KING SOLOMON'S MINES? Well maybe. But not diamond mines, alas. And not in Africa.

Jordan copper mines from biblical times could be King Solomon’s

Mark Henderson, Science Editor (The London Times)

An ancient copper works in Jordan may have been the location of the fabled King Solomon’s mines, new archaeological investigations suggest.

The dig at Khirbat al-Nahas, once a thriving copper production centre in the Faynan district, about 30 miles (50km) south of the Dead Sea, has found evidence that it dates back to the 10th century BC, making it at least two centuries older than was thought. The new date means that the mine was almost certainly active during the time of the biblical Jewish kings David and Solomon.

[...]

Any connection with Solomon or even the Kingdom of Israel, is entirely inferential and not based on any evidence from the excavation apart from the date:

Date seeds and sticks of tamarisk and other woods used for charcoal for smelting have produced dates in the 9th and 10th centuries BC, which are consistent with the likely dates of the reigns of David and Solomon, his son. Details of the research are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

What remains less certain for now is whether the Khirbat al-Nahas mine was actually controlled by the kingdom of Israel at this time. It lies in a region associated with the biblical kingdom of Edom, which was an enemy of ancient Israel.

Even if the mine was not controlled by the Jewish kings, the fresh date is important to biblical scholarship. It indicates firmly that the kingdom of Edom was sufficiently organised to have been a rival to Israel, a point that has been disputed by some historians.

Dr Levy said: “Now, with data from the first large-scale stratified and systematic excavation of a site in the southern Levant to focus specifically on the role of metallurgy in Edom, we have evidence that complex societies were indeed active in the 10th and 9th centuries BC and that brings us back to the debate about the historicity of the Hebrew Bible narratives related to this period.”

UPDATE: This is generating a lot of press. For some commentary and a little reining in of the excitement see the article "Return of the Kings?" in Science News. Excerpt:

Archaeologist Israel Finkelstein of Tel Aviv University disagrees. “I see no connection between Nahas and the biblical material on Solomon,” he says.

Scholars have long argued about whether Edom was organized as a kingdom early enough to have threatened the Israelites. During the 1930s, archaeologist Nelson Glueck surveyed southern Jordan and said that he had discovered King Solomon’s mines in the northern part of biblical Edom. His claim, and the Bible’s assertion that the kingdom of David and Solomon existed 3,000 years ago, came under attack in the 1980s. British excavations of Edom’s highlands in the 1970s and 1980s suggested that Iron Age copper production did not begin there until around 2,700 years ago, fueling skepticism.

Finkelstein and others now hold that much of the Old Testament was passed on orally until put in writing between the eighth and fifth centuries B.C., with earlier events being either invented or distorted for political purposes by the document’s writers.

Since 2001, many researchers have acknowledged that nomadic groups inhabited the Khirbat en-Nahas area and probably made copper around 3,000 years ago, remarks archaeologist Piotr Bienkowski of the University of Manchester, England. “I still see no evidence for settlement or buildings there prior to the very end of the 10th century B.C. or beginning of the ninth century B.C.,” he says.

Both Bienkowski and Finkelstein assert that the site was reused seasonally many times, leaving behind a complex mix of industrial debris and other material that is difficult to separate into distinct layers that form a timeline.

It sounds like an important and interesting discovery and it seems a pity that the tired issue of Bible verification is overshadowing it.

PSCO MEETING AT SBL! Annette Reed e-mails on the PSCO list:

Dear friends and colleagues,

For those of you planning to attend the (all too quickly impending) SBL Annual Meeting in Boston this year -- a quick note to let you know that we are indeed holding a special session of PSCO!

The session is scheduled for 7:00 pm on Friday, November 21st in the Fairfax room of the Hilton Back Bay Hotel. All are welcome to attend!

See below on our theme for this year. More details coming soon on the speakers and topic for the SBL session (and the schedule for the rest of year too)! In addition, if anyone is interested in meeting for a quick dinner beforehand, please email me and let me know, so we can begin arranging this as well! [Annette can be reached at reedanne-at-sas-dot-upenn-dot-edu -- JRD]

Best wishes -- and more soon!

Annette

==================

"Food, Self, and Community:
Tradition and Transformation in Jewish and Christian Eating"

Co-Chairs: Moriah Hazani and Virginia Wayland (University of Pennsylvania)

Food is often a significant focus for the maintenance of group identities, cohesion of communities, and expression of cultural ideals and assumptions. Choices such as what one does (and does not) eat and with whom one shares meals can thus tell us much about individual and groups - as do choices to abstain from eating practices common in a society at large. Practices such as feasting, fasting, and food-related charity are frequently central to the expression of piety, community, and identity. Ritual meals, moreover, can serve as a nexus for the memorialization of the cherished past and the preservation of traditions about it. In addition, eating practices can function as a powerful tool for social differentiation, establishing and enacting the boundaries between various groups within an otherwise shared culture.

This year's PSCO will explore our evidence for early Jewish and Christian eating practices in their shifting Hellenistic and Roman cultural contexts. In keeping with the focus on "Change" in this year's Penn Humanities Forum, our discussions will center on the dynamic interplay between tradition and transformation. We will ask, on the one hand, how the encounter with "pagan" religions and philosophies may have shaped early Jewish and Christian interpretations of biblical dietary laws, attitudes towards animal sacrifice and meat-eating, and practices related to feasting and fasting. On the other hand, we will consider how the eating practices of Jews and Christians alike were transformed in the wake of the destruction of the Second Temple and the cessation of Jewish (and later "pagan") animal sacrifice. As such, we hope that our discussions throughout the 2008-2009 academic year will also resonate in interesting ways with the Department of Classical Studies' interdisciplinary conference on "Meat: Killing, Consuming and Commodifying Animals" in May 2009.

MORE DEAD SEA SCROLLS IMAGING in Boston:

Dr. Gregory Bearman, retired Principal Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and current president of Snapshot Spectra in Pasadena, CA, travelled to the Israel Museum in August with one of CRi's Nuance(TM) multispectral imaging systems to take near-infrared pictures of the scrolls. The spectral data will be the key to a new conservation program to monitor the scrolls for changes. While some changes can be detected visually, the spectral data will quantify them and provide early warning before they are visible to the human eye.

CRi has developed sophisticated biomedical imaging systems that use wavelength-based information to reveal unseen details in specimens. These systems are used to assist with research in disease diagnosis and therapy development. Now, the system has been used to uncover original writing hidden on the discolored parchment and papyrus of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

"Today, with the recent development of advanced biomedical imaging technology, we have access to much more sophisticated imaging algorithms and easier-to-use digital instruments such as CRi's Nuance system," points out Bearman. "CRi's core technology and integrated imaging solutions are among the best in the business."

Indeed, now that there are digital images of the Dead Sea Scrolls available in conventional color and as multispectral image data, Bearman's goal is to make the entire collection available to everyone via the Internet over the next one-to-two years.

Via the Agade list etc.

I'm extremely busy this week and blogging will not be a high priority.

AN OBITUARY FOR AVRAHAM BIRAN in the Los Angeles Times:

Avraham Biran, Israeli archaeologist who found House of David inscription, dies at 98
Times Staff Reports
October 26, 2008

Avraham Brian, an Israeli archaeologist whose three-decade dig at the ancient city of Dan in northern Israel yielded historical treasures including a fragment of a stone monument that provided the first known reference outside the Bible to the royal House of David, died Sept. 16 in Jerusalem, the Hebrew Union College and the Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem announced. He was 98.

[...]

Background here.

METATRON WATCH, and other interesting esoterica and magica:

The Frog, the Demons, and the Jewish Star

Menachem Wecker (The Jewish Press)
Posted Oct 01 2008

The Frog, the Demons, and the Jewish Star
Mark Podwal: Jewish Magic
Forum Gallery, 745 Fifth Avenue
http://www.forumgallery.com


Perhaps upholding Leviticus 19:31, which insists, "Do not turn to those who worship Ob or to wizards; do not desire to become defiled by them," King Saul launched a campaign to eradicate magicians from the Holy Land which was so devastating that the Bible mentions it on three separate occasions. Yet Saul decided to violate his own ban when all he heard was dead air in response to his request of God for advice on the proper military strategy to defeat the Philistine army.

Saul masked his identity and visited a "wife of the idol of Ob" to ask her to facilitate communication with the late prophet Samuel. Amazed, the conjurer asked, "Do you not know what Saul has done, that he has cut off the worshipers of Ob and the wizards from the land," and perhaps suspicious of her client's identity added, "Why are you tricking my soul, to have me killed?" (1 Samuel 28: 3-14).



Although commentators and scholars debate Saul's actions and their apparent disregard for the Second Commandment, Kabbalistic masters and Jewish artists have long embraced magic and amulets. Hamsa hands are still believed to disarm the evil eye, and some carry miniature copies of the book of the Angel Raziel to protect against fires. Mark Podwal's exhibit, "Jewish Magic" at Forum Gallery in Manhattan, continues in that tradition, drawing specifically from the artist's many visits to Prague, where he is such an important fixture that he holds his own personal seat at the Altneuschul, the Old New Synagogue.

[...]

