Yigal Bloch | Independent Scholar (original) (raw)
Papers by Yigal Bloch
Hebrew Studies, 2024
A Review of From Nomadism to Monarchy? Revisiting the Early Iron Age Southern Levant by Ido Koch,... more A Review of From Nomadism to Monarchy? Revisiting the Early Iron Age Southern Levant by Ido Koch, Oded Lipschits and Omer Sergi (eds.), Mosaics 3. University Park, Penn.: Eisenbrauns, Tel Aviv: The Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University, 2023.
Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages, 2010
This study argues that the construction אז יקטל signifying past situations in Biblical Hebrew had... more This study argues that the construction אז יקטל signifying past situations in Biblical Hebrew had originally employed the short prefixed verbal form (yaqa¹ul), which was replaced by the long prefixed verbal form (yaqa¹ulu) during the transmission of the text of the biblical books in the Second Temple period. The origin of the prefixed form in the construction אז יקטל signifying past situations is established based on the argument that on contextual grounds, this construction must have had perfective meaning (which was originally expressed by the short prefixed form), as well as on the evidence of the constructions אז יךר אז יקהל in the Masoretic Text, and אז יאז ישר יברל in the Samaritan Pentateuch. Finally, an explanation, based on the history of transmission of the biblical text, is offered for the prevalence of long prefixed forms in the construction אז יקטל in the Masoretic Text.
Aula orientalis: revista de estudios del Próximo Oriente Antiguo, 2017
Hebrew studies, 2007
ABSTRACT
Diachrony in Biblical Hebrew, Nov 15, 2012
This essay is a substantially expanded and revised version of a chapter from my M.A. thesis writt... more This essay is a substantially expanded and revised version of a chapter from my M.A. thesis written under the supervision of Prof. Mordechai Cogan and presented to the Faculty of Humanities of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in December 2005.
Altorientalische Forschungen
Following the recent reconstruction of the order of eponyms in the Dūr-Katlimmu archive by Nahm, ... more Following the recent reconstruction of the order of eponyms in the Dūr-Katlimmu archive by Nahm, this study considers the eponyms of the period in which Tukultī-Ninurta I waged war for domination of Babylonia, from his 13th regnal year onward. It is argued that recently published evidence supports the identification of the eponymy of Etel-pī-Aššur as the year in which Kaštiliaš IV of Babylonia was captured, and that the eponymy of Ellil-nādin-apli is to be placed three years later. The campaign to the lands between the Tigris and the Zagros, undertaken by Tukultī-Ninurta I in the eponymy of Ellil-nādin-apli, was probably directed against the power base of Kadašman-Ḫarbe II, including the city of Lubdu which then passed under Assyrian control. Following the dethronement of Kadašman-Ḫarbe II, Tukultī-Ninurta I maintained closer control over Babylonia, which did not prevent the king of Elam from putting an end to the reign of the Assyrian vassal Adad-šuma-iddina in the 22nd regnal year...
Vetus Testamentum
Based on the use of the Hebrew verb שוב in Isa 29:17 and the parallel Akkadian verb târu in SAA 1... more Based on the use of the Hebrew verb שוב in Isa 29:17 and the parallel Akkadian verb târu in SAA 12 19, this note suggests that 2 Kgs 14:28 refers to a change in the political status of Damascus and Hamath, which Jeroboam II made similar to that of Judah vis-à-vis Israel.
Living the Lunar Calendar
Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society, 2009
Revue des Études Juives, 2018
International audienc
Diachrony in Biblical Hebrew, 2012
Altorientalische Forschungen, 2015
The article deals with two chronological problems pertaining to the rebellions which took place i... more The article deals with two chronological problems pertaining to the rebellions which took place in the Achaemenid empire in 522-520 B.C.E. The first problem is the date of the beginning of the rebellion of Araḫa (Nebuchadnezzar IV) in Babylonia; the second is the question whether the short-lived rule of Vahyazdata (Bardiya II) was recognized in Babylonia. Both issues are discussed based on the evidence of the Behistun inscription and of dated Babylonian tablets, including the newly available tablets from the collection of David Sofer.
