Q: Have you seen this story floating around the media?
Archaeology Find: Camels In 'Bible' Are Literary Anachronisms NPR
Camels Had No Business in Genesis NYT
Do camels prove that the Bible is inaccurate? MailOnline.UK
Earliest Camel Bones Contradict Bible NatureWorldNews
Camel bones suggest error in Bible, archaeologists say Topix
"In the Old Testament, camels made for a very useful literary device. Primarily, they represent great wealth; Though these animals play a central role in Genesis, new evidence has called into question their existence in Israel during the lifespans of Abraham and his immediate descendents (believed to be between 2000-1500 BC), and with it, the authorship of the bible.
Professors Erez Ben-Yosef and Lidar Sapir-Hen, archaeologists from Tel Aviv University in Israel, recently published a study after radiocarbon dating camel bones uncovered during excavations in the Aravah Valley -- an area on the border of Israel and the Arabian Peninsula, and one of the most logical spots where camels would have first been introduced into the country. Excavations uncovered the oldest camel bones yet found in Israel, and these dated no earlier than 940 BC -- at least 500 years later than when they are described in the bible.
"This is a very good example that the stories were written at a much later time than they supposedly took place. The editor of these stories knew the camel was a draft animal used in his time for traveling across the desert, so of course Abraham, Jacob and David used camels. We call it an anachronism; he projected the reality that he knew at his own time," says Ben-Yosef." CNN
HEADLINES:
Do camel bones discredit the bible? CNNArchaeology Find: Camels In 'Bible' Are Literary Anachronisms NPR
Camels Had No Business in Genesis NYT
Do camels prove that the Bible is inaccurate? MailOnline.UK
Earliest Camel Bones Contradict Bible NatureWorldNews
Camel bones suggest error in Bible, archaeologists say Topix
"In the Old Testament, camels made for a very useful literary device. Primarily, they represent great wealth; Though these animals play a central role in Genesis, new evidence has called into question their existence in Israel during the lifespans of Abraham and his immediate descendents (believed to be between 2000-1500 BC), and with it, the authorship of the bible.
Professors Erez Ben-Yosef and Lidar Sapir-Hen, archaeologists from Tel Aviv University in Israel, recently published a study after radiocarbon dating camel bones uncovered during excavations in the Aravah Valley -- an area on the border of Israel and the Arabian Peninsula, and one of the most logical spots where camels would have first been introduced into the country. Excavations uncovered the oldest camel bones yet found in Israel, and these dated no earlier than 940 BC -- at least 500 years later than when they are described in the bible.
"This is a very good example that the stories were written at a much later time than they supposedly took place. The editor of these stories knew the camel was a draft animal used in his time for traveling across the desert, so of course Abraham, Jacob and David used camels. We call it an anachronism; he projected the reality that he knew at his own time," says Ben-Yosef." CNN
RESPONSE:
"Can a data point at one site justify a sweeping generalization about a region for centuries? That’s essentially what two archaeologists from Tel-Aviv University did to conclude that the Bible’s mention of camels as far back as the time of Abraham is wrong. Erez Ben-Yosef and Lidar Sapir-Hen based their conclusions on radiocarbon dates of camel bones from copper mines in the Aravah Valley, between the Dead Sea and Eilat. Since the bones appear suddenly at 930–900 BC, they conclude camels were not domesticated till then. All it means, though, is that camels were not associated with copper production at that spot till that time (unless older camel bones are found elsewhere at the site some day in the future). It says nothing about the use of camels elsewhere in the Levant for other purposes. It’s basically a piece of negative evidence (i.e., blowing smoke with camels)." CEH
And he made his camels to kneel down
without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening,
Genesis 24:11
