Monday, April 28, 2025

Review of Perrin, Lost Words and Forgotten Worlds (Lexham)

READING ACTS: Andrew B. Perrin, Lost Words and Forgotten Worlds: Rediscovering the Dead Sea Scrolls (Phil Long).
Perrin, Andrew B. Lost Words and Forgotten Worlds: Rediscovering the Dead Sea Scrolls. Bellingham, Wash.: Lexham Academic, 2024. xxv+322 pp.; Hb.; $25.99. Link to Lexham Press

... Conclusion: Perrin states in his introduction that he is not writing for an academic audience. This is a presentation of the Dead Sea Scrolls for a general Christian readership. The book is easy reading, filled with good humor, personal anecdotes, and pop cultural references. The endnotes point the way for readers interested in more detailed, scholarly work. The book is richly illustrated with full-color photographs to enhance the reading experience. Your parent does not shy away from controversy. Chapter 3 discusses the problem of forgeries. Whenever money is to be made, quality forgers will find willing victims. He names, names, including the Museum of the Bible, the Schøyen Collection, and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Perrin’s Lost Words and Forgotten Worlds is an excellent introduction to the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

I'm guessing that the mysterious references to a "parent" in this review are autocorrect relics.

Cross-file under New Book.

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Review of Ruzer, The Writings of the New Testament as Jewish Literature (Hebrew)

BOOK REVIEW SUMMARY: Israeli professor praises Hebrew book on New Testament, says most Israelis know almost nothing about Christianity’s shared roots with Judaism. 'The Hebrew-speaking public needs this book now more than ever' (All Israel News).
In a detailed review, Professor Ishay Rosen-Zvi of Tel Aviv University recently introduced Hebrew readers to The Writings of the New Testament as Jewish Literature, a new and exceptional book by Dr. Serge Ruzer, a leading scholar of comparative religion at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Ruzer’s work traces the profound ties between early Christian texts and Jewish tradition, shedding light on the rich presence of Hebrew and Jewish ideas within the New Testament.

According to Rosen-Zvi’s enthusiastic review, the book is not merely a valuable academic contribution but a true milestone in the field of Jewish studies. Rather than engaging in apologetics or polemics, Ruzer focuses on the theological ideas reflected in the various New Testament writings.

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

Guide to ethnographic passages by Pliny the Elder

ETHNIC RELATIONS AND MIGRATION IN THE ANCIENT WORLD: Guide to Pliny the Elder (Philip A. Harland).
This post is aimed at providing a guide for reading sequentally through ethnographic passages dealing with peoples other than Greeks or Italians in Pliny the Elder’s Natural History. Books 3-6 are focussed primarily on geography and peoples, but there are other ethnographically important sections as well:
includes that famous passage on the Essenes.

For more on this blog, see here and here and links.

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Sunday, April 27, 2025

Barton (ed.) Understanding the Hebrew Bible (OUP)

NEW BOOK FROM OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS:
Understanding the Hebrew Bible

Essays by Members of the Society for Old Testament Study

Edited by John Barton

£119.00

Hardback
Published: 27 February 2025
448 Pages
234x156mm
ISBN: 9780192845788

Also Available As:
E-book

Description

This is the latest in a series of volumes, published about every twenty-five years since 1924, surveying the current state of the academic study of the Old Testament—more often called the Hebrew Bible in scholarly contexts. It is written by leading members of the Society for Old Testament Study, the professional organization for scholars in that field in the UK and Ireland, but with international members too, some of whom have contributed to the volume. It provides academics, students of the Bible, clergy and rabbis, and intelligent general readers, with a snapshot of the main approaches and issues in the study of the Hebrew Bible since (approximately) the year 2000.

