PARADISE (pardes, פרדס), a subject near to my heart, is covered in this week's Philologos column in The Forward. It's a nice introduction to the complexities of the Hebrew word and its use in the famous story of the Four Who Entered Paradise in the Hekhalot literature.

Writing from San Francisco on June 9, The New York Times’s Edward Rothstein reviewed that city’s new Contemporary Jewish Museum, which has recently opened its doors to the public. “The jagged lights on [its] sloping lobby wall,” he wrote, “form four Hebrew letters that spell ‘pardes.’ That word has the same Persian root as the English word paradise. It alludes to a park, a garden, an orchard, and thus invokes the pastoral promise of Eden as well. This is the kind of esoteric symbol much beloved by the museum’s architect, Daniel Libeskind.”

It is indeed sufficiently esoteric for much of its significance to have eluded both Mr. Rothstein and whoever guided him through the museum. ...

Indeed. Read on for why.

I didn't know about the lights in the Contemporary Jewish Museum. If you go there, stay away from any water fountains.

DAVID IN SHADOW AND LIGHT had to close a week early due to poor ticket sales. Seems it was just too much for the reviewers. The Theatre J Blog has a long post on the early closing. Excerpt:

The closing notice is a public admission that the show absorbed a bruising body blow. And that potential ticket buyers stayed away because of a round of reviews. I don’t feel like mincing those words. An incredibly strong presentation of a “wildly audacious, genre-defying show” is felled by a first wave of notices that puts its ticket sales in a deep freeze. A second wave of good notices comes late, a full ten days to two weeks later, but ticket buyers don’t seem to respond. So rather than noticeably limp home to one finish line, we consolidate our performances and go out singing strong. That’s the logic and the reality of what’s happening.

We didn’t expect this show to be such risky material. One person’s classical narrative is another person’s uneasy bible story “best left to Sunday School.” As I’ve written before, we pressed an Ambivalence Button here. We know that some of our critics had rejected postmodern, biblical narrative-driven theater pieces before and still we went forward convinced that the stature and seriousness of our endeavor–the sheer quality of what we were amassing–would win out. There were many partial victories throughout. Mastering the music. Fielding a top flight band to play it out. Integrating dance. Pulling it off. We hit a home run with some, and struck out with others. “Head held high, sir” Uriah tells the young shepherd boy after David kills the giant in one of the funnier comic moments in our show. We strike the pose, like Young David. And parade our show proudly. Still haunted by what’s just transpired–an act of violence that we were a part of–as we soldier on with many new battles still in store. And all those new wives… Hmm… David’s drama will live on and on. But we close in two Sundays.

“The King is dead/LONG LIVE THE KING.”

Background here. Some photos of the production here.

(Heads up, Carla Sulzbach.)

IS JUDAISM UNIQUE?

Study finds Israel's religious foundation not so unique
By HAVIV RETTIG (Jerusalem Post)

"The Jewish-Israeli case is often said to be unique," begins an article by Dr. Alexander Yakobson, a senior lecturer in Roman history at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, in the summer 2008 edition of Israel Studies, an academic journal on Israeli society.

The country's strangeness comes from the "'extra-territorial' character of the Jewish people, Israel's ties with the Jewish Diaspora and the strong connection between the Jewish religion and the prevalent notion of Jewish peoplehood," explains the author. Some celebrate this, "pointing to the uniqueness of Jewish history and culture," and some are critical of it as "inconsistent with modern civic democracy," but rarely is the "underlining premise of uniqueness" questioned, Yakobson believes.

But he's out to change that, with an argument that examines the constitutions of other democracies to show that Israel is neither officially nor in practice alone in this, well, uniqueness.

"There are numerous other cases where national identity and religion are officially connected in some way, and where there are official bonds between a nation-state and an ethnocultural Diaspora," he writes.

The Greek constitution, for example, makes some surprising provisions. ...

Yakobson's article, titled "Jewish Peoplehood and the Jewish State, How Unique? - A Comparative Survey," summarizes more extensive findings of a book he co-authored with Israeli constitutional thinker Amnon Rubinstein titled Israel Among the Family of Nations. The idea presented in the book, and the newly-published article, is an important contribution to the international discussion surrounding the Jewish state. It isn't merely that an Israeli scholar has located another freakish case - Greece - among contemporary democracies, but that religion-based ethnocultural identity is the social glue of a broad swath of the free West.

[...]

He relates the story of a visiting foreign professor who was asked, "Do you think that the Jewish people are unique?"

"Of course you are unique," he replied, "but you are not unique in being unique

[...]

Indeed. To say that something is "unique" is almost useless to the historian. As I like to say, everything is unique or it would be the same as something else. The interesting question is how each particular thing is unique.

A DEAD SEA SCROLLS FORUM at St. Martin's University:

Forum explores connection between ancient scrolls, Bible

By Diane Huber | The Olympian • Published June 19, 2008

About 2,000 years ago, an ancient Jewish sect wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest-known manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible. Some of the texts closely match canonized scripture, but others were left out.

The puzzle of the Dead Sea Scrolls and their connection to the Bible will be the topic of a free presentation Friday night at Saint Martin's University.

The panel-style lecture, titled "The Authority of Scripture: The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls," culminates the 26th annual Spiritual Life Institute, a weeklong spiritual program each summer hosted by the university.

[...]

If you go

•What: Free presentation of "The Authority of Scripture: The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls"

•When: 7:30 to 9 p.m. Friday

•Where: Worthington Center at Saint Martin's University, 5300 Pacific Ave. S.E., Lacey

•Speakers: Robert Kugler, Cecilia Wassen, Hanne von Weissenberg, Daniel Falk and Ian Werrett

JERUSALEM ARCHAEOLOGY IN COURT. Again.

Court to hear petition on Silwan digs
By DAN IZENBERG (Jerusalem Post)

The High Court of Justice is due to hand down its decision in the next few days on a request to lift the interim injunction preventing the Antiquities Authority from resuming its excavation of a Herodian water channel in Silwan, outside Jerusalem's Old City.

In March, the court issued the injunction at the request of six Palestinian families, who charged that the authority was excavating underneath their homes.

The excavation is not a new archeological discovery. The site is a tunnel or channel located about six meters below the surface, and archeologists believe it was built by King Herod. ...

The case is quite a knot of claims and counter-claims.

THE BITS OF ARCHAEOLOGY in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull are reviewed by Mark Rose in Archaeology Magazine. While you're there, take the poll on which of the Indy movies is your favorite. I'm with the 40.9% who voted for Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Plus, Archaeology has an interview with, Rob Cohen, the director of the August-release The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, who has an anthropology degree from Harvard. Not that the movie is exactly obsessed with getting the history right:

We took the facts and we let our imaginations play with them. So any archaeologists looking for absolute re-creation will say, "These people didn't do their research." But I'm making a fantasy, which frees me to some degree from verisimilitude and historical accuracy. Ninety percent of it is historically accurate to my knowledge, but the 10 percent is where you play fast and loose. It's a movie. You've got to make it entertaining.

I can go with that. I'm looking forward to the movie.

WHAT MEAN THESE STONES?

What are the mysterious stones emerging from Kinneret waters?
By Eli Ashkenazi
Tags: Lake Kinneret, Israel

A marine scientist has discovered a series of mysterious stone patterns on the lake bed of drought-stricken Lake Kinneret.

The man-made piles of stone, which are now above water, jut out from the freshwater lake, and sit 30 meters from each other along a 3.5-kilometer stretch of the eastern shore, from the Kinneret College campus to Haon resort.

Gal Itzhaki of Kibbutz Afikim first noticed the stones while strolling along the lake's receded shoreline. He says the patterns are a "fascinating phenomenon" and are part of an "impressive building enterprise."

Though they have not yet been scientifically examined, there are several hypotheses as to what functions they fulfilled. One theory postulates that they were part of a boundary between the ancient lakeside towns of Hippos, also known as Sussita, and Gadara. ...

THE MUSICAL DAVID IN SHADOW AND LIGHT is reviewed in the Jewish Press. The review includes discussion of the background of the story in rabbinic legend. Excerpt:

The frames come from a projector upon which Archangel Metatron (Donna Migliaccio) shows the 930-year-old, wheelchair-ridden and dejected Adam (Norman Aronovic) how the future will unfold. Metatron shows Noah, Sarah, Ishmael, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, Miriam, Samson, Shakespeare, Napoleon, Einstein, Martin Luther King, and Kennedy. But as she tries to fast forward past the young David, who is only destined to live a matter of hours, Adam insists that Metatron stop the reel:

“I wanna see the baby. The one with the red cheeks,” he demands. “Ah … ah … look at him … see how he shines so bright. His heart is fire - holy light.” Though she has been sent to cheer Adam up, Metatron agrees to euthanize him and helps him transfer his final 70 years to King David.

In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus is accompanied throughout his series of journeys by his guardian angel: the “gray-eyed goddess” of wisdom, Athena. In “David in Shadow and Light,” King David (Matt Pearson) has the benefit of two protectors in Adam and Metatron, who try to defend him, even as he sins and fights with King Saul (Bobby Smith) and Michal (Carolyn Agan). Still, viewers know that David will ultimately have too much blood on his hands to build the Temple, and he will die unhappy for his inability to achieve this dream, just as Moses did when he only managed to see Israel from the distant peak of Mount Nebo.

