From: "Walter Mattfeld" <mattfeld AT mail.pjsnet.com>
To: "b-hebrew" <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Subject: Tha Case Against a Hellenistic Primary History
Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2001 20:22:00 +0200
Dear Ian,
You asked what hamlets, villages, towns and cities I would expect to
"surface" in a Primary History (Genesis- 2Kings) composed in the course of
Hellenistic-Hasmonean era. See below for some sites that are attested as
being no earlier than this era. As I noted earlier, I have not found a
single site that came into being later than the 7th century BCE in the
Primary History.
I would expect at least "a few" place-names from a Primary History
"allegedly written in the Hellenistic age." The absence of the below sites
should be a "wake-up call" for those advocating a late creation. How will
they explain ALL of these sites NON-APPEARANCE in a Hellenistic creation
(Some of these sites, however, DO APPEAR in other Hellenistic compositions,
like for instabce, Maccabees I-IV).
The below book or "manual" focuses primarily on Israel from Dan to
Beersheba. Along this peripherey appear sites in Lebanon, Jordan, the Arabah
and Negev.
My reference is :
J.Monson, et. al. Student Map Manual, Historical Geography of the Bible
Lands. Jerusalem. Pictorial Archive. 1st edition, 1979 [distributed by
Zondervan Publishing House. Grand Rapids, Michigan] ISBN 0-310-42980-3.
A Listing of Sites which came into being in the course of the Hellenistic
and Hasmonean Periods (cf. "Section 15-2, Index of Main Names," J. Monson)