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Old 08-09-2007, 12:05 PM   #1
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Default Did Josephus Fabricate Sources? (Not an HJ thread)

Reading Against Apion last night, Josephus cites phoenician records that claim correspondence between Hiram and Solomon. It's generally believed as far as I can tell that Solomon was a fictional person, so was Josephus just making these sources up?
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Old 08-09-2007, 12:12 PM   #2
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Reading Against Apion last night, Josephus cites phoenician records that claim correspondence between Hiram and Solomon. It's generally believed as far as I can tell that Solomon was a fictional person, so was Josephus just making these sources up?
Could you give some references as to where these sources are cited, please? I am not familiar with the specifics of the work and disinclined to peruse it in its entirety in order to unearth the references.

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Old 08-09-2007, 12:16 PM   #3
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Against Apion book 2
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for if we may give credit to the Phoenician records as to the time of the first coming of their colony to Carthage, they relate that Hirom their king was above a hundred and fifty years earlier than the building of Carthage; concerning whom I have formerly produced testimonials out of those Phoenician records, as also that this Hirom was a friend of Solomon when he was building the temple of Jerusalem, and gave him great assistance in his building that temple; while still Solomon himself built that temple six hundred and twelve years after the Jews came out of Egypt.
Josephus was a polemicist. He might have made stuff up - he does report that Alexander the Great visited Jerusalem and sacrificed to YHWH because of the prophecies of the book of Daniel, which had yet to be written.

Or someone else may have made up those records.
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Old 08-09-2007, 12:27 PM   #4
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It's all a question of what sources were available to him. Living at the end of the Hellenistic era, a body of apologetic literature and testimonies had been assembled by the Alexandrian Jews as part of their endless rivalry with the Greeks. Attempts to link together the differing chronologies of various nations also existed.

Josephus had access to a revised version of Manetho, which someone had attempted to link to the OT, as we can tell from his quotations from it.

Perhaps we should locate the earlier reference to the 'Phoenician records' before saying more?

All the best,

Roger Pearse
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Old 08-09-2007, 12:49 PM   #5
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Should have provided the quote, bad form on my part:
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Originally Posted by Flavius Josephus
17. I will now, therefore, pass from these records, and come to those that belong to the Phoenicians, and concern our nation, and shall produce attestations to what I have said out of them. There are then records among the Tyrians that take in the history of many years, and these are public writings, and are kept with great exactness, and include accounts of the facts done among them, and such as concern their transactions with other nations also, those I mean which were worth remembering. Therein it was recorded that the temple was built by king Solomon at Jerusalem, one hundred forty-three years and eight months before the Tyrians built Carthage; and in their annals the building of our temple is related; for Hirom, the king of Tyre, was the friend of Solomon our king, and had such friendship transmitted down to him from his forefathers. He thereupon was ambitious to contribute to the splendor of this edifice of Solomon, and made him a present of one hundred and twenty talents of gold. He also cut down the most excellent timber out of that mountain which is called Libanus, and sent it to him for adorning its roof. Solomon also not only made him many other presents, by way of requital, but gave him a country in Galilee also, that was called Chabulon. (13) But there was another passion, a philosophic inclination of theirs, which cemented the friendship that was betwixt them; for they sent mutual problems to one another, with a desire to have them unriddled by each other; wherein Solomon was superior to Hirom, as he was wiser than he in other respects: and many of the epistles that passed between them are still preserved among the Tyrians. Now, that this may not depend on my bare word, I will produce for a witness Dius, one that is believed to have written the Phoenician History after an accurate manner. This Dius, therefore, writes thus, in his Histories of the Phoenicians: "Upon the death of Abibalus, his son Hirom took the kingdom. This king raised banks at the eastern parts of the city, and enlarged it; he also joined the temple of Jupiter Olympius, which stood before in an island by itself, to the city, by raising a causeway between them, and adorned that temple with donations of gold. He moreover went up to Libanus, and had timber cut down for the building of temples. They say further, that Solomon, when he was king of Jerusalem, sent problems to Hirom to be solved, and desired he would send others back for him to solve, and that he who could not solve the problems proposed to him should pay money to him that solved them. And when Hirom had agreed to the proposals, but was not able to solve the problems, he was obliged to pay a great deal of money, as a penalty for the same. As also they relate, that one·Abdemon, a man of Tyre, did solve the problems, and propose others which Solomon could not solve, upon which he was obliged to repay a great deal of money to Hirom." These things are attested to by Dius, and confirm what we have said upon the same subjects before

