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Chronology of the Fathers

 

About the exact dates for events happened between the birth of the forefather Abraham and the end of the Exodus from Egypt.

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The Torah gives us precise information about time intervals between the described events. In order to find the exact dates for these events, it is necessary to determine a reference date. This date is the date when the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt was over, i.e. it is the date of the end of the events described in the Torah.

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Calculating the End Date of the Exodus

Here is the list of the pharaohs reign periods relevant to determine this date:

  • Ramesses 2:  1279 – 1212 years BC. (XIX dynasty)
  • Merneptah:   1212 – 1202 years BC. (XIX dynasty)
  • Amenmesse: 1202 – 1200 years BC. (XIX dynasty)
  • Seti 2:             1200 – 1194 years BC. (XIX dynasty)
  • Siptah:            1194 – 1188 years BC. (XIX dynasty)
  • Twosret:         1188 – 1186 years BC. (XIX dynasty)
  • Setnakhte:     1186 – 1184 years BC. (XX dynasty)
  • Ramesses 3:  1184 – 1153 years BC. (XX dynasty)
  • Ramesses 4:  1153 – 1147 years BC. (XX dynasty)

Here is the list of the key events relevant to determine this date:

1.  The Battle of Kadesh 1274 B.C. → the beginning of the Egyptian slavery period (Read the article “And They Made Their Lives Bitter“) → the decree of Pharaoh Ramesses 2 of killing all newborn Jewish boys → Moses had been born not earlier than 1274 B.C.

2.  In the end of the Exodus, Moses was 120 years old. Therefore, the Exodus ended not earlier than 1154 B.C.

3.  “The War of the Sea Peoples” ended with the end of the Exodus (Read the articles “Exodus: Behind the Scenes” and “Full Circle“).

4.  The Great Harris Papyrus indicates that “the War of the Sea Peoples” ended in the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses 3, i.e. in the period 1184 – 1153 B.C. In the last year of his life, Pharaoh Ramesses 3 was sick. This coincides with the assumption that Exodus ended not later than 1154 B.C.

Picture 01

Chronology 01 2017-09-24

5.  If Moses had been born after 1274 B.C., then “the War of the Sea Peoples” would have ended after 1154 B.C., which contradicts the text of the Great Harris Papyrus.

6.  If “the War of the Sea Peoples” had ended before 1154 B.C., then Moses would have been born before 1274 B.C., i.e. before the Battle of Kadesh, i.e. before the beginning of the Egyptian slavery period, which contradicts the Torah.

The Conclusion:

Moses was born in 1274 B.C.

-  The Exodus ended in 1154 B.C.

-  The Exodus lasted for 40 years, hence it began in 1194 B.C.

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Dates of Life of the Forefathers

The next table provides references to the Torah verses, which contain information about time intervals between events that constitute a continuous-time chain.

Table 02

Chronology 02 En 2018-02-24

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There are other articles on this site. A list of them here

Who are you, Pharaoh?

This article is about why the forefather Abraham longed namely for Canaan and about the origin of the Pharaoh who sheltered Joseph in Egypt.

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REVOLUTION No. 1

Many thousands of years ago EVERY person EVERY MINUTE thought only of one thing – where to find food. Those who did not find it died of hunger. People wandered over the Earth’s surface and searched for food, which was given to them by wild nature.

But the nature wasn’t generous. The food found at some place, as a rule, was sufficient only for one person. This did not allow people to unite in groups. Therefore, people were ALONE and were not able to interact in groups.

In the 3rd millennium BC the greatest of revolutions – agricultural – took place. The most talented people learned to CREATE, i.e. to grow food.

By the beginning of the 20th century BC, technologies for growing food spread throughout the territory of the “fertile crescent”. Therefore, it is called fertile.

Figure 01

Who are you, Pharaoh 01 En

The population of the fertile crescent was divided into two categories by the way of how they get food:

- creators of food,

- robbers of food, engaged in robbing food from nature and from creators.

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REVOLUTION No. 2

The agricultural revolution gave birth to a settled way of life. A settled way of life cause the demand to build permanent dwellings. At first, creators built houses of stones that were collected in the neighborhood:

Figure 02

Who are you, Pharaoh 02

The most industrious of the creators used to chisel stones giving them a more or less correct form to improve the stability of the walls:

Figure 03

Who are you, Pharaoh 03

In the 20th century BC there was a revolution in the field of construction technologies. Creators learned to MANUFACTURE bricks – artificial building blocks of the same size and regular rectangular shape, allowing them to erect stable high walls.

תורה, ספר בראשית

יא,ג וַיֹּאמְרוּ אִישׁ אֶל רֵעֵהוּ הָבָה נִלְבְּנָה לְבֵנִים וְנִשְׂרְפָה לִשְׂרֵפָה וַתְּהִי לָהֶם הַלְּבֵנָה לְאָבֶן וְהַחֵמָר הָיָה לָהֶם לַחֹמֶר  יא,ד וַיֹּאמְרוּ הָבָה נִבְנֶה לָּנוּ עִיר וּמִגְדָּל וְרֹאשׁוֹ בַשָּׁמַיִם וְנַעֲשֶׂה לָּנוּ שֵׁם  פֶּן נָפוּץ עַל פְּנֵי כָל הָאָרֶץ  יא,ה וַיֵּרֶד יְהוָה לִרְאֹת אֶת הָעִיר וְאֶת הַמִּגְדָּל אֲשֶׁר בָּנוּ בְּנֵי הָאָדָם  יא,ו וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה הֵן עַם אֶחָד וְשָׂפָה אַחַת לְכֻלָּם וְזֶה הַחִלָּם לַעֲשׂוֹת וְעַתָּה לֹא יִבָּצֵר מֵהֶם כֹּל אֲשֶׁר יָזְמוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת  יא,ז הָבָה נֵרְדָה וְנָבְלָה שָׁם שְׂפָתָם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יִשְׁמְעוּ אִישׁ שְׂפַת רֵעֵהוּ  יא,ח וַיָּפֶץ יְהוָה אֹתָם מִשָּׁם עַל פְּנֵי כָל הָאָרֶץ וַיַּחְדְּלוּ לִבְנֹת הָעִיר  יא,ט עַל כֵּן קָרָא שְׁמָהּ בָּבֶל כִּי שָׁם בָּלַל יְהוָה שְׂפַת כָּל הָאָרֶץ וּמִשָּׁם הֱפִיצָם יְהוָה עַל פְּנֵי כָּל הָאָרֶץ

Torah, Book 1 Genesis, Chapter 11

3 And they said one to another: ‘Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly.’ And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. 4 And they said: ‘Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, with its top in heaven, and let us make us a name; lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.’ 5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6 And the LORD said: ‘Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do; and now nothing will be withholden from them, which they purpose to do. 7 Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’ 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth; and they left off to build the city. 9 Therefore was the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth; and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

It seems that this episode in the Torah describes the first attempt in human history to build a tall brick building. The attempt failed – people did not find a common language, because they had not yet learned how to interact in the group, and drew apart.

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REVOLUTION No. 3

Robbers continued to roam along the expanses of the fertile crescent in search of food. But now they knew that if they did not find it, they could steal it or rob it from the creators.

Creators began to cooperate among themselves in order to jointly defend themselves against robbers and settle in groups. A leap in the mental evolution of a man took place – the ability to coordinate the actions of people united in a group was developed.

In response, robbers began to organize gangs to attack creators.

The cleverest of robbers began to offer creators a protection for defense from other robbers. Of course, they charged a fee for the protection. Obviously, they used this fee to strengthen their gang and expand the territory of influence. In this way rulers, taxes and armies appeared. At this stage of development, a man acquired one of his main qualities – the ability to group logistics.

Here it should be noted that outside the fertile crescent, people continued to wander alone around the vast expanse, picking food in the wild.

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THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE

Fertile crescent was split into many small areas, each of which was governed by the local ruler. A continuous struggle took place among the rulers to expand the spheres of influence. It was a time of great concern to the creators.

Fleeing from incessant internecine wars, Terah and his family left Ur of the Chaldees for distant places – to the north of Mesopotamia to Harran. Probably at that moment the wave of violence had not yet reached Harran.

תורה, ספר בראשית

יא,לא וַיִּקַּח תֶּרַח אֶת אַבְרָם בְּנוֹ וְאֶת לוֹט בֶּן הָרָן בֶּן בְּנוֹ וְאֵת שָׂרַי כַּלָּתוֹ אֵשֶׁת אַבְרָם בְּנוֹ וַיֵּצְאוּ אִתָּם מֵאוּר כַּשְׂדִּים לָלֶכֶת אַרְצָה כְּנַעַן וַיָּבֹאוּ עַד חָרָן וַיֵּשְׁבוּ שָׁם 

Torah, Book 1 Genesis, Chapter 11

31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.

Figure 04

Who are you, Pharaoh 04 En

In 1839 BC (refer to the article “Chronology of the Fathers”), the forefather Abram (at that time he had not changed his name to Abraham yet) decided to become separated from Terah and to move from Harran to Canaan.

תורה, ספר בראשית

יב,ה וַיִּקַּח אַבְרָם אֶת שָׂרַי אִשְׁתּוֹ וְאֶת לוֹט בֶּן אָחִיו וְאֶת כָּל רְכוּשָׁם אֲשֶׁר רָכָשׁוּ וְאֶת הַנֶּפֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ בְחָרָן וַיֵּצְאוּ לָלֶכֶת אַרְצָה כְּנַעַן וַיָּבֹאוּ אַרְצָה כְּנָעַן

 Torah, Book 1 Genesis, Chapter 11

5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

Figure 05

Who are you, Pharaoh 05 En

Abram’s decision was caused by purely pragmatic considerations:

- firstly, a wave of internecine wars reached Harran and life there became as unbearable as it was in Ur of the Chaldees.

- secondly, there were rumors that somewhere in Canaan, life was calm and there were no wars.

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ALL AGAINST ALL

Having reached Canaan, Abram found there the same situation of enmity, as in other regions of the fertile crescent.

In the Torah, in the Book of Genesis, in Chapter 14, the story of the armed conflict is described, in which nine local kings participated – five against four. The army which won in this battle was eventually defeated by the forefather Abram and his 318 slaves. Probably, the total number of people who took part in this conflict did not exceed a thousand people. This allows us to make an assumption about the small population in Canaan at that time.

Moving to the south, Abram reached the goal of his journey – the land of the Philistines.

Figure 06

Who are you, Pharaoh 06 En

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ABIMELECH AND PHICOL

In the Philistine country, Abimelech, mentioned in three episodes in the Torah, ruled.

Episode No.1: even before Sarah’s pregnancy Abimelech was tempted by her, however, then repented and gave her back to Abraham.

Episode No.2: a few years after the birth of Yitzhak Abimelech and Abraham concluded the friendship treaty:

תורה, ספר בראשית

כא,לא עַל כֵּן קָרָא לַמָּקוֹם הַהוּא בְּאֵר שָׁבַע כִּי שָׁם נִשְׁבְּעוּ, שְׁנֵיהֶם  כא,לב וַיִּכְרְתוּ בְרִית בִּבְאֵר שָׁבַע וַיָּקָם אֲבִימֶלֶךְ וּפִיכֹל שַׂר צְבָאוֹ וַיָּשֻׁבוּ אֶל אֶרֶץ פְּלִשְׁתִּים  כא,לג וַיִּטַּע אֶשֶׁל בִּבְאֵר שָׁבַע וַיִּקְרָא שָׁם בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה אֵל עוֹלָם  כא,לד וַיָּגָר אַבְרָהָם בְּאֶרֶץ פְּלִשְׁתִּים יָמִים רַבִּים

Torah, Book 1 Genesis, Chapter 21

31 Wherefore that place was called Beer-sheba; because there they swore both of them. 32 So they made a covenant at Beer-sheba; and Avimelech rose up, and Phicol the captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines. 33 And Abraham planted a tamarisk-tree in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God. 34 And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days.

Episode No.3: conclusion of the friendship treaty between Abimelech and Isaac, the son of Abraham.

תורה, ספר בראשית

כו,כו וַאֲבִימֶלֶךְ הָלַךְ אֵלָיו מִגְּרָר וַאֲחֻזַּת מֵרֵעֵהוּ וּפִיכֹל שַׂר צְבָאוֹ  כו,כז וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם יִצְחָק מַדּוּעַ בָּאתֶם אֵלָי וְאַתֶּם שְׂנֵאתֶם אֹתִי וַתְּשַׁלְּחוּנִי מֵאִתְּכֶם  כו,כח וַיֹּאמְרוּ רָאוֹ רָאִינוּ כִּי הָיָה יְהוָה עִמָּךְ וַנֹּאמֶר תְּהִי נָא אָלָה בֵּינוֹתֵינוּ בֵּינֵינוּ וּבֵינֶךָ וְנִכְרְתָה בְרִית, עִמָּךְ  כו,כט אִם תַּעֲשֵׂה עִמָּנוּ רָעָה כַּאֲשֶׁר לֹא נְגַעֲנוּךָ וְכַאֲשֶׁר עָשִׂינוּ עִמְּךָ רַק טוֹב וַנְּשַׁלֵּחֲךָ בְּשָׁלוֹם אַתָּה עַתָּה בְּרוּךְ יְהוָה

Torah, Book 1 Genesis, Chapter 26

26 Then Avimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the captain of his host. 27 And Isaac said unto them: ‘Wherefore are ye come unto me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?’ 28 And they said: ‘We saw plainly that the LORD was with thee; and we said: Let there now be an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee; 29 that thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace; thou art now the blessed of the LORD.’

 In episode No. 3, Abimelech behaves as if he is not familiar with Isaac and never heard of him, and this is despite the unforgettable events described in episodes No. 1 and No. 2 which took place more than 100 years ago.

Explanation:

- Avimelech and Phichol in episode No. 2 and Avimelech and Phichol in episode No. 3 are different people.

- Avimelech and Phichol are not names, they are forms of especially respectful address, like addressing the king – Your Majesty. In other words, the phrase “And Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the captain of his host, and returned into the land of the Philistines” would now sound like this: “And His Majesty rose up, and His Excellency the captain of His Majesty’s host, and returned to the land of the Philistines”.

The word  אֲבִימֶלֶךְ in Hebrew consists of two words: אֲבִ + מֶלֶךְ. In translation it means “Father-King”. Not just “King”, but “Father-King”!

Why did this man earn the right to be addressed by the title of Father-King?

In those troubled times, when all were at war with all, this man managed to curb the surrounding kings, extend his influence over a vast territory, and create an atmosphere of peaceful coexistence and feeling of unanimity for the population at this territory. As a token of gratitude and respect, he received the honorable nickname of father of kings = Father-King from people.

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THE PHILISTINES

As stated above, Abimelech captured a vast territory.

Capture of territory → (Hebrew) פלישה [plisha].

The captured territory → (Hebrew) פלשת [peleshet].

People living in the captured territory → (Hebrew) פלישתים [plishtim].

The word “Philistines” came in English from Hebrew through Greek:

(Hebrew) פלשתים [plishtim] → (Greek) Φιλισταίοι [philistei] → (English) Philistines.

