Holm, Aramaic Literature from Egypt and the Levant (SBL)

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

Aramaic Literature from Egypt and the Levant

Tawny L. Holm

ISBN 9781628377521
Volume WAW 30
Status Available
Publication Date May 2026

Paperback $90.00
Hardback $110.00
eBook $90.00

In this volume, Tawny L. Holm provides bilingual editions of the majority of Aramaic literary compositions written between the fifth century BCE and first century CE. Each text is presented in transliteration and accompanied by an introduction, notes, and an English translation. The section on Egypt includes, among others, the fascinating anthology found on Papyrus Amherst 63, an Aramaic text written in the Demotic Egyptian script, as well as the Story and Proverbs of Ahiqar. The Levant section includes a selection of texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls, such as Tales from the Persian Court. These compositions cover a broad array of themes, from insights into the human condition to unique portraits of kings, heroes, and deities. The book also addresses matters of history, language, genres, poetics, and scribalism, and it offers a comprehensive collection of primary sources for use in ancient Near Eastern studies courses as well as biblical studies.

HT Bibliographia Iranica.

I have been waiting a long time for this one. (Even well before these posts.) And the volume contains much more than I expected.

For PaleoJudaica posts on the remarkable collection of Aramaic and Canaanite texts in Demotic script in Papyrus Amherst 63, see the links in the previous paragraph, plus here, here, here, here, and here. And follow the links in those posts for more.

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

Review of Identities in antiquity

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Identities in antiquity.

Joseph Skinner, Vicky Manolopoulou, Christina Tsouparopoulou, Identities in antiquity. Rewriting antiquity. London: Routledge, 2025. Pp. 590. ISBN 9781138545168.

Review by
Jeremy McInerney, University of Pennsylvania. jmcinern@sas.upenn.edu

... Overall, this volume is a valuable contribution to the discourse around identity. Its strength lies in its coverage of a wide variety of times and places, resulting a tome of nearly 600 pages, covering large segments of the ancient Mediterranean world over a span of hundreds of years.

Articles of particular interest:

11. Ancient Judaism: nation, ethnicity, or religion?: Erich S. Gruen
20. Identity construction in Alexandria: Greeks, Jews and Romans: Kimberley Czajkowski

And with articles on Mespotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Phoenicia, etc.

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

New Lachish ostracon confirms Joseph's Canaanite title?

NORTHWEST SEMITIC EPIGRAPHY: New Inscription From Lachish Proves Early Use of Joseph’s Title. As Joseph was ‘šalit’ in Bronze Age Egypt, Baal was ‘šalit’ at Bronze Age Lachish (CHRISTOPHER EAMES, Armstrong Institute of Biblical Research).

Nevertheless, šalit has at least been generally recognized as a later Persian Period loan word, applied either during the editing or composition of these texts perhaps somewhere as late as the second half of the first millennium B.C.E.

A brand new inscription from Lachish, discovered just last year and published in a recent Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology article, challenges that conclusion—revealing the use of this word in the Levant as early as the second half of the second millennium B.C.E.—the end of the Late Bronze Age.

The underlying open-access article in the Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology:

A Late Bronze Age Canaanite Jar Inscription from the 2025 Excavation Season at Lachish

Daniel Vainstub^a, Itamar Weissbein^b, Hoo-Goo Kang^c, Shai Halevi^d, and Yosef Garfinkel^e

a Independent Researcher, dvainstub@gmail.com
b The Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, itamar.weissbein@mail.huji.ac.il
c Seoul Jangsin University, Korea, hoogoo7008@gmail.com
d Israel Antiquities Authority, shaih@israntique.org.il
e The Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, garfinkel@mail.huji.ac.il

Abstract During the 2025 season of excavations at Tel Lachish, a partially preserved inscription was found in an unambiguous 12th-century BCE archaeological context associated with the site’s last Late Bronze Age settlement. The inscription consists of six letters written in red ink on the shoulder of a ceramic jar. Although the potsherd is horizontally broken, at the mid-height of the inscription, the surviving parts of the letters allow one to read the personal name Bʻlšlṭ. This name is built on the root šlṭ, which hitherto has been widely considered a much later (Persian period) loan from Aramaic. Furthermore, the inscription was written in the standardized Linear Canaanite script displaying cursive features, apparently by a person accustomed to writing with a stylus and ink.

A new Iron Age II Hebrew ostracon from Lachish was also published last year in the same journal.

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

The Nessana excavation

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY: Ancient Nessana: A Pilgrimage Site at the Edge of the Desert (Yana Tchekhanovets).

Located in the southwestern Negev, along the principal route linking Jerusalem and other significant holy sites with Mount Sinai, ancient Nessana is not associated with any biblical events or major relics. However, during the Byzantine period (ca. 5th-7th centuries CE), it emerged as a prominent Christian center and a vital caravan hub, facilitating travel to Sinai and the Egyptian monasteries.

Established during the Late Hellenistic period (2nd – 1st centuries BCE), Nessana subsequently accommodated a Byzantine garrison and attained its peak during the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods. The site is considered among the most significant Late Antique locations in the Eastern Mediterranean, largely due to the discovery of two papyri archives preserved by the arid climate. These documents, uncovered in the 1930s and dated to approximately 500–700 CE, offer critical insights into the daily life and economy of the settlement and its inhabitants, particularly their roles in agriculture and pilgrimage services; they also revealed the ancient name of the village: Νεσάνα.

[...]

Good. I'm glad the archaeologists are back at Nessana. I hope they make lots of discoveries, hopefully including more papyri. The previously discovered archives seem to have held mostly administrative texts. While I'm hoping, I hope that this time they find the library, ideally including some Greek and Aramaic Enochic books.

Background on Nessana (Nitzana) is here and links.

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Bremer-McCollum, The Pearlsong (Harvard University Press)

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: The Pearlsong.

Notice of a New Book: Bremer-McCollum, Adam. 2025. The Pearlsong (Texts & Translations of Transcendence and Transformation). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Better known as The Hymn of the Pearl, this song is embedded in the Syriac text of the apocryphal Acts of Thomas. It arguably had a pre-history. There is a Greek version in the Greek translation of the Acts of Thomas. You can read an old English translation of it here.

There is a closely related collection of Coptic Manichean songs called The Psalms of Thomas. Links to an old English translation are at the bottom of that link.

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

On the IAA's anti-theft unit

PROACTIVE ARCHAEOLOGY: The Fight to Preserve Israel’s History. The Israel Antiquities Authority’s anti-theft unit is waging its own war (HEATHER LEXA, Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology).

For nine years, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and Israel’s Ministry of Heritage have been working together to preserve the history of the Jewish people and their ties to the land of Israel.

By excavating sites throughout Israel, the iaa’s Theft Prevention Unit, directed by Dr. Amir Ganor, has been able to prevent looters from stumbling upon and stealing ancient artifacts; the specialized unit also works to prevent illegal excavations. Ganor told Archaeology magazine that his crew is “a special police for antiquities.”

[...]

PaleoJudaica covered all of the stories mentioned in the article as they came out. For the ancient coins seized from a West Bank checkpoint, see here. For the half-shekel coin excavated in February, see here. For the 2014 Cave of Skulls looting, see here and for the scroll fragments subsequently excavated there, see here and links. For the Cave of Horror scroll fragments discovered in 2021, see here and links. The Neolithic basket comes up in some of those links too.

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

Filming completed for "The Resurrection of the Christ"

CINEMA: Mel Gibson’s ‘The Resurrection of the Christ’ Sequel, Out in 2027, Wraps Filming. (Stephanie Martin, ChurchLeaders).

“The Resurrection of the Christ,” the long-awaited follow-up to Mel Gibson’s 2004 blockbuster “The Passion of the Christ,” has completed seven months of shooting in Italy. In videos shared on social media, the cast and crew celebrate the completion of principal photography on the project.

