TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH:

Jordan starts major restoration of Al-Aqsa Mosque

By Agence France Presse (AFP)

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

AMMAN: As custodian of Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jordan has begun the first major restoration in four centuries of the ancient walls of Al-Aqsa, the third holiest site in Islam.

The head of the project, Raef Najm, dismisses Israeli warnings that parts of the walls could collapse and says the work that started last week is part of a long-term program, with funds from Unesco.

"What we are undertaking now is the first real restoration of the walls of the mosque since the work done under the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century," says Najm. "This is a historic mission aimed at preserving a humanitarian civilization ... which belongs not only to Muslims but to the entire world."

[...]

A spokeswoman for Israel's antiquities authorities, Onat Guez, says the Jordanian work at Al-Aqsa is being carried out in coordination with Israeli police.

But she insists that the eastern wall of the Temple Mount, some 100 meters from the mosque, was in danger of collapsing and needed urgent preservation work.

NEW ON THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION WEBSITE:

How the Bible Became a Book
(Cambridge University Press, 2004)



Writing was an extension of the urbanization of the Judean state in the late eighth century. The evidence of archaeology and inscriptions suggests a spread of writing through all classes of society by the seventh century BCE in Judah.



William M. Schniedewind
Bible and Interpretation

Excerpt:

According to archaeologists (e.g., Carter, 1999), the province of Yehud was largely depopulated and impoverished in the Persian period. These were dark times for Jerusalem and the Persian province of Yehud. In past scholarship, it was "dark" simply because we knew so little about this period of history. Increasingly, archaeology has filled in the void but painted a bleak picture of a depopulated and impoverished region. This hardly makes it a good environment in which great literary accomplishments could flourish. It is also noteworthy that the Aramaic language overtakes Hebrew as the primary Jewish language in the Persian period.

William Schneidewind is Professor of Biblical Studies and Northwest Semitic Languages at UCLA's Department of Near Eastern Languages. Here's more on the book that is summarized in this essay.

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: The fifth minaret is confirmed.

Jordan to build 5th minaret on Temple Mount (Ha'aretz)
By Arnon Regular

A Jordanian group intends to complete plans for building a fifth minaret on the Temple Mount by the end of the year and begin construction in 2005, said Raef Nijem, deputy chairman of the Committee to Renovate the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, over the weekend.

[...]

LOT'S DAUGHTERS SLEPT HERE. WITH LOT. At least that's how the story goes. The Lebanon Daily Star describes the excavation of the Sanctuary of Agios ("Saint") Lot near Ghor al-Safi in Jordan. Excerpts:

Within a year of the discovery and identification of Deir Ain Abata ("Monastery of the Abbot's Spring") an international team of archaeologists was assembled to excavate and study the site. After more than 10 years of excavations and research, the final report is about to be published.

The site is located on a steep mountain slope 3 kilometers southeast of the Dead Sea. At its archaeological center (and historic religious focus) is a cave, discovered in the north aisle of the basilica later erected on the site. Early Christians - drawing on Genesis chapter 19 of the Old Testament - believed Lot and his two daughters lived here after their flight from sinful Sodom and their brief stop at Zoar.

[...]

When the entrance to the cave was revealed, it was preserved to its original height, but had no signs of door fittings. The sandstone pilaster capitals on either side are carved with eight-cornered (Maltese-type) crosses and bore traces of red paint. The lintel had a similarly engraved cross in the center and was flanked by two rosettes, also with traces of red paint. On the south side of the entrance the plastered wall had a number of scratched designs, crosses and graffiti. One such Greek graffito named a local Christian woman as Nestasia Zenobius. Another, in Kufic Arabic, is an Islamic invocation.

Further excavation of the cave revealed a series of steps leading into a 2 by 2.5-meter room, paved with fine white marble slabs, a simple room where early Byzantine Christians evidently believed Lot and his daughters took refuge. As to why the Byzantines venerated this specific cave - there are several in the vicinity - it is assumed it has something to do with ancient oral tradition.

The cave, which is the focal point of the entire monastic complex, had a long sequence of occupation suggesting long-standing use as a refuge. Excavations below the Byzantine-Abbasid floor level in the cave revealed ceramic and glass oil lamps dating from the earlier Byzantine period - circa the 4th-6th centuries. Beneath this were fine Late Hellenistic-Nabataean vessels from the 1st century B.C. to the 1st century A.D. Digging deeper, the team came across a fine ceramic chalice and a copper duck-bill axe-head, belonging to the Middle Bronze Age II period (c. 1900-1550 B.C.).

There are also some Middle Bronze Age tombs, some late antique Greek inscriptions mentioning Lot, and a seventh-century triple-apsed basilica church in the vicinity.

ROBERT ALTER'S NEW TORAH TRANSLATION is reviewed by John Updike in the New Yorker. Excerpt:

He sees Biblical Hebrew as a �conventionally delimited language, roughly analogous in this respect to the French of the neoclassical theatre� and significantly though indeterminately distinct from the vanished vernacular of three thousand years ago. (The vernacular vocabulary, according to the Spanish Hebrew scholar Angel S�enz-Badillos, must have exceeded the Bible�s�a lexicon �so restricted that it is hard to believe it could have served all the purposes of quotidian existence in a highly developed society.�) Alter has set himself to create a corresponding English��stylized, decorous, dignified, and readily identified by its audiences as a language of literature,� with a �slight strangeness,� �beautiful rhythms,� and other qualities (suppleness, precision, concreteness) that �by and large have been given short shrift by translators with their eyes on other goals.� Why should not Alter�s version, its program so richly contemplated and persuasively outlined, become the definitive one, replacing not only the King James but the plethora of its revised, uninspired, and �accessible� versions on the shelf?

Several reasons why not, in the course of my reading through this massive tome (sold sturdily boxed, as if to support its weight), emerged. The sheer amount of accompanying commentary and philological footnotes is one of them. The fifty-four churchmen and scholars empowered at a conference at Hampton Court in January of 1604 to provide an authoritative English Bible had a clear charge: to supply English readers with a self-explanatory text. When they encountered a crux, they took their best guess and worked on; many of the guesses can be improved upon now, but no suggestion of an unclear and imperfect original was allowed to trouble the Word of God. Alter�s more academic and literary commission allows him to luxuriate in the forked possibilities of the Hebrew text, in its oldest forms written entirely in consonants, and without punctuation.

Updike spends most of the second half of the review telling us why he thinks the Pentateuch has a strong start, but it deteriorates into a weak finish, which seems to me to be neither here nor there in terms of Alter's translation.

THE JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF THE PSEUDEPIGRAPHA has a new issue out (14.1, 2004). Here's the table of contents of articles:

Celestial Choirmaster: The Liturgical Role of Enoch-Metatron in 2 Enoch and the Merkabah Tradition
Andrei A. Orlov

Philo�s Therapeutai: Philosopher�s Dream or Utopian Construction?
Mary Ann Beavis

On Women and Honor in the Testament of Job
Robert A. Kugler and Richard L. Rohrbaugh

I Set a Table before You: The Jewish Eschatological Character of Aseneth�s Conversion Meal
Andrea Lieber

The website includes only abstracts. According to it, the JSP will now be published three issues per year. Good for them. I hope they can keep to that schedule.

JEWS IN BULGARIA: The Sofia Echo has a rundown:

Notes from History - Ancient roots, modern legacy

Part one of a series on the history of Jewish people in Bulgaria
Clive Leviev-Sawyer

THE best-known episode in the epic of Jewish people in Bulgarian history is the escape from the Nazi genocide machine in World War 2.

As important as this part of the story is within the context of the greater whole, it is that greater whole that must be re-discovered, to illustrate for just how long Jewish people have been part of the fabric that has woven itself into today's Bulgaria.

Evidence suggests that Jewish people had settled within the Balkans at least by the 2nd century CE, and perhaps before.

Among this evidence is an inscription on a tombstone near the town of Nikopol on the Danube. These Jews were, according to most historians, known as Romagnotes, (alternatively spelled Romaniots) perhaps displaced during Roman campaigns in the Middle East.

Other historians have written that there was a Jewish settlement in Macedonia in the time of the Roman emperor Caligula, who is believed to have reigned from 37 to 41 CE.

Persecution followed the communities. A fourth century CE decree by emperor Theodosius refers to such persecution, including the destruction of synagogues.

Persecution by Byzantine emperor Leo III (718 to 741) is believed to have prompted an exodus to the territory that is today's Bulgaria.

[...]

They really should have interviewed my former student Alexander Panayotov on this subject.

THE JEWS OF ELEPHANTINE are featured in an Al Ahram article (via Archaeologica News):

Yeb, cradle of feminism?
By Jill Kamil

Little is known of the vibrant Judaic community which already existed on the island of Elephantine when Cambyses invaded Egypt in 525 BC. What we do know, however, is that they had a Jewish temple to serve their religious needs.

[...]

This document attests that a woman could readily divorce her husband, with or without his consent. From other documents, we know that a woman could exercise this right by "standing up in congregation and merely declaring 'I divorce my husband'." Thus we learn that, at least in sixth century BC Yeb, Jewish women were not separated from their men in congregations, had property rights, and could take the initiative in and consummate a divorce simply by declaring publicly their intention. Mitbahiah must have done well in her investments, for other documents refer to the considerable fortune she lent to her father over the course of the next 13 years. In partial payment of his debt to his daughter, Masheiah deeded her a house he had acquired: "I give it to Mitbahiah, my daughter, in return for the goods which she gave me while I was an inspector of the fortress."

