Download or read book Septuagint s Solomon and the Testament of Solomon written by Scriptural Research Institute and published by Scriptural Research Institute. This book was released on 2020-07-07 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: King Solomon is arguably the most famous of all ancient Israelite kings, with several books in the Septuagint dedicated to him, or about him, or even by him, yet, to date, no archeological evidence for his life has been found. Additionally, the Testament of Solomon has survived from the Second Temple era which displays another side of King Solomon. The lifetime of King Solomon falls during the Third Intermediate Period (dark age) in Egyptian history, and therefore are no records of Solomon within the very limited Egyptian records from the time. Egyptologists believe the Kingdom of Egypt collapsed at the beginning of the time period, and by the time that Solomon would have lived, in the early-9th century BC, the king of Egypt only controlled the northern region, while the rest of Egypt was under the rule of the High Priest of Amen (Amun). The various books associated with Solomon that made it into the Septuagint, include 3rd Kingdoms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom of Solomon, and Psalms of Solomon, als of which have been retranslated into modern English. The first book in this collection is 3rd Kingdoms, which tells the life of Solomon, likely from Ezra the Scribe's perspective, 500 years later. The book likely dates to before the reign of King Josiah, circa 700 BC, but is believed to have been redacted by Ezra the Scribe, or someone else in his era. The second book, Proverbs, also called Proverbs of Solomon, is generally attributed to King Solomon, who is explicitly referred to as the author of some of the proverbs. A number proverbs are known to have been copied from older collections of proverbs, most notably the Wisdom of Amenemope, which was apparently written by Amenemope son of Kanakht sometime before Pharaoh Akhenaten, circa 1350 BC. The third book, Ecclesiastes is generally also attributed to King Solomon, however, he is not mentioned anywhere by name. The idea that King Solomon was the author, is found in the introduction to the text. At some point before the Greek translation was made, someone added an introduction and conclusion to the text, in which the author is described as being the 'son of David,' and a 'King in Jerusalem.' The fourth book, Song of Songs, also called the Song of Solomon, is a song about King Solomon theoretically written in his time, circa 950 BC. The book does not list its author, but it was clearly written by a woman in love with Solomon. She is believed to have been referring to herself as a Shulamite in chapter 7, which suggests she was Abishag the Shulamite, King David's youngest concubine. The fifth book, Wisdom of Solomon was added to the Septuagint sometime between 250 and 132 BC, and while it was traditionally attributed to King Solomon, today scholars generally believed to have been composed in Greek, shortly before it was added to the Septuagint. The Wisdom of Solomon itself appears to have been redacted before the Greek translation, as the first half is about the spirit of wisdom, Sophia in Greek, who is credited with actually doing most of what the Lord (Iaw/Yahweh) was credited with doing in the Septuagint and Masoretic Texts, however, this changes abruptly to crediting the Lord in chapter 11, and Sophia disappeared entirely from the rest of the book. The sixth book, Psalms of Solomon, is also called Psalms of Salomon in many of the surviving manuscripts, although it is not clear why. At this time, it is universally agreed that the Psalms of Solomon is a pre-Christian work, as early Christian writers referred to it even though it is clearly not about the life of Jesus as described in the gospels. The seventh book, Testament of Solomon, was widely used by Christian and Gnostic astrologers in the first few centuries of the Christian era.

Download or read book Septuagint As Christian Scripture written by Martin Hengel and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2004-05-01 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, was the 'Bible' of the early Christian Church. This is a comprehensive introduction to the issues surrounding the translation and development of the Septuagint. Professor Hengel first traces the history of the Septuagint. He explores the controversial discussion between Jews and Christians regarding its reliability, examining particularly the views of the church fathers relating to its authority, its inspiration, and its canon.

Download or read book Septuagint s Ezekiel and the Ba al Cycle written by Scriptural Research Institute and published by Scriptural Research Institute. This book was released on 1901 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the mid-3rd century BC, King Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt ordered a translation of the ancient Hebrew scriptures for the Library of Alexandria, which resulted in the creation of the Septuagint. The Book of Ezekiel is connected to Ezra and his Great Assembly in Jewish tradition, who apparently finished the book. It is one of the most standardized books, where the Greek and Hebrew translations are extremely similar. Both books contain some of the most obscure language, both Greek and Hebrew, containing many Aramaic loanwords. The Aramaic dialect is not consistent, with the early section, chapters 1 through 39, having Amorite and Assyrian loanwords, while the latter section, chapters 40 through 48, appears to have been written in Persian Imperial Aramaic. The early and later sections of Ezekiel also used different titles for God, and appear to have been written at different points in time, centuries apart. The early section is consistent with the historical records and was likely written during the late Assyrian and early Babylonian eras. The latter section appears to have been added during the time of Ezra, as the Persian Empire collapsed before the onslaught of the Macedonians, Greeks, Carthaginians, and Egyptians. The Book of Ezekiel is certainly one of the strangest books to survive from antiquity and has been the source of much speculation throughout centuries, by Jews, Christians, and atheists alike. Ezekiel's opening vision, of the flying machine, was the source of an entire branch of Jewish literature, Merkabah mysticism. The Septuagint uses the strange title Lord Lord through the first 39 chapters, before switching to the more common term Lord God for the later section of the book. This term could only have read Adon Ba'al in the Aramaic texts the Greeks translated Ezekiel from, as both adon and ba'al translate as 'lord.' This meaning that Ezekiel's god was Ba'al, the Canaanite god of thunder, whose holy mountain was Mount Zephon. Ezekiel describes his Lord Lord as being a thunder cloud, and refers to the god as coming from Zephon, which confirms that he did view the god as being Lord Ba'al. The Ba'al Cycle is a collection of stories about Ba'al Hadad, the supreme god of the Canaanite pantheon in the late bronze age. Unfortunately, the Texts that comprise the Ba'al Cycle are damaged, especially in the first section, where Hadad fights Yam to become Ba'al. In the subsequent section where the battle is discussed, Anat's defeat of the seven-headed monster Lotan is mentioned, however, this section is missing from the battle itself. Many tablets are believed to be lost from the epic, nevertheless, it is an important series of texts, as it allows us to see the other great religion of Canaan in the era that the early Israelite (later Samaritan and Jewish) religion was forming.

