A SYRIAC CONFERENCE IN ALEPPO:

11th Conference of Syriac Heritage to Opens in Aleppo
Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 02:50 PM

DAMASCUS, (SANA)-

The 11th Conference for Syriac Heritage titled " Mar Ephraim the Syriac- a Poet of Our Days" is due to open in the northern city of Aleppo on Thursday.

The Conference is dedicated to commemorate the 1700th anniversary of the birth of the Poet Mar Ephraim the Syriac.

[...]

APRIL DECONICK is publishing away on the Gospel of Thomas:

Touching the past

By ARLENE MANNLEIN, Staff Writer (Journal Gazette and Times-Courier, IL)

April DeConick held in her hands something few people in the world will ever touch, let alone read.

“When I held the papyrus in my hand (encased in glass), it was overwhelming, the feeling of a pilgrim touching gently a relic,” said the associate professor of religion at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington. She was explaining her feelings about her opportunity to read the Gospel of Thomas.

DeConick continued, “There is a power in the antiquity of the document alone, but also in its ‘hiddenness.’

“For almost 2,000 years, it was buried beneath the sands of Egypt. The knowledge that I am one of only a few people in history who have touched and read the original pages of this sacred book was staggering, a moment of reverence for sure.”

[...]

She has published a recent monograph on the Gospel of Thomas and she has a new translation and a popular book on it in the works. She also takes apart The Da Vinci Code in this interview.

THE DA VINCI CODE MOVIE is not listed to be shown in Egypt, and the Sandmonkey smells a rat. (Although one of the commenters to the post thinks it's just a distribution issue. I hope so.) The Arabic translation of the book is reportedly banned there as well. Once again, I find myself willy-nilly on Dan Brown's side. The book is entertaining rubbish and the movie will doubtless be the same only more so. But governments have no business messing with people's access to books or movies, rubbish or not. We can make up our own minds, thank you, whatever country we live in.

THE JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES has a new issue out (65.2, 2006). It has an article on late-antique Egypt which looks timely, given all the recent Gospel of Judas etc. hype:

CAROLINE T. SCHROEDER. Prophecy and Porneia in Shenoute's Letters: The Rhetoric of Sexuality in a Late Antique Egyptian Monastery

It can be downloaded in PDF format. Requires a paid personal or institutional subscription to access. The issue also has some relevant book reviews.

THE SITE OF JERUSALEM had a Middle Paleolithic settlement:

Prehistoric site found in Jerusalem

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS (Jerusalem Post)

Jerusalem, it appears, was a popular place even during prehistoric times.

Israeli archaeologists have uncovered a large concentration of stone utensils on the southeastern rim of the city which were used by prehistoric man hundreds of thousands of years ago, Israel's Antiquities Authority announced Tuesday.

[...]

FREE ALAA is a new blog by the Sandmonkey dedicated to securing the release of Alaa and the other 47 protesters detained in Egypt.

THE JOURNAL OF HEBREW SCRIPTURES is in the process of publishing volume 6, 2006. Here is what is available so far:

Ronald Benun, Evil and the Disruption of Order: A Structural Analysis of the Acrostics in the First Book of Psalms

David M. Carr (ed.), The State of the Field of Hebrew Bible Study: In Conversation with John J. Collins, The Bible After Babel: Historical Criticism in a Postmodern Age (Eerdmans, 2005)

Yung Suk Kim, Lex Talionis in Exod 21:22‑25: Its Origin and Context

Gary N., Knoppers (ed.), Chronicles and the Chronicler: A Response to I. Kalimi, An Ancient Israelite Historian: Studies in the Chronicler, his Time, Place and Writing

Aron Pinker, The Core Story in the Prologue-Epilogue of the Book of Job

There are also lots of book reviews. Articles can be accessed as web pages ("optimized for IE" -- bah! -- but they look okay on my Mac Firefox 1.503) or downloaded as PDF files. Reviews are available only as web pages.

RALLIES TO FREE ALAA and his detained fellow-protesters will be taking place in major U.S. cities today. No word so far on rallies in Britain.

THE JOURNAL OF GRECO-ROMAN JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY is in the process of publishing volume 3, 2006. Two articles are posted so far:

3.1 Craig Evans Messianic Hopes and Messianic Figures in Late Antiquity
3.2 Richard Van Egmond The Messianic ‘Son of David’ in Matthew

They can be downloaded as PDF files.

THE OLD TESTAMENT PSEUDEPIGRAPHA -- AN ONLINE COURSE: I am happy to report that Dr. Grant Macaskill and I will be teaching an honours (i.e., upper division undergraduate) course on the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha in the spring semester of next year (commencing in February of 2007). We and the students will be running a blog alongside the course, similar to the Qumranica blog of last year. Here is the course description:

THE OLD TESTAMENT PSEUDEPIGRAPHA
DI 4716
Dr. J. R. Davila
Dr. G. Macaskill
Prerequisite: 11 or better in DI2001 or DI2003

A two-hour weekly seminar

This module explores the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, a loose collection of ancient quasi-Biblical writings fictionally attributed to biblical characters or set in the Old Testament period but rejected from the mainstream scriptural canons of both Judaism and Christianity. We shall study the orthodox and heretical interests and concerns of these documents; the reasons for their exclusion from the major canons; the problem of sorting out who wrote and edited them, when, and why; and the influence of these works after antiquity. The focus this year will be on texts preserved in exotic ancient church languages (e.g., Coptic, Ethiopic, Slavonic, Syriac), but all texts will be read in English translation and no knowledge of any ancient languages is required or assumed.

The lecturers and students will also contribute to a blog associated with the module.


ASSESSMENT
1. A seminar paper of 4000-5000 words on a topic to be arranged. The essay will be discussed in a seminar and the student will then have the opportunity to rewrite it in light of feedback received. The final rewrite of the essay will count for 50% of the marks for the module and will be due by the last day of teaching in the semester.
2. A 3-hour final examination on the entire module, which will count for 50% of the marks for the module.


BASIC BIBLIOGRAPHY
Charlesworth, James H. (ed.). The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha,
vol. 1, Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments;
vol. 2, Expansions of the "Old Testament" and Legends, Wisdom and Philosophical Literature, Prayers, Psalms, and Odes, Fragments of Lost Judeo-Hellenistic Works. Garden City, N. Y. Doubleday, 1983, 1985.

Davila, James R. "The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha as Background to the New Testament." Expository Times 117 (2005): 2:53-57.

The St. Andrews Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Website:
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~www_sd/otpseud.html

To take the course for credit, you have to be a registered, on-site St. Andrews student. But anyone will be welcome to follow the course through reading the blog.

ANOTHER EGYPTIAN BLOGGER HAS BEEN ARRESTED. Alaa of Manal and Alaa’s Bit Bucket was detained yesterday by Egyptian police, along with about ten other people, for participating in "a protest to support the Judiciary's branch fight for independence" (quote from the Sandmonkey). I've mentioned Manal and Alaa before in connection the arrest and subsequent release of blogger Abdolkarim Nabil Seliman. They won an award last November from Reporters Without Borders. The Sandmonkey has details here about the current situation and has more in a recent post that I take the liberty of quoting in full:

It’s War

As you can read here Alaa has been arrested , and the situation is turning bleaker by the minute. Given what the egyptian police is like , and how they wanted to hurt Alaa for quite a while now, I don't think it's wise to wait until they decide what THEY want to do with him. The fight should start immedietly.

The contact information for the Egyptian embassy is below:
The Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt
3521 International Ct. NW
Washington DC 20008
Phone (202) 895 5400
Fax (202) 244 5131
(202) 244 4319
Email: embassy@egyptembdc.org

E-mail them, send them letters, harrass them. The last time you did that we got Abdel Karim released. I am not joking when I tell you that I had information from a source inside that this is the only reason they released him. Too much pressure by the average american and european. The egyptian government is cowardly, they will sucumb to pressure. Tell them that you find his detainment and arrest unacceptable. That you will not set foot in this country, and will tell every friend of yours never to visit Egypt, unless Alaa and the other detainees are released immedietly. That a government that throws people in jail for freedom of speech is not one that will get your money. Tell everyone you know and spread the word. In the words of Tigerhawk: Release the Hounds.

The overall situation that let to the demonstrations is discussed in the 28-April Guardian blog post "Fighting terror, Egyptian style" by Brian Witaker.

I have sent the following e-mail to the Egyptian Embassy in London (info@egyptianconsulate.co.uk). I urge you to take a few minutes to write to the Egyptian Embassy in your area as well. Use any of my wording you find useful. You might also want to look at comment 4 to the post quoted above, which gives a good generic template for American readers.

These officials don't seem to learn from their mistakes very readily, but they do respond to public pressure, as we saw last time around.

Swarm them.

