Judea, Samaria and...Tahpanhes, Egypt

In a recent academic archaeological article you can read of Judean Jews who are soldiers arriving in Egypt. The article is "Judeans and Samarians at Tahpanhes: Speculating on the Identity of the King in Papyrus Amherst 63" by Marshall A. Cunningham in Advances in Ancient, Biblical, and Near Eastern Research  4, no. 1 (Spring, 2024).

Cunningham highlights similarities between the story in the Papyrus record and the story of  the prophet Jeremiah’s forced flight to Egypt in Jeremiah 40–44.  Finally, he suggests that the two accounts are similar enough to use the Jeremianic version.

He thereby provides another ex-Biblical source that could possibly confirm the truth of Biblical history. He identifies the unnamed king as Apries, the fourth pharaoh of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, and the royal outpost of  Tahpanhes as the site where he receives the Judean and  Samarian caravan.

Excerpts:

Papyrus Amherst 63, a scroll featuring a collection of Aramaic compo-sitions written in Demotic script, features a short narrative concerning the arrival of a group of Judean and Samarian refugees to an unnamed royal outpost. At this outpost, they are received by an  unnamed king who welcomes them into his kingdom with an offer to sustain them...The narrative of the Judean and Samarian caravan occurs in col. xvii of P. Amh. 632...the text opens with narration in the first person...When asked their place of origin, a spokesman for the caravan answers:ʾ[n(h)] ⸢mn⸣-[y]hwd ’t(h) [I] come from [Y]ehud. ’ḥy mn-šmry⸢n⸣ m{m}y⸢t⸣(y) My brother is brought from Samaria. pkʿt ʾdm ⸢m⸣sq ’ḥty myrwšl{l}m And now a man is bringing my sister up from Jerusalem.

...In a recent article on when the Judean garrison at Yeb was established, Kahn (2022, 154)  has  connected this scene with the description of the Elamite jackal causing chaos in Rash’s temples in the preceding column, suggesting Rash as the caravan’s point of origin...

...While the details surrounding the scene are vague, there is strong evidence to suggest that the Judean and Samarian caravan is to be understood as a group of refugees: displaced soldiers and their families fleeing war and seeking shelter. First of all, the narrator identifies the band of Samarians as a gys, [גיס] a “troop” (l. 1).

... a comparison with a similar account of migration to Egypt may allow us to fill in some of  the omitted details. Jeremiah 40–44 narrates the prophet Jeremiah’s forced flight from Judah in the aftermath of a political assassination of the Babylonian-appointed governor, Gedaliah, and his supporters. While the traveling party in that narrative is primarily composed of Judeans fleeing  Babylonian reprisal, it does include a group of Samarians that had been taken captive by the rebel Ishmael outside Mizpah. Notably, the group includes men of fighting age alongside their families (41:16; 44). Finally, according to Jeremiah 43:7–9, the Judeans and Samarians in  Jeremiah’s  caravan made their first stop at the Egyptian city of  Tahpanhes (תחפנחס). Once there, the prophet received an oracle that began by identifying the city as the site of a royal palace  (בית פרעה) before performing a sign-act and announcing Pharaoh’s (and the caravan’s) impending devastation at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian army (43:8–12)...

Impressive.

And another study there, posits that the Damascus Document, in existence before its earliest copy 4Q266 was produced in the first half of the first century BCE, employs a rhetorical use of  the terms “Israel,” “Ephraim,” and “Judah”.

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Samaria?

Yes, "Samaria":

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Samaria Trumps "Palestine"

According to the book reviewed here, Samerina (Samaria) was one of the two Assyrian-conquered districts of the subjugated, since 740 BCE, former Monarchy of Israel.

A Jewish region.

That's more ancient than "Palestine".

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P.S.

Assyrian cuneiform states that 27,290 captives were taken from Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, by the hand of Sargon II.Sargon records his first campaign on the walls of the royal palace at Dur-Sharrukin (Khorsabad):
In my first year of reign *** the people of Samaria *** to the number of 27,290 ... I carried away.
Fifty chariots for my royal equipment I selected. The city I rebuilt. I made it greater than it was before.

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World War I Photographs ands Stories of Samaria

Photographs from the Australian Calvary Campaign * in Samaria in 1918:

A wadi in Samaria

Just outside of Shchem

Jenin

and the Mas'udiyeh Railway station, the site of the first attempt in Samaria to establish Elon Moreh (read Chapter 2 here).

On the Battle of Turmos Aya, nearby Shiloh.  Here's from a research effort:

...the 12th March 1918, when the 1/4th Battalion [of the Northamptonshire Regiment] was in a major action at El Mezeirah Ridge, named 'Operation Wadi Deir Ballut'; part of the 'Actions of Mount Tell Asur (to the Turks 'The Battle of Turmus Aya). Here again the Turks were repulsed.

And a second description:

During the next night the 53rd Division made a substantial advance, and by 9 o'clock on the morning of March 11 had crossed the wadi Kola and had established themselves 3000 yards north of it. The 231st Brigade still advancing on the eastern side of the Nablus road had to face desperately bad country in the darkness of the night, and their trials were increased by heavy rain and sticky ground. Nevertheless they managed to get to the tomb of Sheikh Salim, not far from the 53rd Division's advanced post, by 11 o'clock. It was not possible for the 230th Brigade to move, and only
after extraordinary exertions were they able to send
rations to the men in the line. The 231st Brigade could not drive its attack right home to its objective because the position of the 53rd Division left the right flank open, but about midday the brigade gained touch with the 230th Brigade and began an advance on Turmus Aya, a little village almost
abreast of Sinjil. On the flat surrounding Turmus Aya there was no cover and our line had to be withdrawn slightly. When the 230th Brigade got on the move it made a rapid advance, and, though under continuous shell fire, won the ridge overlooking Sinjil from the west, compelling the Turks to abandon that place. The 10th and 74tli Divisions were ordered to consolidate the positions gained, the 53rd Division pushing forward again during the night and reaching
all their objectives by the morning of the 12th with the exception of Amurieh. We held these positions for months afterwards and there never was a fear that the enemy could break through them.

