tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14854998731944413772024-03-14T08:16:38.868+11:00Bible ResourcesDocumenting Bible archaeology and written source materialRowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485499873194441377.post-27902983745750194492007-10-22T15:46:00.000+10:002007-10-25T02:51:21.957+10:00In the news:Israeli archaeologists overseeing contested Jerusalem dig find link to first Jewish Temple<a id="articleLocation" title="Click to view map" href="http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/21/africa/ME-GEN-Israel-Holy-Site.php#">JERUSALEM</a>:<br /><em><strong>Israeli archaeologists overseeing contested Jerusalem dig find link to first Jewish Temple<br />The Associated Press Published: October 21, 2007</strong></em><br /><br /><br /><div align="justify"><em>Israeli archaeologists overseeing a contested dig at Jerusalem's holiest site for Muslims and Jews stumbled upon a sealed archaeological level dating back to the era of the first biblical Jewish temple, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Sunday. </em></div><em><div align="justify"><br />Islamic authorities responsible for the Old City compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, said the dig was part of infrastructure work at the site to replace 40-year-old electrical cables. But the Islamic Trust denied that any discovery was made, or that any Israeli archaeologists were supervising the work. </div><div align="justify"><br />On Sunday, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced that it had discovered fragments of ceramic table wares and animal bones dating back to the first Jewish temple — from the 6th to the 10th centuries B.C. </div><div align="justify"><br />The finds also included fragments of bowl rims, bases and body sherds, the base and handle of a small jug and the rim of a storage jar, the agency said in a statement. </div><div align="justify"><br />The site represents the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It houses both the Al Aqsa Mosque and the gold-capped Dome of the Rock, Islam's third-holiest shrine, built over the ruins of both biblical Jewish temples. Archaeological digs for a renovation project earlier this year by Israeli authorities next to the holy site sparked protests by Muslims.<br /><br />Jon Seligman, Jerusalem regional archaeologist for the Antiquities Authority, said the find was significant since it could help scholars in reconstructing the dimensions and boundaries of the Temple Mount during the first temple period. </div><div align="justify"><br />"The layer is a closed, sealed archaeological layer that has been undisturbed since the 8th century B.C.," he said. </div><div align="justify"><br />But the Public Committee Against the Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount, a group of Israeli archaeologists, downplayed the findings, saying the dig was conducted in an unprofessional manner without proper documentation. The group previously condemned the maintenance works, which included using a tractor to dig a trench, charging that digging at such a sensitive site could damage Bible-era relics and erase evidence of the presence of the biblical structures. </div><div align="justify"><br />"I think it is a smoke screen for the ruining of antiquities," said Eilat Mazar, a member of the committee. </div><div align="justify"><br />Seligman said the maintenance work was necessary to accommodate the thousands of worshippers who flock daily to the site. He said no damage was caused to the site and added that the discovery was merely a pleasant surprise. </div><div align="justify"><br />"That's what makes this (archaeology) so interesting," he said. "You never know what you are going to find. It is always a bit of an adventure."</div><div align="justify"></em> </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><a href="http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/21/africa/ME-GEN-Israel-Holy-Site.php">http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/21/africa/ME-GEN-Israel-Holy-Site.php</a></div>Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485499873194441377.post-51976429280122969532007-10-10T03:11:00.000+10:002008-12-10T09:31:10.230+11:00Archaeology and the Bible: The House of Yahweh Ostracon<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3gmti7dzh9HOweHDfmbivKvgNDeRhRPBYpin5osyBDYwyJ-y9wRw6y3pjHNvkqG7vmKChDoa4UEWyQkmmbp2nkfzHqYecBqFcHFy2qgtD0WNvPh8SGLkCGSEGhbrbu-r6lmSmvSFctJQ/s1600-h/kingdavid8.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5119388844886766274" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="House of Yahweh ostracon" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3gmti7dzh9HOweHDfmbivKvgNDeRhRPBYpin5osyBDYwyJ-y9wRw6y3pjHNvkqG7vmKChDoa4UEWyQkmmbp2nkfzHqYecBqFcHFy2qgtD0WNvPh8SGLkCGSEGhbrbu-r6lmSmvSFctJQ/s400/kingdavid8.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggwknULolSim9k9zzjGOcniXSMaH__G5YuM4okk6KdyF_ogfPDiSOUcFGHfAi8Ka3Ygueuvu7mb4kuaeblcb5DvaT1FWi-bRVZ678H0iTfYKbggKbrq0v5QjpNisHYwz6y_v7PLetvyA4/s1600-h/House+of+yahweh+ostracon.gif"></a><br /><br /><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong><em>The House of Yahweh Ostracon(pottery)</em></strong></div><br /><div><em></em></div><div><strong><em></em></strong> </div><div><strong><em> What is it?</em></strong></div><div><em></em> </div><div><em>*A tax receipt measuring 8.6 centimeters high, 10.9 centimeters wide</em></div><br /><div><em></em></div><div><em>*It dates to Approximately the 9th—7th centuries BCE</em></div><br /><div><em></em></div><div><em>*Earliest artifact that most likely mentions Solomons temple</em></div><div><em></em></div><div><em></em></div><div><em></em></div><div><em></em></div><br /><div><strong><em>Translation</em></strong></div><br /><br /><div><em>L1 According to your order, Ashya-<br />L2 hu the king, to give by the hand<br />L3 of [Z]ekaryahu silver of Tar-<br />L4 shish for the house of Yahweh<br />L5 3 shekels</em></div><br /><div></div></div>Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485499873194441377.post-44244524528157969242007-10-09T06:17:00.000+10:002008-12-10T09:31:10.403+11:00Seal of Baalis<strong><em>Seal of Baalis, the Ammonite king<br /></em></strong><div></div><div><br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNG91-K4dZVmfQjQmxQCbEIV9_33fxCtBmxy0B_TU8jURyu1HUPtRxhQ0bpZpR_ryoilARmvrVtx_8pF9LuaqHtoJ7Mzad5myW0yUyxWtsXIiu5caTzIdhXQwRbPlu2Ngx0qZJkQ7IMrY/s1600-h/seal+of+baalis.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5119064514726376082" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="Seal of Baalis the Ammonite" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNG91-K4dZVmfQjQmxQCbEIV9_33fxCtBmxy0B_TU8jURyu1HUPtRxhQ0bpZpR_ryoilARmvrVtx_8pF9LuaqHtoJ7Mzad5myW0yUyxWtsXIiu5caTzIdhXQwRbPlu2Ngx0qZJkQ7IMrY/s400/seal+of+baalis.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong>Bible Reference</strong></div><div><br /></div><div><strong>Jer 40:14</strong><em> and they say unto him, `Dost thou really know that Baalis king of the sons of Ammon hath sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to smite thy soul?' And Gedaliah son of Ahikam hath not given to them credence.</em> (ASV)</div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>Image credit: <a href="http://prophetess.lstc.edu/~rklein/">http://prophetess.lstc.edu/~rklein/</a></div>Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485499873194441377.post-70457729990720909192007-10-08T18:46:00.000+10:002008-12-10T09:31:11.971+11:00Archaeology and the Bible 32: The Erastus inscription<em>In a letter to a congregation in Rome from Corinth in 57 AD, Paul wrote a list of personal greetings at the end of the letter, in whuch he says, 'Erastus, the city treasurer, sends you his greetings...'<br /><br />An inscription on a pavement was discovered form the ancient ruins of Corinth in 1929 which most likely refers to this Erastus.<br /><br />The pavement was laid about A.D. 50.<br /><br />The inscription reads:<br /><br />ERASTVS PRO AEDILIT E<br />S P STRAVIT<br /><br />One translation is :<br /><br />Erastus, commissioner of public works [aedile], laid this pavement at his own expense.<br /></em><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118886733145092194" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="The Erastus Inscription" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3wrEgxzFA9TQUwBtO-5-KzsJRQicz5kt3WhkHY2IUkKo-Q-ULBpuHylmquDZr9xhwKFGZsO4Mu5oLAKjtKQujfXHiXvuUsyThTazRQ7_aU19At1nrfyKMVkbfe73FzUin9tWMpgDyppQ/s400/Erastus+inscription1.jpg" border="0" />Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485499873194441377.post-50230985905212193562007-10-08T16:06:00.000+10:002008-12-10T09:31:12.755+11:00Archaeology and the Bible 31: The pool of Bethseada<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBzlv032hKYRKUnIQrkdKE6EUcaEqHUfYkWEfJZBt3n8PKv3heGn39LTcy06s5NNuOuVF-WSW59agkdpeW2u94JkgZW8Tac8_zQ1NhZrd0u9pAPoTdSjXev6wYVdIZCxbFr3p4UuOX9Tc/s1600-h/pool2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118845900891009058" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBzlv032hKYRKUnIQrkdKE6EUcaEqHUfYkWEfJZBt3n8PKv3heGn39LTcy06s5NNuOuVF-WSW59agkdpeW2u94JkgZW8Tac8_zQ1NhZrd0u9pAPoTdSjXev6wYVdIZCxbFr3p4UuOX9Tc/s400/pool2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO-EbS6qi4eOs70XARPlpPPfq9IyNJMMSps33kf6Cxgtzlg4GHc5nPeLQaASFJZWtWCWHanhWrJKuBUkHEDWBfMnpSvi8I1rvDbLASZCe65TChrRuS94X5r4FQA2ibzi-JJyopISTw8Qc/s1600-h/pool3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118845905185976370" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO-EbS6qi4eOs70XARPlpPPfq9IyNJMMSps33kf6Cxgtzlg4GHc5nPeLQaASFJZWtWCWHanhWrJKuBUkHEDWBfMnpSvi8I1rvDbLASZCe65TChrRuS94X5r4FQA2ibzi-JJyopISTw8Qc/s400/pool3.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidR1sKrIcwv3-SPplqSFw7117EweL1G3LOFt6BGrnLM7l3Zj6qWRal2U6aHLG9915_5DEcNubdp61N_oRqaaIAydOpz8o9GPw9qRFvJCzsRq1zR18k82c18-wDdH0PBDPsAYcMA_XH4Wc/s1600-h/pool4.jpg"></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCp9X6bEFo5-UcICHK-Kf_q_Vm-0nu-LwXHKJlpSKBj-hColCJh-_Zepo3HgE6C8AtkTW94OCYEZLR7d-r30ztLzjriAYtK31kbgVAxQIap-CH6bxcr2TZhh1ZdVuFsewUFeTULp7YoAA/s1600-h/pool+of+bethseada1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118845900891009042" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCp9X6bEFo5-UcICHK-Kf_q_Vm-0nu-LwXHKJlpSKBj-hColCJh-_Zepo3HgE6C8AtkTW94OCYEZLR7d-r30ztLzjriAYtK31kbgVAxQIap-CH6bxcr2TZhh1ZdVuFsewUFeTULp7YoAA/s400/pool+of+bethseada1.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5EBAKSw5TxmGsN7z_8qolEnaSCyASIaUsNaETllhwsSTw2KhdMYV-p7wUXRtC6MGzysylpj7P6kYmFUSVhDKEqvd1UQ8ykPPRjNvsr04L73aOe07JaRHGLf9K_hEJp_1Gyvt2QkjvM6I/s1600-h/pool5.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118845913775910994" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5EBAKSw5TxmGsN7z_8qolEnaSCyASIaUsNaETllhwsSTw2KhdMYV-p7wUXRtC6MGzysylpj7P6kYmFUSVhDKEqvd1UQ8ykPPRjNvsr04L73aOe07JaRHGLf9K_hEJp_1Gyvt2QkjvM6I/s400/pool5.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><strong></strong><br /><br /><br /><strong></strong><br /><br /><br /><strong></strong><br /><br /><br /><strong></strong><br /><br /><br /><strong></strong><br /><br /><br /><strong></strong><br /><br /><br /><strong></strong><br /><br /><br /><strong>Reference in the Bible</strong><br /><br /><div align="justify"><em>Joh 5:2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, <strong>having five porches</strong>.