bring home your grain, and gather it to your threshing floor?” (39:9-12).

The oryx is a fascinating creature. It can live indefinitely without drinking water, but gets its water through the vegetation that it eats and the dew it licks off stones in the early morning hours. It hardly perspires and has a high concentration of urine and dry feces. It’s white hairs are hollow and create excellent insulation and acts like Styrofoam. Its only problem is man. When threatened, it will stand and fight. With the introduction of firearms, the oryx was hunted and is now on the verge of extinction. The Hai bar Reserve is breeding a herd for controlled release into the Maktesh Ramon.

Another animal that has personality at the Hai Bar is the ostrich. The Lord says of the ostrich, “The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but are her wings and pinions like the kindly stork’s? For she leaves her eggs on the ground, and warms them in the dust; she forgets that a foot may crush them, or that a wild beast may break them. She treats her young harshly, as though they were not hers; her labor is in vain, without concern, because God deprived her of wisdom, and did not endow her with understanding. When she lifts herself on high, she scorns the horse and its rider” (39:13-18).

The ostrich can weigh up to 150 kg and stand 2.5 meters high. They are birds, but flightless ones. Their wings are too small to allow the bird to fly. However, the wings are good for helping the bird make sudden stops and shape turns as they run at speeds up to 60 kph.

The Lord contrasts the ostrich with the stork. The ostrich lays her eggs in the sand and has other eggs lying around. Some think as decoys for predators or food to nourish the newly hatched chicks. While the ostrich seemingly abandons her eggs, the stork guards them carefully. The stork has its nest high up and watches over the eggs and cares for the young after they are hatched. The Hebrews used the word hesed, usually translated “loving kindness”, as a characteristic of the Lord. He was lovingly loyal to His people, guarding them, watching over them, and nourishing them. The stork had been named chasidah. This afforded the Hebrew a vivid word picture of God’s character.

The Lord says that He deprived the ostrich of wisdom and did not endow it with understanding. Arabs in the Middle East will call someone “stupid as an ostrich” as a sign of reproach. We in the West have a similar concept. A billboard was put up on a road near my house that had an ostrich sticking his head in the ground. The caption said: “Only a bird brain crosses without looking.”

Two animals not in the Hai Bar are the Behemoth (Job 40:15-24) and the Leviathan (Job 41:1-34). Job describes the Behemoth, apparently a dinosaur of some sort, as moving his tail like a cedar. The indication is that he had a thick tail, something an elephant or hippopotamus does not have (40:17). He is found lying under lotus trees and willows, and in the reeds and marshes of the Jordan River (Job 40:21-23), probably just north of the Dead Sea near Jericho. Job knew the Leviathan, a marine dinosaur of some sort, from his travels to the Red Sea, known today as the Gulf of Eilat / Akaba (Job 41).

Footprints of land dinosaurs have been discovered in Israel. In 1962 an Israeli found some three-pronged prints in the bedrock of his garden at Beit Zayit, a suburb of western Jerusalem (Avnimelech 1966). The area was exposed and more tracks uncovered. Most likely the dinosaurs that made these prints were the Struthiomimus and laid down toward the end of Noah’s Flood.

A plant that is indigenous to the area is the broom tree ( rotem Heb.). The white broom is not an edible plant, but can be sold to earn bread (Job 30:1-4). The young men who scorned Job made embers from the root of the white broom to sell in the marketplace. What lowlier livelihood could there be in the eyes of a once wealthy Job than one that involves sitting by a fire night and day, black with soot and reeking with smoke?

Yehuda Feliks (1981), a professor of Biblical and Talmudic Botany, gives a number of examples of plants mentioned in the book of Job and which are indigenous to the region of the Wilderness and Aravah.

JOB’S SPIRITUAL LIFE

What are we to learn from the life of Job? He was a blameless and upright man who feared the Lord (1:1). He would offer sacrifices for his children (1:5) and believed he needed a mediator between him and the Lord (9:33; 25:4; 33:23). Yet one of the most profound statements in the book of Job comes from his lips when he proclaims, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God. Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” (19:25-27). Neanderthals had superior physical, cultural, technical and intellectual abilities (Cuozzo 1998). Because of evolutionary influences, I do not think we give the Patriarchs enough credit for knowing about the Lord Jesus Christ. Job knew about the Redeemer and the resurrection.

In reality, the Lord Jesus Christ is the answer to Job’s problems. It was the death of the Lord Jesus on Calvary’s cross that put an end to sin, defeated Satan and conquered the grave so there could be a resurrection. Just as Job trusted the Lord through his difficult situation, so each and every individual needs to trust the Lord Jesus for his or her salvation. A person’s salvation is not dependant upon his or her good works, church membership or baptism. It is dependent solely upon faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone as the one who died and paid for all sins and rose again from the dead.

When it comes to trials and testings in our lives, Dr. Henry Morris summarizes the message of the book of Job in this way: “God’s central message to Job, and to us, is not an explanation of why the righteous suffer, but rather a call to sound belief in creation and an emphasis on our stewardship over creation, under God. Afflictions that come our way can then be placed in proper context. We belong to Him, both by creation and by redemption, and He has the right to do with us whatever He will. We can trust Him, no matter what comes our way in this life, knowing that in the balances of eternity the Judge of all the earth will do right” (Morris 1988: 108, 109).

James, the son of Zebedee, sets forth Job as an example of patience. He writes, “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. … My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord – that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful” (5:7a, 10, 11). Might we learn the lessons of Job as well.

Bibliography

Avnimelech, Moshe A.

1966 Dinosaur Tracks in the Judean Hills. Proceedings of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Jerusalem: The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Clark, Bill

1981 Animals of the Bible. Living Links to Antiquity. Biblical Archaeology Review 7/1: 22-35.

1984 The Biblical Oryx – A New Name for an Ancient Animal. Biblical Archaeology Review 10/5: 66-70.

Crew, Bruce

2002 Did Edom’s Original Territories Extend West of ‘Wadi Arabah? Bible and Spade 15/1: 2-10.

Cuozzo, Jack

1998 Buried Alive. Green Forest, AR: Master Books.

Feliks, Yehuda

1981 Nature and Man in the Bible: Chapters in Biblical Ecology. London, New York: Soncino.

Morris, Henry

1988 The Remarkable Record of Job. Grand Rapids: Baker.

Rothenberg, Beno

1972 Timna. Valley of the Biblical Copper Mines. London: Thames and Hudson.

Whitcomb, John; and Morris, Henry

1973 The Genesis Flood. Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed.

]]> http://www.lifeandland.org/2009/02/job-in-the-land-of-uz/feed/ 0 http://www.lifeandland.org/2009/02/remember-archaeology-is-not-a-treasure-hunt/ http://www.lifeandland.org/2009/02/remember-archaeology-is-not-a-treasure-hunt/#comments Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:29:44 +0000 sherri http://www.lifeandland.org/?p=174

By Gordon Franz

Introduction

The headline of the Science Section of the New York Times for Tuesday, September 28, 2004 read, “Solving a Riddle Written in Silver.” I recognized the picture underneath the headline right away. It was a portion of a silver amulet that was discovered in Jerusalem in 1979. The article described the scholarly debate concerning the date assigned to the amulets by the excavator and his team in the latest issue of the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. They claim that these two objects contain the two oldest Biblical text ever discovered to date. Unfortunately the BASOR article is very technical. It discusses the style of the letters and how this is used to date the amulets. This, however, is important to answer the critics who have suggested the amulets were not as old as the excavator claims they were. This article will not deal with the technical aspects of the debate, as important as they are, but rather, I would like to take you behind the scenes and share some of the human interest stories relating to the discovery, unrolling, announcement and publication of these two amulets.

