Tickets on sale for Denver DSS exhibit

COMING SOON: TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE FOR THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS EXHIBIT IN DENVER (Sadye Hazan, 303 Magazine).

Tickets are now on sale for the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit, which is coming to Denver on March 16, 2018, at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. ...

And here's one bit of information about the exhibition:

For the first 10 scrolls [of 20 total that will be displayed], the one piece that has never been seen in public is scroll 4Q247 Tohorot (Purities) A. This scroll discusses purity and people in the Second Temple period and how they strove to preserve the community’s purity. The scrolls will be on display in a massive, dramatic exhibit case with carefully regulated individual chambers with a transcript of the scrolls in English (since the scrolls were originally written in Hebrew).

The show opens on 16 March.

Background here. Other important scrolls-related goings-on in Denver were noted here.

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Wandrey (ed.), Jewish Manuscript Cultures

OPEN-ACCESS BOOK FROM DE GRUYTER: Jewish Manuscript Cultures. New Perspectives. Ed. by Wandrey, Irina. Series: Studies in Manuscript Cultures 13.

Aims and Scope
Hebrew manuscripts are considered to be invaluable documents and artefacts of Jewish culture and history. Research on Hebrew manuscript culture is progressing rapidly and therefore its topics, methods and questions need to be enunciated and reflected upon.

The case studies assembled in this volume explore various fields of research on Hebrew manuscripts. They show paradigmatically the current developments concerning codicology and palaeography, book forms like the scroll and codex, scribes and their writing material, patrons, collectors and censors, manuscript and book collections, illuminations and fragments, and, last but not least, new methods of material analysis applied to manuscripts.

The principal focus of this volume is the material and intellectual history of Hebrew book cultures from antiquity to the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period, its intention being to heighten and sharpen the reader’s understanding of Jewish social and cultural history in general.

The TOC is here. For you, special deal!

HT Michelle Chesner, Library Lorax via AJR Twitter.

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More on the palaeographic dating of NT etc. manuscripts

FURTHER TO THIS POST, two more recent blog posts deal with the problem of the palaeographic (paleographic) dating of early Christian manuscripts.

Larry Hurtado: My List of Second/Third Century Manuscripts.

ETC Blog: Justified Commitment Issues in Dating P.Egerton 2 + P.Köln VI 255 (and Other Literary Papyri).

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Chaverdi, Callieri, and Callieri, Persepolis West

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: Persepolis West (Fars, Iran). Notice of a new book, an archaeological report on the Persepolis excavation:

Askari Chaverdi, Alireza & Pierfrancesco Callieri. 2017. Persepolis West (Fars, Iran): Report on the field work carried out by the Iranian-Italian Joint Archaeological Mission in 2008–2009 (British Archaeological Reports International Series 2870). BAR Publishing.

Follow the link for a description. Note that in this case "BAR" does not stand for Biblical Archaeology Review, which also uses that acronym.

For past PaleoJudaica posts on ancient Persepolis (some of whose artifacts have been the subject of an important legal case in America for years), start here and follow the links.

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A potsherd with an image from the Parthenon?

ANCIENT CERAMIC ART: ISRAEL: ANCIENT VASE SHOWING GREEK GODS DISCOVERED IN BIBLICAL SITE WHERE JESUS MAY HAVE PERFORMED MIRACLES (Kastalia Medrano, Newsweek).

Archaeologists in northern Israel discovered an ancient Italian vase featuring an image originally found on the Parthenon in Athens. The location where it was unearthed was once the biblical kingdom of Geshur, according to Haaretz. The site might also correspond to a second biblical location—a mysterious town referenced in the New Testament.

The archaeologists discovered the ceramic artifact at e-Tell, which sits about a mile north of the Sea of Galilee. E-Tell is among the leading contenders to be the original site of the biblical town Bethsaida, purportedly the hometown of apostles Philip, Andrew and Peter, according to Haaretz.

[...]

Classicist David Meadows is skeptical of the identification of the image with the one from the Parthenon: ‘Parthenon Pediment’ Image from Bethsaida: Yeah … about that. This is well outside my field of expertise, so I do not have a view myself.

For the proposed identifications of the site of Bethsaida, see here and follow the links. The site of el-Araj is also a contender. Again, the question is outside my expertise. I blog, you decide.

