On Pentateuchal Targumic poetry

THE GENIZA FRAGMENTS BLOG: Throwback Thursday: Targumic poems of the Pentateuch (reprint of a 1986 article by Michael Klein). Cross-file under Aramaic Watch and Cairo Geniza.

For more on late-antique Jewish Aramaic poetry, see here, here, here, here, and here.

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On Joseph and Asenath (Aseneth)

PROF. PATRICIA D. AHEARNE-KROLL: Joseph and Asenath (TheTorah.com).

A text from Hellenistic Egypt (ca. 100 B.C.E. to 100 C.E.) tells a romantic story of Joseph and Asenath’s courtship. Initially, Asenath rejects Joseph, but then falls in love with him, only to have Joseph reject her because she is the daughter of an Egyptian priest. It’s only after she repents and changes her allegiance to Israel’s God that Joseph marries her.

I noted the author's book here.

I have commented on the question of the authorship of Joseph and Aseneth here.

For other posts on Joseph and Aseneth, see here and links, plus here and here.

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Reburbishment of the Carthage National Museum

PUNIC WATCH: Tunisia: Focus On Carthage Museum and Its Surroundings Refurbishment Project in Partnership With EU in Tunisia (Tunis Afrique Presse (Tunis) via AllAfrica.com).

Tunis/Tunisia — The Ministry of Cultural Affairs and the European Union (EU) Delegation to Tunisia announced in detail the broad outlines of the refurbishment project of the Carthage National Museum and its surroundings, under the program "Tounes Wijhetouna, notably 3,000 Heritage and Culture Territory," which allocated an estimated funding of €10 million for studies and works in this regard.

During a press conference organised on Monday at the Cathedral of Saint Louis by the ministry and the EU delegation in Tunisia, the project and the restricted competition for the award of the contract for the refurbishment project were announced.

The of Carthage National Museum is one of the main Tunisian museums along with the Bardo Museum. It hosts the most important collection of archaeological objects from the site of Carthage since the Phoenician period and offering a synthesis of the prestigious history of Carthage (over 100,000 items). Since the end of the first quarter of 2018, the Carthage National Museum has been closed to visitors. Only the nearby archaeological remains can be visited.

I have mentioned the Carthage National Museum here.

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Does Josephus matter? How much?

THE MARGINALIA REVIEW OF BOOKS: Why Josephus Matters. Steve Mason on Flavius Josephus. Again, HT Rogue Classicism.

If we leave biblical and New Testament authors out of the frame, Flavius Josephus (37–100+ CE) was the most consequential ancient writer in the West. This claim is not provable by statistics, but a process of elimination supports it. Plato was big, Aristotle too. Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, and Polybius had their admirers, and every literate Roman knew Cicero and Livy. But Christian Crusaders did not take Plato into battle in the Holy Land. Thucydides was not rewritten in Latin and Hebrew versions, as Josephus was, amplifying his already huge impact. From the first to the twenty-first centuries, Josephus’ work has mattered to more people and more consistently than any other non-biblical text.

Does that mean that he should matter now? Nothing simply matters. Classical music, stock prices, and American politics matter to some but not others. Things that mattered to us when we were twenty might not at forty or sixty. To ask why Josephus matters is to ask, first, why he has mattered, and second, why he might matter from now on, which is not the same thing.

[...]

It is fair to say that Steve Mason owns Josephus studies. It is great to have an overview essay from him on the topic.

There are many, many PaleoJudaica posts on Flavius Josephus. For some of them, see here and follow the links. For many others, run the search term "Josephus" through the blog search engine.

For more on the siege of Jopata (Yodaft) and that rather complicated mass suicide pact, see my posts on The Josephus Problem. For pseudo-Hegisippus and other Latin translations of Josephus, see here and links. For the medieval compilation Sefer Yossipon (Jossipon), see here and links.

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Restoration of the St. Hilarion Monastery in Gaza

ARCHAEOLOGY: Ancient Gaza monastery restored by unemployed young Palestinians. For the third year in a row, a Palestinian team under French supervision works on the restoration of St. Hilarion Monastery in Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp (Mervat Ouf, Al-Monitor). HT Rogue Classicism.