Monday morning, July 30, 1979 is as clear in my mind as if it were yesterday. It was about 6 AM when I arrived at the excavations below the St. Andrew’s Scottish Presbyterian Church, a site that would later be known as Ketef Hinnom, “the shoulder of Hinnom”.

The director of the excavation, Gabriel Barkay, known to his students and friends as Goby, asked me, “Gordon, how energetic are you?” I replied, smiling, “As energetic as a 25 year old person could be.” “Good,” he said, “I want you to clean out that cave over there with three junior high Israeli students.” I was up to the challenge. As I headed for the cave, Goby confided, “By the way, the cave might be loaded. But remember, archaeology is NOT a treasure hunt.” Thus began one of the most interesting weeks of my life.

This was one of the first archaeological excavations I ever worked on and now I was an area supervisor of three junior high Israeli students. I was about to receive a crash course with on the job training in Methodology of Archaeological Excavations 101, also known as, how to excavate a burial cave when you don’t know what you are doing. Fortunately, I was a quick learner and Goby was a great teacher.

The Burial Cave

The repository, the place where the bones and any burial gifts for the dead were deposited after the flesh had decayed, measured 3.69 meters long, by 2 meters wide. The ceiling stood 2.23 meters from the floor. The ceiling had collapsed which suggested to Goby that there might be a sealed layer underneath with archaeological artifacts.

As we began to work, I realized three problems. First, there was a lack of light. We were dependent upon the sunlight or its reflection that came through the 51 cm by 61 cm door of the repository that stood about a meter an a half above us. Once our eyes adjusted to the darker cave we could see fairly well. Second, there was a communication problem. I did not speak any Hebrew and the Israelis did not speak any English. Third, the three junior high students were just that, junior high students.

Goby gave them instructions in Hebrew to clean around any objects they found and leave them in situ so they could be measured, described, drawn and photographed in their original location. Do you think these junior highers listened to Goby or me? At first they would dig little pits until they found something and then hold it up and say, “Tireh ma matzati!” (Translation: “Look what I found!”). Frustration was setting in very quickly.

Goby instructed me to divide the cave into six quadrants and excavate one or two at a time. I put a string across the top of the ceiling of the repository and leveled it with a line level. This was our datum line. Using tape measures and a plumb line, I was able to draw an outline of the cave, then plot and draw many of the pieces that were uncovered. This was a learning experience for me. Goby stressed the importance of measuring all the objects from their lowest point. I am glad I listened to him because years later, it would prove very important in the dating of the amulets.

During one of our breaks the first morning, Goby said to me, “Gordon, I want you to find me an inscription. If you do, I’ll give you a party.” I laughed because I knew from his Archaeology of Jerusalem classes that inscriptions in Jerusalem are very rare. Nevertheless, I half jokingly said, “I’ll find you an inscription on the last day and in the last square.” Little did I know how prophetic that statement would be.

By Tuesday afternoon we had realized just how important this cave was, so we replaced the junior high students with adults from the Institute for Holy Land Studies across the valley on Mt. Zion. Late in the afternoon we had run out of boxes and bags to put our “special finds” in, so Goby and I went shopping for these items. We could not get these items from the Department of Antiquities because they were temporarily closed due to a police investigation.

We had already found bronze and silver objects that had corroded. I asked Goby if there was a chance of finding any gold objects. He answered in the affirmative and mentioned that a burial cave in the Silwan Necropolis across from the City of David had an inscription that mentioned there was no silver or gold buried in the cave and concluded with a curse on anyone who opened it (Avigad 1953: 143). I did not like that last line. Seeing the corroded objects that we had found, I asked Goby what gold would look like when it was uncovered. He said, “Don’t worry, you’ll recognize it when you see it.” How true that was, the next day I found a gold earring that looked like it was made the day before.

We were afraid that if certain elements in the population from the nearby neighborhoods found out about the jewelry objects they would visit the site at night and clean the place out. Since the site was out in the open and people were coming and going, we had to speak in code. Silver objects were called “gray matter,” gold was “lemon,” coins were “buttons,” and bones were called “Napoleons” (as in Bone-apart).

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were normal eight-hour days, but time was of the essence. Thursday we worked from 5:30 in the morning until 5:30 at night, 12 hours. Friday we worked from 5:30 in the morning until 9:30 at night, 16 hours. While Goby and I were sifting in the late afternoon, two individuals with black hats and black coats were walking down the Hebron road on their way to the Western Wall for Shabbat prayers. They saw us and we saw them. Goby remarked to me with a serious tone in his voice, “We have to finish tomorrow because if we don’t they will be back Sunday morning with their friends to protest our excavations.” Thanks to Rev. Tom Houston, the pastor of St. Andrews, we were able to use an electrical outlet above the cave. Jim Monson, a professor at the Institute of Holy Land Studies, provided a light bulb and electrical cord so we were able to work into the night.

Saturday morning, August 4, we began work at 6 AM with the help of students and staff of the Institute. We divided into two groups with one excavating inside the cave, and the other outside sifting for the small finds that might have been missed by those in the cave. I was running between the two groups recording and drawing the objects. Earl Hagar was photographing the finds as they were uncovered.

About mid morning, Judy Hadley, an archaeology student at Wheaton College (now a professor at Villanova University) brushed aside some dirt to reveal a rolled up piece of silver. I described it in my journal as a “silver roll” and recorded it as object 31 from Area D, located at a level of 188 cm and then drew it on my plan. It was given basket number 481. Later, it would be called Ketef Hinnom amulet I. Goby suspected it might have an inscription on it, but it first had to be cleaned and unrolled and that would take time. We finished cleaning out the dirt from the cave at 1 AM Sunday morning. It had been a 19-hour marathon day!

Sunday and Monday we continued sifting the material that was excavated after dark on Saturday. Sifting is best done in daylight so we took the dirt from each quadrant and placed them in labeled buckets, boxes, trays or whatever containers we could find so the dirt could be sifted in daylight. A second silver roll came up in the sifting during one of the afternoons. It would become known as Ketef Hinnom amulet II.

