Thursday, July 28, 2005
JEWISH STUDIES, AN INTERNET JOURNAL (JSIJ) has posted a new article by Meira Polliack:
It can be downloaded here as a PDF file.
Wherein Lies the Pesher? Re-Questioning the Connection Between Medieval Karaite and Qumranic Modes of Biblical Interpretation
Abstract
The article questions the long-held thesis concerning the existence of a viable connection between the Qumranic pesher and the early Karaite model and method of interpreting biblical prophecy (and some other biblical texts), as argued primarily by N. Wieder, and later adopted in other studies.
Although much clarification will be required in future research, the theoretical direction upon which this article draws, is that Karaism is first and foremost an expression of a crisis internal to Rabbinic Judaism. It primarily reflects a dialectic with the intellectual traditions of Rabbinic Judaism, as well as deep unease, to the point of implosion and friction with its social-political outlook. The more Karaism and its driving ethos are examined in the context of Rabbinic Judaism rather than in that of "sectarian" Judaism, the supposed impact of the Second Temple sects on Karaism becomes less probable. As research progresses, a re-evaluation will inevitably be sought of the relative place and degree of importance attributed to each of these basic contexts in the formation of early Karaite literature.
The hypothesis proposed is that the parallels which have been identified between the exegetical texts of both groups are analogous in nature, reflecting a similar orientation in the history of Jewish Bible interpretation, yet cannot be confused with actual influence of Qumranic sources upon early Karaite literature. The analysis offered concerns three major aspects of the comparative sources: the conceptual framework of interpretation (I), its methodology (II) and terminology (III). It will be shown that in all these aspects there is no substantive continuity between the interpretive systems idiosyncratic to the Qumranites and the Karaites. Hence, the process, style and content of biblical interpretation cannot be used in support of wider claims presupposing some form of historical linkage between these two dissenting movements of antiquity and medieval times.
As introductory background, two additional dimensions of the claim to connection are generally outlined, which do not concern its exegetical manifestation, but focus on halakhic and historical forms of evidence which have been harnessed to this claim. A short general introduction is also appended which highlights recent breakthroughs in Karaite Studies (of relevance to the comparative discussion). Also appended are short sections on hermeneutic theory and conclusions, which draw attention to the wider implications of this debate for the study of the history of Jewish Bible exegesis.
It can be downloaded here as a PDF file.
THE TIBERIAS EXCAVATION has issued a press release, as has been noted already by several other bloggers. Excerpt:
UPDATE (29 July): Live Science has a note on the Jesus coin with nice close-up picture.
Beneath the apse hall, remains of an impressive, first-century, marble floor were found. There is no natural marble in Israel, and therefore, this floor must have been part of a grand structure belonging to an individual of extraordinary wealth. The excavators believe it was one of the palaces belonging to Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, who founded Tiberias in 20 C.E. A marble floor of this type from the Second Temple period has been found previously in Israel only at the Herodian palaces of Masada, Jericho, and Herodion.
The finds in the remains of the complex's ancient shops this season were extremely rich: complete oil lamps, bronze coins, including more of the "Jesus coins" ( a coin from the 11th century bearing the image of Jesus, discovered in earlier excavations there ), glass and stone vessels, jewelry and frescoes. On the western façade of the basilica complex, a row of shops was discovered along with a 50-meter section of street paved with basalt stones, which the archaeological team named "Galilee Street."
UPDATE (29 July): Live Science has a note on the Jesus coin with nice close-up picture.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
WELCOME BACK to the ANE List! The new listowners write:
Dear Listmembers,
After a several weeks hiatus the Oriental Institute is pleased to announce the re-launch of the ANE list. With the departure of Chuck Jones to Athens, the list is now organized and maintained by John C. Sanders (OI Computer Lab) and Magnus Widell (OI Research Archives). Basically, list operations remain as the were while Chuck was running the list. It's a testament to Chuck's capacity that it has been relatively easy for us to take over the list operations.
Ok, lets start ANE scholarly discourse again!
DAVID MEADOWS is back from holiday and is blogging like a fiend over at Rogue Classicism. Go and have a look.
TEMPLE MOUNT BLOGBURST ANNOUNCEMENT: This just in from Judith Weiss:
I'll see what I can come up with.
