Friday, September 22, 2023

Sanders on philology and music

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Dead Words and Haunting Melody: Unexpected Influences with Seth Sanders.
What is missing is not the text or the “performativity” but imaginative curiosity about the event itself where people participated in the prayer, where it unfolded. As the musicologist Christopher Small writes, “Most of the world's musicians—[meaning] anyone who sings or plays or composes—have no use for musical scores and do not treasure musical works but simply play and sing, drawing on remembered melodies and rhythms and on their own powers of invention… For performance does not exist in order to present musical works, but rather, musical works exist in order to give performers something to perform.”(Musicking: The Meanings of Performing and Listening, 7-8) If, as Small argues, “Music is not a thing at all but an activity, something that people do,” (p. 2) this suggests that like music, religion cannot be contained in a written text (or score) or a single individual (an isolated listener or performer). Instead, like music, these prayers and blessings only enter the world when they are done by people and become events. But what does that tell me about my dried-up ancient texts—what kind of event is a prayer; what does it sound like?
A long essay with a great deal happening in it.

Cross-file under Yom Kippur.

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

How many crimson threads?

YOM KIPPUR IS COMING: Crimson to White: Yom Kippur’s Miraculous Thread (Dr. Rabbi Joshua Kulp, TheTorah.com).
In the Second Temple period, a crimson thread was placed on the horn of the Yom Kippur scapegoat and tied to a stone in the desert before the goat was pushed off the cliff. After the verse “If your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18) was used as a prooftext for this non-biblical practice, the Talmud envisaged a magical ritual in which a second crimson thread would turn white on Yom Kippur to signal God’s acceptance of the people’s repentance.

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Kalimi, The Book of Esther between Judaism and Christianity (CUP)

NEW BOOK FROM CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS:
The Book of Esther between Judaism and Christianity

AUTHOR: Isaac Kalimi, Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz, Germany
DATE PUBLISHED: July 2023
AVAILABILITY: Available
FORMAT: Hardback
ISBN: 9781009266123

£ 100.00
Hardback

Description

The book of Esther is one of the most challenging books in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, not only because of the difficulty of understanding the book itself in its time, place, and literary contexts, but also for the long and tortuous history of interpretation it has generated in both Jewish and Christian traditions. In this volume, Isaac Kalimi addresses both issues. He situates 'traditional' literary, textual, theological, and historical-critical discussion of Esther alongside comparative Jewish and Christian interpretive histories, showing how the former serves the latter. Kalimi also demonstrates how the various interpretations of the Book of Esther have had an impact on its reception history, as well as on Jewish-Christian relations. Based on meticulous and comprehensive analysis of all available sources, Kalimi's volume fills a gap in biblical, Jewish, and Christian studies and also shows how and why the Book of Esther became one of the central books of Judaism and one of the most neglected books in Christianity.

  • Includes inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary perspectives, showing how different disciplines can interact
  • Presents a meticulous and comprehensive analysis of the available sources concerning the book of Esther within their biblical, historical, and ancient Near Eastern contexts
  • Describes the neglect of Esther in Christianity, and how the biblical text is used and abused to advance Judeophobic and anti-Semitic agenda of some theologians and scholars

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

Thursday, September 21, 2023

Review of Moore, New Aramaic papyri from Elephantine in Berlin

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: New Aramaic papyri from Elephantine in Berlin.
James D. Moore, New Aramaic papyri from Elephantine in Berlin. Studies on Elephantine, 1. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2022. Pp. xiii, 261. ISBN 9789004505575

Review by
Amit Gvaryahu, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. amit.gvaryahu@mail.huji.ac.il

... The present volume is a contribution to the study of these documents: a trove of very small fragments, not published by the editors of the previously published collections, and overlooked for nearly 80 years, found in the Berlin Museum. ...

I noted the publication of this open-access volume here. For more on the Aramaic Elephantine papyri, follow the links from there, plus see here, here, here, here, and links.

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

Porten & Yardeni, Textbook of Aramaic Ostraca from Idumea, volume 5 (Eisenbrauns)

NEW BOOK FROM EISENBRAUNS:
Textbook of Aramaic Ostraca from Idumea, volume 5

Dossiers H–K: 485 Ostraca

Bezalel Porten and Ada Yardeni

Since the early 1990s, about two thousand Idumean Aramaic ostraca have found their way onto the antiquities market and are now scattered across a number of museums, libraries, and private collections. This fifth and final volume of the Textbook of Aramaic Ostraca from Idumea completes the work of bringing these ostraca together in a single publication.

Description

Since the early 1990s, about two thousand Idumean Aramaic ostraca have found their way onto the antiquities market and are now scattered across a number of museums, libraries, and private collections. This fifth and final volume of the Textbook of Aramaic Ostraca from Idumea completes the work of bringing these ostraca together in a single publication. Volumes 1–4 published some 1,600 ostraca that gave us insight into agriculture, economics, politics, onomastics, and scribal practices from fourth/third-century BCE Idumea and Judah. The ostraca in volume 5 come from the same milieu, but the information they provide is entirely new and different. This volume presents 485 ostraca, including 99 land descriptions, 168 uncertain texts, and 218 assorted remains, scribal exercises, and forgeries, along with useful indexes and tables and a comparative list of entries. The land descriptions—which record local landmarks, ownership boundaries, and land registration—provide rich complementary material to the rest of the Idumean ostraca. The “uncertain texts” are fragmentary, in poor condition, or contain other abnormalities. As the TAO corpus becomes better understood and as imaging techniques improve, these texts will help to fill gaps in knowledge. The final section includes the remains of scribal practices and forgeries, important because they help to show the authenticity of the other two thousand pieces.

A unique collection of documentary sources for fourth/third-century BCE Idumea—and, by extension, Judah—this multivolume work will be a powerful resource for those interested in onomastics and social and economic history.

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

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

The Hall of Shofars

EXHIBITION: At biblical fauna museum, a blow-by-blow of all things shofar, and more horns to toot. Beit Shemesh Biblical Museum of Natural History director Natan Slifkin’s collection features everything from rams to kudus to African buffalo and even a unicorn (Jessica Steinberg).
Spoiler alert: Neither the unicorn horn nor the horns of the mythical jackalope can be used as a shofar.
For more on Rabbi Natan Slifkin, the "Zoo Rabbi," and his Biblical Museum of Natural History, see here and follow the links. For more on his book, The Torah Encyclopedia of the Animal Kingdom, see here (cf. here).

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

Runia, Philo of Alexandria. Collected Studies 1997–2021 (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: David T. Runia. Philo of Alexandria. Collected Studies 1997–2021. 2023. XIII, 555 pages. Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 187. 169,00 € including VAT. cloth ISBN 978-3-16-161876-5.
Published in English.
The Jewish exegete and philosopher Philo of Alexandria (ca. 15 BCE – ca. 50 CE) has left behind by far the largest surviving body of writings of Greek speaking Judaism. Deeply loyal to his own Jewish community, Philo nevertheless has an open stance towards Greek philosophy and uses its ideas to develop his own thought as he expounds the scriptural text. The present volume brings together a collection of essays by David T. Runia on Philonic thought published between 1997 to 2021. In the first section, two introductory studies show the breadth of relevant understanding that Philo has for seven sub-disciplines of ancient and patristic studies. The essays in the second section examine Philo's knowledge of and use of Greek philosophy. One of these, Philo's reception of Plato's Phaedo, has not yet been published in English. Further studies focus on biblical interpretation in an Alexandrian context and explore theological themes relating to theodicy, divine power, and human hope. Finally, another seven studies give close readings of key Philonic texts.

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

Review of Allen & Doedens (eds.), Turmoil, trauma and tenacity in early Jewish literature

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Turmoil, trauma and tenacity in early Jewish literature.
Nicholas P. L. Allen, Jacob J. T. Doedens, Turmoil, trauma and tenacity in early Jewish literature. Berlin; Boston: De Gruyter, 2022. Pp. 285. ISBN 9783110784893

Review by
Matthew Kraus, University of Cincinnati. matthew.kraus@uc.edu

... The authors are to be commended for acknowledging that the depiction of trauma can be used as a literary strategy, may evoke or re-evoke trauma in the reader, and may influence the author who experienced trauma. Nevertheless, the reader will be left frustrated and unconvinced by how these topics are to be understood in Hellenistic Jewish texts. The authors raise insightful questions, while the answers remain obscured in the analyses of specific texts.

