Back to the bare essentials, 'Procopius' Phoenician inscriptions : never lost, not found' - a response

Abstract

The basic question is this: do Schmitz’s various contributions actually undo the conclusion of my original study (Frendo 2002)? The conclusion of the latter stated that ‘there is no valid reason to doubt Procopius’ report which reflects an old Canaanite tradition; moreover, he had no motive whatsoever for making up the story mentioned in the inscribed columns. It seems that archaeological research indicates that the Israelites had settled in Canaan mainly in a peaceful manner, but it has not disproved that some military activity had been undertaken at some point. On the contrary, the inscribed columns discussed here underscore the military exploits on the part of the Israelite tribes in their process of settling down in Canaan’ (Frendo 2002: 42). As I made clear, this does not mean that I endorse the conquest model of the entry of Israel in Canaan.