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The Ancient Near East: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures The Ancient Near East: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures

The Ancient Near East: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures The Ancient Near East: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures

James Pritchard's classic anthologies of the ancient Near East have introduced generations of readers to texts essential for understanding the peoples and cultures of this important region. Now these two enduring works have been combined and integrated into one convenient and richly illustrated volume, with a new foreword that puts the translations in context.

With more than 130 reading selections and 300 photographs of ancient art, architecture, and artifacts, this volume provides a stimulating introduction to some of the most significant and widely studied texts of the ancient Near East, including the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Creation Epic (Enuma elish), the Code of Hammurabi, and the Baal Cycle. For students of history, religion, the Bible, archaeology, and anthropology, this anthology provides a wealth of material for understanding the ancient Near East.

  • Represents the diverse cultures and languages of the ancient Near East--Sumerian, Akkadian, Egyptian, Hittite, Ugaritic, Canaanite, and Aramaic--in a wide range of genres:
    • Historical texts
    • Legal texts and treaties
    • Inscriptions
    • Hymns
    • Didactic and wisdom literature
    • Oracles and prophecies
    • Love poetry and other literary texts
    • Letters
  • New foreword puts the classic translations in context
  • More than 300 photographs document ancient art, architecture, and artifacts related to the texts
  • Fully indexed

Paperback: 512 pages
Publisher: Princeton University Press; 1 edition (November 28, 2010)

Religion In Ancient Mesopotamia Religion In Ancient Mesopotamia

Religion In Ancient Mesopotamia Religion In Ancient Mesopotamia

One of the world's foremost experts on Assyriology, Jean Bottéro has studied the religion of ancient Mesopotamia for more than fifty years. Building on these many years of research, Bottéro here presents the definitive account of one of the world's oldest known religions. He shows how ancient Mesopotamian religion was practiced both in the public and private spheres, how it developed over the three millennia of its active existence, and how it profoundly influenced Western civilization, including the Hebrew Bible.

Paperback: 260 pages
Publisher: University of Chicago Press; 1 edition (September 1, 2004)

The Masks of God: Creative Mythology The Masks of God, Vol. 4: Creative Mythology

The Masks of God, Vol. 4: Creative Mythology The Masks of God, Vol. 4: Creative Mythology

Explore the power of myth as it exploded from medieval Europe into the modern world

In this fourth volume of The Masks of God — Joseph Campbell's major work of comparative mythology — the pre-eminent mythologist looks at the birth of the modern, individualistic mythology as it developed in Europe beginning in the twelfth century A.D. up through the modernist art of the twentieth century.

The Masks of God is a four-volume study of world religion and myth that stands as one of Joseph Campbell's masterworks. On completing it, he wrote:

Its main result for me has been the confirmation of a thought I have long and faithfully entertained: of the unity of the race of man, not only in its biology, but also in its spiritual history, which has everywhere unfolded in the manner of a single symphony, with its themes announced, developed, amplified and turned about, distorted, reasserted, and today, in a grand fortissimo of all sections sounding together, irresistibly advancing to some kind of mighty climax, out of which the next great movement will emerge.

About the Author

Joseph Campbell was interested in mythology since his childhood in New York, when he read books about American Indians, frequently visited the American Museum of Natural History, and was fascinated by the museum's collection of totem poles. He earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees at Columbia in 1925 and 1927 and went on to study medieval French and Sanskrit at the universities of Paris and Munich. After a period in California, where he encountered John Steinbeck and the biologist Ed Ricketts, he taught at the Canterbury School, then, in 1934, joined the literature department at Sarah Lawrence College, a post he retained for many years. During the 1940s and '50s, he helped Swami Nikhilananda to translate the Upanishads and The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. The many books by Professor Campbell include The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Myths to Live By, The Flight of the Wild Gander, and The Mythic Image. He edited The Portable Arabian Nights, The Portable Jung, and other works. He died in 1987.