Monday, in one of the last buckets to be sifted, a seal was discovered. Using his son’s Play-doh, Goby made an impression of the seal and it revealed the name “Paltah”. Unbeknownst to us, this was only the first inscription.

A summary of the excavation has been published in preliminary form, but not a final excavation report (Franz 1986; Barkay 1994).

Opening the Scrolls

The two silver amulets were given an initial cleaning at the labs of Tel Aviv University. Museums in England and Germany were given the opportunity to unroll the objects, but declined because they were afraid of damaging the fragile objects. Three years after their discovery, the delicate job of opening them was finally entrusted to Joseph “Dodo” Shenhav of the Israel Museum. Under his able direction, the amulets were successfully unrolled during the fall of 1982 (Rasovsky, Bigelajzen and Shenhav 1992: 192-194).

On one Friday morning, Dr. Yaakov Meshorer, the curator of the numismatics section of the Israel Museum, looked at one of the amulets under a microscope. He recognized the paleo-Hebrew writing. He tried to call Goby but because Goby had just moved he did not have a phone in his apartment. Yaakov left a message with Goby’s wife saying “Urgent, call Yaakov.” In Israel, when somebody gets a message like that it usually means that someone died and the funeral is that day. When Goby finally got the message he quickly called Dr. Meshorer who conveyed the good news about the writing on one of the amulets. Unfortunately for Goby, it was Friday afternoon and the museum labs would be closed until Sunday morning, so he had to wait until then to view the inscription.

That Friday night I took some students from the Institute to their homes after Shabbat dinner and vespers. Since I was in the neighborhood, I decided to stop by Goby’s new apartment to see his succa (booth made of branches for the Jewish holiday Succoth) that his family had on their porch. He said with excitement in his voice, “Gordon, I have good news for you. One of the scrolls was opened and it has the word yod – hey – vav – hey on it.” My Hebrew still wasn’t that good, but I recognized the spelling right away. It was the name of the Lord, YHWH. This was the first time the Lord’s name was found in an archaeological context in Jerusalem.

Goby entrusted the drawing of the two scrolls to one of his graduate students from the Institute, Bill J. Wilson. He would take the scrolls from my room, because I had them under lock and key, to the Israel Museum in order to draw each and every line he could see using an electronic microscope, the best in Israel at the time. It was a painstaking job, but Bill did an outstanding job of recovering and drawing 90% of the inscription but it still did not make sense.

The First Public Announcement

The first public announcement of this discovery was on Sunday afternoon, January 9, 1983, at a public lecture at the Rockefeller Museum sponsored by the Albright Institute and Hebrew Union College. These lectures usually last from three until four in the afternoon. As it turned out, this lecture was hosted and moderated by Professor Avraham Biran, the doyen of Israeli archaeology. There was a bit of irony in this setup. Avraham Biran is notorious for going over his allotted time when he presents a paper at professional meetings. Of course, no moderator would have the heart to stop an enthusiastic Dr. Biran in the middle of an exciting presentation, much to the consternation of the presenter that follows him! On the other hand, when he is moderating a session, he is famous for stopping a presenter in mid sentence if the person went over his or her allotted time.

Before the lecture to a packed auditorium, Goby told Dr. Biran about the two amulets and he would announce the discovery that afternoon. When he was introduced, Dr. Biran told the audience that Goby had an important discovery to announce.

The lecture started promptly on time (vintage Biran). Bill Wilson and I were sitting in the second row, right behind Dr. Biran. We were amused to see him sitting on the edge of his seat with excitement as each slide was put up on the screen showing a different discovery. Goby started his lecture with the topography of the site, then he talked about the Byzantine church and monastic complex. He moved on to the Roman burials and finally the Iron Age burial caves. I looked at my watch and it was five minutes to four and Goby had not started to talk about Cave 25. I thought to myself, “Biran is going to yank Goby off the stage even before he has time to reveal the amulets.” At 4 PM Goby finally got around to talking about Cave 25 and proceeded to talk about each discovery in the cave for another 15 minutes. Finally, the last five minutes he dropped the “bombshell” about the amulets and the Name of the Lord appearing in an archaeological excavation in Jerusalem for the first time. With that, Goby finished and the audience broke out in a thunderous applause. Avraham Biran was beside himself with excitement and publicly congratulated Goby on his “sensational” discovery.

After Goby talked with his colleagues and friends, I had a chance to speak with him. I said, “Goby, knowing Biran’s habit of cutting people off in mid sentence, did you deliberately go overtime?” He gave me a devilish grin and said, “Yes.” To this day, Goby is the only person known to have gone overtime during a session moderated by Professor Biran and gotten away with it.

The Oldest Biblical Texts

In 1986, the Israel Museum wanted to have a “display of the month” devoted to the excavations at Ketef Hinnom. In preparation for the exhibit, Adi Yardeni of the Israel Museum redrew the amulets. One morning she had a chance conversation with a religious colleague at the museum. She mentioned she was drawing a text with the name of the LORD written three times on it. He replied, “Three times? Maybe it’s the priestly blessing.” When Yardeni returned to her work, she tried to read the passage of Numbers 6:24-26 into the inscription. Much to her amazement, it worked. Thus, the first Biblical inscription from the First Temple period was deciphered (Rabinovich 1986: 16, 17).

When the exhibition opened at the Israel Museum in June of 1986, the announcement of the two oldest Biblical texts was made. The next day it was in every newspaper in America.

On Saturday, June 21, 1986, I was attending a church picnic in New Jersey. One of the elderly gentleman from church asked if I had heard about an important Biblical discovery in Israel. I asked him questions about it, but he was vague on the details. He just remembered it was the oldest Biblical text ever discovered. He promised to bring the article from the paper to church the next day.

The next day he showed me the article. I got the shock of my life. As I was reading the article I began to realize, “This is the excavation I worked on. Those amulets were in my room. I’ve held them in my hand!” That afternoon I entertained the preacher for the day, Mr. T. Ernest Wilson, a retired missionary from Angola. In the course of our conversation he asked me if I knew anything about this discovery. I smiled and said, “Would you like to see a drawing of it?” At this point the drawings had not been published and Bill Wilson and I were the only ones in America that had a drawing of the amulets.

The Publication of the Texts

Archaeological protocol gives the right of publication in a timely fashion to the director of the excavation or to someone designated by the excavator. Goby has always been a thorough and meticulous scholar and will only publish something after he has completely studied the issue.

When I was in graduate school (1986-87) I was invited to give a paper on the amulets at the Southeast Regional Evangelical Theological Society meeting in Columbia, SC. I called Goby to ask his permission to give the paper. He hesitated at first, but then asked, “Will the people in the audience be theologians or archaeologists?” I replied, “Theologians.” He said, “Fine, go ahead and give the paper.” I appreciated Goby giving me permission because he still had not published the amulets in a technical fashion. The first article in Hebrew was in 1989 (Barkay 1989) and then translated and published in English in 1992 (Barkay 1992).

