The Jewish Temple at Elephantine

Transcription

The Jewish Temple at Elephantine
Author(s): Stephen G. Rosenberg
Source: Near Eastern Archaeology, Vol. 67, No. 1 (Mar., 2004), pp. 4-13
Published by: The American Schools of Oriental Research
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4149987 .
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SStepe
e
en G.
wh
Rosenberg
by StephenG. Rosenberg
I
This reconstruction of the Temple of
at Elephantineshows
:Yahweh
Its similaritiesto the Wilderness
Tabernacledescribed in Exodus 25-27.
An altar probably stood in the courtyardand
there must have been a space to slaughter animals.
for ritualwashing would have been present as well
-"Vessels
as a place for tethering animals Because it is located within the
residential area, the temple was very likelyvisited by the laity who
participated in the ritualswithin the temple precinct. Illustrationsby the
author unless otherwise indicated
T
heJewishmilitarycolonyat Elephantine The papyri,written in Aramaic,are judicialand family
that list propertyand marriagecontracts and
Islandin southernEgyptis wellknown documents
describethe colony'stemple,wheresacrificeswereofferedto
frompapyri,
foundsomeonehundred
years YHW (Yahweh).One well-knowndocument,knownas the
PassoverPapyrus(datedto 419 BCE),sets out instructionsto
ago at Elephantineand nearbyAswan. Describing the colony
in the nameof DariusII to celebratethe feastof
thelivesof a groupof mercenaries
(inthepayof
theEgyptians
andlaterthePersians)
whoguarded
thesouthern
borderof Egyptat thefirstcataract
of theNile in thesixthandfifthcenturiesBCE,
thesecontemporary
sourcestellus thattheylived
therewiththeirfamilies
andhadtheirowntemple.
Theirdateof arrivalis notknown,buttheywere
alreadywell establishedwhenCambysesII of
Persiaconquered
Egyptin 525 BCE.
4
UnleavenedBreadon the 14th of Nissan (the firstmonthof
Spring)andto drinkno beerforsevendays.Anotherpapyrus
recordsthe destructionof the templeby the Egyptianpriests
of the nearbytempleof Khnumin 410 BCEandthe subsequent
permissiongiven for it to be rebuiltfouryearslater (Porten
1968:295).
Since the discoveryof someof the papyriin 1893andthe
of othersin 1911,expeditionsmountedbyGerman,
publication
FrenchandItalianteams,bothbeforeandafterthe FirstWorld
War,havesearchedforthe Jewishtemple,butwithoutsuccess.
In 1967,a Germanteamstartedworkat the southernend of
ElephantineIslandwith the aimof identifyingthe town and
NEAREASTERNARCHAEOLOGY
67:1 (2004)
Duringthe New
Kingdomand the
Late Period in Egypt
,,
(ca. 1550 to 332 BCE),
the southern end of
ElephantineIsland
was the location
of several temple
complexes and ritual
installationsas well as
residentialquarters.
Excavationsin this
area have uncovered
a village dating to the
early Persianperiod
that was a Jewish
colony. As an island, it
was easily defensible.
Infact, the ancient
town located in the
southern part of the
islandwas also a
fortress through much
of it's history.After
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67:1 (2004)
5
TheElephantine
Papyri
to theJewishtemple.Latertheyfoundothers,relating
tofamily
contracts
and
the
Persian
documents,
of
inscriptions
Emperor,
ThenameElephantine,
calledYeblocally,deriveseitherfrom DariusII,anda copyof theStoryof Ahiqar(anAramaicfolk
thesmooth,black,elephant-shaped
rocksthatsurround
it and talewidespread
in theneo-Assyrian
andlaterperiodsin the
or
the
that
it
was
the
center
the
Near
Aswan,
the
waspromptly
neighbouring
from fact
of
East).Thismaterial,
foundby Germans,
1961: publishedby E. Sachauin 1911 (Porten1995:58). All the
luxurytradein ivorybetweenNubiaandEgypt(Kraeling
themilitary
BCE,
129).Inthefifthcentury
garrison
ofElephantine legibleAramaicpapyrifoundup to 1920 wereconveniently
included
a contingent
mercenaries
who
with
Jewish
of
formeda colony published
byArthurCowleyin 1923 andlater,together
on theisland,someof whosedomestic
activities
wererecorded
in others,byBezalelPortenin 1968.
theresomehundred
The templeis describedin theAramaicdocumentsas an
papyridiscovered
yearsagoandmore.
In 1893theAmerican
C.
