Shephelah Archives - Page 60 of 67

Galil: Qeiyafa is Biblical Netaim

Gershon Galil has proposed in a message posted on ANE-2 that Khirbet Qeiyafa should be identified with biblical Netaim. You can read the entire message on the list, but he summarizes as follows:

So in my opinion Khirbet Qeiyafa is Neta‘im for three main reasons: (a) it is located near Gederah; (b) its name is preserved in Khirbet En-Nuweiti‘; (c) it was inhabited only in the 10th century. That is why Neta‘im is not mentioned in the list of the cities of Judah in Josh. 15, which is dated to the 8th or 7th century BCE.

Netaim is mentioned only in 1 Chronicles 4:23, and not much can be deduced from this passage. It’s apparent that Netaim is in the territory of Judah, may or may not be located in proximity to Gederah, and was home to a group of royal potters.

1 Chron 4:23 (ESV) These were the potters who were inhabitants of Netaim and Gederah. They lived there in the king’s service.

That’s not a lot to go on. I’m probably less inclined to believe that the name of Netaim was preserved 2 miles (3 km) away, as Galil proposes. That’s a long distance in the densely occupied Iron Age Shephelah.

Elah Valley and vicinity. Red=Kh. Nuweti‘; blue=Kh. Qeiyafa; green=T. Zakariya (Azekah); purple=Kh. Abbad (Socoh). SWP Map 16-17.

Galil has previously offered his translation of the Qeiyafa Ostracon, and he concludes his message by relating his identification to the inscription.

This new identification indicates that Khirbet Qeiyafa/ Neta‘im was inhabited by potters who worked in the king’s service. In the same city, a member of a family of scribes (probably also in the king’s service), wrote the Qeiyafa inscription, the most ancient and important Hebrew inscription ever found:
[……] (1′) do not do (it), but worship […].
(3′) Judge the slave and the widow / Judge the orph[an] (3′) and the stranger.
Plead for the infant / plead for the poor and (4′) the widow.
Avenge (the pauper’s vengeance) at the king’s hands.
(5′) Protect the poor and the slave / suppo[rt] the stranger.

I will be interested to read more of Galil’s argumentation if/when he publishes an article. I think it’s noteworthy that he does not accept Garfinkel’s identification of Qeiyafa as Shaaraim, but he does believe that Qeiyafa had two gates and was settled only in the 10th century.

Tagged Shephelah

Weekend Roundup

You never know what will start a riot in Israel. In this case, it was the government’s adding two historical sites to a list of 150 that should be restored. Today Israeli police forces entered the Temple Mount in order to remove 20 masked protesters who were throwing objects at tourists.

G. M. Grena notes that BAR has posted a good photograph of the Qeiyafa Ostracon.

Egypt has announced the discovery of a large red granite head of Pharaoh Amenhotep III in his mortuary temple on Luxor’s West Bank.

Tom Powers has followed up the “Under the Temple Mount” post here with some beautiful watercolors of the same areas on his blog.

If you’re looking for more reaction to Eilat Mazar’s “10th century” “wall” announced last week, take a look at this roundup by John Hobbins. I expect to post more on the matter this coming week.

Today is Purim and in honor of this festive holiday, the Israel Antiquities Authority has posted an online exhibit of “Masks, Rattles and Purim Customs.” Some images are available in high resolution here (zip).

Tagged Egypt, Jerusalem, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup

Two New Trails and 150 Restored Sites

Israel is planning to build two new trails in conjunction with the restoration of 150 historic sites. A number of sites on the list have been mentioned as in need of restoration here before, including Lachish, Hurvat Madras [Khirbet Midras], and the Sanhedrin Garden. We’re a big fan of a number of other sites on the list as well, though we see less need for restoration on some than for others.

Sometimes government involvement makes things worse not better, a case in point being the new Arbel National Park. Trails, however, are always good.

