division a: the bible and its world / חטיבה א: המקרא ועולמו || "משך"...

7
World Union of Jewish Studies / האיגוד העולמי למדעי היהדות: מגויי הים בדרום חצי האי האיברי?(2 'בראשית י)" / "משך"MESHECH" (GENESIS 10:2): ONE OF THE SEA PEOPLES IN THE SOUTH IBERIAN PENINSULA? Author(s): ANTÓNIO AUGUSTO TAVARES and אנטוניו אוגוסטו טווארסSource: Proceedings of the World Congress of Jewish Studies / דברי הקונגרס העולמי למדעי כרך יאהיהדות,, DIVISION A: THE BIBLE AND ITS WORLD / חטיבה א: המקרא ועולמו1993 / תשנ"גpp. 37-42 Published by: World Union of Jewish Studies / האיגוד העולמי למדעי היהדותStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23535745 . Accessed: 10/06/2014 22:04 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . World Union of Jewish Studies / האיגוד העולמי למדעי היהדותis collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Proceedings of the World Congress of Jewish Studies / דברי הקונגרס העולמי למדעי היהדותhttp://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 194.29.185.22 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 22:04:32 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Upload: lekhanh

Post on 09-Jan-2017

224 views

Category:

Documents


1 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: DIVISION A: THE BIBLE AND ITS WORLD / חטיבה א: המקרא ועולמו || "משך" (בראשית י' 2): מגויי הים בדרום חצי האי האיברי? / "MESHECH"

World Union of Jewish Studies / האיגוד העולמי למדעי היהדות

/ "משך" (בראשית י' 2): מגויי הים בדרום חצי האי האיברי? "MESHECH" (GENESIS 10:2): ONE OF THE SEA PEOPLES IN THE SOUTH IBERIAN PENINSULA?Author(s): ANTÓNIO AUGUSTO TAVARES and אנטוניו אוגוסטו טווארסSource: Proceedings of the World Congress of Jewish Studies / דברי הקונגרס העולמי למדעיחטיבה א: המקרא ועולמו / DIVISION A: THE BIBLE AND ITS WORLD ,היהדות, כרך יאpp. 37-42 תשנ"ג / 1993Published by: World Union of Jewish Studies / האיגוד העולמי למדעי היהדותStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23535745 .

Accessed: 10/06/2014 22:04

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

World Union of Jewish Studies / האיגוד העולמי למדעי היהדות is collaborating with JSTOR todigitize, preserve and extend access to Proceedings of the World Congress of Jewish Studies /דברי הקונגרס העולמי למדעי היהדות

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 194.29.185.22 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 22:04:32 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 2: DIVISION A: THE BIBLE AND ITS WORLD / חטיבה א: המקרא ועולמו || "משך" (בראשית י' 2): מגויי הים בדרום חצי האי האיברי? / "MESHECH"

"MESHECH" (GENESIS 10:2): ONE OF THE SEA PEOPLES

IN THE SOUTH IBERIAN PENINSULA?

ANTONIO AUGUSTO TAVARES

The subject of this communication is inspired by the work of

Avienus, Ora Maritima. As we know this writer of the IVth centuiy used a Greek poeme of 1st. century B.C., which is based itself in Massaliote Periple of Vlth centruiy B.C..

Now, Avienus when describing a sea voyage from Britain to Tartessos and from there to Massilia (modern Marseille) suplise us useful information about several peoples established in our sea coast. Amongst them he refers to "indomable Lybiophoenicians" and to the Massieni near Gadir (1). And we ask what peoples are those, where did they come from and why.

As to the Lybiophoenicians their name suggests a race from

Africa, the Lybians and another which could be Punic (from Carthagus or

coming directly from the East, the Phoenicians. In what concerns the Massieni, or Mastieni, or Messesses, it is not so easy to suggest their imediate

identification, but we cannot put aside from the beginning that one of the Sea

Peoples known from the Egyptian documents are the Meshwesh, a neighbour

people alied to the Lybians. Are we really dealing with that people? We think

so and our opinion is based on the information from the repports of the

compaign of Merneftah (1219-1210?) and of the Ramses 111(1198-1166) and also from the Bible and Hebrew tradition. We think we can identify the Meshwesh with the Meshech a people near Gadir.

The answer to the question we have been facing is not simple and cannot be given in a linear form. Everything must be envolved in its context to be duly understood. That's what we are goint to try in a gradual and progressive way.

The classic sources and others, writen in several literary genus speak about sea voyages of the Phoenicians, Greeks and Etruscans, along the Mediterranean to West, informing us by Estrabo that the "Phoenicians before the time of Homerus had the best of Iberia"... and he adds that "short after the Troian war, they went further the Hercule Columns and about there they founded cities" (2). But they are totally silent about the voyages of the so called Sea People to West, what is really strange when we think that those peoples, as

pirates of the Sea, would not have been indiferent to the wealth of the West.