Paperback: 752 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books; Reissue edition (November 1, 1991)

The Urantia Book The Urantia Book
The Urantia Book The Urantia Book

Love

Love is truly contagious and eternally creative. (p. 2018) “Devote your life to proving that love is the greatest thing in the world.” (p. 2047) “Love is the ancestor of all spiritual goodness, the essence of the true and the beautiful.” (p. 2047) The Father’s love can become real to mortal man only by passing through that man’s personality as he in turn bestows this love upon his fellows. (p. 1289) The secret of a better civilization is bound up in the Master’s teachings of the brotherhood of man, the good will of love and mutual trust. (p. 2065)

Prayer

Prayer is not a technique of escape from conflict but rather a stimulus to growth in the very face of conflict. (p. 1002) The sincerity of any prayer is the assurance of its being heard. … (p. 1639) God answers man’s prayer by giving him an increased revelation of truth, an enhanced appreciation of beauty, and an augmented concept of goodness. (p. 1002) …Never forget that the sincere prayer of faith is a mighty force for the promotion of personal happiness, individual self-control, social harmony, moral progress, and spiritual attainment. (p. 999)

Suffering

There is a great and glorious purpose in the march of the universes through space. All of your mortal struggling is not in vain. (p. 364) Mortals only learn wisdom by experiencing tribulation. (p. 556)

Angels

The angels of all orders are distinct personalities and are highly individualized. (p. 285) Angels....are fully cognizant of your moral struggles and spiritual difficulties. They love human beings, and only good can result from your efforts to understand and love them. (p. 419)

Our Divine Destiny

If you are a willing learner, if you want to attain spirit levels and reach divine heights, if you sincerely desire to reach the eternal goal, then the divine Spirit will gently and lovingly lead you along the pathway of sonship and spiritual progress. (p. 381) …They who know that God is enthroned in the human heart are destined to become like him—immortal. (p. 1449) God is not only the determiner of destiny; he is man’s eternal destination. (p. 67)

Family

Almost everything of lasting value in civilization has its roots in the family. (p. 765) The family is man’s greatest purely human achievement. ... (p. 939)

Faith

…Faith will expand the mind, ennoble the soul, reinforce the personality, augment the happiness, deepen the spirit perception, and enhance the power to love and be loved. (p. 1766) “Now, mistake not, my Father will ever respond to the faintest flicker of faith.” (p. 1733)

History/Science

The story of man’s ascent from seaweed to the lordship of earthly creation is indeed a romance of biologic struggle and mind survival. (p. 731) 2,500,000,000 years ago… Urantia was a well developed sphere about one tenth its present mass. … (p. 658) 1,000,000,000 years ago is the date of the actual beginning of Urantia [Earth] history. (p. 660) 450,000,000 years ago the transition from vegetable to animal life occurred. (p. 669) From the year A.D. 1934 back to the birth of the first two human beings is just 993,419 years. (p. 707) About five hundred thousand years ago…there were almost one-half billion primitive human beings on earth. … (p. 741) Adam and Eve arrived on Urantia, from the year A.D. 1934, 37,848 years ago. (p. 828)

From the Inside Flap

What’s Inside?

Parts I and II

God, the inhabited universes, life after death, angels and other beings, the war in heaven.

Part III

The history of the world, science and evolution, Adam and Eve, development of civilization, marriage and family, personal spiritual growth.

Part IV

The life and teachings of Jesus including the missing years. AND MUCH MORE…

Excerpts

God, …God is the source and destiny of all that is good and beautiful and true. (p. 1431) If you truly want to find God, that desire is in itself evidence that you have already found him. (p. 1440) When man goes in partnership with God, great things may, and do, happen. (p. 1467)

The Origin of Human Life, The universe is not an accident... (p. 53) The universe of universes is the work of God and the dwelling place of his diverse creatures. (p. 21) The evolutionary planets are the spheres of human origin…Urantia [Earth] is your starting point. … (p. 1225) In God, man lives, moves, and has his being. (p. 22)

The Purpose of Life, There is in the mind of God a plan which embraces every creature of all his vast domains, and this plan is an eternal purpose of boundless opportunity, unlimited progress, and endless life. (p. 365) This new gospel of the kingdom… presents a new and exalted goal of destiny, a supreme life purpose. (p. 1778)