E.
an altarin theopenair,ora plain
journalist-turned-archaeologist, egora(shrine),whichimplies
traveledextensively
in theareaandacquired
a hoard shrine,roofed
Wilbour,
andentered
several
Thebuilding
was
by
doorways.
toYahweh,
towhomanimalsacrifices
wereoffered,
and
of papyrifromthelocals,whichhe storedin a trunkwithout dedicated
muchexamination.
At hisdeathin 1896,thetrunkpassedto his serveda localcommunity
A
militia.
dated
to
ofJewish
papyrus
who
the
documents
to
the
Art
BCE
claims
that
it
had
stood
the
Persian
407
daughter, bequeathed
Brooklyn
frombefore
conquest
Museumin 1947.Onlythenweretheyexamined
andfoundto of EgyptbyCambyses
andthathehaddestroyed
(in525 BCE),
bethefamilyarchiveof Ananiah,a kindof Leviteor "servitor" manytemples
butsparedtheJewishone(Cowley1923:30).
onElephantine
1961:
The
137).
of thetempleof Yahweh
(Kraeling
papyrigavedetaileddescriptions
of someof thehouses
Writtenin cursiveAramaic,thedocuments
weredatedto the of theJewishcolony,as theywerehandeddownfromparents
controloverEgypt,assigned
to thefifthcentury to wivesandchildren,andtheirlocationin a fairlytight-knit
periodof Persian
andeventually
werepublished
Emil
in 1953.
aroundthetemple.Fromthisinformation,
BCE,
Portenwas
by
Kraeling
complex
The Rev.A. H. Saycealso acquiredpapyriof thisperiod abletoprepare
a tentative
the
and
to
that
planof complex
suggest
in 1901, whichhe presentedto the Bodleian thetempleoccupied
in Elephantine
a centralsiteof abouttwentycubitsbysixty
In 1903,LadyWilliam
CecilandR. L. Mondacquired cubits(tenbythirtymeters).Thesemeasurements,
hesaid,"were
Library.
morerolls,whichwentto theCairoMuseum(andonesection reminiscent
Solomon's
and
he added
of
Temple(I Kgs6:2)"
to the Bodleian).Mostimportantly,
in thatyeara German thatthebuilding
wasprobably
situated
in
a
smaller,
courtyard
teamfounda number
ofadditional
archaeological
papyrirelating measuring
sixtybytwentycubits(Porten1968:110).
The name Elephantineis derived from the Greekword for elephant.
Some scholarsbelieve that the name of the islandwas inspiredby
the smooth blackrocksthat surroundthe islandand neighbouring
Aswan.These large boulders in the rivernearthe islandresemble
bathing elephants, particularlyfrom afar.
its Egyptiantemplesoverthe centuriesfromthe earliesttimes
to the Romanera (Kaiser1998).Theirexcavationsuncovered
an "Aramaic"
quarterof the 27th Dynasty,the earlyPersian
period,whichequatesto thatof the Jewishcolony.Eventually
in 1997,at the heartof thisvillage,theyfounda pieceof tiled
flooringmuchsuperiorto that foundin the mudbrickhouses
around.Theyidentifiedthis as the floorof the Jewishtemple,
whichwasconfirmedby the locationgivenin the documents
researchedby Porten(1968). Partsof the wallsof the temple
and the surroundingcourtyardwere identified,but a large
sectionof the westernend of the site hadbeenlostbecauseof
the landfallingaway,dueto erosionor subsidence.
No altarwasfound,but thereis literaryevidenceforanimal
and, later,cerealsacrifices.The altarmayhave stood in the
areaof groundthat had fallen away.The documentstell us
that the shrinehad a roofof cedarwoodandfive stone-lined
doorwayswithbronzehinges,andthisevidence,togetherwith
the recent archaeologicaldiscoveriesof the Germanteam,
led by Corneliusvon Pilgrim,have enabledme to producea
tentativereconstruction.
oftheTemple
History
PortensuggestedthattheJewsmayhavecometo Elephantine
as a militarygarrisonin about the middle of the seventh
67:1 (2004)
6 NEAREASTERNARCHAEOLOGY
The ram-headed god Khnum (pictured on the left in a painting
from the Tomb of Nefertari at Luxor)was particularlyworshiped
at Elephantine as he was credited with directing the annual inundation of the Nile, which was assumed to be controlled from the
first cataract. The cemetery of Rams on Elephantine Island (above)
indicates the reverence with which the Egyptians regarded the god's
sacred animal. The cemetery dates from the Ptolemaic period, but
was built on an earlier one. The destruction of the Jewish Temple
there may have resulted from the outrage with which the priests of
the Khnumtemple regarded the Jewish sacrifice of these animals.