Where most plays that address biblical topics deal in clichés and very loose allegiance to the text, “David in Shadow and Light” must be commended for its careful study of Jewish scripture and commentaries. Hyman does invoke poetic license at various points in the narrative, but he proves himself to be such a diligent student of scripture that these departures appear to be conscious decisions rather than ones bred from ignorance.

The basic storyline is based on tradition. According to the Zohar (Part 1, page 91b), God showed Adam how history would unfold, so Adam, who was supposed to live until 1,000, donated his final 70 years to David. The Zohar does not mention any angel, but the Yalkut Shimoni (Bereishit 41) does include Metatron in the story. In the Yalkut, Adam asks God for permission to give David the 70 years, and God agrees. Adam then writes up a contract (which perhaps inspires the contract Faust proposes to Mephistopheles in Goethe’s “Faust”), which he, God, and Metatron sign. Metatron is viewed as a protector of the Jews, and the name (which is not feminine in scripture) might mean “messenger.”

The play casts Goliath (Russell Sunday) as a punk rocker, with a Mohawk, a lot of spikes, and tight leather pants. This, of course, does not appear in the Bible, but a punk rocker with a serious attitude problem makes sense, in light of the biblical tale of Goliath trash-talking the Jewish soldiers in Samuel 1:17, “Why have you come out to battle? Am I not the Philistine and you the servants of Saul? Choose for yourselves a man, and let him come down to me.” He later curses David’s God and tells him, “Come to me, and I will give your body to birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.”

Even if the giant’s attire is more contemporary than biblical, the play does follow the Babylonian Talmud in its decision to have Goliath haunt David after he is beheaded and insist he is David’s relative. Tractate Sotah (page 42b), which responds to the moment in the Book of Ruth where Orpah kisses Naomi goodbye while Ruth, clinging to her, states, “Let the descendents of the one who kissed (‘neshukah/’) fall in battle to the sons of the one who remained (‘devukah’).” The Talmud is of course referring to David and Goliath.

The reference to Samuel should read 1 Samuel 17:8 and the later reference to Samuel, not quoted here, should be 1 Samuel 16. I don't have time to check the other references.

Background here. In response to my earlier post, Carla Sulzbach sent some relevant links that I didn't have time to post at the time. The story is told in Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews IV, p. 87:

In a measure David was indebted for his life to Adam. At first only three hours of existence had been allotted to him. When God caused all future generations to pass in review before Adam, he besought God to give David seventy of the thousand years destined for him. A deed of gift, signed by God and the angel Metatron, was drawn up. Seventy years were legally conveyed from Adam to David, and in accordance with Adam's wishes, beauty, dominion, and poetical gift (12) went with them.

And the story from the Yalkut is given here. Carla also noted the parallel to Joseph's and Clarence's viewing of George Bailey's life in It's a Wonderful Life, which had occurred to me too.

EPHREM THE SYRIAN was saint of the day on 9 June and got a blurb from the Catholic News Agency. He wrote a great deal of important Syriac literature in the fourth century, a good bit of which still survives. For more, see here.

HAARETZ EDITORIALIZES AGAINST the proposed Israeli-Palestianian archaeological agreement. Excerpt from this piece by Meron Benvenisti:

Indeed, the agreement has sections that deal with the return of archaeological artifacts that were removed from the occupied territories since 1967, preservation of archaeological sites, cooperation on excavations, as well as special arrangements for Jerusalem. But the interest raised by the draft is connected less to its details than to its fundamental approach, which regards Israel's archaeological activities in the West Bank as a theft of cultural objects rightfully belonging to the Palestinians, as if Israelis were colonialist grave robbers a la 19th century, who stripped the precious historical legacy of the Ancient Near East and transferred them to museums in Europe. Now, goes the logic, as the land Israel is divided into two states and the era of colonialism is brought to an end, what was stolen will be restored to its rightful owners.

This approach transforms national cultural heritage into a matter of collections, which exist to be exhibited in museums before tourists, or to be part of the antiquities trade. Even though the Cultural Heritage Agreement declares that "Israel and Palestine constitute one archaeological domain that is divided by political borders," the concept that drawing geopolitical borders can determine the ownership of an ancient artifact - or an archaeological site - by one nation or another, is not only simplistic and legalistic, but should be unacceptable to anyone for whom national or cultural heritage is not dictated by "peace makers" specializing in conflict resolution and creators of a virtual world.

It is true that chauvinists and settlers have corrupted this heritage and turned it into a rite of blood and earth, but it must also be recognized that an approach that is willing to view the Qumran site, for example, as Palestinian, is an unfortunate approach that stems from revulsion at the aggressive effort to transform the Palestinians into aliens in their homeland.

Background here.

UPDATE (17 June): Todd Bolen has much more from Joseph Lauer here.

JAMES KUGEL is interviewed about his book How to Read the Bible by CBCRadio.

A NEW BOOK ON THE PSALMS:

"This is very bellicose literature," [Amy] Cottrill [assistant professor of religion at Birmingham-Southern College, Alabama] said. "It's very violent. They are asking God to go kill their enemy."

Though they may be largely ignored, the psalms are considered along with the rest of the Bible to be divinely inspired and the word of God to most evangelical Christians, Cottrill said. "The Bible has a tremendous amount of authority," she said.

The ancient texts, held sacred for millennia, are deserving of scrutiny and study, she said. "There is a trend toward reading less scripture," she said.

Cottrill, 37, has a doctorate in Hebrew Bible from Emory University in Atlanta and a master of divinity degree from Methodist Theological Seminary in Delaware, Ohio.

She grew up in Parkersburg, W.Va., the daughter of a United Methodist minister, but she is a teacher, not an ordained minister or preacher.

"I knew pretty early on I wanted to teach," she said.

Cottrill arrived on the faculty at Birmingham-Southern a year ago and teaches classes on world religions, Old Testament, New Testament, gender in the Hebrew Bible, and Bible in contemporary culture.

Her book, "Language, Power and Identity in the Lament Psalms of the Individual," offers literary analysis of the writing style of the psalmists.

She finds them to be starkly different in worldview from the modern religious sensibilities of Jews and Christians.

"Most mainstream religious people do not think of God as a religious warrior," she said. "The psalmists did. To them, God is all-powerful, but God is also very personal, very close. They definitely feel they have access. Sometimes they barter with God, saying, `If I die as a result of this suffering, who is going to praise you?' That's a pretty bold view."

THE NABATEAN SPICE ROUTE is the subject of a long Travel piece in the Sydney Morning Herald. Excerpt:

Dr Tsvika Tsuk, the chief archaeologist of the Israel Parks and Nature Authority, says the government has invested $US6 million ($6.4 million) in the past 10 years in the spice route, predominantly to preserve the Nabataean ruins. "There are no Nabataean documents but we know about them from the Roman historians, and the Negev is littered with archaeological clues," he says. "They numbered about 10,000 in the third and fourth centuries BCE [Before Common Era or BC], although at their peak, in the first century CE [AD], they grew to 25,000."

The next day we continue west towards Gaza. Soon, the desert gives way to greener pastures. Atlantic pistachio trees appear. European bee-eaters abound; a lilac-breasted roller flits by.

The beware-of-the-camels signs disappear and in their place are signs to Sderot, the Israeli town often the target of Kassam missiles from Gaza.

Gaza, the heartland of Hamas extremists, is a no-go zone. Instead, I'm perched on a ridge just above Kibbutz Nir-Oz, peering through binoculars. Although the Mediterranean is barely visible, I imagine ships full of cargo gently edging their way across the horizon, redolent with perfume, incense and spices.

So why did the kings of the desert who ruled the spice route for 500 years disappear, leaving only astounding archaeological relics? What happened to these ingenious nomads who built "the rose red city half as old as time", as Petra was described by British scholar John Burgon in 1845?

The Romans began to discover sea routes, rendering the overland spice route obsolete. In 106 AD, they annexed the Nabataean kingdom. Soon the nomads began planting crops, including vines, which they harvested on terraces that are now being reinvented by Eyal Izrael and a clutch of Israeli viticulturists. Laying down roots on the land ensured the Nabataeans' assimilation into Roman culture.

"We knew about the Nabataeans growing grapes," says Izrael, who owns Carmey Avdat Winery. "We took their concept and planted the vines exactly on the same spot, taking advantage of the same irrigation systems."

Gazing at the fertile valley below, I realise the rock I am standing on is not what it seems. It is the crossroads of antiquity and modernity.

There are in fact Nabatean documents and I'm sure the reporter misunderstood whatever Dr. Tsuk said. There are some substantial texts in the Babatha archive and there are also thousands of brief rock inscriptions.

TZIPORI (Sepphoris), home of Rabbi Judah the Nasi, traditional editor of the Mishnah, gets a Tourism profile in the Jerusalem Post. Excerpt:

It was in Tzipori, at the end of the third century, that the eminent rabbi edited a compilation of Jewish traditional literature and Oral Law known as the Mishna. Considered the second most important book in Judaism (after the Torah), the Mishna shaped, and continues to shape, all aspects of Jewish life everywhere.