37

This content downloaded from 194.29.185.22 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 22:04:32 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 3: DIVISION A: THE BIBLE AND ITS WORLD / חטיבה א: המקרא ועולמו || "משך" (בראשית י' 2): מגויי הים בדרום חצי האי האיברי? / "MESHECH"

ANTONIO AUGUSTO TAVARE

This question forces us to present the wonderings of the Sea

Peoples. If up to the XIV/XIII centuries B.C. the region of Balcans and the East of Mediterranian enjoyed tranquility and prosperity, that stopped to happen from then and it seems the main reason is the Dorian invasion of Greece which

destroyed the dominion of the Micens, having followed it the movimentations of the Greek peoples and their isles to other regions. Groups of peoples went to

the coast and melted with local ancient populations. Those migrations distroyed Minoic civilization of Crete and contributed surely to the formation of the Greek and Italian Peoples. Apart from that, they contributed to the distraction of the Hittite empire and pushed several peoples to the Egyptian coasts where

Merneftah and Ramses III had to face them. It was a period of agitation and

crisis. Let us see it in detail. In the Near East, there was by that time a political equilibrium

manteined by two great powers: the Egyptans and the Hittites. But such

equilibrium would desappear after the battle of Cadesh in region of Orontes, between Ramses II and Mwuatalis circa 1286/1285, which is known by its

consequences and not only by the epic and exulting repport that Ramses had

engraved in Luxor (3). It was no doubt one of the most important battles of the

Antiquity by the consequences it had, seeing that said equilibrium would

desapper. from there we see ambitions of imperialist expansion by all the Neareast: Assyrians, Lukka (Lyciens), Hebrews, etc.

We are mainly concerned with the names of those who collaborate with the Egyptian army, specially those who supported the Hittites. On the side of Ramses we can registed the Shardan who acted as mercenaries

and also the troops of nearim, that is a troop of young people possibly from

Amurru, which could coincide with the region of Phoenicia. But on the side of the Hittites the text speaks about a real confederation of alied peoples coming from the North, said to have white skin, blue eyes and fair hair, beeing therefore different from the referred asiatic Semitic peoples. They are the

Lukka, the Teresh, the Shardan, the Meshwesh, the Sehekelesh, the Danaune and the Ahhiyawe (4).

After the fall of the Hittite empire those peoples are situated on the Minor Asia and east Mediterranean, in lands well identified, but not fully peaceful, because about 60 or 65 years after that, several of them are alied with

Lybians, who intend to establish themselves in Egypt, when the pharao Merneftah had to face an expulse them. In the stela of Merneftah, the pharao is

pleased about the sucess he had against the Lybians and the alies from the North in the war which had place about 1220 in the fifth year of his kingdom.

With the Meshwesh neighbours and alies of the lybians we find other sea peoples. It is evident that they were not totally defeated. We know

they atacked again the Egypt from Lybia in the time of Ramses III circa 1189 and 1186. We know the destination of great part of the sea peoples after the battles in Egypt. Let us present to you only a summary of the most known:

The Lukka are well known as pirates of the second millenium who have been identified with the Liceans. It is not difficult to identify the

38

This content downloaded from 194.29.185.22 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 22:04:32 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 4: DIVISION A: THE BIBLE AND ITS WORLD / חטיבה א: המקרא ועולמו || "משך" (בראשית י' 2): מגויי הים בדרום חצי האי האיברי? / "MESHECH"

"MESHECH" (GENESIS 10:2)

Peleshet with the Philistians and it is not difficult to understand that they, as

people of the sea, brought to Palestine elements of the Mycenic civilization. The biblical passages (Deut 2.23; Am.9,7, Jer.47.4) inform us

that they come from Caftor, usually identified with Crete. We have here a great consonance with the old Greek tradition, according to which, after the Troian

war, the Dorians invased Thessalia and Beotia in the Northwest, crossed

Peleponese and occupied Crete and other isles from where they went to several

places. Some Ekwesh occupied Syrian coast cooperating with Try and Ugarit in

their Mediterranian voyages. The Teresh are also known from other sources

and have been identified with the Tyrrenoi and Etruscans. As to the Shardan it

seems that there are no great doubts as to their localization having been related

with the Sardinia. The Shekelesh are traditionally identified with the

inhabitants of Sicily. We know that three peoples of the sea are established in. the

Mediterranian sea: the Etruscans, the Sicilians and the Shardans. And it is

natural that the limit of arrival of the peoples of the sea had not been the East

Coast of the Tyrrenian Sea. Peoples of so easy mobility through the seas would

not have been indiferent to the wealth of the west. But the destination of some

of them is pratically lost and would like to pay some attention to them.

