261 “ WHY TARRY THE WHEELS CHARIOT ? ” (JUDG 5,28) OF HIS The depiction of Deborah and Barak follows the ancient warrior myth behind Hab 3,5. Perhaps the later historiographer’s note that Deborah’s is a “woman of flames” (twdypl tça in Judg 4,4) echoes this association, maintaining in the narrative account the balance between rbd and πçr on the level of myth expressed in the poem. To a degree, the myth has been adjusted: not only is Barak’s name an adjustment from the mythic figure of πçr, but a further distinction is found in the fact that rather than πçr rushing forth at the feet of the divine warrior (as in Hab 3,5), it is the Israelite militia that rushes forth at Barak’s feet. Nevertheless, this is but another indication of the poet’s predilection for symbolic discourse, and just as myth is “brought down ” into a more tangible topographical context (such as with the Kishon), so also may physical, geographic and social topoi be elevated into mythic archetypes and symbols. The mention of lowland Canaanite urban regions (Taanach, Megiddo) should be viewed in this light, for both locales symbolize the cultures against which nascent Israel defined itself, and which continued to cause allergic cultural reactions in later periods as well. Thus rather than seeing the poem as a recounting of a single, decisive battle, the rhetorical strategy deployed by its author suggests instead a meditation on collective memories regarding ongoing clashes between highland Israel and its lowland Canaanite neighbors 14, as well as residual tensions between the tribes that were expected to bond together under the banner of common cause. These memories are given mythic weight, making clear that the poem reifies a set of cultural values that were sustained broadly within highland village culture. With this in mind, we may turn to the symbolic dimensions of the image of Sisera’s chariot — the sudden mention of which must be viewed in a similar light. In the preceding late Bronze Age the urban Canaanite kings and their agents had close contact with the Egyptian administrative presence, and served as proxies to the Pharaohs in maintaining Egyptian interests throughout the region 15. In the early Iron Age, with the echoes of a collapsed (or collapsing) Egyptian This dovetails with BRETTLER’s (Book of Judges, 69) observations 14 regarding the poem as a pre-war rallying cry. C. HIGGINBOTHAM, “Elite Emulation and Egyptian Governance in 15 Ramesside Canaan”, Tel Aviv 23 (1996) 154-169.