By Dalya Alberge in London
July 12, 2007 01:00am
Article from:
THE British Museum yesterday hailed a discovery within a clay tablet in its collection as a breakthrough for biblical archeology - proof of the accuracy of the Old Testament.
The cuneiform inscription in a tablet dating from 595BC has been deciphered for the first time - revealing a reference to an official at the court of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon , that proves the historical existence of a figure mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah.
It is rare evidence in a non-biblical source of a real person, other than kings, featured in the Bible.
The tablet names a Babylonian officer called Nebo-Sarsekim who, according to Jeremiah 39 was present in 587BC when Nebuchadnezzar "marched against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege to it".
The cuneiform inscription records how Nebo-Sarsekim lavished a gift of gold on the Temple of Esangila in the fabled city of Babylon , where, at least in folk tradition, Nebuchadnezzar is credited with building the Hanging Gardens , one of the Seven Wonders of the World .
British Museum staff are excited by the discovery. Irving Finkel, assistant keeper in the Department of the Middle East , said: "A mundane commercial transaction takes its place as a primary witness to one of the turning points in Old Testament history. "This is a tablet that deserves to be famous."
The discovery was made by Michael Jursa, associate professor at the University of Vienna , on a research trip to the museum. "It's very exciting and very surprising," he said.
"Finding something like this tablet, where we see a person mentioned in the Bible making an everyday payment to the temple in Babylon and quoting the exact date, is quite extraordinary."
Since 1991, Dr Jursa has been visiting the museum to study a collection of more than 100,000 inscribed tablets - the world's largest holdings.
Cuneiform is the oldest known form of writing. During its 3000-year history, it was used to write about 15 languages, including Babylonian, Assyrian, Hittite and Urartian.
There are only a small number of scholars worldwide who can read cuneiform script.
One of them is Dr Jursa, who yesterday said the British Museum tablet was so well preserved that it took him just a couple of minutes to decipher.
This one - which is 5.5cm wide - was acquired by the British Museum in 1920, "but no one realised the connection," Dr Jursa said. "They didn't really read it."
It was unearthed from the ancient city of Sippar , where there was a huge sun temple, about 2km from Baghdad .
On hearing of the discovery yesterday, Geza Vermes, the eminent emeritus professor of Jewish studies at the University of Oxford , said such a discovery revealed that "the Biblical story is not altogether invented".
"This will be interesting for religious people as much as historians," he said.
The Times, London , in The Australian
Monday, July 23, 2007
Saturday, July 21, 2007
RED MARBLES
I was at the corner grocery store buying some
early potatoes.
I noticed a small boy, delicate of bone and
feature, ragged but clean,
hungrily apprising a basket of freshly picked
green peas.
I paid for my potatoes but was also drawn to
the display of fresh
green peas. I am a pushover for creamed peas
and new potatoes.
Pondering the peas, I couldn't help overhearing
the conversation
between Mr. Miller (the store owner) and the
ragged boy next to me.
"Hello Barry, how are you today?"
"H'lo, Mr. Miller. Fine, thank ya. Jus'
admirin' them peas. They sure
look good."
"They are good, Barry. How's your Ma?"
"Fine. Gittin' stronger alla' time."
"Good. Anything I can help you with?"
"No, Sir. Jus' admirin' them peas."
"Would you like to take some home?" asked Mr.
Miller.
"No, Sir. Got nuthin' to pay for 'em with."
"Well, what have you to trade me for some of
those peas?"
"All I got's my prize marble here."
"Is that right? Let me see it" said Miller.
"Here 'tis. She's a dandy."
"I can see that. Hmmmmm, only thing is this one
is blue and I sort of
go for red. Do you have a red one like this at
home?" the store owner
asked.
"Not zackley but almost."
"Tell you what. Take this sack of peas home
with you and next trip
this way let me look at that red marble". Mr.
Miller told the boy.
"Sure will. Thanks Mr. Miller." Mrs. Miller,
who had been standing nearby, came
over to help me. With a smile she said, "There
are two other boys
like him in our community, all three are in
very poor circumstances. Jim just loves
to bargain with them for peas, apples,
tomatoes, or whatever. When they come
back with their red marbles, and they always
do, he decides he doesn't like red
after all and he sends them home with a bag
of produce for a green marble or an
orange one, when they come on their next trip
to the store."
I left the store smiling to myself, impressed
with this man. A short time later I
moved to Colorado , but I never forgot the
story of this man, the boys, and their
bartering for marbles.
