RE: Made in Alexandria: The Origin of the Yahweh Cult
March 22, 2013 at 9:29 pm
(This post was last modified: March 22, 2013 at 9:38 pm by A_Nony_Mouse.)
(March 22, 2013 at 2:00 am)Minimalist Wrote:Quote:I have about 2 1/2 chapters and so far so good. I have not found his basis for saying it was written in the Persian period as yet.
Stick with it. Fortunately it is not a long book.
When you are ready I have an archaeological paper by Israel Finkelstein in which he holds that the size of Persian "Jerusalem" was some 2-2.5 hectares ( somewhere between 5 and 8 acres ) and numbered about 400 people...including children. Keep this in mind when you reach Davies' discussion.
Chapter 7 breaks it as he is explicitly saying there was a "return from Babylon" even though there is no evidence of any exile to Babylon. I have addressed this. What does exist says nothing of people being taken to Babylon. Other places he makes the point of the creators of these stories incorporating real historical events. So far I cannot find a single suggestion as to why he considers this any different from other incorporations. This is the distinctions I refer to history and historical fiction.
Thus I find no foundation for reciting this period. So far he has presented to indication of the region being literate in this time frame therefore he presents no basis for claiming written material was created. Combine that with the small size you suggest and with which I do not disagree and it is unclear what function written material could form. A few hundred rulers backed by Persia? Of what need do they have for written material? They are not preaching to farmers or passing merchants? They are not mass producing the material. The Persians have them in charge by some means.
Given its publication date it might be the origin of retreat from Solomonic times for creation to post-exilic. I have addressed and rejected this. He does nothing to address the points I have raised. I see this as just another attempt to keep the creation of the stories as old as possible. He presents NO physical evidence for his position only argumentation.
(March 22, 2013 at 3:57 am)KichigaiNeko Wrote: Sorry to intrude (I'm a fan) I found this -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Persian_Egypt
As you are referring to 150-100 BCE I am getting a bit confused.
Even here https://wiki.brown.edu/confluence/displa...to+334+BCE
I am not sure of the source of the confusion. I have been always been talking about Ptolemaic Egypt, Greek Egypt.
As to wikipedia and all encyclopedias they are designed to target high school students. We here a beyond that. For example, most anything related to bibleland is dominated by believers who deny Josephus and Herodotus when it conflicts with their religious tradition. They deny Josephus and Herodotus were even historians. Only what their fellow believers say about bibleland is acceptable.
Considering those points it is clear wikipedia is only suitable for high school level work as what Josephus and Herodotus actually wrote is beyond the high school level. High school level material is to empart the lowest common denominator of cultural and societal beliefs.
