THE EARLIEST SURVIVING NORTHWEST SEMITIC TEXT?

Hebrew U. presents Semitic snake spells (JTA)
The earliest continuous Semitic text ever deciphered was displayed publicly for the first time Monday at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Richard Steiner, professor of Semitic languages and literature at Yeshiva University, interpreted Semitic passages in Egyptian texts discovered more than a century ago inscribed on the subterranean walls of the pyramid of King Unas at Saqqara in Egypt sometime between the 25th and 30th centuries BCE.

Earlier than PaleoJudaica's usual time frame, but too cool not to mention.

The passages, which were meant to protect royal mummies against poisonous snakes, were written in hieroglyphic characters, but Steiner discovered that they were composed in the Semitic language spoken by the Canaanites in the third millennium BCE, an archaic form of the languages later known as Phoenician and Hebrew.

The Canaanite priests of the ancient city of Byblos, in present-day Lebanon, provided these texts to the kings of Egypt.

It's not strictly speaking "Canaanite," since the "Canaanite shift" (original long a changes to long o) didn't happen until the late second millennium BCE. Still, the early third-millennium natives of Byblos would have spoken a dialect that was perhaps very early (proto-?)Northwest Semitic and ancestral to Phoenician and a sort of great-great aunt to Hebrew.

Although the Egyptians viewed their culture as far superior to that of their neighbors, the find shows that their morbid fear of snakes made them open to borrowing Semitic magic.

Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes?

UPDATE: The story is also covered in the Jerusalem Post (here via the Agade list). Most of the information is the same, but note the following:

"This finding should be of great interest to cultural historians, linguists and Biblical scholars" Steiner said.

"This is a sensational discovery," said Hebrew University Professor Moshe Bar-Asher who is the president of the Academy of the Hebrew Language.

"It is the earliest attestation of a Semitic language, in general, and Proto-Canaanite, in particular."

The texts also shed light on several rare words in the Bible, Steiner said.

Also, Manuscript Boy e-mails with the information that a lecture by Steiner in Hebrew also deals with this text. You can download it from the Hebrew University website as a PDF file here.

Today's Ancient Judaism Seminar in St. Andrews went very well. I'll try to post something on it tomorrow.

I hope Blogger doesn't eat this update again. I thought we were past that!

UPDATE (24 January): Another tidbit from a widely disseminated A.P. article:

The Semitic language of these texts that have now been deciphered was a very archaic form of the languages later known as Phoenician and Hebrew, Steiner said.

The text includes words that have the same meaning as in Hebrew, like "yad" for hand, "ari" for lion, and "beit" for house, he said.

UPDATE: Reader Aaron Koller e-mails:

Following your links, I read Steiner's paper; it seems he thinks the dialect he's found does show the Canaanite shift. The "traditional" dating is based on its non-existence in Ugaritic, but if Ugaritic is outside the Canaanite family anyway, this may simply push the date of the shift back by a thousand years, and clarify to some extent the position of Ugaritic in NWS.

I seem to recall some limited evidence for the Canaanite shift in the Mari Letters in the early second millennium BCE, but to have it nealy a millennium earlier than that would be very interesting.

UPDATE: Nice wordplay at Metafiller: Snakes off a Pharaoh. Good supplementary links too. I thought about this inscription and its location on a wall and was tempted to say "Snakes on a Plane," but I restrained myself. Until now.

UPDATE (26 January): An Egyptologist is skeptical.

UPDATE (27 January): Duane Smith comments on the Canaanite shift over at Abnormal Interests.

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH:

Islamic Movement alleges Israeli dig under J'lem's Temple Mount
By Nadav Shragai, Yoav Stern and Meron Rapoport, Haaretz Correspondents

The Southern Branch of the Islamic Movement, headed by Ra'am-Ta'al chairman MK Ibrahim Sarsour, on Sunday accused Israel of carrying out excavations underneath Jerusalem's Temple Mount, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.

Sarsour also claimed the Israel Antiquities Authority paid a Palestinian vendor $60,000 for his store along the Temple Mount. The Israel Antiquities Authority denied the accusation.

Earlier on Sunday, the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement presented pictures taken two weeks ago that allegedly documented excavations near the Temple Mount.

[...]

An inquiry by Haaretz revealed that the excavations referred to by Sarsour were carried out some 100 meters from the Temple Mount and were stopped due to lack of funds. The excavations, carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority at the behest of a Jewish group on property owned by businessman Aaron Mosovitch, was first revealed by Haaretz about a year ago.

In the article, archaeologists said the excavations were not only vertical, but horizontal, and advanced to within 60 meters of the Temple Mount. However, archaeologists claimed the purpose of the dig was to clear out an old garbage-filled tunnel to determine whether it posed a safety hazard.

[...]

There's more coverage of the claims by Al-Jazeerah, Arutz Sheva, and Ynet News. Similar claims were made in January of 2006 and I covered them here.

UPDATE: More, via Joseph I. Lauer:

Hadash calls for urgent Knesset debate on Jerusalem excavation
By Meron Rapoport

The Hadash-Ta'al Knesset faction has requested an urgent debate in the Knesset Interior Committee following the report published in today's Hebrew edition of Haaretz magazine on excavations the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) is carrying out in Jerusalem's Old City.

The IAA, which is carrying out the excavation for the Ateret Kohanim association, has dug 12 meters into the foundations of a Jewish-owned building in the Muslim Quarter, 80 meters from the Temple Mount, and has progressed about 20 meters to the east under other buildings, toward the Temple Mount.

[...]

[Director of the Jerusalem district of the IAA, Jon] Seligman said excavation to the east "has ended for the time being." He also said he had not heard about a possibility that the dig would link up to the Western Wall Tunnel. However, sources involved in the excavation said they had heard from its directors that this was the case. Attorney Eitan Geva, who represents the owner of the building, said the intention is to build a museum at the site where finds discovered during the excavation would be displayed. Eitan said the excavation to the east involved clearing out a channel that had been discovered, to ascertain whether it endangered the building's foundation, and that after the earth was removed, it was sealed. There was no intention to use it or continue digging eastward, Eitan added.

[...]

But it appears that people were not informed of digging going under their houses, although there is a legal requirement that they be notified.

WHAT IS A JEWISH MYTH? asks Rabbi Geoffrey W. Dennis in the New-Age-but-thoughtful Llewellyn Journal. The essay is more about what myth is in general, but it does touch on Judaism as well.

FREE DIGITAL BOOKS ON SYRIAC MATTERS! "Lagus1974" sends the following note to the Hugoye list:

You can download for free the following books (in various digital formats) at this site - http://www.archive.org/details/texts -

Mitchell, C.W. (ed.), S. Ephraim's Prose Refutations of Mani, Marcion, and Bardaisan. Vol. 1: The Discourses Addressed to Hypatius (London: Williams and Norgate, 1912).

Hill, J.H., A Dissertation on the Gospel Commentary of S. Ephraem the Syrian with a Scriptural Index to his Works (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1896).

Cureton, W. (ed.), History of the Martyrs in Palestine, by Eusebius, Bishop in Caesarea, Discovered in a Very Ancient Syriac Manuscript (London / Edinburgh: Williams and Norgate / Paris: C. Borrani, 1861).

Payne Smith, J. (ed.), Extracts from the Ecclesiastical History of John, Bishop of Ephesus (Semitic Study Series 13; Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1909).

Payne Smith, R. (tr.), The Third Part of the Ecclesiastical History of John Bishop of Ephesus (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1860).

Payne Smith, R. (tr.), A Commentary upon the Gospel according to S. Luke by S. Cyril. 2 vols. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1859).

Budge, E.A.W. (tr.), The Paradise or Garden of the Holy Fathers, Being Histories of the Anchorites, Recluses, Monks, Coenobites, and Ascetic Fathers of the Deserts of Egypt between A.D. CCL and A.D. CCCC circiter. 2 vols. (London: Chatto & Windus, 1907).

Connolly, R.H. and Codrington, H.W. (eds.), Two Commentaries on the Jacobite Liturgy by George Bishop of the Arab Tribes and Moses Bar Kepha: together with the Syriac Anaphora of St. James and a Document Entitled The Book of Life (London / Oxford: Williams and Norgate, 1913).

Lewis, A.S. (tr.), Select Narratives of Holy Women from the Syro-Antiochene or Sinai Palimpsest as Written above the Old Syriac Gospels by John the Stylite, of Beth-Mari-Qanun in A.D. 778 (Studia Sinaitica 10; London: C.J. Clay and Sons, 1900).

Wensinck, A.J. (ed.), Legends of Eastern Saints Chiefly from Syriac Sources. 2 vols. (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1911, 1913).

Gibson, M.D. (ed.), The Commentaries of Isho`dad of Merv, Bishop of Hadatha (c. 850 A.D.), in Syriac and English. 3 vols. (Horae Semiticae 5-7; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1911).

