Clines, Hebrew Philology, Hebrew Lexicography (Sheffield Phoenix/SBL)

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

Hebrew Philology, Hebrew Lexicography
David J. A. Clines

ISBN 9781914490903
Status Available
Publication Date October 2025
Hardback $95.00

This edited collection, from world-leading philologist and lexicographer of Classical Hebrew, David J. A. Clines (1938–2022), demonstrates how his motivations for philological and lexicographical work sat in contrast to each other. These articles and papers, published and unpublished, show Clines’s efforts in each direction.

As Clines explains a “philologian is a ‘lover of words’ […] a hunter, imbued with the spirit of the chase […]. A lexicographer is by contrast a shepherd, gathering a flock together […], big words and little words, common words and rare words […]. To the lexicographer, all words are equally deserving of respect and nurture; a lexicographer cannot afford favourite love objects. […] A philologian can polish off an article in 50 or 100 hours—or less–but a lexicographer must be long-lived, immune to boredom, and possessed of an addictive personality.”

In the first section, Philology, there are eight chapters, mostly on individual words. In the second section, Lexicography, there are eighteen chapters, dealing first with Clines’s Dictionary of Classical Hebrew in general (Chapters 9-14), then with features of the Dictionary that call for exposition and justification (Chapters 15-21), and finally with some individual studies arising from the lexicographical work (Chapters 22-26).

Via these articles and papers, Clines seeks to counter the lack from editors of earlier Hebrew dictionaries, which left scholars with little explanation of their methods and procedures. By explaining himself Clines wishes that present and future users of the dictionary would know the conception of his intentions for the project. This Clinesian imperative means his views are explained, in general, about byforms, synonyms, semantic fields, definitions and suchlike, so readers are not left with only his conclusions.

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Gradel & Pedersen, The Lost Novel of King Solomon and the Demons (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK:

Ittai Gradel, Nils Arne Pedersen

The Lost Novel of King Solomon and the Demons

New Evidence on the Testament of Solomon in Antiquity

2025. 344 pages.
Parabiblica (PBib) 5

€99.00
including VAT

cloth
available
978-3-16-200066-8

Also Available As:
eBook PDF
€99.00

Summary

In this study, Ittai Gradel and Nils Arne Pedersen develop a new approach to the apocryphal Testament of Solomon by combining archaeology and textual analysis. The starting point is a group of ten 3rd-century rings, each inscribed in Greek: »Solomon says: 'Watch out!'« The phrase, puzzling as an apotropaic formula, makes sense only in light of the Testament of Solomon, where the king, empowered by a divine ring, subjugates demons. In a climactic episode, Solomon orders two demons to support a massive column until the Day of Judgment - precisely with the words »Watch out!« This unique command, permanently binding the demons, explains its adoption in everyday magical practice.
The rings, securely dated, establish a 2nd-century date for the original version of the text and invite new reflections on its literary shape and development. While the preserved Testament alternates between first-person and third-person narration, the inscriptions suggest that the original form was a longer third-person narrative later abbreviated and reworked. From this basis, the authors develop a theory of its redactional history. The evidence points toward popular Christianity distinct from the patristic mainstream. Several rings display Christian iconography, one was linked to the pilgrimage site of Abu Mena, and parallels to Jewish Solomonic traditions are also apparent. Alexandria emerges as a plausible place of origin. The interdisciplinary synthesis - archaeology, history of religions, apocryphal studies, and folklore - generates fresh perspectives. The appendices enrich this contribution with translations of previously inaccessible versions of the Testament of Solomon, including one that contains a newly attested agraphon ascribed to Jesus, as well as a new edition and translation of a Syriac narrative. In this way, the authors significantly reposition the Testament of Solomon within the history of ancient religion and literature.

For PaleoJudaica posts on the Testament of Solomon and related artifactual material, see here and links. This is the first I've heard of any Solomonic ring artifacts, aside from the fictional one in the 2010 children's novel by Jonathan Stroud.

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Dawson, Woman Zion, Out of Hand (OUP)

NEW BOOK FROM OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS:

Woman Zion, Out of Hand

A New Materialist Investigation of Zion's Movement

Cindy Dawson

£64.00
Hardback
Published: 18 November 2025
262 Pages
235x156mm
ISBN: 9780197817223

Also Available As:
E-book

Description

In this groundbreaking work, Cindy Dawson maps and investigates Woman Zion through texts and time as a premiere example of a body's agency. The personification of the city of Jerusalem in biblical and Early Jewish texts, Woman Zion appears in 30 texts over 800 years, during which time her body undergoes remarkable change. Dawson begins in the preexilic years of Isaiah, Micah, Hosea, and Jeremiah, descends with Woman Zion to her exilic nadir in Ezekiel and Lamentations, then watches her remarkable rise in Isaiah and the texts of Early Judaism, including 1 Baruch, 4 Ezra, Galatians, and Revelation. Building upon the insight of New Materialism, this study defines agency as the ability to intra-act, to act upon and be acted upon by the world around it. Agency is not limited by something (i.e., "intention" or "will") that someone (i.e., a human) possesses but simply by some ability to enact change, an ability possessed by humans and nonhumans alike.

Woman Zion is therefore more than a way for authors to think, more than a mere tool by which those authors assert their agenda and their agency — her body is in fact an art object, and at that, one with agency. This agency is ontological and furthermore demonstrable, evident in how her body gets out of hand, outlasts her creators, and does things they would never intend her to do. This study therefore provides a new way to track a tradition, without succumbing to the limitations of form criticism and, by definition, its tie to forms that face eventual extinction. Here, Cindy Dawson reformulates a long-time interest of biblical studies, to show how Woman Zion's body becomes the new form.

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Hutzli & Davis (ed.), The Historical Location of P (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK:

The Historical Location of P
Reconsidering the Priestly Texts in Light of Material Culture and Geographical Indications
Edited by Jürg Hutzli and Jordan Davis

2026. 260 pages.
Archaeology and Bible (ArchB) 10

€89.00
including VAT

sewn paper
available
978-3-16-164623-2

Also Available As:
eBook PDF
€89.00

Summary

Although there is an enduring, general consensus regarding the identification of the Priestly Writings (P), there are nonetheless several open questions related to this important literary stratum in the Pentateuch. One of these crucial and debated questions is the dating and location of the Priestly texts. The contributors of this collected volume seek to better situate the Priestly Writings both temporally and geographically. In doing so they pay attention to the choice of pertinent criteria for this task and recall those that have been neglected in the recent past, such as geographical indications and references to material culture provided by the Priestly texts.

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St Demiana, Sahidic Coptic Leviticus (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Sahidic Coptic Leviticus

Its Manuscript Witnesses and Its Text

Series:
Texts and Studies in Eastern Christianity, Volume: 30

Author: Antonia St Demiana

Until recently, the Sahidic Old Testament has received little attention. In Sahidic Coptic Leviticus, Antonia St Demiana fully documents, for the first time, the manuscript evidence of Sahidic Coptic Leviticus and offers a full codicological investigation and reconstruction of its codices and fragments. By surveying the dispersed Sahidic Leviticus fragments and folios, codices formerly considered to be independent of one another are reconstructed and unified, and new Leviticus fragments are identified and virtually assigned to their original codices. A semi-diplomatic edition of the most complete witness of Sahidic Leviticus, MLM M566, with the variae lectiones from the other Sahidic Leviticus witnesses is provided with a critical apparatus and English translation. A commentary including an introductory textual study and translation analysis of the text is also presented. In addition, this volume offers new and conclusive observations on the nature of the Sahidic version of Leviticus, and the relationship between the text of Sahidic Leviticus and its Greek Vorlage.

