(Con)textual Perspectives on the Dead Sea Scrolls (Chazon Festschrift, Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

(Con)textual Perspectives on the Dead Sea Scrolls

Proceedings of the Seventeenth International Orion Symposium, February 28–March 3, 2022. Published in Honor of Esther G. Chazon

Series:
Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah, Volume: 157

Volume Editors: Ruth A. Clements, Michael B. Johnson, Noam Mizrahi, and Michael Segal

The Seventeenth Orion Symposium, held online, invited scholars to present research-in-progress, and to relate their texts to diverse literary, cultural, historical, and methodological contexts, including social sciences and manuscript studies. In some cases, authors reexamined published texts with the help of digital technologies and computational approaches, and suggested new contexts for understanding the significance of minute details. The volume is dedicated to Esther Chazon, who conceived of the symposium, in recognition of her many contributions to the Orion Center and to the field of Scrolls studies.

Copyright Year: 2026

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-75514-7
Publication: 04 May 2026
EUR €146.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-75477-5
Publication: 05 Jun 2026
EUR €146.00

Congrautions to Professor Chazon!

I noted that 2022 Orion Symposium here.

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

Ancient Anatolian Mithraeum was closed by Syriac Christians

ARAMAIC WATCH: Ancient Aramaic inscription reveals early Christians sealed Türkiye's Mithras Temple (Türkiye Today).

{The decipherer, Professor Mehmet Sait] Toprak said the inscription refers symbolically to the "Invincible Sun God Mithras" and to Jesus, showing how the sanctuary was sealed in a Christian context.

He said the text includes expressions referring to the holy cross in the name of God, described as the one who orders, reforms and spreads love.

He described the inscription as the first known Old Aramaic written example showing the closure of a Mithras Temple. "This is an extremely important archaeological discovery," Toprak said, adding that both the writing and the cross at the entrance represented the symbolic closure of the temple.

I noted the 2017 discovery of this 1700-year-old Mithras sanctuary at the Zerzevan Castle in the Diyarbakır province in southeast Turkey here and here. Aramaic writing in a chapel in the same vicinity was discovered in 2015. I don't know if the latter is related to the newly deciphered inscription announced in this latest article.

Cross-file under Syriac Watch.

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The recovery of a lost Gnostic poem

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: How We Accidentally Found A Great Gnostic Poem (Philip Jenkins).

Hippolytus offers elaborate retellings of Gnostic celestial mythologies, with the goal of showing how thoroughly plagiarized they were from the famous philosophers of pagan Greek antiquity, especially Plato and Pythagoras. But that habit of copious quotation is fatally counter-productive for his cause. He wants to uproot heresy and destroy their memory. What he does is to preserve massive details that otherwise would have been eradicated, and some of what he quotes is really attractive and even inspiring.

There are other cases where quotations by ancient zealous debunkers preserved the only substantial portions of works the debunkers opposed. Works that, without their interference, would have been lost and forgotten. Origen's Contra Celsum comes to mind.

By the way, the surviving manuscript of The Refutation of All Heresies is anonymous. Its attribution to Hyppolytus has been challenged as tenuous in recent years. For details, see David Litwa's recent edition, a review of which is noted here.

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

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Nomination for IAA head rejected by vetting committee

POLITICS AND ARCHAEOLOGY: Vetting panel disqualifies heritage minister’s nominee for Antiquities Authority chief. Esther Schreiber blocked after panel finds that the tender that led to her selection illegally lowered criteria; Ben Gvir says 'deep state' can't handle religiously observant women (Times of Israel).

Background here (cf. here) and links.

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Stoic (?) scroll recovered from Herculaneum

HERCULANEUM WATCH: AI helps read papyrus scroll burnt to crisp during Vesuvius eruption. Previously hidden text revealed without unrolling scroll discusses stoic philosophy on ethics, art and human behaviour (Ian Sample, The Guardian).

The Vesuvius Challenge has yielded up twenty readable columns of a carbonized Herculaneum scroll:

Much of the Herculaneum library was dominated by Philodemus of Gadara, a Epicurean philosopher and poet in the first century BC. But while the title and author of PHerc 1667 remain unknown, its older age and contents point to another author.

