The Sifting Project is a Trip Advisor top 10%

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT: WE’RE IN THE TOP 10% OF ATTRACTIONS WORLDWIDE! The lack of international vistors in August seems to have been more than made up by Israeli visitors. That's good new, since things were looking grim at the end of July. It's also good to see the Sifting Project receiving this recognition.

Background on the Temple Mount Sifting Project is here (cf. here) and follow the many, many links.

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The Sibylline Books and the Saecular Games

NUMISMATICS: Coins of the Ludi Saeculares and Rome’s Millennial Games (Steve Benner, CoinWeek).

Even though the origins may go back as far as the fifth century BCE, the first celebration of the Saeculares games was in 249 BCE during the First Punic War. Due to a series of portents, the Sibylline books (a collection of oracular prophecies) were consulted, and it was decided by a group of priests called the quindecemviri that they should sacrifice to the underworld deities for three consecutive nights and hold games including chariot races. The Romans also had to swear to hold the Games every 100 years. As promised, the games were held again in 149 BCE during the Third Punic War. It was really at this time that the celebration became a regular centennial event.

The Roman Ludi Saeculares (the decemcentennial celebrations of the anniversary of Rome's founding) were inspired by interpretation of the Sibylline Oracles during the Punic Wars. And some cool coins were minted to go with the celebrations.

To be clear, these Sibylline Oracles are the original Roman ones, which are almost entirely lost today. But they inspired derivative Sibylline Oracles composed by Christians and Jews. The latter have come up now and then at PaleoJudaica.

For past posts and background on the Sibylline Oracles, see here, here, here, and links. Cross-file under Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Watch and Punic Watch.

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Sasanika

THE AWOL BLOG: Sasanika: Late Antique Near East Project.

The Sasanian (Sassanian) era is of considerable interest for the study of late-antique Judaism. This site looks like a useful resource. You can find many PaleoJudaica posts on the period in the archives. Some in the last few years are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

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Steiner Festschrift - Biblical, Semitic and Jewish Studies

NEW BOOK FROM THE BIALIK INSTITUTE:

Semitic, Biblical and Jewish Studies
In Honor of Richard C. Steiner
Aron J. Koller, Mordechai Z. Cohen, Adina Moshavi (editors)

Publisher: Bialik Institute
Catalog number : 1111930
ISBN: 978-965-536-277-0
In collaboration with Michael Scharf Yeshiva University Press
Year Published: 2020
Pages: 434 English, 267 Hebrew
Cover: Hard
Language: English & Hebrew

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Gray on rabbinic charity

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY: Charity (Tzedaqah) as a Late Antique Rabbinic Religious Idea (Alyssa M. Gray).

I noted the publication of Professor Gray's book, Charity in Rabbinic Judaism, here. And I have noted recent books on related topics here and here and links and here.

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Magic Jesus?

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Jesus Holding a Magic Wand? Supernatural Depictions of Jesus in Early Christian Art (Marek Dospěl). This essay is a summary of an article by Lee M. Jefferson in the current issue of BAR. The article is behind the subscription wall, but the essay is worth a read on its own.

There is more magic Jesus in the apocryphal traditions. For flying Jesus, see here and for shape-shifting Jesus, see here.

Cross-file under Iconography.

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Connecting Deuteronomy's deletion dots

PROFESSOR ALBERT L. BAUMGARTEN: Dots on Deuteronomy 29:28: A Polemical Response to Qumran’s Secret Laws (TheTorah.com).

“The secret things belong unto YHWH our God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever”—the verse has eleven dotted letters indicating erasure marks, but why? The answer lies in a controversial interpretation found in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

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Cuneiform tablet scans

THE AWOL BLOG: Cuneiform Tablet Collection at the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East (HMANE). (Formerly the Harvard Semitic Museum.)

These 3-D scans take some time to load, but they look very useful for puzzling out the 3-D cuneiform signs.

It looks like there is a lot of work to be done with this Harvard collection. One fun feature of it, is the Graeco-Babylonaica tablets: bilingual tablets containing lists of Akkadian or Sumerian words with Greek transliterations next to them. I couldn't find any of these in the scanned tablets, but I didn't look at anything like all of them.

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Handwriting at Arad revisited

FORENSIC EPIGRAPHY: TAU: Tel Arad texts show literacy in Kingdom of Judah was widespread. Researchers used state-of-the-art image processing and machine-learning technologies to analyze the texts, along with police forensic methods (HANNAH BROWN, Jerusalem Post).

In 2016, they decided that there were at least four different authors, possibly six, according to algorithms, statistical probability and textual evidence. Findings were published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

But they kept thinking of other ways to explore these questions, and the TAU researchers decided to compare the algorithmic methods, which have since been refined, to the forensic approach and invited [forensic handwriting specialist Yana] Gerber to join the team.