Gibson, M.D. (ed.), Apocrypha Arabica: Kitab al-Magall, or The Book of the Rolls; The Story of Aphikia; Cyprian and Justa, in Arabic; Cyprian and Justa, in Greek (Studia Sinaitica 8; London: C.J. Clay and Sons, 1901).

Saeki, P.Y., The Nestorian Monument in China (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1916).

Phillips, G., Syriac Grammar (3rd revised ed.; Cambridge: Deighton, Bell & Co / London: Bell & Daldy, 1866).

Malan, S.C. (tr.), The Book of Adam and Eve, also called the Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan (London: Williams and Norgate, 1882).

Good stuff. The Story of Aphikia is an Old Testament pseudepigraphon about the legendary wife of Ben Sira. We considered including it in the More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Project, but we finally decided that it was too late. I see that The Life of Adam and Eve is included at the end of the list as well. We're including new Coptic material for it in the MOTP. I've also mentioned the Nestorian Monument in China recently on PaleoJudaica.

UPDATE (22 January): Another one from gareth030:

That's a very useful list of texts from "lagus1974".

There are titles in other languages too, for any who may find them useful. For example on this site I also found:S. Ephraem Syri Opera, with text in Syriac, Greek and Latin, commentary in Italian. (Ed.)Silvius Ioseph Mercati, Sumptibus Pontificii Instituti Biblici, Rome 1915.

http://www.archive.org/details/ephraemopera00ephruoft

ELAINE PAGELS is interviewed in the LA Times. She discusses her own background and the historical and theological significance of the Gnostic gospels. Excerpt:

What stirred your interest in obscure religious sects in the first place?

My father was a biologist who had no use for religion. He thought it was naive. But at 13 and 14, I began to find religious notions powerful and compelling. Whether it was the great cathedrals of Europe or Hopi dancers, I sensed in them a potent spiritual dimension of life that I just had to explore.

Later, when I went off to study the early history of Christianity at Harvard, I was surprised to discover that my professors had file cabinets filled with early Christian texts that didn't make it into the Bible. We were told they were bizarre, heretical, nonsensical, full of philosophical fantasies and religious junk. That's also what the fathers of the orthodox Christian church said. They called them "illegitimate secret writings."

After a close read, they changed my understanding of what early Christianity was all about.

*

The word "Gnostic" derives from "gnosis," the Greek word for knowledge. But what is Gnosticism?

We really don't know. The term "Gnostic" has been used in so many ways over the years it's hard to say. The label has been used by people who attacked certain early beliefs as the wrong kind of Christianity and by New Agey types.

Referring to the authors of these texts as Gnostic only accepts that negative judgment. But the people who wrote them didn't think of themselves as belonging to a school called Gnosticism. They were spiritual leaders who thought they had gone beyond simple faith to a deeper understanding.

Essentially, they were trying to make a distinction between anthropomorphic notions of God and the divine reality.

I agree that "Gnosticism" isn't a very useful category in scholarly terms. Most of the time it can be replaced with something like "adherence to the demiurgic myth" (the myth that the creator of our world is an imperfect derivative god, not the True God).

I think her answer to this question is correct as far as it goes, but it's also incomplete:

Where do they rank in comparison with the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John?

I think of them now as the other texts that were not included in the canon. Much of what was in the canon was to be used in public church. But, as in Judaism, there were certain secret teachings — or advanced teachings — that were not to be taught publicly or even written down.

They were only to be shared with certain disciples when they were ready. In other words, the New Testament Gospels were the texts students of Christianity began with. Some moved on to the secret teachings.

She really should have added that the four canonical gospels can be dated to the second half of the first century or the very beginning of the second century at the latest. All our evidence indicates that the Gnostic gospels come from later in the second century or later still. With the possible exception of the Gospel of Thomas (which I would not count as "Gnostic"), the noncanonical gospels give us no new information about the historical Jesus or the first generation of the Jesus movement.

But anyhow, read it all.

MORE LESLAU OBITUARIES: Back in November I noted the death of renowned Ethiopic scholar Wolf Leslau at the age of 100, and I linked to an obituary from the LA Times. Now Jack Sasson has noted two more obituaries on the Agade list. Gary Rendburg sent them along with this opening note:

t only recently came to my attention that Wolf Leslau, professor emeritus of Semitic linguistics at UCLA and the world's foremost authority on Ethiopian languages, died two months ago, on November 18, 2006, at the age of 100 (plus four days).

I had the privilege of knowing Professor Leslau well over the years, notwithstanding the geographical distance between the two coasts of the U.S. I last visited him in his home (within a retirement community in Fullerton, California) in December 2003, and can attest to Grover Hudson’s description of Leslau at work (see below).

There he was, at age 97, working diligently on his Macintosh computer, entering the data from card files on yet another Gurage dialect, which he had kept at hand for about forty years.

In addition to the detailed information provided by Hudson, note that Leslau also served a term as president of the American Oriental Society.

The longer obit was published on The Linguist list in November:

Message 1: Obituary: Wolf Leslau, 1906-2006
Date: 23-Nov-2006
From: Grover Hudson
Subject: Obituary: Wolf Leslau, 1906-2006


Wolf Leslau, surely the greatest Semiticist linguist of the post-war generation, whose work established Ethiopian linguistics as an essential part of Semitic studies, died on Nov. 18, at age 100 + four days. He is survived by two daughters, Elaine and Sylvia, and grandchildren.

Author of a body of work the size and breadth of which it is difficult to imagine anyone again matching, and the content of which it is difficult to imagine anyone again having the competence to match, his life was filled with love and energy for scholarly work. His publications date from 1933 including eleven articles before the appearance of the book Lexique soqotri in 1938, and continue uninterrupted almost to this year (The Verb in Mäsqan, 2004). Until recent months he was diligently working on another book, on the Ethiopian Semitic language Gogot. Characteristically, at 80 years old he discovered and mastered use of the Macintosh computer, recognizing its usefulness in composing work using phonetic and European-language fonts as well as Ethiopic and other Semitic writing systems.

[...]

The other one is a brief note on the website of The North American Conference on Afroasiatic Linguistics:

Wolf Leslau, 1906-2006

Wolf Leslau, one of the greatest Semiticist linguists of the post-war generation, passed away on Nov. 18, at age 100 + four days. Leslau was a frequent participant in NACAL's annual meetings, and had the unique distinction of serving as NACAL reminiscer not once but twice, first at NACAL 12 (1984) and then again, two decades later, at NACAL 32 (2004). Grover Hudson's obituary for Leslau can be found here. [i.e., at the same link as above - JRD]

THE SITE OF PETRA in Jordan is a finalist in the "New Seven Wonders of The World" competition.

(Via Archaeologica News.)

ART BUCHWALD - R.I.P. Normally I wouldn't have mentioned Buchwald's death, sorry though I am to hear of it. But the brief A.P. death notice has this intriguing paragraph:

Buchwald fired volley after volley of unrelated humor -- such as recounting a landing in the Dead Sea by helicopter and being asked to return some scrolls.

A Google search brought up nothing relevant. Does anyone have information on this story?

UPDATE: Reader Roberto Labanti has sent a copy of a Buchwald column that was published in the Washington Post, Times Herald on 23 March 1961 and which is the source of the paragraph. Buchwald reports on his helicopter ride to Yadin's camp near the Dead Sea, where a basket containing what we now know was Babatha's archive had just been discovered in a cave. Yadin then asked them to take the scrolls back with them on the helicopter. Buchwald reported that they were happy to comply, "not only because we were taking a small part in a great archeological discovery, but because it would also give us something to read on the plane."

EGYPTIAN BLOGGER Abdolkarim Nabil Seliman is going on trial for his blogging:

Accused Egyptian Blogger Stands Trial


Friday January 19, 2007 2:16 AM

By NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD

Associated Press Writer

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - An Egyptian blogger went on trial Thursday on charges of insulting Islam and causing sectarian strife with his Internet writings. Egypt's first prosecution of a blogger came as Washington has backed away from pressuring its Mideast ally to improve its human rights record and bring democratic reform.

Abdel Kareem Nabil often denounced Islamic authorities and criticized Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on his Arabic-language blog. He has been in detention since November and faces up to nine years in prison if convicted.

Egypt has arrested a string of pro-democracy bloggers over the past year, sparking condemnation from human rights groups.

[...]

Nabil is the first blogger Egypt has put on trial for his writings. Other bloggers have been released without charges. But unlike the other detained bloggers, who concentrated on politics, Nabil wrote often on religion - and Seif al-Islam said the government was likely prosecuting him as part of its ``competition with the Muslim Brotherhood to show its Islamic credentials.''

In his blog - where he uses the name Kareem Amer - Nabil was a fierce critic of conservative Muslims and in particularly of al-Azhar, one of the most prestigious religious institutions in the Sunni Muslim world.

Nabil was a law student at al-Azhar University, but denounced it as ``the university of terrorism,'' accusing it of promoting radical ideas and suppressing free thought. Al-Azhar ``stuffs its students' brains and turns them into human beasts ... teaching them that there is no place for differences in this life,'' he wrote.