No wonder, then, that on the day that Rebbi breathed his last people thronged to the city to mourn him and follow him to his grave. The Talmud tells us that many miracles occurred on that fateful day, a Shabbat eve. It seems that the sun stood still until every mourner returned home. And only after each one had cooked his fish, filled a jar with water and lit his lamp did the sun sink in the Heavens and Shabbat commence.

Despite its indisputable importance, there was little to see at the site of ancient Tzipori until the early 1980s. Although small-scale excavations were carried out during the British Mandate, and remains of a Roman theater were discovered, no effort was made to find the rest of the famous Jewish city. Indeed, the hill on which it stood was completely covered with dirt, brush, and fruit trees left from the hostile Arab village that stood nearby until 1948.

When serious digs finally began, archeologists could hardly believe the result: not only did the ancient city sport a theater, but one that was well-preserved. Unique mosaics were uncovered in several parts of the site along with entire neighborhoods, a market street and the marvelous underground water system.

Today ancient Tzipori is one of the most exciting national parks in the country. When you visit, you follow a wide Roman Cardo to marvelous extensive fifth-century mosaics illustrating the Nile River Festival and Amazon warriors. If you look down at your feet you will see crevices made by chariot wheels and, carved into the stones, a menora and games played by children long ago.

"METHUSELAH," the Masada date sprout, is now a small date palm:

"Methuselah" Tree Grew From 2,000-Year-Old Seed
Anne Minard
for National Geographic News
June 12, 2008

The oldest-sprouted seed in the world is a 2,000-year-old plant from Jerusalem, a new study confirms.

"Methuselah," a 4-foot-tall (1.2-meter-tall) ancestor of the modern date palm, is being grown at a protected laboratory in the Israeli capital.

Because a witness to the long-ago siege recorded the Jews' plight and eventual mass suicide, locations of their food stores—which the Jews left behind to show they didn't starve to death—were well documented.

So the exact age of the seed isn't a big surprise, said project leader Sarah Sallon of the Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem, but: "I was surprised that we were able to grow it."

Methuselah beats out the previous oldest-seed record holder, a lotus tree grown from a 1,300-year-old seed in 1995 by Jane Shen-Miller, a botanist at the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues.

[...]

There are photos too.

I've noted the progress of "Methuselah" frequently in the last few years. The first announcement was here.

SOLOMONIC MAGIC is alive and well. Get your amulets and seals while they're hot.

"TUTELA VALUI." You find Latin in the most interesting places.

Glenn Reynolds comments "At least it didn't say Romanes eunt domus."

People seem to be taking Ms. Dupre to task for messing up the language, as often does happen with tattoos, but I'm not sure that's fair in this case. It looks to me as though she's aiming to say "I have stayed healthy through protection." The grammar works if tutela is taken as an ablative of means or instrument (with a final long a). The message, of course, is appropriate, but one wonders how many of the intended readership would have known Latin well enough to get the point.

UPDATE: I see that Rogue Classicist David Meadows understands the grammar the same way I do.

UPDATE: Welcome to Instapundit readers.

UPDATE (13 June): Welcome to Ann Althouse's readers as well.

THE RUSSIAN COLLECTION OF JEWISH MANUSCRIPTS is on the agenda of the JNUL and they hope to have it relocated to Israel:

State renews efforts to bring disputed Jewish manuscript collection from Russia
By Anshel Pfeffer (Haaretz)

The State of Israel plans to renew its efforts to retrieve the world's second-largest collection of ancient Jewish manuscripts from Russia.

Various parties have been trying to bring the impressive Ginzburg collection to Israel for years. Now, they are hoping that renewed Russian-Israeli cooperation, primarily Israel's expected transfer of the Sergei building in Jerusalem to Russia, will enable the collection to be brought to Israel.
Advertisement

The noble Russian-Jewish Ginzburg family acquired its collection over three generations, beginning in the 1840s. The collection includes 14,000 books, 45 incunabula (books published in the 14th century at the start of the printing era), more than 2,000 Hebrew manuscripts and 1,000 Arabic manuscripts. It is considered the second largest collection of antique Jewish literature in the world, after the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

Baron David Ginzburg, the last of the collectors, died in 1910. After his death, Zionist activists, including Eliezer Ben Yehuda, began trying to bring the collection to the land of Israel. In May 1917, the National Library in Jerusalem signed a contract with parties in Russia to buy the collection for half a million rubles. The acquisition was funded by donations from Russian Zionists, and when the money was delivered, the books and manuscripts were packed into crates to be delivered. But the shipment was delayed by World War I, and when the Bolshevik Revolution broke out, the Soviet authorities seized the books and sent them to the Lenin Library in Moscow.

Over the years, prominent Jews, including Albert Einstein, Israel's first president, Chaim Weizmann, and Foreign Ministry officials, tried to bring the Ginzburg collection to Israel, but their efforts were rejected. Now the heads of the Jewish National and University Library (Israel's official national library, which is located in Jerusalem), including director general Shmuel Har Noy and board chairman David Blumberg, are trying to put the matter on the public agenda.

[...]

APOCRYPHA WATCH:

Plenty of bullocks and bureaucrats
Home » Opinion » Opinion (Otago Daily Times)
Wed, 11 Jun 2008
Opinion

Farmers are unfairly blamed for all sorts of ills; the latest is rising food prices, writes Gerry Eckhoff.

"How can he get wisdom . . . whose talk is of bullocks?" So says the book of the Apocrypha - Ecclesiastes, from the Old Testament.

We farmers are told that food production (beef ) is a good thing to do - but only as long as it is cheap and sustainable, so I guess that is why we farmers still talk of bullocks 2000 years later, and how to get cheap food on the tables of the great unwashed even cheaper.

The quotation is from Sirach 38:25. Whether the context fits, I leave up to you.

DOCTORAL DEMOGRAPHICS at the Hebrew University:

Koreans dominate in Bible studies at Hebrew U.
By Ofri Ilani (Haaretz)

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem awarded 328 doctoral degrees this year, in a ceremony which took place last week. Hundreds of new scientists completed doctorates in molecular biology, biochemistry, computer sciences, and other fields which have been popular in recent years. But the Bible Department, which is one of the university's finest departments, awarded only six new doctorates.

Like many other humanities disciplines in Israel, biblical research has suffered from a steady decline in popularity, and few students seek advanced degrees in that field. Among the six students who did receive a doctorate, two are Israeli, one is American, and three are Koreans, who have become the dominant group among the department's graduates this year.

Young Sik Cho wrote a doctorate about "concepts of wealth in the Book of Proverbs." Yun Ho Chong examined the "factors which created a negative stance toward the Golden Calf cult in the Bible." Song-Yun Shin investigated the "language of Hagai-Zecharia-Malachi and its place in the history of the Hebrew Bible." In addition to them, Song Dal Quan completed a doctorate in the Hebrew Language Department which pertained to "use of 'haya (to be)' syntax in biblical language."

[...]

Good for them. They're doing some interesting work.

THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS EXHIBITION in san Francisco is reviewed by NBC11.com:

Never Before Seen Dead Sea Scrolls Fragments On Display In SF
Bits Of History On Loan From Israel Antiquities Authority
By Kris Sanchez, NBC11 News Anchor/Reporter

POSTED: 2:40 pm PDT June 9, 2008
UPDATED: 3:05 pm PDT June 9, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif -- When you hear the word Israel it's hard not to automatically think of the headlines of political conflict that come with every passing day. Yet you can visit a small collection of pottery, glass, gold and parchment on display in San Francisco and be transported 5,000 years in time.

"The Dead Sea Scrolls and 5,000 Years of Treasures" is an exhibit featuring items on loan from the Israel Antiquities Authority. Curator Renee Dreyfus told NBC11, "Although it is a small exhibition, it's got under 50 items, each one tells a unique story about this land."

5 Thousand Year Old Israel Treasure Comes To The Legion Of Honor
The Dead Sea Scrolls get top billing, but Dreyfus' favorite piece is a mosaic table made of glass found in a Byzantine villa. "It's just dazzling. Nothing like it has ever been found before. We are the first institution to show it. It hasn't even been on view in Israel yet. It's extraordinary, it's unique, it's one-of-a-kind," Dreyfus said.

[...]

The fragments of Dead Sea Scroll, so fragile they're only lit up for viewing 15 seconds at a time, tell the story of the beginning of days. The fragments at the Legion of Honor now are on display for the first time every, anywhere. They are juxtaposed with fragments of the Book of Enoch, a text written at the same time, but which was not part of the Hebrew bible.

[...]

Background here.

It's nice to see the Enochic texts getting some exposure. They were at the San Diego exhibition as well.

A CAVE with evidence of occupation has been found under a third-century church in Jordan:

Ancient cave found under church
Built in 230 A.D., church is one of Christianity's oldest in the world

By Dale Gavlak (AP)
updated 5:05 p.m. ET June 9, 2008

AMMAN, Jordan - Archaeologists in Jordan said Monday they have discovered a cave underneath one of the world's oldest churches that may have once been an even more ancient site of Christian worship.

