Judah’s Aramean period

A few weeks ago, I was startled to learn about this inscription (and a few more like it) from Kuntillet ‘Ajrud, in northeastern Sinai:

Some of the diagnostic letters are on the top line, which reads 𐤀𐤓𐤊𐤟𐤉𐤌𐤌𐤟𐤅𐤉𐤔𐤁𐤏𐤅 ארך ימם וישבעו [ʾ]rk . ymm . wyšbʿw ‘[l]ength of days, and they will be sated’ (not sure about that first aleph). Note the Tetragrammaton on the second line.

Kuntillet ‘Ajrud, although it’s in present-day Egypt, is culturally a northern Israelite (= Samarian) site. Quite a few inscriptions were found there, dating to around 800 BCE, and mostly in Israelite Hebrew, which by this time had started to develop its own script, Paleo-Hebrew, different from what was used for Phoenician and Aramaic. The inscriptions like the one in the picture, however, are weird in two regards. First, their Hebrew is in the southern, Judahite dialect, not in the northern, Israelite one. And second, the script is not Paleo-Hebrew, but what I’d like to call Northern Levantine, the sister script I just mentioned that is used for Phoenician and a range of other Northwest Semitic languages—but normally not Hebrew!

There’s some debate about whether (all of) these inscriptions are really in Judahite Hebrew and not, say, Phoenician. But if they are (the one on the image seems clear enough), why the weird script? The editors of the Kuntillet ‘Ajrud inscriptions don’t really know either, but suggest some kind of Phoenician influence in Judah at this time. I don’t know of any other evidence to suggest that, and it seems ad hoc.

But why this Phoenician fixation? Unless I’m missing something serious, there aren’t any consistent differences at this time between the Phoenician script proper and the broader North Levantine script as it was also used for Ammonite, Sam’alian, and, again, Aramaic. Here’s a nice Old Aramaic inscription so you can check.

Part of one of the Sefire steles, mid-eighth century BCE. The quality isn’t great, but if you can find any 𐤅 w‘s or 𐤊 k‘s (try the bottom left quarter), those are the shapes that look different from Paleo-Hebrew that are also in the Kuntillet ‘Ajrud inscription above.

Unlike the Phoenician hypothesis, I think there may be sufficient evidence for Aramean, specifically Damascene influence on Judah, around the same time that Hazael of Damascus was exerting influence all over the place:

17 At that time King Hazael of Aram went up, fought against Gath, and took it. But when Hazael set his face to go up against Jerusalem, 18 King Jehoash of Judah took all the votive gifts that Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, his ancestors, the kings of Judah, had dedicated, as well as his own votive gifts, all the gold that was found in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and of the king’s house, and sent these to King Hazael of Aram. Then Hazael withdrew from Jerusalem.

2 Kings 12:17-18 (NRSVUE)

This event, commonly dated around 830 BCE, does not get a lot of follow-up in the Bible. But this is overlord behaviour. When Sennacherib besieges Jerusalem and has to be bought off, that’s a major event of the Assyrian period. When Nebuchadnezzar besieges Jerusalem (the first time) and takes the Temple vessels as tribute, that’s the Babylonian period. Could it be that at the same time that Hazael was conquering his Aramean neighbours and defeating the Israelites in Transjordan (2 Kings 10:32-33), Judah entered a mini Aramean period? If so, it wouldn’t be crazy for scribal training in Damascus-dominated Judah to teach the newly emergent script of its Syrian overlords.

But in the end, Judahite Hebrew is normally written with Paleo-Hebrew, not a Northern Levantine script like Aramaic. So, what, did they switch at some point? Well,

8 Then Amaziah sent messengers to King Jehoash son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu of Israel, saying, “Come, let us look one another in the face.” 9 King Jehoash of Israel sent word to King Amaziah of Judah, “A thornbush on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife,’ but a wild animal of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thornbush. 10 You have indeed defeated Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Be content with your glory and stay at home, for why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?”

11 But Amaziah would not listen. So King Jehoash of Israel went up; he and King Amaziah of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah. 12 Judah was defeated by Israel; everyone fled home. 13 King Jehoash of Israel captured King Amaziah of Judah son of Jehoash son of Ahaziah at Beth-shemesh; he came to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate, a distance of four hundred cubits. 14 He seized all the gold and silver and all the vessels that were found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house, as well as hostages; then he returned to Samaria.

