Did Nadav and Avihu die of an incense overdose?

DR. SHEILA TULLER KEITER: The Cause of Nadav and Avihu’s Death: Incense Smoke? (TheTorah.com).

Immediately after the death of two of Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, YHWH warns Moses that priests are prohibited from consuming wine before serving in the Tabernacle. Is their mysterious death the result of some form of intoxication?

I would file the story of Nadav and Avihu (Nadab and Abihu) in Leviticus 10 as fiction. But it's fair to ask how the author intended the readers to think that they died. An overdose? Maybe.

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Who was Saint Salome?

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Saint Salome’s Resting Place? A Converted Cave Chapel in the Judean Foothills.

At the site of Horvat Qasra in the Judean foothills, between the fifth and the eighth centuries, Byzantine Christians frequented a small tomb chapel cut into the limestone hillside. Repurposing what was originally a multi-chambered Judean burial complex, these visitors converted the space into a memorial shrine dedicated to Saint Salome, a figure mentioned in the Gospels as one of Jesus’ disciples. On the interior walls, they carved prayers to “Holy” or “Lady” Salome, titles that implied her saintly status. But who was Saint Salome, and how did this site come to be associated with her?

[...]

This is a rare case where the full Biblical Archaeology Review article (Spring 2024 issue) is also available for free online:

Joan E. Taylor and Boaz Zissu, The Cave of Salome—Tomb of Jesus’s Disciple?.

Unfortunately, we likely will never know the true identity of the first-century Jewish woman whose name and remains were commemorated at Horvat Qasra. She could possibly have been Salome, the disciple of Jesus, but it’s also possible she was another Salome who, like many wealthy Jewish women of her day, was buried in a monumental cave tomb on the grounds of her family estate. But whoever this Salome was, archaeology shows she certainly had a remarkable afterlife.

The article fully surveys who the candidates are for the cave-tomb's occupant.

I noted the excavation of the cave last year.

Cross-file unde Speluncic Archaeology.

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The mocking Of Carabas revisited

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: The Mocking Of Carabas, And Of Christ (Philip Jenkins). The story of the mocking of Carabas, from Philo of Alexandria, is strikingly parallel to the account of the mocking of Jesus by the Roman soldiers. I noted the post some years ago, but Professor Jenkins has expanded and reposted it this week.

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High School student finds oil lamp at Late Roman fort

CERAMICS: Student discovers a unique 1,600-year-old oil lamp used by Roman soldiers. The lamp Yonatan found is identical to one discovered in the same place 90 years ago by the late Reform rabbi and archaeologist Dr. Nelson Gluec (Judy Siegel-Itzkovich, Jerusalem Post).

“We know that between the Nabataean-Roman town of Mamshit and the copper mines of Feinan (biblical Punon) in the Central Arava – not far from present-day Moshav ‘En Yahav, a trade route was in use in the 4th-6th centuries CE. In order to secure the shipments of copper and possibly even gold from the mines, a series of forts were built between the head of the Scorpions Ascent and Mezad Hazeva, and Mezad Tsafir [where the lamp was found] was one of these. Mounted patrols guarded the important road. It is easy to imagine the lamp lighting up the darkness in the lonely, isolated fort manned by Roman soldiers, said Erickson-Gini.

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The Online Corpus of the Inscriptions of Ancient North Arabia

DATABASE: OCIANA: ancient North Arabian inscriptions gathered in online corpus (Saeb Rawashdeh, Jordan Times).

The vast majority of the inscriptions in OCIANA are, and will continue to be, in the Ancient North Arabian [ANA] scripts, it will also contain the texts in Akkadian, Old Aramaic, Imperial Aramaic, local forms of the Aramaic script, Nabataean, Palmyrene, Greek and Latin that have been found in Arabia, north of Yemen, noted [Michael] Macdonald, adding that the ANA scripts are varieties of the “South Semitic script-family”, which is separated from the North-West Semitic (Phoenico-Aramaic) branch shortly after the invention of the alphabet, and developed in parallel to it.

I noted the database with reference to the Old North Arabian dialect called Safaitic. The link there is now dead, but you can find OCIANA here.

Cross-file under Aramaic Watch.

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Another $7M ruling for Hobby Lobby against Obbink

THE ETC BLOG: Court Rules that Obbink Owes Hobby Lobby $7m (Peter Gurry).

The news is out that the civil case between Hobby Lobby and Dirk Obbink has been decided. The ruling is a “default judgment” in favor of Hobby Lobby for an incredible $7,085,100 plus interest. (A default judgment means that the defendant never showed up to court.) Keep in mind, this is a civil case not a criminal case. ...

There was already a default judgment for $7 million against Obbink from a New York federal court back in 2021. I noted a Christianity Today article giving details here. This post also has links to earlier posts on the Oxford missing-papyri scandal.

For some reason I don't understand, the case was moved to an Oklahoma court. It just issued this ruling. Peter Gurry links to a post at the Art Crime Blog by Lynda Albertson which gives details on it, but does not refer, as far as I can tell, to the 2021 ruling.

I am not a lawyer and, as I said, I don't understand what is happening. But now you know as much as I do.

