Oxford Papyrologists and Researchers need your help!

Late last week I came across a web project hosted on Ancient Lives. The project is based around the Oxyrhynchus collection, a large collection pf papyri dating from the 1st to 6th centuries CE. By 1907, when digging had ceased at the ancient rubbish dump near Oxyrhynchus in Egypt , recovered were 700 boxes of papyri holding approximately 500,000 fragments of Greek text; some of which have been identified as early Biblical copies and references. The project is calling out to the web community for assistance in transcribing. Using various Javascript enabled features and tools, the user (after creating a user profile) will be able to log in to the database and aid in the transcribing of the uploaded images of fragments. I intend on helping out with this project myself and I look forward to it succeeding with its goals. I can only imagine what other hidden treasures are waiting for future translation and identification.

Note that the texts are in Koine Greek, a derivative of Attic dialect with some Ionic Greek influences. Koine is the Greek dialect used in Egypt during the Ptolemaic period and afterward alongside the rest of the Greco-Roman influenced world; spoken by the army of Alexander the Great and initially used across his empire. Koine eventually evolved into Medieval Greek which eventually evolved into the modern Greek.

A lesser known gem: The Archaeology Museum at Wheaton College

Yesterday I had experienced an opportunity which I am truly grateful for. Viewable by appointment only, I had scheduled to meet with local professor of archaeology (who specializes in Ancient Near Eastern History and Biblical Archaeology), Dr. Adam E Miglio, Ph.D for a tour of the Archaeology Museum located on the campus of Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL. And while theirs is a modest collection of artifacts excavated from the ancient Near East and dating from as early as the Middle Bronze and through the Iron Age, it was still a beautiful collection with a great history as it was presented within the context of Biblical Studies. I say modest only in comparison to other collections such as the one found at the Oriental Institute of Chicago, etc.

Dr. Miglio was gracious enough to give us (my wife, daughter and myself) a small part of his afternoon yesterday to provide a personal tour through the collection as he narrated almost every artifact. As a lover of ancient Near Eastern history, I enjoyed every bit of it and would highly recommend it to anyone finding themselves in the western suburbs of the Chicago land area. The collection ranges from Joseph P. Free’s work at Tel Dothan, Israel to others from the general Levantine region, Mesopotamia, and even Egypt and consists of pots, Bronze Age weapons, ancient idols, jewelry, ossuaries, inscriptions and more.

Despite enjoying every part of the collection, it was neat to see such displays that showcased the evolution of manufactured goods including pottery to even oil lamps and how the styles and methods evolved over time. Specifically pointing out the oil lamp, it was extremely interesting to see the Hasmonean push to preserve their heritage, culture, and faith and finding their roots away from Seleucid influence. Yes, some of the results in the Maccabean Revolt can be observed in how oil lamps were manufactured!

Kickstarter Project: From Eden to Yehud

All,

I hope all is going well. It has been quite some time since my last update. I am posting this message to promote a project that I am currently working on. The project is called From Eden to Yehud (http://www.FromEdenToYehud.com), which is also the name of the publication to result from this research. This will be my third published book in Biblical Studies.

I decided to get a little creative with this project and utilize the crowd funding site Kickstarter to raise some funding for the publication of this book. The web-based portion of the project will highlight materials to be published in the book of the same name while also providing articles, short movie clips (i.e. in documentary form), project updates and more. The project page (http://kck.st/movvIk) lists all of the details about the project (including schedule) and what the funding will cover.

For those not familiar with crowd funding, it is a method by which an individual can raise just enough money to get their project going, and in return, all those who invest into it will be given rewards based on the amount they contribute (i.e. $5, $10, etc.). Note that each project has a limited time in which it needs to raise funds. If the goal is not achieved, the contribution will not be accepted. All contributions will be charged (through Amazon), if full funding is achieved by 29 July, 2011.

If you are interested in the project, and if the rewards seem appealing to you, you know what to do. Otherwise, no worries. Also, if you do decide to contribute and at a later date decide to post a project of your own with Kickstarter, please send me a private message (or e-mail) and I will gladly return the favor, within reason of course.

