Pages

Saturday, June 12, 2021

Miqra’ot Gedolot Torah translation (JPS)

FROM THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY:
The Commentators' Bible, 5-volume set The Rubin JPS Miqra'ot Gedolot

Edited, translated, and annotated by Michael Carasik

Commentators' Bible Series 1798 pages

Set August 2018
978-0-8276-1351-5
$360.00

About the Book

The biblical commentaries known as Miqra’ot Gedolot have inspired and educated generations of Hebrew readers. Now, with the five volumes of the acclaimed English edition of Miqra’ot Gedolot—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy—the voices of Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Nachmanides, Rashbam, Abarbanel, Kimhi, and other medieval Bible commentators come alive, speaking in a contemporary English translation annotated and explicated for lay readers.

Each page in this five-volume series contains the biblical text in Hebrew surrounded by both the 1917 and 1985 JPS translations, and by new contemporary English translations of the major commentators. The books also include an introduction, a glossary of terms, a list of names used in the text, notes on source texts, a special topics list, and resources for further study.

The large-format volumes are beautifully designed for easy navigation among the many elements on each page, including explanatory notes and selected additional comments from the works of Bekhor Shor, Sforno, Gersonides, and Hizkuni, among others.

I noted the inception of this project in 2006 and the publication of a volume in 2009. The Torah volumes are now finished. I don't know if there are plans for more.

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

Butts & Young (eds.), Syriac Christian Culture (CUAP)

NEW BOOK FROM THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA PRESS:
Syriac Christian Culture: Beginnings to Renaissance Hardcover – March 5, 2021
by Aaron Michael Butts (Editor), Robin Darling Young (Editor)

Hardcover
from $76.35

Syriac Christianity developed in the first centuries CE in the Middle East, where it continued to flourish throughout Late Antiquity and the Medieval period, while also spreading widely, as far as India and China. Today, Syriac Christians are found in the Middle East, in India, as well in diasporas scattered across the globe. Over this extended time period and across this vast geographic expanse, Syriac Christians have built impressive churches and monasteries, crafted fine pieces of art, and written and transmitted a sizable body of literature. Though often overlooked, neglected, and even persecuted, Syriac Christianity has been – and continues to be – an important part of the humanistic heritage of the last two millennia.

The present volume brings together fourteen studies that offer fresh perspectives on Syriac Christianity, especially its literary texts and authors. The timeframes of the individual studies span from the second-century Syriac translation of the Hebrew Bible up to the thirteenth century with the end of the Syriac Renaissance. Several studies analyze key authors from Late Antiquity, such as Aphrahat, Ephrem, Narsai, and Jacob of Serugh. Others investigate translations into Syriac, both from Hebrew and from Greek, while still others examine hagiography, especially its formation and transmission. Reflecting a growing trend in the field, the volume also devotes significant attention to the Medieval period, during which Syriac Christians lived under Islamic rule. The studies in the volume are united in their quest to explore the richness, diversity, and vibrance of Syriac Christianity.

Cross-file under Syriac Watch.

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

Photo Companion to the Bible: 2 Samuel

THE HOLY LAND PHOTOS' BLOG: A Photo Resource for 2 Samuel (Carl Rasmussen). That resource has been published by Todd Bolen, whom we all know well from the Bible Places Blog.

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

Aramaic on BBC Radio

ARAMAIC WATCH: Aramaic: an imperial language without an empire (The Forum, BBC Radio).
A history of a language that was once spoken from Egypt to Afghanistan and played an important role in the creation of great religious writings.
A 40-minute episode that is being broadcasted this week. You can listen to the recording at the link, at least if you are in the UK. I'm not sure about elsewhere.

