The world around the old.., p.45
The World around the Old Testament, page 45
49. R. Dussaud, “Les inscriptions phéniciennes du tombeau d’Ahiram, roi de Byblos,” Syria 5 (1924): 135–57.
50. For the text of this inscription, see KAI 1:1 (no. 1). Note that I have personally collated this inscription in Beirut using magnification, and I read gbl at the end of this inscription.
51. Rollston, “Dating of the Early Royal Byblian (Phoenician).”
52. Edith Porada, “Notes on the Sarcophagus of Ahiram,” JANES 5 (1973): 355–72. See also the superb article by Irene J. Winter, “On the Problems of Karatepe: The Reliefs and Their Context,” AnSt 29 (1979): 115–51. Finally, see also Irit Ziffer, “From Acemhoyuk to Megiddo: The Banquet Scene in the Art of the Levant in the Second Millennium BCE,” TA 35 (2005): 155–58.
53. M. Dunand, “Nouvelle inscription phénicienne archaïque,” RB 39 (1930): 321–31.
54. For the text of this inscription, see KAI 1:1 (no. 4).
55. C. Clermont-Ganneau, “Inscription égypto-phénicienne de Byblos,” CRAI 47 (1903): 378–85.
56. For the text of this inscription, see KAI 1:1 (no. 5).
57. R. Dussaud, “Dédicace d’une statue d’Osorkon 1 per Elibaal, roi de Byblos,” Syria 6 (1925): 101–17. Note also that the names in the cartouches of these statues of Sheshonq and Osorkon are those of Sheshonq I and Osorkon I. That is, it would be problematic for someone to suggest that these statues were those of Sheshonq II (r. ca. 890 BCE) and Osorkon II (r. ca. 874–850 BCE), as the readings of the latter two are quite different (J. von Beckerath, Handbuch der aegyptischen Königsnamen [Mainz: von Zabern, 1999], 185). I am grateful to James Hoffmeier for discussing this issue with me and providing this reference.
58. For the text of this inscription, see KAI 1:1 (no. 6). Note that { } in this case signify that this word is restored on the basis of the same terminology in several of the Royal Byblian Phoenician inscriptions.
59. Dunand, Biblia grammata, 146–51.
60. For the text of this inscription, see KAI 1:2 (no. 7).
61. Some have suggested that this term, literally meaning “Lordess of Byblos,” may be a way of referring to Asherah, while others suggest that it may be referring to Astarte or even Anat. I do not believe there is sufficient evidence for a decision.
62. Although this material is in the restored component of the Abiba‘al Inscription, it is a formulaic reference typical of these Byblian inscriptions, so I consider this restoration to be cogent. On epigraphic methodologies and restorations, see the principles outlined in Rollston, Writing and Literacy, 5.
63. For a similar reference, see Karatepe A III, 18 (KAI 1:6 [no. 26 AIII, 186]). For the treaty of Ba‘al I of Tyre and Esarhaddon, see Simo Parpola and Kazuko Watanabe, Neo-Assyrian Treaties and Loyalty Oaths, SAA 2 (Helsinki: State Archives of Assyria, 1988), IV, 10.
64. On Phoenician deities and on Israelite religion in general, see esp. Mark S. Smith, The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002), 61–64; and Joel S. Burnett, A Reassessment of Biblical Elohim, SBLDS 183 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2001).
65. For the text of this inscription, see KAI 1:7 (no. 9).
66. Peckham, Development of the Late Phoenician Scripts, 44–45, et passim.
67. For the text of this inscription, see KAI 1:2 (no. 10).
68. For the text of this inscription, see KAI 1:3 (no. 13).
69. For the text of this inscription, see KAI 1:3–4 (no. 14).
70. For the text of this inscription, see KAI 1:3 (no. 11).
71. For the editio princeps of this inscription, see Hélène Sader, “Phoenician Inscriptions from Beirut,” in Ancient Egyptian and Mediterranean Studies in Memory of William A. Ward, ed. Leonard H. Lesko (Providence: Brown University Department of Egyptology, 1998), 203–13, esp. 204–6.