Archaeologist Abdel-Qader Hussein, head of the Rihab Center for Archaeological Studies, says the cave was unearthed in the northern Jordanian city of Rihab after three months of excavation and shows evidence of early Christian rituals.

The cave lies under St. Georgeous church, built in 230 A.D., making it one of the oldest churches in the world, along with one unearthed in the Jordanian southern port of Aqaba in 1998 and another in Israel discovered in 2005.

[...]

Claims that it could be a first-century Christian worship site have been received with skepticism by historian Thomas Parker, who specializes in such things.

PHOENICIAN DOG?

Burglar makes the mistake of choosing 22-stone mastiff's home

By Chris Brooke (Daily Mail)
Last updated at 8:54 AM on 09th June 2008

Of all the gardens in all the world, the thief had the bad luck to break into the one where Cromwell was peacefully gnawing on his bone.

The three-year-old English mastiff is a gentle pet. But his breed are also born guard dogs - and big ones at that.

Only the thief and Cromwell know exactly what happened next.
Enlarge Cromwell, his owner George Watson and the burglar's torn shirt

But it can't have been friendly, as the dog's owner heard a 'scream, a roar and a commotion' from the back garden.

George Watson, 43, had been having a bath and ran outside in his towel, to see the thief zooming off down the driveway in his van.

Apart from a very agitated dog, the only evidence the man left behind was the torn Tshirt.

[...]

Okay, not the usual PaleoJudaica fare, but this next bit caught my eye:

The breed now known as the English mastiff was brought to this country by Phoenician traders as early as the 6th century BC.

After the Roman invasion, they were used to fight in arenas against other large animals such as lions.

I didn't know the mastiff had a Phoenician connection, but the claim is certainly widely made on the Internet. The sentence above is a bit too telegraphic - the Phoenicians certainly didn't bring the dog directly to Britain - but here's a more detailed account:

These ancient mastiffs, whatever their origins and prey, are believed to have been the ancestors of the later war-dogs and sheepdogs for which ancient Epirus and Sparta were to become so famous. Molossia, a country in Epirus (located on what is now the Western coast of the Greek mainland), gave rise to the term "Molosser," which was the name given to the famous mastiffs of that region and which is still used to refer to members of the mastiff family.

Phoenicians traveling to Italy and on to Spain and France are thought to have carried these guarding dogs with them, perhaps selling them along with sheep and goats to herdsmen in those areas. By this time there were already reported differences in the ancient mastiffs. A number of sources available today refer to the early difference that developed between the white, longer muzzled, graceful "shepherd's" dog and the darker, heavier, dog used for protection and for war (Raulston). Both Strang and von Stephanitz report that Columella, a Roman writer, in about the year 60 AD in De Re Rustica describes two types of guard dogs: the white, swift sheep guarding dog or shepherd's dog and the dark colored, heavy farm guard dog. These early imports from Asia Minor to the Pyrenees were certainly of the first type and were the basis for the breed we now know as the Great Pyrenees.

Once the mastiff reached the Roman Empire, they had already been bred to suit special purposes, the first step in the development of "breeds" within a species. The Romans had developed one breed that very closely resembles the Sennenhund or Swiss Mountain Dog of today (Hubbard). In fact, there were no prehistoric Swiss mastiffs, or doggen, prior to the last century BC (Raulston). The Romans took their mastiffs into Gaul, now known as France. Their mastiffs guarded the mountain passes where a few hundred years later the St. Bernard would be found. These early mastiffs also contributed to French breeds like the Dogue de Bordeaux and quite possibly to the many breeds of hounds found in France. To the south, in Italy the Neapolitan Mastiff was born. In Spain, very near the homeland of the Great Pyrenees, the Spanish Mastiff developed. To the north, in Belgium, the feared tracker, St. Hubert's Hound, the ancestor of today's Bloodhound, was developed from the descendants of those fierce hunting dogs of prehistoric times. The retrievers, like the Labrador and the Chesapeake, are thought also to trace to the ancient mastiffs.

From the Alps, the mastiff is thought to have been adopted by the Germanic peoples and then to have traveled to Great Britain with Angles and Saxons. The Great Dane is known as the Deutsche Dogge (or German Mastiff) in most countries today. In Chaucer's day the Middle English words alaunt or alan and alano were also used to indicate early mastiffs. These words may have derived from the word Alani, the name of an Eastern race that lived before the time of Christ in what is now Albania (AKC) or they may have , in fact, been corruptions of the word Allemannni, the Germanic people who invaded France prior to the reign of Charlemagne.

I have no idea how accurate any of this is, but it's interesting.

SWORDS INTO PLOWSHARES: The Jerusalem Post has an article on the Isaiah Scroll exhibition:

A message for the ages
By ABE SELIG

'They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore." Thus is the prophecy of Isaiah, the eighth-century BCE prophet who preached a message of universal peace, and whose lips, according to biblical sources, were divinely anointed with fire.

As the Jewish people mark Shavuot, the celebration of receiving the Torah from God, the Israel Museum is proudly displaying Isaiah's scroll, one of the world's oldest known scrolls, and the most complete Dead Sea scroll ever found.

[...]

MILESTONE: Just noticed that PaleoJudaica passed the 500,000 unique visitors mark sometime in the last couple of days. (See the counter on the lower right.) Welcome to visitor number half-million, whoever you were!

YEHUD UNDER PERSIA RULE is covered briefly in Die Zeit.

THE JERUSALEM SYNDROME gets some coverage in the Toronto Star:

Visiting Jerusalem can spark a psychotic reaction

When this ancient city's messianic vibe takes over, some pilgrims don bedsheets and start preaching

Jun 07, 2008 04:30 AM
Oakland Ross
Middle East Bureau

JERUSALEM–More than 2 million visitors flock to this holy city in a good year – including business-people, pilgrims and vacationers – and most survive the experience without suffering major upset.

But there are some notable exceptions.

In the medical literature, the condition is referred to as a form of "psychotic decompensation" or a "unique acute psychotic state."

Or, to put it in layman's terms, the City of Gold can have a strange effect on some people's heads. About 100 people a year, on average.

There's even a name for the sometimes-unnerving result.

They call it the Jerusalem syndrome.

[...]

More on the Jerusalem Syndrome here.

W IS FOR THE WESTERN WALL.

The Western Wall in Jerusalem is a holy spot to Jews around the world.

The wall is the only remaining portion of the Holy Temple built by Solomon that was destroyed in the year 70. This temple was the center of Judaism, considered to be the resting place of God's presence on Earth. Jewish tradition teaches that prayers first ascend to the Western Wall before ascending to heaven.

[...]

Actually it's a remnant of the platform that held Herod's Temple. More here.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Their names may be lost to history, but their stories endure
By Shona Crabtree, Religion News Service
Published: June 06, 2008

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Lot’s wife and daughters. Two thieves crucified with Jesus. Three Wise Men. They’re all iconic figures from the Bible, yet they all have one thing in common. Officially, they have no names.

The Bible is riddled with famous or infamous people who went nameless—in some cases forever, and in others for decades or centuries after their stories were recorded.

How and why they were eventually named, and why they initially went nameless, are the types of questions that intrigue scholars. And while anonymity often is equated with unimportance or insignificance, some scholars have challenged that assumption.

Adele Reinhartz, professor of religious studies at the University of Ottawa, is the author of Why Ask My Name? Anonymity and Identity in Biblical Narrative. While some anonymous biblical figures simply aren’t that important, she cited several times when an unnamed person is essential to the story.

Take Lot’s wife and daughters. ...

HAPPY SHAVUOT to all those celebrating. It begins tonight at sundown. More here.

NO BLOGGING TODAY. I'm away from my computer all day, so I've set up this post in advance. I'll try to squeeze in something on Sunday, but no promises.

AND WITH TWO THEY COVERED THEIR ... ER ... "FEET." Sean the Baptist has a follow-up post to yesterday's article on naughty bits in the Bible.

THE BIBLE - THE NAUGHTY BITS:

Scholars give Scripture a spin

By Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY

Examine Bible stories top to bottom — particularly the "bottoms" — and you will find a blue vein of sexual and scatological humor not-so-hidden in the verses, say two scholars of Hebrew Scriptures and an evangelical satire writer.

Their new book, The Uncensored Bible: The Bawdy and Naughty Bits of the Good Book, in stores Monday, raises such questions as "Which 'bone' was Eve made from?"

Or whether, in the Book of Judges, a king's assassin escapes through a latrine in a tale laden with euphemisms for feces.

[...]

Hint: it may not have been Adam's "rib."

THE HOOPOE, Israel's new national bird, is famous in Solomonic legend.

TWO ACADEMIC JOBS:

LECTURER IN BIBLICAL
STUDIES (OLD TESTAMENT)

Applications are invited from enthusiastic, exceptionally gifted and highly motivated teachers.