UPDATE: Jim West takes exception to this project on the following grounds:
His emphasis. On the grounds that Jim doesn't like Judith's politics, he puts words in her mouth which she did not say. What she did say was that she wants discussions of "the history of Jewish Jerusalem and Jewish residence in Israel (preferably that which can be corroborated by artifacts and documents)," which sounds perfectly reasonable to me. I don't know what she thinks about the various minimalist positions about such things -- I don't buy all of them myself -- but her having a "hawkish liberal Jewish perspective" doesn't disqualify her from being interested in the actual evidence.
He continues
No she doesn't mean that, Jim, as you really ought to know if you've been paying attention to what has been going on in the Middle East in recent years. She's talking about claims coming from Palestinians and the Arab world in general that there were no Jewish temples at all ever on the Temple Mount (see, for example, here, here, here, and here) and that the Wailing Wall is "a Muslim wall" rather than a Herodian structure. These are just a few examples of a very widespread phenomenon that I have blogged on frequently.
Yes, there is solid archaeological evidence that raises significant doubts about the stories of Solomon's and David's empires. That does not mean that there was no temple on the Temple Mount in the Iron Age II. Yes, there is room for debate over the date of its founding and how big it was. It seems quite unlikely that it was the grand structure described in 1 Kings 6 and 7 in the time of Solomon. But archaeologist Israel Finkelstein certain accepts a reasonably grand temple on the site by the time of Josiah's royal state, and it may be that Josiah's "repairs" to the temple involved expanding a more modest original structure. (That's my speculation, not Finkelstein's.) But whatever you do with the first temple, how can you possibly take seriously the claim that the second temple, even in its expanded Herodian form, didn't exist? That certainly sounds like a "disinformation campaign to falsify Middle Eastern history to erase the Jewish presence" to me. And the destruction of the archaeology of the Temple Mount by the Waqf under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority (see, e.g., here, here, and here), on which Jim does not comment on at all in his post, involves erasure that goes far beyond mere disinformation. Now there's something to be troubled about.
First of all, please note the new Kesher Talk URL if you haven't already.
http://www.keshertalk.com/
The following text with links is here:
http://www.keshertalk.com/archives/2005/07/announcing_anot.html
Sunday was the fast day of the 17th of Tammuz, beginning the Three Weeks of somber reflection that lead to Tisha B'Av, the Jewish holy day commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples (in each case also the destruction of the Jewish nation at that time).
During these three weeks, I am asking for contributions to a blogburst to appear just before Tisha B'Av.
The theme of this blogburst is the destruction of Temple Mount archeological relics under the authorization of the Muslim authority in charge of the Mount, in the context of ongoing propaganda attempts to erase Jewish history.
A "blogburst" is a simultaneous and cross-linked posting of many blogs on the same theme, usually to commemorate a particular event or to publicize a situation. The organizer makes a master blog entry with links to all the other blogposts on the topic.
Kesher Talk has spearheaded several blogbursts in the past, most notably commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Munich Olympics Massacre. That effort earned links from James Taranto's "Best of the Web" and Instapundit, among others.
Tisha B'Av begins the evening of Saturday August 13th and continues till the evening of Sunday August 14th. Because Shabbat is just the day before, please post your contribution and email me the permalink before 3 PM, Friday August 12th.
If you don't have a blog but would like to write on this topic, email me your essay and I will post it on Kesher Talk in its own permalink, and link to it from the main blogburst entry.
You don't have to be Jewish, or know anything about Tisha B'Av, to contribute to this blogburst. You can post solely about any of these topics, or in combination:
- the ongoing Temple Mount destruction and efforts to mitigate it
- the history of Jewish Jerusalem and Jewish residence in Israel (preferably that which can be corroborated by artifacts and documents)
- the disinformation campaign to falsify Middle Eastern history to erase the Jewish presence
- controversies about future Jewish and Muslim activity at the Temple Mount
- personal experiences at the Temple Mount
- Tisha B'Av: its rituals and many meanings
I have many URLs on these topics and will be happy to email them to you upon request, to assist you in writing your contribution. Of course, your own resources are welcome and desired.
Feel free to publicize this effort on your blog - the more contributors the better; that's how a blogburst works.
Judith Weiss
Kesher Talk
I'll see what I can come up with.
UPDATE: Jim West takes exception to this project on the following grounds:
From the sound of it, only contributions which support the belief in a grand, Solomonic Temple will be included as the blogger defines herself as a person with a hawkish liberal Jewish perspective.
