https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_and_David_Maysles

Muhanna, Elias. “A New History of Arabia, Written in Stone.” The New Yorker, May 23, 2018. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/a-new-history-of-arabia-written-in-stone.

There's a close similarity of names on stones in early Arabia and the names on stones in a similar time period in early Britain.

Jacob's use of a stone as a massebah wasn't forbidden because it was dedicated to Yahweh.

Massebah for pagan worship: - Exodus 23:24 (https://hypothes.is/a/r3m5QmyDEe6SC8eLYcJE1Q) - Hosea 10:1 (https://hypothes.is/a/4PK2GGyDEe6wZg_r2YpVCA ) - 2 Kings 18:4 - 2 Kings 23:14

Massebah for worship of Yahweh: - Genesis 28:18 Jacob's pillow (https://hypothes.is/a/NF5p8Gx6Ee65Rg_J4tfaMQ)<br /> - Genesis 31:44-45 Jacob and Laban's covenant - Exodus 24:4 - Joshua 24:25-27

Link to https://hypothes.is/a/r3m5QmyDEe6SC8eLYcJE1Q

In neighboring cultures in which both have oral practices relating to massebah, one is not just destroying "sacred stones" to stamp out their religion, but it's also destroying their culture and cultural memory as well as likely their laws and other valuable memories for the function of their society.

View this in light also of the people of Israel keeping their own sacred stones (Hosea 10:1) as well as the destruction of pillars dedicated to Baal in 2 Kings 18:4 and 2 Kings 23:14.

(Link and) Compare this to the British fencing off the land in Australia and thereby destroying Songlines and access to them and the impact this had on Indigenous Australians.

It's also somewhat similar to the colonialization activity of stamping out of Indigenous Americans and First Nations' language in North America, though the decimation of their language wasn't viewed in as reciprocal way as it might be viewed now. (Did colonizers of the time know about the tremendous damage of language destruction, or was it just a power over function?)

Use of massebah for remembrance of a name...

Potentially used for other factors? translation? context?

See also: https://hypothes.is/a/oqgH4mx9Ee68_dMgihgD0A (Rachel's massebah in Genesis 35:19-20)

Use of a standing stone or massebah (pillar) to mark a grave in Genesis 35:19-20.

Certainly could have been other than to simply mark a location and may have been used to mark and remember the knowledge of Rachel as well as the family's experiences with Rachel, a practice which is still commonplace when visiting burial locations.

Relationship to the first two commandments against worshiping other gods and the use of idols?

How does this relate to the standing stone found in the room at Khirbet Qeiyafa from the time of David?

Dates of this text with respect to Khirbet Keiyafa?

connect this to:

The helps whereof by this art memorative, they would prove to be as effectual, by these conceived fictions in the eye of the mind,12 as those we remember by the visible eye of the body, for example whereof say they, concerning the latter we read in the holy Scriptures of 12 stones, that were erected in the river Jordan in memory of the wonderful transpassage of the Israelites, Josh. 24.27.—The Memory Arts in Renaissance England by William E. Engel, Rory Loughnane, and Grant Williams

Description of the arrangement? Circle? Further or suggested usage?

Link to Genesis 28:18: https://hypothes.is/a/NF5p8Gx6Ee65Rg_J4tfaMQ

Mariottini, Claude. “Standing Stones in the Old Testament.” Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament (blog), September 20, 2021. https://claudemariottini.com/2021/09/20/standing-stones-in-the-old-testament/.

Commonplaces: standing stones in the Old Testament!

"So when they continued asking him, he lifted himself up and said to them, he who has not misfiled an idea among you, let him cast the first zettel at her." —Iēsū's zettelkasten, card 8/7,1 #John ⚡🗃️

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLV4EDBtuas

Quotes I've made that I never expected to be excerpted... 🤣

Perry analogizes many people's experience of writing to passing a kidney stone and then contrasts it with me talking about the Mozart composing/cow peeing analogy.

https://lukechandler.wordpress.com/tag/standing-stone/

https://www.livescience.com/neolithic-stone-complex-discovered-spain

2 Kings 23:14 indicates that King Josiah cut down the Asherah poles as a monotheistic reform in the second half of the 7th century BCE.

Could these have have been in circles? Could they have been used as mnemonic devices?

link this to the idea of the standing stone found at Khirbet Qeiyafa.

Link this to my Ark of Covenant example.

Link to Stonehenge and other henge examples as well as other timber circles.

Is it also possible that these items may have served the purpose of mnemonic devices as a means of transporting (otherwise invisible) information from one area or culture to another?

Can we build evidence for this from the archaeological record?

Relate this to the idea of expanding the traditional "land, labor, capital" theory of economics to include "information" as a basic building block

https://www.landesmuseum.ch/en/exhibitions/temporary/2021/humans.-carved-in-stone/humans.-carved-in-stone

Worth delving into more deeply for additional sources and archaeological evidence.

This is a good example of the default "ancestor worship" and "rituals" label on archeological finds of ancient peoples

What is the actual basis for assigning these labels? Is there any real evidence or is it just become the default in the literature.

Personally I'm building evidence towards a more comprehensive thesis for what these practices may have been used for.

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2021/11/new-findings-on-jordanian-megaliths/141965

New megaliths found in Jordan in various stages of construction which helped archaeologists suggest a method for their construction by carving the stones from the ground and then supporting them with smaller ones.

Worth checking to see if standing stones may have been found at these sites as well.

https://www.earthstonerock.com/Wholesale-landscape-boulders-for-sale-near-me-s/665.htm

https://www.thestonestore.com/boulders.html

https://www.dandelionstonetroughs.co.uk/standing-stones-for-sale/

Interesting to see these examples of mnemonic devices referenced here.

One could certainly add standing stones, stone circles, etc. to the list.

Might be worth looking this up to see how it might or might not relate to pre-Celtic migration patterns as they relate to other standing stones in the Celtic and Celtic fringe areas.

Sad that the markings are wearing away in addition to making studying the area much more difficult.

The Rolling Stones: Blue & Lonesome [oooo]

VÖ: 2.12.2016

Charts: 27 Wochen / 2016: Platz 5

AppleMusic / iTunes

Before the understanding of frost heave, there was a widely held belief that rocks and stones could grow and multiply. Stones were believe to grow from small pebbles. These stones then rose to the surface of the ground. Another belief was that stones were the offspring of “mother-stones” or “breeding-stones.” Today, it is known that this motion of stones moving upwards toward the surface of the ground is due to frost heave. Frost heave occurs when water in soil or rock freezes and thaws in a cyclic process. This causes an upward movement of the surface of the ground due to the freezing of water underneath. Geologist Stephen Taber from the University of South Carolina proved through extensive research that “it was not expansion, but rather the formation of ice lenses by segregation of water from the soil as the ground freezes that is the principal cause of frost heave.” He also showed that liquids other than water can also cause frost heave. The direction of heave is governed by the growth of ice lenses. Ice lenses form perpendicular to the direction of heat flow, so it is not always the case that frost heave occurs in the path of least resistance (Manz, 2011). 

References

Manz, L. (2011). Frost Heave. Geo News, 18-23.