Mary the Tower-ess

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Giuseppe
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Mary the Tower-ess

Post by Giuseppe »

Traditionally, Mary Magdalene is assumed to have come from a place called Magdala, meaning ‘the Tower’. However, there is no such place mentioned in the earliest manuscripts of the New Testament, though there was a small village attested in rabbinic literature as Migdal Nuniya (‘Tower of Fish’), lying just one mile north of Tiberias, and many other villages called ‘Tower of [Something]’ in Galilee and wider Judaea. The place called ‘Magdala’ or ‘Migdal’ in Israel today, 3.5 miles north of Tiberias, continues a Byzantine identification, from the fifth or sixth centuries CE when pilgrim sites were plotted in Palestine, and it is often assumed that the earlier sizeable town now coming to light there was called Tarichaea-Magdala. However, Josephus clearly indicates that Tarichaea lay south of Tiberias, and that this town north of Tiberias was called Homonoia. This lecture will explore Mary’s name ‘the Magdalene’, the actual location of her home village, and the possibility that her epithet may be understood as a double-entendre, meaning ‘the Tower-ess’: a nickname like others Jesus gave to his closest apostles.
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/trs ... orzxz.aspx
In Mary's case, Jesus might have had in mind the "watchtower of the flock" from Micah 4:8. Micah 4 and 5 must have been important to him, for here the "birthpangs" of redemption were first mentioned, and Jesus refers to these birthpangs (Matthew 24:8). The connection of Mary with Micah's watchtower could be this: After Jesus freed her from demons, she became one of the women who provided support to him and his disciples (Luke 8:2). In this way she was like a watchtower guarding the flock. In fact, she is mentioned in the Gospels more often than any other woman, including Jesus' mother. Of all the disciples, male or female, she alone witnessed his crucifixion, burial, and first appearance after the resurrection (John 20:10-18).
http://www.netours.com/index2.php?optio ... f=1&id=292

It is not at all convincing. Maria of Magdala is mentioned only one time in Mark (and I am not interested in what Luke says about her).

I would like to search for real towers in Jerusalem not destroyed by Romans...

Have you a list of names of these towers?
Nihil enim in speciem fallacius est quam prava religio. -Liv. xxxix. 16.
Giuseppe
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Re: Mary the Tower-ess

Post by Giuseppe »

I have found this thin clue:

Now the towers that were upon it were…for largeness, beauty, and strength, beyond all that were in the habitable earth…and (Herod) dedicated these towers to the memory of those three persons who had been the dearest to him…They were his brother, his friend, and his wife. This wife he had slain, out of his love, as we have already related; the other two he lost in war….The third tower was Mariamne, for that was his queen’s name…its upper buildings were more magnificent, and had greater variety than the other towers had; for the king thought it most proper for him to adorn that which was denominated from his wife, better than those denominated from men, as those were built stronger than this that bore his wife’s name.
Wars of the Jews V.IV.3

Notice what is stated in War VII.1,1 :
"Now as soon as the army had no more people to slay or to plunder, because there remained none to be the objects of their fury (for they would not have spared any, had there remained any other work to be done), Caesar gave orders that they should now demolish the entire city and Temple, but should leave as many of the towers standing as were of the greatest eminence; that is, Phasaelus, and Hippicus, and Mariamne; and so much of the wall as enclosed the city on the west side. This wall was spared, in order to afford a camp for such as were to lie in garrison, as were the towers also spared, in order to demonstrate to posterity what kind of city it was, and how well fortified, which the Roman valor had subdued; but for all the rest of the wall, it was so thoroughly laid even with the ground by those that dug it up to the foundation, that there was left nothing to make those that came thither believe it had ever been inhabited. This was the end which Jerusalem came to by the madness of those that were for innovations; a city otherwise of great magnificence, and of mighty fame among all mankind"
The game is made:

the gospel of Markthe real History
Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene,the more magnificient between the three towers spared by Romans during the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE
Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph,a less magnificient tower than the first, and for obvious reasons: she was rejected by Jesus.
and Salome.the daughter of Herod who did gain the head of John of Baptist for his mother
In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.the "watchtower of the flock" from Micah 4:8. See post above

From Magdalene seven demons escaped: seven demons, seven hills. The Roman army was multi-etnic: seven nations.

