Ten Commandments Scroll coming to Reagan Library exhibition

SCROLL ROTATION: Ten Commandments Scroll To Be Featured At The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library (Reagan Foundation press release).

SIMI VALLEY, CA. – The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute will introduce the Ten Commandments Scroll from the Dead Sea Scrolls to its exhibit, “Dead Sea Scrolls: The Exhibition.” This new addition offers visitors a rare opportunity to explore one of the most significant texts in religious history. The Ten Commandments Scroll will be on display from April 11 to 24, 2025, with a media day to witness the installation on April 10.

Never before toured in California and not seen in the U.S. since 2013, the Ten Commandments Scroll will be on exclusive display at the Reagan Library, the only stop on this tour to feature them. The Scroll, known as 4Q41, was discovered in 1952 in Qumran Cave 4 and contains Deuteronomy 8:5–10 and Deuteronomy 5:1–6:1. It is believed to be the oldest existing copy of the Ten Commandments and is permitted for display only two weeks every two years.

[...]

I noted in February that new scrolls were coming to the Reagan Library exhibition. But at the time I didn't know which ones they would be.

4Q41 (also known as 4QDeutⁿ or the "All Souls Deuteronomy" manuscript) was published by my good friend and fellow doctoral student Sidnie White Crawford in her Harvard PhD thesis and then in DJD 14 (1995). It contains selections from Deuteronomy, one of which is the Decalogue.

The last I heard of this scroll, it was on display in Israel in 2015. See my comments at the link qualifying the claim that it is the oldest copy of the Ten Commandments. For more on the 2011-13 exhibition in the USA, see here and links.

For more on the current Reagan Library exhibition, see here and links.

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Biblical Studies Carnival 226

ZWINGLIUS REDIVIVUS: The March Carnival: A Special Edition- Agade (Jim West).

Some of you are familiar with Jack Sasson’s brilliant email list called Agade. ...

This month’s carnival is in honor of Jack’s astonishing work on his list, his lifetime of amazing scholarship, and his collegiality and friendship over many years. The carnival is organized according to Jack’s email list categories. He sent out a LOT more links and such but since they were not particularly related to biblical studies I didn’t include them.

PaleoJudaica refers to the Agade List often. And Phil Long, the coordinator of the Biblical Studies Carnival, has more on it here.

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Bentley Layton (1941-2025)

SAD NEWS: Bentley Layton, distinguished Coptic linguist and scholar of ancient Christianity (YaleNews).

Bentley Layton, the pre-eminent scholar of his generation of the late ancient Egyptian language, Coptic, died on March 26 at his home in New Haven from complications of Parkinson’s disease. He was 83.

Layton, the Goff Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies and professor of Near Eastern languages and civilizations at Yale, made immeasurable contributions to the study of major textual corpora, including the gnostic texts found at Nag Hammadi, and the writings of the Egyptian monk Shenoute of Atripe.

[...]

Requiescat in pace.

Cross-file under Coptic Watch.

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On the Coptic “Pillow Psalter”

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: The “Pillow Psalter” Returns. The Oldest Complete Book of Psalms is Back on Display (Marek Dospěl).

One of the most treasured artifacts in the collections of the Coptic Museum in Cairo, the so-called Pillow Psalter, is back on display. Dating to about 400 CE, this oldest complete Coptic manuscript of the Book of Psalms returned to public view in February, following almost five years of restoration work. As reported by several Egyptian outlets, including the State Information Service, the ancient codex has been fully restored and documented and is now presented in a newly designed permanent exhibit, ready to awe and inspire many more generations of visitors to the Coptic Museum.

[...]

This essay gives a good overview of the Coptic Mudil "Pillow Psalter" codex. But the above paragraph could use some editing. The essay was published a year ago, so the mentioned "February" is February of 2024. In other words, the psalter has been on display for the last year.

Nevertheless, the essay is worth reading, BHD has re-posted it, and I missed it last year. So here it is. PaleoJudaica posts on the codex are here, here, and here.

Cross-file under Coptic Watch.

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Assyrian New Year 2025

THE ASSYRIAN NEW YEAR 6775 is celebrated today: President Rashid congratulates the Babylonian-Assyrian New Year (Iraqi News Agency).

The President of the Republic said in a tweet on the (X) platform, followed by the Iraqi News Agency (INA): "On the occasion of the Akitu holiday, the Babylonian-Assyrian New Year, we congratulate our Chaldean, Assyrian, and Syriac people, wishing them a happy holiday in which everyone enjoys goodness, prosperity, and blessings."

The current Akitu Festival is a modern revival of the ancient Mesopotamian New Year festival with the same name. The Christian groups mentioned above still use Aramaic as their liturgical language.

For more on the modern festival, see here and links. And for the ancient one, here and links (cf. here).

Happy New Year to all those celebrating!

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Relocating the Valley of Rephaim?

HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY: Archaeologist proposes new location for Biblical Rephaim Valley. New research suggests the Rephaim Valley may have been named after a powerful Philistine family, not mythical giants (Jerusalem Post).

In a study published in the Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament, researcher Sabine Kleiman argues that the biblical Rephaim Valley, traditionally located near Jerusalem, may instead lie “east of the Elah Valley” — closer to Philistine Gath — and may derive its name from “the local Gittite elite” rather than legendary giants.

[...]

I have no view on the geographical question. The biblical exegesis is more or less consistent with what I wrote here. But I think the two above possibilites are not mutually exclusive. That is, it could be that the Rephaim were ancient (to the Israelites) elite Canaanites, some of whom still may have been around in biblical times, and some of whom were remembered as legendary giants. Follow the latter link for my speculations.

