Calcol/Chalcol and KRKR

 There are thousands of extrabiblical literary and archeological corroborations of the Bible. New evidences of persons and places mentioned in the Bible continue to be discovered every year.

There have been suggestions that Chalcol/Calcol, one of David’s wise men mentioned in the Bible, and Kerker (KRKR), who is mentioned in the Megiddo Ivories, may be connected. KRKR can be transliterated as Kulkul.

Calcol/Chalcol was one of David’s wise men and was a brother of Heman, a wise man and musician who was the king’s “seer in the words of God to lift up the horn.” Because Chalcol/Calcol was a brother of Heman, many believe that he was also a musician. David appointed more than 4000 Levite royal musicians and singers.

Artifact A22269 is an Egyptian-style ivory plaque from the Megiddo ivories collection, featuring hieroglyphic inscriptions with prayers for an Egyptian singer named Kerker. This is one of the almost 400 ivories discovered at the site in the 1930’s.

A22269 features Egyptian hieroglyphs with a prayer reading: “[… for the spirit of the singer of] Ptah, south of his wall, [Lord of] 'The Life of Two Lands,' Kerker, the justified”. Kerker appears to have been a female singer who worked in the Temple of the Egyptian deity, Ptah, during the time period of ca 1350-1150 BC/BCE. Her name is spelled out phonetically as KRKR with the symbols for k and r. KRKR can be transliterated as Kulkul.

The plaque was found at the Megiddo archeological site in modern Israel during excavations of the treasury room of a Late Bronze Age palace, from the 12^th Century BC/BCE.

https://isac-idb.uchicago.edu/id/af86a18e-7b0c-40c6-bec4-43f513b7f052 shows an image and description of the plaque. You can click on the image to enlarge it. The plaque is held in the collection of the University of Chicago Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures.

Because of the similarity of the pronunciations of the names of Chalcol/Calcol and KRKR some have suggested that there may have been some sort of familial connection with Chalcol/Calcol being an honorific, serving in a similar way to a modern surname. There are problems with this idea and most commenters believe that there is no connection other than similar sounding names and being therefore totally coincidental.

1. 1. KRKR was a female pagan singer in the Temple of Ptah while Chalcol/Calcol was a male member of the tribe of Judah.

2. 2. KRKR lived in the ca 1350-ca 1150 BC/BCE time period, while Chalcol/Calcol served during the lifetime of King David ca 1000-931 BC/BCE.

1 Chronicles 2:6, 6:33, chapter 25, especially verse 5; 1 Kings 4:31; Psalm 88.

National Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day

Chick-fil-A (pronounced “chik fill-ay” as in the word “filet”) is a fast-food restaurant chain which sells fried chicken sandwiches and waffle style French-fried potatoes.  On 16 June 2012, the devout Christian president of the company, Dan Cathy, in a radio interview ignited a firestorm of criticism for saying this when asked a question about same-sex marriage.

"I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, 'We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage'. I pray God's mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to define what marriage is about.”

Supporters of same-sex marriage were outraged, leading Thomas Menino, the mayor of Boston, to declare that he would not allow the company to open franchises in his city.  Chicago Alderman Proco Moreno announced that he would work to block Chick-fil-A’s attempt to add any more stores in the city of Chicago.  The Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, declared that “Chick-fil-A values are not Chicago values.”  The Mayor of San Francisco, Edwin M. Lee, also joined into the condemnation.

Many have called this an assault on Christians who uphold a traditional worldview and understanding of what is stated in Scripture. Ordained Southern Baptist minister and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee called for a national Chick-fil-A appreciation Day for today.  The result: massive lines of people at Chick-fil-A stores nationwide!  As the Chick-fil-A mascot spotted cows say, “EAT MOR CHIKIN!”

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Extra-Biblical Evidences of Biblical Persons and/or Events: The Taylor Prism

The Taylor Prism (691 BC/BCE) s one of three red clay six-sided prisms, all inscribed with the same Akkadian inscription written in cuneiform characters.  The Taylor Prism is in the British Museum, while the two Sennacherib prisms are located in the Israel Museum (Jerusalem) and in the Oriental Institute of Chicago.

Sin-ahhi-eriba (the Biblical Sennacherib), was the son of Sargon II and ruled Assyria 705-681 BC/BCE.  The Taylor Prism and its two sisters present the king's version of the events related in 2 Kings 17:17;  2 Chronicles 32:9;  and the 33rd and 36th chapters of the book of Isaiah.  The event described is Sennacherib's attack on Jerusalem in 701 BC/BCE during the reign of King Hezekiah.  Sennacherib destroyed forty-six cities in Judah and deported 200,150 people.  King Hezekiah was forced to pay tribute (including several of his daughters) to the Assyrian monarch.  (Another extra-biblical mention of the event is in the writings of the historian Herodotus.)

The Taylor Prism was acquired by Colonel R. Taylor in 1830 in Baghdad after having been found earlier in the ruins of Ninevah, the ancient capital of Assyria.  Colonel Taylor's widow sold the prism to the British Museum in 1855.

To read more about the prisms, see these links:

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/me/t/the_taylor_prism.aspx 

http://www.bible-history.com/empires/prism.html 

http://www.scholarofgod.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78:sennacherib-prism&catid=40:biblical-archaeology&Itemid=57