Mykytiuk on biblical persons in NWS inscriptions

LAWRENCE MYKYTIUK has e-mailed to let me know that an article of his from 2010 is available for free online:

Corrections and Updates to "Identifying Biblical Persons in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions of 1200-539 B.C.E."

Lawrence J. Mykytiuk, Purdue University

Comments
This article updates the cutoff point for the inscriptions treated in the book mentioned in the title, which was mid-2002, to July 31, 2008. It evaluates 32 proposed identifications (IDs) of biblical persons in ancient Near Eastern inscriptions of 1200-539 B.C.E. All 32 IDs or non-IDs are listed and indexed at the end.

Abstract
This article does two things. First, it corrects things in the book, Identifying Biblical Persons in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions of 1200-539 B.C.E. (2004), abbreviated IBP below:
• Regarding potential forgeries, the article applies the principles for treatment of unprovenanced inscriptions set forth in Christopher A. Rollston, “Non-Provenanced Epigraphs II: The Status of Non-Provenanced Epigraphs within the Broader Corpus of Northwest Semitic,” Maarav 11 (2004): 71–76.
• It disqualifies proposed IDs in eight (8) inscriptions that are forgeries or probable forgeries, notably including the two bullae frequently attributed to the biblical Baruch.
Second, it evaluates 32 proposed identifications (IDs) of biblical persons in inscriptions of 1200-539 B.C.E. Doing this updates the book, IBP, from its original coverage through mid-2002, to July 31, 2008. In order to evaluate these proposed IDs, it uses the protocols set forth in the book, IBP, pp. 9-89. Resulting IDs and non-IDs appear in six categories of strength or weakness, from unmistakable to disqualified.
• Constructively, it makes eleven strong, reasonable, or possible IDs of biblical persons in provenanced Northwest Semitic inscriptions and two reasonable IDs in inscriptions written in other languages (one in Egyptian hieroglyphics and one in Babylonian Akkadian).
• It gives page-by-page corrections to the book, IBP, if they affect IDs. These corrections end with a summary of the results of the book as corrected by this article on pp. 125-126. A summary and an index only of the results in the article appear on pp. 126-132.


Keywords
Hebrew Bible, Old Testament, biblical historicity, historical reliability of the Old Testament, identifying biblical persons, palaeography, Semitic paleography, Semitic inscriptions, Hebrew inscriptions, Northwest Semitic epigraphy, epigraphic Hebrew, epigraphic Aramaic, Melqart stele, Ahab, Ahikam, Ahiqam, Ahaziah, Azzur, Balaam, Bala‘am, Baruch, Berekyahu, Bar-hadad, Ben-hadad, Beor, Be‘or, David, Esarhaddon, Gedaliah, Pashhur, Gemariah, Gemaryahu, Goliath, Hadadezer, Hanan, Hazael, Igdaliah, Immer, Joash, Jehoash, Jehucal, Jucal, Yehukal, Yukal, Jerahmeel, Josiah, Mikneiah, Miqneiah, Nebo-sarsekim, Rab-saris, Neriah, Shaphan, Shelemiah, Zechariah

Published in:
Maarav 16.1 (2009): 49–132.

Date of this Version
2009

You can download the article as a PDF file from the linked web page. The article is long, detailed, and very technical, but you can read a summary of his conclusions on pp. 126-30.

Professor Mykytiuk and I had a discussion of this subject at PaleoJudaica back in 2004 (here and here; note also related later posts here and here). He now agrees with my initial instinct that the Baruch bullae should be treated as forgeries.

Alex Joffe on Mel Gibson's Maccabee movie

ALEX JOFFE: MEL AND THE MACCABEE (Jewish Ideas Daily). Excerpt:

But in some respects, few people are better equipped than Gibson to tackle the character of Judah Maccabee and the Jewish revolt against the Syrian Greeks, which took place from 167 to 160 B.C.E. In his 1979 breakthrough movie Mad Max, Gibson fought his way across the post-apocalyptic Australian outback. In the Lethal Weapon series, Martin Riggs, the Los Angeles detective played by Gibson was chronically on the edge of a breakdown. In the more recent Edge of Darkness, Gibson's homicide cop pursued his daughter's killer. Gibson's most iconic characters have been damaged loners who are roused by adversity to lead against-the-odds battles against injustice.

Gibson also has a long cinematic history with freedom fighters. In the 1995 Braveheart, of which he was director and star, he played the doomed 13th-century Scots leader William Wallace, driven by an outrage committed against his beloved into warring against the English. In The Patriot in 2000, he portrayed a South Carolina farmer drawn into the Revolutionary War after his son was brutally killed by the British. When it comes to reluctant heroes who "just snapped," no one does it better than Gibson.

Moreover, the biblical epic as a cinematic form in America is in grave need of a reboot.

Background here.

Columbus, the size of the earth, and 4 Ezra

COLUMBUS, THE SIZE OF THE EARTH, AND 4 EZRA: Over at Starts With A Bang!, Ethan Siegel has a nice post up on Who Discovered The Earth is Round? (HT James McGrath and Tom Verenna). It was, of course, the Alexandrian scholar Eratosthenes of Cyrene in the third century BCE. So, contrary to the old textbooks, Columbus knew perfectly well that the earth was a sphere. Indeed, the success of his project to sail to the Indies depended on his being able to circumnavigate it. These days, this is well known. But Ethan's last paragraph raises another point that is generally unknown (his emphasis):

If there's anything Columbus should be known for, as respects the size and shape of the Earth, it was using unrealistically low numbers for the circumference of the Earth! His estimates, that he used to convince others that one could sail from Europe directly to India (were the Americas non-existant), were absurdly small! Had the Americas not existed, he and his crew surely would have starved before reaching Asia!

Spot on. Now, as Theodore Sturgeon used to say, Ask the next question. Where did Columbus get his wildly inaccurate estimate of the circumference of the earth? (Or, at least, of the size of the ocean between Europe and the Indies.) The answer is from 4 Ezra 6:42-52:

[42] "On the third day thou didst command the waters to be gathered together in the seventh part of the earth; six parts thou didst dry up and keep so that some of them might be planted and cultivated and be of service before thee.
[43] For thy word went forth, and at once the work was done.
[44] For immediately fruit came forth in endless abundance and of varied appeal to the taste; and flowers of inimitable color; and odors of inexpressible fragrance. These were made on the third day.
[45] "On the fourth day thou didst command the brightness of the sun, the light of the moon, and the arrangement of the stars to come into being;
[46] and thou didst command them to serve man, who was about to be formed.
[47] "On the fifth day thou didst command the seventh part, where the water had been gathered together, to bring forth living creatures, birds, and fishes; and so it was done.
[48] The dumb and lifeless water produced living creatures, as it was commanded, that therefore the nations might declare thy wondrous works.
[49] "Then thou didst keep in existence two living creatures; the name of one thou didst call Behemoth and the name of the other Leviathan.
[50] And thou didst separate one from the other, for the seventh part where the water had been gathered together could not hold them both.
[51] And thou didst give Behemoth one of the parts which had been dried up on the third day, to live in it, where there are a thousand mountains;
[52] but to Leviathan thou didst give the seventh part, the watery part; and thou hast kept them to be eaten by whom thou wilt, and when thou wilt. (RSV)

My emphasis. The key point is the repeated assertion that the waters, that is the oceans, make up only one-seventh of the earth. Therefore, one might infer that the Atlantic ocean could not have been all that big and that it would not be a difficult project to sail across it to the Indies. Columbus, in fact, made this very argument to Ferdinand and Isabella using this text, and apparently they were convinced, since they gave him their support.*

The moral? Everyone should read the Old Testament pseudepigrapha, but don't use them to make your travel plans.

*For more details, see Alastair Hamilton, The Apocryphal Apocalypse: The Reception of the Second Book of Esdras (4 Ezra) from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment (Oxford: Clarendon, 1999), 27-29.

Cross-file under "Pseudepigrapha Watch."

