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ISSN: 1667-9202

CUADERNOS DEL CENTRO DE ESTUDIOS DE

HISTORIA DEL ANTIGUO ORIENTE

ANTIGUO ORIENTE

Volumen 13

2015

Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina

Facultad de Ciencias Sociales
Centro de Estudios de Historia del Antiguo Oriente

Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires - Argentina

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CUADERNOS DEL CENTRO DE ESTUDIOS DE

HISTORIA DEL ANTIGUO ORIENTE

ANTIGUO ORIENTE

Volumen 13

2015
Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina
Facultad de Ciencias Sociales
Centro de Estudios de Historia del Antiguo Oriente

Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires - Argentina

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AUTORIDADES DE LA
UNIVERSIDAD CATÓLICA ARGENTINA

Rector
Mons. Dr. Víctor Manuel Fernández

Vicerrectora de Asuntos Académicos e Institucionales

Dr. Gabriel Limodio

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Dr. Horacio Rodríguez Penelas

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AUTORIDADES DE LA
FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS SOCIALES

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Dr. Florencio Hubeñák

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CENTRO DE ESTUDIOS DE HISTORIA DEL ANTIGUO ORIENTE

Director Investigadores
Juan Manuel Tebes Roxana Flammini
Graciela Gestoso Singer
René Krüger
Amir Gorzalczany
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Francisco Céntola
Romina Della Casa
Olga Gienini
Francisco Céntola
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Perla Fuscaldo Brenda Froschauer

ANTIGUO ORIENTE
CUADERNOS DEL CENTRO DE ESTUDIOS DE HISTORIA DEL ANTIGUO ORIENTE

Director
Juan Manuel Tebes

Vice Directora
Romina Della Casa

Comité de Redacción
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Roxana Flammini
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COMITÉ EDITORIAL

Pablo Andiñach, Instituto Universitario ISEDET, Argentina

John Baines, University of Oxford, Reino Unido
Alejandro F. Botta, Boston University, [Link].
José Virgilio García Trabazo, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, España
Hani Hayajneh, Yarmouk University, Jordania
Ann E. Killebrew, Pennsylvania State University, [Link].
Philip Kohl, Wellesley College, [Link].
Stefano de Martino, Università degli Studi di Torino, Italia
Michel Mouton, Centre Français d’Archéologie et de Sciences Sociales de
Sanaa / Kuwait, Kuwait
Robert Mullins, Azusa Pacific University, [Link].
Daniel T. Potts, New York University, [Link].
Émile Puech, École Biblique et Archéologique Française de Jérusalem
Joachim F. Quack, Universität Heidelberg, Alemania
Gonzalo Rubio, Pennsylvania State University, [Link].
Marcel Sigrist, École Biblique et Archéologique Française de Jérusalem

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Las opiniones vertidas por los autores reflejan sus criterios personales y Antiguo Oriente no se
hace responsable por las mismas. Los autores de los artículos publicados en el presente número
ceden sus derechos a la editorial, en forma no exclusiva, para que incorpore la versión digital
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of academic relevance.
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SUMARIO / INDEX ANTIGUO ORIENTE 13 (2015)

COLABORACIONES / MAIN PAPERS

King Taita and his “Palistin”: Philistine State or Neo-Hittite Kingdom?
JEFFREY P. EMANUEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
ao “Enter,” but� �How,
�� and Where?: Data from the Coffin Texts
CARLOS GRACIA ZAMACONA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Lead Isotope Analysis of Slag-Tempered Negev Highlands Pottery
NAAMA YAHALOM-MACK, MARIO A. S. MARTIN, OFIR TIROSH, YIGAL EREL &
ISRAEL FINKELSTEIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
The Origin and Evolution of the Saraph Symbol
NISSIM AMZALLAG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Qohelet 11,1–6 or How to Survive in an Unsure World
FRANCESCO BIANCHI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Northern Arabia and its Jewry in Early Rabbinic Sources: More than Meets the
Eye
HAGGAI MAZUZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Can I Have a Word?: Methods of Communication in Judges 6
JAIME L. WATERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Narrow Base Dipper Juglets (NBDJ) Imported from the Syro-Lebanese Littoral
to the Shephelah and the Coastal Plain of Israel
ELI YANNAI, AMIR GORZALCZANY & MARTIN PEILSTÖCKER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
La representación de las elites egipcias en las Admoniciones de Ipuwer
PABLO MARTÍN ROSELL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
RESEÑAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS / BOOK REVIEWS
Nissim Amzallag, Esau in Jerusalem: The Rise of a Seirite Religious Elite in
Zion in the Persian Period, 2015.
Por MAYER I. GRUBER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Peter James & Peter G. van der Veen (eds.), Solomon and Shishak. Current
Perspectives from Archaeology, Epigraphy, History and Chronology, 2015.
Por JUAN MANUEL TEBES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
POLÍTICA EDITORIAL E INSTRUCCIONES PARA LOS COLABORADORES /
EDITORIAL POLICY AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR CONTRIBUTORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
DIRECCIONES PARA ENVÍO DE ARTÍCULOS Y RESEÑAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS /
ADDRESSES FOR ARTICLES AND BOOK REVIEWS SUBMISSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
COLABORACIONES EN NÚMEROS ANTERIORES /
PAST ISSUES PAPERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
01 Emanuel King Taita_Antiguo Oriente 27/06/2016 12:40 p.m. Página 11

KING TAITA AND HIS “PALISTIN”:

PHILISTINE STATE OR NEO-HITTITE KINGDOM?*

JEFFREY P. EMANUEL
jemanuel@[Link]
Center for Hellenic Studies
Harvard University
Cambridge, USA

Summary: King Taita and His “Palistin”: Philistine State or Neo-Hittite

Kingdom?
The end of the Hittite Empire and the destruction and abandonment of Alalakh repre-
sents a cultural break between the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages in the ‘Amuq
Valley. In the Iron I, a population with clear ties to the greater Aegean world, perhaps
related to the Philistines of southern Canaan, established an agro-pastoral settlement
at Tell Ta‘yinat and the surrounding area. This occupation, marked by Field Phases
6–3 at Ta‘yinat, was both materially and chronologically ephemeral, and should be
viewed as a cultural outlier sandwiched between the Hittite-controlled LBA and later
Iron I. This intrusive population lived alongside the indigenous inhabitants of the
‘Amuq, bequeathing to the region a toponym—Palistin—that would far outlast their
own relevance and archaeological visibility. By the First Building Period at Tell
Ta‘yinat, which followed the Aegean-related phases, the site was home to a dynasty
overseeing a typical Neo-Hittite state, with its toponym all that remained of the “Sea
Peoples” presence that occupied it at the beginning of the Iron Age.
Keywords: Sea Peoples – Neo-Hittite – Palistin – Philistines
Resumen: El rey Taita y su “Palistin”: ¿estado filisteo o reino neo-hitita?
El final del imperio hitita y la destrucción y abandono de Alalak representan una rup-
tura cultural entre la Edad del Bronce Tardío y la Edad del Hierro Temprana en el
valle del ‘Amuq. En la Edad del Hierro I, una población con nexos claros con el
mundo del Egeo, quizás relacionada con los filisteos del sur de Canaán, estableció un
asentamiento agro-pastoral en Tell Ta‘yinat y el área circundante. Esta ocupación,
marcada por las fases 6–3 en Ta‘yinat, fue material y cronológicamente efímera, y

* Article received: October 28th 2015; approved: December 4th 2015.

Antiguo Oriente, volumen 13, 2015, pp. 11–40.

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12 EMANUEL ANTIGUO ORIENTE

debería ser vista como una fase cultural atípica ubicada entre la etapa de la Edad del
Bronce Tardío controlada por los hititas y más tarde la Edad del Hierro I. Esta pobla-
ción intrusiva vivió junto a los habitantes nativos del ‘Amuq, y legó a la región un
topónimo—Palistin—que sobrevivió más allá de la relevancia y visibilidad arqueoló-
gica de este grupo. En el primer período de construcción en Tell Ta‘yinat, que siguió
a las fases relacionadas con el Egeo, el sitio albergó a una dinastía que dirigía un típi-
co estado neo-hitita, y su topónimo fue lo único que quedó de la presencia de
los”Pueblos del mar”’ que lo ocuparon a comienzos de la Edad del Hierro.
Palabras clave: Pueblos del mar – Neo-hitita – Palistin – Filisteos

INTRODUCTION

The collapse of the Late Bronze Age in the Eastern Mediterranean left in its
wake a geopolitical landscape that was far more complex and fragmented
than that which preceded it. However, examinations of individual regions and
polities in the Early Iron Age reflect measures of both continuity and change.
This paper will address the ‘Amuq Valley at this time, with particular focus
on the kingdom of Palistin/Walistin and the person of King Taita. Was this
polity a northern kingdom of Sea Peoples, and Taita a Philistine king? Or was
it a Neo-Hittite state led by a king and dynasty who followed in the Hittite
imperial tradition?

NEO-HITTITES IN NORTHERN SYRIA

The period in the northern Levant between the fall of the Hittite Empire at the
end of the 13th century BC and the floruit of the Syro-Hittite states in the Iron
II (ca. 900 BC) remains a “dark” age in many respects, though recent work in
the region has helped shed an increasing measure of light on the matter. Based
on present evidence, the vacuum left by Ḫatti’s fall appears to have led to a
balkanization1 of the region, as “rump states” led by rulers with direct connec-
tion to the prior regime jockeyed for position with new polities that were esta-
blished in place of the old.2 Both cultural continuity and change are visible in

1 Harrison 2009a: 187. One reason for the Neo-Hittite kingdoms’ success and stability follow-

ing Hatti’s fall may be the independence they increasingly gained over the course of the 13th c.
BC; Harrison 2009b: 172.
2 Harrison 2009a: 187; 2009b: 174–175; Sader 2014: 12; cf. Beckman 1992: 49.

Antiguo Oriente, volumen 13, 2015, pp. 11–40.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE KING TAITA AND HIS “PALISTIN” 13

the material record at this time, with the result being an emerging picture of a
highly dynamic, multicultural period in the history of the region.3
Some of the most significant changes include the appearance of new social
groups and new toponyms, and, in some areas, an increased and altered inter-
action with Aegean-style material culture. These have, at times, been associa-
ted with the movement of “Sea Peoples” and other groups—perhaps raiders,
perhaps migrants—who were part of an eastward movement of peoples at this
time.4 The continuities, on the other hand, are the source from which our
modern terms “Neo-” and “Syro-Hittite” are derived. These modern cons-
tructs do not denote ethnicity or a sense of common identity, but instead
recognize certain physical characteristics in individual polities that existed in
northern Syria and southeastern Anatolia between the beginning of the Iron
Age on one end, and their eventual absorption into the Neo-Assyrian empire
on the other (ca. 12th–8th c. BC).5 These common traits include, in varying
combinations and quantities, dynastic succession from the Hittite empire, as
seen especially at Karkemiš; cult revivals featuring iconography and architec-
ture in the Hittite tradition (see below); re-use of Luwian or Hittite royal
names; records written in the Luwian language using the Luwian hieroglyphic
script, which had previously been utilized on Hittite public monuments; and
geographic proximity to the region referred to as “Ḫatti” in Assyrian,
Urartian, and Hebrew texts of the Iron Age.6
Long believed to have been most prominent among the Neo-Hittite “rump
states” is Karkemiš, which was ruled by a dynasty of “Great Kings” now
thought to have connected the Hittite empire to the Neo-Hittite first millen-
nium.7 However, as will be discussed further below, many of the traits noted
above—if not all—can also be seen in another polity about which our kno-
wledge has begun to increase significantly in recent years. This territory is
known variously as Palistin or Walistin, and was seemingly centered at Tell
Ta‘yinat (ancient Kunulua) in the ‘Amuq valley.8 The history of

3
Harrison 2009a: 187; Hawkins 2009; Osborne 2011: 7; Venturi 2013: 238; Sader 2014.
4
Inter alia, Birney 2007; Janeway 2006–7; 2014; Yasur-Landau 2010; Lehmann 2013; Venturi
2013.
5
Bryce 2012: 75; Ponchia 2011: 281.
6
Aro 2003: 282; Bryce 2012: 47, 49–53, 60, 75; Hawkins 2009a: 164; Masetti-Rouault 2001:
78–82; Osborne 2011: 9–10; cf. Dalley 2000: 80–88.
7
Güterbock 1992; Hawkins 1988; 2002: 148; 2009; Singer 2000.
8
Harrison 2009a; 2009b.
Antiguo Oriente, volumen 13, 2015, pp. 11–40.
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14 EMANUEL ANTIGUO ORIENTE

Palistin/Walistin’s Iron Age II successor, the kingdom of Patina (Assyrian

Unqi), is known primarily from Assyrian textual sources.9 However, survey
and excavation in the ‘Amuq plain (the plain of Antioch) and at Tell Ta‘yinat
has recently combined with epigraphic reassessment to increase our insight
into its Iron I history and development.

TAITA, HERO AND KING OF PALISTIN/WALISTIN

Based on epigraphic evidence found over a wide geographic area,

Palistin/Walistin has been reconstructed as a sprawling Iron Age kingdom
extending from the ‘Amuq plain to Aleppo in the east and Hama in the south,
perhaps with its capital at Tell Ta‘yinat (Fig. 1).10 These dimensions encom-
pass the former LBA kingdoms of Mukiš, Niya, and Nuhašše, which had been
subordinate to Aleppo under the Hittite regime.11 By the Neo-Assyrian period,
this prospective kingdom had been broken up once again, with Patina succe-
eding Palistin/Walistin (both chronologically and linguistically), and Arpad
and Hamath occupying its former eastern and southern territory, respectively.
The earliest known ruler of Palistin/Walistin is Taita, whose eponymous
relief at the Temple of the Storm God at Aleppo (ALEPPO 6) famously refe-
rences him as “Hero and King of Palistin” (Fig. 2).12 The name Taita was pre-
viously encountered in Hieroglyphic Luwian on two other monuments, found
at the sites of Meharde and Sheizar (ca. 25 km northwest of Hama). The for-
mer inscription (MEHARDE) is dedicated to Taita’s wife, Kupapiya “Queen
of the Land,” while the latter (SHEIZAR) is a funerary monument in her
honor.13 However, rather than being rendered Palistin as on ALEPPO 6, the
toponym is rendered Walistin in both of these inscriptions. The same is true
of an inscription discovered at Tell Ta‘yinat (TAYINAT 1) and a pair of stelae
found at Arsuz south of the Bay of Iskanderun (ARSUZ 1 and 2).14 The
Ta‘yinat and Arsuz inscriptions do not mention Taita at all; a fragment of
TAYINAT 1 mentions a “Halparuntiya,” who may equate to king Qalparunda

9
Bryce 2012: 130; cf. Yamada 2000: 96 n. 71.
10
Hawkins 2009; Steitler 2010 has used this geographic evidence and linguistic analysis to
associate Taita with the biblical Toi, king of Hamath (2 Sam. 8:9–10, 1Chr. 18:9–10).
11
Harrison 2010: 84; Ponchia 2011: 282.
12
Hawkins 2009: 169; Kohlmeyer 2000; 2009: 191.
13
Harrison 2001a: 117–119; 2009a: 179; Hawkins 2009: 169.
14
Hawkins 2010: 8; 2011: 51; Weeden 2013: 12.
Antiguo Oriente, volumen 13, 2015, pp. 11–40.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE KING TAITA AND HIS “PALISTIN” 15

of Unqi known from Assyrian records,15 while ARSUZ 1 and 2 are attributed
to Šuppiluliuma son of Manana.16
The reliefs mentioning Taita and/or Palistin/Walistin have been dated to
various times within the Iron Age I. Hawkins initially offered an 11th–10th c.
BC date based on historical and epigraphic analysis. However, further analy-
sis, along with the consideration of a possible p > w sound shift over time
(possibly suggesting an initial fricative f, as may be expected if this toponym
is to be related to the Philistines/Philistia of the southern Levant),17 subse-
quently led him to suggest that we are in fact seeing epigraphic evidence for
two kings named Taita. In this scenario, Taita I was king of Palistin, while
Taita II (+ n), perhaps removed by as little as a generation, was king of
Walistin. The dates proposed are 11th c. for ALEPPO 6 (Taita I), 10th c. for
MEHARDE and SHEIZAR (Taita II [+ n]), 10th–9th c. for ARSUZ 1–2
(Šuppiluliuma), and 9th c. for TELL TAYINAT 1 (Halparuntiya).18 Thus, the
14C date of the Aleppo temple’s reconstruction, ca. the 11th c. BC, meshes with

Hawkins’s suggested date of Taita I, as opposed to the possible later Taita(s)

of the Hama, Arsuz, and Ta‘yinat inscriptions.19 Sass, on the other hand, has
argued for only one Taita, whom he dates to the late 10th c.20
The use of Hittite royal names (specifically, Šuppiluliuma and Labarna)21
by some kings of Palistin/Walistin and Patina has been seen as evidence that
this “rump state” was founded by a direct descendant of the Hittite royal line,
as seen at Karkemiš.22 Also in favor of a connection with the preceding impe-
rial Hittite period is the “cult revival” that King Taita seems to have led at
‘Ain Dārā and at Aleppo, where he rebuilt the Temple of the Storm God follo-
wing a destruction by fire.23
While the Aleppo temple itself is not the subject of this study, it is the sole

15 Harrison 2009a: 179; Hawkins 2000: 365–367; 2009: 167; but cf. Singer 2012: 465; Weeden

2013: 15.
16
Weeden 2013: 12–13.
17
Singer 2012: 463.
18
Hawkins 2010: 8–9; cf. Hawkins 2011: 51–52; Weeden 2013: 15, 18.
19
Hawkins 2009: 172; 2010: 8; 2011; Kohlmeyer 2008: 122; 2011: 262.
20
Sass 2010a; 2010b.
21
For Labarna (= Lubarna of Hattina), see e.g. the Annals and Standard Inscription of
Aššurnasirpal; Luckenbill 1926: 165–177.
22
Bryce 2012: 207; Güterbock 1992; Harrison 2009a: 171; 2009b: 187; 2010: 91; Hawkins
1988; 2000: 75–79; Ponchia 2011: 283; Weeden 2013: 12–13, 15, table 2.
23
Kohlmeyer 2008; 2011: 261, 263–264; Sass 2010a: 2; Woolley 1955: 78.
Antiguo Oriente, volumen 13, 2015, pp. 11–40.
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16 EMANUEL ANTIGUO ORIENTE

currently-known source of the toponym Palistin and of that term’s association

with Taita; as such, a brief background on the structure is pertinent to this dis-
cussion. A major cult center beginning in the middle of the third millennium,
the Late Bronze Age iteration of this temple bore multicultural elements,
including those emblematic of Hittite, Syrian, and Mesopotamian cultures.24
Following destruction by fire during the LBA, the temple was rebuilt with
layout altered to accommodate a standard Hittite “bent axis” scheme. With
this shift, the Storm God’s image was relocated to the eastern wall, where it
was both distant from the entrance and out of the direct line of sight of those
entering.25 After being destroyed by fire once again at the end of the LBA, it
was again rebuilt, once again on a straight axis and with some elements of its
older architecture incorrectly re-integrated. The Palistin relief was added to
the temple during this reconstruction, on the eastern wall beside the image of
the Storm God. While the relief follows Luwian and Aramaean style in its pro-
portions,26 the king is attired according to Hittite tradition, wearing garments
that are specifically allowable when in the presence of divinity.27
The available evidence therefore suggests that both Taita and his line fit
with seemingly perfect comfort into the Neo-Hittite tradition, contra Sass’s
characterization of Taita as “probably of Sea Peoples’ or outright Philistine
stock.”28 In fact, if not for the toponymic association with Palistin or Philistia
and the short-lived presence of Aegean-style material culture in the Iron I
‘Amuq (see below), it would be difficult to find any basis for associating Taita
with the Aegean in general or the Philistines in particular, let alone for ascri-
bing to him a “Philistine” identity. Legitimation of rule via cultural appropria-
tion is certainly not rare, including in the Neo-Hittite sphere; as countless
examples general and specific demonstrate, from the adoption of the names
of former Great Kings of Hatti,29 to Hamiyatas the Aramaean king of Til
Barsip-Masuwari depicting himself with the Storm God,30 the power of tradi-
tion and appearances played no small part in governing the public-facing

24
Kohlmeyer 2011: 260.
25
Kohlmeyer 2009: 195; 2011: 260–261.
26
As Kohlmeyer notes, this causes the king’s gaze to be focused slightly above, rather than on,
the Storm God; Kohlmeyer 2011: 261.
27
Kohlmeyer 1983: 73; 2011: 261.
28
Bryce 2012: 129; Sader 2014: 20–21; Sass 2010a: 1.
29
Bryce 2012: 61–62.
30
Bonatz 2014: 228–229; Bunnens 2006: 97–99; Ponchia 2011: 289; Singer 1988.
Antiguo Oriente, volumen 13, 2015, pp. 11–40.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE KING TAITA AND HIS “PALISTIN” 17

actions of rulers and officials. In the case of Taita, both the incorporation of
the Storm God into his public image and the use of the Luwian language and
script are acts of legitimation that are both appropriate and expected for a
Neo-Hittite king.

A “PHILISTINE” KINGDOM?

How, then, are Taita and his line to be reconciled with the influx of Aegean-
style material culture and the appearance of the toponym Palistin in the Iron I?
Ta’yinat and Alalakh are the two largest mounded sites in the ‘Amuq plain
(Fig. 1). Less than one kilometer apart, they seem to have alternated as cen-
ters of habitation in the Bronze and Iron Ages: following a destruction late in
the Early Bronze IVB, Ta’yinat was abandoned and Alalakh inhabited
through the Middle Bronze Age and into the LB II, at which point settlement
there ceased and, in the 12th c. BC, Ta’yinat was reoccupied.31 Harrison sug-
gests that Ta‘yinat’s resettlement was “either co-terminus with, or immedia-
tely following, the destruction or abandonment of” Alalakh,32 while Janeway
sees a gap between Alalakh’s abandonment ca. 1200 BC and the reoccupation
of Ta‘yinat late in the 12th c.33 The short-distance shifts from Tell Ta‘yinat to
Tell Atchana and back again had the functional result of keeping the capital
(and largest settlement) of the ‘Amuq in largely the same location through the
Bronze and Iron Ages.34
However, there seems to be more at play in the last of these shifts than a
simple case of “mound-hopping” by a jumpy indigenous population,35 as the
material culture of the first Iron Age settlement at Ta‘yinat betrays clear mar-
kers of an intrusive population. This difference is clearly seen in architectural
changes, as well as in the comparative presence, volume, and use of the
Aegean-style pottery between Alalakh in the LB II and Ta‘yinat in the Iron I.
Alalakh was a major importer of Mycenaean ceramics, the bulk of which
seem to have been part of the typical Aegean drinking set. The site is second
only to Ugarit in the quantity of Mycenaean amphoroid kraters recovered,
31
Baituk and Horowitz 2010: 168; Casana 2007: 203, 204 fig. 5; Janeway 2014: 100; Mullins
2010: 57, 6; Strobel 2011: 209; Welton, Baituk and Harrison 2011: 152; Yener 2010: 3; Yener
and Yazıcıoğlu 2010: 32.
32
Harrison 2010: 84.
33
Janeway 2014: 312.
34
Casana 2007: 203.
35
Yener 2010: 1.
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18 EMANUEL ANTIGUO ORIENTE

while the high number of vertical globular flasks also found there—the most
anywhere in the Eastern Mediterranean—may have contained concentrated
wine.36 Additionally, the quantity of Cypriot pottery found there is among the
most voluminous anywhere outside Cyprus itself, thus further demonstrating
the involvement of this key site in the Eastern Mediterranean trade network
of this period.37 The role of the main site in the ‘Amuq as a gateway for
imports continued in the Iron II, as well, with Ta’yinat serving as a hub of
exchange between Cyprus, the Aegean, and the Levant.38 Interestingly, the
latest of the Mycenaean imports date to the LH IIIA2, thus leaving an appa-
rent gap in importation prior to Alalakh’s late 13th c. abandonment.39 It is pos-
sible that the cessation of Mycenaean imports to Alalakh at the beginning of
LH IIIB is connected to Hittite domination of the region and to political ten-
sion between Hatti and Ahhiyawa, evidence for which may be seen in several
Hittite documents.40
None of these characteristics is in evidence at Tell Ta‘yinat in the Early
Iron Age (Field Phases 6 through 3; Swift’s Phase N), which presents a starkly
different picture not only from the preceding Late Bronze Age in the ‘Amuq,
but from the succeeding Iron Ib/Iron II periods as well. Unlike Late Bronze
Alalakh, no monumental architecture (administrative or religious) exists in
this period.41 Rather, the architectural remains found to date are primarily
silos, pits, and small houses built atop Ta‘yinat’s final Early Bronze Age level,
representative of a “rudimentary village settlement” with agro-pastoral
focus.42 This phenomenon of population dispersal into smaller agrarian settle-
ments is seen across the ‘Amuq in the Iron Age.43
Painted pottery suddenly becomes a significant part of the ceramic
assemblage at this time, making up perhaps up to 90% of the Phase N
assemblage—a stark contrast to the preceding and succeeding periods.44 The
copious Aegean-style ceramics appearing at this time are not imported, but
locally made, and their repertoire and spread (from three sites in the LB II
36
Koehl 2005: 419; 2010: 83.
37
Kozal 2010: 71.
38
Lehmann 1998: 29; Osborne 2011: 135.
39
Özgünel 1996; Koehl 2005; 2010: 82.
40
Badre 2006: 82; Bryce 2005: 315–316; Jung 2007: 551–552; Sherratt and Crouwel 1987:
344–346; but see Gates 2010: 69 n. 38 for an opposing view.
41
Yener and Yazıcıoğlu 2010: 29.
42
Janeway 2006–7: 140; 2014: ii, 107–110.
43
Casana and Wilkinson 2005: 39–40; Harrison 2009b: 176.
44
Janeway 2006–7: 128, 136.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE KING TAITA AND HIS “PALISTIN” 19

to nearly thirty in the Iron I)45 are different from the preceding levels in the
‘Amuq (Fig. 3).
In contrast to the viticulture-centered repertoire of Mycenaean ceramics at
Alalakh, Ta‘yinat displays a wider variety of forms and far less standardiza-
tion of size and detail.46 The Aegean-style pottery is accompanied by other
intrusive domestic elements, among the most prominent of which are the
unperforated, cylindrical loomweights seen around the Eastern Mediterranean
beginning in this period, often (though not always) in connection with locally-
manufactured Aegean-style ceramics.47 While these are frequently referred to
as “Aegean-type loomweights” in the literature—most of which focuses on
their connection to the presence of “Sea Peoples”—it is rarely noted, but
important to mention, that this type of loomweight is not just new to the
Levant in the 12th c. BC, but that it is largely unknown in the Aegean prior to
this time, as well.48 The earliest Aegean instance of “spool” weights seems to
be Late Minoan (LM) IIIA2 or IIIB on Crete,49 but this is not followed until
LH IIIC Early at Lefkandi50 and Tiryns,51 when hundreds of these objects sud-
denly appear. Beyond this, such loomweights are only known from the LH
IIIC Middle and beyond, thus making their appearance in the Aegean gene-
rally, and on the Greek mainland in particular, cotemporal with (or perhaps
even later than) their appearance in the Levant.52
In keeping with the regionalism seen in the Iron I, Ta‘yinat in Phase N dis-
plays the typical Northern Levantine affinity for painted closed forms.53
However, the overall repertoire is diverse, including deep and shallow angular
45
Janeway 2014: 296.
46
Janeway 2014: 296–297.
47
Inter alia, Karageorghis and Demas 1988: 222; Lass 1994: 33; Stager 1995: 346; Dothan
1998: 155; Barako 2000: 523–524; Janeway 2006–7: 138-139; Harrison 2009a: 183.
48
Ben-Shlomo 2011: 198-201; Rahmstorf 2003, 2005.
49
At Chania, a single weight was found in a LM IIIA2 context and four in LM IIIB2, though
none are presently known from the LM IIIB1 period; Bruun-Lundgren 2011: 382. 58 spools
were found in a LM IIIB context at Sissi, while four have reportedly been found in LM IIIA2-
B1 contexts at Malia; Gaignerot-Driessen 2013: 73.
50
Evely 2006: 296–297.
51
Rahmstorf 2003.
52
Rahmstorf 2003: 406; but cf. Ben-Shlomo 2011: 200. For sites with spoolweights on LM
IIIC Crete, see Gaignerot-Driessen 2013: 73, with references. Cf. also Cecchini 2000: 216–
217, with references, who notes that there may be evidence for their use during the LBA at
Alishar Höyük, Tarsus, and Tille Höyük in Anatolia, thus providing a potential alternate source
of these “Aegean-style” objects.
53
Janeway 2013: 102.
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20 EMANUEL ANTIGUO ORIENTE

bowls, kraters, amphoras and jugs, spouted (“feeding”) bottles, pilgrim flasks,
goblets, and even a small number of Aegean-style cooking pots (though, as at
Tarsus, local cooking traditions continued alongside the introduction of
Aegean-style implements).54 The Aegean-style cooking pots in particular are
exceedingly rare at Ta‘yinat, making up less than 5 percent of diagnostic rim
sherds, all of which appear in the later phases of Iron I occupation (FP 5 and
6).55 According to Janeway, these are best dated from the later half of the Late
Helladic (LH) IIIC to the Submycenaean periods (ca. 11th c. BC).56
Decoration includes pictorial scenes, the most remarkable of which shows a
warrior in the feather-hatted or “hedgehog-helmeted” tradition that is best
known from the representations of “Sea Peoples” at Medinet Habu.5 These
figures, which appear in Eastern Mediterranean art beginning in the 13th–12th
c. transition, can be found on painted pottery from Bademgediği Tepe (ancient
Puranda) and Kos in the East Aegean-West Anatolian Interface (Transitional
LH IIIB2-IIIC Early and LH IIIC Early, respectively),58 to several sites on the
Greek mainland (the bulk of which date to LH IIIC Middle).59 However, this
is only the second time such a sherd has been found within a purported “Sea
Peoples” settlement. The only comparandum comes from the Philistine hear-
tland on the southern coastal plain of Canaan, where it appears on a krater
from Ashkelon (Fig. 4).60
While impressive for its overwhelming proportion of painted pottery, this
basic farming settlement seems an unlikely candidate for the seat of the “Hero
and King” of an expansive Iron Age kingdom—particularly when viewed in
light of the succeeding (Phase O) level at the site. Superimposed over these
phases are monumental structures associated with the First Building Period
(BP1) at Ta‘yinat, which represents another clear break in the site’s material
culture and re-engineering of its architecture and layout beginning ca. 1100
54
Birney 2007: 345–346; Janeway 2013: 284.
55
Janeway 2013: 284, 287.
56
Janeway 2013: 297.
57
Janeway 2013: pl. 9.15.
58
Mountjoy 2011: 484.
59
Find-sites include Amarynthos, Iolkos, Lefkandi, Mycenae, Pyrgos Livanaton (Homeric
Kynos), and Tiryns; Crouwel 1991: fig. 7b; Tsountas 1896: pls. 1-2; Vermeule and
Karageorghis 1982: pls. XI. 28, 42–43, 45–47, 51, 56–57, 64, 64.1. The Kos, Pyrgos
Livanaton, and Bademgediği Tepe examples are particularly noteworthy for their nautical
nature, with the latter two featuring naval battles between “hedgehog-helmed” warriors;
Emanuel 2014; 2015; Mountjoy 2011.
60
Stager and Mountjoy 2007.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE KING TAITA AND HIS “PALISTIN” 21

BC.61 The main structures of this period are Building XIII, a bit hilani, and
Building XIV, a massive (600m2) building that partially overlays XIII. These
buildings seem to have been part of a larger complex oriented around a paved
courtyard, and the monumental basalt column bases, carved orthostats, and
monumental Hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions associated with this complex
are typical of an important Neo-Hittite city. The cultural break represented by
the stratum associated with BP1 is also demonstrated by a ceramic shift, as
Red Slipped Burnished Ware (RSBW) eclipses the locally made wares of the
preceding period, and the painted pottery (so visible in the earliest Iron Age
phases) disappears from the repertoire.62

DISCUSSION

The situation in the Eastern Mediterranean ca. 1200 BC is now understood to

be far more complex than the few lines of prose offered by Ramesses III (“No
land could stand before their arms, from Hatti, Kode, Carcemish, Arzawa,
and Alashiya on…”),63 which were long thought to accurately describe the
events of these “Crisis Years” and the role of the “Sea Peoples” in them. It is
now increasingly understood that the breakdown of the Late Bronze Age
system fragmented the Cilician and Levantine coasts, resulting in individual
polities and territories that interacted with each other and with newcomers to
the region on an individual basis.64 In place of total destruction and upheaval,
some regions and polities, such as Phoenicia, seem to have continued largely
as before, albeit with a veneer of bureaucracy having been removed, resulting
in increased self-determination that could be actualized via growth in interna-
tional contacts.65 Cyprus was similarly prosperous in the 12th and 11th centu-
ries BC (the establishment and rapid abandonment of “refuge sites” like Maa-
Paleokastro notwithstanding), experiencing economic growth, serving as an
expanding hub of trade, and correspondingly reorganizing its settlements to
the form they would maintain throughout the Iron Age.66
61
Harrison 2010: 91; Osborne 2011: 21.
62
Gates 2010; Janeway 2006–7: 136; Singer 2012: 470.
63
MH I pl. 46 col. 16; Wilson 1974: 262.
64
Gates 2010: 65.
65
Bikai 1992; Artzy 2013: 340; Killebrew and Lehmann 2013: 6-7; Sharon and Gilboa 2013:
463–467.
66
Iacovou 1994: 150–160; Karageorghis 1992: 80; 2001; Karageorghis and Demas 1988: 264,
488; Sherratt 1998; 2003.
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22 EMANUEL ANTIGUO ORIENTE

In others areas, there were new cultures and new populations to be inter-
acted with, and a complex process of identity and cultural negotiation to be
engaged in. However, while population shifts can be seen in the material
record—including the movement of groups bearing elements of Aegean,
Cypriot, and Anatolian-style material cultures—it is unlikely that any “string
of Sea Peoples polities [sprang] up in the Iron Age I along much of the
Levantine and Asia Minor coasts” following the end of the Late Bronze Age.67
Instead, though newcomers are visible in the material record at some sites
(but hardly all), the engagement with material influences and the negotiation
of status and identity that took place across this massive area in this period
were incredibly diverse in nature. Some areas seem to have gained access to
new elements of foreign material culture, either via trade or the movement of
peoples. Others coexisted with newcomers, some of whom bore with them
Aegean-style material culture which has been variously connected to the
Greek mainland, the Interface, and/or Cyprus. An example of this is Kazanli
Höyük, where, in the late 13th or early 12th c. BC, there appears locally-manu-
factured pottery which is in the Aegean style, but whose closest stylistic
correlates are found on Cyprus and in the East Aegean.68 At Tell Afis in Syria,
on the other hand, where indigenous occupation is clearly continuous into the
Iron I despite a 12th c. destruction (albeit with a more agro-pastoral focus and
temporarily debased architecture and organization),69 Aegean-style table
wares and cylindrical loomweights appear alongside indigenous cooking and
storage methods. This perhaps suggests communication, if not cohabitation,
with elements of an intrusive population.70 Still others, as seen at Kinet Höyük
and Kilise Tepe, incorporated newcomers who displayed different orienta-
tions altogether, while the appearance at this time of the Cypriot “cooking pot
à la stéatite,” or band-handled cooking pot, on the Syrian coast and its spread
in the later Iron I to the ‘Amuq Valley demonstrates further interaction with
foreign material culture in the region.71
At the other end of the spectrum, some of these Aegean-affiliated groups
appear to have settled in relatively large numbers and created new polities,
such as those on the southern coastal plain of Canaan that came to make up

67
Sass 2010b: 171.
68
Sherratt and Crouwel 1987.
69
Venturi 2011: 144–145.
70
Ponchia 2011: 282; Venturi 2011: 150; 2013: 237–239.
71
Birney 2007: 427; 2008; Gates 2013; Ünlü 2005: 147–148; Zenoni 2014: 773–774.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE KING TAITA AND HIS “PALISTIN” 23

Philistia. Even within and across these, though, significant variance can be
seen in the nature of both the intrusive material culture and the relationships
with the indigenous population.72 Part of this is certainly due to the “mixed
multitude” nature of what have been frequently referred to as the “Sea
Peoples” as reflected in the material culture of sites in Cilicia, the ‘Amuq, and
Philistia (and perhaps in areas of the coastal Levant between them), as well as
the increasingly-recognized complexity of their migration.73 Singer has con-
vincingly argued that the ethnikon used in reference to these people (and the
derived toponym that, while known primarily from later written sources,74 sur-
vives to this day) is a self-referential term that the Egyptian chroniclers and
later biblical writers learned directly from them.75 The appearance of Palistin
as a geopolitical entity containing similar material culture supports this con-
clusion, and the Phase N period at this site should likely be seen as home to
an intrusive population with Aegean-style material culture, who gave their
name to the land before quickly assimilating into the indigenous population
with whom they had coexisted since their arrival. In fact, the association of
Palistin with the Peleset of Medinet Habu has led one scholar to suggest that
Ramesses III’s land battle against the Sea Peoples and defeat of “the land of
the Peleset” (t3 Plst) actually records a campaign against Philistines (or, more
correctly in light of ALEPPO 6, Palistinians) in this northern territory.76
Thus, opposite southern Canaan, where the toponym Palestine has endured
for millennia, the evidence points to another ethnically-derived toponym that
should be seen as a remnant not only of an Aegean and/or “Sea Peoples”
influence, but perhaps of the same group known from the coastal plain. In light
of this, another such case bears mentioning. The Cilician territory called
Hiyawa (Assyrian Que)77 appears in one of two parallel Luwian-Phoenician

72
Inter alia, Ben-Dor Evian 2012; Ben-Shlomo 2006–7; 2010; Ben-Shlomo and Dothan 2006:
2; Dothan 1998; 2000; Gilboa 2006-7; Killebrew 2000: 244; 2005: 200–202; Maeir, Hitchcock
and Horwitz 2013; Stager 1995.
73
Killebrew 2000: 244; 2005: 200–202; 2013: 119; Maeir, Hitchcock and Horwitz 2013;
Mountjoy 2010; Yasur-Landau 2003a; 2003b; 2007; 2010; 2012.
74
Aside from the biblical text, the earliest known reference to Philistia by name comes from a
Third Intermediate Period inscription on a Middle Kingdom statue base, which references a
“Padeset” who is “emissary of Canaan of the Philistines”; Singer 1994: 330.
75
Singer 2013.
76
Kahn 2011; MH I pls. 32–34; RITA V 57.
77
It is likely that Ahhiyawa > Hiyawa > Qawa > Que; Oreshko 2013: 28. For further references
and analysis of Ahhiyawa, see, inter alia, Beckman, Bryce and Cline 2012; Finkelberg 1988;
Niemeier 1998.
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24 EMANUEL ANTIGUO ORIENTE

bilingual inscriptions, ÇİNEKÖY and KARATEPE, in which the dedicator

assigns himself to the House of Mopsos, the legendary Greek seer, founder of
cities, and traveler from Cilicia to Ashkelon.78 The toponym Hiyawa seems to
have been transferred some time after the Hittite empire’s recession beyond
Cilicia, perhaps as an ethnikon brought by Greek-speakers who bore with them
elements of Aegean material and linguistic culture.79 After a short period, the
toponymic form of this ethnikon and the cultural memory of Mopsos became
all that remained of the once-intrusive population that brought it to the sou-
thern coast of Asia Minor, though it was enduring enough that Herodotus cen-
turies later noted that Cilicians were referred to as Hyp-Achaioi (“Sub-
Achaeans”).80
A similar situation seems to be present in the ‘Amuq, where the new
toponym of Palistin/Walistin was derived from an ephemeral Aegean-related
population that arrived after the close of the LBA and occupied the area in coo-
peration with an indigenous population of unknown size. This brief period,
marked by Field Phases 3 through 6 at Tell Ta‘yinat, was followed at the end
of the Iron I by a return of Syro-Hittite material culture which is seen in parti-
cular in art, architecture, language, and script, as well as in other cultural ele-
ments like the names of some Palistinian/Walistinian and Pattinite kings.

CONCLUSION

Not long ago, Pruss argued against a “Sea Peoples” presence among the intru-
sive Iron I population of the ‘Amuq on the grounds that “gibt es keinen einzi-
gen historischen Hinweis auf eine solche Situation, kein einziges entsprechen-
des Toponym” (“there is no single historical reference to such a situation, not
a single corresponding toponym”).81 However, as we have seen, quite the
opposite seems to be true of the kingdom of Palistin/Walistin and its successor
Patina (as well as of the Cilician territory of Hiyawa/Que). By the First
Building Period, it seems that Tell Ta‘yinat was home to a dynasty overseeing
a typical Neo-Hittite state, and a toponym was all that remained of the “Sea

78
Hawkins 2000: 45–71; López-Ruiz 2009; Oreshko 2013; Öttinger 2008; Tekoğlu and
Lemaire 2000: 981–984.
7
Çambel and Özyar 2003: 84–89; López-Ruiz 2009; Oreshko 2013; Singer 2012: 461; 2013:
322–325; Yasur-Landau 2010: 162–163. Note that the “Greek speaking” description does not
necessarily fit the Philistines.
80
Herodotus Hist. 7.91; cf. Singer 2013: 323–324.
81
Pruss 2002: 172.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE KING TAITA AND HIS “PALISTIN” 25

Peoples” presence that briefly occupied it at the beginning of the Iron Age.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to extend my gratitude to Dr. Robert Homsher (Harvard

University) for the helpful thoughts and feedback he has provided on this
topic, and on an early draft of this paper. I would also like to thank the edito-
rial staff of Antiguo Oriente for their assistance throughout the publication
process, and the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. Any
remaining errors and omissions are solely the responsibility of the author.

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38 EMANUEL ANTIGUO ORIENTE

FIGURES

Fig. 1.
Map of the northern Levant showing key sites mentioned in the text. Inset: Relative
locations of Tell Ta‘yinat and Tell Atchana.

Fig. 2.
Inscription ALEPPO 6, showing Taita “Hero and King of Palistin,” from the Temple
of the Storm God at Aleppo (Hawkins 2011: 42 fig. 5).

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE KING TAITA AND HIS “PALISTIN” 39

Fig. 3.
Myc. IIIC bell-shaped bowls from field phases 6-3, Tell Ta‘yinat (after Harrison
2009a: 182).

Fig. 4.
“Feather-hatted” or “hedgehog-helmed” figures from the Aegean, Egypt, and the
Levant: a. pictorial krater body sherd, Tell Ta‘yinat (after Janeway 2013: pl. 9.15);
b. shipborne warrior on a pictorial krater body sherd, Pyrgos Livanaton (after
Mountjoy 2011: 485 fig. 2); c. pictorial Philistine bichrome krater, Ashkelon (Stager
and Mountjoy 2007: 53 fig. 4); d. Sea Peoples warrior, Medinet Habu (after MH I,
pl. 34).

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ao “ENTER,” BUT HOW, AND WHERE?

DATA FROM THE COFFIN TEXTS*

CARLOS GRACIA ZAMACONA

Independent Researcher
cruciral@[Link]
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Abstract: ao “Enter,” but How, and Where? Data from the Coffin Texts
The verb ao “enter” displays special semantic features, in valency, and Aktionsart,
among the general way of expressing space with motion verbs: ao is an achievement
with no prephase, and with a stative postphase, and its action is mainly performed at
the limit (“access”) of the illative spatial complement. This phenomenon is shown by
the use of the preposition r with sharply delimited complements, while the usual pre-
position for illative, m, is used with unlimited complements—respectively, objects,
and substances according to Johnson and Lakoff’s terminology in their book
Metaphors We Live By (1980, 30). This peculiarity constitutes an extreme case study,
and reveals the relevance of a semantic approach when based upon large textual cor-
pora (in this study, the Coffin Texts) in explaining specific morphosyntactic particu-
larities such as the prepositions used with the illative of this verb. This approach also
allows for the testing of certain significant theoretical concepts such as the cognitive
schema “container,” with data from a natural language such as Ancient Egyptian.
Keywords: ao “Enter” – Motion verbs – Semantics – Coffin Texts
Resumen: ao “entrar” ¿Pero cómo, y dónde? Información de Textos de los
Sarcófagos
Si lo comparamos con la manera general en que los verbos de movimiento expresan
las relaciones espaciales, el verbo ao, “entrar”, presenta unos rasgos semánticos par-
ticulares en cuanto a su valencia y Aktionsart: ao es un logro sin prefase y con posfase
* I am most grateful to Jim Allen and the anonymous reviewer for many useful coments. A

shorter version of this article was read at the international conference Mediterráneos 2012. I
am most grateful to Jim Allen and the anonymous reviewer for many useful coments. Consejo
Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid (2012): <[Link]
[Link]/mediterraneos/en/presentation>
Article received: November 23th 2015; approved: January 2nd 2016.

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42 GRACIA ZAMACONA ANTIGUO ORIENTE

estática, cuya acción se produce con mayor frecuencia en el límite (“acceso”) del
complemento espacial ilativo. Este fenómeno se refleja en el uso de la preposición r
con los complementos claramente delimitados, mientras que se emplea la preposición
usual del ilativo (m) con los complementos no delimitados—respectivamente, objetos
y sustancias en la terminología de Johnson y Lakoff en su libro Metaphors We Live
By (1980, 30). Esta peculiaridad constituye un estudio de caso extremo que demuestra
la relevancia de un enfoque semántico basado en grandes corpus textuales—en este
trabajo, los Textos de los Sarcófagos—para explicar particularidades morfosintácti-
cas específicas tales como las preposiciones utilizadas con el ilativo de este verbo.
Este enfoque permite también probar la validez de conceptos teóricos importantes
como el de esquema cognitivo “contenedor” en datos de un lenguaje natural, en este
caso el egipcio antiguo.
Palabras clave: ao “entrar” – verbos de movimiento – semántica – Textos de los
Sarcófagos

INSIDE – OUTSIDE

The conceptual opposition inside-outside is thought to be one of the more

widespread (or “universal”) mental images (or “cognitive schemata”), and
one of the more productive in forming extended meanings (or “metaphors”).
In linguistics, and related fields, one very frequently quoted reference regar-
ding this opposition is the influential book by George Lakoff, and Mark
Johnson, Metaphors We Live By (1980).1 In recent times, this book has also
found its own place in the Egyptological field as a theoretical reference for
metaphor, and categorization studies in different subjects (graphemics, cogni-
tive anthropology, and linguistics), although the methods of interpreting its
postulates are certainly disparate.2 Lakoff, and Johnson refer to the inside-out-
side opposition as the process of the human mind viewing the human body,
and other objects following it, as containers.3 Twenty years before, urban
planner Kevin Lynch4 had proposed a very similar idea in his equally influen-

1 See for example Steen et al. 2010: 766.

2 See, as a sample, Goldwasser 1995; David 2007; Nyord 2009 (with a general overview in
chapter 1); and Gracia Zamacona 2010a; 2010b.
3 Lakoff and Johnson 1980: 29.

4 Lynch 1960. For Lynch’s works, see the Institute Archives, and Special Collections MC.0208

<[Link] at the MIT,

Cambridge, MA.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE “ENTER,” BUT HOW, AND WHERE? 43

tial book, The Image of the City.5 In trying to provide himself with concepts
to analyse his subject, Lynch started interviewing inhabitants of three mor-
phologically different cities in the United States of America (Boston, Jersey
City, and Los Angeles). He found that one of the operative concepts people
employ when describing and using their city is district, which he defined in
the following way:

Districts are the medium-to-large sections of the city, con-

ceived of as having two-dimensional extent, which the
observer mentally enters ‘inside of’, and which are recog-
nizable as having some common, identifying character.6

The two-dimensional attribute given by Lynch to the “district” can be

misleading at first, but this is only due to the fact that the tests applied
to the informants were strongly based on maps (two-dimensional repre-
sentations of the reality):7 the relevant information here is that a “dis-
trict” can be mentally entered since it has an inside, and accordingly it
must have an outside.
In the Coffin Texts, the inside-outside opposition is prototypically repre-
sented by the prepositions m “in, into, from the inside of,” and r “at, to, from
the outside of.”8 In her monographic study on prepositions in Earlier

5
Miller and Johnson-Laird 1976: 377: “This (= Lynch’s) set of spatial elements (= districts,
nodes, landmarks, paths, and edges) for cognitive maps may have some generality for entities
other than cities.” For cognitivism in urbanism, see Orillard 2005.
6 Lynch 1960: 47.

7 Lynch 1960: 140–159, mainly p. 140: “The basic office interview consisted in its essentials

of a request for a sketch map of the city, for the detailed description of a number of trips
through the city, and for a listing, and brief description of the parts felt to be most distinctive
or vivid in the subject’s mind.”
8 Franke 1998: 52–53; Nyord 2010: § 1.1, 1.2 and 2.1; Gracia Zamacona 2010a: § 3; Gracia

Zamacona 2010b: § 1. For the Afro-Asiatic equivalents, see Behnk 1927: 81 (number 11),
which might attest the existence of this elemental opposition in a broader linguistic horizon.
The matter has been faced (on completely different grounds) for later texts: see for example
Wiebach-Koepke 2003: 130–144; and Hegenbarth-Reichardt 2006: 163–164, 168–171. In a
typologically-grounded approach, Werning 2012, especially fn. 15, proposes a double dichoto-
my r “attached to” vs. m “in,” and Hr “superior” vs. Xr “inferior;” see similarly G. Roeder 1904:
49–50. In fact, data from the Coffin Texts do not support this symmetrical model, for two rea-
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44 GRACIA ZAMACONA ANTIGUO ORIENTE

Egyptian, Julie Stauder-Porchet puts it in different terms: “m exprime fonda-

mentalement la délimitation d’un espace,”9 and “(...) le sémantisme de la pré-
position (= r), fondamentalement de relation à distance;”10 and the spatial
model that she implicitly uses does not distinguish “inner” spatial comple-
ments11 (inessive, elative, illative) from “outer” spatial complements (adessi-
ve, ablative, allative), since it seems that she employs the term “ablative” for
all provenance complements, and “allative” for all destination comple-
ments.12
However, the “in / out” spatial features of the prepositions m, and r res-
pectively—and their indifference to express direction13—is transparent in
passages where two verbs of opposite direction occur:

Ex. 1
CT VI 346 h
pr.t hA.t m p.t
To go up to (the inside of), and down from (the inside of) the sky

sons. Firstly, the supposed dichotomy Hr vs. Xr, if of any linguistic relevance, would not act at
the same level as the m vs. r dichotomy, even if only because of the totally different frequency
of use of preposition Xr with motion verbs, when compared to the other three: Xr occurs only
23 times, whilst the other three prepositions are very frequent, since they are the basic space
prepositions in this corpus: m (797 occurrences), r (537 occurrences), and Hr (372 occur-
rences), Hr being thus much more frequently used than Xr because of its higher degree of
abstraction, for all which see Gracia Zamacona 2008: appendix III; and Gracia Zamacona
2010a: § 6 (tables); Svorou 2002: 121–142 claims, on typological grounds, that the intuitive
opposition up vs. down is less grammaticalised than the in vs. out opposition, which partially
overlaps (on m, and r) the Coffin Texts data. Secondly, by not taking into account the relevance
of the notion of limit for spatial complement entities (see Gracia Zamacona 2008: § 2.3; Gracia
Zamacona 2010a: § 5), called “landmarks” by Langacker 1987: § 6.1.2, Werning’s m vs. r
dichotomy fails to explain the particular behaviour of verb ao (and similar verbs) with the illa-
tive, as compared to the main part of motion verbs.
9 Stauder-Porchet 2009: 62.

