The Rephaim and the Greek Meropes?

PROF. AMAR ANNUS:The Rephaim—Biblical Memories of West Semitic Ancestral Giants and Shades (TheTorah.com).

Standing in the Transjordan, Moses describes how the previous inhabitants had been the frightening, gigantic Rephaim (lit. “healers”). Elsewhere in the Bible, rephaim are powerless shades, living in the underworld, Sheol. Greek epic also preserves a memory of Meropes as a population of giants living on the island of Cos, and the term meropes also refers to “healers” who serve as priests of the god Asklepius. In both cases, these memories derive from the West Semitic Rapi’ūma, deified royal ancestors invoked in Ugaritic rituals to bless king and land.

It's always fun to go back to the Rephaim again. I don't recall hearing about this proposed connection with the Meropes before. I did know that the late Prof. Astour proposed some creative West Semitic connections with Greek mythology.

I have discussed the Rephaim especially here and here (in connection with the giants). For many other posts, see the links collected here (cf. here).

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

On the 364-day solar calendar

CALENDAR MYSTERY: Dead Sea Scrolls mystery: Qumran’s 364-day calendar may have been real, until it failed. Tel Aviv University study argues the calendar was not only a religious ideal but was used by the sect in its early years, before seasonal drift and political changes made it impractical (YNet News).

The study suggests that the calendar was indeed used in practice during the sect’s early period and even stood at the heart of the dispute that led to its separation from the Jerusalem religious establishment. Over time, however, the calendar was abandoned because of a built-in flaw that made it impossible to maintain and because of political changes that brought the sect closer to the Hasmonean leadership under Alexander Jannaeus.

The study was conducted by Prof. Eshbal Ratzon of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Jewish Philosophy and its Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas. It was published in the journal Tarbiz.

The article is publsihed in Tarbiz 91.1-2 (2026). Tarbiz is a Hebrew journal that seems to be available only in print form.

Whether anyone actually used the Jewish 364-day solar calendar is an old problem. I have touched on it occasionally over the years, notably here (especially), here, here, here, here, and here. I have not read this Tarbiz article, but Prof. Ratzon's case as summarized in the YNet article seems plausible. I doubt we will ever know for sure.

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

Hidden portal in the Giza Pyramid to be opened?

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: Hidden Passage In Great Pyramid Of Giza Could Unlock New Secrets, May Rewrite History In 2026. Egypt’s most prominent archaeologist has announced that an international team of scientists will unveil a major archaeological discovery inside the ancient wonder (Saurabh Verma, News18.com).

According to [Dr. Zahi] Hawass, advanced scanning technology and remote-controlled robotics have successfully mapped a massive, previously inaccessible 30-meter-long (98-foot) hidden corridor deep within the body of King Khufu’s pyramid. Even more tantalisingly, the passage terminates at a completely sealed, ancient stone door—a threshold Hawass promises will “rewrite a chapter in the history of the pharaohs," Futura-Sciences reported.

The full, official physical exploration and opening of what lies behind that door is slated to be broadcast globally.

Thanks to non-invasive and non-destructive technologies, we've know about this corridor and the chamber for some time. See the links collected here. But the news seems to be the corridor has been robotically mapped and that there is some kind of plan to open the mystery door. The Pulse has more on the robot's adventure, with an unlabeled photo, presumably taken by the robot, of what seems to be the corridor and door.

What is behind the portal? We'll see. 🚪🤖

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

Second Temple-era discoveries at Shiloh

ARCHAEOLOGY: Archaeologists uncover Second Temple period treasures at Ancient Shiloh Heritage Site. Days before Tisha B’Av, archaeologists uncovered rare Second Temple-era treasures at ancient Shiloh, including a lavish ritual bath and a purple-dye snail shell once used for sacred garments, shedding new light on the site’s historic Jewish connection (Idan Bloemhof, YNet News).