Copyright Year: 2025

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-54589-2
Publication: 25 Nov 2024
EUR €250.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-54588-5
Publication: 05 Dec 2024
EUR €250.00

Cross-file under Coptic Watch.

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On Ashurbanipal's library in Nineveh

BIBLIOTHECAL ARCHAEOLOGY: The greatest library in the world was built by this ruthless king. The 1850 discovery of King Ashurbanipal's vast library of cuneiform tablets at Nineveh illuminated fascinating records and complex links with neighbors (Michela Piccin, National Geographic).

Ashurbanipal, the most powerful king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in the mid-seventh century B.C., was known for his ruthless military prowess, his incredible lion-hunting skills—and for being a librarian.

“Palace of Ashurbanipal, King of the Universe, King of Assyria” reads an inscription denoting his ownership on one of over 30,000 clay tablets and fragments from the magnificent library he maintained at his capital, Nineveh, today in northern Iraq.

[...]

This is a long, informative article on Ashurbanipal's library. It focuses on its discovery and excavation, but gives some attention to its contents; notably the first-discovered fragments of the Epic of Gilgamesh.

I was wondering if it would interact with Irving Finkelman's proposal, covered in a recent interview with Lex Fridman, that the 30,000 recovered tablets are just duplicates and discarded broken pieces, while the Babylonians and their allies carried off the bulk of the library.

The article does not mention Dr. Finkel's idea, but it does make an intriguing comment that could be relevant:

Recent analysis of the corpus of Nineveh tablets by a German-British team is producing interesting insights. For example, it was initially thought that reconstructing the tablets would be just a matter of time and effort. Now, even with all the pieces digitally cataloged, it has only been possible to reconstruct about 200 tablets, and even these are missing large sections. It has also been established that many tablets were marked with colophons (notes placed at the end of text) of different types. These identified the kind of text they contained or the period in which they were made. Some were even signed by individual scribes. The conclusion is that the rest of the fragments have been lost or have yet to be found in Nineveh.

Are these indeed just the broken pieces left by the Babylonians when they looted the library?

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Justiss, Scribal Change and Strategic Sequencing in the Hebrew Source of G Proverbs (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK:

Joseph L. Justiss

Scribal Change and Strategic Sequencing in the Hebrew Source of G Proverbs

2026. 276 pages.
Forschungen zum Alten Testament 2. Reihe (FAT II) 168

€99.00
including VAT
sewn paper
available
978-3-16-164864-9

Also Available As:
eBook PDF
€99.00

Summary

Joseph L. Justiss examines the variant sequences of large text-blocks as found in the ancient Greek version of Proverbs (G Proverbs) and the Masoretic version of Proverbs (M Proverbs) to determine whether G's translator or G's source is the cause of the variant orders. Additionally, he examines how the different sequencing impacts the interpretation of the juxtaposed units. The author proceeds from a diachronic to a synchronic analysis of these units. Diachronically, textual and editorial criticism shed light on scribal changes at the edges and sometimes within juxtaposed units. Synchronically, topic analysis, dialogic analysis, and literary analysis reveal scribal motivations and compositional strategies inspiring the sequencing of units. Drawing on the main results of his study, Joseph L. Justiss argues that a variant Hebrew recension caused G's variant sequences and that the scribe of G's source expanded texts to emphasize wise speech and reverence in the presence of high authorities.

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Late-antique monastery excavated in Egypt

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Byzantine Monastery Unearthed in Egypt. How early Christians answered the biblical call to the desert (Lauren K. McCormick).

Now, excavations in southern Egypt have revealed how some of Christianity’s earliest monastic communities pursued religious practice in the desert. At the site of Al-Qariya bi-Duwayr in the Sohag region, Egyptian archaeologists with the Supreme Council of Antiquities have uncovered one of the most complete ancient monastic complexes yet discovered in the country.

The discoveries reportedly include Coptic inscriptions.

For more on Egypt's Sohag region and its archaeology and history, some of which is of interest to PaleoJudaica, see here and links. For posts on Akhmim, see here and links. For posts on Shenoute and the White Monastery, here and links.

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

Angels in Coptic magic, part one

THE COPTIC MAGICAL PAPYRI BLOG: Angels in Coptic Magic I: Introduction.

For this year’s first blog post, we start a new series looking at angels in Coptic Magic. As an introduction, this first post provides a brief discussion of the concept of angels and their importance in various ritual and literary traditions, as well as an overview of the main groups of angels found in Coptic magical texts. The following posts in this series will focus on specific groups of angels and individual angels, discussing their roles, names, and descriptions. ...

While Coptic magical texts are witnesses to some new and original traditions about angels, they also drew upon, and evolved together with, older and contemporary traditions, including the Greco-Egyptian magical papyri, Jewish private ritual, orthodox Christian liturgical practice, and Christian literature. It is therefore important to mention these briefly before moving on to the Coptic magical material.

For more on the Talmudic-era Hebrew magical tractate Sefer Ha-Razim (Sefer HaRazim), see here and here and various other mentions in the archives.

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

The Nimrud archives

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: The Nimrud Letters. The royal archives of the Assyrian Empire (Marek Dospěl).

A nice overview of this important archive.

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

On Abgar V's correspondence with Jesus

NEW TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA WATCH: Did Jesus Write Letters? The Legend of King Abgar V. The New Testament never says that Jesus wrote anything. But a Christian legend claimed that he once penned a letter to an Anatolian king named Abgar (Eljoh Hartzer, The Collector).

A nice overview of Abgar V and his apocryphal correspondence with Jesus. Eusebius preserves the letters in a Greek translation, but they also survive in the original Syriac, notably in the Doctrine of Addai.

For PaleoJudaica posts on the Agbarid dynasty and the Abgar letters, as well as on ancient Edessa, start here and follow the links. Cross-file under Syriac Watch.

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

Looting arrests near Sea of Galilee

APPREHENDED: 4 suspected antiquities robbers caught digging in ancient Sea of Galilee burial cave. Authorities arrest four suspects caught in the act at a Roman‑era tomb near the Sea of Galilee, causing severe damage to a historically significant site tied to Jewish life and Talmudic sages (Ynet News).

Four suspected antiquities robbers were caught “in the act” Sunday afternoon digging inside an ancient Roman‑era burial cave near the Nabi Shu’aib/Chitin archaeological site in the Arbel Ridge area, on the outskirts of the Jordan Valley near the Sea of Galilee.

[...]

For more on the Talmudic gladiator-sage Reish Lakish (Resh Lakish), who lived in the region, see here, here, here, here, and here.

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

On "The Beginnings of Christianity as an Integral Part of Early Judaism"

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

The Beginnings of Christianity as an Integral Part of Early Judaism

Jesus and his first followers were Jews who never intended to form a new religion apart from Judaism. The so-called “parting of the ways” between Jews and Christians was long and by no means monolinear. Rather, it was a complex process that stretched over five hundred years, occurring in different places at different speeds and under a variety of circumstances. What we today call the “beginnings of Christianity” was in fact an integral part of multifaceted Judaism.

See also Early Judaism and the Beginnings of Christianity: Common Roots and the Parting of the Ways (Kohlhammer, 2026; open access).

By Markus Tiwald
Professor of New Testament
Faculty of Catholic Theology
University of Vienna
January 2026

Cross-file under New Book. You can download it for free at the link.