Rome spared the tower Mariamne.
Therefore the ''Tower-ess'' spared by destruction, saw the destruction himself of the earthly Israel, the mere son of man ''Jesus Nazarene''.
Nihil enim in speciem fallacius est quam prava religio. -Liv. xxxix. 16.
Giuseppe
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Re: Mary the Tower-ess

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These were for largeness, beauty, and strength beyond all that were in the habitable earth; for besides the magnanimity of his nature, and his magnificence towards the city on other occasions, he built these after such an extraordinary manner, to gratify his own private affections, and dedicated these towers to the memory of those three persons who had been the dearest to him, and from whom he named them. They were his brother, his friend, and his wife. This wife he had slain, out of his love [and jealousy], as we have already related; the other two he lost in war, as they were courageously fighting. Hippicus, so named from his friend, was square; its length and breadth were each twenty-five cubits, and its height thirty, and it had no vacuity in it. Over this solid building, which was composed of great stones united together, there was a reservoir twenty cubits deep, over which there was a house of two stories, whose height was twenty-five cubits, and divided into several parts; over which were battlements of two cubits, and turrets all round of three cubits high, insomuch that the entire height added together amounted to fourscore cubits. The second tower, which he named from his brother Phasaelus, had its breadth and its height equal, each of them forty cubits; over which was its solid height of forty cubits; over which a cloister went round about, whose height was ten cubits, and it was covered from enemies by breast-works and bulwarks. There was also built over that cloister another tower, parted into magnificent rooms, and a place for bathing; so that this tower wanted nothing that might make it appear to be a royal palace. It was also adorned with battlements and turrets, more than was the foregoing, and the entire altitude was about ninety cubits; the appearance of it resembled the tower of Pharus, which exhibited a fire to such as sailed to Alexandria, but was much larger than it in compass. This was now converted to a house, wherein Simon exercised his tyrannical authority. The third tower was Mariamne, for that was his queen's name; it was solid as high as twenty cubits; its breadth and its length were twenty cubits, and were equal to each other; its upper buildings were more magnificent, and had greater variety, than the other towers had; for the king thought it most proper for him to adorn that which was denominated from his wife, better than those denominated from men, as those were built stronger than this that bore his wife's name. The entire height of this tower was fifty cubits.
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/josephus/compl ... vi.iv.html

Herod had a tower for a brother. A Mary is recognized by his sons: brothers of Jesus.

Herod had a tower for a friend lost in fight. Who is Salome? She killed the ''friend'' of Jesus: John the Baptist.

Herod had a tower for a wife named Mariamne. And alas Mary the Toweress.

Spared by Rome. Spared by the cross.
Nihil enim in speciem fallacius est quam prava religio. -Liv. xxxix. 16.
Giuseppe
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Re: Mary the Tower-ess

Post by Giuseppe »

Josephus :
[Herod] dedicated these towers to the memory of those three persons who had been the dearest to him, and from whom he named them. They were his brother, his friend, and his wife. This wife he had slain, out of his love, as we have already related; the other two he lost in war, as they were courageously fighting
Why has Mark these three towers of king Herod in view, behind the three women before the cross?

Answer: Because the son of man is now a king. He is IESOUS NAZARENUS REX IUDAEORUM. The kingdom of God is arrived.

Therefore the three towers of king Herod become the three ''towers'' of king Jesus Nazarene.

And so the three towers are dedicated not more to the memory of Herod's people, but to the memory of a female follower (the equivalent of a wife for a king), the lost mother of the lost brothers (the equivalent of a lost brother for a king), and Salome (a clue of the prophet of Jesus, the equivalent of a friend for a king, killed by the Herod's daughter named Salome)
Nihil enim in speciem fallacius est quam prava religio. -Liv. xxxix. 16.
Giuseppe
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Re: Mary the Tower-ess

Post by Giuseppe »

The weakness of my thesis is Salome, obviously. There was not a tower dedicated to Salome (the Tower of Siloam?).


But I have found this:
"And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's sons"
(Matthew 27:55-56).
"There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, who also followed Him and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee, and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem"
(Mark 15:40-41).

Salome would be the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
I don't like to use Matthew in order to explain Mark, but I see that, under that hypothesis (Salome as the wife of Zebedee), then it is explained the reason of the her presence on the Golgotha: she was crying her two sons, the Pillars, crucified to the right and the left of Jesus (a fact that I have proven to be true here).

The parallelism with the three towers remains in virtue of the fact that we have also here the memory of:

a wifeMary Toweress
a brotherMary mother of Joses and James the less
a friendSalome mother of John and James

James (brother of Jesus) would be named ''the less'' to distinguish him from the other James, the Pillar son of Zebedee.
Nihil enim in speciem fallacius est quam prava religio. -Liv. xxxix. 16.
Giuseppe
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Re: Mary the Tower-ess

Post by Giuseppe »

But wait!

Also Salome, as mother of the sons of Zebedee, is an indirect example of ''woman towered'': his sons are called PILLARS.

