ARCHEOLOGISTS continue to make significant discoveries in various parts of the Middle East, according to reports presented at the annual meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature and the American Schools of Oriental Research. The following is a summary of some of the developments of interest to the Bible scholar.
Cartouche of Narmer—From Arad comes the story, reported by Ruth Amiran of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, that a cartouche of Narmer has been found in a stratum that has been dated by other pottery evidence as rep resenting the beginning of the third millennium B.C.
Since Narmer has long been recognized as the Horus name of Menes, and Menes, according to Manetho, was the first king of the first dynasty in Egypt; and since Egyptologists have dated Menes to the beginning of the third millennium B.C., this cartouche inscribed on an Egyptian vessel found in Arad establishes a valuable synchronism.
As everyone knows, sequential dating both in Palestine and Egypt is comparatively easy because of the order of layers of occupation. But a comparative study of the history of both countries has been plagued by a lack of well-established synchronisms. One may question an absolute date, and historians have changed their dates from time to time, but a synchronism is valuable as indicating a peg on which other sequential dating may hang.
The Bible scholar remembers Arad as a Canaanite city whose king attacked the children of Israel when they were in the area of Mount Hor and took some of them captive. The Israelites responded by promising that they would wipe out all the Canaanite cities if the Lord would be with them (Num. 21:1-3). In Joshua 12:14, the king of Arad is mentioned as one whom "Joshua and the people of Israel defeated on the west side of the Jordan" (R.S.V.). Located seventeen miles south of Hebron, it was an important stronghold in the Negeb, and Judean kings fortified it from time to time. It seems to have ceased as an important center after Nebuchadnezzar's devastation.
Trilingual Cuneiform Tablet— From Aphek-Antipatris comes word that a trilingual cuneiform tablet has been found in the excavations there as reported by Bruce C. Cresson of Baylor University. Aphek is located twenty-six miles south of Caesarea at the source of the Yarkon River that flows into the Mediterranean Sea at Tel Aviv. It was here that the Philistines fought with the children of Israel and defeated them rather badly (1 Samuel 4). The Israelites then brought the ark of the covenant to the site of battle to ensure victory by its magic, but they were defeated once again, and the ark fell into the hands of the enemy. About 35 B.C. Herod the Great rebuilt the city and called it Antipatris in memory of his father. Here Paul spent a night when being taken for trial to Caesarea (Acts 23:31). The importance of the site is indicated by the fact that water is piped from here to Jerusalem.
The trilingual tablet found here, dated around the thirteenth century B.C., is the earliest such inscription ever found in Palestine. The languages are Sumerian, Akadian, and Canaanite. What the full impact of the tablet will be to our knowledge of the area remains to be seen, but it calls to mind other trilingual inscriptions that have proved very important, such as the Rosetta Stone and the Behistun Rock.
Tell el-Hesi—Tell el-Hesi, according to D. Glenn Rose of Phillips University, continues to throw light on the Exilic period of Biblical history. This is one of the few sites in Palestine that does so, since the period of the exile was one in which the population of Palestine was apparently drastically reduced.
Tell el-Hesi has occupied an important place in the history of archeology. It was here that Sir Flinders Petrie began digging after ten years of experience in Egypt. He advanced the science of archeology by applying the stratigraphic method of excavation, and introduced the concept of the varying styles and patterns of pottery as indicating time periods.
Was Tell el-Hesi Biblical Eglon? Many archeologists think so, although others point to another site nearby. If it was Eglon, then it was a site Joshua attacked and destroyed (Joshua 10:34, 35), and later became a patrimony of Judah (Joshua 15:39).
Upper Galilee—Archeological work is being done at Meiron in upper Galilee, reports James Strange of the University of South Florida. It is interesting to note that there is a Jewish sect here that still offers bloody sacrifices. Two leaders of opposing schools in Pharisaism, Rabbi Hillel and Rabbi Shammai, are buried in this area. There is a second century B.C. synagogue that has a central doorway composed of very large stones, and a monolithic lintel that is, at the present time, dangerously cracked. Tradition has it that when the stone falls of its own accord, the Messiah will come.
Caesarea—Another area in Pales tine that was the object of archeological research was Caesarea Maritima. Among the archeologists working here was Loma Linda's Kenneth Vine. Caesarea is mentioned a number of times in the New Testament, so that we know that Philip the evangelist had his home here and here his four daughters prophesied. Cornelius sent for Peter from here and Paul stood trial before Felix in this city. Modern excavations are showing how important a Roman center it was, with a large amphitheater and a huge temple dedicated to Caesar. Work on the aquaduct that brought water to the city shows that water was brought from a distant dammed up lake in the mountains.
Of outstanding interest to Bible scholars is the report by Robert J. Bull of Drew University of a mithraeum, the first ever to be discovered in Palestine. Mithraism was one of Christianity's greatest rivals in the early development of the church. Apparently a subterranean vault built in the Herodian period was adapted for Mithraic worship around the third century A.D. The archeologists found an altar that was lit by a shaft of -light during the summer solstice. There were remains of frescoes on the walls which were covered with hard plaster. A small circular marble medallion was found, depicting Mithra slaying the bull while he looked over his shoulder to the bust of Sol. Thus we know now that the cult of Mithra existed in Palestine as well as in other parts of the Roman Empire.
