#aramaean

[aivoluptulicious]

Stunning native Aramaean woman in her mid 30s

[whencyclopedia]

The Mutual Destruction of Sennacherib & Babylon

The reign of Assyrian king Sennacherib (705-681 BCE) was chiefly characterized by his difficulties with Babylon. Throughout the history of the Assyrian Empire, Babylon had caused problems and had even been destroyed by the Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I in c. 1225 BCE. Even so, there were direct cultural bonds between Babylon and Ashur, capital of the Assyrian Empire, and the city was always re-built and re-populated. Babylon was more than just a physical city of bricks and streets in the minds of the Mesopotamians: it was a cultural center of immense significance. Tukulti-Ninurta I's desecration of Babylon and her gods, in fact, led directly to his assassination. Owing to its status among the people of Mesopotamia, however, the people of Babylon seemed to feel that they could repeatedly throw off the authority of whatever ruling body held the region with impunity, and one can understand how a king could become tired of such an attitude. This was precisely what happened with Sennacherib in his dealings with the great city.

Sargon II & Sennacherib

Sennacherib's problems with Babylon were largely inherited. His father, Sargon II (reigned 722-705 BCE) had defeated the tribal chieftain Merodach-Baladan and driven him from Babylon but had allowed him to live. Once Sargon II was dead, and Sennacherib took the throne, Merodach-Baladan returned to Babylon and re-claimed the throne. The Babylonians welcomed him; Sennacherib had done nothing at all to endear himself to the city. As the new king, he was supposed to have participated in the ceremony in which he took the hand of the statue of the god Marduk as a sign of respect for the god, Babylon, and the people Marduk presided over. Instead, Sennacherib had simply sent them word that he was now king of Babylon and never even bothered to visit the city. Merodach-Baladan was not in the least bit concerned about the new king. Sennacherib was considered a weakling. He had never taken part in any of his father's military campaigns and had spent his earlier life as crown prince with administrative duties, while Sargon II had achieved his glorious victories on the battlefield. When Sennacherib heard that Merodach-Baladan had taken Babylon, he did not even lead a force to re-claim it himself but, instead, sent his commander-in-chief at the head of an army. This force was swiftly defeated by the combined forces of Babylon and their allies the Elamites and Aramaeans in 703 BCE. Babylon then arranged its troops, just in case the Assyrians came back again, and settled down to its own business. According to the historian Susan Wise Bauer:

That was the last straw. Sennacherib himself came sweeping down like the wrath of Assur and broke through the allied front line, barely pausing. Merodach-Baladan ran from the battlefield and crept into the marshes of the Sealand, which he knew well, to hide himself; Sennacherib marched the rest of the way to Babylon, which prudently opened its gates as soon as it saw the Assyrian king on the horizon. Sennacherib came through the open gate, but chose to send Babylon a message: he ransacked the city, took almost a quarter of a million captives, and destroyed the fields and groves of anyone who had joined the alliance against him (384).

The people of Babylon quickly realized that the poor opinion they had held of Sennacherib was misguided. In this early campaign the new king showed himself an adept tactician, able military leader, and ruthless enemy.

Continue reading...

[drsonnet]

The #Berlinale Documentary Award goes to “No Other Land” by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, and Rachel Szor.

The Palestinian Basel Adra and the Israeli Yuval Abraham, two friends, were honored at the German film awards ceremony Berlinale for their documentary “No Other Land” about the destruction of a Palestinian village. They used the opportunity to clearly criticize Germany's support for Israeli crimes.

#stoparmingisrael. #caesefirenow.

The German media is going crazy because there was applause for it.

Mayor of Berlin is angry and (as usual) accused them with (Antisemitism)!!!

#stoparmingisrael. #caesefirenow.

Semite: The term therefore came to include Arabs, Akkadians, Canaanites, Hebrews, some Ethiopians (including the Amhara and the Tigrayans), and Aramaean tribes. 

Semite | Definition, Peoples, & Facts | Britannica

مسافر..مسافر يطا ..Masafer Yatta.. מסאפר יטא

Masafer Yatta - Wikipedia

[tsalmu]

Seated figure with lotus flower and two bull-men holding winged Sun Aramean Stele Syria, Tell Halaf c. 900 BCE Met Museum #43.135.1 "This slab is carved on two sides. On the front, a bearded male figure holding a lotus blossom is shown seated before two bullmen supporting a winged sun disk. On the side, a beardless male figure stands with a mace raised in his hand.

This slab is one of many excavated at Tell Halaf, the ancient Aramaean site of Guzana, bearing images of fantastic creatures, hunting scenes, and ceremonial banquets. Carved in the late tenth or ninth century B.C., before the Assyrian conquests of the region, the reliefs appear to have embellished an earlier building and then been reused on the walls of the palace of King Kapara. This building was a special local form known as a bit hilani, composed of two parallel long rooms, one of which had a pillared entrance."

Source: The Met Museum

[belleandre-belle]

Definition of Anti-Semitic

The ADL and mainstream media use the term “Anti-Semitic” as a defensive mechanism to discredit any criticism and facts that goes against Zionist agendas.

This is not surprising though, as it is a reality that elite Zionists own the vast bulk of the mega cartel media. This means they cater towards protecting this cabal that is operating around us. Anyone who dares to speak against Zionist agendas or genocides is targeted and labeled an “Anti-Semite” even despite of all facts that are said.

Why does the term “Anti-Semite” singly direct Jewish people? As if there aren’t 15 or so more “Semitic” nations and groups of people. Many aren’t even aware of the word’s definition.

DEFINITION:

- The term therefore came to include Arabs, Akkadians, Canaanites, Hebrews, some Ethiopians (including the Amhara and the Tigrayans), and Aramaean tribes.

- Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples or Proto-Semitic people were speakers of Semitic languages who lived throughout the ancient Near East and North Africa, including the Levant, Mesopotamia, the Arabian Peninsula and Carthage from the 3rd millennium BC until the end of antiquity, with some, such as Arabs, Arameans

Speaker: Jordan Maxwell

[roman-catholic-mass-readings]

22nd June >> Mass Readings (Except USA)

Saturday, Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time 

or

Saints John Fisher, Bishop, and Thomas More, Martyrs 

or

Saint Paulinus of Nola, Bishop 

or

Saturday memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary 

Saturday, Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time 

(Liturgical Colour: Green. Year: B(II))

First Reading 2 Chronicles 24:17-25 'You have deserted the Lord: now he deserts you'.