The priests had reason to resent the Jewish sacrifices, particularly
the sacrifice of sheep at the Passover festival.
centuryBCE,
duringthe reignof Manassehin Judah,to aid
PsammetichusI in his campaignsagainstNubia (cf. Lewy
andLewy1968:135)andin an attemptto dislodgethe overarchingpowerof Assyria(Porten1968:119).Thisearlydate
wouldhavegiventhe Jewishmercenaries
time
considerable
to get established
andset up a communaltemplewellbefore
525 BCE.
However,it is alsopossiblethattheJewscameonly
after597 BCE,
the dateof the firstinvasionof Jerusalemby
the Babylonians,when considerablenumberswereexiled
whenthe Babylonians
(2 Kgs24:16)or even after586 BCE,
returnedanddestroyedthe SolomonicTemple.It wasthen
thatlargenumbersfledto Egypttakingthe prophetJeremiah
with them (Jer43:5-7). Sucha datestillleavesampletime
for the Jewishcolonyto establishitself andbuilda temple
1961:142).
priorto Cyrus'conquestin 525 BCE(Kraeling
In 410 BCE,the priestsof the adjoiningKhnumtemple
solicitedthe aidof a corruptPersianofficialWaidrang,
who
sent his son Nephayanwith EgyptiantroopsfromSyene
(Aswan)to destroythe Jewishtemple.The papyrirelatehow
theydestroyedthe doorsandroofof the templeandset fire
to it afterfirstlootingthe gold and silvervessels (Cowley
67:1 (2004)
7
The multi-storiedmudbrickHouses of the
"AramaeanQuarter"at Elephantinediscovered
by the GermanTeamdate fromthe earlypart
of the Persianperiod (525 to 404 BCE)andwere
structureswith primitivefinishesand beaten
earthfloors.
The discoveryof this section of tiled floor in 1997 suggested
a buildingof superiorquality.The floor that the Germanteam
discovered was about five meters square, in an area between the
residential"AramaeanQuarter"of the 27th Dynastyand the north
wall of the extended Khnumtemple.
1923:30). The papyridescribethe temple
as havingfive doors,set on bronzehinges
in stone-lineddoorways(implying
thatthe
restof the structurewasof mudbrick)and
roofbeamsof cedarwood.
The reasonsforthisdestructionarenot
given,andtheexplanation
maybe complex.
The simpleview is that the priestsof the
Khnumtemplewereoutraged
toseetheJews
sacrificeanimals,
someofwhichweresacred
to theirgod Khnum.In theirworkon the
island,the Germanteamfounda cemetery
of rams,the animalsacredto Khnum.Itwas
of the Ptolemaicperiodbutbasedon an earlierone.The ramheadedKhnumwasparticularly
at thislocation(Kaiser
worshiped
1998:29) ashe wascreditedwithdirecting
theannualinundation
of the Nile, whichwasassumedto be controlledfromthe first
cataract.The priestshadreasonto resentthe Jewishsacrifices,
the sacrificeof sheepat the Passover
festival,which
particularly
A papyrus
the garrison
observed.
of DariusII,datedto 418/9BCE,
remindsthemto keepthe Feastof UnleavenedBread(Cowley
1923:21). Whythe priestsof Khnumwaitedoverone hundred
yearsto venttheirangeron thetempleisnotclear,andtheremay
havebeenanotherreasonforthe destruction.
At the time,the priestswerein the processof extendingthe
Khnumtemplenorthwardswhereit wouldbe directlyacross
wallof the Jewishtemple.Betweenthe two
fromthe courtyard
acrossthe island,called"the
templeslaythe mainthoroughfare
streetof the king"in the documents(Porten1968:110) and
it wouldhave becomedangerously
constrictedif not actually
blocked.When the JewishTemplewasbuilt,partof the road
had alreadybeen divertedto the north.Withthe buildingof
theirextension,the Khnumpriestspresumably
got permission
to restorethe streetbyremovingthe Jewishtemplecourtyard
wall, and they took the opportunityto destroythe templeas
well (vonPilgrim2003).