NYU Dura-Europos exhibition opens Friday

THE NYU DURA-EUROPOS EXHIBITION opens Friday:

Earliest Known Images of Christ on Display at NYU
Exhibition highlights religious coexistence and multiculturalism

By Laura Gilbert 9/20 7:20pm (New York Observer)

This Friday, the earliest known images of Christ, from the year 240, go on view in New York for the first time, and they aren’t where you might expect them to be. They are part of a remarkable exhibition at the relatively obscure N.Y.U. Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, a jewel-box of a museum on East 84th Street whose mission, according to exhibitions director Dr. Jennifer Chi, is “to break down preconceived notions of antiquity.”

“Edge of Empires: Pagans, Jews, and Christians at Roman Dura-Europos” does so with a vengeance, in presenting 77 objects from an excavation in Syria that fundamentally altered the understanding of art, culture and religion in the ancient world.

[...]

Art and artifacts of stunning historical importance were uncovered. The paintings of Christ are part of a series of New Testament scenes that exhibition co-curator Dr. Peter De Staebler said are “the earliest dated Christian art in existence.” ...

These images of Christ are not to be confused with any images that might happen to be on any fake metal codices.

Personally, I wouldn't say that I wouldn't expect to see such images (the real ones, that is) at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. But PaleoJudaica has been following the career of the Institute since its founding was announced back in 2006, so it is not "obscure"—not even "relatively"—to regular readers here.

Background on the exhibition and on Dura Europos is here and links.

More on DSS exhibit in NYC

MORE ON THE UPCOMING DEAD SEA SCROLLS EXHIBITION IN NEW YORK:

Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and Faith in Biblical Times Exhibition to Make World Premiere at Discovery Times Square in October
Exhibition Premieres Largest Collection of Holy Land Artifacts featuring 10 Dead Sea Scrolls on Display, Over 500 Biblical Era Artifacts Along With an Authentic Three-Ton Stone from Jerusalem's Western Wall

NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- ( www.discoverytsx.com ) -- Beginning October 28, the world premiere engagement of Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and Faith in Biblical Times will be held at Discovery Times Square (226 West 44th Street). This new exhibition features the most comprehensive collection of ancient artifacts from Israel ever organized, including one of the largest collections of the priceless 2000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls displayed in North America and an authentic three-ton stone from the Western Wall in Jerusalem. This exhibition is created by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) from the collections of the Israel National Treasures and produced by Discovery Times Square and The Franklin Institute.

[...]

There are lots of new details, including information on the scrolls to be displayed:

The 20-scroll exhibit (10 scrolls displayed at a time, with 4 scrolls making their world debut) will include pieces from the biblical books of Genesis, Psalms, Exodus, Isaiah, and others.

Background here.

Byzantine-era site at Beer Sheva bus terminal

A BYZANTINE-ERA SITE is being excavated at the Beer Sheva bus terminal (Arutz Sheva):

“We've found a few large rooms at floor level preservation, with a lot of fallen walls, and a few floors,” [archaeology student Tamar] Gresser said in an exclusive interview with Arutz Sheva. “The interesting part are underground rooms which were dug into the natural earth, underneath the houses. The rooms are easy to detect because they are filled with very soft dirt, very different from the rock-hard natural earth. Most of these rooms will have a wall or two to strengthen the sides or the opening.”

So far, the archaeologists have found broken jars and numerous coins – so many, in fact, that in one of the rooms, “we found 52 coins in one day," Gresser said. "We think they may have been in a cloth or leather bag that decayed over the years, resulting in them being found scattered. That was exciting!”

Mandaean message on a bottle

MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE: Well, okay, on a bottle. James McGrath has made an interesting Mandaean (Mandean) discovery in that same British Museum database: Mandaean Artifacts in the British Museum.

A new fragment of Jeremiah in Coptic

ALIN SUCIU: A British Museum Fragment Purchased from Christie’s: New Evidence of the Book of Jeremiah in Coptic, discovered via the new searchable database of the British Museum.

However, examination of the photographs led me to the conclusion that the manuscript contains a portion from the Book of Jeremiah in Sahidic. More precisely, the Coptic text corresponds to Jer. 21:14-22:20 (LXX). The document is of particular importance as it supplies us with a passage from Jeremiah which was unknown in Sahidic.

Bit by bit, a letter at a time, whatever it takes. Until we're done.

More on the new Oxyrhynchus gospel fragment

NEWS ABOUT THAT NEW FRAGMENT OF AN UNKNOWN GOSPEL from the Oxyrhynchus papyri: Tony Burke relays a report by Brent Landau on a lecture by Dirk Obbink: New Unknown Gospel from Oxyrhynchus. The report has some other interesting information as well.

Background here and links.

On the Hekhalot literature

ON THE HEKHALOT LITERATURE:

Ancient Kabbalah- Entering Heavenly Palaces

Part of: Kabbalistic Offshoots and Mystical Bends

Author: michal Schwartz — Published: Sep 16, 2011 at 1:11 pm 0 comments
BC Culture Premium

“Thus it is possible that in some Jewish texts, already beginning with antiquity, magic and mysticism can be regarded as two faces of the same coin. This is obvious in the Hekhalot literature.” (Moshe Idel)

Full of fantastic descriptions, Hekhalot (heavenly palaces) and Merkavah (Chariot) are ancient Hebrew mystical texts dating from around the second to the fifth century CE.

[...]

This is a companion piece to an earlier essay on Metatron etc. Very broadly it gives the novice reader some idea of what the Hekhalot literature is about, but there are errors and I want to go through the whole thing and nuance and revise. Some of the material in the texts may indeed go back to the second to fifth century CE, or even earlier, but the bulk of what we have now was composed roughly from late antiquity through the Genonic period (call it from the fifth to the tenth century) and edited by the European Haside Ashkenaz in the Middle Ages. Palmistry and reading the lines of the forehead are known from physiognomic texts related to the Hekhalot literature, but otherwise appears in only one early Hekhalot manuscript from the Cairo Geniza. And the Hekhalot texts do not teach how to call down evil angels. The good ones are quite dangerous enough.

And so on. Rather than continuing, let me just refer you to my article "The Hekhalot Literature and Shamanism," which introduces the texts, their contents, and their purposes as I understand them. As I have mentioned before, I am currently finishing my English translation of the Hekhalot literature, so such matters are much on my mind right now.

New DSS exhibition coming to Manhattan

A NEW DEAD SEA SCROLLS EXHIBITION is coming to Discovery Times Square in Manhattan on 28 October.

Review of Miles, "Carthage Must Be Destroyed"

REVIEW OF MILES, CARTHAGE MUST BE DESTROYED in the Philadelphia Inquirer:

A rival to ancient Rome that paid the ultimate price
September 18, 2011

By Richard Miles

Viking. 544 pp. $35.

Reviewed by John Timpane

You know a story is great when it grips you even when you know how it turns out.

I picked up Carthage Must Be Destroyed because I'd always wanted to know more about the famed ancient city, sited in what is now Tunisia. This center of power rivaled Rome for centuries. That rivalry culminated in the three Punic Wars, fought between 264 B.C. and 146 B.C., ending with the utter and horrific destruction of both Carthage and its culture.

[...]

Earlier reviews here and here and links.

Review: Fields, "The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Full History"

H-JUDAIC REVIEW:

Weston Fields. The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Full History. Leiden: Brill Academic Pub, 2009. 608 pp. $99.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-90-04-17581-5.

Reviewed by Jaqueline Du Toit (University of the Free State, South Africa)
Published on H-Judaic (September, 2011)
Commissioned by Jason Kalman

Excerpt:

In short, The Dead Sea Scrolls. A Full History is therefore, as the cover claims, an attempt at “a more complete account of the discovery of the scrolls and their history over the past 60 years since the first scrolls were discovered in a cave near the Dead Sea.” The project, of which this is only the first volume, was anticipated in 2006 by Fields’s The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Short History, also published by Brill. The current first of a projected two volumes of the “full history” (henceforth referred to as volume 1) sets out to record the history of the Dead Sea Scrolls from the moment of discovery in the late 1940s until the present day. Much necessary ink is spilt on the relationships between the primary actors in the drama of the scrolls’ discovery, purchase, reconstruction, decipherment, and the often less than successful attempts at publication of the first decade. As is to be expected, of the thirteen chapters, the predominant number (chapters 4 to 13) are devoted primarily to the discovery and management of what became known as the Cave 4 cache of fragments and the establishment of the international coterie of scholars that would become known as the “Cave Four Team”--a term Fields prefers to “International Team” or “International Committee” (pp. 191-192) for its emphasis on the nature of their work.