10 Stauder-Porchet 2009: 65.

11 I follow the valency theory, which distinguishes between “complements” (the arguments

belonging to the verbal valency), and “adjuncts” (those not belonging to it): see Herbst et al.
2004: XXIV.
12 Stauder-Porchet 2009: 17, 98, 157, 198–199 passim.
13 Direction is expressed by the verb, and the context, see Gracia Zamacona 2010a: § 3, and

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE “ENTER,” BUT HOW, AND WHERE? 45

Ex. 2
CT IV 82 d
iw Sm iw N pn r Hn.t p.t nb Dr
This N goes to (the outside of), and comes from (the outside of) the limit of
the sky of the Lord of All

In the translation, said features of prepositions m and r have been enclosed

in brackets, the expression of direction (“from,” and “to”) depending on the
verb, and co(n)textual information.
Notwithstanding this, in an important minority of cases these prepositions
do not express that opposition, since r may mean “in, into”—better said: it
must be thus translated. And this is exactly what happens with the verb ao,
usually translated “enter.” There is, however, one problem with this transla-
tion: because the English verb “enter” is usually constructed with an object,
in contrast to what usually happens in Egyptian, when the discussion focuses
on the related preposition (“to,” “into,” “to the inside of,” etc.), a general
motion verb (“go” or “come”) has been used to translate ao.14 Only in transi-
tivations, with no complement, or when the preposition is irrelevant to the
discussion, will ao be rendered with “enter.”
The question is, why in the Coffin Texts is it written:

Ex. 3
CT VII 306 e
n-wnt z nb rx ao m sD.t
There is no one who can go into the flame
but
Ex. 4
CT II 290 b – 291 b
ao r pr15 wsir n Ddw
To go into the Osiris temple of Busiris

In these cases both the prepositions m, and r express the illative.

14 Werning 2012: 326 and fn. 35.

15 For the illative interpretation of ao r pr in general, see Wb I 231 a.
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46 GRACIA ZAMACONA ANTIGUO ORIENTE

WHERE TO ENTER

The valency of ao, as of any other motion verb, consists of two participants:
the first participant is a “weak” agent, in the sense that no patient is implied,16
and it cannot be considered an undergoer because there is a second partici-
pant, the spatial complement.17 Verbs expressing position, such as dwell, dis-
play the same argument structure.18 Thus, I go to Egypt expresses a motion,
while I dwell in Egypt expresses a position, and both verbs express space.
Contrarily, in the sentence, I work in Egypt, the expression of space is not in
the verb’s valency, but is just an adjunct semantically independent from the
verb.
Pertinent features19 for analysing the valency of ao are displayed in Table
1 below. In the left column, the spatial complements are arranged in three
large categories: provenance (motion’s origin), course (oriented path of the
motion), and destination (motion’s end). These large categories are further
divided by the criteria of “unspecified kind of space,” “outer space,” and
“inner space” into the following respective categories: originating (Or), abla-
tive (Ab), and elative (El) for provenance; coursive (C), exo-coursive (Ex),
and endo-coursive (En) for course; and terminal (T), allative (Al), and illative
(I) for destination. For instance, elative means “from the inside of,” exo-cour-
sive “by (the outside of),” and terminal “towards (nor the inside nor the out-
side of).” In the other four columns, the nature of the space is shown, accor-
ding to the features of animation, and divinity. The data are arranged by total
number, and, within brackets, by preposition in order of frequency:

16 Dowty 1991: mainly § 7 and 8.1.

17 De Boer 1926: 49; López 1970: 40; Lemaréchal 1989: 204, 207–208; Lazard 1994: 98;
Gracia Zamacona 2008: 1516; Stauder-Porchet 2009: 87, 153; Gracia Zamacona 2010a: § 1.
18 Gracia Zamacona 2010a.

19 The general methodological frame is inspired by the maximalist descriptive approach in

Comrie and Smith 1977: § [Link]. The general theoretical approach is psycholinguistic in part:
a general overview of the mainstream of such a theoretical frame can be read in Levinson 2003:
98–110, although no specific model fully meets the empirical description proposed in the
research underlying this article. More specifically, and among many others, the following con-
tributions have been of great use for said research: Clark and Garnica 1974 and Clark 1978,
from the field of experimental psycholinguistics; Svorou 1994, from typological linguistics;
Bennett 1972, from theoretical linguistics, whose semantic approach is the closest to this
description.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE “ENTER,” BUT HOW, AND WHERE? 47

Space Animate Inanimate Animate Inanimate

and divine and divine
Or - - - -
Provenance Ab - - - -
El - - - -

C - 1 (Hr) - -
Course Ex - 2 (Xr) - -
En - 11 (m 7, Xr-HA.t 2, 2 (imytw 1, 1 (m)
imytw 1, Tnw 1) mm 1)
Destination T 3 (Hr 2, 4 (Hr 2, m 2) 12 (Hr) -
m-bAH 1)
Al - 3 (r 1, Xr 1, r-gs 1) - -
Il 2 (mm) 97 (r 64, m 20, r-Xn.w 5, 10 (mm 6, m 3, 5 (m 2,
m-Xn.w 4, ∅ 3, im 1) m-oAb 1) r 2, ∅ 1)

Table 1.
The valency of ao

The above table makes clear the following: firstly, there is a total lack of
provenance spatial complements; at the same time, the only spatial comple-
ment occurring in all the four nature categories is illative; and finally, the
rarest of the spatial complements is allative.20 These three facts are obviously
connected, as they exhibit the core meaning of “enter.” The same idea might
explain the use of the ideogram (G35) (a cormorant or an anhinga) for the
verb ao, given the way in which these birds capture fishes by plunging into
water, although the bird’s name and the verb might also be homonyms.21
20See the appendix, table 9.
21Vernus and Yoyotte 2005: 366. Wolterman 1992: 125–127, explains it otherwise by the pecu-
liar way in which cormorants swim, with their body awash, and only the neck, and head over
the water, and by an hypothetical phonetic alternation g / o between the terms agA “sink,” and
ao “enter”: “cormorant” would thus mean “the one that sinks.” But this does not justify the
presence of the ideogram “cormorant” in the writing of a word meaning “enter,” unless this
particular way of swimming could have been seen as the cormorant having its body “entered”
into the water. Wolterman considers that the interpretation “cormorant” = “the one that enters”
is not significant, since many birds plunge into the waters to fish. But this does not preclude
that the cormorant could have been chosen, among plunging birds, as the ideogram of “enter.”
Either for its abundance or for any other reason it could have been chosen as the prototype of
this action (for this general process, see for instance Kleiber 1990). We find an explicit identi-
fication between the bird, and the verb in CT VI 33 h: n ao.n.i m ao m ao “(...) because it is like
a cormorant, like a cormorant that I have entered.”
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48 GRACIA ZAMACONA ANTIGUO ORIENTE

Secondly, and from a quantitative point of view, it is clear that inanimate

illative is by far (97 cases) the most represented spatial complement: one
usually enters things. The next complement in frequency (12 cases) is animate
divine exclusively with the preposition Hr: this is a very particular expression,
ao Hr + “god,” meaning literally “enter towards (lit. upon) a god,”22 but impl-
ying the going into the god’s residence (temple, chapel, etc.). This becomes
clear when the expression is compared to ao r Hw.t-nTr “enter into the temple
(lit. god’s mansion).”23 The third complement in frequency is endo-coursive
(mainly with m): this is the case of doors, and similar entrances. This descrip-
tion would be perfectly banal, but the preposition more frequently employed
with inanimate illative is not m (20), as expected, but r (64 cases); and this
usage does need an explanation, even more so when it is noted that r is the
preposition typically used to express limits (allative, adessive).
Thirdly, there are five cases of transitivised inanimate illatives (and one of
inanimate divine illative), which also demand an explanation.
But let us begin with the first problem.

R if an Object, m if a Substance

As Stauder-Porchet has remarked, the spatial complement with m after the

verb ao has raised some confusion.24 She solves this confusion by arguing that
the preposition m in spatial complements never expresses, in Earlier
Egyptian, the “allative” (“destination” in the terms used here), but always the
“ablative” (“provenance” in the terms used here), the allative being expressed
by preposition r, and that this holds true for any motion verb.25 However, this
seems to contradict an important amount of data from the Coffin Texts: accor-
ding to the description here proposed, of all 797 spatial complements with m,
for any motion verb,26 331 can be interpreted as indicating destination (for

22 For ao Hr nTr ‘enter towards the god’, see Wb. I, 231.9, and Gracia Zamacona 2012: 189.
23 See Jelinková 1962: 41; Stadler 2012: 242 and 244 (mainly).
24 Stauder-Porchet 2009: 155. Grammars differ in considering the illative meaning for m. Some

of them accept it: Edel 1955–1964: § 758, and Allen 2010: 85; others with restrictions:
Gardiner 1957: § 162, and Malaise and Winand 1999: § 229; and some others reject it: Erman
1928: § 445, and Lefebvre 1955: § 490.
25 Stauder-Porchet 2009: 153, 155 and 157.
26 “Motion” is here to be taken in the narrow sense (“displacement”), thus leaving apart the

locative occurrences with ‘position’ verbs.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE “ENTER,” BUT HOW, AND WHERE? 49

361 for provenance, and 105 for course).27 Here are some examples from this
corpus of m expressing the illative with motion verbs of different Aktionsart:28
Ex. 5
CT V 368 b
sx.t i.n.i im.T bA.i m-xt.i Hw.i [Link].i
Oh, Field! It is (with) my bA behind me (and) my Hw in front of me that I have
come into you!
Spell CT [467] refers to the deceased’s desire of living like Hotep, i.e. in
an abundance of food. Once in the field (of Hotep), the deceased emphasizes
(sDm.n.f) the powers (bA and Hw) that sanction his presence there. The verb ii
is an accomplishment.
Ex. 6
CT IV 96 e
ao.f im m DnDn m Htp m pr wsir
May he (= the deceased’s bA) enter there, proceeding in peace into the house
of Osiris!
In the preceding sentences (CT IV 96 c – d), the deceased is overtly asking
to the “path openers” (wn.w [Link] and wpp.w [Link]) to allow his bA to get
into the house of Osiris, which is clearly illative. The verb DnDn may be an
activity.
Ex. 7
CT V 339 a (B6C)
spr N m [Link].s
May N dock at (lit. in) its (= of the field of Hotep) towns!
This verb is usually followed by an allative with preposition r, because of
its Aktionsart (achievement),29 and valency,30 as in the variants B1Bo (spr.f r

27 Gracia Zamacona 2008: 1725. See also some examples in Van der Molen 2000: 80.
28 Examples of ao, here discussed, are excluded, as well as examples of “vertical” motion verbs,
as it seems that the “horizontality” of the motion is relevant for Stauder-Porchet’s interpretation
(Stauder-Porchet 2009: 155 and 157).
29 See Winand 2006: 112 and 383, for this verb as an auxiliary verb of resultative meaning.
30 Its second participant is a spatial complement of destination at the limit of which the action

happens.
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50 GRACIA ZAMACONA ANTIGUO ORIENTE

[Link].s), and B1C, B5C, B1L and B3L (the four of them reading spr.i r
[Link].s). It is the plurality of the spatial complement ([Link]) that motivates
the use of m (see § 2.2), the punctual action of spr being summarized as a
series of dockings in a group of towns, and not at every town;31 but the mea-
ning of destination (illative in this particular case) is evident. Furthermore, the
meaning of destination is cotextually enhanced by the preceding sentence Xni
N m S.w.s “May N row on (lit. in) its lakes!”, in which the fact that the course
(“lakes”) precedes the destination (“towns”) is explicit. Besides this, in B9C,
both spatial complements (“lakes” and “towns”) are transitivised (Xn.y.i Ø
S.w.s spr.i Ø [Link].s), and this is a phenomenon more frequent with “inner”
spatial complements.32
The difference discussed here between r and m when marking the illative
of ao can be seen by a completely different approach: some semantic differen-
ce among the entities occurring in the spatial complements. As a matter of
fact, such a difference was postulated from a general point of view by Lakoff
and Johnson. These authors consider containers to be divided into objects and
substances: objects (for instance, “tube”) have distinct limits, but substances
(for instance, “water”) do not.33 It must be clearly understood that this is the
relevant point: in a substance, boundaries (or limits) are indistinguishable
from the content; in an object, boundaries (or limits) are distinct from its con-
tent. In Egyptian, this property of containers appears linguistically in a very
particular context: when containers are spatial complements of achievements
that are strongly related to the limits of things (borders, doors...), as is the case
with ao. With objects, because of their distinct limits, the illative of ao is mar-
ked with r, the typical preposition for limit expression. In contrast, due to the
indistinct limits of the substances, preposition m, which is significantly the
typical preposition for masses, is employed instead.34 According to this cate-

31 Compare Bertinetto 1997: 56, for habituals seen as macro-events composed of telic micro-
events.
32 Gracia Zamacona 2010a: § 6. See § 4 in this paper for the transitivations of illative with ao.
33 Lakoff and Johnson 1980: 30.
34 A completely different interpretation is proposed by Sederholm 2006: 212, for whom in some

passages of the Book of Two Ways this m is interpreted as m of identity, leaving the spatial
complement unexpressed. A mystical explanation is offered for this: “The Pool of the Flame in
CT VII 306 d-f, after all, is only another name for the portal of the horizon: the deceased, who
enters it like a flame, becomes a piercing sunbeam.”
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE “ENTER,” BUT HOW, AND WHERE? 51

gorization, and taking into account the occurrences of illative with ao in the
Coffin Texts,35 a list of spatial complements may be proposed, as in this table:

Illative
with m with r
Objects buildings, and wsx.t “great hall”36 [Link] / [Link]
their parts “slaughterhouses,” pr “house,
temple,” nm.t-(nTr) “(god’s)
slaughterhouse”, Hw.t
“mansion,” xb.t
“slaughterhouse,” xm
“shrine,” sbx.t “portal,” kAr
“chapel,” and [Link]
“hypostyle hall”

body parts - r “mouth,” fnD “nose,”

and X.t “belly”
spatial units - Ax.t “horizon,” iAb.t “East,”
(delimited imn.t nfr.t / imn.t “(beautiful)
places) West,” bw “place,” Xr.t-nTr
“necropolis,” gs “side,” and
Dd.t / Dd.w “Mendes” / “Busiris”
others - fA.t “cargo (?),” and mHn “Mehen”
Substances masses (fire, wTz.t “raising flame,” -
liquids, solids, sD.t “flame,” S “lake,”
gases) tA “earth,” and Sw
“Shu (air)”

collectives Sms.w “entourage,” xt.t -

“retinue,” and nbs
“grove of
ziziphus-trees”

Table 2.
Illative spatial complements of ao with r, and m: objects, and substances

35 See appendix, table 10.

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52 GRACIA ZAMACONA ANTIGUO ORIENTE

Some examples will permit the illustration of this table, starting with the use
of r for the illative of objects (in the sense used here). The first group of objects
in the table is “buildings, and their parts.” The prototype of building, pr
“house,” occurs in this construction (see Ex. 4), as well as in other buildings,
Ex. 8
CT II 131 d
tm ao.(w) r nm.t-nTr
Not to go into the god’s slaughterhouse
and parts of buildings:
Ex. 9
CT V 257 a – d (B1L)37
ao.n.i m nbs n iA.w n [Link] xnt.y-S38 hA.y.i ia.w.i m S n Hsmn Dr ao.t.i r [Link]
mA.i nTr nb nTr.w Hr-S.f nb nn-nsw (...)
It is only to see the god, master of gods, Arsaphes, the lord of Herakleopolis
(…),39 that I have gone into the (grove of) ziziphus-trees40 of the mound of the
double gates of cedar, (and) that I will go down (and) wash (myself) in the
lake of natron, before I go into the pillared hall
36 Here noted for the sake of completeness, but inconclusive: only one instance in the Coffin

Texts, in a recent discovery (see below: counterexamples), and consequently not published by
de Buck, and with no parallels at all. Monnier 2012: 260–262 and fig. 3 discusses the term, in
particular, page 260: “La wsx.t désigne une cour située au sein du temple haut d’un complexe
funéraire royal à l’Ancien Empire ou d’un temple au Moyen Empire et au Nouvel Empire. La
forme du hiéroglyphe traduit donc probablement le motif de la colonnade d’une cour à péri-
style, et quelques fois celui de niches sculptées en haut ou en léger relief.” This could indicate
that wsx.t has a collective / plural (“massive”) semantic feature that could explain its excep-
tionality within the description here proposed for “buildings, and their parts.” But I still con-
sider the data too scanty to reject the whole description. For wsx.t, see also Spencer 1984: 71–
80, and Konrad 2006: 77–84.
37 The only variant (B1Y), more lacunar, starts with the prospective (or mrr.f) instead of the

sDm.n.f of ao.
38 The reading, and interpretation of this word are doubtful. Faulkner 1994–1996: II, 67–68, and

Carrier 2004: II, 1032–1033 leave it in blank. Nevertheless, the t, and the S read by De Buck
after the difficult sign, could permit the interpretation of the latter as xnt, leading to the reading
proposed here, xnt.y-S “cedar,” a determiner of the precedent word, [Link] “doors,” which gives
an acceptable sense.
39 A description of the god follows in the last part of this spell CT [420].

40Following the interpretation by Altenmüller 1975: 332. See also Allen 2002: 122, for [Link]

“Sidder grove” (probably Heqanakht’s estate), as a feminine collective of nbs.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE “ENTER,” BUT HOW, AND WHERE? 53

The second group of objects is “body parts,” like r “mouth” in:

Ex. 10
CT III 47 g
Htp-kA n(n) ao.(w).f r r.i pn
The excrement, it shall not go into this mouth of mine
The third group of objects is “spatial units,” such as imn.t “West” in:
Ex. 11
CT VI 381 p
r n ao r imn.t m Sms.w n ra ra nb
Spell for going into the West, into Ra’s retinue, every day
The fourth group is, in fact, a set of two unclassified terms, such as
Mehen in:
Ex. 12
CT VI 390 k – l
ir rx rn n [Link].f iptn swt pw ao r mHn
As for who knows the name of these ways, it (is) he who goes into Mehen
Concerning the use of m for the illative of substances (in the sense used
here), two groups of entities, masses, and collectives, occur. It is to be noted
that these two groups are similar in that they share the feature “indefinition,”
be this quantifiable (collectives) or not (masses). To classify S “lake” or sD.t
“flame” as masses can appear inadequate, in the sense that these entities can
be seen as spaces with boundaries (lakes are limited by banks for instance);
but they are homogeneous in material (water, fire), and amorphous in structu-
re (liquids, gases), and thus they can also be considered masses (the same
might be said for collectives).41 This is an example for masses:
Ex. 13
CT VII 390 a
n(n) ao.(w).s m S [Link]
She (= the deceased) will not go into the Lake of the Criminals
And this for collectives:

41On the difficulties, mainly because of strong culture-based differences, of defining a “mass,”
see Wierzbicka 1985: 311–342.
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54 GRACIA ZAMACONA ANTIGUO ORIENTE

Ex. 14
CT VI 150 f (B1Bo)42
iw ao N pn m xt.t.f
This N goes into his (= Ra’s) retinue
Two apparent counterexamples can be found in two recent publications
that remark this peculiar use of preposition r for the illative of verb ao.
The first publication, by Daniel Polz, is about two new coffins from the
late Middle Kingdom found at Dra Abu el-Naga, the texts of which are dis-
cussed by Antonio Loprieno.43 One of the coffins, belonging to imn.y, has the
titles for spells CT [307], and CT [813], previously unknown.44 The title of CT
[307] is xpr.w m nH tm ao.(w) r xb.t that Loprieno translates “Zum Perlhuhn
werden und die Richtstätte nicht betreten.”45 And that of CT [813], ao m wsx.t,
is translated by the same author “Eintreten in die große Halle.”46 In both
cases, the meaning is “to enter a building or a part of it.” For the description
that follows, it represents a problem to which two solutions are possible: whe-
ther the difference between m, and r no longer exists (for the illative) or whe-
ther there is some difference between xb.t “slaughterhouse,” and wsx.t “great
hall.” Since the variant existing in the de Buck’s edition of the Coffin Texts,
T1L, is almost completely lacunar, and since there are no other occurrences
of wsx.t with the verb ao in this corpus, it could be crucial to know the com-
plete texts of imn.y’s coffin in order to decide on this point—supposing that
such occurrences appear in this document—although the second choice seems
more probable to this author.
The second counterexample is in the publication of papyrus Brooklyn
47.218.84 by Dimitri Meeks.47 Even if this Twenty-Sixth-Dynasty document
is a linguistic patchwork of Middle Egyptian and later elements, which makes
the linguistic analysis unsure,48 the editor provides remarks of interest. These

42 B2Be, and G1T replace the aorist with pseudoparticiples.

43 Loprieno 2007: 70–80.
44 CT [307] is known from L2Li, and BH4C, but with no title. CT [813] was only very lacunar

on T1L.
45 Loprieno 2007: 80; see also Rigault 2009: 600.
46 Loprieno 2007: 79; see also Rigault 2009: 601.
47 Meeks 2006.

48 Meeks 2006: 1 and 4. For a thorough discussion on the concepts égyptien de tradition,

Neomittelägyptisch, and Spätmittelägyptisch, as categories for a linguistic analysis, see Von

Lieven 2007: I, 226–250 (with main conclusions on pages 247–248).
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE “ENTER,” BUT HOW, AND WHERE? 55

remarks concern the passage VI 1-2, which reads: ir dn(i.t) m iwnw […]py n
ao iri.(w).n ir.(t) ra r Ax.t n.t p.t im.f, translated by Meeks “Quant à la fête
Dén(yt) dans Héliopolis, (c’est) […] où l’oeil de Rê est entré dans l’horizon
du ciel.”49 The preposition r is used here for the illative of ao, with Ax.t “hori-
zon,” the same as in the Coffin Texts.50 But there should be an important dif-
ference: according to Meeks, ao r Ax.t should be understood as an appearance
in the horizon, because ao m Ax.t also exists, and seems to mean a disappea-
rance in the horizon; if this is correct, the two prepositions should be comple-
tely reinterpreted in this specific expression (ao r/m Ax.t).51
This has been a description of the valency of ao, an exception inside the
general valential system of motion verbs in the Coffin Texts. But sometimes
the general system cancels this special opposition between r, and m for the
illative of ao.

Neutralization of the Opposition m / r

In some cases, the peculiar r / m opposition for the illative of ao can disappear
in favor of m.
First, when ao is followed by its antonym pri “go out,” both of them with
one and the same spatial complement, this can be introduced by m.52 The pro-
ximity of pri seems thus to “normalize” the expression of the illative with ao:

49 Meeks 2006: 13.

50 CT IV 37 m, and VII 2 w. Compare also the New Kingdom manuscripts of Sinuhe R6 in Koch
1990: ao nTr r Ax.t.f.
51 Meeks 2006: 78 and 215, with the textual references. Compare also, for Greco-Roman times

(égyptien de tradition), the similar expression ao r p.t/Hr.t “to go into the sky,” as a metaphor
of “dying (successfully),” in Kucharek 2010: 297 (pMMA 35.9.21, 11, 13) and 392. Compare
also similar cases for ao in an astronomical context in the Nutbuch: Von Lieven 2007: I, § 55
(m r.s “in her (Nut’s) mouth” = disappear), § 60 (r [Link] “in the hour”?; the passage is uncer-
tain: see Von Lieven’s remarks on pages 73–74), § 69 (m grH m [Link] “in the night, in the
hour”?; the passage is uncertain too: see Von Lieven’s remarks on page 75), § 94, 93a and 94b
(m r.s m bw tp.s m [Link] “in her (Nut’s) mouth, in the place where her head is in the West” =
disappear?), and § 104 (m dwA.t “in the Duat” = disappear?).
52 CT I 387 a (S1C, and G1T) (kAr), V 43 a ([Link]), VI 73 a (Xr.t-nTr), and VI 321 l (ks.t).

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56 GRACIA ZAMACONA ANTIGUO ORIENTE

Ex. 15
CT VI 73 a
tm xnr.(w) bA n z.t r prr.f r ao.f r mrr.f m Xr.t-nTr
Not to prevent a woman’s bA from going out of (the necropolis) (and) from
going into the necropolis, at his will
The illative, and elative meanings are the only possible means here, since
the bA’s more important function for the deceased is to go out of the necropolis
by day, and go back into the necropolis by night.53
Second, when resumptive, the spatial complement is introduced by m,54 or
replaced by the adverb im,55 as is usually the case with all motion verbs.56
Ex. 16
CT VI 390 e – g
xpr.n.f m nb wiA (i)wa.n.f p.t xpr.n.f m wHm.w n nb-r-Dr Dr ao.f im.f
He has become the master of the wiA-bark, he has inherited the sky (and) he
has become the Master-of-All’s herald, but only since he went into it (= the
bark)
There are even some cases that simultaneously exhibit this, and the pre-
vious factor:57
Ex.17
CT II 121 a
wn dwA.t pr.t ao im.s
To open the Duat, go out of (it) and go into it
Third, spatial complements usually introduced by r change this for m when
in the plural,58 or in one case even in the dual,59 as if they can be conceived of
as being less limited than the singular, and thus allowing the use of m:

53 Contra Stauder-Porchet 2009: 157.

54 CT V 381 a (sx.t), VI 390 g (wiA), and VII 216 j (niw.t).
55 CT IV 96 e (D.t “funerary abode”).
56 Gracia Zamacona 2010a: § 3.4.

57 CT II 121 a (dwA.t), and VI 340 g (Hw.t).

58 CT I 219 b (sTp.w), and VI 410 b – c ([Link] [Link] tp).

59 With the same name, [Link] “the two eyes”: CT V 43 a, and VI 220 t.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE “ENTER,” BUT HOW, AND WHERE? 57

Ex. 18
CT VI 410 a – d
wsir N mAa.t-xrw i n.k (A)s.t di.s pr TAw mr.s ao.f m [Link] im.(w)t tp.k anx.k
mdw.k xft.s wsir N mAa.t-xrw
This Osiris N, vindicated! Isis has come60 for you to make the wind get up
when she wishes (and) go into the holes which (are) in your head, may you
live (and) speak to her, this Osiris N, vindicated!
However, m, and r are not the only lexical means to express the spatial
complements of ao.

Other Prepositions

Prepositions less frequently used for the illative of ao are: mm “amongst” for
animate plurals, and collectives61 (which is used in the same way with other
motion verbs),62
Ex. 19
CT III 316 e
ao.i r xm wr mm wr.w
May I go into the great chapel, amongst the Great Ones!
and m-Xn.w / r-Xn.w “inside of” for inanimates. The uses of the latter prepo-
sitions are displayed in this table:

60 For the interpretation of this as a perfective sDm.f, according to the ii (M18) base, see Winand
1991 § 32.
61 CT I 132 b, I 133 b, I 134 b, III 292 b, III 314 b, III 316 e, VI 275 h, and VII 391 a.
62 Gracia Zamacona 2010a: § 3.1 and tables 3, 6, 9 and 12.

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58 GRACIA ZAMACONA ANTIGUO ORIENTE

Objects Substances
Singular Plural

m-Xn.w 3 (a-DA “ferry dock,”?63 itn “sun disk,”64 1 (StA.w “hidden places,
and ir.t wr.t “great eye (= sun disk)”65) crypts”)66 -
r-Xn.w 4 (xm wr “great shrine”67, wnw.t “hour,”68 1 ([Link] “abattoirs”)70 -
and kAr “chapel”69)

Table 3. Prepositions m-Xn.w, and r-Xn.w with the illative of ao

At first sight, there seems to be no difference between the two preposi-

tions: no substance occurs with them, and the singular form seems to predo-
minate. But when comparing the referents of the spatial complements, all the
cases with r-Xn.w are clearly delimited entities: all of them but wnw.t “hour”
are buildings.71 Besides, in one case, r-Xn.w alternates with r:
Ex. 20
CT IV 306 a
L1NY: nn ao.(w).i r [Link].[Tn] I shall not go into your abattoirs
M4C: nn ao.(w).i r-Xn.w [Link] I shall not go to the inside of your abattoirs
As for m-Xn.w, two of the referents are buildings: one of them in plural,
which could explain the m:
Ex. 21
CT I 133 a – b (L2Li)
iw wD.n wsir ao N m-Xn.w StA.w
Osiris has ordered N to go to the inside of the crypts
and the other one is doubtful, because it occurs in one document only, and the

63 CT I 134 b – c (L2Li).
64 CT VII 216 k.
65 CT VII 218 e.
66 CT I 133 b – c.

67 CT I 132 b – c.
68 CT IV 268 d – 269 d.
69CT VI 267 u, and VI 269 j.

70 CT IV 306 a (M4C).

71 I thank James Allen for remarking that a spatial interpretation is also possible for wnw.t here,

as in the Book of the Amduat for instance.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE “ENTER,” BUT HOW, AND WHERE? 59

meaning is not clear.72 The other two occurrences are of the sun disk, referred
to as itn, and ir.t wr.t; in this case, I cannot explain why m-Xn.w was preferred
to r-Xn.w.
Although the data are too scant to persist with this analysis, a subtle nuan-
ce must be added regarding the meaning of Xn.w, because this is essential to
understanding why these two prepositions (m/r-Xn.w) are used instead of
basic m. First remarked by Karl Piehl,73 as Meeks notes,74 m-Xn.w may unu-
sually be written in place of the usual . The sign in question,
(N55), should be distinguished from the shining sun (wpS), since it repre-
sents a pen for animals, as Gaston Maspero stated for the first time: “c’est un
cercle de grosses pierres fichées en terre et formant un parc pour les bes-
tiaux.”75 The prepositions m/r-Xn.w seem thus to refer to an area delimited by
discrete units—in the case illustrated by the ideogram , stones.
In this sense, there is an enlightening occurrence of m-Xn.w from the thir-
teenth dynasty, close in time to the corpus studied in this paper. The passage
is on the stele Cairo JE 35256, edited by Anthony Leahy, and belonging to a
set of four76 delimiting an area sacred to Wepwawet in Abydos.77 The editor
identifies this sacred area with the wadi connecting, as a processional way, the
Osiris temple with Umm el-Qab:78 it seems thus to be an open area. The text
explicitly forbids one to enter the sacred area without any permission, or to
build tombs therein, under death penalty by burning. The relevant passage is
ir rf [Link] Tw nb r gm.t.f m-Xn.w wD.w m-HA.(w) wab.(w) r Hn.t.f [Link] bd.t.f, and
it is translated by the editor “As for anyone who shall be found within these
steles, except for a priest about his duties, he shall be burnt.”79 Here the pre-
position introduces the steles, not the area delimited by them: one can even
interpret the phrase as m Xn.w wD.w “in (the) inner space (of the) steles.” And
that is exactly what the composed preposition basically means: a space deli-

72 CT I 134 b – c (L2Li) (a-DA ‘ferry dock’?).

73 Piehl 1901: 62–63.
74 Meeks 2006: 36, passage XVI, 7; and 157, fn. 563.

75 Maspero 1892: 326. The same author states that these pens were still in use in Egypt when

he wrote those lines. See also Riemer 2009: 175–188, for archaeological evidence of formally,
and functionally similar structures in prehistoric eastern Sahara.
76 Leahy 1989: 42, fig. 1; and 43, lines 3–5.

77 Leahy 1989: 50–52, and fig. 2.

78 Leahy 1989: 54.

79 Leahy 1989: 42, fig. 1; and 43, lines 5–6.

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60 GRACIA ZAMACONA ANTIGUO ORIENTE

mited by isolated (discrete) elements, but not compulsorily closed. This

results in an ambiguity displayed both by the alternation of m, and r as first
elements of the composition, and by the very morphology of these composed
prepositions: the first element expresses the (untypical) limit, and the second
one the inner space. Be this as it may, a full study on the Xn.w-composed pre-
positions (because there are more of them) should be done to reach more
sound conclusions.80
Just another two prepositions are used for the illative of ao, and only once
each: m-oAb “in the middle of”, and r-gs “beside.”
The preposition m-oAb occurs with an animate divine plural, the preposi-
tional phrase being factorised with the verb pri, expressing the opposite spa-
tial function (elative) with the latter verb, as usual. It also displays the basic
meaning of m, as m-oAb would render “in the loop (of a plural or collective).”
Ex. 22
CT III 266 a – 267 a
r n ao Xr-HA.t pr.t [Link] m oAb wnm.w-t n.w wsir
Spell of going into the middle of the Osiris’ Bread-eaters, through (their)
front, (and) going out of the middle of the Osiris’ Bread-eaters, through (their)
rear
In this occurrence, the meaning of m-oAb (interiority, animacy, and plura-
lity) is proved by the parallel with preposition mm in an almost identical pas-
sage at the end of the same spell, CT [228]:
Ex. 23
CT III 291 b – 292 b81
ao.(w).i Xr-HA.t pr. (w).i [Link] mm wnm.w-t n.w wsir
It is only through (their) front (and) through (their) rear, that I will go
amongst the Osiris’ Bread-eaters, and that I will go out from amongst the
Osiris’ Bread-eaters, (respectively)
The preposition r-gs “beside” also occurs with an animate divine, but sin-
gular:

80 Compare the case study on HA.t in Di Biase-Dyson 2012.

81 Following B1Ca.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE “ENTER,” BUT HOW, AND WHERE? 61

Ex. 24
CT I 387 a (B2L, B1P, and B1Bo)82
ao.i pr.i r kAr r-gs nTr xpr-Ds.f
May I go into, and from the chapel, beside the Self-created God
Finally, in order to explain the transitivised spatial complements of ao
(without preposition), a previous analysis of the Aktionsart of this verb is
necessary.

HOW TO ENTER

A series of tests83 is frequently used in general linguistics to determine (ten-

dentially) the Aktionsart of a state-of-affairs. The theoretical model for the
lexical temporal meaning of the verbs (verbal Aktionsart) used here is the one
proposed by Zeno Vendler in 1957.84 Since then, it has been profusely emplo-
yed, and discussed by several authors in general linguistics.85 Vendler’s theory
states the existence of four different kinds of states-of-affairs (or time sche-
mata as he calls them)—activities, accomplishments, achievements, and sta-
tes—according to their Aktionsart. In his own words:

By way of illustration to this section, I add four examples, which

demonstrate our time schemata from another angle.
For activities: ‘A was running at time t’ means that time instant t is on
a time stretch throughout which A was running.
For accomplishments: ‘A was drawing a circle at t’ means that t is on
the time stretch in which A drew that circle.
For achievements: ‘A won a race between t1 and t2’ means that the
time instant at which A won that race is between t1 and t2.
For states: ‘A loved somebody from t1 to t2’ means that at any instant
between t1 and t2 A loved that person.
This shows that the concept of activities calls for periods of time that
are not unique or definite. Accomplishments, on the other hand, imply
the notion of unique and definite time periods. In an analogous way,

82 Minor variants in S2C, B1C, and G1T.

83 For these tests, see now Gracia Zamacona 2015. Specific references for each test are given
in footnote.
84 Vendler 1957: 143–160.
85 See Binnick 1991 and Klein 1994 for a general discussion.

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62 GRACIA ZAMACONA ANTIGUO ORIENTE

while achievements involve unique and definite time instants, states

involve time instants in an indefinite and nonunique sense.
This division has an air of completeness about it. Perhaps it is more
than a mere presumption to think that all verbs can be analyzed in
terms of these four schemata.86

Although Vendler does not use the terms that later became the most frequent,
he is distinguishing durative states-of-affairs (when he speaks about the “time
periods” implied by activities, and accomplishments) from punctual (the
“time instant” required by achievements, and states); as well as telic states-of-
affairs (“unique and definite” time units needed by accomplishments, and
achievements) from atelic (“non-unique and indefinite” time units for activi-
ties, and states).
The initially astonishing proximity of achievements and states led
Alexander Mourelatos to propose in 1978 a sharper definition of the same
four categories, using the criteria of duration (non instantaneous),87 telicity
(“tending towards a goal”),88 and dynamics (needing the agent’s force to
occur),89 with the resulting definitions, and examples: states (non-dynamic,
durative, and atelic; e.g. “love”), activities (dynamic, durative, and atelic; e.g.
“run”), accomplishments (dynamic, durative, and telic; e.g. “grow up”), and
achievements (dynamic, non-durative, and telic; e.g. “find”).90
In 2006 Jean Winand proposed a general approach for the Egyptian lan-
guage, essentially based on this model, although taking a broader and more
explicative perspective: in fact, his intention was to explain not only the
Aktionsart but also verbal tense, and aspect (and taking the valential argu-
ments, and adverbials into account) under the umbrella concept of tempora-
lity, which comprises time expression in non-verbal sentences as well.91 As far
as Aktionsart is concerned, Winand’s model’s main contributions are the use,
and development of the notions of gradability (explicit, and implicit),92 and
the notions of prephase, and postphase.93 The concept of gradability will not
86 Vendler 1957: 149.
87 Mourelatos 1978: 416.
88 The use of the term, and its definition were proposed first by Garey 1957: 91–110, as indi-

cated in Mourelatos 1978: fn. 7.

89 Mourelatos 1978: 416.

90 Mourelatos 1978: mainly 415, and 423.

91 Winand 2006: 151–172.
92 Winand 2006: 64–67. See also Bertinetto and Squartini 1995.

93 Winand 2006: 67–68. See also Klein 1994: 84 passim.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE “ENTER,” BUT HOW, AND WHERE? 63

be employed in this study, but that of postphase is crucial, as it is proposed

here to explain some particularities of ao.
The list of tests that follows is thus to be considered as an analytical tool:
the more tests that point in the same direction, the more reliable the explana-
tion they provide. These are the tests employed here to analyse the Aktionsart
of the verb ao:
a. The adverb “already” is only compatible with telic verbs, and telicised
statements.94 The Egyptian clause r sDm.t.f “until he hears” could be semanti-
cally equivalent to “already.” This test is positive for ao, which could be a telic
verb.
Ex. 25
CT I 398 c – 399 b (S2C)
swA bA.i Hr.s(n) sgr.{i}(w) r ao.t.f r kAr
May my bA pass by them (= the Akr.w) in silence until he goes into the chapel!
b. If the presence of a patient implies the feature “telicity,”95 it might be
proposed that telic motion verbs are prone to transitivising spatial comple-
ments. In fact, in Egyptian, this depends on the type of spatial complement,
and not only on the verbal Aktionsart: achievements transitivise destination
(and also provenance); atelic verbs transitivise course;96 accomplishments
transitivise destination but also course.97 The verb ao only transitivises illati-
ves (see Ex. 34–37):98 it must be an achievement.
c. The Greek aorist has a terminal meaning with telic verbs with stative
postphase (for instance ἀποθνῄσκω “die”), but inceptive with atelic verbs
(for instance βασιλεύω “reign”).99 In this the Egyptian indicative sDm.f could

94 Klein 1994: 146–147. Compare Winand 2006: 52 and 227.

95 Winand, Temps, 87; compare Vendryes 1946: 86, and Sánchez Ruipérez 1954: 82–83. In
other languages, transitivation can affect the aspect more than the Aktionsart: see Comrie 1976:
8, for the German opposition er las das Buch (perfective) vs. er las im Buch (imperfective),
and Comrie 1976: 1976, 8, fn. 2 for the Finnish opposition “partitive + imperfective” vs.
“object + perfective.”
96 Compare Tenny 1988: 9, who considers the couplet “Walk the bridge” / “Walk across the

bridge.” See also Dowty 1991: 569.

97 Gracia Zamacona 2008: 1670–1671.

98 CT II 132 c, III 52 a, V 57 d, and VI 412 j.

99 Sánchez Ruipérez 1954: 80–81; Binnick 1991: 165; Winand 2006: 107.

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64 GRACIA ZAMACONA ANTIGUO ORIENTE

be equivalent to the Greek aorist. Since it occurs with ao, with a terminal effet
de sens, this verb should be a telic verb with stative post-phase.100
Ex. 26
CT V 35 k – l
wn [Link] xnz swA TAw.w wDa [Link].f ao TAw
The double doors of the Crossing (= a lake) opened, the winds passed by, its
(= lake’s) [Link]-waters divided, the wind entered
d. Achievements, and semelfactives prefer perfective verbal forms.101
Also, with progressive, and habitual time adverbials (for example ra nb “every
day”)102 they have an iterative meaning.103 In contrast, activities prefer imper-
fective verbal forms:104 for instance, in Egyptian, generally no pseudopartici-
ple occurs with atelic verbs.105 The verb ao is iterative with ra nb,106 and can
occur in the pseudoparticiple:107 this verb is an achievement.
Ex. 27
CT VI 388 o – p
iw.i gr [Link] [Link] ip[t]w [Link] ao.(w)t miw.t [Link] ra nb
I know also these secret paths into which the she-cat goes every day
Ex. 28
CT VI 150 f (B2Be)108
iw N pn ao.(w) m xt.t.f
This N has gone into his retinue
100 CT V 35 l, V 330 b, and VI 269 j.
101 Comrie 1976: 17–18, and 42; Binnick 1991: 379, and 412; Bertinetto 1997: 51, and 60. For
the Egyptian, see Schenkel 1965: 57–58, and Schenkel 1967: 130, about gmi “find”: few occur-
rences of the active perfective participle, but very frequent those of the perfective sDm.n.f ver-
bal form—for gmi, see now Vernus 2012: 387–438—; and compare Westendorf 1962: 237, and
317 on the verb pAi “fly off > happen in the past.” In a similar way (telicity – perfective – per-
fect – relative past), compare the Chinese morpheme -le, in Melchert 1980, mainly 650–651,
and Iljič 1989: 266–267.
102 Bertinetto 1997: 33; Anderson 1982: 108, about the distributive beneficiary in the sign lan-

guage.
103 Comrie 1976: 43; Klein 1994: 96; Winand 2006: 104–105.
104 Binnick 1991: 379, and 412; Bertinetto 1997: 60.

105 Malaise and Winand 1999: § 719; Winand 2006: 107.

106 CT VI 388 p.

107 CT III 2 a, III 104 c, and VI 150 f.

108 Also in G1T (first person).

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE “ENTER,” BUT HOW, AND WHERE? 65

e. Achievements display a tendency for spatial complements of prove-

nance and destination, as well as for the adessive, whilst atelic states-of-
affairs (activities) prefer spatial complements of course (or “path”), and the
inessive.109 The verb ao has 148 cases of destination spatial complements out
of 173 in absolute figures: it must be an achievement.
f. Compatibility with expressions of the agent’s control on the state-of-
affairs (“can”, etc.; compare Egyptian r mrr.f “as he wishes,” etc.),110 depend-
ence on volition verbs,111 and the impersonal passive of intransitive verbs112
imply a dynamic state-of-affairs. The verb ao occurs subordinated to mri,113
with r mrr.f114 (see Ex. 15), and with rx “can”115 (see Ex. 3): it is dynamic /
agentive.
Ex. 29
CT V 330 e
ao Hr nTr.w mrr.w z ao Hr.s(n)
To enter towards the gods that a man wants to enter
g. The imperative implies that a state of affairs is dynamic116 or rather that
its subject is agentive:117 ao is dynamic / agentive.118

109 Wunderlich 1991: 602. Compare Matsumoto 1996: 192 with fn. 8, and 194 with fn. 12, who
relates telicity to the spatial complements of destination, and atelicity to the spatial comple-
ments of course. Similarly, Boons 1985: 227, remarks the preference of atelic states-of-affairs
for spatial complements of course.
110 Vendler 1957: 148–149, on the English verb “can;” Verkuyl 1989: 47; Bertinetto 1997: 84;

Pustejovsky, 1988: 34, on the incompatibility of states with verbs of the kind of “force to;”
Binnick 1991: 174, on the incompatibility of states with adverbials of care, and intention. See
Winand 2006: 58, and 72, who considers this test essentially for the agentivity of a state-of-
affairs.
111 For Winand 2006: 76–78, this test is basically for the agentivity of a state-of-affairs.
112 Winand 2006: 85, thinks this test to be mainly about the agentivity of a state-of-affairs. For

the hypothesis of the existence of “unergative,” and “unaccusative” intransitive verbs, compare
the remarks by Dowty 1991: 605–613.
113 CT V 330 e.

114 CT VI 73 a.
115 CT VII 306 e, and VII 447 b.
116 Pustejovsky 1988: 34; Binnick 1991: 174.

117 Winand 2006: 58, 78–79, and 84, specifically, on implicative, and beneficiary coreferential

with the subject.

118 CT III 86 c, passim.

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66 GRACIA ZAMACONA ANTIGUO ORIENTE

h. In English, the general imperfective (present) of accomplishments, and

activities has a habitual present effet de sens, but a non-habitual present with
achievements and states.119 The following cases of ao show that this verb is an
achievement:
Ex. 30
CT V 184 a – b
[Link].f r k.y sbA ao.(w) TAw Hr.f
And he will dock at another gate that the wind enters through
The general context is the future deceased’s passing through a series of
doors of the Field of Rushes, the change of gate being indicated by the
[Link].f form. The imperfective relative form expresses a non-habitual con-
comitant present in a given moment, when passing one of these doors.
Ex. 31
CT VI 150 f – h (B1Bo)
iw ao N pn m xt.t.f xma.f wsr.t xma.f nr.w.k
This N goes thus into his retinue, rejects the Powerful (female) (and) rejects
your (= Ra’s) terror
Within a narration with perfective sDm.n.f forms, and passive sDm.w.f
forms (CT VI 149 b – 150 e), the aorist (imperfective), alternating with
pseudoparticiple (B2Be, and G1T), expresses a non-habitual present that is
consequence of the narrated actions.
Ex. 32
CT VI 267 t – 268 b
ink Spsi m s.t.f im.y ib n nb kAr
pr.i ao.i r-Xn.w kAr n nb-r-Dr
siar.i mAa.t Hr Htp.t Sw im.y ors.t
sao.i wDA.t
zzn.i izf.t m DA(dA).t
nS.i bw.t ra m dp.t.f
nTr nb Hr.s oA.i Ax nb Xr SfSf.t.i
rxw.t Hr dwA nfr.(w).i
I am the nobleman in his seat, the preferred of the Lord of the chapel: I go in
and out of the interior of the chapel of the Lord-of-All, I present Maat on the

119 Austin: 46–47; Pustejovsky 1988: 34–35; Verkuyl 1989: 55; Binnick 1991: 173.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE “ENTER,” BUT HOW, AND WHERE? 67

offering table of Shu that is in the tomb, I put the Sound Eye in, I destroy
falsehood in the tribunal, I expel Ra’s abomination from his bark, on which
every god (is), (and) I am on the top, every Ax (being) under my terror (and)
the [Link] adoring my beauty.
Aorist as a non-habitual present, the precise moment of which is expressed
by the progressive in CT VI 268 b.
Ex. 33
CT VII 388 c – 391 a (B2Bo)
n(n) bs.w m.w r-gs N tn
n xsff N tn Hr ra
n Snaa N tn in [Link].f
n(n) Sm.(w) N tn m in.t kkw
n(n) ao.(w).s m S [Link]
n(n) wnn.s m SAm.t A.t
n(n) xr.(w) N tn m HAo.t
ao.s mm iTi.<w> n Hr.f-HA-nm.t n.t iAT.t spd.t
The water shall not spring beside this N; this N shall be not rejected thanks to
Ra; this N shall be not held by The-one-who-acts-with-his-hands; this N shall
not walk through the Valley of Darkness, she shall not go into the Lake of the
Criminals (and) she shall not be in the heat of anger; this N shall not fall like
a prey when it (= the prey) goes amongst those who are taken to His-face-(is)-
around-the-chopping-block of the slaughterhouse of spd.t
The aorist is a non-habitual concomitant present regarding the moment
expressed by a series of passive prospectives (CT VII 388 c – 390 c).
According to the previous test analyses, it must be concluded that ao is an
achievement with stative post-phase, and no pre-phase.

THE PECULIARITY OF ao
Following these analyses of the valency, and Aktionsart of ao, the transitiva-
tion of some of its spatial complements must be studied. These are the occur-
rences of transitivised spatial complements with ao in the Coffin Texts:
Ex. 34
CT II 132 c
M3C: n(n) ao.(w).i Ø nm.t-nTr I shall not enter the god’s slaughterhouse
G2T: n(n) ao.(w).i r nm.t-nTr I shall not go into the god’s slaughterhouse
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68 GRACIA ZAMACONA ANTIGUO ORIENTE

S1C: n(n) sao.t(w).i r nm.t-nTr I shall not be put into the god’s slaughterhouse
S2Ca-b, and M4C: lacunar
Ex. 35
CT III 52 a
B1C, and B2L: (…) Hr-ntt ao.n.i Ø Tzi.t (…) because it is Rising-flame that I
have entered
B3C: (…) Hr-ntt ao.n N tn m wTz.t (…) because it is into Rising-flame that
this N has gone
Ex. 36
CT V 57 d
M6C: n(n) ao.(w).i Ø nm.t-nTr I shall not enter the god’s slaughterhouse
Other copies: bw.t.i pw nm.t-nTr My abomination is the god’s slaughterhouse
Ex. 37
CT VI 412 j
T6C: ao Ø sStA n mso.t tn Enter the hidden place of this mso.t!
T10C: ao Hr sStA Enter towards the hidden place!120
The transitivation of the spatial complement of ao in these passages can be
approached from a multi-factorial perspective that takes into account verbal
aspect, spatial complement type (object – substance), and number, as well as
alternating prepositions, as this table displays:
CT Aspect Illative Alternating
preposition
Perfective Imperfective Object Substance
II 132 c prospective - nm.t-nTr “god’s - r
slaughterhouse”
III 52 a emphatic - - Tzi.t “Rising m
sDm.n.f flame”
V 57 d prospective - nm.t-nTr “god’s - -
slaughterhouse”
VI 412 j - imperative sStA n mso.t “hidden - -121
place of mso.t”
Table 4.
Transitivations of spatial complements with ao
120End of line, and coffin side.
121The preposition Hr is considered here as expressing the terminal, not the illative: this means
that these documents hold different versions.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE “ENTER,” BUT HOW, AND WHERE? 69

According to these data, the following conclusions may be proposed:

First, transitivation is more frequent with perfective than with imperfective
verbal forms.
Second, illative is the only spatial complement transitivised, and always in
the singular: this is significant, for it also happens generally with other
motion verbs.122
Third, although transitivity objects predominate over substances this pat-
tern may not be significant, because, generally speaking, objects are
much more frequent than substances.
Fourth, alternating prepositions for the illative, m, and r, do not show
aspectual or communicative differences.
All this seems to point to the existence of a weak tendency in the “linguis-
tic stage” of the Coffin Texts to transitivise singular illatives in perfective
statements, resulting in a complex valency change that depends not only on
the aspect but also on the Aktionsart, and valency characteristics of ao.123
Such characteristics constitute the peculiarity of this verb: ao is an achieve-
ment with no prephase, and with a stative postphase; its action is mainly per-
formed in the limit (“access”) of the illative spatial complement, a phenome-
non enhanced by the use of the preposition r with sharply delimited comple-
ments (objects), while the usual preposition for the illative, m, is used with
unlimited complements (substances).
Access
Substance
m

ao <+>

r
Object

Fig. 1.
Typical illative of ao124
122 Gracia Zamacona 2008: 1670–1671; Gracia Zamacona 2010a: 243–244: the transitivation
depends on the verbal Aktionsart, and on the number of the second participant. The phenome-
non has been mainly identified for spatial complements of “path” (in this article, called
“course,” because it is oriented) with activities: see Dowty 1991: 569; Levin and Rappaport
Hovav 1992: 261; Winand 2006: 130, and 139.
123 Lazard 1994: 223–228; Winand 2006: 88, fn. 84.
124 For the Aktionsart graphics used here, see Winand 2006: 100–122.

