Daniel Sivan (1949-2026)

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

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

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

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

May his memory be for a blessing.

Cross-file under Northwest Semitic Epigraphy.

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Daniel's dream portrayed on an ancient Turkish liturgical vessel

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

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

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

[...]

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

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

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

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No Aramaic in Gibsons "Resurrection of the Christ"

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

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

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

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

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

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

A Step Back to the Original Old Testament Peshitta

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

Series: Monographs of the Peshitta Institute, Volume: 23

Author: Ignacio Carbajosa

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

Copyright Year: 2026

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

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

Cross-file under Syriac Watch.

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

NEW BOOK FROM CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

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

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

£24.99 GBP
Paperback

£90.00 GBP
Hardback

$120.00 USD
eBook

Description

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

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

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On John Dee's Enochian writings

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Video reconstructions of Herod's Temple courts

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

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

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

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

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

Follow the link for links to the two videos.

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

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When did Nash buy the papyrus?

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

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

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

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

Background here and links.

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

Early Publications on the Nash Papyrus

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

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The mis-mapping of Solomon's Pools?

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

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

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

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

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

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Orlov, Broken Vessels (SUNY)

NEW BOOK FROM SUNY PRESS:

Broken Vessels
Theogonies of the Divine Light in Judaism and Christianity

By Andrei A. Orlov

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

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

Pre-Order Now
Paperback $39.95

Description

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

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

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Variants from the MT in the Great Isaiah Scroll?

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

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

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

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A Mithraeum in Spain was really a Roman library?

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

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

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

[...]

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

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

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

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

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

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NEH awards to Princeton profs on the Cairo Geniza

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

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

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

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

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Update on Avdat's vintage resurrection

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The Nash Papyrus and the Odyssey

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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