For more on Tyrian purple dye and the Israelite telekhet dye, both made from the murex snail, see here and many links.

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

Review of Roller, Diodoros of Sicily: Bibliotheke Historike. Books 21-40

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Diodoros of Sicily: Bibliotheke Historike. Books 21-40: from the battle of Ipsos (301 BC) to the Catilinarian conspiracy (62 BC).

Duane W. Roller, Diodoros of Sicily: Bibliotheke Historike. Books 21-40: from the battle of Ipsos (301 BC) to the Catilinarian conspiracy (62 BC). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2025. Pp. 384. ISBN 9781009277495.

Review by
Charles E. Muntz, University of Arkansas. cmuntz@uark.edu>

The Bibliotheke, or Historical Library, of Diodorus Siculus, is the longest extant work of Greek history to survive from antiquity. Yet only 15 of the original 40 books survive complete. For the remaining 25 books we have an extensive number of fragments, and while obviously these are no substitute for the original books, they are still of vital importance to ancient historians, containing much information not available from other sources. For instance, it is largely from the fragments that we know about the massive slave revolts that rocked Roman Sicily. Now Duane Roller has provided a fine new translation with extensive notes of the fragments of books 21-40, which originally covered the years from 301 to approximately 60 BCE.

[...]

For more on Diodorus and why his work is of interest to PaleoJudaica, see here and links.

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

Dr Albertina Oegema appointed to the Protestant Theological University

CONGRATULATIONS TO DR OEGEMA AND TO THE PTHU: Dr Albertina Oegema appointed Assistant Professor of New Testament (PThU press release).

9 July 2026 The Protestant Theological University (PThU) has appointed Dr Albertina Oegema as Assistant Professor of New Testament. On 8 July 2026, the Executive Committee (moderamen) of the General Synod of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands approved the appointment. This makes the appointment by the Executive Board final. Oegema will begin her new position on 1 August. ...

Dr Albertina Oegema is a postdoctoral researcher in New Testament at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. From 2020 to 2022 she was affiliated with the Protestant Theological University, among other roles as a postdoctoral researcher. She studied at the University of Groningen (Bachelor's degree and Research Master's degree cum laude) and obtained her PhD cum laude at Utrecht University with a dissertation on early rabbinic parables. Her work demonstrates her considerable philological expertise in the interpretation of rabbinic sources. Oegema uses interdisciplinary perspectives and methods from the humanities in the fields of gender studies, childhood and youth studies, agency, and emotion to open up new ways of interpreting ancient texts.

I first met Dr. Oegema at a postgraduate conference in St Andrews back in 2011, when she was still a doctoral student at Gronigen. It's been good to see her career progressing since then.

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

Anderson, Archaeology, Jesus, and the Gospel of John (Eerdmans)

NEW BOOK FROM EERDMANS:

Archaeology, Jesus, and the Gospel of John
What Recent Discoveries Show Us

by Paul N. Anderson

Imprint: Eerdmans

650 Pages, 6.00 × 9.00 in

Hardcover
9780802879899
Publication Date: May 26, 2026
$99.99
£73.99
Out of Stock

eBook
9781467463584
Publication Date: May 26, 2026
$99.99
£73.99

Description

Discover the Fourth Gospel’s significance for historical Jesus studies.

For years, the Gospel of John has been excluded from historical Jesus studies because of its distinctive theological and literary features. Yet, while John’s Gospel is often characterized as “the spiritual gospel,” it actually contains more archaeologically attested content and topographical details than all the other gospels combined. In this groundbreaking volume, renowned archaeologists discuss the Fourth Gospel’s material features and show how those features enrich our understanding of the historical Jesus.

