The Book of Joshua (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

The Book of Joshua

Composition, Reception, and Interpretation

Series: Formation and Interpretation of Old Testament Literature, Volume: 203/11
Vetus Testamentum, Supplements, Volume: 203/11

Volume Editors: Lissa M. Wray Beal, Craig A. Evans, and D. Allen Hutchison

The Book of Joshua presents many interpretive challenges. These include its depiction of warfare violence, its engagement with modern archaeological enterprise, its use in colonial expansion, and its insistence on the sole worship of Yahweh in pluralistic religious contexts. The expert contributors to this volume examine such questions and also ground the reader in ongoing scholarly discussion of key issues of composition, genre, theology, and Nachleben. This book serves as a valuable resource for graduate students and scholars alike, presenting a snapshot of the state of Joshua scholarship while opening new avenues for scholarly consideration.

Copyright Year: 2026

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-75746-2
Publication: 08 Jun 2026
EUR €140.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-52985-4
Publication: 09 Jul 2026
EUR €140.00

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Collins, Apocalypticism as a Worldview in Ancient Judaism (Eerdmans)

NEW BOOK FROM EERDMANS:

Apocalypticism as a Worldview in Ancient Judaism
by John J. Collins

Imprint: Eerdmans

192 Pages, 6.00 × 9.00 in

PAPERBACK
9780802885005
Publication Date: June 25, 2026
$27.99
£20.99

EBOOK
9781467469432
Publication Date: June 25, 2026
$27.99
£20.99

DESCRIPTION

How did apocalyptic concerns shape ancient Jewish life and literature?

In this compelling study, renowned scholar John J. Collins examines the apocalyptic worldview that emerged in Jewish thought during the Hellenistic and Greco-Roman periods. He reconstructs this perspective through carefully contextualized readings of ancient Jewish apocalyptic literature.

According to Collins, defining features of the apocalyptic worldview include the desire to grasp history in its entirety; the expectation that history as we know it will come to an end; the use of patterns and images drawn from ancient myths to frame history as something beyond human control; increased interest in the heavens and otherworldly regions; and hope that humans may enjoy eternal life in heaven. As Collins systematically outlines ancient Jewish understandings of time and space, he situates them within broader intellectual currents. Ultimately, he shows that apocalyptic concerns extend beyond specific historical crises to fundamental questions of human mortality and limitation. Addressing the challenge that many Jewish apocalyptic texts survive only in Christian translations, Collins argues persuasively for identifying authentic Jewish layers in this literature, recovering voices that would otherwise remain lost.

This comprehensive study offers fresh perspectives on Jewish apocalyptic literature—and in so doing, reestablishes apocalypticism as a category worthy of sustained scholarly attention. Essential reading for scholars and students in biblical studies.

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The Rosicrucian inflection

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: The Rosicrucians: A 400-Year-Old Hoax That Worked (Philip Jenkins).

To return to the theme of this blog series, the Rosicrucian texts were composed as an authoritative text with scriptural authority. We may not like the word “forged” because that words implies people were meant to take them as literal and factual, and there was never much doubt that readers were assumed to be using the lens of the allegorical and symbolic.

But whatever we think of that distinction, this is undoubtedly an account of the finding of a sacred text concealed in a tomb. And explicitly, we are told that it was placed there to await the days when it could safely be revived, or better, resurrected. In those last times, that scripture would become the charter of a purified mystical Christianity. This is exactly the topos that we have encountered with the other texts that appeared in this brief and incredibly creative period at the start of the seventeenth century.

And does that not also sound precisely like much of the literature that greeted the finding of the Gospel of Thomas in the twentieth century?

In many ways the three foundational Rosicrucian documents represent peak Renaissance techno-Hermeticism. They present apocryphal, deeply symbolic, Vitruvian architecture and venerable, if similarly apocryphal, Hermetic magic, astrology, and elevated alchemy. And, as Prof. Jenkins notes, more than one authoritative apocryphal book.

All this was a novel, and strangely successful way to start a secret society. Annouce that you are in charge of a venerable clandestine fraternity. Invite people to publish applications for admission. And never reply to any of them.

I would post some bibliography, but it looks like Prof. Jenkins will have more to say on the subject. Maybe after that.

This Anxious Bench post is a continuation of Professor Jenkins's Lost and Found Scriptures series. For earlier posts, see here and links.

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Non-Semitic Loanwords in the Hebrew Bible

PHILOLOGY: Speaking of Eisenbrauns, at the JewishLink, Mitchell First has a two-part profile of selected words covered in Non-Semitic Loanwords in the Hebrew Bible: A Lexicon of Language Contact, by Benjamin Noonan (Eisenbrauns, 2019).

Non-Semitic Loanwords in Tanach

In Noonan’s view, there are over 200 non-Semitic loanwords in Tanach and he discusses each one. You will be very surprised at some of the words he includes. In this column, I am limiting myself to discussing words he included that begin with א (and I have only discussed a small portion of them). About 20% of his entries begin with א.

Non-Semitic Loanwords in Tanach. Part II

In Noonan’s view, there are over 200 non-Semitic loanwords in Tanach and he discusses each one. Last week, I limited myself to discussing words he included that begin with א (and I only discussed a small portion of them). This week, I am surveying ב through ח, and only including a portion of his entries. Note also that most loanwords are nouns.

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New editors for the Eisenbrauns HACL series

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL INVOLVED: Penn State University Press appoints new editors for Eisenbrauns series.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State University Press has announced the appointment of two new series editors for its "History, Archaeology, and Culture of the Levant" series, published under its Eisenbrauns imprint. Deirdre Fulton and Kristine Garroway will serve as the series editors, replacing original and longtime series editors Jeff Blakely and Lawson Younger.

[...]

The press release gives background on the new editors, as well as background on the Eisenbrauns imprint, one of the major publishers for biblical studies and the Ancient Near East.

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Trump wears an Aramaic Zohar treatise for protection?

APOTROPAIC ARAMAIC: Marla Maples: Trump carries the Zohar over his heart “for protection and healing.” (Tamar Stein, Israel365News).

Marla Maples, Donald Trump’s second wife, revealed in a new interview that the president carries an Aramaic copy of the Zohar’s Book of Pinchas inside his clothing, pressed against his heart. Speaking with Channel 12’s Jonathan Rieger, Maples said the mystical text serves a specific purpose in Trump’s life: “protection and healing.”

[...]

There is a pocket edition of Zohar treatise Pinchas in the original Aramaic, sold for just this purpose.

Cross-file under Aramaic Watch, Zohar Watch, and Politics.

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Gemstones are divine

PROF. ILONA N. RASHKOW: Gemstones of the Gods: The Symbolism of the High Priest’s Breastpiece (TheTorah.com).

Ezekiel pictures Eden as a garden filled with precious stones—the same stones that adorn the high priest’s breastpiece. Across the ancient Near East, gods inhabit a world of jewel-bearing trees, gemstone mountains, and temples of lapis and gold. By wearing these stones when he enters YHWH’s sanctuary, the high priest dresses for the divine realm.

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Antiquities looting charges in Hadera Court

APRREHENDED AND INDICTED: IAA files indictment against two Fureidis residents caught carrying illegally excavated artifacts. Distelfeld and the other officials found a total of 13 ancient bronze coins, three ancient bronze items, two ancient lead items, and another 14 unidentified metal objects in the suspects' possession (Yoav Etiel, Jerusalem Post).

The two were in the midst of an illegal excavation of the site when they were discovered by the IAA, an INPA inspector, and a local security guard. Several pieces of ancient pottery had been shattered, and layers of earth had been disturbed during the suspects’ excavation.

While transporting the suspects to the police station, a rocket siren sounded, forcing the police officers and IAA inspectors to stop and take shelter with the apprehended suspects, as well as other civilians, until the Home Front Command issued an all-clear alert.

I remember this incident from last March, but it looks like I didn't report on it. There are so many antiquities looting arrests it is difficult to keep track of them.