Job in Early Judaism at U. Tennessee, Knoxville

JOB IN EARLY JUDAISM at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Department of Religious Studies:

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Department of Religious Studies, invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor in Early Judaism to begin August 2012. PhD in a relevant field and teaching experience are preferred, but ABDs in the final stages of completing their dissertations will be considered. Preferred applicants will have a background in Religious Studies, teaching competence in Hebrew Bible, and knowledge of biblical Hebrew and other languages relevant to their research, and will complement existing UTK faculty in Religious Studies, Judaic Studies, and/or The Marco Institute for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. Possible periods of specialization include but are not limited to: Second-Temple Judaism, Rabbinic Judaism, Medieval Judaism. The Knoxville campus of the University of Tennessee is seeking candidates who have the ability to contribute in meaningful ways to the diversity and intercultural goals of the university.

Posted on the Hugoye list by Prof. Tina Shepardson. Follow the link for full details.

Job in Late Hebrew Bible at U. Texas at Austin

JOB IN LATE HEBREW BIBLE at the Department of Middle Eastern Studies, University of Texas at Austin:

The Department of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin invites applications for a position of Assistant Professor (tenure-track) in the field of late Hebrew Bible. The position will begin in August 2012.

The successful applicant must have obtained his/her PhD by Sept. 1, 2010. He or she must demonstrate an established record of scholarly research and publication, as well as excellence in teaching at the college level. The scholar in this position will specialize in late Hebrew Bible (post-exilic texts) and will have expertise in one or more of the following fields: 2nd Temple archaeology and culture; the language and context of the Dead Sea Scrolls; 2nd Temple literature outside the Hebrew Bible. She or he will teach both undergraduate and graduate courses and will serve in new, demanding doctoral programs in Hebrew Bible/Ancient Near East (Dept. of Middle Eastern Studies) and Ancient Mediterranean Religions (Dept.of Religious Studies).

Scholars at the University of Texas are expected to maintain a strong record of research and publication and engage in service to the Department, the University, and the profession. The Department places a high premium on collegiality and maintaining a diverse and hospitable working environment. Preference will be given to those with methodological and theoretical interests in Religious Studies.

Applicant Instructions:

Review of applications will begin October 21, 2011, with the intention of conducting preliminary interviews at the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, November 19–22, 2011.

Please submit a letter of interest, curriculum vitae, sample of research, teaching dossier, and three original letters of reference via https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/1017. No hard copy, please.

Follow the link for more details.

Following the Tenth Legion

TRAVEL PIECE:

Off the Beaten Track: Following the Tenth Legion

By JOE YUDIN (Jerusalem Post)
09/15/2011 15:48

Marks of Hadrian, Herod, Crusaders, Rabbi Akiva, Bar Kochba, Rashi, Mamlukes, Ottomans, Brits, Israelis and more are all over Jerusalem.
Talkbacks (2)

Joe Yudin owns Touring Israel, a company that specializes in “Lifestyle” tours of Israel.

There are ten measures of beauty in the world-nine in Jerusalem and one in the rest of the world. There are ten measures of suffering in the world-nine in Jerusalem and one in the rest of the world. There are ten measures of wisdom in the world-nine in Jerusalem and one in the rest of the world. There are ten measures of smooth talk in the world-nine in Jerusalem and one in the rest of the world. There are ten measures of Torah in the world-nine in Jerusalem and one in the rest of the world. -Avot de Rabbi Natan, B.

This late period midrash (around the 8th century CE) explains Jerusalem perfectly even until this day. There is no place on earth like Jerusalem, its beauty is unique and very special, and its history and holiness are almost immeasurable. There is also a dark side to Jerusalem: its politics, its sectarian friction, and its history of being destroyed and rebuilt over and over again.

Walking through Jaffa Gate in the Old City we pass the ramparts walk entrance and bathrooms immediately to the left, then the tourist offices and the “Tomb of the Architects.” Pass the first street on your left and then take your next left through an arched gateway next to a kiosk, seemingly entering a building but in actually it’s an alleyway. Check out the ceilings under the arches and continue to a small circular opening next to a café. You will be standing next to a lamppost, but take a closer look at the pillar holding up the lamp. There is Latin writing engraved on it. This pillar marks the spot of the headquarters for the Roman governor of Judea, “Marcus Iunius Maximus…Legate of the Tenth Legion of the Sea Straits.” The infamous Tenth Legion, previously led by Octavian Augustus which defeated both Sextus Pompei and Mark Anthony, also participated in the siege of Jerusalem and its destruction in the year 70 CE, first under the command of Vespasian and later his son Titus.

During the Titus led, Tenth Legion’s siege of the Temple Mount complex, the Temple itself caught fire and the Jewish priests threw the keys to Jerusalem and the Temple into the burning ambers of the Temple proclaiming “Master of the Universe! Since we have not been privileged to become Thy faithful ministers, let these keys been entrusted to Thy hands!” ...

The writer doesn't give a source for this legend, but presumably it is rabbinic. A similar story appears in a couple of Old Testament pseudepigrapha. According to 4 Baruch 4:1-5 and the Coptic Jeremiah Apocryphon 28, during the siege the prophet Jeremiah tossed either keys or the gold plate with God's name on it into the sun for safekeeping.

Lecture and exhibition on the Shofar

LECTURE AND EXHIBITION:

Ancient instruments and texts inspire!

By LOREN MINSKY/ITRAVELJERUSALEM.COM TEAM (Jerusalem Post)
09/15/2011 14:52

Don’t miss the fascinating Gone with the Wind lecture at the Bible Lands museum.

Dr. Guy Stiebel from Hebrew University will be discussing wind instruments in the land of Israel during the classical period. The talk is free with museum admission.

While you’re at the museum, check out the related exhibition on the ancient wind instrument, the shofar. The exhibition, Sound the Shofar - a Witness to History, traces the history of the shofar from animal horn to icon. On display are shofarot from around the world, each with a story to tell and together they tell the story of the Jewish people. A viewing of the exhibition will enrich and redefine your shofar-blowing experience during the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services.

UPATE: Todd Bolen notes More Sounds of the Shofar.

Why Jesus was a giant

REMNANT OF GIANTS: Why Jesus was a Giant: The Messianic Interpretation of Psalm 18(19) in Gosp. Peter 10.38-42. Quite an interesting argument.

Fake metal codices: recent blog posts

FAKE METAL CODICES WATCH: Some interesting blog posts have come out in the last day or so.

Tom Verenna: Jordan Lead Codices: Another Stamp Found.

Steve Caruso: Jordan Codices: More About the Altered Metallurgical Report .

And David Meadows links to Tom's post and has a roundup of his own coverage: Those Lead Codices Just Get Faker By the Day.

Background here and links.

Metatron, Black Metal, and the Holocaust

ARCHANGEL METATRON WATCH—Metatron, Black Metal, and the Holocaust:

THE MEADS OF ASPHODEL Begins Work On New Album - Sep. 14, 2011

(Blabbermouth.Net)

Vocalist Metatron of the English progressive black metal band THE MEADS OF ASPHODEL will go to Krakow, Poland in November to research Auschwitz for the band's new album, to be titled "Sonderkommando". The concept behind the release is to see the Holocaust from the eyes of the Jewish Sonderkommando (these were the unfortunate workers who removed the corpses from the gas chambers, and after removing teeth/hair and valuables, cremated them). From their words the album will lament on the burning death pits, Block 11, the crematoriums, the daily arrival of the trains and their human freight destined to the jaws of murder and to be stacked like logs in a factory of death.

Metatron will record narratives and parts of the album on site in Auschwitz to capture some of the horror of a unique chapter in history.

[...]

This is pretty horrific and I'm not sure what to think about it, but I'll let Metatron speak for himself:

Commented Metatron: "Maybe some things are best forgotten, maybe unspoken. Then again, maybe they should never be forgotten, and if spoken of, maybe the world will be a better place by remembering."

