An AJR conversation on Tobolowsky's The Myth of the Twelve Tribes of Israel

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: AJR Conversations | The Myth of the Twelve Tribes of Israel (Andrew Tobolowsky and Jill Hicks-Keeton).

Actually though, Becoming Israel was my title for the book. The other was suggested by the marketing department, but I like it – among other things, it reminded me of Patrick Geary’s The Myth of Nations, which is also about how groups fashion identities from inherited traditions. Still, to me, “becoming Israel” is the heart of the book—the study of how and why so many groups were able to use the same tradition to construct different visions of Israelite identity and the Israelite past, or, to become Israel in different ways. My innovation here was to include biblical Israel alongside the others, which have historically been studied quite separately, and I did this for two reasons. ...

For more on the book, see here, here, and here.

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

That other ancient library of suppressed scriptures

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: How an Ancient Library of Suppressed Sacred Books Survived Through the Middle Ages. Philip Jenkins follow up his recent Gospel of Thomas post with a post on the arcane ancient Jewish (etc.) works preserved in Old Church Slavonic.

Here is a case in point. Around the eleventh century, in the Byzantine-ruled Balkans, some Christian school or church had a library. On its shelves stood a dazzling array of authentic ancient texts, mainly Jewish in origin, and some dating back to the time of the Second Temple. All those books were wildly heretical by the standards of pretty much any Christian church of the time, east or west, but also of contemporary Judaism. Had they attracted wider attention, bishops and rabbis would have had to toss a coin to decide who got to light the pyre on which they should be destroyed. Yet somebody in authority preserved those texts, and translated them to ensure their wider distribution. Were it not for those translations, every trace of those works would have been lost, to the point that we would never have suspected that any of them ever existed. This is one of the best examples I know of the overwhelming power of sheer chance in determining which books survived from antiquity.

I remain to be convinced that 2 Enoch is a first-century work or that we have any idea who wrote it. (See here for a survey of the issues.) But his point remains valid and important.

For more on Old Testament Pseudepigrapha preserved only in Slavonic, see here and here and links. (With apologies for the dead links.) An English translation of the Coptic fragments of 2 Enoch will be published in MOTP2.

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

Hebrew Bible job at Towson University

H-JUDAIC: FEATURED JOB: Assistant Professor of the Hebrew Bible, Towson University.

Position:

The College of Liberal Arts (CLA) invites applications for a tenure-track, 9-month Assistant Professor of the Hebrew Bible position as a joint appointment in the Departments of Philosophy & Religious Studies and History, beginning August 2024.

[...]

Follow the link for full further particulars. And note: "Review of applications will begin November 13, 2023 and will continue until the position is filled. Initial interviews will be conducted via Zoom meetings in November-December."

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

PSCO event in honor of Bob Kraft

FROM THE PHILDEPHIA SEMINAR ON CHRISTIAN ORIGINS LIST:

Dear PSCO community,

Please join us on October 27 to celebrate Bob Kraft. The memorial will take place at the Penn Museum, from 2pm to 5pm, followed by a reception. If you plan to attend, in-person or over Zoom, please RSVP: maevema@sas.upenn.edu.

Hoping to see many of you there,
Reyhan

Background here and links.

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

Malachi Beit-Arié 1937-2023

SAD NEWS: Passing of Prof. Malachi Beit-Arié (Shalom Berger, H-Judaic).

H-Judaic is greatly saddened to learn of the passing of Prof. Malachi Beit-Arié (1937-2023), Hebrew poet, pioneering scholar of Hebrew paleography and codicology [the study of codices], and former director of what is now known as the National Library of Israel (1979-1990). ...

May his memory be for a blessing.

PaleoJudaica posts on or involving Prof. Beit-Arié are here, here, and here.

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

Hazael's invasion and baked bricks at Gath

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: New Discovery Changes Story of King Hazael’s Attack on Biblical Gath. The Philistines of Gath were thought to be outliers in the Levant in building with Mesopotamia-style fired bricks. But what baked the bricks at Tell es-Safi wasn’t a kiln (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

So what have we? A technique that can help not only date ancient sites using the magnetic properties of clay pots and bricks, and that can detect the temperature of the heat they experienced, but which ended up changing the narrative of the ferocity of Hazael’s attack on Gath, based on the story of one house. A house that had been thought not to have burned inside, only on the roof, but it did. That house had been thought to have been, strangely, made of fired bricks, but wasn’t; and it didn't collapse over time but abruptly, in one terrible event that left scars in the collective memory:

“Then Hazael king of Aram went up, and fought against Gath” – 2 Kings 12:18.