Landscape of Ein-Sinyeh and Yabroud:-

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*

The Middle East campaign began in 1916 with Australian troops participating in the defence of the Suez Canal and the allied reconquest of the Sinai peninsula. In the following year Australian and other allied troops advanced into Palestine and captured Gaza and Jerusalem; by 1918 they had occupied Lebanon and Syria. On 30 October 1918 Turkey sued for peace.

Here, p. 13, is one soldier's list of battles in the area:

8 December 1917 - Battle of Jerusalem
9 December 1917 - Beit Iksa
15 December 1917 - Beit Hanina
21 December 1917 - Wadi Moya
27 December 1917 - Beit Izza
29 December 1917 - Ram Allah capured (now West Bank of Israel)
3 January 1918 - Beit Izza
5 January 1918 - Beit Likia
9 January 1918 - Beit Sira
18 February 1918 - Kurbeha Ibn Harith
4 March 1918 - Balua Lake (near Ram Allah)
9-12 March 1918 - Advanced towards Nablus (Yebrud and Burj Badawile occupied)
13-26 March 1918 - Turmus Aya outpost line
7 April 1918 - Burj Badawile (leaving Palestine)
8 April 1918 - Near Beitunia (Leaving Palastine)
9 April 1918 - Beit Sira (marching to leave Palestine)
10 April 1918 - Kubub
11 April 1918 - Sura Fend near Ludd

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Osnat Vishinsky's Day in Samaria

A major sea-change in elitist public opinion has been the purpose of the tours, first launched by the Samaria Regional Council, and then adopted by the Yesha Council, that enable politicians, op-ed columnists, cultural icons and other opinion makers to see things on the ground in that portion of the Land of Israel described as "across the Green Line".

Recently, Osnat Shir-Vishinsky wrote a letter.

Vishinsky is an actress,

a bereaved mother of a soldier, Lior, killed in the Gaza Strip in March 2004 which was a high-profile incident at the time in that her husband was quite outspoken in his criticism of the government's policies.

She had spoken of him so:

“When he said he was going to serve in the front lines… we were terrified. But he was so motivated, so determined, I could not tell him, ‘Don’t go there….’ He loved Israel. On May 12, 2004… a personnel carrier… a direct hit… cut off the life of my 20-year-old Lyor and four of his comrades…. He sacrificed his life so Jewish people can live in peace.…

and sang a song about him. She also hosted an anti-Second Lebanon War protest against Ehud Olmert's government in 2007 noting that to her mind it is "the people of Israel that are asking for a better society and political integrity".

Returning from her trip recently to the area, she penned "One Day in Samaria".

I've translated selections:

On a very cold day, I was hosted by good people, fully imbued with the love of the Land of Israel...we were astonished at the views, virgin and ancient. We met the local people and had breakfast at Givot Olam, tasted the wines of Tura Winery, we bought Samarian tehina at Mount Gerizim and had a good time at Havat Gilad.

In Samaria I bonded with the long-ago past of the Jewish people and the Book of Books. The hold of the people at these places, religious and secular, the modest way of life and the feeling that time has stopped in some places we visited attests that modest living and pioneering still exist in such a cynical world which sanctifies achievements, ratings and celebrity-status. My impressions are that the residents of Samaria are people with values, aspiring to live a different life despite all the difficulties. My hope is that these good people will know how to expell from among them the "bad weeds" and that these others will not impede the vision of maintaining a presence here.

Looking down at Shchem, so close to the Arabs of Palestine, fills me with optimism that perhaps some day we can live in good neighborliness, multual respect without the feelings of pain, hatred or fear. I am sure I will come back (when it is warmer) and not only to be able to reach the Three Seas Outlook point. My thanks to Gershon Mesika, Yossi Dayan and Boaz HaEtzni for this 'other' day.

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Samaria Residents in the IDF

IMRA reports (Source: Makor Rishon 6 January 2011):-

The following is a comparison of data for the IDF draft of December 2011 for
Samaria (“settlers”) to the national average:

Percentage of males drafted into IDF:
Samaria 81.2% National 74.8%

Of those males drafted in December 2011, percentage drafted into combat roles:
Samaria 67.1% National 39.5%

Percentage of males serving in IDF who become officers:
Samaria 15.9% National 8.3%

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The Higher Ground: Samaria

From the TNL crew:




You'll see my friends David HaIvri, Tamar Asraf, the Tel of Shiloh, our vineyards, Ariel University Center and more.


Source

Pictures (and less than 1000 words)

On September 24th, the Women in Green group drove out to Samaria, Shomron, the heartland of Israel, which is too often portrayed as the home of Jewish extremists threatening local Arabs.

In fact, of course, it is miles of green, rolling hills with fabulous, productive Jewish communities, serving as the real defence of the lowlands of Israel. From these hills one can see Tel Aviv, Hadera, Netanya, etc. spread out below, which are in fact 'only a Katyusha rocket away', if the Arabs got their long-held dream of driving the Jews from their homes.

Here are two pictures Gemma Blech photographed.




To see more, go here.