72. A. M. Honeyman, “Phoenician Inscriptions of the Cyprus Museum,” Iraq 6 (1939): 106–8.
73. See Frank M. Cross, “An Interpretation of the Nora Stone,” BASOR 208 (1972): 13–19.
74. I do not doubt that human sacrifice occurred in Phoenicia, much as it did at the Phoenician colony of Carthage. For discussion, see Philip J. King and Lawrence E. Stager, Life in Biblical Israel (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2001), 359–62. Of course, I would also hasten to add that early Israelite religion also embraced human sacrifice (Judg. 11:29–32, 39; Mic. 6:6–8), although the Deuteronomist repudiated it (2 Kings 16:3; 21:6). See also Lucian, The Syrian Goddess (= De Dea Syria), trans. Harold W. Attridge and Robert A. Oden (Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1976).
75. Rollston, Writing and Literacy, 27–46.
76. W. F. Albright, “Neglected Factors in the Greek Intellectual Revolution,” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 116 (1972): 239. For a critical edition of Philo of Byblos, see Harold W. Attridge and Robert A. Oden Jr., Philo of Byblos, The Phoenician History: Introduction, Critical Text, Translation, Notes, CBQMS 9 (Washington, DC: Catholic Biblical Association, 1981).
77. See esp. Josephus, Against Apion 1.17–18; H. St. J. Thackeray, trans., Josephus: The Life; Against Apion, LCL 186 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1976), 205–13.
78. A. Kirk Grayson, Assyrian Rulers of the Early First Millennium BC, vol. 1, 1114–859 BC, RIMA 2 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991), 37 (see also 42, 44, 53, 60, 63).
79. Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, vol. 2, The New Kingdom (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976), 224–30.
80. See esp. Josephus, Against Apion 1.17–18.
81. Thackeray, Josephus, 213. This translation spells Hiram as “Hirom.”
82. Moscati, The Phoenicians (New York: Rizzoli, 1997), 48.
83. It should be noted in this connection that it is very doubtful that the so-called Jezebel Seal was that of Queen Jezebel. See Christopher A. Rollston, “Prosopography and the Yzbl Seal,” IEJ 59 (2009): 86–91.
84. Grayson, Assyrian Rulers, 1:218–19.
85. A. Kirk Grayson, Assyrian Rulers of the Early First Millennium BC, vol. 2, 858–745 BC, RIMA 3 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1996), 23–24.
86. Ibid., 51.
87. Ibid., 54.
88. Ibid., 67.
89. Ibid., 141 and 147.
90. Ibid., 211.
91. Hayim Tadmor and Shigeo Yamada, The Royal Inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser III (744–727 BC) and Shalmaneser V (726–722 BC), Kings of Assyria, RINAP 1 (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2011), 46–48.
92. Ibid., 87.
93. Ibid., 122–23.
94. Ibid., 130–31.
95. “Texts from Hammurabi to the Downfall of the Assyrian Empire,” trans. A. Leo Oppenheim (ANET, 287).
96. Ibid., 288.
97. Erle Leichty, The Royal Inscriptions of Esarhaddon, King of Assyria (680–669), RINAP 4 (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2011), 16–17. Note that many of the goods from Abdi-Milkuti, the king of Sidon, are later reported to have been in Esarhaddon’s palace (see ibid., 147, 148).
98. “Treaty of Esarhaddon with Baal of Tyre,” trans. Erica Reiner (ANET, 533–34).
99. Leichty, Royal Inscriptions of Esarhaddon, 46.
100. Ibid., 87.
101. Ibid., 135.
102. “Texts from Hammurabi to the Downfall of the Assyrian Empire,” trans. A. Leo Oppenheim (ANET, 294).
103. Ibid., 295–96.
104. A. D. Godley, trans., Herodotus, vol. 2, LCL 118 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971), 25–26.
105. Herodotus, Histories 7.23; Godley, Herodotus, 2:337–38.
106. Charles L. Sherman, trans., Diodorus of Sicily, vol. 7, LCL 389 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1963), 351–65, esp. 363.
107. E. Iliff Robson, trans., Arrian, History of Alexander and Indica, vol. 1, LCL 236 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1967), 183.
108. Ibid., 213.
9
Transjordan: The Ammonites, Moabites, and Edomites
Joel S. Burnett
1. Introduction
Most prominent among ancient Israel’s neighbors east of the Jordan were the Ammonites, Moabites, and Edomites. Like the Israelites, they shared in a common cultural heritage rooted in Syria-Palestine’s Bronze Age past while asserting distinct identities recognized in biblical, epigraphic, and archaeological sources. During the exceptional circumstances of the Iron Age, independent regional kingdoms associated with these peoples thrived briefly, eventually giving way to the returning dominance of greater powers in successive eras of advancing imperialism that shaped the Near East for the rest of the first millennium BCE.
