Gnosticism does not qualify for charitable status

GNOSTICISM (at least in one form) is not a religion and does not qualify for charitable status according to the UK Charities Commission:

Commission rejects Gnostic Centre's bid for charitable status

By Paul Jump, Third Sector Online, 15 January 2010

Review by regulator upholds earlier decision to turn down application

The Charity Commission has rejected an application for charitable status from an organisation that promotes an ancient mystical belief system called gnosticism.

The Gnostic Centre, which is based in Leeds, applied to be a charity with the possible purposes of advancing education, advancing religion or promoting the moral or spiritual welfare or improvement of the community.

However, in an internal review carried out by two of the regulator's board members, the commission upheld its earlier decision to reject the application.

The board members decided that the Gnostic Centre did not advance education as understood in charity law because its objects included the promotion of modern gnosticism, whereas education had to be "based on broad values that are uncontroversial and would generally be supported by objective and informed opinion".

The centre told the commission that gnostics believed the world was created by a lesser god, while gnostics' efforts were concentrating on getting in touch with the true, higher god.

The board members agreed that gnosticism possessed some of the legal qualities of a religion, such as belief in a supreme being, but did not promote "a positive, beneficial, moral or ethical framework" because it focused too narrowly on the spiritual welfare of individuals.

The commission found no evidence of "shared morals or ethics" among the movement's followers and said the centre needed to provide hard evidence that as people's spiritual awareness increased, they "exhibited positive behaviours for the benefit of society".

[...]

A follow-up article here indicates that the Gnostic Centre may appeal. The website of the Leeds Gnostic Centre is here. I'm not a lawyer and I don't know how accurately the board's position is being represented in this article, but if they really think they can formulate a legally useful definition of religion, I wish them joy.

Gesenius conference in Halle, Germany

CONFERENCE ON GESENIUS:

Conference at the University of Halle (Germany), 14-18 March 2010

"Biblical Exegesis and Hebrew Lexicography: Gesenius' Hebrew Dictionary as Resource and Mirror of Old Testament Scholarship, throughout 200 Years since its first Publication"

Wilhelm Gesenius (1786-1842), professor for Biblical studies at the University of Halle, was the founder of modern Hebrew lexicography and grammar. His numerous works on Hebrew and on further Semitic languages were most influential, especially his "Hebraeisch-deutsches Handwoerterbuch" and the "Thesaurus philologicus criticus linguae Hebraeae et Chaldaeae Veteris Testamenti".

The conference, celebrating 200 years since the first edition of the "Handwoerterbuch" was published in 1810, will deal with different aspects of the lexicographical and exegetical work of Wilhelm Gesenius, its basis and its influence, its different editions, its re-worked editions, and its translations. The central question will be how Biblical exegesis influenced the dictionary and its development during its different editions, on the one hand, and how the dictionary influenced the critical exegesis of the Hebrew Bible, on the other.

Jewish Studies Postdoc at Colgate

A JEWISH STUDIES POSTDOC is being advertised at Colgate University.

NEH Grant for Cynthia Baker

CONGRATULATIONS TO PROFESSOR CYNTHIA BAKER, who has received an NEH Grant for work in Jewish studies:

Religion professor receives NEH grant for 'identity terms' research
Posted by: Bates Views on Tuesday, January 26, 2010

"Identity terms" are the words that people use to affiliate themselves and others with particular groups — ethnic, racial, religious, social and so on.

Cynthia Baker, associate professor of religious studies at Bates [College in Maine], recently received $50,400 from the National Endowment for the Humanities to support her research into one of history's most fraught identity terms: "Jew," a word that can convey praise, pride, prejudice or pure description.

No studies exist that analyze the use and the historical development, from ancient times through the postmodern era, of that term, Baker says. The NEH grant will enable her to research and write a book slated for publication in the "Key Words in Jewish Studies" series published by Rutgers University Press.

The book will map the emergence, evolution and current permutations of the term "Jew." Baker's yearlong research will involve experts and archives in the U.S., Europe and Israel, among other resources. She will examine ancient inscriptions and conduct art-historical analyses of images of Jews including those from medieval European churches, manuscripts, modern cartoons, propaganda and current pop art.

[...]

Review of Milwaukee DSS exhibition

THE MILWAUKEE DEAD SEA SCROLL EXHIBITION is reviewed in OnMilwaukee.com:

Stunning "Dead Sea Scrolls" a trove of history
The Book of Isaiah was the only entire book of the Bible to be discovered among the scrolls.

By Bobby Tanzilo
Managing Editor

Published Jan. 26, 2010 at 9:03 a.m.
Tags: dead sea scrolls and the bible, john trever, golda meir, qumran, israel, milwaukee public museum, st. john's bible, jerusalem

There's no doubt that being in the presence of the Dead Sea Scrolls wields a special power for the devout. But faith is not a prerequisite for marveling at "Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible: Ancient Artifacts, Timeless Treasures," on display at the Milwaukee Public Museum through June 6.

However, a good pair of reading glasses -- if you require them -- wouldn't hurt.

The exhibit, which features fragments of original scrolls, artifacts, photographs, facsimiles of an intact scroll, models and more, is loaded with informational panels that tell you all you need to know about the history of the scrolls and their discovery, the historical context, the battle for control of the scrolls, attempts to decode them and much more.

[...]

A nice review that covers the entire exhibit in some detail.

Setbacks for the Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem

THE MUSEUM OF TOLERANCE in Jerusalem has been scaled down and has lost its architect:

Museum of Tolerance halves building plan
January 25, 2010 (Jerusalem Dispatch)

by Dan Slobodkin
A Museum of Tolerance will open in Mamilla within four years, though at half the size and cost previously planned,
Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told the Los Angeles Jewish Journal on Sunday.
“While it seemed perfectly possible in 2002 to raise the money, by 2009 we were forced to reconsider in light of the declining economy,” he said by phone from Independence Park in Jerusalem, where he is currently staying to attend a granddaughter’s wedding.
Last week celebrated architect Frank Gehry announced he was stepping down from the controversial project. His design called for eight separate buildings, totaling 240,000 square feet at an estimated cost of $250 million. The plan has been scaled down to one large building of 120,000 square feet, at an estimated cost of under $100 million.

[...]

This museum project has been beset by controversy ever since it was realized that it is being built over an old Muslim cemetery. The latest on that:

Since then the site has been plagued by legal holdups following claims the site for the museum lies partly on an ancient Muslim cemetery, but two weeks ago the High Court rejected a petition to reopen the case and fined the plaintiffs.

Background here and follow the links.

Tomb of Ezekiel Watch

TOMB OF EZEKIEL WATCH: The Iraqi Government seems to be on the defensive regarding the desecration of Ezekiel's (traditional) Tomb in Al-Kifl. Good. Haaretz reports:

Iraqi workers erased an ancient Hebrew inscription from the tomb of biblical prophet Ezekiel while renovating a nearby mosque, Army Radio reported on Sunday.

[...]

Iraq maintains that the damage was done unintentionally by untrained workers. Professor [Shmuel] Morre [of Hebrew University], however, is skeptical. "I urge UNESCO to supervise the renovations and to have them carried out by professionals and not simple workers," Morre told Army Radio.
[...]

According to Army Radio, the Iraqi government dispelled claims the damage was done on purpose, and asserted that it sees the Jewish sites as assets important for tourism. It maintains that the incident isn't only damaging to Jewish history, but is also harmful to the interests of the Iraqi government

Yes, I would say so. I'm glad they're catching on to that.

Background here and keep following the links back. For what seems to be the now-erased Hebrew inscription, see here. I've posted a transcription and translation, but the pictures I had linked to are now gone.

New fragments of the Cyrus Cylinder

NEW FRAGMENTS OF THE CYRUS CYLINDER, found in the British Museum, have manifold political implications.

British Museum in battle with Iran over ancient 'charter of rights'

Tehran alleges time-wasting as curator trawls through thousands of cuneiform clay fragments for Cyrus the Great's legacy

* John Wilson
* The Observer, Sunday 24 January 2010

The discovery of fragments of ancient cuneiform tablets – hidden in a British Museum storeroom since 1881 – has sparked a diplomatic row between the UK and Iran. In dispute is a proposed loan of the Cyrus cylinder, one of the most important objects in the museum's collection, and regarded by some historians as the world's first human rights charter.

The Iranian government has threatened to "sever all cultural relations" with Britain unless the artefact is sent to Tehran immediately. Museum director Neil MacGregor has been accused by an Iranian vice-president of "wasting time" and "making excuses" not to make the loan of the 2,500-year-old clay object, as was agreed last year.

The museum says that two newly discovered clay fragments hold the key to an important new understanding of the cylinder and need to be studied in London for at least six months.

[...]

On the new fragments:

Irving Finkel, curator in the museum's ancient near east department, said he "nearly had a coronary" when he realised what he had in his hands. "We always thought the Cyrus cylinder was unique," he said. "No one had even imagined that copies of the text might have been made, let alone that bits of it have been here all along."

Finkel must now trawl through 130,000 objects, housed in hundreds of floor-to ceiling shelving units. His task is to locate other fragments inscribed with Cyrus's words. The aim is to complete the missing sections of one of history's most important political documents.

