Yigael Yadin's Two-Volume 'Art of Warfare in Biblical Times' Rich in History

"The Art of Warfare" is
described, in part, as follows by
Yigael Yadin, professor of arc-
haeology at the Hebrew Univer-
sity in Jerusalem, who was
Major General and former Chief
of the General Staff of the
Israel Defense Forces.
"War is the attempt by one
nation to impose its will on
another by force. This break-
down in human association
has been a recurring feature
in the history of man since
the very beginning. Human
conflict finds expression in
the first pages of the Bible.
Hardly has man begun life on
earth when, as the Biblical
narrative records with un-
adorned simplicity, 'Cain rose
up against his brother Abel
and killed him.' The chain
reaction to this event has
continued right up to the 20th
century. A study of human
history cannot therefore be
complete without a study of
the military events of the past
and of the means conceived
by nations to secure their own
military aims and thwart
those of their enemies. More-
over, in ancient times, as
today, men devoted much of
their technical genius to per-
fecting weapons and devices
for destruction and defense.
Weapons of war thus serve as
an enlightening index of the
standards of technical devel-
opment reached by nations
during different periods in
history. . . ."
This is the opening paragraph
of the introduction by the em-
inent Israeli scholar preceding
his thorough study of the sub-
ject contained in the two im-
pressive volumes, "The Art of
Warfare in Bibical Times In the
Light of Archaeological Study,"
translated from the Hebrew by
M. Pearlman and published by
McGraw-Hill Book Co. (330 W.
42nd, NY36). The volumes are
dedicated to the memory of the
author's brother, Matatythu,
who died defending the State
of Israel.
This study has great signifi-
cance for the historian. It is not
limited in appeal to the student
of military tactics or of weapon-
making. It is a through discus-
sion of "all the facets of the
art of warfare, its implements,
techniques and strategy in all
Bibical lands."

The text itself, the hundreds
of line drawings, the color
plates and the historical data
that is part of the study itself,
make these two volumes stand
out as noteworthy literary
works — produced by the pub-
lishers in splendid typog-
raphy — and as the results of
research conducted by one of
the most distingushed authori-
ties of this generation.
The lengthy introduction is
in itself a classic essay on the
types of weapons that were
used, the mobility of the war-
riors of old in their use of
chariots, cavalry, various types
of bows and arrows, the slings
and other weapons; the security
that was resorted to for per-
sonal protection by means of
helmets, armor. shields; fortifi-
cations and the defense of cities,
by resort to inner citadels and
a varied type of gates.
It is the use the author makes
of archaeological sources that
gives his study special signifi-
cance. He explains the chrono-
logical terms, the tracing of
data through the ages, from
8000 to 1200 BCE, following
"the development of warfare

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, June 19, 1964

26

David and Solomon came to
an end in the reign of Reho-
boam, Solomon's son. The in-
ternal frictions between Israel
and Judah flared into an
open breach, and the kingdom

during a series of -brief, specific
spans of time depicting the
patterns under each king with
the monuments of his reign."

Yadin commenced his study
with explanations of the Jericho
fortifications — " t h e most
ancient fortifications in the
world" — dating back to 7000
BCE. He then turns to the
period before Abraham (4000-
2100 BCE), a "millenium of
extraordinary military activity
which brought in its wake
innovations and developments
in basic branches in the art of
warfare." All data is, of course,
supplemented b y descriptive
plates and the illustrations that
serve the author well in out-
lining his historical data.
Two other chapters in the
first volume deal with the per-
iod of the Patriarchs (2100-
1570) and "The Period of the
Sojourn in Egypt, the Exodus,
Moses and Joshua" (1570-1200
BCE).
Once again, the student who
follows this text learns of the
development of the art of war-
fare, from the most ancient
fortifications known to man to
latter day creations in defense
of national entities and in con-
quests.
Describing the purpose of the
moat, the walls and the glacis,
Yadin explains how "the tre-
mendous resources and labor
invested in fortifications of the
Middle Bronze period were de-
signed primarily to prevent
breaching by the battering-ram"
Then, based on a 20th century
BCE document from the period
of the Middle Kingdom, there is
offered "the earliest detailed
written description of a unique
form of battle — the duel."
This is described in a repro-
duced Beni-hasan wall painting.
The reader is introduced to
the appearance for the first time
in Egypt of the Cannanite
chariots, as well as methods of
combat in open terrain.

The era of the sojourn in
Egypt points to the use of the
axe, the introduction of the
sword, the methods of assault
on fortified cities. It is on this
concluding section of the first
volume that we have a descrip-
tion of the battle of Megiddo,
the Kadesh surprise attacks and
the counterattacks, as well as
the use of ancient methods of
intelligence.
The numerous color plates,
illustrations and descriptive
photographs that form the con-
cluding half of the first volume
are in themselves a most val-
uable collection of explanatory
pictorial matter that makes this
work stand out as a great con-
tribution to the study of mili-
tary tactics and weapons.