 תורה, ספר בראשית

כא,לג וַיִּטַּע אֶשֶׁל בִּבְאֵר שָׁבַע וַיִּקְרָא שָׁם בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה אֵל עוֹלָם  כא,לד וַיָּגָר אַבְרָהָם בְּאֶרֶץ פְּלִשְׁתִּים יָמִים רַבִּים

Torah, Book 1 Genesis, Chapter 21

33 And he planted a tamarisk-tree in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God. 34 And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days.

 This verse of the Torah tells us that Abraham reached the goal of his journey from Harran to Canaan and settled in the land of the Philistines, the only place where the peace reigned in those days.

Figure 07

Who are you, Pharaoh 07 En

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THE BEGINNING OF THE IRON AGE

There were no wars in the land of the Philistines. Previously disunited groups of the population felt like a united people. Residents were able to develop the peaceful technologies of agriculture, irrigation systems and construction. Here, for the first time in the history of mankind, the production of iron tools from ore was mastered. Ore was mined nearby – in the vicinity of the gorges פארן [paran] and נקרות [nekarot].

Figure 08

Who are you, Pharaoh 08 En

The Iron Age of mankind began in the Negev in the 19th or 18th century BC, and not in the 12th century BC, as it is customary to assert (read the article “The Beginning of the Iron Age“).

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THE HYKSOS

The following is known about the Hyksos:

- the word “Hyksos” is Greek which originated in the 6th – 5th centuries BC, archeology does not mention the way they called themselves;

- the Hyksos came to Egypt around 1750 BC;

- the Hyksos arrived in Egypt on two-wheeled chariots, armed with iron swords, daggers, helmets and shields;

- the Hyksos brought the technology of producing iron objects from ore to Egypt;

- the Torah provides details on the events that took place in Canaan in the mid-18th century BC, but there is no evidence of the movement of any military formations through Canaan towards Egypt;

-in the records of Pharaoh Ahmose I it is mentioned that the Hyksos, ousted from Egypt in 1550 BC, fled to the town of Sharuhen, which was about 20 km away to the south of the city of Gaza. Why did they escape to Sharuhen? The answer is simple: they fled to their home.

Conclusion:

- the Hyksos are the Philistines who brought the technology of iron producing to Egypt;

- the Hyksos are the Philistines from Sharuhen, so on the way to Egypt they did not need to cross Canaan.

Figure 09

Who are you, Pharaoh 09 En

The information that the people of Sharuhen were Egyptian pharaohs is also confirmed by the fact that local Arab residents even today call Sharuhen by the name تل الفارعة [Tel el-Far’a] = Pharaoh’s Hill. But no one told them about Hyksos!

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JOSEPH IN EGYPT

One more important sign that the Hyksos were the Philistines is the story of Joseph’s relationship with Pharaoh.

Since acquaintance between Abraham and Abimelech in 1815 BC (see the article “Chronology of the Fathers”) and before the meeting of Joseph with Pharaoh in 1631 BC, almost 200 years of successful coexistence of Abraham’s family and his descendants with the Philistines passed. This explains the warm attitude of Pharaoh who was the Philistine towards Joseph and his family.

תורה, ספר בראשית

מז,ה וַיֹּאמֶר פַּרְעֹה אֶל יוֹסֵף לֵאמֹר אָבִיךָ וְאַחֶיךָ בָּאוּ אֵלֶיךָ  מז,ו אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לְפָנֶיךָ הִוא בְּמֵיטַב הָאָרֶץ הוֹשֵׁב אֶת אָבִיךָ וְאֶת אַחֶיךָ יֵשְׁבוּ בְּאֶרֶץ גֹּשֶׁן

Torah, book Genesis, Chapter 47

5 And Pharaoh spoke unto Joseph, saying: ‘Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee; 6 the land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and thy brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell.

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THE PHILISTINES AMONG THE PEOPLES OF THE SEA

After 430 years after the events described above, the people of Israel left Egypt. Peoples of the Sea rendered him military assistance in this action (see the article “Exodus: Behind the Scenes”). In the records of Pharaoh Ramesses IV (see the Great Harris Papyrus), five names of Peoples of the Sea are mentioned. Among them is the name P-L-SH-T = (Hebrew) פלשת [peleshet], i.e. the Philistines.

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THE PHILISTINES AND THE JEWS

The friendship of the Jews and the Philistines from the moment of the acquaintance of the forefather of Abraham with Abimelech nearly in 1815 BC and by the time of the invasion of the Jews into the Promised Land in 1154 BC (see the article “Chronology of the Fathers”) totaled around 660 years.

After the Jews’ invasion into the Promised Land, these relations developed in different ways – there were periods of friendship and tension. The main reason for the contradictions was that the Jews became monotheists for 40 years in Sinai, and the Philistines, having mixed with the Achaeans, remained pagans (see the article “Where is Hercules buried?” and “Full Circle”).

 


There are other articles on this site. A list of them here

Where Is Hercules Buried?

It was in the 11th century B.C. The Philistines, friends and enemies at the same time, were living next to the Israelites (See the articles “Exodus: Behind the Scenes” and “Full Circle“). The Philistines took the Ark of the Covenant from the Israelites during the battle, but after a while, they gave it back (Prophets, 1 Samuel 5:1- 6:18). The relationships between the Israelites and the Philistines, from time to time, were full of tension, but without those hatred and intolerance, as, for example, between the Israel and Amalek.

The ambiguity of these relationships is clearly seen in the history of life of a national hero named (Heb) שמשון [Shimshon] = (Eng) Samson. Book of Judges, Chapters 13, 14, 15, 16 – here in 5 – 10 minutes we can get acquainted with the biography of Samson the Hero.

Samson lived in the second half of the 11th century B.C., i.e. several years before King David appeared on the historical scene.

The story tells us that Samson was born in the village of (Heb) צרעה [tsor’a], that he loved Philistine women, had friendly relationships with Philistine men, and felt himself comfortable in the Philistine cities. The story explicitly mentions such Philistine cities as תמנה [timna], עזה [gaza], and אשקלון [ashkelon], as well as the Jewish cities, such as חברון [hebron], צרעה [tsor’a], and אשתאול [eshtaol].

Timna was located on the bank of the Soreq stream. They lived first Samson’s love. Today this archaeological site called Tel Batash.

Samson 00 En

Gaza, Ashkelon, Hebron, Tsor’a, and Eshtaol can be nowadays found in the same places where they were located that time. From other sources we know about such big Philistine cities as אשדוד [ashdod], עקרון [ekron], and גת [gath].

The border between the regions settled by the Philistines and the Jews was quite clearly defined (see the map). But this border was of no importance to Samson, and he traveled freely throughout the whole territory.

 samson-01-en

The story tells that דלילה [Delilah] betrayed Samson by depriving him of his power and by delivering him into the hands of the Philistines princes. They blinded Samson and brought him to Gaza – far inside the Philistine territory and away from the places where Samson’s relatives could have appeared to rescue him. We can assume that this tragedy of betrayal occurred in one of the Philistine cities, located not far from the Jewish settlements, for example, in Gath.

Below we will tell you why it is important.

ABOUT THE CITY OF RACAL

Among the cities of that time, there was the city of רכל [Rahal or Rakal], mentioned in Prophets, 1 Samuel, Chapter 30:

נביאים, ספר שמואל

א ל,כו וַיָּבֹא דָוִד אֶל-צִקְלַג, וַיְשַׁלַּח מֵהַשָּׁלָל לְזִקְנֵי יְהוּדָה לְרֵעֵהוּ לֵאמֹר:  הִנֵּה לָכֶם  {ר} בְּרָכָה, מִשְּׁלַל אֹיְבֵי יְהוָה.  {ס}  א ל,כז לַאֲשֶׁר בְּבֵית-אֵל  {ס}  וְלַאֲשֶׁר  {ר} בְּרָמוֹת-נֶגֶב,  {ס}  וְלַאֲשֶׁר בְּיַתִּר.  {ס}  א ל,כח וְלַאֲשֶׁר  {ר} בַּעֲרֹעֵר  {ס}  וְלַאֲשֶׁר בְּשִׂפְמוֹת,  {ס}  וְלַאֲשֶׁר  {ר} בְּאֶשְׁתְּמֹעַ.  {ס}  א ל,כט וְלַאֲשֶׁר בְּרָכָל,  {ס}  וְלַאֲשֶׁר  {ר} בְּעָרֵי הַיְּרַחְמְאֵלִי,  {ס}  וְלַאֲשֶׁר, בְּעָרֵי הַקֵּינִי.  {ס}  א ל,ל וְלַאֲשֶׁר  {ר} בְּחָרְמָה  {ס}  וְלַאֲשֶׁר בְּבוֹר-עָשָׁן,  {ס}  וְלַאֲשֶׁר  {ר} בַּעֲתָךְ.  {ס}  א ל,לא וְלַאֲשֶׁר, בְּחֶבְרוֹן; וּלְכָל-הַמְּקֹמוֹת אֲשֶׁר-  {ר} הִתְהַלֶּךְ-שָׁם דָּוִד, הוּא וַאֲנָשָׁיו.  {פ}

 

Prophets, 1 Samuel, Chapter 30

26 When David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil to the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, “Behold, a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of Yahweh.” 27 He sent it to those who were in Bethel, and to those who were in Ramoth of the South, and to those who were in Jattir, 28 and to those who were in Aroer, and to those who were in Siphmoth, and to those who were in Eshtemoa, 29 and to those who were in Racal, and to those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to those who were in the cities of the Kenites, 30 and to those who were in Hormah, and to those who were in Borashan, and to those who were in Athach, 31 and to those who were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men used to stay.

 

Unfortunately, this city is not mentioned again anywhere else in the Jewish Scriptures. But if you look in the Septuaginta Seniorum (The Translation of the Seventy Elders), you will find the city of Racal there, but under another name:

samson-02-gr-en

 

This fact allows us to assume that גת [gath] and רכל [racal] are two names of the same city.

Anyway, in memory of the place associated with the outrageous treachery of Delilah, or perhaps for other reasons, the Jews gave Samson the nickname of הרכלי שמשון [shimshon herakli] = (Eng) Samson of Racal. The story of Samson passed down from generation to generation, and in the end of the 8th century B.C., the Jews escaping from the invasion of the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III (See the article “Full Circle“), brought it with them to Greece. In Greece, the legends of Samson acquired new details, and his nickname got the ending “-s”, typical for the Greek adjectives:

(Heb) הרכלי [herakli] → (Greek) Ἡρακλῆς [heraklis] → (Lat) Herculēs → (Eng) Hercules or Heracles.

Some researchers of the ancient literature note that the legends about the Labors of Hercules repeat in many respects the bible parable of the Deeds of Samson. And what is so surprising here? They are the stories about the same person.

The events occurred in the city of Racal have remained in memory of the Jewish people. In modern Hebrew, there is a verb originated from this root, i.e. לרכל [lerahel] = to gossip, to slander, to libel.

The root רכל [rakal], with the help of the Greek language, entered other languages, for example:

– (Eng) racaille = villain, scum, riffraff, underworld.

– (Rus) ракалья [rakalya] – (the meaning of these words is the same as in English)
The biblical story of Samson ends with the following words:

נביאים, ספר שופטים

טז,ל וַיֹּאמֶר שִׁמְשׁוֹן, תָּמוֹת נַפְשִׁי עִם-פְּלִשְׁתִּים, וַיֵּט בְּכֹחַ, וַיִּפֹּל הַבַּיִת עַל-הַסְּרָנִים וְעַל-כָּל-הָעָם אֲשֶׁר-בּוֹ; וַיִּהְיוּ הַמֵּתִים, אֲשֶׁר הֵמִית בְּמוֹתוֹ, רַבִּים, מֵאֲשֶׁר הֵמִית בְּחַיָּיו.  טז,לא וַיֵּרְדוּ אֶחָיו וְכָל-בֵּית אָבִיהוּ, וַיִּשְׂאוּ אֹתוֹ, וַיַּעֲלוּ וַיִּקְבְּרוּ אוֹתוֹ בֵּין צָרְעָה וּבֵין אֶשְׁתָּאֹל, בְּקֶבֶר מָנוֹחַ אָבִיו; וְהוּא שָׁפַט אֶת-יִשְׂרָאֵל, עֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה.  {פ}

 

Prophets, Judges, Chapters 13 – 16

30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell on the lords, and on all the people who were therein. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than those who he killed in his life. 31 Then his brothers and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burial site of Manoah his father. He judged Israel twenty years.

 

The tomb of Samson and of his father Manoah is located on that very place specified in the Book of Judges, i.e. between Tsor’a and Eshtaol, and everyone can visit it.

 samson-03-en

ALONG THE WAY OF GOLIATH

The activity of Samson caused some tension in relationships between the Israelites and the Philistines, which, after a while, led to the battle between David and Goliath.

Goliath came from Gath. Here are two quotations from the 1 Samuel:

 

נביאים, ספר שמואל

א יז,ד וַיֵּצֵא אִישׁ-הַבֵּנַיִם מִמַּחֲנוֹת פְּלִשְׁתִּים, גָּלְיָת שְׁמוֹ מִגַּת:  גָּבְהוֹ, שֵׁשׁ אַמּוֹת וָזָרֶת. 

. . .

א יז,כג וְהוּא מְדַבֵּר עִמָּם, וְהִנֵּה אִישׁ הַבֵּנַיִם עוֹלֶה גָּלְיָת הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי שְׁמוֹ מִגַּת ממערות (מִמַּעַרְכוֹת) פְּלִשְׁתִּים, וַיְדַבֵּר, כַּדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה; וַיִּשְׁמַע, דָּוִד.

 

Prophets, 1 Samuel, Chapter 30

4 There went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

. . .

23 As he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke according to the same words: and David heard them.

 

The city of Gath was located a few hundred meters from the stream of האלה [ha’ela]. Nowadays this place is called as צופית תל [tel tsofit] = sunbird hill. Everyone, who is not lazy, can go up from the ruins of the city of Gath about 10 km upstream to the east and visit the place of the historical duel – ha-Ela valley. And it is very possible that he will be going along the same way as Goliath was walking to meet his death.

samson-04-en


There are other articles on this site. A list of them here

Full Circle

Where 10 tribes disappeared, and how the Ancient Greek civilization appeared.

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BRIEFLY ABOUT THE PAST

Between the 15th and 14th centuries B.C., due to natural processes, part of the Jewish population in Egypt emigrated to the coast and to the islands of the Mediterranean (See the article “Exodus: Behind the Scenes“). In the 13th century B.C., in the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II, i.e. during the period, which is usually identified with the Egyptian slavery described in the Torah, the emigration became a mass phenomenon – tens, and possibly hundreds of thousands of Jews left Egypt. It should be noted that refugees were people standing out in the crowd for their initiative and love of freedom. Most of them settled in the Aegean Sea region. In historical literature they have been called as follows:

  • The Danaans – the Jews from the Tribe of Dan who founded the city (Heb) מיקנה [mikne] = (Eng) herd → Mycenae. In the Egyptian inscriptions they are mentioned as “danan”.
  • The Achaeans – the Jews from different tribes who settled in the Aegean Sea region, as well as in other regions of the Mediterranean. Achaeans is their common name, which came from the word (Heb) אח [akh] = (Eng) brother. Groups of Achaeans settled in different places called themselves in different ways:
    • (Heb) שרדן [sardan] = (Eng) surviving → hence the name of the island of Sardinia
    • (Heb) לך [lekh] = (Eng) walking, leaving
    • (Heb) סקל [sakal] = (Eng) throwing stones
    • In total, the names of 11 groups of Achaeans are mentioned in Egyptian, Ugaritic, and other documents.