After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came to pay court to the king, and the king now turned to them for advice. The Judaeans abandoned the Temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, for the worship of sacred poles and idols. Because of their guilt, God’s anger fell on Judah and Jerusalem. He sent them prophets to bring them back to the Lord, but when these gave their message, they would not listen. The spirit of God took possession of Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood up before the people and said, ‘God says this, “Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord to no good purpose? You have deserted the Lord, now he deserts you.”’ They then plotted against him and by order of the king stoned him in the court of the Temple of the Lord. King Joash, forgetful of the kindness that Jehoiada, the father of Zechariah, had shown him, killed Jehoiada’s son who cried out as he died, ‘The Lord sees and he will avenge!’ When a year had gone by, the Aramaean army made war on Joash. They reached Judah and Jerusalem, and executed all the officials among the people, sending back to the king at Damascus all that they had plundered from them. Though the Aramaean army had by no means come in force, the Lord delivered into its power an army of great size for having deserted him, the God of their ancestors. The Aramaeans treated Joash as he had deserved, and when they retired they left him a very sick man; and his officers, plotting against him to avenge the death of the son of Jehoiada the priest, murdered him in his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the Citadel of David, though not in the tombs of the kings.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 88(89):4-5,29-34

R/ I will keep my love for him always.

‘With my chosen one I have made a covenant; I have sworn to David my servant: I will establish your dynasty for ever and set up your throne through all ages.

R/ I will keep my love for him always.

‘I will keep my love for him always; with him my covenant shall last. I will establish his dynasty for ever, make his throne endure as the heavens.

R/ I will keep my love for him always.

‘If his sons forsake my law and refuse to walk as I decree and if ever they violate my statutes, refusing to keep my commands; then I will punish their offences with the rod, then I will scourge them on account of their guilt.

R/ I will keep my love for him always.

‘But I will never take back my love, my truth will never fail.’

R/ I will keep my love for him always.

Gospel Acclamation Matthew 4:4

Alleluia, alleluia! Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Alleluia!

Or: 2 Corinthians 8:9

Alleluia, alleluia! Jesus Christ was rich, but he became poor for your sake, to make you rich out of his poverty. Alleluia!

Gospel Matthew 6:24-34 Do not worry about tomorrow: your holy Father knows your needs

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘No one can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money. ‘That is why I am telling you not to worry about your life and what you are to eat, nor about your body and how you are to clothe it. Surely life means more than food, and the body more than clothing! Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they are? Can any of you, for all his worrying, add one single cubit to his span of life? And why worry about clothing? Think of the flowers growing in the fields; they never have to work or spin; yet I assure you that not even Solomon in all his regalia was robed like one of these. Now if that is how God clothes the grass in the field which is there today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will he not much more look after you, you men of little faith? So do not worry; do not say, “What are we to eat? What are we to drink? How are we to be clothed?” It is the pagans who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on his righteousness, and all these other things will be given you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.’

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

---------------------------

Saints John Fisher, Bishop, and Thomas More, Martyrs 

(Liturgical Colour: Red. Year: B(II))

(Readings for the memorial)

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Saturday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First Reading 1 Peter 4:12-19 If you can have some share in the sufferings of Christ, be glad.

My dear people, you must not think it unaccountable that you should be tested by fire. There is nothing extraordinary in what has happened to you. If you can have some share in the sufferings of Christ, be glad, because you will enjoy a much greater gladness when his glory is revealed. It is a blessing for you when they insult you for bearing the name of Christ, because it means that you have the Spirit of glory, the Spirit of God resting on you. None of you should ever deserve to suffer for being a murderer, a thief, a criminal or an informer; but if anyone of you should suffer for being a Christian, then he is not to be ashamed of it; he should thank God that he has been called one. The time has come for the judgement to begin at the household of God; and if what we know now is only the beginning, what will it be when it comes down to those who refuse to believe God’s Good News? If it is hard for a good man to be saved, what will happen to the wicked and to sinners? So even those whom God allows to suffer must trust themselves to the constancy of the creator and go on doing good.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 125(126):1-6

R/ Those who are sowing in tears will sing when they reap.

When the Lord delivered Zion from bondage, it seemed like a dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, on our lips there were songs.

R/ Those who are sowing in tears will sing when they reap.

The heathens themselves said: ‘What marvels the Lord worked for them!’ What marvels the Lord worked for us! Indeed we were glad.

R/ Those who are sowing in tears will sing when they reap.

Deliver us, O Lord, from our bondage as streams in dry land. Those who are sowing in tears will sing when they reap.

R/ Those who are sowing in tears will sing when they reap.

They go out, they go out, full of tears, carrying seed for the sowing: they come back, they come back, full of song, carrying their sheaves.

R/ Those who are sowing in tears will sing when they reap.

Gospel Acclamation Matthew 5:10

Alleluia, alleluia! Happy those who are persecuted in the cause of right, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Alleluia!

Gospel Matthew 10:34-39 It is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword.

Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: ‘Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth: it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies will be those of his own household. ‘Anyone who prefers father or mother to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who prefers son or daughter to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me. Anyone who finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.’

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

---------------------------

Saint Paulinus of Nola, Bishop 

(Liturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II))

(Readings for the memorial)

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Saturday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First Reading 2 Corinthians 8:9-15 He was rich, but became poor for your sake, to make you rich out of his poverty.

Remember how generous the Lord Jesus was: he was rich, but he became poor for your sake, to make you rich out of his poverty. As I say, I am only making a suggestion; it is only fair to you, since you were the first, a year ago, not only in taking action but even in deciding to. So now finish the work and let the results be worthy, as far as you can afford it, of the decision you made promptly. As long as the readiness is there, a man is acceptable with whatever he can afford; never mind what is beyond his means. This does not mean that to give relief to others you ought to make things difficult for yourselves: it is a question of balancing what happens to be your surplus now against their present need, and one day they may have something to spare that will supply your own need. That is how we strike a balance: as scripture says: The man who gathered much had none too much, the man who gathered little did not go short.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 39(40):2,4,7-10

R/ Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

I waited, I waited for the Lord and he stooped down to me; he heard my cry. He put a new song into my mouth, praise of our God.

R/ Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

You do not ask for sacrifice and offerings, but an open ear. You do not ask for holocaust and victim. Instead, here am I.

R/ Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

In the scroll of the book it stands written that I should do your will. My God, I delight in your law in the depth of my heart.

R/ Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

Your justice I have proclaimed in the great assembly. My lips I have not sealed; you know it, O Lord.

R/ Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

Gospel Acclamation Matthew 5:3

Alleluia, alleluia! How happy are the poor in spirit: theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Alleluia!

Gospel Luke 12:32-34 It has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom.

