From: ane-digest-owner@oi.uchicago.edu To: ane-digest@oi.uchicago.edu Subject: Ancient Near East Digest V1 #49 Reply-To: ane@oi.uchicago.edu Errors-To: ane-digest-owner@oi.uchicago.edu Precedence: bulk Ancient Near East Digest Sunday, 30 January 1994 Volume 01 : Number 049 In this issue: sorceror/ironsmith Re: sorceror/ironsmith Re: Canaan, Palestine Re: Canaan, Palestine (fwd) Greece-Rome Re: Canaan, Palestine sorcerer/ironsmith Re: Canaan, Palestine (fwd 2) Grain Production in Persian Yehud re: sorcerer/ironsmith To: ane@mithra-orinst.uchicago.edu ritual criticism Grain Production in Persian Yehud ethnocentricity Grain Production in Persian Yehud Re: ethnocentricity Socl Sci Hist, call for papers, rnd 2 American Oriental Society Re: Grain Production in Persian Yehud Re ethnocentricity whats in a name, cont. Judean Desert Caves bibliography SOS--*Libyan Studies* canaanites See the end of the digest for information on subscribing to the ANE or ANE-Digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: JWBAKER@RICEVM1.RICE.EDU Date: Fri, 28 Jan 94 18:57:34 CST Subject: sorceror/ironsmith The point of departure for this query is the Ethiopic word dabanansa which according to Leslau CDG (p.121) means 'sorceror, ironsmith.' Is this kind of association known elsewhere in the ANE? In 1909 E. Littmann in his chapter "Geschichte der aethiopischen Litteratur" in Brockelmann's _Geschichte der christlichen Litteraturen des Orients_ (Leipzig, reprinted 1979) wrote the following about the magical literature: "Vor Menschen, die mehr als der gemeine Mann verstehen, muss man sich hueten, da sie um ihrer Fertigkeiten willen leicht in Verbindung mit der ueberirdischen Welt treten; das sind in Abessinien, wie auch anderswo [Where???] unter primitiven Voelkern, besonders die Schmiede. Von den Tieren ist die Hyaene das unheimlichste; sie schleicht im Dunkeln umher, haelt sich bei Graebern auf und frisst die Leiber und die Seelen der Verstorbenen. Daher kommt es auch wohl vor, dass Schmiede sich in Hyaenen verwandeln, d.h. dass beide denselben boesen Geist, abessinisch "buda", in sich haben." Notwithstanding Littmann's stereotypical characterization of "primitives" is he correct in seeing this kind of suspicious regard of smiths as widespread at least in the ANE? Egypt? Hatti? Are there any other places where smiths are associated with hyenas/jackals? I also think I heard somewhere that in medieval North Africa Jews were considered to be the finest ornamental ironworkers. Can anyone verify this? Was ironworking a profession closed to Muslims for some reason (such as a putative association between smithing and arcane knowledge)? John W. Baker Rice University ------------------------------ From: SHIRSCH@PEARL.TUFTS.EDU Date: Fri, 28 Jan 1994 23:58:29 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: sorceror/ironsmith Not an ANE parallel, but one that should be of equal relevance for Ethiopia. The connection between smiths and magic is very strong in medieval and modern West Africa. In the Mande epic of Sundiata, the founder of the medieval empire of Mali, the villainous king Soumaoro of Sosso is king of the blacksmiths and a practitioner of very black magic. In Mande society, the smiths are one of several castes of "nyamakala" or "force-handlers," who work with and control powerful forces. Not only is iron ore ripped from the bowels of mother earth, but it is transformed by a process which is both visually spectacular and seemingly magical for those not familiar with it. Mande society has an ambivalent stance toward members of these caste groups, both fearing/respecting and suspecting them. There is a good book on the subject called The Mande Blacksmiths. I don't have the author's name here at home, but he is an anthropologist who apprenticed himself to a master blacksmith for a time in order to gather data. Hope this is of some relevance and interest. Steve Hirsch SHIRSCH@PEARL.TUFTS.EDU ------------------------------ From: ofer avi Date: Sat, 29 Jan 1994 10:47:26 +0200 (IST) Subject: Re: Canaan, Palestine Canaan: The history of this name is more complicated. The name appears=20 during the LB and later in sources written in cuneiforms, Hierogliphs,=20 Hebrew and Phoenici=FBan. It seems that the original form was kinakhki=20 etc., derived from the root _kn`_, most probably of Semitic origin=20 although its etymology is difficult (see below). In Nuzi and Ugarit=20 _kinakhkhu_ is the =FBprecious color manufactured from a special sea-shell = on=20 the coast of the East=FBern Mediteranean (...), the later Hebrew _Argaman_.