Below is the map showing directions in which the Danaans and the Achaeans used to settle:

PICTURE 01

 Na-krugi-svoja 01 Danaans & Achaeans En

The Danaans founded many settlements in the east direction towards Asia Minor, conducted an alliance with the Hittites, and in the beginning of the 13th century B.C. fought with Pharaoh Ramesses II in the battle, known in history as “The Battle of Kadesh”.

PICTURE 02

Na-krugi-svoja 02 Kadesh battle En

The results of the Battle of Kadesh were the following:

- Pharaoh Ramesses II returned to Egypt and revenged his defeat on the Jews of Egypt – thus, it was the beginning of the period of slavery in the history of the Jews of Egypt (Read more about it in the article “And They Made Their Lives Bitter“).

- The Danaans moved forward to the south-east and founded the state of Aram with the capital in Damascus.

PICTURE 03

Na-krugi-svoja 03 Aram En

In 1194 B.C. Jews begin the Exodus from Egypt to Sinai (See the article “Chronology of the Fathers“).

PICTURE 04

Na-krugi-svoja 04 Exodus En

During 40 years, which the Jews stayed in the Sinai desert, they acquired the greatest instrument for spreading information, i.e. total literacy on the basis of the phonetic alphabet consisted of 22 letters (See the article “Why does Europa write left-to-right?“). They also acquired the basic moral principles stated in the Ten Commandments (See the article “About the Nature of Lows and the Lows of Nature“).

During all 40 years of the Exodus, Pharaohs of Egypt were not chasing their slaves staying in Sinai at a distance of arm’s length.

WHY?

The answer: The Jewish Diaspora of the Mediterranean attacked the coasts of Egypt in order to draw attention of the Pharaoh’s army and to prevent the chase of the Jews during the Exodus. In the Egyptian chronicles, as well as in modern literature, this operation has been called as “the War of the Sea Peoples.”

PICTURE 05

Na-krugi-svoja 05 Sea people En

This war stopped with the end of the Exodus and invasion of the Jews to Canaan from Sinai. The Danaans and the Achaeans did not return to the Aegean Sea region; they went to the east, to Canaan to join the rest of the people.

PICTURE 06

Na-krugi-svoja 06 Exodus En

Thus, the Jews of Egypt and the Jews of Diaspora left Egypt and the Aegean Sea region at the same time and gathered in the Promised Land. This happened in the middle of the 12th century B.C. (read the article “Chronology of the Fathers“).

Small part of the Jewish population remained on the northern coast of the Aegean Sea, mainly in the territory called (Heb) מוקדון [mokdon] = (Eng) focus, concentration – today it is Macedonia region of Greece. The rest area of the Aegean Sea region became empty for 420 years, which are called in literature as the Dark Ages of Greece. The archaeologists found on this territory NO evidence of human activity for the period from the middle of the 12th century B.C. till the end of the 8th century B.C. In other words, the archaeological levels of that period do not exist at all. Also we don’t have any literature evidence of that period. Only in 730 B.C., approximately, the descendants of the Danaans, who had been deported from the territory of modern Lebanon by the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III, returned to the Aegean Sea region and caused a cultural and technological “explosion” that would give birth to Ancient Greece.

This article describes the sequence of events, after which the Ancient Greek civilization appeared.

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REUNION

Before the invasion of the Jews Canaan was surrounded by peoples kindred to the Jews:

-   In the north was the state of Aram founded by the Jewish emigrants from Egypt (See the article “And They Made Their Lives Bitter“).

-   In the east were the Ammonites – the descendants of Ben Ammi, the son of Lot, the nephew of Abraham, the forefather.

-   In the south-east were the Moabites – the descendants of Moab, the son of Lot, the nephew of Abraham, the forefather.

-   In the south were the Edomites – the descendants of Esau, the brother of Yaakov, the forefather, the grandson of Abraham, the forefather.

-   In the south-west were the Philistines. Abraham, the forefather, had made a treaty of friendship with their king Abimelech about 650 years before the described events (See below.).

PICTURE 07

Na-krugi-svoja 07 Canaan around En

In the middle of the 12th century B.C., the Tribes of Israel under the leadership of Yehoshua bin Nun (Joshua) settled in the land of Canaan. Then they were joined by “the Sea Peoples” – the Danaans and the Achaeans:

  • The Danaans landed in the territory of modern Tel Aviv with the intention to join their kindred from the Tribe of Dan. This area is today known as Gush Dan.
  • The Achaeans settled along the coast of the Mediterranean, to the south of Gush Dan, and mixed with the Philistines.

PICTURE 08

Na-krugi-svoja 08 Danaans & Achaeans En

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WHO ARE THE PHILISTINES?

The word “Philistines” entered English from Hebrew through Greek:

(Heb) פלישתים [plishtim] → (Greek) Φιλισταίοι [philistayo] → (Eng) Philistines

The Philistines were the people who dwelt in the south of Canaan even before the arrival of the forefather Abraham (read the article “Who are you, Pharaoh?“). Those people had Semitic names and spoke a language close to Hebrew; therefore, they should be considered as the Semitic people, and not the strangers from the islands of the Mediterranean, as it is written here and there in literature.

Here is the passage from the Torah, providing the evidence of the treaty between Abraham, the forefather, and Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, concluded in the 19th century B.C., 610 years before the beginning of the Exodus:

 תורה, ספר בראשית

כא,כז וַיִּקַּח אַבְרָהָם צֹאן וּבָקָר, וַיִּתֵּן לַאֲבִימֶלֶךְ; וַיִּכְרְתוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם, בְּרִית.  כא,כח וַיַּצֵּב אַבְרָהָם, אֶת-שֶׁבַע כִּבְשֹׂת הַצֹּאן–לְבַדְּהֶן.  כא,כט וַיֹּאמֶר אֲבִימֶלֶךְ, אֶל-אַבְרָהָם:  מָה הֵנָּה, שֶׁבַע כְּבָשֹׂת הָאֵלֶּה, אֲשֶׁר הִצַּבְתָּ, לְבַדָּנָה.  כא,ל וַיֹּאמֶר–כִּי אֶת-שֶׁבַע כְּבָשֹׂת, תִּקַּח מִיָּדִי:  בַּעֲבוּר תִּהְיֶה-לִּי לְעֵדָה, כִּי חָפַרְתִּי אֶת-הַבְּאֵר הַזֹּאת.  כא,לא עַל-כֵּן, קָרָא לַמָּקוֹם הַהוּא–בְּאֵר שָׁבַע:  כִּי שָׁם נִשְׁבְּעוּ, שְׁנֵיהֶם. כא,לב וַיִּכְרְתוּ בְרִית, בִּבְאֵר שָׁבַע; וַיָּקָם אֲבִימֶלֶךְ, וּפִיכֹל שַׂר-צְבָאוֹ, וַיָּשֻׁבוּ, אֶל-אֶרֶץ פְּלִשְׁתִּים.  כא,לג וַיִּטַּע אֶשֶׁל, בִּבְאֵר שָׁבַע; וַיִּקְרָא-שָׁם–בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה, אֵל עוֹלָם.  כא,לד וַיָּגָר אַבְרָהָם בְּאֶרֶץ פְּלִשְׁתִּים, יָמִים רַבִּים

Torah, book Genesis

21,27 And Avraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Avimelech; and they two made a covenant. 21,28 And Avraham set seven ewe-lambs of the flock by themselves. 21,29 And Avimelech said unto Avraham: ‘What mean these seven ewe-lambs which thou hast set by themselves?’ 21,30 And he said: ‘Verily, these seven ewe-lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that it may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.’ 21,31 Wherefore that place was called Beer Sheva; because there they swore both of them. 21,32 So they made a covenant at Beer-sheva; and Avimelech rose up, and Phicol the captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines. 21,33 And Avraham planted a tamarisk-tree in Beer Sheva, and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God. 21,34 And Avraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days.

Nowadays, on the place where it all happened, there is the city of (Heb) באר שבע [beer sheva] = (Eng) well of oath, → (Greek) Βηρσαβεέ [birsabee] → (Eng) Beer Sheba.

And here is an extract from the Books of the Prophets, describing the places where the Philistines were living in the12th century B.C.:

נביאים, ספר יהושע

יג,ג מִן-הַשִּׁיחוֹר אֲשֶׁר עַל-פְּנֵי מִצְרַיִם, וְעַד גְּבוּל עֶקְרוֹן צָפוֹנָה–לַכְּנַעֲנִי, תֵּחָשֵׁב; חֲמֵשֶׁת סַרְנֵי פְלִשְׁתִּים, הָעַזָּתִי וְהָאַשְׁדּוֹדִי הָאֶשְׁקְלוֹנִי הַגִּתִּי, וְהָעֶקְרוֹנִי, וְהָעַוִּים

 Bible (King James)/Joshua, chapter 13, verse 3

From Shihor, which is before Egypt, even unto the borders of Ekron northward, which is counted to the Canaanite: five domains of the philistines: Gaza and Ashdod, Eshkelon, Gat and Ekron, also the Avim.

The cities Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ashdod still exist nowadays, and as for the places (Heb) תל מיקנה [tel mikne], where the city of Ekron was located, and (Heb) תל צופית [tel tzofit], where the city of Gath was located, they are also well known (See the article “Where is Hercules buried?“).

In this verse, the place Shihor is mentioned. Probably refers to Sheruhan, which is written about in the article “Who are you, Pharaoh?

Here is a modern map, which shows the territory where the Philistines lived after the Jews had settled in Canaan:

PICTURE 09

Na-krugi-svoja 09 Plishtim-En

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THE NEW PHILISTINES

The Achaeans entered the coast of Canaan with the goal to unite with the other Jews, but the reunion failed according to the following reasons:

  • The Jews, with their 40-year “school” of Moses in Sinai, entered Canaan as one people, with reading and writing skills, united by belief in One God, by common morality principles based on The 10 Commandments, and by pyramidal logistics of management.
  • The Achaeans were pagans, absolutely illiterate and not able to live under the laws of society united by common ideology and morality.

The Achaeans failed to assimilate with the Jews, but they quickly found a common language with the Philistines, who were also the pagans. Thus, a new community of people appeared, i.e. a mixture of the Achaeans and the Philistines. These NEW Philistines, as a nation, existed for 5.5 centuries, till 604 B.C., when the king of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar II conquered the philistine cities and deported the population, which would never come back.

739 years later from the word Philistines the word Palestine appeared – the Romans gave this name to Judea after the defeat of Bar Kokhba’s revolt in 135. The Romans purposely renamed the Roman province of Judea to the Roman province of Palestine, as they wanted to erase the name of Judea from the memory of the peoples. This tendency is also supported by some circles nowadays. Below is a map that has been published in the Internet by one of the European public organizations.

PICTURE 10

Na-krugi-svoja 10 Palestine

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MIGRATION OF THE DANAANS TO THE NORTH

Reunion of the Danaans to the tribe of Dan failed for the same contradictions. In order not to make the contradictions deeper, the leaders of the tribe of Dan decided to move the Danaans to another area.

Where to?

Let us remember where they were from. They were from the city of Mycenae. Those were their relatives who participated in the Battle of Kadesh and founded the state of Aram with the capital in Damascus a little over 120 years ago.

The Danaans migrated to the north. They settled in the territories close to Aram, i.e. in the Golan Heights, in the Mount Hermon surroundings, and on the coast of modern Lebanon. The Dan settlement and the Dan River, named so in honor of the Danians in those days, still exist at the foot of Mount Hermon.

PICTURE 11

Na-krugi-svoja 11 Danaens & Aram

On the coast of Lebanon, the Danaans settled in the already existing Aramaic cities, such as (Aramaic) צור [tsor] = a rock → (Eng) Tyre and (Aramaic) צידון [tsidon] = upper → (Eng) Sidon, and became part of the population of Aram, but as for administration, Tyre and Sidon were always “free cities”, independent of the central Aramaic government.

Despite the separation from the tribe of Dan, the Danaans always remembered their roots and family connections with this tribe. Here is a quote from the letter of Huram, the king of Tyre, to King Solomon, written about 200 years later, in the middle of the 10th century B.C., in which Huram emphasizes the existence of family connections with the tribe of Dan:

 תנ”ך, דברי הימים

ב ב,יא וַיֹּאמֶר, חוּרָם–בָּרוּךְ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה אֶת-הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת-הָאָרֶץ:  אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לְדָוִיד הַמֶּלֶךְ בֵּן חָכָם, יוֹדֵעַ שֵׂכֶל וּבִינָה, אֲשֶׁר יִבְנֶה-בַּיִת לַיהוָה, וּבַיִת לְמַלְכוּתוֹ.  ב ב,יב וְעַתָּה, שָׁלַחְתִּי אִישׁ-חָכָם יוֹדֵעַ בִּינָה–לְחוּרָם אָבִי.  ב ב,יג בֶּן-אִשָּׁה מִן-בְּנוֹת דָּן, וְאָבִיו אִישׁ-צֹרִי יוֹדֵעַ לַעֲשׂוֹת בַּזָּהָב-וּבַכֶּסֶף בַּנְּחֹשֶׁת בַּבַּרְזֶל בָּאֲבָנִים וּבָעֵצִים בָּאַרְגָּמָן בַּתְּכֵלֶת וּבַבּוּץ וּבַכַּרְמִיל, וּלְפַתֵּחַ כָּל-פִּתּוּחַ, וְלַחְשֹׁב כָּל-מַחֲשָׁבֶת–אֲשֶׁר יִנָּתֶן-לוֹ, עִם-חֲכָמֶיךָ, וְחַכְמֵי, אֲדֹנִי דָּוִיד אָבִיךָ

 Bible, 2 Chronicles, Chapter 2

12 Huram continued, “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, that made heaven and earth, who has given to David the king a wise son, endowed with discretion and understanding, that should build a house for Yahweh, and a house for his kingdom. 13 Now I have sent a skillful man, endowed with understanding, of Huram my father’s, 14 the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan; and his father was a man of Tyre, skillful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson, also to engrave any manner of engraving, and to devise any device; that there may be a place appointed to him with your skillful men, and with the skillful men of my lord David your father.

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CULTURAL AND BUSINESS RISE

Those guys were really well up in international trade. They settled in such a place, where the main trade route, which connected Mesopotamia and Egypt, came close to the Mediterranean coast.

PICTURE 12

Na-krugi-svoja 12 Mesopotamia-Dan-Egypt

They also brought to Tyre and Sidon their experience in ship-building and knowledge of navigation in the Mediterranean.

In the 9th and 10th centuries B.C., the merchants from Tyre and Sidon founded many colonies on the Mediterranean coast, including (Heb) קרת חדשה [keret khadasha] = (Eng) The New City, which became their biggest outpost during the exploration of the western Mediterranean.