More than two dozen contributors present evidence of the Fourth Gospel’s historical reliability. Some of the contributors focus on Johannine descriptions of Jesus’s ministry, using archaeological expertise to illuminate narrative details ranging from the stone jars in Cana to the fishing industry in Galilee. Other contributors focus on Johannine discussions of places and customs, bringing archaeological research to bear on narrative references to worship sites on Mt. Gerazim, the second pool of Siloam, crucifixion practices of imperial Rome, and more. Throughout the volume, research findings are documented with compelling images. Following discussions of specific archaeological data, the book concludes with a broad overview of the implications for historical Jesus studies. By challenging the longstanding critical bias against the Fourth Gospel’s historical content, Archaeology, Jesus, and the Gospel of John lays the groundwork for a new quest for the historical Jesus—an inclusive quest that fully engages the Johannine account.

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

Vayntrub, Body Language (Yale)

NEW BOOK FROM YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

Body Language

Voice, Embodiment, and Textuality in the Hebrew Bible

by Jacqueline Vayntrub

Series: The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library

232 Pages, 6.12 × 9.25 in

Hardcover
9780300230901
Published: Tuesday, 23 Jun 2026
$50.00

eBook
9780300291575
Published: Tuesday, 23 Jun 2026
$50.00
Out of Stock

eBook
9780300291551
Published: Tuesday, 23 Jun 2026
$50.00

Description

A revelatory study of embodied voice and its function in biblical texts

Performance, transmission, and corporeality were essential to ancient understandings of textuality. Far more than an aide-mémoire, written text constituted a powerful mechanism for capturing and transmitting embodied vocal presence. In this bold and provocative book, Jacqueline Vayntrub demonstrates how embedded concepts of embodied speechmaking shaped a tradition of aesthetics and interpretation in the Hebrew Bible.

For authors and readers alike, biblical texts functioned as vessels containing voices for posterity, preserving otherwise fleeting moments of performance and transporting audiences into an idealized or stylized past. Through incisive readings of passages from diverse genres and examinations of the social and material dimensions of speech in the ancient Near East, Vayntrub offers a striking reconceptualization of the biblical authors’ understanding of literary craft.

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

Noncanonical scriptures in the Enlightenment

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: How The Enlightenment Discovered The Alternative Scriptures (Philip Jenkins).

I have long worked on what we might call alternative Christianities and especially the scriptures they produced. In the modern world, we are well used to the idea of early systems that get labeled heresies, but which actually (many believe) conveyed many of the authentic teachings of the early church. As we known from the work of Elaine Pagels, Bart Ehrman, Karen King, and so many others, there were whole gospels that somehow got excluded from the emerging canon. Based on my own readings, I think that process of discovery started much earlier than we usually suppose, closer to 1900 than to 2000. But increasingly, I am finding much deeper roots, which are not well known or discussed. Today’s blog concerns what I find a startling wave of discoveries that happened still earlier, in the Enlightenment years around 1700, which look far more modern than we might ever have thought. Much of the main work came from clergy themselves, usually situated within the established churches. Even then, some people claimed to find whole new gospels.

[...]

Johann Albert Fabricius and I go way back. We dedicated the 2013 MOTP1 volume to him and tho R. H. Charles on the respective three hundredth and one hundredth anniversaries of the publication of their Old Testament Pseudepigrapha collections.

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

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

The journey of the Great Isaiah Scroll

BECAUSE YOU SHOULD KNOW THESE THINGS: The remarkable 12,000 mile journey of the Isaiah scroll from Qumran to Jerusalem (Jo Elizabeth, Israel National News).

The Isaiah Scroll, the most complete and important of the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in Qumran, is currently on display at the Israel Museum for the first time since 1968.

Although the distance from Qumran to Jerusalem is a mere 23 kilometers (14 miles), the manuscript has traveled thousands of miles on an epic journey since its discovery in 1947.

[...]

This is a great story that is worth retelling. This article is substantially accurate, although Kando was a Syrian Orthodox Christian, not a Bedouin. That's not an insignficant point, since it explains why he consulted with the Syriac Orthodox Church.