Even if you are not interested in contributing to the project, please do not hesitate to join the mailing list. This way, you can easily stay updated on all news and announcements related to the From Eden to Yehud research project by signing up for the official mailing list.

Evidence of Israelites at Qadesh?

I have been entertaining this thought for over a year now and have just now decided to put it into writing. During the war between the Egyptians and Hittites at the Battle of Qadesh (ca. 1300 BCE), Ramesses II was aided by a group of Semites only referred to as the “ne`arim from Amor.” The ne`arim are described as Canaanite mercenaries serving in the army of Ramesses II. In his book, “The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe ca. 1200 B.C.”, Robert Drews has described the Amorite ne`arim as “runners” attached to the Amon division of Ramesses’ army. He also states that after serving and fighting for the Egyptian Pharaoh, they would have been furnished by his vassals in the Levant.

It would not have been too much of a surprise if Ramesses rewarded the ne`arim with land in the Egyptian empire. Note that this is just an personal thought and there is no historical evidence to prove such a theory.

During the reign of Merneptah there seemed to be some trouble in Canaan. Recorded in the Papyrus of Anastasi, the trouble is caused by a group referred to as the Nearin. This refers to the ne`arim, the same group that distinguished themselves at the Battle of Qadesh. It is known that Merneptah did eventually campaign into the Levant and as is evident in the Merneptah Stela, he comes across warriors from Israel (among many others).

Is it possible that these is a connection between the ne`arim and Israel. Is this evidence of Israel winning the favor of the Pharaoh (i.e. serving Ramesses II at Qadesh), a similar theme to the one present in the end of Genesis? And does their rebellion symbolize their Exodus from under Egyptian rule? A generation had passed after the long reign of Ramesses and Merneptah may not have known of their good deeds to Egypt.

Does Homer hint to the voyages of the Sea Peoples?

In Book IV of the Odyssey, we read of Menelaus and his voyage back home from the Trojan War:

“…it was nearly eight years before I could get home with my fleet. I went to Cypress, Phoenicia and the Egyptians; I went also to the Ethiopians, the Sidonians, and the Erembians, and to Libya…”

Does Homer hint at a group of Sea Peoples traveling around the Mediterranean? Could Menelaus (and his fleet) have been one of the Danuna/Denyen? Does Odysseus’ trip back home mark a voyage of another tribes of Sea Peoples? The story does take place in the same Dark Age period of the Mediterranean region.

Judges 5, Identifying a Battle and Dating Biblical Poetry.

During my research for my second book, Biblical Origins: An Adopted Legacy, I had devoted some of my time in researching Biblical Poetry. For this book, my research focused more on the Blessing of Joseph found in Genesis 49. It was not until recently that I found interest in the Judges 5 and the Song of Deborah.

In the world of academia, it has always been the general consensus that some of the Bible’s poetry predates its prose literature. For instance, the poetry came first, whether it was preserved orally or otherwise and eventually the prose stories were built around it. The same theory has been applied to the Song of Deborah which scholars date to ca. 1100 BCE.

It is also generally accepted that this poem preserves a battle against the Shardana (men of Sardinia), a war like group of Sea Peoples that occupied the area from around the 14th century BCE and later. This connection was made when scholars studying some of the archives found at Ugarit (located to the north of this battleground) found the name of a prince in the 14th century BCE called Zi-za-ru-wa or Si-sa-ru-wa. That is, the same name found in the poem of Judges 5. It should not be  assumed that this is the same Sisera. The name could and would have been a very common one.

The epic tells of a battle that occurred between Megiddo and Taanach. Archaeological Professor Adam Zertal had found evidence of a Shardana settlement just south of this location at el-Ahwat. This settlement dates to 1220-1170 BCE. After 1170 BCE, it had never been occupied since.