(Heb)  קרת חדשה [keret khadasha] → (Greek) Καρθαγένη [kartageon] → (Lat) Carthage → (Eng) Carthage

PICTURE 13

Na-krugi-svoja 13 map of colonies

After a short period of time, Tyre, Sidon, and Carthage made up a federation controlling practically the whole seaborne trade of that time. Below is a list (not complete!) of the most known colonies founded by them:

PICTURE 14

Na-krugi-svoja 14 list of colonies En

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RELIGION

When King (Heb) שלמה [shlomo] → (Eng) Solomon died, his son (Heb) רחבעם [rehavaam] → (Eng) Rehoboam succeeded him to the throne. As a result of unwise behavior of King Rehoboam, the unified kingdom ceased to exist, and two new kingdoms appeared instead: the kingdom of Israel, which united 10 tribes, and the kingdom of Judea, which united two tribes. The kingdom of Aram, as well as the cities of Sidon and Tyre became independent.

Religious leaders took the side of King Rehoboam and gathered in Judea.

PICTURE 15

Na-krugi-svoja 15

Thus, the territory settled by the Jews was divided into 3 parts:

- The north: the Jews, who were pagans, lived in the kingdom of Aram, and in Sidon and Tyre.

- The south: the Jews, who were monotheists, lived in the kingdom of Judea.

- The center: the Jews of the kingdom of Israel, who were under cultural and religious influence of the north and south.

Such a situation lasted for about 150 years (till the end of the 8th century B.C.). During that time the pagan deities of Tyre and Sidon got human look and human character. Communication with neighboring Israel changed them to the gods bearing morality, and thus put them head and shoulders above pagan deities of other peoples. However, as people used to say in Odessa, morality and morality are two big differences. Every nation has such a morality that combines with its mentality; and the mentality of the Danaans still remained pagan.

The Danaans and the Jews had good relations. The relations were so good that (Heb) אחאב [ahav] (871 – 852 B.C.), the king of the Kingdom of Israel, married (Heb) איזבל [jezebel or isabel], the daughter of the king of Sidon. The First Book of Kings contains a story describing how Jezebel propagated by force her own pagan religion among the Israelites, built pagan altars on the tops of the mountains in Samaria, and persecuted the prophets. She largely succeeded in her activity. Many Israelites lost their faith in one Eternal God, therefore connections between people and the tribes were broken, and as a result, the Jews were fatally defeated in the war with the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser 3 in the end of the 8th century B.C., but we’ll talk about that below.

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LITERACY

The Jews, who left Egypt and settled on the coasts of the Mediterranean between the 16th and 13th centuries B.C., spoke an archaic dialect of the Hebrew language. In the beginning of the 13th century B.C., they founded the state of Aram, and from that time this dialect has been called the Aramaic language – (Heb) ארמית [aramit].

This group of the Jews could not write. Although in the 14th century B.C. the Jews already had a primitive phonetic alphabet (the so-called linear script), this alphabet, which consisted of up to 80 characters, was still too complicated and, therefore, could not be used by the majority of the population. That is why it was not developed further and disappeared in the 13th century B.C.

At the same period of time, the Jews who were living in Egypt continued improving their language and alphabet. In the beginning of the Exodus they spoke Hebrew that could be understood by the modern Israeli, and their alphabet was completed and consisted of the same 22 letters as the modern one (Read the article “Why does Europa write left-to-right?“), but the shape of the letters was different.

The Ten Commandments were written on the Tables of the Law in 1194 BC. with the letters of the ancient Hebrew alphabet (look here).

While communicating with the Israelites, the Arameans learned the Hebrew letters. They used this alphabet to make notes about trade operations with partners from different countries, as the phonetic alphabet allowed (and allows) writing down the words spoken in any language.

Between the 11th and 8th centuries B.C., the kingdom of Aram was the center of the world commerce. The Aramaic merchants made the Aramaic language (and the Hebrew alphabet, respectively) a language of international communications, which remained in this status in the Eastern countries until Alexander the Great came, i.e. till the end of the 4th century B.C.

The ancient font of the Hebrew alphabet is here and there called as Phoenician. This is not correct because the word “Phenicia”, as a geographical name, appeared about 700 years after the formation of this font had been completed – this will be discussed below.

To the 6th century B.C., new fonts had been created in Aram and Mesopotamia, one of which represented the so-called square font. The Jews, who returned from the Babylonian captivity in 538 B.C, brought with them that square font to Judea, which over time (and up to now) replaced the original font. The last usage of the ancient Jewish font was recorded in 135, on Bar Kochba’s coins.

Let’s compare the ancient (above) and square (below) fonts.

PICTURE 16 Na-krugi-svoja 16 alef-bet

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STATEHOOD

As mentioned above, the Danaans had settled in a big territory including modern Lebanon and northern parts of modern Israel as well. They lived on this territory for about 420 years (approximately between 1153 and 732 B.C). The kings of Tyre and Sidon were mentioned in written sources of that time, but there is no evidence that a state with one central authority has ever existed. Here and there in literature the area where the Danaans lived is called as Phoenicia, but such a state never existed. How the word Phoenicia appeared and what it means will be told below.

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THE DANAANS WERE THE FIRST TO BEAR THE BRUNT OF THE WAR

Between 740 and 735 B.C., the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III began the war against Rezin, the king of Aram, and his allies, with the king of Israel Pekah among them. In 732 B.C. the Assyrian army came from the north and started little by little taking the lands settled by the Israelites. The war lasted for 31 years.

PICTURE 17

Na-krugi-svoja 17 Ashur

Tyre and Sidon were the first to bear the brunt of the war, as their land was the northernmost.

By defeating the Danaans, Tiglath-Pileser 3 killed two birds with one stone:

- He moved several tens of thousands of people with the best city-life experience of that time from Tyre and Sidon to the areas, located to the south of the Caucasus (modern Turkish Armenia and Kurdistan). Thus he solved the problem of economic development for empty regions of his country.

PICTURE 18Na-krugi-svoja 18 transfer

- The fertile and developed land, which had become free, he gave to his soldiers, thus annexing this territory to his empire and making it impossible for the deported people to come back home.

The proximity of the sacred mountain of Ararat did not impress the exiles of Tire and Sidon, as they did not take a great interest in reading the Torah. They did not live in that area for a long time. They continued migrating to the north and, after crossing the Caucasus, arrived to the territories settled by the Scythians. And good trade relations with the Scythians had already been established 600 years before the described events – the Golden Fleece myth.

Some of the migrants settled in the country of the Scythians, and the other ones continued migrating to the south-west, to the coast of the Aegean Sea.

Thus, in the end of the 8th century B.C., the Danaans, who had left the coast of the Aegean Sea in the middle of the 12th century B.C. during the war of “The Sea Peoples”, closed the circle by joining their relatives, who had been living during all these centuries in (Heb) מוקדון [mokdon] – the territory of ​​future Macedonia,.

Here is a complete description of the Danaans’ route:

PICTURE 19

Na-krugi-svoja 19 circle En

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THE END OF THE DARK AGES IN GREECE

While the Danaans were travelling around the Black Sea, there was a war fought in the territory of the Kingdom of Israel. A strange war! The distance between Sidon and Jerusalem was only 200 km. Why didn’t Tiglath-Pileser III finish this war within a month or three? Why did this war last for 31 years?!

Tiglath-Pileser III realized during the war that the Israel tribes were separated and not helping each other. He decided to conquer the territory with small losses, and his successors reached the goal to 701 B.C.

The population of the Kingdom of Israel, which probably consisted of more than 3 million people (See the article “Numbers“), could not join together to defend their country and the result was as follows:

  • About 50 thousand or more people were deported to different areas of Assyria.
  • About one third of the population escaped to the south. Part of them settled in Judea (about 100 thousand settled in Jerusalem and in its vicinity). Some of the Jews continued migrating to Egypt, where they settled together with the descendants of those Jews who had remained in Egypt, in the land of Faiyum (in the land of Goshen), from the time of the Exodus (See the article “Exodus: Behind the Scenes“). Some of them continued up the Nile and settled on Elephantine Island (read the article “Ev and Kiev – history repeats itself“)
  • About one third chose to move by sea to the colonies founded here and there in the Mediterranean Sea. The lion’s share of them settled in the islands of the Aegean Sea, because they were closer to Israel in comparison with the other parts of the Mediterranean.
  • The others, mixed with the Assyrian pagans from the city of (Heb) כותה [kuta] and other areas of Assyria, became the ancestors of a new ethnology-cultural group, i.e. the Samaritans.

It is clear from the stated above that the end of the 8th century B.C. was notable for two groups of newcomers, which arrived to Greece: at first, relatively small group of the Danaans, who had passed through the Northern Black Sea Lowland, settled by the Scythians; and secondly, the masses of the Israelites who had escaped from the invasion of the Assyrians by sea and in other ways.

PICTURE 20

Na-krugi-svoja 20 migration 2 to Greece

A stream of newcomers filled the islands and the coast of the Aegean Sea. They brought with them textiles processing and dye manufacturing technologies, and, which was the most important, a universal technology of long-term storage and transmission of information – the phonetic alphabet (See the article “Why does Europa write left-to-right?“). The land, which had become empty 420 years ago, was again full of life – that was the end of the Dark Ages in Greece.

Different groups of people with common roots (the Mocdonians, the Danaans, and the Israelites) joined together, and this led to an unprecedented burst of emotions. A lot of saved memories, legends, and parables appeared again. Exactly in this period of time, Homer, who became legendary, wrote his epics the “Odyssey” and the “Iliad”, which have been the only (!!!) sources of our knowledge about the events that happened in Greece between the 13th and the 12th centuries B.C., i.e. 600 years before Homer was born.

Why didn’t the idea of describing those events come to any other “Homer’s” mind during 600 years mentioned? The answer is very simple: the Jews of Mocdon, who had been keeping this information, just did not know how to write. These epics, the “Odyssey” and the “Iliad”, were direct consequences of importing writing skills from Israel to Mocdon.

By the way, about Homer: Homer’s father was from the descendants of the Achaeans, which had been living in Mocdon, and his mother was from the descendants of the Danaans, which had arrived to Mocdon through Scythia. Homer got his name from the Torah in honor of Gomer, the son of Japheth, and the grandson of Noah:

 תורה, ספר בראשית

י,א וְאֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת בְּנֵי-נֹחַ, שֵׁם חָם וָיָפֶת; וַיִּוָּלְדוּ לָהֶם בָּנִים, אַחַר הַמַּבּוּל.  י,ב בְּנֵי יֶפֶת–גֹּמֶר וּמָגוֹג, וּמָדַי וְיָוָן וְתֻבָל; וּמֶשֶׁךְ, וְתִירָס.  י,ג וּבְנֵי, גֹּמֶר–אַשְׁכְּנַז וְרִיפַת, וְתֹגַרְמָה.  י,ד וּבְנֵי יָוָן, אֱלִישָׁה וְתַרְשִׁישׁ, כִּתִּים, וְדֹדָנִים

Torah, book Genesis

10,1 Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and unto them were sons born after the flood. 10,2 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. 10,3 And the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. 10,4 And the sons of Javan: Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.

Homer was born in the city of Therma.

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TIRSA WAS THE ANCIENT CAPITAL OF THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL

Let’s go about 250 years back into the past, to the 10th century B.C.

The city of (Heb) תרצה [Tirsa] was situated 11 km north-east of the city of Shechem and had three special features:

- For about 50 years in the 9th century B.C. it was the capital of the Kingdom of Israel.

- It was the only city in Israel with a female name.

- It was the first city in the world, which had been built under the project, i.e. according to preliminary design.

The place where the city was situated is today called as follows:

(Heb) אל-פארעה תל [Tell el-Farah] = (Arab) مخيم الفارعة [mahaim el-farah] = (Eng) Phara Mount.

We will return to the name of this place in the end of this article.

PICTURE 21

Na-krugi-svoja 21 Tirtsa-En-He

The city of Tirsa, with an area of ​​about 200,000 sq. m., was situated on the hill and surrounded by small streams from three sides. All the houses were of rectangular shape, and all the streets formed a rectangular net. All the streets went down to the streams. A gutter was made along every street to collect waste water. Thus, it was the first city in the world with a sewage system.

We can assume that the city of Tirsa really made a big impression and was a standard of beauty for its contemporaries. King David made a compliment to his wife in the “Song of Songs” in the following way:

You are fair as Tirsa, my beloved = יָפָה אַתְּ רַעְיָתִי כְּתִרְצָה

The Israelites that came to Egypt escaping from the invasion of Tiglath-Pileser 3 brought with them, among other things, the name of Tirsa. And even nowadays, 10 km away to the north of the city of Faiyum, there is a settlement with such a name (Arab) ترسه [tirsa].

PICTURE 22

Na-krugi-svoja 22 Tirtsa Egypt

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THERMA AS THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE ANCIENT GREEK CULTURE

The settlement of (Heb) תרמה [therma] = (Greek) Θέρμα = (Eng) Therma was founded by people of Mocdon

Between the 13th and the 8th centuries B.C. on the shore of a great gulf of the Aegean Sea was founded a small settlement by people of  Mocdon.

PICTURE 23

 Na-krugi-svoja 23 Therma

 When the Danaans arrived there in the end of the 8th century B.C., the settlement turned into a city, which would be playing a leading role in the development of Greek and world culture during the following centuries and millennia right up to the beginning of World War II.

The city of Therma was built in the image of Thirtsa city, with the same city planning characteristics, i.e. the rectangular net of the streets and the sewage system descending to the sea. The city became the first European city with such a planning, and thus a model of building for thousands of similar cities in Europe.

The city was named Thirtsa. However, in the 7th – 6th centuries BC, as a result of the use of the bidirectional writing “boustrophedon”, the letter “ts” was replaced with the letter “m” and the name of the city changed to Therma.

PICTURE 24 Na-krugi-svoja 24 En Therma

The city of Therma was situated on the shore of the sea gulf. Every person while walking down the street glanced at the sea, to the south-west. What did he see there?

On the horizon, over the sea, he saw Mount Olympus. Where, if not there, should the gods live?

PICTURE 25

Na-krugi-svoja 24 Therma-Olimpus En

Thus, it was Therma, where in 7th centuries B.C. the legends of the gods appeared, and these legends would become the basis for the ancient Greek religious epic. The Legends of Hercules (Ἡρακλῆς [haraclis]) – is there anyone who does not hear about them? The way how they appeared is described in the article  “Where is Hercules Buried?“.

In 316 B.C. the Macedonian king Cassander renamed the city of Therma to Thessaloniki (Greek) Θεσσαλονίκη (Fesaloniki in Russian transcription). It was the name of his wife, the sister of Alexander the Great (See the article “Alexander the Great – him too?“). Nowadays many people use a short name of this city – Saloniki.

The name of the gulf (Greek) Θερμαϊκός [Thermaikos], where the city of Thessaloniki is situated, reminds the ancient name of the Therma city.

The name of (Eng) Thermopylae = (Greek) Θερμοφιλες [thermophiles] = loving Therma was also given in honor of the Therma city. Later, in 480 B.C., this place would become the scene of a famous battle between a force of 7,000 men under the command of Leonidas, the king of Sparta (For the correspondence between the Spartans and the Israelites see the article “Blood Brothers“), and the army of the Persian king Xerxes of about 300,000 soldiers.

For centuries the city of Salonika had been the capital of Macedonia and a center of Christian culture. The Apostle Paul preached there in 50 A.D., i.e. nearly 40 years before the Gospel of Matthew would be written. The correspondence between Paul and the citizens of Salonika still exists.