The Uniting Church has established a Centre for Leadership Development to resource the development of effective leaders, lay and ordained, for healthy, missional churches throughout South Australia. The Centre seeks to appoint a Lecturer in Biblical Studies (Old Testament) to play a key role in the development of leaders who have an advanced knowledge and understanding of the Old Testament and who can interpret the Scriptures in the contemporary missional context. The Centre is part of the Adelaide College of Divinity and the Flinders University School of Theology. A position description together with the method of application is available from the Principal, Rev Dr Andrew Dutney, at andrew.dutney@flinders.edu.au

Applications close 18 July 2008. Appointment effective from
January 2009.

(From the SOTS list.)

Author's Subject: JOB: Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies, University of Münster
Date Written: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 23:56:22 -0400
Date Posted: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 23:56:22 -0400

The Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster (www.uni-muenster.de),
Germany, seeks to fill the position of an

Assistant Professor (W1) for Jewish studies with option for tenure track (W2)
at the next possible date. The job holder will be expected to cover the full range of Jewish studies in research and teaching, the desired focus being on Rabbinic Judaism. He or she will contribute actively to the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics in Pre-Modern and Modern Cultures". Teaching requirements include all degree programs concerned. Moreover, the job holder will be expected to cooperate with the Center of Religious Studies. The teaching obligation initially amounts to four semester periods per week and later to five.

The junior professorship is a fixed-term three-year position. It may be extended by another three years on the basis of a positive evaluation after this period. After a total of six years, following positive evaluation, it will be changed over into a W2 tenure track professorship.

The successful candidate holds a university degree and has an outstanding ability for academic work which is usually proven by an appropriate dissertation's quality.

We explicitly encourage women to apply. The applications of women with equal aptitude, qualification and academic achievements will be given priority, provided there are no prevailing reasons to the contrary that arise from a competing candidate's personality. Severely handicapped candidates with equal qualifications will be preferred.

The closing date for applications including a CV, certificates, a publication list and information about previous teaching activities is 30 June 2008. Please submit applications to the Dean of the Faculty of Theology:

Dekan des Fachbereichs 01 ? Evangelisch-Theologische Fakultät
Universitätsstr. 13-17
48143 Münster
Germany

In addition, please e-mail your application in electronic form to ekanat.fb1@uni-muenster.de.

Publications should be handed in on request only.
Website: http://www.uni-muenster.de/de/index.html

(From the H-JUDAIC list).

A GREEK STUDY DAY AT CAMBRIDGE:

7th Annual Greek Study Day, 15th September 2008
Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge

The Greek Study Day is aimed at those teaching New Testament Greek in universities and colleges. It provides an opportunity to hear about different methods and textbooks, to share experiences and to develop new ideas and approaches for teaching. This year's programme is presently being put together - if you would like to offer a session, or to register your interest in receiving further information, please contact:

Jane McLarty jdm35@cam.c.uk
Lucy Cavendish College
Cambridge CB3 0BU

(From the BNTS list.)

A CONFERENCE at University College London on 16-17 June:

Sects and Sectarianism in Jewish History

UCL Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies
Summer Conference 2008

The notions of 'sects' and 'sectarianism' are well known but they are also tremendously problematic. Their relevance to Jewish history is commonly assumed, but their meaning and appropriateness needs to be reconsidered.

This conference will consider the phenomenon of sects and sectarianism in various periods of Jewish history. We will be looking at the identification of various Jewish religious groups and movements as 'sects' or 'sectarian', and considering the meaning of those terms in the context of Jewish history. A range of groups and movements from all periods of Jewish history will be presented and discussed by specialists in the relevant field.

SEPHER YETZIRAH meets contemporary art. (Okay, I'm not sure where Shrek fits in, but otherwise it works.)

Start your view at the huge blue cube
Jun 2, 2008 9:15 PM (1 day ago) by Janos Gereben, The Examiner

SAN FRANCISCO

From Genesis to Shrek to music for the Hebrew alphabet, the first exhibits in the Contemporary Jewish Museum’s new building are unusual, imaginative and noteworthy: “In the Beginning: Artists Respond to Genesis,” “From the New Yorker to Shrek: The Art of William Steig” and John Zorn’s “Aleph-Bet Sound Project” will be on view Sunday when the 24-year-old institution celebrates the grand opening of its new facility with special programs and free admission.

The bold structure, on Mission Street between Market Street and Yerba Buena Gardens, was designed by Daniel Libeskind. Its most striking feature, a huge blue cube resting on its corner, is the venue for Zorn’s music project, for which the MacArthur Fellow has commissioned sound and music based on letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

The structure itself — with a 65-foot ceiling, walls converging at striking angles and 36 diamond-shaped windows providing the light — channels the Hebrew “yud,” the letter used in writing the name of Adonai or God (or, properly, G-d). The official name for the cube is the “Stephen and Maribelle Leavitt Yud Gallery.”

Zorn, 54, is best known for integration of jazz, klezmer, improvised and contemporary music. His sound project aims at linking the alphabetic symbols found throughout Libeskind’s architecture with the new museum’s mission of “rethinking tradition.”

Zorn’s mandate is to assist musicians as they embrace the Kabbalistic principle that the ancient Hebrew alphabet is a spiritual tool full of hidden meaning and harmony.

[...]

“In the Beginning” exhibits the multimedia and sound-installation works of seven artists — Alan Berliner, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Ben Rubin, Matthew Ritchie, Kay Rosen, Shirley Shor and Mierle Laderman Ukeles — “in dialogue” with historical, rarely displayed works about Genesis.

There are illuminated manuscripts from the Medieval and Renaissance periods; 18th- and 19th-century drawings by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and William Blake; modern and contemporary works by Auguste Rodin, Marc Chagall, Barnett Newman, Jacob Lawrence, Ann Hamilton and Tom Marioni.

[...]

PALESTINIAN SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS still have trouble with ancient Jewish history:

Report: Palestinian textbooks portray Jews badly

By DIAA HADID – 6 hours ago

JERUSALEM (AP) — Authors of Palestinian school textbooks took small steps toward softening their portrayal of Israel under the rule of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas — but progress was quickly reversed after the militant Islamic Hamas took over, according to a report released on Tuesday.

The report by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education and by the American Jewish Committee looked at 120 textbooks published from 2000 to 2006.

The report reflects charges by Israelis that Palestinian textbooks are not in keeping with a peace process that started in 1993. Palestinians counter that Jewish Israeli students are not taught about Palestinian suffering.

Arnon Groiss, author of the report, said most of the textbooks from grade one to 10, issued under the late Yasser Arafat's rule, don't acknowledge any historical Jewish presence in ancient Palestine.

[...]

OBAMA THE PROPHET?

THE MOUNT ZION EXCAVATION headed by Shimon Gibson and James Tabor is soliciting donations for their summer 2008 season.

THE TEL KEDESH EXCAVATION has a blog run by two conservators from the University of Michigan.

THE ISAIAH SCROLL EXHIBIT is covered by Bloomberg:

Dead Sea Scroll's 2,100-Year-Old Peace Appeal Goes Back on Show

By Gwen Ackerman

June 3 (Bloomberg) -- The yellowing parchment, pocked with dark blotches from the sun, has ragged and fragile edges. The lure remains as strong as ever for the hundreds who study all 16 feet of it keenly under the dim light. While the 2,100-year-old inscription has faded, its words still resonate.

``They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks,'' the Prophet Isaiah's famous vision of peace says. ``Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.''

The two longest sections of the oldest existing copy of the book of Isaiah are on display for the first time in 40 years at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. The most complete of the Dead Sea Scrolls was taken out of storage and will be on show through Aug. 19 to mark the founding of the Jewish state 60 years ago. Israel is negotiating peace with the Palestinians and Syria after concluding agreements with two of its Arab neighbors in the past three decades.

``It's a real archaeological miracle that we have such a piece from 100 years before Jesus was born,'' said curator Adolfo Roitman, the head of the museum's Shrine of the Book for the past 14 years. ``This is the real Mona Lisa of the Jewish nation.''

[...]

NO BLOGGING TODAY: I've been away from a computer all day and am in a rush now. Blogging may be erratic in the next few weeks. Bear with me.

THE EIGHTH-CENTURY SYRIAC STELE IN CHINA is the subject of a new book that is reviewed in the Taipei Times. Excerpt:

Michael Keevak is a professor at the National Taiwan University. Although his usual area of study is English Literature (his book Sexual Shakespeare was reviewed in the Taipei Times on Jan. 27, 2002), he has put his mind in this new work to the ways this famous Chinese monument was received in the West over the 300 years from its rediscovery. All the illustrations in The Story of a Stele, except for three photos taken by the author on a trip to view the monument, are from books in National Taiwan University's library, so it's reasonable to assume that Keevak's interest in this topic began with his involvement in the preservation of the older books held there, an endeavor described in the Taipei Times on June 9, 2002.

What Keevak here seeks to show is that the Westerners saw, not something that in reality represented a short-lived incident within Chinese history, but a reflection of their own concerns. "The tablet was not even the real object of attention," he writes, "just as China and Chinese culture or the Chinese language were constantly being pushed into the background of European preoccupations with religious conversion, cultural superiority and monetary profit."