= =20 It is most probable, therefore, that _kn`_ was =FBoriginally the name of=20 this sea-shell, given later to the merchants who brought it abroad, then=20 became =FBthe name of the whole population in this region. In this stage=20 appeared the secondary form _kn`n_, with the final _n_ which is not Semitic= ------------------------------ From: ofer avi Date: Sat, 29 Jan 1994 11:13:27 +0200 (IST) Subject: Re: Canaan, Palestine (fwd) It seems that there were some trou=FBbles in our Levantine lines, so here= =20 is again my original message. Sorry, -- Avi Ofer.=20 - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 29 Jan 1994 10:47:26 +0200 (IST) From: ofer avi To: ANE List Chicago Subject: Re: Canaan, Palestine Canaan: The history of this name is more complicated. The name appears=20 during the LB and later in sources written in cuneiforms, Hierogliphs,=20 Hebrew and Phoenici=FBan. It seems that the original form was kinakhki=20 =FBetc., derived from the root _kn`_, most probably of Semitic origin=20 although its etymology is difficult (see below). In Nuzi and Ugarit=20 _kinakhkhu_ is the =FBprecious color manufactured from a special sea-shell = on=20 the coast of the East=FBern Mediteranean (...), the later Hebrew _Argaman_.= =20 It is most probable, therefore, that _kn`_ was =FBoriginally the name of=20 this sea-shell, given later to the merchants who brought it abroad, then=20 became =FBthe name of the whole population in this region. In this stage=20 appeared the secondary form _kn`n_, with the final _n_ which is not Semitic= ------------------------------ From: "Don C. Benjamin (Rice University)" Date: Sat, 29 Jan 94 09:01:42 CST Subject: Greece-Rome Chuck, I am helping someone interested in Greece and Rome get only to board sim ilar to ANE. Can you --- or anyone else -- make some suggestions. Thanks ------------------------------ From: "Jack M. Sasson" Date: Sat, 29 Jan 1994 11:28:06 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Canaan, Palestine There is an article in JNES by Astour on all this. But he thinks of=20 connection with kn`, to bend down or the like, applied to the land, (eg.=20 Netherlands.) Personally I think it is not very useful to find/attach etymologies to=20 names, not only because if it satisfies, it does so only self-servingly=20 (and reveals something about our prowess in shuffling dictionary pages),=20 but because these names are likely to be there eons before we start=20 reading people. Moreover, names have a tendency to folk etymologize, even= =20 in ancient times and if anything when we make connections we reach the playful nature of a culture (in itself not such a bad end) rather=20 than anything meaningful about why the names were first applied.=20 On Sat, 29 Jan 1994, ofer avi wrote: > Date: Sat, 29 Jan 1994 10:47:26 +0200 (IST) > From: ofer avi > To: ANE List Chicago > Subject: Re: Canaan, Palestine >=20 > Canaan: The history of this name is more complicated. The name appears=20 > during the LB and later in sources written in cuneiforms, Hierogliphs,=20 > Hebrew and Phoenici=FBan. It seems that the original form was kinakhki=20 > etc., derived from the root _kn`_, most probably of Semitic origin=20 > although its etymology is difficult (see below). In Nuzi and Ugarit=20 > _kinakhkhu_ is the =FBprecious color manufactured from a special sea-shel= l on=20 > the coast of the East=FBern Mediteranean (...), the later Hebrew _Argaman= _.