September Biblical Studies Carnival part one

JAMES MCGRATH: September 2011 Biblical Studies Carnival – Early Edition. Very thorough. I think this is the first time that the Biblical Studies Carnival has had two editions slated for a single month.

New Hebrew Ben Sira fragment published in DSD

THAT NEW HEBREW FRAGMENT OF BEN SIRA from the Cairo Geniza (noted in January here) has now been published in Dead Sea Discoveries. Ophir Münz-Manor has the link and a couple of corrections to the readings over at the Talmud Blog.

The Hebrew University Bible Project

THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY BIBLE PROJECT is profiled by the AP: In Jerusalem, scholars trace Bible's evolution.

If I may hazard a prediction, I expect that Moore's Law will shave a good many years off that estimated completion date of two hundred years from now.

New Coptic fragments of the History of Joseph the Carpenter

NEW TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA WATCH: Alin Suciu: New Fragments from the Sahidic Version of the History of Joseph the Carpenter.

Review of Hoffman & Cole, "Sacred Trash"

HOFFMAN AND COLE, SACRED TRASH, is reviewed in Al-Masry Al-Youm:

In 'Sacred Trash,' a hidden chapter of Cairo’s Jewish history is revealed

Helen Stuhr-Rommereim
Sun, 14/08/2011 - 14:55

A scholar named Solomon Schechter traveled to Cairo 120 years ago to do what so many Western explorers, scholars and archaeologists had done before and have done since: to unearth a treasure trove of fragments of the past, and take them back to Europe to be studied and preserved. But while “Sacred Trash: The Lost and Found World of the Cairo Geniza,” by Peter Cole and Adina Hoffman, tells the tale of yet another spiriting away of a piece of Egypt’s wealth of ancient history, the Geniza, it also tells of years of meticulous and devoted scholarship, and sheds light on an era of Cairo’s history that is long forgotten.

[...]

Earlier reviews etc. here and links.

Earliest Irish manuscript contains biblical psalms

THE EARLIEST SURVIVING MANUSCRIPT FROM IRELAND contains biblical psalms:

A history of Ireland in 100 objects

Set of writing tablets, late sixth century (Irish Times)

A MAN CUTTING turf in Springmount bog in Ballyhutherland, Co Antrim, found this set of six yew tablets, held together by leather straps. The inner tablets are hollowed out on both sides, forming the pages of a small wooden book. These inner surfaces are filled with wax, on which someone wrote, or rather literally inscribed with a pointed stylus, a biblical text.

This is the earliest extant Irish manuscript. Someone, a monk or a scholar at a monastic school has written, onto the wax, parts of Psalms 30 and 31 from the Old Testament in a beautifully precise hand.

[...]

(HT Abu 'l-Rayhan Al-Biruni.) Follow the link for a photo. I assume these psalms come from the Latin Vulgate, although the article does not specify this.

This manuscript is not to be confused with the Irish Bog Psalter, which also contains Latin biblical psalms, but is made of vellum and is slightly later. Note also the Staffordshire Anglo-Saxon Gold Hoard, which contains a piece bearing a Latin biblical quotation, possibly also from the book of Psalms.

Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri (256 vols.), free!

FOR YOU, SPECIAL DEAL:

Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri (256 vols.)

$0.00

Overview

The Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri (256 vols.) is a collection of rare ancient manuscripts. These documents were written on various forms of writing material including papyri, ostraca, and wood tablets. This collection is solely compiled of documentary papyri: personal letters, receipts, various political documents, and other correspondence.

Best of all, this entire collection is free. There’s no catch. No strings attached.

It’s rare that ancient works like these are made available for free to as many people who want them. It’s even more amazing when you consider that these aren’t just PDFs or text files. They’re Logos books, and they take advantage of many of the features and tools built into Logos Bible Software. So it’s hard to put into words how phenomenal this opportunity really is.

Please note that this collection requires the latest version of Logos Bible Software 4.3.

Review of this year's Masada opera

THIS YEAR'S MASADA OPERA is reviewed in the Toronto Sun:

Concert at Sultan's Pool a great treat

MIKE KEENAN Special to QMI Agency

First posted: Saturday, August 13, 2011 12:00:00 EDT AM

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - A smartly-dressed middle-aged man sits in front of me, arm draped snugly around an attractive and be-jewelled lady, clearly half his age. He and his jet-set friends have purportedly paid 2200 Shekels per seat. ($640 US).

I sit alone but free, courtesy of Israeli tourism, and what a seat it is! I'm ensconced at the base of Mount Masada, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where the Israeli Opera company is dramatically producing Giuseppe Verdi's famous Aida, the Italian maestro's masterpiece amongst his 28 written operas.

[...]

Background here.

Cache of Punic coins found in sea near Sicily

PUNIC WATCH: Sunken Treasure Found in the Seas Of Sicily (Discovery News).

Lying at depth of about 68 feet, the coins most likely represent an episode of the Romans and Carthaginians struggle.

Amazingly, all 3,422 coins feature the same iconography.

On one side, they show Kore/Tanit, the ancient goddess of fertility, whom Carthaginians worshipped on the island around 550 BC.

On the other, the coins display the head of a horse, surrounded by symbols such as stars, letters and a caduceus. A staff often surmounted by two wings and entwined with two snakes, the caduceus was the symbol of Hermes, the messenger of the gods in Greek mythology.

Apparently they were deliberately hidden on the ocean floor, with a big stone anchor nearby as a landmark. Follow the link for some photos.

Recent PhDiva posts

PHDIVA DOROTHY LOBEL KING has been blogging up a storm lately. Have a look at her posts on Telamon: A Republican Crucified Man, A Crucified Man from 1st century Jerusalem (related PaleoJudaica posts are here and here), and Evidence for The Temple Menorah (related posts here, here, here, and here).

First woman to receive Talmud doctorate from Y.U.'s Revel

MILESTONE:

Y.U.’s Revel school giving Talmud doctorate to woman for first time

August 11, 2011

NEW YORK (JTA) – Yeshiva University's graduate school of Jewish studies will award a doctorate in Talmud to a woman, Shana Strauch Schick, for the first time.

While Yeshiva has multiple programs in Talmud, Schick, 30, is the first woman to obtain a doctorate in the subject from the Bernard Revel Graduate School. A New Jersey native now living in suburban Detroit, Schick successfully defended her dissertation on Aug. 4 and will formally graduate in September.

[...]

Congratulations to Dr. Schick.

UPDATE: Photo at the Talmud Blog.

Great Isaiah Scroll in Colorado?

THE GREAT ISAIAH SCROLL on display in a church in Colorado?

Rare piece of Old Testament on display in Grand Junction
A historical and rare piece of the Old Testament has made its way to Grand Junction.

Posted: 12:08 PM Aug 11, 2011
Reporter: Matt Vanderveer (KKCO-TV)

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - A historical and rare piece of the Old Testament has made its way to Grand Junction.

Calvary Chapel is hosting the Great Isaiah Scroll that was found as part of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947.

[...]

It's pretty obvious that there is a misunderstanding here. The Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa^a) was on display in the Israel Museum in 2008 for the 60th anniversary celebrations, but it is very fragile and I would be surprised if the Museum let it out of their sight to go even to another major museum, let alone to a church in Colorado. There is a facsimile of the Isaiah Scroll in circulation and it is possible that this is what will be on display there.

For more on the Great Isaiah Scroll (and the facsimilie), go here and follow the links.

Duane Smith on elusive giants in Shumma Izbu

DUANE SMITH: I Almost Made A Giant Error. And Deane Galbraith comments over at Remant of Giants. On the one hand, it would have been cool if this omen had been about giants. On the other, perhaps we should be relieved that this sort of thing wasn't actually happening to the ancient Mesopotamians enough to make an omen out of it.

Seth Sanders on P

SETH SANDERS: Judean Scholasticism and Religion on the Ground. In which he summarizes some important outside-the-box research questions for the Priestly source.

Hurtado on modern NT Apocrypha etc.

LARRY HURTADO: Hoaxes from the Past (that Keep on Re-appearing) (on modern New Testament apocrypha and suchlike).

Reviewlet of Miles, "Carthage Must Be Destroyed"

REVIEWLET of Richard Miles, Carthage Must Be Destroyed: How ancient Rome built its Mediterranean empire (Carl Hartman, AP).

Video of those Second Temple-era drainage channels

VIDEO OF THOSE SECOND TEMPLE-ERA DRAINAGE CHANNELS.

Background here and links.

UPDATE: AP slideshow: Glimpse of ancient war in Jerusalem tunnel.

Aramaic potsherd from Tal al-Humira

ARAMIAC WATCH: SANA has published another of its profile articles on Syrian archaeological sites and, as usual, there are chronological difficulties:

Stone Basins and Ovens, Mud Brick Houses from 2000 BC Discovered in Damascus Countryside

Aug 09, 2011

DAMASCUS COUNTRYSIDE, (SANA) – Mud brick houses dating back to the late Jomon period (from about 2000 to 1000 BC) were discovered at Tal al-Humira archeological site in Deir Attiya in Damascus Countryside.