And so John and James are the two lesthes-pillars of the son of man at center. They help him to reveal himself on his glory on the earth (=on the cross) and so they fulfill indirectly their mission as PILLARS, channels between heaven and earth.
Nihil enim in speciem fallacius est quam prava religio. -Liv. xxxix. 16.
Giuseppe
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Re: Mary the Tower-ess

Post by Giuseppe »

How could a Mark's insider realize alone that Salome is the mother of the two lesthes crucified with Jesus?

Salome's ethymology:
We only have the Greek version of this name so we don't exactly know how it's spelled in Hebrew. But it's pretty safe to assume that the name Salome comes from the Hebrew verb שלם (shalem) meaning to be complete, sound, and the familiar noun שלום (shalom), meaning peace
http://www.abarim-publications.com/Mean ... 8PxJjUpo6w


''To be complete, sound'' alludes to a kind of repayment, an account compensated.
The general meaning of the graceful root-verb שלם (shalem) is that of wholeness, completeness or "unbrokenness" (and see for the opposite the verb רעע, ra'a). Our verb is used to characterize the uncut stones of the altar (Deuteronomy 27:6) and the temple (1 Kings 6:7). It tells of a "full" or perhaps "righteous" wage (Ruth 1:12), and the entirety of a population (Amos 1:6). It also tells of "full" and just weights, which are God's delight (Deuteronomy 25:15 and Proverbs 11:1), and of "whole" hearts devoted to the Lord (1 Kings 8:61). This verb may even denote the completeness of sin (Genesis 15:16), and in some rare cases it may denote friendship (Jeremiah 20:10, Psalm 41:10).

In the Hebrew language it's quite simple to indicate not only a condition (like shalem), but also the means to get there (to "shalemize"). The usage of this shalemize form in Scriptures is quite revealing. Wholeness is achieved or restored most often by some kind of restitutory payment or covenant: God pays a man according to his work (Job 34:11), but the wicked borrows and does not pay back (Psalm 37:21). The owner of an accidentally killed ox is paid restitution (Exodus 21:36); oil is sold to pay off a debt (2 Kings 4:7); and the Gibeonites swindle Joshua into making a covenant with them (Joshua 10:1). Likewise, shalem is used when vows are to be paid to the Most High, or when days of mourning are to be completed (Isaiah 60:20), and ties in directly to the Messiah and his salvific work (Joel 2:25).
For the insider, the fact that a woman before the cross is called ''paid'' in the sense of ''full restitutory payment'' alludes to the fulfilled promise made by Jesus to the two sons of Zebedee: they now are with the son of man in his glory. Crucified both as lesthes.
Nihil enim in speciem fallacius est quam prava religio. -Liv. xxxix. 16.
Giuseppe
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Re: Mary the Tower-ess

Post by Giuseppe »

But the point is that also the daughter of Herod did gain a ''full restitutory payment'' by Herod: the head of John the Baptist for his beautiful dance.
Nihil enim in speciem fallacius est quam prava religio. -Liv. xxxix. 16.
Giuseppe
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Re: Mary the Tower-ess

Post by Giuseppe »

The difference is that the Salome of Herod helps to kill the prophet, while the ''prophet'' helps to kill the sons of Salome. In both the cases after a ''full restitutory payment''.
Nihil enim in speciem fallacius est quam prava religio. -Liv. xxxix. 16.
Giuseppe
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Re: Mary the Tower-ess

Post by Giuseppe »

If we accept the authenticity of Secret Mark:
And after the words,"And he comes into Jericho," the secret Gospel adds only, "And the sister of the young man whom Jesus loved was there, along with his mother and Salome, but Jesus did not receive them." But many other things about which you wrote both seem to be and are falsifications.


Then, to figure with his rejected mother, Salome is also a negative figure in Mark.

But I doubt the authenticity of Secret Mark. The best evidence of his not-authenticity is in my view the fact that the goal of Christ in Mark is precisely the opposite of Secret Mark: who sees the son of man is virtually condemned as the son of man is ''another Jesus'' (2 Cor 11:4). The young rich cannot be who sees the true Jesus, because this would mean that the Jesus invented by Mark is not ''another Jesus'', came only for the perdition of everyone who sees him.

Then Secret Mark was written probably after Mark to modify Mark just about that point: at least someone who saw Jesus was not damned but saved! But in this way it is lost the pauline meaning of the gospel of Mark: a ''divided Christ'' as symbol of self-condemnation of all Israel.
Nihil enim in speciem fallacius est quam prava religio. -Liv. xxxix. 16.
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