#rephaim

By Moshe Flam aka User:Pashute - flipped image to make RTLOriginal author: User:Chaos - self-scan of old syrian post-card dated from 1985 - 22 alphabet.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=55073158

Rediscovered in 1930-1931, the Rephaim Text consists of three tablets from the 14th century BCE that tell the story of Rephaim, a group of 'warrior-like figures' who are undertaking a three-day chairiot journey to participate in a seven-day feast at a threshing floor. Exactly who the Rephaim are uncertain, whether they were ancestors or minor deities, underworld spirits or human cultic figures. The connection between the three tablets is uncertain aside from the same main character and tablets 2 and 3 were written by the same person, possibly ʾIlimilku, a 'famous scribe of the 14th century who was responsible for many other Ugaritic texts, including the Baal Cycle and the story of Aqhat', though missing information from the tablets makes in depth analysis and reconstruction speculative.

By Mary Harrsch - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=94899363

There are currently three main ways of looking at who the Rephaim were. The first is to view them as minor deities who accompany Ba'al, following him to the underworld. In this interpretation, this eventually became 'shades of the dead' in Biblical Hebrew and Phoenician, with the word 'shade' having a similar meaning to 'deified dead', 'supported by the fact that deifying the deceased was a common practice in the time and place of the composition'. The second view is that the Rephaim were human 'cultic functionaries' who went with the king to threshing floors and plantations 'in order to promote fertility', which led some to conclude they might have been gods, not minor, who follow the will of the god El leading to the human context of an 'aristocratic warrior guild under the patronage of El'. The third interpretation is similar to the deified dead, but adding that they were called 'Healthy Ones' because the dead enter into 'the state of well-being they were believed to attain after death', that they might be 'mortal descendents of the divine family, and acted as demigod kings or leaders who served the gods'.

By Rama - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2994545

The first tablet was the last found in Ras Shamra near the House of the High Priest in 1931. It is 4.8 cm by 8.3 cm contains 11 partial lines in the left column and 12 lines on the right column and likely had 4 or 6 columns based on ledger lines with only one side having legible. It describes the Rephaim preparing their chariots for the journey and arriving three days later, after sunset and Aqhat's father Danel's invitation for them to eat. The second tablet is only 3.6 cm by 4.3 cm and probably was 4-6 columns. It was found inside the house of the High Priest in 1930. One side contains a partial column with thirteen lines with only a few legible characters on the other side. With so little text, it is not possible to determine which side is the front. It also describes the Rephaim receiving an invitation to a feast with the speaker being identified as El, though whether that means the specific god El or a general term for gods is uncertain. The only legible words on the back are 'to the earth'. Tablet three is 8.4 cm by 8.4 cm and was found with the second tablet. It is also fragmentary, with lines 5-11 of the left column legible and twenty-six lines on the right column visible. The left column tells of the 'warriors of Baal and Anat' arriving at the house of the speaker with the rest of what's visible describing a 'description of the ascension of a figure to his throne and his invitation of the Rephaim to his palace'. The right column mentions royal princes, the Rephaim circling them, the slaughter of sheep and cattle being compared to 'the hunt of Anat when she "shoots the birds of heaven"', a laden table full of the late summer harvest of fruit and wine, and the seven days of feasts 'on the height…in the heart of Lebanon' and concludes with Baal the conquerer on the last day. The rest of the tablets have not been found.

By Jastrow - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=723538

I have an idea for a The Bone Season fanfiction. Hear me out 😌

Outside of Scion, a group of humans has taken it upon themselves to aid those who have been hurt by Scion and to work against its expansion.

When Heidi finds a stranger with glowing eyes in her glasshouse, she and her friends need to confront that they are facing more than just human malice in Scion.

With Sabiq, a runaway Reph, the network is looking for allies to join the fight.

There will be mention of the characters and events in the TBS series, but they will not be heavily featured.

There are more than 100 Bible verses pointing to the fact that giants once existed as races on Earth. Archeological evidence recently discovered also points to the fact that these huge stone structures could only have been built by a race of giants, who had superior knowledge, strength and abilities, compared to ordinary humans as we know them today. This article goes into detail around Bible…