18. And now I shall add Menander the Ephesian, as an additional witness. This Menander wrote the Acts that were done both by the Greeks and Barbarians, under every one of the Tyrian kings, and had taken much pains to learn their history out of their own records. Now when he was writing about those kings that had reigned at Tyre, he came to Hirom, and says thus: "Upon the death of Abibalus, his son Hirom took the kingdom; he lived fifty-three years, and reigned thirty-four. He raised a bank on that called the Broad Place, and dedicated that golden pillar which is in Jupiter's temple; he also went and cut down timber from the mountain called Libanus, and got timber Of cedar for the roofs of the temples. He also pulled down the old temples, and built new ones; besides this, he consecrated the temples of Hercules and of Astarte. He first built Hercules's temple in the month Peritus, and that of Astarte when he made his expedition against the Tityans, who would not pay him their tribute; and when he had subdued them to himself, he returned home. Under this king there was a younger son of Abdemon, who mastered the problems which Solomon king of Jerusalem had recommended to be solved." Now the time from this king to the building of Carthage is thus calculated: "Upon the death of Hirom, Baleazarus his son took the kingdom; he lived forty-three years, and reigned seven years: after him succeeded his son Abdastartus; he lived twenty-nine years, and reigned nine years. Now four sons of his nurse plotted against him and slew him, the eldest of whom reigned twelve years: after them came Astartus, the son of Deleastartus; he lived fifty-four years, and reigned twelve years: after him came his brother Aserymus; he lived fifty-four years, and reigned nine years: he was slain by his brother Pheles, who took the kingdom and reigned but eight months, though he lived fifty years: he was slain by Ithobalus, the priest of Astarte, who reigned thirty-two years, and lived sixty-eight years: he was succeeded by his son Badezorus, who lived forty-five years, and reigned six years: he was succeeded by Matgenus his son; he lived thirty-two years, and reigned nine years: Pygmalion succeeded him; he lived fifty-six years, and reigned forty-seven years. Now in the seventh year of his reign, his sister fled away from him, and built the city Carthage in Libya." So the whole time from the reign of Hirom, till the building of Carthage, amounts to the sum of one hundred fifty-five years and eight months. Since then the temple was built at Jerusalem in the twelfth year of the reign of Hirom, there were from the building of the temple, until the building of Carthage, one hundred forty-three years and eight months. Wherefore, what occasion is there for alleging any more testimonies out of the Phoenician histories [on the behalf of our nation], since what I have said is so thoroughly confirmed already? and to be sure our ancestors came into this country long before the building of the temple; for it was not till we had gotten possession of the whole land by war that we built our temple. And this is the point that I have clearly proved out of our sacred writings in my Antiquities.
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Old 08-09-2007, 12:50 PM   #6
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Flavius Josephus Against Apion

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BOOK I

...

6. As to the care of writing down the records from the earliest antiquity among the Egyptians and Babylonians; that the priests were intrusted therewith, and employed a philosophical concern about it; that they were the Chaldean priests that did so among the Babylonians; and that the Phoenicians, who were mingled among the Greeks, did especially make use of their letters, both for the common affairs of life, and for the delivering down the history of common transactions, I think I may omit any proof, because all men allow it so to be.

. . .

13. Let us now put the case, therefore, that we made use of this argument concerning the Grecians, in order to prove that their nation was not ancient, because nothing is said of them in our records: would not they laugh at us all, and probably give the same reasons for our silence that I have now alleged, and would produce their neighbor nations as witnesses to their own antiquity? Now the very same thing will I endeavor to do; for I will bring the Egyptians and the Phoenicians as my principal witnesses, because nobody can complain Of their testimony as false, on account that they are known to have borne the greatest ill-will towards us; I mean this as to the Egyptians in general all of them, while of the Phoenicians it is known the Tyrians have been most of all in the same ill disposition towards us: yet do I confess that I cannot say the same of the Chaldeans, since our first leaders and ancestors were derived from them; and they do make mention of us Jews in their records, on account of the kindred there is between us. Now when I shall have made my assertions good, so far as concerns the others, I will demonstrate that some of the Greek writers have made mention of us Jews also, that those who envy us may not have even this pretense for contradicting what I have said about our nation.