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About that mysterious "Hebrew" fragment

ARAMAIC WATCH? A Proposed Reading of a New Aramaic Fragment. As an update to my earlier post Mysterious Hebrew fragment from Oxyrhynchus, I note that Jim West has posted a communication from Richard Steiner which proposes to read the mystery fragment as Aramaic.

For more on Professor Steiner's work, see here.

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Rupschus, Frauen in Qumran

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR-SIEBECK: NICOLE RUPSCHUS, Frauen in Qumran. [Women in Qumran.] 2017. XII, 335 pages. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe 457. 84,00 €. sewn paper. ISBN 978-3-16-155647-0.

Published in German.
Nicole Rupschus touches upon classical and current issues in Qumran research relating to the community’s inhabitants, the intention of its texts, and the source value of the Essenes accounts to discover the role played by women. Her consideration of three important elements – the archaeology, the sectarian texts found in caves near and next to Qumran, and the ancient accounts of the Essenes – are vital in enabling her to draw conclusions about the skeletons of women and children found in burial grounds. Other focal points are the Damascus and Serekh texts as well as the Rule of the Congregation, the connections between them, and their assignments to the community. Together with a final content analysis of the ancient Essene texts, a fresh image of women is revealed that opens up new perspectives in Qumran research.

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The decipherment of the Rosetta Stone

EGYPTOLOGY PHILOLOGY:The Quest to Decipher the Rosetta Stone (Evan Andrews, History.com). An oft-told story, but always worth hearing again.

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AJR Forum in Honor of Ben Wright

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: A Genius for Mentorship: A Forum in Honor of Ben Wright on his 65th Birthday (Francis Borchardt and Eva Mroczek). So far there are ten essays posted. Follow the first link above for abstracts or excerpts of each.

INTRODUCTION TO A GENIUS FOR MENTORSHIP: A FORUM IN HONOR OF BEN WRIGHT ON HIS 65TH BIRTHDAY
by Francis Borchardt and Eva Mroczek

DAY ONE:
VOICE AND PRESENCE IN THE GENESIS APOCRYPHON
by Jacqueline Vayntrub

BEN SIRA AS A BABY: THE ALPHABET OF BEN SIRA AND AUTHORIAL PERSONAE
by Jillian Stinchcomb

THE ROLE OF WISDOM FOR THE SCRIBE AND SCHOLAR
by James Tucker

DAY TWO:
THE TRANSLATION OF THE TORAH IN ALEXANDRIA AND THE RELEVANCE OF THE ROSETTA STONE
by Stewart Moore

EMULATION IN BEN SIRA AND ITS HELLENISTIC CONTEXT
by Elisa Uusimäki

ERASING THE HYPHEN FROM THE STUDY OF EARLY JUDAISM
by Francis Borchardt

DAY THREE:
EDUCATION AS DEMONSTRATED AND EDUCATION AS DISCUSSED IN THE LETTER OF ARISTEAS
by Jason M. Zurawski

SOLOMON, THE SEPTUAGINT, AND SECOND TEMPLE STUDIES
by James Nati

ON BEN WRIGHT AND THE MODELING OF SCHOLARSHIP
by Sean Adams

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Conference at Yale - Inscribing Death

CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT:

Inscribing Death: Memorial and the Transmission of Text in the Ancient World
Yale University, February 23, 2018

Cross-culturally, spaces of the dead have been productive places for considering the inherent difficulty of transmitting traditions and texts. This nexus between text, tradition, and death is seen across a range of genres including law, treaties, and wisdom sayings. Within these genres, the efficacious and correct reception of texts and traditions as lived by actual individuals is paramount. "Inscribing Death" brings scholars together to explore the dynamic connections between textual anxiety and anxiety about death in the ancient world, including ancient Mesopotamia and the Levant, Greco-Roman Egypt, and late antique Judaism and Christianity. It will also seek to integrate ongoing interdisciplinary work with ritual theory, sociolinguistic approaches to ancient textuality, linguistic anthropology, and, more broadly, the material turn in the study of the ancient world in order to further our understanding of ancient attitudes toward the nature of transmission and the reception of traditions and texts in the spaces of the dead.

We would be delighted if you would join us. Registration is free. To register and for a full schedule, please visit: www.inscribingdeath.com

​For questions, please contact Mark Lester at mark.lester@yale.edu
​

Speakers:
Emily Cole, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World
Maria Doerfler, Yale University
Ellen Muehlberger, University of​ ​Michigan
Laura Quick, Princeton University
Annette Yoshiko Reed, New York University
Seth Sanders, University of California, Davis
Jeremy Smoak, University of California, Los Angeles
Kerry Sonia, Bowdoin College
Matthew Suriano, University of Maryland, College Park
Jacqueline Vayntrub, Brandeis University


*This conference is supported by the Kempf Fund, Yale Religious Studies, Yale Divinity School, and Archaia.

