Cover (ed.), Philo of Alexandria: On the Change of Names (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Philo of Alexandria: On the Change of Names

Introduction, Translation, and Commentary

Series: Philo of Alexandria Commentary Series, Volume: 8

Author: Michael Cover

In the treatise On the Change of Names (part of his magnum opus, the Allegorical Commentary), Philo of Alexandria brings his figurative exegesis of the Abraham cycle to its fruition. Taking a cue from Platonist interpreters of Homer’s Odyssey, Philo reads Moses’s story of Abraham as an account of the soul’s progress and perfection. Responding to contemporary critics, who mocked Genesis 17 as uninspired, Philo finds instead a hidden philosophical reflection on the ineffability of the transcendent God, the transformation of souls which recognize their mortal nothingness, the possibility of human faith enabled by peerless faithfulness of God, and the fruit of moral perfection: joy divine, prefigured in the birth of Isaac.

Copyright Year: 2025

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-68742-4
Publication: 15 Jan 2024
EUR €219.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-68743-1
Publication: 08 Feb 2024
EUR €219.00

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JOB: Regius Professor of Hebrew, Cambridge University

SENIOR ACADEMIC POSITION: The Regius Professorship of Hebrew

Regius Professorship of Hebrew, University of Cambridge, UK

The Board of Electors to the Regius Professorship of Hebrew invite applications from senior scholars with an established track record of research and leadership in Hebrew and Semitic Studies, to take up appointment in October 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Candidates will have an outstanding research record of international stature in the study of Hebrew and Semitic Studies and the vision and experience to maintain the reputation of FAMES as an international centre of excellence in Hebrew and Semitic Studies. Current strengths involve research on endangered Semitic languages and the Semitic languages as a group, the integration of Hebrew research and teaching on Classical, Medieval and Modern Hebrew Studies in a Middle Eastern context, the fostering of complementary but distinctive approaches to the posts in the Faculty of Divinity and the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit.

Standard professorial duties include undertaking and publishing original research, grant capture, mentoring post-doctoral researchers, instructing undergraduate and postgraduate students in the department's team-taught teaching programme on the Middle East and North Africa. The Professor will play a leadership role in the Department's Hebrew and Semitic Studies team and will fill administrative duties and faculty roles in the Faculty and accept appointment to University Committees.

The Professor will be based in Cambridge. A competitive salary will be offered.

Follow the link for detailed further particulars. The closing date is 11 November 2024.

HT the Agade List.

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International Catacomb Society Online Event (13 October)

H-JUDAIC: 10/13: International Catacomb Society Online Panel with Recent Shohet Grant Recipients.

Join us on Oct. 13 at 1pm ET for an online panel with recent recipients of the International Catacomb Society's Shohet Scholars Grant. Panelists will discuss the research projects that were supported by the ICS grant.

• J. Gregory Given (Harvard University), Open Letters: Ignatius of Antioch and the Reconstruction of Early Christianity
• Rebecca Harris (Messiah University), Living in the Liminal: The Present as a Place of Access in Qumran Literature
• Rachel Patt (Notre Dame University), Portraits and Pothos in the Premodern Mediterranean: A Work-In-Progress Update

Follow the link for more details and (free) registration information.

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Lichen is eating Persepolis!

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Archaeology’s Unexpected Enemy. The battle to save Persepolis from a tiny threat (Nathan Steinmeyer).

When thinking about threats to archaeological sites, some of the first things that come to mind are looters, war, or maybe earthquakes. What doesn’t come to mind is lichen. But that is exactly what poses an existential threat to the archaeological site of Persepolis, the ancient capital of the Persian Empire (c. 550–330 BCE).

[...]

For many PaleoJudaica posts on Persepolis, the ancient Achaemenid ceremonial capital city, see here and links. For more on the Behistun inscription, see the links collected here.

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

On the Amarna letters

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Missives to the Egyptian Court. The Canaanite Amarna Letters and the scribes who wrote them.

