The start of a day

            It is morning, so I travel to the well on the north-eastern side of Lachish to get water for the day. To get there I have to pass the palace in the center of the city where I can overhear the talk of the city. The main subjects today are people talking about trade or the invasion of the Pharoah Shishak’s army in Judah. However, I cannot listen for long because I need to start baking, and to do so I need that water. At the well there is a long line of women and children waiting to receive their water. Here the talk is more along the lines of repairs that need to be done to the house before winter sets in. This is a subject I can relate to. Ever since my husband died I have not had enough time to take care of the house, the child, and myself. If only he were still here. Eventually I get my and make my way back to the house.

            I have a nice house. It has four rooms, with the main room being open, roofless and gets plenty of light. My son who is only 4 years old is still asleep in the back room. Because my husband was a potter the western side of the house was his workshop. It is such a shame that he never was able to pass on his skill to our son. I look about the house, and think about what the other women were complaining about. Their problems seemed petty compared to what I am faced with. For instance the plaster around the house was not just beginning to peel off, the entire northern wall the plaster was almost wholly removed! That absolutely needs to be fixed or else it may collapse. Hoever, for now I must make bread.

Fig 2. The well at Tell-Lachish

Fig 3. This is a model of what Lachish may have looked like. Note the palace in the center.

I am sorry about this, but I have two pictures from Stern's encyclopedia that  I would like to  include, but cannot figure out how to get them electronically. How would you suggest doing this?

Bibliography:

         The Anchor Bible Dictionary on CD-ROM. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997. Print

         Stern, Ephraim, ed. "Lachish." The Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land. Vol. 3. Israel: Israel Excavation Society and Carta, 1993. 897-910. Print.

        "Lachish: the Well Shaft." BibBible.org. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. <http://bigbible.org/israel/lakish/DCP_1257.html>.

         "Judah." Fontes - Educational Technology at LSTC and MTS. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. <http://fontes.lstc.edu/~rklein/Documents/judah.htm>.

10/05--Aspects of Life

            As a newly widowed woman, I would like to discuss what happens to a widow in Judah. This means talk about what levirate is. Were there other options for Ascah? I will talk about how she gets her food. I will also move the time period to ca. 1100 when Rehoboam was either in control, or just lost control of some of the cities to the Shishak. I would like to illustrate that a widow’s life style was not a maltreated lifestyle. Widows were treated with respect, and people try and help the socially disenfranchised. Ascah will also have a child, but a young child. This means that Ascah will be closer to 23. This is a very interesting geographic area because of the border conflict issues, and there were Canaaninte people living amongst the Judeans. I would like to take a look into what a Judean would think of such people. Ascah represents a key to looking into family dynamics, city dynamics, racial (Judean/Canaanintes) dynamics, and an insight into the socially disenfranchised of ancient Israel.

Note: Shephelah-Lachish

(http://www.followtherabbi.com/Brix?pageID=1866)
(Have a better map that has a more reliable source, but do not know how to copy it from the doucment. However, by cross checking the two I can tell that Lachish is in the correct place.)

Sources:
Fensham, F. Charles. "Widow, Orphan, and the Poor in Ancient near Eastern Legal and Wisdom              Literature." Journal of Near Eastern Studies 21.2 (1962): 129-39.JSTOR. Web. 04 Oct. 2011. <http://www.jstor.org.proxy.library.cornell.edu/stable/543887?seq=2&Search=yes&searchText=ancient&searchText=widow&searchText=israel&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dwidow%2Bancient%2Bisrael%26gw%3Djtx%26acc%3Don%26prq%3Dshephelah%26Search%3DSearch%26hp%3D25%26wc%3Don&prevSearch=&item=18&ttl=3161&returnArticleService=showFullText&resultsServiceName=null>.
AND
Wright, G. E. "Judean Lachish." Biblical Archaelogist 18.1 (1955): 9-17. JSTOR. Web. 4 Oct. 2011. <http://www.jstor.org.proxy.library.cornell.edu/stable/3209101?&Search=yes&searchText=lachish&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dlachish%26gw%3Djtx%26acc%3Don%26prq%3Dancient%2Bfamily%2Bdynamics%2Bisrael%26Search%3DSearch%26hp%3D25%26wc%3Don&prevSearch=&item=3&ttl=2365&returnArticleService=showFullText>.


P.S. The second source is from 1955, should I try and find a more current article on Lachish, or is this going to be pretty good?