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  • From: JimStinehart AT aol.com
  • To: kwrandolph AT gmail.com
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org, LBReich AT alum.mit.edu
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] TD(L
  • Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2010 11:32:58 EDT


Karl:

1. You wrote: “[F]or ‘pinpoint accuracy’ you need to take the story of
Abraham in its context, a context that indicates that Abraham lived in the
early bronze age, not late.”

Karl, that’s where you’re wrong. The words in the text are thoroughly
redolent of the mid-14th century BCE in the Late Bronze Age.

1. K$DYM at Genesis 11: 28, 31. That references the Kassites, the Late
Bronze Age rulers of southern Mesopotamia.

2. NHRYM in the Amarna Letters and at Genesis 24: 10 is the name of the
Hurrian great power state in eastern Syria during the Late Bronze Age.

3. TD(L is an authentic Hittite kingly name, being a nasty Hebrew nickname
[his murdered older brother’s name] for mighty Hittite King Suppiluliuma I.
The only time the Hittites threatened beloved Canaan was under
Suppiluliuma, at the time of the Great Syrian War in the mid-14th century BCE.

4. )B-Y-MLK. Abraham interacts with Ab-i-Melek, who both in chapter 21 of
Genesis and in eight Amarna Letters is always catatonic about how to get
access to contested water wells.

Even the literary concepts in the Biblical text are redolent of the Great
Syrian War in the mid-14th century BCE, such as the reference at the end of
chapter 14 of Genesis to Abraham not taking a sandal lace: “Speiser
correctly observed that the phrase…neither a string nor a sandal lace is
based on
Near Eastern formulae…. We now have a text from Ugarit remarkably close to
Gen 14 in some ways. Niqmaddu, king of Ugarit, has been plundered by his
enemies [members of the league of 5 rebellious Hurrian princelings]. His
[newly-embraced] suzerain, the Hittite king Suppiluliuma, comes to his rescue
and
drives the invaders away. In response Niqmaddu attempts to give
Suppiluliuma a gift as a sign of his appreciation. The text is damaged at
this point,
but may be restored to read as follows: ‘Suppiluliuma, the Great King, saw
the loyalty of Niqmaddu, and as far as what belongs to Ugarit…Suppiluliuma,
the Great King, will not touch anything, be it straw or splinter….’ Abram
appears to follow similar royal etiquette [at the end of chapter 14 of
Genesis] in refusing anything from the king of Sodom [‘neither a string nor a
sandal lace’] in return for his accomplishments.” Victor P. Hamilton, “The
Book of Genesis Chapters 1-17” (1990), at p. 414. [Niqmaddu of Ugarit is
Biblical “Chedorlaomer”, and Suppiluliuma is Biblical TD(L.]

2. You wrote: “There is no linguistic evidence that TD(L was Tudhaliya.
The only reason we see for you to make that claim, is to make it fit your
theories.”

Au contraire, Tudhaliya is spelled identically at Genesis 14: 1 and in
Ugaritic literature. That’s letter-for-letter accuracy in a Late Bronze Age
historical context. But then again, that’s simply par for the course for the
Patriarchal narratives.






Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois




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