Several other supernatural forms appear in Podwal's works in the Forum show, including Lilith, queen of the demons; Metatron, a non-biblical angel who was said to be the chief angel and divine scribe; and "The Devil Proper" (2006), represented as a brick-red bat's wing, with three demons grabbing on for the ride. Just as many Jewish medieval manuscripts show the hand of God exacting punishment on the Egyptians (but never more of God), Podwal shows just the devil's wing, which leaves the full extent of Satan's horror and menace up to the viewer's imagination. This is, of course, far more frightening - to not even know the extent of the evil present.

[...]

There are pictures and discussions of several of Podwal's works. And there's much more on the artist and the exhibition at the Forum Gallery website.

ARAMAIC WATCH - Aramaic figures importantly in a new novel about the discovery of a lost eyewitness life of Jesus:

The Fire Gospel by Michel Faber
The [London] Times review by Tom Gatti

The Fire Gospel is a titanic work - not in size (it's a slim 213 pages), but in source. Its protagonist, Prometheus, is a Titan; a member of the race of deities who, in Greek myth, were usurped by Zeus and his Olympian gods. Prometheus is famous for stealing fire for mankind, and suffering for it: Zeus had him bound to a rock and arranged for an eagle to tear out his liver. Overnight the liver would regenerate, and the next day the eagle would return. Prometheus underwent this hellish beak-hole surgery every day for 3,000 years.

[...]

In The Fire Gospel, Prometheus takes the unlikely form of a Canadian academic called Theo Griepenkerl. Theo is inspecting a ravaged museum in Iraq, hoping to borrow some treasures for his university, when a bomb goes off. It kills the curator and destroys a statue, releasing nine scrolls of Aramaic text that had been hidden inside. Theo rushes back to Toronto, the papyri burning a hole in his briefcase “like a stash of pornography he'd been forced to delay getting to grips with”. They turn out to be the memoir of Malchus, a 1st-century Christian convert and witness to the Crucifixion. Theo, an atheist, is unmoved by the prose but dizzy with dollar signs at the potential of his translation.

Malchus is named in the Gospel of John as the servant who assisted the High Priest Caiaphas in the arrest of Jesus, and had his ear cut off by Peter - but in Malchus's own account Jesus does not work a miracle to heal the ear; it remains hanging from his head “like a woman's adornment” for the rest of his life. More significantly, in Malchus's description of the Crucifixion, Christ's life ends not with a noble “It is finished” but with an evacuation of bowels and a desperate “Please finish me”. As for the tomb and the Resurrection - Malchus paints an altogether grittier picture of Jesus's “afterlife”.

[...]

And from the review in the Financial Times:

Although a trifle tasteless, and written in a style that occasionally slips towards cliché, The Fire Gospel is an entertaining story, with a vein of playful symbolism running throughout. The religious resonance of the name Theo is significant, for Theo Griepenkerl's discovery allows him to play God. Less obviously, the choice of his surname is no accident; Faber is recalling Christian Griepenkerl, a German artist noted for his paintings of Prometheus. Moreover, Theo's favourite music is by the saxophonist John Coltrane, whose fixation with measuring his Christian faith against other spiritual codes led him to renounce the dogma of organised religion. Theo's favourite Coltrane recording is Stellar Regions , which, as jazz aficionados will know, was discovered by his widow some years after Coltrane's death and published in a form he had not approved. Again, the esoteric detail is carefully calculated.

ANCIENT BABYLON is the subject of a new British Museum exhibition, reviewed here by the London Times:

Babylon, the exhibition that opens in the British Museum next month, explores the myths and relates them to historical reality. What is astonishing is the richness of both legacies: the archaeological treasures excavated from the ruins barely a century ago reveal a magnificent capital, while the myths have engendered an equally powerful legacy in art, thought, paintings, film and music. Cuneiform clay tablets, coloured tiles and brick friezes, papyruses, cylinder seals, sculptures and zodiac inscriptions testify to Babylon’s former glory while paintings, engravings, medieval manuscripts and maps show the preoccupation of later ages with this vanished city.

Many of these pictures and engravings are familiar. Who does not now see Nebuchadnezzar as William Blake saw him – a haunted and terrified man crawling on all fours, his face a mask of horror and revulsion? The poet showed the king’s madness, described in the fourth chapter of Daniel. In fact, the scriptures have conflated two historical events: there is no evidence that Nebuchadnezzar became insane; it was his successor Nabonidus who was afflicted with disease (probably scurvy) and vilified after he fled the city when it was captured by the Persians.

LARRY SCHIFFMAN was is lecturing in New York on the Dead Sea Scrolls (NYT):

JEWISH MUSEUM, 1109 Fifth Avenue, at 92nd Street, Thursday at 6:30 p.m., “The Dead Sea Scrolls and the History of Judaism and Christianity,” a lecture by Lawrence H. Schiffman, a professor at New York University, in conjunction with the exhibition “The Dead Sea Scrolls: Mysteries of the Ancient World.” (212) 423-3337, jewishmuseum.org; $15; $12 for students; $10 for members.

UPDATE: I had read this as Thursday-yesterday, but reader Carl Mosser assures me it is Thursday next week (the 30th).

JOSEPH DAN, his current project - an important and ambitious history of Jewish mysticism, his biography, his relationship with Gershom Scholem, and his views on the current state of Israeli academia, are the subjects of a long article in Haaretz. Madonna and Britney even make an appearance.

Mystic circles
By Yair Sheleg
Tags: Israel News, Kabbala

Prof. Joseph Dan, 73, the renowned scholar of Jewish mysticism, rises between 5 and 6 each morning. He reads the newspaper, listens to the 7 o'clock news on the radio and then gets down to work. "I am a morning person," he says. "Those are my best hours. Usually I have prepared my materials the afternoon or evening before, so the books and studies are already on my desk, and I write for a few hours in the morning." Lest anyone think he is sacrificing his life to study, he is quick to say, "I am not a monk. By 5 or 6 P.M. my mind is no longer focused, so I go out, meet friends or watch television. I do not have an ascetic streak and I don't want to give the impression that I'm devoting my life to this enterprise. On the contrary, this enterprise gives me life."

He has lived this way for the past seven years. The result, just published, is the first three volumes of a monumental project, "Toledot Torat Hasod Ha'ivrit" ("History of Jewish Mysticism and Esotericism," Zalman Shazar Center, Jerusalem). It amounts to an attempt by one individual to write the entire history of Jewish mysticism: not some executive summary, but rather a full-blown academic survey abridgment for executives but with academic detail. The first three volumes deal with antiquity, from the beginning of the Second Temple period to the end of the Talmudic period, on the cusp of the Medieval era. Dan does not yet know how many volumes will be needed, and is unwilling to restrict himself. "I have the whole picture in my head, up to the end of the 20th century," he says. "But at my age, I am only prepared to commit to what is close to completion."

Dan says he approached Zvi Yekutiel, the executive director of the Shazar Center, with a proposal for the first three volumes "only when they were very close to completion, and as of now I still haven't signed a contract for them. It's the same with the rest: I'm not about to enter into a commitment I'm not sure I can meet. The fourth volume, the first of the books on the Medieval period, is already at the publishers. I am in the process of completing the fifth, which I hope will be done by January. That's why I allowed a note in the first volume indicating that the project is intended to include the Middle Ages as well, but I'm not prepared to make a commitment regarding the later periods. At my age everything is in God's hands."

Dan says that at his current rate he can complete one volume a year, "probably even one and a half.

[...]

In other words, even Maimonides, the most important figure in the history of Jewish thought, was ultimately unable to inculcate the major message of his philosophy: the rationalism that rejects not only mysticism but also denies the very assumption that a human being can describe the Godhead in any meaningful way. Engagement with the secrets of the Godhead is a central and inseparable element of Judaism, from the prophet Ezekiel, who describes God's appearance, down to the kabbala of our time. Ezekiel is also connected to another of Dan's key decisions: to begin his journey into Jewish mysticism not from the Bible but from the Second Temple.

"The Bible is filled with prophecies," he explains. "All through the Bible we have prophets who are in direct contact with God. In this situation there is no place and no need for mysticism. You do not have to 'learn' about the Godhead when you are in direct touch with it. Accordingly, Jewish esotericism begins only at the point where prophecy ends."

With the end of the prophetic age an extraordinarily rich mystical literature comes into being. The general public is unfamiliar with this body of literature, collectively termed the apocrypha and pseudepigrapha. They include the works of the "Yordei Merkava," whose authors purport to "report" in great detail about the upper worlds where God and all his angels reside.

"Indeed, Ezekiel's descriptions could also fit the description of 'Yordei Merkava,' but they are not 'esoteric theology,'" Dan explains. "Ezekiel 'reports' his prophetic vision to the entire nation. He does not safeguard it for a handful of select pupils." Another distinction relates to the fact that in the popular view Jewish mysticism is wholly identified with the term "kabbala."

"The kabbala is a central branch of mysticism, which began to develop from the 13th century; indeed, since then it has been the major branch. What we researchers view as new ideas of the kabbalists, from their point of view are ones that have been passed down, received - hence the name 'kabbala' [receiving] - through the generations. The chief characteristic of this outlook is the implication of the term 'sephirot,' which in the early esoteric theology related to the physical reality of the world, to the Godhead itself [in the sense of different levels within it."

[...]

There's much more. Read it all.

FATHER J. BRIAN PECKHAM has passed away.

