Queries & Comments

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“Sacred” Texts

Looking for an article in a back copy of BAR, I started searching through my “sacred pile”: BAR and Bible Review issues dating back to 1992, and all the Archaeology Odyssey issues published. Well, my search started slowing down as I began paging through each issue … then started reading the captions as I enjoyed the photos and sketches … then started on whole articles. I have now “wasted” almost an entire morning—thank you! Oh, did I find the edition I was looking for? Of course not … but who cares!

Cain

Attorney for the Defense

Re: John Byron’s “Did Cain Get Away with Murder?” (Biblical Views, BAR 40:03). Cain got the exact punishment prescribed by the Bible.

I am an attorney, and if I were representing him, I believe I could get him acquitted of murder. First of all, there is a precept in the law that “there is no crime without a previous law that defines it.” Between the prohibition that God imposed on Adam not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge and the Seven Laws given to Noah, God did not prohibit anything. There was no law yet stating “You shall not kill.” No law, no punishment.

Putting that aside, it could be said that since man became mortal, there was a tacit understanding against taking someone’s life. The problem here is that no one had ever been killed before. So Cain could not have known how to kill anyone. This alone is a mitigating factor to the charge of premeditated murder.

In addition, the Bible tells us that there was a conversation between Cain and Abel shortly before Abel’s death, although it does not tell us the content of it (Genesis 4:8). Cain was the firstborn, and a lot was expected of him. His name meant “bought from God.” Abel, on the other hand—in Hebrew Hevel—meant “vanity.” So we know that Abel was vain, and he may have said or done something to Cain that infuriated him, causing Cain to strike Abel in the heat of the moment. This is called manslaughter, not murder.

The punishment given later in the Bible for manslaughter, i.e., for killing someone without intent or accidently, is banishment to a city of refuge (Exodus 21:13; Numbers 35:11–14; Joshua 20). The very fact that God banished Cain is proof that he killed Abel accidentally.

Finally, the fact that at the end Cain is killed by Lamech also accidentally is what is called middah keneged middah—or measure for measure. The same way Cain killed Abel without intent, he was killed without intent. That is poetic justice, not punishment for a murder that did not happen.

Nudity in Renaissance Art

Was the Savior Male or Female?

Re: “Nudity in Renaissance Art,” (Strata, BAR 40:03). In many Renaissance depictions of the Nativity/Adoration of the Shepherds, Mary actually lifts up the swaddling clothes, revealing the genitals of the infant Jesus. These have been admirably discussed and reproduced by Vida H. Hull in “The Sex of the Savior in Renaissance Art: The Revelations of Saint Bridget and the Nude Christ Child in Renaissance Art,” Studies in Iconography, XV (1993), pp. 77–112. According to the relevant portion of Bridget’s vision, as translated by Hull (p. 78):

At the same place where the Virgin Mary and Joseph were adoring the boy in the cradle, I also saw the shepherds, who had been watching their flocks, coming so they could look at the child and adore it. When they saw the child they first wanted to find out if it was a male or female, for the angels had announced to them that the savior of the world had been born, and they had not said that it was a savioress. Then the Virgin Mary showed to them the nature and male sex of the child. At once they adored him with great awe and joy.

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The Revelations of St. Bridget of Sweden (1303–1373) were widely read and this iconography was popular in Italy (Titian, Jacopo Bassano, Giulio Clovio), Spain (El Greco, Murillo) and Northern Europe (Hugo van der Goes, Martin Schongauer, Gerard David). Thus, the nudity is not only a testimony to the humanity of Christ, but proof, especially for the shepherds, that the child was male, as had been foretold.

The Book of Hours, made for Cardinal Alessandro Farnese in 1546 and illuminated by Giulio Clovio, includes an illustration of an examination of the child to determine whether he is male or female. The manuscript is one of the great treasures of the Morgan Library and regarded as the last great Italian illuminated manuscript (MS M.69, fol. 26v).