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘There is no need to be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom. ‘Sell your possessions and give alms. Get yourselves purses that do not wear out, treasure that will not fail you, in heaven where no thief can reach it and no moth destroy it. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

-----------------------------

Saturday memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary 

(Liturgical Colour: White. Year: B(II))

(Readings for the memorial)

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Saturday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

Either

First Reading Genesis 3:9-15,20 The mother of all those who live.

After Adam had eaten of the tree the Lord God called to him. ‘Where are you?’ he asked. ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden;’ he replied ‘I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.’ ‘Who told you that you were naked?’ he asked ‘Have you been eating of the tree I forbade you to eat?’ The man replied, ‘It was the woman you put with me; she gave me the fruit, and I ate it.’ Then the Lord God asked the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman replied, ‘The serpent tempted me and I ate.’ Then the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this,

‘Be accursed beyond all cattle, all wild beasts. You shall crawl on your belly and eat dust every day of your life. I will make you enemies of each other: you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. It will crush your head and you will strike its heel.’

The man named his wife ‘Eve’ because she was the mother of all those who live.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

OR: --------

First reading Genesis 12:1-7 All the tribes of the earth shall bless themselves by you

The Lord said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your family and your father’s house, for the land I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name so famous that it will be used as a blessing.

‘I will bless those who bless you: I will curse those who slight you. All the tribes of the earth shall bless themselves by you.’

So Abram went as the Lord told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had amassed and the people they had acquired in Haran. They set off for the land of Canaan, and arrived there. Abram passed through the land as far as Shechem’s holy place, the Oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘It is to your descendants that I will give this land.’ So Abram built there an altar for the Lord who had appeared to him.

OR: --------

First reading 2 Samuel 7:1-5,8-11,16 The Lord will make you great; the Lord will make you a House

Once David had settled into his house and the Lord had given him rest from all the enemies surrounding him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, ‘Look, I am living in a house of cedar while the ark of God dwells in a tent.’ Nathan said to the king, ‘Go and do all that is in your mind, for the Lord is with you.’ But that very night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: ‘Go and tell my servant David, “Thus the Lord speaks: Are you the man to build me a house to dwell in? I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader of my people Israel; I have been with you on all your expeditions; I have cut off all your enemies before you. I will give you fame as great as the fame of the greatest on earth. I will provide a place for my people Israel; I will plant them there and they shall dwell in that place and never be disturbed again; nor shall the wicked continue to oppress them as they did, in the days when I appointed judges over my people Israel; I will give them rest from all their enemies. The Lord will make you great; the Lord will make you a House. Your House and your sovereignty will always stand secure before me and your throne be established for ever.”’

OR: --------

First reading 1 Chronicles 15:3-4,15-16,16:1-2 They brought in the ark of God and put it inside the tent that David had pitched for it

David gathered all Israel together to bring the ark of God up to the place he had prepared for it. David called together the sons of Aaron and the sons of Levi. And the Levites carried the ark of God with the shafts on their shoulders, as Moses had ordered in accordance with the word of the Lord. David then told the heads of the Levites to assign duties for their kinsmen as cantors, with their various instruments of music, harps and lyres and cymbals, to play joyful tunes. They brought the ark of God in and put it inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and they offered holocausts before God, and communion sacrifices. And when David had finished offering holocausts and communion sacrifices, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord.

OR: --------

First reading Proverbs 8:22-31 Before the earth came into being, Wisdom was born

The Wisdom of God cries aloud:

The Lord created me when his purpose first unfolded, before the oldest of his works. From everlasting I was firmly set, from the beginning, before earth came into being. The deep was not, when I was born, there were no springs to gush with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I came to birth; before he made the earth, the countryside, or the first grains of the world’s dust. When he fixed the heavens firm, I was there, when he drew a ring on the surface of the deep, when he thickened the clouds above, when he fixed fast the springs of the deep, when he assigned the sea its boundaries – and the waters will not invade the shore – when he laid down the foundations of the earth, I was by his side, a master craftsman, delighting him day after day, ever at play in his presence, at play everywhere in his world, delighting to be with the sons of men.

OR: --------

First reading Ecclesiasticus 24:1-4,8-12,18-21 From eternity, in the beginning, God created wisdom

Wisdom speaks her own praises, in the midst of her people she glories in herself. She opens her mouth in the assembly of the Most High, she glories in herself in the presence of the Mighty One: ‘I came forth from the mouth of the Most High, and I covered the earth like a mist. I had my tent in the heights, and my throne in a pillar of cloud. Then the creator of all things instructed me, and he who created me fixed a place for my tent. He said, “Pitch your tent in Jacob, make Israel your inheritance.” From eternity, in the beginning, he created me, and for eternity I shall remain. I ministered before him in the holy tabernacle, and thus was I established on Zion. In the beloved city he has given me rest, and in Jerusalem I wield my authority. I have taken root in a privileged people, in the Lord’s property, in his inheritance. Approach me, you who desire me, and take your fill of my fruits, for memories of me are sweeter than honey, inheriting me is sweeter than the honeycomb. They who eat me will hunger for more, they who drink me will thirst for more. Whoever listens to me will never have to blush, whoever acts as I dictate will never sin.’

OR: --------

First reading Isaiah 7:10-14,8:10 The maiden is with child

The Lord spoke to Ahaz and said, ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign for yourself coming either from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above.’ ‘No,’ Ahaz answered ‘I will not put the Lord to the test.’ Then Isaiah said:

‘Listen now, House of David: are you not satisfied with trying the patience of men without trying the patience of my God, too? The Lord himself, therefore, will give you a sign. It is this: the maiden is with child and will soon give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel, a name which means “God-is-with-us.”’

OR: --------

First reading Isaiah 9:1-6 A Son is given to us

The people that walked in darkness has seen a great light; on those who live in a land of deep shadow a light has shone. You have made their gladness greater, you have made their joy increase; they rejoice in your presence as men rejoice at harvest time, as men are happy when they are dividing the spoils.

For the yoke that was weighing on him, the bar across his shoulders, the rod of his oppressor, these you break as on the day of Midian.

For all the footgear of battle, every cloak rolled in blood, is burnt, and consumed by fire.

For there is a child born for us, a son given to us and dominion is laid on his shoulders; and this is the name they give him: Wonder-Counsellor, Mighty-God, Eternal-Father, Prince-of-Peace.

OR: --------

First reading Isaiah 61:9-11 I exult for joy in the Lord

Their race will be famous throughout the nations, their descendants throughout the peoples. All who see them will admit that they are a race whom the Lord has blessed.

‘I exult for joy in the Lord, my soul rejoices in my God, for he has clothed me in the garments of salvation, he has wrapped me in the cloak of integrity, like a bridegroom wearing his wreath, like a bride adorned in her jewels.