He was thrown out of the university in March, and in his last blog entry before his arrest blamed al-Azhar for pushing the government to investigate him.

In other postings, Nabil described Mubarak's regime as a ``symbol of dictatorship.''

[...]

This is very bad news. The only positive thing about the story is that the A.P. is finally taking notice of it. For updates on the situation see the Free Kareem! blog.

AN AMATEUR PHILOLOGIST IN BERKELEY:

Black Oak Books strives to stay open, but the times, they are a-changing

Heidi Benson, [San Francisco] Chronicle Staff Writer

Monday, January 15, 2007

Don Pretari doesn't want to shut the doors of Black Oak Books. And not just because running the store has been his life's work.

When not attending to the details of the 23-year-old business, he spends every spare minute studying languages, including Quranic Arabic, classical Chinese, biblical Hebrew, Ethiopic and more.

"All the languages I study are dead," he says. "Who would hire me?"

But with profit margins down, a five-year lease coming due and a partner who wants to retire, Pretari, 49, may have to seek a vocation less perfectly suited to a Berkeley-educated polymath.

Last week, he sent up a trial balloon, inviting someone, anyone, to buy one or both Black Oaks stores -- the Berkeley location on Shattuck Avenue or the San Francisco store on Irving Street. (A short-lived third store in North Beach closed last year.)

"We'd like Black Oak to keep going," he says, adjusting his round glasses and settling into a chair in the back office, a warren of books. "We're exploring every possibility, even if that means someone else has to come in and own it."

Whether Pretari and his partners sell the store or find a way to keep it going themselves -- perhaps through renegotiation of the nearly $1 million Berkeley lease -- they don't want to see it change.

"It's a niche store, slanted toward the scholarly," says Pretari, noting that the landlord wants them to stay. "I wouldn't want to sell the store to someone who wouldn't carry books from university presses because they don't sell well enough."

Today, Pretari runs the finances, does new book buying and manages the store with Bob Brown, 68, whose specialty is rare and used books. (There are two other co-owners, but they are less involved in day-to-day operations.)

Pretari had more time for study just 10 years ago, when the staff was one-third larger. That's when he became interested in reading sacred texts in the original languages. Even now, he studies two hours a day -- down from six. He reads the Quran, with a dictionary, every morning, and he never takes a walk without his Latin note cards. His next project: to study math for pleasure. "I want to go back to arithmetic and follow it up as high as I can," he says. If he can do that and keep the bookstore going, great. "But I can't if I'm working 50-hour weeks."

[...]

I hope he finds a suitable buyer and is able to continue with his studies.

FINDING JESUS' FORESKIN? Usually I ignore things like this, but I couldn't resist this one. This strange article from AND, South Africa, is so garbled it's hard to say if it's based on anything real:

Christian gravesite found in Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery.

Reprint permission by: Judaistic Review

Issue 14:22 Yeshuhana Journal

25th of Tevet, 5767

By Mitch Ugana

Important Archaeological Find: Christian Gravesite at Mount of Olives

Christian gravesite found in Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery. Christian researchers were invited to Mount Olive Cemetery, just outside the walls of Jerusalem. This sacred site made infamous by the biblical story of Jesus last spot on earth, before leaving on a cloud for heaven.

Summoned by archaeological scholars from Egypt, Rome, Greece and Tunisia, the Christian Scholars are excavating a site which may hold clues to some of the burials of those left behind after Jesus departure. Although the bible doesn’t specifically state the disciple’s place of interment, Mount of Olives is a reasonable place to expect them to be buried. The mainly Jewish graveyard is where the Jews wait until the Messiah comes to take them home.

The finding of a Christian Cross type headstone is what all the fuss is about. This is so unusual, and had gone unnoticed for so many years; until a visitor noticed a stone hidden by an olive tree at the site. When they carefully moved the olive tree, they found a white cross with the Greek inscription, To The God Jesus Christos. This same inscription was found in a ruin adjacent to Megiddo prison in Israel, where a mosaic floor also had written in ancient Greek, “To the God, Jesus Christo.” Some say it may be the burial grounds of the rabbi Jesus himself, but the Christian scholars were quick to point out, that it couldn’t be, as Jesus left on a cloud, as witnessed by Peter, and possibly other disciples, and this was collaborated by two strangers who were present at the time of Jesus passage from earth. YX is the Ancient Greek Inscription for Jesus Christ.

The Christian scholars are interested in the find, but both agree that the finding of the possible prepuce of Jesus is a much greater find. Jesus, being Jewish, and of devout parents would have had his ritual circumcision on the 8th day after his birth. The prepuce would have been expected to be kept by his Mother Mary, as only she knew for sure he was the son of God. They surmise she may have buried Jesus prepuce in a ritual box, and in a location where Mary felt it would be safe. This only remnant of Jesus left on earth, is a subject of great interest to scholars. What will the DNA reveal and what does this mean for Christian’s worldwide?

The article obviously belongs in the crank file, but I wonder if it is vaguely inspired by the Akeldema ossuaries excavated by Shimon Gibson, which included the "shroud of the leper" and perhaps the James Ossuary (in it's original form, whatever that was). The findings at the Megiddo prison are much later and are not of relevance for the time of Jesus, so any similar discovery at the Mount of Olives (if there actually has been one, which I don't know) is likely to be irrelevant as well. Any reference to burial grounds of Jesus is the wildest of speculation, although the garbled allusion to Acts 1:6-11 is really neither here nor there.

For the record, I know of no evidence that foreskins of circumcised Jewish infants were saved in antiquity. So don't get your hopes up about recovering Jesus' DNA.

UPDATE (18 January): It seems the holy prepuce has a long and illustrious history (if that's the right term). Reader Robert S. Schwartz e-mails to point to the "Holy Prepuce" Wikipedia article, which I will repost here (but you have to go to the article itself to follow all the links). Apparently the traditions go back to apocryphal infancy gospel material. And the relics were put to some very creative uses (note, for example, the applications reported of St. Bridget and Leo Allatius).

Holy Prepuce
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Holy Prepuce, or Holy Foreskin (Latin præputium or prepucium) is one of several relics attributed to Jesus. At various points in history, a number of churches in Europe have claimed to possess it, sometimes at the same time. Various miraculous powers have been ascribed to it.

Contents


* 1 Theological origin
* 2 Claimants
* 3 Modern practices
* 4 Historical allusions and references to the Holy Prepuce
* 5 See also
* 6 References
* 7 External links

Theological origin

As a Jew, Jesus would have been expected to be circumcised on his 8th day after birth.

According to the apocryphal Infancy Gospels, after Jesus' circumcision in a cave, Mary's midwife placed the foreskin in an alabaster jar filled with spikenard, a preservative, which she gave to her son, admonishing him "Guard well this jar of aromatic nard and do not sell it, even when they offer you 300 denarii". [1]

According to legend, the prepuce was eventually given to St. John the Baptist by Mary Magdalene. [2]

Since the circumcision removed his foreskin, this raises the question of what happened to it once Jesus had ascended forty days after his death. Some ancient Christians believed that Jesus ascended bodily, hence implying that Jesus' foreskin would be one of the few physical remainders of Jesus left behind on Earth, unless it had been restored to him during his resurrection, and by the fourth century this became the traditional stance.

There was also some theological dispute as to whether Jesus can really be said to have ascended wholly into Heaven if this part of his body was actually missing. This was resolved by noting that his foreskin was no more an obstacle to this than the hair and fingernails that he had cut throughout his life or the blood he shed. The Jewish custom of burying the foreskin in the earth would, however, seem to argue against its preservation, and hence its ability to be a relic.

Some argue that when God achieves something by miracle, it is arbitrary to propose limits to what that miracle can restore. In Mark 12:18-25, Jesus responded to the Sadducees' question about marriage after the resurrection, saying that "For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven." (KJV) This suggests that the resurrected dead may have certain anatomical differences that may make the question irrelevant. But then again, he may have restored the foreskin in heaven without taking the discarded one away from earth.

The act of circumcision was a ritual of profound religious significance to Jews, and marked their membership in the covenant community. The New Testament contains extensive discussions about whether circumcision was needed for Gentile converts, and concludes that it was not; the position settled upon is that Jesus' crucifixion established a new covenant for Christians for which the rite was not necessary.