His emphasis. On the grounds that Jim doesn't like Judith's politics, he puts words in her mouth which she did not say. What she did say was that she wants discussions of "the history of Jewish Jerusalem and Jewish residence in Israel (preferably that which can be corroborated by artifacts and documents)," which sounds perfectly reasonable to me. I don't know what she thinks about the various minimalist positions about such things -- I don't buy all of them myself -- but her having a "hawkish liberal Jewish perspective" doesn't disqualify her from being interested in the actual evidence.
He continues
The troubling bit, at least for me, is the line which suggests that there is [an] ongoing propaganda attempt to erase Jewish history. If this means, as I think it must, that any questioning of the historical truth claims of the Deuteronomic History is seen as an attempt to erase Jewish history, then I must strenuously disagree with the premise.
No she doesn't mean that, Jim, as you really ought to know if you've been paying attention to what has been going on in the Middle East in recent years. She's talking about claims coming from Palestinians and the Arab world in general that there were no Jewish temples at all ever on the Temple Mount (see, for example, here, here, here, and here) and that the Wailing Wall is "a Muslim wall" rather than a Herodian structure. These are just a few examples of a very widespread phenomenon that I have blogged on frequently.
Yes, there is solid archaeological evidence that raises significant doubts about the stories of Solomon's and David's empires. That does not mean that there was no temple on the Temple Mount in the Iron Age II. Yes, there is room for debate over the date of its founding and how big it was. It seems quite unlikely that it was the grand structure described in 1 Kings 6 and 7 in the time of Solomon. But archaeologist Israel Finkelstein certain accepts a reasonably grand temple on the site by the time of Josiah's royal state, and it may be that Josiah's "repairs" to the temple involved expanding a more modest original structure. (That's my speculation, not Finkelstein's.) But whatever you do with the first temple, how can you possibly take seriously the claim that the second temple, even in its expanded Herodian form, didn't exist? That certainly sounds like a "disinformation campaign to falsify Middle Eastern history to erase the Jewish presence" to me. And the destruction of the archaeology of the Temple Mount by the Waqf under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority (see, e.g., here, here, and here), on which Jim does not comment on at all in his post, involves erasure that goes far beyond mere disinformation. Now there's something to be troubled about.
THE PULSA DE-NURA CURSE CEREMONY is in the news. The AP article "Israeli soldiers practice removing settlers from homes three weeks before Gaza pullout" ends with this:
And well they should. It's been speculated that carrying out this ceremony may count as incitement to murder. See first link above.
UPDATE: Something Jewish has more details in "Sharon's kabbalistic curse." It seems that the cursers have chosen their words carefully to try to avoid charges of incitement. But there's also this quote from WorldNetDaily:
I wouldn't be so sure about that. The Jerusalem Post has the following:
(Bad link to last article now fixed.)
UPDATE (28 July): Some additional details in an article today in News.com.au:
On Tuesday, well-known Jewish extremist Michael Ben Chorin said he and about 20 others carried out an ancient curse ceremony called "pulsa denura," calling death down upon Sharon, author of the pullout plan. The mystical ceremony was conducted in a cemetery in Israel's north, he said.
"We called on angels of destruction to kill Sharon as soon as possible," he told Israel Radio.
Such a ceremony preceded the 1995 assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by a fanatical opponent of concessions to the Palestinians. The assassin was influenced by hard-line rabbis and extreme religious pronouncements.
The mainstream settlers council, Israel's chief rabbi and pro-peace groups condemned Ben Chorin and the ceremony.
And well they should. It's been speculated that carrying out this ceremony may count as incitement to murder. See first link above.
UPDATE: Something Jewish has more details in "Sharon's kabbalistic curse." It seems that the cursers have chosen their words carefully to try to avoid charges of incitement. But there's also this quote from WorldNetDaily:
Dayan told WND he is not inciting anyone to assassinate Sharon.
"We are talking to angels and spirits, not people," he said. "If someone takes the law into his own hand and kills Sharon, it's not my problem."
I wouldn't be so sure about that. The Jerusalem Post has the following:
Charges could be filed for pulsa denura
By YAAKOV KATZ
Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz weighed Tuesday night whether or not to issue criminal charges against far-right disengagement protesters enacted a pulsa denura (Aramaic for "lashes of fire") death curse against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in an effort to thwart the disengagement plan.
[...]
(Bad link to last article now fixed.)