[...]

This should be interesting. I'm especially looking forward to seeing how Gibson interacts with the Enochic literature:

The premise is so massive, Gibson added, because “you have to start with the fall of the angels in the firmament…right at the beginning.” The director said “The Resurrection of the Christ” will feature battles between angels and demons, as well as Jesus descending into hell.

See the above link and here for background. I don't know whether Aramaic or other ancient languages feature in the dialogue of these two movies, as it did in the first one.

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

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in the Talmud

FOR LAG B'OMER: Lag b’Omer: celebrating Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Long before the advent of modern-day celebrations of Yom Ha’atzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim one date pierced the gloom of the Omer period –Lag b’Omer. (YOSSI AARON, The Australian Jewish News).

But leaving aside mystical actions and teachings attributed to Rashbi in the Zohar, what do we know of him from sources such as the Talmud? We all know that he spent a total of 13 years hiding in a cave. But why?

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

Lag B'Omer 2026

LAG B'OMER, the 33rd day of the Counting of the Omer, begins tonight at sundown. Best wishes to all observing it.

My 2025 Lag B'Omer post is here. A subsequent related post is here.

For the biblical and rabbinic background of the holiday, see here and here.

UPDATE (5 May): More here.

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New ISF study on Hebrew bullae announced

HEBREW EPIGRAPHY AND ANCIENT MATERIAL CULTURE: IAA reveals new study focused on ancient Jerusalem bullae in honor of Israel Excellence Week. According to the IAA, the study aims to examine Jerusalem's administrative systems from the First Temple period through the end of the Second Temple period (Miriam Sela-Eitam, Jerusalem Post).

Dr. Joe Uziel and Dr. Yiftah Shalev have been researching the bullae found in Jerusalem in order to study the finds from a “broad, long-term perspective,” the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) revealed in honor of Israel Excellence Week 2026.

The study, titled “Sealed and Sent: A Long-Term Follow-Up Study of Bullae from Jerusalem and Its Implications for Understanding the City's Administration,” will be conducted by Uziel and Shalev alongside scholars from academic institutions. ...

Rather than studying on the names and text inscribed on the bullae, Uziel and Shalev’s research focuses on the inner side of the bullae in attempt to figure out what they had been attached to. ...

That's a good idea. The results should be illuminating.

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

Hebron's Second Temple-era mikveh almost ready for visitors

CONSERVATION: Project to make Tel Hebron’s Second Temple mikveh accessible to visitors nearly complete, INPA says. Burda added that visitors to the site will be able to learn about the bath’s significance, its place within daily life, and “momentarily experience the religious and social reality of that era” (Miriam Sela-Eitam, Jerusalem Post).

The project to make the Second Temple mikveh (Jewish ritual bath) at the Tel Hebron archaeological site near Kiryat Arba more accessible to visitors is almost complete, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) said on Thursday.

One of the largest of its kind in the country with a volume of nearly 200 cubic meters, the mikveh was was discovered in 2014 by the Civil Administration's Archaeology Staff Officer, under the direction of Dr. Emanuel Eisenberg and Professor David Ben Shlomo.

[...]

For more on the Second Temple-era ritual baths at Hebron, see here and here.

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

Was the Roman destruction of Jerusalem inevitable?

HISTORY: 2,000 years ago, ancient Roman forces annihilated Jerusalem. Was its destruction inevitable? The first of the Jewish-Roman wars was interrupted by one of the defining events of the 1st century, and gave birth to one of ancient Rome’s most powerful dynastie (James Osborne, HistoryExtra). HT Rogue Classicism.

A high flyover review of the first Jewish revolt against Rome (the Great Revolt) with some thoughtful observations.

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

Dillon, John the Baptist and Composite Intertextuality in the Fourth Gospel (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

John the Baptist and Composite Intertextuality in the Fourth Gospel

The Evangelist's Archetypal Witness

Series:
Biblical Interpretation Series, Volume: 237

Author: Amber M. Dillon

Recent scholarship has focused on John’s relationship to Judaism, his intertextual method, and his portrayal of John the Baptist, yet few connect these topics. We know the Evangelist is a masterful storyteller, particularly with his characters, which raises the question: Could we view the relationship between the Fourth Gospel and Judaism through the lens of the Baptist? This study explores the intersection of scriptural allusions and characterization related to John the Baptist, uncovering another perspective to the complex interplay between Judaism and the Fourth Gospel. Readers will discover how John the Baptist emerges as a key figure, illuminating the narrative and reinforcing the Gospel’s themes. This engaging exploration challenges conventional interpretations and invites the reader to see the Fourth Gospel in a new light.

Copyright Year: 2026

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-75970-1
Publication: 17 Mar 2026
EUR €109.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-75500-0
Publication: 08 Apr 2026
EUR €109.00

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Mirotznik, The Portrayal of Pagan Worship in the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Judaism (CUP)

NEW BOOK FROM CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

The Portrayal of Pagan Worship in the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Judaism

Author: Jesse Mirotznik, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Published: April 2026
Availability: Available
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 9781009691970

£95.00 GBP
Hardback

£95.00 USD
Adobe eBook Reader

Description

How did Jews in the ancient world depict the practices of their pagan contemporaries? In this study, Jesse Mirotznik investigates the portrayal of pagan worship in the Hebrew Bible and ancient Jewish literature. Scholars have assumed that the portrayals in these corpora are consistent over time. Mirotznik, however, shows that there is a fundamental discontinuity between earlier and later depictions of pagan worship. In the Hebrew Bible, these forms of worship are, for the most part, simply assumed to be sincere. By contrast, in ancient Jewish texts from approximately the end of the third century BCE and onward, such worship is increasingly presented as insincere, performed only instrumentally in the service of an ulterior motive. While the worshipers of other gods seem genuine in their devotion, these texts contend, they too must recognize the folly of such worship.

• The book introduces a distinction between the normative elements of ancient Jewish views of the Other and the descriptive elements
• Introduces the concept of Bad Faith as a lens through which to understand rhetoric about the Other
• Examines the influence of Classical Studies on scholarship in ancient Judaism

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What was Pontius Pilate's actual title?

FOR ROMAN HISTORY NERDS: The Debate That Reveals How the Roman Empire Operated on Its Frontiers: Was Pontius Pilate a Procurator or a Prefect? (Guillermo Carvajal, LBV).

An academic study analyzes ancient sources and the famous "Pilate Stone" to resolve a centuries-old debate: Was he governor, procurator, or prefect?

Spoiler: the article argues that he was all of the above. Seems plausible.

The underlying article:

Kosior, W. J. (2026). Procurator or Prefect – remarks on the administration of Roman provinces in the context of Pontius Pilate’s title. Journal of Modern Science, 65(1), 564–585. doi.org/10.13166/jms/218203

The link is given at the bottom of the LBV article. The JMS article is open access, and there is an English abstract, but the article itself is in Polish.

For more on that Pontius Pilate inscription, see here. And there are many other posts on Pilate in the archives.

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The Idumean fiscal system in the Aramaic ostraca

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: Land Tenure and Fiscal Practices in the Aramaic Corpus of Idumea.

Notice of a New Article: Shahryari, Mitchka L.M.J. 2026. Land Tenure and Fiscal Practices in the Aramaic Corpus of Idumea: Bow-Fields and Horse Estates. BASOR 395: 179-194.

Alas, behind a subscription wall. But you can read the abstract for free.

Cross-file under Aramaic Watch.

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Forthcoming: Ross, Baylor Handbook of Greek Ruth

WILLIAM A. ROSS: FOOK ANNOUNCEMENT: BAYLOR HANDBOOK ON GREEK RUTH.

This morning I’m excited to announce a new book coming to press very soon: Ruth: A Handbook on the Greek Text. This new volume is part of the ongoing Baylor Handbook on the Septuagint series (BHLXX).