I could have sworn that I've blogged on this band before, but I can't find a link now.

UPDATE (18 September): Ezra Glinter comments at The Forward's Arty Semite blog:

It’s hard to know what to make of such a project. Is it serious? Well intentioned? Exploitative? Metatron frames it in the pious language of Holocaust remembrance: “Maybe some things are best forgotten, maybe unspoken. Then again, maybe they should never be forgotten, and if spoken of, maybe the world will be a better place by remembering.”

What he doesn’t acknowledge is the possibility — or probability — that attempting to interpret the most horrific of Holocaust horrors through the lens of contemporary black metal will cheapen the raw force of the facts themselves. As Primo Levi wrote, the creation of the Sonderkommandos was among the Nazis’ most heinous acts, because by forcing their victims to carry out their own destruction, they made them complicit in their crimes. Can Metatron and The Meads of Asphodel do justice to such a thing?

He thinks not. Read it all.

A new course on Zoharic Aramaic at U. Manitoba

ARAMAIC WATCH:

Aramaic getting new life

Written by Rebeca Kuropatwa (Jewish Tribune)
Tuesday, 13 September 2011

Winnipeg – This fall, the University of Manitoba’s Judaic Studies program will be offering, not only Hebrew and Yiddish language classes, but also Arabic – and, for the first time, Aramaic.
In ancient times, Aramaic was the common language spoken by many Jews in Israel and Babylonia. The Talmud is mainly in Aramaic, as is one of the most widely known Jewish prayers, Kaddish.

Justin Jaron Lewis, assistant professor in the Judaic Studies program, moved to Winnipeg in July 2008. He will be teaching the Aramaic course, The Aramaic of The Zohar.

“The idea of teaching a beginner’s course on the Aramaic of the Zohar has been with me for years,” said Lewis, who has been studying The Zohar for about 25 years and is the author of an online Zohar course www.kolel.org/ zohar/map.html.

“Like many other people, I’m fascinated by The Zohar – not only because it’s the cornerstone of Kabbalah, a rich spiritual tradition, but also because it’s a unique work of imaginative literature.”

[...]

Due to the particularly literary dialect that The Zohar’s Aramaic is written in, it encompasses a minimal vocabulary. That is why Lewis thinks it will be possible to teach it to beginner students, noting that “studying Aramaic in this fairly simple form can be an introduction to Semitic languages for students who don’t know Hebrew or Arabic. When I mentioned it to some students here at the U of M, they were very interested and I decided to actually try it out.”


[...]

I am mind-blown at the thought of teaching Zoharic Aramaic as an introductory Aramaic course to students who don't even have Hebrew. But I hope the course is very successful and I also hope there is a follow-up report on it later on.

If you happen to be interested in trying out some Zoharic Aramaic, the critical text behind Daniel Matt's (still in-progress) translation of the Zohar can be downloaded from The Zohar: Pritzker Edition web page from Stanford University Press. Click on the Aramaic Texts link for the PDF files. More on Matt's translation of the Zohar here and links.

Greek Professors: Do They Know Greek?

DANIEL STREETT: Greek Professors: Do They Know Greek?

(Read the post at the link and, if you are so minded, take the quiz. Do this before you read my comments below, or the hints I give may inflate your score.)

The highest score of the Greek professors was two out of eleven. I'm a Hebrew professor and I got four and a bit. (I got "hello" in the bonus question.) He's right, reading widely outside the New Testament does help. Besides Jewish Hellenistic literature and some Septuagint, I've read a lot of Plato, Aristotle, and Neoplatonist texts. I don't think I would have gotten "nine" if it hadn't been for Plotinus. Plus, I have to give credit to the goofy textbook Let's Study Greek, which I used as a teenager and which teaches New Testament Greek in a conversational way that includes words like "yes," "hi!," and "chair." (The other word I got was "nose" and I'm annoyed with myself for not getting "red." "Red Sea," anyone?)

Via James McGrath, who doesn't say what his score was.

UPDATE: Yitz Landes has a tangentially related post at the Talmud Blog: Essential Languages for the Study of Rabbinic Literature. His list sounds right to me and it makes me wish I knew Middle Persian. For Medieval languages, I would spell out* that "Arabic" includes "Judeo-Arabic" (Arabic written in the Hebrew alphabet).

*No pun intended.

UPDATE (15 September): Daniel comments.

Ancient anchors discovered at Bat Yam beach

SLIGHTLY EARLY IN HONOR OF TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY:

Byzantine-era anchor found in Israel might shed light on ancient sailing

English.news.cn 2011-09-13 21:36:32 FeedbackPrintRSS

JERUSALEM, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- The recent discovery by Israeli lifeguards of three ancient iron anchors might help archaeologists understand more about ancient sailing and lead to the discovery of an unknown anchorage site.

Lifeguards at a Bat Yam city beach, south of Tel Aviv, came across the first 300 kg, two-meter-tall anchor after spotting it submerged in shallow waters, 30 meters offshore.

Though the lifeguards initially thought it to be a modern artifact, they contacted the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) after suspecting that it might, in fact, be an archaeological find.

An IAA marine archaeologist confirmed that the find was about 1, 700-1,400 years old, belonging to the Byzantine era.

The anchor's surprisingly well preserved state was due to it's having been buried for centuries in the seabed and only being recently uncovered, an IAA statement read.

[...]

Two other anchor were found in the same area.

Anchors aweigh, aarrr!

Beth Mardutho website and Hugoye journal

THE BETH MARDUTHO SYRIAC STUDIES WEBSITE (http://www.bethmardutho.org/) has been renovated and reformatted and is looking spiffy. Also, the associated (free!) online journal, Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies, has just published a new issue (14.2). TOC:

Volume 14 Number 2 (Summer 2011)

Papers

A Light from "The Dark Centuries": Isḥaq Shbadnaya's Life and Works
Thomas Carlson, Princeton University

A Note on Jacob of Sarug's Memre on Joseph
Kristian S. Heal, Brigham Young University

'Cast out Hagar and Ismael Her Son from Me': Text and Intertext in Eutychius of Alexandria's Annals
Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala, University of Cordoba

Interpreting the Ninevites' Repentance: Jewish and Christian Exegetes in Late Antique Mesopotamia
Christine Shepardson, University of Tennessee-Knoxville

Book Reviews

Ignacio Carbajosa, The Character of the Syriac Version of the Psalms: A Study of Psalms 90-150 in the Peshitta
Richard A. Taylor, Dallas Theological Seminary

Daniel M. Gurtner, Introduction to Syriac: Key to Exercises & English-Syriac Vocabulary
Kristian S. Heal, Brigham Young University

Naomi Koltun-Fromm, Hermeneutics of Holiness: Ancient Jewish and Christian Notions of Sexuality and Religious Community
Yifat Monnickendam, Johns Hopkins University

Brent Landau, Revelation of the Magi: The Lost Tale of the Wise Men's Journey to Bethlehem
Kristian S. Heal, Brigham Young University

Serge Ruzer and Aryeh Kofsky, Syriac Idiosyncracies: Theology and Hermeneutics in Early Syriac Literature
J.W. Childers, Abilene Christian University

Bas Snelders, Identity and Christian-Muslim Interaction: Medieval Art of the Syrian Orthodox from the Mosul Area
Emma Loosley, University of Manchester

Reports

An Early Aramaic (Syriac) Word Processor under DOS
Sunil Sivanand and Daniel Benjamin

Baptists, El Shaddai, and 1 Enoch

EL SHADDAI: ASCENSION OF THE METATRON is getting Baptists to take a second look at the book of 1 Enoch, which is all to the good as far as I'm concerned.

Lauren’s Lab: Biblical story makes rare appearance in video game

Posted by admin

By LAUREN SCHOENEMANN (The Houston Baptist University Collegian)

It’s good versus evil, taken to new levels.

“El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron” took inspiration from a source rarely consulted within the video game industry – the Bible.

