Queries & Comments

Beno Rothenberg Answers Query on Midianite Tented Shrine

To the Editor:

I read with interest your report that archaeologist Beno Rothenberg found a “Midianite tented shrine which provides a parallel to the tent shrine of Israel’s desert wandering” Was this Midianite tent preserved for more than 3,000 years? If it wasn’t, how does Rothenberg know a tent shrine was there? And how does he know it was Midianite?

Also would it be possible to print a picture of the gilded snake which he discovered at the same site?

I enjoyed your first issue and wish you much success in this new endeavor.

Beno Rothenberg replies:

I was pleased to receive Ms. Weil’s letter asking how we know that there was a Midianite tent over the older Egyptian temple of Hathor at Timna. The answer is simple: We found the tent cloth lying in heaps along the walls of the temple in the layer attributed by stratigraphy to the Midianite phase of the sanctuary. It was extremely difficult to save this tent cloth but we did preserve very many fragments and these have been investigated by experts in ancient textiles.

I enclose a photograph of the copper serpent, also found in the Midianite layer of the temple.

At this opportunity I would like to express my admiration for the author of your article on the problem of King Solomon’s mines, which is really quite an involved story. There are almost no mistakes in this article—a unique achievement in a nonprofessional journal on archaeology. Just one or two points need mentioning. Unfortunately, I did not work with Glueck on his excavations but I was the field director of his Negev Survey 1952–57, and I shall always remember those years as a great experience. Nelson Glueck was a great companion in the desert and a perfect gentleman in his acceptance of criticism. I also did not actually reexamine Glueck’s excavation of Tell el-Khaleifeh at the site, which is in Jordan, but simply read carefully his reports on the excavation in view of my findings at Timna.

I agree fully that Glueck’s Rivers in the Desert is very well written, but please don’t be too harsh with me. My Timna book was written intentionally as a factual report on our work, and not as a popular story. Therefore, compared with Glueck’s very emotional, Biblical storytelling, my report is dry and does not tell the actual story behind the story of our research. Luckily, I found in your author an able commentator.

The recently discovered underground mining systems are not of the Chalcolithic period but belong to the main period of copper mining in Timna—the 14th–12th century B.C.

All the best for your very fine BAR!

Many Applaud First Issue

To the Editor:

Congratulations on a fine issue. I read it with interest and I believe that you have achieved your purpose. However, that is for a more general reader to judge.

To the Editor:

I am very pleased with the BAR. Let’s hope that this virginal effort—not at all feeble—will grow and develop into a lusty wench. It makes delightful reading.

To the Editor:

I have been reading the first issue of your Biblical Archaeology Review and I must say I find it fascinating. It hits my level precisely, both in topic and content. I have heard of all the places you write about and have seen some of them (such as Hazor), and found your accounts of them informative, readable, and critical. I look forward to other issues.

To the Editor:

I have just received your first issue and like it very much.

You mention a number of books in your articles, but you do not tell how to get these books. Are you in the near future going to have a book department where we can get these books?

We’re considering it.—Ed.

Criticism of Criticism

To the Editor:

Congratulations on the publication of your new journal, The Biblical Archaeology Review. I am pleased with the first issue and hope it gains wide popular interest. Quick, dependable reporting of current developments in Biblical archaeology is much needed.

The article on Nelson Glueck and King Solomon (“Nelson Glueck and King Solomon—A Romance That Ended,” BAR 01:01) was quite disappointing in the fact Glueck was almost ridiculed with hardly a hint of the enormous contributions this man has made to our discipline. Criticisms were also levelled against Albright, Aharoni and Yadin. Such give-and-take is expected in scholarly pursuits but it must be done with great care on the popular level.

Is the BAR Unique?

To the Editor:

I’m forced to take issue with the first paragraph of your aim of the BAR as put forth in Vol. 1, No. 1 (“Introducing … the BAR,” BAR 01:01)! At least one other periodical has gone before yours in its making available “in understandable language the current insights of … archaeology as they relate to the Bible”. Haven’t you ever heard of Bible and Spade? And isn’t The Biblical Archaeologist still circulating?

Bible and Spade is, in its own words, “dedicated to the authentication … of the Holy Scriptures,” a far different orientation from The Biblical Archaeology Review. It is published by The Word of Truth Publications (Box 288, Ballston Spa, New York 12020).

The Biblical Archaeologist is a fine magazine written by scholars, but written also primarily for scholars. If you are ready to climb the next rung in the scholarly ladder, by all means subscribe to The Biblical Archaeologist. Its address is 126 Inman Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139. A comparison of the Biblical Archaeology Review with The Biblical Archaeologist will reveal there is little overlap between us.—Ed.

Group Subscriptions Available in Response to Readers’ Requests

To the Editor:

I have just finished reading the first issue of the BAR and it far surpasses my expectations. Your readers are in for some objective, intelligent, scientific reporting in the field of archaeology that has been needed for a long time. The articles are not only down to earth, but stimulate the reader to search even further.

I am wondering if there is some way of acquiring your publication for a group of people at a reduced rate, for example the church where I am preaching. I would like to see a copy of this magazine in each members’ hands.

In response to a number of requests, we have decided to make the BAR available to groups of 10 or more addressed to the same address at a rate of $3.50 per subscription.—Ed.

Hebrew U. Begins New Publication

Hebrew University has begun publication of a new series of occasional archaeological monographs under the name Qedem. Designed to provide a format for archaeological studies that are too long for a journal and too short for a book, the new series will be published as the need arises.

The first number of Qedem contains two studies by Dr. Amnon Ben-Tor, one on proto-urban burial caves and the other on excavations at Tell Yarmuth.

Did the Mail Fail?

Several subscribers have written that they did not receive their last issue of the BAR. Others received it only two or three weeks after it was mailed. We have checked with the Post Office but there is little they can do to find out what happened. If you were one of those who did not receive your last issue, please let us know and we will send you another.

Beno Rothenberg Answers Query on Midianite Tented Shrine
To the Editor:
I read with interest your report that archaeologist Beno Rothenberg found a “Midianite tented shrine which provides a parallel to the tent shrine of Israel’s desert wandering” Was this Midianite tent preserved for more than 3,000 years? If it wasn’t, how does Rothenberg know a tent shrine was there? And how does he know it was Midianite?
Also would it be possible to print a picture of the gilded snake which he discovered at the same site?