Liberal AssKicker
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...of 4 kings.? How did Abraham win?
1) Was the story fiction?
2) Was it a miracle?
3) Was the army of 318 trained and fit for war?
4) Was the army of the four kings stupid and unfit for war?
5) Was it a combination of these?
6) Offer your own explanation
All answers welcome, answer will be posted with citation in 10 minutes.
Answer provided by Wolfgang Heimpel, translater and analyst of all of the 20,000 documents and fragments found in room #115 of the king of Mari, 4000 of which were published in a book called "Letters to the King of Mari".
From 2100 BC to about 1850 BC, it was routine for the imperial powers (Sumerians, Elamites, and later the Babylonians) to hire shepherds as mercenaries. Most of them were Amorites and Ammonites.
Heimpel confirms by analyzing ethnicities by name that Aramaens from Haran were among those hired out. Their skills were documented to be legendary due to the nature of their work as shepherds (especially in weapons making and the savagery of their attacks from training against wild animals attacking their flocks).
318 shepherds could easily slaughter as many as 5000 conscript farmers from the Mesopotamian plains.
No miracle necessary.
(See the introduction to the book for a full explanation, and chapter 1 which reconstructs events in Mari.)
1) Was the story fiction?
2) Was it a miracle?
3) Was the army of 318 trained and fit for war?
4) Was the army of the four kings stupid and unfit for war?
5) Was it a combination of these?
6) Offer your own explanation
All answers welcome, answer will be posted with citation in 10 minutes.
Answer provided by Wolfgang Heimpel, translater and analyst of all of the 20,000 documents and fragments found in room #115 of the king of Mari, 4000 of which were published in a book called "Letters to the King of Mari".
From 2100 BC to about 1850 BC, it was routine for the imperial powers (Sumerians, Elamites, and later the Babylonians) to hire shepherds as mercenaries. Most of them were Amorites and Ammonites.
Heimpel confirms by analyzing ethnicities by name that Aramaens from Haran were among those hired out. Their skills were documented to be legendary due to the nature of their work as shepherds (especially in weapons making and the savagery of their attacks from training against wild animals attacking their flocks).
318 shepherds could easily slaughter as many as 5000 conscript farmers from the Mesopotamian plains.
No miracle necessary.
(See the introduction to the book for a full explanation, and chapter 1 which reconstructs events in Mari.)