I noted the publication of the book here.

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

Tuesday, September 19, 2023

Ancient stone workshop found in the West Bank

ARCHAEOLOGY: Israel uncovers Second Temple-era stone workshop in West Bank. During the Second Temple period, it was customary to use tools made of stone and indeed stone tools are being discovered at almost every site in the region (Jerusalem Post).
Remains of a Second Temple-era quarry and an early stone tool factory site were uncovered during road works on Route 437 in the West Bank, according to a Monday statement from the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).

[...]

For two other Second Temple-era stone workshops, both in the Galilee, see here and links.

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

Rosh HaShanah and the heritage of the Temple Mount

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT BLOG: UNITY AROUND THE REALLY IMPORTANT THINGS – THE HERITAGE OF THE TEMPLE MOUNT. Some Rosh HaShanah-related ancient and modern history.

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

A new translation of P

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Displaying The Literary Artistry of P (Liane Feldman).
The Consuming Fire: The Complete Priestly Source, from Creation to the Promised Land. UC Press, 2023.

... Lest this project begin to sound like a gathering of esoteric academic arguments (which in a way it is), I should say that I had a strong secondary agenda in creating this translation. I wanted to make this text accessible to a broad audience. Put simply: I wanted the language and the ideas to work for an undergraduate classroom or make sense to a non-academic audience. After all, to my mind P is first and foremost a story. It should be able to be read as such. ...

An ambitious and interesting attempt to reconstruct and translate the full surviving text of the Pentateuchal Priestly source (P).

Cross-file under New Book.

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

Monday, September 18, 2023

Robert A. Kraft, 1934-2023

SAD NEWS: This weekend the news came in that Professor Robert A. Kraft passed away on Friday after a long illness.

Bob was American Berg Professor of Religious Studies Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania. He was a major figure in biblical and early Jewish studies in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. He made massive advances in applying computer technology to these fields.

Bob's Wikipedia entry is here. An e-mail message from the Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins notes that he was a founding member of the Seminar and and links to a history of the Seminar by him and Annette Yoshiko Reed. His page of collected online work is here. I wrote briefly about his influence on the field in my 2010 SBL paper What Just Happened and PaleoJudaica has referred often to his work. Septuagint scholar William A. Ross interviewed him in 2017.

Bob was a great scholar and a kind and good man, alway supportive of his younger colleagues. We will miss him.

Reqiescat in pace.

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

Sunday, September 17, 2023

Magnetometry in Archaeology

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Magnetometry in Archaeology. A new method for seeing buried buildings (Marek Dospěl).
In the Summer 2023 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, Andrew Creekmore introduces the use of magnetometry in archaeology. His article, “Seeing into the Ground,” explains how magnetometry works and demonstrates what results this novel method has brought so far at Tell es-Safi, the site of the biblical Gath in southern Israel. ...
The BAR article is behind the subscription wall, but this brief essay summarizes some main points.

A couple of PaleoJudaica posts dealing with magnetometry in archaeology are here and here.

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

Friday, September 15, 2023

Rosh HaShanah 2023

HAPPY NEW YEAR (ROSH HASHANAH - Jewish New Year 5784) to all those celebrating. The New Year begins tonight at sundown.

Last year's Rosh HaShanah post, with links, is here. A more recent related post is here. For biblical background, see here.

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

Is that new Oxyrhynchus fragment Q?

SPOLIER: NOPE. NT Pod 102: Has Q Been Discovered? Mark Goodacre has an excellect podcast on the new Jesus sayings fragment P.Oxy. 5575.

Background here.

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

The Horvat Ethri synagogue

ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE: Ancient synagogue at Horvat Ethri reveals Jewish village and hidden caves on Judean coastal plain. Historic structure features impressive Second Temple period remnants of Jewish settlement (All Israel News).
Israel's National Jewish Fund (KKL-JNF) recently welcomed Israeli guests to visit recently updated sites of two ancient Jewish synagogues, one in Ma'on – located in Israel's southern Negev desert – and the other, Horvat Ethri in Adullam-France Park, located in the Judean coastal plains.

[...]

For the synagogue and mosaic at Ma'on, see here and links.

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

Thursday, September 14, 2023

The Enuma Elish and the Akitu Festival

WITH REFERENCE TO ROSH HASHANAH: Enuma Elish: Babylonia’s Creation Myth and the Enthronement of Marduk (Prof. Wayne Horowitz, TheTorah.com).
The new year and Akitu festivals in Babylonia were celebrated in the spring, during which the high priest of Marduk’s Esagil temple would read the Babylonian creation story, Enuma Elish. This narrative tells how the young god Marduk became king of the gods by saving them from Tiamat and her army of monsters.
A good overview of the Akitu Festival and the Enuma Elish.

For more on the Enuma Elish, see here. For more on the ancient Akitu Festival, which has been connected with both Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, see here and links. As that post notes, the ancient Babylonian festival has been revived and is celebrated annually in the spring by Assyrian Christians.

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

Another review of Wilson, Ancient Wisdom

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Ancient wisdom: an introduction to sayings collections.
Walter T. Wilson, Ancient wisdom: an introduction to sayings collections. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2022. Pp. 335. ISBN 9780802875433

Review by
Craig Davis, Smith College. cradavis@smith.edu

... Expansive in its inclusiveness and meticulous in its scholarship, this user-friendly volume will be an invaluable resource to all students of archaic proverbial traditions in world literature, both for quick reference and deeper study.

I noted another review of the volume here.

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

Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Persepolis tablets to be returned to Iran

PERSEPOLIS WATCH: Iran says U.S. will return thousands of ancient tablets after nine decades (Tehran Times).
So far, hundreds of those tablets (and fragments), which were on loan from Iran to the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago since 1935, have been returned home. For example, in 2019, Iran received 1,783 of those important objects being kept at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History and the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute.

In February 2018, and following years of ups and downs, the fate of those ancient Persian artifacts was left in the hands of a U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of Iran.

Archaeologists affiliated with the University of Chicago discovered the tablets in the 1930s while excavating in Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the Persian Empire. However, the institute has resumed work in collaboration with colleagues in Iran, and the return of the tablets is part of a broadening of contacts between scholars in the two countries, said Gil Stein, director of the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on Persepolis, the ancient Achemenid ceremonial capital city, start here and follow the links. For some introductory material, see here and links.

And for that U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Persepolis archives, see here and links. The archives are not directly relevant to ancient Judaism, but they provides us with background information on scribal practice and Aramaic in Iran in the Persian Period.

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

Schiffman on the Legio X Fretensis

PROF. LAWRENCE H. SCHIFFMAN: LEGION OF DESTRUCTION. THE DISCOVERY OF AN ILLEGAL CACHE OF ANCIENT TILES AND BRICKS SHEDS LIGHT ON A SAD CHAPTER IN OUR HISTORY.

A PDF offprint of an article in Ami Magazine. The article surveys the history of the Legio X Fretensis, notably its role in the suppression of the two Jewish revolts against Rome.

I noted the seizing of the looted bricks here. For the Great Revolt coins found recently near the Black Sea, see here.

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

Biblical Studies Carnival 209

ZWINGLIUS REDIVIVUS: The ‘Why is it so Hot?’ August Carnival of Biblical Studies Hotness: The Climate Change Catastrophe (Jim West). Noted belatedly.

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

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Fragment of an early collection of Jesus sayings?

(NEW) NEW TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA WATCH? Over at the ETC Blog, Peter Gurry notes a newly published fragment of a manuscript from Oxyrhynchus which contains Jesus sayings known from Matthew, the Gospel of Thomas, and maybe Luke. The editors date it to the second century CE, which is quite early for any kind of gospel manuscript.

New 2nd-Century ‘Sayings of Jesus’ Oxyrhynchus Papyrus

Synopsis of P.Oxy. 5575, Matt, Luke, and Thomas

Brent Nongbri has an evaluation of the paleographic case for a second-century date over at Variant Readings: The Date of the New Oxyrhynchus Sayings of Jesus P.Oxy. 87.5575.