Analysis by Nicolardi and her colleagues suggests the text is a stoic treatise, perhaps authored by the Greek philosopher Chrysippus. He was the third head of the stoic school and has other works in the collection. The text refers to his nephew and pupil, Aristocreon.

“At first, we were saying this could be an Epicurean talking about stoic doctrine,” said Nicolardi. “But then I stopped and said, you know, if this was found outside of Herculaneum, we would categorise it as a stoic work.”

Prof. Brent Seales has been working on recovering the Herculaneum scrolls for a long time.

Seales said the challenge had now shifted from the techniques needed to read the burned scrolls to the scholarly work to understand them. “People now know that this can be done and now we’re exploring what [the texts] actually mean,” he said. “For me that’s the World Cup. I just won the World Cup: that’s my victory.”

Amen to that.

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 Technology Watch.

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

Was Jesus, Son of Panthera, a Christian invention?

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

Jesus, the Son of Panthera: The Christian Invention of a “Jewish” Slander

The Panthera legend is often treated as an early Jewish slander against Jesus and Mary, but the evidence points instead to a Christian anti-Jewish construction. Early Christian writers placed the accusation in the mouths of fictional or stylized Jewish opponents to defend the virginal conception, police Christian belief, and portray Jews as hostile outsiders. Rabbinic references to the “son of Panthera” are late, fragmentary, and too ambiguous to support the idea of an organized Jewish anti-Christian polemic.

See also The Panthera Legend and the Conception of Jesus: Rape, Consent and Anti-Judaism (Routledge, 2026).

By Christopher B. Zeichmann
Toronto Metropolitan University
Religious Studies
June 2026

Cross-file under New Book.

I have posts on the Panthera (Pantera, Pandera) legend, and on Jesus in the Talmud, here, here, and here, with links and comments.

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

Review of the reopened Bardo Museum

PUNIC WATCH: The Reopened Bardo National Museum in Tunis, Tunisia (Helen Dixon, American Journal of Archaeology 130.3, open access).

Abstract

This review addresses the reopened (in 2023) Bardo National Museum in Tunis, a government-funded archaeological museum in Tunisia’s capital city. As of June 2025, several galleries had been reorganized or completely redone, but a few rooms remained closed as the renovations continued. Key collections—like one of the world’s largest assemblages of mosaics—are stunning, if perhaps under-interpreted. The updated presentation offers unique insight into the Late Classical and Late Antique Mediterranean worlds, as well as the early history of Islam in the Maghreb. Although labels throughout the museum currently provide uneven guidance for non-specialist visitors, the renovations have established a strong foundation for further improvements in accessibility and interpretive depth, particularly in areas such as women’s history, African history, and the contemporary reception of the past. The complex legacies of Carthage and Rome, as well as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, are presented as a pluralist cultural vision, in powerful conversation with grand Western narratives about the ancient Mediterranean and the spread of monotheism. The museum’s dominant metaphor can be said to be the mosaic, an assemblage of meaningful stories, each presented as a medallion in the larger pattern of Tunisian identity.

As I noted in 2023, the museum suffered a terrorist attack in 2015, but it reopened that same year. It was closed during the Covid lockdowns and then again for complicated political reasons. It underwent continued restoration during that closure and reopened in 2023.

This review includes coverage of the museum's substantial Punic collection.

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

Archaeomagnetometry, geomagnetic fluctuations, and the Acra Fortress

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: Hellenistic Wine Jars from Rhodes Reveal the Secrets of Earth’s Magnetic Field and the Jerusalem of the Maccabees. An international study uses Hellenistic ceramics with Rhodes stamps to track abrupt changes in the magnetic field and shed light on the Seleucid fortress of Acra in Jerusalem ( Guillermo Carvajal, LBV).

A team of researchers from Tel Aviv University, Ariel University, and the University of California San Diego has managed to extract high-resolution geomagnetic information from 24 ceramic pieces found in three Jerusalem sites: the City of David, the Jewish Quarter, and the Givati parking lot.

The result, published in Archaeometry, confirms that the magnetic field suffered a dramatic collapse in the first half of the 2nd century BCE and, moreover, offers an unexpected tool to precisely date the most controversial archaeological contexts of Hellenistic Jerusalem.

[...]

For PaleoJudaica posts on the Givati Parking Lot excavation and the many discoveries there, start here and follow the links.

