More on the Nabateans

NABATEAN (NABATAEAN) WATCH: Saeb Rawashdeh continues a series on the Nabateans at the Jordan Times:

Lasting Legacy of Nabataean Dushara: From Petra’s temples to all corners of Roman Empire

Assimilated with Zeus, Dushara was considered the supreme god of the Nabataeans.

From Madaba map to Saint Lot Monastery: Tracing Byzantine heritage, Nabataean influences. The vibrant Christian community continued to thrive during Umayyad dynasty

During an archaeological survey in 1986, the research team found remains of an ancient site near the spring Ain Abata, located in Ghor Safi. Very soon it was established that these ruins belonged to the Saint Lot monastery, near the biblical city of Zoara/Ghor Safi, since it shared the same geographic location as the church depicted on the 6th century AD mosaic floor map at Saint George Church of Madaba.

For PaleoJudaica posts on the Madaba Map see here and links plus here and links.

Epigraphic journey: Unveiling the enigmatic society of Ancient Nabataeans

I noted earlier articles in the series here and here.

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Evidence for a Byzantine church on the Temple Mount?

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT BLOG: UNIQUE WEIGHTS DISCOVERED IN TEMPLE MOUNT SOIL SUGGEST PRESENCE OF BYZANTINE CHURCH.

... Consequently, these weights add credence to the growing body of evidence showing that activity upon the Temple Mount during the Byzantine period was greater than previously assumed. The TMSP has unearthed a multitude of artifacts dating to the Byzantine era, such as pieces of Corinthian capitals, chancel screens, patterned floor (opus sectile) tiles, around half a million tesserae from mosaic floors and thousands of roof tile fragments, as well as numerous Byzantine pottery shards and coins. This abundance of Byzantine-period artifacts stands in contrast to a commonly held view that in the Byzantine era the Temple Mount was desolate and undeveloped, and together with the recently discovered weights suggest that there might even have been a Byzantine church upon the Temple Mount. ...

UPDATE (29 January): The story is now covered in the Times of Israel in an article by Gavriel Fiske: Tiny weights hint at pre-Muslim Christian presence on Temple Mount – archaeologists. Byzantine-era coin weights, newly discovered in debris from the Jerusalem holy site, are of a type used in 6th century church settings.

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Abracadabra again

ARAMAIC WATCH? Is Abracadabra a Jewish word? Widely believed to derive from Aramaic, the phrase appears nowhere in classical Jewish sources (unattributed, My Jewish Learning).

I agree that the case is circumstantial, but I think it is strong. Abracadabra looks like it is a mixed Aramaic and Aramaicized Hebrew phrase אברא כדברא, which would mean something like "I create according to the word" (perhaps meaning "I create as I speak"). The translation offered in the article looks a bit off.

For the philological specifics, see here. And for more posts on Abracadabra, follow the links from there and from here.

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Tu B'Shevat 2024

TU B'SHEVAT, the "New Year for Trees," begins this evening at sundown. Best wishes to all those celebrating.

Last year's Tu B'Shevat post is here, with links to earlier posts.

For biblical background, see here. The name "New Year for Trees" comes from Mishnah Rosh HaShanah 1.1. That passage gives two alternative dates for the celebration, one from Shammai and one from Hillel. Hillel's date (15 Shevat) is the one celebrated at present.

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BHD on Beth Shean

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: OnSite: Beth Shean. Exploring one of the best-preserved Roman cities in Israel (Nathan Steinmeyer).

Some PaleoJudiaca posts on Beth Shean are here, here, here and links, and here. Also, as Beit She'an/Scythopolis, here, here, and here.

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Review of Kugler, Resolving disputes in second century BCE Herakleopolis

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Resolving disputes in second century BCE Herakleopolis: a study in Jewish legal reasoning in Hellenistic Egypt.

Robert A. Kugler, Resolving disputes in second century BCE Herakleopolis: a study in Jewish legal reasoning in Hellenistic Egypt. Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism, 201. Leiden: Brill, 2022. Pp. xii, 274. ISBN 9789004505636

Review by
Patrick Sänger, University of Münster. saengerp@uni-muenster.de

... Kugler has undeniably achieved the goal he set out to accomplish with his study. He has unequivocally demonstrated that the petitions of P.Polit.Iud. suggest an awareness of Jewish legal thinking based on the Torah, that corresponding elements were utilized within the underlying argumentative strategy, that the legal reality reflected in the petitions was characterized by legal pluralism, and that the recourse to Jewish legal principles can be attributed to a certain pragmatism serving the purpose of substantiating and ultimately enforcing the petitioner’s position (p. 255). ...

I noted the publication of the book here.

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Serach the centenarian?

PROF. RABBI RACHEL ADELMAN: Serach, Jacob’s Immortal Granddaughter (TheTorah.com).

Serach, daughter of Asher, is mentioned by name twice in the Torah—in the list of Jacob’s descendants who go down to Egypt and in the census in Numbers—without any details about her life. As a reward for breaking the news to Jacob that Joseph is still alive, the Midrash grants her immortality, gives her a key role during the exodus, and identifies her as the wise woman during King David’s reign.