2 Kings 14:8-14 (NRSVUE)

This is several decades and one or two generations later: Amaziah of Judah is Jehoash of Judah’s son, and Jehoash of Israel is the grandson of Hazael’s contemporary Jehu of Israel. And again, what we see here is typical overlord-vassal behaviour. It seems fair to say that here, Judah is (re)entering a period of Samarian dominance. Wresting Judah from Damascus as part of the larger Israelite campaign against Aram of this time seems like a good reason for Jehoash to have sent his armies south, perhaps a better reason than Amaziah being a bit of a blowhard.

That provides us with a natural setting for Judah to switch to the Samarian-promoted Paleo-Hebrew script attested in most of the Judahite Hebrew epigraphy. When we next get information about Judah’s geopolitical situation, it’s the late eighth century and they’re wisely switching allegiance to the Neo-Assyrian Empire. While the Assyrians used Aramaic for administration in the western part of their empire (the Aramaic-derived script used for Hebrew today is still called ktav ashuri, ‘Assyrian writing’), I’m not sure they would have cared enough to enforce the use of Northern Levantine all over the place for local, non-Aramaic languages too. You need Persians for that level of organization.

So, between ca. 830 and 790, we’ve got a window where it might have made more sense for Judahite scribes to write like Arameans than like northern Israelites. I’ll have to double check (especially the material from Arad), but I think the timing works out for the use of Northern vs. Southern Levantine for Judahite Hebrew corresponding to Damascene vs. Samarian dominance. Why exactly Aramaic-Judahite-Hebrew-writing scribes would have been leaving (Yahwistic!) religious plaster inscriptions at a waystation in the desert in Sinai, however, remains a mystery to me for now.

#alphabet #Aramaic #Bible #epigraphy #Hebrew #Kings

Book of Enoch

This is an ancient Jewish apocalyptic religious text. The author of this book, by tradition, is the patriarch Enoch. Enoch was the dad of Methuselah (the oldest man in the Christian & Hebrew Bible) & the great-grandpa of Noah.

The Book of Enoch has some quite unique passages on the origins of demons & the Nephilim, why some angels fell from Heaven, an explanation of why the Genesis Flood was morally necessary, & a prophetic explanation of the 1,000-year reign of the Messiah.

3 books are traditionally attributed to Enoch, including the distinct works of 2 Enoch & 3 Enoch.

1 Enoch isn’t considered to be canonical Scripture by most sects of Judaism & Christianity. Although it’s a part of the biblical canon used by the Ethiopian Jewish community, Beta Israel. As well as the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church & the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

The older section of 1 Enoch is dated to circa 300-200 BCE. The latest part (Book of Parables) is probably from circa 100 BCE. It’s believed that Enoch was originally written in either Aramaic or Hebrew. The 1st languages used for Jewish texts. No Hebrew version is known to have survived.

Copies of the earlier sections of 1 Enoch were preserved in Aramaic among the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Qumran Caves. The full Book of Enoch survives in its entirety only in the Ge’ez translation. Ge’ez is an ancient South Semitic language. The language originated from what’s known as Ethiopia & Eritrea.

The 1st part of the Book of Enoch describes the fall of the Watchers, the angels who sired angel-human hybrids called the Nephilim. The rest of the book describes Enoch’s revelations & his visits to Heaven in the form of travels, visions, & dreams.

The book consists of 5 major sections:

• The Book of the Watchers (1 Enoch 1-36)
• The Book of Parables of Enoch (1 Enoch 37-71; sometimes called the Similitudes of Enoch)
• The Astronomical Book (1 Enoch 72-82; sometimes called the Book of the Heavenly Luminaries or Book of Luminaries)
• The Book of Dream Visions (I Enoch 83-90; sometimes called the Book of Dreams)
• The Epistle of Enoch (1 Enoch 91-108)

The most extensive surviving early manuscripts of the Book of Enoch are in Ge’ez. Also, there are manuscripts used by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church to prepare the deuterocanonicals from Ge’ez into the targumic Amharic in the bilingual Haile Selassie Amharic Bible.

