Abandonment in Battle
The notion that the battle scenes on monuments, ie. Ramses II, may not represent real events because they describe the king being abandoned by his troops in order to glorify his `strength and victory', may not indicate exaggerations. Abandonment during battle are not events which happened only to the pharaohs, they happened to many other kings and are more likely a natural consequence in the heat of real battle.

Abdi Ashirta
On the name of Dushratta for example, could it simply be the name for Abdi-Ashirta (var. AbDU-aSHRATTA)? He is Ben-Hadad, Ahab's contemporary. The name therefore is not Indo-Iranian at all, but West Semitic, the last element being the name of the Canaanite goddess Ashtarte. The mysterious 'Kingdom of Mitanni' turns out to be simply the extensive Syrian kingdom of Ben-Hadad I and Hazael, a buffer state between Assyria and the Hittites. The occasional Indo-Aryan related artifacts seem to be sporadic items not involving the population as a whole.

1. consecrated to kingship by the gods
2. grown to maidenhood and crowned by the gods
3. crowned by her father, Thutmose I, before the assembled court,
4. coronation took place on New Year's Day (not a calendric day)
5. followed by concluding ceremonies by the gods

Actual Coronation

6. Thutmose I summons his daughter to be crowned
7. He summons the dignitaries, nobles, and chiefs to do homage
8. there was a sitting of the king himself
9. people prostrated themselves before him
10. King says, `This is my daughter ... she is my successor upon the throne
11. the court and people acknowledge the New Queen
12. they rejoiced
13. they leaped and danced
14. all the people have united upon the name of his daughter for king
15. purification ceremonies were carried out

Partial List of Crusader Castles
Belvoir castle of the Hospitaller knights; Syria's Krak des Chevaliers; Castle of Kerak, Jordan; Nimrod's Castle in the Golan Heights; Qalat Rahba in Syria; Castle of St. Louis in Sidon, Lebanon[01]; Lake Tiberias/Galilee crusader castle found. A photo of the site and a painted version of the castle is provided.[02]
[01] `Archaeology', Sep/Oct 2002.
[02] BAR, Vol. 30, May/Jun 2004, p. 16.

The Egyptian cubit = 1.72 feet long.

Cuneiform
Spoken cuneiform employs several categories written as: 1. dentals: d, t(emphatic); 2. velars: g, k, q; 3. labials: b, p; 4. sibilants: s, sh, z(emphatic s); For images see National Geographic Society, Splendors of the Past Lost Cities of the Ancient World, 1981, on numerous pages;

Dangeil
A recently discovered ca. 2000 year old city in Sudan, ancient Nubia.

Dashur
Dashur was a 4th (Snofru) and 12th dynasty capital which was more recently disocovered by archaeologists from Japan. Dashur is located south of Saqqara and Memphis, ca. 2 km north of the Red Pyramid of Sneferu. Evidence from the area included fragments bearing the name of Pharaoh Tut-ankh-amon and Akhesenamen. The location where these items were found was in the tombs surrounding that of Ipay. Also discovered were the tomb of Ipay, and scarabs bearing the name of Ramses II and a relief fragments bearing the name of Horemheb. A Japanese Waseda University team discovered what they describe as the New Kingdom part of town consisting mainly of a cemetery where they noticed the foundation of a centrally located, large mud-brick tomb-chapel which they dated to the late 18 Dynasty.

King David's palace
What did it look like? (1.Kings 7:1-12) It was made of cedar wood, 1.Chr. 17:1. It was built by Hiram, 2.Sam. 5:11; 1.Chr. 14:1 and most likely built in Phoenician, bit-hilani, style. Examples of that are known from the acropolis of Zincirli, Turkey. [BAR, Jan/Feb 1997, p. 50] Newer information seeks to address where the Palace of King David was located based on 2.Sam 5:7,17 which describes `David of going down, or descending (yered), from his residence to the citadel or fortress.' See Eilat Mazar, Did I Find King David's Palace?' in BAR, Jan/Feb 2006, p. 16-27,70.

Deborah's Song - Judges chapter 5
Is Deborah describing a war in which Thutmose III participated? According to professor Anson F. Rainey [BAR], Thutmose III participated in a coalition war, referred to in the `Song of Deboarh' even though a king of Egypt is not mentioned but `Amalek' is. We have already shown that the Amalekites were the Hyksos invaders of Egypt a long ways away from the time of Thutmose III. Who these kings were of the coalition we do not know. If Egyptians participated they were troops commandeered by Hyksos rulers. This is in line with the Hyksos being associated with numerous Canaanite tribes later overcome by King Saul and David.

Democracy
From where originate the first, basic democratic principles? The city of Athens is heralded as the cradle of democratic ideals. Evidence for that were found by archaeologists in a building at the north-east corner of the Agora near a clay bin which may have been a ballot box. The finds included bronze wheels used as public ballots: The somewhat mythical figure of Aristotle is credited with telling us that those with solid axles were for acquittal, those with hollow for condemnation, and the voter could conceal his vote by holding the axle between his fingertips. For more information and images see `The Oxford Illustrated History of Greece and the Helenistic World', Oxford, 1988, p. 134. Emphasis ours.

Diorite, Giza and a Paved Road
Diabase/Diorite/Basalt is an intrusive igneous, granular rock. Many rocks originally called diorite are now called something else, i.e. diabase. Quartzite diorite is now tonalite. A very hard rock, types of which are also used in Egyptian statuary. Also look up `dolerite', English variation on same material but diorite and basalt are very different stones. While the pyramids themselves were built of limestone and granite the floor of an adjoining mortuary temple was built of black basalt. (Geologists will state that there exists no `black' granite.) "The basalt came from quarries that lie 40 miles southwest of Giza. The Egyptians did not attempt to drag three-ton blocks of basalt across 40 miles of desert... . Instead they dragged the blocks to a lake connected to the Nile, loaded them on barges, and floated them down to Giza - a circuitous journey of more than 100 miles, but one that saved a lot of dragging. The road to the lake ... was only seven and a half miles long." It may be the world's oldest paved road. In 1987 Thomas Bown and James Harrell discovered the basalt quarries and a camp to house the quarry workers. By pottery fragments the site was dated to the Old Kingdom period. A microscopic analysis of the basalt at Giza and at the nearby necropolis of Saqqara showed that both came from this quarry. "The construction of the quarry road is somewhat less impressive than that of the pyramids. "They didn't bother to make a road bed," says Bown. "There were no signs of leveling of the road in any place." The pavement consists of sandstone, limestone, basalt, and, in one section, petrified wood. The road builders took whatever rock was at hand, picked out the largest straight-edged pieces to form the borders of the road, and filled the middle with smaller pieces. In one respect, though, they displayed some of the precision that went into the pyramids: in sections that haven't eroded, the road is exactly four ancient Egyptian cubits wide (just under 7 feet).
Today the road leads nowhere, beginning at the quarries and ending at an ancient quay - a quay that now stands high and dry, about six miles from the banks of a lake called Birket Qarun. When the quay was built, however, it stood on the shore of Lake Moeris/Faiyum, a much larger body of water that was connected to the Nile during the annual summer flood. The road to the quay included uphill segments - which may explain why it is the only paved road known from ancient Egypt: the routes from other Egyptian quarries, says, Bown, led downhill or over flat terrain. ... "The combination of the incline plus the very soft sand they'd have to be dragging the blocks through was just too much," Bown says. "They needed a much harder surface." [`The Road to Giza" in Discover, August 1994, p. 20; Also features an image of the road from the quarries as it disappears in the distance. For more click Here.] In another place we read that the road was noticed by a geologist in 1905 but not mapped until recently. We also learn that Lake Moeris was once connected to the Nile via a gap in the hills near the modern villages of el-Lahun and Hawara. [`World's Oldest Road' in Archaeology, Vol. 48, Jan/Feb 1995, p. 17; The short article provides a color image of a small section of the road showing flat, irregular slabs.] Dolerite is also used as a synonym for `ciabase' in the USA and commonly known as `traprock'. Others describe dolerite as referring to rocks with plagioclase crystals in pyroxine crystals which has nothing to do with basalt.

The Great Divide
Traveling through the Great Canadian Rocky Mountains passenger trains used to stop at a place called, `The Great Divide'. The passengers would step out of the train and expect to see some great site only to be disappointed for all that was there to be seen was a little stream and a rock upon which it came causing some of the water to trickle toward the eastern canyons, past lonely barren lands in the north to the Arctic Sea, and the frozen ocean about the North Pole, while the other part flowed toward the right on its way to the west, down the great Fraser River to the Pacific Ocean.

Djed-Khensu-iw-ef-`ankh
What is known about Djed-Khensu-iw-ef-`ankh? Evidence for `Djed' includes a few amulets and pieces of jewelry which were found on the mummy of Shoshenk II. A beautiful bracelet bearing the name of `Djed' was one of seven discovered on the mummy of king Shoshenq II. One of the other bracelets bore the name of Thutmose III. See: Shoshenq 2 If true that a bracelet bearing the name of Thutmoses III was found on the mummy of Sheshonq II, that would be a welcome piece of information considering that the 18th Dynasty just preceded the 22nd in our revision. [Ziegler,`Tanis catalogue', (AFAA 1987:262-3)]
The Edinburgh, Scotland, Catalogue, `Gold of the Pharaohs', 1988.
Others say, "These Tanis burials are full of names because they abound with `recycled' items, some taken from previous interments, even royal ones, like that of King Merneptah of the late 19th Dynasty. In fact, there appears to be evidence that a heart scarab on a golden chain, belonging to general `Wendjebaendjed' may be that of a Rameside king because it says on it: `The heart of the king Usermaatre, justified, belongs to him in the house of hearts, etc.' Although the catalogue maintains it is the only royal heart scarab we have dating from the 19th or 20th Dynasty (conventional dating), someone saw the heart scarab of Seti I advertised by an antiquities dealer in `Minerva Magazine' some years ago."
There exists also a legs missing cube statue of a man with the name Djedptahiuefankh the son of Nefer-renpet in the Egyptian collection of the Archaeological Museum Zagreb (Croatia). This one I believe according to a formula in the text belongs to the Saite period. [Igor Uranic, Curator of Egyptian Dep., Arcaeological Museum Zagreb]
On Sheshonq II was also found a pectoral from his predecessor, with the title, `Great Chief of the Meshwesh, son of Nimlot'. Still another bracelet is interesting because it has, at its center, a Mesopotamien cylinder seal of lapis lazuli, inscribed with figures and partially obliterated letters, of which are left `NI' or `DU, LUM'.

Rare or Hard to Find Documents
We hope to publish here or be able to help you find rare or hard to find documents on the world wide web on ancient studies. Of course we cannot have everything but we primarily focus on chronological helpful documents. These will be published for the most part under the selection `Submenu'.

Coffin Dockets
For the text of a coffin docket involving Siamon and Neferhotep click Here!

`To butcher a donkey'
According to historians the phrase `to butcher a donkey' known from Mari correspondence was synonymous for making a treaty. Treaty negotiations were concluded with the sacrifice of donkeys, which were interred within round pits in front of the temple. Similar pits were found at Tell el Daba, Tel Haror and Nahal Gerar.

Dynasty 24
The conventional account of the 24th Nubian Dynasty included: 1. Tefnakht (8 yrs?), king of Sais, contemporary of Osorken IV (Tanis), Peftjauabastet (Herakleopolis), Nimlot (Hermopolis), and Iuput (Leontopolis); 2. Bakenrenef (Greek: Bocchoris) (6 yrs?). Tefnakht and his northern allies fought the Nubian Piankhi (Piyi) Menkheperre (conv. dates 747-716) and had to retreat back to Hermopolis. Piankhi is counted as a member of the 25th Dynasty along with Shabaka Neferkare, Shebitku Djedkare, Taharqa Nefertemkhure and Tanutamun Bakare. Piankhi's Victory Stela measures 180 cm in height and 184 cm in width. It contains 159 lines of hieroglyphic text.
According to some older information on sarcophagus No. 41, Berlin Museum, a `Bakenrenef' had a son by the name of `Anx-Hor-pen' whose mothers name was `Ast-resau-tu' said to be of the time of the Saitic dynasty. [Proceedings of the Society of Biblical History', May/June 1886]

Dynasty 25
The rulers of the 25th, Nubian Dynasty (ca. 747-656 BC) were: Pianki, Shabaka*), Shebitku, Tirhaka, Tanutamun. Their capital of Napata has never been found. See also D.T. Mininberg, `A 25th Dynasty Vehicular Accident' in KMT, Vol. 11, Fall 2000, p. 60-66. A 25th Dynasty intrusive burial in a Middle Kingdom tomb. More recently in the Assyrian, cuneiform `Tang I Var' inscription the name of `Melluha', interpreted to mean Kush/Ethiopia, and the personal name of `Aapataku/ (var. Ša-pa-ta-ku)', interpreted to be `Shabaka' was discussed. The Tang I Var inscription reads:
"The king of Meluhha who [lives] in [a distant country], in an unapproachable region, the road [to which is ...], whose fathers never - from remote days until now - had sent messengers to inquire after the health of my royal forefathers, he did hear, even (that) far away, of the might of Ashur, Nebo (and) Marduk. The awe-inspiring glamour of my kingship blinded him and terror overcame him. He threw him (i.e. Iamani) in fetters, shackles and iron hands, and they brought him to Assyria, a long journey." [ANET, 286]
*) A small granite head of probably Shabako can be seen in KMT, Spring 2001, p. 31; and a map of the Nubian tombs in KMT, Summer 2003, p. 54. For a discussion in German of the stone plate BM 498 and its label of `Shabaqo' see Rolf Krauss, `Wie Jung ist die Memphitische Philosophie auf dem Shaqao-Stein' in Gold of Praise, 1999, p. 239-246. In essence the article concludes that no old Egyptian texts exist which would let one conclude that Egyptians had a tradition of `nature - philosophical studies (naturkundlich-Philosophischen Inhalts)' by the time of this stone tablet.

The Eber Papyrus
The Ebers Papyrus is regarded by some as providing the Sothic fixed point for the start of the 18th Dynasty in 1517 BC. As defenders of the views of Peter James already pointed out, this papyrus does not actually contain a calendar date and is useless for any calculations. A list of Papyrologists.

Egyptology
Egyptology is the study of the history of Egypt, in particular the study of ancient Egypt. Today's Egyptologists are highly trained in their field of study but often shy away from looking at the issues from a scriptural viewpoint. At this website we show evidence that they represent the alternate school of historians. An alternate discipline talks about history the way it did not happen.

Electrum
Electrum was a mixture of molten gold and silver of unknown, probably greatly varying proportions. This alloy was used in Egypt as well as Palestine.

Elephantine Island
Elephantine Island/Syene was were the pharaohs used to assemble their armies when setting out for campaigns presumably mostly into Nubia and the deserts. [L. Canfora, `Vanished Library', p. 72, 73]

Elisha the Prophet
A little known detail of the life of the prophet Elisha may be that the Bible seems to indicate that he was a very traveled man who might have spent time in Egypt. "As the Lord our God lives, there is no nation or kingdom to which my lord [Ahab] has not sent to seek you; and when they would say, `He is not here', he would require an oath of the kingdom or nation, that they had not found you."[1.Kings 18:10] After destroying the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, Elisha fled into the wilderness to escape the wreath of Jezebel. He went to the east of the River Jordan, and then down to or toward Mount Sinai (we think now probably Jebel al Lawz opposite Nuweiba Beach) in the Arabian Mountains [2.Kings 2:8-11], a distance of a little less than 500 kilometers counting from Haifa, Mt. Carmel, a distance Elijah certainly could cover with 40 days and nights coming from Beth Sheeba, south of Jerusalem, 1.Kings 19:8. Its seems he did just what later Mary and Joseph did with the baby Jesus, fleeing for safety to Egypt. There might be a connection between Elisha and the Egyptian seer Amenhotep, son of Hapu.
The Bible does not seem to mention the ancestors of Elisha. In some of these cases, like with Melchizedek, who we believe was the son of Shem, and with Job, whose lineage is detailed in the Book of Tobit, the Hebrew scribes have recorded the lineage of such famous persons elsewhere. It is possible that Elisha was the same person as the seer, Jehu, son of the illustrious seer, Hanani, whom king Asa of Judah had so ungraciously put "in the stocks, in prison". [2.Chronicles 16:10]

Emeralds (Roman: smaragdi) in Ancient Egypt
The characteristic color of Egyptian or Ethiopian emerald stone is bright green. The Roman author Pliny wrote: "I have seen Lollia Paulina, who became the consort of Gaius [Caligula 37-41 AD] ... covered with emeralds and pearls interlaced and alternately shining all over her head, hair, ears, neck and fingers, the sum total amounting to the value of 40,000,000 sesterces." [Archaeology, May/June 2002, p. 36; Featured is the `Floating Palace Ship' of Caligula which he used in the serene looking, small volcanic Lake `Nemi' in the `Albaner Volcanic Mtn., just south of Rome.
The names of the seven `hills' of Rome are: Capitoline, Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, Palatine, Caelian, Aventine. BA, June 1978, p. 57.] There's at least one emerald left: a scarab mounted as a ring, according to : SLIWA, Joachim, A group of Egyptian signet-rings from the former Czartoryski/Dzialynski Collection at Goluchów, REE 3 (1992), 73-77. (see in the Annual Egytological Bibliography for 1992, nr. 92.0846). Eypt's emerald city in Wadi Sikait is located in the eastern desert, the mountainous land between the Nile and the Red Sea.
Authorities on the History of Rome include: (1) Gibbon, `History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'; (2) Mommsen, `History of Rome'; (3) Goldwin Smith, `The Greatest of the Romans'; (4) Horton, `History of the Romans'; (5) Ihne, `History of Rome'; (6) Pelham, `Outlines of Roman History'; (7) Dyer, `History of the Kings of Rome'; (8) Liddel, `History of Rome'; (9) Smith, `Rome and Carthage'; (10) Shuckburgh, `History of Rome to the Battle of Actium'; (11) Merivale, `The Fall of the Roman Republic' and `History of the Romans'; (12) Rawlinson, `Sixth Great Oriental Monarchy'; (13) Forsyth, `Life of Cicero'; (14) Long, `Decline of the Roman Republic'; (15) Froude, `Caesar'; (16) Browne, `History of Rome from A.D. 96'; (17) Crevier, `History of the Roman Emperors'; (18) Sismondi, `History of the Fall of the Roman Empire'; (19) Bury, `History of the Later Roman Empire'; (20) Hodkins, `Italy and her Invaders'; (21) Bryce, `The Holy Roman Empire'; (22) Freeman, `The Chief Periods of Roman History'; (23) Milman, `History of Latin Christianity'; (24) Arnold, `History of Rome'; (25) Creighton, `History of Rome'; (26) Guerber, `Story of the Romans'; (27) Taine, `History of Rome and Naple'; (28) Duruy, History of Rome'.

En-Gedi
Located on the western shore of the Dead Sea in the days of Abraham there seemed to have been there a thriving civilization. En-Gedi was excavated and 3 major periods of settlements were found:
1. The Roman period; 2. The Kingdom of Israel period; and more importantly 3. during the `Chalcolithic' period of Palestine - the largest and most prolific settlement. Caves in the surrounding steep and rocky hills yielded signs of having been inhabited in the Chalcolithic period (4th millenium BCE) and deep occupation layers, mainly of ash and refuse, were found, including many artifacts: crude hand-made clay vessels decorated with red paint, typical of the period; globular stone grinding and pounding vessels; flint implements used for cutting and as arrowheads; bone implements such as awls; and necklaces of shell, bone and semi-precious stones. Portions of a loom built of wooden beams, stone and clay loom weights, spatulas showing signs of use, spindle whorls, and cloth pieces of woven linen and wool were found, as well as wooden artifacts, strainers, portions of straw mats, ropes and basketry and even part of a leather garment and the sole of a sandal. The botanical finds attest to the food of the inhabitants of the cave: wheat and barley, lentils, olives and dates. Faunal remains include bones of sheep and goats, hunted animals such as deer and ibex, and a variety of birds. In this cave and in the one next to it, burials of men, women and children, placed in pits with pottery vessels, were uncovered. If these finds could relate to people hiding in these caves during times of war is not addressed. [From:http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/History/Early%20History%20-%20Archaeology/Cave%20of%20the%20Treasure%20-%20A%20Hoard%20of%20Metal%20Objects%20fr]
[Osgood, John, `Times of Abraham', p. 181; Genesis 14; 2.Chronicles 20:2; For an aerial view photo of the site of Ein-Gedi see BAR, Vol. 19, Jul/Aug 1993, p. 38; On page 41 photos of 2 other sites are shown: 1. Middin (Khirbet Mazin), and 2. Nibshan (Ein el-Ghuweir); Joshua 15:61-62; On page 42 we see `The City of of Salt', Pesach Bar-Adon, Joshua 15:61-62.]
See also Thomas E. Levy, `The Chalcolithic Period' in BA, Vol. 49, Jun 1986, p. 82-108.; Includes maps.
Chalcolithic Sites or regions: 1) the site of Teleilat el-Ghassul (east of Jericho: basalt bowls, perforated ivory rods (BASOR, Aug 2000), 2) Golan Heights, 3) Sharon Coastal Plain, 4) Samarian Highlands, 5) Jezreel/Beth Shean Valley, 6) Jordan Valley/Ammon Plateau, 7) Judean Desert, 8) Gilat, just NW of Beer Sheva, 9) Negeb/Sinai Coastal Plain, 10) Nahar Gerar, 11) Nahal Patish, 12) Nahal Beersheba, 13) Dothan, 14) the southern Sinai peninsula, 15) Tell Far'ah north, 16) Tell Abu Matar, 17) Bir es Safedi, 18) Horvat Beter, 19) Shiqmim, 20) Nahal Mishmar Cave of Copper Treasures, 21) Tell Umm Hamad esh-Sherqi, located at the southern tip of that part of the Ghor of the Jordan Valley, which is north of the confluence of the Jordan and Jabbok Rivers.[Nelson Glueck, A Chalcolithic Settlement in the Jordan Valley in BASOR, Vol. 97, Feb 1945, p. 10-22 & `Some Chalcolithic Sites in Northern Gilead', Dec 1946, p. 12-20.]

