Henry O. Thompson*<\/b><\/p>\n
*Dr. Henry O. Thompson, Ph.D. is a former director of the American Center for Oriental Research in Amman, Jordan and has directed and participated in several excavations in the Mideast. He is the author of many articles and several books, the most recent being Biblical Archaeology: The World. The Mediterranean, The Bible<\/i>.<\/p>\n
The Biblical Record<\/b><\/p>\n
The name Tobiah means \u201cthe LORD is good.\u201d In the Bible, one of the Tobiads is called \u201cTobiah the servant, the Ammonite\u201d (Nehemiah 2:10).<\/p>\n
The word \u201cservant\u201d was an official title in the time of the Persian Empire (550\u2013330 BC). A biblical example is Nehemiah who was the Persian king\u2019s cupbearer, i.e., his servant and a very trusted one at that. Poisoning was a favorite way of murder in Persia and the cupbearer had ample opportunity to do in his master. Later, Nehemiah was governor of Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
Tobiah was probably governor of the Ammonite area in Transjordan at the same time. The Tobiad family was also active in Jerusalem for several generations (Zechariah 6:14). They continued active in Jerusalem politics for several centuries in spite of the opposition of Nehemiah, although there is some debate over whether the early family is the same as the later.<\/p>\n
The term \u201cAmmonite\u201d could refer to Tobiah\u2019s ancestry. A number of Jews fled to Ammon after the Fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC (Jeremiah 41:15), so it is possible that Tobiah was a descendent of these. That he was a follower of Yahweh is reflected in his own name and that of his son Jehohanan, \u201cthe LORD is merciful\u201d (Nehemiah 6:18). Tobiah had a Jewish wife, daughter of Shechaniah (Nehemiah 6:18); her brother, Shemaiah, helped Nehemiah repair the wall and was keeper of the East Gate (Nehemiah 3:29). Jehohanan also had a Jewish wife whose father, Meshullam, was involved in the repair of the wall of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 6:18; 3:4, 30).<\/p>\n
While some have suggested Tobiah was not Jewish or was only half Jewish, Benjamin Mazar concludes that Tobiah was Jewish (\u201cThe Tobiads, Part 1, \u201d Israel Exploration Journal<\/i> 7 (1957), 137\u2013145; Part 2, 229\u2013238. Mazar notes that a branch of the family remained in Mesopotamia.) Tobiah could, of course, have been both Jewish and Ammonite – Ammonite by ancestry and Jewish by religion, just as people today may be of varied ancestry while sharing a common faith with others not of the same ancestry.<\/p>\n
It is not impossible that Tobiah was governor of Jerusalem before Nehemiah (Nehemiah 5:15). He certainly had close contact with the leaders of Jerusalem who kept him informed of Nehemiah\u2019s activities, and who spoke highly of Tobiah (Nehemiah 6:17\u201319). During Nehemiah\u2019s absence, he had an apartment in the temple<\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 1:4 (Autumn 1988) p. 8<\/p>\n
Stone cat found by workers on the last day of the excavation, Meant to be a fountain, a canal inside the building caused water to come out its mouth.<\/b><\/p>\n
itself in Jerusalem. This upset Nehemiah and when he came back for his second term<\/i> as governor, he forced Tobiah out of the temple {Nehemiah 13:4\u20139). In the third centry BC, the family of Tobiah or Tobias, struggled with the family of Onias for the high priesthood (2 Maccabees 3:11).<\/p>\n
Literary Sources<\/b><\/p>\n
Egyptian papyri, such as the Zenon papyrus (240\u2013260 BC), include contracts and letters between the Tobiads and Ptolemies who ruled Palestine (323\u2013190 BC) and Egypt. These records show that the Tobiads held the status of independent princes in their territory east of the Jordan River. About 200 BC there was a split in the family when a younger son, Hyrcanua, supported the political party which favored the Pale of the Ptolemies over Jerusalem. The older sons supported the rule of the Syrian Seleucids. In the end, the older sons won control of Jerusalem and Hyrcanus retired east of the Jordan.<\/p>\n
Exploration<\/b><\/p>\n
The family estate of the Tobiads was in the Wadi es-Sir in Jordan. The wadi (or valley) starts just west of Amman, near the present day town of Wadi Sir, and quickly drops through now barren and eroded hills that were once thickly covered with oak forests. Over a hundred years ago (1881) the otherwise staid British surveyor, Claude Reigner Conder, was moved to poetry in his book Heth and<\/i> Moab at the sight of the lovely well-watered valley. Today the oaks are gone, but a number of poplars, along with olives, figs and pines, grow beside the stream. In the spring, wild flowers give it an added touch of beauty.<\/p>\n
A black top road now runs the length of the valley. At the end, some 17 kilometers (about 10 miles) from Amman, is the village of \u2018Araq el-Emir, the \u201cCaverns of<\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 1:4 (Autumn 1988) p. 9<\/p>\n
the Prince.\u201d The village partly covers an ancient mound or tell. This may be \u201cRameth-Mizpeh\u201d of Joshua 13:26, the \u201cBirtha\u201d of the Zenon papyrus, and the fortress Tyros\u201d which Josephus says was built by Hyrcanus the Tobiad.<\/p>\n
Above the village some 200 meters northwest, on the north side of the valley, are two tiers of caves. The village children enjoy climbing in and out of these caves. Several are very large – over 10 meters high. There are carved moldings, windows and doors. Some have identified the caves as tombs, but this is questionable. Their walls and ceiling are blackened by the soot of many fires through the centuries. This may be an indication that the caves were once inhabited. Historical interest in these caves is high, for carved outside them are Aramaic letters spelling out the name: \u201cTOBIAH!\u201d (The inscription dates somewhere between 500\u2013200 BC.)<\/p>\n
