CFP: Jewish Scriptures in Earliest Christianity

UPCOMING CONFERENCE:

Jewish Scriptures in Earliest Christianity
Call for Papers
18 March to 20 March 2027
Queen’s Foundation, Birmingham
Deadline: 11 December 2026

The 2027 Seminar for the Jewish Scriptures in Earliest Christianity will meet at the Queen’s Foundation, Birmingham, UK, B15 2QH (www.queens.ac.uk), from the evening of Thursday 18th March (starting with dinner at 6pm) to the afternoon of Saturday 20th March 2027 (finishing with lunch at 1pm). ...

Posted by the British New Testament Society. Follow the link for further particulars and instructions for paper proposals.

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Simcha Gross appointed to named Penn Chair

ANNOUNCEMENT: Penn appoints inaugural named professor in Jewish Studies following $3M gift (Gina Park, The Daily Pennsylvanian).

Penn named its inaugural Georgia and Jesse Feldman Associate Professor of Jewish Studies last week following a $3 million gift.

The School of Arts and Sciences received the donation from 2000 College graduate Georgia Feldman and her husband, Jesse Feldman, to expand its Jewish Studies program. Simcha Gross — an associate professor of Ancient Rabbinics — was appointed to the professorship role, according to an Oct. 13 announcement. ...

His research focuses on Jewish communities during the first millennium of the Common Era — specifically focusing on their relationships with the Roman, Persian, and Islamic empires. Gross explained that his studies examine how Jewish people are “categorized and treated in different eras and different societies.”

Congratulations to Professor Gross and to the University of Pennsylvania. For more on his work, see here and here and links, and here.

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The Nephilim were (Ethiopic) flesh?

PROF. MICHAEL SEGAL: The Nephilim Were Flesh—Beshagam בְּשַׁגַּם, a Biblical Hapax Legomenon (TheTorah.com).

YHWH declares that His spirit will not endure forever among the Nephilim—demigods born from the union of divine beings and human women—בְּשַׁגַּם הוּא בָשָׂר beshagam hu basar (Genesis 6:3). What does this phrase mean?

This explanation is possible. But it requires emendation of the text on the basis of a hypothetical cognate, with limited payoff.

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DSS exhibition coming to Houston

COMING SOON: Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition returns to Houston in November. Members gain early access on November 20, while a discount is offered to the first 1,000 general admission tickets purchased (Rachel Estrada, CW39 Houston).

There are currently few details on the specifics of the exhibition.

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AUC day conference on Coptic studies

COPTIC WATCH: AUC Hosts Global Dialogue On Coptic History And Heritage With International Conference (AUC press release).

Cairo, October 18, 2026 - The American University in Cairo (AUC) hosted From Tomb to Text: Talks on Coptic History, a one-day international conference on Coptic archaeology that brought together leading scholars from Egypt, Europe and the United States to showcase the latest research in Coptic art history, heritage, textiles, settlement archaeology and archaeobotany. The conference was supported by the Gratus Foundation by Mary and Bishoy Azmy, founded by AUC Trustee Bishoy Emad Azmy ’02 and Mary Habib ’05.

[...]

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Fitzgerald, Women in Greco-Roman Jewish Novels (300 BCE–100 CE) (SBL)

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

Women in Greco-Roman Jewish Novels (300 BCE–100 CE)
Katharine L. Fitzgerald

ISBN 9781918358261
Status Available
Publication Date February 2026

Hardback
$98.00

This monograph offers the first sustained study of female protagonists as central agents in the construction of Jewish identity in early Jewish narrative literature. Focusing on the Greek texts of Esther, Judith, Susanna, and Aseneth, Fitzgerald demonstrates that these narratives do more than entertain—they participate in complex discourses about what it meant to be Jewish in the Greco-Roman world.

Drawing on literary-critical and gender-informed approaches, this monograph examines four key dimensions of identity—foodways, sexuality, kinship, and community—to illustrate how Jewish authors used female characters to negotiate cultural boundaries and articulate forms of belonging. Rather than treating women as marginal or merely symbolic figures, Fitzgerald argues that these protagonists function as primary sites through which Jewish authors imagined, contested, and maintained Jewishness in literary texts.

By situating these texts within their broader Greco-Roman and Second Temple contexts, the book challenges longstanding assumptions about the androcentric nature of Jewish identity formation. It demonstrates that narratives centered on women are not peripheral to discussions of Jewishness but are essential to understanding its diversity and fluidity in antiquity.

Engaging critically with major scholarship on Jewish identity, diaspora, and ancient gender systems, Women in Greco-Roman Jewish Novels bridges the gap between studies of Jewishness and gender in antiquity. It offers a new framework for reading early Jewish literature—one that takes seriously the literary construction of women and the interpretive possibilities these figures open for reconstructing ancient Jewish thought.

This book will be of interest to scholars and students of early Judaism, biblical studies, gender studies, and ancient Mediterranean literature.

SBL Press is the North American distributor for Sheffield Phoenix Press. ...

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Lam, Divinised Humans in Ancient Judaism (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

Divinised Humans in Ancient Judaism

Daniel Lam (Author)

Hardback
$120.00 $108.00

Ebook (PDF)
$108.00 $86.40

Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
$108.00 $86.40

Product details

Published Sep 17 2026
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Pages 232
ISBN 9780567729477
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series The Library of Second Temple Studies
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

Exploring the fluidity of divine–human boundaries in ancient Judaism, Daniel Lam challenges the assumption of a rigid divide between God and humanity. Drawing on prototype theory and texts from across millennia of Jewish and Christian literature, Lam argues that divinity was conceived as a graded category rather than an absolute state, suggesting that figures such as Adam, Enoch, Moses, Elijah, and Jesus were imagined as crossing the divine threshold through immortality, metamorphosis, and exaltation. By situating these traditions within their wider Mediterranean context, Lam reframes debates on monotheism, deification, and early Christology.

Lam engages deeply with primary sources, including Genesis and Psalms, Wisdom of Solomon, and the Life of Adam and Eve; Enochic writings such as the Book of the Watchers and Book of Parables; and New Testament passages like Philippians 2 and Hebrews 1. In addition, he examines lesser-known materials such as the Testament of Abraham, Qumran fragments, and 2 Enoch, highlighting motifs of angelomorphism, luminous transformation, and enthronement. These case studies illuminate how ancient authors negotiated divine identity and challenge the notion that divinisation was exclusively a “pagan” concept, offering a fresh methodological framework for understanding divinity as a fluid and multivalent phenomenon.

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Cutino & Cerami (eds.), The Twelve Tribes of Israel (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

The Twelve Tribes of Israel

Jewish-Christian Interpretations between Ruptures and Continuities (1st–5th centuries)

Series: Jewish and Christian Perspectives Series, Volume: 44

Volume Editors: Michele Cutino and Calogero Cerami

The theme of the twelve tribes of Israel is one of the key points for observing the continuity and discontinuity between Judaism and Christianity, which derives from it. It is therefore a very sensitive topic of ‘the parting of the ways’, which surprisingly has not aroused much interest among critics. This volume aims to fill this gap by first placing the twelve tribes of Israel in their historical context within Jewish culture, then moving on to the various, often contradictory, interpretations that Christians have given to this concept since the early centuries, before finally using this model to refer to the Church as the new Israel.

