Ref: dailymail.co.uk | foxnews | timesofindia
There are too many camels in the Bible, out of time and out of place!!!
Do camels prove that the Bible is inaccurate? Archaeologists reveal mammals were domesticated in 900BC – centuries after Biblical characters rode them
- Archaeologists from the University of Tel Aviv, Israel, found that camels were not domesticated in Israel until the 9th century BC
- They claim this shows that Biblical text was compiled long after the events described in it and challenges the Bible as a historical document
- Researchers analysed the oldest known domesticated camel bones, found in the Aravah Valley in the southern Levant, to inform their research
The archaeologists claim their study shows that text in the Bible was compiled long after the events described in it and challenges the holy book as a historical document
Camels probably had little or no role in the lives of such early Jewish patriarchs as Abraham, Jacob and Joseph, who lived in the first half of the second millennium BC, and yet stories about them mention these domesticated pack animals more than 20 times. Genesis 24, for example, tells of Abraham’s servant going by camel on a mission to find a wife for Isaac.
Archaeologists have found that camels came to the south Levant in the 9th century BC, not the 12th as was previously thought. A modern camel outside Jerusalem is pictured
These anachronisms are telling evidence that the Bible was written or edited long after the events it narrates and is not always reliable as verifiable history. These camel stories “do not encapsulate memories from the second millennium,” said Noam Mizrahi, an Israeli biblical scholar, “but should be viewed as back-projections from a much later period.”
Bible was compiled long after the events described in it and challenges the holy book as a historical document.
The archaeologists, Erez Ben-Yosef and Lidar Sapir-Hen, used radiocarbon dating to pinpoint the earliest known domesticated camels in Israel to the last third of the 10th century BC — centuries after the patriarchs lived and decades after the kingdom of David, according to the Bible.
The archaeologists said that the origin of the domesticated camel was probably in the Arabian Peninsula. Earlier, people in the region relied on mules and donkeys as their beasts of burden.
Study: Despite biblical records, camels didn’t exist in Israel until centuries later
Although camels are mentioned over 20 times in the Bible, the patriarchs apparently didn’t have much to do with them, according to a new archaeological study that calls the historicity of the Bible into question.
Camels are mentioned as pack animals in the biblical stories of Abraham, Joseph and Jacob, Old Testament stories that historians peg to between 2000 and 1500 BC.
Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels,” (Genesis 31:17)
It is just one of several instances where domesticated camels are used in the stories of Abraham, Joseph and Jacob. However, archeologists Dr. Erez Ben-Yosef and Dr. Lidar Sapir-Hen of Tel Aviv University have found that camels weren’t domesticated in the Land of Israel until centuries after the patriarchs lived, , more like 900 BC, providing direct proof that the Bible was compiled well after the events it describes.
‘This anachronism is direct proof that the [Bible’s] text was compiled well after the events it describes.’
– American Friends of Tel Aviv University
Camels were most likely originally domesticated for use as pack animals in the Arabian Peninsula, which borders on the Arava Valley, towards the end of the 2nd millennium BCE. Read more @ foxnews OR dailymail.co.uk
CAMELS MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE @ KnowingJesus.com
Genesis 37:25 ‘Then they sat down to eat a meal. And as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing aromatic gum and balm and myrrh, on their way to bring them down to Egypt.’
Genesis 24:10 ‘Then he loaded ten of Abraham’s camels with all kinds of expensive gifts from his master, and he traveled to distant Aram-naharaim.’
Genesis 24:61 ‘Then Rebekah arose with her maids, and they mounted the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.’