Articles on the Chalcolithic Age: En-Gedi
[010] Early Modern Humans in Near Eastern Archaeology, Mar 2001; Site of the `Gilat Woman'. Ceramics at Gilat, situated within a large settlement, are said to primarily have originated from the northern Negev with only limited quantities from the Judean Hills. In contrast, the temple excavated at the shrine site of En Gedi contained ceramics originating in the Judean Hills, while some of the hoard of artifacts found in the cave at nearby Nahal Mishmar originated in the northern Negev, Judean Hills, and Transjordan (Goren, 1955). Ein Gedi, like Gilat, is considered to be a type site for Chalcolithic religion and culture. At Gilat a wide variety of non-ceramic items were found, including violin shaped figurines, stone palettes, fenestrated stands, and numerous massevot or standing stones. At En Gedi there were few non-ceramic finds beyond the base of an alabaster vessel, some beads, and a ceramic bull bearing two churns, the closest parallel to the Gilat Woman's zoomorphic companion. The En-Gedi Temple probably served an organized cult, with a different set of cultic concerns than that at Gilat. These concerns included a more formal spatial relationship between "worshippers" and the various architectural installations, such as an enclosed courtyard, a broadroom and an altar, which implies an emphasis on the burning and disposal of offerings, most likely presented in the tremendous number of vessels found in the main structure. The stone altar in the broadroom may have supported a cult statue, or even represented the deity, in the manner of a massevah or standing stone.
At length the article continues and eventually states: `At best we may suggest that each major Chalcolithic site was presided over by a group of religio-political specialists. These specialists are more apparent in the larger sites such as Ghassul and some sites of the Beersheva basin, while at smaller sites, which make up the vast majority of Chalcolithic settlements, their presence is unknown. These specialists, however, had only limited power and authority. The elites at the major centers of Chalcolithic settlements, the Beersheva basin and Ghassul, and perhaps the central Jordan valley, elaborated on preexisting features of agro-pastoral organization and belief, but their innovations were limited.'
Disregarding the authors preconceived age assignments in an effort to connect peoples and cultures to the long taught, yet erroneous Neanderthal like Stone Age, does this sound like conditions during the Age of the Patriarchs? [Ibid., p. 13-15, 17.]

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In a Chalcolithic context the life of Abraham and the patriarchs may be described as a chiefdom.
Neolithic sites include: Jericho, Ard Tlaili, Byblos, Beqa Valley; Negev sites: Qatif, Wadi Ghazzeh; the neolithic village of Beidah (inside Jordan) [Professor Ofer Bar-Yosef in The Mysteries of the Ancient World, Nat. Geogr. 1985, p. 34.]; Supposed Neolithic sites inside the country of Jordan Ain Ghazal, Shaar ha-Golan, Munhata, Basta, Tabaqat al-Buma. [E.B. Banning, The Neolithic Period in NEA, Dec. 1998, p. 188-237.

Epicurius
Epicurius (341-271 BC) was a uniformitarian naturalist by his own philosophical persuasion. He thought up ideas by which he hoped to make it easier to live this life and be responsible to no one. In particular he wanted to undo dependence on the gods, expecting that not to worry about gods, the immortal soul and the after life, would give man real freedom. His idea of gods was very Greek. For him the gods were little more than a step higher beings than humans. He was still influenced by the notion that gods were sort of tyrants and he did not want to have to look out for them, offer them sacrifices or going to their temples. Even though an Epicurean is looking for a type of salvation, he defines it differently according to his terms. By studying nature an Epicurean tried to discover not so much truth as he tried to produce and maintain a condition of mind, a state of being undisturbed (athoraxia) and untroubled (pestistebios). However, if such notions reflect reality or truth begs the question. His fear of nature and his wondering if events could be tamed or domesticated, was not answered. Epicurians sought answers by a) careful scrutiny, b) rational analysis, c) the removal of unnecessary factors, d) hoping to be able to tame fears, e) building a stoical system to manage fears. - The Epicurean World View says, `The totality of things has always been just like it is now and always will be so.' How does he know that is so? He doesn't know. He has no scientific evidence and no basis for it. He asserts it but he cannot defend it. He gives us the eternality of matter, but he lived before modern science. Nevertheless, some of his views were taken up uncritically across many centuries and millennia, whether they were defensible or not. Epicurius spoke of 1) the eternality of nature, 2) the plurality of worlds - which in its final analysis amounts to a statement of faith. The Greekness or humanness of his gods reveals itself by his view that, `If the gods were the caretakers of the universe, or if they were in control of nature and human affairs, these would be burdensome service for the gods.' The essence of Epicurean theology was the subordination of the gods to nature, so that it could not interfere in human affairs. Edging up to the Roman Empire, the Epicurians learned that the Romans allowed any number of gods and temples. You could even look religious as long as you did not say anything in a public square that demands change. As long as you don't move onto the private sphere of the public world. While the gods could be used to justify about anything, everything needed to be subordinate to the natural inclinations of man. So, ultimately man is in control. That is why this type of philosophy is the epitome of false thinking and willing ignorance of the power of God to accommodate selfish goals.

Epidaurus
The fame of Epidaurus [Map] in Greek history derives from the cultic, mythical person of Asklepios. Located at the foot of Kyrnortion, the monumental history goes back to only the 4th century BC. Today one can see the ruins of a theater and shrines.

Ephorus
Ephorus was a Greek author on history whose works were consulted by Diodorus of Sicily in his writing of `Bibliotheca Historica'.

The Famine Stele
The `Famine Stele' was found on the island of Sehel located near the Island of Elephantine. The Brooklyn Museum has an image of it.

Fort or Fortress(es)
Numerous references to `fort', `fortress', `palace fort' are included here:
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, palace fort.

Benjamin Franklin
As the story goes, when Benjamin Franklin was the American ambassador to Paris in the days of the French Revolution, everyone tried to be a `learned' person. There were all sorts of societies, many of them literary, and Franklin joined one of them. It was their custom to choose someone to write a story to be read to the society, and then they would debate its merits and criticize it. Franklin waited for the day when his turn would come. When the date was announced, he went home and copied the Book of Ruth from the French version of the Bible. When he stood there before the society he began to read with his sweet, warm, and earnest voice that inimitable story - the wonderful love story of Ruth. When he had finished there was great silence for a moment. Then someone began to applaud, and the whole audience broke into enthusiastic applause. After the chairman finally calmed them, he said: "Mr. Franklin, that is the greatest love story that has ever been written, so far as I know. This society requests your permission to have it printed and made available to the world." Franklin got up and bowed, and said: "I am sorry, but I cannot give that permission because this story, this book, has already been printed and given to the world." "Where? Why did we never hear of it before?" "Oh," he said, "because it is in the book called the Bible, which you despise, and about which you know so little."

Bubastis - (See also Ezekiel 29; 30:1-(17)-26; 31;)
Now, "Pa-Tum" means the House, or Abode, of Tum; "Pa" being the Egyptian word for house, or abode. Thus, the temple gave its name to the city, just as "Pa-Bast "...the Abode of Bast... gave its name to the city which the Greeks called Bubastis. But as the Greeks, according to the Greek method of transcription, rendered "Pa" by "Bu," and "Bast" by "Bastis," so the Hebrews, according to the Hebrew method of transcription, rendered "Pa" by "Pi," and "Bast" by "Beseth." thus it is as "Pi-Beseth" that we read of Bubastis in the Bible (Ezekiel 30:17). And so, in like manner, the Hebrews changed "Pa" into "Pi," and "Tum" into "Thom," when dealing with "Pa-Tum," of which they made "Pi-Thom." Accordingly, it is of this very store-fort, "Pa-Tum," that we read in the passage which I have already quoted from the first chapter of Exodus "And they built for Pharaoh treasure-cities, Pi-Thom and Raamses."
So, although Lepsius was mistaken in identifying Tell-el-Maskhûtah with "Raamses," he was not so very far wrong after all. The place was not "Raamses," but it was "Pithom." [italics ours; from http:// digital.library.upenn.edu/ women/ edwards/ pharaohs/ pharaohs-2.html]
Comment: Even though it seems tempting to agree with this identification we must caution our readers that it is based on the conventional Ramses II. as Pharaoh of the Exodus equation which we know he was not. But it is an ancient city and underneath the 19th Dynasty layers or in the vicinity somewhere may have been remains of an older city. It is not enough to find store houses to connect a city with the Israelites, those were used throughout the history of Egypt.
On the 17th of October, 1906 treasures were found at Bubastis 20 m (65 feet) below the Roman layer. Among them were "2 splendid articulated bracelets of Ramses II, each modeled in relief on the back with two double-headed geese with bodies of lapis-lazuli."[Reeves, p. 129]
Maspero believed at the time that certain elements of the assembled finds were Islamic, "... part of the stock belonging to a goldsmith in a small town. ..." [Reeves, Ibid. p. 130]

User Friendly
The California Institute for Ancient Studies is trying to make its website user friendly in the sense that we are not too technical in writing up our pages as compared to how Egyptologists might write. We also will occasionally give information designed to help in geographical orientation by giving distances and compass directions. We do this for our young readers who are just learning about these issues. Please go to `FAQ' or send us an e-mail for additional pointers and input.

City of Gath
The ancient city of Gath, Tel es-Safi, was in Philistine territory and features in the account of the birth place of Goliath and the Philistines having captured the Ark of the Covenant and the subsequent detrimental events to their well being as told in 1.Samuel 17ff and mapped in BAR, Vol. 27, Nov/Dec 2001, p. 24. [The article shows many treasures found in Tel es-Safi.] It is also the location given as the find spot of a sherd bearing the name of King Narmer. [MacDonald in AJBA, 1972, p. 74.;S.Yeuvin in JESHO (Journal of Econ. & Soc. Hist. of the Orient), 6. 1963, 1.] One of the kings of Philistine Gath was Achish, the Son of Maoch (1.Samuel 27:2). The subject of the Philistines comes up in various places on this website but especially in the paper on Ramses III. "Hazael of Damascus, meanwhile, continued his depredations against the divided kingdom, unchecked by Assyrian restraints. The death of Jehu in 814/813 enabled Hazael to march through the length and breath of Palestine in order to capture Gath, 2.Kings 12:18."[W.W. Hallo, `From Qarqar to Carchemish' in BA, Feb 1960, p. 42]. The reason Hazael could operate unhindered from the Assyrians was probably that Hazael is the alter ego of Ashuruballit himself, just as we showed that Ben Hadad was Ashurnasirpal.

Genomics
For those of you who don't know it Johnny is also a member of the Nature Publishing Group which disseminates research papers and information dealing with genome (gene sequencing) research. For a view visit: Nature.com Genomics CD-Rom.

Goat People
Thomas Newton explained the origin of the word "Ægeadæ", or `the goat's people' as told by ancient authors as follows: "Caranus, their first king, going with a great multitude of Greeks to seek new habitations in Macedonia, was commanded by the oracle to take the goats for his guides to empire: and afterwards seeing a herd of goats flying from a violent storm, he followed them to Edessa, and there fixed the seat of his empire, made the goats his ensigns or standards, and called the city Ægæ, or the `goat's town'. ... This city became the usual burying place of the Macedonian kings." [Thomas Newton, `Dissertations on the Prophecies', Vol. I, pp. 303, 304]
Goats are for a long time domesticated animals and sculptures of them appeared already in Sumerian times in the ancient city of Ur. It was Leonard Wooley who found a detailed, decorated goat standing on its hind legs in the tomb of a local ruler. [BAR, Sep/Oct 1984, p. 58]

Gold
Gold is our earth's and history's chief metal. It forms easily in close association with volcanoes or is hosted in or near ultramafic volcanic rocks and may be found in some parts of the world in rocks which include basalt and dolerite. Gold may also be found in greenstone belts in Australia, southern Africa and Canada. Greenstone belts are volcanic- sedimentary sequences which include ultramafic rocks, dolerite, basalt, chert, sandstone, shale, tuff, banded iron formation and other rock types. These rocks are very complex, having undergone metamorphism, folding, faulting, and shearing. Gold is most commonly found along the edges of greenstone belts and is associated with structural features. Intensly altered and fractured basalt is a common host rock. The gold must be mobilized with hydrothermal solutions during regional metamorphism. The solutions contain only a few parts per billion of gold but great volumes of solution can precipitate their gold in a small zone with favorable chemical conditions. The deposit is usually a quartz vein that carries the gold or adjacent altered rock. - Where did all the ancient gold disappeaar too? King David took from the Mesopotamien kings large amounts of gold, brought it to Jerusalem, from where it was taken by Thutmoses III and incorporated into their various projects. The gold of Babylon passed on to Medo-Persia. Then Alexander captured it. It took his army a whole month just to pick up the loot of the battle. Every man took all he could carry, but there was still sufficient left for other looters for years to come. That gold came this way to Greece and from there to Rome. It took Alaric the Great three days to gather up all the gold in Rome. But he made a mistake and pushed his fortunes too far. When he led his army into southern Italy he died suddenly. They buried him a few days later by apparently diverting a river and making his grave chamber underneath the river bed where they buried him with vast amounts of gold. Then these evil men turned the river back and killed all the slaves who had done the work, so that only three men knew the secret where the treasure was. No one knows today.
Gold metal refining buildings were found at Pactolus North, near the Gygean Lake, near Sardis, Turkey. See George Hanfmann & Jane Waldbaum, The 11th & 12th Campaigns at Sardis in BASOR, Oct 1970, p. 7-58.

Halicarnassus
Home town of the Greek historian Herodotus located in the southwestern corner of Asia Minor, today's Turkey.

Wadi Hammamat
"Over the last 5,000 years the mountains of the Eastern Desert have become desiccated and the wells bone dry. As a result, few Egyptologists have ventured into this harsh terrain. However, two hardy souls deserve mention because they were the first to find what we ourselves had come to record.
In March 1908 British Egyptologist Arthur Weigall visited Kanais temple. He arrived by camel and spent a couple of nights camped in the ruins of a Roman fortress. In his book Travels in the Upper Egyptian Deserts he mentions the discovery of early rock-art carved on the cliffs and boulders nearby. Weigall published a couple of plates of ink drawings showing boats with high prow and stern, several carrying human figures or animals. This was the first occasion that these amazing Eastern Desert boats were revealed.
Thirty years later (1938?) the German explorer, Hans Winkler, headed off to the Wadi Hammamat region, east of Luxor. He too found examples of the high-prowed boats scattered along the ancient tracks through the mountains. Winkler spent several weeks exploring the area and logged thirty-nine sites and scores of boats. Unfortunately, the final publication of his research was a meager affair with very brief descriptions, a few photographs, a set of ink drawings and a completely inadequate map of the site locations. It was obvious to me that his amazing discovery needed to be properly recorded and published for posterity." [Website information from: www.nunki.net/PerDud/TheWorks/Express/SecretDesert.html]

Harwa
The tomb of Harwa is TT37. He lived at the beginning of the 25th Dynasty and held one of the most important positions of the Divine Adoratrice. The texts engraved on Harwa's statues tell us that he was born in a family of Theban priests. He was a son of the `lady of the house', Nestaureret, and of a priest attached to the temple of Amon of Karnak, Padimut son of Ankhefenamon. Harwa also held the position of Grand Steward for about 40 years from the time of Piankhy, serving under Nubian pharaohs Shabaqa (713 - 698 BC) and Shebitqa (698 - 690 BC), until the reign of Taharqa (690 - 664 BC). It was during this last reign that Harwa must have began his funerary monument.

Haramassi
Some have tried to make a `Haramassi mentioned in the El Amarna letters into Harmais, the brother of Sethos, and mentioned by Josephus [quoting Manetho], into Horemheb. The relevant passages read as follows:
Tusratta to Amenophis III, No. 4
"To Nimmuria, king of Egypt, my brother, my son-in-law, whom I love, who loves me, say. Thus says Tusratta, king of Mitanni, thy father-in-law, who loves thee, thy brother: ...
Verily, Haramassi, whom my brother has sent me, I have sent, and have delivered into his hand a tablet. Let my brother and let him listen to its words, and ..... read the decision, I have sent Haramassi to my brother, because ..."[EA#20 p. 75; Mercer ed.; According to Mercer, Haramassi was an Egyptian messenger also known by the names of `Haamaassi', `Haamassi' and `Hamaassa'. But these name associations are unproven and just a hunch on the part of Mercer.]
In the speculative opinion of some historians `Haramassi' was `Hormose' and Manetho confused this name and rendered it `Harmais'. What this `Hormose/Haramassi' did outside of being mentioned in the El Amarna letter cited we know nothing about.

Hebrew tablets
We all have seen and/or heard of clay tablets with writing on them. It is not uncommon to find potsherds in Palestine displaying Hebrew writing. One such example can be seen in `Biblical Archaeology Review', May/June 2002, p. 44 where a potsherd found at Izbet Sartah contains 80 crudely written letters as an abcedary written from left to right. However, clay tablets with Hebrew writing, do they exist? Amazingly enough clay tablets or any other specific writing surfaces are hardly mentioned in the Old Testament after the days of Moses. A reference to the `reeds (hebr. `kaneh') of the Nile' are found in Isaiah 19:6-7. While the word `write' occurs frequently it is usually followed by `in a book' or `a letter', omitting to state if it was a series of tablets, a parchment, or papyrus pages which were used as writing surfaces. However, most seem to have concluded that Hebrew characters lend themselves best to be written on papyrus pages and that is why we find preserved very little ancient Hebrew writing in Israel. In a way that may be a disadvantage, in another, it was the reason that scribes continually transcribed the biblical books according to very strict rules ensuring the basically unchanged contents of its biblical books.

Hebrew grammar:
Hebrew was usually written verb first, followed in order with pronoun and objects (direct or indirect), noun subject, and noun object. Example: `waytsaw yosef eth'-avadayw eth-harofi'm lahonet eth-'aviyw', which literally stands for `And-commanded-he Joseph servants-his, physicians-his to-embalm father-his." Hebrew has no tense in verbs, i.e. `I go', 'I went', `I had gone', `I am going', `I will go'. For this reason time in Hebrew sentences is not clear. While we all heard of the Dead Sea scrolls, we are thinking more of writing surfaces from the period of the kings. The Elephantine papyri go back further in time but were found in Egypt. Many enemies destroyed Hebrew texts during their frequent wars on Israel.

Hebrew words
In the early part of Genesis are two words translated as `one', "one" - e-chod and yo-chid. The word e-chod is found several times in Genesis 1-2, i.e. Genesis 1:5: "Vaa-ye-he e-rev, vaa-ye-he vou-ker, youm e-chod." There was an evening, and there was a morning, one day.

Herodotus
A Greek born in Asia Minor who wrote the well known `Histories' of ancient Greek times. Evidence that Herodotus visited/spent time in Egypt seems to be verified by the discovery of an inscribed cup reading, "H...dotoy" [N. Reeves, `Ancient Egypt-The Great Discoveries', p. 68]

Heterpheres
Heterpheres was queen mother of the 4th Dynasty king Khufu, her tomb furniture, especially a chair, bears the most exquisite gold inlaid hieroglyphics so far found in Egypt (by George Reisner in 1925).