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Are Jeremiah's false prophet opponents imaginary?

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

Who Are the “False Prophets” in the Book of Jeremiah?

The book of Jeremiah brims with scathing denunciations of what it casts as “false prophecy.” Scholars have long sought to reconstruct the historical realities presumed to stand behind Jeremianic discourse about prophetic conflict. The study of inner-biblical interpretation provides a productive new lens through which to reassess the problem. The “false prophets” are best understood as Jeremiah’s imagined exegetical opponents—exegetical inventions and products of scribal inner-biblical interpretation. This new approach throws into sharper relief the richness and sophistication of the exegetical imagination in ancient Israel.

See also Prophetic Conflict and Scribal Culture: Ancient Exegetical Imagination in the Book of Jeremiah (De Gruyter, 2026).

By Olga Fabrikant-Burke
University of Cambridge
Ridley Hall, Cambridge
Tutor in Old Testament
August 2026

This is a very interesting argument and it may be right. But I can think of some other possible explanations for the overlaps and interactions between Jeremiah's and Hananiah's oracles. Hananiah may indeed have been interacting with Jeremiah's orally-presented oracles. Or, vice-versa, Jeremiah with Hananiah's. They could be going back and forth. Or both could be drawing on current prophetic rhetorical conventions and using them in different ways. Or some combination of the above. Or some combination of the above with subsequent scribal touching up.

Perhaps the author addresses some of these points in her book, which I have not read. (Cross-file under New Book.)

Her argument underlines a point we should always keep in mind. None of our manuscripts of the books of the Hebrew Bible are at all close to any putative autograph text.* And there is a lot of evidence for active scribal tampering in the manuscripts we have. Any attempt to reconstruct an historical Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, or original text of other books, need to keep this point firmly in mind.

*Yes, I know the Book of Daniel is an exception. Arguably our earliest (fragmentary Qumran) manuscripts were written withing living memory of the original circulation of the book, perhaps even soon after. But the Old Greek version gives us good reason to think that what we have in the Masoretic Text has already been subject to considerable scribal intervention.

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Most of Egypt's antiquities remain to be uncovered?

EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGY: Only 30% of Egypt's antiquities uncovered, more discoveries await-official (Egyptian State Information Service).

Egypt has uncovered only about 30% of its archaeological heritage, with vast historic treasures from successive civilizations still buried beneath its soil, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Hisham El-Leithy said on Tuesday, July 7, 2026.

[...]

I would have thought that Egypt was among the most archaeological explored places in the world. Perhaps even the very most. Yet 70% of its antiquities remain to be discovered? The claim is surprising, but the discovery pace in the last few years offers it some support. Examples noted here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

The other extremely thoroughly archaeologically explored region that comes immediately to mind is, of course, the Land of Israel. How many of its antiquities remain to be discovered? Many, I hope.

For related reflections see here and here and links.

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Review of Gradel & Pedersen ,The Lost Novel of King Solomon and the Demons

THE APOCRYPHICITY BLOG: Book Review: The Lost Novel of King Solomon and the Demons (Tony Burke).

Gradel and Pedersen have made an important contribution to the study of TSol. While The Lost Novel has a few idiosyncrasies (most notably the juxtaposition of the literary qualities of Proto-TSol and TSol), it is carefully argued and clearly written. I think the arguments for an early novelistic account of Solomon and the demons could be made without appeal to the rings, but they are a fascinating example of the interplay between apocryphal texts and material culture.

I noted the publication of the book here, with a bit of commentary and a link to previous posts on the Testament of Solomon. I could have flagged posts on Solomonic artifacts here and here. If I had looked more closely I would have seen that the already-published rings are discussed in chapter 8 in the latter volume.

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The ABCs of West Bank areas

POLITICS AND ARCHAEOLOGY: Explaining the West Bank Map: What Are Areas A, B and C? (Linda Dayan, Haaretz).

The fragmented areas were created by the Oslo Accords in 1993 as a temporary measure to divide control between Israel and the Palestinians. More than 30 years later, the system remains in place

The alphabet areas are about governance in general, not just archaeology. But they come up all the time in stories about West Bank archaeology. It's good to have this overview of what they mean.

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Anything left to say about the Shroud of Turin?

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: The Shroud of Turin: Anything Left to Say? The history of Christianity’s most controversial relic (Andrea Nicolotti).

Understandably, the authenticity discussion has almost completely stalled out. With no new data to consider and the two camps entrenched in their positions, is there anything left to say about the Shroud? If we do not want to engage in the fight over its authenticity, is the Shroud still an object deserving of further study?

This BHD essay is concerned with the reception history of the Shroud and does not take a position on its authenticity.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on the Shroud of Turin, some of which note arguments in favor of or against its authenticity, start here and follow the links. The vast majority of scholarship views it as a medieval forgery.

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Daniel Sivan (1949-2026)

SAD NEWS: Daniel Sivan, Leading Scholar of Ancient Hebrew and Semitic Languages, Dies at 76 (מילה, That Eric Alper).

Daniel Sivan, an Israeli Emeritus professor whose decades of scholarship reshaped the study of ancient Hebrew and Northwest Semitic languages, died on August 6, 2026, in Lehavim, Israel, at the age of 76. ...

Sivan’s research centered on ancient Hebrew and Northwest Semitic languages, including Ugaritic, Phoenician, and Punic, and he became known for demonstrating that Ugaritic constituted an independent language within the Northwest Semitic family rather than a Canaanite dialect, challenging assumptions held by earlier scholars. He also produced significant work on medieval Jewish grammarians, including an annotated critical edition of the grammatical writings of Rabbi Yehuda Hayyuj, published in 2012. Alongside Professor Maya Fruchtman, he edited the comprehensive Ariel dictionary, and co-authored the Ariel Aramaic-Hebrew Dictionary with Dr. Haim Dihi. His final book, ‘Sfat Kna’an,’ co-written with Shmuel Ahituv, was published by the Bialik Institute in 2026.

He also published on the Canaanite (Northwest Semitic) elements in the Akkadian of the Amarna letters and related texts. He studied with Anson Rainey, a previous-generation expert on that area and on Northwest Semitics more generally.

May his memory be for a blessing.

Cross-file under Northwest Semitic Epigraphy.

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Daniel's dream portrayed on an ancient Turkish liturgical vessel

CERAMIC ICONOGRAPHY: Unique 1,500-year-old liturgical vessel depicting Daniel's vision found in Türkiye (Türkiye Today Newsroom).

Archaeologists working at the ancient city of Antioch of Pisidia in Isparta, southwestern Türkiye, have uncovered an approximately 1,500-year-old liturgical vessel that researchers say has no known parallel in Christian art history.

Dating to the sixth century A.D., the two-handled vessel brings together the Prophet Daniel, the four beasts from his prophetic vision and a lion within the same composition, according to excavation director Professor Mehmet Ozhanli of Suleyman Demirel University's Department of Archaeology.

[...]

It is difficult to make out anything from the photos, but scroll down for a helpful drawing depicting the scene on the vessel.

For PaleoJudaica posts on the dream of the four beasts in Daniel 7 and it reception, see the links collected here. A late-antique mosaic depicting the dream was excavated at the Huqoq synagogue.

There were many Antiochs in antiquity. Two of the best know are Antioch on the Orontes in Syria, where Jesus followers were reportedly first called "Christians" (Acts 11:26). The other one, where this jar was found, was Antioch of Pisidia (Pisidian Antioch) in Turkey, also mentioned in Acts 13:13-52.

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No Aramaic in Gibsons "Resurrection of the Christ"

CINEMA: Mel Gibson Says ‘Resurrection of the Christ’ Not in Aramaic Because the Story Is Too “Complex” for Subtitles (Jordan Ruimy, World of Reel).

That’s a significant departure from “The Passion of the Christ,” where the use of Aramaic and Latin was central to the experience. Audiences were unbothered by the experience as, at the time, it was the most profitable R-rated movie in history, grossing $612M worldwide, which today would amount to $1.1 billion.