The underlying SJOT article is open access:

Identification of the Rephaim Valley
Sabine Kleiman
Published online: 18 Nov 2024
https://doi.org/10.1080/09018328.2024.2425081

ABSTRACT

The Valley of Rephaim is usually located in the direct vicinity of Jerusalem. However, a fresh look at the history of research reveals the uncertainty surrounding this identification and shows that the displayed geography rather points to a setting east of the Elah Valley. At this location, the Rephaim Valley was of utmost interest to the communities of the lowlands, who were during the 10th and 9th centuries BCE under the control of Philistine Gath, which is significantly featured in the books of Samuel. This paper highlights the relationship between the city and the Rephaim Valley accounts and further suggests, that the place owes its name to the local Gittite elite and not to an association with past mythical giants.

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More Egyptian Book of the Dead fragments recovered

MUSEUM EXCAVATION: Outstanding discovery in Trento: fragments of a very rare Egyptian papyrus found (Redazione, Finestre sull'Arte).

Identified in Trent four fragments of the Senemnetjer papyrus, an extremely rare Book of the Dead from Saqqara. The discovery, of exceptional importance for Egyptology, enriches the collection of the Buonconsiglio Castle, which will reopen its Egyptian section at the end of the year.

2023 was a big year for the Egyptian Book of the Dead, with two new manuscripts discovered, a new edition of another manuscript published, and a museum exhibition on a fourth.

2024 was quiet on that front, but 2025 is starting out well with the discovery of new fragments from an important already-known manuscript. Another fragment is in the Archaeological Museum in Florence and another is apparently lost, but a drawing of it survives.

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Podcast interview with Emanuel Tov on the scribes of Qumran

THE STONE CHAPEL PODCAST with David Capes has a two-part interview with renowned Dead Sea Scrolls scholar Emanuel Tov. Transcripts included (and quoted below).

The Scribes of Qumran (Part 1) With Emanuel Tov

... In the beginning, when the scrolls were found in 1947-1948, people thought that all these scrolls found at Qumran in a dry region at the shore of the Dead Sea were actually copied on the spot.

Now we have become more wise, and according to my own theory, one-third of the scrolls that were found near the Dead Sea were copied on the spot, and two-thirds were imported by the people who lived in Qumran from outside Qumran. So, when we talk about the scribes of the Dead Sea Scrolls, it’s a little bit misleading, because these are really not the scribes of Qumran. These are the scribes of ancient Israel, of ancient Palestine that we get to know from this wonderful treasure of scrolls that were found at Qumran, it’s the whole world of ancient Israel that we learn from these scrolls that were found at one spot.

Did Scribes Copy the Bible Correctly? (Part 2) With Emanuel Tov

I think this is a wonderful new avenue of research about the identity of scribes. But at the same time, you should realize that we haven’t found answers to the main question. Namely of those 950 different papyri, in very few cases, were we able to find the identity of scribes that wrote more than one scroll. It’s too bad that all the scribes remain anonymous, because in ancient times, at least in this part of the world, unlike in Mesopotamia, these scribes are anonymous. They don’t say, I’m called Moshe, the son of Aaron who writes this scroll. They don’t say anything.

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Review panel on Neis, When a Human Gives Birth to a Raven (3-4)

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW has published two more essays in its review panel on Rafael Rachel Neis. When a Human Gives Birth to a Raven: Rabbis and the Reproduction of Species. University of California Press, 2023.

The Method-Image (Roland Betancourt)

Beyond all its groundbreaking contributions to the secondary literature, this book also presents a model for how different rhetorical forms and artistic skills can be mobilized in academic communication to reformulate how we present our arguments to our audiences, what we are able to communicate, and what audiences we can create with more varied forms of storytelling and methodological play.

Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash: A short response to Rafael Rachel Neis, When a Human Gives Birth to a Raven (Catherine Michael Chin)

It is energizing, if a little vertiginous, in the case of Neis’s work, to be drawn in as a participant in looking at likenesses in a book that is about the act of looking at likenesses, and about the act of deciding just how alike those likenesses are. What does it mean for the offspring of a human to look like a raven? Just how much like a raven do they actually look?

I noted the earlier essays in the series here and here.

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Kitchen obituary

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Milestones: Kenneth A. Kitchen (1932–2025). Leading Egyptologist who connected Egyptian and biblical history (James K. Hoffmeier).

Kenneth A. Kitchen was a giant in the field of Near Eastern studies. His academic interests spanned the languages and histories of the entire Near East, from Anatolia and South Arabia to Mesopotamia and across the Fertile Crescent, with Egyptology being his passion and primary focus. Throughout his career, he was also fascinated by how ancient texts, iconography, and archaeology could contribute to the study and interpretation of the Bible.

[...]

Background here.

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Schmied, Anklage Gottes im Midrasch zu den Klageliedern (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK:

Mareike Schmied

Anklage Gottes im Midrasch zu den Klageliedern

Eine Studie zu den Transformationen der Gottesbilder im Midrasch Echa Rabbati

[Accusation of God in the Midrash on Lamentations. A Study on the Transformations of the Images of God in the Midrash Echa Rabbati.]
2024. XIII, 421 pages.
Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism (TSAJ) 191

Published in German.
€129.00
including VAT

cloth
available
978-3-16-159325-3

Also Available As:
eBook PDF
€129.00

Summary

In this study on the history of reception, Mareike Schmied analyses the treatment of the problematic images of God in the Lamentations in rabbinic midrash. How do the rabbis deal with the renewed destruction of the temple and the resulting crises of faith and life and once again manage to hold on to their God, who could not or would not prevent their downfall?

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