15 February 2014

Camels are a problem for Zionism? Nope, but asses are.

For full disclosure: by "asses" I don't mean "Hardy and sure-footed animal smaller and with longer ears than the horse".

The headline of this post was shortened from a longer one in the Guardian: The Old Testament's made-up camels are a problem for Zionism.

The article in question has to do with a study carried out in Israel:

Although camels are mentioned over 20 times in the Bible, the patriarchs apparently didn't have much to do with them, according to a new archaeological study that calls the historicity of the Bible into question.

"Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels," (Genesis 31:17) is just one of several instances where domesticated camels are used in the stories of Abraham, Joseph and Jacob. However, archeologists Dr. Erez Ben-Yosef and Dr. Lidar Sapir-Hen of Tel Aviv University have found that camels weren't domesticated in the Land of Israel until centuries after the patriarchs lived, providing direct proof that the Bible was compiled well after the events it describes.
So there. Apparently (if you listen to the Guardian's contributor, one Andrew Brown, this study destroys the whole edifice of Zionism.
The history recounted in the Bible is a huge part of the mythology of modern Zionism. The idea of a promised land is based on narratives that assert with complete confidence stories that never actually happened.
Should I sprinkle some ashes on my head (it may help with the somewhat diminished hair growth there at the same time, possibly)? Nah, after all this blogger is bound by Article 8 of The Simply Jews Charter, so no cigar to Mr Brown for this one.

OK, enough about asses. Bye.


Hat Tip: Adam Holland.

Update: another angle of the same subject by Adam Levick.

18 comments:

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Yeah. Definitely a more compelling piece of evidence than all that built archeology that the Arabs didn't destroy or build over.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Snoopy, I hear you.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

That's proof, right there. Without a doubt. So turn over the keys to the Knesset to Abbas.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Or never mind and don't care.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

And to the DD Snoop:
REPORTER, n. A writer who guesses his way to the truth and dispels it with a tempest of words.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Stanley,
Sorry to hear about your friend.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Well, 21 camels... it's a force!

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Ehehe...

SnoopyTheGoon said...

In a jiffy.

But only if he agrees to take the 120 inhabitants ;-)

SnoopyTheGoon said...

That too, sure.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Yep, it fits.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Poor Andrew suffered a heavy overdose of camel corps...

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Worse than that, actually, as a recovering one I can say. REPORTER, n. A writer who takes his truth from his editor and supports it in a tempest of words that tightly fits a specific hole between the ads.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Thanks. A blog friend, actually, though those can be close enough.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Or camel hair from his overcoat.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Bravo. Although the mention of Democrats spoiled the style, just a bit.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

[Auswurf der Menschheit, aber große Meister im Lügen].
[literally: "and were therefore regarded as cattle, scum of the earth, but also great masters in lying".]

SnoopyTheGoon said...

A polyglot in our midst, wow. What can I say? Only this comes to mind:
“Рождённый ползать летать не может”
Which in a free translation means:
"הפוצ תמיד נשאר הפוצ"
Which, in even freer translation, means:

"A (suspected) Romanian sitting in his hovel in London and quoting Hitler quoting Schopenhauer, for no visible reason and sense, is a curious creature, however of no specific interest to this here blog."

If you have something more to quote in this vein, Fak, only one advice: fak off.