It’s virtually summertime, and I need a little break from the same ol’, same ol’. Not being in a position right now to jump on a jet plane, I get almost as much satisfaction from watching travel videos. Yesterday I watched this one about Greece—particularly, the Greek islands. I enjoyed it. A little bit heavy on the whitewashed buildings, but I guess that’s par for the course.
Category Archives: Archeology
London’s Roman history unearthed
Closer To Reality – The “Inspired” Bible
Adam and Eve. Illustration from the first Russian engraved Bible. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Many knowledgeable people, those true believers, acknowledge that theoretically, on paper at least, the concept that the authorized Bible being the inspired word of God Almighty has merit, even if God Almighty Himself is difficult to pin down. Some Doubting Thomas’s however say that this concept is pure bovine fertilizer for a whole host of reasons, not least of which are that the Bible is full of logical contradictions. What follows arises out of a debate I had with an Accidental Metaphysician and true believer which I’ve edited for, hopefully, sake of clarity.
The “Inspired” Bible 1
If the Bible is the absolutely inspired word of God, then God did an absolutely lousy job of proofreading His Magnum Opus. The Bible (and related discards) reads like it was cobbled together by dozens of humans over a lengthy period of time, with lots of copying and plagiarism and alterations and interpretations afoot, with no particular obvious rhyme or reason why some bits and pieces of text were given the stamp of approval (the authorized Bible) and some bits and pieces were excluded. The Bible reads like the first draft of an early attempt at an anthology of interconnected science fantasy stories (complete with unicorns) that doesn’t quite hang together as a cohesive whole. For example, you get at least three different figures on exactly how many of God’s ‘chosen people’ were forced or sent into exile into Babylon.
The “Inspired” Bible 2
Writers and producers of science fiction, science fantasy and dark fantasy (horror) go to all sorts of weird and wonderful lengths to draw the reader (or the viewer) into their worldview. So too I suspect with the numerous human authors of the Bible. I mean Jonah and the ‘whale’ is marvelous dramatic plotting and a sort of “Jaws” story; we all love a good disaster film or story and thus the Noah’s Ark tale or the nuking of Sodom and Gomorrah fits that bill; ditto stories about the underdog coming out on top and the Biblical “High Noon” is your David versus Goliath fable. We also like war stories and so we have an obligatory Battle of Jericho. Another favorite is survival against all the odds and so we have the great unwashed facing off against the wilderness for 40 years. Now take the tale of Jesus missing from his tomb. That too is a marvelous supernatural plotting as were the sightings of his ‘ghost’. I mean just relating a revelation of finding a stone cold rotting corpse isn’t anywhere near as interesting.
Rembrandt. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The “Inspired” Bible 3
Why is it logical – logic being one of the favorite themes of true believers – to accept holus bolus the bona-fides of an alleged non-fiction text (the Bible) wherein the major players and major events cannot be independently verified? For example, there’s not one single shred of independent evidence that anything that’s related in Exodus ever happened, which is a super anomaly since there should be loads and loads of it. So, it’s not overly logical to accept the events in Exodus at face value, without question, holus bolus. Speaking of logic, logic suggests that Eve must have been a man since ‘she’ derived 100% of ‘her’ genetic material from Adam. In a similar fashion, Jesus must have been a woman since ‘he’ got ‘his’ genetic material from a woman. Logic also suggests that Jonah’s adventure would have been better placed as one of Grimm’s fairy tales! I mean you can’t seriously believe Jonah’s whale-of-a-tale actually happened, not and maintain your logical dignity. Now, in conclusion, can you really name me one Biblical tall tale that features at least of the major players in the Biblical drama, that has been independently verified by Mid and Near East historical scholars and/or professional archaeologists to which there is no room or reason for debate in much the same way as there is no wriggle room about Antony and Cleopatra or the exploits of Alexander-the-Great?