The modern, peri'ah style of circumcision did not become the standard mode until around the time of the revolt led by Simon bar Kokhba in AD 132–135, whereas the style of circumcision practised by Jews in Judea prior to bar Kokhba removed only the 'tip' of the foreskin, not all of it. Thus modern, and probably medieval, ideas of what Jesus'foreskin would be like were, and are, wide of the mark.[citation needed]

Claimants

"Depending on what you read, there were eight, twelve, fourteen, or even 18 different holy foreskins in various European towns during the Middle Ages". [3] The relic was originally said to have been given to Pope Leo III on December 25, 800 by Charlemagne on the occasion of his coronation; he in turn is said to have claimed that it had been brought to him by an angel while he prayed at the Holy Sepulcher (although another version of the story says it was a wedding gift from the Byzantine Empress Irene). The Pope placed it into the Sancta Sanctorum in the Lateran basilica in Rome with other relics. [4]

In addition to the Holy Foreskin claimed by Rome, other claimants in history have included the Cathedral of Le Puy-en-Velay, Santiago de Compostela, the city of Antwerp, Coulombs in the diocese of Chartres, France as well as Chartres itself, and churches in Besançon, Metz, Hildesheim, Charroux, Conques, Langres, Anvers, Fécamp, Puy-en-Velay, Calcata, Santiago de Compostela, and two in Auvergne. [3]

According to legends of the village of Calcata, in 1527 a soldier in the German army sacking Rome looted the Sancta Sanctorum; when he was eventually captured in the village he hid the jeweled reliquary containing the Holy Prepuce in his cell, where it was discovered in 1557 and officially venerated by the Church since that time, offering a ten year indulgence to pilgrims. Calcata thus became a popular site for pilgrimmage.[4]

The abbey of Charroux claimed the Holy Foreskin was presented to the monks by Charlemagne. In the early 12th century, it was taken in procession to Rome where it was presented before Pope Innocent III, who was asked to rule on its authenticity. The Pope declined the opportunity. At some point, however, the relic went missing, and remained lost until 1856 when a workman repairing the abbey claimed to have found a reliquary hidden inside a wall, containing the missing foreskin. The rediscovery, however, led to a theological clash with the established Holy Prepuce of Calcata, which had been officially venerated by the Church for hundreds of years; in 1900, the Church solved the dilemma by ruling that anyone thenceforward writing or speaking of the Holy Prepuce would be excommunicated. In 1954, after much debate, the punishment was changed to the harsher degree of excommunication, vitandi (shunned); and the Second Vatican Council later removed the Day of the Holy Circumcision from the church calendar .[5]

Modern practices

Most of the objects reputed to be the Holy Prepuce were lost or destroyed during the Reformation and the French Revolution. [5]

Calcata is worthy of special mention, as the reliquary containing the Holy Foreskin was paraded through the streets of this Italian village as recently as 1983 on the Feast of the Circumcision, which was formerly marked by the Roman Catholic Church around the world on January 1 each year. The practice ended, however, when thieves stole the jewel-encrusted case, contents and all. [5] Following this theft, it is unclear whether any of the purported Holy Prepuces still exist. In a 1997 television documentary for Channel 4, British journalist Miles Kington travelled to Italy in search of the Holy Foreskin, but was unable to find any remaining example.
According to 17th century theologian Leo Allatius (Leone Allacci), the foreskin may have divinely ascended to become the rings of Saturn.
According to 17th century theologian Leo Allatius (Leone Allacci), the foreskin may have divinely ascended to become the rings of Saturn.

Historical allusions and references to the Holy Prepuce

Apart from its physical importance as a relic, the Holy Foreskin is sometimes claimed to have appeared in a famous vision of Saint Catherine of Siena. In the vision, Jesus mystically marries her, and his amputated foreskin is given to her as a wedding ring. [6] However, this has not been traced any earlier than a seventeenth-century anti-Catholic parody, and as such is of dubious credibility.

Because the sweet scent that the relic was supposed to give off was reputed to enhance fertility and ease childbirth, when Catherine of Valois was pregnant in 1421, her husband, King Henry V of England, sent to Coulombs for the Holy Prepuce. According to this legend, it did its job so well that Henry was reluctant to return it after the birth of the child (the future King Henry VI of England).[6]

Saint Bridget was said to have received the Holy Prepuce from an angel, and would experience "orgasm-like sensations" when she would place bits of it on her tongue.[6]

During the late 17th century, Catholic scholar and theologian Leo Allatius in De Praeputio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi Diatriba ("Discussion concerning the Prepuce of our Lord Jesus Christ") speculated that the Holy Foreskin may have ascended into Heaven at the same time as Jesus himself and might have become the rings of Saturn, then only recently observed by telescope.

Voltaire, in A Treatise of Toleration (1763), ironically referred to veneration of the Holy Foreskin as being one of a number of superstitions that were "much more reasonable... than to detest and persecute your brother". [7]

Umberto Eco, in his book Baudolino, has the young Baudolino invent a story about seeing the holy foreskin and navel in Rome to the company of Friedrich Barbarosa.

See also

* Circumcision
* Holy Umbilical Cord
* Shroud of Turin
* True Cross

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ Boussel, Patrice; Des Reliques et de Leur Bon Usage, 1971.
3. ^ a b [2]
4. ^ a b [3]
5. ^ a b c "Fore Shame", David Farley, Slate.com, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2006
6. ^ a b c [4]
7. ^ [5]

* Müller, Alphons Victor: Die hochheilige Vorhaut Christi im Kult und in der Theologie der Papstkirche. Berlin 1907.
* Shell, Marc: "The Holy Foreskin; or, Money, Relics, and Judeo-Christianity." Jews and Other Differences: The New Jewish Cultural Studies. Ed. Jonathan Boyarin and Daniel Boyarin. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 1997.

External links

* Relics article from the Catholic Encyclopedia
* The Relics of Romanism article at the European Institute of Protestant Studies (anti-Catholic site)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Prepuce"

Categories: Articles with unsourced statements | Circumcision | Relics attributed to Jesus | Famous body parts

(# This page was last modified 02:49, 29 December 2006.
# All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License)

A STATEMENT ON TEDDY KOLLEK from the Israel Museum:

A STATEMENT ON THE DEATH OF TEDDY KOLLEK
JANUARY 2, ‏2007

The entire family of the Israel Museum mourns today the passing of Teddy Kollek.

Teddy's vision shaped the modern landscape of Jerusalem, embracing as its cultural centerpiece the plan for a museum of art, archeology, and the material culture of the Jewish world that would parallel the national museums of other countries worldwide.

From its founding in 1965, Teddy guided the flowering of what would become one of the largest encyclopedic museums in the world, comprising over 500,000 objects spanning the timeline of material culture from pre-historic archeology through contemporary art. He also envisioned the Museum as a vital educational setting where Jerusalem's and Israel's many communities could together learn to appreciate the rich cultural heritage of an intercommunal world.

With charisma and determination, Teddy also forged an international network of friends - the Museum’s International Council - whose contributions of gifts of works of art and financial support have enabled the Museum to achieve world-class standing in a history of just over forty years - a result which is surely without parallel in the museum world.

"Teddy was visionary in his conception for a museum that would be the jewel in the cultural landscape of modern Jerusalem, in the cultural crown of the modern State of Israel. The comprehensive reach, and sheer physical beauty, of the Museum and its campus are a true testament to his success," states James Snyder, Director of the Museum.

"The Israel Museum today stands as a proud symbol of Israel’s cultural heritage, from the archeology of the ancient Land of Israel to the creativity of Israel’s artists today, seen within the context of world cultural heritage. Teddy realized this dream through his persuasiveness with a community of supporters from around the world - an achievement almost as remarkable as the Museum itself," states Isaac Molho, Chairman of the Board of the Museum.

Teddy himself, together with his wife Tamar, was also a donor to the Museum, with gifts of archeological objects and historical maps from their private collection.

Teddy served as Chairman of the Museum from 1965 through 1996, and then as President until his designation as Founder in 2000. On the occasion of the Museum's 25th Anniversary in 1990, he was named Avi Ha Muzeon (Father of the Museum), and he and Tamar were named the 100th Honorary Fellows of the Museum in 2000. Teddy enjoyed an intense relationship of commitment, caring, and affection with many members of the Museum's staff, its Board, and its International Council, and he will be greatly missed by all of them.

JACK BAUER AS JESUS? PaleoJudaica has already been there.

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: More on opposition by archaeologists to the bridge to the Mugrabi Gate. The Jerusalem Post reports the following:

The plan to construct the new bridge straight through the archeological garden has provoked fierce opposition by archeologists, who say that the bridge will inevitably damage antiquities.

"What is being done is a crime against one of the world's top archeological places, and the Antiquities Authority is lending its hand to this crime, the destruction of archeology," said Dr. Eilat Mazar, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Shalem Center.

Mazar noted that there is no need for the bridge - whose planned length has nearly tripled - to run through the garden. Originally, the route for the bridge ran between the Western Wall and the site.

"The archeological garden is of primary importance to the future and history of Jerusalem and under no circumstance should be touched," said Professor Amos Kloner, former Jerusalem district archeologist at the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Kloner lambasted the IAA for succumbing to "foreign interests" in approving the plan and forgoing its mandate to preserve the archeological site.

Kloner added that a petition against the planned bridge had been signed by 30 leading Israeli archeologists, already forcing some changes in the proposal.

