As explained in Part 1, the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt took place c. 1446 BCE at the end of the reign of Tutmose(s) III.
And as explained in Part 2, the people Moses led from Egypt had long self-identified as
"Evrim" ﬦעִבְרִי: meaning from north of the Euphrates river – i.e. Mesopotamians,
and proudly so.
Over the two centuries in Egypt, they multiplied and took on the distinct and exclusive tribal name of “the Children of Israel” בְּני ישְׂרָאֵל
The Conquest as per the books of Joshua and Judges
The Conquest of Canaan led by Joshua took place 40 years after the
Exodus, starting c.1406 BCE. (See Deut. 8: 2 and Joshua 1:1-2)
It is recorded in both
the books of Joshua and Judges.
Some 300 communities
and cities are named in the book of Joshua
as being conquered[i]
The details in Joshua present a glowing account of one
great victory after another until Joshua was 110 years old and about to die (Joshua
24:29).
But then, Joshua 13: 1-6 acknowledges that much
was still unconquered and lists these areas.
Further conquests
after Joshua’s death are recorded in Judges
chapter 1.
It starts with the additional
areas conquered by Judah and Simon often working together. Both destroyed the
conquered cities and enslaved or expelled their local inhabitants.
But in verse Judges 1:19 it notes that Judah
failed to defeat the inhabitants of the valley as ”they had chariots of iron”, and
so Judah remained in the hill country.
As for the other tribes,
they allowed the native Canaanites they conquered to stay on as vassals:
- Benjamin allowed the Jezubites to remain in
Jerusalem (Judges 1: 21)
- Manasseh allowed the Canaanites to live on in
many cities and towns as vassals (Judges 1: 27-28)
- Ephraim did not remove the Canaanites of Gezer
(Judges 1: 29)
- Zebulun left two major Canaanite cities in tact
with their people paying tribute (Judges 1: 30)
- Asher left intact the Canaanite communities of
seven (7) cities and ”dwelt among the Canaanites”. (Judges 1: 31-32)
- Naphtali just made the cities and peoples Beth-shemesh
and of Beth-anath tributaries (Judges 1:33)
- And while Dan
failed to conquer the Amorites in the valley and was forced to live only
in the hill country, the Amorites were eventually made tributary by “the
house of Joseph” (Judges 1: 34-36)
Consequently,
numerous Canaanite communities of the 7 nations- - plus the Philistines and
Zidonians (Judges 3: 3) -- continued to live in the Promised Land for generations.
Contrary to God’s
orders (Judge 2:2-3), the Israelites often did not destroy or expel the
Canaanites but made them their vassals.
And the descendants
from the second generation after Joshua fell into pagan worship under Canaanite
influence: especially the arch deities of the male and female duo of Baal and
Asherah (Judges 2: 13).
They also regularly
intermarried (Judges 3; 6).
It is succinctly
summarized in Judges 3: 1- 7
SUMMARY
The Bible does not
state how many years Joshua led the Conquest of Canaan but by the time of his
death, not all had been conquered and not all native Canaanites and other pagan
inhabitants had been ‘removed’.
Only the tribes of
Judah and Simon seem to have followed the ‘total conquest’ Divine directive, while
7 of the 10 tribes[ii]
who crossed the Jordan were willing to let native communities stay on as
vassals paying tribute.
As to the tribe of
Issachar and its conquest actions -- or inactions -- Judges
is silent.
The Amarna
Letters
The Amarna Letters, a trove of 382 clay
tablets in cuneiform found at Pharaoh Akhenaton’s newly built capital of
Amarna, contain some 3 dozen letters sent from Canaan and the upper eastern
Mediterranean coast to Egypt complaining of invaders and the need for military
assistance from Egypt – their overlord and ‘protector’.
The invaders are
called Apiru, a term also pronounced Hapiru or Habiru, and found in numerous other records from throughout the
Fertile Crescent covering some 600 years as far back as the 18th
century BCE.[iii]
The term means in
ancient Sumerian ‘dusty/dirty’ and was used for outlaws, robbers, raiders,
mercenaries and rebels, and also for servants, slaves and labourers. As such,
it was a derogatory label for any group who were considered
‘outsiders’, ‘troublemakers’ or of low social status[iv].
