Sukkot 2026

THE SEVEN-DAY FESTIVAL OF SUKKOT (BOOTHS, TABERNACLES) begins tonight at sundown. Best wishes to all those observing it.

Last year's Sukkot post is here. See also here and here.

For the biblical background to Sukkot, see here and here.

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Fake and real DSS fragments isolated in the Schøyen Collection?

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: Authentic Fragments Identified in Schøyen Dead Sea Scroll Collection, Among Many Fraudulent Manuscripts (The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts Press Release).

Dead Sea Scroll scholar Årstein Justnes of the University of Agder commented that CSNTM’s findings regarding MS 4612-1 “could have major implications for Dead Sea Scrolls research,” revealing the artifact to be potentially “the first known example of a Dead Sea Scroll forgery that predates 2002" – the year numerous fragments purported to be Dead Sea Scrolls surfaced in the market and were acquired by collectors around the world. This second cache of Dead Sea Scroll fragments is now understood to consist primarily of inauthentic documents.

Although the majority of fragments in Schøyen’s Dead Sea Scroll collection appear to be modern forgeries, multispectral imaging technology has captured details that support the hypothesis that some of the Schøyen fragments are authentic.

This sounds like an important development. I would like to know more about the fragments (provisionally?) authenticated by this process.

The CSNTM website is here. For PaleoJudaica posts on those post-2002 mostly fake Dead Sea Scroll-like fragments, see here and links, plus here. For more on the Schøyen Collection, see here and links.

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Data analytics for the Sifting Project

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT BLOG: DATA ANALYTICS AND THE DAY OF REMEMBRANCE: RECONSTRUCTING THE TEMPLE MOUNT’S HISTORY.

The analytics and research applied to the vast collection of artifacts in our possession allow us to reveal another layer in the story of the most important and sacred site in the history of the Jewish people. Specifically there – at the very place from which they would announce to the entire Jewish world when a new month, and of course, a new year, was beginning. This symbolism takes on an even deeper meaning, as the sifting work today takes place at Mitzpe HaMasuot (The Lookout of the Beacons), the historic site where the first beacon was lit to broadcast the news of the new month and the new year to Diaspora Jewry and the rest of the world.

Tangentially related to Rosh HaShanah.

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When did making a Sukkah become compulsory?

RABBI STEVEN BOB: When Building a Sukkah Became a Commandment (TheTorah.com).

Farmers and soldiers built sukkot as temporary shelters, as did pilgrims coming to Jerusalem for the week-long Sukkot festival. The practice of building a sukkah “each on his roof, and in their courtyards,” as described in Nehemiah (8:14–17), likely began in exile, in memory of the pilgrim booths of First Temple times. It then entered Leviticus as a commandment and reached the wider Judean public through Ezra’s Torah reading.

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Temple-pilgrimage ritual baths excavated at the Ophel

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Monumental Ancient Ritual Baths Unearthed at Foot of Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Pilgrims flocking to ancient Jerusalem for the holidays in the Second Temple period may have not only purified but had opportunity to clean up before ascending to the holy site (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

Now archaeologists have revealed a previously unknown complex in the Ophel, the slope descending from the Temple Mount south toward the City of David, that is where the pilgrims would apparently immerse. The monumental complex includes three mikvaot (ritual baths) plus a strange rectangular pool that was evidently not a ritual bath. Prof. Uzi Leibner and Prof. Orit Peleg-Barkat are responsible for this exciting find. Nearby, the team also found two other installations that appear to have been plastered vats.

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Understanding the Jewish Calendar

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Understanding the Jewish Calendar. Why Jewish holidays shift each year (Nathan Steinmeyer).

This is a useful overview for reference during this calendar-heavy time in the Jewish year.

For a brief overview of the ancient Jewish calendar(s) (in the context of the Antikythera mechanism), see here. For lots more on the ancient Jewish solar calendar, see here and links. For the archaeologically recovered, tenth-century-BCE Gezer Calendar, see here and links. And for Noah's possibly 360-day "administrative calendar" in the Priestly Source, see here. And for even more posts on various aspects of the ancient Jewish calendar, run "calendar" through the blog search engine.

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On manuscripts of the Alexander Romance

VARIANT READINGS: Manuscripts of the Alexander Romance (Brent Nongbri).

The Alexander Romance (or The Life of Alexander of Macedon or the Life and Acts of Alexander, or The History of Alexander the Great, King of the Macedonians…) survives in hundreds of manuscript copies in several languages. The Romance has also sometimes been classified as an “open text,” a fluid cluster of narratives that are similar enough to be recognized as versions of the “same” text but different enough to resist reconstruction of any single, fixed “authorial” text. It is thus quite difficult to make an exhaustive collection of manuscripts of the Romance both because of the number of manuscripts in different linguistic traditions and the uncertainty around the question of whether we actually have the transmission of the “same” text or a transformation into a different text.

Nevertheless, what follows is a small collection of links to some of the most important manuscripts connected to the earliest versions of the Romance.

[...]

For many PaleoJudaica posts on Alexander the Great and his connection with ancient Jewish traditions, notably in the Alexander Romance, start here and follow the links. For brief comments on its recensional history, see here. If you want to go down the manuscript and recesional rabbit hole, this Variant Readings post is for you.

And before I got around to posting this, Brent put up another post on the subject: Papyri Related to the Alexander Romance.

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Debunking the Hermetic corpus

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: Debunking Sacred Forgeries In The Renaissance (Philip Jenkins).

As the Hermetic texts were presented, they contained huge problems. As we now know, these scriptures were written far later than they initially appeared, and they actually dated from Egypt in the second and third centuries AD. If they resembled Neoplatonism, for example, that was because they were influenced by that movement, rather than the other way round. In retrospect, we see that Hermes Trismegistus himself was a classic product of the religion of Ptolemaic or Roman Egypt, a hybrid that united the Greek Hermes with the Egyptian god Thoth.

I think that Ficino, Pico, Bruno, and their colleagues made a strategic error in focusing on an erroneous early date as the source of authority for the Hermetica. When Casaubon debunked the date, everyone dropped the corpus. But its NeoPlatonic-Egyptian-Gnostic philosophy and theology are of some interest in themselves. It took a long time for people to notice that again. See David Litwa's Hermetica I for a recent treatment from this perspective.

This Anxious Bench post is a continuation of Professor Jenkins's Lost and Found Scriptures series. For earlier posts, see here and links.

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Samaritan Yom Kippur and Sukkot

SAMARITAN WATCH: Ancient faith, modern lives: Samaritans prepare for Yom Kippur and Sukkot. From fruit-laden sukkot to a digital prayer book app, a community divided between Holon in central Israel and Mount Gerizim in Samaria combines ancient Israelite traditions with modern Israeli life (Tania Shalom Michaelian, Jewish News Syndicate).

(Sept. 22, 2026 / JNS) While most Israelis begin building their sukkot this week, one small community that traces its roots to the ancient Israelites will wait until the end of October.

The Samaritans (Shomronim in Hebrew) celebrate the festivals commanded in the Torah, but not always on the same dates as Jews. Their year begins with the Hebrew month of Nissan in the spring, rather than with the month of Tishrei in the fall. Their priests calculate leap years independently, based on a count beginning with the Israelites’ entry into the Land of Israel under Joshua. In some years, the festivals coincide; in others, as in 2026, they fall almost a month apart.

This year, Samaritan Yom Kippur will fall on Oct. 20, and Sukkot will begin on Oct. 25.

[...]

For previous notices of Samaritan Sukkot, see here and links.

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David W. Suter (1942-2024)

SAD NEWS, NOTED BELATEDLY:

Dr. David W. Suter

"To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour."
- William Blake ("Auguries of Innocence")

Dr. David Winston Suter, 82, of Puyallup, Washington, passed away on Thursday, June 20, 2024. ...

David was actively involved in the Society of Biblical Literature, which enabled him to participate in expeditions to Jerusalem, the caves of Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, and the foot of Mount Herman in Dan where the group discovered the ruins of the Sanctuary of the Northern Tribes, including the throne where the King of the Northern Tribes sat and judged the people. This travel in pursuit of his scholarship also allowed him to engage in one of his favorite hobbies, photography, documenting these trips with beautiful photos to share with family and friends.

David’s primary scholarly interest was the Book of Enoch. His dissertation involved translating an Ethiopian copy of the Book of Enoch written in Aramaic into English and then using this translation to study and analyze the text. From 2005 to 2019, he was a member of the Enoch Seminar, an academic group of international specialists in Second Temple Judaism and the origins of Christianity, who biennially meet in Naples, Italy to share information about their work and discuss topics of common interest. David presented at these seminars and contributed to the joint publications.