‘For as the earth makes fresh things grow, as a garden makes seeds spring up, so will the Lord make both integrity and praise spring up in the sight of the nations.’

OR: --------

First reading Micah 5:1-4 He will stand and feed his flock with the power of the Lord

The Lord says this:

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, the least of the clans of Judah, out of you will be born for me the one who is to rule over Israel; his origin goes back to the distant past, to the days of old. The Lord is therefore going to abandon them till the time when she who is to give birth gives birth. Then the remnant of his brothers will come back to the sons of Israel. He will stand and feed his flock with the power of the Lord, with the majesty of the name of his God. They will live secure, for from then on he will extend his power to the ends of the land. He himself will be peace.

OR: --------

First reading Zechariah 2:14-17 'I am coming', says the Lord

Sing, rejoice, daughter of Zion; for I am coming to dwell in the middle of you – it is the Lord who speaks. Many nations will join the Lord, on that day; they will become his people. But he will remain among you, and you will know that the Lord of Hosts has sent me to you. But the Lord will hold Judah as his portion in the Holy Land, and again make Jerusalem his very own. Let all mankind be silent before the Lord! For he is awaking and is coming from his holy dwelling.

Responsorial Psalm 1 Samuel 2:1,4-8

My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.

My heart exults in the Lord. I find my strength in my God; my mouth laughs at my enemies as I rejoice in your saving help.

My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.

The bows of the mighty are broken, but the weak are clothed with strength. Those with plenty must labour for bread, but the hungry need work no more. The childless wife has children now but the fruitful wife bears no more.

My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.

It is the Lord who gives life and death, he brings men to the grave and back; it is the Lord who gives poverty and riches. He brings men low and raises them on high.

My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.

He lifts up the lowly from the dust, from the dungheap he raises the poor to set him in the company of princes to give him a glorious throne. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, on them he has set the world.

My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.

Gospel Acclamation cf.Lk1:28

Alleluia, alleluia! Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee! Blessed art thou among women. Alleluia!

Or: cf.Lk1:45

Alleluia, alleluia! Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled. Alleluia!

Or: cf.Lk2:19

Alleluia, alleluia! Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who treasured the word of God and pondered it in her heart. Alleluia!

Or: Lk11:28

Alleluia, alleluia! Happy are those who hear the word of God and keep it. Alleluia!

Or:

Alleluia, alleluia! Blessed are you, holy Virgin Mary, and most worthy of all praise, for the sun of justice, Christ our God, was born of you. Alleluia!

Or:

Alleluia, alleluia! Happy is the Virgin Mary, who, without dying, won the palm of martyrdom beneath the cross of the Lord. Alleluia!

Gospel Matthew 1:1-16,18-23 The ancestry and conception of Jesus Christ.

A genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham:

Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah, Tamar being their mother, Perez was the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon was the father of Boaz, Rahab being his mother, Boaz was the father of Obed, Ruth being his mother, Obed was the father of Jesse; and Jesse was the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Azariah, Azariah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah; and Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers. Then the deportation to Babylon took place.

After the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob; and Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary; of her was born Jesus who is called Christ.

This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel,

a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

[irritatednick]

Palestinian Identity

I'm trying to understand the arguments against the existence of a cohesive Palestinian identity. I'm looking at it from multiple angles and every way I approach it, it seems to me that Palestinians - that is, a multiethnic, multireligious community of folks currently dominated by Muslim Arabs who have coinhabited in the Levant for a long time - exist.

This is just from some cursory research. I will learn more. But from what I've read, Jews were not the EXCLUSIVE, VERY FIRST peoples who still exist today who inhabited Palestine. The original Israelites as archaeologists understand them today were a coalition of Semitic peoples inhabiting the Levant in the 2nd millennium BC - in a land called among other things "Canaan" - who were united in their monotheistic worship of Yahweh, previously their war god. Canaan - Phoenicia - was a whole-ass civilization. Mostly Semitic peoples inhabited the region, yes, but only some would later become the Israelites (and let's not forget Arabs are Semitic peoples too, which demands that Arabs have an even older ethnic connection with the Israelites). The word "Israel" doesn't even appear in the historical record until 1209 BC - carved onto an Egyptian stele. Other Semitic peoples living in the region include Ammonites and Aramaeans. Where's THEIR homeland? Do they have a right to return?

It is true that Arabs came into the Levant later (multiple times, including Nabateans) and that Islam and the Muslim conquests are even more recent. But there have always been non-Jews in Palestine, and punishing the 20th century inhabitants of Palestine with death and expulsion is cruel and unusual. Then taking their crops, their water. Aggressive policing, prison raping. Bureaucratically stifling them. Blocking travel. Blocking foreign aid. SUPPORTING HAMAS?? It's fucking nuts. If it's not fair to expel most Jews from Palestine for the actions of their grandparents, then it's orders of magnitude unfair to treat Palestinians this way on the grounds that multiple kingdoms and empires expelled Jews from the region hundreds and thousands of years ago.

[huggybearsunshine]

Can I Ask You a Question..? [Part 2]

Dean sat on the bed, passing the phone from hand to hand and staring at the wall, thoughts everywhere at once.

“This is stupid,” he flung the phone back onto the bed behind him.

He tried to turn on the tv, but was met with static on the ancient screen. As if the room itself were mocking him.

With a heavy sigh, he fell back onto the bed, his phone hitting his shoulder like a reminder of the task he was supposed to be completing but wasn’t.

“Fuck,” he scooped it up and pulled the name up on the screen, “This is ridiculous.”

He hit the button before he could think more on it, but his heart thudded hard against his chest when Cas’ voice rumbled out.

“Hello, Dean.”

“Cas… hey,” he rubbed a hand over his mouth nervously and sat up again, finding it hard enough to breathe even without the added pressure of laying back.

“Dean, are you alright?” Cas went suddenly serious, not that he wasn’t the majority of the time anyway.

“Yeah, um… no, actually… Cas, can I…” he rubbed his eyes, mortified by how little control he seemed to have over the shake in his voice, “Can I ask you a question..?“

“Of course,” he could hear the furrow in his brow and knew there was an accompanying confused squint.

‘Just do it,’ Dean’s inner voice pushed, ‘Blame it on a spell or something if it goes wrong…’

A good idea, he realized, and took a deep and steadying breath in preparation.

“Do you… ever think about… us?”

The line on the other end went deathly quiet, “…Us?”

“Like you and me, us…” Dean cringed at every other word that came out.

“I don’t understand,” Cas admitted, tone deepened by uncertainty.

“Of course you don’t…” the hunter sighed at himself.

“What is this about?” the Angel asked softly.