Dear Sir,

I write regarding the reports that Egyptian blogger Alaa Abd El-Fatah, was arrested at a demonstration in Cairo on May 7th, 2006. He and other protesters were demonstrating peacefully to support the Judiciary's struggle for independence and to protest the arrest of numerous other demonstrators over the last two weeks.

These reports are extremely disturbing. I am a lecturer at a British university and my research specialties involve Gnosticism and ancient biblical apocrypha and pseudepigrapha some of which were discovered in Egypt and written in the ancient Coptic language. I have visited Egypt in the past and from time to time I might have occasion to travel there again for research or conferences. But while arrests of this sort are going on, I will certainly not visit and in addition I will warn my colleagues, students, friends, and blog-readers to stay away. I myself have criticized the Egyptian Government on my own weblog, and in light of this report I would fear for my personal safety in Egypt.

Is this really the sort of publicity you want for your country? I urge you to release Alaa Abd El-Fatah immediately, along with the other activists arrested with him and during the last fortnight, drop all charges against them, and henceforth respect their human right to criticize their own government.

Sincerely yours,

James R. Davila

UPDATE: More from the Sandmonkey. It's not looking good.

TWO RECENT ISSUES OF THE JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF JUDAISM:

Volume 37, Number 2, 2006

Articles

Josephus' Rewriting of the Babel Narrative (Gen 11:1-9)
pp. 169-191(23)
Author: Inowlocki, Sabrina

Die Sünden Israels und der Heiden Beobachtungen zu L.A.B. 25:9-13
pp. 192-211(20)
Author: Tilly, Michael

The Dated Coins of Herod the Great: Towards a New Chronology
pp. 212-240(29)
Author: Marshak, Adam Kolman

Early Christian Authors on Samaritans and Samaritanism: A Review Article
pp. 241-259(19)
Author: Di Segni, Leah

Review of Articles

Review of Articles
pp. 260-298(39)

Volume 37, Number 1, 2006

Articles

The Special Purim and the Reception of the Book of Esther in the Hellenistic and Early Roman Eras
pp. 1-34(34)
Author: Burns, Joshua Ezra

NoyΣ in der Septuaginta des Hiobbuches. Zur Frage nach der Rezeption der Homerepik im hellenistischen Judentum
pp. 35-54(20)
Author: Dafni, Evangelia G.

The Likeness of the Image: Adamic Motifs and Anthropoly in Rabbinic Traditions about Jacob's Image Enthroned in Heaven
pp. 55-84(30)
Author: Bunta, Silviu

Review of Books

Review of Books
pp. 85-167(83)

THE APOCRYPHON OF JOHN, another important Gnostic document attributed pseudepigraphically to an apostle, is getting some press thanks to a new book by Karen King. David Meadows notes an Ottawa Citizen article on it over at Rogue Classicism. Like the Gospel of Judas, a Greek version of the Apocryphon of John was condemned in the second century by the church father Irenaeus, but the work now survives only in translation into Coptic. But the Gospel of Judas is preserved only in the one manuscript, whereas there are four manuscripts containing three versions and two different translations of the Apocryphon of John.

MARY MAGDALENE IS STILL HOT:

She's still hot stuff
Mary Magdalene has been a tantalizing and enigmatic figure since Christianity's earliest years
Thanks to The Da Vinci Code, she continues to be the focus of much scholarly and popular interest
May 6, 2006. 01:00 AM
MICHAEL MCATEER
SPECIAL TO THE [TORONTO] STAR

Biblical scholar Bart Ehrman can expect to draw a few interested souls when he gives a public lecture on the Apostle Peter or the Apostle Paul. When he lectures on Mary Magdalene, people flock to listen.

Mary Magdalene is the hot topic on the lecture circuit, says Ehrman, author of the recently released Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene (Oxford University Press).

Compared to the voluptuous temptress of stage, screen, literature and legend, Peter and Paul seem old and tired by comparison.

[...]

I'm sure Monica Bellucci did nothing to lessen her reputation. On the question of whether Jesus was married to her (or to anyone else), see here. And don't forget to keep an eye on bibliobabe Lesa Bellevie's Magdalene Review blog, for daily tracking of Mary Magdalene in the media.

QUMRAN SCHOLAR GEZA VERMES offers expert commentary on The Da Vinci Code, The Jesus Papers, and the Gospel of Judas in today's Times:

The great Da Vinci Code distraction
Jesus married Mary Magdalene and admitted he wasn’t God, Judas was only obeying orders — after Dan Brown the litany of biblical “revelations” seems unending. Geza Vermes asks why

He concludes:

It is no surprise then that, since the 19th century each new archaeological discovery — real, or more recently, thanks to the media, fictional — has been greeted by the public as a long-awaited key to the mystery. The Mesopotamian clay tablets about the dying and rising god, the mystery of the redeeming Persian god Mithra, the Oriental and Hellenistic salvation mysticism of the Roman Empire in New Testament times, and in the mid-20th century, the Dead Sea Scrolls, were acclaimed as the longed-for clue to the truth.

The archaeological finds have all taught us something new, but the best source for reconstructing the portrait of the historical Jesus has been available all the time. It lies in the New Testament — provided it is interpreted with a view to discovering what the original writers meant to convey to the original readers.

This genuine message about a Galilean faith-healer and preacher of the coming Kingdom of God was progressively concealed under the successive garbs of the mystical vision of St Paul and the Fourth Gospel, and the Greek philosophical imagery of the early church fathers and centuries of accretion inspired by the doctrinal and practical — often political — needs of later Christianity.

Today, theologians and secular historians of religion, working hand in hand and using the latest linguistic, archaeological and cultural tools, should be able to retrieve the authentic Gospel of Jesus, his first-hand message to his original followers. The high dignitaries of the churches would do better to encourage and applaud them than to focus their ire on trivia.

That's a good point, although I'm less optimistic about our being able to recover Jesus' original message from even our best sources. But as Vermes explains clearly, the Gospel of Judas is entirely irrelevant for that aim, even though it's of great interest for other historical questions.

The main good that has come from Brown's fiction and Baigent's highly dubious claims is that the real story of responsible historical study of first-century Christianity has gotten a much wider airing than it would have otherwise.

CAESAREA'S NEW UNDERWATER MUSEUM is reviewed in the Middle East Times:

World's first underwater museum opens in Israel
Amelia Thomas
Middle East Times
May 5, 2006

CAESAREA, Israel -- When most people think of Israel's underwater attractions, their thoughts immediately turn to Eilat: there, you can swim with dolphins, observe the myriad of sea life at the underwater observatory, or dive down to Red Sea coral reefs.

Last week, however, a new attraction welcomed its first visitors, this time on the Mediterranean coast: at the ancient port of Caesarea, roughly 60 kilometers north of Tel Aviv, the world's first underwater museum opened for business.

Although it lacks the crystal-clear waters and stunning marine life of Red Sea destinations, the museum hopes to draw visitors interested in the history and archaeology of the region. Here, Caesarea's history is on display for those equipped with a snorkel or wetsuit, as four underwater trails lead museum visitors around the remains of Jewish King Herod the Great's once spectacular ancient harbor.

[...]

THE JOURNAL OF THEOLOGICAL STUDIES has a new issue out (57.1, April 2006) with lots of articles of interest. Here's the table of contents:

James Barr
Is God a Liar? (Genesis 2–3)—and Related Matters
The Journal of Theological Studies Advance Access published on November 8, 2005
J Theol Studies 2006 57: 1-22

Jane Heath
Ezekiel Tragicus and Hellenistic Visuality: The Phoenix at Elim
The Journal of Theological Studies Advance Access published on November 24, 2005
J Theol Studies 2006 57: 23-41

Guy Williams
An Apocalyptic and Magical Interpretation of Paul's ‘Beast Fight’ in Ephesus (1 Corinthians 15:32)
J Theol Studies 2006 57: 42-56

John C. Poirier
Symbols of Wisdom in James 1:17
The Journal of Theological Studies Advance Access published on February 17, 2006
J Theol Studies 2006 57: 57-75

Joseph G. Mueller
Post-Baptismal Chrismation in Second-Century Syria: A Reconsideration of the Evidence
J Theol Studies 2006 57: 76-93

Theodore de Bruyn
P. RYL. III.471: A Baptismal Anointing Formula Used as an Amulet
J Theol Studies 2006 57: 94-109

Paul L. Gavrilyuk
Universal Salvation in the Eschatology of Sergius Bulgakov
The Journal of Theological Studies Advance Access published on October 25, 2005
J Theol Studies 2006 57: 110-132

Michael C. Rea
Polytheism and Christian Belief
J Theol Studies 2006 57: 133-148

Notes and Studies

Bruce A. Lowe
Oh {delta}{iota}{alpha with oxia}! How is Romans 4:25 to be Understood?
J Theol Studies 2006 57: 149-157

Johan Leemans
‘At that Time the Group Around Maximian was Enjoying Imperial Power’: an Interpolation in Gregory of Nyssa's Homily in Praise of Theodore
J Theol Studies 2006 57: 158-163

