No title

ISSN: 0006-0895

BIBLICAL _1(_ ARCH DECEMBER 1977

VOLUME40 NUMBER4

The gods commanded total destruction Enlil did an evil deed on the peoples. Atrahasis II viii 34-35

Published with the financial assistance of ZION RESEARCH FOUNDATION Boston, Massachusetts A nonsectarian Protestant foundation for the study of the Bible and the history of the Christian church

Biblical Archeologist is published quarterly (March, May, September, December) by the American Schools of Oriental Research. Its purpose is to provide the general reader with an accurate scholarly yet easily understandable account of archeological discoveries and their bearing on the biblical heritage. Unsolicited mss. are welcome but should be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Address all editorial correspondence to Biblical Archeologist, 1053 LSA Building, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109. Address business correspondence to Scholars Press, P.O. Box 5207, Missoula, MT 59806. Second class postage paid at Ann Arbor, MI 48106. topyright C 1978 American Schools of Oriental Research. Annual subscription: $10.00. Current single issues: $2.50. Printed in the United States of America.

Editor: David Noel Freedman, The University of Michigan

Editorial Committee: Frank M. Cross, Harvard University Edward F. Campbell, Jr., McCormick Theological Seminary John S. Holladay, Jr., University of Toronto H. Darrell Lance, Colgate-Rochester Divinity School

Credits

Cover A copy of Tablet I, column i, of the Atrahasis Epic.

"Wood from Mt. Ararat: Noah's ArkT': The photo on p. 139 is used with permission of Sun Classic Pictures, Inc.; the photos on pp. 140-41, copyright @ 1974 Logos International, reprinted by permission; "Lab Report P-1620" on p. 142 and the "Dendrochronological Chart" on pp. 144-45, Radiocarbon Laboratory, University of Pennsylvania. "The Atrahasis Epic and Its Significance for Our Understanding of Genesis 9": the copy on the cover and pp. 151 and 172 are published by the permission of the Trustees of the British Museum; the copy on p. 153 is published by permission of the Clarendon Press. "The First Two Seasons at Tell Halif": all photos were made by Patricia O'Connor, designhouse, Barat College, Lake Forest, IL. "I, Justus, Lie Here": all photos and map supplied by J. Kaplan.

FBIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST Lloyd R. Bailey

137

WOOD FROM "MOUNT ARARAT": NOAH'S ARK? Fragments of beams found on a Turkish mountain peak are analyzed by various methods to determine whether they are in any way related to Noah's ark.

Tikva Frymer-Kensky

147

THE ATRAHASIS EPIC AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE FOR OUR UNDERSTANDING OF GENESIS 1-9 Enlil, in a fit of anger at the raucous behavior of humankind, destroys everyone except Atrahasis and those who cohabit his ark. How does this Babylonian story help us understand the biblical account of the flood?

Joe D. Seger and Oded Borowski

156

THE FIRST TWO SEASONS AT TELL HALIF A small bowl with a pomegranate molded at its center provides a clue for the identification of Tell Halif.

Jacob Kaplan

167

"I, JUSTUS, LIE HERE": THE DISCOVERY OF BETH SHEARIM Two boys chasing a fox find an extensive catacomb, resulting in the first excavations by Israeli archeologists.

134

LETTER TO THE READERS

135

NEWS FROM THE FIELD

172

COLOPHON

Letter to the Readers

THE FLOOD AND OTHER MATTERS

Speculation about the Flood Story and the possibility of locating Noah's Ark, or remains of it, on top of Mt. Ararat is a hardy perennial. In recent years widespread publicity has been given to a series of expeditions to the mountain country of Turkey, and reports of sensational discoveries have appeared in the press and other media. More recently a book and moving picture on the subject have been released and widely circulated. Since the subject is an important one, and of great interest to readers and students of the Bible, and in the interest of clarifying the situation, which has been confused by widespread misunderstanding of the nature of the evidence and the reliability of the claims made, Biblical Archeologist is presenting a serious scholarly study with a careful evaluation of the available data by Professor Lloyd Bailey of Duke University. Especially at a time when remarkable discoveries are being reported, it is very important to weigh claims and the evidence of them very carefully and to present a sober evaluation so that people will not be misled by rhetorical flourishes and fancy packaging. While on the subject of the flood, in another article Professor Tikva Frymer-Kensky of Wayne State University calls attention to unusual parallels between the biblical account and the Akkadian version, which otherwise differs in important respects. It is important to remember that the story of a great flood is one of the most widespread traditions in human culture, and the question of possible or probable relations, literary and cultural among them, has concerned scholars for generations. A major issue is whether the stories have spread from a common source, being modified and adapted to local circumstances in the process, or whether they arose spontaneously in different parts of the world as the result of historical experience of major cataclysms. It may well be that the truth lies somewhere between the extremes, and the surviving stories are an

134

amalgam of the interaction of multiple influences. Nevertheless behind the oldest traditions found in Near Eastern sources, there may well be an actual flood of gigantic proportions dating from one of the pluvial periods (corresponding to the great glacial advances) many thousands of years ago. This is not quite the same thing as finding a piece of Noah's ark, but in the long run it may be more significant for biblical and humanistic studies. We are also happy to include in this issue of Biblical Archeologist a report on the first two seasons of excavations at Tell Halif in southern Judah, not far from Beer-sheba. While the ancient name of the site remains uncertain (for an intriguing possibility, see the proposal in the article), there can be no doubt that it was a major center of military and commercial activity for the better part of two millennia, including the heyday of the monarchy in biblical times. Future seasons of digging should establish the identity of the site and produce much additional information about its history. The other article reflects the broad range, geographically and chronologically, of the subject matter of Biblical Archeologist: "'I, Justus, Lie Here': The Discovery of Beth Shearim," by Jacob Kaplan. With this number we earnestly hope that the long night of delays and postponements, missed deadlines and missing numbers, will come to an end and a new era of prompt publication and punctual distribution will begin. We are deeply grateful to our members and subscribers who have kept the faith and endured patiently, and we promise better treatment in the future. D. N. Freedman

DECEMBER1977

News from the Field

Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira The coastal flatland along the southeasternend of the Dead Sea in Jordancontinuesto revealnew and startling material, according to Walter A. Rast and R. Thomas Schaub,co-directorsof excavationsat Bab edh-Dhraand Numeira.The expeditionwas in the field from 23 May to 7 July 1977. At the town site of Bab edh-Dhra, a depth of some 5 m. of Early Bronze Age debrishas been located in the interiorof the town. The debriscontainsa continuoussequenceof livingsurfaces which, as they are excavated,are beginningto supply some excellentseriationsof EarlyBronzeAge material remainsin the successivephases. On the north end of the town a sturdymud-brickwall, uncoveredin a small trench during 1977, may either be part of a tower or, more likely, the northerndefensivewall of the city in one of its phases.Two bronzespearheadsand a potter's wheel were found in debrisagainstthe wall. Above the wall Early Bronze IV remains which had cut into it contained some of the finest stratifiedEB IV pottery yet found at Bab edh-Dhra. On the southwest and highest part of the city a rectangularstructurewith a large paved court and a circularinstallationmay be the remainsof the Early BronzeAge sanctuaryat the site. A seal impressionon a potterysherdcontaininga geometric motif also came from the site during the 1977 excavations. Under physical anthropologistsDonald Ortner and Michael Finnegan, the Smithsonian Institution provided the support for a major study of the human remains within the Bab edh-Dhra cemetery. A total of 13 shafts with 33 chambers was cleared during 1977. Many of the chambers were in undisturbed condition, and two are being prepared for exhibit in the new section of the Smithsonian soon to open. Particularly striking was one shaft containing four chambers. Three of these contained disarticulated bone piles with EB IA or Proto-Urban A pottery, while a fourth had an

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

extended,whole burialaccompaniedby Proto-UrbanB painted pottery types. The association of these four chamberswith a single shaft constitutesunambiguous evidencefor the relationof the earlytombsat Bab edhDhra, just as it throws light on the connectionof the Proto-Urban A and B peoples. For the first time excavationswereconductedat the untouchedEB III site of Numeira,13 km. south of Bab edh-Dhra,discoveredin 1973. The site is a single period site whose remains often lie intact beneath approximately1 1/2 to 2 m. of destructiondebris.In a seriesof rooms built adjacentto the southerndefensive wall, evidencefor stone-linedstoragepits came to light. On the floor of one room a hoardof carbonized,whole grapes was retrieved,along with much pottery. The rooms normally contained a door socket next to the entrance.The two most importantobjectswerea large clay installation,nearly 1 1/2 m. in depth with apertures at the bottom, for which no parallelshave been found; and a cylinderseal impressionaroundthe entire shoulder of a whole jar, showing north Syrian or Mesopotamianinfluence. WALTER A. RAST VALPARAISO UNIVERSITY

Amman Airport Temple Destroyed Though the Amman airport authoritieshad at firstdecidedto worktogetherwith ASOR archeologists and the Jordanian Department of Antiquitiesin reconstituting the Late Bronze Age Amman Airport temple for touristicpurposes,it was decided, after the 1976 ASOR project had left the field and in spite of spirited objections on the part of the Departmentof Antiquities,to bulldoze the remainsso that the apron runway could be straightenedand widenedto accommodate jumbo jets. Such is the price of expansion. Thus, earlier reports that the temple would be preserved have been undermined. While the remainswereonly about a meterhigh and nothing like the imposingruins of Jerashor other similar Roman cities nearby, it was an important structure: large quantities of burned human bone fragments indicate either a center for human sacrifice (J. B. Hennessy, 1966 excavator) or a mortuary complex (ASOR excavators). Its demise is greeted with regret. Fortunately, according to the 1976 excavators (see Newsletter, No. 2, Aug., 1977), nothing remained that could have been excavated profitably. LARRYG. HERR ANDREWS

UNIVERSITY

135

ACOR Survey in Syria Following fruitful conversations in January, 1977betweenDr. Philip J. King, Presidentof ASOR, and Dr. Afif Bahnassi,Directorof the Departmentof Antiquitiesof Syria,ASOR and ACOR planneda twoweek archeologicalsurvey in Syria for the summerof 1977. The principal staff members were James and Susan Sauer, William Fulco, and David and Linda McCreery,all from ACOR, and MajedMousselyfrom the SyrianDepartmentof Antiquities.The new ACOR four-wheel-driveToyota Land Cruiserand the Sauer car were used as vehicles, and the group camped out most nights.The maingoal of the surveywas to visit as many archeological sites as possible in the major regions of Syria, with the exception of the interior desert areas, so that recommendationscould be made about a region for possible intensivesurvey work by ASOR and ACOR in the future. Coveredduring the surveywerethe followingregions:(1) UpperEuphrates; (2) Balikh;(3) Khabur;(4) LowerEuphrates;(5) Aleppo; (6) Coast; (7) Orontes (Homs, Hama); (8) HomsDamascus;(9) Damascus-Deracah.Sites of all periods were visited, from Lower Paleolithicto Ottoman,but the emphasiswas on the tells which were visible from the major roads. In all, 83 sites were visited, and artifactswerecollectedfrom 70 of them. In additionto the normalsherdsand flints, a few objectswerefound, includingcomplete and restorablepots, a fine Lower Paleolithichand axe, coins, figurinefragments,a decorated bone fragment, and stamped jar-handles.The artifacts are now in a special room in the Damascus Museum,and during the wintersome of them will be broughtto ACOR in Amman as a teachingand study collection. A detailed report on the survey, including the recommendationswhich came from it, will be publishedshortly in BASOR. A more populararticle will also appear soon in Biblical Archeologist.

Prehistoric Survey in South Jordan Dr. Donald O. Henryof the Universityof Tulsa, working through the ACOR, Amman, carried out a preliminary survey of prehistoric sites in the Ras enNaqb area of South Jordan during early September, 1977. Henry is now applying to the National Science Foundation for a grant to conduct a major survey in that region, starting in the summer of 1978. Jordan is extremely rich in prehistoric remains, and this project fits into ACOR's overall strategy for studying those remains in the years ahead.

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ACOR Moves to New Facilities On 2 July 1977the AmericanCenterof Oriental Researchin Amman, Jordan, moved into a new twostory buildingnearthe 5th Circleof Jebel Amman.The just-completed,modernbuildinghas more libraryand workroom space, as well as a hostel for up to eight persons. The ACOR director can still be reached at POB 2470, Jebel Amman, Amman, Jordan.

Department of Archeology at Universityof Jordan During the summerof 1977,a separateDepartment of Archeology was formed at the Universityof Jordan, Amman. The Departmenthad formerlybeen linked with history in the Departmentof Historyand Archeology. After Dr. Adnan Hadidi left the chairmanshipof the Departmentto become Directorof the Departmentof Antiquities, Dr. Safwan Tell (Islamic Archeology) became the new chairman. The other members of the Departmentare: Dr. Mahmud Abu Taleb (AncientNear EasternHistoryand Languages); Dr. KhairYassine(PalestinianArcheology);Dr. AssemBarghouti (Classical Archeology); and Dr. Nabil Khairy(Nabatean-ClassicalArcheology).The Department continues to offer B.A. and M.A. degrees in Archeology.In addition to its ArcheologicalMuseum, the Departmentnow has a newly outfittedworkroom, where excavationresultscan be processedfor publication.

Belgian Committeefor Excavationsin JordanFormed A new "Comit6Belge de Fouilles en Jordanie" has been founded. The President,Dr. P. Naster of the University of Louvain, was an ASOR Fellow at Baghdadin 1947-48.He and two other membersof the Committee, Mrs. D. Hombs-Fredericqof the Mus6es Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire and the University of Brussels,and Prof. H. De Meulenaereof the Mus6es Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire and the University of Ghent, visited Jordan in October, 1977. Using ACOR as their base, they inspected numerous sites between Madeba and Kerak, looking for a Bronze Age-Iron Age site to excavate in the future. Tentatively they selected the site of el-Lahun, located on the north side of the Wadi Mojib, and they hope to return to begin excavations there in the late spring of 1978. JAMES A.

ACOR

SAUER

DIRECTOR

DECEMBER 1977

WOOD

FROM

"MOUNT

ARARAT":

NOAH'S

ARK?

LLOYD R. BAILEY

Pieces of wood, brought downfrom the slopes of a remote peak in Turkeyin 1955and 1969,havebroughtalive theclaim that the remainsof Noah'sark arestill in existence.Scientific analysisidentifiesthe species of the wood-and more importantly-its age.