The priestshad chosen an appropriatemomentto attack
the Jewishtemple-when the PersianGovernorArsames
was abroadpayinghomageto the emperor,DariusII. After
threeyears,the Jewsof Elephantineappealedto the Temple
in Jerusalemfor help, withoutsuccess.But they did receive
verbal)fromthe Persiangovernorof Yehud
permission(possibly
(Judah)to reconstructthe temple,andit was rebuiltshortly
The tile floor of the Jewish Templewas surroundedby mudbrick
walls, with a thickness of one meter, and set withina large rectangle
of wallingarounda paved area surfaced in plaster.Thisportionof the
south enclosurewallto the Templeshows part of the courtyard.
8
67:1 (2004)
Residential
Quarter
G
..I
MA
Temple
CeGaetery
BXXV
BXXVI
0
50
Terrace
As the GermanExcavation'splan of the temple (second phase) and KhnumCityshows, the length of the flooring and wallswere not fully
recoverable.The originalground level had fallen away completely on the west side of the site. Based on von Pilgrim(1999:fig. 17).
afterwards,on conditionthat animalsacrificeswouldnot be
conductedthere, only "mealofferingsand incense"(Porten
1968:292). A secondconditionrequiredthat the courtyard
wallof the rebuilttemplehad to be clearof "thestreetof the
king."Thus,the rebuilttemplewasnowasymmetrically
placed
withinits courtyard.
The templemusthave been rebuiltsometimebefore402
BCE,whenit is mentionedin a documentof saleof an adjoining
house, which standsto the east of the temple (Porten1968:
295). How long the temple stood afterthat we cannot say.
The papyridocumentsend in 399 BCE(Porten1968:296) but
it wasnot yet destroyedwhenthe Persianswereexpelledfrom
This is surprising,
as the Jews,having
Egyptaround400 BCE.
in the payof the Persians,mayhavelost
servedas mercenaries
theirprotectorsandindeedtheirraisond'etreon Elephantine
Island.Abandonedit eventuallymusthavebeen,however,and
whenthe excavatorsfoundthe tiledfloorof the temple,it was
coveredwithanimaldung.The secondphaseof the temple,it
seems,wasnot destroyedbut wasusedas a stable,presumably
in an act of deliberatedesecration.
67:1 (2004)
9
: ::: .-.
--o:*,
?:~~a
:;i?:
ee _:::--::
':;:;:: 0,
o
: :??
: - -.
---.;:::-
45
The temple probably had two
chambers, as indicated by a
dividing wall, and the tiled
floor was built in two phases,
indicative of destruction and
later rebuilding. The remains
bear a closer resemblance to the
Wilderness Tabernacle than to
the Temple in Jerusalem. After
von Pilgrim (2002: fig. 72).
meterswideandthecourtyard
twenty-three meters. The
length of neither was fully
City
:Khnum
recoverable,as the original
groundlevel had fallen
awaycompletely on
thewestsideof the
site. Fromthe
plan of the
P/
area
residential
and the Khnum
templewall,it seems
likelythatthe courtyard
may have been forty
meters long and the temple
sixteenmeterslong,thoughboth
mayhave been longer.The temple
hadtwochambers,
indicatedby
probably
a dividingwall,andthe tiledfloorwasbuilt
in two phases,indicativeof the destruction
andlaterrebuilding
(vonPilgrim2002).
20
0
Even
from
these
scant
remainsit is clearthat the
m
mmumwascompletely
unliketheTempleinJerusalem
as
building
in theBible(1 Kgs6 and2 Chr3). Elephantine
was
described
a smallshrineof twonarrowchambers
set in a largecourtyard.
Withinan openspacesurrounding
it on allfoursides,it borea
TheArchitectural
Tradition
of the Jewish
closerresemblanceto the WildernessTabernacleor Mishkan
at
Temple Elephantine
(Exod25) ratherthan to any descriptionof the Solomonic
ThefloorthattheGermanteamdiscovered
on thesitein 1997
whichwasmuchlargeranddidnot standin an open
wasaboutfivemeterssquare,in an areabetweenthe residential Temple,
Althoughproponentsof the CriticalSchoolearlier
courtyard.
