The Biblical Archaeologist - Vol.44, N.3

67 Pages·1981·0.43 MB·English

by  American Schools of Oriental Research

BIBLICAL
I
ARCHEOLOGIST
Summer 1981 Volume 44 Number 3
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~ ~
J jIL a
THE MEIRONE XCAVATIONS
The AmericanS chools of OrientalR e- which contributet o the authors'a nalysis of
search is pleasedt o announcet he publication historya nde verydayl ifei nt heG alileeA. mong
of Excavationsa t AncientM eiron,b y E. M. the mysteries considered is the apparent
Meyers,J . F. Strange,a nd C. L. Meyers.T his premeditateda bandonmenot f the settlement
workr epresentsth e culminatioonf t eny earso f ca. A.D.3 50 and the astonishing" RoomF ,"
excavationa nd scholarlyr esearcha t ancient whichc ontainedm agnificenat nd rareg lass-
Meirona, cityr ichi n literartyr aditionP. rosper- ware and intentionallyb urnedf oodstuffs,a ll
ing as a NorthernP alestinianJ ewish Center surrounded by four solid walls with no
after the destructiono f Jerusalem,M eiron's apparente ntry!
archeologicahl istorye xemplifietsh e historical Excavations at Ancient Meiron is -a
currentss hapingP alestinee arlyi n the Chris- prestigiou1s 21/4"x 121/4f"o lioi ssue, beautifully
tian Era.T he extensivee xcavationsi ncluded boundi nN aturaRl ecordB uckrama ndl avishly
the majestic synagogue carved into solid illustratewd ith7 5 drawings6, 1 plates,a nd6 8
bedrock, residentialb locks, manufacturingb lack-and-whitpeh otographs.
areas, tombs, cisterns,a ritualb ath,a gricul- List price:$ 42.50. ASORm emberp rice:
turala reas, and others tructuresa ndf eatures. $26.00.T o orderm, ailc heck orm oneyo rdert o
The Excavations yielded over 1,000 ASOR,1 26 InmanS treet, CambridgeM, A:
coins, dozens of lamps, numerous glass 02139.
vessels, and many personal objects, all of
IN THE NEXT BA
The culturalm ilieuo f the patriarchsi s exploredi n several essays. RonV eenker
proposest hatt he Storyo f the MagicP lant,w hichf ormsp arto f the GilgameshE pic
and the hero's quest for immortalityw, as originallya separate and independent
myth,c reatedt o explaint he longevityo f the antediluviansT. he lattert heme is also
the focus of John Walton'sc areful comparisono f the SumerianK ingL ist and
Genesis 5. In additionV, ictorH . Matthewse xamines the varieds ocio-economic
functionso f the patriarchs.
BIBLICAL(
Avraham Biran, Director of the Nelson Glueck
ARCHEOLOGIST School of Biblical Archaeology of Hebrew Union
College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Formerly
the Director of the Department of Antiquities in
Israel, he is currently the chairman of the Israel
Editor Exploration Society. For the past 15 years he has
David Noel Freedman been directing the excavations at Tel Dan in
Galilee.
AssistantE ditor
David F. Graf
Alfonso Archi is Associate Professor of
EditorialC ommittee
Frank M. Cross, Jr. Hittitology at the University of Rome. In 1969-
Tikva Frymer-Kensky 72, he participated in several archeological
Sharon Herbert expeditions to Anatolia for the Italian Research
CharlesR . Krahmalkov Council. Since 1977, he has been the epigrapher
John A. Miles, Jr. for the Archaeological Expedition to Syria
WalterE . Rast conducted by the Istituto di Studi del Vicino
Oriente at Rome.
ProductionM anager
BruceE . Willoughby
EditorialA ssistants
David M. Howard,J r.
Carole R. Fontaine is Assistant Professor of Old
TerrenceM . Kerestes
Testament at Andover Newton Theological
BusinessM anager Seminary and a specialist in the relationship of
Tracy B. Shealy ancient Near Eastern Wisdom literature to the
Bible.