The game is loosely based on the legend of Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah who, according to the book of Genesis, never died but was taken by God directly into heaven. It draws more heavily from the Ethiopic Bible’s Books of Enoch, according to which Enoch becomes chief of the archangels and protector of heaven’s treasures.

Whether the game assumes a ministerial role or simply serves to entertain, players may feel challenged to look beyond the anime-themed action-adventure elements to discover the original scripture that inspired the plot of “El Shaddai” instead of merely playing a game that encourages no further investigation into its origins. They could even become more enthusiastic about playing it after learning more about the story.

[...]

Background here.

Cross file under "Archangel Metatron Watch" and "Pseudepigrapha Watch."

Mel Gibson interviewed about Maccabean movie

MEL GIBSON is interviewed by Jeffrey Goldberg at The Atlantic about Mel's Maccabean movie project: "Mel Gibson on Judah Maccabee, Christopher Hitchens, and Circumcision." Excerpt:

Let me dispense first with the famous anti-Semitic blow-up. I asked him why it happened, and he answered me directly: "I was loaded, and some stupid shit can come out of your mouth when you're loaded."

But from what dark corner of his soul did this terrible accusation -- that Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world -- emanate? He said, "That day they were marching into Lebanon. It was one of those things. It was on the news."

The "they" in question is the Israel Defense Forces. I found this answer to be proof, of course, of Gibson's anti-Semitic tendencies. Most drunk people, when stopped by the police, don't launch into tirades against Jews. He was obviously preoccupied with the putative sins of Jewish people, which raised the obvious question, why would he seek to make a film about one of the great Jewish heroes of history? Money, he said, was not a motivator.

"If you're looking to make money out of this, forget it," he said, citing the costs of staging period spectaculars. "Even Braveheart didn't make much money."

His interest stemmed, he said, from the simple fact that the Book of Maccabees (I and II, he said) are "ripping good reads."

"I just read it when I was teenager, and it's amazing. It's almost like" -- here, he grabbed my digital recorder, held it to his mouth, and spoke in a portentous movie-announcer voice -- "They profaned his Temple. They killed his father. They... all kinds of stuff. In the face of great odds for something he believed in" -- here he switched out of movie-announcer voice -- "Oh, my God, the odds they faced. The armies they faced had elephants! How cinematic is this! Even Judah's dad -- what's his name? Mattathias? -- you kind of get this guy who more or less is trying to avoid the whole thing, but he just gets to a place where had enough, and he just snapped!"

In other words, Judah Maccabee, his father, and his brothers, are like the heroes of every Mel Gibson movie.

Worth reading in full, but if you are fainthearted, be warned that there is strong language as well as a discussion of epispasm that may involve too much information.

Via Cinema Blend. Background here.

More from Tom Verenna on the fake metal codices

FAKE METAL CODICES WATCH: Thomas Verenna has posted an update on the current state of play at the Bible and Interpretation website: Brief Update on the Lead Codices.

Background here and links.

Blogcritics article on Metatron

ARCHANGEL METATRON WATCH: Blogcritics has a "culture" post up on Metatron:

Kabbalah: Archangel Metatron - Divine Ruler of Evil

Part of: Kabbalistic Offshoots and Mystical Bends

Author: michal Schwartz — Published: Sep 09, 2011 at 3:42 pm 1 comment
BC Culture Premium

“Every Angel is terrifying.”
Rilke, Duino Elegies

Metatron is the highest angel in Jewish angelic lore, second to God only. This position has made him an ambivalent figure; is he God’s servant or rival?

Jewish angelology has ascribed him many titles like: Prince of the World, the lesser YHWH, Prince of the Countenance.

[...]

The article is mostly on Kabbalistic traditions, which are outside my expertise, and I can't speak for its accuracy on these. The comments on the Hekhalot and magical texts are more or less correct, although the texts are from much later than the first century and they don't confuse Metatron with God. They do give the former a very exalted place and they do tell the Talmudic story of Elisha Ben Abuyah's confusion over the matter (I have translated the version in 3 Enoch here).

Talmud Blog: new books and web synopsis

NEW BOOKS are noted by Yitz Landes at the Talmud Blog:

Shaul Shaked, J.N. Ford, and Siam Bhayro, Aramaic Bowl Spells: Jewish Babylonian Aramaic Bowls Volume One (EIsenbrauns). The post has many useful links. Unfortunately, Eisenbrauns seems to have adjusted the URLs to both of the actual books and the links are dead at the moment. The page for this book is here.

The corpus of Aramaic incantation bowls from Sasanian Mesopotamia is perhaps the most important source we have for studying the everyday beliefs and practices of the Jewish, Christian, Mandaean, Manichaean, Zoroastrian and Pagan communities on the eve of the Islamic conquests. The bowls are from the Schøyen Collection, which has some 650 texts in different varieties of Aramaic: Jewish Aramaic, Mandaic and Syriac, and forms the largest collection of its kind anywhere in the world. This volume presents editions of sixty-three Jewish Aramaic incantation bowls, with accompanying introductions, translations, philological notes, photographs and indices. The themes covered include the magical divorce and the accounts of the wonder-working sages Hanina ben Dosa and Joshua bar Perahia. It is the first of a multi-volume project that aims to publish the entire Schøyen Collection of Aramaic incantation bowls.

Emanuel Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible (3rd ed., Eisenbrauns). Again, the post has some good links. The link to the Eisenbrauns page is here.

Since its initial publication, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible has established itself as the indispensable authoritative textbook and reference on the subject. In this thoroughly revised third edition, Emanuel Tov has incorporated the insights of the last ten years of scholarship, including new perspectives on the biblical texts among the Dead Sea Scrolls, all of which have now been published. Here are expanded discussions of the contribution of textual criticism to biblical exegesis and of the role of scribes in the transmission of the text. The introduction and references throughout the book have been thoroughly revised with the beginning student of textual criticism in mind.

Yitz Landes has also posted news of a new synopsis of Midrash Qohelet Rabbah.

September 11th

BMCR review of Cotton et al., "Corpus inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae. Volume 1: Jerusalem, Part 1"

BMCR REVIEW:

Hannah M. Cotton (ed.), Corpus inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae. Volume 1: Jerusalem, Part 1: 1 - 704. Corpus inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palestinae. A multi-lingual corpus of the inscriptions from Alexander to Muhammad. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2010. Pp. xxiv, 694. ISBN 9783110222197. $182.00.

Contributors: Additional editors: Leah Di Segni, Werner Eck, Benjamin Isaac, Alla Kushnir-Stein, Haggai Misgav, Jonathan Price, Israel Roll and Ada Yardeni.

Reviewed by Hagith Sivan (dinah01@ku.edu)

Preview

This is the first volume in a projected series of nine volumes dedicated to the classical epigraphy of Israel, a modern state with somewhat fluctuating borders that do not, however, correspond to either ancient Judaea or to Roman Palestine. The corpus's uniqueness, according to the brief introduction, resides in its multi-lingual aspect. Its chronological spectrum embraces nearly a millennium (c. 300 BCE to c. 640 CE), and the editors ought to be commended for attempting to break away from the traditional chronologies that have dominated the field of Jewish studies. Thus, instead of "Second Temple" and the "Mishnah" and "Talmud" eras (c. 450 BCE to 70 CE; c. 70 to c. 200 CE; and c. 200 to 400/600 CE, respectively), the editors have adopted the conventional classical boundaries of the "Hellenistic" period (which they do, however, terminate with the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE); the "Roman Period" (from 70 to Constantine), and "Late Antiquity" (from Constantine to the Arab Conquest). The inscriptions themselves do not appear to lend support to these temporal divisions, at least not in part 1 of volume 1 which, according to page 39, solely covers "inscriptions from the Hellenistic period up to the destruction of the Second Temple." Perhaps, for the sake of clarification, this important piece of information should have been placed on the title page.

[...]

Mentioned earlier here. Another project to collect ancient Jewish inscriptions from outside Palestine was noted here some years ago.

Jewish reactions to Gibson's Maccabee film

JEWISH REACTIONS to Mel Gibson's involvement in a movie about Judah the Maccabee have not been enthusiastic. Jennifer Lipman has a roundup at the Jewish Chronicle ("Mel Gibson to film story of Jewish hero Judah Maccabee"):

Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre Museum of Tolerance, said Mr Gibson should not be cast in the film or involved in it in any way.