In this case are the Meshwesh, a people already known in the

texts of Tell Amarna, XlVth century, where they are introduced as owners of

katle sheep and oxen, animals which were bought by high price in Egypt. We

are not surprised that they needed to establish themselves in a fertile land. That

explains the war against Merneftah. About the Meshwesh whose destination was lost we ask whether

some group of them were not establish in the South of Iberian Peninsula. We

have some reasons to defend this hypothesis. Let us see. Avienus in Ora

Maritima speaks about several peoples in the region of Tartessos whose names

interest us. He refers, for example, the Cilbicens, a designation connected with

the city of Cilpe and river Cilbo and another people referred in the same

context is the Lybiphoenicians, a name which leeds us naturally to think about

the Punics colonisers Coming from Lybia and Carthagus.

Lybians coming from North Africa with Phoenicians, arrived

through the Mediterranean, formed probably the people that Avienus calls

Lybiphoenicians, whom he classifies "indomable". But the Ora Maritima

speaks also about the Massieni another people of the same region. The

Massieni are designate in other sources as Mastieni. In the area of New

Carthagus there was a people called Massieni by Hecateus and Polibius, (south of Spain) known also by Messesses. Are we not in the presence of the

Meshwesh? It is not only the name that suggests us the connection, but

another important circunstance. They are found in the proximity of the

Lybiphoenicians as well as in the war of Merneftah and Ramses III, where they are said to be neighbours and alies of the Lybians. One can also admit that some

group of Meshwesh has arrived to the South of the Iberian Peninsula. In what

concerns the presence of that people of the sea in the South of the Iberian

39

This content downloaded from 194.29.185.22 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 22:04:32 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 5: DIVISION A: THE BIBLE AND ITS WORLD / חטיבה א: המקרא ועולמו || "משך" (בראשית י' 2): מגויי הים בדרום חצי האי האיברי? / "MESHECH"

ANTONIO AUGUSTO TAVARE

Peninsula, there is an important argument which is based in the Hebrew tradition plaing the Meshech in the area of Gadir, a fondamental point in our thesis which we now come to examine.

In Gen. 10,2, among the seven sons of Japhet, are referred: Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras. The same passage is repeated in I Cronicles 1,5. It

happens however that in Genesis there is some hesitation as to the transmission of die text, seeing that some Hebrew codes and the Greek version of the LXX read Moshech or Mushuch instead of Meshech, an hesitation which is not seen in the paralele place of Chronicles, where we read always Meshech.

The prophet Ezequiel 27,13, in an oracle against Tyr associates

Javan, Tubal and Meshech, saving that they received merchendise from Tyr, paying them with men and bronze objects. This association of Tubal with the

group of peoples can cause us some surprise, but may be we can clarify that difficult if we think that the Assyrians texts call them Tibas, Tipal or Topal and associate this people with Quue, that is Cilicy. Beeing that, in this association of peoples according to the biblical authors, we have Javan, that is the Jonians, a region of Minor Asia that later would involve all the Greeks, as we can see, for example in Zac. 9, 12, Dan. 8, 22, etc. We have Tubal in the Northeast coast of the Mediterranean on the coast near Chiprus,. In wath concerns the other two, according to the biblical authors they are situated in the West coast of Mediterranean. Tiras is the same as Teresh, the Tirsenoi of the Greeks, from where came the Etruscans (5).

It rests Meshech. The comentators of Genesis, that is the text that interests us more, propose a genealogical map of peoples with geographical basis, repeating themselves,with no great concern of originality and with no

arguments, revealing in some cases internal contradictions. One of the reasons for those repetions is originated by a confusion about an information of Herodotus.

In fact the Greek historian mentions the Moskoi, a people referred in the campaigns of Tiglat-Phalasar I (circa 1100 B.C.), of Tukulti-Ninurta II

(890-884), Sargon II (721-705), Assurbanipal (883-859) who might have received from them some bronze vases and wine, seeming that he situates that

people in Phrigia (6). But Hebrew tradition refers to a different people from the Moskoi. It refers to the Meshech in the proximity of Gadir in region of Tartessos. That tradition is clearly expressed in the Book of Jubilees (III-II century B.C.). There we can read "To Meshech was given all the coast of the other side of the third entrance, to the East is Gadir" (7). Therefore the territory to the West of gadir was occupied by the people of Meshech.

