Langlois on the material features of the DSS

NEW ARTICLE BY MICHAEL LANGLOIS: “Les manuscrits de la mer Morte à l’aune de la philologie matérielle”, RHPR 95/1, 2015, p. 3-31.

The article is in French. The French and English abstracts are as follows:

Résumé : Cet essai propose une méthodologie d’étude des manuscrits de la mer Morte qui tienne compte de leurs caractéristiques matérielles. Le contexte archéologique, le support d’écriture, l’agencement, la paléographie, l’orthographe, les divisions, les annotations, et la rédaction de ces rouleaux doivent faire l’objet de la plus grande attention, chacun de ces aspects étant à même d’influencer la compréhension que l’on a des œuvres littéraires ainsi véhiculées.

Abstract : This paper offers a methodology for the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls that takes into account their material features. Archaeological context, writing medium, layout, palaeography, orthography, divisions, annotations, and the redaction of these manuscripts must be diligently studied, for each of these aspects may influence our understanding of the literary works under consideration.

Karaite chief rabbi re-elected

THE KARAITES ARE ALIVE AND WELL: Karaite Jews unanimously re-elect chief rabbi. Movement has approximately 40,000 followers, who follow only Torah laws and reject oral traditions like the Mishnah and Talmud (Melanie Lidman, Times of Israel).

The Religious Council of Karaite Jews unanimously reelected their chief rabbi, Rabbi Moshe Piroz, for another four-year term. Piroz has been serving as chief rabbi since 2011.

The Karaites are a small sect of Judaism who follow only the written Torah and reject the later additions of Oral Law, including the Mishnah and the Talmud. “Karaite” comes from the Hebrew verb “to read” because they consider themselves literal interpreters of the Books of Moses.

[...]

A small and ancient sect. Some past posts on the Karaites are collected here.

Lod Mosaic coming to Florida

LAST SEEN IN VENICE: LYDDA ROMAN MOSAIC SHOWCASED IN MIAMI. ANCIENT ROMAN MOSAIC FROM LYDDA (LOD) TO BE SHOWCASED AT MIAMI’ FROST ART MUSEUM BETWEEN FEB. 10 AND MAY 15, 2016. “PREDATORS AND PREY” A ROMAN MOSAIC FROM LYDDA (LOD), ISRAEL (The Arab Daily News).

The mosaic continues its transcontinental tour at the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum FIU, the Smithsonian Museum affiliate in Miami. Presented in association with the IAA, the mosaic has attracted crowds at the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Hermitage Museum in Russia.

The exhibition in Miami (opens February 10, closes May 15) has been generously underwritten by the museum’s patrons Patricia and Phillip Frost and provides a rare opportunity to to see one of the world’s finest, largest and most well-preserved ancient mosaics up close.

The IAA is shipping to Miami an additional never-before-seen portion of the mosaic from the excavation that has not traveled outside of Israel. The Miami version of this world tour will be the first time this additional panel has been exhibited.

Background here with many links.

Orlov, The Atoning Dyad

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

The Atoning Dyad: The Two Goats of Yom Kippur in the Apocalypse of Abraham

Andrei A. Orlov, Marquette University
The study explores the eschatological reinterpretation of the Yom Kippur ritual found in the Apocalypse of Abraham where the protagonist of the story, the patriarch Abraham, takes on the role of a celestial goat for YHWH, while the text’s antagonist, the fallen angel Azazel, is envisioned as the demonic scapegoat. The study treats the application of the two goats typology to human and otherworldly figures in its full historical and interpretive complexity through a broad variety of Jewish and Christian sources, from the patriarchical narratives of the Hebrew Bible to early Christian materials in which Yom Kippur traditions were applied to Jesus’ story.

Eerdmans Commentary on the Aramaic DSS

VIDEO: Eerdmans Commentary on the Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls with Andrew Perrin. Glad to see this series is making progress. I published the first volume back in 2000.

Cross-file under Aramaic Watch. Andrew Perrin's work has been noted previously here, here, here, here, and here.

More Aramaic from Sharjah (UAE)

ARAMAIC WATCH: Sultan unveils new archaeological treasure (WAM, The Gulf Today).

HARJAH: His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, has revealed a new archaeological discovery of major historical significance to the region in the Mleiha Archaeological Centre.

The Ruler of Sharjah unveiled the discovery of inscriptions engraved on a tomb that dates back to the third century BC, in the presence of Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah.