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Review of MacDonald, The Making of the Tabernacle and the Construction of Priestly Hegemony

THE BIBLE REVIEW BLOG: Review: “The Making of the Tabernacle and the Construction of Priestly Hegemony” by Nathan MacDonald (William Brown).

Nathan MacDonald. The Making of the Tabernacle and the Construction of Priestly Hegemony. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023.

In The Making of the Tabernacle and the Construction of Priestly Hegemony, Nathan MacDonald examines how the Pentateuch, especially the Priestly material, evinces a social hierarchy. In particular, he shows how different textual layers and connections evince that scribes carefully negotiated priestly power and authority through key Pentateuchal portions. ...

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Jester Bes vessel recycled for Purim

YET ANOTHER PURIM-RELATED STORY: In honor of Purim, Israel Antiquities Authority unveils Persian-era find. The fragment bears a human face and was discovered in 2019 (Israel HaYom).

The artifact was unearthed during archaeological excavations carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority in collaboration with Tel-Aviv University at the Givaty Parking Lot site, located in the historic City of David, Jerusalem. The jar, embellished with exaggerated facial features including two large, wide-open eyes, a nose, one ear, and a fragment of the mouth, presents a unique find from this era.

The discovery of the fragment, which bears the face of the Egyptian god Bes, was reported in 2019. I noted it here.

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West Bank Second Temple Jewish site made into a parking lot

APPREHENDED: Palestinians demolish Jewish archaeological site in West Bank. Aerial footage shows how Palestinians turn remains of Second Temple Jewish settlement into a parking lot; Israeli authorities arrest perpetrators (Elisha Ben Kimon, Ynet News).

Dozens of Palestinians vandalized the archaeological site of Umm ar-Rihan, a historic site from the Second Temple period, located on state land in Area C of the West Bank. The Palestinians completely flattened the archaeological site and built a parking lot on top of it.

[...]

HT the Bible Places Blog.

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New books on the Achaemenid Empire

INDIRECTLY PURIM-RELATED FROM BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA:

The Old Persian Inscriptions. Notice of a New Book: Schmitt, Rüdiger. 2023. Die altpersischen Inschriften der Achaimeniden: Editio minor mit deutscher Übersetzung. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag.

Architecture and Archaeology of the Achaemenid Empire. Notice of a New Book: Dan, Roberto. 2024. Studies on the Architecture and Archaeology of the Achaemenid Empire. Dynamics of Interaction and Transmission Between Center and Periphery. Roma: ISMEO – The International Association for Mediterranean and Oriental Studies.

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How many Achaemenid Persian kings according to the Bible?

BELATEDLY FOR PURIM: Persia’s Achaemenid Dynasty—If You Read the Bible Without History (Dr. Rabbi Zev Farber, TheTorah.com).

Ezra-Nehemiah mentions only four of the twelve kings who ruled the Persian empire: Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes, and Artaxerxes. The book of Daniel also speaks of four Persian kings, and adds a fictional Darius the Mede as their precursor. Historically, the Achaemenid period lasted 220 years, but using only the kings mentioned in the Bible, rabbinic texts reconstruct a 52-year Persian period.

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Purim-related

BELATEDLY FOR PURIM:

How the Bible – and the Purim story – helped form a nation from an exiled people. In his bestseller ‘Why the Bible Began,’ theology Prof. Jacob L. Wright challenges conventional thought on the holy book’s history, positing that it was not all about religion (RICH TENORIO, Times of Israel).

This article is mostly a review of Prof. Wright's book (on which see further here and here). But it also does touch on the Esther story.

Israel or Iran? The quest after Esther and Mordechai's final resting place. The Bible doesn't specify the final resting places of the Purim Megillah's protagonists, but conflicting Jewish traditions emerge: one asserts that their tombs are located in Iran, while another steadfastly maintains they are in Israel (Yogev Israely, Ynet News). Perhaps the key point in the article:

"Since no documentation of the Purim story exists in other sources and the story resembles other regional myths, Mordecai and Esther aren’t considered historical figures, so this debate is entirely theoretical," she notes. "But assuming the event did take place, it’s more logical they died in the summer and were buried near Ecbatana."

For lots more on the traditional Tomb of Esther and Mordechai in Hamadan, Iran, start here and follow the links. The site has been subjected to vandalism and various kinds of protests. This year is no exception.

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Harris, Holy War Discourses in 1QM and John's Apocalypse (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: David Chapman Harris. Holy War Discourses in 1QM and John's Apocalypse. A Comparative Study. 2024. XI, 248 pages. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe 604 94,00 € including VAT. sewn paper ISBN 978-3-16-162428-5.

Published in English.
In this study, David Chapman Harris compares the Qumran War Scroll with John's Apocalypse through the lens of the literary and ideological theme of Holy War. Using sound literary analysis, close exegetical readings and comparison, historical analysis, and hypothetical reconstruction, the author justifies reading Revelation as a War Scroll, providing grounding to an ongoing debate. He argues that Revelation's Christological dimension has a distinctive impact on Holy War discourse, inflicting the martyr theology of Revelation.

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