Father J. Brian Peckham
OBITUARY FATHER J. BRIAN PECKHAM, S.J. At the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, on Sunday, October 19th, 2008, surrounded by family and friends. He was 74 years old, in his 58th year of religious life, and 41st year of priesthood. He was born in Montreal, Quebec, on January 28th, 1934, son of Sydney Brittain Peckham and Elizabeth Caroline. Brian entered the Roman Catholic religious order the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1951, and was ordained a priest in 1967. He became a professor of Biblical Studies, and then of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations at Regis College in the Toronto School of Theology and at the Centre for the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto. He was a respected scholar and a beloved teacher and friend. He is survived by four sisters, a brother, and numerous nephews and nieces. Friends may call at the Rosar-Morrison Funeral Home & Chapel, 467 Sherbourne St. (South of Wellesley) on Wednesday, October 22nd, from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated at Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church (Sherbourne at Earl) on Thursday, October 23rd, at 10:30 a.m. Burial to follow at 3 p.m. at the Jesuit Cemetery in Guelph. In memory of Father Peckham, donations may be made to the Jesuit Development Office, 43 Queen's Park Crescent East, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2C3.

I never met Father Peckham but I've used his monograph on late Phoenician scripts a good bit. There's a tribute guest book for him here.

Requiescat in pace.

Via the Agade list.

PETER SCHÄFER is lecturing in Ann Arbor today on the Missing Baby Messiah. Wish I could go.

VISION OF GABRIEL WATCH: When I noted the Vision.org article on the Jerusalem Dead Sea Scrolls conference a couple of days ago, I should also have mentioned this article by the same author: "The Dead Sea Stone, or 'Gabriel’s Revelation.'"

FORGOT TO NOTE that Shemeni Atzeret and Simchat Torah were on the 20th-21st in Israel and the 20th-22nd elsewhere. Sorry about that.

PUNIC WATCH: A BBC Hannibal documentary is playing in New Zealand:

A battle against all the odds
Staff Reporter [The Times] Published:Oct 20, 2008

THERE are few individuals who change the course of history — Hannibal is one of them.

Born in 247BC, Hannibal, the son of Hamilcar Barca, was a skilled military leader who brought Rome to the brink of destruction.

This documentary series, entitled Hannibal — The Man, The Myth, The Mystery reconstructs the life of the commander of the Carthaginians during the seven stages of the century-long conflict between Carthage and Rome.

[...]

There's a trailer here. Apparently it came out in 2006 and I seem to have missed it.

PHILO REDIVIVUS. Welcome back.

ANOTHER REVIEW of the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition at the New York Jewish Museum, this one in the New York Jewish Weekly. It rambles, but onto interesting topics. For example, this discussion of de Vaux's field notes:

... An ongoing controversy over unpublished archaeological documents still holds up a more definitive answer to this arcane academic debate. If it seems like a rerun of the original controversy surrounding the publication of the scrolls 20 years ago, that’s precisely the point critics are trying to make.
“I’m sorry to say it’s true,” said Hershel Shanks, editor of the Biblical Archaeological Review. “If you dig and don’t publish, it’s destruction.”
Shanks led the campaign to get the Dead Sea Scrolls published in their entirety over two decades ago. Until then, the scrolls were kept in the hands of a close-knit group of scholars affiliated with de Vaux, a French Dominican priest and archaeologist at the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem. But de Vaux’s field notes from his excavations at the Qumran site, near where the scrolls were found, in the 1950s, remain unpublished. In an odd twist, it’s these papers that scholars — who mostly defend newer variants of de Vaux’s increasingly challenged Essene-sect hypothesis — argue might vindicate their ideas.
“What you have is the same exact thing as [the controversy that surrounded the publication of] the Dead Sea Scrolls,” said Jodi Magness, a prominent Dead Sea Scroll archaeologist who defends de Vaux’s original Essene theory. “But it’s worse because it’s longer.” The first Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947, but only a quarter of them were published shortly thereafter. It wasn’t until Shanks led his battle in the 1980s that the remaining texts that were finally published in full by the early-1990s.
But other critics say that those whose theory is increasingly under challenge are feeding it to the press. They also point to more practical impediments: de Vaux’s field notes were never properly organized nor written according to today’s publishing standards; a lack of money; and political pressure from the Israeli, Jordanian, French and American governments who have said in the past that any publication regarding the Dead Sea Scrolls — found at Qumran, in the West Bank — should wait until the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is settled. “All we can do is wait patiently,” said Pnina Shor, head of the conservation department at the Israel Antiquities Authority. The body now safeguards the Dead Sea Scrolls and lends them to international exhibits.
The Ecole Biblique, which de Vaux headed until his death in 1971, has in fact published the first two volumes of four that comprise de Vaux’s field notes. Jean-Baptiste Humbert, the successor to de Vaux, said in an interview from Jerusalem that the third volume will be published within the next three months and the fourth and final one “within a year after that.”
Still, he said his most ardent pursuers — who largely defend one of several variants of de Vaux’s theory — will not find much evidence in them to support their theories. He increasingly sides with the newer ideas about who might have used the texts. “Everyone inside the Ecole Biblique, we separate from the Father de Vaux interpretation,” he said. “The Dead Sea Scrolls could not have been the library of the people at Qumran.”

A REPORT on the July 2008 conference in Jerusalem on the Dead Sea Scrolls has been published by Peter Nathan in Vision.org. Belated, but quite detailed.

The Legacy of the Scrolls

Fall 2008 Issue

Sixty years after their discovery, the Dead Sea Scrolls still spark controversy and debate. What, if anything, have they established so far, and how will they be remembered?

Proclaimed as the greatest discovery of the century, the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) quickly became the preserve of a limited academic circle. That meant that any hope they would increase our collective understanding of the Bible became rather remote. In July 2008, leading DSS scholars gathered at an international conference to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the scrolls’ discovery. The event, titled The Dead Sea Scrolls and Contemporary Culture, took place at the Israel Museum’s Shrine of the Book, designed and built specifically to house seven of the celebrated scrolls, and now home to all of them that are in Israel’s possession. The declared focus of the conference was “to reflect on the progress made in the last ten years and to articulate our hopes for the future of Qumran studies.”

With respect to the scrolls, the program notes raised the question, “How can we dispel myths and inaccuracies?” Answering that question may have been an impossible goal, however, as myths and inaccuracies will always abound with a trove of documents as old as these. But the conference did reveal something of even greater importance: the diversity of opinions that surround the body of related evidence from the pre-Christian settlement at Khirbet Qumran, near the caves where the scrolls were discovered. The ongoing debate strikes at the foundation of some dearly held views regarding the scrolls’ significance.

[...]

MORE ON THE REPAIRS NEEDED for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre:

Unholy row threatens Holy Sepulchre

By Wyre Davies
BBC News, Jerusalem

An unholy row is threatening one of the most sacred places in Christianity - the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

The centuries-old site, where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified, is visited by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims and tourists every year.

A recent survey says that part of the complex, a rooftop monastery, is in urgent need of repair, but work is being held up by a long-running dispute between two Christian sects who claim ownership of the site.

[...]

There's not much new in the article, but it lays out the situation pretty clearly.

Background here.

PSEUDEPIGRAPHA WATCH: A Good Abstract (Gurtner on 2 Baruch).

IN THE MAIL:

Gideon Bohak, Ancient Jewish Magic: A History (CUP, 2008)

My review copy for the SOTS Booklist.

ANOTHER REVIEW of Unholy Business by Nina Burleigh in the WSJ. Excerpt:

As Nina Burleigh shows in "Unholy Business," her lively account of the case, the story behind the James Ossuary remains unclear. Oded Golan, the owner of the box itself, maintains his innocence, despite the discovery -- by two Israeli detectives on an unauthorized smoking break when they were staking out Mr. Golan's apartment -- of a cache that included Tupperware containers of dirt from archaeological sites, diamond cutting tools, dentist drills and artifacts stashed in an unused laundry room. The scientific panel that the Israeli Antiquities Authority convened to examine the ossuary concluded that it appeared to be genuine but that someone had carved the inscription onto it and then covered the letters with a paste made from water and chalk concocted to mimic the natural varnish that covers objects over time.

Ms. Burleigh, who focuses her narrative primarily on the role of Mr. Golan, seems to believe that he is guilty as charged, but she suspects that his lawyers have been able to raise enough doubts in trial testimony that he may be able to avoid conviction. There is still no verdict in a court case that has dragged on for years.

Background here.

BOOK REVIEW from BMCR:

Richard E. DeMaris, The New Testament in its Ritual World. London/New York: Routledge, 2008. Pp. x, 143. ISBN 9780415438261. $34.95 (pb).

Reviewed by V. Henry T. Nguyen, Loyola Marymount University (henry.nguyen@lmu.edu)
Word count: 1371 words

This book tackles a neglected area in the study of the New Testament -- ritual -- by making it the focal point of the work. DeMaris states: "This study starts from the premise that ritual was central to, and definitive for, early Christian life (as it is for all social orders), and it explores the New Testament through ritual lens" (p. 11). In order to gain new insights into the ritual dimensions of the earliest Christian communities, he grounds the study in ritual theory, Greco-Roman ritual life, social history, and the literary and archeological evidence of the ancient Mediterranean world. In doing so, he reconsiders longstanding scholarly consensuses and interpretations of New Testament texts referring to rites practiced in the church (especially baptism) and surrounding cultural environments.