Ever since the pre-Christian era, claims have appeared and reappeared that the great boat in which the family of the biblical figure Noah once escaped the waters of a universal deluge had actually survived on a mountain top somewhere in the Near East. In our own day popular magazines, books, and even a movie suggest that such a boat exists virtually intact and that reputable scientists have set its age at 5000 years. Scholarly publications, however, have all but ignored the topic, so that there are few reliable sources to which students, teachers in departments of religion, and other interested persons can turn for informed evaluation of the claims for a surviving Noah's ark. The present article, part of my forthcoming book on the entire matter, is meant to be a beginning toward filling that scholarly void. Belief in the continuing existence of the ark' has been based on a combination of evidence: ancient Lloyd R. Bailey, Associate Professor of Old Testament at the Divinity School at Duke University, was one of the

editorsof the Supplementto the Interpreter's Dictionaryof the Bible (1976). What originally started out as an article on the ark has now grown into a book, Where is Noah's Ark? (to be published in September 1978 by Abingdon Press). This article is the crucial chapter on the dating of the wood recovered by Navarra.

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

reports, eyewitness and photographic accounts in modern times, and most recently wood-retrieving expedittions in 1955 and 1969 by the French industrialist and amateur explorer Fernand Navarra. This article will concern itself with the Navarra expeditions alone, and more specifically with the analysis and dating of the wood fragments Navarra found on a Turkish mountain often identified as "Mt. Ararat." Those expeditions, and the subsequent wood analyses, touch on many of the critical questions and problems in the search for Noah's ark and thus represent a good beginning place for the renewed scholarly discussion of the matter which seems so much in order.

BackgroundProblems Two underlying issues in the search for the ark are the location of its landing place and the proper identification of its wood fragments. Ancient traditions point to at least eight landing places for the ark, including Jebel Judi in the Aja Range in the Arabian Peninsula, "Mt. Baris" (Josephus Ant. 1.3.6; possibly in the Caucasus Range), an unnamed mountain in Adiabene (Josephus Ant. 20.2.2; possibly Pira Magrun in the central Zagros Range), and Jebel Judi in the Qardu (Gordian) Range near the Tigris (according to

137

Not only have wood fragments been carried down the mountain, but a considerable amount of wood has been carried up it as well!

Targumim, Peshitta, and Muslim historians). Of the eight possible sites, only four appear to meet the requirements of the biblical text: within the boundaries of the land of Ararat (i.e., Urartu of Assyrian records). Of the four, modern focus has been on a spectacular 16,950foot tall extinct volcano that lies on the juncture of the Turkish border with Russia and Iran. It was called Masik (or Masis) by the ancient Armenians, Jebel alHarith by the Muslims, and Buyuk ("Big")Aghri Daghi (or Dagh) by the Turks. There is no evidence in Armenian literature that it was thought to be the ark's landing place prior to the 1lth-12th centuries A.D. It has come to be called "Mt. Ararat"by some westerners in the mistaken assumption that Genesis 8:4 refers to a specific mountain. It is this mountain that yielded "arkwood" to earlier expeditions (Montgomery 1972: 84232) and it is from this mountain that Navarra's expeditions retrieved the wood specimens which will be the focus of our attention. Not only is the precise location of the landing of the ark a matter for scholarly debate, but proper identification of wood fragments claimed to be from the ark may be an even more difficult task. Reports on specimens from Buyuk Aghri Daghi alone vary widely with regard to the location from which they were taken, their color (red, brown, green, blue, black), and their hardness (soft and soggy vs. so hard that a bullet or daggerwould not penetratethem). Except for Navarra's specimens, no others are available for scientific analysis. Moreover, not only have wood fragments been carried down the mountain for investigation, but a considerable amount of wood has been carried up it in recent times as well! We have records of two heavy crosses of wood being erected near the summit in 1829 by Friedrich Parrot (1855: 167-95), a scientist from the University of Dorpet; of a seven-foot cross erected high on the western slope by mineralogist Hermann von Abich in 1845; of a seven-foot cross placed on the summit by the Russian Colonel J. Khodzko and a company of 60 soldiers in 1850 (both in La Haye and Morris 1976: 54); of a "small wooden container" left at the summit by the Russian expedition headed by Ivangouloff in 1902 (Montgomery' 1972: 214). In addition, there are reports of larger structures at lower elevations, such as the monastery of St. James at an elevation of 6350 feet (Parrot 1855: 156, 238), various huts in which the Dutch traveler Jan Struys stayed as he ascended the mountain in 1670 (La Haye and Morris 1976: 24), and even a house attributed to Noah that was reported by the French Dominican Jordanus in the 14th century (Montgomery 1972: 86-88).

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These complications cannot be ignored, and they provide a necessary backdrop for any scholarly attempt to unravel the mystery of the ark search. Navarra's samples are an extremely important element in the search for the ark; they are the only specimens of wood claimed to be "ark wood" which are available today for scientific analysis. Nonradiocarbon Analysis During his 1955 expedition on Buyuk Aghri Daghi, Navarra separated a hand-hewn beam five feet long from beneath a glacier at an elevation of 13,000 feet (fig. 1; full discussion in Navarra 1974). Specimens of this beam were submitted for analysis at a number of institutions in Europe and Egypt which utilized methods of dating other than the radiocarbon method. The results (Navarra 1974: 125-32) were as follows: a. The Forestry Institute in Madrid, Spain, used a method based on color and density gain. They identified the species as white oak (Quercus pedunculata Ehrh.), said to have an average density while living of 0.800-0.850. Based on its change in color to black and its increase in density to 1.100 (during its years atop the mountain), they estimated the age of the specimen to be about five thousand years. b. The Department of Anthropology and Prehistoric Studies, the University of Bordeaux, France, using as a basis the degree of lignitization (an initial stage in the formation of coal) of the specimen, dated it to a "remote antiquity." The Quercuspedunculata identification, incidentally, was dismissed in favor of either Quercus cerris L. (average density while fresh of 0.925) or Quercus castaneifolia Mey. (average density while fresh of 0.938. c. The Center for Forestry Research and Analysis, Paris, France, is reported to have assigned an age of forty-five hundred years to the specimen (Balsiger and Sellier 1976: 185), although their documents as published by Navarra make no mention of this date or of the criteria for dating. They identified the wood as Quercus robur L. d. An "expert" at the Cairo Museum, without conducting any scientific tests, is said to have assigned an age of four to six thousand years. These results, based on color, density changes, and the degree of lignitization, and apparently also on cell degradation and degree of fossilization, are summarized in the movie "In Search of Noah's Ark" (Balsiger and Sellier 1976: 181). They are said to indicate an age of about five thousand years. Since biblical literalists date the Flood ca. 2450 B.c. (not without

DECEMBER 1977

difficulties, cf. De Vries 1976), this seemed to be confirmation that the ark not only had survived but undeniably had been recovered.

Evaluation of NonradiocarbonAnalyses Thereare significantreservationsto be expressed about each of these analyses:essentially,they are not based on recognizedcriteriaand they involve uncontrolled variables. The criterion of density gain, for example, is based on no universallyacceptedformula (cf. the North Carolina State University evaluation below). Furthermore,even those who use this criterion agree that its determinationis dependenton a perfect identificationof the species of wood being examined, since each species has a peculiar average density while

growing factor. The Madrid Forestry Institutedating noted above (5000 years)assumedthat the specieswas

Dating criteria based on density, color, and degree of lignitization are all problematical. Quercuspedunculatawith an averagedensity of 0.825 (so that the density change to 1.100 is 0.275). The Bordeaux report, to the contrary, assumes different species and density changes of only 0.175 or, alternatively, 0.162. If we assume a linear rate of change, the

age of Navarra'swood would be reducedto 3200 or

2950 years.2 The problems with the density criterion do not even end here, we must note. Since each tree of a

species has a specific environmentwhile growing, it is precariousto quote an "averagedensity"for a species when variations in environment can be sufficiently extremeas to make the "average"meaningless.Finally, the Madrid report notes that the specimensubmitted for analysisby Navarrahad two "consistencies:" a soft outer area and a hard inner core. The report, as contained in Navarra (1974: 127), is surprisingly ambiguous as to whether the present density of 1.100 applies

to the totality of the specimen or to the inner core alone. The other criteria, all based in one way or anotheron degradationof the wood, are equallyproblematical. Wood fossilization(presumablysilicification is meant)and the relateddegradationprocessesare also dependent on environmentalfactors such as available moisture, contents of the moisture (amounts of miner-

als in solution, pH level), aeration, temperature,and sedimentary setting (including pressure applied and BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

FernandNavarraposes with the beamwhich he recoveredfrom a crevassenearthe snow line on Buyuk Aghri Daghi in 1955.

139

Navarra'sbeam (1955), showing the sections into which it was subsequentlydivided (above). Note how the diameter(and hence the number of annular rings) increasesfrom one end to the other. Radiocarbontest results should vary dependingupon the location from which the individualtest specimenswere taken. A close-up of a piece of this wood (right) shows the section at the extreme left of the top photo.

extent of oxygen exclusion). The length of time during which the environmental factors have been operative is also an important variable. North Carolina State University paleobotanists (in personal communications) have indicated that environments may differ so radically that 12-thousand-year-old specimens may be more fossilized than others which are 12 million years old, and we have learned that in the initial stages siliceous fossilization may under optimum conditions be observed in as few as 13 years (Leo and Barghoorn 1976: 27). Thus, no simple linear fossilization or degradation formulas for computing the age of wood specimens are feasible (e.g., x extent of fossilization or related condition indicates y amount of time which has passed). Such formulas could be derived only if (a) all the environmental factors which are operative at the 13,500foot level of Buyuk Aghri Daghi were known, (b), if the history of the mountain were known so that we could ascertain the constancy of environmental factors or their changes (we know, for example, of two volcanic eruptions), and (c), a control specimen were available to show that wood subjected to conditions similar to those on the mountain fossilizes at a certain rate. None of this information has been determined, and no control sample is available, so that the attempts to date the Navarra wood by these criteria are of little value. As for the dark color of the wood, Dr. Francis Kukachka of the U. S. Forest Service, Wood Identification Bureau (Madison, WI), remarks: "The dark

140

color and hardness of the wood is characteristic of white oak wood which has been exposed for a long period of time to water containing iron. The tannin in the wood reacts with the iron producing the characteristic color and hardness and apparently makes the wood very resistant to natural degradation" (so his letter to the University of Pennsylvania Radiocarbon Laboratory, as quoted by Noorbergen 1974: 143; see a reference to this in Report P-1620, attached to this article). Kukachka is here speaking of the 1969 wood, and I assume that the same remarks would apply to the 1955 specimens. Dr. Kukachka has informed me (by phone) that he has seen specimens of white oak which had reached a color approximating that of Navarra's wood after having been immersed in water in a natural setting for no more than 100 years! I assume, therefore, that change-of-color as a means of dating the wood is totally worthless. I have submitted the documents of the research institutes noted above, as published in Navarra, to the Department of Wood and Paper Science of North Carolina State University's School of Forest Resources for evaluation. The reply included the following summary: Degree of "lignitization,"gain in wood density, cell modification[degradation],and degreeof fossilization are most unrealiableestimates of aging of naturally exposedwood. The exposurevariablesare so unknown,

DECEMBER1977

and so unpredictable,that to applysteady-statelaboratory degradationformulasjust is not crediblefor these purposes.Certainlycolor is the leastprecisecriterionof aging that I could suppose. .... I find it impossibleto accept an age of 5000 yearsfor the wood specimensin question, but I would accept a date in the earlycenturies of the Christianera. (Professor A. D. Barefoot, personal communication, 15 June 1977) Similarly, one of the most ardent present-day searchers for the ark, John Morris (1977: iv) in speaking of these same four criteria as outlined above, considers them to be "highly subjective and unreliable techniques . . . rather uncertain estimates . . . rejected by most scientists."

The Radiocarbon Method for Dating the Past Radiocarbon dating, developed after World War II by Dr. Willard F. Libby at the University of Chicago, determines the age of things that lived during the last twenty to thirty thousand years b4 measuring the amount of Carbon 14 they contain. C' is an unstable (radioactive) heavy form of carbon with an atomic weight of 14 (normal stable carbon has an atomic weight of 12). Its half-life, formerly thought to be 5568 years, is now known to be 5730 years by recent calculations. This means that an ounce of C 4 is reduced by decay to half an ounce in 5730 years, that half of the remainder decays during the next 5730 years, leaving a quarter of an ounce, and so on.

Close-ups of the other two sections of Navarra'sbeam (1955).

BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST

141

Based on the C14 content of living matter today and the disintegration rate of C14, it is possible to calculate the age of an organic sample.

C'4 forms constantly in the earth's upper atmosthen combines with oxygen to form a variety and phere of carbon dioxide which becomes mixed in the earth's atmosphere and enters all living things through plant photosynthesis. When a plant or animal dies, there is no further intake of C'4, but that already present at death goes on disintegrating at a constant rate, so that the amount of C'4 remaining is proportional to the time elapsed since death. Based on the C'4 content of living matter today and the half-life (disintegration rate) of C'4, it is possible to calculate the age of an organic sample. The actual laboratory procedure for radiocarbon dating involves burning the sample to reduce it to pure carbon and then measuring its radioactivity (rate of atomic disintegration) in a form of geiger counter. The measurement is expressed as the number of C'4 disintegrations per minute per gram of carbon. Contemporary living samples (1950 is the standard date for all calculations) have a 15.3 for this value; it is 7.65 for samples 5730 years old, and 3.83 for samples twice that age. The actual sample is compared with these values to determine its age. The margin of error (expressed as '" x years") is no more than 10%back to 1000 B.C.and 20% to 3000 B.C. Radiocarbon Analyses, 1955 Specimens A number of laboratories have subjected specimens from the beam brought down from the mountain by Navarra in 1955 to radiocarbon analysis. The results can be summarized as follows: a. The National Physical Laboratory (Teddington, Middlesex, England): 1190 + 90 years = 760 A.D. Corrected for the most recent half-life calculation of 5730, the date is A.D. 770-790. b. The University of California at Los Angeles: 1230 + 60 = A.D. 720. c. The University of California at Riverside: 1210 ? 90 = A.D. 740. d. Teledyne Isotopes (formerly Isotopes, Inc.) at Westwood, NJ. I have not been able to secure a published report of this test but have confirmed it orally with Mr. James Buckley of Teledyne. He recalls that the test results diverged "by a couple of centuries" from those of the other labs. e. Geochron Laboratories, (Cambridge, MA): 1690+ 120 = A.D.260. (Sample No. Gx 1668;uncorrected 5568 half-life date.) The lab's director (Harold Krueger) has informed me that the test specimen was "inadequate:" only one-half the amount of wood needed to fill the smallest counter.