“Do you know what a Qareen is?” Dean finally asked, face fully in his hands while his elbows rested against his knees.

“Yes, Aramaean and Arabian…” Cas spoke thoughtfully, “A shape-shifter and mind-reader…”

“Yeah, takes the form of your deepest, darkest desire…” Dean added, sounding almost absentminded.

“What’s happened, Dean?” Cas’ voice dropped even lower.

He was scaring a millennia old celestial being, and that in itself shook Dean to his core.

“It turned into you,” he finally forced out the words that would bridge the gap even for Cas, “When it came to me, it… looked like you.”

“Me…” was all Cas’ failing mind would provide.

“Yeah,” Dean breathed out in a quick puff of air.

“Where are you?” the Angel asked with such authority, Dean was certain he was angry.

It wasn’t what he��d expected. Disgust maybe. Pity even. But not anger.

His location was out of his mouth without hesitation and then the line went dead and the screen faded to black in his hand.

“Shit,” he let the phone drop to the floor, “Fuck!“

He stomped down onto the phone and the resulting crunch of boot on plastic and glass was satisfying, but the anger and regret were only just starting to bubble.

He stomped out of the room only to realize that his brother had the Impala.

So plan B it was.

He reached the front desk, shoving the door violently out of his way as he entered.

“Nearest liquor store,” he bit out.

“Bout a mile down the road,” the offended attendant spat back, “That way.”

“Thanks,” Dean said the words but they sounded far from sincere as he left with the same attitude he entered with.

It took practically no time to get there.

Probably due to the mounting nervous energy pushing him forward. He grabbed a handle of whiskey and slapped the money on the counter, oblivious to the flirtation the woman at the counter had offered him, and was just as quickly on his way back.

He slugged the liquor down the whole way back, telling himself over and over how stupid it was to talk to Cas, and thus making himself more and more angry with the person who’d suggested it.

“Talk to Cas! He feels the same way!” he exploded as he burst into the room, “Real great advice there, Sammy!”

But the room was empty.

Then he noticed food on the table near the window and a note scribbled onto a napkin next to it.

He crossed and snatched it up, reading the words aloud.

“Got another room,” in his brother’s handwriting, and then beneath, “Don’t screw it up.”

“Too late,” he crumbled the note up and dropped it back onto the table before fishing out the burger inside and biting into it aggressively.

He fell back onto the bed with complete disregard for his dirty boots hitting the comforter.

Setting his bottle down so he could snatch up the remote and put on something mindless, he kept eating the burger until it was gone. Then the whiskey took its place again.

He didn’t know how long he sat there like that before there was a knock at the door.

“What did you forget? To screw up my life even more?” he flung the door open, bottle still in hand, but froze at the sight of the Angel standing there instead of his giant little brother, “Cas.”

“I’ve been calling,” he looked practically beside himself and couldn’t make eye contact for more than a second or so at a time.

“Kinda broke my phone,” Dean answered, slack jawed and having the opposite problem than Cas.

He couldn’t pull his eyes away if his life depended on it.

“Thought you were mad,” he added softly.

“Mad?“ Cas’ brow knitted tightly together, “Why would I be mad?”

Dean shrugged wordlessly, continuing to stare dumbly.

“Can I come in?” Cas finally asked, looking around him at the row of identical doors to each side.

“Yeah,” Dean slid out of the way and ran his hand over his face as his back turned to the Angel.

He pushed the door closed before his eyes found the other man again.

“Can I?” Cas’ eyes trailed down to the bottle.

“This?” Dean held it up, “Sure-“

Cas was already taking it from him and turning it upside down against his lips as the more than half a bottle that remained disappeared.

“Sorry,” he replied as he set the bottle on the table.

“Wow,” the word fell out unbidden.

“Your Qareen…” Cas wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, “Looked like me.”

“Yeah,” Dean admitted seriously.

“Why?” Cas pressed, now staring just as intensely as Dean.

“You know how it works,” the hunter pushed past him evasively, “Lore’s pretty clear…”

“I’m your…”

“Deepest desire… apparently,” Dean threw his arms out as he turned.

“I think I must be misunderstanding something,” Cas looked completely overwhelmed.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything,” Dean was practically overflowing with self-hatred, “Sam thought… it doesn’t matter what Sam thought- Cas, it’s fine. I get it.”

“What did Sam think?” Cas stepped forward on uncertain feet.

“He thought… you… felt like that too,” Dean wanted to throw up, “It was stupid…”

“And what if I did?” another step.

“If you-“

“Felt that way,” Cas chanced yet another step, now far too close, but Dean wasn’t moving away or telling him to stop.

Dean swallowed, Adam’s apple bobbing almost painfully against the dryness there, “Do you?”

He nodded softly and Dean’s breath caught in his throat.

“Oh…” he licked his lip and Cas’ eyes trailed the motion, “Shit.”

“What do we do now?” the Angel looked at him in near panic.

“Um…” Dean tried desperately to get his brain to kick back into gear, “I uh… w-what do you want to do?”

“You’re asking me?” Cas’ breath puffed out against his skin.

“Yeah,” Dean’s eyes tracked the other man’s face, uncertain of where they wanted to settle, “I want to know.”

“Could we…” Dean’s body swayed forward at the near growl in Cas’ voice, “Could we just be here together… Without having to pretend…”

“Yeah,” Dean let out a breath he hadn’t realize he’d held, “What do you wanna do?”

“Let’s watch one of those cowboy movies you like so much…” Cas looked as though he were afraid of the suggestion.

Like they hadn’t done that a million times, but maybe he wasn’t afraid of the movie, but what might follow.

———————

@destiel-wings @destieliscanon5nov

[jamaldaniel]

The Levant - A Nexus of Cultural Exchange

The Levant is a historical region along the eastern Mediterranean coast that has played a crucial role in shaping human civilization for millennia. Encompassing modern-day Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and adjacent areas, this region has been a melting pot of cultures, religions, and innovations since ancient times.

From the Neolithic period to the fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 539 BC, the Levant witnessed remarkable developments in agriculture, trade, and social organization. Archaeological evidence from this era, displayed in prominent museums worldwide, showcases the rich material culture of the region's diverse inhabitants, including the Canaanites, Israelites, Phoenicians, Amorites, and Aramaeans.

The Levant's strategic location at the crossroads of Africa, Asia, and Europe made it a hub for trade and cultural exchange. This unique position promoted the spread of ideas, technologies, and religions across the ancient world. The region saw the rise of some of the world's earliest cities and the birth of alphabetic writing systems.

Throughout history, the Levant has been home to various ethnic and religious groups, creating a tapestry of cultures that coexisted and influenced one another. This diversity is reflected in the region's languages, customs, and artistic traditions. The Levantine model of interreligious and intercultural coexistence has become a source of inspiration for contemporary social dynamics.