As I said earlier in the week, I'm way behind of noting journal issues, so let me catch up here with JTS. It looks like I'm three additional issues behind, so here the table of contents for each:

56.2, October 2005)

M. D. H
The Revd Professor Maurice F. Wiles
J Theol Studies 2005 56: 337-338

Articles

Paul McKechnie
Judaean Embassies and Cases before Roman Emperors, AD 44–66
J Theol Studies 2005 56: 339-361

Todd A. Wilson
‘Under Law’ in Galatians: A Pauline Theological Abbreviation
J Theol Studies 2005 56: 362-392

A. J. M. Wedderburn
Sawing off the Branches: Theologizing Dangerously Ad Hebraeos
J Theol Studies 2005 56: 393-414

Dirk Krausmüller
Conflicting Anthropologies in the Christological Discourse at the End of Late Antiquity: The Case of Leontius of Jerusalem's Nestorian Adversary
J Theol Studies 2005 56: 415-449

Nancy Hudson
Divine Immanence: Nicholas of Cusa's Understanding of Theophany and the Retrieval of a ‘New’ Model of God
J Theol Studies 2005 56: 450-470

Notes and Studies

Simon Gathercole
The Heavenly {alpha with psili}{nu}{alpha}{tau}o{lambda}eeacgr (Luke 1:78–9)
J Theol Studies 2005 56: 471-488

John M. Rist
Luke 2:2: Making Sense of the Date of Jesus' Birth
J Theol Studies 2005 56: 489-491

56.1, April 2005

Articles

Douglas A. Campbell
Possible Inscriptional Attestation to Sergius Paul[L]US (Acts 13:6–12), and the Implications for Pauline Chronology
J Theol Studies 2005 56: 1-29

Carl Mosser
The Earliest Patristic Interpretations of PSALM 82, Jewish Antecedents, and the Origin of Christian Deification
J Theol Studies 2005 56: 30-74

Johannes Zachhuber
Once Again: Gregory of Nyssa on Universals
J Theol Studies 2005 56: 75-98

Notes and Studies

Sean M. McDonough
Competent to Judge: The Old Testament Connection Between 1 Corinthians 5 and 6
J Theol Studies 2005 56: 99-102

Peter Van Nuffelen
Two Fragments from the Apology for Origen in the Church History of Socrates Scholasticus
J Theol Studies 2005 56: 103-114

M. J. Edwards
Constantine's Donation to the ‘Bishop and Pope of the City of Rome’
J Theol Studies 2005 56: 115-121

55.2, October 2004

Articles

Christian Stettler
Purity of Heart in Jesus' Teaching: Mark 7:14–23 Par. as an Expression of Jesus' Basileia Ethics
J Theol Studies 2004 55: 467-502

Harry O. Maier
The Politics of the Silent Bishop: Silence and Persuasion in Ignatius of Antioch
J Theol Studies 2004 55: 503-519

William Adler
Sextus Julius Africanus and the Roman near East in the Third Century
J Theol Studies 2004 55: 520-550

Geoffrey D. Dunnhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.bold.gif
Heresy and Schism according to Cyprian of Carthage
J Theol Studies 2004 55: 551-574

Josef Lössl
When is a Locust Just a Locust? Patristic Exegesis of Joel 1:4 in the Light of Ancient Literary Theory
J Theol Studies 2004 55: 575-599

Links to the specific articles can be found on the relevant pages linked to above. Requires a paid personal or insitutional subscription to access the full texts. And it goes without saying that all issues of JTS have many interesting book reviews as well.

VIN DIESEL'S HANNIBAL MOVIE gets a brief mention in an Electric New Paper (Singapore) article on his current work:

He will be directing and starring in Hannibal, a movie about the Carthaginian general who led an army riding elepants across the Alps to invade Italy during the Second Punic War (218-202 BC).

That's not all - the brawny director-wannabe intends to shoot the film in ancient languages such as Aramaic, Iberian and Carthaginian (think The Passion Of The Christ).

He said: 'The whole point of directing an epic film (is that) you want to go all the way.'

As you may remember, the Carthaginians spoke Punic, a North African dialect of Phoenician. I'm not sure why the film would need Aramaic, but this is not the first time it's been listed, as I've noted before.

THERE'S AN OBITUARY FOR JOHN TREVER in the Los Angeles Times.

John C. Trever, 90; His Photos of Dead Sea Scrolls Preserved the Documents for Biblical Research
By Valerie J. Nelson, Times Staff Writer
May 4, 2006

John C. Trever, one of the first Americans to examine the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1948 and whose photographs of the ancient texts also became important historical documents, has died. He was 90.

Trever, who was the last surviving member of the original group of Western scholars to study the scrolls, died Saturday at his home in Lake Forest, his family said. No cause of death was given.

[...]

I'm not sure what the writer means by the "original group," but Frank Moore Cross and John Strugnell were members of the original team in charge of editing the Scrolls and they are still alive.

UPDATE (5 May): Geza Vermes e-mails:

What the Trever obituary of the LA Times means by "original group" of Western Scrolls scholars is not the first de Vaux editorial team, but the Jerusalem American School staff of Burrows, Brownlee, Trever, plus perhaps the Dutch Dominican J. van der Ploeg. Of these John Trever was the last to pass away, preceded by van der Ploeg in 2004, and the other two much earlier.

DAVID KLINGHOFFER IS WORRIED:

Why Jews Should Worry About "The Da Vinci Code"
David Klinghoffer (The Jewish Week)

With the release of the Sony Pictures version of Dan Brown�s mega-selling �The Da Vinci Code� in two weeks, worries continue to mount among traditional Christians about both the book�s and the movie�s impact. Should non-Christians be concerned?

Yes, we should. Jews in particular need to be aware of the gift Brown has given, in all innocence, to anti-Semites.

[...]

Besides highlighting the word "Zion" or "Sion," the two conspiracy theories [The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Brown's book] share an understanding of how to deal with ideas you disagree with. Rather than taking traditional Christian beliefs at face value and arguing against them (as I do in my current book, by the way), Brown portrays the religion itself as resting upon a conscious deception. That excuses him from having to make arguments at all.

Anti-Semites do the same thing. Rather than coming out honestly against Darwinism or Marxism or modernity in general, they concoct a story about Judaism as a lie and a conspiracy. "Protocols" remains a global phenomenon of staggering popularity, especially in the Arab world.

{...]

TWO BOOKS ON GODDESS TRADITIONS in ancient Israel and Judaism are reviewed in The Forward:

The Jewish Goddess, Past and Present
NONFICTION
By Jay Michaelson
May 5, 2006

Did God Have a Wife? Archeology And Folk Religion in Ancient Israel
By William G. Dever
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 360 pages, $25.

The Divine Feminine in Biblical Wisdom Literature
By Rami Shapiro
Skylight Paths Publishing, 240 pages, $16.99.

Excerpt:

Recently, however, archaeologists and biblical critics have revealed a far more complicated picture of how biblical Israelites lived their religious lives. As exhaustively summarized in William Dever's "Did God Have a Wife? Archeology and Folk Religion in Ancient Israel," most scholars now believe that the ancient Israelite world was far less monolithic, and monotheistic, than the Bible suggests. Household shrines, statuettes of male and female figures, and inscriptions and carvings describing "YHVH and His Asherah" all point to a decentralized biblical religion that was practiced largely within family structures, and well beyond the strictures of Jerusalem's orthodox elite. Some scholars believe that this evidence points to an indigenous "goddess worship" that regarded the biblical God as one half of a divine couple. Others say it suggests the influence of non-Israelite religions. And still others, such as Raphael Patai, whose enormously influential 1978 book, "The Hebrew Goddess," arguably inaugurated the popular appropriation of this scholarship, believe that the tradition of the Divine Feminine — a female half of God, or bride of God, or earth-centered, body-centered counterpart to the sky god Yah — endured long after the biblical period ended.

BIBLICAL STUDIES CARNIVAL V is up at Blue Cord.

THE TOP TEN MOST CONTROVERSIAL FILMS as listed by the Guardian include two Jesus movies, at places number 4 and 9:

1 Salò (1975) Pier Paolo Pasolini

2 Natural Born Killers (1994) Oliver Stone

3 Crash (1996) David Cronenberg

4 The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) Martin Scorsese

5 The Devils (1971) Ken Russell

6 Pretty Baby (1977) Louis Malle

7 Birth of a Nation (1915) DW Griffith

8 Straw Dogs (1971) Sam Peckinpah

9 Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Terry Jones

10 Bandit Queen (1994) Shekhar Kapur

THE GOSPEL OF JUDAS is placed in its Sethian Gnostic context by Professor John Turner in the Lincoln Journal Star. Excerpt:

“It (the Judas Gospel) may shock some people, but to me it just adds to the Sethian corpus,” Turner said.