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

Friday, June 11, 2021

Archaeology (July/August 2021)

ARCHAEOLOGY MAGAZINE has a new issue out (July/August 2021). Access is by paid subscription, but parts of the issue are open access. The two following are of interest:

The Ugarit Archives. Thousands of cuneiform tablets written in a distinctive script tell the dramatic story of a Bronze Age merchant city in Syria (Roger Atwood). Note also the sidebars: Women in Ugarit and A Poem for Ugarit.

A Challenging World (Jarrett A. Lobell). That "world" is the cliff caves around Qumran, where archaeologists recently discovered more scroll fragments and other artifacts (in the "Cave of Horror"). See here and here.

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

Ancient anchor found at Tel Dor

BUILT TO LAST: Ancient stone anchor used for 2,000 years found on Israel’s northern coast. Parks authority says the artifact, uncovered in an underwater dig at Tel Dor, was first used in the Bronze Age (Times of Israel).
The anchor, which was found in an underwater dig at the Tel Dor archaeological site in northern Israel, was first used in the Bronze Age some 3,300 years ago and remained in use during the Byzantine period until roughly 500 CE, according to the parks authority.
Ancient anchors turn up now and then. A Roman-era wooden anchor was found in the Dead Sea in 2004. See here and here. Another (see here and here) was reported in 2005. Also in 2004, a stone anchor, attached to ship wreckage dated to the ninth century BCE, was found at Hof Dor. In 2011, three late antique iron anchors were recovered at Bat Yam beach.

Cross-file under marine (maritime, underwater) archaeology.

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

The (Church Slavonic) Writing on the Wall

CHURCH SLAVONIC WATCH: The Walls Speak: Ancient Graffiti Deciphered In Kyiv Cathedral. After 15 years of work, Ukrainian researchers have published a study of thousands of messages -- some dating back nearly 1,000 years -- scratched onto the walls of Kyiv’s St. Sophia Cathedral (Radio Free Europe, Ukraine). The cited graffiti range from the pious to the personal to the whimsical. The oldest one is a drawing of a duck, signed by "Petro" in 1065.

It's always nice to have graffiti in an old language alongside the literary texts. Graffiti give us a better idea of what regular people were thinking and talking about.

For PaleoJudaica posts on (Old) Church Slavonic, with explanation of why we're interested, see here and links.

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

BAS Publication Awards 2021

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: BAS Publication Awards – Call for Entries. Nominations close on June 15, 2021—just 5 days left!

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

Thursday, June 10, 2021

The chicken egg and the thousand-year-old privy

NO YOLK! 1,000-year-old chicken egg perfectly preserved in human feces inside an ancient cesspit is unearthed in Israel (Stacy Liberatore, Daily Mail).

It was more an eggshell than an egg. Most of the contents had leaked out through a crack. But that makes its survival all the more remarkable. And contrary to my dreadful pun above, a little of of the yolk was left inside. The researchers hope to get some DNA from it.

They also found three bone dolls ("Coptic dolls") in the cesspit.

For the fourth-century mosaic found recently at the site (Yavne) and mentioned in the article, see here.

For another story on ancient chicken eggshells (from Jerusalem), see here. For the ancient domestication of the chicken, see here.

Add this story to our growing corpus of latrine news.

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

What do Bethsaida and the Etruscans have in common?

UNEXPECTED COLLABORATION: Israeli, Italian Colleges to Collaborate on ‘Bethsaida,’ Etruscan Archaeology. The site where Jesus’ disciplines were born and the birthplace of pre-Roman culture have much to teach archaeologists from the two teams, explains Kinneret College’s Prof. Mordechai Aviam (Haaretz). HT Rogue Classicisim.

“It will enable us to better understand two cultures and how they connect,” Aviam told Haaretz. “The Etruscan roots in Rome run deep, just for instance, in their building methods. The Etruscans built round temples and that eventually reached Israel. Herod’s grave, called the tolus, is round – a style that apparently originated not in Israel but in Etruscan Italy.”