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Did Simeon and Levi do a bad thing or the right thing?

PROF. SHAUL BAR: Jacob Rebukes Simeon and Levi for the Shechem Massacre—but Post-Biblical Interpreters Disagree

... and instead praise them!

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

Still more Barkay obituaries

THREE MORE MEMORIALS to the late Israeli archaeologist Gabriel Barkay:

Archaeologist Gabriel Barkay, pioneer of Temple Mount research, dies at 81. Discoverer of the Ketef Hinnom scrolls and founder of Temple Mount Sifting Project was a larger-than-life figure who stirred controversy, loved Jerusalem and made the city his mission (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel; long and detailed)

Jerusalem University College's post (Jerusalem University College on Facebook)

Gabriel Barkay, 81, Dies; His Discoveries Revised Biblical History. One of Israel’s leading archaeologists, he found evidence that the writing of the Old Testament likely began much earlier than historians had thought. (Clay Risen, New York Times; behind the subscription wall)

Background here and links.

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

Review of Hornblower, Hannibal and Scipio: parallel lives

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Hannibal and Scipio: parallel lives

Simon Hornblower, Hannibal and Scipio: parallel lives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024. Pp. 528. ISBN 9781009453356.

Review by
Jeff Tatum, Victoria University of Wellingon. jeff.tatum@vuw.ac.nz

Its subjects—Hannibal and Scipio, Rome and Carthage—are big. Its learning is deep. Its keen, focused curiosity is an inspiration. And its style, conversational and lucid, is a pleasure to read. This, in sum, is a delightful and instructive book. There can be only a very few readers who will not learn something, or even quite a lot, from it. By putting in parallel the lives of Hannibal and Scipio, Simon Hornblower endeavours to furnish a fuller picture both of their twinned yet distinctive careers and personalities but also of Carthaginian and Roman ambitions, local as well as geo-political, during the late third and early second centuries bce. And he succeeds admirably.

[...]

For PaleoJudaica posts on Hannibal Barca and Scipio Africanus, start here, here, and here, and follow the links.

Cross-file under New Book and Punic Watch.

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

Adam, Time and Tradition: Temporal Thinking in Ecclesiastes ... (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK:

Moritz F. Adam

Time and Tradition

Temporal Thinking in Ecclesiastes in the Context of Emerging Apocalypticism and the History of Ideas in the Hellenistic Period

2025. 335 pages.
Forschungen zum Alten Testament (FAT) 191

€139.00
including VAT

cloth
available
978-3-16-164797-0

Also Available As:
eBook PDF
Open Access
CC BY-SA 4.0

Summary

Moritz F. Adam explores conceptions of time in the book of Ecclesiastes and its place in the history of thought in Hellenistic Judaism. He situates Ecclesiastes before a wider panorama of emerging apocalyptic thought and investigates how the text reflects, resists, and reworks prevailing ideas about time, history, knowledge, and meaning. Adam shows how Ecclesiastes stands at an important moment of conceptual transformation to the manner in which time was thought about in ancient Judaism, and how the book reflects new, broader, totalising, and abstract concerns in conversation with contemporary interlocutors. Through textual studies, comparative discussions and theoretical engagements with the fields of Classics and Literature, Adam challenges scholarly boundaries between wisdom, apocalypticism, and other genres, and highlights Ecclesiastes' pluralistic, open-ended discourse as a vital part of ancient Jewish thought.

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

Performance, Space, and Time in the Dead Sea Scrolls (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Performance, Space, and Time in the Dead Sea Scrolls

Papers from the Eleventh Meeting of the International Organization for Qumran Studies, Zürich 2022

Series:
Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah, Volume: 154

Editors: Michael B. Johnson, Jutta Jokiranta, and Molly M. Zahn

The collection focuses on performative and ritual aspects of the Dead Sea Scrolls, originating from the IOQS 2022 meeting. The concept of ritualization is examined at both individual and collective levels, using ritualization of covenant as a case study. Other essays examine performative aspects of the Hodayot manuscripts, and singing, meditation, and poetic form in Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice. Spatial aspects are examined in two essays: one argues against the common assumption that the temple city in the Temple Scroll is clearly or only referring to Jerusalem, and the other essay demonstrates 4QMMT’s legal stringency in the question of the presence of dogs in Jerusalem. Aramaic compositions are examined for their view of priesthood. Finally, past, present and future time is argued to be brought together in ritual, with the result that the role of eschatological time in the Scrolls should be complemented by ritual time.

Copyright Year: 2025

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-73445-6
Publication: 08 Dec 2025
EUR €118.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-73444-9
Publication: 11 Dec 2025
EUR €118.00

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Galoppin & Lebreton (eds.), Divine Names on the Spot III (Peeters)

NEW BOOK FROM PEETERS PRESS:

Divine Names on the Spot III
Naming and Agency in Ancient Greek and West Semitic Texts

Series:
Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis, 307

Editors:
Galoppin T., Lebreton S.

Price: 85 euro
Year: 2025
ISBN: 9789042955943
Pages: XXII-318 p.

Summary:
In the line of the previous volumes of the series “Divine Names on the Spot” devoted to the study of divine names in Greek and Semitic contexts, this third one focuses on the question “who named the gods?” Naming the divine, within the ritual communication or in narratives and discourses about gods and goddesses, involves choices, negotiations or strategies by human agents, in accordance with traditions or in order to activate innovations. Always context-sensitive, the agency of human addressers, narrators, or beneficiaries of the divine powers must be put forward as a main factor of these processes. From the addresses to the gods by kings in Cyprus to the carriage drivers naming Poseidon Helikapanaios in Thessaly, through the carving of divine names on a cup found in Jerusalem, the dozen of contributions gathered here make steps for a long exploration of divine names in the making, and suggest a few directions and orientations for investigating human agency in religious history.

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

Darby, Shaping Text Through Song (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Shaping Text Through Song: The Influence of Singing Upon Processes of Textual Interpretation and Variation in the Dead Sea Scrolls

Series:
Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah, Volume: 156

Author: Jonathan M. Darby

This book explores the influential role played by singing as a performative medium within processes of textual interpretation and variation during the late Second Temple Period, as reflected in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Singing is argued to be a prominent and widespread mode of performance, and a medium which exerted considerable influence within and upon processes of textual composition, interpretation and transmission. These complex processes result in the variation of textual forms, meaning that sung performance contributed to the widespread pluriformity of textual traditions, including those that were eventually codified in the scriptural canons of Judaism and Christianity.

Copyright Year: 2026

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-74934-4
Publication: 22 Dec 2025
EUR €121.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-74933-7
Publication: 18 Dec 2025
EUR €121.00

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Kaufman, Phoenicia, Carthage, and Popular Government in the Pre-Classical Mediterranean (OUP)

NEW BOOK FROM OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS:

Phoenicia, Carthage, and Popular Government in the Pre-Classical Mediterranean

The Other Democracy

Brett Kaufman

£99.00
Hardback
Published: 26 December 2025
320 Pages | 57 figures and 3 maps
234x156mm
ISBN: 9780198867685

Also Available As:
E-book

Description

From Aristotle to John Adams, great minds of government have revered Carthaginian democracy as the purest expression of a people's will. Yet today, while Phoenician influence on the Graeco-Roman worlds has been revisited and corrected from the perspectives of art, architecture, industry, crafts, and writing systems, the sphere of government in general and constitutional democracy in particular are still largely, and incorrectly, considered to be purely within the preserve of ancient Greece or Athens.