For more on the St. Hilarion Monastery in Gaza, see here.

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More on the Cambridgeshire crucifixion

UPDATE: Free Access to Crucifixion in the Fens: Life and Death in Roman Fenstanton.

Exclusively for British Archaeology Magazine, David Ingham & Corinne Duhig report on the excavations, and what they believe to be rare evidence for ancient crucifixion - and the first from northern Europe.

HT Richard Bauckham.

This is the underlying article behind the many media stories, including the Guardian article to which I linked yesterday. Go there for background and more links.

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Crucified man excavated in Cambridgeshire

OSTEOLOGY: Best physical evidence of Roman crucifixion found in Cambridgeshire Near 1,900-year-old skeleton discovered with nail through heel bone during excavation in Fenstanton (Jamie Grierson, The Guardian). HT Dr. Michael Lyons.

The skeleton of Yehohanan ben Hagko also had a crucifixion nail driven through the heel bone. Another skeleton excavated in Jerusalem in 1970 has been flagged as possibly crucified, but the most recent analysis I know of indicates not. Another apparently crucified skeleton was excavated in Italy. For more on all three, plus additional posts on crucifixion, see here and follow the links.

In addition, there are two ancient nails that may have been used in crucifixions.

UPDATE (10 December): More here.

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BAR debates the Shapira scroll affair

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: The Shapira Scrolls—Authentic or Forged? Scholars debate the scrolls’ authenticity in Biblical Archaeology Review.

As usual, the BAR articles are behind a subscription wall. But, also as usual, the BHD essay gives you the background story and some highlights from the articles.

PaleoJudaica has followed this year's renewed debate on the Shapira Scroll fragments, notably here and here, but also start here and follow the links back.

The big problem is that the scroll fragments are now lost, and presumed destroyed, and we have no usable photos of them. All we have are bad drawings and entirely illegible photos. I have suggested a possible way forward here. No one has taken me up on it yet. I remain interested in whether the idea has any merit.

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Another looting arrest

APPREHENDED: Dozens of artifacts, some from Bar Kochba era, found by police, 3 arrested. While on duty, a team of detectives from the Lev HaBira police station noticed three people in a car who drew their suspicion, so they searched the vehicle (Jerusalem Post).

This article has a photo of one of the recovered objects. It looks like it might be a decorated metal lamp.

Cue the usual cautions about unprovenanced artifacts. The more interesting they are, the more we should keep in mind the possibility of a forgery and look for credible authenication.

UPDATE (16 December): More here.

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How Joseph Met Mary

SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE: How Joseph Met Mary In the [Apocryphal] Gospel of James. HT Rogue Classicism.

Christmas is coming, which means it's time to dust off those infancy narratives in the apocryphal gospels. The Protevangelium of James is a favorite. Earlier posts on it are here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Cross-file under 'Tis the Season and New Testament Apocrypha.

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Christmas tidings of ... the Toledot Yeshu?

ZOOM (AND IN-PERSON) EVENT: A Very Jewish Christmas: Toledot Yeshu, A Jewish Anti-Gospel (CT Jewish Ledger).

(New York, NY) – For the fourth year in a row, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research will delve into how Jewish culture developed around Christmas.

On Wednesday, Dec. 22, at 7 p.m., both in person and on Zoom, YIVO will present “A Very Jewish Christmas: Toledot Yeshu, A Jewish Anti-Gospel,” a talk by Azzan Yadin-Israel on the history of this ancient book followed by an English-Yiddish bilingual reading of it by Shane Baker and Eleanor Reissa.

[...]

The Zoom event is free. Follow the link for registration information.

For PaleoJudaica posts on the Toledot Yeshu, start here and follow the links. Cross-file under 'Tis the Season?

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Gilgamesh Dream Tablet on display in Iraq

REPATRIATED: Iraq puts on display ancient artifacts returned by U.S. (Reuters).

The Gilgamesh Dream Tablet was returned to Iraq yesterday. Background here and links.

