Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Tory Thorpe <torythrp AT yahoo.com>]

On Nov 11, 2007, at 9:01 AM, K Randolph wrote:

> Dear Yigal:
>
> On 11/11/07, Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il> wrote:
> > Dear Karl,
> >
> > You wrote:
> > > The first reference I heard of a "Dan" outside of the Bible referred
> > > to a kingdom in what is now southern Turkey, along the coast,  
> > > that was
> > > named Dan. That kingdom was overthrown between 1300–1100 BC. I came
> > > across a couple of other mentioned places, but did not follow up on
> > > them.
> >
> > I've been studying the history of the ANE for 20 years and have  
> > never heard
> > of such a place.
>
> I heard about it over 30 years ago, and as I could not afford the
> books, I left them in the library.

I think we can safely rule out Danuna, a kingdom thought to have been  
situated in eastern Cilicia. It is mentioned, for example, in the  
Amarna letter EA 151. Then again, the location of Danuna, and at  
least the origin of the people Danuna, is a subject of debate. I  
suppose it is not impossible for there to have been a well-known  
settlement of Danunites in northern Canaan during the time of the  
Patriarchs.

Tory Thorpe