[...]

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

Joel Kaminsky: autobiographical retrospective

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: A Retrospective from Joel Kaminsky.

Let me begin by thanking the editors of Ancient Jew Review for the opportunity to reflect on my scholarship and career. One way to illuminate my development as a teacher and scholar is to explain how my background and life experiences shaped me as a student, a professor, and a person.

[...]

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

Lost Theban epics

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: The Lost Epics Of Thebes (Philip Jenkins).

Taken together, the Twelve-item cycle covered the history of the Greek world from the days of the primal gods and their struggles right up to the end of the “Homeric” era. The Titanomachia describes the war between the Titans and the Olympian deities. We then proceed to three works focused on the city and dynasty of Thebes, events that would have occurred in the generation or so before the Trojan struggle. And then on to Troy.

This essay continues Professor Jenkins's survey of lost Classical epics, begun here. See my comments there on the surviving sources for what we know about them.

Cross-file under Lost Books.

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Review of Sekita & Southwood (eds.), Death imagined

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Death imagined: ancient perceptions of death and dying.

Karolina Sekita, Katherine Southwood, Death imagined: ancient perceptions of death and dying. Liverpool studies in ancient history. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2025. Pp. 336. ISBN 9781802077582.

Review by
Karen Bassi, University of California at Santa Cruz. bassi@ucsc.edu

Non-existence is unknowable. This philosophical truism underlies the myriad ways in which humans imagine and respond to death. In the succinct formulation of Michel Conche, “Death is the horizon of thought.”[1] Sekita and Southwood approach this horizon in a volume devoted to perceptions of death and dying within a broadly defined timeframe (antiquity) and geographical focus (the Mediterranean); a single chapter on Mesoamerica is included. Controlled for space and time, the principal variable is culture, specified as Mesopotamian, Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Etruscan, Incan, Judaic. The sources are literary and (predominantly) archaeological. ...

Chapters of notable interest for PaleoJudaica:

8. Memory, Monumentality, and the Tomb of the Royal Steward, Matthew J. Suriano

11. Imagining the Afterlife in the Psalms: The Episode of Mitchell Dahood and His Commentary, Christopher B. Hays

Also, lots of chapters of background interest.

The volume is available as open-access.

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

Were the Temple lavers celestial chariots and did Josiah remove them?

PROF. JOANN SCURLOCK: The Ten Lavers in the Temple: Ezekiel-like, Celestial Chariots. (TheTorah.com).

Ten lavers, mounted on wheels, and decorated with images of lions, bulls, and cherubs, stood on either side of the bronze sea in the Jerusalem Temple’s courtyard. Are these the “chariots of the sun” (2 Kings 23:11) that Josiah’s reform purges from the Temple?

This is a very interesting idea, although the fact that the lavers were in the Temple for the Babylonians to take away (as noted in the essay), is a point against it.

It is also true that the sun rides in a chariot in extra-Israelite mythology (e.g. Greek Helios and Mesopotamian Utu/Shamash), so Josiah could have been removing mythological architectual additions by his predecessor King Manasseh (cf. 2 Kings 21:3-7). But who knows?

If Prof. Scurlock is right, perhaps Ezekiel approved of Josiah's reform. His (imaginary) restored Temple had cherub decorations (Ezek 41:17-20, 25), but there is no mention of the lavers.

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Lilith art exhibition

SIDNEY AND GERTRUDE ZACK GALLERY, VANCOUVER:

Lilian Broca: Lilith Part of the Festival of Jewish Culture

Sponsored by Averbach Family Foundation and Ben Shneiderman

May 20 – June 29
ARTIST RECEPTION: Wednesday May 20, 6pm – 8pm
ARTIST TALK: Tuesday, May 26, 7pm

View Photo Book

Throughout her career, Lilian Broca has explored subjects ranging from intimate relationships and personal objects to brides, goddesses, and foundational myths, examining narratives that have shaped Western cultural identity. Since 1980, her work has increasingly focused on women and the forces that shape female self-image.

In this exhibition, Broca revisits the myth of Lilith, Adam’s first wife, with symbolic intensity, exploring the struggle of an empowered, independent woman whose conflicts echo those faced by women today. Drawing on lesser-known texts, she highlights Lilith’s refusal to submit, her departure from Adam, and her embrace of autonomy—offering an alternative origin story that challenges dominant narratives and reclaims female agency.

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

“Syria: From Symbol to Letter” Exhibition

ON THE HISTORY OF WRITING: Damascus exhibition traces origins of writing in Syria from symbols to alphabet (R.H., SANA).

Damascus, April 28 (SANA) A new exhibition at the National Museum in Damascus traces the evolution of writing in Syria, from prehistoric symbols carved in stone to the emergence of the world’s earliest alphabet, highlighting Syria’s historical role in the development of writing.

Organized by the Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums, the exhibition “Syria: From Symbol to Letter” presents key milestones in the development of writing over the millennia. ...

Includes displays of Mari cuneiform tablets, Ugaritic tablets, and lots more.

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

Top Ten Discoveries Related to Ezra and Nehemiah

BIBLE ARCHAEOLOGY REPORT: Top Ten Discoveries Related to Ezra and Nehemiah (Bryan Windle). HT Todd Bolen at the Bible Places Blog.

The books of Ezra and Nehemiah record the return of the Jewish exiles to Jerusalem in the Persian era, focusing on the rebuilding of the temple and the city walls, as well as the spiritual reforms they initiated. In the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament in Christian Bibles), Ezra and Nehemiah form a single book. Not everyone agrees that these accounts are historically reliable. Lester L. Grabbe, for example, calls them a “ripping yarn” and claims that they “do not inspire confidence that we have genuine historical data.”1 On the other hand, archaeology has demonstrated that numerous people, places, and events within the books are historically accurate. Here are the top ten archaeological discoveries related to Ezra and Nehemiah, which help demonstrate the historicity of these biblical books.

The discoveries are informative, whatever they demonstrate.

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

What do women contribute to making babies?

DR. SHANA STRAUCH-SCHICK: What Do Women Contribute to a Baby’s Conception? (TheTorah.com).

Seed, blood, or nothing? This debate among the Greeks about the role of women in the development of a fetus influenced the way Second Temple and Rabbinic interpreters understood the meaning of the biblical verse "If a woman emits seed" (Leviticus 12:2).

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

Another "ancient" Hebrew manuscript in Turkey

APPREHENDED BUT FAKE: Turkey seizes rare ancient Hebrew manuscript in major antiquities smuggling crackdown (All Israel News).

The Turkish media portal Türkiye Today published a report on Monday about the ongoing efforts to combat the illegal trade in antiquities that are often looted from legitimate archaeological digs throughout the region.

The report included details about an archaeological artifact recently seized by police, along with other contraband that smugglers were attempting to sell on the black market. The item is a two-meter manuscript inscribed on python skin with gold Hebrew script, which is of particular interest to the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). It had been rolled up and stored inside a copper case with an “ornate, embossed lid,” according to the report.

[...]

Granted, the parchment medium for this manuscript is creative, but is the IAA really interested in it? I doubt it.

YNet News has also covered the story, with a marginally better copy of the very bad photo:

Hebrew text in gold on python skin seized in Turkey black-market antiquities probe. Authorities in Gaziantep say they seized a two-meter python-skin manuscript inscribed with Hebrew letters in gold and detained a foreign national suspected of illegal excavations and trying to sell the rare artifact on the black market (Yogev Israeli).

The item is consistent with the types of finds usually uncovered by antiquities traffickers operating across the region. Illegal excavations at archaeological sites remain an ongoing problem that Turkish authorities are trying to combat.

This scroll is indeed consistent with some finds seized from antiquities traffickers in the region. My assessment is that, like many of them, it is clearly a fake.

