Biblical Hebrew Forum

[ben.crick AT argonet.co.uk (Ben Crick)]

On Wed 12 Jan 2000 (14:33:04), jwest wrote:
> the aramaic word 'attun, translated "furnace" here-  does it specifically
> mean "kiln" or "oven"?  what i am wondering is if the story portrays
> the 3 hebrews being tossed into a brick kiln or a bread oven.
> 
> my sense is that it is a kiln.  but i dont wanna go shootin off my
> mouth without knowing aforehand.

 Dear Jim,

 It would seem more likely that it was the furnace used to smelt (melt?)
 the metal for the giant image that Nebuchadnezzar ordered to be erected
 in the Plain of Dura. But for my money, a brick- or lime-kiln would be big
 enough to take 4 men at once; but hardly a bread-oven. The great heat of
 this 'aTTuWN NuWRa' would burn up any bread before it could cook at all.

 EJ Young writes "/Furnace/ - Haevernick calls attention to the description
 of the traveller Chardin (/Voyage en Perse/, VI), who was in Persia
 1671-77, and who notes that two furnaces of fire were kept burning for a
 month for consuming those who overcharged for food. JA Montgomery suggests
 that this furnace '... must have been similar to our common lime-kiln, with
 a perpendicular shaft from the top and an opening at the bottom for
 extracting the fused lime.'" (/The Prophecy of Daniel/, Eerdmans, 1949,
 p 88).

 I'm always suspicious of anecdotal evidence. But a now elderly former
 colleague wrote in his "Popular style" book on Biblical Archaeology,
 unfortunately without adequate attribution,

 "Dr Dent comments, 'It may have been in the plain between the Tower of
 Babylon and the Palace of Nebuchadnezzar that the image of gold was set
 up.... Excavators at Babylon have found a furnace with the inscription
 'This is the place of burning where men who blasphemed the gods of
 Chaldea die by fire'. Also, a ruined college library was discovered
 revealing curricula for native princes. They were instructed and trained
 especially for 'Interpretations of dreams and visions'. 'Impiety to any
 gods - cast alive into a fiery furnace' and 'Untoward acts relative to a
 king - cast alive into the den of lions'. (Dr EKV Pearce, /Evidence for
 Truth/, vol 2, /Archaeology/, 13 Lismore Road, Eastbourne, Sussex,
 1993, p 131).

 Does anyone know of this mysterious "Dr Dent", probably an archaeologist,
 or the bibliographical details of any publications over his name?

 Shalom
 Ben
-- 
 Revd Ben Crick, BA CF
 <ben.crick AT argonet.co.uk>
 232 Canterbury Road, Birchington, Kent, CT7 9TD (UK)
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