Biblically Compatible Archaeology and Geography

    No need any longer for biblical commentators to seek for the era of the Book of Judith drama - whether considered fully or only partially historical - late, during the Maccabean era. For one of the main characters in the Book of Judith, Achior, re-appears in the Vulgate version of the Book of Tobit as Tobit’s own nephew, otherwise known as Ahikar (Tobit 1:21-22 GNT) . Achior and his own nephew, Nabath, will attend the joyous wedding of Tobit’s son, Tobias (= holy Job, see our site: http://bookofjob-amaic.blogspot.com.au/ ), at Nineveh (Tobit 11:20): “…. veneruntque Achior et Nabath consobrini Tobiae gaudentes … ”. (“And Achior and Nabath the kinsmen of Tobias came, rejoicing”).   Now the era of the Book of Tobit spans the neo-Assyrian period of “Shalmaneser” (V), “Sennacherib” and “Esarhaddon”, with the latter two kings only being relevant for Achior/ Ahikar ( 1:21-22): [The Assyrian king] Esarhaddon … put Ahikar, my brother Anael’s son, in charge of a...

 Posted by sherri in Noah’s Ark Gordon Franz Introduction In Tractate Sanhedrin, Rabbi Papa (ca. AD 300-375) recounts a story about Sennacherib, king of Assyria, finding a piece of wood from Noah’s Ark. It states: “He [Sennacherib] then went away and found a plank of Noah’s ark. ‘This’, said he, ‘must be the great God who saved Noah from the flood. If I go [to battle] and am successful, I will sacrifice my two sons to thee’, he vowed. But his sons heard this, so they killed him, as it is written, And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adram-melech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword.” This story is recounted in Louis Ginzberg’s classic work, Legends of the Jews, and implies that this is a legendary account. One reason it might have been considered a legend is because Sennacherib was never on, or near, the modern-day Mount Ararat (Agri Dagh). Yet there are plausible historical reasons to believe this story is true and...

 by Damien F. Mackey Introduction The ancient Assyrians in their war records often remind me of the relentless Daleks of that sixties cult TV series, 'Doctor Who', that irresistible army of aggressive robots who went around chanting "We will exterminate. We will exterminate" . For, throughout the Assyrian war records, recurs the monotonous mantra. "I destroyed, I devastated. I burned with fire" . No hint of mercy or pity here; but, as with the Daleks, repetitive and total conquest. Assyria, often likened to the Nazis, was a thoroughgoing military nation, highly disciplined. Her characteristics were destructive invasion, deportation and taxation . The prophet Nahum mocked the Assyrian war cry with his: "... Devastation, desolation, and destruction!" (2:10) This is not to say, however, that the Assyrians were mindless Daleks. Apart from being awesome warriors, the Assyrian kings could be great builders and patrons of the...