By expanding the bad photo you can get a blurry look at the the text on the scroll. It consists of a continuous string of Hebrew letters with no clear word divisions and no words, at least that I can make out. As the headline notes, the letters and images are gold, which is a hallmark of recent fakes.

I am not a specialist in ancient iconography, but the images don't look ancient to me either. Compare, for example, the hexagram design to the hexagram in another Turkish fake noted here (second link). The article noted here has a photo with a very similar hexagram design and a griffin underneath it holding a menorah. The griffin design in the current (python parchment) manuscript on the right side has a nearly identical griffin that appears to be next to an (only partly visible) large menorah image.

All that said, as always, I commend the Turkish police for going hard on antiquities smuggling.

There are many legitimate ancient epigraphic and other archaeological discoveries coming out of Turkey. I cover them all the time. But many dodgy "ancient" Hebrew, Aramaic, and Syriac manuscripts also turn up, generally recovered by the police from smugglers. This looks to me to be one of the latter. I tend to ignore them, but I do note one occasionally. For lots more of them see here and the relevant link.

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Niehoff, Philo of Alexandria: Every Good Man is Free (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Philo of Alexandria: Every Good Man is Free

Introduction, Translation, and Commentary

Series:
Philo of Alexandria Commentary Series, Volume: 9

Author: Maren R. Niehoff

Philo’s treatise on freedom is the first extant exposition of the topic, which became neuralgic in the first century CE. Philosophical, historical, literary and exegetical aspects are explored. The Essenes are presented as an exemplary group of free individuals, who reject slavery and study Torah on the Sabbath. In this first commentary on the treatise, Philo’s thought is explained in the context of the circumstances in which it was written, namely in the aftermath of the Alexandrian pogrom in 38 CE, when he served as the head of the Jewish embassy in Rome. The main contemporary figures are introduced and Philo’s role in the debates of first century Rome is highlighted. Special attention is paid to Cynic philosophy, which prized individual freedom and saw a revival in Rome that is otherwise attested only fragmentarily. Philo’s treatise emerges as a precious source, which illuminates subsequent advocates of freedom, such as Paul and Epictetus.

Copyright Year: 2026

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Not Yet Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-68930-5
Publication: 18 Mar 2026
EUR €250.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-68929-9
Publication: 01 Apr 2026
EUR €250.00

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Meshel, Two Models of Biblical Purity (OUP open access)

NEW BOOK FROM OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS:

Two Models of Biblical Purity

The Science of Ritual

Naphtali S. Meshel

The Bible and the Humanities

Open Access

£104.00
Hardback

Published: 24 March 2026
288 Pages
234x156mm
ISBN: 9780198883326

Also Available As:
E-book

Description

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read on Oxford Academic and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.

Two Models of Biblical Purity: The Science of Ritual investigates the ancient Israelite and early Jewish purity systems, proposing a framework that distinguishes between two conceptual approaches to ritual pollution: the qualitative and quantitative models. In the qualitative model, forms of pollution differ fundamentally in type, like distinct illnesses with unique symptoms and treatments. The quantitative model, on the other hand, views pollution as varying in intensity or degree, similar to temperature, where different sources simply make one "more" or "less" impure. The book argues that the Hebrew Bible primarily reflects a qualitative model, where impurities are categorized by type rather than severity. Through careful philological analysis, the study develops "litmus tests" to detect these models within biblical and late Second Temple texts, showing a gradual shift toward quantitative thought in later Jewish sources. Each chapter applies these methods to pivotal texts, including the Priestly literature, the Temple Scroll, and other late Second Temple and rabbinic writings, revealing the complex evolution of purity laws. This approach provides insights into the inner logic and diachronic development of ritual systems, offering a foundational perspective for comparative studies across diverse ritual traditions. Finally, it examines the historical contexts that may have instigated the shift and considers the advantages of the "fundamental science" approach to the study of biblical purity.

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Aitken memorial volume

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

Language and Identity in Hellenistic Judaism

Essays in Memory of James K. Aitken

William A. Ross (Anthology Editor) , Marieke Dhont (Anthology Editor) , Christopher J. Fresch (Anthology Editor)

Hardback
$120.00 $108.00

Ebook (PDF)
$108.00 $86.40

Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
$108.00 $86.40

Product details

Published Feb 05 2026
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Pages 304
ISBN 9780567715081
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

This volume honours the life and scholarship of James K. Aitken (1968–2023), a distinguished scholar of Hebrew and Early Jewish Studies at the University of Cambridge. Bringing together fourteen original essays by colleagues, students, and friends, the collection explores themes central to Aitken's work. Contributors examine the interplay between language and identity in ancient Jewish communities, with particular attention to the Septuagint and its place within the history of Greek.
Aitken's intellectual legacy is reflected in the breadth of topics covered, from lexical studies and syntactic analysis to sociolinguistic phenomena and historical context. The essays build on his pioneering research and continue conversations he began, offering fresh insights into the lived realities of Jews in the Hellenistic world.
More than a scholarly tribute, this volume is a testament to Aitken's collegial spirit and mentorship. The editors-William A. Ross, Marieke Dhont, and Christopher Fresch-were all shaped by his guidance and friendship, and have curated a collection that reflects both his academic influence and personal impact. With contributions from leading international scholars, this book stands as a fitting memorial to a beloved teacher, collaborator, and friend.

Noted as forthcoming, with links, here.

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

Karen Stern awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship

CONGRATULATIONS! PROFESSOR KAREN B. STERN NAMED 2026 GUGGENHEIM FELLOW. Karen B. Stern, who studies ancient Jewish life through archaeology, material culture, and the senses, has been named a 2026 Guggenheim Fellow (CUNY Graduate Center).

Her work explores Jewish communities in the Greek, Roman, and Sassanian worlds, drawing on archaeology, inscriptions, and sensory history to understand lived religious experience. She is the author of Writing on the Wall: Graffiti and the Forgotten Jews of Antiquity, which won a 2020 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award, as well as Inscribing Devotion and Death. Her research has been supported by organizations including the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Getty Villa, and she has received multiple teaching awards from Brooklyn College.

The fellowship will support Stern’s new project, “Sanctity: An Archaeology of the Senses in the Ancient Synagogue,” which reexamines ancient synagogues through fieldwork, artifacts, and sensory analysis. It will enable travel to sites and collections across the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.

Professor Stern is interviewed in this press release.

For PaleoJudaica posts on her work, see here and links.

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

Moses in the Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions?

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

Stop Trying to Make MŠ Happen! Or Why Moses Does Not Appear in the Proto-Sinaitic Inscriptions

Claims linking the Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions to Moses are unconvincing and continue a long pattern in which biblical apologists overread fragmentary evidence. Michael Bar-Ron’s proposed “Moses” readings fail on epigraphic, linguistic, and historical grounds: the supposed letters are not actually present, the spelling does not fit, and even a genuine occurrence of the name would not establish a connection to the biblical figure. More broadly, sensational media coverage turned a weak scholarly claim into clickbait. The Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions are significant enough on their own for what they reveal about the early history of alphabetic writing, without the need for apologetic overreach or manufactured controversy.

See also The Lost Language of the Ghassulians: Proto-Writing at Nahal Mishmar?

On the Origin of Alphabetic Writing 2019

Hebrew or Not?: Reviewing the Linguistic Claims of Douglas Petrovich’s The World’s Oldest Alphabet 2017

Wandering in the Desert?: A Review of Charles R. Krahmalkov’s “The Chief of Miners Mashe/Moshe

By Aren Wilson-Wright
University of Chicago
Department of Middle Eastern Studies
Assistant Instructional Professor
April 2026

I've been aware of recent claims of finding Moses in the Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions, but they sounded dubious, so I have not posted on them. This essay has a detailed epigraphic and philological evaluation. The other links discuss other, sometimes similar, proposals.

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

An Aramean bull stele and the New Moon?