In a statement to SANA, Director of Damascus Countryside Antiquities Department Mahmud Hammoud said that the national archeological mission working at the site unearthed stamps, pottery vessels and stone basins and ovens of different sizes in addition to Basalt instruments and vessels.

He added the importance of Tal Humira site emerges from witnessing the prosperity of Aramaic Kingdoms, in addition to the Assyrian kings' attacks on Damascus Kingdom.

Hammoud indicated that the archeological mission also unearthed an inscribed pottery fragment with Aramaic letters which indicates the possibility of finding a temple at the site.

R. Raslan/ Ghossoun

First, I am baffled by the reference to the "Jomon period." This is not my field, but the only "Jōmon period" I've heard of refers to Japanese prehistory.

Be that as it may, the article puts the finds as "dating back to ... from about 2000 to 1000 BC." Does that mean that they are supposed to come from within that range of time, or that they extend that far back but also include a later period? It isn't clear, but apparently the latter is what is intended. I say that because of the potsherd inscribed with Aramaic. An Aramaic inscription before 1000 BCE would be very remarkable and probably unprecedented. All Aramaic inscriptions I know of are from the Iron Age II (ca. 1000-600 BCE) or later, so presumably this one is as well.

In any case, I hope they do find that Aramean temple. Preferably with its archive intact.

Some Jewish-Temple denial for Tisha B'Av

JEWISH-TEMPLE DENIAL WATCH: A brief article circulated by The Palestinian Information Center was promoting some Jewish-Temple denial in honor of Tisha B'Av: Senior Israeli archaeologist casts doubt on Jewish heritage of Jerusalem (Middle East Monitor). Excerpt:

Professor [Israel] Finkelstein, who is known as "the father of biblical archaeology", told the Jerusalem Post that Jewish archaeologists have found no historical or archaeological evidence to back the biblical narrative on the Exodus, the Jews' wandering in Sinai or Joshua's conquest of Canaan. On the alleged Temple of Solomon, Finkelstein said that there is no archaeological evidence to prove it really existed.

Joseph Lauer has written to Professor Finkelstein and has circulated his reply by e-mail:

There is no point of answering them. This is typical Palestinian propaganda, aimed at showing that there was no Temple in Jerusalem etc. Of course, this is not what I say. What a pity. As long as they go this way, there is no chance for real peace in the Middle East.

And, as Jim West correctly notes, it was William Foxwell Albright who was "the father of biblical archaeology."

BMCR reviews

BMCR REVIEWS: a couple of new ones of tangential interest:

Stephen Mitchell, Peter Van Nuffelen (ed.), One God. Pagan Monotheism in the Roman Empire. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Pp. 239. ISBN 9780521194167. $95.00.

Reviewed by Michele Renee Salzman, University of California at Riverside (michele.salzman@ucr.edu)

[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review.]

This is one of two volumes edited by these same scholars after a 2006 conference at Exeter on ‘Pagan Monotheism in the Roman Empire (1st-4th century A.D.)’.1 This conference aimed to clarify the differences between pagans and Christians in matters of monotheism.

The title of this volume, One God, suggests that the authors agree that there was a notion of ‘one god’ among pagans and that some form of religion had existed that could rightly be called ‘pagan monotheism.’ This is not the case, however, for there is no agreement on the existence of pagan monotheism, nor is there agreement among those scholars who accept this term on how to define it. Two of the papers argue strongly for the view that most of the documentary evidence for what others see as pagan monotheism should be interpreted from a polytheistic viewpoint, that is, as a exalting a divinity within a pluralistic context.

The argumentation on both sides of the issue by authors with strongly held views makes this an exciting volume to read. The contributors confront central issues of definition and theory as well as praxis. Their disagreement on the concept of pagan monotheism shows that there is room for more work on a topic that has contemporary relevance; as Christoph Markschies’s paper shows, the political consequences ascribed to monotheism, including its potential to justify hate and violence based on religious intolerance, would be called into question if one could argue that pagans also practiced monotheism. Indeed, the attributes of monotheism might have to be redefined if pagans could be demonstrated as having practiced it.

[...]

I noted this conference at the time here and here.

Wolfgang Hübner (ed.), Manilius, Astronomica, Buch V (2 vols.). Sammlung wissenschaftlicher Commentare. Berlin/New York: De Gruyter, 2010. Pp. x, 303; 4 p. of plates; 450. ISBN 9783110206708. $249.00.

Reviewed by Joanna Komorowska, Paedagogical University, Krakow (joannina@wp.pl)

Table of Contents

The second half of the twentieth century may well be considered a lucky period for Manilius’ Astronomica: the renewed interest in it, fueled by the research both in historical poetics and in the history of science, which finally came to encompass the history of non-Sartonian disciplines, resulted in re-evaluation of the work, which came to be recognized not only as the oldest surviving treatise on Greco-Roman astrology, its contents displaying considerable complexity and advanced character of the doctrines involved, but also as a consummate poem, a veritable testimony to the supreme craft of its author and a proof of the descriptive as well as pedagogical capacities of the epic genre. Its structure, language, and metaphorical apparatus aimed to project an image of a continuous and interconnected world, each part linked to the others by ties of sympatheia, the Astronomica aim to provide an exposition of astrology – yet, their contents remain strangely truncated, for Manilius never enters into the discussion of planetary influence. He does, however, incorporate into his work a discussion of the subject of paramount importance in the astral lore: the concept and influence of paranatellonta, the extra-Zodiacal ‘accompanying’ constellations. The last (i.e. fifth) book of his poem remains devoted to this one subject, a subject often disparaged in scholarly research (particularly in the history of science), yet of considerable influence in the history of Western civilization. It is possibly here that the Manilian art reaches its climax – as the author wanders through the celestial realm, he faces several challenges, posed respectively by philosophical implications, astrological (divinatory) content, and the descriptive character of the section. Following in the footsteps of Hesiod, Aratus, Virgil and others, he nonetheless faces complexities of Fachsprache foreign to all these; even if one regards the Astronomica as ‘a coffee-table book’,1 one has to acknowledge its immense innovativeness and appreciate the flawless execution of the task at hand. Yet, to appreciate it, one needs to consult a commentary… And it is to the great credit of Wolfgang Hübner that he provided us with such a tool, a tool improving on the earlier commentaries, including that of Feraboli and Scarcia2 by virtue of its detailedness alone.

[...]

It was only after going through the Loeb Astronomica that I felt I understood ancient astrology. I'm glad to see this new edition and commentary coming out.

Ancient sword and menorah sketch found in Jerusalem

NEW DISCOVERIES IN JERUSALEM are reported in an IAA press release published by the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Artifacts breathe new life into the destruction of the Temple (also taken up widely elsewhere). The key facts are here:

A 2,000 year old iron sword, still in its leather scabbard, was discovered in work the Israel Antiquities Authority is doing in the channel, which served as a hiding refuge for the residents of Jerusalem from the Romans at the time of the Second Temple's destruction. In addition, parts of the belt that carried the sword were found.

According to the excavation directors Eli Shukron of the Israel Antiquities Authority and Professor Ronny Reich of the University of Haifa, "It seems that the sword belonged to an infantryman of the Roman garrison stationed in Israel at the outbreak of the Great Revolt against the Romans in 66 CE. The sword's fine state of preservation is surprising: not only its length (c. 60 cm), but also the preservation of the leather scabbard (a material that generally disintegrates quickly over time) and some of its decoration".

A stone object adorned with a rare engraving of a menorah was found in the soil beneath the street, on the side of the drainage channel. According to Shukron and Professor Reich, "Interestingly, even though we are dealing with a depiction of the seven-branched candelabrum, only five branches appear here. The portrayal of the menorah's base is extremely important because it clarifies what the base of the original menorah looked like, which was apparently tripod shaped".

Follow the link for nice photos of both objects. The thematic connection between the sword and Tisha B'Av is obvious, and one might guess that the timing of the announcement is not entirely coincidental. The speculation about the origin of the menorah engraving, while not implausible, is just speculation. These artifacts were found in a Second Temple-era drainage ditch, apparently the one that recently gave us that golden bell.

More on that Buckinghamshire "infanticide" "brothel"

MORE ON THE BUCKINGHAMSHIRE SITE that may preserve evidence for extensive ancient infanticide at a brothel. I noted the original story here last year. The BBC now has a follow-up:

Roman dead baby 'brothel' mystery deepens

By Louise Ord Assistant Producer, Digging For Britain

New research has cast doubt on the theory that 97 infants were killed at a Roman brothel in Buckinghamshire.

In 2008, the remains of the newborn babies were rediscovered packed in cigarette cases in a dusty museum storeroom by Dr Jill Eyers from Chiltern Archaeology.

[...]

Brett Thorn, keeper of archaeology at the Buckinghamshire County Museum, has disputed her hypothesis.