Nevertheless, it's hardly surprising that the Europeans, and the Jesuits in particular, found the monument of enormous significance. After all, a 17th century Chinese emperor must have been reflecting the views of many when he exclaimed it was strange that this Western god had neglected his great empire while bestowing his sacred revelation on so many insignificant barbarian kingdoms. This tablet proved that China hadn't been neglected after all, and that the gospel had indeed been propagated within the Celestial Empire from comparatively early times.

Background here.

MICHIGAN CHALDEANS now have a Chamber of Commerce:

Advancing Chaldean interests while educating public about people

June 1, 2008 (Detroit Free Press)

TODAY'S SUBJECT: Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce

THE CHALLENGE: The chamber seeks to dispel negative perceptions and clarify misconceptions about Aramaic-speaking people, including Assyrians, Chaldeans and Syriacs, while advancing the interests of Chaldean-owned businesses. The chamber is a partnership of businesses and professionals working together to strengthen businesses, increase job opportunities, encourage expansion and promote Chaldean culture.

[...]

BIG TROUBLE FOR ELAD?

Islamic-era skeletons 'disappeared' from Elad-sponsored dig
By Meron Rapoport (Haaretz)
Tags: archeology, Israel, Elad

Dozens of skeletons from the early Islamic period were discovered during excavations near the Temple Mount, on a site slated for construction by a right-wing Jewish organization. Contrary to regulations, the skeletons were removed, and were not reported to the Ministry of Religious Services. The Israel Antiquities Authority termed the incident "a serious mishap."

The IAA's Dr. Doron Ben Ami is directing the excavations at the Givati Parking Lot in Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood, across from the entrance to the Dung Gate. Elad, an association devoted to Judaizing East Jerusalem, is funding the dig at the site, where it plans to build an events hall with underground parking. The IAA is excavating there even though Elad never filed building plans with the planning authorities.

In recent weeks, workers excavating at a depth of two to three meters reached a layer from the 8th or 9th century C.E., some 200 years after the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem. They discovered several dozen skeletons, skulls and bone fragments, thought to date from the early Islamic period. An IAA source said "dozens of crates" containing bone fragments were removed, which suggests at least 100 skeletons were found.

IAA regulations require that any graves discovered be reported immediately to the Religious Services Ministry and to Atra Kadisha, an ultra-Orthodox organization dedicated to preserving ancient Jewish grave sites. For some reason this discovery was not reported, and the skeletal remains were carted away before ministry officials arrived to inspect the site. The ministry learned of the discovery only two weeks later, following inquiries by Haaretz.

Nor have the Muslim religious authorities been notified, even though the skeletons are thought to be Muslim.

[...]

If this report is accurate, it's hard to imagine how Elad could have done more reinforce stereotypes about it and critically damage its own credibility. And the episode doesn't do the IAA any good either. All that said, I want confirmation of the story and it's details before jumping to any conclusions. I note that an earlier Haaretz article on an archaeological issue and Elad by the same journalist had some problems with it.

There is nothing about this episode on the IAA website yet.

For background on Elad and the IAA see here, here, and here.

METATRON WATCH: Get your Metatron Personal Harmonizer now, before everybody has one.

It turns out, preparing for the imminent alien invasion is only part of Jeff Peckman's craziness. He also creates and peddles "Metatron Harmonizers," little snakeoil gadgets designed to "transform the chaotic electromagnetic fields into life-supporting fields that are in harmony with the natural fields created by the human physiology." Hoo boy.

Check out the picture.

I love Gizmodo.

ANOTHER PHOENICIAN BOAT RECONSTRUCTION is in the works, this one involving a circumnavigation of Africa:

An ancient adventure
By George Hamilton (Oxford Mail)

Grandfather Mike Wilcox is set to become an honorary Phoenician - by recreating one of the greatest ever voyages of discovery.

The property maintenance worker from Bicester Road, Launton, is one of seven people from across the world who have been picked as full-time crew on an exact replica of a Phoenician sailing boat.

He will spend a year on the wooden boat, including 10 months recreating the first-ever circumnavigation around Africa, a voyage first made by Phoenician mariners in 600BC.

The 52-year-old said: "I couldn't believe it when I was picked. It took a couple of days to sink in. It's a voyage of discovery. Nobody has sailed 17,000 miles in one of these boats since 600BC."

Mr Wilcox was a Petty Officer in the Royal Navy for 16 years and saw action during the Falklands conflict in 1982, when he was a member of the crew of the landing ship HMS Intrepid, delivering troops to the beachhead at San Carlos.

He was offered a place in the crew of the Phoenicia after hearing about the British Museum-sponsored expedition and emailing a good luck message to the organisers.

[...]

I noted a similar project, involving a trip from Tyre to Europe, in January.

CAN'T MAKE IT UP: Remixing the Torah for Shavuot.

The Word of God, Rewritten

By Beth Schwartzapfel
Thu. May 29, 2008 (The Forward)

On the upcoming festival of Shavuot, we commemorate the day when Moses carried the Torah — with its 613 rules, injunctions and guidelines on how to live a Jewish life — down from Mount Sinai. Some of its commandments, like “Do not murder” and “Love the stranger,” ring as true today as they did in the Sinai desert. Others, like “Destroy the seed of Amalek” and “Do not eat the flesh of an ox that was condemned to be stoned,” require a little creativity to remain applicable to the lives of 21st-century Jews.

So, two San Francisco-based artists have set up a Web site that allows Jews everywhere to apply their own brand of creativity and humor to the task. (RE)velation (http://revelation.xoxco.com) users “remix” the commandments, using colloquial English and a modern sensibility to reinterpret the lessons of the mitzvot. Thus, “Do not carry tales” becomes “Gossip magazines are not your friend,” and, in a rather unorthodox take, “Do not leave a beast that has fallen down beneath its burden, unaided” becomes “Mick Jagger just wants you to make love to him.” It’s sort of like a Talmud wiki.

[...]

I can't wait to see the search engine referrals that last quote brings in.

MORE ON THE PROPOSED ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL AGREEMENT:

USC, UCLA professors work on Israeli-Palestinian archaeological pact

Lynn Dodd and Ran Boytner are helping to devise a plan for handling the region's rich heritage.
By Ashraf Khalil, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 30, 2008

JERUSALEM -- A pair of archaeology professors from crosstown rivals USC and UCLA are working together to help bring harmony to a small corner of the lengthy conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

For five years, Lynn Dodd of USC and Ran Boytner of UCLA have sought to come up with a plan for handling the rich archaeological heritage of the Holy Land should a binding peace deal be reached for the creation of a Palestinian state.

The pair organized the Israeli-Palestinian Archaeology Working Group, bringing together three Palestinian and three Israeli archaeologists to craft a blueprint for the eventual disposition of hundreds of historical sites and thousands of artifacts.

After three years of sometimes contentious negotiating sessions overseen by professional mediators, the group has formulated a nonbinding model that could be put into action once the final borders of a Palestinian state are defined. Their next step is to submit the proposal for discussion in June at the World Archaeological Congress in Dublin, Ireland.

[...]

The Dead Sea Scrolls would be a particularly touchy area:

From the Israeli side, one of the immediate sticking points is the future status of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The ancient texts are viewed in Israel as a national treasure, and Israeli officials made it clear from the start that putting the scrolls into Palestinian hands was not an option.

"The Israelis are very emotional about them," Jubeh said.

At least some of the scrolls were unearthed on what is now Palestinian land, Greenberg said, but many first came to light when they turned up on the antiquities market.

The joint archaeology document states that the fate of certain highly sensitive artifacts should be addressed by the politicians during final negotiations.

"The Dead Sea Scrolls are a political issue. We recognize that will be a political decision," Boytner said.

And though all sides acknowledge that the scrolls probably will remain in Israeli hands, Boytner said, "there must be a legal way to do it. The Israelis can't just say, 'We're going to keep it and that's it.' "

[...]

Background here. This remains a utopian exercise until there actually is a peace agreement.

ARAMAIC WATCH: Gilgamesh, The Opera - in Syriac:

Bedford composer's works earning international attention
By MIKE LEWIS mikel@tmnews.com
May 29, 2008

BEDFORD — Since a trip to The Netherlands in 2006, Bedford resident and composer John Craton has kept busy. And the work will take him back to The Netherlands this summer for another premiere of an original work.

The work for two guitars and orchestra called “Flowers of Spain” will be premiered July 5 by American guitarists Mark and Beverly Davis and the Dutch orchestra Het Consort. The composer and his wife, Dr. Deborah Craton, plan to attend the concert in The Netherlands.

[...]

Craton is a full-time composer who also teaches violin and classical mandolin in a studio at his home.

A Bedford resident since 1984, he began composing music when he was 11 years old. He has composed for artists in the United States, Great Britain, France and Germany.

The composing side has been busy the past several months. Some highlights:

[...]

• A commissioned opera, “Gilgamesh,” is the first to be composed in the Syriac language. It is to be presented at a concert by the Townsend Opera Players this fall in Modesto, Calif.

[...]