The “Inspired” Bible 4
Most events and most people leave relatively little or no trace at all. But here we’re talking here about the major players and major events in the most influential ‘non-fiction’ book of all time. Biblical events aren’t just any old events. Biblical characters aren’t just any old characters. The Bible raises the bar of expectations. Billions of people past and present believe that the Bible is actual history with actual characters. They deserve to have some actual evidence. If these Biblical characters actually existed, their remains, their grave-sites, would be actual evidence. Alas, such evidence, even dry and dusty bones, are all conspicuous by their absence.
As to those grave-sites, we are talking about the major players in the most famous and best read and best-selling ‘non-fiction’ book of all time and yet no one can tell me where even one of them (like Methuselah) has been laid to rest! Of course I shouldn’t pick on true believers since neither they nor anybody else can tell me either.
However, regarding the final resting place of Moses, look up Deuteronomy 34:6. You get some hardcore geography. Having done that, and having consulted a map, how about making like Indiana Jones, find the site, dig him up, and prove to the world once and for all that Moses wasn’t just a figment of Biblical mythology.
Bible of Lilienfeld (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The “Inspired” Bible 5
Regarding the Biblical Ages of Man:
“The days of our years are threescore years and ten” – Psalm 90:10.
“His days shall be an hundred and twenty years” – Genesis 6:3.
Contradiction!
The “Inspired” Bible 6
Believers can quote the Bible as much as they like but for whatever statements quoted like the alleged resurrection of Jesus*, I’d like some 100% independent verification – some other source(s) material. As that Gershwin song suggested, just because the Bible says so doesn’t mean its historical fact. Where is the independent evidence for the existence of Jesus? Where is the independent (Egyptian or archaeological) evidence that the Exodus ever happened? Can you show me the grave-sites of Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Seth, Abraham, Moses, Noah, Jonah, Joshua, Solomon, David, Ezekiel, Daniel, Goliath, Methuselah, Joseph and Mary, or for that matter any other character in the Bible? Has the grave-site of Jesus himself been identified and independently verified by ancient historians and archaeologists? True, some historical Biblical figures existed, but that’s to be expected since the Bible was written by the locals who would obviously incorporate local flavor into their tall tales. However, and for similar reasons, you’ll get real historical figures mentioned in historical novels like “Gone with the Wind”. That doesn’t make GWTW an historical and believable document.
*Oh, by the way, there is no absolute historical fact about the resurrection since not all scholars or historians agree that there ever was such a person who existed to in fact be resurrected.
Bible, Ilov, 1619, artist Ghazar Baberdts’i, Genesis: Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark (Erevan, Matenadaran, MS 351) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The “Inspired” Bible 7
It is not surprising that some of the minor players in the Bible actually existed. I call the Bible “Historical Fiction” not just “Fiction”. After all, the Bible was penned by the locals who lived in the area and would have been aware of the reality of various figures who were incorporated into their tall tales. It’s exactly the same as you’ll find real historical characters in “Gone with the Wind” or in the twin novels “The Winds of War” and “War and Remembrance”. However, those novels are not exactly the sources one would go to for an overall historical account of the American Civil War or the lead-up to and history of World War II.
Anyway, I’m pleased for true believers that think the Bible is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. On the other hand, knowing that they tend to be on a quest to be closer to the theological truth, they might like to also consider reading “The Unauthorized Version: Truth and Fiction in the Bible” (1991) by classical historian Robin Lane Fox and/or “Biblical Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction” (2009) by classical scholar and anthropologist Eric H. Cline.
IMHO it’s all just myths and fairy tales for grown-ups. True believers know, and I know, that had they been born in a different time into a different culture, say Ancient Egypt, they’d be spouting with total conviction about the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about the reality of Isis, Horus and Osiris.
The “Inspired” Bible 8
True believers say there are lots of independent (i.e. – archaeological?) verifications for alleged Biblical truths. There is historical integrity within the Bible that has been confirmed or documented, or so they would allege. I wish they would just name one such verification involving a major Biblical character and a major supernaturally-themed Biblical event like Jonah and the ‘whale’ and I’ll be happy to dance around that circle with them. I refer again to those books by Robin Lane Fox and Eric H. Cline.