"My main concern with the brothel theory is that it's just too far away from any major population centres. I'm just not convinced," he said.

He has put together an exhibition of other objects from the villa excavation that could point to the villa having associations with a series of mother goddess cults from around the world.

"There are a few significant religious objects from the site that indicate possible connections with a mother goddess cult," he explained.

"They may indicate that the site was a shrine and women went there to give birth, and get protection from the mother goddess during this dangerous time. The large number of babies who are buried there could be natural stillbirths, or children who died in labour."

Last year during filming for BBC Two's Digging for Britain series, presenter Dr Alice Roberts noticed cut marks made by a sharp implement on one of the bones, a discovery that was not revealed to the public until now.

Then we turn to some macabre matters for which evidence from ancient Ashkelon becomes relevant:

Last year during filming for BBC Two's Digging for Britain series, presenter Dr Alice Roberts noticed cut marks made by a sharp implement on one of the bones, a discovery that was not revealed to the public until now.

Cut marks can indicate anything from ritual practices involving human sacrifice, the de-fleshing of bones before burial, or the dismembering of a baby during childbirth to save the life of the mother.

Keri Brown at the University of Manchester carried out DNA tests on the 10 sets of the ancient bones to determine the sex of some of the infants.

It is common throughout history in cases of infanticide for girls to be killed rather than boys, but the opposite holds true for brothel sites. A brothel site at Ashkelon in Israel revealed that nearly all of the babies were boys.

Although the tests represented a very small sample of the total amount of baby skeletons found, there seemed to be an equal number of victims of both sexes at the Buckinghamshire site, and so the mystery for now remains unsolved.

Dr Eyers said she believed that only further excavation at the site would clear up the mystery once and for all.

And it would be great if someone would come up with the money for that.

Assyrian Rights Website Launched

CHALDO-ASSYRIAN WATCH: Assyrian Rights Website Launched.

(Cross-file under "Aramaic Watch.")

Tisha B'Av

TISHA B'AV (The Ninth of Av) begins today at sundown. A healthy fast to all those observing it.

More on DSS in Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry

MORE ON THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS in Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, collected by Joseph Lauer. Both articles are behind a subscription wall.

Provenance studies on Dead Sea scrolls parchment by means of quantitative micro-XRF

Timo Wolff, Ira Rabin, Ioanna Mantouvalou, Birgit Kanngießer, Wolfgang Malzer, Emanuel Kindzorra and Oliver Hahn

Abstract

In this study, we address the question of the provenance and origin of the Dead Sea Scrolls manuscripts. A characteristic low ratio of chlorine to bromine, corresponding to that of the Dead Sea water, may serve as an indicator for local production. For this aim we developed a non-destructive procedure to determine the Cl/Br ratio in the parchment of these manuscripts. Micro-X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF) measurements of a large number of parchment and leather fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls were analyzed with a routine we developed based on fundamental parameter quantification. This routine takes into account the absorption of the collagen matrix and the influence of the different sample thicknesses. To calculate the representative Cl/Br ratio for each fragment, we investigated the lateral homogeneity and determined the total mass deposition using the intensity of the inelastically scattered, characteristic tube radiation. The distribution of the Cl/Br ratios thus obtained from the μ-XRF measurements make it possible to distinguish fragments whose origin lies within the Dead Sea region from those produced in other locations.

Solid-state and unilateral NMR study of deterioration of a Dead Sea Scroll fragment

A. Masic, M. R. Chierotti, R. Gobetto, G. Martra, I. Rabin and S. Coluccia

Abstract

Unilateral and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analyses were performed on a parchment fragment of the Dead Sea Scroll (DSS). The analyzed sample belongs to the collection of non-inscribed and nontreated fragments of known archaeological provenance from the John Rylands University Library in Manchester. Therefore, it can be considered as original DSS material free from any contamination related to the post-discovery period. Considering the paramount significance of the DSS, noninvasive approaches and portable in situ nondestructive methods are of fundamental importance for the determination of composition, structure, and chemical–physical properties of the materials under study. NMR studies reveal low amounts of water content associated with very short proton relaxation times, T 1, indicating a high level of deterioration of collagen molecules within scroll fragments. In addition, 13C cross-polarization magic-angle-spinning (CPMAS) NMR spectroscopy shows characteristic peaks of lipids whose presence we attribute to the production technology that did not involve liming. Extraction with chloroform led to the reduction of both lipid and protein signals in the 13C CPMAS spectrum indicating probable involvement of lipids in parchment degradation processes. NMR absorption and relaxation measurements provide nondestructive, discriminative, and sensitive tools for studying the deterioration effects on the organization and properties of water and collagen within ancient manuscripts.

Conference on Gustaf Dalman's legacy

A CONFERENCE ON GUSTAF DALMAN'S LEGACY is taking place in Jerusalem later this month. English program:

Gustaf-Dalman-Enquete

of the international project »Gustaf Dalman’s “Arbeit und Sitte in Palästina” in Hebrew«

18-19 August 2011
Austrian Hospice, Via Dolorosa 37, Jerusalem

Programme:
Thursday, 18 August, starting at 3:00 p.m.:

Afternoon lectures and project presentation at the Austrian Hospice (in English)

Markus Stephan Bugnyar (Rector of the Austrian Hospice):
On the history of the Austrian Hospice in Jerusalem

Friedrich Schipper (University of Vienna):
On the history of the German and Austrian exploration of the Holy Land

Dieter Vieweger (Director of the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology in Jerusalem):
Conrad Schick and the archaeological excavation of the Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem

Coffee break

Julia Männchen (University of Greifswald):
The life and legacy of Gustaf Dalman

Ronny Reich (University of Haifa):
Presentation of the international project »Gustaf Dalman’s “Arbeit und Sitte in Palästina” in Hebrew. A commentary and translation.«

Evening reception

Friday, 19 August, starting at 10:00 a.m.:

Morning tour in the Church of the Redeemer (in English)

Dieter Vieweger (Director of the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology in Jerusalem):
The touristic development of the excavations below the Church of the Redeemer.
An archaeological tour through the old excavations below the Church of the Redeemer

Information: Dr. Friedrich Schipper, University of Vienna, Austria, E-mail: friedrich.schipper@univie.ac.at

A PDF file of the program in multiple languages is here. (Via the Agade list.) More on Gustaf Hermann Dalman here. I still have his Aramäisch-neuhebraeisches Wörterbuch on my bookshelf and still refer to it.

Happy birthday to me!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! I will be out celebrating most of the time today, but I have pre-posted this and that, so stay tuned.

St Cuthbert's Gospel bought by the UK

ST CUTHBERT'S GOSPEL has been bought by the United Kingdom from the Jesuit Order.

A Jewish warrior queeen

HISTORY:

His/Her Story: A Jewish warrior queen

08/05/2011 16:18 By RENÉE LEVINE MELAMMED (Jerusalem Post)

The story of the Jewish Berber queen, her success as a warrior, and her own destruction.

With the rise of Islam in the seventh century, Arab tribes sought to conquer North Africa and continue to Europe via Spain. The major obstacle to a conquest of the Magreb was the presence of a Berber queen in the mountains of presentday Algeria. Her tribe, the Gerawa, had converted to Judaism earlier in the century; their queen, Dahia al-Kahena, daughter of Mathia ben Tifan, either converted with them or was Jewish by birth.

This era signaled the end of the Byzantine dynasty in a geographical area that was home to Byzantines, Arabs and Jews, as well as Christian Berbers. The fathers of Kahena’s two sons were equally diverse, for one was Berber and the other Greek.

[...]

I didn't know about Kahena. Slightly outside PaleoJudaica's normal time frame, but interesting enough to stretch the definition of "late antiquity" to include her. This in particular caught my eye:

Interestingly enough, Kahena is sometimes referred to as an augur; according to Arab lore, Hassan was destined to destroy a Jewish soothsayer before he could proceed apace. The meaning of this queen’s name has been debated for years, as to whether it means catastrophe, a major problem or a sly person. “Kahena” could be derived from “kohen,” and thus would refer to a priestess, a prophetess or even a wizard. Perhaps she indeed lived up to her names.

A Jewish priestess is, as far as I know, unprecedented, although she doesn't seem to have a been a priestess in the biblical sense of a priest. There were Jewish prophetesses in the Bible (Deborah, Huldah) and there have been plenty of female Jewish magicians.

CSCO at Edinburgh under new management

THE CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF CHRISTIAN ORIGINS at the University of Edinburgh is under new management. Congratulations to Helen Bond, who is an excellent choice as the new Director, and best wishes to Larry Hurtado for a happy and productive retirement.

Reviewlet: Bloom, "The Jewish Revolts Against Rome, A.D. 66-135: A Military Analysis"

BOOK REVIEWLET: The Jewish Revolts Against Rome, A.D. 66-135: A Military Analysis, by James J. Bloom, reviewed by A. A. Nofi at the Strategy Page.

