Review of Crawford, Scribes and Scrolls at Qumran

READING ACTS: Book Review: Sidnie White Crawford, Scribes and Scrolls at Qumran (Phil Long).

Crawford, Sidnie White. Scribes and Scrolls at Qumran. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2019. 406 pp. + 8 pp of figures. Hb; $50. Link to Eerdmans

Sidnie White Crawford’s new book on the Dead Sea Scrolls and their relationship to both Qumran and the Essenes is a clear presentation of what might be considered the current consensus view on these issues. She does not engage in any fanciful new theory to completely overturn previous scholarship. On the contrary, she present a reasonable thesis based on evidence draw from both the archaeology of Qumran and the contents of the Dead Sea Scrolls. ...

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Interview with Casey Elledge

GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLLEGE: S.1 E.3 From Preacher’s Nephew to Religion Prof. Learning for Life @ Gustavus host Greg Kaster interviews religion professor Casey Elledge.

I noted his recent book, Resurrection of the Dead in Early Judaism here and here.

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Psalm 117

DUELING NARRATIVES: “Praise YHWH All You Nations”: Psalm 117 (Prof. Mark Zvi Brettler, TheTorah.com).

Short does not mean simple: Psalm 117 is one of the more difficult psalms. It is only two verses long and exhorts non-Israelites to praise YHWH. Why would such a psalm be written? A look at the worldview of the exilic prophet Deutero-Isaiah provides one answer, while reading this psalm together with the beginning of Psalm 118 provides another.

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Myriads of free books from De Gruyter - with a catch

FOR YOUR INSTITUTION, SPECIAL DEAL: Temp. free access to 75000 ebooks from De Gruyter (the AWOL Blog). See more details at the German De Gruyter page here.

The catch is that the offer only applied to institutions. But if you have access to the online holdings of a research library, this may be of interest. It lasts until 30 June 2020.

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The Tomb of Nahum still needs repairs

RENOVATIONS? New report urges 'urgent' action to preserve remaining Jewish sites in Syria and Iraq. The Jewish Cultural Heritage Initiative identified four 'priority' sites where preservation work was considered viable (The Jewish Chronicle).

The four sites identified were the Meir Tweig Synagogue and the Al-Habibiyah Jewish Cemetery, both of which are in Baghdad; the Sasson Synagogue in Mosul; and the 12th century Shrine of the Prophet Nahum in the northern Iraqi town of Al-Qosh.

This out of 368 that the JCHI assessed. It judged that 27 needed immediate attention.

Background on the (traditional) Tomb of Nahum is here and links. Last I heard, it was undergoing urgent repairs.

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Ancient Moab

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

Ancient Moab: from the Ninth to First Centuries BCE

A number of groups constituted ancient Moab. They were most likely descendants, at least in part, of the Shûtu/Sutu and/or Shasu. The former appear in the Amarna Letters, dated to the 14th century BCE, as “lawless” and “plotting rebellion.”

See Also: History of Ancient Moab from the Ninth to First Centuries BCE (SBL Press, 2020).

By Burton MacDonald
Professor Emeritus
Department of Religious Studies
St. Francis Xavier University
June 2020

For more on the on the Mesha Inscription (Mesha Stele, Moabite Stone), see here and links. For more on ancient Moab, see here.

Cross-file under New Book.

UPDATE: This book has been withdrawn by SBL Press.

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Hornkohl & Khan (eds.), Studies in Semitic Vocalisation and Reading Traditions

THE AWOL BLOG: Studies in Semitic Vocalisation and Reading Traditions. This new book, edited by Aaron Hornkohl and Geoffrey Khan and published by Open Book Publishers, "brings together papers relating to the pronunciation of Semitic languages and the representation of their pronunciation in written form." It includes essays on Biblical Hebrew, Punic, Biblical Aramaic, Syriac, Arabic, and post-biblical Hebrew. You can download the PDF version for free. For you, special deal!

Cross-file under New Book.

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The beast from the sea

READING ACTS: Background for the Beast of the Sea – Revelation 13:1-2. Phil Long continues his blog series on the Book of Revelation, concentrating on the seven sights of chapters 12-15. We have now moved to the second sight, the beast rising from the sea.