Jesus, The religion of Jesus is the most dynamic influence ever to activate the human race. (p. 1091) What an awakening the world would experience if it could only see Jesus as he really lived on earth and know, firsthand, his life-giving teachings! (p. 2083)

Science, Science, guided by wisdom, may become man’s great social liberator. (p. 909) Mortal man is not an evolutionary accident. There is a precise system, a universal law, which determines the unfolding of the planetary life plan on the spheres of space. (p. 560)

Life after Death, God’s love is universal… He is “not willing that any should perish.” (p. 39) Your short sojourn on Urantia [Earth]…is only a single link, the very first in the long chain that is to stretch across universes and through the eternal ages. (p. 435) …Death is only the beginning of an endless career of adventure, an everlasting life of anticipation, an eternal voyage of discovery. (p. 159)

About the Author

The text of The Urantia Book was provided by one or more anonymous contributors working with a small staff which provided editorial and administrative support during the book's creation. The book bears no particular credentials (from a human viewpoint), relying instead on the power and beauty of the writing itself to persuade the reader of its authenticity.

Leather Bound: 2097 pages
Publisher: Urantia Foundation; Box Lea edition (August 25, 2015)

The Masks of God: Occidental Mythology The Masks of God: Occidental Mythology

The Masks of God: Occidental Mythology The Masks of God: Occidental Mythology

Explore the power of myth as it flowered in the ancient Near East and the Classical World

In this third volume of The Masks of God — Joseph Campbell’s major work of comparative mythology — the preeminent mythologist looks at the pagan religions of Greece, Rome, and the Celts, as well as the Abrahamic religions — Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Exploring the West’s shift from female-centered to male-centered mythology, Campbell examines the distinguishing characteristics and the shared root concepts of these mythologies.The Masks of God is a four-volume study of world religion and myth that stands as one of Joseph Campbell’s masterworks. On completing it, he wrote:

Its main result for me has been the confirmation of a thought I have long and faithfully entertained: of the unity of the race of man, not only in its biology, but also in its spiritual history, which has everywhere unfolded in the manner of a single symphony, with its themes announced, developed, amplified and turned about, distorted, reasserted, and today, in a grand fortissimo of all sections sounding together, irresistibly advancing to some kind of mighty climax, out of which the next great movement will emerge.

About the Author

Joseph Campbell was interested in mythology since his childhood in New York, when he read books about American Indians, frequently visited the American Museum of Natural History, and was fascinated by the museum's collection of totem poles. He earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees at Columbia in 1925 and 1927 and went on to study medieval French and Sanskrit at the universities of Paris and Munich. After a period in California, where he encountered John Steinbeck and the biologist Ed Ricketts, he taught at the Canterbury School, then, in 1934, joined the literature department at Sarah Lawrence College, a post he retained for many years. During the 1940s and '50s, he helped Swami Nikhilananda to translate the Upanishads and The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. The many books by Professor Campbell include The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Myths to Live By, The Flight of the Wild Gander, and The Mythic Image. He edited The Portable Arabian Nights, The Portable Jung, and other works. He died in 1987.

Series: Masks of God (Book 3)
Paperback: 576 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books; Revised edition (November 1, 1991)

The Treasures of Darkness, A History of Mesopotamian Religion The Treasures of Darkness, A History of Mesopotamian Religion

The Treasures of Darkness, A History of Mesopotamian Religion The Treasures of Darkness, A History of Mesopotamian Religion

“The Treasures of Darkness is the culmination of a lifetime’s work, an attempt to summarize and recreate the spiritual life of Ancient Mesopotamia. Jacobsen has succeeded brilliantly. . . . His vast experience shows through every page of this unique book, through the vivid, new translations resulting from years of careful research. Everyone interested in early Mesopotamia, whether specialist, student, or complete layman, should read this book. . . . It is, quite simply, authoritative, based on a vast experience of the ancient Mesopotamian mind, and very well written in the bargain.”―Brian M. Fagan, History

