Scrolls or unidentified rectangular objects?

VARIANT READINGS: The Iconography of Jewish Scrolls in the Roman Era (Brent Nongbri).

As far as I know, that is about the extent of the visual range of depictions of scrolls in Jewish sources: a spiral showing the frons or end, the closed roll showing the height of the scroll and perhaps some perspective with one or both of the ends depicted as well, and the partly open scroll shown in the Dura Europos image and the Salutia inscription.

What about other images in Jewish inscriptions that may more closely resemble the Castricius rectangle?

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

The first (bad) book on an apocryphal gospel?

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: Finding The First Book Ever Written On A Hidden Gospel (Philip Jenkins).

The Gospel of the Hebrews thus mattered greatly in the scriptural tradition, and in 1866, Hilgenfeld had collected the 33 surviving fragments in his survey of all available extra-canonical New Testament texts. The work also earned the attention of the versatile scholar Nicholson, the long-serving head of Oxford’s Bodleian Library. Amply acknowledging his debt to Hilgenfeld, Nicholson surveyed all the available fragments of Hebrews as well as Patristic references and likely parallels, and hypothesized that the work had the same author as Matthew’s canonical gospel. That argument is almost certainly incorrect, and in modern times it has been dismantled by such scholars as Bart Ehrman.

Professor Jenkins is trying to determine whether Nicholson's 1879 book is the first published monograph on a non-canonical gospel. If you know of an earlier one, drop a comment to his post.

For earlier posts in his Lost and Found Scriptues series, see here and links. Cross-file under New Testament Apocrypha and Lost Books.

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

Was there a real Tower of Babel?

MYTHOLOGICAL MONUMENTAL ARCHITECTURE? Was there a real Tower of Babel? This temple is the leading contender. Many archaeologists believe the famed tower from the Book of Genesis may have had a real historical counterpart in ancient Mesopotamia (National Geographic).

The answer could be yes—both archaeologists and historians believe the Tower of Babel from the Book of Genesis actually had a historical counterpart in ancient Mesopotamia: Etemenanki.

But though modern research has revealed plenty of potential evidence that such a structure not only existed but was known throughout the ancient world, the case for a real-life Tower of Babel is far from closed.

No historian thinks that a Tower of Babel as told in Genesis 11 ever existed. But the legend of the Tower many have been based on an actual very ancient temple-tower (a "ziqqurat") in ancient Babylon.

It seems likely enough that Judean exiles who saw the ruins of Etemenanki in Babylon inferred the Tower of Babel story from it. There was also a Sumerian version of the story of the confusion of tongues. It is possible that some version of it was still in circulation during the Exile. See also here and here.

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

Busts of "Lycurgus" and his shaggy friend found in salvage excavation

ANCIENT STATUARY: 'Once-in-a-lifetime Discovery': Intact 1,700-year-old Roman Busts Found in Israel. Buried in a disused Roman-Byzantine winepress near Binyamina, one of the marble busts may depict Sparta's legendary founder, Lycurgus. 'There was a feeling we were about to discover something that was not supposed to be there,' an archaeologist said (Nir Hasson, Haaretz).

The statues were carefully concealed inside a wine-collection pit of a Roman-Byzantine winepress long after it had gone out of use, where they remained buried for nearly 1,700 years. "They were buried when the winepress went out of use. At this stage, it is not known why the statues were hidden here, perhaps to protect them," the Israel Antiquities Authority, which carried out the excavation, said in a statement.

Cross-file under Salvage Archaeology.

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

Sifting Project lectures at the 50th Archaeological Congress

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT: THE SIFTING PROJECT AT THE 50TH ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONGRESS: A SEAL IMPRESSION FROM THE DAYS OF JOSIAH AND THE EVOLUTION OF THE EASTERN TEMPLE MOUNT.

Last Thursday, the 50th Archaeological Congress was held in Israel, featuring two important presentations by the Temple Mount Sifting Project.

Both presentations are avaiable on YouTube. The post above has the link.