The historical treasure was discovered by a Belgium expedition from the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels, in collaboration with the team of the Directorate of Antiquities at the Sharjah Department of Culture and Information.

The recovered treasure features inscriptions engraved on a huge grave consisting of an underground burial chamber measuring 5.2 square metres.

The inscription, written in Aramaic and the southern Arabic language, carries the name of Amad bin Jar bin Ali Kahin, the King of the ancient Kingdom of Oman, and his descendants.

The inscriptions also include the date when the tomb was built.

It says the tomb dates back to 90 or 96 AG, a system of numbering years in use by the Seleucid Empire, equivalent to the year 221/222, or 216/215 BC, making it the oldest historical discovery that refers to Oman and also proves that the ancient Kingdome of Oman existed in the late third century BC.

[...]

There was a time in antiquity when Aramaic was an important written language in Arabia. An exhibition of related material in Sharjah was noted here. And follow the link there for past posts on Aramaic in ancient Arabia.

Review of Meier, A Marginal Jew, vol. 5

THE BUSYBODY: A Marginal Jew, Volume 5: Probing the Authenticity of the Parables. Reviewed by Loren Rossen, who begins "By now it’s clear that John Meier is the George Martin of biblical studies."

I didn't realize Meir was still at it, but this volume sounds as though it will challenge and perhaps overturn much of the received wisdom on the parables. Cross-file under New Book.

Ancient Babylonian astronomical secrets

WELL, SOME OF THOSE SECRETS ANYWAY: Ancient Babylonians Knew Secrets of the Solar System 1,500 Years Before Europe. Cuneiform tablets show Babylonians were calculating position of Jupiter using geometrical methods previously thought to have been invented only in 14th-century Oxford (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

The ancient Babylonians were known to have been advanced in arithmetic. Now analysis of clay cuneiform tablets found in Babylonia and Uruk shows they could predict the position of celestial bodies using advanced geometric techniques thought to have been invented in 14th-century Europe.

Specifically, the tablets show the ancient Babylonians were evidently intrigued by the position of the planet Jupiter, writes Mathieu Ossendrijver of Humboldt University, Berlin, in his paper "Ancient Babylonian astronomers calculated Jupiter's position from the area under a time-velocity graph".

[...]

The clay tablets, which are practically intact, seem to date between 350 and 50 BCE. There are issues about provenance – Ossendrijver notes that they were "excavated unscientifically" and discuss general methodology, not mentioning specific astronomical phenomena that could be datable. The writings describe two intervals after Jupiter appears along the horizon, projecting the planet’s position at 60 and 120 days.

[...]

How interesting. The ancient Jewish Enochic literature (1 Enoch) draws quite a lot on Babylonian astronomical research, although their presentation of it is a bit outdated. These tablets were written around the time the Enochic literature was being composed. The Palestinian Jewish writers of the Enochic literature conceivably could have had some access to similar things, depending on how much they had contact with Jews in Babylonia and how carefully those Jews kept up with Babylonian astronomy.

Incidentally, while were talking about the positions of the planets, don't miss the current big lineup of the planets. Enoch would disapprove. For a similar, but less comprehensive lineup of planets, see the fourth photograph here.

Hurtado on Christian codices

LARRY HURTADO: Christians and the Codex: Encore!. In contrast to Jewish use of scrolls in the same time period.

IT post involving Hebrew and Aramaic

JOB:

The Faculty of Theology of the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen invites applications for the position of an

IT Professional
(pay grade 10 TV-L)


with 70% of the regular working time (currently 39,8 hours per week) commencing April 1st, 2016. The position is limited to 3 years with the possibility of prolongation for another 2 years.

In context of the German-Israeli research project „Scripta Qumranica Electronica“, funded by the German Research Foundation (GRF/DFG), new types of digital editions will be developed and proofed as practicable on selected Hebrew texts. To this end, the already existing database of the Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Qumran-Wörterbuch) of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities will be expanded and new frontends to be used by the editors of the texts and later users will be developed.

[...]

Specifics follow on the technical skills required. The application deadline is 22 February.