Download or read book Syriac Maccabees Deuterocanonical Books written by Scriptural Research Institute and published by Digital Ink Productions. This book was released on 2024-09-06 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Syrian tradition churches of the Middle East and South Asia, have maintained several deuterocanonical books that are not included in the Peshitta, the standard Syriac version of the Christian Bible. The Peshitta includes Syriac translations of the four books of the Maccabees found in the Septuagint, along with a 5th book of Maccabees, which is also labelled as the The History Of The Destruction Of Jerusalem. This book is a Syriac translation of the 6th book of Josephus’ The Judean War. General Josephus had started on the Judean side of the rebellion, however, was captured by the Romans, and survived the war. During the fall of Jerusalem, he was part of Caesar Titus’ entourage who tried to negotiate with the Judean rebels in Jerusalem. After the destruction of Jerusalem, Josephus was given some of the surviving archives and wrote Antiquities of the Judeans, as well as The Judean War. These books survive in Greek; however, it is generally agreed that Josephus wrote these books in Judeo-Aramaic, and then translated them into Greek, as the audience he was writing to was the Judean diaspora in the Middle East. The Syrian churches have traditionally claimed that the Peshitta’s 5th Maccabees is a Syriac transliteration of Josephus’ original Aramaic text. In addition to the five books of the Maccabees found within the Peshitta, there is additional Syriac literature associated with the woman and her seven sons, who were tortured to death by King Antiochus. In this literature, she is named Shamoni, and her sons are known as the Maccabean martyrs. This concept appears to have developed in the Syriac tradition before the full text of the four Maccabees books in the Septuagint were translated into Syriac in the 5th century AD. The particular Maccabees books in the Septuagint were written in Greek, although they drew on older Aramaic and Judahite literature that is now lost. In the Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic books about the Maccabees, the seven martyrs are never referred to as the Maccabees, this term is used to refer to the followers of Judas, several decades later.The most famous of these Syriac works is the poem Lady Shamoni and the Maccabean Martyrs, which Western biblical scholars have dubbed 6th Maccabees. The poem goes into more detail regarding the torture of the sons of Shamoni than 2nd Maccabees, where the author skipped over most of the gruesome details and then ended the chapter with “This is enough about the eating of sacrifices and the extreme tortures.” A lesser-known Syriac work is The Story of the Lady and her Seven Sons, which Western biblical scholars have dubbed 7th Maccabees. 7th Maccabees is probably the older of the two, as it does not refer to the seven martyrs as the Maccabees, which is common in Syriac Christian literature. This isn’t clear, as the reference to the seven martyrs as ‘the Maccabean Martyrs’ is found in the title of 6th Maccabees, and not the text itself. The title is likely something created by the Christian editor. In 563 AD, a Syrian scholar named John Malálas composed a history of the world subsequently called the Chronographia. The Chronographia was written in Greek, however, John was drawing from both Greek and Syriac sources and created one of the longer historical works of the era. A very small section of his work mentions the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt, which has garnered the attention of academics studying the era. His text is clearly influenced by the Syriac tradition here and ignores the Greek entirely for some reason. This section of the Chronographia has been dubbed 8th Maccabees by scholars studying Maccabean literature.

