Did Israel 'Emerge' in 'Ancient Palestine'?

In a review of Emanuel Pfoh's "The Emergence of Israel in Ancient Palestine: Historical and Anthropological Perspectives" by Jeremy Hutton you can find this theory gaining a grip on the academic discourse - and soon to be mass discourse:

...an increasingly vocal contingent has challenged the critical theory (/theories) of historiography employed by traditional historical-critical approaches to the biblical text...Emanuel Pfoh steps into the gap and offers his own terms for peace with this book...itself is a methodologically and theoretically grounded study of how one might begin to write about “the emergence of Israel in ancient Palestine.”

...The author marshals critical historiographic theory, state formation theory, and other anthropological models in an attempt to deal “specifically with Israel’s origins and the question of statehood in Palestine”.  Throughout this introduction Pfoh positions himself as a proponent of “alternative historical explanations of what happened in Iron Age I Palestine in regard to ‘Israel’ ” (emphasis added). This effort comes as nothing surprising in the field of “biblical historiography” (construed loosely as the total combined subsets of biblical scholars, historians, archaeologists, Egyptologists, and Assyriologists who concern themselves with the reconstruction of the history of an ethnic group in the Southern Levant known as “Israel”)...he seeks “to assess the changing historical nature of the entity called ‘Israel’ as a product of contemporary history-writing” through both a review of the various proposals for understanding Israel’s emergence in Palestine (conquest, pastoral infiltration, etc.) and a sharpening of the “minimalist” critique of traditional biblical historiography....of Israel, Pfoh attempts to justify the critical historians’ foundational premise that “we cannot speak of Israel in history without firm evidence, and we cannot base our image of historical Israel on the biblical Israel that dwells in the Old Testament”...

...we have little or no access into the Bible’s meaningfulness within the original social context of its production. Because the historical narratives’ “intention is not historical,” “one cannot deem [them] historiographic” either...

...Pfoh attempts to deconstruct the putative relationship between the various “Israels” known from the ancient epigraphic texts. Pfoh dismisses as skewed any archaeological interpretations of the data that may be linked to the biblical text (e.g., A. Faust’s connection—hardly new with Faust—between
“the absence of pig bones in the Iron I highlands” and Israelite identity; 165; cf. 166–67).  Instead, Pfoh argues that the name “Israel”—if that is in fact what the Mernepta Stela says—“had survived afterwards in the territory and was adopted—from the ninth century on—by people living in the highlands” (172). Moreover, because “[e]thnic consciousness is… "retrospective” and “historiography … defines and creates ethnicity,” we have no access to the identity of early Judaism’s namesake Israel. There follows an outline of what we can know (from epigraphic remnants) or reconstruct (on the basis of archaeology and social-scientific theory) about the genesis and organization of the earliest known polity in the Iron Age II southern Levant: the Bīt-Humriya. This history, however, is not accessible through the biblical text, since “it is during the later periods of however, is not accessible through the biblical text, since “it is during the later periods of ancient Palestine’s history, the Persian and the Graeco-Roman, that we find the proper context in which biblical Israel was created”.

In his “Concluding Reflections” (188–94), Pfoh wraps up a number of independent lines of argumentation that have been touched upon through the course of the study. In a few pages, Pfoh defends himself (and implicitly his congeners) from charges of anti-Semitism and nihilism. But the more salient threads of this short summary are tied together around the theme of epistemology: comparison of the historical reconstruction and the biblical text proceed “only at the final stage of research, but such an endeavour must never aim to achieve a harmonization or an historical corroboration of ancient mythic images,” since doing so “simply misses the point of the original intention [of the biblical text] because of the mixing of logical categories”. “Mythic traditions are rationally unfalsifiable, they just cannot be tested, not because they may not be confirmed by historical or archaeological data—which they are sometimes!—but because they are
created by a different mentality, by another episteme, which never should be confused or blended with our own”...

Jews, Gladiators and Graffiti

Well, we now know that graffiti messages engraved at Aphrodisias, in modern-day Turkey, reveal something of Jewish life there over 1,500 years ago, in addition to portrayals of gladiator combat, chariot racing, religious fighting and sex.

Aphrodisias also boasted a sizable Jewish population. Many Jewish traders set up shop in an abandoned temple complex known as the Sebasteion.

Among the graffiti found there is a depiction of a Hanukkah menorah, a nine-candle lamp that would be lit during the Jewish festival. "This may be one of the earliest representations of a Hanukkah menorah that we know from ancient times," said Chaniotis.

and

Most of the graffiti Chaniotis recorded dates between roughly A.D. 350 and A.D. 500, appearing to decline around the time Justinian became emperor of the Byzantine Empire, in A.D. 527.  In the decades that followed, Justinian restricted or banned polytheistic and Jewish practices. Aphrodisias, which had been named after the goddess Aphrodite, was renamed Stauropolis. Polytheistic and Jewish imagery, including some of the graffiti, was destroyed.

But while the city was abandoned in the seventh century, the graffiti left by the people remains today. "Through the graffiti, the petrified voices and feelings of the Aphrodisians still reach us, and they still matter," Chaniotis said.

(thanks to EH) 

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Another Jewish King in the Middle East

Continuing with the topic of Jewish political and military chronilces in the Middle East (see here), you can read in the Jewish Encyclopedia about Mar Zutra II, an Exilarch who was born about 496 and died about 520, having ruled from 512 to 520

At the head of a company of 400 Jewish warriors Mar Zuṭra advanced against the opposing Persian forces...Mar Zuṭra founded an independent Jewish state, with Maḥoza as his residence. He ruled as an independent king, and imposed heavy taxes on all non-Jews. In spite of his able government, however, immorality spread among his people...In a subsequent battle between Mar Zuṭra and the Persians the former was defeated; and both he and his grandfather Ḥanina were taken prisoners and decapitated, their bodies being suspended from crosses on the bridge at Maḥoza.
 

