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Adam Lee<\/a>\u00a0is an atheist writer and activist, who runs the blog,\u00a0Daylight Atheism<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0He has written articles for AlterNet, Salon,\u00a0the International Humanist and Ethical Union,\u00a0Canadian Freethinker<\/em>,\u00a0Freethought Today<\/em>,\u00a0Free Inquiry<\/em>, and\u00a0Secular Future<\/em>, the newsletter of the U.K.-based National Federation of Atheist, Humanist and Secular Student Societies.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n In this article I will be responding to a portion of his post,\u00a0\u201cLet the Stones Speak: Part 1\u201d<\/a>\u00a0(unknown date). In my previous article, I tackled another portion of it: Genesis, Joseph, Archaeology, & Biblical Accuracy (+\u00a0<\/strong>A Brief Survey of Evidence for \u201cThe King\u2019s Highway\u201d in Jordan in the Bronze Age: Prior to 1000 BC)<\/a>\u00a0[6-8-21]. He wrote:<\/p>\n Anachronisms in the Patriarchal Narratives<\/b><\/p>\n [. . .]<\/p>\n The Arameans<\/b><\/p>\n The Arameans, a people who lived north of Israel in modern-day Syria, figure into the patriarchal narratives most prominently in the time of Jacob. Isaac\u2019s brother-in-law, Laban, whose daughters Leah and Rachel Jacob married, is identified as an Aramean (Genesis 25:20, 31:20). According to the Bible, not only do the Arameans exist by the time of the patriarchs, but they are apparently a settled people: in Genesis 24:10-29 Laban and his family are depicted as the inhabitants of the city of Nahor, and at a later time as inhabitants of the city of Haran (Genesis 27:43, 29:4).<\/p>\n Outside the Bible, however, the first mention of the Arameans comes in Assyrian inscriptions dating to around 1100 BCE, and these texts clearly describe them as a nomadic people (Van Seters 1975<\/a>, p. 29). It was not until several hundred years later that settled Aramean kingdoms began to appear on Israel\u2019s northern border, most notably the kingdom of Aram-Damascus. . . . Later on these kingdoms were assimilated into the Assyrian empire and ceased to exist as distinct entities, and therefore the Bible\u2019s picture of the Arameans \u201ccould reflect historical reality any time between the tenth and fifth centuries,\u00a0but not any earlier<\/i>\u201d (Van Seters 1975<\/a>, p. 33, original emphasis).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n It\u2019s not clear-cut at all, and there is certainly much and vigorous disagreement among archaeologists about when the Arameans appeared, and from whom they derived before the first undisputed historical mention of them in c. 11oo BC in the inscriptions of\u00a0Tiglath Pileser I<\/a>. But as an introduction to what follows, I would submit the following:<\/p>\n 1) The Arameans [or, Aramaeans] didn\u2019t spring out of thin air in 1100 BC, as if they had no historical pedigree at all, any more than I appeared in 1958, with no ancestors (in fact, I can show generation-by-documented-generation, ties to English royalty, and in one line, direct descent from Cleopatra).<\/p>\n 2) Given the lack of consensus, particular theories of earlier Bronze origins or presence may be considered on their own merit and it makes no sense to cavalierly dismiss them.<\/p>\n 3) From the fact of a first undisputed mention of the Arameans, it doesn\u2019t follow that they didn\u2019t exist before. All it proves is that this was when they were first mentioned<\/em>. Presumably, they already had to be noteworthy enough as a people to account for reference to them as a people. Thus they obviously had to have a past history.<\/p>\n 4) #1 and #3 being the case, then it is altogether acceptable and constructive to speculate what their \u201cpre-history\u201d was. That\u2019s the \u201cstuff\u201d of archaeology and historiography.<\/p>\n 5) Confirmation (ironclad conclusions) or possible support (speculative \/ tentative scholarly opinions) of the historical and geographical accuracy of biblical texts does not prove biblical inspiration<\/em>, but it does show (or in less clear instances, possibly suggest) that these particular texts so analyzed and supported with outside data are accurate<\/em>: which accuracy one (like myself) who believes in biblical inspiration would indeed fully expect.