Queries & Comments
008
BAR Inquires
Offensive Cartoons?
I really hate the cartoons in your cartoon caption contests. They reduce everything to the lowest common denominator, make fun of religion and are just plain ugly. I grimace and groan every time I see one and just don’t want to look at it.
via e-mail
Should we get rid of them?—Ed.
Callous to Christians?
I do like the articles and research in BAR, but I cannot abide the political correctness you have chosen to adopt by replacing B.C./A.D. with B.C.E./C.E. [Before the Common Era/Common Era].
There is no good reason for the change; the only real reason must be politics and/or a hate for dates being referenced around the birth of Jesus Christ. If you wish to be callous to your Christian readers so you can be overly sensitive to non-Christian readers, then you can pay the price in reduced readership.
Allentown, Pennsylvania
We allow each author to choose. Should we deny her/him this choice?—Ed.
Speculation
Was the Motive a Little Jealousy?
Re: Your First Person, “When Is It OK for an Archaeologist to Speculate?” (BAR 37:05).
Anyone with even a nodding acquaintance with the history of ideas understands that speculation is one of the engines that drives the advance of human knowledge. It is an integral part of the point-counterpoint exchange of ideas, together with careful reasoning, a clear understanding of background assumptions, and, in the case of science, thorough research and analysis, absent all of which we would still be muddling through the Stone Age.
The only thing that I would require is, apparently, the same thing that you do: Speculation, if presented in the context of scientific research or general fact-based analysis, should be clearly labeled. Terms like, “perhaps,” “in my opinion” and “possibly” will do.
Dialogue and disputation should be vigorous but never impolite. As to those who criticize speculation per se, especially those who resort to pejoratives, I can only suspect a motive of jealousy.
Sacramento, California
Archaeology Is More So
Scientific method (propositional hypothesis, testing, conclusions) is by its very nature speculative. Archaeology is even more so, as in the end most conclusions are essentially speculative.
Medina, Ohio
Scientific Method vs. Politics
You ask: “Should archaeologists speculate about their finds when they write for the general public? Do they do it only to get publicity for their finds? Or is it perfectly proper to speculate so long as the speculation is suitably qualified?”
Speculation is most definitely a part of archaeology if the archaeological speculation is making use of the scientific method.
The root question is, “For what purpose is the speculation?” Speculation to develop a hypothesis to be validated or refuted is valid scientific method. Speculation to manipulate popular thought is best relegated to the realm of politics.
When is it OK for an archaeologist to engage in politics? That is the question.
Brenham, Texas
Pool of Bethesda
Many thanks to Urban C. von Wahlde for his enlightening article on the Pool of Bethesda (“The Puzzling Pool of Bethesda—Where Jesus Cured the Crippled Man,” BAR 37:05). All of us who deal with the place on a day-to-day basis need to be grateful to him for sorting out a complicated archaeological situation.
One sentence on page 43 caught my eye, however. It consists of two parts, neither of which is strictly archaeological. The sentence begins with the assertion that “since the Six-Day War of 1967, Israel has claimed control of the site.” But that is an impossible statement.
The second half of the same sentence says that Israel “will not allow French archaeologists to work there.” This is an extraordinary revelation, news to me, and I would be grateful if the author, or someone else, could address this issue. Is it really true? And why and since when?
Archaeological Guide
Jerusalem, Israel
009 010
Urban C. von Wahlde responds:
Thank you for your comments on my article. The compound containing the Pools of Bethesda, the nearby Crusader Church and residences were given to France in 1856 by the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Majid in gratitude for France’s assistance in the Crimean War. When I first studied the site in 2005, Dr. Claudine Dauphin informed me that she was the French archaeological representative in charge of the site. Her words were: “As a French scientific civil servant, I have been in charge of both the Bethesda Pools site and Museum since 1992 on behalf of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the French General Consulate in Jerusalem (by international law Sainte-Anne is French Territory in Occupied Jerusalem).”
In a published account she indicated that she had been prohibited from studying the site, that arrest warrants had been issued for her as one of the excavators, and that the Israelis claimed control of the site in violation of United Nations Resolution 242 (cf. Proche Orient Chrètien 55 [2005], pp. 254–262 [in French and English]).
New Church Discoveries
Who Was Buried in Zechariah’s Tomb?
