Re: Origin of Sabbath, Canaanite seasonal festivals, and nomads’ spring sacrifice

Martin Edwards wrote:
Matt Giwer wrote:
Martin Edwards wrote:
Matt Giwer wrote:
Dragonblaze wrote:
On 17 May, 23:06, Matt Giwer <jul...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
[snip]
There were no Canaanites. That is a bible name which corresponds to no known
people in the most dug place in the world.
Matt has a VERY short memory, methinks.... This is what I posted
earlier:
"Kinahhu? I guess you've NEVER head of that word. That is what it is in
Akkadian, and it is Ka-na-na in Egyptian.The Ebla texts have the
ethnic name ga-na-na. Really, if you want to debate this issue, TRY
and do a little reading."
You forget the two most elementary observations.
At best you have a guess which requires a great reach. We have Herodotus
using an unambiguous spelling Palestina and no mention of any bible people
which would distinguish them from people invented by the creators of the
Septuagint.
Herodotus is MUCH younger than the Egyptian and Ebla texts - in which
those names are found. Are you unable to understand what can happen in
a thousand years to names?
Age is immaterial to what the man wrote. Palestinians is only of interest to modern politics. The absence of any Judeans in history until the 2nd c. BC is what is important to ancient history. Discovering why they suddenly appeared is still worth addressing.
This is a very tentative hypothesis *but* it may simply have been named after Judas Maccabaeus. Maccabees II is not, as most people think, the second part of the highly mythologized Maccabees I. It is a fairly straightforward account beginning with the depredations of Antiochus Epiphanes (appearance of a god) and going on to Judas's revolt. On the other hand, it does presuppose a people so attached to their god or gods, and to their food taboos, which may or may not have been ancient, that they were determined not to have foreign gods or customs thrust upon them.

The first person to suggest Judah Maccabe naming it after himself in this newsgroup was Aggie. As I said there are reasons to read what he posts although at times you have to wade through a lot
There is also a possibility he commissioned the creation of this religion. What mitigates that is the description of the worship ceremony being Greek rather than "jewish." Aggie says it is to Dionysus while I favor Adonis for the Adoni Elohim of the stories. But Judaism is an unknowably huge step backwards in the development of religion in the region. Religions became more civilized than Judaism before they started leaving written records. A fertility celebration in Maccabe is a far cry from animal sacrifice. Note also only animals not grains indicating they were a nomadic rather than a farming culture.
It is that plus the cohenim gene which makes it reasonable to speculate the religion came after Maccabe as a conquering tribe of savages wandering in from Jordan or some such place. There is no Greek mention of this Maccabe revolt so we can't make any assumption as to what they may or may not have recorded or thought important enough to record. And that suggests I add finding when the Persians got free of the Asian Greek empire to my to-do list. Being occupied with a real war in the east would explain not recording a lot of things going on back home.
Anyway I expect to find more than just a name change although that alone would confirm the OT to be a later created fiction.

Maccabees II actually does describe the movement starting up in the hills.

Now that you mention it, it is not reasonable to assume the Maccabe group had taken refuge in the hills. Arriving in the hills as a staging area for an invasion is reasonable. That would suggest they came from the north meaning Syrians. Squabbles among Syrian tribes would not be nearly as noteworthy as actual invaders.

As noted, getting rid of baseless assumptions is the most difficult part of this.

.

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