Syriac news from Turkey

ARAMAIC WATCH—News on Syriac-speaking Christians in Turkey from Hürriyet Daily News:

First, congratulations to the 2011 graduates of the new Syriac course at Artuklu University:

Turkey’s first Syriac language course ends

Thursday, August 4, 2011
ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

In a historic achievement, 42 participants were awarded certificates Tuesday after completing Turkey’s first Syriac language course, run by a university in the southeastern province of Mardin.

In a speech at the graduation ceremony, the rector of Artuklu University, Serdar Bedi Omay, expressed his gratitude and said being able to teach the Syriac language in universities was an important accomplishment for the school.

“This is a historic step both for us and the academia,” the rector said.

[...]

Indeed. Background here.

Second, some political developments:

Syriacs outline problems to EU, ask for removal of obstacles

Wednesday, August 3, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

A Syriac group recently presented a report on the problems of Syriac community in terms of ethnic, linguistic, religious and other rights, as well as the right of return

Turkey should remove obstacles preventing Syriacs from returning to the country and provide constitutional protection for their status and identity, according to a Syriac group that presented a report detailing the community’s problems in Turkey to the European Commission last week.

[...]

Last week, the ESU presented a report to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enlargement on Turkey detailing a number of problems experienced by Syriacs in Turkey in terms of ethnic, linguistic, cultural, religious and other rights, as well as the right of return. The ESU also addressed the contentious topic of the “Seyfo” – the name Syriacs give to what they claim was genocide perpetrated against them by the Ottomans in 1915. The report is expected to make its way into Europe’s agenda in September.

[...]

“The case [of the Syriac Mor Gabriel Monastery in the southeastern province of Mardin] is still underway. The monastery bears great significance for Syriacs. As the European Syriac Union, we recognize that this process is a political, rather than a judicial one. This view is further clarified both by the feudal village guard organization that makes itself felt in the region, as well as by the lack of enthusiasm in Ankara’s attitude. The Mor Gabriel Monastery case is a test of democracy, good will and the project to live together,” [David] Vergili [spokesman for the European Syriac Union] said.

[...]

I have been following the case of the Mor Gabriel Monastery for some time. Background here and links.

The fact that Syriac had entered UNESCO’s list of World Languages in Danger pointed to a vital problem, he added.

I knew that Mandaic was on the list, but not Syriac in general. That's good news.

“Our community of 15,000 in Istanbul cannot set up schools and has to make do with a single church. Our region has been the center of attraction for repressive, outdated policies of annihilation and denial for decades,” he said.

Turkey’s Syriac community also cannot use their Syriac last names due to the Patronymics Law enacted in 1934, Vergili said. “Syriacs have begun using Turkish names for a lack of any other options.”

A Turkish citizen of Syriac descent, Favlus Ay, filed a lawsuit last year to change his first and last names to Syriac. Ay requested permission to change his last name to “Bartuma” and his first name to “Paulus.” The suit was filed to annul a provision in the Patronymics Law of 1934 that bars Turkish citizens from adopting foreign names. The case was first brought before a court in Mardin’s Midyat district before being passed to the High Court where the appeal was rejected, with eight judges voting in favor and nine against.

I have noted earlier coverage of the issue of Syriac names in Turkey here.

More on the "Ancient Lives" Oxyrhynchus Papyri project

MORE ON THE "ANCIENT LIVES" OXYRHYNCHUS PAPYRI PROJECT:

First, some background on the genesis of the project:

Research grant combines astrophysics and archeology to decipher ancient texts
July 26, 2011 By Jenny Allan (PhysOrg.com)

Lucy Fortson, an astrophysicist and Associate Professor in the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota is part of a collaboration called Ancientlives which has received a grant to apply the analysis tools of astrophysics to help decipher a collection of ancient Egyptian papyri.

Co-PIs Nita Krevans and Philip Sellew, faculty members in Classical and Near Eastern Studies, will be working with Professor Fortson and an international team, including a new University of Minnesota post-doctoral fellow in papyrology, to oversee citizen transcribers who will volunteer to identify letters on these ancient scraps of books and documents.

The collection known as the Oxyrynchus Papyri was discovered over a hundred years ago yet archeologists and classics scholars have only managed to transcribe a handful of these fragments. Fortson said the papyri came from an ancient garbage dump and mundane documents such as insurance claims and contracts were mixed in with Homer and works by the ancient playwright Menander. Classics scholars originally had to rely on their personal knowledge of ancient texts in order to determine the meaning of the texts and thus far only 15% of the collection has been edited. The hope is that Ancient Lives will help complete the editing process by harnessing the brain-power of volunteers—no knowledge of ancient Greek required.

[...]

It's not too far off to say that only "a handful" of the papyri have been transcribed, but go and sit down and think about the fact that this "handful" consists of seventy-five large volumes. (A few of these are online.)

(Via Abu 'l-Rayhan Al-Biruni.)

Second, Alan Boyle at the Cosmic Log blog has some more information about the new fragment of a lost gospel which keeps getting mentioned:

Among the items recently picked out of the pile are fragments of a previously unknown apocryphal gospel that describes Jesus casting out demons, a lost play by Euripides titled "Melanippe the Wise" and newfound letters attributed to the philosopher Epicurus.

[...]

Update for 5:30 p.m. ET Aug. 1: Over the weekend, Oxford papyrologist James Brusuelas sent an email with further details about the juiciest bits of papyri:

Gospel: In its current edited state, the gospel has not been overtly connected to any other sources. It remains a hot topic amongst historians of religion and Christianity. One must think about how the wider apocryphal (i.e., not included in the accepted canon of biblical texts) and biblical stories of Jesus relate to and inform the very act of casting out demons. Where does this particular narrative fit in the tradition of Jesus' acts? We have the text, we've identified it. Now it has to be studied and debated (that's why this project can be so cool).

The e-mail from Brusuelas also has information on the new Euripides play.

A couple of other non-canonical gospel fragments (British Library 840 and 1224) are noted in the Wikipedia Oxyrhynchus Gospels article. No mention yet of this new one, Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 5072.

Background here, where there is a photo of the new gospel fragment. There have been many PaleoJudaica posts on the Oxyrhynchus papyri. Some interesting ones are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here (and follow those links).

UPDATE: The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Wikipedia page has lists of biblical and biblical apocrypha manuscripts (etc.). The list of apocryphal gospels is much longer than in the Oxyrhynchus Gospels page noted above, but the long list has also not yet been updated to include 5072. (HT Roberto Labanti.)

Man returns stolen Second Temple ossuary

THE "EW" FACTOR has saved an important Second Temple-era relic for science:

Man returns stolen Second Temple ossuary
Man contacts Antiquities Authority at his own initiative after realizing the item was an ossuary, saying he purchased it from an antiquities dealer some time ago.
By Nir Hasson (Haaretz)

A Tel Aviv resident returned a Second Temple period artifact to the Antiquities Authority after realizing the item was an ossuary.

The man, who works in the field of art and design, contacted the authority inspectors at his own initiative, saying he purchased the ossuary from an antiquities dealer some time ago. He told them he kept the ancient artifact in his bedroom, until one of his friends told him this was a small coffin used to store bones a year after the burial. He said he was repelled by the thought that he slept with a coffin in his room.

[...]

Via Joseph Lauer.

The wood from the siege of Masada

THE WOOD FROM THE MASADA SIEGE is the subject of a University of Haifa press release posted at IMRA:

Tuesday, August 2, 2011
University of Haifa Media release: Where did the Roman Legion find wood for their siege on Masada?

Division of Marketing and Media
August 2, 2011
Media release

Where did the timber for the Roman rampart at Masada come from?

Earlier studies claimed that the Judean Desert was much more humid 2,000 years ago, but a new study has revealed: The Romans reaching Masada faced arid desert conditions that could not supply timber for their siege, and the isotopic composition of the wood probably reflects a distant wood source.

The Roman Legion that lay siege on Masada some 2,000 years ago was forced to use timber from other areas in the land of Israel for its weapons and encampments, and was not able to use local wood as earlier studies have proposed. This has been revealed in a new study conducted at the University of Haifa, refuting earlier suggestions that described the Judean Desert area as more humid in the times of the Second Temple.

Despite all the historic and archaeological evidence that has been revealed about the Roman siege on Masada, scholars are at difference over the large quantities of timber and firewood that were required for the Jewish fortress defenders on the mountain and for the Roman besiegers. A previous study by researchers from the Weizmann Institute of wooden remains found on the siege rampart showed that they originated from a more humid habitat, and assuming that the timber was local, claimed that this was proof of the Judean region being more humid some 2,000 years ago. The University of Haifa researchers maintain that the wood originated in a more humid region: not from the local habitat but brought from a more humid region to the foot of Masada by the well-organized Roman military supply unit.