I tend to agree with the editors about the similarity of the scripts of 5575 and 4009, but in my first look at the proposals for dated parallels (for both the pieces), I cannot say that I find any of them especially compelling. This is not to criticize the work of the editors. It is very difficult to find good, securely dated comparanda for scripts like these. A more detailed evaluation will have to wait for another occasion.
A lot of questions remain about this new text. Is it a sayings gospel based on oral traditions? Is it a compilation of sayings extracted from earlier gospels? Is it some other kind of work that just happens to cite some Jesus sayings in what survives? And how secure is that second century date?

I imagine all of these questions will be debated for a long time to come. In any case, P.Oxy. 5575 is an important discovery.

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

Teenager finds ancient ring at Sussita National Park

ANCIENT ARTIFACT: Treasure hunt: Israeli youth finds Roman-era ring in national park. While visiting Sussita National Park, 13-year-old Itamar Grossman found an 'ancient-looking' ring lying on the ground and insisted that it be examined (Yair Kraus, Ynet News). Well spotted!

Sussita National Park opened this spring. For PaleoJudaica posts on the many archaeological discoveries at Hippos-Sussita, follow the links from there.

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

Monday, September 11, 2023

Of swords, stalactites, and the Valley of Salt

WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING. Yes, I know I said I was "on the mend" a week ago. That was a bit optimistic. But I'm back now and catching up on everything, including blogging.

The big story of the last week, of course, has been the discovery of those four swords in a cave:

Four 1,900-year-old Roman swords found in Judean Desert, likely from Bar Kochba revolt. Apparently stolen by Jewish rebels, the incredibly well-preserved weapons are ‘an extremely rare find, the likes of which have never been found in Israel’ (MELANIE LIDMAN, Times of Israel).

The four swords were discovered shoved into a small fissure in a cave near Ein Gedi National Park, near the Dead Sea. The cave is already well-known to archaeologists, as it contains a stalactite with a fragmentary ink inscription written in ancient Hebrew script characteristic of the First Temple period.

Recently, Dr. Asaf Gayer of Ariel University, geologist Boaz Langford of Hebrew University, and Israel Antiquities Authority photographer Shai Halevi returned to the cave to photograph the stalactite with multispectral photography, which can decipher additional parts of the inscription not visible to the naked eye. While inside the cave, Gayer spotted an extremely well-preserved Roman pilum — a shafted weapon — in a deep, narrow crack in the rock. He also found pieces of carved wood in an adjacent niche that turned out to be parts of the swords’ scabbards.

The researchers reported the find to the Israel Antiquities Authority and returned to the site with the Judean Desert Archaeological Survey Team, which is conducting a multi-year comprehensive survey of more than 800 caves in the Judean Desert to find and preserve archaeological remains before they are looted.

It was then that they discovered the four swords, three of which were found with the blades still inside their scabbards. Researchers also found ornate handles made of wood and metal with leather strips nearby. The arid climate in the Judean Desert helps preserve fragile artifacts that might otherwise be lost to the ravages of time, including materials such as leather and wood, which are rarely found in wetter parts of the country.

That fragmentary ink inscription that precipitated the discovery has received less attention. But it's important.

Redeciphered First Temple inscription may shed light on biblical ‘Valley of Salt.’ Quest to use multispectral imaging on an ancient inscription on stalactite in remote cave near Ein Gedi has surprising side effect: The discovery of four Roman soldiers’ swords (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel).

The reconstructed inscription appears to read:

Blessed is YHWH
Blessed in the Valley of Salt(?)
Blessed is God.

The newly recovered letters are of the words "in the Valley of Salt(?)" in the second line. The article fills out the implications.

The Judean Desert Archaeological Survey Team appears to be the current title of what was once called Operation Scroll (see here and cf. here; subsequently, see here and links). Last week there was an update article tied to the discoveries above:

Crack unit of rock-climbing archaeologists claims success in curbing antiquities theft. Six years into wide-scale Judean Desert cave survey operation, few Dead Sea Scrolls fragments are found. But the Land of Israel’s historical picture is ever more in focus, says IAA (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel).

Speaking with The Times of Israel at a celebratory unveiling of the team’s most recent discovery — four almost perfectly preserved Roman swords dating from the era of the Bar Kochba Revolt — Dr. Eitan Klein, the deputy head of the Theft Prevention Unit, said the Judean Desert operation marks the first time that the unit is playing offense versus defense with antiquities looters.
For the discovery of the Jerusalem Papyrus in 2016, see here. There has been a lot of debate on whether it is genuine or a forgery. For many posts, start here and follow the links.

For more on the escalating issue of looting, unprovenanced artifacts, and the antiquities market, see here, here, here and links. And for more on the messy situation involving the Heliodorus Stele, see here and links.

That's not all that's been happening, but it's enough for now. I am still catching up.

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

Monday, September 04, 2023

Ben Ezra synagogue reopened

CAIRO GENIZA WATCH: Egyptian synagogue once home to famed ‘Cairo Geniza’ completes extensive renovation. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly attends ceremony reopening tourist site, following ‘careful architectural restoration work,’ according to Egyptian cabinet (Amy Spiro, Times of Israel).
The Ben Ezra Synagogue is believed to date back to 882 CE — making it by far the oldest synagogue in Cairo — and is named for the prominent scholar Abraham Ibn Ezra.

The building was ordered torn down around 1012 CE, but rebuilt a few decades later. Over the centuries, the synagogue suffered a number of fires and was restored several times.

For background on the Ben Ezra Synagogue and its restoration, see here and links. Follow the links from there (plus here) for much more on the Cairo Geniza.

Pardon my absence last week. I was unwell. Still a bit under the weather, but on the mend now.

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

British auctioneer pleads guilty to coin crimes

APPREHENDED AND ON TRIAL: British auctioneer faces jail for falsely selling rare coins from Palestine (Arab News).
  • Richard Beale sold ancient Greek coins found by Gaza fishermen in 2017 despite knowing they were stolen
  • Director of auction house Roma Numismatics became the subject of a BBC investigation in 2020
LONDON: A British auctioneer has pleaded guilty to numerous charges relating to the sale of rare ancient coins, including a hoard discovered by Palestinian fishermen, the BBC reported on Sunday.

[...]

Cross-file under Numismatics.

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

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

More Jerusalem aqueduct uncovered. Lots more.

ANCIENT INFRASTRUCTURE: Israel uncovers massive section of Second Temple-era aqueduct in Jerusalem. The discovery “may also shed light on the question – who built the first aqueduct – whether it was the Hasmoneans or perhaps King Herod," the researchers noted (Jerusalem Post).
The longest continuous section of Jerusalem’s ancient aqueduct has been uncovered in Givat Hamatos, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Monday.

The stretch of the ancient aqueduct, which measures some 300 meters (roughly 1,000 feet) in length, was discovered during archaeological excavations of the area prior to the planned development of the settlement by the Municipality of Jerusalem. The municipality plans on building schools.

[...]

This appears to be a section of the upper aqueduct. See the caption to the first photo.

For more on the upper and lower Jerusalem aqueducts, see here and links.

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

Another Ben-Tor memorial

OBITUARY: Leading archaeologist who dug with Yigael Yadin at Masada and Hazor dies at 88. Amnon Ben-Tor, who won the Israel Prize in 2019, spent decades on major biblical-era site, lectured in top universities around the world (Times of Israel).

Background here and here.

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

Monday, August 28, 2023

Giffone, Storymaking, Textual Development, and Varying Cultic Centralizations (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Benjamin D. Giffone. Storymaking, Textual Development, and Varying Cultic Centralizations. Gathering and Fitting Unhewn Stones. 2023. XVIII, 269 pages. Forschungen zum Alten Testament 2. Reihe 142. 94,00 € including VAT. sewn paper ISBN 978-3-16-156238-9.
Published in English.
In this volume, Benjamin D. Giffone shows that the coexistence of at least three cultic centralization models within the Pentateuch, including Northern, Benjaminite, and Southern traditions, helps to calibrate the level of theological consistency that may reasonably be expected of biblical texts. The scholarly tendency to view biblical narratives as late, tendentious fictions is not sufficient to explain the texts' final forms. The author explains how the use of earlier narrative and legal material within Chronicles and other Second Temple texts illumines instances of unevenness that later interpreters smoothed to a degree but retained in the text. Community memory existing outside the written texts provided limits on the changes that could be introduced by scribes but was sufficiently malleable to allow for changes. Narrativity as a key feature of the texts allowed certain memories to be retained, framed by various techniques to suit the storymakers' aims.