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Reports in the secondary literature that laboratories at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California at San Diego (La Jolla) have also conducted C'4 tests on these 1955 specimens have proven to be false. It appears that a healthy level of skepticism is in order when approaching almost any aspect of this discussion. Radiocarbon Analyses, 1969 Specimens In 1969 Navarra returned to Buyuk Aghri Daghi with members of a group calling themselves The Search Foundation, and more wood was found. We have been able to verify only two radiocarbon analyses of a specimen from this expedition: a. The University of Pennsylvania Radiocarbon Laboratory: the result, corrected for the 5730 half-life calculation, is 1320 ? 50 = A.D. 640 ? 50 (see report below).4 b. Geochron Laboratories: 1350 + 95 = A.D. 600. If converted to the 5730 half-life and "corrected," the result is A.D.620-640.

P-1620

Mount Ararat

1320 -+ 50 (B.P. 1950 - 5568 half-life) *A.D. 640 ? 50 - MASCA corrected half-life date Wood sample from tree belonging to white oak group (Quercus sp) from very large timber structure under 30 cm of ice and moraine, 400 m above sea level on SW face of Mount Ararat (390 20' N, 440 00' E), Turkey. Wood id by B. F. Kukachka, Forest Prod Lab, U.S. Dept. of Agric., Madison, Wisc. Sample coll 1969 and subm by SEARCH Foundation Inc. Previous date for wood from same structure 1190 + 90 (NPL-61), R, 1965, v 7, p 161. (Navarra 1956). Comment: evidently not the Ark. Callow, W. J., Barker, M. J., and Hassall, G. 1., 1965, National Physical Laboratory radiocarbon measurements III: Radiocarbon v 7, p 156-61. Navarra, Fernand, 1956, J'ai trouve I'Arche de Noe: FranceEmpire, 68, Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Paris 1. Permission to reproduce granted by the Radiocarbon Laboratory, University of Pennsylvania.

Lab. ReportP-1620,showingthe resultsof tests performedby the Universityof PennsylvaniaRadiocarbonLaboratoryon Navarra's1969wood specimens. Note the verdict:"evidentlynot the Ark."

DECEMBER1977

These analysespresentclear challengesto those who posit a greatantiquityfor the Navarrabeamsfrom BuyukAghriDaghi. Some of thoseproponents-including Navarrahimself-choose to ignorethemcompletely; others posit repairs to the ark as the origin of this obviously"young"wood (that Navarrawould have had the ill fortune to bring back only such repairwood on both of his expeditions is not seen as an excessive coincidence), and others deny the validity of radiocarbon analysis itself.' Probably the most common objection (Montgomery 1972: 255; La Haye and Morris 1976: 132; Balsigerand Sellier 1976:190)has been that the results divergeso widely one from the other that they must be dismissed,or minimallyserveto indicatethe unreliability of the analytical method itself. In response, it is quite clear that of the four verified C14 tests on the 1955 beam, three are in very close agreement.The maximumdifferencebetweenthem is but 40 years(and this is with an expressedmarginof errorof + 60 to ? 90 years). The fifth analysis,by Teledyne,which allegedly divergesby as muchas "acouple of centuries"from the others,as well as that of Geochron,could be accounted for by the fact that the tests do not indicate the radiocarbondate for the entirebeam found by Navarra but only of the smallerpieces which were detachedby him for shipmentto the various labs. The labs usually will have removeda muchsmallersection (accordingto Olsson 1970:305, about ten annualrings)for the actual analysis. Thus, dates from the various analysesmight differ by as much as the entiregrowth-ageof the beam which Navarra removed from the mountain: years, perhaps centuries.Navarra'sown documentsare very imprecisein this regard. He seems to have submitted on at least one occasion(1974:24) a cross-sectionof 13 cm. with annual rings varying in thickness from 2-4 mm. Providedthat the specimenssubmittedelsewhere were of the same cross section (whichwe do not know to be the case), this alone would allow for a variation in the results of ca. 32-65 years. When added to the standard60-90 year marginof error,the Teledyneand Geochron results begin to conform to the very strong consensus of the other verified C'4 tests. When we

to the other, it is simple to understandthat sections removedat randomfor C'4 analysiscould differin age by many years. As for the 1969 results, which agree very well with each other, it need occasionno surprisethat they diverge by ca. 100 years from the results of the 1955 specimens.After all, we are dealingwith two separate beams (trees?), which may or may not be from the same structure.The tests, in any case, indicatethe date at whichpart of the tree grew,not the date at whichthe entire beam was placed in a structure.The 1969 test results do not provide a base for objecting to the radiocarbonanalyses. In fact, there is amazing consensus. Another objectionhas been that the elevationat which the wood has so long remained(about 13,500 feet) might have an effect on the accuracyof the test results.Exposedto a higheramountof cosmicradiation (becauseof less atmosphericshielding)and hence to a higherlevel of C'4, the specimensmightappearyounger than they actuallyare (La Haye and Morris1976:132). However, in unrelatedtests (Science News 111: 198), specimens of wood from near sea level and from ca. 10,000 feet (both of the same age as verifiedby count of annual rings) have revealed the same amount of C'4. Thus, altitude will have had no effect upon the accuracyof the radiocarbonanalysesof Navarra'swood. An additionalobjectionhas been that Navarra's wood may have been subjectedto contaminationby means of water soluble C'4 and that this may have contributedto a false radiocarbonreading (La Haye and Morris 1976: 132; Balsigerand Sellier 1976: 189). However,the earlytest conductedat Teddington(where apparentlyno decontaminationprocedureswere followed?)comparesfavorablywith that at the University of Californiaat Los Angeles where specific steps were taken to removesecondarymaterialsand meet this very objection(Science News 111:198-99).Hence, C'4 contaminationhas been minimal. Stringentdecontamination procedures,we mightnote, are now standardprior to radiocarbonanalysis. When radiocarbonscientiststhemselvesdiscuss the divergenceof C'4-deriveddatesfromabsolutedates, they focus generally on three major factors (Suess 1970):(1) change in the productionrate of CL4in the earth's atmospherecaused by variationsin cosmic ray

note, further, the photographic evidence (Navarra 1974: following 76) to the effect that the single beam which he recovered from the crevasse was then cut into four (or three?) pieces to facilitate its removal from the mountain and that in its original state it diminished radically in diameter and number of rings from one end

intensity (the latter being dependent upon the interplanetary magnetic field, solar-flare variations, supernova variations, and the like (Lingenfelter and Ramaty 1970), (2) changes in the C'4 production rate caused by variations in the earth's magnetic field, ranging from 1.6 times its present value about 400 B.C.to 0.5 of its

Evaluation of Radiocarbon Analyses

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

143

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DATES OBTAINEDBY THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA PHILADELPHIA.

1000

about 50 years: 1360 - 50 = 1310; 1950 - 1310

640. See the accompanyingreport, P-1620.

The best control on radiocarbon dating of wood is comparison of C14-derived dates with dates derived from annular ring counts. present value about 4000 B.C. (Bucha 1970), and (3) change in the C'4 balance between the oceans and the atmosphere, caused by changes in global climate (Labeyrie, Delibrias, and Duplessy 1970). These and other lesser factors have been studied carefully, and voluminous statistics have been compiled in order to allow compensation for them in radiocarbon-age determinations. For example it has been determined that the amount of C'4 in the atmosphere varies with the latitude, caused in part by the concentrations of oceans in the Southern Hemisphere; hence there is about 4% less at 42? South than at 42? North, since the greater expanse of oceans means greater absorption. Contemporaneous samples from the two hemispheres have been tested and those from the South appear to be 40

144

1

I

0

dates(i.e., "true"age Comparisonof dendrochronological as determinedby annularringcount) with radiocarbon dates for the same sample.For example,dendro-dated samplesfrom 2000 B.C.tend to give a radiocarbon readingwhichdeviatesabout 350 yearson the average. That is, one would need to add about 350 yearsto the radiocarbonage in orderto approximatethe "true"or "corrected" age. But Navarra's1969wood, radiocarbon age 1320(5568 half-life),multipliedby 1.03= 1360(5730 half-life), i.e., A.D. 590, needs "correcting"by subtracting A.D.

1

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DATESOBTAINEDBY THE UNIVERSITYOF ARIZONATUCSON.

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years older than those from the North (Lerman, Meek, and Vogel 1970). The most reliable and wide-ranging correction for this and the other aforementioned factors, now standard procedure, is comparison of C'4-derived dates with dendro-dates (annular ring counts) of the same specimens. Dendrochronologists, working primarily with the annular rings of bristlecone pines Pinus aristata Engelm.), now have a reliable chronology stretching back about seventy-five hundred years (Olsson 1970: 223-333). The results, roughly, are that for tree-ring dated samples from 1000 B.C. and later, radiocarbon dates will be accurate within about 100 years; from about 2000 B.C.the adjustment is about 350 years; from 3000 B.C.it is about 600 years; from 5000 B.C. it is about 800 years. For material from earlier periods (beyond the range of the dendrochronological check!) the divergence probably would be greater (Michael and Ralph 1970; Ralph, Michael and Han 1973). The dendrochronological check on radiocarbon dating is not without its own problems, the primary one being that some species of trees may under certain climatic conditions (such as late frost), produce more than one ring per year. Fortunately, however, this has been "extremely rare" in the carefully checked history of bristlecone pines (Glock and Agerter 1963: 9-13; Ferguson 1968: 840). Returning to Navarra's wood, it makes no sense to point to an 800-year margin of error as some proponents of the ark discovery do (Balsiger and Sellier 1976: 189), since the age-range to which that margin of error applies is far removed from that of the Navarra

DECEMBER1977

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It makes no sense to point to an 800-year margin of error as some proponents of the ark discovery do.

test results. More to the point, radiocarbon dates in the period A.D.450-974, as checked by tree-ring samples, are proven accurate within 50 years! To make matters even more convincing, radiocarbon dates during this period tend to be 50 years too old, so that Navarra's wood is probably even younger than the corrected tests indicate! (For details, see chart above). Likewise, it serves no purpose for proponents of the early dating to point out that archeologists often make little use of radiocarbon tests for objects they recover (La Haye and Morris 1976: 132-33). It is simply that the archeologist working in the historical period needs dates that are accurate within a few decades (rarely more than a century), and radiocarbon does not yield such precise results (especially for items older than 1000 B.C.). For these needs other techniques such as ceramic typology are more precise and helpful. The

limitation is fine precision, not gross error (Olsson 1970: 23-126)! Radiocarbon is a reliable dating method, especially when checked by the bristlecone pine correlation. It is also valuable for dating prehistoric artifacts from regions without well-established ceramic sequences or documentary traditions. In conclusion, radiocarbon analysis leads us to the firm conviction that the beams of wood found on Buyuk Aghri Daghi by Fernand Navarra are not older than the 7-8th centuries A.D. The nonradiocarbon analyses which would date the wood much earlier have proved to have little or no value. We agree with John Morris, who, we suspect, would like to have been able to conclude otherwise, when he states: "The Navarra wood remains highly questionable in origin, and Navarra's claim to have found the Ark is at best premature" (Morris 1977: iv).7

NOTES 'For the case for the ark's continued existence, see Balsiger and Sellier 1976; La Haye and Morris 1976; Montgomery 1972; Morris 1977; Navarra 1974; Noorbergen 1974. 2The formula used would be: 0.475 x 0.275 5000 3Laboratory results, as listed, can be found in Radiocarbon 7 (1965): 161; Science News 111.13 (1977): 198-99 (and confirmed by telephone with Laboratory Director, Professor Rainer Berger); Science News 111.13 (1977): 198-99 (and confirmed by telephone with Professor R. E. Taylor of the Department of Anthropology, who indicated that he and Professor Berger are preparing an article examining all the C'4 evidence in this matter).

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

Radiocarbon laboratories file test results under the name of the submitter of the specimen rather than the location where it was found, which makes retrieval of results more difficult. False reports of analyses are found in Science News 97.24 (1970): 574; Christianity Today 13.24 (1969): 48; Balsiger and Sellier 1976: 185-86. The Publisher's Foreword to Navarra (xi) lists an age of 1500 years but does not identify the laboratory. Listing Navarra's book as his source, William Stiebing (The Biblical Archeology Review 2: 2, 17) gives a range of A.D.450-750! One can scarcely believe anything published concerning this topic in popular works. The University of Pennsylvania analysis was of a 1969 specimen (see below).

145

4Navarra 1974: 70-94; The New York Times, 27 Feb. 1970: 39; 1 March 1970: section iv, 8. The lab date is to be published in Radiocarbon (probably vol. 19) and is quoted here with the kind permission of Ms. Barbara Lawn on behalf of the University of Pennsylvania Radiocarbon Laboratory. 'Navarra himself is silent, in his book, in contrast to a brief note in the Publisher's Foreword. The repair wood theory is cited in The New York Times, 1 March 1970: section iv, 8. For generally informed but dated objections to the method itself, from the point of view of someone sympathetic to biblical chronology, see Whitcomb and Morris 1961: 370-79. For limitations of the method as discussed by radiocarbon scientists, see Olsson 1970, with the review by Adams 1973: 253-56. Johnston (1973) provides an excellent general discussion.

6Indicative of the confusion regarding the whole matter, Navarra's own book is undecided on the number of pieces into which the beam was cut. He reports that it was four (caption to fourth photo page, following page 76) but then speaks of the "three pieces.. . refitted" (caption to sixth photo). Further, the beam as reconstructed from its pieces (photos above) is strikingly dissimilar to what is allegedly the same beam in its original position atop the mountain (second and third photo pages). This may be due, however, to the perspective from which the photos were taken or to Navarra's chopping activities. 7Morris' statement about the questionable origin of the wood is perhaps an allusion to the charge allegedly made by some of Navarra's associates that both the 1955 and the 1969 specimens involved "fraud" (La Haye and Morris 1976: 133-34, 157-60; Noorbergen 1974: 161-62).