The second V Yadin volume
commences with "The Period of
the Judges and the United Mon-
archy" (1200-920 BCE). It con-
cludes with "The Kingdoms of
Israel and Judah" (920-586
BCE), devotes more than half
of the volume to illustrative
charts, color plates, drawings;
contains a list of abbreviations
for pariodicals referred to in
the text; has an accompanying
informative bibliography,
sources for illustration and a
subject index for plates.
There are descriptions here
of a naval battle of the Egyptian
army as it functioned in the
earlier period, and a proper
understanding is gained from
Yadin's explanations of the wars
in the Bible in the time of the
Judges.
The Deborah and Sisera in-
cident in history acquires new

was divided and weakened.

YIGAEL YADIN

meaning in this descriptive
work, and the story of Gideon
and the Three Hundred gains
new significance.

Biblical history is recon-
structed and the David and
Goliath assumes the aspect of
a dramatic duel. Yadin offers
an entirely new explanation of
what went on near the pool of
Gibeon. He tells us:
"The term 'young men' is, it
is true, the literal translation
of the Hebrew Ne'arim. But
in its military context, `Ne'arim'
means picked troops, like the
crack unit of Canaanite mercen-
aries serving in the army of
Rameses II at the Battle of
K a desh, who were called
`Ne'arim.' Facing each other
across Gibean's pool, therefore,
were not a group of sportive
youngsters but the most highly
select, valiant, professional sold-
iers of both sides. And the
`game' they played was no game
but a group of serious duels in
the full technical sense of the
term. Grasping the head of
one's adversary with one hand
and stabbing his side by a short
sword with the other was one
of the accepted tatics in such
encounters, . . ."
Describing the battle of
David, Yadin gives an account
of the conquest of Jerusalem.
The refutations established by
the armies of David and
Solomon are of added interest
and there are in evidence here
new types of fortifications.

* *

We have, v at the end of the
first part of the second volume
an interesting historical note:
"The lustrous period of the
Hebrew Empire in the days of

Arab Exaggerations
and AdMissions to Heaven
An old Israeli story has been
revived and being laughed
about. The story goes that in
a recent engagement, the Arabs
lost 30 men.
These 30 Arab dead knocked
at the gate of the Angel Gabriel
in Heaven. The Mufti had
promised the Arabs that if any
of them fell in battle with
Israelis, they would be granted
unconditional admittance into
Paradise. Yet, when the dead
soldiers knocked at the Heav-
enly door, Gabriel only let eight
of them enter.
"What's the idea," chorused
the others, "we, too, fell in bat-
tle with the Israelis."
"I am sorry," replied the
Angel Gabriel, "the Cairo dis
patch stated that only eight
Arabs were killed in the en-
gagement."

Because of accumulations of
sediment on its bottom, Lake
Michigan !s growing three
inches shallower every 100
years.

OSS REALTY CO.

This weakness was seized up-
on by Pharah Shisak, who
came up from Egypt in the
fifth year of Rehoboam's rei-
gn, his army headed by 1,000
chariots (11 Chronicles 12:3),
invaded the country and laid
waste several cities. From the
list of these destroyed cities,
which Shishak had engraved
in the temple of Amon in Kar-
nak, it is possible to recon-
struct the route of his cam-
paign. His eastermost target
was the Valley of Succoth, the
important Israel base east of
the Jordan, which he reached
via Gezer, Gibeon, and the
Jordan Valley. From here, he
returned westward through
Megiddo Pass, a n d back
through the Coastal Plain. In
this campaign, operation, from -
firm bases, he would send out
assault battalions from time
to time into the interior of
the country, and to the Negev,
and these units caused much
havoc, destroying and burning
as they went. It was their
destruction of the fortifica-
tions of the period immedi-
ately before which led the
later kings of Israel and
Judah to build new fortifica-
tions . . . The campaign and
the division of the monarchy
were the two most important
events in the history of Pal-
estine since the establishment
of the kingdom of David. And
the destruction which they
brought in their wake marks
the end of a period—the per-
iod of Iron Age 1."
New devices wall scaling, bat-

ties in open terrain mark the
descriptions of the art of war-
fare during the eras of the
Israel and Judah kingdoms.
* *
Concluding his review of the
art of warfare from the 7500
BCE Jericho fortifications to
the fall of Jerusalem in 586
BCE, Ygael Yadin states:
"In this long history, great
Powers rose and great Powers
fell in an unending chain of
battle, death, and destruction.
It is difficult to avoid the rec-
ollection of a phrase from the
great Jewish sage Hillel, which
might well have been conceiv-
ed as an epitaph to the book.
Seeing a skull floating upon the
surface of the water, he ex-
claimed: 'Because thou drown-
est others, they have drowned
thee; and, at the last, they that
drowned thee shall themselves
be drowned" (Sayings of the
Fathers 2:6)."
Thus appropriately ends a
great set of books in which a
distinguished archaelogist who
is at the same time an able
miltary leader described the
art of warfare and incorporat-
ed in his story the basic hist-
orical data relating to the per-
iods he dealt with. Yigael Yad-
in's "The Art of Warfare in
Biblical Times" is one of the
most scholarly literary crea-
tions of our time.
P.S.

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