Josephus : glosses for place names

[Λύχνις Δαν]

Hi ya,

 

  In reading Josephus I have noticed that some of the place name glosses appear off geographically. I am wondering if this is because the glosses are not tailored to a given module or if there is some other issue. Of course I'm no expert on Josephus either so I could be just plain wrong. But taking two examples :

 

“ὀνόματα δ᾿ αὐταῖς Ἰάμνια Ἀμηρὼθ Ἀχαράβη. ὠχύρωσα δὲ καὶ τὰς ἐν τῇ κάτω Γαλιλαίᾳ πόλεις μὲν Ταριχέας Τιβεριάδα Σέπφωριν, κώμας δὲ Ἀρβήλων σπήλαιον, Βηρσουβαί, Σελαμήν, Ἰωτάπατα, Καφαραθ᾿ κωμος σωγαναι παφα καὶ τὸ Ἰταβύριον ὄρος. εἰς ταύτας καὶ σῖτον ἀπεθέμην πολὺν καὶ ὅπλα πρὸς ἀσφάλειαν τὴν μετὰ ταῦτα.”

(Life 1:188 JOSEPH-T)

https://accordance.bible/link/read/JOSEPH-T#Life_188

 

  Now, the two I've highlighted Ἰάμνια and Βηρσουβαί are, in ID, glossed as :

 

Ἰάμνια Iamnia  Ἰάμνια  Noun nom (proper)  Jamnia

 

Βηρσουβαί Bērsoubai  Βηρσουβαί  Noun acc (proper)  Bersabe, Beersheba

 

  These appear in a list of cities and towns in upper and lower Galilee. Taking the second case first I believe this is Bersabe. I don't see how it could be Beersheba given where we are in the narrative and Josephus' operations.

 

  The first does not appear at all likely. Mason (Life of Josephus, Brill) says in Appendix A that this has been identified as Khirbet Jamnit, and calls it Jamnith, saying it is on a mountain north of Tzefat, which makes sense geographically.

 

Thx

D

 

[Helen Brown]

The English translation assigns Beersheba to the first occurrence of Βηρσουβαί, and Bersobe to the second. Jamnia is simply a transliteration, used in the English. Accurate geographic identification is beyond the scope of the glosses.

[Λύχνις Δαν]

Thanx Helen. I didn't think to check other writings of Josephus. Jamnia is funny. I don't quite see how it got to that spelling from Jamnith to be honest but there you go.

 

Anyhow, thanx.

D

[A.D. Riddle]

There is a Khirbet Beersheba in Galilee, east of Rameh.

Two books that might help with Galilean things are:

 

Leibner, Uzi.

2009     Settlement and History in Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine Galilee: Archaeological Survey of the Eastern Galilee. Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 127. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.

 

Grootkerk, Salomon E.

2000     Ancient Sites in Galilee: A Toponymic Gazetteer. Culture & History of the Ancient Near East 1. Leiden: Brill.

 

There is also the two-volume set by Fortress on Galilee in the Late Second Temple and Mishnaic Periods.

 

 

A.D.

 

Edited February 20, 2019 by A.D. Riddle