He summarized some of the basic beliefs of the Sethians in this way: According the book of Genesis, the first man, Adam, had two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain killed Abel, and he and his descendants were marked for that crime. But two passages (Genesis 4:25 and 5:3) state that Adam had a third son “in his own likeness,” who was named Seth. The Sethians believed that while the material world was created by an ignorant, angry and jealous god, Adam himself had a spark of divinity that came from the true God, the Father who exists in the realm of pure spirit.

“Adam is actually smarter and more perceptive than the creator being,” Turner said. The god of this world attempts to deprive Adam and Eve of their immortality, driving them from the Garden of Eden after they eat from the tree of knowledge. But Seth inherits the spark of divinity and a soul that returns to the spiritual realm after death.

Seth is also called the Allogenes, meaning “of a different seed or race,” a term that also was applied to Jesus. “Revealers from the divine world appear from time to time, culminating with the heavenly Seth appearing in the guise of Jesus,” Turner explained.

In the Gospel of Judas, Jesus imparts esoteric teachings to Judas that he does not reveal to the other disciples. In fact, Jesus laughs at the other disciples because they pray to the false god of this world rather than worshipping the true eternal Father, whom Jesus identifies as a “great invisible spirit.”

LARRY STAGER'S STATEMENT OF CONCERN is covered today in a New York Times article: "Archaeologists Debate Whether to Ignore the Pasts of Relics." Excerpt:

Many scholars stress that no single policy fits all unprovenanced objects. There is a huge difference between, say, looted sculptures, which may be impossible to identify with a specific historical setting, and objects bearing inscriptions or texts, which can yield much information even when their origins are unknown. And some unprovenanced works can easily be faked while others cannot.

There is also a broad divide between archaeologists, who generally study material from documented sites and rely on the good graces of host countries with strict prohibitions against the antiquities trade, and scholars of ancient texts, who often do not work in the field and may have no qualms about drawing on unprovenanced objects in their research.

Adding complexity to the debate, Mr. Stager is a field archaeologist who directs a site in Israel that has been supported by two well-known antiquities collectors, Shelby White and her husband, Leon Levy, who died in 2003. The Shelby White-Leon Levy Program for Archaeological Publications at Harvard, of which Mr. Stager is a board member, finances articles and books about legitimate, scientific digs. Yet Ms. White's own collecting is the focus of an Italian investigation into the illicit antiquities trade.

Even supporters of the two associations' current rules acknowledge that new approaches are needed to address the recent plunder in Iraq and other regions. ...

Read it all.

Via the Iraq Crisis list. Chuck Jones adds:

I also take the liberty or reminding readers of a related statement, read by Michael Müller-Karpe at the Workshop "The Threat to Iraqâ's Cultural Heritage - Current Status and Future Prospects" (July 23, 2005), based on an earlier draft prepared for and read at the Rencontre's General Meeting on July 20, 2005. with editorial input from Clemens Reichel and Francis Deblauwe as well as others: http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IRAQ/ws_statement.html

AN OBITUARY FOR JOHN TREVER FROM THE A.P.:

Dead Sea Scrolls photographer John Trever dies
Associated Press

LAKE FOREST, Calif. - John C. Trever, the American scholar who photographed the Dead Sea Scrolls in Jerusalem in 1948, has died, his family reported. He was 90.

Trever died Saturday at his home in Lake Forest in Orange County, said his son, Albuquerque Journal political cartoonist John Trever.

[...]

FREE THE GOSPEL OF JUDAS TWENTY-SIX!

UNL prof an expert on Sethian gospels, wants more access

By BOB REEVES / Lincoln Journal Star

John Turner, professor of classics and religion at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is a scholar of the Coptic language and one of the leading experts on Sethian Gnosticism. That’s why he’s so eager to study the original documents contained in Codex Tchacos, the 1,700-year-old manuscript that contains the recently released Gospel of Judas and three other ancient religious works.

But he’s frustrated that he’s not able to examine the materials.

[...]

A transcription and translation are posted on the Web at www.nationalgeographic.com. The site also has some photos of the crumbling manuscripts for on-screen scrutiny, but only a few of the 26 pages of the gospel have been posted so far. Four pages of the manuscript are on display at National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Turner is examining the available material but wants to see more. He’d like to have photographs of each page of the manuscript, so he could analyze the Coptic characters and make his own judgment about whether the transcription by scholars Rodolphe Kasser and Gregor Wurst is accurate

[...]

Seriously, I know the National Geographic Society is publishing the pictures in a book later this year, and I appreciate them releasing the transcriptions and some photos pretty promptly, but I can't see how it would hurt them to let people like Professor Turner have photos of the rest of the document in advance.

UPCOMING SYRIAC CONFERENCE AND SESSION:

CSSS Special Symposium

Tradition, Interpretation and Appropriation in Syriac Prayer

Wednesday May 17, 2006 10am – 5:30 pm

University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario

University College, King’s College Circle

Croft Chapter House


http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.italic.gif
Programme



Introductory Note

Amir Harrak, University of Toronto

“‘Magianzing’ the Dragon in the Hymn of the Pearl"

Robin Darling Young, University of Notre Dame

“Lament, Liturgy and Prophesy in the Syriac Version of 4Ezra”

Hindy Najman, University of Toronto

“The Narrative Setting of Manasseh's Prayer in the Didascalia”

Judith C. Newman, University of Toronto

“Hebrew, Aramaic and Syriac Liturgical Expressions: Translational Similarities and Differences”

Harry Fox, University of Toronto

“Patterns of Prayer: The Hûssoyô Incense Rite of Forgiveness”

Joseph Amar, University of Notre Dame

“Iconography of the Western Syriac Liturgical Year”

Abdo Badwi, University of Kaslik, Beirut

“The East Syriac Liturgy Malka: Origins, Development, and Significance”

Amir Harrak, University of Toronto

Closing Remarks

Hindy Najman, University of Toronto



All are welcome

---------------------
The Canadian Society for Syriac Studies
csss@chass.utoronto.ca
www.chass.utoronto.ca/~csss
Phone: 416-978-3184
FAX 416-978-3305

From the Hugoye list.

There's also a call for papers for a Syriac session at a Patristics conference in Japan this fall:

The Third Conference of the Western Pacific Rim Patristics Society is due to be held between 29th September and 1st October 2006 at Nanzan University, Nagoya, Japan.

I am hoping to organise a "Syriac" session, consisting of several 20-minute papers, at the conference. So far, I have promises of papers from one Australian and two Japanese contributors. For the purpose, among others, of promoting Syriac and related studies in the Far East, it would be good if this number could be increased with the help of Syriacists either from within the "Western Pacific Rim" or from beyond. (It is not often that Syriacists have excuses for travelling to Japan. This may be your chance!).

The main theme of the conference this year is the "Use of the Gospels in Early Christianity". Papers for the Syriac session may but need not fall under this theme.

On the WPRPS, please see:
http://www.cecs.acu.edu.au/wprps.htm

On the 2006 conference, with "call for papers" and "registration form":
http://www.cecs.acu.edu.au/wprps-conf2006.htm

The deadline for submission of paper titles and 100-word abstracts is 30th June.

I ask those wishing/willing to take part in the Syriac session at the conference both to take the official steps for registration and to drop me a line at this e-mail address.

Hidemi Takahashi
Dept. of Area Studies
School of Arts and Sciences
University of Tokyo
e-mail: takahashi@ask.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Again, from the Hugoye list.

SIMON PARKER -- R.I.P. Sad news indeed. This just in from Jack Sasson's Agade list:

I got this dreadful news from Kathe Darr
======================================

With great sadness I am writing to inform you of the death of Dr. Simon B. Parker Saturday evening shortly after 7:00 p.m. Simon suffered a brain hemorrhage last weekend. He died peacefully with his family surrounding him.

Simon's home address is 47 Woodland Road, Newton, MA, 02466. His wife'sname is Sonia; their sons are Jonathan and Jeremy. Jonathan and his wife, Ann, have two children, Julian and Asher.

The family requests that instead of flowers, contributions be sent to a scholarship in Simon's honor. Money can be sent to Mr. Steve Morin, Office of Development and Alumni Relations, Boston University School of Theology, 745 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA, 02215.

Funeral arrangements will be posted as soon as are completed

*********
I will relay any future information on funeral arrangement. Let me notice here that
Simon Parker taught at School of Theology at Boston University where he was a Professor of Hebrew Bible and the Harrell F. Beck Scholar of Hebrew Scripture. I am reproducing from his website this brief notice about him and his. Please go there for a full listing of his publications.