Composition
Louise WashburneP alazzola
DistributionM anager
R. Guy Gattis
Yigal Shiloh is Senior Lecturer at the Institute of
SubscriptionS ervices Archaeology, Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
AndrewE . Hill He has participated in excavations at Arad,
Promotions Hazor, Megiddo and Masada. Currently, he is
Deborah Marsicek the director of the City of David Archaeological
Project and the new excavations at the eastern
sector of ancient Jerusalem.
lbiHcal Archeologist (ISSN: 0006-0895) is published
quarterly (Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall) by the
American Schools of Oriental Research. Its purpose is to
provide the general reader with an accurate, scholarly, L. Y. Rahmani is Chief Curator of State
yet easily understandable account of archeological
discoveries and their bearing on the biblical heritage. Antiquities with the Israel Department of
bUyn sao licstitaemd pmesds,. asreel fw-aedlcdormeses bedu t esnhvoeullodp bee. acAcdodmrpesasn iaeldl Antiquities and Museums in Jerusalem. He has
editorial correspondence and advertising to Biblical done extensive research in Jewish tombs in the
Archeologist, 468 Lorch Hall, University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, MI 48109. Address all business corres- environs of Jerusalem and is presently preparing
0p2o1n3d9e.n ce to ASOR, 126 Inman Street, Cambridge, MA a comprehensive catalog of the ossuaries
Copyright * 1981 American Schools of Oriental discovered in these investigations.
Research. Annual subscription rate: $16.00. Foreign
subscription rate: $18.00 (American currency). Current
single issues: $5.00.
Second class postage paid at Ann Arbor, MI 48106.
APOrcShTeoMloAgSisTt,E 4R1:6 WSe.n dH uardodnr eSsstr ecehta, nAgnesn tAor bBoirb, liMcaIl Biblical Archeologisti s published with the financial
48104. assistance of Zion Research Foundation, a non-
CProimntpeods bityi oPnr inbtyi nAgS SOerRv icPeus,b Tlihcea tUionnivs,e rAsintyno AfMrbicohri,g ManI.. sectarian foundation for the study of the Bible and
the history of the Christian Church.
130 BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST/ SUMMER 1981
Cover:A fragmento f a clay reliefb elongingt o a rectangularc ultic standf rom the 10th
centuryB .C.E.d isplayingt he figureo f a nakedm an with a pointedb eard,l ong hair or a feather
cap, and four handsh oldinge ach other in the centero f his body. From Area G, City of David
excavations,J erusalem.
BIBLICAL
V
ARCHEOLOGIST
Summer 1981 Volume 44 Number 3
AvrahamB iran The Discovery of the Middle Bronze Age Gate at Dan 139
The recent uncovering of a monumental mud-brick
gate at ancient Laish is described in detail.
Alfonso Archi Further Concerning Ebla and the Bible 145
The current epigrapher at Tell Mardikh provides us
with the text and some fresh views of some of the
controversial Ebla tablets.
CaroleR . Fontaine A Modern Look at Ancient Wisdom: The Instruction 155
of Ptahhotep Revisited
The "instruction" genre of ancient Egyptian literature
is given a modern touch.
Yigal Shiloh The City of David Archaeological Project: The Third 161
Season, 1980
New information about the Iron Age Israelite
settlement on the eastern slopes of Jerusalem.
L. Y. Rahmani Ancient Jerusalem's Funerary Customs and Tombs- 171
Part One
An examination of the psychological, social, and
theological aspects of ancient burial practices.
Michael David Coogan Harry Thomas Frank, In Memoriam, 1933-1980 178
DEPARTMENTS Letter to the Readers 132
Polemics and Irenics 133
Notes and News 179
Book Reviews 187
A Student Map Manual (Baly); Lind, Yahweh is a Warrior( Miller);
Wilson, Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel (Mendenhall);
Shanks, Judaism in Stone: The Archaeology ofAncient Synagogues
(Kraabel); Hopkins, The Discovery of Dura-Europos (Eadie);
Miscellany (Graf).
