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†. Gen 14:4a . .Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer,
Apparently El Ched was the instigator behind the extortion scheme holding
Sodom and its neighbors economically hostage. The other kings who came
along with him to Canaan were just reinforcements to back his play. You
have to wonder how The Ched ever found the Valley of Siddim in the first
place and what in the world motivated him to travel so far from home.
Ched's home turf, Elam, is a well-known tract, partly mountainous, whose
western boundary, starting on the northeast side of the Persian Gulf,
practically followed the course of the lower Tigris. It was bounded on the
north by Media, on the east by Persia and on the west by Babylonia. The
Assyro-Babylonians called the tract Elamtu, expressed ideographically by the
Sumerian characters for Nimma or Numma, which seems to have been its
name in that language. As Numma, or Elam, apparently mean height, or the
like, these names were probably applied to it on account of its mountainous
nature.
Another name by which it was known in early times was Ashshan-- or
Anshan --or Anzan, (Anzhan) --one of its ancient cities. The great capital of
the tract, however, was Susa (Shushan), whence its Greek name of Susiana,
interchanging with Elymais, from the semitic Elam. Shushan is famous for its
stories of Esther and Nehemiah.
The modern-day city of Ahvaz Iran is a pretty good locator for the region of
Elam. If you have a map handy you can readily see just how far The Ched
traveled to reach the Jordan Valley. Even if he came straight over by
helicopter, it's at least 780 miles.
It's amazing the distances that conquerors traveled on foot and the backs of
animals in ancient times. Hannibal crossed the Pyrenees and the Alps, with
elephants no less, to attack northern Italy. But even just getting to the far
sides of those mountain ranges from Carthage was itself an arduous journey
sans mechanical conveyances It's no surprise then that the Second Punic
War lasted nigh unto seventeen years.
In the past; it took armies a long time just to get to the battlefields before
they even did any fighting. Invaders from China thought nothing of skirting
the Himalayas and entering India via the Khyber Pass in order to conduct
campaigns in the Ganges River Valley. I really have to wonder sometimes
how commanders kept their armies from becoming discouraged by all that
travel and by all that time away from home.
That situation actually befell Alexander the Great. After eight years and
17,000 miles, his weary army refused to campaign anymore in India and
mutinied at the Hyphasis River (today's Beas). Abandoning his ambition to
conquer lands and peoples more distant to the east of Greece than any man
before him, including his father Philip, the young commander had no choice
but to turn back.
†. Gen 14:4b . . and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
El Ched wouldn't get wind of that right away of course. There was no email,
no radio, no sat-com, no land line, no snail mail, no cells, nor television, nor
telegraph, nor aircraft, nor motorized conveyances in that day so it would
take some time for an overland caravan to return and tell him how the
federation of five towns in the Valley refused to cough up their payments.
Meanwhile the local sheiks had some time to prepare themselves for attack
while The Ched organized an expeditionary force.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
†. Gen 14:4a . .Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer,
Apparently El Ched was the instigator behind the extortion scheme holding
Sodom and its neighbors economically hostage. The other kings who came
along with him to Canaan were just reinforcements to back his play. You
have to wonder how The Ched ever found the Valley of Siddim in the first
place and what in the world motivated him to travel so far from home.
Ched's home turf, Elam, is a well-known tract, partly mountainous, whose
western boundary, starting on the northeast side of the Persian Gulf,
practically followed the course of the lower Tigris. It was bounded on the
north by Media, on the east by Persia and on the west by Babylonia. The
Assyro-Babylonians called the tract Elamtu, expressed ideographically by the
Sumerian characters for Nimma or Numma, which seems to have been its
name in that language. As Numma, or Elam, apparently mean height, or the
like, these names were probably applied to it on account of its mountainous
nature.
Another name by which it was known in early times was Ashshan-- or
Anshan --or Anzan, (Anzhan) --one of its ancient cities. The great capital of
the tract, however, was Susa (Shushan), whence its Greek name of Susiana,
interchanging with Elymais, from the semitic Elam. Shushan is famous for its
stories of Esther and Nehemiah.
The modern-day city of Ahvaz Iran is a pretty good locator for the region of
Elam. If you have a map handy you can readily see just how far The Ched
traveled to reach the Jordan Valley. Even if he came straight over by
helicopter, it's at least 780 miles.
It's amazing the distances that conquerors traveled on foot and the backs of
animals in ancient times. Hannibal crossed the Pyrenees and the Alps, with
elephants no less, to attack northern Italy. But even just getting to the far
sides of those mountain ranges from Carthage was itself an arduous journey
sans mechanical conveyances It's no surprise then that the Second Punic
War lasted nigh unto seventeen years.
In the past; it took armies a long time just to get to the battlefields before
they even did any fighting. Invaders from China thought nothing of skirting
the Himalayas and entering India via the Khyber Pass in order to conduct
campaigns in the Ganges River Valley. I really have to wonder sometimes
how commanders kept their armies from becoming discouraged by all that
travel and by all that time away from home.
That situation actually befell Alexander the Great. After eight years and
17,000 miles, his weary army refused to campaign anymore in India and
mutinied at the Hyphasis River (today's Beas). Abandoning his ambition to
conquer lands and peoples more distant to the east of Greece than any man
before him, including his father Philip, the young commander had no choice
but to turn back.
†. Gen 14:4b . . and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
El Ched wouldn't get wind of that right away of course. There was no email,
no radio, no sat-com, no land line, no snail mail, no cells, nor television, nor
telegraph, nor aircraft, nor motorized conveyances in that day so it would
take some time for an overland caravan to return and tell him how the
federation of five towns in the Valley refused to cough up their payments.
Meanwhile the local sheiks had some time to prepare themselves for attack
while The Ched organized an expeditionary force.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=