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

Sunday, August 27, 2023

Hapax legomena (unique words) in the Hebrew Bible

PROF. GARY RENDSBURG: Hapax Legomena: Ten Biblical Examples (TheTorah.com).
To enhance the sounds of the text for their audience, biblical authors plumbed the depths of the Hebrew lexis for alliterative rare words, some of which appear only once in the Bible.

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

Strange, Excavating the Land of Jesus (Eerdmans)

NEW BOOK FROM EERDMANS:
Excavating the Land of Jesus
How Archaeologists Study the People of the Gospels

James Riley Strange
Foreword by Luke Timothy Johnson

HARDCOVER; Published: 6/20/2023
ISBN: 978-0-8028-6950-0
Price: $ 29.99
208 Pages
Trim Size, in inches: 6 x 9

DESCRIPTION

How do archaeologists unearth the daily life of people from Jesus’s time?

Contrary to popular belief, archaeology of first-century Roman Galilee is not about illustrating or proving the gospels, drawing timelines, or hunting treasure. Rather, it is about understanding the lives of people, just like us, who lived in the time of Jesus. How do we conceive of Jesus and his mission as part of a larger world? How did different groups in Roman Galilee understand their identities and values? How do we interpret material culture in conjunction with textual evidence from the gospels? On a more basic level, how do we know where and how to dig?

James Riley Strange teaches students how to address these problems in Excavating the Land of Jesus. Drawing on professional experience as a scientific archaeologist in Israel, Strange explains current methodology for ground surveying, excavating evidence, and interpreting data. Excavating the Land of Jesus is the ideal textbook for students seeking answers in the dirt of the Holy Land.

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

Saturday, August 26, 2023

On Herod the Great

IT'S COMPLICATED: Herod’s Complicated Relationship with Judaism. Herod was a controversial figure. As king of Judea he reconstructed the Second Temple, but as a puppet of Rome was distrusted by his people. (Mark Shiffer, Aish.com). This essay also links to an earlier, more detailed Aish.com essay by Rabbi Ken Spiro:

History Crash Course #31: Herod the Great. A madman who murdered his own family and many rabbis, Herod was also the greatest builder in Jewish history.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on Herod the Great (and the other Herods), see here and links.

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

On Josephus

THE FIRST-CENTURY JEWISH HISTORIAN, FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS, is the subject of a couple of popular articles by Mitchell First at the Jewish Link:

First Century CE: Biography of Josephus

The Last Work of Josephus: ‘Against Apion’

For a couple of recent overview essays on Josephus, see here and here. And for that dodgy-sounding suicide pact at Jotapata (Yodfat) (a.k.a. the "Josephus Problem"), see here and links.

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

Friday, August 25, 2023

Sanders on who invented the alphabet

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY: Who Really Invented the Alphabet? (Seth Sanders).
There are two parts to this. First is whether the early alphabet shows any evidence that its creators knew how Egyptian writing worked. ... Second is whether the early alphabet was systematized and taught carefully, or casually and chaotically transmitted—a script of scribes or of the people. ...

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

In memory of Amnon Ben-Tor

OBITUARY: In Memoriam: Prof. Amnon Ben-Tor, King of Hazor (1935–2023). Israel loses another archaeology giant. (Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology).
Professor Ben-Tor was a giant in his field and leaves behind a significant legacy—and now void—in the world of biblical archaeology. This modern-day king of Hazor will be missed.
PaleoJudaica also receives a mention. Background here.

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

Thursday, August 24, 2023

LXX conference in honor of Jim Aitken

WILLIAM A. ROSS: THE SEPTUAGINT WITHIN THE HISTORY OF GREEK CONFERENCE (2023).
I am very pleased to draw attention to the upcoming Septuagint with the History of Greek Conference, which will take place this coming September 13th-15th at Jesus College at the University of Cambridge. As is fitting, this event is to be held in memory of Jim Aitken, who was very much a part of its planning and vision.
For more on the late Professor Jim Aitken, see here and links.

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

Cartagena Festival 2023 is coming

PUNIC WATCH: Visit Cartagena, Spain, in September for ancient battle reenactments and costumed revelry (Anna Kaminski, Lonely Planet).
The reenactment of the Battle for Qart-Hadasht from the Second Punic War (218–208 BCE) is one of the highlights of the Fiestas de Carthagineses y Romanos (Festival of Carthaginians and Romans) that take place in Cartagena, Murcia, in the second half of September. The festivities put the Spanish city in full party mode, as it celebrates its historic roots.
Cartagena, Spain, was a Punic town (Carthago Nova - New Carthage) founded in the third century B.C.E. The ten-day festival begins on the third Friday in September (this year the 15th).

For earlier posts on the festival, as well as on the history and archaeology of the city, see here and links. More recent posts on the archaeology of Cartagena are here and here.

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

Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Jerusalem: the upturned archaeological layer cake

ARCHAEOLOGY: Evidence of Jerusalem’s Destruction at the Hands of Babylonians, Then Romans Now Revealed on Mount Zion. Jerusalem was destroyed twice, in 586 B.C.E. and 70 C.E. New archaeological work at Mount Zion reveals evidence of both horrors, a new theory for Nehemiah's walls, rare weights from the First Temple period – and a magical rib bone (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).
Mount Zion might be considered a stratigraphic nightmare studded as it is with enough pottery pieces and small finds to sink a trireme. “Reverse stratigraphy” with chronological layers out of order, is commonplace here. It’s enough to make any archaeologist shudder.

Pottery is usually useful for dating purposes. But here, for example, Iron Age pottery from the eighth to sixth centuries B.C.E. pops up in almost all the layers through to the Ottoman era, which is spectacularly unhelpful. A Roman layer emerges superimposed above a (later) Byzantine layer, which isn’t supposed to happen: they're supposed to be the other way around.

A long and informative article.

Another recent article on the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem is noted here. For more on Nehemiah's wall, see here and links.

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

Hadrianic aqueduct arch collapses at Caesarea

DETERIORATION: Ancient Aqueduct Arch Collapsed on Caesarea’s Beach (David Israel, Jewish Press).
“Luckily, no bathers were killed here,” said a frustrated Eli Escozido, the IAA director. “We have been warning, presented documents and plans, pointed out that the situation is catastrophic and there is a real fear of collapse, met repeatedly met with the owners of the land, even offered to finance some of the work with the understanding that it is simply a disaster waiting to happen. I believe that now we will finally find a listening ear.”
The IAA is warning that the aqueduct to Acco could be next.

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

Amnon Ben-Tor, z'l'

SAD NEWS: Archaeologist and Israel Prize laureate Amnon Ben-Tor dies at 88 (Arutz Sheva).

I noted the awarding of the Israel Prize to Professor Ben-Tor in 2019. Not mentioned in the notice above, but he is also well known for taking over the efforts to recover the cuneiform archive at Hazor after the passing away of Yigael Yadin. See here and links for details. They are still looking for that archive.

On the Agade list, Jack Sasson has also noted his passing. Jack include a link to a long list of Professor Ben-Tor's publications and a link to a video interview about the Hazor excavation.

May his memory be for a blessing.

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

Tuesday, August 22, 2023

Megiddo mosaic: the IAA responds

ARCHAEOLOGY, EPIGRAPHY, DECORATIVE ART, POLITICS: Integrity of Megiddo mosaic the priority, Israel Antiquities Authority says. The State Department has declined to address the controversy around possible loan to D.C.'s Museum of the Bible (Menachem Wecker, Jewish News Syndicate).
“Leaving it in place would be irresponsible due to the large-scale mechanical earthworks that will demolish extensive parts of the prison buildings,” [IAA spokesman Yoli] Schwartz said. “The Israel Antiquities Authority will continue to invest efforts to make archaeology accessible to the public, and we are excited to present the Megiddo mosaic to the public worldwide.”
Background here.