"Aramaean
of the 27thDynastyandthe northwallof concludedthattheTabernacle
Quarter"
wasa "piousfiction"(Cross1961:
theextendedKhnumtemple.Themulti-storied
mudbrick
houses
that"thetruthis that
and
Wellhausen
stated
203)
categorically
heredatedto the firstPersianperiod(525to 404 BCE)
andwere the Tabernacleis the
not
the
copy,
prototype,of the Temple
structureswithprimitivefinishesandbeatenearthfloors.The of
later
(1957:37),
Jerusalem"
opinionhas seen the biblical
existenceof an areaof tiledfloorsuggested
a buildingof superior descriptionas one basedon earliermodels.In particular
Frank
quality.The floorwas surroundedby mudbrickwalls,with a
it to havebeenbasedon theceremonial
MooreCross,Jr.considers
thicknessof onemeter,andsetwithina largerectangleofwalling tentof David,asmentioned
brieflyin 2 Sam6:17(1961:214).
arounda pavedareasurfacedin plaster.In accordance
withthe
Shiloh'stentedshrine,as the covenantsanctuarycentralto
locationgivenin the papyriandPorten'sinterpretation
of them the twelve-tribe
andthe placefromwhichtheArk
amphictyony
andthe fact that the non-typicalfloorindicateda buildingof wastakento fightthe Philistines(1 Sam4:4),wouldappearto
superiorquality,the excavatorsdeterminedthat this was the be a morelikelymodel(Josh18:1;1 Sam1:9and2 Sam7:6).To
locationandremainsof theJewishtempleat Elephantine.
datehowever,expeditions
to Shilohhaverecoveredno evidence
It was now clearthat the dimensionssuggestedby Porten of such a building.Accordingto one excavator,the elaborate
(aboutthirtyby ten meters)referredto the courtyardrather IronAge I pillaredstructurein Area C, on the west slopeof
than to the buildingitself.The templebuildingwas only six the tel mayhave acted as storeroomsbeneathan important
Tepl
10
:::
-- :i :
67:1 (2004)
The WildernessTabernacle,or Mishkan,
of Exodus25-27 is described as a
shrineincludingboth a cella and naos,
ten cubitswide and thirtycubits long
overall(Exod26:16-22). It stood in
a courtyardof fifty by one hundred
cubits (Exod27:11-13), of whichthe
majorpart, containingthe sacrificial
altar,was in front of the shrine.
0
• ---I : : :::
20
cubits
constructionsuch as a shrine(Finkelstein1993:29-30), but
nothingremainsaboveon the surfaceof the telto confirmsuch
a suggestion.CharlesWilsonandothershaveclaimedthatthe
smallplateaunorthof the telwasthe possiblesite of the tent
but later excavationsfoundno remainsof IronAge I date,
andthisproposalwas,therefore,dismissedby Finkelstein(see
Kaufman1988).
The distinctionof beingthe firstIsraelitetempleto be found
in an archaeological
contextbelongsto Aradin Israel,where
sucha structurewasexcavatedin 1963.Aharonidatedit, in its
threephases,fromthe tenthto the seventhcenturiesBCE,
and
believedit to be a trueIsraelitesanctuary,
withan altarforburnt
anincensealtarandoffering
tables,andwithoutanysign
offerings,
offigurines
orpaganvotiveofferings
(1973:3). Initsmainphase,it
stoodasa singlechamber
of threebytenmetersorientednorthto
south,thatis,withits entrancefromtheeastanditsholyof holies
in a nicheoradytonon thewestwall.Itsorientation
wassimilar
to
thatof theTabernacle
butit wasbuilton a broadroom
plan.
The AradTemplehadanoutercourtyard
witha centralaltar
to the eastof the shrine,exceptthatthe courtyard
wasonlyto
one side and did not extendaroundthe sidesandrearof the
shrine.Aharoniclaimedthat the threeby ten meterplanof
the temple,equivalentto six by twentycubits,conformedto
the dimensionsof the cella of the Mishkan,althoughthat is
describedasbeingten bytwentycubitsandextendinga further
ten cubitsforthe holyof holies,ornaos.Similarto the shrine
discoveredat Elephantine,
the Aradtempleservedasa military
establishment
(1967:248).
Herzog(1983)hassuggestedthata templewitha similarplan
andorientation
wasfoundat Beersheba-another
siteexcavated
altarhere(recovered
fromStratum
byAharoni.Thelargeopen-air
II) togetherwithearlierandlaterremains,pointto a shrineand
courtyard
parallelto thatof Arad,butherelocatedin the center
of the townof StratumIII.Herzogsuggeststhatit stoodfromthe
as
tenthto the seventhcenturiesBCE
at Arad.AlthoughdisputedbyYadin
(1976) and others,the proximityof
time andplacebetweenthe remains
at AradandBeersheba(twenty-five
kilometersapart)makethe similarity
of theirshrinesplausible.
