Aberbach, Ancient Bible Interpretation and its Legacies (Routledge)

NEW BOOK FROM ROUTLEDGE:

Ancient Bible Interpretation and its Legacies
Politics, Literature, and Heresy

By David Aberbach

Copyright 2026
Hardback
£124.00
eBook
£36.79
ISBN 9781041051435
300 Pages 4 B/W Illustrations
Published December 29, 2025 by Routledge

Description

Ancient Bible Interpretation and its Legacies: Politics, Literature, and Heresy offers a sweeping exploration of the evolving role of Bible interpretation from ancient to modern times, revealing its profound impact on religious, political, literary, and secular culture.

Tracing the origins of Midrash in post-Temple Judaism and its transmission across Christian and Islamic traditions, this book examines how scriptural exegesis has shaped – and been shaped by – historical trauma, national identity, and cultural transformation. It explores the central role of Midrash in Jewish survival and education, its responses to persecution and polemic, and its influence on mystical traditions, Zionism, and modern literary movements. Moving beyond religious contexts, the volume investigates how biblical interpretation has informed dissenting voices in English literature, the formation of modern nationalism, responses to anti-Semitism, and contemporary concerns from environmental ethics to the search for justice in postcolonial and global literatures. Through a rich tapestry of case studies – from ancient rabbis to Bunyan, Blake, Bialik, Orwell, and Achebe – it reveals the enduring power of homiletic traditions in shaping moral and political imagination across ages and cultures.

This book is essential reading for scholars of Jewish studies, religious studies, comparative literature, intellectual history, and cultural studies, offering a vital perspective on the complex legacies of ancient Bible interpretation in the modern world.

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

The silver trumpets of Numbers 10, with pictures and sound!

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

The Silver Trumpets of Numbers 10

The silver trumpet from Tutankhamun’s tomb offers a striking material parallel to the two silver trumpets described in Numbers 10:1–10. Egyptian artifacts, biblical texts, later commentary, and the 1939 BBC recording of King Tut’s trumpets illuminate the passage’s royal, cultic, and military dimensions.

By Gary A. Rendsburg
Rutgers University
Department of Jewish Studies
May 2026

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

A Turoyo version of the Syriac Bible?

(NEO-)ARAMAIC WATCH: Syriac Peshitta Bible now available in Turoyo (Surayt) in the Qadishapp (Syriac Press).

TUR ABDIN — To strengthen the presence of the spoken language Turoyo (Surayt) dialect in ecclesiastical and spiritual life, and facilitating easy access to the Syriac Bible, scholars of Syriac language and heritage continue have made a notable technological step in their efforts to provide religious and educational resources that help preserve cultural identity for future generations. They have now made the Syriac Bible available in Turoyo and in a mobile application. ...

This Turoyo (Surayt) edition is based on the Syriac Bible translation called the Peshitta (ܦܫܺܝܛܬܳܐ), the authoritative biblical text for churches of the Syriac Rite tradition.

For more on the modern Aramaic dialect of Turoyo spoken in the Tur Abdin region of Turkey, see here. The translation project was undertaken at the Mor Gabriel Monastery in Tur Abdin (Mardin), on which more here and many links.

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

Is the Siloam Tunnel Inscription an accident memorial?

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Was the Siloam Inscription a Message for the Dead? Rethinking the Siloam Tunnel with Ariel Cohen (Lauren K. McCormick ).

In the Spring 2026 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, Ariel Cohen, Professor of Linguistics at Ben-Gurion University, has a new and highly original interpretation of the Siloam inscription. He calls much into question with a simple flip of the audience: He asks whether the Siloam inscription was written for the living, as has always been assumed, or if it was written for the dead.

That does explain some problems. But if it is a memorial inscription, it seems oddly allusive to me. It just describes the accident. No naming of those killed in it or any expression of mourning. But this interpretation is thought provoking. It could be right.

Unusually, the full BAR article is available at the link above. So read it and see what you think.

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

Recovering biometric data from ancient bullae?

HEBREW EPIGRAPHY AND ANCIENT MATERIAL CULTURE: Fingerprints of Artisans and Officials Discovered on the Backs of Clay Seals from Ancient Jerusalem (Guillermo Carvajal, LBV).

Among the most personal findings revealed by this approach are fingerprints. The clay, while still wet and malleable, retained the ridges of the person who pressed the bulla against the cord that sealed the package. Uziel and Shalev’s team has managed to recover and individualize these impressions using photogrammetry and transformed reflectance techniques.

Although the age of the remains prevents matching them to specific identities, their morphology makes it possible to estimate the age and sex of the artisan or official who handled each piece, as well as the force applied in sealing. These traces, which no written record could have preserved, turn the bullae into somatic testimonies of the past.

I have already noted this new Israel Science Foundation project here. But this article has accessible coverage of the story, with emphasis on how the project is recovering the abovementioned biometric data, along with information about the material the bullae were attached to and what that might tell us about their function.

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

Digitizing ancient inscriptions.

MICHAEL L. SATLOW: How Do You Teach a Computer to Read a Broken Ancient Inscription? It's complicated.

Digitizing an inscription into EpiDoc is not a trivial task. Information about an inscription, such as its context, size, find location, current location, language, place, etc., all must be entered into special fields in some database system (or directly given strict, uniform tags). This takes time and expertise. Even more laborious, though, is the digitization of the inscription’s text, even at its most simple level. Epigraphers typically (and ideally) transcribe an inscription in two formats. The first is called a diplomatic transcription, and seeks to record the inscription as it appears, with all the gaps, misspellings, etc. The second is sometimes called a normalized transcription. Both employ a specialized set of typographical markers.

Cross-file under Algorithm Watch and Epigraphy.

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

Klein, Between the Lines (Gorgias)

NEW BOOK FROM GORGIAS PRESS:

Between the Lines
The Literary and Ideological Shaping of Judah’s Genealogies in the Book of Chronicles

By Neriah Klein

Publisher: Gorgias Press LLC
Availability: In stock
SKU (ISBN): 978-1-4632-4813-0
Formats *
Hardback (In Print) ISBN 978-1-4632-4813-0
eBook PDF (In Print) ISBN 978-1-4632-4814-7 on Gorgias Mobile App (Glassboxx)
Publication Status: In Print
Series: Perspectives on Hebrew Scriptures and its Contexts 38
Publication Date: Feb 19,2026
Interior Color: Black
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Page Count: 507
Languages: English
ISBN: 978-1-4632-4813-0
Price: $114.95 (USD)
Your price: $68.97 (USD)

The book of Chronicles has received a revival in recent scholarship, making it one of the most studied books, and this is especially true from 1 Chronicles 10 onwards—often ignoring the genealogies of 1 Chronicles 1–9. The Chronicler’s genealogies contain seemingly endless lists of names, with neither intriguing plot nor sublime poetry, and thus hardly generate interest in the reader. Yet this was not the Chronicler’s intention. When he incorporated these lists into his book, he shaped them with a deliberate and sophisticated literary design, serving distinct ideological and narrative purposes.

In Between the Lines, Klein takes the reader deep into the genealogies of the tribe of Judah (1 Chr 2:3–4:23) to expose these designs in all their glory and show the great richness inherent in seemingly boring texts. Through close literary analysis, the book uncovers structural patterns, thematic messages, and theological ideas embedded within the lists—revealing unexpected insights about identity, kingship, intermarriage, and the future envisioned by the Chronicler.

