-
†. Gen 14:1 . . Now, when King Amraphel of Shinar, King Arioch of
Ellasar, King Chedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of nations.
Shinar was the whole of Babylonia; Ellasar was the leading tribe in its
southern part; and Elam was the original kingdom of Persia.
The Hebrew word for "nations" is gowy (go'-ee) a word wielded by some
Jews as a racial epithet to indicate non-Jewish peoples. But gowy isn't really
all that specific.
The people of Israel are called gowy at Gen 18:18, and Jacob, the father of
the twelve tribes, is called a gowy at Gen 25:23. Gowy really just simply
indicates a massing; e.g. a herd of animals and/or a horde of locusts; which
when extended, indicates a particular people; e.g. Iroquois, Maya, Inuit,
Chinese, Pacific Islanders, Japanese, and/or Arabs, et al.
Inuit, Chinese, Pacific Islanders, Japanese, and/or Arabs, et al.
Mr. Tidal was probably the chief of a large confederacy consisting of
mongrel, multi racial people; possibly a tribal area in northeastern
Babylonia. America is a perfect example of Tidal's confederacy because it's a
melting pot of assimilation, intermarriage, and diverse races, cultures,
languages, and nationalities. The only true Americans in America are its
indigenous peoples. Everybody else is either an immigrant or the posterity of
an immigrant.
At one time, Amraphel was thought to be Hammurabi; the great king of
Babylon. But it's now widely agreed that Hammurabi didn't arrive on the
scene until many years later. The other kings remain a mystery too, having
not yet been archaeologically identified.
†. Gen 14:2 . . made war on King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of
Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and
the king of Bela, which is Zoar,
None of these men were "kings" in the fashion that we today think of
royalty. They were more like mayors, sheiks, or chieftains. And they didn't
actually have extensive realms; nor very much jurisdiction beyond the very
community each one dominated.
Canaanite cities weren't really serious municipalities; but rather more like
fortified hamlets-- much like the strategic villages in Viet Nam; except that
just about all Canaanite towns were enclosed within stone walls made of
rough boulders about six feet in diameter. Archaeologists call this type of
wall a Cyclops wall. The boulder walls were usually combined with an
escarpment and reinforced with earthen revetments.
Canaanite towns doubled as forts; places of refuge in time of danger,
whether from sudden attack by nomadic bands or from civil wars among the
Canaanites themselves. Towering perimeter walls invariably enclosed small
areas, not much bigger than Ste. Peter's Square in Rome. Each of these
town-forts had a water supply, but weren't really suitable for housing large
populations in permanent homes.
Inside the walls lived only the chieftain, the aristocracy, wealthy merchants,
and even sometimes Egyptian representatives. The rest of the inhabitants of
the township-- the ranchers and farmers, the vassals and the servants and
the serfs-- lived outside the walls; often in tents or simple mud hogans or
wattle huts. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all lived in tents; viz: pavilions.
In Tell el-Hesi, probably Eglon, the town proper was just over an acre. In
Tell es-Safi, formerly Gath, it was twelve acres. In Tell el-Zakariyah,
formerly Megiddo, the same amount. Gezer, on the road from Jerusalem to
Jaffa, occupied just over twenty acres. Even in the more built up area of
Jericho, the inner fortified wall, the Acropolis proper, enclosed a space of
little more than five acres; yet Jericho was an important city and one of the
strongest fortresses in the country.
So the five cities of the Plain were nothing to brag about-- well, maybe in
their day they might have been notable enough amongst their
contemporaries.
†. Gen 14:3 . . all the latter joined forces at the Valley of Siddim, now
the Salt Sea.
In its early history; the valley was home to the Sedom Lagoon. In those
days, water from the Red Sea was able to ebb in and out of the lagoon
because the region hasn't always been land-locked like it is today. At one
time the earth's crust south of the valley was lower; allowing the Jordan
River an outlet; but over time, tectonic forces altered the region resulting in
the river, and the lagoon, losing access to the waters of the Mediterranean.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
†. Gen 14:1 . . Now, when King Amraphel of Shinar, King Arioch of
Ellasar, King Chedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of nations.