[...]

PSEUDEPIGRAPHA WATCH: Ethiopic pseudepigrapha get a positive mention from the independent Catholic news agency Zenit in a report on interventions at the current ninth general congregation of the world Synod of Bishops:

-- H.E. Most. Rev. Berhaneyesus Demerew SOURAPHIEL, C.M., Metropolitan Archbishop of Addis Abeba, President of the Episcopal Conference, President of the Council of the Ethiopian Church (ETHIOPIA)

1) The Word of God was the source of Ethiopic Literature. The Bible was translated into Ethiopic between the 4th and the 6th century AD.

2) Some books are preserved in their entirety only in Classical Ethiopic and parts of the Ethiopian Biblical Canon are precious for biblical scholarship;
The Book of Enoch and the Book of Jubilees are important works for understanding the context of Second Temple Judaism, Qumran and the origins of Christianity. They are also significant for the study of apocalyptic literature.

THE INTERNATIONAL CRITICAL COMMENTARY SERIES – or at least the older volumes, which are still very useful – is now available online.

ARAMAIC WATCH: a reminder - Symposium on Jacob of Sarug and His Times: Studies in Sixth Century Syriac Christianity later this month.

BOOTHS, TABERNACLES, Tents and Huts: Naming the Sukkah. Philologos explains at The Forward:

A taberna in ancient Rome was a cottage, shop, inn or pub. (From the last of these meanings comes our English “tavern.”) Its diminutive form of tabernaculum (of which tabernaculorum is the genitive plural) meant a hut or, more often, a tent. Used more specifically, it referred to a tent erected in the Campus Martius or “Field of Mars,” the military drill grounds of ancient Rome, in which a priestly augur secluded himself prior to the convening of the comitia, the popular assembly of the Roman Republic. And because tabernaculum thus had a sacral connotation, it was also used by the Latin Bible to translate the Hebrew term ohel mo’ed, or “tent of convocation,” which served the Israelites as a portable religious shrine during their years of wandering in the desert.

How, then, did “tabernacle” also come to mean a monumental structure like that of the Mormons, which would occupy almost an entire football field? The answer is that in the late 18th and 19th centuries, “tabernacle” was adopted by various English dissenting sects, particularly the Congregationalists, to denote their churches, which were indeed small, simple buildings. And since the Mormons were America’s version of England’s dissenters, the one Christian church in the United States ever to have been persecuted by the political and religious establishment, it was natural for them to call the huge prayer hall they constructed in Salt Lake City in 1864 a “tabernacle,” too. This subsequently influenced the use of the word in American English, in which a tabernacle can now be big and ornate.

As for habetabitis (you shall live in) umbraculis, the Latin word umbraculum is also a diminutive, formed from umbra, shade or a shady place. (Think of an umbrella, which was originally designed to protect its holder against sun rather than rain.) In classical Latin an umbraculum is a parasol, but in the fourth-century C.E. Latin of Jerome’s Bible it means a tent or temporary shelter. Tyndale’s choice of “booth” and of the Hebrew sukkah was an excellent one, because a booth in his day was just that: a shelter against the sun roofed with green tree branches, a meaning that the word kept well into the 19th century.

SIMON SCHAMA is reportedly planning to write a history of the Jews:

Schama plans history of the Jews

16.10.08 Catherine Neilan (theBookseller.com)

Popular television historian Simon Schama is planning to write a history of Judaism and Israel as his next project after The American Future: A History.

Although the book has yet to be written, it is understood that the BBC is already interested, and a six to eight-part series is under discussion.

[...]

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: The priestly blessing at the Western Wall:

Thousands attend priestly blessing
By JPOST.COM STAFF AND AP

Thousands of Jews participated in the priestly blessing, or Birkat Cohanim, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Thursday.

Birkat Ha'Cohanim at the Western Wall in Jerusalem

The Cohanim, believed to be descendants of priests who served God in the first and second Jewish Temple before they were destroyed, perform a blessing ceremony of the Jewish people once a year during the festival of Sukkot.

[...]

There's video.

As the article notes, this blessing is also the earliest biblical text to be attested in an ancient inscription (the Ketef Hinnom silver amulets).

SOLOMON, SOCRATES AND ARISTOTLE. Sounds like a scene from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, or maybe Doctor Who, but it's actually a picture from Pompeii, which is treated by Theodore Feder in BAR. Abstract:

When the city of Pompeii was covered by volcanic ash on an August night in 79 A.D., it was a tragedy of tremendous scale for its inhabitants. For modern scholars, however, the devastating destruction that occurred literally overnight in the Roman town and its neighboring cities preserved a treasure trove of information about first-century Roman life. Scholar Theodore Feder examines a fresco, excavated from a villa called the "House of the Physician," that depicts the Judgment of Solomon. The subject is a popular one in Christian art: Two women, both claiming to be the mother of the same child, bring their case to King Solomon. The king orders that the infant be cut in half, and the true mother is revealed when she relinquishes her claim on the child in order to save its life. Feder posits that the presence of two archetypal figures in the fresco represent the famous Greek philosophers Socrates and Aristotle. The presence of the two ancient philosophers, he argues, reveals the great respect that Greek philosophy could have accorded to Hebrew wisdom in the ancient world.

Also, there's this poignant epigraphic tidbit from the article, which is news to me:

... A two-word inscription, Sodoma Gomora, also survives from a house front in Pompeii and may have been written by a Jew or, less likely, by an early Christian, either before the eruption of Vesuvius or by a digger soon afterwards. It is perhaps more affecting to imagine its having been hastily written in the midst of the eruption by someone who analogized the town’s impending fate with that of the two doomed Biblical cities.

UPDATE (14 November 2011): Dorothy Lobel King is skeptical about the characters in that fresco.

JACOB NEUSNER'S The Theology of the Oral Torah contines to be reviewed by Kevin Edgecomb at Biblicalia. The latest instalments cover chapters four and five and chapter six.

NEW PUBLICATIONS from the Journal of Hebrew Scriptures. Ehud Ben Zvi e-mails:

Dear all,

I am glad to announce that the Journal of Hebrew Scriptures (http://www.jhsonline.org) has recently published the following article:

Journal of Hebrew Scriptures - Volume 8: Article 20 (2008)

F. W. Dobbs-Allsopp, Psalm 133: A (Close) Reading

Abstract

A close reading of Psalm 133, with special attention paid both to the words out of which the poem is literally made and to what happens in between and beyond those words, as well as what emerges because of them.

Those who wish to access this article directly may go to http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/JHS/Articles/article_97.pdf

In addition, the following reviews have been recently published:

Metso, Sariana, The Serek Texts (Companion to the Qumran Scrolls, 9; Library of Second Temple Texts, 62; London/New York: T & T Clark, 2007). Reviewed by Jean Duhaime)

Boda, Mark J., Daniel K. Falk, and Rodney A. Werline, eds. Seeking the Favor of God. Volume 1: The Origins of Penitential Prayer in Second Temple Judaism (SBL Early Judaism and its Literature, 21; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2006). (Reviewed by Andrea K. Di Giovanni)

Kugel, James L., Prayers that Cite Scripture (Harvard University Center for Jewish Studies; Cambridge/London: Harvard University Press, 2006). (Reviewed by Andrea K. Di Giovanni)

Ben Zvi, Ehud, History, Literature and Theology in the Book of Chronicles (Bible World; London: Equinox, 2006). (Reviewed by Steven L. McKenzie)

Jacob, Benno, The First Book of the Bible: Genesis, Augmented Edition (Abridged, Edited and Translated by Ernest I. Jacob and Walter Jacob; Jersey City: KTAV Publishing House, 2007). (Reviewed by John Van Seters)

del Barco, Francisco Javier del Barco, Catálogo de manuscritos hebreos de la Comunidad de Madrid (3 vols., Literatura hispano-hebrea 5, 7 and 8; Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigationes Científicas, Instituto de Filología, 2003-06). (Reviewed by Colette Sirat)

To access the reviews directly please go to http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/JHS/reviews/reviews_vol.html

I haven't keep track of this online journal very well, but I probably should.

THE LOST MUSIC OF THE TEMPLE in concert:

Jerusalem concert to feature fantasies of the Temple's lost music
By Tamar Rotem (Haaretz)
Tags: Levites, Israel news

At the ancient Temple in Jerusalem, every day had a song of its own, played before morning prayers, says singer and instrumentalist Ilan Green, formerly a member of the group "Nekamat Hatraktor." Green will lead a performance of the Levites' lost musical traditions on Thursday night at Beit Avihai in Jerusalem.

[...]

Green says he does not consider himself religious, but he is very interested in the Jewish scriptures. He says that he discovered early on that this was barely charted territory.

In combing the Bible, Mishna and other texts, he discovered that aside from the familiar violin, trumpet and lyre, at least 30 musical instruments are mentioned whose sound and appearance are lost to history. Building on the few scraps of information he could find, and adding a heavy dose of guesswork, he reconstructed 16 of them from wood and metal.

Green says the mystery surrounding the instruments gave him a certain artistic license.

[...]

I dare say.

This is not an area I know much about, but I note this recent book on the general topic: Joachim Braun, Music in Ancient Israel/Palestine: Archaeological, Written, and Comparative Sources (Eerdmans, 2002).

