More biblical archaeology 2018 top-ten lists

LISTS OF TOP ARCHAEOLOGY DISCOVERIES ARE STILL COMING IN:

Biblical Archaeology’s Top 10 Discoveries of 2018 (Gordon Govier, Christianity Today);

Top Discoveries in Biblical Archaeology 2018 (Christopher Eames, Watch Jerusalem).

I think PaleoJudaica has noted, and often commented on, all the the discoveries in both lists. See the archives.

Meanwhile, Brent Nategaal is unhappy that the Isaiah bulla (clay seal impression) is not getting more attention in the end-of-year lists: Another Big Year for Biblical Archaeology, but Not for the Prophet Isaiah?

The Watch Jerusalem article above (also sponsored by The Trumpet) makes up the lack. But so does the Christianity Today article.

I agree with Mr. Nategaal that the Isaiah bulla belongs in the top ten discoveries for 2018. But, that said, I don't think he fairly represents the pros and cons of the seal belonging to the prophet Isaiah himself, rather than to another Isaiah (it was a common name) son of Nobay. If the latter, we also have the seal of his brother, Oreb. See here and links, especially the link to Remnant of Giants.

Be that as it may, the bulla is a very important discovery. For many other past posts on it, start here and follow the links.

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The Temple warning inscriptions

HOLY LAND PHOTOS' BLOG: Warning to Gentiles from the Days of Jesus — Inscriptions (Carl Rasmussen). Appropriately, with some nice photos.

Past PaleoJudaica posts on the Greek Temple warning inscriptions are collected here.

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Jesus, the Jesus movement, and family

THE BIBLE AND INTEPRETATION:

Family in the Early Jesus Movement

Why did the historical Jesus reject traditional family ties? There are a couple of possibilities. First, it is feasible that he did so because his family attempted to thwart his activities…. It is also possible that, regardless of his own family’s attitude, Jesus felt that traditional family ties were insignificant compared to proclaiming the arrival of the kingdom of God (which Jesus no doubt identified with the will of God). One was to make a choice: family or the kingdom.

See Also: Jesus Followers in the Roman Empire (Eerdmans, 2017).

By Paul B. Duff
Professor of Religion
The Columbian College of Arts and Sciences
The George Washington University
December 2018

The historical Jesus clearly had family issues. But that's never been unusual. He also liked to use hyperbole. It's a good way of getting attention.

How good? Ponder the fact that Jesus' most hyperbolic sayings have survived all this time and are still well known, even though most everyone knows better than to try to carry them out.

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Top ETC Blog posts of 2018

THE ETC BLOG: Top Ten Posts of 2018 (Peter Gurry). The no-longer-first-century fragment of Mark was a favorite topic.

As usual, I will post my favorite PaleoJudaica posts of the year in March, on the blog's anniversary.

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More on Wimpfheimer, The Talmud: A Biography

TALMUD WATCH: New Talmud ‘biography’ seeks to bring the foundational text to life. Prof. Barry Scott Wimpfheimer has studied the Oral Law since he was 17; now he shares its story with an accessible, big picture view of its centrality to Judaism (Rich Tenorio, Times of Israel).

I noted the publication of The Talmud: A Biography, by Barry Scott Wimpfheimer, here earlier this year. This article discusses the book at some length and interviews the author.

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Huqoq looters dig holes, are foiled.

APPREHENDED: ANTIQUITIES POLICE STOP THEFT OF ANCIENT COINS. The suspects dug holes to find the coins, damaging the site. However, the synagogue was unharmed (Yvette J. Deane, Jerusalem Post).

Israel Antiquities Authority, JNF and Border Police stopped a band of thieves from stealing ancient coins from the Hukuk Synagogue archeological site in northern Israel on Thursday.

[...]

Good.