On the Iranian Government:

Six months before pro-democracy protests were met with violence in the wake of the presidential election, tea and sweet pastries were offered to the British guests at the Iranian cultural heritage ministry. MacGregor was there to meet Hamid Baqaei, a vice-president and close ally of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Their friendly discussion was a significant diplomatic breakthrough at a time when tensions between Britain and Iran had been strained to breaking point after the expulsion of British Council representatives from Tehran. The recent launch of the BBC Persian television service had also been interpreted as a provocation by London.

[...]

MacGregor may have been put on the spot by Baqaei, but he agreed to a three-month loan by the end of 2009. A year later, Baqaei's tone towards MacGregor is not so friendly. Quoted by the Fars news agency in Iran, he accused the museum of "acting politically". Further "British procrastination" would result in a "serious response" from Iran.

But others are also making political use of the Cyrus Cylinder:

The Cyrus cylinder remains a compelling political tract more than two and half millennia after its creation. Accepting her Nobel peace prize in 2003, the Iranian human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi cited Cyrus as a leader who "guaranteed freedoms for all". She hailed his charter as "one of the most important documents that should be studied in the history of human rights".

In 2006, the then foreign secretary, Jack Straw contrasted the freeing of Jewish slaves by Cyrus with Ahmadinejad's "sickening calls for Israel to be wiped from the face of the map".

And even if the current Iranian Government wins on this one, they may find it a victory with unintended consequences:

They may well be getting more than they bargained for. To the Ahmadinejad regime, the cylinder is an iconic object, one that fuels collective pride in national heritage. But to those who are fighting for freedom of expression in Iran in the face of violence, the return of Cyrus could offer a potent new rallying point.

One can hope.

Cool photo of Irving Finkel.

Background to this political controversy (before the discovery of the new fragments) is here. Follow the links at the bottom of that post for previous posts on the Cyrus Cylinder. Although it's true that its contribution to the progress of civil rights has been exaggerated at times, it is still not much of a showpiece for the current Iranian Government and its oppressive policies. And given the present instability of that government, I think the BM is right to be wary of loaning them precious cultural treasures. For some related thoughts (involving Iraq), see here.

Metatron "Slays" Goliath. Really.

ARCHANGEL METATRON WATCH:

"Metatron 'Slays' Goliath."

Content Deal Brings Another 4,000 Hours of Premium Movies and TV to Mobile Platforms

(January 22, 2010)

SAN DIEGO, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 01/22/10 -- Metatron Inc. (PINKSHEETS: MRNJ) today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Goliath Motion Picture Promotions Inc. of Los Angeles, CA to bring over 4,000 hours of premium television programming to the iPhone and Droid mobile platforms.

[...]

Cross-file under "headline of the week."

Milwaukee DSS exhibit Watch

MILWAUKEE DEAD-SEA-SCROLLS-EXHIBITION WATCH:

There's insight - but not proof - in the Dead Sea Scrolls

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Jan. 23, 2010 10:14 p.m.

They speak of a Teacher of Righteousness and a pierced messiah, of cleansing through water and a battle of light against darkness.

But anyone looking to the Dead Sea Scrolls in search of proof, say, that Jesus of Nazareth was the messiah presaged by the prophets, or that John the Baptist lived among the scroll's authors, will be disappointed.

What the scrolls provide instead, scholars say, is a window into a world of religious ferment 2,000 years ago that gave rise to Judaism and Christianity as we know them today.

[...]

Hints of the Scrolls in Bible

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Jan. 23, 2010 10:32 p.m.

To understand how the Dead Sea Scrolls influenced early Christianity, just turn to the New Testament.

Take, for example, the Great Isaiah Scroll, a facsimile of which is on display as part of the Milwaukee Public Museum's Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. Written around 125 B.C. and the only scroll to emerge virtually intact from the caves at Qumran, its messianic message is quoted in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, John and Luke, the earliest of which wasn't written until around A.D. 65.

[...]

Also, more Scrolls events around this exhibit are noted here.

Four DSS conservators

FOUR DEAD SEA SCROLL CONSERVATORS are profiled by Haaretz:

4 Israeli women work tirelessly to save Dead Sea Scrolls

By Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Qumran, Dead Sea

For the past two and a half months, Tania Treiger, a conservator with the Israel Antiquities Authority, has been pouring over a piece of parchment about 20 centimeters square. It began with a microscopic examination of the fragment to gauge its condition, and continued with the placement of special paper over the writing to very slowly remove the circa 1970s adhesive tape.

Treiger, whose tools include Q-tips, tweezers and lots of patience, is one of four "guardians" of the Dead Sea Scrolls. These four women, all from the former Soviet Union, are the only people in the world permitted to touch the scrolls.

First paragraph: I really do hope the author means "poring."

Second paragraph: it's kind of cool that I seem to be one of the last few people who were permitted to touch the Scrolls, around 1987-90 when I was working on the Genesis-Exodus material in my dissertation, which later came out in DJD 12. Although I suppose it would have been better for the Scrolls if we hadn't been permitted.

This is news to me:

The first of the Dead Sea Scrolls, among the most important archaeological finds in the world, were discovered in the mid-1940s in the Dead Sea area, and have been making headlines ever since. This week, the Hebrew daily Maariv reported that the IAA had decided to stop sending the scrolls abroad to exhibitions for fear of legal complications, after the Jordanian government demanded that Israel return scrolls to Jordan. ...

Not a good development, although perhaps understandable. Background on the Jordan demand is here.

The work of these four conservators is exceedingly important and I am glad to see them getting some public recognition for it.

Milwaukee DSS exhibit opens

THE MILWAUKEE DEAD SEA SCROLLS EXHIBITION has opened:

Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit inspires visitors

By Jackie Loohauis-Bennett of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Jan. 22, 2010 10:57 p.m.

The ink on the 2,000-year-old parchments has faded. But for visitors at the opening of the Milwaukee Public Museum's "Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible" exhibit Friday, the power of the ancient writings remains.

The museum sold more than 1,500 tickets to the first day of the largest temporary exhibit it has ever produced. The exhibit displays more than 200 artifacts, including actual fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls from the third century B.C. to first century A.D., carrying biblical texts from such books as Genesis, Exodus and Deuteronomy. Medieval and modern Bibles also are on display.

[...]

Photo gallery here. Video here.

UPDATE: There's a lecture series to go with the exhibit.

Postdoc in Second Temple Judaism at UCL

A POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP with the title Research Associate: By the Rivers of Babylon: New Perspectives on Second Temple Judaism from Cuneiform Texts is being advertised by University College London.

UCL History Department is distinctive for the breadth of its expertise, stretching from the fourth millennium BC to the contemporary world. We are seeking a researcher to work within the framework of a comparative project under the direction of Dr Caroline Waerzeggers studying Second Temple Judaism and the Neo-Babylonian temple cult, specifically focusing on the post-exilic temple community of Jerusalem. The postholder will also be expected to do a moderate amount of teaching.

The post is funded by the European Research Council for 4 years from 1 September 2010.

(Via the Agade list.)

Jobs: Jewish Studies Chair and Lectureship at Nottingham

JOBS: A Chair in Jewish Studies is being advertised at the University of Nottingham.

This post is available from 1 September 2010 (or as soon as possible thereafter) and will be offered on a permanent contract

Applications are invited for a Chair in Jewish Studies. Candidates should have an outstanding record of research in some area of Jewish studies, and a sufficiently high international reputation to attract research students and research grants. The successful candidate will contribute to the Department’s teaching programme, and play a role in the administration and leadership of the Department. Applications are welcomed from any area within Jewish studies, ancient, medieval or modern, and from those whose approaches are textual, historical, philosophical or theological

Nottingham is also advertising a Lectureship in Religious Studies with a preferred expertise in Jewish studies:

This full-time, permanent post is available from 1 September 2010

Applications are invited for the above post in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies. Candidates should hold, or be near completion of, a PhD. Candidates should be able to demonstrate a good research record and potential in religious studies, preferably with expertise in the Jewish tradition, but applications are also welcome from those whose specialism lies in the sociology or anthropology of religion, or comparative religion, or from those with an interest in the Islamic tradition. The successful candidate will be responsible for teaching undergraduate and postgraduate modules, for supervising postgraduate research and for contributing to departmental administration

(Via the BNTS list.)

SAD NEWS: Abraham Malamat

SAD NEWS: the Agade list reports that Abraham Malamat has passed away:

From Shmuel Ahituv ahituvs@013.net came this very sad message:
===================================================

I am sorry to convey the sad message that Professor (emeritus) Abraham Malamat of the Hebrew University has passed away today January 21 at the age of 87.

The funeral will take place at Har Hamenuchot cemetery, Jerusalem on Sunday. For further details as known, contact 02-5631587.

Shiv'a will be at the Malamats' residence: 1 Rashba Street, Jerusalem.

Charles Halton collects some information about Professor Malamat's publications over at Awilum. May his memory be for a blessing.