Some past PaleoJudaica posts on the beasts in Daniel 7 are here, here, and here.

I have noted earlier posts in Phil's series on the Book of Revelation here and links.

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More Aramaic in Saudi Arabia

EXHIBITION: Saudi Arabia’s masterpieces of antiquities down the ages. Gulf News offers a glimpse into the Arabian Peninsula’s fascinating past (Samir Salama, Gulf News).

‘Roads of Arabia: Archaeological Treasures of Saudi Arabia’: Organised by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH), it is one of the most important Saudi exhibits. It portrays the cultural depth and traditions of the kingdom in the most famous international museums — most notably in European and Asian capitals, and in American cities. The exhibition, through its 14 international channels and two local channels in Riyadh and in the King Abdul Aziz Centre for World Culture in Dhahran, constitutes an important and exceptional opportunity to introduce the kingdom’s culture as well as that of the Arabian Peninsula to five million visitors.

You can access the exhibition's website here.

The Gulf News article highlights a number of artifacts, including one bearing an Aramaic inscription:

Also among the famous Saudi artefacts is the ‘Monument with the Eyes’, a memorial “tombstone” inscribed with a human face dating back to the 5th century BC, found in Tayma. A memorial in the Aramaic language is inscribed on the stone: “On the Memory of Taim Ibn Zaid.”

This piece is the only clear evidence of the existence of cultural contacts between Tayma, the northwest and south of the Arabian Peninsula and the south.

The article does not include a photo of the object, but you can see one on the exhibition website. Unfortunately, I can't link to it. But click on the "Tayma, Al-‘Ula & Qaryat Al-Faw" circle and then scroll down to the sixth object on the far left, with the title "gravestone with abstract face,and Aramic [sic] inscription, Tayma, 5th–4th century BC Tayma_Al_Ula_Qaryat_al_Faw."

The website has photos of a vast number of artifacts, including more inscriptions in Aramaic, Nabatean, North Arabian, Greek, Latin, cuneiform, and Arabic.

For more on Tayma (Teima) and its ancient connection with Aramaic Fantasy Babylon and the Daniel tradition, see here and here. For additional inscriptions from Tayma, see here, here, and here.

For yet more PaleoJudaica posts on Aramaic, Nabatean (Nabataean) and old Arabian inscriptions in Saudi Arabia and ancient Arabia more generally, see here and links.

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The date of Wilson's Arch

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Pinpointing the origins of Jerusalem's Temple Mount. The headline of this press release is over-ambitious. The research was about pinpointing the date of architecture associated with Wilson's Arch. The Temple Mount itself had architecture on it long before this.

Integrating radiocarbon dating and microarchaeology techniques has enabled more precise dating of the ancient Wilson's Arch monument at Jerusalem's Temple Mount, according to a study published June 3, 2020 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Johanna Regev from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, and colleagues.

[...]

In this study, Regev and colleagues focused on pinpointing the specific construction dates for Wilson's Arch, an arch of "The Great Causeway", an ancient bridge linking Jerusalem's Temple Mount to the houses of Jerusalem's upper city, and which was excavated in 2015-2019 as part of a tourist development project. Wilson's Arch has been the subject of much scholarly debate, with construction dates suggested from the time of Herod the Great, Roman colonization, or even the early Islamic period in Jerusalem (a span of about 700 years).

To better understand the specific timing of Wilson's Arch (and the historical context in which it was constructed), Regev and colleagues used an integrative approach in the field during its excavation, conducting radiocarbon dating of 33 construction material samples directly at the site (generally charred organic matter, like seeds or sticks, present in mortar), as well as stratigraphic and microarchaeological analyses.

The authors were able to narrow the dates of construction for the initial Great Causeway bridge structure as having occurred between 20 BC and 20 AD, during the reign of Herod the Great or directly after his death. They also discovered a second stage of construction: between 30 AD and 60 AD, the bridge doubled in size as Wilson's Arch in its current form was finalized (during this period of direct Roman rule, there's evidence the Romans began or expanded on many building projects around Jerusalem, including an aqueduct supplying the Temple Mount with water).

[...]

You can read the full, open access, Plos One article at : Radiocarbon dating and microarchaeology untangle the history of Jerusalem's Temple Mount: A view from Wilson's Arch (Regev J, Uziel J, Lieberman T, Solomon A, Gadot Y, Ben-Ami D, et al.).

