Biblical Hebron

September 25, 2020

Hebron is mentioned more than sixty times in the Bible, the first of which is in Genesis 13:18: “Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the LORD.” Remains have been excavated at Hebron which pre-date the patriarch Abraham.

Hebron Excavations Sign. Photo ©Leon Mauldin.

Tel-Hebron consists of approximately twelve acres. It is located about twenty miles south of Jerusalem. Excavations have uncovered a stretch of wall that is dated to the Early Bronze Age, as seen at left in photo here. The well-preserved staircase is made of natural stone slabs, well worn by the city’s ancient inhabitants. Scholars suggest the path likely led to one of Hebron’s city gates. At right is an additional wall constructed at a later date than that on your left.

Hebron Walls and staircase. Photo ©Leon Mauldin.

Another important discovery at Hebron is that of an 8th century BC four room house. Some scholars date the house to the time of Judah’s King Hezekiah (r. 715-686).

Four-room house at Hebron. 8th century BC. Photo ©Leon Mauldin.

Yet another interesting discovery was several l’melech (“belonging to the king”) seals from pottery urns, which are also dated to Hezekiah’s reign.

Info Sign describing the LMLK (belonging to the king) stamps discovered at Hebron. ©Leon Mauldin.

Jeffery Chadwick notes that Hebron

seems to have settled into the role of regional center. This is demonstrated by the phenomenon of l’melekh handles. The term means “(belonging) to the king” or “property of the king.” The four-letter Hebrew designation (LMLK) was stamped into the wet clay of the handle of a certain type of storage jar at the end of the eighth century B.C.E. The jars were probably produced during the reign of King Hezekiah in preparation for the attack on Judah by Sennacherib’s Assyrian army, which occurred in 701 B.C.E.

L’melekh handles display either a two-winged sun disk or a four-winged scarab, but, more importantly for our purposes, they also include the name of one of four cities of Judah. One of these four cities was Hebron. (BAR 31:5, Sept/Oct 2005).

From Tel-Hebron one can see the Cave of Machpelah which Abraham purchased as a burial site. Herod the Great built the edifice which now covers the cave.

Cave of Machpelah as seen from Tel-Hebron. Photo ©Leon Mauldin.

I have previous posts on Hebron including here, here and here

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1 Comment | Archaeology, Bible History and Geography, Bible Places, City Walls, Divided Kingdom, Israel, Machpelah, Old Testament, photography, Travel, West Bank | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Leon Mauldin

Rahotep and Nofret

September 18, 2020

This statue of Rahotep and Nofret was found in a mastaba (early Egyptian tomb, rectangular in shape) near the pyramid of Meidum, Egypt (south of Cairo), and is dated to Egypt’s early 4th Dynasty (ca. 2680-2544 BC). Cemeteries consisting of large brick-built mastabas (about a dozen) are located to the north and east of the pyramid. The pyramid was probably begun by Huni, the last ruler of the 3rd Dynasty, but it believed to have been completed by Snofru (Sneferu).

Rahotep and Nofret. Egyptian Museum, Cairo, Egypt. Photo ©Leon Mauldin.

The Sept/Oct 1989 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review (15:5) has this information:

Eerily lifelike, the superbly preserved, painted limestone statues of Rahotep and Nofret (see photograph) illustrate a pitfall in the use of artworks to assess racial characteristics. Rahotep’s reddish brown skin and Nofret’s yellowish white color, rather than being realistic portrayals, reflect artistic conventions of the Old Kingdom period (c. 2755–2230 B.C.E.). At that time, these were the usual colors used respectively for representations of men and women. Despite their skin colors, Rahotep and Nofret’s features are typically Egyptian.

Found in a private tomb near the pyramid of Pharaoh Sneferu (c. 2680–2640 B.C.E.), the sculptures depict a couple of the king’s courtiers. Prince Rahotep, probably a son of Sneferu, wears a wig and sports a thin moustache; his name and titles—High Priest of Re at Heliopolis, Director of Expeditions and Chief of Construction—appear in the painted hieroglyphs. Rahotep’s wife, Nofret, also wears a wig, and the hieroglyphs on her statue call her “one known to the king.”

I have several posts on Egypt. Go to search box on upper right and enter “Egypt.”

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1 Comment | Archaeology, Bible History and Geography, Egypt, Old Testament, photography, Travel | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Leon Mauldin