More on the Talpiot Tomb

MORE ON THE TALPIOT TOMB: the tomb from which the Jerusalem Shroud came and the one that some have argued to be the burial place of Jesus and his family. A Bible and Interpretation essay offers replies to various refutations of the statistical evidence that has been brought forth to prove a connection with Jesus:

Talpiot Dethroned

We have noted that a number of scholars have misstated facts in analyzing the statistics of the tomb. We also acknowledge that despite these errors, the Talpiot tomb might not be the Jesus family tomb. Nevertheless, an analysis on the calculations of the names in the tomb should at least be accurate and based on acceptable statistical methods.

By Kevin Kilty
Department of Physics and Engineering
LCCC, Wyoming

With Mark Elliott
Editor, Bible and Interpretation

I think all I can say here is that such debates belong in peer-review journals. It's helpful to have a popular essay from time to time which summarizes the discussion in the journals, but the discussion itself isn't going to be advanced in popular essays.

For some past coverage of the Talpiot Tomb see here, here, here, here, and here. For the Jerusalem Shroud see here and follow the links.

Davila 666?

NO RELATIONS, I assure you.

Silviu Bunta to lecture on Cain and Abel

SILVIU BUNTA is giving a public lecture at Illinois Wesleyan University in March:

Monday, March 8
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies Silviu Bunta from the University of Dayton will present “Whose Son was Cain Anyway?: Genesis 4:1 as a Case of Textual Insinuation.” The story of Cain and Abel can be found in many religions, appearing in the Bible, the Torah and the Qur’an. Some versions allege Cain was the son of the serpent in the Garden of Eden.

Bunta, a native of Romania, holds a doctorate from Marquette University (Wisconsin). He specializes in the study of Judaism and Christian origins, focusing particularly on mystical trends in early literature not included in canon writing, but attributed to biblical figures. Bunta has recently published several articles in the field of Jewish and Christian mysticism in volumes and scholarly journals such as Henoch, the Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha, Catholic Biblical Quarterly and the Journal for the Study of Judaism.

Professor Bunta is also involved with the Society of Biblical Literature's Early Jewish and Christian Mysticism Group.

Ashdod antiquities exhibit looted

THIEVES with a sense irony have looted an antiquities exhibit in Ashdod:

Burglars swipe artifacts from 'Antiquities Thieves' exhibit

By Yanir Yagna (Haaretz)
Tags: Israel news

In a display of what might be called ironic chutzpah, burglars broke into an Ashdod museum this week and stole silver coins from the Hellenistic period and other archaeological finds that were part of an exhibit called "Antiquities Thieves in Israel."

The exhibit, at the Korin Maman Museum, displayed artifacts that the Israel Antiquities Authority had previously recovered from antiquities thieves. Now it seems the authority will have to begin its hunt all over again.

[...]

New effort to carbon date the DSS

A NEW EFFORT to carbon date the Dead Sea Scrolls:

International researchers find method to date Dead Sea Scrolls
2010-01-21 08:38 BJT

STOCKHOLM, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- A Danish archaeochemist and an international team of researchers have found a way to enable scientists to precisely date the Dead Sea Scrolls, according to reports reaching here from Copenhagen on Wednesday.

"For more than a decade we've been saying that there was no point in dating the scrolls before we found a method to remove the oil. Now we have found just such a method," Kaare Lund Rasmussen, Associate Professor and Archaeochemist of the University of Southern Denmark, was quoted as saying by the Danish newspaper Politiken online.

Treatment of the scrolls included being spread out using plant oil, which in turn made precise carbon dating of the scrolls almost impossible, said Politiken.

The article notes that some of the Scrolls were carbon dated in the 1990s, but this new project aims to remove the oil to get a more accurate dating.

Review of Milwaukee DSS exhibition

THE MILWAUKEE DEAD SEA SCROLL EXHIBITION is reviewed by Jackie Loohauis-Bennett in the Journal Sentinel. Excerpt:

The exhibit offers plenty of spectacles to get visitors into an epic mood. Enter the exhibit through the monumental re-creation of Jerusalem's 1st century B.C. Robinson's Arch, for instance, and you expect Charlton Heston to pop up and lead the way.

Rooms filled with rare artifacts from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem quickly whisk visitors into the same time and space as the scrolls. Some of these artifacts - medical instruments, oil lamps - almost never leave Israel, and they provide insight into the culture that gave birth to the Old Testament.

A limestone plaque made to scare off the devil if he looked in its mirror reveals just how closely the people of Jerusalem lived to the supernatural world every day.

To open up the exhibit even more, the museum quickly gives the scroll saga a human face with a series of amazing artifacts. A sandal and comb were probably owned by one of the legendary Jewish rebels who committed suicide during the Roman assault of Masada. An ossuary box brings to life the biblical figure of Simon of Cyrene, said to have carried Jesus' cross.

The Dead Sea Scroll fragments, of course, star in the exhibit, and they're bound to send shivers down the back of any Bible student. Visitors can follow the English translations of texts from Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus line for line on the scroll fragments as they were set down 2,000 years ago.

The Isaiah text, "Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks," packs a new punch when read in the handwriting of a scribe who believed he was communicating a warning directly from God.

The scrolls' fragments range from the size of a stamp to a book page-sized segment. Here again, the museum staff conquered a difficult exhibition problem: the physical display of such ancient, tiny texts. Specially-built cases and lights make the fragments easy to see and experience.

Like the scrolls themselves, the exhibit does have its share of controversy. Does the Jeselsohn Stone really refer to a Messiah rising from the dead after three days? If so, does the stone itself date from before, during or after the time of Jesus? The museum gives visitors enough information to seek out the answer on their own.

SBTS buys 3 DSS fragments

THREE DEAD SEA SCROLLS FRAGMENTS have been acquired by Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary:

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary obtains 3 fragments of Dead Sea Scrolls
Posted Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010

By CHRIS VAUGHN (Star-Telegram)

cvaughn@star-telegram.com

FORT WORTH — Only eight months after the Kimbell Art Museum purchased an exceedingly rare Michelangelo painting, the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary dropped its own antiquities bombshell Wednesday — the school has acquired three fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, one of the world’s most important archaeological and spiritual discoveries.

The fragments — appearing to carry verses from the biblical books of Exodus, Leviticus and Daniel — are admittedly tiny, measuring only a few square inches each and protected in a sheath of glass. But because the scrolls are the oldest version of the Hebrew Bible ever discovered, it would be impossible to overstate their importance to religious scholars, not to mention the leadership of the Baptist seminary.

"This is an occasion of considerable consequence," said Paige Patterson, president of the seminary.

The seminary bought the pieces for an undisclosed price from a private collector who had them in a Swiss bank.

[...]

SBTS is looking to buy more Scroll fragments. Last September, Azusa Pacific University also bought some Scroll fragments.

Tomb of Ezekiel (traditional) Watch

TOMB OF EZEKIEL (TRADITIONAL) WATCH: YNet News has an update on current efforts to stop the turning of this tomb in Iraq into a mosque. The new information:

Manager of the "Justice for Jews" organization Shlomo Alfassa has approached US government authorities in Washington following the reports and demanded to "stop the Islamization of the Jewish prophet's tomb."

An application has also been made to the UNESCO headquarters, which is responsible for maintaining the religious character of holy sites.

Background here.

Qeiyafa Ostracon watch

QEIYAFA OSTRACON WATCH: Christianity Today has a helpful roundup of scholarly responses to Gershon Galil's proposed translation:

Archaeology: What an Ancient Hebrew Note Might Mean
Scholar says five lines of ancient script on a broken piece of pottery confirm Kingdom of Israel's existence in 10th century B.C. Others are cautious.
Gordon Govier | posted 1/18/2010 09:59AM

Five lines of ancient script on a broken piece of pottery, first spotted by a 17-year-old excavation volunteer in the summer of 2008, have been proclaimed as one of the oldest known examples of Hebrew writing. An Israeli historian believes they also testify to the formation of the kingdom of Israel and the writing of Hebrew Scriptures.

The ostracon (a piece of pottery with writing on it, the ancient equivalent of note paper) was found at Khirbet Qeiyafa, the 3,000-year-old ruins of a city on a ridge above the Valley of Elah. The ruins overlook the valley where the Bible says David slew Goliath roughly 3,000 years ago.

Professor Gershon Galil, the chair of the Department of Jewish History at Haifa University, has released a reading of the ostracon which he says confirms that the Kingdom of Israel existed in the 10th century B.C. (the time of King David), and that the biblical Scriptures were written centuries earlier than many modern scholars believe.

Whether other scholars will accept Galil's reading after it's published in a scholarly journal remains to be seen. Some already believe he has overstated his case.

[...]

Responses follow from Seth Sanders, James Hoffmeier, Chris Rollston, William Schniedewind, and Aren Maier.

Background here and follow the links back.

Jacob Neusner's meeting with the Pope

A REPORT on Jacob Neusner's meeting with the Pope (Catholic News Service blog):

US rabbi says pope has finished second volume on Jesus
Posted on January 19, 2010 by Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY — U.S. Rabbi Jacob Neusner, a prolific author and professor at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., told the Vatican newspaper that Pope Benedict XVI has finished the second volume of his book on Jesus.

The rabbi says the pope told him so during their 20-minute meeting yesterday.

