Aravah – Journey to Holy Land

Desert of Paran

webmaster — Wed, 03 Aug 2016 08:53:47 +0000

For over a century, archaeologists and exegetics have debated the question of the age during which the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt towards the “Promised Land” took place. Some of them question the historical reliability of the biblical text. There were and are those who consider that the story of exodus is an historical document, others claim that the event concerned a small group of slaves fleeing from Egypt, presumably only a small part of the Hebrews there are people who believe that there have been several exoduses; and there are those who value the narration as the fruit of a myth without any historical base.

The problem of the chronology of exodus can exist only if one accepts that an exodus might indeed have taken place. There is however a question on the age of the myth or of the various elements included in the narration. Some of them may be late, some may be early. The earliest possible date of reference is obviously relevant for any historical reconstruction. Of course if one could demonstrate that nothing of the story of exodus could be earlier than the Iron age, this could have an impact in the historical reconstruction. Likewise, if it could be demonstrated that some elements of the story are consistently older, another base of historical reconstruction would become possible.

But Raamses, as a geographical area, is mentioned also in the book of Genesis, with reference to an epoch that all the exegetics would agree must have been well before the XIII century BC. The name of Raamses, in the book of Exodus and in that of Genesis, emerges as a geographical indication: it indicates the site where, according to tradition, the Hebrews were in Egypt. It is not necessarily the same name that the site must have had at the epoch of the Patriarchs or at the time of Moses. This is true also for the other names that the Bible uses in an anachronistic way. For example, “The way of the Country of the Philistines” could hardly have had this name before the Philistines arrived, while, at the epoch in which the text was put into writing, it undoubtedly had that name. It is a normal narrative process, as if we say: “the Neolithic people settled in the area of Tel Aviv”. This does not signify that the site was called “Tel Aviv” in the Neolithic period.

As a consequence of the preceding assumption, this exegetical chronology had fixed the limits between which the exodus should have taken place, between the building of the town of Raamses and the age of the stele of Mer-ne-Ptah, that is between 1292 and 1220 BC, in any case in the XIII century BC. In almost all the urban centres, the tells excavated in the Delta area, there are archaeological layers in the New Kingdom which overlap older levels. This is also the case in the suggested locations of the towns of Raamses and Pitom which may be identified with the archaeological sites of Kantir and of Tell el-Maskhuta, where there are also earlier archaeological levels. But the archaeological elements that accumulated in recent years, together with the comparative literature of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, create even more difficulties for the solution of this complex problem.

During the XVIII and XIX dynasty, in the Egyptian period of the New Kingdom (1550-1200 BC) the court of the Pharaoh was full of bureaucrats and intellectuals, and the state archives were worth every respect. If the episode of the flight from Egypt and the passage of the “Red Sea” referred to the New Kingdom, some traces should have been found in the Egyptian text, perhaps proposing a more brilliant version for the Egyptians. The lack of any reference has convinced some scholars that the biblical narration is pure mythology without any historical base.

The biblical episodes narrated in Egypt, the presence of notable groups of Asiatic people in the zone of the Delta, and the political changes that modified their social position, are subjects suitable for consideration in the Egyptian literature. And in our view they have been considered; however the pertinent texts do not belong to the New Kingdom but to the Old Kingdom. In other words they do not go back to the XIII century, but to the III millennium BC, one millennium before the contexts on which the biblical scholars have concentrated their research. The reader should not be scandalised now, but after reading and meditating this article to the end and after considering the proposed data.
During the VI dynasty, especially under the reign of Pepi I (2375-2350), the Egyptians conducted several punitive campaigns. A commander by the name of Uni immortalised the actions against the Asiatics “that live in the territory of sand” and describes situations comparable to those in the book of Exodus. From the accounts we get a picture of a world conceptually and contextually very near that described in the biblical narrations. The army of Uni devastated the animal enclosures, destroyed the huts, chopped down the figs and grape trees and safely came back to Egypt. The description could refer to one of the tribes of the pastoralists and incipient cultivators in the semi desert zone, like the Midianites or the Amelekites. It could also be a “war report” of an event in which, as usual, each one of the sides claimed success.

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Desert of Negev

webmaster — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 09:10:56 +0000

The Desert of Negev is the real Land of Abraham. The Patriarch lives here most of his life in these incredible wilderness lands. Abraham, Yitzhak and Jacob pilgrims in the Land of Canaan but established theirs tends in the desert of Negev.

The people of Israel also pilgrim in this area along of fourth years before start the Conquest of the Land of Promise under Joshua's rules. The tribe of Simeon and Judah established here their cities.

“From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.
Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.”