A Description of the Amulets

The larger amulet, Ketef Hinnom I, was 27.5 mm wide, with a diameter of 11 mm. In the center was a hole 2 mm in diameter, used to thread a string through in order to wear around the neck. When unrolled, the plaque measured 97 mm long and 27 mm wide. The weight of the object was 7.6 grams.

This amulet was almost pure silver. The metal analysis showed a 99% silver content and a 1% copper. These plaques might be the beaten (hammered) silver brought from Tarshish mentioned in Jeremiah 10:9.

The letters were incised on the plaques. Jeremiah, a contemporary of these amulets, describes how the writing was possibly done, “with a pen of iron, with a point of diamond” (17:1, NKJV).

At the top of the amulet is a group of letters that at first did not make sense. After re-photographing the amulets in 1994, the group of letters became readable (Barkay, Lundberg, Vaughn, Zuckerman, Zuckerman 2003). With more letters, the text became more understandable. The first fourteen lines read, “…]YHW … the grea[t ... who keeps] the covenant and [G}raciousness toward those who love [him] and those who keep [His commandments ... ...]. The Eternal? [...]. [the?] blessing more than any [sna]re and more than Evil. For redemption is in Him. For YHWH is our restorer [and] rock” (Barkay, Lundberg, Vaughn and Zuckerman 2004: 61). It was observed that the “substance of the reading for lines 2-7 is reasonably secure because these lines fit, at least loosely, a biblical parallel attested to in Dan. 9:4 and Neh. 1:5 (with a similar reading in Deut. 7:9)” (2004:55).

The end of the amulet has part of the priestly blessing. The last portion of it, however, was lost when the scroll was unrolled.

The smaller amulet, Ketef Hinnom II, is 11.5 mm wide and 5.5 mm in diameter in a rolled up position. Unrolled, it is 39.2 mm long and 11 mm wide. Unfortunately, the bottom third was missing. The priestly blessing on it says, “The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face to shine upon you, and give you peace.” The passage in Numbers 6:24-26 upon which it is based has fifteen words in it. The scribe of the amulet left out five words in order to create a shorter blessing. And we thought the Reader’s Digest Bible was a modern invention!

The Dating of the Amulets

The burial cave in which the amulets were found was carved in the mid-seventh century BC. The pottery assemblage comes from three discernable periods. The first period is the end of the Iron Age. This pottery style parallels the pottery from Lachish, Level II, and the City of David, Level X. These levels are dated to the end of the Judean Monarchy, or 587 BC. The second period is the Babylonian period when most of the Judeans were in captivity in Babylon. The prophet Jeremiah mentions people who remained behind after the Babylonians carried away, or killed, most of the Judeans (Jer. 41:5; 39:10). The third period represented was the Hellenistic period. The few finds from this period were confined to the area around the entrance of the repository of the burial cave.

Based on the style of the letters, or paleography, Goby dated the amulets to the late seventh century BC, or very early sixth century BC (Barkay 1992). Several scholars challenged this date and argued that it was much later, during the Hellenistic period. One of the reasons was the existence of the eight Hellenistic pottery pieces in the cave.

The importance of careful records cannot be overestimated. Goby had to go back and look at the journal that I kept and the plan of the burial cave with the objects plotted on them. It was observed that the average depth of the deposits in the repository was 65 cm deep. The Ketef Hinnom I amulet was found 7 cm above the floor. This demonstrated that the amulet was one of the earliest objects thrown into the repository. Ketef Hinnom II was found in Area A, the back quadrant. Goby observed that this was also one of the earliest deposits.

On paleographic grounds, these two inscriptions should be dated to the end of the seventh century BC. This fits well with the corresponding archaeological data as well as historical considerations. Clearly these are the two oldest Biblical texts found to date. They predate the Dead Sea Scrolls by at least 400 years.

Implication for Biblical Studies

There is at least one important implication for Biblical studies. According to the critical scholars, Numbers 6:23-27 should be attributed to the so-called “P source” which is generally dated to the Post-Exilic, or Persian Period. It is obvious that we now have two examples of this text that were written prior to the Babylonian captivity. This makes it impossible to assume that the Priestly Benediction was crystallized during the Post-Exilic period.

A word of caution is in order. These amulets cannot be used to prove when the priestly blessing was originally composed, or even who wrote it. The only thing they can tell us is that at the end of the seventh century BC the priestly blessing existed. We have to turn to the Bible to find out that Aaron, the brother of Moses, first gave the blessing and Moses wrote it down sometime during the last half of the 15^th century BC.

Conclusion

These amulets were worn around the neck to protect the wearer from evil or to surround themselves with the name of the Lord for protection. We observe the same phenomenon today when people wear religious objects, hoping that God would be gracious to them and protect them. It seems that the Biblical passages are added on at the end of a “prayer request” for protection from some evil person or calamity, or for blessing in the wearer’s life.

These two silver objects with Scripture verses on them could be the forerunner to the phylacteries of the later periods. It is interesting, Torah instructed the people to “wear the Word of God.” In Exodus 13:9,16 it says, “And it shall serve as a sign to you on your hand, and as a reminder on your forehead, that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth” (NKJV, cf. also Deut. 6:8; 11:18; Prov. 6:21; 1:9: 3:3, 22; 7:3).

The people literally wore the Word of God. The LORD gave this injunction in order to keep the Word of God constantly before His people, that they might learn it and obey it.

Even today this is still a good practice. In memorizing the Word of God, a poster or picture with a Scripture verse on it is helpful. But more important than wearing the Word of God, or hanging it on our wall, is to have it abiding in our hearts. King David declared, “Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee” (Ps. 119:11 NKJV).

Bibliography

Avigad, Nahman
1953 The Epitaph of a Royal steward from Siloam Village. Israel Exploration Journal 3: 137-152.

Barkay, Gabriel
1989 The Priestly Benediction of the Ketef Hinnom Plaques. Cathedra 52: 37-76 (Hebrew).

______1992 The Priestly Benediction on Silver Plaques from Ketef Hinnom in Jerusalem. Tel Aviv 19: 139-192.

______1994Excavations at Ketef Hinnom in Jerusalem. Pp. 85-106 in Ancient Jerusalem Revealed. Edited by H. Geva. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society.

Barkay, Gabriel; Lundberg, Marilyn; Vaughn, Andrew; and Zuckerman, Bruce
2004 The Amulets from Ketef Hinnom: A New Edition and Evaluation. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 334: 41-71.

Barkay, Gabriel; Lundberg, Marilyn; Vaughn, Andrew; Zuckerman, Bruce; Zuckerman, Kenneth
2003 The Challenge of Ketef Hinnom. Near Eastern Archaeology 66: 162-171.

Franz, Gordon
1986 The Excavations at St. Andrews Church in Jerusalem. Near East Archaeological Society Bulletin 27: 5-24.