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More golden tongues, but still no Cleopatra's tomb

EGYTPIAN ARCHAEOLGY: Meet the lawyer-turned-archaeologist leading the search for Cleopatra's tomb. Kathleen Martinez has risked everything in her quest to find Egyptian queen's resting place, she tells 'The National' (Hamza Hendawi, The National).

This article gives a good brief account of Ms. Martinez's background and her archaeological work at Taposiris Magna. But one has to read far along to learn that the only new announcement is that there might be a new announcement soon:

But now, the end may be in sight.

“Sometimes I feel like I would like to update the people on what I am doing,” she said, explaining that only Egyptian authorities, not the relevant archaeologists, announce new discoveries.

“They may announce by the end of this year, that I am now closer to my objective,” she said cryptically.

“It is very improbable that I won’t discover the tomb,” she said, striking a confident note as she sipped a glass of lemonade at the lounge of a Nile-side Cairo hotel.

I hope she's right.

For more on Cleopatra VII (THE Cleopatra) see here and links. Plutarch reports that she knew Hebrew and Aramaic.

For the excavation at Taposiris Magna and the hope that it will lead to the tomb of Cleopatra, start here and follow the links. That link is about the discovery of two mummies there which were equipped with golden tongues. That leads to the other part of my header above. Two more golden tongued mummies have just been discovered, this time at at Oxyrhynchus:

Golden tongues found in mouths of ancient Egyptian couple. Tombs of man and woman dating back 2,500 years found at Oxyrhynchus; male mummy’s sarcophagus still sealed with hundreds of funerary items inside (Times of Israel).

The article also reports that three more golden tongues were recovered "outside the tombs," whatever that means.

The site of the ancient city of Oxyrhynchus is best known for its trove of many thousands of ancient papyri found in a trash dump. For many posts on it and them, start here (plus here) and just keep following those links. For the missing Oxyrhynchus papyri scandal, see here and links. Cross-file under Oxyrhynchus Watch.

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Online lecture on Jewish-Latin Texts from pre-rabbinic times (in German)

H-JUDAIC: EVENT: Online Lecture "Patrologia Judaica? Jewish-Latin Texts from pre-rabbinic times in the Western Diaspora (ca. 400-800 CE)" / Jüdisch-Lateinische Texte der westlichen Diaspora in vorrabbinischer Zeit (ca. 400-800 u.Z.) (December 9, 2021). The lecture, by Prof. Johannes Heil (Heidelberg), will be in German. The event appears to be free, but requires advance registration.

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R.I.P. Father William J. Fulco, S.J.

SAD NEWS: LMU Jesuit archaeologist remembered as a beloved mentor, brilliant scholar (Angelus News).

Generations of Loyola Marymount University alumni are mourning the loss of a Jesuit who could do it all.

Father William J. Fulco, S.J. died Nov. 29 at the Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos from pulmonary fibrosis at the age of 85.

[...]

Off campus, he was a world-renowned archaeologist and polyglot (fluent in nine languages) whose rare expertise in Aramaic was employed to shape the dialogues of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” and several other films throughout the years.

The article reports that he also did consulting work for Mel Gibson's promised sequel to The Passion of the Christ. He was reportedly also a consult on the Punic language for Vin Diesel's long announced but still awaited Hannibal movie. For PaleoJudaica posts on Fr. Fulco and his work, see here and links. Requiescat in pace.

Cross-file under Aramaic Watch and Punic Watch.

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Schiffman on the Lachish Forest fortress

PROFESSOR LAWRENCE H. SCHIFFMAN: A FORTRESS UNEARTHED.

This is an article by Professor Schiffman on the Hellenistic-era fortress excavated in the Lachish Forest. It was published in Ami Magazine. The fortess protected the city of Maresha. The story was prominent during Hanukkah because the fortress was probably destroyed by the Hasmonean John Hyrcanus. Background here.

With today's four post you now have everything I have found Hanukkah newsworthy this year. There may be another story or two, but I think that's about everything. I will collect links to all the posts at my Hanukkah 2021 post.

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Hasmonean influence on everyday life?