=20 > It is most probable, therefore, that _kn`_ was =FBoriginally the name of= =20 > this sea-shell, given later to the merchants who brought it abroad, then= =20 > became =FBthe name of the whole population in this region. In this stage= =20 > appeared the secondary form _kn`n_, with the final _n_ which is not Semit= ic ------------------------------ From: "Dr. Paula McNutt @ Religious Studies" Date: Sat, 29 Jan 1994 15:56:02 -0500 (EST) Subject: sorcerer/ironsmith In response to John Baker's query, the best thing I have seen on the history of blacksmiths in Ethiopia (specifically the Beta Israel or Falasha, a people whose religion is rooted in ancient Judaism) is a 1977 University of Minnesota dissertation by James Arthur Quirin entitled "The Beta Israel [Falasha] in Ethiopian History: Caste Formation and Culture Change." I don't know whether this has been revised and published, or whether Quirin has written anything more recently. It is very typical among traditional societies in Africa and the Middle East for smith's to be perceived as possessing special powers. They are often marginalized, and are very often feared for their powers. They seem to be especially feared in traditional societies in East Africa and the African Horn, where they are believed to possess the "evil eye" (in Ethiopia "buda"). I agree with Steve Hirsch that Patrick McNaughton's The Mande Blacksmiths: Knowledge, Power, and Art in West Africa (Indiana University Press, 1988) is an excellent treatment of the subject for West Africa. How smiths were perceived in the ANE is difficult to evaluate. I believe that during some periods in Mesopotamia they were closely associated with the court in some way (which doesn't necessitate an interpretation that they were not perceived with some ambivalence or fear). Mythologically, Enki (Ea) seems to have been most closely associated with smiths. In the Hebrew Bible, the mythological figure Cain may convey to us something of the ambivalence with which smiths were perceived in ancient Israel (that is if you subscribe to the interpretation that Cain is the eponymous ancestor of the Kenites and that the Kenites were associated in some way with metalworking. Hope this is of some use. Paula M. McNutt ------------------------------ From: ofer avi Date: Sat, 29 Jan 1994 23:33:14 +0200 (IST) Subject: Re: Canaan, Palestine (fwd 2) Well, I try for the third and last time... - ------=FB---- Forwarded message ---------- =FB=20 Canaan: The history of this name is more complicated. The name appears during the LB and later in sources written in cuneiforms, Hierogliphs, Hebrew and Phoenici=FBan. It seems that the original form was _kinakhki_ =FBetc., derived from the root _kn`_, most probably of Semitic origin although its etymology is difficult (see below). In Nuzi and Ugarit _kinakhkhu_ is the =FBprecious color manufactured from a special sea-shell on the coast of the East=FBern Mediteranean (...), the later Hebrew _Argaman_. It is most probable, therefore, that _kn`_ was =FBoriginally th= e name of this sea-shell, given later to the merchants who brought it abroad, then became =FBthe name of the whole population in this region. In this stage appeared the secondary form _kn`n_, with the final _n_ which is not Semitic. This form (Egyptian: _Pa-Kn'n_ or _Pa-Kana`nu, Pa-Kina'nu_, "the (merchant) of the _kn`_ color") is the one which was preserved, but the origin of the name is by no means Egyptian, but local Canaanite.=20 =20 (sorry for all the {{{ - but that is the quality of telecomunication lines= =20 in Canaan, =FBthese days...). Palestine: Yurco's description is correct, but one has to =FBadd that the= =20 change from Judea to Palastina was not a natural innocent development=FB.= =20 The change was made immediately following the suppression of the=20 Bar-Kochba revolt, by Emperor Hadrian, aiming to erase one and for all=20 the name Judea (one cannot escape, in the present context, of Merneptah=20 claims about Israel). Hence, even if the present conflicts are neglected,= =20 the exclusive use of "Palestine" for this land is problematic. The=20 present context of using "Syro-Palestine", not to say "Syria" alone, is=20 even more complicated, but let stay within the limits of the ANCIENT Near= =20 East. Avi Ofer Judean (Palestinian? Syrian? Levantine?...) Highland Project ------------------------------ From: LORENDCROW@delphi.com Date: Sat, 29 Jan 1994 20:22:38 -0500 (EST) Subject: Grain Production in Persian Yehud I have seen it asserted, in several sources, that grain production declined in Yehud during the Persian era. For example, Lester Grabbe (_Judaism from Cyrus to Hadrian_, p. 121) writes, JJJThe best of the farmland was no longer within the borders of the JJJprovince. The Shephelah had long been taken away, and even the southern JJJarea of Judah was now in the hands of Edomites or Arabs. Most of the JJJcountry was made up of the Judean hill country. The soil and climate JJJwere suitable for vinyards and olive orchards. The tax system may also JJJhave tended to create specialization in crops which could be sold for JJJcash rather than grown for the subsistence of residents, but grain JJJproduction would have been low in any case and may have been JJJinsufficient for the needs of the people themselves. Is there archaeological evidence that supports the last sentence? Do we have evidence that allows us to compare grain production in Persian Yehud with that of the same region in earlier periods? Do grain silos from this period, for example, show decreased use? What about geography? If they didn't produce enough grain for themselves and had to import it, would they have got it from Samaria, or where? Or is what Grabbe writes just the reasonable conclusion to be drawn from the fact that the farmland was of poorer quality? Any help is *sincerely*appreciated*! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Loren Crow (LorenDCrow@delphi.com) | Now we live with men who are neither| | Department of Religion | perfect nor conspicuously wise, but | | Wiley College | who get on quite well if they keep | | Marshall, Texas 75670 | up a semblance of virtue! (Cicero) | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ From: petersig@ccat.sas.upenn.edu (Sigrid Peterson) Date: Sat, 29 Jan 1994 23:13:08 -0500 (EST) Subject: re: sorcerer/ironsmith In addition to the ANE sources mentioned by Paula McNutt, in Ugaritic mythology there is Kothar-wa-Khasis, who is a craftsman and smith. In the Baal cycle, he makes the new house of Baal (Gordon, UT 51. IV-VI), but does not follow Baal's wish that there be no window. In the Keret epic, he is the maker of the wonderful arrows that Anat covets. Somehow, along with the objects of his craft comes mischief. His name is literally `skillful and thinking', but one might translate it as Sly-and-Skillful. Sigrid Peterson UPenn petersig@ccat.sas.upenn.edu ------------------------------ From: Jonas Greenfield Date: Sun, 30 Jan 1994 09:30:51 +0200 (WET) Subject: To: ane@mithra-orinst.uchicago.edu This is to announce the recent publication of two books. The first is the Avraham Malamat Volume Eretz Israel 24, Jerusalem, 1993 published by the Israel Exploration Society the volume contains beside Malamat's bibliography 29 articles in Hebrew, and 30 articles in English, French and German The second is "Biblical Dan" by Avraham Biran Jerusalem 1994 published by the IES and the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, etc. It is an English version of the Hebrew volume that appeared in 1992, Twenty Five Years of Excavation at Tel Dan, brought up to date and with an additional chapter on the recently discovered inscription. They are both available from the Israel Exploration Society P.O.B. 7041 Jerusalem 91070, Israel ------------------------------ From: BENJAM@RICEVM1.RICE.EDU Date: Sun, 30 Jan 94 08:24:48 CST Subject: ritual criticism Any reviews of how well the work of R.H. Grimes on ritual criticism does or does not help apply what we can reconstruct about the anthropology of artisans like ironworkers in traditional societies like ancient Israel to the interpretation of biblical texts. To what extent do the trades become defining metaphors in traditions like the Bible? Don C. Benjamin (Rice University) ------------------------------ From: BDAHLBERG@SMITH.BITNET Date: 30 Jan 1994 09:58:57 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Grain Production in Persian Yehud One place to look is in chapters 7 and 11 of _Tell el-Hesi: The Persian Period (Stratum V)_ (=Vol. 3 in The Joint Expedition to Tell el-Hesi series) by