2. Transjordan and Its Early History
The land of Transjordan begins in the Jordan–Dead Sea–Arabah Rift, rises dramatically to the Transjordanian Plateau, and levels out to the Syro-Arabian Desert. From north to south, the Plateau is divided into subregions by major east-west river valleys draining into the Rift: the Yarmuk between Bashan and the forested hills of northern Gilead; the Zarqa (biblical Jabbok), south of which the ridges of southern Gilead settle into the Madaba Plains; the Mujib (biblical Arnon), a majestic canyon dividing central Transjordan, including the Karak Plateau to its south; and Wadi Hasa (biblical Zered), another dramatic canyon, south of which the southern (Edomite) Plateau extends for another 105 miles to Aqaba.
Figure 9.1. Transjordan [© Baker Publishing Group]
In line with Transjordan’s northwest to southeast falloff in rainfall levels, human settlement from earliest times clustered along the northern Jordan Valley and western Plateau, extending south and east to marginal conditions along the desert steppe. That geographic continuum also involved an increasing shift in balance from plow agriculture to sheep-goat herding, with implications for ways of life, social organization, and economy.1 Transjordan’s place along an intercontinental land bridge meant a perennial flow of long-distance exchange providing incentive to produce surplus grain, wine, olives, and wool as its principal exports, supplemented occasionally by metals from the southern Levant’s chief sources of copper and iron in Transjordan.2 These long-lasting patterns of geography, population, and economy would prove foundational for the rise of Transjordan’s territorial kingdoms during the Iron Age.
Archaeological evidence from the Middle Bronze (MB) Age (2000–1550 BCE) shows only sparse settlement south of the Wadi Mujib, almost none south of Wadi Hasa, but considerable settlement in the northern half of the country in proximity to the main artery of trade connecting Egypt with the great kingdoms of Syria-Mesopotamia and other parts of the Near East. As an extension of the peak in urban buildup that characterized MB II Cisjordan, northern Transjordan included walled settlements on the scale of small cities (e.g., Pella, Tall Irbid, and Amman Citadel), towns (e.g., Tall Dayr Alla in the central Jordan Valley, Tall Umayri south of Amman, and Sahab at the desert fringe), and villages (e.g., Tall Hayyat in the northern Jordan Valley and to the south at Tall Nimrin).
This north-south divide is reflected in Transjordan’s first appearances in textual sources during this period. The Egyptian Execration Texts (ca. 1800 BCE) mention cities governed by single “rulers” in northern Transjordan (e.g., Ashtartu, Ṣur-Bashan, and Pella) and a more rural southern Transjordan ruled instead by “chiefs” of “clans.”3
Those same patterns of society and settlement persisted into the Late Bronze (LB) Age (ca. 1550–1200 BCE), an era of unprecedented internationalism spurred by New Kingdom Egypt’s resumption of political and economic hegemony over the eastern Mediterranean. Egyptian interests in Transjordan centered on control of overland trade routes and thus were concentrated mainly in the north, where Egyptian scarabs, Mycenaean pottery, jewelry, and other luxury items characterize settlements of this period. International prestige items found along with pottery wares of the region (e.g., chocolate-on-white ware) at towns like Tall Fukhar on the Yarmuk, Jerash in northern Gilead, Dayr Alla and Tell Saidiyya in the Jordan Valley, and in multigenerational tombs at Pella, Tall Abu Kharaz, Irbid, Amman, Sahab, as well as a well-preserved palace or temple at Tall Umayri, indicate cultural continuity and local political stability within the framework of long-distance trade. The archaeological picture is one of political domination by urban elites over an increasingly disaffected and mobile rural population, a picture also borne out in LB texts.
Topographical lists of Thutmose III (1479–1425 BCE) reflect possible Egyptian familiarity with a route south of Damascus through interior Transjordan.4 The Amarna letters (fourteenth century BCE) document Egyptian interests in travel through northern Transjordan, where city-state alliances sometimes spanned the Jordan and Yarmuk Valleys. For example, Mut-Ba‘lu, ruler of Pella and son of Lab’ayu of Shechem, pledges in the tradition of his father to provide safe passage to the pharaoh’s caravans (EA 255). Another letter concerns Mut-Ba‘lu’s putative alliance with Ayyabu, ruler of Ashtartu (biblical Ashtaroth) in Bashan, who had robbed a Babylonian caravan and suffered the rebellion of his own cities (EA 256), some of which he had already lost to the ruler of Haṣura (biblical Hazor; EA 364). Egypt’s continued need to assert its interests along these northern valley routes is substantiated by stelae of Seti I (1294–1279 BCE) found at Beth Shean, Tall Shihab on the Yarmuk, and Shaykh Saade (ancient Karnaim) in Bashan. The Beth Shean stela inscription describes Egyptian reprisals against a regional alliance including Pella (COS 2.4B). Texts of Ramesses II (1279–1213 BCE) maintain this focus on northern Transjordan, along with increasing attention to Transjordan’s southern half, including explicit references to Moab and Edom.