<br />Joh 5:3 In these lay a multitude of them that were sick, blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water<br /></em></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">You can see the five porches in the above images</div>Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485499873194441377.post-85804869485550122812007-10-08T15:40:00.000+10:002008-12-10T09:31:13.034+11:00Archaeology and the bible 30 : The Nash Papyrus<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbuye6XmjSRs-FJCP6f2vu0lxZX4TfMifLCXzydFTSwk0R9kngiHwvQXp-H6U6DenH-o3_4U4widCbwwEyLhlHlUGv3nQZ5HGwqpzjOoGkr-JBHYyWBhDq8P-ltdtBGTj1IGVUuHfEeRU/s1600-h/The+nash+papyrus.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118839458440065026" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="The Nash Papyrus" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbuye6XmjSRs-FJCP6f2vu0lxZX4TfMifLCXzydFTSwk0R9kngiHwvQXp-H6U6DenH-o3_4U4widCbwwEyLhlHlUGv3nQZ5HGwqpzjOoGkr-JBHYyWBhDq8P-ltdtBGTj1IGVUuHfEeRU/s400/The+nash+papyrus.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong>About the Nash Papyrus</strong></div><br /><div><br /><em>*The Nash Papyrus is a collection of four </em><a title="Papyrus" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papyrus"><em>papyrus</em></a><em> fragments acquired in </em><a title="Egypt" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt"><em>Egypt</em></a><em> in </em><a title="1898" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1898"><em>1898</em></a><em> by </em><a class="new" title="Walter Llewellyn Nash" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Walter_Llewellyn_Nash&action=edit"><em>W. L. Nash</em></a><em> and subsequently presented to </em><a title="Cambridge University Library" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_University_Library"><em>Cambridge University Library</em></a><em>. They were first described by </em><a class="new" title="Stanley A. Cook" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stanley_A._Cook&action=edit"><em>Stanley A. Cook</em></a><em> in </em><a title="1903" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1903"><em>1903</em></a><em>. </em></div><br /><div><br /><em>*Though dated by Stanley Cook to the </em><a title="2nd century" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2nd_century"><em>2nd century</em></a><em> AD, subsequent assesments have pushed the date of the fragments back to about </em><a title="150 BC" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/150_BC"><strong><em>150</em></strong></a><strong><em>-</em></strong><a title="100 BC" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_BC"><strong><em>100 BC</em></strong></a><em>E<strong>. </strong></em></div><br /><div><br /><em>*The papyrus was by far the oldest </em><a title="Hebrew language" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language"><em>Hebrew</em></a><em> manuscript fragment known at that time, before the discovery of the </em><a title="Dead Sea Scrolls" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea_Scrolls"><em>Dead Sea Scrolls</em></a><em> in </em><a title="1947" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1947"><em>1947</em></a><em>.</em></div><br /><div><br /><em>*Twenty four lines long, with a few letters missing at each edge, , the papyrus contains the </em><a title="Ten Commandments" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments"><em>Ten Commandments</em></a><em> in Hebrew, followed by the start of the </em><a title="Shema Yisrael" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shema_Yisrael"><em>Shema Yisrael</em></a><em> prayer.</em></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><strong>TRANSLATION by F.C. Burkitt</strong></div><br /><div><strong></strong></div><br /><div align="justify"><em>1 [ . I am Jalhwe thy God that [brought] thee out of<br />the land of E[gypt:]<br />2 [thou shalt not hav]e other gods be[fore] me. Thou<br />shalt not make [for thyself an image]<br />3 [or any form] that is in the heavens above, or that is in<br />the earth [beneath,]<br />4 [or that is in the waters beneath the earth. Thou shalt<br />not bow down to them [nor]<br />5 [serve them, for] I am Jahwe thy God, a jealous God<br />visiting the iniquity]<br />6 [of fathers upon sons to the third and to the fourth<br />generation unto them that hate me, [and doing]<br />7 [kindness unto thousands] unto them that love me and<br />keep my commandments. Thou shalt [not]<br />8 [take up the name of Jahwe] thy God in vain, for Jahwe<br />will not hold guiltless [him that]<br />9 [taketh up his name in vain. Remember the day of the<br />Sabbath [to hallow it:]<br />10 [six days thou shalt work and do all thy business, and<br />on the [seventh day,]<br />11 a Sabbath for Jahwe] thy God, thou shalt not do therein<br />any business, [thou]<br />12 [and thy son and thy daughter,] thy slave and thy<br />handmaid, thy ox and thy ass and all thy [cattle,]<br />13 [and thy stranger that is] in thy gates. For six days<br />did Ja[hwe make]<br />14 [the heaven]s and the earth, the sea and all th[at is<br />therein,]<br />15 and he rested [on the] seventh day; therefore Jahwe<br />blessed [the]<br />16 seventh day and hallowed it. Honour thy father and<br />thy mother, that]<br />17 it may be well with thee and that thy days may be long<br />upon the ground [that]<br />18 Jahwe thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not do adultery.<br />Thou shalt not do murder. Thou shalt [not]<br />19 [st]eal. Thou shalt not [bear] against thy neighbour<br />vain witness. Thou shalt not covet [the]<br />20 [wife of thy neighbour. Thou shalt] not desire the house<br />of thy neighbour, his field, or his slave,]<br />21 [or his handmaid, or his o]x, or his ass, or anything that<br />is thy neighbour's. [Blank]<br />22 [(?) And these are the statutes and the judgements that<br />Moses commanded the [sons of]<br />23 [Israel] in the wilderness, when they went forth from<br />the land of Egypt. Hea[r]<br />24 [0 Isra]el: Jahwe our God, Jahwe is one; and thou<br />shalt love]<br />25 [Jahwe thy G]o[d with al]1 t[hy heart ... . ].</em> </div><br /><div></div><div></div>Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485499873194441377.post-54089896996106122802007-10-08T01:55:00.000+10:002007-10-25T03:02:41.025+10:00In the news: Statues discovered at Ebla<div align="justify"><em>DAMASCUS, ( SANA) _ Italian renowned Archaeologist Paulo Mattieh on Thursday shed light on the most important archaeological discoveries that the Italian expedition team at the ancient site of Ebla Kingdom had discovered.</em></div><div align="justify"><br /><em>" Statues of two women in the royal palace were discovered, the first statue is made of silver and wood and the second one is made of limestone, wood and gold." Matieh said in a press conference at the Damascene hall in Damascus national museum.</em></div><div align="justify"><br /><em>He added that two other statues, cylindrical seal of gilt edges belongs to an important figure were unearthed in one of the palace's rooms which dates back to the Akkadi age. A clay that is an economic text was also founded in another room in the palace.</em></div><div align="justify"><br /><em>Professor Mattieh noted that the exploration works that were carried out at the royal palace, specially in the temple area, helped in knowing important information and finding integrated buildings that date back to 1600-1800 B.C., the period of fall of Ebla Kingdom.</em></div><div align="justify"><br /><em>" The rock temple, as the mission called it, where the work of excavations started in 2004 , now has become an integrated and well preserved on 3,5 meters high and can be considered as traditionally. It represents the pre-classical period in Syria 2400 B.C.</em></div><div align="justify"><em></em></div><div align="justify"><em></em></div><div align="justify"><em></em> </div><div align="justify"><em>Awaiting pictures!</em></div>Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485499873194441377.post-9611016690278166522007-10-05T21:30:00.000+10:002007-10-08T19:12:09.136+10:00Jewish interpretations of Isaiah 53<strong><em>Those that are in favour of a messiah:</em></strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>Maimonides, a letter to Yemen, 12th century</strong><br /><br />What is to be the manner of Messiah's advent, and where will be the place of his appearance? . . . And Isaiah speaks similarly of the time when he will appear, without his father or mother of family being known, He came up as a sucker before him, and as a root out of the dry earth, etc. But the unique phenomenon attending his manifestation is, that all the kings of the earth will be thrown into terror at the fame of him -- their kingdoms will be in consternation, and they themselves will be devising whether to oppose him with arms, or to adopt some different course, confessing, in fact, their inability to contend with him or ignore his presence, and so confounded at the wonders which they will see him work, that they will lay their hands upon their mouth; in the words of Isaiah, when describing the manner in which the kings will hearken to him, At him kings will shut their mouth; for that which had not been told them have they seen, and that which they had not heard they have perceived.<br /><br /><br /><strong>The Babylonian Talmud</strong><br /><br />The Messiah -- what is his name?...The Rabbis say, the leprous one; those of the house of Rabbi say, the sick one, as it is said, "Surely he hath borne our sicknesses." (Sanhedrin 98b)<br /><br /><br /><strong>Rabbi Moshe Kohen ibn Crispin, Spanish 15th-century rabbi</strong><br /><br />"This passage, the commentators explain, speaks of the captivity of Israel, although the singular number is used in it throughout. Others have supposed it to mean the just in this present world, who are crushed and oppressed now... but these too, for the same reason, by altering the number, distort the verses from their natural meaning. And then it seemed to me that...having forsaken the knowledge of our Teachers, and inclined "after the stubbornness of their own hearts," and of their own opinion, I am pleased to interpret it, in accordance with the teaching of our Rabbis, of the King Messiah."<br /><br /><br /><strong>Nachmanides (R. Moshe ben Nachman)(13th c.)</strong><br /><br />The right view respecting this Parashah is to suppose that by the phrase "my servant" the whole of Israel is meant. . . .As a different opinion, however, is adopted by the Midrash, which refers it to the Messiah, it is necessary for us to explain it in conformity with the view there maintained. The prophet says, The Messiah, the son of David of whom the text speaks, will never be conquered or perish by the hands of his enemies. And, in fact the text teaches this clearly. . . .<br />And by his stripes we were healed -- because the stripes by which he is vexed and distressed will heal us; God will pardon us for his righteousness, and we shall be healed both from our own transgressions and from the iniquities of our fathers.<br /><br />Driver and Neubauer, pp. 78 ff.<br /><br /><br /><strong>R. Sh'lomoh Astruc (14th c.)