Healey, The Syriac Legal Documents of the 3rd Century CE (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

The Syriac Legal Documents of the 3rd Century CE

Series: Supplement to Aramaic Studies, Volume: 20

Author: John Francis Healey

This book provides a re-edition and translation of the Syriac legal parchments of the mid 3rd century CE from Upper Mesopotamia, along with extensive commentary. These documents constitute our earliest significant evidence of the Syriac language and script, since only short epigraphs on stone and in mosaics survive otherwise. The texts are reproduced in Syriac script and in transliteration, while plates of the documents and script charts are also included, along with chapters devoted to script and language (in the context of the development of the later Classical Syriac forms) and to law (in the context of the adaptation of Aramaic law to Romanization).

Copyright Year: 2025

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-73066-3
Publication: 25 Aug 2025
EUR €210.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-73065-6
Publication: 28 Aug 2025
EUR €210.00

Cross-file under Syriac Watch.

It looks to me (and please correct me if I am wrong) as though these are (or include) texts from the unprovenanced collection that Roberta Mazza has called the Euphrates Papyri. However, the two Syriac documents are written on parchment. More on them, and a third, also third-century, parchment excavated at Dura-Europos, is here.

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The Festival of the Carthaginians and Romans 2025

I WAS AWAY LAST WEEK, attending the Festival of the Carthaginians and Romans in Cartagena Spain. we arrived several days into the festival, but we were able to attend most of it.

PaleoJudaica has kept track of the festival for many years. It commemorates the founding of the city of Qart-Hadasht as a Carthaginian colony on the southern Spanish coast around 228 BCE, Hannibal Barca's setting off for the Alps from that city in 218 BCE, and the fall of the city to Roman forces led by Publius Cornelius Scipio (later Scipio Africanus) in 210. From then on it was the Roman city called Carthago Nova (New Carthage). The name Cartagena derives from the latter.

All this was in the context of the Second Punic War, which commenced with Hannibal's invasion of Italy from the Alps, led nearly to a Carthaginian victory at the disastrous (for the Romans) Battle of Cannae in Italy, reversed significantly with the fall of New Carthage to the Romans, and ended with the Roman victory at the disastrous (for the Carthaginians) Battle of Zama in North Africa in 202 BCE.

The Second Punic War came between the First and the Third, about which I will not go into detail here. For some posts on the First, see here and links. For one on the Third, see here. For a brief overview, see the link here. And here is a reminder of why PaleoJudaica is interested in this Phoenician, Carthaginian, and Punic stuff.

I brought Livy's History of The War with Hannibal with me to Spain as an invaluable reference.

I will post some accounts of the events of the festival and the archaeology and history of Cartagena next week.

Click on the photos for a larger image.

UPDATE: The rest of the posts in the series:

Carthaginians and Romans: Seeing Hannibal off to the Alps

Carthaginians and Romans: The capture of Carthago Nova

Cartagena: Phoenician and Punic archaeology and epigraphy

Cartagena: Roman-era archaeology

Carthaginians and Romans: Final Events

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DSS coming to the Museum of the Bible

EXHIBITION: Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition marking 75 years since discovery to open at Museum of the Bible (Christian Daily International).

The Washington exhibition will present the scrolls in three rotations to protect the fragile materials. The first, from November 2025 through February 2026, will feature portions of Genesis, Job, Psalms and the War Scroll, among others. Later rotations will highlight texts such as the Great Psalms Scroll, Numbers, Lamentations, Isaiah, Jubilees and the Damascus Document.

Alongside the scrolls, the exhibition will display archaeological finds from across Israel. These include the Magdala Stone, unearthed in 2009 at a first-century synagogue near the Sea of Galilee, and wood fragments of a fishing boat excavated from the lake during a drought in 1986. Scholars believe the vessel resembles boats used in the time of Jesus, providing tangible insight into the world described in the New Testament.

The Magdala Stone and the Sea of Galilee Boat are currently on display at the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition at the Ronald Presidential Reagan Library. I don't know if there will be any overlap of scrolls in the MOTB exhibition. The IAA tends not to keep them out very long.

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A "powerful Punic-era pottery industry" at Málaga

PUNIC WATCH: Punic workshops uncovered in Málaga produced amphorae used to export fish preserves to Corinth (Guillermo Carvajal, LVB).