[silvestromedia]

Semite, n. & adj. meanings, etymology and more | Oxford English Dictionary: Semite, n. & adj. meanings, etymology, pronunciation and more in the Oxford English Dictionary Originally: a member of any of the peoples mentioned in Genesis 10:21–31 as descended from Shem, one of the sons of Noah, traditionally interpreted as including the Hebrews, Aramaeans, Assyrians, and Arabs. Subsequently also: a member of any of the peoples who speak or spoke a Semitic language.

[maskenmoodboard]

Helm & Visier, Aramaean Kultur, Syrien c. AD 50

[texaxwib]

ANCIENT CITIES:  ARAM The Arameans were a desert people.  Aramaic is a group of northwest Semitic languages of Palestine spoken during biblical times.  Aram is a city in ancient Syria. Today it’s called Aleppo. ♦  References for Further Study: Aram| ancient country, Middle East | Britannica ~ www.britannica.com/place/Aram Aramaeans– Livius.org, Articles on Ancient History ~ www.livius.org/articles/people/aramaeans ARAM– JewishEncyclopedia.com ~ www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1698-aram Ancient Syria – World History Encyclopedia ~ www.worldhistory.org/syria ♦ Image credit: Map of the Southern Levant c. 830 BC, with the Aramean state of Aram-Damascus in the northwest

[msclaritea]

Semite | Definition, Peoples, & Facts | Britannica

Semite, name given in the 19th century to a member of any people who speak one of the Semitic languages, a family of languages spoken primarily in parts of western Asia and Africa. The term therefore came to include Arabs, Akkadians, Canaanites, Hebrews, some Ethiopians (including the Amhara and the Tigrayans), and Aramaean tribes. Although Mesopotamia, the western coast of the Mediterranean, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Horn of Africa have all been proposed as possible sites for the prehistoric origins of Semitic-speaking populations, there remains no archaeological or scientific evidence of a common Semitic people. Because Semitic-speaking peoples do not share any traits aside from language, use of the term “Semite” to refer to the broad range of Semitic-speaking peoples has fallen out of favour. For this reason, some critics even encourage the removal of the hyphen in the term anti-Semitism to help dispel any pseudoscientific notions of a "Semitic race." They advocate instead for the use of antisemitism to describe the hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious or racial group.

In fact, by 2500 BCE Semitic-speaking peoples had already become widely dispersed throughout western Asia. In Phoenicia they became seafarers. In Mesopotamia they blended with the civilization of Sumer. The Hebrews settled with other Semitic-speaking peoples in Palestine.

Why are Jews the only ones called Semite when it actually refers to many ethnic groups?

[beta-lactam-allergic]

The audacity of Mariam Barghouti to try this. She must know how easy it is for us to fact check all of this. How easy it is to call out all of her distortions. I could tell she plagiarised her words from something referring to Jewish people because I know I read it before & yeah, it's one of Mark Twain's famous quotes. I have read a lot of Mark Twain & have read the essay this comes from.

The audacity of Mariam Barghouti to try to pull the wool over our eyes when it's so easy to fact check her lies is one thing. The worse thing is how many people won't fact check, how many gullible suckers will just believe her & not check the abundant historical evidence showing that it is in fact the Bnei Yisrael aka the Jewish people who lived in the region of Eretz Yisrael during the time of the Egyptian New Kingdom, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians & Ancient Greeks. How it was the Romans who named the region "Palestina" after killing half the Empire's Jewish population & banning Jews from their old capital Yerushalim (which Barghouti probably knows by the Arab coloniser name "Al Aqsa"). How the Romans got the name by looking up the names of long-gone enemies of the Jews & picked one of the Sea Peoples (famous for being invaders from Europe who ended the Middle Eastern Bronze Age), the Peleshet/Peleset. How these Peleset were extinct for centuries by the time the Romans named the region after them. How nobody called themselves "Palestinians" until many centuries later. Before the 1890s, the only people who used the word "Palestinian" were pretentious goys who wanted a long fancy word for "Jew" but couldn't be stuffed to read Jewish sources to find endonyms like Bnei Yisrael or Yehudim (though the word "Jew" is derived from Yehudim, it's transmission into English via other languages somehow replaced the "Y" with a "J" that's absent from Hebrew). It wasn't common for Arabs to call themselves "Palestinian" until the 1960s.

None of the general info is difficult to find & it's frustrating when people like Barghouti act like we are idiots & even more frustrating when too many of my fellow Western goyim prove these grifters correct. The only bit of new info for me (& hence the only bit I would need to source myself) was about the Barghouti family itself, because I never looked into them. But the Tamimi family (as in Ahed Tamimi) are of Bosniak extraction, the Hind family are probably of Indian descent (Hind means India) & as for El Kurd, I will give you 3 guesses, the 1st 2 don't count. The Douaihy are descendants of French crusaders. The Erekat family only showed up in Ottoman Palestine in the early 20th century, having previously being a Hejazi family (the Erekats are cousins of the Hasehemites). The Al-Husseini are male-line descendants of Muhammed (famously a Hejazi Arab).

Of the about 20 "Palestinian" families I tried tracking the origins of months ago (because of Mohammed El-Kurd going on about his family predating the Jews in Palestine when I KNOW WHAT EL-KURD MEANS YOU FUCKING LIAR, I went in this dive into other Arab Palestinian families origins), only Saliba, Makhamra & El-Haddad I couldn't place as coming from somewhere else. But the Makhamra only converted to Islam in at the earliest, the 1700s, possibly as late as the 1830s, prior to that, they were Jewish. The Saliba were & as far as I know, still are Christians. Their name literally means "cross" in Aramaic. From what records we have left, it's impossible for me to know if they're descendants of Byzantine Greco-Roman colonists or instead from a native Levantine group (possibly Jewish converts to Christianity, possibly Aramaeans, possibly Phoenicians, the region was still complex even discarding multiple invaders), just that they pre-date the Arab invasions. Since I imagine that Greco-Romans would use the Greek word for cross (which I think was "stavros"), I would assume the Saliba family are most likely native, but lack confirmation. El-Haddad means "the blacksmith". Literally the only thing I can tell from the name is that they have a blacksmith ancestor somewhere in the Arab speaking world, can't tell if the eponymous ancestor was in Israel, Arabia or North Africa from just the name. The related names of "Haddad" & "Hadad" (excluded from 20 because obviously common etymology) are found amongst Muslims, Christians & Jews, it's as useless for genealogy tracing as the English "Smith" (probably for the exact same reason to, every town or village needed a blacksmith, every city needed many blacksmiths). That's still 3 families out of 20, one of whom definitely can't be used in a narrative that excludes Jews because of how recently they had Jewish ancestors. 19 of these names were essentially random, they were just Palestinian names I heard before, but I didn't know enough about the roots to bias my sample (the non-random name was El-Kurd, Mohammed El-Kurd was my inspiration for checking into the family names because, do I have to spell it out). I am also admitting bad ignorance of Arabic at the time as I didn't know "Al-Masri" meant "The Egyptian" (I knew Al/El was "the", it was "Masri" that I didn't know). My Arabic is slightly better now, as in I know around 60 words rather than around 20 words, it's still not good. If I was trying to bias the sample for a "native" narrative & knew enough to do that, than I would have at minimum excluded El-Kurd, Hind & Al-Masri. If I was trying to bias for a "foreign" narrative & knew enough to do that, I would have excluded Saliba & Makhamra replaced them with names that definitely originate from outside the Southern Levant region ("Hejazi" most certainly because I'm a geography nerd, I've known where the Hejaz is since I was a teenager. I explicitly excluded it from my analysis because I already had an obvious one in "El-Kurd" & I wanted to put some effort into my research, so I picked 19 names I didn't know the meanings of & than researched them).