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

JiSeong James Kwon, Wisdom Discourse and Torah in Second Temple Judaism (SBL)

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

Wisdom Discourse and Torah in Second Temple Judaism: Challenging the Integration Paradigm
JiSeong James Kwon

ISBN 9781628377781
Volume AIL 52
Status Available
Publication Date November 2025
Hardback $105.00
Paperback $85.00
eBook $85.00

Did wisdom literature in the Hebrew Bible develop over time from secular to religious, as many early modern scholars believed? Did it develop in reaction to historical events or out of conflict with other traditions, including Torah? In Wisdom Discourse and Torah in Second Temple Judaism, JiSeong James Kwon moves beyond this impasse by applying a discourse-critical method to intertextual readings of Proverbs, Ben Sira, the Wisdom of Solomon, Baruch, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Deuteronomy. Kwon’s study reveals that wisdom literature maintained an independent identity and theological orientation distinct from the legal traditions of the Torah. Rather than wisdom being subsumed into legal material, Jewish intellectual production remained pluralistic in form, genre, and theological orientation throughout the Persian and Hellenistic periods.

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Reconstructing a very old Torah scroll

THE GENIZA FRAGMENTS BLOG: What’s My Line? Reconstructing CUL T-S NS 3.21+ (Marc Michaels).

Likely the oldest Torah in the Cairo Genizah, CUL T-S NS 3.21+ is also one of the oldest manuscripts in the whole collection. This blog details a reconstruction for part of this scroll, involving three adjacent fragments.

This essay is technical, especially in the first part, but keep reading (or skip) to the part dealing with the compute reconstruction of the manuscript. Fascinating.

I noted a of Genesis fragment of T-S NS 3.21 back in 2015, referring to a 2010 Geniza Fragment of the Month post. That post is gone now, but it seems that another fragment, T-S NS 4.3, came from the same scroll. And other fragments of it have been located since, so that its siglum is now T-S NS 3.21+.

For more on the oldest Torah scroll fragments apart from the Dead Sea Scrolls, see here (alas, the main link is gone) and here and links. Also here, although I have heard no more about the Bologna scroll.

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

AI translations of the letters of Procopius of Gaza

ROGER PEARSE: Procopius of Gaza, Letters – machine translation now online with notes..

When I started to work on Procopius, the first thing I did was to make a working tool to orient myself, to find my way around the text before I started into the Greek, but using an existing translation. The one chosen was the 2010 Italian translation by Federica Ciccolella, which I ran through Google Translate, and came to think was rather impressive. I don’t suppose the result of the machine translation is very accurate. But skimming through it does give a very nice idea of the size and shape of the letters, and allows you to find your way around the Italian.

Procopius of Gaza "was a sophist living in the early 6th century, after the end of the Origenist disputes, and before the rise of Islam. Only three of the letters are addressed to priests, and the tone is secular. But he lived in a period when the traditional Roman upper class was starting to be replaced by the ecclesiastical dignitaries, themselves rich and powerful and full of patronage. In other words, he lived at the changeover period between the Roman and Byzantine periods." He is not to be confused with the better-known Procopius of Caesarea, his later contemporary. His letters have been an area of longstanding interest for Roger. PaleoJudaica has mentioned him here.

In some of his letters, Procopius of Gaza refers to the late-antique city of Elusa (Halutza) in the Negev, where a correspondent named Jerome resided before moving to Egypt (not Jerome of the Latin Vulgate). PaleoJudaica has posted on Elusa here, here, here, and here.

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

Bohak, The Sentencing of Jesus (Gzar-dina de-Yeshu) (OpenBook, open access)

NEW BOOK FROM OPENBOOK PUBLISHERS:

The Sentencing of Jesus (Gzar-dina de-Yeshu)
The 'Authentic' Jewish Protocols of the Trial of Jesus

Gideon Bohak (author)

This monograph offers a rich and insightful study of The Sentencing of Jesus, an ancient Jewish polemical narrative describing the trial and execution of Jesus, which is the earliest of all the Toledot Yeshu texts. The volume includes a substantial historical introduction, carefully edited synopses of the Aramaic, Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew versions, detailed philological and exegetical notes on the text and its transmission history, and an English translation. In his comments, Bohak explores recurring themes in Late Antique literature—such as the apologetic and polemical uses of authentic or forged protocols of trials and executions, envisioning an enemy hanged on an unexpected tree, the humiliation of dragging a corpse through the streets for all to see, and the use of magical handbooks and of spells to heal or harm—shedding new light on the cultural and literary resonances of these motifs. Detailed linguistic analyses trace translations and mistranslations across Aramaic, Hebrew, and Judaeo-Arabic traditions.

By reconstructing an ancient polemical text that has previously been known only in a fragmentary manner, and by situating it both within its Late Antique context and in the context of previous scholarship, this book makes a significant contribution to the study of Judaism, and of Jewish-Christian relations, in Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages.

The PDF version is open access and downloadable for free.

For PaleoJudaica posts on the Toledot Yeshu (Toledoth Yeshu), start here and follow the links. The earliest (Aramaic) version is arguably as old as the third or fourth century.

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

The 24 angelic elders in the Coptic magical papyri (Angels, part 2)

THE COPTIC MAGICAL PAPYRI BLOG: Angels in Coptic Magic II: The Twenty-Four Presbyters.

In sum, whether they were invoked for healing and protection, as prescribed in the homily attributed to Cyril of Jerusalem, or for more aggressive purposes, it seems that the most important thing was to know the names of the Twenty-Four Presbyters. Due to their holy origin, and for increased magical efficacy, it was also better to write them down, rather than speak them aloud. And while there was variety in the names used in Coptic magical texts, some lists and naming conventions, as well as the physical descriptions of the angels with their thrones and crowns, were shared across literary genres and iconography, showing that magical practices were not isolated from wider traditions about the Twenty-Four Presbyters.

I noted the first post in the series here. Cross-file under Coptic Watch.

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

The mythological background of Revelation 13

THE "IS THAT IN THE BIBLE?" BLOG: The Jewish and Pagan Mythological Origins of Revelation 13: The Beasts from the Sea and the Earth and the Fear of Nero’s Return (Paul D.).

John may claim to have been shown these things in divine visions, but the data shows otherwise. John’s real skill was not that of a seer, but that of a writer who was able to mix and match bits of Jewish and Greco-Roman mythology to promote his own political and theological viewpoints. In this article, I examine some of the most famous elements of Revelation to see what they mean and where John really got them from. I also look at the ancient conspiracy theories about Nero’s death and expectations of his future return — a social phenomenon that explains some of the stranger passages in Revelation associated with the Antichrist.

Presumably divine visions would make use of contemporary imagery. But a theological defense of John's visions is outside my remit. This essay has a thorough review of the mythological background of this chapter.

For PaleoJudaica posts on Leviathan and Behemoth, see here and links. For more on the Number of the Beast, see here and links, notably here. For more on the Nero-Rediturus and Nero Redivivus myths, see here.

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

Review of Bonura, A Prophecy of Empire

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: A Prophecy of Empire: The Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius from Late Antique Mesopotamia to the Global Medieval Imagination (Evan Bradley Schafer).

Christopher Bonura’s new monograph, A Prophecy of Empire, offers a comprehensive study of the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius within its Syriac literary, theological, and political context. On this foundation, Bonura traces the trajectory of its reception from its original Mesopotamian milieu and its gradual transmission and translation westward.

The Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius is on the borderline of PaleoJudaica's period of interest, but it's high time it got a mention here.

This "Methodius" is not to be confused with Methodius the brother of Cyril. These two brothers invented the Glagolitic alphabet

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

Taxation and evasion in the Roman empire

ANCIENT ECONOMICS: The Art of the Unpaid Denarius: Tax Evasion in Ancient Rome (Terry Madenholm, Haaretz).

The cat-and-mouse game intensified as the centuries wore on. The Roman government constantly tried to fight back, introducing a more professional bureaucracy and implementing fixed tax quotas for provinces to reduce the systemic abuse by tax farmers. In certain periods, they even resorted to harsh penalties, including the outright confiscation of property. However, enforcement remained uneven, especially in distant provinces where central oversight was weak.