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70 GRACIA ZAMACONA ANTIGUO ORIENTE

In conclusion, this peculiarity of the verb ao, being an extreme study case
of the space’s verbal expression (i.e. the so-called “motion verbs”) in the
Coffin Texts, reveals the use of a semantic approach when based upon large
samples of study, and this twofold: on the one hand, to explain specific mor-
phosyntactic particularities (such as those of prepositions with the illative of
this verb); and on the other hand, to illustrate certain significant theoretical
concepts (such as that of the cognitive schema “container”) with data from a
natural language such as Egyptian.

APPENDIX

Occurrences of Predicative ao in the Coffin Texts by Spatial Complement

Type, and Preposition

Provenance: No cases
Course125
Prepositions Entities
Animate Inanimate Animate and divine Inanimate and divine

Hr “by” - war.t “plateau”126 - -

Table 5.
Coursive

Prepositions Entities
Animate Inanimate Animate and divine Inanimate and divine

Xr “below” - oAb “bend”127 - -

Table 6.
Exo-coursive

125 Also called “path.”

126 CT III 145 a.
127 CT VII 331 d, and VII 515 d.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE “ENTER,” BUT HOW, AND WHERE? 71

Prepositions Entities
Animate Inanimate Animate and Inanimate
divine and divine
m “through” - sbA.w “doors”128, - Hathor’s wnz
imn.t “west”,129 (an access)131
and sD.t “flame”
(and pri)130
Xr-HA.t - - wnm.w-t -
“through “Bread-
the front” eaters”132

imytw - [Link] “two pillars” two gods134 -

“between” (resumptive)133

mm - - Sms.w -
“amongst” “followers”135

Ø - Tnw “(through) - -
where?” (and pri)136

Table 7.
Endo-coursive

128 CT II 62 I, 363 b, II 372 b, II 374 b, and II 387 b.

129 CT V 320 a – b.
130 CT VI 224 f.
131 CT III 2 b.

132 CT III 266 a – 267 a, and III 291 b (significantly for an endo-coursive, B5C, and BH3Ox

read m-HA.t instead of Xr-HA.t).

133 CT VII 226 d.

134 CT VI 388 m.

135 CT II 363 b.
136 CT III 2 a.

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72 GRACIA ZAMACONA ANTIGUO ORIENTE

Destination

Prepositions Entities
Animate Inanimate Animate Inanimate
and divine and divine
Hr “towards” the deceased137 StA.w “hidden places”138 gods,139 and -
one god140
Hr / Ø “towards” - sStA “hidden place” - -
(transitivation)141
m “towards” - [Link] “ways” (resumptive)142 - -
replacing Hr
(m)-bAH “into the deceased143 - - -
the presence of”

Table 8.
Terminal
Prepositions Entities
Animate Inanimate Animate and divine Inanimate and divine
144
r “to” - xAs.t “steppe” - -
145
Xr “under” - wA.t “way” - -
r-gs “beside” - - nTr xpr-Ds.f “The -
Selfcreated God146
Table 9.
Allative
137 CT VI 172 p, and q.
138 CT VII 017 e.
139 CT II 266 e – 267 e, II 273 e, II 288 b – 289 b, II 310 a – 311 a, II 312 d – 313 d, and V 330

e (1-2).
140 CT IV 386 c (lac.), V 320 a – b, V 330 b, V 330 d, and VI 69 b.
141 CT VI 412 j.

142 CT VI 388 k, and VI 388 p.

143 CT VII 114 b.

144 CT IV 290 c – 291 c: only in B9Ca; rest of documents have r iAb.t “into the East” (illative

of an object in Lakoff’s, and Johnson’s sense).

145 CT VI 388 m – n: ao.i [Link] Xr wA.t StA.t im.t wp.t ra imn.t Tz 4 ipw n mH.t-wr.t [Link] “I

have gone between the two of them (= Hu, and Sia) to the underneath of the secret path which
(is) in Ra’s cranial vault (and) that the 4 mH.t-wr.t’s knots (= a part of the solar bark?) hide by
themselves.” The meaning of this passage is difficult to grasp: the spell CT [759] is about
Mehen, the solar bark, and four ways of fire surrounding it, but it seems that the deceased has
acceded to the inner space of Mehen.
146 CT I 387 a (S2C, G1T, B1Bo, B1C, B2L, and B1P).

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Prepositions Entities
Animate Inanimate Animate Inanimate and
and divine divine
r “into” - r “mouth,”147 X.t “belly,”148 fnD “nose,”149 - imn.t nfr.t
bw “place,”150 Ax.t “horizon,”151 imn.t “beautiful
“West,”152 imn.t nfr.t “beautiful West,”170 and
West,”153iAb.t “East,”154 gs [Link] n p.t mHn “Mehen”171
“eastern side of the sky,”155 Dd.t
“Mendes,”156 Xr.t-nTr “necropolis,”157
sbx.t “portal,”158 [Link] “hypostyle
hall,”159 pr “house,”160 nm.t-nTr / nm.t
“(god’s) slaughterhouse,”161 [Link]
“slaugtherhouses,”162 xb.t “slaughter-
house,”163 [Link] / [Link] “abattoirs,”164
fA.t “cargo,”165 Hw.t “mansion,”166 Hw.t-
aA.t “large mansion,”167 xm wr “great
shrine,”168 and kAr “chapel”169
r / Ø “into” - nm.t-nTr “god’s slaughterhouse” - -
(transitivation)172
r / r-Xn.w - [Link] “abattoirs”173 - -
“into / to-the-
inside-of”
Table 10.
Illative (first part)

147 CT III 47 g.
148 CT III 103 e, III 104 c, III 128 e – f, III 132 f, III 136 f, and VI 335 a.
149 CT VI 255 i.

150 CT VI 321 u, and VII 30 u.

151 CT IV 37 m, and VII 2 w.

152 CT IV 326 j, and VI 381 p.

153 CT IV 341 c, IV 342 d, and VI 96 g.

154 CT IV 290 c – 291 c.
155 CT VI 402 g.

156 CT IV 278 a – 279 a.

157 CT III 317 p – q, and IV 339 b.

158 CT III 310 c.

159 CT V 257 c.

160 CT II 290 b – 291 b, V 34 a, V 243 c, and VI 331 l.

161 CT II 131 d, II 133 e, and g, II 166 b, II 167 h, and k, II 168 c, f, j, and m, II 169 c, g, j, and

m, II 170 b, II 174 I, and m, V 59 a, and c, VI 132 m, and VII 219 d.

162 CT VI 132 f, and VI 261 a
163 CT IV 62 q.
164 CT IV 323 b, and IV 330 m.

165 CT VI 285 f.
166 CT I 144 g.

167 CT III 362 e.

168 CT III 314 b, and III 316 e.
169 CT I 399 b.
170 CT IV 339 e.

171 CT VI 390 l.
172 CT II 132 c.

173 CT IV 306 a.

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Prepositions Entities
Animate Inanimate Animate Inanimate and
and divine divine
m “into” - With pri: ks.t “Keset (town or - -
replacing r country),”174 and Xr.t-nTr “necropolis”175
Resumptive: Hw.t “mansion,”176 dwA.t
“Duat,”177 wiA “solar bark,”178 niw.t
“town,”179 and mTn.w “roads”180
Plural: [Link] [Link] tp “holes which
are in the head,”181 and sTp.w “chosen
places”182
Dual: [Link] “eyes”183
m “into” - tA “earth,”184 sD.t “flame,”185 S “lake”,186 one god188, xt.t sx.t-Htp “Field of
and nbs “(grove of) zizyphus-trees”187 “retinue,”189 Hotep”191
and Sms.w
“entourage”190
Ø / m “into” - - - Tzi.t / wTz.t “Rising-
flame”192
mm “amongst” Sms.w - Sms.w “follo-
“follo- wers,”195
wers,”193 wnm.w-t
and iTi.w “Bread-
“priso- eaters”196,
ners”194 wr.w “Great
ones,”197 and
imAx.w
“glorified
ones”198
Table 10.
Illative (second part)
174 CT VI 321 l.
175 CT VI 73 a.
176 CT VI 340 g.
177 CT II 121 a.

178 CT VI 390 g.
179 CT VII 216 j.

180 CT IV 96 e.

181 CT VI 410 c.
182 CT I 219 b.
183 CT V 43 a, and VI 220 t.

184 CT VII 30 a, and l.

185 CT III 337 a, and d, III 338 c, VII 447 b, and VII 306 e.
186 CT VII 390 a.

187 CT V 257 a.
188 CT IV 168 e.
189 CT VI 150 f.

190 CT VI 381 p.
191 CT V 381 a.

192 CT III 52 a.
193 CT III 314 b.

194 CT VII 391 a.

195 CT VI 275 h.
196 CT III 292 b.

197 CT III 316 e.

198 CT I 132 b, I 133 b, and I 134 b.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE “ENTER,” BUT HOW, AND WHERE? 75

Prepositions Entities
Animate Inanimate Animate Inanimate
ande divine and divine
m-Xn.w - [Link] “hidden places, crypts,”199 - -
“into-the- a-DA “ferry dock,”200 itn “sun
inside-of, disk,”201 and ir.t “eye”202
within”
r-Xn.w “to- - xm wr “great shrine,”203 kAr - -
the-inside-of” “chapel,”204 and wnw.t “hour”205
m-oAb “in- - - wnm.w-t -
the-middle- “Bread-eaters”
of” (plural and pri)206
Ø “(into)” - nm.t-nTr “god”s slaughterhouse,”208 - -
(transitiva- and sStA “hidden place”209
tion)207
Table 10.
Illative (last part)

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Oriente Lux 32, pp. 119–130.
WUNDERLICH, D. 1991. “How do Prepositional Phrases fit into Compositional Syntax,
and Semantics?”. In: Linguistics 29, pp. 591–621.

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LEAD ISOTOPE ANALYSIS OF SLAG-TEMPERED

NEGEV HIGHLANDS POTTERY

NAAMA YAHALOM-MACK
[Link]@[Link]
Institute of Earth Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Israel
MARIO A.S. MARTIN
mario_antonio@[Link]
Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University
Israel
OFIR TIROSH
ofirtirosh@[Link]
Institute of Earth Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Israel
YIGAL EREL
yerel@[Link]
Institute of Earth Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Israel
ISRAEL FINKELSTEIN
fink2@[Link]
Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University
Israel

Summary: Lead Isotope Analysis of Slag-Tempered Negev Highlands Pottery

Petrographic analysis of Iron IIA Negev Highlands pottery revealed that the clay used
in some of the vessels was tempered with copper smelting slag. Here we show, using
lead isotope analysis, that the slag was likely a byproduct of the contemporaneous
smelting operations at Faynan, Jordan. We substantiate previous observations regar-
ding the connection between settlements in the Negev Highlands and the mining and
smelting operations in Wadi Arabah.

Article received: July 6th 2015; approved: September 8th 2015.

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Keywords: Iron IIA – Negebite pottery – Slag temper – Negev Highlands – Wadi
Faynan – Timna – Lead isotope analysis
Resumen: Análisis de isótopos de plomo de cerámica de las tierras altas del
Negev atemperada con escoria
El análisis petrográfico de la cerámica de las tierras altas del Negev de la Edad del
Hierro IIA reveló que la arcilla utilizada en algunos recipientes fue templada con
escoria resultante de la fundición de cobre. En este trabajo mostramos, utilizando aná-
lisis de isótopos de plomo, que la escoria era probablemente un subproducto de las
operaciones de fundición contemporáneas en Feinán, Jordania. Corroboramos obser-
vaciones previas con respecto a la conexión entre asentamientos en las tierras altas
del Negev y las operaciones mineras y de fundición en el Wadi Arabá.
Palabras Clave: Edad del Hierro IIA – Cerámica negevita – Templado de escoria –
Tierras altas del Negev – Wadi Feinán – Timna – Análisis de isótopos de plomo

INTRODUCTION

Recent petrographic analysis of wheel- and handmade (‘Negebite’) pottery

found at early Iron IIA Negev Highlands sites has established the connection
of these settlements with the copper extraction centers in Wadi Arabah (Fig.
1).1 Most significantly, a group of (almost exclusively handmade) vessels was
made of clay which was tempered with minute fragments of crushed slag,
characterized as copper smelting slag with the aid of metallographic and scan-
ning electron microscopes. A production of these vessels in Wadi Arabah was
proposed. Here we report the results of lead isotope analysis of slag inclusions
in selected vessels from the Negev Highlands sites. The study provides addi-
tional evidence for the origin of this pottery in the Arabah mining districts,
most likely Wadi Faynan.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Crushed slag is available in the form of extensive heaps at the Arabah smel-
ting sites, and indeed slag tempering is a well-known phenomenon in this
region in the Iron Age, both in domestic and in refractory ceramics.2
1
Martin and Finkelstein 2013; Martin et al. 2013.
2
Slatkine 1978: 114; Rothenberg 1980: 198; 1988: 201; Bachmann and Rothenberg 1980: 220;
Glass 1988: 103, 109–111; Tite et al. 1990; Al-Shorman 2009: 203–223; Smith 2009: 365–417
[Wares A2, A2b and A6b], 572; 2014; Ben-Yosef 2010: 364, 674–676, 691, 699, 702–703.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE LEAD ISOTOPE ANALYSIS OF SLAG-TEMPERED NEGEV HIGHLANDS POTTERY 85

The production of slag-tempered Negev Highlands vessels in Wadi Arabah

is not only substantiated by the slag inclusions but also by certain rock and
mineral fragments encountered in the fabrics. These include argillaceous shales,
sandstones, coarse-very coarse angular quartz and, most importantly, intrusive
and volcanic igneous rock fragments, mainly of felsic (granite, rhyolite) and,
rarely, also of intermediate composition (diorite, andesite). This temper assem-
blage can be sourced to the southerly desert regions of southern Jordan, the eas-
tern and southern Arabah and the southern Sinai, where rocks of the
Precambrian crystalline basement of the Arabian-Nubian Shield and of the
Paleozoic-Late Mesozoic continental environs outcrop extensively.3 Combining
geological with archaeological considerations, Wadi Arabah and, more preci-
sely the copper districts of Wadi Faynan and Timna—the only focus of human
activity in this region during the Iron IIA—remain the only viable candidate.4
It is futile to consider the option that crushed slag was transported to the
Negev Highlands separately, to be added to locally procured clays.5 Such a
scenario would also require the ‘import’ of other tempering agents (see
above), such as granitic rocks, for which a local Negev Highlands origin can
be categorically excluded. Ethnographic studies have shown that in traditio-
nal pottery production, raw clay and temper are generally not transported over
distances more than ca. 10 km.6 Moreover, no evidence of pottery kilns has
ever been recorded in the Negev Highlands.7
On the basis of shape repertoire—almost exclusively the most essential,
open household types (mostly cooking vessels)—and production mode (“hou-
sehold production”) it was argued that the handmade wares were not prone to
be exchanged as trade items, but reached the Negev Highlands as a result of
movement of people; it was brought by its owners, who “commuted” between
the Negev Highlands and Wadi Arabah.
Both the Negev Highlands and the copper districts in Wadi Arabah were
dominated by a nomadic milieu with tribal organization.8 In the early Iron IIA
3
For a detailed discussion and references, see Martin and Finkelstein 2013: 24–27; Martin et
al. 2013: 3780–3781, 3786–3787.
4
In the Iron IIA no evidence of settlement activity has been found on the southern Jordan pla-
teau (Bienkowski 1992a, 1992b; Herr and Najjar 2001). A near settlement vacuum was
encountered in the Sinai during the entire Iron II (Meshel 2002: 287; Yezerski 2003).
5
Martin et al. 2013: 3787.
6
Arnold 1985: 32–60; cf. Goren, Finkelstein and Na’aman 2004: 6–7.
7
Haimann and Goren 1992: 149.
8
Fantalkin and Finkelstein 2006; Tebes 2006; Levy 2009a; 2009b; Ben-Yosef 2010: 648–656;
for the Wadi Fidan 40 cemetery, see Beherec, Najjar and Levy 2014.
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pastoral nomadic groups in the Negev Highlands were in a process of seden-

tarization. Different lines of data suggest that at least some of these groups
were involved in the Arabah copper production system—as miners and smel-
ters. They may have also been involved in the transportation of copper, likely
in ingot form, from the mines to northern urban centers and to the
Mediterranean shore, where the copper could have been loaded onto ships.
The latter possibility was raised by the chemical and isotopic analyses of
ingots from a cargo comprising 54 loaf-shaped copper ingots retrieved from
the Carmel coast, near Neve Yam, suggesting that the ingots were made of
copper from Wadi Arabah ores, specifically those at Faynan.9
The Negev Highlands population was an integral part of a prosperous net-
work propelled by the profitable copper market. This network included Wadi
Arabah, which after the disruption of the Cypriot trade at the end of the Late
Bronze Age rose as the main copper provider of the southern Levant, the
Beer-sheba Valley, the Negev Highlands and the Mediterranean coast. The
economic boom in the south stimulated the sedentarization process in the
Negev Highlands.10 Control of this network must have been one of the main
goals of the Sheshonq I campaign to the southern Levant.11
In the period discussed here, the leading copper producer in the Arabah
was the Wadi Faynan district, with the largest production site located at
Khirbet en-Nahas.12 On a smaller scale, mining and smelting activity also
occurred in the Timna area,13 arguably under the same production system and
operated by the same groups.14
From a chemical analysis it emerged that the crushed slag added to the
ceramic wares as tempering agent is manganese-rich and often contains an
appreciable amount of phosphorus (P2O5).15 This composition points to the
Cambrian Dolomite-Limestone-Shale (DLS) unit as host rock for the mined

9
Yahalom-Mack et al. 2014.
10
A somewhat similar process can be identified in the Early Bronze Age III-Intermediate
Bronze Age. For copper-related activities in this period in Wadi Faynan, see Levy et al. 2002.
The contemporaneous subsistence and settlement pattern in the Negev Highlands is currently
under investigation by our team (see already Dunseth 2013).
11
Fantalkin and Finkelstein 2006; Finkelstein and Piasetzky 2008.
12
E.g., Levy et al. 2005; 2014.
13
E.g., Ben-Yosef 2010: 507–621; Ben-Yosef et al. 2012.
14
Ben-Yosef 2010: 955–959.
15
Martin et al. 2013: 3787–3788.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE LEAD ISOTOPE ANALYSIS OF SLAG-TEMPERED NEGEV HIGHLANDS POTTERY 87

copper.16 The DLS unit was the primary source for copper ore in Wadi Faynan
(the local Burj formation), where it is widely exposed. In Timna, most of the
copper-bearing Cambrian ores (the local Timna formation in particular) do
not outcrop on the surface and, instead, the iron-rich sandstones of the
Cretaceous Amir and Avrona formations were exploited for copper throug-
hout all periods of activity. There is, however, limited evidence that during the
Iron IIA the miners of the Timna Valley have also used the Cambrian manga-
nese-rich ores (Layer I at Site 30; 9th century BCE).17

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Four slag-tempered vessels, each from a different Negev Highlands site, were
selected for lead isotope analysis (Table 1; for the location of sites, see Fig.
1; for the illustration of the vessels, see Fig. 2; for micrographs of fabric
inclusions, see Figs. 3–5). This method is based on the fact that no isotope
fractionation occurs during the copper smelting and re-melting processes. The
lead isotope ratios thus serve as a ‘fingerprint’ of the mineral ore deposits,
which can be compared with the end-product.18

Fig. Site Reg. Vessel type Reference Fabric and inclusions

Nº
2: 1 Refed 5/1 Cooking Meshel and Cohen Silty, non-calcareous, micaceous
krater 1980: Fig. 3: 4 clay + slag, quartz,
sandstone, quartzite(?)
2: 2 Atar 84/2 Cooking(?) Cohen 1970: Calcareous clay + slag, calcareous
Haroʿa krater Fig. 11: 13 sand, quartz, vegetal temper
2: 3 Horvat 53/1 Silty, non-calcareous, micaceous clay
Ritma Lamp Meshel 1977: Fig. 7: 10 + quartz, granite, slag, andesite,
feldspar, sandstone
2: 4 Ramat 1216/1 Cooking Cohen and Cohen-Amin Silty, non-calcareous, shaley clay +
Matred krater 2004: Fig. 40: 13 slag, quartz, limestone

Table 1.
Slag-tempered Negev Highlands vessels sampled for this study.

16
Cf. Hauptmann 2007: 63–79; Ben-Yosef 2010: 96–104; Levy, Ben-Yosef and Najjar 2014:
12–21.
17
Tite et al. 1990; Ben-Yosef 2010: 564–571, 901–903; Ben-Yosef et al. 2012.
18
For discussion and bibliography, see Gale and Stos-Gale 1982; Hauptmann 2007: 31–38;
Stos-Gale and Gale 2009; Pernicka 2014.
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A 2–3 cm vessel fragment was crushed lightly and pieces of slag, visible to
the naked eye, were collected. The slag fragments with some adhering clay
were dissolved in a mixture of hydrofluoric and nitric acid and diluted for
chemical and isotopic analysis. Lead concentration was determined using a
quadrupole Inductively Coupled Plasma – Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS,
Agilent 7500cx). Following the separation of Pb in columns lead isotopic
ratios were measured using Neptune plus multi-collector ICP-MS. Thallium
was used for mass-bias correction. SRM-981 standard was run with the sam-
ples yielding the following values: 208/206Pb = 2.1660±3.6E-05, 207/206Pb =
0.9145±1.4E-05, 204/206Pb = 0.0591±6.0E-06.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The results are presented in Table 2 and are plotted in Fig. 6 against the
lead isotope ratios of the following ores and artefacts:
1 Ores from the DLS at Faynan (Burj formation), which was the main
mineralization exploited during the Bronze and Iron Ages;19
2 Slag fragments from Khirbet en-Nahas, Wadi Dana and Feinan 5,
which are dated to the Iron Age;20
3 Sandstone ores from Timna (the Cretaceous Amir and Avrona forma-
tions), which were the main Cu-hosting rocks exploited in this region;21
4 Pb-rich Mn nodules (Type B) from the Cambrian Timna Formation,
which are equivalent to the DLS ores at Faynan. These do for their
most part not outcrop in the Timna Valley and were generally not
exploited in ancient times;22
5 Ingots from the Early to Intermediate Bronze Age metallurgical activity
at Khirbet Hamra Ifdan, Wadi Faynan area;23
6 Late Bronze Age ingots from Timna;24
7 Ingots from the Carmel coast near Neve Yam.25
19
After Hauptmann et al. 1992.
20
Hauptmann et al. 1992.
21
Gale et. al. 1990; Segev, Beyth and Bar-Matthews 1992; Hauptmann et al. 1992; Hauptmann
2007; Asael et. al. 2012.
22
Ehrlich et al. 2004.
23
Levy et al. 2002; Hauptmann et al. 2015.
24
Yahalom-Mack et al. 2014.
25
Yahalom-Mack et al. 2014.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE LEAD ISOTOPE ANALYSIS OF SLAG-TEMPERED NEGEV HIGHLANDS POTTERY 89

208
Figure Site Pb/206Pb e 207
Pb/206Pb e 204
Pb/206Pb e
2: 1 Refed 2.1214 0.00002 0.8707 0.000006 0.0557 0.000002
2: 2 Atar Haroʿa 2.1184 0.00002 0.8691 0.000008 0.0556 0.000001
2: 3 Horvat Ritma 2.1192 0.00002 0.8699 0.000007 0.0557 0.000002
2: 4 Ramat Matred 2.1195 0.00003 0.8700 0.000009 0.0557 0.000002

Table 2.
Lead isotope ratios of slag from Negev Highlands vessels sampled for this study.

Figure 6 shows that the slag fragments from the Negev Highlands vessels are
consistent with both Timna and Faynan copper ores. However, the major
source of exploited ore from Timna (i.e., the Cretaceous Amir and Avrona for-
mations) has a large scatter, while the Faynan ores plot very close to the sam-
pled vessels. In addition, the vessels are fully consistent with the crescent-
shaped ingots from the Early Bronze Age III and Intermediate Bronze Age
metallurgical activity at Khirbet Hamra Ifdan, which utilized the DLS ores in
this region, as well as with the slag from the Iron Age smelting sites at Faynan
and with the ingots from Neve Yam. This correspondence and the archaeolo-
gical data showing that the DLS ores were extensively exploited at Faynan
during the Iron Age suggests that the slag in the Negev Highlands vessels
likely originated in this region. Only eight samples from the DLS unit at
Faynan were analyzed for their lead isotope ratios26 and interestingly, most of
them cluster slightly lower than slag and ingot samples. This difference may
be bridged with additional analyses.
The particular member within the Timna formation which is geochemi-
cally equivalent to the Faynan DLS unit appears to be the lead-rich Type B
manganese nodules within the Timna Formation. It should be, however, noted
that the lead isotope ratios of these nodules are not identical to those of the
Faynan DLS unit, as should be expected (Fig. 6). This difference may be an
artifact of the small number of samples obtained from these units. Otherwise,
this may point to a slight geochemical difference between these formations.
Since in the Timna Valley Cambrian manganese-rich ores of the Timna for-
mation were used during the Iron IIA in addition to ores derived from
Cretaceous sandstones (see above), theoretically they could have been the sour-
ce of the slag in the Negev Highlands vessels. However, the perfect consistency
of the lead isotope ratios of the slag temper with the Faynan ingots suggests that
Faynan is indeed the source of the slag added to the Negev Highlands ceramics.
26
Hauptmann et al. 1992.
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This is supported by the geographical proximity of Wadi Faynan and the Negev
Highlands and by the fact that in the Iron IIA the Faynan mines were exploited
at an incomparably grander scale than those at Timna.

CONCLUSION

The results of the lead isotope analysis of slag fragments extracted from
Negev Highlands vessels substantiate previous observations, based on
archaeological considerations, petrographic analysis and mineralogy of the
slags, regarding the connection between the Negev Highlands Iron Age set-
tlements and the mining and smelting operations in Wadi Arabah. This sug-
gests that Iron IIA sedentary activity in the Negev Highlands was related to
the thriving metallurgical activities at Wadi Faynan. The economic boom in
the southern desert regions stimulated the sedentarization process in the
Negev Highlands. We can reconstruct a scenario in which some of the Negev
Highlands pastoral nomadic groups periodically worked in the Wadi Arabah
copper districts as miners and smelters, probably in order to supplement their
subsistence economy.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This study was partially funded by the European Research Council under the
European Community’s Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007–2013)/ERC
grant agreement no. 229418. It was part of a project headed by Israel
Finkelstein, Tel Aviv University and Steve Weiner, Weizmann Institute of
Science. Additional funding was provided by the Lady Davis Foundation.

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LEVY, T.E., E. BEN-YOSEF, and M. NAJJAR. 2014. “The Iron Age Edom Lowlands
Regional Archaeology Project. Research, Design, and Methodology”. In: T.E.
LEVY, M. NAJJAR and E. BEN-YOSEF (eds.), New Insights into the Iron Age
Archaeology of Edom, Southern Jordan. Los Angeles, Cotsen Institute of
Archaeology Press, pp. 1–88.
LEVY, T.E., M. NAJJAR, T. HIGHAM, Y. ARBEL, A. MUNIZ, E. BEN-YOSEF, N.G. SMITH,
M. BEHEREC, A.D. GIDDING, I.W.N. JONES, D. FRESE, C. SMITHERAM, and M.
ROBINSON. 2014. “Excavations at Khirbat en-Nahas 2002–2009: Unearthing an
Iron Age Copper Production Center in the Lowlands of Edom (Southern Jordan)”.
In: T.E. LEVY, M. NAJJAR and E. BEN-YOSEF (eds.), New Insights into the Iron Age
Archaeology of Edom, Southern Jordan. Los Angeles, Cotsen Institute of
Archaeology Press, pp. 89–246.
LEVY, T.E., M. NAJJAR, J. VAN DER PLICHT, N. SMITH, H.J. BRUINS, and T. HIGHAM.
2005. “Lowland Edom and the High and Low Chronologies: Edomite State
Formation, the Bible and Recent Archaeological Research in Southern Jordan”.
In: T.E. LEVY and T. HIGHAM (eds.), The Bible and Radiocarbon Dating:
Archaeology, Text and Science. London, Equinox, pp. 129–163.
MARTIN, M.A.S., A. ELIYAHU, M. ANENBURG, Y. GOREN, and I. FINKELSTEIN. 2013.
“Iron IIA Slag-Tempered Pottery in the Negev Highlands, Israel”. In: Journal of
Archaeological Science 40, pp. 3777–3792.
MARTIN, M.A.S. and I. FINKELSTEIN. 2013. “Iron IIA Pottery from the Negev
Highlands: Petrographic Investigation and Historical Implications”. In: Tel Aviv
40, pp. 6–45.
MESHEL, Z. 1977. “Horvat Ritma: An Iron Age Fortress in the Negev Highlands”. In:
Tel Aviv 4, pp. 110–135.
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the Israelite Period?”. In: E. OREN and S. AHITUV (eds.), Aharon Kempinski
Memorial Volume. Studies in Archaeology and Related Disciplines. Studies by the
Department of Bible and Ancient Near East 15. Beer-sheba, Ben Gurion
University of the Negev Press, pp. 283–300.
MESHEL, Z. and R. COHEN. 1980. “Refed and Hatira: Two Iron Age Fortresses in the
Northern Negev”. In: Tel Aviv 7, pp. 70–81.
PERNICKA, E. 2014. “Provenance Determination of Archaeological Metal Objects”.
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Perspective: Methods and Syntheses. New York, Springer, pp. 239–268.

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ROTHENBERG, B. 1980. “Die Archäologie des Verhüttungslagers Site 30”. In: H.G.
CONRAD and B. ROTHENBERG (eds.), Antikes Kupfer im Timna-Tal. 4000 Jahre
Bergbau und Verhüttung in der Arabah (Israel). Veröffentlichungen aus dem
Deutschen Bergbau-Museum Bochum 20. Bochum, Deutsches Bergbau-Museum
Bochum, pp. 187–213.
ROTHENBERG, B. 1988. The Egyptian Mining Temple at Timna. Researches in the
Arabah 1959–1984, vol. 1. London, Institute for Archaeometallurgical Studies,
Institute of Archaeology, University College London.
SEGEV, A., M. BEYTH, and M. BAR-MATTHEWS. 1992. “The Geology of the Timna
Valley with Emphasis on Copper and Manganese Mineralization – Updating and
Correlation with the Eastern Margins of the Dead Sea Rift”. In: Geological Survey
of Israel Report GSI/14/92, pp. 1–31.
SLATKINE, A. 1978. “Étude microscopique de poteries anciennes du Negev et du
Sinai”. In: Paléorient 4, pp. 113–130.
SMITH, N.G. 2009. Social Boundaries and State Formation in Ancient Edom: A
Comparative Ceramic Approach. PhD Dissertation, University of California, San
Diego.
SMITH, N.G. 2014. “The Petrography of Iron Age Edom”. In: T.E. LEVY, M. NAJJAR and
E. BEN-YOSEF (eds.), New Insights into the Iron Age Archaeology of Edom,
Southern Jordan. Los Angeles, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press, pp. 461–491.
STOS-GALE, Z.A. and N.H. GALE. 2009. “Metal Provenancing Using Isotopes and the
Oxford Archaeological Lead Isotope Database (OXALID)”. In: Archaeological
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“Technological Characterisation of Refractory Ceramics from Timna”. In: B.
ROTHENBERG (ed.), The Ancient Metallurgy of Copper. Researches in the Arabah
1959–1984, vol. 2. London, Institute for Archaeometallurgical Studies, Institute
of Archaeology, University College London, pp. 158–175.
YAHALOM-MACK, N., E. GALILI, I. SEGAL, A. ELIYAHU-BEHAR, E. BOARETTO, S.
SHILSTEIN, and I. FINKELSTEIN. 2014. “New Insights into Levantine Copper Trade:
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE LEAD ISOTOPE ANALYSIS OF SLAG-TEMPERED NEGEV HIGHLANDS POTTERY 95

FIGURES

Fig. 1.
Map of southern Israel and Jordan showing the main regions and sites
mentioned in the article.

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96 YAHALOM-MACK - MARTIN - TIROSH - EREL - FINKELSTEIN ANTIGUO ORIENTE

Fig. 2.
Selected slag-tempered Iron IIA Negev Highlands pottery, including handmade
Negebite (cooking) kraters (1, 2, 4) and a wheel-made lamp (3). Courtesy of the
Israel Antiquities Authority and the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University.

Fig. 3.
Fresh break of slag-tempered ware in the stereo-microscope (from vessel in Fig. 2: 2).
The slag appears in the form of dark angular inclusions.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE LEAD ISOTOPE ANALYSIS OF SLAG-TEMPERED NEGEV HIGHLANDS POTTERY 97

Fig. 4.
Micrograph (reflected light mode) showing fragment of crushed copper smelting
slag added as temper into the clay mass of a handmade Negebite vessel (Fig. 2: 4).

Fig. 5.
Micrograph (polarizing microscope, crossed polarized light) showing granite inclu-
sion in the fabric of a lamp (Fig. 2: 3).

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Fig. 6.
Lead isotope ratios of slag fragments analyzed for this study (Table 2), plotted
against selected ores, ingots and slag from Wadi Arabah (for references, see text).
KHI=Khirbet Hamra Ifdan, KEN=Khirbet en-Nahas.

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THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF THE SARAPH SYMBOL

NISSIM AMZALLAG
nissamz@[Link]
Ben-Gurion University in the Negev
Beer Sheba, Israel

Abstract: The Origin and Evolution of the Saraph Symbol

The abundance of uraeus iconography in Late Bronze Age and Iron Age Canaan has
led most scholars to interpret the saraph, a winged and/or burning serpent evoked in
the Bible, as an Egyptian religious symbol borrowed by the Canaanites and thereafter
integrated in the Yahwistic sphere. The strong affinity of the saraph symbol with a
local serpent species, Echis coloratus, however, challenges this view. It reveals that
the saraph was an indigenous Canaanite symbol later influenced in its representation
by the Egyptian glyptic. Comparison of the biology of Echis coloratus and the literary
source relating to the saraph suggests that the latter was once approached as an animal
that guarded the copper mining areas of the Arabah and Sinai against access by unau-
thorized persons. By extension, it became the privileged symbol of copper metallurgy
and its proximate spheres of influence. It is concluded that the essential relation bet-
ween YHWH and the seraph is probably rooted in the metallurgical background of
the god of Israel. Furthermore, the closer affinities of the properties of the uraeus with
Echis coloratus rather than with the cobra species that symbolize it suggest that this
Egyptian symbol had been borrowed from Canaan as early as the pre-Dynastic period
before influencing it in the reverse direction in the Late Bronze Age.
Keywords: Saraph – Echis coloratus – Primeval Yahwism – Uraeus
Resumen: El origen y la evolución del símbolo del serafín
La abundancia de iconografías de uraeus en la Edad del Bronce Tardío y en la Edad
del Hierro en Canaán, llevó a la mayoría de los investigadores a interpretar el serafín,
una serpiente con alas y/o ardiente evocada en la Biblia, como un símbolo egipcio
tomado prestado por los cananeos y luego integrado en la tradición yahvista. Sin
embargo, la fuerte afinidad del símbolo del serafín con las especies de serpientes
locales, Echis coloratus, desafía esta visión. Se demuestra que el serafín era un sím-
bolo nativo cananeo, cuyas representaciones fueron influenciadas posteriormente por
la escultura egipcia. La comparación de la biología del Echis colorataus con las fuen-

Article received: August 20th 2015; approved: November 16th 2015.

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100 AMZALLAG ANTIGUO ORIENTE

tes literarias relacionadas con el serafín, sugiere que este último aparecía como un
animal que cuidaba las zonas mineras de cobre en la Arabá y en el Sinaí contra el
acceso de personas no autorizadas. Por lo tanto, se convirtió en el símbolo privilegia-
do del hierro metalúrgico y de sus esferas cercanas de influencia. Se concluye que el
vínculo esencial entre Yahvé y el serafín radicaría probablemente en las fuertes raíces
metalúrgicas del dios de Israel. A la vez, la estrecha afinidad entre las propiedades de
uraeus y el Echis coloratus, más que con las especies de cobra que simboliza, sugiere
que el símbolo egipcio fue tomado prestado de Canaán ya en el periodo Pre-
Dinástico, antes de influenciar a este, a la inversa, en la Edad del Bronce Tardío.
Palabras clave: Serafín – Echis coloratus – Yahvismo primordial – uraeus

INTRODUCTION

The saraph is a winged creature closely associated with YHWH. In Isa 6:2–
3, seraphim surround the celestial throne aloft and praise the deity by sin-
ging antiphonally. In Isa 14:29, the seraph, evoked again as a flying being
is a metaphor for the new king/leader of Israel, who is expected
to come in the name of YHWH.1 In 2 Kgs 18:4, we learn that a copper ser-
pent, identified with the seraph evoked in Num 21:8–9, was worshipped by
the Israelites at the Jerusalem temple. These observations led scholars to con-
clude that the Israelites viewed the flying serpent as a sacred animal and even
as a symbol of YHWH and/or of his powers.2
Today, such an opinion has been discredited. Most contemporary scholars
reject any essential relationship between YHWH and serpent beings.3 Instead,
they construe the saraph as one of many Canaanite / foreign religious ele-
ments that insinuated themselves into the folk religion of Israel through a syn-
cretism defined as “pagan Yahwism.”4 The foreign origin of the Israelite

1
Mettinger 1999: 743; Charlesworth 2010: 248.
2
For references to early twentieth-century scholars who suggested this, see Farbridge 1970
[1923]: 75.
3
For instance, Fabry (1998a: 359) concludes, “Nowhere in ancient Israel do we find any pos-
sibility of developing a positive attitude towards serpents, as was the case in Egypt, Greece and
Italy. There was certainly never any serpent cult, as in Mesopotamia and Egypt. This—more
than inclusion of serpents in Ugaritic mythology—accounts for the fact that serpents were con-
sidered cultically unclean.”
4
de Savignac 1972: 322. Koh (1994: 97–98) suggests that the serpent cult at Dan and Beer
Sheba also belongs to this folk layer of the Israelite religion. For Hendel (1999: 616), the copper
snake worshipped in Jerusalem expressed Yahweh’s healing power, which is itself a folk/prac-
tical dimension of the worship. Concerning the notion of “pagan Yahwism,” see Stern (2001).
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF THE SARAPH SYMBOL 101

saraph is apparently justified by its removal (as a copper serpent) from the
Temple, together with the pillars (‫ )מצבות‬and the Asherah, during Hezekiah’s
religious reform (2 Kgs 18:4).5 Furthermore, the serpent iconography in LBA
and Iron Age Canaan displays strong Egyptian influence6 especially charac-
terized by an abundance of uraeus representations.7 This uraeus symbol and
the seraph have much in common:8 both are burning and flying creatures that
are acknowledged for their protective functions9, and both are similarly asso-
ciated with divine powers and kingship authority.10
The tenet of the saraph’s idolatrous origin is, however, challenged by a spe-
cific statement, in the verse that refers to its removal from the Temple (2 Kgs
18:4), that the copper serpent / Nehushtan was manufactured by Moses at
YHWH’s explicit command (Num 21:6). Such a reference to the copper ser-
pent in Numbers 21 has been justified as a trace of naturalization of this so-
called pagan cult into the Yahwistic sphere.11 If so, however, why did the
author of 2 Kgs 18:4 both denouce the copper serpent and feel the need to
mention such a “forgery” as an authentic feature? Furthermore, if the seraph /
copper serpent was as easily identifiable with the Egyptian religion in Ancient

5
From such a perspective, the Nehushtan became interpreted as a Jebusite deity, a Syro-
Phoenician motif, a military non-Israelite emblem captured by David that became a trophy, an
Egyptian symbol of royal sovereignty, an apotropaic Babylonian talisman, a Phoenician ser-
pent staff of Eshmun, or a relic of local Canaanite fertility rites. See Fabry (1998b: 378–379)
for an overview. Münnich (2005: 49) concludes, “[...] The bronze serpent was primarily a sym-
bol of a deity in competition with the cult of YHWH as it moved towards monotheism.”
6
Joines 1974: 63; Koh 1994: 110; Charlesworth 2010: 72–73.
7
Concerning the Egyptian influence on representations of serpents in Canaan at the Iron Age,
see Keel and Uehlinger 1998: 251, 257, 270–274. Keel (1977: 74–76; 92–95; 110–111) justi-
fies this view by exhibiting a series of Israelite seals from the monarchic period that portray
four-winged serpents clearly evoking an Egyptian uraeus. See also Morenz and Schorch 1997:
369–370; Görg 1978: 28–29; Koh 1994: 84–120.
8
Joines 1974: 45–49; Mettinger 1999: 743. The homology between the seraph (burning ser-
pent) evoked in Isa 14:29 and the uraeus is suggested by de Savignac 1972: 321; Day 1979:
150; Mettinger 199: 742–744, Hendel 1999: 744–747 and Joines 1974: 43. Mettinger (1999:
743) assumes that the Hyksos introduced the Egyptian uraeus in Canaan and naturalized it into
a seraph. Even the name saraph is interpreted by Morenz and Schorch (1997: 376–367, 372–
379) and by Wildberger (1991: 264) as a borrowing from two Egyptian terms: srf, denoting the
act of burning, and sfr, evoking the Egyptian griffin.
9
This comparison is developed by de Savignac 1972: 320; Rüterswörden 2004: 224, 227;
Mettinger 1999: 743 and Morenz and Schorch 1997.
10
See Keel and Uehlinger (1998: 251, 257, 270, 273) concerning the extensive use of the four-
winged uraeus as a protective symbol in Judah and Israel as well as the entire Levant.
11
Koh 1994: 11; Sweeney 2007: 403.
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102 AMZALLAG ANTIGUO ORIENTE

Israel as it is for today’s scholars, why is this symbol so well integrated into
the Yahwistic sphere in Isaiah (Isa 6:2–3; 14:29)? These questions prompt a
quest for alternative explanations.
The simplest way to combine a profound Egyptian cultural influence on
the serpent symbolism in Canaan12 with an essential relation between the
saraph and YHWH is to assume that the saraph was originally a Yahwistic
symbol that was subsequently influenced in its representation by the uraeus.
Biological considerations may help us to verify this assumption. If the
saraph is truly a Yahwistic symbol later influenced in its iconography by the
Egyptian uraeus, one would expect the living species that inspired its repre-
sentation to be indigenous to Canaan and abundantly encountered in the area
where the cult of YHWH originated. Alternately, if the saraph was originally
an Egyptian symbol, it should display characteristics fully compatible with
one of the cobra species that is identified with the Egyptian uraeus.13
Therefore, identifying the saraph-related serpent species may be of crucial
importance in determining the origin of this symbol, its evolution, and the
nature of its interaction with the Egyptian uraeus.

PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS

The Biblical Sources

The Bible invokes the term “seraph” in various configurations: as a stand-
alone noun, ‫( שרף‬sing. Num 21:8, plur. Isa 6:2, 6) or as one modified by the
adjective flying, as ‫( שרף מעופף‬sing. Isa 14:29; 30:6). The term ‫ שרף‬is also a
substantive that evokes a “burning serpent” (‫( )נחש שרף‬sing. Deut 8:15; plur.
Num 21:6). The use of these diverse sources to identify a living related
species is possible only if they all refer to the same reality. This point is
12
From the extensive use of this Egyptian motif and its combination with others (falcons,
scarabs, winged solar disk, and so on) in south Canaan at the Iron Age, Keel and Uehlinger
(1998: 270) concluded that “... the group of southern Palestinian bone seals suggests a strong
fascination with Egyptian symbols of royalty and loyalty. The monarchy was represented by the
falcon with spread wings, by the lion that strides oven an enemy in its path, by the “cartouche”
with the king’s name, and perhaps also by the tree flanked by uraei.”
13
The uraeus is generally identified as the Egyptian cobra (Naja haje), but its red coloration
suggests to some scholars that it should be identified as the red spitting cobra (Naja pallida) or
the Nubian cobra (Naja nubiae) (Golding 2013: 56). The serpent presumed to represent the
uraeus in the Levant is identified by Keel and Uehlinger (1998: 273) as Naja nigricollis.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF THE SARAPH SYMBOL 103

examined first.
! Parallels between mythical and living seraphim: In Num 21:6, the animals
that bite the Israelites (living seraphim) are identified as burning serpents
in v. 6. In the next verse, however, they are designated as the serpent. The
singular definite article typically refers to an archetypal creature, the fan-
tastic saraph, likened to the burning serpent.
! Parallel between substantive and nominal uses of saraph: a homology is
stressed in Numbers 21 between saraph as a noun in v. 8 (‫ )שרף‬and as a
substantive in v. 6 (‫)נחשים שרפים‬. This suggests that the two are equivalent
and that the appellation saraph refers to its burning nature.
! Parallel with the copper serpent / Nehushtan: The replacement of saraph in
Num 21:8 with the copper serpent (‫ )נהש חנתושח‬in the next verse reveals
the homology of the two. This homology should be extended to the
Nehushtan, another appellation used in 2 Kgs 18:4 for the copper serpent
that was worshiped at the Jerusalem Temple.14
! Parallel with the flying saraph: The seraphim in Isa 6:2 are creatures that
use a pair of their wings for flying. The verbal expression that spec-
ifies that their motion in this verse finds a correspondence in the appella-
tion of this creature as a flying seraph (‫ )שרף מעופף‬in Isa 14:29 and 30:6.15
These observations reveal that the various designations of the saraph all
refer to the same reality.16

The saraph as a living serpent

Serpents that fly and breathe fire are fantastic creatures. Therefore, it is neces-
sary to evaluate the extent to which they have a precise living counterpart.
! Coexistence with living species: The saraph is sometimes mentioned in the
company of living creatures. In Deut 8:15, for example, it is associated
with scorpions. In Isa 14:29, the flying seraph is linked to a living serpent
14
Also Blenkinsopp (2000: 225) suggests a parallel between the seraphim in Isaiah 6 and the
Nehushtan in the temple: “It is tempting to associate this aspect of the vision scenario with the
cult object in the Jerusalem temple known as Nehushtan [...]. This would at any rate explain
the altar and the hot coals [in the Isaiah 6 vision], hardly consistent with the primary image of
a throne room or audience hall.”
15 This parallel is suggested by Keel (1977: 74–110) on the basis of winged serpent motifs on

seals from Israel in the monarchic period.

16 Earlier scholars proposed a similar approach toward deducing the serpentine nature of the

seraphim in Isaiah 6 (Day 1979: 150; Ornan 2012: 18; Rüterswörden 2004: 224) and alluded to
the homology between the seraphim and the Nehushtan (de Savignac 1972: 322; Day 1979: 151).
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104 AMZALLAG ANTIGUO ORIENTE

species called ṣepaʿ. In Isa 30:6, it is mentioned in association with anoth-

er living serpent, called an epʿeh, that is known for its dangerous venom
(Isa 59:5). Such a collection of references indicates that the seraph in these
verses denotes a living species.
! Serpent attack: Num 21:6–9 describes the attack by burning serpents in
highly naturalistic terms. Nothing in the Israelites’ attitude indicates that
they have suddenly encountered a frightening mythic creature. They only
complain about the lethal consequences of the snakebite, thereby confirm-
ing their view of the “burning serpents” as live serpents.
! Habitat: We learn in Deut 8:15 that the seraph is found in a dreadful arid
wilderness. In Isa 30:6, it is described as the denizen of stony mountainous
areas characterized by narrow canyons (‫)בארץ צרה וצוקה‬. Such a geo-
graphical restriction is typical of the habitat of a living species of serpents.
These observations indicate that the biblical term “seraph” denotes both a
fantastic creature and a real species living in the stony mountains of the arid
desert that covers the southernmost part of Canaan. Their conflation reveals
that the properties of the fantastic seraph should correspond to those of a liv-
ing species.

Non-Biblical Literary Sources

Flying serpents are also mentioned in an Assyrian chronicle relating the
Esarhaddon expedition in Egypt (671 BCE).17 This source, though fragmen-
tary, speaks of dangerous flying serpents that threatened the Assyrian troops
en route to Egypt:
Four miles of land I travelled over alum, muṣû stones [and other
stones] four miles of land, a journey of two days, I stepped repeatedly
on two-headed snakes [...whose touch] is deadly, but continued; four
‘miles’ of land, a journey of [two days] – yellow snakes spreading
wings (but continued); four miles of land, a journey of two days: in sum
16 miles of land, a journey of eight days, I marched very much [...].18
The text evokes an arid and inhospitable region not far from Egypt, probably
in northwestern Arabia, Arabah, Negev, or Sinai. Herodotus (III, 107, 109)
also refers to the existence of winged serpents in the geographical area that he
defines as Arabia:
17 This text is a series of fragments (K 3082, K 3086, Sm 2027) reported by Borger 1956: 111–
113.
18 Translated by Radner 2007: 354–355.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF THE SARAPH SYMBOL 105

The trees which bear the frankincense are guarded by winged serpents,
small in size and of varied colors, whereof vast numbers hang about
every tree. They are of the same kind as the serpents which invade
Egypt and there is nothing but the smoke of styrax which will drive
them from the trees. [...] These winged serpents are nowhere to be seen
except in Arabia where they all congregate together. This makes them
appear so numerous.19

Neither Esarhaddon nor Herodotus calls these creatures “seraph.” Their

testimony, however, although independent of the Israelite tradition, displays
many affinities with it:

! Both the seraph and the creatures referenced by Esarhaddon and

Herodotus are flying serpents.
! The flying serpents mentioned by Esarhaddon and Herodotus live in arid
regions. The seraph is also encountered in arid areas (Deut 8:15, Isa
30:6).20
! Esarhaddon’s chronicle evokes the flying serpents as genuine living ser-
pents. Herodotus also defines them as genuine organisms that reproduce
sexually (III, 109) and even describes a site where their bones accumulate
(II, 75). If so, exactly as in the biblical sources, the flying serpent is a fan-
tastic creature closely related to a real serpent that inhabits a desert area.
! Herodotus (III, 109) identifies the flying serpent as a viper: “The Arabian
winged serpents do indeed seem to be numerous; but that is because
(although there are vipers in every land) these are all in Arabia and are
found nowhere else.” Also in the Bible, the saraph seems to be closely
related to the ṣepaʿ and epʿeh snakes (Isa 14:19 and Isa 30:6, respectively),
which are generally identified as viper species.21
! Herodotus refers to flying serpents that protect the incense trees of south-
ern Arabia (III, 107). The Israelite copper serpent (conflated with the
saraph) is also closely related to incense and incense burning.22
19 Translated by Godley 1920.
20 In Numbers 21, the Israelites’ complaint about the extremely arid desert (devoid of food and
water, v 5) immediately before their encounter with the living saraph (v 6) confirms the
predilection of this serpent species for arid desert.
21 See HALOT 1: 79 and 3:1049 for epʿeh and ṣepaʿ respectively. However, Rüterswörden

(2004: 225) assumes that the seraph should not be totally identified with these serpents; it
rather designates another species.
22
This is revealed in 2 Kgs 18:4, where Hezekiah “[…] broke the copper serpent which Moses
had made; for till this time the children of Israel burnt incense to it—it was called Nehushtan.”
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106 AMZALLAG ANTIGUO ORIENTE

These parallels suggest that Esarhaddon, Herodotus, and the biblical

sources refer to the same fantastic creature and its closely related living
species. Therefore, one may use them to determine which species of serpent
should be identified with the saraph.