For more on the current exhibition of the Great Isaiah Scroll in the Israel Museum, see here and links.

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

Ritual boundaries in late-antique magic

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

Shared Symbols and Religious Boundaries in Late Antiquity: A View from Personal Experience and Late Antique Magic

Shared religious symbols do not necessarily mean weak or blurred religious boundaries. Christian ritual texts that combine anti-Jewish rhetoric with names for God often labeled “Jewish” show that cultural sharing and sharp religious differentiation could coexist. This calls for more care in how scholars interpret religious identity, boundaries, and “mixing” in late antique lived religion.

See also Ritual Boundaries: Magic and Differentiation in Late Antique Christianity (University of California Press, 2024; open access).

By Joseph E. Sanzo
Ca’ Foscari University of Venice
Center for the Study of Lived Religion
July 2026

Ritual boundaries are complicated. Rituals mean something by their actions. They are often open to quite different interpretations depending on their framing. The meaning of ritual "magic" is especially elusive and provocative.

For more on the book and the author's work, see here and here.

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

Assyrian religious-themed seal excavated at Yavneh

ANCIENT MATERIAL MULTI-CULTURE: Ancient Seal Found in Israel Reveals Moon and Star Worship 2,600 Years Ago (Abdul Moeed, Greek Reporter).

Archaeologists have found an ancient seal in Israel that shows a man worshipping the moon and stars, offering new evidence of religious practices from more than 2,600 years ago.

The small stone object turned up at a large pottery-making site near Tel Yavne, on Israel’s southern coastal plain, about 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) from Ashdod. Researchers date the find to the 7th century BC, a period when the Assyrian Empire controlled much of the region. ...

... Its flat base shows a bearded man facing left with one arm raised.

He appears to be gesturing toward a cult stand, a crescent moon, and an eight-pointed star, which researchers say represents the planet, Venus. A cypress-like tree stands behind him.

The moon and star symbols point to worship of a moon god and a major female deity, according to the study. ...

The study in the journal Tel Aviv is open access:

An ‘Assyro-Levantine’ Stamp Seal with a Worship Scene Found near Tel Yavne

Christoph Uehlinger, Pablo Betzer, Revital Golding-Meir, Daniel Varga & Gunnar Lehmann
Published online: 03 Jul 2026
Cite this article https://doi.org/10.1080/03344355.2026.2637186

Abstract

The city of Yavne is located in the southern Coastal Plain, ca. 15 km from Ashdod and ca. 40 km from Ashkelon. During an extensive archaeological excavation conducted approximately 200 m east of Tel Yavne, a large-scale pottery-production site was uncovered within layers dating to the Iron IIC (7th century BCE). A limestone seal depicting a human figure alongside symbols of worship was discovered on a working surface. This paper analyses the religio-historical significance of this finding while situating Yavne’s settlement within the geopolitical landscape of the Assyrian imperial period.

Now ask the next question. Why does someone living at Yavneh in the seventh century BCE own a seal depicting an Assyrian religious ritual? (Not just Yavneh. Lots of similar ones have been found in the Levant.) That leads to other questions. Who owned the seal? What did they seal with it? Using it was clearly a statement. What did it mean?

I can't see any of these questions addressed in the article. Of course we may not know the answers, but let's discuss the possibilities.

For many other archaeological discoveries from many periods at Yavneh (Yavhe), see here and links, here, and here.

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

Secrets of Huqoq at the Yigal Allon Center Museum

EXHIBITION: Secrets of Huqoq revealed: New exhibition provides first glimpse of ancient Jewish village. New artifact and photographic exhibition housed on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and overlooking the Horvat Huqoq site showcases site's original Samson floor mosaic, alongside a bronze coin cache’s premier public display (Israel National News).

Horvat Huqoq, visible from the museum’s windows, is best known for the impressive ancient synagogue uncovered by the Huqoq expedition excavations, led by Professor Jodi Magness of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Extraordinary in their beauty and narrative richness, including rare biblical and extra-biblical scenes, the range of the Huqoq mosaics are unequalled by any other synagogue in Israel.

