| Ancient city unearthed where David battled Goliath Archaeologists believe they have found evidence of King David’s footprints in a mysterious two-gated city from 3,000 years ago, mentioned in the Bible’s story of David and Goliath. The site is known by its modern name, Khirbet Qeiyafa, in Israel’s Elah Valley. After nearly seven years of excavations, the public can now explore the archaeological findings of Qeiyafa through “In the Valley of David and Goliath,” a new Bible Lands Museum exhibition that opened earlier this week in Jerusalem. The Qeiyafa findings have sparked debate and intrigued historians and archaeologists since they were first revealed. The city was discovered between Sokho and Azekah, on the border between the Philistines and the Judeans, in the place where David and Goliath battled. It’s mentioned in the Torah in 1 Samuel 17: 1-2. Carbon-14 dating of some 28 charred olive pits found during excavations date the city as existing around the end of the 11th century BCE, until the early 10th century, in the days of Saul and David. “No one can argue with this data,” said Prof. Yosef Garfinkel, Yigal Yadin Chair of Archeology at the Institute of Archeology at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He, along with Sa’ar Ganor from the Israel Antiquities Authority and Prof. Michal Hazel of Southern Adventist University of Tennessee, led the excavations. Among the site’s highlights are its two gates: the western gate, which faced Philistia, and the southern gate, which faced Judah. Having two gates for a relatively small city of 5.7 acres is unusual, according to Bible Lands curator Yehuda Kaplan. Gates are the weakest part of any city. The two gates are what led excavators to identify the site with Sha’arayim (Hebrew for “two gates”), a city mentioned in the David and Goliath story in the Book of Samuel, which reads, “…And the slain Philistines lay along the way of Sha’arayim, as far as Gath and Ekron.” (1 Samuel 17:52) It’s also in Judges 16:5 and in Jeremiah 17:19-20. |
| Various evidence could support the second explanation. Excavations have uncovered hand-basins in synagogue grounds, and Tannaitic sources speak of the hands being purified by water poured on them from a container. 4550 A Diaspora audience might also recognize this background, 4551 which reflects a broader Mediterranean custom. 4552 There is support for Jesus» setting aside of this ritual in the Gospel tradition ( Mark 7:2–4 ), and some commentators have naturally discerned this idea here. 4553 Against such an identification of the ritual is the size of the pots–which would make pouring difficult–and the amount of water they contain, as noted above, which would be far more than necessary for the washing of hands. 4554 The third explanation is possible but has no evidence on which to base a case. Although some dispute continues concerning the site of Cana (as noted above, it probably represents the modern Khirbet-Qanah), the evidence for any particular site does not favor a site in a desert area. 4555 The fourth explanation has in its favor the theological nuancing it would add to the narrative: Jesus favors a semi-religious host s social standing above ritual purification, just as he later condemns the temple and Nicodemus, but is better received by a Samaritan woman and a Galilean βασιλικς. Against it is the possibility that Johns readers in Asia might not have been as familiar with the custom, especially if some of them were Gentiles; but this objection is considerably weakened by the cumulative strength of John " s use of traditions more obscure than this, which he seems to expect his most informed readers to recognize (e.g., on John 7:37–39 , below). With regard to the final explanation, Sanders has provided a strong case that most Palestinian Jews did not share the Pharisaic-rabbinic views of drawn water. 4556 This suggests that the use of these pots for purification was at least not unusual, and at most offensive only to the strict Pharisees and their allies, whom John apparently delights to offend anyway. Whether or not John " s readers would have caught an expression of antagonism to Pharisaism here is in this case a moot point; most Diaspora Jews were probably unaware of the tradition (though again, as we have noted, John seems to presuppose a highly informed core audience). |