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

Monday, August 21, 2023

Becking, Micah (AB Commentary)

NEW BOOK FROM YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS:
Micah
A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary

by Bob Becking

Series: The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries

304 Pages, 6.12 x 9.25 in

Hardcover
9780300159950
Published: Tuesday, 27 Jun 2023
$65.00

eBook
9780300160192
Published: Tuesday, 27 Jun 2023
$65.00

Description

A new translation and commentary on the biblical book of Micah that proposes a convincing new theory of its composition history

While the biblical book of Micah is most famous for its images of peace—swords forged into to plowshares, spears turned into pruning hooks—and its passages of prophetic hope, the book is largely composed of prophecies of ruin. The historical Micah, who likely lived in the late eighth century BCE, is the first recorded prophet to predict the fateful fall of Jerusalem, and he also foretells the destruction of the regions of Samaria and Judah, in addition to the more well-known promises of Judah’s eventual restoration.

Bob Becking translates the Hebrew text anew and illuminates the book’s most important elements, including its literary features, political context, and composition history. Drawing on ancient Near Eastern comparative evidence, archaeological notes, and inscriptions, Becking surveys the debates surrounding the book’s interpretation and argues that it be regarded as three separate source texts: the early first chapter; a large middle section containing a proto-apocalyptic, alternating prophetic futurology collected and molded by a later redactor; and an added section advocating for legal reform under Josiah.

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

Sunday, August 20, 2023

Where did forgers get their ancient blank papyus?

VARIANT READINGS: Notes on a Forger’s Methods (Brent Nongbri).
My attention was drawn especially to his [John de Monins Johnson's] account of the discovery of large amounts of blank papyrus in the rubbish mounds of Antinoopolis: “[Mound] N was remarkable throughout for what is often a feature of late mounds, the quantity of blank papyrus it provided. In this case sacks might have been filled.”
This PaleoJudaica post from some years ago seems relevant.

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

Saturday, August 19, 2023

Syriac PhD program at Turkish university

SYRIAC WATCH: Turkish uni to offer doctoral program in Syriac language (Daily Sabah).
Mardin Artuklu University (MAU) on Tuesday announced the launch of a doctoral program within the Syriac Language and Culture Department, part of the Institute of Living Languages.

[...]

This is good news! For more on the founding and development of the Syriac program at Mardin Artuklu University, see here, here, here, here, here, and here.

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

Friday, August 18, 2023

Review of The Rediscovery of Shenoute

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: The rediscovery of Shenoute: studies in honor of Stephen Emmel.
Anne Boud'hors, David Brakke, Andrew Crislip, Samuel Moawad, The rediscovery of Shenoute: studies in honor of Stephen Emmel. Orientalia Lovaniensia analecta, 310. Leuven; Paris; Bristol: Peeters, 2022. Pp. xxii, 546. ISBN 9789042948303

Review by
Ellen Muehlberger, University of Michigan. emuehlbe@umich.edu

[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review.]

Shenoute of Atripe was many things: leader of the White Monastery in Upper Egypt from about 385 C.E. until his death some time in the first part of the fifth century; the organizer of an extended group of Christian monastic communities for both men and women; a defender of orthodoxy who was not afraid to break a window or throw a punch; a preacher who indicted everyone from liars, adulterers, and demon worshippers to wage thieves and the merely half-hearted. What Shenoute has not been, though, is well-known to most modern scholars of the ancient world. He wrote in Coptic, a language that has not benefitted from being labeled one of the “classics”; instead of being transmitted and studied in an established discipline, Shenoute’s works, collected and edited at his own monastery, remained there for the most part until the great extractive force of the colonial antiquities market gave those pages value, and thus wings. ...

Some PaleoJudaica posts on Shenoute and the White Monastery are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Cross-file under Coptic Watch.

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

Review of Henze & Lincicum (eds.) Israel’s Scriptures in Early Christian Writings

READING ACTS: Matthias Henze and David Lincicum, eds. Israel’s Scriptures in Early Christian Writings (Phil Long).
Israel’s Scriptures in Early Christian Writings collects forty-two essays on topics related to how early Christian writers used the Jewish scripture they inherited. As Henze and Lincicum explain in their introduction, the Scriptures of Israel “forms the cultural encyclopedia necessary to understand what Jesus and his earliest followers did and thought” (1). Not only did the writers of the New Testament interact extensively with Israel Scriptures, they “inherited strategies of scriptural interpretation from their Jewish predecessors” (1). This volume, therefore, expresses the state of the question and presses the field forward into new avenues of scholarship. In doing so, they stand on the shoulders of Krister Stendahl (School of Matthew, 1968) and Richard Hays (Echoes of Scripture in Paul, 1989). However, even though the authors of the New Testament are either “Jews or Judaphiles,” not all New Testament scriptural interpretations are easily illustrated in Jewish literature, nor can all types of scriptural interpretation in contemporary Judaism be illustrated in the New Testament.

[...]

I noted the publication of the book here.

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

Thursday, August 17, 2023

Megiddo "Jesus" mosaic to be loaned to Museum of the Bible?

ARCHAEOLOGY, EPIGRAPHY, DECORATIVE ART, POLITICS: Israel may uproot ancient Christian mosaic, send it to US Evangelical museum. Megiddo Mosaic could be loaned to Museum of the Bible in Washington; some worry it will be used in ideological, rather than archaeological, context (Ilan Ben Zion, AP via Times of Israel).

For the Megiddo mosaics, including the one that refers to "the God Jesus Christ," see here and links. For more on the Museum of the Bible, follow the links from here, notably here.

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

Gold coins and baby sacrifices excavated at Carthage

PUNIC WATCH: Rare golden gifts — left at a sacrificial site 2,300 years ago — uncovered in Tunisia. (Aspen Pflughoeft; "Google Translate was used to translate the news release from Tunisia’s Ministry of Cultural Affairs and articles from RT and Shems FM").
Archaeologists excavating the tophet [at the site of Carthage] uncovered a collection of offerings, Tunisia’s Ministry of Cultural Affairs said in an Aug. 11 news release. They found five gold coins from 2,300 years ago, tombstones and several urns with the remains of animals, infants and premature babies.

The rare gold coins are about an inch in size and have a design showing the face of Tanit, an ancient goddess of fertility and motherhood, the Tunisian outlet Shems FM reported. Photos show a few of the still-shiny golden treasures.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on ancient Carthage, its history, and its archaeology, start here and follow the links. For a brief history, see here. Also see "Carthage" in the archive. For the gold coinage of Carthage, see here. For ancient Tunisian coinage more generally, see here and links. For the Punic (and Phoenician?) goddess Tanit (Tannit), the "Snake Lady," see here and links. For the issue of child sacrifice at Carthage, see here and links.

Cross-file unde Numismatics.

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

Wednesday, August 16, 2023

First-century CE synagogue excavated on the Cimmerian Bosporus

ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE: One of the World's Oldest Synagogues Has Just Been Discovered (Aristos Georgiou, Newsweek)
Archaeologists say they have discovered one of the world's earliest synagogues at the site of an ancient city.

A team of experts made the find during excavations at the archaeological site of Phanagoria, which is on the Taman Peninsula in southwestern Russia. The ancient settlement was founded by Greek settlers around the middle of the 6th century B.C. on the peninsula, which borders the Sea of Azov to the north and the Black Sea to the south.

[...]

Reportedly, two inscriptions identifying the building as a "house of worship" and "synagogue" date to the first century C.E.

For additional background, see Ruth Schuster's article in Haaretz: Synagogue From Late Second Temple Period Found by Black Sea in Russia. Identity of the house of worship from about 2,000 years ago confirmed by menorah engravings and inscriptions calling it a ‘synagogue’, Phanagoria excavation director Vladimir Kuznetsov explains.