Okay, time to get off that tangent. I, as an amateur dabbler in history hate wilful distortions of history & I think my distaste for the Hamasniks & Al-Husseini fan boys began because their distortion of history is so blatant & yet so many people who should know better let them get away with it.

👏👏🇮🇱✡️

[roman-catholic-mass-readings]

4th March >> Mass Readings (Except USA)

Monday, Third Week of Lent 

(optional commemoration of Saint Casimir)

(Liturgical Colour: Violet: B (2))

First Reading 2 Kings 5:1-15 There were many lepers in Israel, but only Naaman, the Syrian, was cured.

Naaman, army commander to the king of Aram, was a man who enjoyed his master’s respect and favour, since through him the Lord had granted victory to the Aramaeans. But the man was a leper. Now on one of their raids, the Aramaeans had carried off from the land of Israel a little girl who had become a servant of Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, ‘If only my master would approach the prophet of Samaria. He would cure him of his leprosy.’

Naaman went and told his master. ‘This and this’ he reported ‘is what the girl from the land of Israel said.’

‘Go by all means,’ said the king of Aram ‘I will send a letter to the king of Israel.’

So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten festal robes. He presented the letter to the king of Israel. It read: ‘With this letter, I am sending my servant Naaman to you for you to cure him of his leprosy.’ When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his garments. ‘Am I a god to give death and life,’ he said ‘that he sends a man to me and asks me to cure him of his leprosy? Listen to this, and take note of it and see how he intends to pick a quarrel with me.’

When Elisha heard that the king of Israel had torn his garments, he sent word to the king, ‘Why did you tear your garments? Let him come to me, and he will find there is a prophet in Israel.’ So Naaman came with his team and chariot and drew up at the door of Elisha’s house. And Elisha sent him a messenger to say, ‘Go and bathe seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will become clean once more.’

But Naaman was indignant and went off, saying, ‘Here was I thinking he would be sure to come out to me, and stand there, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the spot and cure the leprous part. Surely Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, are better than any water in Israel? Could I not bathe in them and become clean?’ And he turned round and went off in a rage.

But his servants approached him and said, ‘My father, if the prophet had asked you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? All the more reason, then, when he says to you, “Bathe, and you will become clean.”’

So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, as Elisha had told him to do. And his flesh became clean once more like the flesh of a little child.

Returning to Elisha with his whole escort, he went in and stood before him. ‘Now I know’ he said ‘that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel.’

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 41(42):2-3,42:3-4

R/ My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life: when can I enter and see the face of God?

Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my God.

R/ My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life: when can I enter and see the face of God?

My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life; when can I enter and see the face of God?

R/ My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life: when can I enter and see the face of God?

O send forth your light and your truth; let these be my guide. Let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.

R/ My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life: when can I enter and see the face of God?

And I will come to the altar of God, the God of my joy. My redeemer, I will thank you on the harp, O God, my God.

R/ My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life: when can I enter and see the face of God?

Gospel Acclamation 2 Corinthians 6:2

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus! Now is the favourable time: this is the day of salvation. Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

Or: cf. Psalm 129:5,7

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus! My soul is waiting for the Lord, I count on his word, because with the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption. Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

Gospel Luke 4:24-30 No prophet is ever accepted in his own country.

Jesus came to Nazara and spoke to the people in the synagogue: ‘I tell you solemnly, no prophet is ever accepted in his own country. ‘There were many widows in Israel, I can assure you, in Elijah’s day, when heaven remained shut for three years and six months and a great famine raged throughout the land, but Elijah was not sent to any one of these: he was sent to a widow at Zarephath, a Sidonian town. And in the prophet Elisha’s time there were many lepers in Israel, but none of these was cured, except the Syrian, Naaman.’ When they heard this everyone in the synagogue was enraged. They sprang to their feet and hustled him out of the town; and they took him up to the brow of the hill their town was built on, intending to throw him down the cliff, but he slipped through the crowd and walked away.

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

[sciencespies]

Archaeologists Devise a Better Clock for Biblical Times

https://sciencespies.com/news/archaeologists-devise-a-better-clock-for-biblical-times/

Archaeologists Devise a Better Clock for Biblical Times

A new approach to studying the history of Old Testament conflicts, courtesy of Earth’s geomagnetic record.

When it comes to assigning dates to military campaigns described in the Bible, the parameters of the debate take on almost biblical proportions. Exactly when did the Amalekites wage war against the Hebrews in the wilderness? Did Joshua fight the Battle of Jericho in 1500 B.C. or in 1400 B.C. — or at all?

Such uncertainty exists, in part, because the radiocarbon analysis that scientists use to date organic remains is less accurate for certain epochs. And, in part, because archaeologists often disagree over what the timelines for different narratives should be. But a new technique, which makes use of consistently reliable geomagnetic data, allows scientists to study the history of the Levant with greater confidence.

Many materials, including rocks and soils, record the reversals and variations over time in earth’s invisible geomagnetic field. When ancient ceramics or mud bricks that contain ferromagnetic, or certain iron-bearing, minerals are heated to sufficiently high temperatures, the magnetic moments of the minerals behave like a compass needle, reflecting the orientation and intensity of the field at the time of burning. The new methodology can provide a sort of geobiblical clock.

“Based on the similarity or difference in the recorded magnetic signals, we can either corroborate or disprove hypotheses” about when certain layers of sediment might have been destroyed during biblical battles, said Yoav Vaknin, a doctoral candidate at Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University at Jerusalem, who pioneered the technology. “It all fits together perfectly, better than I had ever imagined.”