Using her forensic methods, Gerber found that the 18 texts were written by at least 12 distinct writers with varying degrees of certainty.

The 2016 study received a lot of attention. I blogged on it with my own comments here, here, and here, and I noted comments by George Athos here. More recently, the Arad ostraca have been in the news with the discovery of additional writing on the back of ostracon 16.

You can read the technical PLOS ONE article that is the basis for the current story here.

I don't feel qualified to evaluate the technical elements of the study. I note that it made an effort to falsify the results:

The second dataset, used to validate the two algorithms, contained handwriting samples collected from 18 present-day writers of modern Hebrew. This dataset allowed us to estimate the False Positive and False Negative rates for the algorithmic methods that we employed; it can be downloaded at [42]. It will be stressed that the modern Hebrew dataset was not used to train or calibrate the algorithm for its activation on the first, ancient Hebrew dataset (or vice versa). The purposes of the modern Hebrew dataset were algorithm verification and sanity check.

The results of the "sanity check" were as follows:

Modern Hebrew script experiment

The Modern Hebrew experiment yielded 4.76% False Positive and 2.66% False Negative error rates. These results demonstrate the soundness of our algorithmic sequence. In fact, taking into account the 0.1 threshold, the empirical error rates may indicate “conservativeness”of our p-values estimation.

A 95%+ success rate looks good. However, this cross-check seems only to have been applied to the algorithms. What about the human forensic analysis? It was the latter that found the larger number of writers for the Arad ostraca. Were her results cross-checked in a similar way? I could not find an answer to that question in the article, although I may have missed it.

As for the broader claims, as I said in 2016, we already have good indication that literacy was widespread in the kingdom of Judah c. 600 BCE. This study gives us no reason to think otherwise. The sample is still small, but it seems to offer some confirmation of that conclusion.

Stay tuned. Our tools for asking such questions continue to improve. Cross-file under Technology Watch.

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Online memorial for Rabbi Steinsaltz

THE STEINSALTZ LEGACY: Prime Minister Netanyahu, actress Mayim Bialik speak at Rabbi Steinsaltz tribute. Event pays tribute to renowned Torah scholar Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz a month after his passing (Arutz Sheva).

Background here and links.

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Marguerite Harl, 1919-2020

WILLIAM A. ROSS: REMEMBERING THE WORK OF MARGUERITE HARL († 30 AUGUST 2020).

It is with sadness and gratitude that the Septuagint scholarly community is commemorating the life and work of Professor Marguerite Harl, who passed away just over a week ago at the remarkable age of 101 in her hometown of Paris, France.

[...]

Requiescat in pace.

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Brown et al. (ed.), Reading Other Peoples’ Texts

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

Reading Other Peoples’ Texts
Social Identity and the Reception of Authoritative Traditions

Editor(s): Ken S. Brown, Alison L. Joseph, Brennan Breed

Published: 05-14-2020
Format: Hardback
Edition: 1st
Extent: 304
ISBN: 9780567687333
Imprint: T&T Clark
Series: Scriptural Traces, The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies
Dimensions: 6 1/8" x 9 1/4"
List price: $115.00
Online price: $103.50
Save $11.50 (10%)

About Reading Other Peoples’ Texts

This volume draws together eleven essays by scholars of the Hebrew Bible, New Testament, Greco-Roman religion and early Judaism, to address the ways that conceptions of identity and otherness shape the interpretation of biblical and other religiously authoritative texts.

The contributions explore how interpreters of scriptural texts regularly assume or assert an identification between their own communities and those described in the text, while ignoring the cultural, social, and religious differences between themselves and the text's earliest audiences. Comparing a range of examples, these essays address varying ways in which social identity has shaped the historical contexts, implied audiences, rhetorical shaping, redactional development, literary appropriation, and reception history of particular texts over time. Together, they open up new avenues for studying the relations between social identity, scriptural interpretation, and religious authority.

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More on those Phoenician figurines

PHOENICIAN WATCH: Long-lost Phoenician figurines could reveal secrets to ancient cult. “They were wrapped in newspapers from the 70s and covered in these brittle plastic bags that crumbled as soon as you touched them” (Hannah Brown, Jerusalem Post).

This article gives some new information, especially about the history of the assemblage after its discovery.

Joseph Lauer has also provided a reference for the technical article behind this story: Shipwreck or Sunken Votives? The Shavei Zion Assemblage Revisited (Meir Edrey Adi Erlich Assaf Yasur‐Landau, International Journal of Nautical Archaeology).