A new application for archaeomagnetism technology.

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

The two creation accounts in Genesis

PROF. KONRAD SCHMID: Genesis’ Two Creation Accounts Compiled and Interpreted as One (TheTorah.com).

Already the editors of the Torah recognized the discrepancies between the two creation stories in Genesis 1 and 2–3 and made redactional alignments so the two stories would read better next to each other. Such awareness is also evident among the earliest interpreters of the Bible, including the book of Jubilees and the Septuagint.

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

The statements from ASOR, SBL, and EABS

RESPONSES FROM THE GUILD: Archaeological, Biblical Institutions Condemn Hamas Massacre. Following a week of complaints by Israeli archaeologists over their silence, the American Society for Overseas Research on Monday condemned Hamas’ ‘vicious massacre’ of Israeli civilians, while the Society of Biblical Literature cited concern over rising antisemitism in the world (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

I didn't receive the original SBL email and I only became aware of the complaints about it as they were resolved. I still see some criticisms on social media, but overall these statements are a good attempt to address this horrific situation.

James McGrath has thoughtful comments on the SBL statement here.

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

Barthélemy, The Precursors of Aquila (Brill)

NEWLY TRANSLATED BOOK FROM BRILL:

The Precursors of Aquila

The First Complete Publication of the Text of the Greek Minor Prophets Scroll (8ḤevXIIgr), Preceded by a Study of the Greek Translations and Recensions of the Bible Conducted in the First Century CE under the Influence of the Palestinian Rabbinate

Series: Vetus Testamentum, Supplements, Volume: 196

Author: Dominique Barthélemy Translator: Ron Bell

This ground-breaking study in Septuagint translation technique is, after sixty years, finally available to an English-speaking audience. Barthélemy provides us with a first look at the fragments of the Greek Minor Prophets Scroll from the Cave of Horror and embarks on a careful examination of this scroll’s place in the history of Septuagint translation and revision. He poses questions and answers that have yet to be fully explored. Devanciers d’Aquila is described as “epoch-making” (Robert Kraft—Gnomon), “a stimulating contribution” (Sidney Jellicoe—Journal of the American Oriental Society), and “a monograph of singular importance” (Geza Vermes–Journal of Semitic Studies).

Copyright Year: 2023
E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Not Yet Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-67844-6
Publication: 28 Sep 2023
EUR €130.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-54958-6
Publication: 07 Aug 2023
EUR €130.00

The Greek Minor Prophets Scroll was in the news in 2021, when (apparently) new fragments of it were discovered in the Cave of Horror. See here and here.

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

Review of Bloch, Ancient Jewish diaspora

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Ancient Jewish diaspora: essays on Hellenism.

René Bloch, Ancient Jewish diaspora: essays on Hellenism. Supplements to the Journal for the study of Judaism, 206. Boston; Leiden: Brill, 2022. Pp. xii, 373. ISBN 9789004521889

Review by
Jocelyn Burney, University of Missouri. jburney@missouri.edu

... The scope of the essays in this volume—ranging from close readings of Philo to the twenty-first–century misuse of a Roman bust of identified as Josephus—is a credit to the author. Bloch reminds us that the complex negotiation that defines life in diaspora continues to this day, making close study of ancient evidence and careful detangling of historiography equally critical.

I noted the publication of the book here.

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

Mysterious jars buried at Qumran

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Baffling Burials. The meaning of jar burials at Khirbet Qumran (Marek Dospěl).

At Khirbet Qumran, the ancient settlement associated with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, excavations uncovered a seemingly illogical couple of graves. Among ordinary graves that contained human burials belonging to many of Qumran’s ancient inhabitants, there were at least two with no human remains. Instead, these two graves, located just east of the main settlement, contained intact jars with date honey residue: five jars in one grave, and ten in the other.

[...]

This BHD essay summarizes a current-issue BAR article by Dennis Mizzi. The article itself is behind the subscription wall.

