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The Gla Mystery ONE

The Gla mystery One - The Catalogue of Ships.

#Gla and the TEXTUAL EVIDENCE
from Homer and Greek Historians

First a reminder of the location of GLA!

Map Image is a cropped photo of the relevant page in Barringtons Atlas.
I hope this post counts as reasonable educational usage?

NOTE the Location of COPIAE which is mentioned in the Catalogue of Ships!

Homer's list of cities that sent troops and ships to Troy includes several cities in Boeotia many rediscovered and others we are still uncertain about. 

Homer's List :

Hyriae Aulis Schoinos Scolos Eteonos Thespeia Grais Mycalessos Harma Eilesion Erythrai Eleon Jyle Peteon Ocalea Medeon COPAI Eutresis Thisbe Coronea Haliartos Plataea Glisas Thebes Onchestos Arne Mideia Nisa Anthedon

Orchomenus no longer a major power by the time of the Trojan war gets one mention separately.

Some of theses settlements changed their names or moved in later centuries.

Copai was near modern Kastro. Hyria became Hysiai? and the occupants of Mideia and Arne were the ancestors of the founders of Lebadeia and Chaironeia.

Strabo states some of these cities were once closer to marshes and moved because of flooding.

Pausanias writes of how many ancient settlements were ruins and rubbles.

NONE OF THEM MENTION A CITY ON AN ISLAND.

Archaeological surveys shows that GLA was attacked and abandoned at the end of the Mycenaean but probably before the Trojan War.

So the possibilities are 

a) one of the listed cities that has the hele element in their name referring to marshes.

b) COPIAE 

We know some cities got renamed. The ruins of Copiae are smaller than Gla.

I'm thinking the simplest explanation is that the survivors from Gla moved to the Copiae site? 

c) another idea I've seen is that Gla was Hyle but that name suggests trees and wood and I have been unable yet to find out if anyone has done a full archaeobotanical survey of Gla.

Finally the local residents traditionally are more likely to call GLA Paliokastro the Old fort!

Next time the FUNCTION of GLA Why abandon such an useful site?

Processing Forgiveness

#greeknewtestament #biblestudy #gospel #forgiveness

An important note before I start the roughie.

If you do not have one of those bibles that lists parallel NT or relevant OT verses
note and read these verses. Lk 17:3 1 Cor 6.1-6 Gal 6.1 James 5.19-20 Lev.19.17 Deut.19.15 and mostly especially the Luke reference.

Jesus is referring to the method given in the Books of law for witnessing and judging crimes but extends it from judgement to include forgiveness.

Please read the other verses Forgiveness may come before judgement but there is a requirement for repentance.  Sincere repentance.

Verse 15

If(ever) and sins/errs the brother of you go have a discussion (yes I know you can translate this verb as rebuke but its rebuke as part of a conversation)
 with him between you and him only.
If you he hears you gained (back) the brother of you.
Brother should be read in the broadest sense not just your genetic brother but surely any brother or sister if we are all children of God, church members or not?

The next words make it clear he's referring to serious crimes

16

If and he does not listen bring with you moreover / further / the next time
one or two (persons) so that from mouth two witnesses or three would confirm (his) every word.
Statheei ia from of histeemi stand by > confirm works betters in English

17

if and he literally turns against hearing them say to the church

Deal with it on a local level first.

If and / also the church he rejects let him be to you as the pagan and the tax collector.

Some people use these verses to justify not using secular laws or the police but remember in Jesus' day there were no police to investigate crimes, and in many cases people usually had to bring criminals to courts or approach a magistrate to have some one arrested if it did not occur in a public place.

Note also the errors appear not to be crimes of violence towards others or minors.

It is surely not right to tell a wife to forgive her husband who abuses her or tell her not to leave him if he refuses to stop abusing her.

Conflict resolution and interventions can help but the person has to change.

Lake Copais Three

Lake Copais Three

#lakecopais #ancientgreece #map

Here's a third interpretation of the available data about the Mycenaean canalization of Lake Copais.

Where it says kat. are indications of the places where the lake drains into underground rivers and sinkholes. Well the ones we know about. Strabo writes 9.2.16 of earthquakes blocking some and opening others over the centuries and there may have been an underground river flowing from the NE and rising from the ground to flow a short distance into the sea near Larymna, again according to Strabo.

The goal of the Minyan engineers from Orchomenus may possibly also have been not just to divert flood waters away from their city but to also make it easier to cross the wetlands when the waters was low by using the canals and paths along them as roads or for barges perhaps? Plus silt building up behind the facings of the canals might have increased the available areas for not just grazing cattle and horses but also growing crops.

Bu the ancient works were destroyed allegedly by Heracles during a dispute between Orchomenus and Thebes and the waters and shorelines changed again and yet again and according to Strabo 9.2.17 several settlements had to change their location and move away from the lakes ever shifting shorelines.

This leads us to the mystery of GLA.

Next time
 Just which one of the polises mentioned in Homer's Catalogue of ships was GLA?

One Lost sheep

Matthew Chapter 18 Verses 10 - 14

#bible study #greeknewtestament #gospel #whatjesussaid

Verse 10

See (Aor.Imperative) not you kataphroneoo
so look down /disdain/ think less / despise are all possible translations
one of the small/ little ones / people these
so not just  children ?