Yoav Vaknin, a doctoral candidate at Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University at Jerusalem, takes measurements of a floor that collapsed during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Shai Halevi/Israel Antiquities Authority

Mr. Vaknin’s research, published this year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, harnesses information from 20 international scholars to map out a geomagnetic data set of 21 layers of historical destruction across 17 sites in the Holy Land.

The project is an attempt to check the historical authenticity of Old Testament accounts of the Egyptian, Aramaean, Assyrian and Babylonian offensives against the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and conflicts between these two realms. For those readers without a scorecard, the principals included Shoshenq I (1 Kings 14: 25-26), Hazael (2 Kings 12:18), Jehoash (2 Kings 14:11-15), Tiglath-pileser III (2 Kings 15:29), Sennacherib (2 Kings 18-19) and Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 25:1-21).

“With this new data set, we can narrow things down to a decadal level,” said Thomas Levy, an archaeologist at the University of California, San Diego, who was not involved with the study. “That is super important when trying to connect ancient historical events to the archaeological record.”

The real significance of the research is in the interdisciplinary connections, said Oded Lipschits, an archaeologist and one of the study’s co-authors: Experts in the new technique, known as archaeomagnetism, gain “chronological anchors” from the work of archaeologists — footholds in the historical timeline. “And in return, archaeology gets a new tool for dating, whose main application is in the first millennium B.C., a period when radiocarbon is less effective and impossible to rely on.”

The study stands apart not only for its content, but also for its researchers. All but one of the study’s authors are archaeologists — many of them with contradictory views on biblical history and the chronology of the period.

Rather than provide absolute dates, Mr. Vaknin’s database compares magnetic readings of burned materials at various sites. Where historical evidence has already established precise timelines, nearby sites can also be dated.

To understand the mysterious mechanism of earth’s magnetic field, geophysicists track its changes throughout history by using archaeological relics — furnaces, ceramic shards and roof tiles — that contain ferromagnetic minerals.

In a 2020 paper, Mr. Vaknin and his colleagues used floor fragments and smashed pottery from a large, two-story building excavated in a Jerusalem parking lot to recreate Earth’s magnetic field, as it was on the ninth of the Hebrew month of Av, 586 B.C., which is recognized as the date when Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army annihilated the First Temple and the city of Jerusalem.

The more recent study reconstructed the magnetic field recorded in burned remains at biblical sites in present-day Israel that were razed by fire. Using archaeomagnetic readings that have been preserved for millenniums in mud bricks, in a mud beehive and in two collections of ceramic objects and historical information from ancient inscriptions, the team analyzed layers of ruin left behind by military conflicts.

The findings help settle a longstanding debate over how exactly the Kingdom of Judah fell and disproves claims that the ancient settlement of Tel Beit She’an, a magnet for conflagrations and epic sieges, was razed in the ninth century B.C. by the Aramaean armies of Hazael of Damascus. Magnetic dating indicates instead that Beit She’an was burned to the ground some 70 to 100 years earlier; this links the destruction to the Egyptian pharaoh Shoshenq, whose campaign was described in the Hebrew Bible and in an inscription on a wall of the Temple of Amun in Karnak, Egypt, which mentions Beit She’an as one of the king’s conquests.

A burned mud-brick wall from the site of Tel Batash, or biblical Timnah, with markings indicating the orientation of Earth’s magnetic field at the time of the site’s destruction.Yoav Vaknin

Curiously, other data indicate that, about a century later, Hazael’s soldiers set fire to several settlements: Tel Rehov, Tel Zayit and Horvat Tevet, in addition to Gath, one of the five royal cities of the Philistines (and home to Goliath), whose destruction is noted in 2 Kings 12:17. The study, which examined the geomagnetic records at all four sites at the time of demolition, strongly suggests that they were burned during the same military offensive, according to the researchers.

Mr. Vaknin spent four years pioneering the application of paleomagnetic research to biblical archaeology, aided by his doctoral advisers, Dr. Lipschits, Erez Ben-Yosef of Tel Aviv University and Ron Shaar of the Institute of Earth Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Besides helping to date archaeological contexts, the technology provides invaluable information on Earth’s magnetic field, one of the most enigmatic phenomena in geoscience. “Since instrumental recording of the field started about 200 years ago, the field’s strength has declined, and there is a danger that we might lose it completely,” Dr. Ben-Yosef said. “Understanding this trend and how dangerous it is requires data on the past behavior of the field.”

Earth’s magnetosphere is a protective bubble that deflects solar winds, streams of charged particles from the sun that gust through the solar system, and cosmic rays from deep space. Scientists theorize that the magnetic field is generated by a layer of molten iron and nickel in the planet’s outer core, about 1,800 miles below the surface, that is in continual flux around a solid iron core. As ferromagnetic particles in ancient artifacts cool, their magnetic moments are baked into the alignment. So long as the objects don’t heat up again, they will retain what is effectively a fossilized magnetic field. Each reheating beyond a certain temperature wipes out all previously recorded magnetic signals, so that the date is always of the most recent firing.

From around 800 to 400 B.C., as a result of changes in the percentage of radiocarbon in the atmosphere, the resolution of radiocarbon dating during those years is so limited that archaeologists seldom use it.

Dr. Ben-Yosef said he hoped that the new dating method would finally settle questions about the fall of the Kingdom of Judah. While it is widely accepted that the Babylonians laid waste to the Judean polity in 586 B.C., some researchers, relying on historical and archaeological evidence, argue that the invaders were not solely responsible. The intensity of the magnetic field as recorded in the destruction layer of the site of Malhata — a city on the southern periphery of Judah — is different and significantly lower than the one recorded in the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem, the capital of the kingdom.” This means that the two destructions cannot be related to the same event,” Dr. Ben-Yosef said.

The archaeomagnetic data provided clear evidence that Malhata was destroyed decades later, a scenario that fits the notion that the Edomites, Judah’s southern neighbors, took advantage of the weakness of the Judahites after the Babylonian attack, decimated their southern cities and raided their territory.

“These events are reflected in the Hebrew Bible,” Dr. Ben-Yosef said. “They explain the animosity toward the Edomites by several prophets, notably Obadiah.”

Scholars who had partly absolved the Babylonians should feel vindicated, he added. “Now, the magnetic results support their hypothesis. The big deal about this research is that after decades of work on establishing a reference database, we finally reap the fruits of our labor, and what we saw has become a potent dating tool in biblical archaeology that, undoubtedly, will become part of the tool kit of archaeologists working in the Holy Land.”

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