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Ugarit-Ras Shamra and Conventional vs Revised Chronology |
Evidence from Byblos Unless dateable objects were introduced later by trading, there is no doubt that the history of Palestinian coastal cities goes far back in time as we have evidence of Byblos interactions with 12th Dynasty kings. Examples are an obsidian jar bound with gold which is exactly similar to jars found in a 12th Dynasty tomb at Dashur, Egypt. It is inscribed with the word `tpt', `quality oil'; the lid bears the cartouches of Amenemhet III. The lid of the gold-embellished obsidian box is inlaid with the titles of Amenemhet IV in silver hieroglyphs, as found in the Royal Tombs of Byblos.
Other Topics included are:
Ras Shamra/Ugarit was not merely a maritime city that traded in arms of Cyprian copper and in wine, oil, and perfume: jars, flagons, and flacons were found there by the hundreds; it was also a city of learning: there was a school for scribes and a library.
Ugarit was a maritime commercial city with a palace [150]; its population was composed of various ethnic groups. One document found there describes the expulsion of King Nikmed and all the foreign groups in the city. Among them were people of Alasia (Cyprus), Khar (explained to be Hurrites), and Jm'an. The last name was identified by the decipherers as `Jamanu', which is well known from the Assyrian inscriptions, and means `Ionians'. [200]
The king who expelled Niqmed from his city was the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III (858 - 832 BC) who wrote:
The interpretation of `Jm'an' as `Ionians' was disputed for no other reason than that in the 14th century a reference to Ionians would have been impossible. In the same inscription, at a point were the names of the expelled are repeated, the name `Didyme' appears. The decipherers took it to be the name of the city of Didyma in Ionia. [400]
This city was well known for its cult of Apollo Didymeus. Again, the name of the deity Didymeus (Ddms) was inscribed on another Ras Shamra tablet; the decipherers [500], turning neither left nor right, translated it "Apollon Didymeus".
Since then other antiquities have been brought to the British Museum from the site of Didyma (Didymaion) by C.T. Newton originating from the 8th century. But in the 15th or 14th century neither the `Ionians' nor the shrine of `Apollo Didymeus' could have been mentioned. Chronology could not square the evidence with the Ionian names of Nikomed, or the name of the Ionian city of Didyma, or the Greek cult of the god of that city, or the very name `Ionians' in the Ras Shamra texts - but all these were there!!! No explanation was given in place of the rejected theory about an Ionian colony from the city of Didyma near Milet in Ionia that came to Ugarit and was expelled from there together with the king of Ionian origin, Nikmed.[600] It could only be stated that there was not a grain of probability in such a reading of the texts belonging to the middle of the second millenium.
The Canaanite king of Ugarit was a `merchant prince' and engaged in all sorts of commercial and industrial enterprises. The main source of income was derived from the crown lands which he amassed by expropriation as a result of victorious wars, confiscation and purchase. He also lended money on personal security and at interest. He maintained conscripted foot and professional soldiers the latter of which were called maryannu who were often of the aristocracy and had privileges. The mariannu received crown lands to maintain their expensive military equipment (chariots) and often were granted various exemptions or levied obligations. They lived off the state, God speaking through the prophet Samuel tried to protect Israel from such, 1.Sam. 8:4-17.[BASOR #143, Oct. 1956, p. 17-27 (on file).]
Because of the offset chronology of Egypt as compared to the history of its surrounding nations we find duplications of events, cultural achievements and personalities. Some of these we present in this list of examples. A) The sepulchral chambers of Ugarit influenced the architecture of sepulchral chambers on Cyprus - but not until more than 600 years had elapsed. Excavators found that the intact burial vaults of Ugarit with arched ceilings supposedly of the 15th-14th century BC looked just like those found near Enkomi on Cyprus belonging to the 8th and 7th century BC. "Those in Cyprus were considerably later and continue down to the 8th and 7th centuries..." according to the Swedish excavators. [700] B) The naval catalogue of Ugarit reappeared in the epic creations of Homer after an interlude of several centuries. A Brief Section of Homer's Catalog of Ships
Ascalaphus and Ialmenus, sons of Mars, led the people that dwelt C) Jewels identical with those of Ugarit were worn by the ladies in Jerusalem 600 or 700 years after the destruction of Ugarit by conventional dating. [900]
Jewels of gold are mentioned in the texts of Ras Shamra/Ugarit and were found there by excavators. The texts mention several kinds of gold pendants:
In summary, the above points (A-C) underscore the cultural and artifactual similarity to the 8th-7th centuries, not the 15th-14th century as taught in conventional history because of dependency on Egyptian evidence. Always we find this 600 plus-minus gap in chronology, a tell-tale sign that something drastic is amiss. We know what it is, the erroneous Egyptian chronology.