The fourth archaeological excavation campaign of the University of Málaga (UMA) at the Cerro del Villar site has yielded first-rate discoveries that reshape the understanding of the productive past of the Bay of Málaga, Spain. The work, carried out throughout the month of September, has made it possible to exhume tangible evidence of a powerful Punic-era pottery industry and to confirm the excellent state of preservation of a Roman fish-salting factory, outlining a sequence of industrial activity that spans more than a millennium.

[...]

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Was Jesus a short guy?

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Jesus the Short King. Measuring up Jesus and Zacchaeus in Luke 19 (Nathan Steinmeyer).

Translating a text can be a difficult task under any circumstance. But it is all the harder when the meaning of the original text is ambiguous. Such is the case with Luke 19:3. Although most readers assume the text states that Zacchaeus was too short to see Jesus, the original Greek is less clear. ...

Summarizing a recent JBL article by Isaac Soon.

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Hebrew Bible job at UC Berkeley

H-NET JOB GUIDE:

University of California Berkeley - Assistant Professor - Hebrew Bible - Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures ...

Position description

The Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures (MELC) at the University of California, Berkeley seeks applications for an Assistant Professor in Hebrew Bible, tenure track, with an expected start date of July 1, 2026.

Applications are welcome from scholars who investigate the Hebrew Bible in its ancient contexts and are engaged in interdisciplinary questions across the humanities and/or social sciences.

The successful applicant will join the MELC faculty who are dedicated to the study of the languages, literature, and material culture of the Middle East, from antiquity to today. Instructional responsibilities include teaching 3-4 courses/year at the graduate and undergraduate levels, including instruction in Biblical Hebrew. They will also be expected to collaborate in overseeing the Hebrew language program, contribute to teaching the department's introductory survey courses, mentor undergraduate students and supervise graduate students, and contribute to the department's diverse and inclusive community through their research, teaching, and/or service. The appointee will have the opportunity to connect with a variety of other campus units such as the Center for Jewish Studies and the Graduate Group in Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology.

The department is committed to addressing the family needs of faculty, including dual career couples and single parents. We are also interested in candidates who have had non-traditional career paths or who have taken time off for family reasons, or who have achieved excellence in careers outside academia. For information about potential relocation to Berkeley, or career needs of accompanying partners and spouses, please visit: http://ofew.berkeley.edu/new-faculty

The review date is 31 October 2025. Follow the link for further particulars.

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Yom Kippur reflections by the Sifting Project

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT BLOG: LIKE CLAY – YOM KIPPUR REFLECTIONS FROM THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT.

This Yom Kippur, as we reflect on our own shaping, we also honor the hands that formed the sacred and mundane objects of Jerusalem’s past. Jewish prayer books contain many liturgical poems (piyyutim), especially in the holiday services. One well-known example from the Yom Kippur prayers is “כי הנה כחומר” (Ki Hineh Ka-ḥomer, “Like Clay”). ...

At the Temple Mount Sifting Project, these images take on tangible form. The soil of the Temple Mount has yielded thousands of finds that reflect the very crafts described in the piyyut. Every item uncovered in the sifting also tells of the ancient workmanship that brought it into being – many of them the very arts portrayed in the poem.

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Biblical Studies Carnival 229

ZWINGLIUS REVIVIVUS: The Official September Carnival: Wrath and Judgment Edition (Jim West).

And Phil Long has some commentary here.

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Yom Kippur 2025

YOM KIPPUR, the Day of Atonement, began last nigh at sundown. An easy and healthy fast to all those observing it.

Last year's post on Yom Kippur is here, with links. Biblical etc. background is here and links. Additional Yom Kippur-related posts are here, here, and here.

Pardon the late posting. I thought I had posted yesterday, but there was a glitch.

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Longacre on when the Psalter was compiled

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

When Was the Psalter Compiled?

In recent research, some scholars have proposed extremely late dates for the final formation of the Hebrew Psalter, even as late as the 1st century CE. By amassing evidence from the manuscript tradition, ancient translations, secondary reception and reuse, as well as book history, I argue that the basic framework of the traditional, five-book Psalter is rather the product of the late Persian period (5th–4th centuries BCE).

See also Scribes and the Psalter: Situating Ancient Psalm Collections in Their Scribal Contexts (Mohr Siebeck, forthcoming in 2026).