BIBLICALA RCHEOLOGISTS/ UMMER1 981 131
Letter
to the
Readers
As so often in recent Jerusalem his capital, and his son and successor whose
years, Ebla and its fa- wealth and wisdom were proverbial. Avraham Biran.
mous tablets again com- who has been digging at Dan for many years, deals with a
mand our attention. Pro- unique discovery: the great gate of the Middle Bronze
fessor Archi, of the Uni- Age City (ca. 1900 B.C.E.)i n an almost perfect state of
versity of Rome, in the preservation, after a period of 4000 years. This will stand
continuing exchange with as one of the great architectural finds in this region, and
Professor Pettinato, has serve as a model by which to measure and reconstruct less
provided a rejoinder to well-preserved gateways in other ancient cities.
the statements made by Other features include contributions from F. Filas
the latter in the Fall 1980 on the Turin Shroud, and N. Schur on the manuscript
number of BiblicalArche- discoveries at St. Catherine's Monastery in Sinai, both of
ologist. While the debate which have been reported extensively in our pages. Well-
has become increasingly deserved tributes to Tom Frank, late Associate Editor of
technical and abstruse, we feel that, aside from the merits Biblical Archeologist, chosen from among the many
of arguments which we would not try to adjudicate, the communications we have received, are herewith added to
value of the primary data which each side is supplying the memorial statement by Michael Coogan.
cannot be questioned. Besides, it is a condition of our
agreement with both scholars that their remarks would
A
be published exactly as received. We would wish that the 0 ase Le w:A.
exchanges were less heated and more restrained as to
personal references, but as long as they provide vital
primary data from the tablets we will continue to carry
the dialogue. Gradually this picture will fill out, and
whoever prevails in the debate, scholarship and the
general reader will be the true gainers thereby.
In addition, we take considerable pride and pleasure
in presenting the first of a series of articles by L. Y.
Rahmani on the perennially fascinating and controver-
sial subject of funerary rites and burial practices in the
Holy Land, and among the Jews of the Second Temple
period in particular. The first article deals with the
general topic, while subsequent studies will provide (1)
an analysis of the customs of the preexilic period and
(2) the era of the Second Temple, and conclude with a
discussion of (3) Jewish ossilegium and ossuaries. We
plan to publish these in successive numbers of BA.
We are also indebted to Carole Fontaine for an
entertaining and provocative paraphrase (in poetic style)
of one of the oldest pieces of Wisdom literature in the
world: the Instruction of Ptahhotep. It is remarkable
how the sage's comments and admonitions strike us as
being up-to-date, but then the human condition has not
changed so radically over the years, and at the same time
Ms. Fontaine has worked some magic with her words.
Two important reports of ongoing archeological opera-
tions in Israel fill out the main section of the journal.
Yigal Shiloh, working at the remains of the City of
David, has brought many new things to light, including
walls and buildings, along with their contents, from the
period of the great king who ruled the empire and made
132 BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST/ SUMMER 1981
Polemics&
lrenlcs
A Tributet o Dr. HarryT homasF rank A BelatedL ettert o HarryT homasF rank
HarryT homas Frank had three academicp assions. His first In the sad polemicsa bout the discoverieso f Ebla,t hat, as you
was his teaching at Oberlin College; "Tom"h ad a special will certainlyu nderstandw, ereo n moret hano ne occasionq uite
rapportw ithh is students;h is brilliancea nd masterfuul se of the painful for me, I want to tell you clearly that your total
languagew erec ombinedw ith his marvelouss enseo f wit in his objectivitya nd honestya re perfectlyc leart o me; I believet hat
lectures,b ut beyond that, he was approachableA. fter class, just this kind of behaviorw ill really help in making people
students would gather around him to discuss questions. He understandh ow things are and whose are the responsibilities
invitedt hemt o meeti n his office,i n theird orms,o r at his home for the past speculations.
in smallg roupsf or discussion.H e had the abilityi n his lectures
to maket he Biblec omea livew ith meaninga nd for its peoplet o Paolo Matthiae
becomeo ur friends,s haringo ur frustrationsh, opes,a nd fears. Universityo f Rome
He was a teacherp ar excellencew ho inspired,d emanded,a nd
receivedm uch from his studentsa nd who was admireda nd
respectedb y his fellow facultym embers. St. Catherine'sM onastery:W henw as the recentlyd iscovered
His second passion was his researcha nd lecturing;h e cache of ancientm anuscriptsh idden?
