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Saturday, October 07, 2017

Festschrift for George Brooke

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:
Is There a Text in this Cave? Studies in the Textuality of the Dead Sea Scrolls in Honour of George J. Brooke

Edited by Ariel Feldman, Texas University Maria Cioată, University of Manchester and Charlotte Hempel, University of Birmingham
This volume is offered as a tribute to George Brooke to mark his sixty-fifth birthday. It has been conceived as a coherent contribution to the question of textuality in the Dead Sea Scrolls explored from a wide range of perspectives. These include material aspects of the texts, performance, reception, classification, scribal culture, composition, reworking, form and genre, and the issue of the extent to which any of the texts relate (to) social realities in the Second Temple period. Almost every contribution engages with Brooke’s own remarkably wide-ranging, incisive, and innovative research on the Scrolls. The twenty-eight contributors are colleagues and students of the honouree and include leading scholars alongside promising new voices from across the field.
Congratulations to Professor Brooke! Very well deserved.

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Newman, Davila, Lewis (eds.), The Jewish Roots of Christological Monotheism

IN THE MAIL:
The Jewish Roots of Christological Monotheism: Papers from the St Andrews Conference on the Historical Origins of the Worship of Jesus (Library of Early Christology) Paperback – August 28, 2017 by Carey C. Newman (Editor), James R. Davila (Editor), Gladys S. Lewis (Editor). Baylor University Press, reprint 2017.

Second Temple Judaism exerted a profound and shaping influence upon early Christianity. The Jewish Roots of Christological Monotheism documents this influence by exploring the ways in which the Christian praxis of Christ-devotion in the first two centuries of the Common Era can be understood as a manifestation of Jewish monotheism.

The volume approaches this phenomenon along four distinctive lines of inquiry: (1) reexamining (and problematizing) the theological force of monotheism during the Second Temple period; (2) retracing the historical steps of Christianity's adaptation, mutation, and/or redefinition of Jewish monotheism; (3) exploring and debating the influence of non-Jewish traditions on this process; and (4) mapping how Christianity's unique appropriation of Jewish monotheism helps explain the intriguing relationships among emerging Christian, Jewish, and gnostic communities.

Eighteen chapters, each from an expert in the study of early Judaism and Christianity, comprise the volume. The chapters collectively demonstrate how the creation of new mythic narratives, the revelatory power of mystical experiences, and the sociology of community formation capitalized on Jewish mediator traditions to initiate the praxis of Christ-devotion.
This volume was originally published by Brill in 1999. I am very pleased that it continues to be useful enough for Baylor to reissue it a paperback edition.

I have mentioned Baylor's new Library of Early Christology reprint series here and here and I commented, "This new series reprints some excellent, classic works of scholarship." I'll leave it at that.

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

Yet another review of Fine, The Menorah

BOOK REVIEW: The Menorah: From the Bible to Modern Israe (Jenna Weissman Joselit, Material Religion). You may need a paid subscrition to access this journal review. I'm not sure.

Past posts on Steven Fine's book, The Menorah, are here (cf. here) and links.

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

The discovery of the DSS 70 years ago

IT'S STILL QUITE A STORY: The Dead Sea Scrolls discovery — still riveting after 70 years (A. James Rudin, Religion News Service).
(RNS) — For many people, biblical scholarship — with its archaic languages and ancient texts — is boring stuff.

But that’s not true of the Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered by Bedouin shepherds in 1947 in Judean wilderness caves near Jerusalem. The discovery of the ancient Jewish religious texts 70 years ago created an immediate public sensation and an international tale of secrecy and intrigue rivaling the exploits of two fictional super sleuths: Ian Fleming’s James Bond and Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon.

[...]

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Friday, October 06, 2017

Hebrew Bible job at St. Andrews!

THE UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREWS: Lecturer in Old Testament/Hebrew Bible - AC2050ML School of Divinity.
We wish to appoint a Lecturer (equivalent to a US ‘assistant professor’) within the School of Divinity. You will be a scholar with a growing international research reputation in Old Testament/Hebrew Bible and commitment to delivering high quality teaching within the broad field of Biblical Studies. The successful candidate will be expected to have a range of interests that strengthen or complement those in the School, to be active in research publication, and to be capable of teaching the subject to undergraduate and taught postgraduate students from a wide range of backgrounds.

Candidates should hold a PhD in a relevant discipline. Excellent teaching skills and an interest in promoting knowledge exchange are essential. You should also have some familiarity with grant seeking processes in relation to research councils and other sources.