Below the caves, a modern canal follows the course of an ancient one, carrying water from the stream along a higher level than the stream bed as the latter falls rapidly past the village. The canal flows to an ancient ruin on a mound of dirt in the middle of a large depression, 500 meters southwest of the village. There is a huge earth dam on the east and south sides of the depression between it and the wadi which at this point runs into the Wadi Kefrein. From here the Wadi Kefrein drops swiftly with rugged beauty down to the Jordan River. The ruins on the dirt mound are called Qasr el-\u2019Abd, \u201cCastle of the Servant.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first Westerners to visit \u2018Araq el-Emir were Englishmen C. L. Irby and J. Mangles in 1817. Since then, scholars have speculated that this may be the place described by the Jewish historian, Josephus. He wrote that Hyrcanus built a strong castle out of white stone, with large animals carved on the walls.<\/i> Around the castle was a wide canal of water. Hyrca-nus also carved out large rooms in the neighboring rock. Josephus says these were for feasting, sleeping and living. They were curious in having only one small door – a defensive measure against Hyrcanus\u2019 enemies.<\/p>\n
Today, the ruins of the Qasr el\u2019Abd consist of huge blocks – some are 3 meters high and 5 meters long. Along the top of the one wall, still standing after the earthquakes of the centuries, is a frieze of lions carved in relief. It all fits – the depression once filled with water must have been a small lake, moat or canal (around the castle) behind the earth dam, with the castle connected to one side by a causeway. Add the caverns, the animals, the white limestone construction and the identification seems certain. Only one thing more was needed -archaeological evidence dug from the ground.<\/p>\n
Archaeology<\/b><\/p>\n
In the 1960\u2019s Paul W. Lapp, an American archaeologist, spent three seasons digging in the village, in front of one of the caves, and around and inside the castle. With him was an architect who studied the building and drew up a reconstruction of what it once looked like. To his surprise, he found he had drawn the plans for a Syrian temple, over 39 different examples of which are known from Syria and Lebanon.<\/p>\n
The building had a porch on the south end as well as the main entrance porch on the north end. A row of columns inside the building supported a gallery or balcony around the inner wall. In the northeast corner was a tower with<\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 1:4 (Autumn 1988) p. 10<\/p>\n
The Hebrew (Aramaic) letters for the name \u201cTobiah\u201d can be clearly seen carved into this block at the caves. \u201cTobiah\u201d means \u201cthe Lord is good.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
stairs leading to what must have been the roof. Inside the east wall, on the other side from the lion frieze, one can see the remains of one step and the niches in the wall for higher steps. The caverns would have been the governor\u2019s home and\/or reception hall, while the Qasr was really his temple. Quite possibly, it functioned like the Old Testament \u201cmigdols,\u201d such as the one at Shechem, which also served as a fortress or a place of refuge in a time of danger.<\/p>\n
The date of the temple remained elusive until the third season\u2019s campaign when diggers finally found undisturbed soil near part of the foundation. An ancient settlement dating back to the Early Bronze Age (3000\u20132000 BC) had existed here. Then about 175 BC, dirt from the ancient site had been scooped up in a pile, forming the island, the lake and the earth dam. The massive blocks, cut out of the hills on the west, were slid into place in the years of Hyrcanus\u2019 retirement. However, some of the lions and other carvings were never finished. Hyrcanus died and the work stopped,<\/p>\n
One more surprise lay in store for the archaeologists. A workman was brushing some loose dirt near an unexcavated part of the lower wall for some last minute photography. He suddenly realized he was sweeping off the head of an animal! The picks swung into action once more and soon revealed a stone cat made of a block of red and white dolomite – a mottled limestone local to the area. It had been carved separately from a single block of stone and then slid into a space left for it in the wall. Actually, it was meant to be a fountain with water coming out of a hole in its mouth. A canal was found inside the building bringing water to the statue, and another canal was found in front of its right foot to carry the water away. It is a<\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 1:4 (Autumn 1988) p. 11<\/p>\n
male and, although it has the tail of a lion, it has no mane.<\/p>\n
The statue somewhat resembles a leopard, but its head and neck are too heavy. What is more, it has claws like an eagle. An art historian who studied the statue finally suggested that the sculptor had seen carvings of lions and griffins (mythical beasts, half lion and half eagle), but could not remember exactly what they looked like. He did know what the leopards of the Jordan Valley looked like. The result is a hybrid feline turned fountain.<\/p>\n
In closing, archaeology is not needed to prove the Bible is true. It stands as Truth whether archaeology agrees with it or not. After all, our loving heavenly Father is Spirit, not flesh or dead bones. Our Savior will never be found in a tomb.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, over a hundred years ago, the Palestine Exploration Fund was formed to seek to illuminate<\/i> the Bible. Such light helps us understand many verses and, indeed, makes them alive with people and their activities. We have studied here references to \u201cTobiah\u201d in the Bible as well as in non-biblical sources and we have seen how well the two fit together.<\/p>\n
The archaeologist\u2019s \u201cdig\u201d gives us further glimpses into and a deeper appreciation of the Bible as the Word of God.<\/p>\n
[For more on the archaeology of Jordan, see the two-part article by Dr. Thompson on the Ammonites in Bibleand Spade,<\/i> Winter 1982 and Spring-Summer-Autumn 1982.]<\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 1:4 (Autumn 1988) p. 12<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Henry O. Thompson* *Dr. Henry O. Thompson, Ph.D. is a former director of the American Center for Oriental Research in Amman, Jordan and has directed and participated in several excavations in the Mideast. He is the author of many articles and several books, the most recent being Biblical Archaeology: The World. The Mediterranean, The Bible. … Continue reading “TOBIAH”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15017\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}