Israelite Settlement

1
Israelite Settlement

• OTST 510
• Archaeology and the Bible
• Lesson 10 part 4

2
Israelites as pastoralists

• One of the strange and challenging archaeological
  facts is the absence of evidence for Israelite
  settlement between 1400 and 1200 BC this seems
  to lend credence to the idea that the
  Exodus/Conquest did not take place until around
  1200 BC, although it could be argued that the
  Israelites lived as semi-nomadic pastoralists for
  the first 200 years in Canaan

3
Date of settlement

• If 1 Kings 61 is used as the foundation for the
  Exodus/Conquest chronology, 480 years from the
  4th year of Solomon (c. 970 BC) takes us to 1450
  for the Exodus and 1410 for the beginning of the
  Conquest

4
Date of Settlement

• A date of c. 1410 for the initiation of the
  conquest is supported by Jdgs 1126 which says
  that from the Conquest to the days of Jephthah
  was 300 years
• Since Jephthah judged Israel c. 1100 BC (he has
  to date before Saul), 300 1100 1400 BCthis
  lines up closely with 1 Kngs 61!

5
Merneptah Stele

• An Egyptian monument known as the Merneptah Stele
  describes a battle of Pharaoh Merneptah against a
  people in Canaan called Israelthe first
  extra-biblical reference to Israelites!
• The stele dates to about 1207 BCE
• Cairo Museum

Israel appears here
6
Israel in Egyptian hieroglyphics on Merneptah
Stele
7
This picture of the Merneptah stele shows what
the hieroglyphics on the second line from the
bottom actually look likethe Egyptian is
translated Israel is laid wastehis seed is
not! (The use of the masculine pronoun
indicates that the Egyptians understood Israels
God to be male!). The text would suggest that
the Egyptians wiped out the Israelites just prior
to 1207 BC, although Egyptians were prone to
hyperbole. This incident isnt even mentioned in
the Bible.
8
Transliteration and Translation of Merneptah Stele
9
Pharaoh Merneptah

• Some scholars use this stele to date Israels
  arrival in Canaan to the 1200s
• However, it could just as easily be argued that
  Israel had already been established for sometime
  in Canaan before Merneptah fought them in 1207 BC

10
Merneptah Stele

• Interestingly, the stele suggests that the
  Israelites were not sedentarythis fits the
  archaeology evidence which suggests Israelites
  did not establish towns until after 1200 BC

11
Merneptahs Campaign Record at Karnak

• It has recently been discovered that a pictorial
  version of Merneptahs stele appears on a wall in
  the Egyptian temple at Karnak in central Egypt
• While there is some controversy over aspects of
  the picture (nothing everything is labeled!), it
  appears that the Israelites are shown as
  Shasu-like semi-nomads at this time

12
Merneptah ReliefsCachette Court--Karnak
13
Plan of Merneptah ReliefsCachette Court--Karnak
Israel shown on wall as Shasu?
14
Plan of Merneptah ReliefsCachette Court--Karnak
15
Plan of Merneptah ReliefsCachette Court--Karnak
16
Shasu Israelites?
17
Earliest picture of Israelites?
18
Early Israelites were probably pastoralists
Based on the archaeological evidence, the
Merneptah stele, and Karnak pictures, it appears
that the early Israelites lived as semi-nomadic
pastoralists in Canaan between 1400 and 1200 BC.
19
Thus, early Israelites were probably pastoralists
as were the Patriarchs
20
Israelites Avoid Egyptian Corvee

• There are a number of reasons why the Israelites
  may have chosen not to settle down for the first
  200 years they were in Canaan (period of the
  early Judges), not least of which was the fact
  that Egypt dominated Canaan at this time and
  forced local men from the towns and villages to
  serve in the corvee (forced labor taxation)
  Israelites could have avoided this forced labor
  if they were semi-nomadic

21
Early Israelite settlements

• Around 1200 B.C., the Israelites began
  establishing villages throughout the highlands of
  Canaan in the archaeological record, the
  appearance of these settlements seems like an
  explosion (Egyptian power had declined in Canaan
  by this time).
• This was about the middle of the period of the
  JudgesIsrael was finally dominating and driving
  out the Canaanites

22
Settlement in Iron I Palestine

• Notice the jump in settlement in Palestine around
  1200 BC
• There is little settlement in the Late Bronze Age
  (1550-1200, suggesting that the Israelites were
  more nomadic earlier on