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-75769-1
Publication: 18 Aug 2026
EUR €135.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-75768-4
Publication: 16 Sep 2026
EUR €135.00

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Shapira, The Discourse of Rites (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK:

Hananel Shapira

The Discourse of Rites

Shaping and Reshaping the (Counter-)Priestly Rituals Conducted Outside the Tabernacle

2026. 342 pages.
Forschungen zum Alten Testament 2. Reihe (FAT II) 179

€109.00
including VAT

sewn paper
available
978-3-16-200495-6

Also Available As:
eBook PDF

Summary

Hananel Shapira investigates a series of anomalous rituals within the Priestly literature of the Pentateuch that take place outside the sacred precinct of the Tabernacle. While biblical scholarship frequently characterizes the Priestly corpus as a monolithic system dedicated to cultic centralization and the absolute authority of the Aaronide priesthood, the author argues that the base layer of the Priestly corpus contains a subversive undercurrent. This »Counter-Priestliness« is manifest in rituals such as the purification of the healed leper in Leviticus, the burning of the red heifer in Numbers, and the release of the scapegoat into the wilderness.
The author uses philological and diachronic analysis to identify distinct textual layers, revealing how these external rituals originally bypassed the professional priesthood. In the earliest layer, the rituals are performed by laypeople or commoners, allowing for a degree of individual agency and personal expression that the standard, sanctuary-centered system typically suppresses. The theoretical framework for this analysis draws an analogy between the standard Priestly system and the Enlightenment's quest for universal, reductive order, while the external rituals reflect a spirit akin to the Counter-Enlightenment's emphasis on the particular and the untamed. The author posits that the standard system functions as a universal language of ritual, whereas external rites address the fractured particularity of human experience, especially when confronting the realities of death and physical impurity.
Shapira shows that the priest's active role in these external rituals is largely a product of later editorial interventions. These restorative attempts to tame unconventional practices and align them with the standard sacrificial system unintentionally triggered broader transformations within the ritual system itself. By analyzing the interplay between legal stipulations and their narrative contexts, the author shows that ritual innovation often stems from internal, prosaic forces and restorative impulses rather than solely from external cultural shifts or foundational historical events.

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NEH funding restored for Critical Edition of the Hebrew Psalter Project

THE OTTC BLOG: CEHP Restart (Drew Longacre).

Background here and here. This is great news. As I said when the funding cut was announced, there was a strong case for restoring it.

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Sifting Project to publish the Asayahu seal

HEBREW EPIGRAPHY: Groundbreaking Temple Mount seal find to be published. Temple Mount Sifting Project faces a backlog, with tons of debris still awaiting examination (Dave Gordon, JNS).

A study of a First Temple-period seal impression that may be connected to an official in the biblical account of King Josiah is expected to appear in the Israel Exploration Journal by the end of 2026, according to Temple Mount Sifting Project co-founder and director Zachi Dvira.

The clay impression, recovered by the project, bears the name “Yeda‘yah (son of) Asayahu.” Researchers have tentatively linked the father’s name to Asaiah, an adviser to King Josiah mentioned in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. The identification remains a possibility, not an established match.

The article also gives background on the Temple Mount Sifting projects, its previous discoveries, and a discovery still being processed. I link often to the project's blog, which is here.

I noted the discovery of the Asayahu seal in 2025 here.

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A New Quest For Paul? We'll see.

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

A Farewell to the New Perspective on Paul – The Start of the New Quest For Paul

The New Perspective on Paul is challenged for underestimating differences between Jewish and Pauline understandings of human agency. Paul’s contrast between “letter” and “Spirit” is interpreted as locating salvation and fulfillment of the law entirely in Christ and the Spirit rather than human ability.

See also Paul and Judaism: An Anthropological Approach (2nd edition; CPH, 2026).

By Timo Laato
Senior Lecturer
Lutheran School of Theology in Gothenburg
October 2026

Cross-file under Revised Book. The first edition was published in 1995.

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Manuscript mythwashing mysteries

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Mythwashing and the Two Meanings of Mystery in Manuscript Discovery Stories (Eva Mroczek).

Hidden Scrolls, Buried Bibles: How We Discover the Sacred Past. Yale University Press, 2026.

... The discovery story is a genre with conventional tropes: animal guides, abandoned caves, untrustworthy locals who know the way but threaten the discoveries, and a new world of ancient revelation. The cultural and mythic preconditions that shaped our modern scholarly folklore have developed over hundreds of years of storytelling. And as a robust genre, discovery stories have often overshadowed discoveries themselves. For most people, for example, the interesting thing about the Dead Sea scrolls was not the texts, but the fact that they were hidden for two thousand years in a remote cave, and providentially discovered by a stray goat. That story became their “real meaning,” told as a religious or mythic narrative. ...

I noted the publication of the book here.

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Israel returns 22 unprovenanced artifacts to Greece

REPATRIATION: In first, Israel returns artifacts to Greece amid push to secure return of antiquities. Israel hands over 22 recovered ancient objects that were apparently illegally taken, with both countries hailing increasingly close cooperation in a range of spheres (THANASSIS STAVRAKIS and DEREK GATOPOULOS, AP via Times of Israel).

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Phoenician Umm al-Amad

PHOENICIAN WATCH: Exploring Phoenician Heritage: The Ancient City of Umm al-Amad Near Naqoura (Waradana).

The Ancient City of Umm al-Amad is one of the paramount sites aiding in understanding southern Lebanon’s history during the late Phoenician period and the Hellenistic era. Through its columns, temples, and inscriptions, the site reflects a society that preserved its language, religious, and cultural traditions despite major political changes in the region.

The Phoenician inscriptions discovered at the site, along with the temples of Melek Ashtart, the eastern temple, and the stone stelae, are among the key pieces evidencing the site's historical value. With its inclusion in the UNESCO list of protected Lebanese cultural properties, preserving Umm al-Amad becomes more significant as a part of Lebanon and the Mediterranean south's archaeological memory.

An informative introduction to this important Phoenician site in Lebanon. Also known as Umm al-‛Amad or ’Umm al-‛Amad.

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Review of Kaufman, Phoenicia, Carthage, and popular government in the pre-classical Mediterranean

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Phoenicia, Carthage, and popular government in the pre-classical Mediterranean: the other democracy.

Brett Kaufman, Phoenicia, Carthage, and popular government in the pre-classical Mediterranean: the other democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2026. Pp. 320. ISBN 9780198867685.

Review by
Christopher Stedman Parmenter, Ohio State University.
parmenter.14@osu.edu

... Brett Kaufman’s new book is an exercise in flag-planting. Kaufman also makes a bold claim: the people of ancient west Asia invented democracy and the Phoenicians carried it to Europe. Kaufman’s Phoenician history follows well-received work by Josephine Crawley Quinn (2017), Carolina López-Ruiz (2021), and Denise Demetriou (2023), who cast the Phoenicians as the stars of the first millennium BCE. Parts of Kaufman’s argument ring true, for instance his critique of ancient history’s Hellenocentric bias. But much cannot be endorsed. ...

I noted the publication of the book here and a topical essay by the author here. Cross-file under Phoenician Watch and Punic Watch.

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Forthcoming: Long, 40 Questions about Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha (Kregel)

READING ACTS: Book Announcement: 40 Questions about Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha (Philip J. Long).

Some regular readers of Reading Acts have noticed I have slowed down a bit this year. Here’s why: I have been writing a book on the Apocrypha and pseudepigrapha for Kregel’s 40 Questions series. The book is now finished, edited, (nearly) printed, and will be available mid-November. Kregel tells me they will have copies at ETS and SBL in November, so if you are at the conferences, pick up a copy at a good discount. ...

[...]

Looking forward to it.

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On the Roman Sibylline Books

THE KIWI HELLENIST BLOG: Sibyls and Sibylline oracles. 2. The Sibylline books.

The Sibylline books weren’t primarily books of predictions: they were instructions for rituals, which also mentioned predictions in passing. The idea seems to have been that, when required, priests might choose a ritual from the books, then perform that ritual, to ensure purity, or ward off evil. Some extracts were made public, but a complete text wasn’t widely known. ...

The most famous thing about the books is the story of how they were sold. ...

An informative introduction to the mostly-lost Roman "Sibylline Books." Not to be confused with the Jewish and Christian "Sibylline Oracles," which were inspired by the idea of the Roman books. The Oracles are the scheduled topic of the next post in the series

I noted the first post here, with links to other posts on the Sibylline Oracles.

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Greek influence on Coptic

COPTIC WATCH: How Greek Shaped Coptic, Egypt’s Final Ancient Language (Abdul Moeed, Greek Reporter).

A recent study examines how centuries of contact between Greek and Egypt’s native language shaped Coptic, the final stage of ancient Egyptian, influencing both its structure and vocabulary.

In a study published in the Journal of Greek Linguistics, Sonja Dahlgren of the University of Helsinki explores how Greek influence on Egyptian-Coptic transformed everyday language, religious texts, and administrative documents.

[...]

The underlying article by Dalgren is actually an (open access) book review:

Greek Influence on Egyptian-Coptic: Contact-Induced Change in an Ancient African Language, by Eitan Grossman, Peter Dils, Tonio Sebastian Richter, and Wolfgang Schenkel, (eds.)