By Drew Longacre
Research Fellow
University of Münster
September 2025

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Review of López-Ruiz, Greek mythology: from creation to first humans

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Greek mythology: from creation to first humans.

Carolina López-Ruiz, Greek mythology: from creation to first humans. World mythology in theory and everyday life. New York: Oxford University Press, 2025. Pp. 256. ISBN 9780190944803.

Review by
James J. Clauss, University of Washington. jjc@uw.edu

... As such, the project under consideration achieves the goal of the series with considerable success. In fact, so much so that the title of the book somewhat undersells its content and might well have been called something like Creation Myths from the Ancient Mediterranean World (based on a phrase with which the “Conclusion” concludes, p. 216); for López-Ruiz rightly and expertly provides considerable space for parallel stories from the eastern Mediterranean and their far-reaching influence on Greek mythology. ...

The review indicates that the volume also gives plenteous attention to the Book of Genesis and Mesopotamian and Ugaritic mythology.

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William Ross on "Jewish Greek Translations"

WILLIAM A. ROSS: NEW PUBLICATIONS: PART 2.

Highlighting an article entitled “Jewish Greek Translations” in the T&T Clark Handbook of Hellenistic Jewish Literature in Greek, ed. Marieke Dhont, set for release tomorrow, 2 October 2025.

Cross-file under New Book. I noted Ross's New Publications: Part 1 here.

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Muon tomography: a first iteration

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: Breaking ground without digging: In first, archaeologists ‘X-ray’ Jerusalem’s hidden layers. Israeli researchers use muon detectors, which detect elementary particles akin to heavy electrons, to reveal subterranean cavities; hope method will be deployed across the world (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel).

In a groundbreaking achievement that requires no actual breaking of ground, Israeli researchers have demonstrated the archaeological utility of a technology that acts like an “X-ray” for the Earth, revealing hidden spaces beneath an ancient site in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University announced Monday.

Combining physics and archaeology, the scientists deployed a detection system based on muons — elementary particles akin to heavy electrons — to scan for underground hollows and cavities in the City of David site, just outside of Jerusalem’s Old City walls in the predominantly Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan.

[...]

The open-access underlying article is published in the Journal of Applied Physics:

First demonstration of underground muon imaging at an archaeological site in ancient Jerusalem
Special Collection: Muography: Discoveries, Innovations, and Applications
Y. Benhammou; E. Etzion Corresponding Author; Y. Gadot; O. Lipschits; G. Mizrachi; Y. Shalev; Y. Silver; A. Weissbein; I. Zolkin
J. Appl. Phys. 138, 084504 (2025) [Volume 138, Issue 8 28 August 2025]
https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0273376

We present a novel underground imaging system that utilizes cosmic-ray muons to explore the subsurface environment at the City of David archeological site in ancient Jerusalem. The method exploits the fact that muons lose energy as they travel through matter, with attenuation depending on the integrated density along their path. By tracking muon trajectories through a multi-layered, scintillator-based detector, we reconstruct angular flux distributions and infer variations in overburden density. This report details initial findings from measurements conducted at a large rock-hewn installation, commonly known as “Jeremiah’s cistern.” A high-resolution LiDAR scan of the interior was combined with muon flux simulations to map structural anomalies. The system successfully identifies variations in ground opacity, demonstrating the viability of muon tomography for archeological imaging in complex environments. This work represents a significant interdisciplinary effort to deepen our understanding of this historical site.

If you think the abstract is technical, try reading the article! But part IV of the latter is pretty accessible.

Again, non-intrusive and non-destructive technologies are the way of the future for archaeology.

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What happened to the scapegoat?

YOM KIPPUR IS COMING: (Prof. Rabbi Marty Lockshin, TheTorah.com).

The Yom Kippur ritual included two goats. One was sacrificed to God. What happened to the second one, the so-called scapegoat?

For some PaleoJudaica posts on or involving the Yom Kippur scapegoat, see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

For posts on the mysterious figure Azazel, see here and links.

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

Sifting Project volunteer finds Hellenistic-era sling stone

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING BLOG: FIND AND FINDER OF THE MONTH: ADAM COHEN FOUND A HELLENISTIC LEAD SLING BULLET.