This long article gives a fascinating account of ancient Roman taxation, and efforts to evade it, until the imperial bureacracy "collapsed under it's own weight." It includes an account of the recently published papyrus covering a pre-Bar Kokhba Revolt tax-fraud and forgery case, on which more here.

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

Forthcoming Diodorus Siculus volume

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: Diodoros of Sicily: Bibliotheke Historike. Notice of a Forthcoming Book: Harding, Phillip (ed.). 2026. Diodoros of Sicily: Bibliotheke Historike: Translation, with Introduction and Notes. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Follow the link for description and publisher link. The volume covers books 16-17 of the Bibliotheke.

Diodorus preserves an alternative account of the Maccabean Revolt, some Greek Fantasy Babylon stories, and other material of interest. For more PaleoJudaica posts on his work, start here and follow the links.

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

Review series on Vidas, The Rise of Talmud

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW has a new review series: The Rise of Talmud Review Forum. It is devoted to Moulie Vidas's book, The Rise of Talmud (OUP, 2025), which I noted here. The first review is posted:

Talmud as a New Intellectual Project (Sarit Kattan Gribetz)

What Vidas suggests in his book is that the ancient rabbis were philologists, and among the earliest philologists and critical scholars at that, who sought to mine earlier rabbinic traditions in order to construct the best versions of them, clarify attributions, draw connections between individuals and texts, discuss textual differences, figure out methods of emendation, and so on. Vidas argues, then, that philology is not (exclusively) a modern, critical, etic tool that we can apply to the study of the Talmud, but rather that it is also an emic approach – and a thoroughly Jewish one – developed as part and parcel of the Talmudic enterprise itself.

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

The latest on that British Museum lecture

THE BRITISH MUSEUM has announced that the canceled lecture on ancient Israel and Judah is rescheduled to some time early in June. But I cannot find a specific date given anywhere.

The director of the British Museum has also posted a defense of the decision to postpone the lecture:

Sunday Times – Dr Nicholas Cullinan OBE

Critics have framed the postponement, as a retreat from free speech. That misunderstands both the decision and the principle at stake. Freedom of expression does not require institutions to provide a platform for disruption. Nor does it require organisers to knowingly place speakers, audiences or visitors in circumstances where a legitimate event cannot proceed safely and respectfully.

The Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology has posted an essay on the situation and collects other responses:

The Attack on the British Museum and Biblical Archaeology. Ancient Israel and Judah—too controversial for modern-day London (Richard Palmer and Christopher Eames)

A postponed lunchtime lecture at the British Museum on the history of ancient Israel and Judah might seem like a minor episode. But it is only the latest incident among many in the ongoing war for history and truth. And for a renowned establishment such as the British Museum—“the world’s greatest temple of history,” in the words of Montefiore—“this matters.”

Then there was this disturbing incident on Saturday 30 November:

British Museum evacuated after ‘suspicious device’ found days after Jewish event postponed. Police were called to the museum at around 2.50pm and between 12,000 and 16,000 visitors were evacuated as a precaution (ADAM DECKER, Jewish News).

The British Museum was evacuated on Saturday after staff discovered a suspicious device in a visitor toilet and received what it described as “malicious communications”, just days after the institution faced criticism for postponing a Jewish Culture Month lecture on ancient Israel over security concerns.

Whatever was in the toilet turned out to be "non-suspicious." It may be tempting to connect this incident with the canceled lecture, but we really don't know what was going on and we shouldn't jump to conclusions. The museum has declined to comment on the nature of the "malicious communications." I cannot find any indication that the police have released any information about them.

Background here.

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

Was Moses the author or the writer of the Torah?

TZIPPORAH MACHLAH KLAPPER: Moses the Lawgiver? Not For the Rabbis (TheTorah.com).

Writers in the Second Temple period portray Moses as the Torah’s author and master lawgiver, attributing commandments directly to him. The rabbis, by contrast, repeatedly depict Moses as forgetful, confused, and sometimes mistaken—downplaying his authority to emphasize the Torah’s divine authorship and elevate the rabbis’ own role as its interpreters.

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

Cursed Chorazin produces precious gem

ANCIENT BLING WATCH? 12-year-old finds ancient gemstone in Galilean Jewish village cursed by Jesus. Sixth-grader Alon Horowitz finds rare ‘Nicolo’ stone, likely dating back at least 1,500 years, during community excavation at Korazim National Park (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel).

A 12-year-old schoolboy recently discovered a precious gemstone dating back at least 1,500 years in the Korazim National Park in the Upper Galilee, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority said Monday. Korazim was an ancient Jewish village that, according to the New Testament, was cursed by Jesus for rejecting his teachings.

The stone, a prestigious variety of agate known as “Nicolo,” which was probably set in a piece of jewelry from Roman or Byzantine times (1st – 6th centuries CE), was found by Alon Horowitz during a community excavation carried out by the Parks Authority in cooperation with Ariel University in the West Bank.

[...]

Maybe it fell out of a ring or an earring?

For more on the archaeology of the site of Chorazin, start here and follow the links.

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

Reminder: Byblos, the Eternal City (Paris)

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Byblos, the Eternal City. Paris exhibit showcases Lebanon's oldest city.

Now open until 23 August. Noted as forthcoming here. Cross-file under Exhibition and Phoenician Watch.

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

"From Trash to Treasure" at the Silk Road Virtual Museum

EXHIBITION: Silk Road Virtual Museum opens first Israel exhibit, displays ancient textiles found in Arava. The exhibit, curated by academics from the University of Haifa, features textiles from India, Central Asia, and China (Miriam Sela-Eitam, Jerusalem Post).

The University of Haifa’s exhibit, titled “From Trash to Treasure - Nahal Omer,” displays a collection of rare, well-preserved textiles and seeds discovered at the Nahal Omer archaeological site in the Arava in southern Israel, situated along the route of the ancient Spice Road.

Nahal Omer is a small agricultural village dating back to the Early Islamic period (mid-7th to 9th century CE) which was first surveyed in 1932. The most recent excavations began in 2020, when archaeologists excavated nearby middens (ancient trash heaps) and discovered the site’s remarkable connection to the trade route.

This story is right on the edge of PaleoJudaica's range of interest, but I note it because it underlines a point I like to keep making. The more arid regions in Israel, such as the Arava, have the potential to preserve very old scroll fragments. The Dead Sea region, of course has amply demonstrated that. This area, however, has been very thoroughly explored. But textile and organic remains recovered elsewhere, such as in the Timna Valley and even at Megiddo, provide more evidence. And ancient scroll fragments continue to turn up here and there. It is entirely possible that some substantial, very old, scroll remains are buried in one or more of these places. So keep looking!

I noted the discovery of these textile fragments in the Arava in 2023 here, with commentary.

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

Rutledge, ... The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy of Pseudo-Denys: An Introduction (Routledge reprint)

A REPRINT FROM ROUTLEDGE:

Cosmic Theology
The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy of Pseudo-Denys: An Introduction

By Dom Denys Rutledge

Copyright 1964
Paperback
£25.59
Hardback
£84.00
eBook
£25.59
ISBN 9781032670072
226 Pages
Published January 19, 2026 by Routledge

Description

First published in 1964, Cosmic Theology introduces a work, little known to English readers, which has influenced theological and mystical writing for at least fourteen hundred years. It is, in effect, a synthesis of Christian teaching, particularly on the nature of the Church, in which science and religion, the other world and the values of the present world may be seen in their source and original harmony. Written before the division between Greek and Latin Churches, and later between Catholic and Protestant, it affords a convenient point from which to view later speculation and controversy in its true perspectives. Apart from helping those interested in the ecumenical movement and in the current liturgical revival, this work will serve as a bridge to the understanding of Eastern, and particularly Hindu, religion.