For many posts on the remarkable discoveries at the site of Huqoq, see here and here and follow the links.

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

SOTS Booklist 2026

IN THE MAIL:

Samuel Hildebrandt (ed.) with Kengoro Goto, Society for Old Testament Study Book List 2026 (= JSOT 50.5; London: Sage, 2026).

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

Tervanotko & Stökl, Text as Revelation (T&T Clark)

RECENT BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

Text as Revelation

Hanna Tervanotko (Anthology Editor) , Jonathan Stökl (Anthology Editor)

Paperback
$39.95 $35.95

Hardback
$120.00 $108.00

Ebook (PDF)
$35.95 $28.76

Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
$35.95 $28.76

Product details

Published Dec 28 2023
Format Ebook (PDF)
Edition 1st
Pages 168
ISBN 9780567689733
Imprint T&T Clark
Series The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

Text as Revelation analyses the shift of revelatory experiences from oral to written that is described in ancient Jewish literature, including rabbinic texts. The individual essays seek to understand how, why, and for whom texts became the locus of revelation.

While the majority of the contributors analyze ancient Jewish literature for depictions of oral and written revelation, such as the Hebrew Bible and the literature of the Second Temple era, a number of articles also investigate textualization of revelation in cognate cultures, analyzing Egyptian, Mesopotamian and Greek sources. With subjects ranging from Ancient Egyptian and Sibylline oracles to Hellenistic writings and the books of Isaiah, Deuteronomy and Jeremiah, the studies in this volume bring together established and new voices reflecting on the issues raised by the interplay between writing and (divinatory) revelation.

This came out a couple of years ago, but I missed it. Here it is now.

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

Does the Bible say a husband inherits from his wife's estate? Should it?

PROF. RABBI MARTY LOCKSHIN: Husbands Inherit, Wives Do Not: A Legitimate Biblical Exegesis? (TheTorah.com).

Sons, and then daughters, brothers, and paternal uncles all inherit, but the Bible is silent about spouses. The Talmud, in a midrashic reading of the laws of inheritance (Numbers 27:8–11) that the sages themselves admit is not what the verses say, adds that husbands are first to inherit from wives, but wives do not inherit from their husbands. Rashi and Ibn Ezra differ on whether a biblical verse can support both midrashic and peshat interpretations.

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

More on the Vitruvius basilica in Fano, Italy

ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE: New Details Emerge About the Basilica of Vitruvius: Initial Investigations in Fano Have Been Completed (Finestre sull'Arte).

The first phase of the archaeological excavations in Piazza Andrea Costa in Fano has come to a close, but the project to restore the Basilica of Vitruvius is entering a new phase. New funding and discoveries are giving new impetus to the study of the site.

... “Today is a great day for Fano,” said Mayor Serfilippi, “because we are finally beginning to see important findings. They are not yet conclusive, but they represent fundamental elements for defining with greater precision what we believe to be Vitruvius’s Basilica and for understanding the transformations this building has undergone over time, confirming its long history of continuous use. Archaeological investigations have made it possible to reconstruct shapes, dimensions, and structures, including those parts that Vitruvius does not explicitly describe in his text but which he clearly implies were present.”...

The article continues with additional details of the new findings. It also notes that the project has received new funding, but that additional funding wouldn't hurt any. There is a technical article forthcoming in the autumn.

In the first century BCE, Vitruvius wrote the only comprehensive treatise on architecture that survives from Classical antiquity. His On Architecture was rediscovered during the Renaissance and became massively influential well into the Enlightenment. The basilica at Fano (ancient Fanum Fortunae) is the only known remnant of a building that Vitruvius designed and built.

I noted the discovery of that basilica here. And yes, since then I have read that translation of On Architecture.

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