Rabinovich, Abraham
1986 Word for Word. The Jerusalem Post International Edition. August 9, pages 16,17.

Rasovsky, Marima; Bigelajzen, David; and Shenhav, Dodo
1992 Cleaning and Unrolling the Silver Plaques. Tel Aviv 19: 192-194.

]]> http://www.lifeandland.org/2009/02/remember-archaeology-is-not-a-treasure-hunt/feed/ 0 http://www.lifeandland.org/2009/02/nahum-ninevah-and-those-nasty-assyrians/ http://www.lifeandland.org/2009/02/nahum-ninevah-and-those-nasty-assyrians/#comments Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:22:26 +0000 sherri http://www.lifeandland.org/?p=169

By Gordon Franz

[Disclaimer: If there are any similarities in this discussion between Ashurbanipal II and his Assyrian troops and Saddam Hussein and the Republican guards, it is purely coincidental. Having said that, it is my position Saddam Hussein is not discussed in the Book of Nahum, nor are automobiles on the LA Freeway (cf. Nahum 2:3)!]

If I mentioned the city Nineveh, what would come to your mind? Most likely you would say Jonah. We’ve all heard the story about Jonah being swallowed by the great fish and then going to Nineveh to preach against the city. His message was short and to the point, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” The city, from the king to the dogcatcher, repented. Have you ever wondered what happened to Nineveh after that? The short prophetic book of Nahum tells us “the rest of the story.”

During the summer of 2002, I had the privilege of spending three days in the British Museum in London. Wow, what an experience! I have been studying and teaching archaeology for over twenty-five years and never had the opportunity to see the many objects on display in the museum that have Biblical connections

The main interest of my visit was the objects in the Assyrian Rooms, especially the rooms containing the bas-reliefs of Ashurbanipal II (ruled 668-631 BC), the last great king of Assyria. Several years ago I taught the book of Nahum at my home church. I endeavored to illustrate my messages with archaeological discoveries relating to the text. In my studies, I was surprised at the number of references to objects in the British Museum. When I first visited the rooms with the reliefs, I was not disappointed. With the book of Nahum opened before me, most of the word pictures in the book could be illustrated, in one way or another, from the reliefs of Ashurbanipal II. In this article we will visit the galleries associated with the book of Nahum and visualize the “rest of the story.”

The Date of the Book of Nahum

Scholars have long debated the date of the book of Nahum. A wide range of dates has been suggested, from the 8^th century BC (Feinberg 1951:126,148) to the Maccabean period, early 2^nd century BC (Haupt). Yet the book gives us internal chronological parameters in order to date the book. Nahum describes the conquest of Thebes (No-Amon) by Ashurbanipal II in 663 BC as a past event, thus the book could not have been written before that date. The entire book is a prediction of the fall of the city of Nineveh in 612 BC. Thus, the book was written somewhere between 663 and 612 BC.

A case can be made for the proclamation of the message, and writing of the book, about 650 BC. If this is the correct date, the Spirit of God used this book to put King Manasseh into a position where he could come to faith and to bring Judah back to the LORD. Up until this point in the reign of King Manasseh, the kingdom, led by the king, was “more evil than the nations whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel” (2 Chron. 33:9). The LORD sent seers (prophets) to speak to the nation, but the nation would not listen to the Word of God (33:10, 18). While not named, one of the seers was probably Nahum. His vision concerning the total destruction of Nineveh would be seen by the Assyrian overlords as fomenting rebellion and insurrection, and possibly seen as support for Shamash-shum-ukin, the king of Babylon, in his current civil war with his brother Ashurbanipal II. If a copy of the book of Nahum fell into the hands of the Assyrian intelligence community, King Manasseh would have had to give account for this book. The Biblical records state, “the LORD brought upon them [Judah] the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters, and carried him off to Babylon” (2 Chron. 33:11). This event would have transpired in 648 BC, the year that Ashurbanipal II temporarily ruled Babylon after he eliminated his brother as a result of the four-year civil war (Rainey 1993: 160).

Dragging someone off with hooks in their nose would be in keeping with Ashurbanipal’s character. In the excavations of Sam’al (Zincirli) a stela was found with Esarhaddon holding two leashes attached to the nose-rings of Baal of Tyre and Usanahuru, a crown prince of Egypt. Flanking the stela, watching intently, is Esarhaddon’s son, Ashurbanipal on the left and his brother Samas-sumu-ukin on the right. Ashurbanipal observed his fathers brutality and followed his example (Parpola and Watanabe 1988:20, 21).

During Manasseh’s interrogation by Ashurbanipal II (and it must have been a brutal one, the text uses the word “afflicted”), he “implored the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed to Him; and He received His entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God” (2 Chron. 33:12,13).

Upon his return to Jerusalem, Manasseh began building projects in the city as well as elsewhere in Judah and removed the idols and altars he had placed in the Temple (2 Chron. 33:14-15). “He also repaired the altar of the LORD, sacrificed peace offerings and thanks offerings on it, and commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel” (33:16). This activity was in accord with what Nahum had challenged the people to do. “Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace! O Judah, keep your appointed feast, perform your vows. For the wicked one shall no more pass through you; he is utterly cut off” (1:15). The challenge was for Judeans to renew their pilgrimages to Jerusalem for the thrice-yearly feasts of Pesach (Passover), Shav’uot (Pentecost) and Succoth (Tabernacles) (Ex. 23:14-17; 34:22-24; Deut. 16:16, 17). There was also a command for the remnant that faithfully prayed to the Lord desiring to bring the nation back to Biblical worship and to bring the king to the Lord. They were to perform the vow they had made to the Lord. The Bible records a half-hearted attempt to return to Biblical worship. “Nevertheless, the people still sacrificed on the high places, but only to the LORD their God” (2 Chron. 33:17). The only true place of worship was the Temple in Jerusalem, not the high places.

Nahum prophesied the destruction of Nineveh, the capital of the sole superpower, at the zenith of Assyria’s power and glory. He boldly proclaimed a message that was not popular, nor “politically correct.” In fact, most Judeans would think his prediction of the downfall of Nineveh was impossible.

The Reliefs From Ashurbanipal’s Palace in the British Museum

Ashurbanipal II reigned in Nineveh from 668-631 BC. At the beginning of his reign he lived in Sennacherib’s “palace without rival.” Ashurbanipal refurbished the palace about 650 BC. In Room XXXIII, he placed his own wall reliefs. Ashurbanipal’s other major construction project was the North Palace for the crown prince (Russell 1999: 154).

Nahum was from Elkosh (Nah. 1:1). Some scholars have suggested Elkosk was located at the village of Al-Qush, 25 miles north of modern day Mosul, a city that is across the Tigres River from Nineveh. These scholars take this position because: (1) the names are similar, (2) the local Christian tradition holds that Nahum was from there and his tomb was there, and (3) Nahum’s writings show his familiarity with the city of Nineveh. Some speculate that Nahum was an Israelite captive who lived in the area and was an eyewitness to the city.