Shinar was the whole of Babylonia; Ellasar was the leading tribe in its
southern part; and Elam was the original kingdom of Persia.
The Hebrew word for "nations" is gowy (go'-ee) a word wielded by some
Jews as a racial epithet to indicate non-Jewish peoples. But gowy isn't really
all that specific.
The people of Israel are called gowy at Gen 18:18, and Jacob, the father of
the twelve tribes, is called a gowy at Gen 25:23. Gowy really just simply
indicates a massing; e.g. a herd of animals and/or a horde of locusts; which
when extended, indicates a particular people; e.g. Iroquois, Maya, Inuit,
Chinese, Pacific Islanders, Japanese, and/or Arabs, et al.
Inuit, Chinese, Pacific Islanders, Japanese, and/or Arabs, et al.
Mr. Tidal was probably the chief of a large confederacy consisting of
mongrel, multi racial people; possibly a tribal area in northeastern
Babylonia. America is a perfect example of Tidal's confederacy because it's a
melting pot of assimilation, intermarriage, and diverse races, cultures,
languages, and nationalities. The only true Americans in America are its
indigenous peoples. Everybody else is either an immigrant or the posterity of
an immigrant.
At one time, Amraphel was thought to be Hammurabi; the great king of
Babylon. But it's now widely agreed that Hammurabi didn't arrive on the
scene until many years later. The other kings remain a mystery too, having
not yet been archaeologically identified.
†. Gen 14:2 . . made war on King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of
Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and
the king of Bela, which is Zoar,
None of these men were "kings" in the fashion that we today think of
royalty. They were more like mayors, sheiks, or chieftains. And they didn't
actually have extensive realms; nor very much jurisdiction beyond the very
community each one dominated.
Canaanite cities weren't really serious municipalities; but rather more like
fortified hamlets-- much like the strategic villages in Viet Nam; except that
just about all Canaanite towns were enclosed within stone walls made of
rough boulders about six feet in diameter. Archaeologists call this type of
wall a Cyclops wall. The boulder walls were usually combined with an
escarpment and reinforced with earthen revetments.
Canaanite towns doubled as forts; places of refuge in time of danger,
whether from sudden attack by nomadic bands or from civil wars among the
Canaanites themselves. Towering perimeter walls invariably enclosed small
areas, not much bigger than Ste. Peter's Square in Rome. Each of these
town-forts had a water supply, but weren't really suitable for housing large
populations in permanent homes.
Inside the walls lived only the chieftain, the aristocracy, wealthy merchants,
and even sometimes Egyptian representatives. The rest of the inhabitants of
the township-- the ranchers and farmers, the vassals and the servants and
the serfs-- lived outside the walls; often in tents or simple mud hogans or
wattle huts. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all lived in tents; viz: pavilions.
In Tell el-Hesi, probably Eglon, the town proper was just over an acre. In
Tell es-Safi, formerly Gath, it was twelve acres. In Tell el-Zakariyah,
formerly Megiddo, the same amount. Gezer, on the road from Jerusalem to
Jaffa, occupied just over twenty acres. Even in the more built up area of
Jericho, the inner fortified wall, the Acropolis proper, enclosed a space of
little more than five acres; yet Jericho was an important city and one of the
strongest fortresses in the country.
So the five cities of the Plain were nothing to brag about-- well, maybe in
their day they might have been notable enough amongst their
contemporaries.
†. Gen 14:3 . . all the latter joined forces at the Valley of Siddim, now
the Salt Sea.
In its early history; the valley was home to the Sedom Lagoon. In those
days, water from the Red Sea was able to ebb in and out of the lagoon
because the region hasn't always been land-locked like it is today. At one
time the earth's crust south of the valley was lower; allowing the Jordan
River an outlet; but over time, tectonic forces altered the region resulting in
the river, and the lagoon, losing access to the waters of the Mediterranean.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=