Cyril and Methodius were born in Saloniki in the 9th century and lived there.

The Jewish presence in Salonika has always been significant, for example:

PICTURE 26

Na-krugi-svoja 25 Saloniki En

During World War II the Jewish population of the city was COMPLETELY exterminated.

The largest university of the Balkans is situated in Saloniki.

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PELUSIUM – A NEST OF ZIONISM

The Danaans, after they had settled in Therma, continued to be engaged with their favorite activities, i.e. sea trade and foundation of new colonies. They founded one of the colonies on the Egyptian coast of the Mediterranean, in the place where the easternmost branch of the Nile River flowed into the sea. Somewhere near that place Moses had been leading the Jews during the Exodus, and this fact was expressed in the name of this colony:

(Heb) חובבי ציון [hovevei zion] = loving Zion = (Greek) Φιλούσιον [filosion] → (Lat) Pelusium → (Eng) Pelusium.

PICTURE 27

Na-krugi-svoja 27 Therma-Philosion

This city became a big port and citadel protecting the eastern approaches to Egypt. It played an important role in history and was destroyed in 1117 by the Crusaders, by order of King Baldwin I of Jerusalem (who died there soon afterwards).

The citizens of Therma who founded Pelusium still remain in memory of native people who call this place as (Arab) الفرما تل [tel el-pherma] = (Eng) Pherma Hill. The Egyptian Copts call this place as Paramount. Probably that is the way how the name of a famous Hollywood studio appeared.

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THE ETRUSCANS

Several groups of Israelites, escaping from the Assyrian invasion in the end of the 8th century B.C., landed their boats to the western coast of the Apennine Peninsula. Some of them founded settlements right there, on the seashore, the others went upstream the Tiber River and settled on its banks. That was how the cities of the Etruscans appeared. That was how the city of Rome appeared.

The first 7 governors of Rome were the Etruscans.

The territory, which was settled by the Etruscans, is today called as Toscana.

The word “Etruscan” appeared in Rome in the 5th century B.C. The Etruscans called themselves as (Aramaic) ראשנא [rashna] = (Heb) הראשון [harishon] = the pioneer.

Below is a picture of Etruscan utensils dated to the 5th century B.C. from the Roman Museum of Etruscan art with the inscription made in the ancient Hebrew font.

PICTURE 28

Na-krugi-svoja 27 Etrusc

The Etruscans supported Hannibal during The Second Punic War against Rome between 217 and 203 years B.C. That was the reason why Hannibal decided to lead the troops through the Alps and, after receiving reinforcement from the Etruscans, attacked Rome from the north. The answer to the question “Why did the Etruscans support Hannibal?” can be found in the article “The Golden Triangle“.

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THE ORIGIN OF THE WORD “PHOENICIA”

As mentioned above, the homeland of the Jews is the land of (Heb) כנען [knaan] → (Eng) Canaan. The adjective “сanaanite” sounds in Hebrew like (Heb) כנעני [knaani].

There is a word in Hebrew (Heb) כנע [kna] = (Eng) henna or hina or cinchona, a dye of deep red or purple color. The adjective “purple” sounds in Hebrew the same way – כנעני [knaani].

In other words, the adjective (Heb) כנעני [knaani] means “purple” or “сanaanite”, depending on the context, and the Jews in Diaspora transferred this pun to other languages.

A purple color sounds in Greek like Φοινίκη [foiniki], so that was why the land of Canaan was being called as Phoenikia, or Phoenicia, or Punicia, and people who lived there got the name of punics. And it should be noted that this name was related to the WHOLE land of Canaan, from Sidon in the north to Gaza in the south. In the letters of that time you can see, for example, that the citizens of Jerusalem were called as (Heb) פונים [punim], i.e. the Punics or Phoenicians.

The state known as Phoenicia has never existed.

In the 6th century B.C., the Greek-speaking Jews started using the word Phoenicia as a slang name for the entire land of Canaan. This is not the only example in history. Here are some others:

  • The term Byzantine Empire appeared in the middle of the 19th century, i.e. 1450 years after the founding of this empire and 400 years after its fall. The citizens of the Byzantine Empire never heard such a name.
  • The term Kievan Rus’ was created in the 17th century, i.e. 600 years after the state, which we know as Kievan Rus’, had appeared. The citizens of Kievan Rus’ never heard such a name.

From the 6th century B.C. and for about a century the names of Canaan and Phoenicia were conversational synonyms. Since the middle of the 5th century B.C., the word Phoenicia could be found in works of several geographers, which described the borders of Phoenicia in different ways. In 135, after the defeat of Bar Kochba’s revolt, the Roman Senate decided to create 3 new provinces: Syria, Phenicia, Palestine. The purpose of this decision was to erase from the memory of the peoples such names as Israel, Judea, Aram; and from the memory of Jews – any associations connected to their geographical homeland.

Here is the Middle East as the Romans saw it in the end of the 2nd century:

PICTURE 29

Na-krugi-svoja 28 Phoenicia

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THE PUNIC WARS

As mentioned above, the Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrian army between 732 and 701 years B.C. A lot of people moved to the colonies. The colonial city of Carthage expanded due to escaping Israelites. As mentioned above, the slang name of the Israelites was the Punics. Therefore, the Romans called the wars with Carthage as the Punic Wars.

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THE SECOND MASS REPATRIATION

Let’s go back to the East.

The Danaans, who had settled with the Scythians in 732 – 731 years B.C., dreamed of returning to their homeland. In the middle of the 7th century B.C., some of them left “habitual” Scythian lands and moved to the south. They could not return to their native land (the territory of modern Lebanon and the Golan Heights) because the Assyrian king Esarhaddon = (assyr)  אַשּׁוּר-אַחְחֶה-אִידִינָּה [ashur-akha-iddina], a descendant of Tiglath-Pileser 3 in the 4th generation, had completely destroyed Sidon in 677 B.C. and totally controlled the surrounding area. The Danaans continued migrating farther, for about 120 km to the south, and settled to the south of Lake Kineret in the city of (Heb) בית שאן [Beit She’an]. Therefore, from the 6th century B.C., ​​the Greek-speaking population started calling Beit She’an as (Greek) Σκυθόπολις [Scythopolis or Scyphopolis], i.e. the city of the Scythians. It was the second mass repatriation after the Exodus.

PICTURE 30

Na-krugi-svoja 29 scytians repatriation

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WHY THE SEA IS AEGEAN?

The Israelites, escaped from Tiglath-Pileser 3 to the Aegean sea region, were impressed by the amount of islands (about 2,000) with steep banks forming numerous channels and gorges.

PICTURE 31

Na-krugi-svoja 30 The Aegean Sea

So it is not surprising that the sea got the name of (Heb) הגיאים ים [yam hagayim] = sea of gorges or sea of steeps. This name of the sea has remained till nowadays:

(Heb) הגיאים [hagayim] → (Greek) αιγαίο [aegayo] → (Eng) Aegean

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A PAGAN ATHEIST

An atheist in Hebrew is כופר [kofer].

During 40 years of Exodus Jews went through the school of Moses and learned to believe in the invisible God. However, at that time, just as nowadays, not all the Jews had the same opinion on the question of God’s existence. The minority, which opinion was different from the opinion of the majority, lived separately in small settlements. Those settlements were called with the word (Heb) כפר [kfar], which was derived from the word כופר [kofer]. This word can be translated into English as a village, but the origin of the word כפר [kfar] has nothing in common with the origin of the word village. In other words, כפר [kfar] was a place of living for pagan Jews who did not believe in one invisible God. This word appeared in Hebrew during the first years after the Jews had settled in Canaan.

Here is the first mention of the word כפר [kfar] in the Tanakh:

 ספר יהושוע

יח,כא וְהָיוּ הֶעָרִים, לְמַטֵּה בְּנֵי בִנְיָמִן–לְמִשְׁפְּחוֹתֵיהֶם:  יְרִיחוֹ וּבֵית-חָגְלָה, וְעֵמֶק קְצִיץ.  יח,כב וּבֵית הָעֲרָבָה וּצְמָרַיִם, וּבֵית-אֵל.  יח,כג וְהָעַוִּים וְהַפָּרָה, וְעָפְרָה.  יח,כד וּכְפַר העמני (הָעַמֹּנָה) וְהָעָפְנִי, וָגָבַע:  עָרִים שְׁתֵּים-עֶשְׂרֵה, וְחַצְרֵיהֶן.  יח,כה גִּבְעוֹן וְהָרָמָה, וּבְאֵרוֹת.  יח,כו וְהַמִּצְפֶּה וְהַכְּפִירָה, וְהַמֹּצָה.  יח,כז וְרֶקֶם וְיִרְפְּאֵל, וְתַרְאֲלָה.  יח,כח וְצֵלַע הָאֶלֶף וְהַיְבוּסִי הִיא יְרוּשָׁלִַם, גִּבְעַת קִרְיַת–עָרִים אַרְבַּע-עֶשְׂרֵה, וְחַצְרֵיהֶן:  זֹאת נַחֲלַת בְּנֵי-בִנְיָמִן, לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם.  {פ}

Book (King James) Joshua, chapter 18

21 Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, and Beth Haglah, and the valley of Keziz, 22 And Beth ha-Aravah, and Zmaraim, and Beth El, 23 And ha-Avim, and ha-Pharah, and Ophrah, 24 And kfar ha-Ammona, and ha-Ophni, and Gava; twelve cities with their vicinity: 25 Givon, and ha-Ramah, and Beeroth, 26 And ha-Mizpeh, and ha-Kfirah, and ha-Mozah, 27 And Rekem, and Irpael, and Taralah, 28 And Tselah ha-Eleph, and Jebusi, which is Jerusalem, givath kirjath of fourteen cities with their vicinity. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.

The adjective (Heb) כפרי [kafri] was derived from the word (Heb) כפר [kfar]. With time this adjective got a double meaning: a village or a pagan.

Around 600 years later, with the help of the Etruscans the double meaning of this word migrated to Latin – the Latin word PAGANI, with its original meaning of a village, also got an additional meaning of a pagan. Later in Latin, the word HAERETICUS appeared, which at first had the meaning “from another country”, and later got the meaning “from another religion”. Probably, this word came from (Heb) הארץ [haarets], the name, which the Jews gave to their historical homeland and still use nowadays.

The Hebrew-speaking population of modern Israel uses the word PAGANI in the meaning of a pagan, and the word (Heb) כפרי [kafri] in Modern Hebrew has only one meaning of a village.


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About the Laws of Nature and the Nature of Laws

THIS IS HOW IT USED TO BE!

It was the beginning of the 2nd millennium B.C. No contraceptives yet. Women gave birth often, maybe 5 to 15 times, but the world’s population was not increasing. Why?

Because only 10% of children survived to adulthood.

Every person every day was trying to solve the main problem, i.e. to get food in order not to die. To kill, so as not to die, or to steal, so as not to die, those were legitimate behavior. Death of starvation and death during fighting for food – that was the reality people faced every day. Murder was an ordinary and usual event.

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MENTAL REVOLUTION

It was the middle of the 17th century B.C. Forefather Jacob’s family, driven by hunger, came to Egypt and settled in the land of Goshen, which was the most fertile area of Egypt.

Under the direction of Joseph, the Jews built the canal connecting the Nile River with Qarun Lake. This canal still exists nowadays and is called as (Arab) بحر يوسف [bahr yusuf] = (Eng) the Sea of Joseph (See the article “Exodus: Behind the Scenes“).

lawsofnature01Joseph’s Canal was a branched irrigation system. It allowed (and allows nowadays) to replenish Qarun Lake with water from the Nile River, and because of that, agriculture around the lake became stable. DEATH FROM HUNGER was not threatening the Jews in Egypt any more. As a result, child mortality rate dropped significantly, which in turn led to an unprecedented increase in population growth, i.e. at the time of the Exodus the number of the Jews in Egypt reached 4 million (See the article “The Numbers“).

The Jews lived in Egypt 430 years. During that period, 15 to 20 generations of people, who forgot about the threat of death from hunger, changed each other. Mentality of the Jews changed – killing and stealing stopped being a legitimate behavior.

Only the man who is not afraid of death from hunger is able to understand that “man shall not live by bread alone”. Only the man who is not hungry can devote time to his spiritual and intellectual development. Exactly in such a period of time among the Jews, a phonetic alphabet, which allowed to write down the sounds pronounced in ANY language, was invented (See the article “Why Does Europe Write Left-to-Right?“). The alphabet, which consisted of 22 letters, was available to all people, and by that was fundamentally different from other ways of writing existed in the world that time, which were the privilege of the elite.

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THE COMMANDMENTS

In 7 weeks after the beginning of the Exodus, the Ten Commandments were given to the world.

They were written on stone tablets with the letters of the Jewish phonetic alphabet. Since then, the font has changed (See the article “Why Does Europe Write Left-to-Right?“). Below you can see the text of the Commandments written in the modern square font:

תורה, ספר דברים

ה,ו אָנֹכִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִיךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם מִבֵּית עֲבָדִים: לֹא-יִהְיֶה לְךָ אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים, עַל-פָּנָי

ה,ז לֹא-תַעֲשֶׂה לְךָ פֶסֶל, כָּל-תְּמוּנָה, אֲשֶׁר בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִמַּעַל, וַאֲשֶׁר בָּאָרֶץ מִתָּחַת–וַאֲשֶׁר בַּמַּיִם, מִתַּחַת לָאָרֶץ.  ה,ח לֹא-תִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה לָהֶם, וְלֹא תָעָבְדֵם:  כִּי אָנֹכִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, אֵל קַנָּא–פֹּקֵד עֲו‍ֹן אָבוֹת עַל-בָּנִים וְעַל-שִׁלֵּשִׁים וְעַל-רִבֵּעִים, לְשֹׂנְאָי.  ה,ט וְעֹשֶׂה חֶסֶד, לַאֲלָפִים–לְאֹהֲבַי, וּלְשֹׁמְרֵי מצותו (מִצְו‍ֹתָי)

ה,י לֹא תִשָּׂא אֶת-שֵׁם-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, לַשָּׁוְא:  כִּי לֹא יְנַקֶּה יְהוָה, אֵת אֲשֶׁר-יִשָּׂא אֶת-שְׁמוֹ לַשָּׁוְא

ה,יא שָׁמוֹר אֶת-יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת, לְקַדְּשׁוֹ, כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוְּךָ, יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ.  ה,יב שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תַּעֲבֹד, וְעָשִׂיתָ כָּל-מְלַאכְתֶּךָ.  ה,יג וְיוֹם, הַשְּׁבִיעִי–שַׁבָּת, לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ:  לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה כָל-מְלָאכָה אַתָּה וּבִנְךָ-וּבִתֶּךָ וְעַבְדְּךָ-וַאֲמָתֶךָ וְשׁוֹרְךָ וַחֲמֹרְךָ וְכָל-בְּהֶמְתֶּךָ, וְגֵרְךָ אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ–לְמַעַן יָנוּחַ עַבְדְּךָ וַאֲמָתְךָ, כָּמוֹךָ.  ה,יד וְזָכַרְתָּ, כִּי עֶבֶד הָיִיתָ בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, וַיֹּצִאֲךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ מִשָּׁם, בְּיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרֹעַ נְטוּיָה; עַל-כֵּן, צִוְּךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, לַעֲשׂוֹת, אֶת-יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת.

