Hillel I. Newman, «A Hippodrome on the Road to Ephrath», Vol. 86 (2005) 213-228
LXX to Gen 48,7 refers to a hippodrome in the vicinity of
Rachel’s Tomb. This cannot be satisfactorily explained as an exegetical creation
of the translator’s imagination and probably refers to a genuine structure. This
is also true of the stadium or hippodrome mentioned in Tg. Onq. to Gen
14,17, as the meeting place of Abram, the king of Sodom, and Melchizedek. Since
1QapGen locates the same meeting in the Valley of Beth Hakerem, which should be
identified as the valley between Ramat Rahel and Bethlehem, it is reasonable to
assume that both versions refer to the same hippodrome. There is no textual
justification for assuming a late interpolation in LXX and no geographical or
archeological justification for explaining these passages as allusions to a
Herodian hippodrome. LXX may attest to a case of profound Hellenistic influence
in Judea already under Ptolemaic rule.
224 Hillel I. Newman
This correspondence is in fact an excellent piece of supporting
evidence on behalf of Aharoni’s proposed identification of Beth
Hakerem, at which he arrived by other means. We could be speaking
of two separate race-courses, but William of Occam would certainly
not approve, and nor, I think, should we. The two problems should be
treated as one (42). It follows that in each case we were correct to doubt
the likelihood of the introduction of a hippodrome as a purely
exegetical invention, divorced from the realities of historical
geography. The hippodrome now looks real enough, and we must
return to the question of its origins and historical context. As it stood
north of the Tomb of Rachel, in the vicinity of Ramat Rahel, which I
take to be Beth Hakerem, it would seem that it was meant first and
foremost to serve the residents of that town and its environs, so let us
take a closer look at what may be learned about the history of that
place from Aharoni’s excavations.
3. Beth Hakerem in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman periods
Beth Hakerem under Persian rule is described in Neh 3,14 as a
district (˚lp) capital (43). Aharoni’s excavations at Ramat Rahel
uncovered corroborative physical evidence in the form of numerous
stamped jar handles which seem to attest to the existence of an
administrative center and the collection of taxes in kind (44). Settlement
(42) Although the hippodromes of LXX and Tg. Onq. are occasionally
mentioned in tandem in the literature on race-courses in antiquity, they are, to the
best of my knowledge, always treated — with one exception — as two separate
facilities. The exception (which proverbially proves the rule) is HAYWARD,
Targum of Jeremiah, 35, 135, n. 39, who attributes the same equation to Le Déaut,
though he may be reading too much into Le Déaut’s laconic note (Targum du
Pentateuque, III, 312, n. 21). Hayward, however, takes both LXX and Tg. Onq.
to refer to Herod’s hippodrome at Jerusalem (i.e., as others had done separately),
with no mention of the geographical issues discussed above or of the linkage via
1QapGen.
(43) This paragraph summarizes some of Aharoni’s major conclusions from
his years of work at Ramat Rahel. See especially AHARONI, Excavations at Ramat
Rahel. Seasons 1961 and 1962, 119-124.
(44) Archeologists are increasingly of the opinion that not all the stamps were
for tax purposes and that a portion served some other commercial function. See
inter alia N. AVIGAD, “More Evidence on the Judean Post-Exilic Stampsâ€, IEJ 24
(1974) 52-58; R. REICH, “Local Seal Impressions of the Hellenistic Periodâ€,
Jewish Quarter Excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem Conducted by Nahman
Avigad, 1969-1982. Volume II: The Finds from Areas A, W and X-2. Final
Report (ed. H. GEVA) (Jerusalem 2003) 256-262.