“Professor Jacobsen is an authority on Sumerian life and society, but he is above all a philologist of rare sensibility. The Treasures of Darkness is almost entirely devoted to textual evidence, the more gritty sources of archaeological knowledge being seldom mentioned. He introduces many new translations which are much finer than previous versions. . . . Simply to read this poetry and the author’s sympathetic commentary is a pleasure and a revelation. Professor Jacobsen accepts the premise that all religion springs from man’s experience of a power not of this world, a mysterious ‘Wholly Other.’ This numinous power cannot be described in terms of worldly experience but only in allusive ‘metaphors’ that serve as a means of communication in religious teaching and thought. . . . As a literary work combining sensibility, imagination and scholarship, this book is near perfection.”―Jacquetta Hawkes, The London Sunday Times

“A brilliant presentation of Mesopotamian religion from the inside, backed at every point by meticulous scholarship and persistent adherence to original texts. It will undoubtedly remain for a long time a classic in its field.”―Religious Studies Review

“A fascinating book. The general reader cannot fail to admire the translated passages of Sumerian poetry with which it abounds, especially those illustrating the Dumuzi-Inanna cycle of courtship, wedding and lament for the god’s untimely death. Many of these (though not all) are new even to the specialist and will repay close study.”―B.O.R. Gurney, Times Literary Supplement

Paperback: 273 pages
Publisher: Yale University Press; Revised ed. edition (September 10, 1978)

Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City

Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City

Situated in an area roughly corresponding to present-day Iraq, Mesopotamia is one of the great, ancient civilizations, though it is still relatively unknown. Yet, over 7,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, the very first cities were created. This is the first book to reveal how life was lived in ten Mesopotamian cities: from Eridu, the Mesopotamian Eden, to that potent symbol of decadence, Babylon - the first true metropolis: multicultural, multi-ethnic, the last centre of a dying civilization.

About the Author

GWENDOLYN LEICK is an anthropologist and Assyriologist. She is the author of various publications on the Ancient Near East, including A Dictionary of Near Eastern Mythology and Sex & Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature. She also acts as a cultural tour guide in the Middle East, lecturing on history, archaeology and anthropology.

Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books; 1st edition (June 24, 2003)


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The Garden of Eden Myth: Its Pre-biblical Origin In Mesopotamian Myths The Garden of Eden Myth: Its Pre-biblical Origin In Mesopotamian Myths

The Garden of Eden Myth: Its Pre-biblical Origin In Mesopotamian Myths The Garden of Eden Myth: Its Pre-biblical Origin In Mesopotamian Myths

Scholarly proposals are presented for the pre-biblical origin in Mesopotamian myths of the Garden of Eden story. Some Liberal PhD scholars (1854-2010) embracing an Anthropological viewpoint have proposed that the Hebrews have recast earlier motifs appearing in Mesopotamian myths. Eden's garden is understood to be a recast of the gods' city-gardens in the Sumerian Edin, the floodplain of Lower Mesopotamia. It is understood that the Hebrews in the book of Genesis are refuting the Mesopotamian account of why Man was created and his relationship with his Creators (the gods and goddesses). They deny that Man is a sinner and rebel because he was made in the image of gods and goddesses who were themselves sinners and rebels, who made man to be their agricultural slave to grow and harvest their food and feed it to them in temple sacrifices thereby ending the need of the gods to toil for their food in the city-gardens of Edin in ancient Sumer.

Paperback: 184 pages
Publisher: Lulu.com (November 24, 2010)

Bible Origins

A Critique
of the Primary History
Genesis-2Kings
being a Hellenistic Creation
of the Hasmoneans


by
Walter Reinhold Warttig Mattfeld y d la Torre, M.A. Ed.

e-mail contact

19 August 2003
Revisions through: 20 April 2004

#

 
Solomon's Cherubim
Solomon's Cherubim
King Solomon's Temple at Jerusalem

I once thought (1990-97) the Primary History might be a Hellenistic composition. Professor Neils Peter Lemche believes that it is Hellenistic while Professor Thomas L. Thompson argues that it is Hasmonean. I eventually abandoned this notion when I discovered that NO sites from Hellenistic times appeared in the Primary History. 