Download or read book Letter of Aristeas and the Pithom Stele written by Scriptural Research Institute and published by Scriptural Research Institute. This book was released on 2020-09-24 with total page 103 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the mid-3rd century BC, King Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt ordered a translation of the ancient Hebrew scriptures for the Library of Alexandria, which resulted in the creation of the Septuagint. The Letter of Aristeas, also called the Letter to Philocrates, was written by someone who claimed to have been part of the events that created the original translation of the Septuagint. It was treated as an authentic historical document by ancient Jewish historians, such as Aristobulus of Alexandria circa 150 BC, Philo of Alexandria circa 15 AD, and Josephus circa 93 AD. As Aristobulus quoted the Letter around 150 BC, the letter clearly predates Aristobulus by enough time for him to see it as an authentic document, which would imply prior to 200 BC. Since the time of Jerome, circa 400 BC, the Letter's authenticity has been debated. It was generally considered authentic until the 1500s when Jerome's views were repeated by the Spanish humanist Luis Vives. The Letter came under attack throughout the 1600s through the 1800s, and by the 1900s was viewed as a fictional document. Most of the arguments levied against it, were based on a lack of understanding of who Ptolemy II Philadelphus was, and why he would be depicted as worshiping the Jewish god. Latin critics did not understand the references to Plato's Cratylus and translated Δία as Dis (Jupiter), which would force the origin of the Letter to a later date after Rome had risen in power. In the time period this Letter is set, Carthage sill dominated the Western Mediterranean and Romans only ruled Italy. The reference to Δία was, in fact, part of a reference to Ζῆνα and Δία found in Plato's Cratylus, which was a reference to the Greek folktales about Zeus being the creator of life. References to the creator god in the letter were traditionally dismissed as being unlikely, as a Greek king would not have worshiped the Jewish god, however, this argument was based on a lack of understanding of Philadelphus. The Pithom Stele, found in the late 1800s shows that Philadelphus embedded himself in the Egyptian religions, portraying himself as the son of Atum, the creator god of ancient Egypt. The Pithom Stele was discovered at Tell el-Maskhuta, Egypt. It had originally been erected in the Temple of Atum at Pithom (Tell el-Maskhuta), circa 264 BC. The city of Pithom appears to have been moved at least once. Pharaoh Necho II seems to have founded a city of Pithom at the site of El Retaba eight miles west of Tell el-Maskhuta, circa 600 BC, when the Canal of the Pharaohs was dug linking the Nile to the Gulf of Suez. This canal was filled with sand and debris repeatedly and then cleared repeatedly. The Greek historian Herodotus, circa 430 BC claimed it was opened on the orders of the Persian King Darius, circa 490 BC. The Greek philosopher Aristotle, circa 330 BC, claimed the canal was never completed, meaning it was not open during his lifetime. It is generally accepted today that Ptolemy II Philadelphus reopened the canal during his lifetime, and built Heroöpolis, which was called Per-Atum (Pithom), including the Temple of Atum where the Pithom Stele was found.

Download or read book T T Clark Companion to the Septuagint written by James K Aitken and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-02-26 with total page 623 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible and the scriptures read by early Christians. Septuagint studies have been a growth field in the past twenty years. It has become an area of interest not only for textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible but as a product of Judaism in the Graeco-Roman world. It is even being utilized occasionally by scholars of Greek religion. At the same time renewed interest in the daughter versions (Syriac, Vulgate, Ethiopic, Coptic etc.) has thrown new attention onto the Septuagint. This Companion provides a cutting-edge survey of scholarly opinion on the Septuagint text of each biblical book. It covers the characteristics of each Septuagint book, its translation features, origins, text-critical problems and history. As such it provides a comprehensive companion to the Septuagint, featuring contributions from experts in the field.

Download or read book Septuagint s Esther and the Vetus Latina Esther written by Scriptural Research Institute and published by Scriptural Research Institute. This book was released on with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In addition to the two copies of the Book of Esther found in the Septuagint manuscripts, there are two additional surviving copies of the Book of Esther, one is found in the Masoretic texts, while the other is found among the Vetus Latina manuscripts. The Masoretic texts are the Hebrew translations of the ancient Israelite and Judahite books that form the core of the modern Tanakh which is used by Rabbinical Jews, while the Vetus Latina manuscripts are the Latin translations of the ancient books that were made before Jerome's official Latin translation of the Orthodox Christian Bible, published circa 405 AD. Each of these texts is unique, however, all appear to derive from earlier Aramaic texts. The oldest surviving physical copy of Esther is found in the Codex Vaticanus, which dates to circa 350 AD. The version of Esther in the Codex Vaticanus is generally accepted as being the original version added to the Septuagint sometime in the 2ⁿᵈ century BC, however, it claims to have not been translated in Alexandria, like the rest of the Septuagint. The next oldest version of Esther that survives is in the Leningrad Codex of the Masoretic Texts, with is dated to circa 1008 AD. This version is in Hebrew, and is the only one of the three copies that does not appear to have once been in Greek, and it is the only one of the three copies that does not mention God. This version was copied as part of the Masoretic Texts between the 7ᵗʰ and 10ᵗʰ centuries AD. With many Masoretic Texts, there are precursors found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, however, there are no known fragments of Esther found among the Dead Sea Scrolls to date. It is unclear where it originated, or why there is no reference to God in it. The Vetus Latina's version of Esther is one of the books not translated from either the Septuagint or proto-Masoretic versions of Esther, and therefore, is the fourth primary source for the Book of Esther. Dating the Vetus Latina is more difficult than the Septuagint, as it was the work of many individual translators over several centuries. The bulk of the work is believed to have been done between 330 BC and 50 AD by Judeans living within the expanding Roman Empire, however, around 50 AD the Latin-speaking Christians began using the texts as well. After Jerome translated the Vulgate bible, published in 405 AD, the Vetus Latina continued in use alongside the Vulgate in the Catholic countries until the 1300s. While the Vetus Latina is by nature a Latin translation of the ancient Israelite scriptures, the translations were generally made from existing Greek translations, and in the case of the Book of Esther, not from either the Vaticanus or Alpha versions.

