Canaanite

The Nephilim were said to be a race or a group of people that had distinct physical characteristics of large size and great strength.  They are first mentioned in Genesis chapter 6 as the progeny of the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men.”  Although the psychological characteristics of the Nephilim are not specifically described in the Bible, they are pictured in the Second Temple writings as being very belligerent, sexually aggressive, and prone to conflict.  Immediately after they are mentioned, Genesis goes on to discuss how the heart and minds of people became continually evil, and God’s flood judgement in response.  But the Bible indicates that the Nephilim reappeared after presumably being killed off in the Flood.  How could that have happened? 

This paper explores a possibility that may not have been previously considered – that the wife of Ham (one of the sons of Noah), who was one of the individuals present on the ark, was born from Nephilim stock.  She would therefore have passed her DNA to some of her children (especially to her son Canaan) and later descendants, so that individuals of large size and/or psychopathic behavior could therefore reappear later in history.  Also considered is the possibility that the Biblical Nimrod, a descendant of Ham, was the Sumerian king Gilgamesh, and that he also was genetically Nephilim.

A complete edition of all known Latino (and Graeco)-Punic inscriptions along with a detailed, comparative grammatical analysis, esp. with regard to phonology and orthographic practice. Several texts are presented here for the first time. These texts from Roman-era Tripolitania (the first centuries A.D.) render Punic systematically, although written with Latin graphemes. Until now they have been largely neglected by Semiticists. They thus provide, among other things, fully vocalised material, unusual for alphabetically written Semitic languages, which can provide us with insight into the historical and diachronic development of the (North-West) Semitic languages, esp. biblical Hebrew. At the same time, these texts are also interesting epigraphic texts documenting the spread of the Punic language into the African interior.

O presente trabalho pretende discutir a construção da ideia de prostituição sagrada no Antigo Crescente Fértil a partir da análise de trabalhos historiográficos do século XIX, XX e início do século XXI. Analisaremos como as relações de gênero e o contexto histórico dos autores têm reflexos sobre a leitura e interpretação das fontes bem como sobre o desenvolvimento de sua obra, contribuindo assim para a construção da ideia que cada autor desenvolve.

ABSTRACT: This documentary response sheet contains a series of sequential questions, plus a separate pdf with the answers (i.e., summarized data), drawn from the video,  (shown in-class; also available online via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ih9JqwkEqg [105+ minutes]).  These sequential questions aim to maximize both student attention to various pertinent points made throughout the documentary and greater retention of the materials covered by the documentary.  In addition, the documentary has been vetted for overall content accuracy (albeit updated and/or corrected in-class), and selected to provide supplementary visual aids (e.g., images of regions, sites, finds, and other materials), additional specialist views (e.g., interviews), and other data to aid in student comprehension of the course lectures and readings from the textbooks. UPDATED: Summary sheet pdf alongside question sheet pdf.

SUMMARY: Lecture-18 discusses the origins of the Israelites, including the first mention of "Israel" in Merenptah's "Israel" Stela, the current status regarding minimal to no archaeological evidence for an Exodus (also postulated as being a later remembrance of Hyksos expulsion), the state of evidence regarding the sojourn in Sinai (also minimal/no archaeological evidence), the "Exodus Papyrus" (noting the escape and tracking of two fugitives from Egypt), the conquest account (which also contains conflicting data in the archaeological record), the emergence of numerous, small, hill country and other settlements (i.e., typically small, agrarian enclosures with some terracing in areas, herding, semi-nomadic roots in settlement design, forest clearance in newly occupied terrain, simple pottery and other artefacts with clear Canaanite roots), and the emergence of a more complex, Israelite polity by 1000 BC. This lecture is designed mainly as an educational resource/aid for college students (i.e., normally posted only on my institution's course website), the public (e.g., people auditing my course), and interested colleagues from other disciplines (to whom I periodically provide copies privately).  I am posting it here, both as a broader access, educational tool, and especially to promote the study of this region and its past societies.  For further knowledge about this region and period, I refer interested parties to the textbooks and other sources from which the initial materials were extracted for this ppt. (see syllabus; e.g., initially Mazar, Archaeology of the Land of the Bible), and/or the bibliographies in these works and my online resource guides (see other files in my academia folders).  Much of this and the other lectures summarize the pertinent materials in the course textbook(s), add in other data, including my own research materials, and furnish numerous images to clarify/illustrate the wealth of information encountered in the textbook(s).  Some generic imagery (usually indicated as such) is posted to aid in transmitting various concepts visually, and/or when a specific image remains not located (temporarily).  I update and revise such lectures each time, with such elective courses normally being taught once every two years.  I try to cover the most current, mainstream views, and usually place summary notes at the end of each lecture (or in separate test study guides).  Over time, each lecture is improved, errors rectified, and additional data placed within the lecture.  These ppt. lectures take many hours to compile, but they have proved useful to many of my more serious students (who have since pursued graduate degrees), and a few colleagues, who, like me, often teach outside our main fields of specialty, and I hope they can be of benefit to others as well.  My apologies for any errors I may have made (over time, as I teach this course every two years, I try to rectify any errors that might slip in inadvertently), and for my liberal usage of educational imagery from professional sources and vetted internet sources.  UPDATED:  Oct. 2023, re-formatting, and a new slide and text revisions.