LUNAR ARTIFACT? New moon takes the bull by the horns. Magnificent 8th century stone monument at Israel Museum preserves link between ancient Aramean god and Jewish calendar (Ilan Ben Zion, Times of Israel).

So the god depicted on the stele was an incarnation of Baal? It’s not as clearcut as that, Arie admits. The bull’s head on the Bethsaida stele is surmounted by horns forming a clearly defined crescent moon, suggesting it may represent a lunar deity.

Google in its wisdom, or whatever it is, has started showing me old articles in my searches. Usually I ignore them, but this one from 2013 is about an artifact that I knew little about which is worth a look. (I noted its existence in passing many years ago, but hadn't heard about it since.)

The "Bethsaida" mentioned in both places above is et-Tell/e-Tel, identified as the site of Geshur mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. The other site competing for recognition as ancient Bethsaida is el-Araj. The latter seems to be winning at present. For the details of the long debate, start here (cf. here, here, and here) and follow the links.

For PaleoJudaica posts on golden calf and other metal bull artifacts, some of them quite ancient, see here and links. It sounds like the Israel Museum has a substantial collection of terra cotta and metal bulls.

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

Who was the "Ethiopian" "Eunuch?"

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Who Was the Ethiopian Eunuch? Rethinking identity, language, and narrative with Mark Wilson (Lauren K. McCormick).

The narrative in Acts is organized around the expansion of Christianity from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria, and ultimately to the “ends of the earth.” The Ethiopian eunuch is geographically distant, socially elevated, and—if Wilson is correct—a Jew open to seeing Jesus as the fulfillment of scripture. In this sense, the Ethiopian eunuch functions as a node within the larger narrative structure of Acts, which is less concerned with individual life stories than with the unstoppable crossing of boundaries that defines its vision of the early Christian movement.

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

A couple of PaleoJudaica posts involving the Ethiopian Eunuch are here and here.

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

Lost Classical epics

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: All The Epics We Have Lost (Philip Jenkins).

My current research involves the loss and rediscovery of Jewish and Christian scriptures, with a focus on the years between roughly 1870 and 1940. However, my next few blogposts are going to explore these themes of “lost and found” much more broadly and cross-culturally, before circling back round to that Biblical/Scriptural focus. I think the themes that emerge are really enlightening in many areas. So today, I will begin far away from the Christian world, in the deepest foundations of the Classical tradition.

There follows an excellent overview of lost Greek Classical epics known from references in later literature, with a sideline of lost plays by some of the great Classical playwrights.

You can read what we know about many of the lost epics and a little on the lost plays in the work of the Hellenistic-era mythographer (Pseudo-?) Apollodorus, The Library of Greek Mythology. The Suda gives more fulsome information on the lost plays.

I look forward to Professor Jenkins's promised further posts on Lost Books.

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

Review of Osborne, The origins of Christianity in the Calendar Wars of the second century BCE

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: The origins of Christianity in the Calendar Wars of the second century BCE.

Alfred Osborne, The origins of Christianity in the Calendar Wars of the second century BCE. Studia traditionis theologiae, 60. Turnhout: Brepols, 2025. Pp. 325. ISBN 9782503613062.

Review by
Amit Gvaryahu, University of Copenhagen. amgv@teol.ku.dk

Excerpt:

Osborne’s book is erudite, and the sources dealt with span the gamut between the Hebrew Bible and the Cairo Genizah, in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. His command of Josephus, the books of the Maccabees, and the New Testament is impressive, as is his ability to cogently present a historical narrative. At the end of the day, however, it is unconvincing. As Osborne cheerily admits often, none of this narrative is explicit in the sources. ...

I haven't read the book, but from the description, that sounds about right to me. And if the calendar were so important for the origins of Christianity, I would expect the debate to figure, or at least to surface periodically, in the New Testament.

But feel free to read the book and decide for yourself.

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

New scrolls coming to Museum of the Bible DSS exhibit

EXHIBITION ROTATION: Museum of the Bible prepares to receive Dead Sea Scrolls Isaiah fragments (Elizabeth Black, The Sift).

An ancient fragment of the book of Isaiah will go on display at the Museum of the Bible from May through September before returning to Israel to spend five years in a vault. The leather fragment is part of the Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in the 1940s and 50s in the caves of Qumran in the West Bank, or what the Israeli government refers to as Judea. It contains portions of several chapters of Isaiah and dates back to sometime around the first century A.D. The Isaiah fragment is part of the final stage of a Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the museum, according to Bobby Duke, the museum’s chief curatorial officer.

... The new display will also include other Dead Sea Scrolls fragments, including an apocryphal account of the birth of Noah, part of the ancient Jewish book of Tobit, and Duke’s favorite item: pieces of phylactery scrolls.

This is the third lot of scrolls in this exhibition. That Isaiah fragment mentioned is 4QIsaiah^d (4Q58). For details on the other scrolls in this rotation, follow the "exhibit" link to the museum page and scroll (heh) down.

Earlier posts on this exhibition are here (cf. here) and here.

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

Homer at Oxyrhyncus?

OXYRHYNCHUS WATCH: Archaeological mission in Oxyrhynchus has found Homer's 'Iliad' inside a Roman-era mummy (PhysOrg/University of Barcelona, edited by Stephanie Baum, reviewed by Robert Egan).

During the campaign carried out between November and December 2025, Núria Castellano's team discovered a Roman-era mummy in Tomb 65 of Sector 22 that featured an unusual element: a papyrus placed on the abdomen as part of the embalming ritual. In previous campaigns, the Oxyrhynchus Archaeological Mission had already documented papyri written in Greek in similar positions, but all contained magical or ritualistic content. A literary text such as the "Iliad" had never before been found in this context.

The text is from the Catalogue of Ships in Iliad book II.

For a recent overview of the Oxyrhynchus papyri, see here. There are endless PaleoJudaica post on the site and the papyri in the archives.

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

Online Oxford Septuagint Seminar, TODAY and going forward

WILLIAM A. ROSS: (VIRTUAL) OXFORD SEPTUAGINT SEMINAR, 22 APRIL.

I’m happy to publicize information for the new Trinity term schedule for the Septuagint Seminar at Christ Church, Oxford. As you can see in the schedule below, there are a handful of seminars on the roster (including one by yours truly). I’ll post links here as they become available. But the very first one of the term is tomorrow. Info below:

That is now today, in just a few hours. Follow the link for the Zoom link and passcode.

Dr. Ross has been posting these lectures for a while, but usually too late for me to see them in time to relay them. But have a look at the list in his post. If any of the seminars interest you, keep an eye on his blog for Zoom info. I will try to relay it too, depending on the timing of the announcement.

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

On "Masada syndrome"

ARCHAEOLOGY AND POLITICS: Why Israel Is Falling Again for the Masada Syndrome (Moshe Gilad, Haaretz).

Generations of Israelis grew up on Masada's myth of heroism and noble suicide. What really happened on the mountain does not quite fit the national narrative, yet the it keeps shaping Israeli society

Mixed with the political observations in this long article are observations about what we can infer really happened at the fall of Masada. The answer is not straightforward.

For some PaleoJudaica posts on the archaeology of Masada and the question of the reliability of Josephus' account of its fall to the Romans, see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and links. And you can dig up still more in the archives.

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

The Zoroastrian World (Routledge)

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: The Zoroastrian World. Notice of a New Book: Rose, Jenny, Albert De Jong & Sarah Stewart (eds.). 2026. The Zoroastrian World. New York: Routledge.

Follow the link for description and TOC. The volume looks comprehensive, with lots of articles of interest to PaleoJudaica.

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

The Suda

A MASSIVE COMPILATION: The Suda, The Greek Encyclopedia Written in the Year 1100 (Patricia Claus, The Greek Reporter).

The lexicon copiously draws from scholia to the classics of the greatest Greek writers, including Homer, Aristophanes, Thucydides, Sophocles, and others. Later, the works of Polybius, Josephus, the Chronicon Paschale, George Syncellus, George Hamartolus, were used as sources.