Judging by the number of copies found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Book of Enoch was widely read during the Second Temple period. Today, the Ethiopian Beta Israel community of Haymanot Jews is the only Jewish group that accepts the Book of Enoch as canonical & still preserves it in its liturgical language of Ge’ez. It plays a central role in worship.

However, the Book of Enoch was excluded from both the formal canon of the Tanakh (the Jewish/Hebrew Bible) & the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament, the earliest Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew). Also from the writings known today as the Deuterocanon.

By the 5th century, the Book of Enoch was mostly excluded from Christian biblical canons. It is now regarded as Scripture only by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church & the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

The Book of Enoch was considered as Scripture in the Epistle of Barnabas & by some of the early Church Fathers (like Clement of Alexandria & Tertullian) who wrote circa 200 that the Jews had rejected the Book of Enoch because it purposely contained prophecies about Jesus.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) don’t consider 1 Enoch to be part of its standard canon. Although it believes that a purported, “original” Book of Enoch was an inspired book.

The Book of Moses (1st published the 1830s by the Mormon Church) is part of its standard works & has a section that claims to contain extracts from the “original” Book of Enoch.

This section has a number of similarities to 1 Enoch & other Enoch texts, including 2 Enoch, 3 Enoch, & The Book of Giants. The Enoch section of the Book of Moses is believed by the Church to contain extracts from “the ministry, teachings, & visions of Enoch.”

Though it doesn’t have the entire Book of Enoch itself. The Mormon Church considers the potions of the other texts that match its Enoch excerpts to be inspired while not rejecting but withholding judgment on the remainder.

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This #Qumran fragment, part of a text referred to as Pseudo-Daniel, writes 'your god' in Paleo-Hebrew characters (well, mostly: 𐤀𐤋𐤄כ𐤄), the only instance of script switching for a divine name other than the Tetragrammaton and, I think, the only one in an #Aramaic text.

The Dead Sea Scrolls - B-36613...

Another nice one: Imperial #Aramaic אגור 'temple' (neutral) > later Aramaic 'shrine, altar' (pagan or otherwise heterodox)

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:qbe3b7ljafblsyy4dhkkgj7t/post/3mie7szwmm22h

Nephilim

The Nephilim are mysterious beings or humans mentioned in the Bible. Traditionally understood as beings of great size & strength, or alternatively as beings of great power & authority.

The 1st biblical reference to them happens in Genesis 6:4. According to Numbers 13:33, 10 of the 12 spies reported the existence of Nephilim in Canaan before its conquest by the Israelites.

Interpretations vary vastly across traditions. Second Temple texts like 1st Enoch & Jubilees picture the Nephilim as offspring of fallen angels (Watchers) & of human women, portraying them as evil giants whose corruption led to the flood that’s told in the book of Genesis.

Some viewed the Nephilim as the descendants of Seth intermarrying with Cain’s lineage. Just to put this into perspective, Seth & Cain are biological brothers (half or whole, depending on the story). Their descendants married each other. It would be like marrying your cousins. Not 1st or 2nd cousins. But cousins nonetheless.

While others support the fallen angel theory. This was later supported by the Dead Sea Scrolls. Islamic tradition links them to the giant tribe of ‘Ad. While other theories link them with the Sumerian Apkallu myths or elite Canaanite warriors.

Over time, the Nephilim have been reimagined in popular culture: they appear in novels, films, video games, & conspiracy theories unrelated to religion. They are often pictured as powerful hybrids, ancient gods, or remnants of a lost superhuman race. Or the race of giants that Goliath descended from.

In the Bible, 3 interconnected passages refer to the Nephilim. 2 of them are in the Torah (Old Testament). The 1st appearance in Genesis 6:1-4. This is immediately before the Noah’s Ark story. Genesis 6:4 says: The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, & also after that when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men & they bore children to them; the same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.

A few things hit differently in this passage:

• Heavenly beings can have biological human children? How is this physically possible? If, after all, they’re spiritual beings?
• Why would God give/allow these “angels” the ability to even have kids in the 1st place? In modern times, we don’t think of angels as having the ability to have kids. Even the fallen ones. We do tend to think that Satan himself is the only 1 that can somehow have kids (the Antichrist).
• Who, exactly, were these “men of renown”? Like we, personally, just want 2-3 of the names. Is it some guys we’ve never even heard of? Or would it confirm some names we already know? Like yep, our fav demigod Hercules made the short list. But some decisions happened on the editing room floor. Sorry Herc!