Hezekiah
A painted image on a 5 x 3 inch sherd found at Ramat Rahel's palace which is located inside Jerusalem, very possibly of the seated King Hezekiah, can be seen in BAR, Vol. 32, No. 5, Sep/Oct 2006, p. 42. The figure was first drawn with a black pen and then outlined in red paint. It shows the bearded king wearing some kind of head cover in a well made, long sleeve, probably girdled tunic with his arms stretched forward. The hands are partially missing and may have held a scepter.
We discuss the history of this king in the following papers: Sargon, Turtan.
An article discussing the historical setting of King Hezekiah, according to conventional chronology, is found at the following website: Biblical Archaeology

Writing in Hieroglyphics
This method of writing was found to utilize 3 major types of signs: 1. logograms, 2. phonograms, and 3. determinatives. Of these the `logograms' and `determinatives' are concerned with sense and meaning rather then sounds and together have been called either `semograms' or `ideograms'. These systems, however, are not always easily distinguished since overlap occurs - there are degrees and varieties within the groups of `sense-signs' and `sound-signs'. Another characteristic is that this writing system also represents only the consonants and not the vowels (a,e,i,o,u).
Hieroglyphic numerals are represented as follows: Number 1 = `w', a straight up and down line , Number 10 = `mdw', the inverted U , Number 100 = `st', the spiral , Number 1000 = `hz', bread loaf with sprout and notched flower at the top, Number 10,000 = `db', raised sprout , Number 100,000 = `hfnw', the tadpol, Number 1,000,000 = `hh', kneeling figure with raised arms .
For information on the ancient Egyptian verbal system see Jean-Marie Kruchten, Assimilation and Dissimilation at Work in the Late Egyptian Verbal System: The Verb Forms Built by Means of the Auxiliary ílí from the Second Part of the 19th Dynasty until Early Demotic in JEA, Vol. 86, 2000, p. 57-65.
For examples on the hieroglyphic number for 100,000 (tadpole) see Ancient Egypt, Aug/Sep, 2005, p. 57.

Egyptian Holy Men
Only two non-royal men from divergent eras were deified in Egypt's antiquity. They were the old Kingdom person Imhotep and Amenhotep, the son of Hapu, a seer and not a priest.

Homer
Homer was most likely the Greek version of the Hebrew prophet Amos and used as an otherwise unknown author's pseudonym in writing numerous, famous epics. The prophet Amos is dated to ca. 765-750 BC, the time usually given to the mysterious Homer. It was Heinrich Schliemann of whom it is said, that his faith in the writings of Homer, more probably the author who wrote about this Pseudo-Biblical Character, led him to find Troy. Of course the real, ancient author of Homer, could also have known where Troy was. But for ease of usage we may continue using this Homeric pseudonym elsewhere at this website. For valuable information on `Homeric Poetry' see Gregory Nagy, `Is Homer Historical?' in Odyssey, May 2004, p. 26-35. Images featured include the author's image, the late period bust of Homer, a photo of the `Mound of Hissarlik (Troy)', a bronze seal from Troy, a decorated cup from Capua, southern Italy, showing the heroes of Troy, the image of Milman Perry (1902-1935) and a fragment of the oldest surviving Greek papyrus like text of the `Odyssey'.

Mount Horeb
Horeb means `desert' in Hebrew and describes not a particular mountain peak but a range of mountains of which Mount Sinai is the highest peak. [Exodus 17:6] This Mt. range is now called the `Serbal Range'.

Horses
The first time we find horses mentioned in the Bible is in Genesis 47:16,17: "And Joseph said: `Give your cattle, and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail.' And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks ..."
Painted images of saddleless, bridled "Syrian horses" were found in the tomb of Rekhmire (TT100), the vizier of Pharaoh Thutmose III, and can be seen in KMT, Summer 2003, p. 38, 39. They seem to represent a white and a black horse. For the B&W image of a drawing of a horse from the tomb of Nespakashuty (TT312, court MMA 23.2.33) rubbing his front leg with his snout can be seen in JARCE, Vol. XXXIX, p. 199.
There exists also a pottery sherd (ostracon) which shows what represents perhaps a goddess (Astarte?) riding on a horse without a saddle as is common in antiquity. Besides the ostracon image there is also a richly carved ivory plaque, said to originate from Megiddo, showing, in two circles around the center image, Egyptian style people guiding horses or riding in hunting chariots drawn by two horses with geese or ducks flying and thickets in outdoor scenes with a fortified town, hares and elk present. There appears also an altar with flames and a winged vulture above as in a sacrificial scene. A beautiful carved ivory cheek piece from the harness of a horse is also shown. [See The Horizon Book of the Lost Worlds, New York, 1962, p. 316f; p. 205] Egyptian horses and a chariot are also shown on a faience tile dated to the 18th Dynasty, and the image of a model of a chariot is also shown. [Ibid., p. 90, 91]
In conventional opinion, `the earliest hard evidence of when the Egyptians first used chariots comes from a monument dated to the time of Ahmose showing that the treasurer Sipair held the post of `Stable­master of His Majesty' and was in charge of equipping and paying the chariot forces based at Memphis. [In Journal of Egyptian Archaeology': Jaromir Malek, An Early Eighteenth Dynasty Monument of Sipair from Saqqâra, JEA 75 (1989), p. 61-76]
The Biblical reference to the horsemen ("the horse and its rider" ) of the Egyptian host that perished in the Sea of Passage could be, and actually was, offered as an argument against the timetable of this reconstruction; it was generally assumed that the Hyksos arriving from Asia introduced the horse to the Valley of the Nile; therefore a Middle Kingdom's "horse and its rider" would be an anachronism. - Walter B. Emery, digging at Buhen in the Sudan, announced that under a layer of ash, in a stratum dating from the Middle Kingdom, a skeleton of a horse was found, which fact disproves the old contention that the Hyksos were the first to introduce this animal into the Valley of the Nile. [The Illustrated London News, September 12, 1959, p. 250; Kush, Journal of the Sudan Antiquities Service, vol. VIII (1959) pp. 7-10. For evidence of the use of horse-drawn chariots under the XIIIthe Dynasty at the very end of the Middle Kingdom, see W. Helck, "Ein indirekter Beleg für die Benutzung des leichten Streitwagens in Ägypten zum Ende der 13. Dynastie," Journal of Near Eastern Studies 37 (1978) pp. 337-340; cf. J. Bimson, "Israel in Egypt," Society for Interdisciplinary Studies Review IV.1 (1979) pp. 17-18.]
The fragmentary image of "a Syrian goddess on horseback", sitting on a blanket, drawn on a limestone flare may be seen in JEA, Vol. IV, 1917, p. 238, Pl. LI.
See also a 1st century AD Roman oil lamp ceramic from Caesarea showing a Roman desultor, a jockey acrobat, who specialized in leaping from one horse to another during public forum displays. [The cover image on BAR, Vol. 30, Sep/Oct 2004]

Hurrian
Four language groups were identified among the cuneiform tablets found at Ras Shamra. They were: 1. Sumerian, 2. Akkadian, 3. Hebrew written in highly perfected alphabetic script, 4. Khar or Khur or Hurrian. Khar was used by at least a part of the population of Syria during the heydays of Ras Shamra. Who were these Khar which impressed their name on Syria, their language on Asia Minor and on Mitanni, they occupied a fortress in Palestine, were everywhere and nowhere in particular, were neither Semitic nor Indo-Iranian? It became apparent that Khar was expressible in writing, but the scribes who wrote in Khar were versed in a number of other languages as well, as evidenced by lexicographic and dictionary studies, several rooms full of them in the library of Nikmed, king of Ras Shamra. It may very well be the case that Khar/Hurrian is a creation of modern historians and most likely was the language of the `Carians' often mentioned in classic literature. The Egyptians knew the Mediterranean Sea as the Sea of Khar(u).
See Giorgio Buccellati & M. Kelley-Buccellati, Urkesh (Tell Mozan)- The First Hurrian Capital in NEA, June 1997, p. 77-96. The supposed capital of Urkesh is located west of Tell Leilan. Shown is a seal of King Tupkish with a lion reclining at the foor of his throne and numerous inscribed seals of the royal court.

Hyksos Kings
"A [grey] marble vase inscribed with the names of the Hyksos king Auserre Apophis I. and the King's Sister `tA-rwDt'. " [Padró, Josep & Molina, Federico, `Un vase de l'époque des Hyksos trouvé à Almuñécar', in: `Hommages Daumas', pp. 517-524; Ryholt, `Political History of Egypt' in the SIP, 257 n. 920, transliterates as Ziwa: "In the latter publication [i.e. Padro-Molina], the name of the king's sister is misinterpreted as an Egyptian one, tA-rwDt. However, what is read as the definite article tA is in fact the feminine -t of the title snt-nsw followed by the sign ... sylabic zi, and what is read as rwD is evidently syllabic wa".]
We know of two other female members of this family. The King's Sister Tani is known from two door jambs found at Tell-al Daba and (more surprisingly) an offering table from Medamud; Ryholt has no comment on this. His daughter, Herit, is known from a vase found by Carter in a candidate tomb for Amenhotep I. Ryholt also points to the seal of a king's son (sA-nsw/ra) Apophis, who he suggests is a son of Apophis.
Because his sisters are not called king's daughter, Ryholt jumps to the conclusion that Apophis was of non-royal origin. In view of his very long reign, 40 years, it would seem to me to be at least as likely that he succeeded his grandfather Khian. [e-m C.Bennett]

Assorted Artifacts from Israel & Egypt
Khirbet Nisya, perhaps the ancient city of Ai? - Archaeologists found a 6 inch, five-ribbed bronze dagger the authors dated conventionally to 1420 BC. The date for this item may, however, be very misleading since the identity of this location is not for sure.
Also found was a clay juglet with one handle near the top judged to be of the Persian period.
[`Biblical Archaeology Review', Sep/Oct, 1987, p. 48, 49]
For a beautifully carved ivory head of a duck or goose see BAR, Vol. 20, Jan/Feb 1994, p. 35.

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The museum at Darmstadt, Germany, possess, according to dated information, a beautiful Egyptian bronze dagger with a wooden handle and a hieroglyphic inscription.

The Midianites
We read, "And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Raguel the Midianite, Moses' father in law." Number 10:29 (See also Judges 4:11 on Kenites). Here we find two names of Midianites, Raguel and Hobab. Some speculate that the Midianites were the Hyksos. Our objection may be that, even though they were a tribe associated with the Hyksos, they did not have a king Agog/Apop. Perhaps the relationship between them was somewhat akin to Britain with the US during WWII.

Tell Ibrahim Awad
Located in the eastern Nile Delta, Dutch archaeologists claim that five temples were found beneath the remains of a Middle Kingdom temple, one on top of the other said to date back to 3100 BC. Remains included a primitive ivory statue, a unique triple pot, and pieces of a ceramic baboon. Near to it an intact 1st Dynasty tomb was found containing a wealth of stone and bronze vessels as well as pottery. Traces of a Predynastic settlement also came to light.

Illahun
A town located south-west of Saqqara and Memphis by Lake Moeris. Illahun has a pyramid (Senusret II) surrounded by ancient tombs which have little content to date them with. However, a scarab bears the royal name of `Ra-kheper', Sheshonk IV, of the 22nd Dynasty. Other perhaps dateable names found there include Si-Amon on some none descript object, Pima (some think it could be Pirnai of the 22nd Dynasty?), Nekht-bast-ra (22nd?), Amenardus (25th?). Finding 22nd Dynasty connections and Si-Amon tells us for how long the area was in use unless this Si-Amen was another one then the 21st Dynasty candidate. Also found was a scarab of a `Tahutmes (III, conv. date 1450 BC), however, beads, pottery (Phoenician, Aegean), and coffins all seemed to be of a time 2-3 centuries later. Conventionalists assume them to be either a) heirlooms, b) reused later. None of that is a necessary assumption in revised view.

Ipay the royal butler
Artifacts, like a brick stamp, bearing the name of Ipay were found in the area of his tomb surrounded by many shafts. Artifacts of Tutankhamen, Ankhesenamen and Ramses II were found in these shafts indicating intrusive searches for whatever reason in these passages.

Iret-net-Hor-irw
This mummy of an Egyptian priest `Iret-net-Hor-irw' is located at Haggin Museum in California.

Discoveries of Iron Implements
An iron plow was found at Tell beit Mirsim, Palestine. Iron tools are first mentioned in the Bible from the time of Tubal-cain (Genesis 4:22) and the Israelites had iron tools when they entered Canaan (Deuteronomy 27:5).

Iufaa
Iufaa describes himself as `lector priest and controller of the palace'. He lived in Persian times supported by pottery fragments many of which were non-Egyptian. Conventional chronology places him together with Amasis and Psammetichus III but not because of obvious evidence. His intact tomb was found in 1995 at Abusir, Egypt. The vaulted burial chamber was covered with hieroglyphic writing of the Book of the Dead and the Pyramid Texts. Iufaa is thought to have died between about 25-30 years of age.

Iyroy
Iyroy was the `Overseer of the Priests' of Bastet under Ramses III. A lintel with an inscription indicating this was dredged up at Qantir as well as a stela belonging to Iyroy's son Hori. Iyroy appears also in the Turin Judicial Papyrus as one of the conspirators against Ramses III.

Jaazaniah
Jaazaniah was the son of the prophet Jeremiah, who was the son of Habazaniah of the house of the Rechabites. [Jeremiah 35:3; But see also Jeremiah 1:1 where Jeremiah is the son of the High Priest Hilkiah] A Jaazaniah was an army officer under the Babylonia-appointed Jewish ruler Gedaliah. Yaazaniah owned a seal made of the pretty Onyx stone engraved with "(Belonging) to Ya'azaniah the servant of the king". The impeccable seal was found in a tomb during excavations at Mizpah. Similarly there was also found a seal of a `Baruch', which could very well be the scribe of Jeremiah. [For the story and images see BAR, Sep/Oct 1997, p. 37 & Vol. 22, May/Jun 1996, p. 12; Jeremiah 32:12]

Kadesh/Qadesh
Did Horemheb, Ramses II and/or Ramses III ever mention `Kadesh'? We do have a hieroglyphic reference from these pharaohs to a `rs-qds'. Horemheb's rendition at Karnak is #10 , Ramses II's inscription is found at Karnak's Tempel of Amun in No. 1 position and Ramses III's is found at the Great Temple of Medinet Habu in No. 108 position, and regarded as a copy of the rendering from Ramses II. If any of these examples, Horemheb's list is supposed to include mostly African towns, and in particular `rs-qds' could be synonymous with the `qds' from the records of Thutmose we don't know but if they are, they would indicate `Kadesh'/Jerusalem to have been a well known city. [Simons, `Egyptian Topographical Lists', p. 135, 157, 165]

Kapata
The name of a 9th century BC Aramaean king found on the exterior wall of the western palace at Tell Halaf (ancient Guzana). He is represented on a 57 cm high basalt orthostat as an archer with his name written on his chest. [Biblical Archaeologist, Sept. 1985, p.145]

Karnak (Ipet-Isut) pylons
1) The first, unfinished pylon was built during the 25th Dynasty.; 2) The second pylon was built by Ramses II.; 3) The third pylon was built by Amenhotep III.; 4) The fourth pylon was built by Thutmose I.; 5) The fifth pylon marks the heart of the temple built by Thutmose I., behind which the sanctuary stood. [See Christine Hobson, The World of the Pharaohs, 1987, p. 136.];
Karnak Constructions
1.Avenue of Sphinxes; 2. Temple of Ramses III. facade; 3. Temple of Ramses III. courtyard; 4. Temple of Ramses III. hypostyle hall; 5. Temple of Amon-Ra's Ethiopian courtyard; 6. Temple of Seti II; 7.-11. Temple of Amon-Ra hypostyle hall #1-5; 12. Temple of Amon-Ra obelisk; 13. Temple of Amon Ra helaldic pillars; 14.-17. Temple of Thutmoses III. #1-#2(interior)-#3-#4(scenic view); 18. scenic.
See W.J. Murnane, `A Forest of Columns - The Karnak Great Hypostyle Hall Project' in KMT, Vol. 12, Fall 2001, p. 50-59; Featuring reliefs of a) Ramses II presenting food offerings to the Theban Triad, b) detail of a RII escorting prisoners, c) RII smiting prisoners of war, d) 2 name rings, e) leading bound prisoners with a palimpsest detail of a soldier slaying a Hittite, f) Seti I relief of Ptah in a shrine etc. [For an image of the granite mountains of Hamrat el-Girgah see Egyptian Archaeology, No.3, 1993, p. 41.]

Khaemwaset
Prince Khaemwese (Kaemwaset, Khaemwaset) was the fourth son of Ramesses II, and the second son of Queen Istnofret, another of Ramesses favorite wives. He accompanied his father on a campaign to Nubia by age 5. He chose not to be a military man and became priest to the temple of Ptah in Memphis where he supervised the burial of the sacred Apis bull. He became interested in restoring monuments from previous reigns whose inscriptions had become damaged or obliterated. He did this fairly extensively, including in Saqqara with the 5th dynasty pyramid of Unas. Prince Khaemwese died in the conventional 55th year of his father's reign, and chose to be buried with the Apis bulls. His tomb is QV44. He had a daughter named (`noblewoman') Isisnofret whose tomb and fine ksrt type limestone sarcophagus, inscribed in sunk relief painted in brilliant blue, was found on top of an outcropping 1.5 km NW from the Serapeum site. In 1852 Mariette discovered his mummy intact in a wooden coffin, complete with gold mask (not nearly as splendid as Tut's mask) and some jewels adorning his body. Khaemwese appeared to have been concerned with preserving the royal legacy and his restoration work has helped us to piece together periods of Egyptian history that may have otherwise proven elusive. [See also: KMT, Vol XI, No. 2, pp. 42-55; See also J. Leclant, `Le Prince Archéologue, Energies.' Le magazine international de Total 16 (septembre/octobre 1993), 39-41. (ill.). A popular article on the discovery of an inscription by the son of Ramses II, Khaemwaset, in the debris between the south face of the pyramid of Pepi I and the tombs of his wives. The text mentions how Khaemwaset found the monument of Pepi I in a ruined condition. W.H.]
The following unique inscription on a libation receptacle from the time of Khaemwaset, 4th son of Ramses II, occurs to honor Imhotep, Right Front: "O gods of the south and gods of the west, come in unison, come assembled, and be content with every good thing that Imhotep the Great, son of Ptah, has made for you." [James P. Allen, `A Monument of Khaemwaset Honoring Imhotep' in Gold of Praise, Oriental Institute, Chicago, 1999, p. 1-10.] Gods and images (`ka), or in Hebrew `kavanim', small figures of dough which apostate Israel possessed, or `ki-un' (Amos 5:26), is probably derived from the Egyptian `ka'. In that sense the hapax legomenon (Leviticus 19:28) was thought to be derived from the Egyptian `ka' and would allow the reading as, "Ye shall not imprint [literally put] upon yourselves any tracing of an image." [See PSBA, Mar, 1879, p. 27]

The names of Ramses IX and XI also contain the part `Khaem-waset'.
Ramses IX: Neferkare-setpenre Ramesse-khaemwise-merer-amun
Ramses XI: Menmare-setpenptah Ramesse-khaemwise-merer-amun-nutehekaon

Furthermore the name `Khaemwise' occurs in the story of the travels of Wenamon.

