New proposals about the Copper Scroll

THAT DARNED TREASURE AGAIN: The Mysterious Copper Scroll and the End of Days. One stood among the Dead Sea Scrolls: made of metal, and seemingly never meant to be read. Who made it, when and why, and how was Bar-Kokhba involved? Shimon Gibson presents a new theory (Ruth Schuster).

"The Copper Scroll has always been an enigma, already from when it was first discovered and published. None of the explanations that have been proposed until now have been especially convincing," commented ancient Judaism expert Yonatan Adler of Ariel University. "Enigmatic finds of this kind absolutely invite thinking outside of the box, and I congratulate Prof. Gibson for his intriguing hypothesis. Even if we still lack a 'smoking gun,' novel and well-argued hypotheses of this kind are what move the inquiry forward."

Agreed. Gibson has valid criticisms of the current most popular understanding of the Copper Scroll, that it listes the Temple treasures:

He also points out that if it was a list of Temple valuables removed and secreted by Jews ahead of a howling Roman advance, surely they would have taken the menorah too; yet we see the Romans took that. "Some of the looted funds were even used to help build the landmark Colosseum in that same city which is admired by tourists to this very day," Gibson adds.

True. But there's no guarantee that all of the treasure would have been successfully smuggled out of Jerusalem and into hiding. The menorah would have been more difficult than most of the treasures to move quietly.

Gibson's hypothesis that the treasures are actually contributions to the Bar Kokhba revolt is interesting, but the amounts seem too large to me. Likewise with Joan Taylor's proposal that they are a list of post-Temple Temple tithes from the Bar Kokhba era. Even if we go with Lefkovits'z karsh (rather than talent) intepretation of the amount listings, which we may or may not do.

But I haven't seen either article. If I saw the full arguments I might change my mind.

For a BAR article by Taylor on the subject, see here. If she is proposing there that the CS treasure includes some Temple paraphrenalia and later tithes, which the summary seems to indicate, that makes more sense to me.

For many other PaleoJudaica posts on the Copper Scroll, start here and follow the links.

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

Collins on the limits of Jewish identity

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: The Limits of Jewish Identity (John J. Collins).

The Limits of Jewish Identity: Comments on The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, Vol.2, Emerging Judaism, 332 BCE–600 CE, ed. Carol Bakhos

As one might imagine, given the author, this is an excellent review of textual data and methodological issues for the question of what constituted Jewish literature, and therefore Judaism, in antiquity.

I fully agree with his conclusions regarding the Similitudes of Enoch. I have argued much the same about it in my book The Provenance of the Pseudepigrapha: Jewish, Christian, or other? (Brill, 2005), pp. 132-37. Incidentally, Professor Collins was the editor.

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

Cyprus and the Diaspora Revolt of 115-117 CE

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: When Cypriot Jews Revolted Against Rome. Archaeology shines light on little-known revolt (Marek Dospěl).

To explore the historical evidence for the Diaspora Revolt—including the New Testament and Roman historians—read Thomas Davis’s article “The Diaspora Revolt: Cyprus’s Forgotten Jewish Uprising,” published in the Spring 2026 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

The article is behind the subscription wall, but this BHD essay gives an informative summary of it.

The Diaspora Revolt took place in Cyprus, Cyrene (the Kitos War), Egypt, and Mesopotamia. PaleoJudaica has touched on this revolt here and there, but this is first detailed account I have found of its Cypriot component.

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

Holm, Aramaic Literature from Egypt and the Levant (SBL)

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

Aramaic Literature from Egypt and the Levant

Tawny L. Holm

ISBN 9781628377521
Volume WAW 30
Status Available
Publication Date May 2026

Paperback $90.00
Hardback $110.00
eBook $90.00

In this volume, Tawny L. Holm provides bilingual editions of the majority of Aramaic literary compositions written between the fifth century BCE and first century CE. Each text is presented in transliteration and accompanied by an introduction, notes, and an English translation. The section on Egypt includes, among others, the fascinating anthology found on Papyrus Amherst 63, an Aramaic text written in the Demotic Egyptian script, as well as the Story and Proverbs of Ahiqar. The Levant section includes a selection of texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls, such as Tales from the Persian Court. These compositions cover a broad array of themes, from insights into the human condition to unique portraits of kings, heroes, and deities. The book also addresses matters of history, language, genres, poetics, and scribalism, and it offers a comprehensive collection of primary sources for use in ancient Near Eastern studies courses as well as biblical studies.