Gibson has been working on this film for a long time. Reportedly, it includes the fall of the angels and the descensus ad infernos, so, yes, there could be a lot of mythology and theology to work through. Pity about the Aramaic, though.

Follow the link in the previous paragraph for more posts on the forthcoming two-part film. Cross-file under Aramaic Watch (Not).

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Carbajosa, A Step Back to the Original Old Testament Peshitta (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

A Step Back to the Original Old Testament Peshitta

Textual Development of the Syriac Version in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy

Series: Monographs of the Peshitta Institute, Volume: 23

Author: Ignacio Carbajosa

For many years, textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible relied on low-quality editions of the Syriac version (Peshitta). The Leiden critical edition was an improvement, but it still depended on a manuscript (7a1) with many secondary readings. This thorough study of the textual development of Syriac versions in Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, creates the first genealogical tree of the manuscripts, thereby recovering the most original text of the Peshitta. This research sheds light on the origins of the translation and paves the way for a future, eclectic edition of the Syriac version.

Copyright Year: 2026

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-76305-0
Publication: 01 Jun 2026
EUR €159.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-76302-9
Publication: 02 Jul 2026
EUR €159.00

Cross-file under Syriac Watch.

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Scarlata, Wine, Soil, and Salvation in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament (CUP)

NEW BOOK FROM CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

Wine, Soil, and Salvation in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament

Author: Mark Scarlata, St Mellitus College, London
Published: July 2026
Availability: Available
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781009551106

£24.99 GBP
Paperback

£90.00 GBP
Hardback

$120.00 USD
eBook

Description

Biblical authors used wine as a potent symbol and metaphor of material blessing and salvation, as well as a sign of judgement. In this volume, Mark Scarlata provides a biblical theology of wine through exploration of texts in the Hebrew Bible, later Jewish writings, and the New Testament. He shows how, from the beginnings of creation and the story of Noah, wine is intimately connected to soil, humanity, and harmony between humans and the natural world. In the Prophets, wine functions both as a symbol of blessing and judgement through the metaphor of the cup of salvation and the cup of wrath. In other scriptures, wine is associated with wisdom, joy, love, celebration, and the expectations of the coming Messiah. In the New Testament wine becomes a critical sign for the presence of God's kingdom on earth and a symbol of Christian unity and life through the eucharistic cup. Scarlata's study also explores the connections between the biblical and modern worlds regarding ecology and technology, and why wine remains an important sign of salvation for humanity today.

• Organizes the biblical data on wine into logical categories that provide an overarching framework for how wine connects as a sign of salvation and/or judgment in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament
• Addresses environmental, technological and agricultural questions that emerge from the biblical text and offers modern parallels that relate to how we might address the challenges facing humanity today
• Makes a biblical theology of wine accessible to readers without specialised training in biblical studies or languages while still offering a critical and scholarly treatment of the subject

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On John Dee's Enochian writings

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: The Wizard, The Thief, Their Angels, And The Lost Language (Philip Jenkins).

Which takes us back to the question of forgery. The Enochic texts are mysterious in many ways, not least because they do appear to be in some form of language: you can even find a whole Enochian dictionary. Where was all this coming from? Assuming they were not angelic in origin, was Dee composing the whole thing? Was Kelley? Kelley was a much sketchier character, with a reputed background in counterfeiting: hence the “thief” of my title here. Was it a kind of folie a deux? I don’t know for sure, but I am quite prepared to believe that Dee was uttering sayings and writings that he sincerely believed to be supernatural in origin. Did he really believe that angels were delivering these great secrets to him? Who can say? Did Joseph Smith?

Ah, Professor Jenkins has come to Dr. John Dee and his mysterious Enochian revelations in the lost Enochian language, mediated by his sketchy scryer and surprisingly successful alchemist, Mr. Edward Kelley. I have been interested Dr. Dee's Enochiana for a long time. For many posts, start here and follow the links.

Prof. Jenkins gives a good overview of Dee's life and accomplishments, with some attention to the afterlife of his work. I published an article in the Boccaccini Festschrift which indirectly address some of the questions he raises in the quotation above:

J Harold Ellens (et al.), Wisdom Poured Out Like Water: Studies on Jewish and Christian Antiquity in Honor of Gabriele Boccaccini (Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature Studies 38; de Gruyter, 2018).

James R. Davila, "The 94 Books of Ezra and the Angelic Revelations of John Dee," pp. 32-44. Full text at the link.

John Dee's 500th birthday is next July 13th. I imagine there will be an event somewhere in the UK to commemorate it. I expect you will see me there.

This Anxious Bench post is a continuation of Professor Jenkins's Lost and Found Scriptures series. For earlier posts, see here and links.

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Video reconstructions of Herod's Temple courts

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT: VISUALIZING THE SPLENDOR: NEW 3D RECONSTRUCTIONS OF THE TEMPLE MOUNT COURTS.

Frankie [Snyder] conducted the most comprehensive research ever done in Israel on the subject. Thanks to the extensive knowledge she acquired, her mathematical skills, and her photographic memory, she managed to restore quite a few tiles and reconstruct seven paving patterns used in the Herodian Temple Mount.

We assume that these patterns were used in roofed areas – both because of the size of the stones and their aesthetics, and because of the absence of plaster marks on their edges (a prominent feature of an Opus Sectile floor, which does not allow for flexible paving exposed to the elements). However, it is important to note that we do have quite a few tiles that can indeed be reconstructed as having been set in an open plaza, and as mentioned, we are still waiting for additional data on the matter. ...

Recently, two new videos were published online showcasing a reconstruction of the Temple Mount during the Second Temple period, incorporating the floor patterns we published. The videos were produced by Daniel Smith, Director of Messages of Christ at Scripture Central. Smith is a biblical history enthusiast whose lifelong dream is to visually make the scriptures and the Holy Land accessible, teaching others in a way that has never been done before.

In our judgment, it is safe to say that Smith’s reconstructions are the best and most up-to-date digital reconstructions made so far in relation to the research literature on the subject. ...

Follow the link for links to the two videos.

I noted the 2016 announcement of Ms. Snyder's reconstruction of the Temple courtyard floor tiles here. The first I heard of the tile fragments was in 2010. For subsequent posts, start here and follow the links back.

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When did Nash buy the papyrus?

VARIANT READINGS: The Purchase of the Nash Papyrus, Again (Brent Nongbri).

I continue to be puzzled by the problem of the purchase of the Nash Papyrus. In an earlier post, I noted that one finds two different dates in the literature, 1898 and 1902. I cited Emanuel Tov among those who have given the 1902 date. But I now see that in a more recent volume (2020) Tov has also noticed the problem already: ...

And the problem remains unsolved, because the people who gave the dates gave no supporting information.

We think we can reconstruct the history of the Qumran community, but we can't even figure out what year the Nash Papyrus was purchased.

Background here and links.

UPDATE: I wrote the above yesterday, but didn't get around to posting it. Meanwhile Dr. Nongbri has a new post on the subject:

Early Publications on the Nash Papyrus

The weight of evidence is now in favor of the 1902 date, but the matter remains complicated.

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The mis-mapping of Solomon's Pools?

POLITICS AND ARCHAEOLOGY: Holy Land battle: Solomon's Pools become flashpoint in fight over Israel's biblical heritage. The ancient reservoirs between Efrat and Bethlehem supplied Jerusalem with water for 2,000 years along Route 60 (Amelie Botbol F, Fox News).

Under the agreements, the West Bank was divided into Areas A, B and C. Solomon's Pools are located in Area A, which falls under Palestinian civil and security control.

Yonatan Marcus, chief of staff of the Efrat Municipality, told Fox News Digital that during the negotiations, then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin maintained that the pools would remain under Israeli control, alongside other archaeological sites of major Judeo-Christian significance such as Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem.

