Biblica_1_Layout 1 20/01/12 11:44 Pagina 498 498 JOHN MAKUJINA took out 200,150 people, young and old, male and female, horses, mules, donkeys, camels, cattle, and sheep, without number, and coun- ted them as spoil 67. (emphasis added) An example from the Persian period, the likely milieu of this psalm, is also available. In the Behistun inscription, Darius the Great states that an interloper, Gaumata, plundered cattle, among other valuables, from his enemies: “I restored to the peoples, pas- tures and herds and slaves and houses, which Gaumata the Magian took from them” (DB 1.64-66). In light of this background, I propose that wnytbxrb hxwc, tacwy, and #rp collectively invoke the broader imagery of captivity and, by implication, its catastrophic repercussions for a pastoralist society — repercussions that, happily, will never materialize in a state of divine blessing (!ya). Moreover, because the martial-urban element is merely co-opted in the service of the pastoral theme, this formulation does not require the regular presence of cattle within the city walls, al- though many undoubtedly entered cities, especially during times of siege 68. In fact, according to my analysis, none of the terms in v. 14:b- c, individually or corporately, make direct reference to cattle. 1. Hab 3,17 Additional backing for a dual orientation (pastoral-martial) can be obtained from Hab 3,17, if it depicts the depredations of the Babylonian armies rather than a drought: “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls … ” (ESV). 67 COS 2.119B:303. See also LXXXVII Tiglath-pileser I, XCVIII Ashur- dan II, and XCIX Adad-nerari II, in ARI 2:13, 16, 75, 77, 82-83, 90, and The Annals of Thutmose III, in COS 2.2A:12. 68 Note that Jericho was “tightly shut because of the children of Israel; no one went out or came in” (Josh 6,1). Yet later we read that “they devoted all that was in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, and oxen and sheep and donkeys, by the edge of the sword” (Josh 6,21). It stands to reason that livestock, many if not all, were also housed within the city prior to the siege.