This book is the first comprehensive treatment of Phoenician government, drawing on archaeological, epigraphic, and historical sources. The Phoenicians introduced a brand of state-level society that enfranchised not only men, but also women, children, and even slaves into the popular assembly. Phoenician governmental leaders fostered a foreign and domestic policy that emphasized development, political stability, and economic growth insured by mutual incentives, as well as shared ritual practice, marriage alliances, social mobility, and concern for commoners, at home and abroad. This sustainable form of global leadership lasted for around eight centuries (~1000–146 BC).

This work in no way attempts to diminish the exceptional Athenian democracy and its subsequent positive effects on political history and the peoples who have benefited from its legacy. Rather this work amplifies ancient Greek democracy to help us better understand its origins, as well as expanding democratic heritage. In turn, it serves as an historical corrective that recenters democracy as a conversation and a competition between peoples as opposed to a monolithic institution. It highlights an alternative model of imperial democracy.

Cross-file under Phoenician Watch and Punic Watch. There's a lot of interest lately in Phoenicia and Carthage. It's not just me.

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Religion at Carthage 800 BCE-439 CE (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Religion at Carthage 800 BCE-439 CE

From Baal-Hammon to Christ

Series:
Vigiliae Christianae, Supplements, Volume: 191

Volume Editors: Jane Merdinger, Jesse A. Hoover, and Nancy Weatherwax

This volume investigates the rich spectrum of religious practices and beliefs at Carthage from its foundation until the end of Roman rule. Essays analyse the metropolis’s Phoenician, Punic, and Graeco-Roman cults (all exhibiting a remarkable degree of assimilation and amalgamation), mystery cults, Judaism, and Manichaeism. A majority of essays comprehensively examine Christianity’s development (including persecution, martyrdom, Montanism, and Donatism) within Carthage’s multi-cultural environment. Utilizing methodologies from popular culture studies, biblical exegesis, cultural studies, and archaeology, contributors cover such innovative topics as: polytheistic religiosity; Jewish identity and devotional life based on a recently discovered ancient synagogue near Carthage; and challenges experienced by St. Augustine as a guest-preacher to rambunctious congregations at Carthage.

Copyright Year: 2025

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-73859-1
Publication: 01 Dec 2025
EUR €183.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-73858-4
Publication: 04 Dec 2025
EUR €183.00

Cross-file under Punic Watch.

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

New evidence for the construction of Cartagena's city wall.

PUNIC WATCH: How Carthage Organized the Construction of Its Great Wall in Hispania: A Unique Case in the Ancient Mediterranean (Guillermo Carvajal, LBV).

A geoarchaeological study identifies that the mud bricks were manufactured 7–8 km from the site, demonstrating detailed knowledge of the territory and a centralized political organization under Barcid rule.

The headline is a little confusing. It's point is that the North African city Carthage organized the construction of the city wall of its namesake, Carthage or New Carthage, it's chief colonial city in Spain. That is the modern city of Cartagena, about which you have already heard a great deal from me.

The underlying open-access article, cited at the end of the LBV piece, is Cutillas-Victoria B, Ramallo Asensio SF, Martín Camino M. "Landscape exploitation and middle-distance supply of mudbricks for the Carthaginian rampart of Qart Hadasht (Spain)." Antiquity. Published online 2026:1-19. doi:10.15184/aqy.2025.10276.

Abstract

Founded in 228/227 BCE, the Carthaginian city of Qart Hadasht in southern Spain became the principal Punic political centre and military port in the western Mediterranean. Its defensive architecture featured a robust casemate wall composed of an outer sandstone face and inner mudbrick walls. Here, the authors present the geoarchaeological analysis of the earthen materials used in the construction of this wall. The results reveal differences in composition and provenance between mudbricks and mud mortars, with the former sourced across distances of 7–8km, highlighting the detailed knowledge of hinterland resources and complex political organisation involved in the wall’s construction.

For PaleoJudaica posts on Cartagena, its Annual Festival of the Carthaginians and Romans, and its history and archaeology, see the links collected here. For a very quick history review, see here. And for more on that Punic-era city wall (which in the end did not save the city) and other Punic archaeological remains, see here.

Cross-file under Ancient Fortification.

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Poppaea's house at Pompeii?

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: The Home of Nero’s Wife at Pompeii. Renewed excavations at the Villa of Poppaea (Nathan Steinmeyer).

Renewed excavations near Pompeii are revealing more of the incredible riches of a house believed to be the home of Emperor Nero’s second wife, Poppaea. In addition to newly excavated rooms, archaeologists have uncovered multiple stunning frescoes and other remarkable finds.

[...]

PaleoJudaica last saw Poppaea Sabina ascending to heaven on a chariot. Or at least that seems the most likely reading of a damaged third-century Oxyrhynchus papyrus that doesn't actually give her name.

I posted that story with an eye to a revisionist view of Nero. (For another Nero story that does not fit the narrative, see here.) But Poppaea's mythology aside, it seems that her likely second home, at Pompeii, is currently being excavated. If so, we now know quite a few personal details about her, including her tastes in decorating and gardening.

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

Two more Barkay obituaries

TWO MORE MEMORIALS to the late Prof. Gabriel Barkay:

Temple Mount sifting project co-founder Gabriel Barkay dies after decades of biblical research. Israeli archaeologist Prof. Gabriel Barkay, who co-founded the Temple Mount Sifting Project and made key discoveries in Jerusalem, has passed away at 81, remembered for his contributions (Jerusalem Post Staff)

Archaeologist Who Died Last Night Made the Discovery of a Lifetime Thanks to an Annoying Child (Dinah Bucholz, JewishBreakingNews.com)

That discovery was, of course, the inscribed Ketef Hinnom silver amulets.

Background here and here.

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

Albanese, Translation Technique and Literary Structures in Greek Isaiah 13:1–14:23 (SBL)

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

Translation Technique and Literary Structures in Greek Isaiah 13:1–14:23
Matthew J. Albanese

ISBN 9781628376449
Volume SCS 79
Status Available
Price $64.00
Publication Date October 2025
Paperback $64.00
eBook $64.00
Hardback $84.00

Matthew J. Albanese explores the translation techniques behind the Greek version of Isaiah 13:1–14:23, offering fresh insights into how the translator rendered the Hebrew text. Through a detailed analysis of style, structure, and linguistic choices, this book reveals how the translator’s decisions were deeply rooted in the Hebrew text, shedding new light on the artistry of biblical interpretation and translation in ancient Judaism. The work also examines how certain divergences and shifts in Hebrew-to-Greek clause structure, semantics, and lexical misunderstanding influenced the formation of Greek Isaiah. The work advances Greek Isaiah research by highlighting the translator’s awareness and appropriation of features from larger thematic and structural portions of Hebrew Isaiah 13:1–14:23.

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

Two Barkay obituaries

TWO MEMORIALS to Prof. Gabriel Barkay:

In Memoriam: Prof. Gabriel Barkay, Dean of Biblical Archaeology (1944–2026). Israel loses another archaeology giant (Armstrong Institute Staff).

In the old days, W. F. Albright was the Dean of Biblical Archaeology. I wonder who will take up that mantle now.

I didn't know about Prof. Barkay's book on Song of Songs.