"Professor Parker concentrates on the interpretation of biblical literature in its ancient literary, religious, and social context and on its significance for the church in the present day. His earlier research focused on Israel’s inheritance from earlier Canaanite culture (as represented especially in Ugaritic literature) and its transformation of that tradition. More recently his primary research interest has been the construction of the social and religious life of ancient Judeans out of Hebrew inscriptions in relation to other archaeological sources and biblical literature. He is the author of The Pre-Biblical Narrative Tradition (Scholars Press, 1988) and Stories in Scripture and Inscriptions (Oxford University Press, 1997) and has edited and contributed translations to Ugaritic Narrative Poetry (Scholars Press, 1997). For eight years he served as the general editor of the Society of BiblicalLiterature’s translation series, Writings from the Ancient World, editing seven volumes. He has published numerous articles in books and scholarly journals, as well as a few for a broader readership in church publications. Notable recent articles include: “ Official Attitudes toward Prophecy at Mari and in Israel,” Vetus Testamentum 43 (1993) 50-68; “The Beginning of the Reign of God: Psalm 82 as Myth and Liturgy,” Revue Biblique 102 (1995) 532-59; “Did the Authors of the Books of Kings Make Use of Royal Inscriptions?” Vetus Testamentum 50 (2000) 357-78; “Graves, Caves, and Refugees: An Essay in Microhistory,” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 27 (2003) 259-88.".

A QUARTER OF A MILLION INDIVIDUAL HITS! I just noticed the counter, which now reads 250,033. I don't know who number 250,000 was, but welcome anyway.

LIGHT BLOGGING TODAY. It's the May Day holiday and I've been trying to catch up with admin and get started on an upcoming seminar presentation on the More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Project. But I did manage to get the blog search engine working again. Anyone who has used it recently will have noticed that it was stuck in 2003. It now covers the entire blog again. And I've fiddled with the archive settings and moved it down to a less intrusive place. Now if I can just get the RSS feed working again ...

TWO NEW ISSUES OF DEAD SEA DISCOVERIES need to be noted. Here are the tables of contents:

Volume 12, Number 3, 2005

Articles

Observations on the Editorial Shaping of the So-Called Community Hymns from 1QHa and 4QHa (4Q427)
pp. 233-256(24)
Author: Harkins, Angela Kim

The Ideological and Literary Unity of 4QInstruction and its Authorship
pp. 257-279(23)
Author: Nitzan, Bilhah

4Q251: Midrash Mishpatim
pp. 280-302(23)
Author: Shemesh, Aharon

A Cave 4 Fragment of Divre Mosheh (4QDM) and the Text of 1Q22 1:7–10 and Jubilees 1:9, 14
pp. 303-312(10)
Author: Tigchelaar, Eibert

4Q245 (psDan' ar) and the High Priesthood of Judas Maccabaeus
pp. 313-362(50)
Author: Wise, Michael O.

Book Reviews

Book Reviews
pp. 363-374(12)

Volume 13, Number 1, 2006

Preface

Preface
pp. 1-3(3)
Author: Collins, John J.

Articles

The Book(s) Attributed to Noah
pp. 4-23(20)
Author: Stone, Michael E.

Marginalia on 4QInstruction
pp. 24-37(14)
Authors: Martínez, Florentino García

Isaiah 11:15: A New Interpretation Based on the Genesis Apocryphon
pp. 38-45(8)
Author: Eshel, Esther

A Statistical Analysis of the Textual Character of 4QSamuela (4Q51)
pp. 46-54(9)
Authors: Cross, Frank Moore; Saley, Richard J.

Fragments of a Leviticus Scroll (Aruglev) Found in the Judean Desert in 2004
pp. 55-60(6)
Authors: Eshel, Hanan; Baruchi, Yosi; Porat, Roi

The Scriptural Setting of the Book of Jubilees
pp. 61-72(12)
Author: Vanderkam, James C.

Exegetical Notes on 4Q225 "Pseudo-Jubilees"
pp. 73-98(26)
Author: Kugel, James

Towards a Study of the Uses of the Concept of Wilderness in Ancient Judaism
pp. 99-113(15)
Author: Najman, Hindy

Book Reviews

Book Reviews
pp. 114-125(12)

Links to the individual articles can be found on the pages linked to above. The articles require a paid personal or institutional subscription to access.

I'm very behind on recent journal issues. I'll try to catch up in the coming days or weeks.

JOHH C. TREVER -- R. I. P.

I am sorry to inform you that John Trever died on Saturday morning. I received the news today from Risa Levitt Kohn, who forwarded an e-mail from his son, Jim Trever. He writes, "There will be a memorial service for him next Saturday at 2:30pm or 3pm Pacific time at the Freedom Village Chapel 23442 El Toro Rd. Lake Forest, CA 92630."

John Trever was acting director of the American Schools of Oriental Research in Jerusalem in 1948 and he participated in the authentication of the first Dead Sea Scrolls, taking important photographs of Cave I material. He continued to work on the Scrolls through his lifetime. His book, The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Personal Account, has been published in revised form by Gorgias Press.

MORE ATTENTION is given to the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in a piece by Msgr. Pedro Lopez-Gallo in the B.C. Catholic, again inspired by the Gospel of Judas:

The Gospel of Judas
'Much ado about nothing'

By Msgr. Pedro Lopez-Gallo

The publication of the Gospel of Judas has made much noise for nothing, because this apparently new information about Judas, the villain, and the other disciples, the heroes, was already known and pronounced heretical about 150-180 years after the death of Jesus by the Church Fathers.

There were many other gospels similar to this that more or less resembled the inspired books of the Old and New Testament; they appeared about 40 to 60 years after Jesus rose from the dead. There were the gospels of James, of Bartholomew, of Nicodemus, of St. Thomas, of Mary, and a myriad more.

These books are called apocrypha, and include those books written by Jews for the purpose of continuing their tradition, for instance, the Assumption of Moses, the Sibylline Oracles, etc. Christians also wanted to complete other facts or miracles of the New Testament. Many heresies were scattered through these books. I want to describe, briefly, three of the most deplorable at the beginning of Christianity.

[...]

Actually, those Jewish books are technically called "pseudepigrapha" (see here). Christians wrote such Old Testament-related books too.

The three heresies he proceeds to discuss are Gnosticism, Manichaeism, and Docetism.

JAMES TABOR is interviewed in the Charlotte Observer about his book, The Jesus Dynasty. And the Observer also publishes excerpts from the book here.

DA VINCI CODE "DEBATE": I probably have already linked to this A.P. article by Richard N. Ostling, but since every newspaper on earth seems to be printing it in advance of the movie release, I'll note it (again?) here:

With movie due, 'Da Vinci' debate persists

RICHARD N. OSTLING
Associated Press

A line from Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" tells you why it's easily the most disputed religious novel of all time: "Almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false."

With 46 million copies in print, "Da Vinci" has long been a headache for Christian scholars and historians, who are worried about the influence on the faith from a single source they regard as wrong-headed.

[...]

I'm not sure I'd say there's been a "debate," exactly, since no one is actually defending the silly historical distortions in the book. (Ostling may not be responsible for the headline.) But there's been lots of talk and lots of noting of the countless errors in the book. Anyhow, the movie premiers worldwide on 17-19 May. I'm going on the 22nd with some other St. Mary's College people and I'll let you know what I think.

PSEUDEPIGRAPHA WATCH: The Pseudepigrapha got a little media attention in April, thanks to the Gospel of Judas. First, in "GOSPEL OF JUDAS: AUTHENTIC FRAUD," by Jon Christian Ryter (April 9, 2006, NewsWithViews.com):

Any well-read Christian who has done any reasonably in-depth analysis of the Pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea Scrolls or the manuscripts commonly known as the Lost Books of the Bible knows from the text they were not reading the Word of God but that of men attempting to insert their views into the Canon of God.

Then in the Aberdeen American News, SD, on 16 Apr 2006, one Art Marmorstein, Aberdeen, billed as a professor of history at NSU, published the article "Story about old, old story an old story." In it we read:

But, old or not, none of these writings were genuine. They were, without exception, what ancient historians call pseudepigrapha: works that claim authorship by someone other than the true author.

Now quite a few pseudepigraphal works have survived from the ancient world. We've got Pseudo-Xenophon, Pseudo-Plato and Pseudo-Aristotle. But most of the surviving pseudepigraphal works tried to pass themselves off as written by one Biblical figure or another.

Many of these pseudepigraphal works try to do nothing more than fill in the gaps in the Biblical stories. One book gives us an account of Jesus' boyhood, while another elaborates on the ministry of Paul and yet another tells us about the martyrdom of the prophet Isaiah.

But pseudepigraphal works were often more than just attempts at historical fiction: Many were attempts to manufacture proof for doctrines that aren't clearly stated in the canonical scriptures.

Well, more or less. Technically, "Old Testament Pseudepigrapha" (singular "pseudepigraphon") are ancient fictional works purporting to be written by Old Testament characters or in Old Testament times. "New Testament Apocrypha" (singular, "apocryphon") are like works purporting to be written by New Testament characters or in New Testament times. Also, "Old Testament Apocrypha" are the eighteen books (plus a few added chapters to canonical books) found in the Catholic OT biblical canon, but not the Protestant or Jewish canons. But the term "pseudepigrapha" ("fictional writings") can also be used in a general sense to mean books written by someone other than the supposed author. Also, "apocrypha" is used in a colloquial sense to mean false stories or rumors.