THE HOLYLAND THEME PARK in Orlando is reviewed in SouthFlorida.com. It sounds pretty goofy, but this is interesting:

Two features are still ahead for next year. One is the Qumran Cave, a copy of the caverns where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947. That's planned for a July opening. The other is the "Scriptorium," a museum of biblical manuscripts planned for an opening early next year. An extended loan from the Robert Van Kampen familyof Michigan, the collection is so large that only 20 percent of it will be on display at any given time.

IN THE MAIL: Hendrickson Publishers have noticed PaleoJudaica and have kindly offered to send me books on ancient Judaism from time to time. There are no conditions attached, but whenever I think one might be of interest to PaleoJudaica readers, I'll mention it. Here's one:

T. Anthony Perry, The Honeymoon Is over: Jonah's Argument With God (2006)

Looks like an interesting popular treatment of theological issues in Jonah from a Jewish perspective.

THE BYBLOS OIL SPILL has now been cleaned up:

U.S. Helps Lebanon Complete Oil-Spill Cleanup

USAID experts train, partner with locals to clean historic sites, harbors

By Carrie Loewenthal
USINFO Special Correspondent

Washington -- A team of American and Lebanese workers has completed the cleanup of over 100 kilometers of coastline in Lebanon, stretching from Byblos to Enfeh, contaminated by an oil spill, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) says.

[...]

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH:

Temple Aqueduct and Ritual Bath Excavated Opposite Temple Mount
01:00 Jan 15, '07 / 25 Tevet 5767
by Ezra HaLevi (Arutz Sheva)

Excavations being conducted opposite the Western Wall Plaza have uncovered an aqueduct that brought water to the Holy Temple, as well as a ritual bath from that period.


The never-before-excavated area is situated behind the Western Wall police station, adjacent to the plaza where millions of worshipers and tourists come each year to visit the Western Wall and Temple Mount.

The new archaeological find uncovers a missing link in the ancient water system, known as the "Lower Aqueduct" which channeled water from Solomon’s Pools near Bethlehem (located miles south of Jerusalem) directly to the national focal point of Jewish worship - the Temple Mount.

[...]

UPDATE: The Jerusalem Post also has a story on the excavation that includes additional information:

Invading Romans' greatest obstacle uncovered in J'lem
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS

An immense bedrock cliff uncovered opposite Jerusalem's Temple Mount may help explain why it took the Romans so long to capture what is now known as the Jewish Quarter almost two millenia ago, an Israeli archeologist said Sunday.

The cliff, uncovered during a year-long excavation at the western edge of the Western Wall Plaza, was one of several important finds that include the remains of a colonnaded street called the Eastern Cardo, dating from the Roman-Byzantine period; a section of the Lower Aqueduct that conveyed water from Solomon's Pools to the Temple Mount; and a damaged rock-hewn and plastered Jewish mikve (ritual bath) that dates back to the Second Temple period, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced at a press conference.

[...]

And there's also a report by the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs that looks as though it's the source of the Arutz Sheva article.

IN THE MAIL -- or at least in my mailbox. My colleague Richard Bauckham has very kindly given me a signed copy of his latest:

Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony (Eerdmans, 2006)

I've seen some of it in page proofs already. I dare say it will be judged to be one of the most important books on the New Testament to be published in the last year.

ANTIQUITIES ARE BEING RAINED ON in a museum in Jerusalem:

Ancient treasures graced by rainwater
By Nadav Shragai (Haaretz

Visitors to a unique museum in Jerusalem's Old City displaying rare mosaics, frescoes, ritual baths and structures dating to the time of the Second Temple, find themselves stepping over buckets of water, as they make their way from one archaeological treasure to the next.

The buckets have been placed throughout the Herodian Mansions-Wohl Archaeological Museum in the Jewish Quarter in an attempt to minimize rainwater and sewage from dripping onto the ancient displays.

[...]

The Jewish Quarter Development Company, which owns and operates the museum, says the water dripping onto the antiquities is due to poor sealing between paving stones of the streets above the site. The Jerusalem Municipality, which is responsible for infrastructure in public areas, says there is no proof of that contention, and that sewaged pipes are the source of the leak.

[...]

Whatever the reason is, the leak is damaging the museum and its contents. This is not good.

THE GODS OF ROME are important for the second season of the series Rome. Beliefnet has an article on pagan religion in the series:

The Pagans of 'Rome'
The HBO series, entering its second season, explores the Romans' oft-ignored devotion to their many different gods.
By Ted Phillips

If the past is a foreign country, then ancient religion may be its most exotic locale. The HBO series "Rome," which returns for its second season on Sunday, is hardly "Fodor's Guide to Paganism," but by venturing off some well-worn cinematic paths, the show has given the worship of the gods a generous treatment in a genre dominated by stories of gladiators and the advent of Christ.

The creators of the serial drama, which focuses on the power struggles during the last days of the Roman Republic in the first century B.C.E., wanted to portray Roman religion not as a doomed prologue to Christianity but as a vibrant and meaningful part of everyday life.

[...]

Ancient Judaism also makes an appearance:

Headed the opposite direction is the amoral Jewish horse trader and henchman Timon, who slowly embraces the ethical tenants of Judaism when his zealous brother pays him a visit from Judea. His brother's influence comes to a head while Timon tortures a rival of his patron and discovers there is a limit to how much brutality he is willing to put another human being through.

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH (2): A volunteer reports on a visit to the salvage excavation of the Temple Mount rubble dumped by the Waqf:

Sifting through history

BY: ARI Z. ZIVOTOFSKY Special to the CJN (Cleveland Jewish News)

(Israel) - About a dozen volunteers, including my three children, were dumping buckets of dirt over wire mesh, washing the dirt down with a hose, and hoping to find 2,500-year-old coins.

They were among the hundreds of volunteers and tens of professionals who have assisted in a most unusual archaeological project, currently taking place in Tzurim Valley just below the Mount Scopus campus of Hebrew University.

[...]

Having visited Barkai's [i.e., archaeologist Gabriel Barkay] work area and realizing the unique opportunity involved, I took my family for a morning of “junior archaeologist.” We walked down a steep hill from the Hebrew University parking lot and were seated with several other volunteers on benches to hear a short introduction to the work and methodology, as well as to see photos of some of the previous finds. Before any of us had shown up, a mechanical sifter had been used to separate the earth into heaps consisting of material of differing sizes.

The finest pile was going to be sifted by hand by us. We were each given a bucket of dirt to pour onto the wire mesh “sifters,” where the dirt was thoroughly rinsed and the tedious process of searching for centimeter-sized objects began. After all of the material was examined, an experienced assistant checked the work, and what was left was dumped into a second pile for discarding. All found objects were sorted into six categories and left for the professionals to examine and study.

We found nothing more significant than a few mosaic tiles, but a good time was had by all. And knowing that we had sifted dirt from the Temple Mount, where our two destroyed temples had stood and that now gave forth a coin from almost 1,900 years ago that bore the Hebrew phrase L'Herut Tzion - “For the Freedom of Zion,” gave us a special feeling.

There is still much dirt to be sorted, and the project is open for volunteers, both individuals and organizations, who can participate by contacting the Ir David organization (ElAd), which is now funding and coordinating the project (www.cityofdavid. org.il/).

For some recent background, see here and here.

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH (1): More controversy over the bridge to the Mugrabi Gate:

Archaeologists knock Western Wall bridge plan
By Nadav Shragai (Haaretz)

Senior archaeologists have come out in harsh criticism against the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) for authorizing plans for a bridge to connect the Dung Gate in Jerusalem's Old City to the Mugrabi Gate, located next to the Western Wall and leading to the Temple Mount.

Work on the bridge is to begin Sunday, after it received a green light from the city's planning division.

The archaeologists say that the bridge's pylons will damage one of the most significant archaeological parks in Israel and the world, located outside the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount.

They also say the plan was not held up to professional and public scrutiny, that the conservation committee of the IAA was not called together to discuss it, and that other alternatives were not given proper consideration. They are thus calling for a halt to work until the plan can be reevaluated.

The IAA rejects the criticism outright and says "the construction of the bridge was conditioned on archaeological excavations that would expose the ancient remains completely, preserve them and present them to the public as part of the Archaeological Park." The rabbi of the Western Wall, Shmuel Rabinovich, who has promoted the plan, says that from his point of view, the Mugrabi Gate could be closed, but since the police insist on its continued use, and the plan was approved and alternatives carefully examined, the bridge is the lesser evil.

[...]

For some background to this story, see here.

A GENDER-NEUTRAL PENTATEUCH? Insofar as that is possible:

Scholars Wrestle With Language of Torah Without Throwing It Away
January 11, 2007 - Rachel Silverman (Jewish Exponent)

As a biblical scholar, Ellen Frankel sees the Torah as a sacred, absolute text.

But when it comes to issues of gender, Frankel -- the author of a women's commentary on the Torah, among other books -- feels that the work of God could stand for a little revision.

As the editor-in-chief of the Jewish Publication Society explained it, "I had to figure out how to wrestle with the Torah and still not throw it away."

Out of this need The Contemporary Torah: A Gender Sensitive Adaptation of the JPS Translation was born.

