MDDM history v. literature

[Doug Millison]

"Following 70 years of intensive excavations in the
Land of Israel, archaeologists have found out: The
patriarchs' acts are legendary stories, we did not
sojourn in Egypt or make an exodus, we did not conquer
the land. Neither is there any mention of the empire
of David and Solomon. Those who take an interest have
known these facts for years, but Israel is a stubborn
people and doesn't want to hear about it

"This is what archaeologists have learned from their
excavations in the Land of Israel: the Israelites were
never in Egypt, did not wander in the desert, did not
conquer the land in a military campaign and did not
pass it on to the 12 tribes of Israel. Perhaps even
harder to swallow is that the united monarchy of David
and Solomon, which is described by the Bible as a
regional power, was at most a small tribal kingdom.
And it will come as an unpleasant shock to many that
the God of Israel, YHWH, had a female consort and that
the early Israelite religion adopted monotheism only
in the waning period of the monarchy and not at Mount
Sinai. " [...]

...context, re P's references to Lillith, in M&D and
Vineland, the path not taken...

"YHWH and his Consort
How many gods, exactly, did Israel have? Together with
the historical and political aspects, there are also
doubts as to the credibility of the information about
belief and worship. The question about the date at
which monotheism was adopted by the kingdoms of Israel
and Judea arose with the discovery of inscriptions in
ancient Hebrew that mention a pair of gods: YHWH and
his Asherath. At two sites, Kuntilet Ajrud in the
southwestern part of the Negev hill region, and
Khirbet el-Kom in the Judea piedmont, Hebrew
inscriptions have been found that mention 'YHWH and
his Asherah', 'YHWH Shomron and his Asherah', 'YHWH
Teman and his Asherah'. The authors were familiar with
a pair of gods, YHWH and his consort Asherah, and send
blessings in the couple's name. These inscriptions,
from the 8th century BCE, raise the possibility that
monotheism, as a state religion, is actually an
innovation of the period of the Kingdom of Judea,
following the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel. 


"The archaeology of the Land of Israel is completing a
process that amounts to a scientific revolution in its
field. It is ready to confront the findings of
biblical scholarship and of ancient history as an
equal discipline. But at the same time, we are
witnessing a fascinating phenomenon in that all this
is simply ignored by the Israeli public. Many of the
findings mentioned here have been known for decades.
The professional literature in the spheres of
archaeology, Bible and the history of the Jewish
people has addressed them in dozens of books and
hundreds of articles. Even if not all the scholars
accept the individual arguments that inform the
examples I have cited, the majority have adopted their
main points. Nevertheless, these revolutionary views
are not penetrating the public consciousness. About a
year ago, my colleague, the historian Prof. Nadav
Ne'eman, published an article in the Culture and
Literature section of Ha'aretz entitled 'To Remove the
Bible from the Jewish Bookshelf', but there was no
public outcry. Any attempt to question the reliability
of the biblical descriptions is perceived as an
attempt to undermine 'our historic right to the land'
and as a shattering of the myth of the nation that is
renewing the ancient Kingdom of Israel. These symbolic
elements constitute such a critical component of the
construction of the Israeli identity that any attempt
to call their veracity into question encounters
hostility or silence. It is of some interest that such
tendencies within the Israeli secular society go
hand-in-hand with the outlook among educated Christian
groups. I have found a similar hostility in reaction
to lectures I have delivered abroad to groups of
Christian Bible lovers, though what upset them was the
challenge to the foundations of their fundamentalist
religious belief. It turns out that part of Israeli
society is ready to recognize the injustice that was
done to the Arab inhabitants of the country and is
willing to accept the principle of equal rights for
women - but is not up to adopting the archaeological
facts that shatter the biblical myth. The blow to the
mythical foundations of the Israeli identity is
apparently too threatening, and it is more convenient
to turn a blind eye. • 


http://www.bib-arch.org/bswbBreakingIllSpecial1.html




=====
<http://www.pynchonoid.blogspot.com/>
<http://www.dougday.blogspot.com/>
<http://www.online-journalist.com/index.html>

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Finance - Get real-time stock quotes
http://finance.yahoo.com