UPDATE (28 July): Some additional details in an article today in News.com.au:
Several years before Rabin's death, the pulsa denura curse was invoked against archaeologist Yigal Shiloh, who was accused by ultra-orthodox activists of desecrating ancient Jewish graves while excavating in Jerusalem. When Shiloh died not long afterwards, the activists claimed credit. But the curse has also been directed over the years at other prominent people without ill effect.
Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek was the target of such a ceremony more than 25 years ago but he is still alive at 94.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
INDIAN MANUSCRIPTS: Earlier this month I thought about blogging on an article about a project to conserve ancient (and more recent) manuscripts in India, on the grounds that there might be an Old Testament pseudepigraphon or two tucked among them. But then I thought that was reaching too far.
It seems I was wrong. Recently, while going through our list of texts for the More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Project, I noticed that one of the documents, the Words of Gad the Seer, being prepared by Dr. Meir Bar-Ilan, survives in a single eighteenth-century Hebrew manuscript from Cochin, India. Let's hope that the National Mission for Manuscripts finds more like it.
Scholars catalog ancient manuscripts to preserve 4,000-year history of India
Rama Lakshmi, Washington Post
Sunday, June 26, 2005
[...]
And so it goes, as India's 30,000 manuscript hunters fan out nationwide, seeking the nation's heritage in old temples, madrassas, mosques, monasteries, libraries and homes.
Launched two years ago, the National Mission for Manuscripts is a five- year project to catalog for the first time India's ancient documentary wealth and ensure that basic conservation practices are followed to halt their rapid decay. Officials say that India is the largest repository of manuscripts in the world, with an estimated 5 million texts in hundreds of languages.
Linguistic scholars and history students involved in this adventurous hunt for ancient volumes use not only expertise but also social skills, coaxing and cultural sensitivity to gain access to manuscripts.
[...]
The manuscript project's officials say the nationwide survey will open a window to India's ancient knowledge systems: religion, astronomy, astrology, art, architecture, science, literature, philosophy and mathematics.
"We are creating a manuscript map of India. The survey will present new facets to our intellectual heritage," says Sudha Gopalakrishnan, chief of the National Mission for Manuscripts. The project will not take the volumes from their owners but merely document what is available and help in conservation.
"The key abstracts of all the ancient knowledge found in our manuscripts will be available digitally for the world to see," Gopalakrishnan says
[...]
The oldest manuscripts that India possesses are a set of sixth century Buddhist texts that were found buried in the hills of Kashmir about 60 years ago. In the last two years, the surveyors have found rare ancient Sanskrit and Arabic treatises on such subjects as diabetes, astrophysics, interpretation of dreams, surgical instruments, concepts of time and the art of war. A 400-year- old handwritten Koran was found in a locket measuring 3 inches.
[...]
It seems I was wrong. Recently, while going through our list of texts for the More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Project, I noticed that one of the documents, the Words of Gad the Seer, being prepared by Dr. Meir Bar-Ilan, survives in a single eighteenth-century Hebrew manuscript from Cochin, India. Let's hope that the National Mission for Manuscripts finds more like it.
APOCRYPHA WATCH: Some good advice from Kansas Senator Sam Brownback to Supreme Court nominee John Roberts:
The men did not discuss their shared Catholic faith, but Brownback did urge Roberts to read the Book of Wisdom, a book in the Old Testament Apocrypha.
"There's a chapter about how we are judged at the end," Brownback said. "Those who are judges and leaders are held to a higher standard -- that what we do be the right thing to do and that we apply justice. I did recommend that he read that at some point in time."
CONGRATULATIONS to Philip Alexander, Professor of Post-Biblical Jewish Literature at the University of Manchester, who has been elected to be a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA). A well-deserved honor!
Monday, July 25, 2005
MY "LOST BOOKS" POST has been extensively updated over the weekend.
UPDATE (26 July): And it's still being updated. Keep checking.
UPDATE (26 July): And it's still being updated. Keep checking.
APOCALYPTO, Mel Gibson's next movie, is to be filmed in an "obscure Mayan dialect" according to Variety. Now can someone tell me what filmworthy event happened among the Mayans 3,000 years ago?
UPDATE: I'm not subscribed to Variety, but this Google excerpt from the article reads "Set 500 years ago, pic will be filmed in an obscure Mayan dialect, presumably with the same kind of subtitles Gibson reluctantly added to "The Passion of the [Christ]". Five hundred years ago would make more sense.
UPDATE: Bryan Cox e-mails:
UPDATE (26 July): Yep, it's 500 years. Here's a Reuters article.
