Kazen & Roitto, Revenge, Compensation, and Forgiveness in the Ancient World (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Thomas Kazen / Rikard Roitto. Revenge, Compensation, and Forgiveness in the Ancient World. A Comparative Study of Interpersonal Infringement and Moral Repair. 2024. XIV, 542 pages. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 515 164,00 € including VAT. cloth ISBN 978-3-16-162465-0.

Published in English.
Handling moral infringement is complicated and this was as true in antiquity as it is today. Should one retaliate, demand compensation, be merciful, ignore the infringement, or forgive? Thomas Kazen and Rikard Roitto compare how Greeks, Romans, Jews, and Christians in antiquity navigated different ideas, practices, and rituals for moral repair. How did they think about morality and did this affect ideas about moral repair? What practices of moral repair did they use, within and beyond the court? In what different ways did they involve the gods in interpersonal conflicts through ritual? Insights from contemporary research on human behaviour guide the comparative work, since, as the authors argue, human moral behaviour and cognition is the result of both innate and cultural factors.

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Nongbri on recent Coptic codicological matters

OVER AT THE VARIANT READINGS BLOG, Brent Nongbri has a couple of technical posts on the codicology of two Coptic biblical manuscripts:

The Crosby-Schøyen Codex, the Length of kollēmata, and Dates of Codices.

The main takeaway is that the length of the individual papyrus sheets (the kollēmata) in the Crosby-Schøyen Codex may be evidence that it was written no earlier than the fourth century CE. That would fit with the likeliest range of C-14 dating. For more on this codex, which goes up for auction next month, see here and here.

Hugo Ibscher and the Cover of the Berlin Akhmimic Proverbs Codex

For me as a non-codicologist, the most interesting takeaway from Brent's posts on this codex (another was noted here) is the fact that we have a late-antique manuscript of an Akhmimic translation of Proverbs. It's good to know these things.

Cross-file under Coptic Watch.

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Review of Lafontaine, Hellénisme et prophétie. Les Oracles sibyllins juifs et chrétiens

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Hellénisme et prophétie. Les Oracles sibyllins juifs et chrétiens.

Xavier Lafontaine, Hellénisme et prophétie. Les Oracles sibyllins juifs et chrétiens. Semitica & classica supplementa, 4. Turnhout: Brepols, 2023. Pp. 368. ISBN 9782503607962.

Review by
Oliver Parkes, King’s College, Cambridge. ojhp2@cam.ac.uk

... Lafontaine’s new monograph is the first recent book to treat the whole corpus, and aims to contribute to these wider discussions. Despite the book’s general title, he focuses on the Oracles’ re-writing of scripture, paying particular attention to how this re-writing interweaves ‘allusions’ to Greek literature. Whilst Lafontaine’s ambitious scope should be commended, along with some of his more focused discussions, the monograph is flawed both methodologically and on matters of detail.

[...]

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Salemi, A Linguistic-Theological Exegesis of Ezekiel as Môphēt (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

A Linguistic-Theological Exegesis of Ezekiel as Môphēt

“I have made you a sign” (Ezekiel 12:6)

Series: Studia Semitica Neerlandica, Volume: 76

Author: Stefano Salemi

Delve into Ezekiel’s tumultuous world, discovering his role as YHWH’s מוֹפֵת, a unique ‘sign’, among many others, and a divine communicator. Does the Exile’s trauma find an ‘ameliorating’ perspective through Ezekiel’s symbolic actions and identity? From temple absence to YHWH’s ‘glory’ departure, from loss and prohibited grief to intermittent mutism, is Ezekiel a response to a communication crisis between YHWH and Israel? Uncover how מוֹפֵת’s elusive meaning sheds light on Ezekiel’s role as an ‘embodiment’ of YHWH’s presence, a bridge in YHWH’s intricate relationship with Israel. Through meticulous exegesis and linguistic-theological analysis, you will experience afresh Ezekiel’s narrative and theology.

