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Saturday, January 05, 2019

Where did we get cats?

ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Where Do Cats Come From? (Claudio Ottoni, The Ancient Near East Today). Human domestication of cats (or perhaps vice versa) began ten thousand years ago in the Levant.
Importantly, cats were never selected for a peculiar task by humans; they already possessed in their wild state the predatory skills that made them useful to human communities: hunting mice and other pests that infested human grain storages (or households, ships and so on). In the behavioural context of the Egyptian society cats developed a more tolerant attitude towards humans and became their companions, while maintaining their innate predatory skills and a sort of aloofness that is still a landmark of modern housecats. This is corroborated by the analysis of full genomes in modern cats, which recently suggested that the main differences between wild and domestic cats are at the level of behavioural traits.
Almost. Wild cats are generally bigger than domesticated cats, sometimes much bigger. We clearly bred domesticated cats to be too small to be a threat. If your cat were bigger, it would eat you.

Fun Fact: There is no certain mention of domesticated cats in the Jewish and Protestant Bibles. For a possible mention, see here and links.

Domesticated cats appear once in the Catholic Bible in the Epistle of Jeremiah 22.

There's more on ancient cats here, here, and here. And then there's this.

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YHWH "the Impassioned One?"

PROF. ISRAEL KNOHL: YHWH: The Original Arabic Meaning of the Name (TheTorah.com).
God reveals his name to Moses as “I am,” from the Hebrew root ה.ו.י, “being.” The name YHWH, however, originates in Midian, and derives from the Arabic term for “love, desire, or passion.”
I am not an expert on pre-Islamic Arabian language and culture, so I have no opinion about this proposal. It was published in 1956 and has not caught on, which is not a good sign. But perhaps someone will take it up again in a peer-review publication. We'll see.

For another proposal for the origin of the divine name YHWH, see here.

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Mäkipelto, Uncovering Ancient Editing

NEW BOOK FROM DE GRUYTER:
Mäkipelto, Ville
Uncovering Ancient Editing

Documented Evidence of Changes in Joshua 24 and Related Texts


Series: Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 513

86,95 € / $99.99 / £79.00*
Hardcover
Publication Date:
October 2018
ISBN 978-3-11-059811-7

Aims and Scope
The Hebrew Bible is a product of ancient editing, but to what degree can this editing be uncovered? “Uncovering Ancient Editing” argues that divergent textual witnesses of the same text, so-called documented evidence, should be the starting point for such an endeavor.

The book presents a fresh analysis of Josh 24 and related texts as a test case for refining our knowledge of how scribes edited texts. Josh 24 is envisioned as a gradually growing Persian period text, whose editorial history can be reconstructed with the help of documented evidence preserved in the MT, LXX, and other ancient sources.

This study has major implications for both the study of the book of Joshua and text-historical methodology in general.

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Download free Hebrew manuscripts!

THE AWOL BLOG: Download Hebrew Manuscripts for free, in partnership with BL Labs. More than 700 British Library manuscripts. For you, special deal!
What’s in the datasets? The digitised manuscripts are provided as 300ppi JPEGs, divided into small datasets of around 50GB each, sorted alphabetically by shelfmark (20 to 30 manuscripts per dataset). They contain a huge variety of Hebrew manuscripts, including Kabbalistic works, linguistic works, prayer books, biblical texts and commentaries, marriage certificates, charters and scrolls. The manuscripts also contain texts in many different languages, including Latin, Greek, Yiddish, Persian, Italian, Arabic and Syriac. The catalogue records for all of these manuscripts can be found in dataset Heb1 (TEI XML files).

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Friday, January 04, 2019

Amos' earthquake(s?)

I WAS EXPECTING AN EARTH-SHATTERING KABOOM: Fact-checking the Book of Amos: There Was a Huge Quake in Eighth Century B.C.E. An earthquake that ripped apart Solomon’s Temple was mentioned in the Bible and described in colorful detail by Josephus – and now geologists show what really happened (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz premium).
At the end of the day, what we have is evidence of two strong quakes in the eighth century B.C.E., which support the biblical account in Amos, and Zechariah too. Not that he knew of what he spake, writing so long after the event, but still.
For more on biblical earthquakes, see here.

