I have been following the fate of the (traditional) Tomb of Nahum in Alqosh (al-Qosh, Al Qosh, Al-Quosh) for years. For past posts, start here and follow the links.
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The newly installed scrolls include the Community Rule Scroll 4Q260, also known as the Manual of Discipline, which details the governing structure, daily practices, and core values of the 1st century BC Qumran community. They replace the previous set of eight scrolls as part of a regular rotation to preserve the ancient manuscripts, which are highly sensitive to light and environmental exposure.I can't find any information yet about the other seven scrolls.
Background on the exhibition is here and links.
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Two famous cases of forgery are associated with the figure of Moses Shapira, an antiquities dealer: the Moabite sherds sold to the Berlin Museum in 1872, and the pseudo-scroll of Deuteronomy written in ancient Hebrew in 1883. These two episodes were preceded by the discovery of the Mesha Stele, attributed to Mesha, king of Moab (1868), with which Shapira is also indirectly associated. A reassessment of this stele, based on archival material from the time, leads me to believe that the authenticity of the inscription it bears must now be called into question.Fair enough to raise the question. I doubt that epigraphers would have continued to be fooled by an epigraphic forgery from the nineteeth century. They know too much about the details of the Northwest Semitic scripts for that to be likely. To really make the case for forgery, one would have to show that the script of the Mesha Stele gets details wrong that no one would have noticed in the nineteenth century.[...]
It's true that we don't have many substantial lapidary royal inscriptions from ancient Israel. But we do have Hezekiah's Siloam Tunnel Inscription and some other fragments from his era. Perhaps not as many as have sometimes been argued. For discussion, see here and links. And there also is the fragmentary Tel Dan Stele, which was set up by an Aramean king, but which mentions the House of David.
For many PaleoJudaica posts on the Mesha Stele (Moabite Inscription), start here (plus here and here) and follow the links. For the renewed debate over the authenticity of the Shapira Scroll fragments, start here and follow the links.
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From the May-June 2025 Let the Stones Speak Magazine IssueI noted this story here and here.An ancient tomb complex containing 60 mostly young female bodies was discovered in the Negev region of southern Israel. Among the bodies were a plethora of exotic artifacts, including jewelry, alabaster vessels for spices, mortar-and-pestle figurines, weights, scales and arrowheads.
In February, Let the Stones Speak podcast host Brent Nagtegaal interviewed Dr. Tali Erickson-Gini, senior researcher at the Israel Antiquities Authority, about the discovery. Here is their fascinating discussion.
[...]
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What is a god? While the question is simple enough, the answer depends on context and perspective. For those raised in the shadow of the great monotheisms — Judaism, Christianity, and Islam — the god category has a singular member who is the creator and perfect unchallenged ruler of the cosmos. For most other modern religious traditions, gods are multiple and variable.First in a series.[...]
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Andreas M. WagnerZwischen Engeln und Menschen
Die Rolle Henochs im slavischen Henochbuch
Edited by Hermann Lichtenberger and Daniel Schumann
[Between Angels and Humans. The Role of Enoch in the Slavic Book of Enoch.]
2025. XIV, 586 pages.
Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe (WUNT II) 634
Published in German.€129.00 including VAT
sewn paper
available
978-3-16-163923-4Also Available As:
eBook PDF €129.00Summary
In this study, Andreas M. Wagner examines the significance of the Slavonic Enoch for understanding ancient Judaism and the environment of the New Testament. His focus lies on Enoch's role between angels and humans and the depiction of the heavenly world.
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Congratulations to Mark Goodacre on his forthcoming book.
The Fourth Synoptic Gospel
John’s Knowledge of Matthew, Mark, and Lukeby Mark Goodacre
Imprint: Eerdmans
205 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 in
PAPERBACK
9780802875136
Publication Date: September 16, 2025
$29.99
£22.99EBOOK
9781467462716
Publication Date: September 16, 2025
$29.99
£22.99DESCRIPTION
A bold reassessment of John’s Gospel and its relationship to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke
Generations ago in biblical studies, it was taken for granted that John wrote with full knowledge of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. But this consensus was overturned in the 1930s and since then, there has been no agreement on the issue. Today many scholars view the problem as unsolvable or impossibly complex. Mark Goodacre, however, takes a different view. In his galvanizing new book, Goodacre synthesizes long-neglected data with newer perspectives to make a strong case for John’s familiarity with all three Synoptic Gospels.
Writing in a clear and accessible style, Goodacre takes a systematic, step by step approach to showing that John knew and used the narratives of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Goodacre identifies key points of agreement that range from diagnostic shards to shared structures. He also analyzes key differences; in his telling, John dramatically transforms the Synoptics and develops their Christology while adding a beloved disciple of Jesus, who is himself a Synoptic character. To make his argument accessible to a broad audience, Goodacre minimizes the use of scholarly citations and translates all Greek words. Just as importantly, he illustrates his claims with clear, simple charts so that readers can see for themselves the evidence that John knew and used the Synoptics.
The Fourth Synoptic Gospel is sure to spark lively discussions among biblical scholars. Given that John’s relationship to the Synoptics is a fundamental issue in New Testament studies, Goodacre’s book is also a must read for students and professors alike.
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As an aside, I love the stone relief of Gilgamesh and the lion in the illustration. I know it says he is "subduing" it. But it looks to me as though Gilgamesh, who was eleven cubits tall (almost 18 feet) and who appears as a giant in the Book of Giants, is cuddling his pet lion. And in his other hand he is holding a cat play toy. But I am not an Assyriological iconographer, so receive my interpretation with caution.