</strong><br /><br /><strong><div align="justify"><br /></strong></div>My servant shall prosper, or be truly intelligent, because by intelligence man is really man -- it is intelligence which makes a man what he is. And the prophet calls the King Messiah my servant, speaking as one who sent him. Or he may call the whole people my servant, as he says above my people (lii. 6): when he speaks of the people, the King Messiah is included in it; and when he speaks of the King Messiah, the people is comprehended with him. What he says then is, that my servant the King Messiah will prosper.<br />Driver and Neubauer, p. 129. <div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><em><strong>Those that are in faovur of the verse being symbolic of the jewish nation (add to later)</strong></em></div>Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485499873194441377.post-76547650308120949442007-10-04T18:02:00.000+10:002007-10-25T02:54:03.778+10:00Archaeology & Bible 26: The Dead Sea Scrolls<strong>QUICK FACTS</strong><br /><br />*Discovered between 1947 and 1956 by Jordanian bedouins in eleven caves along the Northwest shore of the dead sea<br /><br />*13 miles east of Jerusalem and 1,300 feet below sea level<br /><br />*The Scrolls appear to be the library of a Jewish sect (most likely the essenes*) which was hidden away in caves around the outbreak of the Jewish-Roman War (66 C.E.). Archaeological evidence indicates the settlement had been inhabited since about 150 B.C.E.<br /><br />*comprised of the remains of approximately 825 to 870 separate scrolls, represented by tens of thousands of fragments<br /><br />*The texts are most commonly made of animal skins, but also papyrus and one of copper<br /><br />*Most of the texts are written in Hebrew and Aramaic, with a few in Greek.<br /><br /><strong>Biblical manuscripts:</strong><br /><br />*Frangments of every book of the old testament except Esther<br /><br />*Virtually complete Isaiah scroll which has been referred to as the "Great Isaiah scroll". Has been carbon dated to a range of <a title="335 BC" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/335_BC">335 BC</a>-<a title="107 BC" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/107_BC">107 BC</a>.<br /><br /><strong>Other Material</strong><br /><br />*Commetaries on the Hebrew scriptures<br /><br />*Community rules<br /><br />*Apocryphal texts<br /><br />*Psalm like material of the community<br /><br />*Commnity wisdom texts<br /><br /><strong>Significance</strong><br /><br />*Perhaps the literature of the essene commuity<br /><strong></strong><br />*Shows hightened messianic expectaions in the 1st century BCE and early first century, and interpretations of books such as Isaiah<br /><br />*Shows the book of Daniel to have been in wide circulation in the 1st Century BCE. A wide circulation by this time leads credance to an early composition date<br /><br /><br />* Before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest Hebrew manuscripts of the Bible were <a title="Masoretic" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masoretic">Masoretic</a> texts dating to <a title="9th century" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9th_century">9th century</a>.The biblical manuscripts found among the Dead Sea Scrolls push that date back to the <a title="2nd century BCE" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2nd_century_BCE">2nd century BCE</a>.<br /><br /><strong>Useful Links<br /></strong><a href="http://www.physics.arizona.edu/physics/public/dead-sea.html">http://www.physics.arizona.edu/physics/public/dead-sea.html</a>Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485499873194441377.post-23359417214966913712007-10-03T21:16:00.000+10:002007-10-13T07:49:55.163+10:00Archaeology Series #25: The Jeremiah Tablet<strong>BRIEF NOTES</strong><br /><div align="justify"><br />Nebo-Sarsekim Tablet also called the Jeremiah tablet is a clay <a title="Cuneiform script" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuneiform_script">cuneiform</a> inscription (2.13 inches; 5.5 cm) in the collection of the <a title="British Museum" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Museum">British Museum</a> dated to circa 595 BC, referring to an official at the court of <a title="Nebuchadrezzar II" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebuchadrezzar_II">Nebuchadrezzar II</a>, king of <a title="Babylon" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylon">Babylon</a>.</div><div align="justify"><br />Archaeologists unearthed the tablet in the ancient city of <a title="Sippar" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sippar">Sippar</a> (about a mile from modern <a title="Baghdad" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad">Baghdad</a>) in the 1870s. The museum acquired it in <a title="1920" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1920">1920</a>, but it had remained in storage unpublished until <a title="Michael Jursa" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Jursa&action=edit">Michael Jursa</a> (associate professor at the <a title="University of Vienna" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Vienna">University of Vienna</a>) made the discovery in <a title="2007" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007">2007</a> with the following translation of the inscription:<br /></div><div align="justify"><strong>INSCRIPTION</strong></div><div align="justify"><br /><em>[Regarding] 1.5 minas (0.75 kg) of gold, the property of <strong>Nabu-sharrussu-ukin, the chief eunuch</strong>, which he sent via Arad-Banitu the eunuch to [the temple] Esangila: Arad-Banitu has delivered [it] to Esangila. In the presence of Bel-usat, son of Alpaya, the royal bodyguard, [and of] Nadin, son of Marduk-zer-ibni. Month XI, day 18, year 10 [of] Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.</em><br /></div><div align="justify"><strong>THE JEREMIAH REFERENCE</strong><br /></div><div align="justify">Jeremiah 39:3</div><div align="justify"><br /><em>And all the princes of the king of Babylon proceeded to come in and sit down in the Middle Gate, [namely,] Ner´gal-shar·e´zer, Sam´gar, <strong>ne´bo </strong><strong>Sar´se·chim</strong>, Rab´sa·ris, Ner´gal-shar·e´zer the Rab´mag and all the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon. </em></div>Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485499873194441377.post-45097073259405506162007-10-03T21:11:00.000+10:002007-10-13T07:49:55.164+10:00Archaeology Series 24: Rations of Jehoiachin<div align="justify"><a href="http://bibleresources.blogspot.com/2007/10/archaeology-series-24-rations-of.html">Archaeology Series 24: Rations of Jehoiachin</a> </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br /><strong>BRIEF NOTES</strong></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">*The Reference is from the many Discovered administrative tablets discovered in King Nebuchadnezzar's palace in Babylon. These texts record rations of oil to captives from many nations. One of them is Jehoiachin, the exiled king of Judah together with several of his sons and likely what were his servents or leading officials</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><strong>TRANSLATION</strong></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><em>32 pints (15 Liters) (of sesame oil) for Jehoiachin king of Judah</em></div><div align="justify"><em> pints (2.5 litres) (of sesame oil) for (the 5) sons of the King of Judah</em></div><div align="justify"><em>8 pints (4 litres) (of sesame oil) for 8 men of Judah: 1 pint (1/2 liter) each</em></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><strong>BIBLE REFERENCE</strong></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">2Ki 24:8</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />2Ki 24:8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign; and he reigned in Jerusalem three months: and his mother's name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.<br />2Ki 24:9 And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that his father had done.<br />2Ki 24:10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.<br />2Ki 24:11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came unto the city, while his servants were besieging it;<br />2Ki 24:12 and Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.<br />2Ki 24:13 And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold, which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of Jehovah, as Jehovah had said.<br />2Ki 24:14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths; none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.<br />2Ki 24:15 And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon; and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the chief men of the land, carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.<br />2Ki 24:16 And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths a thousand, all of them strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.<br />2Ki 24:17 And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's father's brother, king is his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">**************</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><br />Ki 25:27 And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison;<br />2Ki 25:28 and he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon,<br />2Ki 25:29 and changed his prison garments. And Jehoiachin did eat bread before him continually all the days of his life:<br />2Ki 25:30 and for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him of the king, every day a portion, all the days of his life. </div>Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485499873194441377.post-60444201197904810252007-10-03T00:55:00.000+10:002007-10-25T20:31:28.267+10:00In the News: Herod's Temple Quarry Found<div align="justify"><strong>Report: Herod's Temple Quarry Found</strong><br /></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">By SEAN GAFFNEY – Sep 24, 2007 </div><div align="justify"><br /><em>JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli archaeologists said they have discovered a quarry that provided King Herod with the stones he used to renovate the biblical Second Temple compound — offering rare insight into construction of the holiest site in Judaism. </em></div><em><div align="justify"><br />The source of the huge stones used 2,000 years ago to reconstruct the compound in Jerusalem's Old City was discovered on the site of a proposed school in a Jerusalem suburb.