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

Tuesday, August 15, 2023

Briquel Chatonnet & Debie, The Syriac World (Yale)

NEW BOOK FROM YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS:
The Syriac World
In Search of a Forgotten Christianity

by Francoise Briquel Chatonnet and Muriel Debie
Translated by Jeffrey Haines

304 Pages, 6.12 x 9.25 in, 68 b-w illus.

Hardcover
9780300253535
Published: Tuesday, 20 Jun 2023
$35.00

Description

A comprehensive survey of Syriac Christianity over three thousand years

Syriac is often referred to as the third main language of Christianity, along with Latin and Greek, and it remains a foundational classical, literary, and religious language throughout the world. Originating in Mesopotamia along the Roman and Parthian frontiers, it was never the language of a powerful state or ethnic group, but with the coming of Christianity it developed into a rich religious and cultural tradition. At the same time that Christianity was making its way through Europe, Syriac missionaries were founding churches from the Mediterranean coast to Persia, converting the Turkic tribes of Central Asia, and building communities in India and China.

This comprehensive work tells the underexplored story of the Syriac world over three thousand years, from its pre-Christian roots in the Aramaic tribes and the ancient Near East to its vibrant expressions in modern diaspora churches. Enhanced with images, songs, poems, and important primary texts, this book shows the importance of Syriac history, theology, and literature in the twenty-first century.

This is a translation of their 2017 French book.

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

Monday, August 14, 2023

The Ma'on synagogue mosaic

DECORATIVE ART: Ancient Ma'on synagogue in Israel's southern Negev features mosaic floor. Historic synagogue testifies to existence of Jewish community in the Christian town All Israel News). Nice photos.

I noted the 2009 discovery of the mosaic here. Another post on the site is here.

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

Sunday, August 13, 2023

More excavations at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE: Round-the-clock excavations at Church of Holy Sepulchre yield historical treasures. Continued work on a two-year, $11 million cooperative restoration project reveals fascinating details from centuries of patchwork building at one of Christianity’s holiest sites (MELANIE LIDMAN, Times of Israel).
The most recent excavation revealed more information about the early Christian layout of the Edicule, parts of which date to the 4th century. Under one of the floor slabs, archaeologists discovered a coin hoard that included coins minted up until the time of Roman Emperor Valens (364-378).

Other interesting discoveries include a fragment of wall cladding, or the exterior of the wall, from the main Edicule, covered with graffiti from the 18th century in various languages, including Greek, Latin and Armenian.

For some PaleoJudaica posts on the recent renovations and excavations in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Holy Sepulcher), see here, here, here, here, here, and here. And follow the many links for much more on the Church.

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

Saturday, August 12, 2023

Ritual baths in the Land of Israel

PURIFICATION ARCHITECTURE: Immerse yourself in the Holy Land’s history by visiting these ancient ritual baths. Essential to Jewish religious life, mikvehs can be found throughout Israel — and some tell captivating tales of life millennia ago (AVIVA AND SHMUEL BAR-AM, Times of Israel).
Mikvehs have been discovered in the desert, in the Galilee, under new houses in Jerusalem, at construction sites, and in partially restored ancient towns. The vast majority date back to the Second Temple period, with at least 50 ritual baths found adjacent to the Temple Mount.
A Travel survey of many of the Second Temple-era mikvehs uncovered in Israel.

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

Friday, August 11, 2023

Perseus publishes Philo

PERSEUS DIGITAL LIBRARY UPDATES: Philo of Alexandria, Translations, and Perseus the Next Thirty Years (Gregory Crane). HT Rogue Classicism.

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

Thursday, August 10, 2023

Essays on the Psalms of Solomon (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Essays on the Psalms of Solomon Its Cultural Background, Significance, and Interpretation. Edited by Kenneth Atkinson, Patrick Pouchelle, and Felix Albrecht. 2023. VII, 195 pages. Parabiblica 2. 119,00 € including VAT. cloth ISBN 978-3-16-162448-3.
Published in English.
The Psalms of Solomon, a collection of 18 Jewish psalms from the Second Temple period, have long been a fascinating topic for scholarship. In this volume, leading scholars from a range of disciplines offer new insights into the cultural background, literary form, theological themes, and reception history of the Psalms of Solomon. The essays address a range of topics, including the origin of the text in Palestinian Judaism, the temple in the Psalms of Solomon, and the question of its canonical status.

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

Wednesday, August 09, 2023

Rogan, Purity in the Gospel of John (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:
Purity in the Gospel of John

Early Jewish Tradition, Christology, and Ethics

Wil Rogan (Author)
Hardback
$115.00 $103.50

Ebook (PDF)
$103.50 $82.80

Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
$103.50 $82.80

Product details

Published Jul 13 2023
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 224
ISBN 9780567708663
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series The Library of New Testament Studies
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

Wil Rogan argues that, contrary to twentieth-century interpretation, the Fourth Gospel did not replace purity with faith in Jesus. Instead, as with other early Jewish writings, its discourse about purity functions as a way to make sense of life before God in the world. He suggests that John's Gospel employs biblical and early Jewish traditions of purity associated with divine revelation and Israel's restoration to narrate how God's people are prepared for the coming of Jesus and enabled by him to have life with God characterized by love.

After evaluating different theories of purity for the interpretation of the Fourth Gospel, Rogan explores John the Baptist as an agent of ritual purification, Jesus as the agent of moral purification, and the disciples of Jesus as ones who are (or are not) made morally pure by Jesus. While purity is not one of the Fourth Gospel's primary focuses, Rogan stresses that the concept figures into some of its most significant claims about Christology, the doctrine of salvation, and ethics. Through purity, the Fourth Gospel guards continuity with the past while placing surprising conditions on participation in Israel's future.

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Tuesday, August 08, 2023

Henze & Lincicum (eds.), Israel's Scriptures in Early Christian Writings (Eerdmans)

NEW BOOK FROM EERDMANS:
Israel's Scriptures in Early Christian Writings
The Use of the Old Testament in the New

Matthias Henze and David Lincicum, eds.

HARDCOVER; Published: 7/20/2023
ISBN: 978-0-8028-7444-3
Price: $ 79.99
1166 Pages
Trim Size, in inches: 6.125 x 9.25

DESCRIPTION

How did New Testament authors use Israel’s Scriptures?

Use, misuse, appropriation, citation, allusion, inspiration—how do we characterize the manifold images, paraphrases, and quotations of the Jewish Scriptures that pervade the New Testament? Over the past few decades, scholars have tackled the question with a variety of methodologies. New Testament authors were part of a broader landscape of Jewish readers interpreting Scripture. Recent studies have sought to understand the various compositional techniques of the early Christians who composed the New Testament in this context and on the authors’ own terms.

In this landmark collection of essays, Matthias Henze and David Lincicum marshal an international group of renowned scholars to analyze the New Testament, text-by-text, aiming to better understand what roles Israel’s Scriptures play therein. In addition to explicating each book, the essayists also cut across texts to chart the most important central concepts, such as the messiah, covenants, and the end times. Carefully constructed reception history of both testaments rounds out the volume.

Comprehensive and foundational, Israel’s Scriptures in Early Christian Writings will serve as an essential resource for biblical scholars for years to come.

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Monday, August 07, 2023

Ship-protection talisman found near Israeli beach

ANOTHER APOTROPAIC ARTIFACT: A rare 2,500-year-old marble disc, designed to protect ancient ships and ward off the evil eye discovered near Palmachim Beach ( Leman Altuntaş, Arkeonews).
The Israel Antiquities Authority announced from social media on July 18 that the object the lifeguard turned over was a 2,500-year-old, eye-shaped marble disc that was attached to ships to ward off the evil eye.

Experts say the relic, found during a dive by lifeguard David Shalom at the Yavne-Yam archaeological site near Palmachim Beach, dates back to the 5th to 4th centuries BC.

The Facebook announcement is here.

The object was found underwater. So much for ship protection.

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

Sunday, August 06, 2023

Rhetorical poetics of the Aramaic incantation bowls

THE AWOL BLOG: 'I Descended to the Depths of the Earth': A Rhetorical Poetics of the Jewish Babylonian Aramaic Incantation Bowls. A PhD dissertation by Daniel Waller at Gronigen University. Follow the link for details, description, and a link to the full text of the dissertation

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Saturday, August 05, 2023

Which Ten Commandments? And whose?

PROF. J. CORNELIS DE VOS: Adapting the Decalogue to Your Religion (TheTorah.com).
Jewish Greek philosophy, the New Testament, Christian theology, Samaritan law, Rabbinic Judaism, the Church Fathers—all shaped and interpreted the Decalogue to meet the needs of their community.

