Introduction
Zvi (n.d, P.73) made a publication under the title “Malleability and its Limits: Sennacherib's Campaign against Judah as a Case-Study.” It is notable that the objective of the publication was to use the case study in assessing the subject of malleability and its limits in historical reporting. The author of the aforementioned publication picked the aforementioned case study owing to three reasons. First, the chosen campaign had a stable historical outcome that lasted long. Second, information and archeological data on the topic allowed the author to conduct a critical research (Zvi, n.d: 75). Third, it was possible to compare two accounts of the campaign authored form distinct viewpoints and social allocations. The author was able to establish that ancient writers could mould their account of the campaign to serve particular theological, ideological, literary, and rhetorical purposes, as required by their own situation (Zvi, n.d: 89). This paper is an objective critique to Zvi’s (n.d) publication because it analyzes the main debate, methods used, and evidence provided by the author.
The Main Debate
It is crucial to consider the objectives of the author owing to the reality that these objectives will elucidate on the publication’s main argument. Hence, the first objective from the author was to focus on the narrative accounts of the campaign against Judah according to history. It should be noted that another objective was to focus on Israelite history exclusively. Therefore, the main goal of the publication was to analyze the subject of malleability and its limits in a particular set of accounts (Zvi, n.d: 77). These accounts could claim to refer to one historical event or be an integral part of extensive historical...
... middle of paper ...
... mentioned) (Zvi, n.d: 87). However, the modern historical-critical analysis mentioned described Sennacherib as a successful military leader (which enabled him to conquer his enemies) (Kalimi and Richardson, 2014: 226). Therefore, it sufficed to deduce that the Zvi (n.d) used empirical evidence.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Zvi (n.d) used empirical evidence and an acceptable evidence to build a scholarly argument. This is enhanced by the reality that the author used a several sources to establish that malleability of narratives is associated with elements of credibility in historical representations that exist in diverse groups. However, the author generalized Sennacherib in the annalistic and Chronicles account. This is questionable because several scholars would want to know his reason for generalizing Sennacherib’s character in the annalistic and Chronicles account.
the Accuracy of the Chronicle of Al-Jabarti." Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. No. 2 (1970): 283-294. http://www.jstor.org/stable/613005 (accessed November 30, 2013).
with the intent of widespread entertainment, elements of comedy and other aspects of entertaining film can, at times, cloud the message and content of the documentary. An anti-war advocate, Terry Jones’ presentation of matter so closely related to strong personal sentiments can also introduce a degree of bias in the presentation and approach taken to analyzing the events detailed in the series. However, the documentary incorporates the input and analysis of several highly-regarded medieval historians, including Jonathan Riley-Smith, Suheil Zakkar, Fikret Isiltan, David Lazenby, and Christopher Tyerman. This group of historians, all highly esteemed individuals in the field, are able to offer a balanced and likely unbiased account of what they believe to be true about the
My essay will challenge the comparison and differentiation between a scene from the sacred text in The Hebrew Bible and The Yusuf Sura of the Koran. The scene I will be focusing is the one in which Joseph is seduced by the king’s wife. More specifically, I will be demonstrating that in the Koran good and evil are made explicit in the world of the story and for the reader, while the Bible suggest that you should identify good and evil for yourself.
In this essay I aim to examine the roots of Hasmonean rule and observe the relationship between the regime and `Hellenism' (mainly in the political context), and ascertain to what extent Hellenism became an integrated part of the Hasmonean dynasty's mode of governing its state. It is noteworthy to point out that many scholars explain the process of Hellenization as a long and drawn out one, as Lester Grabbe concisely states; "Hellenization was a centuries-long process of synthesis and diversification. It was not the simple imposition of Greek culture on the natives; indeed, the Greeks on the whole did not impose their culture but rather jealously preserved their `superior' political and cultural position in the Near Eastern society." Another aspect to bear in mind is that Greek coinage was used throughout the land of Palestine during the Persian period and Greek pottery found in the area has been dated as early as the fourteenth century B.C.E. So to suggest that the Greeks and their culture were totally alien to the peoples of Palestine until the arrival of Alexander (and subsequently the Ptolemies and Seleucids) would be to ignore this evidence. This being the case, why was it not until Antiochus IV of the Seleucids that open revolt (and the beginning of the Maccabee's rise to power) in opposition to `Hellenism' occurred? I will attempt to answer this complex question in the course of this essay.
This marked the beginning of the Palestine armed conflict, one of its kinds to be witnessed in centuries since the fall of the Ottoman Empire and World War 1. Characterized by a chronology of endless confrontations, this conflict has since affected not only the Middle East relations, but also the gl...