More Connected than It Seems: Cross-cultural Contacts and Exchanges between the Ancient Mediterranean and the East, 2023
Nouvelles Assyriologiques Breves et Utilitaires, 2013
Assyrians: The Kingdom of the God Assur from Tigris to Taurus, 2018
The earliest explicit mention of the Arameans in Anatolia appears in the Great Prism of Tiglath-p... more The earliest explicit mention of the Arameans in Anatolia appears in the Great Prism of Tiglath-pileser I of Assyria (Fig. 1), in the context of the military campaign of his fourth regnal year (1111 BC): I marched against the aḫlamû-Aramaeans, enemies of the god Aššur, my lord. I plundered from the edge of the land Suḫu to the city Karkemish of the land Ḫatti in a single day.. . I crossed the Euphrates after them on rafts (made of inflated) goatskins. I conquered six of their cities at the foot of Mount Bešri (Grayson 1991: 23). Similar mentions of campaigns against the Arameans appear also in later inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser I (Grayson 1991: 34, 37-38, 43, 59-60). The geographical extent of the campaigns includes the Middle Euphrates valley and regions lying west of it in Syria (e.g., Ǧebel Bišri). The northern end of the territory in which the king of Assyria fought the Arameans-Karkemish-belongs to the Anatolian realm. However, the kingdom of Karkemish itself was not Aramean, as it was ruled by a Neo-Hittite dynasty, whose king, Ini-Tešub, is mentioned by Tiglath-pileser I as "king of the land of Ḫatti" (Younger 2016: 118). The inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser I designate the Arameans by the term aḫlamû, which served as a general designation of nomadic or semi-nomadic elements. Their "cities" were probably small, perhaps only sea
Journal of Ancient Civilizations, 2010
This situation explains the importance of the AKL for reconstructing the chronology of the Ancien... more This situation explains the importance of the AKL for reconstructing the chronology of the Ancient Near East in the second millennium B.C.£': the AKL aJlows, in principle, to figure out the absolute dates of the reign of any Assyrian king between the 20lh and the 8th centuries B.C.£. by-taking the regnal dates of the 8lh-century B.C.E. kings as the starting point and adding to them the number of years that separate a given king, according to the AKL, from the reigns of those 8th-century kings. Then, the absolute chronology of the Assyrian kings can be used to establish the absolute chronology of other kingdoms of the Ancient Near East, based on the extant synchronisms connecting those kingdoms, in different stages of their history, with Assyria. In practice, however, the matter is not so simple. First, the figures for the lengths of the reigns Of some kings mentioned in the AKL are damaged in all. extant manuscripts; the last of these are Assur-rabi I and Assur-nadin-agge _ tWo kings who must have n:igned inthe 151h century B.C.E.5Consequently, no certainty can be attained concerning the reconstruction of the chronology of the Assyrian kings prior to ca. 1400 B.C.E:.6 4 C'f\A'C
Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 2020
Hebrew Studies, 2024
A Review of From Nomadism to Monarchy? Revisiting the Early Iron Age Southern Levant by Ido Koch,... more A Review of From Nomadism to Monarchy? Revisiting the Early Iron Age Southern Levant by Ido Koch, Oded Lipschits and Omer Sergi (eds.), Mosaics 3. University Park, Penn.: Eisenbrauns, Tel Aviv: The Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University, 2023.
Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages, 2010
This study argues that the construction אז יקטל signifying past situations in Biblical Hebrew had... more This study argues that the construction אז יקטל signifying past situations in Biblical Hebrew had originally employed the short prefixed verbal form (yaqa¹ul), which was replaced by the long prefixed verbal form (yaqa¹ulu) during the transmission of the text of the biblical books in the Second Temple period. The origin of the prefixed form in the construction אז יקטל signifying past situations is established based on the argument that on contextual grounds, this construction must have had perfective meaning (which was originally expressed by the short prefixed form), as well as on the evidence of the constructions אז יךר אז יקהל in the Masoretic Text, and אז יאז ישר יברל in the Samaritan Pentateuch. Finally, an explanation, based on the history of transmission of the biblical text, is offered for the prevalence of long prefixed forms in the construction אז יקטל in the Masoretic Text.