I noted the Sifting Project's discovery of the Asayah bulla last year here.

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

Online Oxford LXX Seminar: Synagogues and the Septuagint in the Late Second Temple Period

WILLIAM A. ROSS: (VIRTUAL) OXFORD SEPTUAGINT SEMINAR, 17 JUNE.

Details for the next seminar, available virtually, are as follows:

Oxford Septuagint Seminar

17 June | 2:00 PM (BST)

“Translating the Word of God: Synagogues and the Septuagint in the Late Second Temple Period”

Prof. William Schniedewind is Distinguished Professor of Biblical Studies & Northwest Semitic Languages and Sady and Ludwig Kahn Director of the Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies at UCLA.

Follow the link for a description and the Zoom link.

As I have noted, Dr. Ross has been announcing these seminars, but usually too late for me to flag them in advance. I appreciate the early notice for this one.

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

Di Vito Festschrift (Gorgias)

NEW BOOK FROM GORGIAS PRESS:

“Where Were You When I Founded the Earth?”
Essays on Primeval and Deuteronomistic History and their Reception in Honor of Robert A. Di Vito

Edited by Dr Olegs Andrejevs, Najeeb T. Haddad & Mark Lester

Availability: In stock
SKU (ISBN): 978-1-4632-4979-3
Formats *
Hardback (In Print) ISBN 978-1-4632-4979-3 on Gorgias Mobile App (Glassboxx)
eBook PDF (In Print) ISBN 978-1-4632-4980-9 on Gorgias Mobile App (Glassboxx)
Publication Status: In Print
Series: Biblical Intersections 21
Publication Date: Mar 5,2026
Interior Color: Black
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Page Count: 439
Languages: English
ISBN: 978-1-4632-4979-3
Price: $134.95 (USD)
Your price: $80.97 (USD)

OVERVIEW

This collection of essays is dedicated to Robert A. Di Vito, a veteran member of the Department of Theology at Loyola University Chicago, where he has taught courses on the Pentateuch, the Prophets, classical Hebrew, and Dead Sea Scrolls. In addition to academic publications, Di Vito’s contributions to the guild include service as an associate editor of the Catholic Biblical Quarterly, along with long-term involvement in the complete translation of the New American Bible Old Testament, as one of its Editors-in-Chief. At Loyola University (which does not offer a PhD in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament), Di Vito has served on numerous dissertation committees of students who have received degrees in New Testament and Early Christianity.

The eleven contributors (a mix of colleagues and students from Loyola University Chicago and beyond) are delighted to present this volume to Professor Di Vito on the occasion of his 75th birthday. The collection reflects some of Di Vito’s principal interests, a number of areas in which he has made contributions to scholarship, and – perhaps above all – his career-defining commitment to keeping Loyola’s New Testament and Early Christianity program in conversation with biblical and second temple Judaism.

The authors focus on translation (Deirdre Dempsey); Deuteronomistic History (Mark Lester); and reception of Genesis 1–11 in the Sibylline Oracles (Olivia Stewart-Lester), the canonical gospels (Christopher W. Skinner; Olegs Andrejevs; Jeffrey M. Tripp), Paul’s letter to the Romans (Hans Svebakken), the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies (Joshua T. King), and contemporary contexts (Hille Haker; John McCarthy; Steven L. McKenzie). As this overview shows, reception of Genesis 1–11, in the New Testament and beyond, emerges as the central theme of the volume and is the focus of most essays here. To that end, the authors engage with: Genesis 1 (Stewart-Lester; Skinner); the LXX translator’s formula βίβλος γενέσεως (Andrejevs); Genesis 3 (Stewart-Lester; Svebakken); Cain and Abel (Haker; Tripp); the Nephilim story (Stewart-Lester; King); the measurement of Noah’s Ark (McCarthy); violence against animals in Gen 9:2–3 (King); the so-called “curse of Ham” (McKenzie); and the tower of Babel (Stewart-Lester).

The volume is primarily intended for an academic audience.

Congratulations to Professor Di Vito.

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