<br />Today, the compound Herod renovated houses the most explosive religious site in the Holy Land, known as the Temple Mount to Jews and the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims. </div><div align="justify"><br />"This is the first time stones which were used to build the Temple Mount walls were found," said Yuval Baruch, an archaeologist with the Israeli Antiquities Authority involved in the dig. Quarries mined for the massive stones, each weighing more than 20 tons, eluded researchers until now, he said Sunday. </div><div align="justify"><br />Baruch said coins and pottery found in the quarry confirm the stone was used during the period of Herod's expansion of the Temple Mount in 19 B.C. </div><div align="justify"><br />But researchers said the strongest piece of evidence was found wedged into one of the massive cuts in the white limestone — an iron stake used to split the stone. The tool was apparently improperly used, accidentally lodged in the stone and forgotten. </div><div align="justify"><br />"It stayed here for 2,000 years for us to find because a worker didn't know what to do with it," said archaeologist Ehud Nesher, also of the Antiquities Authority. </div><div align="justify"><br />Nesher said the large outlines of the stone cuts indicated the site was a massive public project worked by hundreds of slaves. "Nothing private could have done this," Nesher said. "This is Herod's, this is a sign of him." </div><div align="justify"><br />Herod was the Jewish proxy ruler of the Holy Land under imperial Roman occupation from 37 B.C. Herod's most famous construction project was the renovation of the Temple, replacing a smaller structure that itself replaced the First Temple, destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. </div><div align="justify"><br />Stephen Pfann, president of the University of The Holy Land and an expert in the Second Temple period, said the discovery was encouraging. </div><div align="justify"><br />"It would be very difficult to find any other buildings in any other period that would warrant stones of that size," said Pfann, who was not involved in the dig. He said further testing of the rock is necessary to confirm the findings. </div><div align="justify"><br />The Second Temple was leveled by Roman conquerors in A.D. 70. The Western Wall, the holiest prayer site for Jews, is the best known surviving remnant. </div><div align="justify"><br />Atop the adjacent compound, where Jews believe the Temple once stood, now stand two of the holiest sites in Islam, the al-Aqsa Mosque and the gold-capped Dome of the Rock. </div><div align="justify"><br />The site is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with both sides claiming the area. Israel captured Jerusalem's Old City from Jordan during the 1967 Mideast war. While retaining security responsibility for the site, Israel allows Muslims to handle day-to-day responsibilities there.</em></div><br /><br />Photos:<a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/popup?id=3642720">http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/popup?id=3642720</a>Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485499873194441377.post-66763884479875109562007-10-03T00:39:00.000+10:002008-12-10T09:31:13.848+11:00Archaeology Series 23: The Gezer Calendar<strong>The "Gezer calendar</strong> "<br /><br />*It is a tablet of soft <a title="Limestone" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limestone">limestone</a> inscribed in a <a title="Paleo-Hebrew alphabet" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleo-Hebrew_alphabet">paleo-Hebrew</a> script. It is one of the oldest known examples of <a title="Hebrew language" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language">Hebrew</a> writing, dating to the 10th century BCE. It was discovered in excavations of the Biblical city of <a title="Gezer" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gezer">Gezer</a>, 30 miles northwest of Jerusalem, by <a title="R.A.S. Macalister" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.A.S._Macalister">R.A.S. Macalister</a> in his excavations between 1902 and 1907.<br /><br />*Gezer was one of Solomons fortress cities<br /><br />*The <a title="Calendar" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calendar">calendar</a> describes monthly or bi-monthly periods and attributes to each a duty such as harvest, planting or tending specific crops.<br /><br />*Scholars have speculated that the calendar is either a schoolboy's memory exercise or perhaps the text of a popular <a title="Folk song" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_song">folk song</a>, or child's song. Another possibility is something designed for the collection of taxes from farmers.<br /><br />The Gezer Calendar is now in the <a class="new" title="Museum of the Ancient Orient" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Museum_of_the_Ancient_Orient&action=edit">Museum of the Ancient Orient</a> in <a title="Istanbul" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul">Istanbul</a>, along with the <a title="Siloam inscription" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siloam_inscription">Siloam inscription</a> and other archaeological discoveries found before <a title="World War I" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I">World War I</a>.<br /><br />TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETATION<br /><br />Visit this site: <a href="http://www.kchanson.com/ANCDOCS/westsem/gezer.html">http://www.kchanson.com/ANCDOCS/westsem/gezer.html</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118468734042942578" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="The Gezer Calendar" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNWIZoORjdR8JjwwikLBL51kNKM0yCtbiIGI3QRUdzOsBUpgriaZFqYo7zU4ASSYNw8voSSPyTNPcMpANOQlvhR0aKLWTmRywh72v29tgUYUlvz9ABGUxBQzibveSHCGC_X9_Yo_4-HjA/s400/Gezer+calendar.jpg" border="0" />Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485499873194441377.post-81419072480411249382007-09-30T00:17:00.000+10:002007-10-13T07:49:55.166+10:00Archaeology series 22: Sargon II Inscriptions<strong>REIGN: 721-705 BCE</strong><br /><br /><strong></strong><br /><br /><strong>BASIC INFO</strong><br /><br /><strong></strong><br />*During the siege of Samaria (lasting for three years) by the Assyrians, <a title="Shalmaneser V" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shalmaneser_V">Shalmaneser V</a> died and was succeeded by <a title="Sargon II of Assyria" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sargon_II_of_Assyria">Sargon II of Assyria</a>,<br /><br />*Under Sargon II the Assyrians completed the defeat of the Kingdom of Israel , capturing Samaria after a siege of three years and exiling the inhabitants, which comprised the ten tribes.<br /><br /><div align="justify"></div>*Sargon is the biblical form of his name, in <a title="Akkadian language" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akkadian_language">Akkadian</a> it is Šarru-kinu "legitimate king"<br /><br />*Originally there was a united monarchy which split into two, the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah. The Kingdom of Israel had existed from roughly <a title="930s BC" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/930s_BC">930s BCE</a>, until until about <a title="720s BC" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/720s_BC">720s BCE</a>.<br /><br /><br /><strong>INSCRIPTIONS OF SARGON II</strong><br /><br /><br /><strong>COS 2.118A, p. 293</strong><br /><div align="justify"><br />[the Samar]ians [who had agreed with a hostile king]...I fought with them and decisively defeated them]....carried off as spoil. 50 chariots for my royal force ...[the rest of them I settled in the midst of Assyria]....The Tamudi, Ibadidi, Marsimani and Hayappa, who live in distant Arabia, in the desert, who knew neither overseer nor commander, who never brought tribute to any king--with the help of Ashshur my lord, I defeated them. I deported the rest of them. I settled them in Samaria/Samerina.<br /><br /><strong>COS 2.118D, pp. 295-296, Nimrud Prisms</strong></div><strong></strong><br /><div align="justify"><br />[The inhabitants of Sa]merina, who agreed [and plotted] with a king [hostile to] me, not to do service and not to bring tribute [to Ashshur] and who did battle, I fought against them with the power of the great gods, my lords. I counted as spoil 27,280 people, together with their chariots, and gods, in which they trusted. I formed a unit with 200 of [their] chariots for my royal force. I settled the rest of them in the midst of Assyria. I repopulated Samerina more than before. I brought into it people from countries conquered by my hands. I appointed my eunuch as governor over them. And I counted them as Assyrians.</div><br /><div align="justify"><br /><strong>COS 2.118E, pp. 296-297, The Great "Summary" Inscription</strong></div><br /><div align="justify"><strong></strong><br />I besieged and conquered Samarina. I took as booty 27,290 people who lived there. I gathered 50 chariots from them. I taught the rest of the deportees their skills. I set my eunuch over them, and I imposed upon them the same tribute as the previous king (Shalmaneser V).<br />Yaubi'di, the Hamathite...with no claim to the throne, an evil Hittite, was plotting in his heart to become king of Hamath. He caused...to rebel against me , had unified them, and prepared for battle. I mustered the masses of Ashshur's troops and at Qarqar, his favorite city, I besieged and captured him, together with his warriors. I burned Qarqar. Him I flayed.<br /></div><strong></strong><br /><div align="justify"><strong>COS 2.118F, p. 297</strong></div><strong><br /><div align="justify"><br />Small Summary Inscription<br /></strong></div>I plundered Sinuhtu, Samerina and the entire land of Bit-Humria (Israel).<br /><strong><br />COS 2.118G, p. 298<br />Pavement Inscription at Kur Sharrukin:</strong><br />[Sargon II] who conquered Samaria and the entire land of Bit-Humria (Israel); who plundered Ashdod...<br /><strong><br />COS 2.118I, p. 298<br />Nimrud Inscription</strong><br />[Sargon II]...subduer of Judah which lies far away....<br /><br /><strong>Azekah Inscription</strong><a name="Azekah"></a><br /><strong>COS 2, 304, 2.119D</strong><strong></strong><br /><div align="justify"><br />With the power and might of Ashur, my lord, I overwhelmed the district of Hezekiah of Judah...Azekah, his stronghold, which is located between my land and the land of Judah...I besieged by means of beaten earth ramps, by great battering rams brought near its walls, and with the attack of foot soldiers [...] They had seen the...of my cavalry and they had heard the roar of the mighty troops of the god Ashur, and their hearts became afraid. I captured this stronghold, I carried off its spoil, I destroyed, I devastated, I burned with fire. I approached Ekron, a royal city of the Philistines, which Hezekiah had captured and strengthened for himself....His skillful battle warriors he caused to enter into it. 701 BCE or 712, during the reign of Sargon II.</div><br /><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify"></div>Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485499873194441377.post-38893512683731821652007-09-30T00:04:00.000+10:002007-10-13T07:49:55.167+10:00Archaeology Series 21: Shalmanaser V<strong>Shalmaneser V</strong><a name="Babchron"></a><br />Reign: <a title="727 BC" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/727_BC">727</a> to <a title="722 BC" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/722_BC">722 BC</a><br /><br /><br /><strong>INSCRIPTIONS</strong><br /><br /><strong>Babylonian Chronicle</strong><br />COS 1.137, p. 467<br />On 27th Tebet (727 BCE) Shalmaneser (V) ascended the throne in Assyria and Babylonia. He shattered Samaria.<br />Year 5: (722 BCE) Shalmaneser died in Tebet. Five years Shalmaneser ruled Babylonia and Assyria. On 12th Tebet Sargon ascended the throne in Assyria. In Nisan Merodach-baladan ascended the throne in Babylon.