enjoyed sharingh is knowledgew ith others. He was indefati- Professor James H. Charlesworth reports in his recent article
gable in his drive to finish his last book for Reader'sD igest (BA 42 [1979]: 178-79) that "in May 1975 a fire damaged the
Press. He stayed up night after night in his effort to meet Church of St. George. The monks then decided to clear the
deadlines,y et met his next day'sc ommitmentsw ith pridea nd debris beneath this church in the northern wall of the
enthusiasm.I n spite of the pressureso n his time, he would monastery. In the process, on 26 May 1975, they found an old
always take time out for a friend-to visit, or to answer cell which contained the treasures beneath much trash and dirt.
questions. He spoke of his lecturesa s a way of sharingw ith Long ago the ceiling above the floor of the cell apparently
others,n ot of teaching,a ndh e developeda devotedf ollowingi n collapsed, sealing the treasures."
the community. It still must be determined when this cache could have been
Tom's most treasuredp assion was the Holy Land. He hidden. Prof. Charlesworth assumes this to have happened "out
lovedt his Landa nda ll the archeologicatlr easuresit holds.L ast of fear from the conquering Turk." I beg to differ. The Turks
spring he developed and taught a course on the Historical were not a danger to the security of the local monks, but rather
Geographyo f the Holy Landi n conjunctionw itht he newm aps brought with them a promise of more energetic rule, which
he had helped devise and the magnificents lides of Richard might help to keep in check the marauding local bedouin, who
Cleave. He eagerlyl ooked forwardt o sharingh is love for the were the real threat to the security of the monastery.
Land with his friendst hat accompaniedh im on tours in 1978 Within the last 600 years the bedouin actually occupied the
and 1980.I t was a marvelousw ay to travel,n ot like any other monastery by force at least once, and threatened to do so several
tour. Wec limbedt ells sucha s Mitzpah,A i, Heshbon,a nd Hesi, more times, resulting in its being evacuated by the monks at
waded throughH ezekiah'st unnel, searchedf or Early Bronze least five more times. It seems likely that in one of these
Age tools in fields in Jordan, wanderedt hrought histle and instances the cache was hidden away and when the monks
overgrowtha t Taanacha nd Caesarea,v isited RichardC leave reoccupied the monastery later they had forgotten all about it.
and Jim Sauerf or lecturesa nd pictures,a nd met RobertB ulla t In Christian pilgrims' itineraria the following cases are
Caesareaf or a tour. His studyt ripsw ereh is way of sharingh is recorded of the monastery having been evacuated.
great love for the Land. He was also very active in the Tell el- (1) Capodelista' mentions in 1458 that the Mamluk Sultan
Hesi excavations.N othing could match his excitementu pon occupied the monastery in 1431, held it for two years, and had
finding a beautifullyp reservedR oman coin or EarlyB ronze all its contents ("mobile come immobile'") transferred to Cairo,
Age pot. His collection of artifacts at Oberlin College is Jerusalem, Gaza, and Damascus.
tremendous. (2) Felix Fabri2s hows the Mamluk Sultan in a much more
Tom Frank could walk with giants and yet worrya bout favorable light: the local bedouin drove out the monks in the
commonplacet rivialities;h e could encountero ppositionw ith very year of Fabri's visit, i.e., 1483, but by the time Fabri's party
forcefulnessa nd commitment,y et be gentle and caring;h e arrived there, the Sultan had reestablished the monks in their
could be dynamicw ithh is resonatingv oicei n a speech,y ett ease monastery. Apparently no looting had taken place, as Fabri
his friends with his marvelous sense of humor. He was a mentions the great riches of the monastery.
wonderfulm an, whose passinga ffectsc ountlessp eople whose (3) Mantegazza' reports that in 1516 the monastery was
lives have been touched by knowingh im. occupied by "much force" by the bedouin, during the
interregnum between Mamluk and Ottoman rule, and only on
Judy Skillicorn the intervention of the Turks in 1518 was it returned to the
Elyria,O H Greek monks.
BIBLICALA RCHEOLOGISTS/ UMMER1 981 133
(4) Count L6wenstein4 mentions in 1561 that the Might it not be a good idea to try and locate and perhaps dig up
monastery had been evacuated several times in recent years by other likely hiding places within the monastery and its
the monks, but that the Arabs had apparently left everything compound, without waiting for them to be discovered by
undisturbed. another accidental fire?