Ultimately, such collaboration helps broaden the archaeologists’ horizon to learn about worlds with which they are unfamiliar, he says: to see their homes, their pottery, their coinage, their things. They can learn about cultural influences going back millennia. When they can travel, that is. Aviam is hopeful they can start implementing the collaboration in July.

This Bethsaida is the site of el-Araj. For the ongoing controversy over which site is the actual ancient city of Bethsaida (the main alternative location is et-Tell), see here and many links. Apparently el-Araj is also called Beit Habek, although this is first I remember hearing that. The site remains flooded, but the excavators aim to work around that and excavate anyway.

The Etruscans have come up occasionally on PaleoJudaica, notably regarding the bilingual Phoencian-Etruscan gold tablets from Pyrgi.

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

From BAR's new editor

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: A Moment for Reflection…And New Beginnings. Hershel Shanks’s passing and the transition to a new editor is an opportunity for BAR to honor the past while looking forward to new horizons (Glenn J. Corbett). With highlights from the current issue.

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

Digital Corpus of Literary Papyrology

THE AWOL BLOG: DCLP: Digital Corpus of Literary Papyrology. This website is an impressive resource. It has entries for seemingly every ancient papyrus, covering every ancient author and work you have ever heard of and some that you haven't.

Besides the Classical works and authors, I found entries for Hebrew Bible and Old Testament (translations in many languages) papyri; New Testament papyri (Greek and many translations); various Old Testament Apocrypha, New Testament Apocrypha, and Old Testament Pseudepigrapha; Flavius Josephus; the Hegesippus Latin Josephus; and Philo of Alexandria.

Many of the entries include transcriptions and/or photographs.

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

Wednesday, June 09, 2021

On toilets at Qumran

LATRINE LECTURE: Dead Sea Scrolls scholar flushes out mystery. How did Jews in the land of Israel use the toilet some 2,000 years ago? The legendary Dead Sea Scrolls offer some answers (Rossella Tercatin, Jerusalem Post).
How did Jews in the land of Israel use the toilet some 2,000 years ago? What kind of facilities did they build, and which social habits did they develop?

Some answers are offered by the legendary Dead Sea Scrolls and the archaeological remains in ancient Qumran, Prof. Jodi Magness, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, revealed in an online lecture on Monday.

[...]

This lecture was on a latrine discovered at the site of Qumran. Another was discovered nearby in 2006. See the links collected here. For other posts on ancient latrines, see here and links.

UPDATE (10 June): Note Joe Lauer's (JoeL) comment to the article:

Although the article states that there was a “lack of a toilet seat at the site” in Qumran, during her very interesting lecture Dr. Magness showed a picture of a toilet seat near the locus of the toilet discovered in the excavation at Qumran led by Roland de Vaux. Dr. Magness found the photo of the toilet seat in the recently published volume on de Vaux’s excavation.

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

The Pseudo-Neros

THE COLLECTOR: Emperor Nero’s Death & The Curious Case Of The Pseudo Neros. In 68 CE, Nero, the notorious Emperor, was forced to commit suicide. Nero’s death sparked a sequence of imposters that kept emerging for up to a generation after his passing (Colin J Campbell). HT Rogue Classicism.

At last some attention to the post-Nero Neronic traditions! There were three Nero imposters (Nero rediturus, "Nero shall return") after his death. This article has the details, along with an analysis of Nero's reign.

My view? The entire Nero tradition has almost no credibility. The main accounts are hostile to him. Many of their claims involve unsources stories about events that supposedly happened in private. That includes the account of his death. Any or all of them could be true, but many sound outrageous and are just the sort of thing people would make up about their enemies. I assume much of this material is fake news. Even the accounts of public events were written many years later when few people who witnessed them would still be alive.

I doubt that Nero was a nice Emperor. But about all we can say with confidence is that he was remembered with hatred by some, including those in the ruling class who wrote about him. But he was remembered with love by others. Apparently a lot of people were willing to support Nero when they thought he had come back.