I do take issue with some of the rest of what he says:

Is it legitimate to use such works as if they were reliable historical sources? Most of the time, the scholarly community would laugh at the thought. If my excited Christian friend had tried to use the Acts of Pilate to prove to one of his professors the validity of the Gospel story, his whole argument would have been met with no more than a patronizing smile and perhaps the advice to be a bit less credulous. And then there is the warning in the Apocalypse of Peter that those who slay unborn children will be tortured forever. Cite that as evidence of apostolic doctrine and you'll get the same patronizing smile and an immediate dismissal of your argument. And if you champion a second century forgery like the Gospel of Judas as a legitimate historical source, claim that Judas was really a good guy, and insist that Judas alone of the disciples really understood what Jesus was all about, academics will smile patronizingly and ... no, wait!

The academic world will hail you as a star. You'll get a prestigious professorship. The media will gush over your work. Your books will make the best-seller lists. National Geographic will do a special on your findings - and play it on Palm Sunday.

The healthy skepticism essential to solid academics and solid reporting? Gone in a heartbeat if there's any chance to slander the Gospel. At Christmas and Easter especially one can count on every major media outlet to feature one story or another hyping the latest "scholarly" alternative to the traditional understanding of Jesus. And a story that turns things around so much that Judas is now a hero - well, that's got to be worth at least 30 pieces of silver to somebody.

In fact, I know of no biblical scholar who takes the view that the Gospel of Judas is a legitimate historical source for the first century. If any did, the rest of us would laugh them off the stage. The Gospel of Judas is, of course, a very important new source for Gnostic legends and theology of the second century. There were some half-hearted attempts in the media (to their credit, not very many) to try to stir up worry that the Gospel of Judas somehow affected first-century history, but scholars, theologians, and lay people declined to take the bait and insisted on appreciating the text for what it is. I would expect a professor of history to be better informed.

CHALDO-ASSYRIAN WATCH:

European Parliament Meets Assyrian Politician on Assyrian Question (AINA)

An official meeting of European Parliamentarians headed by Mr A.J. Maat, representative of the European Human Rights Commission, and Ms Attiya Gamri (Dutch Provincial Parliamentarian) and other members of the European Parliament took place on 18-19 April 2006 in Europe's capital Brussels, Belgium. The meeting dealt particularly with the situation of the Assyrian (also known as Chaldean and Syriac) people in Iraq. After her visit at the beginning of April, Ms Gamri was able to highlight in detail the obstacles and oppressive circumstances that limit the freedom of the Iraqi Assyrians' ethnic and political rights. This is happening especially in northern Iraq, where there is relative peace. However, the Kurdish political parties -- by means of Kurdish soldiers and militiamen -- are manipulating the political climate very aggressively, especially in regards to the Christian Assyrians who have always been peaceful and have been seeking for political and ethnic rights without the use of violence.

[...]

The situation of Assyrians in Syria is also a matter of concern.

THE REFURBISHMENT AND REDESIGN OF THE ISRAEL MUSEUM is covered in a long article in the Jerusalem Post ("An inside job"). It's too long to excerpt properly, but here's what the architect was up against:

THE ISRAEL MUSEUM was designed nearly half a century ago by Haifa architect and Technion professor Alfred Mansfeld and interior architect Dora Gad, who won the competition for the campus back in 1959. After the museum opened, they were awarded the Israel Prize.

While the museum looks wonderful when seen from the heights of Rehavia across the Valley of the Cross, it presents no face at all when seen from its parking lot or even from most points inside the campus. The museum is many times bigger than it originally was. The additions have been made piecemeal, with the result that visitors get lost in a labyrinth and often miss key displays altogether.

Mansfeld's basic mistakes were many. He sited the main buildings up on the crown of the hill, a kilometer from the parking lot, with the uphill climb offering no protection from Jerusalem's harsh extremes of climate. The design of his modular pavilions did not work because of their square format and mushroom design, which relied on an obtrusive central supporting pillar carrying both drainage and the power supply. The roofing was connected to the walls by glass that let sunlight fall on the exhibits and, for a while, also let in rain. The windows were eventually sealed and painted black.

The museum's previous director, Dr. Martin Weyl, battled Mansfeld's resistance to change over a period of years. Mansfeld opposed the design of the Impressionist pavilion, the first major addition to successfully ignore the mushroom approach.

Mansfeld's last gasp was supervision of the construction of the Weisbord entrance pavilion designed by Danish architect Jorgen Bo. Even before it was completed, it became clear that this large building was the silliest and most impractical museum structure ever built. Hostile to the end, an ailing Mansfeld was eventually ejected. He and Gad are no longer alive.

HEROD THE GREAT'S HARBOR is now an underwater archaeological park:

Herod's harbour turns itself into bit of a dive

By Stephen Farrell The Times

Our correspondent is swept away by Caesarea's latest attraction
FLOAT out beyond the Crusader city walls, Roman aqueduct and 19th-century mosque. Then descend through a cloud of quicksilver bubbles 20ft and 2,000 years to Herod The Great’s sunken harbour.

Here, just off Caesarea port, a unique underwater archaeological park opened yesterday, showcasing 80,000sq m of a sunken harbour built by the biblical king of the Jews for Caesar Augustus.

One small correction:

He [first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus] hailed the magnificence of Herod, who also built Jerusalem’s second Jewish Temple of biblical antiquity. “The king ordered the building of many structures of white stone. He glorified the city with palaces pleasing to the eye,” Josephus wrote. Caesarea, built by Herod between 22BC and 10BC, was the Roman capital of Judea for 600 years. It was named after Caesar Augustus, who provided the money and engineering expertise.

The second temple was built in the late sixth century BCE. Herod rebuilt it, effectively tearing it down and putting up a third, much grander temple.

THE DA VINCI CODE JUDGE'S SECRET CODE has been solved. It's not exactly an Enochian revelation.

THE APOCRYPHA AND PSEUDEPIGRAPHA are getting a lot of attention in July's International SBL meeting in Edinburgh. Here's the program:

3-1
Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
7/03/2006
8:45 AM to 12:30 PM
Room: Seminar 10 - William Robertson

Theme: Second Temple Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha

James Davila, University of St. Andrews-Scotland, Presiding
Michael Tait, Pontificio Istituto Biblico
Glorious and Resplendent? The Resurrection and the Resurrection Body in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha (30 min)
David A. Fiensy, Kentucky Christian University
Sacred Space in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha (30 min)
Ida Frohlich, Pázmány Péter Catholic University
The Temple as a Theme in the Book of Tobit (30 min)
Break (45 min)
Pierre Johan Jordaan, North-West University
Text, Ideology and Body in the Additions to Esther (30 min)
Jacques van Ruiten, University of Groningen
Chronological and Spatial Symmetry in the Book of Jubilees (30 min)
Jamal-Dominique Hopkins, Azusa Pacific University
The Description of Sacrificial Worship in the Book of Jubilees: Its Interpretation by and Authoritative Status for the Dead Sea Scrolls Movement (30 min)

---

3-16
Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
7/03/2006
2:00 PM to 5:45 PM
Room: Seminar 10 - William Robertson

Theme: More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha

Pierluigi Piovanelli, University of Ottawa, Presiding
Archie T. Wright, Regent University
Philo and the Book of Watchers (30 min)
Markus H. McDowell, Westmont College
Jael in Pseudo-Philo’s Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum: A Comparative and Intertextual Approach (30 min)
J.R.C. Cousland, University of British Columbia
When, Where, and Why: Space and Time in the “Books of Adam and Eve” (30 min)
Break (45 min)
James R. Davila, University of St. Andrews-Scotland
More Jewish Pseudepigrapha (30 min)
Kristian Heal, Brigham Young University
Ps. Basil's History of Joseph: A Key to the Early Syriac Tradition (30 min)

---

4-18
Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
7/04/2006
2:00 PM to 5:15 PM
Room: Lecture Theatre - William Robertson

Bradley J. Embry, International College and Graduate School
A Story of Love? Use of Song of Songs in the Odes of Solomon (30 min)
Rivka Nir, Open University of Israel
The Conversion of Aseneth in a Christian Context (30 min)
Edna Isreali, Tel Aviv University
Who Is "Taxo"? Re-thinking the Origins of the Assumption of Moses (30 min)
Break (45 min)
Pierluigi Piovanelli, University of Ottawa
Christian Apocryphal Texts for the New Millennium: Achievements, Prospects, and Challenges (30 min)
Istvan Czachesz, University of Groningen
Cognitive Constructs of the Divine in Apocryphal Literature (30 min)

---

5-17
Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
7/05/2006
2:00 PM to 5:45 PM
Room: Lecture Theatre - William Robertson

Petri Luomanen, University of Helsinki
Jewish-Christian Gospels: A New Reconstruction (30 min)
Bas van Os, University of Groningen
The Date and Provenance of the Gospel of Philip (30 min)
Johanna Brankaer, Université Catholique de Louvain
Myth as Demonstration: The Program of On the Origin of the World (NHC II, 5; XIII, 2) (30 min)
Break (45 min)
Vahan Hovhanessian, St. Nersess Armenian Seminary
The Apocryphal Acts of Thomas: A Glance at a Lost Original or an Orthodox Revision? (30 min)
Jon Ma Asgeirsson, University of Iceland
Between the God of the Hebrews and the God of the Sun: Building the Kingdom of Heaven in the Latin Passio-Version of the Acts of Thomas (30 min)
Paul G. Schneider, University of South Florida
The Johannine Origins and Purpose of the Lord's Secret Sacrament in the Acts of John (30 min)

Abstracts are available for each paper, but I don't have time to put in the links. To get them, go to this page and enter "pseudepigrapha" as a keyword.