ה,טו כַּבֵּד אֶת-אָבִיךָ וְאֶת-אִמֶּךָ, כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוְּךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ–לְמַעַן יַאֲרִיכֻן יָמֶיךָ, וּלְמַעַן יִיטַב לָךְ, עַל הָאֲדָמָה, אֲשֶׁר-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ

ה,טז לֹא תִרְצָח

וְלֹא תִנְאָף

וְלֹא תִגְנֹב

וְלֹא-תַעֲנֶה בְרֵעֲךָ עֵד שָׁוְא

ה,יז וְלֹא תַחְמֹד, אֵשֶׁת רֵעֶךָ;  וְלֹא תִתְאַוֶּה בֵּית רֵעֶךָ, שָׂדֵהוּ וְעַבְדּוֹ וַאֲמָתוֹ שׁוֹרוֹ וַחֲמֹרוֹ, וְכֹל, אֲשֶׁר לְרֵעֶךָ

Torah, Book 5 Deuteronomy

5,6 I am the LORD thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. 5,7 Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, even any manner of likeness, of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5,8 Thou shalt not bow down unto them, nor serve them; for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate Me, 5,9 and showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of them that love Me and keep My commandments. 5,10 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain. 5,11 Observe the sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD thy God commanded thee. 5,12 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; 5,13 but the seventh day is a sabbath unto the LORD thy God, in it thou shalt not do any manner of work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy man-servant and thy maid-servant may rest as well as thou. 5,14 And thou shalt remember that thou was a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God brought thee out thence by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day. 5,15 Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God commanded thee; that thy days may be long, and that it may go well with thee, upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 5,16 Thou shalt not murder. Neither shalt thou commit adultery. {S} Neither shalt thou steal. Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour. 5,17 Neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s wife; neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his man-servant, or his maid-servant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

Let’s try to simplify the text of the Commandments and divide them into groups in the following way:

Group A: Commandments 1, 2, 3, and 4, about the relationship between God and Man:

1. I am your only God forever.

2. Do not worship things.

3. You have the right to appeal to Me only for the most important in your life. If you ask for something less important, you’ll lose that right.

 4. Do not think about anything material on Saturday.

Group B: Commandment 5 is a universal formula of the existence of any nation. Pay your attention to the verb “giveth (gives)” in the original text. The verb is written in the Present Tense, and this makes the 5th Commandment ALWAYS actual.

5. A nation exists in its OWN land just as long as it remembers and honors its ancestors.

Group D: Commandments 6, 7, and 8, which distinguish humans from animals:

6. Do not kill.

7. Do not copulate without love. (See the article “About the Love“)

8. Do not steal.

Group E: Commandments 9 and 10, which distinguish good people from bad people:

9. Do not lie.

10. Do not envy.

Commandments from 6 to 10 not only provide a comprehensive formula of modern morality, but determine the order of moral elevation of an individual as well, i.e. from the 6th Commandment to the 10th Commandment.

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ABOUT THE LAWS OF NATURE

It is perfectly natural for the average person to cross the road where it is most convenient for him and when it is most convenient for him, but the law requires a person to cross the road only at the crossing and only on the green light. This is contrary to what the person wants, although the reasons do not need any explanations.

ALL, WITHOUT ANY EXCEPTIONS, LAWS are contrary to human nature! All, without any exceptions, laws forbid a person to do what he wants or, on the contrary, require a person to do what he doesn’t want. Any law is an UNNATURAL phenomenon!

More than 3.200 years ago, on the 50th day from the beginning of the Exodus, the Jews brought into the world the laws, which forbade people to behave naturally, i.e. to kill, to copulate randomly, to steal, to lie, and to envy. It is extremely difficult for mankind to live under such laws. Therefore, the day of the giving of the Commandments, i.e. the holiday of (Heb) שבועות [shavuot], also known in England as the Feast of Weeks, in Russia as Пятидесятница [piatidesatnitsa], and in ancient Greece as Πεντηκοστή [Pentikosty],  is a birthday of antisemitism.

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WHY THE JEWS?

For two reasons:

 – In the end of the 13th century B.C., the Jews were the only group of people, in which murder stopped being a normal behavior. Therefore, at that time, only the Jews were able to understand and to accept the commandment “Do not kill”.

 – In the end of 13th century B.C., the Jews were the only group of people having a universal phonetic alphabet. Therefore, only the Jews could carry out the mission of spreading morality of the 10 commandments all over the world.

Before the beginning of the 20th century, the process of spreading morality was extremely slow – mankind was trying to save itself from hunger, and thus cared not so much about morality.

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THIS CAN BE HARDLY UNDERSTOOD TODAY

Between 1932 and 1933, in the Soviet Union 5 million people died of starvation. Some cases have been reported, when mothers, in order to survive, ate the flesh of their own children who died of starvation.

In the 1930s, in Germany almost all foodstuffs were available only on ration cards.

In 1954, in England ration cards were canceled.

A modern man, living in a civilized country, can hardly believe that very recently, less than 100 years ago, DEATH OF STARVATION was an everyday threat for almost every person on our planet.

A decisive change occurred in the second half of the 20th century:

- Technologies won over hunger in Europe and America.

- The peoples of Europe and America achieved a goal of universal literacy.

The speed of spreading the morality, based on the Commandments, has increased significantly.

Don’t think that people stopped killing, no! However, in our time, in contrast to the past centuries, killing has stopped being a NORMAL behavior in developed countries. Nowadays, murder is considered a BAD deed. A significant part of the population in developed countries is emotionally not capable of killing. Although in questions of promiscuous sexual relations, stealing, lying, and envying mankind has not reached that height, but here and there such a behavior is already considered as indecent.

Dear Reader, please accept my sincere congratulations! We’re the witnesses of a fateful process – a process when humankind and humanity are getting closer.


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About Love (continuation)

To my son on the day of his 19.5th birthday.

ABOUT KIND OF LOVE THAT IS TOO OFTEN NOT AS MUCH AS WE NEED.

There has been an elderly couple living on the 2nd floor in our building. They bought two apartments opposite each other. The second apartment was intended for their daughter.

Their daughter was living in France. Over the last 5 years of his life, she has never come to see her parents.

When he died, I found out that he was a famous writer, whose books I had read and appreciated. A talented, modest, and big-hearted, he died knowing exactly that his own daughter did not love him.

Why?

The nature of love – is giving. The more one person gives to another – the stronger and deeper the love. (explanation here)

Your love for your future wife will begin with the first attraction.

Your love for your future children will begin with their birth.

When and why does love for parents begin? There are no natural causes for this, because your parents will anyway give you everything without expecting anything in return. Nature does not demand that you GIVE to your parents, and therefore does not demand that you love them.

That is why it was written:

כַּבֵּד אֶת-אָבִיךָ וְאֶת-אִמֶּךָ, כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוְּךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ–לְמַעַן יַאֲרִיכֻן יָמֶיךָ, וּלְמַעַן יִיטַב לָךְ, עַל הָאֲדָמָה, אֲשֶׁר-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ.

Old Testament, the 5th Commandment: Honour thy father and thy mother,

It is respect for your parents that can make you feel a need TO GIVE to them and, as a result, you can experience that kind of love, which is very often not enough, not for parents, but for children. Why for children? Because ONLY love gives a feeling of happiness. Because the love gives a feeling of happiness ONLY to the one who loves.

Be happy!


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About Love

To my son on the day of his 18th birthday.

WHAT IS LOVE AND WHERE TO LOOK FOR IT?

Love can be different: a mother’s love to her child, a father’s love to his child, love between husband and wife, between lovers, love to friends, to people in general, to your Nation, to your Homeland, to your Profession, to your Place of Work, to your Way of Life, and so on. However, we can all agree that the most frequent and the strongest love is a mother’s love for her child.

But what happens if we separate a mother from her child at the time of birth and let them meet again in 40 years?

In most cases, the emotions of this mother will be far from love that a mother usually feels to her child. Why? Because this mother was not allowed to give her love to the child.

The nature of love – is giving. The more one person gives to another – the stronger and deeper the love. If you want to feel true love, be ready to give everything!

There is one type of love that stands separately from the others. It is love of a person to himself. This is a very strong feeling. A person who loves himself is not capable of giving and therefore is not capable to love anyone else, to love the people, to love the motherland.

So, what is Love? Love is a talent.

Being an artist is a talent. If there is no such talent, a person certainly can be taught to portray something somehow, but he will never become a real artist.

The ability to love is a talent. If you are looking for a person with such talent, look among those who have already proven that they really have this talent.

How can you find such a Person?

Do not look for this person among couples – there is no place for you.

Do not look for this person among lovers – it is easy to make a mistake.

Do not look for this person among those who love their profession or place of work – it is unreliable.

Do not look for this person among those who love themselves – it is hopeless.

Love to your nation and to homeland is unconditional and demands nothing in return. Among the people who love their nation, look for those talented in love.

People that hate other nations pose their hatred as love to their nation. These people have a talent to hate. Be careful!

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Ev and Kiev – History Repeats Itself

About alternative temples in Judaism and birth of the city of Kiev (Ukraine)

THE ISLAND IN THE NILE RIVER

If you go 800 kilometers from Cairo upstream the Nile River, you will see an island opposite the city of Aswan. Native people call it Island of Elephants. Tourists know it as Elephantine Island, from the ancient Greek name ελεφάντινη [elefantini]. But there are no elephants there and never were.

PICTURE 01

Ev 01 place of Ev

The first people that arrived to the island in the beginning of the 16th century B.C. noticed big smooth rounded rocks, which looked like elephant’s back, and because of that they gave the name to the island as (Heb) יב [ev], which meant elephant in ancient Hebrew. The word combination “a tooth of an elephant” in ancient Hebrew sounded the following way: היב שן [shen ha-ev]. This word combination entered Modern Hebrew as the word שנהב [shenhav] = (Eng) an elephant’s tooth or ivory.

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THE VERY FIRST WAVE OF EMIGRATION

Between 740 and 735 B.C. the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III began the war against Rezin, a king of Aram-Damascus, and his allies, with the king of Israel Pekah among them. In 732 B.C. the Assyrian army invaded Israel from the north and started little by little taking the lands settled by the Israelites. The war lasted for 31 years.

Escaping from the war, the Jews of the Kingdom of Israel went to the south, to the Kingdom of Judea, and farther to Egypt, where they were welcomed by friendly people that had been living in the area of Faiyum since the time of the Egyptian slavery (See the article “Two Exoduses“), i.e. more than 500 years before the described events.

Following the Jews, the Assyrian troops came close to the border with Egypt. The most cautious of the refugees went upstream the Nile River and settled in a place protected on all sides, i.e. on Ev Island.

PICTURE 02

Ev 02 route to Ev

The population of the island was growing. After about 100 years a house of worship was built on the island. It was opened in 610 B.C.

After another 24 years, in 586 B.C., the king Nebuchadnezzar II destroyed the Temple of Jerusalem and deported the Jews of Judea to Babylon – the Kingdom of Judea ceased to exist. The Jews dispersed throughout the world lost their religious center.

And then the Jews of Ev Island turned their house of worship into an ALTERNATIVE Temple. And in this Temple they started to perform those religious ordinances that used to be performed only in the Jerusalem Temple. The Temple on the Island of Ev became a world center of Jewish religious life for a period of 70 years.

After 48 years, in 538 B.C., King Cyrus ordered the Jews, who were in the Babylonian captivity, to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild the Temple.

The construction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem was completed in 516 B.C.

From that time temple worship was performing in two places in parallel: in Jerusalem and on the Island of Ev.

During excavations on the Island of Ev, which were carried out in the 19th century, a lot of written documents describing economic, social, and religious life on the island were found. About 350 registered documents still exist today. These documents show that there was an intense discussion between the religious leaders of Ev Island and Jerusalem about the legality of the situation, when two temples existed at the same time. This discussion lasted for 106 years. In 410 B.C. it was closed because the Temple on the Island of Ev was completely destroyed during the pogrom organized by the Egyptian authorities.

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HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

Prophet Muhammad (Mohammad) was born in 571.

At the age of 40, when he began his religious activity, the Mediterranean world was involved in the process of Christianization. In the 7th century, followers of Muhammad created a new state – the Muslim Caliphate (See the article “The Road is paved with Incense“). The territory of the Caliphate exceeded three times the territory of the Byzantine Empire.

PICTURE 03

Ev 03 map of Islamic Khalifut

During the struggle over spheres of influence, the Byzantine Empire and the Caliphate forcefully converted the population to Christianity and Islam, respectively.

The Jews refused to convert to another religion and were persecuted. The Jews of the Byzantine Empire and the Caliphate were forced to leave their homes and escape.

Where to?

In the 7th and 8th centuries, the Jews who were living in the western part of the Roman Empire (10-20% of the total number of the Jews) moved to the Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal). Most of the Jews of the Byzantine Empire and the Caliphate, including the Jews of Jerusalem, migrated to the territory of the Khazaria between the Black and the Caspian seas. On the map this area is marked with an ellipse. We will need this ellipse in the next part of the article.

PICTURE 04

Ev 04 jews to Khazaria

It was the 8th century. The Muslim armies were attacking the southern borders of Khazaria.

Here again, history repeated itself – the events that happened were the same as those in the 8th century B.C. on the Nile River (See above).

The most cautious of the refugees went upstream the Dnieper and settled in a place protected on all sides, i.e. on the island.

PICTURE 05

Ev 05 birth of Kiev

Jerusalem was in hands of the Muslims, and there was no hope for renewal of Jewish religious life there in the near future. The Jews decided to create an alternative Temple, just as it had been done on the Island of Ev 1.600 years before. The temple was built and started to function in the end of 8th century or in the beginning of the 9th century.

In the eyes of the Jews, the island on the Dnieper River was the same as Ev Island on the Nile River in Egypt. The expression “the same as Ev” in Hebrew looks like כִּיֵב [kiev]. Thus the name of the city of Kiev originated.

The Jews, who lived in Kiev, had escaped from different countries. They spoke different dialects of Hebrew and Aramaic languages. The name of the city could be written in different ways according to the dialect, for example:

כִּיֵב [kiev]  or  כִּי יֵב [ki ev]  or   קִי יֵב [ci ev]  or  קִי יוב [ki yov] or ……

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THE KIEV LETTER

The so-called “Kiev Letter” is the earliest, of the existing in our time, written document, where the name of the city of Kiev is mentioned. This document was written in Hebrew approximately in 930, and is stored in the Cambridge University Library.

PICTURE 06

Ev 06 the Kiev letter

The name of the city of Kiev itself can’t be seen clearly in this document. Some of the scientists, who have hold the document in their hands, claim that the name of the city consists of two words and is written the following way: יוב קי [ki yov]. Perhaps they are right.

In 882, Prince Oleg (Olg), who had arrived to Kiev from Novgorod, said that “this city will be mother to Russian cities.”

Here is a quote from “The Tale of Bygone Years”:

PICTURE 07

Ev 07 882 Oleg Mather of russian cities

Why was it Oleg who said this?

Why did he say this about Kiev in particular?