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Elledge on Resurrection in Early Judaism

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

Resurrection in Early Judaism

While it remained popular within sectors of early Judaism, some writings clearly prefer the immortality of the soul, without particular regard for resurrection (Wisdom of Solomon, 4 Maccabees, Philo of Alexandria). Resurrection was also opposed or ignored by a significant proportion of the Jewish populace.

See Also: Resurrection of the Dead in Early Judaism, 200 BCE-CE 200 (Oxford University Press, 2017).

By C.D. Elledge
Gustavus Adolphus College
January 2018

Cross-file under New Book.

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On palaeographical dating of literary manuscripts

LARRY HURTADO: The Limits and Difficulties of Palaeographical Dating of Literary Manuscripts. I have mentioned Brent Nongbri's important work on paleographic dating here and links. But it is worth underlining again. When palaeographers (or paleographers) give a specific date for an ancient manuscript, they mean that date plus or minus fifty years.

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Massive looting in Archelais

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT BLOG: ISIS-Style Destruction of Antiquities, Right Here in Israel. The staff of the Temple Mount Sifting Project made a very disturbing discovery at the site of Archelais, north of Jericho, while on a recreational field trip at the end of 2017.

This is quite possible the biggest archaeological destruction in Israeli history. While the Temple Mount may be a more important site rich in antiquities from all different time periods, in size, the whole-sale destruction, covering about 100 dunams (about 25 acres of land) in Archelais is much larger than that of the south-eastern corner of the Temple Mount. We were shocked. We never saw such massive destruction, and we’ve been working with the Temple Mount material for 13 years. There were hundreds of pits, many trenches, and the entire site was turned over by bulldozers looking for archaeological “hot spots.” We could see many archaeological artifacts strewn across the site, including ashlar stones, pieces of architecture, column drums, and farming tools.

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The aqueduct at Caesarea

THE HOLY LAND PHOTOS' BLOG: Seldom Visited Aqueduct at Caesarea (Carl Rasmussen).

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Taylor, What Did Jesus Look Like?

FORTHCOMING BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

What Did Jesus Look Like?
By: Joan E. Taylor

Published: 08-02-2018
Format: Hardback
Edition: 1st
Extent: 288
ISBN: 9780567671509
Imprint: T&T Clark
Illustrations: 77 colour illus
Dimensions: 216 x 170 mm

About What Did Jesus Look Like?

Jesus Christ is arguably the most famous man who ever lived. His image adorns countless churches, icons, and paintings. He is the subject of millions of statues, sculptures, devotional objects and works of art. Everyone can conjure an image of Jesus: usually as a handsome, white man with flowing locks and pristine linen robes.

But what did Jesus really look like? Is our popular image of Jesus overly westernized and untrue to historical reality?

This question continues to fascinate. Leading Christian Origins scholar Joan E. Taylor surveys the historical evidence, and the prevalent image of Jesus in art and culture, to suggest an entirely different vision of this most famous of men.

He may even have had short hair.

Related post here.

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Robinson, Jude on the Attack

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

Jude on the Attack
A Comparative Analysis of the Epistle of Jude, Jewish Judgement Oracles, and Greco-Roman Invective

By: Alexandra Robinson

Published: 14-12-2017
Format: Hardback
Edition: 1st
Extent: 272
ISBN: 9780567678782
Imprint: T&T Clark
Series: The Library of New Testament Studies
Volume: 581
Dimensions: 234 x 156 mm

About Jude on the Attack

Alexandra Robinson examines the letter of Jude in the light of repeated scholarly references to this source as an invective, a polemic, and an attack speech, with a dependence on both Jewish and Greco-Roman sources. Moving beyond the 'Hellenism/Judaism divide', Robinson specifies what these elements are, and how they relate to the harsh nature of the discourse.

This study shows how, where, and why Jude borrows from these contemporary genres, with a detailed survey of Greco-Roman invectives and Jewish judgement oracles; comparing and contrasting them to the epistle of Jude with consideration of structure, aims, themes, and style. Robinson argues that Jude has constructed a 'Jewish invective,' and that his epistle is a polemical text which takes the form (structure, aims, and style) of a typical Greco-Roman invective but is filled with Jewish content (themes and allusions), drawing on Israel's heritage for the benefit of his primarily Jewish– Christian audience.