"He has shown nothing but antagonism and disrespect to Jews," said Rabbi Hier. "There were the antisemitic remarks he made, his portrayal of Jews in The Passion of Christ.

"He's had a long history of antagonism with Jews. Casting him as a director or perhaps as the star of Judah Maccabee is like casting Madoff to be the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or a white supremacist as trying to portray Martin Luther King Jr.

"It's simply an insult to Jews."

The Anti-Defamation League also expressed regret that "someone better" could not be found to film the story.

"As a hero of the Jewish people and a universal hero in the struggle for religious liberty, Judah Maccabee deserves better," said national director Abraham Foxman. "It would be a travesty to have the story of the Maccabees told by one who has no respect and sensitivity for other people's religious views.

"Not only has Mel Gibson shown outward antagonism toward Jews and Judaism in his public statements and actions, but his previous attempt to bring biblical history to life on the screen was marred by antisemitism," he added.

"While we do not argue with Mel Gibson's right to make this film, we still strongly believe that Warner Bros. should reconsider Gibson's involvement in this project."

In the Independent, Rob Sharp covers some of the same ground more briefly and also gives a British reaction ("First he ranted against Judaism, now he's making a film about it"):

British Jewish groups have reacted with anger to the news. "It is astonishing, frankly, that he should choose to take this story on," said Dave Rich, a spokesman for the Jewish charity Community Security Trust, which seeks to protect Britain's Jewish community from "bigotry, anti-Semitism and terrorism". "You have to question what his motivation is. On the surface of it, it's as inappropriate as it gets for him to make a film about of the great heroes of Jewish history."

Background here.

Senior post in Judaism at Barnard College

JOB AT BARNARD COLLEGE—Jared Callaway has details: Senior Position in Judaism at Barnard. This is to fill the late Alan Segal's now vacant chair. He will be a hard act to follow.

Haredi conference on "Torah archaeology"

HAREDI CONFERENCE ON "TORAH ARCHAEOLOGY":

'Torah archaeology' sheds light on ancient Talmudic dispute

First Haredi conference on "Torah archaeology" held in Jerusalem.

By Yair Ettinger (Haaretz)

Tags: Orthodox Jews Israel archeology Jewish law

In the heart of ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem two weeks ago, an unwritten taboo was shattered in broad daylight: The first Haredi conference on "Torah archaeology" - having been boldly advertised in the Haredi daily Hamodia, and approved by several leading rabbis - drew a packed audience.

The opening speaker, Chabad Rabbi Shaul Shimon Deutsch, brought several ancient coins to the conference, held in the Beit Bracha hall near Jerusalem's Mea She'arim neighborhood. Deutsch, who flew in from Brooklyn for the event, runs a museum that displays artifacts he acquired on the private market from the time of the Mishna. Also among the artifacts, he displayed an intact scale that he said had been recovered several weeks earlier from a sunken ship in the Mediterranean Sea.

The scale, he said, settled once and for all a dispute that has raged among Torah scholars for centuries: How much did the litra, a Talmudic measure, actually weigh? The answer: 354 grams, just as the 11th-century commentator Rashi claimed, and contrary to the opinion of other great medieval commentators such as the Rambam.

This, as all the speakers agreed, is the purpose of Haredi archaeology: using ancient artifacts to shed light on religious texts - as long as they don't undermine the traditional reading of the texts, of course. Thus, when Deutsch showed the scale to Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, leader of the Lithuanian (non-Hasidic ) Haredim, Elyashiv "said it was really a wonder of wonders," Deutsch related.

[...]

The Monastery of Mar Musa al-Habashi

ARAMAIC WATCH: SANA profiles a Syriac monastery founded in the eleventh century:

Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi, Religious Tourist Destination

Sep 08, 2011

DAMASCUS COUNTRYSIDE, (SANA) – There, in a rugged valley within al-Qalamoun Mountains, stood the Monastery of Mar Musa al-Habashi as a witness on the Syriac civilization and a tourism destination for those who seek peace, contemplation, calmness and beauty.

According to local inhabitant Abdo Khenshat, the Monastery was named after St. Moses the Abyssinian, the son of a king of Ethiopia who left his country looking for the kingdom of God. He traveled to Egypt and then to the Holy Land in Palestine before he became a monk and lived in Qara, to the north of al-Nabk region in Damascus Countryside, and then as a hermit not far from there in the valley of what is today the monastery. He was martyred by Byzantine soldiers.

The Arabic inscriptions on the Monastery walls indicated that the church was built in the Islamic year 450 (1058 AD). In the fifteenth century the monastery was partly rebuilt and enlarged, he added.

[...]

This is late for PaleoJudaica coverage, but two points are of interest. First, there is Syriac inscribed on the walls, and I like to keep track of such things:

Great icons and images covered the church walls such as the image of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the four evangelists are painted above the four columns looking upwards to copy a heavenly page with Syriac letters, ten virgins carrying lamps, in addition to images of Jesus Christ, Virgin Mary and John the Baptist.

Then there's this:

The monastery includes a huge library rich of Arabic, Syriac and religious books, manuscripts and rare heritage books.

Tell us more.

More SANA coverage of Syrian archaeological and antiquities sites is noted here with links.

Mel Gibson meets Judah the Maccabee

MEL GIBSON MEETS JUDAH THE MACCABEE:

Mel Gibson and Warner Bros. developing Jewish hero epic

September 8, 2011 | 4:48 pm (LA Times)

Mel Gibson, the Oscar winner who has defended himself against accusations of anti-Semitism, is developing a film for Warner Bros. about the life of Judah Maccabee, the warrior whose ancient victory is celebrated by Hanukkah.

There was a rumor back in 2004 that this might be his next project, but nothing came of it at the time.

It gets better:

Gibson's Icon Productions has closed the producing deal with Warner Bros., and Joe Eszterhas will write the screenplay. Gibson's camp said the filmmaker will decide if he's directing after the script is done and that he has not ruled out the possibility that he could act in the film.

Maccabee ("Maccabee?"—Ed.), his four brothers and his father led the Jewish revolt against the Greek-Syrian armies. The role of his father, the priest Mattathias, might be a logical one for the 55-year-old Gibson if he does opt to appear in the film.

[...]

He's also about the right age for Antiochus Epiphanes. Just a thought.

This should be entertaining. Watch this space.

Recent news from AWOL

RECENT NEWS FROM AWOL:

JSTOR News: Free Access to Early Journal Content and Serving “Unaffiliated” Users

JSTOR Hebrew Journals Pilot Project

The Hebrew Journals Pilot Project is the result of an extensive collaboration with the University of Haifa Library and the National Library of Israel to digitize, test and make available the complete back runs of four core journals published in Hebrew. This Pilot represents an effort to preserve and expose these critical materials to a broader audience. The University of Haifa has collaborated with the National Library of Israel and other organizations in a set of projects to preserve and widely disseminate scholarship in Hebrew, of which the Hebrew Journals Pilot Project is one.

[...]

Open Access Journal: RAMBI

"Rome Wasn't Digitized in a Day": Building a Cyberinfrastructure for Digital Classicists

12th Annual City of David Archaeology Conference

ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS (no, really this time):

What’s new with ancient Jerusalem?

By LOREN MINSKY/ ITRAVELJERUSALEM.COM TEAM (Jerusalem Post)
09/07/2011 15:52

The Annual City of David Archaeology Conference will reveal the newest research and discoveries on ancient Jerusalem and the City of David.

The 12th Annual City of David Archaeology Conference, the largest of its kind in Israel, is set to take place this Thursday at the City of David. This open-air conference is dedicated entirely to current research about Jerusalem and the City of David and will bring together world renowned experts and 1,400 fans of Jerusalem and its antiquities.

The conference takes place in Hebrew but many Anglos are expected to attend.
In honor of the event, the excavation sites at the City of David will be open, and conference-goers will be given the rare opportunity to take a peek at the rigorous field work.

[...]

Also, Arutz Sheva has a longer and more detailed article: City of David Conference Slated to Overturn Popular Theories.

