Hebrew Inscriptions

Abstract

In the light of the ceramical evidence it is clear that a small settlement was built here during the Hyksos period. It was abandoned during Late Bronze and Early Iron, but rebuilt and flourished during the period of the Hebrew monarchy. It was again rebuilt during the Persian period, but permanently abandoned afterwards. The neglect of aqueducts and springs probably led to the swamping of the region.

Several facts are interesting in this story. Firstly, that the periods of habitation attested here are just those when security in the country was good, so that it was possible to live in an unfenced village sited in undefended ground in the lowland. Secondly, in the conditions obtaining prior to the reclamation work undertaken by the Jewish settlers, the site, situated in swamp ground, could hardly have been inhabited. Yet the archaeological evidence indicates occupation here up to the Persian period. The changes in environment leading to the present state of things could thus, at the earliest, have begun after that time. The site thus furnishes dated evidence about geographical changes in the country of which it seems worth while taking cognizance.     

The messiah epithet in the Hebrew Bible

Rather than a reference ''to a present, political and religious leader who is appointed by God, applied predominantly to a king, but also to a priest and occasionally a prophet'' as proposed in 1985 by the first Princeton Symposium of Judaism and Christian origins, the term 'MSH' in the Hebrew Bible is an epithet or title which functions within a literary and mythic but not an historical context. The role of the messiah as played in the Hebrew Bible is not uniquely Jewish, but functions within the symbol system of ancient Near Eastern royal ideology and functions within a theology of divine transcendence and immanence. The coherence of the mythic role of the messiah is identified in relation to concepts of messianic time, as in the functions of expiating and mediating transcendence, of maintaining creation through war against the powers of chaos and the establishment of eternal peace. David's role as messiah in the Psalter is described in his role as ideal representative of piety, and as ruler over destiny bringing the good news expressed in various forms of ''the poor man's song.'' Finally, the role of the messiah myth is integrated with utopian concepts of a new Israel.     

吾家有鹅初长成

<正>仲夏,碧波荡漾之中,我们再见那一个美丽的童话。或许你曾亲历;或许你曾幻想;或许你曾期待。那么如今我们就跟随摄影家的镜头,重温、重拾那一段美好的童年。看一看那丑小鸭如何在天鹅妈妈的亲手教学下,学会在那碧绿的湖面上划出那一个个美丽的水波。     

Thoughts on Yoram Hazony's The Philosophy of Hebrew Scripture

This article focuses on two claims in Yoram Hazony's book The Philosophy of Hebrew Scripture: (1) that Hebrew Scripture contains a philosophy and (2) that this philosophy renders the conventional distinction between Jerusalem and Athens untenable insofar as it is a distinction that falls outside the purview of Hebrew Scripture.     

Hebrew Prose and Poetry

Book reviewed in this article: Agnon vehatzimhonut (Agnon and Vegetarianism), Rena Lee Jardin D'Eden Jardins D'Espagne, Masha Itzhaki and Michel Gare     

Comments on Yoram Hazony,The Philosophy of Hebrew Scripture

Hazony's insightful book advances three theses: (1) The Tanakh, the canonical Hebrew Scripture, is coherent, by virtue of its distinctive vision of the Whole and of the Israelite People's special place in it. (2) The Tanakh is a philosophic as well as a religious text. (3) The study of the Tanakh should find a home in departments of philosophy and political science as well as religion or religious studies. Granting the first and third points, we may raise questions about the second: Does philosophy require a concept of Nature qua Necessity, which is at odds with the Scriptural God's radical freedom? Does Hazony, to present the Tanakh as philosophic, overrationalize it, and therewith offer interpretations that, although fruitful and inspiring, fall wide of the mark? Of particular interest are his translation of the Hebrew word lev, literally “heart,” as “mind”; his sketches of five of the Patriarch Jacob's sons as politically relevant character types; and especially his take on the Patriarch Abraham's near sacrifice of his son Isaac, which understates this text's poignancy and wonder. An alternative reading reveals the Book of Genesis as a set of cautionary tales about the hazards of unaided human reason, for which the Mosaic Law provides a needed corrective. On the other hand, Hazony should not be judged too harshly for his critical comments on a dogmatic strand (but only a strand) of Christian thinking that he associates with the early Church Father Tertullian.     

聚焦蓬莱 造船故事 女摄影家京鲁船业采风作品选登

<正>2012年夏天,百余名中国女摄影家来到蓬莱中柏京鲁船业有限公司,将镜头对准生产中的船舶和忙碌中的船厂工人。焊花飞舞,工人们把坚硬的钢板和钢支架融化,造就船的龙骨、甲板、外壳……一艘艘的大船从这里诞生,准备接受江海河流的检验。拍摄之余,女摄影家们也频频向船厂工人们问好,在他们小憩的时候和他们聊天,了解他们的工作、生活情况。尽管当天的气温到达32摄氏度,但工人兄弟们依然在镜头前流露着笑容。这次采风是"中国百名女摄影家走进蓬莱摄影采风暨研修     

The Story of A Photograph

SoinamZholma,motherofthelatelothPanchenErdeni,receivedanunexpectedphonecallthisspring,whenshewasattendingtheannualNationalPoliticalConsultativeConferenceinBejing.ThecallsaidthatanuniversityteachernamedZhangHongwouldvisither.SoinamZholma,81,couldn'trecalle…