More on the Tzippori inscriptions

IAA PRESS RELEASE: 1,700-year-old funerary inscriptions exposed in Zippori. Three 1,700 year old funerary inscriptions written in Aramaic and Greek were recently revealed in the ancient cemetery in Moshav Zippori in the north. The two Aramaic inscriptions mention individuals referred to as "rabbis" who were buried in the western cemetery of Zippori; their names have not yet been deciphered. The English press release contains some details not found in the Arutz Sheva article noted yesterday. Excerpt:

Aramaic was the everyday language used by the Jews in the period of the Mishnah and Talmud, but some of them also spoke and read Greek, and thus there are also funerary inscriptions in that language. The two Aramaic inscriptions mention individuals referred to as "rabbis" who were buried in the western cemetery of Zippori; their names have not yet been deciphered.

According to Dr. Motti Aviam of the Kinneret Institute for Galilean Archaeology, the importance of the epitaphs lies in the fact that these reflect the everyday life of the Jews of Zippori and their cultural world. Researchers are uncertain as to the meaning of the term "rabbi" at the time when Rabbi Yehuda Ha-Nasi resided in Zippori together with the Tannaim and after him by the Amoraim - the large groups of sages that studied in the city’s houses of learning.

One of the surprises in the newly discovered inscriptions is that one of the deceased was called "the Tiberian". This is already the second instance of someone from Tiberias being buried in the cemetery at Zippori. It is quite possible that Jews from various parts of Galilee were brought to Zippori to be buried in the wake of the important activity carried out there by Rabbi Yehuda Ha-Nasi. Another possibility is that the man moved to Zippori and died there, but wanted to be remembered as someone who originally came from Tiberias.

In the second Aramaic epitaph the word le-olam (forever) appears for the first time in inscriptions found at Zippori. The term le-olam is known from funerary inscriptions in Bet She‘arim and elsewhere and means that the deceased’s burial place will remain his forever and that no one will take it from him. Both inscriptions end with the Hebrew blessing shalom.

The Greek inscription mentions the name Jose, which was very common amongst Jews living in Israel and abroad.

[...]

There is also a good photo of the Jose inscription.

Sarah Rollens on canon

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Canons, Communities, and Christian Origins: A Response to the AJR Canon Forum (Sarah Rollens). Earlier contributions to the AJR discussion are noted here and links.

Shadowhunters

REMNANT OF GIANTS: The Nephilim are on TV: Shadowhunters. "Now that Nephilim are on TV every week, the mission of Remnant of Giants is complete. Let the reader understand." We'll see.

Cross-file under Television.

Angels and demons, watchers and giants

BELIEFNET: The Important Differences between Angels and Demons (Lesli White).

I am bemused when I read articles like this one and find that the author fails to mention or show any awareness of the myth of the watchers and the giants, which is the only account of the origin of demons in Second Temple Judaism (or earlier). See here and here for specifics.

One could answer that the author is writing from a Christian tradition in which the Enochic literature is not part of the authoritative biblical canon.* This is true enough, but even if we stick to the the Protestant biblical canon, there is unsettling evidence that the Enochic literature was not ignored by it. In Jude 14-15 the author (traditionally the brother of Jesus!) says the following:

14 It was of these also that Enoch in the seventh generation from Adam prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with his holy myriads, 15 to execute judgment on all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness which they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” (RSV)

This is a direct quotation from the Enochic Book of the Watchers (1 Enoch 1:9):

9 And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones
To execute judgement upon all,
And to destroy all the ungodly:
And to convict all flesh
Of all the works of their ungodliness which they have ungodly committed,
And of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. (Charles translation)

So for one New Testament author, the Book of the Watchers — which tells the myth of the watchers, giants, and demons — was "prophecy." I would think its view about the origins of demons was at least worth a mention. But maybe that's just me.

*It is part of the biblical canon, though, in Ethiopic Christianity.

AJS Dissertation Completion Fellowship

H-JUDAIC: Fellowship: AJS Dissertation Completion Fellowship.

The Association for Jewish Studies invites applications for its first annual Dissertation Completion Fellowship competition. Funded for five years, this fellowship program will award seven finishing-year fellowships annually ($20,000 each) to PhD students entering the final year of their programs and completing a dissertation in the field of Jewish Studies. The 2016 competition will support fellowships during the 2016-2017 academic year. This program is generously supported through a grant from Legacy Heritage Fund. Application deadline is March 2, 2016.

[...]

Follow the link for further particulars.

