The Cities That Built the Bible Read online

  THE PHOENICIAN ALPHABET

  But Phoenicia didn’t just give us the word for the Bible. The Phoenicians are credited with the very invention that allowed the Bible to be written down in the first place—the Phoenician alphabet.

  As the Phoenicians engaged in trade over the centuries, their influence throughout the Mediterranean increased.4 But these seafaring traders needed a system to streamline their invoices, orders, receipts, and logistical organization as they brokered goods between Asia, Europe, and northern Africa. Although the Phoenicians gathered and exported a myriad of products, arguably their most lasting gift to the world is something far more ubiquitous: a simple, consonantal alphabet.5

  The Phoenician alphabet is actually responsible for both the Greek and Hebrew alphabets. The Phoenicians are credited with transitioning from earlier systems of writing like cuneiform (those chicken-scratch impressions made by a wedge-shaped stylus tip on a clay tablet to form pictures that represent either words or syllables) to a much easier system. Cuneiform required the memorization of hundreds, if not thousands, of symbolic pictograms to represent the nouns, verbs, and other parts of language required to communicate complete thoughts in rudimentary “sentences.” The Phoenician system was a much easier consonantal system made up of only a few graphemes (letters). These “letters” did not stand for things, but for the sounds that made up words.

  The development of a consonantal alphabet meant that scribes had to memorize only a few symbols—twenty-two to be exact—and place them together to form the sounds that make up a word, instead of drawing the entire object they were trying to communicate. Having to remember only twenty-two shapes (instead of thousands of pictograms) made writing much easier and the composition of letters much faster, which in turn allowed writing to become easier to learn and therefore more common during this period. Thus, the Phoenician alphabet is the first necessary component to “building” the Bible, and the Phoenician cities of Byblos, Tyre, and Ṣidon represent the glorious culture of the Phoenicians from which Western alphabets derive.

  THE SPREAD OF THE PHOENICIAN ALPHABET THROUGH THE MEDITERRANEAN

  It is thought that the Phoenicians spread their new writing system to their ports and colonies throughout the Mediterranean. The Greek historian Herodotus claims that the Phoenicians brought their alphabet to the Greeks.6 Indeed, the chart on the next page demonstrates the similarities between the Greek and Phoenician alphabets. Of course, the Greeks went on to write tomes of classical literature and philosophy that serve as the foundation for Western thought, subsequent Western literature, and essentially most of Western culture.

  The chart above demonstrates how the Phoenician alphabet provided the foundational shapes of the letters that would become the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, and ultimately English alphabets.

  Other groups adopted the Phoenician alphabet, for example, the Arameans, a group of Semitic peoples who resided in what is now Syria. The Arameans used the Phoenician alphabet for their Aramaic language, which came to be the dominant language throughout the Near Eastern empires until the coming of the Greeks and the hellenization (and subsequent romanization) of the Levant. In fact, so superior in ease of use and learnability were the Phoenician alphabet and the Aramaic language that, following the Persian Achaemenid conquest of Mesopotamia in the sixth century BCE, King Darius I jettisoned his own people’s traditional Akkadian cuneiform language and adopted (Old) Aramaic as the official language of the empire.7 Because it was easy to learn and use, the Persians felt it was the best language for governing their vast empire made up of many different peoples speaking various native languages.

  Because the Phoenician alphabet was the dominant one used by Cana‘anite peoples, it is no surprise that the Hebrews also adopted it and used it to write the earliest known epigraphic Hebrew inscriptions, like the Gezer Calendar, discovered in the city of Gezer, about twenty miles west of Jerusalem.8 This tenth-century BCE tablet acted like an ancient Farmers’ Almanac, instructing farmers when to plant and harvest their crops. Scholars refer to Hebrew written in Phoenician script during this early period as Old Hebrew (see chart above).9 Later, while they were in Babylon, exiles from Judah adopted the local Aramaic language as their native tongue. Evidence for this comes from the fact that some books of the Bible written after the return from exile, namely, ‘Ezra’ (Ezra) and Dani’el (Daniel), contain large portions of text written in what has come to be known as biblical Aramaic.10

  After the exiles returned to Jerusalem, they continued speaking and writing the Aramaic language down through the time of Jesus. This is why Jesus is always quoted in the Gospels as having spoken Aramaic—it was his native tongue! They also adopted the Aramaic square script to write both Aramaic and Hebrew, which is why the Hebrew that we have in the Bible (and today) uses the Phoenician alphabet and the Aramaic square script.

  Thus, since the Phoenicians, who popularized the consonantal alphabet, saw their alphabet become adopted by the Hebrews, Arameans, and Greeks, and since their three languages were used to compose the books of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, we can confidently claim that the Phoenicians are ultimately responsible for the literary raw materials—paper and alphabet—used to write the Bible. But the Phoenicians didn’t just give us the devices used in the writing of the Bible; they also inspired some of the text of the Bible. And believe it or not, Phoenicia also gave us the holiest place in Judaism, the house of God itself, the Jerusalem Temple. So let’s turn to Tyre and Ṣidon, two cities that greatly influenced the contents of the Bible in different ways.