IDENTIFYING THE SARAPH SPECIES

Some scholars have suggested that that the flying serpents reported by
Esarhaddon and, especially the bones described by Herodotus, refer to fossils
species that are observable in mountainous areas.23 This interpretation, how-
ever, is hardly compatible with the explicit mention, in these sources, of these
creatures’ dangerous venom. Other scholars attempt to identify the flying ser-
pent among living species of flying reptiles.24 This proposition also fails
because no such species is encountered in the Near East. Consequently, the
sources that evoke this creature need to be reexamined.
Geographic Habitat
The account of the mass attack by burning serpents in Num 21:6–9 indicates
that this species is abundantly encountered in the region between Mount Hor
and the Red Sea (Num 21:4), corresponding to the Arabah Valley and its sur-
rounding mountains.25 The most common venomous serpent in this area is a
species of viper, Echis coloratus. As shown in Fig. 1, two subspecies of Echis
coloratus coexist in Canaan. One, Echis coloratus terraesanctae, inhabits the
Negev and the mountainous areas around the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea.
The other, Echis coloratus coloratus, is a reddish morph encountered only in
the Arabah Valley and its surrounding mountains, as well as in southern Sinai
(Fig. 2).26 If Echis coloratus is the living counterpart of the saraph / flying ser-
pent, both should share the same habitat.
23
See Radner (2007) and ref. therein.
24
For review of the living species identified with the flying serpent, see Braun 2004: 272–273;
Rollinger 2004: 929–930.
25
The mention in Num 21:5 of an arid country devoid of water indicates that the account relates
to the Israelites’ walking not in the Arabah Valley itself (a savanna with sources of water) but
in the surrounding stony mountains, another favored habitat of the living saraph. The proposal
of this itinerary, probably running west of the Arabah Valley, is justified by evidence that the
Arabah belonged to the territory of Edom, which the Israelites were enjoined against entering
(Num 20:18–21).
26 Babocsay 2003: 29–30. In Northern Arabia and southward at least as far as Jeddah, Echis

coloratus is dark steel-blue with orange blotches. The reddish morph is specifically encounte-
red in the Arabah and Sinai areas.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF THE SARAPH SYMBOL 107

According to Herodotus, Arabia is the exclusive habitat of the flying ser-

pent (III, 109). Its association with trees that were traditionally cultivated for
incense in mountains of Yemen indicates that this serpent is found even in the
southernmost part of the peninsula. Herodotus also mentions its presence in
the mountainous parts of the eastern desert of Egypt: “In the spring the
winged snakes come flying from Arabia towards Egypt but are met in the
gorge (near Buto) by the birds called Ibis who foil their entrance and destroy
them all” (II, 75). This text reveals that the flying serpent is rarely (= in spring
only) observed in the eastern desert of Egypt and its habitat is bounded to the
northwest by the northern part of the Nile Valley. By extension, the flying ser-
pent should also inhabit the area between Arabia and the northeastern
Egyptian desert: the Sinai and the Arabah Valley.
This geographic habitat of the flying serpent corresponds precisely to that
of Echis coloratus, which inhabits the area from Yemen / Dhofar in the south
to the northwestern parts of the Arabian Peninsula. This serpent also abounds
in Arabah and Sinai (especially the mountainous southern part of this peninsu-
la) and is rarely observed in the eastern part of the Egyptian desert. This area
marks the western bound of the habitat of this species, which excludes the Nile
Valley and the western Egyptian desert.27 Therefore, the territory of the flying
serpent and the geographic range of Echis coloratus correspond perfectly.
Biology
Both the biblical authors and Herodotus provide details about the mode of life
of the saraph / flying serpent. This allows us to compare them with the biology
of Echis coloratus.
! Rocky habitat: According to Isa 30:6, the saraph lives in a rocky / moun-
tainous environment. Esarhaddon also reports that the flying serpent attack
occurred during an eight-day journey in a stony, arid area.28 Herodotus and
Theophrastus confirm that the flying serpents inhabit mountainous / ravine
areas.29 Similarly, the Echis coloratus lives exclusively in difficult terrain.
27 Babocsay 2003: 30.
28 Radner 2007: 355.
29
Theophrastus (Hist. Plant, ix, 6) confirms this by describing the flying serpent as a poisonous
serpent that lives on trees growing in ravines (reference reported by Wiseman 1972: 109). The
bone deposit mentioned by Herodotus is located in a mountainous area east of the Nile Valley,
which represents the westernmost bound of this serpent’s habitat: “This place, where the back-
bones lay scattered, is where a narrow mountain pass opens into a great plain which adjoins
the plain of Egypt. Winged serpents are said to fly from Arabia at the beginning of spring, mak-
ing for Egypt; but the ibis birds encounter the invaders in this pass and kill them” (II, 75).
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108 AMZALLAG ANTIGUO ORIENTE

This characteristic restricts its geographical distribution to the mountain-

ous / rocky areas of Arabia, Arabah, Sinai, and the eastern Egyptian desert.
! Arboreal habitat: Both Herodotus and Theophrastus specify that the flying
serpents live in trees. This characteristic is uncommon. Serpents may
exploit the shady environment of bushes and small trees for nesting and
ambushing, especially under arid conditions, but they rarely climb them.
However, Echis coloratus is specifically encountered within desert bushes,
where it ambushes its prey (Fig. 3).30 This is another singularity that
specifically links the flying serpent with Echis coloratus.
! Bird predation: Echis coloratus is one of the rare serpents that preys on
birds.31 In the Arabah valley, birds even constitute the main nourishment
of Echis coloratus coloratus, which ambushes migrant passerines that
pause by alighting on bushes and trees. This explains why this serpent
spends most of its time in trees and bushes, especially in this region. In the
mythical mind, the capture of birds such as migratory passerines indicates
that the predator knows a great deal about flying. Furthermore, serpents
swallow their prey whole, meaning that Echis coloratus ingests not only
the birds’ flesh but also their inedible feathers. This feature encourages the
identification of this species with its avian prey and their flying motion.
Even more, the ingestion of birds is a very long and difficult thing for a
serpent to do: when the serpent presses on the bird’s thorax in an attempt
to swallow, it causes the bird’s wings to open. Accordingly, the head of
Echis coloratus may sometimes be observed as flanked by a pair of open
wings until the bird is completely swallowed. As shown in Fig. 4, this
transforms Echis coloratus into a temporarily winged serpent.

Venom Characteristics
Flying serpents are considered threatening creatures. Herodotus (II, 75)
reports that the Egyptians worshipped Ibis birds because they protect the Nile
Valley from serpent invasion. In Num 21:6–9, too, the Israelites complain
about being killed by the venom of the saraph. This invites us to compare the
30 Yosef, Roman and Zduniak (2012). In the southern Arabah region, this species is especially

associated with the desert bush Salvadora persica. See Tsairi and Bouskila 2004.
31 Concerning singularities of the regime of Echis coloratus in comparison with other species

of the Echis genus, see Richards, Barlow and Wüster (2012). This characteristic corresponds
to Herodotus’ mention of flying serpent from in the eastern Egyptian desert especially observ-
able in the spring. This season is the period of bird migration, in which Echis coloratus finds
its prey in abundance.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF THE SARAPH SYMBOL 109

effect of the venom of Echis coloratus with that of the burning serpents men-
tioned in Num 21:6–9.
! Burning effect: Two main types of serpent venom coexist in the wild: neu-
rotoxic and hemotoxic. Neurotoxic venoms produce muscle paralysis
accompanied by a cold and heavy sensation that spreads gradually from
the bite wound. Hemotoxic venoms cause internal bleeding and rapid cell
necrosis, stimulating a general inflammatory reaction due to the massive
release in blood of cellular components. They provoke a sensation of
intense burning that rapidly diffuses from the bite wound.32 Such a distinc-
tion between the two types of venoms apparently existed in ancient
Hebrew.33 From the etymology of saraph (‫ = שרף‬to burn), many scholars
have deduced that the appellation “burning serpent” (‫ )נחשים שרפים‬evokes
the burning / fiery sensation provoked by the venom.34 The venom of
Echis coloratus also falls into the hemotoxic category; it stimulates an
intense sensation of burning that rapidly diffuses from the bite wound.
! Relative lethality: The incidence of mortality caused by seraph bite is
described as follows: “And YHWH sent among the people the fiery ser-
pents (‫)הנחשים השרפים‬, they bit the people (‫ )העם‬so that died much people
of Israel (‫( ”)עם רב מישראל‬Num 21:6). Whereas the second section of
verse 6 describes the people at large (‫ )העם‬as having been bitten by the ser-
aph, the third section reports that the venom kills only some of them. This
indicates that the venom of the saraph is not universally lethal. Similarly,
the venom of Echis coloratus is moderately lethal, killing about 30% of
bitten individuals.35
! Treatment: Jeremiah mentions two types of serpents: those whose venom
may be neutralized by charms (‫ )לחש‬and others whose venom resists such
treatment (Jer 8:17). This distinction reveals an empirical knowledge
about efficiency of charms and other artifices against the venom of some
32 Warrell 2010: 79.
33 This is indicated by the two nouns that denote serpent venom: ‫( חמה‬literally, the hot, Deut
32:24, 33; Pss 58:15; 140:4), which evokes the burning sensation, and ‫ =( מרורה‬the bitter, Job
20:14), which corresponds to the very bitter taste that the neurotoxins of the venom leave in
the mouth, occasioned by the abnormal reflux of bile and other digestive secretions due to the
effect of neurotoxins on stomach smooth muscles.
34 HALOT 3: 1360; Wyatt 2009: 32; Charlesworth 2010: 16, 330.
35 Porath et al. 1992; Benbassat and Shalev 1993. Among the species of the Echis genus, Echis

coloratus is considered the least dangerous. This singularity is apparently related to its special-
ization in ambushing and capturing small passerines, for which highly toxic and poisonous
venom is not necessary. See Richards Barlow and Wüster (2012).
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110 AMZALLAG ANTIGUO ORIENTE

serpent species but not of others. Indeed, charms and similar features may
do much to mitigate physiological stress among victims of snakebite, even
preventing the lethal consequences of the venom in some cases.36 The
“miraculous” healing of the Israelites by the copper serpent in Numbers 21
should be credited to such stress-mitigating treatment. The venom of Echis
coloratus kills small passerines and mammals almost instantaneously but
affects humans more slowly.37 Death is usually consequential to heart fail-
ure induced by the rapid diffusion of the venom and its attendant physio-
logical shock. This means that, exactly as with the burning serpents in
Numbers 21, mortality by Echis coloratus may be mitigated effectively by
lowering the victims’ level of stress.
This series of observations reveals a strong correspondence between the
characteristics of the seraph / flying serpent and those of Echis coloratus.
These two creatures display exactly the same geographic range and the same
singularities of habitat. The venom of both has a similar burning effect. Even
the flying quality of the seraph finds a correspondence in the bird predation
that characterizes Echis coloratus, especially the subspecies that inhabits the
Arabah and Sinai. Such an affinity with the saraph / flying serpent is not
observed among any other species serpent in the Arabah.38 Hence the seraph
should be identified with Echis coloratus and, more particularly, with the
Echis coloratus ssp. coloratus subspecies that inhabits the Arabah Valley and
southern Sinai.

36 The efficacy of such treatment for viper species living in this geographical area is well

known. It efficiently counteracts the effect of sarafotoxin, a peptide identified in the venom of
Atractaspis engaddensis and many Echis species that stimulates an abnormal vasoconstriction
of the coronary arteries, inducing death by heart attack. See Warrell 2010: 79.
37 Gilon, Shalev and Benbassat (1989). More rarely, death may occur within a few days, fol-

lowing complications (mainly renal) of the internal bleeding.

38 The other snakes living in this area are the desert horned viper cerastes cerastes (and related

species such as cerastes vipera) and the black desert cobra, walterinnesia aegyptia. None of
these serpents, however, displays a significant level of similarity with the seraph or the flying
serpent in geographic range, biology, and venom effect. The viper Pesudocerastes persicus
fieldi also ambushes its prey—probably birds—on bushes but is mainly encountered in the
Negev and not in the the Arabah Valley.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF THE SARAPH SYMBOL 111

CONSEQUENCES OF THE SARAPH / ECHIS COLORATUS HOMOLOGY

The Question of Egyptian Influence

The Egyptian influence on the glyptic of winged serpents, especially apparent
in Canaan in the Late Bronze/Iron Age, led most scholars to assume that the
saraph symbol is of Egyptian origin (see Introduction). The foregoing find-
ings, however, urge us to reconsider this assumption. Given that Echis col-
oratus is not encountered in the Nile Valley, its affinity with the saraph lends
itself to two possible explanations: (i) the saraph is an Egyptian symbol that
became identified with the Canaanite species Echis coloratus in the course of
its naturalization; (ii) the saraph is a purely Canaanite symbol whose figura-
tion was influenced by the Egyptian glyptic in the Late Bronze Age.
Herodotus reports having visited the site east of the Nile Valley where the
invasion of flying serpents from Arabia is stopped annually (II, 75; III, 109).
If so, the Egyptians regarded the flying serpent as a foreign creature. This evi-
dence is hardly compatible with the belief that the Israelites borrowed the
saraph from the Egyptian religion. The Egyptians’ memory of the foreign ori-
gin of the flying serpents also suggests that the saraph symbol was already in
use in Canaan before it was represented as an Egyptian uraeus in the Late
Bronze Age. Accordingly, the biblical sources that typically identify the
saraph as Echis coloratus probably refer to a south Canaanite tradition
anchored in the Middle Bronze Age, if not earlier.
The seraph is also represented as a copper serpent, a cultic artifact encoun-
tered almost exclusively in Canaan.39 It is neither figured as a cobra-like ser-
pent nor inspired any more by the Egyptian glyptic. This means that in
Canaan, the influence of the Egyptian glyptic on the saraph symbol coexisted
in the Late Bronze Age with its indigenous representation as copper serpent.
The latter form is encountered especially in sanctuaries and even in the holy
of holies, indicating that the indigenous representation of the saraph main-
tained its religious importance alongside the Egyptian cultural influence.

39 Koh 1994: 113–114; Münnich 2005: 39–41. Copper serpents have been identified at

Meggido, Tel Mevorakh, Sichem, Gezer, and Hazor from the Late Bronze Age. All are similar
in shape and size (about 10–20 cm) and all were unearthed in the sacred temple area. In Temple
H at Hazor, two copper serpents (the first from Stratum IB [1400-1300 BCE] and the other
from Stratum IA [1300–1200]), were unearthed from the holy of holies. Koh (Snake cult, p.
115) concludes: “Taking all these factors in consideration, it is apparent that the metal snake
symbols are strictly a southern Levantine development, more precisely a Canaanite heritage.”
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112 AMZALLAG ANTIGUO ORIENTE

Essential Relationship between YHWH and the Saraph

The identification of the saraph as an authentic Canaanite symbol, along with
its proximity to YHWH, suggests once again that this symbol may have
belonged to the Yahwistic religious sphere from its very origin. This hypoth-
esis is strengthened by the mention of YHWH as “originating” in Seir
(Arabah Valley) and Sinai (Deut 33:2), the specific habitat of Echis coloratus
ssp. coloratus. The essential link between the seraph and YHWH is confirmed
by their shared association with metallurgy.
! The living saraph and areas of copper production: Due to its preference for
rocky environments, Echis coloratus is encountered mainly in the moun-
tainous parts of the Arabah and Sinai, where copper is mined (Fig. 1). The
linkage with copper is reinforced by the reddish color of the morph specif-
ically encountered in the southern Arabah and southern Sinai (Fig. 2),40
which evokes the ruddy metal. The creature’s mysterious motion on the
rocks may easily be associated with the serpentine motion of liquid metal
on solid ground, and its burning venom even recalls contact with copper
in its molten state.
! The saraph as a symbol of metallurgy: The representation of the seraph as
a copper serpent spontaneously associates it with copper metallurgy. Such
a kinship is supported by the appellation of this artifact as Nehushtan (2
Kgs 18:4), a term stressing the semantic proximity of copper (‫ )נחש‬and ser-
pent (‫)נחשת‬. It is also revealed by the association of the copper serpent
found in the tent-sanctuary of Timna with the cultic metallurgy that took
place there.41

40 Mendelssohn 1965: 185–187; Babocsay 2003. This reddish morph is apparently an adapta-
tion to the reddish color of the sandstone of the mountains in this area.
41
See Rothenberg (1988: 147 and pl. 11) concerning the copper serpent from Timna. A metal-
lurgical casting workshop with two furnaces has been identified at Locus 109 of Site 200 (the
Timna sanctuary area). This workshop was active in the Egyptian period (Stratum III) and the
“Midianite” period of the tent-sanctuary (Rothenberg 1988: 192–198). The nexus of cultic met-
allurgy and the copper serpent is confirmed by the discovery of a similar copper serpent in a
metallurgical cultic context in the copper production area of Bithnah, Masāfī, Salūt and Sarūq
al-Hadīd, in the Oman peninsula area (Benoist et al. 2015). Exactly as in Timna, the sanctuary
(apparently operative between 1100 and 650 BCE) displays traces of cultic metallurgy from its
earliest phase. Just as in 2 Kgs 18:4, the profusion of incense burners, especially identified at
Bithnah, indicates that the copper serpent was worshipped with incense. As stressed by Benoist
(2007: 50–51), affinities between this copper-serpent metallurgical cult and that of Timna are
confirmed by the stylistic parallels between the painted ware found in the site and the Qurrayah
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF THE SARAPH SYMBOL 113

! YHWH and metallurgy: YHWH’s association with metallurgy is revealed

by his origin in areas that are known for the mining and production of cop-
per: the mountains of Seir (Judg 5:4; Deut 33:2) near Punon; Mount Paran
(Deut 33:2, Hab 3:3), located near the Wadi Abu Kusheiba mining area42;
Teman (Hab 3:3), probably the southern Arabah Valley including the
Timna mining district; and the mountainous area of Sinai (Deut 3:3; Judg
5:5), comprising the mining district of Serabit el Khadim (Fig. 1). Such a
connection is confirmed by Zech 6:1, which states explicitly that YHWH
dwells in mountains of copper.43 This metallurgical background is further
reinforced by the assumed pre-Israelite worship of YHWH among the
Canaanite metalworkers (the Kenites),44 the volcanic theophany of YHWH
at Sinai (a typical characteristic of gods of metallurgy in antiquity),45 the
likening of YHWY’s kabod with the radiance of molten metal,46 and the
deity’s metallurgical modus operandi.47 All this evidence implies that
YHWH was acknowledged in Canaan for his essential relation with met-
allurgy before he was worshipped by the Israelites.
The convergence of these observations reveals an essential relation
between the saraph and YHWH through copper metallurgy. The continuity of
the serpent figuration as a religious symbol is evidenced in Canaan from the
Chalcolithic to the Persian periods.48 Accordingly, if in Canaan the serpent is
related to copper metallurgy from the very origin of this activity
(Chalcolithic) and if it is also essentially related to YHWH, the deity with
strong metallurgical background, we may conclude that the cult of the god of
Israel is rooted in the early development of copper metallurgy in Canaan.49

“Midianite” pottery found in northwestern Arabia, northern Sinai, the Arabah, and the Negev
at this time (see Rothenberg 1998; Tebes 2007: 85; Ben-Yosef et al. 2012: 62–63).
42
According to Deut 1:1, Paran is explicitly located in the Arabah Valley. This location prob-
ably corresponds to the outfall of Nahal Paran, the most important wadi in the Negev.
43
The unrealistic description of the Promised Land as a mining area (a land where copper and
iron are abundantly found—Deut 8:9) also finds justification in the representation of YHWH’s
dominion as a metallurgical area. See Amzallag 2013: 157–158.
44
McNutt 1990: 237–244; Blenkinsopp 2008: 133–136; Mondriaan 2011.
45
Amzallag 2014.
46
Amzallag 2015a.
47
Amzallag 2013.
48 Joines (1974: 63) concludes that, in Canaan, “The bronze serpent was a cultic symbol, and

its use dated from at least the end of the Chalcolithic Age to the Persian period.” This is con-
firmed by Koh 1994: 110–116.
49 Amzallag 2016.

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114 AMZALLAG ANTIGUO ORIENTE

The Israelites’ sin in Numbers 21

At first sight, the sin that brought on the attack of the burning serpents in
Numbers 21 (v. 6) is the Israelites’ indictment of Moses for having taken them
from the fertile land of Egypt “to die in the wilderness” (v. 5). However, the
Israelites express a similar protestation before (Ex 14:11–12, 16:3; Num 14:2,
16:3, 20:4) without precipitating a similar reaction of divine anger. In these
precedents, the complaint is answered by mention of the power of YHWH
against the Egyptians (Ex 14:13) and his ability to supply food (Ex 16:4) and
water (Num 20:4). At worst, the punishment for such a grievance is none
other than its fulfillment: the “complaining generation” is condemned to
expire in the wilderness instead of conquering the Promised Land (Num
14:35, 26:65). For this reason, the serpent attack in Num 21:6–9 can hardly
be interpreted as a divine reaction to the complaint voiced. If so, it was prob-
ably triggered by a different sin that Numbers 21 silences prudently.
The serpent attack occurs immediately after the Israelites are instructed to
circumvent the land of Edom from the south (Num 21:4) after the Edomites
deny them access (Num 20:18, 20–21). This interdiction against Israelite
entry to the land of Edom (or at least some of it) is reiterated in Deut 2:1–5:
1
Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of
the Red Sea, as YHWH told me. And for many days we compassed
Mount Seir. 2Then YHWH said to me: 3You have been compassed this
mountain long enough. Turn northward (‫ )פנו לכם צפונה‬4and command
the people, “You are about to pass by the border of your brothers, the
people of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you [but] be very
careful (‫)ונשמרתם מאוד‬. 5Do not contend with them, for I will not give
you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread
on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.

Here we learn that this injunction is not simply an expression of Edomite hos-
tility to the Israelites but a divine interdiction. The Israelites are also warned
about the hazard that inheres to entering the land that YHWH has given to
Edom (v 4). The nature of the peril is not specified but it probably refers to
none other than the burning serpents evoked in Numbers 21. Immediately
before the attack, the biblical account reports that the Israelites became impa-
tient (‫ )ותקצר נפש העם בדרך‬due to the arduous detour attending to this inter-
diction (Num 21:4). We may conclude, therefore, that the serpent attack is a

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF THE SARAPH SYMBOL 115

reaction to the Israelites’ attempt to shorten their journey by crossing the for-
bidden areas of the land of Edom.
According to Numbers 21, the serpent attack occurs after the Israelites
leave Mount Hor (v. 4) and before they reach Oboth (v. 10). In Numbers 33,
however, where the Israelites’ itinerary is recapitulated, two additional stops,
Zalmonah and Punon, are mentioned between Mount Hor and Oboth (Num
33:41–43). If their omission in Numbers 21 is intentional, we may guess that
at least one of them is closely related to the Israelite sin that precipitated the
serpent attack.
In the early Iron Age, Punon was the most important site of copper mining
and smelting activity in the Arabah. If the incident occurred there (or in one
of the many other stations of copper production in its vicinity), as scholars
have suggested,50 we may deduce that (i) the invasion of the forbidden area of
copper production is the hidden sin of the Israelites; (ii) it is the burning ser-
pents that prevent access to this forbidden mining area in the name of YHWH.
The use of burning serpents as guardians of copper mines in Numbers 21 is
echoed by Herodotus’ mention (III, 107) of the flying serpents that guarded
the precious incense trees in southern Arabia. It also coheres with the
guardianship of mineral resources and treasures that is traditionally attributed
to the dragon in antiquity.51
The Israelites’ sin is now clear: it is none other than their incursion into the
forbidden metallurgical areas of the Arabah Valley, which are guarded by
saraph serpents at YHWH’s bidding. This conclusion explains why the true
nature of this sin is so carefully silenced by the author of Numbers 21. The
incident of the burning serpents occurred after the Sinai covenant transformed
the sons of Jacob into the people of YHWH. As such, Israel expects to be
authorized to cross, if not to inherit, the region where the cult of YHWH orig-
inated: the Arabah mountains (Seir, Paran, Timna). Accordingly, the explicit
exclusion of the Israelites from these areas, by means of the serpent attack,
50 More than a century ago, Lagrange (1900: 284–285) already localized the attack of the burn-

ing serpents at Punon: “It could be added that when E[lohist] refers to a very difficult region
infested with snakes where Moses made a serpent of brass or bronze (Num. 21.9), there is an
unsought for, but nonetheless striking, coincidence with the situation of Araba and Faynan.”
This opinion is defended by some recent scholars, e.g., Sawyer 1986: 156 and Tebes 2009: 108.
Other scholars suggest, however, that this story carries the memory of an incident at Timna.
See Milgrom 1990: 175; Charlesworth 2010: 17, 327; Maneschg 1981: 157; Fabry 1998b: 380.
The latter opinion is supported mainly by the discovery of a copper serpent at the early Iron
Age stratum of the Timna sanctuary.
51 Grottanelli 1987: 433–434.

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116 AMZALLAG ANTIGUO ORIENTE

reveals that the Sinai covenant has not eradicated the primeval covenant of
YHWH with the metalworkers and that their control of the former holy sites
of his worship is sustained. The silence surrounding this sin in Numbers 21
looks like a literary artifice that is needed for the preservation of Israel’s status
as the exclusive people of YHWH, as promoted by biblical theology.

Canaanite Influence on the uraeus Symbol

The uraeus symbol is already evident in the pre-Dynastic period and is specif-
ically affiliated with Wadjet, the patron cobra-goddess of Lower Egypt. This
is why scholars consider Wadjet the archetype of the burning and flying ser-
pent.52 This opinion, however, is challenged by the incongruity of the fiery /
burning property of the uraeus and the cooling effect of cobra neurotoxic
venom.53 This discrepancy indicates that the Egyptian representation of the
fiery and flying serpent as a cobra is not an original feature.
In the early pre-Dynastic period, the south Canaanite culture was the most
important source of foreign influence in Lower Egypt.54 Copper from the
Arabah Valley was apparently of central importance in commercial trade
between the Nile Valley and the south Canaanite civilization.55 Maadi was the
distribution center of goods imported from southern Canaan.56 A population
of south Canaanite origin dwelled permanently in Buto and Maadi and was
apparently involved in the local development of metallurgy and trade in
metallic implements.57 These observations, together with the discrepancies
between the characteristics and the figuration of the uraeus, suggest that this
symbol emerged in Lower Egypt in close relation with the importation of cop-
per from southern Canaan and the religious changes accompanying it.
Therefore, it should be considered a naturalization, in the Nile Valley, of the
Canaanite symbol of copper metallurgy through the substitution of the cobra,
an impressive living species of local serpent, for the Echis coloratus.
52
Rollinger 2004: 936.
53
As a neurotoxin, cobra venom creates a cold and paralyzing sensation that spreads from the
location of the bite wound. Alternately, it has been suggested that the fiery nature of the cobra
venom gives evidence that it is sometimes projected and dispersed by the serpent and causes
skin irritation (Szpakowska 2012). This explanation, however, is challenged by testimonies
about saraphs’ / burning serpents’ specifically biting their victims.
54
See Maczynska (2014) for a review of the data.
55
Gophna and Milevski 2003: 223; Klimscha 2011: 199; Golani 2014: 130–132; Hauptman et
al. 2015: 2.
56
Wenke 1989: 140; Tutundzic 1993; Joffe 2000: 114.
57
Maczynska 2014: 192–193.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF THE SARAPH SYMBOL 117

EVOLUTION OF THE SARAPH SYMBOL

The foregoing findings, taken together, allow us to reconstitute the history

and evolution of the saraph symbol in Canaan:
1 Emergence of the saraph symbol: At its earliest stage, saraph apparently
denoted Echis coloratus coloratus. This venomous serpent species, com-
mon in the mining areas of the Arabah and Sinai, was identified as the
guardian of these domains and, by extension, with copper production. It
also became identified with religious changes that were stimulated by the
experience of copper metallurgy, mainly the interpretation of copper
smelting as the literal creation of matter and of furnace recycling as the
rejuvenation of matter.58 This identification is probably rooted in the earli-
est stages of copper production in the southern Levant.
2 Naturalization of the saraph in Egypt: The importation of copper to Lower
Egypt precipitated the integration of the Nile Valley into the international
network of copper trade that was centered in southern Canaan in the fourth
millennium BCE.59 This process promoted the emergence of complex soci-
eties and of new beliefs shaped by the experience and wonders of copper
metallurgy. As the saraph symbol was naturalized, the foreign Echis col-
oratus species was replaced by a local cobra species but its original prop-
erties (flying, burning, and its association with metallurgy) were preserved.
3 Egyptian influence on the saraph symbol in Canaan: The Egyptian cultural
influence in Canaan (especially important in the Late Bronze Age) encour-
aged the representation of the saraph as the uraeus cobra. This trend, how-
ever, coexisted with the local figuration of the saraph as a copper serpent.
4 Rejection of the Egyptian religious influence: At the end of the second
millennium BCE, the original Canaanite metallurgical worship made a
sudden recovery at the expense of the Egyptian substitute en vogue in the
Late Bronze Age. This is revealed in the mining district of Timna, where
the Egyptian temple of Hathor, destroyed in the thirteenth / twelfth century
BCE, was replaced by a tent sanctuary with a copper serpent that in no
way recalls any species of cobra. The worship in the Jerusalem Temple of
a copper serpent “made by Moses” suggests a similar trend in the Israelite
religion, at least in its early form.60
58
Amzallag 2009, 2015b.
59 Amzallag 2009.
60 This assumption is supported by the account of YHWH fighting against Egypt upon the birth

of Israel (the Exodus). The constantly repeated demand that Pharaoh acknowledges YHWH’s
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118 AMZALLAG ANTIGUO ORIENTE

5 Reformation of the Yahwistic cult: Hezekiah’s elimination of the copper

serpent from the Jerusalem Temple (2 Kgs 18:4) reflects not the purifica-
tion of the Temple of a foreign symbol / deity, but rather a general refor-
mation of the cult of YHWH by removing entities/figurations traditionally
associated with him (such as the pillars and the Asherah that are also men-
tioned in this verse).
The reconstitution presented here shows that the saraph symbol was orig-
inally closely related to metallurgy and to a species of serpent, Echis col-
oratus coloratus, that inhabited the mining areas of the Arabah and Sinai.
Rather than a foreign symbol that gradually insinuated itself into the
Yahwistic sphere, it appears to have been closely related to the god from the
very origin of his cult. This indicates that the worship of YHWH is very
ancient in Canaan61 and probably closely rooted in the early exploitation of
the copper mines of the Arabah Valley.62 The present interpretation of the cop-
per serpent and its significance even suggests that the Israelite religion, at
least in its early stages, was a movement that rejected foreign cultural influ-
ences in order to renew the ancient and prestigious cult of YHWH in southern
Canaan.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like here to warmly thank Gergely Babocsay for his valuable contribu-
tion to my understanding of the biology of Echis coloratus, for Fig. 2, and for
having discussed the contents of this paper. I also thank Patrick Jean-Baptiste
for drawing the map (Fig. 1) and for his useful comments. Aviad Bar and Hadas
Hawlena are acknowledged for contributing Figs. 3 and 4 respectively.

supremacy even suggests that, exactly as in Timna, the opposition to Egypt was religious in
nature. Such a trend is echoed in evidence that the conquest of the land of Canaan is treated in
Jos 5:9 as the removal of the “shame of Egypt” (‫חרפח מצרים‬, that is, the Egyptian influence) on
the country.
61 See Amzallag 2016. This is suggested in Deut 33:27 by the reference to YHWH as ‫אלוהי קדם‬

(= the very ancient deity).

62 This point is confirmed by the first mention of YHWH (neither as Elohim nor as YHWH-

Elohim) upon the birth of Cain (= the first smelter) in Gen 4:1, a feature emphasizing the essen-
tial linkage between the development of metallurgy in Canaan and the “discovery” of YHWH.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF THE SARAPH SYMBOL 119

ABBREVIATIONS

HALOT = KOEHLER, L. and W. BAUMGARTNER, (ed.). 1994. The Hebrew and Aramaic
Lexicon of the Old Testament. Trans. M.E.J. Richardson. Leiden, Brill.

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FIGURES

Fig. 1.
Geographic distribution of Echis
coloratus in Canaan and Sinai.
(Drawn by Patrick Jean-Baptiste)

Fig. 2.
The Echis coloratus
ssp. coloratus reddish
morph.
(Courtesy of Gergely
Babocsay)

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF THE SARAPH SYMBOL 125

Fig. 3.
The arboreal habitat of Echis coloratus
(Courtesy of Aviad Bar)

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126 AMZALLAG ANTIGUO ORIENTE

Fig. 4.
Bird predation in Echis coloratus.
(Courtesy of Hadas Hawlena)

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QOHELET 11,1–6 OR HOW TO SURVIVE IN

AN UNSURE WORLD

FRANCESCO BIANCHI
francesco_bianch@[Link]
Associazione Biblica Italiana
Rome, Italy

Abstract: Qohelet 11,1–6 or How to Survive in an Unsure World

This paper aimed at examining Qo 11,6–6 in order to ascertain the literary and rheto-
rical features of the unit and its single subunits with a particular look at Qo 11,1–2.
After having reviewed the various solutions put forth for this subunit, my own will
try to read it against the background of Hellenistic evergetism. A close examination
of the rest of the unit will follow for showing as Qohelet calls man to work in the pre-
sent time in spite of the ignorance about the outcome of the action and of the “right
time” set by God.
Keywords: Book of Qohelet – Wisdom – Evaluation of Work – Evergetism – Human
Ignorance about the Future
Resumen: Qohelet 11,1–6 o cómo sobrevivir en un mundo inseguro
Este artículo tiene la intención de examinar Qo 11,1–6 para comprobar las caracterís-
ticas literarias y retóricas de la unidad y subunidades con una visión particular de Qo
11,1–2. Luego de haber examinado las varias soluciones anteriores para esta subuni-
dad, mi propia intención será tratar de leerla en contra del trasfondo del evergetismo
helenístico. Se seguirá un análisis cercano del resto de la unidad para mostrar como
Qohelet llama al hombre a trabajar en el tiempo presente a pesar de la ignorancia
sobre el resultado de la acción y el “tiempo adecuado” establecido por Dios.
Palabras clave: Libro de Qohelet – Sabiduría – Evaluación del trabajo –
Evergetismo – Ignoracia humana sobre el futuro.

Article received: October 28th 2015; approved: December 5th 2015.

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128 BIANCHI ANTIGUO ORIENTE

INTRODUCTION

This paper aims at offering a fresh examination of Qohelet 11,1–6 which is

one of the most complex unit of all the book. As a painstaking bibliographical
survey can easily show,1 scholars have dealt at length more with the first two
verses than with the overall meaning of the unit. Accordingly, a lot of ques-
tions stands still unsettled as for instance, the literary and theological function
of Qohelet 11,1–6 within the general fabrics of the book, its historical and
social context and in spite of them many solutions which have been put forth,
the very meaning of Qo 11,1–2 as well. For answering these questions, I shall
present at first the Hebrew text of Qo 11,1–6 along with an English translation
of it and I shall discuss in the footnotes the textual problems. Then I shall
move to establish the literary and the rhetorical borders of the unit, its place
within the book and to individuate its subunits. At this point I shall examine
them, giving a particular attention to the vexatissima crux interpretum repre-
sented by Qo 11,1–2. I shall examine the different solutions before advancing
my own solution. The conclusion will present some new insights to unders-
tand the theological message of Qo 11,1–6.

THE TEXT

1Besides of the standard commentaries, the following studies are worth of noticing: Staeck
1942/43: 216–218; Stoute 1950: 223–234; Ogden 1983; Ogden 1988; Fredericks 1991: 95–
114; Tsukimoto 1993: 34–52; Kamano 2002, 213–219; Hoeman 2002: 275; Shields 2005;
Wiegard 2005, 114–121; Lavoie 2007: 75–90; Pinker 2009: 618–645; Withwell 2009: 181–
187. For a useful and insightful survey on Qohelets’s studies in the last fifteen years, see
Lavoie 2013: 95–113.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE QOHELET 11,1–6 OR HOW TO SURVIVE IN AN UNSURE WORLD 129

(1) Send your bread upon the waters,2 for you will find it after
many days.
(2) Divide a portion into seven, even into eight; for you know
not what evil shall be upon the earth.
(3) If the clouds be full of rain,3 they empty themselves upon the
earth; and if a tree4 fall in the south, or in the north, in the
place where the tree falls,5 there shall it be.
(4) He that observes the wind shall not sow; and he that regards
the clouds shall not reap.
(5) As you know not what is the way of the wind (life breath) in
the bones6 do grow in the womb of pregnant woman;7 even
so you know not the work8 of God who does all things.
(6) In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening withhold
not your hand; for you know not which shall prosper, whe-
ther this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.

2 ‫ חשׁלּ‬pi. usually means “to release,” occasionally “to send,” but only once “to throw” (see 1
Sam 20,20 “to shoot” (an arrow). Qo 11:1a suggests the image of someone placing or dropping
his bread on the water and letting it float away, rather than throwing it into the water. This
image is fostered by the preposition ‘al penê, literally “on the surface of” (rather than
bammāyîm or ’el tokhammāyîm). Fox 1989: 275 underlines the delicacy of the action. The allit-
eration between hammāyîm and hayyāmîm could explain Qohelet’s use of the verb šālaḥ.
3 We follow here A. Lauha (1978: 199), who expounded “rain” as the accusative of mate-
riae of the verb
4 Within this verse, we can look at two examples of the erratic use of the determinative article

before the word ’eṣ: it is lacking in the first instance, but it is present in the second. For the arti-
cle in Qohelet, see Schoors 1992: 164–169.
5 The verse harbors the greatest difficult of the unit, as the Hebrew can be understood both
as the verb I ‫“ הוא‬to fall” or as the verb II ‫“ הוﬣ‬to become.” Though some manuscripts read it
as the pronoun subject of third person singular “he”, it is by far better to follow the ancient ver-
sion and to explain it as the imperfect of the verb ‫“ הוח‬to be.” The form which presents an ’alef
added is a sign of the late stage of Hebrew Language (see again Schoors 1992: 42–43; 98–99).
6 The Hebrew has been read by some manuscripts, by the Targums, BHS and modern
commentators, as for instance Fox 1989:76, , but it can be maintained as a lectio diffi-
cilior.
7 My translation gives to the value of nomen rectum of and the meaning of “preg-
nant woman.” It is also possible, yet, to consider as an adjective referred to the womb
(Yebamot 16: 1).
8 All the ancient versions have here the plural.

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130 BIANCHI ANTIGUO ORIENTE

THE STRUCTURE OF QO 11,1–6 AND ITS PLACE

IN THE BOOK OF QOHELET

After having presented a translation of the unit, I would like to analyze its
place within the book. There is a growing consensus on the fact that Qo 11,1–
6 is an independent literary unit whose borders lye in Qo 10,20 and in Qo
11,7.9 As far as Qo 10,20 is concerned, it ends the long and bewildering sec-
tion that from 10,1 on described the strength and the feebleness of the wisdom
and eventually invited to speak prudently before the king and the rulers.10 At
its turn, Qo 11,7 opens the very last section of the book where a praise for the
sweetness of the light and for the youth (11,7–10) leaves soon room to the
powerful description of the old age and of the impending death.11
Within this framework, Qo 11,1–6 shows a remarkably crafted structure.
Three verbs at the 2 p.s. of the imperative stand at the beginning (1.2) and at
the end of it (6). It is well known that the presence of the imperatives in
Qohelet increases from the fourth chapter on and helps the author to condemn
a point of view held by his contemporaries or to express, as it happens here,
a positive advice about a behavior to keep in the life.12 Not less remarkable
are the use of the preposition kî in the vv. 1.2.6 for explaining the advice
issued at the imperative or the various parallelism: numeric (v.1: seven
//eight), antithetic (v. 2b: ignorance on the outcome of an action; always v. 2:
water//earth; v. 6: morning//evening) and ascending (v. 5 As...so). Finally,
there are many examples of alliterations (māyîm and yāmîm) and of word-
plays (rûaḥ as wind and spirit) as well. On a thematic level the stress falls
upon the natural elements (water, earth, clouds, rains) and upon the process of
human and vegetal generation), whereas the use of the verbs “to find” and “to
know not” set the main theological theme of the book that’s to say the igno-
rance about the outcome of human deeds and of God’s work. These observa-
tions suggest for Qo 11,1–6 the following structure: a) an introduction made
of vv. 1–2 and built in a chiastic way (1a 1b 1b 2b), where the hearer is sum-
moned to act but in an careful way, as he does not know what evil the future
will bring about; b) an inquiry realized through the experience and showing
9 The exceptions are Wright 1968: 330–332; Murphy 1992: 105–110 (10, 16–11,2 collection of

proverbs and 11,3–11,6 “living on uncertainty and ignorance”); Pinker 2009 and Bonora 1992:
157–159 consider 11,8 as the end of the unit.
10 For a thoughtful examination, see Crenshaw 1988: 168–178 and Fox 1989: 270–272.
11 Still valuable are M. Gilbert 1981: 96–107 and Fox 1988: 55–57.

12 See D’Alario 1992: 163–165.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE QOHELET 11,1–6 OR HOW TO SURVIVE IN AN UNSURE WORLD 131

another chiastic structure, underlines the never changing world of natural ele-
ments laws and the need to cope with them in spite of his ignorance about
things (vv. 3–4); a comparison between the ignorance about the hidden gene-
ration of the man and the ignorance about God’s work (v. 5); d) Conclusion:
man cannot refrain at any time from action in spite of the uncertainty of the
its positive or negative outcome (v. 6).

QO 11,1–2

Bearing that structure in mind, we move to investigate the five subunits

whose Qo 11,1–6 is made of. We have already pointed out as in the small chi-
astic unity composed by Qo 11,1–2 the v.1a matches the v. 2a and 1b the v.2b.
Let us analyse closely its components. The first half of Qo 11,1 calls for the
quite odd action of sending bread on the waters, whereas the second one—Qo
11,1b—assures that within a certain number of days it will be found it again.
The apparently clear verse does not show any sign of textual corruption, but
the search for its elusive meaning still defies the scholars. For the sake of
brevity, we will summarize the principal proposals:13
a) Since the Targum’s reading “Give your nourishing bread to the poor
who go in ships upon the surface of the water, for after a period of
many days you will find rewards in the world to come,” Qo 11,1 has
been credited with the moral teaching of being kind, helpful and char-
itable towards the others. The Midrash to Qohelet,14 some of the fore-

13Pinker 2009 provides the most detailed status quaestionis on the interpretation of Qo 11,1.
14According to this Midrash, Bar Kappara saved a man who was shipwrecked and left naked
on the shore, by giving him food and new clothes. The man was a Roman proconsul who lately
helped the rabbi to free some Jews being in jail: see Mancuso 2004.

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132 BIANCHI ANTIGUO ORIENTE

most Jewish exegetes,15 the Fathers of the Church,16 Luther17 and

Grotius,18 an handful of scholars lived between the end of 1800 and the
beginning of 190019 followed that exegesis. In the course of the time it
has been endorsed by M.V. Fox,20 T. Longman,21 Ch. Seow,22 N.
Kamano23 and M. Shields.24 Support to that interpretation has been
often found in the Oriental Wisdom, as a learned work of H.F. von Diez
(1751–1818) shows.25 In his translation of Qabusnameh26 the German

15 For a short survey of Jewish interpretation, see Lavoie 2013: 105–106. Commenting Moses’

behaviour with Yethro’s daughters, Rashi (1040–1105) made this statement: “Do good, act
kindly to the person whom your heart tells you, ‘You’ll never see him again’—like a person
who throws his sustenance upon the surface of the water.” Moses would have acted, though he
was sure of not being repaid. As to Rashbam (1085–1158), he presented that paraphrases, “Do
a favour for a man whom you never expect to benefit, because in the far future he will do a
favour for you” (Japhet and Salters 1985: 185).
16 The Metaphrasisis of Gregory the Thaumaturgos (210–273) expressly speaks of philanthro-

py: on this work see Jarick 1989: 37–57. The same does the commentary of Saint Jerome (PL
23). As De Lubac (1976: 579–583) noticed, the Christian interpreters turned in the Middle Age
to the typological sense, which saw Qohelet as a forerunner of Christ. Such an interpretation
still surfaces in the proposal to consider the bread whose Qo 11,1a speaks as Christ, the Bread
of Life, and the waters as the Gentiles (Stoute 1950: 222–226).
17 M. Luther 1898: 184–185. On Luther’s exegesis of the book that deny any human power and

stresses God’s will, see White 1987: 180–194.

18 H. Grotius 1644: expounded Qo 11,1a in the following terms: 537 “Ubi nulla spes sit recip-

iendi, Deus pro ista beneficientia in te conferet” (“when nothing is expected to be received,
God confers upon you beneficiencies”).
19 Barton 1909: 181 lists i.a. A.W. Knobel (1807–1863), Chr. D. Ginsburg (1831–1914), O.

Zöckler (1833–1906), C.H.H. Wright (1836–1909), Wilhelm Nowack (1850–1928), C.

Siegfried (1830–1930) and J.T. Marshall (1850–1923).
20 Fox 1989: 275 states that Qohelet 11,1a would teach “to do unto the others that they may do

unto you.”
21 Seow 1997: 335–336.
22 Fox 1989: 275.
23 Kamano 2002: 214–218.
24 Shields 2005: 224–225.

25 Von Diez 1811: 106–116; the text is available at: <[Link] denkwrdigkeit-

en00diezgoog#page/n146/mode/2up>. The title of the work is Denkwurdigkeiten and not

Merkwurdigkeiten, as it is often quoted (Crenshaw and Fox ad locum). Besides, the surname
of the author is often misspelled as Diaz. For the German world see also Goethe’s famous
aphorism in West-östlicher Divan: “Was willst du untersuchen, Wohin die Milde fliesst! Ins
Wasser wirf deine Kuchen! wer weiss wer sie geniesst?”
26
See De Brujin 2010. Being a sort of “mirror of princes,” the book was written by the prince
Kaykavus b. Eskander (1030 C.E.) around 1082 for the son Gilanshah and earned a great pop-
ularity in the Islamic world.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE QOHELET 11,1–6 OR HOW TO SURVIVE IN AN UNSURE WORLD 133

erudite and diplomat presented the following story and its ties with Qo
11,1a. Once upon during the reign of Mutjakewil (847–861), a loyal
servant of the Caliph, named Fettich used to swim in the Tigris near
Baghdad. One day he drowned in the waters and the caliph unsuccess-
fully ordered to search for him. Lately, when someone reported to have
seen the man alive and well in the river, the servants of the Caliph res-
cued him. Before him Fettisch revealed to him to own his survival to
the bread flowing onto the Tigris and signed by Mohammed ben
Hassan. This latter was summoned at court and revealed to follow this
teaching: “Do the good; cast your bread on the water, one day you shall
be rewarded.” Accordingly, the Caliph awarded him a diploma and
some properties. After having paralleled this teaching to Qo 11,1a, Von
Diez assumed his Salomonic origin through the Queen of Saba. In such
a way it would have belonged to the memory of Arabs!27 Although the
explanation is obviously untenable and unaware of the historical con-
text and of the theological realm of the book,28 scholars willingly bring
it as a parallel.29 The examples coming from Egyptian wisdom draws
closer to Qohelet’s world: the Instructions of Onkhsheshonqi, a wis-
dom text from Egypt30 dating from the Hellenistic age, puts forth this
advice: “Do a good deed and throw into the water; when it dries you
will find it.”31 As far as the parallel with Qohelet is concerned, it could
be a fruit of a common international wisdom.32
As a critique to it, it has been widely noted as that interpretation
goes quite beyond the scope of the author. As matter of fact, Qohelet’s
relationship with humankind is not so terse and he never advocated
such a liberality. In the familiar realm Qohelet had troubled relations
with women or with leaving his wealth to a unskilled sons, whereas the
broader and unsafe context of society makes him praise a friendly, but

27 Shields 2005: 222 holds such an influence, but does not explain how it worked. Should we

to postulate the presence of an Arabic translation of Qohelet around IX century A.D.? However,
it may be, those translations were available: see Sasson 2007a: 603–606 and Sasson 2015b.
28 The theological flawless of the argument has become self-evident in the so called “Prosperity

Gospel” which establish a tight linkage between a good deed and the retribution.
29 Barton 1908: 181 and Crenshaw 1988: 178.

30 Fox 1989: 274–275 also remembers a similar advice to be fund in the Wisdom of Ptahhotep

about sharing his own wealth with others to be helped in time of disaster.
31 Crenshaw 1988: 178–179.

32 Uehlinger 1997: 225.

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134 BIANCHI ANTIGUO ORIENTE

not disinterested friendship of two or three person for getting a profit

and overcoming any danger or trouble (Qo 4,9–12) or to cast a cold eye
on the misfortunes of the oppressed (Qo 4,1–3).33 It is unclear, as Mark
R. Sneed34 remarked, if that observation aimed at showing more the
injustices of the powerful than a genuine concern for the oppressed.
Qohelet seemed more worried of the injustices undone to members of
his own or higher class (e.g. Qo 6:1–6). At this juncture no scholar who
support this hypothesis has never noticed the exemplum of liberality set
by Salomon (1Kgs 5,1–5) and Nehemiah (Neh 5,18). Both of them
hosted guests belonging to the members of the aristocracy or to the
bureaucracy. Nehemiah boasts to have hosted at his table a group of
officials and to have provided them, and at his own expenses with some
good food. Did Qohelet dream the same, as a seemingly member of the
affluent class?35

b) A second proposal explored the possibility that Qo 11,1a was a sort of

paradoxal teaching.36 By means of it Qohelet would like to prepare the
hearers to the absurdity of human life and to the impossibility to pre-
view the future: accordingly an absurd behaviour may bring a good out-
come, as the following verse (Qo 11,2) would confirm.37 Therefore,
everyone must be ready to cope with all eventualities, given their igno-
rance about the future and their incapacity to change the events. The
only thing man can do is to adapt themselves in face of the several pos-
sibilities that life proposes them without worrying of the wisdom.38 That
solution seems improbable, as Qohelet always declares to have acted
with wisdom. His solution would make Qo 11,1 closer to a Buddhist
koan which aimed at putting men before an hard truth and at overcom-
ing it.39 The problem lays in the human ignorance upon the future and
the times that God has set for, as already Podechard pointed out.40

33 See Pinker 2009: 624.

34 Sneed 2000: 150.
35 De Jong 1994.
36 Fox 1989: 273.
37 Vilchez Lindez 1994: 388–389. See already Hertzberg 1932: 200 and Lavoie 1997: 88.
38 Fox 1989: 273.
39 For this aspect, see Lavoie 2013: 118 n. 140.