The works of Pseudo-Dionysius the Aeropagite come up occassionally on PaleoJudaica, recently here. It's a valuable corpus for late-antique mystical Christian theology and, as such, it was tremendously influential.

In addition, it did much to tame Ezekiel's bizarre angelology and make it palatable to the Scholastic theologians. Jewish merkavah mysticism had no such taming influence.

Some other PaleoJudaica posts involving Pseudo-Dionysius and such matters are here, here, here, and links.

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

Atkinson (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Josephus

NEW BOOK FROM OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS:

The Oxford Handbook of Josephus

Edited by Kenneth Atkinson

Oxford Handbooks

$208.00
Hardcover
Published: 21 April 2026
462 Pages
6 3/4 x 9 3/4 inches
ISBN: 9780197539071

Also Available As:
E-book

• Examines Josephus' life, times, writings, and the influential figures and empires within them in the first volume to comprehensively cover this area of scholarship
• Includes extensive examinations of religious movements and their practices during Josephus' era
• Features emerging research in the study of Josephus that is currently reshaping the field

Description

A Jewish priest, a freedom fighter, a Roman citizen, a biblical scholar, and a traitor. Josephus (37-100 CE) has been called all these and more. A controversial figure in his time, Jews and Romans alike either admired or hated him. He is our major historian of the Greek and the Roman periods in the Middle East from the second century BCE to the late first century CE. In addition to documenting these eras, Josephus participated in many of the great events of his time. His eyewitness account of the 70 CE Roman destruction of the Jerusalem Temple is among the most dramatic narratives from antiquity. Among his extensive writings is the first autobiography in Western tradition and a detailed retelling of the Old Testament. No scholar or serious student of the Bible, classical literature, or ancient history can conduct their research without using Josephus' books. With its contributions from a diverse array of experts representing both established academics and the best of a promising generation of new scholars from four continents, the Oxford Handbook of Josephus will shape the direction of future research on Josephus, the Bible, Classics, Ancient History, and related fields.

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Another AJR review of Lied and Nongbri, Working with Manuscripts

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Working with Manuscripts: A Guide for Textual Scholars (Julia Hintlian).

Liv Ingeborg Lied and Brent Nongbri. Working with Manuscripts: A Guide for Textual Scholars. Yale University Press, 2025.

... Working with Manuscripts is a fundamentally practical companion, in both form and content. The volume addresses a range of issues, including the basic terminology of manuscript study, expectations for working in repositories, and the ethical and legal considerations surrounding the publication of ancient documents. For early-stage graduate students, in particular, and for those who teach and mentor them, the volume offers a clear point of entry into a set of skills that is becoming increasingly essential, especially in an age of expanding digitization and access.

The previous AJR review is noted here with links.

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

Israeli High Court petitioned to block IAA head appointment

ARCHAEOLOGY AND POLITICS UPDATE: Archaeologists petition High Court to block appointment of new antiquities authority chief. Petition deepens rift between academics and Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu, who have been at loggerheads over a controversial West Bank and Gaza antiquities bill (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel).

Earlier this month, Eliyahu tapped Esti Shreiber, the head of an NGO affiliated with the Chabad Hasidic movement promoting Jewish values among young people, as the new head of the IAA.

The appointment needs to be approved by both the government and the IAA Council. According to the document presented to the court, the minister has demanded that the council put the issue on the agenda of its upcoming meeting on Monday.

The petitioners argued that the procedure followed by Eliyahu was inconsistent with the legal requirements and that Shreiber inflated her resume to meet the criteria.

Background here. Related posts here and links and here.

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

Mandell, Canaanite Scribal Creativity and the Making of Cuneiform Culture in the Amarna Age (Routledge, open access)

THE AWOL BLOG: Canaanite Scribal Creativity and the Making of Cuneiform Culture in the Amarna Age.

Notice of an open-access New Book: Canaanite Scribal Creativity and the Making of Cuneiform Culture in the Amarna Age. Alice Mandell. Routledge, 2026.

For more on Dr. Alice Mandell's work on the (Canaanite and other) Amarna Letters, see here and here.

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

BM lecture on ancient Israel postponed over "security concerns"

THIS IS BAD: British Museum postpones Jewish Culture Month lecture on Ancient Israel and Judah due to security concerns (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel).

“In recent days, we were informed that a significant proportion of registered attendees were individuals intending to deliberately disrupt the event, preventing others from participating in good faith and undermining the purpose of the programme,” the [British Museum's] statement reads.

I saw this on Facebook and was hoping it wasn't real. But it is. A brief British Museum announcement is noted here. The full statement is here. And the story is being widely reported; e.g., here and here.

For that episode about the use of the word "Palestine" in British Museum displays, see here and here.

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

Review of Lied and Nongbri, Working with Manuscripts

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Working with Manuscripts: A Guide for Textual Scholars (Carrie Schroeder).

Liv Ingeborg Lied and Brent Nongbri. Working with Manuscripts : A Guide for Textual Scholars. Yale University Press, 2026.

... Working with Manuscripts is an extremely versatile and most welcome book. Independent scholars, students, and established researchers alike will find it a valuable resource. It can be used as a textbook in a course or as a stand-alone handbook for the intrepid researcher. ...

I noted the publication of the book here and a reviewlet of it here.

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Something good about European empires?

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: How Empires Made It Possible To Find Lost Scriptures (Philip Jenkins).

It all seems to start in 1859, with Tischendorf and Sinaiticus, and then basically never ends. Why? Well, the land of Egypt did not suddenly decide to grow some new antiquities. Nor did Western European Christians suddenly snap their fingers and say, “Of course! Egypt! That’s where we will find all the manuscripts we ever dreamed of. I bet they even have papyri.” True, there had been a couple of intrepid predecessors, above all the incredible James Bruce in the 1770s, but the sheer scale of new exploration and research from the 1860s onward is several orders of magnitude greater. Again, why?

For earlier posts in this series, see here and links. Cross-file under Lost Books.

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Review of Rosen-Zvi, How to Read the Mishnah and Midrash

TIMES OF ISRAEL BLOGS: Book review – How to Read the Mishnah and Midrash (Ben Rothke).

Rosen-Tzvi has written a masterpiece of a book that uncovers the many layers of Mishnah and Midrash, revealing that these are sophisticated, deep texts, carefully constructed intellectual systems.

One can’t understand rabbinic Judaism by reading these texts superficially; one needs to grasp the rules, structures, and assumptions that underlie them. In How to Read the Mishnah and Midrash: An Introduction to Early Rabbinic Literature, Rosen-Tzvi shows how to do that.

The book was published by University of California Press in 2026. See the review for a link.

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Rutter, Coinages in the Achaemenid Empire (Edinburgh)

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: Coinages in the Achaemenid Empire.

Notice of a New Book: Rutter, Keith. 2026. Coinages in the Achaemenid Empire. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Follow the link for a description and a link to the publisher's page. Cross-file under Numismatics.

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More on the Egyptian mummy's Iliad excerpt

OXYRHYNCHUS WATCH: The mummy, the Iliad, and a mysterious death ritual. Archaeologists in Egypt unearthed a sealed packet of the epic poem resting atop a Roman-era mummy, suggesting they may have been used as a magical ward for the afterlife (Taylor Mitchell Brown, National Geographic).

[Professor Serena Perone] agrees that ritualistic use is one possible interpretation.

“Several literary sources mention incantations utilizing Homeric verses for protective or healing purposes,” she says. But in those instances, the texts cited specific lines, not “extensive passages” like an excerpt from the Catalogue of Ships as found atop the Oxyrhynchus mummy.