The Suda quotes or paraphrases these sources at length. Since many of the original works have indeed been lost, The Suda serves an invaluable repository of literary history; this preservation of literary history is more vital than the lexicographical compilation itself, some scholars believe.

I noted the preliminary completion of the online English translation in 2014 here. The links have rotted, but you can now find the site here in its "temporary home."

Cross-file under Lost Books.

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

Trauma hermeneutics and the Bible

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

Trauma, the Body, and Politics in the Bible

Trauma hermeneutics offers a valuable lens for interpreting biblical texts by examining how violence, suffering, and injustice are embodied in characters, represented in literary form, and shaped by political and social power. Attending to trauma in the Bible can deepen interpretation, challenge moralizing readings, and reveal how narratives of suffering are used both to process harm and to construct communal identity, while also reminding readers that not all suffering is recognized or treated equally.

See also Esther Keeps the Score: Trauma, Body and Politics in the Hebrew Bible (SCM Press, 2026).

By Alexiana Fry
University of Copenhagen
Guest Researcher
April 2026

Cross-file under New Book.

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Niehoff & Markschies (eds.), Aspects of Time in Jewish and Christian Exegesis (De Gruyter, open access)

THE AWOL BLOG: Aspects of Time in Jewish and Christian Exegesis.

Aspects of Time in Jewish and Christian Exegesis. Edited by Maren R. Niehoff and Christoph Markschies. De Gruyter, 2026. Open access.

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

The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Law

NEW BOOK FROM OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS:

The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Law

Zev Eleff, Roberta Rosenthal Kwall, and Chaim Saiman

Oxford Handbooks

£142.50

Hardback
Published: 03 March 2026
828 Pages
248x171mm
ISBN: 9780197508305

Description

Jewish law, known as halakhah, is a unique legal system that has developed over nearly two millennia, across multiple continents, and in innumerable different contexts. Dealing not only with ritual, Jewish law extends to virtually every aspect of life, including ethics, business, war, and sex. This Handbook highlights foundational questions about the nature of Jewish law, emphasizing what distinguishes it from other legal systems and illuminating its vitality throughout history.

The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Law navigates core issues such as halakhah's authority, interpretation, and the meaningfulness of an ancient legal system in a modern period. With contributions from an interdisciplinary cast of authors, the Handbook spans law, history, sociology, and religion. Its chapters draw from a wide range of sources, including traditional texts such as Mishnah and Talmud, rabbinical codes, and legal opinions known as responsa. Moreover, chapters addressing pressing modern issues cover the material from diverse denominational perspectives.

As halakhah remains deeply woven into the fabric of Jewish life and scholarship, The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Law offers readers an in-depth understanding of this rich and enduring legal tradition.

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

The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, Volume 3

NEW BOOK FROM YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, Volume 3
Encountering Christianity and Islam, 600-1200

Edited by Arnold E. Franklin

Series: Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization 1464 Pages, 8.00 × 10.00 in, 93 color + 117 b-w illus.

Hardcover
9780300186277
Published: Tuesday, 10 Mar 2026
$150.00

Description

This volume of the Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization covers the religious, political, economic, and geographic transformations of Jewish life through the early Middle Ages

Volume 3 of the Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization presents a time of tremendous vibrancy for Jews and Judaism in the early Middle Ages, with a comprehensive historical introduction to the period in over a thousand source texts, alongside the extant visual and material culture. The sources offer an unprecedented range of voices—male and female, religious and secular, mystical and rationalist, learned and commoner—from a historical period that is thoroughly unfamiliar to modern audiences. The volume captures passionate political controversies, virtuosic liturgical poets, learned scientific and medical texts, and spiritually uplifting philosophical and theological discussions, all alongside the plaintive voices of Jewish mothers writing to their sons, real-life cases of commercial transactions, legal contests, and the details of domestic disputes.

I noted the publication of Volume 1 here and of Volume 2 here.

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The Copper Scroll in the news

NOT INVESTMENT ADVICE: A viral social media post is reminding the world that one Dead Sea Scroll is not scripture but a copper-engraved inventory of billions in buried treasure (Elroy Fernandes, Startup Fortune).

A TIL post circulating across social platforms this week has reintroduced millions of people to one of archaeology’s most tantalizing anomalies: a scroll discovered in 1952 that reads less like religious scripture and more like a treasure map written by someone who really did not want to forget where they buried everything. The document in question, formally designated 3Q15 and known as the Copper Scroll, was found in Cave 3 at Qumran and is unlike anything else recovered from the Dead Sea region , in material, in content, and in the questions it refuses to answer.

[...]

The "TIL post" is in the "Today I Learned" subreddit on Reddit, posted yesterday (16 April). You can read it here. It became something of a Reddit hit, with more than 10K upvotes in less than 24 hours.

This brief Startup Forture article is quite good. It describes the scroll and its contents, discusses why no one has yet found the treasure, and prudently advises investors not take the story as a "market signal."

For many PaleoJudaica posts on the Copper Scroll, start here (cf. here) and follow the links.

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

Review of Karla and Konstan, Life of Aesop the Philosopher

BYRN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Life of Aesop the Philosopher.

Grammatiki A. Karla, David Konstan, Life of Aesop the Philosopher. Writings from the Greco-Roman world, 50. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2024. Pp. 260. ISBN 9781628373271.

Review by
Marcus Ziemann, Florida State University. mziemann@fsu.edu

I noted the publication of the book here, with notes on the connections of the Aesop traditions with the Mesopotamian sage Ahiqar, who was adopted into the Jewish apocryphal tradition.

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

Safaee, Women of the empire (Brill)

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: Women of the Empire. Notice of a New Book: Safaee, Yazdan. 2026. Women of the empire: Life and labor in the Achaemenid Persepolis Archives (Ancient Iran Series 20). Leiden: Brill.

As the post indicates, Yazdan Safaee is one of the regular contributors to Bibilographia Iranica.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on Persepolis, the ancient Achaemenid ceremonial capital city, start here and just follow those links.

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

Moses of Crete, "the drowning messiah"

MESSIANISM: Moses of Crete: The ‘Messiah’ Who Promised to Part the Sea and Led Hundreds to Death (Nick Kampouris, The Greek Reporter).

In the midst of this upheaval, during the reign of Emperor Theodosius II, [402/408-450 CE] the figure later known as Moses of Crete began to attract attention. He did not merely present himself as a prophet but claimed to be the biblical Moses returned in the flesh, sent directly from Heaven. Over the course of roughly a year, he moved along the rugged coastline of the island of Crete, rallying local Jewish communities with an extraordinary promise: a new Exodus. He declared that he would part the Mediterranean Sea just as the Red Sea had once been parted, leading his followers back to the Promised Land on dry land.

As implausible as it sounds, his message proved deeply persuasive. Entire families abandoned their homes, livelihoods, and possessions, choosing instead to follow a man they genuinely believed to be Moses himself.

As you might guess, it did not go well.

Another PaleoJudaica post dealing with Moses of Crete and other "failed messiahs" is here. And for messianic figures in the late Second Temple Period, see here and here.

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

The siegeworks of the Roman conquest of Jerusalem

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: The Roman Conquest of Jerusalem. How were the siegeworks deployed around the city? (Clinton J. Moyer).

The Roman army’s conquest and destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 is well documented, both in contemporary written sources like Josephus and in the archaeological record. ...

Yet, despite all this evidence, little is known about the layout and organization of the protective walls, garrison camps, and other defenses that made up the Roman army’s siegeworks during the conquest of the city. In his article entitled “Under Siege: How Rome Conquered Jerusalem,” published in the Spring 2026 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, archaeologist Győző Vörös pieces together the available evidence to develop a clearer picture of the disposition of the Roman forces.