HARSH WORDS for the James Ossuary inscription in a book review in Time Magazine:

Exposing the Jesus' Brother Fraud
By Tim McGirk / Jerusalem Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008

[...]

The extraordinary story of how Israeli detectives built a case against Golan and his alleged cohorts is the subject of Unholy Business: A True Tale of Faith, Greed and Forgery in the Holy Land by Nina Burleigh, a former TIME staffer who now writes for People. In fast, noir-ish prose — imagine Sam Spade in the Holy Land — Burleigh tracks her story through the twilight world of Arab grave robbers and smugglers to the glimmering salon of a billionaire collector in Mayfair whose mission, writes Burleigh, is "proving the Bible true." Past accounts of the James Ossuary are fiercely partisan, written by debunkers or true believers. But Burleigh keeps her balance, and her humor, as she sifts — far more diligently than many archeologists — through the evidence. She also has unprecedented access to all the major players in the James Ossuary debate: dogged police detectives, sharp-witted antiquarians, Bible-besotted collectors and suspected forgers of near-genius.

[...]

Believers and scientists alike were shocked by the accusations that not only was the James Ossuary a fake but so were two other rare objects of Biblical significance — an inscribed pomegranate and the gold-flecked Jehoash Tablet which both supposedly came from Solomon's Temple, destroyed by the Babylonians in the 6th century B.C. Those two relics are linked to Golan's workshop, say police. As Burleigh describes it, the debate over the authenticity of these sacred items pitted scientists against believers. She writes: "The faithful — those who believe in a higher, supernatural power that leaves a material record of itself for man to literally hold and behold — must also confront and grapple with the painful presence of doubt."

Meanwhile, Golan's trial, with its parade of more than 75 scientists and Biblical scholars, is likely to drag on for another year. But Golan maintained, in an interview with TIME, that he is innocent of all charges and that since the trial began experts have come forth, he says, to prove that both the inscriptions on the James ossuary and the Jehoash table are genuine. Even after the judge finally decides whether Golan was an innocent collector or a master forger, it's likely that the debate between skeptics and believers over the James ossuary — and its supposed proof of Christ's historical existence — will rage on long afterwards.

It was kind of a shock to hear that the Ivory Pomegranate inscription was a fake, but it was pretty obvious early on the the Joash/Jehoash inscription was.

A CHAIR/READERSHIP IN ANCIENT JUDAISM OR NT at the University of Durham:

The Department of Theology and Religion seeks to appoint a Professor or Reader in Ancient Judaism or New Testament, from September 2009. Candidates should be able to teach undergraduates and supervise research projects in both fields, though the preponderance of their own research may fall more in one field than the other. The postholder will be expected to teach, to supervise doctoral research, and to publish research at the highest international level.

The academic field here labelled ‘Ancient Judaism’ is taken to cover the post-exilic period up to and including rabbinic Judaism of the Talmudic era. The postholder will be joining a number of colleagues whose research covers aspects of this field, including Prof. Robert Hayward, Dr. Stuart Weeks, Prof. John Barclay and Prof. Francis Watson. The latter two also teach and research in New Testament, along with Dr. Stephen Barton and Dr. William Telford.

Via the BNTS list.

THE REPAIRS NEEDED on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre are noted in the London Times:

Warring monks threaten destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Sheera Frankel in Jerusalem

A long-running row over the rights to a rooftop section of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre could bring the entire structure tumbling down, destroying Christendom’s holiest site.

While renovations are needed across the church, the small Deir al-Sultan monastery on its roof has reached an “emergency state”, according to engineers who completed an evaluation this month.

The Times has learnt that in 2004 the two chapels and twenty-six tiny rooms that comprise the monastery were pronounced in dire need of reinforcement. They have since deteriorated to the point where engineers now fear that they will crash through the roof and into the church, venerated by millions of Christians as the site of the Crucifixion and burial of Jesus.

[...]

The church has been vigilantly managed by six competing and often fractious Christian denominations — Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Coptic, Syrian Orthodox and Ethiopian — since an agreement reached under Ottoman law in 1757.

Rival denominations often battle for access or space and the congregation at the annual Easter service sometimes resembles the terraces of a boisterous football match. The keys to the main entrance of the church have been held by a Muslim family since the 12th century because the Christians do not trust one another.

The dispute over the Deir al-Sultan monastery is a more recent phenomenon dating back to Easter 1970. When the Coptic monks, who had controlled the area, went to pray in the main church and left the rooftop unattended, Ethiopian monks seized the opportunity to change the locks at the entrances before the Copts returned.

[...]

Sigh.

Background here.

JACOB NEUSNER'S BOOK, The Theology of the Oral Torah, is being reviewed in instalments by Kevin P. Edgecomb at the Biblicalia blog. The first two posts are here and here.

ENDOWED LECTURESHIP AT BARD - Jacob Neusner e-mails:

This is the announcement of the first lecture in a newly endowed lecture
ship at Bard.

The Jacob Neusner Lecture in Comparative Studies of Religion
presents
Jonathan Z. Smith
University of Chicago
will give a talk
"Why Compare Religion"
Tuesday, October 28th
7:00 p.m. in RKC 103

A RABBINICS POST:

Relgious Studies: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Religious Studies invites applications for a tenure-track appointment in Rabbinic Judaism, effective July 1, 2009, at the rank of assistant professor. The successful candidate will be named the E.J. and Sara Evans Fellow of Jewish History and Culture. Preference will be given to candidates who already have a PhD in hand. Candidates must be prepared to teach large introductory undergraduate courses in the field of Rabbinics, broadly defined, along with upper level courses and graduate seminars requiring close reading of rabbinic texts and exploration of relevant thematic topics. Thorough knowledge of Hebrew and Aramaic will be assumed, along with a familiarity with all the major issues of literary, textual, and socio-historical analysis. Scholars with secondary (teaching and research) competence in a range of related fields and subfields are invited to apply. Successful candidates will also be expected to direct doctoral students in the department, to collaborate with faculty in the Department of Religion at Duke University, and to contribute to the interdisciplinary work of the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies. Both teaching and research of the candidates need to be related to the problems and issues in the study of religion broadly conceived. Interested candidates should provide a letter of application, a current curriculum vitae, and three letters of reference. All materials except letters of reference should be submitted online at http://hr.unc.edu/jobseekers/search.htm. Please click on "open positions" under EPA Faculty Positions heading. Under the department drop-down menu, select Religious Studies and click on the appropriate position. Click the "apply now" button and create a new applicant profile. Please have hard copies of letters of reference sent to Chair of Rabbinic Judaism Search Committee, Department of Religious Studies, CB# 3225, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3225. Completed applications (including letters of reference) must be received by December 1, 2008, but screening of applicants will begin as soon as applications are filed. Preliminary interviews will be held at the annual meeting of the Association for Jewish Studies. The University of North Carolina is an equal opportunity employer. Women and minorities are strongly encouraged to apply.

From the Chronicle of Higher Education, via the Agade list.

ALSO IN THE SBL FORUM: William L. Lyons, "Rahab through the Ages: A Study of Christian Interpretation of Rahab."

HERESY HUNTING in the New Millennium." Tony Burke defends the Christian Apocrypha in this month's SBL Forum. Excerpt:

A cottage industry of books has emerged in the past few years responding to apparent "attacks" on the Christian faith by such perceived enemies as the Jesus Seminar, Bart Ehrman, Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code, and the discoverers of the so-called Jesus Tomb.[1] Targeted also in these books are the texts of the Christian Apocrypha (CA). The books are transparently apologetic with the aim of disparaging the CA and the Gnostics who (they say) wrote them so that their readers will cease being troubled by thei texts' claims. The problem with such books, at least from the perspective of those who value the CA, is that they often misrepresent the texts, their authors, and the scholars who study them. Proper research and sober argument take a back seat to the apologists' goal of buttressing the faith.

In many ways these books read much like the works of apologetic writers from antiquity, such as Irenaeus and Hippolytus. They too were concerned about the impact of non-canonical texts and heretical ideas on their readers and sought to reinforce the faith by denigrating and ridiculing their enemies. Then and now accuracy was sacrificed to the needs of apologetics. Yet, perhaps there is something that scholars of the CA can learn from the modern apologists, something not only about ourselves but also about those who were attacked by the heresy hunters of the past.

UPDATE (18 October): A critique and reply here. And more critique here at the Religious Researcher blog.

SIDNIE WHITE CRAWFORD is lecturing on the Dead Sea Scrolls:

TALK TOPIC: WOMEN IN DEAD SEA SCROLLS

University of Nebraska professor Sidnie White Crawford will talk about "Women in the Dead Sea Scrolls and at Qumran" at 4 and 7 p.m. Thursday as part of the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences' eight-part lecture series accompanying The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition. The lecture will be held in the museum's WRAL Digital Theater.

According to Crawford, some of the Dead Sea Scrolls, in particular the Damascus Document, contain evidence of women participating in the Essene movement in late Second Temple Judaism. Crawford, professor of Hebrew Bible and head of the department of classics and religious studies, is a member of the international publication team for the Dead Sea Scrolls, responsible for editing 14 manuscripts from the Qumran collection.

Individual tickets for the lectures are $25 for the general public and $20 for Friends of the Museum. Last tickets to the exhibition are sold at 5 p.m. on lecture nights. For more information, visit www.naturalsciences.org/scrolls/. The museum exhibition runs through Dec. 28.

