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In Search for Aram and Israel: Politics, Culture, and Identity

2018; Eisenbrauns; Volume: 28; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5325/bullbiblrese.28.3.0459

2576-0998

Caleb Chow,

Biblical Studies and Interpretation

As stated in the preface, In Search for Aram and Israel: Politics, Culture, and Identity is a collection of essays presented at a 2014 colloquium in Heidelberg. The book consists of 18 articles divided into three sections: Aramaean political relations and borders with Israel, Aramaean material culture, and Aramaean identity. Abstracts are provided in the preface, so in this review each article will be summarized in brief, while particular attention will be given to articles concerning methodology.Omer Sergi and Izaak J. de Hulster (“Some Historical and Methodological Considerations Regarding the Question of Political, Social and Cultural Interaction between Aram and Israel in the Early Iron Age”) introduce this volume with a methodological discussion, summarizing the evidence for the origins of the Aramaeans and the challenges in relating their terminological designation to Aram’s political identity and borders. They point out the fluidity of political borders and the distinction between the elite, political element in being “Israelite” or “Aramaean” with the local, more cultural aspect of being associated with these terms. They suggest investigating the Arameans on a local level by analyzing interactions between communities rather than attempting to find Israelites or Aramaeans through historical and archaeological analyses. They do not describe how exactly this might be achieved.The first section concerns the borders between Israel and Aram during the Iron II period. This section’s first chapter by Israel Finkelstein (“Israel and Aram: Reflections on Their Border”) identifies four phases in Israel’s political borders with Aram-Damascus: a pre-Omride phase where Israel is limited to the Jezreel area, an Omride phase where Israel controls Ramoth-Gilead and the Galilee region, a period of Hazael’s dominance, and a Nimshide phase where Israel controlled Dan before a rapid decline. Erhard Blum’s chapter (“The Relations between Aram and Israel in the 9th and 8th Centuries BCE: The Textual Evidence”) discusses 9th–8th-century epigraphic evidence concerning the interactions between Israel and Aram, noting how the Tel Dan and Tell Deir Alla inscriptions match the biblical descriptions of their interactions, before remarking on the fluidity of ethnic and political boundaries. The final chapter of this section by Assaf Kleiman (“The Damascene Subjugation of the Southern Levant as a Gradual Process [ca. 842-800 BCE]”) identifies three stages of Aramaean expansion into Israelite territory by tracing patterns in Iron II destruction layers. Kleiman’s maps of Iron II destructions are an excellent reference, but Kleiman does not address how local conflicts contributed to the Iron II destructions.The first chapter of the second section is by Aren M. Maeir (“The Aramaean Involvement in the Southern Levant: Case Studies for Identifying the Archaeological Evidence”). He argues that the siege trench at Gath suggests Hazael’s presence in accordance with Amos 6. He also analyzes possible Aramean material from Dan, Hazor, and Kinneret. Amihai Mazar (“Culture, Identity and Politics Relating to Tel Reḥov in the 10th–9th Centuries BCE”) summarizes the most recent archaeological evidence from Tel Reḥov, noting that its “Aramaean” material is identified based on comparisons exclusively from north Syria. The chapter by Jutta Häser, Katja Soennecken, and Dieter Vieweger (“Tall Zirāʿa in North-West Jordan between Aram and Israel”) concludes that no distinctly Israelite or Aramaean material has been found at Tall Zirāʿa. Nava Panitz-Cohen and Robert A. Mullins (“Aram-Maacah? Aramaeans and Israelites on the Border: Excavations at Tell Abil el-Qameh. (Abel-beth-maacah) in Northern Israel”) discuss the recently begun excavations at Abel-beth-Maacah. They also discuss the biblical evidence concerning the history of Geshur and Maacah. Yifat Thareani (“Enemy at the Gates? The Archaeological Visibility of the Aramaeans at Dan”) discusses the archaeology of Tel Dan, concluding that it shows a “hybrid material culture” (p. 186). Researchers interested in the history of the Iron IIA will find Thareani’s summary of corresponding strata and chronological sequences for Hazael’s possible conquests in both traditional and Low Chronology systems incredibly useful (p. 171–72). Somewhat out of place in this section, Benjamin