W.J. Bennett, Jr., and Jeffrey A. Blakely. The focus is on that site, and the grain-storage pits ("focus" isn't what I mean; "major topic" is better) -- inventories of botanical remains and tentative conclusions about the "stable" grain supply in that region are ventured; I don't recall discussion of Judah in general. (This volume comes from Eisenbrauns). -Bruce Dahlberg ------------------------------ From: michael v fox Date: Sun, 30 Jan 94 10:14 CDT Subject: ethnocentricity Speaking of ethnocentric names, what about the Amer. Oriental Society--lumping together the entire East, from Tibet to Turkey, over the entire span of history, as far as I can tell. Would there be a comparable Amer. Occidental Society, whose journal would publish items on everything from James Joyce to the economy of Minoan Crete? The notion that the Orient is a "field" seems to me rooted in the mentality of the British empire. But it's not too different from that of contemporary "multiculturalists" who speak of Europe as *a* culture with its own "mentality," shared, apparently, by all white (males). Of course, it's just as naive to imagine that Africa is *a* culture with "its" own mentality and values. I quit the AOS because there was, inevitably, so little of professional relevance to me in its expensive journal. It's nice to have the opportunity to write editorials. Michael V. Fox Professor, Department of Hebrew University of Wisconsin 1220 Linden Drive Madison, WI 53706 ------------------------------ From: BDAHLBERG@SMITH.BITNET Date: 30 Jan 1994 12:57:36 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Grain Production in Persian Yehud Besides the Bennett & Blakely volume, you might want to check out Robert B. Stewart's "Archeobotanic Studies at Tell el-Hesi" in _Economic Botany_ 21 (1978): 379-86, reprinted in the Hesi Series Volume 4, _Tell el-Hesi: the Site and the Expedition_ edited by B. T. Dahlberg and Kevin G. O'Connell (Eisenbrauns, 1989): 188-94. Stratigraphy of the site has been replotted somewhat since Stewart's article, so that some of his references to Hellenistic are now probably Persian and Hellenistic. - Bruce Dahlberg ------------------------------ From: "Jack M. Sasson" Date: Sun, 30 Jan 1994 13:19:29 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: ethnocentricity Well, there may be something to what Michael is saying; but would it do to change names to fit the times? What about "michael," "who equals El" when people question religious centrism or an attachment to a rather local god? Re quitting the AOS because it is an expensive journal (surely an exaggerated estimation--$50, including membership!) has not nearly enough for one person or another. I thought that we are into an interdisciplinary age, when we learn most by gazing elsewhere than into our own navels? NB. It is from Turkey to Japan, hardly ever beyond the 19th c., and its journal is full of nice meaty assessments, even favorable reviews of Michael's own writings. On Sun, 30 Jan 1994, michael v fox wrote: > Date: Sun, 30 Jan 94 10:14 CDT > From: michael v fox > To: ANE@mithra-orinst.uchicago.edu > Subject: ethnocentricity > > Speaking of ethnocentric names, what about the Amer. Oriental > Society--lumping together the entire East, from Tibet to Turkey, > over the entire span of history, as far as I can tell. Would > there be a comparable Amer. Occidental Society, whose journal > would publish items on everything from James Joyce to the economy > of Minoan Crete? The notion that the Orient is a "field" seems to > me rooted in the mentality of the British empire. But it's not > too different from that of contemporary "multiculturalists" who > speak of Europe as *a* culture with its own "mentality," shared, > apparently, by all white (males). Of course, it's just as naive to > imagine that Africa is *a* culture with "its" own mentality and > values. > I quit the AOS because there was, inevitably, so little of > professional relevance to me in its expensive journal. > > It's nice to have the opportunity to write editorials. > > Michael V. Fox > Professor, Department of Hebrew > University of Wisconsin > 1220 Linden Drive > Madison, WI 53706 > > ------------------------------ From: Tom Hall Date: 30 Jan 1994 14:09:37 -0500 (EST) Subject: Socl Sci Hist, call for papers, rnd 2 TO: Readers of ANE, PSN, WSN, IPE, WORLD-L & friends FROM: Tom Hall, thall@depauw.edu RE: 1994 Social Science History meeting, 2nd call DATE: January 30, 1994 [A quick apology to those of you who, like me, are on more than one of these listservers. Feel free to repost to any OTHER listservers. Finally, apologies to anyone who sent me something, but to which I did not respond. I _think_ I have recovered those messages that got lost in a computer change, but I know I also lost at least one phone message in a power outage]. The Social Science History Association will meet in Atlanta, Georgia at the Omni Hotel at the CNN center OCTOBER 13-16, 1994. I am coordinator for the Historical Geography network, and looking for papers and panels. For those unfamiliar with SSHA, it stress multi- and inter-disciplinary work. Informal expectations are to have panels which have particiapants from at least two disciplines. The association is organized in "networks" which correspond to ASA, APSA, ISA, AAA sections, and specialty groups in AAG. The Historical geography network includes scholars who do work or have interests that include historical and spatial dimensions. From comments and discussions with those who responded to the first calls I posted, some people who have work to present that would be of interest to the network may have been reticent to responde because their "spatial" dimension was more implicit than explicit. Do NOT be reticent. So far we have one panel on rural America where all the presenters have only "implicit" spatial dimension, and a discussant who is very familiar with geographic analysis. This panel will, in effect, be a quick seminar in how to use the spatial dimension in social analysis. In other words, this can be an opportunity to learn methods how add or enhance an aspect of work that you have not used before. Historical dimensions run from the LA riots of a few years ago, to Bronze Age warfare patterns. Here are some panels that are still forming: Biblical Frontiers: New Interpretations of the American Frontier Spatial Aspects of World-Systems Class, community and politics in rural America I welcome either complete panels (3 papers, a chair, and discussant) partial panels, or solo papers that might fit. I also welcome volunteers for chair or discussant. I need replies ASAP, but by Feb. 11, so I can get it all together for my deadline of 2/15. Send proposals, queries, info to (preferably by email): Professor Thomas D. Hall Department of Sociology & Anthropology DePauw University Greencastle, IN 46135-0037 317-658-4519 (voice mail after 6 rings) internet: thall@depauw.edu Please include name, snail-mail address, email address, phone #. ------------------------------ From: Gary.M.Beckman@um.cc.umich.edu Date: Sun, 30 Jan 94 14:18:02 EST Subject: American Oriental Society Just to repond to Michael Fox' editorial--The AOS yearly membership assessment of $50, which includes the Journal--is one of the great bargains in American academic life, and it is not responsible to quit because one does not find enough articles in one's own subfield to justify the expenditure. It is important that we at least attempt to maintan a community of philologists, however we entitle our field in line with the latest jargon. Gary Beckman ------------------------------ From: ofer avi Date: Sun, 30 Jan 1994 23:10:18 +0200 (IST) Subject: Re: Grain Production in Persian Yehud In short, the answer to your questions is: NO. The Judean Highlands can be autarchous, and there is no reason to suppose that they were not an autarchy during the Persian period. There is a good discussion of these problems in C.E. Carter dissertation in Duke, 1991, _A Social and Demographic Study of Post-Exilic Yehud_ (I don't remember anymore where Chuck Carter is now). For further information, you may mail me directly. Avi Ofer Judean Highland Project ------------------------------ From: "Bernard F. Batto" Date: 30 Jan 1994 16:23:57 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re