<br /><br /><strong>BIBLE REFERENCES</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />2 Kings 17 and 18Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485499873194441377.post-50247790732120710862007-09-28T05:31:00.000+10:002007-10-13T07:49:55.168+10:00Archaeology Series 20:Tiglath-pileser III inscriptions<div align="justify"><strong>REIGN:</strong> Tiglath-pileser III reigned from 745-727 BCE<br /><br /><strong>INSCRIPTIONS</strong><br /><br /><br />The third year of Nabu-nasir, king of Babylon: Tiglath-pileser III ascended the throne of Assyria. In that same year he went down to Akkad, plundered Rabbilu and Hamranu, and abducted the gods of Shapazza.<br /><br /><strong>Neo-Babylonian Chronicle 1.</strong><br />ANET 282 In the subsequent course of my campaign, I received the tribute of the kings...Azriau the Judahite<br /><br /><br />COS 2, 285, 2.117A<br /><strong>Calah Annals ca. 738-37</strong><br />I received the tribute of...Rezin, the Damascene, Menahem, the Samarian, Hiram, the Tyrian....<br /><br /><br /><br />COS 2, 286, 2.117A<br /><strong>Calah Annals</strong><br />Rezin the Damascene...With the blood of his warriors I dyed a reddish hue the river....That one (Rezin) in order to save his life, fled alone; and he entered the gate of his city like a mongoose. I impaled alive his chief ministers....I confined him like a bird in a cage. His gardens...orchards without number I cut down; I did not leave a single one.<br />[16] districts of Bit-Humri (Israel) I leveled to the ground.<br /><br />COS 2, 287, 2.117B<br /><strong>The Iran Stela ca. 739-38</strong><br />...Rezin, the Damascene, Menahem, the Samarian, Tuba'il, the Tyrian, etc...I imposed on them tribute of silver, gold, tin, iron, elephant hides, elephant tusks (ivory), blue-purple and red-purple garments, multi-colored garments, camels, and she-camels.<br /><br />COS 2, 288, 2.117C<br /><strong>Summary Inscription ca. 731</strong><br />I carried off to Assyria the land of Bit-Humria (Israel), [its] auxiliary [army]...all of its people,...[I killed] Pekah, their king, and I installed Hoshea [as king] over them. I received from them 10 talents of gold, x talents of silver, [with] their [possessions] and [I car]ried them [to Assyria].<br /><br />COS 2, 289, 2.117D<br /><strong>Summary Inscription</strong><br />I received the tribute of...Sanipu, Ammonite, Salamanu, Moabite,...Mitinti, the Askhelonite, Jehoahaz, the Judahite [= Ahaz]<br /><br />COS 2, 291, 2.117F<br /><strong>Summary Inscription 9-10</strong><br />The wide [land of Bit]-Haza'ili (Aram-Damascus) in its entirety, from Mount [Leb]anon as far as the city of Gilea[d], Abel...[on the bor]der of Bit-Humria (Israel) I annexed to Assyria. [I placed] my eunuch [over them as governor].<br /><br />COS 2, 292<br /><strong>Summary Inscription 13, 2.117G</strong><br />[The land of Bit-Humria (Israel)], all [of whose] cities I leveled [to the ground] in my former campaigns...I plundered its livestock, and I spared only (isolated) Samaria. [I/they overthrew Pek]ah their king.<br /><a href="http://fontes.lstc.edu/~rklein/Documents/Assins.htm#Tebet" name="Tebet"></a>The second year [of Nabu-mukin-zeri]: Tiglath-pileser III ascended the throne in Babylon. The second year: Tiglath-pileser III died in the month Tebet For eighteen years Tiglath-pileser III ruled Akkad and Assyria. For two of these years he ruled in Akkad. Neo-Babylonian Chronicle 1:24-26</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><strong>BIBLE REFERENCES</strong></div><div align="justify">2 Kings 15:19; 15:29; 16:9; 1 Chron. 5:26; 2 Chron 28:20</div><div align="justify"></div>Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485499873194441377.post-70247397317528336082007-09-28T05:29:00.000+10:002007-10-13T07:49:55.169+10:00Archaeology Series 19: Inscriptions of Adad Nirari III<strong>REIGN:</strong> Adad Nirari III reigned from 811 to 783 BCE<br /><br /><strong>INSCRIPTIONS</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>Tell Al Rimah Stela of Adad-Nirari III 797 BCE</strong><a name="Rimah"></a><br />COS 2.114F, p. 276<br />I received the tribute of Joash the Samarian, of the Tyrian (ruler), and of the Sidonian (ruler).<br />Calah Slab of Adad-Nirari III <a name="Calah2"></a><br /><br /><br /><strong>COS 2, 276, 2.114G</strong><br />I subdued from the bank of the Euphrates, the land of Hatti, the land of Amurru in its entirety, the land of Tyre, the land of Sidon, the land of Israel, the land of Edom, the land of Philistia, as far as the great sea in the west. I imposed tax and tribute on them.Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485499873194441377.post-49499036844993604012007-09-28T05:22:00.000+10:002007-10-13T07:49:55.170+10:00Archaeology series 18: More Shalmanaer III inscriptions(pt 3)<strong>REIGN: c. 859-824 BCE</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>INSCRIPTIONS</strong><br /><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>Kurba'il Statue of Shalmaneser III 839-838 BCE <a name="Kurbail"></a><br />COS 2.113E, p. 268<br /></strong><br />At that time [841], I received the tribute of the Tyrians, the Sidonians, and Jehu, the man of Bit-Humri (Omri).<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>Calah Bulls of Shalmaneser III 841 BCE</strong><a name="Calah"></a><br />COS 2.113C, p. 2.267<br /><br /><br />At that time, I received the tribute of the Tyrians and the Sidonians, and of Jehu, man of Bit-Humri.<br /><br /><strong>Marble Slab inscription of Shalmaneser III 839 BCE</strong><a name="Marble"></a><br />COS 2.113D, p. 268<br />[In 841] I marched to the mountains of Ba'li-ra'si at the side of the sea and opposite Tyre. I erected a statue of my royalty there. I received the tribute of Ba'al-manzer, the Tyrian, and of Jehu, the man of Bit-Humri. (Bit-Humri=House of Omri)Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485499873194441377.post-32028232978885895122007-09-26T20:01:00.000+10:002008-12-10T09:31:14.624+11:00Archaeology Series 17:Hazael King of Syria<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj08Aec6zQUvbCvM3wRxWnXIwmtpJ37qBt1WJRLzgqAaO9Zf5rimYIXeQwIlPFpHzFu62Ho1r-8I1E5JwhoQ-Ufbb3SxGub47k905IWNweItNon9-tYOAgPi0fE3SjSs6Ns4WWLuxcvvkk/s1600-h/Hazael+king+of++syria.jpg"><span style="color:#999999;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114451994728376594" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="king hazael of syria" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj08Aec6zQUvbCvM3wRxWnXIwmtpJ37qBt1WJRLzgqAaO9Zf5rimYIXeQwIlPFpHzFu62Ho1r-8I1E5JwhoQ-Ufbb3SxGub47k905IWNweItNon9-tYOAgPi0fE3SjSs6Ns4WWLuxcvvkk/s320/Hazael+king+of++syria.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="color:#999999;"><strong> </strong><br /><strong>DATE: 842-805 BCE</strong><br /><br /><strong>BASIC NOTES</strong><br /><br /><br /></span><div align="justify"><span style="color:#999999;">Hazael (</span><a title="Hebrew language" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language"><span style="color:#999999;">Hebrew</span></a><span style="color:#999999;"> Hazael, meaning "</span><a title="God" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God"><span style="color:#999999;">God</span></a><span style="color:#999999;"> has seen") was a court official and later an </span><a title="Aramean" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramean"><span style="color:#999999;">Aramean</span></a><span style="color:#999999;"> </span><a title="Monarch" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch"><span style="color:#999999;">king</span></a><span style="color:#999999;"> who appeared in the </span><a title="Bible" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible"><span style="color:#999999;">Bible</span></a><span style="color:#999999;">. He was first referred to by name in </span><a title="Books of Kings" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Books_of_Kings"><span style="color:#999999;">1 Kings</span></a><span style="color:#999999;"> 19 when God told the </span><a title="Prophet" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophet"><span style="color:#999999;">prophet</span></a><span style="color:#999999;"> </span><a title="Elijah" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah"><span style="color:#999999;">Elijah</span></a><span style="color:#999999;"> to anoint him king over </span><a title="Aram" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aram"><span style="color:#999999;">Syria</span></a><span style="color:#999999;">. </span></div><div align="justify"><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Years after this, the Syrian king </span></div><a title="Hadadezer" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadadezer"><span style="color:#999999;">Hadadezer</span></a><span style="color:#999999;"> was ill and sent his court official Hazael with gifts to Elijah's successor </span><a title="Elisha" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisha"><span style="color:#999999;">Elisha</span></a><span style="color:#999999;">. Elisha asked Hazael to tell Hadadezer that he would recover, but he revealed to Hazael that the king would die. The day after he returned to Hadadezer in </span><a title="Damascus" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damascus"><span style="color:#999999;">Damascus</span></a><span style="color:#999999;">, Hazael suffocated him and seized power himself. </span><div align="justify"><br /><span style="color:#999999;">During his approximately 37-year reign (c. 842 BC-805 BC), King Hazael led the Arameans in battle against the forces of King </span><a title="Jehoram" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehoram"><span style="color:#999999;">Jehoram</span></a><span style="color:#999999;"> of </span><a title="Kingdom of Israel" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Israel"><span style="color:#999999;">Israel</span></a><span style="color:#999999;"> and King </span><a title="Ahaziah" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahaziah"><span style="color:#999999;">Ahaziah</span></a><span style="color:#999999;"> of </span><a title="Kingdom of Judah" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Judah"><span style="color:#999999;">Judah</span></a><span style="color:#999999;">. After defeating them at </span><a title="Ramoth-Gilead" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramoth-Gilead"><span style="color:#999999;">Ramoth-Gilead</span></a><span style="color:#999999;">, Hazael repelled two attacks by the </span><a title="Assyria" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyria"><span style="color:#999999;">Assyrians</span></a><span style="color:#999999;">, seized Israelite territory east of the </span><a title="Jordan River" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_River"><span style="color:#999999;">Jordan</span></a><span style="color:#999999;">, the </span><a title="Philistine" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philistine"><span style="color:#999999;">Philistine</span></a><span style="color:#999999;"> city of </span><a title="Gath (city)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gath_%28city%29"><span style="color:#999999;">Gath</span></a><span style="color:#999999;">, and sought to take </span><a title="Jerusalem" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem"><span style="color:#999999;">Jerusalem</span></a><span style="color:#999999;"> as well (</span><a title="Books of Kings" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Books_of_Kings"><span style="color:#999999;">2 Kings</span></a><span style="color:#999999;"> 12:17). A monumental Aramaic inscription discovered at </span><a title="Tel Dan" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tel_Dan"><span style="color:#999999;">Tel Dan</span></a><span style="color:#999999;"> is seen by most scholars as having being erected by Hazael, after he defeated the Kings of </span><a title="Israel" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel"><span style="color:#999999;">Israel</span></a><span style="color:#999999;"> and </span><a title="Judah" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judah"><span style="color:#999999;">Judah</span></a><span style="color:#999999;">. Recent excavations at </span><a title="Tell es-Safi" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tell_es-Safi"><span style="color:#999999;">Tell es-Safi</span></a><span style="color:#999999;">/Gath have revealed dramatic evidence of the siege and subsequent conquest of </span><a title="Gath (city)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gath_%28city%29"><span style="color:#999999;">Gath</span></a><span style="color:#999999;"> by Hazael. King </span><a title="Joash" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joash"><span style="color:#999999;">Joash</span></a><span style="color:#999999;"> of Judah forestalled Hazael's invasion by bribing him with treasure from the royal palace and temple, after which he disappears from the Biblical account.