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Belial

PHILOLOGOS: How Evil Became Personified. The story of the biblical word b’liya’al (Mosaic Magazine).

Where, however, did this understanding of the term come from? Why was it so different from the understanding of the rabbis? One can only speculate—and though I am no Bible scholar, permit me to do so.

I find his speculation implausible. I know of no parallel to the idea that the phrase "a son of Baal" would mean something like "an evil man" in biblical Hebrew. That doesn't sound right to me. And when the name is altered elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible, it is altered to keep it from looking like a divine name. What would be the reason for the change in this idiom?

Past PaleoJudaica posts on the diabolical one in his various guises are here and follow the links.

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The Talmud on oaths about quantity and substance

THIS WEEK'S DAF YOMI COLUMN BY ADAM KIRSCH IN TABLET: In the Talmud, Size Matters. This week’s ‘Daf Yomi’ helps Jews swear in disputes of the kind they might encounter in small claims court. Plus: if an oath must be taken in the name of God, can the literal name be spoken? And is Abraham’s penis a sacred object?

In general, the mishna says, “one takes an oath only concerning an item that is defined by size, by weight, or by number.” That is, the dispute must be about the quantity of a substance, not about the substance itself. But the question of what defines a substance, what makes a thing the thing it is, is one that always creates problems for the rabbis. Thus the Gemara in Shevuot 43a asks about a situation where the plaintiff claims a large candelabrum from the defendant, and the defendant admits only to possessing a small candelabrum.

Earlier Daf Yomi columns are noted here and links.

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Paul and utopian cosmopolitanism

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Galatians 3:28—Neither Jew nor Greek, Slave nor Free, Male and Female. As published in Biblical Archaeology Review, January/February 2018 (Karin Neutel).

At the end of his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. alludes to the apostle Paul’s words in Galatians 3:28: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (NRSV). In her Biblical Views column in the January/February 2018 issue of BAR, republished in full below, Biblical scholar Karin Neutel examines Paul’s vision for how we would live together in an ideal society.—Ed.

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Jewish DNA analysis

PROF. STEVEN J. WEITZMAN: DNA and the Origin of the Jews

Is there a genetic marker for cohanim (priests)? Are Ashkenazi Jews descended from Khazars? Why is there such a close genetic connection between Samaritans and Jews, especially cohanim? A look at what genetic testing can tell us about Jews.

A careful and nuanced overview of the DNA evidence.

For past posts on Professor Weitzman's research, including his recently published book, The Origin of the Jews: The Quest for Roots in a Rootless Age, see here and links.

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Again, Kurshan, If All the Seas Were Ink

TALMUD WATCH: MEMOIR BY ILANA KURSHAN, MODERN FEMINIST, SHOWS RESPECT FOR JEWISH TRADITION (Martin Lockshin, Canadian Jewish News). I've linked to other reviews of If All the Seas Were Ink, which deals with how Ms. Kurshan went through some big life transitions during the last Daf Yomi cycle. See here and links. Here's an excerpt from this review:

Her approach to Talmud is personal and creative. For example, the talmudic volume, Sukkah, teaches that fixed meals have to be eaten in a sukkah but snacking, what the Talmud calls achilat aray, temporary eating, can take place anywhere. (Kurshan playfully calls it “achilat awry.”) At the time when she was studying Sukkah, she was recently divorced and felt that much of her life and even her eating patterns were aray. Furthermore, by definition, a sukkah is a temporary structure but it has to have a certain amount of stability. Kurshan compares this to her own personal status while she studied this volume, living a life that seems flimsy and temporary while trying to find permanence and stability.

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Job in BH, Rabbinics, Aramaic, etc.

LEO BAECK COLLEGE: Lecturer in Biblical Hebrew with further specialisation in Rabbinic Literature, Aramaic or other Cognate Areas

Leo Baeck College, based in North London, UK, is seeking to recruit a permanent Lecturer (Part-time 60%- 70%, teaching only, Open Rank) in Biblical Hebrew. The candidate should have teaching ability in a related area, such as Aramaic (Biblical, Targumic and/or Babylonian), Rabbinic Literature (Midrash, Talmud, Traditional Bible Commentaries) or other related areas such as Jewish History or Theology. The post entails teaching Introductory Biblical Hebrew Grammar in addition to modules in the candidate’s other area of specialty. For the right applicant this position has the potential to grow in the future depending on the candidate’s qualifications and experience. The candidate will be an active participant in the life of the College, including membership in academic committees and administrative contributions as relevant.