Informal enquiries can be directed to Steve Holmes, Head of School (divhos@st-andrews.ac.uk) or Judith Wolfe, Deputy Head of School (jw240@st-andrews.ac.uk).

Applications are particularly welcome from women who are under-represented in Arts posts at the University.

The University is committed to equality for all, demonstrated through our working on diversity awards (ECU Athena SWAN/Race Charters; Carer Positive; LGBT Charter; and Stonewall). More details can be found at http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/hr/edi/diversityawards/.
Follow the link for further particulars. The closing date for applications is 6 November 2017. Dr. Madhavi Nevader, Dr. Bill Tooman, and yours truly are (if I may say so) great colleagues. We look forward to a fourth colleague joining us soon to complement our work and enhance our program on the Hebrew Bible and related matters.

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Metal codices seized in Turkey

MORE METAL CODICES ETC.: Seal of Solomon may have been found in Amasya (AMASYA – Anadolu Agency/Hurrieyet Daily News).
During an operation conducted in the northern province of Amasya on Oct. 3, 11 pieces of historic artifacts were seized. One of the artifacts is a bronze seal, believed to belong to King Solomon (known as Prophet Suleiman by Muslims). It is a symbol attributed to the ancient Israeli King Solomon in medieval Jewish tradition.

[...]

The gendarmerie found a bronze seal, two five-page tablets and three four-page golden tablets with Hebrew writing and symbols, a gold-like bull figurine with Hebrew writing and symbols, a two-centimeter tablet and some six-page metal tablets, thought to be the Torah, a bronze amulet box with Hebrew writing and two metal tablets, thought to be spell books.

[...]
This is an intriguing little collection of goodies. The photo is from the article. Click on any of the following photos for a larger image.



This report came to my attention yesterday and I started a blog post on it, but had to go do some actual work before I was able to finish it. My observations were:

There are several points to note. First, the ring-bound metal book in the left foreground looks very much like one of those Jordanian lead codices. Second, some gold codices with Jewish imagery are already known. Some are in the possession of a dealer in Karak, Jordan. The gold books in the photo look to be about the same size. (My scale is the tiny codex between the seal stamp and the calf. It is reported to be about two centimeters long.) None of the photos are clear enough for me to identify the image. For the Karak books, see Samuel Zinner's online report on the Jordan codices, Son of the Star: Bar Kokhba and the Jordanian lead books, pp. 754, 987-992, 997, 1098, plus, in general, chapter 9 and Appendix III.

Third, the "seal of Solomon" looks like a medieval or modern artifact to me. There is a Talmudic legend about a ring that Solomon used to control demons, but I am not aware of any objects like this one from antiquity.

Fourth, the golden calf has obvious resonances with the biblical golden calf, but this one has a menorah stamped on it. What on earth does that mean? The only comparable object I know of is a bronze and silver bull statue excavated at Ashkelon. It dates to the first half of the second millennium BCE and it is about the same size as the gold one in the photo. I don't think there is any direct connection.

That was as far as I got yesterday. Today, a couple of new articles have new information.

The Daily Sabah: Artifacts hoped to include Seal of Solomon date back to Middle Ages, experts say.
The examination by experts on the historical artifacts seized in an operation on Tuesday in central Turkey concluded that they date back to the Middle Ages, wrecking hopes that the legendary seal of the ancient Israelite King Solomon, who is regarded as a prophet in both Judaism and Islam, may have been found.
I don't think hopes should have been very high in the first place, but let that go. The Daily Sabah article also has a photo.



This gives a better view of two of the gold books. The one in the left corner has an image of a bearded man, with some Paleo-Hebrew on the right side and a menorah in the bottom right corner. It is identical to an image on a lead codex also in the hands of that dealer in Karak. (See Zinner, "Son of the Star," p. 1119). The codex to its right bears an image of what looks like a wasp or a bee. I know of no parallels to it. I cannot make out the images on the fronts of the two other gold codices.

In the lower right there is also a (lead?) object that looks like an envelope with a menorah stamped on it.

The Daily Star has also published a sensationalist article on the seal: Biblical relic ‘engraved by God’ lost for at least 500 years FOUND

The article itself has no merit. If you decide to read it, be forewarned that some of the headlines and photos on the same page are likely to offend many readers.

The article does have a (poor) image of the front of the seal.

.

I can't make out what is embossed on the front. I need a clearer photo. So I can't tell if it shares design motifs with any of the codices. But I include it for the sake of completeness. I see no evidence that it is a seal particularly associated with Solomon, and none of the articles offer any evidence for the assertion. I don't know whether it is correct or not.

Where does that leave us? In recent years the Turkish authorities have diligently seized many supposed artifacts from smugglers. But I cannot recall any of them being convincingly ancient. I would not say that they are necessarily all forgeries, but rather that the Turkish authorities and media sometimes assumed they were ancient before they had been fully evaluated. See past stories here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. The last two links do refer to a "gold-plated ancient Torah," which conceivably could involve a discovery like the latest one.

This latest group of seized objects has clear connections with some of the Jordanian metal codices, particularly a group know from Karak and Shobak in Jordan. Dr. Zinner seems inclined to think this group originated in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, or even later (see his report, p. 1041). I see nothing in the current group to indicate a different conclusion. Nor do I see anything that points to them being ancient.

For my four-part review of Dr. Zinner's report on the Jordanian codices, start here. Follow the relevant links for previous posts on the codices, going back to the first announcement about them in March of 2011.

Cross-file under Fake Metal Codices Watch. I acknowledge that various elements of the current discussion may point to some of the Jordanian codices being something other than fake, although nothing I have seen adds up to a persuasive case. In particular, I have reviewed the evidence carefully and I am unconvinced that they are ancient artifacts. In any case, I continue to include this cross-file rubric so that readers can search it to find all my posts on the subject.

UPDATE (9 October): My Facebook friends David Meadows and Roy Kotansky have pointed out that the bee design is based on the ancient (pre-Christian-era) Ephesus Bee coin motif. There is discussion with examples here.

Regular readers will recognize a pattern we have already seen with the other metal codices. Someone with access to some ancient coins, and apparently not much else, used the coin images and inscriptions in a poor effort to construct objects that looked like ancient artifacts. All the indications from text and iconography point to the fabricator operating relatively recently. Notice that here, as before, we have ancient Jewish motifs mixed with a pagan motif. That's not unprecedented for antiquity, but the pervasive use of an eclectic mixture of coins as source material points to someone who was working with little information from antiquity and therefore from a more recent period.

ANOTHER UPDATE (10 October): On Facebook, Yuval Goren has commented:
BTW, "the seal of Solomon" looks to me like the Prutah of Herod Archelaus, framed in a brass seal-like holder with the obverse side up. These coins can be purchased for modest prices in the antiques market or even on eBay. See it here: http://www.wildwinds.com/.../judaea/herod_archelaus/i.html
That looks right to me. Here is the coin, with the images reversed and rotated 90 degrees, so that they correspond to the alignment of the negative image on the seal. The bottom image on the coin looks to be the same as the image on the seal.



So this "Seal of Solomon" has nothing to do with Solomon. The image is taken from a Herodian coin.

Once again, the person(s) who manufactured these codices had an eclectic collection of ancient coins, but little else, and they did the best they could to make ancient-looking objects using the images and inscriptions from the coins as templates.

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

On the Temple Mount Sifting Project

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: DISPROVING 'TEMPLE MOUNT DENIAL' ONE BUCKET AT A TIME (Daniel K. Eisenbud, Jerusalem Post).
When Wakf bulldozers illegally ascended the Temple Mount in 1999 to surreptitiously remove thousands of tons of ancient soil to make way for a subterranean mosque, two archeologists found hope in recovering some of the Jewish heritage that crime destroyed.

As countless invaluable artifacts dating from the First Temple period at Judaism’s holiest site were dumped in a garbage heap in the capital’s Kidron Valley, Dr. Gabriel Barkay and Zachi Dvira saw an opportunity.

Five years later, under the auspices of Bar-Ilan University, the two archeologists procured a government license to have the ancient debris transferred to Emek Tzurim National Park on the western slope of Mount Scopus, where they established the headquarters of the Temple Mount Sifting Project.

[...]
There follows a history of the project. Also, they still need funding!

Background here and oh so many links.

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On the real Bethsaida again

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:
Has Bethsaida-Julias Been Found?

While our efforts at el-Araj are young, we have been struck by how closely the archaeological finds at el-Araj follow the contours of history recorded by those who walked the streets of Bethsaida-Julias in the Roman and Byzantine periods. No one on our team has suggested that the matter is settled with finality, but we are of the opinion that in light of this season’s discoveries, el-Araj must now be considered the leading candidate for the location of Bethsaida-Julias.

See Also: Bethsaida Controversy


By Mordechai Aviam
Senior Lecturer
Institute for Galilean Archaeology
Kinneret College, Israel

R. Steven Notley
Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins
Nyack College
New York City, New
The debate continues. I assume it is also moving into the peer-review literature, although I have not checked.

Background here and links

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Thursday, October 05, 2017

NYU DSS conference

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR ANCIENT STUDIES: THE ROSE-MARIE LEWENT CONFERENCE - THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS AT 70. November 16-17, 2017. Follow the link for the conference program.

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

Jonah and Yom Kippur

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Jonah and the Whale. Why the Book of Jonah Is Read on Yom Kippur (the late Nahum Sarna).
The Book of Jonah is read in the synagogue on the afternoon of Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, the sacred Day of Atonement. Why, of all books in the Bible, this book this most holy day?

The answer is clear. The major themes of the book are singularly appropriate to the occasion—sin and divine judgment, repentance and divine forgiveness.

[...]

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CFP: Panel for Young Genizah Researchers

H-JUDAIC: CFP: Panel for Young Genizah Researchers and those Interested in the Field. At the XIth Congress of the European Association for Jewish Studies Kraków, Poland, July 15-19, 2018.
Even with the essential tools that have been established over the last few decades to facilitate Genizah studies, gaining access to this vast field with its very specialized material is still a challenge to young researchers and thus calls for special training. Our panel is therefore intended as a platform for advanced MA-students, PhD-candidates and Post-Docs, who are interested in the field of Genizah Studies and wish to venture further into it. Every participant will have the opportunity to present a paper on her/his topic of research. Senior scholars will present their own work and offer hands-on training, as well as provide feedback on the participants' projects.
Follow the link for further particulars and instructions for submitting a paper proposal. The proposal deadline is 15 November 2017.

There are endless past PaleoJudaica posts on the Cairo Geniza. Start here, here, and here, and just keep following those links.

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

Swastikas at Susya

VANDALISM: Swastikas found spray-painted outside settlement archaeology site. Incident is the third such defacement in the past four years near ruins of ancient Jewish city of Susya (Jacog Magid, Times of Israel). Past posts involving Susya, which was caught up in a political controversy a couple of years ago, are here and links.

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Wednesday, October 04, 2017

Sukkot 2017

THE FESTIVAL OF SUKKOT (BOOTHS, TABERNACLES) begins this evening at sundown. Best wishes to all those observing it.

For biblical background and other posts on Sukkot, see the links at last year's post here. More recent posts on Sukkot (including Samaritan Sukkot) are here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

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

Those dubious DSS fragments

SUSPICION OF FORGERY: Dead Sea Scrolls scam: Dozens of recently sold fragments are fakes, experts warn. Since 2002, collectors have paid millions for portions of ancient text. As DC's Museum of the Bible prepares to open with several such pieces, evidence of fraud emerges (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel).
Since 2002, the world’s private antiquities markets have been saturated with certified millennia-old leather inscribed with biblical verses by what, on expert inspection, appears to be a modern hand. This has led some scholars to believe one or more of their own has gone rogue and created a proliferation of fakes that are being peddled to a growing number of Evangelical Christian collectors.

The Museum of the Bible, set to open this November in Washington, DC, is foremost among those collectors who have been “duped,” to the tune of millions of dollars, scholars say. A series of recent articles in respected academic journals calls into question the authenticity of at least half a dozen in its trove of tiny scroll fragments.

Among those raising awareness of the allegedly forged fragments is paleographer Dr. Kipp Davis, a research fellow at Trinity Western University and associate of the Dead Sea Scrolls Institute at TWU.

“There is a growing emerging consensus among Dead Sea Scroll scholars that many of the fragments in the private collections are fakes,” Davis told The Times of Israel.
This is a long and comprehensive account of the current state of the question concerning the supposed Dead Sea Scrolls fragments that came on the market in 2002 and later. Well worth a careful reading.

For past PaleoJudaica posts on these dubious fragments, start here and follow the links. For past posts on the Museum of the Bible, Hobby Lobby, and the Green Collection, see here and many links. And for past posts on the Schøyen Collection, see here and links.

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

Prof. Kenneth Holum, z' l'

SAD NEWS FROM H-JUDAIC: Passing of Prof. Kenneth Holum (Katherine Aron-Beller).
H-Judaic is greatly saddened by the passing from cancer of Prof. Kenneth Holum, Emeritus Prof. of Antique History at the University of Maryland, and director of its famed excavations at Caesaria. ...
May his memory be for a blessing.