The new study, conducted by Prof. Simcha Lev-Yadun of the University of Haifa's Department of Biology and Environment at the University of Haifa-Oranim, Prof. Mina Weinstein-Evron of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa, and D. S. Lucas, a student from Ohio University, included botanic, archaeological and cultural examination and modeling to verify by means of comparison to parallel traditional societies, the uses of timber and firewood from the beginning of settlement at Masada, some 220 years before the siege, and until its fall.

First, the researchers examined the amount of wood that exists today in the Judean Desert and in the wadi deltas in the vicinity of Masada, and thereby were able to estimate the amount and types of wood that the desert could supply. Next, they calculated the amount of timber and firewood that would have been needed for the inhabitants of Masada, from 150 BCE, when it was a small fortress, through the Herodian period, when the fortress as we know it was constructed, and up to the siege, which ended in 73 CE. According to the researchers, in those times, timber was mostly used for construction, heating and cooking. Based on accepted evaluations of wood consumption for these purposes in traditional societies, on the conservatively estimated number of Masada inhabitants in each time period, the harsh climatic conditions in the desert and Masada's topography, the researchers were able to conclude that by the time the Romans arrived at Masada and began their siege (73 CE), the entire area was void of timber and firewood, due to 2,220 years of massive exploitation of the immediate environment up to that point. The Romans would have had no choice but to import wood from other areas for their weapon machinery, ramparts and basic living requirements.

The researchers were able to construct a model of the Roman Legion's timber utilization in various siege scenarios, and concluded that even if the Masada area had more than its normal availability of wood, it still would not have been sufficient for the Romans' needs, so that in any event, they would have been forced to ensure a continuous supply of wood. As such, the researchers explained, the earlier claim that the region of Masada was more humid some 2,000 years ago, was in all probability not well established.

For more information:

Rachel Feldman
Division of Marketing and Media
University of Haifa
press@univ.haifa.ac.il
+972-54-5352435

Joseph Lauer points to the technical article that is the basis for the above. This article is behind a subscription wall:

Modeling the demands for wood by the inhabitants of Masada and for the Roman siege

S. Lev-Yaduna, D.S. Lucasb, and M. Weinstein-Evronc

a Department of Science Education – Biology, Faculty of Science and Science Education, University of Haifa, Oranim, Tivon 36006, Israel

b Department of Geography, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA

c Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, Haifa 31905, Israel
Received 25 April 2008;
revised 19 January 2010;
accepted 29 January 2010.
Available online 24 February 2010.

Abstract

Modeling the demands for wood, especially firewood, for the inhabitants of the unique desert fortress of Masada during the major period of its occupation (beginning about 150 B.C.E. and ending with its fall after the Roman siege in 73 C.E.) is based on the well-documented history of the site, of the number of inhabitants in each phase of occupation, and the current demand for firewood in traditional societies. The previously analyzed ancient botanical remains from Masada provide base-line data of the types of wood used. We have concluded that when the Roman siege began in C.E. 73, the vicinity of Masada would have been denuded of trees and shrubs as a result of ca. 225 years of occupation. Therefore, the Tamarix wood used to construct the upper parts of the Roman siege rampart was probably not local. The isotopic composition of the Tamarix beams probably indicates that they were imported from a different region, such as the more humid and cooler river banks east of the Dead Sea, rather than the result of climate change as previously proposed.

Keywords: Dead Sea; Desert; Environmental impact; Firewood
Article Outline

1.
Introduction

2.
The geographical setting

3.
Current woody vegetation in the region of Masada

4.
The model
4.1. Chronology and estimated population size of Masada
4.2. The wood remains from Masada and the Roman siege rampart
4.3. The use of firewood in light of the botanical remains from Masada

5.
Results
5.1. Demands for wood and its possible origin in each phase of occupation
5.2. The possible origin of the wood of the Roman siege rampart

Acknowledgements

References

Review of Shepherd, "Daniel in the Context of the Hebrew Bible"

BOOK REVIEW AT H-NET:

Michael B. Shepherd. Daniel in the Context of the Hebrew Bible. New York: Peter Lang, 2009. 163 pp. $39.95 (paper), ISBN 978-1-4331-0539-5.

Reviewed by David M. Valeta (University of Colorado, Boulder)
Published on H-Judaic (July, 2011)
Commissioned by Jason Kalman

The Book of Daniel: A Site of Contested Identities

"This book is not the usual sort of commentary on the book of Daniel." This opening statement in the introduction of this book is certainly true. The structure of the book is both curious and confusing. After a brief introduction that raises the question, "What is the Old Testament?" and explores the process of canonical formation, the first three chapters of the book are devoted to explorations of the Pentateuch (Torah), Prophets (Nevi'im), and a portion of the Writings (Kethuvim). Chapter 4 consists of the commentary on Daniel followed by chapter 5 on Ezra-Nehemiah, Chronicles, and the New Testament. The book concludes with two appendices, a short essay on Hermeneutics, and the author's translation of Daniel.

[...]

(Via the Agade List.)

Reflections on Protestant Mishnah at the Talmud Blog

PROTESTANT MISHNAH: The Talmud Blog has a post by Amit Gvaryahu on the history of modern Mishnah scholarship, informed by a new book by Hanan Gafni along with Jonathan Z. Smith's classic Drudgery Divine.

Review of Hoffman & Cole, "Sacred Trash"

SACRED TRASH, by Hoffman and Cole, is reviewed by Robert Leiter in the Jewish Exponent. Excerpt:

The early chapters of Hoffman and Cole's book move at the breakneck pace of a saga straight out of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Once Schechter decides to depart the scene in Cambridge to become chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City, the pace of the book slows a bit. There were many scholars warring for a chance to have a crack at the genizah treasures, and Hoffman and Cole provide detailed biographies of each of these eccentric characters and the various parts they played in uncovering what all this mountain of writing meant.

But throughout Sacred Trash, the intellectual excitement never flags, since, in the end, the revelations the genizah provided altered our conception of what Jewish life was like in the ancient world and beyond. No manuscript discovery would rival it until Bedouin shepherds in the early 1950s stumbled upon the urns containing the Dead Sea Scrolls in the caves at Qumran.

The review relates many entertaining personal details about the Lewis-Gibson twins and Solomon Schechter. Read it all.

Earlier reviews etc. here and links.

USN&WR has contacted me about the fake metal codices

FAKE METAL CODICES WATCH: This evening I have been contacted by a journalist with U.S. News & World Report with some thoughtful questions about the authenticity of the metal codices. I have just replied to him in detail and asked him to let me know if he published anything on it. Watch this space.

Background here.

Professor Hayim Zalman Dimitrovsky, z"l

PROFESSOR HAYIM ZALMAN DIMITROVSKY, Z"L.

James VanderKam's work on Jubilees

JAMES VANDERKAM'S WORK on the book of Jubilees ia profiled in Notre Dame News: Translating the Book of Jubilees. One choice tidbit:

A previous English translation of the Ethiopic text states in chapter 4 verse 24: “on account of it God brought the waters of the flood upon all the land of Eden.”

The problem, says VanderKam, is that the translation implies that God brought the flood on Eden because of Enoch’s presence there. “That doesn’t make any sense,” he says, “because Enoch continues to live—he doesn’t drown in the flood.”

VanderKam’s research revealed what the text actually says: “Because of him, God did not bring the waters of the flood on Eden.”

Why the mistranslation? It turns out that the Ethiopic words for “he brought” and “it did not come” look almost exactly the same: The mistranslation was the result of a visual misinterpretation.

I am reminded, perhaps perversely, of the Wicked Bible. Gotta watch those "nots."

(Via Joseph Lauer.)

The Legend of the Ten Martyrs

REFLECTIONS ON THE LEGEND OF THE TEN MARTYRS for Tisha B'Av:

THE " ASARA HARUGEI MALCHUT – THE TEN MARTYRS"

By: Rabbi Eli C. Aboud (Community Magazine)

One of the most tragic episodes in Jewish history was the ruthless torture and murder of ten Jewish sages by the merciless Roman Empire in the years following the destruction of the second Bet Hamikdash. This period was marked by particular sorrow and suffering for our people. They had been roundly defeated by the invading Roman army in their desperate attempt to protect Jerusalem and the Bet Hamikdash. The city lay in ruins, with the Bet Hamikdash burned to the ground, and the victorious Romans, dissolved any Jewish authority and ruled the land exclusively. The Romans then vented their full fury on the broken nation, and life became more difficult with each passing day. They passed laws forbidding Torah observance, and plundered the people’s possessions.

But most tragic of all was the Romans’ unspeakable brutality against ten of the greatest sages of the time (among many others) – known as the “Asara Harugei Malchut” – whom they tortured and killed in the most sadistic , barbaric methods imaginable.