The biblical authors when presenting the peoples coming from a common trunk situate in the Mediterranean the following ones: Tubal (in the Cilicy), Javan (Jonians and Greeks), Kittim (the inhabitants of Chiprus) Rodanim, not Dodanim (the inhabitants of Rhodes); Tirsenoi (probably the Etruscans and the group of tartessos coming from them),Elisha (the same as carthagus as has been demonstrated) (8) and Meshech. For these reasons of context it is not possible to confound the Meshech with Moskoi of Herodotus. The Meshech people are obviously in the region of Tartessos. If the biblical

40

This content downloaded from 194.29.185.22 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 22:04:32 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 6: DIVISION A: THE BIBLE AND ITS WORLD / חטיבה א: המקרא ועולמו || "משך" (בראשית י' 2): מגויי הים בדרום חצי האי האיברי? / "MESHECH"

"MESHECH־ (GENESIS 10:2)

information can permit some doubts, they are eliminated by the text of the

Book of Jubilees. If we accept this localization, we have only one question to ask:

is not Meshech the same as Meshwesh? we think so, in spite of the actual

sonance of Meshech and Meshwesh insinuate differences. But this not so

significant: the fall of w is normal. So we have Meshech and Meshesh. On the

other side the passage from the sh to c is frequent. As an example let us

remember the same c of caballus gave ch in cheval (in french). Having been quested by me about this, the egyptologist Pascal

Vernus said that is perfectly possible that from Meshwesh one can arrive to

Meshech. Beeing so, the Meshech of the Hebrew tradition, represented in

Genesis and in the Book of Jubilees, would be the same as Meshwesh recorded

in the Assyrian texts, identified with Messesses or Massieni of Avienus in Ora

Maritima. Such a presence in the South of Iberia of Lybians and two

peoples of the sea, the Teresh and the Meshwesh, direct ancestors respectively of Tartessos and of the Massieni invite us to run two ways or in other words

two themes of investigation: the first consists in searching their eventual

realtions with other people of the sea, the Peleshet or Philistians who are

connected with Phoenicians and would be in the origin of some Mycenic influences felt in the Peninsula.The other, may be more proficuous, would lead

us to investigate some eventual influences of those peoples coming from

Anatolia and later on united to Lybians of NorthAfrica, in the cultures of the South of Ancient Hispania.

NOTES

(1)-Avienus, Ora Maritima, (Port.version by J. Ribeiro Ferreira), Coimbra,

1985,1.$22, p.28-29.

Strabo, ffl, 2.14־(2)

The text we are dealing with came to us in two versions, one Egyptian and־(3)

other accadic. The English version can be read in ANET, 201-203.

About all this problematic of the Peoples of the Sea we suggest the־(4)

following reading: N.K.Sandars. The Sea Peoples. Warriors of the Ancient Mediterranean. Londen 1988; Jaime Alvar, "Los Pueblos del mar y otros movimientos de pueblos a fines del segundo milenio", Historia del Mundo

Antiquo. Oriente, 7, Barcelona, ed. Akai, 1989. The reader will find a very

41

This content downloaded from 194.29.185.22 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 22:04:32 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 7: DIVISION A: THE BIBLE AND ITS WORLD / חטיבה א: המקרא ועולמו || "משך" (בראשית י' 2): מגויי הים בדרום חצי האי האיברי? / "MESHECH"

ANTONIO AUGUSTO TAVARE

critical appreciation on the historicity of the Peoples of the Sea in A. Nibbi, The Sea peoples: a reamination of Egyptian sources. Oxford, 1972.

(5)-As has been observed by E. Dhorme: "C'est le meme nom qui apparait sur les inscriptions hierogliphiques du temps de Memeftah comme tu-rw-s. C'est ä dire les Tirsenoi ou Etrusques, peuples de la mer qui attaquent 1'Egypt comme alies de la Lybie", cit. by A. Clamer, La Genese, tome I, Letouzey et Ane

editeurs, Paris, 1953, p. 207.

(6)- The comentators of Genesis do not reavel themselves sure about the localisation of the referred peoples in this bilbical passage. They repeat generally what others have written, not avoiding to fall in internal

contraditions, and so, for example, P.E. Testa in his large volume of Genesis starts from the principle that the maps of peoples in the Bible depends from the

Babylonian map from the time of Sargon of Accad. It seems to me that he

forgets an important thing: when the Hebrews wrote the text of Genesis they had not only the vision of the world with its center in the Babylon. They looked also to the West and to the Mediterranean where they situate the peoples here mentioned. We are referring to P.E. Testa, Genesi. Marietti, Roma, 1969, concretelly p. 407.

(7)-See Testes para la Historia Antigua de la Peninsula Iberica (by N.S.

Yanguas), Asturliberos, Oviedo, 1980, p. XV.

(8)-About the identification of Rodanim (not Dodanim) as Rhodes and Elisha with Carthagus see: A.A.Tavares, "Primeiras migrates para Ocidente, segundo as fontes escritas", in Estudos Orientais. I, Lisboa, 1990, pp. 17-18; see also

J.B.Tsirkin, "The Hebrew Bible and the origin of Tartessian power", in Aula Orientalis. IV, Barcelona, 1986, pp. 179-185.

42

This content downloaded from 194.29.185.22 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 22:04:32 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions