Biblica_1:Layout 1 21-11-2011 12:59 Pagina 331 331 EISODUS AS EXODUS: THE SONG OF THE SEA oped scribal caste, but a single skilled scribe or small circle of scribes would still be capable of producing important texts, and we have seen that resources for this were in place by the 10th century BCE 38. The Mesha inscription of a century later is a potent witness to how kings of small Semitic states behaved upon coming to power: one of Mesha’s first acts as king is to secure a scribe who in turn produced official texts to standardize a national ideology 39. The old lists of royal officials from the reign of both David and Solomon (2 Sam 8,17; 20,25; 1 Kgs 4,3) show similar interest in securing scribal fig- ures for purposes of prestige, political legitimacy and, no doubt, the attaining of a numinous quality to royal imperatives and influence 40. Second, the memory of David in 1-2 Samuel characterizes him as a bard as much as a warrior. The two are, of course, not mutually exclusive, especially given the fact that the ancient combat myth is most forcefully expressed in poetic verse in both biblical and extra- biblical contexts 41. An historiographer interested in presenting a mythically-resonant image of David would thus be apt to connect the founder of the dominant royal dynasty with traditions of litur- gical poetry, song and performance 42. But from the mnemo-histor- ical perspective, this also suggests that David’s reign was remembered as a time when old poetic liturgies were an important component of fledgling monarchic self-understanding 43. The tradi- tion regarding David’s decision to have an official lament “taught” 38 See also CARR, Tablet of the Heart, 131, 163. 39 See the discussion by SCHNIEDEWIND, How the Bible Became a Book, 41. 40 On the numinous character of writing, especially within a pre- or non- literate culture, see SCHNIEDEWIND, How the Bible Became a Book, 24-34. 41 See e.g. the discussion by P.D. MILLER, The Divine Warrior in Early Is- rael (HSM 5; Cambridge, MA 1973) passim; the Ugaritic Baal cycle, etc. 42 The mythic and ritualistic dimension of David’s association with liturgi- cal performance – both song and dance – receives thorough consideration by C.L. SEOW, Myth, Drama and the Politics of David’s Dance (HSM 44; Atlanta, GA 1989). This association is clearly remembered by the Chronicler, who does not hesitate to present David as a prophet engaged in the recitation of a peni- tential prayer. See E. BEN ZVI, “Who Knew What? The Construction of the Monarchic Past in Chronicles and its Implication for the Intellectual Setting of Chronicles”, Judah and Judeans in the Persian Period (eds. O. LIPSCHITS – G.N. KNOPPERS – R. ALBERTZ) (Winona Lake, IN 2007) 349-354. 43 On mnemo-historical approaches to the study of biblical narrative, see R.S. HENDEL, “The Exodus in Biblical Memory”, JBL 120 (2001) 601-622; D.L. FLEMING, “Mari and the Possibilities of Biblical Memory”, RA 92 (1998) 44-78.