Persia, you know, is Iran, the former Bavel, Babylonia, of Talmudic literature.


Another account:

In the reign of Kobad (Cabades) in Persia, a fanatic reformer named Mazdak desired to introduce the doctrine of the community of property and wives, thus modifying the Zoroastrian creed. (501). The king became an adherent of the new doctrine and decreed its acceptance by the people. The lower classes eagerly availed themselves of the license thus granted. To this communism, the Jews, led by Mar Zutra II, son of R. Huna, the young exilarch, offered an armed resistance. The occasion of the revolt was the murder of Mar Isaac, president of one of the colleges. It is related that they established an independent Jewish state, having for king the Prince of Captivity, with Machuza as the capital. At last, after seven years, Mar Zutra and his grandfather, Mar Chanina, were taken prisoners, executed, and their bodies nailed to the cross on the bridge of Machuza (about 520). On account of the ensuing persecutions the office of Exilarch remained for some time in abeyance.

Geographical orientation:

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Have You Read Aristeas' Letter?

As explained, the Letter of Aristeas (and see this book)

^{was a letter addressed from Aristeas to his brother Philocrates...Over twenty manuscripts of this letter are preserved...the letter's author alleges to be a be a courtier of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (reigned 281-246 BCE).}

Most scholars hold that the letter was a

pseudepigraphal work of pseudo-history produced in Alexandria, probably in the mid-2nd century BC, to promote the cause of Judaism...The author’s purpose was to present Judaism in a favourable light to pagans and make strict observance of religious laws attractive to Hellenistic Jews...The writer used current Hellenistic literary conventions and the technical language of the Alexandrian court, but his Greek style and several historical inaccuracies indicate that he was a deliberate archaist. His concern for the welfare of Jewish slaves, his romantic picture of Palestinian Jewry, and his efforts to explain the theory behind Jewish dietary laws mark him as a Jew rather than a pagan.

^{As to its dating,}

^{the general consensus [is] that it was likely written in the last third of the 2nd century B.C.E. (i.e. ca. 130-100 B.C.E.) - although some scholars (e.g. Jelicoe and Orlinsky) date it as early as 170...Under the cloak of a Gentile praising Judaism, it defended Judaism to Jews by letting Jewish readers look at their tradition through the eyes of an outsider, who found not only something commendable, but traditions corresponding to high values in Hellenistic society. As an apology for the prestige of Judaism, this document is one of the most striking and vigorous attempts to bridge the gap between Judaism and Hellenism for which we have evidence.} 

^More:

^{This article proposes that the Letter of Aristeas was written in the late third century bce, either towards the end of the reign of Ptolemy IV (222–205 bce) or the beginning of the reign of Ptolemy V (204–180 bce). This dating is supported, inter alia, by the list of harbors in the Letter (115) and by the Sitz im Leben of Jewish life in Egypt that the Letter reflects.}

<sup>In the end, the letter attests to a physical reality even if it is polemical or theological propaganda.

As another scholar writes:</sup>

^{major parts of the book relate the expedition members’ impressions of the Land of Israel, Jerusalem, the Temple and the High Priest and describe in detail the philosophical banquet in which the king and his friends participated together with the seventy-two sages that came from Jerusalem. Clearly then, since it exhibits characteristics of other genres such as utopian geography and philosophy, Aristeas should not be regarded as historiography alone...}

 ...the core of the ideology [of the letter] is easily discernible: a combination of total loyalty to Judaism and deep and active involvement with the Hellenistic world and culture. This combination is revealed in the writer’s affection for and identification with the Hellenistic world on the one hand, and in the logic and justice attributed to the laws of the Torah, the central place of God and the importance of the Land of Israel, Jerusalem and the Temple on the other

 
^{As to that physical, geographical reality, what does it contain that, for example, could deny the Islamic Temple Denial campaign?}

Well, this:

Description of Jerusalem.

(a) The temple (and the water-works system).
(b) The ceremony.
(c) The citadel.
(d) The city.
(e) The countryside.

Excerpts from Chapter Four:

...but I will first of all give you a description of the whole country. When we arrived in the land of the Jews we saw the city situated 84 in the middle of the whole of Judea on the top of a mountain of considerable altitude. On the summit the temple had been built in all its splendour. It was surrounded by three walls more than seventy cubits high and in length and breadth corresponding to the structure of the edifice. All the buildings 85 were characterized by a magnificence and costliness quite unprecedented. It was obvious that no expense had been spared on the door and the fastenings, which connected it with the door-posts, and 86 the stability of the lintel. The style of the curtain too was thoroughly in proportion to that of the entrance. Its fabric owing to the draught of wind was in perpetual motion, and as this motion was communicated from the bottom and the curtain bulged out to its highest extent, it afforded a pleasant 87 spectacle from which a man could scarcely tear himself away. The construction of the altar was in keeping with the place itself and with the burnt offerings which were consumed by fire upon it, and the approach to it was on a similar scale. There was a gradual slope up to it, conveniently arranged for the purpose of decency, and the ministering priests were robed in linen garments, down to their 88 ankles. The Temple faces the east and its back is toward the west. The whole of the floor is paved with stones and slopes down to the appointed places, that water may be conveyed to wash away the 89 blood from the sacrifices, for many thousand beasts are sacrificed there on the feast days. And there is an inexhaustible supply of water, because an abundant natural spring gushes up from within the temple area. There are moreover wonderful and indescribable cisterns underground, as they pointed out to me, at a distance of five furlongs all round the site of the temple, and each of them has countless pipes 90 so that the different streams converge together...

