Two Long-lost Phoenician Inscriptions and The Emergence of Ancient Israel

Back to the Bare Essentials, 'Procopius' Phoenician Inscriptions: Never Lost, Not Found' — a Response

“…I agree with Schmitz when he puts the word 'translation' in inverted commas, seeing that I had already stated that Procopius would have relayed the content of the inscriptions 'in a summary fashion rather than by way of a direct quotation' (Frendo 2002: 37 and reference there). Moreover, I think that Schmitz has done a very laudable piece of literary criticism whereby he has laid bare the common points and differences of the kernel saying as found in Procopius and which he traces back to Hippolytus and ultimately to Africanus (Schmitz 2007: 101).…”

“…It had run as follows: in the sixth century ce, Procopius of Caesarea (who is deemed to be a reliable historian by many a modern scholar) mentions the fact that he had seen the two Phoenician inscriptions which I discussed. The information which he relayed was mentioned in later Greek historical writings, which also claim that he was the first to mention these inscriptions, although F. C. Movers had suggested that Moses of Khoren (an Armenian historian who died in ce 486, and thus before Procopius was born) was in fact the first one to have done so (Frendo 2002: 38 and references there). Although we do not know the actual date of these inscriptions (they could stem from any point in time between the colonisation of North Africa by the Phoenicians in the eighth century bce at the latest and some time earlier than Procopius would have seen them in the sixth century ce), it is highly probable that, owing to various historical circumstances, they stem from the sixth century ce to a time shortly before Procopius saw them (Frendo 2002: 39).…”

“…The basic question is this: do Schmitz's various contributions actually undo the conclusion of my original study (Frendo 2002)? The conclusion of the latter stated that 'there is no valid reason to doubt Procopius' report which reflects an old Canaanite tradition; moreover, he had no motive whatsoever for making up the story mentioned in the inscribed columns.…”

Procopius of Caesarea and the Girgashite Diaspora

“…Schröder's position has recently been utilized and elaborated in the context of biblical history by Frendo (2002). Seeking to examine 'whether there is any explicit extra-biblical evidence in support of the tradition that what we commonly call "Early Israel" could indeed have emerged-at least partially-on the basis of military operations', he cites Procopius' Joshua inscription as positive evidence.…”