A personal memorial by Todd Bolen at the Bible Places Blog:

Dr. Gabriel Barkay (1944-2026)

Most remembrances of Gabriel Barkay will likely focus on his archaeological contributions, but for me he was one of the most influential teachers of my life. He didn’t just demand that I know it all, he made me want to know it all. When students of mine complain about the lack of a (useful) exam study guide, I tell them about Dr. Barkay’s exam. There was one, on the last day of the semester, and your entire course grade depended on that one test. It was not multiple-choice or true/false. We had eight essay questions and two hours to write as fast as we possibly could everything we knew. Preparing for those exams taught me how to study, and I’ve never been the same.

Background here.

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

A ceramic fingerprinting database

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: Israeli archaeologists launch project to trace origins of ancient pottery. The project, launched by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), aims to trace the origin of thousands of ceramic vessels even when the kilns where they were fired have long vanished (PESACH BENSON/TPS via Jerusalem Post).

According to a recent IAA announcement, thousands of pottery vessels uncovered at excavation sites across Israel will now be examined with advanced scientific methods and catalogued as part of a joint project led by Dr. Anat Cohen Weinberger of the Israel Antiquities Authority and Prof. Alexander Fantalkin of Tel Aviv University. ...

According to the announcement, the research is being developed as a wide-scale national project. As part of it, the IAA said it is building a digital “kiln atlas” to consolidate the accumulated knowledge and make it available to researchers through a platform being developed by the authority’s digital technologies division. The statement says the atlas is intended to serve as a long-term research infrastructure for studying production, trade, and regional connections in the past.

For a related 2020 article by the lead researcher, see here.

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

The politics of "Palestine"

HISTORY, TERMINOLOGY, POLITICS: Uproar in British academia following use of the term 'Ancient Palestine' in Open University course. A course at the Open University in Britain stated that the Virgin Mary was born in 'ancient Palestine'; Jewish organization has contacted the university, claiming that the term is historically inaccurate; the incorrect term will be removed (Ynet News).

Oh dear. Not so long ago, "Palestine" was a neutral term for a particular geographical area. But now everything is political.

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

Gabriel Barkay, 1944-2026

SAD NEWS: THE PASSING OF DR. GABRIEL BARKAY (The Temple Mount Sifting Project Blog).

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of

Dr. Gabriel Barkay z”l, co-founder and director of the Temple Mount Sifting Project.

[...]

Aren Maier also has a brief notice at his blog: Sad News: Gabriel Barkay z”l….

Sad news this evening with the information that Dr. Gabriel (Gaby) Barkay z”l, passed away. May his memory be a blessing.

Gabi was for many years a leading figure in the archaeology of the Land of Israel in general and Jerusalem in particular, and among his many accomplishments, is well-known for his excavations in the Ketef Hinnom Cemetery, where he discovered the famous “Priestly Blessing” silver amulets.

[...]

These posts mention two of Professor Barkay's best-known accomplishments: the discovery of the Keter Hinnom siver amulets inscribed with the priestly blessing in Numbers 6:24-26 (on which see here and many links) and his leadership of the Temple Mount Sifting Project. PaleoJudaica links to the Sifting Projects's blog frequently.

May his memory be for a blessing.

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

The Roman army at Megiddo

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: The Roman Army at Armageddon. Crossroads of empire and faith (Marek Dospěl).

Writing for the Winter 2025 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, the archaeological team at Legio, headed by Matthew J. Adams and Yotam Tepper, presents the results of their ongoing research into the daily life and the cultural and religious transformations that took place there nearly two millennia ago.

The BAR article is behind the subscription wall, but this BHD essay gives a summary of it.

For PaleoJudaica posts on the excavation of the Sixth Legion Roman camp ("Legio") at Megiddo (a.k.a. the Megiddo Prison excavation), start here and follow the links.

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

Erich von Däniken, 1935-2026

SAD NEWS: Erich von Däniken, author who spawned alien archaeology theory, dies at 90. The Swiss author whose bestselling books about the extraterrestrial origins of ancient civilizations brought him fame (AP via The Independent).

Mr. von Däniken's notions about ancient astronauts are bogus, but entertaining. I read his books at an impressionable age. They got me interested in biblical archaeology. The rest, as they say, is history. If not for him, quite likely you would not be reading this blog or anything else I have written.

For PaleoJudaica posts on Erich von Däniken and his daft ideas, start here and follow the links.

Peace be upon him. Requiescat in pace.

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

Muraoka, The Psalms of Solomon (Peeters)

NEW BOOK FROM PEETERS PRESS:

The Psalms of Solomon

Author:
Muraoka T.

Price: 35 euro
Year: 2025
Isbn: 9789042953826
Pages: XIV-139 p.

Summary:
The Psalms of Solomon comprise a collection of 18 ancient, beautiful psalms preserved in the Septuagint. No Hebrew or Aramaic text has come down to us. In addition to the Greek text, an ancient Syriac translation has been carefully looked at. This book presents the first English translation of the most recent critical edition (2018) prepared by F. Albrecht for the Göttingen Septuagint Project.

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

Dhont (ed.), T&T Clark Handbook of Hellenistic Jewish Literature in Greek

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

T&T Clark Handbook of Hellenistic Jewish Literature in Greek

Marieke Dhont (Anthology Editor)

Hardback
$190.00 $171.00

Ebook (PDF)
$171.00 $136.80

Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
$171.00 $136.80

Product details

Published Oct 30 2025
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 712
ISBN 9780567692368
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 10 x 7 inches
Series T&T Clark Handbooks
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

This volume provides a critical introduction to Hellenistic Jewish Literature. It offers serious students and scholars with an overview of the scholarly issues for each work (covering issues such as date, provenance, language, content, style, reception, contribution to ancient Judaism, etc.) as well as important information about critical editions, manuscripts, and secondary scholarship, serving as a clear starting point for anyone who is interested in this corpus of literature.

The volume begins with a set of thematic essays, providing orientation for the reader and examining core general issues such as language, geography and identity. The core of the volume provides overviews of the scholarly issues surrounding texts. Each entry provides readers with the core information necessary to study the text in depth and to understand its impact upon our understanding of Hellenistic Judaism and its later reception.

I've mentioned this one already as forthcoming, but it deserves a post of its own.

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

Day Festschrift (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

Religion in Ancient Israel

Essays in Honour of John Day

Katherine E. Southwood (Anthology Editor) , Stuart Weeks (Anthology Editor) , H.G.M. Williamson (Anthology Editor)

Hardback
$120.00 $108.00

Ebook (PDF)
$108.00 $86.40

Product details

Published Dec 11 2025
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 328
ISBN 9780567713001
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

This volume intersects with the work of John Day to illuminate major aspects of the religion of Ancient Israel in its geographical and historical context as well as by attention to the literatures of neighbouring peoples (especially, though not exclusively, Ugaritic). The introduction to the volume uses Day's scholarship as a framework within which the individual studies can be contextualized, whilst also describing broader developments within the field during the course of Day's career (such as arguments over the dating of texts, and questions about the very nature of 'ancient Israel') in order to sketch the history of scholarship in this period and discuss its directions of travel.

The chapters are organized into sections covering 'private' and 'public' religion and, whilst the volume does not seek to provide a comprehensive overview of ancient Israelite religion, it does provide a snapshot – by leading scholar scholars – that can stand as an overview of the current state of scholarly enquiry into the religious landscape of ancient Israel.

Congratulations to Professor Day!

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Paul the "Prancer?"

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: When Did Saul Become Paul? Did the apostle really change his name from Saul to Paul? (John Drummond).

