A new archeological find in Turkey has those who would like to disprove the Torah as historical fact quite excited. They seem to think it proves that God never made a covenant with the Israelites or selected them as His Chosen People. Rather, they see the unearthing of this table, as proof that the Torah—and the story of the covenant made at Mt. Sinai in particular—represents a fictionalization based upon an older Assyrian treaty.
Of course, many—but not all—Jews believe the Torah contains the word of God and a historical—and true—account of what happened to our ancestors.
According to a Science News story, a cache of cuneiform tablets unearthed by a team led by a University of Toronto archaeologist has been found to contain a largely intact Assyrian treaty from the early 7th century BCE. "The tablet is quite spectacular. It records a treaty—or covenant—between Esarhaddon, King of the Assyrian Empire and a secondary ruler who acknowledged Assyrian power. The treaty was confirmed in 672 BCE at elaborate ceremonies held in the Assyrian royal city of Nimrud (ancient Kalhu). In the text, the ruler vows to recognize the authority of Esarhaddon's successor, his son Ashurbanipal," said Timothy Harrison, professor of near eastern archaeology in the Department of Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations and director of U of T's Tayinat Archaeological Project (TAP).
The cache of tablets—which date back to the Iron Age—were unearthed in August 2009 during excavations at the site of an ancient temple at Tell Tayinat, located in southeastern Turkey.
Harrison claims the tablet is written in a highly formulaic language very similar in form and style to the story of Abraham's covenant with God in the Hebrew Bible, reported the Ottowa Citizen.
Biblical scholarship differs, but scholars agree that the Torah was being assembled around the same time as this treaty. For this reason, Harrison told about 50 guests at the residence of the Turkish ambassador Rafet Akgunay, "Those documents ... seem to reflect very closely the formulaic structure of these treaty documents."
Despite what many would like to believe, however, he was not necessarily saying the Israelites modeled their story upon the Assyrian treaty, substituting their own story about how God liberated them from slavery in Egypt on the condition that they worship only Him and follow his commandments.
For most faithful Jews, this archeological find won't change their belief system at all. For them, the Torah will remain a work of historical fact. It will remain the word of God. They will always consider themselves God's Chosen People, the ones with whom God made a covenant at Mt. Sinai.
What do you think? Is the Torah fact or fiction or a little of both?
Comments
95% fiction; 5% based loosely on real happenings, though names and places may be all over the map.
These are, of course, gross estimates, but based on my moderately deep study of the Old testament, I stand by them. The only truth in Genesis is probably that there was a large rainstorm somewhere, and recorded, by someone; that there was a green lush area near the confluenc of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, called Eden by Biblical (or Torah) myth spreaders.
The Jews being kidnapped by the Babylonians in 586 BCE may have been a blessing in disguise, for the Babylonians had vast libraries that the Jews were allowed to access. It seems the Jews were for the most part nicely treated by the Babylonians for some chose to stay in Babylonia when Cyrus the Great freed them. Many of these stories were widely circulated in the Middle East, and the Torah contains many of them. I view the Torah as being historically accurate for the most part because so many things can be verified from the records of other ancient Mideast cultures. If the Jews believe they are God's chosen people, that is enough, for no one else was forced to adopt the Jewish Holy Books.
Fiction, with a smattering of fact... The same as all other religious mythologies (pagan, christian, etc.)...
Peace.
the 3 major religions of teh world all begin with
once upon a time.....
I prefer the modern works of Hans Christen Anderson.
Of courOf course, Torah is mostly Mythology…go back some 900 years prior to Torah and you’ll see the story of creation, the flood and many others in the Mythological epic of Gilgamesh…
This post looks at the issue with a very narrow mind. Can you prove the Assyrian treaty wasn't influenced from the Torah? Can you prove that God wasn't using the legal language familiar to the Jews at the time of the giving of the Law under Moses? The only thing I find here is another narrow minded excuse for people to dismiss Scripture with absolutely no basis.
"Of course, many—but not all—Jews believe the Torah contains the word of God and a historical—and true—account of what happened to our ancestors."
Wrong - just plain wrong. This is a false statement about a minority of Jews. And, our concept of bachar, chosen-ness, is not one of being singled out as 'better' or 'special.' Those concepts were foisted on us by the early church. Assumptions about Judaism are damaging and downright seditious.
Dated 7 Century BCE. That says it all!! The Torah predates this by over half a millenium. This just proves their mindset. How a much younger artifact, that is found, proves that an older one plagiarised from it. I've never heard of such idiocy. And with regards to the flood etc there isn't a problem that other cultures have the same story as this happened to the world.
The torah was actually compiled in the 1500-1300 BCE 800-500 years before hand. Although i believe this may just be a coincidence, if anyone copied anyone, the Assyrians Copied the jews.
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