METATRON WATCH: The Archangel Metatron meets performance art:

Ten is considered the number of divine perfection and is reflected in the 10 Days of Awe between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. On each of those days, Briller performed and videotaped an action related to one of these 10 sefirot in several locations in each of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

[...]

Channeling the kabbalistic angel-character Metatron, considered God's closest messenger, each of Briller's daily actions were directly connected to one of the sefirot. Though the project is fluid and the order could change along the way, his plan is to work top-down from the highest rung to the lowest.

Some of his actions include walking around and playing a Tibetan bowl, the golden sound-healing musical instrument, which he relates to keter (crown), or God's absoluteness; popping popcorn on a kerosene cooker as part of gevura (judgment/strength/determination); taking 10 eggs in each city and juggling with them in various spots until they all break, which relates to tiferet (balance); for netzah, which is both contemplation and persistence, Briller dances in some spots, or stands blindfolded in others; for hod (sincerity), he echoes the original action and affixes ceramic ears around each city; and for malchut (lower crown), which relates to both healing and realizing the divine plan, he returns to Kikar Rabin (which was previously called Kikar Malchei Israel) with a water purifier normally used for camping. There he will purify the water in the large fountain-pool that stands in front of Tel Aviv City Hall, the only action that might not be undertaken in Jerusalem.

"These are heavy subjects," says Briller, "and I don't want to feel that this is the only way to negotiate them. Though I'm not laughing at any of it, I want there to be a sense of humor."

That sounds like it would be necessary.

SUKKOT (the Festival of Booths or Tabernacles) begins tonight at sundown. Best wishes to all celebrating.

THE FINANCIAL CRISIS: What Would the Talmud Do? asks David Van Biema in Time Magazine.

Would the current financial crisis have been avoided if traders followed Jewish traditions embodied in the Bible and the Talmud? Two scholars from the Conservative and Orthodox branches of the Judaism are suggesting just that. They also conclude that the tradition prescribes significant regulation to begin to redress the debacle.

[...]

THE ORTHODOX STUDY BIBLE is profiled in the Vicksburg Post

... But most Bibles published today include an Old Testament based on a translation made many years after the Crucifixion, not the version Jesus and the apostles used, said the Rev. Dr. John Morris, historian and pastor of Vicksburg’s St. George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church.

“The early Christian church used the Greek version of the Scriptures,” Morris said in an interview in his study at St. George. “This Greek version was called the Septuagint, for the Greek word for ‘70,’ the number of scholars Ptolemy hired about 200 or 300 B.C. to translate the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek.”

As members of St. George complete preparations for their annual Lebanese dinner, Morris reflected on his role in this year’s publication of the first-ever complete Orthodox Study Bible, which includes a Septuagint-based Old Testament with Deuterocanonical or Apocryphyal books, a New King James translation of the New Testament, and many study notes, articles, maps and reference material. Published in February after years in development, the study Bible is both a spiritual and historical reference work, Morris said, designed for the layman to read and use.

Like the NETS, this includes a translation of the Septuagint. But it seems more of a devotional project than the strictly scholarly NETS.

Background to both translations here.

PUNIC WATCH: A couple of items.

First,

Hannibal comes to Hannibal's epic campaign comes to Web-based comic
WORD BALLOONS

BY MATTHEW PRICE (NewsOK)
Published: October 10, 2008
Most have heard the story of the Carthaginian general Hannibal leading elephants across the Alps to face the Romans. Writer Brendan McGinley wants you to see it.

"There’s already plenty of good prose about Hannibal, (but) no good visual medium for a story that crackles with so many unforgettable images, like elephants on the Alps or Mago Barca spilling dead Romans’ rings on the Senate floor,” he said. "Maybe Vin Diesel’s long-stalled film will change that; Victor Mature’s sure didn’t.”

McGinley and artist Mauro Vargas, along with colorist Andres Carranza, bring the Hannibal story to life — with some humorous asides — re-enacting the second Punic War on the Shadowline Web comics page, www.shadowlinecomics.com/webcomics.

[...]

Click on the dropdown menu at the upper right to find "Hannibal Goes to Rome."

Background on Vin Diesel's long delayed Hannibal movie is here.

Second,

Carthage exhibit to travel to Japan

(Tunisia Online News)

Tunis, October 9, 2008- An itinerary exhibit dubbed “The Legacy of Carthage”, will travel to Japan and remain on display from May 2009 to May 2010.

[...]

The itinerary exhibit will comprise some 150 works dating from the Punic and Roman era, notably jewels, objects in ceramics, statues and rare mosaics.

[...]

THE RALEIGH, N.C., DEAD SEA SCROLLS EXHIBITION has had a disappointing turnout so far.

RALEIGH – The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences’ exhibition of the Dead Sea Scrolls attracted 50,000 visitors during the first half of its six-month run – well off the pace needed to meet the museum’s goal of selling 250,000 tickets.

[...]

Another victim of the economic crash? Compare the words of these newly published Aramaic prophecies. (Satire alert; don't get excited.)

Exhibition background here.

A LECTURESHIP IN HEBREW and biblical and postbiblical studies at the University of Sydney:

Lecturer in the fields of Biblical and Post Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Studies
School of Languages and Cultures
Faculty of Arts
University of Sydney
Reference No. 140085


The Department of Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies, within the School of Languages and Cultures, is seeking to appoint a Lecturer in the fields of Biblical and post-Biblical Hebrew, and Biblical Studies. The University of Sydney is the only tertiary institution in Australia which offers a full program in Classical Hebrew and Biblical Studies at undergraduate, Masters and doctoral levels.

The Department has recently expanded, and therefore is looking for an innovative and creative Lecturer who is qualified to fill this challenging position. The successful candidate will be qualified in the fields of Classical and/or Medieval Hebrew and Biblical Studies, with a doctorate completed or under examination in the field. Teaching expertise in rabbinical studies, post-Biblical Hebrew, Mishnah, and Talmudic studies is essential, as is a proven ability to teach in Biblical Studies and Classical Hebrew at all levels.

To succeed, applicants will be able to teach and supervise at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and will help coordinate and promote the Biblical Studies program. Applicants will need to be self-driven and capable of working well in a team, and have research potential that is demonstrated by publications and grants. The appointee will also be expected to take part in administrative activities in the Department and serve on School and Faculty committees. Evidence of community involvement and experience teaching adult education will be highly advantageous.

The position is full-time fixed term for six years, subject to the completion of a satisfactory probation period for new appointees. Membership of a University approved superannuation scheme is a condition of employment for new appointees.

Specific enquiries about the role can be directed to Associate Professor Suzanne Rutland, Chair of the Department of Hebrew, Biblical & Jewish Studies, on (02) 9351 6662 or email: suzanne.rutland@usyd.edu.au For information about the Department see www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/hebrew

Closing Date: 15 November 2008

For further information and application forms, see here.

Via the SOTS list.

A MIDDLE EAST MUSEUM in Salem Oregon:

Corban museum a hidden treasure
Little-known site offers a wealth of biblical history

By Ellen Kersey • Special to the Statesman Journal
October 8, 2008

Corban College in southeast Salem houses a little- known museum that comprises a treasure trove of Middle East artifacts — both genuine and replicas.

Prewitt/Allen Archaeological Museum, where 80 percent of the artifacts are genuine, is located above the college library. The museum, said volunteer curator Adrian Jeffers, offers "the largest collection of biblical artifacts on the West Coast north of San Francisco."

[...]

MY FATHER'S PARADISE, by Ariel Sabar about his Aramaic-Professor father Yona, is reviewed briefly in the International Herald Tribune. Excerpt:

Yona Beh Sabagha's son is Ariel Sabar, a journalist and now author of what could best be described as a biography of his father that is also part history, linguistics primer and memoir. "My Father's Paradise" is a personal undertaking for a son who admits he never understood his unassuming, penny-pinching immigrant father, a man who spent three decades obsessively cataloging the words of his moribund mother tongue. Sabar once looked at his father with shame, scornful of the alien who still bore scars on his back from childhood bloodlettings. This book, he writes, is a chance to make amends.

HUMANITIES DAY is 25 October at the University of Chicago. Norman Golb will be speaking on the Dead Sea Scrolls:

Was Shakespeare Catholic? Who really authored the Dead Sea Scrolls? How did the Chicago Renaissance differ from the more famous Harlem Renaissance? And what has happened to Iraq’s archaeological heritage since the 2003 sacking of the country’s national museum?

[...]

Norman Golb, the Ludwig Rosenberger Professor of Jewish History and Civilization in Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations and the College, will examine one of the world’s great archaeological debates. In his lecture, Golb will present the competing theories concerning the provenance of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The roughly 1,000 scrolls, written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek on papyrus or parchment paper, are of enormous religious and historical significance, as they include practically the only known surviving copies of biblical documents made before 100 A.D. One of the world’s leading authorities on the scrolls’ origins, Golb has directed the Oriental Institute’s Dead Sea Scrolls Project since its creation in 1991. Golb will speak from 2 to 3 p.m. in Breasted Hall, 1155 E. 58th St.

[...]