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Faust, Judah in the Neo-Babylonian Period

NEW BOOK FROM THE SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE:
Judah in the Neo-Babylonian Period: The Archaeology of Desolation
Avraham Faust

ISBN 9781589836402
Status Available
Price: $35.95
Binding Paperback
Publication Date September 2012

The Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. was a watershed event in the history of Judah, the end of the monarchy and the beginning of the exilic period, during which many of the biblical texts were probably written. The conquest left clear archaeological marks on many sites in Judah, including Jerusalem, and the Bible records it as a traumatic event for the population. Less clear is the situation in Judah following the conquest, that is, in the sixth century, a period with archaeological remains the nature and significance of which are disputed. The traditional view is that the land was decimated and the population devastated. In the last two decades, scholars arguing that the land was not empty and that the exile had little impact on Judah’s rural sector have challenged this view. This volume examines the archaeological reality of Judah in the sixth century in order to shed new light on the debate. By expanding research into new avenues and examining new data, as well as by applying new methods to older data, the author arrives at fresh insights that support the traditional view of sixth-century Judah as a land whose population, both urban and rural, was devastated and whose recovery took centuries.

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Pay the half-shekel tax with a Nikki Haley coin?

NUMISMATICS? Sanhedrin Issues Nikki Haley Commemorative Coin Invited to be honorary president of '70 Nations' (Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz, Breaking Israel News).
The Sanhedrin is minting a commemorative coin in recognition of Nikki Haley’s exemplary service as the 29th U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Haley tendered her resignation in October effective at the end of 2018.The Sanhedrin issued the commemorative coin in conjunction with an invitation for Haley to serve as the honorary president of a Biblically mandated organization of 70 Nations.
Not only that:
Jews who purchase the coin can consider it as fulfilling the mitzvah (Torah commandment) of the half shekel. In the days of the Temple, every male in Israel was obligated to donate a half-shekel of silver at the beginning of the month of Adar which was used to pay for the operating expenses of the Temple for the entire year.

This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary – the shekel is twenty gerahs–half a shekel for an offering to Hashem. Exodus 30:13
This new Sanhedrin appointed itself back in 2005. More on it here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. They are proponents of rebuilding a third Temple on the Temple Mount. (For the record, I oppose any construction on the Temple Mount.) More on their revival of the half-shekel Temple tax is here. And more on their Donald Trump coin is here.

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The entire Talmud in one day

TALMUD WATCH: MARATHON TALMUD STUDY SESSION UNITES NATIONAL-RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY. Some of the most senior rabbis in the national religious community participated in the study session (Jeremy Sharon, Jerusalem Post).
Hundreds of yeshiva students and rabbis from across the spectrum of the national religious community participated in a marathon Talmud study session on Sunday, and completed the 2,711 double-sided folio pages of the Babylonian Talmud over the course of the day.

[...]
That's a lot of Talmud.

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Thursday, January 03, 2019

U.S. and Israel withdraw from UNESCO

POLITICS: The U.S. and Israel Have Quit the U.N.'s Cultural Agency UNESCO, Accusing It of Bias (AFP).

This withdrawal has been in progress, and under negotiation, for more than a year. For details and commentary, see here and follow the many links.

The U.S. and Israel have walked away from the negotiating table. But that doesn't mean it's over. Let's see what happens next.

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Finds to watch for in 2019

PROGNOSTICATION: Archaeology Discoveries to Watch for in 2019 (Owen Jarus, Live Science).
A new hoard of 1,400 tablets from a lost city in Iraq, new clues to a massive void in the Great Pyramid and the discovery of an ornately decorated Easter egg that belonged to the Russian royal family are just some of the cool archaeological discoveries that we might see in 2019.
Mr. Jarus also had a list of discoveries to look for in 2018. That list included a possible "13th Dead Sea Scrolls cave." In 2018 archaeologists did discover two(ish) new Qumran caves that had been used in antiquity. They are still hoping that more scrolls will turn up, but there's nothing so far. So I give his prediction partial credit.