Enigmatic bronze lion heads found in 1,900-year-old tomb in central Israel. Discovered near Kfar Saba, the ornate coffin fittings may hint at ties to pagan cults — or a Roman soldier’s final journey (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel).
With HT to Ancient Origins, I noted this story and the underlying 'Atiqot article a couple of months ago. I'm not sure why everyone is suddenly noticing it now (also here, here, here, and here). But I'm glad to see these artifacts getting more attention.
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Stephanie A. McCarter, Women in power: classical myths and stories, from the Amazons to Cleopatra. New York: Penguin Classics, 2024. Pp. 352. ISBN 9780143136361.Notwithstanding the "Classical" focus, this book deals with many ancient women of interest to PaleoJudaica, including Semiramis, legendary queen of Babylon (and actual Assyrian queen), Dido, legendary queen of Carthage, Salome Alexandra, queen of Judea, Cleopatra VII, queen of Egypt, Boudicca, queen of the Iceni, and Zenobia, regent (and de facto empress) of Palmyra.Review by
Francesca Rohr, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. rohr@unive.itThis book aims to illustrate, through a selection of ancient sources, how certain elite women exercised considerable power and influence in the public sphere and the way ancient historiography and literature represented women when they held positions of power.
[...]
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2,000 Year Old Library Discovered at Ancient City of Stratonikeia in Turkey (Nisha Zahid, Greek Reporter).
Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a rare Greco-Roman library in the ancient Greek city of Stratonikeia (Greek: Στρατoνικεια) in southwest Turkey, revealing new insights into the architectural and cultural legacy of one of antiquity’s largest marble cities.Spoiler: all the books were checked out. And are overdue. But there are some inscriptions that name the architect who designed it. And it's nice to have the floor plan of a substantial Greco-Roman-era library.[...]
The Forgotten Archive of the Scribe of the Temple of Crocodile God in Egypt is Recovered, Containing Sent and Received Letters and Questions to the Oracle (Guillermo Carvajal, LBV).
Carolin Arlt holds a doctorate in Egyptology. After studying Egyptology, Ancient History, and Classical Archaeology at the Julius-Maximilians University of Würzburg (JMU), she earned her doctorate at the same institution. She later worked at universities in Cologne, Berkeley, and Jerusalem before returning to JMU in 2009 as a researcher on a project focused on a temple in Egypt’s Fayum region.Unfortunately, these documents were looted from said temple (or somewhere) in the nineteenth century, so their archaeological context is lost. But I suppose we're lucky to have them at all.She is now starting a new research project based on another temple in Fayum, a Ptolemaic archive from the temple of Soknopaiu Nesos. Her research will focus on 75 documents from this temple, written on papyrus in Demotic over 2,200 years ago by Tesenuphis, son of Marres, who referred to himself as the “scribe of the priests.”
Neither story is directly relevant to ancient Judaism. But I offer them as a reminder that there are still plenty of ancient archives waiting to be uncovered, some even with texts still in them.
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A recently published study has revealed that ancient Jerusalem’s water infrastructure included a tunnel longer than any known from the Roman Empire. The finding appears in the June 2025 issue of the journal Groundwater and was authored by David Deming of the University of Oklahoma.The underlying article is open access:[...]
The Aqueducts and Water Supply of Ancient JerusalemFor PaleoJudaica posts on Jerusalem's ancient water supply, substantial parts of which have been rediscovered only in this century, start here and follow the links.David Deming
First published: 23 June 2025 https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.70000Article impact statement: Describes the importance of groundwater to the history of the city of Jerusalem and links the utilization of groundwater with religious and cultural history.
Abstract
Jerusalem, a city held sacred by three of the world's great religions, is located in a semi-arid climate, and its occupation through the millennia has only been made possible by the construction of an extensive and ingenious water supply infrastructure. The settlement of Jerusalem was first made possible by water from the Gihon Spring. Over the centuries, the inhabitants of Jerusalem added several pools and reservoirs to collect and store water. Nearly all buildings, both private and public, also had extensive storage capacity in the form of cisterns. To support a burgeoning population and pilgrim growth during the late Second Temple Period, four aqueducts were constructed to bring additional water into Jerusalem. Much work remains to identify, date, classify, and restore the ancient water works of this great city.
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Why does Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba question whether the word “good” appears in the first version of the Decalogue—when the Masoretic Text (MT) clearly omits it? Why do some midrashim speak of God dividing the nations among seventy angels—though Deuteronomy 32:8 says nothing of angels? These phrasings align with the Septuagint (LXX), as do the Haggadah’s emphasis on God’s sole role in the exodus, the wise son’s inclusive phrasing, and the image of God’s outstretched arm.
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Scholarship is Not Merely SkepticismSome sensible observations on how historians should approach miracle stories in the Bible and other ancient texts.Skepticism, not simply accepting what a source claims, is a crucial element of critical thinking and thus central to the academic endeavor. Yet unlimited targeted doubt serves the interests of various denialisms that run counter to and seek to undermine academic conclusions. This article represents one academic’s journey out of denialisms into academia, and his effort to find the right balance that avoids a pendulum swing into an opposite yet otherwise similar denialism at the other end of the spectrum.
See also Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist (Eerdmans, 2024).
By James F. McGrath
Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature
Butler University
June 2025Being appropriately skeptical is an important tool in the toolbox of the academic, but scholarship is not merely skepticism. Let me explain.
[...]
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