However, during the mapping process, he said, the words "Solomon's Pools" remained within Area C on zoomed-out maps, while the reservoirs themselves ultimately mistakenly fell inside Area A.

The Solomon's Pools situation has been going on for a while. Have a look. Make of it what you will.

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Orlov, Broken Vessels (SUNY)

NEW BOOK FROM SUNY PRESS:

Broken Vessels
Theogonies of the Divine Light in Judaism and Christianity

By Andrei A. Orlov

Subjects: Kabbalah, Jewish Mysticism, Christianity, Jewish Studies, Jewish Religious Studies, Bible Studies, Theology

Hardcover : 9798855808735, 314 pages, August 2026
Paperback : 9798855808742, 314 pages, February 2027
Hardcover $135.00

Pre-Order Now
Paperback $39.95

Description

Undertakes a thorough investigation of early Jewish theogonic and cosmogonic traditions found in the Enochic writings and their formative influence on subsequent Gnostic, Manichaean, and Kabbalistic developments.

In Broken Vessels, Andrei A. Orlov offers a comprehensive examination of early Jewish theogonic symbolism as reflected in early Enochic texts and its subsequent influence on Gnostic, Manichaean, and later Kabbalistic traditions. Introducing a new methodological approach to understanding the conceptual foundations of theogonic imagery in Lurianic Kabbalah, Orlov argues that this symbolism was neither a later invention of Jewish mystics nor merely a remnant of Manichaean and Gnostic motifs. Rather, these mystical traditions drew upon authentic Jewish theogonic currents that originated during the Second Temple period. The book further demonstrates that the distinctive theogonic and eschatological concepts preserved in early Jewish writings—most notably in 2 Enoch—offer valuable insights into the evolution of the Enochic tradition during the first centuries of the Common Era. This era witnessed significant reinterpretations of the biblical creation narrative by diverse Jewish and Christian groups. Within these developments, the notion of a "time before creation" emerged as a pivotal theme in debates concerning the completeness and authority of divine revelation.

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Variants from the MT in the Great Isaiah Scroll?

THE OTTC BLOG: How Close is the Great Isaiah Scroll to the Medieval Masoretic Manuscripts? (Drew Longacre).

I have addressed this question and noted some meaningful variants from the MT in this scroll here and links. Dr Longacre notes some of those and others I did not mention.

For many other posts on the Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa^a), which is currently on exhibit in the Israel Museum, start here and follow the links.

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A Mithraeum in Spain was really a Roman library?

BILBIOTHECAL ARCHAEOLOGY: Oldest Known Roman Library in Spain Identified at Ancient Villa (Nisha Zahid, Greek Reporter).

Archaeologists have identified the oldest known library on the Iberian Peninsula inside a Roman villa in southern Spain, overturning decades of belief that the room was a sanctuary dedicated to the Roman god Mithras.

The discovery was made at the Roman villa of Fuente Álamo in Puente Genil, in Spain’s Córdoba province. Researchers concluded the room served as a space for reading, study, and preserving written works, making it the westernmost known library in the Roman Empire and one of its best-preserved private examples.

[...]

PaleoJudaica is all about ancient libraries, so this is newsworthy in itself. But over at Variant Readings, Brent Nongbri has a post that brings out an additional point of interest:

A Roman Library in Spain and the “declamatio sarcophagus.”

The sarcophagus is in the vicinity of the ancient villa, is possibly connected to its owner, and it is engraved with a man holding up a scroll, but perhaps not a codex in addition. Have a look and see what you think.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on ancient libraries, see here, here and links, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. It's always good to find another one, even if, sadly, the books are gone.

Incidentally, another Mithraeum was excavated in Spain a few years ago. But that one was in Córdoba in Andalusia. The site now interpreted as a library is in Fuente Álamo in Murcia.

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NEH awards to Princeton profs on the Cairo Geniza

CAIRO GENIZA WATCH: Eve Krakowski and Marina Rustow awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (Rebekah Schroeder, Princeton University).

Princeton professors Eve Krakowski and Marina Rustow have received grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for projects connected with Princeton’s Geniza Lab, which studies a cache of more than 400,000 ancient paper and parchment documents recovered from a synagogue in Cairo.

Congratulations to Prof. Krakowski on the grant for her project “Living with Death in Medieval Egypt: Editions and Translations of a Cairo Geniza Corpus” and to Prof. Rustow on the grant for her project “Indian Ocean Documents from the Cairo Geniza.” The projects received $300,000 each.

For more on Prof. Rustow's work on the Geniza, see here, here, and here. Prof. Krakowski is new to me.

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Update on Avdat's vintage resurrection

ARCHAEOBOTANY: Long-lost Byzantine-era vines are again cultivated on ancient Negev terraces. Discovery of 7th-century grape seeds at Avdat National Park in southern Israel inspires Nature and Parks Authority archaeologist to recreate wine valued across the ancient empire (Sue Surkes, Times of Israel).

The project was sparked by the discovery of well-preserved carbonized grape seeds during an archeological excavation that ran from 2017 to 2019 at Avdat, located between Beersheba and Mitzpe Ramon.

The seeds, dated to the seventh century CE, were sent to Tel Aviv University for genetic analysis. One was found to be the ancestor of the Syriki variety, which has small black grapes and is still drunk in the monasteries of Lebanon and Greece. Another was identified as Ba’ar, which produces white wine.

A year ago we left it that grapes had been produced by the Debuki (Dabouki) vines and the Bar (Ba’ar) and Siriki grapes were to be harvested in a few weeks.

Now wine has been produced from all three types of grape and the verdict is in:

While all [three local Negev winemakers] used modern equipment rather than feet to extract the juice, they were asked not to use any modern additives, such as industrial yeast, sulfites, or chemicals.

The three grape varieties yielded five varietals, or types of wine.

“The biggest surprise when we opened the bottles was to discover amazing wine,” said Schweimer, who added that seeing so much green in the desert was a delight.

As an archaeologist but not a wine expert, he took some of the 300 bottles to Tel Aviv to conduct blind tastings for 20 experts.

“They were impressed,” he said. “They couldn’t identify exactly what it was —nobody had drunk it for 1,300 years — but they said it was very balanced, with a bit too much alcohol. It’s not a drink you should drive after!”

Last year's post has background to the story, as well as on the site of Avdat in the Negev, which flourished from the Nabatean (Nabataean) era into the Byzantine era.

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The Nash Papyrus and the Odyssey

VARIANT READINGS: A Cambridge Papyrus of the Odyssey and the Nash Papyrus (Brent Nongbri).

This is Cambridge University Library Add MS 4074 (TM 61188), containing some fragmentary lines of Book 12. What caught my eye about the post was the note on the tape that seals the glass frame: “Presented by F.C. Burkitt, M.A., 1903.” There are many sub-collections of papyri kept at Cambridge, but I was not aware of a “Burkitt” collection. In any event, a little digging revealed that these fragments are said to have been purchased together with the much more famous “Nash Papyrus” (Cambridge University Library MS Or.233), a Hebrew papyrus containing a version of the ten commandments now usually assigned to the second century BCE on the basis of palaeography. ...

For more on the Nash Papyrus, the oldest surviving copy of the Ten Commandments (and discovered before the Dead Sea Scrolls), see here and links, here, and here. The Odyssey, of course, has been in the news lately for other reasons. And, speaking of Homer, recently a Roman-era excerpt from the Iliad was found entombed with an Egyptian mummy.

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

The Gospel of Barnabas, the Nicodemites, and Don Quixote?

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: The Gospel That Broke The Fourth Wall (Philip Jenkins).

Briefly, Barnabas presents itself as the one authentic gospel, which tells the real story of Jesus before St Paul made up all his foolish nonsense about Resurrections, the Trinity and so on. As it stands, it offers a Jesus who in many ways is very close to the canonical figure, except that he repeatedly declares the future coming of a new prophet, who will be Muhammad. The book survives in both Italian and Spanish, and it is a matter of debate which version came first. ...