Eitan Grossman, Peter Dils, Tonio Sebastian Richter, and Wolfgang Schenkel, (eds.), Greek Influence on Egyptian-Coptic: Contact-Induced Change in an Ancient African Language (DDGLC Working Papers 1. Lingua Aegyptia, Studia Monographica 17). Hamburg: Widmaier Verlag. 2017.

... All in all, this book can be highly recommended to anyone aiming to get a grasp of the multilingual situation of Graeco-Roman/Arabic Egypt, including scholars with a background in papyrology, Ancient Greek linguistics, Egyptian linguistics, and general historical linguistics, as well as even linguistic typology. The high standard of this book comes hardly as a surprise, given that it has been compiled, edited and commented on by many of the leading Egyptologists, Coptologists, and linguists in the world. ...

If your are interested in the technicalities of the ancient Coptic language, have a look.

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A new section of Jerusalem's Lower Aqueduct uncovered

ANCIENT INFRASTRUCTURE: 300-meter stretch of ancient aqueduct uncovered during planning for new Jerusalem neighborhood. (Zev Stub, Times of Israel).

Archaeologists have uncovered a 300-meter (1,000-foot) stretch of a 2,000-year-old aqueduct that carried water from springs south of Bethlehem to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, shedding new light on one of the ancient city’s most ambitious engineering projects.

The discovery was made ahead of plans to build a new neighborhood in southern Jerusalem, where archaeologists and planners hope to incorporate the remains into the future development, according to an announcement Sunday by the Israel Antiquities Authority.

[...]

This section is more of the earlier "Lower Aqueduct." For PaleoJudaica posts on Jerusalem's ancient water supply, substantial parts of which have been rediscovered only in this century, start here (cf. here) and follow the links.

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Israel Museum: “Tiny Footprints: Childhood in the Ancient Land of Israel”

EXHIBITION: From birth to play, new exhibition explores childhood in ancient Israel. Israel Museum traces the lives of children through 500,000 years of artifacts: ‘What’s amazing about these toys is how similar they are to today’ (Zev Stub, Times of Israel).

The exhibition brings together hundreds of artifacts from 11 institutions, tracing the lives of children in the Land of Israel and neighboring cultures from prehistory through the end of the first millennium CE. It draws on artifacts from Egypt, Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, Greece and Rome as well as Israel.

“Overall, we see a lot of things that are really similar to how things are today, even if there are plenty of shocking differences,” [exhibition curator Tali] Sharvit said. “We can see the roots of modern institutions like schools and marriage, and observe similarities in the relationships between mothers and their children. At the same time, though, many of our ideas about children’s roles in the family structure have completely changed.”

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Review of Raja & Seland (eds.), Palmyra, the Roman empire, and the third century crisis

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Palmyra, the Roman empire, and the third century crisis: zooming in and scaling up from the evidence.

Rubina Raja, Eivind Heldaas Seland, Palmyra, the Roman empire, and the third century crisis: zooming in and scaling up from the evidence. Oriens et occidens, 46. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2025. Pp. 323. ISBN 9783515140218.

Review by
Marco Ferrario, University College London. m.ferrario@ucl.ac.uk

... Perhaps the most famous—although, in many respects, quite peculiar—case of a community that turned the more general “crisis” into an opportunity is that of Palmyra. Its power and wealth rose to unprecedented heights precisely during the “crisis”, with its fortunes declining right when the imperial center under Aurelian got a stronger foothold for the first time in decades and decidedly reasserted itself throughout the provinces.

The contributions collected in Palmyra, the Roman Empire, and the Third Century Crisis approach the period innovatively in their attempt to make sense of this and similar (apparently paradoxical) discrepancies. ...

I noted the publication of the book here. Cross-file under Palmyra Watch.

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Olanrewaju, The Compositional History of the Book of Kings (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK:

Samson Olanrewaju

The Compositional History of the Book of Kings

An Analysis of the Evaluative Frameworks in 1 Kings 14–2 Kings 25

2026. 286 pages.
Forschungen zum Alten Testament 2. Reihe (FAT II) 177

€89.00
including VAT

sewn paper
available
978-3-16-200567-0

Also Available As:
eBook PDF

Summary

Samson Olanrewaju investigates the composition of the book of Kings through an analysis of the formal regnal evaluations of Israelite and Judean kings found in 1 Kgs 14-2 Kgs 25*. Using source- and redaction-critical approaches, he postulates that the earliest edition of the book of Kings (Kings Edition0), commissioned by Amaziah's court in early eighth-century Judah, documents the reigns of Judean kings from Rehoboam through Jehoash ben Ahaziah. Kings Edition0 was subsequently updated with the accounts and evaluations of Amaziah, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, resulting in Kings Edition1.
Kings Edition1, a document produced by pro-Assyrian groups operating within Manasseh's court in seventh-century Judah, retained the Judah-centric orientation of its predecessor (Kings Edition0), concentrating on the reigns of Jehoash ben Ahaziah's successors rather than on synchronized lists of Judean and Israelite rulers. Such synchronizations were introduced in Kings Edition2, a sixth-century Deuteronomistic edition of the book of Kings produced by an exilic editor who was also responsible for the regnal evaluations of Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, Jehoahaz, and Jehoiakim as well as the northern entries of Nadab, Baasha, Omri, and Ahaziah.
Furthermore, the polemical references to idolatrous Judean bamot found in the regnal evaluations of »good« Judean kings are attributable to the Deuteronomistic editor of Kings Edition2. This early exilic edition of Kings subsequently evolved into Kings Edition3 through revisions and expansions undertaken by late/post-exilic redactors, who incorporated the northern entries of Jehoash, Jeroboam II, Zechariah, Menahem, Pekahiah, and Pekah as well as the southern entries of Abijam, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah.

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Fassberg, The Hebrew of Qumran (Ugarit-Verlag)

NEW BOOK FROM UGARIT-VERLAG:

The Hebrew of Qumran (AOAT 482)

Steven Fassberg

Reihe + Nummer: AOAT 482
ISBN: 978-3-86835-352-5
Erscheinungsjahr: Juli 2026
Seitenanzahl: xvii + 356 pp.
£130.00
Taxes included

This grammar owes its existence to Prof. Josef Tropper, at the time editor of the series Lehrbücher orientalischer Sprachen (LOS), who invited me to contribute a short grammar to the series on the Hebrew of Qumran. Because of previous commitments, many years passed before I was able to take up the task. The grammar turned out to be longer than originally intended and Prof. Thomas R. Kämmerer, the head of Ugarit-Verlag, suggested that Alter Orient und Altes Testament (AOAT) might be a more suitable series for the volume. I thank Prof. Kämmerer and the editors of AOAT, Prof. Régine Hunziker-Rodewald and Dr. Ulrike Steinert, for accepting the manuscript for publication.

This monograph does not replace the larger grammar of Elisha Qimron, A Grammar of the Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Jerusalem, 2018). All students and scholars of the Dead Sea Scrolls are greatly indebted to Prof. Qimron for the massive amount of data he has amassed in his grammar as well as for his countless contributions to the language and the texts of the Scrolls over the past fifty years. It would be amiss not to mention also the pioneering Hebrew work of E. Y. Kutscher, Language and Linguistic Background of the Great Isaiah Scroll (Jerusalem, 1959; English translation Leiden, 1974), which still serves as a beacon to all in the field. The important contributions of many additional scholars are noted throughout the grammar.

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Old photos of late-antique church epitaphs from Shivta

GREEK FUNERARY EPIGRAPHY: Ancient Greek Inscriptions Reveal Secrets of Elite Byzantine Burials in Israel (Abdul Moeed, Greek Reporter).

Ancient Greek inscriptions on grave markers are revealing how Byzantine burials reflected power and family ties at Shivta, a former Christian settlement in Israel’s Negev Desert. Two rediscovered photographs from a 1930s excavation show where tombs were located inside the North Church baptistery, a room used for baptisms.

The graves were apparently reserved mainly for priests and children from influential families, according to a study published in Palestine Exploration Quarterly. Researchers Emma Maayan-Fanar and Yotam Tepper studied two negatives preserved in University College London’s archives. The excavation team led by H. D. Colt photographed the chapel but later removed its inscribed stone markers without leaving a complete record of their positions.

[...]