There is a venerable tradition of Gilgamesh in Aramaic, although these sources just preserve the name and get the story completely garbled. Gilgamesh, the monster Humbaba, and the Flood hero Utnapishtim appear as giants in the Book of Giants. And around 600 CE, the Nestorian Syriac writer Theodor bar Qoni mentions Gilgamesh as a contemporary of Abraham. It's good to see that the tradition continues and that, presumably, this Aramaic version will be much closer to the original.

THE SHROUD OF TURIN may be compared to a much older shroud found in the Judean Desert:

Will Judean Desert find shed light on Shroud of Turin?
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS

Can a 6,000-year-old shroud uncovered in the Judean Desert in 1993 help illuminate the centuries-old debate over the Shroud of Turin?

That is the question posed by Olga Negnevitsky, a conservator at the Israel Museum who was involved in the conservation of the lesser-known shroud for the Antiquities Authority after it was discovered inside a small cave near Jericho.

The idea to use the older shroud to learn more about the famous one came to Negnevitsky this week after she listened to an address on the Shroud of Turin at the International Art Conference in Jerusalem on the conservation of cultural and environmental heritage.

[...]

Instead of finding biblical scrolls, the archeologists stumbled on the 6,000-year-old tomb of a nobleman whose body was wrapped in an elaborate linen shroud.

The skeleton was accompanied by a long flint blade, wooden bowls, sandals of thick leather, and bows.

The shroud, like the Shroud of Turin, had signs of blood on it, likely from a wound suffered by the bandaged warrior, Negnevitsky said.

[...]

On a related note, the Chicago Tribune reports that the Shroud of Turin is going to be subjected to new tests at Oxford University:

Now, John Jackson, a University of Colorado at Colorado Springs physics lecturer has done something his colleagues consider nearly miraculous.

Jackson, who is a leading researcher on the 14-foot-long linen sheet, has persuaded the Oxford laboratory that dated the shroud to the 13th or 14th Century to revisit the question of its age.

Professor Christopher Ramsey, head of the Oxford University Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, has agreed to test Jackson's hypothesis that contamination by carbon monoxide could throw off radiocarbon dating by more than a millennium.

It is possible, Jackson said, that even minimal contamination of the shroud by environmental carbon monoxide could have skewed the dating by 1,300 years — making it not medieval but contemporaneous with Jesus's life.

Jackson, who must prove a viable pathway for that contamination, is working with Oxford to test samples of linen under the various conditions the shroud has endured, such as outdoor exhibitions and exposure to extreme heat during a 1532 fire.

"Science still has much to tell us about the shroud," said Jackson, a devout Catholic. "If we are dealing with the burial cloth of Christ, it is the witness to the birth of Christianity. But my faith doesn't depend on that outcome."

Watch this space.

MANI AND MANICHAEISIM get some nice coverage from Press TV, Iran:

Mani and Manichaeism in Sassanid Iran
Wed, 28 May 2008 15:46:15
By Hedieh Ghavidel, Press TV, Tehran

Manichaeism, presumably an offshoot of Zoroastrianism, was not only an inspiration for various heretical movements in Christianity but also dominated the religious life of Central and Eastern Asia for centuries.

Through the four centuries of Sassanid rule over Persia (224-651 CE) Zoroastrianism was the official state religion. Historians, however, have spoken of several heretical sects. One such cult was that of the Manicheans, founded by Mani at the beginning of the Sassanid era.

The founder of the new religion believed to have been the culmination of Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Buddhism was born in 216 CE in southern Babylonia of noble Persian stock.

He grew up under the careful guidance of his father who was a religious leader of a Jewish-Christian baptizing sect. At the age of twelve, Mani claimed that an angel named The Twin had instructed him in a vision to withdraw from the sect and purify himself through asceticism. The Angel later returned to young Mani, this time calling upon him to preach a new religion.

[...]

During his years in exile, Mani gave final shape to his teachings and committed them to writing. Between 244 and 261 CE, he sent a mission to Egypt which met with considerable success.

Apart from the extensive body of anti-Manichaean literature, there are numerous Latin, Greek, Coptic, Middle Iranian, Uighur, and Chinese documents, found in the 20th century, on the Manichean doctrine and practices.

Manichaean sacred texts include The Living Gospel, The Treasure of Life, The Pragmateia, The Book of Mysteries, The Epistles, The Book of Giants, and Psalms and Prayers.

Other Manichaean writings consist of the Shahburagan, a summary of Mani's teachings prepared for Shapur I, the Ardahang, a picture-book illustrating Mani's view of the world and the Kephalaia, a collection of Mani's sayings.

[...]

Despite the unfortunately simplistic heading ("offshoot of Zoroastrianism"), the article itself is much more nuanced and looks accurate in general, although I don't have time to check the details. It also has some good images of Manichaean artifacts, including a manuscript. I have written on the Book of Giants here and here.

DERULZAFARAN MONASTERY (the Syriac "Saffron Monastery") was mentioned in a post in March. Here's a photo gallery of it. A number of Syriac inscriptions are included.

(Via the Condé Nast Traveler blog.)

BUSTED!

Police recover Roman-era figurine, meter-high pottery in home raid
By Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Antiquities, Israel

A Roman-era bronze figurine of a woman and an intact ceramic pitcher more than a meter high were among dozens of antiquities that Haifa law-enforcement authorities discovered Monday while raiding the home of a man suspected of planning to sell the goods.

The finds - which also include three anchors from ancient ships, pottery, ancient coins, and glass and bronze tools - were allegedly recovered during illegal dives to undersea archaeological sites in the north.

[...]

And here's some good advice on what to do if you discover an artifact (and how to avoid being prosecuted as a looter):

"If you dive and accidentally discover antiquities on the sea floor, do not remove the antiquities from the sea," Ganor said. "Try to mark the location and try to get exact coordinates, and immediately report it to the Antiquities Authority. Diving and removing antiquities from sunken ships on the sea floor sabotages archaeological research and erases important historical evidence. In addition, it is illegal."

Context is crucial.

IN SEARCH OF THE SYNAGOGUE PART III: Lee I. Levine is interviewed in Reform Judaism Magazine. For Part II, see here. I missed Part I and can't find it in their archive.

HUGOYE: Journal of Syriac Studies Volume 11 Number 1 (Winter 2008) has been published online. Table of contents:

Papers

Coptic-Syriac Relations beyond Dogmatic Rhetoric.
Lois Farag, Luther Seminary

Jonah’s Oar: Christian Typology in Jacob of Serug’s Mēmrā 122 on Jonah.
Robert A. Kitchen, Knox-Metropolitan United Church

Expectations of the End in Early Syriac Christianity.
Ute Possekel, Pappas Patristic Institute

Brief Article

The State of Preservation of the Byzantine mosaics of the Saint Gabriel Monastery of Qartamin, Tur Abdin.
Patrick Blanc and Marie-Laure Courboulès, Musée de l’Arles et de la Provence antiques

Publications and Book Reviews

Recent Books on Syriac Topics.
Sebastian Brock, University of Oxford

Jerome Alan Lund, The Book of the Laws of the Countries, A Dialogue on Free Will Versus Fate: A Key-Word-in-Context Concordance.
Kristian S. Heal, Brigham Young University

Martin Zammit, ‘Enbe men Karmo Suryoyo (Bunches of Grapes from the Syriac Vineyard): A Syriac Chrestomathy and Anonymous, The Book of Crumbs: An Anthology of Syriac Texts.
Kristian S. Heal, Brigham Young University

W.Th. van Peursen and R.B. ter Haar Romeny (eds.), Text, translation, and Tradition: Studies on the Peshitta and its Use in the Syriac Tradition.
Craig E. Morrison, Pontifical Biblical Institute

P.S.F van Keulen and W.Th. van Peursen, Corpus Linguistics and Textual History: A Computer-Assisted Interdisciplinary Approach the Peshitta.
Deryle Lonsdale, Brigham Young University

Sebastian Brock, Fire from Heaven: Studies in Syriac Theology and Liturgy.
David G.K. Taylor, Oxford University

Conference Reports

International Syriac Language Project. Ljubljana, July 2007.
Terry Falla and Beryl Turner, University of Melbourne

Announcements

‘Antioch’: a new initiative for the study of the Rum Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch.

Symposium Syriacum and Conference of Christian Arabic Studies, September 22-27, 2008.

Jacob of Sarug and His Times: Studies in Sixth Century Syriac Christianity, October 24-26, 2008.

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Journal of Aramaic Studies

Beth Mardutho Amazon Associates

Journal of the Canadian Society of Syriac Studies

QUEEN OF SHEBA'S PALACE UPDATE: Another note of skepticism.

Did Helmut Ziegert discover the Queen of Sheba's palace?

Helmut Ziegert, a retired Archaeology professor from the University of Hamburg, has recently inspired a wide international discussion brought about by his announcement that he should have discovered the palace of the Queen of Saba from the 10th century B.C. in the vicinity of Aksum in northern Ethiopia. However, he provides no tenable proof for his otherwise interesting contribution to the history of Aksum.

Ziegert did not discuss his hypothesis with any colleague working in the field of Ethiopian studies or African archaeology. He is not a member of the Research Unit. The members and the head of the Research Unit Ethiopian Studies of Hamburg University consider the published identification as not scientifically proven.