That sounds about right. One Greco-Egyptian incantation (PGM VII.1-148) consists just of a long list of unconnected lines from Homer. It calls itself "the Homer oracle."And there are other examples using just one or a few lines; notably PGM IV.2145-2240, which quotes three Homeric lines with instructions for using them as a spell inscribed on an iron lamella.

That said, an extended passage from the Catalogue of Ships does not seem like a good candidate for a ritual incantation. But the passage was excerpted and buried with the deceased for some reason. I suspect that our imagination is what is limiting us here. If we do find the reason, it will seem obvious in hindsight.

Background here.

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Dr. Oswaldo Arteaga, 1942-2026

SAD NEWS: Dr. Oswaldo Arteaga, a world reference for Phoenician archaeology in the Axarquía, dies. The archaeologist's relationship with the eastern Costa del Sol began in the 1970s when he became director of the Phoenician-Punic Project within the German Archaeological Institute (Eugenio Cabezas, Sur in English).

Dr. Oswaldo Arteaga Matute, archaeologist, researcher and professor considered a key figure in the knowledge of the Phoenician past of the Axarquía area of Malaga province has died aged 84.

Vélez-Málaga town hall has announced a day of official mourning on Friday 15 May as a sign of recognition and tribute to the man who was named 'adopted son' of the eastern Costa del Sol town in May 2022. ...

His main contributions include excavations at the Mainake-Maenoba sites, in the area of Los Toscanos and Cerro del Mar, as well as the geoarchaeological reconstruction of the ancient mouth of the River Vélez. His work demonstrated that a large part of the current aricultural area around the River Vélez was once a large maritime inlet used by Phoenician navigators more than 2,500 years ago.

Arteaga's pioneering application of geoarchaeological techniques in the Axarquía was one of the most valued contributions by the scientific community. This research model would later be exported to numerous European archaeological projects.

Requiescat in pace.

Cross-file under Phoenician Watch and Punic Watch.

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Was the Great Isaiah Scroll originally two independent "Isaiah" scrolls?

SCROLL MATERIAL CULTURE: The oldest complete biblical scroll ever found was originally split in 2, scholar finds. Study comes as ‘Great Isaiah,’ a 24-foot-long text parchment found with the Dead Sea Scrolls, set to be displayed by the Israel Museum in full for the first time since 1968 (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel).

In the past, some suggested that the discrepancies between the two parts apparent to the naked eye might have resulted from the scribe transcribing the scroll by copying from different manuscripts. A groundbreaking 2021 study employing artificial intelligence to examine minute differences in the way letters were written suggested that the scrolls were compiled by two scribes who sought to match their styles to each other.

Taking the scholarship a step further, Dead Sea Scrolls expert Prof. Marcello Fidanzio of the Università della Svizzera Italiana says his research shows that the incongruities between the two sections stem from the fact that they were created as two separate scrolls and became one at a later point in time.

“I can now show that the two parts of the scrolls present a different manufacture,” Fidanzio told The Times of Israel in a phone interview ahead of the publication of “The Great Isaiah Scroll: A Voice From the Desert,” which he edited.

If so, the obvious next question is, Why did people make two scrolls of different halves of Isaiah at different times? The ToI article says:

While modern scholars typically view the Book of Isaiah as having two distinct parts — from chapters 1-39 and chapter 40-66 — the division seen in the parchments does not mirror that split.

Hmmm ... not exactly. There is a good case that Second Isaiah commences with chapters 34-35. And chapters 36-39 are obvious imports from the Deuteronomistic History. If in antiquity scribes wrote two different scrolls of Isaiah, one with chapters 1-33 and one with chapters 34-66, that may mean that they had a tradition that the book consisted of two (or more) different books by different authors. Maybe.

For that 2021 AI study mentioned in the quote, see here.

Background on the current Great Isaiah Scroll exhibition at the Israel Museum and (if you keep going) on the scroll itself, is here and links.

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Does West Bank and Gaza antiquities bill violate Israel's international agreements?

ARCHAEOLOGY AND POLITICS: West Bank, Gaza antiquities bill breaks Israel’s international obligations – legal official. As Knesset committee gears up to bring legislation for final votes in plenum, panel’s legal adviser warns it reinforces ‘creeping annexation’ claims; army also opposes it (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel).

A controversial bill seeking to extend Israeli civilian control over antiquities in the West Bank and Gaza would violate Israel’s international commitments and reinforce claims of “creeping annexation,” according to a position paper by the Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee legal adviser.

The bill, which establishes a “Judea, Samaria, and Gaza Heritage Authority” under the Heritage Ministry, was discussed on Sunday to prepare it for its final readings in the Knesset plenum, where it could be voted into law. The committee is set to resume its discussion on Monday and vote on sending the bill to the plenum.

[...]

Background here and links.

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Lost books or just misplaced?

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: How Lost Scriptures Hide In Plain Sight (Philip Jenkins).

I have been posting on texts and scriptures as they are lost and found, with an emphasis on gospels and sacred writings. Today, I want to complicate the story by asking how “lost” some texts ever get to be, when they might actually be hiding right in front of us, in plain sight.

[...]

For notices of related posts by Prof. Jenkins, see here and links.

A new edition of the Hymn of the Pearl has come out recently.

I linked to a British Library blog post on Barlaam and Josaphat (various spellings) here, but they have evaporated the post. Shame on them. The link to the Language Hat Blog preserves some of it.

Earlier posts in Prof. Jenkin's current series are noted here and links. Cross-file under Lost Books

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Hussain, Wisdom in the Qur'an (OUP)

NEW BOOK FROM OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS:

Wisdom in the Qur'an

Law and Morality from the Bible to Late Antiquity

Saqib Hussain

Oxford Studies in the Abrahamic Religions

£104.00
Hardback
Published: 24 February 2026
288 Pages
234x156mm
ISBN: 9780198911760
[An e-book version is also available.]

Description

This work is the first detailed study of what the Qur'an means by 'wisdom.' It argues that the Qur'an, when it uses the term, is engaging with biblical wisdom discourse as it had been interpreted and understood in late antiquity. Biblical wisdom texts are a category of books in the Hebrew Bible and Apocrypha, such as Proverbs and Sirach, that emphasize the importance of acquiring wisdom through contemplating the natural world and one's own life experience. The presence of this wisdom genre in the Bible encouraged Hellenistic Jews and early Christians to embrace the Greek philosophical notion of natural law, the idea that what is morally right and wrong is known innately, and confirmed through divine revelation.

Over subsequent centuries, church fathers and rabbis continued to debate what the relationship between divine revelation and natural law / wisdom ought to be. While the church fathers argued that much of the legal content of the Hebrew Bible should no longer be followed now that Jesus had restored natural law to its rightful position as arbiter of right and wrong, the rabbis insisted that God is at liberty to impose through Scripture whatever laws he wishes onto humanity. This book asserts that when the Qur'an invokes wisdom, it engages in that debate, and ultimately presents a relationship between Scripture and natural law that is close to the Christian conception, insisting that law must be interpreted within an ethical framework that is innate to human morality.

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Orlov, Cursed Creation in the Book of Job and the Book of the Watchers (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Cursed Creation in the Book of Job and the Book of the Watchers

Series:
Vetus Testamentum, Supplements, Volume: 205

Author: Andrei A. Orlov

This study constitutes the first comprehensive analysis of the connections between the Book of Job and Jewish apocalypticism. It examines the motifs of creation’s corruption through curses and its restoration through the revelation of cosmological knowledge, as depicted in one of the earliest Jewish apocalyptic texts, the Book of the Watchers, and their thematic parallels in the Book of Job. The study demonstrates that both the Book of Job and the Book of the Watchers exhibit striking similarities in their portrayals of the corruption and restoration of God’s creation.