The extraordinarily progressive social mores of this ancient Judaic society are confirmed by subsequent documents concerning Mitbahiah. She in fact did divorce Jeremiah, and subsequently married Pi', an Egyptian official in Aswan, even temporarily adopting his religion. The Judaic community evidently disdained to recognise such a marriage, for none of the witnesses to the marriage contract had Hebrew (or Aramaic) names. The marriage lasted for what must have been little more than a honeymoon, and certainly less than 12 months, for Mitbahiah's next marriage was celebrated in the same year. Pi' paid quite a price for marrying a Jewish "princess". All of Pi's property was divided between them, but the property that was in Mitbahiah's name remained with her!

[...]

Interesting. I've wondered for some time what the divorce laws were like in Egypt generally during the fifth century B.C.E. Were the laws of the Elephantine Jews untypically liberal for women? Can anyone tell me?

CHALDOASSYRIAN WATCH:

British Parliamentary Meeting Calls for Assyrian Administrative Region in North Iraq (Assyrian International News Agency)
Posted 10-22-2004 13:50:07 (GMT 10-22-2004 18:50:7)

(AINA) -- The Jubilee Campaign, an interdenominational Christian human rights organisation which has worked with over 150 British parliamentarians on human rights issues worldwide, has issued the following press release:

At a meeting chaired by Stephen Pound MP in the House of Commons on October 21st, the UK branch of Iraq's leading Christian political party, the Assyrian Democratic Movement and the Christian human rights organisation, Jubilee Campaign, called for an Administrative Region for the ChaldoAssyrian Christians of Iraq, which they can administer for themselves. Article 53 (D) of Iraq's Transitional Administrative Law guarantees the ChaldoAssyrians the right to administer their own region. It states, "This law shall guarantee the administrative, cultural and political rights of the Turcomans, ChaldoAssyrians, and all other citizens."

[...]

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Still holding:

140,000 Muslims attend Ramadan prayers on Mount
By JPOST.COM STAFF

Some 140,000 Muslim worshippers attended Ramadan prayers on the Temple Mount Friday afternoon.

The government decided not to place any restrictions on the number of worshippers at the site. Thousands of police officers are securing the area.

[...]

So far, so good. Keep your fingers crossed.

THERE'S AN INTERVIEW WITH ELAINE PAGELS in the Memphis Flyer. Excerpt:

I was lucky, yes. I asked my teacher, Krister Stendahl, why, when he'd studied the Dead Sea Scrolls, he never wrote about them for a popular audience. Krister, a Lutheran bishop, looked at me and said, "Well, we and the clergy were afraid it would upset people if they learned that Jesus wasn't who they wanted to think he was." Krister and others thought they were being protective. But I said to him, "That's condescending -- to think that people shouldn't know." So we went to work on the Nag Hammadi manuscripts. Hundreds of people still are. "

Plus, she tells about what she wants to work on next. Should be interesting.

ARAMAIC WATCH:

Syria launches program to save Aramaic language

Correspondents Report - Sunday, 24 October , 2004 (Australian Broadcasting Corp.)
Reporter: Mark Willacy

HAMISH ROBERTSON: In Syria, the government has launched a program to save one of the world's oldest and most important languages from dying out.

Aramaic is believed to have been first spoken in ancient Mesopotamia about 3000 years ago. And scholars say it was the language spoken by Jesus Christ. But it's now only spoken in three villages in central Syria and even these communities need help to pass it on to their children.

Our Middle East correspondent Mark Willacy compiled this report in the village of Ma'aloula in central Syria.

[...]

Well good. Even totalitarian states get it right sometimes.

Also, I am impressed with ABC's time-traveling capabilities.

MEDIA HOWLER ALERT: Something called "Elkhart Truth" announces the following lecture series associated with the From the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Bible in America exhibition in its Local Digest section:

Elkhart: Leading scholar will lecture at exhibit

ELKHART -- The world's leading scholar on ancient Hebrew, Frank Seekins, will present hourly lectures on the Paleo-Hebrew language at the exhibit "The Dead Sea Scrolls to the Bible in America" at Concord Mall.

Today through Oct. 31 and Nov. 5-7, Seekins will lecture hourly at the traveling collection of ancient biblical manuscripts, which includes fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The popular exhibit, initially scheduled to run until the end of the month, has been held over until Nov. 7.

My first reaction was, who the heck is Frank Seekins? I've never heard of him. A Google search produced a few things. He has written a popular book entitled Hebrew Word Pictures and some other popular books on Hebrew. The premise of the first one looks quite dubious to me and in any case is not aimed at a scholarly audience. There is nothing about him publishing specialist research on ancient Hebrew or holding an academic position, which I suspect is why I hadn't heard of him. If the article had said something like "a scholar of ancient Hebrew," I wouldn't have blinked. I don't know every specialist in Hebrew in the world. But the world's leading scholar? I would be hard pressed to say who that is. Some names do come to mind, but I imagine we could debate about the top half-dozen or so and agree to disagree on first place. The point is that, whatever good Dr. Seekins has done (and I do appreciate the value of popular lectures), the top Hebrew scholar would be well known in the academic world for a large body of cutting-edge published research.

Indeed, anyone prominent in ancient Hebrew studies would be embarrassed to be characterized as "the world's leading scholar on ancient Hebrew," simply because there are so many brilliant people in the field. Now I'm not blaming Frank Seekins for the announcement; I don't doubt that someone else came up with this on his behalf. He probably is mortified, if he's seen it. The thing that bothers me is that the media outlet obviously hasn't a clue what constitutes world-class scholarship or a clue whom to ask about it and they have made themselves and the whole exhibition look pretty silly. I don't mean to be petty, and I realize that this is a very local news source. Still, that doesn't excuse this sort of carelessness, which serves their local audience ill. And especially if they're going to post on the Internet in front of an international audience, they need to put more effort into getting their facts straight and putting them in proper perspective.

I've revised this post a little to make clear that my quarrel is with eTruth, not Frank Seekins. Which is not to say that I endorse his ideas.

I'M ALSO WAY BEHIND ON THE JOURNAL REVUE BIBLIQUE which has published three issues of volume 111 (2004) since I last noted it. Here are some interesting articles in these three issues (only the abstracts are available online):

RB 2004 T.111-2 (pp. 161-192)

Alexis LEPROUX
�cole Cath�drale
75004 PARIS
France
a.leproux@tiscalinet.it
Mo�se, "conseiller de salut" en Sg 16,6? Une question de critique textuelle

Should one turn one's regard to a sign(sumboulon) which no longer saves, or rather listen to the ever actual voice of a salutary advisor (sumboulon) who guides the people. The difference between important manuscripts at Wis 16,6 provides the opportunity to revisit some exegetical debates raised by the book of Wisdom, notably the concept of mediation and the figure of Moses.

RB 2004 T.111-2 (pp. 193-208)

Serge RUZER
Department of Comparative Religion
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Mount Scopus 91905
JERUSALEM
Ruzer@h2.hum.huji.ac.il
"Love your enemy" Precept in the Sermon on the Mount in the context of early Jewish exegesis : a new perspective

The article shows that the love-your-enemy precept from the Sermon on the Mount shares a characteristic feature with some other trends in early Jewish exegesis. In order to promulgate the dramatic widening of the scope of the Lev 19:18 love-your-neighbor dictum to include enemies a variety of unharmonized motifs is employed. It is suggested that in addition to the motifs highlighted by previous research a further exegetical undercurrent may be discerned in the Sermon, one connected with a new perception of reward and the double love command pattern of thought both of which were prominent in the late Second Temple period.

RB 2004 T.111-2 (pp. 238-254)

Philippe BOBICHON
I. R. H. T.
40 avenue d�I�na
F-75116 PARIS
Pr�ceptes �ternels et loi mosa�que dans le Dialogue avec Tryphon de Justin Martyr

Several passages of the Dialogue with Tryphon appear to classify the precepts of the Law according to their date (stages of revelation) or their function. These passages, and others which have not been given adequate attention in previous studies, are here examined anew in the light of data acquired in the process of producing a new edition of the Dialogue. At first sight Justin appears to be inconsistent. The seeming contradictions, however, disappear when attention is paid to the precise function and organisation of his text with respect to its intended audiences. In no way does Justin propose an exhaustive classification of the precepts of the Law. What we are given are various interpretative grids which change with the context. For Justin the relationship between �eternal� precepts (intended for all humanity) and precepts of the Law (restricted to Israel) is inclusive. They stem from the same God and serve the same salvific function.

RB 2004 T.111-2 (pp. 255-261)

Ulrich H�BNER
Vorsitzender des DPV
Theologische Fakult�t - Universit�t Kiel
Leibnizstr. 4
D-24098 KIEL
Germany
Der Deutsche Verein zur Erforschung Pal�stinas ein �berblick �ber seine 125-j�hrige Geschichte (1877-2002)

An overview of the history of the Deutsche Verein zur Erforschung Pal�stinas (German Society for the Exploration of Palestine) on the occasion of its 125th anniversary, 1877-2002.

