Journal for Semitics

Despite exhaustive efforts by scholars, archaeologists, and national and international organisations the United States chose not to protect the National Museum of Iraq, but to send its troops to guard the Oil Ministry and oil fields instead. As a result, the National Museum was looted. No attempts were made to stop the looting; orders were specifically given not to do so. Looting at archaeological sites increased significantly during the invasion and in the lawlessness and chaos which characterised the occupation of Iraq. The United States forces as occupiers had an obligation to prevent the plunder and looting, but they failed to do so. Further, they participated in the destruction of some sites through military occupation and irresponsible construction. As a result, many sites were partially or completely destroyed, and parts of others have been rendered useless for further archaeological research. It necessarily follows that knowledge has been lost and humankind is the poorer for it.

When viewed in light of the expression in vino veritas, the notion of drunkenness and deceit in the Hebrew Bible, specifically in the prophetic books of Micah and Isaiah, raises certain questions. First, is the phenomenon of in vino veritas present in Micah and Isaiah? Second, did Micah and Isaiah have in mind issues of unethical behaviour and social injustice in the allusions to drunkenness and deceit? This article examines the translation of Micah 2:11 to ascertain whether a reading that associates drunkenness and deceit with in vino veritas can be considered anachronistic. It also identifies the addressees of Micah 2 in order to locate the text in its historical context. It argues that when read in relation to verses 6–11 and verses 1–5, Micah 2:11 expresses concern about unethical behaviour and social injustice. Unlike in the Micah text, however, the probable interpretation of in vino veritas in the Old Babylonian sources could apply to Isaiah 28:7 mainly because Isaiah denounced prophets who prophesied under the influence of alcohol.

The story of the fourth judge (Judges 4–5) is full of surprises, just like the previous stories (Judges 1–3). In the dominant body ideology related to good order, an Israelite man without any blemish was the epitome of a pure, ideal, or whole body. Contrary to the “expected literary depiction”, it is again the “unwhole, different-functioning bodies” which are depicted as “producing survival for the corporate body” (Van der Merwe and Coetzee 2009). Deborah, an Israelite lawgiver and prophetess, and Jael, a Kenite woman, are used in an unexpected way. The juxtaposition of different-functioning bodies serves as a counterculture rhetoric in the form of a hidden polemic. Much attention has been paid to the roles of Deborah and Barak in the battle against Hazor, but Jael’s role has elicited limited reflection by scholars and has been overshadowed by her “questionable” hospitality. A socio-rhetorical approach will make it possible to identify rhetorical techniques that the writer uses to highlight social relations, regulations and ideologies in the text (Van der Merwe and Coetzee 2009, 678). Archaeological excavations at Hazor from the last 25 years provide valuable background information to this battle.