Ben Ezra synagogue reopened

CAIRO GENIZA WATCH: Egyptian synagogue once home to famed ‘Cairo Geniza’ completes extensive renovation. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly attends ceremony reopening tourist site, following ‘careful architectural restoration work,’ according to Egyptian cabinet (Amy Spiro, Times of Israel).

The Ben Ezra Synagogue is believed to date back to 882 CE — making it by far the oldest synagogue in Cairo — and is named for the prominent scholar Abraham Ibn Ezra.

The building was ordered torn down around 1012 CE, but rebuilt a few decades later. Over the centuries, the synagogue suffered a number of fires and was restored several times.

For background on the Ben Ezra Synagogue and its restoration, see here and links. Follow the links from there (plus here) for much more on the Cairo Geniza.

Pardon my absence last week. I was unwell. Still a bit under the weather, but on the mend now.

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British auctioneer pleads guilty to coin crimes

APPREHENDED AND ON TRIAL: British auctioneer faces jail for falsely selling rare coins from Palestine (Arab News).

• Richard Beale sold ancient Greek coins found by Gaza fishermen in 2017 despite knowing they were stolen
• Director of auction house Roma Numismatics became the subject of a BBC investigation in 2020

LONDON: A British auctioneer has pleaded guilty to numerous charges relating to the sale of rare ancient coins, including a hoard discovered by Palestinian fishermen, the BBC reported on Sunday.

[...]

Cross-file under Numismatics.

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More Jerusalem aqueduct uncovered. Lots more.

ANCIENT INFRASTRUCTURE: Israel uncovers massive section of Second Temple-era aqueduct in Jerusalem. The discovery “may also shed light on the question – who built the first aqueduct – whether it was the Hasmoneans or perhaps King Herod," the researchers noted (Jerusalem Post).

The longest continuous section of Jerusalem’s ancient aqueduct has been uncovered in Givat Hamatos, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Monday.

The stretch of the ancient aqueduct, which measures some 300 meters (roughly 1,000 feet) in length, was discovered during archaeological excavations of the area prior to the planned development of the settlement by the Municipality of Jerusalem. The municipality plans on building schools.

[...]

This appears to be a section of the upper aqueduct. See the caption to the first photo.

For more on the upper and lower Jerusalem aqueducts, see here and links.

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Another Ben-Tor memorial

OBITUARY: Leading archaeologist who dug with Yigael Yadin at Masada and Hazor dies at 88. Amnon Ben-Tor, who won the Israel Prize in 2019, spent decades on major biblical-era site, lectured in top universities around the world (Times of Israel).

Background here and here.

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Giffone, Storymaking, Textual Development, and Varying Cultic Centralizations (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Benjamin D. Giffone. Storymaking, Textual Development, and Varying Cultic Centralizations. Gathering and Fitting Unhewn Stones. 2023. XVIII, 269 pages. Forschungen zum Alten Testament 2. Reihe 142. 94,00 € including VAT. sewn paper ISBN 978-3-16-156238-9.

Published in English.
In this volume, Benjamin D. Giffone shows that the coexistence of at least three cultic centralization models within the Pentateuch, including Northern, Benjaminite, and Southern traditions, helps to calibrate the level of theological consistency that may reasonably be expected of biblical texts. The scholarly tendency to view biblical narratives as late, tendentious fictions is not sufficient to explain the texts' final forms. The author explains how the use of earlier narrative and legal material within Chronicles and other Second Temple texts illumines instances of unevenness that later interpreters smoothed to a degree but retained in the text. Community memory existing outside the written texts provided limits on the changes that could be introduced by scribes but was sufficiently malleable to allow for changes. Narrativity as a key feature of the texts allowed certain memories to be retained, framed by various techniques to suit the storymakers' aims.

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Hapax legomena (unique words) in the Hebrew Bible

PROF. GARY RENDSBURG: Hapax Legomena: Ten Biblical Examples (TheTorah.com).

To enhance the sounds of the text for their audience, biblical authors plumbed the depths of the Hebrew lexis for alliterative rare words, some of which appear only once in the Bible.

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Strange, Excavating the Land of Jesus (Eerdmans)

NEW BOOK FROM EERDMANS:

Excavating the Land of Jesus
How Archaeologists Study the People of the Gospels

James Riley Strange
Foreword by Luke Timothy Johnson

HARDCOVER; Published: 6/20/2023
ISBN: 978-0-8028-6950-0
Price: $ 29.99
208 Pages
Trim Size, in inches: 6 x 9

DESCRIPTION

How do archaeologists unearth the daily life of people from Jesus’s time?

Contrary to popular belief, archaeology of first-century Roman Galilee is not about illustrating or proving the gospels, drawing timelines, or hunting treasure. Rather, it is about understanding the lives of people, just like us, who lived in the time of Jesus. How do we conceive of Jesus and his mission as part of a larger world? How did different groups in Roman Galilee understand their identities and values? How do we interpret material culture in conjunction with textual evidence from the gospels? On a more basic level, how do we know where and how to dig?

James Riley Strange teaches students how to address these problems in Excavating the Land of Jesus. Drawing on professional experience as a scientific archaeologist in Israel, Strange explains current methodology for ground surveying, excavating evidence, and interpreting data. Excavating the Land of Jesus is the ideal textbook for students seeking answers in the dirt of the Holy Land.

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On Herod the Great

IT'S COMPLICATED: Herod’s Complicated Relationship with Judaism. Herod was a controversial figure. As king of Judea he reconstructed the Second Temple, but as a puppet of Rome was distrusted by his people. (Mark Shiffer, Aish.com). This essay also links to an earlier, more detailed Aish.com essay by Rabbi Ken Spiro:

History Crash Course #31: Herod the Great. A madman who murdered his own family and many rabbis, Herod was also the greatest builder in Jewish history.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on Herod the Great (and the other Herods), see here and links.

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On Josephus

THE FIRST-CENTURY JEWISH HISTORIAN, FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS, is the subject of a couple of popular articles by Mitchell First at the Jewish Link:

First Century CE: Biography of Josephus

The Last Work of Josephus: ‘Against Apion’

For a couple of recent overview essays on Josephus, see here and here. And for that dodgy-sounding suicide pact at Jotapata (Yodfat) (a.k.a. the "Josephus Problem"), see here and links.

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Sanders on who invented the alphabet

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY: Who Really Invented the Alphabet? (Seth Sanders).

There are two parts to this. First is whether the early alphabet shows any evidence that its creators knew how Egyptian writing worked. ... Second is whether the early alphabet was systematized and taught carefully, or casually and chaotically transmitted—a script of scribes or of the people. ...

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In memory of Amnon Ben-Tor

OBITUARY: In Memoriam: Prof. Amnon Ben-Tor, King of Hazor (1935–2023). Israel loses another archaeology giant. (Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology).

Professor Ben-Tor was a giant in his field and leaves behind a significant legacy—and now void—in the world of biblical archaeology. This modern-day king of Hazor will be missed.

PaleoJudaica also receives a mention. Background here.

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

LXX conference in honor of Jim Aitken

WILLIAM A. ROSS: THE SEPTUAGINT WITHIN THE HISTORY OF GREEK CONFERENCE (2023).

I am very pleased to draw attention to the upcoming Septuagint with the History of Greek Conference, which will take place this coming September 13th-15th at Jesus College at the University of Cambridge. As is fitting, this event is to be held in memory of Jim Aitken, who was very much a part of its planning and vision.

For more on the late Professor Jim Aitken, see here and links.

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

Cartagena Festival 2023 is coming

PUNIC WATCH: Visit Cartagena, Spain, in September for ancient battle reenactments and costumed revelry (Anna Kaminski, Lonely Planet).

The reenactment of the Battle for Qart-Hadasht from the Second Punic War (218–208 BCE) is one of the highlights of the Fiestas de Carthagineses y Romanos (Festival of Carthaginians and Romans) that take place in Cartagena, Murcia, in the second half of September. The festivities put the Spanish city in full party mode, as it celebrates its historic roots.

Cartagena, Spain, was a Punic town (Carthago Nova - New Carthage) founded in the third century B.C.E. The ten-day festival begins on the third Friday in September (this year the 15th).

For earlier posts on the festival, as well as on the history and archaeology of the city, see here and links. More recent posts on the archaeology of Cartagena are here and here.

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

Jerusalem: the upturned archaeological layer cake

ARCHAEOLOGY: Evidence of Jerusalem’s Destruction at the Hands of Babylonians, Then Romans Now Revealed on Mount Zion. Jerusalem was destroyed twice, in 586 B.C.E. and 70 C.E. New archaeological work at Mount Zion reveals evidence of both horrors, a new theory for Nehemiah's walls, rare weights from the First Temple period – and a magical rib bone (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

Mount Zion might be considered a stratigraphic nightmare studded as it is with enough pottery pieces and small finds to sink a trireme. “Reverse stratigraphy” with chronological layers out of order, is commonplace here. It’s enough to make any archaeologist shudder.

Pottery is usually useful for dating purposes. But here, for example, Iron Age pottery from the eighth to sixth centuries B.C.E. pops up in almost all the layers through to the Ottoman era, which is spectacularly unhelpful. A Roman layer emerges superimposed above a (later) Byzantine layer, which isn’t supposed to happen: they're supposed to be the other way around.

A long and informative article.

Another recent article on the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem is noted here. For more on Nehemiah's wall, see here and links.

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Hadrianic aqueduct arch collapses at Caesarea

DETERIORATION: Ancient Aqueduct Arch Collapsed on Caesarea’s Beach (David Israel, Jewish Press).

“Luckily, no bathers were killed here,” said a frustrated Eli Escozido, the IAA director. “We have been warning, presented documents and plans, pointed out that the situation is catastrophic and there is a real fear of collapse, met repeatedly met with the owners of the land, even offered to finance some of the work with the understanding that it is simply a disaster waiting to happen. I believe that now we will finally find a listening ear.”

The IAA is warning that the aqueduct to Acco could be next.

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

Amnon Ben-Tor, z'l'

SAD NEWS: Archaeologist and Israel Prize laureate Amnon Ben-Tor dies at 88 (Arutz Sheva).

I noted the awarding of the Israel Prize to Professor Ben-Tor in 2019. Not mentioned in the notice above, but he is also well known for taking over the efforts to recover the cuneiform archive at Hazor after the passing away of Yigael Yadin. See here and links for details. They are still looking for that archive.

On the Agade list, Jack Sasson has also noted his passing. Jack include a link to a long list of Professor Ben-Tor's publications and a link to a video interview about the Hazor excavation.

May his memory be for a blessing.

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Megiddo mosaic: the IAA responds

ARCHAEOLOGY, EPIGRAPHY, DECORATIVE ART, POLITICS: Integrity of Megiddo mosaic the priority, Israel Antiquities Authority says. The State Department has declined to address the controversy around possible loan to D.C.'s Museum of the Bible (Menachem Wecker, Jewish News Syndicate).

“Leaving it in place would be irresponsible due to the large-scale mechanical earthworks that will demolish extensive parts of the prison buildings,” [IAA spokesman Yoli] Schwartz said. “The Israel Antiquities Authority will continue to invest efforts to make archaeology accessible to the public, and we are excited to present the Megiddo mosaic to the public worldwide.”

Background here.

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

Becking, Micah (AB Commentary)

NEW BOOK FROM YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

Micah
A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary

by Bob Becking

Series: The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries

304 Pages, 6.12 x 9.25 in

Hardcover
9780300159950
Published: Tuesday, 27 Jun 2023
$65.00

eBook
9780300160192
Published: Tuesday, 27 Jun 2023
$65.00

Description

A new translation and commentary on the biblical book of Micah that proposes a convincing new theory of its composition history

While the biblical book of Micah is most famous for its images of peace—swords forged into to plowshares, spears turned into pruning hooks—and its passages of prophetic hope, the book is largely composed of prophecies of ruin. The historical Micah, who likely lived in the late eighth century BCE, is the first recorded prophet to predict the fateful fall of Jerusalem, and he also foretells the destruction of the regions of Samaria and Judah, in addition to the more well-known promises of Judah’s eventual restoration.

Bob Becking translates the Hebrew text anew and illuminates the book’s most important elements, including its literary features, political context, and composition history. Drawing on ancient Near Eastern comparative evidence, archaeological notes, and inscriptions, Becking surveys the debates surrounding the book’s interpretation and argues that it be regarded as three separate source texts: the early first chapter; a large middle section containing a proto-apocalyptic, alternating prophetic futurology collected and molded by a later redactor; and an added section advocating for legal reform under Josiah.

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Where did forgers get their ancient blank papyus?

VARIANT READINGS: Notes on a Forger’s Methods (Brent Nongbri).

My attention was drawn especially to his [John de Monins Johnson's] account of the discovery of large amounts of blank papyrus in the rubbish mounds of Antinoopolis: “[Mound] N was remarkable throughout for what is often a feature of late mounds, the quantity of blank papyrus it provided. In this case sacks might have been filled.”

This PaleoJudaica post from some years ago seems relevant.

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

Syriac PhD program at Turkish university

SYRIAC WATCH: Turkish uni to offer doctoral program in Syriac language (Daily Sabah).

Mardin Artuklu University (MAU) on Tuesday announced the launch of a doctoral program within the Syriac Language and Culture Department, part of the Institute of Living Languages.

[...]

This is good news! For more on the founding and development of the Syriac program at Mardin Artuklu University, see here, here, here, here, here, and here.

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