UPDATE: I'm not subscribed to Variety, but this Google excerpt from the article reads "Set 500 years ago, pic will be filmed in an obscure Mayan dialect, presumably with the same kind of subtitles Gibson reluctantly added to "The Passion of the [Christ]". Five hundred years ago would make more sense.
UPDATE: Bryan Cox e-mails:
It's just a guess on my part, but Gibson's Mayan movie may have something to do with the fact that the Mayan calendar ends on December 21st, 2012. This seems to have inspired many "end-of-the-world" stories. If you google "Maya 2012" (or some derivation of that), you'll find lots of information.
The first place I ever bumped into this fact about the Mayan calendar was in "Breaking the Mayan Code" by Michael D. Coe, a very interesting account of the decipherment of Mayan script.
UPDATE (26 July): Yep, it's 500 years. Here's a Reuters article.
Sunday, July 24, 2005
MORE ON THE JEHOASH INSCRIPTION from the Bible and Intepretation website;
They seem to want to keep the possibility of its genuiness open, mainly on the grounds that we don't know the Hebrew of the period very well. You can see some of my thoughts on the inscription here. I haven't had time to read the essay carefully yet. I may have more to say later.
The Jehoash Inscription: An Evaluative Summary
The strength of the forgery position is the cumulative weight of all the objections that have been raised rather than any single objection taken alone.
By Stuart A. Irvine and Charles David Isbell
Jewish Studies
Louisiana State University
July 2005
They seem to want to keep the possibility of its genuiness open, mainly on the grounds that we don't know the Hebrew of the period very well. You can see some of my thoughts on the inscription here. I haven't had time to read the essay carefully yet. I may have more to say later.
MORE ON THE PROPOSED SILWAN HOUSING DEMOLITIONS:
Sounds like a messy situation.
Trouble brews over homes at ancient Jerusalem site
Fri Jul 22, 2005 2:13 AM BST
By Cynthia Johnston
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A new row is rumbling in Jerusalem over the fate of dozens of Arab houses on land that may have been the gardens of biblical King David's capital and next to where Christians believe Jesus performed miracles.
On one side are Palestinian residents of Bustan, a hamlet of about 80 homes.
On the other are Israeli authorities who say some houses may face demolition because they were built illegally on land set aside for a park. Israeli archaeologists also want the ground cleared.
[...]
Many residents of Bustan say they have received demolition orders and are challenging them in court. Several have exhausted court challenges and their homes could now face demolition, community leaders say.
[...]
Meanwhile, Israeli archaeologists are keen for the land to be cleared. It lies atop what they believe were royal gardens at the foot of Kind David's capital. Nearby is the Siloam pool, where the New Testament says Jesus gave a blind man sight.
"We hope that somebody will help us in this fight to protect the area," said Yuval Baruch, Jerusalem District Archaeologist for the Israel Antiquities Authority.
"We just asked the municipality to do their job, not to allow people to build without permission... And if somebody does that, they have to take action to remove his house, not just in this area, but all over Israel."
Sami Ersheid, a lawyer representing many of the residents, dismissed the calls for preservation.
"Wherever any prophet touched his foot on the earth, do we have to preserve it until the end of this world?" he said.
[...]
Sounds like a messy situation.
ERIC AND CAROL MEYERS, along with the Sepphoris excavation, are profiled in a Durham Herald-Sun article:
And from the same source, an article on the disagreement between Eric Meyers and Hershel Shanks over the James Ossuary.
Duke husband-and-wife archaeologists renowned for decades of field studies
By PAUL BONNER : The Herald-Sun
pbonner@heraldsun.com
Jul 23, 2005 : 11:40 pm ET
DURHAM -- The excavators were turning up tesserae, small bits of colored tile, that told Eric and Carol Meyers a mosaic probably lay beneath.
The Duke archaeologists and a team were digging in a banquet hall of a Roman-style villa at Sepphoris, four miles from Nazareth and not far from the Sea of Galilee in Israel. It was July 2, 1987, a Friday afternoon.
[...]
And from the same source, an article on the disagreement between Eric Meyers and Hershel Shanks over the James Ossuary.
one box bedevils friendship
By PAUL BONNER : The Herald-Sun
pbonner@heraldsun.com
Jul 23, 2005 : 11:41 pm ET
DURHAM -- Few single archaeological artifacts have stirred as much controversy as the so-called James ossuary.