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I submit the following in the spirit of the archaeological inquiry and the first four points above: not as a settled conclusion. But the speculations of science today often become the \u201csettled conclusions\u201d of tomorrow. I submit the theory of relativity, quantum mechanics, the Big Bang, black holes, and plate tectonics, as examples in physics, astronomy, and geology.<\/p>\n I accept the dates for Isaac<\/a> (c. 1713-1533 BC) on the basis of the conclusions of the Jewish Virtual Library<\/em>. Jacob was his son. According to Genesis 25:26, Isaac was 60 when Jacob was born, which would mean Jacob was born c. 1653 BC and died in c. 1506 BC, since the Bible states that he lived 147 years.<\/p>\n First of all, let\u2019s see if the two towns mentioned above in conjunction with the Arameans, existed at the time of Jacob. According to Encyclopedia.com<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n Nahor is also mentioned in Akkadian sources dating from the beginning of the second millennium [2000 BC] to the middle of the seventh century b.c.e., as the name of a city in the Balikh valley. Nahor is first mentioned in Assyrian documents from Kanish of the 20th<\/sup>\u201319th<\/sup>\u00a0centuries b.c.e. as an important station in the Assyrian trade with\u00a0Asia Minor<\/a>. Much information on the city during this period is contained in the\u00a0Mari<\/a>\u00a0archives, from which it is clear that Nahor was a regional capital subject to Mari and a location of its agents. From Nahor supervision was exercised over the Balikh area and the upper stretch of the Habor river; in Nahor intelligence was collected from all parts of Aram-Naharaim.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n As for Haran [or, Harran], Wikipedia<\/a> summarizes:<\/p>\n During the Early Bronze Age (3000-2500 BCE) Harran grew into a walled city. The city-state of Harran was part of a network of city-states, called the\u00a0Kish civilization<\/a>, centered in the Syrian\u00a0Levant<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0upper Mesopotamia<\/a>. The rise of Harran closely mirrored the similar rise of its trade partners,\u00a0Ebla<\/a>,\u00a0Ugarit<\/a>, and\u00a0Alalakh<\/a>, in a process called secondary urbanization.\u00a0 . . .<\/p>\n The earliest records of Harran come from\u00a0Ebla tablets<\/a>\u00a0(late 3rd millennium BCE).\u00a0. . .\u00a0<\/span>It appears that Harran remained a part of the regional Eblaite kingdom for some time thereafter.<\/p>\n Royal letters from the city of\u00a0Mari<\/a>\u00a0on the middle of the Euphrates, have confirmed that the area around the\u00a0Balikh<\/a>\u00a0river remained occupied in c. the 19th century BCE. A confederation of semi-nomadic tribes was especially active around the region near Harran at that time.<\/p>\n A temple of the moon god\u00a0Sin\u00a0was established sometime at the end of the\u00a0Neo-Sumerian Empire<\/a>\u00a0(circa 2000 BCE). . . .<\/p>\n By the 20th century BCE, Harran was established as a merchant outpost of the\u00a0Old Assyrian Empire<\/a>\u00a0due to its ideal location. The community, well established before then, was situated along a trade route between the\u00a0Mediterranean\u00a0and the plains of the middle\u00a0Tigris<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0It lay directly on the road from\u00a0Antioch<\/a>\u00a0eastward to\u00a0Nisibis<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Nineveh<\/a>. The Tigris could be followed down to the delta to\u00a0Babylon<\/a>. . . .<\/p>\n In its prime Harran was a major Assyrian city which controlled the point where the road from\u00a0Damascus<\/a>\u00a0joins the highway between\u00a0Nineveh<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Carchemish<\/a>. This location gave Harran strategic value from an early date. Because Harran had an abundance of goods that passed through its region, it became a target for raids. In the 18th century, Assyrian king\u00a0Shamshi-Adad I<\/a>\u00a0(1813\u20131781 BCE) launched an expedition to secure the Harranian trade route.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n All of these dates predate Jacob by quite a bit, so no \u201canachronism\u201d there . . .<\/p>\n Now let\u2019s look at the \u201cprehistory\u201d of the Arameans. First, it\u2019s noteworthy that the Old Testament (RSV) mentions \u201cAmorites\u201d 79 times<\/a>. It mentions Arameans only seven times<\/a> (six in the Torah). This is consistent with the historical picture, generally accepted, of the Amorites being more powerful earlier in history and the Arameans later. The prophet Isaiah lived in the 8th-7th centuries BC. The last reference to Amorites in the Old Testament occurred in his book (17:9): \u201cIn that day their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the Hivites and the\u00a0<\/b>Amorites . . .\u201d<\/p>\n I shall cite the article, \u201cIs There a Connection Between the Amorites and Arameans?\u201d<\/a> by Daniel Bodi<\/a> (Professor of History of Religions of Antiquity at Sorbonne, University of Paris), published in\u00a0ARAM<\/i> [ARAM Society for Syro-Mesopotamian Studies<\/a>] in 2015 (pp. 1-35):<\/p>\n\n