Česky: Stvoření Evy z Bible Václava IV. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The “Inspired” Bible: Cain’s Wife 1
One Biblical anomaly is where did Cain get his wife from? The standard answer is that Adam had “other sons and daughters” quite apart from Cain, Abel and Seth. There may have been inbreeding and incest, but when you gotta breed you gotta breed. Still, I’m not convinced.
“Cain knew his wife” – Genesis 4:17 – which precedes…
“Adam having other sons and daughters” – Genesis 5:4.
We note that Adam begat Seth at the age of 130 – Genesis 5:3 – and post Seth he lived another 800 years (dying at 930 years) and had other sons and daughters – Genesis 5:4. So all those unnamed sons and daughters were post-Seth and Seth was way post-Cain.
So again, where did Cain get his wife from?
The “Inspired” Bible: Cain’s Wife 2
Regarding Cain’s wife, as just one example, when it comes to the Bible, the left hand (Genesis 4:17) most certainly did not know what the right hand (Genesis 5:4) was doing. In general, readers of Biblical events just get multi-variations on multi-theological themes. So when it come to the Bible you can just about ‘prove’ or theologically back up or even ‘disprove’ any claim you wish to make or refute. But since you’re pontificating over an overall work of historical fiction, I’m not always sure what the overriding point is in doing so. In any event, I’m not convinced until those true believers dish up some sort of independent historical or archaeological evidence that the Bible is historical fact and not historical fiction. The burden of proof is always on those who say something is so, yet proof of major Biblical events by the major Biblical players is always conspicuous by its absence.
The “Inspired” Bible: Cain’s Wife 3
Unless true believers can provide me with some independent verification that Cain even existed, far less where his wife came from, I’ll just reword my previous comments and say it’s all mythological poppycock. It has as much reality as that of Athena being hatched fully grown from the head of Zeus, or Helen of Troy being the offspring of Zeus mating with a mortal woman by first turning himself into a swan and hence Helen being hatched from out of the resulting egg. The Ancient Greek myths zoomed in and out too but that don’t make them the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. You’re happy with blind faith. I want evidence, something you are unable to supply. Now, where is Cain (and his wife) buried? Surely if they existed their dry and dusty bones must be somewhere. Where?
The Destruction Of Sodom And Gomorrah, a painting by John Martin (painter), died 1854, thus 100 years. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The “Inspired” Bible: Job
Okay, here’s a little problem. I don’t believe Job actually existed! How do true believers like the Accidental metaphysician actually know Job existed? How do they know that all of the events as related in Job actually happened? They weren’t there. They can’t verify one single word of Job – the person or the Book. They are relying on a person or persons who they know absolutely nothing about relating the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Perhaps these authors of questionable bona-fides just made all of this up in order to present an interesting story. Has any independent Biblical historian verified all of this? Is there any archaeological conformation of any of this rather tall tale? Can anyone point out the actual location of the final resting place of this alleged Biblical character?
The Accidental Metaphysician quotes Job several times. How does he know for absolute certain that these Biblical quotes attributed to Job are accurate? How does he know the English translation is accurate? Who was the Johnny-on-the-spot writing this down many thousands of years ago? Does anyone know who he (she) was? Was this a case of someone who told someone who told someone who told someone?
According to the “HarperCollins Bible Dictionary” (Paul J. Achtemeier, General Editor), the entry for “Job, the Book of” states “Date, place, and identity of authorship are debated.” That does auger well for the accuracy of the Biblical text.
In conclusion, how does anyone know for absolute certain that this Biblical event actually happened in the way and manner described? I say it’s all a work of pure fiction even though I can no more prove that than true believers can prove the contrary. It’s all about faith, not about evidence. It’s not logical to trump faith over actual hardcore evidence. My hardcore evidence backing my point of view is that there is no hardcore evidence!
