Sennacheribs Invasion Of Palestine

Author : Robert Zahn
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781705379035
Total Pages : 294 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (79 download)

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Download or read book Secular History of Biblical Palestine written by Robert Zahn and published by . This book was released on 2020-01-10 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first to interest me in biblical Palestine were the minimalists. Once I read more on the topic, though, it became obvious that many details concerning biblical Palestine within biblical scholarship, including that of the minimalists, were problematic. Some of these details were described by scholars as "amazing," "miraculous," "senseless," "meaningless," "particularly interesting," "difficult to explain," a "most peculiar anomaly" and even "a ghost no one can get hold of." In addition, there are many details within the Bible and related literature that scholarship of all varieties has simply skipped over. It was a reflex on my part to try to resolve the issues related to such problematic details and omissions. As a puzzler, I feel that there are very reasonable solutions for the many enigmas of biblical scholarship, many of which solutions have been arrived at or deduced within modern archaeology or minimalist and/or modern biblical research. However, these solutions are not amenable to traditional modes of thought and are often at odds with segments of modern or minimalist schools. The words and phrases of puzzlement above are generally indicative of the wish, and futility, of biblical scholars to force the realities of biblical Palestine to conform to their pious preconceptions.Hence, though this work is radical, I hope it is yet a quite reasonable and necessary reassessment of historical details of first millennium BCE Palestine. However radical, this work is not at all sensationalistic: e.g., I do not contend that an uncle of mine was descended from one of the "lost tribes." Though not at all concerned with religion per se, much of this book is concerned with the use, possession and appropriation of the traditions within the first seven books of the Bible, i.e., the Heptateuch. First, these traditions were used by the Aramaeans in Damascus as indoctrination of Hebrews in their transformation into "Israelites." This transformation was designed by the Aram-Damascenes to create and incorporate the Kingdom of Israel as a dependent state within Damascene control. Second, these same traditions at first belonged to the Kingdom of Israel and to the Samaritans after the fall of said Kingdom and had nothing to do with pre-exilic Judah, not as person, tribe or kingdom. Third, Samaritanism predated Judaism. It was only in post-exilic times that descendants of the Babylonian exiles decided to appropriate the traditions of the Samaritans. These post-exilic Judahite descendants also took the name "Israel" for themselves and used the Samaritan traditions as the basis for Second Temple Judaism. This led to the late introduction of Judah-related material into what had previously been a Judah-free Heptateuch, per the second point above. On another front, I will support the contention that Lachish was the capital of the city-state of Judah i.e., Lachish and its immediate surroundings, prior to Sennacherib's invasion. Jerusalem had only been a burial center associated with Judah until Sennacherib attacked and destroyed Lachish. This attack caused a frightened Hezekiah and his hangers-on to escape from Lachish and reach protection in Jerusalem, it being considered by a superstitious Sennacherib to be an untouchable, tabooed city of the dead. These details will be difficult to accept for most of those who are interested in ancient Palestine. Few will be happy with this work.