(5) Johann Helffrich5f ound in 1565t he monastery actually The very fact that some 300 pages of the Codex Sinaiticus
deserted by the monks, but not occupied by the bedouin. The are still missing could indicate that they might be awaiting
monks had retired to Tor, but when they heard about the discovery in another hideaway.
approach of his party of pilgrims, one of them came out to the Perhaps the Greek ecclesiastical authorities would agree to
monastery and opened it up for them. an outside team investigating the monastery and its grounds
(6) Jean Palerne6 reports the monastery to have been with modern equipment, as long as there is no doubt as to their
deserted in 1581. The general insecurity in the Sinai desert had keeping final possession of all finds. The effort and outlay
induced the monks to retire to Tor. However, when Jacques de involved look very small when compared with the fantastic
Valimbert7 visited the monastery in 1584 it had been possibilities. This could prove to be the scientific treasure hunt
reoccupied. of the century!
(7) Thevenot8 mentions during a visit in 1657 that the
monastery had been evacuated two years previously, the monks NOTES
retiring to Tor, which had apparently not been pillaged.
'Gabriele Capodelista: Itinerario 1458 (A. L. M. Lepschy), Milano
(8) Pococke9 was told during his visit in 1738 that the 1966,p . 231.
monastery had in the past been twice evacuated by the monks 2Felix Fabri:E igentlicheB eschreibundg er hin und widerF ahrtz u
who then retired to Tor, but he does not mention in which years. dem heiligenL andeg enJ erusalemi,n Reyse-Buchd esH eiligenL andes,
As we have mentioned more than two such instances, it seems I, C61n 1670,p . 309.
unlikely that there were further ones after Thevenot's visit, 3Steffano Mantegazza:R elatione Tripartitad el Viaggiod i Gieru-
before 1738. salemme, Milano 1616, pp. 139, 140.
4Albrecht Graven zu L6wenstein: Pilgerfahrt gen Jerusalem, Reyse-
In 1802 the walls of the convent were strengthened by the Buch, I, p. 369.
French under Kl6ber, and this might have saved the monks 'Johan Helffrich:K urtzer und warhafftiger Bericht von der Reyss aus
from a further bedouin occupation during the lawless period Venedig nach Jerusalem, Reyse-Buch, I, p. 726.
after the French had left Egypt and before Muhammad Ali was 6Jean Palerne: PNregrinations. . ., Lyon 1606, pp. 160-216.
firmly in the saddle. The area was visited only by very few 7Georges Grazier: Le p6lerinage d'un bisontin en Egypte et en Terre
Western travelers in the years of the Napoleonic wars, and thus Sainte en 1584, Mimoires de la Societe d'Emulation du Doube,
we are particularly poorly informed about what went on then in Besanqon 1930, p. 30.
Sinai. 8Monsieur de Th6venot: Relations d'un voyage fait au Levant, Paris
(9) Fazakerly'o reports in 1811 unrest among the bedouin, 1665, p. 323.
who complained that the monks were not living up to their 9Richard Pococke: Beschreibung des Morgenlandes, Erlangen 1754,
traditional duty of supplying them with bread. They threatened I, 242.
F.
the monastery, but perhaps because of its newly strengthened J. Fazakerley: Journey from Cairo to Mount Sinai, in Walpole's
walls, it was not evacuated by the monks. Travels, London 1820, II, p. 373.
In the years afterwards we have no reports of further
critical breakdowns in the relations between bedouin and Nathan Schur
monks, perhaps mostly because of the strong rule of Tel-Aviv, Israel
Muhammad Ali and his successors in Sinai.
Let us look now again at the evidence in hand. If we do not
consider the 1431 occupation by the Mamluk Sultan, we have at A Response: The Cache in St. Catherine's Monastery-
least six, or more, instances in which the monastery was Speculations on When and Why the Treasures were
evacuated by the monks because of the bedouin threat. Placed in the Northern Wall.