Adam and Eve (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The “Inspired” Bible: Moses
There’s no independent evidence that Moses ever existed, so there’s no independent evidence that Moses wrote anything. In any event, can true believers tell me where Moses was laid to rest, being such a major player in Biblical terms and all? So here’s Moses, leader of a rag-tag band of 200,000 souls wandering throughout the wilderness – the great unwashed of the times – who stayed with them and guided them through thick-and-thin for 40 years. When Moses dies, just before his motley crowd were to leave the wilderness and enter the Promised Land, did they just threw his body into some shallow and unmarked pit or maybe left his bodily corpse to the local buzzards? [Many of us like to put out food for the wild birds but that’s ridiculous.] That’s not a heck of a lot of gratitude the multitudes showed their fearless leader, old man Moses, did they now?
Actually as noted above, we know from Deuteronomy 34:6 the rough geographical location where Moses was laid to rest. It’s just a matter of some wannabe Indiana Jones finding the site and digging Moses up and thus proving once and for all that Moses actually existed.
Still, I find it amazing that my Accidental Metaphysician spends hours and hours debating historical events, like Cain’s wife and Job and Moses that more likely as not have no actual verified historical reality. He keeps going on and on and on about these Biblical events as if they were carved in stone and available as independent evidence for all to see. They’re not. As an accurate historical text, the Bible has just as much credibility as “Gone with the Wind”, “The Caine Mutiny”, “Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn” or “The Last of the Mohicans”. He is however presenting all of this Biblical stuff as though it was all verified historical fact, and that’s not the case, so IMHO he is being more than just slightly dishonest with his reading audience!
About the Author
The History of Tattoos
The word, Tattoo, comes from the Polynesian word, “tatao” which means “to tap” or “to mark something.”Captain James Cook introduced this word to the English during his voyage around the world in 1769. Captain Cook and his crew of the ship, The Endeavour, were welcomed with open arms by the friendly and uninhibited Tahitians (yeah, that means many of them were naked.) Since the weather was very warm on the island, clothing was optional.
The Tahitians tried to look their best by decorating their bodies. But the fact of the matter was the application of tattoos, which was painful. It was done by dipping a sharp-pointed comb into lampblack and then hammering it into the skin. Nonetheless, everybody did it.
A woman showing images tattooed or painted on her upper body, 1907. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
As word of tattooing in Tahiti and other Polynesian islands spread, the European sailors began to get tattooed themselves. This probably illustrated why tattoos were looked upon with such a lack of credibility in the early days and were considered as a kind of thing suitable for drunkards, sailors and criminals.
Modern archeology has uncovered the practice of tattoos in many ancient cultures all over the world.
In 1992, in the Alps between the border of Austria and Italy, a perfectly preserved body of a man was found. He was estimated to have lived 5,000 years ago! And he had 58 tattoos all over his body.
Mummies from the ancient Egyptians had tattoos.
Clay figurines found in Japan dated 3,000 years ago were engraved with tattoo marks.
The ancient Greeks and Romans used tattoos to identify slaves and criminals.
But tattooing has only become acceptable in the mainstream society recently. Tattoo shops and parlors were nothing more than wretched hives of scum and villainy, located in the seediest parts of most towns have undergone significant changes.
English: Tattos of Cross on Croatian women in Bosnia and Herzegovina were defence from Ottoman Turks Hrvatski: Tetovaže križa i ostalih kršćanskih simbola na hrvatskim ženama u Bosni i Hercegovini bile su obrana od Osmanlija. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Tattooing has really become popular with sports athletes. No one can forget the now-retired flamboyant NBA forward, Dennis Rodman, whose body was a tattooing canvas. A more current example is Allen Iverson of the Philly 76’ers. The tattooing trend is getting really popular in college basketball. And the trickle-down effect is appearing on high school athletes. Some old-fashion coaches forbidden any display of tattoos which meant some basketball players has to play with a t-shirt under their game jersey. Football fans can’t miss the barbed wire tattoos on the well-developed arms of football players.
The popular show, “Miami Ink,” from TLC is a reality-based show. The show’s popularity demonstrates just how mainstream the art of body art or “inking” has become. And it gives the viewers a look into the skill and history of both the artists and their customers.
Article Source: http://www.articleset.com
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WERE NEANDERTHALS KILLED OFF OR ASSIMILATED?