The Canaanites, who belongs to the semitic race, are beginned their immigration in Palestine around 3000 B. C. E. Our knowledge of Canaanite Religion basically relies on the archives of cities like Ugarit and Ebla.
The Gods of the Canaanite Religion, their cults and mythology are partly known to us via Cuneiform tablets which were found at Ugarit (Ras Shamra), Alalakh, Ebla and  Inscriptions. Being one of these tablets, according to the religious texts Canaanite Religion shows Polytheistic characteristics, and every god and goddess have their special responsibilities. Gods are portrayed as beings that have a physical shape and are often described as human beings, that have emotions . The Gods and Goddesses we know in this religion are follows: El the Creator of the World, Baal the Thunderer, Yamm of the Sea, God of Dead, Mot, Anat, Ašherah, Dagan, Rapa’uma, Rešheph, Yerach, Šapšu, Kothar-Hašiš and Kotharat. The Canaanites also believed an afterlife. This underworld described as a dark world. The habitants of this place called “The Shades of the Dead”. They also believed that the kings become and live as “Malakuma” after dead, and made offerings to them.  In our study, we will mention about the land of Canaan and Canaanites, then we will try to clarify Canaan Religion, it’s characterictics and their gods.

The dialect spoken and written by the Jews of Babylonia from the third century CE onwards is known as “Jewish Babylonian Aramaic”. This is the first comprehensive description of this dialect since Levias’ “Grammar of Babylonian Aramaic” of 1930. The current book offers a thorough reexamination of the grammar on the basis of a large corpus in its manuscript witnesses. It not only synthesizes the results of recent scholarship but introduces original insights on many important questions. The book is designed to appeal to readers of all backgrounds, including those with no prior background in Babylonian Aramaic or the Babylonian Talmud. The discussion frequently makes reference to parallels in other Semitic languages and in other Aramaic dialects, as well as to a variety of topics in linguistics . The book is structured as a textbook: it introduces topics in an order determined by pedagogical considerations, and offers vocabulary notes and translation exercises at the end. At the same time, the book can be used as a reference grammar.

To be or not to be is a crucial question regarding Moses as well as the Exodus because, according to the Bible, the character related to that famous event forms the basis of the Passover which meant the Promised Land for Jews and later the Paradise for Christians. However, according to most Egyptologists, there is absolutely no evidence of Moses and the Exodus in Egyptian documents, which leads them to conclude that the whole biblical story is a myth written for gullible people. Ironically, if one considers that “truth” must be based on two pillars: an accurate chronology anchored on absolute dates (Herodotus’ principle) and reliable documents coming from critical editions (Thucydides’ principle), that implies an amazing conclusion: those who believe Egyptologists are actually the real gullible ones. According to Egyptian accounts the last king of the XVth dynasty, named Apopi, “very pretty” in Hebrew that is Moses’ birth name (Ex 2:2), reigned 40 years in Egypt from 1613 to 1573 BCE, then 40 years later he met Seqenenre Taa the last pharaoh of the XVIIth dynasty and gave him an unspecified disturbing message. The eldest son of Seqenenre Taa, Ahmose Sapaïr, who was crown prince died in a dramatic and unexplained way shortly before his father. Seqenenre Taa died in May 1533 BCE, after 11 years of reign, in dramatic and unclear circumstances. The state of his mummy proves, however, that his body received severe injuries, in agreement with Psalms 136:15, and remained abandoned for several days before being mummified. Prince Kamose, Seqenenre Taa's brother, assured interim of authority for 3 years and threatened attack the former pharaoh Apopi, new prince of Retenu (Palestine) who took the name Moses, according to Manetho (280 BCE), an Egyptian priest and historian. In the stele of the Tempest, Kamose also blames Apopi for all the disasters that come to fall upon Egypt, which caused many deaths.