In refashioning the text, a team of scholars -- including Frankel; David E.S. Stein, a Reconstructionist rabbi and editor; Adele Berlin, a Hebrew Bible expert at the University of Maryland; and Carol Meyers, a religion professor at Duke University -- tried to meld contemporary interests about gender with an ancient text -- and world -- that is predominantly male-centric.

[...]

This is an interesting project whose principles seem to have been worked out quite sensibly:

In some cases, these questions led the scholars to retain gendered language.

For example, a verse in the '62 translation mentions that the wife of a male slave should leave with him when he becomes free.

But what if the roles were switched: Would a man go off with a newly freed female slave?

Ensuing research proved that this would not have occurred. Such an act would have been a transgression of ancient mores that made women more or less property of men. Therefore, the new editors felt the original sentence should not be refashioned. And so it reads: "If [a male slave] came single, he shall leave single; if he had a wife, his wife shall leave with him."

In other cases, gendered terms were extracted and more generic ones applied.

For instance, the editors explain in the prefatory material to the the new volume that it was not uncommon for ancient Hebrews to refer to both male and female herders as "herdsmen." Ancient audiences, too, would have interpreted the term figuratively.

But in today's gender conscious society, the editors felt that most readers would assume "herdsmen" meant solely men. So, to better enable modern audiences to grasp the meaning of the line -- found in Genesis 13 -- they decided to go with "herders."

Regarding the Tetragrammaton:

The editors agreed that the tetragrammaton -- the unpronounceable four-letter name for God -- presented their biggest hurdle.

Though Judaism as a theology does not ascribe a gender to God, the 1962 Torah translation consistent- ly refers to God as "the lord." This has left many Jews with a sense that God is in fact male, a sentiment the authors said they did not want to propagate.

To handle the issue, Stein asked 18 biblical scholars to weigh in on how to represent God in a gender-sensitive light.

After much wrangling -- Frankel admitted that most respondents couldn't even produce an answer -- the editors decided to keep the Hebrew lettering that corresponds to the English consonants YHWH.

In addition to satisfying the gender-neutral requirement, this solution was meant to separate God's name from the rest of the text, explained Frankel.

That is probably the best solution, in that YHWH was the proper name of the Israelite God and it's not entirely clear what it meant. The mistranslation "Lord" comes from the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation). But that also doesn't change the fact that YHWH was considered male in ancient Israel. Indeed, the Israelites clearly thought of YHWH as a really big guy who sat on his throne up in heaven and ruled the universe. In at least some Israelite circles he seems even to have had a goddess wife.

But, of course, this patriarchal view of God is offensive and theologically unacceptable to many if not most people today, and it just won't do. Nevertheless, the text should still be translated to say what it actually says, like it or not. This translation seems to have side-stepped the problem, at least for the most part. Although I do wonder how they handle the the gender of pronouns referring to YHWH.

IN THE MAIL:

Jane Dammen McAuliffe (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Qur'an (CUP, 2006)

Daniel H. Frank and Oliver Leaman (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Jewish Philosophy (CUP, 2003)

Stefan C. Reif, (ed.), The Cambridge Genizah Collections: Their Contents and Significance (CUP, 2002)

Abraham Wasserstein and David J. Wasserstein, The Legend of the Septuagint: From Classical Antiquity to Today (CUP, 2006)

BIBLICAL STUDIES CARNIVAL - BEST OF 2006 has been posted on the Codex blog by Tyler Williams. It's an excellent retrospective of the year in the Biblioblogosphere.

UPDATE: Note also the recent Patristics Roundup by Phil S. at hyperekperissou.

THE SBL FORUM for January has been posted. Highlights include Lawrence J. Mykytiuk, "Wikipedia: Unreliable Source, Useful Heuristic Tool," and Mark Goodacre, "'The Nativity Story': A Review."

A SEMINAR ON JEWS AND JUDAISM IN THE HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN PERIODS will be held here at St. Mary's College on Tuesday, 23 January. Nicholas de Lange and Margaret Williams are the speakers. Alex Panayotov has asked me to post this flier:Click on the image for a larger version. If you're in the vicinity, hope to see you there.

W. MONTGOMERY WATT - 1909-2006. This is slightly outside PaleoJudaica's usual range, but still of interest:

The Rev Professor W. Montgomery Watt
March 14, 1909 - October 24, 2006 (Times of London)

Eminent scholar who studied the origins of Islam

Professor W. Montgomery Watt was the foremost British scholar of his time in investigating the origins of Islam, studying it as a religious phenomenon, and examining how the vast and complex edifice of early Islamic philosophy and theology came into being.

[...]

Watt, as a priest of the Scottish Episcopal Church, held fast to his Christian faith but viewed Muhammad as a genuine, inspired prophet, whose revelations from God, gathered in the Koran, were divine injunctions which inspired Muhammad’s followers and enabled them to build up a vast edifice of faith which purely material considerations, those of empire and plunder, could never have achieved.

His Muhammad at Mecca (1953) and Muhammad at Medina (1956) were based on a radical critique of the historical sources from early Islamic times and of the body of Islamic tradition, the reported sayings and doings of the Prophet and his early followers that speedily took shape after Muhammad’s death in 632, since he regarded the Koran itself as too allusive and fragmentary to form the basis for a fully fleshed-out historical account.

In these two books Watt examined the political and social setting for the unfolding of Muhammad’s career as the inspired channel for divine revelation; he showed him as an organiser and war leader of genius, who nurtured the Muslim community so that, after his death, the new faith would dominate the Near East within three decades.

Watt’s work here has stood the test of time, for the last half-century has seen no comparable fresh work on Muhammad's career. ...

I read those two books many years ago and found them very helpful. Watt was born here in Fife and taught at the University of Edinburgh until his retirement in 1979. I had no idea he was still alive so recently. Requiescat in pace.

(Via the Agade list.)

THE LATEST ON INDIANA JONES 4: It's produced by Lucas (who says it will be the best of the lot); directed by Spielberg; Ford says he's not too old; and it's due out in the summer of 2008. If the three most recent Star Wars movies are any indication of Lucas's judgment, I would take his opinion on this one with a grain or two of salt.

(Again, via Explorator.)

THE MAFIA CODE? According to the Times of London, the Vatican is being consulted on a code published by "the new Mafia Godfather" which uses a passage from the Latin Vulgate of Ecclesiastes 3:2:

Matteo Messina Denaro, a ruthless killer noted for his designer clothes and playboy lifestyle, is widely regarded as the new boss of Cosa Nostra after the arrest last April of Bernardo Provenzano, 73, who had been on the run for more than 40 years.

[...]

He was better known for his love of PlayStations, Porsches and glamorous women than his learning. But each year Messina Denaro places in a local newspaper a memorial notice to his father, Francesco, who died in 1998. Police noted that this time it takes the form of an amended Latin passage from the Old Testament.

The first part is a familar passage, very loosely based on Chapter III of Ecclesiastes. Investigators reading Il Giornale di Sicilia spotted that the second part, after the word “sed” (but), is not in the Old Testament at all. It means: “Only he who wants to will fly, and your flight has forever been sublime.”

According to the article, Bible codes are standard practice for Mafia bosses. This one sounds to me like some sort of insider allusion that would only make sense to someone who had been in on an earlier conversation.

(Via Explorator.)

JEFFREY ARCHER jumps on the Anne Rice bandwagon, but with a different trendy twist:

Archer writes gospel of Judas

Richard Brooks, Arts Editor (Sunday Times)
Christ’s betrayer is just misunderstood, says the great storyteller

THE greatest story ever told is about to get the Jeffrey Archer treatment. Archer, who has told a few incredible tales in his time, is to publish a book called The Gospel According to Judas, which will attempt to rehabilitate the life of Christ’s betrayer.

The book, which is to be published worldwide in March, will present Judas as a misunderstood man who did not betray Jesus for money.

In an unusual step for the novelist, who is more used to knocking out page-turners such as Kane and Abel and First Among Equals, he has co-written the book with an eminent Australian biblical scholar. The result is described as a “story for 21st-century readers” that would be “credible to a 1st- century Christian or Jew”.

[...]

The co-writer is Frank Moloney. It's interesting that both Rice and Archer pick up on themes from apocryphal New Testament writings (Rice explicitly and Archer at least in the title of his book).

UPDATE (8 January): Here's an A.P. article that specifically mentions the Coptic Gospel of Judas in connection with Archer's novel.

TEDDY KOLLEK'S CONTRIBUTION to the founding of the Israel Museum is described in a Jerusalem Post article:

Teddy's museum
By MEIR RONNEN

Back in the Fifties, Teddy Kollek was director-general of the Prime Minister's Office when he realized that Jerusalem and the nation needed a national museum of art and archeology located in the Capital. It was obvious that the tiny Bezalel Museum established by Boris Schatz in what is now the Jerusalem Artists House would not do.

Teddy sat down with leading archeologist Yigal Yadin and the two submitted a proposal to the government that would enable a two-wing museum to be built on a rocky hillside overlooking the little Jerusalem suburb of Neve Sha'anan.

