On that first-century house in Nazareth

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

The Sisters of Nazareth Site

Identifying the Byzantine church at the Sisters of Nazareth site as the Church of the Nutrition, of course, raises the question of whether Structure 1 could really have been the childhood home of Jesus. Despite speculation in the international media, often misreporting my position on this subject, my view is that it is impossible to tell whether this identification was correct.

This article is based on the author’s book The Sisters of Nazareth convent. A Roman-period, Byzantine and Crusader site in central Nazareth (Routledge: London, 2020).

By Ken Dark
Professor, University of Reading
December 2020

Professor Dark clarifies his position. It is more nuanced than sometimes implied by the media. Background here and here. Cross-file under (still) 'Tis the Season.

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Our earliest Psalms fragment is a sloppy school exercise?

THE ETC BLOG: 4QPsx: A Poorly Copied Manuscript (Anthony Ferguson).

4QPsx is one manuscript, among many, that was copied poorly. Interestingly, some scholars date this manuscript, which preserves portions of Psalm 89, to 175-125 BC. If this is right, this manuscript is our earliest manuscript available that preserves a psalm; yet, it is an unreliable guide to the Psalter's state, and Psalm 89 in particular, during the second century BC. Several details about this manuscript suggest that this scribe was either an unskilled or a beginner scribe. ...

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Oqimta 7 (2021)

THE AWOL BLOG: Open Access Journal: Oqimta: Studies in Talmudic and Rabbinic Literature. I have mentioned this journal from time to time. Its Volume 7 (2021) is now out.

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The recasting of John the Baptist?

PROF. TAMÁS VISI: John the Baptist – A Jewish Preacher Recast as the Herald of Jesus (TheTorah.com).

The historical John, יוחנן, was a thoroughly Jewish religious preacher, who had little if any relation to Jesus and his movement. Here is the story of how John and his central rite, baptism, became part of Christianity.

For more on John the Baptist, see here and links and here. For many posts on Machaerus, the reputed site of John's execution, see here and links.

The Gospel of Thomas has an enigmatic mention of John the Baptist in Logion 46:

Jesus says:

(1) “From Adam to John the Baptist, among those born of women there is no one who surpasses John the Baptist so that his (i.e., John’s) eyes need not be downcast.”
(2) “But I have also said: Whoever among you becomes little will know the kingdom, and will surpass John.”

The Mandeans (Mandaeans), an ancient Mesopotamian Gnostic sect who still exist today, are followers of John the Baptist without involving Jesus.

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Christmas 2020

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all those celebrating!

For posts of Christmas past, see my 2019 Christmas post and links.

Subsequent Christmas-related posts are here (on "The Jewish Origins of the Christmas Story"), here (on the date of Jesus' birth), here (on Jesus' supposed house in Nazareth), here and here (on the Magi), here (on the date of Christmas), here, here, and here (on this year's "great conjunction" of Jupiter and Saturn), here (on the NT Nativity narratives), and here (on a late-antique Nativity pilgrimage souviner).

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Herodium

HERITAGE DAILY: Herodium – The Palace Fortress of King Herod.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on Herodium and its excavation, start here and follow the links.

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More on those reconstructed Temple courts floors

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT BLOG: CHECK OUT OUR NEW BEAUTIFUL RECONSTRUCTION OF HEROD’S TEMPLE COURTS COLORFUL FLOORS.

I noted the Reuters article (and video) here. I correctly inferred that the Temple Mount Sifting Project's work was involved. Their blog post has more information on the reconstruction.

For many other PaleoJudaica posts on the Temple Mount Sifting Project, see here and links and here.

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What was that Christmas Star?

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: We Have Seen His Star in the East: What Was the Christmas Star? (James D. Tabor). It seems that Johannes Kepler thought that the Star of Bethlehem was the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 7 BCE.

Background here and many links. Cross-file under 'Tis the Season.

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A late-antique Nativity souvenir token

EXHIBITION: Israel Museum Reveals Ancient Artifact Depicting Nativity in Bethlehem (CBN News). With video. A "Eulogia" token from late antiquity. Cross-file under 'Tis the Season.

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Nativity narratives: new Moses and new David

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Nativity—A Tale of Two Stories (John Drummond). Summarizes an article by Regina A. Boisclair in the current issue of BAR: “The Whole Christmas Package: Jesus’s Infancy Stories.” The full article is behind the subscription wall, but this essay is worth reading.

Cross-file under 'Tis the Season.

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A Biblical Archaeology top 10

CHRISTIANITY TODAY: Biblical Archaeology’s Top 10 Discoveries of 2020. Archaeology has been slow in 2020, for obvious reasons. But this is a pretty good list of important sort-of-Bible-related discoveries. I would add the Jezreel Winery and the ritual bath at Gesthemane (see below) to the list.

There have been some notable archaeological discoveries pertaining to ancient Judaism which are not on the list. I link to the relevant PaleoJudaica posts, some of which have links to follow:

More on ancient Nazareth

They found a partzufa at Sepphoris!