Tracing back through history a bit, the Shardana have been in and around the Levant for a while and are also fairly well documented. We see evidence of them in the Amarna Letters (EA 81, EA 122 and EA 123), the Qadesh inscription as a hired personal guard for Ramesses II, in the inscriptions of Merneptah and Ramesses III, where these Pharaohs are fighting against them, etc. They were always depicted as hired mercenaries.

Did this poem mark the defeat of the Shardana, let by Sisera and either force them to evacuate el-Ahwat or disappear exterminated completely? This would not have been the only Shardana settlement as it has been documented of their settlements on the Phoenician coasts. If this did mark the defeat of the Shardana from el-Ahwat, then can we date this poem to 1170 BCE?

The orthographical studies of Frank Moore Cross and David Noel Freedman to even the research of William Foxwell Albright place the style of poetry alongside its methods of spelling, etc. no later than 1100 BCE and with a date of 1170 BCE it would seem likely that this would properly date the battle.

Review: Rediscovering Homer – Andrew Dalby

Just recently I finished reading Andrew Dalby’s book, “Rediscovering Homer: Inside the Origins of the Epic.” First and foremost I wanted to mentioned that overall I enjoyed this book. In order to understand the growth and adoption of oral tradition to an eventual transcribed history, I always find myself going back to Homer.

What amazes me about the Iliad and the Odyssey is not necessarily the epics themselves but more the level of accuracy embedded into its narratives. No, I am not stating that there was an Achilles and Hector nor am I saying Odysseus traveled across the Mediterranean to find his way home. What I am saying is that there is certain knowledge, such as ritual customs and types of weapons (warfare) used during the Bronze Age that the Iron Age (when Homer was said to have lived) would not have known. How was this detail preserved? Did it make sense to the Iron Age audience? Or were its meanings lost through time?

When reading his research, it is apparent that Andrew Dalby is extremely comfortable with the topic. He appears to be very knowledgeable and presents his material in a very organized manner. Dalby dives into oral poetry and the accuracy of transmitting poetic verse from generation to generation while shifting to the time of composition; that is, when oral tradition took on a written form.

Dalby focuses on an appropriate timeframe for composition while analyzing certain characteristics to both epics. Were they composed by the same author? If so, how many years apart? Dalby continues with his research to make the claim that Homer, or the originator of the epics, was a female. I do not mind accepting such a hypothesis but the author did very little to prove it. He focused very little time in presenting the appropriate information to convince the reader. I just wish he would have done a better job with this, otherwise, the book is a must read.

Trojans at Qadesh.

I have always been interested in Late Bronze Age and Iron Age warfare. In fact, one of the large battles of interest has always been the Battle of Qadesh. This event placed the Egyptians (led by Ramesses II) against the Hittites (led by Muwattali II). Both sides had their fair share of mercenaries for hire and tributary nations aiding in battle. Without getting in too much detail of the battle, in the end neither side emerged victorious. This battle is dated to ca. 1274 BCE.

Just recently, while doing some light reading, I stumbled on an interesting piece of information relating to the Trojans and the role they played at Qadesh. But before we get into that, it needs to be understood that the province of Wilusa (Greek: Ilion) or Truwisa (Greek: Troya) was a subject or tributary state to the greater Hittite empire. They paid tribute to receive aid and protection from Hatti. References to this province are routinely mentioned in the archives found at the old Hittite capital of Hattusha. A lot of those reference also relate to a conflict between Wilusa and Ahhiyawa (Achaeans), one of the names given to the ancient Greeks. These letters place the ancient Greeks on Anatolian soil as early as the 14th-13th centuries BCE.

Thankfully to the persistent work of Heinrich Schliemann (1822 – 1890), the location of Troy had been archaeologically uncovered and by the 1990′s it was determined that this was in fact the location of the Troy that Homer sung about.

