If you have read the Iliad you will know that one of the names for the Mycenean Greeks that fought at the battle of Troy is the Danaans. They fought alongside the Argives, which is the other main name with which they are referred to. So, who are the Danaans? Because of the similarity of their name to one of the tribes of Israel in the Bible, I could not help but wonder if there is any connection between them and the Danites of biblical history.
According to
Greek mythology the Danaans comes from a man named Danaus who was one of the key
leaders of the ancient city of Argos. Encyclopedia Brittanica tells us,
“Danaus, in Greek legend, son of Belus, king of Egypt, and
twin brother of Aegyptus. Driven out of Egypt by his brother, he fled with his
50 daughters (the Danaïds) to Argos, where he became king. Soon thereafter the
50 sons of Aegyptus arrived in Argos, and Danaus was forced to consent to their
marriage with his daughters. Danaus, however, commanded each daughter to slay
her husband on the marriage night. They all obeyed except Hypermestra, who
spared Lynceus. Being unable to find suitors for the other daughters, Danaus
offered them as prizes in a footrace. (According to another story, Lynceus slew
Danaus and his daughters and seized the throne of Argos.) In punishment for
their crime the Danaïds in Hades were condemned to the endless task of filling
with water a vessel that had no bottom. The murder of the sons of Aegyptus by
their wives is thought to represent the drying up of the rivers and springs of
Argolis in summer. Lynceus and Hypermestra became the ancestors of the royal
line of Argos, which included Perseus and Heracles.”[1]
So,
according to Greek legend the Danaans descend from a man who fled from Egypt,
to Argos in Greece. What is really fascinating about this is the precise time when
he is said to have fled to Argos from Egypt, “Danaus was credited as the
inventor of wells and is said to have migrated from Egypt about 1485 B.C. into
that part of Greece previously known as Argos Dipsion.”[2]
The reason I find this so fascinating is that some scholars argue that the
Israelites fled Egypt around 1450 B.C.[3]
This corresponds to a people called ‘Dan’ leaving Egypt roughly around the time
that the Greeks believe the “Danaans” left Egypt. This would mean that some of
the Israelites either went another direction to the rest of the Hebrews from
the beginning of the Exodus, or did not stay on the same course as the rest of
the Israelites, or left some time after them[4]; which some scholars have suggested about the Danites and appears to be
indicated by the plethora of references to Dan in various parts of Europe in
the ancient world.
To show this
concept is supported by some of the evidence, it is important to mention how
archaeologists have uncovered a deep connection between the Danites and the
Greeks. Indeed, it appears they were far more intermingled than was previously believed:
“Tribe of Dan: Sons of Israel, or of Greek Mercenaries Hired
by Egypt?...
…The discoveries have rekindled a longstanding academic brawl
over the origin of the Danites. Were they really just a tribe of Israel that
was left in the cold, found a conveniently isolated city and conquered it? Do
they have anything to do with a mysterious kingdom called Danuna mentioned in
ancient writing found in Turkey? Or maybe with the Denyen – a faction of invading
Sea Peoples, according to ancient Egyptian sources? Or with the Danaoi, one of
the Greek tribes? Or are these all one and the same? The findings at Tell
el-Qadi (now Tel Dan) suggest they could well be…
… Among
the Aegean influences in the city of Dan, Ilan identified pithoi (large storage
vessels) in several of the houses, along with pottery, figurines and ritual
items originating in the Aegean, Syria and Egypt…
… The
finds indicate that the peoples living in Dan were a mixed bunch who brought
their eating habits, grooming practices, weapons of choice, and their gods with
them to the city.
Cultic chamber with bird bowl…
…Inside the putative sanctuary in Dan were fragments of a
ceramic bowl to which a ceramic bird's head was attached, called a “bird bowl”.
A similar find was made at Tel Qasile (this is a good point to note that the
Philistines who lived there are also thought by some to be of Aegean origin).
Ilan postulates that these Aegean-style artifacts in Dan
suggest the presence of worshippers hailing from the Aegean—perhaps the Denyen,
Danuna (or Danaoi in Greek), in short, one of the ancient Greek tribes. The
Denyen/Danuna were also one of the so-called "Sea Peoples" of Aegean
origin who invaded Egypt, as described in Ramesses IIIs mortuary temple relief
(1175 B.C.E.).”[5]
This quoted
article suggests the possibility that the Danites actually originated in
Greece, or that they originated among the Sea Peoples that spread into the land
of Canaan during the Bronze Age Collapse. But let me postulate another
possibility.
I suggest
that the ancient legend of the origin of the Danaans from Egypt is based on
some level of truth. So either at the same time that the Hebrews left Egypt, or
while they were in the wilderness wandering for those 40 years, a segment of
the Danites left the larger body of Israel and migrated through Libya (likely
via sea) and then on to Argos and eventually settled in Greece permanently.
They intermingled with the Greeks and became a part of the Greeks, but remained
in close contact with their Israelite relatives, who they traded with
extensively. We know that there was trade between the land of Canaan and the
Greeks, because the Bible itself mentions this,
“4 What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions
of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back,
I will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily. 5 For you
have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your
temples. 6 You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in
order to remove them far from their own border.”[6]
We also know
that prominent Danites intermingled greatly with the Philistines who were also
Greek settlers in Canaan, “The most famous Danite in the Bible is Samson, a
quite essential archetype of a Greek hero: He is very strong, his power resides
in his long hair, he tells riddles and he hangs out with Philistine women,”
Ilan points out.”[7] Having
read much of the Iliad now, I could imagine one of the Danaan heroes telling a
tale of his achievements akin to the life of Samson.
Of course,
having escaped from corrupt kings in Egypt, the Danites would have quite the
emphasis on freedom, “When Pausanias visited Argos in the 2nd century CE, he
related the succession of Danaus to the throne, judged by the Argives, who
"from the earliest times ... have loved freedom and self-government, and
they limited to the utmost the authority of their kings":…”[8]
The Israelites after the Exodus did not have kings, and they also had a large
emphasis on individual liberty in their own nation. It is not inconceivable that
this influence went with them to Greece.
Of course,
this being such ancient history, without complete records we cannot be certain.
But it is interesting to consider and it is interesting to wonder, just how far
did the promise of Abraham go, that he would be the father of many nations? We
know about the Israelites and the Arab peoples, but how far beyond this did the
fulfilment go? Were the Danaans related to the Danites? Some of the evidence indicates
that this may be the case.
List of
References
[1] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Danaus-Greek-mythology
[3] https://www.evidenceunseen.com/date-of-the-exodus/,
It is true that this date is an estimate, and is debated amongst scholars. But
1446 B.C. lines up with the Bible’s internal chronology, give or take a few
years in the counting.
[4] I
think this last option is the least likely personally.
[5] Philippe
Bohstrom, 2016, https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2016-12-04/ty-article-magazine/tribe-of-dan-sons-of-israel-or-of-greek-mercenaries-hired-by-egypt/0000017f-f2fa-d497-a1ff-f2fac60a0000
[6]
Joel 3:4-6.
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