Aula orientalis: revista de estudios del Próximo Oriente Antiguo, 2017
Hebrew studies, 2007
ABSTRACT
Diachrony in Biblical Hebrew, Nov 15, 2012
This essay is a substantially expanded and revised version of a chapter from my M.A. thesis writt... more This essay is a substantially expanded and revised version of a chapter from my M.A. thesis written under the supervision of Prof. Mordechai Cogan and presented to the Faculty of Humanities of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in December 2005.
Altorientalische Forschungen
Following the recent reconstruction of the order of eponyms in the Dūr-Katlimmu archive by Nahm, ... more Following the recent reconstruction of the order of eponyms in the Dūr-Katlimmu archive by Nahm, this study considers the eponyms of the period in which Tukultī-Ninurta I waged war for domination of Babylonia, from his 13th regnal year onward. It is argued that recently published evidence supports the identification of the eponymy of Etel-pī-Aššur as the year in which Kaštiliaš IV of Babylonia was captured, and that the eponymy of Ellil-nādin-apli is to be placed three years later. The campaign to the lands between the Tigris and the Zagros, undertaken by Tukultī-Ninurta I in the eponymy of Ellil-nādin-apli, was probably directed against the power base of Kadašman-Ḫarbe II, including the city of Lubdu which then passed under Assyrian control. Following the dethronement of Kadašman-Ḫarbe II, Tukultī-Ninurta I maintained closer control over Babylonia, which did not prevent the king of Elam from putting an end to the reign of the Assyrian vassal Adad-šuma-iddina in the 22nd regnal year...
Vetus Testamentum
Based on the use of the Hebrew verb שוב in Isa 29:17 and the parallel Akkadian verb târu in SAA 1... more Based on the use of the Hebrew verb שוב in Isa 29:17 and the parallel Akkadian verb târu in SAA 12 19, this note suggests that 2 Kgs 14:28 refers to a change in the political status of Damascus and Hamath, which Jeroboam II made similar to that of Judah vis-à-vis Israel.
Living the Lunar Calendar
Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society, 2009
Revue des Études Juives, 2018
International audienc
Diachrony in Biblical Hebrew, 2012
Altorientalische Forschungen, 2015
The article deals with two chronological problems pertaining to the rebellions which took place i... more The article deals with two chronological problems pertaining to the rebellions which took place in the Achaemenid empire in 522-520 B.C.E. The first problem is the date of the beginning of the rebellion of Araḫa (Nebuchadnezzar IV) in Babylonia; the second is the question whether the short-lived rule of Vahyazdata (Bardiya II) was recognized in Babylonia. Both issues are discussed based on the evidence of the Behistun inscription and of dated Babylonian tablets, including the newly available tablets from the collection of David Sofer.
More Connected than It Seems: Cross-cultural Contacts and Exchanges between the Ancient Mediterranean and the East, 2023
Nouvelles Assyriologiques Breves et Utilitaires, 2013
Assyrians: The Kingdom of the God Assur from Tigris to Taurus, 2018
The earliest explicit mention of the Arameans in Anatolia appears in the Great Prism of Tiglath-p... more The earliest explicit mention of the Arameans in Anatolia appears in the Great Prism of Tiglath-pileser I of Assyria (Fig. 1), in the context of the military campaign of his fourth regnal year (1111 BC): I marched against the aḫlamû-Aramaeans, enemies of the god Aššur, my lord. I plundered from the edge of the land Suḫu to the city Karkemish of the land Ḫatti in a single day.. . I crossed the Euphrates after them on rafts (made of inflated) goatskins. I conquered six of their cities at the foot of Mount Bešri (Grayson 1991: 23). Similar mentions of campaigns against the Arameans appear also in later inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser I (Grayson 1991: 34, 37-38, 43, 59-60). The geographical extent of the campaigns includes the Middle Euphrates valley and regions lying west of it in Syria (e.g., Ǧebel Bišri). The northern end of the territory in which the king of Assyria fought the Arameans-Karkemish-belongs to the Anatolian realm. However, the kingdom of Karkemish itself was not Aramean, as it was ruled by a Neo-Hittite dynasty, whose king, Ini-Tešub, is mentioned by Tiglath-pileser I as "king of the land of Ḫatti" (Younger 2016: 118). The inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser I designate the Arameans by the term aḫlamû, which served as a general designation of nomadic or semi-nomadic elements. Their "cities" were probably small, perhaps only sea