Suggested readings:
A Pocket Book of Biblical References which deviate from the truth towards falsehood! Scholars agree Present day Bible is Corrupted @ http://www.alislam.org/library/books/biblical/chapter_10.html
Endless Changes in Biblical Versions @ http://www.reviewofreligions.org/date/1985/03/
The Corruption of the Text of the New Testament – Christianity: A Journey from facts to fiction @ http://www.reviewofreligions.org/1466/the-corruption-of-the-text-of-the-new-testament/
Who Changed the Bible and Why? The History of the Bible: The Making of the New Testament Canon @ http://www.alislam.org/egazette/articles/History-of-the-Bible.pdf
Is the Bible authentic? Who Wrote the Bible? Let’s discuss more @ http://www.alislam.org/egazette/articles/book-review-who-wrote-the-Bible.pdf
Jesus Christ only fell into a swoon on the Cross, he never died there and when he was taken down from it, he recovered and migrated to Kashmir, India where he died a natural death at the good old age of 120. Read more @ http://www.alislam.org/library/jesus/
Sola Scriptura: A Fatal trap for Christianity – Christian scholars confirm current Bible is corrupted @ http://islam4jesus.org/article/sola-scriptura-a-fatal-trap-for-1qhnnhcumbuyp-350/
Categories: Ahmadiyyat: True Islam, Asia, CHRISTIANITY, Countries, Islam, Israel, Original Sin
This story was tugged away in a corner of the front page of the Times of Israel. The moment I read it there was no doubt that the Muslim Times was going to have a field day and I have not been disappointed. The reason being that the sensational article fits into the objective of TMT which is to destroy the Holy Bible at all costs.
On Feb. 9, 2014 at 4:23 pm the same Times of Israel captioned on the front page in bold “ISRAELI ASTRONOMERS ADJUST DATE OF INITIAL COSMIC HEATING”. The inside story told of how it has now been discovered that “BLACK HOLES, PRODUCTS OF THE FIRST STARS IN OUR UNIVERSE, WARMED THE GASES THROUGHOUT SPACE LATER THAN PREVIOUSLY BELIEVED–“.
Astonishingly, TMT has not deemed it fit to report such a ‘scientific discovery’. The only reason why the blog’s interest has not been aroused is that the report has not sought to contradict the Bible even though it repudiates an earlier believe held by the ‘scientific world’.
TMT has gone further than the camels story to provide other links which go to support their tarnished and jaundice infested view of the Bible.None of these links says anything that a reasonable man can see as being worthy of consideration. I have read them.
According to records, the ‘dromedary’ or ‘camelus dromedarius’, which is the two horned camel is peculiar to N. Africa and the Near East. It was said to have been probably domesticated in the coastal settlements along the southern Arabian Peninsula somewhere between 3,000 and 2,500 B.C.
It is not disputed that Abraham originated from Ur of the Chaldea in what was then Mesopotamia and now modern Iraq. The area below Iraq down to the coastal fringes of Oman and Yemen had at some point in time been known as ‘Arabia’.
If the history is correct that there were domesticated camels in Arabia over 5,000 years ago, is it possible to think that there were no interactions between Mesopotamia and Arabia in Abraham’s time? Is it also possible to conclude that the people of Mesopotamia did not own camels before Abraham migrated to Canaan having seen the animals with their Arabian neighbors?
The carbon 14 dated remains have been found around a mine which is only a tiny fraction of the whole territory. If the people did not own or use camels, how did they know that the animals could be useful in the mines? There is still a lot of areas to be covered before any definitive statement can be made.
Camels are said to have originated from N. America and migrated to Asia through Alaska during the last ice age. From there, they migrated further south to Arabia, passing through Mesopotamia on the way. It has not been established that the people of Mesopotamia were so backward that they did not know how to catch and domesticate the animals.
Curiously, the early settlers in the ‘new world’ did not find any traces of camels in N. America. The closest are the llamas of South America. How then did camels originate from North America with no evidence of their existence there after 40 million years?
An entry on the web says: “THE EARLIEST REFERENCE TO CAMELS IN ARABIA IS THE SIHI MANDIBLE, A CAMLELID BONE DIRECT DATED TO CA 7100-7200 CAL BC OR ABOUT 8200 RCYBP. SIHI IS A NEOLITHIC COASTAL SITE IN YEMEN, AND THE BONE IS PROBABLY A WILD DOMEDARY”.
The carbon 14 dating technique is not error proof. It is calibrated or adjusted to meet a particular circumstance. There are instances where the dates given of artifacts are manifestly wrong. A good example is what the Israeli astronomers have just discovered as stated above.
Even if the date of the bones were to be correct, it is premature to conclude that Abraham did not have camels as recorded in the Holy Bible.
The posture taken by TMT on this issue is not in the least surprising. Mountains will be made of a grain of sand.
The Holy Bible has been established as the inspired Word of God. It does not go about seeking legitimacy. Only impostors and frauds do that. Everybody knows who the king is. But a fraud imposes himself and coerces acceptance.