The underlying PEQ article is open access:

Old Photographs, New Discoveries: Privileged Burials in the North Church Baptismal Chapel in Shivta, Israel

Emma Maayan-Fanarn & Yotam Tepper
Published online: 07 Oct 2026
https://doi.org/10.1080/00310328.2026.2716943

ABSTRACT

This paper presents new insights into the burial practices of Byzantine Shivta, Israel, based on the analysis of two previously unpublished photographs from excavations led by H. D. Colt in the 1930s. The photographs provide the first documentation of the floor of the North Church Baptistery, revealing the spatial arrangement of the burials. By comparing the visible features of the tomb slabs to individual photographs, three out of seven people were precisely identified. They were members of privileged families and their burials follow a certain hierarchy. Baptistery burials, a distinctive feature found nowhere else in the Negev, were reserved mostly for presbyters but also for special family members who died young. The burial dates, spanning from 612 to 679 ce, coincide with major historical events during the seventh century, such as the Byzantine-Sasanian wars, the Islamic conquest of the region, and the first plague pandemic. This study cautiously proposes that the distinctive ornamentation of some slabs, such as the Golgotha cross motif, may have been a response to these events. The study furthermore expands on the dynamic nature of the gradual decline and abandonment processes in Shivta as evidenced in the North Church burial practices.

For more on the archaeology of the site of Shivta, known notably for its churches and its late-antique viticulture, start here and follow the links.

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Philo's apathetic theology

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

Philo of Alexandria’s Theology and Soteriology: Tensions, Ambiguities, and the Experience of God’s Goodness and Mercy

Philo of Alexandria combines Jewish scripture and Greek philosophy in a theology marked by tensions between divine transcendence and intimate human encounter. An apparently unknowable and impassible God also loves, shows mercy, and shares divine attributes with humans. These tensions suggest the importance of transformative religious experience in shaping Philo’s understanding of God.

See also Seeing God in Philo of Alexandria: Contemplative Ascent and Visionary Experience (State University of New York Press, 2026).

By Scott D. Mackie
Associate Fellow
Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology in Cambridge
September 2026

Cross-file under New Book.

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Nabel, "Fake Prostration in Late Antique Literature and the Ambiguities of Domination"

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: Fake Prostration in Late Antique Literature and the Ambiguities of Domination.

Notice of a New Article: Nabel, Jake. 2026. "Fake Prostration in Late Antique Literature and the Ambiguities of Domination." Studies in Late Antiquity 10 (3). 265-293.

Follow the link for the abstract and a link to the full text of the article. Yes, ancient Judaism is involved.

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A First Temple-era curse inscription

IRON AGE HEBREW EPIGRAPHY: 2,800-year-old curse reveals surprising detail about Kingdom of Judah (Assaf Golan, Israel HaYom).

Limestone tablet from the Hebron area bears a curse in ancient Hebrew and the earliest known extrabiblical reference to the title "Lord of Hosts". Find indicates the divine name and title were in use in the Kingdom of Judah during the First Temple period. The Stone is now on display in the "Six After the War" exhibition at the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem.

Not new; this inscription has been known for quite a while. Hagaf son of Hagav must have made someone really angry!

Cross-file under Exhibition.

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Patmore et al., Reading: Performance and Materiality in Hebrew and Aramaic Traditions (Open Book)

THE AWOL BLOG: Reading: Performance and Materiality in Hebrew and Aramaic Traditions.

Notice of a New Book (open access): Hector Patmore et al., Reading: Performance and Materiality in Hebrew and Aramaic Traditions. Open Book Publishers. Cambridge, UK, 2025.

Co-edited by the late Hector Patmore.

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

Egyptian–Hittite peace treaty fragments recovered

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Fragment of World’s Oldest Peace Treaty Found. Bringing people—and tablet pieces—together (Lauren K. McCormick).

The Egyptian–Hittite peace treaty was recorded in more than one place. Apparently originally cast in silver, versions of the treaty survive today from both parties on tablets in Hatti and in two temple inscriptions in Thebes (modern-day Luxor).

The best kind of peace treaty is one where both sides can declare victory and go home.

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

Monumental tombs on the way to the Temple

ANCIENT FUNERARY ARCHITECTURE: On the Pilgrims’ Path to the Temple: Monumental Tombs (Prof. Boaz Zissu, Dr. Omri Yitzhak Abadi, TheTorah.com).

Jerusalem’s wealthiest families in the early Roman period built monumental tombs along the roads approaching the city, placing their wealth and status on display. Yet pilgrims heading to the Temple had to avoid entering or coming into contact with these tombs, lest they become impure and be barred from the very Temple they came to visit.

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

Who Conquered Samaria?

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

Who Conquered Samaria? Reconstructing the Northern Kingdom’s Final Years

The final years of the northern kingdom of Israel have long been debated, especially the date of Samaria’s fall and the identity of its conqueror. Related questions concern Shalmaneser V’s siege of Samaria, Hoshea’s imprisonment, the extent of the city’s destruction, Sargon II’s claims regarding its conquest, and the regnal synchronisms in Kings. A reevaluation of the relevant biblical and Assyrian evidence supports the argument that Shalmaneser V captured Samaria in 723 BCE after a three-year siege and that Sargon II’s later claims reflect his suppression of a renewed western revolt in 720 BCE. A concluding historical synthesis reconstructs the events leading to the fall of the northern kingdom.

See also A History of Ancient Israel (Zondervan Academic, 2026).

By Todd Bolen
Professor of Biblical Studies
The Master’s University
September 2026

Cross-file under New Book. Todd Bolen is well known to PaleoJudaica readers from his Bible Places Blog.

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

van Bladel, Ancient Persian: A Linguistic History (CUP, open access)

THE AWOL BLOG: Ancient Persian: A Linguistic History.

Notice of a new open-access book: Kevin T. van Bladel, Ancient Persian: A Linguistic History (CUP, 2026). Follow the link for description and access link.

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

Fragmentary figurine found

ANCIENT ARTIFACT: Boy finds ancient Roman treasure on show-and-tell hunt in southern Israel. Dor Wolynitz, 8, was hiking with families of reservists in the Ramon Crater when he spotted an unusual stone, later identified as a fragment of a 1,700-year-old statuette (Ynet News).

The find is a small figurine fragment, measuring about 6 centimeters by 6 centimeters, depicting part of a human figure with carefully sculpted folds of fabric that create the appearance of a cloak draped around the body in soft, flowing lines. Testing conducted by geologist Dr. Nimrod Wieler in the Israel Antiquities Authority laboratories found that the figurine was carved from phosphorite, a lightweight mineral common in the Negev region.

Locally produced. Possibly a divine figure.

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

Anon. (Cassels), Supernatural Religion (1874-76)

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: How An Explosive Book Rewrote The Study Of The Gospels (Philip Jenkins).

I was researching the history of the discovery and reception of “alternative” scriptures in the nineteenth century, and I kept coming across this thing called Supernatural Religion, which initially meant little to me. It soon became apparent that orthodox clergy were describing it as something like a scholarly weapon of mass destruction, and it kept on being cited with awe for several decades after its initial appearance. To oversimplify, the book made what looks like a stunningly modern claim, namely that the unofficial and heretical gospels were far more reliable authorities for the history of Jesus and the early church than were the canonical writings, and the four gospels. We suddenly seem to be dropped onto the world of Elaine Pagels, Karen King, and Bart Ehrman, but a century early.

Sounds like an interesting and highly influential book—virtually all of whose claims were wrong.

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

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

Kraus et al. (eds.), Das Weisheitsbuch Ben Sira / Jesus Sirach (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, open access)

THE AWOL BLOG: Das Weisheitsbuch Ben Sira / Jesus Sirach.

Notice of a New Book (open access): Das Weisheitsbuch Ben Sira / Jesus Sirach Synopse der hebräischen, griechischen, lateinischen und syrischen Texttraditionen mit deutscher Übersetzung

Wolfgang Kraus (Hg.), Heinz-Josef Fabry (Hg.), Burkard Zapff (Hg.)
Vetus Testamentum et Orbis Antiquus. Supplementa - Band 001
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2026

In German. Follow the link for description and link to publisher.

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

Review of Satlow, An enchanted world

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: An enchanted world: the shared religious landscape of late antiquity.

Michael L. Satlow, An enchanted world: the shared religious landscape of late antiquity. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2026. Pp. xiii, 343. ISBN 9780691256597.