Abstract: A steady flow of new documents and scholarly publications dealing with the history of ancient\u00a0<\/span>Syria, the Amorites and the Arameans makes it possible to attempt a new synthesis of the data, revise<\/span>\u00a0previous views and propose some new ones. This article suggests several new arguments for the possibility\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>of seeing some continuity between the 18<\/span>th\u00a0<\/span>century BCE Amorites and the 12<\/span>th\u00a0<\/span>century BCE Arameans.\u00a0<\/span>First, the geographical habitat of the\u00a0<\/span>various Amorite Bensim<\/span>alite and Benjaminite tribes and the Aramean\u00a0<\/span>tribal conglomerates is compared. Second, the pattern of migration of the Amorite and Aramean tribes is\u00a0<\/span>analyzed. Third, some common linguistic elements\u00a0are enumerated,\u00a0<\/span>like the term Ahlamu found among the\u00a0<\/span>Amorites and the Arameans. Fourth, the\u00a0attempt of some scholars to\u00a0place the Hebrew ancestors among the\u00a0<\/span>Aramean tribes in Northern Syria is discussed. And fifth, some matrimonial institutions, customs, social\u00a0<\/span>and linguistic phenomena common to the Amorites and the Hebrews are pointed out attesting to a cultural\u00a0<\/span>continuity of certain practices spanning several\u00a0centuries. (p. 1)<\/span><\/div>\n*<\/div>\nGeographically, the Amorites and the Aramean clans originally occupied the\u00a0<\/span>same region. (p. 12)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n
6.\u00a0<\/span>The A\u1e2blam\u016b and the Sut\u016b\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0Aramean Tribes<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n*<\/div>\nJust as with the term Amorite, the term Aram can stand for a toponym [place name], a geographic\u00a0<\/span>region in Syria, a conglomerate of tribes, and a language.\u00a0<\/span>The earliest attestation of the term\u00a0<\/span>Aramu<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>appears as a toponym. The Ebla texts\u00a0<\/span>dating from the end of the 3<\/span>rd\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0millennium BCE mention a toponym\u00a0<\/span>a-ra<\/span>\u2013<\/span>mu<\/span>ki<\/span><\/em>. The same\u00a0<\/span>toponym occurs in a list of geographical names from Tell Ab\u016b \u1e62al\u0101b\u012b\u1e2b.<\/span>\u00a0In a date\u00a0<\/span>formula from the reign of Nar\u0101m<\/span>-S\u00een (2254-2218 BCE), found on two tablets from Tell\u00a0<\/span>\u1e2aafa\u011de, one reads, \u201cIn the day Nar\u0101m\u00a0<\/span>-S\u00een captuted Baba, the ruler of Simurrum, and\u00a0<\/span>Dubul, the ruler of\u00a0<\/span>a-ra<\/span><\/em>\u2013<\/em>[<\/span>me<\/span><\/em>ki<\/em>]<\/span>\u00a0(l. 22) and [<\/span>a-r<\/span><\/em>]<\/span>a-me<\/span>ki\u00a0<\/span><\/em>(l. 25) (Kh. 1934, ll. 22 and 25). (p. 15)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n
In a 14<\/span>th\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0century BCE Amarna letter addressed to the Pharaoh (EA 200), the latter\u00a0<\/span>is being informed that the Babylonian caravans from Karanduniya\u0161 were attacked by the\u00a0<\/span>A\u1e2blam\u016b\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0Aramean clans.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0A robbery of Babylonian caravans by groups of pastoral\u00a0<\/span>nomads called\u00a0<\/span><\/span>A\u1e2b<\/span><\/span>lam<\/span>\u016b<\/span>\u00a0is probably described in this fragmentary letter while in<\/span>\u00a0EA<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>16:37-42, the Assyrian k<\/span><\/span>ing A\u0161\u0161ur<\/span>\u2013<\/span>uballit writes to the Pharaoh telling him that the\u00a0<\/span>Suteans, another Aramean nomadic tribe, have pursued and kidnapped his messengers.