  TYRE AND ṢIDON

  Two other ancient Phoenician port cities, Tyre and Ṣidon (both in modern Lebanon), ultimately surpassed the early Phoenician capital of Byblos in size and importance. The island city of Tyre grew in prominence throughout the Late Bronze Age (1550–1200 BCE) and supplanted Byblos as the Phoenician capital around 1000 BCE. In 333 BCE the capital was moved to Carthage (in modern Tunisia), where it remained until the destruction of Carthage at the hands of the Romans in 149 BCE during the Third Punic War.

  Tyre is mentioned often in the Bible, where it is known as Ṣor (), pronounced “Tsor” or “Tsur.” The Greeks later called it Turos (Τύρος), whence we get the modern anglicized name Tyre.

  TYRE’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE CREATION OF THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM

  Although Tyre was not an Israelite town, this regional trade center did provide ancient Israel with its most prominent structure. Few people realize that the palace of King David as well as the Temple of King Shlomoh (Solomon), both in Jerusalem, were made possible through materials and craftsmen from Tyre. Tyre was responsible for the physical building of David’s palace and the Temple in Jerusalem. Second Samuel 5:11 states: “King Hiram of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar trees, and carpenters and masons who built David a house.” Later on, 1 Kings states that Ḥiram also provided the materials—specifically the famed cedars of Lebanon (take a look at the Lebanese flag today to see just how proud the Lebanese are of their cedars!)—to build the Jerusalem Temple: “Now King Hiram of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father; for Hiram had always been a friend to David” (5:1).

  Note that the verse also says, “Hiram had always been a friend to David.” This implies that there had been a strategic alliance between Israel and Phoenicia. Solomon confirms this alliance by sending a message to King Ḥiram asking him (quite flatteringly) for Lebanese cedars to use in building his Temple:

  Therefore command that cedars from the Lebanon be cut for me. My servants will join your servants, and I will give you whatever wages you set for your servants; for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians. (1 Kings 5:6)

  King Ḥiram consented, responded with his counterdemands, and then proposed a clever way to transport the lumber to Jerusalem. Rather than carry it overland, which would incur tremendous expense in labor and animals as well as an increased deli
very time to navigate the mountains between the Lebanese coast and Jerusalem, Ḥiram decided he would ship the lumber down the coast. Instead of taking valuable trade ships out of service for use in transporting the lumber to Jerusalem, 1 Kings says that King Ḥiram bound the lumber itself into rafts and floated them down the Mediterranean coast, which allowed his shipping vessels to continue on their business of international trade:

  “My servants shall bring it down to the sea from the Lebanon; I will make it into rafts to go by sea to the place you indicate. I will have them broken up there for you to take away.” (5:9)

  In exchange for the lumber requested by Solomon for use in his Temple, King Ḥiram asked Solomon to pay him an annual allowance.

  “And you shall meet my needs by providing food for my household.” So Hiram supplied Solomon’s every need for timber of cedar and cypress. Solomon in turn gave Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat as food for his household, and twenty cors of fine oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year. (1 Kings 5:9–11)

  The language used in 1 Kings 5 appears to imply some sort of trade deal, if not a formal treaty between Tyre and Israel. Near Eastern scholar Edward Lipin´ ski states: “Israel and Tyre were complementary countries from the economic point of view, Israel appearing as a continental, agricultural land, while Tyre was oriented towards seafaring and maritime trade.”11 Israel, which produced wheat, millet, honey, oil, and balm, among other commodities (cf. Ezek. 27:17), traded regularly with Tyre, which likely exported much of the goods it received from inland states; in exchange, Israel imported many handcrafted objects that were produced locally in Phoenicia. Thus, it makes sense that Solomon would ask King Ḥiram of Tyre for the materials for the Temple, as Lebanon was known worldwide for its timbers and Solomon wanted only the best for YHWH’s Temple.

  We also know that laborers from both Tyre and Israel are said to have worked together on the Temple according to the Bible. According to 1 Kings 5:18, “Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Giblites did the stonecutting and prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.” Thus, we have additional biblical claims that the two kings worked together to procure the materials and build the Jerusalem Temple.

  Given this textual evidence, we can conclude that Tyre contributed significantly to the construction of the Jerusalem Temple. Furthermore, the Bible explicitly states that much of Solomon’s wealth was the result of joint trade expeditions with Phoenicia. First Kings 9:26–29 tells of one joint venture in which Solomon provided trade access to the Gulf of ‘Aqaba, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean for King Ḥiram. Such a trade agreement would have cut the distance of ocean voyages from Europe to South Asia by over forty-three hundred miles, making commercial trade with India viable for Phoenicia. Thus, although the biblical tales of Solomon’s wealth may indeed be exaggerated, the fact that Solomon engaged in trade with Phoenicia may stand at the root of the legends of his wealth, as those trading with Phoenicia would have certainly profited greatly by doing so.12