Abstract

Radiocarbon dating is rarely applied in Classical and Post-Classical periods in the Eastern Mediterranean, as it is not considered precise enough to solve specific chronological questions, often causing the attribution of historic monuments to be based on circumstantial evidence. This research, applied in Jerusalem, presents a novel approach to solve this problem. Integrating fieldwork, stratigraphy, and microarchaeology analyses with intense radiocarbon dating of charred remains in building materials beneath Wilson's Arch, we absolutely dated monumental structures to very narrow windows of time–even to specific rulers. Wilson’s Arch was initiated by Herod the Great and enlarged during the Roman Procurators, such as Pontius Pilatus, in a range of 70 years, rather than 700 years, as previously discussed by scholars. The theater-like structure is dated to the days of Emperor Hadrian and left unfinished before 132–136 AD. Through this approach, it is possible to solve archaeological riddles in intensely urban environments in the historical periods.

For the discovery of the "theatre-like structure" in 2017, see here and here.

The Daily Mail has coverage of the story with some good photos: Ancient stone arch forming part of Jerusalem's 'great causeway bridge' to bring worshippers onto Temple Mount was built between 20 BC and 20 AD during the reign of King Herod, radiocarbon dating reveals (Luke Andrews).

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Syfox, Rewriting and (Re)negotiating Gender

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Rewriting and (Re)negotiating Gender: A Study of the Depictions of the Matriachs in the Book of Jubilees (Chontel Syfox).

Chontel Syfox. Rewriting and (Re) Negotiating Gender: A Study of the Depictions of the Matriarchs in the Book of Jubilees in Relation to Depictions of Heroines in the Greek Novel and Jewish Novella.
Ph.D. diss., University of Notre Dame, 2019.

It has long been noted that women feature more prominently in the Book of Jubilees, than in the Book of Genesis. My dissertation seeks to identify the motives and priorities that guided the author of Jubilees in his rewriting of the biblical stories concerning the matriarchs and asks if Jubilees was unique in its foregrounding of female characters or dealt with them in a manner that was typical of the then literary Zeitgeist. ...

Dr. Syfox completed her undergraduate degree at the Divinity School of the University of St. Andrews some years ago. I am delighted to see how much she has accomplished since then. Well done, Chontel!

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White, The Prophets Agree

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

The Prophets Agree

The Function of the Book of the Twelve Prophets in Acts

Series: Biblical Interpretation Series, Volume: 184
Author: Aaron W. White

The way Luke uses and interprets Scripture continues to captivate many. In his new work, The Prophets Agree, a title inspired by James’ words at the Jerusalem Council, Aaron W. White turns over one rock that has remained untouched. Interpretation of the four quotations of the Minor Prophets in Acts frequently isolates each citation from the other. However, this full-length study of the place of the Minor Prophets in Acts asks what difference it makes to regard these four quotations as a singular contribution to Acts from a unified source.
By an in-depth study of each quotation, an innovative method of intertextuality, and an eye to the overall agenda of Acts, White proves the importance of reading the Twelve Prophets in unity when it is quoted in Acts, and the integral role it plays in the redemptive-historical plotline of Acts.

Prices from (excl. VAT): €99.00 / $119.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-42798-3
Publication Date: 06 May 2020

Hardback
Availability: Not Yet Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-42627-6
Publication Date: 18 Jun 2020

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Fingerprinting DSS DNA

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: Ancient DNA extracted from Dead Sea Scrolls parchments allows rare glimpse into world of Second Temple Judaism. The researchers developed sophisticated methods to deduce information from tiny amounts of ancient DNA, used different controls to validate the findings, and carefully filtered out potential contaminations (IAA press release, courtesy of the Israel Ministry for Foreign Affairs).

PaleoJudaica has long been interested in DNA analysis of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Back in 2009, I collected links to a number of relevant posts. And in 2006 I was noting mention of early research aimed at sorting fragments into scrolls based on their DNA. It looks as though specialists have made quite a lot of progress since then.