Going back to Qadesh, in the inscriptions of Ramesses II, he lists the allies of the Hittites. One of those allies was the Drdny (Greek: Dardanoi); that is, the Trojans. On top of the people of Troya or Ilion, Homer refers to the Trojans by another name, the people of the Dardanelles. This should come to no surprise as the province of Wilusa was committed to aid the Hittite empire. I just found the connection to be extremely interesting. It was not too long later that the layer Troy VIIa (the possible candidate for the Trojan War) was burned to the ground (likely to be an outcome of war) at ca. 1180 BCE.

Another thing worth noting is that part of the confederation of Sea Peoples that attacked Egypt and were driven back by Merneptah (Merneptah Stele) ca. 1220 BCE and Ramesses III (inscription at Deir el-Medina) were the Teresh and Tursha; identified with the Hittite Taruisas or Troy. Ramesses III ruled between 1186 – 1155 BCE. I am not sure on what date is given for Ramesses’ interaction with the Tursha. It most likely falls after the suggested date of the fall of Troy. I can see both the Denyen (Greek: Danoi) and Tursha migrating all over the Mediterranean and Near East after the Trojan War and specifically after the collapse of the Late Bronze Age Period.

More on the Danites.

Back in April I had written about a possible link between the Danaoi/Danuna and the Israelite tribe of Dan. It was this past Sunday that I sat down and watched an episode of The Naked Archaeologist. It is usually not a routine habit of mine but this episode focused on the Danites and the possible connection to the Danaoi (spoken of in Homer’s Iliad) of ancient Mycenae.

The episode didn’t really highlight anything that I didn’t know already but it did bring the hypothesis back to mind. In fact, I have been spending time thinking about it since then. Is there some sort of connection with the Mycenaean tomb found at Tel Dan? Or how about the story of Samson almost sounding too Greek to belong in the OT?

For instance we do know that the Philistines, Shardana (Sardinians), and Tjekker had migrated from the Aegean and into the Levant; settling in the land of Israel. So then, it would not be too strange to find the Danuna present.

The accuracy of Biblical chronology.

Recently I spent some time reading about the Bedouin. It is a personal opinion of mine that the Bedouin are the strongest link to understanding how Israel’s nomadic past functioned. What I found the most interesting of these studies comes from Alan Keohane’s book: Bedouin: Nomads of the Desert. This interesting piece of information details a fact of the Bedouin that few know about and that is: keeping track of time. According to the author: “Like most old Bedu (Abdullah bin Salem bait Masan) he doesn’t know his age, but remembers, as a child, seeing Thesiger at the end of the 1940s. Abdullah would tell me about the old days migrating with camels across the sands towards Fasad, Marswadad and Mugshin, naming the dune ranges in turn and remembering how many days’ travel there were between each one.”

This statement brings up the question: How accurate are the ages of the Biblical Patriarchs, at least before the Israelite Conquest and Settlement into the Promised Land? How would Abraham and the generations that followed to Moses keep track of their ages? We do read of lives that extended to 950 years, 175, etc. In my article, A Case For Multiple Authors, I make mention of the long years lived in Exhibit 2: The Story of Noah. In Genesis 6:3, the Lord stated:

And the LORD said: ‘My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for that he also is flesh; therefore shall his days be a hundred and twenty years.’

What happened to the limit of 120 years? After the Deluge, the patriarchs lived past this limit. For instance, Abraham lived 175 years; Ishmael 137 years; and Jacob 147 years. With today’s knowledge in health and medicine we are increasing the average life span closer to 100 years. My question is, were these numbers accurate or did they reflect a different type of measurement? Or did its author embellish a bit for the sake of a good story.

In the past, some have suggested the measurement to reflect that of a lunar cycle as opposed to a solar one. If that were the case, then there is a lack of consistency on the part of the author(s). The translation from one to the other was not a clean one. It is worth noting that in the pre-Flood period, the life span was much larger than the post-Flood period. For example:

Adam: 930 years
Seth: 912 years
Enosh: 905 years
Kenan: 910 years
Mahalalel: 895 years
Jared: 962 years

And the list goes on. Once we get into the post-Flood period, then the life spans extend to 1xx years an no more. This reminds me of the Sumerian King List, as we see a similar theme present before and after the Flood.