For many past posts on the Huqoq excavation, its ancient synagogue, and its remarkable mosaics, start here and follow the links

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"Finds Gone Astray"

EXHIBITION: Artifacts stolen and smuggled in the West Bank now on display in Jerusalem. Bible Lands Museum hosts a small collection of the 40,000 antiquities confiscated by the Civil Administration which, while stripped of origin stories, still have tales to tell (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel). Included are three Aramaic incantion bowls, presumably from Babylonia. Also, some remarkable figurines, perhaps from Syria.

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Moses the fugitive hero

PROF. ED GREENSTEIN: Moses and the Fugitive Hero Pattern (TheTorah.com).

The story of Moses follows a pattern that is typical of ancient Near Eastern fugitive hero narratives. However, when Moses goes to Mount Horeb, the plot deviates from the usual “divine encounter” feature. What does this tell us about the composition of the story of Moses and the Burning Bush?

This essay does not use the Rank-Raglan typology of the hero, but its fugitive-hero pattern has some similarities. For the Rank-Raglan typology and Jesus, see here, and on Abraham, see here. Also, Ron Hendel published a book quite a few years ago which looks at Jacob and Moses as epic heroes: The Epic of the Patriarch: The Jacob Cycle and the Narrative Traditions of Canaan and Israel (HSM 42; Brill, 1988).

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Six big archaeology stories of 2018

THAT'S A LOT: 6 archaeology stories from 2018 that made me rethink my world. Who knew? Archaeology is therapy; maybe a meteor destroyed Sodom and Gemorrah [sic]; there are still new Dead Sea Scrolls treasures to decipher; and the mighty louse is a wonder (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel).

I followed all of these stories and blogged on most of them. I didn't find any of them world-shaking. (The Sodom and Gomorrah one was region shaking.) But all of them were interesting.

I'm looking forward to another year of interesting stories in 2019, and to Ms. Borschel-Dan's coverage of them.

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Camp of Cambyses' army found?

ARCHAEOLOGY: Persian Military Base Used to Invade Egypt Reportedly Found in Israel (Sputnik News).

Ruins of an ancient camp that was possibly used by Persian ruler Cambyses II as a staging ground for the invasion of Egypt some 2,500 years ago were unearthed by archaeologists in northern Israel, Haaretz reports.

The Haaretz article is in the premium section and I can't access the full text. But this article has a summary of it. Another summary (noted by Joseph Lauer) by Archaeology Magazine is here.

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SBL 2018: Traditions of Eastern Late Antiquity and Digital Humanities Session

BELATEDLY, ANOTHER SBL REPORT: Recap of Traditions of Eastern Late Antiquity and Digital Humanities Session at #SBLAAR18 (James McGrath, Religion Prof Blog). I am the belated one, not James.

A report on good projects involving cuneiform, Mandean (Mandaean), Syriac, and Ethiopic.

Other SBL 2018 reports were noted here and here.

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Women Biblical Scholars

WEBSITE: Women Biblical Scholars.

ABOUT

Throughout history women have loved, studied, and taught the Jewish and Christian scriptures. Unfortunately, many of us have never heard of these biblical scholars and thinkers. Often they are left out of history books and classroom discussion. The goal of this blog is to draw attention to the works of women and discover what they contribute to our understanding of the biblical texts. With greater awareness, this scholarship can shape course curriculum, homilies, public discourse, and academia itself.

The blog includes profiles, interviews, book reviews, and other means to spotlight women biblical scholars. Of particular interest are scholars whose work contributes to the thriving of faith communities and advances helpful discussion of religion in our contemporary world. Check out the developing Index of Scholars for names and works of women across history. This makes it easy to find the primary texts you want. Also don’t miss seeing today’s women biblical scholars in action–our growing Video and Audio page gives you access to lectures, presentations, and interviews. Finally, if you are looking for a dictionary on women interpreters or want to read a memoir or biography of a female scholar be sure to stop by the Books page.

If you know of something that should be added to this site, would like to contribute a guest post, or help develop the index of scholars please e-mail: women.biblical.scholars@gmail.com.

The site also has a Blog.

