Krauß et al. (eds.), Material Aspects of Reading in Ancient and Medieval Cultures (Open Access)

NEW BOOK FROM DE GRUYTER:

Material Aspects of Reading in Ancient and Medieval Cultures

Materiality, Presence and Performance

Series: Materiale Textkulturen, Volume: 26
Funded by: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Edited by: Anna Krauß, Jonas Leipziger and Friederike Schücking-Jungblut
De Gruyter | 2020

OVERVIEW

Open Access
This publication seeks to endeavour the relationship between material artefacts and reading practices in ancient and medieval cultures.
While the acts of reception of written artefacts in former times are irretrievably lost, some of the involved artefacts are preserved and might comprise hints to the ancient reading practices. In form of case studies, the contributions to this volume examine various forms of written artefacts as to their implications on modes of reading. Analyzing different Qumran scrolls, codices, Tefillin, Mezuzot, magical texts, tablets, bricks, and statues as well as meta-textual and iconographic aspects, the articles inquire the possibilities of how to correlate material aspects to assumed modes of reception and practices of reading. The contributions stem from Egyptology, Papyrology, Qumran Studies, Biblical Studies, Jewish Studies, Ancient Christianity, and Islamic Studies.
In total, this volume contributes to the research on practices of reception in times past and demonstrates the potential hidden in text-bearing artefacts.

OPEN ACCESS
£72.50
Hardcover
Price including VAT

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"Bloods of purity?"

PROF. TAMAR KAMIONKOWSKI: Postpartum “Bloods of Purity” (TheTorah.com).

Mesopotamian gynecological texts and what we know about women’s post-partum flow are helpful in parsing the unusual Hebrew idiom demei tohorah, literally, “bloods of purity,” used in Leviticus 12 to describe the second stage of postpartum bleeding.

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Millar, Genre and Openness in Proverbs 10:1-22:16

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

Genre and Openness in Proverbs 10:1-22:16
Suzanna R. Millar

ISBN 9781628372724
Status Available
Price: $39.00
Binding Paperback
Publication Date March 2020

A fruitful reading strategy that reveals expansive meaning in Proverbs

Interpreters often characterize Proverbs 10:1–22:16 as a dead-end of cold, disengaged dogma closed off from the realities of the world. In Genre and Openness in Proverbs 10:1–22:16, Suzanna R. Millar takes a different view, arguing that the didactic proverbs in these chapters are not dull and dry but are filled with poetic complexities open to many possible interpretations and uses. By incorporating paremiology, the technical study of the proverb genre, Millar sheds light on important debates such as character development, kingship, the connection between act and consequence, and the acquisition of wisdom.

Features

• A clarification of the genre of the sayings in light of modern genre theory
  
• A linguistic analysis of how openness is generated in biblical proverbs
  
• An examination of the didactic use of proverbs to train the hearer’s mind

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Did the Nazis conceal an ancient synagogue in Spain?

CANDIDA MOSS: Did the Nazis Cover Up a Jewish Discovery in Spain's ‘Oldest Christian Basilica’? The dig at Elche was overseen by Nazi appointed archaeologists and a nationalist Franco supporter, and somehow a menorah discovered in the ancient mosaics went unreported... (The Daily Beast).

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The eagle and the woes

READING ACTS: What are the Three Woes in Revelation 8:13? Phil Long continues his blog series on the seven angels in the Book of Revelation. The eagle with the woes is introduced between the fourth and the fifth angel.

I have noted earlier posts in the series here and links.

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Masada

(VIRTUAL) TRAVEL: Masada – The Fortress Palace (Heritage Daily).

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

Antiquities looting flourishes

UNAPPREHENDED: Antiquities thieves operate with impunity during coronavirus crisis. Grave robbers, treasure hunters take advantage of reduced enforcement to plunder archaeological sites in Judea and Samaria (Arutz Sheva).

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

Jesus, Galilee, and the imperial cult

THE HOLY LAND PHOTOS' BLOG: Emperor Worship In “Israel” in Jesus’ Day (Carl Rasmussen).

For my report, with links, on a 2016 symposium in St. Andrews which dealt with related themes, see here.

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The MT and the DSS

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: The Masoretic Text and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Should the original Hebrew Bible text be modified based on information obtained from the Dead Sea Scrolls?

A couple of related PaleoJudaica posts are here and here. And for a recent post on the Masoretic Text and the pronunciation of biblical Hebrew, see here.

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

Tamer (ed.), Concept of Revelation in Judaism, Christianity and Islam

NEW BOOK FROM DE GRUYTER:

Concept of Revelation in Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Series: Key Concepts in Interreligious Discourses, Volume: 1
Edited by: Georges Tamer
De Gruyter | 2020

OVERVIEW

The idea that God reveals himself to human beings is central in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, but differs in regard of content and conceptualization. The first volume of the new series Key Concepts in Interreligious Discourses points out similarities and differences of "revelation". KCID aims to establish an archeology of religious knowledge in order to create a new conceptual platform of mutual understanding among religious communities.