Professor Dr.Dr. Siegbert Uhlig, Head, Research Unit Ethiopian Studies

Background here.

(Via the Agade list.)

A PALACE OF THE SCRIBES in Safed:

Israeli Museum Offers Insider’s View of How Scribes Put Pen to Parchment

By Tamar Runyan (Chabad.org News)
May 26, 2008

In a grand celebration attended by hundreds of people, a slate of politicians and rabbinical dignitaries dedicated a new scribal arts factory and visitors’ center in Safed, Israel.

Kiryat Hasofrim – its name roughly translates to “Palace of the Scribes” – promises to both present Judaism’s rich scribal heritage and support a veritable army of scribes, who will combine traditional techniques with modern technology.

“This will be the first institute of its kind in the world,” declared Rabbi Chaim Kaplan, director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Safed.

[...]

SATAF is an interesting historical reconstruction project in Israel.

Ancient Agriculture
Sataf - A Reconstruction

It is a serene place on the terraced slopes of Mt. Eitan, where ancient mountainous agriculture is practiced as it was by the Israelites thousands of years ago. The 250-acre (1000 dunam) site is maintained by the Jewish National Fund, as a reconstruction of ancient agricultural methods. All the work is done by hand, or with the help of farm animals, without any machinery or use of pesticides. The place is Sataf, where the remains of a 4,000 BCE Chalcolithic village with some of the oldest agricultural traces in the region as well as the remains of a pre-1948 Arab village are clearly visible. Two springs, Ein Sataf and Ein Bikura flow into the Sorek riverbed, below.

[...]

Video here.

ARCHAEOLOGIST BYRON MCCANE is profiled by GoUpstate.com:

Biblical digs breathe life into class for Wofford’s Indiana Jones
By JEREMY JONES
Published: Monday, May 26, 2008 | Updated: 6:35 am

When Byron McCane’s daughter was 9 years old, she and some friends were watching “Raiders of the Lost Ark” when he overheard one of the girls say, “Isn’t your dad an archaeologist like Indiana Jones?”

“Yeah,” McCane’s daughter said. “Same stuff.”

McCane is the Albert C. Outler professor and chair of the religion department at Wofford College. He holds degrees from the University of Illinois, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Duke University.

His book, “Roll Back the Stone: Death and Burial in the World of Jesus,” has positioned him as a leading authority on early Christian burial customs.

[...]

DIVINE LANGUAGES: Sanskrit, Arabic, Syriac, Latin.

ANOTHER JESUS MOVIE from an Islamic perspective seems to be in the works. Not surprisingly, it is generating controversy:

Film about Jesus stirs controversy

By Ramadan Al Sherbini, Correspondent [Gulf News)
Published: May 26, 2008, 00:02

Cairo: Egypt's Muslim and Christian clerics have baulked at a plan by a Syrian director to make a film on Jesus Christ.

Filmmaker Mohammad Aziziah has unveiled a plan to start shooting The Arab Messiah, a film about Jesus from an Islamic perspective.

"I am going to file a lawsuit in the name of the Church to get the production of the movie stopped or to have the script changed," Najeeb Gabriel, an adviser to Pope Shenouda, Egypt's top Christian cleric, said.

Aziziah said in recent remarks he would not seek approval of his film from Egypt's Orthodox Coptic Church or Al Azhar, the Sunni Muslim world's most influential institution. "The film will not be shot in Egypt. It can be shot in Syria, Morocco or Tunisia," the filmmaker told the Egyptian independent newspaper Al Khamis earlier this month.

[...]

According to the Quran, Jesus was not crucified, but rather he was raised alive to Heaven.

The Arab Messiah is not only daring but very new. Hundreds of films have been shot depicting Jesus's life and mission in nearly every language. But this will be the first time such a film will have Jesus speaking in Arabic and he will no longer have blue eyes or yellow hair. He will be played by an Arab actor, according to Aziziah.

[...]

THE 19 THINGS WE'VE LEARNED FROM INDY. They're all good, but here's just one:

2. Never Get Caught With a Sword in a Gunfight
Forget all your fancy maneuvers and impressive showmanship. The simplest solutions in life are often also the best. Sometimes, problems just aren't as complicated as we make them out to be.

JEWISH-TEMPLE DENIAL (ETC.) WATCH: An outfit called News Blaze has an article with lots of accusations against academics associated with the Palestinian Authority:

Anti-Semitism among Palestinian Authority Academics

By Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook

# One of the primary objectives of the Palestinian Authority (PA) after its establishment in 1994 was to delegitimize Israel. These efforts were evident throughout Palestinian society and involved various channels including television, schoolbooks, and culture. The delegitimization of Israel incorporated various hate messages, especially the denial of Israel's right to exist.

# The academic community was likewise recruited to this undertaking. Professors, religious academics, teachers, and schoolbook authors are all participating in this hate promotion. Certain academics are chosen by the PA to indoctrinate the people using such public venues as PA TV and, particularly, educational broadcasting.

# In 1998, PA historians held a conference in which they devised a policy of historical revisionism. The developing PA educational system would not aim to teach historical truth but rather to convey a political history aimed at denying Israel's right to exist in the Land of Israel. Palestinian academics, recognizing the futility of attempting to erase the documented history of the Jews, instead adopted a different solution of literally stealing the identity of the Jews by identifying ancient Hebrews as both Arabs and Muslims and denying their connection to today's Jews of the state of Israel. Another component of the negation of Jewish history is the denial of modern Jewish experience-including the horrors of the Holocaust.

# Many PA academics have gone beyond the theoretical "struggle." They teach that the killing of Jews by Muslims is a precondition of world redemption. Because Jews are inherently evil and an existential danger, their annihilation is justified self-defense, a service to humanity, and an enactment of God's will.

[...]

I know nothing about News Blaze and I can't confirm the specific accusations in the article. Some of the reported historical claims are not out of line with claims coming from the PA in the recent past (see, e.g., here, here, here, here, and here).

SOME ARCHAEOLOGISTS are not pleased with Indy either:

Real Archaeologists Don't Wear Fedoras

By Neil Asher Silberman (Washington Post)
Sunday, May 25, 2008; Page B01

After 17 years, Hollywood's most famous archaeologist is back in action. Now grayer and a bit creakier, Indiana Jones is again hacking his way through thick jungles, careering wildly in car chases and scrambling through dark tunnels to snatch a precious artifact from the clutches of an evil empire (Soviet, this time).

And I'm thinking, oh no. Here we go again. Get ready for another long, twisting jump off the cliff of respectability for the image of archaeology.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a fan of pop culture. But I have a problem with the entertainment tail wagging the archaeological dog. As someone who's been involved in archaeology for the past 35 years, I can tell you that Indiana Jones is not the world's most famous fictional archaeologist; he's the world's most famous archaeologist, period. How many people can name another? Whether I'm sitting on a plane, waiting in an office or milling around at a cocktail party, the casual mention that I'm an archaeologist inevitably brings up Indiana Jones. People conjure up images of gold, adventure and narrow escapes from hostile natives. And while "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" will almost certainly break worldwide box office records, it will also spread another wave of viral disinformation about what archaeologists actually do.

[...]

Of course, archaeologists have to reach out to the public to raise funds and gain attention for their efforts, but I'm convinced that there's something misguided and destructive in this academic love affair with IndianaJones. It's not just that the films are harmlessly caricatured visions of old-fashioned archaeology; they are filled with destructive and dangerous stereotypes that undermine American archaeology's changing identity and goals. At a time when our national political debates are centered on our relationships with other cultures, when the question of talking to rather than attacking perceived enemies has become a contentious presidential campaign issue and when claims for the repatriation of looted relics are being seriously addressed by courts and professional archaeological organizations, the thrill-a-minute adventures of Indiana Jones are potentially dangerous and dysfunctional models for both modern archaeology and American behavior in the world.

[...]

I have a lot of respect for Neil Asher Silberman and he makes good points. The films do perpetuate many destructive and grossly inaccurate stereotypes. But nothing archaeologists say is going to stop this sort of film being made (not just Indiana Jones, but The Mummy series and the like). Moreover, the films, notably the latest film, are so absurd that I can't believe that anyone is going to take anything in them seriously unless they are already beyond the reach of reason. But the films also fire up interest in archaeology, which can lead to many teachable moments for those still teachable. I dare say some good academics are in the field of archaeology today due to these movies and that there is more interest in and sympathy for archaeology as well.

THE RUSSIAN COMMUNIST PARTY is not happy with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull:

Indiana Jones and the wrath of the Communist Party
Tony Halpin in Moscow (London Times)

He has battled against Nazi villains, a Beduin swordsman and a pit of poisonous snakes. Now Indiana Jones can add the Communist Party of St Petersburg to his list of adversaries.

Party leaders accused the actors Harrison Ford and Cate Blanchett yesterday of promoting crude, anti-Soviet propaganda in their new film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. They have urged Russian moviegoers to boycott the film and told Ford, 65, not to visit the country.

[...]

Dear me. Are they saying that they think parts of the film are inaccurate?