Download or read book The Shapira Scrolls written by Scriptural Research Institute and published by Digital Ink Productions. This book was released on 2024-07-20 with total page 65 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Shapira scrolls, also known as the Shapira manuscript or Moabite Deuteronomy, are a collection of leather strips supposedly discovered in the Arnon Valley of modern Jordan in the 1860s. While they were initially accepted as authentic by the Jewish antiquities dealer Moses Shapira, they were later discredited as forgeries by German and British biblical scholars. Since the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls in the 1940s, there have been several scholars who have called into question the claims that the leather strips were a forgery, however, their whereabouts is unknown, and therefore no modern analysis of the leather strips is possible. Several reasons were given for the initial claims that the strips were a forgery, including the script, language, and content. The script is a form of Phoenician, similar to the Moabite script of the 800s BC, however, the language includes Imperial Aramaic terms not used until the Persian era, several centuries later. The content is not a match for any surviving translation of Deuteronomy, however, it does include many parallel statements. Some of the statements are somewhat heretical, however, they do seem similar to the beliefs of the Hasidian and Tobian sects reported to have been living in the region under Greek rule between 330 and 240 BC. Moses Shapira had previously been involved in the discovery and authentication of both authentic and fraudulent artifacts for the museums and universities of Europe, including five scrolls inscribed on leather sold in 1870, that were later assumed to be forgeries in 1884 and have subsequently disappeared. His biggest ‘swindle’ was thousands of fake Moabite artifacts labeled as Moabitica, which were apparently dug up at a site in the Arnon Valley of modern Jordan. These artifacts included stone heads, and clay vessels inscribed with Moabite text, and were dug up by both Shapira’s workers and German scholars, who later assumed Shapira’s people hid the artifacts there for them to find. The Altes Museum in Berlin bought the largest collection of these artifacts, at 1700, however, there were additional sales to other institutions and individuals across Europe, and the total number of artifacts is unknown.

Download or read book Words of Ahikar written by Scriptural Research Institute and published by Digital Ink Productions. This book was released on 2020-02-09 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Words of Ahikar is the oldest surviving Israelite story, with known copies in Aramaic dating back to the 5ᵗʰ century BC. As it has been translated into many languages over the past two and a half millennia, it now has several names and translations, including the Words of Ahiqar, the Story of Ahikar, and various variations of the name, including Achiacharos, from the Greek translation, Ảḥyqr from the Aramaic translation, Akyrios from the Old Slavonic translation, Ḥayqār from the Arabic translation, and Xikar from the Armenian translation. This translation uses the most common English variation of Ahikar, which is based on a transliteration of the oldest surviving Aramaic version of the name. The oldest fragments of this book found to date, were discovered in Elephantine, Egypt, and date to the 5ᵗʰ century BC, making it a couple of centuries older than the oldest of the Dead Sea Scrolls. It is not considered to be a true historical story by any modern academics or theologians. It is universally considered to be a work of fiction for several reasons, not the least of which are the boys flying on the backs of trained eagles. Another reason that the work is not considered historical, is that the Assyrian kings are not mentioned in the correct order, as King Esarhaddon was actually Sennacherib’s son, not his father. Both Kings are well known from the historical records of the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Egyptians. Moreover, Esarhaddon and his son Ashurbanipal liberated Egypt from Kushite rule and established the vassal state of Egypt which ultimately became independent again when the Neo-Assyrian Empire fell. During the time of Sennacherib, Egypt was still under the control of Kush, and there was no Pharaoh for Ahikar to visit. The book also refers to a King of Persia, centuries before there was a Kingdom of Persia, and is therefore generally dismissed as a quasi-historical work of fiction. Nevertheless, the Book of Tobit records that Ahikar was sent to Elam as an envoy, not Persia. As the Persians settled in the land of Elam after King Ashurbanipal destroyed Elam in the mid-7ᵗʰ century BC, the name Persia would have been the contemporary geographical term when the Aramaic translation was made, and not the original term. In any event, the author of Tobit must have had a copy of Ahikar that used the name Elam instead of Persia, or his reference to Ahikar going to Elam makes no sense.

