Wikipedia Canaanite Hazor During the Egyptian _Second Intermediate Period_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Intermediate_Period) and early _New Kingdoms_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Kingdom) (together running between 18th century BC and 13th century BC), _Canaan_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaan) was an Egyptian _vassal_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vassal) state; thus 14th century documents, from the _El Amarna_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Amarna) archive in _Egypt_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt) , describe the king of Hazor (in _Amarna letters_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amarna_letters) called Hasura), _Abdi-Tirshi_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Abdi-Tirshi&action=edit&redlink=1) , as swearing loyalty to the Egyptian pharaoh. However, EA 148 specifically reports that Hasura's king had gone over to the _Habiru_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habiru) , who were invading Canaan. In these documents, Hazor is described as an important city in Canaan. Hazor is also mentioned in the _Execration texts_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Execration_texts) , that pre-date the Amarna letters, and in 18th century BCE _documents_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_corpus) found in _Mari_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mari,_Syria) on the _Euphrates_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphrates) River. According to the _Book of Joshua_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Joshua) Hazor was the seat of _Jabin_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jabin) , a powerful Canaanite king that led a Canaanite confederation against _Joshua_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua) , but was defeated by Joshua, who burnt Hazor to the ground.According to the _Book of Judges_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Judges) Hazor was the seat of Jabin, the king of Canaan, whose commander, _Sisera_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisera) , led a Canaanite army against _Barak_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barak) , but was ultimately defeated. _Textual scholars_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textual_criticism) believe that the prose account of Barak, which differs from the _poetic_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poem) account in the _Song of Deborah_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_Deborah) , is a conflation of accounts of two separate events, one concerning Barak and Sisera like the poetic account, the other concerning Jabin's confederation and defeat. In addition, the Book of Judges and Book of Joshua may be parallel accounts referring to the same events, rather than describing different time periods, and thus they may refer to the same Jabin, a powerful king based in Hazor, whose Canaanite confederation was defeated by an _Israelite_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelite) army. In 2010, a clay tablet was discovered dating from the 18th or 17th centuries BCE inscribed with laws in the style of _Hammurabi's Code_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammurabi's_Code) . The document includes laws pertaining to body parts and damages, similar to laws such as "an eye for an eye" that appear in the Book of Exodus. The document is written in Akkadian cuneiform, the diplomatic language of the period. ============================================== Bible History Daily Hazor Excavations’ Amnon Ben-Tor Reveals Who Conquered Biblical Canaanites
_Biblical Archaeology Society Staff_ (http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/author/biblical-archaeology-society-staff/) • 07/05/2013 (http://dbcfaa79b34c8f5dfffa-7d3a62c63519b1618047ef2108473a39.r81.cf2.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/hazor-excavations.jpg) The Hazor excavations at the so-called “ceremonial palace” revealed this unique bronze statue, depicting an unidentified ruler of the Biblical Canaanites. Excavator Amnon Ben-Tor reveals who destroyed this king’s once-mighty city. (Photo courtesy Amnon Ben-Tor/The Hazor Excavations) “Joshua turned back at that time and took Hazor, and struck its king with the sword, for Hazor was formerly the head of all those kingdoms. And they struck all the people who were in it with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them … Then he burnt Hazor with fire” – Joshua 11:10–11 Thus does the Book of Joshua describe how the Israelites vanquished the Biblical Canaanites at Hazor. But is that what really happened? Many archaeologists have called into question the Book of Joshua’s account of the Israelite conquest of the Biblical Canaanites, saying it is not supported (or is contradicted, in some cases) by the evidence on the ground. Early Hazor excavations, led by the late Israeli archaeologist Yigael Yadin in the 1950s and 1960s, set out to explore this question about the Biblical account’s historicity. Yadin’s findings seemed to support the theory that the Israelite settlement followed the Biblical Canaanites at Hazor. Excavations left many questions about the Canaanite city’s destruction unanswered, however. Enter Amnon Ben-Tor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who has directed the renewed Hazor excavations since 1990 (now with the assistance of codirector Sharon Zuckerman of the Hebrew University). In 23 seasons, the renewed excavations have uncovered more of the Hazor acropolis, which boasted temples, palaces and other public buildings, as well as parts of the lower city, where the commoners lived. Their findings reveal much about the destruction of the Biblical Canaanites’ Hazor. The largest structure revealed in the recent Hazor excavations is the so-called “ceremonial palace” in the middle of the acropolis. In the ruins of the palace, Ben-Tor and his team have discovered many rich finds—including bronze statues (see photo above), ivory, jewelry, seals and even a lion-headed rhyton, or drinking vessel—that all point to the wealth of the Canaanite rulers. They also uncovered evidence of the massive fire that destroyed the ceremonial palace and much of Canaanite Hazor—a blaze that would have been memorable for its intensity. Relying on these finds and much more, Amnon Ben-Tor convincingly concludes that it was indeed the Israelites who conquered the Biblical Canaanites’ city at Hazor. ------------------------------------ Mystery surrounds Egyptian sphinx unearthed in Israel updated 10:01 PM EDT, Thu August 8, 2013 (CNN) -- Tel Hazor in northern Israel has long been a treasure trove for archeologists, but a recent discovery of part of a 4,000-year-old Egyptian sphinx has been a most unexpected find. Inexplicably buried far from Egypt, the paws of a sphinx statue, resting on its base, have been unearthed with an inscription in hieroglyphs naming King Mycerinus. The pharaoh ruled in 2500 BC and oversaw the construction of one of the three Giza pyramids, where he was enshrined. "Once in a lifetime you find something like this," says Amnon Ben-Tor, the director of the excavation and a professor at Hebrew University, which sponsors the archeological digging. "This is of extreme importance from many points of view, since it is the only sphinx of this king known in the world -- even in Egypt. It is also the only monumental piece of Egyptian sculpture found anywhere in the Levant," he said, referring to the region spanning the east of the Mediterranean Sea. Ben-Tor says the sphinx was deliberately broken, as were about 10 other Egyptian statues that had been previously found there. When cities fell, he said, most statues had their heads and hands cut off. (http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/08/world/meast/israel-sphinx/#) "This is what happened to this one here. He lost his hands," Ben-Tor said. The full sphinx is estimated to have been a meter tall, weighing half a ton. The team will continue to search for the rest of its body on the archeological site covering 200 acres -- even if it takes 600 years, the length of time Ben-Tor expects for the site to be fully excavated. As for the biggest question of all -- how the sphinx got to Tel Hazor -- it will likely remain a mystery. "Maybe this was a gift which the Egyptian king sent to the local king of Hazor. Maybe. To prove it? Impossible," Ben-Tor said. Tel Hazor was the capital of the city of Canaan 4,000 years ago, its population reaching 20,000. Located on the route connecting Egypt and Babylon, the city prospered. Excavations first began in the 1950s, and it is now recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. During most of the year, this remote part of Israel is quiet. But every summer, archeologists, students and volunteers descend on Tel Hazor to uncover how the ancients lived. The site has become important for biblical archeology, which aims to illuminate events in the Bible. There is no shortage of artifacts here, with discoveries seemingly made daily, including clay pots and bowls. But the real goal is to use them to understand civilizations. "The documents we found at Hazor tell us about the people, tell us about their names, about their culture, about their cult, about marriages, about divorces, about economies," Ben-Tor says. "All these things we learned from out at Hazor. We did not just find mute stones. We have to make these stones speak. And that's what we do." -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