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

For the work of Győző Vörös on the site of Machaerus (the reputed site of the execution of John the Baptist), see here and links.

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

Pharaoh Tiberius?

EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGY: Ancient Egyptian stone monument depicting a Roman emperor as a pharaoh discovered in Luxor. A stone slab depicting the Roman emperor Tiberius was found during restoration work at the Karnak temple complex in Luxor. (Margherita Bassi, Live Science).

For more on Tiberius as a god and a son of god, see my report on the 2016 St. Andrews Symposium on Divine Sonship, and also here.

Yet another important epigraphic discovery at the seemingly comprehensively explored Egyptian site of Luxor. What else is out there? Follow the link for discussion of implications.

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

On biocodicology

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: How DNA forensics is transforming studies of ancient manuscripts. Scientists are exposing the biological information hidden in ancient parchments without leaving a mark (Marla Broadfoot, Scientific American, reprint from Nature Magazine). HT Drew Longacre's OTTC Blog.

In May 2006, Tim Stinson travelled to England to tour the libraries of London, Oxford and Cambridge. ...

Nearly two decades later, that curiosity has helped to give rise to a new field. The development of non-destructive sampling methods, alongside advances in genomics and proteomics, have made it possible to extract biological information from ancient parchments without visibly damaging them. The emerging discipline — known as biocodicology — combines molecular biology with codicology, the study of books as material objects.

The results are transforming how scholars understand human history. By analysing parchment, researchers are uncovering evidence of trade networks, animal husbandry, medical and ritual practices, climate change, epidemics and floods.

In the process, they have found that ancient parchments preserve more than just words.

All of the examples in the article involve analysis of medieval manuscripts, the earliest from the eighth century. But applying the process to more ancient manuscripts sounds possible, assuming researchers can find a non-destructive way to harvest the samples.

I noted a recent unrelated project (at pre-print publication stage) which applied such methods to the Shroud of Turin here. I see that Scientific American has also published a response to it:

DNA analysis claiming new origins for the Shroud of Turin doesn't hold up, experts say. A metagenomic study of this cloth, controversially purported to bear the imprint of the body of Jesus Christ, has little to say about the relic’s origins (BY STEPHANIE PAPPAS EDITED BY JEANNA BRYNER).

Cross-file under Paleogenetics.

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

More on that Ark of the Covenant docudrama

CINEMA: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: 'Legends of the Lost Ark' docudrama: Archaeologist Chris McKinney investigates fate of the biblical artifact. McKinney discusses the history, legend and mystery surrounding the Ark of the Covenant (All Israel News).

A key element of “Legends of the Lost Ark” is its effort to move beyond modern speculation and instead reconstruct the conversation around the Ark through ancient traditions and early textual sources. McKinney emphasized that the goal is not to chase sensational theories, but to understand how ancient communities themselves wrestled with the Ark’s disappearance after the destruction of the First Temple.

In the interview, McKinney explained that the film is anchored in three early post-exilic traditions that consistently connect the prophet Jeremiah to the Ark’s concealment. While the sources differ on where it was hidden, they converge on several core ideas – including that the Ark was hidden before Jerusalem’s fall and that it is destined to be revealed in the future.

That sounds like a prudent approach.

The trailer is overdone, but trailers often are. I do not have time to listen to the whole interview now. This article has excerpts, plus links to trailer and interview.

I noted the film as upcoming here. Follow the links from there for many posts on the Ark of the Covenant and the many places where it is claimed to be. The film is currently, briefly, in the cinemas. I believe today is the last day.

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

U of Iowa project funded to reconstruct ancient manuscripts

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: UI professor repairs damaged ancient manuscripts with AI. Paul Dilley received a $500,000 grant from Schmidt Sciences to develop AI tools that can reconstruct missing sections of ancient manuscripts (Jacob Calvin, The Daily Iowan).

Dilley said even as multispectral imaging continues to advance, there is a limit to what it can decipher.

“If the manuscript has already been damaged, imaging obviously doesn’t help you see the missing parts,” he said. “That’s where AI comes in.”

Dilley said editors will train the AI to perform a process called infilling, or suggesting restorations for letter fragments. Generative AI will also be used to infer and suggest new text for lacunas, or portions of manuscripts where all text is missing.

For his current study, Dilley said the AI will be trained to perform infilling and restore lacuna for Greek, Latin, and Celtic languages.

“The plan is to publish the models open access and to make it extendable to other languages,” he said. “The basic pipeline should be extendable to other languages.”

The funding of this project is very good news.

The article mentions the Herculaneum papyri and the Dead Sea Scrolls in passing, but it does not specify which texts or manuscripts the project will work on.

Cross-file under Algorithm Watch.

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

What's in the Herculaneum papyri? What might be?

HERCULANEUM WATCH: The Latin Problem: BYU's Roger Macfarlane on What We Have — and Haven't — Found in the Herculaneum Papyri (Utah TechBuzz News).

BYU classicist, Roger Macfarlane, who has spent more than three decades hunting for lost Latin literature in carbonized scrolls came to UVU with an honest assessment: most of the discovered Herculaneum papyri is barely readable. But what we might still find could change everything.

Further:

From the moment European scholars learned that a library had been buried at Herculaneum, the speculation about what it might contain has been almost comically ambitious. A letter from 1753 — before serious attempts to open the scrolls had even begun — already expressed hope for a portion of Livy's history of Rome, most of which has been lost to time. By 1739, a German scholar was wishfully cataloging the texts he hoped to find: Diodorus Siculus, Berossus on Babylon, Megasthenes on India, Livy, Sallust, and, in a note that Macfarlane clearly relished, "the Five Books of Sallust, although in that event all the labor I have already expended in attempting to reconstruct them would itself be rendered futile."

The list has only grown since. ...

An informative article asking important questions about the Herculaneum library: What is in it? What might be? With some answers to both. I've posted my own wish list of Herculaneum books here and here.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE and its destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and on the efforts to reconstruct and decipher the carbonized library at Herculaneum, start here and follow the links.

Cross-file under Lost Books (also here).

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

Reports of bombed antiquities sites in Israel and Lebanon

THIS IS WAR: There are reports of the bombing of antiquities sites in northern Israel and Lebanon.

Hezbollah rocket hits remains of 1,500-year-old Byzantine church in northern Israel. Israel Antiquities Authority says modern-day structure preserving the mosaic in Nahariya was damaged but the ancient floor is intact (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel).

“Today, a meeting was held on site with the participation of archaeologists and conservators from the Israel Antiquities Authority [and] representatives of the municipality and the Property Tax Authority,” an IAA spokesperson said in a statement. “An on-site assessment indicates that the mosaic was covered by debris from the modern structure in which it had been preserved, but was not damaged.”

For more on the mosaic and on another significant discovery in Nahariya, see here and here.

Israeli airstrikes hit southern Lebanon and Tyre’s ancient citadel (Middle East Monitor).

Israeli warplanes launched a series of airstrikes on southern Lebanon on Monday, targeting the town of Qantara and the outskirts of Tibnin, while artillery shelling struck the ancient citadel of Tyre, a site listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site.

According to the Lebanese National News Agency, the citadel area includes the shrine and tomb of Prophet Simeon the Just, raising concerns over damage to cultural and historical heritage.

[...]

Some PaleoJudaica posts on the history and archaeology of the city of Tyre are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and links. There was a big fire at the site last year.

It sounds as though the bombing damage was to post-Phoenician remains.

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

39 more Lebanese sites under enhanced cultural protection

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: 39 Sites in Lebanon Gain UNESCO Protection. Why it matters for biblical history and beyond (Lauren K. McCormick).

In a decision prompted by a request from the Lebanese government, UNESCO granted enhanced protection status to 39 sites across Lebanon under the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. The designation places these sites under the highest level of legal safeguarding during armed conflict, meaning that any intentional damage could be considered a war crime. UNESCO has committed over US$100,000 for measures on the ground, including training for staff and military personnel.