Kings of Judah & Israel
"Close attention to the lengths of reigns and to the synchronisms indicates: 1) that Judah initially used the accession-year custom of counting regnal years, 2) that Israel initially used the non-accession mode of counting regnal years, 3) that, in synchronisms, each kingdom reckoned the years of its neighbor in terms of its own method, not that of its neighbor, and 4) that Judah used an autumn New Year (Tishri) and Israel a spring New Year (Nisan). When these conditions are observed for the kings of Judah and Israel from Solomon's death to Jehu's accession, then a closely-woven span of 90 years of interlocking reigns results." [See Thiele and K.Kitchen]

Ancient Libraries
A famous ancient library is the library of Alexandria (along with that of Pergamum), alas, of which apparently not a single registered volume from its shelves survived. Actually the library suffered damage by fire several times, i.e. in 47 BC, 391 AD, and 642 AD. Today we can only guess which volumes might have constituted its inventory and were checked out by its patrons. Of course top among them would be Egyptian papyri and the writings of Greek and Roman authors. By chance some volumes of Hebrew authors might have found their way into such a library. The Bible mentions several written works which are not found in the Biblical Canon and since have become lost. King Saul and young David used to read the Book of Jasher. Then of course was there the Book of the Law, the Words of Agur, the Book of Nathan, the book of the Prophecy of Ahijah and of Iddo, the Book of Oded and the Septuagint. [For non-canonical prophets see 1.Chr. 29:29; 21:9; 2.Chr. 9:24; 12:15; 13:22; 1.Ki. 11:30; Prov. 30:1-6] Of these only the Bible itself and the books it is made up of, the Septuagint and some Greek and Roman volumes survived into our time. Modern scholars scrutinized the works of the ancient authors, of course with a false chronology in mind, and found many reasons to criticize the old authors. The Bible received more such criticism than any other book. Egyptolopists decided therefore to leave all of them alone and work out the chronology of ancient Egypt only using Egyptian sources. We believe, the Bible contains the most ancient information and provides the only framework into the ancient past and ignoring it, will result in mis-constructing antiquity. Similarly the Septuagint is a very helpful historical source as well as some apogryphical books. [2.Samuel 1:18; German uses `Redliche, Wackere' instead of `Jasher'; 2.Chronicles 9:29; 15:8]

The Lydians and their capital of Sardis For a list of rulers click Here!
CIAS considerations on the question of the identity of the `Sherdana':
1) Sources (and this means ancient sources, not modern conjectures and rationalisations): The Sherden are mentioned by Ramses II, who used them as mercenaries, Merneptah, who saw them in his opponents' ranks, and they can be found in the records of Ramses III.
2) Identifying Ramses II as Necho II, Merneptah as Apries and Ramses III as Nectanebo I puts all known mention of the 'Sherden' firmly in the 7th-4th century BC era. (Those who might interject that Herodotus states that after the Persian conquest the Lydians were forbidden the profession of arms we want to remind that Lydian troops were found in subsequent Persian armies.)
3) Candidates: Sardinia has no real military reputation (though it has old remains of interesting architectural structures not easily dated from Sardinia's own evidence itself), especially in ancient times, so can safely be discounted as a possible 'Sherden' candidate. That basically leaves Sardis in Asia Minor, home of the warlike Lydians, who in the 7th-6th centuries became a major power under Alyattes, a contemporary of Ramses II and Merneptah, and his son Croesus, a contemporary of Ahmose II (Amasis). Under the Persians, the conquered Lydians provided military contingents (as did numerous Greek cities and communities after 460BC).
If one wonders why Lydians should be called Sardians rather than Lydians, consider why Romans were called Romans rather than Latins, or Athenians termed Athenians rather than Atticans. The city of Sardis was the key and linchpin of the Lydian monarchy, and the fall of Sardis (in 546BC) was the fall of Lydia.
Any candidate other than Sardis for 'Sherden' would have to demonstrate that:
1) An established warrior tradition (not just a few weapons in random archaeological sites; all cultures have those).
2) Temporal and geographical proximity to Egypt, by land ('they set up camp on one place in Amor' - Ramses III) and sea. West-East cross-Mediterranean forays were rare in any age before Captain Nelson, but crossing the Eastern Mediterranean from north to south or vice versa was rarely a problem (apart from odd storms).
3) Presence over a period of several centuries (from Ramses II to Ramses III) under the same nomenclature (implying that they were NOT migrating during the period, otherwise names and locations would tend to change).
And why 'Sherden' rather than 'Sherdes'? I think it was Plutarch who mentioned a festival the Romans invented after a success over an opponent with Lydian origins - it opened with the cry: 'Sardians to be sold'. This suggests that 'Sardians' was a recognized appellation for Lydians - while at the same time hinting that Lydian colonists from the Western Med might be so identified (but only after Lydian colonies were established) - and so the Egyptian 'Sherden' is more accurate than one might have guessed. [Private e-mail from Patrick]
The ancient Lydians lived in coastal Asia Minor (Map). In later times their capital was the city of Sardis from which the name `Shardana' in Egyptian documents is derived, the people of Sardis in Lydia. The best known king was Gyges, followed by the proverbial wealthy King Croesus, but a whole line of kings preceded these into past centuries. The archaeology of the 1st millennium BC history of the Lydian kingdom and the region of Sardis is so far little known. It is desirable to learn about his region and especially its 5th-3rd centuries BC history as much as possible in order to come to a better understanding of this regions role during Persian times and its contribution as a source for mercenary soldiers. A picture of the ancient Lydians may be seen at this website in the paper on Ramses III. In revised view Shardana does not refer to Sardinia because there is no reason to assume that soldiers from that island were trained in being charioteers^*) and in naval warfare with hardly any trees growing on the island to use for ship building. [*) According to Herodotus, for this same reason Croesus was also surprised to learn that the islanders were preparing to attack him with cavalry. (Bk. I, Sec. 27, p. 11]
According to Herodotus at their greatest period, during the reign of Croesus, the Lydians ruled over the following peoples: the Phrygians, Mysians, Mariandynians, Chalybians, Paphlagonians, Thracians (Thynian & Bythnian), Carians, Ionians, Dorians, Aeolians & Pamphyllians.

Mabbul - The Noachian Flood
The Hebrew word found in the Biblical Book of Genesis for the Flood in the days of Noah is not the commonly used Hebrew word for floods in the localized sense but is a special word `mabbul' intending to convey a global catastrophic flood. For some additional ideas on the geological features possibly explaining some of the mechanisms of how large a flood the earth experienced search the web on turbidity currents and how the resulting deposits seem to be all arranged in the same general direction over thousands of square miles, a feature not expected in local floods.

Machimoi
The Machimoi were an influential Egyptian population for about some 500 years in the first millenium BC.

Mackey, Damien
CIAS featured author of numerous articles. See Website.

Manetho
Despite Manetho's importance for the study of the history of Ancient Egypt, nothing much is really known about the man himself. Even the exact meaning of his name has been a point of discussion among Egyptologists and although it is now generally agreed upon that the name "Manetho" comes from the Ancient Egyptian mniw-htr, which means "keeper of the horses", the existence of such a name is not attested by Ancient Egyptian sources.

Manetho lived in Sebennytos, the capital of Egypt during the 30th Dynasty, and was a priest during the reigns of Ptolemy I and Ptolemy II, ca. 250 BC. He is said to have been involved in the creation of the cult of Serapis - a god added to the Egyptian pantheon with both Hellenistic and Egyptian traits during the reign of Ptolemy I -, but this can not be confirmed.
Manetho owes his importance to the fact that he wrote the Aegyptiaca, a collection of three books about the history of Ancient Egypt, commissioned by Ptolemy II in his effort to bring together the Egyptian and Hellenistic cultures.
In order to do so, Manetho had access to the archives of the temple where he served as a priest. Such archives contained a vast number of different kinds of writings, ranging in contents from mythological texts to official records, from magical formulas to scientific treaties. He thus had all the sources he needed to write down the history of his country. With such sources, however, we may not be surprised to find myths and folk-tale mixed with the facts of the Egyptian history.

It is to Manetho's Aegyptiaca that we owe the division of Ancient Egyptian history in 30 dynasties. This division is not always based on historical facts: it was in parts based on mythology and in parts on divisions of ruling families already established in the past.
Two Arabic extracts from Manetho are these: 1) from Muhammad al-Biruni (var. al-Bayruni; AH 362-442/973-1048 CE; and 2) from Tqi al-Din al-Maqrizi; AH 767-846/1364-1442 CE; al Maqrizi's extract is a quote from al-Biruni's, with slight differences (NB: al Biruni was a Persian speaking Uzbeki, who wrote in Arabic. Interestingly enough, both extracts start with the 21st Dynasty and lisr kings through Alexander the Great, albeit in a confused manner. One rather amusing mistake is that the first king is "Dayusfulita", who is said to have reigned 178 (al-Biruni), or 78 or 88 years (al-Marqizi). This is taken to be a misreading of "Diospolite".[Sources: Al-Biruni al-Khwarizmi, abu al-Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad, and C. Eduard Sachau: 1878 - Chronologie orientalischer Voelker von Alberuni. Leipzig. F.A. Brockaus. (Reprinted Leipzig: Otto Harrassowitz, 1923). Arabic text, pp. 90-91. 1879 - The Chronology of Ancient Nations; An English Version of the Arabic Text of the Athar-ul-Bakiya of Albiruni, or "Vestiges of the Past", Collected and Reduced to Writing by T. Sagrillo in A.H. 390-1. A.D. 1000. Translated by C. Eduard Sachau. London: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. (Reprinted Frankfurt: Minerva GmbH, 1969). English translation, p. 102.

For instance the 18th Dynasty starts with the rule of Ahmose, who he thought was a brother of the last king of the 17th Dynasty. The third king of the 18th Dynasty was (probably) not related to his predecessors, but yet he is still placed in the same dynasty. This seemingly bizarre composition of the 18th Dynasty can be explained by the fact that with the rule of Ahmose started a new era of prosperity for Ancient Egypt, and thus the ancient record keepers on whom Manetho based his study of the 17th and 18th Dynasties must have considered him the founder of a new house.

The same is true for the first king of the 1st Dynasty, Menes, who probably has to be identified as Aha and who probably was the son of his predecessor, Narmer: Menes' role in the unification of Egypt was so important, that he too was considered the founder of a new House.

On the other hand, Mentuhotep Nebhepetre reunited the country after the 1st Intermediate period, but yet he is still counted as a member of the 11th Dynasty.

On other occasions, mythological elements were taken into consideration when dividing the history of Ancient Egypt into dynasties. The separation of the 1st and 2nd Dynasties seems purely artificial, so why did Manetho list 9 kings in the 1st Dynasty and 9 in the 2nd? Because 9 was a holy number: there were 9 gods in the Ennead, all of which once had ruled over Egypt.

Unfortunately, this valuable work has not (yet) been found or identified as such. It is only known through references, occasional excerpt and comments by later authors, the most important of which are Josephus, Africanus, Syncellus and Eusebius. To make matters even worse, the sources through which the Aegyptiaca is known, sometimes represent conflicting information.

Eusebius, for instance, counted only 3 kings in the 22nd Dynasty, whereas Africanus lists 9. The 23rd Dynasty is treated differently by the two classical authors as well: Eusebius listed 3 kings and gave the Dynasty a total length of 44 years, whereas Africanus counted 4 kings and assigned it only 31 years.The 26th Dynasty counted 9 kings with both Eusebius and Africanus, but with Eusebius it starts with a king named Ammeris and ended with Amosis, whereas Africanus names a Stephinates as the first and a Psammetikherites as the last king of that same Dynasty. Psamtek I of the 26th Dynasty is assigned a rule of 54 years by Africanus and 45 by Eusebius...

Soon after the original composition, the Aegyptiaca was epitomised, probably by extracting a framework of kings to which clung the occasional historical statement. At the same time, however, the original work was being abused, commented and falsified for political and religious motives. It is not unlikely that at this time, new works about the history of Egypt were being written under Manetho's name. Such works were often full of tendentious commentaries and anachronisms.

The classical authors who copied, commented or made references to the Aegyptiaca were thus confronted with different sources, all claiming to have been based on the original work. Josephus knew both the original Aegyptiaca or its epitome, and the fake Manethoan literature, but he was often unable to distinguish between them. Africanus knew and used the epitomized Aegyptiaca, while Eusebius quoted from Africanus and from a version of the Epitome altered by the Hellenistic Jews for religious purposes.

This makes the accessibility of Manetho's work very hard, but yet, when one knows how to separate the original work from its fakes, and when one knows to distinguish between fact and myth in the original work, Manetho's Aegyptiaca becomes a valuable source for the study of Ancient Egyptian history.

Mountains of Manu
Located on the west bank of the Nile opposite Thebes where most of the rock hewn tombs are located and written as: [E.A.W.Brugsch, `The Book of the Dead', p. 246, n. 4]

Marble
The Greeks obtained early on marble from the islands of Naxos and also Patros. Some time later the Greek mountain Pentelikon was the source of marble for the Parthenon in Athens. After that they used Mount Hymettos for mining marble.

Marcellinus, Ammianus
Roman historian of the 4th century AD. Born in Antioch, Syria. Enumerates the cities of the Commagene District on the Euphrates, mentions a city "the ancient Hierapolis" or "Hierapolise the Old". This designation seems to have originated after Stratonice transferred the holy precinct from the site of Carchemish to the south. Already the war annals of Ramses II call the city of the battle "Kadesh the Old", proving that in his time, long before Stratonice, the city was called by the name by which Marcellinus knew it. Carchemish (Car Chemosh) was the Carian name of the city; Kadesh was the Semitic eponym; Hierapolis was the Greek translation of the Semitic Kadesh. [Ammianus Marcellinus, Vol. IV, 8, 7. See Hogarth, `Carchemish', Pt. 1, p. 23]

Ancient Mathematics
For the younger set: In order to calculate how many years ago something happened in BC times all we need to consider is that the Year 1 BC was followed by the Year 1 AD. There was no Year Zero (0). So if someone you know was born in 3 BC and it is now 5 AD. How old is that friend of yours? Is he 7 or 8 years old?

Mathematics of the Speed of Light
How fast is fast enough to get somewhere? It used to be how fast one can walk, ride a horse, sail a ship, ride a bike, drive a car, fly an airplane or a satelite. What is the ultimate speed? Where do we read about it? Did you know that the ultimate speed record is found in the Bible? Here is the account.
"In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus . . . I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said,

`O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice. And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.'

And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God; Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me . . . At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to show thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision." Daniel 9.
If we assume it took Daniel about one hour to pray this prayer, that is how long it took the angel Gabriel to "swiftly" fly from before God to the home of Daniel in Babylon. We may assume that meant flying through space from far regions of the universe to earth. So we are interested how we can understand that and to comprehend such speed. As it happens all we can use for now is human wisdom.
The Speed of Light (c) was a few years ago determined to be:

c = (2.997925) ± 0.000001) x 10⁸ m/s ~ 10⁸ m/sec., that is 299,793 km/sec in a vacuum.

When Albert Einstein (1879-1955) developed the theory of `Time Dilation' it served for a while to explain what happens when an object travels near the speed of light. The calculations involved the following setup, formulas and their solutions:
A `speed of light capable' train has a central post with a strobe light attached to it which points up to the 1 meter distant ceiling where there is a mirror mounted. As the strobe flashes one flick of light (event 1), the pulse travels upward to the mirror (event 2) where it is reflected straight back down to the strobe light bulb (event 3). An observer (R1), standing near the train, uses a meter stick to measure the vertical distance (H) between the bulb and mirror and the time interval (t) traveled between event 1 and 3. - This way he determines the speed of light as being

c = 2H/t . . . and we notice that the initial and terminal events occur; for Observer R1, at the same place.

Question: What about the passenger (R2) or observer on the train? He too can measure events 1, 2 and 3 to calculate the speed of light, and he will obtain the same number, `c' equals approximately 3 x 10⁸ meters per second.
The experiment setup then places a whole bunch of observers (R1) with a synchronized stop watch alongside the train track. The observer who sees the strobe first come on (event 1) stops the time with his watch, while the observer further down stops it for event 3. The two next compare their readings.
They get

x' = V '

Using Pythagoras formula that becomes

c(½t') = (H')² + (½x')² or c = [2 (½x')² + (H')²]/t' which = [(V t')² + (2H')²]/t'

This formula and its theoretical/practical application shows that we can eliminate H and H' and make H = H', V = velocity. Now the formula becomes,

c² = V² + c² x (t/t')² . . . or . . . t' = t/[1- (V/c)²]

Of course we realize that the two time intervals, t' measured by observers seated on the train and t measured by observers standing on the station platform, are not the same; t' is longer than t.

A Practical Example
The distance from point A over New York to point B over Miami is 1000 miles as measured by observers at rest with respect to the Earth. A space ship, or better yet, an angel of the Lord travels between these two points in 8.3 x 10^-3 seconds as measured by the observers at rest with respect to the Earth. How long do the observers on the space ship or the angels, who use their own clocks, determine that the trip takes? [For convenience we use for the speed of light c = 2 x 10⁵ miles/second.]
The two events, the space ship or angels at point A over New York and the space ship or the angels at point B over Miami, occur at the same position in a frame of reference x'y'z' at rest with respect to the space ship. This way, the dilated interval

t = (t'₀)/[1 - (V/c)²]

. . . where V, the speed of the angels or space ship relative to the Earth, is given by

V = x/t = 1,000 miles/8.3 x 10^-3 sec = 1.2 x 10⁵ miles per second.

Therefore

t'= t'₀1 - (V/c)² . . . = . . . 8.3 x 10^-31 - [(1.2 x 10⁵/2 x 10⁵)]²
= 6.6 x 10^-3 seconds for the dilated time interval.

---

Measuring Table
A unique Hellenistic measuring table, carved from a soft limestone block, was found in the remains of a second century shop. The table's front is decorated with lions' heads and four funnels of unequal size are carved into its top; the capacity of each funnel is inscribed in Greek around the rim. A Greek inscription above the lions' heads reads: Year 170 (of the Seleucid era = 143 BCE), agoranomoi (market inspectors), Antipatros son of [...]doros and Aristodomos son of Ariston[...]
The table was probably part of the official equipment used by inspectors to check the measuring tools for liquids, such as wine and oil, of the merchants of Maresha.[http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0dos0]

The Mediterranean Sea - The Great Green Sea
The Romans called it "Mare Mediterraneum" which means the "sea in the middle of the earth". It is also known, or parts thereof, as `Mar Ionio', Ionian Sea, Adriatic Sea, Tyrrenian Sea and the Aegean Sea.
But how did older civilizations call it? In the Bible it is simply referred to as the `sea', probably indicating that everyone knew what was meant for it was the Great Sea, Numbers 34:6. Smaller `seas' like the Red Sea are referred to by their specific names.
The Egyptians knew it as 1. `Teben pekhar Meh(?)-nebu' (the complete circuit of the northern coast and the Greek isles), 2. `Uatch ur' (Great Green Water) also `Uatch ura âa Mehu' (the Very Great Green Water of the North Land), [E.A.W. Budge, `An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary', Vol. I & II] but according to the minimalist Alessandra Nibbi `Great Green' probably also could mean other areas like wet lands, or being a word for nomes or governed territories on the basis of finding the Egyptian equivalent `w3d-wr' on the walls of Deir el-Bahari. However, since we believe that Hatshepsut, as the Queen of Sheba, traveled to Punt/Phoenicia down the Nile, across the Sea, quite likely the Mediterranean still could be meant. After all she might have reasoned that she conquered the Sea by her voyage, thus incorporating it into her own domain. [A. Nibbi, `The Sea Peoples and Egypt', p. 35ff.]
The word `khar(u)' is also found in the Israel stele and in the records of Thutmose III. Scholars usually interpret it as referring to a northern canal or wadi and as a name for Canaan or Palestine. The reason for that identification is the believe that all Egyptian reference only deal with their own environment, their gaze never wandered beyond their borders. But in the days of Amenophis IV Egypt traded extensively for Mycenaean pottery. This much desired pottery arrived on ships and at least from then on they understood that wonderful things came from across the Great Green Sea - the Sea where the Ionian ships came from. We think the above reference allows for a transliteration as `Sea of Khar' (Sea of the Carians, the Mediterranean Sea). The Carians were a people known from the Ionian Sea who spread out over the whole ancient Middle East.

Menashe
There exists one inscription from the time of the Middle Kingdom's 12th Dynasty, the reign of Sesostris III, mentioning a raid against `mntyw'. We read: "Then the citizens of the army mixed in, to fight with the Asiatics (Mntyw-Sti). Then I captured an Asiatic and had his weapons seized by two citizens of the army, (for) one did not return back from the fight, (but) my face was to the front, and I gave not my back to the fight." [Breasted, `Records', Vol. I, Sec. 680] This same name occurs again twice in the annals of Seti the Great [See `Manasseh]. From this connection we gather that the 12th Dynasty reference refers to a raid against the Israelite tribe of Manasseh. If dated correctly to Sesostris III, this reference would imply that before the Israelites had come to live in Egypt they dwelled in Palestine as a family of tribes strong enough to be regarded as enemies by pharaoh.

Symbols of Israelite monarchy
At least 2 symbols of Israelite monarchy have been identified. One is a two-winged object and the other a four-winged scarab bearing the Hebrew letters `lmlk', `belonging to the king'. Another royal symbol is a rosette. [BAR Sep/Oct 1997, p. 51]

Meryetamun
Meryetamun was the (daughter)-wife of Ramses II after the death of Nefertari. A huge (21foot) tall carved limestone statue of her was found in 1981 in the town of Akhmim(the former Khent-Min), across the Nile from modern Sohag, and identified by a vertical column of hieroglyphic text on its dorsal pillar. What is the relationship between `Mat-nefrure' the great royal wife and `Meryetamun'? It appears `Mat-nefrure' and `Meryetamun' were the same person. As we know changes in names were common. - See also a 30 inch high limestone statue of Merytamun wearing a double cobra / uraeus crown for Upper and Lower Egypt in Odyssey, Vol. 8, No. 2, Mar/Apr 2005, p. 13.; Also Ancient Egypt, Aug/Sep 2005, p. 30-35.