40 Podechard 1912: 198.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE QOHELET 11,1–6 OR HOW TO SURVIVE IN AN UNSURE WORLD 135

c) Being unsatisfied with the previous solutions, A. Pinker assumed that

in an early stage of the transmission of the text, the Urtext of Qohelet
11,1a would have run as follows: “Whisper your dream upon the water,
yea in many seas you will find it.” Accordingly Qo 11,1a would have
continued the maxims about the dreams and about the relation with the
rulers being in Qo 10,20. Uneasy with its teaching, a pious scribe gave
to the text its actual form41 thanks two simples moves: a) a change of
place between shin and lamed to read lāḥaš instead of šālah and b) the
substitution of the vowels in order to read yāmmîm “seas” instead of
yamîm “days.” Although the hypothesis is clever and is well argued, it
unfortunately lacks of the support of any textual witness42 and it does
not take into account the overall structure of the unit.

d) Not less puzzling is M.H. Homan’s proposal to refer the verse to the
fabrication of the beer also through the help of some Akkadian paral-
lels.43 Qohelet would have recommended both the production of beer
by throwing bread into the waters and its consumption in perilous
times.44 Shields45 has underlined the frailty of this hypothesis both on
the Akkadian ground—brewing needed other recipients besides of the
bread—or on the biblical one. As matter of fact, there is no trace of beer
in Israel and in the Bible!

e) Since the beginning of the past century, it has widely assumed that Qo
11,1a refers to the overseas trading.46 This assumption has found its
way in the works of R. Gordis,47 J.L. Crenshaw,48 T. Longman,49 R.
41 Pinker 2009.
42 This kind of solution had a forerunner in F. Zimmerman’s hypothesis that the book of Qohelet
would have been translated into Hebrew from an original Aramaic. Zimmerman assumed that
the odd use of šlh and lhm betrayed the translator’s failure to properly understand the Aramaic
verb pāras “to spread out” (i.e. the sails) or “to break.” The translator assumed the latter mean-
ing, instead of rendering: “Set your sail upon the waters.” This solution too does not find sup-
port in the text and it provides a more obscure explanation (Whitley 1989: 92–93).
43 Hoeman 2002: 275.
44 Weeks (2012: 95) remarks the improbability of such an explanation.
45 Shields 2005: 224–225.
46 See Barton 1908: 181–182. Barton listed i.a. J.D. Michaelis, J.-Ch. Döderlein, F. Hitzig, F.

Delitzsch, J. Renan G. Wildeboer, P. Haupt and A.H. McNeile

47 Gordin 1988: 331–332.
48 Crenshaw 1988: 176.
49 Longman 1998: 256.

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136 BIANCHI ANTIGUO ORIENTE

Murphy.50 Almost all these interpreters rightly propose to read the v. 1

and v. 2 together, as expressing Qohelet’s line of thought. As they stem
from the same Qohelet, Qo 11,1a and Qo 11,1b cannot be popular say-
ings which he commented in v. 1b and 2b with a ki explicativum or
adversativum.51 In such a case, the quotations would have been com-
posed of a stich alone and their conclusions would have been left to the
imagination of the reader. Against this rhetorical background, scholars
have read the advice of v.2a to divide the bread in seven or eight
part52—a numeric parallelism being found only in Micah 5,453—as an
invitation to diversify the financial assets54 in prevision of a future evil
or as an invitation to engage in the maritime trade.55 Qohelet 11,1–2
would call to go ahead and engage in this venture. The Hebrew leḥem,
translated as bread, thus, stands for any kind of commodity of trade,
whence a gain may flow back to them in spite of the risks. All the
scholars have been satisfied with a banalization of the teaching that is
expressed in the following terms: “Do not put all the eggs in the same
basket.” Given the uncertainty about the future, Qohelet would simply
advice to diversify the investments. Pinker has arranged the most full-
fledged critics to that hypothesis through fifteen (!) points. If it is true,
on one hand that leḥem never means “goods,” but “bread” or “food,”
that the verse never speaks explicitly speak of ships and that Qohelet’s
main interest is the agriculture, on the other one Pinker seems to belittle
the economic and historical data of the Hellenistic Age and of the
Ptolemaic Period in Judah. As we will see below, grain became from
the Achaemenid Period onwards a source of exportations and the
Phoenician merchants seem to have played a certain role in it. Finally,

50 Murphy 1992:106.
51 See Michel 1988: 208. The presence of the imperative makes this choice prefereable to the
idea of a kî adversative (though) defended by Herzberg 2001 and Laura 1978.
52 ḥēleq is one of the favourite terms in Qohelet’s reflections to describe what belongs to men,

but here the word just means “part” (see Pinker 2009: 624). Di Fonzo 1967: 304 remarks that
the Fathers of the Church gave to this statement a typological interpretation: the charity done
in the present life (the number seven would refer to the earthly life) would have been awarded
in the future life to which the number eight points to.
53 The messianic King will fight with success an Assyrian invasion with “seven shepherds and

eight chiefs of men” who eventually will rule the lands of Assur and Nimrod. About this
numeric parallelism, see Di Fonzo 1968: 303–304.
54 See for instance Hubbard 1994: 341–349.
55 Longman 1998: 256.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE QOHELET 11,1–6 OR HOW TO SURVIVE IN AN UNSURE WORLD 137

the textual and rhetorical situation of the unit clearly favours another
solution.

f) I would like to put forth my own solution that combines the idea of the
overseas trade with the liberality. As far as the maritime trade is con-
cerned, we cannot belittle two biblical allusions. The first refers to Is
18,2 where it is said that the Egypt “sends ambassadors on the Nile and
in vessels of papyrus on the waters” (haššōlēaḥ bayyām sîrîm ûbiklê-
gōme ‘al-penê-mayîm).56 The second evokes the vivid description of
the tireless ’ēšethaḥayîl in Prov 31.57 According to Prov. 31:14 the
woman “is like the merchant ships, bringing her bread/food from afar.”
It is uncertain if the author had in mind the trading enterprises of
Salomon58 or what Ezekiel wrote about the Phoenician town of Tyros,
but this uncertainty does not change the reference to the sea trade. As
matter of fact, since the V century B.C.E. onwards the inlands of Syria
and Palestine started to export grain towards Greece and this trend
became faster and soaring during the III century B.C.E. thanks to the
safer commercial routes and the stable prices.59 Although there were
only two true harbours, that is to say Jaffa and Akko, the Phoenician
cities were not far at all and it is not blatant to suppose that Qohelet vis-
ited them.60 The reason of this undisputable maritime setting could be
unveiled by an idea of N. Löhfink61 who suggested to explain Qo 11,1–
2 against the background of the evergetism well known in the
Hellenistic World. The kings, the rulers and the private citizens often
helped the cities of the Continental Greece struck by famines, wars or
natural havocs by means of grain supplies and on return they get sev-
eral kind of honours. I wonder if the echo of such a practise would have
also reached also the region of Coelesyria and the far Judah. Two con-
crete examples belonging to the kingdom of Ptolemy II could have

56 See Crenshaw 1988:178–189. As concerning Is 18,2, Kaiser (1980: 92) labelled the verse as
an ideal and unhistorical scene.
57 As Ben Zvi 2015: 27–51 has recently pointed out, Prov. 31 seemingly refers to the late

Achaemenid and early Hellenistic time.

58 There is here another possible allusion to the Salmonid fleet coming back after a long while

with exotic animals and metals.

59 Hengel 1974: 32–57; 41–42.
60 See Bellia 2001.

61 Löhfnik 1997: 132.

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inspired Qohelet’s verse: this king sent in 248 B.C.E. a fleet of sump-
tuary navies to help the island of Delos struck by a devastating earth-
quake, whereas in 238 B.C.E., as the decree of Canopus stated, he
imported grain from Syria, Cyprus and Trace62 to fight the famine that
struck the Egypt because a scarce flow of the Nile. According to K.
Buraselis,63 Ptolemy III received the title of Evergetes just between
these two momentous events. It is self-evident that both of them could
be labelled, in Qohelet’s terms, as a ra‘a’, that is to say the evil looming
in the future. Bearing this possibility in mind, Qohelet would advise to
exploit such a situation and to send onto the sea the food/the grain––
stored before a crisis. What sort of outcome would come from this sit-
uation? For Qoheleth no kind of memory survives beyond the death.
Have we to suppose that the key word could be ḥēleq, namely “the por-
tion” that everyone can share as their own? The word has a mixed value
in Qohelet’s reflection: it embraces all that of good or bad, the man
could enjoy in this very world, although there is no certainty about
enjoying, getting, keeping it. In our case the summon to divide it
assures the reference to the material possessions (Qo 2,21) that God let
the man enjoy (Qo 3,22; 9,9).
As far as the second halves of Qo 11,1 and Qo 10,2 are concerned,
they present an epistemological reflection about the “finding” and the
“knowing not” which is at the heart of Qohelet’s thought. The verb
māṣā’ “to find” (16 x) reports a positive or negative data gained
through a personal experience,64 whereas the verb yāda‘, “to know,”
built with the negative particle ‘ēn and the participle or preceded by the
negation lō’ states the human ignorance about the future or about the
action of God.65 This is one of the main and recurring themes of the
section. As we have said above, another mark of Qohelet’s thought is
62 The decree of Canopus stresses Ptolemy III’s care for his subjects during the famine. Besides
of remitting taxes “they took care for importation of Corn into Egypt from the Eastern Rutennu
(that’s to say Canaan), from the land Kafatha, from the island Nabinaitt, which lies in the midst
of the Great Sea, and from many other lands, since they expended much white gold for the pur-
chase thereof. They transported the importation of provisions, to save those living in the land
of Egypt, that these might know their goodness for ever…” (for this translation, see Birch
1878: 84 ll. 8–9).
63 Buraselis 2013: 97–107; 101–102. About the relationship between the Hellenistic evergetism

and the supplies of grain for Greece, see Moretti 1990: 319–422.
64 Mazzinghi 2001: 176–187.
65 Gorseen 1970: 282–324 and Piotti 2012: 92–93.

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the presence of the word rā‘ā. As to the psychological sphere it

describes the pain for leaving the richness to someone who did not
deserve (Qo 2,21) or whom did not do anything to create them (Qo 6,1–
2) or a mishap of a father who condemns to the misery his son (Qo
5,12). In the psychological and moral world, it points at the destiny of
death awaits the good and the bad men (Qo 9,5) on the earth (Qo 8,16).
After having expounded these two verses, we can conclude that Qo
11,1–2 advices men to risk and to work. There is a hope for a profit, but
a measure of caution due the human situation is always needed.

QO 11,3–4

The vv. 3–4 suddenly changes the setting, as the elements of nature
come on the forefront. Gordis66 pointed out the presence of a chiastic
structure, as these verses are arranged according the structure “clouds-
failing tree-wind-clouds.” In point of fact, the clouds (’ābîm) stand at
the beginning of the v 3 and at the end of the v. 4. In v. 3b the fallen
tree works as the subject of the conditional sentence and closes it. It is
also worth of noticing how the v. 3 is built upon two conditional phras-
es: the natural world provides the protasis, whereas the results of the
actions are the apodosis. In the protasis Qohelet draws the attention of
the reader on the clouds close to bring the rain. Nevertheless Qohelet
does not use the word ‘ānān to which the Bible gives a deepest reli-
gious meaning, but the less common ‘ab at the plural ’ābîm.67 That lat-
ter word is to be found especially in the book of Job (Job 37, 1–30)
where God celebrates both his power on the clouds, the rain and the
blizzard68 and he stresses Job’s ignorance about how nature works.
Qohelet lacks of any reference to the divine activity, but he simply
refers to the human experience: it can consider the fall of the rain from
the heavy clouds as a part of the unavoidable law fixed by God but

66 Gordis 1968: 332.

67 The noun ‘ānān to be found 87 times in Old Testament is late and has a strong theological
and religious overtone. On the contrary, the plural ’ābîm occurs 30 times and in spite of its
poetical flavour, it mainly deals with meteorology.
68 Garbini 1995: 85–91.

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140 BIANCHI ANTIGUO ORIENTE

unknown to the manhood.69 Accordingly, it is a waste of time watching

the clouds, as they will give rain at the fixed time according a relation-
ship of cause and effect unknown to the man.70
The second stich of v. 3 strengthens this argument through another
exemplum from the natural world and linked to a cause-effect relation-
ship. Accordingly, the fallen tree is neither the tree being in some cul-
tures and ancient cosmologies as the axis of “Tree of the World,”71 nor
is a rod used as a divinatory mean.72 It is just a tree: the falling down is
probably due to the force of the wind blowing everywhere, as the
merismus south-north so close to the turn of the wind in Qo 1,6, sug-
gest and it comes out of the human power.
This situation makes it unuseful to watch over the wind and the
clouds without doing anything else. In my opinion, the reference to the
wind in the v. 4 has a multifarious meaning: no only it recalls Qohelet’s
negative judgements about the human toil which he labels a “chasing
the wind” or “hearding the wind” (Qo 1,14; 2,11.17.25; 4,4; 6,9), but
also aims at the following verse.

QO 11.5

This verse represents a transition subunit which works as a bridge

between the previous and the following ones. In point of fact rûaḥ let
Qohelet recall in the v. 4 the hidden action of the wind in the falling of
the tree, the v. 5 faces us with an interpretative crux as to the meaning
of ruah and the rest of the verse. The first solution is to give to rûaḥ the
simple meaning of wind and to explain the preposition kaf as a way to
69 The clouds also stand in Qo 12 as an unavoidable sign of death.
70 Whitwell 2009, 181–197 thinks on the contrary of the randomness of the nature.
71 Kruger 2004: 191–194.
72 Some Jewish interpreters (for instance S.D. Luzzato quoted by Lattes 1980: 125) and the

same Crenshaw find here an allusion to a divinatory practise. Crenshaw 1988: 179 refers to
Hos 4,12 which reads: “my people inquire with a rod.” Nevertheless, it is unclear if Hosea is
thinking of divinatory tecnics as it does not use maṭṭeh (which has a magic meaning as far as
Moses and Aaron are concerned), but the more general maqqēl. Others scholars refer Hosea’s
verse to the cult of Asherah. In any case, eṣ does not have a divinatory meaning, as at his time
we do know very little about the Canaanite religion or popular religion.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE QOHELET 11,1–6 OR HOW TO SURVIVE IN AN UNSURE WORLD 141

strengthen the first comparison: just as (you do not know the bones of
the pregnant woman), keeping the seemingly lectio difficilior of the
Masoretic Text. The second solution is to translate rûaḥ as it meant “the
breath of life” and to read the preposition beth instead of kaf, as did
many ancient versions and modern interpreters. Qohelet would stress
that he as man does not know the path of the breath of life inside the
bones (foetus) of the pregnant woman. The human ignorance about
these natural phenomena is underlined by an ascending parallelism
built upon the prepositions ka’ašer “as” and kākā “so.” By the way
Qohelet is keenly interested of the process of human generation,73 as
the desperate reflection of Qo 6,3–6 about the fate of the abort to be
preferred to that of the man unable to enjoy his richness. A handful of
biblical texts deal with this topic. For instance, Ps 139,13–15 praises
God for having wondrously created the man in mothers’ womb like a
precious dress.74 On the contrary Job 10, 8–22 mourns to have been
created by God only to be swept out and accordingly he envies the fate
of the unborn. In this debate Qohelet seems to stand halfway: on one
side he shares what we could define the common biblical knowledge
about the process of the human generation,75 but he only stresses the
human ignorance about how the process really works.76 Accordingly,
Qohelet does not join to the praise for the creation, but he plainly states
the human ignorance in front of God’s deed (ma‘aśeh ’elohîm). That
expression has as subject almost always the man (16 times out of 21)
who cannot find out either all the deeds of God 21 times (Qo 8,17) or
can simply look at them without any change (Qo 7,13).77 We wonder if
the mysterious work of God could hide the global vision about the right
time for every deed that escapes from the human mind and that Qohelet
calls ‘ôlām in 3,15.

73 See Sauneron 1960: 19–27 for the Egyptian ideas about the human generation. According to
some Egyptian text coming from the Persian Period and close to the Pre-Socratic Philosophers,
the bones were the seat of the masculine semen.
74 Ravasi 1998: 325–326.
75 Tosato 2001: 160–164.

76 Ravasi (1998: 326) thinks that rûaḥ could refer to the creation of man told in Genesis 1–2.
77 Gorssen 1970: 282–324; Mazzinghi 2001: 411–412; Piotti 2012: 91–92.

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142 BIANCHI ANTIGUO ORIENTE

QO 11,6

The v. 6 plays the role of a general synthesis that underlines the need
for the action. Once again the imperatives set the call to the action. The
merism “morning-evening” serves to encompass all the day, although
the preposition kî followed by a negation highlights the ignorance
about the final outcome. The first imperative calls again to sowing,78 a
work usually done between October and November and once again
between December and February, whereas the second imperative
invites to refrain not from the work.79 In spite of that tireless activity,
nobody knows which of the two seed will fructify.80 At this juncture it
becomes evident the encounter and the conflict with the classical wis-
dom. As Frydrych81 has remarked, the classical wisdom of the Proverbs
and that of Qohelet agreed on the role of the wisdom to achieve a good
life and they stressed the earthly horizon of the human life.
Nevertheless, their ways parted first on the value given to experience.
The book of Proverbs greatly esteemed the collective one, whereas in
Qohelet’s opinion only the individual experience counts. Moreover,
they also parted as concerning the ethics. Proverbs’ teaching takes
together God’s rule and justice with human experience, whereas
Qohelet does not show to have an ethics of his own. As concerning the
work, it is worth noticing as the book of the Proverbs praises the toil-
some man, compares him with an industrious ant and is sure that he
will be rewarded. On the contrary the lazy one82 is ridiculed and lashed.
Qohelet does not share such a conviction. In his vision the man does
not know anything about the death, the future and God’s work, and

78 The ancient Jewish exegesis explained the verb zāra‘ and the noun zera‘ as an erotic allusion

and as a reference to the begetting of children (S.D. Luzzato). Although other units of the work
show such an interest (see the Salomonic fiction in Qo 2 and to the thousand sons in 6,21), Qo
11,5 clearly deals with the sowing.
79 For some attempts of a comparison with the Chinese Wisdom tradition, see Lavoie 2013: 118

n. 140.
80 See Di Fonzo 1968: 309 for a parallel with the Parable of the Talents (Mt 25,18.25). See also

Glaeson 1983: 43–48 for an application to Wesley’s predication.

81 See Frydrych 2002.

82 Simian Yofre 1999: 138–145; Cimosa 2003: 30–36.

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also the so called ‘ôlām set by God for human deeds is beyond his
power. Accordingly, the outcome of his work is relativized and it is
limited to the only time which is into the power of the man that’s to
say the present.83 In the present the man can work and take its part of
joy, this is the only man’s part in his life under the sun.

A WAGER ON BEHALF OF THE ACTION.

A THEOLOGICAL CONCLUSION.

At the end of paper let us explore which could be the theological impli-
cations of Qo 11,1–6 for the contemporary readers. Our paper has
already shown how this unit does not herald any prosperity gospel and
how its message is by far subtler than the standard explanations. In my
opinion, a way for keeping the call for the action, the acknowledgement
of the human ignorance and the stress on mysterious divine action
together could be found in Blaise Pascal’s argument of the wager.84 As
it is well known, Pascal made use of this argument in order to over-
come man’s uncertainties about the existence of God.85 According to
him, the wager was not optional, but it was necessary, as man’s fate in
present lifetime and in the eternity depended from accepting or refusing
it. As far as I see, the same idea could be applied mutatis mutandis to
Qohelet 11,1–2,26. As matter of fact, the Preacher calls the man to
work tirelessly, although lacking of any certainty about the final out-
come and knowing not the divine will. In Qohelet’s eyes, that uncer-
tainty cannot lead the man to an endless search for information in order
to achieve a sure success. Being the human knowledge limited to the
83 See the excellent work of Schellenberg 2002.
84 On Pascal’s though, see Cole 1995. Murphy 1955: draws a comparison between Qohelet and
Pascal almost as far as the structure is concerned.
85 The Pensees of Pascal hold some references to Qohelet, which was the favourite book of the

skeptics and of the philosophers of his time. The fragment 389, to be read against the back-
ground of human misere, reads as follows: “Ecclesiastes shows that man without God is in total
ignorance and inevitable misery. For it is wretched to have the wish, but not the power. Now
he would be happy and assured of some truth, and yet he can neither know, nor desire not to
know. He cannot even doubt.” There is also a paraphrase of Qo 3,10.16 in a polemical fragment
against the denier of the immortality of the souls (on the subject see again Cole 1995: 213).
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144 BIANCHI ANTIGUO ORIENTE

mere experience and far from getting the ‘ôlām that is to say the right
but mysterious time fixed by God for each action, this search will ulti-
mately lead him to a sort of paralysis. The only thing the man can hope
is that his work will match that ‘ôlām and that he will enjoy the part of
its work. This eventually prompts some of the saddest reflections on
human life. Qohelet’s invitation could sound quite ironic in our con-
temporary world where our life often hangs on a flood of information
that raise anxiety or fear and make us unable to live or to accomplish
our work. In such a way, Qohelet’s words appear both a tribute to a
sound “ignorance” and a call for using our talents at the best, even to
venture into risky enterprises as sending food overseas, without worry-
ing about the future outcome. This idea relativizes the value of the
work and stands against the danger of becoming workaholics that the
so called Solomonic fiction of Qo 1,12–2,26 highlighted so well. Such
a reflection also hits our contemporary image of the work which many
see as a sort of idol to which an entire life can be sacrificed, without
taking care of the family and the holydays. As God really is the ultimate
maker of all, the tireless human work can only hope that the wager on
the right ‘ôlām be the right one and that he can enjoy his part.
Otherwise, the work will become a source of alienation and pain, as it
will not match all of the efforts done and it will not give any gain.
Eventually, it will reveal itself as another side of the hebel judgement
on the reality. As J.-J. Lavoie86 remarked, even in this unit Qohelet
reveals himself once again as “l’avocat de notre dur metier: celui de
vivre”.

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Zeitschrift fur systematische Theologie 29, pp. 180–194.
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Zeitschrift fur Altes Testament Wissenschaft 148. Berlin, de Gruyter.
WRIGHT, A.G. 1968. “The Riddle of the Sphinx: The Structure of the Book of
Qoheleth”. In: Catholic Biblical Quarterly 30, pp. 313–334.

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NORTHERN ARABIA AND ITS JEWRY IN EARLY RABBINIC

SOURCES: MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

HAGGAI MAZUZ
hagaimazuz@[Link]
Annemarie Schimmel Kolleg
Bonn, Germany

Abstract: Northern Arabia and its Jewry in Early Rabbinic Sources: More than
Meets the Eye
Early Rabbinic textual comments on the Jews of Arabia are widely considered terse
and general, leading to the assumption that they have little information to offer and
prompting scholars to seek knowledge in other sources. The article confronts this
conventional wisdom by citing Mishnaic, Talmudic, and Midrashic references to
Arabian geography and settlements that yield important if not conclusive findings on
points that have been inadequately discussed thus far.
Keywords: Ḥijāz – Ḥegger – Teima – Jews
Resumen: El norte de Arabia y su comunidad judía en las fuentes rabínicas tem-
pranas: más allá de lo que parece a simple vista
Los primeros comentarios rabínicos sobre los judíos en Arabia son ampliamente con-
siderados como concisos y generales, llevando a la suposición de que tienen escasa
información para ofrecer y motivando así a los investigadores a buscar información
en otras fuentes. El presente artículo confronta esta opinión convencional, mediante
la cita de referencias misnaicas, talmúdicas y midrásicas sobre la geografía de Arabia
y sus asentamientos, las cuales dan lugar a hallazgos importantes, si no concluyentes,
acerca de temas que han sido discutidos inadecuadamente hasta el momento.
Palabras clave: Hejaz – Ḥegger – Teima – Judíos

Article received: May 31st 2015; approved: January 29th 2016.

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150 MAZUZ ANTIGUO ORIENTE

INTRODUCTION

When the Jews of Arabia are discussed, the question of sources that one may
use to study the subject arises. The material falls into two main types: textual
and epigraphic. The former comprises, inter alia, post-Biblical Jewish sour-
ces such as the Mishna, the Talmuds, and the early Midrashim. Their referen-
ces to the Jews of Arabia are few, terse, and mostly general—so it seems—
leading to the assumption that they have little to offer by way of information.
As Goitein puts it, “The Talmudic literature offers important testimony on the
great Arabian migration of which the victory of Islam is merely the most
salient eruption, but is poor in information about Arabian Jewry.”1
What can we learn about Arabian Jewry from early Rabbinic literature
such as the Mishna, the Talmuds, and the Midrashim? To pursue such a dis-
cussion, one must first consult the sources on the Jewish communities of
Arabia and establish the boundaries of “Arabia” as precisely as possible. As I
show below, this territory includes the Ḥijāz and the references to this area in
these sources, although few in number, contain important information that
research has not extracted thus far, mainly about the religious life of the Jews
in this area. They also show that although there were many proselytes among
these Jews, their culture—at least in al-Ḥijr (also known as Madāʾin Ṣāliḥ)
and Taymāʾ—was quite high, and they had contact with Jewish communities
outside Arabia.

ROMAN ARABIA: DOES IT INCLUDE THE ḤIJĀZ?

Before discussing the meaning of Arabia (‫ )ערביא‬in Rabbinic sources, one

must address oneself to Roman Arabia, since it is likely that the Jews under
Roman rule in the Land of Israel in Talmudic times were familiar with that
term and, more or less, with the borders of the area that it denoted. The term
“Arabia” was originally used by Greek and Roman geographers; thus, it was
probably borrowed by Jews, given that the Bible calls the land of the Arabs
ʿArav ( , e.g., Is. 21:13; Jer. 25:23–24). The Biblical references to Arabia
plainly refer to northern Arabia because they mention Dedan and Teima.
In the early twentieth century, after Jaussen and Savignac’s Mission
archéologique en Arabie, scholars assumed that the Ḥijāz was not part of

1 Goitein 1931: 411.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE NORTHERN ARABIA AND ITS JEWRY IN EARLY RABBINIC SOURCES 151

Roman Arabia. Three decades later, this premise was challenged by Seyrig on
the basis of his discoveries of Roman outposts on the road to Medina.2
Consequently, scholars almost completely abandoned Jaussen and Savignac’s
view3—with one exception4—and research after Seyrig reinforced his stance.5
In view of this broad consensus, it would not be unreasonable to claim that
Arabia in Rabbinic sources refers, inter alia, to the Ḥijāz as well. The consen-
sus regarding the territory of Roman Arabia is crucial to the discussion about
the information on the Jews of northern Arabia, mainly regarding those in
Ḥegger/Ḥagrā, that emerges several times from Rabbinic sources. Now that
this matter has been clarified among scholars, the Rabbinic literature can
teach us more about the Jews of northern Arabia than is known today.

ḤEGGER AND ḤAGRĀ

Early Rabbinic sources mention Ḥegger and Ḥagrā (in three variations) sev-
eral times. Most opinions in academic literature refer to Ḥagrā but not to
Ḥegger, although both names denote the same place.6 They bring to mind al-
Ḥijr in northern Arabia. Indeed, the academic discussion of Ḥegger and Ḥagrā
in its variations favors their identification as al-Ḥijr. Those who argue to the
contrary do not explain the rationale behind their stance. Judging by the pub-
lication dates of their works, they apparently follow Jaussen and Savignac and
predate Seyrig, whose opinion has become the common one among scholars.
Below I discuss four references to Ḥegger and Ḥagrā in Rabbinic sources.
The discussion will be broader than the previous treatment of these sources;
it will offer new insights, strengthen the identification with al-Ḥijr, and chal-
lenge those who deny the identification of these place names.
(A) Ha-Ḥegger (‫)החגר‬: Mishna, ̣ Giṭṭīn 1:1 reads: “He who brings a bill of
divorce from abroad must say: In my presence it was written and in my pres-
ence it was signed. R. Gamaliel says: also he who brings one from ha-Reqem
or from ha-Ḥegger […].”7 Klein claims that Ḥegger (and Ḥagrā) is in the east-

2 Seyrig 1941: 218–223.

3 E.g., Sartre 1981; Bowersock 1983: 95–97, 103, 157.
4 Graf 1988.
5 For a review of works that support Seyrig’s findings, see Graf 1988: 172–173. See also,

Bowersock 1983: 97.

6 Cf. Goodblatt 1995: 16, 18, 21, 24.

7 See also, J.T. Giṭṭīn 1:1 (1:1); BT, Giṭṭīn 2a.

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152 MAZUZ ANTIGUO ORIENTE

ern part of Trachonitis.8 He misidentifies Ḥegger because he also misidenti-

fies Reqem. While Josephus, a Jew who lived in the first century CE under
Roman rule, explicitly claims that Reqem is Petra,9 Klein identifies it as al-
Raqīm, drawing on the finding of the Muslim geographer al-Muqaddasī, who
lived about a millennium later (ca. 946 CE–ca. 1000 CE), that there is a loca-
tion of this name near Damascus.10 Klein even ignores a Jewish contemporary
of Josephus in the Land of Israel, Onkelos, who renders Qadesh (in the
Negev) as Reqem in his translations of Gen. 16:14 and Gen. 20:1. Since the
two places are mentioned in proximity in the Mishna, Klein claims, they must
be close. To identify Ḥegger, he also relies on Wetzstein, according to whom
the ʿAnzī tribes call two tribes east of Damascus Ahl al-Ḥujr.11 Ben Zeʾev
criticizes Klein for his view because Mishna, Giṭṭīn 1:2 reads: “From Reqem
eastward and Reqem as [part of] the east.” Thus, he argues, one should search
for Ḥegger in the northern Ḥijāz; on this basis, he identifies Ḥagrā as al-Ḥijr.12
Mazar, basing himself on the definite article that precedes the word
“Ḥegger” in the Mishna, argues that the term denotes not a settlement but the
limes Palaestinae, a series of Roman fortifications along the southern border
of the Land of Israel.13 The root ḥ.g./j.r. in Semitic languages, he adds, denotes
a circumference, a wall, or a fence; thus, Ḥegger is a geographical region or
a string of fortified localities. It may therefore be, according to Mazar, that
Ḥagrā of Arabia is the fortified area of Provincia Arabia, i.e., the limes
Palaestinae. Interestingly, while Mazar suggests this, he opines that Ḥagrā in
Nabataean inscriptions is al-Ḥijr.14 By implication, according to his view,
Ḥagrā in Rabbinic sources is not the Nabataean Ḥagrā—an argument that has
nothing on which to rely. Mazar’s opinion is accepted by Avi-Yonah.15
Similarly, Bar-Ilan claims that ha-Ḥegger denotes a desert area beyond the
southern border of the Land of Israel, where there were stockade fortifica-

8 Klein 1928: 206–207. Cf. Klein 1939b 1: 43, 161.

9 Thackeray 1926: 553 (IV: vii. 1).
10 Klein 1929: 21–22.
11 Klein 1928: 206; Klein 1929: 21–22.
12 Ben Zeʾev 1931: 19, 25.

13 The first to suggest this idea, albeit very briefly, was Krauss (1899: 2: 253), whose view will

be mentioned below in the discussion of Ḥagrā.

14 Mazar 1949: 317. Cf. Rappel 1984: 83.
15 Avi-Yonah 1974: 2:88 (map no. 135).

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE NORTHERN ARABIA AND ITS JEWRY IN EARLY RABBINIC SOURCES 153

tions.16 Albeck notes, similarly but somewhat equivocally, that ha-Ḥegger is

“apparently in the southern border of the Land of Israel.”17
Another scholar who follows Mazar is Davies: “It seems probable,” he
says, that Ḥegger, as Mazar goes on to suggest, came also to have the collec-
tive sense of “a line of forts” and was applied to limes Palaestinae, which
extended from Rafah on the Mediterranean coast to the Dead Sea. It is legit-
imate, Davies continues, to suppose that the Ḥagrā of the Targumim has no
connection with Hegra in Arabia, but is instead a toponym that relates to the
region south of the Land of Israel. Davies notes that while the inscriptions
from al-Ḥijr clearly points to the presence of Jews, Mishna, Giṭṭīn 1:1 proba-
bly relates to a region closer to the Land of Israel.18
Goodblatt criticizes Mazar and Bar-Ilan on several grounds: (1) Even if
one accepts the meaning of Ḥegger as a fort, one cannot possibly know that
ha-Ḥegger is a series of fortifications or a fortified border. After all, it was not
unusual in the Mishnaic era to preface names of cities with the definite article.
(2) According to the current broad scholarly consensus, the limes Palaestinae
was built 200 years after R. Gamaliel’s lifetime (late first century CE–second
century CE) and some say that there was never a system of fortifications
along the southern border of the Land of Israel in the Roman period. Thus, ha-
Ḥegger cannot be the limes Palaestinae and one should search a specific set-
tlement that carries the name ha-Ḥegger. (3) Al-Ḥijr prospered under
Nabataean rule, mainly in the first century CE, close to R. Gamaliel’s life-
time, and was more famous than any other Ḥegger. Thus, it is very likely that
R. Gamaliel would mention famous places as al-Ḥijr.19 (4) Inscriptions from
the first century CE show that Jews lived in al-Ḥijr at that time; there is also
evidence that they continued to do so until the eve of Islam. Eventually,
Goodblatt concludes that ha-Ḥegger is al-Ḥijr.20
(B) Ḥagrā (‫)חגרא‬: BT, Yevamōt 116a tells of a man named ʿAnan bar Ḥiyyā
from Ḥagrā, who spent some time in Nehardea. The text does not specify
what ʿAnan’s purpose in Nehardea was; it mentions him only in regard to the
bill of divorce that he sent his wife. Krauss claims that the word Ḥagrā is actu-
ally a corruption of Ḥaqrā, a fort.21 His opinion recurs in Mazar’s argument,
16 Bar-Ilan 1991: 107 n.28.
17 Albeck 1958: 273.
18 Davies 1972: 157–158, 159 n.1.
19 Cf. Hirschberg 2007: 2:294.
20 Goodblatt 1995: 17–18, 20–21, 24.
21 Krauss 1899: 2:253.

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154 MAZUZ ANTIGUO ORIENTE

which, as we have seen, is futile. Goodblatt, who identifies ha-Ḥegger as al-

Ḥijr, states that the location of Ḥagrā in BT, Yevamōt 116a is not clear.22
Obermeyer suggests that Ḥagrā is actually an abbreviation of Hagrunia
(‫)הגרוניא‬, a suburb of Nehardea23 and Davies argues—on the basis of the con-
text, which describes an incident in Babylonia—that Obermeyer’s proposal of
Hagrunia seems more likely than a reference to al-Ḥijr.24 Oppenheimer notes
that Obermeyer may be right.25
The identification of Ḥagrā in BT, Yevamōt 116a as Hagrunia, however, is
groundless because the Talmud mentions this suburb specifically and by name
in several places. It seems to have been the home of no few sages, such as R.
Elʿazar ben Hagrunia (BT, ʿEirūvīn 63a; Bavā Meṣīʿā 69a; Taʿanīt 24b),
Avīmī of Hagrunia (BT, Bavā Batrā 174b; Bavā Meṣīʿā 77b, 97a; Ketūbōt
109b; Makkōt 13b; Yevamōt 64b), Samuel bar Abbā (BT, Bavā Qammā 88a),
R. Ḥilqiah (BT, Hōrayōt 8a; Yevamōt 9a), R. Yehuda (BT, ʿAvōda Zara 39a);
R. Ashī (BT, Sōṭa 46b) and R. Shīmī bar Ashī (BT, Berakhōt 31a).26 In addi-
tion, Rabbah bar bar Ḥannā mentions the Tower of Hagrunia as a metaphor
for something huge (BT, Bavā Batrā 73b).27
Goitein considers it unlikely that ʿAnan had come from al-Ḥijr, noting that
several places bear the name Ḥagrā but offering no examples. Since Goitein
states ad loc. that he consulted with Klein on a related issue,28 it would be
within the bounds of reason to argue that he followed his view regarding
Ḥagrā. Hirschberg notes that although several places are called Ḥagrā, some
references to them—he gives BT, Yevamōt 116a, as an example—undoubted-
ly refer to al-Ḥijr. He adds that al-Ḥijr was an important center in the first cen-
tury BCE and therefore was known in the Land of Israel and Babylonia.29
22 Goodblatt 1995: 20.
23 Obermeyer 1929: 266.
24 Davies 1972: 159 n.1.
25 Oppenheimer 1983: 138.

26 Idem.: 134–140.
27 The name Hagrunia may be a diminutive for Hegra, the Graeco-Roman version of al-Ḥijr,

akin to “Little Ḥagrā,” possibly indicating that Jews originally from Ḥagrā lived there and plau-
sibly explaining the purpose of ʿAnan bar Ḥiyyā’s stay in the vicinity of Nehardea. The pres-
ence of a man from Ḥagrā in Nehardea suggests that the Jews of these communities had some
form of relationship, by kinship or other. If this is the case, the Jews of northern Arabia were
not disconnected from Jewish communities outside Arabia. The person who reported the news
of ʿAnan’s stay in Nehardea presumably knew to identify him as someone from Ḥagrā and
thought it worth mentioning.
28 Goitein 1931: 411 n.7.
29 Hirschberg 2007: 2:294.

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Most scholars who discuss the subject indeed appear to identify Ḥagrā as al-
Ḥijr. Horovitz, for example, considers ʿAnan a “native” of al-Ḥijr.30 A series
of scholars in different disciplines also identify Ḥagrā as al-Ḥijr; examples are
Abel, Ben Zvi, Naveh, Preis, and Friedheim.31
(C) Ḥagrā of Arabia (‫)חגרא דערביא‬: On several occasions, some major sages
insert into their exegetics non-Hebrew words that were used in Arabia. For
example, Zeph. 1:17 reads: “And I will bring distress upon men, that they
shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and
their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their leḥumam ( ) as the
32
dung.” R. Isaac interprets the verse as speaking about the Israelites who
were killed pursuant to the sin of the golden calf and notes that their flesh was
“tossed aside like dung.” R. Levi supports this explanation by noting, “In
Arabia they call meat laḥmā” (‫ לחמא‬,‫)בערביא קורין לבשרא‬.33 Given that laḥm in
Arabic means meat, R. Levi’s recourse to the vernacular of Arabia for support
seems precise and reliable. This example and several others led some schol-
ars, such as Cohen, to assume that a Jewish colony had settled in northern
Arabia in the Talmudic era.34
One might get the impression that these sources refer to northern Arabia.
Hoyland states: “Since these statements mostly originate with Palestinian
authorities (tannaim and amoraim) of the first to fourth centuries CE, we
might suppose that they chiefly intend to southern Palestine and the
Transjordan, that is, the Nabataean heartlands and subsequently, after their
annexation in 105/106 CE, the Roman province of Arabia.” Thus, he adds in
regard to the presentation of such sources in support of the Talmudic refer-
ences to Arabia, “One suspects that that part of Arabia just across the Jordan
from Jerusalem is meant rather than faraway Hijaz [sic].” Still, Hoyland
admits that in some Rabbinic references to Arabia, “It cannot be doubted that
occasionally the southern-most reaches of Nabataea/Roman Arabia are
intended.” As an example, he mentions the visit by R. Ḥiyyā, R. Shimʿōn bar
Ḥalaftā, R. Shimʿōn, and Rabbah to “Ḥagrā of Arabia” to discover the mean-
ing of several Aramaic words that they had forgotten (Genesis Rabbah

30 Horovitz 1929: 170.

31 Abel 1938: 2:436; Ben Zvi 1960: 134; Naveh 1978: 181; Preis, 1977: 122; Friedheim 2000:
170 n.24.
32 Translation taken from The King James Bible.
33 Exodus Rabbah, 42:4. See further, Cohen 1912; Krauss 1916.

34 Idem.: 224.

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156 MAZUZ ANTIGUO ORIENTE

79:7).35 Oppenheimer also places Ḥagrā of Arabia in northern Arabia;36

Davies admits to uncertainty but notes that Ḥagrā of Arabia may be al-Ḥijr.37
While most scholars point in the direction of al-Ḥijr, Klein, based on his
misidentification of Reqem, argues that this is not so.38
R. Ḥiyyā, R. Shimʿōn bar Ḥalaftā, R. Shimʿōn, and Rabbah journey as far
as Ḥagrā of Arabia to rediscover the meaning of words that “they had forgot-
ten from the Targum.” The source of this information, however, does not
specify which Targum it was. Although much of Genesis Rabbah is in
Aramaic, they seem to have come to learn the meaning of words in Hebrew.
The text reports that a resident of the place told his friend, “Hang these
yahavā on me” (‫ ;)תלי הדין יהבא עלי‬from the context, they deduced the meaning
of yahav (“‫”השלך על ה’ יהבך והוא יכלכלך‬. Ps. 55:23), as a burden. The text then
describes additional situations in which the sages learned the meanings of
other words from listening to conversations there.
If so, these sages viewed the inhabitants of Ḥagrā of Arabia (some of
whom were probably Jewish) as having preserved the authentic meaning of
Biblical words, at a time when sages in the Land of Israel struggled to under-
stand Biblical texts in their original language. Therefore, when a Jewish
source states that “in Arabia they refer to such-and-such as so-and-so,” it is
very likely that it does refer to the Ḥijāz, where, as stated, Jews cognizant of
Hebrew dwelled.39 This insight is of immense importance for our discussion;
it shows that the references to northern Arabia in early Rabbinic sources are
not as few as is widely assumed.
BT, Roʾsh ha-Shana 26b and BT, Megīlla remark that the sages did not
understand Ps. 55:23 because they found it difficult to explain the word
yahav. Rabbah bar bar Ḥannā solved the problem with an anecdote: “One day
I walked with one Ṭayyaʿā while carrying a burden and he told me take
yahavkha and throw it onto my camel” (,‫יומא חד הוה אזלינא בהדי ההוא טייעא‬
‫ ואמר לי שקול יהבך ושדי אגמלאי‬,‫)הוה דרינא טונא‬. The word Ṭayyaʿey (sg. Ṭayyaʿā)
in the Talmud refers to Bedouin, especially those in the vicinity of Iraq, and
is a generic term for Arabs in Syriac sources.40 It is not clear, however, where
35 Hoyland 2011: 92.
36 Oppenheimer 1993: 21.
37 Davies 1972: 158 n.3.
38 Klein 1929: 23.

39 A recent work suggests that the Jews of northern Arabia used Judaeo-Arabic as early as the

fourth century CE and that the earliest examples of the Arabic language were written in the
Hebrew alphabet by Arabian Jews. See Hopkins 2009.
40 Shahîd 2000: 402.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE NORTHERN ARABIA AND ITS JEWRY IN EARLY RABBINIC SOURCES 157

Rabbah bar bar Ḥannā’s epiphany had taken place.41 Still, the sages again
used the Arabs’ language (the identity of the language not being clear) to
explain a Biblical word. This raises an important question: why would a
major sage such as Rabbah bar bar Ḥannā need to learn the meaning of a word
in Hebrew from a non-Jew? The question remains moot.
In Arabic sources, the Ṭayyaʿey are known as the Banū Ṭayyiʾ, a large tribe
originally from northern Arabia that was one of the first Arab tribes to reach
the Land of Israel. Eventually, it split into several branches that still exist
today. Interestingly, Islamic sources state that one of the Banū Ṭayyiʾ married
a woman from the Banū al-Naḍīr, one of the Jewish tribes in Medina, and
their son Kaʿb b. al-Ashraf was one the leaders of the tribe.42 It is very likely
that his father converted to Judaism.43 Was the Ṭayyaʿā from whom Rabbah
bar bar Ḥannā learned the meaning of yahav a convert? There is no telling,
but such a hypothesis would explain why he would trust the man’s explana-
tion. When one takes into account the large extent of conversion to Judaism
among pre-Islamic Arab tribes, it seems quite likely.44
(D) Hegra (‫)הגרה‬: Ḥagrā is also mentioned in Num. Rabbah 13:2, this time
in its Greek version, Hegra. The text reads:

An alternative [interpretation]: “Awaken O North” [Songs.

4:16] shows that the winds will be jealous of each other. The
southerly wind says: I bring the exile from Yemen and the exile
from Hegra and all of the south, and the northerly wind says: I
bring the northern exile. The Omnipresent ordains peace
between them and they enter through one entrance, to fulfill
what is written: “I will say to the north, Give up; and to the
south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far etc. [Is. 43:6].”

41 It seems that Rabbah bar bar Ḥannā had many encounters with Ṭayyaʿey in different situa-
tions. See further, Baer 2007; Kiperwasser 2008.
42 Ibn Hishām 1987: 3:12–17.
43 On Arabs converting to Judaism due to their marriage with Jewish women, see Lecker 1987:

17–18; Mazuz 2014: 44–45.

44 For a survey of primary sources from all Abrahamic faiths on the extent of proselytism in

Arabia, as well as secondary sources on the subject, see Gil, 1984; 1997 1:3–19; 2004: 3–19.
See further, Ben Zeʾev 1931: 29–31; Lecker 1995; Tobi 2012: 22, 26–27; Robin 2013.
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158 MAZUZ ANTIGUO ORIENTE

The text offers several insights. First, Hegra is not within the borders of the Land
of Israel; it is south of the country. Thus, any attempt to locate it at the north of
the Land of Israel is futile. Secondly, the text is a Midrash on Is. 43:6 and Songs.
4:16 that speaks of the end of the exile and the ingathering of Israel from the
Diaspora. It describes Yemen as the southernmost point of the exile and then
refers to Hegra and then all of the south, meaning that Hegra cannot be anywhere
close to the border of the Land of Israel. Accordingly, it must be located between
Yemen and the territories to the south of the Land of Israel, more or less corre-
sponding to al-Ḥijr. Therefore, it is to this place that the text refers. Thirdly, it
suggests that in the eyes of the Midrash there was a Jewish settlement in Hegra.45
Apart from the confusion regarding Ḥagrā and the mistakes in making
deductions about it, some scholars have overlooked several points of rele-
vance to the discussion: (1) The academic literature has not pinpointed the
location of Ḥagrā in Rabbinic sources thus far; even Klein’s suggestion is
vague. (2) Ha-Ḥegger is actually the Hebrew rendering of al-Ḥijr. (3) The def-
inite article preceding the word Ḥegger in the Mishna suggests that this is a
generic name for several settled localities. Al-Ḥijr is also known as Madāʾin
Ṣāliḥ, i.e., the cities of Ṣāliḥ, a Qurʾānic figure, meaning that it was not only
one settlement but many. (4) The Arabic root ḥ.j.r. indeed denotes preven-
tion/obstruction, but walls and fortifications were not unusual in Arabia.
Islamic sources describe forts such as al-Ablaq of the Jewish king of Taymāʾ
al-Samawʾal b. ʿĀdiyā and of the Jews of Medina and Khaybar.46 (5) Reqem
has been identified as Petra, the famous “twin” of al-Ḥijr among the
Nabataean settlements. Thus, when Ḥegger is mentioned in proximity to
Reqem, it is very likely that it is indeed al-Ḥijr.

TEIMA

Hoyland argues: “The only contender for a rabbi from the north Arabian
Peninsula (as opposed to the Roman province of Arabia and Iranian province
45 This argument is supported by epigraphic evidence from al-Ḥijr, such as Jewish inscriptions
dating back to the first century CE. See CIS II/I: 257 (no. 219); Jaussen and Savignac 1909:
148–149 (Nab. no. 4), 242 (Nab. no. 172 bis); Horovitz 1929: 170–171; CII 2:344 (no. 1422);
Altheim and Stiehl 1968: 305–310, 500–501; Stiehl 1970; Hirschberg 1975: 144–147; Noja
1979: 289–293; Healey 1989; Graf 2001: 268; Hoyland 2011: 93–97, 99; Robin 2014: 58.
These findings, although few, argue in support of a strong Jewish presence there. (One should
not expect to find many written findings, since oral transmission was the norm at that time and
in that culture. See Macdonald 2010).
46 See Hirschberg 1946: 184–186; Tobi 2012: 35–37.

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of Beth Arabaye) is a certain Simeon the Temanite/Taymanite (championed

by Torrey, Jewish Foundation, “lecture 2”), though even this is unsure inas-
much as the adjective could refer to the Edomite city (or district) of Teman
(Petra area).”47 Klein traces Shimʿōn’s provenance to Timnah.48 Shimʿōn ha-
Teimanī/Taymanī/Tīmnī (‫ )שמעון התימני‬is a Tanna who lived between the first
and second centuries CE. His name suggests that he is from Yemen (‫)תימן‬,
Teima (‫)תימא‬, Timnah (‫ )תמנה‬in the Judean foothills, or Timnaʿ (‫ )תמנע‬in the
southern ʿArabah. Horovitz claims that he was “probably a native of
Teima.”49 Three Nabataean inscriptions may support this view, since they use
a term that resembles Teimanī/Taymanī/Tīmnī to denote people from
Teima—Teimaniyā/Taymaniyā/Tīmniyā (‫ )תימניא‬in reference to a man from
this location and Teimanītā/Taymanitā/Tīmnītā (‫ )תימניתא‬in regard to a woman
from there.50
While it is possible to debate Shimʿōn ha-Teimanī/Taymanī/Tīmnī’s ori-
gin, there are two Tannaim who definitely come from the Ḥijāz: The first is
Yehuda ben Teima,51 “son of Teima,” a place that had a strong Jewish pres-
ence in the Talmudic period.52 The second is Yehuda ben Ḥagrā,53 “son of
Ḥagrā,” which, as we have seen, is al-Ḥijr. Teima and Ḥagrā are proximate
settlements in northern Arabia. This may suggest that a number of Jewish
sages was present in that area. Support for this comes from an inscription
from al-ʿUlā that states: “Blessing to ʿAṭūr son of Menaḥem and Rabbi
Yirmiah” (‫)ברכה לעטור בר מנחם ורב ירמיה‬.54 Given that four major sages such as
R. Ḥiyyā, R. Shimʿōn bar Ḥalaftā, R. Shimʿōn, and Rabbah took the trouble
of traveling to that vicinity to learn the meaning of Biblical words from the
locals, it definitely seems possible.

47 Hoyland 2011: 111 n.48.

48 Klein 1939b 1:157.
49 Horovitz 1929: 172.

50 Doughty 1884: 47 (no. 13); Euting 1885: 33 (no. 4), 40 (no. 8), 63–64 (no. 22); CIS II/I: 227–

228 (no. 199), 235–236 (no. 205); Jaussen and Savignac 1909: 141 (Nab. no. 1), 162–163
(Nab. no. 12).
51 E.g., Mishna, Avōt 5:18; JT, ʿEirūvīn 13a (1:10); JT, Mōʿed Qaṭan 18a (3:7).
52 See Hirschberg 1946: 134–135; Altheim and Stiehl 1968: 305–310, 500–501; Stiehl 1970;

Hirschberg 1975: 146–147; Noja 1979: 291–293; Chiesa 1994a: 167–168, 193–194; 1994b:
167–168, 195; Al-Najem and Macdonald 2009; Tobi 2012: 35; Robin 2014: 58.
53 JT, Peʾah 24a (4:7); JT, Ketūbōt 4b (1:3).
54 Winnett and Reed 1970: 163 (by J.T. Milik). In an inscription from Teima published by

Altheim and Stiehl (1968: 310), the word ḥb[r’, appears. Both scholars assume that the term

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160 MAZUZ ANTIGUO ORIENTE

The Hebrew word ben (and its Aramaic cognate, bar) denotes not only the
son of a father but also the son of a birthplace. The Mishna (ʿEduyyōt 7:8–9),
for example, mentions Mehaḥem ben Sagnā, Sagnā being a city in the
Galilee;55 Yōḥanan ben Gudgoda hailed from an eponymous location men-
tioned in Deut. 10:6–7, near Yotvata. The aforementioned R. Elʿazar ben
Hagrunia (BT, ʿEiruvīn 63a; Bavā Meṣīʿā 69a; Taʿanīt 24b) is another case in
point. An inscription from al-ʿUlā, apparently from the fourth century CE,
mentions ʿAbday bar Teima (‫)עבדי בר תימא‬, i.e., ʿAbday of Teima.56 A related
locution is ben ha-maqōm, a son of the place, i.e., a local person. This use also
occurs in the plural, as in bnei Yerushalaim, sons of Jerusalem.