RB 2004 T.111-3 (pp. 321-344)

W. Randal GARR
Dept. of Religious Studies
University of California
SANTA BARBARA, CA 93106-3130
United States
wrgarr@religion.ucsb.edu
"hen"

"hen" is a simple clitic which marks its utterance as an affirmation.

RB 2004 T.111-3 (pp. 345-361)

Oded LIPSCHITS
Department of Jewish History
Tel Aviv University
TEL AVIV
Israel
lipschit@post.tau.ac.il
"From Geba to Beersheba" : a Further Consideration

This article considers Mazar�s theory that Geba, mentioned in the account of Josiah�s reform (2 Kgs. 23:8) should be identified as Kh. et-Tell on mount Ephraim. This theory enjoyed wide support, mainly among Israeli scholars, and some have suggested that this Geba on mount Ephraim also figures in the list of cities of Benjamin (Josh. 18:24). By contrast, in this article I would like to show that at no time throughout the history of the first Temple did Judah's northern border extend beyond the environs of Bethel. Such was the case in the Persian period too. No biblical evidence whatsoever is found for the existence of a settlement called Geba on mount Ephraim, and great historical and geographical logic lies in restoring to Geba in Benjamin region the honor it deserves.

RB 2004 T.111-3 (pp. 362-376)

Marie-Fran�oise BASLEZ
Universit� de Paris XII, ENS
PARIS
mfbaslez@noos.fr
Pol�mologie et histoire dans le livre de Judith

The art of warfare which is displayed in the Book of Judith can help to retrieve the context and circumstances in which this fictious text, commonly dated between 160 and 60 BC, was composed. The description of the weaponry, which emphasizes the value of light units, and, principally, the description of the goals and strategy of the "war in montainous regions" refers to the Seleucid campaigns of the second century, more precisely, and probably, to the battle of Beth Zacharias, lost by Judas Maccabee in 162. It could be a work of counterpropoaganda, from a nationalistic movement of opposition, personified by Judith, which is different from the Hasmonean movement, and that, by some clues, could be linked to the high priest Alcimus.

RB 2004 T.111-3 (pp. 387-408)

Alexis BUNINE
19 rue de l�Aqueduc
B�1060 BRUSSELS
Belgium
avbun@hotmail.com
Paul, Jacques, F�lix, Festus et les autres : pour une r�vision de la chronologie des derniers procurateurs de Palestine, Ire partie

Part One :
Although largely accepted, the chronology of the last Procurators of Palestine, established more than one century ago by Emil Sch�rer, display many obscurities, among them the length of the terms of Felix and Festus. This article aims at a new study of the question, bringing up some new published research. After a short reminder of the basis for the classic chronology, and a point about the precise date of the death of King Agrippa I, we should see, in this First Part, the terms of the two Procurators who followed him, the duration of the term of Cumanus and the date of beginning of Felix, building on the foundations one can find in Josephus, Tacitus and in the Acts of the Apostles..

RB 2004 T.111-4 (pp. 481-497)

Christophe LEMARDEL�
F-75000 PARIS
France
christophe.lemardele@laposte.net
Le verbe p�l� et la pratique des v�ux

The translation of the verb p�l�, in a votive context, is problematic in modern versions like in ancient versions. Three possibilities exist : �to accomplish/fulfil a vow�, �to make an explicit vow� and �to make a special vow�. If we retain the meaning of pl�, it�s the third solution that we have to choose because the vow contains the idea of miracle like this root. We add that the verb appears in the context of the formulation of a vow and not in the context of fulfilment. �To make a special vow� because of the importance of those vows : they are costly. There were many sacrifices which accompanied the Nazirite vow, and the votive offerings of Lev 27 were not common. Moreover, it was used for a sacrifice offered during the pronunciation.

RB 2004 T.111-4 (pp. 499-515)

James H. CHARLESWORTH
G.L. Collord Professor of N.T. Language and Literature
Princeton Theological Seminary
James.Charlesworth@ptsem.edu
Phenomenology, Symbology, and Lexicography, the Amazingly Rich Vocabulary for "Serpent" in Ancient Greek

Virtually unknown to Greek philologists is the fact that there are 41 nouns employed by the ancient Greeks to denote a snake and the various species. The following research is part of the fruit of six-years of research into one question: "What did the serpent symbolize in antiquity? For the first time a list is provided of the 41 nouns employed by the ancient Greeks to signify a reptile that was a type of snake. The list assists translators and exegetes to be more precise and re-present the phenomenological sophistication reflected by Hellenic and Hellenistic Greek, the Greek found in the Septuagint; the Greek Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, the greek N.T. (witch should not simply be branded as Koine), and Patristics. Philologians, historians and N.T. scholars have been ignorant of iconography, symbology, and the numeruos negative and positive meanings of serpent symbolism by the end of the first century CE.

RB 2004 T.111-4 (pp. 516-530)

John C. POIRIER
1100 N. Main St.,
FRANKLIN, Ohio 45005
United States
poirier@siscom.net
Jewish and Christian Tradition in the Transfiguration

The Transfiguration account in the synoptic gospels is a terrific example of a pericope that has been shaped by Jewish and Christian exegetical complexes. Unfortunately, a proper recognition of these precise complexes has been confuted by the universal belief that the Transfiguration is first and foremost an echo of the Sinai theophanies in Exodus. A close reading reveals that the points of contact between the Transfiguration and the Sinai theophanies are merely generic aspects of theophanies in general. A more efficient account of the nongeneric aspects of the Transfiguration can be found in an exegetical complex preserved in Midrash Tehillim, while the distinctively Christian component of the Transfiguration is best understood in the light of the two witnesses tradition in Revelation 11.

RB 2004 T.111-4 (pp. 531-562)

Alexis BUNINE
19 rue de l�Aqueduc
B�1060 BRUSSELS
Belgium
avbun@hotmail.com
Paul, Jacques, F�lix, Festus et les autres : pour une r�vision de la chronologie des derniers procurateurs de Palestine, IIe partie

This second part investigates the proposed arguments in favour of varied datings to substitute Felix for Festus (between 54 and 61 exclusively). The article calls into question the date of 62, universally accepted as that of the martyrdom of James. To clarify the last unreliability, this article checks the chronology of Paul�s last journey to Jerusalem, inquiring into the precise duration of his captivity at Caesarea. A bundle of convergent probabilities allows us to conclude in favour of the date of 56 for the start of Festus�s rule as procurator, which amounts to Paul�s arriving at Rome in 57.

RB 2004 T.111-4 (pp. 563-577)

�mile PUECH (pp.563-577)
DR - CNRS, PARIS
�cole Biblique et Arch�ologique Fran�aise,
JERUSALEM
and Joe ZIAS
Science and Archaeology Group
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Le tombeau de Sim�on et Zacharie dans la vall�e de Josaphat

The squeeze of the other inscription noticed during the decipherment of the inscription of Zachariah in this tomb has confirmed the Old Simeon's burial in this monument in the Josaphat Valley according to local byzantine traditions. The author of the inscription clearly knew Lk 2,25 of the Koin� tradition. But since no testimony of the James'burial has been found there, we must look for their common burial place in, the byzantine chapel in front of the monolith nowadays called "Tomb of Zachariah", location confirmed by the discovery of a graffito.

MORE DEBATE ON THE QUMRAN EXCAVATIONS over at the Bible and Interpretation website:

The Enigma of Qumran

Qumran was not a place of learning and solitude: one can hardly be expected to find the quietude needed to study in the middle of a busy, loud, and dirty factory.

Yaron Ben-Ami
Bible and Interpretation
October 2004

This piece surveys the views of the archaeologists who recently completed ten years of excavation at Qumran and touches on views of other archaeologists. I am surprised to hear that the idea that Qumran was a military fortress is still on the table. I thought all the archaeologists rejected that because of the site's unprotected water supply. The factory proposal is new to me too. I'm not an archaeologist and I don't feel qualified to comment on the merits of the various positions. I'm just noting what the archaeologists say and watching the fur fly. But I do have a comment on the last paragraph of the article:

Dr. Itzhak Magen [one of the excavators] comments on how the scrolls got there: "They were brought here by everybody, including fugitives running away from the Romans. Some of them would have taken a scroll with them, but when they ran away from the Judean hills eastwards, they had to cross the water, which is something they didn�t want to do with a scroll." So the fugitives, Magen claims, tucked the scrolls away in the caves around the recently deserted Qumran. Therefore, these are not sectarian writings, either priestly or Essene. "This is the literature of Second Temple era Judaism. This belonged to everybody," he says, expressing a hope that this realization would throw new light on the scrolls� research.

This is something I do know about and have put quite a lot of thought into. If Dr. Magen's views are being quoted correctly, he's wrong. The Qumran library is a sectarian ("Essene" if you insist) library, it was not "brought here by everybody." There are lots of sectarian texts, often in different versions, and most or all of the rest of the library is compatible with their views. If this were a randomly collected library of Judean literature, we would expect a much wider range of views to be represented (e.g., copies of 1 Maccabees, the Psalms of Solomon, the Letter of Aristeas, and maybe even some early stuff from followers of Jesus). Gabriele Boccaccini has dealt in detail with what's missing in the Qumran library, and what it means, in his book Beyond the Essene Hypothesis. I don't agree with him at every point, but the sectarian nature of the Qumran library is clear.

That said, I don't think that Magen is entirely off base about the library. My own working hypothesis is that sectarians from all over Judea collected their smaller libraries and consolidated them to hide them at Qumran during the war, perhaps because Qumran was a major retreat center or the like for the sect (or perhaps not . . .). That would explain both the sectarian nature of the library and the multiple recensions of the sectarian and biblical texts in the library. More on that here.

THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA AT OMAHA is hold a conference on biblical archaeology:

Biblical Archaeology Conference at UNO (RedNova)

Author and archaeologist James Strange will be the keynote speaker at the sixth annual Batchelder Biblical Archaeology Conference in Omaha.

The conference will be held Oct. 28 through 30 at the W.H. Thompson Alumni Center on the University of Nebraska at Omaha campus.

People must register for other conference events using an online form at www.unomaha.edu (click on site index and go to Bethsaida Excavations Project). The fee is $65.

[...]

Or follow this link for the conference web page, which includes the program and a registration form.

VANDERKAM ON THE HIGH PRIESTS: Mark Goodacre has already reproduced this Fortress Press press release, so I'll just link to his posting.

MORE ON THE ANCIENT ALBANIAN SYNAGOGUE in the Jerusalem Post:

Dig reveals more of ancient Albanian shul
By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH

Excavations at an ancient synagogue in Albania have uncovered additional sections of the impressive structure.

The dig, now in its second season, is being conducted under the auspices of the Hebrew University and the Albanian Academy of Sciences at a synagogue that dates from the 5th or 6th century CE and is located in the coastal city of Saranda, opposite the Greek island of Corfu.

[...]

The archeologists have concentrated on revealing additional rooms adjoining the elongated hall whose mosaic floors depict such Jewish symbols as a seven-branched candelabrum (menora) flanked by a citron (etrog) and a ram's horn (shofar). The newly exposed rooms � which in fact were an extension of the hall � contain more of the decorative mosaic paving, including representations of fish, a popular theme in the ancient world.

The joint Albanian-Israeli delegation intends to return soon to the site to continue uncovering the basilica section of the synagogue, which today lies under a main street in Saranda. ...

I SEEM TO HAVE FALLEN BEHIND in keeping track of the journal Dead Sea Discoveries. Here are the two most recent issues:

Volume 11 Number 1 2004

The use of Secondary Biblical Sources in Pesher Nahum
1
Shani L. Berrin


Practical Wisdom in 4QInstruction
12
Joshua Ezra Burns


From Separatism to Urbanism: The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Origins of the Rabbinic Eruv
43
Charlotte Elisheva Fonrobert


Free Orthography in a Strict Society: Reconsidering Tov's "Qumran Orthography"
72
Dong-Hyuk Kim


Last Testaments in the Book Of Jubilees
82
David Lambert

Volume 11 Number 2 2004

The Dead Sea Scrolls, The Sciences and New Technologies
133
Magen Broshi


Redating the Radiocarbon Dating of The Dead Sea Scrolls
143
Joseph Atwill; Steve Braunheim; Robert Eisenman


The Royal Conscience According to 4QSAM
158
Keith Bodner


Women At Qumran: Introducing the Essays
167
Rob Kugler; Esther Chazon

Requires a paid personal or institutional subscription to access.

VIGILIAE CHRISTIANAE has a new issue out (58.3, 2004). Here's an article of interest:

David T. Runia, "Clement of Alexandria and the Philonic Doctrine of the Divine Power(s)," pp. 256-76

Abstract: The present paper offers a comprehensive examination of how Clement appropriates the Philonic doctrine of the divine powers. It first examines the biblical basis of the doctrine, in which Pauline influence is superimposed on Genesis. It then successively treats the subject in the areas of theology, cosmology and the doctrine of creation, including the creation of humanity. For Clement experience of the divine power (usually in the singular) leads to knowledge of God (to the extent possible) and intimacy with him through the Son. Clement's Philonic heritage has enabled him to develop a positive and above all a dynamic theology.

Requires a paid personal or institutional subscription to access.

INTERNET EXPLORER IS HISTORY and so is Netscape � at least on my computers. I've converted to Firefox and pulled the other two browsers from the dock on both my office iMac and my eMac at home. Firefox is more stable, has fewer glitches, and so far hasn't introduced any new problems of its own. Maybe a lot of you already knew all that (I'm often behind the curve on such things), but my counter statistics tend to indicate that many readers are still crippling along with IE or Netscape. If you're not as happy with them as you could be, do give Firefox a try. My thanks to former St. Andrews student and perennial rabble-rouser Alex Singleton for the tip.

REGARDING THE NEW ENOCH PAPYRUS FRAGMENT, Stephen Goranson asked on the g-Megillot list, "In any of the descriptions of the photos of perhaps an Enoch scroll said to be seen by John Strugnell, did he describe it as skin or papyrus?" Matthew Hamilton of Moore Theological College Library in Australia sent Goranson and me this e-mail in response:

My few references to Strugnells' Enoch MSS don't mention if on skin or papyrus, but there may be other references out there that I am not aware of.

P. Ross in Scientific American, vol.263 no 5 (Nov. 1990) refers to "a nearly compete scroll", but doesn't state if it is of Enoch or another book
A. Katzman in Biblical Archeology Review, vol.XVII no.1 (Jan.-Feb. 1991), p.64,70 mentions a "complete copy of the Book of Enoch"
H. Shanks interviewing Strugnell in Biblical Archaeology Review, vol.20 no.4 (July-Aug. 1994), p.46-47 mentions "the complete book of Enoch" on microfilm and in a rather mixed up conversation also mentions Cave 11.
N. Silberman in The Hidden Scrolls: Christianity, Judaism & the War for the Dead Sea Scrolls (New York: Putnam and Sons, 1994), p.162 mentions "a complete manuscript of the book of Enoch"
Pfann in a web article, The Visions of Yeshua Ben Padiah Scroll, (1999) mentions a "rather well preserved scroll ... resembling the book of Enoch". It is not clear if this is the same MS as the other Enoch MS which is mentioned by Shanks as being seen by Strugnell on microfilm, rather than the actual MS.

If the above is representative of Strugnell's Enoch scroll, it is unlikely to be the same as the papyrus fragment of Enoch to be published by the Eshels, as Strugnell's Enoch is complete or nearly compete. [However --- what if the photograph provided to the Eshel's is just a sample, perhaps provided by a seller/vendor to test the market or create anticipation so as to inflate the market? This is of course, just my speculation.].

Prior to seeing the post in PaleoJudaica, I had not heard of this papyrus fragment.

It was new to me too.

As for the last reference, follow the link for Stephen Pfann's website on the Ben Padiah (Angel) Scroll. Five years after the partial transcript surfaced, this document - if it exists at all - has not been published or, as far as I know, even shown to a specialist. The mention of the rumor about an Enoch scroll is near the beginning of the "Background" section of the web page.

UPDATE (19 October): Seth Sanders reminds me that he e-mailed the following a few days ago, referring to the same text:

I assume you recall the excitement over the last "other Qumran manuscript of Enoch" the so-called "Angel Scroll" story of 1999. Like this putative Enoch fragment, it was not presented to scholars to examine. Of course, in that case it was even more dubious because there was not even a photograph.

See here for Stephen Pfann's assessment:
http://www.csec.ac.uk/benpadia.html

We have not heard anything further about this text.

The problem, as you know, is that you or I or any other linguistically trained scholar of Second Temple Judaism could produce such a scroll, given enough Chutzpah and the help of a competent manuscript forger.

It could certainly be proven to be genuine (and I hope it is!), but I think the burden of proof is on those arguing for its authenticity.

I blog, you decide. As usual with these things, the authenticity question really needs to be sorted out in the peer-review journals.

As for forging a scroll fragment like this, it would not be easy to come up with something that would stand up to C-14 dating. But perhaps it could be done.

MORE ON THE PETRA EXHIBITION, which is currently in Cincinnati. Ed Cook e-mails:

You mentioned the Petra exhibit slated for Grand Rapids next spring. I wanted to encourage your readers, if they are able, to catch the exhibit in Cincinnati, where it will be till January 30, 2005. It is truly a magnificent exhibition, with many impressive objects and all the inscriptional material that language specialists could want, including a nifty Greek-Aramaic bilingual inscription and one of the carbonized Petra scrolls from the Byzantine era church. The display is worth seeing here because the Cincinnati Art Museum already has a considerable collection of Nabatean antiquities -- many discovered by Nelson Glueck at Khirbet et-Tannur -- which are displayed with the objects from Jordan. Anyone within traveling distance should definitely check it out.

He also forwards a link to an article on the Cincinnati exhibition.

HEBREW MANUSCRIPTS FOR SALE: I thought I had already noted the following from the Forward, but a check in my search engine indicates not.

Manuscripts Worth Millions
ARTIFACTS
September 24, 2004

If you're struggling to find a gift for that person who has everything and you've got a few hundred thousand dollars to spend, then Sotheby's New York has the right auction for you.

On October 27 and 28, the Montefiore Endowment at Ramsgate, England, will auction off a wide array of rare Hebrew manuscripts that Marcia Malinowski, senior vice president of books and manuscripts at Sotheby's New York, touts as "the most significant collection to appear on the market in decades."

[...]

Culled from works across Europe and North Africa, the bulk of the offerings were acquired around 1900 by Moses Gaster, a Romanian scholar who served as principal for the college founded by Victorian gaslighting tycoon, banker and philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore.

Gaster acquired the manuscripts from Leopold Zunz, a founder of the Science of Judaism, and book collector Solomon Hayyim Halberstam. Most were donated to Jews' College in London, where they spent the last century.

Today, the Jerusalem Post notes the same sale:

Montefiore manuscripts

[...]

The collection is especially rich in biblical, legal and historical texts. In addition, the liturgical manuscripts, kabbalist works, philosophical and literary texts are unusually diverse. The collection is estimated to sell for $8m./$11m. and the proceeds will be used to fund scholarships and education.

The lots include Bibles, biblical commentaries, sermons, halachic works, talmudic commentaries, responsa literature and prayer books, as well as treatises on kabbala, philosophy, astronomy, and medicine; and volumes of poetry, drama and music.

The manuscripts originate from Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Greece, North Africa, Yemen, and other locations and reflect the traditions and cultures of each geographic area over the course of eight centuries.

[...]

I know nothing about the circumstances behind the sale and it may well be that financial straits are compelling the institution to sell them. But I'm surprised that nobody has remarked on what a pity it is that Gaster's precious manuscript collection is being broken up and scattered like this. It certainly won't make study of the manuscripts any easier.

PROFESSOR BRUCE ZUCKERMAN is profiled the Daily Trojan the student newspaper of the University of Southern California, where he has taught for many years:

Unlocking artifacts of antiquity
Bruce Zuckerman uses the latest photo technology to study ancient texts, providing new findings on the date of their creation.
By Nathan Go
Published: Monday, October 18, 2004



For almost 20 years now, Bruce Zuckerman, professor of Semitic languages, has held the key to some of the world's oldest civilizations in his hands.

From deserts to war-torn areas, Zuckerman has pursued and taken hundreds of thousands of images of ancient inscriptions using the latest technology in photography - usually revealing new, striking information.

Zuckerman's findings last summer on an artifact believed to bear the earliest biblical passage might end the controversy surrounding the date of its existence.

While some scholars question the artifact's age, Zuckerman's high-resolution photographs show that the text is a distinct style of an early Hebrew script. The script was used from the period just before the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., thus confirming its antiquity.

The images Zuckerman took provide the clearest analysis of the inscriptions ever taken so far, and he hopes they will finally dispel the cloud of doubt hanging over the artifact.

"Until then, most people were just relying on drawings," Zuckerman said.

Most scholars would rank the artifact, which was originally found in 1979, as the second most important archaeological find in Israel, just next to a stone inscription mentioning the House of David, Zuckerman said.

I'm a little confused by this comment and I wonder if the interviewer has gotten it completely right. I think everyone would agree that the most important archaeological find in Israel is the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Judean Desert scroll discoveries in general. Nothing is even a close second. But perhaps Zuckerman was referring to inscriptions recovered in controlled excavations, which would exclude most of the scroll finds. In any case, these silver amulets from Ketef Hinnom (which are the artifact the article is talking about) are the oldest fragments of a text found in the Bible and are extraordinarily important.

But put aside the nit-picking. This is really exciting:

However, Zuckerman emphasized that the findings on the Priestly Benediction artifact is just one of the many items he has photographed, and people often miss the bigger picture of what is being achieved.

The more important thing to ask, he said, is how such tremendously valuable and yet delicate artifacts can be preserved.

To this end, Zuckerman has created an online database system called InscriptiFact. In essence, InscriptiFact is a technological solution that takes the most important texts of the near-Eastern ancient world and preserves them in digital format.

The images can then be distributed worldwide for free, virtually guaranteeing that the artifacts are going to last forever.

"It's a kind of immortality," Zuckerman said. "A lot of times we have to rescue the artifacts before it's too late."

The article concludes with a quote from Lynn Swartz Dodd, curator of USC's Archaeological Research Center:

"Ultimately," she said, "he did for biblical inscriptions what Google did for the Internet."

That sounds about right. Quite a legacy. And he isn't done yet.

I think I've mentioned before that I was the first research assistant to the West Semitic Research Project back when I was a callow Master's student at UCLA in the early 1980s. You can find the InscriptiFact web page by following the link. Oddly, there's no link to it in the Daily Trojan article.

MORE ON THE QUEEN OF SHEBA EXHIBITION at the Bowers Museum in California:

Queen of Sheba Opens at Bowers Museum (Art Daily)

SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA.- The myth, mystery and majesty of the Queen of Sheba is the focus of a new and exciting landmark exhibition at the Bowers Museum. Organized by The British Museum exclusively for the Bowers, Queen of Sheba: Legend and Reality opens October 17, 2004 and runs through March 13, 2005. This is the first time the celebrated Queen of Sheba exhibition has come to the United States.

[...]

Queen of Sheba: Legend and Reality will feature more than 100 spectacular treasures chosen from the breathtaking collections of the 250-year-old British Museum. These treasures, some from the 1st century, will bring to life the history of Queen of Sheba�s fascinating ancient civilization still mostly unfamiliar to a Western audience. In addition to magnificent treasures from the acclaimed British Museum collection, one of the marquee treasures in Queen of Sheba: Legend and Reality is a bronze head of a male that was lent by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

The exhibition will begin with the Queen of Sheba as a legend in art through Renaissance and modern representations. Queen of Sheba is viewed as a figure of beauty and seduction who sent a camel train of gold and ivory to King Solomon. According to legend, Solomon married the Queen around 950 BC after she became enthralled by the magnificence and majesty of his palace.

[...]

CALVIN COLLEGE will be hosting the Petra: Lost City in Stone exhibition next year:

Calvin to show Petra exhibit
Friday, October 15, 2004
By Matt Vandebunte
The Grand Rapids Press

In the movies, it is the dramatic cliffside temple where Indiana Jones went in search of the Holy Grail. In history, Petra was the crossroads of international commerce in what is now southern Jordan during the rise of Christianity.

This spring, relics of Petra will come to Calvin College, as the school mounts its first museum-scale exhibit.

"It's a pretty major undertaking," said Gaylen Byker, president of the 4,186-student school.

"Petra: Lost City of Stone" will be displayed from April 4 to Aug. 15. It will be the third American stop following its opening in New York and current stop in Cincinnati.

[...]

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: No Ramadan restrictions on the number of worshipers:

90,000 worshippers attend Ramadan prayers on Temple Mt.
By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent

[...]

On Thursday, Israel lifted a threat to limit the number of worshipers at the Temple Mount.

Israeli authorities had warned they may clamp restrictions for Friday's prayers at Jerusalem's most sensitive shrine, known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), after Israeli antiquities experts said the underground chambers called Solomon's Stables were at risk of collapse.

Karadi's announced the decision to lift restrictions, after inspecting the Temple Mount yesterday and seeing that sufficient measures had been taken to build scaffolding and cordon off the dangerous areas.

Jordanian experts also came to Jerusalem Thursday to evaluate areas in need of future repair. Prime Minister Sharon told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee today that the government had clarified to the Jordanians, the king of Morocco and the Europeans the unequivocal need for repairs. The Waqf Muslim religious trust has taken the warnings seriously, Sharon said.

[...]

Okay. I hope they know what they're doing.

PROFESSOR PADDY BEST: 1917-2004

I just came from the memorial service for Paddy Best (Ernest Best), held at St. Leonard's Church in St. Andrews, officiated by Rev. Alan McDonald, and with a tribute by Professor John Riches of Glasgow University. For biographical details about Paddy, go to this obituary. I'll concentrate here on some personal reminiscences from the service. Paddy started out as an Ulster Protestant minister in Northern Ireland. He never joined the Orange Lodge, even though he served for 15 years a parish with strong links to them. He wrote his doctoral dissertation in a manse that had no electricity or running water. He took his first academic post here at the Divinity School of the University of St. Andrews in 1963 at the age of 46, then moved to Glasgow University in 1974. John Riches reports that when Paddy came to Glasgow, he was described to John as a cross between a dynamo and a leprechaun. He was well-known for his sense of humor. He liked golf jokes, preachers jokes, political jokes, and academic put-downs. Professor Riches quoted from a lecture Paddy gave to the Irish Biblical Association on the purpose of the Gospel of Mark in which he quoted another scholar, he said, not because his view was accepted � it was almost universally rejected � but "because it permits me to stress the opposite." Alan McDonald also related that in 1965, when Paddy's book The Temptation and the Passion was published, he was known to say that it would sell well in train stations if put in a plain cover.

I did not know Paddy Best well, but I did encounter him now and again in my early years here. Once when Professor Robert Carroll came from Glasgow to lecture at our postgraduate seminar, I took the two of them to lunch, during which Paddy told a disrespectful joke about two prominent Irish politicians. I won't repeat the joke here. (Alas, Paddy and Bob Carroll are both gone now.) Paddy also once commented to me that it was great to be a Professor in his day, because "we didn't have to do any work." Anyone who knows his story or his bibliography will know how seriously to take that one.

Requiescat in pace.

CHALDOASSYRIAN WATCH: The Assyrian International News Agency has an essay by Nina Shea on the current situation of Aramaic-speaking Christians in Iraq: "Iraq's Chaldo-Assyrians: Canary in a Coal Mine.". It arises from a meeting in Washington D.C. of Middle Eastern-American Christians earlier this month. Excerpt:

Christianity in Iraq dates from the first century and the ChaldoAssyrians are the world's last remaining community to speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus. The Assyrians are an ethnic group, the Chaldeans a religious designation; both groups indigenous to the Iraq region, their presence there predating Christianity. It was their ancestors who built the tower of Babel and some people in Mosul, ancient Nineveh, continue to fast each year in repentance as the Prophet Jonah exhorted them to do.

Most relevant for U.S. foreign-policy considerations, the ChaldoAssyrians form one of the most politically modern, skilled, and educated communities in Iraq today. An exodus of these Christians would substantially reduce Iraq's prospects of developing as a pluralistic and democratic society. Their leaving would be not only a "brain drain" but a "sane drain" as well. Without a sizeable non-Muslim minority, moderate Muslims who want to keep religion out of government -- Iraq's silent majority -- will encounter far greater intimidation in raising their voices against the imposition of medieval Islamic law, favored by Iranian-backed parties and clerics.

The ChaldoAssyrians are the canaries in the coal mine for the greater Middle East as well. The extent to which they are tolerated in the new Iraq is being watched closely by the Maronites of Lebanon, the Copts of Egypt, and other non-Muslim populations of the region.

Keeping the ChaldoAssyrians secure in Iraq should be a paramount concern for the United States. One way to help them can be found in the interim constitution. The Bush administration had the foresight to insist on including article 53D in the basic law -- an overlooked provision that establishes the legal basis for creating an administrative unit explicitly for the ChaldoAssyrians, which could serve as a safe haven. The community needs U.S. help to create such a district, which should encompass the traditional community villages located near Mosul, in the Nineveh Plains. They believe that thousands of their members who have fled to other countries in the Middle East over the decades but are not permanently resettled could be persuaded to return to such a secure place.

The State Department should make the implementation of article 53D an urgent priority. It also must start providing directly to the ChaldoAssyrians the congressionally authorized funds needed to rebuild their destroyed villages, roads, schools, and clinics as well as to undertake start-up economic-development projects. Because State's funding practices favor Arab and Kurd groups, the ChaldoAssyrians have been shut out of U.S. reconstruction aid.

UPDATE: The essay was published originally in National Review online.

MORE 1 ENOCH FROM THE QUMRAN LIBRARY! Gabriele Boccaccini e-mails:

A New Fragment of Enoch found at Qumran

In March 2004 Esther and Hanan Eshel received for publication a photograph of a fragmentary papyrus preserving five lines identifiable as the end of Enoch 8 and the beginning of Enoch 9 (8:4-9:3). The new fragment can be dated approximately to the Hasmonean or the early Herodian era (50-25 BCE) and was undoubtedly found at Qumran. As we cannot identify the cave, we suggest this fragment be labeled XQpapEnoch. Because the only Enochic book written on papyrus is the Book of Giants from Cave 6, 6QpapGiant (=6Q8), which is written in a different semi-cursive later hand, it appears that this fragment is the first to be published from an additional copy of Enoch. The verses in question describe how the angels heard the cries of the people killed as a result of Asa'el's teaching humans to make weaponry. The publication of this new fragment of Enoch is important not only as a witness to an additional manuscript of Enoch found at Qumran, but also because of its contribution to the reconstruction of two Cave 4 manuscripts (4QEna and 4QEnb). Despite their poor preservation, it is possible to read and reconstruct in the three witnesses to the Aramaic a similar, if not identical, text. This version differs from the Greek translation found at Gizeh, which has scribal errors and various omissions. Even though Syncellus' versions also contain corruptions, it appears that the Greek cited by Syncellus is the closest to the Aramaic source. The article which includes the new fragment was submitted for publication in DSD [the journal Dead Sea Discoveries] in the beginning of May 2004. On Oct 11, 2004, the fragment was discussed at the University of Michigan by a panel composed by Profs. Gabriele Boccaccini, James C. VanderKam, Esti Eshel and Hanan Eshel, and will be presented again at Camaldoli during the Third Meeting of the Enoch Seminar (6-10 June 2005).

Quoted with the permission of Boccaccini and the Eshels. There have been rumors for many years of the existences of another Qumran Aramaic manuscript of 1 Enoch. I wonder if this is it and if there's any more of it out there somewhere.

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: more on the danger of a collapse during Ramadan:

New Battle Looms Over Jerusalem Holy Site


Thursday October 14, 2004 6:46 AM

AP Photo JRL115

By KARIN LAUB

Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel said Wednesday it would severely limit the access of Muslim worshippers to Jerusalem's most volatile holy site during the holy month of Ramadan, claiming it could collapse. . . .
[...]

Israel's police minister, Gideon Ezra, said he wants the Islamic Trust, or Waqf, to declare the southeastern corner of the holy site compound off-limits.

If the Waqf does not agree, ``we will view this as a real and immediate threat and we can't let this happen ... we will have to limit the number of worshippers to 50,000 or 60,000,'' Ezra told Israel Army Radio. The compound holds about 250,000 people and is often filled to capacity during the main Ramadan prayers.

The chief Muslim cleric, or mufti, of Jerusalem, said he would not go along with the Israeli request. Egyptian and Jordanian engineers who inspected the walls after the earthquake said that ``there is no real danger,'' the mufti, Ikrema Sabri, told The Associated Press.

[...]

As I've said before, I don't trust the Grand Mufti's opinion on this. Better safe than sorry.

THERE'S AN OBITUARY FOR PROFESSOR PADDY BEST in today's Glasgow Herald (heads-up, Jim West).

REGULAR READERS may have noticed that I have not been posting new reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature. I assume that if you're interested in these, you will subscribe to the site's newsletter. At present I would rather spend my very limited blogging time either on things I personally find interesting (e.g., anything to do with the OT pseudepigrapha) or on information and stories that either are not receiving much attention elsewhere and/or on which I have something to say. Also, I assume you are reading some of the other biblioblogs and I've become more inclined to ignore stories they are already covering - again, unless I have something to say about them.

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: A FOURTH MOSQUE?

High Court rejects bid to block new Temple Mount mosque (via Bible and Interpretation News)
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent

The High Court of Justice on Tuesday rejected a petition by the Temple Mount Faithful group demanding a ban on the government and Jerusalem municipality from authorizing the construction of another mosque on the Temple Mount.

[...]

The petitioners said that in recent weeks there have been public announcements stating that initial steps have been taken in the building of a fourth mosque in the eastern section of the Mount, which today is an open space.

[...]

Regular readers will not be surprised to hear that I think any new construction on the Temple Mount would be a very bad idea.

SOME ANCIENT MOSAICS are to go on exhibit at Ben Gurion Airport:

Ancient mosaic to greet airport arrivals (Ha'aretz)
By Zohar Blumenkrantz

Ancient mosaics that have been discovered across the country in archaeological digs are to appear as artistic pieces in the new terminal of Ben-Gurion International Airport. The Airports Authority is to pay NIS 460,000 to the Israel Antiquities Authority for the pleasure.

[...]

One of the exhibits will be a mosaic from the 5th or 6th century, unearthed in Bet Shean, with an inscription in Greek, "Blessed are you in your arriving, and blessed are you in your leaving."

[...]

QUEEN OF SHEBA EXHIBIT COMES TO CALIFORNIA:

Bowers Museum Unveils 'Queen of Sheba: Legend and Reality' on October 17, 2004 (PRNewswire)
Monday October 11, 12:00 pm ET
For Centuries, the Myths Surrounding Queen of Sheba Have Been Among History's Most Intriguing Mysteries. Just Who Was This Captivating Queen and Leading Lady in the Bible? The Bowers' Newest Exhibition Seeks to Find Out in the Queen of Sheba's First-Time and Only U.S. Appearance

MORE ON THE MAQDALA (MAGDALA) MANUSCRIPTS FROM ETHIOPIA: The BBC has a recent article about a request from the Commission of Africa to the British Government for the return of the manuscripts:

Blair urged to return treasures

Ethiopian campaigners have asked UK Prime Minister Tony Blair to return hundreds of rare manuscripts and religious artefacts.

The treasures were looted from the palace of an Ethiopian emperor, after his defeat by a British force in 1868.

A letter was handed to one of Mr Blair's aides while he was in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa for a meeting of his Commission for Africa.

The treasures, which include a gold crown, are worth $3bn, campaigners say.

But the most valuable item is one of two copies of the Kebra Negast - or Glory of Kings - Ethiopia's holy book which is held in the British Library in London.

[...]

Incidentally, at the moment I'm working with an undergraduate who is writing an honours dissertation on the Kebra Negast, which is a retelling of the stories of Genesis, Exodus, and Solomon.