Review by
Ryan Denson, University of Silesia. ryan.denson@us.edu.pl

... Appealing to the perspective of lived religion, Satlow routinely characterizes supernatural interactions and relationships as part of everyday life, not sequestered within the walls of a temple or church. Rather than approach one or another religious tradition in isolation, he aims to tell a “story of how people thought about and interacted with the invisible world” (3). It is a story written with a popular audience in mind, but one that simultaneously offers a useful perspective for scholars of Late Antique religion. ...

I noted the publication of the book here.

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

Yuval Goren (1956–2026)

SAD NEWS: Milestones: Yuval Goren (1956–2026). Archaeologist and scientist who debunked modern forgeries (Christopher A. Rollston, Bible History Daily).

Yuval Goren, a professor of archaeology at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, was a pioneer in the fields of archaeometry and microarchaeological research. Born in Petah Tikvah in 1956, Goren’s life was storybook, and his interests in both archaeology and the hard sciences began at an early age.

[...]

May his memory be for a blessing.

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

Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah 2026 (belatedly)

SHEMINI ATZERET began on the evening of Friday, 2 October at sundown. In Israel, this was also the holiday of Simchat Torah (Simhat Torah). Outside of Israel, the latter holiday began on 3 October at sundown. Belated best wishes to all those celebrating!

Last year's Shemini Atzeret post is here. Biblical etc. links are here.

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

Essen: Ethische Perspektiven zum Speisen in Antike und Gegenwart (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK:

Essen

Ethische Perspektiven zum Speisen in Antike und Gegenwart. Kontexte und Normen neutestamentlicher Ethik XV

Edited by Dorothea Erbele-Küster, Esther Kobel, and Ulrich Volp, in collaboration with Andrew Bowden

[Food. Ethical Perspectives on Food in Antiquity and the Present.]
2026. 259 pages.
Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament (WUNT I) 549

€129.00
including VAT

cloth
available
978-3-16-164801-4

Also Available As:
eBook PDF

Summary

Ethics (also) manifest themselves at the dining table: What, how, when, and with whom we eat is not without social, ethical, and religious implications. This volume explores these aspects of food in antiquity - from the death feast in Mari and Qaṭna, eating and fasting in the Hebrew Bible and early Judaism, to food prohibitions in mystery cults and early Christian table fellowship. Contributions from archaeology, biblical studies, early ecclesiastical, religious and cultural history show how eating practices shape identity, reinforce hierarchies, regulate purity, spark ethical discourse, and facilitate contact with the transcendent. Intercultural comparisons with Jainism, Pacific Christianity, and ritual eating practices in Judaism during Covid-19 offer new perspectives on current debates in food ethics.

One article is in English. The rest are in German.

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

Mroczek, Hidden Scrolls, Buried Bible (Yale)

NEW BOOK FROM YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

Hidden Scrolls, Buried Bibles
How We Discover the Sacred Past

by Eva Mroczek

224 Pages, 5.50 × 8.50 in

Hardcover
9780300250213
Published: Tuesday, 25 Aug 2026
$35.00

eBook
9780300292350
Published: Tuesday, 25 Aug 2026
$35.00
Out of Stock

eBook
9780300292343
Published: Tuesday, 25 Aug 2026
$35.00
Out of Stock

Description

From the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Zohar, this is the untold story behind our enduring fascination with lost and found religious texts

The Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest biblical manuscripts ever found, were discovered in a cave by a shepherd and his goat. This story is mostly true, and it is not the first such tale about long-lost books. Legend has it that the Zohar—the foundational text of Jewish Kabbalah—was lost for centuries before being discovered in a cave by a farmer, who sold it to spice merchants as packing material. It was only when a scholar picked through a trash heap and joined the fragments together that the world recovered its mystical secrets. These are just two of many tales recounting the discovery of ancient religious manuscripts.

Tracing a time-honored pattern of storytelling about lost and recovered sacred texts, Eva Mroczek reveals a surprising feature of Jewish and Christian thought: the idea that scripture is not complete—that it is partly lost, destroyed, or hidden—is not only the stuff of fantasy novels and conspiracy theories. Mroczek shows that modern scholarly mythmaking is more tightly bound with Jewish and Christian legends than we may think. Through the lens of discovery tales, this innovative book explores how traditions live in tension with the possibility of unknown pasts and surprising discoveries.

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Bringing back the ancient Negev's wine

ARCHAEOBOTANICAL AMBITIONS: Ancient Negev Wine Was a Global Hit. Can Israeli Winemakers - and Scientists - Bring It Back? Once shipped from the desert to markets across the Mediterranean and beyond, the Negev's wines faded into history. Now, ancient grape seeds and surviving vines are helping researchers and vintner revive a lost tradition (Guy Bar-Oz, Joshua Schmidt and Gideon Avni).

Today, the Negev's past and present are coming together in an unusual way. A modern wine industry is seeking to establish an identity for Israeli desert wine, while archaeological, historical and genetic research allows us to reconstruct the region's ancient grape-growing and winemaking heritage. This convergence does more than illuminate history. It opens the way to rethinking heritage, agriculture, regional identity and sustainable development in the Negev.

To understand the depth of this connection, we need to go back some 1,500 years. During the Byzantine period, the Negev was one of the eastern Mediterranean's most important wine-producing regions. Historical sources praise the flavor of its wine, known as "Gaza wine" after the port from which it was shipped. Traces of that industry remain in the landscape: Winepresses, stone terraces and ancient fields still line the streambeds and slopes of the Negev Highlands.

Background here and links. Cross-file under Vintage Resurrection.

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

On the Sibyls

THE KIWI HELLENIST BLOG: Sibyls and Sibylline oracles. 1. The Sibyls. HT Rogue Classicism.

The Sistine Chapel ceiling at the Vatican has paintings of seven ancient Hebrew prophets, but also of five Sibyls — non-Christian prophetic figures. How and why did pagan prophets came to have such a place of honour in the centre of western Christianity?

The full answer is surprisingly long. We have to cover genres of ancient Greek poetry; Roman myth and ritual; ancient Jewish and Christian poems about the end of the world; and also music by a 16th century Dutch composer.

[...]

This post is an excellent introduction to the ancient Roman Sybilline tradition. I look forward to the promised post on the later Sibylline Oracles.

For PaleoJudaica posts on the Sybilline Oracles and the Sibyl(s), see the links collected here and follow the trail from there.

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

Review of Stroumsa, Dynamics of monotheism in late antiquity

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Dynamics of monotheism in late antiquity.

Guy G. Stroumsa, Dynamics of monotheism in late antiquity. Oxford studies in the Abrahamic religions. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2025. Pp. 208. ISBN 9780198973386.

Review by
Matthew Kraus, University of Cincinnati. krausma@ucmail.uc.edu

... Guy Stroumsa has authored a work that will richly inform future study of Abrahamic religions in Late Antiquity.

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

Primordial mythology in the ANE and in the Bible

PROF. SHAWNA DOLANSKY: Five Ancient Near Eastern Myths Behind the Bible’s Three Creation Accounts. (TheTorah.com).

The two creation stories in Genesis (1 and 2–3), and the hidden creation account in Psalms and the Prophets, can be read without their ancient Near Eastern context. But to understand what the biblical authors are responding to, revising, and arguing against, we need to read them alongside four Mesopotamian stories—Atrahasis (ca. 1700 B.C.E.), Enuma Elish (late 2nd millennium B.C.E.), Adapa (early 2nd millennium B.C.E.), and the Epic of Gilgamesh (2nd millennium B.C.E.)—along with the Canaanite Baal Cycle (14th–13th century B.C.E.).

This is an excellent overview of the ancient Near Eastern background to the creation stories in the Hebrew Bible.

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

Jude quotes 1 Enoch as prophecy

ANCIENT ORIGINS: Jude Quoted It as Prophecy but Most Bibles Left It Out (arismanus, Ancient Origins).

In 367, Alexandria’s bishop Athanasius sent churches in Egypt a list of books for public reading. The Book of Enoch was not on it. Yet Jude, a letter preserved in the New Testament, calls words attributed to Enoch a prophecy. The wording closely follows 1 Enoch 1:9.

[...]

Always good to keep in mind. What to do with the fact is up to you. I blog, you decide.

Previous posts on the subject are here and links and here.

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

More on those ritual baths at the Ophel

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Monumental Second Temple Period ‘House of Mikvehs’ Discovered on Jerusalem’s Ophel. The fruits of our multi-year excavations go public (CHRISTOPHER EAMES, Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology).