The fact that the pope would tell a U.S. rabbi that the manuscript is finished isn’t quite as odd as it would appear. In the pope’s first volume, “Jesus of Nazareth,” there were more quotes from Rabbi Neusner than from anyone but the Gospel writers and St. Paul.

[...]

Matthew and the Age of Pisces?

MATTHEW AND THE AGE OF PISCES? Professor Jay Williams asks Who Were the Magi? (at Bible and Interpretation) and comes up with a novel answer involving astrology. Excerpt:

Jews, on the whole, officially refused to accept astrology because of the emphasis upon the seven “planets” that were understood to be gods. Nevertheless, it would have been difficult for anyone during the later Hellenistic age not to be aware of the findings and beliefs of astrology. It was, after all, considered by many to be a highly acceptable science. Several centuries later, Jews constructed a synagogue at Beth Alpha that had on its floor an astrological diagram. Another such synagogue existed also in Tiberias.

In any event, it is quite probable that many people at the time of Jesus knew that they were, slowly but surely, entering a new age, the age of Pisces, the fish. Both Aries and Pisces are rather vague constellations and do not have the sharp outlines of the Big Dipper or Orion. Nevertheless, those who watched the heavens carefully could see the first star of Pisces rising in the east at the time of the vernal equinox. The new age was beginning.

It is doubtful that any Persians would have thought that the spiritual power of the New Age was to be born in Judea as the Jewish Messiah, but that is beside the point. The author of Matthew was surely not Persian but probably Jewish in background and it is he who, according to our theory, wished to connect Jesus to the coming of the New Age. Indeed, Jesus is seen by him as the Lord of the New Age, as the reign of heaven becomes a reality.

I'm not sure what "officially" means here. It's hard to pin down an "official" Judaism in this period. The Temple priests? But we don't know what position, if any, they advanced about astrology. And there are astrological texts among the Dead Sea Scrolls (4Q186, 4Q534, 4Q561, 4Q318). But, if anything, that strengthens rather than weakens Professor Williams's case. So one more interpretation of the Star of Bethlehem to add to the list. More on the Magi and the Star of Bethlehem here.

In the mail

IN THE MAIL - or at least in my mailbox. A copy from my colleague Professor De Troyer:

Kristin De Troyer, Armin Lange (eds), with the assistance of Lucas L. Schulte, Prophecy after the Prophets? The Contribution of the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Understanding of Biblical and Extra-Biblical Prophecy (CBET 52; Leuven: Peeters, 2009)

Shlomo Sand interview

SHLOMO SAND, author of The Invention of the Jewish People is interviewed by in the Guardian. Excerpt:

Sand is scathing about accusations made by Jews living elsewhere that his book is anti-Israel. From the comfort of the diaspora they charge him with sedition. Some say his thesis fuels antisemitism. Overseas donors to Tel Aviv University have called for him to be sacked.

But Sand has voted for Israel with his feet. He is not anti-Zionist, he says, but post-Zionist: accepting modern Israel as a fait accompli. Besides, his interest in the country's survival as a democracy is not theoretical. His family lives there.

Diaspora Zionists can nurture the Jewish myth of biblical nationhood as dual citizenship alongside their passports from safer states. When they refer to "Israel" and "Jerusalem" in their prayers, they do not have to distinguish between scriptural metaphor and political reality. It is a distinction on which Israel's survival depends.

Otherwise the interview doesn't really address criticisms of the book aired in earlier reviews (for some of which, go here and keep following the links).

Iraqi Jewish Archive update

IRAQI JEWISH ARCHIVE UPDATE: The AP reports that the Iraqi authorities want the archive back. My own view (based on natural justice, not any expertise in the law) is that ancient cultural treasures belong first to humanity. Claims of the country of origin are certainly important and legitimate to take into account, but the key question is how the artifacts can best be preserved for humanity. In this case, Iraq is not giving the world any reason for confidence in its ability and willingness to care properly for Jewish artifacts, given its current treatment of the (traditional) Tomb of Ezekiel. This point is made rather more vigorously by CAMERA.

Background here and possibly here and here.

UPDATE (24 May): Dead link fixed. Sorry about that.

Nag Hammadi murders update

NAG HAMMADI MURDERS UPDATE:

Egypt security court trial in Copt killings

(Gulf Times)

Three Muslims accused of gunning down six Egyptian Christians on the Coptic Christmas Eve will stand trial before an emergency security court, the state prosecutor said yesterday. Abdel Magid Mahmud said in a statement that the three men were charged with premeditated murder aimed at harming national interests. ...

And Egyptian bloggers have entered the picture:

'Naga Hammadi bloggers' released after one-day detention

Pakinam Amer (Al-Masry Al-Youm)

Around 30 bloggers and activists were released Saturday after being briefly detained in Qena's Security Directorate. The young men and women were apprehended in Naga Hammadi's train station, southern Qena, after traveling from Cairo to offer condolences to the families of victims of sectarian violence and pay their respect to Bishop Kirollos of the Naga Hammadi Diocese, who was allegedly himself a target in the attacks against Christians there.

[...]

The bloggers, who are on their way back to Cairo as time of writing, were among a group of Egyptians that include politicians like Osama Ghazali Harb of the liberal Democratic Front Party, Kifaya leader George Ishaaq and Cairo university professor and opposition leader Mohamed Abul Ghar, who wanted to visit Naga Hammadi to show solidarity with the town's Christians, whose moves are also stifled. However, the politicians had taken a different route, and were on their way to Naga Hammadi in private cars.

Wael Abbas, prominent bloggerm said he spent "one of the worst nights ever in detention." On his way back to Cairo, he told Al-Masry Al-Youm on the phone that they were left to sleep on the cold floor in jail all night. "When we were transferred to Qena's prosecution, we were told we faced charges of 'illegal gathering, disrupting authorities' work, and shouting slogans that could cause sectarian rifts'," he said, adding that he was questioned in the absence of his lawyers.

The bloggers include Amira el-Tahawy, Mustafa el-Naggar, Ahmed Badawi, Shahinaz Abdel Salam, Mohamed Khaled known by his alias "Demagh Mak" and human rights activist Paula Abdo -- himself an eyewitness to some of the clashes that occurred earlier in Naga Hammadi following the shooting.

[...]

Doesn't sound like the greatest moment for free speech and freedom of expression in Egypt.

Background here.

The Milwaukee DSS exhibition starts on the 22nd

THE MILWAUKEE DEAD SEA SCROLLS EXHIBITION opens on 22 January. The Journal Sentinel gives its top ten high points:

Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit sheds light on discovery, Bible

By Jackie Loohauis-Bennett of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Jan. 16, 2010

The Dead Sea Scrolls saga is an epic that would have made Hollywood director Cecil B. DeMille twitch with envy.

The story has all the elements of DeMille's "Ten Commandments" and more, everything from biblical prophecies and international intrigue to an ancient treasure map.

The Milwaukee Public Museum's exhibit "Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible: Ancient Artifacts, Timeless Treasures," running Jan. 22 through June 6, is an epic production in its own right. Five years in the making, it's the largest temporary exhibit ever produced by the museum. The show contains more than 200 items from scroll fragments to pages from medieval Bibles.

The exhibit is designed to explain the importance of the 2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in Qumran beginning in 1947. These parchments have shed new light on the Bible itself and on the times in which the Old Testament was created.

Exhibit visitors might find their heads spinning from the scope of the show. Here's our "10 Things You Must Not Miss" guide to the Dead Seas Scrolls exhibit.

[...]

The Vision of Gabriel stone and the Copper Scroll are included.

The exhibit also honors John Trever, as another article, also in the Journal Sentinel, notes:

Exhibit puts spotlight on Milwaukee scholar who helped preserve Dead Sea Scrolls

By Jackie Loohauis-Bennett of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Jan. 17, 2010 3:05 a.m.

The Milwaukee native dodging bullets as he ran through the streets of Jerusalem in 1948 carried a remarkable secret. He knew that if he were hit, the greatest biblical discovery of all time might be lost to the world forever.

John Trever, a student of the Old Testament at the American Schools of Oriental Research, was playing a leading role in revealing the importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls. In the Milwaukee Public Museum's upcoming exhibit, "Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible," opening Jan. 22, Trever is honored as a hero in interpreting and preserving the scrolls and their meaning.

[...]

Trever arrived to study at the American Schools of Oriental Research and found himself almost alone there during spring break in February 1948. The original scrolls were then in the hands of the archbishop of the Syrian Orthodox Church in Jerusalem, who was trying to identify them in the midst of the violence surrounding the partition of Palestine.

After a series of mysterious phone calls and covert negotiations, the scrolls were brought to the school and shown to Trever and fellow student William Brownlee.

Trever had done his doctoral dissertation on the Book of Isaiah. When the first scroll was unrolled before him, Trever recognized the writings immediately. According to Weston W. Fields' new book, "The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Full History," Trever "burst into (Brownlee's) room with the thrilling announcement." The writing on the scroll was, amazingly, from Isaiah.

"Dad recognized it very quickly, and he realized it was very significant. He knew from the writing the scroll wasn't a fake. He realized it would push the origin of the complete Bible text back more than 1,000 years. He was coincidentally the best-suited person in the world for that initial revelation," James Trever said.