Yadin had other fish to fry and the project became the baby of Teddy. Early in the Sixties, well before the museum was built, he told this writer that as there were no funds for acquisitions of art and artifacts, these would have to come from private Jewish collectors and/or their estates. He explained to me that collectors thought of their collections as their children; and that "every Jewish family wants their children to have a good home."

[...]

MORE CONTROVERSIES, personal ones, about the publication of the Gospel of Judas:

Was it virtue or betrayal?
By Louis Sahagun, [Los Angeles] Times Staff Writer
January 6, 2007

THE National Geographic Society hailed it as one of the most significant archeological discoveries of our time, a 1,700-year-old text that portrayed Judas Iscariot as a hero, not a villain, for betraying Jesus.

The portrayal of Judas as a favored apostle who handed Jesus over to the Romans at his master's request made National Geographic's publication of "The Gospel of Judas" — and the companion TV documentary — a worldwide media event.

When the gospel was released last spring, another book appeared, "The Secrets of Judas," which sneered at the notion that the new gospel was revolutionary or that it revealed anything new about Jesus. Author James M. Robinson, a giant in the world of early Christian studies, also accused National Geographic of sensationalizing the gospel "in order to make as large a profit as possible."

Robinson, who had long railed against scholars who tried to restrict access to biblical texts, was especially dismayed that the Judas project was conducted largely in secret with the help of Marvin Meyer, Robinson's friend and former student at Claremont Graduate University.

Without directly invoking the payment Judas received from the Romans, Robinson made his point: National Geographic and its team of translators had received their 30 pieces of silver.

In the months to come, the specialized field of Coptic translation dissolved into public bickering and dark whispers by scholars who spoke of the jealous graybeard with a tender ego or the younger, irresponsible grandstander seduced by the prospect of celebrity.

[...]

The article is mostly about the regrettable personal conflict between Robinson and Meyer, but it also touches on the question of the interpretation of the Gospel of Judas:

But some others, including Gnostic scholar John D. Turner, have come to believe that "the prospects of increasing his fame and notoriety got the best of Marvin."

Turner also says he has discovered numerous errors in National Geographic's English translation of the Judas Gospel. He argues the mistakes could have been avoided if the translation team had included a wider variety of experts.

Meyer, an elder at a Santa Ana Presbyterian church who conducts courses on peacemaking, acknowledged that scholars "bring personal issues and presuppositions to the table."

"A question I often ask myself," he said, "is this: Do we gravitate to self-fulfilling prophecies? In this case, is a man of peace such as myself painting Judas as a nice guy? Have we found a Judas in our own image?"

Oddly, Louis Painchaud's challenge to this interpretation (now apparently supported by Craig Evans) is not mentioned.

WALNUTS in the Midrash and the Kabbalah.

THE REAL CYRUS CYLINDER ONLINE: Jona Lendering, the editor of the Livius website on ancient history, has e-mailed the following to Jack Sasson's Agade list:

Until now, there was no edition of the Cyrus Cylinder available on the internet; the only thing that was available, was a falsified translation -possibly created by followers of the late Shah- in which Cyrus is presented as saying that he will respect foreign customs and decreeing religious freedom.

This falsification is not recognized as such, and several well-meaning scholars who sought to explain that -whatever his virtues- Cyrus was not the author of the first charter of human rights, have received highly offensive messages.

Propaganda needs to be countered by quoting the full texts of original documents, so here it is:

http://www.livius.org/ct-cz/cyrus_I/cyrus_cylinder.html
http://www.livius.org/ct-cz/cyrus_I/cyrus_cylinder2.html

I like to thank dr. H. Schaudig for allowing me to use his edition, and prof.dr. R.J. van der Spek for translating and proofreading the text.

I invite webmasters, if they think this is important, to link to these pages, to make sure that they will be picked up by google and will be read by people who would otherwise find the falsified translation.

I was not aware of the fake version of the Cyrus Cylinder, but I have countered the over use of the real one as a human rights precedent here and here. No one has bothered to send me any highly offensive messages in response, which makes me feel a bit neglected.

UPDATE (13 January): Over at samarkeolog, Sam Hardy corrects one of my above-cited earlier posts on one point: the abolition of slavery was raised as a possibility by some in antiquity.

THE BOG PSALTER is being compared to the Book of Kells in the Times of London:

Treasure emerges from the mud of history
Dalya Alberg, Arts Correspondent

To the untutored eye, it looks like a lump of mud, but experts say that an 8th-century psalter found in an Irish peat bog is exceptionally significant.

Even though the vellum pages of the early Book of Psalms are a crumpled mass, they are likening it to the Book of Kells, one of the world’s most beautiful illuminated manuscripts.

As the find is thought to date from the late 8th century, the illuminators of both books would have been contemporaries, within ten or twenty years of each other. The two books — among few survivals of an age of outstanding manuscript production — are comparable in their large-format size.

[...]

Specialists from the museum and Trinity College Dublin — which was given the Book of Kells in the 17th century — are collaborating with international experts on an ambitious project to separate the more than 100 leaves, each measuring 32.4cm by 22cm (12.7in by 8.6in) and with about 30 lines to a page. Decoration on the first page includes an interlaced border and the figure of an eagle.

The psalter, written in Latin, is still in its original binding and is, said Mr Read, of “a very high standard”. Such lavish books would have been produced in scriptoria attached to important monasteries. There were once six such monasteries within about 15km (9 miles) of Faddan More. The nearest was Birr, 7km away.

[...]

THE ONLINE RESPONSA PROJECT is now available from Bar Ilan University:

The Online Responsa Project The Wisdom of the Ages - The Technology of the 21st Century

The Global Jewish Database (the Responsa Project) contains the world's largest electronic collection of Jewish texts in Hebrew ever recorded, which embody thousands of years of Jewish learning. The database includes numerous works from the Responsa Literature - rabbinic case-law rulings which represent the historical-sociological milieu of real-life situations. In addition, the database includes the Bible, the Talmud and their principal commentaries; works about Jewish law and customs; major the codes of Jewish law, such as Maimonides' Mishneh Torah and the Shulchan Aruch with its principal commentaries; midrashim, Zohar, etc…

This internet version of the Responsa Project includes a variety of tools and capabilities in its various features of search, navigation of texts, and hypertext links between books in different databases.

(Via Arutz Sheva.)

LECTURES ON JUDAISM to be given at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill:

Curator to hold talk on gallery

CHAPEL HILL -- John Coffey of the N.C. Museum of Art will discuss the museum's Judaic Art Gallery on Jan. 31 at UNC.

His talk will be the first of five free, public speeches in the spring 2007 lecture series of the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies.

All lectures will be at 7:30 p.m. in the theater of UNC's Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History on South Road.

Coffey, curator of American and modern art and deputy director for art at the Raleigh museum, will discuss the history, mission and collection of the Judaic gallery. He is a UNC graduate and Raleigh native. Other series events include:

-- Feb. 15: "Ancient Judaism and the Prism of Orthodoxy." Michael Stone, professor of religious studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, will consider challenges facing Jewish and Christian scholars of Judaism in the ancient world.

-- Feb. 28: "New Light on the Phoenicians and the Maccabees: Excavations at Tel Kedesh, Israel." Andrea Berlin, associate professor in the department of classical and near Eastern studies at the University of Minnesota, will discuss how recent discoveries provide new evidence of political and social interactions among Jews, Phoenicians and Greeks in second century B.C. Palestine.

-- March 20: "Mysticism, Magic and Rabin's Murder: The Pulsa DeNura Ritual." Zion Zohar, director and chair of the program for the study of Sephardic and Oriental Jewry at Florida International University, will discuss a controversial death curse/ritual performed by rabbis who influenced the assassin of Yitzhak Rabin.

-- April 16: "Kurt Weill's Kol Nidre and Jewish Memory." Tamara Levitz, associate professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, will explore the composer's use of the melody of the Kol Nidre -- a Jewish prayer recited on Yom Kippur -- in three of his works.

BIBLICAL STUDIES CARNIVAL XIII has been posted by Tyler Williams at his Codex blog. It is very thorough, with more than 70 entries. And he will also be posting a Best of 2006 edition soon. Well done!

FINDADIG.COM is now available from the Biblical Archaeology Society:

More than two dozen archaeological digs throughout Europe and the Middle East are looking for volunteers this summer to help them excavate history. Whether you’re interested in the worlds of Kings David and Solomon, want to walk in the footsteps of Jesus and the apostles, or search for the heroes of the Trojan War, we’ve got a dig for you.

For each dig, we provide an in-depth description including location, historical and Biblical significance and what you’ll be doing while on the dig. You can also learn all about the dig directors and professors who will lead your summer adventure.