Las pruebas genéticas recién publicadas en la Revista Sciencie confirman la hipótesis del equipo de la 'Revista Argárica' de que entre los fundadores del Argar, además de los ya más que esperados esteparios, hubo gente procedente de las antiguas tierras de Canaán, concretamente gente con linaje paterno típico de ancestrías afroasiático-semíticas.

Tomando en consideración algunos restos de edificaciones y objetos encontrados en algunos yacimientos claves en Palestina o la tierra bíblica de Canaán, el presente ensayo es una descripción básica de las religiones de algunas culturas que residieron en esa área geográfica, en diferentes momentos históricos.

The Qeiyafa Ostracaon is an important inscription from the late stage of Early Alphabetic. Regarding its language, some have argued that it is written in Hebrew. This article, however, contends that there are no discernible diagnostic features in the ostracon that mandate such a conclusion. Furthermore, the article also emphasizes that the script of this inscription is certainly not Old Hebrew, nor is it the immediate precursor of the Old Hebrew script. Rather the Old Hebrew script derived from Phoenician. Thus, there is some distance between the script of this inscription and the Old Hebrew script. Finally, the article contends that it would be difficult (because of the dearth of data) for grand proposals about statecraft and literacy to be made on the sole basis of this ostracon.

There is a widespread idea that the people we call ‘Phoenician’ called themselves ‘Canaanite’. This article
argues that the only positive evidence for this hypothesis, a single line in the standard editionsAugustine’s unfinished commentary on Paul’s letter to the Romans, where he claims that ‘if you ask
our local peasants what they are, they answer ‘Canaanite’’, is prima facie highly unreliable as historical
evidence, and on closer inspection in fact is almost certainly an editorial error: our examination of all
the manuscripts — the first to have been carried out — established that what the peasants were really
asked in the archetype was not quid sint — ‘what they are’ — but quid sit — ‘what is it’, a phrase that
would most obviously refer to their language. While this new reconstruction of the archetype does not
necessarily mean that quid sit was what Augustine originally wrote, this passage cannot be usedpositive evidence for Canaanite identity in late antique North Africa, or anywhere else.

A survey of English translations of Zechariah 14:21 will yield two diverse interpretive conclusions of the text.  This difference is founded on how the Hebrew word כְּנַעֲנִי is to be understood within the context.  Some opt for the meaning of one who is “a merchant” while others maintain that the word is to be understood as referring to a “Canaanite.”  The issue is not merely a lexical one but a theological one.  The implications of the interpretive choice effect both the interpretation of the text itself and the theological emphasis of the book as a whole.  This thesis will defend the view that “Canaanite” is Zechariah’s intended meaning.  This view will be defended by a six-fold accumulative investigation of the text.  The six investigative perspectives will be expositional, lexical, structural, chronological, typological, and Biblical Theology.  The work will be divided into seven parts with the full Bibliography attached to the last section.

"Reviews of:
Fassberg, The Jewish Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Challa
Häberl, The Neo-Mandaic Dialect of Khorramshahr
Khan, The Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Qaraqosh
Khan, The Jewish Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Sulemaniyya
Khan, The Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Barwar
Khan, Neo-Aramaic Dialect Studies
Khan, The Jewish Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Urmi
Mutzafi, The Jewish Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Betanure
Poizat, Manuel de soureth
Rees, Lishan Didan, Targum Didan
Talay, Neuaramäische Texte in den Dialekten der Khabur-Assyrer
Talay, Die neuaramäischen Dialekte der Khabur-Assyrer"

