Shasu

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Shasu is one in ancient Egyptian texts of the second millennium BC. Occurring name for a group of Asian semi-nomads .

Etymology of the name

schas in hieroglyphics
M8 G1 O34
D54

schas
š3s
wander through, pull through, drive through
(place, area, sky)

The word “Shasu” (Š3sw) is derived from the Egyptian verbal root š3ś , which means “to traverse, pull, wander”. As a loan word from the Egyptian š3s , the Hebrew verb שׁסה (šsh) 'plunder (from)' (from which the noun מְשִׁסָּה m e šissāh 'plunder') with its variantsשׁשׂה (šśh) andשׁסס (šss) , which in turn is associated with the verb ṯšj that occurs once in Ugaritic texts - with the same meaning. Not backed up is a connection between the Egyptian š3sw / S3s and in cuneiform testified texts Sutu , which was also the name for nomadic groups.

The Shasu in Egyptian documents

Shasu in hieroglyphics
M8 G1 M23 Z7 T14 A1
Z2

Shasu
Š3sw
Shasu nomads
(northeastern region of ancient Egypt)

The Shasu are first mentioned in a report of General Ahmose Pennechbet during a campaign against the Shasu Bedouins under Pharaoh Thutmose II. On a stele from Memphis from the time of Amenhotep II. Is the capture of "15,020 living Schasu- Bedouin " in his second "Retjenu campaign" reported, which led Amenophis II to the area of ​​the Hurrites . In this context, the land of Edom (with the addition: Shamash ) near Qatna on the Orontes was mentioned in the same region on his "first Retenu campaign" .

Depiction of a captured Shasu in Medinet Habu .

In the relief of Seti I in the Karnak Temple , the reasons for the military action against the Shasu in northern Sinai are given:

The enemy Shasu are planning a rebellion. Their tribal leaders have gathered in one place, on the foothills in choir , and are causing a stir and tumult. Each of them kills his brother. They do not obey the law of the palace.

The relief depicts a mass deportation of Shasu from the Sinai Peninsula and southern Palestine to Egypt, where they were supposed to be working.

Under Ramses II , Shasu Bedouins were arrested shortly before the beginning of the Battle of Kadesh . A letter from a border official under Seti II reports about them again in the Anastasi VI papyrus, but this time with a peaceful description:

The Shasu tribes from Edom (š3św n jdwm) passed the Merenptah fortress in Tjeku to graze their cattle by the ponds of the temple of Atum . On the day of Seth's birthday (3rd Heriu-renpet), I brought her to the place where the other Shasu tribes who passed the fortress of Merenptah days ago are already staying.

It remains unclear whether it is the Edom in the area of ​​the Sinai Peninsula or the Edom near Qatna. A short time later, under Ramses III. the mention of a military conflict with the Shasu, since he gave himself the title "Conqueror of the Shasu". The assessment in Papyrus Anastasi I, in which travelers are warned of the danger posed by the Shasu, is also negative:

… The narrow path is dangerous because there Shasu are hiding under the bushes. (They) have grim faces. You are hostile.

Some biblical historians have taken the view that Shasu reproduced an Egyptian distinction, according to which this name denotes the nomads traveling south of the line from Rafah to the Dead Sea , while the groups north of it were called Apiru , from which the Hebrews are derived. Nicolas Grimal locates the land of the Shasu southeast of the Sea of Galilee . The exact localization of the Shasu tribes remains largely open, despite these attempts, as Shasu tribes were found in different places between Qatna and the Sinai Peninsula. Likewise, the hypothesis of a relocation of the settlement area cannot currently be proven.

Shasu land of Yahu

Ta Shasu Jahu in hieroglyphics
N17
M8 		M23 G43 M17 M17 H
V4 		G1

Ta Shasu Yahu
T3 Š3sw Yhw (3)
Yahu, land of the Shasu

M17 A2 H G43 M17 G43 N25

Middle Egyptian : Jhwjw (Ta Schasu Jahu)
Jhwjw (T3 Š3sw Yhw (3))
(An area where luminous metal is extracted)

One first in the Temple of Soleb under Amenhotep III. attested list of places dating from around 1380 BC Is dated, the designation "Shasu-Land Yhw" leads in connection with other place names of the Edomite mountainous country. The term is documented again in two place name lists under Ramses II in Amara-West and Akscha . This designation, which is mainly understood as a place name, has been brought in connection with the Hebrew name of God YHWH .

Some interpreters have seen an allusion to a "semi-nomadic living 'JHW group'", which is said to have played a role in the Exodus from Egypt and in the origins of Israel , and Yhw as the "name of the tribal god of this ( Midianite ) Shasu group" considered.