92 The ministration of the priests is in every way unsurpassed both for its physical endurance and for its orderly and silent service. For they all work spontaneously, though it entails much painful exertion, and each one has a special task allotted to him. The service is carried on without interruption - some provide the wood, others the oil, others the fine wheat flour, others the spices; others 93 again bring the pieces of flesh for the burnt offering, exhibiting a wonderful degree of strength. For they take up with both hands the limbs of a calf, each of them weighing more than two talents, and throw them with each hand in a wonderful way on to the high place of the altar and never miss placing them on the proper spot. In the same way the pieces of the sheep and also of the goats are wonderful both for their weight and their fatness. For those, whose business it is, always select the beasts which are without blemish and specially fat, and thus the sacrifice which I have described, 94 is carried out. There is a special place set apart for them to rest in, where those who are relieved from duty sit...Everything is carried out with 96 reverence and in a way worthy of the great God.

...100 But in order that we might gain complete information, we ascended to the summit of the neighbouring citadel and looked around us. It is situated in a very lofty spot, and is fortified with many towers, which have been built up to the very top of immense stones, with the object, as we were informed, of 101 guarding the temple precincts, so that if there were an attack, or an insurrection or an onslaught of the enemy, no one would be able to force an entrance within the walls that surround the temple. On the towers of the citadel engines of war were placed and different kinds of machines, and the position was 102 much higher than the circle of walls which I have mentioned. The towers were guarded too by most trusty men who had given the utmost proof of their loyalty to their country...The citadel was the special protection of the temple and its founder had fortified it so strongly that it might efficiently protect it.

105 The size of the city is of moderate dimensions. It is about forty furlongs in circumference, as far as one could conjecture. It has its towers arranged in the shape of a theatre, with thoroughfares leading between them. Now the cross roads of the lower towers are visible but those of the upper 106 towers are more frequented. For the ground ascends, since the city is built upon a mountain. There are steps too which lead up to the cross roads, and some people are always going up, and others down and they keep as far apart from each other as possible on the road because of those who 107 are bound by the rules of purity, lest they should touch anything which is unlawful... 

A great quantity of spices and precious stones and gold is brought into the country by the Arabs. For the country is well adapted not only for agriculture but also for commerce, and the 115 city is rich in the arts and lacks none of the merchandise which is brought across the sea. It possesses too suitable and commodious harbours at Askalon, Joppa, and Gaza, as well as at Ptolemais which was founded by the King and holds a central position compared with the other places named, being not far distant from any of them. The country produces everything in abundance, 116 since it is well watered in all directions and well protected from storms. The river Jordan, as it is called, which never runs dry, flows through the land. Originally (the country) contained not less than 60 million acres-though afterwards the neighbouring peoples made incursions against it...

Other mountain torrents, as they are called, flow down into the plain and encompass the parts about Gaza and the district of 118 Ashdod. The country is encircled by a natural fence and is very difficult to attack and cannot be assailed by large forces, owing to the narrow passes, with their overhanging precipices and deep ravines, and the rugged character of the mountainous regions which surround all the land. 119 We were told that from the neighbouring mountains of Arabia copper and iron were formerly obtained...

Jerusalem.

The Temple.

Gaza.

Arab merchants.

So, is denial an historical option?

 

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Littlewood's Little Knowledge

Sometimes, an opportunity presents itself to show how stupid and ignorant some people are.

Take Stuart Littlewood who has been engaged in campaigning against Christian Zionism.  And thinks Hamas is a resistance "demonised".  More here.

In this article, he writes:

My reading of history is that the Jews were expelled from Palestine by the Roman occupation in 70 AD, when the second temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. They were expelled again in 135 AD.

Nowadays return is regarded as an inalienable right. But it must be exercised as soon as the reason for expulsion (e.g. foreign occupation) ceases. In the Jews’ case an opportunity would have occurred in the 4th century AD as the Roman Empire collapsed. But they didn’t take it. They can hardly expect to change their mind 16 centuries later. Their right expired a very long time ago.

So, "soon" is a condition?  And an opportunity would have been the 4th century, he asserts.  "But they didn't take it", he claims.

Feeble-minded knowledge of history.

First of all, the Jews didn't need to exercise the right because they were there, living on their land, their homeland.

There are academic books but let's quote from the Wikipedia entry just to show that the information which contradicts Littlewood is readily available and he not only ignores it but also doesn't even try to devalue it:

Early in the 4th century, Roman Empire split and Constantinople became the capital of the East Roman Empire known as the Byzantine Empire...Jerusalem became a Christian city and Jews were still banned from living there. In 351–2, there was another Jewish revolt against a corrupt Roman governor.^[42] The Jewish population in Sepphoris rebelled under the leadership of Patricius against the rule of Constantius Gallus. The revolt was eventually subdued by Ursicinus. According to tradition, in 359 CE Hillel II created the Hebrew calendar based on the lunar year...The ancient synagogue at Nabratein was destroyed in the Galilee earthquake of 363.