Three men showed up after his supposed death and started revolts that had to be put down. Was one of them Nero? Did he go into hiding and later try for a comeback? It doesn't seem likely, but I don't see how we can rule out the possibility.

For PaleoJudaica posts on the current British Museum's Nero exhibition, see here and links. Earlier posts on Nero and his post-mortem mythology (Nero redivivus, Nero shall come back to life), especially the Beast in the Book of Revelation, are collected here.

UPDATE: I have corrected the name of the publication. Please excuse the error.

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

The PA PM and the archaeology of the Temple Mount

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Palestinian PM: No proof Jewish Temple ever existed on Temple Mount. Speaking to Al Jazeera while on a visit to Qatar, Mohammad Shtayyeh says any escalation in Jerusalem is in the interest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and that the world is showing "unprecedented support for the Palestinians" (Shahar Klaiman, Israel HaYom).
The years of archaeological excavations Israel has conducted at the Temple Mount have yielded no proof that the Temple ever existed in Jerusalem, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said Monday evening in an interview to Al Jazeera.

When asked about current tensions in Jerusalem, Shtayyeh said that Jerusalem was at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

"Since 1967 and the occupation of the West Bank, Israel has carried out a series of excavations underneath Al-Aqsa Mosque which haven't proved any connection whatsoever to the hall [Temple] or anything similar," Shtayyeh claimed.

[...]

As always, I would like to see the quotation in full context, but it does not sound helpful. The assertion seems to be that the Jerusalem tunnel excavations, which the PM claims go under the Al-Aqsa Mosque, provide no evidence for the existence of the Jewish Temple. That's a paraphrase, but I think that is what he means to say. In the context of the report of the full interview, the implication is that this lack of proof is damaging to the claim that there were Jewish Temples on the Temple Mount.

The Jerusalem tunnel excavations are not, as far as I can tell, in areas that would produce evidence for the existence of the Temples. So, not surprisingly, it is true that they display no connection to the Temple. I know of no excavation actually going under the Al-Aqsa Mosque and I doubt there is any such thing. If someone knows of one, please send me a report. For many PaleoJudaica posts on the tunnel excavations see here, here, and here and follow the links.

The only "excavations" on the Temple Mount that could be relevant for the question of the existence of the Jewish Temples are the illicit ones conducted by the Waqf many years ago. The excavated dirt was dumped in the Kidron Valley. Fortunately, the Temple Mount Sifting Project has been sifting this dirt for many years and has found many priceless archaeological artifacts. For countless PaleoJudaica posts on the Project, start here and follow the links.

The renovation of the Herodian Temple seems to have demolished most of the Second Temple and whatever remains there may have been of the First Temple. The Herodian Temple was then thorougly demolished by the Romans in 70 CE. So there is little hope of finding significant architectural remains of any of the Temples on the Temple Mount.

That said, there is some significant archaeological evidence for the existence of the later Temples. There is the first-century CE Greek Temple warning inscription. Also in 2016 the Sifting Project published tiles that they concluded came from floor of the Temple courtyard. See here and here.

There is considerable additional evidence for the existence of the Jewish Temples on the Temple Mount, but most of it is more inferential. For the First Temple see here and for the Second and Herodian Temples, see here.

For the unfortunate 2015 New York Times article on the Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount which offered crediblity to Temple denial and had to be corrected, see here and links.

A couple of other recent posts on the subject of Jewish Temple denial are here and here.

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

Gribetz on Time and Difference in Rabbinic Judaism

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Time and Difference in Rabbinic Judaism (Sarit Kattan Gribetz).
I submitted the final manuscript of my book, Time and Difference in Rabbinic Judaism, for publication in February 2020. By the time it was published, in November 2020, the world was a very different place.

[...]

Published by Princeton University Press. Cross-file under New Book. Dr. Gribetz is a frequent contributor to AJR.