Herod’s Tomb

It’s There in the Cavity

Re: “Was Herod’s Tomb Really Found?” (BAR 40:03). The article mentions that ground penetrating sensors were used on the tower in 1983 and that cavities were found at the lower portion of the tower. At first, this was sensationalized in newspapers that the tomb was found. Later, the physicist who conducted the search mentioned that what was found was too small to be Herod’s Tomb. What does this statement, “too small to be Herod’s Tomb,” mean? Was this cavity too small for his sarcophagus and treasure, or was a huge room expected as the resting place for Herod’s sarcophagus and treasure, especially considering the massive building projects that Herod built throughout his reign as king? It seems to me that a modest-sized room big enough for the sarcophagus and the treasure would have been enough for Herod’s final resting place.

I believe his remains could be in that cavity. Herod was not only a great ruler; he was a smart ruler, which was why he reigned for so long. He was also cruel—another reason for a well-hidden tomb.

Fund-raising for Finding Herod’s Tomb

Being a former student of Ehud Netzer, when I heard of his new discoveries at Herodium in 2007, I asked to join the excavation and participated in uncovering parts of the famous tomb.

Since then I brought countless groups to the site, and while praising Netzer for his discovery, I too expressed criticism on the interpretation of the find as Herod’s tomb.

In 2012 I guided an affluent individual, who at the end of the tour expressed his consent to sponsor new research and a possible dig into the base of the eastern tower. Hopefully this might answer the thesis raised recently again by H. Shanks as to the true location of Herod’s tomb.

Yaakov Kalman and Roi Porat, 011 members of Netzer’s expedition, and I created a file describing the process required to conduct such a project and estimated its cost to $100,000.

Unfortunately the potential sponsor retreated from his offer.

Yaakov, Roi and I will be happy to present the project at any podium, in hopes of raising the needed money and possibly solving this great mystery.

Of Lunar Eclipses in Herod’s Time

Both Luke and Matthew mention Jesus’ birth as occurring during Herod’s reign (Luke 1:5; Matthew 2:1). Josephus relates Herod’s death to a lunar eclipse. This is generally regarded as a reference to a lunar eclipse in 4 B.C.E. Therefore it is often said that Jesus was born in 4 B.C.E. A recent suggestion in BAR has raised the possibility that Josephus may have been referring to a lunar eclipse that occurred in 1 B.C.E., thus lowering Jesus’ birth to the beginning of the Common Era.

This has led to a discussion in our letters section as to which lunar eclipse Josephus was referring to (July/August 2013; January/February 2014; May/June 2014). In the following letter, professor Jeffrey Chadwick continues the discussion and argues that Josephus was clearly referring to the lunar eclipse of 4 B.C.E.—Ed.

When Did Herod Die? And When Was Jesus Born?

Regarding the date of the death of Herod the Great, the question of which lunar eclipse and which Jewish fast the historian Josephus was referring to must be considered in light of other data that Josephus reported. Professor John Cramer’s suggestion that an eclipse in 1 B.C.E. would place Herod’s death in that year, rather than the generally accepted 4 B.C.E., cannot be reconciled with other historical facts recorded by Josephus.

As is well known, Herod’s son Archelaus succeeded him as the ruler of Judea, as reported by Josephus (Antiquities 8:459). Josephus also recorded that Archelaus reigned over Judea and Samaria for ten years, and that in his tenth year, due to complaints against him from both Jews and Samaritans, he was deposed by Caesar Augustus and banished to Vienna (Antiquities 8:531). Quirinius, the legate or governor of Syria, was assigned by the emperor to travel to Jerusalem and liquidate the estate of Archelaus, as well as to conduct a registration of persons and property in Archelaus’s former realm. This occurred immediately after Archelaus was deposed and was specifically dated by Josephus to the 37th year after Caesar’s victory over Mark Anthony at Actium (Antiquities 9:23). The Battle of Actium is a well-known event in Roman history that took place in the Ionian Sea off the shore of Greece on September 2 of the year 31 B.C.E. Counting 37 years forward from 31 B.C.E. yields a date of 6 C.E. for the tenth year of Archelaus, at which time he was deposed and Quirinus came to Judea. And counting back ten years from that event yields a date of 4 B.C.E. for the year in which Herod died. 060 (The beginning and ending years are both included in this count, since regnal years for both Augustus and the Herodians were so figured.)