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

Friday, August 04, 2023

Demon-repellant magic mirror excavated at Usha?

APOTROPAIC ARTIFACT: Israeli High-schooler on Day Dig Finds Mirror Plaque Against Demons. The broken artifact found in northern Israel is missing its mirror, but it’s a type found from the Late Roman to the Islamic period (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).
The mirror itself is missing, but archaeologists believe that what emerged from the Israel Antiquities Authority dig may be a 1,500-year-old “mirror plaque” demon repellent dating to the late Roman or Byzantine period (from the fourth to the sixth century), the IAA announced on Thursday.

Theoretically, it could alternatively have served in catoptromancy – the Roman art of divination using mirrors – or had some other use. But use of mirrors to ward off demonic spirits was a practice in more than one religious circle in antiquity.

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

Thursday, August 03, 2023

Biblical Studies Carnival 208

READING ACTS: Biblical Studies Carnival 208 for June and July 2023. Phil Long has a consolidated carnival for the two months.

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

Wednesday, August 02, 2023

Tu B'Av 2023

THE FESTIVAL OF TU B'AV began yesterday evening at sundown. Best wishes to all those celebrating.

Tu B'Av (which just means the 15th day of the month of Av) is an ancient matchmaking festival. Its first mention is in the Mishnah (Ta’anit 4). It has been revived in recent years as a kind of Jewish Valentine's Day. For past posts on it, see here and links.

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

More on the Megiddo amphitheater

ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE: Archaeologists Find Roman Military Amphitheater in Israel, With Blood-red Walls. The Roman legion camp next door to Tell Megiddo was home to more than 5,000 soldiers. I'ts the only one known in the east of the Empire, and now Israeli archaeologists unveil the secrets of Legio, with the help of ground-penetrating radar (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).
In a sense, Legio – home to the Ironclads in the Jezreel Valley – didn’t have one amphitheater, it had two. The archaeologists excavating amid the chickpea fields of Kibbutz Megiddo have identified two phases of this monumental structure: a smaller, earlier phase and a later, expanded one. Situated to one side of the camp, it was clearly a ludus: a training ground for soldiers and/or gladiators to practice the arts of weaponry and armor, explains excavation leader Dr. Yotam Tepper. Maybe the troops were also treated to the odd Greek tragedy but that wasn’t the purpose, and we just note that this edifice was conveniently close to the camp cemetery.

The locations of excavations at Legio this year were no coincidence. The team co-directed by Tepper and archaeologist Dr. Matthew Adams, on behalf of the JVRP and the Albright Institute in Jerusalem with the support of the Israel Antiquities Authority and funding of American Archaeology Abroad, knew where hidden sites of interest were thanks to charting part of the Legio using ground-penetrating radar, flown over from Sweden.

I noted the excavation of this amphitheater here and here, labeling it "ghost architecture," because the stones used for it seemed mostly to have been looted. But it sounds as though they are recovering some of its architecture now. For more on the Legio VI Ferrata, see here.

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

Tuesday, August 01, 2023

Fiano, Three Powers in Heaven (Yale)

NEW BOOK FROM YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS:
Three Powers in Heaven
The Emergence of Theology and the Parting of the Ways

by Emanuel Fiano

Series: Synkrisis

440 Pages, 6.12 x 9.25 in

Hardcover
9780300263329
Published: Thursday, 1 Jun 2023
$85.00

eBook
9780300271393
Published: Tuesday, 20 Jun 2023
$85.00

Description

A fresh look at how Christianity and Judaism became two distinct religions through the parting of their intellectual traditions

How, when, and why did Christianity and Judaism diverge into separate religions? Emanuel Fiano reinterprets the parting of the ways between Jews and Christians as a split between two intellectual traditions, a split that emerged within the context of ancient debates about Jesus’s relationship to God and the world.

Fiano explores how Christianity moved away from Judaism through the development of new practices for religious inquiry. By demonstrating that the constitution of communal borders coincided with the elaboration of different methods for producing religious knowledge, the author shows that Christian theological controversies, often thought to teach us nothing beyond the history of dogma, can cast light on the broader religious landscape of late antiquity. Three Powers in Heaven thus marks not only a historical but also a methodological intervention in the study of the parting of the ways and in scholarship on ancient religion.

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Monday, July 31, 2023

Reinhartz Festschrift (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:
The Ties that Bind

Negotiating Relationships in Early Jewish and Christian Texts, Contexts, and Reception History

Esther Kobel (Anthology Editor), Meredith Warren (Anthology Editor), Jo-Ann A. Brant (Anthology Editor)

Hardback $115.00 $103.50

Ebook (PDF) $103.50 $82.80

Ebook (Epub & Mobi) $103.50 $82.80

Product details

Published Jul 13 2023
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 262
ISBN 9780567702586
Imprint T&T Clark
Illustrations 9 bw illus
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series The Library of New Testament Studies
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

Friendship and other intimate (but not always amicable) relationships have received some attention in the greater field of research on early Judaism and Christianity, though not as much as deserved. This volume celebrates and builds upon the life-long work of Adele Reinhartz, covering the various permutations of relationships that can be found in the Gospel of John, the wider corpus of early Jewish and Christian literature, and cinematic re-imaginings thereof.

While the issue of whether one can 'befriend' the Fourth Gospel in light of the book's legacy of antisemitism is central to many of the essays in this volume, others address other more or less likely friendships: Pilate, Paul, Lazarus, Judas, or Mary Magdalene. Likewise, the bonds between ancient texts and contemporary retellings of their stories feature prominently, with contributors asking what kinds of relationships filmmakers encourage their audiences to have with their subjects. This volume explores some of the rich variety of relationships in the ancient world, and unpacks the intricate and dynamic processes and interactions by which human relationships and societies are generated, maintained, and dissolved.

By the way, blogging may be light for a while. I'm fine, I'm just taking some time off. I'll try still to have something for you every day.

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

Sunday, July 30, 2023

Eskenazi, Ezra (AB Commentary)

NEW BOOK FROM YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS:
Ezra

A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary

by Tamara Cohn Eskenazi

Series: The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries

504 Pages, 6.12 x 9.25 in, 2 b-w illus.

Hardcover
9780300149692
Published: Tuesday, 11 Jul 2023
$85.00

eBook
9780300174625
Published: Tuesday, 11 Jul 2023
$85.00

Description

A new translation and commentary on the biblical book of Ezra by the renowned author of two award-winning biblical commentaries

The book of Ezra is a remarkable testament to a nation’s ability to survive and develop a distinctive identity under imperial rule. But Ezra is far more than a simple chronicle; it constitutes a new biblical model for political, religious, and social order in the Persian Empire.

In this new volume, Tamara Cohn Eskenazi illustrates how the book of Ezra envisions the radical transformation that followed reconstruction after the fall of Jerusalem and Judah. The extensive introduction highlights the book’s innovations, including its textualization of the tradition, as well as the unprecedented role of the people as chief protagonists. The translation and commentary incorporate evidence from ancient and contemporaneous primary sources from Egypt, Babylonia, Greece, and Persia, along with new archaeological studies of Judah. With great care and detail, Eskenazi demonstrates how the book of Ezra creates a blueprint for survival after destruction, shaping a new kind of society and forging a new communal identity.

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Saturday, July 29, 2023

Docherty & Smith (eds.), The Scriptures in the Book of Revelation and Apocalyptic Literature (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY (T&T CLARK):
The Scriptures in the Book of Revelation and Apocalyptic Literature
Essays in Honour of Steve Moyise

Susan Docherty (Anthology Editor), Steve Smith (Anthology Editor)

Hardback
$115.00 $103.50

Ebook (PDF)
$103.50 $82.80

Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
$103.50 $82.80

Product details

Published Jul 13 2023
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 272
ISBN 9780567695895
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series The Library of New Testament Studies
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

This volume addresses one of the key issues in the study of the Book of Revelation and the apocalyptic genre more broadly – the re-use within these texts of the Jewish Scriptures. A range of expert contributors analyse specific themes and passages, and also explore wider methodological questions, aiming particularly to engage with the ground-breaking work in this field of Steve Moyise.