BIBLIOGRAPHY Adams, Robert 1973 Review of Radiocarbon Variations and Absolute Chronology, ed. Ingrid Olsson. Journal of Near Eastern Studies 32: 253-56. Balsiger, D., and Sellier, C. E. Jr. 1976 In Search of Noah's Ark. Los Angeles: Sun Classic Books. Bucha, V. 1970 Influence of the Earth's Magnetic Field on Radiocarbon Dating. Pp. 501-11 in Radiocarbon Variations and Absolute Chronology, ed. Ingrid Olsson. New York: John Wiley and Sons. De Vries, S. J. 1962 Chronology, OT. Pp. 580-99 in vol. I of The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, ed. George Buttrick. Nashville, TN: Abingdon. 1976 Chronology, OT. Pp. 161-66 in The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, Supplementary Volume, ed. Keith Crim. Nashville, TN: Abingdon. Ferguson, C. W. 1968 Bristlecone Pine: Science and Ethics. Science 159: 839-46. Glock, W. S., and Agerter, S. 1963 Anomalous Patterns in Tree Rings. Endeavor 22: 9-13. Johnston, J. O. D. 1973 The Problems of Radiocarbon Dating. Palestine Exploration Quarterly 105: 13-26. Labeyrie, G.; Delibrias, G.; and Duplessy, J. C. 1970 The Possible Origin of Natural Carbon Radioactivity Fluctuations in the Past. Pp. 539-47 in Radiocarbon Variations and Absolute Chronology, ed. Ingrid Olsson. New York: John Wiley and Sons. La Haye, T., and Morris, J. 1976 The Ark on Ararat. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson. Leo, R. F., and Barghoorn, E. S. 1976 Silicification of Wood. Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University 25, no. 1. Lerman, J. C.; Meek, W. C.; and Vogel, J. C. 1970 C'4 in Tree Rings from Different Localities. Pp. 275-301 in Radiocarbon Variations and Absolute Chronology, ed. Ingrid Olsson. New York: John Wiley and Sons.

146

Lingenfelter, R. E., and Ramaty, R. 1970 Astrophysical and Geophysical Variations in C'4 Production. Pp. 513-37 in Radiocarbon Variations and Absolute Chronology, ed. Indrid Olsson. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Michael, H. N., and Ralph, E. K. 1970 Correction Factors Applied to Egyptian Radiocarbon Dates from the Era Before Christ. Pp. 109-20 in Radiocarbon Variations and Absolute Chronology, ed. Ingrid Olsson. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Montgomery, J. W. 1972 The Questfor Noah's Ark. Second Edition. Minneapolis: Bethany Fellowship, Dimension Books. Morris, J. D. 1977 Noah's Ark Goes to Hollywood. Institute for Creation Research Impact Series no. 47, in Acts and Facts 6, no. 5. Navarra, Fernand 1974 Noah's Ark, I Touched It. Edited by Dave Balsiger. Translated from the French by Richard Utt. Plainfield, NJ: Logos International. Noorbergen, Rene 1974 The Ark File. Omaha: Pacific Publishing Association. Olsson, Ingrid, ed. 1970 Radiocarbon Variations and Absolute Chronology. Nobel Symposium 12. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Parrot, Friedrich 1855 Journey to Ararat. New York: Harper and Brothers. Ralph, E. K.; Michael, H. N.; and Han, M.C. 1973 Radiocarbon Dates and Reality. MASCA Newsletter 9, no. 1. Philadelphia: The University Museum. Science News 97, no. 24. (June 13, 1970): 574. In the Wake of the Ark. Science News 111, no. 13 (March 26, 1977): 198-99. Ararat 'Ark' Wood Dated to A.D.700. Seuss, H. 1970 The Three Causes of the Secular C'4 Fluctuations. Pp. 595-605 in Radiocarbon Variations and Absolute Chronology, ed. Ingrid Olsson. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Whitcomb, J. C., and Morris, H. M. 1961 The Genesis Flood. Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed.

DECEMBER 1977

ATRAHASIS

THE

FOR

OUR

EPIC

AND

ITS

SIGNIFICANCE

OF GENESIS UNDERSTANDING

1-9

Dedicated to the memory of J. J. Finkelsteinwhose unique genius is sorely missed.

TIKVA FRYMER-KENSKY

The Babylonian Epic of Atrahasis, written no later than

1700 B.C.E., is an ancient Primeval History of Man which

relates the story of manfrom the events that resultedin his creationuntil after theflood. Therecentrecoveryof this epic has enormous importancefor understandingthe great cosmological cycle of Genesis1-9,for it enablesus to appreciate the major themes of this cyclefrom a new perspective. The Babylonian Flood Stories Millard,Atrahasis:TheBabylonianStoryof the Flood, Oxford, 1969)can only be understoodwith the aid of Three'differentBabylonianstories of the flood the other known flood stories. The Gilgamesh Epic have survived:the Sumerian Flood Story, the ninth a differentproblemfor comparativeanalysis. presents tablet of the GilgameshEpic, and the AtrahasisEpic. Here the flood story is clearly in a secondarycontext, Details in these stories, such as the placing of animals more importantly,this context is so differentfrom in the ark, the landing of the ark on a mountain,and and, the biblicalas to causeseriousdifferencesin content.In the sendingforth of birdsto see whetherthe watershad the GilgameshEpic the story of the flood is relatedas receded, indicate clearly that these stories are part of the tale of Gilgamesh'squest for immortality. intimately related to the biblical flood story and, Utnapishtimtells his descendantGilgameshthe story of indeed, that the Babylonianand biblical accounts of the flood in orderto tell him why he becameimmortal the flood representdifferentretellingsof an essentially and, in so doing, to show Gilgameshthat he cannot identical flood tradition. Until the recovery of the become immortal in the same way. This purpose is Atrahasis Epic, however, the usefulnessof these tales stated, for the story is introduced by towardan understandingof Genesiswas limitedby the explicitly question, "As I look upon you, Utnapishlack of a cohesive context for the flood story compa- Gilgamesh's are not strange;you are just as I ... features tim, rableto that of Genesis.The SumerianFlood Story has how your did you join the Assembly of the gods in your survivedin a very fragmentarystate, and even its most quest for life?" (Gilgamesh XI:2-7). Utnapishtim recent edition (by Miguel Civil in Lambert and concludes his recitationwith the admonition,"Butnow who will call the gods to Assemblyfor your sake so that you may find the life that you are seeking?" Tikva Frymer-Kensky is Assistant Professor ofNear Eastern Her manu(GilgameshXI:197-98). Studies at Wayne State University, Detroit. The nature of the story as "Utnapishtim'stale" is Near in Ancient the Ordeal Judicial East, forthscript, colors the recitationof the flood episodeand makesit coming in the series Bibliotheca Mesopotamicafrom Undena Publications (Malibu, CA). fundamentallydifferent from the biblical flood story. BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

147

Jacob J. Finkelstein

(1922-1974) In the three years since Jacob J. Finkelstein's premature death at 52, the measure of his loss to Assyriological and biblical studies has become increasingly apparent. J. J. Finkelstein was a manyfaceted scholar. He was a superb cuneiformist; his ability to read and copy cuneiform texts was unparalleled among Assyriologists, and the volumes of cuneiform texts that he published are an enduring monument to his work. Also an acknowledged master of cuneiform law, Finkelstein published seminal and provocative articles on many aspects of Babylonian law. His interest in law was far-reaching, and his essays "The Goring Ox: Some Historical Perspectives on Deodands, Forfeitures, Wrongful Death and the Western Notion of Sovereignty" Temple Law Quarterly 46/2 (1973) 169-290 demonstrates an interest in and mastery of the entire field of History of Law. Although Finkelstein would not have considered himself a biblicist, he had a deep interest in the Bible, particularly in the relationship of biblical law and religion to Mesopotamian culture. His insights in this area were so numerous and perceptive that many biblicists came to Yale to sit in on his classes and to discuss their ideas with him. His death is thus a deep loss to everyone interested in the development of biblical and Western culture. A complete bibliography of Finkelstein's publications has been compiled by Peter Machinist and Norman Yoffee and appears in Essays on the Ancient Near East in Memory of Jacob Joel Finkelstein, Memoirs of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, vol. 19, Dec. 1977.

148

The "first person narrative"format means that Utnapishtim can only tell those parts of the story that he knows, and that he may leave out those aspects that do not concern him or fit his purpose. For example, even though Babylonian gods are not portrayed as capricious and are considered as having reasons for their actions, Utnapishtim tells us nothing about the reasons that the gods brought the flood. This lapse is dictated by the literary format: Utnapishtim may not know the reason for the flood, or he may not record it because it is irrelevant to his purpose, which is to recount how he became immortal. Similarly, the only event after the flood that Utnapishtim relates to Gilgamesh is the subsequent convocation of the gods that granted him immortality. The result of the "personalization" of the flood story in the Gilgamesh Epic is that the scope of the story is restricted to the adventures of one individual and its significance to its effects upon him, with the flood itself emptied of any cosmic or anthropological significance. The flood stories in Genesis and in Gilgamesh are so far removed from each other in focus and intent that one cannot compare the ideas in the two versions of the flood without setting up spurious dichotomies.

The AtrahasisEpic The recoveryof the AtrahasisEpicprovidesnew perspectiveson Genesis because, unlike the other two Babylonianversions of the flood, the AtrahasisEpic presentsthe flood storyin a context comparableto that of Genesis, that of a Primeval History. The flood episode of the Atrahasis Epic has been known for a long time, but the literarystructureof the epic, and thereforethe context of the flood story,was not understood until Laessoe reconstructedthe work(J. Laessoe, "The Atrahasis Epic, A Babylonian History of Mankind," Biblioteca Orientalis 13 [1956] 90-102). In 1965, Lambert and Millard (Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets in the British Museum, London)

publishedmanyadditionaltexts fromthe epic, including an Old Babylonian copy (written around 1650 B.C.E.)

which is our most completesurvivingrecensionof the tale. These new texts greatlyincreasedour knowledge of the epic and served as the foundation for the English edition of the Epic by Lambert and Millard (Atrahasis: The Babylonian Story of the Flood, Oxford, 1969). The Atrahasis epic starts with a depiction of the world as it existed before man was created: "When the gods worked like Man" (the first line and ancient title of the composition). At this time the universe was divided among the great gods, with An taking the heavens, Enlil the earth and Enki the great deep. Seven gods (called the Anunnaki in this text) established

DECEMBER1977

themselves as the ruling class, while the rest of the gods provided the work force. These gods, whose "work was heavy, (whose) distress was much," dug the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and then rebelled, refusing to continue their labors. On the advice of Enki, the gods decided to create a substitute to do the work of the gods, and Enki and the mother goddess created man from clay and from the flesh and blood of a slain god, "We-ilu, a god who has sense," from whom man was to gain rationality. The various themes and motifs out of which this part of the epic is composed can all be documented elsewhere and do not seem to have originated with this text (for details see box). This epic, ancient though it is, is already the product of considerable development, and the author of the composition has utilized old motifs and has

same problem recurs, and the gods bring famine (and saline soil), which again do not end the difficulties. At last Enlil persuades the gods to adopt a "final solution" (II viii 34) to the human problem, and they resolve to bring a flood to destroy mankind. Their plan is thwarted by Enki, who has Atrahasis build an ark and so escape the flood. After the rest of mankind have been destroyed, and after the gods have had occasion to regret their actions and to realize (by their thirst and hunger) that they need man, Atrahasis brings a sacrifice and the gods come to eat. Enki then presents a permanent solution to the problem. The new world after the flood is to be different from the old, for Enki summons Nintu, the birth goddess, and has her create new creatures, who will ensure that the old problem does not arise again. In the words of the Epic (III vii 1):

The AtrahasisEpicpresents theflood story

In addition, let there be a third category among the peoples, Among the peoples women who bearand womenwho do not bear. Let there be among the peoples the Pagittu-demon to snatch the baby from the lap of her who bore it. Establish Ugbabtu-women,Entu-women,and Igisituwomen and let them be taboo and so stop childbirth.

in a context comparable to that of Genesis, that of a Primeval History.

united them into a coherent account of Man's beginnings in which he presents a picture of the purpose of Man's creation, his raison detre, as doing the work of the gods and thus relieving them of the need to labor. In the same way, he seems to have taken the previously known story of the flood and juxtaposed it to his creation story to continue the tale of primeval man and indicate the prerequisites of human life upon earth. In the Atrahasis Epic the creation of man causes new problems. In the words of the Epic (I 352f. restored from II 1-8): Twelve hundred years [had not yet passed] [when the land extended]and the peoples multiplied. The [land] was bellowing [like a bull]. The gods were disturbedwith [their uproar]. [Enlil heard] their noise [and addressed]the great gods. "Thenoise of mankind[has becometoo intensefor me] [with their uproar] I am deprived of sleep. To solve this problem, the gods decided to bring a plague, which ends when Enki advises man to bring offerings to Namtar, god of the plague, and thus induce him to lift the plague. This plague does not solve the problem permanently, for twelve hundred years later the same problem arises again (Tablet II 1-8) and the gods bring a drought, which ends when men (upon Enki's advice) bribe Adad to bring rain. Despite the fragmentary state of Tablet II, it is easy to see that the

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

Other post-flood provisions may have followed, but the text now becomes too fragmentary to read. Despite the lacunae, the structure presented by the Atrahasis Epic is clear. Man is created . .. there is a problem in creation . . . remedies are attempted but the problem remains . . . the decision is made to destroy man . . . this attempt is thwarted by the wisdom of Enki ... a new remedy is instituted to ensure that the problem does not arise again. Several years ago Anne Kilmer ("The Mesopotamian Concept of Overpopulation and its Solution as Represented in the Mythology," Orientalia 41 [1972] 160-77) and William J. Moran ("The Babylonian Story of the Flood [review article]" Biblica 40 [1971] 51-61), working independently, demonstrated that the problem that arose and that necessitated these various remedies was that of overpopulation. Mankind increased uncontrollably, and the methods of population control that were first attempted (drought, pestilence, famine) only solved the problem temporarily. This overpopulation led to destruction (the flood), and permanent countermeasures were introduced by Enki to keep the size of the population down. The myth tells us that such social phenomena as non-marrying women, and such personal tragedies as barrenness and stillbirth (and perhaps miscarriage and

149

infant mortality) are in fact essential to the very continuation of man's existence, for humanity was almost destroyed once when the population got out of control.