This year Mr. Jarus is again predicting the likely discovery of "A New Cave near Qumran." That is possible. It would be nice if one of these new caves also turned up with scrolls in it. I think that is unlikely, but it would be nice.

Also, there is more on the new archive of cuneiform tablets from Irisagrig here.

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Biblical Studies Carnival 154

CHRISTOPHER L. SCOTT: December Biblical Studies Carnival. A small one this month.

Phil Long is still seeking carnival hosts for 2019.

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Jeroboam as Moses?

DR. TZVI NOVICK: The Depiction of Jeroboam and Hadad as Moses-like Saviors (TheTorah.com).
Set against the Pharaonic Solomon, Jeroboam frees Israel from servitude and founds the Northern Kingdom. Hadad plays a similar role on behalf of the Edomites. Why are these two “rebels” depicted as heroes?

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Wednesday, January 02, 2019

Schmidt Gedenkschrift on Indo-Iranian studies

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: Hanns-Peter Schmidt (1930-2017) Gedenkschrift.
The 6th volume of DABIR is a Gedenkschrift to honour Hanns-Peter Schmidt (1930-2017), an excellent German scholar of Indo-Iranian studies, who mainly worked on the Vedas and the Gāθās, as well as Indian mythology and the Zoroastrian religion.
When I was an undergraduate at UCLA I took two courses from Professor Schmidt: one on ancient Iranian culture and one on ancient Iranian religion. There were two or three of us in each course. But the material was fascinating and I still have the notes from those classes.

Professor Schmidt wrote his lecture notes out in longhand. I remember he once commented that he used yellow legal-pad paper so that students couldn't tell how old the pages were.

Requiescat in pace.

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Still more on Jesus' face at Shivta

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY: The Face of the Baptized Jesus at Shivta (Emma Maayan-Fanar, Ravit Linn, Yotam Tepper and Guy Bar-Oz).
The importance of the find of the wall painting in the Baptistery of the North Church at Shivta is enormous: it is a rare survival of early Byzantine iconography and an original wall painting in its architectural setting. This finding enriches our knowledge of subjects and techniques used to decorate early Byzantine churches, providing insight into the religious and the cultural life of Byzantine Shivta, and bringing us closer to early Christian representations of the Christ.
Background here and links. And another recent discovery at Shivta is noted here.

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Three books noted

THE ETC BLOG: Books of Interest to Textual Criticism (Peter Gurry). Two are from 2017 and are about the Apostle Paul. They are of indirect interest here, but I like to note such things. Richard Horsley's Scribes, Visionaries, and the Politics of Second Temple Judea (Westminster John Knox Press, 2007) is older, but of more direct interest. All three are new to me. They all involve textual criticism, but also deal with many other matters.

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Review of Anderson and Widder, Textual Criticism of the Bible (rev. ed.)

THE READING ACTS BLOG: Book Review: Amy Anderson and Wendy Widder, Textual Criticism and the Bible. Revised Edition (Phil Long). I noted the book as forthcoming here.

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Tuesday, January 01, 2019

Bible and Intepretation top five for 2018

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION: Editors' Choice: The Best of B&I in 2018. Five good ones.

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Top ten for AJR 2018

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Year in Review: Top Ten Articles of 2018. With some new 2019 content promised soon.

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Post-mortem coin of Alexander the Great

NUMISMATICS: Ancient Coin Profiles – Portrait of Alexander the Great (Russell A. Augustin, CoinWeek). Nice coin, plus this article gives an account of the immediate aftermath of Alexander's death.

Alexander the Great, of course, appears in the Hebrew Bible, but not by name. He is the "he-goat from the west" in Daniel chapter eight. He is also the "mighty king" mentioned in 11:3.

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Ptolemaic Coins Online

THE AWOL BLOG: Launched: Ptolemaic Coins Online. For more on Ptolemaic coins, see here and links.

The American Numismatic Society has already released a Seleucid Coins Online site.

Cross-file under Numismatics.

