Children and Religion in the Archaeological Record of Ancient Israel

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristine Garroway
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Family Household ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
Child Centered ◽  
Domestic Cult

AbstractThe current scholarly milieu has placed great interest in the topics of children and family household religion of ancient Israel; however, scholarship exploring the intersection of the two has not yet been undertaken. This article draws attention to children as vital participants in that domestic cult. Using theories of socialization and enculturation, the article explores how ancient Israelite children interact with the religion that surrounded them daily. This child-centered approach examines textual, archaeological, and ethnographical data and concludes that the process of enculturating ancient Israelite children with household religion produced children who were both passive and active participants in the domestic cult. In doing so, the article informs our knowledge of family household religion, while at the same time expanding our understanding of a child’s role within the Israelite household.

THE AFRICAN WIFE OF SOLOMON (1 KINGS 3:1; 9:16; 7:8; 11:1)

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Tuesday Adamo
Keyword(s):  
African Woman ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Not Given ◽  
Similar Treatment ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
1 Kings

Both the Deuteronomist and the Chronicler repeatedly testify that Solomon married an African woman who was the daughter of Pharaoh. The fact that Pharaoh‟s daughter was singled out in this manner is significant as similar treatment was not given to his many other wives and concubines. In the African polygamous system, the first wife exercises enormous power over the husband and other wives. In keeping with the tradition, as chief wife Pharaoh‟s daughter would have had immense influence over Solomon. This pervasive influence can be seen in the economic, political, and administrative policies of the day, as well as in the prohibition on Solomon marrying an Israelite woman. Although Solomon‟s African wife is nameless in the biblical record, and both Solomon and his wife are unattested in the archaeological record, the marriage represents an aspect of African influence on and contribution to ancient Israel.

The Pre-Born Child

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shawn W. Flynn
Keyword(s):  
Near East ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Medical Texts ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Born Child ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
Domestic Cult

A previously unstudied stage of the child’s life in current scholarship, the pre-born child is an essential expression of the child’s life in the ancient Near East. Through Mesopotamian medical texts, personal letters, prayers, and the mythology that intersects with this data set, thought on pre-born and birthing children strongly suggests the child’s value in domestic cult. In particular the connection between child and deity is an important connection between the child and the domestic cult that underpins the question of value. This data illustrates how the child is understood in ancient Israel, showing that texts like Jeremiah 1 and Psalm 139 are rooted in a wider comparative matrix. Here we see where Israelite intersects and diverges from its cultural matrix to make unique claims about YHWH through the pre-born child.

Children in Ancient Israel

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shawn W. Flynn
Keyword(s):  
Economic Value ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Childhood Studies ◽  
Medical Texts ◽  
Value Of Children ◽  
High Infant Mortality ◽  
The Social ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
Burial Rituals ◽  
Domestic Cult

Flynn contributes to the emerging field of childhood studies in the Hebrew Bible by isolating stages of a child’s life and, through a comparative perspective, studies the place of children in the domestic cult and their relationship to the deity in that cult. The study gathers data relevant to different stages of a child’s life from a plethora of Mesopotamian materials (prayers, myths, medical texts, rituals), and uses that data as an interpretive lens for Israelite texts about children at similar stages such as: pre-born children, the birth stage, breast feeding, adoption, slavery, children’s death and burial rituals, and childhood delinquency. This analysis presses the questions of value and violence, the importance of the domestic cult for expressing the child’s value beyond economic value, and how children were valued in cultures with high infant mortality rates. From the earliest stages to the moments when children die, and to the children’s responsibilities in the domestic cult later in life, this study demonstrates that a child is uniquely wrapped up in the domestic cult and, in particular, is connected with the deity. The domestic-cultic value of children forms the much broader understanding of children in the ancient world, through which other more problematic representations can be tested. Throughout the study, it becomes apparent that children’s value in the domestic cult is an intentional catalyst for the social promotion of YHWHism.

Preface—The Iron Age in Israel: The Exact and Life Sciences Perspectives

Radiocarbon ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Israel Finkelstein ◽  
Steve Weiner ◽  
Elisabetta Boaretto
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Research Council ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
European Research ◽  
Special Volume ◽  
Original Proposal ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
Iron Age Levant

In the original proposal entitled Reconstructing Ancient Israel – The Exact and Life Sciences Perspective, two of us (Israel Finkelstein and Steve Weiner) wrote, “If the microscopic data are well integrated into the macroscopic (archaeological) record, they will undoubtedly provide new insights into the study of Ancient Israel.” And this was what this 5-year (2009–2014) European Research Council (ERC) sponsored program (details below) was all about. New ground was broken on three fronts: conceptual, methodological, and in the generation of new data that indeed provide novel insights into the history and material culture of Ancient Israel in particular and the Iron Age Levant in general. The reviews presented in this special volume synthesize some of these new insights. The findings have been published in about 70 papers (see Appendix).

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