During his short reign, Emperor Julian (361-363) abolished the special taxes paid by the Jews to the Roman government and also sought to ease the burden of mandatory Jewish financial support of the Jewish patriarchate.^[43] He also gave permission for the Jews to rebuild and populate Jerusalem.^[44] In one of his most remarkable endeavours, he initiated the restoration of the Jewish Temple which had been demolished in 70 CE. A contingent of thousands of Jews from Persian districts hoping to assist in the construction effort were killed en-route by Persian soldiers.^[45] The great earthquake together with Julian's death put an end to Jewish hopes of rebuilding the Third Temple.^[46] Had the attempt been successful, it is likely that the re-establishment of the Jewish state with its sacrifices, priests and Sanhedrin or Senate would have occurred.^[43]
Jews probably constituted the majority of the population of Palestine until the 4th-century, when Constantine converted to Christianity.^[47]
Jews lived in at least forty-three Jewish communities in Palestine: twelve towns on the coast, in the Negev, and east of the Jordan, and thirty-one villages in Galilee and in the Jordan valley. The persecuted Jews of Palestine revolted twice against their Christian rulers. In the 5th century, the Western Roman Empire collapsed leading to Christian migration into Palestine and development of a Christian majority. Jews numbered 10–15% of the population. Judaism was the only non-Christian religion tolerated, but there were bans on Jews building new places of worship, holding public office or owning slaves. There were also two Samaritan revolts in this period.^[48]

1. 42. ^ Anti-Semitism: Its History and Causes‏ by Bernard Lazare 1894 see http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/lazare-anti.html accessed January 2009
2. 43^ ^{a b} "Julian and the Jews 361–363 CE" (Fordham Universitiy, The Jesuit University of New York).
3. 44^ Andrew Cain; Noel Emmanuel Lenski (2009). The power of religion in late antiquity. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. pp. 245–246. ISBN 978-0-7546-6725-4. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
4. 45^ Abraham Malamat; Haim Hillel Ben-Sasson (1976). A History of the Jewish people. Harvard University Press. p. 353. ISBN 978-0-674-39731-6. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
5. 46^ Günter Stemberger (2000). Jews and Christians in the Holy Land: Palestine in the fourth century. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 215. ISBN 978-0-567-08699-0. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
6. 47^ Edward Kessler (31 March 2010). An Introduction to Jewish-Christian Relations. Cambridge University Press. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-521-70562-2. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
7. 48^ M. Avi-Yonah, The Jews under Roman and Byzantine Rule, Jerusalem 1984 chapters XI–XII

Secondly, we can't we change our minds (we didn;t, but still)?

If you read that, paying attention to the highlighted sections, you must come to the conclusion that Littlewood has little grasp of his subject.

He also wrote there this:

Zionists claim Jerusalem is theirs by heavenly decree. But this holiest of cities was already 2,000 years old when King David captured it. Historians say that Jerusalem, in its “City of David” form, lasted only 73 years. In 928 BC the kingdom divided into Israel and Judah, and in 597 BC the Babylonians conquered the city and destroyed Solomon’s temple. The Jews recaptured it in 164 BC but finally lost it to the Roman Empire in 63 BC. Before the present-day illegal occupation the Jews controlled Jerusalem for some 500 years, whereas it was subsequently ruled by Muslims for 1,277 years.

a) which "historians"?
b) how did the Muslims come to rule it if not by an illegal occupation?

His whole theory is punctured by such inanities.

Does he get paid for this propaganda effort?

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Separating Fact From Fiction

The view on Israel's historical identity:

According to the biblical image of Israel’s history, the time before the Israelite state can be divided into two periods: the conquest and division of the land (Joshua) and Israel’s self-preservation against various enemies in the now-occupied land (Judges). The description of both eras is, to be sure, largely fictitious, since the traditions recorded in these books emerged only during the period of the monarchy. However, the basic kernel of the Song of Deborah (Judges 5) is an authentic text from this period, and in it we discover that, in the eleventh century, ten tribes settled in the region and resisted Canaanite power claims. According to archaeological findings, although some Canaanite cities continued to exist in the eleventh century, the land was largely populated by new people in small nearby towns in which the material culture of the Canaanites was taken over. By carefully separating fact from fiction, Fritz offers an insightful and enlightening depiction of this seminal period of Israel’s history.

The Emergence of Israel in the Twelfth and Eleventh Centuries B.C.E. by Volkmar Fritz

Of course, that "ficticious" refers to the textual authenticity, not to the actual events.

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Historical Overview of Eretz Yisrael

From here - Kark, Ruth and Glass, Joseph. B. “The Jews in Eretz-Israel/Palestine, From Traditional Peripherality to Modern Centrality.”

...We set several objectives in writing this paper:
• To present a longitudinal narrative overview of the Jews of Eretz-Israel/Palestine (the Yishuv) during the late Ottoman and the Mandate periods.
• To consider the Jews of Palestine within the context of external political systems and the Jewish diaspora on one hand, and the local host society on the other.
• To provide a generalized dynamic typology of the demographic, political, social, cultural, spatial, and economic components over time.
• To refine the existing categorization of “old” and “New” Yishuv.
• To further examine the contribution of Sephardi and Oriental versus Ashkenazi Jews to the growth and development of the Yishuv, which in our opinion has been underestimated.

...Under Ottoman rule (1517-1917) there was no political entity actually known as Palestine but a term preserved by the Christian world referring to the “Holy Land” or “Judea”. The name taken from the Hebrew word Pleshet was used by Emperor Hadrian in an attempt to eradicate any trace of Judaism in the land. By the 425, the Byzantine heirs to the eastern part of the Roman Empire delineated three provinces: Palaestina Prima, which included the coastal towns, the Judean Hills and the Jewish section of the Jordan Rift; Palaestina Secunda, which comprised the Jezreel Valley, the Galilee, and the Golan; and Palaestina Tertia, which consisted of the Negev, Ammon, Moab and Edom. After the Arab conquest in 638, Palaestina Prima was named Jund Filistin. Under the Mamluke (1267-1517) and Ottoman rule, the use of the term Filistin was not resumed. Instead, Ottoman jurisdiction divided the territory between the provinces (vilayets) of Sidon (later Beirut) and Damascus. The latter controlled the northern sections of the area east of the Jordan River. Under the 1864 Law of Vilayets the districts (sanjaks) of Jerusalem, Nablus, and Gaza became a separate administrative unit, called the mutasariflik of Jerusalem. In 1873 its rule was transferred directly to Istanbul. In 1906 an administrative boundary was drawn between Sinai and the Ottoman Empire along the Rafah-Taba line. In 1908 the Negev was placed under the Governor of the Damascus province...