Genesis and Atrahasis This Babylonian tale, composed no later than 1700 B.C.E., is very attractive to us today and can almost be called a "myth for our times," for we share with the Babylonians a consciousness of a limited ecology and a concern about controlling the human population. In addition to this inherent relevance, however, it is very important for biblical studies, for it points out what (by the clear logic of hindsight) should have been obvious to us all along: there is an organic unity to the first section of Genesis. The importance of the Atrahasis Epic is that it focuses our attention away from the deluge itself and onto the events immediately after the rains subside. In Genesis, as in Atrahasis, the flood came in response to a serious problem in creation, a problem which was rectified immediately after the flood. A study of the changes that God made in the world after the flood gives a clearer picture of the conditions prevailing in the world before the flood, of the ultimate reason that necessitated the flood which almost caused the destruction of man, of the essential differences between the world before the flood and the world after it, and thus of the essential prerequisites for the continued existence of man on the earth. Unlike Atrahasis, the flood story in Genesis is emphatically not about overpopulation. On the contrary, God's first action after the flood was to command Noah and his sons to "be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth" (Gen 9:1). This echoes the original command to Adam (1:28) and seems to be an explicit rejection of the idea that the flood came as a result of attempts to decrease man's population. The repetition of this commandment in emphatic terms in Gen 9:7, "and you be fruitful and multiply, swarm over the earth and multiply in it," makes it probable that the Bible consciously rejected the underlying theme of the Atrahasis Epic, that the fertility of man before the flood was the reason for his near destruction. It is not surprising that Genesis rejects the idea of overpopulation as the reason for the flood, for the Bible does not share the belief of Atrahasis and some other ancient texts that overpopulation is a serious issue. Barrenness and stillbirth (or miscarriage) are not considered social necessities, nor are they justified as important for population control. On the contrary, when God promises the land to Israel he promises that "in your land women will neither miscarry nor be barren" (Exod 23:26). The continuation of this verse, "I

150

will fill the number of your days," seems to be a repudiation of yet another of the "natural" methods of population control, that of premature death. In the ideal world which is to be established in the land of Israel there will be no need for such methods, for overpopulation is not a major concern. Genesis states explicitly that God decided to destroy the world because of the wickedness of man (Gen 6:5). Although this traditionally has been understood to mean that God destroyed the world as a punishment for man's sins, this understanding of the passage entails serious theological problems, such as the propriety of God's destroying all life on earth because of the sins of man. Such an interpretation also causes great problems in understanding the text of Genesis itself and creates what seems to be a paradox, for the "wickedness of man" is also given as the reason that God decides never again to bring a flood (Gen 8:21). Since the evil nature of man is presented after the

Unlike Atrahasis, the flood story is emphatically not about overpopulation.

flood as the reason for God's vow never again to bring a flood, we should not infer that God brought the flood as a punishment because man was evil. Genesis also states that God brought the flood because the world was full of h~mds. The term hamds is very complex, and a semantic analysis is presented below (p. 154). The wide range of meanings for the term h~mas means that a lexical analysis of the word is not sufficient to allow us to determine what particular evil is here called necesand what it was about this particular evil that h.amas sitated a flood. The nature of the evil and the cause of the flood must be found in the story of Genesis. The Atrahasis Epic is so important to biblical studies because it enables us to determine the cause of the flood by focusing our attention away from the deluge itself and onto the events immediately after the flood, i.e., to Genesis 9. In this chapter God offers Noah and his sons a covenant, in which he promises never again to bring a flood to destroy the world, and gives the rainbow as the token of this promise. At this time God gives Noah and his sons several laws, and the difference between the ante- and post-diluvium worlds can be found in these laws. These laws are thus the structural equivalent of the new solutions proposed by Enki in the Atrahasis Epic. In Atrahasis the problem in man's creation was overpopulation, and the solutions

DECEMBER1977

proposed by Enki are designed to rectify this problem by controlling and limiting the population. In the Bible the problem is not overpopulation, but "since the devisings of man's heart are evil from his youth" (Gen 8:21), God must do something if he does not want to destroy the earth repeatedly. This something is to create laws for mankind, laws to ensure that matters do not again reach such a state that the world must be destroyed. The idea that man's nature is basically evil and that laws are therefore necessary to control his evil is a rather Hobbesian view of mankind, and it should be mentioned that this was not always the philosophy of Israel. The Bible also affords support for the idea that man is intrinsically good, and even Gen 8:21 can be reinterpreted to agree with this philosophy, as in the Midrash Tanhuma, where this verse is interpreted to mean that the evil inclination does not come to a man until he becomes a youth, i.e., 10 years old, and that it is man who raises himself to be evil (Midrash Tanhuma Bereshit 1.7). The simple meaning of the statement in Gen 8:21, "the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth," however, indicates clearly that Genesis comes down on the Leviathan side of what is obviously a very old controversy about the nature of man. Such perceptions of an inherently evil aspect of man's nature, one which is naturally prone to violent and unrighteous acts, logically entails a recognition that man cannot be allowed to live by his instincts alone, that he must be directed and controlled by laws, that in fact, laws are the sine qua non of human existence. It is for this reason that God's first act after the flood is to give man laws.

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The Flood in Genesis The realization that the granting of laws after the flood was a direct response by God to the problem posed by man's evil nature resolves the apparent paradox between the statement that the wickedness of man somehow caused the flood and the statement that the wickedness of man caused God to take steps to ensure that he will never again have to bring a flood. However, it does not answer the question of why the flood was necessary, why God could not simply have announced a new order and introduced laws to mankind without first destroying almost all of humanity. This problem does not arise in the Babylonian flood stories, where there is a clear distinction between the gods who decide to bring a flood (Enlil and the council of the gods) and the god who realized the error of this decision, saved man and introduced the new order (Enki). The problem, however, is quite serious in the monotheistic conception of the flood in which the same

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

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151

Theflood is not primarily a means of punishment ... but a means of getting rid of a thoroughlypolluted world and starting over again.

God decidesto bringthe flood, savesman, and resolves never to bring a flood again. If God is rationaland consistentin his actions, there must have been a compellingreasonthat necessitatedthe flood. "Punishment" is not enough of a reason, for it not only raises the questionof God'srightto punishall the animalsfor the sins of man, but also raisesthe serious issue of God's rightto punishmanin this instanceat all: If manhas evil tendencies,and if he has not been checkedand directed by laws, how can he be punishedfor simplyfollowing his own instincts?The flood cannot simply have been brought as a punishment,and its necessitatingcause must lie in the particularnatureof the evil whichfilled the worldbeforethe flood. Ourbest way to find out the nature of the evil is to look at the solution given to control the evil, i.e., to the laws givenimmediatelyafter the flood. The oral traditionof Israel (as reflectedin the rabbinicwritings)has developedand expandedthe laws given to Noah and his sons afterthe flood into a somewhat elaboratesystemof "thesevenNoahidecommandments." The traditional enumerationof these is the prohibitionof idolatry, blasphemy,bloodshed, sexual sins, theft, eating from a living animal, and the commandmentto establishlegal systems. Additionallaws are sometimesincluded among the commandmentsto Noah and his sons, and the system of Noahide commandments can best be understood as a system of universalethics, a "NaturalLaw"system in which the laws are given by God. Genesis itself, however,does not contain a list of all seven of these commandments. According to Genesis 9, God issued three commandments to Noah and his sons immediatelyafter the flood: (1) he commandedman to be fruitful,to increase, multiplyand swarm over the earth;(2) he announced that although man may eat meat he must not eat animalsalive (or eat the blood, which is tantamountto the same thing - Gen 9:4);and (3) he declaredthat no one, neither beast nor man, can kill a human being withoutforfeitinghis own life, providingfor the execution of all killers,"whoeversheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed." The significanceof the first commandment(that of fertility)has alreadybeenmentioned:it is an explicit and probablyconscious rejectionof the idea that the cause of the flood was overpopulationand that over-

HumanLife"(as it is usuallycalled)is givenin the text: "for man is createdin God's image"(Gen 9:6). Taken independently,these two commandments-theprohibition againsteatingblood (andthe livinganimal)andthe declarationof the principleof the inviolabilityof human life with the provision of capital punishment for murder- embodytwo of the basicprinciplesof Israelite law. The Bibleviewsblood as a veryspecialsubstance. Israel is seriouslyenjoinedagainst eating the blood of animals,and this prohibitionis repeatedsix timesin the Pentateuch(Gen9:4;Lev3:17;7:26;17:10-14;Deut 12:16 and 12:23-24).This prohibitionis calledan eternalordinance (Lev 3:17), and the penaltyfor eating blood (at leastin the Priestlytradition)is karet,whichis someform of outlawry,whetherbanishmentor ostracism(Lev 7:27; 17:10,14). The reason for this strict prohibition is explicit:the spirit (nepe?)of the animalis in the blood (Lev 17:11,14;Deut 12:23).The greatestcare must be exercised in the eating of meat. According to the Priestly tradition, slaughteringof animals (other than creaturesof the hunt) can only be done at an altar. Failureto bringthe animalto the altar was considered tantamountto the sheddingof blood (Lev 17:4).The sprinklingof the animal'sblood upon the altar served as a redemption(Lev 17:11).In Deuteronomy,where the cult is centralizedand it is no longer feasible to bringthe animalsto an altar, permissionis givento eat and slaughteranimalsanywhere.However,(as with the animals of the hunt in Leviticus),care must be taken not to eat the blood, which should be pouredupon the ground and covered (Deut 12:24). The idea expressedin the third commandment, that of the incomparabilityand inviolabilityof human life, is one of the fundamentalaxioms of Israelite philosophy, and the ramificationsof this principle pervadeevery aspect of Israelitelaw and distinguishit dramaticallyfrom the other Near Easternlegal systems with which it otherwisehas so much in common. In Israel, capital punishment is reserved for the direct offense against God and is never invoked for offenses against property.The inverse of this is also true; the primeoffense in Israelis homicide,whichcan neverbe compensatedby the payment of a monetaryfine and can only be rectifiedby the executionof the murderer. Despite the importanceof this principle,if we

population is a serious problem. Together the other two commandments introduce a very clear differentiation between man and the animal kingdom: man may kill animals for food (while observing certain restrictions in so doing), but no one, whether man or beast, can kill man. The reason for this "Absolute Sanctity of

look at the world before the flood, it is immediately apparent that this demand for the execution of murderers is new. Only three stories are preserved in Genesis from the ten generations between the expulsion from the Garden and the bringing of the flood. Two of these, the Cain and Abel story (Gen 4:1-15) and the tale

152

DECEMBER1977

of Lemech (Gen 4:19-24), concern the shedding of human blood. In the first tale Cain, having murdered his brother Abel, becomes an outcast and must lose his home. However, he is not killed. In fact, he becomes one of "God's protected" and is marked with a special sign on his forehead to indicate that Cain's punishment (if any) is the Lord's and that whoever kills him will be subject to seven-fold retribution. The next story preserved - that of Lemech five generations later also concerns murder, for Lemech kills "a man because of my wounding, a young man because of my hurt" (Gen 4:23). Lemech, too, is not killed and claims the same protection that Cain had, declaring that as Cain was protected with sevenfold retribution he, Lemech, will be avenged with seventy-sevenfold (Gen 4:24). The main difference between the world before the flood and the new order established immediately after it is the different treatment of murderers, and the cause of the flood should therefore be sought in this crucial difference. Murder has catastrophic consequences, not only for the individuals involved, but for the earth itself, which has the blood of innocent victims spilled upon it. As God says to Cain after Abel's murder (Gen 4:10-12): Your brother'sblood criesout to me from the soil. And now you are cursed by the earth which opened her mouth to receivethe blood of your brotherfrom your hand. Whenyou till the groundit shall no longeryield its strengthto you; a wandererand a vagabondyou will be on the earth. The innocent blood which was spilled on it has made the ground barren for Cain, who must therefore leave his land and become a wanderer. This process of the cursing and concomitant barrenness of the ground had become widespread. The explanation of the name given to Noah makes this point. The Masoretic Text reads: "This one will comfort us from our acts and the toil of our hands." Alternatively, if we follow the Septuagint (old Greek translation), the text would read: "This one will give us rest from our acts and the toil of our hands." Either way, the latter part of the verse, "because of the ground which God has cursed" is clear: Noah's name is explained by Genesis as related to the conditions which caused the flood, the "cursing" of the ground, and Noah's role somehow alleviates that condition. By the generation of the flood the whole earth has become polluted, (KJV "the earth also was (Gen 6:11). The wide corrupt") and is filled with in the Bible word range of meanings of the hi.mas h.amas of evil. The encompasses almost the entire spectrum BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

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Copy of the fragmentof Tablet II, columnviii (Ni 2552), which translates: The Assembly . . [ . Do not obey. .. ... The gods commandedtotal destruction, Enlil did an evil deed on the peoples. Atrahasis opened his mouth And addressedhis lord.

term can stand for evil of any sort (Ps 11:5; Prov 13:2); it may simply stand for falsehood, as in 'Cd "false witness" (Exod 23:1; Deut 19:15; Ps 35:1)h.lmls and its occurrence with mirma (Isa 60:18; Jer 6:7, 20:8), with the two together meaning something like "plunder and has a very close connection to damim pillage." as can be seen from Ezek 9:9. Like HI.amas "bloodshed," damim, the term hmiis can be used in a physical way, for hIdmas(or the pollution from it) can cover clothes (Mal 2:16) and hands (Job 16:17; 1 Chron 12:17). In Genesis, the earth is filled with hammisand has itself become polluted because all flesh had polluted its way upon the earth (Gen 6:11-12). It is the filling of the earth with h~amis and its resultant pollution that prompts God to bring a flood to physically erase everything from the earth and start anew. The flood is not primarily an agency of punishment (although to be drowned is hardly a pleasant reward), but a means of getting rid of a thoroughly polluted world and starting again with a clean, well-washed one. Then, when everything has been washed away, God resolves (Gen 8:21): I will no longer curse the groundbecauseof man, for the devisings of man's heart are evil from his youth, and I will no longerstrikeall the livingcreaturesthat I have created; 153

and goes on to give Noah and his sons the basic laws, specifically the strict instructions about the shedding of blood, to prevent the earth's becoming so polluted again. Pollution in the Bible

The idea of the pollution of the earth is not a vague metaphorto indicatemoral wrongdoing.On the contrary,in the biblicalworldview,the murdersbefore the flood contaminatedthe land and createda state of physical pollution which had to be eradicated by

Israel was admonished not to allow compensation for murder .., for by doing so they would cause the land to become contaminated.