John Trever knew the scrolls were priceless. As gunfire and mortars went off around him breaking fragments of the scrolls onto the floor, he knew they must be preserved somehow for future research.

He needed to save the writings through photographic copies. But he was out of film.

[...]

Background here.

A hoard of ancient coins from Gaza

A HOARD OF ANCIENT COINS has been found in Gaza near Egypt. The AFP reports that there are 1300 silver coins. No information on what kind of coins they are, but there is reference to fourth-century-BCE architecture in the article as well.

Other ancient coin hoards recently in the news are noted here and here.

U.C. Davis makes Talmud appointment

U.C. DAVIS MAKES TALMUD APPOINTMENT:

U.C. Davis snags dynamic, young Talmud scholar

by dan pine, staff writer (JWeekly.com)

As a Tel Aviv University undergrad, Moulie Vidas had no trouble befriending the other students in the Talmud department.

There was only one.

Apparently, not many secular Israelis chose to study the Talmud there, and eventually the department was closed, and folded into a larger one.

But Vidas’ passion for the great compendium of Jewish law never waned, and today, at just 26, he is a young lion in the realm of academic Talmud scholarship.

With his doctorate from Princeton fresh in hand, Vidas is also the latest addition to the Jewish studies faculty at U.C. Davis. His title: assistant professor in religious studies.

“Getting Moulie was quite a coup,” said Diane Wolf, director of the U.C. Davis Jewish studies program. “He had many interviews all over the country last year and several job offers. That he chose U.C. Davis speaks to the quality of our religious studies faculty and burgeoning Jewish studies program. He brings a new perspective that enriches us all.”

The Jewish studies interdisciplinary program at U.C. Davis is a offered as a minor, and includes courses on everything from the Holocaust to the Bible on film.

This quarter, Vidas teaches a class on the Dead Sea Scrolls, with one on rabbinic literature next quarter. Soon, he hopes to add classes in his specialty: how the sages redacted and edited the Babylonian Talmud, as well as the surprisingly vibrant interaction among Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians in late ancient Mesopotamia.

[...]

Congratulations to Professor Vidas - and to U.C. Davis.

Ezekiel's Tomb update

EZEKIEL'S TOMB (traditional) in Al-Kifl, Iraq is going down the Islamist memory hole. Further confirmation from the Jerusalem Post:

Recently "Ur," a local Iraqi news agency, reported that a huge mosque will be built on top of the grave by Iraq's Antiquities and Heritage Authority, while Hebrew inscriptions and ornaments are being removed from the site, all as part of renovations.

Prof. Shmuel Moreh of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, winner of the 1999 Israel Prize in Middle Eastern studies and chairman of the Association of Jewish Academics from Iraq, speaking to The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday, confirmed the report.

"I first heard the news of tomb desecration from a friend of mine who is a German scholar. After visiting the site he called me and said that some Hebrewinscriptions on the grave were covered by plaster and that a mosque is planned to be built on top of the tomb. He told me that he found the changes at the tomb disturbing and warned me that I'd better act quickly, before any irreversible damage will be inflicted," Moreh said.

"I had contacted Mr. Shelomo Alfassa, US director of Justice for Jews from Arab Countries, and told him about this situation. Then I saw the report from the Ur news agency, mentioning the decision of the Antiquities and Heritage Authority to build a mosque and to erase the Hebrewinscriptions and ornaments," Moreh said.

He asked friends to check out the developments at the site. The most recent to visit the shrine said that some of the inscriptions are now hidden by a layer of plaster.

Iraqi press reports claim that the building must be destroyed because of its poor condition. However, Alfassa believes that Iraq's Antiquities and Heritage Authority "has been pressured by Islamists to historically cleanse all evidence of a Jewish connection to Iraq - a land where Jews had lived for over a thousand years before the advent of Islam."

Again, this "renovation" is a travesty. As the article says, someone needs to act, and fast.

Background here.

Israel rejects Jordan's UN petition to claim the DSS

ISRAEL REJECTS Jordan's UN petition to claim the Dead Sea Scrolls (Arutz Sheva):

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said that Jordan's claims were "ridiculous. The Dead Sea Scrolls are an intrinsic part of Jewish heritage and religion. The scrolls have no relation to Jordan or the Jordanian people," said Palmor, adding that "Jordan's occupation of the West Bank was never recognized by the international community and the kingdom relinquished all claims on the territories. On what grounds are they trying to lay claims to the scrolls, which are a cornerstone of Jewish cultural history?"

Background here.

NT Wrong on stunning new epigraphic find

SPEAKING OF STUNNING NEW EPIGRAPHIC FINDS, NT Wrong is back and reporting on one: Archaeological Find of the Century: Letter written by King David. Most amusing.

Rollston on the Khirbet Qeiyafa ostracon

THE KHIRBET QEIYAFA OSTRACON HYPE is taken down a notch or three by epigrapher Christopher Rollston in his blog post Reflections on the Qeiyafa Ostracon. It could be earlier than the tenth century; it's in Early Alphabetic/Proto-Phoenician script, not Old Hebrew; the only-attested-in-Hebrew words aren't; the scribe was not terribly sophisticated; Rollston isn't ready to say what he thinks it says but he doesn't think it will turn out to be startling; and he's not even sure in which direction the script runs.

Background here.

Sanhedrin tombs in a sad state

THE SANHEDRIN TOMBS in Jerusalem are in a sad state:

As state slumbers, volunteers step in to rescue neglected Sanhedrin Tombs
By Nir Hasson (Haaretz)

If ever you want to find the Sanhedrin Tombs in northern Jerusalem, don't use the half-lira bill from the 1950s as your guide.

That banknote depicted an impressive burial site from the Second Temple period, which the Israel Antiquities Authority calls "one of the most important antiquities sites in Jerusalem and in the country as a whole." But today it is neglected, unmarked, and covered with graffiti and soot - and the bureaucratic bickering about who's responsible indicates that isn't likely to change any time soon.

The ultra-Orthodox residents of Sanhedria, the neighborhood where the tombs are located, have expressed little interest in maintaining the ancient burial caves, though they were recently cleaned up by a group of Russian-speaking immigrants who have little connection to Judaism. However, the dirt quickly accumulated once more and the signposts they put up have been removed.

Rafi Kasimov, who coordinates the Land of Israel program for Russian speakers at the Conservative movement's Schechter Institutes, called on the ultra-Orthodox to join his students' attempt to restore the site.

[...]

Hats off to those Russian-speaking immigrants. I hope the Ultra-Orthodox local residents do take an interest, but it sounds as though the authorities need to step in if the job is to be done properly. I hope the municipality and/or the IAA take notice.

Why Read the Zohar (book review)

BECAUSE IT'S COOL:

Why Read The Zohar?
Demystifying Kabbalah For English Readers
By Alan Brill
Published January 13, 2010, issue of January 22, 2010. (The Forward)

The Pritzker translation of the Zohar into English by Daniel Matt — the fifth volume of which has just appeared — should be greeted as a major cultural event. Yet, the publication of each volume has typically produced tiresome book reviews on the ownership of the word Kabbalah, comparing the academic approach of Gershom Scholem to Madonna’s New Age approach. The reviews do not answer the basic question: Why read parts of Kabbalah like the Zohar? Nor do they explain why the Zohar speaks to our age more than the myriad other kabbalistic works.

The Zohar corpus as published in the 16th century contains many reworked texts of ancient and medieval materials; a large chunk of the Zohar portrays the epic story of Rabbi Shimon and his companions, but there are many segments that do not.

Melila Hellner-Eshed, in her book, “A River Flows From Eden: The Language of Mystical Experience in the Zohar,” provides an indispensible work that, finally, explains why the Zohar is an important and alluring work for our time. Susan Sontag taught readers to ask not what the art means, but rather “how it is what it is.” Hellner-Eshed follows Sontag and seeks to offer an experiential aesthetic of the Zohar.

Hellner-Eshed’s book is comparatively easy to read, despite being a scholarly work that assumes the reader has already read the terse prose of Scholem. Her work nevertheless does offer the nonacademic a chance to see the current state of Kabbalah study at Hebrew University among the students of Yehuda Liebes and Moshe Idel.

[...]

Armed with these books, one can now begin to appreciate a cultural and religious treasure of Judaism. No journalist or book reviewer should write about Kabbalah again without first reading Hellner-Eshed. Her work steers the English reader between the Scylla of Kabbalah as technical knowledge of sefirot and the Charybdis of Kabbalah as personalized New Age spirituality. Hellner-Eshed’s work treats the Zohar as a mystical fantasy in which the Knights of the Round Table are rabbis living in an eroticized Middle Earth and spurred to great deeds by their love of the damsel Shechinah. Then, the beautifully edited Pritzker translation allows the interested reader to travel on these mystical journeys, yet still return home safely.

A nice long book review (giving plenty of reasons in addition to mine). Worth reading in full. For background on the Zohar and Daniel Matt's translation, go here and follow the links.

Jacob Neusner has private Papal udience

JACOB NEUSNER has a private udience with the Pope scheduled for Monday 18 January. Thought you might like to know.