Genesis 12:8–9 NIV11-GK

NEGEB (Nĕg′ eb) or NEGEV (Nĕg′ ĕv) (preferred sp.) Place-name meaning “dry” referring to an arid region in southern Palestine and coming to mean “south.” During biblical times it was more populated than today indicating either more rainfall then or better conservation of the resources. It was the land of the Amalekites during Abraham’s day (Gen. 14:7). There he exiled Hagar (21:14). The Israelites wandered in the Negev after a futile attempt to enter Canaan (Num. 14:44-45). David incorporated it into his kingdom, and Solomon established fortresses in the region. Daniel used the term, translated “south,” to refer to Egypt (Dan. 11:15,29). After Judah fell in 586 B.C. Edom took the area into its kingdom. In NT times it was known as Nabatea.

“NEGEB or NEGEV,” Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, paragraph 12331.

The Patriarchs, whom many would place in the Middle Bronze Age, are reported to have sojourned in the Beer-sheba area. While MB remains have been uncovered at other Negeb sites, Beer-sheba has yet to reveal any significant MB remains. The wilderness wanderings center around the oasis of Kadesh-barnea, which lies on the western edge of the Negeb highlands. The Hebrews are also reported to have fought the Canaanites at Arad and Hormah (Num. 21:1-3; 33:40; Josh. 12:14). However, there has been little evidence found of any LB settlement in either the Beer-sheba basin or in the highlands; in the south, 13th-century copper mines have been excavated at Timna.

“NEGEB,” Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, 955.

With the monarchy, Negeb activity increased. Saul and David fought the Amalekites (1 Sam. 14-15; 30), and Solomon established a naval outpost at Ezion-geber (1 Kgs. 9:26). In the 8th century, Uzziah reinvigorated the Negeb, reestablishing the Ezion-geber trade. Transshipment of copper and other goods from Ezion-geber required the establishment of royal forts to safeguard the routes (2 Chr. 26:10). A latter 7th-century building boom can be attributed to either Manasseh or Josiah. In its final years, Judah increasingly lost control over the Negeb to the Edomites. Edomite names, ostraca, and cult sites appear throughout the Negeb (e.g., Qitmit).

Archaeological evidence from the Persian and Hellenistic period is almost totally absent. Written sources discuss the presence of the Nabateans, but few remains of these tent-dwelling people have been found. By the turn of the eras, the Nabateans had come into their own as spice traders and merchants. The Petra-ʿAvdat-Gaza road was built, along with caravansaries to guard the frankincense and myrrh route. Nabatean cities and forts were constructed, trade flourished, and agricultural projects were even introduced. Ultimately, the Romans annexed the Negeb and its highlands to Palestina Tertia. In the Byzantine era, the area experienced its greatest flowering. Cities expanded, churches were built, monasteries founded, and settlement increased.

“NEGEB,” Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, 955.

Abram would not become “a great nation,” as God had promised, during his lifetime. However, his descendants apparently numbered over two million by the time of the exodus (some 600,000 men, plus their wives and many children; Ex 12:37). Abram has become significant in history as the physical father of Israel and the one regarded as spiritual “father” by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Abram became “a blessing” by his example of proper worship and proclamation of the Lord’s name (12:8), as well as by his justifying faith (15:6; Rm 4:3). His name may be reflected in a tenth-century B.C. Egyptian list of places in the Negev that includes “The Enclosure of Abram.”

Ted Cabal, ed., The Apologetics Study Bible, Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2007, paragraph 711.

The blessing and curse here have played out repeatedly in history. The nations or groups (plural: “those”) who have blessed Abram or his descendants have been blessed by God. The individuals (singular: “him”) who have cursed Abram or Israel have been “cursed,” coming eventually to a bad end. This, however, is not a blank check for the actions of unbelieving Israel, as if the nation could do no wrong or deserves no criticism or has no accountability for its actions. It is a general ongoing promise. Acts 3:25 and Gl 3:8 indicate that all the families of the earth are blessed in the availability of salvation through Jesus Christ, and Gl 6:16 refers to the church as “the Israel of God” through which, by implication, that blessing is extended.

Ted Cabal, ed., The Apologetics Study Bible, Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2007, paragraph 712.

In referring to “the people [Abram] had acquired in Haran” the Bible is not sanctioning slavery. “Acquired” may refer to household servants, which wealthy families of the era had, rather than to slaves. Furthermore, even characters whom the Bible views favorably do not always act in accordance with what God approves. In evaluating their actions, we must recall that God did not reveal His will in its entirety at the beginning, but rather gradually throughout the course of biblical history. Biblical narrative often conveys the divine and human authors’ evaluation of a character’s actions implicitly rather than explicitly, not by denouncing the actions but by recording their outcome. The disgrace resulting from Abram’s lie in verses 12–13 is an example of this.