Now the Amarna Letter pleas for aid against Apiru invaders are normally dated to at
most the 30 years or so between 1360 BCE and 1332 BCE as other of the letters
name the recipients as Pharaoh Amenhotep III, his successor Amenhotep IV
(who changed his name to Akhenaton), and an unnamed young third pharaoh --
possibly his son, Tutankhamen. [v]
Numerous of these
letters – from rulers of cities in Canaan and Lebanon -- ask for military
assistance from the pharaoh of Egypt, their overlord, who is bound by their
overlord–vassal agreements to send help if any invader threatens them.
The mayor of Byblos, Rib-Hadda, is one of the most frequent writers
asking for military aid and reporting on what is happening.
In EA 76, EA121, EA77
and EA82 he ask for many archers to defend the city walls of Byblos and EA 71
asks for 100 horsemen and 200 foot soldiers as well.
In EA82 Rib-Hadda
even declares that if no archers arrive in 2 months, he will flee the city.
According to EA 71,
the arch
villain who became the Apiru’s leader is a “traitor” named Abdi Asirta.
Abdi Asirta is blamed
for further successful attacks in EA82, EA73, EA74, EA121,EA88 and EA82, but
EA101 reports his death at the hands of pirates when he refused to pay tribute
the northern overlord, the Mittani.
However, his son
Aziru succeeded him as leader and continues to attack cities (EA147)
The mayor of Sidon also writes (EA144) asking for help as all his
outlying cities have gone over to the Apiru. But a letter from the head of Tyre, Abi Milku (EA147) tells the pharaoh that the
mayor of Sidon is daily sending messages to the rebel leader Aziru.
EA148 from Abi Milku
claims the mayor of Sidon is raiding land still loyal to the Pharaoh and that
the King of Hazor has joined the Apiru side.
But in turn, the king
of Hazor writes he is still loyal to pharaoh and guarding Hazor and its village
for Egypt (EA228) .
As for Damascus and its subordinate cities, according to
EA189, it switched to the Apiru side but was recovered by force by Etakkama,
mayor of Qadesh.
Then, a letter (EA215)
by one Bayawa predicts that unless the pharaoh sends an ambassador to work
something out, within a year all of the coast will be lost.
In EA90, Rib-Hadda
claims all of his territory and cities other than Byblos have been captured or
gone over to Abdi Asirta and the Apiru.
EA88 warns that
without Egyptian military intervention, the Apiru will easily conquer all the coastal
cities and area down to Egypt’s border.
The cities asking for
such help or which are mentioned as under attack or conquered are: Byblos and Sumur in EA68
and EA76, Beirut and Sidon
in EA118, and Ammiya in EA73 and EA74.
In Hugo Winckler’s
translation [vi]
(henceforth coded with a W) W141 states
the ruler of Beirut anticipates Egyptian troops will be sent soon.
The mayor of Meggido sends a letter (EA243) that he is still
successfully protecting Megiddo for the pharaoh but the war with the Apiru
rages on.
In EA246 the same Meggido mayor complains that the two sons of the ruler of Shechem are bribing the Apiru to attack Meggido.
And in EA244, the mayor of Meggido complains that the ruler
of Shechem is now attacking his city.
To the above claim,
the mayor of Shechem replies to pharaoh (EA254) that he was unaware of his sons
helping the Apiru and that he is still loyal to pharaoh.
The ruler of the
southern city of Gezer writes (EA299) that his
city is under Apiru attack and will fall without military aid from Egypt.
In W292, the ruler of
Gezer writes he is eagerly awaiting the arrival of Egyptian troops.
Furthermore, EA 298
states the mayor of Gezer’s brother has now switched to the Apiru side.
EA271 is a joint plea
for aid from the mayors of Gezer and Hebron.
EA284 from the mayor
of Hebron, is stark: “All your lands have been taken away. I am all alone.” And
in EA366 he says only he and the mayor of Jerusalem are
still in charge of cities loyal to pharaoh.