There is, however, another possibility. Elkosh was in southern Judah and Nahum was part of the Judean emissary that brought the yearly tribute from King Manasseh to Nineveh. While in Nineveh, he would have observed the broad roads (Nah. 2:4), walls (Nah. 2:5), gates (Nah. 2:6), temples and idols (1:14), and its vast wealth (2:9). I’m sure the minister of propaganda would have shown him the wall reliefs in Ashurbanipal’s residence. These reliefs were intended “as propaganda to impress, intimidate and instigate by representing the might of Assyrian power and the harsh punishment of rebels” (Comelius 1989: 56). Or as Esarhaddon would say, “For the gaze of all my foes, to the end of days, I set it [stela] up” (Luckenbill 1989: II: 227).

Let us examine the reliefs found on the walls of Ashurbanipal’s palace and see how they illustrate the word-pictures used by Nahum in his book.

Blasphemy against Assur (Nahum 1:14)

In 650 BC, Nahum would have seen the newly opened Room XXXIII in the Southwest Palace of Nineveh (Sennacherib’s “palace without rival”) with the reliefs depicting the campaign against Teumman of Elam and Dunanu of Gambula in 653 BC. One particular relief would have caught his attention (WA 124802, Slab 4). On it, a pair of Elamite captives is being depicted as having their tongues pulled out and being flayed. The caption above stated, “Mr. (blank) and Mr. (blank) spoke great insults against Assur, the god, my creator. Their tongues I tore out, their skins I flayed” (Russell 1999: 180; Gerardi 1988: 31). These two individuals are identified in Ashurbanipal’s annals as Mannu-ki-ahhe and Nabu-usalli (Russell 1999: 163).

It was with great boldness that Nahum proclaimed, “The LORD has given a command concerning you [the king of Assyria]: ‘Your name shall be perpetuated no longer. Out of the house of your gods I will cut off the carved image and molded image. I will dig your grave, for you are vile’” (1:14). These words were a direct attack on Assur and the rest of the Assyrian deities, as well as the king. Yet Nahum boldly proclaimed the message God gave him, in spite of the potential threat to his life!

Chariots, Not Volkswagens! (Nahum 2:3,4)

The second chapter of Nahum describes the fall of the city of Nineveh to the Babylonians and Medes in 612 BC. He describes in detail the shields, chariots and spears of the Assyrian foes. While we do not have any contemporary Babylonian reliefs of their chariots, there are Assyrian reliefs of Assyrian chariots riding furiously. These chariots are depicted on the reliefs of the Assyrians attacking the Arabs.

Nahum mentions the broad roads of Nineveh. Ashurbanipal’s grandfather, Sennacherib, was the one who improved the streets of Nineveh. In the “Bellino cylinder” he boasts, “I (Sennacherib) widened its (Nineveh’s) squares, made bright the avenues and streets and caused them to shine like the day” (1:61).

In the context of the book, Nahum sees a vision of chariots in the streets of Nineveh, not Volkswagens, as some prophecy teachers have speculated!

Take the Booty and Run! (Nahum 2:9,10)

Nineveh was the Fort Knox of mid-7^th century BC Mesopotamia. On every Assyrian campaign they always removed the silver, gold and precious stones and other items from the cities that they sacked. When they bragged about the booty that was taken, silver and gold always topped the list. As an example, after the fall of No-Amon (Thebes), Ashurbanipal bragged that he took: “Silver, gold, precious stones, the goods of his palace, all there was, brightly colored and linen garments, great horses, the people, male and female, two tall obelisks. … I removed from their positions and carried them off to Assyria. Heavy plunder, and countless, I carried away from Ni’ (Thebes)” (ARAB II: 296, para. 778). There are also reliefs of Assyrian scribes writing down the booty that was taken from other cities.

In Nahum’s vision he saw someone say, “Take spoil of silver! Take spoil of gold! There is no end of treasure, or wealth of every desirable prize. She is empty, desolate and waste!” (2:9,10a). The Babylonian Chronicles (BM 21.901) described the spoils taken from Nineveh by the Babylonians and the Medes in these terms: “Great quantities of spoil from the city, beyond counting, they carried off” (ARAB II: 420, para. 1178).

One of the excavators of Nineveh has commented, that there has been very little gold and silver found in the ruins of the city. The Medes and Babylonians “cleaned house” after they conquered the city, just like Nahum predicted.

Diodorus, a Greek historian from Sicily, writing in the 1^st century BC, described the final hours of the king of Nineveh, Sardanapallus, in these words: “In order that he might not fall into the hands of the enemy, he built and enormous pyre in his palace, heaped upon it all his gold and silver as well as every article of the royal wardrobe, and then … he consigned [his concubines and eunuchs] and himself and his palace to the flame” (Book 2. 27:2; LCL 1:441). Unfortunately the Babylonian account is broken at this point. It says, “On that day Sin-shar-ishkun, king of Assyria, fled from the city (?) …” (ARAB II: 420; para. 1178).

If Diodorus is correct, the king of Assyria tried to take his wealth with him. At best, the gold and silver melted and were collected later. The Bible is clear that people cannot take their wealth with them to the afterlife, but it can be sent on ahead. The Lord Jesus admonishes His disciples to “lay up for themselves treasures in heaven” (Matt. 619-21).

The Lion Hunt (Nahum 2:11-13)

David Dorsey, in his outstanding book, The Literary Structure of the Old Testament (1999:301-305), places the lion’s den verses (2:11-13) at the center of the book’s chiastic structure. In commenting on the pattern of the structure he says, “This progression underscores the certainty of Nineveh’s fall: Yahweh’s prophet not only believes that it will happen; he composes dirges as though it has already happened. The placement of the eulogy over the ‘lion’s den’ in the book’s highlighted central position reinforces this sense of certainty” (1999:304, italics mine).

Nahum used the lion and lion hunt motifs that both the Judeans and Assyrians would have been well familiar. The Assyrians had a long history of depicting their king and warriors as mighty lions or great lion hunters (Johnston 2001:296-301). The Bible also depicts the Assyrian warriors as roaring lions (Isa. 5:29) and Yahweh as a lion who will tear up His prey and carry it off to His lair (Hosea 5:14, 15; 13:7, 8; Johnston 2001:294, 295).

According to Ashurbanipal’s annals, at the beginning of his reign, two deities, Adad and Ea blessed the land of Assyria with plenty of rain. This rain caused the forests to thrive and the reeds in the marshes to flourish. This blessing resulted in a population explosion among the lions. They exerted their influence in the hills and on the plain by attacking herds of cattle, flocks of sheep and people. Many were killed (ARAB II: 363, para. 935). Ashurbanipal II, following in the footsteps of his predecessors, took charge of the lion hunts in order to control the lion population (ARAB II: 392, para. 1025).