“Monumental Second Temple-Period Purification Complex Uncovered at the Foot of the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem”—so reads the headline of a press release issued by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem this morning.

The fruits of our five-year excavation on Jerusalem’s eastern Ophel, co-directed by professors Uzi Leiber and Orit Peleg-Barkat and in partnership with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, are beginning to show!

[...]

I have already posted on this story here. But the Armstrong Institute is co-excavator in this project, so this report, which has some additional details, is straight from the source.

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

Saint Jerome's feast day 2026

THE FEAST DAY OF ST. JEROME IS TODAY, 30 SEPTEMBER. Jerome was one of the few Church Fathers to learn and use Hebrew. The Latin Vulgate is his complete translation of the Hebrew Bible. I last noted his feast day in 2021. For more on him, follow the links there.

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

Moore, ... Elephantine in Its Persian Imperial and Administrative Context (Eisenbrauns, open access)

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: Elephantine in Its Persian Imperial and Administrative Context.

Notice of a New Book: Moore, James D. 2026. Aspects of Judean Life. Elephantine in Its Persian Imperial and Administrative Context. Pennsylvania: Eisenbrauns. Available in hardback, paperback and (free!) ebook.

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

Who were the Samaritans and where did they come from?

SAMARITAN WATCH: The Confusing Story of the Samaritans and the Jews: Who Split From Whom? Jewish tradition says the Samaritans descend from foreign settlers. The evidence says they are mostly what they claim to be: Israelites who never left (Elon Gilad, Haaretz).

Even the scholars who stress the Assyrian upheaval accept that some Israelites stayed, so the Samaritans descend at least in part from northern Israelites. What remains in dispute is how much of the old northern kingdom survives in today's 850 Samaritans – and that, the evidence cannot settle.

Knoppers's position is the cautious one: real Israelite continuity, reduced by deportation, mixed by absorption. Nodet's is the maximal one – the Samaritans are "to this day the direct heirs of the ancient Israelites," and rabbinic Judaism is the younger tradition, formed by the reforms the Bible attributes to Ezra the scribe and Nehemiah which the Israelites of the former northern kingdom – the Samaritans' ancestors – never adopted.

This is a well-informed, detailed, survey of the evidence for and the scholarly discussion about the Samaritans. Well worth a careful read.

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

Burning apocryphal scriptures in Renaissance India

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: A Renaissance Purge Of Ancient Scripture (Philip Jenkins).

Renaissance thinkers were entranced by the idea of finding ancient manuscripts and texts that would illuminate the history of religion and of spiritualities broadly defined, and in many cases they invented the evidence they wished they could have found legitimately. Such activities became very intense at the turn of the seventeenth century. In light of that, it seems really paradoxical that at exactly this time, one powerful group of Christians could have found a sizable hoard of quite authentic documents hitherto unknown to them, and which genuinely did throw light on the early Church – and yet they decided to destroy those texts en masse, in a dreadful act of scriptural cleansing. What did they think they were doing?

[...]

I had forgotten about this one, although Philip covered it some years ago and I also noted it here. What a sad story.

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

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

Maaloula's Aramaic and architecture

MODERN ARAMAIC WATCH: Maaloula preserves Syria’s ancient language and architectural heritage (N.J/ABD, SANA).

A 2022 academic study titled “The Maaloula Aramaic Corpus” found that the language spoken in Maaloula belongs to the Modern Western Aramaic dialect group, which is also used in Jubb’adin and Bakh’a in Damascus countryside, as well as among some members of these communities living elsewhere.

The study, prepared by researchers Ghattas Eid, Esther Seyffarth and Ingo Plag, was published as part of the proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation. ...

Researchers compiled a database of 64,845 words from field recordings provided by 45 native speakers from Maaloula, including stories, legends, religious traditions, local customs, personal experiences, agricultural practices, songs and poems. ...

The Monastery of Saint Thecla and the Monastery of Saints Sergius and Bacchus are among Maaloula’s most significant religious and historical landmarks.

This 2022 study is new to me. For lots of PaleoJudaica posts on Maaloula (Ma'aloula, Malula, Maalula - etc!), start here and follow the links. Thecla (Thekla) shows up quite a bit. And for more on Thecla and Maaloula, see here and links.

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

AJR on Vayntrub, Body Language

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW has a new series on Jacqueline Vayntrub’s new book, Body Language: Voice, Embodiment, and Textuality in the Hebrew Bible (Yale, 2026), whose publication I noted here. I have fallen behind on AJR, so here are links to all the essays.

Voices of Wing and Bone (Anathea Portier-Young)

On Metaphors of Bodies and Archeology (Yosefa Raz)

Speech, Efficacy, and Prophecy (Nathan Mastnjak)

Reading with a Hermeneutics of Presence and Embodiment (Dorothea Erbele-Küster)

Fleshy, Embodied, Embedded Speech (Anne Katrine de Hemmer Gudme)

An Echo Across the Room: Re-encountering Body Language (Jacqueline Vayntrub)

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

Hector Patmore R.I.P.

SAD NEWS: In Memoriam: Hector Patmore (Jeroen Verrijssen for the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven).

It is with immense sorrow that I must share the news of the sudden loss of my Doktorvater, Hector Patmore. In his many roles as husband, father, friend, priest, professor, and colleague, Hector left a lasting mark on those who knew him, and who now grieve his passing.

Hector received his PhD in Theology at the University of Durham in 2008. He went on to pursue postdoctoral research at the Protestant Theological University of the Netherlands in Kampen (2008-2012). The next six years would take him to Cardiff University, where he became Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies and Ancient Judaism. In 2019, he and his family moved to Leuven, following his promotion to Associate Professor (2019-2025) and eventually Full Professor in Biblical Studies (2025). Hector also led more than twenty study programmes in Israel and the Palestinian territories. From 2020-2025, he acquired a prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant for the project TEXTEVOLVE, studying the evolution of the Targums.

Hector’s research interests included the development of Jewish beliefs in Antiquity, in particular in the field of demonology; New Testament literature in the context of Judaism; the translation and interpretation of the Hebrew Bible, especially the Targums; and the exchange of ideas between Jews and Christians in Antiquity. His many publications, including his two monographs (Adam, Satan and the King of Tyre [2012]; The Transmission of Targum Jonathan in the West [2015]) show a rare breadth and depth of scholarship, and reflect the high standards he placed upon his work.

HT Drew Longacre at the OTTC Blog and many others.

Very sorry to hear of the tragic death of Professor Patmore at the age of 45 in a hiking accident in Scotland. Requiescat in pace.

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

Underwater archaeology at Tyre

PHOENICIAN WATCH: Divers are returning to ancient Tyre’s submerged ruins, unscathed in Lebanon war. As shaky ceasefire holds, visitors are coming back to explore Roman and Phoenician remains off coast of southern Lebanese city (AP and TOI STAFF).

For PaleoJudaica posts on the history and archaeology of the city of Tyre, start here and follow the links. Cross-file under Maritime (Marine, Underwater) Archaeology

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

A Comparative Handbook to the Gospel of John (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

A Comparative Handbook to the Gospel of John

Series:
The New Testament Gospels in their Judaic Contexts, Volume: 4

Volume Editors: Bruce D. Chilton, Alan Avery-Peck, Craig A. Evans, Darrell Bock, and Daniel M. Gurtner

John’s discursive and narrative techniques are targeted in this volume by means of a fresh translation, in order to assess how streams of tradition, comparable to several Judaic literatures, may be seen to have been incorporated within characteristically Johannine cycles of presentation. The central section, “Analysis,” as in previous books in the series “The New Testament Gospels in Their Judaic Contexts,” sets out resources of particular note for understanding John, and constitutes the principal focus. An Epilogue provides a resumé of the cycles and streams of presentation, providing an explanation of John’s radical departure from the structure of the Synoptic Gospels.