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

Tuesday, June 08, 2021

Corpus of Ptolemaic Inscriptions (CPI)

THE AWOL BLOG: Corpus of Ptolemaic Inscriptions (CPI).

The Ptolemaic dynasty is important for the study of Second Temple-era Judaism, especially in Egypt. And some of the kings and queens of the dynasty appear in the Bible, especially in the Book of Daniel.

This website gives you access to, among other things, many of the official decrees of the Ptolemaic kings and queens.

I have posted on the coinage of the Ptolemaic dynasty here and links, with commentary on the biblical background. For posts on Cleopatra VII (THE Cleopatra), see here and here and links. Other recent posts on Ptolemaic-related matters are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Follow the links in those for earlier posts.

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

The Early History of the Codex Project

VARIANT READINGS: A New Project: The Early History of the Codex (Brent Nongbri).
A busy semester is now winding down, and I’m happy to announce that in August, I’ll be kicking off a new, five-year project: The Early History of the Codex: A New Methodology and Ethics for Manuscript Studies (EthiCodex) based here in Oslo at MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion, and Society, thanks to the support of the Research Council of Norway.

[...]

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

On running an online seminar

THE STECA BLOG: How to run an online seminar? (Marieke Dhonte). In 2019 online conferences and seminars seemed a thing of the future, if at all. Last week I attended two and I have another lined up this week.

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

Monday, June 07, 2021

Book event essays (4): Feldman, The Story of Sacrifice

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Leviticus as a Mission Statement (Martha Himmelfarb).

Another essay on Liane Feldman's recent book, The Story of Sacrifice: Ritual and Narrative in the Priestly Source (Mohr Siebeck, 2020).

I noted the earlier essays in the series here and links.

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

Fassberg, Hebrew Texts and Language of the Second Temple Period (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:
Hebrew Texts and Language of the Second Temple Period

Proceedings of an Eighth Symposium on the Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Ben Sira

Series: Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah, Volume: 134

Volume Editor: Steven Fassberg

The 21 essays in this volume deal with the language and text of Hebrew corpora from the Second Temple period. They were originally presented at the Eighth International Symposium on the Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Ben Sira, held in January 2016 in Jerusalem. Most of the papers focus on the Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the light of First and Second Temple Hebrew. A few of the contributions are devoted primarily to the language of Ben Sira, Samaritan Hebrew, and Mishnaic Hebrew. You will find discussions of orthography, phonology, morphology, syntax, lexicon, language contact, and sociolinguistics.

Prices from (excl. VAT): €134.00 / $161.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-44798-1
Publication Date: 25 May 2021
Copyright Date: 01 Jan 2021

Hardback
Availability: Not Yet Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-44797-4
Publication Date: 21 Jul 2021
Copyright Date: 01 Jan 2021

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

Nongbri on the Hobby Lobby lawsuit

VARIANT READINGS: Hobby Lobby Inc. vs Dirk Obbink. As usual, Brent Nongbri draws some interesting inferences and questions out of this latest development in the saga of the Oxford missing papyri and their alleged relationship to Dirk Obbink and the Museum of the Bible. As I have said before, I have no opinion on the story or on this case. Presumably we shall learn more if and when it goes to court.

Background here and links.

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

The Guardian reviews Nero

EXHIBITION: Nero: The Man Behind the Myth review – legend and truth (Laura Cumming, The Guardian). She gives it 4/5 stars.
But what makes this show so unusual is precisely its offer of different truths. Nothing in it convinces me that Nero was a hero, but neither does it damn him on the basis of Tacitus and his colleagues. Its true subject, in a sense, is the way that history calcifies into dogma, but may come alive again, in all its complexity, through modern minds and eyes.
Background and additional reviews are noted here and links.