The Mishna and Gemara
The Mishna and Gemara are the Jewish Talmudic scriptures. Is it the Bible? No, they are late venerated writings not written by those authors we know from the Bible. The Mishna consists of rabbinic comments on the Old Testament; the Gemara contains the comments on the Mishna. At first these sayings were handed down orally, from rabbi to pupil. Very few of them were preserved in written form. These humanly inspired sayings had accumulated for about four centuries. In the second century AD, as many of these verbal sayings were gathered and compiled by a wealthy and pious Jew, called Rabbi Judah, the Nasi prince. This man classified these oral teachings into 12 orders, or divisions, the Talmud. They contain the basic information of Jewish life everywhere. Today's versions are quite unlike the original ones, in particular are now all references to Jesus left out. -- For the image of a page of the manuscript Leiden of the Palestinian Talmud see BA, Vol. 55, No. 2, p. 79.

Moon-pool
A ship with a large hole in the center with walls extending all the way up to the deck. A moon-pool helps: 1. to allow water to go up in the hole as a ship crests waves in order to relieve strain and stress on its hull; 2. the rising and lowering of the water acts as a pump to introduce fresh air in and out of a ship. This helps in preventing the build up of gaseous odors; 3. It is a place were fishy refuse can be dumped on fishing vessels.

Mycenae - Ancient City
Located [Map] on the Pelopones Peninsula, one gets there by heading south from the town of Phichtia, located between Corinth and Argos and from there uphill toward ancient Mycenae. Famous remains are the lion gate, rock chamber tombs, tholos tombs, the tombs of Clytemestra & Aigisthos, the `Treasury of Atreus', Grave circles A &B, the acropolis with the palace and the megaron.
For a two page colorful view of the ancient site of Mycenae see `The Adventure of Archaeology' in Nat. Geogr. Book, p. 122, 123.

Myrrh
Myrrh (Commiphora) was called ` _antyw_' in ancient Egypt .

Origin of Names, Last Names, Family Names, Surnames
How, when and where did last names originate? Most likely surnames originated in Europe during times of population growth especially within city limits. When it became apparent that certain names were favored and many individuals bore the same name, a need for further identification became apparent and people gradually received surnames, often made up of their occupations or some other word characterizing them for their neighbors and city officials. We do not have a year or place of which we can say last names started here in this or that year. We may think of it as a gradual process over multiple areas as the need arose.

Nauplion
Nauplion or Nauplia [Map] is located on a small, rocky, 85 meter high promontory at the tip of the Argolic Gulf. It offers a stunning view of the region, including the small island of Bourdzi with its fortress installations of Fort Akronauplia. In ancient times it was a rather insignificant sea port.

Neb-maat-re
Two pharaonic kings assumed this name, Amenhotep III and Ramses VI. See also F.J. Giles, Ikhnaton - legend and history, p. 66ff.

Neferkare
When Montet found a gold bowl cap in the tomb of Psusennes I reading `King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Neferkare, Ruler of Thebes, and Son of Re, Amenemnisu Beloved of Amun', scholars thought that he was the long unknown Nepherkheres of Manetho's list of 21st Dynasty rulers. Like so many rulers of the 21st Dynasty, Neferkare was not a seated king over a nation but rather a local ruler, `Ruler of Thebes'. [For images see Egypt's Crowning Glory', Smithsonian, Vol. 34, July 2003, p. 50-57. Shown is the protective gold amulet found imbeded in the navel area of the body of Psusennes I as well as numerous other precious artifacts.]

Nefertememsaf
Nefertememsaf of apparent Middle Kingdom times usurped an Old Kingdom Memphite Tomb Chapel. [JEA, Vol. 68 (1982), A.J.Spencer, `First and Second Owners of a Memphite Tomb Chapel', pp. 20-26; inquire]

Nefer-Waty
Hieroglyphic (glyphs not shown) name found on a wall of a tomb with an intact mummy. Painted wall picture shows figure wearing a priestly leopard skin. [National Geographic, Oct. 2002, p. 22, 23]

Nes-en-per-Mut
NesenperMut was the mother of Nekhthorheb and her name may perhaps be found on the as yet unpublished and unread sarcophagus of Nekhthorheb, Nectanebo I.

Nesubanebded
Nesubanebded is mentioned in the story of the `Travels of Wennamon' as a military prince residing at Tanis who inherited from his father his residence and his title. His time began about 430 BC, the year of the Athenian plague according to both Lucretius and Thucydides, who say that the plague began in Egypt. At some point in time he added to his title that of the high priest and the first prophet of Amun which were the titles of his father-in-law `Heri-hor'. On a number of occasions he also used the title `king'. Nesubanebded was the father of Psusennes (I).

Oasis
Our growing `List of Oasis': 1. Kharga Oasis, Egypt's largest oasis; 2. Siwa Oasis;

Obelisks
Obelisks are characteristically of Egyptian origin. Some wonder if they were objects built by those kings who ruled 30 or more years or if they were rather 30 year cycles. Obelisks are tall, slender stone columns most often with a pyramid shaped tip at the top. There exist about 26 (some claim 30 of which 21 still exist) obelisks, most of them outside the borders of Egypt. The Paris obelisk, for example, was transported with a specially built seagoing vessel to France. There are books available telling their story and how they got where we find them today. Only one or two of these impressive monuments have chronological value. It is either the New York or the London obelisk which is supposed to have an inscription near its base by Si-Amon. This inscription was made because it seems that, in order to transport it during his time from Heliopolis to Alexandria, his consent was needed thus helping us to date him. This inscription is documented by Maspero in `Les Momies royales', p. 674 and by K.A. Wiedeman, `Ägyptische Geschichte', (1884-1888), p. 532, neither books we could verify yet or obtain a picture image of the cartouche of Si-Amon from the obelisks themselves. It may be that this inscription was obliterated during erection of the stone column and one may look in vain for it now. Other obelisks are in Paris, Berlin, Rome (Vatican).
Another well known and frequently mentioned location for obelisks is Tanis. Ramses II had perhaps 6-8 pairs of obelisks set up here before the temples of which today only fragments remain.
For the Flaminian obelisks of Seti I see JARCE, Vol. XXXIV, 1997, p. 102.

Objects:
1. Copper finds at Nahal Beer-Sheba (Neve Noy); BA, Sep. 1985, p. 135.
2. Agricultural tools, arrowheads, knife blades from Tell en Nasbeh, Israel; BA, Mar. 1988, p. 41.

The Omega Symbol
For the record: A peculiar `omega' type symbol, interpreted as a head rest for the dead, is found in `Biblical Archaeology Review', July/Aug 1987, written by Othmar Keel, `The Peculiar Headrests For the Dead in First Temple Times', pp. 50-53, featuring plenty of interesting images.
Images of pieces of carved furniture wood which were burned at the time of the destruction of the first Temple by Nebuchadnezzar can be seen in BAR, Mar/Apr 1988, p. 22. For two carnelian, turquoise & laspis lazuli inlaid silver bracelets found in the Giza tomb of Queen Hetepheres see KMT, Vol. 10, Winter 1999, p. 25.

Osorken
The individual(s) bearing this name belong into the time frame of the 22nd Dynasty together with the Sheshonks. In the revised view the 22nd Dynasty came to power after the demise of the 18th Dynasty and before the Ethiopian (25th) Dynasty. Their time was significantly influenced by the Assyrians whose control over Egypt varied over time.

Ozar Ha'Zemahim
Ozar Ha'Zemahim is an encyclopedia on natural history written by Baruch Chizhik, 1945.

Pairyiah
An otherwise unknown 25th Dynasty individual by the name `Pairyiah' of whom we have a set of 4 canopic jars found in QV11. [KMT, Summer 2000, Vol. XI, No. 2, p. 51]

Panehsy
Panehsy was the overseer of the treasury, royal scribe under Ramses II, of whom a Theban limestone ostracon was found, addressed to Hori, a priest of Amun at Thebes. Panehsy wrote from the north and gave a situation report on the land and holdings of the great Theban temple located in the Nile Delta region. In particular does he specify the people employed on the estates of Amun, along with their families. He states, he is submitting a list "of every man according to his occupation, together with their wives and children." Only fragmentary pieces of the central text remain. There were: 8760 farmers, 13080 goatherds, 22530 men in charge of fowl, 3920 donkeymen, etc. This is the closest text to get an idea on the Egyptian economy and their control aside from the Great Papyrus Harris of the time of Ramses III/IV. [For an image see: T.G.H. James, `Ramses II', p. 267]
For an aerial map on his tomb No. 6 see JEA, Vol. 87, 2001, p. 19.

Papyrus
1. The Rhind Papyrus - Written in Hieratic and Demotic script it features a considerable amount of "rudely-drawn" colored vignettes illustrating the subject matter of the text.
2. The Papyrus of Kalashar or Kalasiris - The texts ordinarily contain ritualistic ideas borrwed from the Book of the Dead. [`Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology', Nov. 1884 to June 1885, Vol. VII]
3. An image of the Papyrus Anastasis III can be seen in BAR, Vol. 24, Jan/Feb 1998, p. 65.
4. The Papyrus Anastasi I - This papyrus (Anastasi I, 23,5) reportedly contains the only passage where the word for `camel' - `Kamaaair' is fully written. [PSBA, Nov/Jun 1890/91, p. 33.]
5. The Papyrus Anastasi IV & V - Discussed by G. Maspero in French, `Notes au Jour le Jour' in `Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology', May 5, 1891, p. 407-437]
6. The Papyrus Abbot - Discussed by W. Spiegelberg, `The Verso of the Papyrus Abbot' in `Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology', June 2, 1891, p. 576-582]
7. The Papyrus Oxyrhynchus a town about 200 miles south of Alexandria on the banks of the Nile - A fragment of this papyrus featuring the gospel of John, chapter 6, verses 17-22 is shown in BA, Vol. 51, Mar 1988, p. 42. See also Priceless Garbage' in BAR, Vol. 29, Jul/Aug 2003, p. 43 and www.csad.ox.ac.uk/Poxy/.
8. The Papyrus Anastasi VIII is discussed conventionally in S.I. Groll, `Historical Background to the Exodus: Papyrus Anastasi VIII' in Gold of Praise, 1999, p. 159-162.

Paser and Raia
Paser, son of Nebnetjeru & his wife Merytre, was the or an `overseer of builders' of the time of Ramses II. Raia was the `chief of singers' during that same time.

Pasenhor Stela - also known as the Hor-Pasen Genealogy or Memphite Genealogy
The Hor-Pasen genealogy is a rather difficult to read stela from late dynastic times. In 15 vertical columns and 15 horizontal columns four cartouches are found in horizontal columns 1, 2, 9, 10 of four kings of the 22nd Dynasty. Existing attempts at translation are not clear at where segments pertaining to the various names start and end. Names appearing on the list are:

01. Pasenhor 02. Hemptah 03. Iretiru 04. Ptahdedes 05. Hemptah 06. Tjeankemet 07. Djedptahefankh 08. Tentsepeh 09. Nimlot 10. Tentsepeh 11. Osorken 12. Djed-mutes'ankh 13. Takelot 14. Kapes 15. Osorken 16. Tashedkhons 17. Shoshenq 18. Ka-ra'mat 19. Nimlot 20. Tent-sepeh 21. Shoshenq 22. Mehtenvreskhet 23. Paihuty 24. Nebneshi 25. Mawasan 26. Buyuwawa

1. Pasenhor 2. Hemptah 3. Pasenhor 4. Hemptah 5. Djedptahefankh 6. Tentsepeh (wife of Nimlot) 7. Osorkon II 8. Takelot (I) 9. Osorkon (I) 10. Shoshenk (I), This is where the Tentsepeh line ends. Then, starting again from the couple Nimlot and Tenstepeh, we have 11. Nimlot 12. Shoshenk 13. Paihuty 14. Nebneshi 15. Mawasan 16. Buyuwawa, This is where the Nimlot line ends.

The priest of Neith Son of the mayor, overseer of the south/prophets/troops Born of the prophet of Hathor Sister of Hemptah Born of sistrum bearer Arsaphes, king of the two lands/the two banks (Nile) The latest information is that the Pasenhor stele can be interpreted very differently from Professor Kitchens take on it. See: https://listhost.uchicago.edu/pipermail/ane/2003-February/006680.html

Peinuzem II/Pinedjem II
After two successive High Priests of Amun, Masaherta and Menkheperre came the latter's son Smendes II, followed by Peinuzem/Pinedjem II.

Pepi and his women
Nebet was the mother of two women named Ankhesenpepy I and Ankhesenpepy II, both of which married Pepi I. Thus she was not Pepi I's mother but what we would call "mother-in-law". [See, Borchardt, `Denkmäler', Vol. II, pp. 59-60 & `Denkmäler', Vol. I, pp 111-112, is another block that mentions Nebet (CG 1431), but it's not the one that gives her the interesting title. ("tAty zAb TAty" appears on this door jamb, but it refers to her son Djau.) Both blocks were excavated by Mariette in the Abydos Middle Cemetery. There was also another woman with a title of a vizier during the Sixth Dynasty, and that is one of Pepi I's numerous wives Inenek-Inti [Jean LECLANT, "A brief history of the Old Kingdom," Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids, p. 10]

Philistine pottery
In the Philistine capitals, there is no continuity between the Canaanite and Philistine cities, as we might expect when an occupying garrison became the master upon the disappearance of the Egyptians. In a section which was performed in Ashkelon by Pythian Adams, a thick burnt layer was discovered between the last Canaanite settlement and a level which contains Philistine Ware. It is even more clear in Ashdod, where widespread excavations were performed by Dothan and others. Here too, the last [Late Bronze Age] city ends with a burnt layer, and there is an intermediate stage from the beginning [of the Iron Age] 1, where Myceanean and Cypriot imports ceased, but there is still no Philistine Ware. [Y. Aharoni, `The Archaeology of the Land of Israel', Jerusalem 1978, p. 113; T. Dothan, `The Philistines and their Material Culture', Jerusalem 1967, p. 161; The Philistines came originally from Caphtor, today's Island of Crete, Amos 9:7]
According to archaeologists excavating the ancient city of Ashkelon the Philistine period of the town is evidenced not only by Philistine pottery but also by common looking clay cylinders which were found in what are now described as the earliest Philistine buildings at Ashkelon. These loom weights are described as pinched at their waste, un-perforated and made to weave a vertical loom. The appearance of Cannanite loom weights in contrast are none of that. A comparison with loom weights from Mycenaean sites in Greece and the islands of the Mediterranean Sea shows they are similar. The excavators then concluded while Philistine pottery could be imagined to have been made by local potters, these simple, inordinate loom weights could be imagined only having been made by those who knew them from where they had come from, the Aegean Sea.
Revised response: In our view we must ask what happened to the Philistine capitols between about the time of King David and the rise of the Persian Empire. During this stretch of time, who destroyed their towns? The main Philistine capitals were : Gaza, Ashkelon, Lachish and Ekron. In 1.Chronicles 18:1 we read: "In the course of time David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Gath (Gaza) and its surrounding villages from the control of the Philistines." But apparently the cities themselves largely survived undamaged. The destruction of these cities came by the hands of the Assyrians and Babylonians.
While these loom weights are used to assign dates to dwellings or layers at Ashkelon to an early period, in that they are imagined to have been the products of the earliest arrivals from the Greek isles at Ashkelon, we like to point out, general remarks as to the in situ age where they were found in Greece needs to approximate the age assigned to them in Ashkelon. Without stating the date for these objects from Greece more accurately than to call them deriving from Mycenaean times, we ought to read this evidence with more care. After all, we have shown that the Mycenaean and Geometric Age ran concurrently and the evidence for these ages reaches down to the 7th and 6th centuries BC.
Tell Jemmeh: This site had no Roman or Helenistic layers and archaeologists found a layer of Philistine pottery clearly overlaying Late Bronze Age levels. When Sir Flinders Petrie arrived there, he re-interpreted the whole site thinking it was the city of Gerar. Jemmeh is also the site where 17 two-hole disks were found which could have been used as `buzz' toys. Gus van Beek, The Buzz: A Simple Toy from Antiquity in ASOR, No. 275, Aug 1989, p. 53-57 & Gus W, Van Beek, Are there Beehive Granaries at Tell Jemmeh?' in BA, dec. 1986, p. 245-247; with 2 B&W images.
Tell Qasile: This site is described as showing compressed layer evidence for all periods, Mameluk, Byzantine, Roman, Helenistic and Persian. If these layers and their continuency in thickness over the whole site were explored we could not yet ascertain. On what basis a Persian layer was decided upon we also have not yet been able to determine. According to T. Dothan, just one yard below the surface of the Tell characteristic remains of the Solomonic period were found reminding them of those found at Gezer and Megiddo. These remains consisted for the most part of open courtyards, dwellings, silos, and hearths. But at the southern part a more impressive ca. 12x20 yard building with one meter thick walls was found. Beneath this layer the team found levels of Philistine cities. The lowest non-military, unfortified level appeared to them as sparsely populated by village farmers and severly damaged by erosion. The Phlistine pottery was as elaborate as any found at other sides in the country. Later a fortified structure was built and structures described as furnaces were installed. Spinning bowls were found. In the third level storage rooms with carefully arranged over 5 gallon jars were found. Despite the furnaces only two fragmentary iron knives and one iron sword were found. This layer was topped by a thick layer of ash and collapsed debries. This layer was dated by pottery to 1000 BC. In this 3rd city the pottery had lost its characteristic Philistine appearance and consisted more of reddish wares.
Correlation of Stratigraphy of Tell Qasile
According to reports, the three sites of Tell Qasile, Tel Aphek and The Grisa were destroyed toward the end of the Late Bronze Age. While Philistine pottery was found in pits and occupation layers, overlying the LB Age destruction layers, it would seem that at all three sites the 12th-11th centuries were periods of relative decline.

Conventional Views on Philistine Pottery
"The Ashkelon site on the coast north of Gaza is being worked today (Stager 1985b, 1986, 1987, 1991a). It is a huge site topped by impressive ruins left by the medieval crusaders. The debris layers there are up to forty-two feet deep. The Philistine layers have been exposed to any great extent only since 1985. In spite of the massive amount of debris present at Ashkelon, Philistine fortifications were finally uncovered there during the 1990 season. An impressive mudbrick tower, thirty-four feet by twenty feet, was revealed. This tower was part of the fortification system protecting a Philistine city of over one hundred fifty acres. (Jericho and Jerusalem in the same time period covered approximately thirteen acres each.) What had been found at the extensively excavated Ashdod site has now been found true for Ashkelon as well: the imported pottery from Greece (Mycenaean IIIB) was present exclusively during the Late Bronze Age and was followed by monochrome Mycenaean IIIC:1b, the locally made pottery.
The later monochrome pottery has been tested by neutron activation analysis. This analysis has confirmed that -- as was true for Ashdod and Ekron in Israel and Enkomi, Kition, and other sites on Cyprus -- local clays were used to make the IIIC:1b pots. For Stager, the excavator at Ashkelon, the presence of an abundance of locally made Mycenaean pottery marks the arrival of the Philistines on the East Mediterranean coast. This pottery is in turn followed by the classic Philistine bichrome variety.
This is the same pottery sequence found at most Philistine sites. However, Mycenaean IIIC:1b does not show up at Timnah nor at Tell Qasile (in modern Tel Aviv). A. Mazar, the excavator of both Timnah and Qasile, believes that the Philistines arrived at those sites later than they did at Ashdod, Ekron, and Ashkelon.
Quite naturally, the pottery sequence plays an important role in determining precisely when the Sea Peoples first arrived on the southern seacoast of Canaan. While nearly all scholars agree that this occurred around the end of the thirteenth century B.C. or the beginning of the twelfth century, they do not agree about the exact date. The Egyptian reliefs discussed in chapter 3 and the many excavated Philistine artifacts are all major factors in attempting to date the stories of the judges and to understand Israel's encounters with the Philistines. What happened at Ashkelon figures very importantly in the argument. [From: "http://www.phoenixdatasystems.com/goliath/c4/c4a.htm"]

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Phoenician king list
There is no complete Phoenician king list, except a few names:

Kings of Sidon: 1. Eshumunazar - at least 2 kings by this name;[*] 2. Tabnit - at least 2 kings by this name;

Kings of Tyre: 1. Pummay (Pu'myaton) 831-785 BC. This king is also spelled as Pygmalion (Lpmy on the Nora Stone) and dated from 820-774 BC. [Archaeology Odyssey, Mar/Apr 2003, p.55]

* Albright, W.F., New Light on the Early History of Phoenician Colonization in BASOR, Oct 1941, p. 14-22.