ethnocentricity It seems to me that Michael Fox has identified the wrong ethnocentricity in the name American Oriental Society. Granted that there is ethnocentricity involved in the adjective *Oriental*, whether this is defined to include everything from Tibet to Turkey--or from Turkey to Japan, per Jack Sasson's correction--there is perhaps greater ethnocentricity involved in the other adjective, *American*. American here, as in mamy similar situations, has reference primarily to the United States of America, ignoring completely the fact that Canada and Latin American countries also are part of the Americas. In part this imperialist appropriation of *America* for the United States is due to us *Americans* not having developed an alternative self-designation. But more radically, such a lack is evidence of our own ethnocentricity in identifying America (and liberty and democracy and every other important value!) with our own society. My own editorial here is provoked as much by recent discussions on this list about What's in a name? as by Michael Fox's comments regarding the AOS. And of course, AOS is not the only offender. AOS, like AAR, CBA, ASOR, etc., number among its members many persons from other countries in the Americas and elsewhere; there is no desire to be exclusionary. Nevertheless, I trust my point about our own ethnocentricity is clear. Bernard F. Batto Department of Philosophy & Religion DePauw University Greencastle, IN 46135 email: bbatto@depauw.edu .................................................................... On January 30 Michael V. Fox wrote: >Speaking of ethnocentric names, what about the Amer. Oriental >Society--lumping together the entire East, from Tibet to Turkey, >over the entire span of history, as far as I can tell. Would >there be a comparable Amer. Occidental Society, whose journal >would publish items on everything from James Joyce to the economy >of Minoan Crete? The notion that the Orient is a "field" seems to >me rooted in the mentality of the British empire. But it's not >too different from that of contemporary "multiculturalists" who >speak of Europe as *a* culture with its own "mentality," shared, >apparently, by all white (males). Of course, it's just as naive to >imagine that Africa is *a* culture with "its" own mentality and >values. >I quit the AOS because there was, inevitably, so little of >professional relevance to me in its expensive journal. >It's nice to have the opportunity to write editorials. ------------------------------ From: Date: Mon, 31 Jan 94 0:25 +0200 Subject: whats in a name, cont. Re Stephen Hsu's request for the etymology of Amanus see Frank Moore Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic, pp. 27-28. Sam Wolff ------------------------------ From: Date: Mon, 31 Jan 94 0:26 +0200 Subject: Judean Desert Caves Re: Avi Ofer's update on Judean Desert Caves: I recently excavated a cave (Cave 5) as part of Operation Scroll (see next issue of BAR for a sidebar to one of Hershel Shanks' tirades). It is located not far from that of Hanan Eshel. Judging by the quantity of pottery and coins, the main periods of occupation in the cave were the Hasmonean and Herodian periods. I found one flint tool which was identified by Steve Rosen (Ben Gurion University) as EB I Egyptian type. Despite Ofer's/Eshel's claim to the contrary, EB sites have been identified in the region of the Judean Desert: see, for example, Atiqot 9 (Hebrew Series), pp. 55-59; perhaps David Ilan of HUC will tell us about his recent research regarding EB material at Nahal Mishmar (Cave of the Treasures). Egyptian-Levantine [why not?] relations in the EB I, including bitumen from the Dead Sea, is nothing new; see Stager, COWA for a recent summary. What is new is that the trail of Egyptian artifacts now leads us to the Judean Desert. Or maybe it isn't new- see Levant 1992 for Egyptian influence in artifacts from the Cave of the Treasures (reference courtesy D. Ilan- I haven't read it yet). Sam Wolff, Israel Antiquities Authority ------------------------------ From: todd richard breyfogle Date: Sun, 30 Jan 94 17:10:15 CST Subject: bibliography