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

Sunday, June 06, 2021

Levy & Levy, The JPS Rashi Discussion Torah Commentary

RECENT-ISH BOOK FROM THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY:
The JPS Rashi Discussion Torah Commentary

Steven and Sarah Levy
JPS Study Bible Series
216 pages
2 indexes

Paperback
January 2018
978-0-8276-1269-3
$29.95

eBook (PDF)
(Requires Adobe Digital Editions)
January 2018
978-0-8276-1347-8v $29.95

About the Book

Rashi, the medieval French rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (1040–1105), authored monumental commentaries on the Hebrew Bible and the Babylonian Talmud. With The JPS Rashi Discussion Torah Commentary, his commentary on the Torah—regarded as the most authoritative of all Torah commentaries—is finally accessible to the entire Jewish community.

Steven and Sarah Levy quote from the biblical text in both Hebrew and English, highlight Rashi’s comments relating to the parashah, and delve into his perceptive moral messages in the context of twenty-first-century dilemmas. Each portion features three essays with analysis and discussion questions that draw on universal human experiences, enabling families and Shabbat study groups to deepen their understanding of Rashi and the portion over the three Sabbath meals.

Readers with little or no knowledge of Hebrew, the Torah, or Jewish practice will feel comfortable diving into this discussion commentary. All Hebrew terms are defined, quoted verses contextualized, and less familiar Jewish concepts explained.

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

Stroup, The Christians Who Became Jews (Yale)

RECENT BOOK FROM YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS:
The Christians Who Became Jews
Acts of the Apostles and Ethnicity in the Roman City

Christopher Stroup

Description

A fresh look at Acts of the Apostles and its depiction of Jewish identity within the larger Roman era

When considering Jewish identity in Acts of the Apostles, scholars have often emphasized Jewish and Christian religious difference, an emphasis that masks the intersections of civic, ethnic, and religious identifications in antiquity. Christopher Stroup’s innovative work explores the depiction of Jewish and Christian identity by analyzing ethnicity within a broader material and epigraphic context. Examining Acts through a new lens, he shows that the text presents Jews and Jewish identity in multiple, complex ways, rather than as a simple foil for Christianity.

Stroup convincingly argues that when the modern distinctions among ethnic, religious, and civic identities are suspended, the innovative ethnic rhetoric of the author of Acts comes into focus. The author of Acts leverages the power of gods, ancestry, and physical space to legitimate Christian identity as a type of Jewish identity and to present Christian non-Jews as Jewish converts through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Format: Hardcover
Price: $65.00

ISBN: 9780300247893
Publication Date: April 21, 2020
240 pages, 6 1/8 x 9 1/4

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

Persepolis is now open to the public

TOURISM: Persepolis: once awe-inspiring gateway opens to public after millennia (Tehran Times).
Named Tall-e Ajori, the archaeological site and its surroundings, which has been subject to archaeological work over the past decade, was officially inaugurated as an open-air museum by the visiting Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Minister on Monday.

According to local experts, tours of Persepolis can start from Tall-e Ajor to have a more detailed introduction of the Iranian culture of the time, allowing tourists and researchers to see the art of the Achaemenids from another angle.

The gateway is made of brick and clay materials and the whole exterior has been decorated with painted bricks. The lower parts and the plinth of the walls are decorated with [themes of] lotus flowers, the body, and facade of the walls are embellished with various colored panels of mythical animals, symbols, and belief symbols of ancient Iranians, Elamites, and Mesopotamians.

[...]

For background on the ancient Iranian city of Persepolis and why it is of interest to PaleoJudaica, see here (with photos at the link) and here (cf. here) and many links .

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

The Latin Josephus Project

ROGER PEARSE: Online: The Latin Josephus Project. I mentioned this important project back in 2014, but it's worth flagging again. For more on Latin Josephus, see here.

It is also worth mentioning Pseudo-Hegisippus' De excidio Hierosolymitano, a free, Christianized, Latin version of Josephus' Jewish War. See here with a link to Roger Pearse's English translation. For related Ethiopic material, see here.

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