So Sacred Harp Singers, please think of this blog as a resource for you. Next time you're singing and are puzzled or curious about something in the words, make a note of it, get to a computer, and respond to this post to let me know your question. I'll see what I can do.
In the meantime, unless I'm flooded with questions, I may just start working my way through the book looking for something of interest in every song.
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Explanations and commentary on the texts found in The Sacred Harp.
4 comments:
David!
An auspicious start on the eve of Convention. Much congratulations.
What is "the third heaven," where God resides?
Also, do you think the references to willow trees, corn, etc. are vestigial remenants of our naturalistic (Pagan) roots?
MaryMac
Hi David,
My question concerns the phrase "Mary’s or Manasseh’s stains" in
569b Sacred Throne. Who was this Manasseh and how did he earn such notoriety?
Dorothy
David,
This is OT, but it occurred to me this morning to wonder: What was the average life expectancy of a Palestinian male in the time of Herod, et. al.? I'm used to thinking of Jesus as a young man, but it occurs to me that 30 in those days might not have been young! Thoughts?
Dan,
Good question -- I'll just make a quick note here:
I don't know life expectancy in ancient Palestine, but I did run across this that is suggestive:
from The Lancet
Volume 362, Number 9384, 23 August 2003
(they examined large collections of remains from folks in spots around the adriatic)
Before the Roman conquest, the local populations had a life expectancy of between 28 and 42 years; between 5% and 15% of children died during the first decade of life; osseous evidence of chronic inflammatory diseases (which are linked to personal and environmental hygiene)1 was rare, occurring in 2–5% of the skeletal remains assessed; and there were large variations in the number of traumatic lesions, the incidence of which ranged from 3·7–18·0% in the various populations examined, a fact that suggests that the people lived in various microenvironmental and sociocultural contexts.2 The most isolated groups, such as the population of Val Fondillo (who lived from the 6th to the 4th century BC in a particularly impervious area), were characterised by low infant mortality (from 7 to 12%) and a very low frequency of infectious diseases.3,4
After the Roman conquest, the populations had a shorter lifespan, with a life expectancy at birth of about 27 years; in particular, infant mortality was greatly increased, reaching 25% in the population of Sulmona (about 4–2 centuries BC). Furthermore, inflammatory diseases became more common, and the nature of traumatic diseases changed: in Sulmona's necropolis, we found two cases of stress fractures of the clavicle; these fractures are rare and are linked to the habit of carrying heavy objects on the shoulder.3 Also, arthrosis increased in frequency, indicating increased exposure of the conquered populations to debilitating activities suggestive of slavery.
As the Roman empire spread from Italy across Europe, so did these adverse health effects.
***
Upshot for Jesus? Well, as a crossroad area, Palestine would have gotten every infectious disease around I imagine, even before the Roman occupation. Sounds like 30's would be a reasonable age to expect if you got past childhood. I wonder if the Biblical 'three-score and ten' "normal" life expectancy reflects a time of greater isolation (from foreign disease) as well as being a bit of good hopeful thinking.
ddz
ps. yes, I really do think I'll get back to this blog, get restarted, very soon.
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