The ruler of
Jerusalem himself writes pharaoh: “The Apiru have plundered all the lands of
pharaoh” EA286. And in EA287 the mayor of Jerusalem states he and his city
alone are loyal. Gezer, Ashkelon and Lachish have gone over to the Apiru side.
But Ashkelon’s mayor
(EA323) and Lachish’s mayor (EA329 and EA330) reassure pharaoh they are still
loyal to him.
The mayor of
Jerusalem informs the pharaoh (EA289) that Shechem has switched to the Apiru
side.
EA288 from the mayor
of Jerusalem reports that all the other cities and lands have fallen to the
Apiru and he stands alone. Three mayors
were murdered; two at the city gate of Shiloh
and one at Lachish.
Lastly EA 290 from
the mayor of Jerusalem states one of his cities has deserted to the Apiru and
without Egyptian archers his city – and all of Canaan - will soon be in Apiru
hands.
The map below[vii]
shows the location of the eastern Mediterranean cities mentioned in the letters
as under Apiru attack.
They range from Sumur,
Byblos and Beirut in the far north to Jerusalem and then somewhat further south
to Hebron, Lachish and Ashkelon in central Canaan.
As for Jericho and
Beer Sheba, they are never mentioned in the Amarna letters that are not badly
fragmented or illegible.
Problems re Amarna
Letters
Dating
As argued in Part 1,
the Exodus took place at the end of Pharaoh Tutmose(s) III’s reign c. 1446 BCE,
and Joshua’s conquest of Canaan started 40 years later c. 1406 BCE.
So dating the Amarna Letter pleas for immediate help
against invading Apiru to 1360 BCE to 1332 BCE -- as Wikipedia does -- makes no
sense: they would be some 40 to 70 years
too late!
The letter dating
issue, however, disappears when using Redford’s chronology timeline (just like
his dating for the Exodus under Tutmose(s) III.)
Redford dates the
reign of Amenhotep III – the named recipient of many of the Amarna Letters [viii]
-- to 1410 -1372 BCE.[ix]
A perfect fit for
Joshua and the Israelites invading c.1406 BCE.
Problems with Steve Rudd analysis[x]
With all due respect
to the massive effort and detail Steve Rudd has put into his Bible.ca article[xi] on
the Amarna Letters as independent
evidence of Joshua’s conquest, Rudd ‘over-reaches’ and is often blind to
obvious ‘difficulties’ in using the Amarna
Letters re the books of Joshua and Judges narrative.
Apiru/Hapiru/Habiru vs Evri/Evrim
Rudd
translates the word Apiru/Hapiru/Habiru every time as Hebrews. And he
rationalizes this in his “The Chronology of Hebrew Conquest as
seen in the Amarna Tablets Introduction: part 3.”
He states Habiru and Hebrew are one and the same word when written in
ancient, vowel-less script, and that both mean to be a ‘wanderer”.
Now there is
some merit to this.
Wikipedia
gives some credence to his first argument as it uses the spelling Habiru for its
entry heading – though it soon points out the proper spelling/pronunciation
is Apiru.[xii]
As for the
word “Hebrew”, it is an Anglicized term that barely relates to the actual word
and its pronunciation: singular Evri עִבְרִי and plural Evrim ﬦעִבְרִי.
So, there is at best a
very vague similarity between the consonants of Apiru and Evrim.
Secondly, Rudd’s meaning
of “wanderer” is recognized as one interpretation for Apiru by Wikipedia, i.e.,
“nomad”, and even "those who cross from the other side”,[xiii]
-- and the latter matches the traditional meaning of Evri/Evrim as noted in
Part 2.
But as argued in Part
2, from Abraham onward, he and his descendants were proud to call themselves EVRI/EVRIM, but the term APIRU was used as a derogatory
slur and insult that no self-respecting Israelite – or anyone else --
would call themselves.
More importantly,
Rudd, in his zeal to find independent proof of the Bible’s narrative of the
Conquest, ignores two related key facts from the Amarna Letters.
Geography
The Amarna letters
include many from the mayor of Byblos and how his city and vicinity are under
attack from the Apiru.
The mayor even states
a local, one Abdi Asirta, has turned ”traitor” and become the leader of the
Apiru.
