Brit-Am Research Sources (19 December 2016, 19 Kislev, 5777)
Contents:
1. Mark Williams: Israel, the 'House of Omri'
2. The Assyrian and Phoenician Alliance
3. The Hebrew word Midah gives us the English words "mood" and "mode"
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1. Mark Williams: Israel, the 'House of Omri'
Shalom Yair
Pretty much confirms the Biblical account of Assyrian - Israelite
relations
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sargon/essentials/countries/israel/
Israel, the 'House of Omri'
It was the standard practice of the time to incorporate enemy troops into the conquering forces but after decades of absorbing defeated armies, the Assyrians only extended this privilege to a chosen few. A hand-selected 200 (later versions: 50) chariot crews of the famous Samaritan chariot corps made the cut according to the inscriptions of Sargon II; the remainder of the troops were discharged. A number of administrative documents excavated in Kalhu demonstrate that the Samaritan chariot corps was subsequently stationed in that city. Very unusually, it was allowed to retain its group identity and organisational structure. This must be due to its specialised expertise which provide a valuable addition to the existing array of Assyrian battle techniques.
Already in the 9th century, the Israelites emerge from the Assyrian sources as master charioteers. They used heavily fortified, tank-like chariots which were drawn by a particularly large breed of horses originating from Kush (Nubia). The Samaritan chariot corps introduced these vehicles and horses to the Assyrian army and, over the following decades, their use and strategic importance increased markedly so that by the 7th century, it was no longer associated exclusively with the chariot crews of Samaria.
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2. The Assyrian and Phoenician Alliance
Extracts from:
Tyre and the other Phoenician city-states
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sargon/essentials/countries/phoenicians/
Tyre can certainly be seen as the motor of the westward expansion, and this close ally of Assyria benefited from the treaties between the two states which guaranteed Tyre privileged access to all harbours under Assyrian control and gave it an invaluable advantage over its competitors, including the other Phoenician states. One of these treaties survives in the original, albeit in a very fragmentary state (SAA 2 5), and from this document drawn up between Esarhaddon of Assyria (681-669 BC) and Ba'alu of Tyre we learn that this privilege came at the price of admitting the Assyrian ambassador (q pu) to all Tyrian bodies of political decision-making.
Such an arrangement was already in place during the reign of Tiglath-pileser III (744-727 BC), as shown by some letters from the king's correspondence with the governor of imirra, the Assyrian province bordering on the territory of Tyre (NL 13 = SAA 19 23, NL 21 = SAA 19 24). Another letter (NL 12 = SAA 19 22) highlights that the Assyrians monitored and taxed Tyre's and Sidon's trade and controlled access to the Lebanon wood supplies, outlawing any timber deliveries to the Philistines and the Egyptians ...
In exchange for accepting Assyrian interference, Tyre and the other allied Phoenician city-states were in a position to ask their overlord to support them against their enemies. Hence, Sargon II (721-705 BC) provided troops to Tyre in 715 BC in order to fend off Ionian pirates who were threatening its maritime network, and again in 709 or 708 BC in order to regain control over its local vassal rulers on Cyprus. These troops were shipped aboard the Tyrian fleet, as Assyria did not maintain a navy of its own. But these first experiences of naval warfare clearly left a lasting impression and the use of Phoenician ships in the wars in the marshes of southern Babylonia during the reign of Sennacherib (704-681 BC) can be seen as their direct result.
Further reading:
Na'aman, 'Tiglath-pileser III's campaigns against Tyre and Israel', 1995.
Na'aman, 'Sargon II and the rebellion of the Cypriote kings against Shilta of Tyre', 1998.
Radner, 'Assyrische Handelspolitik', 2004.
Yamada, 'Qurdi-Assur-lamur: his letters and career', 2008.
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3. The Hebrew word Midah gives us the English words "mood" and "mode"
In Hebrew "Midah" means "measurement, degree." In verbal form it gives "madad" i.e. measuring, from the root MDD, or MDH.
This is almost the same as the English word "mode" which also originally meant "measure".
In addition the Hebrew word "midah" is used to connote "quality, characteristic, attribute, mode of behavior". This is not that much different from the English word "mood.' Not only that but "mood" would be an adjectival noun as derived from the Hebrew term.
mood (n.1)
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=mood
Extracts:
"emotional condition, frame of mind," Old English mod "heart, frame of mind, spirit; courage, arrogance, pride; power, violence,"... Old Frisian mod "intellect, mind, intention," Old Norse modr "wrath, anger," Middle Dutch moet, Dutch moed, Old High German muot, German Mut "courage," Gothic moths "courage, anger"), of unknown origin.
A much more vigorous word in Anglo-Saxon than currently, and used widely in compounds (such as modcraftig "intelligent," modful "proud"). To be in the mood "willing (to do something)" is from 1580s. First record of mood swings is from 1942.
mood (n.2)
"grammatical form indicating the function of a verb," 1560s, an alteration of mode (n.1), but the grammatical and musical (1590s) usages of it influenced the meaning of mood (n.1) in phrases such as light-hearted mood.
mode (n.2)
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=mode
"current fashion," 1640s, from French mode "manner, fashion, style" (15c.), from Latin modus "manner" (see mode (n.1)).
mode (n.1)
"manner," late 14c., "kind of musical scale," from Latin modus "measure, extent, quantity; proper measure, rhythm, song; a way, manner, fashion, style" (in Late Latin also "mood" in grammar and logic), from PIE root *med- "to measure, limit, consider, advise, take appropriate measures" (see medical (adj.)). Meaning "manner in which a thing is done" first recorded 1660s.
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