What hamlets, villages, towns and cities would I expect to "surface" in a Primary History (Genesis- 2Kings) composed in the course of Hellenistic-Hasmonean era? See below for some sites that are attested as being no earlier than this era. I have not found a single site that came into being later than the 7th century B.C. in the Primary History. The latest site appearing in the Primary History was determined to be Aroer of the Negev, modern Ar`arah (I Samuel 30:28), which was founded in the 7th century B.C. (cf. p. 400. Vol. 1. Gerald L. Mattingly. "Aroer #4." David Noel Freedman, editor. 

The Anchor Bible Dictionary. New York. Doubleday. 1992)

Mattingly :

"Ar`arah was excavated between 1975 and 1981 by A. Biran and R. Cohen. They concluded that this 5-acre site was first settled in the 7th century B.C. and was occupied intermittently, until ca. A.D. 70. Though it is possible that further excavations might uncover remains from the 11th or 10th centuries B.C., it does not appear that `Ar`arah was occupied in the time of David."(cf. Vol.1, p. 400, Gerald Mattingly, "Aroer, #4," David Noel Freedman, Editor. Anchor Bible Dictionary. New York. 1992). 

I would expect to find at least "a few" of the below place-names in a Primary History "allegedly written in the Hellenistic age." The absence of the below sites should be a "wake-up call" for those advocating a late creation. How will they explain ALL of these sites' NON-APPEARANCE in a Hellenistic creation (Some of these sites, however, DO APPEAR in other Hellenistic compositions, like for instance, Maccabees I-IV)?

The below book or "manual" focuses primarily on Israel from Dan to Beersheba. Along this peripherey appear sites in Lebanon, Jordan, the Arabah and Negev.

My reference is:

J.Monson, et. al. Student Map Manual, Historical Geography of the Bible Lands. Jerusalem. Pictorial Archive. 1st edition, 1979 [distributed by Zondervan Publishing House. Grand Rapids, Michigan] ISBN 0-310-42980-3.

A Listing of Sites which came into being in the course of the Hellenistic and Hasmonean Periods (cf. "Section 15-2, Index of Main Names," J. Monson):

A Mini Archive Reference Number precedes the site:

004  Abila (Gilead); 023 Adasa; 046 Alexandrium/Sartaba; 073 Apollonia; 081 Arbela (Galilee); 085 Ariedela (Gharandel); 087 Aristobulias; 102 Asphar; 292 Docus; 299 Eeitha; 307 Elasa; 315 Emmaus (Nicopolis); 333 Ephron (Gilead); 352 Gadara; 357 Gamala; 359 Garaba; 380 Gerasa (Gilead); 434 Hippias; 567 Malumas; 504 Kedron (Gedrus); 558 Macherus; 564 Mahalol; 579 Masada; 581 Mazraa; 614 Modein; 627 Nadabath; 643 Nessana; 651 Oboda; 652 Odollam; 657 Orda; 662 Pella (existed in LB but not in Iron Age); 666 Pharathon; 693 Ragaba; 728 Samaga; 744 Seleucia (Golan); 748 Sepphoris; 768 Skoufiye.

If somone knows of a site founded no earlier than the Hellenistic period, which appears in the Primary History's biblical narratives, I would appreciate receiving that information.

Another problem is that the allegedly Hellenistic era author, while concerned that his audience may not know that Hebron was formerly called Kiriath-Arba, or that Dan was formerly called Luz, shows NO interest in identifying sites whose names have changed into Hellenistic Greek names. For example, Flavius Josephus, a Jewish Historian of ca. 80 A.D. _did_ show just such a concern, he identified Ezion Geber as being Bernice, and Tadmor as being Palmyra. I find it "odd" that if the Primary History (Genesis-Kings) is a Hellenistic or Hasmonean era composition that its author displayed no interest in identifying Hellenistic site names for his Hellenistic audience. 

It was also fashionable for many Hellenized Jews to adopt Greek names, even Jewish High Priests bore Greek names like Aristobolus and Jason. Not a single character in the Primary History bears a Hellenized Greek name. The question arises, why? If the author is writing for a Hellenized audience, why not use such names, certainly it would raise no eyebrows? I realize some might argue that the author wanted the text to "appear to be archaic" and thus consciously avoided the use of Greek in this work.

Scholars who have studied the Primary History (Genesis-2 Kings) have observed that Greek words and idioms are very rare or practicably non-existant. If this is a Hellenistic/Hasmonean era work, how does one account for this fact? The only Greek names are Javan (Archaic Greek: Iawan) and Japheth (Iapetos) in Genesis' Table of Nations. These few names can be accounted for by the fact that Greek mercenaries were stationed in PRE-EXILIC Judah under the Saitic Pharaohs who occupied the country and collected tribute. Also Greek pottery of the 8th/7th century B.C. is attested in Judah, so a FEW Greek names are not to be wondered about. But in the Hellenistic Era of circa 333-100 B.C. surely there shoud be a LOT MORE Greek idioms and usages, but there aren't. Yet Greek words appear in later Jewish works like Maccabees I-IV and the Pseudepigrapha of the 2d-1st century B.C.

When all the above anomalies are "factored in" it appears to me highly unlikely that the Primary History is a composition of the Hasmonean world and Hellenistic Times. I understand it was written about 560 B.C. in the Exile, as the author knows of no Babylonian king after Evil-Merodach who reigned at that time (cf. 2 Kings 25:27).

The old adage that a composition reflects the age in which it was written seems relevant here. If the Primary History (Genesis-Kings) was written in the Hellenistic age one ought to be able to find Hellenistic modes of thought and belief in the work.

My research on the "origins" of the New Testament, lead me to conclude that where it differs from Judaism this difference can be traced to Hellenistic Greek metaphyisical thought, which was embraced to some degree by various individuals and sects of a Hellenized Judaism circa the 4th Century B.C. to the 3rd century A.D.

No-one denies that the New Testament was composed in the Hellenistic era (a world after Alexander the Great's conquest ca. 333 B.C.).

What many are NOT aware of is the Hellenistic Greek thought in this work.

One of the "differences" noted by professional scholars who have studied the Hellenistic Age is that before Alexander the Great, the Greek religious emphasis was a "polis [city-state] centered religion." The needs of the community were to be met by religious belief, rituals and customs. This changed under Hellenism, religion began to focus on the INDIVIDUAL'S NEEDS, and the PERSONAL salvation of that soul vs. a concern for the well-being of the community or nation. The New Testament reflects this Hellenistic concept, stressing that each individual in order "to be saved" must confess Christ is the Savior on a case by case basis. There is no emphasis here on the Nation being saved, but of individuals. The Primary History stresses salvation is for ALL Israel, no case is argued by the prophets for individuals, on a case by case basis, needing to believe in a Messiah to be saved.

In the Hellenistic era the Greeks understood that the gods had assigned Daimons/Daemons to rule over mankind and bring justice to the world; noting the existence of evil in the world, some of these Daimons came to be later blamed for inciting man to do evil. This is _not_ a concept found in the Primary History. There is _no_ mention of Satan and his demons "in control of the earth and of all mankind." But these notions do appear for the first time in the Jewish literature of the "Inter-Testamental Period," which was composed IN A HELLENISTIC WORLD, revealing that certain Jews had accepted Greek notions and amalgamated them to God and the Messiah.

Salvation in the Primary History is about "saving" Israel (the community) from its mortal enemies, Ammonites, Philistines, Moabites and Edomites, it knows nothing about a Messiah to be sent from heaven to save the world from Satan and his demons who are in control of everyone.

In the New Testament Christians are asked to sell all they possess and take up the cross of Christ and seek after virtue rather than wealth. They are to prove through their suffering, and self-denial, their love for Christ. Their rewards for doing such will come in a life after death, when they are drawn to the bosom of Abraham, and dwell in the presence of the gods, God the Father and Christ as God (the Logos or Word of the Old Testament).

Plato taught that the Good Philosopher must practice self-denial and eschew the lusts of the flesh and seek after virtue. His reward will come after death when he will be allowed to dwell in the company of the gods.