| Что касается стариков, то они должны были, переправившись за Евфрат, ожидать хода событий. Так оставлен был монастырь, снабженный всеми необходимыми для жизни предметами. Как сказано было раньше, никто не смел дать им приюта в своем доме, иначе дом подлежал конфискации, и хозяин дома подвергался уголовной каре, вследствие чего многие были принуждены, как звери, скрываться в пещерах и недоступных местах, прилежащих к Евфрату, между ними случилось быть и мне смиренному,— замечает автор.— Когда слух об этом распространился в соседние города, многие по внушению Божию доставляли им ночью хлеб, вино, овощи и другие необходимые предметы. Многие, подчиняясь необходимости, заходили в недоступные горы, покрытые снегом, и скрывались в загонах козьих и овечьих. Так все угнетаемы были стужей, и холодом, и теснотой, и другими бедствиями!» Едва ли еще где можно найти более живой и трогательный рассказ о ходе религиозной борьбы в Сирии в VI в. Приведенные страницы из истории Иоанна Ефесского служат лучшим комментарием к политике Юстиниана. И ныне даже, посещая пустынные города и селения Сирии, осматривая сохранившиеся стены домов, водопроводы и полуразрушенные церкви, необходимо держать в памяти эти главы, говорящие о церковных преследованиях VI в. Большинство сирийских городов в настоящее время или в развалинах, или покрыто толстым слоем наносной земли. Для современного наблюдателя Сирия — это мертвая страна, лишенная населения и всякой культуры, за исключением прибрежных городов; между тем в V—VI вв. христианской эры здесь кипела бойкая жизнь. В особенности Северная Сирия от древней Апамеи (ныне Калат-Мудик) к Антиохии представляет в этом отношении исключительный интерес. Приводим несколько мест из новейшего описания памятников Сирии . «Путей сообщения нет, за исключением едва заметной тропинки, сделанной животными; вся страна представляет каменистую местность, лишенную растительности. И между тем здесь путешественник вступает в пояс покинутых людьми городов и селений, в область обширных развалин и подземных кладбищ, высеченных в скале,— что все вместе свидетельствует не только о большом населении этой страны в давно прошедшее время, но и о высокой степени культуры, о роскоши и удобствах жизни, как это будет видно из дальнейшего. Близ деревни Гасс (Khirbet Hass) в небольшом расстоянии от Эль-Бары встречаем в необитаемой местности остатки прекрасного мавзолея, облицованного тесаным камнем и построенного в форме квадрата. Особенность этого памятника состоит в том, что в нем находится несколько саркофагов; все они разбиты, за исключением одного, который носит христианскую эмблему и придает особый характер самому мавзолею. Можно принять как общее правило, что поблизости от башен, большею частью полуразрушенных, находятся огромные блоки, покрывающие спуск в пещеры, иссеченные для целей погребения. Вообще по всему этому пустынному и каменистому плато путешественник встречает огромные города мертвых. |
| Israeli Archaeologists Discover 3,000-Year-Old Jar With Inscription of Name From the Bible July 27, 2015 A 3,000-year-old large ceramic jar with the inscription of the name “Eshbaal Ben Beda.” Archaeologists in Israel have found a rare inscription of the name of an apparently influential person from the time of King David, a name that is also mentioned in the Bible, according to Israel Antiquities Authority. Archaeologists have discovered a 3,000-year-old large ceramic jar with the inscription of the name " Eshbaal Ben Beda, " The Associated Press reported Sunday. The Old Testament book of 1 Chronicles in 8:33 and 9:39 identifies the fourth son of Saul as Eshbaal, also written as as Ish-bosheth. " Ner was the father of Kish, Kish the father of Saul, and Saul the father of Jonathan, Malki-Shua, Abinadab and Esh-Baal, " the verses read. However, archaeologists Yosef Garfinkel and Saar Ganor were quoted as saying that the jar belonged to a different Eshbaal, who was possibly the owner of an agricultural estate. This is the first time the name was found in an ancient inscription, they said. It is one of only four inscriptions discovered from the biblical 10th century B.C. Kingdom of Judah under the reign of King David. The discovery is significant, as it disproves claims that biblical accounts from the time of David and Saul are not verifiable and could just be myths. The announcement about the discovery was made after archaeologists put together the inscription discovered on shards found in a 2012 excavation in central Israel. The examination was done at Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. " We have found hundreds of jars in big cities across what was the Kingdom of Judah, " Daily Mail quoted Ganor, the director of excavation at Khirbet Qeiyafa for the Israel Antiquities Authority, as saying. " This is the only one to have an inscription. For the jar to bear this man " s name, it suggests he was someone very special and important. Writing from this period is extremely rare, " " This is the first time that the name Eshba " al has appeared on an ancient inscription in the country, " Garfinkel was quoted as saying. " It is interesting to note that the name Eshba " al appears in the Bible, and now also in the archaeological record, only during the reign of King David, in the first half of the tenth century BCE. " He added: " This name was not used later in the First Temple period. The correlation between the biblical tradition and the archaeological finds indicates this was a common name only during that period. The name Beda " is unique and does not occur in ancient inscriptions or in the biblical tradition. " 27 июля 2015 г. Смотри также Комментарии Мы в соцсетях Подпишитесь на нашу рассылку |
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