I had read Dr. Suter's valuable work on the Parables of Enoch and then got to know him at the Enoch Seminar meetings. You will find him mentioned here occasionally in the early years of this blog. I only found out about his passing this morning when this funeral notice came up in my search, although I see now that I missed an annoucement in a 2024 Enoch Seminar newsletter.

David's Academia.edu page is here, where you can see some of his work on 1 Enoch and related topics.

I am sorry to hear that he is gone. Requiescat in pace.

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Prostrating to God, the king, and ... Jesus?

DR. JAMES F. MCGRATH: Exalting Jesus—Did Early Christians Abandon Monotheism? (TheTorah.com).

Paul’s (ca. 5-67 C.E.) portrayal of Jesus as an exalted ruler may seem to challenge Jewish monotheism. Yet the idea of a human king ruling on God’s behalf is already found in the Bible. Reading Paul alongside Jewish traditions of divine kingship shows how his claims about Jesus remain consistent with exclusive allegiance to one God.

The concept of divine kingship in ancient Israel and ancient Judaism is elusive. This essays gives one possible interpretation of the evidence.

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Burning homemade scrolls to help read incinerated Herculaneum papyri

EVERYONE NEEDS A HOBBY: A Retired Inventor Burned Homemade Scrolls to Help Read 2,000-Year-Old Texts Buried by Mount Vesuvius. Learn how experiments with homemade scrolls could help reveal lost writing in the Herculaneum library buried by Mount Vesuvius (Anastasia Scott, Discover Magazine).

In his home lab, Douglas Seiler put a roll of papyrus that students had written on inside a steel container and heated it in a furnace until it charred. On the papyrus, high school students had written passages from Star Wars and the Bible with reed pens. Seiler was trying to destroy something on purpose, so he could learn how to read what a volcanic eruption had nearly destroyed 2,000 years earlier.

[...]

The peer-reviewed underlying technical article in PLOS One is open access:

A model carbonized papyrus scroll opens a novel path to identifying readable scrolls of the Herculaneum Library
Douglas Seiler, Jacob Michael LaManna, Michael McOsker, David Kreimer, Michael Cyrus Daugherty, Jens Dopke
Published: September 16, 2026
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0353485

Abstract

We report the successful fabrication of a laboratory-made carbonized papyrus scroll and the virtual unrolling and reading of its custom leaded ink text, using X-ray tomography. We believe this is the first confirmed proof of concept to show that the presence of lead in Herculaneum scrolls would greatly increase the probability for successful reading. This synthetic model enables systematic variation of ink formulations, including leaded inks, to generate ground-truth datasets for the development and validation of text-detection algorithms intended for use on the Herculaneum scrolls. By altering the ink composition from pure carbon to an ink enriched with lead, an X-ray contrasting agent, our team can provide datasets which can be used to test algorithmic performance. Inks containing only carbon present a more challenging detection scenario, serving as a baseline for recovery efforts. The lab-made scroll was constructed from modern Egyptian papyrus and ink incorporating a soluble lead salt, then carbonized and imaged using a laboratory-grade X-ray tomography system. The scroll was virtually unrolled using custom-developed software. Additionally, we found that a handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) device could detect lead in the ink post-carbonization. This suggests that XRF may be a practical screening method for identifying ancient scrolls likely to contain lead-based ink and therefore have a higher probability of being successfully read.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE and its destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and on the efforts to reconstruct and decipher the carbonized library at Herculaneum, start here and follow the links. Cross-file under Herculaneum Watch and Technology Watch.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Tanit's Information Office?

PUNIC WATCH: Tanit Sanctuary in Ibiza to Get a New Information Office (Diario de Ibiza).

Sant Joan has put the construction of a new visitor facility next to the Cova des Culleram out to tender, including an information point, storage area, covered porch and toilets. ...

The Cova des Culleram is a natural cave formed in limestone rock where numerous archaeological remains were discovered, providing evidence that the site was used for religious ceremonies during the Punic period, particularly those associated with the goddess Tanit.

Among the most significant discoveries at the cave is a bronze plaque bearing inscriptions dedicated to Resph-Melkart and Tanit.