“Those days” were a period when the human population on the earth had started to really take off. This was when people began “to be plentiful on the Earth.”

The 2nd is Numbers 13:32-33, where 10 of the 12 spies describe the Anakites (a Rephaite tribe) as descendants of the Nephilim. Outside the Pentateuch, there are 1 more passage indirectly referencing nephilim & this is Ezekiel 32:17-32.

The earliest translation of the Bible (the Septuagint), which was composed in the 3rd or 2nd century BC, gives the said word as gigantes. In Greek mythology, the gigantes were beings of great strength & aggression. But not necessarily of great size.

The Vulgate (compiled in the 4th or 5th century AD) transcribes the Greek term rather than translating the Hebrew nefilim. From there, the tradition of the giant progeny of the sons of God & the daughters of men spread to later medieval translations of the Bible.

From the 3rd century onwards, references are found in Enochic literature, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Jubilees, the Testament of Reuben, 2 Baruch, Josephus, & the Book of Jude.

The New American Bible commentary draws parallels between the Epistle of Jude & the statements in Genesis. This suggests that Jude refers implicitly to the paternity of the Nephilim as heavenly beings who came to earth & had spicy adult time with human women.

The story of the Nephilim is elaborated in the Book of Enoch. The Greek, Aramaic, & main Ge’ez manuscripts of 1 Enoch & Jubilees acquired in the 19th century (held in the British Museum & the Vatican Library) connect the origin of the Nephilim with the fallen angels, & in particular with the egregoroi (watchers).

In this tradition, the kids of the Nephilim are called the Elioud. They’re considered a separate race from the Nephilim. But they end up sharing the same fate as the Nephilim.

Some believe the fallen angels who sired the Nephilim were cast into Tartarus (II Peter 2:4, Jude 1:6), a place of “total darkness.” An interpretation is that God granted 10% of the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim to remain after Noah’s deluge, as demons, to try to lead the human race astray until the Final Judgment.

The Book of Jubilees also says that ridding the Earth of these pesky Nephilim was 1 of God’s purposes for flooding the Earth in Noah’s day. It describes the Nephilim as being evil giants.

A long-held view in some Christian sects is that the “sons of God” were the formerly righteous descendants of Seth (Adam & Eve’s 3rd kid) who rebelled. While the “daughters of men” were the unrighteous descendants of Cain. The Nephilim were their offspring. This view dates to at least the 1st century AD in Jewish literature. It was found in Christian sources from the 3rd century.

Some individuals & groups (including St. Augustine, John Chrysostom, & John Calvin) take the view of Genesis 6:2 that the “angels” who fathered the Nephilim referred to certain human males from Seth’s lineage. They were called sons of God in reference to their prior covenant with Yahweh (Deut. 14:1, 32:5). In these sources, these men had begun to pursue bodily interests, & so took wives of “the daughters of men.”

This view is also held by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. This is supported by their own Ge’ez manuscripts & Amharic translation of the Haile Selassie Bible (1 Enoch & Jubilees also), which count as canonical by this church. The “Sons of Seth” view is the view presented in a few extra-biblical, yet ancient texts.

In these sources, these kids of Seth were said to have disobeyed God by breeding with the Cainites & producing wicked kids “who were all unlike.” This angered God into bringing about our boy Noah’s flood.

If you subscribe to the ancient alien theory, then you’ll be familiar with Zacharia Sitchin. In his The Earth Chronicles series, Mr. Sitchin makes the claim that the Nephilim were an extraterrestrial race called the Anunnaki. The Anunnaki came down from the 12th Planet (Nibiru) & mated with (or at least genetically messed with) human women. They also gave humanity a few things: civilization, makeup, weapons, warfare, & farming. (Our founder is currently reading The 12th Planet right now, as of the date this posts. They are about done with it, like 2 more chapters!)

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Finally made the connection between Imperial #Aramaic לחן 'temple servant', feminine לחנה,* and Biblical and later Aramaic לְחֵנָה 'concubine', 'wench' or something like that. * That's 𐡋𐡇𐡍 and 𐡋𐡇𐡍𐡄 for my fellow Unicode freaks

From a set of about 50 mostly #Aramaic graffiti from Hama, Syria, before the Assyrians destroyed it in 720 BCE. These two write place names: Hama itself (Hamath), in pretty old-fashioned letters (c. 925–850?), and Qarqar, site of the famous 853 BCE battle between the Assyrians & a western coalition.

