West Semitic Inscriptions and Ninth-Century bce Ancient Israel

Abstract

Together with material archaeology and the literary tradition of the Hebrew Bible, epigraphy is one of the main sources for the history of ancient Israel in the ninth century BCE. Although limited in number, West Semitic inscriptions throw some light on the history of this period. This chapter examines ninth-century West Semitic inscriptions and the historical information they contain regarding the history of ninth-century Israel. It starts with the Hebrew inscriptions, followed by inscriptions in the neighbouring southern Levant countries as well as Aramaic inscriptions from Upper Mesopotamia. The chapter deals first with inscriptions in ‘Canaanite’ dialects before analysing inscriptions written in Aramaic dialects. The Mesha and Tel Dan steles are the main West Semitic inscriptions that help us understand the history of Israel and Judah during the ninth century BCE.

Israelite and Judahite History in Contemporary Theoretical Approaches

“…The volume Ahab Agonistes is particularly worthy of note as a contribution to the study of the Omride period (Grabbe 2007a). It includes contributions by Barstad on the dating of prophetic texts, Ben Zvi on Omride descriptions in Chronicles, Grabbe himself on the limits of the biblical account, Knauf on the nature of Omride Israel, Kottsieper on the Tel Dan inscription, Lemaire on the Mesha stele, Na'aman on the relationship between the Mesha Stele and the biblical text, and general discussions by Thompson and others (Barstad 2007a;Ben Zvi 2007;Grabbe 2007b;Knauf 2007;Kottsieper 2007;Lemaire 2007a;Na'aman 2007a;Thompson 2007). Grabbe himself has been particularly interested in how biblical scholars know what they know, what the evidence really allows, and what needs to be reassessed (Grabbe 1997;2007c;2007d).…”

“…Another collection, organized by Williamson, Understanding the History of Ancient Israel , also presents a number of valuable contributions particularly towards greater understanding of the tenth and ninth centuries bce (2007). Notable essays include methodological inquiries by Rogerson, Whitelam, Barstad, Davies, Grabbe, Uehlinger, Brettler, and Na’aman; archaeological discussions by Ussishkin and Mazar; discussions of inscriptional evidence by Geller and Lemaire, and a presentation of issues relating to the social history of ancient Israel by Albertz (Rogerson 2007; Whitelam 2007; Barstad 2007b; Davies 2007b; Grabbe 2007d; Uehlinger 2007; Brettler 2007; Na’aman 2007b; Ussishkin 2007; Mazar 2007b; Geller 2007; Lemaire 2007b; Albertz 2007). For the seventh century bce, recent studies by Crouch of the ethnic dynamics of the entire region in that period, and their results especially for considering the formation of deuteronomistic materials, are also worthy of note and provide a counter-weight to the increasing tendency to date most biblical material much later than had previously been supposed (2014a; 2014b).…”

The Comparative Use of Ancient Near Eastern Texts in the Study of the Hebrew Bible

“…1991–2004; Deutsch & Heltzer 1994; Dobbs‐Allsopp et al. 2005; Lemaire 2007, pp. 279–303; Na’aman 2003).…”

“…There are still many major studies on the relationship of the Old Babylonian period site of Mari and the Bible, although many recognize the fundamental chronological difference between the two traditions, as well as the drastically different literary genres and textual makeup of the two (e.g., Bodi 2005;Durand 1998;Fleming 1998Fleming , 2000Fleming , 2008Hurowitz 1992aHurowitz , 1994Malamat 1995;Sasson 1998). Of late, the concepts of biblical and Mari prophetic traditions have been reevaluated (Gordon 1993;Lemaire 2001;Nissinen 2000). In fact, Bonnet posits that one should not evaluate isolated elements in the two prophetic traditions but compare cultural systems in order to avoid errors in conclusions (Bonnet & Merlo 2002, p. 81).…”