The presence of sling bullets on the Temple Mount suggests military activity on or near the Temple Mount during the Hellenistic period, possibly linked to the Seleucid fortress known as the Acra or later conflicts. The Acra was a thorn in the side of the Hamoneans even after the liberation and purification of the temple. It was only during the battles of Simon the Maccabee who finally managed to overtake the Acra in the year 141 BCE.

Adam Cohen is a student in the sixth grade at the “Tali Gilo” elementary school. He explains that when he first saw the sling bullet he thought it was just a regular stone, but because of its shear heaviness he handed it to his mother to help him inspect. He goes on to say that because of his find, his class is now more interested in archaeology and history. This of course is one of the important aspects of our sifting project, and fills us with tremendous hope and pride.

PaleoJudaica has noted other recoveries of ancient sling stones here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

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Video: Ezekiel Papyrus Conference

THE OTTC BLOG: Conference on the Ezekiel Papyrus (Drew Longacre).

This post leads to a YouTube recording of the conference papers. Despite the Spanish front matter, the papers are in English.

For more on the Greek Ezekiel Papyrus (Papyrus 967 or p967) see here and links. The main link in that post is down, but the others are still good.

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Wiggins, A Reassessment of Asherah (rev ed., Gorgias)

NEW BOOK (EDITION) FROM GORGIAS PRESS:

A REASSESSMENT OF ASHERAH (PAPERBACK)
With Further Considerations of the Goddess

By Steve A. Wiggins

Publisher: Gorgias Press LLC
Availability: In stock
SKU (ISBN): 978-1-4632-4983-0
Formats *
Paperback (In Print) ISBN 978-1-4632-4983-0
Publication Status: In Print
Series: Gorgias Ugaritic Studies 2
Publication Date: Jul 31,2025
Interior Color: Black
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Page Count: 391
Languages: English
ISBN: 978-1-4632-4983-0
Price: $69.00 (USD)
Your price: $41.40 (USD)

OVERVIEW

Asherah is one of the most popular goddesses from the ancient world. She appears everywhere from the Bible to novels and comic books. The facts about Asherah, however, are often overlooked. In this edition of Wiggins’ 1993 study of the goddess, the author’s articles and book reviews concerning the goddess have been added to his original book. To date, this monograph contains the only full-length treatment of the Ugaritic material on Asherah in addition to a comprehensive examination of the textual sources from the Hebrew Bible, ancient Mesopotamia, Epigraphic South Arabian and Hittite sources, as well as the intriguing Hebrew inscriptions that perhaps mention the goddess. The original text of the monograph is supplemented by articles that update the ever-expanding bibliography on the goddess and that deal with iconographic representations and Asherah’s supposed associations with trees, snakes, and lions. Gorgias Press is pleased to bring back into print this study on a timely subject.

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Syriac lifelong learning.

SYRIAC WATCH: Woman becomes university student at 52 to preserve Syriac language (Hurrieyet Daily News).

Hanım Beğtaş from the southeastern province of Mardin, who had to end her formal education after primary school, has achieved a lifelong dream: Becoming a university student at the age of 52. ...

Her efforts culminated in her admission to the Syriac Language and Literature Department at Mardin Artuklu University.

Well done!

For more on the founding and development of the Syriac program at Mardin Artuklu University in Turkey, see the links collected here.

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Sabato, The Sages of Yavneh (Magnes, in Hebrew)

NEW BOOK FROM MAGNES PRESS:

The Sages of Yavneh
A Journey into the Origins of Tannaitic Halacha

By: David Sabato

Launch price
$43 $30

More details

Publisher: Magnes Press
Year: 2025
Catalog number : 45-131181
ISBN: 978-965-7854-58-7
Pages: 496
Language: Hebrew
Weight: 950 gr.
Cover: Hardcover

Synopsis

The Sages of Yavneh traces the rebirth of Jewish law and thought in the aftermath of the Great Revolt and the destruction of the Temple. In Yavneh the early Sages laid the foundations for post-Temple Jewish life and created the conceptual framework that continues to shape halachic discourse to this day. Through close analysis of early Tannaitic traditions, the book uncovers the sages’ intellectual world, their diverse approaches, and the deep ideas underlying their disputes. At a decisive historical crossroad, the sages of Yavneh bridged second Temple traditions with the emerging Tannaitic corpus, offering a farsighted response to the crisis of their age and charting a path for the future of Jewish law, Halacha.

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