Your article on recent discoveries of early churches (Dorothy D. Resig, “Crossing the Holy Land: New Church Discoveries from the Biblical World,” BAR 37:05) says that the site of Horvat Midras may have been identified by early Christians as the tomb of the sixth-century B.C. prophet Zechariah.
I am not aware of any special Christian devotion to the prophet Zechariah. If the Horvat Midras church is indeed Christian, it seems much more likely that the “Zechariah” possibly buried there—as well as the “Sanctuary of Zechariah” and the “house of Zechariah” on the Madaba map—refer to the Jewish priest Zechariah, husband of Elizabeth and father of John the Baptizer, as described in Luke 1:39–40.
The “house” of Zechariah—that is, the place where Zechariah and Elizabeth conceived John, is the site of a famous event in Christian history: It was there that Mary, pregnant with Jesus, greeted Elizabeth, pregnant with John, and the babe in Elizabeth’s womb “leapt for joy” (Luke 1:41).
Every day, year in and year out, millions of Christians sing or recite the Canticle of Zechariah during morning praise (“Lauds”).
It is more likely that a Christian shrine would be inspired by the Zechariah of Luke 1 than the ancient prophet Zechariah.
Floresville, Texas
Your suggestion makes sense, but there doesn’t seem to be any Christian tradition or evidence linking the site of Horvat Midras with the burial of John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah. On the contrary, there is a Byzantine tradition that John’s father was buried in the so-called “Tomb of Zechariah” in Jerusalem’s Kidron Valley; another tradition locates his tomb at the Tomb of John the Baptist in Samaria. But there is nothing to suggest John’s father 011 012 was buried anywhere south of Jerusalem near Horvat Midras.
On the other hand, there is evidence of a Byzantine Christian tradition about the burial of the prophet Zechariah in a village that bore his name in Judea south of Jerusalem, which would correspond well with the Madaba map’s identification of Zechariah’s house and Sanctuary.
In its press release, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) referred to experts who believe that Horvat Midras “is the residence and tomb of the prophet Zechariah,” as identified by ancient Christian sources. But even here there is some uncertainty, because there was more than one “prophet” Zechariah. The fifth-century C.E. church historian Sozomen tells a story in Book 9 of his Ecclesiastical History about the miraculous discovery of the tomb and intact remains of “Zechariah the prophet” in Caphar-Zechariah (Hebrew for Village of Zechariah). After referring to the prophet several times, Sozomen reveals that this is not the sixth-century B.C.E. prophet Zechariah who is credited with the Biblical Book of Zechariah but rather the prophet Zechariah who “had been put to death by Joash [Jehoash], king of Judah” in the ninth century B.C.E. (2 Chronicles 24:20–23). (For more about Biblical figures named Zechariah, see How Many?)
Showing appropriate caution, the IAA stated that the possible identification of the Horvat Midras church as Zechariah’s burial place still needed to be examined and studied further. We will keep our readers apprised of any developments.—Ed.
Not So Colossal Colossae
Your discussion of the newly discovered church at Laodicea in the September/October issue (Dorothy D. Resig, “Crossing the Holy Land”) made me curious about the nearby site of Colossae to whose congregation Paul’s letter to the Colossians is addressed. As your writer points out, Paul’s letter actually mentions Laodicea.
So I looked up Colossae in the Anchor (now Yale) Bible Dictionary, which says that Colossae was discovered by W.J. Hamilton in 1835. It apparently has an acropolis, a theater and a 013 necropolis. But it remains unexcavated. The entry quotes another authority who says Colossae has “attractions similar to Sardis,” which are spectacular.
What is the latest? Has Colossae been excavated? Any plans?
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Colossae remains unexcavated, which is a shame. We have looked into the matter, and a local Turkish archaeologist reports that no work is projected at Colossae for several years.
Perhaps this letter will move the Turkish authorities to change their mind. But another ominous sign is that Turkey has reportedly decided it wants only Turkish archaeologists to direct archaeological excavations in Turkey. At least one long-running foreign excavation has been notified that its excavation permit will not be renewed after one more year.—Ed.
All About Yahweh
Oops!