A Reckoning for the Sale of Yosef

Our sages tell us that Hashem allowed the Romans to kill these ten righteous scholars as atonement for the ten sons of Yaakov who sold their brother Yosef into slavery – a crime for which the Torah assigns the death penalty (“One who kidnaps a person and sells him…shall die” – Shemot 21:16). For many centuries, the brothers’ sin went unaccounted for. Finally, during the Mishnaic period, there were ten righteous sadikim on the caliber of the sons of Yaakov whose death would be able to atone for this grave misdeed. Thereupon it was decreed in heaven that the Romans would be allowed to execute these ten spiritual giants. Nevertheless, there will come a day when this crime will be avenged and Hashem will bring full retribution upon the Romans for their brutality against the Jewish people. Furthermore, as the Midrash teaches, Hashem promised that the merits of these great sadikim and their suffering will stand for the Jewish nation until the end of days and relieve them from much suffering in this long and bitter exile.

It has become customary throughout the Jewish world to relate this tragic story in detail on Tisha Be’av (during the recitation of the Kinot), to mourn this great loss and to beg Hashem to avenge their suffering and bring an end to our exile in the merit of the ten martyrs. Many Ashkenazic communities have the custom to tell this story on the holy day of Yom Kippur (during the hazzan’s repetition of musaf), as well.

Historically, many scholars note that the ten sages were not killed all at once. They lived in different places and at different times, and the tragedy of the Asara Harugei Malchut actually transpired over the span of a century (between 70 CE-170 CE), during the bloody rule of the Roman Empire over Israel and its Jewish inhabitants in the post-Second Temple era.

We find some variation between the different sources that list the ten fallen sages. However, the list that appears in the traditional Kinot text recited on Tisha Be’av is assumed to be the most authentic, and this is the list that we present here.

[...]

This version of the story follows.

But there are other versions, including one that is particularly on my mind right now for obvious reasons. The Hekhalot Rabbati has a rather different and, in a macabre way, more cheerful account of the story. In this rendering, the evil Roman emperor who persecuted the sages is (the non-existent) Lupinus Caesar. When he set out on his program of persecution at the behest of Sammael, the evil angel of Rome, God inflicted various torments on the emperor and Rome. Undeterred, Lupinus Caesar persevered in his efforts to kill the ten sages, so God gave Lupinus' appearance to one of the sages, R. Hananiah ben Tardion, who then spent six months masquerading as the emperor and executing thousands of the leaders of the army.

Meanwhile, God altered Lupinus's appearance to be identical to another of the ten, whereupon he was tortured to death by his own Roman minions, then resurrected in the form of yet another of the ten, whom the Romans then killed, and so on until Lupinus had been slaughtered as each of the ten sages (who themselves were at home, safe and sound). Then he was sent off to his well-deserved eternal torment in the flames of Gehinnom.

You can read the story here, in a handout for my 2008 SBL paper which contains a draft translation of the relevant passage (§§107-120) from my forthcoming translation of the Hekhalot literature.

Research Leave!

MY YEAR OF RESEARCH LEAVE begins officially today. My main project is to complete the English translation of the Hekhalot literature on which I have been working for quite some time. Blogging should continue more or less as usual, and I will still be working with my doctoral students, but otherwise I intend to focus entirely on my own research.

UPDATE: More on the project here and link.

Review of Gruen (ed.), "Cultural Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean"

BMCR REVIEW:

Erich S. Gruen (ed.), Cultural Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean. Issues & Debates. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2010. Pp. vii, 535. ISBN 9780892369690. $50.00 (pb).

Reviewed by Anna Lucille Boozer, University of Reading (A.L.Boozer@Reading.ac.uk)

Excerpt:

The Ancient Mediterranean can make a considerable contribution to interdisciplinary studies of identity. In particular, scholars can contribute case studies that closely link appropriate theoretical vantages to data in order to explore the longitudinal development of identities within interlinked geographical locales. Gruen's Cultural Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean clearly demonstrates the value in this approach. This volume steers clear of murky theoretical debates on identity and ethnicity, which both Hall and Wallace-Hadrill explored in their volumes. Instead, Gruen's volume focuses on case studies of identity using different methodological and disciplinary lenses. Gruen's pragmatic approach allows for greater accessibility than many recent volumes on identity, although it would have been helpful to hear more about how he defines his terms. For example, there is an unstated equivalence given between identity, culture, ethnicity, and locality in many of the contributions. Definitions and debates within the introduction could have clarified how the contributors understood the term "cultural identity." Otherwise, Gruen's introduction is fluently written and he clearly explains the value of his book divisions as well as the individual papers included within the volume.

Cultural Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean includes twenty-four essays divided into eight parts, in addition to Gruen's introduction (see book contents below).5 The majority of the contributors write in accessible prose, enabling the reader to move through the volume more easily than is often the case with edited works. Like Gruen, many of the contributors eschew theoretical debates, although their case studies are theoretically informed, as evinced by the references. This approach is both practical and refreshing. The contributions cover an impressive array of cultures, encompassing Greek, Persian, Jewish, Phoenician, Egyptian, Roman, Gallic, and culturally mixed societies. The disciplinary range is equally impressive and includes archaeologists, art historians, classicists, and ancient historians. Given this expansive breadth, it is not possible to discuss each article or section systematically within this review. I have singled out two sections to discuss at greater length because the theoretical implications of these sections reach particularly far.

Adopt a Dead Sea Scroll

FOR YOU, SPECIAL DEAL:

The Dead Sea Scrolls are put up for adoption for just £1,200 a PAGE

By Mail On Sunday Reporter

Last updated at 11:24 PM on 30th July 2011

They are among the most famous pieces of writing in the world – and for £1,200, you can adopt a page.

The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in a cave in Qumran on the West Bank in 1947, and have spawned countless books and theories about early Christians and the life of Jesus.

The Friends of the Israel Antiquities Authority is offering the scrolls up for adoption. There are 15,000 fragments and it costs upwards of £1,200 to have one as your own.

A dedication plaque with the name of a fragment’s ‘parent’ will be displayed with it when it is exhibited.

[...]

The object seems to be to raise conservation money for the Scrolls. This seems like a good idea and I hope they make a lot. The article is substantially accurate, although the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in eleven caves, not one. If we count the other Judean Desert scrolls, still more caves were involved.

Review of Miles, "Carthage Must Be Destroyed"

BOOK REVIEW:

An Empire of the Mediterranean
There was more to Carthage than her defeat by Rome

By ADRIAN GOLDSWORTHY (WSJ.com)

'Carthage must be destroyed'—the title of Richard Miles's book was the constant theme of the Roman statesman Marcus Porcius Cato (234-149 B.C.). In the last years of his long life, Cato became obsessed with Rome's old rival, the city that had unleashed Hannibal on the Roman Republic and brought it to the brink of destruction. Famed for his oratory as well as his stern morality, the old man was frequently asked to give his opinion in the Senate. Regardless of the topic, his last sentence was always the same—"And I think Carthage ought to be destroyed." A rival countered by ending his own speeches with "And I think Carthage ought not to be destroyed," but Cato carried the day, although he died before Carthage was captured in 146 B.C. The city was demolished and the site formally cursed by Roman priests. The oft-repeated story of the ground being sown with salt is a much later invention, but the destruction of Carthage as a political state was total.

The subtitle of the book is the more revealing, for this is not primarily an examination of the three Punic Wars fought between Carthage and Rome but instead a full history of "The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization." Those epic conflicts, and indeed the savage wars fought between Carthaginians and Greeks to dominate Sicily in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C., are just part of the bigger story. The campaigns are covered intelligently, but even the biggest battles rarely rate more than a paragraph. Richard Miles is instead concerned with the wider context of these struggles, and his book is all the more valuable for that.

[...]

Via the Agade list. Earlier reviews here.

Review of Dov, "Bibliographia Karaitica"

BOOK REVIEW:

The Medieval Review 11.07.27

Walfish, Barry Dov. Bibliographia Karaitica: An Annotated Bibliography of Karaites and Karaism. Études sur le judaïsme medieval; v. 43; Karaite Texts and Studies; v. 2. Leiden: Brill, 2011. Pp. lxxxii, 810. $327. 978-90-04-18927-0. . .

Reviewed by:

Daniel J. Lasker
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Boston College
lasker@bgu.ac.il

Excerpt:

Despite any reservations that might be expressed about one detail or another in this bibliography, the reader can peruse the book only in amazement at the wealth of material from multiple sources amassed and described by the authors. It will certainly be impossible from now on for anyone to engage in Karaite studies without reference to this work. In combination with recent scholarship on Karaism, and the availability of library collections, archives and memorabilia in the Former Soviet Union which were inaccessible for much too long a period, it is to be hoped this Bibliographia Karaitica will accelerate the placement of Karaite studies in an honored position in the realm of Judaic studies.

Day of Archaeology 2011

TODAY IS DAY OF ARCHAEOLOGY 2011. If I'd known sooner, I would have tried to do some archaeology today. I'm sure there's something going on nearby; this time of year there always is.

HT James McGrath.