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="color:#999999;"></span> </div><div align="justify"><span style="color:#999999;"></span></div><div align="justify"><a href="http://www.wikipedia.org/"><span style="color:#999999;">http://www.wikipedia.org/</span></a></div><div align="justify"><span style="color:#999999;"></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="color:#999999;"></span></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#999999;"></span></strong> </div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color:#999999;">BIBLE REFERENCES:</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><span style="color:#999999;">(1 Kings 19:15, 17; 2 Kings 8:7-15, 28-29; 9:14-15; 10:32-33; 12:17-18; 13:3, 22, 24,25; Amos 1:4).</span></div>Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485499873194441377.post-72904401294196879872007-09-25T12:37:00.000+10:002008-12-10T09:31:15.236+11:00Archaeology Series 16: Esarhaddon reference to King Manasseh and others<strong>REIGN: 681-669 BCE</strong><br /><br /><strong>INSCRIPTIONS</strong><br /><br /><strong>Esarhaddon's Syro-Palestinian Campaign (681-669 B.C.)</strong><br /><br /><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><em>I called out the kings of the Hatti-land and the Trans-Euphrates area; <strong>Ba'al, king of Tyre</strong>, <strong>Manasseh, king of Judah</strong>, <strong>Qaushgabri, king of Edom</strong>, <strong>Musuri, King of Moab</strong>, <strong>Sil-Bel, king of Gaza, Metinti, king of Ashkelon</strong>, Ikausu, king of Ekron, Milki-ashapa, king of Gebal, Matan-ba'al, king of Arvad, Abi-ba'al, king of Samsimuruna, Pudu-il, king of Beth-Ammon, <strong>Ahi-milki, king of Ashdod</strong> – 12 kings of the sea coast. Ekishtura, king of Edi'il (Idalion), Pilagura, king of Kitrusi (Chytrus), Kisu, king of Sillu'a (Soli), Ituandar, king of Pappa (Paphos), Erisu, king of Silli, Damasu, king of Kuri (Curium), Atmesu, king of Tamesi, Damusi, king of Qartihadasti, Unasagusu, king of Ledir (Ledra), Bosusu, king of Nuria – 10 kings of Iadnana (Cyprus), an island; – a total of 22 kings of the Hatti-land, the seashore and the island. I sent all of these to drag with pain and difficulty to Nineveh, the city of my dominion, as supplies needed for my palace, big beams, long posts and trimmed planks of cedar and cypress wood, products of the Sirara and Lebanon mountains, where for long they had grown tall and thick; also from their place of origin in the mountains the forms of winged bulls and colossi made of ashnan-stone, of breccia both large and fine grained, of yellow limestone, of pyrites.</em></div><br /><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>BRIEF NOTES</strong></div><div align="justify"><br /></div><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify">*Esarhaddon was a king of <a title="Assyria" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyria">Assyria</a> who reigned <a title="681 BC" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/681_BC">681 BC</a>-<a title="669 BC" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/669_BC">669 BC</a>, the youngest son of <a title="Sennacherib" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sennacherib">Sennacherib</a> and the <a title="Aramean" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramean">Aramean</a> queen <a class="new" title="Naqi'a" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Naqi%27a&action=edit">Naqi'a</a> (Zakitu), Sennacherib's second wife. </div><br /><div align="justify">*Invaded Egypt</div><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify"><strong>IMAGES</strong></div><br /><br /><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV3_T2E1IZGYTmStnQnbRo5BiizN2SnURlmaUMAk5M4K2ZG4X16P2BPS7aGILZYl9Vtd3Fas7yVlNxDskNH4-FUBDN9fHCFkm0BOWTqHJxJiO98L-UbX8HP1XnoxTvlGItE4LL0W0WMyg/s1600-h/Esarhaddon+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114910976408463746" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV3_T2E1IZGYTmStnQnbRo5BiizN2SnURlmaUMAk5M4K2ZG4X16P2BPS7aGILZYl9Vtd3Fas7yVlNxDskNH4-FUBDN9fHCFkm0BOWTqHJxJiO98L-UbX8HP1XnoxTvlGItE4LL0W0WMyg/s320/Esarhaddon+1.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">Click on the image for higher resolution</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj9GVV-z7xBJuFHbLH04EB6RkuFsg-YM98g-JvfRIk5Gcmv-r7ue_wD4zDXkt7mLS2LrU0at3yRDaMUe6KO-hNoGMdQBroThOSL6ZoO4NENjdbLeMIEjWLmG5nqhGVHmqIX_zuFdd-BgY/s1600-h/esarhaddon2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114910976408463762" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj9GVV-z7xBJuFHbLH04EB6RkuFsg-YM98g-JvfRIk5Gcmv-r7ue_wD4zDXkt7mLS2LrU0at3yRDaMUe6KO-hNoGMdQBroThOSL6ZoO4NENjdbLeMIEjWLmG5nqhGVHmqIX_zuFdd-BgY/s320/esarhaddon2.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc_-S0l63qP33tKTf9FW2IJKyvKRQ2W8aUOsZdkPLQOmUNHXz6VIu85fGI1okf2PhEs33-EX9uXaYOkUW4AwCtpptLOKowsN0Y9_1oGXuechwyhKhyphenhyphenlvWU1-b9Uey2ciajdsbRPbzs1Oo/s1600-h/esarhaddon3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114910980703431074" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc_-S0l63qP33tKTf9FW2IJKyvKRQ2W8aUOsZdkPLQOmUNHXz6VIu85fGI1okf2PhEs33-EX9uXaYOkUW4AwCtpptLOKowsN0Y9_1oGXuechwyhKhyphenhyphenlvWU1-b9Uey2ciajdsbRPbzs1Oo/s320/esarhaddon3.jpg" border="0" /></a></div>Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485499873194441377.post-34373594184102733642007-09-25T01:17:00.000+10:002007-10-13T07:41:03.958+10:00Archaeology Series 15: Lachish letters<div align="justify">*Lachish (<a title="Hebrew language" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language">Hebrew</a>: לכיש) was a town located in the <a title="Shephelah" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shephelah">Shephelah</a>, thirty miles South West of Jerusalem, 15 Miles West of Hebron (<a title="Book of Joshua" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Joshua">Joshua</a> 10:3, 5; 12:11). </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">*The Israelites captured and destroyed Lachish for joining the league against the <a title="Gibeon" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibeon">Gibeonites</a> (Josh. 10:31-33), but the territory was later assigned to the <a title="Tribe of Judah" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribe_of_Judah">tribe of Judah</a> (15:39).</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">*Under <a title="Rehoboam" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rehoboam">Rehoboam</a>, it became the second most important city of the <a title="Kingdom of Judah" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Judah">kingdom of Judah</a>. In <a title="701 BC" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/701_BC">701 BC</a>, during the revolt of king <a title="Hezekiah" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezekiah">Hezekiah</a> against <a title="Assyria" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyria">Assyria</a>, it was captured by <a title="Sennacherib" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sennacherib">Sennacherib</a> despite determined resistance. The town later reverted to Judaean control, only to fall to <a title="Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebuchadnezzar_II_of_Babylon">Nebuchadnezzar</a> in his campaign against Judah (<a title="586 BC" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/586_BC">586 BC</a>).</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">*During the 19th and early 20th centuries, Lachish was identified with <a title="Tell el-Hesi" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tell_el-Hesi">Tell el-Hesi</a> from a cuneiform tablet found there (EA 333). </div><br /><strong>The Lachish Letters</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />*First excavated by James Starkey in 1932-1938<br /><br /><br />*18 ostraca found in 1935<br /><br />*3 found in 1938<br /><br /><br />*Approximate Date:589/588 BCE<br /><br /><br /><strong>Letter 1</strong><br /><br />From the British Museum:<br /><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">Lachish Letter I<br />A letter written on a piece of pottery<br />Israelite, 586 BCFrom Lachish (modern Tell ed-Duweir), Israel</div><div align="justify"><br />This is one of a group of letters written on ostraka (pot sherds) found near the main gate of ancient Lachish (modern Tell ed-Duweir) in a burnt layer associated with the destruction of the city by the Babylonians in 586 BC. It is written in ink in alphabetic Hebrew, and reads:</div><div align="justify"><br />Gemaryahu, son of Hissilyahu</div><div align="justify">Yaazanyahu, son of TobshillemHageb,</div><div align="justify">son of Yaazanyahu Mibtahyahu, </div><div align="justify">son of Yirmeyahu Mattanyahu,</div><div align="justify">son of Neryahu</div><div align="justify"><br />Presumably this list had some administrative function. Though several of the names occur in the Old Testament, it cannot be proved that the same individuals are intended.</div><div align="justify"><br />The letters were received by Ya’osh, the military governor of Lachish, from Hosha’yahu, a subordinate officer in charge of a military outpost during the invasion by the Babylonian forces under Nebuchadnezzar which ended in the siege and destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC.</div><div align="justify"><br />Subsequently only Azekah, about 18 miles south west of Jerusalem, and Lachish itself, about 12 miles further on, remained in Judean hands, until they too fell. There followed a large-scale deportation of a part of Judah's population. Thus began the exile, a period of great significance for the Jews spiritually, and one which would profoundly influence later religious ideology and teaching.