physical means (the flood). Although this concept may seem strange to us, it is not surprising to find it here in the cosmology of Israel, for Israel clearly believed that moral wrongdoings defile physically. This is explicitly stated with three sins - murder, idolatry, and sexual abominations - and it is interesting to note that these are the three cardinal sins for which a Jew must suffer martyrdom rather than commit them (b. Sanhedrin 74a). These are mentioned in Acts as offenses from which all the nations must refrain (Acts 15:20); these three offenses are given as the explanation of h/imds in the flood story by Rabbi Levy in Genesis Rabbah (31:16); and these (together with the non-observance of the sabbatical year) are given in the Mishna as the reasons that exile enters the world (Nezigin 5:8). According to the biblical tradition, the pre-Israelite inhabitants of Canaan had defiled the land with the sexual abominations enumerated in Leviticus 18. As a result God had punished the land (Lev 18:25), and the land had therefore vomited up the inhabitants which had defiled it. For this reason, Israel is admonished not to commit these abominations and defile the land lest it vomit them out in the same way (Lev 18:24-28). Later, Israel was told that it has defiled the land (Jer 2:7) and that because Israel defiled the land with their idols and because of the blood which they spilled upon the land, God poured his fury upon them (Ezek 36:18). The most serious contaminant of the land is the blood of those who have been murdered; the concept of "bloodguilt" is well known in Israelite law. Because of the seriousness of the crime of murder, and perhaps

154

also because of the mystical conception of blood in Israelite thought, the blood of the slain physically pollutes the land. For this reason, the discovery of a corpse posed a real problem for the people. When such an unsolved murder occurred, recourse was had to the procedure of the cegld c~rapd, ("the breaking of the heifer's neck") a ritual meant to cleanse the land of the pollution of the murder: the elders of the nearest town were to bring a heifer to an uninhabited wadi, strike off its head, wash their hands over it and offer the following prayer: Our handshave not shed this blood, nor have our eyes seen (the deed). Be merciful O Lord, to your people Israel whom you have redeemedand lay not innocent blood into the midst of the people (Deut 21:7-8). The shedding of human blood was of concern to the whole nation, for it involved an actual pollution of the land. Israel was enjoined against this bloodguilt pollution and was admonished neither to allow compensation for murder, nor even to allow an accidental murderer to leave a city of refuge, for by so doing they would cause the land of Israel to become contaminated: You shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is deservingof death. He shall be executed.You shall take no ransomto (allow someoneto) flee a city of refugeor to (allow someoneto) returnto live in the land beforethe priest'sdeath. You shall not pollutethe land that you are in, for the blood will pollutethe land, and the land may not be redeemedfor blood spilledon it except by the blood of the spiller. You shall not contaminatethe land in whichyou are living, in which I the Lord am dwellingamong the childrenof Israel (Num 35:31-34). The idea of the pollution of the earth by murder, of the physical pollution caused by "moral" wrongs such as sexual abominations and idolatry, underlies much of Israelite law. The composer of Genesis 1-9 had reinterpreted the cosmology and the early history of Man in the light of these very strong concepts. He has used a framework that is at least as old as the Epic of Atrahasis, the framework of the Primeval History of Creation-Problem-Flood-Solution, and has retold the story in such a way as to reinterpret an ancient tradition to illuminate fundamental Israelite ideas, i.e., the biblical ideals that law and the "sanctity of human life" are the prerequisites of human existence upon the earth.

DECEMBER1977

The AtrahasisAccount in CuneiformLiterature Like Genesis, Atrahasis is the product of a long processof development,and many of the ideas and motifs containedin it can be tracedelsewherein Sumero-Babylonian literature. The idea of the division of the universeamongthe greatgods can be found in the introductionto "Gilgamesh,Enkiduand theNetherworld," in whichAn takesthe heavens,Enlil the earth, Ereshkigalreceives the netherworldand Enki sets sail for the Apsu. The working gods are found in UET VI 118:20,and in "Enkiand Ninmah" (11-12), in which the lesser gods work and dig the Tigrisand Euphrates.The conceptionof the creation of man to relieve the gods from labor is found in "Enki and Ninmah"(25), as is creation from clay, for man is createdthere from the "heartof clay over the abzu" (33). Clay as the material out of which man is created is quite common in Mesopotamian literature.In the creationof Enkiduin the Gilgamesh Epic, long recognizedas a doublet to the creationof man, Aruru washes her hands, takes the clay, and either casts it upon the steppe or draws a design upon it. Similarly, in the Babyloniantheodicy, Ea nips off the clay and Arurufashionsit. In the "ritual for the restorationof temples"Ea nips off the clay in the abzu and fashionsboth Man and a whole host of lesserdeities.In the Sumerianmyth of the descentof Inannato the netherworldEnki createsthe Kalatur and the Kurgarra from the "dirt under one of his fingernails"(JCS 5: 219-20). The question of the killing of a god to create man presentsa differentpicture.Thismotifis foundin Enuma Elish, where Kingu, the head of Tiamat's forces, is killed after the defeat of Tiamat,and his blood is used in the creation of man. The only "Sumerian"text in which this motif is found, however, is the bilingual KAR 4, in which the Lamga gods are slain and mankindis createdfrom theirblood. This text has manyancientelements:the dividing of the universe, the digging of the Tigris and Euphrates,the giving to man of the hoe and the BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

corv6ebasket.This text, however,seems to be a late reflex of these traditions,and the Sumerianseemsto be very late. There would, therefore,seem to be no Sumerian tradition in the use of blood in the creationof man, and Lambert'sattemptto find it in "Enki and Ninmah"(Creationof Man in SumeroBabylonianMyth" CRAAI 11, 1964:103)has now been givenup (oral communication).Consideringthe special notion of blood that we find in the Bible, it seems likely that the blood motif in Atrahasisand in Enuma Elish may be a West Semiticidea, and may have entered Mesopotamian mythology with the coming of the West Semites. Most of the motifs in the Atrahasisaccount of man's beginningare paralleledin the Sumerian myth of "Enki and Ninmah,"and it is natural to assume that the Sumerian composition came first and that Atrahasis was already based on this accountof the creationof man. This may be, but the precedence of the Sumerian tale cannot be presupposed, and the whole matter deserves serious study. There are severalpuzzlingphenomenain the Sumerianstory which might indicatethat Enki and Ninmah is an adaptationof an Akkadiantale. One of these is the use of the word zub-sig for that which is bound on man at his creation. In context this is almost certainlythe (corv6e)basketand must be a loan from Akkadiangupgikku,the form of the more common Akkadian tupfikku that occurs in Atrahasis. Although both 9upfikku/tupfikku and zub-sig may be ultimately derived from a third (substrate?)language, the Akkadian word is fairly common in Akkadian,while zub-sig in this sense may be confined to this story. Similarly,the other word for corv6e basket that is used in Enki and Ninmah seems to be an Akkadian word (terihum, line 12). In the light of suchanomalieswe shouldnot assumethat the Akkadianepic is derivativefromthe Sumerian, for "Enkiand Ninmah"may have been written with Atrahasis in mind. 155

THE

FIRST

TWO

SEASONS

AT

TELL

HALIF

JOE D. SEGER AND ODED BOROWSKI

The first two seasons of excavation at Lahav uncovered evidenceof distinct,diversecivilizations:afellahin carpenter makingplowpoints in his cave,aprosperousByzantinesettlement, IronAge householdsatop the tell, and a massiveEarly Bronze wall along the slope of the mound.

This report on the first two seasons at Lahav is communicated by Joe D. Seger, the dig director, and Oded Borowski, one of the field supervisors. After working at Shechem and Gezer, Seger directed the last two seasons of work at Gezer; Borowski has been involved in excavations at Gezer and Dan and took part in the initial salvage excavation of the caves at Lahav (1972).

156

Tell Halif (Tell Khuweilifeh)is a prominent mound in the western foothills of Mount Hebron, overlooking the shefelah (lowlands) and the plain of Philistia. Its importance derives from its strategic position commandingthe route from Egypt and the Negev to the north, and from the sea coast to the hill country and Jerusalem. From its vantage point Tell Halif guardsthe agriculturallands and waterresources

DECEMBER1977

Aerialview of Tell Halif (Lahav),lookingsouth,with the housesof KibbutzLahavin the upperleft. Field I is in the centerof the photo. CaveComplexA is below Field I, and Field II is directlyabove Field I. At the west edge of the tell (extremeright),Field III can be seen (1977). located at the easternedge of the shefelah. In addition, sites such as Tell Beit Mirsim, Tell Quneitra, Tell Najila, Arad, and Beer-shebacan be seen from Tell Halif or one of its observationoutposts. Its location at a juncture between the coastal, mountain, and desert climes gives rise to the varietyand richnessof the flora and fauna of the region. A part of the area has now been proclaimed a nature reserve. As indicated by paleolithic remains found in the vicinity, the region's unique potential for habitation has been recognized since prehistorictimes. Beginningin 1976, the Lahav ResearchProject (LRP) launched an integrated study of the region centeringin the excavation of the ancient remainsat Tell Halif, complementedby closelycorrelatedenvironmental and ethnographic investigations. A private organizationformedespeciallyto forwardthis research, LRP is affiliatedwiththe AmericanSchoolsof Oriental Research, the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology, and the Joe Allon Centerfor Regional and Folklore Studies. Its Field School program is supported by a consortium of academic institutions which during the first and second seasons includedthe University of Nebraska at Omaha, WashingtonState University,Lycoming College, and St. John's University. The projectis directedby Dr. Joe D. Seger of the Universityof Nebraskaat Omaha, with the assistance of a senior staff includingAssociate DirectorsDan P. Cole (Lake Forest College)and M. E. Shutler(Washington State University),EthnographerKarenE. Seger (Omaha, Nebraska), and Field Archeologists Oded Borowski (Emory University)and Dr. Paul F. Jacobs (Universityof St. Thomas).Duringthe first seasonsthe remainderof the technical,supervisory,and volunteer staff was made up of students and professors who representedmany institutionsin the U.S., Canada,and abroad, and people from all walks of life who were interestedin the archeologicalfield experienceprovided by the project. The LRP's funding has come mainly through its Subscribers Program, a "grass roots" support organizationwhich to date includes over 300 contributors. The 1976 Season The first season of field investigation was conducted between 27 June and 30 July 1976. It was planned as a pilot operation to enable staff members to become acquainted with the site and to engage in preliminary work aimed at developing strategies for subsequent efforts. A makeshift camp was built in the Lahav Forest near the tell where the expedition was housed in tents and where the necessary services were

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of Lahav SouthernPalestine,showingthe relationship to the majorgeographical featuresand to the primarycities in the area.

provided. It is appropriateto acknowledgethe special contributionsmade in this regardby manyindividuals and organizations in the Lahav region. Thanks in particularare due to the JewishNational Fund and its forestry department, the Bene Shimon Regional Council, and to all the membersof KibbutzLahavand their friends in neighboringsettlements. Several old truck bodies and adjacentareas shaded by the forest provided field laboratoryfacilities for the preliminary processing of finds and storage of records. In order to secure information about the sequence of remainsin the tell and the overallhistory of the site, the first archeologicalundertakinginvolved the opening of a seriesof 5 x 5-m. areas(Field I) from top to bottom on the northeasternslope of the mound. Architectural elements uncovered in these areas revealeda remarkablecontinuityof occupationstretching from before 3000 B.C.to moderntimes. Substantial remains from the Early Bronze, Late Bronze, Iron, Byzantine, and Arabic periods were identified. Supplementary information was also gained from a series of five small (2 x 2.5-m.) probes across the top of the mound. Although traces of Byzantine and later Arabic occupationwere in evidence,remains from the late Iron Age period were found to predominate. The resultsfrom these probes providedthe basis for planning work in Fields II and III for the 1977 season. 157

The 1977 Season

In front of Field I, DirectorSegerwith Associate DirectorsShutlerand Cole view a Late Bronzejar fragment(1976). The first season also witnessedthe launchingof a program of environmentalstudies aimed at understanding the subsistencesystem of settlementat and around the mound. A major effort in this connection involved the initiationof a comprehensivefield survey of minor habitationsites in the area. At the same time studies of water resourcesand of land use were also begun, and collectionsof floral and lithicspecimensfor comparative studies were started. This work was supplementedby a seriesof small probesspreadacross the mound's lower terracearea (Site 101) to the east. Here levels of the Chalcolithicand EB I and II periods were found directly below scant remains of the Iron Age and traces of later Byzantineand Arabic occupation. These probes helped to establishthe boundaries of the earliest Early Bronze settlementon the eastern flanks of the tell. A third aspect of the Project'swork initiatedin 1976 involved a combination of archeological and ethnographic research. The presence of the rapidly decaying ruins of Khirbet Khuweilifeh,a 19th- and early 20th-centuryA.D. Bedouin habitation site overlying earlier Byzantineremainsat the foot of the tell, provided a rare opportunity for such a study. The systematicexcavation of several cave complexes was started in company with a programof interviewsand relatedethnographicinvestigationsamong the region's Bedouin and village Arab populations.These efforts were aimed at unravelingthe complex history of the Khuweilifehsettlementand at preservingan authentic view of this quickly disappearingtraditional culture and way of life.

158

The Project's second season was conducted between 19 June and 30 July 1977.The excavationsin Field I continuedwith work concentratedon uncovering furtherelementsof a major EB II/III fortification system (ca. 2500 B.c.) discoveredin the previousyear. By season'send more than 15 m. of the outer line of this system were exposed. Furtherupslope, the teams excavatingin this field also investigatedwallsand other stratigraphicelementsfrom the later EB III and LB IB periods. At the same time, on top of the citadel two new fields of excavationwere started.Field II, a broad exposure in the south central sector, produced three architectural phases, one previously identified as Persian, and two belonging to the Iron II period. In Field III, located at the westernend of the tell, walls and occupationremainsof the city'slate Iron II fortifications (ca. 700 B.C.)were uncovered. Additionalevidenceof Iron Age settlementwas also providedby the excavationof severaltombs in a cemetery(Site 72) on the slopes oppositethe tell to the south. Investigationof thesetombswas an extensionof the season'senvironmentalsurveywork. These efforts involved continuation of Project work begun in the previousyear, with specialattentionbeing given to the major satellitesites relatedto Tell Halif. Ethnoarcheological researchat Khirbet Khuweilifehwas likewise continued.Excavationsin Cave ComplexA were completed, and extensive interviewswere conductedwith two of the Ramadin Bedouinsheikhs. Contacts were also expanded among Arab villagers from the surrounding area, and some former residents of the Khuweilifehsite were identified. The Early Bronze Age (3200-2300B.c.) Chalcolithicand EarlyBronzeI-II remainsfrom the easternterracearea (Site 101) clearlyindicatethat Halif was rapidlydevelopingas a major urbancenter duringthe Early Bronzeperiod.This is well confirmed by excavations on the mound itself. Work in Field I during the first two seasons revealedsubstantialEarly Bronzeremains,includingpartsof a majorfortification system belonging, without doubt, to a large city. Presently the system can be seen to include a large mud-brick wall (15 m. long) laid on a heavy stone foundation. Within the brick superstructure, two small guard rooms could be identified. Attached to the wall is a large, 7.5-m.-wide tower, also of mud brick, built on a massive stone foundation. Outside, along this defense line, a sloping rampart (glacis) was discovered. The glacis, constructed of beaten earth, is overlaid with

DECEMBER1977

A ceramic animal figurine found in the Early Bronze destructiondebris in Field I (1977).

