ELF 2021: ’Old Testament Historicity: From Abraham’s Ur to Daniel’s Babylon’

Edited recording of my post-forum seminar on Old Testament history from the on-line European Leadership Forum conference in May 2021.

Conference attendee Albert Crespo, who did his Master's thesis on the royal offices in the period of the first temple, helpfully brought to my attention the fact that two bullae mentioning Jeremiah’s scribe Baruch the son of Neriah are now thought to be forgeries. During my talk I referenced one of these bullae in good faith, but I have edited this reference out of this podcast.

See: "The Authenticity of the Bullae of Berekhyahu Son of Neriyahu the Scribe", Yuval Goren, Eran Arie, BASOR 372, www.researchgate.net/publication/305753694_The_Authenticity_of_the_Bullae_of_Berekhyahu_Son_of_Neriyahu_the_Scrib; www.bible.ca/bulla/bible-bulla-jeremiah-clay-bullae-inscription-Belonging-to-Baruch-Berechiah-Son-of-Neriah-The-scribe-Jer-36-4-1975-1996ad-Reuben-Hecht-israel-museum-605bc-forgery-fake.htm. 

Crespo also alerted me to the fact that William F. Albright’s interpretation of the (genuine) “Eliakim na˓ar Yokan” stamped jar handles - that Yokan referred to King Jehoiachin - is now thought to be incorrect: “This misinterpretation was not corrected for almost 50 years and resulted in a great deal of confusion over the chronological sequence and stratigraphical analysis of the archaeology of Judah from the time of the Divided Monarchy." – “The Eliakim Na˓ar Yokan Seal Impressions: Sixty Years of Confusion in Biblical Archaeological Research”, Yosef Garfinkel, Biblical Archaeologist, Vol. 53, 1990. Again, I have edited out a brief reference made to this artefact in my talk.

See: www.bible.ca/bulla/bible-archeology-jeremiah-clay-bullae-seal-inscription-Belonging-to-Eliakim-servant-of-Jehoiachin-belonging-to-Jotham-misidentified.htm.