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Zoom event: What to Expect When You’re Expecting (in Ancient Judaism)

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON: What to Expect When You’re Expecting (in Ancient Judaism) Seminar (Professor Laura Quick).

Date: 20 February 2024
Venue: Online via Zoom

Event details

In this talk, we will explore ancient Jewish ideas about childbirth and childrearing, including sex, conception, and lactation. Using comparative evidence from the ancient eastern Mediterranean alongside close readings of biblical and ancient Jewish texts, we will consider what it meant to conceive, birth, and look after a baby, and in particular how gender figured into the embodied practices of childbirth and childrearing.

The event is free, but requires pr-registration at the link.

PaleoJudaica has notes some of Professor Quick's wide-ranging work here, here, here, and here.

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Review of Strong, The fables of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: The fables of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke: a new foundation for the study of parables.

Justin David Strong, The fables of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke: a new foundation for the study of parables. Studies in cultural contexts of the Bible, 5. Paderborn: Brill, 2021. Pp. xvii, 629. ISBN 9783506760654

Review by
Aaron T. Lockhart, Denver University, Iliff School of Theology. Aaron.Lockhart@du.edu

The fifth volume in Brill’s Studies in Cultural Contexts of the Bible series, Strong’s monograph on the fables of Jesus is a work whose value cannot be overstated. Adding to an already rich series, Strong’s volume engages in a literary and historical examination that bridges the chasm between parable and fable scholarship and brings the latter to the attention of those engaged in New Testament studies.

[...]

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'Atiqot 113 (2023) (open access)

A NEW ISSUE OF THE JOURNAL 'ATIQOT focuses on "the archaeology of purity." TOC:

• Front Matter & Editorial Atiqot 113
Keywords: Front Matter & Editorial

• A First-Century BCE Chalk-Vessel Assemblage from Har Ḥoma, Jerusalem, and the Beginning of the Chalk-Vessel Industry (pp. 1–27)
Dennis Mizzi, Ayala Zilberstein, Débora Sandhaus, Rina Avner and Shua Kisilevitz
Keywords: Chalk vessels, chalk-quarry workshops, Jewish ritual purity, late Second Temple period, Har Ḥoma, Jerusalem

• Ritual Purification and Bathing: The Location and Function of Siloam Pool and Solomon’s Pool in Second Temple Period Jerusalem (pp. 29–44)
Nahshon Szanton
Keywords: purification, bathing, First Wall, Silwan Pool, Siloam Pool, Birkat el-Ḥamra, Pool of Solomon, Tyropoeon Valley

• Jewish Pilgrimage, Temple Sacrifices and ‘Disposable’ Cooking Pots (pp. 45–58)
Omri Abadi
Keywords: Second Temple period, Jerusalem, pilgrimage, cooking-pot production, ritual purity, ceremonial feasting

• Late Roman–Byzantine-Period Ritual Baths at Ḥorbat Susya in Daroma (pp. 59–96)
Yuval Baruch and Ronny Reich
Keywords: purity, ritual bath, miqweh, Daroma, synagogue, Jewish village, Late Roman period, Byzantine period, priest, oil press, winepress

• Archaeology, Purity and Society: Some Methodological Reflections (pp. 97–113)
Eyal Regev
Keywords: Purity, ritual baths, stone vessels, social archaeology, ethnicity, individualism

• The Rise and Fall of ‘Purity Culture’ in the Land of Israel: A Historic Perspective (pp. 115–157)
Zeev Safrai
Keywords: Purity, social development, miqweh, priests, Rabbis, sages, sects

• Jewish Ritual Immersion in the Longue Durée: From Earliest Manifestations until Today (159–181)
Yonatan Adler
Keywords: Judaism, ritual purity, ritual immersion, ritual immersion pools, ritual baths

• A Second-Temple Period Chalk Quarry and Vessel- Production Cave Complex on Mount Scopus, Jerusalem (pp. 185–274)
Jon Seligman, David Amit and Irina Zilberbod
Keywords: Jewish, Halakha, purity, chalk vessel industry, workshop, quarry, technology, quantification

• The Pottery Assemblage from the Mount Scopus Chalk-Vessel Production Cave (pp. 275–286)
Débora Sandhaus
Keywords: Pottery, Roman period, Herodian period, between the Revolts

• Stratigraphic Setting and Lithology of Mount Scopus Chalk Quarry Cave (pp. 287–293)
Amos Frumkin and Ze’ev Lewy
Keywords: bedrock stratigraphy, lithology, depositional paleoenvironment

HT the Bible Places Blog.

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Judaism and the calendar

DR. SARIT KATTAN GRIBETZ: Whoever Controls the Calendar, Controls Judaism (TheTorah.com) [Link updated.].

Calendrical disputes, which recurred frequently in ancient and medieval Jewish communities, created alternative dates for festivals such as Yom Kippur and Passover. Here, we look at four disputes and the different ways that communities navigated them.

For more on the Jewish calendar and the Pesher to Habakkuk, see here.

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