Piankhi
Early ruler of the 25th (Ethiopian) Dynasty from about 751-730 BC. Most famous from his time is the `Victory Stele of Piankhi'. Piankhi (Piyi) invested himself with the resonant old coronation name of Thutmose III, `Menkheperre', a name Ramses II later also adopted. Keep the name `Piankhi' separate from that of Painkh or Piankh, the son of the priest Herihor.
A name in an inscription found on a pillar at the Heracleopolitan and conventionally dated to the Third Intermediate Period necropolis can be reconstructed to be 'Piankh.' When this was the place of his (original) tomb, it indicates that this general and High Priest was a Libyan.[http://www.leidenuniv.nl/nino/aeb94/ aeb94_4.html M.W.K. ]

Plants - a short list
Hyssop: A very good colorphoto of Hyssop bushes, a Cedar of Lebanon, Date Palms, Lilies of the Field (daisies) and `cursed' lemons or `Sodom Apples' can be seen in BAR, Sep 1986, p. 37,38,41,43.
Mandrake: a potent poison as well as a hallucinogen. Mandrake
Saffron: Crocus sativus, main precursor active ingredient is `crocin'; [See: Saffron;//Chemical Structure]
Sodom apple (The `Ar-ar' of the Bible, Jer. 17:6) is a 10 to 15 foot tree with cork like branches and broad green leaves. Its fruits are filled with seeds and fine, white heairs. See BAR, Sep 1986, p. 43.

Posidippus of Pella, Macedonia
Posidippus was a 3rd century BC Greek poet who wrote poetry for the Ptolemaic kings of Egypt: For for see More.

Egyptian Pyramids
Among the various pyramids only the Step Pyramid of Zoser was constructed to contain a tomb. Of the other 9 large pyramids it is not obvious why they were built and here is how they were built, Herodotus, The Histories, Bk. 2, Sec. 125. This writer suggests that they may have been constructed as a memorial statement sometime after the Noachian flood, not to save people from a future flood but to let future generations know that, yes, a mighty people lived where the pyramids stand - just in case another flood would occur since many may have not taken confidence or had knowledge of the promise that a flood would not happen again. The architects may have opted for a smooth sided pyramid shaped memorial hoping it would survive future cataclysmic events such as the flood was. While Josephus states that the Israelites built pyramids, Mark Lehner concluded that the pyramids were built by "peasant laborers who rotated into and out of work parties. Graffiti carved by workers in places that were never meant to be seen show that they proudly named themselves `Friends of Khufu' and `Drunkards of Menkaure'. They had built the mighty leader's monuments and miniature versions for themselves." 1&2) This view does not necessarily rule out that the Israelites were the builders for we should not imagine that they all from day one of their servitude were haters of the king.

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1) For text and images of the pyramid workers city see J. McClintock in `Discover', Oct. 2001, p. 40-47.
2) See also M. Lehner, `Lost City of the Pyramids' in Egypt Revealed, Fall 2000, p. 42-57]
3) For an Arabic sorce attributing the pyramids to the time of Joseph see al-Andalus.
For a large aerial view of the pyramid complex go to: http://www.spaceimaging.com/carterra/images/pyramids_pan8.jpg

Qantir
Qantir is regarded as the location of the biblical cities of `Pithom' and 'Pi-Ramesses'. [Exodus 1:11] Constructed by the Israelites during their period in slavery in Egypt these now underground cities cover today some 30 square kilometers. Mahmud Hamza endorsed that Qantir was Piramesse, because he had found vestiges of a palace of Seti the Great and Ramses II as well as portals from houses which once belonged to high officials of the Ramesside period from the near-by El-Didamun canal. Edgar Pusch and a team from the Pelizaeus Museum, Hildesheim (see Egyptian Archaeology 14 pp.13-15), resumed excavations in the area of the massive late Ramesside stable complexes, revealed in previous seasons. Below the two layers of stables, the larger and later of which probably dates to the reign of Ramesses III, workshops for the manufacture of glass, faience and Egyptian blue were found, in turn overlying a palace-like complex containing a gilded floor, part of which had already been exposed in 1997 (see EA 12, p. 10). The gilding covers an area of some 40 sq m on a stucco floor itself over 180 sq m in area; a polychrome cartouche of Ramesses II was embedded in the stucco. (http://www.trussel.com/prehist/news173.htm) The location of the Israelite constructions would be beneath the layers of 19th and 18th Dynasty kings in the layers of the later Old Kingdom to 12th Dynasty range.

Ramesses
Ramesses or Rameses is a reference found in the Hebrew Old Testament before the time of kings by that name. [Genesis 47:11 (`the land of the sun' or `the land of the sons of the sun'); Exodus 12:37; Numbers 33:3, 5] Rameses means `son of the sun' or the `sun's (Ra) son(Meses)` and at some point was used in place names and as names for men of high birth. The name was already being used long before there was a king by that name.

Ramoth in Gilead
Ramoth in Gilead played a most important role in the wars of the king of Israel. Josephus gave the name of the place for which Ahab battled with the Syrians as `Aramatha in Galadene'. We believe that Ramoth of the Bible and Aramatha of Josephus is Iarimuta or Rimuta of the El Amarna Letters.

Ramses I
According to reports about CT scans of a mummy in the Michael C. Carlos Museum, Atlanta, Georgia, said to be that of Ramses I , it appears that he died of a severe ear infection after a one year reign. For an image of one of his black granite coffins see KMT, Summer 2003, p. 50.; For the supposed mummy of Ramses I see Kenneth D. Ostrand, Silence in the Forest in KMT, Fall 2004, p. 24-25; Featuring images of numerous artifacts of the `Borgia' Museum of Naples, Italy.
Conventional historians claim that Ramses I was a vizier before becoming king by the name of `Paramessu'. He, together with Hapu, a high official (vizier) of Amenhotep III, were responsible for many of the greatest building programs during the 18th Dynasty. In revised view Paramessu was unrelated to Ramses I.
That there is no consensus on the identity of Ramses I before becoming king can be seen that others consider him to be the same person as Pharaoh Eye, the last of the 18th Dynasty kings. The tomb of Ramses I is KV16. [See G.B. Johnson, `KV16 The Tomb of R.I' in KMT, Vol. 11, Winter 2000, p. 62-75 featuring many colorful images.]

Royal Names of Ramses III and Ramses VI

I. Horus Name

1,2. KA-NEKHT-AA-SUTENIT. 3. KA-NEKHT-MERI-MAAT-SMEN-TAUI. 4. KA-NEKHT-SUSEKH-QEMT-USER-KHEPESH-NEKHT-A-SMAM-THEHENNU. 5. KA-NEKHT-MAU-PEHTI-NEKHT-A-NEB-KHEPESH-SATI.

II. N-U Names

1-3. UR-SETU-MA-TATHENEN. 4. USER-PEHTI-MA-ATEF-F-MENTHU.

III. Golden Horus Name

1,2. USER-RENPUT-MA-TEMU-ATHI-MAK-QEMT-UAFU-SEMTI. 3. QEN-NEB-KHEPESHUI-ER-TASH-...MER-F-EM-SA-KHEFTIU-F.

IV. Suten Bat Name

RA-USER-MAAT-MERI-AMEN.

V. Son of Ra Name

RA-MESES-HEQ-ANNU.

Ramses, lord of Heliopolis

Ramses VI: Horus Name Suten Bat Name and also as ...

KA-NEKHT-AA-NEKHTU-SANKH-TAUI RA-MAAT-NEB-MERI-AMEN NEBMARE-MERAMUNRAMESSE-ITAMUN-NUTEHEKAON [E.W. Budge, `The Book of the Kings of Egypt', Vol. II, p. 2-12]

Please notice, the part `Neb' as in `Nectanebo' occurs in the name of Ramses VI helping us to understand how these Ramesides were called `Nectanebo' by the Greeks.

Egyptian Records
One reason why Egyptian records are frequently so ambiguous in knowing exactly what they refer too may be that, even though kings commissioned their work, geographical knowledge, names of places and people, and many other details were only vaguely known to the artists themselves and that is why we cannot today positively identify the intended meaning. Since the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics is not an alphabetic writing method, they employ far more signs/images to express themselves than alphabetic languages require.

relief art
Egyptian artisans were masters of painted or drawn, raised and sunk relief work. While most hieroglyphic inscriptions are of the sunk relief type, there are a few examples of raised hieroglyphic writing and raised sculpturing. A short list of raised relief work from the New Kingdom onward done in stone follows:

Deir el Bahari Asiatic and Libyan chieftains in supplication Scenes from Maya's tomb chapel The Brussels Relief KV5 applied lime plaster raised relief small votive stele with head of goddess Hathor hieroglyphic fragment(s) of Re-Djedher-setepen-Iniheret hieroglyphic fragments of Nekhtnebef hieroglyphic fragments of Nekhthorheb

Punt reliefs Tutankhamon Tutankhamon Queen Tiye sons of Ramses II conventionally assigned to the 19th or 20th dynasty Conventional Tachos/Teos, revised otherwise unknown official Conventional Nectanebo I, revised Nekhtnebef, functionary under Arsames Conventional Nectanebo II, revised Nekhthorheb, functionary under Arsames

Rekhmire
Rekhmire was the vizier of Thutmose III and in the paintings in his tomb we find additional items illustrated which were taken from Jerusalem and its environs during the campaign of Thutmose III/Shishak in about 925 BC according to revised dates. A very detailed, illustrated account of the tomb (also shown is the entrance to it) of the vizier can be found in KMT, Vol. 14, No. 2, Summer 2003, pp. 28-44. For a short discussion of a long formula inscription from his tomb see PSBA, Nov/Jun 1890/91, p. 147-149. The text is presented to show `the affairs of the master'.

Retenue
Retenu, Retenue or Rezenu is an Egyptian transliteration of the Hebrew `Erez Israel' which means `Our land Israel'. The hieroglyphics for `Retenu' are or variations of it as seen in a Ramesside inscription like . b) The name `Unter/Lower-Retenu' was also read in the tomb of `Amen-m-hebe'. [E.Naville, `Bubastis', Plate XXXVI, E, line 1; b) See Max Müller, `Asien und Europa nach Altägyptischen Denkmälern', 1893, S. 143.]

Revisionists
A list of revisionists and when/what they wrote: It may be instructive to be aware the order of some revisionists so that ideas can be attributed to the right person and time frame. This is a new page and may not be complete. 1. Velikovsky, active years 1940's to 1978; 2. Donovan Courville in particluar on the Old Kingdom, 1970's; 3. Eric Aitchison, some ideas after 1980's?; 4. Damien Mackey, 1980 and on; 5. David Rohl, 1990's and on; 6. CIAS, formerly SAH, 1980's and on. Some ideas brought out by David Rohl were already published by D. Courville.

Roman Highway
Near Kibutz Regavim, excavators have exposed part of what they say is the widest Roman road ever found in Israel. Hundreds of meters long and about eight meters wide, the road ran from Caesarea to Legio (near the Megiddo Junction), the site of a Roman Legion Camp. The excavators found a Roman-period memorial structure beside the road, and a statue of a lion trampling a lamb, thought to symbolize the Roman Empire's control over its subjects.

Roman sources mentioning Jesus Christ
1. Tacitus (55-120) in his "Anali", chapter 15, paragraph 44. "Christians derived their name and origin from one Christ, who in the reign of Tiberius had suffered death by the sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilate." Wrote also about city of Pompei where they used to say, "SALVE LUCRU", meaning `Welcome, Money.'
2. Pliny the Younger (governor in Bithynia 111-113) in his "Epistulae/Epistles", Vol. X, 96. Pliny the Elder, 23/3-79 AD.

Roman Legions
Work near Caesarea or its Aqueduct: A stone worked to look like a framed picture was found in a section of the high level aqueduct on the western channel side. It appears to read: "IMP ? RATANO / HADRIANO · A/G / VEXILLATIO / LEX ?? XFRE"; A detachment of Legion Ten Fretensis [dedicates its work] to Emperor Trajan Hadrian Augustus." Additional inscriptions naming the 6th and 2nd Roman legions were found in other sections of the western aqueduct. It is likely that Roman soldiers serving Hadrian in about 130 AD were assigned to public works projects, such as building this additional 6½ mile-long western channel next to the existing eastern channel - a useful distraction to restless legionaires. - - One of the most sensational discoveries at Caesarea was the inscribedstone mentioning Pontius Pilate. Found in the step of the theater, it was originally part of a nearby temple honoring the emperor Tiberius. The stone was moved to the theater to repair a step after the temple fell into disuse. The Latin reads:

"?IBERIEVM
..NTVS PILATVS
??VSMX?? -- "Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea, has dedicated to the honor of Caesarea a temple in honor of Tiberius."

[See BAR, Vol. VIII, No. 3, May/Jun 1982, p. 32,33.]
Excavations in Jerusalem: "At the southern end of the citadel courtyard excavators discovered the remains of a massive tower that did not survive the Roman siege in 70 AD. Charred beams in the thick destruction layer covering the tower's foundations indicate that the structure was destroyed by fire. Directly on top of this destruction layer the Romans built a water installation but no wall. The clay pipes of the drain bear the stamped letters LXF, short for Legio-X-Fretensis, the 10th Roman Legion." [BAR, Nov/Dec 1997, 39]

Route of Ramses II to Kadesh « Maps
El Bab: According to the Kadesh inscriptions of Ramses II as presented by Breasted in `Records', Vol. III, Sec. 340 and 310 the Egyptians came through a place called Bwy transliterated by Breasted as the `Shta B'wy', `[Forest] of Baw' where `forest' or `plantation' is an interpolation probably filling the place of a lacuna or very hard to read signs in the original inscription. At any rate, the inscription may have been written using the following signs for `forest' or its alternate followed by for `Bwy', probably today's El Bab', a town south of Arima and Manbij, the furthest location from Jerablus/Carchemish. The city of El Bab can be seen cartographically on a map of `Lands of the Bible Today', by National Geographic, 1967.
Arinama: Arinama or Aranami "-r-n-m" is the small town of Arima just to the south of today's city of Manbij. The city of Manbij can also be seen on a map at `http://atevo.com/guides/worldatlas/Single/0,1273,676,00.html'.
Shabtuna: Shabtuna is the town of Hierapolis, also known as Bambyce to the Greeks and as `Mabog' or `Maboug', according to Pliny, to the Syrians, a known location for the production of ancient coins and the last named topographical location in the records of Ramses II before his arrival at Kadesh/Carchemish.
The Conventional Kadesh on the banks of the `Orontes (-r-n-t) River'^*), a name not existing before the 5th century BC, does not have the three successive locations detailed above. The -r-n-t known from the Papyrus Sallier describing the same campaign, gives the name of the river as `n-r-t'. The forms `nrt', `rnt', and `pnrt' are found numerous times in hieroglyphic documents. The wide Euphrates River was known as Puratu', and in Hebrew as `Prat'. In Egyptian the initial `p' could be omitted if it was read as the definite article.
[About information on the `Orontes' see A. Mariette, `Abydos: description des fouilles', Vol. I, Paris, 1869. Vol. II, Paris, 1880, p. 4, 15. Folio. Keep in mind that the glyphs spelling `Arenth' (Brugsch) for `Orontes' consist of consonants it has in common with `Prat', the Euphrates River. While `Puratu' or `Prat' do not have the `n' sound, `r-n-t' also does not have the `s' sound.]

Royal Architects
A list of `overseers of works' found in Wadi Hammamat and used by chronologists to calculate backwards in time supposing that each name represents an average of 20 years. The name of `Haremsaf' was found twice entered at Hammamat and once at Silsila covering a time span from the reign of Sheshonk I to 496 BC. In revised view the position of `overseer of works' has not as much to do with long term employment as it does with shorter term projects and therefore 20 years is in our opinion much too long. Some projects may have taken only days, weeks or months and it is conjecture to assume 20 years are represented by each name. In addition we cannot be sure that there were no time spans in between were no `overseer of works' was in situ or periods which were overlooked by the author of the graffiti inscription. We can hardly assume that Khnemibre had in front of him an unbroken list of individuals reaching back hundreds of years. We also don't know for sure that the list reaches only vertically back in time without a chance that it lists horizontal, contemporary `overseers of works', a job which is assumed to be only given to one individual at a time. That is probably true but there certainly were sub-overseers whose work may have been important enough to have their name included in the list as well. Therefore such lists are to be viewed as very tentative approximations with the possibility of large gaps in time as well as not necessarily indicating a vertical straight line back in time.
And so it is that we read Kenneth Kitchen's criticism where he wrote, `In the second program, he cited a long genealogy from Wadi Hammamat that is probably totally irrelevant - its Haremsaf (a Vizier) may not even be the Haremsaf of Shoshenk I (the name is common, from the Pyramid Age down to Greek times). And this type of extra-long genealogy is not exempt from omissions.'

Inventory of the Royal Mummies of Tomb DB320

Salem
Salem is an inaccurate English transliteration of the Arabic `salaam' (peace). The word `islaam' is the command form of `salaam' and means `be peaceful' or `establish peace'.

Sea Peoples, Peoples of the Sea

Names on Monuments

Conventional Identities

Revised Identities

War Record Booty

Sword lengths: modern infantry sword = 2ft 8in blade, 4in hilt=3ft; RIII using long cubit: 116 swords were 4 cubits = 6ft 10in (short cubit=5ft8in), 123 swords were 3 cubits = 5ft 2in (short cubit=4ft4in); short cubit length = little over 17 inces, 6/7 of standard Egyptian cubit;

Denyen

Land of Danuna (EA Letter)

Athenians

Ekwesh

unknown

unknown

Kalak

unknown

unknown

Kehek

unknown

unknown

Lukka

south-west coastal Anatolia

Anatolian people, Lycians

Shardana

Sardinia

people of Sardis in Lydia

Shekelesh

perhaps from southern Italy or Siciliy

unknown

Teresh

unknown

Tarsus, Tyre or Etruscans

Tjeker

Teucrecians? - only speculations

From Tjeker or Dor [Article & Images of Dor, BAR, Jan/Feb 1993, p. 22-31.]

Weshesh

unknown

unknown

Meshwesh - [See G.A.Wainwright, `The Meshwesh', in JEA, Vol. 48, p. 89-99.]

Lybians

May signify a mix of Lybians and Africans.

Denyens or Atheniens since in Egyptian hieroglyphics `d' and `t' are the same. Some translated `Ta-a-na-u-na' or `tnnu'. The wavy lines represent the letter `n' and the palm fond represents the letter `i', therefore it is `dnni', `dnin' or `denien'.

Some translated these glyphs as `Sharuten' and present it as referring to the Mediterranean island of Sardinia. The Romans knew Sardinia as `Sardi' but the Greeks as `Sardooi' or `Sardonioi' not close enough to the Egyptian spelling. Therefore Shardana, the people from Sardis, the capital of the Lydian land in Asia Minor is the better identifiaction.