Comparison of Neanderthal and Modern human skulls from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History by hairymuseummatt via Wikipedia and Flickr
Many anthropologists believe that modern humans ancestors directly or indirectly killed off Neanderthal and Denisovan populations as they moved into Neanderthal and Denisovan territory. A new study of the issue argues that it’s more likely that Neanderthals and Denisovans were assimilated into the human gene pool thirty to forty thousand years ago during the Upper Pleistocene era as cultural and climatic forces brought the two groups together, according to Arizona State University Professor C. Michael Barton.
Recent sequencing of ancient Neanderthal DNA indicates that Neanderthal genes make up from 1 to 4 percent of the genome of modern populations—especially those of European descent. Denisovans genes (Denisovans are a sister species to Neanderthals, who were recently found in central and eastern Asia).were found to make up 2 to 6 percent of human genes in southeast Asia. South of the Sahara Africans show no signs of Neanderthal genes.
The researchers used archaeological data to track cultural and socio-ecological changes in behavior in Western Eurasia during the past 120,000 years. As Neanderthals and early humans land-use patterns shifted during the last ice age, computer modeling showed that the two populations began to interact and mate, leading to the “extinction” of one of the groups due to hybridization, a well-recognized phenomenon in conservation biology. Neanderthals were limited to western Asia and Europe, while Denisovans, a sister species to Neanderthals, were recently found in central and eastern Asia. Usually it is the smaller population that becomes “extinct” but succeeding hybrid populations still carry some genes from the regional group that disappeared, according to the researchers.
According to Barton, “There is a perception that biological evolution determines culture during the Pleistocene era and that cultural influences only predominate afterwards. The reality is that the two forces have been working together and they were as important 50,000 years ago as they are today. Other than the fact that they disappeared, there is no evidence that Neanderthals were any less fit as hunter-gatherers of the late Pleistocene than any other human ancestor living at that time. It looks like they were as capable as anyone else,”
So why did they assimilate into us rather than us into them? Humans might have had the advantage of a higher birth rate. Neanderthals had slightly bigger heads and brains than humans so they might have had greater difficulty in giving birth. Humans also benefited from their belief that a birth goddess would help them. Without successful reproduction no species can flourish, or even survive. Homo sapiens were as subject to the biological imperative (commandment) to be fruitful and multiply as all other species. But the intelligent minds of Homo sapiens knew the dangers of childbirth. Infant mortality rates in most tribes were more than one in four. The maternal death rate for every four births was more than one in ten. Pregnancy was highly desired and birth anxiously awaited. Pregnant women naturally sought the physical help of their mothers and grandmothers who in turn sought the spiritual help of their now departed mothers and grandmothers. Among the earliest Gods were birth Goddesses. Small stone figures of very pregnant birth Goddesses often referred to as “Venus” figures go back 30-35,000 years. They are the first examples of iconic religion. The worship of spirits within natural phenomena does not need iconic representation. But birth rarely took place in the open or in public. A birth Goddess needed to be present in some tangible way in order to ease the anxiety of women in labor. Even today in some African countries the maternal mortality rate is 3% per birth. A woman who gave birth to 8 children had a one in four chance of dying from giving birth. Any band would benefit even if the presence of Goddesses reduced that mortality rate by only 5%. Carvings in wood of birth Goddesses probably preceded stone statues by many millennia and may have originated 50-100,000 years ago.
A small birth Goddess that fits in the palm of a woman’s hand, carved of Mammoth ivory with exaggerated sexual features was described in the May 14, 2009 issue of Nature. The figurine is dated to more than 35,000 years ago, when all three species were alive. Dozens of these figurines have been found at human sites, none at Neanderthal sites. Indeed, archeological evidence of religious rituals in general is much more extensive at human sites than at Neanderthal sites. Thus, religion may have been the single most significant factor in Neanderthal and Denisovan assimilation into humans rather than human assimilation into them.
For further information see my article in Popular Archeology June, 2011 or my web site: rabbimaller.com
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- Neanderthal demise a variety of reasons (artofthestem.com)
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- ‘One species’ idea finally put to bed? (bbc.co.uk)
- Ancient cave girl genome could crack Man’s genetic puzzle (go.theregister.com)
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