...The area of Mandatory Western Palestine was 27,009 square kilometers (10,429 square miles) including 704 square kilometers (272 square miles) of inland water. The events of the 1948 war between the Jews and the Arabs divided Palestine with the newly founded State of Israel occupying 20,700 square kilometers (7,993 square miles). The Hashimite Kingdom of Jordan annexed the West Bank including East Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Egypt occupied the Gaza Strip.

...Ottoman rule could be divided into four political sub-periods: 1) the period of Pashas - strong local rulers (1799-1831), i.e. a continuation of the eighteen century and the forms of government common then; 2) the conquest of Syria and Palestine by Egyptian ruler Muhammed Ali via his son, Ibrahim Pasha (1831-1840); in many respects this was a turning point, for despite the brevity of this period, the changes in government and other spheres were many; 3) the period of reforms (1841-1876), when Ottomans returned to power and tried to institute new patterns of government; 4) the end of the Ottoman period (1877-1917). The first and larger half of this period was marked by centralized rule of Sultan Abdul Hamid II; then came the rise of the Young Turks, who staged a revolution in 1908 and remained in power until the British occupation of Palestine in 1917-1918. The awakening of Palestinian nationalist sentiments began during the years preceding the war.

...In 1800, the population stood at an estimated of 250,000-300,000 (including about 5,500 Jews). Researcher Ben-Arieh basing his estimate on Western sources placed the total population at approximately 350,000 in 700 settlements in the early 1870s including 18,000 Jews (27,000 in 1880). To this we have to add about 25,000 Bedouins. According to Scholch’s estimate Palestine had some 470,000 inhabitants in 1882 (24,000 Jews). On the eve of World War I, the population stood according to Schmelz’s new demographic study around 800,000 (and not 689,000) of which 85,000 were Jews (60,000 according to McCarthy).

...Regarding the spatial distribution of the population of Palestine in 1800, it was predominately rural, about one-sixth of the population (54,000) resided in the twelve large towns. (Jerusalem 9,000, Acre 8,000, Gaza 8,000, Nablus 7,500, Safed 5,500). This urban population increased to some 120,000 at the end of the 1870s (Jerusalem 30,000, Gaza 19,000, Nablus 12,500, Hebron and Jaffa 10,000). By 1922 the population of these towns had reached 228,600 or approximately one third of the population. There was also a significant nomadic population...

And this, too:

...in Palestine Arab nationalism is inextricably interwovern with antagonism to the Jews. Yet by so perverse a rationale was a movement of enmity dignified and the legend of Palestinian nationalism initiated. For example, in 1848 about four thousand armed peasants and "numerous Bedouin allies acted as gangs or "two great chiefs," and lawlessness spread. Hebron's local governor was overthrown by an imppressive thief whose brutal tactics earned him the admiration of Jerusalem Is Pasha and the award of the "robe of honour." In Hebron, one of the holy Jewish cities, Jews were still "helpless" and "plundered" and the new ruler managed to confiscate booty of those trying to flee by sending agents to rob travellers on the road."

In the following few decades (1848-1878) scores of incidents involving anti-Jewish violence, persecution, and extortions filled page after page of documented reports from the British Consulate in Jerusalem. A chronology would be over-whelming, but perhaps a few extracts from those complaints will show the pattern of terror that continued right into the period of the major Jewish immigration beginning about 1878.

May, 1848. I have the honor to report that after the disturbance in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre Easter Eve, in beating the Jew who had imprudently entered there -- The Prussian Acting Consul here, informed me that he had been told by the Pasha, and also by the Greek Patriarch, that a Firman exists, which allows Christians to beat Jews if found within that Church, or even if passing along the street in front of it -- and which declares that in case of a Jew being killed under such an infliction, the price of blood should be rated at only ten paras -- value about three farthings.

March, 1849: Reporting the complaint of a Jew ... of being assaulted and stabbed by a soldier, while his house was searched and his females beaten ....

September, 1850. Last month I visited Hebron to do what I could for the protection of the Jews.... Abderahhman [a "brigand chief"] vexes them with
irregular extortions, but in return he keeps them in security from other oppressors, however He has had himself enrolled on the books of the Jewish
Treasury, as a pensioner for 100 piastres a month, and always sends for his pension two days before the day of due.

During my last visit there I had a Moslem summarily bastinadoed in the open street, for pulling a Jew's beard -- the Mutesellim in his eagerness to satisfy me, inflicted the punishment with his own hands, to my great astonishment.  Abderrahhman was absent at Dura but one of his sons was present at the scene.  This. forms a strange contrast to the fact of the Austrian Jewish Agent being frequently beaten in the streets there...