Only once-in 1516-is it clearly stated that the bedouin The title of N. Schur's note reveals that he presupposes the
had actually occupied the monastery, but the cache could have treasures discovered recently in St. Catherine's Monastery
been hidden away during any one of these occurrences. If any were "hidden." He even contends that I assume this happened
18th-centuryd ocuments should prove to have been included in "out of fear from the conquering Turks," a nd claims that the
the cache, it could even have been hidden away in the 1811 "Turks were not, in the eyes of the local monks, a danger to
scare. their security. .. "
If the "450 years"m entioned by Prof. Charlesworth should The quoted section of my second BA article on the Sinai
be taken seriously, then the most likely time would seem to be treasures reads as follows: "At Sinai a reliable source told me
the 16th century. The repeated evacuations reported in its the treasures had been concealed for '450 years.'' If this figure
second half seem particularly suitable, as the cache might not is accurate, then the treasures were hidden probably out of
have been taken out of its hiding place, as a further evacuation fear from the conquering Turks ..." (BA 42 [1979]p. 179).
seemed likely, and thus the treasure might have been finally The protasis (the prefatory conditional-"if"-clause) disas-
forgotten. The sudden attack of 1516 might also present a sociates the hypothesis from the writer. The previous
suitable background to such a cache being hurriedly hidden sentence intimates that myvs ource is a monk at St. Catherine' s
away by a monk who, perhaps, perished during the "forcible Monastery; a careful reading of my English then denotes that
occupation." When the documents are inspected properly and this idea belongs to him. The following paragraph
their dates ascertained, it should be possible, with the help of the emphasizes my disenchantment with the above hyp.oftuhretshiesr,
above list, to fix the most suitable occasion and date. "If it was hidden from threatening warriors or Bedouin, why '
However, the many evacuations mentioned here should was it forgotten?" I raised another possibility: perhaps this
raise also another, even more important question. One cache cache was "a collection of discarded" documents and other
was found by pure chance; might there not be others hidden treasures. The latter possibilit ' is the one I am still convinced
away prior to any of the several evacuations mentioned here? looms as more probable. Codex Sinaiticus was not "hidden";
134 BIBLICALA RCHEOLOGISTS/ UMMER1 981
what was stored away was only some of its beginning leaves that such a principle! (N.B.: Today's Western world also lacks such a
had become separated from the codex and had lost their concept, and it is definitely in the minority among the world's
utility. Also, in favor of the idea that the cache is a depository civilizations, most of which have it.)
of sacred but worn manuscripts and objets d'art is the fact
that (as far as I know) every codex and icon recovered is Larry G. Herr
broken. Seventh-Day Adventist Theological Seminary, Far East
Schur's hypothesis that the Sinai treasures were hidden Manila, The Philippines
"because of bedouin threat, " is certainly, at least, possible,
and his report of bedouin incursions into the monastery is a
contribution to our understanding of the history of this Retribution and Personal Honor: A Response
magnificent monastery. It is prudent, however, not to assume I appreciate Larry Herr's interest and his contribution. The
that the diaries of pilgrims feature bruta facta (see my note 15 question of "personalh onor" is certainly an intriguing one, and
in BA 43 [1980]p. 34). it would be interesting to try to find out whether the
Regarding the final section of Schur's note, let me assure Mesopotamians or other peoples in the ancient Near East had
our readers that I am in constant touch with the monastery such a concept. I am, however, not sure that our texts could give
and its wise archbishop. He and his fellow monks have my full us enough evidence to answer the question. The matter is really
support; the manuscripts and art objects recovered in 1975 not relevant to the question of talionic retribution. Although it
belong to them. With their gracious cooperation we hope to is certainly true that talionic retribution would restorepersonal
have more good news to announce through BA. honor, it is not the only legal mechanism that could do so. Any
J. H. Charlesworth punishment of the false accuser or false witness would be
Duke University sufficient, and certainly other mechanisms for determining
the appropriate punishment could be used. I think particularly
of the principle of "punishing the offending organ, "i.e., cutting
Retribution and Personal Honor off the hands of thieves or the penis of rapists. It would be
possible theoretically to punish the accuser and restore the
Tikva Frymer-Kensky in "Tit for Tat: The Principle of Equal
jR1u9set8tir0ci]eb: u2it3ni0o -nt3h 4ien) , amNneceainertn iotE naNss ettaewrron E faoanrsdmt. sBI onibf lttihacalei lo fnLiriacsw t( o"try ( pBreeA,t r4ti3ab lui[otFinvaielcl) pavwcaeacrlsiusd osi nenqratu eleo rhsreto siwnotenoidtr-n b ioeunsft s ti nhw eram aast cyhpc euuarnsr heitsiodhcw lbee dy aw- cnaaudltst h twinonhougetg nohtu h tthe he tii hsisdsi tsueo eains g tochufea erwt.t a"Whityniht lf tyaoh traeI
punishment for assault (an "eye for an eye"), the reasons she
tat" was an appropriate principle for determining punishment
gives for such a legal principle seem sufficient: "those guilty of
entered the Near Eastern legal tradition.