Download or read book Septuagint s Job and the Testament of Job written by Scriptural Research Institute and published by Scriptural Research Institute. This book was released on 2020-02-22 with total page 113 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Septuagint was the original Old Testament used by Christians in the first few centuries but was later replaced in western Bibles by the Masoretic Texts. As a result, most early Christian writings are confusing, especially when discussing the chronology of the world. Septuagint: Job is a 21st-century English translation that is easy to understand, using common English versions of Hebrew names instead of transliterated Greek names that are generally found in translations of the Septuagint. When ancient place names are known, such as Uruk, the modern term is used instead of the Greek (Orech) or Hebrew (Erech) translations. Unlike the later Masoretic Texts, the Septuagint was not a monotheistic work, but rather a Hedonistic text, which recognized the existence of many gods, but was dedicated to the worship of one above the others: Iaw, later transliterated as Jehovah or Yahweh. The book of Job is likely the most complex book to translate in the Septuagint, other than the book of Genesis, as it contains many unique concepts and many references to the ancient Canaanite religion. It has significantly influenced the Messianic Jewish sects of the Second Temple era and the subsequent formation of Christianity and Islam. At some point before the Book of Job was standardized, probably during the Persian era, parts were either lost or intentionally redacted, including the end of the devil's story-line, the Leviathan's story, and the Behemoth's story, as well as the answer to the question: why does suffering exist? The question is raised but never answered. It was probably answered in the ending or the devil's storyline, and possibly tied into the stories of the Leviathan and Behemoth, who Iaw was preparing to destroy before Job suddenly 'won the lottery' and the story ended. The statements that the devil had originally risen about Job turned out to be correct, as he did not continue to worship Iaw but complained bitterly about everything he'd lost. The closest he came to worshiping Iaw, was when he referred to himself as dirt before the swirling storm-god floating in front of him, although that appears to be more an act of fear than worship. Much must have been removed from the story for some reason, as in addition to Iaw losing his bet and thinking he won, the Leviathan's story was never ended, and the Behemoth was introduced but the story was not told. Additionally, Iaw never answered Job's questions, which should have followed the strange description of the steam-powered bronze-covered Leviathan, which itself seems more like a description of a submarine from a Jules Verne novel than a living being. In the early Christian era, many Testaments of the Patriarchs circulated in Jewish and Christian communities, In the early Christian era, many Testaments of the Patriarchs circulated in Jewish and Christian communities, the Testament of Job was used by the Christian Montanist sect. The Testament of Job appears to have never been accepted by orthodox Christians, however, a synopsis of a book like the Testament of Job was included in orthodox translations of the Septuagint's Book of Job since the BC era, where it was described as being in the 'Syriac book' of Job. Several references within the testaments point to an origin in the Seleucid Empire, including mentions of Greek gods, and Zoroastrian terminology. The testament also includes Satan as an individual instead of a descriptive term, which is not consistent with the Book of Job, where the Hebrew version maintains the term satan in its original context as 'contender' or 'accuser.' The fact that the Testament also uses the name Satan, as opposed to the term devil which the Septuagint uses, also points to a Semitic source, as the Greeks at the time would not have commonly encountered the Hebrew and Aramaic term.

Download or read book Ugaritic Texts Victorious Ba al written by Scriptural Research Institute and published by Scriptural Research Institute. This book was released on 1901 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Victorious Ba‘al is the first section of the Ba‘al Cycle, a collection of ancient stories about the Canaanite god Hadad. The term Ba‘al in the Ugaritic Texts, meaning ‘lord’ or ‘master,’ is the equivalent of the Akkadian belu, Canaanite b‘l, Sabaean b‘l, Aramaic ba‘la, Hebrew b‘l, Syriac ba'la, Arabic ba‘l, and Ge‘ez bal. The Ugaritic Texts are ancient tablets that were recovered from archaeological digs at the ruins of Ugarit, a bronze-age city in northwest Syria, at the foot of the mountain Jebel Aqra on the modern Syrian-Turkish border. The Ba‘al Cycle is generally divided into several sections, based on the groupings of the tablets that were discovered, however, this series of translations is divided into just two sections, Victorious Ba‘al, and Ba‘al Defeats Mot. These divisions are always subjective. Some translators divide the central section regarding the building of Ba‘al’s Temple on Mount Zaphon from the preceding battle with Yam. Others also separate out the intermediate section involving Ba‘al’s discussion with Anat, however, this series is divided based on the apparent shift in source material between the early section and the later section. The earliest section appears to be a translation from ancient Egyptian and includes Egyptian loanwords, as well as numerous references to the houses of the gods, which seems to be a reference to the system of decans used in Egypt from the Old Kingdom onward, to tell time at night. The 36 ancient Egyptian decans, or houses of stars, are accepted as the basis of pre-Babylonian astrological systems throughout Eurasia, including the systems used in India, China, and Japan. The traditional Canaanite system, while poorly documented was somewhat more complex, having 72 houses instead of 36. One was the House of El, and one was the House of Asherah, his main wife, and 70 belonging to their children, the Elim (gods), and Elohim (goddesses). The first section, Victorious Ba‘al, appears to be a later text, written after 1700 BC, when the gods changed places in the sky and destroyed the Minoan Civilization, in the view of the Minoans. In approximately 1700 BC, a massive series of earthquakes destroyed most of the Minoan cities and palaces. The earthquake marks the division between the Old Palace Period and the New Palace Period of Minoan architecture. At the time, there was a significant change in the sky, as the Bull stopped being the asterism that marked the northern vernal equinox, and the Ram replaced him. Unlike the Bull, the Ram was not on the ecliptic, the line in the sky that the sun and planets travel on relative to the earth, but above it. Below the ecliptic, and closer to it, was the Sea Monster, later called Cetus. The battle in the Victorious Ba‘al, was about the storm-god Hadad battling the sea-god Yam, to take over the kingship from the ram-god Attar, and appears to be about the struggle between these two gods to rule the earth after the bull god El had turned over his throne to the ram god Attar. That transition would have happened in circa 1700 BC, and so this text had to be written later than that.