HT Bibliographia Iranica.

I have been waiting a long time for this one. (Even well before these posts.) And the volume contains much more than I expected.

For PaleoJudaica posts on the remarkable collection of Aramaic and Canaanite texts in Demotic script in Papyrus Amherst 63, see the links in the previous paragraph, plus here, here, here, here, and here. And follow the links in those posts for more.

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

Review of Identities in antiquity

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Identities in antiquity.

Joseph Skinner, Vicky Manolopoulou, Christina Tsouparopoulou, Identities in antiquity. Rewriting antiquity. London: Routledge, 2025. Pp. 590. ISBN 9781138545168.

Review by
Jeremy McInerney, University of Pennsylvania. jmcinern@sas.upenn.edu

... Overall, this volume is a valuable contribution to the discourse around identity. Its strength lies in its coverage of a wide variety of times and places, resulting a tome of nearly 600 pages, covering large segments of the ancient Mediterranean world over a span of hundreds of years.

Articles of particular interest:

11. Ancient Judaism: nation, ethnicity, or religion?: Erich S. Gruen
20. Identity construction in Alexandria: Greeks, Jews and Romans: Kimberley Czajkowski

And with articles on Mespotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Phoenicia, etc.

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

New Lachish ostracon confirms Joseph's Canaanite title?

NORTHWEST SEMITIC EPIGRAPHY: New Inscription From Lachish Proves Early Use of Joseph’s Title. As Joseph was ‘šalit’ in Bronze Age Egypt, Baal was ‘šalit’ at Bronze Age Lachish (CHRISTOPHER EAMES, Armstrong Institute of Biblical Research).

Nevertheless, šalit has at least been generally recognized as a later Persian Period loan word, applied either during the editing or composition of these texts perhaps somewhere as late as the second half of the first millennium B.C.E.

A brand new inscription from Lachish, discovered just last year and published in a recent Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology article, challenges that conclusion—revealing the use of this word in the Levant as early as the second half of the second millennium B.C.E.—the end of the Late Bronze Age.

The underlying open-access article in the Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology:

A Late Bronze Age Canaanite Jar Inscription from the 2025 Excavation Season at Lachish

Daniel Vainstub^a, Itamar Weissbein^b, Hoo-Goo Kang^c, Shai Halevi^d, and Yosef Garfinkel^e

a Independent Researcher, dvainstub@gmail.com
b The Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, itamar.weissbein@mail.huji.ac.il
c Seoul Jangsin University, Korea, hoogoo7008@gmail.com
d Israel Antiquities Authority, shaih@israntique.org.il
e The Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, garfinkel@mail.huji.ac.il

Abstract During the 2025 season of excavations at Tel Lachish, a partially preserved inscription was found in an unambiguous 12th-century BCE archaeological context associated with the site’s last Late Bronze Age settlement. The inscription consists of six letters written in red ink on the shoulder of a ceramic jar. Although the potsherd is horizontally broken, at the mid-height of the inscription, the surviving parts of the letters allow one to read the personal name Bʻlšlṭ. This name is built on the root šlṭ, which hitherto has been widely considered a much later (Persian period) loan from Aramaic. Furthermore, the inscription was written in the standardized Linear Canaanite script displaying cursive features, apparently by a person accustomed to writing with a stylus and ink.

A new Iron Age II Hebrew ostracon from Lachish was also published last year in the same journal.

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

The Nessana excavation

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY: Ancient Nessana: A Pilgrimage Site at the Edge of the Desert (Yana Tchekhanovets).

Located in the southwestern Negev, along the principal route linking Jerusalem and other significant holy sites with Mount Sinai, ancient Nessana is not associated with any biblical events or major relics. However, during the Byzantine period (ca. 5th-7th centuries CE), it emerged as a prominent Christian center and a vital caravan hub, facilitating travel to Sinai and the Egyptian monasteries.

Established during the Late Hellenistic period (2nd – 1st centuries BCE), Nessana subsequently accommodated a Byzantine garrison and attained its peak during the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods. The site is considered among the most significant Late Antique locations in the Eastern Mediterranean, largely due to the discovery of two papyri archives preserved by the arid climate. These documents, uncovered in the 1930s and dated to approximately 500–700 CE, offer critical insights into the daily life and economy of the settlement and its inhabitants, particularly their roles in agriculture and pilgrimage services; they also revealed the ancient name of the village: Νεσάνα.