The smallminer'stempleat Timna,
discoveredby Rothenbergin 1966 at the foot of "Solomon's
It
Pillars"
the designof theWilderness
alsoresembles
Tabernacle.
in
as
an
shrine
but
its
latest
started
phase(twelfth
clearly
Egyptian
onewitha squarecella
it becamea tentedMidianite
centuryBCE)
of aboutninebyninemetersarounda smallinnernaosset against
the rockface (Rothenberg
1972:125-29).It is the onlyknown
ancientshrinewitha tentedcovering(Rothenberg
1972:fig.44).
The so-called SolarShrineat Lachish,firstuncoveredby
Starkeyin the 1930sandreinvestigatedby Aharoniin 1966,
alsobearscomparison.Althoughthe originalexcavatorshad
assignedit to the Persianperiod,andAharonidatesit to the
Hellenisticperiod,he claimedthat its similarityto the Arad
shrineindicatesthattherewasan earliercultcenterat Lachish
As he says,the similarities
with
associated
withIsraeliteworship.
Aradarestriking.
Theshrineis somewhatlargerbutof the same
the cellais a broadroom
fourbytwelvemetersand
proportions;
twelvebyfifteenmeters.The orientation
the easterncourtyard
is the sameas Aradandthe adytonis alsoin the centerof the
westernwallandapproached
by threesteps.Howeverthereis
no signof an altarin the courtyard
(Aharoni1968:157-60and
in
If
indeed
it
existed
an
earlier
fig.1).
phase,asAharoniclaims,
the differences
betweenthe Lachishshrineandthe Wilderness
wouldbe the sameas thoseforAradandBeersheba.
Tabernacle
In connection with the Hellenistic shrine at Lachish,
Aharonimentionsthe contemporary
JewishTempleof Onias
This
is
the
at Leontopolis
(1968:162).
onlyotherknownJewish
in
The
of its
besides
temple Egypt
Elephantine. circumstances
fromJosephus
butitsphysicaldetails
riseandfallarewell-known
arein greatdoubt,especially
asthedescription
ofit inAntiquities
variesfromthat in TheJewishWars.In the first (13: 64-72)
Josephusdescribesit as modeledon the Templeof Jerusalem,
andtemple
whilein thesecond(7:426-32)he saysit is a fortress
unlikethatof Jerusalem,
witha towersixtycubitshigh.It must
be addedthatthe sitingandreconstruction
proposedbyW.M.
FlindersPetrie(1906:19-27),wholocatedit at Telel-Yehudiya,
Ina recent
is suspectandhasnot receivedfurthercorroboration.
visit to the site, I remainedunconvincedand,in anycase,any
67:1 (2004) 11
NEAREASTERN
ARCHAEOLOGY
to a knownJewishtempleor indeedthe description
of
similarity
the Wilderness
mustremaintentative.
Tabernacle
Crossraisesthe fascinatingpossibilitythat the "enormous
platformof unhewnstones"on MountGerizimaboveShechem,
which"revealsno traceof a superstructure"
mighthave "once
held a tabernacleor similarimpermanentstructure,which
wouldhaveleftno traceafterdestruction"
(1981:117-18). He
on
to
a
similar
at
the
earliershrineof
goes
suggest
possibility
Dan (1981:118n. 34). I mentionthesetwospeculativeideasas
model
theyrelatethe persistenceof the WildernessTabernacle
in the northernkingdomof Israel.
On thefewpiecesof evidenceknownto us,wehaveattempted
thetempleof Yahweh
at Elephantine.
Thebuilding
to reconstruct
to allowthe southern
wall
standsoff-centerwithinthe courtyard,
to avoidpartof the "streetof the king."Therearefivedoorways
shown,butonlytwoof themto the templeitself,leavingthree
for the courtyard.
The doorswouldhavehadstoneframing(as
in theletterof407BCE)
described
buttheremainder
ofthewallsare
in thefoundations
in mudbrick,
asfound.
to thethickness
indicated
The templeroofis of beamsof solidcedar,as in the documents,
andtheywouldhavebeencoveredby a goodlayerof plastered
renewedannually.Thattherewasan altarin the
mud,probably
is
to
be
assumed,butits formcannotbe known.There
courtyard
oftheJewishColony
at Elephantine willhavebeenspaceto slaughteranimalsanddrainageforthe
PossibleOrigins
The style and layout of the ElephantineJewishTemple excessblood,thoughin its secondphasethe altarwasonlyto be
of the
suggeststhat the Jewishmercenariesoriginatedin the former usedforcerealsacrificesandincense.As in descriptions
northernkingdomof Israeland not in Judahat the time of WildernessTabernacle
and the SolomonicTemple,therewere
Manasseh,or later,duringthe conquestsof Jerusalem.After probablyvesselsforritualwashing(Exod30:18)andspacefor
the deathof Josiahin battlewithPharaohNecho IIin 609 BCE, tetheringanimals.Beingso closelylocatedwithintheresidential
in theritualwithinthe
thatthelaityparticipated
area,it is possible
Judah,includingformerIsrael,cameunderthe dominationof
the Egyptians(2 Kgs23:33) andJewishsoldierswerefighting templesite,as theydidin the shrineat Shiloh(1 Sam1:12),and
underEgyptianordersin Babylonand elsewhere.It is very thereforetherewereseveraldoorways
to the courtyard.
