Re: correction

Rocks much bigger can be found:
https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fallaboutjerusalem.com%2Fhe%2Fgallery-image%2F%25D7%2590%25D7%2591%25D7%25A0%25D7%2599-%25D7%25A7%25D7%259C%25D7%25A2-%25D7%2591%25D7%259E%25D7%2591%25D7%25A6%25D7%25A8-%25D7%2591%25D7%25AA%25D7%259C-%25D7%2590%25D7%25A4%25D7%2595%25D7%259C%25D7%2595%25D7%25A0%25D7%2599%25D7%2594-%25D7%2590%25D7%25A8%25D7%25A9%25D7%25A3-%25D7%2590%25D7%25A8%25D7%25A1%25D7%2595%25D7%25A3%2F63&data=02%7C01%7CCLASSICS-L%40lsv.uky.edu%7C8193f39434a542a5d31508d68f927128%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C636854256464203382&sdata=b%2BuvtsCXFHbW8djdyh08n4cHvCsQAaTeVf4flzkyZWk%3D&reserved=0
for a pile of stones from Tel Arsouf (Apollonia), slightly north of Tel
Aviv; but these look to me like they are designed for catapults, not
slings. https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.imj.org.il%2Fen%2Fcollections%2F380226&data=02%7C01%7CCLASSICS-L%40lsv.uky.edu%7C8193f39434a542a5d31508d68f927128%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C636854256464203382&sdata=5ncm9zMWmGlGBIgqHK0G%2BArAfheTUrW7oXIZqKpF5gI%3D&reserved=0 will show you some
stones from Lachish much closer to David's time (only a couple of hundred
years off); the website doesn't give their weight, but gives their "height"
(sic) as 4.5-6 cm of limestone. Of course, as Xenophon points out (Anab.
3.3.16-17) heavier shots don't travel as far and so are not necessarily
better. And David did not use prepared ammunition, but "chose himself five
smooth stones from the brook" (I Sam. 17:40, my translation; I don't have
an official one in front of me). A "brook" (*na**ḥal*) in Israel is what is
called an *arroyo* in the southwest, a *wadi* in Arabic, and almost all of
them are dry most of the year, their beds full of smooth stones ("wadi
material", as it is called). Almost all of these are much lighter than a
pound, but then, I don't know which ones David would have chosen.

In general this exhibition seems to be doing what museums all over the
world like to do, piling on information to lend verisimilitude to a
well-known and unremarkable fact, in this case that a person can be killed
by a well-aimed stone thrown from a sling. Many people deny the miracles in
the Bible, but I have never heard anyone claim that a stone shot from a
sling couldn't have killed Goliath.

dms

On Sun, Feb 10, 2019 at 8:34 PM DANIEL P. Tompkins <[email protected]>
wrote:

> I omitted the link here:
>
>
> https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedailybeast.com%2Fthe-big-problem-with-biblical-literacy%3Fsource%3Darticles%26via%3Drss&amp;data=02%7C01%7CCLASSICS-L%40lsv.uky.edu%7C8193f39434a542a5d31508d68f927128%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C636854256464203382&amp;sdata=f3kKgZj2c0xd6fK6z%2BltO1qXwll9fpbelYy8KTmKKI4%3D&amp;reserved=0
>
> Dan
>
> On Sun, Feb 10, 2019 at 1:23 PM DANIEL P. Tompkins <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> > Everytime the Museum of the Bible in DC gets in the news, it's usually
> > because of one or another infraction or misstep.: a record Candida Moss,
> > Yale PhD now at Birmingham UK, is careful not to break:
> >
> > ... Ken McKenzie, CEO of the recently opened Hobby-Lobby backed Museum of
> > the Bible in DC, discussed the museum’s non-sectarian [!!] Bible
> > curriculum. While Hobby Lobby previously sponsored efforts to place a
> Bible
> > literacy curriculum in public schools, they now target private schools
> and
> > homeschoolers. McKenzie offered the following example of what
> non-sectarian
> > education looks like: "Archaeological excavations have found the stone
> > that was used of 1.5 to 2 pounds, and we’ll review some ancient texts
> about
> > life at that time and watch a video that shows how a sling could be
> > accurate,” Mr. McKenzie said. “This is not [an assignment that says],
> ‘This
> > is what we believe.’”
> >
> > The statement created an immediate flurry of interest from academics who,
> > understandably, wondered if McKenzie was suggesting that Museum of the
> > Bible itself is claiming to possess the “1.5 to 2 pound” murder weapon
> > that, according to the story, killed Goliath. In a comment to *The Daily
> > Beast*, McKenzie clarified that he had been taken out of context; that
> > what he meant was that “archaeologists’ research in the area where the
> > event reportedly occurred have unearthed stones from that era weighing in
> > at 1.5-2 pounds.” He also added that this is not an actual example from
> the
> > institution’s curriculum.
> >
> > It is frustrating for McKenzie to be misquoted, but the method he
> > describes raises another problem: the way that *Christian organizations
> > weaponize archaeology* in the presentation of Biblical texts. *The
> > presence of smallish rocks in the region where David fought Goliath isn’t
> > proof of the Biblical story any more than the existence of the Sea of
> > Galilee proves that Jesus walked on water. *
> >
> > Is the Museum of the Bible too easy a target?  Almost.  They seem capable
> > of messing up a two-car funeral.
> >
> > On the other hand, the Museum is the creation (heh) of Hobby Lobby,
> which did
> > so much damage in its war on women
> > <
> https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2014%2F06%2F30%2Fpolitics%2Fscotus-obamacare-contraception%2Findex.html&amp;data=02%7C01%7CCLASSICS-L%40lsv.uky.edu%7C8193f39434a542a5d31508d68f927128%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C636854256464213387&amp;sdata=jvH2kfK7RuVng41tF7hVqg0IIUu1zCR5Lx3fsneZNIg%3D&amp;reserved=0
> >.
> > So when criticism is merited, it will likely be leveled.
> >
> > I'm copying one friend in Tel Aviv to ask, can 1.5 lb rocks still be
> found
> > in the Holy Land?
> >
> > Dan
> >
>


-- 
Prof. Em. David M. Schaps
Department of Classical Studies
Bar-Ilan University
5290002 Ramat-Gan, Israel
-972-53-312-5666