The Primary History does not teach any of the preceeding, rather it claims that God will shower the obedient with riches and wealth, healthy children, herds, and bountiful harvests. Israel shall increase in numbers like the stars in the heavens. God rewards his people in this life, NOT in a life to come after death. 

My research suggests that Christianity gets these notions from Cynic, Stoic and Platonic Greek schools of thought which taught that personal virtue was more important than wealth. And "proof" of one's attempt to be virtuous was one's personal poverty (as enunciated by Socrates).

Socrates also taught that man "should not return evil for evil" lest the judges of the underworld convict a man. This notion surfaces in Christ's teaching of "turning the other cheek", and he even notes that "before" it was taught "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." So here we have an acknowledgement of a "new" insight NOT taught in the Primary History.

I deal with the many ways that Christianity differs from Judaism because it absorbed Hellenistic Greek thought from Hellenized Jews, notions which were opposed by the more conservative Rabbis. Please see my articles on my New Testament Page for the in-depth treatment.

Suffice it to say here, the New Testament, written in the Hellenistic period DOES REFLECT HELLENISTIC THOUGHT, whereas the Primary History, written ca. 560 BCE (as I have argued elsewhere) DOES _NOT_ REFLECT HELLENISTIC THOUGHT.

Professor Philip Davies of Sheffield, England, understands that the Primary History was composed in the Persian Post-Exilic era. The problem I have with this argument is that no Persian words appear in the Primary History. Persia is not listed in Genesis' Table of Nations (Ge 10). Persian names for geographical features are also absent. Again, I realize some might argue that the author wanted the text to appear archaic and thus avoided the use of Persian words.

For example, it is recognized by most scholars that the Septuaginta is a Hellenistic era creation. of ca. the 3rd century B.C. The clues? Its written in Hellenistic Greek. Now the Greeks defeated the Persians under Alexander the Great ca. 330 B.C. Are there _any_ Persian words in this Hellenistic composition? Yes.  The word "paradise" is understood to be actually derived from a Persian word meaning "a fenced enclosed garden." Another word is the river Tigris, again understood to be a Greek borrowing of a Persian word, Tigra. In the Massoretic text, the Persian Grecianized word Tigris is not used, the river is called Hiddekel.  So, in the Hellensitic era Septuaginta we find not only Greek words but Persian words. The Massoretic Text  of the Primary History (Genesis-Kings) is devoid of both Persian and Greek words, with the exception of Javan and Japheth, which have above been earlier explained as from Judaism's exposure to Greek mercenaries serving in Pharaoh's Saitic period armies of the 7th century B.C.

Professor Niels Peter Lemche of Copenhagen, Denmark understands that the Primary History is a Hellenistic composition, while Professor Thomas L. Thompson (also of Copenhagen) sees it as a 2d century BCE Hasmonean creation. 

As noted earlier, above, there are no Greek words or idioms. No sites are rendered into Greek as was done by the Jewish historian Josephus (he rendering Ezion Geber as Bernice, Tadmor as Palmyra and Edom as Idumaea), nor are there any personal names of the Hellenistic era for any of the characters appearing in the Primary History. The 'latest" foreign names we encounter are Babylonian, like Nebuchadrezzar and one of his later successors Evil-Merodach. The text does not even end in the Persian or Hellenistic or Hasmonean periods which strikes me as strange. Surely a better ending could be thought up than leaving Judah in Exile with her king recently released from prison by a minor no-body king like Evil-Merodach (2 Kings 25:27). If the Primary History is Persian why not proclaim how God has used Cyrus to set free his people (like Deutro-Isaiah, Isa 44:28 & 45:1), showing he is faithful to his promises (the anonymous author of 1 & 2 Chronicles ends his story with Cyrus the Persian, proclaiming liberty and justifying God's promise via his prophet Jeremiah, 2 Chr 36:20-23)? If the Text is Hasmonean why not end the story with how God has showered his faithful with victories over the hateful Seleucid Greek oppressors, giving victory to the Maccabees as in the Book of Maccabees, ending with praises for God's being faithful (4 Maccabees 18:1-23)?