In terms of names, there probably was no conversion of Saul to Paul. Saul was most likely called Paul at birth. Contrary to popular belief, Saul did not drop his Jewish name to fully embrace his new life and vocation as a Christian missionary to the Gentiles. ...

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

Bar-Asher & Brown, Light is Sown (OUP)

NEW BOOK FROM OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS:

Light is Sown

The Cultivation of Kabbalah in Medieval Castile

Avishai Bar-Asher and Jeremy Phillip Brown

Oxford Studies in Western Esotericism

£64.00
Hardback

Published: 28 November 2025
248 Pages | 10 color illustrations
235x156mm
ISBN: 9780197744819

Also Available As:
E-book

Description

In a pioneering monograph-length study of the theological journey of Moses ben Shemtov de León of Guadalajara—self-proclaimed "Light of the West" and presumed writer of the Zohar, the kabbalah's crowning literary achievement—Avishai Bar-Asher and Jeremy Phillip Brown reach bold new conclusions about the kabbalah's prominence in medieval Castile. Through rigorous examinations of fragmentary texts inaccessible to scholars previously, the authors unearth critical insights about de León, specifically his regimens of pious living, discourse on gender, understanding of the Hebrew language, and signature thirteen-fold speculation. Bar-Asher and Brown correlate the large body of de León's Hebrew writings with the canonical Zohar, charting the parallel paths of their growth. They also reveal, with unprecedented clarity, the reciprocally interreferential character of the twin corpora at the heart of Castilian kabbalah.

Through the exploration of a variety of alternative contexts offering new interpretations of de León's remarkable creativity, Light is Sown offers extraordinary access to the intellectual history of the Zohar and its worlds. Ranging from those of Alfonsine Castile, where the innovation of ancient linguistic theories went hand-in-hand with imperialism and cultural annexation, to Renaissance Italy—where Christian apologists preserved kabbalistic writings that, if not for their intervention, would have otherwise been lost to time and history—the key discoveries and thematic insights offered in Light is Sown yield a timely analysis of one of the most glorious fruits of Jewish theology.

Cross-file under Zohar Watch.

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

Review of Buckley, 1800 Years Of Encounters With Mandaeans

RELIGION PROF: Review: 1800 Years Of Encounters With Mandaeans (James F. McGrath).

Jorunn Buckley begins her book 1800 Years of Encounters with Mandaeans with a bold claim right in the first sentence. “The Mandaean religion can be traced back to the 1st century, directly related to John the Baptist” (p.ix). I am not sure why the next statement is to concede that this “is not the regular scholarly view” since so few scholars have made this a focus of their attention. Buckley, on the other hand, has dedicated her life to the study of this tradition, and her conclusion should carry appropriate weight....

The book is Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley, 1800 Years Of Encounters With Mandaeans (Gorgias, 2023).

The "review" is actually an AI digest of Professor McGrath's full review in Review of Biblical Literature, which is behind the subscription wall. Welcome to 2026!

James McGrath is also an expert on the Mandeans and on John the Baptist. For more on Professor Buckley's work, see here and links. Cross-file under Mandean (Mandaean) Watch.

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

Is AI replacing archaeologists? Nope.

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: Replacing Archaeologists with AI. Archaeologists create a semi-autonomous detection system (Nathan Steinmeyer, Bible History Daily).

This BHD essay is a good overview of some issues arising from a story I posted on here. Despite the overblown headline, AI will not be replacing archaeologists any time soon. But it will be making their job easier.

Cross file under Algorithm Watch.

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

Another review of Conybeare, Augustine the African

PUNIC WATCH: Augustine’s African heritage. Catherine Conybeare’s new biography reveals a bishop formed by two worlds, two languages, and a church struggling to define itself (Margaret R. Miles, The Christian Century).

Generations of historians have represented Augustine of Hippo as the single most important figure in Christianity’s transition from antiquity to the medieval world. He is usually seen as an intransigent defender of classical values against the inevitable erosion caused by the spread of Christianity to multiple locations and populations. Yet Augustine was not Roman, nor was Latin his native tongue. He was born and raised in North Africa; Punic was the language of his childhood. Catherine Conybeare presents Augustine as a passionate and complex man who, rather than suppressing his loyalty to either Latin- or Punic-speaking churches, remained loyal both to the Roman church that baptized and ordained him and to his African identity.

[...]

It seems that there were still speakers of Punic (more precisely, Neo-Punic) in Augustine's time and that we know something about them. Some of them even constituted an "African church" with its own identity. That's the most interesting aspect of this book for me.

For more on Conybeare, Augustine the African, see here and here.

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

Reviewlet of MacDonald, Carthage: A New History

PUNIC WATCH: The Story of Carthage Isn’t Necessarily What the Romans Committed to History. A new book by historian and archaeologist Eve MacDonald paints a more complete portrait of the once-great African society destroyed by Rome (Brandon Tensley, Smithsonian Magazine).

MacDonald takes us from the Phoenicians who founded the city in the ninth century B.C.E., through the myths, and possible truths, about a canny political dissident from Tyre who came to be known as the queen Dido; we learn of the rise of Carthage as a formidable naval power, and, yes, of its eventual sacking. But we also learn about the first century afterward, when the Punic language of the city’s institutions permeated North Africa. “It is believed that Africa was never so Punic as it was after Carthage was destroyed,” MacDonald writes, as surviving Carthaginians “created a kind of Punic diaspora.”

This is a brief review of Eve MacDonald, Carthage: A New History (W. W. Norton & Company, 2026), which is new to me. For another book by Dr. MacDonald, about Hannibal, see here and links.

As I think I've commented somewhere before, few realize how close Europe came to having Punic as its lingua franca instead of Latin.

Oddly, the first paragraph of this review seems to say that there is no physical evidence for child sacrifice at Carthage. Or does that only refer to that specific episode in 310 BCE, for which there's not much evidence in the first place? In any case, for the debate about child sacrifice at Carthage, see here and many links, with my own overview comments here, with links.

Cross-file under New Book. And this seems like a good time to link to this post, which explains why PaleoJudaica pays attention to the Phoenicians, the Phoenician language, the Carthaginians, and Punic and Neo-Punic.

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

Huckabee family finds ancient coins & stuff in West Bank caves

SPELUNCIC ARCHAEOLOGY, POLITICS, AND NUMISMATICS: 'Grandpa, look what we found': Huckabee family uncovers ancient coins in West Bank caves. US Ambassador Mike Huckabee and his family uncovered ancient coins and jar fragments dating to the Bar-Kochba Revolt during a tour near Na’ale in the Mateh Binyamin region (James Genn, Jerusalem Post).

Well, that was lucky. They also visited Shiloh on the same trip.

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

‘Atiqot Volume 119 (2025)

A NEW VOLUME OF THE ONLINE JOURNAL ‘ATIQOT is out: Current Volume: Volume 119 (2025): Archaeological Perspectives on Water Use and Management. The articles are peer-reviewed and open access.

I imagine some of them will recieve media attention in due course. Meanwhile, have a look.

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

Armstrong Institute: 2025 biblical archaeology top ten

ANNUAL ARCHAEOLOGY LIST WATCH: Top 10 Biblical Archaeology Discoveries of 2025. From an Exodus-period pharaoh’s tomb to a depiction of one of Jerusalem’s greatest kings—here’s the new discoveries that caught our eye (ARMSTRONG INSTITUTE STAFF).