1996. “Sacrifices and Offerings in Ancient Israel” in Community, Identity, and Ideology: Social Science approach to the Hebrew Bible., ed. Charles E. Carter.
In “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop, the narrator attempts to understand the relationship between humans and nature and finds herself concluding that they are intertwined due to humans’ underlying need to take away from nature, whether through the act of poetic imagination or through the exploitation and contamination of nature. Bishop’s view of nature changes from one where it is an unknown, mysterious, and fearful presence that is antagonistic, to one that characterizes nature as being resilient when faced against harm and often victimized by people. Mary Oliver’s poem also titled “The Fish” offers a response to Bishop’s idea that people are harming nature, by providing another reason as to why people are harming nature, which is due to how people are unable to view nature as something that exists and goes beyond the purpose of serving human needs and offers a different interpretation of the relationship between man and nature. Oliver believes that nature serves as subsidence for humans, both physically and spiritually. Unlike Bishop who finds peace through understanding her role in nature’s plight and acceptance at the merging between the natural and human worlds, Oliver finds that through the literal act of consuming nature can she obtain a form of empowerment that allows her to become one with nature.
Main Events in the history of Jerusalem. (n.d.). Retrieved May 8, 2011, from Century One Educational Bookstore: http://www.centuryone.com/hstjrslm.html
The Book of Daniel is the only full-blown apocalyptic book in the Protestant recognized version of the Canon. A literary device divides the book into two halves. Chapters 1-6 are a collection of stories that introduces the reader to Daniel and three other Israelites as unwilling guests of the Babylonian Empire ruled by Nebuchadnezzar. The second half, Chapters 7-12, consists of apocalyptic imagery of deformed beasts and the heavenly court. The focus of this paper will be on chapter 7, which serves as a bridge between the two halves.
Scholars have shifted from the notion that the Bible differs from other ancient Near Eastern literature, cultures, and religions. If this were so, the Bible would be considered a myth. In this chapter Oswalt gives descriptions to what a myth is and gives insight into whether it is acceptable to label the Bible as a myth. Since the 1960s, scholars have been stating that the attributes of the Bible and its contemporary belief system have more in common to a myth even though the data used to make these claims have remained the same.
Hagar is the woman some commentators think treated Sarai with disdain, while others view her as the victim of Abram and Sarai’s impatience and disobedience to God. In this paper I will review each commentators thought on Hagar in Genesis 16, and my opinion on their observations. This paper will be broken into four sections: Harsh criticisms of Hagar, Hagar as the victim, unbiased of Hagar, three different points of view, and the conclusion.
If history has taught us anything about the past it is that the views of the past are for the most part negligible to change which is why it is possible to find a variety of interpretations and explanations for one single event. No truer claim can be made about the Greco-Persian War of 5th century BC as an examination of Paul Cartledge and Peter Green’s work as influential writers in comparisons to other historians of this field can yield several points of interests where there has been coherence but also conflict due to their treatment of ancient sources. More importantly is that by comparing Cartledge and Green’s work it is possible to see how representative their work is of the academic consensus surrounding the Persian Wars. These areas include the treatments of early records after the war, the time and dates of the oath of Plataea, the military background of the Persian immortals, the rationale for Leonidas’ decision to fight at Thermopylae, consideration over when the turning point of the war occurred along with when the war ended and lastly an evaluation on the prolonged legacy of the war. From these topics it can be argued that both authors can be regarded as atypical in their interpretation of tradition sources by challenging some of the assumption made while also being representative on the end of the war.
The following paper examines a close reading of the figure of Moses in Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy with respect to the issue of why he is barred from entering the Promised Land of Canaan as well as in the Quran. Moreover, after considering the stories and character of Moses in these respective texts, I will then analyze the two accounts in order to examine their similarities and differences.
The Epic of Sundiata, which relates not only information about the Empire of Mali in the 13th and 14th centuries but also details of the ancient Mande Culture, is a valuable document that describes a period of time about which very little is known. Despite this reality, historians continue to debate the epic 's suitability as a historical source. It is clear that such a discussion revolves around the underlying question of the reliability of oral tradition; arguably, to deny the epic solely on the grounds that it relies on oral tradition constitutes a veritable disregard for a form of history that, when employed correctly, may effectively reveal important cultural values and ethics.
Overall, it can be seen that “historical truth” is most likely not possible to be recovered by the historian due to several difficulties as stated in this paper. In my opinion, the only thing that a historian is able to provide to us is the “truth” from the perspective of the historians. Also, it is important for us to keep in mind that all the historical account can be interpreted in any way that the interpreter wants and we should be on alert and consistently judge any historical reading that we may have come across.