Glad to hear the site is getting some attention. For the Punic (and Phoenician?) goddess Tanit (Tannit), the "Snake Lady," see here and links. For more on Tanit at Ibiza, as well as other Ibiza archaeology and legend, see here.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Yom Kippur 2026

YOM KIPPUR, the Day of Atonement, began last night at sundown. An easy and healthy fast to all those observing it.

Last year's post on Yom Kippur is here, with links (plus here). Biblical etc. background is here and links.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Excavations at Leontopolis

EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGY: Rare ancient tombs uncovered at Egypt’s ‘Mound of the Jews.’ Archaeologists uncover rock-cut tombs and Roman military remains at Tell el-Yahudiya, an ancient Egyptian site with a remarkable connection to Jewish history (Israel National News).

The newly uncovered tombs themselves have not been identified as Jewish and date from centuries before the well-documented Jewish presence associated with the area.

The location of the discovery, however, gives it particular significance for Jewish history. Tell el-Yahudiya literally means "Mound of the Jews," and archaeological research has documented a substantial Jewish community in the area during the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

Historian Dorothy Thompson, writing in the Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, noted that the cemeteries at Tell el-Yahudiya produced a large collection of Greek epitaphs, more than half of which contain names regarded by scholars as distinctly Jewish.

The site has also long been associated with the "Land of Onias" and the Jewish Temple of Onias in Egypt.

The site is perhaps better known as Leontopolis. For more on it and its connection to the Jewish temple of Onias, see here and links.

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Complaints about West Bank police action

ALLEGATIONS: Police Officer Tied to Illegal West Bank Antiquities Thefts Also Visited Area B Cave. Meir Rotter, head of the police's ultra-Orthodox unit, entered a cave in a Palestinian Authority-administered area with soldiers, lacking authorization, months after he was accused of unlawfully seizing an ancient artifact elsewhere in the West Bank (Nir Hasson, Haaretz).

Duly noted. There's a lot going on in this story and I don't pretend to understand it all. Some background is here.

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Venturini, A Syriac Patristic Florilegium against Julian of Halicarnassus (Brill, open access)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

A Syriac Patristic Florilegium against Julian of Halicarnassus

Critical Edition, Translation, and Study

Series:
Eastern Christian Texts, Volume: 3

Author: Guido Venturini

How is a florilegium constructed, and why does this peculiar type of literary work deserve to be studied? The huge anti-Julianist florilegium preserved in the Catenae Patrum of the British Library represents an exceptional repository of patristic testimonies transmitted in Syriac, some of which are lost in the Greek original and remained unpublished until now. After a methodological introduction, the volume presents the critical edition, English translation, and comment of an intriguing dogmatic florilegium, conceived by an enigmatic intellectual active at the end of the sixth century to refute Julian of Halicarnassus’ doctrine on the incorruptibility of Christ’s body before the resurrection. The critical edition aims to open new methodological horizons in the field of Syriac philology, as it integrates the stemmatic method with the historical study of the textual tradition, according to Giorgio Pasquali’s fundamental teaching. For the first time, the most important piece of the anti-Julianist literature after the death of Severus of Antioch this work is translated into a modern language, giving new insights into the theological controversies that took place within the Miaphysite Church during the Byzantine period.

Copyright Year: 2026

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-76173-5
Publication: 29 Jul 2026
Open Access

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-76172-8
Publication: 27 Aug 2026
EUR €180.00

Cross-file under Syriac Watch.

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Eisenberg, CLASSIC MIDRASH (Urim)

NEW BOOK FROM URIM PUBICATIONS (KTAV):

CLASSIC MIDRASH: An Anthology of Talmudic Insights into the Bible

Price: $39.95 $36.00

by Ronald L. Eisenberg
Hardcover, 558 Pages
KTAV Publishing, 2024
ISBN: 978-1-60280-504-0

As an ancient document, the Bible reflects its time of origin and the early history of Israel. However, the social and political situation had dramatically changed by the time of the Rabbis in the first centuries. Midrash afforded an opportunity for the Rabbis to reread the biblical text, rendering it meaningful to their contemporaries.

A vast genre of rabbinic literature, Midrash fills in the gaps of the terse biblical narrative by providing the thoughts and feelings of the characters and the motivations behind their actions. Classic Midrash is a distillation of this extensive collection of works into an accessible, single-volume narrative with numerous citations offering the interested reader the opportunity to delve into specific stories in more detail.

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