The failure to find Persian or Greek words, idioms, names of locations, personal names, nor is there an "ending" or "conclusion" in the Persian, Hellenistic Greek , or Hasmonean period for the "story's end," but instead ending the story with the release of a Judean king from prison in Babylon ca. 560 B.C. by Evil-Merodach suggests to me that the Primary History is _not_ a Persian, Hellenistic or Hasmonean era composition, its Exilic, written ca. 560 B.C. in the days of Evil Merodach (Babylonian: Amel-Marduk) who reigned circa 562-560 B.C.

Professor Davies in defending his research noted that he seeks an answer as to "the Why, When and How" of the Hebrew Bible's composing. He finds the answers in the milieu of the Persian period; most probably the same questions are of interest to Lemche and Thompson, except for them the milieu is either Hellenistic or Hasmonean.

Their query is certainly legitimate, that is, seeking answers to the Why, When and How of the Hebrew Bible and, the Primary History.

For me, "the Why?" is that the nation of Israel is in Exile, the northern kingdom carried off by the Assyrians ca. 721 B.C. and Judah ca. 587 B.C. The anonymous author feels a need to explain to his people WHY they are in Exile. For him the answer is simple, the nation DESPISED its God. This concept is found in the literary works of the Neo-Assyrians and Neo-Babylonians ca. the 9th-6th centuries B.C., that is to say, national gods are portrayed as ravaging their own peoples by bringing foreign armies against the land because they feel their people DESPISE them (cf. my article, Wrathful Gods and the Day of the Lord). The answer as to "When?" is given in Deuteronomy 30:1-10 and 2 Kings 25:27. The nation will be restored AFTER national repentence in the Exile. We know this repentence did NOT happen as revealed in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. The story's end is that the Judaean king has been released from prison and the narrator apparently regards this act of mercy from the Babylonian oppressors as a sign that God is merciful and may soon cause the Babylonians to release his people, if only they repent.  The "How?" is obviously concerned with the setting down to pen and paper the account. The themes and imagery appearing in the Primary History, are, for me, mirrored in literary motifs of the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian periods. Cf. the following articles noting the "parallels,"  Firey GodsWrathful Gods and the Day of the Lord, and Bombastic Praise and Monotheism.

I have read the works of Davies, Lemche and Thompson, and I must say that I am disappointed to find that these scholars do NOT choose to address "the apparent parallels" between the Primary History's "imagery" and that found in the literary works of the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian eras. Their focus strikes me as _somewhat one-sided_ in building the case for either a Persian, Hellenistic or Hasmonean milieu. It would appear to me that "a need exists" for them to present a _more balanced critique_, addressing as well the literary parallels appearing in works of the 9th-6th centuries B.C. and _THEN_ giving their reasons for dismissing these works as valid indicators for answering "the Why, When and How" of the Primary History's composition date.


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Disclaimer

Disclaimer:
Some material presented will contain links, quotes, ideologies, etc., the contents of which should be understood to first, in their whole, reflect the views or opinions of their editors, and second, are used in my personal research as "fair use" sources only, and not espousement one way or the other. Researching for 'truth' leads one all over the place...a piece here, a piece there. As a researcher, I hunt, gather and disassemble resources, trying to put all the pieces into a coherent and logical whole. I encourage you to do the same. And please remember, these pages are only my effort to collect all the pieces I can find and see if they properly fit into the 'reality aggregate'.

Personal Position

Personal Position:
I've come to realize that 'truth' boils down to what we 'believe' the facts we've gathered point to. We only 'know' what we've 'experienced' firsthand. Everything else - what we read, what we watch, what we hear - is what someone else's gathered facts point to and 'they' 'believe' is 'truth', so that 'truth' seems to change in direct proportion to newly gathered facts divided by applied plausibility. Though I believe there is 'truth', until someone representing the celestial realm visibly appears and presents the heavenly records of Facts And Lies In The Order They Happened, I can't know for sure exactly what "the whole truth' on any given subject is, and what applies to me applies to everyone. Until then I'll continue to ask, "what does The Urantia Book say on the subject?"
~Gail Bird Allen

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