IN THE MAIL -- my review copy of:

Philip Alexander, Mystical Texts: Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice And Related Manuscripts (Companion to the Qumran Scrolls 7; London: Clark, 2006)

SOME ODD PSEUDO-HISTORY appears in an essay by Genevieve Cora Fraser entitled "Kerry Sponsors Collective Punishment of Palestinians on Behalf of Israel." It appears in a number of places but seems to have originated with AMIN. I have nothing to say about the main thesis of the piece, but this bit caught my eye during my usual Google searches:

To set the record straight, Jesus was a Palestinian but not a Jew. He was of Arabic origin, though religiously a Hebrew, and spoke Aramaic. This also means that the Jews could not possibly have been responsible for the drama that led to the crucifixion, despite some nasty Christian accusations and scape-goating. The word Jew was coined in the 10th century to describe the European converts.

Where does one start with something like this?

1. Our central source for information about Jesus is the New Testament. All four Gospels present Jesus as a Jew. Matthew 1 and Luke 3 give genealogies. He is explicitly called a Jew (by the Samaritan woman) in John 4:9. The Roman soldiers sarcastically call him "King of the Jews" in Mark 15:18 and Pilate puts a placard with the same title on the cross in 15:26. And in general, Jesus' entire environment is Jewish through and through.

2. It is difficult to figure out what Fraser means by "Palestinian." Her usage is an anachronism for Jesus' time. There were Jews (Yehudiyyim or Ioudaioi) who had been native to the area for many centuries. In Jesus' time there likely were some indigenous non-Jews like the Syrophoenician woman from the region of Tyre and Sidon mentioned in Mark 7:24-30. (Matthew calls her a "Canaanite" in 15:22.) But Jesus clearly considered her an outsider and helped her only reluctantly.

Modern Palestinians likely have some genetic connection with people like her (with lots of Arab and Crusader genes mixed in), but culturally they have virtually nothing in common with them. They speak a very different language and follow monotheistic religions (Islam and Christianity) rather than West-Semitic polytheism. I don't know of positive evidence for "Canaanites" actually in Judea in the first century (drop me a note if you do), but it's likely enough there were some. Galilee was on the border of late-"Canaanite" (Phoenician) cities and I don't doubt that a fair number lived in Galilee as well, although current evidence points to it being predominantly Jewish.

Modern Palestinians certainly have a long connection with the land, and any national identity is necessarily a cultural construct, but to call anyone in the first century a "Palestinian" in the modern sense is a big leap of logic. It is a much greater leap than calling Ioudaioi and Yehudiyyim (Yehudayyin) in the first century "Jews," since besides the long geographic presence and the genetic connection, there is a cultural and linguistic continuity and even a continuity in the use of the name (see next point). In any case, Jesus was not a "Palestinian" except in the sense that he lived in a region that was called "Palestine" (deriving and generalizing from "Philistia") quite a lot since about the second century CE.

3. The word "Jew comes" from the Hebrew word יהודי (member of the tribe of Judah) which is found in the Hebrew Bible and, once or twice, in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The earliest extrabiblical appearance of which I am aware is the Aramaic form יהודיא in the fifth century BCE Elephantine papyri (more here). The Greek Ioudaios, very common in literature of Jesus' time, including the New Testament, comes from the Hebrew. By the first century it clearly had an ethnic-religious sense over and beyond any geographical sense. The Latin Iudaeus is the source of our word "Jew."

4. I agree with Ms. Fraser that, whatever the circumstances of Jesus' death (and in my opinion we don't have much reliable information about those circumstances), Christian scapegoating of Jews over it is both wicked and idiotic. But how Jesus supposedly actually being an Arab would bear on the whole issue isn't very clear to me.

As always with these things, when I find tendentious errors in an article or book which could have been corrected with the most basic research, it doesn't make me trust the author about other things I don't know about.

UPDATE: I've added a third paragraph to #2 to clarify what I was trying to say there.

JEWISH SHAMANS? They should read my book. (Not the one up in the right corner, one of the others.)

DEATH MIASMA is posing a threat to the newly expanded Knesset:

Burial caves raise controversy

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS (Jerusalem Post

First, Jews of the priestly class were instructed to veer left after a cave housing centuries-old ancient graves was uncovered underneath the city's main north-south road.

Next, work on Jerusalem's Museum of Tolerance was abruptly stopped after an ancient Muslim cemetery was found on the site, and Islamic leaders petitioned the High Court of Justice against the construction.

Now, the discovery of Second Temple period graves during a three-year expansion project at the Knesset has set off a ruckus among religious cohenimMKs concerned with violating ancient Jewish law.

[...]

THE DA VINCI CODE JUDGE gets in on the act:

Judge joins Da Vinci fun with a code of his own

By Ian Evans and Steve Bird (The Times

Can you break the code? Read the judgment in full and send your ideas to our weblog

IT HAS provided global intrigue and controversy but the enigma that is The Da Vinci Code is not over yet.

In another twist to the publishing phenomenon, it was disclosed yesterday that the judge in the recent plagiarism court case included a coded message in his written judgment.

[...]

You just can't make this stuff up. Read the rest and see if you can solve the code.

A NEW ISSUE OF THE JOURNAL OF SEMITIC STUDIES (51.1, Spring 2006) is out. Here's the table of contents:

Holger Gzella
Die Entstehung Des Artikels Im Semitischen: Eine ‘Phönizische’ Perspektive
J Semitic Studies 2006 51: 1-18; doi:10.1093/jss/fgi080

Ilsung Andrew Yun
A Case of Linguistic Transition: The Nerab Inscriptions
J Semitic Studies 2006 51: 19-43; doi:10.1093/jss/fgi081

Rivka Shemesh
Direct Discourse Markers in Mishnaic Hebrew
J Semitic Studies 2006 51: 45-58; doi:10.1093/jss/fgi082

Matthew P. Anstey
The Grammatical-Lexical Cline in Tiberian Hebrew
J Semitic Studies 2006 51: 59-84; doi:10.1093/jss/fgi083

Adam H. Becker
The Discourse on Priesthood (Bl Add 18295, ff. 137b–140b): An Anti-Jewish text on the abrogation of the Israelite Priesthood
J Semitic Studies 2006 51: 85-115; doi:10.1093/jss/fgi084

Mark S. Wagner
Arabic Influence on Sabazian Poetry in Yemen
J Semitic Studies 2006 51: 117-136; doi:10.1093/jss/fgi085

Leigh N. Chipman and Efraim Lev
Syrups from the Apothecary's Shop: a Genizah Fragment Containing one of the Earliest Manuscripts of Minhaj Al-Dukkan
J Semitic Studies 2006 51: 137-168; doi:10.1093/jss/fgi086

Plus lots of interesting book reviews.

Requires a paid personal or institutional subscription to access. But you can read the abstracts for free.

MARY MAGDALENE AS A FALLEN ANGEL AND VAMPIRE. Not surprisingly, the Gospel of Judas is involved. (Or a Gospel of Judas, anyway.) One for Joss Whedon?

THE GREAT POINTING CRISIS: Peter Williams alerts us to one of the great challenges of our generation. But there is hope.

"SO YOU WANT TO BE AN ARCHAEOLOGIST?" Brian Fagan has some advice in the current issue (May-June 2006) of Archaeology Magazine. And AIA President Jane Waldbaum comments in "A Hidden Discipline." Also, there's an excerpt from the outrageously funny Zombie Survival Guide on the history of zombie outbreaks: "Archaeology of the Undead."

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH -- The BBC has an article that surveys the archaeology of the Temple Mount and its attendant political complications:

Jerusalem's volatile archaeology

By Malcolm Billings
Presenter, Trench Warfare: The Politics of Archaeology

One of the most visited archaeological sites in Jerusalem is also charged with emotion that has erupted in riot and bloodshed.