But Barnabas is far more than a simple Muslim apologetic. At every stage we encounter truly subversive themes of deception and illusion, which allegedly permeate all the major faiths. ...

For more on the Gospel of Barnabas, see here and links. Also see there and links for posts noting Professor Jenkins's continuing Lost and Found Scriptures series.

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Time Sensitive: Magic in the Ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible

CAMBRIDGE CORE ELEMENT: Magic in the Ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible (Ilan Peled).

Summary

This Element introduces the reader to the fascinating world of magical rituals performed in the ancient Near East and ancient Israel. It is designed for a diverse audience of professionals, students, and general readers. It surveys the definitions and history of research on magic in the ancient world, delineates the chronological and geographical boundaries of the ancient Near East, and details the pertinent sources of information. The Element distinguishes between different types of magical rituals and identifies their aims, beneficiaries, performers, and procedures. It sheds fresh light on the mechanics of ritual performance in the ancient Near East and explicates the rationales that guided it.

Open access only until 7 August, so don't dawdle if you want to read it.

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Barcelona's ancient synagogue

HISTORY (AND TOURISM): The Ancient Synagogue of Barcelona: 2,000 Years of History in One Place (Jay Abramson, Times of Israel Blogs).

The Ancient Synagogue of Barcelona contains architectural and archaeological elements spanning several historical periods. Its foundations and walls include remains dating to the 3rd century from the Roman era, while the building was significantly renovated and expanded in the 13th century, when it functioned as a major synagogue. The Archaeological Room preserves the original floor level, located about two meters below today’s street level, illustrating the gradual rise of the city over time.

Among its key features is a section of Barcelona’s Roman wall dating to the 3rd to 4th century, built using the opus africanum technique, characterized by large vertical stone blocks (pillars) alternating with horizontal blocks. One stone bears the Roman numeral XIIX (18), which corresponds to the Hebrew word Chai, life, a detail some researchers interpret as suggesting earlier religious significance at the site.

This Barcelona synagogue is new to me.

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A call to move the Trumpeting Stone from the Israel Museum

POLITICS AND ARCHAEOLOGY: Kotel Rabbi Demands Return Of Second Beis Hamikdash Trumpeting Stone (Chaim Racer, Belaaz.com).

Kotel Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch has demanded that the Israel Museum transfer a rare Second Beis Hamikdash-era stone bearing the inscription “To the Place of Trumpeting” to the Western Wall Heritage Foundation. Its return would complete a wider campaign to bring four original Kotel stones back from government institutions and museums.

[...]

For more on the Herodian-era "To the place of trumpeting..." Hebrew inscription, see here and here (and here, but link has rotted).

Another stone is mentioned in the article as having been displayed in the Knesset. It was moved from there to Ben Gurion Airport. The article reports that it has been returned, apparently to the to the Western Wall Heritage Foundation. Looks like I mentioned the stone that was on display at the Defense Ministry here. I was not aware of a stone on display at the President’s Residence.

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Can AI identify when Josephus was using a source?

ALGORITHM WATCH: Was Josephus a reliable historian? AI offers a surprising answer. Israeli researchers used computational analysis of ancient Greek to identify Josephus’ sources, finding that when he named an author, he generally quoted that source faithfully (Shilo Freid, Ynet News).

Now, using advanced artificial intelligence tools and stylistic analysis of ancient Greek, researchers have achieved what was once considered nearly impossible: identifying where Josephus quoted known sources, where he drew on the writings of Nicolaus of Damascus, Herod’s court historian, and where he relied on other works that have been entirely lost. ...

Schler said the ability to demonstrate stylistic changes computationally was itself a significant achievement.

This sounds interesting, but I have questions. The sample size is small. Do these quotations have overlaps with other sources that quote Nicolaus, such as the Constantinian Excerpts? Have those overlaps been cross-checked? Has the method been tested against other passages in which Josephus quotes sources which survive, so that we can verify how well the algorithm can assess the quotations?

Perhaps the researchers have done such cross-tests. No underlying article is cited, so it's hard to tell. Let's see how this develops.

An aside regarding this paragraph:

Born into a priestly family in Jerusalem, Josephus commanded Jewish forces in the Galilee during the Great Revolt against Roman rule. After his forces were defeated, he hid in a cave with a group of commanders. The others chose to kill themselves rather than surrender, but Josephus, the final survivor, emerged and gave himself up.

Actually there were two survivors. Josephus persuaded the other to surrender with him. Whether Josephus ended up among the last two due to luck or to impressive math skills is an interesting question. See here and links on the "Josephus Problem."

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Hayes, St. Ephrem the Syrian on Beatitude and the Afterlife (CUP)

NEW BOOK FROM CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

St. Ephrem the Syrian on Beatitude and the Afterlife

Series: Elements in Early Christian Literature
Author: Andrew J. Hayes, The University of St. Thomas
Published: June 2026
Availability: Available
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 9781009515382

£55.00 GBP
Hardback

£18.00 GBP
Paperback

$25.00 USD
eBook

Description

The poetry of Ephrem the Syrian abounds with vivid symbols for the conclusion of salvation history, which forms a path leading from Paradise back to God. His transfiguring glory-light nourishes and enriches the blessed. Those in Gehenna behold the same goal, yet due to self-inflicted inner blindness, they experience it in opposite fashion. Ephrem's eschatology takes shape along the relation between creator and creature rather than along the contrast between particular and universal outcomes. This Element argues that freedom's capacity for transformative growth in relation to God, even post mortem, establishes Ephrem's coherent epektatic account of blessedness, rooted in the quasi-infinite character of human desire despite the finitude of human effort. Freedom's inherent uncertainty makes the salvation of all unknowable. Ephrem refuses to collapse definitively the polarity between creator and creature. Yet a person's freedom remains capable, with divine assistance, of repentance and growth even in Gehenna.

Cross-file under Syriac Watch.

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Newsom & Schuller, The Thanksgiving Scroll (OUP)

NEW BOOK FROM OXFORD UNVERSITY PRESS:

The Thanksgiving Scroll

Carol A. Newsom and Eileen M. Schuller

Oxford Commentary on the Dead Sea Scrolls

£104.00
Hardback

Published: 02 July 2026
368 Pages
234x156mm
ISBN: 9780198727842

Also Available As:
E-book

• The first commentary on the Thanksgiving Scroll since the 1960s
• Provides detailed analysis of editorial structures within the Scroll
• Presents new arguments concerning authorship of the various compositions
• Makes the poetic form of the Thanksgiving Psalms accessible to readers who do not know Hebrew
• Addresses exegetical issues and the rhetoric of the Thanksgiving Psalms, illuminating their function within the Sectarian community

Description

1QHa was one of the first Dead Sea Scrolls discovered by the Bedouin in 1947 and is recognized as one of the most important. Also known as Hodayot, it contains a collection of psalms, addressed to God, in which the author(s) give thanks to God for deliverance, salvation, knowledge, and divine mercy. The Thanksgiving Scroll by Carol A. Newsom and Eileen M. Schuller is the first commentary based on 1QHa as reconstructed by Hartmut Stegemann and Émile Puech, with the revision of 1QHa 1-8 by Michael Johnson. The Hebrew text and the division of the scroll into twenty-four compositions largely follows that established by Stegemann. The Introduction also includes accounts of the history of publication, reconstruction, and interpretation of the Hodayot, as well as information on the material aspects of 1QHa, its paleography, and scribal practices, much of which was not included in the previous edition in Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 40.