Download or read book Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor written by Scriptural Research Institute and published by Scriptural Research Institute. This book was released on 1900 with total page 39 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor is the earliest known surviving story of a shipwrecked sailor, and as such is the forerunner of many stories of nautical adventure encountering strange magical creatures, from Homer's Odyssey to Sinbad the Sailor. In a broader sense, it is generally considered the oldest piece of Egyptian fiction to survive to the present. Only one copy has been found to date, a single papyrus manuscript that resides at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, and is designated pHermitage 1115. The exact origin of the papyrus was not properly documented at the time, which was common for early Egyptologists, however, it was most likely recovered in Vladimir Golenishchev's 1884-85 expedition to the Wadi Hammamat, which was the major trade route between the Nile in southern Egypt and the port of El Qoseir on the Red Sea. The papyrus does appear to be complete, however, the story is not. It begins abruptly and ends abruptly, and suggests that it was excised from an older text. The story begins as a ship's captain is returning home from Nubia, on a failed mission of some kind, and then segues to the narrator telling the disinterested captain of a time when was shipwrecked on an island near Punt. It ends as abruptly as it begins, but the scribe confirms that this is the end of the story. Based on the content, it appears that the point of the papyrus was to copy the section of text dealing with the island and the 'Lord of Punt,' which was copied from a longer text in which the captain returned from his failed mission in Nubia, and told the king a story his crewman had told him to make up for the fact that he had nothing to report, but also downplayed the fantastic story by making it clear that it was his boring crewman's story, and not his. The reason for the extraction of the story, was probably because at the time, in the early Middle Kingdom era, the Egyptians were re-exploring their world, and trying to find the lands their ancestors had been trading with. This short work of probable fiction was, nevertheless, about the fabled land of Punt, which the Middle Kingdom reopened trade with during the 11ᵗʰ dynasty. Under the 11ᵗʰ dynasty's Mentuhotep III, an officer named Hannu reopened trade with Punt, however, it is unknown if he personally sailed there or simply organized the expedition. The most probable time for Imenyas pen-Imeny to have excised the story was before that first mission of Hannu, when the Egyptians were scouring their records for information on Punt. The fact that it was abandoned in the Wadi Hammamat, the route taken from the capital at Thebes to the Red Sea port of El Qoseir, seems to be a pretty strong indicator that the navigator did not see any value in the text, and did not even bother carrying it all the way to the harbor.

Download or read book Dodeka Book of the Prophets written by Scriptural Research Institute and published by Scriptural Research Institute. This book was released on 1901 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the mid-3rd century BC, King Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt ordered a translation of the ancient Hebrew scriptures for the Library of Alexandria, which resulted in the creation of the Septuagint, as well as several other books of Jewish and Samaritan scriptures, including the Book of Enoch, Book of Job, Testaments of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the Dodeka. The Dodeka was not part of the collection of texts the Jews fleeing Egypt carried with them from the Jewish Temple in Elephantine, and is therefore believed to have been translated into Greek later, circa 180 BC. It would eventually be added to the Septuagint as the Book of Dodeka circa 140 BC, and then much later be divided into its twelve constituent books by the early Christians in the 3rd-century AD, subsequently called the twelve minor prophets. The books comprising the Dodeka all date from between 900 and 500 BC, and represent the works of twelve ancient prophets, which in the original Greek translation, represented several different gods. These were not Jewish prophets, but Israelite prophets, mostly living the age before King Josiah banned the old gods, in approximately 625 BC. Most of the books in the Dodeka were written before King Josiah's reforms. The books of Hosea, Amos, and Micah are set during the 8th-century BC, when the kingdom of Samaria fought a series of wars against its more powerful northern neighbor Assyria, ultimately being conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire circa 722 BC. The books of Joel, Obadiah, and Jonah follow, although their exact settings are not clear. The books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah follow, set in the 7th-century BC, as the Kingdom of Judea struggled for its survival between the powers of the time, Assyria to the north, Egypt to the south, and Babylon to the east, ultimately falling to the Neo-Babylonian Empire circa 586 BC. There is a gap in the prophets during the era when Babylon ruled Judea, and they continue with the books of Haggai, and the first half of Zachariah, set in the late-6th-century, after the Persians have conquered the Babylonian Empire. Combining the various Elohim that are appear to have been the text the Greeks translated, including Shaddai (Shaddayin), On (Aven), Dagon, Tirath (Tirosh), Yitzhar, Reshef (Blight), Mot, Hades (Sheol), and Abaddon (Destruction), Ba'al Hadad, Ba'al Hammon, Qetesh Asherah, Sydyk, and Shemesh, it strongly suggests that the text was heavily edited in the Hasmonean era when Yahweh Sabaoth replaced Lord El. Unfortunately, the existing Dead Sea Scrolls shed little light on the situation as they date to the era the edits would have taken place, but are in the script that should only show the edited version. Nevertheless, they are so damaged almost none of the questions about the differences between the Dodeka and Masoretic Texts could be resolved, even if they were in the Canaanite script.

