Ancient Swords Found During excavations Show Pre-Exilic Period
News is everywhere today. There is a new story almost every day. The media reports about them and the public hears about what happened. Some examples of news include when a politician says that he/she will implement his/her political agenda or when an earthquake or a tornado hits some place in Asia.
The news is also about different societies and cultures. For example, there are news stories about the latest attack on Christians in the Philippines and other religious conflicts. The same goes for women, they cover different cultures and ethnicities from all over the world, from the Philippines to Thailand to India.
One example is the 4 aug. 2021 story that I mentioned above. It was about Cuomo of Mexico, the first woman governor of Mexico since Aztec rule. What was interesting about this news story is that she used a ceremonial sword to cut the ceremonial sword as the president in her wedding procession.
The symbolism of the sword was interesting. Since Aztec rule ended around four hundred years ago, the Aztecs did not have anything similar to the sword as we know it today. However, the Aztecs were known to use ceremonial swords as the preservers of the ceremonies they held. Therefore, if we find a similar sword in a historic context, it might be an antedating of the ceremony we observe today.
Another example would be the story of Gilgamesh, the ancient Mesopotamian king, who was known to be wise in the areas of war and wisdom. A nativity scene discovered at Nineveh indicates that Gilgamesh might have celebrated his nativity with a jul along the riverbank; but antedating this by two centuries. If this is true, we might also assume that he might have used a sword to cut the sacred sword and perhaps use the same weapon to cut down an enemy soldier to death. For all we know, Gilgamesh might not have been the first ruler of Israel, but he most likely was among the first to use a sword as a sign of power, authority and supremacy.
In conclusion, the sword plays a key role in Jewish history, religion and culture, whether ancient or modern. There are many examples throughout Jewish history, such as the Book of Ruth, the Talmud and the Book spaniel. The meaning of the sword can be traced through many thousands of years of tradition. The antedating of the sword, therefore, might be an indication of our own changing meaning of what it means to be a warrior, leader, warrior and leader.