Some have supposed the note “At that time the Canaanites were in the land” (see note on 13:7) means that in the author’s day they were no longer there. If so, Moses could not be the author. But “that time” is clearly not being contrasted to the author’s time but to Abram’s time. The point is that when God made His promise to Abram the land was already occupied.

Ted Cabal, ed., The Apologetics Study Bible, Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2007, paragraph 713-714.

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Mount Karkom – The Biblical Mount Sinai

webmaster — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 06:20:45 +0000

Mount Karkom is a large plateau located in the Desert of Negev, near to the border of Israel to Egypt. According to the Archeologist and Prof. Emmanuel Anati, Karkom was an ancient cult center and a sacred mountain beginning in the Paleolithic era, reaching its peak of religious activity in 3000 BC, when it was a true spiritual center for the desert people.

Emmanuel Anati: "If the epic accounts described in the books of Exodus and Numbers rely on a historical background, and if indeed an exodus from Egypt took place with stops at Mount Sinai and at Kadesh-Barnea, the chronological context may refer only to the BAC period, and more precisely to phase BAC IV (2350-2000 BC).

Mount Karkom was a primary sacred mountain in that period, and the topography and archaeological evidence of its plateau reflect the location and scenario of the biblical Mount Sinai relates.

Emmanuel Anati found sanctuaries and altars located on the mountain and at its foot, as well many remains of nomads camps, all these tell us the story of a sacred mountain in the heart of the desert describe in the Exodus.

‘I‘m sure Karkom is the real mountain of God,’ Prof. Emmanuel Anati declares. ‘Israel should be proud.’

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Timna Natural Reserve and National Park

webmaster — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 06:08:32 +0000

Timna is the amazing place of ancient Solomon and David mines described in the Bible can be visited today and transport you to the glorious times of United Kingdom of Israel.

After more than five decades of disbelief on the part of archaeologists, finally, the conclusion is frightening, revealing amazing facts that confirm the biblical descriptions.

For more than 80 years ago, Nelson Glueck, a rabbi, scholar and American archaeologist had already determined that these would be Solomon's mines in the Eilot region as described in the biblical text.

Dr. Ben Yosef, an archaeologist, researcher and responsible for the most recent research was the bottom, digging and sending carbon samples for analysis 14, the results belied the findings and previous information released by the archaeologist professor Beno Rothenberg. Professor Beno Rothenberg reached the wrong conclusion that the place belonged to the New Kingdom of Egypt in the fourteenth century BC because of the images recorded on the rock in the park area, but no serious investigation had been carried out because the carbon analysis technology 14 yet existed.

Dr. Ben Yosef conducted a large number of analyzes and tests 14 carbon artifacts in many different dates and between seeds and olive pits which have been found in the excavations and the result is simply unprecedented in all locations studied, the most absolute activities of the mines were made during the late ninth century and by the end of the tenth century BC, ie exactly the United Kingdom for the period of Israel.

What makes the discovery even more impressive is photo of the temples found in the sites are probably the source of the Edomites, that is, the line of Edom, the people of Israel kinships and were under the rule of David and Solomon exactly as the scriptures describe.

The large number of mines there still more reinforce the biblical account, after all, many of the temple utensils and even the lining of the walls were made with this material.

This wonderful discovery came to light after a search in the not too distant mines of the Jordanian side had already revealed that the mines in the region in Jordan also belonged to the IX and X century BC.

The error occurred by archaeologist professor Beno Rothenberg was given by two facts, first, the lack of the latest technology at the time, the second fact is that after completion, one of the major archaeological sites in the park was practically intact, the call hill of slaves, where according to the archaeologist, the slaves were confined.

Again, the atheistic and retailer archaeological school at the University of Tel Aviv sees crumble before your eyes over one of their myths, showing that the greatness of David's kingdom and his son Solomon really were true power just as the Holy Scriptures.

In the past, according to archaeologists who have worked there in the first half of the twentieth century, the Egyptians discovered copper ore in the fifth millennium BC, in the Neolithic period, when he was the first world center of copper production at Timna Valley. During the 14th century BC, the Egyptians established a trade route through the Valley of Timna and the surrounding areas where you heard about the area rich in copper. At the same time, the Midianites the north of the Arabian Peninsula and the Amalekites began mining alongside the Egyptians. The mines of Egyptian control declined in the 12th century BC, but the Midianites continued to explore the site. The Egyptian advanced culture has left thousands of ceremonial artifacts and even a temple to God Hathor.

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