Review of "Footnote"

FOOTNOTE is reviewed in TIFF reviews:

Footnote
Directed by Joseph Cedar

TIFF Sep 06 2011
Footnote - Directed by Joseph Cedar
By Manori Ravindran

For most people, no matter how extravagantly we screw up, our families usually have our backs. And if that's not the case, even a well meaning, "I told you so" can be comforting. In Joseph Cedar's Footnote, a father and son, both Talmudic scholars at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, are bitter rivals, and a relationship held sacred in most cultures reaches a frenzied, yet intensely entertaining, breaking point.

[...]

Earlier reviews noted here.

Enoch, Leviathan, Behemoth, and hurricane politics

PSEUDEPIGRAPHA WATCH: The book of 1 Enoch is cited in the St. Louis Jewish Light in connection with recent hurricane politics. You don't see that every day.

Editorial: Kookie Monster

Posted: Wednesday, September 7, 2011 11:54 am

In the Book of Enoch, a second century BCE Jewish Apocrypha, the Behemoth (who is also referenced in the Book of Job) is the land monster and Leviathan the sea monster (there's also Ziz, the sky monster, but we'll save him for another day).

Last week on the East Coast, Behemoth and Leviathan squared off, as the latter tried to rip the shreds out of the former with his proxy, Hurricane Irene. Behemoth stood his ground, despite taking on some fairly significant damage.

But another couple forces of nature, both Jews, faced off in the aftermath of the fierce land-water battle, albeit somewhat indirectly. In Leviathan's corner stood United States Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), defiant in the face of disaster relief, suggesting that additional assistance for storm-ravaged places and people be contingent on removing dollars from elsewhere in the budget.

Standing up for those on land was Paul Krugman, noted leftist, Nobel-winning Princeton professor and New York Times columnist. Krugman flung back on Cantor like a whirling earthen dervish, calling Cantor out as both hypocritical and callously indifferent to the plight of the suffering. Hypocritical because Cantor supported an Iraq war of almost a trillion dollars without raising revenue to pay for it, and because he voted against a similar pay-as-you-go bill in 2004 when his Virginia was hit by an earlier tropical storm.

[...]

The reference to Leviathan and Behemoth is found in 1 Enoch 60:7-8. It is in the part of the book known as the Similitudes or Parables of Enoch, which dates to the first century BCE or the first century CE. Behemoth and Leviathan are also mentioned at greater length in Job 40-41.

How many languages?

TARGUMAN: How many languages does it take to get to the center?

How many you got?

Postgrad conference on lost texts at JTA

POSTGRADUATE CONFERENCE:

The Graduate School Student Organization at the Jewish Theological Seminary in NYC will be organizing and hosting a graduate student conference for this spring. Below is the call for papers. We encourage any interested graduate students to apply. For more information, questions, or concerns please email Maria Junttila Carson at macarson@jtsa.edu

Lost Texts: A Graduate Student Conference
April 29th, 2012 - New York, NY
The Graduate School of the Jewish Theological Seminary

Much of Jewish history can be viewed as a struggle between competing textual traditions, often motivated by the reintroduction and reappropriation of lost texts. The redacted texts of the biblical and rabbinic canons; the revelations of the Genizah and the Dead Sea Scrolls; the invention and revision of Jewish literary traditions by the scholars, writers, artists and thinkers of Jewish modernity - each of these discoveries of lost texts has served to complicate and expand the borders of Jewish life in the past and in the present.

We invite papers from graduate students that explore lost texts - broadly defined - as central objects of inquiry in Jewish studies as well as submissions that reflect on how Jewish Studies itself is a site where forgotten or marginalized traditions become present through the mediation of academic discourse. Papers from a wide variety of methodological approaches and time periods will be considered.

Follow the link for details (again, from the H-Judaic list).

Lost texts are one of my areas of interest, although the conference seems to be mostly focused on texts that were lost and then recovered and reappropriated, whereas I think of lost texts as books that remain entirely or mostly lost today. See my Lost Books posts here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Review of Magness, "Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit"

H-JUDAIC BOOK REVIEW:

Jodi Magness. Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit: Jewish Daily Life in the Time of Jesus. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 2011. Illustrations. xv + 335 pp. $25.00 (paper), ISBN 978-0-8028-6558-8.

Reviewed by Joshua Schwartz (Bar-Ilan University)
Published on H-Judaic (September, 2011)
Commissioned by Jason Kalman

A Life Worth Living Is More Than Spit

The origins of this book are in Qumran. Jodi Magness, one of the foremost scholars today of the archaeology and history of the Land of Israel and especially of Qumran, had hoped to write a book on the archaeology of purity, correlating the literary and archaeological evidence for the purity practices of the major Jewish groups and sects of the late Second Temple period. As she wrote her drafts, it expanded beyond purity to deal with aspects of Jewish daily life in late Second Temple period Palestine. The book she wrote seeks to identify and correlate evidence of Jewish “footprints” in the archaeological record and literary sources. The footprints relate to a broad spectrum of activities, from dining practices to toilet habits to Sabbath observance to burial customs.

The work contains twelve chapters. The first is an introductory chapter that sets the stage for uncovering the footprints. The first step is to discuss what distinguished Jews from other peoples of the Roman Empire. Much of this related to religion and the observance of laws, but some distinctions reflected socioeconomic realities, i.e., material culture. This chapter discusses sectarianism in general, purity and holiness, ruling classes, urban and rural elites, agrarian society, and the settlement at Qumran. The following chapters deal with purification of the body and hands, creeping and swarming things, household vessels, dining customs, Sabbath observance and fasting, coins, clothing and tzitzit (fringes), oil and spit, toilet and toilet habits, and tombs and burial customs. The final chapter is a short epilogue dealing with the immediate post-70 CE period.

[...]

More on upcoming NYU Dura-Europos exhibition

MORE ON THE UPCOMING NYU DURA-EUROPOS EXHIBITION:

Diversity of Cultures in Ancient City of Dura-Europos Explored in Special Exhibition at NYU’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World

(IEWY News)

Edge of Empires: Pagans, Jews, and Christians at Roman Dura-Europos”

Exhibition Dates: Sept. 23, 2011 – Jan. 8, 2012

The ancient city of Dura-Europos, which stood at the crossroads of the Hellenistic, Persian, and Roman worlds for some five centuries, is the subject of the upcoming exhibition at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW) entitled Edge of Empires: Pagans, Jews, and Christians at Roman Dura-Europos. The exhibition, on view from September 23, 2011, through January 8, 2012, tells the story of life in the city, located in present-day Syria, from the mid-second to mid-third century CE, when it thrived as a Roman military garrison.

[...]

Background to this exhibition is here, and follow the background link to that post for previous exhibitions and much more on Dura Europos.

More on those caves in Israel

MORE ON THOSE CAVES IN ISRAEL: Extraordinary pictures of the 2,000 year old underground labyrinth where Jewish rebels hid from Roman soldiers (Daily Mail).

This is from last week; not sure how I missed it.

Background here.

Indiana Jones Not Accurate?

WELL NO, NOT ENTIRELY: "Indiana Jones Not Accurate", Say Archaeological Society (The Spoof).

So far this year I've joined a secret cabal and acquired a new fedora, so that's not doing too badly.

(Via Dorothy the PhDiva.)

New course materials in the PaleoJudeo-Blogosphere

NEW COURSE MATERIALS IN THE PALEOJUDEO-BLOGOSPHERE:

First, Rebecca Lesses is teaching her course on Jewish Folk Religion: Magic and Ritual Power at Ithaca College. She has posted the course syllabus at Mystical Politics (follow the link) and also some online resources for the study of Jewish magic.

Second, Simon Holloway is teaching "A Comprehensive Introduction to the Rabbinic Literature" at North Shore Temple Emanuel and has posted a useful-looking handout on Tractates of the Mishna at Davar Akher.

Both courses look very interesting and I wish I could sit in on them.

By the way, did I mention that I'm on research leave this whole academic year? Just saying.

UPDATE (7 September): I had Simon Holloway's teaching location wrong. Now corrected.