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Schumer: Don't return Iraqi Jewish Archive to Iraq

PUSHBACK: Schumer to Tillerson: Don’t return trove of Jewish artifacts to Iraq. Senate Minority Leader tells State Department the 'treasured collection belongs to the Jewish community and should be made available to them' (Josefin Dolsten, JTA, rpt. Times of Israel).
Schumer is among a group of US lawmakers who have joined Jewish groups in lobbying to keep the archive in a location accessible to Iraqi Jews and their descendants, who today live outside Iraq after being driven out amid intense persecution. Iraq and proponents of returning the archive say it can serve as an educational tool for Iraqis about the history of Jews there and that it is part of the country’s patrimony.

“It’s disheartening that parchments of a Torah scroll and prayer books were discovered in such poor condition inside a flooded Baghdad Intelligence Center. After the United States preserved this ancient collection, it makes no sense to return the items to the Iraqi government, where they will no longer be accessible to the Jewish community,” Schumer said Tuesday in a statement released along with the letter.
This is in response to a State Department announcement last month indicating that the archive would be returned to Iraq in 2018. Some responses are noted here and here. An just keep following the links all the way back to the recovery of the archive in 2003.

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

Tuesday, October 03, 2017

The Talmud and the rebellious son

THIS WEEK'S DAF YOMI COLUMN BY ADAM KIRSCH IN TABLET: Put to Death For Crimes Yet to Be Committed. ‘Daf Yomi’: The odd case of preemptive punishment highlights Talmudic rabbis’ generous interpretation of the Torah’s unenforceable laws.
I have often written in this column about the Talmud’s discomfort with various provisions of Torah law. Indeed, any time there is something in the Torah that strikes modern Jews as unjust or barbaric, the odds are that the rabbis of the Talmud felt the same way. The Talmudic discussion of the stubborn and rebellious son, ben sorer umoreh, is perhaps the most famous example. In Deuteronomy 21, the Torah says that the parents of such a son have the right to sentence him to public execution by stoning: ...
Earlier Daf Yomi columns are noted here and links.

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The History of Rosh HaShanah

CONCERNING THE JEWISH NEW YEAR: Rosh Hashanah 2017: The History of Rosh Hashanah Which Wasn't Always the 'New Year.' Much of today's traditions originated with Babylonian worship, and you have to read this to believe how a calf's head morphed into gefilte fish. (Elon Gilad, Haaretz).
There's lots of useful historical background here.

UPDATE: I've deleted a sentence that contained incorrect information. Sorry for the error.

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Tophet at Carthage

PUNIC WATCH: Tophet at Carthage. An ancient burial ground believed to be used for ritual sacrifice (Atlas Obscura).
Tophets are at the center of one of the most contentious archaeological debates surrounding the region of northern Africa that was once part of the ancient Carthaginian Empire. The enigmatic ancient cemeteries are believed to have been used for the ritual sacrifice of children and animals.
As usual with Atlas Obscura, this article has some good photos.

For past PaleoJudaica posts on the debate over child sacrifice at Carthage, see here and links.

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

Rabbi Steinsaltz profiled

TALMUD WATCH: IN SEARCH OF THE TRUTH: A WIDE-RANGING PROFILE OF RABBI ADIN STEINSALTZ (NATAN ODENHEIMER, Jerusalem Post).
‘Rabbi Steinsaltz once told me that the most important question in life is ‘Then what?’ “You get married, then what? You do a good deed, then what? The outcome, what is left after we take action, is the paramount question we ask ourselves,” says Steinsaltz’s student Rabbi Pini Alush.

Recently, Rabbi Adin Even-Yisrael Steinsaltz, one of the most important rabbinic figures today, turned 80. He established and led yeshivot, was the rabbi of the Tzemah Tzedek Synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem, and authored several books. However, his most remarkable achievement is translating and commenting on the entire Talmud.

[...]
For additional background on Rabbi Steinsaltz, his recent health difficulties, and his work, especially his Hebrew and English translations of the Talmud, start here and follow the many links. And this 2014 post on The Lubavitcher Rebbe's 20th yahrzeit is also of interest for this article.