</div><br /><br /><strong>Letter 2</strong><br /><br /><br /><div align="justify"><br />This letter came from an officer named Hosha'yahu who was in charge of a military outpost. He was writing to Ya'osh, military commander at Lachish, as the situation worsened. </div><div align="justify"><br />'To my lord Ya'osh. May Yahweh cause my lord to hear the news of peace, even now, even now. Who is your servant but a dog that my lord should remember his servant?'</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">Abother translation:</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">To my lord Jaush: May the Lord (Yhwh i.e., Jehovah) soon let my lord hear pleasant tidings! Who am I, thy slave, a dog, that thou hast remembered me? May the Lord investigate (and punish me) if I have spoken a thing, of which I did not even know. </div><div align="justify"><br /></div><strong>*Letter 3</strong><br /><br /><br /><br />Obverse<br /><br /><br /><br />Your servant Hoshiyahu was sent to inform my lord Yo'ash. May Yahweh cause my lord to hear news of peace. But now you have sent a letter; and my lord did not instruct your servant regarding the letter that you sent to your servant yesterday evening, though your servant's heart has been sick since you wrote your servant. And my lord said, "Don't you understand? Call a scribe." As Yahweh lives, no one has ever had to call a scribe for me. And furthermore, for any scribe who might have come to me, I did not call him, nor would I give anything at all for him. It has been reported to your servant, saying, "The commander of the army, Koniyahu son of Elnathan, has arrived in order to go down to Egypt. And<br /><br />Reverse<br /><br /><br />regarding Hodoyahu son of Ahiyahu and his men, he has sent to obtain . . . from him." And as for the letter of Tobiyahu, the king's servant, which came to Shallum son of Yaddua through the prophet saying, "Beware!"—your servant has sent this to my lord.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a name="Par">Pardee, Dennis.</a> Handbook of Ancient Hebrew Letters. SBL Sources for Biblical Studies 15. Chico, Calif.: Scholars, 1982. P-84-85<br /><br /><strong>Letter 4</strong><br /><br />May the Lord soon let my lord hear good tidings!<br />I have carried out all the instructions you have sent me, and have recorded on the page all that you ordered me. You instructed me also about the rest house, but there is nobody there. And Shemaiah has taken Semachiah and brought him up to the city (Jerusalem), and I will write and find out where he is. Because if on his rounds (turnings) he had inspected, he would have known that we are watching for the signal-stations of Lachish, according to all the signals you are giving, because we cannot see the signals of Azekah.<br />Trans: Dr. H. Torczyner, Bialik Professor of Hebrew<br /><br /><br /><strong>Letter 5</strong><br /><br /><div align="justify">May the Lord soon let my [lord] hear good and pleasant tidings!<br />Who am I, thy slave, a dog, that thou [hast s]ent me ....iah's le[tters ?] [And now] I have returned the letters to thee.<br />May the Lord tell thee what has [happenned]! Who am I, that I should curse the king's seed in (the name of) the Lord? </div><div align="justify">Trans: Dr. H. Torczyner, Bialik Professor of Hebrew </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><strong>Letter 6</strong></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">To my lord Jaush. May the Lord let (us) see thee in prosperity! Who am I, thy slave, a dog, that thou hast sent me the [lett]er of the King and the letters of the offic[ers, (The same word here is translated 'princes' in Jeremiah 38:4, Dr. J. W. Jack) say]ing: "Read, I pray thee, and (thou wilt) see (that) the words of the [prophet] are not good, (liable) to loosen ("weaken" suggested by Dr. J. W. Jack) the hands, [to make] sink the hands of the coun[try and] the city." (Dr. J. W. Jack translates: "the hands of the m[en in the] city.") My lord, wilt thou not write to [them saying]: "Why should ye do thus: . . . ?"<br />. . . The Lord thy God liveth, and my l[or]d liveth (to punish) if thy slave has read the letter or got [anyone] to rea[d the letter or s]een [anything of it.]</div>Dr. H. Torczyner, Bialik Professor of Hebrew<br /><br /><strong>Letter 7 to 15</strong><br /><br />Letters VII and VIII are not well preserved. The handwriting on VIII resembles Letter I. Letter IX is somewhat similar to Letter V. Letters X to XV are very fragmentary.<br />Dr. H. Torczyner, Bialik Professor of Hebrew<br /><br /><br /><strong>Letter 16</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />Letter XVI is also only a broken fragment. However, line 5 supplies us with just a portion of the prophet's name, thus:<br />[. . . . i]ah the prophet.<br />This is not, however, any great help in identifying the prophet. So many names at that time concluded with "iah." There was Urijah the prophet (Jeremiah 26:20-23); Hananiah the prophet (Jeremiah 28), and Jeremiah himself.<br />Dr. H. Torczyner, Bialik Professor of Hebrew<br /><br /><br /><strong>Letter 17</strong><br />Letter XVII, another tiny fragment, contains a few letters out of three lines of the letter. Line 3 gives us just the name:<br />[. . . . Je]remiah [. . . .]<br />It is impossible now to know whether this was Jeremiah the prophet, or some other Jeremiah.<br />Dr. H. Torczyner, Bialik Professor of Hebrew<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>Letter 18</strong><br />Letter XVIII gives a few words, which may have been a postscript to Letter VI. It states:<br />This evening, [when cometh Tob]shillem, (I) shall send thy letter up to the city (i.e., Jerusalem).<br />Dr. H. Torczyner, Bialik Professor of Hebrew<br /><br /><br />*Biblical Archaeology Review Article<br /><br />2005 titled, “Why Lachish Matters.”<br /><br /><div align="justify">The ostracon (inscribed potsherd) provides poignant testimony to the last days of Lachish. In perhaps his most famous discovery, James Starkey uncovered 21 inscribed sherds, known now as the Lachish Letters, 18 of them in a guardroom of the city gate. Excavator Ussishkin, following Olga Tufnell, believes the sherds are copies of letters sent from Lachish to Jerusalem. The letters date to the reign of Judah’s last king, Zedekiah, and record Judah’s increasingly desperate situation in the face of the Babylonian army led by Nebuchadnezzar. In Lachish Letter IV, a soldier writes to his commander, “We are watching for the beacons of Lachish ... we cannot see [the beacons from] Azekah.” Jeremiah 34:7 records that Lachish and Azekah were the last Judahite strongholds to fall to the Babylonians. Nebuchadnezzar razed Lachish and Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. Judah’s second most important city never regained its former importance.</div>Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485499873194441377.post-37201321647697488592007-09-24T23:41:00.000+10:002007-10-06T22:58:26.104+10:00King Lists<strong>King Lists</strong><br /><br /><strong>Assyrian kings</strong><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_kings">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_kings</a><br /><br /><strong>Kings of Babylon</strong><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kings_of_Babylon">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kings_of_Babylon</a><br /><br /><strong>Rulers of Egypt</strong><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rulers_of_Egypt">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rulers_of_Egypt</a><br /><br /><strong>Israel and Judah</strong><br /><a href="http://www.kchanson.com/CHRON/isrkings.html">http://www.kchanson.com/CHRON/isrkings.html</a>Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485499873194441377.post-44093903982584304882007-09-24T01:45:00.000+10:002008-12-10T09:31:15.529+11:00Archaeology Series 14: Cyrus Cylinder<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju9kh0_fH9UtBEisWRF6oG6YfMUwyZKGEqDNBi_Xh7w0dot_-jFiWNxm_-F1D-qHmIV_rsvtelJGzN8TwTtl94kkc8Gmo5NFUCSSjapCZlE5RYtIlGmeTPv0veO9D3ELjGM8E7P0noA2w/s1600-h/cyruscylinder.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113426944948611298" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju9kh0_fH9UtBEisWRF6oG6YfMUwyZKGEqDNBi_Xh7w0dot_-jFiWNxm_-F1D-qHmIV_rsvtelJGzN8TwTtl94kkc8Gmo5NFUCSSjapCZlE5RYtIlGmeTPv0veO9D3ELjGM8E7P0noA2w/s320/cyruscylinder.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><div></div><div></div><div align="justify">When Cyrus captured Babylon in 538 B.C., he decreed: "All the kingdoms of the earth has the Lord, the God of the heavens given to me, and he has appointed me to rebuild for Him a temple in Jerusalem which is Judaea - whoever among you from all His people - the Lord his God is with him and he may go up" (II Chronicles 36:23; cf. Ezra 1:2-3). Thus, his own inscription confirms the Biblical record, proclaiming: "I returned to the sacred cities ... the sanctuaries of which have been in ruins for a long time, the images which used to live therein and established for them permanent sanctuaries. I gathered all their (former) inhabitants and returned (to them) their habitations." The text is still incomplete, but composed of two fragments, the larger one belonging to the British Museum, the smaller one to the Yale Babylonian Collection. The two are joined together in this plaster cast.</div><br /><div>Yale Library</div><br /><div><a href="http://www.library.yale.edu/judaica/exhibits/webarch/front/BabylonianCollection.html#sealone">http://www.library.yale.edu/judaica/exhibits/webarch/front/BabylonianCollection.html#sealone</a></div>Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485499873194441377.post-68000744519433669492007-09-23T17:43:00.000+10:002007-10-13T07:49:55.173+10:00Archaeology series 13: The Arad Inscriptions<strong>The Arad Insciptions</strong><br /><br /><br /><div align="justify">From Meyers Encyclopedia of Near East:<br /></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><blockquote><div align="justify">*Found from excavations in the citadel of Arad in the Judaen<br />Negev carried out between 1962 and 1967 by Yohanan Aharoni</div><br /><br /><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">*131 Hebrew, 85 Aramaic, 2 Greek and 5 Arabic<br />inscriptions</div><br /><br /><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">*Many Yahwistic names and formulaic blessings in the name of<br />Yahweh</div><br /><br /><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">*From Jewish Virtual Library(Disclaimer: I do not endorse the political views of this site):</div></blockquote></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><blockquote><strong>The Israelite Citadel</strong> </strong></blockquote></div><blockquote><div align="justify">During the period of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah<br />(10th-6th centuries BCE), successive citadels were built on the hill of Arad as<br />part of a series of fortifications protecting the trade routes in the Negev and<br />the southern border of the kingdom against marauding nomads.