ARAB PROSELYTES

Yehuda ben Ḥagrā is mentioned only twice in the Talmud. One reference
appears in a discussion about whether a proselyte must observe the command-
ment of leqeṭ,57 in which the poor are allowed to glean grain that drops in the
course of a harvest. Many references to Yehuda ben Teima occur in the con-
text of laws pertaining to divorce outside the Land of Israel.58 Such informa-
tion suggests that these sages had to solve situations related to these subjects,
i.e., that Yehuda ben Ḥagrā had converts in his milieu and that Yehuda ben
Teima was asked about divorce laws outside the Land of Israel, probably by
Jews from the Diaspora, perhaps from Teima, or by Jews from the Land of
Israel who married them.
Interestingly, two reports about the Banū Balī from Islamic sources sup-
port the hypothesis that Yehuda ben Ḥagrā had converts in his milieu.
According to the Muslim geographer Yāqūt (1179–1229 CE), one branch of
the Balī lived in al-Ḥijr.59 This information is important because the members
of this branch may have been proselytes. This possibility is based on the writ-
ings of another Muslim geographer, al-Bakrī (d. 1094 CE), according to

denotes a ḥaver, a Jewish term that denotes a Pharisee, a believer in the oral tradition and a
Jewish sage. Noja (1979: 296) disagrees. On the term ḥabr, see further, Nehmé 2005–2006:
197–198; Mazuz 2014: 21–23.
55 See further, Klein 1939a: 231–232.

56 Euting 1885: 71 (no. 30); CIS II/I: 298 (no. 333); Huber 1891: 395 (no. 5).
57 JT, Peʾah 24a (4:7).
58 Tōseftā, Giṭṭīn 5:13; JT, Nazīr 7a (2:4); BT, Bavā Meṣīʿā 94a; BT, Giṭṭīn 84a.
59 Yāqūt 1990: 4:81.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE NORTHERN ARABIA AND ITS JEWRY IN EARLY RABBINIC SOURCES 161

which many of the Balī converted to Judaism when they reached Taymāʾ
because the Jews there had made this a condition for their settlement there.60
The Jewish presence in Taymāʾ was so dominant that Islamic sources called
it “Taymāʾ of the Jew” ( ).61 Given the proximity of these settle-
ments, those of the Balī who settled in al-Ḥijr, another locality with a strong
Jewish presence, may have converted too.
Let us return to Mishna Giṭṭīn 1:1, which treats a person who delivers a
bill of divorce from ha-Reqem and ha-Ḥegger as one who has delivered it
from overseas; i.e., he must declare that it had been written and signed before
him. This wording demonstrates that Jewish settlement existed at that time at
least as far as ha-Ḥegger, i.e., al-Ḥijr. Theoretically, it is also possible that
some Jews from the Land of Israel were married to inhabitants of ha-Reqem
and ha-Ḥegger; this might explain why a bill of divorce would be sent from
there. But why must a courier who delivers such a document from ha-Reqem
and ha-Ḥegger declare that it had been written and signed before him? The
apparent answer is that some people in Reqem (and therefore, most likely,
also in Ḥegger) were proselytes and thus were not well versed in the laws. The
Mishna (Nīdda 7:3) implies as much: “All stains from Reqem are pure and R.
Yehuda pronounces them impure because they are proselytes and mistaken.”
Jews in the Land of Israel and those in Ḥegger/Ḥagrā appear to have main-
tained a bilateral relationship: the former learned the meaning of Biblical
words from the latter; the latter consulted them on bills of divorce and, per-
haps, menstrual laws, two highly sensitive areas of Halakha. Such relations
may support the view that the Jews of northern Arabia absorbed teachings
from the Land of Israel and were Talmudic.62 These findings challenge argu-
ments about shallow Jewish culture due to the absence of contact with Jewish
communities outside Arabia and proselyte background, although proselytes
were common in northern Arabia.

CONCLUSION

The concept of Arabia in Rabbinic sources includes the Ḥijāz. This alone
allows us to broaden the use of Jewish sources to gain insights into north
Arabian Jewry. The discussion focused on references to al-Ḥijr and Taymāʾ in
60 al-Bakrī 1876–1877: 1:21. See further, Hirschberg 1946: 116–117.
61 E.g., Yāqūt 1990: 2:78.
62 See Kister and Kister 1980; Mazuz 2014.

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162 MAZUZ ANTIGUO ORIENTE

the Mishna, the Talmuds, and the Midrashim. The investigation of this mate-
rial showed that it accommodates more than was known so far about the north
Arabian Jews’ religious life and their relations with religious authorities in the
Land of Israel, irrespective of the extent of proselytism among them.
This discussion addressed only several references to north Arabian Jews in
Rabbinic sources. The potential of the material there and the insights that may
be produced from them are far from being exploited. Scholars should accept
the challenge and develop a new and extensive discussion on the Rabbinic
material and even offer new methodologies for analyzing it.63 By investigat-
ing all the information that appears in the Rabbinic literature and reading the
sources closely, one may draw far-reaching conclusions about north Arabian
Jewry. Costa’s recent article attempts to head in this direction, sending an
excellent message and promoting research.64 This subject is highly important
for several disciplines other than Jewish studies, such as Late Antiquity and
Early Islam. Interdisciplinary collaboration would surely yield abundant fruit.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank the anonymous readers of this article, as well as

Professors Michael Lecker, José Costa, and Reuven Amitai for their invalu-
able comments and assistance.

ABBREVIATIONS

CII 2 = Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaicarum: Recueil des inscriptions juives qui

vont du IIIe siècle avant Jésus-Christ au VIIe siècle de notre ère, vol. 2: Asie
– Afrique. 1952. Edited by J.B. FREY, Città del Vaticano: Pontificio Istituto di
Archeologia Cristiana.
CIS II/I = Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum II/I: Inscriptions Aramaicas
Continens. 1889. Paris: n.p.
The King James Bible = The King James Version of the English Bible: An
Account of the Development and Sources of the English Bible of 1611 with
Special References to Hebrew Tradition. Chicago: The University of Chicago
Press, 1941.
63 An example is my recent work on the religious and spiritual life of the Jews of Medina, in
which I identify Talmudic elements in the Islamic descriptions of these Jews. See Mazuz 2014.
64 See Costa 2015.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE NORTHERN ARABIA AND ITS JEWRY IN EARLY RABBINIC SOURCES 163

Yāqūt = AL-ḤAMAWĪ AL-RŪMĪ AL-BAGHDĀDĪ, Y. 1990. Muʿjam al-Buldān. 7

Vols. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya.

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07 Waters Can I have_Antiguo Oriente 27/06/2016 12:51 p.m. Página 169

CAN I HAVE A WORD?: METHODS OF

COMMUNICATION IN JUDGES 6*

JAIME L. WATERS
jwater11@[Link]
DePaul University
Chicago, Illinois, USA

Abstract: Can I Have a Word?: Methods of Communication in Judges 6

Human-divine communication takes on many forms in the Hebrew Bible. From dre-
ams and prophetic visions to spoken oracles, there are a variety of depictions of com-
munication between humans and the divine. Judges 6 fits within the body of passages
in which communication is of vital importance; the chapter focuses on the divine call
of Gideon and his response. What precipitates this call is invasion and attacks on
resources. Judges 6 begins with Israel encountering Midianites, Amalekites, and other
unnamed groups. Israel’s livelihood is compromised because its agricultural activities
and produce are disrupted by outside attacks. In the midst of these conflicts, Gideon
is commissioned by Yahweh to provide needed relief. An uncertain agriculturalist tur-
ned warrior, Gideon has two divine encounters before going to battle—one on a wine
press and another on a threshing floor. In these encounters, Yahweh communicates via
agrarian products and the natural environment, namely the world surrounding Gideon
is used to deliver divine messages and approval for war. This article examines these
methods of communication using principles of ecological hermeneutics.
Keywords: Communication – Agrarian space – Ecological Hermeneutics – Gideon
Resumen: ¿Puedo decir algo?: métodos de comunicación en Jueces 6
La comunicación hombre-divinidad toma diferentes formas en la Biblia hebrea.
Desde sueños y visiones proféticas a oráculos hablados, hay una variedad de repre-
sentaciones de comunicación entre humanos y lo divino. Jueces 6 encaja en el cuerpo
de pasajes en el cual la comunicación es de vital importancia; el capítulo se centra en
la llamada divina de Gedeón y su respuesta. Lo que precipita esta llamada es la inva-
sión y los ataques de los recursos. Jueces 6 comienza con Israel enfrentándose a los
madianitas, amalecitas y otros grupos sin nombres. El modo de vida israelita está
comprometido porque sus actividades y producción agrícola son interrumpidas por

Article received: November 2nd 2015; approved: January 29th 2016.

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170 WATERS ANTIGUO ORIENTE

los ataques externos. En el medio de estos conflictos, Gedeón es comisionado por

Yahvé para proveer el alivio necesario. Un incierto agricultor convertido en guerrero,
Gedeón tiene dos encargos divinos antes de ir a la batalla—uno en una prensa de vino
y el otro en un piso para trillar las cosechas. En estos encuentros antes de ir a la bata-
lla, Yahvé se comunica mediante productos agrarios y el ambiente natural, a saber, el
mundo que rodeaba a Gedeón es utilizado para entregar mensajes divinos y la apro-
bación para la guerra. Este artículo examina estos métodos de comunicación usando
los principios de la hermenéutica ecológica.
Palabras clave: Comunicación – Espacio agrario – Hermenéutica ecológica –
Gedeón

INTRODUCTION

Judges 61 is a chapter filled with foreign invaders, divine intervention, mira-

culous signs, and human actions. In the midst of all of this, Gideon emerges
as an uncertain and insecure agriculturalist who is commissioned by God to
save Israel from years of attack. Much of Judges 6 hinges on human-divine
communication, as Gideon has direct and indirect divine encounters before
going to war. In each of these instances, the biblical author2 utilizes agrarian
elements and spaces and the natural environment to depict divine communi-
cation and approval. On the surface, the use of agriculture and nature may
seem predictable considering ancient Israel was an agrarian society.
Naturally, agrarian items and spaces were ubiquitous in the region. Yet, within
the call of Gideon there is a prevalence of agricultural and natural elements
that serves a purpose beyond the ordinary: the rationale behind Gideon’s call
is an attack on agriculture; Gideon performs agricultural work during his first
divine encounter; two agrarian spaces are the settings for Gideon’s divine
1 The book of Judges contains narratives focused on premonarchic Israel. Many of the stories

are legends that may come from the Northern Kingdom before its fall in the eighth century
BCE. Judges is within the Deuteronomistic History (Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, 1–2
Samuel, 1–2 Kings) and reflects Deuteronomistic ideology. Judges also contains less formali-
zed religious practices, such as the rituals described in chapter six.
2 Like many biblical texts, the Gideon narratives reflect a complex compositional history where

multiple oral and written sources have been combined together, likely with more than one
author and redactor. Evidence within the text suggests multiple traditions have been combined
together (e.g. Two names are used for Gideon throughout Judges 6–8, Gideon and Jerubbaal).
Martin Noth notes the composite nature of the Gideon narratives with various elements and tra-
ditions incorporated together with a Deuteronomistic introduction, style, and formulae. See
Noth 1981: 45–46.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE CAN I HAVE A WORD?: METHODS OF COMMUNICATIONES IN JUDGES 6 171

encounters; Yahweh uses agrarian and natural elements when communicating

with Gideon. The mere presence of agriculture and nature is not surprising,
but the manner in which these elements are utilized in the call of Gideon is
noteworthy. To more precisely understand these aspects of the narrative,
select principles of ecological hermeneutics will help shed a new light on
communication in Judges 6.

ECOLOGICAL HERMENEUTICS

There has been growing interest in recognizing and uncovering the relations-
hip between biblical interpretation and ecological issues.3 The work of
Norman C. Habel has been especially influential to scholars seeking a metho-
dology for doing ecological hermeneutics with an intended goal of recovering
the lost voice of the Earth in the Bible. Habel4 proposes a threefold methodo-
logy (suspicion-identification-retrieval) for achieving an ecological herme-
neutic. He rightly notes that in many studies of biblical passages, the land,
resources, and non-human elements are forgotten or overlooked. To resist this
tendency, he recommends an acceptance of a necessary suspicion that a text
is likely anthropocentric or that it has traditionally been read with an anthro-
pocentric lens that might bias interpretation. He asserts a need for identifica-
tion of the non-human elements of a passage to raise awareness of the Earth5
within it. Once these elements have been identified, a retrieval of the lost
voice of the Earth is possible.6 There are certainly merits and successful uses
of this model. This schema can advance a critical study of ecology in biblical
passages while also attempting to articulate the perspective of the Earth.7
Although there are passages where this methodology is effective, not all texts

3 There have been several interdisciplinary works published in the 2000s that have sought to
address these topics. Recent publications include Habel and Trudinger 2008; Horrell, Hunt,
Southgate, and Stavrakopoulou 2010; Trainor 2012; Clingerman, Treanor, Drenthen, and
Utsler 2013.
4 Much of the work in developing standards and methods for ecological hermeneutics has been

a collaboration of scholars. Habel is highlighted here, but many others are acknowledged in his
works, in particular scholars who participated in the SBL Consultation for Ecological
Hermeneutics (2004–2006) and scholars active in The Earth Bible Project.
5 Earth refers to the entire ecosystem including the natural environment and its non-human

constituents.
6 Habel 2008: 4–5.

7 Examples of successful studies include Miller 2008: 123–130 and Turner 2008: 113–122.

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172 WATERS ANTIGUO ORIENTE

fit easily in this framework. For instance, sometimes the non-human elements
of a narrative are only minimally mentioned and an inquiry would not produ-
ce an adequate analysis of the text. Similarly, sometimes there are overt refe-
rences to ecological elements, yet the passage is anthropocentric in its focus.
Judges 6 fits within the latter category. The interest within the narrative is
anthropocentric, but the presence of the Earth is palpable, not for its own sake
but for how it is affected by and contributes to humanity. On the surface, my
study may not clearly align with ecological hermeneutics since it does not
seek to reclaim the lost voice of the Earth. However, my study does provide
a meaningful adaptation of this methodology by using it to evaluate a text that
has a significant amount of ecological content but with an anthropocentric
and theocentric focus. Such a text is not a typical candidate for ecological her-
meneutics, but this article will push the boundaries of this methodology to test
whether it can shed light on ecologically packed passages. Similarly, there are
additional ecological principles that will assist in analyzing texts where eco-
logy figures prominently, as in Judges 6.
Beyond the threefold model, Habel also articulates six principles that can
guide an exploration of ecology and the Bible. As noted above, these princi-
ples “were refined in consultations and workshops concerned with ecology in
general, and ecological concerns linked to theology and the Bible more spe-
cifically.”8 Principles 1 and 3 highlight the intrinsic value of the Earth and the
need to celebrate the Earth’s voice. Principles 5 and 6 highlight the mutual
relationship between all members of the Earth community and the need to
resist human injustices. Principles 2 and 4 are informative to this study of
Judges 6, as these concepts can be detected within the narrative:
“The principle of interconnectedness [Principle 2]: Earth is a
community of interconnected living things that are mutually
dependent on each other for life and survival…
The principle of purpose [Principle 4]: The universe, Earth
and all its components are part of a dynamic cosmic design
with which each piece has a place in the overall goal of that
design.”9

8Habel 2008: 2.
9Habel 2008: 2. For more discussion of the principles of ecojustice, see The Earth Bible Team
2000: 38–53.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE CAN I HAVE A WORD?: METHODS OF COMMUNICATIONES IN JUDGES 6 173

Principle 2 stresses that members of the Earth community are allies with one
another. An implicit assumption is that there is a need for solidarity amongst
all living things since the community benefits and suffers on account of
others. Principle 4 elaborates on this by emphasizing that all things play a role
in promoting and sustaining the universe. The author of Judges 6 strategically
uses Gideon’s environment as a tool for communication, and these two
underlying principles can be detected within the narrative.
Guided by these ecological principles, this study of communication in
Judges 6 will also have an intentional agrarian lens. Doing an agrarian reading
does not involve following a formal framework but instead calls for a delibe-
rate agricultural attentiveness. On the subject of agrarian reading, Ellen Davis
aptly notes it is not a formal hermeneutic but instead, “it is a mind-set, a
whole set of understandings, commitments, and practices that focus on the
most basic of all cultural acts—eating.”10 In the discussion that follows, eco-
logical principles along with an intentional agrarian emphasis will contextua-
lize this analysis of Judges 6. Ecological elements, natural and built environ-
ments, and agrarian, food-centered activities play a significant role in the
human-divine communication in Judges 6. Both the environment and agricul-
ture facilitate how Yahweh calls Gideon and how Gideon responds. Right at
the beginning of Judges 6, the rationale behind this ecologically packed chap-
ter is the destruction of natural resources and food sources which sets the tone
for the exchange.

ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION (JUDGES 6:1–10)

Prior to the call of Gideon, the land of Israel is under attack. Judges 6 descri-
bes Israel dealing with encroachments from the Midianites, Amalekites, and
other unnamed peoples from the east. In Judges 6:5, these groups are said to
infiltrate and destroy the natural environment:
“For, they came up with their livestock, and they brought their tents like a swarm
of locusts; neither they nor their camels could be counted; so they wasted the
land as they came.”
‫כי הם ומקניהם יעלו ואהליהם יבאו כדי־ארבה לרב ולהם ולגמליהם אין מספר ויבאו בארץ לשחתה‬

10 Davis 2009: 22.

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174 WATERS ANTIGUO ORIENTE

The arrival of these outside groups destabilizes the Israelite community who
is dependent upon the land. Poetically, the presence of these unwanted groups
is compared to a swarm of locusts, an event that brings chaos and destruction.
More specifically, locusts are plant-eating animals that feed on vegetation,
which is exactly what the invaders are doing. The mention of locusts also
recalls the plague of locusts in Egypt that destroys the land, in particular trees
and fields (Exod 10:3–6). The author figuratively compares the human actors
to natural animal actions and both result in land degradation.
To further weaken the land and the community, these groups tamper with
the Israelite food supply by obstructing the planting of seeds and taking away
Israel’s livestock (Judg 6:3–4). Both acts take away sustenance, cause instabi-
lity, and can lead to famine. Attacking the agrarian processes and products ser-
ves to debilitate Israelite society by seizing its food, an effective military tactic
employed especially when laying siege to an area. These outside groups are
vying for possession of this area, and they claim land and interrupt agriculture
as a means to gain control. In this context, the land and its products appear to
be like pawns in the struggle between Israel and these outside groups.
The text specifies that these attacks on the natural environment and agri-
cultural activities are not happenstance. Rather, Yahweh causes these actions
on account of Israel’s worship of foreign gods (Judg 6:9–10). Because of
Israelite infidelity, their land, resources, and food supply suffer as Yahweh
gives Israel into the hand of Midian for seven years (Judg 6:1b). The oppres-
sion that the Israelites experience is because of their actions, yet the people
do not suffer alone. For seven years, the land is an explicit victim of Israel’s
unfaithful behavior. Yahweh communicates dissatisfaction with Israelite
apostasy not by verbally scolding their behavior, but instead by taking away
their environmental and agrarian resources.
The ecological principle of interconnectedness [Principle 2] provides
added dimension to what is being described in Judges 6:1–6. One of the foun-
dational principles of ecological discourse is the emphasis on the reciprocal
relationship between humanity and the environment. The principle suggests
that humanity’s actions can have positive or negative effects on the Earth. At
the beginning of Judges 6, the author articulates this principle of interconnec-
tedness in a theologically charged manner for his Israelite community.
Apparently, it is not just how the Israelites treat the Earth that can have an
impact on it. Instead, how the Israelites relate to Yahweh and how well they
follow divine commands also impacts the land. So interconnected are Israel,

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE CAN I HAVE A WORD?: METHODS OF COMMUNICATIONES IN JUDGES 6 175

the land (which is a divine gift),11 and Yahweh that disobedience to Yahweh
can result in the land suffering on account of Israel. The suffering of the land
causes Israel to suffer from lack of food.
This symbiotic relationship continues with Israel’s response to the attacks.
Israel reacts by hiding in the caves, mountains, and strongholds, taking refuge
in the land that is under attack (Judges 6:2). While a victim of Israel’s infide-
lity, the land still serves as a safe haven with natural buffers to keep the foreig-
ners at a distance. In this action, the interconnectedness is highlighted not just
because the land suffers, but also because the Israelites must rely on the land
for their life and survival.
After seeking refuge within the land, Israel cries out to Yahweh for relief,
and Yahweh’s response is twofold and highlights both land and agriculture.
First, Yahweh sends an unnamed prophet to summarize the salvific event of
the exodus from Egypt. The reference to the exodus is to remind the Israelites
that they were liberated by Yahweh from a land of oppression, and they have
been given a promised land that is a tangible reminder of their covenantal
relationship with Yahweh. The prophet reiterates that the land that enables
Israel to survive and thrive comes with specific requirements, namely the
faithful worship of Yahweh alone. Moreover, following divine law is essential
to maintaining the sustainability of that land. Israel’s land and its produce are
divine gifts that come with contingencies, and if Yahweh is displeased with
Israelite behavior, the land can be used to reflect divine disapproval. In addi-
tion to the prophet, Yahweh also responds to their pleas by calling Gideon to
lead a military campaign against Midian. As much of the Midianite oppres-
sion occurred as an attack on the agriculture, similarly, this second divine res-
ponse is couched in agrarian terms.

CALL OF GIDEON AT THE WINEPRESS (JUDGES 6:11–24)

In Judges 6:11–24, Yahweh commissions Gideon to lead the militaristic res-

ponse to the invaders. When Gideon has his first experience of the divine, he
is portrayed engaging in agricultural activities on an agrarian space: He thres-
hes wheat at a wine press. Threshing is the act of beating or hitting crop stalks
to release grains. Typically, threshing would be performed on a threshing floor;
11The gift of land is stated in the patriarchal stories (Gen 15:18–21, 28:13) and after the exodus
(Exod 23:31). Within the Deuteronomistic History, the land is highlighted as a divine gift pro-
mised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Deut 1:8).
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176 WATERS ANTIGUO ORIENTE

however, Gideon shrewdly uses the wine press in order to keep the crops away
from the Midianites who are targeting agrarian products. A wine press is a built
agrarian space used for pressing fruit to extract juice to be fermented to make
wine. Here it acts as a refuge to protect grain from being stolen.
While Gideon is engaged in agricultural work, an angel of Yahweh12 appe-
ars and is positioned in relation to the natural environment. For example, the
angel is described as sitting on a rock that is under a nearby oak tree near the
wine press. The specificity of the location of the angel heightens the interest
in the environment that is palpable in the narrative. Similarly, the angel com-
municates with Gideon in close proximity to his agricultural work.
The angel tells Gideon that he will lead the campaign against the Midianite
incursions in the land, as Yahweh will deliver Midian into his hand. Like other
biblical figures, Gideon first resists this assignment.13 He explains he is from
the smallest tribe, Manasseh, and is not strong enough or worthy of the task.
Likewise, Gideon expresses reluctance and uncertainty about the mission
itself, and he requests a sign to confirm that it is in fact a legitimate, divine
message. The angel acquiesces to communicate the validity of the task by per-
forming a sign using food.
Judges 6:19 describes Gideon retrieving the offerings to present to the
angel:
“So Gideon went and prepared a kid and unleavened bread from an
ephah of flour; the meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in
a pot, and brought them to him under the oak and presented them.”
‫וגדצון בא ויצש גדי־צזים ואפת־קמח מצות הבשר שם בסל והמרק בפךור‬
‫ויוצא אליו אל־תחת האלה ויגש‬
When Gideon returns to the wine press, the angel instructs him on how the
offering is to proceed. He tells Gideon to put the meat and bread on a rock, a
quasi altar, and pour the broth on top of them in the manner of a libation offe-
ring. Then, while holding his staff, the angel reaches out its tip and touches
the meat and bread, and fire springs up from the rock and consumes the food.
The angel then vanishes from Gideon’s sight. Having seen the fire and the
spectacular exit, Gideon realizes he was in the presence of Yahweh and is con-
fident in his mission, although his confidence wanes later in the narrative.
12In the narrative, this divine messenger is also called angel of God and Yahweh.
13Similar reluctance and uncertainty to being commissioned can be found in figures such as
Moses (Exod 3:7–4:17), Isaiah (Isa 6:1–8), and Jeremiah (Jer 1:4–10). For further discussion
of commissioning narratives, see Kutsch 1956: 75–84; Habel 1965: 297–323; Akao 1993: 1–11.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE CAN I HAVE A WORD?: METHODS OF COMMUNICATIONES IN JUDGES 6 177

This story of Gideon’s commissioning portrays non-human elements as

instruments of communication between Gideon and Yahweh. The agrarian
products—kid, unleavened bread, broth—are symbolic, valuable, and effecti-
ve. The goat is a sacrificial animal associated with atoning sins (cf. Lev
16:10). Its use here reflects the need to atone for Israel’s unfaithful behavior
that has caused the land, resources, and food supply to be compromised. The
selection of the goat shows that Israel is culpable for what has been happening
over seven years. The unleavened bread is an item often provided in grain
offerings. This product recalls the wheat-threshing that Gideon was doing at
the beginning of the pericope and represents divine gifts of food along with
the human creation of an edible foodstuff. The choice of unleavened bread is
also reminiscent of the exodus (cf. Exod 12) which was mentioned earlier in
the passage. The broth functions as a libation offering that is poured on these
items. The goat and bread are more expected in an offering, but oil or wine
would be a more typical libation offering. The use of broth could reflect the
dearth of resources at hand where oil and wine are unavailable. Alternatively,
if the broth is from the goat, this could reflect a sustainable practice of using
the maximum allowable parts of the animal so as not to waste. All of these
foodstuffs have been targeted during the invasions of the Midianites, so
Gideon is offering valuable items, particularly during a time of attack on the
food supply. His offering is an important step in restoring the food that is lac-
king in his community.
This story conveys aspects of the ecological principle of purpose
[Principle 4]. The components of the Earth are depicted as dynamic aspects
of cosmic design. More specifically in this text, the products of the Earth ena-
ble and enhance human-divine communication. The agrarian space and the
repeated mentions of nature amplify the interest in food and the environment.
The items utilized convey Gideon’s interests and also are symbolic of the
damaged relationship that exists between Israel and Yahweh. Even after the
food offerings are made, the divine response is not articulated orally, but ins-
tead occurs as a natural phenomenon. Fire appears as Gideon’s sign of the
validity of the command. Again, there is a need for Yahweh to convey infor-
mation and approval to Gideon, and when Gideon seeks a sign, agriculture
and the environment are instruments of communication.
After the angel disappears, Gideon becomes aware that he has just encoun-
tered Yahweh, and he is immediately afraid because he has seen the face of
Yahweh. Yahweh tells him not to fear and then sends him on his first act to
end the apostasy that has led to the trouble in the land.
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178 WATERS ANTIGUO ORIENTE

EXECUTION OF ORDERS (JUDGES 6:25–35)

After commissioning Gideon, Yahweh commands him to eliminate worship

of the gods Baal and Asherah. To accomplish this, Gideon is instructed to des-
troy an altar erected for Baal, cut down an Asherah pole, build an altar to
Yahweh, and offer a seven-year-old bull on it. In the middle of the night,
Gideon and ten of his servants complete these tasks. They use a bull to tear
down the Baal altar, an irony given Baal’s association with bull imagery. To
destroy the Asherah pole, they burn it as firewood for the offering to Yahweh.
This desecrates the pole while also repurposing the wood for a valid offering
to Yahweh. This shows the dynamic aspects of this item; even an illegitimate
cultic object can be reimagined and reused for proper Yahwistic worship. The
offering of a seven-year-old bull on the new altar shows the return to proper
Yahwistic worship, and the seven years coincides with the seven years of
oppression by the Midianites and the Amalekites.
After this important event to restore proper cultic activities, the focus
shifts back to the impending confrontation with the invading groups. The
groups have crossed the Jordan, have encamped in the Jezreel Valley, and are
readying themselves for battle. The specifics of where the groups are in rela-
tion to the hill country heighten the importance of the land within this narra-
tive, and there is a divine response to these advances. Yahweh fills Gideon
with a divine spirit that causes Gideon to sound a shofar to rally his troops.
This military action is the divine deliverance promised at the wine press.
Nonetheless, even though the divine spirit is within him, Gideon wavers again
and seeks to communicate with Yahweh once more. He still is not fully con-
fident in the success of his battle. Interestingly, he chooses another agrarian
space, a threshing floor, as the location for additional divine confirmation.

DIVINATION RITUAL ON THE THRESHING FLOOR (JUDGES 6:36–40)

At the end of Judges 6, Gideon goes to a threshing floor, the location where
crops are threshed or winnowed to collect grain. In addition to this agrarian
function, threshing floors are also associated with divine presence, control,
and blessings, a topic I have written on elsewhere.14 In Judges 6, Gideon does
not thresh at the threshing floor because he strategically uses the wine press

14 For an overview of these spaces, see Waters 2015: 1–14.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE CAN I HAVE A WORD?: METHODS OF COMMUNICATIONES IN JUDGES 6 179

to keep the crops away from the invaders. Instead, Gideon goes to the thres-
hing floor to communicate with Yahweh, and he uses the space, a fleece, and
dew as his supplies.
Gideon goes to the threshing floor to perform a divination ritual to receive
another sign that his battle will be successful. He waits until nighttime, the
optimal time for dewfall, and places an animal fleece on the threshing floor.
He asks Yahweh for dew to be formed on the fleece but not on the dry ground
of the threshing floor. In essence, Gideon asks Yahweh to make a natural occu-
rrence as a way to discern the divine will. If overnight dew forms only on the
fleece but not the threshing floor, then that will serve as confirmation of the
success of his battle. The following day Gideon inspects the fleece and finds
it soaked with dew (Judg 6:38b). This is the divine confirmation he sought, yet
again he makes another request. He asks for the sign to be reversed, with the
dew forming only on the ground and none on the fleece, and Yahweh complies
(Judges 6:40). Since fleece is absorbent, the lack of dew on it is exceptional.
Here, Yahweh has manipulated the dew to behave in an unnatural way as a
means to convey to Gideon that his battle will be successful.
Gideon’s request is for a display of divine control over the natural environ-
ment, and the biblical author affirms that Yahweh governs everything and can
use the Earth as needed. Yahweh does not only verbally deliver instructions but
can communicate divine intention via the environment. This is an instance of
components of the Earth (weather phenomenon, animal fleece, threshing floor)
being used in an alternative way for a greater purpose. It illustrates aspects of
Principle 4 regarding the larger purpose that all things can serve. In this narra-
tive, Gideon is aware that Yahweh can and will use agricultural and natural
components of the Earth in a dynamic way to communicate divine intention.

CONCLUSION

Comparing the two scenes on agrarian spaces provides a few key insights into
how communication works in the call of Gideon. On the wine press, the pri-
mary agent is Yahweh. It is his angel who appears and initiates the human-
divine exchange. Furthermore, though Gideon chooses the kid, bread, and
broth, it is the angel who tells him what to do in order to provide the sign he
seeks. The angel is also responsible for the appearance of fire and is closely
situated in relation to the natural environment. Gideon’s introduction high-
lights his agricultural roots that permeate the rest of his call narrative. On the
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180 WATERS ANTIGUO ORIENTE

threshing floor, the ritual that is performed highlights human agency at first.
Gideon selects the threshing floor, the fleece, and even instructs Yahweh on
how the ritual is to happen in order to reveal his intention. This is a reversal
of the first scenario where the angel instructs Gideon on the ritual, now
Gideon directs Yahweh on how this second ritual is to be performed to deter-
mine its effectiveness. In both cases, whether by divine or human agency,
agricultural spaces, food, and natural elements are effective in serving as
vehicles for communication in these ritual activities.
There is a beautiful metaphor and plan at work in Judges 6 that highlights
reciprocity. At the outset, Yahweh causes the land and agriculture to suffer on
account of human acts of disobedience, yet in the call of Gideon, these same
elements provide confirmation of divine deliverance to humanity. The Earth
is both affected by and effective for humans and the divine. The author skill-
fully uses the environment and agriculture as tangible communicative ele-
ments. Though Judges 6 appears to be anthropocentric and theocentric, it
showcases the Earth as the linchpin necessary for the outcomes of the narra-
tive. By reading Judges 6 with ecological and agrarian lenses, we obtain a
thought-provoking interpretation that elucidates the author’s mindset of the
interconnectedness between the environment, humanity, and the divine.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many thanks to my family, friends, writing group, colleagues, and teachers

for their valuable help, guidance, and support. Thanks also to my Spring 2015
DePaul students in CTH 248 for being great conversation partners.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

AKAO, J. 1993. “Biblical Call Narratives: An Investigation into the Underlying

Structures”. In: Ogbomoso Journal of Theology 8, pp. 1–11.
CLINGERMAN, F., B. TREANOR, M. DRENTHEN and D. UTSLER (eds.). 2013. Interpreting
Nature: The Emerging Field of Environmental Hermeneutics. New York,
Fordham University Press.
DAVIS, E. 2009. Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the
Bible. New York, Cambridge University Press.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE CAN I HAVE A WORD?: METHODS OF COMMUNICATIONES IN JUDGES 6 181

THE EARTH BIBLE TEAM. 2000. “Guiding Ecojustice Principles”. In: N.C. HABEL (ed.),
Reading from the Perspective of Earth: Earth Bible. Vol. 1. Sheffield, Sheffield
Academic Press, pp. 38–53.
HABEL, N.C., 1965. “The Form and Significance of the Call Narrative”. In: Zeitschrift
für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 77, pp. 297–323.
HABEL, N.C., 2008. “Introducing Ecological Hermeneutics”. In: N.C. HABEL and P.
TRUDINGER (eds.), Exploring Ecological Hermeneutics. Atlanta, Society of
Biblical Literature, pp. 1–8.
HABEL N.C. and P. TRUDINGER (eds.). 2008. Exploring Ecological Hermeneutics.
Atlanta, Society of Biblical Literature.
HORRELL, D., C. HUNT, C. SOUTHGATE and F. STAVRAKOPOULOU (eds.). 2010.
Ecological Hermeneutics: Biblical, Historical, and Theological Perspectives.
New York, T&T Clark International.
KUTSCH, E. 1956. “Gideons Berufung und Alterbau Jdc 6 11–24”. In: Theologische
Literaturzeitung 81, pp. 75–84.
MILLER, S. 2008. “The Descent of Darkness over the Land: Listening to the Voice of
Earth in Mark 15:33”. In: N.C. HABEL and P. TRUDINGER (eds.), Exploring
Ecological Hermeneutics. Atlanta, Society of Biblical Literature, pp. 123–130.
NOTH, M. 1981. The Deuteronomistic History. Sheffield, Journal for the Study of the
Old Testament Press.
TRAINOR, M. 2012. About Earth’s Child: An Ecological Listening to the Gospel of
Luke. Sheffield, Sheffield Phoenix Press.
TURNER, M. 2008. “The Spirit of Wisdom in All Things: The Mutuality of Earth and
Humankind”. In: N.C. HABEL and L.P. TRUDINGER (eds.), Exploring Ecological
Hermeneutics. Atlanta, Society of Biblical Literature, pp. 113–122.
WATERS, J. 2015. Threshing Floors in Ancient Israel: Their Ritual and Symbolic
Significance. Minneapolis, Fortress Press.

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NARROW BASE DIPPER JUGLETS (NBDJ) IMPORTED

FROM THE SYRO-LEBANESE LITTORAL TO THE SHEPHELAH
AND THE COASTAL PLAIN OF ISRAEL

ELI YANNAI
yannaieli@[Link]
Israel Antiquities Authority
Jerusalem, Israel
AMIR GORZALCZANY
amir@[Link]
Israel Antiquities Authority
Jerusalem, Israel
MARTIN PEILSTÖCKER
peilstoe@[Link]
Universität Mainz
Mainz, Germany

Abstract: Narrow Base Dipper Juglets (Nbdj) Imported from the Syro-Lebanese
Littoral to the Shephelah and the Coastal Plain of Israel
Narrow Flat Base Dipper Juglets (NBDJ) were found in many excavations in Israel,
as well as in the Syrian-Lebanese Littoral and Cyprus, mainly as offerings deposited
in tombs. They are similar to the well-known dipper juglets, which were locally-pro-
duced juglets with sharply pointed bases. Petrographic analysis conducted on the
NBDJ showed that these vessels were produced in workshops located in the Syro-
Lebanese littoral, and were exported to Cyprus and the southern Levant through
dynamic trade routes. The widespread distribution of NBDJ along Israel’s coastal
plain indicates that these vessels were exchanged primarily in a maritime-based com-
merce. The NBDJ’s distribution patterns in the southern Levant are consistent with
their origin of production along the Syro-Lebanese coast.
Keywords: Dipper Juglets – Syro-Lebanese Littoral – Import – Maritime trade –
Petrographic analysis – Narrow base
Resumen: Jarras de base plana y estrecha importadas del litoral sirio-libanés a
la Sefelá y la planicie costera de Israel
Se encontraron jarras con pico de base plana y estrecha en muchas excavaciones en
Israel, como también en el litoral sirio-libanés y en Chipre, principalmente como

Article received: November 8th 2015; approved: March 1st 2016.

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184 YANNAI - GORZALCZANY - PEILSTÖCKER ANTIGUO ORIENTE

ofrendas depositadas en las tumbas. Estas son similares a las conocidas jarras con
pico, que eran jarras producidas localmente con bases puntiagudas afiladas. El aná-
lisis petrográfico realizado en ellas mostró que esas vasijas eran producidas en talle-
res ubicados en el litoral sirio-libanés y eran exportadas a Chipre y al sur del Levante
a través de rutas dinámicas de intercambio. La extensa distribución de estas vasijas a
lo largo de la planicie costera de Israel indica que eran intercambiadas primariamente
en un comercio de base marítima. Sus patrones de distribución en el sur del Levante
son consistentes con el origen de su producción a lo largo de la costa Sirio-Libanesa.
Palabras clave: Jarras con pico – Litoral sirio-libanés – Importación – Intercambio
marítimo – Análisis petrográfico – Base angosta

INTRODUCTION

The end of the Middle Bronze Age and the Late Bronze Age in the southern
Levant are characterized by notable cultural and social phenomena, including
repetitive events of massive migrations, foreign interventions and military
campaigns that led to different extents of influence or domination and periods
of relative independence, in which city-states flourished. The southern Levant
witnessed the development of vibrant urban cultures typified by fortified
cities displaying architectural characteristics such as the glacis and earthen
rampart, as well as distinctive features in other fields, like material culture,
cult and burial practices. In this framework, a dynamic network of both ter-
restrial and maritime trade flourished. Far-ranging trade networks were estab-
lished, conveying a variety of commodities between different destinations in
the eastern Mediterranean basin. These supplies included distinctive ceramic
assemblages. In several excavations conducted at sites in Israel (Fig. 1),
numerous narrow-base dipper juglets (henceforth NBDJ) were found, that
were found to have been imported from the Syro-Lebanese littoral.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXTS

The earliest samples of these juglets from tombs on the Syrian coast, dated to
the MB II a-b period were found in the region between Sidon and Beirut: In
Tomb 74 in the eastern cemetery at Sidon,1 Tomb 4 at Beirut2 and mortuary
contexts at Kharji.3 Similar vessels were retrieved from Late Bronze assem-
1
Guigues 1938: Fig. 93, a, c.
2
Badre 1997: Fig 14:1.
3
Saïdah 1993–1994: Pl. 12:1.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE NARROW BASE DIPPER JUGLETS (NBDJ) 185

blages at Sidon4 and in Cemetery K at Byblos.5 More occurrences are known

from Tell Kazel, on the lower floor of the Level VI Courtyard and on the
upper floor of the Temple Cella,6 and in Stratum Va at Alalakh (Fig. 1).7
Similar vessels were found in various sites dating to the LB I-II periods, most
of which are located in the coastal plain and the northern valleys of Israel
(Fig. 1). Examples include Jatt, Tombs 7 and 13 (Figs. 2:1, 6),8 Palmahim (in
tombs of the 14th century B.C.E),9 ‘Ara (in Tomb I and fragments in Tomb II,
labeled as type JTD4)10 (Figs. 2:2–5; 7–9; 3), Tomb 1504 at Lachish (Fig.
2:10),11 Stratum XV at Tel Michal (Fig. 2:12),12Meggido (Tombs 2127 and
3028; Strata IX–VIII),13 Hazor (Area A),14 Horbat Zelef (on the northeastern
slope of Mount Tabor)15 and Tel Abu Hawâm, Stratum V (Fig. 2:11).16 This
type of juglet was also found at Enkomi in Cyprus17 and was most likely
exported from the Syro-Lebanese coast. Since the overwhelming majority of
vessels found in Israel were retrieved in sites distributed along the Coastal
Plain, a scenario of maritime commerce emerges as the most plausible expla-
nation for the distribution of these vessels.

DESCRIPTION OF THE SYRIAN IMPORTED JUGLETS

These juglets (Figs. 2; 3) have a flat or slightly rounded base, an ovoid or

slightly piriform body, a cylindrical neck and a trefoil rim. The body and the
neck are delicately pared and treated with a dense, vertical burnish. Neither
the clay from which the juglets are made nor the process of firing is uniform.
Most are made of yellowish clay mixed with black inclusions, while a few are
made of light pink clay containing red and white inclusions.
4
Saïdah 2004: Figs. 24:55; 28:64; 38:89; 40:106.
5
Salles 1980: Pl. 22:7.
6
Badre and Gubel 2000: Figs. 24:j-o; 11:g-j.
7
Wooley 1955: Pl. 113: 50.
8
Yannai 2000: Figs. 5: 54–55; 2005: Figs. 10:29–30.
9
Yannai et al. 2013: Figs. 13:3; 24;3; 35:4; 38:4.
10
Yannai 2014: 136–137; Figs. 6.3:9–15.
11
Tufnell 1958: Pl. 86: 995.
12
Negbi 1989: Figs. 5.7: 7–8.
13
Loud 1948: Pls. 50:8; 58:16.
14
Ben-Tor et al. 1997: Fig. II.15:14.
15
Covello-Paran 2011: 27; Fig. 23:3.
16
Hamilton 1934: No°. 260.
17
Lagarce and Lagarce 1985: Figs. 35:182–184.
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186 YANNAI - GORZALCZANY - PEILSTÖCKER ANTIGUO ORIENTE

PETROGRAPHIC DATA

The vessels that underwent petrographic analysis were sampled and examined
following standard laboratory procedures18 and related by means of compari-
son to geological environments in Israel and the Levant.19 The typical geolog-
ical and lithological attributes provided the basis for the assessment of their
provenance. The results of the analysis were compared with existing data
retrieved from the petrographic database of the Laboratory of Comparative
Microarchaeology (Institute of Archaeology of the Tel Aviv University).20
Despite the fact that the juglets were first found in Cyprus, where they
were labeled Plain White Wheel Made Ware (PWwmw) and considered
local,21 a Cypriot origin was dismissed, as the geological environs of the
island do not match the results derived from the analysis.
The petrography of Cypriot ceramics has been intensively studied in
recent years. From the early classification of macroscopic fabric categories22
up to the most recent research,23 the petrographic signature of Cypriot pottery
has been shown to be substantially different from the samples examined in the
present study.
Cyprus presents different geological environments: in the northern area
(Kyrenia) an uplift of deep water sediments (from lower to upper Miocene)
created hills along the seashore showing sedimentary clays.24 On the other
hand, the Late Cretaceous Troodos Complex, in the central and southern
range of the island, consists of a series of maffic—ultramaffic igneous rocks
(ophiolites), which is a distinctive igneous formation. According to the plate
tectonics model of the earth’s crust, the ophiolites are the result of a process
in which oceanic plates were pushed, pressed and thrust against a continental
plate.25 The southwestern edge of the island is characterized by formations of
18
[Link] 1995: 365–396; Goren 1995; 1996.
19
E.g. Porat 1986–87; 1989; Goren 1992; 1995; 1996; Greenberg and Porat 1996.
20
The authors are indebted to Yuval Goren (Ben Gurion University of the Negev, then Tel Aviv
University) for his kind assistance and advice during all stages of the present study.
21
Åström 1972: 245; Fig. LXVII:1.
22
Sjöqvist 1940: 34–38.
23
E.g. Courtois 1981; Vaughan 1977.
24
For Cypriot clays see Vaughan 1997: 342–345.
25
At the end of this long process the ophiolite formations can eventually include oceanic sed-
iments such radiolarian chert, gabbros, dolerite complexes, basalts, pyroxenites and peridotites.
In some cases ophiolites metamorphize into amphibolite facies and green schist. Such forma-
tions are known in Cilicia, Northwest Syria and Cyprus. They are also common further west,
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE NARROW BASE DIPPER JUGLETS (NBDJ) 187

sedimentary rock.26 The point should be stressed that none of the above-
described lithological features were observed in our petrographic analysis,
precluding the Cypriot provenance of the raw material used in the manufac-
turing of the sampled vessels.
The examined samples showed a matrix characterized by foraminiferous
calcareous clay (marl). The color of the matrix, in which some silty-sized
quartz (up to 1–2%) is noted, is light orange to brown under Plane Polarized
Light (PPL herein). Rounded concentrations of iron oxides (limonite) can be
seen sparsely distributed as well.
Temper includes sub-angular to rounded quartz grains and limestone frag-
ments (40ų up to 80ų) and occasional angular calcite and chert (60ų up to
80m), as well as fossils of the Amphiroa sp. algae.
The raw material in the matrix was identified as marl, which was broadly
used in the ceramic industry, particularly in the Negev region.27 Outcrops of
this raw material are broadly distributed in the Levant. They are exposed in
the Judean Desert, the Northern Negev, along the western part of Samaria and
the Judean Anticlinorium. Due to its wide distribution, it is difficult to deter-
mine provenance according to its presence.
However, the particular combination of marl and the non-plastic (temper)
assemblage described above enables the further definition of the locale of the
marl outcrop under discussion here. The alga Amphiroa sp. algae is a very
indicative directing fossil, typical of the coastal beach rock dated to the
Pleistocene. It occurs in Israel in recent bioclastic formations, e.g. Hefer,
Kurdane and Peleshet formations.28 Further north, similar components were
observed in contemporary beach rocks and sands on the Lebanese littoral.29
Therefore the presence of this fossil in the samples of this group strongly sug-
gest a coastal origin.
Further pinpointing of a precise location along the Eastern Mediterranean
seashore is made possible by the relatively small amount of coarse quartz

in the Aegean area (see Whitechurch, Juteay and Montigny 1984. For ophiolitic raw material
used in imported vessels found in Israel see e.g. Gorzalczany 1999: 189; 2005: 213; 2006a:
193; 2006b: 42*; 2006c: 60; 2012: 53–54 and see there discussion and more parallels). The
Cypriot provenance of vessels made of similar raw material (namely, Persian period mortaria)
was corroborated by NAA analysis in Tel Hesi (Bennett and Blakely 1989: 199–203).
26
Millar Master 2001: 29–30; Bear 1963; Constantinou 1995.
27
Goren 1995: 302.
28
Sivan 1996: 48–53; Buchbinder 1975; Almagor and Hall 1980.
29
Sanlaville 1977: 161–167; Almagor and Hall 1980; Walley 1997.
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188 YANNAI - GORZALCZANY - PEILSTÖCKER ANTIGUO ORIENTE

grains (coastal sand), which is very common all along the Israeli seashore but
sharply decreases in quantity from Haifa-Akko (Acre) northwards, hinting
towards a coastal source further north. In the Israeli southern coastal plain, the
coastal sediments are characterized by abundant quartz derived from Nilotic
sand and transported northwards along the coast by the marine currents, with
its presence gradually decreasing further north. Microscopic examination of
thin-sections made from Holocene coastal sand from different sites located
along the Israeli coast indicate that at the Haifa Bay the sand is still mostly
composed of quartz, the alga fossil fragments being very rare. However, from
Akko (Acre) northward, the beach sand displays a predominant carbonate
component. The sand becomes increasingly calcareous to the north where the
carbonates form more than 70% of the sand components.30 The above descrip-
tion fits the situation at Rosh HaNiqra on the Israeli-Lebanese border as well
as further north in Lebanon, where sand dunes near Tyre are essentially made
of bioclastic carbonates, with quartz being a minor component.31
The Senonian or Eocene chert observed in the samples completes the sce-
nario. The specific combination described above points to the only geograph-
ical environment that presents in close proximity outcrops of marl, wide-
spread sub recent to recent calcareous marine sediments (beach rocks) and
more inland-originated Senonian and Eocene limestone, chert and chalk.
This area, usually defined as the Phoenician Coast, is the Lebanese and
Syrian littoral region, mainly the section between Beirut and Lattaqiyeh,
which suits the particular description above.32
Other samples show a ferruginous matrix pale to dark brown under
PPLight with microfossil content, and the non plastic components include
poorly sorted micritic limestone (rounded to sub rounded), rare angular to sub
angular chert and sometimes quartz (coastal sand).
Similar samples retrieved at the Tel Aviv University database were made
of raw material originating in Neogene formations in Lebanon.33 The pres-
ence of some coastal sand on one hand, and the lack of more northern com-
ponents (as radiolarian chert) on the other, seem to point towards a coastal
provenance, south of Tyre and Sidon. In the cases in which the quartz was not
observed, the suggested provenance is the more inland Miocene or Neogene

30
Nir 1989: 12–15.
31
Sanlaville 1977: 162–164.
32
Sanlaville 1977: 15–17, 165–167.
33
Bourriau, Smith and Serpico 2001: 134–35, Pls. 7. 39–40.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE NARROW BASE DIPPER JUGLETS (NBDJ) 189

formations. Similar formations are known from different areas in the

Southern Levant. However, on the grounds of the typological similarity with
the coastal group of flat base juglets, and the abundance of this type of vessels
in coastal contexts, the choice of the Lebanese littoral area and its hinterland
as provenance of this ware should be favored.