HT the Agade list. And also see the related post from last spring about the site at 4 Enoch: Women scholars etc. - Jewish-Christian-Islamic Origins.

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Review of Giusti, Carthage in Virgil's 'Aeneid'

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Elena Giusti, Carthage in Virgil's 'Aeneid': Staging the Enemy under Augustus. Cambridge classical studies. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Pp. xiv, 334. ISBN 9781108416801. £75.00. Reviewed by Claire Stocks, University of Newcastle (claire.stocks@newcastle.ac.uk).

Chapter 4 focuses predominantly on Books One to Four of the Aeneid, which we are to view as a unit within the epic (if we assume a tripartite structure for the work). Throughout this chapter, Giusti offers examples of Virgil’s allusions to all three Punic wars, arguing that when read as a whole, Virgil’s Carthage episode serves an historical allegory for that conflict and thus looks beyond the obvious association between the pairing of Carthage and Dido with Egypt and Cleopatra. ...

Cross-file under Punic Watch.

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Schiffman on combatting anti-Semitism

PROF. LAWRENCE H. SCHIFFMAN: COMBATING ANTI-SEMITISM. A reprint of his recent article, "Combating Anti-Semitism: Report from a conference in Vienna," in Ami Magazine.

Anti-Semitism is one ancient tradition that is better off dead. Regrettably, that day is not yet. But hopefully this conference represents some progress.

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Christmas doesn't come from a pagan holiday?

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: How December 25 Became Christmas (Andrew McGowan). Everyone knows the first explanation, but it has its problems. Few know about the second.

Originally published in Bible Review in 2002 and first noted by PaleoJudaica in 2010.

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The altar on Mt. Ebal

ZVI KOENIGSBERG: Joshua’s Altar on Mount Ebal: Israel’s Holy Site Before Shiloh (TheTorah.com).

In the eighties, archaeologist Adam Zertal excavated the site of El-Burnat on Mt. Ebal, and uncovered an enormous ancient altar from the early twelfth-century B.C.E. This archaeological find sheds light on the account of Joshua’s altar at Mt. Ebal as well as the famous story of Jacob crossing his arms to bless Ephraim over Manasseh with the birthright.

"Zvi Koenigsberg worked alongside the late Prof. Adam Zertal throughout the Ebal excavations (1982-88)." He gives an engaging account of the moment when they realized they could be dealing with an altar.

For more on the altar on Mount Ebal, see here.

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Ancient ring found on pilgrim's road

ARTIFACT: 2,000-year-old Ring Found in Pilgrim's Road to Temple Mount. Ring seems to have been found in ritual bath, either slipped off somebody's finger or was forgotten, archaeologists excavating the City of David suggest (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz premium).

It's annoying to lose your precious baubles in a public pool and probably was just as irksome 2,000 years ago too, when a ring seems to have slipped off the finger of an unwary bather in a mikveh. Or maybe it was taken off for the purposes of the ritual purifying bath, and was forgotten there.

[...]

"Precious?" Oh no.

The story is also covered by Amanda Borschel-Dan in the Times of Israel: Misplaced 2,000-year-old ring discovered in Jerusalem’s City of David.

For more on those two ancient gold earrings, see here and links. For that Byzantine-era hoard of gold coins, see here and here. And for the recently discovered "Pilate" ring from the same period as Precious, see here and here.

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

Report on the Material of Christian Apocrypha Conference

NEW TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA WATCH: At the Apocryphicity Blog, Tony Burke is reporting on the recent Material of Christian Apocrypha Conference:

Reflections on the Material of Christian Apocrypha Conference: Part I

Reflections on the Material of Christian Apocrypha Conference: Part II

There was lots of attention to the Infancy Gospel traditions, so this seems like a good day to note Tony's posts. But there was also much attention to other apocryphal traditions, both literary and iconographic.