Presently the Early Bronze fortification system includes a large mud-brick wall (15 m. long) laid on a heavy stone foundation.

Field I (from the north) at the end of the 1977 season, showing the spread of exposed EB III fortifications.The glacis (in the foreground) abuts the stone foundation of the mud-brick tower (left). The corner of the LB IB house is visible above the tower.

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159

A view (from the south) looking down into the "room areas"inside the Early Bronze defense system (corner of the tower in center of photo; stone foundationof defense wall in upper left). The thick layer of ash (over 2 m.deep in places) can be seen in the balks on the right and left (1977).

a layer of crushed chalk. This element is significant since it has been widely maintained that such defenses were introduced in the Near East only in the Middle Bronze Age, after ca. 1800 B.c. during the so-called Hyksos era. Inside the city wall, under a heavy ash layer which at points was over 3.5 m. deep, a stairway and parts of a large room were uncovered. As now exposed, the outlines of the walls and room structures suggest that they may belong to a gateway leading into the city. The ash and debris removed from this area yielded a large repertoire of transitional EB II/III pottery sherds, as well as numerous flint tools and several ceramic figurines. Based on these materials, this destruction of the city must have occurred ca. 2500 B.C.. It did not mark the complete end of the Early Bronze occupation, however, as witnessed by several later phases of EB III occupation encountered in the excavations upslope.

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The Late Bronze Age (1500-1200 B.C.) Immediately above these Early Bronze levels in Field I were several phases belonging to the Late Bronze period. The earliest of these can be dated to the LB IB period ca. 1475 B.C..This may indicate that the site's recovery took place under Egyptian New Kingdom influences following the momentous campaigns of Tuthmosis III. The best exposed materials, however, came from the latest Late Bronze phase dated to the close of the LB IIB period after ca. 1250 B.C.. This phase was discovered in 1976 just below the summit and included a well-laid clay platform over 10 m. wide, with a series of walls and bins set into it. One of the bins was sealed under a heavy layer of collapsed mud bricks and ash and contained a large quantity of restorable pottery vessels, principally large storage jars. One of the jar handles recovered from this bin has three

DECEMBER1977

LB II bin in Field I, Area 11 with in situ storage jars. At least 15 storage jars were found inside this bin under an ash deposit (1976).

One of the jar handles from the LB II bin in Field I, with three incised letters (1976).

incised letters in what appears to be Proto-Canaanite script. It has been suggested that these finds are part of a potter's workshop and that its destruction could be related to the conquest of this southern region by the incoming Israelite tribes. The Iron Age (1200-700 B.C.) The Iron Age was clearly a period of development and expansion at the site. Traces of occupation from this period have been found in almost every area so far excavated. This includes the several areas in the lower part of Field I, downslope from the Early Bronze defense line, below Byzantine period remains, as well as areas off the tell such as the probes above early Early Bronze levels on the eastern terrace. So far, these traces have been predominantly from the Iron II, or Israelite period. Clearly the most significant remains, however, were found on top of the tell itself, in Fields II and III,

BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST

and in the Site 72 cemetery on the hillside opposite the tell to the south. In 1977, work in Field II exposed remains of three final phases of settlement. Two of these are clearly datable to the Iron II period, with the latest reaching to the end of the 8th century (ca. 700 B.C.). The third is probably from the Persian era. From several areas where later pitting did not disturb the lower strata, the final Iron II phase provided welldefined architecture with in situ occupational remains. These included well-laid walls and domestic installations for food preparation and cooking, as well as a good collection of restorable pottery and stone implements. Among the finds was a ceramic incense stand typical of the late Iron II period. There were no signs of fire or willful destruction associated with these materials, and the general disposition of the remains suggests abandonment rather than destruction by war.

161

Final phase Iron II levels in Field II, Area F6/12 (1977). The north arrow marks the findspot of the incense stand (see below).

The intensity of Iron Age settlement is also witnessed by the extensive cemetery located on the slopes across the valley just south of the tell.

Late Iron II incense stand from Field II, Area F6/12 (1977).

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Overviewof the Late Iron II fortificationscomplex in Field III. To the left (west) the tell slopes sharply downward.The modified casemate system housed domestic installationsfor food preparation- such as ovens and large grinding stones - and contained a wide variety of restorablepottery and stone implements (1977).

Complementary Iron Age evidence was also found in Field III. Here elements of the Iron II city's fortification system were discovered just below the surface. The exposed complex consists of a modified casemate wall system (two parallel walls with walldividers creating small rooms) and an outlying glacis made of rubble and covered with cobblestones creating a smooth face down the steep western slope. In addition the architectural unit also included an extra "porch," or defensive screening tower set outside the main wall line. A doorway leading through the main wall out into the "porch" area suggests that it may have served as a postern gate for the western city defenses. The main "casemate" structures combined with other inner city walls to form a pattern suggestive of the typical Iron Age four-room house. The complex contained domestic installations, such as ovens and grinding platforms, and produced a large collection of ceramic vessels, including jars, bowls, juglets, and cooking pots. Much of this pottery was whole or

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

restorable. One pot contained carbonized legumes, possibly peas. Although many ballista stones were found in the different rooms, no distinctive layer of ash or other evidence of destruction was present. Ceramic indicators show these remains to be contemporary with the final Iron II phase in Field II, and a similar pattern of abandonment is indicated. This may have taken place in the face of Sennacherib's campaign through Judah in 701 B.C. The density of Iron Age settlement is also witnessed by the extensive cemetery of this period located on the slopes across the valley just south of the tell (Site 72). Early investigations of tombs by A. Biran (1965), J. D. Seger (1972), and B. Arensburg (1973) helped to document its nature and size, and. D. Allon (1976) excavated another group along the upper ridges. In connection with LRP regional survey, three more tombs were investigated in 1977. One of these was found to have a collapsed roof and was inaccessible. The other two, although robbed in antiquity and

163

reusedsince then by Bedouins,provedto be typicalof the Iron II period. Each consisted of a single main chamber formed with side benches and deep repositories (barrel-shapedpits for secondarycollection of bones and tomb artifacts).They also produceda small sample of 9th- to 8th-centuryIsraelitepottery.Within the collection was a beautiful bowl in the Samaria Ware tradition,decoratedin the centerwith a molded pomegranate(Hebrewrimmon).Thisfind has reopened speculation concerning the identificationof the site with biblical Rimmon (see below). The Roman/ByzantinePeriod (200-500 A.D.) Remains of the Late Roman and Byzantine periods are very much in evidence at and around the site. The primarysettlementseemsto have been established at the foot of the tell along the northeastslopes where large natural caves invited habitation. LRP activities during the 1976-77 seasons uncoveredonly limited remains from this area. Excavationsin three areas at the lower end of Field I uncoveredterrace walls, for the most part apparentlybuilt to supporta large structure (possibly a public building) whose stones were robbedout for reusein subsequentperiods. However, from surface observations, sherding, and probesassociatedwith workin adjacentCave Complex A, it seems clear that the Byzantine settlement was large and impressive.This concurswith evidencefrom the cemeterybelongingto this periodwhich was investigated by the Department of Antiquities in 1962. Located farther to the west along the same northern slopes, it produced goods indicating that the communityat that timewas prosperousand enjoyeda lively international trade. The identification of this Byzantine settlementwith Tilla,mentionedby the historian Eusebius, is a most attractivehypothesis(see below). The Arabic Period (700-1940A.D.) One of the most intriguing chapters in the historyof the Halif area involvesthe story of its settlement during the long period of Arabic occupation. During the 1976-77seasons, archeologicalwork in the Arabicperiodwas concentratedmainlyin the Complex A ruins of Khirbet Khuweilifeh.Here, probes in the outer courtyardareas revealeda sequenceof Islamic occupations reaching back at least to the Mamluke (ca. A.D. 1300) and possibly to the earlier Umayyad and Abbasid periods (ca. A.D. 700). The predominant remains, however, belong to the most recent, late 19thearly 20th-century Bedouin settlement.

164

A large,reconstructed Iron II jar foundin situ in the Field III complex(1977). The elementsmakingup ComplexA werefound to include a large natural cave, partly reshapedwith walls dividing it into room areas and surroundedby thick walls formingan outer courtyard.Stones for this constructionseem to have been gleaned from earlier Arabic and Byzantine structures. This complex is typical of the dwellings at the site. Habitation areas within the cave werefurnishedwith a varietyof installations built of mud and straw,includinghawabi(grain storage cupboards)and mitwah (shelvesfor bedding). The latest occupation surfaces were littered with artifacts,includingshoes and other leathergoods, glass and ceramic fragments, traces of cloth fabrics, and items of wood and metal. Prominentamong the latter were numerous iron plowpoints. Related ethnographic researches, including interviewswith the two RamadinBedouin sheikhs in the region,have helpedto fill in the pictureoutlinedby

DECEMBER1977

these archeological traces. Considerable preliminary informationabout the site of KhirbetKhuweilifehhas now been assembled. Although the origins of the modernsettlementare as yet obscure,it is known that from the 1800'suntil the 1940'sthe site was occupied mainly by the Frejat family of the Ramadin tribe, Tiaha Confederation Bedouin. Attached to the Ramadin were several groups of fellahin (village Arabs)some from the Hebronareaand othersfrom the Nile delta in Egypt. The Bedouin themselves deny havingactuallylived in the cave complexes.Apparently these were mainly the homes of the fellahin who lived

on Ramadin land as sharecroppers,shepherds, and craftsmen.It is now known that, duringits final stage of occupation, Cave Complex A was inhabited by a carpenter whose principal trade was the making of plows. Accordingto all informants,thesepeasantswere social inferiorsto the Bedouin.Duringthe latestperiod of its settlement,Khuweilifehapparentlyhad a fluctuating population numbering several hundred. The caves, it seems, had served at differenttimes for both seasonal and year-round occupancy, the patterns adaptingto suit the needs of the farmingand grazing populations that utilized them.

Interiorview of Chambera of Cave ComplexA duringexcavationsin 1977.The furniture,built of mud and straw,can be seen to eitherside and in the background. BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

165

The discovery of the pomegranate adds symbolic if not more substantive support for the theory that Halif is the site of biblical Rimmon.

"Rimmon Bowl" from Site 72, the Iron Age cemetery (1977).

The Identificationof Tell Halif Tell Halif was for many years identified with biblicalZiklag,the city cededto Davidby the Philistines and the site of many of his exploits as an exile (1 Sam 27:6 ff.). This suggestionwas basedon the proximityof Halif (Tell Khuweilifeh)to its neighboringsite Hurvat Rimmon (KhirbetUmm er-Rammamin)whichlies less than a mile to the south. C. R. Conder and H. H. Kitchener,who surveyedand mappedthis area for the Palestine ExplorationFund in the second half of the 19th century, proposed the identificationof Khirbet Umm er-Rammamin (Arabic for "Mother of the Pomegranates")with the biblicalcity of Rimmonor En Rimmon. This city is mentionedin the territoriallists of Judah in Josh 15:32and as partof the inheritanceof the tribe of Simeon in Josh 19:7. In 1938, PNreAbel developedthis hypothesisby positingthat Ziklag,also mentioned in the Simeonite town list (Josh 15:31), must be found at nearbyHalif. FollowingConderand Kitchener,Abel also identifiedthe ruins at Halif with the later, Byzantine settlement called Tala or Tilla. Accordingto the Onomasticonof Eusebius,two large Jewishvillages,namedTala and Rimmon,werelocated just 16 miles south of Beit Guvrin.Geographicallythis brings us exactly into the Lahav area.

166

More recently, however, based on the lack of clear Philistine-periodoccupationat the site, the identification of Halif with Ziklag has been seriouslyquestioned. This in turn has openedthe way for the proposal that Halif,ratherthanKhirbetUmmer-Rammamin, is in fact ancient Rimmon.Supportof this view can be seen in the fact that no Iron Age remainsof any kind have been found at Rammamin.Moreover,the shift in name can be explained by assuming that, after the eclipse of the Iron Age city, the first resettlementtook place at Khirbet Umm er-Rammamin,and that this new site then borrowedthe ancient name. Thus, when Tell Halif itself was resettled, its name was already taken, and it was namedsimplyTilla,whichis Aramaic for "The Tell." It is this name which surviveson the maps of the Survey of Western Palestine. The later change to Khirbet Khuweilifehtook place on official maps only after 1937. While certaintyconcerningthe identification of the site as Rimmon cannot yet be claimed,based on a presentassessmentof evidenceit is a leading candidate. The discovery of the unique "pomegranatebowl" during excavationsin 1977 adds further symbolic, if not substantive,support for this view. A final answer,however,must awaitdiscoveryof further evidencewhich may be forthcomingwhen the LRP resumes its field operations in 1979 and 1980.

DECEMBER1977

"I, THE

JUSTUS, LIE

DISCOVERY OF

HERE" BETH

SHEARIM

J. KAPLAN

Oneday in the springof 1936, two boys noticedafox bolting down a hole in the ground. Discovering that they could follow the fox, they came upon a maze of underground chambers which proved to be only a part of the Jewish cemeteryof Beth Shearim.