DISCUSSION

Based on the petrographic examination, we can securely determine that none

of the juglets were manufactured in Israel. Most of the juglets were made on
the Syrian coast, while the provenance of a few of the Juglets was not
unequivocally established. Both their outer shape and the proportions of the
body and the neck are very similar to juglets from Ugarit. However, the
Ugarit juglets are made of black and gray ware and despite the external mor-
phological similarity, the petrographic examination indicates that the juglets
discussed here were clearly not produced in Ugarit.
Based on parallels of other imported vessels from the Syro-Lebanese coast
analyzed by the authors,34 we can propose that the juglets were made at one
or more workshops situated on the Syro-Palestine coast, between Ugarit in the
north and Akko (Acre) in the south.
The Juglets fit into the ongoing developing picture of the importation of
pottery vessels from the Syro-Lebanese coast to Israel. Some of the families
of vessels were made as imitations of (or inspired by) the imported vessels
from Cyprus and were part of the dynamic trade network which had devel-
oped between Cyprus, Syria and Canaan. The flat-base juglets were not made
as imitations of the Cypriot or Canaanite Juglets simply because similar
juglets do not appear in the ceramic repertoire of either region.
Based on their origins, the NBDJ are the true “Syrian juglets,” whereas the
definition of “Syrian juglet” as gray juglets belonging to Black Lustrous
Wheel Made Ware, generally referred to in Canaanite ceramic research, is in
actuality a misnomer.35 In light of the petrographic analysis, the origin of the
latter juglets lies in Cyprus and their accepted definition as “Syrian juglets” is
incorrect.36 Even if we were to accept the supposition that not all of the gray
juglets were made in Cyprus (further analysis of such juglets is currently
34
Yannai, Gorzalczany and Peilstöker 2003.
35
Amiran 1969: 167–170.
36
Yannai 2000: 55; 2007; 2009; Yannai and Gorzalczany 2007.
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being undertaken in order to determine whether any of these juglets were

actually produced in Cyprus), the use of the term “Syrian juglets” has become
ambiguous and therefore should not be used in the discussion of the NBDJ.
In our opinion, the juglets should not be defined according to their supposed
origin since such term may change as result of research developments. It may
be correct in light of today’s research, but as the study of ceramics progresses
with the implementation of new research methods, there will likely be “fine-
tuning” in the atribution of the vessels’ origin. Therefore we propose a defi-
nition that we have chosen based on the shape of the juglets rather than on
their production origin. The rim, neck, body and even the handle of the juglets
mentioned here are quite similar to the contour of the juglets referred to in
Israel and Syria as “dipper juglets,” which were widely used from the begin-
ning of the MB IIA until the end of the Late Bronze Age in the southern
Levant. Their definition as “dipper juglets” (namely for the purpose of
extracting liquids from large jars and pithoi) is based on having been found
inside jars and pithoi and their shape which is sharply pointed and lacking a
base. The juglets discussed here have a small base and not a pointed one
(although we should not negate the possibility that juglets with pointed bases
were also made on the Syro-Lebanese coast). Based on the shape of the base
and its diameter, one can assume that the juglet was not free-standing, as its
base is quite narrow and would render the vessel unstable. Therefore, the def-
inition of these juglets as “dipper juglets” is plausible in light of their shape,
which strongly resembles the standard “dipper juglets” from Israel. The defi-
nition of the juglet according to functional terminology is not customary in
the prevailing research nomenclature, which is based primarily on morpholo-
gogy rather than on function. “Dipper juglets” were defined based on their
shape but according to the archaeological finds, mainly from tombs, their def-
inition appears to be functionally accurate.37 Based on the typological defini-
tion, the main difference between the juglets mentioned here and the “dipper
juglets” from Israel and Syria is the unique shape of the base; hence, we saw
it fit to define the vessels as “Narrow Flat Base Dipper Juglets” (NBDJ).
The widespread distribution of the juglets along the coastal plain and the
few found in the Shephelah and in northern Israel attest to the fact that the
exchange of these juglets was primarily maritime-based and their distribution
patterns are consistent with their production origins along the Syro-Lebanese
coast.
37
Kenyon 1960: Pls. 24:1, 25:2.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE NARROW BASE DIPPER JUGLETS (NBDJ) 191

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful to Ram Shoeff for his help preparing the graphics in
this article, and also to Joe Uziel and an anonymous reader for their useful
comments.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE NARROW BASE DIPPER JUGLETS (NBDJ) 195

FIGURES

Fig. 1.
Location of the sites in Israel, Cyprus and the Lebanese Litoral
where the NBDJ were found

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08 Yannai Narrow base_Antiguo Oriente 27/06/2016 12:59 p.m. Página 196

196 YANNAI - GORZALCZANY - PEILSTÖCKER ANTIGUO ORIENTE

Fig. 2.
Narrow Base Dipper Juglets in Israel Coastal Plain

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08 Yannai Narrow base_Antiguo Oriente 27/06/2016 12:59 p.m. Página 197

ANTIGUO ORIENTE NARROW BASE DIPPER JUGLETS (NBDJ) 197

Fig. 3.
Narrow Base Dipper Juglets found in Israel
(from left to right, Figs. 2:4; 2:2; 2:3 and 2:7)

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LA REPRESENTACIÓN DE LAS ELITES EGIPCIAS

EN LAS ADMONICIONES DE IPUWER

PABLO MARTÍN ROSELL

pablomartinrosell@[Link]
Centro de Estudios de Sociedades Precapitalistas- IdIHCS
Universidad Nacional de La Plata
La Plata, Argentina

Summary: The Representation of the Egyptian Elites in the Admonitions of

Ipuwer
The following article reflects upon the representations of the Egyptian elites which
appear in a literary text of the Middle Kingdom known as The Admonitions of
Ipuwer. Taking into account the different representations of the society conveyed in
the Admonitions, we will try to highlight how the Egyptian elites are represented at
the moment of facing the social revolution outbreak. We not only try to describe and
analyze the different elites representations, but also try to understand the reasons that
the Middle Kingdom ruling class would have had to elaborate a text where its own
elites are represented as the ones suffering the consequences of the revolution.
Bearing this last subject in mind, we are interested in investigate how such an elite
representation could have affected the ways to reproduce not only an ideal society,
but also their own place in such society. All in all, we will try to emphasize the
implicit coercive function that the concept and idea of a social revolution implies in
such a text. In this way, we can clearly see how the ruling elite warns the popular
working class of the Egyptian society not to alter the established social order.

Key words: Elites – Representations – Admonitions of Ipuwer – Egypt – Middle

Kingdom
Resumen: La representación de las elites egipcias en las Admoniciones de
Ipuwer
Este trabajo se propone reflexionar sobre las representaciones de las elites egipcias
contenidas en un texto literario del Reino Medio conocido bajo el nombre de las
Admoniciones de Ipuwer. En base a las diversas representaciones de la sociedad que
encontramos en las Admoniciones, nos interesa destacar cómo aparecen
representadas las elites egipcias frente al estallido de una revolución social. La
intención de este trabajo es no sólo describir y analizar las diversas representaciones
de las elites sino también intentar comprender los motivos que habrían llevado a la
Article received: 03 de marzo de 2015; aprobado el 13 de julio de 2015..
Antiguo Oriente, volumen 13, 2015, pp. 199–220.

200 ROSELL ANTIGUO ORIENTE

clase dirigente egipcia del Reino Medio a elaborar un texto en el cual las propias
elites son representadas sufriendo las consecuencias de la revolución. Y en relación
con esto último, nos interesa indagar sobre los mecanismos que dicha representación
de las elites pudo haber tenido a la hora de reproducir no solo un ideal de sociedad,
sino también el lugar que las propias elites debían tener en esa sociedad. En suma,
intentaremos destacar la función coercitiva, implícita, que cumple el concepto y la
idea de una revolución social en este texto como una advertencia clara por parte de
la elite gobernante hacia los sectores populares y trabajadores de la sociedad egipcia,
de no intentar sublevar el orden social dado.
Palabras claves: Elites – Representaciones – Admoniciones de Ipuwer – Egipto –
Reino Medio

INTRODUCCIÓN
En el marco de los núcleos problemáticos que plantea el estudio de las elites
en el Cercano Oriente antiguo—como lo es la relación de las mismas con la
estructura del Estado y el lugar que ocupan en su reproducción económica,
social e ideológica—este trabajo se propone reflexionar sobre las
representaciones de las elites egipcias contenidas en un texto literario del
Reino Medio (2055–1650 a.C.)1 conocido bajo el nombre de las
Admoniciones de Ipuwer2.


1
La cronología citada en este trabajo es tomada de Shaw 2003 [2000]: 480–489. Hemos
adoptado esta cronología y no otras más recientes o específicas como la de Hornung, Krauss y
Warburton (eds.) 2006 debido a que discrepamos con su periodización del Reino Medio
egipcio. Nuestra intención es considerar como parte del Reino Medio a las dinastías XI, XII y
XIII. Al respecto, si bien la gran mayoría de los historiadores están de acuerdo en cuanto al
comienzo de dicho período con la unión de Egipto por parte de Mentuhotep II en la dinastía
XI, el fin de dicho período es discutido. Véase al respecto Callender 2003 [2000]: 137, Diego
Espinel 2009: 209 y Ryholt 1997. El debate se ha producido en torno a la dinastía XIII. En
este sentido, compartimos la opinión de Quirke 1990: 3, Callender 2003 [2000]: 137,
Grajetzki 2006: 63–75, Diego Espinel 2009: 209 y Wegner 2010: 121–122, quienes han
considerado que al menos la primera mitad de la dinastía XIII correspondería al Estado
unificado del Reino Medio. Quien ha puesto en duda esta consideración ha sido Ryholt 1997:
5; 293; 311 quien ha argumentado a favor del establecimiento de nuevos límites temporales
para el Segundo Período Intermedio, al cual sitúa inmediatamente a fines de la dinastía XII.
2
El texto se encuentra conservado en el recto del Papiro Leiden I 344. El primer análisis
literario del texto de las Admoniciones de Ipuwer, junto con su traducción, fue realizado por
Gardiner 1909 en su obra The Admonitions of an Egyptian Sage, from a Hieratic Papyrus in
Leiden (Pap. Leiden 344 recto). Se destacan a su vez las traducciones y análisis de Faulkner

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE. LA REPRESENTACIÓN DE LAS ELITES EGIPCIAS 201

Dicha narración, cuyo principio y final se encuentran perdidos, trata

sobre una situación particular en la cual se relata una serie de sucesos
caóticos que hacen referencia al recuerdo que durante el Reino Medio se
habría elaborado y conservado del Primer Período Intermedio (2160–2055 a.
C.)3. En dicho texto, un personaje—Ipuwer—relata ante la corte de un
faraón, del cual no poseemos identificación alguna, cómo el orden se ha
convulsionado. Así, el texto representa con gran lujo de detalles lo que
parece haber sido un movimiento popular sin precedentes en el cual el orden
político, económico y social es alterado profundamente. Emerge de esta
forma un escenario en el cual lo dado y esperado por parte de la sociedad y
sus individuos es quebrantado y el orden es trastornado estrepitosamente,
mostrándonos un mundo al revés, trastocado, en el cual los ricos ahora son
pobres, mientras que estos últimos disfrutan ahora de los bienes de los ricos,
los amos son servidores y quienes no poseían bienes ahora acumulan grandes
fortunas. El orden que había sido establecido en los tiempos primordiales por
las divinidades ha sido alterado aflorando pues una situación que a los ojos

1964 y 1965, Lichtheim 1973: 149–163; Helck 1995; Parkinson 1998: 166–199 y 2002: 204–
216; Tobin 2003: 188–210; Quirke 2004a: 140–150 y Enmarch 2005 y 2008.
3 
En cuanto a su datación, a partir de una lectura histórica y demasiado literal del texto,
algunos autores como Gardiner 1909: 112; Erman 1927 [1923]: 93, Spiegel 1950: 44, Hassan
2007: 363 y Castañeda Reyes 2003: 200–201, entre otros, han considerado que las
Admoniciones de Ipuwer relataba una serie de sucesos acaecidos a fines del Reino Antiguo o
durante el Primer Período Intermedio y que habrían sido compuestas en este último período o
a inicios del Reino Medio. Una datación a mediados de la dinastía XII o durante la etapa final
del Reino Medio, esto es entre el reinado de Sesostris III y la primera mitad de la dinastía
XIII, fue propuesta por Lichtheim 1973: 149; 1996: 240, Ockinga 1983: 93; Vernus 1990:
189–190, Parkinson 2002: 308, Quirke 2004a: 140 y Enmarch 2008: 24 a partir de ciertos
criterios lingüísticos presentes en el papiro, así como por las conexiones y la intertextualidad
que presenta el texto de las Admoniciones de Ipuwer con otros textos afines del Reino Medio.
Una fecha diferente de datación para el texto fue planteada a mediados del siglo XX por Van
Seters 1964: 23, quien basado en el estudio de ciertos términos presentes en el relato que son
propios del Reino Medio, postula la hipótesis de que el texto debió de haber sido elaborado a
fines de la dinastía XIII, considerando así al Segundo Período Intermedio como el escenario
histórico del relato. Por otra parte, si bien recientemente han aparecido trabajos como los de
Gnirs (2006), Stauder (2013) y Moers, Widmaier, Giewekemeyer, Lümers y Ernst (eds)
(2013) que han cuestionado las dataciones de los textos literarios del Reino Medio y han
propuesto una posible redacción para varios de estos relatos durante la dinastía XVIII en el
Imperio Nuevo, dichos trabajos se concentran más en textos como la Profecía de Neferty, las
Instrucciones para Merikare, el Cuento de Keops y los magos y las Lamentaciones de
Khakheperreseneb antes que en el texto de las Admoniciones de Ipuwer que aquí nos
concierne y cuya datación para el Reino Medio es ampliamente consensuada.

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202 ROSELL ANTIGUO ORIENTE

del narrador y compositor de las Admoniciones de Ipuwer, no es otra cosa

más que una situación por demás caótica. De esta manera, se describe un
escenario signado por el caos y el desorden en donde el ideal de sociedad y
cosmovisión del mundo egipcio se encuentra afectado por múltiples causas y
factores que parecieran desembocar, y a la vez ser parte, de una revolución
contra las normas, la jerarquía y la autoridad egipcia.
En muy pocas fuentes egipcias se puede apreciar una descripción tan
gráfica y pormenorizada de la sociedad egipcia con sus trabajadores, sus
ocupaciones, sus funcionarios y sus élites como la que encontramos en las
Admoniciones, por lo cual es singular su aporte para una posible
reconstrucción de rasgos o aspectos de la sociedad y el pensamiento egipcio
que aparecen velados en las fuentes históricas. De esta manera, en base a las
diversas representaciones de la sociedad que encontramos en las
Admoniciones, nos interesa destacar y develar cómo aparecen representadas
las elites egipcias frente al estallido de una revolución social.
Al respecto, consideramos y fundamentamos el empleo de una fuente
literaria del Reino Medio como lo es el texto de las Admoniciones, dado que
la misma no sólo contiene narraciones y ficciones, sino que también en ella
convergen expresiones sobre lo político, referencias históricas y discursos
míticos e ideológicos que nos permiten enriquecer y ampliar el conocimiento
sobre la sociedad egipcia del período que habría producido dicho relato, así
como sobre las ideas y las expresiones políticas, sociales, culturales y
religiosas presentes en dicho período. Así, la literatura puede ser considerada
como un medio para expresar ideas, imágenes y visiones sobre las
sociedades presentes y pasadas. En otras palabras, los textos literarios
expresarían formas de percepción del mundo y contienen en su interior las
visiones ideológicas que determinadas clases o grupos dominantes de su
época tuvieron la intención de transmitir y conjugar4. En este sentido, el
estudio a partir de textos literarios procedentes del antiguo Egipto nos ofrece
la posibilidad de acercarnos a las ideologías dominantes del poder faraónico
y las elites egipcias, al tiempo que vislumbrar las múltiples formas de
expresión y articulación política, social y cultural presentes en ellos.
La intención de este trabajo es no sólo describir y analizar las diversas
representaciones de las elites sino también intentar comprender los motivos
que habrían llevado a la clase dirigente egipcia del Reino Medio a elaborar
un texto literario y ficticio en el cual las propias elites son representadas

4
Eagleton 2013 [1976]: 41.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE. LA REPRESENTACIÓN DE LAS ELITES EGIPCIAS 203

sufriendo las consecuencias de una revolución. Y, en relación con esto

último, nos interesa indagar sobre los mecanismos que dicha representación
de las elites pudo haber tenido a la hora de reproducir no solo un ideal de
sociedad, sino también el lugar que las propias elites debían tener en esa
sociedad. En suma, intentaremos destacar la función coercitiva, implícita,
que cumple el concepto y la idea de una revolución social en este texto como
una advertencia clara por parte de la elite gobernante de no intentar sublevar
el orden social dado.

IMÁGENES Y REPRESENTACIONES DE LAS ELITES EGIPCIAS EN UN MUNDO

TRASTOCADO

Antes que nada debemos partir de la pregunta acerca de qué entendemos por
elite en el antiguo Egipto. Para esto partimos de una definición brindada por
Sally Katary para quien el término elite refiere a todas aquellas personas
poseedoras de grandes riquezas, privilegios e influencias capaces de
intervenir en el sistema y el gobierno político de en una sociedad dada5. A su
vez, consideramos el uso del término élite como una categoría que engloba a
la población no productora de bienes en una sociedad6.
Ahora bien, a partir de las descripciones realizadas por Ipuwer en sus
Admoniciones sobre la revolución social podemos realizar un análisis sobre
las imágenes y las representaciones de las elites egipcias del Reino Medio7.
Representaciones que no necesariamente tienen que ser un reflejo de la
realidad puesto que la representación de una sociedad no nos informa de una
realidad, sino de cómo en un determinado contexto histórico social un sector
determinado habría concebido e imaginado a una sociedad. En este caso,
cómo el Reino Medio habría elaborado una representación de su propia elite,
pero situando tal representación en un escenario caótico como lo habría sido
el recuerdo que dicha clase habría tenido y construido del Primer Período
Intermedio. Al respecto, Richard Parkinson ha argumentado cómo la
representación de los individuos en la literatura sólo puede ser atestiguada en

5
Katary 2009: 263.
6
Richards 2005: 16.
7
Si bien otros textos literarios del período como las Instrucciones para Merikare o la
Profecía de Neferty nos informan en sus narraciones de un clima político y social para nada
estable, en este trabajo sólo tomaremos el texto de las Admoniciones de Ipuwer dado que es el
único texto literario en el que se menciona a un vasto número de miembros de la elite
representados de forma trágica frente al estallido de una revolución social.

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204 ROSELL ANTIGUO ORIENTE

el marco social de la literatura, puesto que su representación en textos

ficcionales no nos informaría de su rol social o de la composición de la
sociedad en el Reino Medio8. Con esto en mente, nos detendremos pues a
observar y analizar cómo aparece representada la elite egipcia en las
Admoniciones y quiénes eran los miembros que la conformaban.
Entre los personajes de mayor rango social que aparecen
representados en la fuente egipcia nos encontramos con la figura del faraón,
el cual habría sido objeto de agresiones y ataques por parte de la población
egipcia durante la revolución social. Sin ir más lejos, el relato narra cómo los
pobres han logrado deponer al rey (Adm. 7, 2).
Por debajo del faraón, se encontraba un grupo selecto de notables
constituido por los nobles y los altos funcionarios. Eran los denominados
sr, “noble”, “funcionario” o “magistrado”9. Salvo algunas
excepciones, sr no era un título común durante el Reino Medio, sino que más
bien era utilizado para designar a los altos funcionarios del Estado y era
frecuente encontrarlo como un término genérico empleado en plural para

referirse a toda la clase de altos funcionarios10. Estos srw,

funcionarios, magistrados o nobles aparecen representados en las
Admoniciones en varias oportunidades sufriendo las consecuencias y los
ataques de la revolución social. Así, Ipuwer describe cómo estos individuos
ya no confraternizan con la población egipcia (Adm. 2, 5), quizá a causa del
tumulto y el desorden. Al mismo tiempo en el texto se describe la situación
de miseria de estos funcionarios al señalar cómo se encuentran sumidos en la
miseria y padecen hambre (Adm. 5, 2), lo cual los hace entrar en los
almacenes quizá a causa del hambre (Adm. 7, 10). Asimismo, Ipuwer narra
con indignación cómo ahora los funcionarios y magistrados son humillados
por los nuevos ricos a quienes son obligados a alabar (Adm. 8, 2). Mientras
que las últimas menciones que encontramos sobre estos funcionarios ligados
a la nobleza, refieren más bien al recuerdo de los buenos viejos tiempos en


8
Parkinson 1996: 140.
9
Gardiner 2007 [1927]: 591; Faulkner 2009 [1962]: 235; Wb. IV: 188 y Hannig 2006a: 2070
y 2006b: 786.
10
Ward 1982: 153, N° 1317. Estos también podían ser denominados con el nombre de

Sps, “noble” u “hombre de riquezas”. Véase Gardiner 2007 [1927]: 447 y 595;
Faulkner 2009 [1962]: 265; Wb. IV: 448–449).

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE. LA REPRESENTACIÓN DE LAS ELITES EGIPCIAS 205

dónde estos sujetos eran respetados por la sociedad egipcia y gozaban de un

prestigio social al realizar sus funciones (Adm. 13, 11; 14, 2).
Las esposas de estos personajes solían recibir el título de

Spst, “dama noble” o “distinguida”11. Son estas mujeres, las

Spswt, las mujeres o damas nobles quienes aparecen representadas en las
Admoniciones como las principales víctimas y objeto de ataque durante la
revolución social. Sin duda alguna es contra ellas que se produce la mayor
violencia y ultraje por parte de los rebeldes y pobres de la tierra. De hecho,
es el estrato social que más veces aparece mencionado en la fuente
recibiendo el golpe de la revolución social y siendo víctimas directas de la
misma. Ellas son descriptas por Ipuwer—con cierta indignación, lástima y
sorpresa—en la más absoluta miseria. Por la actual condición de la tierra,
estas mujeres nobles aparecen mencionadas ahora en la extrema pobreza,
vistiendo harapos y sufriendo de tristeza (Adm. 3, 4), comparando dicho
sufrimiento con en el que otrora habrían poseído las sirvientas (Adm. 4, 12).
También se dice de ellas que se encuentran sobre balsas (Adm. 7, 10), que
regalan a sus hijos para poder obtener un lugar donde dormir (Adm. 8, 8),
que están hambrientas (Adm. 9, 1) y que huyen para poder salvarse (Adm. 8,
13).
En el texto se menciona a su vez a las nbwt pr, las señoras
de la casa12, un título femenino muy frecuente en la sociedad egipcia que
más que una ocupación o tarea relacionada con el mantenimiento del hogar,
expresaría un alto estatus social ligado a una filiación marital y social13. De
esta forma se menciona a este título a la hora de referirse a las esposas como
señoras de la casa. Estas señoras de la casa, cuyo poder socio económico era
destacable en la sociedad egipcia, aparecen mencionadas en las
Admoniciones deseando poder obtener algo para comer (Adm. 3, 3), lo cual
es una muestra más de la transformación social de la cual Ipuwer parece ser
testigo.
Otro de los actores sociales ligados a la elite y mencionados en las
Admoniciones son los wrw, cuya traducción plausible sería, los

11
Gardiner 2007 [1927]: 594; Faulkner 2009 [1962]: 265, Wb. IV: 449 y Hannig 2006a:
2440–2441 y 2006b: 881.
12
Hannig 2006a: 1252–1260 y 2006b: 425.
13
Ward 1982: 99, N° 823 y Frood 2009: 477.

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206 ROSELL ANTIGUO ORIENTE

grandes o jefes14. El término egipcio wrw era de un uso más bien restringido
y solía aplicarse a los miembros de la alta administración, diferenciándose
del término aAw, cuyo significado es similar, los grandes15,
pero cuyo ámbito de referencia estaría más bien ligado y relacionado a los
notables del ámbito rural16. Estos personajes también son representados
sufriendo las consecuencias del movimiento social, a causa del
desabastecimiento que se produce en Egipto y producto del cual se dice que
no llegan los aceites necesarios para poder embalsamarlos (Adm. 3, 8). Así,
pues, estos sectores ligados a la clase dirigente y a la elite cortesana,
aparecen como víctimas indirectas del caos político, social y económico que
se encuentra atravesando Egipto, puesto que no pueden obtener los
productos necesarios que puedan garantizarle los procedimientos requeridos
que le garanticen una vida en el Más Allá.
Por otra parte, también encontramos referencias en el relato de las

wryt, grandes damas17—un epíteto de las esposas de los

funcionarios y nobles egipcios—quienes son dueñas de riqueza pero que sin
embargo, de acuerdo a lo narrado por Ipuwer, se encuentran regalando a sus
hijos por una cama (Adm. 8, 8). Otros miembros procedentes del sector
femenino de la aristocracia egipcia que aparecen representados en las

Admoniciones son las Hnwt, las señoras o amas18, mujeres ricas

poseedoras de sirvientas y criadas. En el texto de Ipuwer se las menciona
impartiendo órdenes o hablándoles a sus criadas Hmwt, para quienes dichas
palabras no solo son fastidiosas, sino que al mismo tiempo le contestan
rudamente a estas señoras Hnwt, muestra de una indudable desobediencia
social (Adm. 4, 14).
Los hijos de los nobles y altos funcionarios, los msw
srw también aparecen representados en las Admoniciones. Sin ir más lejos su
destino parece ser similar al de sus padres puesto que serán objeto de ataque
por parte de la población sublevada. De hecho, la violencia de la cual son


14
Faulkner 2009 [1962]: 64 y Hannig 2006a: 694.
15
Hannig 2006a: 477.
16
Moreno García 2004: 93.
17
Hannig 2006a: 700–702.
18
Faulkner 2009 [1962]: 172 y Hannig 2006b: 576.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE. LA REPRESENTACIÓN DE LAS ELITES EGIPCIAS 207

víctimas es mayor aún que la de sus padres, puesto que el texto menciona
cómo estos niños o bien son arrojados y golpeados contra las paredes y los
muros (Adm. 4, 3; 5, 6) o bien son abandonados en las calles (Adm. 6, 13).
Por su parte, Ipuwer también menciona a los Xrdw nw
nHbt,19 niños de pecho, es decir los recién nacidos20 que ante el estado
calamitoso en que se encontraba el país son llevados a las tierras altas (Adm.
4, 3; 5, 6). Las tierras altas especificaría el lugar en donde todos los difuntos
son abandonados21, por lo cual dicha mención implicaría que debido a la
actual condición en la que se encontrarían estos nobles de Egipto, ante la
muerte de sus pequeños recién nacidos, ya no pueden construir una tumba
para ellos, por lo cual deben abandonarlos en las tierras altas, en el desierto
sin una sepultura digna. Sumado a lo anterior, nos encontraremos también
con referencias sobre los sA s, es decir el hijo de un hombre22,
término que refiere a aquellos niños de hombres de bien23 u hombres de
rango24. El texto menciona cómo debido a la alteración del orden social
reinante en Egipto, es imposible reconocer al hijo de un hombre bien
posicionado de quien no lo es (Adm. 2,14; 4, 1) al tiempo que se señala

como el ms nbt25 niño de señora, es decir los niños de las grandes

damas egipcias, ahora se han convertido en hijos de sus servidoras (Adm.
2,14), visualizando así no sólo la ruptura del antiguo orden social, sino a su
vez, la caída en dependencia de estos individuos, otrora ricos. La frase
presente en Adm. 2, 14, en la cual se expresa que el niño de su señora se ha
convertido en hijo de su servidora ha sido interpretada en base a una
comparación mediante la cual, en tiempos de revolución social como los que
relata Ipuwer, no era posible distinguir a los hijos de los ricos de los hijos de

19
La palabra correcta se escribe de ese modo, sin embargo en la línea 5, 6, aparece como
Xrdw nw nHt que significaría “niños del deseo/alabanza” que refiere a los hijos deseados por
sus padres. Al respecto, véase Enmarch, 2008: 96. Gardiner 1909: 36 ha sugerido que el
término nHbt “cuello” carecía de sentido en Adm. 4, 3 por lo cual debía ser enmendado por nHt
“deseo” como aparece en Adm. 5, 6. Adoptando la posición de Faulkner 1964: 27 traducimos
ambas palabras por niños de pecho, es decir recién nacidos.
20
Faulkner 1964: 26–27, Fischer-Elfert 2001: 87 y Enmarch 2008: 96.
21
Enmarch 2008: 96.
22
Hannig 2006a: 2070.
23
Enmarch 2008: 83.
24
Gardiner 1909: 30 y Faulkner 1964: 26.
25
ms, niño según Faulkner 2009 [1962]: 116; nbt, señora según Faulkner 2009 [1962]: 129.

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208 ROSELL ANTIGUO ORIENTE

los humildes26. Con todo, lo cierto es que tal paradoja no hace otra cosa más
que lamentar la ruptura del orden tradicional de lo que se esperaba que fuese
la sociedad egipcia27.
Otro de los actores de importancia que aparecen mencionados en las

Admoniciones son los Hryw nt tA, jefes de la tierra, es

decir los líderes, patrones y altos funcionarios provinciales y estatales. Estos
aparecen representados en una especie de actitud cobarde en la fuente, dado
que deciden huir de Egipto luego de que la Corona hubiese sido abatida por
los humildes, puesto que pareciera que ya no hubiese un propósito para ellos
ante la falta de un soberano (Adm. 8, 14). Misma situación se describe para
los qnbt nt tA, los magistrados de la tierra, quienes a
diferencia de los Hryw nt tA y las Spswt que huyen, éstos son expulsados por

todo el país (Adm. 7, 9). La palabra egipcia qnbt refiere a un sector

de notables que podía incluir desde los ancianos de las comunidades hasta
los asesores o consejeros del rey28, aunque también podía ser utilizada para
referirse a la masa general de funcionarios, magistrados o jueces del consejo
local29. Mientras que la denominación qnbt nt tA podía referirse a los
funcionarios y magistrados de la administración central egipcia30. Con todo,
estos magistrados o funcionarios estaban confinados a tareas puramente
administrativas desde época heracleopolitana y hasta el Imperio Nuevo
(1550–1069 a. C.), cuando habrían adquirido ciertas funciones judiciales31.
Al igual que sucedía con los hijos de los nobles, los
msw qnbt, los niños de los magistrados32 también
aparecen sufriendo las consecuencias del levantamiento popular y el nuevo
orden social en Egipto. De ellos se dice que se encuentran en harapos (Adm.
8, 9), sumidos en la miseria cual los hijos de los otrora pobres. Es claro pues,
que con la revolución social triunfante, los magistrados estatales han sido

26
Gardiner 1909: 30.
27
Enmarch 2008: 84.
28
Enmarch 2008: 134.
29
Faulkner 2009 [1962]: 280; Quirke 1990: 54; 56; Hannig 2006a: 2525 y Enmarch 2008:
134.
30
Enmarch 2008: 134.
31
Hayes 1955: 140.
32
knbt, magistrados según Faulkner 2009 [1962]: 280.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE. LA REPRESENTACIÓN DE LAS ELITES EGIPCIAS 209

relevados de sus funciones y despojados, al igual que los nobles y la gran

mayoría de la clase dirigente y la elite egipcia de todos sus bienes por parte
de los humildes, cayendo en la pobreza y miseria.
La narración de Ipuwer sobre la alteración del orden social parece
afectar también a los poseedores de riqueza, propiedades y bienes. Así es

posible observar en las Admoniciones cómo los nbw

wabwt, los señores y dueños de tumbas33, es decir aquellos sujetos cuyo
poder económico y prestigio social posibilitaba la construcción de una
tumba, son ahora llevados a las tierras altas, abandonados en el desierto sin
ningún tipo de sepultura (Adm. 7, 8), cómo hemos apreciado previamente
para los niños de pecho. Por su parte, también se menciona cómo un
nb xt, señor de propiedades o riqueza, lo ha perdido todo, ha
sido expropiado y pasa la noche sediento (Adm. 7, 10–11), mientras que los
nbw DAywt, los dueños de vestidos y ropa son
descriptos en harapos por Ipuwer (Adm. 7, 11)
Es interesante también cómo aparece representado en el texto un alto

funcionario egipcio como lo es el imy-r-niwt, el Supervisor de la

ciudad34, el cual es descripto caminando sin su escolta, es decir sin guardia
alguno (Adm. 10, 7). El término imy-r-niwt era uno de los títulos más
comunes con los que podía asociarse la figura del visir35. De hecho, como
señala Wolfram Grajetzki es a fines del Reino Antiguo (2686–2160 a. C.)
cuando el título imy-r-niwt comienza a ser introducido como un título para
referirse a los visires que representaba la responsabilidad de estos sujetos en
la administración de las ciudades de las pirámides, para convertirse a partir
de la dinastía XI en un título tradicional de los visires.36 En las
Admoniciones, la falta de seguridad y protección para con este funcionario,
asociado al visir, reflejaría y enfatizaría pues el colapso social por el cual se
encuentra lamentándose Ipuwer, puesto que la anarquía y la inseguridad es


33
Faulkner 2009 [1962]: 57 y Enmarch 2008: 133.
34
Quirke 2004b: 111; Faulkner 2009 [1962]: 18 y Hannig 2006a: 216. Como señala Grajetzki
2009: 19, este título no debe ser confundido con el de HAty-a, gobernador.
35
Grajetzki 2009: 19.
36
Grajetzki 2009: 19.

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210 ROSELL ANTIGUO ORIENTE

tan dramática que el Supervisor de la ciudad, al caminar sin escoltas, se

encuentra vulnerable de ser atacado en cualquier momento37.
Al lado de ello, una serie funcionarios estatales ligados a la elite
aparecen representados sufriendo—de acuerdo a lo narrado por Ipuwer—los
ataques y las consecuencias de la sublevación popular. Tal es el caso de los

sSw escribas38 que son asesinados y cuyos escritos son tomados y

destruidos (Adm. 6, 8–9). La agresión contra los escribas y sus escritos
ejemplificaría el ataque que—en medio de la revolución social—los sectores
rebeldes habrían intentado infringir contra la cultura y el conocimiento de la
elite egipcia a la cual intentaban derrocar39, puesto que los escribas no sólo
registraban las tareas administrativas estatales, sino que reproducían con sus
creaciones culturales y sus escritos didácticos, los valores dominantes de la
elite social egipcia.
La figura del wpwty, mensajero40, también aparece
representada en las Admoniciones. La función del mensajero en la
antigüedad era muy importante, puesto que estos eran los portadores de
cartas y mensajes que actuaban no sólo hacia el interior del país como
representantes de funcionarios ante la Corona y viceversa, sino que a su vez
poseían un rol importante en las relaciones internacionales al ser emisarios o
embajadores de la realeza.41 Por lo tanto, el rol del mensajero, si bien se
encontraba en una posición cercana a las esferas del poder político, no por
ello dejaba se der un funcionario dependiente cuya obligación era enviar
todo tipo de cometidos. Lo curioso es que si bien el mensajero, cuyo vínculo
con el poder es más que claro aparece mencionado en las Admoniciones
como un claro beneficiario del nuevo escenario, dado que Ipuwer señala
cómo el mensajero—el cual aparece mencionado en general—ha dejado de
ser un subordinado para pasar a ser él quien ahora se posiciona en un nivel
social más elevado al punto tal de que puede enviar a otro personaje a
cumplir su anterior tarea (Adm. 8, 3). Una situación parecida de
insubordinación en donde se aprecia la inversión del orden social es posible


37
Enmarch 2008: 168.
38
Faulkner 2009 [1962]: 246.
39
Enmarch 2008: 118.
40
Faulkner 2009 [1962]: 60 y Hannig 2006a: 658.
41
Liverani 2008 [1995]: 374 y 2003 [2001]: 111–117. Sobre el rol del mensajero egipcio se
recomienda las lecturas de Valloggia 1976 y El-Saady 1999.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE. LA REPRESENTACIÓN DE LAS ELITES EGIPCIAS 211

observar en la línea 10, 2–3 de las Admoniciones en donde Ipuwer exhorta a

destruir la realización de todas las diligencias que fueron hechas en las
cuales los mensajeros habían enviado a otras personas para realizar su
trabajo42.
Los sDdw [mdw], contadores de historias43,
personajes ligados a la corte real cuyo trabajo era el de narrar historias en el
seno mismo del palacio y la corte también aparecen representados en el
texto. De acuerdo con el relato, producto de la revolución social desatada
sobre el territorio, estos individuos se encuentran ahora sobre piedras de
moler (Adm. 4, 13), es decir realizando las tareas y trabajo duros que eran
propios de los sectores más bajos de la sociedad egipcia. Mediante tal
alusión y representación, es posible imaginar la posición social de estos
personajes cuya vida parecía transcurrir en la corte, ligados a la diversión de
la nobleza y la aristocracia egipcia. El hecho de que ahora dichos contadores
de historias sean puestos a realizar los trabajos duros para los cuales no
estaban preparados ni acostumbrados sería un ejemplo del cambio social
dado con la revolución social.
El texto de las Admoniciones también presenta una representación de
ciertos personajes asociados y vinculados con la elite sacerdotal y los
trabajos del templo. De entre los individuos procedentes de esta elite—
vinculados con las tareas religiosas del templo—nos encontramos con los

sacerdotes wab44. Estos son mencionados sufriendo las

consecuencias del desorden social y político puesto que al igual que sucedía
con los wrw, la escasez de productos suntuarios hace que sea imposible
lograr un enterramiento acorde a sus necesidades. En el antiguo Egipto, la
figura del sacerdote se encontraba arraigada a la realidad política y social del
país45. De ahí que dichos personajes sufran las mismas consecuencias que los
altos funcionarios o los denominados “grandes” de la sociedad egipcia.


42
Enmarch 2008: 139.
43
Si bien la segunda parte de la palabra se encuentra dañada en el papiro, Enmarch 2008:
101–102 sostiene que la misma hace referencia a mdw (palabras) y reconstruye la palabra
“contadores de historias”.
44
Faulkner 2009 [1962]: 57 y Hannig 2006a: 633–639.
45
Pernigotti 1991 [1990]: 148.

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212 ROSELL ANTIGUO ORIENTE

Por último, nos encontramos con las xnyt, las

cantantes henyt46, las cuales aparecen retratadas fuera de sus ocupaciones
habituales puesto que se encuentran ahora trabajando en los telares como
tejedoras e impartiendo lamentos a la diosa Meret47 (Adm. 4, 12–13). Las
cantantes henyt pertenecían al grupo de músicos del templo y eran mujeres
bailarinas que cantaban, entonaban música y tocaban ciertos instrumentos
como los sistros y las panderetas48. Por tanto, que este grupo de mujeres
cantantes adoradoras de la diosa Meret y vinculadas al templo ahora se
hallen trabajando en talleres o telares, evidencia un cambio en las relaciones
sociales y es una muestra del desorden social reinante.
Resumiendo pues la posición y la condición de los nobles y ricos—y
por tanto de la las elites—el texto de Ipuwer es contundente al referirse a
todos ellos bajo el término egipcio Spsw, nobles u hombre de
riqueza49, marcando cómo esta población ha caído en desgracia a causa de la
revolución social que atraviesa Egipto. Es así cómo Ipuwer señala cómo
mientras los nobles en general, se encuentran sufriendo por la situación, los
pobres se regocijan (Adm. 2, 7). Sintetizando de este modo la inversión del
orden social que atraviesa gran parte del discurso de Ipuwer.
De esta manera, podemos observar en las Admoniciones de Ipuwer
cómo son representadas las elites egipcias en un escenario por demás
adverso, en el cual se las describe sufriendo las consecuencias de una
revolución social que las ha expropiado de sus bienes y apartado de sus
privilegios. Ahora bien, resta indagar el por qué de tal representación. Y en
este sentido, creemos que dicha situación y representación habría actuado
como una posible estrategia de reproducción social de las elites destinada a
reforzar su estatus y lugar en la sociedad egipcia.

EL DESORDEN COMO ESTRATEGIA DE REPRODUCCIÓN SOCIAL DE LAS

ELITES

Llegados a este punto, es necesario adentrarnos en el problema de re-pensar

el desorden como garante de un orden dado y la funcionalidad política que la

46
Faulkner 2009 [1962]: 192 y Hannig 2006a: 1892.
47
Diosa tutelar del canto según Enmarch 2008: 101.
48
Ward 1982: 132, N° 1126–1128; Quirke 2004b: 129 y Enmarch 2008: 101.
49
Faulkner 2009 [1962]: 265 y Hannig 2006a: 2439–2440.

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teatralización de un mundo al revés pudo haber tenido en las Admoniciones

de Ipuwer a la hora de actuar como una estrategia de reproducción de las
elites.
Está claro que la plasmación de un relato en donde el orden se ve
alterado súbitamente por la conjunción de ciertos factores políticos,
económicos y sociales introduce el problema significativo de pensar una
revolución. Este hecho tan particular y notorio que se desarrolla
literariamente nos demuestra la existencia—si no en el imaginario social y
colectivo de una parte de la sociedad egipcia del Reino Medio, sí por lo
menos en el imaginario de la clase dirigente egipcia que habría instado a
producir dicho texto—de una visión alternativa de las cosas, que lo dado
podía mutar y transformarse, que la realidad era permeable, aun cuando en
este relato esa mutación sea empleada como una dura advertencia en contra
de alterar el orden establecido. Ahora bien, el hecho de pensar una
revolución social se encuentra emparentado y asociado con los mensajes que
la clase dirigente egipcia del Reino Medio necesitaba y estaba interesada en
transmitir. Esto es, un mundo en el cual la sublevación del orden no tuviese
otra consecuencia válida más que el caos y la ruina de toda la sociedad y la
cultura egipcia.
Así, si bien Ipuwer nos muestra un mundo dado vuelta—que atenta
contra la imagen de la sociedad ideal en donde cada sector social debía
cumplir una función específica—no por ello debe ser considerado este texto
como una obra subversiva, como un discurso contra las normas oficiales,
puesto que al ser una elaboración cultural producida dentro del mismo
ámbito estatal, generalmente termina reafirmando el statu quo50. Así, el
mensaje que intenta plasmar dicha narración es el de reforzar la autoridad y
el poder del faraón, del Estado y de las elites frente a situaciones de crisis a
través de una visión caótica, apocalíptica de lo que sería un mundo sin
autoridad, sin el poder del faraón y sin un Estado. No es casual por ende el
horror y la desazón que manifiesta Ipuwer al observar la ruina de los valores
tradicionales así como el ascenso y la irrupción de las masas y los miembros
más humildes de la población a los espacios que eran reservados a los
estratos privilegiados de la sociedad egipcia. Y en este sentido, encontramos
más que interesante el aporte ofrecido por el antropólogo Georges Balandier
para quien mediante la ficcionalización de un desorden y la creación de un
discurso basado en el caos, el desorden puede ser domesticado traduciéndose

50
Parkinson 1999: 71.

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214 ROSELL ANTIGUO ORIENTE

en orden51. De esta manera, las apelaciones a un mundo al revés—tal como

sucede en las Admoniciones de Ipuwer—pueden ser interpretadas a nuestro
entender en base la teoría del “poder por el desorden”52.
De esta manera, creemos que este relato habría sido utilizado como
una fuente de legitimación política, transmisor de ideas y valores destinados
a proporcionar cohesión a la sociedad egipcia53. Y esto se emparenta con una
cuestión fundamental, abordada desde el campo de la sociología moderna,
como lo es el del estudio de las estrategias de reproducción social. Al
respecto, uno de los interrogantes fundamentales de esta cuestión ha sido
planteado por Pierre Bourdieu a la hora de analizar cómo y por qué el mundo
adquiere un determinado sentido, se preserva y se perpetúa cierta imagen de
ese mundo en un orden social54. Y en este sentido, Bourdieu ha planteado
que “hay que recusar la cuestión de saber si las señales de sumisión que los
subordinados acuerdan permanentemente a sus superiores constituyen y
reconstituyen sin cesar la relación de dominación o si, a la inversa, la
relación objetiva de dominación impone los signos de sumisión”55. En otras
palabras, debemos indagar acerca de los mecanismos y los sistemas
simbólicos que permiten que un determinado grupo social se posicione y
reproduzca en cierto orden social del mundo.
Cierto es que el rol que ocupan los sistemas simbólicos es
fundamental, pues son estos los que contribuyen a constituir el mundo, a
brindarle un sentido para quienes se encuentran inmersos en él,
transformándose así en objetos de disputa en su camino por imponer una
determinada manera legítima de ver el mundo, de conservarlo o simplemente
transformarlo si se transforma su representación56. Así, las estrategias de
reproducción social apuntarían a legitimar una dominación, a fundamentarla
y a naturalizarla en el tiempo57. Es decir que en base a las representaciones
que de sí misma se haga una sociedad puede llegar o no a cambiar el modo
en que un determinado sector social se represente y establezca en un orden
social dado. Esto es justamente lo que creemos que sucede en el texto de las
Admoniciones de Ipuwer cuando se representa a una sociedad dada vuelta

51
Balandier 2003 [1988]: 112–137.
52
Balandier 2003 [1988].
53
Rosell 2010: 243.
54
Bourdieu 2011: 31.
55
Bourdieu 2011: 31.
56
Gutiérrez 2011: 21–22.
57
Bourdieu 2011: 37.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE. LA REPRESENTACIÓN DE LAS ELITES EGIPCIAS 215

que atenta contra la imagen de lo que la clase dirigente egipcia suponía como
una sociedad ideal, en la cual debía existir una separación notoria entre los
espacios destinados y privilegiados de los sectores altos y pertenecientes a la
elite de aquellos en los que debían estar confinados los sectores bajos. No
hace otra cosa más que reafirmar el lugar en el que cada sujeto debe
permanecer de acuerdo a ese mundo social que la propia elite egipcia
impone y reproduce. Y esto se puede explicar por la propia dinámica de las
elites que basan su poder, prestigio y legitimidad en base a la apropiación de
un orden fundado en la inequidad y desigualdad58. Así, uno de los
mecanismos o estrategias de reproducción social de las elites antiguas, como
la egipcia, consistía en adquirir la legitimidad no sólo de los ojos de los
demás, es decir de los sectores bajos, sino también para sí mismas59. De esta
manera, las elites logran crear una ideología legitimadora que las cohesione
ante sus competidores así como también a sí mismas como clase dominante.
Precisamente, las elites necesitan reproducir su propia imagen tanto por
medio de la reactualización de sus acciones pragmáticas destinadas a
mantener la desigualdad social como por medio de la comprensión y la
reafirmación de su propia posición en un orden social60. En otras palabras,
necesitan recrear constantemente una representación de sí mismas destinadas
a cohesionarlas en momentos de crisis y necesidad de legitimación. Y para
ello, se habrían valido—en este caso—de la literatura como un vehículo de
transmisión ideológica para poder dirigir y extender su posición y su lugar
en la sociedad egipcia61.
El orden que cada individuo debe ocupar en una sociedad diferencia,
clasifica, jerarquiza e impone ciertos límites hacia el interior de una sociedad
que se ven reflejados en las prohibiciones y en las pautas de conductas
aceptables. De esta forma, la inversión simbólica de ese orden mediante su
burla, parodia o ficción enmascararía un acto legitimador por parte de los
sectores dirigentes en una sociedad, puesto que mediante tales amenazas al
orden pueden beneficiarse sacando un provecho de tal desorden,
convirtiéndolo en un instrumento de poder destinado a fortalecer un régimen
de gobierno o a una clase en el poder62. Así, creemos que en las


58
Baines y Yofee 1988: 213.
59
Baines y Yofee 1988: 213.
60
Baines y Yofee 1988: 213.
61
Baines y Yoffee 2000: 17.
62
Balandier 1994 [1992]: 45.

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216 ROSELL ANTIGUO ORIENTE

Admoniciones, las imágenes y las representaciones de las elites egipcias

habrían servido para reforzar el rol y la posición de las propia elite egipcia
mediante la ficcionalización de un mundo al revés en el cual se demuestra
que solo ella puede garantizar y mantener el orden social, a la par que
ejemplificar lo que debe ser una sociedad ideal.

CONSIDERACIONES FINALES

En este trabajo hemos intentado reflexionar sobre las representaciones de las

elites egipcias contenidas en el texto de las Admoniciones de Ipuwer.
Nuestra intención fue más allá de describir y analizar las diversas
representaciones de las elites contenidas en dicho texto puesto que también
nos hemos concentrado en comprender los motivos que habrían llevado a la
propia clase dirigente egipcia del Reino Medio a elaborar un texto en el cual
las representaciones e imágenes de las elites estuvieran permeadas por el
estallido de una revolución social que las hubo de despojar de todos sus
bienes, derechos y privilegios.
De esta manera, hemos analizado cómo la representación literaria de
una revolución social en las Admoniciones de Ipuwer, conjuntamente con las
descripciones y representaciones de las elites egipcias, habría servido para
garantizar el orden, reforzar el statu quo y legitimar al Estado y a la
monarquía egipcia mediante la teatralización y la re-presentación de ciertas
imágenes sobre el desorden y el caos social. Así, destacamos la función
coercitiva, implícita, que cumple el concepto y la idea de una revolución
social en este texto como una advertencia clara por parte de la elite
gobernante hacia los sectores populares y trabajadores de la sociedad
egipcia, de no intentar sublevar el orden social y rebelarse contra la máxima
autoridad egipcia, dado que la anarquía social, el caos y la desolación
invadirían Egipto.
Por último, hemos indagado en los mecanismos de reproducción que
la propia elite egipcia habría desarrollado a partir de dichas representaciones
para poder reproducir no solo un ideal de sociedad, sino también delimitar el
lugar que las propias elites debían tener y ocupar en la sociedad egipcia. En
este sentido, hemos observado como tales representaciones no hacen otra
cosa más que reafirmar el lugar en el que cada sujeto debía permanecer de
acuerdo a ese mundo social que la propia elite egipcia imponía y reproducía.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE. LA REPRESENTACIÓN DE LAS ELITES EGIPCIAS 217

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ROSELL, P. M. 2010. “Consideraciones sobre el desarrollo de la literatura pesimista

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RESEÑAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS / BOOK REVIEWS

NISSIM AMZALLAG, Esau in Jerusalem: The Rise of a Seirite Religious Elite in

Zion in the Persian Period. Cahiers de la Revue Biblique 85. Pendé, J.
Gabalda et Cie, 2015. ISBN 978–2–85021–242–0. Paperback 62,00 €.
In the introduction to his Prolegomena to the History of Ancient Israel, Julius
Wellhausen explains that prior to his having composed that foundational work
in the field of the critical study of Hebrew Scripture, it was widely held

that the great mass of the books of the Old Testament not only relate to
the pre-exilic period, but date from it… they are remnants of the litera-
ture of ancient Israel which the Jews rescued as a heritage from the
past, and on which they continued to subsist in the decay of independ-
ent intellectual life. (. . .) in dogmatic theology Judaism is a mere empty
chasm over which one springs from the Old Testament to the new…1

Notwithstanding an overwhelming antipathy to post-exilic Judaism, even

Wellhausen remarks as follows concerning the religious and literary creativity
of Judaism2 in the Achaemenid period:

(…) apart from the Pentateuch the pre-exilic portion of the Old
Testament amounts in bulk to little more than half of the entire volume.
All the rest belongs to the later period, and it includes not merely the
feeble after-growths of a failing vegetation, but also productions of the
vigour and originality of Isa. XL–LXVI and [Link]. 3

During the first half of the 20th century C.E. it was widely held by academic
scholars of the Hebrew Scriptures that while the cultic regulations of Ex. 25–
31; 35–40 and the law corpora found in the book of Leviticus were created in
the period following the destruction of King Solomon’s temple by the army

1
Wellhausen 1883: 1.
2
See below.
3
Wellhausen 1883: 2.

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222 RESEÑAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS / BOOK REVIEWS ANTIGUO ORIENTE

of King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C.E., many of the narratives of the

Pentateuch and of Joshua-Judges, Samuel, and Kings represented pre-exilic
Israelite literature. However, in the last three decades of the 20th century C.E.
this consensus was shattered by Thomas L. Thompson’s The Historicity of the
Patriarchal Narratives: The Quest for the Historical Abraham4 and John van
Seters’ Abraham in History and Tradition5 followed by many others. Scholars
who insisted that most of the narratives in the Pentateuch and Joshua-Kings
were written after 586 B.C.E. were called minimalists. Scholars who argued
that a relatively greater amount of the Pentateuch and the so-called Former
Prophets had been composed prior to the Exile were called maximalists.
A tacit assumption of both maximalists and minimalists was that post-exil-
ic writings must of necessity be less reliable historically and less authoritative
spiritually in keeping with Wellhausen’s having characterized the Jewish
community of Yehud in the Achaemenid period in the following words:

The Jews had no historical life, and therefore painted the old time
according to their ideas, and framed the time to come according to
their wishes. They stood in no living relation with either the past or the
future; the present was not with them a bridge from the one to the other;
they did not think of bestirring themselves with a view to the kingdom
of God. They had no natural and historical existence, and made no
preparations to procure such a thing for themselves; they only hoped
for it as a reward of faithful keeping of the law.6

In the midst of the debate between maximalists and minimalists as to which

Scripture texts might be properly defined as post-exilic, Avi Hurvitz produced
a whole series of researches into the characteristics of pre-exilic, exilic,7 and
post-exilic Hebrew, culminating in A Concise Lexicon of Late Biblical
Hebrew.8 Many of the minimalists do not want to countenance the possibility
of scientific proof for linguistic differences between pre-exilic and post-exilic
texts. Indeed, Thomas L. Thompson went so far as to declare that the oldest

4
Thompson 1974.
5
van Seters 1975.
6
Wellhausen 1883: 502–03.
7
Hurvitz 1982.
8
Hurvitz 2014.
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ANTIGUO ORIENTE RESEÑAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS / BOOK REVIEWS 223

testimony to the existence of Hebrew Scripture comes from “the Hasmonean

state, created by the Maccabees.”9
In 1908 Solomon Schechter argued against the attribution of a large part
of Hebrew Scripture including not only the Priestly Code of the Pentateuch
but also Song of Songs and Ruth to the period 450–150 B.C.E.10 He stated,
“No period in Jewish history…is so entirely obscure.”11 As Schechter would
have it,

All that is left of those ages are a few meagre notices by Josephus,
which do not seem to be above doubt, and a few bare names in the
Books of Chronicles of persons who hardly left any mark on the history
of the times.12

It is against the background of this long debate as to how much of Hebrew

Scripture might be assigned to the Achaemenid period (539–330 B.C.E.) that
Nissim Amzallag (Ph.D. in biblical research, Ben-Gurion University of the
Negev, Beer Sheva 2015), a Ph.D. in botany (Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, 1993), the author of 30 scientific articles in biblical studies, three
books on the history of ideas and philosophy of science, 13 scientific articles
on the history of ideas, and 40 scientific articles on plant biology, emerges
into the field of biblical studies, full blown like Athena from the head of Zeus,
and offers a totally new way of looking at one aspect of the history of Judaism
and its literature in the Achaemenid period.
Unquestionably, Wellhausen’s assigning Leviticus to the decadent
Achaemenid era was no sign of admiration for the book that first taught “Love
thy neighbor as thyself.” Likewise, Schechter did not find in the assigning of
Ruth and Song of Songs to that era a compliment. Now emerges a highly gift-
ed and original scholar, Nissim Amzallag, to declare that the province of
Yehud in the Achaemenid period “was the hub of such intense intellectual and
literary activity as to be regarded as the host of the golden age of Hebrew lit-
erature” (Esau in Jerusalem, p. 1). Moreover, Amzallag explains, “This
extraordinary literary outpouring was accompanied by deep theological trans-
formations of the official religion of the pre-exilic Judean kingdom” (p. 1).
9
Thompson 1999: 294.
10
Schechter 1908: 42
11
Schechter 1908: 43
12
Schechter 1908: 43.
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224 RESEÑAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS / BOOK REVIEWS ANTIGUO ORIENTE

Elaborating upon the hypothesis formulated by Juan Manuel Tebes in

2011, according to which in the Achaemenid period, people with an Edomite
background formed one of the choirs that sang at the services at the temple of
YHWH in Jerusalem,13 Amzallag argues extensively and convincingly that
the Judahite clan of Zerah is a local extension of a group originating in Edom,
which was assigned a Levitical lineage in 1 Chr. 6. Their non-Israelite origin
is attested in 1 Chr. 2:6, and it is corroborated by 1 Kgs. 5:11. Levitization of
persons of non-Israelite origin is demonstrated by the Chronicler’s assigning
the family of Obed Edom to the Korahites and/or Merarites in 1 Chr. 15 (pp.
15–31). In addition, Amzallag argues that the 200 unnamed male and female
singers referred to in Ezra 2:65 must be the descendants of Heman and
Jeduthun because in post-exilic writings the descendants of Asaph are men-
tioned with precisely these other two groups of performers in 1 Chr. 15; 16;
25; 2 Chr. 5; 35.
Having made this point in the opening chapter of Esau in Jerusalem,
Amzallag devotes the second chapter of the book to exploring the background
of the Ezrahites (pp. 33–51). He shows how reference to metallurgy, the
Edomites’s specialized activity, reveals that the anonymous singers of Ezra
2:65 were heirs both to the prestigious tradition of song-poetry in Canaan and
to Yahwist traditions that were older than Israelite religion. Consequently,
Amzallag explains, they were recruited by the post-exilic Israelite community
for the musical worship of YHWH (p. 51). In Chapter 3 of Esau in Jerusalem,
“The Paradox of the Edomite Presence” (pp. 53–74), the author argues that
during the Iron Age, two Yahwisms coexisted, one in Israel and one in Edom.
Moreover, Amzallag argues, the story of the rivalry between Jacob and Esau,
in which Esau is the firstborn son of Isaac and Rebekah, alludes to the rivalry
between the two Yahwisms (pp. 53–58). Later, Amzallag elaborates, Edom’s
having sided with Babylonia in 586 B.C.E. resulted in the Judeans’s demo-
nization of Edom (pp. 58–74). Nevertheless, Amzallag explains, the post-exil-
ic Judean community in Yehud chose to recruit Edomite singers for one of
their temple choirs “to reacquaint the Asaphite singers with the musical tradi-
tions that their ancestors had lost in exile.”
In the second of the three larger divisions of Esau in Jerusalem,
Integration of the Ezrahite Singers, the author traces the evidence for the
process, by means of which the Ezrahite singers were integrated into the cler-
gy of the post-exilic Judean community of Yehud. In Chapter Four Amzallag
13
Tebes 2011: 253.