In answering a reader’s question about “Writing God’s Name” (Queries and Comments, BAR 37:05), Professor Gary A. Rendsburg wrote that the ancient practice of Jewish scribes “continues to the present day among Jews: When writing sacred texts such as the Torah or the Book of Esther in scroll form … the word is written out as YHWH, but is read aloud another way, as Adonai.”
However, Rendsburg errs. Unlike all of the other books of the Hebrew Bible, God’s name (YHWH) is not mentioned in the Book of Esther.
Brooklyn, New York
Gary Rendsburg responds:
Oops.
YHWH Is Missing Here, Too
The Book of Esther is one of only two books of the Jewish Biblical canon in which the sacred four-letter name “Lord” never occurs! [See previous letter.] The other is the Song of Songs, a.k.a. Canticles.
Distinguished University Professor
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California
Tetragrammaton Missing in Three Hebrew Bible Books
Gary Rendsburg said: “When writing sacred texts such as the Torah or the Book of Esther in scroll form … the word is written out as YHWH, but is read aloud another way, as Adonai.”
Surely he is aware that the Book of Esther is one of three books in the Hebrew Canon that does not explicitly contain the Tetragrammaton, the others being Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs.
However, in Esther Chapter 1 verse 20: Hi’ Wekhol-Hannashim Yittenu (Hebrew) appears to be a reverse acrostic of the Tetragrammaton,
London, United Kingdom
Monolatry
Your interesting note about how many foreign gods are named in the Old Testament (Strata: How Many? BAR 37:05) has spurred an argument that perhaps you can settle. The commandment to have no other gods “before” Yahweh seems to imply that other gods do exist. The question is this: Does Israelite belief, as reflected in the Old Testament, accept the idea that other gods do exist (though the Israelites should only worship their own god, Yahweh), or did the ancient Jews believe that Yahweh was, in fact, the only god in the universe—as Christians and Jews believe today?
Tucson, Arizona
According to many scholars, before the Babylonian exile in the sixth century B.C.E., ancient Israelites worshiped one God (Yahweh), but recognized that other nations, such as the Ammonites and the Moabites and Edomites, each had its own national god. This is called henotheism or monolatry. During the Babylonian exile, the Israelites formed the conception of 068 their God as the exclusive universal deity. For more details, see Sorbonne scholar André Lemaire’s short book The Birth of Monotheism, available from the Biblical Archaeology Society.—Ed.
Potpourri
Quilts and Cushions
On vacation, I picked up the March/April 2007 issue and read the article “Inscribed ‘To God Jesus Christ’” about an early Christian prayer hall. I am a quilter and as I looked at the various pictures, I noticed that many of the mosaic designs are also quilt patterns. I began to wonder if I could make a quilted copy of the mosaic floor. I drafted out the designs, made some patterns and then made a matching quilt.
I documented it by adding a label on the reverse “Quilt top drafted and converted to fabric by Linda K. Ibbs. Quilting done by Arlene Redman of Amberg, Wisconsin,” together with information about the mosaic. Enclosed is a picture.
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
My wife Judith had somewhat the same experience. I had wanted a cushion for my piano bench and Judith wanted something, as she wrote, “that I will enjoy looking at—when he is not sitting on it.” So, for my 68th birthday, she designed a needlework cushion from a sixth-century mosaic pavement in the Ma’on synagogue at Nirim in southern Israel. She chose three circles of the mosaic—a hen laying an egg, a bird in a cage and an elephant. She also included a shofar, bunches of grapes and vine leaves, all from the same mosaic. She recorded that “All designs were copied as directly as possible and painted onto a needlework canvas by Anne Cram. The stitching was done by Alice Fischer. The work was directed by Lucy Waldstein of the Elegant Needle, Cabin John, Maryland.” That was 13 years ago, and I’m still sitting on the cushion.—H.S.
BAR in the Pews
Last Sunday my sermon dealt with the implications of Jesus’ going to the region of Tyre and Sidon, and the parallel with the prophet Elijah having been in the same area. During my comments, one parishioner used her cell phone to explore some articles from the BAR 069 archives to gain a greater understanding of those cities—and offered some additional comments during my sermon.
Score another one for BAR’s efforts to provide accurate information for people of faith!
It is delightful to have such interest but worrisome to know that during a sermon people can check—and perhaps challenge—the contents of one’s sermon!
St. James’ Episcopal Church
Oakland, California
BAR Inquires
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