There are chapters on specific biblical books in their ancient context, grouped mainly by genre, but also on methodological aspects of biblical studies today, including interdisciplinary perspectives and contemporary questions, such as the Bible in sociological, theological, historical, archaeological, literary, and linguistic perspectives, and the influence of concerns about gender, race, visual culture, and psychology. A particular recent interest is represented by a chapter on the reception history of the Hebrew Bible in the visual arts, music, and literature (including drama and film). The concern throughout, is to encapsulate contemporary currents in interpretation, rather than to put forward the contributors' personal views, but also to suggest how biblical study may or should develop next in these areas. As with previous volumes, what is provided is a view of global scholarship as seen from these islands that will be useful to serious students of the Hebrew Bible throughout the world. As well as describing their field, the contributors also provide substantial bibliographies pointing readers to other modern discussions.

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Saturday, April 26, 2025

Khan Festschrift (Open Book)

CONGRATULATIONS TO GEOFFREY KHAN on the two-volume Festschrift in his honour published by Open Book Publishers.

Interconnected Traditions: Semitic Languages, Literatures, Cultures—A Festschrift for Geoffrey Khan. Volume 1: Hebrew and the Wider Semitic World (many editors, see link)

Interconnected Traditions: Semitic Languages, Literatures, Cultures—A Festschrift for Geoffrey Khan. Volume 2: The Medieval World, Judaeo-Arabic, and Neo-Aramaic (ditto).

The notice for both volumes:

Geoffrey Khan’s pioneering scholarship has transformed the study of Semitic languages, literatures, and cultures, leaving an indelible mark on fields ranging from Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic dialectology to medieval manuscript traditions and linguistic typology. This Festschrift, celebrating a distinguished career that culminated in his tenure (2012–2025) as Regius Professor of Hebrew in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge, brings together contributions from a vast and representative array of scholars—retired, established, and up and coming—whose work has been influenced by his vast intellectual legacy.

Reflecting the interconnected traditions that Khan has illuminated throughout his career, this volume presents cutting-edge research on Hebrew and Aramaic linguistics, historical syntax, manuscript studies, and the transmission of textual traditions across centuries and cultures. Contributors engage with topics central to Khan’s scholarship, including the evolution of the Biblical Hebrew verbal system, the intricacies of Masoretic notation, Geniza discoveries, Samaritan and medieval Judaeo-Arabic texts, and computational approaches to linguistic analysis.

As Khan retires from his role as Regius Professor, this collection stands as both a tribute and a continuation of his work, honouring his lifelong dedication to understanding and preserving the linguistic and literary heritage of the Semitic world.

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Friday, April 25, 2025

More on the Ostia mikveh, etc.

VARIANT READINGS: More on the mikveh at Ostia and Other Jewish Materials (Brent Nongbri).

Including information on the Jewish materials now on display in the Ostia Museum.

Background here.

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Satlow on AI and Word Similarity in the Talmud

MICHAEL L. SATLOW: Word Similarity in the Talmud. Professor Satlow has an ongoing project "to explore ways in which AI and machine learning can contribute to the academic study of early rabbinic literature."
Our first output is a tool that maps the similarity of word use in the tractates of both the Babylonian and the Palestinian Talmuds.

This is an experimental tool that uses machine learning techniques to show word similarities in the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds. It will also allow you to compare how specific tractates use a word. It works by first mapping phrases (the length of which is determined by the “Window”) into a multidimensional matrix, then computing the distance between those occurrences, and finally sorting these occurrences into clusters based on the distances. The parameters are explained further in the menu. You can hover over the points on the visualization to see more data.

Cross-file under Talmud Watch and Algorithm Watch.

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Aramaic postdoc in Madrid

ARAMAIC WATCH; REPOSTED FROM THE AGADE LIST:
From Jonathan Valk (jonathan.valk@gmail.com):
====================

The ERC-funded ARAMAIZATION project (The Aramaization of the Middle East: Revisiting the Fall and Rise of Written Traditions, 2025–2030, https://doi.org/10.3030/101163243) based in Madrid at the Spanish National Research Council’s (CSIC) Institute of Languages and Cultures of the Mediterranean and the Near East invites applications for a Postdoctoral position in Aramaic Studies. The appointment is for three years, starting in September 2025 or at a mutually agreed upon date.