From £22.50
Price including VAT

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The DSS are on lockdown too.

The Dead Sea Scrolls are in self-isolation — but they mean more than ever (Naomi Zeveloff, The Forward).

The Dead Sea Scrolls, which include some of the earliest biblical texts, are considered the most significant archaeological find of the 20th century. [Curator Hagit] Maoz is one of the people charged with their safekeeping. Yet when I asked if the coronavirus had spurred fears over their fate — as her dream seemed to suggest — she brushed my question away. She knows exactly where the museum’s scrolls are: behind five locked doors in a humidity and temperature-controlled vault at the Shrine of the Book. She put them there herself.

Good. I'm glad the scrolls in the Israel Museum are safe.

What about the ones in the Rockefeller Museum? I assume they are locked away too, but I can't find any specific information on its website or elsewhere. Does anyone know anything?

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No 2020 pilgrimage to Ghriba Synagogue, Tunisia

ANOTHER CANCELLATION: Virus nixes Jewish pilgrimage to Tunisia's Ghriba (AFP).

For a report on the annual pilgrimage to Djerba island in 2015, see here. And for more on the ancient Ghriba Synagogue there, see here and links.

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More fighting reported near Palmyra

PALMYRA WATCH: Syria claims that Israeli jets carried out strike near Palmyra (Jewish News Syndicate). My heart goes out to the people of Palmyra, who have seen a great deal of violence in recent years. The reports say that the bombing was "near" Palmyra, aimed at Iranian-backed militia groups and resources. I hope the local residents were spared.

Many other posts on Palmyra, its history, the ancient Aramaic dialect spoken there (Palmyrene), and the city's tragic reversals of fortune, which more recently had been trending for the better, are here and links.

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

50 Brown Judaic Studies volumes online

THE AWOL BLOG: Newly Open Access Monograph Series: Brown Judaic Studies. Many of the volumes involve ancient Judaism.

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

Wevers Institute for LXX Studies: online course and YouTube channel

THE JOHN WILLIAMS WEVERS INSTITUTE FOR SEPTUAGINT STUDIES at Trinity Western University now has a YouTube channel. Reader Jean Maurais e-mails:

I was wondering if you could add a mention in your blog of the recent creation of Youtube channel for the Wevers Institute? As a first foray, the institute has posted a video interview of Dirk Büchner concerning his upcoming course which is offered via live-streaming. The course title is Septuagint Approaches and Methods, and is held on May 4-8, 2020. Other details are available in the video description.

The video interview is here: https://youtu.be/giB3jLuWwos

Subscription to the Institute's channel is encouraged for those who would like to be notified of future updates: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcNJsVlhf5SSyuAJgxEF8cw

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

Sifting Project virtual exhibition

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT BLOG: CHECK OUT OUR NEW VIRTUAL EXHIBITION. Featuring lots of interesting artifacts from all periods. Go and have a look!

For many, many PaleoJudaica post on the Sifting Project, start here and just follow those links.

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

Review of Becker, The Birth of Christian History

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Book Note | The Birth of Christian History (Jeremiah Coogan).

Eve-Marie Becker, The Birth of Christian History: Memory and Time from Mark to Luke-Acts. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2017.

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On kosher laws

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Making Sense of Kosher Laws.

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

Yom HaShoah 2020

ANOTHER APRIL COMMEMORATION UPENDED: Pandemic forces first-ever digital Holocaust Remembrance Day (Michael Blum and Guillaume Lavallee, AFP).

Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Memorial/Remembrance Day) begins tonight at sundown. Past posts involving connections with ancient Judaism are here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

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Review of Jacobson, Agrippa II: the last of the Herods

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Agrippa II: the last of the Herods.

David M. Jacobson, Agrippa II: the last of the Herods. Routledge ancient biographies. London; New York: Routledge, 2019. xxviii, 232 p.. ISBN 9781138331815 $112.00.

Review by
Michael Girardin, Université du Littoral – Côte d’Opale. michael.girardin@univ-littoral.fr

The book is in English. The review is in French.

There were a lot of Herods and sorting them out can be confusing. For that, see the link here for a helpful post at the "Is That In The Bible?" Blog.

There were two (Herod?) Agrippas. Agrippa I (see here and links) is best known for being eaten alive by worms (Acts 12).

Agrippa II (see here and here and links) presided over Paul's trial, according to Acts 23-26. He was accompanied by his sister Julia Berenice (see here and links), who was the lover of the Emperor Titus.

There is some doubt about how accurate the Book of Acts is in its depiction of the two Agrippas.

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