Copyright Year: 2026

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-75433-1
Publication: 08 Jun 2026
EUR €170.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-75432-4
Publication: 18 Jun 2026
EUR €170.00

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The Book of Numbers (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

The Book of Numbers

Composition, Reception, and Interpretation

Series:
Formation and Interpretation of Old Testament Literature, Volume: 202/10
Vetus Testamentum, Supplements, Volume: 202/10

Volume Editors: Christian Frevel, Benjamin Kilchör, and Craig Evans

Over the past two decades, the Book of Numbers has increasingly moved from the margins to the center of Pentateuchal studies, as it has become clear that it is a litmus test for many theories of this field. It describes Israel in the fictional setting of the formative desert period between Sinai and the country's border. In doing so, it addresses and reflects theologically on themes central to post-exilic Israel, including election, leadership, social organization, and land. This volume brings together 42 essays by renowned experts in their field, providing both an overview and new insights into the current state of research on the Book of Numbers. The essays cover a wide range of topics, including textual tradition and transmission, structure, narrative and literary history, contexts, and reception.

Copyright Year: 2026

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-75427-0
Publication: 13 Aug 2026
EUR €173.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-52986-1
Publication: 09 Sep 2026
EUR €173.00

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

Sukkot 2026

THE SEVEN-DAY FESTIVAL OF SUKKOT (BOOTHS, TABERNACLES) begins tonight at sundown. Best wishes to all those observing it.

Last year's Sukkot post is here. See also here and here.

For the biblical background to Sukkot, see here and here.

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

Fake and real DSS fragments isolated in the Schøyen Collection?

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: Authentic Fragments Identified in Schøyen Dead Sea Scroll Collection, Among Many Fraudulent Manuscripts (The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts Press Release).

Dead Sea Scroll scholar Årstein Justnes of the University of Agder commented that CSNTM’s findings regarding MS 4612-1 “could have major implications for Dead Sea Scrolls research,” revealing the artifact to be potentially “the first known example of a Dead Sea Scroll forgery that predates 2002" – the year numerous fragments purported to be Dead Sea Scrolls surfaced in the market and were acquired by collectors around the world. This second cache of Dead Sea Scroll fragments is now understood to consist primarily of inauthentic documents.

Although the majority of fragments in Schøyen’s Dead Sea Scroll collection appear to be modern forgeries, multispectral imaging technology has captured details that support the hypothesis that some of the Schøyen fragments are authentic.

This sounds like an important development. I would like to know more about the fragments (provisionally?) authenticated by this process.

The CSNTM website is here. For PaleoJudaica posts on those post-2002 mostly fake Dead Sea Scroll-like fragments, see here and links, plus here. For more on the Schøyen Collection, see here and links.

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

Data analytics for the Sifting Project

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT BLOG: DATA ANALYTICS AND THE DAY OF REMEMBRANCE: RECONSTRUCTING THE TEMPLE MOUNT’S HISTORY.

The analytics and research applied to the vast collection of artifacts in our possession allow us to reveal another layer in the story of the most important and sacred site in the history of the Jewish people. Specifically there – at the very place from which they would announce to the entire Jewish world when a new month, and of course, a new year, was beginning. This symbolism takes on an even deeper meaning, as the sifting work today takes place at Mitzpe HaMasuot (The Lookout of the Beacons), the historic site where the first beacon was lit to broadcast the news of the new month and the new year to Diaspora Jewry and the rest of the world.

Tangentially related to Rosh HaShanah.

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

When did making a Sukkah become compulsory?

RABBI STEVEN BOB: When Building a Sukkah Became a Commandment (TheTorah.com).

Farmers and soldiers built sukkot as temporary shelters, as did pilgrims coming to Jerusalem for the week-long Sukkot festival. The practice of building a sukkah “each on his roof, and in their courtyards,” as described in Nehemiah (8:14–17), likely began in exile, in memory of the pilgrim booths of First Temple times. It then entered Leviticus as a commandment and reached the wider Judean public through Ezra’s Torah reading.

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

Temple-pilgrimage ritual baths excavated at the Ophel

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Monumental Ancient Ritual Baths Unearthed at Foot of Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Pilgrims flocking to ancient Jerusalem for the holidays in the Second Temple period may have not only purified but had opportunity to clean up before ascending to the holy site (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

Now archaeologists have revealed a previously unknown complex in the Ophel, the slope descending from the Temple Mount south toward the City of David, that is where the pilgrims would apparently immerse. The monumental complex includes three mikvaot (ritual baths) plus a strange rectangular pool that was evidently not a ritual bath. Prof. Uzi Leibner and Prof. Orit Peleg-Barkat are responsible for this exciting find. Nearby, the team also found two other installations that appear to have been plastered vats.

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

Understanding the Jewish Calendar

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Understanding the Jewish Calendar. Why Jewish holidays shift each year (Nathan Steinmeyer).

This is a useful overview for reference during this calendar-heavy time in the Jewish year.

For a brief overview of the ancient Jewish calendar(s) (in the context of the Antikythera mechanism), see here. For lots more on the ancient Jewish solar calendar, see here and links. For the archaeologically recovered, tenth-century-BCE Gezer Calendar, see here and links. And for Noah's possibly 360-day "administrative calendar" in the Priestly Source, see here. And for even more posts on various aspects of the ancient Jewish calendar, run "calendar" through the blog search engine.

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On manuscripts of the Alexander Romance

VARIANT READINGS: Manuscripts of the Alexander Romance (Brent Nongbri).

The Alexander Romance (or The Life of Alexander of Macedon or the Life and Acts of Alexander, or The History of Alexander the Great, King of the Macedonians…) survives in hundreds of manuscript copies in several languages. The Romance has also sometimes been classified as an “open text,” a fluid cluster of narratives that are similar enough to be recognized as versions of the “same” text but different enough to resist reconstruction of any single, fixed “authorial” text. It is thus quite difficult to make an exhaustive collection of manuscripts of the Romance both because of the number of manuscripts in different linguistic traditions and the uncertainty around the question of whether we actually have the transmission of the “same” text or a transformation into a different text.

Nevertheless, what follows is a small collection of links to some of the most important manuscripts connected to the earliest versions of the Romance.

[...]

For many PaleoJudaica posts on Alexander the Great and his connection with ancient Jewish traditions, notably in the Alexander Romance, start here and follow the links. For brief comments on its recensional history, see here. If you want to go down the manuscript and recesional rabbit hole, this Variant Readings post is for you.

And before I got around to posting this, Brent put up another post on the subject: Papyri Related to the Alexander Romance.

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Debunking the Hermetic corpus

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: Debunking Sacred Forgeries In The Renaissance (Philip Jenkins).

As the Hermetic texts were presented, they contained huge problems. As we now know, these scriptures were written far later than they initially appeared, and they actually dated from Egypt in the second and third centuries AD. If they resembled Neoplatonism, for example, that was because they were influenced by that movement, rather than the other way round. In retrospect, we see that Hermes Trismegistus himself was a classic product of the religion of Ptolemaic or Roman Egypt, a hybrid that united the Greek Hermes with the Egyptian god Thoth.

I think that Ficino, Pico, Bruno, and their colleagues made a strategic error in focusing on an erroneous early date as the source of authority for the Hermetica. When Casaubon debunked the date, everyone dropped the corpus. But its NeoPlatonic-Egyptian-Gnostic philosophy and theology are of some interest in themselves. It took a long time for people to notice that again. See David Litwa's Hermetica I for a recent treatment from this perspective.

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

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Samaritan Yom Kippur and Sukkot

SAMARITAN WATCH: Ancient faith, modern lives: Samaritans prepare for Yom Kippur and Sukkot. From fruit-laden sukkot to a digital prayer book app, a community divided between Holon in central Israel and Mount Gerizim in Samaria combines ancient Israelite traditions with modern Israeli life (Tania Shalom Michaelian, Jewish News Syndicate).

(Sept. 22, 2026 / JNS) While most Israelis begin building their sukkot this week, one small community that traces its roots to the ancient Israelites will wait until the end of October.

The Samaritans (Shomronim in Hebrew) celebrate the festivals commanded in the Torah, but not always on the same dates as Jews. Their year begins with the Hebrew month of Nissan in the spring, rather than with the month of Tishrei in the fall. Their priests calculate leap years independently, based on a count beginning with the Israelites’ entry into the Land of Israel under Joshua. In some years, the festivals coincide; in others, as in 2026, they fall almost a month apart.

This year, Samaritan Yom Kippur will fall on Oct. 20, and Sukkot will begin on Oct. 25.

[...]

For previous notices of Samaritan Sukkot, see here and links.