[...]

Good. I'm glad the archaeologists are back at Nessana. I hope they make lots of discoveries, hopefully including more papyri. The previously discovered archives seem to have held mostly administrative texts. While I'm hoping, I hope that this time they find the library, ideally including some Greek and Aramaic Enochic books.

Background on Nessana (Nitzana) is here and links.

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

Bremer-McCollum, The Pearlsong (Harvard University Press)

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: The Pearlsong.

Notice of a New Book: Bremer-McCollum, Adam. 2025. The Pearlsong (Texts & Translations of Transcendence and Transformation). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Better known as The Hymn of the Pearl, this song is embedded in the Syriac text of the apocryphal Acts of Thomas. It arguably had a pre-history. There is a Greek version in the Greek translation of the Acts of Thomas. You can read an old English translation of it here.

There is a closely related collection of Coptic Manichean songs called The Psalms of Thomas. Links to an old English translation are at the bottom of that link.

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

On the IAA's anti-theft unit

PROACTIVE ARCHAEOLOGY: The Fight to Preserve Israel’s History. The Israel Antiquities Authority’s anti-theft unit is waging its own war (HEATHER LEXA, Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology).

For nine years, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and Israel’s Ministry of Heritage have been working together to preserve the history of the Jewish people and their ties to the land of Israel.

By excavating sites throughout Israel, the iaa’s Theft Prevention Unit, directed by Dr. Amir Ganor, has been able to prevent looters from stumbling upon and stealing ancient artifacts; the specialized unit also works to prevent illegal excavations. Ganor told Archaeology magazine that his crew is “a special police for antiquities.”

[...]

PaleoJudaica covered all of the stories mentioned in the article as they came out. For the ancient coins seized from a West Bank checkpoint, see here. For the half-shekel coin excavated in February, see here. For the 2014 Cave of Skulls looting, see here and for the scroll fragments subsequently excavated there, see here and links. For the Cave of Horror scroll fragments discovered in 2021, see here and links. The Neolithic basket comes up in some of those links too.

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

Filming completed for "The Resurrection of the Christ"

CINEMA: Mel Gibson’s ‘The Resurrection of the Christ’ Sequel, Out in 2027, Wraps Filming. (Stephanie Martin, ChurchLeaders).

“The Resurrection of the Christ,” the long-awaited follow-up to Mel Gibson’s 2004 blockbuster “The Passion of the Christ,” has completed seven months of shooting in Italy. In videos shared on social media, the cast and crew celebrate the completion of principal photography on the project.

[...]

This should be interesting. I'm especially looking forward to seeing how Gibson interacts with the Enochic literature:

The premise is so massive, Gibson added, because “you have to start with the fall of the angels in the firmament…right at the beginning.” The director said “The Resurrection of the Christ” will feature battles between angels and demons, as well as Jesus descending into hell.

See the above link and here for background. I don't know whether Aramaic or other ancient languages feature in the dialogue of these two movies, as it did in the first one.

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

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in the Talmud

FOR LAG B'OMER: Lag b’Omer: celebrating Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Long before the advent of modern-day celebrations of Yom Ha’atzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim one date pierced the gloom of the Omer period –Lag b’Omer. (YOSSI AARON, The Australian Jewish News).

But leaving aside mystical actions and teachings attributed to Rashbi in the Zohar, what do we know of him from sources such as the Talmud? We all know that he spent a total of 13 years hiding in a cave. But why?

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

Lag B'Omer 2026

LAG B'OMER, the 33rd day of the Counting of the Omer, begins tonight at sundown. Best wishes to all observing it.

My 2025 Lag B'Omer post is here. A subsequent related post is here.

For the biblical and rabbinic background of the holiday, see here and here.

UPDATE (5 May): More here.

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

New ISF study on Hebrew bullae announced

HEBREW EPIGRAPHY AND ANCIENT MATERIAL CULTURE: IAA reveals new study focused on ancient Jerusalem bullae in honor of Israel Excellence Week. According to the IAA, the study aims to examine Jerusalem's administrative systems from the First Temple period through the end of the Second Temple period (Miriam Sela-Eitam, Jerusalem Post).

Dr. Joe Uziel and Dr. Yiftah Shalev have been researching the bullae found in Jerusalem in order to study the finds from a “broad, long-term perspective,” the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) revealed in honor of Israel Excellence Week 2026.