Haaretz reports:

The government is planning on spending NIS 500 million ($135 million) over five years to restore and preserve heritage sites across the country.
[. . .]
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu devoted a large part of his address at the Herzliya Conference to outlining the plan.
“The guarantee of our existence is dependent not merely on weapons systems or military strength or economic strength or our innovativeness, our exports, and all these forces which are indeed so vital to us,” he said. “It is dependent first and foremost on the intellectual capacity and the national feelings that we inculcate – from parents to children, and as a state, in our educational system.”
Netanyahu said that he plans to present a blueprint to the government on February 25 that will include, among other things, the inauguration of two trails, in addition to the existing Israel National Trail (“Shvil Yisrael”).
One is an historical trail connecting dozens of archaeological sites, and the second is an “Israeli Experience” trail linking up over 100 places important to the nation’s more recent history and will include buildings that are to be preserved, settlement sites, small museums and memorials.
[. . .]
At Tel Lachish, which Netanyahu referred to in his speech, the plan is to restore the gate into the city and the city walls, to prepare trails, to build an entrance hall and to add signposts, among other things.
Other sites marked for restoration are Neot Kedumim, Susya, Qumran, Jason’s Tomb in the Rehavia neighborhood of Jerusalem, the Sanhedrin Garden, the Eshkolot Cave, Umm al-Amad, the Beit Shean antiquities, Tel Megiddo, Tiberias, Tel Arad, Tel Dan, Hurvat Madras, the park around the Old City of Jerusalem and the City of David.
There are another 109 heritage sites and projects earmarked for restoration and preservation. They are to be found throughout the country and include such sites as the Independence Hall in Tel Aviv, the Aronson farm and the signaling station at Atlit, the Emek train between Haifa and Tzemah and the Tzemah train station, the Old Courtyard Museum at Ein Shemer, the original homes of the settlers at Migdal in Ashkelon, the street of the Biluim and the winery in Gedera, the courtyard at Kinneret, the Montefoire [sic] quarter of Tel Aviv, the agricultural school at Mikveh Yisrael, the old Jerusalem train station and others.

You can read the article here.

HT: Paleojudaica

Lachish gate (foreground) and palace (top), in a state of neglect. These buildings date to the late Iron Age, a time when Lachish was the second most important city in Judah (after Jerusalem).

Tagged Galilee, Jerusalem, Shephelah, Tourism

Qeiyafa Ostracon Update

There was some news this month regarding the Qeiyafa Ostracon. I previously posted the new reading by Gershon Galil. That was criticized by some, including Christopher Rollston who has some good thoughts on his blog. The Khirbet Qeiyafa team has attacked Galil in an open letter for ethical concerns as well as problems of scholarship and “scientific methodology.”

Gordon Govier interviewed a number of scholars about the ostracon in an article for Christianity Today. Govier also interviewed Seth Sanders and Chris Rollston for the radio program, The Book and the Spade (also online temporarily as #1210 and #1211).

The Mormon Times has an article that summarizes the latest, with input from BYU professor Jeffrey R. Chadwick.

The Khirbet Qeiyafa website has been updated with new photographs and drawings of the ostracon (and page two here).

An article has just been published (and posted online in pdf format) in PalArch’s Journal of Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology by Gregory Bearman & William A. Christens-Barry entitled “Spectral Imaging of Ostraca.” The article includes several photos of the Qeiyafa Ostracon.

Tagged Shephelah

Qeiyafa Inscription Translation by Galil

From a press release from the University of Haifa, posted at EurekAlert:

A breakthrough in the research of the Hebrew scriptures has shed new light on the period in which the Bible was written. Prof. Gershon Galil of the Department of Biblical Studies at the University of Haifa has deciphered an inscription dating from the 10th century BCE (the period of King David’s reign), and has shown that this is a Hebrew inscription. The discovery makes this the earliest known Hebrew writing. The significance of this breakthrough relates to the fact that at least some of the biblical scriptures were composed hundreds of years before the dates presented today in research and that the Kingdom of Israel already existed at that time. The inscription itself, which was written in ink on a 15 cm X 16.5 cm trapezoid pottery shard, was discovered a year and a half ago at excavations that were carried out by Prof. Yosef Garfinkel at Khirbet Qeiyafa near the Elah valley. The inscription was dated back to the 10th century BCE, which was the period of King David’s reign, but the question of the language used in this inscription remained unanswered, making it impossible to prove whether it was in fact Hebrew or another local language. Prof. Galil’s deciphering of the ancient writing testifies to its being Hebrew, based on the use of verbs particular to the Hebrew language, and content specific to Hebrew culture and not adopted by any other cultures in the region. "This text is a social statement, relating to slaves, widows and orphans. It uses verbs that were characteristic of Hebrew, such as asah ("did") and avad ("worked"), which were rarely used in other regional languages. Particular words that appear in the text, such as almanah ("widow") are specific to Hebrew and are written differently in other local languages. The content itself was also unfamiliar to all the cultures in the region besides the Hebrew society: The present inscription provides social elements similar to those found in the biblical prophecies and very different from prophecies written by other cultures postulating glorification of the gods and taking care of their physical needs," Prof. Galil explains. He adds that once this deciphering is received, the inscription will become the earliest Hebrew inscription to be found, testifying to Hebrew writing abilities as early as the 10th century BCE. This stands opposed to the dating of the composition of the Bible in current research, which would not have recognized the possibility that the Bible or parts of it could have been written during this ancient period. Prof. Galil also notes that the inscription was discovered in a provincial town in Judea. He explains that if there were scribes in the periphery, it can be assumed that those inhabiting the central region and Jerusalem were even more proficient writers. "It can now be maintained that it was highly reasonable that during the 10th century BCE, during the reign of King David, there were scribes in Israel who were able to write literary texts and complex historiographies such as the books of Judges and Samuel." He adds that the complexity of the text discovered in Khirbet Qeiyafa, along with the impressive fortifications revealed at the site, refute the claims denying the existence of the Kingdom of Israel at that time. The contents of the text express social sensitivity to the fragile position of weaker members of society. The inscription testifies to the presence of strangers within the Israeli society as far back as this ancient period, and calls to provide support for these strangers. It appeals to care for the widows and orphans and that the king – who at that time had the responsibility of curbing social inequality – be involved. This inscription is similar in its content to biblical scriptures (Isaiah 1:17, Psalms 72:3, Exodus 23:3, and others), but it is clear that it is not copied from any biblical text. English translation of the deciphered text: 1′ you shall not do [it], but worship the [Lord].
2′ Judge the sla[ve] and the wid[ow] / Judge the orph[an]
3′ [and] the stranger. [Pl]ead for the infant / plead for the po[or and]
4′ the widow. Rehabilitate [the poor] at the hands of the king.
5′ Protect the po[or and] the slave / [supp]ort the stranger.

HT: Joe Lauer

Tagged Shephelah

Weekend Roundup

The Jerusalem Post has a story on the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv. If you haven’t been to this one yet, try to get there at the next opportunity.

A preliminary report of the Western Wall Plaza Excavations (2005-2009) is now available at Hadashot Arkheologiyot. Among other things, they’ve uncovered a four(?)-room house from the late Iron Age.

The Khirbet Qeiyafa Vol. 1. Excavation Report 2007–2008 is now available from the Israel Exploration Society. The cost is $72 ($54 to members of the Israel Exploration Society), airmail postage $13. You can contact IES for more information.

Was Qumran home to the Essenes, or was it a fortress? Or maybe a place of manufacturing perfume, or was it pottery? These and other views are considered in an article in the Smithsonian Magazine.

Paleojudaica has an update on the fabric of the Turin Shroud (noted here previously), but it doesn’t seem to clear the air.

I have a very aggressive travel schedule for the next three weeks, so I don’t expect to have much time to post. I have prepared some interesting posts and photos for my absence, and if I see anything of interest (and time permits), I’ll note it here. I’ll start things off tomorrow with my top 9 archaeological discoveries for 2009.

Tagged Dead Sea, Jerusalem, Shephelah, Weekend Roundup