neuroBIBLISTICS

Abstract: Over the years scholars paid much attention to contrasting features of the book of Joshua. The interpretation of the book of Joshua was largely based on the exploration of archeological evidence and weaving daunting hypotheses about its inception and the conquest itself. The conquest narratives were especially burdened with both, but they were given little or no historical value. The emergence of the recent scholarship which treated this book in comparative method with Ancient Near Eastern historical texts shed new light on its structure and form. This paper explores time-mapping in Joshua 1-6 and the Annals of Thutmose III in Karnak temple. The perception of time of the biblical author of the book of Joshua and the author of the pharaoh’s annals show differences and similarities in the frameworks informing the mapping of time.  The complex usage of social time, political time, religious time, mathematical time, and astronomical time in both accounts serve as a strong argument against the scholars who claim that the ancient perception of time was primitive. Not to mention, these accounts share common traits of time reckoning and time gaping. The gap or expansion of time is central to understanding the purpose of Joshua. The author’s purpose to show God’s promises fulfilled is mirrored by his portrayal of a time, particularly by slowing the narrative. This paper considers time references and allusions in a more detailed fashion. The notion of time reduction calls for further investigation among biblical books and ANE counterparts, and the method of time-mapping can sustain this endeavor.