In this commentary, attention is given primarily to exegetical, literary, and rhetorical issues. In contrast to the earlier distinction between Teacher Psalms and Community Psalms, Newsom and Schuller attribute all the non-Teacher Psalms to the work of various Maskilim, the instructors and liturgical leaders of the Yahad. Internal evidence from 1QHa and comparison with the Hodayot manuscripts from Cave 4 (4QHa-f) provide grounds for identifying three successive editions in the growth of the Hodayot collections that appear to have served different functions. The careful editorial framework provided by Maskil Psalms (cols. 9, 18-19, plus 15:29-16:4) contains numerous intertextual allusions to the Teacher Psalms (cols. 10-17)—which form the core of the collection—and supplies grounds for understanding the Teacher Psalms as compositions by the Teacher of Righteousness.

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On ancient Jewish court tales

THE BIBLE AND INTEPRETATION:

New Perspectives on Court Tales in the Hebrew Bible and Early Jewish Literature

Evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls substantially expands the extant corpus of early Jewish court tales and provides an opportunity for a major reassessment of this important literary form. Incorporating these newly available texts alongside the traditional biblical and related corpora redefines the scope of the genre, traces its historical development, and reconsiders its relationship to themes of exile, courtly wisdom, and emerging apocalyptic traditions in early Judaism.

See also The Place of Court Tales in the Hebrew Bible and Early Jewish Literature: Form, Development, and Function (T&T Clark, 2026).

By Andrew Knight-Messenger
King’s University College (Western University)
Department of Religious Studies
July 2026

I noted the publication of the book here.

For more on the Prayer of Nabonidus, see here, and on the historical Nabonidus here, here, and here. For the recently deciphered Aramaic court tale 4Q550, which has a connection with the Behistun Inscription, see here and here. Some posts on the Genesis Apocryphon are here, here, here, and here, and here. And for more on the Story of Ahiqar, see here and links (cf. here and here). Cross-file under Aramaic Watch.

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Tanit-faced incense-burner excavated in Iberia?

PUNIC WATCH: The Face of Tanit, the Goddess of Life and Death, Returns to Alicante After 2,200 Years. The incense burner found intact in the Iberian necropolis, linked to a warrior elite, in La Albufereta embodies the great Punic protector of fields, stars, navigation, and the beyond (Adrián Mazón, TodoAlicante).

For over 2,200 years, she remained surrounded by the weapons of warriors. Falcatas, spears, knives, shields, and long javelins accompanied a small female head beneath the earth of La Albufereta, which has now once again seen the light of day.

According to initial investigations, exclusively reported by TodoAlicante, that face belonged to Tanit, the great Punic deity who protected fertility, harvests, and those embarking on their final journey.

The extraordinary incense burner was found in perfect condition during the excavation of a new Iberian necropolis located on a private plot in Alicante, as reported by this newspaper. The cemetery, dated to the last third of the 3rd century BC, consists of four tombs and two ritual areas where an exceptional collection of funerary objects has been recovered.

[...]

For the Punic (and Phoenician?) goddess Tanit (Tannit), the "Snake Lady," see here and links (cf. here, here, and here). Cross-file under Archaeology.

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

Tu B'Av 2026, belatedly

THE FESTIVAL OF TU B'AV was on the 28th-29th of July this year. Best wishes to all those who celebrated.

Tu B'Av (which just means the 15th day of the month of Av) is an ancient matchmaking festival. Its first mention is in the Mishnah (Ta’anit 4). It has been revived in recent years as a kind of Jewish Valentine's Day.

For past posts on it, see here and links.

Pardon my tardiness again this year. I was away this week (hence no posting yesterday) and missed it.

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

Esther in the Dura-Europos synagogue murals

CLASSICAL ASSOCIATION OF NEW ENGLAND BLOG: Dura Europos and Esther (Ruth Breindel). HT Rogue Classicism.

To conclude: the story of Esther was well known and quite loved by Jews. It has prominence in the synagogue perhaps as a tale of valor, or maybe as a story of great victory. As an adventure story, it appealed to all ages and groups. The combination of Roman, Hellenistic and Persian dress and styles speak to the multi-cultural city of Dura Europos and to us today.

This post gives a detailed analysis of the Esther murals and the graffiti associated with them.

For more on those Esther murals see here. And follow the links from there (cf. here and here) for many PaleoJudaica posts on and involving the ancient city of Dura-Europos, especially its synagogue and its decorative art.

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Tesla sent 1 Enoch to a customer instead of their solar lease contract?

WAIT, WHAT? Tesla Solar Account Glitch: The Book of Enoch, Explained in 5 Points (BASENOR Editorial Desk).

A Tesla solar lease customer logging into their account to review their contract got something considerably more ancient: The Book of Enoch, a roughly 2,000-year-old Hebrew religious text that didn't make it into most Bibles. Tesla confirmed the mix-up, apologized, and sent the correct document — but has offered no explanation for how it happened. Here's what we know.

[...]

This doesn't sound real, but someone named Fred Lambert at an outfit called electrek says he has verified it.*

The video in Mr. Lambert's X.com post show that the mis-sent file was an early English translation by Richard Laurence.

The real question is, what was a translation of 1 Enoch doing floating around on the Tesla server? Some possibilities have been suggested, the most entertaining of which involve AI.

Also, given 1 Enoch's focus on the solar calendar, is it just a coincidence that the file went to a solar lease customer?

If 1 Enoch is trendy enough that AIs are looking into it, well, things are getting interesting.

For additional examples of the current trendiness of 1 Enoch, see here and links. Cross-file under Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Watch and Algorithm Watch(?).

*Yes, I know 1 Enoch was written at least mostly in Aramaic, not Hebrew, and was translated into Greek and Ethiopic. Not important here.

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West Bank looting arrest

APPREHENDED NUMISMATICS: Thousands of ancient artifacts recovered in Judea and Samaria looting case. The suspect was found carrying metal detectors, excavation tools and archaeological finds (JNS).

(July 28, 2026 / Pesach Benson/TPS-IL) Thousands of archaeological items, including coins and artifacts from the Persian (539–332 BCE), Hellenistic (332–140 BCE) and Hasmonean (140–37 BCE) periods in the Land of Israel, were recovered from a suspect accused of looting antiquities in Judea and Samaria, Israeli authorities said on Monday.

[...]

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Arshama and the satrapal houses

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY: The House of Aršāma, Persian Satrap in Egypt (Rhyne King).

Aršāma’s was in many ways an exemplary satrapal house. Like many satraps, Aršāma had a direct connection to the king, and he controlled property both within and beyond his satrapal jurisdiction. To maintain both his house and imperial control, Aršāma relied on trusted subordinates, while unfree workers of various statuses did much of the hardest work in his house.

It is important to study these satrapal houses because they did the everyday work of maintaining imperial rule. The Achaemenid Empire was, at its time, by far the largest state in the history of the world. Understanding the mechanisms of Achaemenid power is not just a matter of Ancient Near Eastern history; it is a matter of world history. While the Great Kings like Cyrus and Darius wielded power in the imperial heartland, it was satrapal houses that maintained the empire on a material level from region to region.

We've heard of Arshama (Aršāma) before in the context of Oxford University's Arshama Project (here and links). He was a late-fifth-century BCE Persian satrap with royal blood who left an archive of Aramaic documents at Elephantine Island and (I just learned) some business records in cuneiform in Babylonia.

Cross-file under Elephantine Watch and also under New Book (noted at the end of the essay): Rhyne King, The House of the Satrap: The Making of the Ancient Persian Empire (University of California Press, 2025).

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More on that female figurine face mold from Jerusalem

ANTHROPOMORPHIC CAST-ART UPDATE: The story has been getting some attention, with two new articles worth noting:

First Temple-era mold offers clues to mystery of ‘pagan’ female figurines in Holy City. First mold discovery in Jerusalem provides evidence that enigmatic clay artifacts — possibly linked to the goddess Asherah— were manufactured in biblical capital (Zev Stub, Times of Israel). This article includes an interview with Amit Re’em, one of the excavation directors and some new thoughts and details.

“The emphasis on the face has led researchers to conclude that it probably had an important cultural or religious significance, but it is not clear what it is,” Re’em said. Most likely, they served as private idols — perhaps the fertility goddess Asherah — or household amulets intended to bring blessing, protection or fertility, similar in purpose to a Hamsa symbol.