Ultimately, it is important to understand Canaano-Akkadian not as a language per se, but as “a scribal code that adapted cuneiform to the unique needs of Canaanite scribes.” This system was employed in various ways not by a single scribal community, but by individuals writing on behalf of rulers across Canaan. Thanks to the discovery of the Amarna Letters, we are able to study the writing practices of these scribes and learn about their vital role in Late Bronze Age diplomacy.

As usual, this BHD essay summarizes a BAR article (by Dr. Alice Mandell) which is behind the subscription wall. Dr Mandell is also giving an online lecture on the Amarna Letters this Saturday for BAS. For registration and payment information, see here.

As for the essay, Canaano-Akkadian is a funny hybrid language. But it's very useful for helping philologists understand what LBA Canaanite in Palestine and Lebanon was like. I suspect it was less useful as a diplomatic communication tool. I recall many years ago one of my teachers saying that he imagined the Egyptian courtiers rolling on the floor laughing as they heard the letters from the Canaanite kings read out. Hopefully they paraphrased for the Pharaoh's ears.

Some related PaleoJudaica posts are here, here, here, here, and here,

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

Brown Judaic Studies

THE AWOL BLOG: Open Access Monograph Series: Brown Judaic Studies.

Lots of great titles here, many open access. I noted this site several years ago, when last posted by AWOL. But there are more titles now.

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

Review of Kazen, "Dirt, Shame, Status"

READING ACTS: Thomas Kazen, Dirt, Shame, Status: Perspectives on Same-Sex Sexuality in the Bible and the Ancient World (Phil Long).

Conclusion. Kazen provides an excellent foundation for understanding what ancient Greek and Roman writers thought about homoerotic behavior as a background for reading Hellenistic Jewish writers (like the New Testament) in the correct context. Readers on either side of modern arguments may not appreciate the implication that these ancient texts do not (always) answer modern questions. No one, for example, considered gay marriage a possibility even if they regularly engaged in homoerotic behavior.

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

More on the MOTB's "oldest Jewish book"

EXHIBITION: Museum of the Bible unveils world’s ‘oldest Jewish book’ in new exhibit. The handwritten manuscript of prayers and poems dates back 1,300 years and originates with Jews who lived in a Buddhist civilization in what is now Afghanistan (Asaf Elia-Shalev, JTA).

Anchoring the scholarly discussion surrounding the book is a 2019 laboratory test that used carbon dating to estimate the book’s age at 1,300 years, astonishing researchers at the museum. Far more ancient written Hebrew texts had been discovered, but only on scrolls, most famously the roughly 2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls that are displayed prominently in Israel. The carbon dating indicated that this was the earliest intact Hebrew codex by more than a century.

The relationship of this codex to the "Hebrew siddur" codex first announced by the Museum of the Bible in 2013, is not addressed in this article either. I think they must be two different manuscripts: the Hebrew siddur was C-14 dated to the mid-ninth-century CE and its layout looks different from the one now on display. And other details vary. But it would be helpful if the Museum of the Bible, or somebody, would take up the question.

UPDATE AND CORRECTION (1 October): No, just one manuscript. See here.

Background here and links.

Also, the article mentions a book on the codex to be published by Brill. It is already listed on the Brill website:

The Afghan Liturgical Quire: Its Codicology, Texts and History

Series: Études sur le judaïsme médiéval

Volume Editor: Rahel Fronda

The Afghan Liturgical Quire: Its Codicology, Texts and History is a diplomatic edition that explores one manuscript’s material and textual evidence, as well as its history and wider cultural milieu. The volume not only includes essays by twelve world-leading scholars in their respective fields of study but also ample documentary material (photos, letters and reports). Scholars and professionals ranging from the fields of medieval manuscript studies to Jewish liturgy and history of Afghanistan to the fields of manuscript trade are among the possible audience.

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Not Yet Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-72106-7
Publication: 15 Apr 2025
EUR €150.00

Hardback
Availability: Not Yet Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-72105-0
Publication: 15 Apr 2025
EUR €150.00

Cross-file under Forthcoming Book.