More on the Qumran brontologion and the Jewish calendar

MORE ON THE QUMRAN BRONTOLOGION and the research on it by Helen R. Jacobus which recently won the Dever Prize:

Dead Sea Scroll tract was precursor to Jewish calendar

29 Jul 2011 (University of Manchester)

An obscure Babylonian document from the world famous Dead Sea Scroll collection was almost certainly a precursor to the Jewish calendar according to University of Manchester research.

An obscure Babylonian document from the world famous Dead Sea Scroll collection was almost certainly a precursor to the Jewish calendar according to University of Manchester research.

Dr Helen Jacobus, a part-time doctoral student who graduated this month, investigated one of the 972 texts found in Khirbet Qumran on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea in Jordan between 1947 and 1956.

The Babylonian text known as Qumran scroll ‘4Q318’and kept at the Israel Antiquities Authority in Jerusalem, is thought to have been written around 2000 years ago.

Shown by Dr Jacobus to be a calendar - it contains predictions based on the moon’s position in the zodiac when the sound of thunder occurs.

The calendar can still be used to find the moon's position in the zodiac on a given date in the Jewish calendar – a calculation no other document in the world is able to achieve.

According to Dr Jacobus, the Aramaic month names used in the scroll are the same as those used in the Hebrew calendar today. They are, she says, Aramaic translations of the Babylonian month names.

Dr Jacobus said: “This ancient tract can be still used a functioning lunar zodiac calendar , which was a precursor to the Jewish calendar of today.

[...]

In defense of ancient biological anthropology

ANCIENT BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY is vigorously defended by Patricia Smith in the current issue of BAR: Archaeological Views: Uncovering the Secrets of the Dead. Excerpt:

Today, especially at salvage excavations carried out in Israel, a nonacademic religious organization—Atra Kadisha—is routinely called in to excavate and remove human remains for reburial in a common grave without proper bio-anthropological documentation.b Although cursory examination of skeletal remains on site is sometimes permitted, this is totally unsatisfactory given the need to clean, reconstruct and analyze human remains in a specialized laboratory setting. In such facilities, we not only measure, photograph and take radiographs, we also analyze the skeletons using a vast array of modern tools. These include CT scans, scanning electron microscopes, as well as DNA and isotope analyses, all of which enable us to reconstruct in great detail the life history of past individuals and populations.

While cemeteries and isolated tombs are still occasionally excavated in Israel, we are largely unable to obtain scientific information about the human individuals for whom these tombs were constructed. Had the Ashkelon skeleton been excavated after 1995, it is unlikely that we would have been able to examine her in as much detail. This means that today, we are in the absurd situation of carrying out research into past societies exclusively through the study of their material culture without access to the most direct and conclusive data set, namely the evidence obtained from their skeletal remains.

My own view is that proper respect for the ancient dead demands that we allow the biological anthropologists to run the full gamut of analyses on their remains. This is the only voice these ancients have left in which to tell us their story. It's fine to rebury the remains after the analysis, but ideally they should go into sealed containers in recorded locations in case some new wonderful new technique allows us to gain substantially more information by revisiting them.

And yes, to answer the question someone always asks at this point, I would be perfectly happy to have my remains or those of my family members studied in this way by future archaeologists. In fact I think it would be kind of cool.

In any case, this is a temporary problem. In what I suspect will be the surprisingly near future, nanotechnology should allow us to do full-scale, non-destructive scans of buried ancient human remains without disturbing where they rest. Faster please.

Tangentially related reflections here and links. [UPDATE (30 July): Also here.]

UPDATE: Then again, maybe I'll reserve my remains for other purposes. But in that case those future archaeologists and historians would learn a lot more by seeing to it that I'm reanimated.

More on Philip and Hierapolis

TIMELY: Francesco D’Andria, Conversion, Crucifixion and Celebration: St. Philip’s Martyrium at Hierapolis draws thousands over the centuries, in the current issue of BAR. Timely, of course, because of the recent claim, apparently from the same excavation, that the actual tomb of the Apostle Philip has been discovered. This article has much valuable background on the apocryphal Philip legend and on the current excavation of the site, but although it mentions the traditional tomb of Philip, there is nothing on this presumably very recent discovery. I remain skeptical until I see compelling evidence.

The Oxyrhynchus papyri and an army of papyrologists

AN ARMY OF PAPYROLOGISTS: This is an excellent idea. Oxford University press release:

Public to hunt for lost gospels, literature & letters

26 Jul 11


Papyri of a lost gospel from the Oxyrhynchus collection
Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 5072 (3rd century AD), Uncanonical Gospel. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society and Imaging Papyri Project, Oxford. All rights reserved.

Members of the public are being asked to help decode papyri, in order to find fragments of lost gospels, works of literature, and letters about everyday life in ancient Egypt, in a new project launched by Oxford University.

Ancient Lives (ancientlives.org), which launches today, is putting hundreds of thousands of images of fragments of papyri written in Greek online. Researchers say that ‘armchair archaeologists’ visiting the website can help with cataloguing the collection, and could make amazing finds, such as the recent discovery of fragments of a previously unknown ‘lost’ gospel which describes Jesus Christ casting out demons.

Nobody knows who wrote this lost gospel: it is part of a treasure trove of papyri recovered in the early 20th century from the Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus, the ‘City of the Sharp-Nosed Fish’. The texts were written in Greek during a period when Egypt was under the control of a Greek (and later Roman) settler class. Many of the papyri had not been read for over a thousand years.

Because of the huge number of images involved researchers need volunteers to look through and catalogue them or transcribe the text using a simple web interface, which displays both known and unknown texts.

‘It’s with the digital advancements of our own age, that we're able to open up this window into the past, and see a common human experience in that intimate, traditional medium, handwriting,’ said lead developer and designer, William MacFarlane of Oxford University’s Department of Physics.

Experts have been studying the collection for over a hundred years. It is because of Oxyrhynchus that we now have lost masterpieces that went missing during the medieval period: the lost poetry of Sappho, the lost comedies of Menander and the lost plays of Sophocles. There are personal documents too – we learn from a letter that Aurelius the sausage-maker has taken out a loan of 9000 silver denarii, perhaps to expand his business, whilst in another letter of 127 AD a grandmother, called Sarapias, asks that her daughter is brought home so that she can be present at the birth of her grandchild.

‘Discovering new texts is always exciting,’ explains team papyrologist Dr James Brusuelas, ‘but the fact that you’re reading a piece of literature or a private letter that hasn’t been read in over a thousand years, that’s what I like about papyrology.’ Paul Ellis, an imaging specialist who assisted with the digitization of the papyrus texts, said: ‘Online images are a window into ancient lives.’

The project is a collaboration between Oxford University papyrologists, the Egypt Exploration Society, and a team in Oxford University’s Department of Physics who specialise in building ‘citizen science’ projects that allow anyone to make an authentic contribution to research.

‘Until now only experts could explore this incredible collection,’ said project leader Dr Chris Lintott of Oxford University’s Department of Physics, ‘but with so much of the collection unstudied there’s plenty for everyone. We’re excited to see what visitors to ancientlives.org can unearth.’

‘Papyrologists are well known for friendship among those interested in ancient texts,’ said Project Director Dr Dirk Obbink, Oxford University Lecturer in Papyrology and Greek Literature at the University of Oxford. ‘This effort is pervaded by a spirit of collaboration. We aim to transcribe as much as possible of the original papyri, and then identify and reconstruct the text. No single pair of eyes can see and read everything. From scientists and professors to school students and ancient enthusiasts, everyone has something to contribute – and gain.’

Ancientlives.org is part of the www.zooniverse.org network of public participation projects, which includes Old Weather, which aims to rescue weather records contained in World War I ship’s logs. More than 500,000 logbook pages have been transcribed so far. The original Zooniverse project was Galaxy Zoo, and a total of more than 400,000 people have registered to take part.

The project was supported by a grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the John Fell Fund, and is indebted to the Oxford University Department of Classics and the Egypt Exploration Society, London who oversee the Oxyrhynchus Collection in the Sackler Library, Oxford as part of a wide range of scholarly and outreach activities.

Should you take part in this initiative and you happen to run across anything that might be from a known or lost Old Testament pseudepigraphon, I would be grateful if you would drop me a note to let me know. The More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Project (also here) is still recruiting texts.

Earlier posts on "An Army of" projects are here (for the Cairo Geniza, where I see I called for something similar for the Oxyrhynchus papyri) and here (the link is dead, but it was about the eTACT project). The title is nicked from Glenn Reynolds's book, An Army of Davids.

UPDATE (4 August): Lots more here.

Israeli national parks and nonprofit associations

MORE POLITICS:

Knesset legislation gives right-wing group control over City of David park
Knesset approves preliminary reading of ammendment to allow nonprofit associations to manage national parks.

By Nir Hasson and Zafrir Rinat Tags: East Jerusalem Knesset

The Knesset yesterday approved a preliminary reading of an amendment to the Nature Reserves and National Parks Law allowing nonprofit associations to manage national parks.

The amendment now goes to the Interior and Environment Committee to be prepared for a first reading.