This,of
in
in
that
these
later
had
not
been
the
case
the
of
whose
the
would
north,
course,
possible
troops,originating
Temple Jerusalem,
be taken,forciblyor voluntarily,
to servein Egyptandperhaps innerprecincts
werereserved
forthepriestsandthe Levitesalone.
reachthat countryin about600 BCE,
someeightyyearsbefore
theirtempleat Elephantinewaspreservedby CambysesII in Acknowledgements
525 BCE(Cowley1923:no. 30). If, as Crosshas suggested,the I wouldlike to thankYardennaAlexandre(IAA),JohnCamp(TelRehov
memoryof the Mishkanremainedwith the people of Israel Project),WernerKaiser(Germanteam,Berlin)andBezalelPorten(Hebrew
University)forvaluablesuggestionson individualaspectsof thispaper.
(the northernkingdom)then their setting up of a shrinein
its formwouldbe muchmorelikelythan buildingone on the
linesof the SolomonicTemple.It mightalsosuitthemto build References
a shrinein Egyptin defianceof the centralizing
reformsof 622 Aharoni,Y.
1967 Excavationsat Tel Arad,PreliminaryReporton the Second
BCE
byJosiah,whichobviouslycausedmuchdismayamongthe
Season 1963.IsraelExploration
Journal17: 233-49.
remainingpeoplesof the northernkingdom.
1968 TrialExcavationin the "SolarShrine"at Lachish,Preliminary
Fromwhatwe havebrieflysummarized
hereofJewishtemples
Journal18: 157-80.
Report.IsraelExploration
andshrines,one can now see that the remainsat Elephantine
1973 The Solomonic Temple, the Tabernacle and the Arad
comecloserto the descriptionof the Wilderness
in
to
Tabernacle
Sanctuary.Pp. 1-8 in OrientandOccident,EssaysPresented
C. H. Gordon,editedby H. A. Hoffner,Jr.Neukirchen-Vluyn:
Exodus25-27 thananyotherknownremains.The Wilderness
NeukirchenerVerlag.
or Mishkan,is describedas a two-roomshrine,cella
Tabernacle,
andnaos,ten cubitswideandthirtycubitslongoverall,or about Cowley,A. E.
1923 AramaicPapyriof theFifthCenturyB.C. Oxford:Clarendon.
fivebyfifteenmeters(Exod26:16-22).It stoodin a courtyard
of
E M.,Jr.
Cross,
cubits(Exod.27:11-13)ortwenty-five
fiftybyonehundred
byfifty
1961 The Priestly Tabernacle. Pp. 201-28 in The Biblical
thesacrificial
meters,ofwhichthemajorpart,containing
altar,was
Reader,Vol. 1, editedby G. E.Wrightand D. N.
Archaeologist
in frontof theshrine.InthecaseofElephantine,
theshrinewassix
Freedman.GardenCity,NY:Anchor.
twenty-three
bysixteenmetersandthe courtyard
byfortymeters.
1981 The PriestlyTabernaclein the Lightof Recent Research.Pp.
Both mayhave been longer,as explainedabove,and the courtyard
undoubtedlyheld an altarto offerthe sacrificesso resentedby the
priestsof Khnum.Nevertheless,even the scant remainsindicate
that the proportionsof the shrineand its courtyardweresimilarto
those of the descriptionof the Mishkan,whose shrinewas of the
proportionof threeto one andthe courtyardtwo to one. Wherethe
Elephantinetempledid not conformis in its orientation,havingits
presumedentrance (now missing) to the southwestand its naos
to the northeast, but this can be taken to be the accident of its
locationbetweenthe "Aramaean
Quarter"of the Jewishmercenary
colonyand the "streetof the king."
12
169-80 in Temples
andHighPlacesin BiblicalTimes,edited by
A. Biran.Jerusalem:HebrewUnion College.
Finkelstein,I. et al.
1993
Shiloh,theArchaeologyof a BiblicalSite. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv
University.