"A selection of those late Punic texts (i.e. post-dating the destruction of Carthage in 146BC) in both neo-Punic and Latin script which are relatively easy to understand, making them accessible to non-experts in the field of Northwest Semitic epigraphy. The brief but thorough commentary provided for each text explains the readings, the idiosyncrasies of later Punic and the underlying scribal conventions. In some cases, the authors give new readings and dispense with the old ones. On the one hand, the present authors intend to pick up where Gibson’s Textbook of Syrian Semitic Inscriptions left off, on the other to broaden the selection offered by Donner and Röllig in Kanaanäische und Aramäische Inschriften , whilst at the same time also reflecting the results of research carried out during the past decades.
The work itself is intended for classroom use, ideally in the second term of an introductory course on North-West Semitic epigraphy, although it may also of course be used for private study. The Neo-Punic texts are given in Latin transcription, whilst the separate Neo-Punic and Latino-Punic glossaries contain both common and proper nouns together for ease of consultation. "

A survey of English translations of Zechariah 14:21 will yield two diverse interpretive conclusions of the text.  This difference is founded on how the Hebrew word כְּנַעֲנִי is to be understood within the context.  Some opt for the meaning of one who is “a merchant” while others maintain that the word is to be understood as referring to a “Canaanite.”  The issue is not merely a lexical one but a theological one.  The implications of the interpretive choice effect both the interpretation of the text itself and the theological emphasis of the book as a whole.  This thesis will defend the view that “Canaanite” is Zechariah’s intended meaning.  This view will be defended by a six-fold accumulative investigation of the text.  The six investigative perspectives will be expositional, lexical, structural, chronological, typological, and Biblical Theology.  The work will be divided into seven parts with the full Bibliography attached to the last section.

This paper summerizes the hellenistic coin finds on sites BEY 002, BEY 006, BEY 004, BEY 026, BEY 145, BEY 125, BEY 133, BEY 142 and BEY 144 from Beirut. The full data presented the VXth INC Glasgow, 2009,  are consultable in the "Talks" section of the current page of Academia.

This paper explores the ethics of biblical hermeneutics through a fresh examination of the ḥerem (Canaanite destruction) texts in Deuteronomy and Joshua. In their final form, these texts are engaged in Israelite collective identity construction. While on the surface level, these texts appear as genocidal and utterly exclusive, this paper will examine how the ḥerem texts in these books reshape Israelite identity around obedience to torah, communicating that Yahweh has given the land to the people grouping that embodies the Deuteronomic vision. Various redactions of the ḥerem texts function differently. Pre-exilic texts seem to function to subvert the hegemonic reign of the Neo-Assyrian empire. Some exilic ḥerem texts have an inclusivist dimension to them, interrelating with Deuteronomy's ethic of incorporating the stranger. Some ḥerem texts that are later again have an exclusivist dimension. In light of this ambivalence, this paper will explore the ethical dimensions of biblical hermeneutics: what weight should an interpreter give to various redactions or to the final form? Is there scope to prefer an "ethical" reading? What does it mean to "read the bible for good"?

Author: Deb Beatty Mel
Publisher: CBE International

Jesus’ encounter with the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21–28 can be perplexing to contemporary Christians. Why does Jesus seem to put off, in an apparently callous manner, a woman whose desperate plea for her daughter’s healing touches the heart of any loving parent? Why does he appear to demean her by calling her a “dog”? This article will look at the interaction between the Canaanite woman and Jesus, examining the social and scriptural underpinnings of their encounter.

A man's descendant can never be superior to the one whose seed gave him life. Just as an acorn can never claim to be greater than the Oak tree from which it fell. This paper refutes that Yahoshua is from the family of David, Tribe of Judah, based on bloodlines and birthrights and ungodly behavior.

[Article in Italian] Some remarks on the vocalism of causatives in Aramaic. Starting from a series of 'abnormal' forms of causative in Hatra, which point to a pattern 'ifil rather than the expected 'afel, and investigating the history of the causatives of pe-alef roots, it is argued that probably Aramaic causatives too displayed a vocalic pattern i-i like Hebrew, Phoenician and Amarna.

The ancient Israelites who produced the Hebrew Bible lived within a rich context of geography, language, politics, religion, and culture. This context profoundly shaped Israel, and indeed it was through the influence of the neighboring people of West Asia along the Mediterranean Sea that Israel defined its own identity. Thus, these neighbors helped forge the very shape of Biblical religion. Though larger nations like Egypt and various Mesopotamian empires loom large in the narratives, Israel’s close neighbors in the Levant appear more frequently in the Bible and prove decisive at crucial moments. The Bible casts the Edomites to the southeast as the “brother” of Israel in the form of the Jacob and Esau narrative. The Philistines are presented as Israel’s first true national political enemy, stealing the ark and battling kings Saul and David. The Moabites violently confront the escaped Hebrew slaves on their way out of Egypt, yet also provide the great-grandmother of King David in the person of Ruth, a Moabite refugee. Though the Bible’s presentation of these neighbors has profoundly shaped our imagination of them, the Bible’s story is but one perspective.