[...]

If I didn't know better, I would be wondering if Haaretz were editorializing by headline.

I've been following the Elad controversy for a long time. Some background posts are here and links, here, here, here, and here.

Golden-bell-from-HP's-vestment meme gaining traction

THE THE-GOLDEN-BELL-IS-FROM-THE-HIGH-PRIEST'S-VESTMENTS MEME is gaining traction: Audio: Temple Talk: Golden Bell Found from the High Priest's Tunic (Arutz Sheva). Folks, let's slow down a little and think through all the possibilities.

Background here and links.

Philip the Apostle’s tomb found?

AFP: PHILIP THE APOSTLE'S TOMB 'FOUND,' in a place called Pamukkale (Hierapolis in antiquity) in Turkey. As usual, the proper response to this sort of claim is skepticism until compelling evidence is produced. I give the AFP points for the scare quotes around "found."

UPDATE (29 July): Related item here.

Justin Bieber and dad's matching Hebrew tattoos

TOO WEIRD:

Like father, like son: Justin Bieber and dad's matching Hebrew tattoos

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 4:04 PM on 27th July 2011

Justin Bieber and his father pose topless, showing off their matching tattoos.

A newly-released photo shows the father and son in Israel earlier this year where they had the etching done together.

The pair had the word 'Yeshua,' - which many believe to be Jesus' Hebrew or Aramaic name - etched onto the left side of their torsos.

The name Yeshua frequently appears in the Hebrew Bible to describe Joshua the High Priest.

[...]

Yes, there's a picture, if you can bear it. "Many" do not "believe" that Yeshua is the Hebrew/Aramaic form of Jesus' name. It just is.

Joshua the High Priest is mentioned several times in the books of Haggai and Zechariah, but the name Joshua is best known from Moses' right-hand man and successor for whom the book of Joshua is named.

Cross-file under "Tattoo Watch" and "Can't Make It Up." Background here, with a link to posts on other ancient-language tattoos.

More FBAs: Nicholas de Lange and Robert Gordon

MORE FELLOWS OF THE BRITISH ACADEMY: This just in from Viv Rowett on the SOTS list:

PS: Thanks to the several members who have let me know that TWO MORE of our number have also been elected Fellow of the British Academy; here is information sent to me by Janet Tollington:

Professor Nicholas de Lange, Fellow of Wolfson College, has been Professor of Hebrew and Jewish Studies since 2001. He is the principal investigator on both the projects: ‘Medieval Hebrew inscriptions from the Byzantine Empire’ and ‘Mapping the Jewish Communities of the Byzantine Empire’. He is based in the Faculty of Divinity and Faculty of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies.

Professor Robert Gordon is the Regius Professor of Hebrew at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, and a Professorial Fellow of St. Catharine’s College. He has worked extensively on both Testaments, and has a special interest in the ancient translations of the Old Testament. He has published a number of books and has edited/co-edited several other volumes. He published a selection of his articles in 2006 under the title Hebrew Bible and Ancient Versions. He is a member of the editorial board of Vetus Testamentum, the journal of the International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament, and was its Book List editor from 1997 to 2010.

Congratulations to all!

Indeed.

Background here.

BBC backtracks on fake metal codices

FAKE METAL CODICES WATCH—The BBC begins backtracking:

Doubts over authenticity of 'ancient Christian' books

By Kevin Connolly BBC News, Jerusalem

In the cool living room of a stone-built house in Northern Israel I might just have held in my hands the keys to the ancient mysteries of Christianity.

And then again, I might not have.

Let's go with the not.

With the blinds shuttered against the glare of the midday sun my host, Hassan Saeda, lays out a collection of extraordinary books which he says are about 2,000 years old.

Flowing of hair and neat of beard, he bears a distracting resemblance to an illustration of Christ from an old children's Bible. It lends the scene an air of extra gravity.

The books - bindings, pages, covers and all - are made entirely of various metals.

They are inscribed - or engraved, stamped or embossed - with various simple pictures and writing in a variety of languages including Greek and Old Hebrew.

[...]

"I spent so much time and so much money to prove these are real. There are a lot of professors and one of them told me that I'm living in a fantasy.

My answer to him was: 'I think you got old and your eyes don't see anything.' I took my book and went away. Many professors say it's a fake. Why? I don't know why. But this is a real book."

[...]

It's a real book all right, and it's possible that it's made from ancient lead, but the iconography and writing are modern. All those professors are saying the books are fakes because they are obvious, clumsy forgeries. I have given a detailed account of the evidence here and here.

The article also interviews a Jerusalem antiquities dealer and also osteologist Joe Zias, both of whom agree they are fake. This still isn't asking philologists and art historians, but it is progress.

The BBC has known for a long time that the codices are fake. It looks to me as though they are trying to squeeze the last dregs out of the story, while laying the groundwork for eventually correcting it with the truth. They should have done that months ago and their conduct has been reprehensible.

Background here leading back to many links. Also see Thomas Verenna's essay at Bible and Interpretation: Artifacts and the Media: Lead Codices and the Public Portrayal of History.

UPDATE: More from Tom Verenna here.

UPDATE: Mark Goodacre underlines the point and names a name here.

A Syriac printing press in Lebanon

ARAMAIC WATCH: A Syriac printing press in Lebanon:

Old school printer exploits his passion for languages to the last letter

July 27, 2011 02:00 AM
By Annie Slemrod
The Daily Star

[...]

[Abdel-Karim] Chahan’s dexterity and memory is extraordinary, but even more so given that he is 85. He is Lebanon’s only Syriac printer, but he’s more than that. His tan printer’s smock also contains a linguist, author, teacher and polyglot.

When Chahan asks his young assistant to get the old press rolling, he does so in Aramaic. The assistant is a refugee from a part of Iraq where modern Aramaic is still spoken. Chahan easily switches between Aramaic, Syriac, Arabic and English.

Languages, and Syriac in particular, are Chahan’s passion. But they began as a necessity. Born in Allepo’s Syriac quarter to a family from Odessa, he spoke Armenian with his mother, Turkish with his father, and Syriac in church. School was in French, and government activities were carried out in Arabic, so “from the age of 7 you needed to speak five languages,” he says.

[...]

Lots of interesting details in this article. Mr. Chahan's and his business partner's printing projects include Syriac translations of works by Dickens and Hemingway.

Philo Sessions at SBL Annual Meeting

TORREY SELAND: Philo Sessions at SBL Annual Meeting.

Posts from the Talmud Blog

SOME ONLINE REVIEWS pertinent to ancient Judaism are noted by Shai Secunda at the Talmud Blog: RSK’s New Book and Paradigms of Gender Research. ("RSK" is Ross Shepard Kraemer.) Note also Amit Gvaryahu's recent post on the same blog: A New Reading of 4Q251 8.

Hear the bell on YouTube

IMRA: Hear the bell on You Tube!!! The sound of the recently discovered ancient golden bell can be heard on YouTube here. And, yes, I think tinkle or bangle noise fits pretty well.

HT Joseph Lauer. Background here.

Did Jews Invent the Question Mark?

PROBABLY NOT: Did Jews Invent the Question Mark?

The question is asked by Renee Ghert-Zand in The Forward blog The Shmooze. The question mark in, er, question is the punctuation mark found in fifth-century CE (not BCE) Syriac manuscripts as noted recently by Cambridge researcher Dr Chip Coakley. Syriac is the Christian Aramaic dialect spoken in the ancient Anatolian city of Edessa and it became the language of the Aramaic-speaking Eastern Church. If the mark was invented in the fifth century, it is very likely that it was invented by Eastern Christians. Still, we (or at least I) don't know exactly how early the mark was developed, and it is possible that Jews were involved in the translation of Hebrew Bible books into Syriac a few centuries earlier, so the possibility cannot be entirely discounted.

Cross-file under "Aramaic Watch."

More on the golden bell from Jerusalem

MORE ON THE GOLDEN BELL FROM JERUSALEM:

First, the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs publishes an IAA press release: Rare gold bell discovered in excavations in Jerusalem. It is substantially the same as the Arutz Sheva article I linked to on Friday, and it looks to me as though they were both translated independently into English from the same Hebrew press release.

Second, the AP has an article that has some new details: Ancient bell found in Jerusalem Old City sewer. Evidently the sound it makes is "something between a clink and a rattle" (I wonder if that counts as a "tinkle" or a "bangle noise"). And it may be my imagination, but perhaps there's a little backtracking of the claims. Instead of coming from the clothing of "a man of high authority," the owner is now "a wealthy resident" of Jerusalem, although the bell still came from "his garment."

Also, Green Prophet gets the award for most inflated headline so far: Authentic Remnant From Solomon’s Temple? The find is from the time of the Second Temple or Herod's Temple. The First ("Solomon's") Temple was destroyed many centuries before.

Background here, where I raise the possibility of the bell coming from a woman's clothing.

UPDATE (26 July): Hear the bell tinkle.