The discovery of the tomb of Ahiram in 1922 by Pierre Montet was one among 8 other royal tombs containing funerary gifts of Amenemhet III of the 12th Dynasty. From this we can say that Byblos had a long history lasting at least for 1000 years. It was a choice location with a superb view of the Mediterranean and a pleasent, fertile land surrounding it at a crossroads between Palestine and what is today Turkey. |
| Comparing the Evidence |
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"The coffin which Ithobaal, son of Ahiram, King of Gwal [Byblos], made for his father as his abode in eternity. And if any king or any governor or any army commander attacks (Gwal) and exposes this coffin, let his judicial scepter be broken, let his royal throne be overthrown, and let peace flee from Gwal; and as for him, let a vagabond(?) efface his inscriptions!" [Approximate color coded word identifiers used.] [1000]
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| Writing and Artifacts found in tomb of Ahiram | Pierre Montet | R. Dussaud | W. Spiegelberg | H. Frankfort | W.F.Albright |
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The age of the tomb | 13th century BC | 13th century BC | -- | Sarcophagus of 13th, inscription of 10th century. | -- |
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10th to 9th century BC Hebrew characters found on ornate sarcophagus | Inscription belongs to 13th century | -- | -- | -- | Inscription belongs to 10th century |
| Fragments of alabaster vases, two bearing the cartouche of Ramses II. |
| -- | -- | -- | -- |
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Mycenaean Age ivory plaque | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
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7th century BC Cypriote pottery | -- | 7th century BC | -- | -- | -- |
| Explanations offered for the anomalous archaeological findings | -- | Intrusion by robbers, deposit Cypriote pottery. | Intrusion by robbers in 8th-7th century, deposit Cypriote and Ramesside pottery. | -- | -- |
| Statements made by participants of the debate and their consideration. | -- | -- | Why would thieves carry 600 year old pottery during a robbery into a tomb? | -- | -- |
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Ithobaal buried his father in 606 BC at which time Ramses/Necho send his funerary gifts indicating good relations between him and the Phoenician king. Nebuchadnezzar spoiled this arrangement, violated the tomb and afterwards laid siege to Tyre for 13 years. "Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre for 13 years in the days of Ithobaal, their king..." [1100] |
Homographs and Homonyms With the exception of vowels that go with `aleph', the Ugaritic alphabet indicates only consonants. This leads to the presence of non-homonymic homographs. Examples: amt = `amat-' handmaid' or `amut- `I die', mt = `mut - ' man' or `mot - ' death', alp = `alp-' 1000' or `ox'. The distinction between homonym and homograph can be illustrated from the English language; e.g. `roe' and `(to) row' or `tare' and `(to) tear (up)' are non-homographic homonyms, whereas `(to) row' and `(to make a) row' or `(to) tear (up)' and '(to shed a) tear' are non-homonymic homographs. The nature of Ugaritic writing is such that it does not give rise to non-homographic homonyms like `bough' and `bow' or `Ilama' and `lama'. This phenomena is so common in so many scripts that it is unnecessary to multiply examples; suffice it to note that English `light' in the meaning of German leicht and Licht. [1200] The poetic style and meter
Texts of Ras Shamra/Ugarit have in common with Hebrew writing, especially that of Isaiah, rhythm and poetic forms which are developed in the `Song of Songs of Solomon'.