Job description

The ARAMAIZATION project seeks to better understand the rise of written Aramaic across the ancient Middle East in the first half of the first millennium BCE. The successful applicant will work with Principal Investigator Jonathan Valk to collect, edit, and make available all Aramaic writing from the Assyrian world in the first half of the first millennium BCE within the broader cuneiform context in which this writing was produced. Publication of the Aramaic evidence will be both online and in print. The position comes with substantial freedom to shape the research process and with the resources required to ensure its successful implementation, including museum visits and research tools. Salary is set at the conditions for Personal contratado Doctor FC3 in the Spanish system, amounting to a total compensation package before tax and social security payments of 55,327.25 €

Eligibility

Candidates will possess expertise in Aramaic philology and a capacity to work directly with inscribed objects. Familiarity with Assyriology and broader comparative Semitics is desirable. Applicants should hold a PhD degree in a relevant discipline.

Applicants should possess an excellent command of written and spoken English, as well as excellent research and communication skills. The ability to work collaboratively with other members of the team is essential.

Application procedure

Applications should consist of the following:

· a curriculum vitae

· a cover letter explaining your motivation for applying for the position and demonstrating your capacity to fulfill the requirements successfully

· a writing sample (preferably published work)

· contact information (email) for two referees

Please merge these items into a single pdf file and submit them via email to jonathan.valk@gmail.com by 26 May 2025.

Please submit any questions about the position or the application process to the same address. Applicants will receive confirmation that their materials have been received and will be notified of any developments via email. Shortlisted applicants will be invited to an online interview.

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Open-access titles from Project Muse

THE AWOL BLOG notes some open-access Brown Judaic Studies monographs, all reprinted in 2020 by Project Muse:

Ben Sira’s View of Women: A Literary Analysis (Warren C. Trenchard, 1982)

Sectarian Law in the Dead Sea Scrolls: Courts, Testimony and the Penal Code (Lawrence H. Schiffman, 1983)

Semites, Iranians, Greeks, and Romans: Studies in their Interactions (Jonathan Goldstein, 1990)

Some Jewish Women in Antiquity (Meir Bar-Ilan, 1998)

And for a bonus, here's another Project Muse reprint:

Rabbinic Judaism in the Making: The Halakhah from Ezra to Judah I (Alexander Guttmann, Wayne State University Press, 1970, rpt. 2018)

It is great to have these older volumes readily available again. But be aware that you may have to poke around a bit to find the original publication dates. They really should be listed at the top of the Project Muse page with the reprint date.

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

Thursday, April 24, 2025

Caviezel, Gibson, Passion of the Christ 2, and the fall of the angels?

CINEMA: Passion of the Christ 2: Jim Caviezel Explains Different Mindset for Sequel (Anthony Nash, ComingSoon.net).
Jim Caviezel is currently preparing to return to the role of Jesus Christ for the upcoming Passion of the Christ 2, and recently opened up about how he’s preparing.
I noted a year ago that Passion of the Christ 2 was in the works. It was supposed to be out by about now, but it seems it is still at a preliminary stage. You can read about Caviezel's thoughts in this article, but what caught my eye was a detail from Mel Gibson's Joe Rogan interview from January of this year.
“I’m hoping next year sometime. There’s a lot required because it’s an acid trip,” he said. “My brother and I and Randall all sort of congregated on this. So there’s some good heads put together, but there’s some crazy stuff. And I think in order to really tell the story properly you have to really start with the fall of the angels, which means you’re in another place, you’re in another realm. You need to go to hell.”
Sounds like the film will start with the fall of the angels, which may mean that Mel will be looking at legends of the fall of the watchers in 1 Enoch and related Second Temple Jewish texts. I hope he takes note of the Book of Giants as well, since it is effectively another Second Temple Enochic book and it covers that ground from its own perspective - that of the doomed giant offspring of the watchers.

All surviving translatable fragments of the Book of Giants are now available in Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, volume 2, More Noncanoncial Scriptures. I may have mentioned this already, but its formal publication date is today!