Most of these are familiar from the earlier 2025 lists. For PaleoJudaica overlap, mostly see them. I did not post on "7. Davidic Bronze Production" or on "10. Exodus-Period Fortress in Sinai," although I did note the discovery of a Ptolemaic and Roman-era military fortifications in the North Sinai. Number "1. Assyrian Depiction of Jerusalem and Hezekiah" only appeared in late December, and the other lists missed it. I posted on it here.

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

Temple Mount cedar beams exposed to the elements?

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: From Solomon’s Temple to scrap wood: sacred beams treated as refuse on Temple Mount (Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz, Israel365 News).

Wooden beams that once stood in Solomon’s Temple—timbers that witnessed the glory of the First Temple and survived its destruction—now lie exposed to the elements on the Temple Mount, covered only by a tattered blue tarp and surrounded by garbage.

The Beyadenu movement, which works to preserve Jewish heritage on the Temple Mount, recently discovered that protective coverings had been removed from these ancient beams near the Sha’ar HaRachamim (Gate of Mercy), also known as the Golden Gate. After activists reported the exposure, Beyadenu submitted an urgent request to the Israel Antiquities Authority to ensure the beams were re-covered before winter rains could inflict further damage. The Authority confirmed that the beams—many of which are identified as rare Lebanese cedar—have since been covered.

[...]

For more on these intriguing cedar beams, some of which, as the article notes, have been carbon-dated to the periods of both the First and Second Temples, see here. Whether they came from either of the Temples themselves has not been established. For a 2012 report of some of them being burned as firewood, see here.

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

'Phoenician Identity in the Making' Research Workshop

ISRAEL INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDIES: 'Phoenician Identity in the Making' Research Workshop of The Israel Science Foundation.

This four-day workshop, hosted by the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies and organized in collaboration with the Israel Science Foundation, brings together two IIAS Research Groups:

• Phoenician Identity in the Making: A Longue Durée Perspective (Prof. Naama Yahalom-Mack and Prof. Alexander Fantalkin) — exploring the processes that shaped Phoenician identity over the long term, across different regions and periods.
• Can We Hear Anymore the Voice of Singing Men and Women? Recovering Phoenician Oral Poetry (Prof. Noam Mizrahi and Prof. Andrea Rotstein) — reconstructing aspects of lost Phoenician poetic traditions and their impact on neighboring cultures in the ancient Mediterranean.

The workshop will convene scholars from archaeology, history, philology, literary studies and exact sciences to discuss new multidisciplinary approaches to Phoenician history, literature, and cultural transmission.

If they can recover some Phoenician oral poetry, I will be impressed.

The workshop takes place on 2-4 February 2026 at the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. For further particulars, follow the link.

Cross file under Phoenician Watch.

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

More on Shaphan Ben Azaliah

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

Shaphan Ben Azaliah, Author of the Biblical Historical Saga

This study argues that the Judean scribe Shaphan ben Azaliah orchestrated a palace coup following the assassination of King Amon, enthroned the child Josiah, and engineered a sweeping political and cultic reform through the composition of the “Book of Instructions,” later known as Deuteronomy. Although this monoyahwist, Jerusalem-centered reform ultimately failed politically after Josiah’s death, the texts produced by Shaphan and his circle survived, reshaping biblical historiography and laying the foundations of the Deuteronomistic History. The study reinterprets the biblical canon as the enduring literary legacy of a failed but transformative reformist movement.

Previously published in The Times of Israel.

By Yigal Bin-Nun
Historian and Researcher
Tel Aviv University, Cohen Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas
December 2025

I missed this particular entry in the recent media exchange about Shaphan Ben Azaliah. I noted others here (with earlier links), here, and here.

This hypothesis has connections with Frank Moore Cross's reconstruction of the development of the priesthood in ancient Israel.

Briefly, there were two competing priestly lines, one descending from Aaron and the other from Moses. During the United Monarchy the (inferred) Moses ("Mushite") line, represented by the priest Abiathar, was demoted and retreated to Anathoth. David and Solomon established the Aaronid line in Jerusalem and then in the Temple, but further limited it to the line of the Aaronid priest Zadok. Hence, the Zadokites ran the priesthood of the Jerusalem Temple. The other Aaronids were excluded and perhaps led worship at the "high places." Jeroboam II arguably established a non-Zadokite Aaronid priesthood at Bethel.

In this context, Shaphan is inferred to have connections to the historical Mushite center at Shiloh and to the Mushite priests still at Anathoth (the latter perhaps including the prophet Jeremiah). Shaphan produced a proto-Deuteronomy that accepted a Levitical priesthood without specifying further (thus leaving open the option of reintegrating the deposed Mushites [and Aaronids??] back into the official priesthood).

All of this is possible, perhaps even plausible, but it depends on a chain of inferences that we really can't test. And some of the links are speculative. It is a fascinating reconstruction, though.

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

A Secret Mark timeline

NEW TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA WATCH: Morton Smith: Secret Mark Timeline (Mark Goodacre, NT Blog).

I am grateful to Stephen Goranson for this guest post, and I must apologise that it has taken me so long to post it. I get so busy during term time that I end up neglecting the blog.

If you're interested in the controversy around the supposed letter of Clement of Alexandria to Theodore, quoting a lost, secret version of the Gospel of Mark, this timeline looks like a useful resource.

For PaleoJudaica posts on the Secret Gospel of Mark, see here and links, here, and here. Some of my own thoughts on the subject are at the first and third links.

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

Free online Ancient Language Textbooks

THE AWOL BLOG: Open Access Ancient Language Textbooks, OERs, and Primers. If you want to teach yourself an ancient language, this is the list for you. There are online textbooks for Greek (many varieties), Hebrew, Latin, Sanskrit, Classical Armenian, Akkadian, Sumerian, Manichaean Sogdian, Mayan Hieroglyphics, Old Avestan, Old Persian, Kurdish, Ge'ez, Old Iranian, Ganadhari, Egyptian Demotic, Oscan, Tocharian, and Hieratic Middle Egyptian. I may have missed a few.

Anyway, pick one and go for it. Some will be easier than others!

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

Urtext and Variance (Peeters)

NEW BOOK FROM PEETERS PUBLISHERS:

Urtext and Variance
The Quest for the Texts of the Hebrew Bible

Series:
Contributions to Biblical Exegesis & Theology, 122

Editors:
Rey F.M., Schorch S., Robert-Hayek S.

Price: 105 euro
Year: 2025
Isbn: 9789042954687
Pages: X-388 p.

Summary:
Focusing at “Urtext”, “Variance” and further fundamental concepts of the textual history of the Hebrew Bible, the thirteen chapters collected in this volume provide analyses of their heuristic potential, methodological problems, and implications, proceeding from evidence emerging from a wide range of Biblical texts and textual witnesses.

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

Arielli, The Dead Sea (Yale)

NEW BOOK FROM YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

The Dead Sea
A 10,000-Year History

by Nir Arielli

320 Pages, 5.00 × 7.75 in, 24 b-w illus. + 4 maps

Paperback (for preorder)
9780300286878
Published: Tuesday, 13 Jan 2026
$22.00

Hardcover
9780300259421
Published: Tuesday, 28 Jan 2025
$35.00

eBook
9780300281187
Published: Tuesday, 28 Jan 2025
$35.00

Description

A human history of one of the planet’s most iconic lakes, and the civilizations that surrounded its shores

The Dead Sea is a place of many contradictions. Hot springs around the lake are famed for their healing properties, though its own waters are deadly to most lifeforms—even so, civilizations have built ancient cities and hilltop fortresses around its shores for centuries. The protagonists in its story are not only Jews and Arabs, but also Greeks, Nabataeans, Romans, Crusaders and Mamluks. Today it has become a tourist hotspot, but its drying basin is increasingly under threat.