The Usha excavation

Gaming die excavated near Beit El (also here). The discoveries at Kirbet Kfar Mor (Khirbet Kafr Murr, Khirbet Kafr Mer) include a decorated stone table and various ceramics.

More menorah graffiti in a priestly (?) cave

Hasmonean-era oil lamp found on Pilgrimage Road

Second Temple-era ritual bath discovered at Gethsemane

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How is Joseph not like Daniel?

PROF. SAFWAT MARZOUK: Pharaoh and Joseph Speak of a Common God to Save Egypt (TheTorah.com).

Before speaking with Pharaoh, Joseph adapts to Egyptian norms by shaving and changing his clothes. When he interprets Pharaoh’s dream, he only uses the generic word for God, Elohim, making no mention of YHWH. Pharaoh, in turn, declares Joseph to be wise and a man with the spirit of God, and puts aside Joseph’s ethnic and socio-economic background, appointing him viceroy to save Egypt from the pending famine.

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Gal Gadot defends Cleopatra casting

CINEMATIC CONTROVERSY: Gal Gadot defends Cleopatra casting after 'whitewashing' controversy (BBC). I have addressed this question at length here.

Briefly, Cleopatra descended from the inbred European (Macedonian) Ptolemaic line. But we don't have unambiguous evidence for the genetic background of her mother or her grandmother. Cleopatra may have been nearly entirely Macedonian (with a little Persian). Or she may have been as much as 75% Egyptian. We don't know.

Any cinematic interpretation that keeps within those parameters is credible.

I look forward to seeing Ms. Gadot as Cleopatra. I also hope others produce a movie that interprets Cleopatra as mostly African. We should explore all the possible pasts that history hands us.

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Minov, Memory and Identity in the Syriac Cave of Treasures

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: Memory and Identity in the Syriac Cave of Treasures: Rewriting the Bible in Sasanian Iran. Notice of a New Book: Minov, Sergey. 2021. Memory and Identity in the Syriac Cave of Treasures: Rewriting the Bible in Sasanian Iran (Jerusalem Studies in Religion and Culture, 26). Leiden: Brill.

Some PaleoJudaica posts on the Cave of Treasures are here, here (with links to old editions and translations online), here, and here.

As noted, we published a new English translation by Alexander Toepel in Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: More Noncanonical Scriptures, Volume 1 (ed. Richard Bauckham, James R. Davila, and Alexander Panayotov; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2013).

Cross-file under Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Watch and Syriac Watch.

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Second Temple-era ritual bath discovered at Gethsemane

ARCHAEOLOGY: Ancient ritual bath may mark first New Testament-era find at Jesus’ Gethsemane. Olive grove where Jesus spent a night of agony, accepted his betrayal, and was arrested ahead of his crucifixion has until now had no physical link to Second Temple era (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel).

The article also notes that there is a Byzantine-era church at the site. Perhaps this post is relevant.

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Imaging an Esther scroll

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: Researchers Deconstruct Ancient Parchment Using Multiple Techniques. Analyses of the materials in the scrolls help put the object into an historical context and guides conservators in future restoration efforts (Lab Manager).

A team of scientists from Romania's National Institute for Research and Development in Optoelectronics extracted details about the manuscript's original materials and manufacturing techniques employing various spectroscopic instruments. These specialized cameras and devices capture images that the human eye normally can't see.

[...]

The manuscript the team investigated was a poorly preserved but sacred scroll containing several chapters of the Book of Esther from the Hebrew Bible. An artifact from a private collection, little was known of the object's provenance or history.

Oddly, the article suggests no date or provenance for the scroll. The discussion in the introduction focuses on manuscripts dating from the 14th to the 19th centuries. The study applied "multi- and hyperspectral imaging, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy" to the manuscript. All are non-invasive, non-destructive technologies.

The underlying article was published in the open-access, peer-review, author-subvention journal Frontiers in Materials.

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Punic palace imperiled at Cartagena?

PUNIC WATCH: Flats could destroy Cartagena’s legacy of Carthage (London Times). That would be a pity.

Cartagena, Spain, is very proud of its Punic heritage. It celebrates an annual Romans and Carthaginians Festival in September.

I hope the authorities can arrange a proper exploration of the site, which Mr. Negueruela believes to be the remains of Hasdrubal's palace. It would be in their interest to support what could become a major tourist attraction.

By the way, a free registration with the Times gives you access to two full articles per week.

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The Hekhalot Zutarti in Catalan

IN THE MAIL:

Hekhalot Zutarti. Els Palaus Menors (segons el manuscrit Nova York 8128). Introducció, traducció i notes Bàrbara Virgil i Jordi Cervera. (Literatura Intertestamentària, 9) Barcelona: Ateneu Universitari Sant Pacià – Facultat de Teologia de Catalunya – Associació Bíblica de Catalunya 2020.

A translation of the Hekhalot Zutarti into Catalan with an edition of the Aramaic and Hebrew text in Manuscript New York 8128. Kindly sent to me by the authors.