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

Monday, October 02, 2017

Ancient Jewish settlement found near Samaria

ARCHAEOLOGY: Lost First-Temple Jewish City Discovered Under IDF Training Base (JNi.Media).
A few weeks ago, the staff of the Archeology Department of the IDF Civil Administration arrived at the area of a now abandoned training base, next door to the town of Beit El in Samaria, and, digging under the old parade grounds, they were astonished to discover a hidden Jewish city, Yedioth Aharonot reported Thursday.

The dig revealed a Jewish settlement of several dozen residents, dating back to the First Temple period. It was later inhabited during the Persian period and expanded in the Hellenistic and Hasmonean periods, remaining in Jewish hands until the Roman era.

[...]
This sounds more like a village than a "city." But it's an important discovery nonetheless. It seems that the only report so far is from an Israeli newspaper, so I look forward to hearing more specifics more directly from the archaeologists.

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

Why Ashkenazi Jews are not Khazars

THE FORWARD: Ashkenazi Jews Are Not Khazars. Here’s The Proof (Alexander Beider).
Since the late 19th century, the so-called “Khazarian theory” has promoted the idea that a bulk of Ashkenazic Jews living in Eastern Europe descended from medieval Khazars, a semi-nomadic Turkic people who founded a powerful polyethnic state in the Caucasus and north to the Caspian, Azov and Black seas. The theory received a recent boost with the 1976 publication of “The Thirteenth Tribe,” a book by Arthur Koestler. Most recently, the Khazarian hypothesis has been promoted by authors like the Tel Aviv University professor of history Shlomo Sand and Tel Aviv University professor of linguistics Paul Wexler, as well the geneticist Eran Elhaik.

Despite this institutional backing, the theory is absolutely without evidence. ...
For past PaleoJudaica posts on the idea that Ashkenazi Jews came from the Khazars, see here and follow the links. The posts deal in particular with the genetic and linguistic evidence against the idea.

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

Review of Sanders, From Adapa to Enoch

THE BIBLICAL REVIEW BLOG: “From Adapa to Enoch” by Seth Sanders (William Brown).
Seth Sanders. From Adapa to Enoch. Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 167. Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 2017, 280 pp..
Excerpt:
In summary, Sanders sets out clear evidence for the relationship between Adapa and Enoch as the scribal heroes of their respective scribal communities; however, he is careful to consider how each scribal hero was unique to their culture. This idea of a scribal hero shared between Babylonian and Judean scribes was likely a result of shared Aramaic scribal culture. Furthermore, the notions of divine presence likely spread to Judean scribes via the “parchment period,” a period during which Aramaic was a primary, common means of knowledge. So, Judean scribes began to explore this issue as a result of the exile. This result in ideas which eventually culminated into a focus on specific measurements, a form of Judean, apocalyptic science. So, by the end of the 1st millennium, Judean scribes shared with Babylonian scribes the notion of a “semiotic ontology in which the universe was shaped by God in language-like ways” (235). For Judeans, this was expressed as narratives, while Babylonians expressed this via cuneiform collections.
Past PaleoJudaica posts on the book are here and here (cf. here)

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Ktivah

YONA SABAR: Hebrew Word of the Week: ktivah "writing, inscribing" כתיבה. There. I think we're caught up with these for now.

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Sunday, October 01, 2017

Scribal errors, cakes, and Phoenician

BIBLICAL LANGUAGES: Scribal Errors and Decorative Cakes (Phillip Marshall). These involve decorative cakes whose inscriptions accidentally included instructions about the cake. They are very amusing. For a similar case in Phoenician on a rather more durable medium than cake, see here.

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Some resources on the Temple Mount

THE BIBLE PLACES BLOG: Resources on the Temple and Temple Mount (Todd Bolen). Cross-file under Temple Mount Watch.

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

Review of Cuttica and Mahlberg (ed.), Patriarchal Moments

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Cesare Cuttica, Gaby Mahlberg (ed.), Patriarchal Moments: Reading Patriarchal Texts. Textual moments in the history of political thought. London; New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016. Pp. xii, 217. ISBN 9781472589156. $29.95. Reviewed by Georgina White, Central European University (whiteg@ceu.edu).
This collection of essays represents a fresh offering in Bloomsbury Press’s “Textual Moments in the History of Political Thought” series, an exciting new attempt to bring together a number of essays by experts on key texts in the history of political thought.
Most of the essays are on texts from the Reformation to the modern period, but there are some on antiquity. The first two are on, respectively, the Talmud and the Hebrew Bible.

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Shiʿur

YONA SABAR: Hebrew Word of the Week: shiʿur "lesson" (Yiddish shíur) שׁיעור.

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