The Israelite Priestess in the Nile Island’s Temple - A Groundbreaking Discovery | Dr. Gad Barnea

Join us in this episode as we explore the groundbreaking discovery made by Dr. Barnea regarding Israelite priestesses in ancient Egypt. This video delves into the intriguing world of the Jewish temple at Elephantine, Egypt, challenging our understanding of religious and cultural practices in ancient Jewish/Yhwistic communities.

Dr. Barnea unveils the significance of a unique ostracon from Elephantine, which stands as the first direct evidence of a female priestess officiating in a Jewish temple - in fact, it is the only direct record of any cultic observance in ancient Judaism/Yahwism. He reveals the poetic nature of this artifact and its implications for our understanding of ancient Jewish/Yhwistic liturgical practices and the role of women in these ancient societies.

This episode is a captivating journey into the past, offering an in-depth look into the daily life, religious observances, and the significant role of women in ancient Jewish communities.

👤 *About Dr. Barnea:*
Dr. Gad Barnea is a Lecturer at the department of Jewish history and Bible at the University of Haifa, where he also completed his Ph.D. He is also a Research Felllow at the "BEST" project of the École biblique et archéologique Française de Jérusalem. Dr. Barnea is currently working on a new critical edition of a Qumran scroll (4Q550) for Brill’s DSSE collection. In addition, he is co-author of "Hosea—The Word of the Lord that Happened to Hosea," for the collection “the Bible in its traditions,” and is co-editor of the forthcoming volume "Yahwism under the Achaemenid Empire, Prof. Shaul Shaked in memoriam.”.

🔍 *What You'll Learn:*
The historical and cultural significance of the ostracon discovered in Egypt.
The role of women, particularly priestesses, in ancient Jewish religious practices.
Insights into the religious and daily life of ancient Jewish communities in Egypt.
The evolution and variations in ancient Jewish liturgical practices.

👍 *Like and Subscribe*
If you found this episode enlightening, please like, subscribe, and share it with others who are passionate about ancient history and religious studies. Stay tuned to the KEDEM Channel for more fascinating content like this!
#AncientHistory #IsraelitePriestesses #JewishHistory #Archaeology #ReligiousStudies #KEDEMChannel #Egyptology #WomenInAncientReligion #Elephantine

[TarninTheGreat]

Well, this was fascinating and amazing. I knew about half of this, but the other half is enlightening. I'm so glad someone sent me this video!

[brianeibisch]

What a great presentation on a Jewish diaspora in Upper Egypt during the Saite dynasty and reign of Cambyses. With Yahweh as chief deity, it is obvious that the religion has moved on from having El as chief deity, in its pantheon. But relative to Biblical requirements for a priesthood, the very Egyptian mode of having a female high priest at the Temple is quite amazing. The seeming lack of Biblical guidance for this community is also a startling fact. Also the demographics is really interesting too, with Elephantine and Jerusalem populations being about the same size, seems to indicate a bipolar aspect to Jewish religion and community back in this time. Great discussion, creating even more questions to be answered. Cheers!!

[barblc]

Alex, you really know how to pick great subjects and specialists on the cutting edge. I thoroughly enjoy each video. Thanks.

[Unmoved]

Totally fascinating. Alex, please give us more about this period.

[TO-Aloha]

Please put link(s) to Dr. Barnea’s papers. Thank you. Excellent work here!

[crownhouse]

Fascinating interview, thank you very much!

[blankfrancine]

Fantastic presentation, so much to ponder.

[MimmaHappunchMaria]

Thank you I enjoyed learning about this.

[darksaurian]

I want to watch all of these and read all of their books. I really need to start reading more than one book a year.

[Tamar-szox]

Just subscribed . This channel is pure quality ! ❤

[ciarandoyle]

This Kedem channel offers the best explanations of the history of the Biblical peoples that I have ever watched and heard. This unscholarly but curious 21st century mind is mightily impressed.
Perhaps this channel could present a video about Temple sacrifices, in the light of archaeological and textual discoveries.
When did the such sacrifices begin, and were they imitative of the practices of other contemporary religions?
How did the theology and practice of sacrifice evolve over the centuries?
Does the evidence show that the categories of sacrifice were?:
Animals (cows, sheep and goats, chickens, etc.) (fish?)
Harvested agricultural produce (grain, grapes and other fruit, vegetables, etc.)
Processed agricultural produce (bread, wine, cooked meals, etc.)
Goods of value (precious metals and minerals, pearls, leather, weapons, etc.)
Were the sacrificed materials totally destroyed, (burnt or spilled) or did the priests, or anybody else get a share for their own consumption?
Such a video might answer the following:
Theology? To offer thanks to God? To make requests of God? To demonstrate competitive religious fervour? And who got to "frame the motion" before God, using the sacrificial item as corroborating evidence? the king? the priests? or any citizen who could provide something to sacrifice?

[contemposuits]

I find it fascinating that things like Passover were not even mentioned in the Elephantine texts. I am also curious as to how and why Jews ended up on that particular island to begin with.

[cookim]

This is a first class interview never heard about it before non of the historians you interviewed never said anything and I listened to all of them
Keep up the good work

[williambranch]

There were Jewish temples at On and Elephantine just after the start of the Exile. And Judaism at that time had Asherah worship.

[PrometheanRising]

The Egyptian flood origin story shares an interesting, perhaps suspicious, parallel with the myth of Noah's Flood. Specifically, the idea that underground water reservoirs were a source of (some of) the flood waters.

[dessiewatkins]

I was aquainted with an elderly lady who shared so much anecdotally about her Christian denomination's preservation of knowledge of the Scriptures. So much of this had somehow not been preserved in mainstream beliefs and I was uncertain as to whether this even mattered. I discovered that wherever this knowledge disappeared or faded from living memory it seemed to be replaced with more localized cult like non biblical interpretation of biblical history. I think 20/20 vision is hindsight- it is totally replaced with localized superstition based religious practices. The surviving descendants have to sift through their belief systems and reinvent them to revive viable methods of preserving their interpretation of their inherited beliefs about higher more enduring truth about God. And this seems to be occurring concurrent with oral history vanishing like footprints in the sand. I decided that higher truths are the only thing that does endure the test of time

[elioxman]

Gad is obsessed with emancipation...The rest is interesting for lovers of ancient history. Notably, he admits absence of any dating of this ostracon only in the very end of the interview, which makes the whole relation to any particular historical period into more of a phantasy (elephantasy).
Also he does not care to relate to the well-known Pesach letter and connect it to the mixed cult on the island of Elephantine he was trying to present, which is in my view can support his thesis of Jerusalem-related cult to a great extent. Thanks Alex.

[elizabethorr]

Thank you very much. Some fundamental implications here for the hist, of religions

[WagesOfDestruction]

I find the comment about a jew selling a slave to another jew fascinating.

[KonjanCham]

According to Prof Israel Finkelstein Jurasalem was sparsely populated during Persian period until 2 century BC. Whom were these folks writing to in Juresalem? How do we know they were writting to Juresalem or another main temple elsewhere?