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argues that the central purpose of the Nehemiah Charter contained in Neh. 10
is to integrate the Ezrahite singers into the community and to pay them for
their religious services. The Ezrahites, in turn, agreed to abandon their
Edomite identity and traditions (p. 91). In Chapter Five, “The Levitization of
the Ezrahites,” the author argues that 2 Chr. 31:1–21 provides the details as to
how the provisions of Neh. 10 with respect to the integration of the Ezrahites
into the community were implemented. No less interesting is our author’s
explaining how Neh. 11 sought to integrate other Edomites into Judah (pp.
103–106). In the 3d section of Chapter Five, Changes in Musical Worship,
Amzallag explains that in the 17-verse account of the ceremony of dedication
of the wall of Jerusalem in Neh. 12, most of the text describes the antiphonal
singing involving the Asaphites led by Zechariah and the Ezrahites by
Jezrahiah (see especially, p. 113). According to our author,

the musical ceremony recounted in Neh. 12:27–43 celebrates not only

the completion of the city wall but also the integration of the Ezrahites
in the community, their promotion to the rank of a religious elite, and
their financial support by the community.(p. 112).

Amzallag’s painstaking arguments in the course of the first five chap-

ters of Esau in Jerusalem prepare us for chapter 6, which analyzes in
great detail the various sources of opposition to Nehemiah’s charter
beginning with Noadiah the last named prophetess in Hebrew
Scripture, and culminating with the authors of Ps. 14, who were threat-
ened by the fact that the Ezrahites were not satisfied with being inte-
grated into Israel. They sought, instead, to become Israel’s new intel-
lectual and religious elite. Indeed, it was the very great success of the
Ezrahites in achieving precisely this goal and this status that is explored
in Part 3, The Ezrahites as a new religious elite (pp. 143–219).
Part 3 of Esau in Jerusalem includes an introduction and three chapters, 7
(the theological shift in Nehemiah’s charter); 8 (the Levites’s position in
regard to the reform); and 9 (the Ezrahite credo). In Chapter 7 the author
argues that Neh. 9 is not a prayer but rather a preamble to the charter (Neh.
10). It purpose was to integrate the Ezrahites into Judah by emphasizing the
covenant with Abraham rather than the covenant with Jacob. In Chapter 8

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226 RESEÑAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS / BOOK REVIEWS ANTIGUO ORIENTE

Amzallag analyzes various possible meanings of Ps. 106. He concludes that

the purpose of this psalm was for the non-Ezrahite Levites to acknowledge
the superiority of the Ezrahites’ musical traditions and to promote the
Ezrahites to the rank of a new religious elite. In the final chapter of the body
of the book, Chapter 9, The Ezrahite Credo, Amzallag shows how Ps. 89
exalts the Ezrahite elite and how Psalms 111–112 are two parts of a song that
the Ezrahites performed antiphonally.
In the book’s conclusion (pp. 221–235) it is suggested that there may be a
pro-Edomite bias in Genesis (p. 233) and in Chronicles (pp. 232–233). The
author briefly discusses the possibility of an Edomite origin of the book of
Job as part of the abiding legacy of Nehemiah’s having integrated the
Ezrahites into the Levites and into the Jewish community of Yehud.
Esau in Jerusalem is a fascinating piece of highly original and meticulous-
ly argued and documented research. It is interesting to read, and it demon-
strates how original thinking can shed new light on questions not previously
pondered. The writing is lucid, and it is thoroughly grounded in the history of
research. The author avoids scholarly jargon. The book is provided with
excellent indices, and it includes a rich bibliography that sheds much light on
the until now not sufficiently appreciated legacy of Nehemiah son of
Hacaliah. The book is highly recommended for biblical scholars, university
students and seminarians, as well as clergy and educated laypersons. One
looks forward to reading many more highly original books and articles by
Nissim Amzallag.

REFERENCES

HURVITZ, A. 1982. A Linguistic Study of the Relationship between the Priestly Source
and the Book of Ezekiel. Paris, Gabalda.
HURVITZ, A. 2014. A Concise Lexicon of Late Biblical Hebrew. Leiden, Brill.
SCHECHTER, S. 1908. “The Study of the Bible”. In: Studies in Judaism, Second Series.
Philadelphia, Jewish Publication Society of America, pp. 31–54.
TEBES, J. 2011. “The Edomite Involvement in the Destruction of the First Temple: A
Case of Stab-in-the-Back Tradition?”. In: Journal for the Study of the Old
Testament 36, pp. 219–255.
THOMPSON, T.L. 1974. The Historicity of the Patriarchal Narratives: The Quest for
the Historical Abraham. Berlin, de Gruyter.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE RESEÑAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS / BOOK REVIEWS 227

THOMPSON, T.L. 1999. The Mythic Past: Biblical Archaeology and the Myth of Israel.
London, Random House.
VAN SETERS, J. 1975. Abraham in History and Tradition. New Haven, CT, Yale
University Press.
WELLHAUSEN, J. 1883. Prolegomena to the History of Ancient Israel. Transl. by J.
Sutherland Black and A. Menzies. Edinburgh, Adam and Charles Black.

MAYER I. GRUBER
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

PETER JAMES & PETER G. VAN DER VEEN (eds.), Solomon and Shishak. Current
Perspectives from Archaeology, Epigraphy, History and Chronology.
Proceedings of the Third BICANE Colloquium held at Sidney Sussex College,
Cambridge 26–27 March, 2011. BAR International Series 2732. Oxford,
Archaeopress, 2015. xii + 281. ISBN 978–1–4073–1389–4. £47.00

En 1991 la publicación del libro Centuries of Darkness: A Challenge to the

Conventional Chronology of Old World Archaeology, escrito por un grupo de
historiadores británicos liderados por Peter James,14 estimuló un extenso deba-
te respecto de la cronología del antiguo Cercano Oriente y el mundo medite-
rráneo. Es que la hipótesis principal del modelo Centuries of Darkness (CoD),
como se lo ha dado en llamar, iba en contra de la mayoría de los postulados
cronológicos aceptados hasta ese momento. A partir de una serie de “anomalí-
as” detectadas en las evidencias epigráficas y arqueológicas de principios de
del Hierro, James et al. argüían que la cronología convencional de este período
estaba artificialmente alargada en unos 250 años, principalmente debido a los
serios problemas presentados por la periodización egipcia. No es este el lugar
para extendernos en los detalles del modelo CoD, pero podemos enfocarnos en
su argumento principal: la egiptología ha creado una extensión temporal dema-
siado larga del Tercer Período Intermedio (tradicionalmente, 1069–664 a.C.),
lo que ha tenido una consecuencia no querida en la periodización de las áreas
que dependen de la cronología egipcia para la datación de sus restos arqueoló-
gicos, básicamente todo el mundo antiguo desde Irán hasta Gibraltar antes del
siglo VIII a.C. Períodos arqueológicos anómalamente largos de principios de

14
Véase la traducción castellana: James et al. 1993 [1991].
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la Edad del Hierro, tales como los excavados en el mundo egeo, Anatolia,
Levante, Mesopotamia y la Península Arábiga, fueron incorporados en mode-
los de “siglos de oscuridad” que incluían invasiones externas, crisis sistémicas
y colapsos de las civilizaciones de la Edad del Bronce Tardío. La solución pro-
puesta por CoD era drástica, sugiriendo una re-datación del final de la Edad
del Bronce Tardío a finales del siglo X a.C., eliminado así largos períodos
arqueológicos con poca o nula evidencia material. Aunque más de un cuarto
de siglo después la hipótesis CoD sigue siendo todavía aceptada por una mino-
ría de investigadores, la necesidad de dataciones más bajas ha sido recogida
por otros modelos cronológicos con reducciones menos drásticas pero no
menos polémicas, especialmente la cronología baja de la Edad del Hierro
defendida por los arqueólogos de la Universidad de Tel Aviv.15
Las consecuencias de las dataciones bajas propuestas por CoD se sintieron
especialmente en la arqueología del Levante, dadas las fuertes implicancias
que tenían para la historia del surgimiento del estado de los antiguos israelitas
y de sus monarcas más famosos, David y Salomón. Solomon and Shishak pre-
senta los artículos presentados en un coloquio realizado en Sidney Sussex
College, Cambridge, en 2011, dedicado a la cronología de la monarquía unida
israelita y sus relaciones con Egipto. La edición está a cargo del mismo Peter
James junto con Peter G. van der Veen, investigador postdoctoral de la
Universidad de Maguncia, Alemania. Aunque editado por dos defensores de
la cronología CoD, los artículos presentan perspectivas variadas y muchos no
apoyan (de hecho algunos rechazan abiertamente) este modelo cronológico.
En el primer artículo, John J. Bimson (“Shishak and Shoshenk: A
Chronological Cornerstone or Stumbling-block?”) estudia el ancla cronológi-
ca más importante en la cronología convencional: la identificación del faraón
bíblico Shishak (1 Reyes 14:25–26; 2 Crón 12:2–9) con el rey Sheshonk I, de
Dinastía XXII Libia, del que se conserva una lista topográfica de pueblos con-
quistados en Palestina (Puerta Bubastita en Karnak). Como Bimson demues-
tra claramente, esta identificación, a primera vista bastante obvia dada la
similitud en el nombre de ambos faraones, no está exenta de problemas, espe-
cialmente la diferente ruta tomada por Sheshonk de aquella mencionada en el
texto bíblico, sumado a la extraña ausencia de Jerusalén y las ciudades forti-
ficadas de Roboam en la lista de Karnak. En una suerte de contrapunto, el
corto artículo posterior de Aidan Dodson (“Shoshenk I: A Conventional(ish)
View”) presenta una defensa de la ecuación Shishak = Shoshenk I. La exis-
15
E.g. Finkelstein 2008.
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tencia de varias campañas militares de Sheshonk I en Palestina permitiría

explicar, según Dodson, las diferencias entre el relato de la Biblia y la lista
topográfica de Karnak. Otro corto artículo de Shirly Ben-Dor Evian
(“Shoshenq I and the Levant: Synchronising Chronologies”) investiga los
hallazgos de objetos egipcios en el Levante durante la Edad del Hierro IIA
(tradicionalmente datado en el siglo X a.C.), tales como la cerámica, percas
del Nilo, y sellos post-ramésidas. Asumiendo claramente la validez de la cro-
nología convencional, Ben-Dor Evian concluye que la distribución espacial
de los hallazgos egipcios coincide con las regiones geográficas mencionadas
en la lista de Karnak. A la evidente influencia egipcia en la iconografía del
culto, los números hieráticos, y las conexiones con Biblos, habría que agregar
la presencia de arquitectura egipcia o egipcianizante en el Negev, tal como la
estructura tipo “residencia de gobernador” descubierta en el estrato II de Tel
Masos (edificio 480), construcción de estilo ramésida encontrada en un con-
texto demasiado tardío según la periodización tradicional16.
Con el artículo de Robert Morkot y James (“Dead-reckoning the Start of
the 22nd Dynasty: from Shoshenq V back to Shoshenq I”) el libro pasa al aná-
lisis más general de la cronología de la Dinastía XXII. El trabajo conjunto de
Morkot y James ya es bien conocido desde Centuries of Darkness y un gran
número de artículos posteriores en revistas científicas.17 El argumento central
de sus investigaciones ha sido siempre la necesidad de la reducción de la
extensión temporal del Tercer Período Intermedio: en este artículo, se centran
en la existencia del supuesto rey “Osorkon IV”, que el egiptólogo Kenneth
Kitchen identifica con el rey del mismo nombre de la famosa estela de Piye y
con el Shilkanni de las fuentes asirias (fuentes de finales del siglo VIII a.C.).
En base a un minucioso análisis, los autores concluyen que “Osorkon IV”
nunca existió, y que de hecho es el bien conocido Osorkon III de la Dinastía
XXII el que debe identificarse con el personaje de las fuentes citadas, lo que
bajaría las fechas de Osorkon III en unos 40–50 años (y, consecuentemente,
la datación de Sheshonk I a la segunda mitad del siglo IX a.C.). En la misma
dirección se dirige el estudio de Ad Thijs (“From the Lunar Eclipse of
Takeloth II back to Shoshenk I and Shishak”), que en base a datos astronómi-
cos y arqueológicos—especialmente las “anomalías” en los enterramientos de
toros en el Serapeum de Menfis—también redata a Sheshonk I en la segunda
mitad del siglo IX a.C.

16
Tebes 2004: 100.
17
E.g. Morkot y James 2009.
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Posteriormente, una serie de artículos se enfocan exclusivamente sobre

Sheshonk I y su tradicional identificación con el Shishak bíblico. Siguiendo la
opinión convencional, Troy Sagrillo (“Shoshenq I and Biblical Šîšaq: A
Philological Defense of their Traditional Indentification”) estudia las propues-
tas de identificación de Shishak con otros faraones, especialmente Ramsés II o
III. En base a argumentos exclusivamente filológicos—tales como la extrema
rareza de los hipocorísticos ssysw, ssw, y ss para el nombre “Ramsés”; y la falta
de correspondencia entre el semítico /š/ y el egipcio /s/—, Sagrillo concluye
que tal identificación es imposible de sostener, por lo que la evidencia disponi-
ble sugiere que el mejor candidato para Shishak sigue siendo Sheshonk I.
Desde la vereda de enfrente, el estudio de van der Veen (“The Name Shishaq:
Šošenq or Šyšu/q? Responding to the Critics and Assessing the Evidence”)
defiende los argumentos de una posible identificación de Shishak con alguno
de los Ramsés, en particular que la utilización del hipocorístico Sesu no fue tan
rara; y la representación bíblica de las letras šin/śin para el egipcio /š/ y samek
para el egipcio /s/ o /z/. En un estudio enfocado en la evidencia arqueológica,
Bimson (“Ramesses as Biblical Shishak? Some Notes on the Archaeological
Evidence”) propone identificar a Ramsés III con Shishak y relaciona las cam-
pañas militares del primero en Canaán y Amurru con lo poco que el texto de
Crónicas tiene que decir sobre la ruta de la invasión del segundo. Siguiendo
también el modelo CoD, van der Veen y James (“Zeraḥ the Kushite: A New
Proposal Regarding His Identity”) identifican la invasión de Judá por Zerah el
kushita, en tiempos del rey Asa de Judá, con las campañas militares de Ramsés
IV o de Userḫau, “supervisor de las tierras septentrionales”. Los mismos auto-
res (“When did Shoshenq I Campaign in Palestine?”), que redatan a Sheshonk
I en el siglo IX a.C., sitúan su campaña militar en el contexto de los conflictos
entre Israel y Hazael de Damasco, siendo uno de los objetivos de Sheshonk el
de proveer ayuda a los israelitas ante la amenaza aramea.
Con el artículo de Rupert Chapman (“Samaria and Megiddo: Shishak and
Solomon”), volvemos a la evidencia arqueológica levantina. En él, Chapman
estudia los restos materiales de Samaria y Megiddo, estando de acuerdo con
la re-datación propuesta por Finkelstein y otros del estrato VA-IVB de
Megiddo en el siglo IX a.C. Esto tiene importantes consecuencias para la cro-
nología egipcia, ya que Chapman sitúa en el mismo estrato la posición origi-
nal del fragmento de estela de Sheshonk I de Megiddo18, lo que implicaría una
re-datación de este faraón en el siglo IX a.C. El corto estudio de Wolfgang
18
Chapman 2009.
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Zwickel (“Solomon’s Temple, its Cultic Implements and the Historicity of

Solomon’s Kingdom”) investiga posibles paralelos arqueológicos del templo
de Salomón en Jerusalén, tal como es presentado en el texto bíblico. Zwickel
concluye que, aunque no existen evidencias arqueológicas de su construcción,
dicho templo encaja perfectamente en lo que sabemos de la arquitectura cúl-
tica del Levante del siglo X a.C. Nikos Kokkinos (“Josephus and Greek
Chronogaphy: Troy, Solomon, Shishak and Ramesses III”) investiga la crono-
logía del mundo antiguo construida por Flavio Josefo, siguiendo a anteriores
cronógrafos griegos, especialmente Manetón para el caso egipcio. Kokkinos
demuestra los problemas insuperables que plagaron a la cronología de Josefo
a través de todos sus escritos, en especial su predilección por dataciones
demasiado altas para el reinado de Salomón, mantenidas por su creencia en la
mayor antigüedad de la civilización judía por sobre la griega pero también por
la carencia de datos fiables sobre períodos tan lejanos en el tiempo. En “Early
Iron Age Epigraphy and Cronological Revision: A Summary Article”, van der
Veen presenta un compendio de los hallazgos epigráficos palestinenses tradi-
cionalmente datados a principios de la Edad del Hierro, pero que, en su opi-
nión, podrían datar de períodos arqueológicos más tardíos.
Quizás el problema más significativo que presenta el modelo CoD son las
dataciones de radiocarbono que, hasta el momento, parecen seguir apoyando
las aproximaciones más convencionales. Es por ello que dos artículos están
dedicados íntegramente a las cuestiones metodológicas relacionadas con este
sistema de datación. Uwe Zerbst y van der Veen (“Does Radiocarbon Provide
the Answer?”) presentan la serie de problemas que han surgido en la datación
por Carbono 14, la calibración dendrocronológica y la aproximación bayesia-
na para las dataciones arqueológicas del antiguo Cercano Oriente en general,
especialmente Egipto y el Levante, tales como en los fechados de la erupción
de Thera, el naufragio de Uluburun y la destrucción de Nínive. Entre las razo-
nes potenciales aducidas para la discrepancia entre las fechas de radiocarbono
calibradas y las históricas, se mencionan los cambios atmosféricos en el equi-
libro entre C14 y C12 y los errores en la curva de calibración o en las curvas de
los anillos de los árboles. Las discrepancias son tantas que los autores sugie-
ren concentrarse en muestras tomadas de contextos de los que sí está segura
su fecha histórica, y tomar los mayores recaudos cuando se excluyen valores
atípicos solo basados en estadísticas bayesianas. Problemas similares encuen-
tra Robert M. Porter en su artículo “Recent Problems with Dendrochrono-

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232 RESEÑAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS / BOOK REVIEWS ANTIGUO ORIENTE

logy”. Porter se enfoca especialmente en los resultados dendrocronológicos

de I. Kuniholm en base a anillos de árboles de enebro de Anatolia que, tal
como él lo demuestra, son muy poco fiables. Problemas análogos plagan la
periodización de otros sitios del Cercano Oriente, tal como la datación de la
destrucción de Nínive por los babilonios y medos, que las fuentes históricas
fechan, como bien es sabido, en 612 a.C., pero que recientes dataciones de
radiocarbono calibradas fechan en 795 a.C.! Es evidente que, a pesar de la
ayuda inestimable que ofrece la datación radiocarbónica, su utilización toda-
vía muestra muchos problemas que deben ser resueltos.
Los tres últimos capítulos se enfocan de nuevo en la arqueología del
Levante, con James (“Kings of Jerusalem at the Late Bronze to Iron Age
Transition – Forerunners or Doubles of David and Solomon”) sugiriendo un
contexto del Bronce Tardío para los reinados de David y Salomón; Simone B.
Robin (“Analysis, Interpretation and Dating of a Problematic Egyptian
Statuary Fragment Discovered in Jerusalem”), y van der Veen y David Ellis
(“‘He Placed His Name in Jerusalem’: Ramesside Finds from Judah’s
Capital’”) presentando hallazgos egipcios encontrados en Jerusalén; y final-
mente Dan’el Kahn (“The Campaign of Ramesses III against Philistia”), con
un artículo ya publicado sobre las campañas militares de Ramsés III contra
los Pueblos del Mar, que este autor sitúa en Siria.
Solomon and Shishak está dirigido a lectores ya adentrados en los áridos
debates cronológicos del primer milenio a.C. del Levante y Egipto, y asume
mucha familiaridad con el modelo CoD, por lo que habría sido necesario al
menos un capítulo introductorio sobre los postulados centrales de Centuries
of Darkness, y las respuestas y contra-respuestas posteriores. Para aquellos
interesados, se recomienda pues al menos una lectura general de la obra ori-
ginal de CoD. Solomon and Shishak exhibe de manera clara que la cronología
del antiguo Cercano Oriente, lejos de estar consensuada y libre de problemas,
muestra una diversidad de aproximaciones que no tienen miedo de debatir.
Aunque es cierto que los postulados de CoD no concuerdan con lo aceptado
por la mayoría de la academia, el libro presenta muchos de los problemas de
la cronología convencional que, más de 20 años después de Centuries of
Darkness, todavía no han sido resueltos, especialmente en torno a las datacio-
nes de radiocarbono. Por lo que se debe agradecer a los organizadores, edito-
res y autores por la honesta apertura intelectual realizada para dilucidar uno
de los dilemas más significativos de la historia del mundo antiguo.

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ANTIGUO ORIENTE RESEÑAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS / BOOK REVIEWS 233

BIBLIOGRAFÍA

CHAPMAN, R. 2009. “Putting Sheshonq I in his Place”. En: Palestine Exploration

Quarterly 141/1, pp. 4–17.
FINKELSTEIN, I. 2008. “Una actualización de la cronología baja: Arqueología, historia
y Biblia”. En: Antiguo Oriente 6, pp. 115–136.
JAMES, P., I. THORPE, N. KOKKINOS, R. MORKOT y J. FRANKISH. 1993 [1991]. Siglos
de Oscuridad. Desafío a la Cronología Tradicional del Mundo Antiguo.
Barcelona, Crítica.
MORKOT, R. y P. JAMES. 2009. “Peftjauawybast, King of Nen-nesut: Genealogy, Art
History, and the Chronology of Late-Libyan Egypt”. En: Antiguo Oriente 7, pp.
13–55.
TEBES, J.M. 2004. “The Influence of Egyptian Chronology in the Archaeology of the
Iron Age Negev: A Reassessment”. En: Göttinger Miszellen 198, pp. 91–104.

JUAN MANUEL TEBES

Universidad Católica Argentina
Universidad de Buenos Aires
CONICET

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POLÍTICA EDITORIAL

Antiguo Oriente es la publicación periódica del Centro de Estudios de Historia del

Antiguo Oriente (Departamento de Historia, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Pontificia
Universidad Católica Argentina). Se considerarán para publicación trabajos origina-
les relacionados con la historia de las sociedades del Cercano Oriente Antiguo y del
Mediterráneo Oriental desde el Paleolítico a época romano-helenística inclusive. Se
publica con una frecuencia anual. Antiguo Oriente publica artículos y reseñas biblio-
gráficas en español, francés o inglés. Los artículos que no se atengan a las normas
para publicación no serán aceptados.

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dadoso al citar sus propios trabajos.
3. Los trabajos enviados a Antiguo Oriente son evaluados por uno o dos especia-
listas externos. Se evalúa la importancia del tema; la calidad y claridad de la
expresión escrita y la metodología empleada. El evaluador recomienda la acep-
tación, rechazo o aceptación con modificaciones del trabajo. Se entiende que la
aceptación de un trabajo es condicional hasta que se realicen las revisiones nece-
sarias y hasta tanto el editor considere que el trabajo está listo para su publica-
ción. Los trabajos no aprobados no serán devueltos al autor.
4. A cada colaborador se le enviará copia de su artículo en PDF.
5. Las notas deben aparecer en todos los casos a pie de página y deben seguir el sis-
tema de citas autor-fecha. E.g. Hornung 1992: 15, 114–115.
6. Las citas extensas deben estar en cursiva.
7. Imágenes: en caso de tener que incluir imágenes contacte primero a los editores
en la siguiente dirección: cehao_uca@[Link]. Las imágenes deben ser
enviadas en alta definición, en blanco y Negro, preferentemente en formato TIFF
o similar, 600 dpi, en archivo aparte. Envíe las copias de alta calidad en el CD.
Solamente para propósitos de evaluación, puede enviar copias de las imágenes
en baja resolución por e-mail.
8. El autor debe incluir una lista de referencias (bibliografía) de todos los trabajos
citados en el artículo con la siguiente información en forma completa:
14 Política editorial_Antiguo Oriente 27/06/2016 01:01 p.m. Página 236

236 POLÍTICA EDITORIAL / EDITORIAL POLICY ANTIGUO ORIENTE 13 - 2015

* Autor(es), por apellido(s) e iniciales en VERSALES. Cuando se incluya más de

un trabajo del mismo autor, debe establecer su ordenamiento cronológica-
mente; si existe más de un trabajo del mismo autor en un mismo año, orde-
narlo alfabéticamente y agregarle al año las letras a, b, c, etc. tantas como sea
necesario.
* Título del trabajo. Use comillas para los títulos de los artículos y capítulos de
libros. Los títulos de libros deben ir en cursiva.
* Editores de trabajos colectivos, simposios, etc.
* Información de la serie, completa, si el trabajo forma parte de una o varias.
Número de edición.
* Título de la publicación periódica en cursiva y número del volumen. Escriba
el título de la publicación periódica en forma completa, no use abreviaturas.
* Paginación de los artículos en publicaciones periódicas o capítulos de libros,
precedidos por p. o pp.
* Información de publicación: ciudad, estado—si es necesario—y editorial.

Ejemplos:

Capítulo en libro:

HERZOG, Z. and O. BAR-YOSEF. 2002. “Different Views on Ethnicity in the

Archaeology of the Negev”. In: S. AHITUV and E.D. OREN (eds.), Aharon
Kempinski Memorial Volume: Studies in Archaeology and Related Disciplines.
Beersheva: Studies by the Department of Bible and Ancient Near East. Vol. 15.
Beersheba, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Press, pp. 151–181.

Artículo en revista:

PRATICO, G.D. 1985. “Nelson Glueck’s 1938-40 Excavations at Tell el Kheleifeh: A

Reappraisal”. In: Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 259, pp.
1–32.

Libro:

GODDEERIS, A. 2002. Economy and Society in Northern Babylonia in the Early Old
Babylonian Period (ca. 2000-1800). Leuven, Peeters.

Reseñas Bibliográficas

Se recibirán reseñas de libros o libros para reseñar, que hayan sido publicados no
antes de los dos años previos al año de edición del volumen correspondiente de
Antiguo Oriente. Las reseñas tendrán una extensión máxima de 1.500 palabras y pue-
den ser enviadas en los idiomas que publica la revista (español, francés o inglés). La
reseña se debe enviar por correo electrónico únicamente.
14 Política editorial_Antiguo Oriente 27/06/2016 01:01 p.m. Página 237

ANTIGUO ORIENTE 13 - 2015 POLÍTICA EDITORIAL / EDITORIAL POLICY 237

EDITORIAL POLICY

Antiguo Oriente is the scholarly journal of the Centro de Estudios de Historia del Anti-
guo Oriente (Institute of Studies for the History of the Ancient East), History
Department, School of Social, Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina. It will con-
sider for publication original manuscripts related to the history of the societies of the
Ancient Near East and the Eastern Mediterranean from the Paleolithic through the
Roman-Hellenistic period. It is published once a year. Antiguo Oriente publishes arti-
cles and book reviews in Spanish, French or English. Papers which do not take into
account the instructions for contributors will not be accepted.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR CONTRIBUTORS

1. Authors should submit articles by e-mail in Word for Windows (doc) and
Portable Document Format (PDF). Occasionally, a CD containing the article and
the images can be requested. The maximum length of the paper should be 10,000
words (including footnotes and appendixes), paper size: A4, font: Times New
Roman 12 pt; spaced: 1,5, footnotes: 10 pt. It should include an abstract in
English (maximum 200 words) and four keywords in Spanish and English.
2. A cover letter accompanying a paper should include the author’s address,
telephone and/or fax number, e-mail address, academic position and working
place. Papers should NOT identify the author in any case, please be careful when
citing own papers.
3. Papers submitted to Antiguo Oriente are sent to one or two anonymous referees.
They evaluate the importance of the topic; the quality and clarity of the writing
and the methodology employed by the author(s). They recommend whether the
paper be accepted, rejected or accepted with modifications. It is understood that
any acceptance of a paper is conditional until the necessary revisions have been
made, and the editor considers the paper ready for publication. Papers rejected
will not be returned to the sender.
4. One copy of the article in PDF format will be sent to each contributor.
5. Notes should appear at the bottom of the page and follow the author-date system
of documentation. E.g.: Smith 1992: 12, 114–115.
6. Long quotations should be in Italics.
7. Images: if you have images, first contact editors at cehao_uca@[Link].
Copies should be sent in high definition, black and white, preferably in TIFF
format or similar, 600 dpi, in a separate file. Send the high quality copies in the
CD. Only for evaluation purposes, you should send a lower definition copy of
the images by e-mail.
8. Include a compiled list of references of all the works cited in the article with the
following information, in full:
* Author(s) of the work, by last name(s) and initials in SMALL CAPS. When more
14 Política editorial_Antiguo Oriente 27/06/2016 01:01 p.m. Página 238

238 POLÍTICA EDITORIAL / EDITORIAL POLICY ANTIGUO ORIENTE 13 - 2015

than one work by an author is included, arrange the entries chronologically; for
more than one entry by an author in a single year, arrange them alphabetically
and modify the year citation with a, b, c, etc., as much as needed.
* Title of the work. Use quotation marks for article titles and chapters of books.
Titles of books in Italics.
* Editors of collected works, symposia, etc.
* Series information, in full, if the work is part of one or more series. Number
of edition.
* Journal title in Italics and volume number. Write the complete journal title, do
not use abbreviations.
* Page numbers of articles in journals or books, preceded by p. or pp..
* Publication information, including city, state—if necessary—and publisher.

Examples:

Chapter in a Book:

HERZOG, Z. and O. BAR-YOSEF. 2002. “Different Views on Ethnicity in the

Archaeology of the Negev.” In: S. AHITUV and E.D. OREN (eds.), Aharon
Kempinski Memorial Volume: Studies in Archaeology and Related Disciplines.
Beersheva: Studies by the Department of Bible and Ancient Near East, vol. 15.
Beersheba, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Press, pp. 151–181.

Article in a Journal:

PRATICO, G.D. 1985. “Nelson Glueck´s 1938-40 Excavations at Tell el Kheleifeh: A

Reappraisal.” In: Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 259, pp.
1–32.

Book:

GODDEERIS, A. 2002. Economy and Society in Northern Babylonia in the Early Old
Babylonian Period (ca. 2000-1800). Leuven, Peeters.

Book Reviews

We receive book reviews and books for review that were published the last two years
before the current issue of Antiguo Oriente. The maximum length should be 1,500
words, and can be sent in the following languages: Spanish, English and French.
Reviews should be sent only by e-mail in doc and pdf format.
14 Política editorial_Antiguo Oriente 27/06/2016 01:01 p.m. Página 239

ANTIGUO ORIENTE 13 - 2015 POLÍTICA EDITORIAL / EDITORIAL POLICY 239

DIRECCIONES PARA EL ENVÍO DE ARTÍCULOS Y RESEÑAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS

ADDRESSES FOR ARTICLES AND BOOK REVIEWS SUBMISSIONS

Dirección Postal / Postal address

Dr. Juan Manuel Tebes

Director, Antiguo Oriente
CEHAO, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales
Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina
Av. Alicia Moreau de Justo 1500
(C1107AFD) Ciudad de Buenos Aires
Argentina

Dirección Electrónica/E-mail address

cehao_uca@[Link]
15 colaboradores_Antiguo Oriente 27/06/2016 01:02 p.m. Página 241

COLABORACIONES EN NÚMEROS ANTERIORES / PAPERS IN PREVIOUS ISSUES

ANTIGUO ORIENTE, VOLUMEN 1, 2003

- Sustrato y continuidad cultural en la Edad del Hierro: el caso del Negev y el sur
de Jordania, por JUAN MANUEL TEBES
- Consideraciones sobre la organización sociopolítica anterior al advenimiento
del Estado en el Valle del Nilo, por MARCELO CAMPAGNO
- El pasado de Israel en el Antiguo Testamento, por EMANUEL PFOH
- Relaciones interétnicas entre los jefes libios y el Estado egipcio (siglos XIII al
VIII a.C.), por CELESTE MARÍA CRESPO
- Ritualidad en el Antiguo Egipto: el festival de Sed, por ROXANA FLAMMINI
- Dualidad enterratoria en el Reino Medio: Sesostris III y sus complejos funerarios
de Dahshur y Abidos, por ROXANA FLAMMINI
ANTIGUO ORIENTE, VOLUMEN 2, 2004
- Carrier Netting from the Ptolemaic Roman Harbour Town of Berenike (Egyptian
Red Sea Coast), por ANDRÉ VELDMEIJER & SIGRID VAN ROODE
- Cerámicas “Edomita”, “Madianita” y “Negevita”: ¿indicadoras de grupos
tribales en el Negev?, por JUAN MANUEL TEBES
- De patrones y clientes: sobre la continuidad de las prácticas sociopolíticas en
la Antigua Palestina, por EMANUEL PFOH
- La hipótesis sotíaca de Eduard Meyer: una revisión a 100 años de su publi-
cación, por MARCELO ZULIAN
- Algunos aportes iconográficos, simbólicos y litúrgicos iranios al Imperio
Romano y al Cristianismo, por JAVIER M. PAYSÁS
- A Lead Amulet of Nefertem found at Tell Michal on the Coastal Plain of Israel,
por AMIR GORZALCZANY & GRACIELA GESTOSO SINGER
ANTIGUO ORIENTE, VOLUMEN 3, 2005
- The First Evangelization of the Mesopotamian Regions in the Syriac Tradition:
the Acta Maris as a continuation of the Doctrina Addai, por ILARIA RAMELLI
- El culto a las tumbas de los ancestros en el Levante Mediterráneo, por JORDI
VIDAL
- Identifiable and Associated Cordage. Examples from Berenike (Egyptian Red
15 colaboradores_Antiguo Oriente 27/06/2016 01:02 p.m. Página 242

242 COLABORADORES EN NÚMEROS ANTERIORES / PAST ISSUES PAPERS ANTIGUO ORIENTE 13 - 2015

Sea Coast), por ANDRÉ J. VELDMEIJER

- “Ordalías”, parentesco y Estado en la Contienda entre Horus y Seth, por
MARCELO CAMPAGNO
- Lamentos neosumerios por ciudades destruidas. Continuidad de un rito y un
género del periodo Protodinástico hasta el periodo Seléucida, por SANTIAGO
ROSTOM MADERNA
ANTIGUO ORIENTE, VOLUMEN 4, 2006
- How Old is the Kingdom of Edom? A Review of New Evidence and Recent
Discussion, por EVELINE VAN DER STEEN & PIOTR BIENKOWSKI
- A Problem of Pedubasts?, por DAN’EL KAHN
- The Sky according to the Orphic Hymh to Ouranus and according to the
Egyptians Funerary Texts (PT, CT, BD): a Brief Preliminary Comparison, por
AMANDA – ALICE MARAVELIA
- An Epigraphic Reanalysis of Two Stelae from First Intermediate Period
Dendera in the Cairo Museum, por TRACY MUSACCHIO
- Mass Production in Mesopotamia, por MORRIS SILVER
- Iron Age “Negevite” Pottery: A Reassessment, por JUAN MANUEL TEBES
- The Cordage from the 2001- Season of the Excavations at Berenike (Egyptian
Red Sea Coast): Preliminary Results, por ANDRÉ J. VELDMEIJER
ANTIGUO ORIENTE, VOLUMEN 5, 2007
- Iron Age Complex Societies, Radiocarbon Dates and Edom: Working with the
Data and Debates, por THOMAS E. LEVY, MOHAMMAD NAJJAR & THOMAS
HIGHAM
- Some Notes on Inscriptional Genres and the Siloam Tunn el Inscription, por
ROCHELLE I. ALTMAN
- Redistribution and Markets in the Economy of Ancient Mesopotamia: Updating
Polanyi, por MORRIS SILVER
- De la evocación del pasado: la narrativa bíblica y la historiografía clásica en
comparación, por EMANUEL PFOH
- Réalité et importance de la chasse dans les communautés halafiennes en
Méspotamie du Nord et au Levant Nord au VIe. Millénaire avant J.-C., por
ALAIN GAULON
- “Lo que nuestros padres nos contaron” (Sal 78, 3): el Antiguo Testamento y la
Historia de Israel, por GABRIEL M. NÁPOLE
- Mummy 61074: A Strange Case of Mistaken Identity, por SHAWN MCAVOY
15 colaboradores_Antiguo Oriente 27/06/2016 01:02 p.m. Página 243

ANTIGUO ORIENTE 13 - 2015 COLABORADORES EN NÚMEROS ANTERIORES / PAST ISSUES PAPERS 243

- The Pig’s Testimony, por GIDI YAHALOM

- Centro y periferia en el Antiguo Israel: nuevas aproximaciones a las practices
funerarias del Calcolítico en la Planicie Costera, por AMIR GORZALCZANY
- El Moderno Sistema-Mundo y la Evolución,por IMMANUEL WALLERSTEIN
- Excavation Reports: The Rope Cave at Mersa Gawasis: a Preliminary Report,
por ANDRÉ J. VELDMEIJER & CHIARA ZAZZARO
ANTIGUO ORIENTE, VOLUMEN 6, 2008
- The Pottery of Edom: A Correction, por ISRAEL FINKELSTEIN & LILY SINGER-
AVITZ
- The Jezirah Burnished Ware, por STEFANO VALENTINI
- The Cordage from Berenike (1994-2000): The Statistics, por ANDRÉ J.
VELDMEIJER
- A Reevaluation of the Use of ‫ זבן‬and ‫ יהב‬in Elephantine, por ALEJANDRO F. BOTTA
- Four Ur III Administrative Tablets in the Possession of Professor Francis
Carroll, University of Manitoba, por JOHN NIELSEN
- Una actualización de la Cronología Baja: arqueología, historia y Biblia, por
ISRAEL FINKELSTEIN
- The Alleged “Anchor Point” of 732 BC for the Destruction of Hazor V, por
PETER JAMES
- The “Wicked Priest” in Egyptology and Amarna Studies: A Reconsideration, por
SAMUEL JACKSON
- Violencia fenicia en el Mediterráneo Oriental, por JORDI VIDAL
- Excavation Reports: The Leatherwork from Deir el-Bachit: Preliminary Report,
por ANDRÉ J. VELDMEIJER
ANTIGUO ORIENTE, VOLUMEN 7, 2009
- Peftauawybast, King o Nen-Nesut: Genealogy, Art History, and the
Chronology of Late Libyan Egypt, por ROBERT MORKOT & PETER JAMES
- Archaeometric Evidence for the Authenticity of the Jehoash Inscription Tablet,
por AMNON ROSENFELD, SHIMON ILANI, HOWARD R. FELDMAN, WOLFGANG E.
KRUMBEIN & JOEL KRONFELD
- Timna Revisited: Egyptian Chronology and the Copper Mines of the Southern
Arabah, por JOHN J. BIMSON & JUAN MANUEL TEBES
- Adbi’ilu: An Arab at Babylon (BM 78912), por JOHN P. NIELSEN
- Local Exchange in the Southern Levant during the Early Bronze Age: A Political
Economy Viewpoint, por IANIR MILEVSKI
15 colaboradores_Antiguo Oriente 27/06/2016 01:02 p.m. Página 244

244 COLABORADORES EN NÚMEROS ANTERIORES / PAST ISSUES PAPERS ANTIGUO ORIENTE 13 - 2015

- Poner el cuerpo. Mujeres y política estatal en Mari (siglo XVIII a.C.), por
LETICIA ROVIRA
- Bronze and Iron Weapons from Luristan, por MANOUCHEHR MOSHTAGH
KHORASANI
- Los manuscritos del Mar Muerto y el Nuevo Testamento. El Nuevo Moisés: algu-
nas prácticas de la Ley, por ÉMILE PUECH
- Toward a New Synthesis of the God of Edom and Yahweh, por JUSTIN KELLEY
- Excavation Reports: The MBA-LBA I Period in the Kourion Region: New
Evidences from Erimi-Laonin tou Porakou (Lemesos, Cyprus), por LUCA
BOMBARDIERI
ANTIGUO ORIENTE, VOLUMEN 8, 2010
- A Fragmentary Cuneiform Tablet from the Ophel (Jerusalem): Methodological
Musings about the Proposed Genre and Sitz im Leben, por CHRISTOPHER
ROLLSTON
- The Pottery of A and C-Group Tombs at Serra West in the Museum of Natural
History La Plata, por PERLA FUSCALDO
- Proto-Alphabetic Inscriptions from the Wadi Arabah, por BRIAN COLLESS
- A Theoretical Perspective of the Telepinu Myth: Archetypes and Initiation in
Historical Contexts, por ROMINA DELLA CASA
- Sources of Contention and the Emerging Reality Concerning Qohelet’s Carpe
Diem Advice, por JOHN RYAN KELLY
- La conexión árabe: una hipótesis sobre el surgimiento sociopolítico de Israel en
Palestina, por EMANUEL PFOH
- A Possible Alchemist Apparatus from the Early Islamic Period Excavated at
Ramla, Israel, por AMIR GORZALCZANY & BARUCH ROSEN
- Tell el-Ghaba, Sinaí Norte: Campaña de Excavación 2010. Informe Preliminar,
por ADRIANA CHAUVIN
ANTIGUO ORIENTE, VOLUMEN 9, 2011 (FS ALICIA DANERI RODRIGO)
- Un perfil de Alicia Daneri Rodrigo/A Profile of Alicia Daneri Rodrigo
- Tabula Gratulatoria
- Manetho’s Twenty-third Dynasty and the Legitimization of Kushite Rule over
Egypt, por MATHEW J. ADAMS
- Una introducción al libro de Josué, por PABLO R. ANDIÑACH
- Aspectos de la vida cotidiana en la colonia judía de Elefantina, por ALEJANDRO
F. BOTTA
15 colaboradores_Antiguo Oriente 27/06/2016 01:02 p.m. Página 245

ANTIGUO ORIENTE 13 - 2015 COLABORADORES EN NÚMEROS ANTERIORES / PAST ISSUES PAPERS 245

- Lo patronal, lo estatal y lo parental en la Autobiografía de Ankhtifi de Mo‘alla,

por MARCELO CAMPAGNO
- The Comparative Function of ‫ אלּה‬in 2 Sam 21 and the Unity of the Philistine
War Tales, por MARGARET E. COHEN
- Egipto bajo los reyes y jefes de origen libio (Tercer Período Intermedio):
Algunas observaciones respecto de sus prácticas político-ceremoniales, por
CELESTE CRESPO
- De la teoría al análisis de los sistemas-mundo: consideraciones sobre la inter-
acción entre Egipto, Kerma y Biblos (c. 1985–1640 a.C.), por ROXANA FLAMMINI
- Ramesside, Late Nubian and Christian Pottery from Serra West in the Museum
of Natural History, La Plata, por PERLA FUSCALDO
- Una mirada a Egipto desde la Biblia Hebraica, por MERCEDES L. GARCÍA
BACHMANN
- El escarabajo de Nefertiti y el barco naufragado en Uluburun, por GRACIELA
GESTOSO SINGER
- The Pottery Assemblage of Jerusalem’s Neo-Babylonian Destruction Level: A
Review and Discussion, por JUAN MANUEL TEBES
ANTIGUO ORIENTE, VOLUMEN 10, 2012
- Tributo a Itamar Singer
- Lmlk Seal Impressions Once Again: A Second Rejoinder to Oded Lipschits, por
DAVID USSISHKIN
- Entre Syrie et Mésopotamie: vases zoomorphes du Règne de Mittani, por
ALESSANDRA CELLERINO, ALAN ARBORE, ENRICO FOIETTA, ALESSIA MASSOLO,
JESSICA MENEGHETTI & ENRICA OTTINO
- La figura regia de Hatshepsut: Una propuesta de análisis a partir de tres cam-
bios ontológicos, por VIRGINIA LAPORTA
- The Verb i-KU-PU-šum in the Shamash-Temple Brick Inscription, por ADAM E.
MIGLIO
- Consideraciones sobre los relieves del “árbol sagrado” asirio en el Palacio
Noroeste de Aššurnasirpal II (Nimrud), por ROMINA DELLA CASA
- Arquitectura y funcionalidad del Gran Templo de Requem, por ARTURO SÁNCHEZ
SANZ
15 colaboradores_Antiguo Oriente 27/06/2016 01:02 p.m. Página 246

246 COLABORADORES EN NÚMEROS ANTERIORES / PAST ISSUES PAPERS ANTIGUO ORIENTE 12 - 2014

ANTIGUO ORIENTE, VOLUMEN 11, 2013

- In Memoriam Gabriel Nápole (1959–2013)
- Advertising Secrecy, Creating Power in Ancient Mesopotamia: How Scholars
Used Secrecy in Scribal Education to Bolster and Perpetuate Their Social
Prestige, por ALAN LENZI
- Los vínculos interregionales de la iconografía Ghassuliense, por PABLO JARUF
- Biblical Evidence from Obadiah and Psalm 137 for an Edomite Treaty Betrayal
of Judah in the Sixth Century B.C.E., por JASON DYKEHOUSE
- Covenant and International Relations in the Ancient Near East: A Preliminary
Exploration, por LUCAS G. FREIRE
- El león y las aves: Isaías 31:4–5 a la luz de nuevas inscripciones neoasirias, por
HAYIM TAWIL
-¿Todo tiempo pasado fue mejor?: Tres estudios sobre comercio y desarrollo y su
impacto en la historia económica de la Antigüedad, por JUAN MANUEL TEBES

ANTIGUO ORIENTE, VOLUMEN 12, 2014

- Some Implications of the Volcanic Theophany of YHWH on his Primeval Identity,

por NISSIM AMZALLAG
- Recently Discovered Iron Age Lion Figurines from Jerusalem, por RAZ KLETTER,
KATRI SAARELAINEN & SHLOMIT WEKSLER-BDOLAH
- The Origin of the Alphabet: An Examination of the Goldwasser Hypothesis, por
BRIAN E. COLLESS
- La política desde abajo en la Siria-Palestina de la Edad del Bronce Tardío, por
EMANUEL PFOH
- The Date of the Qurayyah Painted Ware in the Southern Levant, por LILY SINGER-
AVITZ
- La estructura social del Calcolítico palestiniense: una propuesta de interpreta-
ción desde el materialismo histórico, por PABLO JARUF. BERNARDO GANDULLA &
IANIR MILEVSKI
- “The Self-Destruction of Diversity”: A Tale of the Last Days in Judah’s Negev
Towns, por YIFAT THAREANI

Se terminó de imprimir en marzo de 2016, en los talleres de Ediciones Selectus SRL,

Talcahuano 277, Buenos Aires; (54 11) 4382-4452 – [Link]@[Link]