I'm learning #Akkadian, and whatever happy neurochemical is prompted by recognizing old friends, I love that seeing a cognate for a term I already know in a different Semitic language triggers the same response.
eqlum = field
Why hello, old חקל!
šemûm
Good to see you again, שמע!
#Hebrew #Aramaic

Dharma

This is a main concept in many Indian religions. It comes from the Sanskrit dhr-, meaning ‘to hold, to support.’ Referring to the law that sustains things. In its most used sense, dharma refers to a person’s moral responsibilities or duties.

In Hinduism, dharma denotes behavior considered to be in accord with Rta (the order & custom that make life & the universe possible). This includes duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues, & ethics to form the “righteous way of living.” Dharma is believed to have trans-temporal validity & is 1 of the Purusartha.

In the Hindu tradition, Dharma isn’t a “1 size fits all” kind of deal. Often it’s divided into 2 primary categories:

• Sanatana Dharma (The Eternal Way)
  • This refers to the absolute, universal duties that apply to everyone.
• Varnashrama Dharma (Specific Duty)
  • This is where history & culture get complex. It suggests that your specific duty is determined by your stage in life (ashrama) & your role in society (varna).

Much of Indian epic literature, like the Mahabharata, focuses on “Dharma Yuddha” (a righteous war). The Bhagavad Gita is essentially a 700-verse philosophical crisis where the warrior Arjuna must decide between his familial affection & his Kshatriya (warrior) dharma.

In Buddhism, dharma (in Pali: dhamma) refers to the teachings of THE Buddha & to the true nature of reality. The Dharma is the “truth” that the Buddha realized under the Bodhi tree. It is symbolized by the Dharmachakra (the 8-Spoked Wheel), representing the Noble 8-Fold Path.

In Buddhist philosophy, dhamma/dharma is also the term for specific “phenomena” & the ultimate truth. In a technical sense, “dharmas” refer to the fundamental building blocks of experience. It’s the 2nd of the “Triple Gem” (Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha) that a practitioner looks to for liberation from suffering (dukkha).

In Jainism, dharma refers to the teachings of Tirthankara (Jina) & the body of doctrine of purification & moral transformation. Jainism agrees that Dharma involves virtue (specifically the “10 Virtues,” like forgiveness & humility), & it also defines Dharma as a substance called Dharmastikaya. This is the principle of motion. Just as water lets fish swim, Dharma is the medium that lets souls & matter move through the universe.

In Sikhism, dharma indicates the path of righteousness, proper religious practices, & performing moral duties.

The antonym (opposite) of dharma is adharma (“not dharma”). In common usage, adharma means that which is against nature, immoral, unethical, wrong, or unlawful. In Buddhism, dharma integrates the teachings & doctrines of the founder of Buddhism, the Buddha.

In the mid-20th century, an inscription of the Indian Mauryan Emperor Asoka from the year 258 BCE was found in Afghanistan, the Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription. This rock inscription contains Greek & Aramaic texts.

After a bloody conquest of Kalinga, Ashoka was struck by/with remorse. He converted to Buddhism & replaced the policy of Dig-vijaya (conquest by force) with Dharma-vijaya (conquest by piety). He carved “Dharma Edicts” onto massive stone pillars & rocks throughout the Indian subcontinent.

They weren’t just religious texts. They were also administrative orders promoting religious tolerance, animal welfare, & the planting of medicinal herbs.

The evolving literature of Hinduism links dharma to 2 other important ideals: Rta & Maya. Rta, in the Vedas, is the truth, & cosmic principle which regulates & coordinates the operation of the universe & everything within it. Maya, in the Rig-veda & later literature, means illusion, fraud, deception, magic that misleads & creates disorder. Thus is contrary to reality, laws, & rules that establish order, predictability & harmony.

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Hey, I reconstructed some #Aramaic letter names! Going back to around 500 BCE, I guess. The similarity to #Greek is usually explained via #Phoenician, but we don't actually have any Phoenician letter names AFAIK.