Archaeology · 2 · Miriam
Israel as a people, not a place
On the Merneptah Stele, Israel's name carries the hieroglyphic marker for a foreign people, while places like Ashkelon carry the marker for a foreign land.
Israel began as a population.
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The marker is a throw stick plus a seated man and woman over plural strokes. It tells us Israel was a people in 1207 BCE, but little about its makeup.
Source: Why the Bible Began, pp. 40
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