In this panoramic account, Nir Arielli explores the history of the Dead Sea from the first Neolithic settlements to the present day. Moving through the ages, Arielli reveals the religious, economic, military, and scientific importance of the lake, which has been both a source of great wealth and a site of war. The Dead Sea weaves together a tapestry of the lake’s human stories—and amidst environmental degradation and renewed conflict, makes a powerful case for why it should be saved.

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

Bible Archaeology Report 2025 top ten

ANNUAL ARCHAEOLOGY LIST WATCH: Top Ten Discoveries in Biblical Archaeology in 2025 (Bryan Windle, Bible Archaeology Report). HT the Bible Places Blog.

If you’re new to my yearly top ten list, here are my criteria:

Here are my criteria:

1. These discoveries must be directly related to people, places or events mentioned in Scripture, or to the composition of Scripture itself. For example, in October 2025 Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced that the tomb of Pharaoh Amenhotep III had reopened to the public following a 20-year restoration project. Many scholars identify Amenhotep III as the pharaoh ruling during the period of the Israelite conquest. It was an important announcement of a significant site, but it was not a discovery, so it was not considered for this list.

2. They must be discoveries or new studies about discoveries, as opposed to announcements.

3. I only consider discoveries/studies that have been publicized through an official announcement by a Ministry of Antiquities or from a licensed archaeological dig with the expectation that a peer-reviewed article will follow, or ones that are published in peer-reviewed or other reputable journals.

Here then are the top ten discoveries in biblical archaeology in 2025.

Most of these are familiar from the previous 2025 lists. PaleoJudaica has posted on almost all of those too. See previous lists for links

Bryan does list two new ones, though: "10. Ancient Necropolis Unearthed at Colossae (Oct. 2025)" and "8. Moabite Inscription Unearthed at Jericho (July 2025)." The latter is of considerable interest (as Todd Bolen flags), since it has not been on any other list. Unfortunately, if you go to the linked Interim Report that publishes it (and you have to have an Academia.edu account to get that far), the promised publication note by Émile Puech on pp. 97-99 is not included.

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ECT reviews Baker, Why a “New Testament?

THE ETC BLOG: Review of Baker, Why a “New Testament”? (Peter J. Montoro IV).

Baker’s work significantly advances the case for an “early and internal impetus” for the recognition of the writings that we now know as the “New Testament” as canonical scripture. If Baker is right (and I think he is), we have every reason to believe that most of our earliest manuscripts were already regarded by many of their first users as “New Testament Scripture.” On this account, though the fuzzy edges of the canon took some time to come into focus, the concept of new covenant scripture, far from being a later imposition or a response to an external threat, was already present before any of these documents was composed.

I noted the publication of the book here.

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New bill proposes to extend Israeli authority over West Bank

ARCHAEOLOGY AND POLITICS: New West Bank antiquity bill seeks to extend Israeli authority over Areas A and B. Proposed law, seeking to create a civilian body in charge of antiquities and archaeological sites, has been opposed by most Israeli archaeologists, likely violates international law (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel).

A new version of a bill whose purpose is to extend Israeli authority over antiquities and heritage sites in the West Bank, aims to include Areas A and B — where the Palestinian Authority has civilian control — under the scope of its applicability, according to the latest draft uploaded to the Knesset website on Wednesday ahead of a meeting of the Education and Culture Committee to discuss it. ...

Under the Oslo Accords, Israel’s involvement in West Bank antiquities is only supposed to extend to Area C, the 60% of the West Bank where it maintains civil and military control, while Area A and B are under the civilian control of the Palestinian Authority (in the case of Area A, the PA also maintains control over security affairs).

Under prevailing interpretations of international law, even in Area C, Israel is permitted only to conduct salvage excavations and operations to preserve antiquities and archaeological sites, rather than to initiate academic digs or site development.

Background here.

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Sifting Project unearths a siege slingstone

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT: STONE OF THE SIEGE: 10TH OF TEVET AND THE DEFENSE OF THE TEMPLE MOUNT.

On this 10th of Tevet, a day marking the onset of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem, we reflect on the transition of the Temple Mount from a sacred center to a besieged stronghold. A recent discovery from the Temple Mount Sifting Project, a small, meticulously rounded stone recovered by one of our frequent visitors, 12 year old Noam Spivak, provides a tangible entry point into the mechanics of antiquity warfare.

[...]

The minor fast of the Tenth of Tevet was on 30 December.

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Six lost cities that are still lost

STILL LOOKING: 6 'lost' cities archaeologists have never found (Owen Jarus, Live Science).

Archaeologists have been very busy excavating lost civilizations, but they haven't found everything. There are still prominent ancient cities, including capitals of large kingdoms and empires, that have never been unearthed by scholars.

We know these cities exist because ancient texts describe them, but their location may be lost to time.

In a few cases, looters have found these cities, and have looted large numbers of artifacts from them. But these robbers have not come forward to reveal their location. In this countdown Live Science takes a look at six ancient cities whose whereabouts are unknown.

Lest you are tempted to think that "'lost' cities archaeologists have never found" is an oxymoron, I remind you that not so long ago Egyptian archaeologists discovered the "Lost Golden City" near Luxor.

The lost city of Akkad (Agade), Sargon of Agade's capital city, is mentioned in the Bible and has come up in PaleoJudaica here, here, and here.

The lost city of Al-Yahudu is the source of of the unprovenanced, but apparently genuine, Al-Yahudu Babylonian cuneiform archive. See here and links.

The unprovenanced Sumerian archive of the lost city of Irisagrig has come up here and here, in both cases linking to articles by Owen Jarus.

PaleoJudaica has not previously referred to the lost Mitanni capital of Waššukanni or the lost Egyptian cities of Itjtawy or Thinis.

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On the origin of Hanukkah

NOTED BELATEDLY FOR HANUKKAH: The origin of Hanukkah. In the wake of the Bondi Beach massacre we ask what is Hanukkah? (Ritmeyer Archaeological Design).

So, what is the origin of the Feast of Hanukkah and which dedication does it refer to? Most of the historical information comes from the intertestamental books of First and Second Maccabees. Historical documents from this time are known as the deuterocanonical literature. Six other books are accepted as deuterocanonical by some ancient churches: Tobit, Judith, Baruch, Ecclesiasticus, and Wisdom. Other sources are the Works of Flavius Josephus, History of the Jewish War, The Antiquities of the Jews, and Against Apion.

Overall, this is a good historical and, especially, architectural overview. But I was puzzled to read this unqualified statement:

While cleaning the Temple, a small jug with olive oil was found under the seal of the High priest that was used to fill the lamps of the Lampstand (Menorah). There was only oil sufficient for one day, but, miraculously it lasted for eight days. That is where the idea of the Hanukkiah comes from.

No mention that this story is late, first appearing in the Babylonian Talmud. Yes, also in the Megillat Ta'anit, but in a late Hebrew portion. The idea of Hanukkah comes from the "rededication" of the Temple, which is narrated in the early sources.

There are many PaleoJudaica posts exploring the complex history and reception of Hanukkah. Some are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and links, here and links, and here. If you do a search for "Hanukkah," you will find more, although many links have rotted.

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Happy 2026!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Have a wonderful 2026, with frequent visits to PaleoJudaica.

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