It has placed Duke archaeologist Eric Meyers and an erstwhile friend, Hershel Shanks, editor of Biblical Archeology Review, at odds -- with Meyers among those doubting the authenticity of a key phrase of its inscription.
[...]
Saturday, July 23, 2005
HOMICIDE BOMBERS -- BLAME THE JEWS? And Christians. There's an article by a psychologist named Rona Fields in a Canadian publication called the Tyee which tries to explain the mentality and historical origins of homicide bombing.
The subtitle may be tongue in cheek, but it's still tacky and insulting to the many who have been murdered and maimed by these monsters, including the recent victims in Iraq, London, Israel, and Egypt. But authors don't write headlines, so this is probably from an editor who was trying to be cute.
I won't comment on the psychological part of the article, but here's what she has to say about historical origins:
There's quite a bit of goalpost moving here. The "Zealots" (I think she means the Sicarii) did not engage in homicide "martyrdoms." The Latin word sicarius means "dagger assassin." They would get close to a target in a crowd, stab the target with a small dagger hidden on their person, then melt back into the crowd and get away. This is assassination, it is not a homicide "martyrdom": the objective was for the assassin to get away.
One could argue that the Sicarii who died at Masada were "martyrs" and that they committed suicide, but they were not suicide martyrs in the sense the phrase is used today in militant Islamist circles. According to Josephus' account (Antiquities 8.8-9, the specifics of which we, however, have considerable reason to doubt), they voluntarily committed suicide rather than surrender to the Romans. This was a horrific decision based, rightly or wrongly, on their unwillingness to submit to slavery or worse by the Romans. Perhaps Dr. Fields considers them "martyrdom homicides" because they killed their wives and children too. Again, without trying to justify that decision, it was an intragroup attempt to choose the least of very great evils for the group and, according to Josephus, the wives were fully involved in the decision. But this, if anything like it really did happen, is quite different from today's "suicide bombers": the Sicarii did not use suicide as a way of killing innocent civilian noncombatants on the enemy side as a terror tactic. This is one of the reasons I prefer the term "homicide bomber" to "suicide bomber" (although neither is entirely satisfactory). The point is that the suicide is used to kill innocent people on the other side.
In short: the first-century "Zealots," i.e., Sicarii, did not engage in "martyrdom homicides" in the modern sense.
Two small points: you would think that someone who had just written a book on martyrdom would be able to write out the Greek word for "martyr" (martys or martus -- μαρτυς [sorry, originally had genitive form here]) properly. And you would think that she would have found out that the Hebrew term for "martyrdom" is qiddush ha-Shem (קדוש השם), "sanctification of the Name (of God)."
Then there's the matter of Christian martyrdom, which has been a value in Christianity pretty much from its inception. But nonviolence and purely passive resitance have been part of this ideology from the beginning. The martyr does not commit suicide; he or she declines to resist when someone, usually the authorities, executes the martyr because of the martyr's religious beliefs. No suicide and no killing other people.
Then there is the issue of martyrdom in war: the doctrine that soldiers who die in battle for a particular cause will go immediately to heaven or paradise. This has certainly been an Islamic idea going back to the Hadith (the early non-Qur'anic traditions about the life of Muhammad). I wasn't aware that the Crusaders used it as well, but it doesn't surprise me that they did. But even this -- and, again, I am not justifying it -- is quite a distance from homicide "martyrdom." Telling a soldier that if he dies in battle he will go to heaven will make him a fiercer fighter, but it's not the same as telling him to kill himself in such a way that he murders as many innocent civilians as possible (thousands in the case of 9/11). There is no moral equivalence.
When did homicide "martyrdoms" start?
In the 1980s in militant fundamentalist Islamist circles. This is what Dr. Fields pretty much admits here, it's what I read elsewhere, and it agrees with my own memories.
I hope the pyschology part of this article is better researched and reasoned than the historical part.
UPDATE: The Sunday Times repeats the same meme. Response here.
The Deadly Martyr Complex
Suicide bombers seek love and acceptance
The subtitle may be tongue in cheek, but it's still tacky and insulting to the many who have been murdered and maimed by these monsters, including the recent victims in Iraq, London, Israel, and Egypt. But authors don't write headlines, so this is probably from an editor who was trying to be cute.
I won't comment on the psychological part of the article, but here's what she has to say about historical origins:
Their choice isn’t a new one. Terrorism became the primary tool of anarchists and nihilists in the late nineteenth century. But martyrdom homicides go back historically to at least the time of the ancient Zealots of Judea.