Copyright Year: 2024
E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-69122-3
Publication: 25 Mar 2024 EUR €95.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-69102-5
Publication: 26 Mar 2024
EUR €95.00

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News on the Beth Shemesh alphabetic cuneiform tablet

NORTHWEST SEMITIC EPIGRAPHY: Enigmatic Canaanite Tablet Turns Out to Be School Exercise, Israeli Researchers Say. Inscription found nearly a century ago in Beth Shemesh was a sequence of letters copied by a budding scribe, and reveals existence of a school there nearly 3,500 years ago (Ariel David, Haaretz).

This research has extracted some important new data from the enigmatic Beth Shemesh (Beit Shemesh) alphabetic cuneiform text, including (not mentioned in the headline above) information on the order of the alphabet in late second millennium Canaanite. Such inscriptions are very rare outside the site of Ugarit.

For more on the Halaḥam ordering of the alphabet, see here.

The underlying article in Tel Aviv: Journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University 51, (2024): 3-17 is available for free online:

Archaeo-Material Study of the Cuneiform Tablet from Tel Beth-Shemesh
Cécile Fossé, Jonathan Yogev, José Mirão, Nicola Schiavon & Yuval Goren

Abstract

The Fifth Haverford excavation season at Tel Beth-Shemesh (Ain Shams) in 1933 revealed a fractured tablet bearing a cuneiform inscription dating to the Late Bronze Age. Considered to be the earliest alphabetic cuneiform text uncovered in the Canaanite arena outside of Ugarit, this tablet quickly became the focus of many studies. Later readings suggested that this was the earliest example of a South Semitic Alphabetical sequence. Through petrographic material analysis, the present study examines the possible location of production of the tablet and discusses the implications with regard to the object’s function and cultural context.

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Review of Vörös, Mount Machaerus

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Review: Mount Machaerus (Konstantinos Politis).

Mount Machaerus
An Introduction to the Historical, Archaeological, and Pilgrim Site Overlooking the Dead Sea in the Kingdom of Jordan
By Győző Vörös
(Amman: The American Center of Research, 2024), hard cover, 171 pp., 96 figures; free download available from the ACOR website.

Reviewed by Konstantinos Politis

With Mount Machaerus, Győző Vörös has authored an invaluable summary of his superb four-part publication series about the spectacular Herodian citadel that dramatically overlooks the eastern shore of the Dead Sea in Jordan.[i] It is written in an easily accessible style for students and visitors to appreciate the ancient site without compromising academic content. The colorful illustrations and architectural reconstructions are particularly useful in bringing to life a hitherto unknown but important palace of the early Roman period.

[...]

Follow the link for the free-download link. Cross-file under New Book.

For past PaleoJudaica posts on Győző Vörös's excavation of Machaerus (the reputed site of the execution of John the Baptist), see here and links.

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Satlow on astrology

MICHAEL L. SATLOW: The Business of Astrology.

The practice of astrology is, of course, ancient. So too is criticism of it. Like today, most politicians and intellectuals throughout antiquity thought astrology to be, at best, a dubious activity. At worst, it was a way to manipulate the masses to oppose the State. At the same time, these same intellectuals largely subscribed its basic tenets.

My new translation of Sefer HaRazim is forthcoming in MOTP 2. It should be out early in 2025.

It is also worth noting that there is a roughly Geonic tractate on astrology written in Hebrew: Baraita di-Mazzalot, "The External Tractate of the Constellations."

For more on astrology in ancient Judaism, see here and links (cf. here).

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More on new and old Plato traditions

ASSESSMENT: Ancient scroll reveals new story of Plato's death—here's why you should be suspicious of it (Bert van den Berg, The Conversation).

So how likely is Philodemus's particular story, for which we know of no other sources, to be true?

There are reasons to be suspicious. The death of ancient philosophers was meant to reflect their lives and teachings. If not, posterity was quite happy to invent an appropriate deathbed scene.

This article has good observations, some of which overlap with the ones I made here. I agree that the account of Plato's last night is likely apocryphal.

While we're on the subject of Plato, Roger Pearse has an excellent recent post on How did the works of Plato reach us? – The textual tradition of the dialogues.

Plato’s works have reached us in medieval handwritten copies, the earliest written around 900 AD. The dialogues are arranged into nine groups of four dialogues, or “tetralogies.”[1] These give us the works in complete form, from direct copying down the centuries. But there are also surviving fragments of ancient copies on papyrus, found in rubbish dumps in Egypt where the climate is dry, which sometimes give a better reading in this passage or that, where the text has become corrupt in the centuries. Plato also is quoted at great length by other ancient authors, and sometimes these also have readings to contribute. Finally there are ancient translations of Plato into other languages.