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

Note on Galil, Mount Ebal Inscription

BOOK REVIEWLET at the Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project Official (and Unofficial) Weblog: Mount Ebal Inscription publication by Gershon Galil (Aren Maier). HT Todd Bolen at the Bible Places Blog.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on the Mount Ebal curse tablet/fishing weight, start here and follow the links. My own preliminary assessment of the evidence (I have not seen the book) is here. Like Aren Maier et al., I am unpersuaded that there is an inscription on the object.

Cross-file under New Book.

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Review of Brenk (ed. Lanzillotta), Plutarch on literature, Graeco-Roman religion, Jews and Christians

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Plutarch on literature, Graeco-Roman religion, Jews and Christians.

Frederick E. Brenk, Lautaro Roig Lanzillotta, Plutarch on literature, Graeco-Roman religion, Jews and Christians. Brill's Plutarch studies, 11. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2023. Pp. xxiv, 338. ISBN 9789004531956.

Review by
Inger N. I. Kuin, University of Virginia. ik6mg@virginia.edu

... Reading through the collection of articles from beginning to end once again brings home the inspiring, impressive, and exemplary nature of Brenk’s scholarship. Following his example means to always read Plutarch’s works as literature, with attention to plot, characterization, and rhetorical devices, and to fully understand the author as rooted in the highly complex religious and philosophical landscape of the Roman Empire of the first and second centuries CE.

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

Late-Antique Church of Saint Bacchus excavated in Israel

ARCHAEOLOGY: 1,400-Year-Old Byzantine Church Discovered in Israel. This ancient Byzantine church was dedicated to the Christian martyr Bacchus the Holy, according to archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). (Sci News).

The remains of the ancient Byzantine church were discovered at the archaeological site of Khirbet Tinshemet in the Shoham Community Forest, the central part of Israel.

[...]

With interesting iconographic and epigraphic material, as well as Byzantine coins. The church had a depiction of the Greek goddess of fortune, Tyche, at its entrance, but also a Christian dedication in its main hall. Bacchus is a suprising name (at least to me) for a Christian martyr.

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

Nessana in the Negev

ARCHAEOLOGY: A Large Byzantine Pilgrimage Hostel Complex Found in the Ancient City of Nessana in the Negev Desert (Guillermo Carvajal, LBV).

A team of researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev is conducting excavations at the Nessana site, located in the southwestern Negev desert on the border between Israel and Egypt. This settlement, which reached its peak during the Byzantine and early Islamic periods (6th-7th centuries AD), has become a focal point for archaeologists seeking to unravel the mysteries of the material culture of pilgrimages in late antiquity.

[...]

The underlying article by the excavator, just published in Antiquity, is open access through Cambridge Core:

Excavating ancient pilgrimage at Nessana, Negev
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 September 2024

Yana Tchekhanovets

Type
Project Gallery Information
Antiquity , First View , pp. 1 - 7 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.132

Abstract

The ancient site of Nessana in the south-western Negev had an important role in the logistics of early-Christian pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The arid climate, which preserved organic material, and the richness of multilingual epigraphic evidence from this region make Nessana a key site for archaeological study of the material culture of pilgrimage.

For more on Nessana, see here (cf. here).

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AJR reviews Walsh, The Origins of Early Christian Literature

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: The Origins of Early Christian Literature: Contextualizing the New Testament within Greco-Roman Literary Culture (Tyler Blaine Wilson).

Robyn Faith Walsh, The Origins of Early Christian Literature: Contextualizing the New Testament within Greco-Roman Literary Culture (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021).

Walsh argues that the Synoptic Gospels are not primarily religious texts, but literary works created by “elite cultural producers” (p. 110), Greco-Roman authors who had an interest in Judaean culture and religious motifs, but who may not have understood themselves as belonging to a Christian community.

I noted the publication of the book here and another review of it here.