Two millennia of martyrdom
The idea of martyrdom never had a name in Hebrew or Aramaic. Instead it derives from the Greek, mytros or witness. The early Christians, who were tortured to death for their witnessing for Christ, became the martyrs memorialized on icons. These iconic images proved a powerful attraction both for group memory and for exciting new adherents or followers.
Islam adopted the martyrdom image despite he fact that they eschewed graven images of human beings. But the grandson of Mohammed who stated that it is better to die in dignity than to live in humiliation became the iconic figure for Shia Islam. Those who die on the path to Allah become martyrs in Islam. Similarly, Pope Urban II recruiting for the Crusades promised that all who died in the reclamation of the Holy Land from the infidels would be forgiven all venal sins and ascend immediately to Heaven (paradise).There is historical precedent on all sides.
There's quite a bit of goalpost moving here. The "Zealots" (I think she means the Sicarii) did not engage in homicide "martyrdoms." The Latin word sicarius means "dagger assassin." They would get close to a target in a crowd, stab the target with a small dagger hidden on their person, then melt back into the crowd and get away. This is assassination, it is not a homicide "martyrdom": the objective was for the assassin to get away.
One could argue that the Sicarii who died at Masada were "martyrs" and that they committed suicide, but they were not suicide martyrs in the sense the phrase is used today in militant Islamist circles. According to Josephus' account (Antiquities 8.8-9, the specifics of which we, however, have considerable reason to doubt), they voluntarily committed suicide rather than surrender to the Romans. This was a horrific decision based, rightly or wrongly, on their unwillingness to submit to slavery or worse by the Romans. Perhaps Dr. Fields considers them "martyrdom homicides" because they killed their wives and children too. Again, without trying to justify that decision, it was an intragroup attempt to choose the least of very great evils for the group and, according to Josephus, the wives were fully involved in the decision. But this, if anything like it really did happen, is quite different from today's "suicide bombers": the Sicarii did not use suicide as a way of killing innocent civilian noncombatants on the enemy side as a terror tactic. This is one of the reasons I prefer the term "homicide bomber" to "suicide bomber" (although neither is entirely satisfactory). The point is that the suicide is used to kill innocent people on the other side.
In short: the first-century "Zealots," i.e., Sicarii, did not engage in "martyrdom homicides" in the modern sense.
Two small points: you would think that someone who had just written a book on martyrdom would be able to write out the Greek word for "martyr" (martys or martus -- μαρτυς [sorry, originally had genitive form here]) properly. And you would think that she would have found out that the Hebrew term for "martyrdom" is qiddush ha-Shem (קדוש השם), "sanctification of the Name (of God)."
Then there's the matter of Christian martyrdom, which has been a value in Christianity pretty much from its inception. But nonviolence and purely passive resitance have been part of this ideology from the beginning. The martyr does not commit suicide; he or she declines to resist when someone, usually the authorities, executes the martyr because of the martyr's religious beliefs. No suicide and no killing other people.
Then there is the issue of martyrdom in war: the doctrine that soldiers who die in battle for a particular cause will go immediately to heaven or paradise. This has certainly been an Islamic idea going back to the Hadith (the early non-Qur'anic traditions about the life of Muhammad). I wasn't aware that the Crusaders used it as well, but it doesn't surprise me that they did. But even this -- and, again, I am not justifying it -- is quite a distance from homicide "martyrdom." Telling a soldier that if he dies in battle he will go to heaven will make him a fiercer fighter, but it's not the same as telling him to kill himself in such a way that he murders as many innocent civilians as possible (thousands in the case of 9/11). There is no moral equivalence.
When did homicide "martyrdoms" start?
Nationalist ideas blended with religious, and the connection of maryrdom with terrorism merged fully during the Civil War in Lebanon in the 1980’s. Suicide bombings of the American Embassy in Beirut and the Marine Corps barracks on the perimeter of that city and the relentless suicide bombings of the Israeli forces and their Lebanese allies, the SLA in southern Lebanon were claimed by their perpetrators as the most successful weapon of mass destruction and least costly to produce.
In the 1980s in militant fundamentalist Islamist circles. This is what Dr. Fields pretty much admits here, it's what I read elsewhere, and it agrees with my own memories.
I hope the pyschology part of this article is better researched and reasoned than the historical part.