Journal of Ancient Civilizations, 2010
This situation explains the importance of the AKL for reconstructing the chronology of the Ancien... more This situation explains the importance of the AKL for reconstructing the chronology of the Ancient Near East in the second millennium B.C.£': the AKL aJlows, in principle, to figure out the absolute dates of the reign of any Assyrian king between the 20lh and the 8th centuries B.C.£. by-taking the regnal dates of the 8lh-century B.C.E. kings as the starting point and adding to them the number of years that separate a given king, according to the AKL, from the reigns of those 8th-century kings. Then, the absolute chronology of the Assyrian kings can be used to establish the absolute chronology of other kingdoms of the Ancient Near East, based on the extant synchronisms connecting those kingdoms, in different stages of their history, with Assyria. In practice, however, the matter is not so simple. First, the figures for the lengths of the reigns Of some kings mentioned in the AKL are damaged in all. extant manuscripts; the last of these are Assur-rabi I and Assur-nadin-agge _ tWo kings who must have n:igned inthe 151h century B.C.E.5Consequently, no certainty can be attained concerning the reconstruction of the chronology of the Assyrian kings prior to ca. 1400 B.C.E:.6 4 C'f\A'C
Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 2020
This book discusses the alphabetic scribes (sēpiru) mentioned in Mesopotamian documents of the Ne... more This book discusses the alphabetic scribes (sēpiru) mentioned in Mesopotamian documents of the Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid periods – specifically, of the 6th-5th centuries BCE. The period in question saw a wide diffusion of writing in the Northwest Semitic alphabetic script – mostly in Aramaic – in Mesopotamia; yet, alphabetic texts were normally written in ink on perishable materials and did not survive to be discovered by modern archaeologists. In contrast, cuneiform tablets written on clay have been found in large numbers, and they document different aspects of the alphabetic scribes’ activities. This book presents evidence for understanding the Akkadian term sēpiru as a designation for an alphabetic scribe and discusses the functions of these professionals in different administrative and economic spheres. It further considers the question of the ethnic origins of the alphabetic scribes in Mesopotamia, with special attention to the participation of Judeans in Babylonia in this profession. Bloch also provides translations of over 100 cuneiform documents of economic, legal and administrative content.
This study of the political history of Mesopotamia-today's Iraq and Syria-in the Old Babylonian p... more This study of the political history of Mesopotamia-today's Iraq and Syria-in the Old Babylonian period (ca. 2000-1600 bce) is the first comprehensive historical synthesis of this kind published in English after many decades. Based on numerous written sources in Sumerian and Akkadian-royal inscriptions, letters, law collections, economic records, etc.-and on up-to-date research, it presents the region's political history in a meticulous geographic and chronological manner. This allows the interested academic and non-academic reader an in-depth view into the scene of ancient Mesopotamia ruled by competing dynasties of West Semitic (Amorite) origin, with a complex web of political and tribal connections between them.
Carmel Publishers, 2019
In the beginning of the second millennium BCE, Mesopotamia (the territory of modern Iraq and Syri... more In the beginning of the second millennium BCE, Mesopotamia (the territory of modern Iraq and Syria) saw the rise of several royal dynasties which vied for rule over the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates. A trait common to those dynasties was their Amorite origin.
The historical study offered in this book is based on numerous cuneiform sources (royal inscriptions, letters, law collections, economic documents, and more), and on the up-to-date scholarship on the topic. It offers, for the first time in Hebrew, a comprehensive and thorough overview of a pivotal era in the history of the Ancient Near East (ca. 2000-1600 BCE), known as the Old Babylonian period. The history of Mesopotamian city states (such as Babylon under the rule of Hammurapi, Mari in the days of its last king Zimri-Lim, and Ekallatum and Assur in the reign of Samsi-Addu) is surveyed here in detail, in light of the geographical background of the region and of the complex tribal connections between the different Amorite dynasties of the period.