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Finkelstein, Hasmonean Realities behind Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles

NEW BOOK FROM THE SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE:

Hasmonean Realities behind Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles: Archaeological and Historical Perspectives
Israel Finkelstein

ISBN 9780884143086
Status Available
Price: $47.95
Binding Hardback
Publication Date September 2018
Pages 222

A thorough case for a later date for of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles

In this collection of essays, Israel Finkelstein deals with key topics in Ezra, Nehemiah, and 1 and 2 Chronicles, such as the list of returnees, the construction of the city wall of Jerusalem, the adversaries of Nehemiah, the tribal genealogies, and the territorial expansion of Judah in 2 Chronicles. Finkelstein argues that the geographical and historical realities cached behind at least parts of these books fit the Hasmonean period in the late second century BCE. Seven previously published essays are supplemented by maps, updates to the archaeological material, and references to recent publications on the topics.

Features:

• Analysis of geographical chapters of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles
• Study of the Hasmonean period in the late second century BCE
• Unique arguments regarding chronology and historical background

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Christmas 2018

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all those celebrating!

For posts of Christmas past, see my 2017 Christmas post and links. Christmas-related posts in the last year are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

I am busy this morning, but I will post some more later today.

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

How many wise men?

'TIS THE SEASON: Were there more than Three Kings? (BBC).

Thirty years ago there were 50,000 Christians in south-eastern Turkey speaking a dialect of Aramaic - the language of Christ. Now there are 2,500. Talking to one of them, the BBC's Jeremy Bristow learned that instead of Three Kings, there might actually have been 12.

If we wanted to be pedantic, we could say that there weren't any kings. The Gospel of Matthew just refers to "magi." It doesn't say how many there were. We just infer there were three because they brought three gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Their gender isn't even specified. "Magi" could be read as all male or as a mixed-gender group. (Past PaleoJudaica posts on Matthew's Magi are here and many links, plus here, here, and here.)

But we are not pedantic, are we? And later tradition promotes the magi to kings, gives them names, and specifies their number: three sometimes, but also twelve. And the recently rediscovered Syriac apocryphal text, The Revelation of the Magi, gives their number as twelve and more. The Revelation of the Magi is a very long work, but you can read a detailed summary of it by its re-discoverer, Dr. Brent Landau, here. And there's more on it here and links.

Also, let's not miss that this article is actually about a modern Syriac scribe, a rarity these days. But one I hope we will be seeing more of in a more peaceful Middle East.

Peace on Earth.

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Apocryphal Christmas, reprised

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Christmas Stories in Christian Apocrypha. The birth of Jesus in the apocryphal gospels (Tony Burke). I have noted this piece a couple of times before. But it's been a few years and 'Tis the Season, so here it is again.

If you want to read more about some of these texts, see here and links. And if you want to read the texts themselves, then buy Tony's and Brent Landau's book, New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures, volume one.

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

The original sign of Immanuel

'TIS THE SEASON: The Original Sign of Immanuel – Isaiah 7:1-14 (Phil Long, Reading Acts). Because you should know these things.

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The real Santa?

'TIS THE SEASON: Who Was St. Nicholas? Was St. Nicholas jolly or holy? (Mark Wilson). This essay was published last year, but it appears I missed it then, so here is this year's reprint.

We don't know much about the historical St. Nicholas: he was a fourth-century bishop from Anatolia whose name appears in a couple of lists. Plus we apparently still have his body. Mark Wilson's essay recounts some more ancient and less outlandish legends about him than that Santa Claus stuff.

Also, at the Holy Land Photos' Blog, Carl Rasmussen has reposted his The REAL Saint Nicholas! December 6, on which I have commented here. Follow the links there (plus see here) for additional past posts on Saint Nick.