See also

literature

  • Kurt Galling (Ed.): Text book on the history of Israel. 3rd, revised edition. Mohr, Tübingen 1979, ISBN 3-16-142361-5 .
  • Herbert Donner : History of the people of Israel and its neighbors in outline. 2 volumes. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2000–2001;
    • Volume 1: From the beginnings to the time when the state was formed (= Outlines of the Old Testament. Volume 4, 1). 3rd, revised edition. 2000, ISBN 3-525-51679-7 ;
    • Volume 2: From the royal era to Alexander the great. With an outlook on the history of Judaism to Bar Kochba (= floor plans for the Old Testament. Volume 4, 2). 3rd, revised and supplemented edition. 2001, ISBN 3-525-51680-0 .
  • Raphael Giveon: Schasu. In: Wolfgang Helck , Wolfhart Westendorf (Hrsg.): Lexikon der Ägyptologie . (LÄ). Volume V, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1984, ISBN 3-447-02489-5 , column 533-535.
  • Manfred Görg : Schasu. In: Manfred Görg, Bernhard Lang (Ed.): New Bible Lexicon. Volume 3: O - Z. Benziger, Zurich a. a. 2001, ISBN 3-545-23076-7 , column 464.
  • Ludwig Koehler, Walter Baumgartner : Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon for the Old Testament. (HAL) 2 volumes. 3rd edition, unchanged reprint. Brill, Leiden u. a. 2004, ISBN 90-04-14037-9 .
  • James K. Hoffmeier: Ancient Israel in Sinai. The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Wilderness Tradition. Oxford University Press, Oxford u. a. 2005, ISBN 0-19-515546-7 .
  • Erich Zenger : Introduction to the Old Testament (= Kohlhammer Study Books Theology. Volume 1, Book 1). 7th, revised and expanded edition, with an outline of the history of Israel by Christian Frevel . Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-17-020695-3 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Rainer Hannig : Large Concise Dictionary Egyptian - German (2800–950 BC). The language of the pharaohs (= cultural history of the ancient world. Volume 64 = Hannig-Lexica. Volume 1). Marburg Edition, 4th, revised edition. von Zabern, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-8053-1771-9 , p. 870.
  2. ↑ a b c d e Manfred Görg: Schasu. Zurich et al. 2001.
  3. ↑ a b c d James K. Hoffmeier: Ancient Israel in Sinai. Oxford et al. 2005, pp. 240-243.
  4. ↑ L. Koehler, W. Baumgartner: Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon for the Old Testament. (HAL) Volume II, Leiden a. a. 2004, p. 1485.
  5. ↑ The verb occurs 18 times in the Hebrew Bible: Judges 2,14,16  EU ; 1 Sam 14.48  EU , 13.1 EU , 17.53 EU , 23.1 EU ; 2 Kings 17.20  EU ; Jes 10.13  EU , 17.14 EU , 42.22 EU ; Jer 30.16  EU , 50.11 EU ; Hos 13.15  EU ; Sach 14.2  EU ; Ps 44.11  EU , 89.41 EU . The noun occurs six times: 2 Kön 21,14  EU ; Isa 42,22,24  EU ; Jer 30.16  EU ; Have 2.7  EU and Zef 1.13  EU . With the exception of 1 Sam 17:53 and Isa 10:13, Israel is always the victim of “ pillage ”.
  6. ↑ Wolfgang Helck , Eberhard Otto (Ed.): Lexikon der Ägyptologie. Volume 5: Building a pyramid - stone vessels. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1984, ISBN 3-447-02489-5 , column 533: Schasu , Online . Retrieved November 29, 2013.
  7. ↑ Thutmose (II). On: semataui.de from June 23, 2009, accessed on August 19, 2014.
  8. ^ Kurt Galling (Ed.): Text book on the history of Israel. 3rd, revised edition. Mohr, Tübingen 1979, ISBN 3-16-142361-5 , pp. 28-35.
  9. ↑ Papyrus Anastasi VI, 51-61, British Museum ; Kurt Galling (Ed.): Text book on the history of Israel. 3rd, revised edition. Mohr, Tübingen 1979, ISBN 3-16-142361-5 , p. 40.
  10. ↑ See the remarks by Manfred Görg: Jahwe - ein Toponym? In: Biblical Notes. Volume 1, 1976, ISSN  0178-2967 , pp. 7-14 and Punon - another district of the Shasu Bedouins? In: Biblical Notes. Volume 19, 1982, pp. 15-21.
  11. ↑ a b Rainer Hannig: Large Concise Dictionary Egyptian - German (2800 - 950 BC). The language of the pharaohs (= cultural history of the ancient world. Volume 64 = Hannig-Lexica. Volume 1). Marburg Edition, 4th, revised edition. von Zabern, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-8053-1771-9 , p. 1118.
  12. ↑ Soleb fragment . From: aegyptologie.com , accessed August 19, 2014.
  13. ↑ Amara-West In: Kenneth A Kitchen: Ramesside Inscriptions. Volume II: Ramesses II, Royal inscriptions. (KRI II) Blackwell, Oxford et al. a. 1996-1999, ISBN 978-0-631-18435-5 , p. 217, no. 96.
  14. ↑ Othmar Keel : The history of Jerusalem and the emergence of monotheism . Part 1. In: Places and Landscapes of the Bible . tape 4, 1 .. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-525-50177-1 , Der Gott JHWH, p. 200 ( online [accessed August 18, 2014]).
  15. ↑ Erich Zenger : Mose ...: I. Old Testament. In: Theological Real Encyclopedia . Volume 23: Minucius Felix - Name / Naming. de Gruyter, Berlin a. a. 1993, ISBN 3-11-013853-0 , p. 333.