It is behind a subscription wall, but I have been able to read it. It answers my question about whether the finds are of Phoenician origin (i.e, from the Levantine coast) or Punic origin (from Carthage and its satellites). The origins of the clay and the pottery forms show clearly that they are of Phoenician origin. That's interesting in that it provides new evidence for the worship of the goddess Tanit in Phoenicia. My understanding (but this is not my expertise) is that there was previously little evidence for that.

Background here. Cross-file under Marine (Maritime, Underwater) Archaeology and Not a Shipwreck.

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Archaeology and the "Deal of the Century"

ARCHAEOLOGICAL POLITICS: The historic battle for Israel’s heritage. Hundreds of heritage and archaeology sites in Judea and Samaria are reportedly slated to be removed from Israeli control and transferred to the jurisdiction of the proposed Palestinian state (NAOMI LINDER KAHN, Jerusalem Post, Jerusalem Report).

Background here and links.

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On ancient synagogues

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Ancient Synagogues in Israel and the Diaspora. What is the meaning of “synagogue” in the Bible? (Megan Sauter). This BHD essay was first published in 2015, but I seem to have missed it then. It introduces a BAR article on the subject by Professor Rachel Hachlili, which is behind the subscription wall.

For some PaleoJudaica posts on ancient synagogues, see here and here and links.

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Hugoye 23.1

A NEW ISSUE: Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies 23.1 (2020). This is a high-quality, peer-review, open-access journal. Issue 22.1 (2019) was noted here (updated link here). And for more, follow the links from either of those links. Cross-file under Syriac Watch.

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2020 Aramaic Enoch Conference

ONLINE CONFERENCE: 2020 Aramaic Enoch Conference.

From the Books of Enoch to Genesis Apocryphon:
Aramaic Manuscripts of 1 Enoch and Related Aramaic Traditions from Qumran
October 20-22, 2020

International Conference on the Aramaic Manuscripts of 1 Enoch
organized by the Institute of Biblical Studies (KUL, Lublin, Poland)
in collaboration with the Enoch Seminar

• Chairs: Henryk Drawnel and Gabriele Boccaccini
  
• Secretary: Joshua Scott

Attendance is free, but registration (at the link) is required. Registration is now open.

The tentative schedule is there as well. Looks like an excellent lineup.

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Unsung Qumran excavators

VARIANT READINGS: Two Unheralded Excavators of Cave 1 at Qumran: Ibrahim Asuli and Mohamed Mustafa. Brent Nongbri has been doing more photographic detective work.

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Review of Garroway, Growing Up in Ancient Israel

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Book Note I Growing Up in Ancient Israel: Children in Material Culture and Biblical Texts (Caralie Focht).

Kristine Henriksen Garroway, Growing Up in Ancient Israel: Children in Material Culture and Biblical Texts. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2018.

For more on Professor Garroway's work on children in ancient Israel and the ancient Near East, see here and links. She has co-edited another book in the area in 2020, noted here.

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More on those Jerusalem architectual fragments

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Architectural Artifacts from First Temple Period Found. Rare architectural details of Proto-Aeolic style discovered on the Armon Hanatziv Promenade (Jonathan Laden). A good overview of the new discoveries, without a sensationalistic headline.

Background here.

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Another Temple Mount lockdown?

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Officials mull Temple Mount closure as Old City declared a COVID-19 ‘red zone.’ After virus czar high infection rates, National Security Council meets to consider imposing restrictions at sensitive holy sites; closure would likely be opposed by Palestinians (Times of Israel).

The previous Temple Mount lockdown ended at the end of May.

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Not the Holy Grail, but ...

ARTIFACT: Unique Christian chalice uncovered at Vindolanda (ITV News).

Buried amongst a rubble filled building, now known to be the remains of a 6th century Christian church, were 14 fragmentary remains of an incredibly rare lead Christian cup or chalice.

Although in very poor condition due to its proximity to the surface of the ground, each fragment of the vessel was found to be covered by lightly etched symbols, each representing different forms of Christian iconography from the time.

This is a little outside PaleoJudaica's usual range of interest, but I do like to keep an eye on what is turning up at Vindolanda.

Regular readers will recall that Vindolanda is the site of an ancient Roman fort in Northumberland. It is best known as the source of the "Dead Sea Scrolls of Britain" — many hundreds of wooden writing tablets inscribed in Latin, mostly with documentary texts. They date to the late first and early second centuries CE. I have visited Vindolanda twice and blogged about both visits. See here, here and here. Follow the links from there for more posts. And I have a more recent post on Vindolanda under coronavirus lockdown here.

Over at the Anxious Bench Blog, Professor Philip Jenkins has an instructive post about the historical context of the chalice and the ruined church in which it was found: Wall, Church, and Chalice. Even though this wasn't the Grail, the area does have at least a nebulous connection with the Arthurian tradition.