NEW BOOK IN HEBREW: Did events that inspired Hanukkah create Jewish culture as we know it? In a new book, veteran archaeologist Professor Ronny Rich explores what archaeological evidence says about how the Maccabees' victory influenced the daily lives of the Jews living in the Land of Israel (Moshe Weisstuch, Israel HaYom). HT Joseph Lauer.

"I'm not a historian or a researcher of Jewish history. I examine [archaeological] finds and in this case, Jewish culture according to archaeological discoveries," says Professor Ronny Reich, a former lecturer at the University of Haifa and author of the new book Everyday Life: The daily life of the Jewish community in the Eretz Israel in the Late Second Temple Period in Light of Archaeological Finds (published by Pardes, Hebrew only).

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The Hasmonean Heritage Center

NEW MUSEUM IN ISRAEL: "HASMONEAN HERITAGE CENTER SHARES HISTORY OF HANUKKAH" (i24News):

I found this i24News clip in this article on the recent antiquities apprehension in East Jerusalem. But I can't find anything more about the new Center.

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Hanukkah antiquities apprehension

APPREHENDED: Ancient Hasmonean artifacts found in east Jerusalem at end of Hanukkah. The items were examined by officials of the Israel Antiquities Authority, and the suspect was arrested and taken in for questioning (Jerusalem Post Blogs).

Among the artifacts were a coin dated back to the time of Antigonus II Mattathias, the last Hasmonean king, as well as a Hasmonean-era oil candle and a biblical-era seal ring with ancient Hebrew inscriptions.

The inscribed seal ring (seal?) sounds like the most interesting of the objects recovered. Oddly, there is no photograph of it.

The "oil candle" appears to be a ceramic oil lamp. I suspect "candle" is a mistranslation from a Hebrew article or press release.

The objects are unprovenanced. If there are a lot of coins, most of them are likely genuine. Coins are not valuable enough to forge unless they are rare. The valuable coin, the pictured ceramic fragment inscribed with a menorah, and the unpictured "seal ring" are a more complicated matter. I will keep an open mind about whether they are genuine until I hear more about their authentication.

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News on the Sardis synagogue

THE HOLY LAND PHOTOS' BLOG: Changes at Sardis — One of the 7 Churches of Revelation (Carl Rasmussen).

The changes include new conservation measures for the late antique synagogue at Sardis.

For more on the ancient Jewish community at Sardis and their synagogue, see here, here, and here.

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Review of Bradshaw & McGowan, Egeria, journey to the Holy Land

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Egeria, journey to the Holy Land.

Paul F. Bradshaw, Anne McGowan, Egeria, journey to the Holy Land. Brepols Library of Christian Sources (BLCS), 1. Turnhout: Brepols, 2020. Pp. 124. ISBN 9782503592817 €45,00.

Review by
Dennis Trout, University of Missouri. troutd@missouri.edu

... For these reasons alone, the Itinerarium is at home in a wide variety of classroom settings and scholarly enterprises. It is an engaging text at several levels and deserves its wide readership. But will this volume help spread the word?...

For more on Egeria and her pilgrimage account, see here.

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Marcus, THE MASORAH OF THE FORMER PROPHETS IN THE LENINGRAD CODEX (1 KINGS) (Gorgias)

NEW BOOK FROM GORGIAS PRESS:

THE MASORAH OF THE FORMER PROPHETS IN THE LENINGRAD CODEX (1 KINGS)
Vol. 5: 1 Kings

By David Marcus

This work represents the first time that a major part of the masorah of the great Leningrad Codex, that of the Former Prophets, is being published with an English translation and commentary. Almost nine-thousand notes are transcribed and annotated with biblical references.

Publisher: Gorgias Press LLC
Availability: In stock
SKU (ISBN): 978-1-4632-0603-1

Formats Hardback

Publication Status: In Print
Series: Texts and Studies (Third Series) 14
Publication Date: Sep 24,2021
Interior Color: Black
Trim Size: 7 x 10
Page Count: 464
Languages: English, Hebrew
ISBN: 978-1-4632-0603-1

Price: $182.00
Your price: $109.20

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