Ancient Near Eastern Index – Parashat Terumah
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Overview
Knowledge of the history, law, cultic practices and realia of the Ancient Near East can often shed much light on Tanakh. This index contains a list of links to articles which touch on the connections between Tanakh and ancient cultures. The Tabernacle
- See The Tabernacle: A Bronze Age Artifact, by Kenneth A. Kitchen, for comparison of the structure, characteristics, and furnishings of the Tabernacle to parallels in other Ancient Near Eastern societies of the late Bronze Age, including Egypt and Ugarit. Kitchen argues that the descriptions of the Tabernacle are consistent with this historical context.
- See The Jewish Temple at Elephantine, by Stephen G. Rosenberg, for a discussion about a temple from antiquity in Elephantine that was designed to resemble the Tabernacle.
The Ark
The Menorah
- See Understanding the Jewish Menorah for information about an ancient engraving depicting the menorah found in a drainage channel near the City of David. Archaeologists suggest that the engraving was made by "a passerby who saw the [Temple] menorah with his own eyes …and incised his impressions on a stone." The article questions whether the Menorah had a tripod base or a solid triangular one and how much one can rely on depictions of the Menorah when trying to determine how it looked.
- For images of archaeological finds which depict the Menorah and might similarly shed light on how it looked, see Olam HaMikra and the discussion there.
Tapestries and Curtains: "מַעֲשֵׂה חֹשֵׁב"
- See Text and Textile in Exodus: Toward A Clearer Understanding of Ma’aseh Choshev, by Judith Lapkin Craig, for discussion of the term "מַעֲשֵׂה חֹשֵׁב". She suggests that the common translation of "designer work" is too general, and that in light of evidence from the Ancient Near East, it seems to instead refer to a very specific technique, one associated with the art of sash-making.