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The Newark holy stones in the news

NEW WORLD HEBREW FORGERY (OR SOMETHING) WATCH: Lepper: The Newark Earthworks and The Holy Stones (Brian Lepper MSN News).

The curious Newark holy stones are Hebrew inscribed objects found in association with ancient Native American earthworks in the vicinity of Newark, New Jersey, in 1860. For some years Dr. Lepper, curator of archaeology for the Ohio History Connection, and his colleague Jeff Gill been promoting the theory that the stones were forged as emancipationist propaganda to try to prevent a civil war. Obviously, the plan did not succeed.

I have discussed the Newark Stones in more detail here. You can follow the links from there for more posts on them. It looks like all the previous article I had linked to have rotted, so this is a recent article in Dr. Lepper's own words. As far as I know, his theory, which in itself sounds plausible, has not been published in a peer-review journal.

No specialist thinks today that the Newark holy stones are ancient artifacts. But Rochelle Altman once argued that they are stolen medieval Jewish relics. (The link is gone.) Again, I am not aware of any formal publications of this idea.

Whatever kind of thing they are, they look pretty cool. Someone did put a lot of work into them. The current article has some photos. Lepper and Gill have a more detailed popular article posted on Dr. Lepper's Academia.edu page. It has some close-up photos as well.

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Resurrecting "the dates that Jesus ate"

CULTIVATING ARCHAEOLOGY: Aided by Modern Ingenuity, a Taste of Ancient Judean Dates. The harvest of the much-extolled, but long-lost Judean dates was something of a scientific miracle. The fruit sprouted from seeds 2,000 years old (Isabel Kershner, New York Times).

Yummy:

“They are beautiful!” exclaimed Dr. Sarah Sallon with the elation of a new mother, as each date, its skin slightly wrinkled, was plucked gently off its stem at a sunbaked kibbutz in southern Israel.

They were tasty, too, with a fresh flavor that gave no hint of their two-millenium incubation period. The honey-blonde, semi-dry flesh had a fibrous, chewy texture and a subtle sweetness.

And here's an entrepreneurial idea:

Aside from Dr. Sallon’s interest in their medicinal properties, there was some banter among the institute staff about mass producing the old-new fruit, with an eye to marketing the fruit as “the dates that Jesus ate,” and using the funds for research.

Background on the resurrection of these ancient date plants is here and links.

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Times still hard at end of 2020 dig season

ARCHAEOLOGY CANCELED: US archeologists barred from digging in Israel due to coronavirus. Putting an archaeological excavation on hold does not come without costs, as, according to Manor, "there is an increased risk of site deterioration, both from the elements and plundering" (Daniel Nisinman, Jerusalem Post).

Past posts on the suspension of archaeological digs in Israel due to the coronavirus are here and here.

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Gilgals galore!

ZVI KOENIGBERG: Gilgal: YHWH’s Footprints in the Land of Israel (TheTorah.com).

This is the place of My throne and the place for the soles of My feet... Ezekiel 43:7

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Fonrobert et al. (eds.), Talmudic Transgressions. Engaging the Work of Daniel Boyarin

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Talmudic Transgressions

Engaging the Work of Daniel Boyarin

Series:
Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism, Volume: 181

Editors: Charlotte Fonrobert, Ishay Rosen-Zvi, Aharon Shemesh, and Moulie Vidas

Talmudic Transgressions is a collection of essays on rabbinic literature and related fields in response to the boundary-pushing scholarship of Daniel Boyarin. This work is an attempt to transgress boundaries in various ways, since boundaries differentiate social identities, literary genres, legal practices, or diasporas and homelands. These essays locate the transgressive not outside the classical traditions but in these traditions themselves, having learned from Boyarin that it is often within the tradition and in its terms that we can find challenges to accepted notions of knowledge, text, and ethnic or gender identity. The sections of this volume attempt to mirror this diverse set of topics.

Contributors include Julia Watts Belser, Jonathan Boyarin, Shamma Boyarin, Virginia Burrus, Sergey Dolgopolski, Charlotte E. Fonrobert, Simon Goldhill, Erich S. Gruen, Galit Hasan-Rokem, Christine Hayes, Adi Ophir, James Redfield, Elchanan Reiner, Ishay Rosen-Zvi, Lena Salaymeh, Zvi Septimus, Aharon Shemesh, Dina Stein, Eliyahu Stern, Moulie Vidas, Barry Scott Wimpfheimer, Elliot R. Wolfson, Azzan Yadin-Israel, Israel Yuval, and Froma Zeitlin.

Prices from (excl. VAT): €180.00 / $207.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-34533-1
Publication Date: 15 May 2017
Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-34532-4
Publication Date: 19 Jun 2017

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