a) parallelism - ... your word is a lamp to my feet and the light for my path.... There are several types of parallelism:b) Another figure of style is called `chiasmus', the inversion of corresponding terms uniting verse parts into one whole: A is related to A1 and B1 to B, connecting these by crossing lines gives us the letter `x' (chi), the chiasm. Other examples are found in Psalm 2; 8; 70; 91; 102; 147..............and if you look for it [A] ................. as for silver [B].......... Synthetic Parallelism An example of synthetic parallelism reads like this: "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream."Psalm 126:1
"The Lord is in his holy temple The Hebrew word "môt" means `moved' and we find it again in Psalm 16:8 where it does not mean a fixed, unmovable position but rather describes an `emotional' state. Therefore, the interpretation that Psalm 93:1 describes the earth as fixed, not moving in an orbit, is not taking the parallel ideas of the poet into consideration. What the author is trying to say is, that the earth will not stray from its precise orbit and rotational pattern which is "firmly (e)stablished". [1200] To understand motion we all must describe with respect to a frame of reference. You can choose any frame of reference you like and the Bible writers used the earth. Even today we say, `Look at that beautiful sunset', rather then, 'Look at the result of the fractionation of the light rays in the atmosphere as the orbit of the earth moves into position with respect to the sun ...'.
Hebrew poetry does not rhyme and parallelism is its main characteristic. In prose the biblical writer would merely state that the Lord is on his throne in the holy temple in heaven. The psalmist writer, by means of his poetic parallelism, makes the reader wait until the end of the sentence to learn of the location of the throne which is in the temple of God in heaven. Because of this unique Hebrew feature, Hebrew poetry can be translated without loosing its beauty, force, or intent. The writers of the Old Testament books employed literary and rhetorical conventions possible in the Hebrew language, enabling them to give their revealed messages a subtlety and sophistication that is understood and appreciated with continual respect. Dividing strokes between words introduced into the script of Cyprus some 700 years after the script of Ras Shamra with the same characteristics had fallen into oblivion again. The legal ordinances Sacerdotal practices Many authors have written about "deceptive features in the Bible" insinuating that much of the Old Testament content had been borrowed from Canaanite sources. Next they cite the Sons of the god El rejoicing at the death of Baal at the hand of Mot; they then refer to texts found in Jeremiah 5:9, 21, 29 to show that these were influenced by Canaanite thought. But we are showing that the heydays of the city of Ugarit do not belong into the 15th-13th centuries BC but some 500-700 years later. It was not the mythical Sea Peoples who destroyed this city and caused the inhabitants and their ruler `Nikmed' (Nikomedes of Ionian Greek history) to flee by the sea but Shalmaeser III, King of Assyria, in 854 BC. [1500]
"And fire has consumed Ugarit, the city of the king; half of it is consumed, and its other half is not; and the people of the army of Hatti are not there." [1600]
The semilegendary Aristomenes, who led the people of Messene in their battles against the Spartans in the years 684 and 683 BC, was a son of Nikodemes. According to other sources, of a Pyrrhos. [1700]
Aristotle mentions an Athenian archon of that name of Nikomedes who flourished in 483 BC. The name is also found later among the Spartans. In the 3rd century Nikomedes I, king of Bithynia on the eastern shore of the Bosporus, built a capital for himself, Nikomedeia.
Once again we are pointed to a much later period for Ugarit then the 15th or 14th century BC.
The Canaanites of Ugarit borrowed from Hebrew thought and writings and incorporated them into their own sacerdotal traditions just like Egyptians did. The Elephantine Papyri show that non-jewish marriage partners hung on to their own pagan traditions worshipping Asherah. In general it is a mistake to put Ugaritic texts or `jewelry art works' chronologically before Hebrew texts and make it appear that the Authors of the Hebrew scripture borrowed from written material outside the borders of Israel. As we have shown here the heydays of Ugarit/Ras Shamra are contemporaneous with the Israelite monarchy as is the Mycenaean Age contemporary with the Geometric Age of Greece, a subject we have not yet adequately presented here.
All these rivals of styles and meter, of religious myths and cult, of old customs, of weights and measures, medical science, apparel, and jewelry, emphasized and re-emphasized by modern scholars, would definitely point to the co-existence of Ugarit with the Jerusalem of the 9th or 8th century were it not for one obstacle. This obstacle was the fact that the Ugarit texts and objects were considered to be contemporaneous with the Egyptian and Mycenaean worlds of the 15th and 14th century BC. Another lesson this paper should teach us is that we have not yet begun to attribute to the right people or culture the term `Canaanites'. The inhabitants of Ugarit/Ras Shamra of the time of Nikomedes had nothing to do with the Canaanites of the 15th/14th centuries BC.