And on his death, he
was succeeded by his son, Aziri.
Now Rudd sees these
attacks by Apiru on Byblos and the far north as if they were carried out by
Joshua and the Israelites, but this is impossible!
The book of Joshua and Judges only record military campaigns in upper, central and
southern Canaan: nothing that would reach far north into Lebanon.
As well, the local “traitors”
who became the successive leaders of the Apiru in the Lebanese north, Abdi
Asirta and Aziri, are named in numerous
other Amarna Letters as senders:
as
kings communicating in friendly fashion with their acknowledged
overlord: the pharaoh of Egypt and with his officials.[xiv]
They had established
their own kingdom, called in these letters :
·
Abdi
Asirta: EA60-62
·
Aziri:
EA 156-161, EA 164-9 and EA 171.
And they acknowledged
Egypt and Pharaoh as their overlord.
In the translation
coding by Hugo Winckler (1896),[xv] letters #42, #44, #47 by Aziri profess his
loyalty to pharaoh as his overlord. And
in Winckler #48 and #51 Aziri apologizes to Pharaoh for the delay in rebuilding
Sumur – “the pharaoh’s city”, and in #48 also promises to soon send the
required tribute to pharaoh.
So, they and the
territory in the north which they conquered is separate and different
from that which Joshua and the Israelite conquered further south.
Put simply, in the
eyes of the mayors from northern Byblos to Gezer and Jerusalem, invaders are
all the same, and given the same slanderous label of APIRU.
Steve Rudd has also
fallen into this mindset.
From the
first tablets sent from Byblos re the attack on Sumur (EA 68, 76) to the defection
of Ammiya (EA 73, 74), danger to Sidon
and Beirut (EA118), Tyre and Sidon (EA 147, 148), Hazor (EA228), Qadesh
and Damascus (EA189) – all located in Lebanon
and well beyond Canaaan -- Rudd each time translates Apiru as HEBREWS.
When
translating the Amarna letters pleas which name as the head of the far north Apiru ‘enemy’ as Abdi Asirta,
and stress he is a ‘local’ and “traitor”’ (EA 71, 73, 74, 88, 121), Rudd
acknowledges Abdi-Asirta is a “non-Hebrew” but continues to call the Apiru who
made Abdi Asirta their leader as HEBREWS.
The same with Abdi Asirta’s son and successor, Aziri (EA 147).
Even Rudd’s own map
of Joshua’s conquests puts Joshua’s most northerly campaign (#8 on his map) as against
the coalition of northern Amorite kings which took place at Mt Meron and
involved no city further north than Hazor (Joshua 11: 1-13).
So any claim by Rudd
that the Amarna Letters relating to attacks
in the area of Lebanon cannot be part of the Joshua led Israelite Conquest.
Put simply, in his
excessive zeal, Rudd extends the Israelite invasion as recorded in Joshua and Judges into the far north without Biblical proof.
The Amarna attacks or capture of Tyre,
Sidon, Beirut, Byblos, Ammiya and Sumur are way beyond any Joshua led or Judges ch. 1 invasions as recorded in
the Bible.
Rudd also ignores the
other letters sent to pharaoh Amenhotep III by King Abdi-Asirta and to an
unnamed pharaoh by his successor, King Aziri (noted above), and their
independent kingdom of Amurru.
Abdi-Asirta and his
son Aziri were NOT ISRAELITES – a fact the Amarna letters and even Rudd
acknowledges, and the Amurru kingdom
they created and ruled is NOT part of the Israelite Conquest of Canaan
territory.
So Rudd ‘oversteps’
and fails to recognize there were two separate invasions going on along
the eastern Mediterranean by ‘outsiders’.
·
An
invasion of Lebanon and Syria to the far north culminating in the new kingdom
of Amurru,
·
and
a totally separate and distinct invasion of Canaan by Joshua and the
Israelites.
Both took place more
or less at the same time and due to the same opportunity: when
Egypt was either militarily weakened (even 40 years after the Exodus),
distracted by other concerns, or simply ‘disinterested’.
Whatever the case,
Egypt’s inaction made a mockery of its official and legal
overlord status.