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Herman and Rubenstein (eds.), The Aggada of the Bavli and Its Cultural World

NEW BOOK FROM THE SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE:

The Aggada of the Bavli and Its Cultural World
Geoffrey Herman (Editor), Jeffrey Rubenstein (Editor)

ISBN 9781946527080
Status Available
Price: $56.95
Binding Paperback
Publication Date August 2018

Essays that explore the rich engagement of the Talmud with its cultural world

The Babylonian Talmud (Bavli), the great compilation of Jewish law edited in the late Sasanian era (sixth–seventh century CE), also incorporates a great deal of aggada, that is, nonlegal material, including interpretations of the Bible, stories, folk sayings, and prayers. The Talmud’s aggadic traditions often echo conversations with the surrounding cultures of the Persians, Eastern Christians, Manichaeans, Mandaeans, and the ancient Babylonians, and others. The essays in this volume analyze Bavli aggada to reveal this rich engagement of the Talmud with its cultural world.

Features:

• A detailed analysis of the different conceptions of martyrdom in the Talmud as opposed to the Eastern Christian martyr accounts
• Illustration of the complex ways rabbinic Judaism absorbed Christian and Zoroastrian theological ideas
• Demonstration of the presence of Persian-Zoroastrian royal and mythological motifs in talmudic sources

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Online Course on ancient health and wellbeing

THE AWOL BLOG: Online Course: Health and Wellbeing in the Ancient World. The ancient world is understood, in this case, as Greece and Rome. But I'm sure this material has potential to help us understand the same concerns in contemporary ancient Judaism.

This course is with the Open University and it runs in January 2019 and again in June of 2019.

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Recovering the layout of lost Geniza fragments

GENIZA FRAGMENT OF THE MONTH (NOVEMBER 2018): Reconstructing folios from text editions: Lévi (1900) + T-S NS 98.18 and Bodl. MS Heb d.74.27 (Sacha Stern and Jay Birbeck).

Joining fragments is commonplace in Genizah research; less common is joining fragments with edited text.

The two folios in question, part of a larger manuscript that Sacha Stern is currently editing,[1] were torn horizontally, probably before they even left the Cairo Genizah. One of the lower fragments ended up in Cambridge, and the other in the Bodleian Library in Oxford. The upper fragments have not survived, but they were seen by Israel Lévi at the great exhibition of Paris in 1900, at the stall of a merchant from Cairo. Lévi copied out the text and promptly published it, but without saying what happened to the fragments.[2] They may have remained in the hands of the merchant, or they may have been sold. Sacha Stern has searched for them in vain, in Paris and elsewhere; the assumption must be that they are lost. All that we have of them now is Lévi’s edition.

Three other sections of this codex survived in the Cairo Geniza:

These three folios, thus joined, contain the copy of a Hebrew letter that was written in 922 by someone most likely in Syria or Palestine. This can be told by his dating from the destruction of the Temple, a chronological era which was never used in Babylonia or further east. The letter concerns the controversy about the calendar and dates of the festivals that was raging, in 921/2, between Palestinian and Babylonian Rabbanite leaders (a controversy that has been known until now as ‘between Saadya and ben Meir’; but the role of Saadya was actually marginal). Although a Westerner, the author of this letter sides with the Babylonians, and reproaches his correspondent for appearing to support the Palestinians.

The subject matter of this correspondence is late for PaleoJudaica's usual interests. But this is worth a read just to follow the fascinating process of reconstructing the original layout of lost manuscript fragments using computer technology. So cross-file under Technology Watch.

Past posts noting Cairo Geniza Fragments of the Month in the Cambridge University Library's Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit are here and links.

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Gary N. Knoppers, 1956-2018

SAD NEWS: Word has just come in from the Agade List and Facebook that Professor Gary N. Knoppers passed away yesterday.

Gary and I were both NELC PhD students at Harvard University in the mid-1980s. I remember him as a nice, quiet, and unassuming guy. I once interrupted him in his library carrel to get him to help me move a large desk up to my third-floor apartment. It was really a three-man job, but we just barely managed it.

He was working on the Books of Chronicles back before it was cool. He went on to publish the Anchor Bible Commentaries on 1-2 Chronicles.

Requiescat in pace.

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