Who should legally lay claim of the area known as Palestine? The area stretching around Palestine belongs to which set of Individuals? Does the Jews have any historical attachment to the lands surrounding the Mediterranean (Palestine)? This is a four part article on the history of the said lands.
we are going to avoid using the Bible as the basis for our accounts and explanations. This is because of the unbelieving nature of many whenever the Bible is brought up. Again, Muslims might not agree to any account or explanation coming out from the Bible.
The argument put forth brings two sets of individuals, the Arabs and Jews to the limelight. For decades this loggerhead has caused wars and strife between the Israelis and the Arabs, both groups laying claim to the lands of Palestine. In the first two parts of the article we shall be looking at the Jews and their claim.
Who are the Jews? How come they can boldly lay claim to the lands of Palestine? We can define what or who a typical Jew is without making reference from the bible. The Bible as a historical book contains accounts that are not just proven by archeological findings but are also passed down orally from father to son. The Jews are said to be the descendants of Abraham and belong to the Jewish ethnoreligious group. They were known to have lived as far back as the second millennium BCE and are organized under one religion. The oral version of Jewish birth dates back to the patriarch Jacob who was said to have twelve sons. Due to the keen interest to avoid the Biblical account we had to present our arguments using archeological findings and accounts of renowned historians.
We know that the Israelites existed as far back as 13th century BCE(late bronze age) occupying the area known as Canaan. We know this from the archeological discovery of the Merneptah Stele. This is also known as the victory Stele of Merneptah which was a victorious account of the Egyptian pharaoh Merneptah(1213BCE to 1203BCE) against the Israelites. This Stele was discovered by Flinders Petrie in 1896 in the ancient city of Thebes in Egypt. The Stele is now housed in the Egyptian museum n Cairo. For more clarity we have decided to paste the translated words of the Stele here.
‘The princes are prostrate saying, “Peace!” Not one is raising his head among the nine Bows. Now that Tehenu(Libya) has come to ruin. Hatti is pacified; the Canaan has been plundered into every sort of woe: Ashkelon has been overcome; Gezer has been captured; Yano’am is made non-existent. Israel is laid waste and his seed is not; Hurru is become a widow because of Egypt.
This is the earliest mention of Israel in history and one that placed Israel in the area known as Palestine today. We also know that the population of the Israelites increased which led to their spreading in and around Palestine. We also know that along the line the Jews became powerful that they conquered and occupied native(note that these natives were not Arabs) lands around and beyond Palestine.
We are strongly pushed to bring in the Bible at this point but remembering our previous statement, we must keep to it. We must then turn to the Assyrian captivity of the children of Israel. The expounded story is found in the book of Kings and Chronicles in the Bible but we must turn to archeology for confirmation. On the walls of the Royal Palace at Dur-Sharrukin is the inscription showing sargon’s record on his campaign against Israel.
‘In my first year of reign………..the people of Samaria……….. to the number of 27,290……….I carried away’.
Note that Samaria was the capital of the northern division of Israel that is, the ten tribes. The Assyrian captivity began around 740BCE.
Historically Israel is mentioned again and this we have proven without the use of the Bible. We must present again another evidence of an Israeli kingdom in the area of Palestine as far back as 840BCE. The Mesha Stele also known as the ‘Moabite stone’ is an inscription detailing the captivity of the ancient Moabites in the hands of the Israelites. The Mesha inscription is written in Phoenician alphabets, once again we will put the translated words here.
‘ I am Mesha son of Chemosh-gad, king of Moab, the Dibonite. My father reigned over Moab for thirty years, and I have reigned after. And I have built this sanctuary Chemosh in Karchah, a sanctuary of salvation, for he saved me from all aggressors, and made me lookupon all my enemies with contempt. Omri was king of Israel and oppressed Moab during many days , and Chemosh was angry with his aggressions…………….
Again we cannot deny the fact there was an independent and powerful Israeli state long before the rise of the Hellenistic period. As we try to avoid the Biblical account we cannot but agree of the correlation between Bibilical account and other accounts. The Mesha Stele mentioned king Omri who was also mentioned in the Bible as a King in Israel. King Omri reigned over Israel from 884BC-873BC. The mention of Omri outside the Bible can again be seen on Black Obelisk Shalmaneser111. The Black Obelisk Shalmaneser111 has this inscription;
‘The tribute of Jehu son of Omri: I received from him silver, gold, a golden bowl, a golden vase with pointed bottom, golden tumblers, golden buckets, tins, a staff for a king and spears’
We must stop here in order not to weary the reader. As promised we will present this discussion in a four part article keep visiting sparrowlite for more…..
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