Leo Baeck College is a dynamic progressive rabbinical seminary in the vibrant Jewish community of North London with good library holdings. Most students at Leo Baeck College will be pursuing academic studies leading to degrees and rabbinic ordination.

Follow the link for further particulars. The application deadline is 15 February, 2018.

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Carthaginian coins in Croatia

PUNIC WATCH: UK Archaeologist Serves as Fulbright Specialist in Croatia (Whitney Hale, University of Kentucky).

[Paolo] Visonà is a Mediterranean archaeologist and numismatist with expertise in the pre-Roman coinages of Punic North Africa and on the coinage of Issa, an ancient Greek city on the island of Vis in today’s Dalmatia, a region made famous by the filming of the “Games of Thrones” HBO series. He was invited by his Croatian colleagues to give a series of lectures and workshops on the monetary circulation in this area of the Adriatic before the Roman conquest.

Since the 19th century, an unusual concentration of finds of hundreds of bronze coins of ancient Carthage, Numidia and Ptolemaic Egypt in northern Dalmatia and northwestern Bosnia has puzzled archaeologists and historians. During his stay, Visonà was given unprecedented access to this material. In addition, he had the opportunity to discuss with Croatian students and scholars a new research methodology known as “coins in context,” which entails the study of all the datable evidence associated with the coins found in a stratigraphic excavation.

My bold-font emphasis. Cross-file under Numismatics.

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Review of Blenkinsopp, Essays on Judaism in the Pre-Hellenistic Period

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Joseph Blenkinsopp, Essays on Judaism in the Pre-Hellenistic Period. Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 495. Berlin; Boston: De Gruyter, 2017. Pp. x, 262. ISBN 9783110475142. $137.99. Reviewed by Salvatore Infantino, Syracuse, Italy (infantino.salvo@gmail.com). Warning! The review is in Italian.

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Mysterious Hebrew fragment from Oxyrhynchus

BRITISH LIBRARY ASIAN AND AFRICAN STUDIES BLOG: A papyrus puzzle: an unidentified fragment from 4th century Oxyrhynchus (Zsofi Buda and Miriam Lewis).

The Hebrew Manuscripts Digitisation Project team has just started working on five papyrus fragments, which are some of the earliest Hebrew texts we have at the British Library. The fragments are a fascinating mystery, one that we hope you can help us solve.

[...]

It turns out there are a number of early Hebrew fragments from Oxyrhynchus:

We are not able to precisely date these fragments, but the current consensus is that they are from the fourth century CE. Three of them (A, B and E) are poems, all written in Hebrew language and script. Fragment D is a Greek contract, with Hebrew text in the margins, which is probably also of a legal nature. Fragment C is written in Hebrew characters however the language – except the last three lines –is yet unidentified. This is where our mystery lies – and perhaps it is about to be uncovered by one of you.

Have a look at Fragment C and see if you can decipher it!

HT AJR.

UPDATE (20 January): For a possible (Aramaic) decipherment of the mystery fragment, see here.

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New Aramaic inscription from Iran

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: First alabastron with Aramaic inscription in Persian period. It is only three letters and it may refer to the contents of the alabaster vase.

Cross-file under Aramaic Watch.

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Medical School Phoenician?

PHOENICIAN WATCH: USJ is offering a course about the Phoenician language (Grace H., The961).

In an interview with Kalam Ennas, Professor Roland Tomb announced that the Medical School of the University of Saint Joseph (USJ) is offering the course “Introduction to the Phoenician Language.” Tomb, who is the Dean of the school, will be teaching Aramaic next semester.

[...]

Well good, although I'm baffled as to why this is being offered in a Medical School. Actually, I can't recall ever hearing of a semester course that was only on the Phoenician language, although that doesn't mean there haven't been any. Usually, even in research programs in Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Phoenician would be taught as part of a course on Northwest Semitic epigraphy or the like. But anyhow, more power to them.

The photo is of the Kilamuwa Inscription.

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Who will review the peer reviewers?

THE ETC BLOG: Peer-reviewing the peer review—why not? (Peter Malik). Now's your chance!

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