The Massive Devastation of the Orient It seems most scholars have pretty much abandoned the idea that the `Dorian' invasion is to blame for the massive devastation of what were considered to be Late Bronze Age towns and cities in Anatolia, Syrian and Palestine. Since the Dorians or some mystical people do not match the scenario as viewed now, historians began to blame it on the Sea Peoples. Our own inclination is that the Late Bronze Age is not a hegemonious entity which stretched over the entire region but spotty and intermittent and that the destructions most likely are due to the Mitannian, Assyrian and later Persian armies and associated forays from who ever had a grudge. Once scholars recognize that Ramses II, and with him, Merenptah belong in the 6th century BC and once they recognize that Ramses III belongs in the 4th century BC, the equation of who did what will alter and things will fall into place more readily. [William H. Stiebing, The End of the Mycenean Age in BA, Winter 1980, Vol. 43, p. 7-25.; In the book attributed to a Homer the Dorians are also mentioned, `Odyssey', Bk. XIX, p. 359.] Samuel It could be that the name `Samuel' is of Egyptian origin according to Damien Mackey. In that case `Moses, or Mu-sa (re) could be read Sa-Mu, with God `El', replacing the Egyptian theophoric, Re. What it means for Israel to desire a king to rule over them - 1. Samuel 8. 8:1 And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. 8:2 Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: [they were] judges in Beersheba. 8:3 And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. 8:4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, 8:5 And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. 8:6 But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. 8:7 And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. 8:8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. 8:9 Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. 8:10 And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. 8:11 And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint [them] for himself, for his chariots, and [to be] his horsemen; and [some] shall run before his chariots. 8:12 And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and [will set them] to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. 8:13 And he will take your daughters [to be] confectionaries, and [to be] cooks, and [to be] bakers. 8:14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, [even] the best [of them], and give [them] to his servants. 8:15 And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. 8:16 And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put [them] to his work. 8:17 He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. 8:18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. 8:19 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; 8:20 That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. 8:21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD. 8:22 And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city. Sed Festival Sed Festivals were supposedly celebrated after a 30 year rule of a pharaoh. Sekhmet Statues To date over 700 Sekhmet Statues have been uncovered at Thebes, Egypt. The first one was found in 1760 by Vitaliano Donati. The majority of them are inscribed by Amenophis III, others bear the name ring of Shoshenk I and Ramses II, the 21st Dynasty `priest-king' name of Peinuzem I is also found. Ramses II and Peinuzem may have usurped sculptures. Seth Seth was one of the gods of the Egyptian Pantheon introduced into Egypt during the time of the Hyksos/Amalekite period from 1445-1012 BC. The chronological significance of this name becomes apparent when we read the reference in Numbers 24:7, 20, 17 where Balaam calls the Amalekites the `children of Seth' meaning that they were worshippers of the god Seth. In essence he is saying that the Amalekites were the Hyksos. [See F.L. Griffith, `The God Set of Ramessu II and an Egypto-Syrian Seity' in PSBA, Vol, XVI, 1893, p. 87-91.] Shalmaneser III Did Shalmaneser III (859-824 BC) make a reference to Ramses II? Some say that this Assyrian king stated, 'I climbed the Atalur. Where the stela of Ramses II stands, there I erected another stela right next to it.' Because this Assyrian reference uses `Ramses II', we know that the `II' part is conjecture since that is a modern convention. Which cuneiform word was read as `ramses' we have not verified. From the days of Joseph we read: "And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded." (Genesis 47:11) It appears that the word `rameses' can be used carrying the meaning of king or `land of the king', in that case not being the name of a particular king since there was no king by the name of Rameses reigning in the time of Joseph. The king himself is called `pharaoh' not stating his name. It is possible that the name Shalmaneser [`(sarru dan)-nu'] occurs in the cuneiform inscriptions on the `Two Lions at Tel Ahmar/Til Barsup', 13-14 miles south of Jerablus on the banks of the Euphrates River. [PSBA, Vol. XXXIV, 1912, p. 66-80.] A statue of Shalmaneser III can be seen in BA, May 1960, frontpage - as well as in numerous other publications. Sheba Many believe that Sheba as in the `Queen of Sheba' refers to a location in southern Arabia, i.e. Yemen, and so they theorize that the phrase in question means that is where the royal queen who visited Solomon came from. In revised view we emphasize that there is a difference between being a `queen' and a `pharaoh' in Egypt. A queen was in line for the throne, not yet a seated, enthroned pharaoh however. Why did Jesus for instance not just call the visitor of Solomon the `Queen of Egypt' rather than saying `the queen of the south'? We believe that her `queenly' domain were the southern regions of Egypt. In 18th Dynasty days the Egyptian king was also king over Ethiopia and southern Arabia. In other words she was not yet `Queen of the Nile Valley' of Egypt seated on the throne of the Egyptian royal capital, her share of the dominion was presumably the part's of the Egyptian domain far to the south. May be then Jesus was just being very accurate in his statement. Those who criticized the revision model need to consider that in the book of Daniel chapter 11, the king of Egypt is also called the `king of the south'. These were terms well understood in those days when names of countries as we use them today were apparently in some circles not as commonly used as they are today. We should not try to impose today's conventions on those of biblical times. In that, David Lorton and others have erred, they want to impose modern conventions on the issues at hand. We must also consider that there is not in known sources such a queen documented from Yemen or southern Arabia in the century under discussion which could have fulfilled the role of the Queen of Sheba. Mr. Lorton argues in the absence of any evidence. Are we supposed to hope that this queen will eventually be found? Hardly. She has already been found. Hatshepsut, the Queen of Egypt, Ethiopia and southern Arabia. Shechem Located between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal in the hills of Samaria is `The Great Mound of Shechem' was, according to sources, created during the Middle Bronze period. . It was a place visited by Abraham: "And Abraham passed through the land unto the place of Shechem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land." ... "Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim and dwellt therein." [Genesis 12:6; 1.Kings 12:25;] They put up enormous earthen embankments surrounded by massive walls, this way transforming a low, vulnerable rise in the pass into a seemingly impregnable fortress. Its massive cyclopian masonry was built in typical inward-sloping or `battered' construction. This was a retaining wall as well as a first line of defense. [`Biblical Archaeologist', Sep, 1987, p. 148; With image] But outside the city walls archaeologists found a small "temenos" sacred area dated to the early Middle Bronze IIA period. Some concluded that the time and place fit the theory that this might have been the altar of Jacob. It was G. Ernest Wright who excavated in Shechem and came upon a structure dated to MB IIC which he thought could have been the small fortress structure to which the people fled just before Abimelech burned them by placing brush all around the structure or tower. [Judges 9:1-(46)-57] But conventional archaeologists concluded that the Late Bronze Age temple that would have been there just did not measure up to the biblical details in Joshua 9:50-53. [R. Henry, `Synchronized History', N.Y. 2003, p. 41f.] For the story with local images, including an artists rendition of the large temple, on `The Shechem Temple where Abimelech massacred a thousand' by Lawrence Stager see BAR, Vol. 29, Jul/Aug 2003, p. 26-35,66. See also Edward F. Campbell, `Excavation at Shechem, 1960' in BA, Dec 1960, p. 102-110; Robert Bull, `Re-Examination of the Shechem Temple, p. 110-119 and G. Wright, The Architectural Recording of the Shechem Excavation, p. 120-126. `Sekmem', thought to be Shechem, is mentioned in: Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts, `The Inscription of Khu-Sebek, called Djaa', p. 230: "His majesty proceeded northward to overthrow the Asiatics. His majesty reached a foreign country of which the name was Sekmem. ... The Sekmem fell, together with the wretched Retenu. ..... As Se(n)-Usert lives for me, I have spoken in truth!" Sheshonk II List of 7 items found on the mummy of the 22nd Dynasty Pharaoh Sheshonk II at Tanis: 1) 2 bracelets bearing the name of Sheshonk I and often described as heirlooms (JE 72184 A & B; in the shape of a `wdjet' eye; See: Shaw, `Oxford History of Ancient Egypt'); 2) 1 bracelet with a scarab bearing the name `Djed-Khensu-iw-wf-'ankh', JE 72189; 3) 1 bracelet containing a `Men-kheper-Re' scarab; 4) 1 bracelet with an Mesopotamian/Akkadian cylinder seal made of lapis lazuli, inscribed with figures and partially obliterated letters, of which remain `NI' or `DU, LUM', JE 72186; 5) two more bracelets found may be shown in Montet's 1942 and 1951 lists. [See: a) J.P.M. Montet, `La nécropole des rois tanites', (1942), Kêmi 9:1-96; b) `La nécropole royale de Tanis', Vol. II: Les constructions et le tombeau de Psousennès à Tanis. `Fouilles de Tanis', ser. ed. Jean Pierre Marie Montet. Paris: 1951] 6) There was also a pectoral from this predecessor, Sheshenk I, son of Nemelet (JE 72171) with the title, "Great Chief of the Meshwesh, son of Nimlot". Shipwrecks Most ancient ships were built from the outside in. 1. Shipwreck of Ulu Burun, southwestern coast of Turkey, discovered in 1983 near the small resort town of Kas. This ship was built with mortise and tenon joints and had a keel. Other shipwrecks along the coast of Turkey include: 2. the Yassi Ada site near modern Bodrum and ancient Halicarnassus and 3. the Serce Limani site north of Rhodes Isalnd. [See also P. Nicholson, C. Jackson & K. Trott, `The Ulu Burun Glass Ingots, Cylindrical Vessels and Egyptian Glass' in JEA, Vol. 83, 1997, p. 143-153; Also `The Adventure of Aeachaeology', Nat. Geogr. Book, p. 280-285 and BA, Mar 1990, p. 8.] 2. Bronze Age ship wreck off Cape Gelendonya, Turkey. [B.M. Fagan, `In the Beginning', p. 226] 3. Herodotus relates to us: "A Samian vessel, under the command of a man named Colaeus, on its way to Egypt was forced to put in at Platae."[Herodotus, Bk. IV, Sec. 152.] Some concluded that these ships antedated 630 BC and it may not have been the round build merchant ships but the long `penteconter' which undertook long voyages in the Mediterranean. [Rhys Carpenter, `The Greeks in Spain', Bryn Mawr College, PA, 1925, p. 6-11.] 4. An Example of Greco-Roman shipbuilding include a ship excavated off the northern coast of Cyprus in 1968/69 of the 4th century BC. This `Kyrenia' ship (Greek merchant vessel called: holkas) is now on display in the Museum of Kyrenia, Cyprus. See `The Adventure of Aeachaeology', Nat. Geogr. Book, p. 286-291. 5. Roman wine carrier ship wrecked at La Madrague de Giens near Toulon, France, had 2 layers of planking, close set frames, and was more than 130 feet (40 m) long. 6. The over 37 feet long, ca. 20 ton, `Ma'agan Micha'el' shipwreck off the coast south of Haifa. E. Linder, `Excavating an Ancient Merchantman', BAR, Vol. 18, Nov/Dec 1992, p. 24-35. Egyptian Archaeology, No. 4, 1994, p. 25.] 7. The Roman cargo ship which sank of the coast of La Madrague de Giens, France, ca. 60-50 BC filled with wine jars and discovered in 1974 can be seen in `The Adventure of Archaeology', Nat. Geogr. Book, p. 270. 8. The `Mary Rose' which sunk in 1545 near Portsmouth, England, is shown in `The Adventure of Aeachaeology', Nat. Geogr. Book, p. 292-293. 9. The best detailed drawing from the tomb of Kenamun at Thebes showing Syrian merchant ships arriving at an Egyptian port (dated to the time of Amenhotep III) can be seen in BA, Vol. 49, Mar 1986, p. 39. 10. For a drawing of ships from the tomb of Kenamun at Thebes see BA, Mar 1986, p. 39. Construction of Egyptian ship's hulls is illustrated in BA, Vol. 53, Mar 1990, p. 15, 33. 11. The Ma'agan Mikhael shipwreck. This ancient shipwreck received its name from a kibbutz located near its point of discovery in coastal waters some 20 miles south of Haifa. For the story and images see BAR, Vol. 30, Sep/Oct 2004, p. 46-51. 12. A section of planks and the massive bow of probably the wooden `Royal Merchant' similar to the type constructed in the late 16th century has been found in the estuary of the Thames River where it flows into the North Sea. It is understood to have been part of the Elizabethean ships participating in the war of 1588 against the Spanish Armade. Dendrochronological calculations derived a date of 1574 for the felling of the trees used for the 300-400 ton ship's construction. The ship had sunk with 10 cannons aboard and a cargo of casks filled with red lead (minium), large numbers of tin and lead ingots and folded iron bars. The tin and lead were almost certainly from England, the iron's origin could not be verified to date. [David Keys, Did Thames Wreck Take on the Armada? in Archaeology, Mar 2005, p. 10-11.] Shubnaqos An Edomite seal bearing the name of Shubnaqos ("ŠWBNQWS") was found at Qitmit. Explanation: The Edomites, just like the Hebrews ("YAHU"), often used the name of their principal deity `Qos', as a prefix or suffix to personal names as a theophoric element. Therefore the name of the person would not be `Shubnaqos' but `Shebna'. The name `Shubnaqos' has a Hebrew parallel, `Shebna[yahu]', the royal steward of King Hezekiah (727-698 BC), Isaiah 22:15-18. See BAR, Nov/Dec 1996, p. 33; or this link. Sib'e Sib'e, according to conventional scholars was a turtan (general) of Egypt who together with Hanno, king of Gaza, set out to deliver a decisive battle to King Sargon of Assyria at the time of King Hoshea of Israel, some time after 721 BC. Mount Sinai For information on Mount `Jebel el Lawz' inside Saudi Arabia as the most likely Mount Sinai click Here. For numerous images on the scenery of the traditional Mt. Sinai area (Mt. Jebel Serbal), including Wadi Feiran/Firan, see `Biblical Archaeology Review', Jul/Aug 1983, p. 46; Jul/Aug 1985, pp. 26-41; BA, Vol. X Feb 1947, p. 1; features a BW image of Wadi Feiran from the 1940's. Sinuhe Interpreting `Sinuhe'. [JEA, Vol. 68 (1982), John Baines, `Interpreting Sinuhe', pp. 31-44; inquire] Slave or Sklave The origin of the word seems to have this background which has to do with the `Christianizing of the Wends'. Henry the Fowler, we must remember, was a Saxon. Therefore the Saxon tribe of Germans which Charlemagne had subjugated and forced to accept Christianity, had now become the chief tribe of the German kingdom, stronger even then the Franks. These Saxons in their turn took up the vigorous work of spreading Christianity by force. While King Henry held his people back from attacking the Huns, he kept them practiced in arms by directing them against the Sclavic races which we now hear of for the first time as beginning to press upon the Germans from the east. The first of these Sclavs to encounter the heavy handed conversion of the Saxons were a people called the Wends, dwelling in what is now eastern Prussia. The Saxons marched against the Wends in several expeditions, the most noted being led by a fierce old chieftain called Herman Billung. Herman gave each captured Wend the choice of Christianity or death, and having no strong devotion to their own gods, they accepted a nominal Christianity. So completely was the power of the Wends broken that they continued to exist only as slaves of the Saxons. Indeed it was here that the word `sclav' began naturally to be used in its German and English sense as indicating a slave, one who is robbed of his God given rights of freedom and justice. A sample of Saxon (german: Sächsisch) dialect: Ich jebe sie eene jroße Freude und möjen sie diese hiesige Umjebung jerne haben. Wat ich nich kenne, kannste ja auch nich kenne. Janz jut, ich dajejen werde stille seen. The same in high-German: Ich gebe sie (mache ihnen) eine große Freude und mögen sie diese örtliche Umgebung gerne haben. Was ich nicht kenne, können sie auch nicht kennen. Ganz gut, ich dagegen werde still sein. The same in English: I am trying to make you very happy and hope you will enjoy these local surroundings. What I don't know (about the local area which is being visited) you can't know either. Quite well, I on the other hand shall remain silent. Sokonopis Sokonopis (likely Sobek + epithet?), it is "Sbk n pA iA" or "Sobek of the Island" because the temple was on the lake of Moeris --Soknopaios as it was called by the Greeks. Solomons cabinet The Recorder: Jehoshaphat, son of Ahilud; Scribes: Elihoreph and Shisha, sons of Shisha; Priests: Zadok and Abiathar, Azaraiah, son of Zadok; King's Friends: Zabud, son of Nathan; `Over the Host' (army): Benaiah, son of Jehoiada; `Over the Tribute' (forced labor): Adoniram, son of Abda; `Over the Officers': Azariah, son of Nathan; `Over the Household': Ahishar. The Sphinx No one knows who constructed the giant Sphinx in Egypt or what it looked like originally. Pharaoh Khafra is often credited with its construction, however, his involvement is not for certain. It is probable that at the time of Khafra's father, Khufu, the Sphinx was already there. The repair jobs to the paws were made to repair water erosion damage which produced 2 foot deep erosion channels in the stones. If we grant once again the occurrence of a deluge like the cataclysmic Noachian Flood followed by a period of weather conditions not repeated in memory since then, and the start of the Ice Age, that scenario might explain what we find on the sphinx. We believe the Ice Age is dated too far back in time. Like the pyramids, the Sphinx may have been a memorial statement of man's presence in the minds of the early inhabitants, who were not sure what else could happen to them. Stones Some data about magnificent, giant stones used in the construction of ancient Egyptian projects. The stones of the `King's Chamber' inside the Great Pyramid at Ghiza are estimated to weigh 70 tons each the weight of about 100 family sized cars. The chamber walls are composed of 100 of these size blocks 150 feet above the ground level. The 147 foot square megalithic temple of Oseiron contains stones measuring from 18x10x8 feet to 30x12x10 feet routinely exceeding 200 tons in weight, some of which they needed to lift 40 feet up to their resting places. Modern machines can barely lift 200 tons after many weeks of preparation. Not only are these stones large but they were also cut and fitted into multi-angled jigsaw puzzle like spaces similar to those at Sacsahuaman and Machu Picchu in Peru. [Graham Hancock, `Fingerprints of the Gods'; See also Fergus Bordewich, `Winter Palace' in Smithsonian, Mar 2003, p. 107-115; Features also images of Machu Picchu, the Peruvian archaeologist Alfredo Zegarra, Hiram Bingham, a drawn map and artifcats.] Stone Circles: For an aerial image of a massive stone circle at Rogem Hiri, Golan Heights see BAR, Vol. 19, Jul/Aug 1993, p. 56. Scholars believe it was a Early Bronze Age burial site. The walls are 8 feet high and 10 feet wide in places. The 11 Dolmens of the Barnenez Tumulus: The 40 foot dolmens of the Celtic tumuli at Barnenez on the Kernelehen peninsula, France. Located in the province of Brittany near Morlaix on the outer edge of a main land peninsula just below the Callot Islands, Carantex was discovered during a construction project in 1954. The article describes in some detail the discovery of the tumuli at the location, it provides a sketch map of the peninsula and a map showing the distribution of the corridor dolmens in Brittany. [H.P. Eydoux, `The Buried Past', N.Y. 1967.] Storms Storms in the lakes of Israel could be quite violent. For image see Storm view!. Still Undated Sumerian Kings Important, still undated Sumerian kings include: 1. Lugaltarsi, 2. Enshag-kushanna [Rowton, M.B., `Mesopotamian Chronology and the `Era of Menophres'', Iraq 8 (1946), pp. 94-110; Judges 3:8-10] It is possible that Enshagkushanna was the biblical Chushan-rishathaim and we are told that `Ka-dingir' means "gate of god" in Sumerian. According to Professor Gelb (Sidney), a script of a text dated to Enshagkushanna by the oldest year name is very close to Sargonic script; perhaps he was then Sargon of Akkad [See: Hickman, p. 19f; For numerous images on Sumerian history see National Geographic Society, `Splendors of the Past - Lost Cities of the Ancient World', 1981, on numerous pages.] Another Sumerian artifact, the Silver vase of Enmetena, was found in the 1880' by the French consul Ernest de Sarzec of Basra at Tello, which is now identified as the ancient site of Girsu, a city within the state of Lagash. The Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid had given permission for this exploration. Like many histories, the Sumerian is also grossly misidentified and consequently misdated in revised view. See here on their story. [BA, Sept. 1990, p. 148f.] - For an image of a 3 ¾ x 6 inch cuneiform tablet described as having been written by a `Sumerian' doctor, see BAR, Sep 1984, p. 63. Susakim Michael S. Sanders (Univ. of Chicago), in his 2003, comment is quite mistaken that Ramses III has anything to do with Susakim or Shishak. JZ never suggested that and he misleads readers when he quoted this: "Who was Susakim? In revised view Susakim was Pharaoh Thutmoses III." which is the correct view. "And Susakim (Shishak) gave to Jeroboam to be his wife Ano, the eldest sister of Thelkemina, his own wife. She was great among the daughters of the king and she bore to Jeroboam Abijah." Septuagint, Reignorum III: 12, 24e." Then at the end he wrote: "There the name used is Susakim. It is quite likely that in the phrase "swsx-Kmt" the final "t" was not vocalized and that Susakim was in fact a direct transliteration of one of the titles of Ramesses III i.e. "Extender of Egypt" in FULL." - Michael S. Sanders. No thanks. Ramses III has nothing to do with Susakim or Shishak. Tablets: Cuneiform Tablets: 1. Tablet 17743; Recipe T. conventionally dated to 3rd Dyn. of Ur; Archaeology Review, Sep. 1987, p. 