My Dear Readers this is one of the posts I have promised for sometime to post. This post will cover the Early Bronze Age Period of Abraham. I said, "yes the Early Bronze Age Period of Abraham.” He was the first living monotheist, in history often forgotten as ‘the father of many nations.’ Remember now most of this archaeological information comes only from the last thirty years of fieldwork.
First, a brief Biblical Lands history, we will begin in the fourth millennium 3999 BCE-3000 BCE. To better, understand the early third millennium placement of Abraham that archaeology provides today. Subjects descends in time.
Domestication of donkeys takes place early in this millennium-
The New Penguin Atlas of Ancient History . Colin McEvedy. (2000). (2nd edition). pg 26.
The Greek Cyclades Islands of the Western Aegean begin trading and colonization in Asia and Egypt. Trade goods include emery and obsidian.
Thera in the Bronze Age Phyllis Young Forsyth. (1997). (First paperback printing). pg 14. (They are the ancestors of the Philistines).
Mesopotamian colonizes Syria.
The Archaeology of Syria: From Complex Hunter- to Early Urban Societies (ca. 16,000-300 BC.) . Peter M. M. G. Akkermans and Glenn M. Schwartz. (2005). (Third Printing). pgs. 10-11.
Man made working of ivory, copper and stone. There are cultural parallels found from Syria, Ugarit, Byblos, Iran, the Levant and Egypt.
Archaeology of the Land of the Bible 10,000- 586 BCE . Amihai Mazar. (1992). (First paperback edition.) pgs. 72-87.
Upper Egypt becomes dominate state along the Nile. Abydos is already one of the important towns in this millennium. Inherited status documented in Upper Egypt.
Early Dynastic Egypt . Toby A.H. Wilkinson. (1999). pg. 30.
Byblos, Phoenician colonization of Sidon.
The Phoenicians . Sabatino Moscati. (Ed.). 1999. pg. 174.
Semitic people, if not earlier are immigrating into Southern Mesopotamia.
Sumer and the Sumerians . Harriet Crawford. (2000). pgs. 20-21.
Increasing colonization in Elba and Northern Syria by Mesopotamia.
The Archaeology of Syria: From Complex Hunter- to Early Urban Societies (ca. 16,00-300 BC.) . Peter M. M. G. Akkermans and Glenn M. Schwartz. (2005). (Third Printing). pg. 181.
The White Temple of Uruk a monumental early ziqqurat.
People of the Past Babylonians . H.W.F. Saggs. (2000). pg. 26.
Sea trade being formalized between Northern Syria and the Nile delta. Egypt importing wine, oil resin, and timber.
Cambridge World Archaeology, The Archaeology of Early Egypt: Social Transformations North-East Africa, 10,000 to 2650 BCE . David Wengrow. (2006). pg. 137.
Sidonians colonize Tyre.
The Phoenicians . Sabatino Moscati. (Ed.). 1999. pg. 178.
Sumerian culture growing in Syria.
Archaeology of the Land of the Bible 10,000- 586 BCE . Amihai Mazar. (1992). (First paperback edition.) pg. 105.
Southern Levant, cattle used to pull ploughs.
Cambridge World Archaeology, The Archaeology of Early Egypt: Social Transformations North-East Africa, 10,000 to 2650 BCE . David Wengrow. (2006). pg. 145.
Semitic speakers dominants in Syria and Palestine.
Ancient Near Eastern History and Culture. . William H. Stiebing Jr. (2003). pg. 58.
Menes/Narmer unified Upper and Lower Egypt into one state. Egyptian influences grows in the Southern Levant.
Early Dynastic Egypt . Toby A.H. Wilkinson. (1999). pgs. 68, 69.
Byblos growing a network with powerful city states in Eastern Syria and beyond the Euphrates.
Cambridge World Archaeology, The Archaeology of Early Egypt: Social Transformations North-East Africa, 10,000 to 2650 BCE . David Wengrow. (2006). pg. 148.
Indo-European language speakers (later known as Hittites) are spreading across Turkey.
The Hittites and their Contemporaries in Asia Minor, Revised and Enlarged Edition . J.G. MacQueen. (1999). (2nd paperback printing.) pg. 35.
Pharaoh Djet is the 1st known pharaoh to wear the double crown.
Early Dynastic Egypt . Toby A.H. Wilkinson. (1999). Pg. 73.
Melchizedeks' Temple found in the Early Bronze Age.
Melchizedeks' Temple Found From Abraham’s move from Haran to Canaan, to Jacob and family move to Egypt it is 215 years.
Revised Edition Handbook of Biblical Chronology . Jack Finegan. (1999). Table 107 pg. 206.
Many theologians and armchair archaeologists over the past fifty years have tried placing Abraham into the Early Bronze Age (EBA). The problem with this placement was they did not have a lot of information of the period. Their favorite choice was Egypts’ uniting Pharaoh Narmer (ca 3000 BCE the last year of the fourth millennium) as the Pharaoh. That suffered God’s wrath over taking Sarai into his house (Genesis 12: 11-20).
There are problems right off with this identification. The major one is, no one lied to Pharaoh and left with multiple gifts and wealth. In the choice of Narmer the man that battled all his life first in uniting Upper and Lower Egypt. He went on to expand its borders into the Southern Levant AKA southern Palestine. The next three Pharaohs, Aha, Djer, and Djet followed the expansion of Egypt into the southern Levant (Wilkinson 1995: 24). Pharaoh Djet ruled for a short time, leaving a very young son to inherit the newly united and growing state of Egypt. His mother became the first documented ruler of any land in history. Queen Regent Merneith held this young united nation together, protected herself, and young son. From those that like to steal from widows and children. On top of all this, she raised a warrior son, and one that was not afraid to experiment with the status quo (Wilkinson 1995: 73-76).