[...]

Lebanon has lots of biblical connections. Also, cross-file under Phoenician Watch.

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

Review of The Oxford handbook of the Hellenistic and Roman Near East

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: The Oxford handbook of the Hellenistic and Roman Near East.

The Oxford handbook of the Hellenistic and Roman Near East Rubina Raja, The Oxford handbook of the Hellenistic and Roman Near East. Oxford handbooks. New York: Oxford University Press, 2025. Pp. 944. ISBN 9780190858155.

Review by
Céline Debourse, Harvard University. cdebourse@fas.harvard.edu

[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review]

This impressive collection of essays brings together a wide range of scholarship dealing with the Near East under Hellenistic and Roman rule, from Alexander’s death in 323 BCE into the eighth century CE. Its overarching aim, in the editor’s words, is to apply “both local as well as global lenses” to bring “new perspectives on this central region” (abstract). In fifty chapters covering 940 pages, Rubina Raja and her contributors do indeed deliver a breath-taking overview of topics in sectors as diverse as geography, climate, economy, religion, politics, and culture.

[...]

Apparently the volume does not include Egypt and it oddly neglects Mesopotamia. But in the TOC I see many articles of interest to PaleoJudaica: on Judea and the Galilee (several), Edessa, Europos-Dura (sic), Palmyra, Phoenicia, Petra, and more.

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

Eight 3,000-year-old scrolls excavated in Egypt

YET ANOTHER SCROLL DISCOVERY: Valuable discovery in Egypt reveals 3,000-year-old scrolls with secret messages still unread. Cache of coffins also found stacked in a rock-carved funerary chamber nearby (Andrea Margolis, Fox News).

Excavators found the ancient scrolls in a large pottery vessel, with some even bearing their original, 3,000-year-old clay seals.

"They vary in size and are considered a valuable source of information, with the world awaiting the results following their restoration and translation," the translated release said.

The coffins of Amun chanters — temple singers dedicated to the god Amun — were found stacked in a rock-carved rectangular funerary chamber [on Luxor's West Bank].

Fox News appears to have broken the story in the English-speaking world. No word yet on the contents of the scrolls. Reading the texts will be a laborious and painstaking process.

As I have said before, it is remarkable that Egypt continues to produce substantial scroll discoveries. Several have been found at Saqqara, one of the most thoroughly explored sites in the world. This one was in Luxor, at the other end of Egypt, but comparably explored already. For other recent Egyptian scroll discoveries, see the links at the bottom of this post. If I may quote myself from the first link in this paragraph:

And if there are intact 16-meter ancient scrolls still lying around in Egypt, what does that say about the potential for new scroll finds in Israel? Israel has fewer areas that have the right climactic conditions to preserve scrolls. But there are still promising regions. Besides the Dead Sea region and Samaria, both of which have produced remarkable scroll discoveries, both Megiddo and the Timna Valley have potential. I have discussed the matter here.

Since then, an even earlier textile fragment (c. 1500-2000 BCE) has been recovered from one of the Judean Desert caves. See my commentary at the link for some implications.

The sites in Israel whose climate could preserve ancient scrolls have been extensively explored. But there may still be surprises in them. Keep looking!

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

How old is the layout of the MT Hebrew Bible?

GENIZA FRAGMENT OF THE MONTH (FEBRUARY 2026): Scrolls, Stratigraphy and the Song of the Sea: Re-examining Ashkar-Gilson (Kim Phillips).

This fascinating essay is quite technical and hard to excerpt. The main issue is the question of how ancient the layout (as opposed to the text itself) of the Masoretic Text is. The specific examples are the dots placed over some of the words and the division of the five lines preceding the Song of the Sea in Exodus 15.

The answer, the author concludes, is that the the division of the five lines is earlier than the Ashkar-Gilson manuscript, which dates to the seventh or eight century CE. So, very old indeed.

For PaleoJudaica posts on Ashkar-Gilson fragments of Exodus, start here, here, and here, and follow the links.

For many PaleoJudaica posts noting Cairo Geniza Fragments of the Month in the Cambridge University Library's Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit, start here and follow the links.

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

Arnold, The Cambridge Introduction to the Old Testament (2nd ed., paperback)

NEW PAPERBACK FROM CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

The Cambridge Introduction to the Old Testament

Edition: 2nd Edition
Author: Bill T. Arnold, Asbury Theological Seminary, Kentucky
Published: February 2026
Availability: Available
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781009328593

£55.00 GBP
Paperback

£110.00 GBP
Hardback

$72.00 USD
eBook

Description

This textbook offers students who have no prior background in biblical studies an understanding of the lasting contribution of Israel's scriptures. Bringing a literary approach to the topic, it strikes a balance between historical reconstructions, comparative religions, and theology. Among several distinctive features, It traces the legacy of monotheism first emerging in the pages of Israel's scriptures as an enduring contribution for twenty-first century readers. Monotheism gives the volume an immediate relevance because the so-called Abrahamic religions are rooted in this concept. Whether one is Jewish, Christian, Muslim, or secularist, students will gain a new understanding of the origins of monotheism as their common heritage. The Second Edition of this textbook includes expanded discussions within the text and in sidebars, notably on the history of biblical scholarship, modern methods of interpretation, and wisdom literature.

• Addresses the cultural, societal, and philosophical facets of the ancient world in which the Old Testament was written, providing students with proper context for understanding what they read in the Old Testament
• This textbook explores issues of history, comparative religions, and sociology when these topics arise naturally from the text of the Old Testament, introducing students to the wide-ranging and most important aspects of the Old Testament as they are pertinent to today's readers
• It includes 72 illustrations, 20 maps, and sidebar discussions to aid student recall and understanding

I've not noted this book before in any of its previous versions, so here it is.

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

Dever, For Those Who Sleep in the Dust (SBL)

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

For Those Who Sleep in the Dust: Essays on Archaeology and the Bible
William G. Dever

ISBN 9781628376470
Status Available
Publication Date March 2026
Paperback $56.00
eBook $56.00
Hardback $76.00

A lifetime of essential scholarship from one of biblical archaeology’s most prolific scholars

For Those Who Sleep in the Dust collects thirteen of William G. Dever’s best articles and essays on the archaeological history of ancient Israel. Dever’s work on a range of hotly debated topics, including the origins of the Israelite people, the development of the state, and Israelite religion, gives voice to the ordinary, anonymous Israelites and Judahites hidden in the shadows of the leaders, battles, and religious debates memorialized in the Hebrew Bible. These essays not only illuminate the ancient human experience but also make biblical archaeology accessible to anyone who needs a broad introduction to what archaeology can and cannot reveal about the Bible.

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

Reopenings in Israel

IN ISRAEL, museums and holy sites are starting to reopen during the ceasefire:

Museums begin to reopen in Israel following ceasefire (Jessica Steinberg, Times of Israel)

Amid the fragile ceasefire between Iran and the US, and a pause in Iranian missile strikes that sent Israelis into safe rooms and shelters, museums are planning to reopen for the first time in six weeks, moving artworks and valuables back into galleries and exhibits.

The Israel Museum will reopen on Monday, April 13, although the recently opened exhibit displaying the complete Isaiah Scroll, one of the original seven Dead Sea Scrolls, will remain closed for now.

[...]

For more on the Great Isaiah Scroll exhibition and its current safeguarded status, with my own commentary, see here and links.

Holy sites reopen in Jerusalem’s Old City after over a month of closure. Muslim worshipers throng Al-Aqsa gates for dawn prayers; extended ‘Ramadan hours’ remain in place for Jewish visitors to Temple Mount; police gear up for Holy Fire ceremony; Western Wall reopens (Charlie Summers, Times of Israel).

The reopening is just in time for the Holy Fire ceremony, on which more here and links.

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