The study, titled “Sealed and Sent: A Long-Term Follow-Up Study of Bullae from Jerusalem and Its Implications for Understanding the City's Administration,” will be conducted by Uziel and Shalev alongside scholars from academic institutions. ...

Rather than studying on the names and text inscribed on the bullae, Uziel and Shalev’s research focuses on the inner side of the bullae in attempt to figure out what they had been attached to. ...

That's a good idea. The results should be illuminating.

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

Hebron's Second Temple-era mikveh almost ready for visitors

CONSERVATION: Project to make Tel Hebron’s Second Temple mikveh accessible to visitors nearly complete, INPA says. Burda added that visitors to the site will be able to learn about the bath’s significance, its place within daily life, and “momentarily experience the religious and social reality of that era” (Miriam Sela-Eitam, Jerusalem Post).

The project to make the Second Temple mikveh (Jewish ritual bath) at the Tel Hebron archaeological site near Kiryat Arba more accessible to visitors is almost complete, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) said on Thursday.

One of the largest of its kind in the country with a volume of nearly 200 cubic meters, the mikveh was was discovered in 2014 by the Civil Administration's Archaeology Staff Officer, under the direction of Dr. Emanuel Eisenberg and Professor David Ben Shlomo.

[...]

For more on the Second Temple-era ritual baths at Hebron, see here and here.

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

Was the Roman destruction of Jerusalem inevitable?

HISTORY: 2,000 years ago, ancient Roman forces annihilated Jerusalem. Was its destruction inevitable? The first of the Jewish-Roman wars was interrupted by one of the defining events of the 1st century, and gave birth to one of ancient Rome’s most powerful dynastie (James Osborne, HistoryExtra). HT Rogue Classicism.

A high flyover review of the first Jewish revolt against Rome (the Great Revolt) with some thoughtful observations.

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

Dillon, John the Baptist and Composite Intertextuality in the Fourth Gospel (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

John the Baptist and Composite Intertextuality in the Fourth Gospel

The Evangelist's Archetypal Witness

Series:
Biblical Interpretation Series, Volume: 237

Author: Amber M. Dillon

Recent scholarship has focused on John’s relationship to Judaism, his intertextual method, and his portrayal of John the Baptist, yet few connect these topics. We know the Evangelist is a masterful storyteller, particularly with his characters, which raises the question: Could we view the relationship between the Fourth Gospel and Judaism through the lens of the Baptist? This study explores the intersection of scriptural allusions and characterization related to John the Baptist, uncovering another perspective to the complex interplay between Judaism and the Fourth Gospel. Readers will discover how John the Baptist emerges as a key figure, illuminating the narrative and reinforcing the Gospel’s themes. This engaging exploration challenges conventional interpretations and invites the reader to see the Fourth Gospel in a new light.

Copyright Year: 2026

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-75970-1
Publication: 17 Mar 2026
EUR €109.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-75500-0
Publication: 08 Apr 2026
EUR €109.00

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

Mirotznik, The Portrayal of Pagan Worship in the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Judaism (CUP)

NEW BOOK FROM CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

The Portrayal of Pagan Worship in the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Judaism

Author: Jesse Mirotznik, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Published: April 2026
Availability: Available
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 9781009691970

£95.00 GBP
Hardback

£95.00 USD
Adobe eBook Reader

Description

How did Jews in the ancient world depict the practices of their pagan contemporaries? In this study, Jesse Mirotznik investigates the portrayal of pagan worship in the Hebrew Bible and ancient Jewish literature. Scholars have assumed that the portrayals in these corpora are consistent over time. Mirotznik, however, shows that there is a fundamental discontinuity between earlier and later depictions of pagan worship. In the Hebrew Bible, these forms of worship are, for the most part, simply assumed to be sincere. By contrast, in ancient Jewish texts from approximately the end of the third century BCE and onward, such worship is increasingly presented as insincere, performed only instrumentally in the service of an ulterior motive. While the worshipers of other gods seem genuine in their devotion, these texts contend, they too must recognize the folly of such worship.

• The book introduces a distinction between the normative elements of ancient Jewish views of the Other and the descriptive elements
• Introduces the concept of Bad Faith as a lens through which to understand rhetoric about the Other
• Examines the influence of Classical Studies on scholarship in ancient Judaism

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