The press release mentions a few specific cases. Two fragments of the Book of Jeremiah now definitely form a separate manuscript, made of cow hide rather than the more common sheep hide. This confirms that the Qumran library included variant copies of scriptural (and other) books that had somewhat different texts.

The manuscript of the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice found at Masada is made from the hide of a sheep whose DNA is distinct from the from the sheep who hides were normally used for the Qumran scrolls. Arguably, then, it originated from a different group. But I would like to see some more details before I am convinced that we can interpret the evidence that precisely.

Likewise, the DNA of a fragment of Isaiah had a different profile from the other Qumran manuscripts. It is possible that indicates that it came from somewhere other than the Qumran caves.

These are intriguing findings, but they are still very preliminary, based on testing of a small sample of fragments. As the researchers profile more scrolls, we will learn more with more confidence.

The full, very technical, article is published in Cell: Illuminating Genetic Mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Follow the link for the full list of authors.

An article in the Smithsonian opens with a human interest account of how the idea for the research originated in a chance encounter on a bus: Ancient DNA Yields New Clues to Dead Sea Scrolls. A sensitive genetic fingerprinting technique could help scholars learn more from thousands of fragile parchment fragments (Josie Glausiusz).

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Seven years of TheTorah.com

MILESTONE: Seven Years of Critical Torah Study – Scholars and Rabbis Reflect. Congratulations to TheTorah.com, which is seven years old. The site has been providing very good content, to which PaleoJudaica has often linked.

To mark the occasion of the seventh anniversary of TheTorah.com this Shavuot, we asked academic and rabbinic scholars to share their reflections on our work / the role of critical scholarship for Torah study and the importance of engaging directly with the consequent challenges.

Twenty academics and rabbis post their reflections.

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Toronto's Ge'ez program fundraising nears goal

ETHIOPIC WATCH: Ethiopic Studies Endowment at University of Toronto Nears Goal of Raising $500k (Tadias Magazine). If they reach the targeted amount, the Ge'ez program will be made permanent. They are currently not far off, at $440,000.

For background on the fundraising and the program, see here, here, and here.

Among the Old Testament pseudepigrapha, the Book of 1 Enoch (composed in Aramaic and perhaps Hebrew) and the Book of Jubilees (composed in Hebrew) survive complete only in Ge'ez translations.

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The winged woman and the spewing serpent

READING ACTS: The Dragon Makes War – Revelation 12:13-17. Phil Long continues his blog series on the Book of Revelation, now concentrating on the seven sights of chapters 12-15. We are still on the first sight, the woman with the celestial accoutrements and the dragon that pursues her.

I have noted previous posts in Phil's Book of Revelation series here and links.

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Review of Sivan, Jewish Childhood in the Roman World

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Book Note | Jewish Childhood in the Roman World (Danny Golde).

Hagith Sivan. Jewish Childhood in the Roman World. Cambridge University Press, 2018.

Hagith Sivan’s Jewish Childhood in the Roman World provides a comprehensive analysis of the rabbinic sources on childhood and features four fictional short stories from the perspectives of Jewish youths living in Rome or in a Roman province. ...

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Tourism plans for the Petra of Saudi Arabia

NABATEAN (NABATAEAN) WATCH: Saudi Arabia's Unesco-listed Al Ula announces reopening plans. Visitors will also have the chance to experience four newly open sites (Melissa Gronlund, The National). There is a nice video.

The Saudi government seems to have ambitious tourism plans for these sites, most of which are pre-Islamic. A decade ago I was concerned about some of what I was hearing about them. But these developments sound positive.

Other PaleoJudaica posts on Hegra (Madain Saleh), "Saudi Arabia's answer to Petra," are here, here, here, and here.

And, more generally, for Nabatean, Aramaic, and old Arabian dialects in Arabia, see here and links.

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Is the MOTB winning over Jewish scholars?

PROGRESS? Museum of the Bible is winning over some of its biggest critics: Jewish scholars (Menachem Wecker, Washington Post, rpt. Houston Chronicle). The article also has quite a lot on the thousand-year-old Washington Pentateuch, recently acquired by the Museum.

Background here and many links. Related posts here and links.

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Biblical Studies Carnival 171

THE LIBRARY MUSINGS: Biblical Studies Carnival 171 (May 2020) (Bobby Howell). And Phil Long has some supplementary comments here.