<\/span><\/div>\n*<\/div>\nIn the 13<\/span>th\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0century BCE, a letter from Emar (Tell Mesk\u00e9n\u00e9) quotes the report of\u00a0<\/span>two A<\/span><\/span>\u1e2blam\u016b\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Arameans who came from S\u016b\u1e2b<\/span>u (region where Arameans settled in\u00a0<\/span>Babylonia).<\/span><\/div>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\nThe A\u1e2blam\u016b\u00a0<\/span>Aramean clans were mentioned since the Assyrian king Adad-nirari\u00a0<\/span>I (1307-1275 BCE) who states that his father Arik-den-ilu (1318-1307), was victorious in\u00a0<\/span>his military campaigns against various Aramaic nomadic tribes such as\u00a0<\/span>A\u1e2blamu<\/span>, Sut\u00fb<\/span>and Yauru.\u00a0<\/span>According to J.-R. Kupper,\u00a0<\/span>the collocation A\u1e2blam\u016b\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0Arameans indicates a\u00a0<\/span>close relationship between the two groups. (p. 17)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nIn Middle Assyrian texts and documents (1400 to 1000 BCE), the references to\u00a0<\/span>nomads employ one of\u00a0<\/span>the three terms Suteans, A\u1e2blam\u016b\u00a0<\/span>and Arameans.\u00a0<\/span>They are\u00a0<\/span>occupying the steppe between Tadmor (Palmyra) and the borders of Babylonia. In\u00a0<\/span>Assyria the A\u1e2blam\u016b are first mentioned by Adad<\/span>-nirari I (1305-1274 BCE) as opponents\u00a0<\/span>of his father Arik-den-ili (1317-1306 BCE) along with Suteans and Yauru.\u00a0<\/span>\u0160<\/span>almaneser I\u00a0<\/span><\/span>(1273-1244 BCE) encountered the A\u1e2blam\u016b in alli<\/span>ance with the Hittites and the Hurrians\u00a0<\/span>in a desert area south of the major cities of \u1e2aanigalbat, perhaps near lower Bali\u1e2b river.\u00a0<\/span>Like the term Sutean, the name A\u1e2blam\u016b survived into the 1<\/span>st\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0millennium BCE as an<\/span>archaic designation for nomad populations in both historical and omen texts. In the\u00a0<\/span>inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser 1 (1114-1076 B<\/span>CE), however, the term A\u1e2blam\u016b is<\/span>\u00a0always\u00a0<\/span>qualified by Aramean. (pp. 17-18)<\/span><\/div>\n*<\/div>\nThere seems to exist a linguistic continuity between the Amorite and the Aramaic\u00a0<\/span>languages.\u00a0 (p. 22)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
\nConclusion<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n*<\/div>\nAs a result of intensive scholarly research on ancient Amorite traditions, history and\u00a0<\/span>customs, it has become increasingly evident that there exists a connection and a\u00a0<\/span>geographical, historical and linguistic continuity between the OB Amorite nomadic tribes\u00a0<\/span>and the MB Aramean ones. The geographic area where the ancient Amorites settled\u00a0<\/span>corresponds to the area occupied by the Aramean tribes at the end of the second\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span>millennium BCE. Among the conglomerate of various Northern and Southern Amorite\u00a0<\/span>tribes, the Bensim\u2019alites and Benjaminites, one should probably seek for the prec<\/span>ursors\u00a0<\/span>of later Aramean ones who appear in the 14<\/span>th\u00a0<\/span>and 13<\/span>th\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0centuries BCE in the Syro-<\/span>Palestinian geographic area. They have received different names in Egyptian and\u00a0<\/span>Akkadian texts. The terms A\u1e2blam\u016b and Sut\u016b are applied interchangeably to them.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0The\u00a0<\/span>A\u1e2blam\u016b<\/span><\/span>\u2013<\/span>Aramay\u016b\u00a0<\/span>and the Suteans mentioned both among Amorite and Aramaic tribes\u00a0<\/span>seem to be a connecting link between the two and this connection should be further\u00a0<\/span>investigated.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n*<\/div>\n\nThe biblical texts place the origin of the patriarchs in the geographic area where\u00a0<\/span>some Aramean tribes evolved out of a former conglomerate of Amorite ones. For the end\u00a0<\/span>of the 2<\/span>nd\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0and the beginning of the 1<\/span>st\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0millennium BCE the Aramaic written documents\u00a0<\/span>are either non-existent or sparse. However, the Hebrew data although chronologically\u00a0<\/span>late can be used to fill that gap, since they show affinity and occasionally some\u00a0<\/span>