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

Baden & Stackert (eds.), The Pentateuch and Its Readers (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: The Pentateuch and Its Readers. Edited by Joel S. Baden and Jeffrey Stackert. 2023. VIII, 454 pages. Forschungen zum Alten Testament 170. 159,00 € including VAT. cloth ISBN 978-3-16-160820-9.

Published in English.
This volume celebrates the contribution of Baruch J. Schwartz to the field of biblical studies through essays that treat the major foci of his research. These include the Pentateuch and its composition; priesthood, cult, and Priestly texts; major religious ideas expressed in the Hebrew Bible; and the reception of biblical texts and ideas (especially those related to the Pentateuch). A special emphasis of the essays on Pentateuchal composition is the neo-documentarian approach that Schwartz has long championed and taught to his students.

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

Review of Van Maaren, The Boundaries of Jewishness in the Southern Levant 200 BCE–132 CE

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: The Boundaries of Jewishness in the Southern Levant 200 BCE–132 CE: Power, Strategies, and Ethnic Configurations (Joseph Scales).

Van Maaren, John. The Boundaries of Jewishness in the Southern Levant 200 BCE–132 CE: Power, Strategies, and Ethnic Configurations. SJ 118. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2022.

... Overall, this is an excellent volume which offers a robust overview of various strategies of group management, exercised through the deployment of ideologies that present views on ancient Jewish ethnicity, against a backdrop of political change in the southern Levant. The integration of Wimmer’s methodology is excellent and brings new insights to the material that otherwise may resist such a mapping into discourses on ethnicity.

I noted the publication of the book here.

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

The Sifting Project and Arabic

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT BLOG: REDUCING THE FUEL OF THE ‘AL-AQSA FLOOD’.

We are not trying to prove the existence of the Temple, or anything else. We are simply researchers with no agenda other than revealing the material culture of past generations. The fact that this was the site of the First and Second temples is beyond dispute among scholars. However, the very fact that we are researching hundreds of thousands of artifacts that pre-date the time of the founding of the Al-Aqsa mosque (the 8th century CE), attests that the site is not just important for Muslim heritage. The fact that we are also putting efforts in preserving and studying the Muslim finds, also attest that Israelis are respecting Muslim heritage and their connection to the site.

The research appearing in scientific journals eventually finds its way into publications for the general public as well. We at the TMSP have also made it our goal to release our discoveries directly to the general public, in our websites, social media, general media, and upcoming popular books.

But this is not enough, we also wish to do it in Arabic. In recent years, many Israeli books have been translated to Arabic and it appears that the Arab world (and especially the Palestinians) have a great thirst for translated Israeli publications.

This is now a funding goal at the TMSP support website.

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

Mitchell, Cyrus the Great (Routledge)

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: Cyrus the Great: A Biography of Kingship.

Mitchell, Lynette. 2023. Cyrus the Great: A Biography of Kingship. New York: Routledge.

Follow the link for description and link to publisher's page.

For another recent book on Cyrus the Great, see here and links. For many posts on the Cyrus Cylinder, start here and follow the links. For the tomb of Cyrus, see here and links.

Cross-file under New Book.

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

The Sword of Judith (OpenBook)

THE AWOL BLOG: The Sword of Judith: Judith Studies Across the Disciplines.

The Sword of Judith is the first multidisciplinary collection of essays to discuss representations of Judith throughout the centuries. Bringing together scholars from around the world, it transforms our understanding of Judith’s enduring story across a wide range of disciplines. The book includes sections on Judith in Christian, Jewish and secular textual traditions, as well as representations of Judith in art, music and theatre. The collection includes new archival source studies and the translation of unpublished manuscripts and texts previously unavailable in English.

The volume is open access.

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

Ross & Robar (eds.), Linguistic Theory and the Biblical Text (CUP/OpenBook)

WILLIAM A. ROSS: BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT: LINGUISTIC THEORY AND THE BIBLICAL TEXT (OPEN ACCESS).

It is my pleasure to announce a new book that is available as of today: Linguistic Theory and the Biblical Text, which has been published in the Cambridge Semitic Language and Cultures series with OpenBook Publishers in collaboration with the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge. It’s exciting to see this project come to fruition (more on that below), perhaps especially because we were able to arrange for open access to the volume. Yes, that means it’s free to download — that’s right, go ahead. (Or if you’d like, you can also order a hardcopy too.) ...

Read on and follow the link for more details.

Cross-file under New Book.

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