Ashurbanipal also engaged in lion hunting as a sport. Apparently lions were captured alive and put in cages in the king’s garden in Nineveh and used for staged lion hunts (Weissert 1997:339-358). One relief that was found in the North Palace at Nineveh and had apparently fallen into Room S from a second floor had three panels depicting a lion hunt. On the top panel, a lion is released from a cage and Ashurbanipal is shooting him with arrows. The central panel is interesting because it shows the bravery of the king. On the right side of the panel, soldiers are distracting a lion. On the left side, Ashurbanipal sneaks up and grabs the lion by the tail as he rears to his hind legs. [I dare anybody to try this stunt at a zoo today!] The inscription above says, “I, Ashurbanipal, king of the universe, king of Assyria, in my lordly sport I seized a lion of the plain by his tail and at the command of Urta, Nergal, the gods, my allies, I smashed his skull with the club of my hand” (ARAB II: 391, para. 1023). The king attributes his bravery to the deities. Dr. J. E. Reade, one of the keepers of the Western Asiatic Antiquities at the British Museum has observed, “It is notable that much of the lion’s tail has been chipped away, so that the lion has been, as it were, set loose; this defacement was probably the action, at once humorous and symbolic, of some enemy soldier busy ransacking the palace in 612 B.C.” (Curtis and Reade 1995:87). On the lower panel, Ashurbanipal is pouring out a wine libation over the carcasses of four lions. In the inscription above, the king boasts of his power by saying, “I, Ashurbanipal, king of the universe, king of Assyria, whom Assur and Ninlil have endowed with surpassing might. The lions which I slew, – the terrible bow of Ishtar, lady of battle, I aimed at them. I brought an offering, I poured out wine over them” (ARAB II: 392, para. 1021). The king attributes his mighty power to the gods, Assur and Ninlil.

In contrast, Ashurbanipal boasts that kings and lions are powerless before him. At the beginning of one of his annals (Cylinder F) he states, “Among men, kings, and among the beasts, lions (?) were powerless before my bow. I know (the art) of waging battle and combat. … A valiant hero, beloved of Assur and Ishtar, of royal lineage, am I” (ARAB II: 347, para. 896). Ashurbanipal has tied his lion hunting and military conquests together in one statement.

In the vision of Nahum concerning Nineveh, Nahum asks a rhetorical question, “Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion walked, the lioness and lion’s cub, and no one made them afraid?” (2:11). He sees Nineveh as a lions den that has been destroyed and the lions are gone. The “prey” in verse 12 is apparently the booty that the Assyrians have taken from all the cities they conquered in recent memory. In verse 13, the LORD states directly, “Behold, I am against you. I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messenger shall be heard no more.” The phrase “the sword shall devour your young lions” draws our attention to another relief showing Ashurbanipal thrusting a sword through a lion. The inscription associate with this relief says, “I, Ashurbanipal, king of the universe, king of Assyria, in my lordly sport, they let a fierce lion of the plain out of the cage and on foot … I stabbed him later with my iron girdle dagger and he died” (ARAB II: 392, para. 1024).

The book of Nahum sets forth an ironic reversal of the Assyrian usage of the lion motif. Dr. Gordon Johnston has observed, “The extended lion metaphor in Nahum 2:11-13 includes the two major varieties of the Neo-Assyrian lion motif: the depiction of the Assyrian king and his warriors as mighty lions, and the royal lion hunt theme. While the Assyrians kept these two motifs separate, Nahum dovetailed the two, but in doing so he also reversed their original significance. While the Assyrian warriors loved to depict themselves as mighty lions hunting their prey, Nahum pictured them as lions that would be hunted down. The Assyrian kings also boasted that they were mighty hunters in royal lion hunts; Nahum pictured them as the lion being hunted in the lion hunt. By these reversals Nahum created an unexpected twist on Assyrian usage. According to Nahum the Assyrians were like lions, to be sure; however, not in the way that they depicted themselves: rather than being like lions on the prowl for prey, the hunters would become the hunted!” (2001: 304).

Nahum was keenly aware of the culture that he was writing to and was able to effectively use it to convey a powerful message from the Lord.

Nineveh, a Bloody City (Nahum 3:1)

Nahum pronounced “woe to the bloody city (of Nineveh)” (3:1). The city and the Assyrian Empire had a well-earned reputation for being bloody. Just a casual glance at the reliefs in the British Museum from the palaces of Sennacherib and Ashurbanipal show the “gory and bloodcurdling history as we know it” (Bleibtreu 1991:52). There are reliefs with people being impaled, decapitated, flayed, tongues pulled out, making people grind the bones of their dead ancestors, even vultures plucking out the eyes of the dead!

One panel graphically shows the disrespect for human life. On it, a commander is presenting a bracelet to an Assyrian soldier who had decapitated the five or six heads at his feet. There are two scribes behind him recording the event. This bracelet, perhaps a medal of valor, is worth five or six lives! In Assyrian thinking, life was cheap.

Countless Corpse (Nahum 3:3)

There is an old adage that says, “What goes around, comes around.” The Bible would use an agricultural metaphor, “You reap what you sow” (cf. Gal. 6:7). This is true in the geo-political realm as well as the personal realm. The Assyrians, over their long history, were brutal and barbaric people. Yet there came a point in history where God said, “Enough is enough,” and He removed the offending party (Nahum 2:13; 3:4).

Nineveh fell in 612 BC, yet is wasn’t until the 1989 and 1990 seasons of the University of California, Berkeley excavations in the Halzi Gate that graphic evidence of the final battle of Nineveh was revealed. Upwards to 16 bodies were excavated in the gate, all slain (Stronach and Lumsden 1992: 227-233; Stronach 1997: 315-319). Archaeological excavations have vividly confirmed the words of the Biblical text. “Horsemen charge with bright sword and glittering spear. There is a multitude of slain, a great number of bodies, countless corpses – they stumble over the corpses” (Nahum 3:3).

The Fall of No-Amon (Thebes) (Nahum 3:8-11)

Nahum taunts the Assyrians for trusting in their fortifications for protection and security. Nineveh was a heavily fortified city, yet the Lord had decreed its demise.

He asked rhetorically, “Are you better than No-Amon (Thebes) that was situated by the (Nile) River, that had the waters around her, whose rampart was the sea, whose wall was the sea?” (3:8). No-Amon is the Egyptian word for “city of (the deity) Amon” commonly known today by its Greek name, Thebes.

Esarhaddon had taken Egypt on his second invasion in 671 BC. When he died, the Egyptians revolted and Ashurbanipal went to Egypt to put down this revolt. He cleared the Delta of the Cushites (Ethiopians) in 667/666 BC and the Cushite ruler, Taharqa fled to No-Amon. On Ashurbanipal’s first campaign against Egypt, he took 22 kings from the seacoast, with their armies, to help him fight the Egyptians. Ashurbanipal claims that he “made those kings with their forces (and) their ships accompany me by sea and by land” (Rainey 1993:157). One of those kings was Manasseh, king of Judah, with his army. On his second campaign, he went to No-Amon and defeated the city and razed it in 663 BC. There were Judeans in the Assyrian army that saw this event. When they heard or read the words of Nahum they would have been encouraged. The Assyrians were able to defeat a strong and impermeable No-Amon, and God would now fulfill His Word and Nineveh will fall.

