Folded
into the context of the Bible are a number of fully developed
separate stories or even what we would describe and accept today as
novellas. They have a legendary flavor and while inspired by real
careers, by the time they reached acceptance for inclusion in the
scriptures, they had quite naturally been edited, polished and
augmented with the single acts of others. No one would have ever
considered our concepts of historical accuracy when the main event
was to save anything for posterity.
Imagine
the Great Hero Neil Armstrong who single handedly nada nada nada.
That is what makes a tale legendary. It is too tempting to cram in
all the good stuff that is possible.
Man
confronting lion is a common theme and likely has nothing to do with
any historical Samson. However it certainly confirms the historical
milieu that then existed. It was something folks took seriously.
Ancient seal may
add substance to the legend of Samson
August 13, 2012
This is the "Samson
seal" found at Beth Shemesh. Credit: Raz Lederman, courtesy Tel
Beth Shemesh Excavations
Tel Aviv University
researchers recently uncovered a seal, measuring 15 millimetres
(about a half-inch) in diameter, which depicts a human figure next to
a lion at the archaeological site of Beth Shemesh, located between
the Biblical cities of Zorah and Eshtaol, where Samson was born,
flourished, and finally buried, according to the book of Judges.
The scene engraved on
the seal, the time period, and the location of the discovery all
point to a probable reference to the story of Samson, the legendary
heroic figure whose adventures famously included a victory in
hand-to-paw combat with a lion.
While the seal does
not reveal when the stories about Samson were originally written, or
clarify whether Samson was a historical or legendary figure, the
finding does help to "anchor the story in an archaeological
setting," says Prof. Shlomo Bunimovitz of TAU's Department of
Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations.
Prof. Bunimovitz
co-directs the Beth Shemesh dig along with Dr. Zvi Lederman. "If
we are right and what we see on the seal is a representation of a man
meeting a lion, it shows that the Samson legend already existed
around the area of Beth Shemesh during that time period. We can date
it quite precisely," Prof. Bunimovitz adds. The right place, the
right time The seal was discovered with other finds on the floor of
an excavated house, dated by the archaeologists to the 12th century
BCE.
Geographically,
politically, and culturally, the legends surrounding Samson are set
in this time period, also known as the period of the Judges, prior to
the establishment of kingship in ancient Israel. The area of Beth
Shemesh was a cultural meeting point where Philistines, Canaanites,
and Israelites lived in close proximity, maintaining separate
identities ad cultures. Samson's stories skip across these cultural
borders, Dr. Lederman says.
Although he was from
the Israelite tribe of Dan, Samson is frequently depicted stepping
out into the world of the Philistines — even searching for a
Philistine wife, much to the chagrin of his parents. Although Samson
did have some positive interactions with the Philistines — his
infamous lion brawl took place on the way to his bachelor party with
a group of Philistine men prior to his marriage to his first
Philistine wife in Timnah — he is also reputed to have fought
against the Philistines.
In one tale, this
ancient superman is said to have killed 1,000 Philistines with a
single donkey's jaw bone. "Samson has a very legendary aura,"
explains Dr. Lederman, calling the Samson stories "border
sagas." On one hand, Samsom could cross the border and interact
with the Philistines, but on the other, he met with danger and
various challenges when he did stray out of his home territory. "When
you cross the border, you have to fight the enemy and you encounter
dangerous animals," Dr. Lederman says. "You meet bad
things.
These are stories of
contact and conflict, of a border that is more cultural than
political." Cultural connections and conflicts The Philistines
were immigrants, one of a number of so-called "sea peoples",
originating from the Aegean region. They settled along the southern
coastal plain and the lowlands of present-day Israel, including
Ashdod, Ashkelon Gaza, Gath, and Ekron. Here they created their own
cultural and political enclave and were always seeking to expand
their own territory.
"The flourishing
Canaanite village of Beth Shemesh, despite frequent destruction
caused by their aggressive neighbors, was not abandoned or won by the
Philistines and retained its original culture and identity", Dr.
Lederman adds. The border disputes and the Canaanite resistance to
growing Philistine pressure and cultural influence created some
identity changes, Prof. Bunimovitz believes.
This period of contact
and strife may have been the "meat" of the Samson legend
incorporated in the Book of Judges, the seventh book of the Hebrew
Bible that tells the stories of figures who champion the Israelite
cause and fight against oppression through this historical period.
No comments:
Post a Comment