There's this too:

Larry Rothfield, Associate Professor in English Language & Literature and the College, and Director of the Cultural Policy Center, will discuss the aftermath of the looting of the Iraq National Museum. Reports of thieves pillaging one of the world’s most important archaeological collections in the wake of the American invasion of April 2003 shocked the world. But what has happened to Iraq’s archaeological heritage since 2003? In “Nobody Thought About Culture,” Rothfield, who edited the recently released collection Antiquities Under Siege: Cultural Heritage Protection after the Iraq War, will discuss what should be done to help Iraq protect what remains of its patrimony. Rothfield also will look broadly at how lessons from Iraq can be used to protect cultural treasures from harm in future conflicts. His talk is scheduled from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. in Harper 130, 1116 E. 59th St.

Background on Golb, e.g., here.

THE ARTSCROLL TALMUD gets a brief notice in the Economist. Excerpt:

Talmud students inevitably wasted time barking up wrong trees or beating paths that had been beaten before. Not any more. The traditional study is radically changing and broadening, thanks to a 20-year-old American-based project nearing completion. “The Art Scroll Talmud” has published all 72 volumes of its English-language Talmud and nearly 60 volumes of a Modern Hebrew version. A French edition is progressing more slowly, and there are plans for a Russian one.

Backgroud here and here.

HADRIAN'S WALL has secured a large grant:

£4m centre to show off Hadrian’s Wall finds

(The Herald)

Hadrian's Wall and the National Maritime Museum in London have secured £9m funding, which will be used to transform the sites and improve the facilities for visitors.

Hadrian's Wall will use £4m to build an education centre and new galleries for displaying ancient artefacts in Northumberland.

The Vindolanda Trust, the archaeological body in charge of the project, will also release a collection of items which have never been displayed before.

[...]

At the centre of the planned display at Vindolanda will be examples of ancient writing tablets described by experts as "Britain's Dead Sea Scrolls".

[...]

For more on Hadrian, see here and keep following the links back. For more on Hadrian's Wall and on Vindolanda and the epigraphic discoveries there, see here.

YOM KIPPUR, the Day of Atonement, begins tonight at sundown. An easy fast to all those observing it.

MY FATHER'S PARADISE, by Ariel Sabar, is reviewed by David Shasha in The American Muslim. Excerpt:

The academic work of Yona Sabar has manifested itself in a book-lengthy study of Kurdish Jewish folklore culled from the many hours of interviews that he did over many years of arduous work and in a dictionary of the language published in 2002. It would not be an understatement to say that Yona Sabar – the hero of his son’s brilliant book – is a monumental figure in the contemporary intellectual history of the Middle Eastern Jews. He has almost single-handedly brought his community’s culture to the public square and has been a tireless champion of its civilization.

It is thus gratifying that after many years of cynicism, apathy and disdain – the standard lament of the contemporary Sephardim – Ariel Sabar has sought to lionize his father by elevating Yona’s often obscure academic work and presenting it in a deftly readable and emotionally rewarding book.

My Father’s Paradise is that rarest of things: A book written out of a sense of pure devotion and love of tradition that serves the average reader with a rich smorgasbord of memorable characters and stories. It will enchant and enlighten the reader at the same time. It is a book that is to be cherished and savored for its wonderful portrayal of a community whose history has been largely forgotten; a community that is part of the natural landscape of our Middle Eastern world.

In a marvelously fluid prose style, Sabar details the history and the culture of a society that is most definitely worth knowing. It is not merely another Middle Eastern Jewish memoir/history that recounts what we already know in a straightforward fashion. It is a work where fragments are indeed made whole.

Background here and here. Cross file under "Aramaic watch."

THE ISRAEL MUSEUM is opening an exhibit of historical documents from all periods pertaining to the history of Israel:

Rare Historical Documents from Israel's Near and Distant Past on Display for First Time

(ArtDaily.com)

JERUSALEM.- In collaboration with Israel’s State Archives, the Israel Museum presents approximately one hundred original documents from the history of the people and State of Israel, the majority in first-time public display. Organized in celebration of Israel’s 60th anniversary, Blue and White Pages: Documenting the History of Israel offers a thematic presentation which commemorates the milestone events of Israel’s statehood through historically key documents, highlighting founding institutions, legal principles and central personalities – displayed alongside ancient artifacts and texts from the Israel Museum’s holdings which resonate meaningfully with their counterparts from modern times.

Blue and White Pages is culled from millions of documents housed in the State Archives’ collection, with the goal of exploring major themes related to the founding of Israel and its national identity. Exhibition highlights include: Israel’s original Declaration of Independence, together with related documents; peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan; and also, in its first public display, the diary of Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, which miraculously survived the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster in 2003 and underwent meticulous restoration in the Israel Museum’s laboratories. The exhibition is on view from October 10, 2008, through February 7, 2009.

[...]

Echoes of the Past
Integrated throughout the exhibition are artifacts from the Israel Museum's holdings commemorating historic events from ancient times. The letters of Lachish (c. 589 BCE) describe the city under seige before it succumbed to the conquest of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, just prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and the First Temple. A letter from the 2nd century CE, written by Shimon Bar Kochba, the famed leader of the Second Jewish Revolt against Hadrian’s Roman legions, requests the supply of lulavim (palm branches) and etrogim (citrus fruit) for the rebel forces for use in celebrating the Sukkot holiday. These documents stimulate moving echoes between Israel’s ancient and modern histories, giving all the more meaning to the modern state’s existence today on the site of the ancient Land of Israel.

AN OBITUARY for Avraham Biran, who died last month, appears in the Chicago Tribune. (I know it says NYT, but if it was published there originally, I can't find it online.)

Archeologist of biblical sites

New York Times News Service
October 7, 2008

Avraham Biran, an archeologist of biblical sites who excavated Tel Dan, an ancient city along Israel's northern border, and uncovered an unexpected stone fragment bearing what might be the earliest reference to the House of David, died Sept. 16 in Jerusalem. He was 98.

Biran's death was confirmed by a spokesman from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem, where Biran directed the institute's school of biblical archeology.

In 1993, after nearly three decades of digging at Dan, which is on the Syrian border and near the headwaters of the Jordan River, Biran and his colleagues discovered a foot-long piece of stone with a partial inscription in Early Aramaic.

The archeologists were able to decipher text on what was possibly a monument to commemorate victory in battle by a king of Aram over Israel. The inscription — which contained the words House of David — was dated to the 9th Century B.C. and was hailed by biblical scholars as a unique find and evidence of the antiquity of King David's lineage. Some scholars, however, have questioned the interpretation of the discovery and even the existence of King David.

[...]

May his memory be for a blessing.

For more on the Tel Dan Inscription, see here and here.

UPDATE: Here's the link to the NYT article (via Joseph I. Lauer's list).

OH OH! "Monastery atop Church of Holy Sepulchre in danger of collapse" (Haaretz).

The monastery's two chapels and the tiny rooms where its monks live could crumble, injuring the many tourists who visit the site, as well as the monks who live there, and even the ancient Church of the Holy Sepulchre itself.

An engineer who examined the structures recently said the complex was a "danger to human life." As long ago as 2004, before the situation worsened to its present emergency state, the Interior Ministry said it would pay for renovations. However, because of a long-standing dispute between the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, whose clergy live at the site, and the Coptic Church, which claims ownership of it, the parties have not managed to reach an agreement that would allow renovations to proceed. The Interior Ministry has made clear to various church officials over the years that it would pay for the work only if the various ownership issues were resolved among the denominations.

This sounds more serious than the occasional fisticuffs match between the denominations that reside there.

THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS EXHIBITION at the New York Jewish Museum is reviewed by Edward Rothstein in the New York Times:

Peering Into the Mystery of Those Enigmatic Fragments

By EDWARD ROTHSTEIN
Published: October 6, 2008

They are not really scrolls. They are scraps — darkened, cracked fragments of parchment. Yet the faded ink strokes of Aramaic or ancient Hebrew refer to epic incantations: to trumpets blowing in battle, to praise of the righteous and condemnation of the wicked, to “the heavens, the earth and all its thinking creatures.”

Go see these six encased bits of ancient text at the Jewish Museum’s new exhibition, “The Dead Sea Scrolls: Mysteries of the Ancient World,” before it closes on Jan. 4. Go, but not because these scraps are themselves new to our understanding. Though these six “scrolls” have never been seen in New York before, and though three have never before been exhibited anywhere, the literature about these findings has become as voluminous and familiar as the texts are gnomic and condensed.

[...]

Go, finally, because there is something rarely felt in exhibitions, and which the critic Walter Benjamin argued was heading toward extinction. In the 1930s he suggested that art objects were now so easily reproduced that they were being stripped of their “aura.” Aura, he suggested, is connected with uniqueness, but it also involves a sense of distance. An object possessing aura stands at a distance from us, no matter how near we get to it.

Here, you can feel the essence of this idea. Even though you can lean over these cases, even though there seems nothing intrinsically remarkable about these bits of parchment, they stand alien and apart; their history and their significance make them seem immeasurably remote.

Yet they are also intimately close to us. Some scholars have speculated that Jesus or John the Baptist could have handled these scrolls; certainly Christianity developed out of their milieu. And their preoccupations with messianism, communal law and textual exegesis foreshadowed the concerns of later Judaism.

[...]

I understand the feeling.