Others have suggested these may have been common as toys, “but I don’t accept that theory,” Re’em said.

I would like to hear more about why she rejects it. I try to resist the temptation to assume that everything excavated had to do with religion.

Some years ago I noted the discovery of some horse figurines, also in Jerusalem. As I mentioned there and elsewhere, I found the front half of one of those at the Tel Dor excavation in the 1980s.

First-ever Find: Mold of a First Temple Figurine Is Discovered in Jerusalem. Figurines have been uncovered in almost every big dig in Jerusalem. Now a mold made of fired clay for creating a face was discovered for the first time (Nir Hasson, Haaretz).

This article raises a point that I raised in my post on the story yesterday:

The use of figurines during the First Temple period is still unclear. Their presence seems to contradict the biblical prohibition.

"Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner of likeness," Ben-Ami says, quoting the Book of Exodus 20:3. "We don't know exactly what the biblical prohibition refers to, but the archaeological reality is that figurines are found in every home.

But it doesn't ask the next question.

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Three lost Neo-Assyrian kings discovered?

ASSYRIOLOGY: Watch the Throne: Uncovering three new kings of Assyria. A new study co-written by Yale’s Eckart Frahm provides evidence that the ancient kingdom of Assyria had three more kings than previously thought (Lisa Prevost, YaleNews).

The discovery of what look to be three additional kings during the last stage of Assyrian history, known as the Neo-Assyrian period, “came as a surprise — no one expected there would be room for any new and unknown rulers during this time,” said Frahm, the John M. Musser Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Assyriologists: We discovered three lost ancient Assyrian kings!

Egyptologists: Haha, hold our beer. Seriously, congratulations to Prof. Frahm and Dr. Edmonds on this important discovery. The JCS article that publishes it is available open access here.

(Grok generated image.)

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Evidence of ancient Cypriot coin inflation from an Israeli beach?

NUMISMATICS: 'Debased' Cypriot Coin From 2,500 Years Ago Found on Israeli Beach Generally, the siglos was made of silver, but this one has a base metal inside, suggesting a king under stress – or ancient skullduggery (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

But wait. Sigli were made of pure silver, he notes. This one was not. The metal at its base remains to be analyzed; maybe lead. And as lipstick on a pig doth not a pretty porker make, a silver coat doesn't make a silver coin. That doesn't necessarily translate into "ancient counterfeiting," Levy adds. It could be that the treasury issuing the coinage was under stress.

When might the Grand Poobah of Wherever issue base metal covered in silver or gold? For example, when times were rough, the treasury was low, soldiers needed to be paid and silver ore was rare. The government might not have been eager to counterfeit sigli, it may have simply been scrambling to survive. Either way, the result would have been devaluation of the currency.

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First-temple-era female figurine mold excavated at Tower of David in Jerusalem

ANTHROPOMORPHIC CAST-ART: Rare First Temple mold discovered beneath Tower of David. (Israel National News).

Debbi Ben-Ami, Curator of the Iron Age at the Israel Antiquities Authority, added, "The meaning and function of these figurines are still not fully understood. The fact that they have been found in almost every household, as well as in streets and tombs, indicates that they were objects of everyday use. The identity and purpose of the Judean Pillar Figurines remain the subject of scholarly debate. They have previously been interpreted as representations of a fertility goddess - perhaps the goddess Asherah - and some have even suggested they were children's toys. However, they may instead have served as mediating or blessing figures, functioning as household amulets intended to bring blessing, protection, and good fortune. We hope that the newly discovered mold from Jerusalem will provide fresh insights and help answer some of the questions that continue to occupy researchers."

I suppose the commandment against making graven images would not be in the Big Ten unless people were making them. Then again, cast art isn't technically "graven" (פסל). Maybe that technicality is why these figurines were so popular.

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Real and forged lost ancient books of the Renaissance

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: Forging Spirituality In Renaissance Europe (Philip Jenkins).

We have all heard of the modern rediscovery of ancient scriptures, and we all know the standard stereotypes of how they are found – think of the Dead Sea Scrolls, or the Nag Hammadi library. Although such spectacular finds are not common, rediscoveries on a smaller scale are in fact quite a regular fact of scholarship, and of religious life. Moreover, that has been true for several centuries, certainly dating back to the Renaissance.

In my next several posts, I will be looking at some sensational discoveries that all belonged to a particular historical period, namely the first quarter or so of the seventeenth century, roughly between 1600 and 1625. ...

This quarter century is a fascinating period, the inflection point between Renaissance techno-Hermeticism and Enlightenment Cartesian-clockwork materialism.

For lots of PaleoJudaica posts on the Infancy Gospel (Protevangelium) of James, see here and links (cf. here). For more on the Granada lead plates, see here (cf. here and here). On the Gospel of Barnabas, see here and links.

This post is a continuation of Professor Jenkins's Lost and Found Scriptures series. For earlier posts, see here and links. I am quite enjoying the series and look forward to the coming posts.

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Binder, Tertullian and the Jews in Early Christian Literary Imagination (CUP)

NEW BOOK FROM CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

Tertullian and the Jews in Early Christian Literary Imagination

Series: Elements in Early Christian Literature
Author: Stéphanie É. Binder, Bar-Ilan University and University of Haifa
Published: April 2026
Availability: Available
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781009481779

£18.00 GBP
Paperback

£55.00 GBP
Hardback

$25.00 USD
eBook

Description

This Element explores Tertullian, the first author to write Christian theology in Latin. It focuses on the primary critical issues relevant to understanding his biography and work, with special attention to his presentation of the Jews in the wider context of early Christian literature. This topic offers the opportunity to assess how socio-historical circumstances have influenced the way that scholars, throughout the centuries, have read and understood the image of the Jews in patristic texts, thereby calling attention to the issue of objectivity in academic research. Finally, examples of the diverse treatment of the figure of the Jews in Tertullian's texts are provided to analyse the range of his perspectives, understand where he stands in relation to other Christian authors, and examine how his work reflects the state of Christian identity formation in his time.

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The Scrolls of the Torah (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK:

The Scrolls of the Torah

Material, Compositional and Interpretive Perspectives

Edited by Jan Christian Gertz, Julia Rhyder, Thomas Römer and Konrad Schmid

2026. 464 pages.
Forschungen zum Alten Testament (FAT) 196

€159.00
including VAT

cloth
available
978-3-16-200695-0

Also Available As:
eBook PDF

Summary

This volume brings together twenty-four contributions from leading scholars that address enduring questions about the composition of the Pentateuch in the first millennium BCE across its various cultural settings, including the southern Levant, Mesopotamia, and possibly Egypt.
The first part offers a new assessment of the scribal cultures behind the Pentateuch, examining the material and sociological dimensions of scroll production in ancient Israel, Judah, and beyond. It underscores the importance of exploring the composition of the Pentateuch in light of broader ancient Near Eastern scribal cultures, while also attending to the particularities of Israelite text production in the Iron Age and Persian and Hellenistic periods. The volume then presents a series of case studies and methodological reflections that explore the literary history of the Pentateuch and the dating and interpretation of its texts. Particular attention is given to the interrelationship of narrative and legal materials, illustrated through case studies drawn primarily from Genesis and Numbers.
Together, the contributions offer a fresh assessment of how the Pentateuch reflects the scribal strategies, socio-political challenges, and the literary and theological debates that shaped textual production in the first millennium BCE. The volume concludes with two reception-historical studies that offer new insights into current scholarly discussions concerning the formation of the Pentateuch.

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What is happening in Sebastia?

POLITICS AND ARCHAEOLOGY: ‘Weaponization of cultural heritage’: Israel accuses PA of exploiting UNESCO in bid for Sebastia. The 450-acre site, which has awaited joining the world heritage list since 2012, has a history dating back at least 3,000 years (Danielle Greyman-Kennard, Jerusalem Post).