MIQRA is a new discussion group on the Hebrew Bible sponsored by the Society of Biblical Literature. Here is the description:

Miqra is an online site for scholarly dialogue about literary, linguistic, archaeological, social, political, historical, and ideological issues in studying the Hebrew Bible. It is not for discussion of contemporary religious interpretations of texts or (above all!) confessional/doctrinal matters. The assumption is that contributors will have the necessary expertise in Hebrew and cognate languages; knowledge of ANE history, literature, and culture; familiarity with the ever-expanding reading strategies ("methods") used in biblical studies; and an interest in collegial discussion – all of which should be hallmarks of our discipline. This is a moderated list, which means that your comments will be screened to make certain posts conform to the above standards. My interest is not in limiting debate but promoting scholarly discussion free of ad hominem attacks and other types of heavy-handed rhetoric.

REFUTING THE DA VINCI CODE is shooting fish in a barrel, but these fish do keep on coming back. Inspired by the imminent release of the film, the Associated Press has a new rebuttal article that quotes lots of big names and makes the usual points.

As film arrives, ‘Da Vinci Code’ debate renews
Churches, scholars at issue with many of the novel’s central themes

BLOGGER IS JAMMED. This is the third message I've tried to post today. The first two are listed as published on my Edit Posts page, but when I tried to publish them, they publish cycle went into an infinite loop until it timed out and neither ever showed up on the blog. I can't find anything about planned outages, so I don't know what the problem is -- perhaps another system failure. I'm assuming the posts will appear eventually. Sorry -- on behalf of Blogger -- for the delay.

UPDATE (9:18 pm): Okay, Blogger is back. I had to republish all the posts, but here they are now.

HAROLD BLOOM'S BOOK Jesus and Yahweh: The Names Divine is reviewed by James Wood in The New Republic (requires free registration to access):

"WHAT HAROLD BLOOM CAN TEACH GOD"

The review is entertaining, if purple ("This being Bloom, everything must be worn three or four times at a stretch, like a waif's underwear ..."), and concludes that Bloom is a closet theologian and a Gnostic:

But of course theology has not altogether disappeared. There is a covert, unconfessed theology behind Bloom's theology of aesthetics. For there is indeed a sense in which he simply does not believe in Christ as he believes in Yahweh. He would murmur that he does not believe in Christ "as a literary creation"; that his disbelief has not been suspended by the Gospels as Genesis and Exodus suspends it. But I suspect that this is not just a literary belief. How is it different, really, from the beliefs of thousands of quite un-Bloomian Jews? Like them, Bloom rightly prefers Yahweh to Christ. For him, Yahweh is God and Jesus is only a man pretending to be God: standard fare. What else can it mean to say that the New Testament is not as successful as the Torah because the Torah "is God" whereas the New Testament merely argues that "a man has replaced Scripture"? Isn't this just a way of saying that Jesus is not the Messiah?

Bloom will not admit to this kind of actually theological belief, because he is wedded to the sole theology of art, to pondering the Bible only as what he calls "high literature." A theological belief would need theological argument, but Bloom prefers a belief beyond argument, a belief about which one cannot ever say that so-and-so is "mistaken" to hold it: "If Smith was mistaken, then so were they, but I hardly know just what it could mean to say that the Kabbalists or Joseph Smith were mistaken." Instead, Bloom prefers the pictures and branching hypotheses of Gnosticism, a system he never seems to think of as theological, doubtless because it seems to him so boldly fictive or poetic.

Yet the most powerful part of Jesus and Yahweh, the moment when the book really comes alive, is when, ironically enough, Bloom is being theological. Near the end, he gives a brief summary of his cherished Gnostic and Kabbalistic beliefs, and then launches a series of anguished laments. Generally, Bloom's Gnosticism has been inert, theologically speaking--he seems to have so little interest in its fundamental raison d'être, which is to explain the large questions of theodicy; but at the end of his book Bloom gives voice to a kind of plangent Gnostic complaint, whereby he asks Yahweh, in effect, why he has abandoned us--and more particularly, why he has abandoned the Jews. Where did God go? Bloom wonders if Yahweh is off in space, nursing his lovelessness. Or perhaps, following Jack Miles, God has deserted us because he has withdrawn into the contradictions of his own character?

Sounds kind of depressing. But I haven't read the book.

BOOK REVIEW:

Material witness
By Joshua Schwartz (Haaretz)

"Tarbut Khomrit Be'eretz Yisrael Beyemai Hatalmud" ("Material Culture in Eretz-Israel in the Talmudic Period") by Daniel Sperber, Yad Yitzhak Ben Zvi and Bar-Ilan University, Volume II, 185 pages

"We (yeshiva students) want to know what Abaye and Rava said, while they (academic researchers) want to know what they wore," goes a wry comment attributed to the yeshiva world. No one denies that the essence of Talmud study is the discussion of the text itself and not the historical, social or literary background of the issue or its linguistic and philological features. However, it is impossible to properly understand halahka (Jewish law) and aggadah (homiletics) without familiarity with the lifestyle of the Mishnah and Talmud periods, which requires broad cultural knowledge and a solid grounding in ancient languages, archeology and history.

Talmudic literature is full of references to everyday life that are important for understanding the text even on the simplest level. For those reading or studying this material many generations later, the physical reality of those days is not always comprehensible, and this creates an obstacle to "real learning." Daniel Sperber's book, which presents the reader with various features of life in Talmudic times and illuminates aspects of the material culture in those days, demonstrates how essential critical scientific research is for understanding the Talmudic issues.

[...]

(Via the Agade list.)

MY E-MAIL ADDRESS above in the masthead (blogger at paleojudaica dot com) is now working again. I seem to have done something to glitch it when I was following the impenetrable geekese instructions for renewing the domain name. But it's up and running again now. Sorry for any inconvenience.

SPEAKING OF ST. GEORGE, here's a conference announcement from the Hugoye list:

Subject: ARAM Forthcoming Conference

Dear Colleague,
I am writing again to update you on the progress of the ARAM Twenty Second International Conference on "Iconography and Mythology of Prophet Elijah, St. George and al-Khodor in the Syrian Orient", to be held at Oxford University, 4-6 July 2006.
The conference will start on Tuesday 4 July at 9am, finishing on Thursday 6 July at 5pm. Each speaker's paper is limited to 30 minutes, with an additional 10 minutes for discussion.
I would like to thank those who have already answered our first announcement of the ARAM conference, and they will receive soon the list of the speakers with the programme of the conference.
I would like also to inform you that we can still accept another five speakers, but we need their names before mid-May 2006.
If you know of academic colleagues who might like to contribute to the conference, please forward this message to them or send us their names and email addresses.
All papers given at the conference will be considered for publication in a
future edition of the ARAM periodical, subject to editorial review.
I am also writing to remind you of our ARAM new website
(www.aramsociety.org), which aims to update our colleagues and friends on ARAM academic activities. ARAM has also its own new email address:
aram@aramsociety.org
However, you can still use our current email address at Oxford University:
aram@orinst.ox.ac.uk
Both email addresses can reach our ARAM Society.

Thank you very much for your interest in our ARAM Society.
Yours sincerely,

Shafiq Abouzayd (Dr.)
ARAM Society
The Oriental Institute
Oxford University
Pusey Lane
Oxford OX1 2LE, UK.
Tel: ++44-1865-514041 Fax: ++44-1865-516824

THE SECRETS OF JUDAS, by James M. Robinson is reviewed in "The redemption of Judas" (Waterloo Record) by William Klassen. He starts with an third-century ivory carving that he thinks may have been made by the same group that produced the Gospel of Judas. He also defends the National Geographic Society and their consultants on the project, of whom he is one. Excerpt:

For all its strengths, Robinson's book also has some serious flaws. He offers an extremely biased account of the events and negotiations which led to the publishing of the Judas manuscript and its public release by the National Geographic Society. He makes serious accusations against the museum in Geneva which owns the codex and National Geographic.

Some of the accusations are patently based on rumour and are, to my mind, totally false. For example, he indicates that the people whom National Geographic brought in as consultants and swore to six months of secrecy, were paid handsomely. As he puts it, they "have been bought off (no doubt with considerably more than 30 pieces of silver) and sworn to silence on a stack of Bibles -- or on a stack of papyrus leaves." As one of those consultants, I can assure Robinson that not a penny was paid to me, let alone any pieces of silver.

Robinson criticizes the National Geographic for resorting to sensationalism, but on several occasions offers his own bits of sensationalism. The discovery of the Gospel of Judas is a sensational event. Moreover, the way in which the 1,700-year-old manuscript survived a group of camel drivers drawing lots for it, to say nothing of the conniving of antiquity dealers and 15 years of disintegration in a safety deposit box, is nothing short of a miracle.

HAPPY EASTER to those celebrating in the Orthodox tradition.

UPDATE: The Department of Cosmic Synchronicities reports that today is also St. George's Day and both the birth and the death date of William Shakespeare.