July, 1851: It is my duty to report to Your Excellency that the Jews in Hebron have been greatly alarmed by threats of the Moslems there at the
commencement of Ramadan -- For several days my Cancelliere staid there with two Kawasses and obtained from the Governor Abderrahhman the punishment of some offenders: but others were released from prison on the self-same night of their condemnation.   The Cancelliere reports that the old feuds between the partisans of Abderrahhman and his brothers still exist -- that the partisans of the latter steal cattle by force of arms during the night from Hebron itself, and that they did so close to his tent -- also that in one day the vines were cut down from twenty feddans of vineyard -- but that such proceedings are sure to cease instantly on every approach of Abderrahhman himself, which however is not frequent.   The Jews having complained that a freed slave named Saad Allah was more obnoxious to them than any other person in Hebron, -- and that Abderrahhman had released him almost immediately after sentencing him to imprisonment....

... the enormous avarice of Abderrahhman is peculiarly oppressive to them."

December, 1851: ... the murder of a Jew named Gershon ben Abraham, under English Protection, in Jerusalem...the victim was extricated from the well ... he was found to be stabbed in the throat, heart and ribs, besides injured in a horrible manner for the mere purpose of torture...A Moslem (he whose house I had examined in the morning) named Mohammed Damiatti, was immediately arrested on suspicion of having perpetrated the murder.... The distress of the bereaved family is very great -- it is not too much to expect that Moslems will prefer claims and swear falsely in matters of debt and credit, as the poor man carried his ledger about with him, and this has not been found -- and it is remarkable that his father was some years ago murdered in a Moslem house in Saloniki, and his only brother killed in Jerusalem two years ago by a fall house in Saloniki, and his only brother killed in Jerusalem two years ago by a fall from a scaffold.

December, 1851: the Samaritans of Nablus ... consist of about thirty-five taxable men, with a synagogue and sacred books ....  They have probably for many generations, and especially within the last century, been exposed to cruel persecutions from the dominant Moslems-and Nablus is always noted as an especially fanatic town....  They generally contrive to have the cleverest man belonging to them employed as government Secretary for the district, by which means they have warded off much of fiscal oppression, just as Jews do in other countries, and Copts in Egypt -- but even this has not been able to protect them from violence, murder and spoliation in their houses or streets in past times....   I am informed by a Christian in Nablus that there is too much reason to fear evil consequences from the loss of their Secretary, as the Moslems are reviling them in the streets with menaces for the future.

May, 1852. I proceeded to Hebron and lodged there in a Jewish house. The Jews were all so alarmed ... that they would tell me nothing of news: they protested that Abderrahhman had done no harm to any one, no houses had been rifled &c. and one of the leading Rabbis implored me not to inform Abderrahhman if he should visit me, that I had come to protect the Jews, as he would inevitably punish them the more for it after my departure...As for the accusations preferred by Abderrahhman against the Effendis here - I cannot tell how true they are - but I know that these personages are constantly taking bribes in other cases, the sums however which are laid against each seem incredibly large. I should rather imagine that much of the bribery money was spent in Damascus and Beyroot.

November, 1852. - Having learned that the peasantry levy of 4000 men from the Nablus district had committed excesses in the houses of British protected Jews in Tiberias I repaired thither, to induce the commander to keep better order...Remonstrance was made against petty thefts "and of their having brought their horses and asses during the rain into the Jewish Synagogues."

July, 1853. . . . The Christians and Jews of Jerusalem were in a state of absolute terror, and especially on the preceeding day had been announcing to each other house to house that the Moslems were to massacre them after the prayers at noon. Persons shut themselves up in their houses, and shops were closed, and some persons are still ill in bed from the effect of that day's fear.

October, 1853. The Jews in their Quarter of the city have had to suffer many insults of late from town's people of which I only hear some time after their occurence, as the subjects of the violence are afraid to acquaint me with the circumstances, lest they should draw upon themselves greater injuries by way of revenge after the Consul has obtained redress.

December, 1853: [Regarding] the Algerine Jews of Caiffa [Haifa] ... I beg to represent to Your Lordship that the blessing of British Protection is a boon of inestimable valul, -- to these people. It would be a blessing to be exempted from Turkish oppression at any time, and peculiarly so at the present period, when fanaticism is liable at any minute to break out into violence and when the local governors are endevouring to extort money by every possible means. And these people fear that if left to Turkish rule they will be required to pay arrears of taxes for all the past years of their residence in this country....

July, 1858: I have the honour to report that in consequence of a series of disgusting insults offered to Jews and Jewesses in Hebron, I obtained such Orders as I could from the Pasha's Agent in this city, during His Excellency's absence -- which I sent by my Dragoman Rosenthal and a Kawass.... The streets of the town were paraded by fanatic Durweeshes -- and during my stay there a Jewish house was forcibly entered by night, iron bars of the window broken, and heavy stones thrown from invisible hands at every person approaching the place to afford help.   One of the Members of the Council affirmed that they were not obliged to obey Orders f rom the Pasha's Deputy -- and another declared his right derived from time immemorial in hisfamily, to enterJewish houses, and take toll or contributions at any time without giving account.   When others present in the Council exclaimed against this he said -- "Well then I will forbear from taking it myself, but things will happen which will compel the Jews to come and kiss my feet to induce me to take their money."

November, 1858: . . . although the thief had previously confessed to the robbery in presence of Jews, the Kadi would not proceed without the testimony of two Moslems -- when the Jewish witnesses were offered, he refused to accept their testimony -- and the offensive term adopted towards Jews in former times (more offensive than Giaour for Christians) was used by the Kadi's servants.    I have no doubt of being able to set all this to rights (except perhaps the matter of Jewish testimony in that Court) but such circumstances exhibit the working of the present Turkish government in Jerusalem.