To complicate matters further, though the Bible casts many of these neighbors as villains, its story about them is actually more intricate. Even the Edomites, reviled in the Bible as participators in the sacking of Jerusalem in 586 BCE, have familial ties with Israel in the book of Genesis, and the Aramaeans, political enemies of Israel in the book of Kings, occupy a mysterious place near the heart of Israel’s own journey in Deuteronomy 26:5: “A wandering Aramaean was my ancestor…”

Moreover, the biblical story never presents the identity of these groups as pure “history,” but rather as a complex mix of legend, storytelling, political invective, and memory. We are left wondering how the biblical portrayal might have distorted our thinking about these people as historical groups, and who they actually were.

In this book, I will explore both the biblical portrayal of the smaller groups surrounding Israel—the Philistines, Phoenicians, Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, and Arameans—and what we can know about these groups through their own literature, archaeology, and other sources. Learning what we can about who these various peoples were in their own right can deepen our awareness of Israel’s close neighbors. By uncovering the identity of the Philistines as settlers along the coast at the same time that early Israel carved out their place in the land, for example, we can better understand the social turmoil and political maneuvering that lies just beneath the surface of the biblical narrative, and we can see more clearly just how the authors of the Bible saw themselves in the face of others. Through its overview of these surrounding groups, this book will demonstrate in a direct and accessible manner the extent to which ancient Israelite identity was fluid and forged both within and against the identities of its close neighbors. Animated by the latest and best research, yet written for students, this book will invite readers to embark on a journey of scholarly discovery to reveal the unfamiliar world of Israel’s place among its neighbors.

A survey of English translations of Zechariah 14:21 will yield two diverse interpretive conclusions of the text.  This difference is founded on how the Hebrew word כְּנַעֲנִי is to be understood within the context.  Some opt for the meaning of one who is “a merchant” while others maintain that the word is to be understood as referring to a “Canaanite.”  The issue is not merely a lexical one but a theological one.  The implications of the interpretive choice effect both the interpretation of the text itself and the theological emphasis of the book as a whole.  This thesis will defend the view that “Canaanite” is Zechariah’s intended meaning.  This view will be defended by a six-fold accumulative investigation of the text.  The six investigative perspectives will be expositional, lexical, structural, chronological, typological, and Biblical Theology.  The work will be divided into seven parts with the full Bibliography attached to the last section.

A survey of English translations of Zechariah 14:21 will yield two diverse interpretive conclusions of the text.  This difference is founded on how the Hebrew word כְּנַעֲנִי is to be understood within the context.  Some opt for the meaning of one who is “a merchant” while others maintain that the word is to be understood as referring to a “Canaanite.”  The issue is not merely a lexical one but a theological one.  The implications of the interpretive choice effect both the interpretation of the text itself and the theological emphasis of the book as a whole.  This thesis will defend the view that “Canaanite” is Zechariah’s intended meaning.  This view will be defended by a six-fold accumulative investigation of the text.  The six investigative perspectives will be expositional, lexical, structural, chronological, typological, and Biblical Theology.  The work will be divided into seven parts with the full Bibliography attached to the last section.

A survey of English translations of Zechariah 14:21 will yield two diverse interpretive conclusions of the text.  This difference is founded on how the Hebrew word כְּנַעֲנִי is to be understood within the context.  Some opt for the meaning of one who is “a merchant” while others maintain that the word is to be understood as referring to a “Canaanite.”  The issue is not merely a lexical one but a theological one.  The implications of the interpretive choice effect both the interpretation of the text itself and the theological emphasis of the book as a whole.  This thesis will defend the view that “Canaanite” is Zechariah’s intended meaning.  This view will be defended by a six-fold accumulative investigation of the text.  The six investigative perspectives will be expositional, lexical, structural, chronological, typological, and Biblical Theology.  The work will be divided into seven parts with the full Bibliography attached to the last section.

The "Išbaʿ" inscription was discovered during the 2012 excavations season, the letters were inscribed on a shoulder of a ceramic jar,The inscription has four words and was written from right to left, only some Letters Fragment survived from the The first word (from the right), this article propose a new reading of this word.