139. For old Assyrian tablets see BA, Vol. 52, June 1989, p. 134, 135 featuring two tablets from Kültepe, site of ancient Kaneš. a) In the tablet's scene a worshipper is guided by a god-king. Above are two sphinxes with an ankh sign between them. If these sphinxes face the viewer we could not verify because of damage. Below them is a bull scratching the ground and an eagle seated upright. b) A tablet featuring a seal impression of a double-headed eagle within a guilloche border with a star on each side. Tanis For chronological purposes it is of some importance to know about the identity of the cities of Tanis and Sais. The location of Tanis in the eastern Nile delta is not contested but the location of Sais in the western Nile delta is. Sais was first identified by Richard Lepsius (His image in N. Reeves, `The Complete Valley of the Kings, p. 66.) at a site known as Sa el Hagar. We are told that this location was so water logged that excavations were difficult or impossible. Little or no evidence of 26th Dynasty origin was found. According to biblical sources Zoan is the Hebrew term for Tanis. In the book of Numbers 13:22, during the time of the judges, Zoan/Tanis we find that Zoan was the capital of Egypt. Brugsch refers to two statues of colossal size of `Smenkh-ka Re Mer-mashau' [Turin Papyrus #18] of the thirteenth dynasty having been found there. In the later biblical books of Isaiah 19:11, 13; 30:4; and Ezekiel 30:14, 15, long after the conventional dates for the 19th Dynasty and around the time of the 26th Dynasty, Zoan is still called the capital of Egypt. From this information can we learn that Tanis and Sais were one and the same city and that R. Lepsius was wrong in identifying Sa el Hagar as Sais. Budge also gives other names for Tanis, `Bekhen aa nekht', `Mesen-t meh-t', `Nut-urt' (the great city), capital `Khet Thar' (Tanis), `Khetem enti em Thar' (the fortress at Tanis), `Sekh-t Tchan' ("field of Zoan" Ps. 78:12,43), `Ta em Thar' (the region about Tanis). [Budge `An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary', Vol. II, 908b, 1002a] The most important discoveries at Tanis! The house of one Bakakhiu contained a remarkable portrait statuette of himself; and in that of his next-door neighbor was found a zodiac painted in gold and colors upon a sheet of thin glass, this being the only known example of ancient glass-painting. From this house came the most important discovery of all; namely, seven ancient wastepaper baskets full of letters, deeds, memoranda, and other MSS. Some were on papyrus, and some on parchment; some were written in Greek, and some in the old Egyptian language, these last being penned in the hieroglyphic, hieratic, and demotic scripts. These priceless documents were alone worth the whole cost of the expedition. One proves to be a mathematical treatise; another is an almanac; and another is a syllabary. The first is in the hands of Professor Revillout, of the Louvre, who has offered to translate it. The second has been translated by Mr. Petrie, and the third by Mr. Frank Llewellyn Griffith. The two latter have been quite recently published as an extra volume by the Committee of the Egypt Exploration Fund; and the society hopes in time to publish facsimiles and translations of the entire collection. [from http:// digital.library.upenn.edu/ women/ edwards/ pharaohs/ pharaohs-2.html] Tahpanhes Tahpanhes is the name of an ancient Egyptian town also known as Defenneh or Daphnae which is closely associated with Nebesh (Am) in the Nile Delta region of Egypt. Tell el-Hesi (Tell el-Hasi) - map Tell el-Hesi is located just a few miles inland to the east between Ashqelon (Majdal) and Gaza. For an excavation report see Lawrence E. Tombs, `Tell el Hesi', Vol. I & II, W. Laurier University Press, Waterloo, Canada, 1985. See also J.W. Betlyon, Achaeological Evidence of Military Operations in Southern Judah during the Early Helenistic Period, BA, Vol. 54, Mar 1991, p. 36-43. Featuring a good B&W photo and a stratigraphy of the mount, a Persian arrow tip and images of the mount. See also BAR, Vol. 19, Mar/Apr 1993, p. 8. Tel el-Hesi was the location where on May 14, 1892 F.J. Bliss found in a heap of debris in Stratum III reading: "]To the] chief say! [Thus] Paapu, at thy feet I have fallen. Thou shouldst know that Shipti-Balu and Zimreda speak disloyally in public and Shipti-Balu has spoken to Zimreda (saying), `The chief of the town of Yaramu has sent word unto me, (so) give me, I pray six(?) bows and three daggers and three swords. In the event that I go out against the land of the king thou shalt be leagued with me!' And yet he does reject (the imputation of) disloyalty to the crown (saying) `The one who is disloyal to the king is Paapu, so order him to confront me!' And [now] Rabi-ilu I have ordered [to] bring him (to thee) [because] of this matter." BASOR, Apr 1942, p. 33-35. Zimreda and Shipti-Balu were both princes (chiefs) of Lachish. The letter comes from a time before Shipti-Balu had succeeded Zimreda during the latter part of Amenophis III or the beginning of Amenophis IV. In this comment we want to feature one item found, according to reports, during excavations at the Tell and that is a single Mesopotamian/El Amarna style tablet. This tablet is said to document the petty rivalries and disputes among Egypt's vassal states in Syria and Palestine. [N.Reeves, `AE - The Great Discoveries', p. 75; This item we don't find mentioned in Lawrence's report.] Tell El Maskutah Wady Tûmilât is the shortest route from the south-eastern Nile delta region to the Sinai desert. Many years ago Lepsius identified `Tell Abû Suleiman' at the westward mouth of the valley, and `Tell-el-Maskhûtah' near the eastward end, with the twin treasure-cities `Rameses' and `Pithom' (Gen. 47:11; Exodus 12:37; Numbers 33:3, 5) built for Pharaoh by the persecuted Israelites; and so unhesitatingly were his identifications accepted that these two places have ever since been entered in maps and guidebooks as the two cities mentioned above. Others argued that Tell Retabeh in the Wadi Tumilat represents the city Raamses. [Ancient Egypt, Mar 1930, p. 4; Nahum M. Sarna, Exploring Exodus - The Oppression in BA, Vol. 49, Jun 1986, p. 68-79.] M. Naville went, therefore, to prove the correctness of the first argument: and it was very much to his own surprise, and to the surprise of all concerned in his expedition, that he discovered it to be erroneous. What M. Naville actually found under the mounds of Maskhûtah was a peribolos wall, the site of a temple, a dromos, a camp, some ruins of a city, and a series of most curious subterraneous structures, entirely unlike any architectural remains ever discovered in Egypt or elsewhere. The peribolos wall, twenty-four feet in thickness, enclosed a quadrangular space of about fifty-five thousand square yards. The temple, which occupied one corner, though small, was originally surrounded by an outer wall of brickwork, the inner walls being of fine Tûrah limestone. Both temple and city proved to have been `founded by Rameses II.', (but we must say not founded but rather utilized or used) the names and titles of that Pharaoh being, according to conventional historians, the earliest recorded in the inscriptions discovered. Statues, bas-relief sculptures, and hieroglyphic texts of various kings, priests, and officials of subsequent periods were also found upon the spot. Among these must be especially noted part of a dedicatory tablet of Sheshonk I., according to conventional history the Biblical Shishak, and a broken colossus of Osorkon II., both of the Twenty-second Dynasty; two statues of functionaries, engraved with important inscriptions; some remains of an admirably sculptured and fully gilt wall-screen and pillar of Nectanebo I. (Thirtieth Dynasty,), but we at CIAS must say a functionary under the Persian satrap Arsames; and a magnificent granite stela of Ptolemy Philadelphus, which is not only the largest Ptolemaic tablet known, but is also historically the most interesting. All the foregoing kings appear to have embellished the temple. Besides readable inscriptions of various periods, an immense quantity of minute fragments, some yet showing a hieroglyph or two, were found built into walls or reduced to gravel chips. This barbarism was the work of the Romans, who, being the last occupants of the site, appear to have smashed up any available material in order to level the ground for their camp. Thus the history of the place begins with an earlier pharaoh and ends with a Roman milestone of Galerius Maximian and Severus, about A.D. 306 or 307. The temple was dedicated to Tum, the god of the setting sun; Tum being the patron deity of the town and the surrounding district. Now, as this place was not only a store-fort but a sanctuary, so also it had a secular name and a sacred name; like our own venerable English abbey-town of Verulam, which is also called St. Albans. Its secular name proved to be "Thukut" or "Sukut," and its sacred name "Pa-Tum." These particulars we learn from inscriptions found upon the spot. Engraved, for instance, on a black granite statue of a deceased prince and high-priest named Aak, we find a prayer in which he implores "all the priests who go into the sacred abode of Tum, the great god of Sukut," to pronounce a certain funerary formula for his benefit; while a fragment of another statue is inscribed with the names and titles of one Pames Isis, who was an "official of Tum of Sukut and governor of the storehouse." In these two inscriptions (to say nothing of several others) three important facts are recorded: namely, that the place was a "storehouse," that its sacred name was Pa-Tum; and that its secular name, also the name of the surrounding district, was Sukut. Thebes, Greece - Thebes, Egypt Thebes is located just to the north of Athens. Surprisingly an Internet search yielded very little on the ancient history, archaeology and details of the ancient city. Thebes, Egypt, is best known as the capital of the 18th Dynasty pharaohs and the ancient burial grounds of the kings, the `Biban-el-Molouk', `Gates of the Kings', the `Thebes of a hundred Gates'. Located in Upper Egypt on the banks of the Nile it offers many ancient monuments. Ancient writers would sometimes confuse these two cities. Theocrasia Theocrasia is the fusing of one god with the god of another people by affirming that the god worshipped by the one people is identical in fact with the one worshipped by another people under a different name. Thorny Burnet Thorny burnet (Sarcopoterium spinosum) is widespread in the Mediterranean region and was found in the Ulu Burun shipwreck as a cushion for heavy cargo like copper ingots. The thorny bush may have been used in the thorny wreath of Jesus. Historical Time in the Bible Three key dates are given us in the Bible. 1. The date Christ's Earthly Ministry began; 2. The date Christ's sacrificial death in the outer court of earth occurred and 3. when His 1st apartment mediation of the `daily' began. Scripture and Historical Occurrences For nearly every major or minor event in scripture no date is provided, they are not verified by secular history. a) The life of Abraham, b) Joseph in Egypt, c) the crossing of the Red Sea, d) Daniel in Babylon, e) Solomon's Temple. As far as non-Biblical historical records go, they all would be considered as historical non-occurrences. But because we are not told about them outside of the Bible—are they therefore to be considered as untrue? The Bible is not a book concerned with teaching history, it is a book concerned with teaching about God. Any historical material it contains is incidental to the particular lessons to be learned from the lives of the individuals discussed. While the above events have no method of dating them provided, there are at least 3 events for which there was given a method of dating them. These 3 events are: 1. the baptism of Jesus - the date Christ's earthly ministry began, 2. the date Christ's sacrificial death occurred; 3. and when his first apartment mediation of the `daily' began. - These issues however relate to New Testament times and are not part of the subject of this website and only provided to keep a balanced account of scripture and time. Tiryns Like so many ancient sites, ancient, Greek Tiryns [Map] also is a fortified ancient town in the vicinity of Argos and Mycenae. It is known for its `megaron', an ancient cultic palace site. The goddess Hera was famous at the location. Tut-ankh-amen (German: Tutanchamun) Who discovered the tomb of Tut-ankh-amen? Was it Howard Carter? Actually in December of 1900 Carter gave two Egyptians, Messrs. Chinouda Macarios and Boutros Andraos, permission to search for a rumored tomb and it was found by them. [KMT, Fall 1999, p. 22] Carter also found two 20 inch long bronze trumpets in Tut's tomb. One of these was played by a British army bandsman and recorded by BBC radio. One instrument can be seen in Archaeology Odyssey, May 2005, p. 56. A discussion of the tombs from Thutmose IV to Ramses III can be found in `Ägyptische Abhandlungen', Band 40, Wiesbaden 1984 featuring many drawings and presenting a detailed account of wall paintings. See also JEA, Vol. 87, 2001 Plate VII-X. Tutankhamon's gold Tutankamun's inner coffin is made of gold sheet of 25 - 30 mm thickness and some 1.88 m in length. When examined in 1929 the coffin was found to weigh 110.4 kg (296 lb troy). Gold was valued yesterday (01.02.2002) at $282.20/ounce, suggesting a current scrap metal value of nearly US$1,100,000 ($1,098,956.95 to be precise), the equivalent in pounds sterling being £777,307.22, and in euros â, €1,276,224.54. The actual value of the coffin, given its value added craftsmanship and instrinsic cultural value is, of course, incalculable. A close-up color photo of the head rest found in the tomb of Tutankhamen can be seen in Archaeology Odyssey, May/Jun 2004, p. 46. Um Rakhm Egyptian and British archeologists have discovered in an ancient military base on Egypt's northern coast a funerary chapel dedicated to the Pharaoh Ramses II, who ruled from 609 to 569 BC according to revised dates. "The funerary chapel consists of three rooms made of unfired brick and a door frame of hard limestone," secretary general of the Supreme Council for Antiquities Gaballah Ali Gaballah told AFP. According to Mohamed Abdel-Maqsoud, head of antiquities in lower Egypt, there was also a military garrison and a kitchen. Excavators found a 6.5 meter deep rock hewn well, several grain grinders, ovens and pottery. Adel El-Saeed from Marsa Matrouh antiquities, said that also a major limestone wall some 7 meters high and 250 meters long has been excavated. The wall includes ruins of 4 military towers. The shrine carried hieroglyphic inscriptions in the name of Ramses II, and was also used as a place for sacrifices to the lion-headed war goddess Sekhmet and her consort Ptah, Gaballah said. Excavators also found the kitchen used to prepare food for the shrine's priests, kept separate from the much larger kitchen that fed the garrison, antiquities chief for northern Egypt Mohammed Abdel Maqsoud told AFP. Archeologists had excavated since 1925 at this site at Um Rakhm some 420 kilometers (260 miles) west of Cairo, where Ramses II had built a fortress to fight off raids from Libyan tribes, Maqsoud said. Earlier finds at the site have included remnants of the fortress's brick walls, a sarcophagus in the shape of a pharaonic citadel, and a 1.2 meter (four feet) high statue of the military commander, whose baton was capped with the head of Sekhmet, Maqsoud said. Its mud brick silos, used for grain storage, were covered with a layer of gypsum containing a variety of pottery from Cyprus, Greece, Crete and Palestine indicating the extent of foreign trade. Eight store houses were also found. Each had a separate entrance identifiable by a limestone doorway set into the mud-brick walls. Each doorway had a threshold, inscribed jambs and an inscribed lintel bearing the titles of Ramses II. Not all doorways were complete. Excavators also found the 124 cm-high, life-size statue of Neb-Re, a military commander in Ramses II's army and protector of the western border. He is wearing his military costume and holds a standard in his right hand. Two stela of Neb-Re with deities were also found. Uzziah See also Uzziah and Persian satraps Uzziah usually makes reference to King Azariah of Judah who reigned from 792-767 BC overlapping with Amaziah his predecessor and from 767-740 BC as sole king over Judah. But it appears that the Uzziah mentioned in the Apogryphical Book of Judith is another Uzziah and his identity ought to be of real interest to the reader. Wadi Hamamat Explorers found 3 important genealogies at Wadi Hamamat: 1. The graffito genealogy of Khnemibre; 2. The statue genealogy of Nespaherenhat, Cairo Museum; 3. The Memphite Genealogy of the High Priests of Ptah, Berlin; [Rohl, `Pharaohs and Kings', p. 139] Ancient Weddings 1. The Sara Affaire 2. Marrying a foreigner, 3. Indecent Proposal, 4. Papa said, `Marry him', 5. The Story, 6. Love for the Nation, 7. Versuchte Verführung. Wendjebaendjed Found in the coffin of Wendjebaendjed: Finger rings of interest are one bearing the name `Neferkare chosen of Re', of Ramesses IX and one of Shoshenq II, which has the name of `Horemhutaa (or Horemineb)' engraved on its lapis lazuli scarab bezel. This man had an unusual title, which maintains he was allowed "to officiate in the mystery of Amun's sanctuary and who could 'see the things kept in the palace'." Of course, there was much, much more of interest in these sumptuous Tanite burials. A Scottish book [Museum catalog, 1988 Edinburgh Exhibition] makes the assertion that a heart scarab on a golden chain, belonging to a General Wendjebaendjed may be that of a Ramesside king because it says on it, "The heart of the king Usermaatre, justified, belongs to him in the house of hearts, etc." Although the catalogue maintains it is the only royal heart scarab we have dating from the 19th or 20th Dynasty. Wheat According to a conventionally dated 13th century BCE cuneiform letter found in the "governor's residency" at Aphek, Israel and addressed to the Egyptian official Haya from an official of the city of Ugarit by the name of Takuhlinu, we find a reference to a request for 250 parisu of wheat. 1 parisu (a Hittite measure) = six seahs (Canaanite measure) = approx. 60 litres. 250 parisu = about 15 tons of wheat. Writers abreviations The meaning of: 1. `Open cit.', stands for `opere citato' (`in the work cited'); 2. Ibid., is a Latin term meaning `referring again to the book just introduced above'; Year, Israels months in a Edwin Thiele has shown, that if Judah began its year with the month of Ethanim and Israel with the month of Abib, the reigns of their kings correlate well. Yenoam Yenoam is mentioned among the towns taken by Thutmose III (he captured it soon after taking Megiddo). In the EA#197 there is a reference to a town named Yanuammu. Later, Seti recorded the despatching of an army against Yenoam, in the first year of his reign. Yenoam is once again mentioned on Merneptah's so-called Israel Stele; the claim is that it was "made non-existent." In Ramses II and His Time this deed is ascribed to Nebuchadnezzar. Yenoam-Dan (Yehu probably introduced the cult of Yahwe at Dan). Yenoam, read in Hebrew, could be interpreted as "Ye [Yahwe] speaks". Zair A location in or near Edom where King Joram defeated the Edomites (2.Kings 8:21). Some identified it with Sa'ir, about 5 miles NNE of Hebron. Zarkabaal A 4 inch long bronze arrow head was found in the mid 1990's most likely in Lebanon or southern Syria inscribed "Arrow of Zarkabaal, King of Amurru". The name of his father was Ben Anath according to two other inscribed arrow heads bearing the name of Zarkabaal. Amuri/Amurru is also mentioned in the EA letters. Currently there are about 32 inscribed arrows known some of them in private collections. [BAR, Mar/Apr 1996, p. 39; See also the inscription of Zakar, king of Hamath.] Ziklag The location of Ziklag is still uncertain but some consider the following information from A. F. Rainey as helpful in locating the ancient city. 1. It was located in the Negev region according to Joshua 15:21, 31 "And the uttermost cities of the tribe of the children of Judah toward the coast of Edom southward were ... And Ziklag, and Mad-man'-nah, and San-san'-nah."; 2. Its place in this list which runs from east to southeast to west to northwest, indicates that it should be in the western Negev, close to Philistia; 3. its association with the Negev of the Cherethites (1.Sam. 30:1-3) certainly suggests that it was within the Philistine controlled sphere of the western Biblical Negev; 4. it could hardly be located within the very areas where David claimed to be making his attacks on behalf of Achish, king of Gath. (1.Sam. 27:10) These considerations rule out Tel Halif (Tell el-Khulweilfeh), Tel Masos (Kh. el-Meshash) and Tel Beer Sheva (Tell es-Seba). 5. Elezer Oren concluded that Ziklag was located 6 miles south of Gaza at Tell Sharuhen. He came to this conclusion on the basis of a multitude of `Philistine' pottery found there. "The entire area of `Ziklag' came under Israeli control at the beginning of David's reign. On the ruins of the Philistine town (only true if they are Late Bronze). David built an immense edifice in sculpted stone, Oren says, pointing out that this was a sign of splendor since the closest quarries were more than 12 miles away at the time."[Agence-France-Presse Reprt in the `San Francisco Chronicle', August 25-1976] But according to V. Fritz "The occupational history of Tel Sera (Tell esh-Shari'ah) does not permit its identification as Ziklag. The excavator, Professor Eliezer Oren, is fully aware of this fact and speaks of the `problematic identification of Tel Sera' with biblical Ziklag. Moreover, nobody knows the exact borders of the different parts in the Biblical Negev. [Volkmar Fritz identifies Tel es-Seba beside the wide Wadi es-Seba with Ziklag in BAR, May 1993, p. 58-61,76.] [BAR, Nov/Dec. 1993 p. 80; See also J. Seger `The Location of Biblical Ziklag' in BA, Vol. 47, Mar 1984, p. 47-53. Also has a tabulated comparison chart `Comparing Major Strata' of Tel Halif (I-XV) and Tel Sera (Modern Arab to Chalcolithic). Inquire.; The following reasons for Tel Sera being Ziklag are given as: 1) According to 1.Sam. 30:10, David's 200 men were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor. This suggests that it was located at Nahal ha-besor, now identified with Nahal Gerar (Arabic: Wadi esh-Shariah), at a place that was wide and hard to cross.; See BA, Mar 1988, p. 24. See images of the Tel and Nahal.] Ziphron Moses relates this to be the northern boundary of the Promised Land (Numbers 34:9). Could be Za'feranh, SE of Restan. Zoan The same town as Tanis, in the eastern Nile Delta at San el-Hagar (Ezekiel 30:14). Zoheleth A place near E-rogel where Adonijah sacrificed animals (1.Kings 1:9). Zophim A promontory from which Balaam viewed the Israelite camp means `place for a watchman' possibly near Tal'al es Safa (Numbers 23:14). Zorah A city of the tribe of Dan in the lowlands of Judah at Sar'ah, ca. 14 miles west of Jerusalem (Joshua 15:33;19:4).

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