The Art Newspaper also has a long article on the looted artifacts and manuscripts from Maqdala: "UK museums face controversial Ethiopian legacy." One set of objects is not permitted to be viewed by anyone but senior clergy in the Ethiopic Orthodox Church. There's also a bit more on the manuscripts:

The British Library holds a large collection of manuscripts, around 350 of which came from Maqdala. One, an 18th-century Book of Isiah, is currently on show in the �treasures� display and the rest can be consulted on application. A spokesman explained: �There is no change in our policy. The manuscripts are freely available for study. We do not believe that the originals should be returned to Ethiopia, but any question of restitution is ultimately a responsibility for government�. The British Library, like most national museums, is not permitted to deaccession.

The Royal Collection also has important Maqdala material, including a small number of illuminated manuscripts in the Royal Library at Windsor. In 1965, during the Queen�s visit to Addis Ababa, she returned a royal cap and silver seal.

The University of Edinburgh library is currently considering the status of its 11 Ethiopian manuscripts, four of which were definitely acquired at Maqdala. A panel has been established to examine the question, but so far the university has taken the position that they should not be returned.

I wish someone would take the time to list the contents of all these manuscripts. (And what's this "Isiah"? How lame.)

But here's some excellent news from AllAfrica.com:

AAU to Introduce Master's Degree Program in Philology

Addis Tribune (Addis Ababa)

October 8, 2004
Posted to the web October 8, 2004

The Addis Ababa university (AAU) will, as of this academic year introduce a masters degree program in philology.

To mark the introduction of the new graduate program the department of linguistic of the university will hold an international symposium under the theme. " Ethiopian Philology in the 21st century" next Friday at the main campus where some 16 papers will be presented by international philologists and local academics.

In an exclusive interview with Addis Tribune ,Dr, Moges Yigezu chairman of the department of linguistic said that the program aims at producing scholars who will be stydying manuscripts written both in Geez and Arabic languages.

It's not often that philology makes it into a media headline. Strength to their arm!

JACQUES DERRIDA is dead at age 74:

Jacques Derrida Dies; Deconstructionist Philosopher

By Patricia Sullivan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 10, 2004; Page C11

Jacques Derrida, 74, originator of the diabolically difficult school of philosophy known as deconstructionism, died Oct. 9, the office of French President Jacques Chirac announced. French media reports said that the cause was pancreatic cancer and that he died at a Paris hospital.

Mr. Derrida (pronounced "deh-ree-DAH") inspired and infuriated a generation of intellectuals and students with his argument that the meaning of a collection of words is not fixed and unchanging, an argument he most famously capsulized as "there is nothing outside the text."

[...]

Language, he said, is inadequate to provide a clear and unambiguous view of reality. In other words, the fixed meaning of an essay, a book, a personal letter, a scientific treatise or a recipe dissolves when hidden ambiguities and contradictions are revealed. These contradictions, inevitable in every piece of writing, he said, reveal deep fissures in the foundation of the Western world's civilizations, cultures and creations.

Supporters said this insight into the layered meanings and incompleteness of language subverts reason and rationality, stripping centuries of assumptions from words and allowing fresh ideas to emerge.

Critics called it nihilism (the denial of the meaning of existence, or denial of the existence of any basis for knowledge and truth), a charge he vehemently denied.

[...]

Jacques Derrida's work has been very influential in some sectors of biblical studies. My own take on him, as those who know me have heard me say, is that on average about a third of any given work of his was showing off, another third was deliberate obfuscation, and the rest was brilliant critical theory. Sorting out that last third from the rest is the challenge. Much of the work by "deconstructionists" who mean to follow the Master has been accused of partaking too much of the first two-thirds and too little of the last third, and sometimes not unjustly. But deconstruction has its uses and some of what has been published makes important contributions to literary theory. My own research in The Book is influenced by Derrida's ideas, especially in chapter three (shorter versions of which you can read here and here).

I never met Derrida, but I did hear him speak at the SBL meeting a couple of years ago in Toronto, when Yvonne Sherwood of Glasgow University arranged a extremely well-attended session with him as speaker.

What a fascinating, controversial, brilliant, infuriating man. May his memory be for a blessing.

THE ARAMAIC-SPEAKING VILLAGE OF MAALOULA (MA'ALOULA) in Syria has been featured in Arabic News twice in recent weeks:

"British Sky News report on Ma'alula" (8 October)

"Foundation stone for Aramaic Language Learning Institute" (14 September)

The foundation stone of the institute for learning Aramaic language in Maaloula was laid yesterday.

[...]

And, interestingly, when I did a search for the town on PaleoJudaica's Atomz search engine, the sponsored link came up with an advertisement for Maaloula Vacations.

JEWISH ANTIQUITIES, inter alia, in France and Italy are described in two new travel books.

A WORKSHOP ON SYRIAC APOCRYPHA is being held in Paris next month by the Societe d'etudes syriaques.

THE ONLINE CRITICAL PSEUDEPIGRAPHA PROJECT is a new initiative to provide original-language critical texts for the various books of the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. It is sponsored by King's University College at the University of Western Ontario. (My thanks to Jim West for alerting me to this site.) The Project Description reads:

For some time it has been evident that scholars of early Judaism and early Christianity need better access to the texts of the Pseudepigrapha in their original (or extant) languages and with a critical apparatus. In many cases critical editions are prohibitively expensive or out of print, and scholars without access to a large library have been hard pressed to find them.

The Online Critical Pseudepigrapha is intended to address this problem by publishing on-line, free-access critical texts of the Pseudepigrapha which are up-to-date and academically rigorous. This aim is to be realized by

1) co-ordinating the efforts of scholars who take on the editing of individual texts;
2) providing a forum for peer review of texts as they are developed;
3) developing the technology necessary for the publication of these texts in electronic form; and
4) providing a permanent web-site for the long-term publication of these texts and as a forum for ongoing text-critical work on the pseudepigrapha.

This is a very exciting and much-needed project. I look forward to hearing more about it.

Incidentally, have a look at the "Copyrights and Permissions" link on the main page. It does a good job of laying out the copyright considerations and a sensible "scholarly courtesy" policy. Perhaps the SBL could have a look at it and rethink its Seminar Papers policy.

PROFESSOR MICHAEL GRANT - R.I.P.:

Professor Michael Grant (The Telegraph)
(Filed: 08/10/2004)

Professor Michael Grant, who died on Monday aged 89, was a don at Cambridge, Professor of Humanity (Latin) at Edinburgh, and vice-chancellor at the Universities of Khartoum and Queen's, Belfast, but was best known as a prolific populariser of ancient history who published nearly 50 books on the Greeks, Romans and early Christianity.

Grant was always a lucid and erudite writer, who took the view that a study of the classical world was both "infinitely worth studying in its own right, without any consideration of modern analogies" and also that "without Latin, people are handicapped because they do not understand their past, and cannot therefore effectively plan their futures".

This attitude did nothing to impede his range, nor his appeal to the ordinary reader as well as the academic professional. As well as scholarly publications on the coinage of Rome (he was a distinguished numismatist), he produced biographies of Julius Caesar, Nero, Herod, Cleopatra, Jesus, St Peter and St Paul; accounts of the literature, history, art, mythology and social life of Greece and Rome; and found time to examine the Middle Ages and ancient Israel.

[...]

But there was scarcely an aspect of ancient life which did not receive Grant's attention: The History of Rome (1978); The Jews in the Roman World (1973); Art in the Roman Empire (1995); The Classical Greeks (1989); The Hellenistic Greeks (1990) and many more were ground out by his pen.

[...]

Read it all. What a fascinating life.

On a related note, I've learned that the memorial service for Paddy Best is to be held a week from today, on 15 October.

ARCHAEOLOGIST GABRIEL BARKAY is interviewed about the Temple Mount by Pat Robertson for The 700 Club. Quite a combination.

TODAY IS SHEMINI ATZERET and tomorrow (starting at sundown tonight) will be Simhat Torah, except in Israel, where both holidays are today. (Sorry, this was mixed up in the original posting. Thanks to reader Michael Eliyahou for the correction. It's been one of those days.)

ANOTHER RITUAL FROM THIRD-TEMPLE RADICALS:

Activists reenact Temple ritual to remove Sharon (Jerusalem Post)
By YAAKOV KATZ

A group of right-wing Jewish activists reenacted a religious ritual from the First Temple period at the Shiloah Spring in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan Tuesday night, with the goal of removing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon from power and instituting a Jewish monarchy.

With shofars blasting in the background, the group � led by Prof. Hillel Weiss, a well-known Temple Mount activist and a lecturer on literature at Bar-Ilan University, and Rabbi Yosef Dayan, who recently threatened to instigate a death curse against Sharon � conducted the nisuah hamayim ritual, which they said "will begin the process of removing the secular Israeli government."

"This ceremony will lay the foundations for instituting a Jewish king, a Jewish court, and the Third Temple," Weiss told the 40 participants sitting near the Shiloah Spring. "We will draw inspiration and strength from the ceremony as the holy priests did in Temple times, and we will ensure that the Jewish people will not be removed from their land."

[...]

Well, I think the stuff about rebuilding the third temple and replacing the secular government with a religious monarchy is pretty creepy, but as long as they keep their actions to rituals and words (not involving, say, incitement to murder), they can do whatever they like as far as I'm concerned.