May, 1863: . .. Galilee, comprising the modern towns of Nazareth, Safed and Tiberias, in which two latter places there are living upwards of 600 Jews in the enjoyment of British protection. The existence of so many protected subjects in these retired spots, residing as they do in the midst of a Moslem population, naturally gives rise to numerous questions with the local Governors who are prone to oppress them unless their interests are constantly cared for. My predecessor was required to make an Annual tour to those towns, in order that his appearance from time to time amongst our protected subjects there might keep within proper bounds the ill -concealed aversion which their presence never fails to excite amongst their Moslem neighbors...

March, 1864: . . . the circumstances attending the death of the British subject
Peter Meshullam, and to try Abdalla Abu Kakoora, the individual charged with his murder.... they declare, as the result of their enquiry, that P. Meshullam died in consequence of the fall from his mare, and, consequently that Abdalla is innocent of charges preferred against him.   I confess I was hardly prepared for such a finding and verdict.... I addressed to His Excellency a reply conveying my entire dissent from the decision of the
Commission ...

June, 1864: . .. Her Majesty's Gobernment have little doubt that Mr. MashulIan's death was caused by violence and not by a fall from his horse...

^

Do You Know What a Xenodochium Is?

I didn't.

But it is

a room (or separate guest-house) in a monastery religious building such as a synagogue or monastery for the temporary accommodation of guests or pilgrims

Now, from where did that come from?

From a book review that highlights the Jewish history of the city of Jerusalem during the

chronological spectrum [which] embraces nearly a millennium (c. 300 BCE to c. 640 CE), and the editors ought to be commended for attempting to break away from the traditional chronologies that have dominated the field of Jewish studies. Thus, instead of "Second Temple" and the "Mishnah" and "Talmud" eras (c. 450 BCE to 70 CE; c. 70 to c. 200 CE; and c. 200 to 400/600 CE, respectively), the editors have adopted the conventional classical boundaries of the "Hellenistic" period (which they do, however, terminate with the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE); the "Roman Period" (from 70 to Constantine), and "Late Antiquity" (from Constantine to the Arab Conquest).

And as for that inscription where that word, xenodochium appears:

Another inscription (no. 9), also in Greek, is a perennially problematic one, erected by Theodotos, and found south of the Temple Mount. It seems rather handsome by comparison with the scribbling nature of most of the Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic documented in this volume. The inscription records both the genealogy of Theodotos, son and grandson of archisynagogues, as well as the contribution of the family to the building of a synagogue complex which included even a xenodochium. If the synagogue operated "in the shadow of the Temple" (p. 55), then one wonders what, precisely, its functions were, in addition to offering hospitality to "those who are in need of it from abroad". That the synagogue itself is designated as a place "for the reading of the law (nomos) and the teaching of the commandments" seems to indicate that it served as a space of learning to read the Torah rather than of praying. Nor is it clear whether such synagogues thrived in competition or in collaboration with the Temple. Perhaps, as the editors propose in the wake of many others, the family of Theodotos had been transplants from Italy and were accordingly attuned to the needs of fellow immigrants and fellow pilgrims.

All of gthis, of course, is to counter Arab propaganda claims of (a) no Temple in Jerusalem; (b) no thriving Jewish national life in Eretz-Yisrael; and (c) the lack of Arabs in the area until they copnquered and occupied a country that wasn't there's.

^

When Ancient Jewish History Is Relevant

When is ancient Jewish history relevant to the NYTimes?

When is fits its "anything-but-Jewish-nationalism" framework.

Like here, in a review of an academic presentation on “Irving Janis’ Groupthink and the Sanhedrin of Ancient Israel” by Eliezer Schnall, a psychologist at Yeshiva University, and his student, Michael Greenberg. Presented at the American Psychological Association’s Annual Convention in Washington on Aug. 7.

Entitled Thinking Cap: Preventing Groupthink, the practices of the Sanhedrin, the judicial and legislative body of ancient Israel, are highlighted and compared to Groupthink.

For example:

To prevent leaders from favoring their own ideas and discouraging dissent leadership in the Sanhedrin was shared, ensuring that different viewpoints were heard. Junior members always spoke before senior ones to prevent them from tailoring their opinions to suit their superiors...To ensure that the group did not become too insular, members were required to consult outside experts.

Or

...the Sanhedrin required that in certain instances, a final verdict be postponed a day after agreement was reached. In capital cases, the Sandehrin went so far as to acquit a defendant if there was a unanimous guilty verdict from its 70 members. The absence of dissension was perceived as evidence that group conformity was operating.

But one cannot detach the paradigm of the Sanhedrin totally from its specific Jewish national role.

^

Jewish History on PBS

If you go here, you'll discover an hour-long NOVA program divided into six chapters. Choose any chapter below and select QuickTime, RealVideo, or Windows Media Player to begin viewing. If you experience difficulty viewing, it may be due to high demand. We regret this and suggest you try back at another time.

Chapter 1
Journey to the Cave of Letters
An expedition of archeologists and historians sets off to explore a legendary cave in the Judean Desert.
running time 9:30

Chapter 2
Lives of the Refugees
A cache of papyrus documents and other artifacts offers a portrait of the Jews who sought refuge in the cave 2,000 years ago.
running time 9:51

Chapter 3
Defying the Romans
When ancient Jews rebel against the Roman Empire, Emperor Hadrian's response is brutal.
running time 8:35

Chapter 4
Search for the First Occupation
Using remote sensing equipment, team members peer through 15 feet of rubble seeking evidence that the cave harbored not one but two waves of refugees.
running time 6:32

Chapter 5
Secrets of the Copper Scroll
A cryptic first-century text may indicate that the Cave of Letters harbors relics from the great temple of Jerusalem.
running time 6:15

Chapter 6
Controversial Evidence
Scholars debate whether artifacts found in the cave are the sacred objects many religious Jews hope to find.
running time 8:24

^

The Problem With Funny Jews

Jews who are funny, who have the flare of the comedian in them, the smart, clever and flippant variety, are a problem. For them, the case usually is, the most funniest topics and situations they can make fun of are....Jewish ones.