Can't make it up: LOLCat Bible Translation Project

CAN'T MAKE IT UP: The LOLCat Bible Translation Project.

Did the Kingdom of Judah Invent "Separation of Church and State?"

QUESTION FOR THE DAY: "Did the Kingdom of Judah Invent 'Separation of Church and State?'" This in a Bible and Interpretation essay by Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg. Excerpt:

King Jehoash (Joash) came to the throne of Judah in the year 835 BCE. His reign should have started six years earlier, but he was then only a baby, and the throne was usurped by his grandmother, Athaliah. With the untimely murder of her son, King Ahaziah, she took the precaution, normal for the period, of wiping out all possible rivals, but she missed Jehoash, Ahaziah's infant son, who was hidden in the Temple by his aunt, Jehosheba, wife of the priest, Jehoyada.

Athaliah, the daughter of notorious Jezebel, imposed Baal worship on Judah and appointed Mattan to be High Priest. It became the state religion, imposed on an unwilling population. We say unwilling, because six years later, when Jehoyada thought the young Jehoash was old enough to be presented as the rightful heir, he was brought out of hiding and proclaimed king, to the cheers of the people and the army, who then slaughtered Athaliah and Mattan. This palace revolution led to a remarkable pair of national agreements.

“And Jehoyada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people, that they should be the Lord’s people, and between the king and the people” (2 Kings 11:17, my emphasis). The intention of these two agreements is clear: the first one is the conventional religious covenant, while the second one is secular and omits the Lord.

Well, maybe. The essay seems to me to take the account of the Deuteronomistic History more on the level of literal fact than I would be inclined to do. And I doubt that Baal worship was "imposed" on the people any more than Yahwism was. The Deuteronomists certainly did no believe in religious freedom: see, for example, Deuteronomy 17:2-7.

Oh, and antidisestablishmentarianism is the longest (non-coined and non-technical) word in the English language.

Jordan ups the ante

JORDAN UPS THE ANTE and asks the United Nations for the Dead Sea Scrolls:

Jordan wants Israel to give back 'Dead Sea' scrolls

12 January 2010 (World Jewish Congress)

The Jordanian government has said that the ancient Dead Sea Scrolls were seized illegally by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War and has asked the United Nations for them to be restored to Jordan. "The government has legal documents that prove Jordan owns the scrolls," a government official in Amman said, adding that a complaint had been filed with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The Antiquities Authority of Israel rejected the claim, saying Israel was the rightful custodian of the scrolls.

[...]

Background here.

Are Taliban descendants of Israelites?

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: DNA analysis may provide answers to some surprising questions:

Are Taliban descendants of Israelites?

By AMIR MIZROCH (Jerusalem Post)

Are the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan descendants of an Israelite tribe that migrated across Asia after it was exiled over 2,700 years ago?

This intriguing question has been asked by a variety of scholars, theologians, anthropologists and pundits over the years, but has remained somewhere between the realms of amateur speculation and serious academic research.

But now, for the first time, the government has shown official interest, with the Foreign Ministry providing a scholarship to an Indian scientist to come to the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa and determine whether or not the tribe that provides the hard core of today's Taliban has a blood link to any of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, and specifically to the tribe of Efraim.

Shahnaz Ali, a senior research fellow at the National Institute of Immunohaematology, Mumbai, has joined the Technion to study the blood samples that she collected from Afridi Pathans in Malihabad, in the Lucknow district, Uttar Pradesh state, India, to check their putativeIsraelite origin.

Shahnaz, an expert in DNA profiling and population genetics, will be supervised by Prof. Karl Skorecki, director of Nephrology and Molecular Medicine at the Technion Faculty of Medicine. Skorecki is famous for his breakthrough work on Jewish genetic research.

[...]

Count me as very skeptical about this whole idea, but it will be interesting to see what she comes up with.

When was a synagogue a synagogue?

WHEN WAS A SYNAGOGUE A SYNAGOGUE? From Bible and Intepretation:

‘Synagogues’ in the New Testament Period

It is no accident that in the last ten years a number of new potential synagogue buildings have been proposed, as the wider role of the ‘synagogue’ and the lack of identifying features in this period have been recognised. The problem then becomes, by what criteria do we identify these as synagogue buildings?

See, Reconstructing the First-Century Synagogue (T & T Clark International, 2008)

By Stephen Catto
Lecturer in Biblical and Theological Studies,
Morelands College, UK
January 2009


The study of the ancient synagogue has recently been the focus of a great deal of scholarly literature.1 While a previous generation of scholars had a very clear idea of what was meant by a reference to a first-century synagogue–it was an architecturally defined public building which was used for religious purposes, especially on the Sabbath–many of these assumptions have now been questioned. Two periods have especially interested scholars: the origin of the synagogue, and the first-century period, which is of particular interest to those working in New Testament studies. It is into this second category that my work, Reconstructing the First-century Synagogue,2 fits, and it is this period that this essay will address.

[...]

Where Heaven and Earth Meet (San Francisco Sentinel review)

BOOK REVIEW/TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Where Heaven and Earth Meet (ed. Benjamin Z. Kedar and Oleg Grabar) is reviewed by Miriam Feinberg Vamosh in the San Francisco Sentinel. It's a long review with detailed comments on the individual articles in the book. Excerpt:

Despite the multiple, interfaith/intercultural authorship, one does not feel that on an individual level most of the writers are struggling with the meaning of the mount. Rather, they seem quite comfortable in their various niches. But while the book cannot be considered “ecumenical” in terms of the individual writers’ conclusions, meaning-seeking readers would not want this book without its juxtapositions of often conflicting views. Such juxtaposition may be precisely what we need to allow us to compare and contrast what the various scholars have to say, ultimately coming away from the accumulation of perspectives educated and enriched.

More reviews here.

UPDATE: It seems this review was first published in Haaretz (via the Agade list).

Sands, Invention of the Jewish People (Guardian review)

THE INVENTION OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE by Shlomo Sands is reviewed by Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg in the Guardian. He is not impressed. Excerpt:

Uncomfortable books, if they are good, can be important. National narratives do need deconstruction; they often blind us to different perceptions of the world and deafen us to the just claims of others. This is certainly true of the Middle East, and I am one of many Jews who would agree with Sand that a decisive factor in the future of Israel will be its capacity to be far more attentive to the narratives and rights of its Palestinian and other non-Jewish citizens.

But the book is a great disappointment. Its sweeping attempt to take apart the entire history of the Jewish people from its origins to present day Israel and prove it to be a wilful fabrication is marred by tendentious premises, the misreading of key events and the ignoring of central texts and institutions.

More reviews here.

Nag Hammadi murder update

NAG HAMMADI MURDER UPDATE:

Gunmen surrender after Egyptian Coptic attack
From Amir Ahmed, CNN
January 8, 2010 8:34 a.m. EST

(CNN) -- The gunmen responsible for a drive-by shooting that killed six Christians and a Muslim guard after a Mass this week have turned themselves in, government news outlets reported Friday.

The three gunmen gave themselves up after a 24-hour chase that ended in farm fields in southern Egypt, the MENA news agency reported.

[...]

The AP also reports riots on Thursday in response to the murders.

Background here.

THE CLAIMED DECIPHERMENT of the Khirbet Qeiyafa inscription is being picked up by the mainstream media. The Jerusalem Post buys the whole story and presents it pretty much as fact. The AFP is commendably more cautious, reporting the content of the press release without taking a position on its correctness. But neither seems to have bothered to ask any other Hebrew epigraphers what they thought.

Background here.

ROM DSS exhibition a success

A SUCCESS:

The Dead Sea Scrolls Spoke Volumes During their Toronto Engagement

(Art Daily)

TORONTO.- Dead Sea Scrolls: Words That Changed the World is the most successful exhibition displayed at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in the nine years since Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids. Over 300,000 visited the exhibition during its Toronto engagement.

[...]

I'm not surprised; this sort of success is the norm for Dead Sea Scrolls exhibitions.

The article has a nice picture of 11Q5, the Psalms scroll.

A decipherment of the Khirbet Qeiyafa inscription

THE KHIRBET QEIYAFA INSCRIPTION has reportedly been deciphered. Press release:

Most ancient Hebrew biblical inscription deciphered

'It indicates that the kingdom of Israel already existed in the 10th century BCE, and that at least some of the biblical texts were written hundreds of years before the dates presented in current research.'

Prof. Gershon Galil of the University of Haifa who deciphered the inscription: "It indicates that the Kingdom of Israel already existed in the 10th century BCE and that at least some of the biblical texts were written hundreds of years before the dates presented in current research."

A breakthrough in the research of the Hebrew scriptures has shed new light on the period in which the Bible was written. Prof. Gershon Galil of the Department of Biblical Studies at the University of Haifa has deciphered an inscription dating from the 10th century BCE (the period of King David's reign), and has shown that this is a Hebrew inscription. The discovery makes this the earliest known Hebrew writing. The significance of this breakthrough relates to the fact that at least some of the biblical scriptures were composed hundreds of years before the dates presented today in research and that the Kingdom of Israel already existed at that time.