Ashurbanipal had a relief of the fall of No-Amon. It is labeled “an Egyptian fortress” in the British Museum. Yadin cautiously states, “The crowning achievement of Ashurbanipal’s expeditionary force to Egypt was the capture and destruction of Thebes ‘of the hundred gates’ (the Egyptian capital during the XXVth Dynasty) in the year 663 BC. It is most probable that this is the event which the Assyrian artist depicted in such detail here in his portrayal of an attack on an Egyptian city” (1963:462). If this is the case, we have a very graphic illustration of the Biblical text. The top of the relief has the Assyrians besieging the city with ladders, soldiers undermining the walls and a soldier torching the gate. A close examination of the defenders reveals that there are two ethnic groups defending the city. One group with the Negroid features is the Ethiopians and the others are the Egyptians. Nahum said, “Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength. And it was boundless” (3:9a).

On the left of the relief, above the Nile River, are Ethiopian captives being taken out of No-Amon. A careful examination of these captives reveals chains on their ankles. Nahum prophesized, “Yet she was carried away, she went into captivity. … They cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains” (3:10).

Another remarkable illustration of the Biblical text is the group of twelve Egyptians to the right side of the relief awaiting their fate on the banks of the Nile River. As I stared at the group I noticed three children. Two were seated on the donkey and one was on the shoulder of his father. I could not help but wonder if these children knew the fate that awaited them. The words of the prophet were, “Her young children also were dashed to pieces at the head of every street” (3:10). Thankfully the Assyrian artist did not have the audacity to carve this scene on the relief!

An interesting side note should be mentioned. Manasseh was with Ashurbanipal II when he conquered No-Amon, the city of the deity Amon, in 663 BC. That was the year that a son was born to him, the future king of Judah, Ammon. Apparently Manasseh named his son after the Egyptian deity Amon. This is consistent with Manasseh’s character of following after other gods. But why an Egyptian god and not an Assyrian one, I do not know.

The Fig Trees and the Forts (Nahum 3:12)

After asking Nineveh, “Are you better than No-Amon?” Nahum proceeds to describe the rapid fall of the cities and fortressed surrounding Nineveh. He says, “All your strongholds are fig trees with ripened figs: if they are shaken, they will fall into the mouth of the eater” (3:13). When the figs are ripe, they drop easily from the tree when shaken. This is a word-picture that the Ninevites knew from personal experience. Figs were common in Nineveh, as attested to by their appearance on reliefs.

A Locust at the Banquet (Nahum 3:15b-17)

One of the most pathetic reliefs in Ashurbanipal’s palace is one of a royal banquet that commemorated the defeat of the king’s most hated foe, Teumman, the king of Elam. On this relief, Ashurbanipal is reclining on a couch under a grape vine in his garden sipping wine with his consort. There are servants around them with fans, while other servants are bringing food and playing musical instruments. From Ashurbanipal’s vantage point on the couch he could gaze on the trophy head of the Elamite king hanging from a ring in the fir tree.

In a warped perversion of a Biblical description of peace, that of every man sitting under his vine and fig tree (Micah 4:1-4), this relief commemorated the cessation of war with the Elamites after nine years. Ashurbanipal attributes his victory to “the Assyrian pantheon, and in particular, the deities Ashur and Ishtar of Arbela. Thus the human head may be viewed as more than a memorial to a successful battle; it is symbolic of a major threat to the Assyrian throne, a threat that was decisively eliminated through divine might” (Albenda 1977:35). Yet Micah says that real peace will come when the nations go to the LORD’s House in Jerusalem and worship Him. Then “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nations shall not lift up sword against nations, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Micah 4:3).

There is one detail in this relief that should not be missed. In the upper left hand corner is one locust sitting on top of a palm tree. To its right is a bird swooping down as if to catch it. One art historian describes the scene this way: “Related to this is the image of a locust alight upon an upper branch of a tree, a short distance from the severed head of Teumman. A bird sweeps down toward the insect as if to devour it. This apparently minor detail may have special meaning, for in the annals Ashurbanipal describes the Elamites as a ‘dense swarm of grasshoppers’ [ARAB II: 329, para. 855]. Within this context, the locust may signify the last vestige of a once dreadful enemy, now virtually eliminated” (Albenda 1977:31,32).

At the end of the book of Nahum we have another reversal of fortune. Instead of the Elamites being the locusts, the Assyrians are, and they are about to be eliminated! But Nahum does not describe the destructive aspects of the locust plague, but rather, the flight of the locusts after they have done their damage. In Nahum 3:17 he states, “Your commanders are like swarming locusts, and your generals like great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges on a cold day; when the sun arises they flee away, and the place where they are is not known.”

One of the pioneer Israeli biologists, Prof. F. S. Bodenheimer, puts this aspect of Nahum’s mention of locusts in scientific terms. He describes his observations of the body temperature of the Desert Locusts (Schistocerca gregaria) in the fifth hopper stage thus, “Since dawn the locusts had been turning their bodies towards the rays of the sun to ‘drink’ the maximum of heat. Intensive migration set in only when the body temperature had reached about 40 degrees C. This utilization of sun radiation we called heliothermy” (1959:202). He attributes the first mention of heliothermy to Nahum (1959:201).

The Fall of Nineveh

Prior to the beginning of the 20^th century, commentators discussed the date for the fall of Nineveh. The possibilities for this event ranged from 716 to 709 BC. In 1923, C. J. Gadd published a tablet from Babylon in the possession of the British Museum. The tablet was called the “Babylonian Chronicles” (BM 21.901) and it covered the years 616-609 BC, or the 10^th to the 17^th year of Nabopolasser, king of Babylon. The annals place the fall of Nineveh in the 14^th year of his reign, the year 612 BC. This event provides the student of history with an absolute chronological peg for Biblical and Assyrian history.

Conclusions

We have journeyed through the halls of the British Museum in this article pointing out the reliefs and objects that help to illustrate the text of the small, yet important book, of Nahum. My hope is that this discussion has helped make the Biblical text “come alive” and has given the student of the Scriptures a more accurate visual aid to the Bible.

Bibliography

Albenda, P.
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Bleibtreu, E.
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Bodenheimer, F.
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Comelius, I.
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Curtis, J., and Reade, J.
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Diodorus Siculus
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Dorsey, D.
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Gerardi, P.
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Masters, P.
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Rainey, A.
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Russell, J.
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Stronach, D.
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Stronach, D., and Lumsden, S.
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Ussishkin, D.
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Weissert, E.
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Yadin, Y.
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