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

More on the Punic lack of Levantine ancestry

PUNIC WATCH, UPDATE: Who Were the Carthaginians? Ancient DNA Study Reveals a Stunning Answer Carthage and its empire were established by Phoenicians, but new research finds that the archenemies of Rome had little genetic link to their Levantine founders (Ariel David, Haaretz).
Now, a team of researchers has extracted the DNA of scores of people buried in ancient Punic settlements across the western and central Mediterranean, including Carthage itself, and has made a startling discovery.

... Instead, it seems the Punic people were exceptionally diverse, and derived most of their ancestry from a genetic profile similar to that of ancient people from Sicily and Greece. The second major ancestry component came from local North African populations and steadily grew as Carthage's political importance rose, the researchers report.

The finding is unexpected because, throughout the centuries, the Carthaginians maintained clear cultural links to their Levantine roots, speaking a semitic language, using the Phoenician alphabet and worshipping the Canaanite gods of their founders.

I have mentioned this story already here when the underlying article was at the prepublication stafe. I comment there on why the result is not all that surprising.

Now the article has been published the journal Nature. And, as usual for the Haaretz archaeological reporters, Ariel David provides useful background and commentary. The article:

Punic people were genetically diverse with almost no Levantine ancestors

Harald Ringbauer, Ayelet Salman-Minkov, Dalit Regev, Iñigo Olalde, Tomer Peled, Luca Sineo, Gioacchino Falsone, Peter van Dommelen, Alissa Mittnik, Iosif Lazaridis, Davide Pettener, Maria Bofill, Ana Mezquida, Benjamí Costa, Helena Jiménez, Patricia Smith, Stefania Vai, Alessandra Modi, Arie Shaus, Kim Callan, Elizabeth Curtis, Aisling Kearns, Ann Marie Lawson, Matthew Mah, …David Reich

Nature (2025)

Abstract

The maritime Phoenician civilization from the Levant transformed the entire Mediterranean during the first millennium BCE1,2,3. However, the extent of human movement between the Levantine Phoenician homeland and Phoenician–Punic settlements in the central and western Mediterranean has been unclear in the absence of comprehensive ancient DNA studies. Here, we generated genome-wide data for 210 individuals, including 196 from 14 sites traditionally identified as Phoenician and Punic in the Levant, North Africa, Iberia, Sicily, Sardinia and Ibiza, and an early Iron Age individual from Algeria. Levantine Phoenicians made little genetic contribution to Punic settlements in the central and western Mediterranean between the sixth and second centuries BCE, despite abundant archaeological evidence of cultural, historical, linguistic and religious links4. Instead, these inheritors of Levantine Phoenician culture derived most of their ancestry from a genetic profile similar to that of Sicily and the Aegean. Much of the remaining ancestry originated from North Africa, reflecting the growing influence of Carthage5. However, this was a minority contributor of ancestry in all of the sampled sites, including in Carthage itself. Different Punic sites across the central and western Mediterranean show similar patterns of high genetic diversity. We also detect genetic relationships across the Mediterranean, reflecting shared demographic processes that shaped the Punic world.

The Haaretz article does flag one result that I do find surprising:
The later and secondary addition of North African ancestry likely has to do with the rise to prominence of Carthage as the capital of the Punic empire, the researchers note. But what is unusual is that this "radical mix" occurred pretty homogenously across the empire: it's not that the Phoenicians in Sicily mixed with the local Sicilians and Greeks, while the ones in Tunisia intermarried with Africans. The genetic analysis shows that this population churn was constant and spread all over the empire. This is likely connected to the great mobility of the Carthaginians who created a "Mediterranean highway" of maritime trade, Ringbauer says.
I would have expected the genetic diversity to be more tied to the local populations in the individual colonies.

At this post is a reminder why PaleoJudaica posts so frequently on Phoenician and Punic (Carthaginian) language and society.

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

Why so many churches in the late-antique Levant?

