• Bock

    More on the Camels Updated (2/18/2014)

    Here is a solid interview with Dr. Andrew Steinmann on the camel issue. http://issuesetc.org/2014/02/11/1-archaeologists-dispute-camels-in-genesis-dr-andrew-steinmann-21114/ Check it out. I now add a definitive study in this area by Martin Heide. This summarizes his detailed work on this issue fromt he University of Marburg in Germany. He argues the Bible does not claim domesticated camels are widespread in the Patriarchal period. Their use is selectively noted and is tied to people with associations with Mesopotamia. So the assumptions in the media hype are exaggerated. Here is the link: https://www.academia.edu/2065314/_The_Domestication_of_the_Camel_Biological_Archaeological_and_Inscriptional_Evidence_from_Mesopotamia_Egypt_Israel_and_Arabia_and_Literary_Evidence_from_the_Hebrew_Bible_in_Ugarit_Forschungen_42_2010_Munster_Ugarit-Verlag_2011_331-384 I never thought the study of camels would be such a big deal!

  • Bock

    Camels Disprove the Bible: Am I Missing Something?

    This week has seen op-ed pieces in CNN and other locales saying that recent discoveries about domesticated camels in Israel prove the Bible has erred. I have seen two such articles in the last week, one on CNN and the other in the Huffington Post. The gist of the claim is that there has been a recent discovery that shows that domesticated camels in Israel go back to the 10th century BC. The alleged error is that the Bible claims that such camels went back to the partriarchs several centuries earlier. Thus, it is said that the find proves a biblical mistake. Some of the writing has been quite cute.…