Rainey's Technical Discussion

Mark Hofman — USA (5/17/2010 10:58:05 PM)

You can find his discussion in his review of Loretz' book in: JAOS, vol. 107, no. 3 (Jul - Sep 1987), pp. 539-541.

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anti-Semitic factor

Hebrew University Archaeology Student — Israel (11/27/2008 1:17:33 PM)

To be honest...Dr. Rainey's words, "There seem to have been several kinds of habiru—but always of inferior status" is pretty much how I'd expect the ancient Near East-Mesopotamia/Egypt to describe the Semites/Hebrews in their propaganda. Why would we expect the Hebrews to be portrayed positively in ancient Near Eastern inscriptions/documents? I've read Dr. Rainey's article in his atlas "The Sacred Bridge" and wasn't convinced. Why not allow for multiple origins and possibilities? At our classes at the Institute, Prof. Ami Mazar, noted that Shechem appeared to be a capital city of a region of LB Canaan where Habiru resided (p. 237, Archaeology of the Land of the Bible). Interestingly, Shechem is also the location for the Israelite confederacy/covenant which is found in the Book of Joshua (Josh. 24:25-26). In the least, preserving some kind of founding element of the Israelites with a strong link the Habiru. Finally, on the version of this image of the Shasu that I've seen...there is a Hittite to the right of the Shasu...he could just as well be a "Habiru" working as a mercenary for the Hittites-which they did. In a ref I recall the Habiru were described as nomadic "half-clothed" individuals. I'm sure a few Israelites managed to sneak into some ancient propaganda.

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Hebrews and Hapiru

C. Stratigakis — USA (11/19/2008 3:33:09 PM)

I found a picture showing a Philistine from the same tomb. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:PalaceInlays-NubiansPhilistineAmoriteSyrianAndHittite-Compilation-MuseumOfFineArtsBoston.png

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Hebrews and Hapiru

C. Stratigakis — (11/19/2008 3:06:07 PM)

To Bonnie Oswald BFA, MA Sandy Utah: If you look at the other pictures from the site listed below, you can see how this Shasu (one of the Foreign prisoners of Ramesses III) differs from the others that are portrayed not only by clothing, but also by hair and skin color. I do not believe that he is wearing a headdress. I think that is a "headband". His hair and sideburns are blond. Was the artist trying to convey tightly waved /dreadlocks or extremely strait hair? His beard is both dark and light intermixed; black painted eyebrows and eyes. He also appears to be someone of importance. Not your average prisoner. mathildasdiary.files.wordpress.com

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Hebrews and Hapiru

Jim — U.S.A (11/14/2008 9:04:47 PM)

I stand convinced these Hapiru and Shasu BOTH likely contributed to early Israel. I think this article jumps to some very swift conclusions before a scholarly consensus has arrived, and I don't think we can eliminate all linguistic connections at this point.

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Hebrews and Hapiru

Kurt Hoyer — USA (11/3/2008 6:53:54 PM)

Dr. Rainey's articles are always a pleasure to read. As a layman (informed I hope) it is hard to find enough information on this subject to make an informed decision, a frustration echoed in other comments here. We have to make do with experts telling us something "is" or "isn't" and then we play the game of "line up the experts" and try to determine who trumps whom. Unsatisfactory all around. We are told that "Habiru" is not equivalent to "Hebrew" because the former is not an ethnic term. Why do we assume that "Hebrew" as used in the Torah and through Kings/Chronicles is an ethnic term? With a couple of exceptions, it seems to be used very much like "Habiru" in the Amarna tablets. It seems both terms could easily be replaced with "vagabond." I think the case is obvious that all the Habiru were not Israelites, but the neighbors could have easily referred to Israelites as Habiru. In fact the term seems particularly appropriate.

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Picture on latest cover

Bonnie Oswald, BFA, MA — USA (10/30/2008 1:37:08 PM)

I an an artist.art historian, and taught art history in several colleges. I greatly enjoy BAR. I am currently writing a book on the art history of the peoples of the Old Testament. Medinet Habu is a rich source of graphic images of Bible peoples, including Israelites. Unfortunately, the image you have shown is probably a Philistine. Philistines were identifiable by the feathered headdress. The warriors usually wore a short kilted skirt, but others wore a longer skirt, as shown. But the headdress is a Philistine style. Look at some of the other glazed tiles in Medinet Habu to see Israelites. Bonnie Oswald BFA, MA Sandy Utah

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Archaeologist & Biblical scholar

Dr. David Inbar — Israel (10/27/2008 6:47:33 PM)

Dr. Rainey is wrong when he says that the Habiru are not the Hebrews. He should read the bet shan inscription of Seti I , which says that the Habiru refrred to by Rainey are "Ipru" (Hebrews) and had the Biblical tribal names of "Raham" & "Tirya" (Tiru), which are part pf the tribe of Juda. They are Hebrews already. The Amarna Archive tells of those Apiru which had hebrew/semitic names, spoke and wrote Akkadian and Hebrew mixed together, and were comming from the north. Dr. David Inbar

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Philology of "habiru"

Francine Lefkowitz — USA (10/22/2008 2:21:52 PM)

Dr. Rainey's referal to his analysis of the term "habiru" as it relates to "ivri" is not available to all. I would appreciate having this printed in this forum -- perhaps it is not "too technical" for all BAR readers.

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