The inscription itself, which was written in ink on a 15 cm X 16.5 cm trapezoid pottery shard, was discovered a year and a half ago at excavations that were carried out by Prof. Yosef Garfinkel at Khirbet Qeiyafa near the Elah valley. The inscription was dated back to the 10th century BCE, which was the period of King David's reign, but the question of the language used in this inscription remained unanswered, making it impossible to prove whether it was in fact Hebrew or another local language.

Prof. Galil's deciphering of the ancient writing testifies to its being Hebrew, based on the use of verbs particular to the Hebrew language, and content specific to Hebrew culture and not adopted by any other cultures in the region. "This text is a social statement, relating to slaves, widows and orphans. It uses verbs that were characteristic of Hebrew, such as asah ("did") and avad ("worked"), which were rarely used in other regional languages. Particular words that appear in the text, such as almanah ("widow") are specific to Hebrew and are written differently in other local languages. The content itself was also unfamiliar to all the cultures in the region besides the Hebrew society: The present inscription provides social elements similar to those found in the biblical prophecies and very different from prophecies written by other cultures postulating glorification of the gods and taking care of their physical needs," Prof. Galil explains.

He adds that once this deciphering is received, the inscription will become the earliest Hebrew inscription to be found, testifying to Hebrew writing abilities as early as the 10th century BCE. This stands opposed to the dating of the composition of the Bible in current research, which would not have recognized the possibility that the Bible or parts of it could have been written during this ancient period.

Prof. Galil also notes that the inscription was discovered in a provincial town in Judea. He explains that if there were scribes in the periphery, it can be assumed that those inhabiting the central region and Jerusalem were even more proficient writers. "It can now be maintained that it was highly reasonable that during the 10th century BCE, during the reign of King David, there were scribes in Israel who were able to write literary texts and complex historiographies such as the books of Judges and Samuel." He adds that the complexity of the text discovered in Khirbet Qeiyafa, along with the impressive fortifications revealed at the site, refute the claims denying the existence of the Kingdom of Israel at that time.

The contents of the text express social sensitivity to the fragile position of weaker members of society. The inscription testifies to the presence of strangers within the Israeli society as far back as this ancient period, and calls to provide support for these strangers. It appeals to care for the widows and orphans and that the king – who at that time had the responsibility of curbing social inequality - be involved. This inscription is similar in its content to biblical scriptures (Isaiah 1:17, Psalms 72:3, Exodus 23:3, and others), but it is clear that it is not copied from any biblical text.

###

English translaton of the deciphered text:

1' you shall not do [it], but worship the [Lord].
2' Judge the sla[ve] and the wid[ow] / Judge the orph[an]
3' [and] the stranger. [Pl]ead for the infant / plead for the po[or and]
4' the widow. Rehabilitate [the poor] at the hands of the king.
5' Protect the po[or and] the slave / [supp]ort the stranger.

Via James McGrath, who cites reactions from other bibliobloggers. The press release has a drawing of the text as well. For earlier PaleoJudaica coverage, of which there is much, go here and keep following the links back.

Although this is a very interesting development, I think people are getting carried away. Someone has finally published a preliminary translation of this very difficult text and (more importantly) a drawing that gives the translator's interpretation of the readings and reconstruction of the (many) damaged letters. This in an over-hyped press release (the text, even if the decipherment is exactly correct, doesn't prove an early date for any specific [unnamed!] biblical texts). Oddly, the press release does not even give a transcription of the Hebrew. Still, this announcement is very welcome and the proposed decipherment is, as I said, quite interesting, especially the specifically Hebrew (not generically "Canaanite") words and the mention of a king in tenth-century BCE Israel.

But before we get all excited, let's see Professor Galil's interpretation published in a peer-review journal. Then let's wait a few years to give other epigraphers time to digest it and give their interpretations. Then, let's see what we have.

UPDATE: On Facebook, Stephen C. Carlson reminds me that John Hobbins posted a quite different transcription and translation of the inscription in October at John's Ancient Hebrew Poetry blog. It is much less biblically interesting: it includes some of the same specifically Hebrew words, but we don't get a king in Israel from it. I am reminded of one of the epigraphic rules of thumb I learned from my teacher, Frank Moore Cross: the more banal reading is to be preferred.

Michael Goulder has passed away

MICHAEL GOULDER, retired biblical scholar of the University of Birmingham, has passed away. The sad news comes from Mark Goodacre, who reports that Professor Goulder died yesterday. His Wikipedia entry is here. My strongest memory of Michael was at the 1999 British New Testament Conference. It was my first time there and he noticed me as a new person and bought me a beer. He was a good guy. Requiescat in pace.

Murder in Nag Hammadi

MURDER IN NAG HAMMADI:

Egypt Copts killed in Christmas church attack

(BBC)

At least six Coptic Christians and a security official have been killed in a drive-by shooting outside a church in southern Egypt, officials say.

The shooting came as worshippers left the church in Naj Hammadi after a midnight mass on Coptic Christmas Eve.

A car pulled up and gunfire was sprayed into the crowd.

Officials say they suspect the attack is in revenge for the rape of a 12-year-old Muslim girl by a Christian man in the town in November.

There were five days of riots in the town, with Christian properties torched and damaged, following the rape.

[...]

Naj Hammadi is 40 miles (64km) from Luxor, southern Egypt's biggest city.

[...]

Naj Hammadi is also known as Nag Hammadi, the place where the ancient Coptic Gnostic library was discovered in the 1940s, mentioned frequently in PaleoJudaica, most recently a few days ago here. The library was buried in a jar, likely hidden because of persecution (this time from other Christians). This is the first I have heard of these recent events. I grieve for all the victims involved.

Philogos on new Hebrew names for Uranus and Neptune

PHILOLOGOS discusses the new Hebrew names for the planets Uranus and Neptune in The Forward:

Oron (the stress is on the second syllable) was coined by one of the contest’s Internet participants, from the Hebrew word or, meaning “light,” plus the diminutive suffix –on, thus giving us “little light.” Besides sounding like “Uranus,” it must have seemed fitting to those who voted for it, because the seventh planet is indeed a faint presence in the sky. Shaḥak, the runner-up, is a literary Hebrew word for “sky” that goes back to the Bible and would have been closer to Uranus in meaning, though without any phonetic similarity.

Rahav, the new Hebrew name for Neptune, also appears in the Bible, where it is the name of a mythological sea monster. In the Book of Job, for instance, we are told, “By His [God’s] power He stilled the sea; by His understanding He smote Rahav.” The Talmudic tractate of Bava Batra even refers to Rahav as “the lord of the sea” (sar shel yam), which makes this legendary creature a rough Hebrew parallel to the Roman sea god Neptune. Tarshish, which came in second, is the name of a distant but unidentified Mediterranean city or land mentioned many times in the Bible, sometimes in the metaphorical sense of “far over the sea.”

Philologos also notes that the other five planets that were known in antiquity already have Hebrew names and that Pluto is no longer technically a planet (too small). I think they should name Pluto Sheol anyway.

Background here.

PaleoJudaica is one of Technorati's Top 100 Religion blogs

PALEOJUDAICA is one of Technorati's Top 100 Religion blogs, just squeaking in with a three-way tie for place #97. I don't see many biblioblogs in the top 100, but Jesus Creed comes in at #3 and Exploring our Matrix at #23. Well done, Scott and James! I may be missing others; I don't keep careful track of such things anymore.

UPDATE: James McGrath comments.

Byblos recovery

BYBLOS, the ancient Canaanite port, has made a nice recovery in the last few years. The NYT reports:

If Beirut is the Paris of the Middle East, as the cliché goes, then Byblos, some 22 miles up the coastline, is its Cannes: an ancient port framed by pre-Roman ruins, white sandy beaches and cedar-topped mountains. The city is famous for its fish restaurants, which serve up fresh red snapper and sea bass to an international clientele. Party yachts cruise into its spectacular harbor at sundown, the way Brando and Sinatra did during Byblos’s prewar heyday, docking next to old dinghies and wooden fishing boats with names like “Taxi Joe.” Arab starlets and their hangers-on shimmy all day at nearby beach resorts like Eddé Sands, studded with palm trees, shimmering pools and Lebanese glitterati.

The city’s revived night life is adding a new dimension to the already powerful lure of its 7,000-year-old history and ruins. For years, Byblos’s main draws were its Crusader citadel, Phoenician ramparts and Bronze Age ruins of L-shaped temples scattered along a seaside bluff like oversized Lego blocks. Byblos lays claim to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited towns in the world, dating its origins to 5000 B.C., as well as the birthplace of the modern alphabet (“byblos” is the Greek word for papyrus).

It was a major commercial port for ancient Egyptian seafarers buying cedar. Though many of its best-preserved sarcophagi and hieroglyphic vases are now in Beirut’s National Museum, visitors can wander through the endless maze of ruins and marvel at one of the world’s earliest examples of sophisticated urban planning.

“I come to just walk around and soak up the atmosphere,” said Mouna Bassili Sehnaoui, a painter from Beirut with a shock of silvery hair. “The stones almost seem to want to talk about what happened here many millennia ago.”

Background here.