BLOG WATCH: Jim Darlack e-mails to report that his James the Just blog now has a new location and a new title. You can find it as the Old in the New blog. The masthead says:

This blog houses resources and research on early Jewish and Christian literature - particularly how this literature appropriated "Scripture." Formerly this blog was known as "James the Just." Though now called "Old in the New," the blog will still host resources for studying the Epistle of James, James the Just, and other related topics.

ABADDON makes an appearance on Torchwood in the season finale, which aired in Britain on Sunday and Wednesday. Pete Phillips comments in detail at the postmodernbible blog. And it looks as though Captain Jack got his wish at the end of the episode, doesn't it?

TEDDY KOLLEK, former longtime mayor of Jerusalem, has died at the age of 95. He had a long and illustrious political career that started long before he became mayor in 1965. He was involved in the purchase of the Dead Sea Scrolls and was a major force behind the building of the Israel Museum. He was called the greatest builder of Jerusalem since Herod the Great. The Jerusalem Post has a long biographical article here.

Watch for imbeciles to claim that he was finally done in by their pulsa de-nura curse, which they put on him more than twenty-five years ago.

May his memory be for a blessing.

ANOTHER QUMRAN LATRINE ARTICLE:

Ancient latrine fuels debate at Qumran
Posted 1/2/2007 11:54 PM ET

By Matti Friedman, Associated Press
QUMRAN, West Bank — Researchers say their discovery of a 2,000-year-old toilet at one of the world's most important archaeological sites sheds new light on whether the ancient Essene community was home to the authors of many of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

In a new study, three researchers say they have discovered the outdoor latrine used by the ancient residents of Qumran, on the barren banks of the Dead Sea. They say the find proves the people living here two millennia ago were Essenes, an ascetic Jewish sect that left Jerusalem to seek proximity to God in the desert.

[...]

The article looks good and accurate and is worth a read. This bit in particular caught my eye:

Still, there is no way to date the fecal parasites, which could have been left by Bedouin who are known to have inhabited the area. To counter this, the paper quotes a Bedouin scholar as saying the nomadic tribespeople do not bury their feces.

Another problem is that archaeologists have already identified a toilet at Qumran — inside the settlement. But Zias believes it was for emergencies: In some cases, divine commandments notwithstanding, nine minutes outside the camp was too far to go.

Also, reactions from Norman Golb and Stephen Pfann are quoted. Not surprisingly, Golb is very skeptical of the Essenes connection. In any case, the question of the date of the latrine needs to be addressed.

THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY sent out the old year with a bout of Jewish-Temple denial, according to Israel Insider:

From the Arab Press
Sunday, December 31, 2006
‘Western Wall Is not Jewish’
A Palestinian Authority Television program featured Hassan Khader, founder of the Al-Quds [Jerusalem] Encyclopedia, denied any Jewish historical connection to the Western Wall and Temple Mount.

The true name of the Western Wall of the Temple, according to the PA academic, is the Al Buraq Wall, named after Mohammed’s winged horse which ostensibly flew him to Jerusalem.

“We did not invent this place,” Khader said. “This is the place where Al-Buraq landed and the Prophet tied him [to the wall]”

I have noted this claim already up here and here (and compare here). The story of Buraq is found in the Hadith, the post-Qur'anic traditions about the life of Muhammad. Based on Surah 17.1, it reports that Muhammad was miraculously transported to Jerusalem, where he encountered Buraq and rode the beast (who was half horse and half mule) through the seven heavens. Whatever one believes about the Buraq story, it has no bearing whatever on the historical origins of the Western Wall, which is part of the platform of the Herodian Temple (on which see here).

If there was any doubt about whether there would be freedom of worship if the Palestinians achieve their aim of establishing Jerusalem as their capital, Khader made it clear: There would be no Jewish or Christian worship in the city or at any of its sites.

Khader not only praised Arab efforts to prevent Jewish access to the Western Wall in the 20th century, he condoned terrorist attacks against the Jews if they continued to claim the Wall as their holy site.

The bottom line, he said, is that “the Jewish connection to this site is fabricated.”

Obscene politics to go with bogus history.

SADDAM'S OBITUARY in the Times of London mentions his obsession with Nebuchadnezzar and some of its effects:

Saddam Hussein
April 28, 1937 - December 30, 2006
Iraqi dictator whose brutal and reckless rule brought untold miseries on his people and encompassed their utter ruin

Saddam Hussein was a tyrant whose actions brought down unimaginable catastrophe on Iraq and its peoples. From an early age, he had enjoyed inflicting suffering on those around him and, when he came to positions of political power, those whom he could not force or corrupt into submitting to his will, he maimed, murdered or made to flee.

He started two international wars — one against Iran, the second as a result of aggression against Kuwait — which cost an estimated one million lives. He instituted genocidal campaigns against the Kurds in the north of Iraq and the Marsh Arabs in the south. Ruling through the Sunni minority of which he was a member, he ignored the claims of the country’s majority Shia population.

The third war in the region, which brought him and his regime down, was not directly begun by him, but by apparent American — and British — fears of a perceived threat his weapons posed to international security. This time Saddam misjudged the event — and certainly the American mood. Having been let off the hook after his defeat over his Kuwait adventure, he clearly felt that the international community did not have the stomach for a fight. He may have been right in that. But a new American president, George W. Bush, determined to find a scapegoat for the terrorist attacks on the US on September 11, 2001, was in no mood to abide by the niceties of international law. In the determination of President Bush and his advisers, Saddam at length met his match, though the internecine aftermath of the campaign that overthrew him gave his conquerors little enough satisfaction.

[...]

A fervent admirer of Hitler on account of the latter’s boldness and hatred of Jews, he told his official biographer in 1980 that he wanted Iraqis to think of Nebuchadnezzar every day. “We could march into Palestine and bring all those Jews here in Babylon with their hands tied behind their backs once more”, he said.

[...]

Motivated by the prospect of humiliating “the ancient Persian enemy” and increasing his chances of becoming the overall leader of the Arab world, Saddam declared the agreement he had signed with the Shah in 1975 invalid, saying that he had signed it when Iraq was militarily weak. On September 22, 1980, Iraqi tanks rolled into Iran and attempted to cut the southern oilfields of Khuzistan from the rest of the country. It proved to be a costly mistake. ...

My emphasis. One of the first PaleoJudaica posts was on Saddam and Nebuchadnezzar. Alas, all the links in it have rotted, but the overall content stands. See also here for the same quote as in today's obituary, and here and here for Saddam's own brick inscriptions in Babylon and Hatra.

UPDATE: The American Thinker and Arutz Sheva are drawing an additional parallel between the legendary Nebuchadnezzar of Daniel 4:30 (English version 4:33) and Saddam in his spider hole. And perhaps its worth being reminded by Robert Windrem on the MSNBC Blog of the other person who served as a major inspiration for Saddam:

Publicly, he liked to be compared to the great Mesopotamian leaders who had created the earliest cultures: Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar. But privately, he kept a portrait of the equally paranoid Stalin, the low-born Georgian thug he so resembled. If he had studied Soviet history closely though, he would have seen that arrogant miscalculation had almost undone Stalin. And in fact, it was such miscalculation that did undo Saddam: the Iran-Iraq War that killed almost a million Iranians and Iraqis, the invasion of Kuwait that led to the Gulf War and his belief that the US would never invade Iraq.

AMY-JILL LEVINE'S BOOK, The Misunderstood Jew, is reviewed by Julie Galambush in the New York Times:

Interfaith Approach to Forgiving Trespass

By JULIE GLAMBUSH
Published: January 1, 2007

As a child Amy-Jill Levine insisted on attending catechism class at a Catholic church. She faithfully administered Holy Communion to her Barbie doll. This, despite being, then as now, an observant Jew. A professor of New Testament studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School, Ms. Levine has spent a lifetime exploring the profound connections and equally profound divisions between Christianity and Judaism — and, perhaps more important, between Christians and Jews.

The premise of “The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus” is simple: Jews and Christians need to understand one another. The implicit corollary: Despite years of trying, and to their mutual harm, they do not.

In a book intended for Jews and Christians alike (but mostly addressed to Christians) Ms. Levine offers both critique and corrective on topics as seemingly disparate as the Jewish content of the Lord’s Prayer and Christian responses to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But that is Ms. Levine’s point: to show how frequently and disastrously inaccurate beliefs about Jesus and early Judaism produce distorted relationships in the present.

[...]

Jewish-Christian dialogue, having come into its own in the aftermath of the Holocaust, has seemed less compelling in recent decades. Ms. Levine’s chilling tales of casual anti-Judaism among scholars who should know better rekindles the urgency of the task. She covers a vast canvas and of necessity does so in broad strokes, some more effective than others. But it is a book whose strengths far outweigh its flaws, and whose flaws count only because its subject matters so deeply.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! For your New Year's present, I've updated the PaleoJudaica links page, which you can access by clicking on the link or by going to the links bar on the right. I've added memorable PaleoJudaica posts through 2006; updated the blogger roll; and added all of my online publications to the present. I've also purged all the dead links I could find and corrected some but not all of the bad links that need correction. Have a good 2007!