Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Biblical and/or Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology, PhD

First Advisor

Randall W. Younker

Second Advisor

Roy E. Gane

Third Advisor

Paul J. Ray, Jr.

Abstract

Problem

Although the documented description of the construction of the tent-sanctuary appears to give it an Egyptian context in terms of the materials used and the culture of the artisans, in three distinct spheres (sacred, royal-domestic, and military), very little work has been done in comparing the descriptions in the text with the recovered archaeological fabric from Egypt and no study has, as yet, taken the next step of quantifying that comparison through a potentially-repeatable statistical analysis in an effort to determine, in an unbiased manner, the nature of the relationship.

Method

Design and frequency data of the appearing materials were collected from the Hebrew text regarding the Hebrew tent-sanctuary’s courtyard perimeter barrier, its tabernacle (the central structure itself), and the furnishings within the courtyard and tabernacle. These data were analyzed to provide data sets that could be used for purposes of comparison. Data were next collected from mobile structures and their courtyard perimeter barriers. This was taken from sacred, royal-domestic, and military spheres of New Kingdom Egypt. Frequency data of appearing materials data were also collected from mobile structures, their courtyard perimeters, and any known furnishings. Design data from the furnishings in KV62 (Kings Valley tomb number 62, i.e., the tomb of Tutankhamun) were analyzed and compared with similar data from furnishings in other New Kingdom period-contexts as well as contexts before it to determine cultural preference tendencies in New Kingdom Egypt. These data were analyzed to provide data sets that could be used for purposes of comparison. Finally, data from the Hebrew text were finally compared with data from the Egyptian archaeological record to determine if cultural influence could be identified in each of the elements under study.

Results

Cultural influence can clearly be identified in some of the elements of the tent-sanctuary.

Conclusion.

Although the archaeological record is recognized to be incomplete, enough data is available to determine confidently that the description of the construction of the Hebrew tent-sanctuary fits well with the context of New Kingdom Egypt. While not every element of the tent-sanctuary appears to have had Egyptian cultural influence in design, significantly all materials were only available in one period of Egyptian history – the New Kingdom. This study has the potential to inform other studies (typological, symbolic, phenomenological, or interpretive) regarding the tent-sanctuary. Also, because of the relatively clear connection, some of the descriptions of the tent-sanctuary can inform studies on certain elements of New Kingdom Egypt, particularly those associated with the mobile military camp.

Subject Area

Tabernacle; Egypt--History--New Kingdom, ca. 1550-ca. 1070 B.C.; Egypt--Antiquities

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/dissertations/1680

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