Figuring prominently in that context is a population element that Egyptian texts refer to as Shasu, a social designation perhaps related to an Egyptian verb meaning “to wander.” Shasu are characteristically nomadic people occasionally appearing in texts and pictorial art in association with cities and towns. Toponym lists from the time of Amenophis III (1390–1352 BCE), recopied in the time of Ramesses II, name six “Shasu lands”—including Yhw, which draws comparisons with the Israelite divine name Yahweh, and S‘rr, which is comparable to the place-name Seir so closely associated with Edom (see below). Royal inscriptions boast of victories in these areas; for example, Ramesses II twice refers to himself as one “who plunders the mountain of Seir with his valiant arm,” with Shasu appearing in parallel phrases. Ramesses III (1184–1153 BCE) claims, “I destroyed the Seirites, the clans of the Shasu, the clans of the Shasu, I pillaged their tents, with their people, their property, and their livestock.”5 A letter from an eastern Delta official during the reign of Merenptah (1213–1203 BCE) reports the passage of Shasu herders from “Edom” (Papyrus Anastasi VI). Although wandering Shasu are occasionally present in other areas of Palestine, their territorial base seems to have been the southern half of Transjordan, where they were a noteworthy component of the nomadic population of LB southern and central Transjordan that would begin to settle in sedentary communities during Iron I.
3. Iron Age Kingdoms of Transjordan
With the disintegration of Egyptian hegemony following 1200 BCE, the southern Levant became the eventual setting for independent regional kingdoms, including Ammon, Moab, and Edom. During Iron Age II (ca. 1000–550 BCE), those Transjordanian kingdoms emerged on the basis of territorial divisions and people groups. Those people identities gradually diminished following the loss of political independence under the Babylonian Empire and through increasing enculturation under successive international empires beginning with the Persian period (539–332 BCE). Even so, each of the three Transjordanian kingdoms represented a distinct legacy that echoed into later times and that can be traced back to cultural and economic roots in the Bronze Age.
Ammon
LB–IRON I
No second-millennium sources mention Ammon or Ammonites. Yet a northwest-to-southeast line of fortified settlements centering on the larger site of Amman (including Khirbat Umm Dananir, Tall Safut, Sahab, and Tall Umayri) formed a secondary trade artery connecting the desert rim and north-central Plateau with Jordan Valley routes during LB times. Well fortified and easily defended by a system of surrounding wadi approaches, Amman would have been an important regional political center governing this network of trade and travel across the north-central Plateau already in Bronze Age times.6
Figure 9.2. Excavation of Iron I building compound at Tall Abu Kharaz (directed by Peter M. Fischer), overlooking the central Jordan Valley from the east [Joel S. Burnett]
A sociopolitical elite that exploited this regional system during LB times is evident in the elaborate caches of luxury goods and human remains found in the Amman Airport building ca. 3 miles northeast of central Amman and perhaps in similar square-plan structures 2.5 miles further southeast at Mabrak, and ca. 14 miles northwest of Amman at Rujm Henu East and Khirbat Umm Dananir, in the Baqah Valley.7 The violent destruction and/or dismantling of these buildings at the end of LB contrasts with impressive cultural and technological continuity into Iron IA in the Baqah and at Safut, Amman (Jebel Nuzha tomb), Sahab, and Umayri.8
Critical to the north-central Plateau’s economic and social stability across the LB–Iron I transition was a regional metal industry based in the most abundant iron ore source east or west of the Jordan Rift at Mugharat Wardeh, ca. 21 miles northwest of Amman and 2.5 miles north of Wadi Zarqa.9 Evidence for that industry includes early Iron Age pottery from mining areas and carburized steel jewelry from Baqah Valley burials.10 Local control of this metal industry would account for the cultural continuity evident in LB–Iron I tombs, even as those assemblages exhibit a decrease in Aegean pottery and other foreign goods and an increasingly localized pottery repertoire reflecting a regionally self-contained economic framework.11