Find A Dig

FIND A DIG: Biblical Archaeological Review has published its annual listing of archaeological excavations that are accepting volunteers for this year's season. More information here.

Jordan and the DSS - not over yet?

JORDAN AND THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS - not over yet?

Jordan awaiting official response from Canadian government over Dead Sea Scrolls

By Khetam Malkawi (Jordan Times)

AMMAN - Jordan has not received an official response from Canada regarding a request to seize the Dead Sea Scrolls that were displayed at a museum in Toronto until Sunday, a senior official said.

Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Maha Khatib was responding to news published in some news websites that the Canadian government has announced it will not act upon Amman’s request to seize the two-millennia-old scrolls. The Kingdom will not respond until receiving an official response, the official said.

According to Khatib, the government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has requested Canada to take custody of the scrolls, citing the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, to which both Jordan and Canada are signatories.

[...]

Background here. Previous reports made it sound as though the Canadian Government had already replied negatively.

I can see why they would not be anxious to get involved in this. I'm not qualified to comment on the international-law issues, but I think it's safe to say that if Canada were agree to seize the Scrolls, Canadian museums would suddenly find it exceedingly difficult to persuade any other country to lend them anything.

Helen Bond meets Gerry Adams and talks about Jesus. Really.

NEW TESTAMENT SCHOLAR HELEN BOND has been hanging out with Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and talking about Jesus. Really.

Jesus through the Eyes of an Irish Republican

By Helen Bond
Senior Lecturer in New Testament Language,
Literature and Theology
University of Edinburgh
January 2010 (Bible and Interpretation)

Recent historical Jesus study prides itself on the diversity of participants: Jews, Christians, and secularists from a range of (first world) nationalities and backgrounds. But how diverse are we really? Despite apparent variety, we all share the same basic training in biblical languages and historical criticism, the same basic commitment to scholarly enquiry, and, broadly speaking, a similar social status in our respective settings. It was with some curiosity, then, that I travelled to Israel last month to make a TV program on Jesus for UK’s Channel 4 with Gerry Adams, leader of the Irish Sinn Féin party.

[...]

Ezekiel's tomb in Iraq to be de-Judaized?

EZEKIEL'S (TRADITIONAL) TOMB in Iraq is going to be turned into a mosque and stripped of Jewish features according to "sources in Baghdad" in contact with Arutz Sheva:

Reports: Iraq De-Judaizing Ezekiel's Tomb

by Hillel Fendel

(IsraelNN.com) Early reports that Iraq plans to retain the Jewish nature of the Tomb of the Prophet Ezekiel are apparently false. Sources in Baghdad say that the government plans to turn it into a mosque and erase all Jewish markings.

Iraq announced earlier this year that it would revamp the ancient burial site, which is located in Al-Kifl, a small town south of Baghdad. The U.S.-backed government announcement implied that its Jewish nature would continue to be emphasized.

Since then, however, reports have surfaced that the government is actually planning to build a mosque there, including removing the ancient Hebew inscriptions that adorn the site. Some reports say that all or some of the lines of Hebrew script have already been erased.

[...]

Such a "renovation" would be a travesty. I certainly hope these reports turn out to be incorrect.

More on Ezekiel's tomb here (and follow the links). CAMERA's concerns may have been justified. Watch this space.

Talmud fragments from book bindings

TALMUD FRAGMENTS from book bindings:

Exhibit Showcases Jewish Scholasticism Before the Printing Press

By Dovid Zaklikowski (Chabad.org)
Jan 3, 2010 1:00 PM

A new exhibit at a Jewish archive in New York City is shedding light on the dissemination of religious material in the days before the printing press.

Comprised of old manuscripts, fading marriage certificates and handwritten editions of the Talmud – once consigned to be nothing more than filler for the bindings of printed books – the display at the central Chabad-Lubavitch library in Brooklyn represents the collective discovery of staff members cataloguing the library’s vast holdings.

According to Rabbi Sholom Ber Levine, chief librarian and archivist at the Library of Agudas Chassidei Chabad, the parchment documents also reveal a practice used by early printers, who compressed old manuscripts together to make covers for newer versions of the Talmud.

“When we were cataloging the library,” says Levine, “I felt that several of the covers were very flimsy, and that the bindings were comprised of many layers.”

The rabbi’s hunch proved correct when he took the material to a lab to extract the individual pages. The resulting treasure included several pages of the Talmud dating from before the first Jewish book was printed in the last third of the 15th century.

Levine says the find has enormous value to scholars, who examine minute variations between different versions of a text.

Also known as Ohel Yosef Yitzchak-Lubavitch, the library is named after the Sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, of righteous memory. Located in the Crown Heights section of the city, it houses close to 250,000 published volumes, many of them rare, and tens of thousands of antique documents and manuscripts.

Among its collections is a prayer book used by the founder of Chasidism, the 17th-century rabbi known as the Baal Shem Tov, whose tears stained some of the book’s pages.

[...]

The Coptic Gnostic library from Nag Hammadi also used discarded manuscripts (in this case documentary texts) as book-binding filler and the dates on some of those fragments helped establish the dates of the codices. And a fragment of the Codex Sinaiticus was very recently discovered in the binding of an 18th century book.

Update on Jordan and the DSS

UPDATE ON JORDAN AND THE SCROLLS:

Scroll exhibit closes amid controversy

Jordan claims Israel seized scrolls from Jerusalem museum. Ottawa says Canada will not intervene

MICHAEL VALPY

From Monday's Globe and Mail Published on Monday, Jan. 04, 2010 12:00AM EST Last updated on Monday, Jan. 04, 2010 2:25AM EST

The six-month exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls closed yesterday in Toronto, with scholars baffled by the Jordanian government's last-minute request to Canada to stop the ancient manuscripts from going back to Israel.

The request, delivered to the Canadian chargé d'affaires in the Jordanian capital of Amman, underscores the tortuous history of the region, where custody of the 2,000-year-old fragments of Jewish spiritual writings has become entangled in the politics and warfare of perhaps the world's most fought over piece of geography.

[...]

The Canadian government has replied by saying Jordan, Israel and the Palestine Authority should sort out who owns the scrolls and Ottawa will not intervene - a response which, legally, the Canadian government likely had no choice but to make, said Prof. Lawrence Schiffman, chair of New York University's department of Hebrew and Judaic studies and a Dead Sea Scrolls specialist.

Ottawa, he said, was likely party to an indemnification agreement signed before the scrolls left Israel to come to Canada. The agreement - a conventional document protecting cultural property - would guarantee that Israel would get the scrolls back.

What has puzzled scrolls experts is not just Jordan's timing but Jordan's intervention. Why did it wait until just before the exhibit closed? And why did it make the request when 20 years ago it declared that its previous interests in the area, such as the museum in east Jerusalem that once housed some of the scrolls that came to Canada, were now in the hands of the Palestinian Authority.

[...]

The article goes on to say that there is doubt that the Hague Convention applies to the particular complicated political circumstances surrounding the discovery of the Scrolls.

Background here.

The Flood Ark was round?

A NEWLY TRANSLATED FRAGMENT of the Atrahasis Epic apparently says that the great boat made by the Flood hero was round:

Relic reveals Noah's ark was circular

• Newly translated tablet gives building instructions
• Amateur historian's find was almost overlooked

* Maev Kennedy
* guardian.co.uk, Friday 1 January 2010 22.35 GMT

That they processed aboard the enormous floating wildlife collection two-by-two is well known. Less familiar, however, is the possibility that the animals Noah shepherded on to his ark then went round and round inside.

According to newly translated instructions inscribed in ancient Babylonian on a clay tablet telling the story of the ark, the vessel that saved one virtuous man, his family and the animals from god's watery wrath was not the pointy-prowed craft of popular imagination but rather a giant circular reed raft.

The now battered tablet, aged about 3,700 years, was found somewhere in the Middle East by Leonard Simmons, a largely self-educated Londoner who indulged his passion for history while serving in the RAF from 1945 to 1948.

The relic was passed to his son Douglas, who took it to one of the few people in the world who could read it as easily as the back of a cornflakes box; he gave it to Irving Finkel, a British Museum expert, who translated its 60 lines of neat cuneiform script.

[...]

In his translation, the god who has decided to spare one just man speaks to Atram-Hasis, a Sumerian king who lived before the flood and who is the Noah figure in earlier versions of the ark story. "Wall, wall! Reed wall, reed wall! Atram-Hasis, pay heed to my advice, that you may live forever! Destroy your house, build a boat; despise possessions And save life! Draw out the boat that you will built with a circular design; Let its length and breadth be the same."

[...]

Noah's Ark in Genesis 6 was an oblong box. If memory serves (I don't have the text handy at home), the Gilgamesh epic described it as a cube. Read the whole article; it's entertaining. And this is worth quoting:

In the Victorian era some became obsessed with the ark story. George Smith – the lowly British museum assistant who, in 1872, deciphered the Flood Tablet which is inscribed with the Assyrian version of the Noah's ark tale – could apparently not contain his excitement at his discovery.

According to the museum's archives: "He jumped up and rushed about the room in a great state of excitement and to the astonishment of those present began to undress himself."

Slow news day.

(Via the Agade list.)