I say to you that the angels of them in heavens
dia pantos alway / all by they are looking seeing the face of father mine in heavens.

Some scholars support a verse 11
came for the son of man  to seek and to save the lost / destroyed

12

What do you think ?
If ever it happened someone  100 sheep had and wandered off one out of them
would he not leave the 90 and 9 upon the mountains and going / traveling seek the wanderer?

13

and whenever it happened he to find it truly I say to you
that he rejoices about that one more than the 99 the/those not wandered off.

14

So not is will before/ in front / proceeding from ? the father of you the one in heavens that ( hina so conditional next) she / he would be destroyed / lost
(any) one of these little ones.

I rather think little ones here is a first century ad reference to not just  innocent children or silly sheep but to ...well an equivalent modern idiom would be the "little people" the masses etc

The disciples had begun to see themselves as special and chosen so Jesus uses first the presence of a child and then the story of the one lost sheep to remind them every individual is important not just special people.

Something to remember anything you are tempted to say

She / He is just another ... or describe someone as "sheeple" or

The Divine would rather save than condemn us.

We are the ones who wander off the way.

Lake Copais TWO

#lakecopais #boeotia #ancientgreece

The Green Area is one of severel interpretations of the evidence for Lake Copais' shorelines during the Helladic / Mycenaean era. I picked this map to share first because it shows the surrounding mountains and rivers flowing out and into the Copaic Basin and plains. If you search the web yourself you will see other maps NOT showing a Se extension towards Thebes or showing more water around GLA in the NE. Please also bear in mind some of that GREEN area was wetlands with beds of reeds and marshy plants. There were also seasonal changes depending on the winter rains and spring runoff.

The reason there are question marks next to some sites is that whole settlements moved often further towards the hills or disappeared over the centuries.

Orchomenus for example was certainly NOT in the lake. I think the mapmaker is trying to indicate the possible location of a settlement / town mentioned by one ancient  historian who stated that it was moved off the plains due to flooding.

The dilemma for early settlers who wanted to use the shorelines for farming and grazing was the constantly shifting shoreline changing vastly after a major flood event and probably shifting every year  as silt was deposited or the eastern sinkholes blocked and cleared and blocked again.

Next time the rise and fall of the Minyans and Orchomenus.


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Lake Copais ONE

#Lake Copais #Boeotia #Ancient Greece

Once upon a time and probably in the future once again Greece had a lot more lakes. I have posted about the Lake at Lerna before.

This is admittedly a VERY simplified map showing Lake Copais after Mycenaean hydro-engineering diverted rivers into canals. However it should work on smaller screens. I will show you some more precise maps in the next post.

The important things to note are the wetlands to the west of the Copaic basin and the settlements ringing the lake especially GLA.

The canals lead to sinkholes which hercules is should to be blocked so the Orchomenian cavalry could not stop the advance of Theban forces.

The wetlands and part of the lands drained by the canals were probably used for pasturing horses and cattle as well as growing crops. 

Judging from various maps I have seen the lake has changed in shape and size several times as earthquakes or human effort blocked or unblocked sinkholes or created drainage tunnels and canals.

The last major project in the 19th century drained the lake completely so its all farmland FOR NOW.

Stay tuned for the next posts in this series !

Scandals are traps!

#gospel #scandal #whatjesussaid

#matthew #chapter18 opens with the disciples once again debating about who was the greatest in the "realm of heaven". Given that in other passages Jesus reminds them about the greatest being the servant of all they may have be "fanboying" going on about "I am the greatest follower / fan of you and should be in charge!"

The verb skandalizoo gets translated several ways so a reminder about that?

Liddell and Scott states that a skandalathron was a trigger or prop for a trap
and gives the meaning of the verb as make to stumble give offence make difficulties .

The little shorter dictionary by Newman that comes with the Bible Societies edition of the Alland Greek New Testament emphasizes the verb as meaning cause to sin or give up faith so skandalizing was originally about causing problems and creating traps.

Jesus is telling the disciples NOT to add to peoples difficulties and then goes on in verses 6 - 9 to discuss temptations using the word skandala in Greek as a noun and verb.

Whether you translate the noun and verb as obstacle trap scandal or  temptation the point is NOT to create problems but solve them?

I dare to suggest that he might support the modern concept

K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Stupid 

and yes that includes me!

I hope these "plain English" explanations of Greek are helping you ?

WHAT'S HELLADIC our next topic sequence

What's Helladic?
 #helladic #mycenaean #Greekbronzeage

Heads UP the next sequence of  mid week / saturday posts will be discussing the #Helladic era!

Basically the #Helladic is the Bronze Age on Mainland Greece from about 3200 BCE to the Protogeometric.

What distinguishes the Helladic from the Neolithic and later eras?

The introduction of METAL  the potters wheel and in the Middle and especially the Late Helladic palaces hydroengineering and a warrior ethos.

Sundays will of course be Greek New Testament POST Day 

but watch next week onwards  for posts on Lake Copais the Minyans and the Mystery of GLA! 

I'm sorry this update is late but hassles this week and yesterday #Sydney was smouldering on #socialmedia about smog caused by hazard reduction burns.

I probably should have carried this laptop to the mall or library and used the free wifi but the smog was effecting me too much.