physical assault suffer the same harm which they first inflicted"
(p. 230). Her appeal to the symmetry of such laws (p. 230) is Tikva Frymer-Kensky
logical. It could also be stated that talion for assault provides Wayne State University
compensatory satisfaction to the wronged party.
More, however, could have been said regarding the second
form of talion, that dealing with false witness and false
accusation, whereby the false accuser receives the punishment
which the accused would have received had the accusation been The Shroud of Turin: Roman Coins and Funerary Customs
correct. Frymer-Kensky stated that "this provision has two A number of archeologists (who happen to accept both the
objectives: it seeks to provide an incentive for identification and authenticity of the Shroud of Turin as well as my announce-
prosecution ... and, at the same time, tried to minimize the risk ment of dating it by means of coins of Pontius Pilate) have
of false accusation in the hope of material gain" (p. 231), since contacted me to ask that I offer a rebuttal to the lengthy letter of
the property of the accused would often revert to the accuser if Dr. Rahmani in your recent Fall issue (BA 43 [1980]: 197). That
convicted. She also suggests that "the desire of the law is to letter took issue with references in Virginia Bortin's article
return the parties to a type of status quo, to maintain symmetry, concerning the Shroud and a possible custom of placing coins
and to preserve the balance of forces on the 'scales of justice"' on the eyes of the dead (BA 43 [Spring 1980]: 109-17). This
(p. 232). Perhaps it is because I live in Asia that I expected present rejoinder is completely independent of any stance with
another reason to be given. In most of Asia, including Arab regard to Virginia Bortin's article.
societies, the principle of personal honor is very important, To make the state of the question absolutely clear, no point
influencing the forms by which human conversation and rela- of the issue whatsoever concerns the religious veneration of the
tionships are governed. To be falsely accused is a crime against Shroud of Turin as the burial cloth of Jesus Christ. The
the innocent party which does not stop with official exonera- discussion is limited to the Shroud as a primary archeological
tion, for the very existence of the accusation indicates that some artifact that is now indisputably in existence. It also prescinds
part of society doubts the integrity of the innocent party's from inquiry as to the identity of the body of the Man of the
character. This cannot be righted by simply stating that the Shroud, except insofar as pointing to a Jewish male living in
charged party is not guilty. A form of shame lives on. The Palestine under the Roman procurator Pilate.
principle of talion for false accusation would, however, rein- This letter assumes that its readers have an elementary
state personal honor while yet satisfying the other needs of acquaintance with the Shroud, that this 14 X 3.5 foot cloth
society which Frymer-Kensky mentioned. possesses partial qualities of a photographic negative. It also
Frymer-Kensky is correct to have couched her final exhibits photographically positive blood stains that reflect
conclusion as tentatively as she did. Before saying that such a bleeding before and after death, and recently proven (by
principle originated with the West Semites, one should explore conversion of hemes to porphyrins that fluoresce under U-V
the legal systems of other civilizations. It may be that, as with light) to have the characteristics of human blood. Pathologists
the principle of personal honor, the Sumerian culture, which assert that the body images indicate a postmortem condition far
dominated southern Mesopotamia (including the Semitic less than ten hours after death. No one has been able to
Dynasty of Akkad), may have been relatively alone in lacking duplicate the images.
BIBLICALA RCHEOLOGISTS/ UMMER1 981 135
Top: View of the face on the linen shroud. Imprinted on the
herringbone weave of the cloth are the full front and back
images of a crucified man. The horizontal lines on the photo-
graph were caused by the creasing of the cloth. The circle
around the right eye of the figure denotes the general location of
the enlargement provided in the left panel of the photograph
below.
Bottom: A comparison of the enlarged area and a typical coin of
Pontius Pilate.