  Now, scholars and many readers may take pause and rightly ask, “How do we know that this is historical and not just a madeup story?” This is a fair question. The best scholarly response is that the later compilers and editors of the Bible (i.e., the scribes who collected these stories and arranged them in the Bible) would likely not have highlighted positive interactions with foreign nations (who worship foreign gods) if they had not actually happened. Express commands from God like those found in Exodus 23:32 and Deuteronomy 7:2 prohibit the Israelites from making treaties with foreign peoples. The fact that David and Solomon both are said to have had positive interactions with Phoenicia is a problem for the Bible. Thus, it is unlikely that such a violation of YHWH’s commands would be invented and introduced into the text by later composers or editors of the Bible. Rather, although the tales of Solomon’s wealth and the vastness of his “kingdom” are almost certainly embellished, it is likely that the use of Phoenician cedars to build the Jerusalem Temple and the tales of joint trade ventures and agreements with Phoenicia are rooted in some historical reality.

  THE FALL OF TYRE AND ṢIDON

  But as is the case with every nation that has ever existed, Phoenicia’s heyday eventually gave way to foreign conquest. Tyre and Ṣidon were attacked and conquered a number of times by various enemies including Egypt; the Assyrian king Shalmaneser V; the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II, who forced them to pay him annual tribute; the Persian Achaemenids, who ruled Tyre and Ṣidon from 539 to 332 BCE;13 Alexander the Great, who overthrew Ṣidon and orchestrated the Siege of Tyre before razing the city to the ground when taking it from the Persians; and Antigonus I Monophthalmus, who again besieged the city in 315 BCE.14

  And it is these destructions of Tyre and Ṣidon that were burned into the cultural memory of Israelites, Judahites, and later Jews by a number of Hebrew prophets. Because of the history of power and economic excess and the subsequent destruction of these cities, the Hebrew prophets looked to Tyre and Ṣidon as examples of what God does to those who do not care for the poor or heed his word.

  The prophet Yeḥezqi’el (Ezekiel) condemned the king of Tyre not only for his vast wealth, but because he “compared his mind to the mind of a god”:

  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you compare your mind with the mind of a god, therefore, I will bring strangers against you, the most terrible of the nations; they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom and defile your splendor. They shall thrust you down to the Pit, and you shall die a violent death in the heart of the seas. (28:6–8)

  In fact, Ezekiel 27–28 is a lengthy prophecy against Phoenicia, a portion of which is particularly condemnatory of Ṣidon:

  Thus says the Lord GOD: I am against you, O Sidon, and I will gain glory in your midst. They shall know that I am the LORD when I execute judgments in it, and manifest my holiness in it; for I will send pestilence into it, and bloodshed into its streets; and the dead shall fall in its midst, by the sword that is against it on every side. And they shall know that I am the LORD. (28:22–23)

  The prophet Isaiah offers an entire prophecy against Tyre. Isaiah 23 describes the destruction of Tyre, and vv. 13–14 specifically highlight the deeds of the Babylonians (here called the Chaldeans):

  Look at the land of the Chaldeans! This is the people; it was not Assyria. They destined Tyre for wild animals. They erected their siege towers, they tore down her palaces, they made her a ruin. Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for your fortress is destroyed.

  Thus, a prophetic tradition developed that cursed Tyre (and Ṣidon by proxy) for amassing wealth and not heeding the words of God.

  TYRE AND ṢIDON IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

  It is this destruction of the main city-states of Phoenicia that Jesus would remind his opponents of in a harsh sermon against cities near the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. In Luke 10:13–15 (cf. Matt. 11:20–24), Jesus invokes Tyre and Ṣidon as a point of comparison while chastising the Jewish cities of Chorazin, Bethṣaida, and Kfar Naḥum (Capernaum):

  Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But at the judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades.

  Jesus tells Chorazin, Bethṣaida, and Capernaum, cities in which Jesus has performed his “deeds of power” (cf. Matt. 11:20), that the well-known non-Jewish cities of Tyre and Ṣidon will have an easier time at the final judgment than they will.

  And yet, interestingly, we also have an account of Jesus retreating to Tyre and Ṣidon in Matthew: “Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon” (15:21). Mark adds that he went there and “entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice” (7:24). And while he was in Tyre, Jesus is said to have performed one of his more controversial miracles.
/>   Mark 7:24–30 (cf. Matt. 15:21–28) tells the story of the Syrophoenician woman. (Syrophoenicians are Phoenicians from Syria.) This miracle is controversial because Jesus not only initially refuses to perform the miracle, but also calls the woman a dog (Gk. κυνάριον), which was as insulting then as it is now:

  Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

  I once told my college class a version of this story: “On my way to class today, a homeless person asked me, ‘Teacher, can you answer some questions about the Bible for me?’ I responded, ‘I’m on my way to teach my students. I need to teach them first, because it’s not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’”

  My students were appalled (and rightly so). I could hear one of the students whisper under her breath, “What a jerk!” They stared at me, wondering how I could be so rude to a homeless man who was simply asking for my help.

  Then I said to my class, “I didn’t really say that to a homeless man. But could you imagine if someone had recorded my saying that and then posted it on YouTube? At the very least I’d get called into the dean’s office, and I’d certainly be labeled on some website as the worst person in the world.”