Significant find at Megiddo

[Minimalist]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201...115717.htm

Researchers from Tel Aviv University have recently discovered a collection of gold and silver jewelry, dated from around 1100 B.C., hidden in a vessel at the archaeological site of Tel Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel. One piece -- a gold earring decorated with molded ibexes, or wild goats -- is "without parallel," they believe.

According to Prof. Israel Finkelstein of TAU's Department of Archaeology and Near Eastern Cultures, the vessel was found in 2010, but remained uncleaned while awaiting a molecular analysis of its content. When they were finally able to wash out the dirt, pieces of jewelry, including a ring, earrings, and beads, flooded from the vessel. Prof. Finkelstein is the co-director of the excavation of Tel Megiddo along with Professor Emeritus David Ussishkin of Tel Aviv University and Associate Director Prof. Eric Cline of George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

The Megiddo project has previously identified 4 destruction layers at Megiddo within a 350 year period...from the middle of the 12th century BC to the 8th. Oddly, it was the very middle of the 12th century when the Philistines landed on the Canaanite coast and Egyptian control of the region finally waned.

[Polaris]

Eric commented on this find on Facebook. He always loved to take a summer expedition every other year to the site (I forget which site he visited the other years). Most of my views on the history of the region actually come from him or well because of theories introduced from his classes I might say since he believes that the Israelites came from the Sea Peoples while I support the Hyksos hypothesis. I had a Christian friend of mine leave his class because he made it clear he was not going to accept the Bible as pure fact (though he often uses it).

If anyone wants to actually know how to mess with a Believer, taking his classes on Ancient Israeli history is recommended.

So I digress a lot, but this coincides also with the emergence of the Jewish people in Canaan, roughly after the 13th century BCE (around the time of the start of the Iron Age in the region). In Egypt, this is the also a little before the start of their Dark Age (the only Dark Age to my knowledge due to religion and not secular upheaval) where basically the country was split in two between Upper Egypt with the priests and Lower Egypt (at times, really just the Nile Delta region) controlled by the Pharaoh. I don't know much about this period...I only learned about it a couple weeks ago.

[orogenicman]

I thought you were going to say that they found evidence that the apocalypse had already occurred.

[Jackalope]

I thought you were going to say that they found evidence that the apocalypse had already occurred.

I thought he was going to say that they finally found Jimmy Hoffa.

In all seriousness, this is very cool. It'll be interesting to see what the significance is as the story unfolds.

[Minimalist]

Granted there were other groups among the Sea People aside from the Peleset ( Philistines ) and the Danoi may be one of them. Archaeologist Amihai Mazar has done some serious work on Philistine pottery and traced the decorative motifs to Hellenic styles which were in use during the Late Bronze Age but I'm not aware of anything along that line done at Dan.

But when you get to the north of Canaan there is always the spectre of the Phoenicians hanging over everything. Alone among the Late Bronze Age towns they were unmolested by the Sea People. I can see 3 possible reasons for this.

1. They were allies with the Sea People,
2. They hired the Sea People,
3. They were too strong for the Sea People.

Given the success which the Sea People had with the Mycenaens, Hittites, Cypriots and the fact that they damn near beat the Egyptians, I discount #3.

The Phoenicians were in the position to give the Sea Peoples one thing they needed; safe harbors from storms. Deals have been struck on far less of a basis throughout history.

In any case, applying the legal maxim "cui bono" who do we see benefiting the most from the Sea People rampage into the Levant?
Answer: The Phoenicians.

Again, citing Mazar, his excavations at Tel Rehov in the north which found apiaries and set off a joyous shrieking among fundies about "the land of milk and honey...." until they realized that there were altars decorated with naked fertility goddesses which is certainly not in keeping with the dour imaginary Israelites of the bible!

Anyway, I have found Cline to be one of the better scholars who makes his way on to tv specials. I recall one on the Exodus where he basically said it never happened that had fundies calling for his head. Good man.

[Polaris]

He posted one of the blogs a Fundie made on his latest book. It was not funny, just sad.

If I recall correctly, Cline believes that the Jewish people were a lower caste of one of the Canaan tribes and revolted, which would explain their disdain for all things out of their culture like the cutting of the beard or shaving of the head which reminded them of their past masters.

[Minimalist]

I lean more towards the Philip R Davies school....which is that Judaism as a religion arose during the Persian period and was extensively edited during the Hasmonean period.

There were Canaanites in Canaan and the early "Israelites" do not seem all that different from the others.

[Colanth]

If I recall correctly, Cline believes that the Jewish people were a lower caste of one of the Canaan tribes and revolted

Only because the archaeology supports the view. But "we were slaves and revolted against our insignificant masters" doesn't have quite the ring of "we were slaves and our god overthrew the mighty Egyptian kingdom to free us".

[Minimalist]

The only view that archaeology supports is that the only semitic culture which was in Egypt prior to the New Kingdom was the Hyksos and they were rulers - not slaves.

The rest of it is nothing but jesus-freak bullshit. They see what they want to see.