Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Lisbeth S. Fried" <lizfried AT umich.edu>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ian Hutchesson [mailto:mc2499 AT mclink.it]
> Sent: Thu, July 18, 2002 11:19 AM
> To: Biblical Hebrew
> Subject: Circle of the rhetoric (Chasing one's tail)
>
>
> >> >>Perhaps you mean the land of ISRAEL here.
>
> >Then it was Canaan.
> >However, Deutero-Isaiah referred to the God of Israel,
> >and to the Land of Israel.
> >If we're talking about Isaiah, and if we're talking about
> >the *Biblical* writers, it should surely be called Israel.
> >If you refer to particular areas, you could distinguish
> >Judah and Samaria. If you refer to "Palestine" then you
> >refer to the coastal areas, controlled by the Philistines
> >during the 11th century.
> >And if Lemche objects, he has not shown that Herodotus,
> >writing in the 5th century, refers to more than the coast
> >when he refers to Palestine. If you refer to the land under
> >the Persians, you could refer to the province of Yehud,
> >or the satrapy of Beyond the River. If under the Romans,
> >you could refer to Coele-Syria (All or Greater Syria).
> >However, if you refer to the *modern* state, then it is still
> >Israel, it has not yet been partitioned.
>
> What is so often sought after and consistently missed
> is a generic term such as that which we have for the
> area between and adjacent to the Tigris and Euphrates
> rivers, ie Mesopotamia. It is necessary to have such a
> generic term so as to avoid assumptions based on
> matters tangential to the archaeological and historical
> pursuit.
>
> One can happily talk about Mesopotamia over a historical
> period of at least 3500 years and one doesn't have to
> pussy-foot over supersilious debates over the correct
> flaming name. It is one of the most stupid situations
> one is confronted with while trying to deal as
> objectively as possible with the study of the
> archaeology and history of the region between the Dead
> Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
>
> We so often do this two-step in names for the region
> under investigation.
>
> If we can't simply use a term the individual prefers
> and of course accept reciprocally those use by others,
> can we opt for something purely descriptive, such as
> Southern Levant? It seems to me to be devoid of the
> sorts of assumptions that get bandied about.

OK, I'll accept that!
It's a deal!

Liz
>
>
> Ian
>
>
>
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