Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - [b-hebrew] Archaebiology

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: jimstinehart AT aol.com
  • To: bjwvmw AT com-pair.net, robacosta AT hotmail.com, b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Archaebiology
  • Date: Sun, 22 May 2011 17:08:01 -0400



Rob:

Thanks so much for pointing us to that excellent article on large animals in
Canaan during various time periods, including the entire Biblical time
period. In case anyone missed that fine article that Rob cited, it’s here:

http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0005316

Rob, I’m no expert in this field, but I seem to be reading the maps in that
article quite differently than you are.

Figure 4 shows where gazelle bones were found from the Early Bronze Age to
the present. Note that no gazelle bones were found near Hebron. Note also
that even when deer are at their lowest level, in the Persian period, the
author specifically states that deer are still found in the Shephelah, at
Lachish. If am understanding these maps correctly, the data is unequivocal
that deer always flourished in the Shephelah, while never being near Hebron.
Moreover, I believe that the presence of deer/gazelles is closely correlated
with the presence of trees. As such, the marked lack in all time periods of
deer or gazelles near Hebron calls into question whether oak trees would have
been prominent in southern hill country.

Per Figure 9, hartebeest bones were found in abundance in the Shephelah
throughout the Bronze Age, while never being found near Hebron.

Rob, I don’t see that fine article as attesting a single animal in the Hebron
area in any time period. Meanwhile, that article documents all sorts of
large animals throughout the Shephelah from the Early Bronze Age through the
Iron Age. Rob, where does that fine article say that there were either large
animals or oak trees in the Hebron area? Why would the Patriarchs choose to
sojourn in one of the rare parts of Canaan, the Hebron area, that according
to that article apparently featured neither large wild animals nor large
numbers of oak trees?

There have been at least two major archaeological digs at Hebron, so
presumably there was data from Hebron that was used in this article’s
findings. If I understand that article correctly, it is much more negative
regarding the Hebron area than I have ever been.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page