Copyright Year: 2026

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-76074-5
Publication: 20 Apr 2026
EUR €109.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-75925-1
Publication: 21 May 2026
EUR €109.00

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Archaeologists have excavated First-Temple-era remains on the Temple Mount

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Archaeologists spotlight first Solomon’s Temple-era artifacts ever found on Temple Mount. Carried out in rare cooperation with Muslim authorities, series of digs in recent years at flashpoint site yielded unprecedented proof of biblical-time activity, scholars say (Ilan Ben Zion, Times of Israel).

Israeli archaeologists on Thursday presented new details of what they said were the first tiny artifacts, unearthed in situ on the Temple Mount, ever conclusively dated to the time of the First Temple over 2,600 years ago. The discoveries were made during limited scientific excavations carried out atop the flashpoint Temple Mount in the past decade, the first of their kind since the British Mandate.

The highly sensitive Israeli excavations were conducted with minimum publicity in cooperation with the Islamic Waqf which manages the incendiary holy site. The artifacts excavated from the mount, detailed in a paper and presentations at a conference at Hebrew University, are said to include olive pits, animal bones and pottery fragments dating to the time of the First Temple, between the 8th and 6th Centuries BCE.

[...]

As the article notes, the Temple Mount Sifting Project has been doing great work for many years sifting ancient artifacts out of the rubble that was illicitly excavated and dumped by the Waqf. I have posted on its discoveries many times.

But this article is about actual scientific archaeological excavations quietly undertaken on the Temple Mount since 2007. Given the nature of the site, the original strata would likely have been very mixed up anyway, but archaeological excavation can at least recover whatever stratigraphic information there is.

I know that I have said many times, No excavation on the Temple Mount until we have non-invasive and non-destructive technologies to do it. But in this case the Waqf was undertaking authorized infrastructive maintenance that required some digging. It was quite right for the IAA to use the opportunity to do some archaeology in the process.

I am pleased, but not surprised, to learn that the archaeologists have recovered material from the First Temple period in these excavations.

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

How far does textual criticism of the Torah get us?

FOR SHAVUOT: Do We Know the Original Text of the Torah? (Emanuel Tov, TheTorah.com).

Well, we can theoretically arrive at a 3rd century B.C.E. archetype by using the conservative Masoretic Text (MT) as the default and comparing it with non-harmonistic variants in the Septuagint (LXX), Samaritan Pentateuch (SP), and Qumran fragments. But textual criticism offers little help in understanding what the text of the Torah looked like at an earlier stage, or how and when it was composed.

I agree that textual criticism can, at best, only take us back to an edition of the Pentateuch from the late Persian or early Hellenistic periods. To get behind it we have to resort to source criticism, where the temptation is to atomize the text beyond the surviving evidence.

Incidentally, I edited 4QGenesis^h and 4QGenesis^k in my doctoral dissertation and published them in DJD 12 (1994).

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West Bank and Gaza archaeology bills in the Knesset

ARCHAEOLOGY AND POLITICS: Knesset panel ends without advancing West Bank and Gaza antiquities bill, will resume discussions next week (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel).

The Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee ends without a vote to send the controversial “West Bank and Gaza” antiquities bill, which many say amounts to de facto annexation, to the plenum for its final approval.

[...]

My interest is in ancient Judaism rather than Israeli or other politics, so I try to stay out of these things. But for those interested, these articles fill out the current picture:

Government approves NIS 250M plan to develop heritage sites in the West Bank (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel)

West Bank, Gaza antiquities bill advances as government okays $86 million heritage plan. Knesset committee working to finish controversial legislation, which critics say would mark an unprecedented step toward annexation, for final votes in the plenum on Sunday (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel).

The bill aims to establish a “Judea, Samaria and Gaza Heritage Authority” under the Heritage Ministry. The body is also set to have the power to operate in parts of the West Bank governed by the Palestinian Authority (Areas A and B).

'De Facto Annexation' Despite Professional Opposition, MKs Propose West Bank Antiquities Authority Operate in Gaza. The army's representative told the Knesset Education Committee meeting that applying the law to Gaza 'could be perceived as characteristics of de facto annexation.' She added that the plan is not 'consistent' with the Trump plan for the Gaza Strip's rehabilitation (Noa Shpigel, Haaretz). Most of this article is behind a subscription wall.

Background here and links. Related post here.

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

Shavuot 2026

THE FESTIVAL OF SHAVUOT (Weeks, Pentecost) begins tonight at sundown. Best wishes to all those celebrating.

Last year's Shavuot post is here, linking back to previous years' posts. For biblical references, see here.

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

Redating an Iron Age fortress at Ein Hatzeva

ARCHAEOLOGY: How ancient seeds are rewriting the history of biblical-era trade with Arabia. New radiocarbon dating of Ein Hatzeva fortress on ancient trade route in the Arava suggests it was built 2,800 years ago by the Kingdom of Israel, shoring up Bible’s account (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel).

New research from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) uses C14 dating of preserved organic samples taken from one of two ancient fortresses in the Arava in southern Israel. The findings suggest they were built by the biblical kingdom of Israel almost 2,800 years ago, and not by the Assyrian empire decades later.

The underlying article in Levant is behind the subscription wall, but the ToI article has a link to the abstract.

PaleoJudaica posts dealing with (other periods at) Ein Hatzeva are here and here.

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Rogue Classicism reloaded

THE ROGUE CLASSICISM BLOG, run by David Meadows, is undergoing refurbishment. Regular reader know that I consult this blog and refer to it frequently. It's still under construction, but go and have a look.

I like the new formatting. More compact and easier to follow. Sad to see the Latin headings go, but probably better for overall clarity. Well done, David!

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More on Washington's Hannibal movie

CINEMA AND PUNIC WATCH: Denzel Washington Beat Vin Diesel to the Role He's Wanted for 24 Years (Philip Etemesi, MovieWeb).

Once upon a time, there lived a Carthaginian general and statesman. Born in 247 BC, he would wage war against the Roman Empire for decades, notably during the Second Punic War. Hannibal Barca was his name. Today, his tactics still wow historians, especially his choice to invade Italy by crossing the Alps with North African war elephants. His methods have also wowed Denzel Washington and Vin Diesel, both of whom have tried to bring him to the big screen. Only the former appears to have succeeded.

[...]

This article covers much of what we already knew, but it has some new information, including on how Diesel's "idea of a three-part saga got stuck in development hell for too long."

Background here and many links. I have been following Diesel's and then Washington's plans for a Hannibal movie for more than twenty years. I look forward to the film's release, reportedly in 2027.

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

Fictional lost gospels (etc.) in popular culture

NEW TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA FICTION: Scriptures: Lost, Found, And Forged (Philip Jenkins).

... But by the same token, it is tempting for anyone wishing to make their own point to exploit this rediscovery idea, either by interpreting new finds in devious or subversive ways, or else by inventing fake ancient texts. These themes, of false interpretation and forgery, account for a large part of the popular writing about rediscovered texts, and have long played a potent role in mainstream popular culture. Sad to say, for the average non-expert “intelligent reader,” this is often the means by which rediscovered texts are understood.

In this post, I will discuss the “forged and fake” theme in that popular culture, and the tradition goes back a long way. Nineteenth century discoveries deeply concerned conservative believers, who dreaded the possible discovery of yet other new texts that could still further undermine orthodox faith. What else was still out there, waiting to be found? ...

Incidentally, Prof. Jenkins argues that the very idea of the Secret Gospel of Mark fragment being genuine is risible.

Earlier posts in this series are noted here, here, and here.

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Notes on the latest Enoch Seminar

RELIGION PROF: Paul, Mark, And Revelation Within Judaism (Enoch Seminar) (James McGrath).

The Enoch Seminar puts on wonderful conferences and this one on “The New Testament Within Judaism” was no exception. I took extensive notes on the days that I attended, and will share some of them here and in a follow-up post, even though the conference sessions are now on YouTube (and I will of course share the videos as well, see below). ...