These reports, and the chronology derived from them, provide compelling evidence for the generally accepted date of Herod’s death in the spring of 4 B.C.E., shortly after the lunar eclipse of March 13, regardless of the fact that eclipses also occurred in other years.

New Jerusalem Inscription

More Inscriptions from the Time of David and Solomon

Professor Alan Millard’s evaluation of the new Jerusalem inscription uncovered by Hebrew University’s Eilat Mazar is indeed interesting (“The New Jerusalem Inscription—So What?” BAR 40:03). And we agree with Millard’s general conclusions concerning literacy in this period (late 11th/early tenth century B.C.E. [which includes the time of David and Solomon]).

However, the number of inscriptions from the tenth century B.C.E. is even larger than those mentioned by Millard. Inscriptions from this period have been found at Tel Batash (Biblical Timnah), Tel Rehov, Tel es-Safi (Gath), Revadim, Kefar Vradim, Eshtamoa and Izbet Sartah.

Writing Ancient Script

Thank you for including an artistic rendering by Ada Yardeni of the script of the new Jerusalem inscription. I am trying to learn how to write this ancient script. Do you know of any textbook of this paleo-Hebrew script?

A more complete description of these other inscriptions together with citations to their publication appears on the BAR website at biblicalarchaeology.org/jerusaleminscription.

See Ada Yardeni, The Book of Hebrew Script: History, Palaeography, Script Styles, Calligraphy & Design (Jerusalem: Carta, 1997; New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2002; London: British Library, 2002, 2006).—Ed.

Israelite Brick Making

How Sturdy Is Topsoil?

I read with interest the recent BAR article “With and Without Straw” (BAR 40:02), but I am puzzled as to how topsoil can be used to make mudbricks, regardless of how much organic material or chaff is added. In most of the world clay has been used for earthen structures, either in the form of bricks or daubed over hazel sticks, as is the custom in timber-framed homes (wattle and daub). With plain bricks (cob), the clay is mixed with chalk, and straw is added for reinforcement. The bricks are stacked on a short foundation of stone. Water will run off unbaked clay but not topsoil. As clay is very abundant in the Middle East and the Egyptians were adept at transportation, it is hard to see why they would not have used clay as well.

Robert Littman, Marta Lorenzon and Jay Silverstein respond:

Mudbricks are not made just of clay, but they are a combination of silt, sand and clay plus temper (dung/chaff) to prevent shrinking. Clay is the element giving mudbricks their most important characteristics—impermeability and plasticity—and it is usually the 061 most mentioned in the literature. On the other hand, it is the aggregate (sand) that provides strength, whereas silt acts as a binder. As a consequence, brick with a high percentage of clay can be impermeable, but less strong. When they have a high percentage of sand, they may be vulnerable to erosion and water. Before the construction of the Aswan dam (and still partly today), the topsoil of Egyptian fields was a loamy rich topsoil thanks to the Nile flood, which presented a good combination of clay-silt-sand.

Robert Bull

Slaying Bulls

A fitting tribute to Professor Robert Bull (Strata, Milestones, “Robert Jehu Bull (1920–2014),” BAR 40:01). How appropriate that Professor Bull discovered the Mithraeum at Caesarea. Where Mithras had slain the Bull, Professor Bull has slain the hidden vault.

Corrections

The as-yet unpublished book manuscript by William Cox, attorney for the still-secret source of the Dead Sea Scroll fragments published by the Biblical Archaeology Society in 1991, was incorrectly titled in the BAR editor’s First Person (BAR 40:03). The correct title of the unpublished manuscript is The Book of Mindkind, NOT the Book of Mankind.

Attorney Cox also objects “for the record” to BAR’s characterization of him as “now an old man.” In a letter to the editor, he retorts that BAR’s editor is “my senior by more than a decade.” The BAR editor is 84.—Ed.

“Sacred” Texts