Several years went by, each more rapid than the
previous one. Just
recently I had occasion to visit some old
friends in that Idaho
community and while I was there learned that
Mr. Miller had died.
They were having his visitation that evening
and knowing my friends
wanted to go, I agreed to accompany them. Upon
arrival at the
mortuary we fell into line to meet the
relatives of the deceased and
to offer whatever words of comfort we could.
Ahead of us in line were three young men. One
was in an army uniform
and the other two wore nice haircuts, dark
suits and white shirts...all very
professional looking. They approached Mrs.
Miller, standing composed
and smiling by her husband's casket. Each of
the young men hugged her,
kissed her on the cheek, spoke briefly with
her and moved on to the casket.
Her misty light blue eyes followed them as, one
by one, each young
man stopped briefly and placed his own warm
hand over the cold pale
hand in the casket. Each left the mortuary
awkwardly, wiping his eyes.
Our turn came to meet Mrs. Miller. I told her
who I was and reminded
her of the story from those many years ago and
what she had told me
about her husband's bartering for marbles. With
her eyes glistening,
she took my hand and led me to the casket.
"Those three young men who just left were the
boys I told you about.
They just told me how they appreciated the
things Jim "traded" them.
Now, at last, when Jim could not change his
mind about color or
size....they came to pay their debt."
"We've never had a great deal of the wealth of
this world," she
confided, "but right now, Jim would consider
himself the richest man
in Idaho ."
With loving gentleness she lifted the lifeless
fingers of her deceased husband.
Resting underneath were three exquisitely
shined red marbles.
The Moral : We will not be remembered by our
words, but by our kind
deeds. Life is not measured by the breaths we
take, but by the moments
that take our breath.
Today I wish you a day of ordinary miracles ~
A fresh pot of coffee you didn't make
yourself...An unexpected phone
call from an old friend...Green stoplights on
your way to work...
The fastest line at the grocery store...A
good sing-along song on
the radio...Your keys found right where you
left them.
Send this to the people you'll never forget. I
just Did...
If you don't send it to anyone, it means you
are in way too much of a
hurry to even notice the ordinary miracles when
they occur.
IT'S NOT WHAT YOU GATHER, BUT WHAT YOU SCATTER
THAT TELLS WHAT KIND OF LIFE YOU HAVE
LIVED
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Church must uphold its teachings
I find the indignation of John Buggy (Threats do Church no favour West Australian
Let me say: I am not a catholic. I am an agricultural scientist. Hence I do understand what therapeutic cloning is. Therapeutic cloning is the same method by which Dolly the sheep came to be. The only difference is that in the provisions of the therapeutic cloning bill, the human Dollys that scientists will be allowed to create, must be put to death by the time they reach the 14th day of their development. Many people think that this is acceptable. But the Catholic Church has consistently taught (as do most churches) that this is a gross violation of its teaching on the sanctity of human life.
I wonder how indignant Brain Toohey and John Buggy et al would have been if the Roman Catholic Archbishops in Germany had warned Roman Catholic ministers in Hitler’s government, that if they voted in favour of Jews going to the gas chambers, they would be denied communion, or excommunicated. Would that have warranted an investigation by the Parliamentary Privileges Committee? Would that be seen by them as a serious violation of the church state divide? Hardly. They all would say that the archbishops took a courageous stand.
Ah, I hear you say: that is different! As a scientist, I need to tell you that the only difference is that the Archbishops are speaking up for defenceless human beings who are 14 days into their development, where as in the Hitler scenario, the archbishop would have spoken up for defenceless human beings into their 5th, 10th or 90th year of development.
Archbishop Hickey has a responsibility to his church and its members, to ensure that the name of his church is not brought into disrepute. If I were a member of the Catholic Church, and felt that I needed to vote in favour of the therapeutic cloning bill, then I would consider myself duty bound to resign from the Catholic church. MPs can hardly claim to be Catholic, if they are not prepared to uphold some of its most basic teaching. Just as we would not deny Kevin Rudd the right to deal with unionists who do not uphold the values of the ALP, so an Archbishop must have the right to deal with people in their church who do not uphold the values of the church.
So rather than refer the Archbishop to the Parliamentary Privileges Committee, I would urge the speaker of the Legislative Assembly to refer Catholic MPs who plan to vote in favour of the therapeutic cloning bill, to the Trade Practices Commission on the ground of false advertising.
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