Herzog,Z.
1983 IsraeliteSanctuariesat Aradand Beer-Sheba.Pp. 120-22 in
andHighPlacesin BiblicalTimes,editedby A. Biran.
Temples
Jerusalem:HebrewUnion College.
Kaiser,W.
1998 Elephantine,the AncientTown.Cairo: GermanInstitute of
Archaeology.
67:1 (2004)
Kaufman,A. S.
1988 Fixingthe Siteof the Tabernacleat Shiloh.Biblical
Archaeology
Review14:46-52.
Kraeling,E. G.
1961 New light on the Elephantine Colony. Pp. 128-44 in The
BiblicalArchaeologist
Reader,Vol.I, editedby G. E. Wrightand
D. N. Friedman.GardenCity,NY:Anchor.
Lewy,H., and Lewy,J.
1968 The Weekandthe OldestWestAsiaticCalendar.Pp. 1-152C
in HebrewUnionCollegeAnnual17. (Reprintof 1942-1943
edition.)New York:Ktav.
Petrie,SirW M. E
1906 HyksosandIsraeliteCities.London:UniversityCollege.
von Pilgrim,C.
1999 Der Tempeldes Jahwe'.Pp. 142-45 in Stadtund Tempelvon
Elephantine,edited by W. Kaiser et al. Mitteilungen des
DeuteschenArchaeologischenInstitutsAbteilungKairo55.
Cairo:GermanArchaeologicalInstitute.
2002 DasArameischeQuartierim Stadtgebietder27. Dynastie.Pp.
editedby G. von
192-97 in StadtundTempelvonElephantine,
Dreyeret al. Mitteilungendes DeutschenArchaeologischen
InstitutsAbteilungKairo58. Cairo:GermanArchaeological
Institute.
2003 Tempeldes Jahuund "Strassedes Koenigs"-ein Konfliktin
der spaitenPerserzeitauf Elephantine.Pp. 303-17 in Egypt,
Templeof theWholeWorld:Studiesin HonourofJanAssmann,
editedby S. Meyer.Leiden:Brill.
Porten,B.
1968 ArchivesfromElephantine,
theLifeof an AncientJewishMilitary
Colony.Berkeley:Universityof California.
Review
1995 Did the Ark Stop at Elephantine?BiblicalArchaeology
21(3): 54-67.
2003 Elephantineand the Bible. Pp. 51-84 in SemiticPapyrology
in Context:A Climateof Creativity.Papersfroma New York
UniversityConferenceMarkingthe Retirementof BaruchA.
Levine,editedby LawrenceH. Schiffman.Leiden:Brill.
Rothenberg,B.
1972 WereTheseKingSolomon'sMines?:Excavationsin the Timna
Valley.New York:Stein andDay.
Wellhausen,J.
to the Historyof AncientIsrael.Trans.of 1878
1957 Prolegomena
editedby M. MenziesandM. Black.New York:Meridian.
Yadin,Y.
1976 Beersheba,the HighPlacedestroyedbyKingJosiah.Bulletinof
222: 5-17.
theAmericanSchoolsof OrientalResearch
ABOUT
THE
AUTHOR
COM,' I
FR
OM
ASOR
SOON
NG
PUBLICATIONS
Cult Image and Divine Representation
in the Ancient Near East
Edited by Neal H. Walls
Description:
While biblicalprophetsridiculedthe notionof humans
fashioningan idolthattheywould thenworship,ancient
Near Easterntheologiansdevelopeda sophisticated
religioussystemin whichdivinebeingscouldbe physically
manifestwithinthe materialof a culticimagewithout
The fouressaysin this
beinglimitedby thatembodiment.
compactvolumeexaminethe intriguing
subjectof cultic
in Mesopotamia,
imagesanddivineiconography
Egypt,
AnatoliaandSyria-Palestine.
This interesting
andeclectic
groupof essaysexploresthetextualandartifactual
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scholarlyinterestin the studyof divinerepresentation
ancientIsraelandthe Near Eastmakesthiscomprehensivereexamination
especiallytimely.
Contents:
* CultStatuesinAncientEgypt,GayRobins
* "AStatueforthe Deity":CultImagesin Hittite
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* The Mesopotamian
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* Syro-Palestinian
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hasworkedas
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digsin Israeloverthelastthirtyyears,
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Lachish,
including
He earnedhis
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andHonorary
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of the Anglo-IsraelArchaeological StephenRosenberg
SocietyinLondon.
67:1 (2004)
13

The Jewish Temple at Elephantine

Transcription

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