The Letters that ask
for aid often address the pharaoh as a god-like figure:[xvi]
“to the king, my lord, my god, my sun…” EA148
“to pharaoh, my god, my sun, the sun from the sky
…” EA299
“I fall at the feet of my king, my sun, my god 7 times
and 7 times: on the stomach and on the back…”
EA 215
“I fall before you 7 times on my tummy, 7 times on my
back to worship you, O pharaoh … “ EA
284
But such submissive
language and reverence was unanswered.
As noted in two
Amarna letters W76 and W79, Rib-Hadda
once he fled to Beirut and his Beirut host (who is also under Aziri attack)
remind the current pharaoh that the former pharaoh honoured his duty to
protect his vassals.
Rib-Hadda in W71
particularly complains that the messenger he sent to pharaoh’s court for
military aid has returned empty handed.
And in W72, Pharaoh
tells Rib-Hadda ‘to fend for yourself’.
Such failure to act
is surprising as some vassals write in the Letters that they are ready to
supply auxiliary troops: men and chariots to pharaoh forces in assistance: W253
and similarly W263 from the prince of Nazima.
In what seems to be a
final letter, W105, Rib-Hadda pleas to
pharaoh to send ships so he and his family can safely escape to Egypt. But this plea – like all requests for military
aid -- seems to have gone unanswered.
Now, similar
salutations are used in the letters by Aziri to pharaoh:
“To the king, my lord, my god, my [S]un: Message
of Aziru,
your servant. I fall at the feet of my
lord 7 times and 7 times...” EA156 and EA161
In EA161 Aziri apologizes
to the pharaoh for not yet rebuilding Sumur as ordered by Pharaoh and explains
his territory has been attacked and he has been too busy defending his kingdom.
As Sumur was conquered by
Aziri’s father, Abdi-Asirta as noted in EA68 and EA 76, and became part of the
new kingdom of Amurru, it is surprising that pharaoh still considers it
‘Egyptian territory’ and that Aziri acquiesces and promises to soon rebuild it
as pharaoh orders.
The letter also notes he is
preparing the tribute shipment for pharaoh and will soon as possible come
to Egypt to see the pharaoh as ordered.
Lastly, EA171 notes Aziri has just come back from
visiting pharaoh in Egypt.
So how does one make sense of all of this?
Vassals in need of military aid are ignored.
Conquering invaders:
Abdi-Asirta and then his son and successor Aziri, are on friendly terms with
pharaoh and become is subject vassals paying tribute.
And they allow pharaoh to
consider the lands they conquered and made into their new kingdom; supplanting pharaoh’s
previous vassals, as if pharaoh (still) owned them.
A very odd situation.
With a ‘laissez faire’ Egyptian
attitude on the one hand and a fear of what Egypt might do keeping local
old and new rulers in line -- as tribute paying vassals.
Carl
Niebuh in his detailed analysis
of the entire Amarna Letters concludes:
… the state of affairs in
Syria and Canaan; perhaps Amenophis III [i.e., Amenhotep III] whatever his own
great slackness, [057] simply inherited the confusion in this part of his
empire. The heaviest blows could not in the long run prevent the Habiri from
returning to the attack again and again at brief intervals. Their need of
expansion was greater than their fear, and, after all,
it mattered little to Pharaoh whether the Habirite or the Canaanite paid
tribute in Palestine as soon as the intruder was prepared to acknowledge his
rights. (p. 36)[xvii]
(My red
lettering)
The creation of
Amurru in the north and the Conquest of Canaan by Joshua and the Israelites to
the south attest to the ‘disinterest’ --
if not the military weakness -- of Egypt in the eastern Mediterranean
coast: even though it was obliged by its overlord-vassal treaties to protect
the existing cities and their rulers.
The Amurru kings
developed excellent relations with Egypt and accepted the pharaoh as their
overlord and his exaggerated and pompous claims to ‘own’ all vassal lands:
probably out of fear that if ‘roused’ the Egyptian lion would take devastating
military action.