[50] See also Michael Heltzer, The Internal Organization of the Kingdom of Ugarit, Wiesbaden, 1982. The author supports the highly organized structure but is only not able to assess the role of the "considerable" male population in the conventional dating of the `Sea Wars of Ramses III' and the destruction of Ugarit because of lack of data.(p. 187)
[100] Schaeffer, Claude F. (1898-1982), `Cuneiform Texts', p. 33; See also Vassos Karageorghis, `Exploring Philistine Origins on the Island of Cyprus', BAR, Vol. X, Mar/Apr 1984, p. 16ff.
[150] See `The Mysteries of Ugarit' in Near Eastern Archaeology, Dec 2000.
[200] For an image of the palace search the `Encyclopedia of the Orient' databases.
[300] Luckenbill, `Records of Assyria', Vol. I, Sec. 609.
[400] Dhorme, Edouard, `Revue biblique', Vol. XL (1931); Bedrich Hrozny, `Les Ioniens a Ras Shamra', Archiv Orientalni, Vol. IV (1932).
[500] "Le `ddmy' est le gentilice d'un nom qui, sous la forme `ddm', représente une divinité dans (text) 17, 6. Nous y verrions volontiers le Didyméen. La ville serait celle de Didyma et le dieu celui de Didyme, Apollon." Ibid, articles by Dhorme and Hrozny.
[600] "La colonié égéenne d'Ugarit semble donc avoir été composée spécialement par les Ioniens originaires de Didyme prés de Milet.... Nkmd .... pourrait être consideré comme le roi des Ioniens qui s'emparèrent d'Ugarit au 13-ème siècle." [Bedrich Hrozny 1879-1952), `Les Ioniens à Ras Shamra', Archiv Orientálné, Vol. IV (1932)] See also The Biblical Archaeologist,' 1973,1, Vol. 36, p. 29, for the image and some interpretation.
Ugarit was also not far away from the old city of Alalakh, Tell Atchana, where one known king by the name of `Idri-mi' inscribed a statue of himself with the story of his life. This statue may be seen in Gilbert Highet's `The Survival of Records' in `Discovery of Lost Worlds', p. 307; or see Sir L.Wooley, Alalakh, Pl. XII & XLVI.
[700] E. Gjerstad and others, `The Swedish Cyprus Expedition', 1927-1931 (Stockholm, 1934-37), Vol. I, p. 405.
[900] C. F. Schaeffer, `Cuneiform Texts', Plate XXXII, Fig. 1. See also `The Ugaritic Alphabet (Tablet) and How it was pronounced' in BAR, Sep. 1983, p. 70ff.
[1000] Tranlated by W.F. Albright, `Journal of the American Oriental Society', LXVII, 1947, pp. 155-156. The translation by R. Dussaud quoted by P. Montet reads in part: "... le throne de la royauté se renversera at la paix regenera sur Gobel" (... and peace will reign over Gwal).
[1100] Josephus, `Against Apion', Book I, Sec. 21.
[1200] C.H. Gordon, `Ugaritic Textbook', Rome 1998, p. 17.
[1200] After information from AiG.
[1300] See the famous study by Th. Boman, `Hebrew Thought Compared with Greek', London: SMC Press, 1960, which should not be read without also reading its critique by W.F.Albright, `New Horizons in Biblical Research', NY: Oxford University Press, 1966, p. 18-31; idem, `History, Archaeology and Christian Humanism', NY: McGraw-Hill, 1964, p. 83-100; and J.Barr, `The Semantics of Biblical Language', London: Oxford University Press, 1961, p. 46-79, 96-100.
[1400] O.Cullmann, `Christ and Time', rev. ed., London: SMC, 1962.
[1700] B. Hrozny, `Les Ioniens a Ras-Shamra', Archiv Orientalni, Vol. IV (1932), p. 177.
[1800] A B&W partially readable, cuneiform inscribed copy of a one mina weight in a tip of the thumb shaped form of Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 BC) on the standard of `Shulgi', king of Ur (conv. ca. 2000 BC), a 30 mina weight of Eriba-Marduk (8-7th cent.), and a 2.3 mina weight of Shalmaneser V can be seen in BA, Vol. XXII, Feb 1959, p. 25, 28, 30.
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