Why did he say this about Kiev using these particular words?

Dear Reader, the answers to these questions you can find in the article “Mother of Russian Cities“.

Prince Oleg decided to live on the island near the Temple. His place of residence got the name of Olzhishe, which is translated into modern Russian as Oleg’s, i.e. belonging to Oleg.

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TARKHAN

There is a verb in Hebrew לטרוח [litroah] = (Eng) to try, to endeavor. The earliest-known written document that used the word with this root more than three thousand years ago was the Torah:

תורה, ספר דברים

א,יב   אֵיכָה אֶשָּׂא, לְבַדִּי, טָרְחֲכֶם וּמַשַּׂאֲכֶם, וְרִיבְכֶם.

 Torah, Book 5 Deuteronomy (Words), Chapter 1

12 How can I myself alone bear your endeavors, and your burdens, and your strifes?

The word טרחן [tarhan] = a person who is trying, or endeavoring, comes from the word לטרוח. During the time of the Khazar Khaganate (between the 8th and the 10th centuries) the word TARKHAN was used for encouragement of persons close to the throne. Later it entered various Eastern languages and became the title/rank of senior military leaders, like the modern rank of General.

It is known that in 764 the Khazar army, led by the commander in the rank of Rosh Tarkhan (in English-language literature as Ras Tarkhan), defeated the Arab forces attacking the Caucasus from the south. The word (Heb) ראש [rosh] means (Eng) head. The title (Heb) טרחן ראש [rosh tarhan] equals the modern rank of “Chief General”.

The Khazars styled Prince Oleg with the title of TARKHAN, therefore the island where he lived was named as Tarkhan Island. Today it is called Trukhanov Island. It was the place where history of the city of Kiev began.

PICTURE 08

Ev 08 Trukhanov Island

In our days the word TARKHAN still exists in some geographical names, for example:

  • The city of Taman was formerly called as (Heb) תמן טרחן [taman tarhan].
  • The western extremity of the Crimean Peninsula – the Tarkhankut Cape.
  • Lermontov spent his childhood in the estate of Tarkhany.
  • The name of Astrakhan city came from the word (Heb) אשטרחן [astarhan].

PICTURE 09

Ev 09 Tarkhan En

  • Until 1945, the name of Vishnyovka Village in Krasnoperekopsky District of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea was Tarkhan.
  • Until 1948, the name of Dvorovoe Village in Nizhnegorsky District of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea was Tarkhan.
  • Tarkhan is the name of the village (Arab) كفر طرخان [kfar tarhan] in Egypt, where in 1911 the cemetery was found with the burials dating to the 27th century B.C. The Reader familiar with the article “Two Exoduses,” will not be surprised to know that this village is located in the Fayum Area, i.e. in the Land of Goshen mentioned in the Torah. A lot of precious artifacts were found there, including the Fayum portraits.
  • Tarkhana was the name of the city (Heb) טרחנה [tarhana] founded in the end of the 8th century B.C. 80 km north-west of Rome by the Israelites escaped from the invasion of the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III (See the articles “Everything Comes Full Circle” and “The Golden Triangle“). As time passed by, the name of the city has been distorted, and today it is called as Tarquinia.

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And They Made Their Lives Bitter, …

A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE PAST

In the middle of the 17th century B.C. the population of Egypt lived a settled way of life and was engaged in agriculture and public works. When the Jews came to Egypt, they successfully filled a gap in its economic structure, as their occupations were animal breeding and trade. A big part of the Jews engaged in trade left Egypt between the 15th and 14th centuries B.C. and settled on the coast and islands of the Mediterranean Sea. The Jews from the tribe of Dan founded the city of Mycenae. They called the Danayans (from the hebrew word דנאי [danai], i.e. the Dan man) or the Danaans (from the hebrew word דן [dan]). The Jews from other tribes, settled in the Aegean Sea, got the name of Achaeans (from the hebrew word אחי [achi]) – for more details see the article “Exodus: Behind the Scenes“.

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THUS THE SLAVERY BEGAN

In the beginning of the 14th century B.C. the interior territories of Asia Minor (the territory of modern Turkey) were inhabited by mixture of the Semites who had arrived there from the east at different periods of time. There were settlements of the Assyrians and settlements of people arrived from other places. The Assyrians called them (Heb) חתים [hetim] → (Eng) the Hittites. These people did not identify themselves as one nation.

In the 14th century B.C. the Danaans and the Achaeans were actively exploring the coast of Asia Minor. The territories where they settled are marked on the map with yellow.

Picture 01

new king 01 Hattites

On the southern coast of Asia Minor, opposite the island of Cyprus, the Danaans founded a group of settlements under the name of Danuna or Danone. Nowadays there is a big Turkish city of Adana here. Its name came from the Aramaic word אדנא [adana], which means the Dan.

They brought with them manufacturing technology for iron weapons and iron instruments (see the article “Who are you, Pharaoh?“). They used chariots not only in battle, but also for trade purposes and for exchanging information. These new technologies gave the kings of the Hittites the possibility of controlling large territories of Asia Minor, which are today known as the Hittite Empire.

The main trade route of that time, which connected Mesopotamia and Egypt, was on the Euphrates River ((Heb) הפרת [haprat]) and along the Mediterranean coast – the red line on the map.

Picture 02

new king 02 trade way

In the end of the 14th century B.C. the Danaans together with the Hittites established control over the central part of this route, which resulted in the following consequences:

–   Collecting dues from the caravans moving from Assyria and Mesopotamia to Egypt made the trade with Egypt unprofitable.

–   Part of the trade caravans of Assyria and Mesopotamia was redirected to the west, to the Hittites and the Balkan Peninsula – the green line on the map.

Picture 03

new king 03 Hattites trade

International trade of Egypt declined. In 1274 B.C. Pharaoh Ramesses II led his army to the north to solve the problem. The army of the Hittites and the Danaans went towards them.

Picture 04

new king 04 Kadesh buttle

The greatest, by that time, battle took place. We know the size of the Egyptian forces that took part in the battle: 16,000 soldiers and 2,000 chariots.

There was no clear winner in the battle of Kadesh, however the most important result of this battle was maintaining the status quo, i.e. Egypt failed to restore the trade with Assyria and Mesopotamia, and as a result did not come out of the economic crisis.

The Danaans moved forward to the south-east up to the Euphrates River and founded a new state – the state of Aram. Since then this state, situated at the crossroads of main trade routes of that time, controlled almost the entire land trade.

Picture 05

new king 05 Aram

Collapsed economy of Egypt demanded a decision. History teaches us that a dictator, as a rule, is not able to solve economic problems by economic methods, and therefore is looking for someone to rob. It should be noted that participation of the Danaans in the Battle of Kadesh undermined the confidence of the pharaoh Ramesses II in loyalty of the Jewish population of Egypt. It is quite logical that the Pharaoh decided to rob first of all those of his people, whom he considered unreliable. Thus, it was the beginning of that period in the Jewish history, which is identified with the Egyptian slavery:

תורה, ספר שמות

א,ח וַיָּקָם מֶלֶךְ-חָדָשׁ, עַל-מִצְרָיִם, אֲשֶׁר לֹא-יָדַע, אֶת-יוֹסֵף.  א,ט וַיֹּאמֶר, אֶל-עַמּוֹ:  הִנֵּה, עַם בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל–רַב וְעָצוּם, מִמֶּנּוּ.  א,י הָבָה נִתְחַכְּמָה, לוֹ:  פֶּן-יִרְבֶּה, וְהָיָה כִּי-תִקְרֶאנָה מִלְחָמָה וְנוֹסַף גַּם-הוּא עַל-שֹׂנְאֵינוּ, וְנִלְחַם-בָּנוּ, וְעָלָה מִן-הָאָרֶץ.  א,יא וַיָּשִׂימוּ עָלָיו שָׂרֵי מִסִּים, לְמַעַן עַנֹּתוֹ בְּסִבְלֹתָם; וַיִּבֶן עָרֵי מִסְכְּנוֹת, לְפַרְעֹה–אֶת-פִּתֹם, וְאֶת-רַעַמְסֵס.  א,יב וְכַאֲשֶׁר יְעַנּוּ אֹתוֹ, כֵּן יִרְבֶּה וְכֵן יִפְרֹץ; וַיָּקֻצוּ, מִפְּנֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל.  א,יג וַיַּעֲבִדוּ מִצְרַיִם אֶת-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, בְּפָרֶךְ.  א,יד וַיְמָרְרוּ אֶת-חַיֵּיהֶם בַּעֲבֹדָה קָשָׁה, בְּחֹמֶר וּבִלְבֵנִים, וּבְכָל-עֲבֹדָה, בַּשָּׂדֶה–אֵת, כָּל-עֲבֹדָתָם, אֲשֶׁר-עָבְדוּ בָהֶם, בְּפָרֶךְ.  א,טו וַיֹּאמֶר מֶלֶךְ מִצְרַיִם, לַמְיַלְּדֹת הָעִבְרִיֹּת, אֲשֶׁר שֵׁם הָאַחַת שִׁפְרָה, וְשֵׁם הַשֵּׁנִית פּוּעָה.  א,טז וַיֹּאמֶר, בְּיַלֶּדְכֶן אֶת-הָעִבְרִיּוֹת, וּרְאִיתֶן, עַל-הָאָבְנָיִם:  אִם-בֵּן הוּא וַהֲמִתֶּן אֹתוֹ, וְאִם-בַּת הִוא וָחָיָה

Torah, Book 2 Exodus

1,8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph. 1,9 And he said unto his people: ‘Behold, the people of the children of Israel are too many and too mighty for us; 1,10 come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there befalleth us any war, they also join themselves unto our enemies, and fight against us, and get them up out of the land.’ 1,11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh store-cities, Pithom and Raamses. 1,12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And they were adread because of the children of Israel. 1,13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour. 1,14 And they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field; in all their service, wherein they made them serve with rigour. 1,15 And the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah; 1,16 and he said: ‘When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, ye shall look upon the birthstool: if it be a son, then ye shall kill him; but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.’

And at that very moment in 1274 B.C. Moses was born. After 80 years, this would result in …… – you can read about it in the article “Exodus: Behind the Scenes“.

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ORIGIN OF ARAMAIC LANGUAGE

As mentioned above, between the 15th and 14th centuries B.C. a big part of the Jews emigrated from Egypt and settled in the Aegean Sea region. Then they spread to the east to Asia Minor, took part in the Battle of Kadesh, moved farther to the south-east, and in the 13th century B.C. founded the state of Aram.

For more than 200 years, from the 15th to the 13th centuries B.C., this group, practically separated from the other Jews, formed a dialect (slang) of Hebrew language. After the state of Aram had been founded, this dialect got the status of the separate language called Aramaic, from the word (Heb) ארמית [aramit].

There is no significant difference between the Hebrew and Aramite languages. A person speaking Hebrew after a few lessons will be able to read and understand texts in Aramite.

As an illustration, below are two quotes from the book of the prophet Ezra translated into Hebrew and English:

Quote 1:

ספר עזרא, פרק ד’, פסוק יא

(ארמית): דְּנָה֙ פַּרְשֶׁ֣גֶן אִגַּרְתָּ֔א דִּ֚י שְׁלַ֣חוּ עֲל֔וֹהִי עַל-אַרְתַּחְשַׁ֖שְׂתְּא מַלְכָּ֑א עַבְדָ֛ךְ אֱנָ֥שׁ עֲבַֽר-נַהֲרָ֖ה

(תרגום לעברית): הנה העתק האיגרת אשר שלחו אל ארתחששתא המלך עבדיך אנשי עבר-הנהר

The Book of Ezra, Chapter 4, Verse 11:

This is the copy of the letter that they sent to Artahshasta (Artaxerxes) the king, his slaves the men beyond the river … (meaning the Euphrates River).

Quote 2:

ספר עזרא, פרק ד’, פסוק כ

(ארמית): וּמַלְכִ֣ין תַּקִּיפִ֗ין הֲווֹ֙ עַל-יְר֣וּשְׁלֶ֔ם וְשַׁ֨לִּיטִ֔ין בְּכֹ֖ל עֲבַ֣ר נַהֲרָ֑ה וּמִדָּ֥ה בְל֛וֹ וַהֲלָ֖ךְ מִתְיְהֵ֥ב לְהֽוֹן

(תרגום לעברית): ומלכים תוקפניים היו על ירושלים ושליטים בכל עבר הנהר ומסים נטולים להם

The Book of Ezra, Chapter 4, Verse 20:

There have been aggressive kings also over Jerusalem, which have ruled over all beyond the river; and toll was paid unto them.

Two above mentioned quotations show to the reader who knows Hebrew that 90% of the words in Hebrew and Aramaic have the same roots, and the grammar is also very similar.

The main occupations of the Jews of Aram were transit trade and control of trade routes. It was not surprising that to the 12th century B.C. Aramaic spread throughout Western Asia. It became the language of international communications and remained in this status until the end of the 4th century B.C., i.e. until the invasion of Alexander the Great to Asia – see the article “Alexander the Great – him too?“.

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WHO ARE THE SHERDEN?

Among the Jews who settled on the islands and the coast of the Mediterranean Sea between the 15th and 14th centuries B.C., there was a group that got very far away from the centers of civilization. They called themselves as (Heb) שרדן [sardan] = (Eng) survivor, capable of surviving.

Picture 06

new king 06 Sardinia

In the territories where they lived, some names still exist in memory of those people, such as the island of Sardinia, wine Chardonnay, and others.

In European literature this group is called as the Sherden, or Shardana, or Sherdanu.

The Sherdens were good and relieble soldiers. The records of Pharaoh Ramesses II say that he used them as his bodyguards.

Later on, between 1184 and 1154 B.C. the Sherdens participated in the invasion of “The Sea Peoples” to Egypt together with the Danaans and other groups of the Mediterranean Jews with the purpose to give the Jews of Egypt a chance for the Exodus – see the article “Exodus: Behind the Scenes“.


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The Blood Brothers

ABOUT THE PAST

In 928 B.C. king Rehoboam ((Heb) רחבעם [rehav’am]), the grandson of king David and the son of king Solomon, because of his stupidity and arrogance put an end to the United Kingdom of Jews. Two new kingdoms arose:

–   Judea, which included lands of 3 Tribes: Judah, Benjamin, and Simeon.

–   Israel, which included lands of the other 9 tribes.

Between 731 and 701 years B.C. Assyrian kings ravaged Israel. A great number of the Jews, i.e. more than 3 million (See the article “The Numbers“), was spread all over the world. A big part of them, probably around 1 million, settled in Greece and around Greece (See the article “Everything Comes Full Circle“). Thus, it was the end of the so-called “Dark Ages of Greece” and the beginning of the ancient Greek civilization (See the article “Why Does Europe Write Left-to-Right?“).

In 586 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar II, the king of Babylon, destroyed Jerusalem and took the religious and intellectual elite of Judea as captives with the purpose to raise the cultural level of his country. He let the Jews live in big cities and gave them absolute religious and cultural freedom.

The Jews all over the world fell into depression – the last Jewish state ceased to exist! There was no Homeland anymore!

The depression lasted for 48 years.