The Palestinian Authority has increased lobbying to have the historic archaeological site of Sebastia recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site ahead of a debate in South Korea later this month, a move that the Foreign Ministry claimed on Wednesday is politically motivated and poses a threat to the ancient ruins.

[...]

I've been following this story for a while, trying to work out what is going on. Both this Jerusalem Post article and the CNN article below have their own leaning, but both make an effort to present both sides. I blog, you decide.

On this West Bank hilltop, a fight over the past will determine who controls the future (Tal Shalev, Jeremy Diamond, Zeena Saifi, CNN).

Over the past year, Israel has moved to seize roughly 500 acres of privately owned Palestinian land around the town of Sebastia, a small Palestinian hamlet with a rich archaeological site. The government allocated $10 million to develop the site into a tourist attraction.

The Palestinian Authority, in turn, is racing to get Sebastia urgently recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site, a bid the organization is debating this month in South Korea. Each side believes the land – and its past – belongs to them.

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Was Isaiah's voice in the wilderness or not?

DR. RABBI DAVID M. FREIDENREICH: “A Voice Cries Out in the Wilderness”—Isaiah, Translated and Improved (TheTorah.com).

Can translators improve texts like Shakespeare? Or the Bible? Christians, drawing on the Greek Septuagint, claimed that the voice in the wilderness (Isaiah 40:3) refers to John the Baptist. Jews, relying instead on the Aramaic Targum, viewed this verse as explicitly foretelling the return of Jewish exiles after the destruction of the Second Temple. But what did Isaiah actually mean?

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Damage to Gaza's antiquities sites

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Gaza’s Catastrophic Loss. Scores of sites in ancient coastal city damaged or destroyed (Glenn J. Corbett).

Official reports place the number of damaged or destroyed religious, historical, and heritage sites at more than 145, though local monitoring groups believe the number to be much higher. Among these are some of the most important and recognizable sites in the territory.

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What happened to the Ark of the Covenant and the Temple treasures?

FOR TISHA B'AV: Where are the Ark of the Covenant and the lost Temple treasures?Ancient texts place the Ark beneath the Temple Mount, historical accounts trace the menorah from Jerusalem to Rome, and archaeologists reject claims that the Vatican holds the sacred vessels, leaving one of Judaism’s greatest mysteries unresolved (Itzchak Tessler, Ynet News).

As you might guess, this article does not answer the questions. It does interview some archaeologists etc. and ask some more pretty good questions.

I suspect the Ark of the Covenant was melted down for its gold by the Babylonian conquerers. Jeremiah 3:16 implies it was already gone in Jeremiah's time. The Temple treasures may or may not have been evacuated and survived the destruction of Herod's Temple. If they did, they are likely irretrievably scattered and lost. But, naturally, there are proposals to the contrary.

For PaleoJudaica posts on the Ark of the Covenant, start here and follow the links. There are a great many posts, so many that it's hard to pick out key ones. Overal, I think, they cover just about every proposal about what happened to the Ark.

For posts on the Temple treasures, see here (cf. here) and many links. Some notable more recent posts are here, here, here, and again, follow the links.

The legendary Treatise of the Vessels (Maasekhet Kelim, not to be confused with the Mishnaic tractate), which tells the supposed story of the fate of the Temple treasures and the Ark after the Babylonian destruction of the Temple, comes up in these posts. For more on it, see here and links. I published an English translation of it in MOTP1.

The website of the Temple Mount Sifting Project is here. I have linked to it many times.

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Two Tisha B'Av essays

TWO TISHA B'AV ESSAYS have been posted at TheTorah.com:

Did They Fast on Tisha B’Av During the Second Temple Period? (Prof. Tova Ganzel).

In the early post-exilic period, the people ask the prophet Zechariah whether they should still fast to commemorate the destruction of the Temple now that it was being rebuilt. Zechariah, in a long collection of oracles, explains that the fasts will eventually be cancelled, once the people (7:9–10) “Execute true justice; deal loyally and compassionately with one another; do not defraud the widow, the orphan, the stranger, and the poor; and do not plot evil against one another.” So, did they ever cancel the fasts?

The Temple That Survived Its Destruction (Prof.Joshua Schwartz).

Josephus, an eyewitness to the Temple, defends its splendor and its laws to the Greco-Roman world. He takes the reader on a tour of the building in its heyday, explaining details such as how far Non-Jews and women were permitted to proceed and what lay inside, while also countering Apion’s slanderous depictions of donkey worship and human sacrifice within its walls. By opening the Mosaic constitution with the Temple and grounding its rituals in Torah law, Josephus presents it as an enduring foundation of Jewish tradition, whose significance outlives the building itself.

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Tyre added to list of world heritage sites in danger

PHOENICIAN WATCH: UNESCO adds war-hit Lebanese city of Tyre to list of world heritage sites in danger. The ancient coastal city has been caught up in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, and one of two protected sites suffered a direct hit from an Israeli strike in June (AFP and Lazar Berman via ToI).

For more on the Israeli strike on Tyre in June, see here. I noted an earlier strike on the city in April here. For more on the history and archaeology of Tyre more generally, see the links collected there.

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Tisha B'Av 2026

TISHA B'AV (THE NINTH OF AV) begins this evening at sundown. An easy fast to all those observing it.

The Ninth of Av is not specifically a biblical holy day. Rather, it commemorates a number of disasters that happened to the Jewish people, traditionally all on that same day of the year. These include the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple by the Babylonians, the destruction of the Herodian Temple by the Romans, and the fall of Betar during the Bar Kokhba revolt.

Last year's Tisha B'Av post is here, with links.

More recent posts related to the day are here, here, and here.

UPDATE (23 July): More here and here.

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Did P know about the centralized sanctuary?

DR. HACHAM ISAAC S. D. SASSOON: Deuteronomy or the Priestly Text: Which Is the Later Torah Source? (TheTorah.com).

In the 1950s, Yehezkel Kaufmann challenged the regnant Graf-Wellhausen Hypothesis that the Priestly Text was the final Pentateuchal source to be written, and that it dates to the Post-Exilic Period. One pillar of his argument is that the Priestly Text seems wholly ignorant of Deuteronomy’s 7th century B.C.E. law of centralization of worship, and thus dates to earlier in the First Temple period. And yet, a closer look at P’s laws shows that it is simply taking centralization for granted.

I agree. Deuteronomy had to have Moses argue for one centralized sanctuary in Israel. P assumes a centralized sanctuary, in the guise of the Tabernacle in the time of Moses, but its nature makes best sense in a small community around Jerusalem. For example, in Leviticus 17:3-7 (contrast Deuteronomy 12:15) P requires all slaughtering of animals for meat to take place at the sanctuary. Practical for a local community, but not a national sanctuary.

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Amar, "Psalm 45 and the Achaemenid View of the Ideal King" (JANES 38, 2026)

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: Psalm 45 and the Achaemenid View of the Ideal King. Notice of a New Article: Amar, Itzhak. 2026. Psalm 45 and the Achaemenid View of the Ideal King. Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society 38: 1-18.

There is a link to the JANES article, which is open access and downloadable as a pdf. It does not have an abstract, but its conclusion can serve as one:

Conclusions
In this article, I endeavored to elucidate the origins of the concepts and linguistic elements present in Psalm 45. I presented two potential scenarios. The first posits that the author was directly influenced by Achaemenid ideology, as evidenced in inscriptions and iconography from Persepolis, which presumably circulated throughout the empire. An alternative possibility is that the author was indirectly influenced through other biblical texts, such as the Books of Chronicles, whose authors had assimilated this ideology and disseminated it further, given the limited cultural environment of the scribes active in Yehud and Jerusalem. Examining the psalm within an Achaemenid context offers a more comprehensive understanding of the depiction of the king’s throne as God’s throne and of the two seemingly disparate sections of the psalm.

Incidentally, JANES is an fully open-access journal. See the AWOL Blog here.

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