Search

The article discusses Lines 3-4 in the Tel Dan, Israel Inscription, which is an Old Aramaic language inscription attributed to the King of Damascus, Syria Hazael. An overview Israel's relationship with Aram-Damascus, Syria in the 9th century B.C., including regard to the territorial boundary dispute between the countries over the land of Qedem in the Levant, is provided. The relationship to the Hebrew Bible and the Tel Dan Inscription is discussed.

This paper argues that the mizrāq, a ritual vessel described in the Hebrew Bible, is best identified with the shallow metal drinking-offering bowls typical across the ancient Near East from the second millennium B.C. on. It is further proposed that a specific vessel discovered at Tel Dan may in fact be a certain type of mizrāq intended for use at a courtyard altar. Attention is given to the biblical descriptions in light of archaeological and iconographic parallels. The significance of this identification for an understanding of the Danite cult in its Iron LIB context is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a literary analysis on the apology of Hazael from the fragments of Tel Dan Inscription (TDI) for linguistic and historical significance in relation to Old Aramaic. It explores the literary motifs and the analysis of inscription's literary structure on apologetic literature. It highlights the literature which reflects the efforts of Hazael to consolidate control over Aramean tribal groups in transforming the Aram-Damascus into a patrimonial kingdom.

Contrary to the review by Victor Sasson, the author's treatment of the Tel Dan Inscription is not a new 'Minimized' reading of the fragments. A closer reading of his arguments reveals that he actually argues against the 'Minimizers'. The Tel Dan Inscription provides us with good evidence for the historicity of David which is in line with biblical testimony, and suggests the reliability of the biblical record. Furthermore, we need to read the Bible more carefully to avoid false expectations about what we are looking for in archaeology. In relation to the inscription, context demands that the word "Multiple line equation(s) cannot be represented in ASCII text" should not be understood as a dynastic label for Judah, but rather as a toponym for Jerusalem as a city-state. Sasson also misunderstands the nuances of the words "Multiple line equation(s) cannot be represented in ASCII text" and "Multiple line equation(s) cannot be represented in ASCII text" in the inscription. The author's own position is then summarized in ten points, including a reconstruction of the text. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay interprets a Tel Dan Isreali stele inscription regarding the Battle of Hadadezer from Aramaic literature, focusing on the meaning and historical value of the statements about military conflicts in lines 2 and 3b-4a. Assessment of Aramean-Israelite relations during the mid-ninth century B.C.E. are explored. Topics include inscriptions of Shalmaneser III on his campaigns to the west in the 840s B.C.E., as well as the inscription's bearing on the Bible's second book of Kings.

Originally a doctoral thesis, The Tel Dan Inscription: A Reappraisal and a New Interpretation by George Athas aims to be a definitive study of the Old Aramaic inscription from Tell Dan. Its author has adopted the methods of the deconstructionists (= Minimizers). The Hebrew Bible is said to be ‘an unknown quantity at best and a pure fabrication at worst’; the term bytdwd in the inscription is not in reference to the House of David (= Judah) but to Jerusalem as ‘a small principality’ or ‘a small feudal estate’. According to the author the waw consecutive does not exist here, nor elsewhere in Aramaic. The reviewer argues that both the Hebrew Bible and the Tell Dan text are thereby downsized and devalued. Despite a detailed, minute palaeographical and epigraphical analysis which occupies 156 pages, as a published book aimed at professional epigraphers and established biblical scholars, it is generally disappointing, neither definitive, nor authoritative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports that George Atlas has published the first dissertation on the "House of David" or "Tel Dan inscription" fragments discovered in 1993 and 1994. Atlas' focus on its epigraphy and paleography; Theory on the production of the stele and the constellation of the fragments; Dating of the inscription to 795 BCE; Identification of the language as Aramaic.

Focuses on fragments of the Tel Dan Inscription. References to kings Jehoram of Israel and Ahaziahu of Judah; Historical importance of the inscriptions.

In SJOT 13,2 I submitted the hypothesis that the ''I'' of the Old Aramaic Tel Dan inscription, who supposedly boasts of having killed the Israelite king Joram and his Judean counterpart Ahaziah, is probably the Israelite usurper and later king Jehu son of Nimshi, rather than Hazael or another Aramean king. In the same issue, Bob Becking gave a number of arguments against this identification, based on certain aspects of the text itself and on supposed literary characteristics of the chapters which describe the beginning of his reign, and of the historiography of the Books of Kings and Primary History in general. While I appreciate his candid reaction, I do not think that he is right, and I put forward my own counter-arguments in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article suggests an interpretation of the royal Aramaic inscription from Tel Dan in Israel. The author argues that fragments B1 + B2 seem to precede fragment A and the inscription should be dated to the time of Bar-Hadad, son of Aramaean king Hazael. The various definitions of the term bytdwd are enumerated including a temple to the God of Israel known as dwd or beloved one. He points out that the document indicates an Israelite control over the region of Damascus, Syria during the period preceding the days of Bar-Hadad.

Analyzes the Tel Dan, the first royal inscription from ancient Israel. Test and translation of the inscription; Ascription of the Tel Dan to the Aramean kingdom of Aram Damascus.

When evaluated against the backdrop of the material cultural remains at the tel called Dan, including the religious structures in area 'T', the recently discovered House of David inscription indicates that this Iron Age city was ruled by Aramaean speaking dynastic kings who worshiped Hadad as their patron god. Although the city may have been captured by Israelites in a few periods, the likelihood is that relative continuity in Aramaean rule and Hadad religion persevered at Tel Dan throughout the pre-Assyrian Iron Age [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses about the Tel Dan stela as a piece of royal historiagraphy. Information on the discovery of the Armaic stela in Tel Dan; Prophetic oracles in favor of the kingship of Hazael; Comparison of the Tel Dan stela with the Mesha stela.

The first fragment of the Tel Dan stela, discovered in 1993, caught the attention of the public particularly for its mention of the "house of David, "providing a stratified index of the historicity of that figure, and of the early monarchy. The editio princeps placed the inscription early in the ninth century B.C.E., relating it to the invasion of Ben-Hadad I Reconsideration of the stela suggests, however, that it belongs to the end of the ninth century, when Aramean ascendance over Israel was on the verge of being broken. The language of the stela also indicates that the Aramaic of Damascus in this era had close connections with Hebrew and Moabite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a list of report published in the periodical "Levant" on topics including bronze age copper production in Timna, residence of a Neo-Assyrian City Governor at Tel Dan, and condition of Jerusalem in the Middle Bronze Age.

Highlights the discovery of a clay plaque depicting a man playing the lute with his right foot raised as though dancing at Tel Dan, Israel. Use of the lute as a common musical instrument in antiquity; Presence of lutes on plaques and figurines from northern Mesopotamia and north Syria; Description of the movement of the foot.

This section offers news briefs related to archaeology as of January 1994. An article on the discovery of a 9th century B.C. Aramaic stele from Tel Dan in Northern Israel has been published in the 1993 "Israel Exploration Journal" (IEJ). A 1992 map added in the "Tübinger Atlas des vorderen Orients" (TAVO) showed evidence for the Jewish Diaspora until the 7th century. Transcription of 185 handwritten sheets of the unpublished material on the Beth-Shemesh excavation in Israel has been accomplished under Nicoletta Momigliano's direction.