As for Canaan and the
area conquered by Joshua and the Israelites further south, while it is always
dangerous to argue from silence, it seems clear that during the Conquest as per
the book of Joshua that Egypt was ‘absent’
as overlord and protector, and from the events recorded in the book of Judges and 1 and 2 Samuel, Egypt was ‘irrelevant’ in local politics and
warfare for the next 400 years!
No intervention while
the Israelites invaded and conquered one Egyptian vassal after another.
And, thereafter, no sign
of Egyptian intervention for some 350 years to help the Israelites in turn when
their lands suffered repeated raiding and invasion by -- and overlord submission
to -- one local tribe after another: Aram (8yrs), Moab (18 yrs.), Jabin the Canaanite (20 yrs.), Midian (7yrs), Amalek and others, Ammon (18 yrs.) and
the Philistines (3 separate times).
Similarly, any Egyptian
overlord role is ‘missing’ in the wars of King Saul against Nahash the Ammonite (1
Samuel ch.12), Amalek (1 Samuel
ch.15) and the Philistines (1 Samuel 13: 3 –23, 14: 4-13, ch. 17, 18: 25-30, 23:1-5 and ch 31) and King David’s expansions.
King David, after
capturing Jerusalem and making it his capital (2 Samuel 5:6-9), defeated the five
(5) lords of the Philistines who had previously been overlords over the Israelites, and now
made them and their cities under his overlordship (2 Samuel 5: 17-2 and 8:1).
Then David expanded north
and east. He conquer Moab, Zobah, Damascus (2 Samuel 8:2-6), Ammon and Amalek
(2 Samuel 8:12) and when these rebelled they were defeated in battles as
recorded in 2 Samuel ch 10.
He also subjugated the
Edomite by the Dead Sea (2 Samuel 8: 14). And his general Joab successfully besieged
Rabbah (2 Samuel 11:1 and 12:26 and 29).
And when late in
David’s reign the Philistines rebelled, they were defeated at Gob (2 Samuel
21:15 and18).
It is only with the
reign of King Solomon that Egypt appears as important. As stated in 1 Kings 3:1, Solomon soon after
he became king (c. 970 BCE) allied himself with Egypt and its pharaoh: an
alliance sealed by King Solomon’s formal marriage to a daughter of (probably) Pharaoh
Siamun (Redford dating 984 -965 BCE).[xviii]
So, it would seem
that the absence of a ‘supportive’ Egyptian overlord as attested by the Amarna
Letters, continued re: Canaan for over 400 years!
While the cat is away, the mice
will play!
and
Beware the sleeping lion.
[i] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cities_in_the_Book_of_Joshua#:~:text=The%20Book%20of%20Joshua%20lists,%2C%20Jordan%2C%20Lebanon%20and%20Syria.
[ii]
The tribes of Reuben and Gad settled
totally east of the Jordan so only 10 tribes settled in the Promised Land to
the west. (See Joshua ch.22)
[iv] Ibid.
[v] See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amarna_letters
and https://www.worldhistory.org/image/5623/the-amarna-letters/
[vi] Online Google library, file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/The_Tell_el_Amarna_Letters%20(1).pdf
[vii] This substqantially simplified map
is based on Steve Rudd’s Conquest map at https://www.bible.ca/archeology/bible-archeology-maps-conquest-amarna-tablets-letters-akhenaten-habiru-abiru-hebrews-1404-1340bc.htm
[viii]
EA 2-4, EA 17-25, EA32, EA
52-55, EA 60-61. See list at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amarna_letters
[x] https://www.bible.ca/archeology/bible-archeology-maps-conquest-amarna-tablets-letters-akhenaten-habiru-abiru-hebrews-1404-1340bc.htm
[xi] https://www.bible.ca/archeology/bible-archeology-maps-conquest-amarna-tablets-letters-akhenaten-habiru-abiru-hebrews-1404-1340bc.htm
[xiv] See Wkipedia list of every letter at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amarna_letters
[xv] Online Google library, file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/The_Tell_el_Amarna_Letters%20(1).pdf
[xvi] https://www.bible.ca/archeology/bible-archeology-maps-conquest-amarna-tablets-letters-akhenaten-habiru-abiru-hebrews-1404-1340bc.htm
[xvii]
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/26145/26145-pdf.pdf Analysis is dated 1903.