SOCIAL-ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECONSTRUCTION: Private churches and public synagogues – how devotion and ambition shaped the religious landscape of Israel in Late Antiquity (All Israel News).
Late Antiquity (4th–7th centuries A.D.), saw a surge of private church construction in the land of Israel and the broader Near East, driven by Christian patrons’ desire for prestige and devotion to local saints, according to new research by Prof. Jacob Ashkenazi of Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee.

Published in the Levant journal, Ashkenazi's findings also show a clear contrast with nearby Jewish communities, which focused their resources on single, centralized synagogues that served as village community centers.

[...]

Prof. Ashkenazi's article in the journal Levant, "Why so many? Analysing church multiplicity in Late Antique southern Levant," is behind the subscription wall, but you can read the abstract for free at the link above.

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Hybrid Lecture: Alexander the Great in Jerusalem and the Origins of the Alexander Romance

UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL:
Alexander the Great in Jerusalem and the Origins of the Alexander Romance

The ACE [Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology] department is thrilled to announce an Ancient History Seminar titled 'Alexander the Great in Jerusalem and the Origins of the Alexander Romance' delivered by Ory Amitay, (University of Haifa) on the 6 May 2025, Rendall Building, Lecture Theatre 7.

Tuesday 6 May 5pm (UK) | Rendall, Lecture Theatre 7 or online | Open to the public, and University of Liverpool staff and students
This is a hybrid event, we encourage in-person attendance which facilitates discussion. To join on zoom please click here.

Abstract

The topics presented in this talk come from a comprehensive study of the tradition concerning the meeting between Alexander the Great and the Judeans of Jerusalem. Historically, even if Alexander did visit Jerusalem, it was essentially a non-event, nothing to write home about. The historical void provided an opportunity for consecutive Judean storytellers to fill it with political myths of their own creation.

The overall purpose of these myths—so I argue in my new book Alexander the Great in Jerusalem: Myth and History (OUP, 2025) —was on the one hand to negotiate the installation of successive forms of foreign rule over Judea, and on the other to find room for these foreign rules within Judean sacred history. The earliest of these stories, scarcely discussed in previous scholarship, is preserved in the epsilon recension of the Alexander Romance (AR).

[...]

Follow the link for more details.

The abovementioned New Book just came out:

Alexander the Great in Jerusalem

Myth and History

Ory Amitay

£84.00

Hardback
Published: 18 April 2025 (Estimated)
220 Pages
234x156mm
ISBN: 9780198929529

Also Available As:
E-book

Description

Alexander the Great in Jerusalem: Myth and History discusses four different stories told in antiquity about the meeting between Alexander the Great and the Judeans of Jerusalem. In history, this meeting passed without noticeable events. Into the historical void stepped various Judean storytellers, who wrote not what was, but what could (or even should) have been.

The tradition as a whole deals with an issue that resurfaced time and again in ancient Judean history: conquest and regime installment by new foreign rulers. It does so by using Alexander as a cipher for a current Hellenistic and Roman foreign rule. The earliest version can be traced to the context of the Seleukid monarch Antiochos III "the Great", and postulates a Judean text from that time that has been hitherto unknown, and which survived in a Byzantine recension (epsilon) of the Alexander Romance. The second and third chapters turn to rabbinic sources, and deal with the Judean approaches and attitudes towards Roman occupation and rule, first at the advent of Pompey and then at the institution of Provincia ludaea at the expense of the Herodian dynasty. The final story is the most famous, previously considered the earliest, rather than the latest; that of Josephus.

Alexander the Great in Jerusalem demonstrates how the historical tradition consistently maintained the moral and sacral superiority of the Jerusalem temple and of Judaism, making Alexander either embrace monotheism or prostrate himself before the Judean high priest. This not only bolstered Judean self-confidence under conditions of military and political inferiority, but also brought the changing foreign rulers into the fold of Judean sacred history.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on Alexander the Great and his connection with ancient Jewish traditions, notably in the Alexander Romance, see here and links. There are lots of links there too to posts on books about Alexander and the Alexander tradition published in recent years

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

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

MOTP2: Introduction to the Book of Giants

THE BIBLE AND INTEPRETATION:
The Descent of Heavenly Beings to Earth from the Book of Giants

The Book of Giants survives, in a highly fragmentary state, in two versions: the original, known from remnants of Dead Sea Scrolls written in Aramaic, and a later Manichean version, known from manuscript scraps found in Central Asia written in three old Iranian languages and in Old Turkic (Uigur). The Book of Giants recaps the story of the descent of the angelic watchers from heaven to mate with mortal women, who bore them giant offspring with catastrophic results (cf. 1 Enoch 1–36 and Genesis 6:1-4). The rest of the book tells the tragic story of these offspring from their own perspective.