UPDATE: The Sunday Times repeats the same meme. Response here.
THE JEWISH CATACOMB STORY is taken up by the Los Angeles Times in a short article. (Requires free registration.)
Friday, July 22, 2005
TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Gabriel Barkay and his team appear not to have run out of money yet. They're still sifting rubble from the Waqf's illicit excavations of the Temple Mount. Christianity Today has the latest:
Indeed. Michael Pahl ask whether this might not be "a not-so-implicit appeal to wealthy American evangelicals to fund the project?" I hope some of them take it as such.
70 Truckloads of Treasures
Temple Mount dig uncovers new finds.
by Gordon Govier | posted 07/21/2005 09:00 a.m.
Overlooking Jerusalem at Tzurim Valley National Park, archaeologists and volunteers work on one of Jerusalem's most unusual excavations. They are sifting tons of dirt removed in 1999 by Islamic work crews who were remodeling an underground area of the Temple Mount—known as Solomon's Stables—to create the Marwani Mosque (CT, March 6, 2000, p. 27).
[...]
The biggest surprise has been large amounts of remains from the early Christian or Byzantine period.
Barkay said part of Jerusalem's history will have to be rewritten. Most historians thought the Temple Mount was largely deserted then.
Although they are only about halfway through the 70 truckloads of dirt, Barkay planned to stop the process at the end of June in order to analyze the finds. He said he doesn't know when they'll start up again. Funding remains a critical issue.
Indeed. Michael Pahl ask whether this might not be "a not-so-implicit appeal to wealthy American evangelicals to fund the project?" I hope some of them take it as such.
APOCALYPTO -- the next Mel Gibson movie:
Obviously related to the word "apocalyptic," which does mean "revelation" or "unveiling." "Apocalypto" looks faux-Italian to me.
If Gibson did say the movie is set 3000 years ago, it can't be about the Maccabean revolt. It took place in 167-165 BCE, less than 2200 years ago. This wouldn't have been all that hard to look up.
What happened to Boudicca?
The only promising event from 3000 years ago I can think of is the conquest of Jerusalem by David, but that's just a wild guess. It may be from an entirely different part of the world. We'll see. If he really does this one, I hope it's filmed in another ancient language.
UPDATE: Carla Sulzbach e-mails:
Apocalypted?
UPDATE (25 July): The mystery is revealed here.
Gibson Faces Apocalypto Now
Mel directs another historical epic (Empire Online)
22 July 2005
Last year, he made one of the world's biggest ever indie films. Now, Mel Gibson is returning to ancient history to write and direct Apocalypto, which readers may be relieved / disappointed to know is "not religious in theme" and which is, we're promised, more of an action movie.
The story is set in "an ancient civilisation" some 3,000-odd years ago. While the title might suggest that this is the mother of all disaster movies, it is in fact a Greek word meaning "an unveiling" or a "new beginning", rather than, say, the end of all creation (cause, you know, we're still here). ...
Obviously related to the word "apocalyptic," which does mean "revelation" or "unveiling." "Apocalypto" looks faux-Italian to me.
What's not clear is whether this is the same ancient action movie that Gibson was planning last year. That was based on the Jewish story of the Maccabees, a group that rose up in rebellion against a corrupt King, and reconsecrated the defiled Temple in Jerusalem. However, the fact that their story, while not Biblical, is the basis for the Jewish feast of Hanukah, and that this film is not religious in theme, means that he may have written a different story in the intervening months.
If Gibson did say the movie is set 3000 years ago, it can't be about the Maccabean revolt. It took place in 167-165 BCE, less than 2200 years ago. This wouldn't have been all that hard to look up.
What happened to Boudicca?
The only promising event from 3000 years ago I can think of is the conquest of Jerusalem by David, but that's just a wild guess. It may be from an entirely different part of the world. We'll see. If he really does this one, I hope it's filmed in another ancient language.
UPDATE: Carla Sulzbach e-mails:
now, here's an idea: a movie about the destruction of Ugarit - that's only slightly over 3000 years ago. There are many questions to be apocalypted: who where the Ugaritans, how was the city destroyed, and.... most vexing: how correctly to vocalize that tantalizing language. Subtitles could be in cuneiform, Hebrew and Roman and perhaps in Aramaic for Mel's earlier audience. This could be followed up by Ugaritic action figures - cool gods too!
Just an idea on another very hot day.
Apocalypted?
UPDATE (25 July): The mystery is revealed here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)