Download or read book Voyage of Wenamen written by Scriptural Research Institute and published by Scriptural Research Institute. This book was released on 2020 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of the Voyage of Wenamen, also called the Report of Wenamen, or the Misadventures of Wenamen, is considered one of the earliest surviving adventure tales. Unlike many of their neighboring cultures, the Egyptians did not write historical narratives, the text must have started as an autobiography of Wenamen circa 1065 BC. The one partially surviving copy appears to have been excerpted from the original autobiography, copied for one of the Meshwesh (Berber) Pharaohs that ruled the late 21ˢᵗ Dynasty after Osorkon the Elder seized the throne in 992 BC. It appears as if only the sections about Canaan were copied, which suggests the Pharaoh in question was looking for information on Canaan, likely as a prelude to an invasion. The surviving text includes the beginning of Wenamen's voyage, but not the beginning of his biography, which would have included his titles and honors and the story of how he became a priest of Amen. The surviving text covers Wenamen's voyage from his departure from Thebes, through his stops in the Egyptian capital of Tanis, and the coastal Canaanite cities of Dor, Tyre, and Byblos, before his ship was blown off course to Cyprus, and the story abruptly ends. The section that covers the stop in Tyre is in the damaged section, in the middle of the story, and only survives in fragments. The abrupt ending of the story is clearly not the end of Wenamen's Biography as it does not include his return to Egypt, which must have taken place or his story would never have been known to the Egyptians.

Download or read book Penitence of Adam written by Scriptural Research Institute and published by Scriptural Research Institute. This book was released on 2019-10-15 with total page 71 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Penitence of Adam, also called the Penitence of our forefather Adam, is the Armenian version of the Life of Adam and Eve. The original version is believed to have been written in a Semitic language, as there as terms transliterated into Armenian from a Semitic language, however, it is not known positively which language as the original text is lost, and so far, no fragments have been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls that can be firmly linked to it. The closest text discovered to date among the Dead Sea Scrolls would be the Genesis Apocryphon scroll, written in Aramaic and generally dated to between 37 BC to 50 AD. The original language that the Penitence of Adam was translated from was likely also Aramaic, as demonstrated by the transliteration of the name Ovel (Ովէլ) in places were Uriel (Ուրիել) would normally be. A number of references circumstantially date the source-text used for the Greek version, known as the Apocalypse of Moses, to the era when the Greeks ruled Judea, between 330 and 140 BC, however, the source-text for the Latin and Armenian translation appears to have been older. One of the indicators that the source-texts for the Latin and Armenian translations are older than Greek, is the discrepancy between the 72 'strokes' and 70 'wounds' or 'griefs' that God sent to punish Adam. In the Apocalypse of Moses, there are 72, while in the Life of Adam and Eve and Penitence of Adam, there are 70, and these numbers are significant. The number 70 was very significant in the Canaanite and later Israelite (early-Samaritan) religions, however, it was changed to 72 in the Jewish religion for numerological reasons during the late-Persian and early-Greek eras. The number 70 does appear to have continued to be important among the Samaritans until the Hasmoneans virtually wiped them out in 113 BC, after which only the number 72 was used by Jews and Samaritans. This provisionally dates the text to the Persian era, between 525 and 330 BC, however, it could also be a Samaritan text dating to as late as 113 BC. Both the Latin Life of Adam and Eve, and the Armenian Penitence of Adam, also include the curious reference to 'powers' (virtutes / զաւրութիւնք) being present with the angels. This is generally accepted as proof that either the Latin or Armenian translation was influenced by the other, however, the other option is that something that both the Latin and Armenian translators chose to translate as 'powers' was already in the Semitic source-texts they were using. The obvious Hebrew term for them to have been translating was Elohim, which Jews have traditionally translated the term as 'powers' as it is a plural form, and Jews only worship one God. The Greek scholars that translated the Septuagint at the Library of Alexandria translated the word Elohim as either God or gods, depending on the context, however, there is no reason for the Latin or Armenian scholars to have been dependent on Greek translation norms when translating directly from Hebrew or Aramaic into Latin or Armenian. If the powers in the Latin and Armenian translations were the Elohim in the Semitic source-texts, then this would place the origin of the text to the Persian era at the latest, and almost certainly to the early-Persian era (525 to 330 BC), before Ezra the Scribe reformed Judaism, as there were two Elohim present, and therefore, these Elohim would have to date to the Samaritan priesthood from before the time of Ezra.