. . .

17. I will now, therefore, pass from these records, and come to those that belong to the Phoenicians, and concern our nation, and shall produce attestations to what I have said out of them. There are then records among the Tyrians that take in the history of many years, and these are public writings, and are kept with great exactness, and include accounts of the facts done among them, and such as concern their transactions with other nations also, those I mean which were worth remembering. Therein it was recorded that the temple was built by king Solomon at Jerusalem, one hundred forty-three years and eight months before the Tyrians built Carthage; and in their annals the building of our temple is related; for Hirom, the king of Tyre, was the friend of Solomon our king, and had such friendship transmitted down to him from his forefathers. . . . Now, that this may not depend on my bare word, I will produce for a witness Dius, one that is believed to have written the Phoenician History after an accurate manner. This Dius, therefore, writes thus, in his Histories of the Phoenicians: "Upon the death of Abibalus, his son Hirom took the kingdom. This king raised banks at the eastern parts of the city, and enlarged it; he also joined the temple of Jupiter Olympius, which stood before in an island by itself, to the city, by raising a causeway between them, and adorned that temple with donations of gold. He moreover went up to Libanus, and had timber cut down for the building of temples. They say further, that Solomon, when he was king of Jerusalem, sent problems to Hirom to be solved, and desired he would send others back for him to solve, and that he who could not solve the problems proposed to him should pay money to him that solved them. And when Hirom had agreed to the proposals, but was not able to solve the problems, he was obliged to pay a great deal of money, as a penalty for the same. As also they relate, that one·Abdemon, a man of Tyre, did solve the problems, and propose others which Solomon could not solve, upon which he was obliged to repay a great deal of money to Hirom." These things are attested to by Dius, and confirm what we have said upon the same subjects before.
So Josephus is relying on Dius, who wrote some time after the alleged contacts between Solomon and Hiram, and may have puffed up Hiram's reputation by dragging Solomon into things the same way Josephus had Alexander bow down to the Jewish god.

Is the question whether Josephus is accurate, or whether he deliberately invented sources?
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Old 08-09-2007, 01:00 PM   #7
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So Josephus is relying on Dius, who wrote some time after the alleged contacts between Solomon and Hiram, and may have puffed up Hiram's reputation by dragging Solomon into things the same way Josephus had Alexander bow down to the Jewish god.

Is the question whether Josephus is accurate, or whether he deliberately invented sources?
I guess the impression that I got when I read it last night was that he had access to ancient records kept by the Tyrians since Solomonic times, but now re-reading it it appears he is only citing a more recent writer who has only slightly more proximity to the event than Josephus did.

I've never imagined that Josephus was 100% reliable, but the question would be was he accurately reporting the histories available in his day; ie, did the Phoenicians really believe they had commerce with Solomon, and if they did, when did that belief start? (For example how ancient was Dius?)

Is there any possibility in all this that Solomon was a real figure?
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Old 08-09-2007, 01:12 PM   #8
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Archeology has not established anything approaching a Temple of the size and wealth described in the Bible. If Solomon existed, he was probably a two bit nobody.
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Old 08-09-2007, 01:43 PM   #9
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Quote:
Is the question whether Josephus is accurate, or whether he deliberately invented sources?

Herodotus reported all sorts of goofy stories, too. They all did it to one degree or another.

The Tel Dan stele is generally accepted as establishing that there was a Davidic dynasty in Judah. Whether or not one of his successors was named "Solomon" is open for debate but later names of kings seem to have been borne out so there is no real reason to doubt it.

The physical reality of Jerusalem in the 10th-9th centuries, BC, as noted above, is something else. There was no great empire flourishing at that time.
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Old 08-09-2007, 01:50 PM   #10
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Archeology has not established anything approaching a Temple of the size and wealth described in the Bible. If Solomon existed, he was probably a two bit nobody.
Usually such archeological claims are made about 10th cen. BCE Jerusalem.

For the Temple specifically, however, I can't see how archeology can be of any help without actually digging on the Temple mount itself, but that is politically impossible now.

Stephen
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