Now, I am not against making fun of one's self, or family or the whole gantzeh tribe. But when Howard Jacobson, author of “The Finkler Question” which won this year’s Man Booker Prize, takes on Hanukkah, with expected results, it is all so disappointing.

In his Hanukkah, Rekindled, written in Dublin of all places, he makes this point:-

...But how many Jews truly feel this narrative as their own?...Hanukkah — at least the way it’s told — struggles to find a path to Jewish hearts...it doesn’t quite feel authentic.

Isn’t there something a touch suspicious, for example, about our defeating the Syrian-Greek army? It lacks equivocation...Exodus played to our strengths. Similarly, Esther — who had married out of the faith, remember — turning the tables on Haman. In our best stories, we lose a little to gain a little. We use our heads. Trouncing the Syrian-Greeks sounds worryingly like wish fulfillment...

Of course, being a galut Jew, it doesn't occur to him that it is not wish fulfillment but motivation to fulfill our national responsibilities and obligations. Heaven forbid that Jacobson should think of the IDF in this context, not to mention (he is British, you know) the Irgun, Lechi or Palmah.

A Jew a soldier? A hero? A brave, self-sacrificing individual? And tens of thousands of them now? Jacobson can't be proud of that so he puts down the who thing with a smirk.

And he adds,

...The cruel truth is that Hanukkah is a seasonal festival of light in search of a pretext and as such is doomed to be forever the poor relation of Christmas. No comparable grandeur in the singing, no comparable grandeur in the giving, no comparable grandeur in the commemoration (no matter how solemn and significant the events we are remembering...those Hasmoneans — who sound too hot for this time of the year — don’t have a chance of engaging our imaginations.

So what’s to be done? Either Hanukkah should merge with Christmas — a suggestion against which the arguments are more legion even than the Syrian-Greek army — or it should be spiced up with the sort of bitter irony at which the Jewish people excel.

Irony?

Mr. Jacobson, that even isn't sardonic wit.

It's a manifesto of the League of Trembling Israelites who are embarrassed by their own kith and kin and our heritage and tradition.

^

Timeline of The Continuum of Jewish Presence in the Land of Israel

Opponents of Zionism and the enterprise of repopulating the areas of Judea, Samaria and Gaza argue that (a) Biblical times have no relevance; (b) Jews simply can't just pop up in the area and claim it; (c) this land was always Arab; (d) Jews aren't indigenous to the country.

I suggest you review this timeline which is not totally comprehensive and all-inclusive but does present an overview of almost 1800 of Jewish presence in the territories of its national homeland.

Here:



Comments invited.

^

A Borderline Decision

Words of Wisdom

...Dr. Yerushalmi, [Leon Wieseltier] said, harbored “a deep ambivalence and a certain degree of pessimism about the ability of scholarship to nurture a living culture.”

Mr. Bloom, in his review, wrote that Dr. Yerushalmi worried that in the modern age “Scripture has been replaced by history as the validating arbiter of Jewish ideologies,” and that the replacement “has yielded chaos.”

From the Obituary of Dr. Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi

"Settlers" in 363 CE

Here are the words of Julian the Apostate according to the 'Ecclesiastical History' written in Greek by Salamanius Hermias Sozomenus about 443-450:

I have admonished my brother Iulus [Hillel II, d. 365], your most venerable patriarch, that the levy which is said to exist among you [the taxes paid by world Jewry for support of the Palestine patriarchate] should be prohibited, and that no one is any longer to have the power to oppress the masses of your people by such exactions; so that everywhere, during my reign, you may have security of mind, and in the enjoyment of peace may offer more fervid prayers for my reign to the Most High God, the Creator, who has deigned to crown me with his own immaculate right hand. For it is natural that men who are distracted by any anxiety should be hampered in spirit, and should not have so much confidence in raising their hands to pray; but that those who are in all respects free from care should rejoice with their whole hearts and offer their suppliant prayers on behalf of my imperial office to Mighty God, even to Him who is able to direct my reign to the noblest ends, according to my purpose.

This you ought to do, in order that, when I have successfully concluded the war with Persia, I may rebuild by my own efforts the sacred city of Jerusalem [closed to the Jews since Hadrian, 135 CE], which for so many years you have longed to see inhabited, and may bring settlers there, and, together with you, may glorify the Most High God therein.

Goodness, gracious.

Jewish "settlers" even then.

Jewish Graves Over the Past Four Centuries in Jerusalem

'Helkat Mehokek' is a Hebrew book by Asher Leib Brisk published in 1913. It includes tombstones inscriptions from part of the Mount of Olives cemetery in Jerusalem.

The Israel Genealogical Society (IGS) is proud to announce that Helkat Mehokek has been completely indexed and computerized. The result is a bi-lingual (Hebrew-English) searchable database of 8,092 tombstones, mostly covering the period of 1740-1906, while the earliest inscription dates from 1646.

There are 1,500 graves of Sephardim and 6592 of Ashkenazim.

The inscriptions listed by Brisk cover graves from the top part of the Mount of Olives Cemetery, a part that has totally been destroyed under Jordanian rule (1948-1967) to make room for the building of a hotel and a road. The destruction of the tombstones thereby makes this book the only source for some of this information. Some of the information can be found in records of the various Hevra Kadishas in Jerusalem.

The database is located on IGS English website.