MORE ON THE DISCOVERIES CONCERNING EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHICS by a medieval Arab alchemist: Carla Sulzbach e-mails to point me to a message by Lennart Sundelin on the ANE list. Key paragraph:

Unfortunately it [the Kitab Shawq al-Mustaham] was not produced by someone who could actually read hieroglyphics. The Hermetic lore that this work was based on was circulating in Europe, too, long before Champollion, and it was an approach that long proved a dead-end for those trying to 'crack the code'. I think we're still stuck with Champollion and the Rosetta Stone. Alas!

You can find the 1806 English translation of the Arabic work (along with the Arabic original) here and decide for yourself. As Carla points out in her e-mail, whatever the accomplishment of Abu Bakr Ahmad Ibn Wahshiyah, it's important to keep in perspective that there was no follow-up and the hieroglyphics were not actually deciphered before Champollion.

It's an interesting episode in intellectual history, but my "extraordinary discovery" below was an overstatement. The Observer article overplays the story too. The article in the Daily Times is more measured.

I'M SKEPTICAL, but this is a very interesting story and, if the claims are borne out, it would be an extraordinary discovery:

Arab scholar 'cracked Rosetta code' 800 years before the West

Robin McKie, science editor
Sunday October 3, 2004
The Observer

It is famed as a critical moment in code-breaking history. Using a piece of basalt carved with runes and words, scholars broke the secret of hieroglyphs, the written 'language' of the ancient Egyptians.

A baffling, opaque language had been made comprehensible, and the secrets of one of the world's greatest civilisations revealed - thanks to the Rosetta Stone and the analytic prowess of 18th and 19th century European scholars.

But now the supremacy of Western thinking has been challenged by a London researcher who claims that hieroglyphs had been decoded hundreds of years earlier - by an Arabic alchemist, Abu Bakr Ahmad Ibn Wahshiyah.

'It has taken years of painstaking research to prove this,' said Dr Okasha El Daly, at UCL's Institute of Archaeology. 'I was convinced that Western scholars were not the first, and I have found evidence that shows Arabian scholars broke the code a thousand years ago.'

[...]

Via Bible and Interpretation News. Dr Okasha El Daly is listed as an honorary research assistant at the UCL Institute of Archaeology and you can find an abstract of one of his relevant papers here. More biography here and here.

Also, the Daily Times (Pakistan) has an article today ("Egyptian scholar finds Arab insights into hieroglyphs") with more details. Excerpt:

But Okasha El Daly, who lectures at University College London and holds an outreach post at the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, says that a thousand years earlier, when Arab civilisation was close to its height, Muslim scholars not only took an interest in ancient Egypt but could also correctly interpret at least a few characters in the hieroglyphic script. From libraries in Paris and Istanbul, he has dug up manuscripts, which contain tables showing the phonetic value of hieroglyphs. Three Arab scholars between them correctly identified about 10 of the several dozen hieroglyphs, which they thought made up a phonetic alphabet, he told Reuters.

But more importantly, at a time when medieval Europeans thought that hieroglyphs were just magical symbols, the Arab scholars grasped two of the basic principles - that some signs represented sounds while others were determinatives, signs that conveyed the concept of the word pictorially.

That breakthrough was the work of Ahmad bin Abu Bakr ibn Wahshiyah, a ninth and 10th century polymath who lived in Iraq and wrote about everything from chemistry to the environment to agriculture and pre-Islamic cultures.

There's more and it's a very interesting read. I wonder if any of it has been published in peer-review journals. If any Egyptologists out there have comments, drop me a note.

UPDATE (6 October): See the next post for more.

TALMUD SCHOLAR YISRAEL TA-SHEMA HAS PASSED AWAY. Ha'aretz has an obituary:

Prof. Yisrael Ta-Shema, halakhic scholar, dies at 68

By Avi Katzman

Prof. Yisrael Ta-Shema passed away yesterday at the age of 68, following a long illness. Ta-Shema was a 2003 Israel Prize laureate for Talmud studies and a renowned scholar of the halakha of the Middle Ages and early modern period.

[...]

May his memory be for a blessing.

VERY STRANGE. As noted below, I had great difficulty posting today. Blogger has been doing very odd things to me lately in any case: on my office iMac it makes IE 5.2 crash every time I try to open it, yet the same browser works fine on my eMac at home. And now Netscape 7.2 at my office and 7.0 at home are having weird but somewhat different Blogger problems involving buttons that won't work. So I spent the day looking in frustration at a typo in a name which Blogger refused to repost with the correction. Grrrrr.

Is anyone else out there experiencing problems with Blogger?

I REGRET TO INFORM YOU OF THE DEATH OF PROFESSOR ERNEST ("PADDY") BEST, who taught New Testament at the University of St. Andrews (I believe in the 1960s and 70s) before moving to the University of Glasgow. He retired quite a few years ago and moved back to St. Andrews, and I saw him now and again, especially in my early years here. I have no futher details at present, but I'll let you know when I know more.

Blogger is in a bad mood this morning and is consenting to post only very sporadically. I'm doing my best to work around this.

"IN THE BEGINNING": In the current issue of the Forward, Philologos discusses Bereshit, the first word in the Hebrew Bible. (Curiously, the title of the essay is "Cracking the Whip," which appears to be an accidental repetition of the title of last week's essay.) Concluding paragraph of this week's:

Ibn Ezra was expressing himself carefully because he was taking the philosophical position in one of the great medieval debates between orthodox theology and Aristotelian philosophy � namely, that concerning the question: Was matter created by God, or is it coeternal with him? Conventionally minded Christian, Jewish and Muslim thinkers all insisted, basing themselves on Scripture, on creation ex nihilo, whereas the Aristotelians, like the great Muslim thinker Averroes, held that God fashioned the world out of matter but not matter itself. Ibn Ezra used the reading of bara as bero to come down on the side of Averroes. The next time you are tempted to slight the Hebrew vowel points, reflect that a small difference in a couple of them can change the nature of the universe.

My doctoral student, Sam Giere, is writing a dissertation on the early history of interpretation of Genesis 1:1-5, the first day of creation, so I asked him for his thoughts on the essay. He replies:

My initial reaction is this: The ambiguity of the unpointed text can lead down three paths (helpfully outlined, if I remember correctly, by Wenham in his commentary on Genesis). (1) V.1 is a title and summary for the rest of the account. (2) V.3 is the main clause with v.1 being a temporal clause and v.2 a parenthetic clause - "When God began to create the heavens and the earth, The earth being formless and void, darkness upon the face of the deep, and the breath of God hovering upon the face of the waters, God said, "Let there be light." And there was light." (my translation) One of these first two options seems most appropriate as it is anachronistic to see creatio ex nihilo in Gen 1. Which leads me to option three (3) which preserves the possibility of creatio ex nihilo.

This position understands that v.1 is a statement of the first act of creation. God created the heavens and the earth, so that from that point God has something with which to work. I happen to be looking through Jubilees at the moment for a class I'm teaching and noticed that the author of Jub states unequivocally that on the first day God created the heavens, the earth, the waters, all the spirits, the abyss, darkness, and light effectively taking out of play any difficulties in the first three verses of Genesis. On the genesis of creatio ex nihilo, there is a relatively new article by J.C. O'Neill ("How Early is the Doctrine of Creatio ex Nihilo?" JTS 53 (2002): 449-465) which readers may find interesting. O'Neill explores the question stated in the article title by looking at 2 Macc 7, Joseph and Aseneth 12, Philo's perceived interactions between Moses and Plato, Shepherd of Hermas, among others. He suggests that the Shepherd has a credal formulation of the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo which is known by the mother in 2 Macc 7 and appropriated by in the New Testament. While I haven't had time to go over O'Neill's argument with a fine tooth comb, if his argument is correct the genesis of creatio ex nihilo is unlikely to date back to the Priestly writer/editor(s). Ibn Ezra aside, the question of the ambiguity of bereshit will not be solved from the perspective of creatio ex nihilo or not...

(His ellipses at the end.) For what it's worth, I lean toward his interpretation 2 as the correct understanding of the original sense of Gen 1:1. In other words, I think Genesis (P) taught the existence of primordial matter alongside of God. You can find roughly the same grammatical construction (noun in construct plus finite verbal clause construed together as a subordinate clause) in the Hebrew of Hosea 1:2.

UPDATE: Apologies for the multiple stuttering of this post, which has now been corrected. Blogger was having a bit of fun at my expense.

THERE'S A NEW TRANSLATION OF THE TORAH by biblical scholar Robert Alter:

Now a noted literary scholar has produced a fresh translation with accompanying commentary. "The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary" (Norton, 800 pages, $39.95) by Robert Alter, professor of comparative literature at the University of California at Berkeley, will be released this month.

Alter has a longstanding interest in the literary character of the Bible and has written several books on the subject, including "The Art of Biblical Narrative" and "The Art of Biblical Poetry." Speaking by phone from his office recently, Alter said his new book is a continuation of a translation of Genesis that he made about 10 years ago. The project was prompted by dissatisfaction with the way the literary characteristics of Hebrew have been brought into English, including the "Tanakh," which Alter said has "a peculiar insensitivity to English style."

"I felt a lot of modern translations are almost totally obtuse about the stylistic effects of Hebrew. The King James is a great translation, but in many ways it's not too accurate, and it belongs to 17th-century understandings of Hebrew," he said. "I thought it was worth an experiment to see if I could do a version in readable modern English that did much more honor to the rhythms and syntax of Hebrew."