The Greek "Amphictyony" - Could it Be a Prototype for the Israelite Society in the Period of the Judges ?

Abstract

Several recent studies have tried to invalidate M.Noth's thesis of an Israelite amphictyony in the period of the judges. However, most of them have passed over Noth's treatment of the Greek amphictyonies and their impact on a supposed Israelite league of twelve tribes in silence. The purpose of the present study is to make good this omission. A closer examination of the Greek amphictyony shows in the first place that there was only one amphic tyony, that of Delphi, and secondly that the technical term was only used at a later date by the Greek and Roman authors to denote other leagues. After all, the Delphic amphictyony did not come into existence until the 8th century B.C. and thus cannot be taken into account for the study of Israel's organization in the 12th or 11th century B.C.