תהילים פרק קלז

א עַל נַהֲרוֹת בָּבֶל שָׁם יָשַׁבְנוּ גַּם בָּכִינוּ, בְּזָכְרֵנוּ אֶת צִיּוֹן

ב  עַל עֲרָבִים בְּתוֹכָהּ תָּלִינוּ כִּנֹּרוֹתֵינוּ

ג  כִּי שָׁם שְׁאֵלוּנוּ שׁוֹבֵינוּ דִּבְרֵי שִׁיר וְתוֹלָלֵינוּ שִׂמְחָה, שִׁירוּ לָנוּ מִשִּׁיר צִיּוֹן

ד  אֵיךְ נָשִׁיר אֶת שִׁיר יְהוָה עַל אַדְמַת נֵכָר. ה  אִם אֶשְׁכָּחֵךְ יְרוּשָׁלָ‍ִם תִּשְׁכַּח יְמִינִי

ו  תִּדְבַּק לְשׁוֹנִי לְחִכִּי אִם לֹא אֶזְכְּרֵכִי, אִם לֹא אַעֲלֶה אֶת יְרוּשָׁלַ‍ִם עַל רֹאשׁ שִׂמְחָתִי

ז  זְכֹר יְהוָה לִבְנֵי אֱדוֹם אֵת יוֹם יְרוּשָׁלָ‍ִם, הָאֹמְרִים עָרוּ עָרוּ עַד הַיְסוֹד בָּהּ

ח  בַּת בָּבֶל הַשְּׁדוּדָה, אַשְׁרֵי שֶׁיְשַׁלֶּם לָךְ אֶת גְּמוּלֵךְ שֶׁגָּמַלְתְּ לָנוּ

ט  אַשְׁרֵי שֶׁיֹּאחֵז וְנִפֵּץ אֶת עֹלָלַיִךְ אֶל הַסָּלַע

Psalms, Psalm 136

1By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.

2Upon the willows in the midst thereof we hanged up our harps.

3For there they that led us captive asked of us words of song, and our tormentors asked of us mirth: ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion.’

4How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?

5If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.

6Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I remember thee not; if I set not Jerusalem above my chiefest joy.

7Remember, O LORD, against the children of Edom the day of Jerusalem; who said: ‘Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.’

8O daughter of Babylon, that art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that repayeth thee as thou hast served us.

9Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the rock.

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In 538 B.C. king Cyrus ((Heb) כורש [koresh]) by decree allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem and even subsidized their repatriation. They restored the state of Judea. Since that time the religious Jews all over the world would identify themselves with Judea and, therefore, call themselves as Judeans, and their religion would be named as JUDAISM.

Around 70% of the Jews repatriated to Judea from Babylon were born and grew up in Babylon. Their native language was Aramaic. They brought with them Aramaic letters to Judea. It was not difficult. The Aramaic alphabet was the younger brother of the Hebrew alphabet. It also had 22 letters with the same meaning of these letters. The Aramaic alphabet was different from the Hebrew alphabet only by way the letters were written, i.e. by type of font.

From that time the Jews started using both fonts, which were named as the ancient and the foursquare. Over time the square font was used more often, while the ancient one less and less often. The last usage by Jews of the ancient font was found to be in 135 A.D., on the coins of Bar Kochba.

Blood Brothers 01 En

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Between 334 and 323 years B.C. Alexander the Great (See the article “Alexander the Great – Him Too?”) on purpose or unwillingly made Hellenism the dominant religion, while KOINE, a dialect of Greek, became the common language of international communications.

Every nation at all times has been trying and is trying nowadays to adapt the religion to its mentality. This explains the difference between Christianity in Italy, in Russia, and in Germany. This explains the difference between Islam in Saudi Arabia, in Iran, and in Turkey. The Assyrian peoples in the end of the 4th century B.C. accepted the external gloss of Hellenism, but not its essence, and adapted it to their primitive morality. Ancient Greek cities were famous for their support of sciences and arts, while the Hellenized aristocracy of Assyria was more interested in physical pleasures. In Ancient Greek cities, as a rule, the authority was divided between two governors, which were elected in different ways for a limited period of time, while in Assyria any elections were out of the question – the struggle for the throne in the territory of Assyria was ruthless and bloody at all times.

Between the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C. the Assyrian Pseudo-Greek culture, aggressive and immoral, was the direct opposite of the Greek culture. Assyrian kings used Hellenism as a tool for subjecting the dependent peoples, and propagated Hellenism by force among these peoples. All peoples obeyed, except the Jews. From approximately 300 B.C. the pressure on the Jews started growing, which resulted in the rebellion led by the Maccabees in 165 B.C.

During this war, the cities of Greece supported the Jews and offered them help. The Jews, realizing that a conflict between Hellenism and Pseudo-Hellenism would be a very sensitive issue, refrained from taking any help.

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CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE SPARTANS AND THE JEWS

Here we offer the reader some fragments of the correspondence between Sparta and Judea. Three letters will be quoted in this article.

There are two sources, from which we know about this correspondence:

-   Antiquities of the Jews – a book written by Flavius Josephus in Rome in the end of the 1st century A.D., in Koine language. This book quotes two letters: from the Spartans to the Jews, and the answer of the Jews.

-   The First Book of the Maccabees – one of the deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament. This book gives the content of three letters: of two letters cited by Flavius Josephus, and of one more letter from the Spartans to the Jews.

It should be noted that Flavius Josephus (born Joseph ben Matityahu) was a priest of high rank from the high priest’s inner circle. Judging by the details set out in the translation of these letters, he had personally read the originals of the correspondence, which were subsequently lost. Therefore, we can assume that the texts of the letters presented in his book were the closest to the original. Now you can read two letters from the book of Flavius Josephus (text in Koine language + translation).

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LETTER No.1 - The Spartans to the Jews, around 300 B.C.:

Blood Brothers 02 Letter 1 koine

 

Antiquities of the Jews, Book 12, Chapter 4, Section 10

Areus, King of Lacedaimonians, to Onias, sendeth greeting.

We have met with certain books, whereby we have discovered that both the Jews and the Lacedaimonians are of one stock, and are derived from the kindred of Abraham. It is but just therefore that you, who are our brethren, should send to us about any of your concerns as you please. We will also do the same thing, and esteem your possessions as our own, and let you look upon our possessions as upon your property. Demoteles, our postman, will bring you this letter. The font is foursquare; and the seal is an eagle holding a dragon.

Dear reader! Try to guess: what language was this letter written in? The answer you’ll find in the end of this article.

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LETTER No.2 – The Jews answer the Spartans, 165 B.C.:

Blood Brothers 03 Letter 2 koine

 

Antiquities of the Jews, Book 13, Chapter 5, Section 8

“Jonathan the high priest of the Jewish people, and the council of ancients , and the assembly of priests, to the ephori, and the council of ancients , and people of the Lacedaimonians, send greeting.

If you be in peace, and both your public and private affairs be agreeable to your mind, it is according to our wishes. We are in peace also. In former times an epistle was brought to Onias, who was then our high priest, from your king Areus, by Demoteles, concerning the kindred that was between us and you, a copy of which is here subjoined. We joyfully received the epistle, and treated Demoteles with love, as well as Areus, although we need no demonstration of these kindred, because it was quite clear for us from our Holy Books. Yet did not we think fit first to begin the claim of these kindred to you, lest we should seem too early in taking to ourselves the glory which is now given us by you. And in spite of a long time since this relation of ours to you hath been renewed, we, upon holy and festival days, when offering sacrifices to God, always pray to him for your prosperity and victories. Although we have had many wars, by thirst for evil of our neighbors, in order not to be troublesome, yet have not we involve either you, or others that were related to us. And now, since we have overcome our enemies, we send Numenius the son of Antiochus, and Antipater the son of Jason, who are both honorable councilors, to the Romans and to you, and we give them the epistle to you also, that they might renew that relation which was between us. You will therefore do well yourselves to write to us, and send us an account of what you stand in need of from us, since we are in all things disposed to act according to your desires.”

So the Lacedaimonians received the ambassadors kindly, and made a decree for friendship and mutual assistance, and sent them back.

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The same correspondence, but with the third letter in addition, is otherwise rendered in The First Book of the Maccabees. Taking into account lack of details, we can assume that this book describes the content of the letters, instead of quoting them.

LETTER No.1

ספר חשמונאים א’, פרק י”ב

(כא) אריוש מלך אשפרתא לחוניו כהן הגדול שלום

(כב) מצאנו כתוב בדברי הימים כי יושבי אשפרתא והיהודים אנשים אחים המה ואברהם אב לשניהם. (כג) ועתה כי ידענו זאת, הואילו נא וכתבו לנו השלום לכם, וגם אנחנו נכתוב לכם. (כד) גורל אחד יהיה לכולנו, מקנינו וקניינינו יהיו לכם, ומקניכם וקנייניכם יהיו לנו, אנוכי שפטתי אל נכון להודיעכם את כל אלה

The First Book of the Maccabees, Chapter 12

(21) Arius king of Sparta to Onias the high priest, greeting.

(22) We have found in our ancient books that the Spartans and the Jews are brethren, and that they are of the stock of Abraham. (23) And now since this is come to your knowledge, you do well to write to us of your prosperity, and we will also write back to you. (24) We will have a common fate, when our possessions are yours, and yours are ours. I therefore have commanded that these things should be told you.

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LETTER No.2

ספר חשמונאים א’, פרק י”ב

 (ז) יונתן כהן הגדול וזקני העם והכוהנים וכל עם היהודים לאחיהם אנשי אשפרתא שלום

(ח) הנה זה ימים רבים ואריוש מלככם שלח ספרים אל חוניו כהן הגדול לאמור כי אנשים אחים אנחנו, ככתוב במשנה הספר אשר מתחת. (ט) וחוניו שמח לקראת הציר אשר שולח, ויקח את ספר הברית והאהבה מידו. (י) ועתה אם אמנם לא חסרנו דבר ותורת ה’ אשר בידינו לתנחומים לנו. (יא) לא חדלנו משלוח לכם את מלאכינו אלה לחדש ולחזק את ברית האהבה והאחווה עמכם, פן נחשב כזרים בעיניכם כי ארכו הימים אשר שלחתם אלינו. (יב) לכן דעו נא כי כל שבת ומועד אשר נקריב בהם קרבן לאלוהים, ונזכרתם גם אתם על עולותינו ובתפילתנו, כאשר יאות להעתיר אל ה’ בעד שלום האחים. (יג) כי בשלומם ובכבודם יגל וישמח לבנו. (יד) ואף כי צרות רבות ורעות עברו על נפשנו, כי נלחמנו עם כל המלכים מסביב אשר קמו עלינו להשחיתנו. (טו) לא עלה על לבנו להוגיע אתכם או את בעלי בריתנו לבקש עזרה מידם במלחמות האלה. (טז) כי ה’ אלוהים היה בעזרנו, והצילנו מכף צרינו ויכניעם לפנינו. (יז) אולם בשלחנו כעת את מלאכינו את נומיניוס בן אנטיוכוס ואת אנטיפטר בן ישוע לאחינו בני רומא לחדש את ברית האהבה הנושנת עימהם. (יח) הפקדנו אותם ללכת גם אליכם לשאול בשלומכם, ולתת את הספר הזה בידכם, ולחדש את בריתנו אתכם. (יט) ואם ייטב בעיניכם תשיבו אותנו דבר

The First Book of the Maccabees, Chapter 12

(7) Jonathan the high priest, and the ancients of the nation, and the priests, and the rest of the people of the Jews, to the Spartans, their brethren, greeting.

(8) There were letters sent long ago to Onias the high priest from Arius who reigned then among you, to signify that you are our brethren, as the copy here underwritten doth specify. (9) And Onias treated the ambassador with honour: and received the letter from his hands, wherein there was mention made of the alliance, and amity. (10) Although we needed none of the proofs, and the Torah convinced us of the same. (11) We have not ceased dreaming to renew and strengthen our alliance of love and friendship, lest we should become strangers to you altogether: for there is a long time passed since you sent to us. (12) Let us tell you then, that every Shabbat and every holiday, when offering sacrifices to God, we remember you in our requests and prayers, and for God to save the peace between brothers. (13) And for prosperity and respect between us to calm and delight our hearts. (14) But we have had many troubles and wars on every side, and the kings that are round about us, have fought against us to destroy us. (15) But we would not be troublesome to you, nor the rest of our allies and friends in these wars. (16) For we have had help from God, and we have been saved, and our enemies are humbled. (17) We have chosen therefore Numenius the son of Antiochus, and Antipater the son of Jason, and have sent them to our brethren in Rome to renew with them the former amity and alliance. (18) And we have commanded them to go also to you, and to salute you, and to deliver you this letter, concerning the renewing of our alliance. (19) And now if you see that this is good, give us an answer hereto.

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LETTER No.3 – The Jews answer the Spartans (around 165 B.C. or later):

ספר חשמונאים א’, פרק י”ד

 (כ) ראשי בני אשפרתא והעיר, לשמעון הכהן הגדול ולזקנים ולכוהנים ולכל עם יהודה אחינו שלום

(כא) המלאכים אשר שלחתם אלינו ספרו לנו את כבודכם ואת גדולתכם בארץ, ושמחנו מאוד לקראתם. (כב) את אשר בקשו ממנו כתבנו על ספר דברי הימים אשר לקרייתנו לאמור. (כג) נומיניוס בן אנטיוכוס ואנטיפטר בן ישוע שלוחי היהודים באו אלינו לחדש את ברית האהבה אשר כרתנו עימהם

The First Book of the Maccabees, Chapter 14

(20) The leaders of the sons of Sparta and the cities to Simon the high priest, and to the ancients, and the priests, and to all the people of Judea, our brethren, greeting.

(21) The ambassadors that you have sent to us, told us of your glory, and honour, and we rejoiced over you. (22) And we registered what was said by them in our books, as it was suggested by you. (23) Numenius the son of Antiochus, and Antipater the son of Jason, ambassadors of the Jews, came to us to renew the former alliance of amity with us.

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CONCLUSIONS

Conclusion No 1:

The above mentioned correspondence confirms that the Jews were the ancestors of the Spartans. This is not surprising at all – read the article “Everything Comes Full Circle“.

Conclusion No 2:

The last sentence of the first letter starts with the following: “The font is foursquare…” – this means that the letter was written in Hebrew.

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IT IS INTERESTING

  1. Etymology of the word (Greek) Σπάρτη [Sparta]

The word Sparta comes from the word (Hebrew/Aramaic) אשפרתא [ashparta] = the most beautiful.

The root of this word שפר [sh-p-r], which means “to make better” or “to decorate“, has been widely used in Hebrew, just as it is used nowadays, for example:

–   The surname שפירא [Shapiro or Shapira] is a common Jewish surname.

–   The surname שפר [Schaefer or Schefer] is a common Jewish surname.

–   Spree – the name of the river in Berlin.

–   Sapphire – the precious stone.

–   Schaffer (Ger) – the best man or the bridesman, the bride’s or the groom’s attendant.

–   Schiefer (Ger) – a slate, a material used to cover the roofs.

2. Etymology of the word (Greek) λακεδαιμον [Lacedaimon]

The root (Heb) לקד [l-k-d] means to join together, to unite.

The word (Heb) המון [hamon] means: the crowd, a great number.

The word (Greek) λακεδαιμον [Lacedaimon] means “the united people“.

 


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