The excavationsat Sheikh Abreik(ancientBeth Shearim),begunon 15October1936,werean important landmarkin the archeologicalenterpriseof Eretz-Israel. Beth Shearimis known in Jewish historyas one of the sites where the Sanhedrin convened and also as the place where "Rabbi," the Patriarch Judah I and redactorof the Mishna, spent a major part of his life and was buried. The developmentswhich led a team of archeologists, under the leadershipof Prof. BenjaminMazar (then Maisler), to excavate at Sheikh Abreik are not without interest. Despite some tentative beginningsin the 1920'sand early 1930's,Israeliarcheologicalactivity in the mid-1930'swas still in its infancy. At this time, the work at Beth Shearimcould not remotelycompare with the well-equipped,well-staffed, and generously funded foreign expeditions which for most of the preceding decade and a half had been digging at Jerusalem,Jericho,Ai, Lachish,Debir, Megiddo,Bethshean, and many other sites. Thus, the initiationof the excavations at Sheikh Abreik markeda turning-point for Israeli activity. The origin of this rush of activity by numerous archeologicalexpeditionslay in the enormousappetite Currently the Director of the Museum of Antiquities of Tel-Aviv - Jaffa - Museum Haaretz, Jacob Kaplan is one of the pioneer Israeli archeologists. He was a good friend of William F. Albright, G. Ernest Wright, and other archeologists from the American School in Jerusalem.

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

for factual information about the Holy Land that markedthe 19th and 20th centuries.A quantumjump in archeologicalactivity occurredafter World War I, with the British takeover of the country. The new Mandatoryadministrationremovedpreviousdiscriminatory restrictionson foreign participationin excavations and generally adopted a positive and liberal attitudetowardarcheologicalresearch.The sole criteria for grantingof licenseswere the scientificfitness of the expedition and its ability to finance the particular excavation it wished to undertake.Anotherimportant factor contributing to the number of large-scale excavations during this period was the abundanceof local labor willing to work for a pittance.As a result, the country was virtually overrun by foreign expeditions which began the systematic excavation of an increasingnumberof its famous tells. The expeditions were primarily American or British, with a few of French,Scandinavian,or othernationalorigin.Almost all were connected in some way with theological, biblical, or archeological institutes and "schools," usually based in Jerusalem. These institutes and schools enjoyed the advantageof fairly well-equipped research libraries, and they also were in touch with middlemen who kept them informed about local conditions. This was not the case with Israeliarcheologists. Until the early 1920'snot a single excavation had been carried out by Israeli archeologists. The Palestine Jewish ExplorationSociety, reconstitutedin 1920, sponsoredthe first small excavations,directedby 167

Four members of the expedition to Sheikh Abreik. Above: BenjaminMaisler (Mazar) and Jacob Kaplan; below: Moshe Jaffe and Pesach Bar-Adon. All except Jaffe continue as archeologiststoday. Mazar directs the excavations at the Western Wall in the Old City, Jerusalem. Kaplan conducts excavtions in the TelAviv - Jaffa area and is also director of the Museum of Antiquities of Tel-Aviv - Jaffa. Bar-Adon continues his excavations and surveys in the Judean desert.

against the Roman decurion Aebutius, whose command post was located at Gaba, northwest of Besara:

Dr. Nahum Sloush at Absalom's Tomb and at the Hammath Synagogue of Tiberias. Following this modest start came other excavations, most importantly the excavation of Jewish tombs and synagogues carried out by E. L. Sukenik on behalf of the newly opened Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The list of Jewish archeologists of this time, some just starting their careers, includes L. A. Mayer, S. Yeivin, N. Avigad, M. Stekelis, M. Avi-Yonah, E. Ben-Dor, and others. In its early phases, Israeli archeological scholarwas oriented primarily toward historico-topoship Here Israeli scholars were adding to research. graphical the findings of their great 19th-centurypredecessors and helping to complete the map of identified biblical sites with their explorations and excavations. These identifications were the product of explorations and surveys carried out all over the country. Later, when Israeli archeologists started on the systematic excavation of selected sites, historico-geographical information often accrued, either directly or by inference, from the results of these excavations. An illustration of this is Sheikh Abreik, which was first investigated in historicogeographical research and finally excavated by a team of Israeli archeologists. These excavations produced inscriptions leading to the conclusion that this was indeed the site of ancient Beth Shearim. Throughout the 19th century, scholars had tried to locate the site of Besara, an ancient town located in the western Jezreel Plain, mentioned by Josephus in his autobiography. Josephus, the commander of the Jewish army in Galilee at the time of the great rebellion of 66-74 C.E., describes a short engagement of his forces

168

Aebutius, the decurion,who had been entrustedwith the charge of the Great Plain, hearingthat I was at Simonias, a village on the frontier of Galilee, sixty furlongs away from him, set off with the hundred horses at his disposal,some two hundredinfantry,and the inhabitantsof Gaba as auxiliaries,and by a night march reachedthe village where I had my quarters.I confrontedhim with a large force in order of battle. Aebutius, relying mainly on cavalry, endeavouredto decoy us into the plain. We, however, refused to accommodatehim; realizingthe advantagewhich his horse would have over our troops, composedentirely of infantry,should we descendinto the plain, I determined to engage the enemy on my own ground.For a time Aebutius and his men made a gallant stand;but seeing that his cavalrywere useless in such surroundings, he withdrewto the town of Gaba,havingfailedin his object and lost three men in the engagement.I followed close behindwith two thousandinfantry,and on reachingthe neighbourhoodof the town of Besara, on the borders of Ptolemais, twenty furlongs from Gaba, whereAebutiuswas stationed,I posted my men outside the village, with ordersto keep strictguardon the roads,so as to preventinterferencefrom the enemy, while we were removing the corn. Of this a large quantity belonging to Queen Berenice, had been collected from the neighbouringvillagesand stored in Besara. (Josephus, Life, 115-19,

Loeb edition, Thackeray'stranslation.) Of the three towns mentioned in this account Simonias, Besara and Gaba - only the site of Simonias, that is Tell Simunieh, about one km. north of today's Nahalal, was known. The distances between these towns as indicated by Josephus - 60 stadia (ca. 11 km.) between Simonias and Gaba, and 20 stadia (ca. 3.7 km.) between Besara and Gaba were insufficient data to fix the location of either Besara or Gaba. Therefore, further data, archeological and documentary, were needed to solve the problem of the location of these two towns. Some progress was made in 1913 when Prof. Samuel Klein suggested that the Besara of Josephus' account was the Greek form of the Hebrew "Beth Shearim," the name of a town frequently

DECEMBER 1977

0b Se Beth She arim$soneass

ijizar*th*

Besara

Afula*

mm

Megiddo

kpi

mentioned in the Mishna in connection with "Rabbi" and other Jewish sages. But even with these additional data the problem continued unresolved, and its final solution was only achieved by the excavations at Sheikh Abreik.

The intriguing story of the site's discovery began one day in March, 1936, when two youths wandering through the wadi that runs west of the mound of Sheikh Abreik discovered the openings of what later proved to be underground tomb-caves. No one had previously suspected that below ground there was a warren of caves with holes made by robbers in the tomb walls, allowing one to pass underground from one cave to another. A fox, seen bolting down one of the openings and disappearing into the cave below, pricked the curiosity of the two and they decided to crawl in after it. Once past the opening, they found themselves inside a catacomb with burial chambers whose walls were decorated with incised or red-painted inscriptions and designs. Their discovery was communicated to Dr. Benjamin Maisler, who came to the site with a group of scholars and entered the catacomb in the same way as the two youths. They examined the inscriptions on the walls, finding that some of these appeared to contain the names of Jewish sages. Here

Catacomb no. 1, burial hall 14. A menorah is carved in relief above a loculus (burial niche), next to a decorativelycarved pier. BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST

169

Catacomb no. 3, burial hall 2. Two arcosolia (niches for sarcophagi),one above the other, are visible. To the left, a stone door still capable of turning on its hinges, remains. The door imitates a wooden door, studded with nails. was a discovery indeed! Obviously the extensive underground necropolis just discovered belonged to the town whose remains were hidden in the ruins of Sheikh Abreik. This meant that this location must have been the site of ancient Beth Shearim, since it was known from the literature that Beth Shearim had a large cemetery to which Jews from the Diaspora were brought for burial. Under the sponsorship of the Palestine Jewish Exploration Society, an expedition was speedily and enthusiastically organized by Benjamin Maisler, joined by Pessach Bar-Adon as chief assistant and Zvi Bar-Adon as architect. However, before the expedition could begin work, Zvi Bar-Adon contracted cave fever following a preliminary exploration of the catacombs and was replaced as architect by this writer. With the start of the excavation a number of others joined the expedition, including Moshe Jaffe who supervised the workmen, and later, Dr. Moshe Schwabe of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, who deciphered the Greek inscriptions. Also working on the expedition was the photographer, S. I. Schweig, on leave from the Department of Antiquities in Palestine.

170

... here was a kind of posthumous ingathering of the Jewish people who had been dispersed beyond the borders of the Holy Land. The excavations at Sheikh Abreik extended over four seasons, between 1936 and 1939. A total of 11 catacombs were cleared, and in addition the synagogue at the top of the mound was excavated. In Catacomb no. 1, 16 "halls" with their openings and stone doors were exposed. These halls had many rooms with numerous burial niches cut in their walls. Approximately 400 such niches were counted. Of the inscriptions (ca. 200) found in the catacombs, the great majority were Greek and only about 10%were Hebrew or Palmyrene. The excavations on the lower west side of Sheikh Abreik and at various points on the lower slopes of the hills around the mound proved that this was the largest Jewish necropolis of its kind ever discovered in Palestine. The people buried in the cemetery were not only from Beth Shearim itself but also from nearby

DECEMBER1977

Caesarea,the towns of the Jezreel Plain and Galilee, and from far-off Ezion-geber.In fact, here was a kind of posthumous ingatheringof the Jewish people who had been dispersed beyond the borders of the Holy Land.Those interredwerebroughtfromthe Phoenician coastal cities - Beirut, Byblos, Sidon, Tyre; from

The epitaph on this marble slab provides definite proof that the archeological remains at Sheikh Abreik are indeed those of ancient Beth Shearim. Syria - Antioch, Apamea, and the Damascus area; from the kingdomsof Palmyraand Babylon,and also from distant Himyarin South Yemen.The excavations produced importantand valuable informationon the links between the Jewish Diaspora and the Beth Shearim religious center during the Roman period. The outstandingfind, however,was the broken marble slab with a Greek funeraryinscriptionwhich originallyhad been fixed in the wall of the mausoleum

of Catacomb no. 11. The epitaphon this marbleslab provides definite proof that the archeologicalremains at Sheikh Abreik are indeed those of ancient Beth Shearim. The inscription,originallypublishedby the late Prof. Moshe Schwabe, reads as follows:* I, Justus, son of Leontiosand Sappho,lie heredead, And after I had plucked the fruit of all wisdom I left the light, the miserableparents who mourn ceaselessly And my brothers. Woe to me in [my] Besa[ra]. After descendingto Hades, I Justus lie here With many of my people, for so willed stern fate. Be comforted, Justus, no man is immortal. With the location of Besaraand Beth Shearim definitelyestablished,it was now possibleto locate the site of Gaba, namely at el-Khartiyh,the present-day Kibbutz Shaar ha-Amakim, where Ist-century C.E. remains have been found. This site, astride a major crossroads,was of strategicimportance,and it was not by chance that Herod the Great settled discharged soldiers of his cavalry here. *By courtesy of the Israel ExplorationSociety

The Justus inscription from Catacomb no. 11.

BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST

171

Colophon

Mayday, mayday It's happening again. Tripped up by the year's melt and now 5 days of rain, congregations of earthworms rise on their shafts of slither (thinking (their functions are, at best, dispersed) it's the Flood again, at long last) to the open lawn. where the robin is there to meet them, not laughing but hungry, down exactly to earth, in his element, & not so easily bamboozled by such uplifting prognostications. Stephen Tapscott Copyright @ 1975. Reprinted from Mesopotamia by permission of Wesleyan University Press.

The Destructive Will This, then, is the child's wish: To see the earth a dancing flood And the new home floating free, And all irrational, outside, inside. The packed beasts padding through The comforts of the living room. And the old man, his hand forced By the impossible command, Compass lost and out of touch. And all the navigational aids Part of the swiftly moving flood. But mainly it's the murderous beasts, Wonderfully close and now accepted As part of home and family: The dumb, the fierce, the tooth and claw. I read it in the earliest book, Where all our childhoods signify Themselves in open imagery. And this is the image of the will: To see the globe a watery blot, History killed, pain stopped. And this must win us to the dark, And close our eyes, and rock our sleep, And pray the coffin be an ark. Harvey Shapiro Copyright ? 1961. Reprinted from Battle Report by permission of Wesleyan University Press.

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DECEMBER 1977

The Tabernacle Menorah A Synthetic Study of a Symbol from the Biblical Cult by Carol L. Meyers The Tabernacle Menorah is a synthetic study of the menorah which stood in the tabernacle of ancient Israel. By treating it as an artifact, and by bringing the methods of philology, comparative archeology, art history, and phenomenology together in an investigation of the object, the nature of its physical reality and of its symbolic function within the biblical cult can be understood. It is clear as a result of the study of the biblical and archeological sources that the details of form and fabrication alone do not complete our understanding of the tabernacle menorah. Thus, the peculiar seven-branched shape as well as the general vegetative and repetitive characteristics are scrutinized as they appear in other ancient Near Eastern cultures. In this way, the second level of meaning, the thematic identification of the object, can be determined insofar as Israel's history is rooted in these cultures. Finally, at the third level of meaning, the symbolic value of the object within the biblical cult, as a specific historical manifestation of that object, is approached. The concluding chapter deals with the tabernacle menorah within the Israelite cult. As its emotional overtones become clear, the manner and purpose of this integration into the Israelite religious experience can be understood. ASOR DissertationSeries 2 Cloth $7.00 ($5.00 to cSPs sponsors) Paper $6.00 ($4.00 to cSPs sponsors) Orderfrom Scholars Press

POB5207 Missoula, MT 59806

ON-The-scene RePORT "

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A phone call to Jerusalem's American School of Oriental Research catapulted a young Biblical student into one of the world's greatest archeological detective stories. John C. Trever was serving as temporary director of the school when a call arrived from the Syrian Orthodox Monastery, requesting help in deciphering some ancient manuscripts. From these casual beginnings sprung a whole new chapter in archeological science that is still causing scholars to revise earlier theories. Bullets, bombs and wartime intrigue in 1948Palestine provide a dramatic backdrop for his account of the scholarly explorations that attended this historic "rediscovery." An archeological true adventure story to enthrall scholar.and lay person alike.

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by John C. Trever

Revised edition. Originally Untold Story of Qumnran Illustrated 192pages ISBN 0-8028-1695-9

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AVESE . GRAND MICH 49503 B. EERDMANS RAPIDS. IWM. PUBLISHING CO.255JEFFERSON