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2019!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Have a terrific 2019, with frequent visits to PaleoJudaica.

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Monday, December 31, 2018

The best 2018 biblical archaeology roundup

THE BIBLE PLACES BLOG: Top 10 Discoveries in Biblical Archaeology in 2018 (Todd Bolen). With an explanation for each item, a list of honorable mentions, and a list of specialists who passed away this year.

This is the best 2018 roundup for biblical archaeology out of all those I have seen. It's a good link with which to end the year.

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BHD 2018 top ten

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Top 10 Bible History Daily Posts in 2018. Ring in the new year by looking back (Robin Ngo). I linked to many, but not all, of these posts. So go have a look.

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Top 2018 discoveries in Egypt

GOOD, BUT SOMETHING IS MISSING: Astonishing discoveries in 2018 Egypt announced a flurry of astonishing new discoveries, archaeological events and exhibitions abroad this year, writes Nevine El-Aref (Al-Ahram Weekly).

Not directly relevant to ancient Judaism, but you're probably interested in what's been happening in Egypt too.

Unfortunately, you will learn almost nothing pertaining to Coptic studies. The word "Coptic" appears only once in the article, in an uninformative context. The article gives no information about Coptic-related discoveries and exhibitions. It would have been good to have a section on Coptic Studies like the one on Islamic Monuments. It's too bad that this article ignores this important aspect of ancient Egyptian studies.

Cross-file under Coptic Watch.

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A 2019 Bible-reading plan

THE HOLY LAND PHOTOS' BLOG: Why Not A New Year’s Question, Instead of a Resolution?

If you aim to read the whole Bible in 2019, Carl Rasmussen points you to a new and creative reading program.

Or, if you read Greek, you may (also?) want to try the Graded Septuagint Reading Plan noted here.

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Sunday, December 30, 2018

More top 2018 stories from Haaretz

ANOTHER END-OF-YEAR LIST: Editor's Picks: Archaeological Wonders of 2018. Does bread predate agriculture? Why did Gauls embalm the heads of their enemies? Did Uri Geller really use ESP to find an ancient factory? Read all about it in Haaretz's top archaeology stories of 2018 (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz premium).

Most of these stories, although very interesting in themselves, are outside the focus of PaleoJudaica. But I did note the ones about the recovered bit of the Antikythera Mechanism, the ancient Greco-Aramaic comics, the conflict over the Jewish catacomb in Rome, and even Uri Geller.

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A day in the life at a dig

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Digs 2019: A Day in the Life. Read the full article from the January/February 2019 issue of BAR (Robert Cargill [BAR chief editor).
Four a.m. That’s the first thing anyone who has been on an archaeological dig in the Holy Land will tell you when you ask them what it’s like to be on an excavation.
“You get up at 4:00 a.m.!” they’ll say with equal parts pride and loathing in their voices. “The first two hours of your day are spent in the dark.”

[...]
This brings back many memories of my field experiences at Tel Dor and Ashkelon in the 1980s. Good times!

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More about “Finds Gone Astray”

SO MANY APPREHENSIONS: EXHIBIT REVEALS NEVER-SEEN ARTIFACTS RESCUED FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL THIEVES. Many of the objects were illegally excavated using tools and methods that have caused irreversible damage to archaeological sites of enormous local historical significance (Maayan Hoffman, Jerusalem Post).
It took hours of intensive detective work, including patient surveillance, carefully planned ambushes, and nightly observations to intercept the thieves and retrieve these artifacts. The rescued objects have been carefully preserved and stored, and numerous looters operating in Judea and Samaria have been prosecuted. Over the last 50 years, 40,000 objects have been collected.
I noted this story a couple of days ago, but this article has additional details.

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Two statues found near Beit Shean

CHANCE FIND: TWO UNIQUE ROMAN STATUES DISCOVERED NEAR BURIAL SITE IN ANCIENT BEIT SHEAN. The statues' discovery is important for understanding late Roman period style, as no two statues from this time period resemble each other (Rachel Bernstein, Jerusalem Post).

I wonder how big they are. There is no scale in the photo and the article doesn't say.

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