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

Hendel, Genesis 1-11 (AB Commentary)

NEW BOOK FROM YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

Genesis 1-11
A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary

by Ronald Hendel

Series: The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries

488 Pages, 6.12 x 9.25 in, 13 b-w illus.

Hardcover
9780300149739
Published: Tuesday, 3 Sep 2024
$85.00

eBook
9780300175363
Published: Tuesday, 3 Sep 2024
$85.00

The first volume of a groundbreaking two-part commentary on the book of Genesis by leading biblical scholar Ronald Hendel

The first eleven chapters of Genesis narrate the origin of the universe; the creation of the first human beings; the beginnings of moral reasoning, society, and culture; and the cataclysmic global flood. By showing how life and civilization came into being, Genesis 1–11 offers a richly drawn map for understanding the world as a meaningful cosmos and an ethical guide for human purpose and responsibility within it.

The culmination of over thirty years of research, this long-awaited study by leading Genesis scholar Ronald Hendel is the first comprehensive scholarly commentary on Genesis 1–11 in a generation. Drawing on archaeological discoveries from Israel and the ancient Near East as well as contemporary methods of scholarship, it presents a multilayered view of the classic text. The extensive introduction, notes, and comments explore ancient textual versions and editions, historical contexts, literary style and design, compositional history, cosmology, ethics, and the book’s interpretive life in Judaism and Christianity. Featuring numerous illustrations, this engagingly written commentary is an indispensable, field-defining guide to the first eleven chapters of the Bible.

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

On the Gospel of the Lots of Mary

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: The Gospel of the Lots of Mary. Previously unknown 1,500-year-old ‘gospel’ contains oracles ( Robin Ngo).

I've posted before on the Gospel of the Lots of Mary, but not recently. Although it titles itself as a "gospel," it is actually a late-antique "sortilege" work, which uses Bible verses and passages as divinatory oracles.

Previous posts on it are here, here, and here. Note also here and here.

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

The future of Palmyra's Temple of Bel

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY: What is the Future of the Temple of Bel in Palmyra? (Maamoun Abdulkarim and Jacques Seigne).

Should we leave it in its current state, as a witness to the tragic events experienced by Palmyra and the Middle East at the beginning of the 21st century? The authors answer an emphatic “no,” and for two reasons. First, we have a duty to secure the upstanding remains of the monument, ensuring that the damage wrought by the explosion does not lead to further collapse. We need to make sure these surviving remnants are safe and secure. Second, we also need to record, gather, and conserve the fragments of the temple that were scattered by the blast. The risk of not doing so is to lose those pieces to robbery, to natural processes of erosion, or to unwitting damage.

Cross-file under Palmyra Watch. For many PaleoJudaica posts on the ancient metropolis of Palmyra, its history and archaeology, the Aramaic dialect once spoken there (Palmyrene), and the city's tragic reversals of fortune, now trending for the better, follow the links collected here. For posts on the Temple of Bel in particular, see here, here, here, and here (sort of).

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

Heine, The Philocalia of Origen (OUP)

NEW BOOK FROM OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS:

The Philocalia of Origen

A New Translation with Annotations

Edited by Ronald E. Heine

Oxford Early Christian Texts

£160.00

Hardback
Published: 30 August 2024
432 Pages
234x156mm
ISBN: 9780198893219

Also Available As:
Ebook

Description

Origen was one of the great thinkers of the third-century Church and the most influential of the Greek Church Fathers. He created significant interpretations of Scripture throughout his life. The Philocalia of Origen is a collection of texts excerpted from Origen's numerous works. It was created sometime in the fourth century, perhaps by Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nazianzus. It is of special interest to scholars of Origen because it contains several excerpts from works that are no longer extant, or from works now otherwise found only in Latin translations prepared in the fourth century or later from the original Greek.

Yet the Philocalia is also essential to those beginning their studies in Origen; it consists of short extracts from a wide range of his writings—homilies, commentaries, a theological treatise, apologetics—which cover some of the most important subjects he discussed. Many of the annotations in this edition aim to introduce and contextualize Origen to readers previously unacquainted with his works.

The Greek text of the Philocalia was first edited for an English audience in 1893 by J. Armitage Robinson. This text, with some minor improvements, is the Greek text presented in this edition and translated on the facing pages.

For more on Origen of Caesarea and why he is of interest to PaleoJudaica, see here, here, and here.

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