Sass (“Aram and Israel during the 10th–9th centuries BCE, or Iron Age IIA: The Alphabet”) provides this book’s only epigraphic analysis of Iron IIA Aramaic and a summary of its diffusion and development up to the emergence of monumental inscriptions in the ninth century. This section’s final chapter discusses finds from Hazor. Izaak J. de Hulster (“Material Aramaeisms? Sphragistic Reflections on the Aram-Israel Border Zone through a Case Study on Hazor”) identifies northern cultural influence at Hazor through the discovery of distinct features such as Luwian glyphs, moon imagery, and the hammer seal.The volume’s third section focuses on textual evidence concerning Aramean and Israelite ethnicity and identity. Guy Bunnens (“Confrontation, Emulation and Ethno-genesis of the Aramaeans in Iron Age Syria”) discusses the earliest evidence of the Aramaeans and how the textual sources gradually show a consolidation of both Aramaean identity and territory. Stefana Mazzoni (“Identity and Multiculturality in the Northern Levant of the 9th–7th century BCE: With a Case Study on Tell Afis”) discusses the material culture of Tel Afis, concluding that, although there is no material that can be called “Aramean,” it is clear that the inhabitants maintained their language and identity under Assyrian rule. Herbert Niehr (“The Power of Language: Language Situation and Language Policy in Samʾal”) analyzes inscriptions from Samʾal that first used limited Luwian before adopting Phoenician in the ninth century, followed by a transition into Samʾalian, and finally the development of Old Aramaic under Bar-Rakkab. Omer Sergi (“The Gilead between Aram and Israel: Political Borders, Cultural Interaction and the Question of Jacob and Israelite Identity”) discusses the contested territory of Gilead and how it changed hands according to biblical evidence, the Tel Dan inscription, and the Mesha inscription. The Jacob and Gideon narratives show Gilead was always regarded as, in his words, “a political and cultural border zone between Aram and Israel” to the biblical writers (p. 349). Sergi bases his conclusions on the accepted late date of the narratives’ composition, and this assumption subsequently seems to have allowed for the conclusion that the Jacob narratives are displaced narratives that reflect the historical reality of the ninth–eighth centuries. Sergi does not provide external evidence for why this displacement can be made with certainty. Taking a sociological and ethnological approach, Angelika Berlejung (“Family Ties: Constructed Memories about Aram and the Aramaeans”) argues that the biblical canon affirms Aramaean origins of the Israelite people but also establishes distinctions between Israel and Aram through the Exodus narratives: Israel and Aram function as “interface-identities” (p. 374) with each other. Nili Wazana (“Ahaz and the Altar from Damascus [2 Kings 16:10-16]: Literary, Theological, and Historical-Political Considerations”) suggests that that reason Ahaz’s copy of the Damascus altar was not listed among his sins was the presence of a Yahwistic cult in Damascus, which constituted a case of mutual cultural influence between Aram and Israel. Manfred Oeming’s chapter (“‘And the King of Aram Was at War with Israel’: History and Theology in the Elisha Cycle 2 Kings 2–13”) is the only article taking a theological and literary perspective. Oeming identifies five themes in the Elisha cycle: fulfillment of God’s word, Elijah as a Jesus figure and model for Jesus’ followers, the spirit of God, resurrection, and God’s use of a foreign power.Aram and Israel: Politics, Culture, Identity successfully demonstrates the multifaceted and complex nature of the question of Aramaean identity and its relationship with Israel. The authors acknowledge the many limitations in the textual and archaeological evidence, most notably the inaccessibility of excavating southern Syria. Multiple articles in this volume rightly note the potential of the excavations at Abel-beth-Maacah to further the discussion. This volume also brings some of the most recent archaeological data into the discussion of Aramaean and Israelite relations, utilizing multiple directions of inquiry including linguistic analysis, biblical exegesis, archaeology, and ethnological theory. Nevertheless, there is little discussion of how the physical geography of the border zones between Aram-Damascus and Israel might shed light on the question of their political borders and history. That said, this book will undoubtedly be an essential resource for research on Israel-Aram relations and the history of Iron II Israel.