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More on Jerusalem's mystery tunnel

SPELUNKIC ARCHAEOLOGY UPDATE: Two more articles cover the news about the apparently ancient, but of uncertain date and purpose, tunnel recently discovered in southern Jerusalem. Both include interviews with excavation co-director Zinovi Matskevich.

'We Know What It Wasn't': Strange Tunnel Exposed in Jerusalem Near Ramat Rahel. Tunnel up to five meters in height discovered in bedrock near ancient Jerusalem's center, but archaeologists can't figure out its purpose (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

"The quarrying was executed meticulously. It is clear that whoever carved this tunnel invested tremendous effort," they say.

For what? "We can say a few things about what it wasn't," Matskevich says. "At first we suspected the whole thing was modern, 20th century. Now we are sure it isn't. First of all, dirt entered into this cavern in stages, so it can't have just been dug recently. But how ancient it is, we can't say."

Mysterious ancient tunnel, possibly thousands of years old, discovered in Jerusalem. Dating and purpose of structure near Kibbutz Ramat Rachel still not clear; archaeologists say its construction required significant resources and manpower (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel).

According to Matskevich, the tunnel was probably built at least 2,000 years ago, in Roman times, and likely even earlier, but they cannot be sure.

Background here.

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The languages of Achaemenid-Hellenistic Central Asia

PHILOLOGY: Lost Multilingual World Shows Greek Culture Flourished Across Ancient Asia (Abdul Moeed, Greek Reporter).

A new study of ancient written records shows that multilingual societies thrived across Hellenistic Central Asia for nearly a thousand years, with scribes regularly switching between languages and scripts to serve whichever empire happened to be in power.

Rachel Mairs, a researcher at the University of Reading, published the findings in “Writing in the Ancient World.” The study examines surviving texts from regions now known as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, covering the period from roughly the fifth century BC to the second century CE.

Mairs identifies four main written languages in the region: Aramaic and Elamite under the Achaemenid Persian Empire, Greek under Macedonian rule, and Prakrit under the Mauryan Empire from India.

[...]

This substantial Cambridge Element is free for download until 20 May (so don't dawdle). The GR article is a good summary of it.

Language and Script in Achaemenid and Hellenistic Central Asia

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 May 2026

Rachel Mairs

Summary

This Element examines – for the first time in a single volume – the written evidence from the 'Far East' of the Hellenistic world (Bactria, Sogdiana, Arachosia, Gandhara). It examines how successive invaders of this region, from Persia, Greece and India, left their linguistic and textual mark. It reviews the surviving Hellenistic-period written material from archaeological sites in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan in Aramaic, Greek and Prakrit.

For more on the Emperor Ashoka and his edicts in Pali, Aramaic, and Greek, see here and links. For lots more on the texts from Persepolis in Aramaic, Old Persian, Elamite, etc., start here and follow the links. And for a bit more on the Bactrian Aramaic texts, see here. Cross-file under Aramaic Watch.

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Nelson, Jesus' Physical Appearance (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

Jesus' Physical Appearance

Biography, Christology, Philosophy

John D. Nelson (Author)

Hardback
$120.00 $108.00

Ebook (PDF)
$108.00 $86.40

Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
$108.00 $86.40

Product details

Published Dec 11 2025
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Pages 264
ISBN 9780567723208
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series The Library of New Testament Studies
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

John Nelson presents the first full length study of the Gospels' treatment of Jesus' appearance, exploring precisely why, though Christ's image is recognised throughout the modern world, he is not physically described in the texts. Nelson argues that while the Gospels resemble Graeco-Roman biographies in their focus on a single individual, they also frequently depart from the genre's conventions; one of their most glaring omissions, picked up in recent scholarship, is their total silence on what Jesus looked like.

Nelson thus explores how the evangelists as Jewish authors might have uniquely engaged both the genre of the Gospels and the topic of Jesus' physical appearance. He makes clear the distinction between two broad attitudes Jewish authors took to Greek genres: to assimilate that genre's conventions, and to 'indigenise,' or adopt the conventions of Jewish narrative prototypes in their adaption of Greek forms. Utilising genre theory, masculinity studies and post-colonial theory, Nelson consequently argues against the common view that Jewish writers simply adopted the same obsession with appearances that their gentile neighbours expressed, suggesting instead that the Gospels' reticence to describe Jesus' body may have been influenced by the reticence of biblical texts to describe the Lord's body.

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Holmstedt et al., Phoenician Inscriptions (SBL)

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

Phoenician Inscriptions
Robert D. Holmstedt, Aaron Schade, Philip C. Schmitz

ISBN 9781628377675
Volume WAW 45
Status Available
Publication Date March 2026

Paperback $70.00
Hardback $90.00
eBook $70.00

Phoenician Inscriptions introduces readers to the writing of the ancient people groups who originated in the ancient Levantine cities of Byblos, Tyre, and Sidon by the late second millennium BCE. Thanks to their establishment of colonies throughout the Mediterranean world, written evidence of their influence has been discovered from the Levant, Anatolia, and Cyprus to Egypt, Greece, Italy, and Spain. Each inscription in this volume is transliterated and includes an English translation and select critical commentary. Helpful maps, discussions of historical context, and drawings of inscribed artifacts supplement the translations. This resource opens a window onto the religious ideas and economic practices of people instrumental in shaping the history and culture of the ancient Mediterranean for a variety of readers, including curious nonspecialists and scholars and students of ancient history, linguistics, and archaeology.

Cross-file under Phoenician Watch.

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Report: the Great Isaiah Scroll exhibit is reopening today

EXHIBITION: Great Isaiah Scroll, oldest near-complete biblical book ever found, to be displayed again after Iran war (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel).

The Great Isaiah Scroll, the oldest nearly complete book from the Hebrew Bible ever found, will be back on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem starting from Friday, a spokesperson for the museum says.

[...]

This is very good news, even if the headline is a tad optimistic.

Background on the exhibition, interrupted by the Iran war after only five days, is here and links.

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

Jerusalem in Psalm 122

FOR JERUSALEM DAY: Psalm 122: A Visit to the Jerusalem of Old (Prof. Adele Berlin, TheTorah.com).

What did it feel like to stand inside the gates of ancient Jerusalem at the height of its glory? A postexilic psalm imagines just that—revisiting a bustling city filled with pilgrims, justice, and divine presence. Blending memory, longing, and hope, Psalm 122 transforms Jerusalem into both a vivid past reality and a future ideal, culminating in its enduring call: שַׁאֲלוּ שְׁלוֹם יְרוּשָׁלִָם, “Seek the peace of Jerusalem.”

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More on Lost Books from Jenkins

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: Books, Epics, And Scriptures, Lost And Found.

Lots of good links here. Background here and links. Cross-file under Lost Books.

For more on those lost "Biblical-adjacent texts" cited in the Hebrew Bible, see here and links, plus here and here.

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US returns smuggled rare coins to Israel

REPATRIATED NUMISMATICS: Early Persian silver coin smuggled from Israel to Big Apple also regained after being offered for sale (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

Antiquities detectives in New York have recovered two rare ancient coins smuggled out of Israel, which will be returned home, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Wednesday. They aren't on a plane yet but will be at some point thanks to a massive joint effort by the Israel Antiquities Authority with the Antiquities Trafficking Unit at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and Homeland Security. ...

One of the recovered coins is a bronze prutah, the lowest known denomination of Judean currency. Its purchasing power was weak: a loaf of bread cost about 10 of these. However, this one had been minted during the reign of the last Hasmonean king, Mattathias Antigonus, who ruled in Jerusalem from 40 to 37 B.C.E. It shows nothing less than the seven-branched menorah that stood in the Second Temple in Jerusalem on one side and the Temple's showbread table on the flip side. ...