The Vatican and those Temple treasures

LAWRENCE SCHIFFMAN: ARE THE TEMPLE’S VESSELS HIDDEN IN THE VATICAN? As regular readers know, and as Professor Schiffman agrees, this is very unlikely. But he links to an article on the subject in which he and Steven Fine are interviewed, and which is worth reading.

For some past posts on the fate of the Temple treasures, see here and links.

Ancient burial inscriptions in Tzippori

EPIGRAPHY: 'Rabbi' burial inscription uncovered in Tzippori. New discovery uncovers three burial inscriptions from 1,700-years-ago, revealing the importance of the city (Ido Ben Porat, Arutz Sheva).

Three 1,700-year-old stone burial inscriptions were found recently during an excavation in the Galilean town of Tzippori.

The discovery came after a local resident reported some information regarding stone findings to the Archaeological institute of the Galilee which is part of Kinneret College. The college together with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) conducted a dig and uncovered the inscriptions, which are written in Aramaic and Greek.

Two of the burial inscriptions, which appear in Aramaic, list the names of Jews who are buried in the western burial grounds outside the city.

[...]

One of the listed people came from Tiberias.

Past posts on ancient Tzippori/Zippori/Sepphoris are collected here and links.

UPDATE (28 January): More here.

Hebrew words in English

ETYMOLOGY? That English You’re Speaking? It’s Hebrew. (Well, Some of It.) The derivations of the words cinnamon, ruthless, scapegoat, and amen (MaNishtana, Tablet Magazine).

Given that backdrop, it’s entirely ironic that so many words Hebrew words spoken in Israel are backwards-engineered English ones, an irony currently being rectified by the Academy of Hebrew Language (which, with equal irony, is named the Academiya). But what makes this use of English loan words in modern Hebrew so thoroughly and hilariously meta is that English is literally littered with loan words and concepts borrowed from Hebrew. Here are a few:

Well, sort of. The point the article makes is correct, but the examples are oddly and poorly chosen. As the author notes, "amenable" is from a Latin root. Also, "ruthless" comes from a Germanic root and "scapegoat" is a very free translation of Azazel, not a transliterated Hebrew word. But there are some other actual Hebrew words absorbed or adapted into English, including hallelujah, edenic, sabbath, philistine, babel, behemoth, cabal, manna, and satanic, as well as countless Hebrew personal names and place names in English.

Edward Robinson

GEOGRAPHY: Today in History: The ‘father of biblical geography.’ Edward Robinson identified almost 200 biblical sites (Jerusalem Post).

153 years ago today, January 27, 1863, Edward Robinson, “the father of biblical geography” died.

[...]

Byron, Herodotus, and Sennacherib

HISTORY: Of mice and men: How archaeology confirms a Bible story (Mark Woods, Christian Today). The headline exaggerates a little, since the most important part of the biblical story (the destruction of Sennacherib's army) is not mentioned in the Sennacherib prism. That said, it confirms indirectly that Sennacherib did not capture Jerusalem, and it does sound as though something remarkable happened during the siege. I have commented further on the biblical story here (cf. here). The passage from Herodotus' History is 2.141:

After him there came to the throne the priest of Hephaistos, whose name was Sethos. This man, they said, neglected and held in no regard the warrior class of the Egyptians, considering that he would have no need of them; and besides other slights which he put upon them, he also took from them the yokes of corn-land which had been given to them as a special gift in the reigns of the former kings, twelve yokes to each man. After this, Sanacharib king of the Arabians and of the Assyrians marched a great host against Egypt. Then the warriors of the Egyptians refused to come to the rescue, and the priest, being driven into a strait, entered into the sanctuary of the temple and bewailed to the image of the god the danger which was impending over him; and as he was thus lamenting, sleep came upon him, and it seemed to him in his vision that the god came and stood by him and encouraged him, saying that he should suffer no evil if he went forth to meet the army of the Arabians; for he himself would send him helpers. Trusting in these things seen in sleep, he took with him, they said, those of the Egyptians who were willing to follow him, and encamped in Pelusion, for by this way the invasion came: and not one of the warrior class followed him, but shop-keepers and artisans and men of the market. Then after they came, there swarmed by night upon their enemies mice of the fields, and ate up their quivers and their bows, and moreover the handles of their shields, so that on the next day they fled, and being without defence of arms great numbers fell. And at the present time this king stands in the temple of Hephaistos in stone, holding upon his hand a mouse, and by letters inscribed he says these words: "Let him who looks upon me learn to fear the gods." (Macaulay translation)