Download or read book Ugaritic Texts Ba al Defeats Mot written by Scriptural Research Institute and published by Scriptural Research Institute. This book was released on 1901 with total page 59 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ba‘al Defeats Mot, also called the Death of Ba‘al, is the final section of the Ba‘al Cycle, a collection of ancient stories about the Canaanite god Hadad. The term Ba‘al in the Ugaritic Texts, meaning ‘lord’ or ‘master,’ is the equivalent of the Akkadian belu, Canaanite b‘l, Sabaean bʿl, Aramaic baʿla, Hebrew bʿl, Syriac baʿla, Arabic baʿl, and Ge‘ez bal. The Ba‘al Cycle is generally divided into several sections, based on the groupings of the tablets that were discovered, however, this series of translations is divided into just two sections, Victorious Ba‘al, and Ba‘al Defeats Mot. These divisions are always subjective. Some translators divide the central section regarding the building of Ba‘al’s Temple on Mount Zaphon from the preceding battle with Yam. Others also separate the intermediate section involving Ba‘al’s discussion with Anat, however, this series is divided based on the apparent shift in source material between the early section and the later section. The earliest section, as well as the conclusion of the second section, appears to be a translation from ancient Egyptian and includes Egyptian loanwords, as well as numerous references to the houses of the gods, which seems to be a reference to the system of decans used in Egypt from the Old Kingdom onward, to tell time at night. The 36 ancient Egyptian decans, or houses of stars, are accepted as the basis of pre-Babylonian astrological systems throughout Eurasia, including the systems used in India, China, and Japan. The numerous Egyptian loanwords are accounted for as the Ugaritic text being a translation of an Egyptian work, which appears to be what the postscript was referring to. The main section of Ba‘al Defeats Mot appears to have been translated from an old Akkadian text that retold a Hurrian and Hattic story about two gods descending into the underworld. Many Akkadian, Hattic, and Hurrian loanwords are found in the text, which are generally missing from the earlier section, as well as the conclusion. The major exception being the messenger Ủgar, who was a Hurrian psychopomp, like the Canaanite Horon, and Greek Charon. As the city of Ugarit was named after him, this name clearly predates the text itself, and so it cannot be used to date the text. Nevertheless, does indicate that the city was originally a Hurrian settlement before becoming Semitic, which helps to explain why the older second section, appears to be a translation of an Akkadian retelling of a Hurrian story. Additionally, Luwian names are found in the second section, which places the origin of the Akkadian source text to sometime between when the Luwians settled in western Anatolia, generally dated to circa 2000 BC, and when the Hittites absorbed the Hattians around 1700 BC. As the text appears to have then been translated into Egyptian, before Ugaritic, it may trace the route the Hyksos took to Egypt, via the Luwian, Hattic, and Hurrian lands.

Download or read book Greek Apocalypse of Ezra written by Scriptural Research Institute and published by Digital Ink Productions. This book was released on 2020-04-06 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the early centuries of the Christian era, several texts called the Apocalypse of Ezra were in circulation among Jews, Christians, Gnostics, and related religious groups. The original is believed to have been written in Judahite or Aramaic and is commonly known as the Jewish Apocalypse of Ezra, as Ezra is believed to have been an ancient Judahite. This translation is referred to as the Judahite Apocalypse of Ezra, as the book has nothing to do with modern Judaism. This version of the Apocalypse was translated into Greek sometime before 200 AD and circulated widely within the early Christian churches. This prophet Ezra is not the scribe Ezra from the books of Ezra, but a prophet named Shealtiel who lived a couple of centuries earlier. In the apocalypse, he is called Ezra by the angel Uriel, which translates a ‘helper’ or ‘assistant.’ In the book, it is claimed that the prophet Ezra wrote 904 books, and its popularity seems to have inspired a number of Christian-era Apocalypses of Ezra, presumably beginning with the ‘Latin’ Apocalypse of Ezra which claimed to be the ‘second book of the prophet Ezra.’ The ‘second apocalypse’ was strangely attributed to Ezra the Scribe, and not the earlier exilarch Shealtiel, suggesting the author of the second apocalypse was not entirely familiar with the first apocalypse. The Greek Apocalypse of Ezra is a third Apocalypse of Ezra, which has only survived in two copies, both dating to before the 9th century. It is a separate text from the Judahite or Latin Apocalypses of Ezra and appears to be a Christian-era composite of various Ezra and Shadrach related materials. There is no consensus of when the Greek Apocalypse of Ezra was written, however, it is a Christian era Apocalypse, which refers to several Christian Apostles in heaven along with the Israelite Patriarchs. This Apocalypse uses a very inconsistent writing style and switches constantly between first-person and third-person as if it is a composite of material that originated in various earlier Ezra material. Some of the content repeats content found in the Judahite Apocalypse of Ezra, however, the bulk of the material is unique, describing Ezra’s journey through the sky (Heaven) and the underworld (Tartarus).