The second coin wouldn't have been allowed out of the country either. It was a lovely early silver tetradrachm from the Persian period, minted in Ascalon over 2,500 years ago, only a couple of centuries after the invention of coinage itself. Only one other of its type is known, and that one sits in the Israel Museum. Its design emulates the famous Athenian tetradrachm, which was the standard coin throughout the Eastern Mediterranean at the time.

For more on the prutah, see here and links. And for posts on the tetradrachm, see here and links.

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Controversial nomination for IAA director

POLITICS AND ARCHAEOLOGY: Esther Shreiber for next IAA director, first woman in role. Her appointment will soon be submitted for approval by the IAA’s council and the government (Miriam Sela-Eitam, Jerusalem Post).

Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu tapped Esther Shreiber, CEO of the INEXTG Group, to be the next director of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), which would make her the first woman to ever serve in the position.

Her appointment will soon be submitted for approval by the IAA’s council and the government. ...

She holds a bachelor’s degree in the History of the Jewish People from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a master’s degree with honors in Public Administration and Policy from the University of Haifa, and is a Stern Prize recipient for studies of the Second Temple period.

The Jerusalem Post notes and discusses the controversy over the nomination, but doesn't seem to take a position on it. Othe media are less neutral:

Head of NGO Promoting 'Jewish Values' Tapped to Lead Israel's Antiquities Authority. Esther Schreiber was nominated under pressure from far-right minister Amichai Eliyahu, sources said. A senior archaeologist warned the authority could face 'a process of decline' (Nir Hasson, Haaretz)

Archaeologists within and outside the authority reacted with shock to the appointment, calling it unprofessional. According to them, Schreiber lacks the qualifications to lead the authority, and her work has no connection to archaeology or managing large organizations such as the authority, whose annual budget exceeds 400 million shekels (about $138 million).

Heritage Minister taps new Antiquities Authority head with no archaeological experience (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel)

Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, taps Esther Shreiber, a Jewish professional with no archaeological experience, as the new head of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

[...]

The Times of Israel does concede the following (also mentioned by the Jerusalem Post).

The current IAA head Eli Escozido also does not have a background in archaeology, nor did his predecessor, former Shin Bet deputy director Israel Hasson, who served in the position between 2014 and 2021.

Haaretz hints at the point, but doesn't state it directly.

There are conflicting claims about Ms. Schreiber's current position and its responsibilities. There are also reports of insider claims from various anonymous sources, which I discount on principle. It is not always easy to distiguish the latter from official statements.

That's the information I can find. I take no position on the nomination. I blog, you decide.

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

Mystery tunnel found in Jerusalem

SPELUNKIC ARCHAEOLOGY: Ancient tunnel with unknown age, purpose found near Kibbutz Ramat Rachel ahead of Jerusalem Day. After descending a set of ancient stairs from the surface, archaeologists found themselves standing at the hewn opening of the tunnel, found to be filled with hundreds of years of ancient sewage (Miriam Sela-Eitam, Jerusalem Post).

A mysterious and ancient stone tunnel was recently discovered near Kibbutz Ramat Rachel in southern Jerusalem during preventative excavations ahead of the construction of the new neighborhood promoted by the Israel Land Authority (ILA).

The find, announced by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) on Thursday morning, is expected to measure approximately 50 meters long, 5 meters high, and 3 meters wide.

[...]

As the headline indicates, the tunnel's date and purpose are unclear. The archaeologists have guesses, though.

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

Turin Egyptian-papyri restoration project funded

PAPYROLOGY: Egyptian Museum of Turin, ME-Scripta, a laboratory for the study of artefacts, is born. Fondazione Crt guarantees 3 million euro for 10-year project combining restoration and philological study (Filomena Greco, Il Sole 24 ore).

The Laboratory of the Egyptian Museum will be called ME-Script and will be directed by Susanne Töpfer, curator in charge of the Egyptian Museum's papyrological collection, with the ambition of uniting the work of restorers with that of philologists, to enable the recovery of artefacts and the study of texts belonging to different types of ancient codices, up to Coptic bindings. It employs two curators, three collaborators, an apprentice and a data manager.

Great news! Cross-file under Philology and Coptic Watch.

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

On the Ptolemaic Era in Egypt

THE WORLD IS FULL OF HISTORY: Alexander’s Legacy: The Ptolemaic Era of Greek Rule in Egypt (Nick Kampouris, Greek Reporter).

When Alexander the Great conquered Egypt in 332 BCE, he signaled the beginning of the era of Ptolemaic rule.

His general Ptolemy established the Ptolemaic dynasty that would govern the vast lands of Egypt for the next 300 years. The Ptolemies became the rulers over a complex fusion of Greek and Egyptian cultures.

[...]

A nice, brief overview of the Ptolemaic dynasty.

There are many PaleoJudaica posts on the Ptolemies, who are important for understanding various aspects of Second Temple Judaism, not least the Book of Daniel. Some notable posts are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here, and follow the many links!

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

Boy finds late-antique god figurine-fragment in Negev

MATERIAL CULTURE IN THE ROUND: Eight-year-old boy finds 1,700-year-old statuette fragment while hiking in Negev. Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist says the artifact might depict Roman god Jupiter (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel).

[IAA Theft Prevention Unit supervisor Akiva] Goldenhersh acknowledged it was difficult to precisely identify who the statuette portrays.

“Stylistically, it might be of the god Jupiter, or Zeus-Dushara, a Nabatean god who was identified and merged with Zeus in the context of the encounter between the Nabatean culture that was widespread in the Negev region, and the Hellenistic-Roman world,” he said. “This tiny find thus reflects the combination of local traditions with influences from the classical world.”

Cross-file under Nabatean (Nabataean) Watch.

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Expansive cultural and material range in the new Posen Library volume

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Jewish Cultures and Material Artifacts (Karen Stern).

Jewish Cultures and Material Artifacts: Comments on The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, Vol.2, Emerging Judaism, 332 BCE–600 CE, ed. Carol Bakhos

... In this grand volume, everything is an artifact and everything (appropriately) requires guided interpretation. Indeed, Carol Bakhos and her entire editorial team have gathered into this work one of the richest and most diverse collections of artifacts, both in forms of redacted texts and archaeologically attested objects, amassed to this point in English translation and prose, inclusive of hundreds of pages of analysis and annotation. Through editors’ careful introductions, contextualization, and connections, this volume invites readers to explore and interpret textual and archaeological artifacts anew, demonstrating how it is always possible to tell new stories (or histories) about old things. The results are exciting, generating opportunities for academics and lay readers to reexamine known evidence and develop novel insights into Jewish cultures from 332 BCE to 600 CE. ...

For the first essay in this review series, see here.

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Revised bill for new West Bank antiquity authority passes first Knesset reading

ARCHAEOLOGY AND POLITICS: Knesset advances controversial West Bank antiquity bill in first reading. Legislation’s critics maintain it amounts to de facto annexation, while supporters say it is necessary to preserve territory’s unique heritage (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel).

A controversial bill creating a new civilian authority in charge of antiquities in the West Bank was approved by the Knesset plenum in the first reading overnight between Monday and Tuesday. ...

If passed into law, which will require two additional readings by the plenum, the bill will create a “Judea and Samaria Heritage Authority,” using the biblical name for the West Bank.

The authority is set to assume the responsibilities currently held by the Defense Ministry.

The person responsible for the file now is a staff officer of the Archaeology Unit of the Civil Administration, a branch of the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which is in charge of civilian affairs in the territory.

An earlier version sought to transfer this authority to the Israel Antiquities Authority, but it was widely opposed, including by the IAA. Detailed background is here, here, and (most recent summary) here. This current bill is the revised result.

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