SOS--*Libyan Studies* Would a kind soul be willing, at my expense, to photocopy and mail to me and article from *Libyan Studies*? The Regenstein does not carry the journal, and a friend at Michigan informs me that volume 18, the one I need, is missing and presumed dead. Time constraints make interlibrary loan unworkable. I would be grateful to any good Samaritan who would respond to the address below. Todd Breyfogle brey@midway.uchicago.edu ------------------------------ From: C R Pennell Date: Mon, 31 Jan 1994 13:33:11 +0800 (SST) Subject: canaanites A posting which neatly combines two threads - the one about Canaan, and the one about "free men" Mr Edward Drummond-Hay, His (and then Her) Britannic Majesty's Consul-General to Morocco (1829-44) assiduously collected all sorts of misinformation of an antiquarian nature from his local informants came up with a whole series of legends about the origins of the Berbers which he carefully noted down in his notebooks (now in Bodleian). The extract that follows is from (MS ENG HIST d.492) and is based on the information of Isaac Abensur, a Rabbi of tangier and Secretary of the British Consulate-General, and WB Hodgson, former interpreter of the US Consulate in Istanbul or Constantinople (perhaps we should open an Istanbul/Byzantium/Constantinople thread while we are at it?) I have not seen anything by Hodgson. Drummond-Hay was accurate enough in recording what he heard - though what he heard was often nonsense. Amazigh as a Berber name for Berbers (Berber being cognate with Barbar[ous] etc) is usually translated the "men" or the "free men" now. "Shleuh" is a subdialect in the Berber group. The comments on Canaan - 1. the derivation that Abensur manages to produce and 2. the remark that Moroccan (at any rate) Jews in the early 19th century identified Canaanites with being black are interesting for the same sort of underlying problems of sensitivity that we are still coming across! EDH, BTW, certainly had Latin & Greek, and I suspect some Hebrew - his father was a churchman. But -according to him - no Arabic worth a second thought, and certainly no Berber. But his closest friend in Tangier, John Mullowny the US Consul-General had excellent Arabic and some Berber (he'd been brought up in Tangier) and EDH's son John had excellent Arabic (for very much the same reason). So EDH certainly had good access to current information of the time. ************************************************************** {28} The name given to the Barbar race and its language by some of their tribes as those of Soos is _Amazigh_ (or Tamazigh) which Mr. Hodgson the U States Orientalist tells me he understands to mean, in the Berber tongue, "_frank"_, - & that _ shell_a`h_, sing of which _shlokh_ is plural, means "_a sharp sword_" {27} _Canaan_, the name of the son of _Ham_, appears to Abensur to be difficult of discovery as to its etymology - Ikha`na` (he shall humiliate himself) the 3^rd pers. sing. numb. future tense of the root verb _kanaa_, he humiliated (being the 3^rd pers. sing. numb. preterite), which form is used by Hebrew grammarians as the root of their verb - the Arabs do the same. The general idea among Jews at this day seems to be, that, wherever _Canaan_ or children of Canaan are mentioned in Holy Writ, Black people are designed; - but this I conceive to be altogether unauthorised, - for we have no reason to suppose that the Syrians of the land of Canaan were Blacks - but as the Blacks of Africa have been made use of by various white natives, from time immemorial to this day, as slaves, so the Jews have supposed that all those who were thus enslaved were descendants from Canaan and vice versa, that all descendants from Canaan were blacks. Both conclusions are, I presume, decidedly erroneous nay absurd. Richard Pennell History Dept Nat Univ of Singapore hiscrp@leonis.nus.sg ------------------------------ End of Ancient Near East Digest V1 #49 ************************************** To subscribe to ANE-Digest, send the command: subscribe ANE-digest in the body of a message to "Majordomo@oi.uchicago.edu". 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