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June 9, 2007
Scribes and the Economy of Cities
I've been working through the archaeological evidence that some scholars suggest limits or even negates the likelihood of a scribal school in early 10th century BCE Jerusalem. In its simplest form, the argument says that Jerusalem was too small and the local economy too weak to support the level of social stratification required for a scribal school. I think Jamieson-Drake makes one of the better cases but I still need to get to the library and read Finkelstein's 2001 paper on the rise of Jerusalem and Judah. The nearest library that has this paper is closed over the weekend so I'll need to wait until Monday. But I found something in another Finkelstein work somewhat amusing.
"Jerusalem, mentioned in the Amarna letters as Abdi-Heba's seat of power, could not have been more than a small village located on the same ridge that David's Jerusalem later occupied. Over a century of modern archaeology investigations in Jerusalem have revealed no significant remains from Abdi-Heba's era. Only isolated tombs and a few Late Bonze pottery sherds have been found on the ridge of the later City of David - especially in the vicinity of the city's only permanent source of freshwater, the Gihon spring. Abhi-Heba's Jerusalem was probably no more than a highland hamlet, with a modest palace a great deal more rustic than the ornate princely residences in the main lowlands cities. A modest temple may have stood next to it, perhaps surrounded by a few houses for the ruling elite, mainly family of the regional chief. Certainly it was no more significant than this. [Finkelstein and Silberman, 42]
Finkelstein and Silberman do not claim otherwise but one should note that there was at least one scribe associated with that "modest palace" of the Late Bronze Age. That scribe's work demonstrates several features that are unique to the southern Levant and still other features that are uniquely his own. Elsewhere I have argued against Moran that these features are strongly indicative of there having been a long-standing scribal school in Jerusalem that continued until at least Abdi-Heba's time. Abdi-Heba's scribe was a master at that school and took his training there. There is no reason, archaeological or otherwise, to suppose that Jerusalem was any larger in the time immediately before Abdi-Heba.
One might question the size of Abdi-Heba's Jerusalem. Whatever its size, it appears to have been large enough to support a scribal school. This is not an argument for a scribal school in the early 10th century BCE. It is, however, a word of caution about using the absence of archaeological evidence in an argument against there being scribal school then or at any other time.
I hope I'll have more to say on all this soon.
References:
Jamieson-Drake, David, Scribes and Schools in Monarchic Judah, A Socio-Archeological Approach, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series, 109, David Clines and Philip Davies eds, The Social World of Biblical Antiquity Series, 9, James Flanagan, ed, Sheffield: Almond Press, 1991
Moran, William L., "The Syrian Scribe of the Jerusalem Amarna Letters," Amarna Studies, Collected Writings, John Heuhnergard and Shlomo Izre'el eds, Harvard Semitic Studies, 54, Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 2003
Posted by Duane Smith at June 9, 2007 2:59 PM | Read more on Scribal Schools |
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Comments
It is interesting that Lemche likes Jamieson-Drake's conclusions, but says that this work is not a major work because of the material on which he works. "... Jamieson-Drake is dependent upon material of low scholarly value..." See N. P. Lemche, "From Patronage Society to Patronage Society," The Origins of the Ancient Israelite States. eds V. Fritz & P. R. Davies, Sheffield, 1996, page 107.
Posted by: Loren Fisher at June 9, 2007 9:31 PM
Loren,
I also plan to pick up Lemche's paper, actually the whole book, on Monday. Because I haven't read what he has to say, I'm not sure what he means by "material of low scholarly value." Jamieson-Drake works with published, largely survey material and some secondary material. Each individual item (e.g. the number of sites occupied, the area occupied at each site, the number of various luxury items found, number and distribution of stamped jar handles, etc) is of almost no value. The picture from all the many items surveyed is fairly impressive. I'm not so sure he gets the correct answer (that's what I'm working on) but the amount and scope of the evidence is significant.
Posted by: Duane at June 9, 2007 10:03 PM
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