[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
orion "near" Ein Gedi?
Hello, Stephen - re your comment below - I naturally agree that "near" is
not directly translatable into a distance of x meters (or kilometers). Both
Qumran and Hirschfeld's site are close enough to Ein Gedi for it to be a
reference point.
Best, Asia
At 02:45 PM 10/3/98 -0500, stephen goranson wrote:
> In the Hippolytus discussion, a subject of interest, Asia Lerner
>made an incidental remark: "...Pliny's placing the Essenes specifically
>near Ein Gedi..." Actually, when Pliny's source wrote "infra"--however one
>chooses to translate that--it does not convey specifically *how near or
>far* infra. This may be worth noting, since, if one accepted "near," it
>would seem to favor the position suggested by, for instance, Yizhar
>Hirschfeld. But, for diverse reasons discussed at length already (and in
>bibliography I'm now gathering), that suggestion is quite improbable.
>Furthermore, when the text resumes its survey from Jericho to the Essene
>settlement to Ein Gedi--downstrean, south, or further along, rather than
>downhill--it indicates that Masada is next, and Masada is surely not
>downhill from Ein Gedi. Nor is Masada, like Qumran, especially near to Ein
>Gedi.
>best wishes,
>Stephen Goranson
>goranson@duke.edu
>
>