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Star of Bethlehem replay tonight?

'TIS THE SEASON, ASTRONOMICAL EDITION: Will the Biblical Star of Bethlehem appear in the sky ahead of Christmas? On December 21, our solar system's two biggest planets will come within close proximity of one another, in what is known as a great conjunction (Jerusalem Post).

I noted the story earlier here. And I see now that I should read my own posts more. I said in that post that no one was suggesting a connection between the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction and the Star of Bethlehem. In fact, just such a conjunction is one of the astronomical explanations for the star. There was even a candidate event in 7 BCE. Another possibility is a conjunction of Jupiter and Venus. One such happened in July of 2015, but it was not close enough to make them look like one star.

The Star of Bethlehem does not sound much like a planetary conjunction to me. That would look like a single star for only brief period, if at all. The account in Matthew 2:2, 9-10 describes it as a single star that the Magi followed for some time. I'm sticking with the explanation that the star is a midrashic legend.

Fortunately, last night was reasonably clear in Fife, Scotland. I got a good view of the conjunction at sundown, just before 5:00 pm local time. Jupiter was a very bright unblinking star on the horizon. Saturn was a tiny one just above it. I took photos, but none were good enough to show Saturn. If your sky is clear tonight, be sure and have a look.

Happy winter solstice to all those celebrating!

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Temple floor tiles reconstructed

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Archaeologists Recreate Tiles of Temple Where Jesus Walked (RINAT HARASH, Reuters).

There is also a Reuters video on the story: Archaeologists recreate tiles from time of Jesus. Drawing on relics and historical texts, Israeli archaeologists and masons have recreated the sacred flooring of the ancient Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Francesca Lynagh reports. The hit-and-miss subtitles for the video look to be machine generated and unedited.

The floor tiles seem to be created on the basis of the Herodian-era floor tiles discovered several years ago by the Temple Mount Sifting Project. I noted the story here when it came out. For more posts on it, start here and follow the links.

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Wassen & Hägerland, Jesus the Apocalyptic Prophet (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER:

Jesus the Apocalyptic Prophet

By: Cecilia Wassen, Tobias Hägerland Translator: Cian J. Power

Published: 01-14-2021
Format: EPUB/MOBI eBook (Watermarked)
Edition: 1st
Extent: 256
ISBN: 9780567693792
Imprint: T&T Clark
Illustrations: 30 bw illus
List price: $31.45
Online price: $25.16
Save $6.29 (20%)

About Jesus the Apocalyptic Prophet

In this new English language translation of Den okände Jesus (The Unknown Jesus), Cecilia Wassén and Tobias Hägerland consider Jesus as an apocalyptic prophetic figure within the context of first-century Judaism and reconstruct the life of Jesus from his birth to his death, with a focus on understanding him in the context of his own time and place. Engaging critically with the sources, they examine Jesus' life in order of events and draw together the threads of scholarly discussion on the history, archaeology and geography of first-century Galilee, forming a complete picture of Jesus' world suitable for non-specialists and university students.

Wassén and Hägerland provide a strictly historical reconstruction, distinguishing between the rhetorical aims of the New Testament texts and the information about the past that these texts contain. They enhance the texts surrounding Jesus in the context of first-century Galilee with historical and archaeological reflections and discussion, including penetrating insights from the Dead Sea Scrolls. Illustrated throughout with photographs taken by the authors specifically to offer insights into the world of Jesus and the New Testament writings, Jesus the Apocalyptic Prophet provides a deeply informed introduction to Jesus in his first-century context.

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How did December 25th become Christmas?

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: How December 25 Became Christmas. Read Andrew McGowan’s article “How December 25 Became Christmas” as it originally appeared in Bible Review, December 2002.—Ed. Informative.

Cross-file under 'Tis the Season.

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The British Museum’s Excavations at Nineveh, 1846–1855 (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

The British Museum’s Excavations at Nineveh, 1846–1855

Series: Culture and History of the Ancient Near East, Volume: 115

Author: Geoffrey Turner
Editor: John Malcolm Russell

Geoffrey Turner has written the definitive study of the mid-19th century excavations sponsored by the British Museum at the ancient Assyrian site of Nineveh in Iraq. Based on exhaustive analysis of unpublished archives combined with his own extensive knowledge of Assyrian architecture, Turner’s work documents the complete history of these excavations. Turner also draws on the archives and numerous additional sources to provide a detailed reconstruction of the architecture and relief sculpture in the building that was the primary focus of these excavations, the Southwest Palace of Sennacherib (ruled 705-681 BC). The result constitutes the final report both on the results of these excavations and on the original appearance of one of the ancient world’s most famous buildings.

Prices from (excl. VAT): €302.00 / $363.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-43537-7v Publication Date: 12 Oct 2020

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-43536-0v Publication Date: 27 Nov 2020

I know that final excavation reports have a reputation for tardiness, but this must be a record! Anyway, it is good that it is finally out.

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