[...]

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Conference on Jewish and Christian Perspectives on the Encounter with God

AT ST VLADIMIR'S ORTHODOX THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: Third Annual Academic Symposium. “I Saw the Lord” (Isa 6.1): Entangled Jewish and Christian Perspectives on the Encounter with God.

Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) will hold its Third Annual Academic Symposium on November 13-15, 2024.

This year’s symposium, titled “I Saw the Lord (Isa 6.1): Entangled Jewish and Christian Perspectives on the Encounter with God,” gathers leading Orthodox Christian and Jewish scholars from around the world, who will reflect on the manner in which theophanic texts—biblical accounts of Divine Revelation to the patriarchs and prophets—have always been and remain foundational to their respective doctrinal and spiritual traditions. For more details, see the Vision Statement below.

[...]

The two keynote addresses will be available online.

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Elephantine exhibition

STAATLICHE MUSEEN ZU BERLIN: Elephantine: Island of the Millennia.

26.04.2024 to 27.10.2024
James-Simon-Galerie

The Nile Island Elephantine can be experienced through the special exhibition on the Museumsinsel, presented in the James-Simon-Galerie and in the Neues Museum. In this comprehensive, world-first exhibition, outstanding objects from Berlin’s collections will be shown alongside highlights from around the world. The diverse content of the texts will be contextualised with reference to archaeological finds and interpreted from a contemporary perspective, giving audiences a unique, first-hand experience of the island of Elephantine on the Museumsinsel Berlin.

[...]

There is also a documentary on the Elephantine Project:

HT Todd Bolen at the Bible Places Blog.

For many, many PaleoJudaica posts on the Elephantine Papyri and the site of Elephantine, see here and links, plus here.

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

On divorce documents

GENIZA FRAGMENT OF THE MONTH (APRIL 2024): Geṭ groundwork from the Cairo Genizah: practising writing a Jewish divorce document (T-S 10J2.34) (Marc Michaels).

This Geniza text is dated to 1492, but the essay covers geṭ conventions ranging from the Bar Kokhba Revolt era to the present.

For PaleoJudaica posts on marriage and divorce law in the Talmud (noting Daf Yomi essays by Adam Kirsch), follow the links from here. For divorce among the Elephantine Judeans, see the links collected here.

For PaleoJudaica posts noting Cairo Geniza Fragments of the Month in the Cambridge University Library's Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit, see the many links collected here.

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

On Coptic

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: What Is Coptic? The language of Christian Egypt (Marek Dospěl).

Another in the useful BHD introductory series on biblical and related languages. Earlier essays are collected here (biblical Hebrew, Aramaic, and biblical Greek) and here (Akkadian).

For more on the Coptic Dialects, see here. For more on the Mudil Coptic Psalter ("Pillow Psalter"), see here and link. For more on Shenoute and the White Monastery, see here and links. For many posts on the Coptic Gnostic Library from Nag Hammadi, see here and links. And for a great many additional posts on the Coptic language and Coptic literature, run "Coptic Watch" through the search engine.

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Lester, Deuteronomy and the Material Transmission of Tradition (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Deuteronomy and the Material Transmission of Tradition

Series:
Vetus Testamentum, Supplements, Volume: 198

Author: Mark Lester

Deuteronomy and the inscribed texts depicted within it are often called “books.” Moreover, its treatment of writing has earned it a prominent place in historical accounts of the religion of ancient Israel and Judah. Neither Deuteronomy nor its text-artifacts, however, are books in any conventional sense of the term. This interdisciplinary study reorients the analysis of Deuteronomic textuality around the materiality, visuality, and rhetoric of ancient rather than modern media. It argues that the Deuteronomic composition adapts the media aesthetics of ancient treaty tablets and monumental inscriptions to a story that is itself transformed into an artifact of the past.

Copyright Year: 2024

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-69185-8
Publication: 04 Mar 2024
EUR €116.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-69180-3
Publication: 28 Feb 2024
EUR €116.00

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