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David W. Suter (1942-2024)

SAD NEWS, NOTED BELATEDLY:

Dr. David W. Suter

"To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour."
- William Blake ("Auguries of Innocence")

Dr. David Winston Suter, 82, of Puyallup, Washington, passed away on Thursday, June 20, 2024. ...

David was actively involved in the Society of Biblical Literature, which enabled him to participate in expeditions to Jerusalem, the caves of Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, and the foot of Mount Herman in Dan where the group discovered the ruins of the Sanctuary of the Northern Tribes, including the throne where the King of the Northern Tribes sat and judged the people. This travel in pursuit of his scholarship also allowed him to engage in one of his favorite hobbies, photography, documenting these trips with beautiful photos to share with family and friends.

David’s primary scholarly interest was the Book of Enoch. His dissertation involved translating an Ethiopian copy of the Book of Enoch written in Aramaic into English and then using this translation to study and analyze the text. From 2005 to 2019, he was a member of the Enoch Seminar, an academic group of international specialists in Second Temple Judaism and the origins of Christianity, who biennially meet in Naples, Italy to share information about their work and discuss topics of common interest. David presented at these seminars and contributed to the joint publications.

I had read Dr. Suter's valuable work on the Parables of Enoch and then got to know him at the Enoch Seminar meetings. You will find him mentioned here occasionally in the early years of this blog. I only found out about his passing this morning when this funeral notice came up in my search, although I see now that I missed an annoucement in a 2024 Enoch Seminar newsletter.

David's Academia.edu page is here, where you can see some of his work on 1 Enoch and related topics.

I am sorry to hear that he is gone. Requiescat in pace.

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Prostrating to God, the king, and ... Jesus?

DR. JAMES F. MCGRATH: Exalting Jesus—Did Early Christians Abandon Monotheism? (TheTorah.com).

Paul’s (ca. 5-67 C.E.) portrayal of Jesus as an exalted ruler may seem to challenge Jewish monotheism. Yet the idea of a human king ruling on God’s behalf is already found in the Bible. Reading Paul alongside Jewish traditions of divine kingship shows how his claims about Jesus remain consistent with exclusive allegiance to one God.

The concept of divine kingship in ancient Israel and ancient Judaism is elusive. This essays gives one possible interpretation of the evidence.

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Burning homemade scrolls to help read incinerated Herculaneum papyri

EVERYONE NEEDS A HOBBY: A Retired Inventor Burned Homemade Scrolls to Help Read 2,000-Year-Old Texts Buried by Mount Vesuvius. Learn how experiments with homemade scrolls could help reveal lost writing in the Herculaneum library buried by Mount Vesuvius (Anastasia Scott, Discover Magazine).

In his home lab, Douglas Seiler put a roll of papyrus that students had written on inside a steel container and heated it in a furnace until it charred. On the papyrus, high school students had written passages from Star Wars and the Bible with reed pens. Seiler was trying to destroy something on purpose, so he could learn how to read what a volcanic eruption had nearly destroyed 2,000 years earlier.

[...]

The peer-reviewed underlying technical article in PLOS One is open access:

A model carbonized papyrus scroll opens a novel path to identifying readable scrolls of the Herculaneum Library
Douglas Seiler, Jacob Michael LaManna, Michael McOsker, David Kreimer, Michael Cyrus Daugherty, Jens Dopke
Published: September 16, 2026
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0353485

Abstract

We report the successful fabrication of a laboratory-made carbonized papyrus scroll and the virtual unrolling and reading of its custom leaded ink text, using X-ray tomography. We believe this is the first confirmed proof of concept to show that the presence of lead in Herculaneum scrolls would greatly increase the probability for successful reading. This synthetic model enables systematic variation of ink formulations, including leaded inks, to generate ground-truth datasets for the development and validation of text-detection algorithms intended for use on the Herculaneum scrolls. By altering the ink composition from pure carbon to an ink enriched with lead, an X-ray contrasting agent, our team can provide datasets which can be used to test algorithmic performance. Inks containing only carbon present a more challenging detection scenario, serving as a baseline for recovery efforts. The lab-made scroll was constructed from modern Egyptian papyrus and ink incorporating a soluble lead salt, then carbonized and imaged using a laboratory-grade X-ray tomography system. The scroll was virtually unrolled using custom-developed software. Additionally, we found that a handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) device could detect lead in the ink post-carbonization. This suggests that XRF may be a practical screening method for identifying ancient scrolls likely to contain lead-based ink and therefore have a higher probability of being successfully read.

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 Herculaneum Watch and Technology Watch.

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Tanit's Information Office?

PUNIC WATCH: Tanit Sanctuary in Ibiza to Get a New Information Office (Diario de Ibiza).

Sant Joan has put the construction of a new visitor facility next to the Cova des Culleram out to tender, including an information point, storage area, covered porch and toilets. ...

The Cova des Culleram is a natural cave formed in limestone rock where numerous archaeological remains were discovered, providing evidence that the site was used for religious ceremonies during the Punic period, particularly those associated with the goddess Tanit.

Among the most significant discoveries at the cave is a bronze plaque bearing inscriptions dedicated to Resph-Melkart and Tanit.

Glad to hear the site is getting some attention. For the Punic (and Phoenician?) goddess Tanit (Tannit), the "Snake Lady," see here and links. For more on Tanit at Ibiza, as well as other Ibiza archaeology and legend, see here.

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Yom Kippur 2026

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

Last year's post on Yom Kippur is here, with links (plus here). Biblical etc. background is here and links.

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

Excavations at Leontopolis

EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGY: Rare ancient tombs uncovered at Egypt’s ‘Mound of the Jews.’ Archaeologists uncover rock-cut tombs and Roman military remains at Tell el-Yahudiya, an ancient Egyptian site with a remarkable connection to Jewish history (Israel National News).

The newly uncovered tombs themselves have not been identified as Jewish and date from centuries before the well-documented Jewish presence associated with the area.

The location of the discovery, however, gives it particular significance for Jewish history. Tell el-Yahudiya literally means "Mound of the Jews," and archaeological research has documented a substantial Jewish community in the area during the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

Historian Dorothy Thompson, writing in the Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, noted that the cemeteries at Tell el-Yahudiya produced a large collection of Greek epitaphs, more than half of which contain names regarded by scholars as distinctly Jewish.

The site has also long been associated with the "Land of Onias" and the Jewish Temple of Onias in Egypt.

The site is perhaps better known as Leontopolis. For more on it and its connection to the Jewish temple of Onias, see here and links.

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Complaints about West Bank police action

ALLEGATIONS: Police Officer Tied to Illegal West Bank Antiquities Thefts Also Visited Area B Cave. Meir Rotter, head of the police's ultra-Orthodox unit, entered a cave in a Palestinian Authority-administered area with soldiers, lacking authorization, months after he was accused of unlawfully seizing an ancient artifact elsewhere in the West Bank (Nir Hasson, Haaretz).

Duly noted. There's a lot going on in this story and I don't pretend to understand it all. Some background is here.

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Venturini, A Syriac Patristic Florilegium against Julian of Halicarnassus (Brill, open access)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

A Syriac Patristic Florilegium against Julian of Halicarnassus

Critical Edition, Translation, and Study

Series:
Eastern Christian Texts, Volume: 3

Author: Guido Venturini

How is a florilegium constructed, and why does this peculiar type of literary work deserve to be studied? The huge anti-Julianist florilegium preserved in the Catenae Patrum of the British Library represents an exceptional repository of patristic testimonies transmitted in Syriac, some of which are lost in the Greek original and remained unpublished until now. After a methodological introduction, the volume presents the critical edition, English translation, and comment of an intriguing dogmatic florilegium, conceived by an enigmatic intellectual active at the end of the sixth century to refute Julian of Halicarnassus’ doctrine on the incorruptibility of Christ’s body before the resurrection. The critical edition aims to open new methodological horizons in the field of Syriac philology, as it integrates the stemmatic method with the historical study of the textual tradition, according to Giorgio Pasquali’s fundamental teaching. For the first time, the most important piece of the anti-Julianist literature after the death of Severus of Antioch this work is translated into a modern language, giving new insights into the theological controversies that took place within the Miaphysite Church during the Byzantine period.

Copyright Year: 2026

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-76173-5
Publication: 29 Jul 2026
Open Access

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-76172-8
Publication: 27 Aug 2026
EUR €180.00

Cross-file under Syriac Watch.

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