</div><br /><div align="justify"><br />The first of these citadels was built by <a href="http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Solomon.html">King<br />Solomon</a> (10th century BCE). It measured 55 x 50 m. and was surrounded by a<br />casemate wall (two parallel walls with cross-walls between them) 5 m. thick, and<br />with a gate protected by two towers in its eastern side. Large towers protruded<br />from the corners and along the wall. Inside the citadel were quarters for the<br />garrison, storerooms, and a temple. A water reservoir cut into the rock beneath<br />the citadel was filled with water from a well dug into the Canaanite reservoir<br />south of the citadel. This well was 4.60 m. in diameter and 21 m. deep, to<br />groundwater level, the upper part carefully lined with stones. The water drawn<br />from the well was carried up the hill by pack animals to an opening in the wall<br />of the citadel, and from there flowed in a channel to the reservoir.</div><br /><div align="justify"><br />In the 9th century BCE, a new citadel was built,<br />surrounded by a massive, 4 m.-thick wall. This citadel, with various<br />modifications, remained in use until the Babylonian conquest of the Kingdom of<br />Judah in 587/6 BCE.</div></blockquote><strong><blockquote><strong>The ostraca</strong><br /></blockquote></strong><blockquote>Over 100 ostraca inscribed in biblical Hebrew (in<br />paleo-Hebrew script)<br />were found in the citadel of Arad. This is the largest and<br />richest<br />collection of inscriptions from the biblical period ever discovered in<br />Israel. The letters are from all periods of the citadel's existence, but<br />most<br />date to the last decades of the kingdom of Judah. Dates and several<br />names of<br />places in the Negev are mentioned, including <a href="http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vie/Beersheba.html">Be'er<br />Sheva</a>.<br /></blockquote><br /><br /><blockquote>Among the personal names are those of the priestly<br />families Pashur and<br />Meremoth, both mentioned in the Bible. (<a href="http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Bible/Jeremiah20.html">Jeremiah<br />20:1</a>; <a href="http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Bible/Ezra8.html">Ezra<br />8:33</a>) Some of the letters were addressed to the commander of the citadel<br />of<br />Arad, Eliashiv ben Ashiyahu, and deal with the distribution of bread<br />(flour),<br />wine and oil to the soldiers serving in the fortresses of the<br />Negev. Seals<br />bearing the inscription "Eliashiv ben Ashiyahu" were also<br />found.<br /></blockquote><div align="justify"><br /><blockquote>Some of the commander's letters (probably "file" copies) were addressed to his<br />superior and deal with the deteriorating security situation in the Negev. In one<br />of them, he gives warning of an emergency and requests reinforcements to be sent<br />to another citadel in the region to repulse an Edomite invasion. Also, in one of<br />the letters, the "house of YHWH" is mentioned.</blockquote><br /></div><div align="justify"><blockquote><div align="justify">Inscription 1</div><div align="justify"><br /><em>To Eliashib: And now, give the Kittiyim 3 baths of<br />wine, and write the name of the day. And from the rest of the first flour, send<br />one homer in order to make bread for them. Give them the wine from the aganoth<br />vessels.</em><br /></div><div align="justify">Inscription 24</div><div align="justify"><br /><em>From Arad 50 and from Kin[ah]...and you shall send<br />them to Ramat-Negev by the hand of Malkiyahu the son of Kerab'ur and he shall<br />hand them over to Elisha the son of Yirmiyahu in Ramat-Negev, lest anything<br />should happen to the city. And the word of the king is incumbent upon you for<br />your very life! Behold, I have sent to warn you today: [Get] the men to Elisha:<br />lest Edom should come there.<br /></div></em><div align="justify">Inscription 40</div><div align="justify"><br /><em>Your son Gemar[yahu] and Nehemyahu gre[et] Malkiyahu;<br />I have blessed [you to the Lor]d and now: your servant has listened to what<br />[you] have said, and I [have written] to my lord [everything that] the man<br />[wa]nted, [and Eshiyahu ca]me from you and [no] one [gave it to] them. And<br />behold you knew [about the letters from] Edom (that) I gave to [my] lord [before<br />sun]set. And [E]shi[yah]u slept [at my house], and he asked for the letter, [but<br />I didn't gi]ve (it). The King of Judah should know [that w]e cannot send the<br />[..., and th]is is the evil that Edo[m has done]. </em></div></blockquote><em><br /></em></div><div align="justify"><em></em></div><div align="justify"><em></em></div><div align="justify"><em></em></div><div align="justify"><strong>From the Israel Museum</strong></div><div align="justify"></div><em><blockquote><div align="justify"><em>This ostracon (potsherd inscribed in ink) was executed by<br />a professional scribe in Paleo-Hebrew script. It was found in Arad, a frontier<br />fortress of the Judean monarchy which also served as the administrative center<br />of the region during the ninth-sixth century BCE. Written in the early sixth<br />century BCE, this letter is among the earliest epigraphic references to the<br />Temple in Jerusalem. It is addressed to Elyashib, probably the commander of the<br />Arad fortress, and was sent, presumably from Jerusalem, by an unknown<br />subordinate who was in Jerusalem on a mission of inquiry about a certain person.<br />Elyashib is informed that all is well with the man about whom he had inquired:<br />the individual is in the "House of God," where he probably found refuge: "To my<br />lord Elyashib, may the Lord seek your welfare...and as to the matter which you<br />command me-it is well; he is in the House of God." Elyashib is also asked to<br />supply some goods to someone named Shemaryahu and to an unknown person referred<br />to as the "Kerosite." Publications:The Israel Museum, Publisher: Harry N.<br />Abrams, Inc., 2005 </em></div></blockquote></em>Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485499873194441377.post-67173869585530357812007-09-23T15:00:00.000+10:002008-12-10T09:31:15.684+11:00Archaeology Series 12:The Kurkh monolith of Shalmanasser III<strong>The Kurkh monolith</strong><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTIB3lgu1QEplxZtGAA5Lv2ibh7bdpEYsRTNigwflXuoqaWok0cpVUS7vfXdwsQQQRIpqsa5DOd8LI5Qeny4VD7w6wKnNQsBNVWIkuZ4VnipVbjT61kfI5kG94BPcrIZcJ8VAyDVW6oyM/s1600-h/stela+shalmaneser.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113262739758950514" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTIB3lgu1QEplxZtGAA5Lv2ibh7bdpEYsRTNigwflXuoqaWok0cpVUS7vfXdwsQQQRIpqsa5DOd8LI5Qeny4VD7w6wKnNQsBNVWIkuZ4VnipVbjT61kfI5kG94BPcrIZcJ8VAyDVW6oyM/s400/stela+shalmaneser.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><strong>BASIC FACTS</strong><br /><br /><div align="justify">*Dated to 853 BCE<br /><br />The Kurkh Monolith is an <a title="Assyria" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyria">Assyrian</a> document that contains a description of the <a title="Battle of Qarqar" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Qarqar">Battle of Qarqar</a> at the end. The Monolith stands some 2.2 <a title="Metres" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metres">metres</a> tall, and roughly covers years one through six of the reign of Assyrian king <a title="Shalmaneser III" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shalmaneser_III">Shalmaneser III</a>, although the fifth year is missing. </div><div align="justify"><br />The Monolith mainly deals with campaigns Shalmaneser made in western <a title="Mesopotamia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopotamia">Mesopotamia</a> and <a title="Syria" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syria">Syria</a>, fighting extensively with the countries of <a title="Beth Eden" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beth_Eden">Bit Adini</a> and <a title="Carchemish" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carchemish">Carchemish</a>. At the end of the Monolith comes the account of the <a title="Battle of Qarqar" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Qarqar">Battle of Qarqar</a>, where an alliance of <a title="Twelve kings" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_kings">twelve kings</a> fought against Shalmaneser at the Syrian city of <a title="Qarqar" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qarqar">Qarqar</a>. This alliance, comprising eleven kings, was led by <a class="new" title="Irhuleni" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Irhuleni&action=edit">Irhuleni</a> of <a title="Hamath" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamath">Hamath</a> and <a title="Hadadezer" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadadezer">Hadadezer</a> of <a title="Damascus" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damascus">Damascus</a>, with a considerable force led by<strong> King </strong><a title="Ahab" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahab"><strong>Ahab</strong></a><strong> of </strong><a title="Kingdom of Israel" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Israel"><strong>Israel</strong></a><strong>.</strong> The Monolith is also the first time that the <a title="Arabs" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabs">Arabs</a> make an appearance in world history, fielding a contingent containing <a title="Camels" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camels">camels</a> led by King <a title="Gindibu" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gindibu">Gindibu</a>.<br /></div><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurkh_Monolith">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurkh_Monolith</a><br /><br /><strong>INSCRIPTION</strong><br /><div align="justify"><br />Kurkh Monolith of Shalmaneser III 853 BCE<a name="Kurkh"></a><br />COS 2.113A, pp. 263-264 </div><div align="justify"><br /><em>I approached the city of Qarqar. I razed, destroyed and burned the city of Qarqar , his royal city. 1,200 chariots, 1,200 cavalry, and 20,000 troops of Hadad-ezer of Damascus; 700 chariots, 700 cavalry, 10,000 troops of Irhuleni, the Hamathite; 2,000 chariots, and 10,000 troops of Ahab, the Israelite; 500 troops of Byblos; 1,000 troops of Egypt; 10 chariots and 10,000 troops of the land of Irqanatu; 200 troops of Matinu-ba'al of the city of Arvad; 200 troops of the land of Usanatu; 30 chariots and X,000 troops of Adon-ba'al of the land of Shianu, 1,000 camels of Gindibu of Arabia; X hundred troops of Ba'asa, the man of Bit ruhubi, the Ammonite--these twelve kings he took as his allies....</em></div><div align="justify"><br /><em>I decisively defeated them from the city of Qarqar to the city of Gilzau. I felled with the sword 14,000 troops, their fighting men. Like Adad, I rained down upon them a devastating flood. I spread out their corpses and I filled the plain. I felled with the sword their extensive troops. I made their blood flow in the wadis. The field was too small for laying flat their bodies; the broad countryside had been consumed in burying them. I blocked the Orontes River with their corpses as with a causeway. In the midst of this battle I took away from them chariots, cavalry, and teams of horses.</em></div>Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14431491076343294259noreply@blogger.com0