Right Panel: An enlargement of a typical Pontius Pilate coin
actually in existence, 15 mm in vertical dimension; a lituus or
astrologer's staff is visible in its middle, 12 mm from base to the
crook (about 0.5 inch = 12 mm). Notice that to the left of the
::I
otp astrologer's staff, ascending along the rim, are the letters IOU;
all other letters of this coin happen to have been eaten away by
WMW long centuries of burial. Notice also that from 1:30 to 3:30
o'clock on the coin there is a definite clipped area interrupting
its curve.
Left Panel: An enlargement of the area on the right eye of the
Man of the Shroud, representinga photographic negative of the
markings on the Shroud cloth. This enlargement, as is evident,
is at the limit of the grain of the film. It is suggested that the
photo be held at arm's length in case the high degree of
enlargement prevents a viewer unfamiliar with this material
from locating the staff and the UCAI at once. Most easily
discernible is a clearly outlined, apparent shepherd's-staff
figure, slightly left of the center of this panel. From 9:30 to 11:30
o'clock, the curving and angled letters can be easily made out: U
(with a fainter right limb), C, A, I. The length of the staff on this
photograph when adjusted to the actual dimensions of the
Shroud approximates 12 mm, the same as the staff on the coin
in the right panel. Harder to discern for one unfamiliar with the
"geography"o f the photo is a definite line in the border of the
weave pattern (best located by paralleling the clipped-rim line
of the coin in the right panel); the line starts at a point
horizontally to the right of the right limb of the "A";i t then ends
after diagonalizing at a point that is horizontally on the level of
the "I" letter still visible as projecting on the rim of the coin.
The scale of this photo is five times actual size. The actual size of
the letters is about 1.5 mm high.
To me the fact appears indisputable that imprints of a experts state that Pilate alone issued such lituus coins between
Pontius Pilate coin exist over the right eye. In the middle 1970s, A.D. 29-32, this would seem to date the Shroud according to the
Drs. Jackson, Jumper, and Mottern published image-analysis archeological principle of dating finds from coins found in situ
photos suggesting 3-D "buttons" protruding over both eyes. In in the finds.
a monograph which I published in 1980, I presented a series of
twenty-four coincidences between typical Pilate coins and the In addition, I am forced to disagree with the assumption of
imprints on the Shroud, to identify one of these "buttons." The both Dr. Rahmani and of Dr. Rachel Hachlili (in a lengthy
imprints consist of an apparent coin diameter of 15 mm, of an letter to me of Summer, 1979), that a monolithic attitude
astrologer's or augur's staff called a lituus 12 mm from the base existed among Jews of the Second Temple period. To cite
to the top of the crook, and four capital letters, "UCAI," each merely one indication, evidence from Qumran points to
about 1.5 mm high, that arch around the outside of the staff extensive divergences from supposedly uniform religious and
from 9:30 to 11:30 o'clock. cultural positions. Likewise, the claim that the skulls in the
These markings represent the proper angular rotation, Jewish cemetery at Jericho could contain a coin or coins
location, selection, order, and dimensions of the lituus and four because of adherence to the pagan mythology of paying for
letters of (TIBER)IOUKAICAROC, with the "C" of "UCAI" passage over the River Styx (with a coin in the mouth) seems
logically explained as a coin-striker'se rror for the Greek kappa, inconceivable for group Jewish acceptance.
since it was pronounced identically in Greek to the Latin letter. Concerning the coin-on-eye customs in literary records
Numismatic science unanimously agrees that Pilate coins, as a perhaps as late as medieval times, this does not prevent the
class, are of wretched technical quality and spelling. existence of such a custom long before our extant records.
stringTehnits tihdaenn tiffoicra tlieogna l isfi nmgeardper inwtsit. hS irmepqluei rmemaethnetsm amtiocrael iFnicnoamllyp,l etthee m Mananne or ft hthate iSt hwroouuldd wseaesm b luergiietdim ina tesu tcoh c ao nhcalustdye,
probability indicates a chance of fewer than I in 1042f or a that customs for formal, time-consuming burial must not be
random occurrence of so many coincidences. Since numismatic appealed to as the necessary norm in so unusual a case as this.
136 BIBLICALA RCHEOLOGISTS/ UMMER1 981