Chapter from James R. Davila and Richard Bauckham (eds.), Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol.2, More Noncanonical Scriptures (Eerdmans, 2025).

By James Davila
School of Divinity
Professor of Early Jewish Studies
University of St. Andrews
April 2025

As promised earlier, more on the giants! And a free chapter from MOTP2! For you, special deal!

The chapter includes a detailed summary of the reconstructed Book of Giants. But it does not include any translations of the actual surviving manuscripts. For that you need to buy the book. Official publication is tomorrow.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on the Book of Giants and some, relatedly, on the Rephaim, follow the links.

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

On Dalton, How Rabbis Became Experts (Princeton)

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: From Dinner to Donor: the Social Exchanges at the Heart of Rabbinic Expertise ( Krista Dalton).
How Rabbis Became Experts: Social Circles and Donor Networks in Jewish Late Antiquity. Princeton University Press, 2025.

... In the book, I demonstrate how gifts for rabbis were situated amidst a broader landscape of Jewish piety and socialization. I examine major gift transactions alongside dinner parties, conversations between neighbors, and more in order to consider the everyday instances of mutual exchange that, I argue, lay at the heart of these gifts. ...

Cross-file under New Book.

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BIAJS 2025 Student Essay Prize

NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS:
Open for 2025: BIAJS 2025 Student Essay Prize

Deadline for Submissions: 16 June 2025

We are delighted to announce the BIAJS 2025 student essay prize details, which is now open for both the undergraduate and the postgraduate categories.

On behalf of the BIAJS committee, we are pleased to announce the launch of the 2025 BIAJS student essay prize. Two prizes of £400, ordinarily for one outstanding undergraduate and one postgraduate essay by students at institutions in the UK and Ireland, are awarded annually.

[...]

Follow the link for detailed application information.

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

Tuesday, April 22, 2025

Antiquities seized in Dimona

APPREHENDED: Police find ancient treasures, weapons in Dimona antiquities probe. A Dimona resident was detained for questioning after the search uncovered not only the archaeological treasures but also a cache of weapons, ammunition, and currency (JOANIE MARGULIES, Jerusalem Post).
Two hundred ancient coins, arrowheads, and pottery vessels were found in the home of a Dimona resident in part of a joint operation between the police and the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), according to the agencies involved in the bust.

[...]

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

Permanent Hebrew Bible Lectureship at KCL

THE TIMES HIGHER:
Lecturer in Hebrew Bible

Employer
KINGS COLLEGE LONDON

Location
London (Greater) (GB)

Salary
£44,105 - £51,485 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance

Closing date
27 Apr 2025

... The Department of Theology and Religious Studies at King’s College London is seeking to appoint a permanent Lecturer in Hebrew Bible.

You will contribute to a department that has a long and distinguished tradition of contribution to Biblical and Jewish Studies and that is known for, among other things, its excellence in the integrated study of Theology, Religious Studies and the Arts. ...

Follow the link for further particulars and application information.

This just came up in my searches. The closing date is soon. Don't dilly-dally.

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Nancy Lapp (1930–2025)

SAD NEWS FROM BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Milestones: Nancy Lapp (1930–2025). Pioneering biblical archaeologist (Morag Kersel and Meredith Chesson).
On March 3, 2025, we lost an understated and under-recognized giant in the field of biblical archaeology. Nancy Lapp (née Renn) was steadfast in her dedication to her family, to her scholarship, and to making the world a better place through her social justice efforts. ...
Requiescat in pace.

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