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They found a partzufa at Sepphoris!

DECORATIVE ARCHITECTURE: Remains of ancient ornamental relic found in Tzipori (Arutz Sheva). I was not familiar with this word. This brief article defines partzufa as an "architectural-ornamental relic ... used in ancient times as a lavish faucet in various water installations."

I don't have access to my office library, but Jastrow's Dictionary (p. 1238) tells me that this is an Greek word (prosopon) that means "face." It appears in Hebrew and (here) Aramaic transcription with the same meaning. It can also mean the front side of an embroidered piece. And it can mean a sculpture of a human face.

I hope the discoverers publish a photo.

For more on the archaeology of Zipori (Sepphoris/Tzipori/Tzippori/Zippori - I keep finding new spellings!), see here and links (cf. here, here, and here).

UPDATE: Ah ha, the Jerusalem Post has a photo: Talmud comes alive in 1,800-year-old marble face found in Galilee. Similar artifacts have been uncovered over the years in several locations in Israel, including Caesarea and Beit Shean (Rossella Tercatin). It is indeed a a marble sculpture of a face with the mouth forming a fountain.

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Discovering the Jewish Jesus

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Was Jesus a Jew? Discovering the Jewish Jesus. Introduces an old, but still useful article by Anthony J. Saldarini from Bible Review.

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Ink, writing surfaces, and fakes

VARIANT READINGS: Forgeries, Inks, and Writing Surfaces (Brent Nongbri).

For more on recent scholarly work on ancient ink, see here and links. And for more on the question of the (evidently mostly or entirely fake) post-2002 Dead Sea Scroll-like fragments, see here and links.

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Temple Mount reopens

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Temple Mt. reopens to thousands of Muslims, hundreds of Jews; 8 Muslims arrested. Officers accuse suspects of trying to prevent Jews’ entry; no major incidents after police braced for clashes following months of virus closure and in wake of Palestinian’s killing (Times of Israel).

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Bishop Lucifer and the text of LXX Kings

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

Lucifer of Cagliari and the Text of 1-2 Kings

Tuukka Kauhanen

ISBN 9781628372052
Status Available
Price: $65.00
Binding Paperback
Publication Date July 2018

The most up-to-date study of the text history of 1 and 2 Kings

In this book, Tuukka Kauhanen approaches the challenging case of the textual history of 1 and 2 Kings through citations of the text found within the writings of the fourth-century bishop of Sadinia, Lucifer of Cagliari. Kauhanen presents evidence that Lucifer’s Latin text sheds important light on lost Hebrew and Greek pieces of the textual puzzle in Kings. In doing so, he compares all of Lucifer’s extensive quotations of Kings to extant Greek witnesses as well as Old Latin witnesses where available and subsequently analyzes the probable reasons for textual variations. In each instance he attempts to choose the best possible candidate for the Old Greek reading and where that reading might reflect a now-lost Hebrew text.

Features

• Use of the most current research into the text of the Hebrew Bible and the Septuagint, including the Hebrew Bible: A Critical Edition series and the forthcoming Göttingen Septuagint edition of King
  
• An appendix listing readings from the analysis sections arranged according to agreement patterns and other meaningful criteria
  
• Charts comparing readings

It's cool that there was a bishop named Lucifer.

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Tiemeyer & Wöhrle (eds.), The Book of the Twelve

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

The Book of the Twelve

Composition, Reception, and Interpretation

Series: Vetus Testamentum, Supplements, Volume: 184

Editors: Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer and Jakob Wöhrle

In the last two decades, research on the Book of the Twelve has shown that this corpus is not just a collection of twelve prophetic books. It is rather a coherent work with a common history of formation and, based upon this, with an overall message and intention. The individual books of the Book of the Twelve are thus part of a larger whole in which they can be interpreted in a fruitful manner. The volume The Book of the Twelve: Composition, Reception, and Interpretation features 30 articles, written by renowned scholars, that explore different aspects regarding the formation, interpretation, and reception of the Book of the Twelve as a literary unity.

Prices from (excl. VAT): €132.00 / $159.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-42432-6
Publication Date: 28 Apr 2020

Hardback
Availability: Not Yet Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-42324-4
Publication Date: 17 Jun 2020

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