For more archaeomagnetic (geomagnetic, paleomagnetic, etc.) dating stories, see here and links.

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

Secret Mark—Three times bogus?

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: A Third Novel That Proves “Secret Mark” Is A Forgery.And Another Good Reason Why “Secret Mark” is Bogus (Philip Jenkins).

I must ask for help on one question. Can anyone think of where Graves was getting his idea of a secret gospel transmission, presumably channeled through bishops? Is there any ancient warrant for that at all? Or did he make it up entirely himself? Because if there is no ancient source, I think we have another powerful piece of evidence confirming that Morton Smith forged the letter of Clement of Alexandria in which he describes The Secret Gospel of Mark.

As I've noted before, Professor Jenkins thinks the idea of Secret Mark being genuinely ancient anything is laughable. The possibility that it is a late-antique forgery is still being defended. And I see that, perhaps contrary to my earlier comment, New Testament Apocrypha expert Tony Burke still (as of 2024) thinks that the Secret Gospel of Mark "might be authentic" and "is probably not a forgery," although I'm not sure exactly what that means. I'm also not sure what other positions specialists are still prepared to defend. This is not my area of expertise. I'm just watching. 🍿

For many PaleoJudaica posts on the Secret Gospel of Mark debate, follow the links from the link above.

I think this AB post is a continuation of Professor Jenkins's Lost and Found Scriptues series. For earlier posts, see here and links.

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

King Tarhaqa and Sennacherib's siege of Jerusalem

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: King Taharqa of the Kingdom of Cush. Did Nubian kings save Judah? (Marek Dospěl).

This essay summarizes a BAR article (behind the subscription wall) by James K. Hoffmeier.

I'm always interested in adding another piece to the puzzle of the events around Sennacherib's siege of Jerusalem in the time of Hezekiah. I have mentioned King Tarhaqa (Tarhaqo, Tirhakah) here and links, with some comments about 2 Kings 19:9 (//Isaiah 37:9) in the context of the siege here. For many other posts, start here and follow the links.

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

On writing The Magi

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Lessons Learned from the Magi (Eric Vanden Eykel).

If writing about the Magi taught me anything, it is that interpretive certainty is often unfounded. The twelve verses about the Magi in Matthew do not invite final answers; they invite attention, patience, and the persistence to keep digging. In this way, the Magi become less a prooftext about Gentiles and Jews and more a pressure test for our reading and interpretive habits. The history of interpretation for the story of the Magi exposes how easily Christian interpretation drifts into anti-Judaism when “outsider versus insider” dynamics are allowed to stand in for more careful and intentional study.

A very personal account of the writing of the author's book, The Magi: Who They Were, How They’ve Been Remembered, and Why They Still Fascinate (Fortress, 2022), on which more here.

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

Obeid, Le langage métaphorique dans le texte hébreu de Ben Sira (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK:

Charlotte Obeid

Le langage métaphorique dans le texte hébreu de Ben Sira

[Metaphorical Language in the Hebrew Text of Ben Sira.]
2025. 404 pages.
Forschungen zum Alten Testament 2. Reihe (FAT II) 171

€109.00
including VAT

sewn paper
available
978-3-16-164680-5

Also Available As:
eBook PDF

Summary

Charlotte Obeid analyzes the use of metaphorical language for educational purposes in the Hebrew text of Ben Sira, providing interpretative tools that not only contribute to a better understanding of Ben Sira's message but can be applied to the interpretation of metaphors in other writings as well.

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Porter & Laird (eds.), The New Testament Canon in Contemporary Research (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

The New Testament Canon in Contemporary Research

Series:
Texts and Editions for New Testament Study, Volume: 21

Volume Editors: Stanley E. Porter and Benjamin P. Laird

The New Testament canon remains a major topic in scholarly research. This comprehensive volume provides a forum for scholars from varied backgrounds and perspectives to present major essays on the various dimensions of the topic. The essays are organized around three major foci: the formation of the canon, the components of the canon, and the witnesses of the canon, within which are several sub-sections. Following a treatment of various factors that prompted the formation of the New Testament canon, the subsequent sections include essays that present opposing views on specific questions of current debate.

Copyright Year: 2026

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-75107-1
Publication: 17 Mar 2026
EUR €170.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-75106-4
Publication: 16 Apr 2026
EUR €170.00

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