Pharaoh Den respected his mother’s efforts so much that he buried her in what early archaeologists called a King’s tomb. He creates and adds the Nswt-bity title to the royal list of titulary. The Nswt-bity name frequently known as the Two Ladies name attempts to define Pharaoh’s dual nature the divine, and human. His rule saw great changes in material development and culture. As an adult, he returned to ‘campaigns’ in the northeast border area and southern Levant. Physical evidence indicates that he claims destroying at least one city in this area, the actual search for the site continues. He had a very long life and reign (Wilkinson 1995: 75-77, 223). At some point in the time of this First Dynasty, Egypt’s influence reaches to the area of Hebron (Redford 1992: 33). It has great walls and gates by this time. It remains the farthest northeast Egyptian border until the 18th Dynasty almost fourteen hundred years later.
During Egypt’s First Dynasty, several Pharaonic tombs appear to have had servants buried with them in the practice of human sacrifice. This practice is most notable in the tombs of the last two pharaohs of the Dynasty Pharaohs Semerkhet, and Qaa. Archaeology shows that Qaa was the last pharaoh to practice human sacrifice. From the 2nd Dynasty on Pharaohs' burials are with substitutes- models of what they will need in the important after life and real foodstuffs continues storage in the tombs (Wilkinson 1995: 234-240).
To place Abraham successfully into the early third millennium we need a weak pharaoh he can lie to and receive gifts instead of death. We need Philistines, Hittites, and Horties. We also need a Mesopotamian presence in Syria where Mesopotamian kings can sweep down into the Dead Sea area. Also needed is a Hebron with strong walls, gates and a famine in Canaan. It would also be nice if we could reason, why he left the land of his fathers.
The earlier Egyptian pharaohs, tighten their hold in Southern Canaan prior to Queen Merneith. It is not to hard to accept that the land was not being taken care or back to health at the time Abraham moved there. These pharaohs would have wanted to protect their recently united and expanded land with large building projects such as strong walls and gates. Hebron of this period had such walls, together with the expansionism of the early pharaohs it is not hard to imagine that food might be hard to come by (Genesis 12).
The co-regency of Queen Merneith and her young son fits the need of a weak pharaoh. The strength of Abraham would have allowed her to hold Egypt together. History is rich in Queens that turned for protection to strong men for protection. While young Pharaoh may have married Sarai. It is also possible to believe that she simply joined the court as one of his nurses, or simply as one of the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting. The story of her being married and the wrath of God may have been a later redaction dating to the Persian exile. In an attempt to protect and glorify married Hebrew women during the exile this would have been the most logical time to redact Sarai being a stolen wife over a chosen nurse. Perhaps it just dates to Solomon’s time.
Abraham, a Semitic Mesopotamian with the Egyptians. Would have made him a favorite, in the warrior-less court of young Den and his mother because we can see that both Semitic and Sumerians were moving ever closer to Egypt from Northern Syria (Genesis 14:1-15). When he and Sarai return to Canaan, the Hittites, Horites, and Philistines living there treat Abraham as a prince. Northeastern cities from Egypt’s delta Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed (Genesis 19: 27-28).
God commands Abraham to offer up Isaac as a human sacrifice. God changes his mind and provides a substitute offering (Genesis 22). Sarah dies and is buried in Hebron, Abraham barters for the cave with a Hittite. Abraham commands his servant to return to his homeland to find a wife for Sarah’s son Isaac. Rebekah decides to go, and marry Isaac; at this time in Mesopotamia, women remain mostly equal in society and able to decide their fates (Stiebing Jr. 2003: 50).
Traditional chronology makes a mockery of the story of God providing the sacrifice, for only the Hebrews and Egyptians followed the practice late into Middle Bronze Age and on down into later history. When we place Abraham in the EBA, where many things work together to produce a flowing history of logic and reason we can see a greater purpose in Gods’ providing Abraham a ram.
The question that begs answering still is why Abraham would leave Haran the land of his fathers. God told him to, save Pharaoh Den and his mother. To stop human sacrifice as the Egyptians practiced it. To have land his children could inherit, perhaps all of these. Alternatively, could it have been the increasing rise of the powerful warlords of Mesopotamia of this day? Flooding of the Mesopotamian rivers, that date to around 2900 BCE (Saggs 2000:39). Maybe it was just to see if Abraham had faith.
I want to keep working The Archaeological Chronology down into the 2nd Dynasty Before I post on Moses Oy! It is likely to be even longer than this one because the data, and physical evidence supports are great in number. The 2nd Dynasty will ask questions that no one asks, and are also answered thanks to archaeology. Having already done Joseph/Imhotep I hope those of you beginning to see a flow of history based on physical evidence will forgive me for putting Moses after the 2nd Dynasty.
Another consideration from the time of Pharaoh Den, his mother there is about 215 years to the Imhotep in the late 2nd Dynasty and the early 3rd. Where we find the ruling Pharaohs Khasekhemwy and his son Djoser, am I blind but does anyone see Joseph in Djoser? Not the first time I have asked this question.
You all have a great day!
An original story based upon The Archaeological Chronology. Copyrighted 2000-2008 by Pjbl2223@ aol.com All rights reserved.
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