But after the 1948 war, Jordan annexed the West Bank, took control of the caves and appointed the Rev. Roland de Vaux of École Biblique et Archéologique Française in East Jerusalem as overseer of an international team of scholars that would publish the scrolls. Then came 40 years in which the scrolls were passed among generations of scholars like esoteric possessions, until the lack of progress was called by the Oxford scholar Geza Vermes “the academic scandal par excellence of the 20th century.”

It is discomfiting, too, to see photographs in which scholars — who pieced together fragments using scotch tape — smoke over them as destructive daylight streams onto tables.

In addition, Jewish scholars were deliberately excluded from de Vaux’s original eight-member team, which was dominated by Roman Catholic priests and scholars. De Vaux later rejected offers by Israelis to help his team and persisted in referring to Israel as Palestine.

In the 1967 war Israel won control over the caves and scrolls, but two decades passed before it asserted any real authority over the project. One of de Vaux’s early appointees, John Strugnell, became head of the team in the 1980s but was dismissed in 1990 after an interview in which he called Judaism a “horrible religion” that “should have disappeared.”

[...]

There are valid points here, but I think this is being a little hard on the original team. Anyone who wants to critize them on their slowness should also note that they spent ten years of their lives just piecing together the bits and pieces into manuscripts – with only the handwriting and the quality of the leather to go by. And they are not to be blamed for not using the more rigorous processes for handling of the Scrolls which we have in place today. As for Strugnell, Mr. Rothstein should be ashamed of himself for not noting that Strugnell suffered from bipolar disorder and was in the midst of a severe manic episode when he made those comments. (More on that here.)

UPDATE: Stephen Goranson notes some other problems with the article. (Via Joseph I. Lauer's list.)

A HEBREW INSCRIPTION from the Second Temple period mentioning "the son of the High Priest" has been found near Jerusalem. Here's the IAA press release:

Fragment of a Sarcophagus was Discovered on which is Carved the Inscription: “Ben HaCohen HaGadol”

Just before Yom Kippur – In Excavations along the Security Fence North of Jerusalem a Fragment of a Sarcophagus was Discovered that Dates to the Second Temple Period on which is Carved the Inscription: “Ben HaCohen HaGadol”

Yom Kippur was the only day of the year when the high priest was permitted to enter the Holy of Holies in the Temple.

A unique discovery was revealed in excavations that were conducted north of Jerusalem: a fragment of a sarcophagus cover was found that is engraved with square Hebrew script, characteristic of the Second Temple period. The fragment (length 0.60 m, width 0.48 m) is made of hard limestone, is meticulously fashioned and bears a carved inscription that reads: “…Ben HaCohen HaGadol…”.

Numerous high priests served in the temple during the latter part of the Second Temple period and there is no way of knowing which of the priests the inscription refers to. However, it should probably be identified with one of the priests that officiated there between the years 30 and 70 CE. Among the high priests we know of from the end of the Second Temple period were Caiaphas the priest, Theophilus (Yedidiya) Ben Hanan, Simon Ben Boethus, Hanan Ben Hanan and others.

The excavations were conducted by the Unit of the Archaeological Staff Officer of the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria, under the direction of Naftali Aizik and Benyamin Hareven, within the framework of the salvage excavations that are currently being carried out along the route of the security fence and underwritten by the Ministry of Defense.

During the course of the excavation public and residential buildings, agricultural installations, pools and cisterns were discovered which range in date from the end of the Second Temple period to the Early Islamic period.
The Land of Benjamin is known in scientific literature as the place where the priests resided during the Second Temple period. This region is analogous to the peripheral settlements of modern Jerusalem where an affluent population dwelled that was active and earned its living in the central city of Jerusalem. The site that was exposed is an estate of one of the high priests who served in the temple in Jerusalem. One can assume that the son of the high priest passed away for some unknown reason at the time when his father still officiated as the high priest in Jerusalem. It can further be assumed that this high priest, as well as the rest of his family, was interred at the same estate located north of Jerusalem; however, no other artifacts have been found yet that verify this theory. It should be noted that the fragment of the sarcophagus cover was not discovered in the estate itself, rather it was recovered from the debris of the later remains. It seems that the fragment was plundered from its original location approximately one thousand years ago and was used in the construction of a later Moslem building that was erected atop the ruins of the houses from the Second Temple period.

The high priest was first and foremost amongst the priests in the temple but his greatest importance was the role he played on Yom Kippur. This was the only day of the year when the high priest was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies. In the Yoma Tractate (Yom Kippur) of the Mishnah the process which the high priest underwent seven days prior to Yom Kippur, before he entered the Holy of Holies, is described in detail. He would walk between the ornamental curtains that separated the hall of the temple and the inner sanctum of the Holy of Holies. Here he would burn the incense about which it was said “…the entire temple filled with the smoke of incense”.

Until the Hellenistic period (the time of Antiochus Epiphanes IV) the high priesthood was a position that was passed on hereditarily; however after this period the high priest was appointed by the ruling authorities. During Herod’s reign individuals who were not Jerusalemites were appointed as high priests and it reached the point whereby the priesthood became an office which was purchased with money.

Follow the link and scroll to the bottom of the page for a zip file with three photographs; one of the site and two of the inscription.

Via Joseph I. Lauer's list.

UPDATE (7 October): In case the link to the article rots, here's the link for downloading the photographs.

UPDATE (9 October): Ed Cook comments at Ralph.

A TRAVEL PIECE ON JORDAN in the Lexington Herald-Leader surveys some of its antiquities:

Jordan's attractions range from archaeological (Roman remains at Jerash) to religious (Wadi Kharrar). They include sublime natural spectacles (Wadi Rum and the Dead and Red seas) and peerless man-made spectacles (the ancient city of Petra).

Jerash, though less famous than the Roman cities of Ephesus in Turkey and Magnus Lepta in Libya, is impressive. Some 30 miles north of the capital of Amman, the ruins, which include avenues, buildings, columns, theaters, villas and mosaics, remain remarkably well-preserved after 2,000 years. Strolling down the Cardo, the main street lined with decorative columns, it is easy to imagine Jerash in all its splendor as a Decapolis, one of 10 cities in the ancient kingdoms of Jordan, Syria and Israel linked by their trade routes, whose importance is referenced in the Bible.

A more important biblical site, however, is Wadi Kharrar, a lonely outpost in the shadow of Jericho in the Palestinian Territories. Wadi Kharrar, on the Jordanian side of the River Jordan, is where John the Baptist baptized his cousin Jesus, according to biblical scholars now supported by archaeological evidence. This is also the spot, according to the Bible, from which the prophet Elijah ascended to heaven in a fiery chariot and returned in spirit to proclaim, "I am a crying voice in the wilderness."

Archaeological excavations begun here in 1996 — after King Hussein brokered a peace accord with Israel — have uncovered a host of late Roman/early Byzantine churches, mosaics, the cave of the hermits and an underground spring.

While the attractions of the capital, Amman, can be seen in a half-day sightseeing tour, there are several must-see spots in the vicinity: Madaba, the city of Mosaics, dating back 3,500 years (the mosaic map of the Holy Land, pieced together with 2.3 million tiles on the floor of the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George, is the oldest map in the world); and Mount Nebo, on which Moses is said to have stood, forbidden by God to enter the Promised Land. Here, above the windswept plains, a beautiful chapel stands as a memorial to the prophet who lived out his days, died and was buried here.

South of Amman are Jordan's two famous seas — the Dead Sea, the lowest spot on earth (1,300 feet below sea level) with a salt content eight times that of most of the world's oceans, and the Red Sea, known for its casual resort lifestyle and incomparable diving.

And there's Petra too, of course.

CAROL NEWSOM is interviewed in the Daily Citizen, GA:

Stroll through the Scrolls
Misty Watson

After working to translate the Dead Sea Scrolls, Carol Newsom realizes there are some discrepancies in the ancient Jewish texts and Old Testament translations.

But “I’m more impressed with how faithful (texts) have been over 2,000 years,” said Newsom, a Distinguished Professor of Hebrew Bible at Emory University in Atlanta, who spoke at the Dalton First United Methodist Church Sunday evening.

The Dead Sea Scrolls “don’t change anything for (Jewish or Christian) faith,” she said.

[...]

From 1978 to 1982, Newsom, now 58, translated and wrote a dissertation on a manuscript dating back to 100 B.C. called “Songs of Sabbath Sacrifice,” which are songs people living in Qumran would sing on the Sabbath. One song was sung on each of 13 Sabbaths, all pertaining to angelic priests and the heavenly temple of God.

[...]

Pretty much right, but more complicated than this. But I won't get started.

The Book of Jubilees, believed to have been written by Moses in the second century B.C., closely follows the stories in Genesis, but includes more detail, such as “elaborate poems,” she said.

Perhaps believed by the early audience to have been written by Moses, but not by specialists today, who don't even think that Moses wrote the Pentateuch. Obviously that's what Carol meant, and she probably phrased it more clearly than it ended up in the article.

METATRON WATCH: The Archangel Metatron has diversified into the travel business.

On Tuesday, Oct. 7, SUNY Oswego’s Office of Business and Community Relations and the Women’s Network for Entrepreneurial Training will gather women from across Central New York for “Connections.”

[...]

This years’ event is scheduled to have speakers that will energize and inspire women, including SUNY Oswego alumna Melina Carnicelli. Carnicelli is the founder and owner of two businesses - Treble Associates, which specializes in leadership and staff training and Metatron Travel, which offers intimate travel groups to sacred sites around the world.