Divided into three sections, the book first focuses on hermeneutical questions, such as the role of 'typology' in interpretation, and the relationship between the 'original meaning' of a scriptural text and the sense it acquires in a new literary context. In the following section, a series of chapters offers detailed exegetical engagement with the Book of Revelation. These probe the scriptural background of some of its major theological themes (e.g. time, sounds and silence) and significant passages (e.g. the Song of the Lamb and other hymns), and highlight fresh aspects of its reception by both ancient and modern audiences. The final section considers the place of scripture and its interpretation in a selection of other early Jewish and early Christian apocalyptic writings (including 1 Enoch, Paul's Letters and the First Apocryphal Apocalypse of John).

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

Friday, July 28, 2023

There was almost a third Temple?

BELATEDLY FOR TISHA B'AV: How the Jews almost built a Third Temple. Roman Emperor Julian, who rejected Christianity and possibly sought to oppose it, proposed the Jews rebuild the Temple, however, the construction was halted, and the dream was buried after an earthquake; Dr. Yonatan Moss explains why the Jewish canon almost completely disregards this chapter in history (Itzchak Tessler, Ynet News).

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

Nero's theatre found in Rome?

ARCHAEOLOGY: Ruins of ancient Roman emperor Nero's theater unearthed in 'exceptional' discovery in Rome. Archaeologists in Rome think they may have found Nero's theater during a hotel excavation (Jennifer Nalewicki, Live Science).
Archaeologists in Rome think they may have found the ruins of Nero's theater, a first-century imperial performance space that was widely described in ancient Roman texts but whose whereabouts had remained largely elusive.

The theater is named after Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, who served as Roman emperor from A.D. 54 to his death in 68. Officials are calling the discovery of the theater, located just east of Vatican City, "exceptional." It was likely where Nero rehearsed poetry and put on musical performances, according to ABC News.

[...]

For past posts on Nero, whom PaleoJudaica finds interesting for a number of reasons, start here and follow the links.

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

Thursday, July 27, 2023

Archaeomagnetic reconstruction of a fire in ancient Jerusalem

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: Examination of ancient pottery shards reveals how a building burned during siege of Jerusalem in 586 BCE (Bob Yirka, Phys.org).
The work involved analyzing shards of pottery collected from a dig site identified as the base of an ancient two-story building. Prior researchers had named it Building 100. The team followed procedures of modern fire marshals—they wanted to know where the fire started in the building and how it progressed. To find out, they studied magnetic signals hidden in the pottery shards.
The underlying article in the Journal of Archaeological Science (Volume 157, September 2023) is behind a subscription wall, but you can read excerpts at the link:
Destruction by fire: Reconstructing the evidence of the 586 BCE Babylonian destruction in a monumental building in Jerusalem

N. Shalom, Y. Vaknin, R. Shaar, E. Ben-Yosef, O. Lipschits, Y. Shalev, Y. Gadot, E. Boaretto

Abstract

Evidence of fire is one of the most important features for identifying and characterizing destruction events. Analysis of microscopic remains of fire has developed exceedingly in recent years, enabling archaeologists to examine new questions relating to the intensity of destruction events and to the circumstances of the creation of destruction layers. One of the most crucial events in the history of the Southern Levant is the Babylonian destruction of Judah and its capital Jerusalem in 586 BCE, which shaped the biblical narrative and theology for generations to come. Building 100 was an extraordinarily large and rich elite building, thoroughly destroyed during the Babylonian campaign. This paper presents a study of the destruction layer excavated within the rooms of the building. FTIR spectrometry and archaeomagnetic analysis were combined in the micro-archaeological study of the remains in order to create a detailed reconstruction of the destruction event. This reconstruction sheds new light on how the Babylonian destruction was manifested in reality in the elite buildings of Jerusalem.

UPDATE (28 July): Joseph Lauer points me to the full text of the article, posted at Academia.edu.

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

Mason, Jews and Christians in the Roman World (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:
Jews and Christians in the Roman World
From Historical Method to Cases

Series: Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity, Volume: 116

Author: Steve N Mason

Roman Judaea, Christian origins, and Roman-Judaean-Christian relations are flourishing fields of endless fascination. Amid the flurry of new research, however, which uses ever new methods in the humanities and social sciences, basic questions about what happened and how people then understood events are easily obscured. This book argues that a simple but consistent historical method can throw new light – and challenge entrenched views – on such familiar topics as Roman provincial governance, the Jewish War, Flavian politics, Judaea after King Herod, Jewish and Christian historiography, Pharisees and Essenes, John the Baptist, the apostle Paul, and Luke-Acts.

Prices from (excl. shipping): €190.00

Copyright Year: 2023

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-54596-0
Publication: 10 Jul 2023
EUR €190.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-54387-4
Publication: 13 Jul 2023
EUR €190.00

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

Wednesday, July 26, 2023

Tisha B'Av 2023

TISHA B'AV (THE NINTH OF AV) begins this evening at sundown. An easy fast to all those observing it.

The Ninth of Av is not specifically a biblical holy day. Rather, it commemorates a number of disasters that happened to the Jewish people, traditionally all on that same day of the year. These include the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple by the Babylonians, the destruction of the Herodian Temple by the Romans, and the fall of Betar during the Bar Kokhba revolt.

Last year's Tisha B'Av post is here, with links. Another recent post is here.

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

Half-shekel Great-Revolt coin found near Ein Gedi

NUMISMATICS: Half-shekel coin from revolt against Romans 2 millennia ago uncovered in desert cave. Hebrew coin minted by rebels as part of underground Jewish economy and used to pay tax at Temple in Jerusalem is discovered during six-year survey mapping area of Dead Sea Scrolls (Melanie Lidman, Times of Israel).
IAA inspectors discovered the coin in the area around the Ein Gedi oasis during an intensive survey of all of Israel’s caves in the Judean desert, in an attempt to discover and document archaeological finds before they are stolen by looters — especially additional Dead Sea Scrolls. Inspectors have spent the past six years canvassing the caves, both by foot and by rappelling down steep cliffs to reach caves tucked into the mountainside. The survey is a joint initiative from the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Ministry of Heritage, and the Civil Administration Archaeology Unit in Judea and Samaria.
Just in time for Tisha B'Av.

For more on half-shekel coins and their use for the annual Temple tax, start here and follow the links.

For more on Operation Scroll, see here and links.

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

Reconstructing ancient engraving techniques

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: Shining new light on ancient engraving techniques in Israel (unattributed, St Louis Jewish Light).
Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) have developed new 3-D software, called ArchCUT3-D, that they have used to extract and analyze engravings from ancient Israel and that could lead to a better understanding of the engravers’ background and skills.

[...]

The two engravings are from the late second millennium BCE at Timna Valley Park. The graffito, from the same area, is modern.

For much more on the Timna Valley excavation, especially its important organic remains, start here and follow the links.

The underlying open-access article is available from the journal Nature Humanities and Social Sciences Communications:

Recognizing technique variation in rock engravings: ArchCUT3-D for micromorphological analysis

Lena Dubinsky, Marcelo David & Leore Grosman
Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume 10, Article number: 316 (2023)

Abstract

Ancient rock engravings evoke the interest of archeologists and art historians as an important remnant of human cultures. Traditionally, engraved images are studied based on iconography, iconology, and stylistic characteristics, with little emphasis on execution technology. In contrast, the research method presented in this study strives to characterize the techniques adopted for making rock engravings in ancient times, with technological variations considered as indicators of the engraver’s production process. 3-D scans of two ancient engravings and contemporary graffiti were obtained from Site 25 in Timna Park, Southern Israel. The models were analyzed with ArchCUT3-D, a software specifically developed to precisely evaluate the 3-D micromorphological characteristics of the incisions making up the engraving. The software analyzes the surface micromorphology by extracting 3-D slices of the incisions using an accurate and repeatable method. Our results indicate that different incisions were executed by remarkably distinct techniques of stroking the rock surface with a sharp tool. The identification of discriminant characteristics enabled us to demonstrate the particularities of the engraving operations, such as ergonomic conditions and the level of consistency of the engraving gesture. ArchCUT3-D thus provides a computational method for incision technique recognition through micromorphology specifications, and the reconstruction of engraving gestures and individual production procedures.

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