Cairo's Ben Ezra Synagogue in OnIslam.net

CAIRO'S BEN EZRA SYNAGOGUE is treated in a travel piece by Idris Tawfiq in OnIslam.net. Contains the obligatory anti-Israel, anti-Zionist disclaimer, but looks to be factually accurate.

More on the Ben Ezra Synagogue here, here, and here. And much more on the Cairo Geniza and its texts here and links.

RBL review: Brakke, "The Gnostics"

RBL REVIEW by James McGrath: David Brakke, The Gnostics: Myth, Ritual, and Diversity in Early Christianity (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2010 pp. xii + 164. $29.95).

By the way, I share David Brakke's skepticism about the existence of ancient Jewish Gnosticism. The key problem is not so much that we lack actual Jewish Gnostic texts, but rather that the internal thought world of the surviving ancient Christian Gnostic texts makes sense as emerging out of Christianity, but is oblivious to obvious Jewish concerns. Where, for example, are the midrashic reflections on the implications of the Gnostic myth of a corrupt demiurge and an intrinsically evil material world for Jewish halachic practices? Contrast the letters of Paul, which are in the early stages of founding a new movement deriving from Judaism and which are very much concerned with such Jewish issues.

This does not mean that there wasn't some original form of Jewish demiurgic Gnosticism, but if there was, the positive evidence for it has been purged from our surviving sources. Unless and until that changes, I remain unconvinced.

BMCR reviews

BMCR REVIEWS:

Philip A. Harland, Dynamics of Identity in the World of the Early Christians: Associations, Judeans, and Cultural Minorities. New York: T & T Clark, 2009. Pp. xii, 239. ISBN 9780567111463. $29.95 (pb).

Reviewed by Guy Stroumsa, University of Oxford (guy.stroumsa@lmh.ox.ac.uk)

Preview

This book includes eight studies (two of them new), presented together within a general framework, developed in a long introduction. The eight chapters of the book deal with various aspects of group identity of Jews and Christians in the Roman world (more precisely, in the Eastern Mediterranean). The fist chapter deals with associations and group identity among Jews and Christians (Harland speaks of Judeans rather than of Jews; the present reviewer, perhaps because he belongs to an older generation, admits to being unable to appreciate the real advantage obtained in transforming our traditional vocabulary). Chapter 2 studies local cultural life and Christian identity. Chapter 3 analyses the word “brothers” in associations and congregations, while Chapter 5 discusses “Mothers” and “Fathers. Chapter 3 studies the concept of “brothers.” In a second part, Harland deals in turn with other diasporas, and with the problem of acculturation of immigrants (Chapter 5) and with interaction and integration among Jews (Chapter 6). The last two chapters study group interactions and rivalries, through the study of Sardis and Smyrna (Chapter 7) and the anti-associations and their banquets (Chapter 8).

[...]

Philip Harland has a blog called Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean.

Gregor Weber (ed.), Alexandreia und das ptolemäische Ägypten: Kulturbegegnungen in hellenistischer Zeit. Berlin: Verlag Antike, 2010. Pp. 232. ISBN 9783938032374. € 49.90.

Reviewed by M. Weiskopf (mnweiskopf@aol.com)

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

Weber has edited an excellent, well-written collection of essays investigating the Ptolemaic era, a collection (whose origins lie in 2007/2008) indicative of the advances made in the field since the 1980s when the imprecise term "multicultural" was first used to placate the “politically correct.” Weber’s introduction (pp. 9-29) makes clear that one is investigating cultural interactions, Kulturbegegnungen: a plural. The cultures and interactions are never static, nor is there a single Leitkultur. Weber proposes the investigation of five Problembereiche that cut across disciplines: a. the concept of monarchy, in which the desire for dynastic unity led to the adaptation of the Egyptian concept of sibling marriage; b. the elite of the land, Egyptian and Greco-Macedonian maintaining their respective positions, but prosopographical details preclude assigning ethnics based on one’s name; c. religion, in which the Ptolemies were active patrons, but a clear division between divine worlds seems to have persisted; d. the situation in the chora, illuminated for the most part by papyrus-preserved “personal” histories; e. dislike of the Ptolemaic rule: the priesthood saw the Ptolemies as the bulwark against a Sintflut of chaos and anarchy; it remains difficult to assign specific reasons for others’ dissatisfaction. Weber ends with advice (p. 24): “Generalisierende Aussage in grosser Stil ueber die griechische Elite oder die Aegypter verbieten sich daher.”

[...]


Livia Capponi, Roman Egypt. Classical World Series. London: Bristol Classical Press, 2010. Pp. 89. ISBN 9781853997266. $23.00.

Reviewed by Nikolaos Lazaridis, California State University, Sacramento (lazaridis.nikolaos@gmail.com)

Livia Capponi, an enthusiastic and experienced papyrologist who is currently a lecturer in Ancient History at Newcastle University, has written a modest but well-documented introduction to Roman Egypt, a long historical period that begins with Augustus’ arrival at Alexandria on 1 October, 30 BC and ends with the Arab conquest of Egypt sealed by a treaty signed by the general ‘Amr ibn al-‘As and the patriarch Cyrus on 8 November 641. This introduction is intended for “students and teachers of Classical Civilization at late school and early university level”, according to the series’ mission statement on the back cover, even for “those with no previous knowledge of the classical languages and those who, before reading, did not even know what a papyrus was”, according to the author’s preface.

[...]

Job: Original languages copy editor

JOB: ORIGINAL LANGUAGES COPY EDITOR with Logos Bible Software.

Fake metal codices: the video

FAKE METAL CODICES WATCH: Tom Verenna has put together a video that summarizes the case that the Jordan metal codices are fakes. It's not quite ten minutes long, but is worth your time. Toward the end there is an additional—devastating—revelation about that Oxford metallurgical report on the lead.



(Although I am mentioned in the credits and I am a member of the biblioblogger cabal mentioned in the video, I had no involvement in the making of the video. Tom gets the credit for that, with feedback on earlier drafts from some members.)

UPDATE: Some of us have tried posting a link to the video on the Jordan Codices Facebook website, but these comments are swiftly deleted. I had added some screen grabs here, but I've taken them down, since that seemed like overdoing it.

UPDATE (4 September): Tom collects blogospheric reactions here.

UPDATE: Dorothy King has observations on the verisimilitude of the menorahs on the metal codices. Not surprisingly, there are problems.

UPDATE (5 September): Forgot the "Background here and links" link.

Mark Goodacre's NT Blog's 8th blogivesary

HAPPY EIGHTH BLOGIVERSARY to Mark Goodacre's NT Blog.

BNTC 2011

THE ANNUAL BRITISH NEW TESTAMENT CONFERENCE started yesterday in Nottingham. This is the first time in many years that I have not been able to attend. I hope the papers and the whisky evenings go well.

Bible Places Blog: Gaddafi and the Bible

BIBLE PLACES BLOG: Gaddafi and the Bible. Really.

Dueling sites for the baptism of Jesus

POLITICS: Dueling sites for the Baptism of Jesus:

Jordanian Group Threatens Lawsuit Over Baptism Site

Jordan, fighting Israel over Christian tourists, is claiming that the Christian baptism site Qasr al-Yahud is actually on its territory.
by Elad Benari (Arutz Sheva
First Publish: 9/2/2011, 1:12 AM

A Jordan-based group is threatening to file a lawsuit against Israel in the International Criminal Court over its opening of the baptismal site Qasr al-Yahud near the Jordan River.

The group, which calls itself “The Arab Union to Resist the Expulsion of Arab Christians”, is headed by the speaker of the Jordanian senate, Taher al-Masri, and includes Muslim and Christian officials from around the Arab world.

The group is upset over the fact that on July 12, Israel held an official ceremony to mark the opening of Qasr al-Yahud, the site which is known as the place where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and which is considered the third holiest site in Christianity.

[...]

Background on the opening of Qasr al-Yahud is here.

Graffiti in ancient Israel

GRAFFITI IN ANCIENT ISRAEL is explored in The Media Line:

In Search of Ancient Graffiti
Written by Arieh O'Sullivan
Published Wednesday, August 31, 2011

A Paleo-Facebook, writings on the wall tell of ordinary people from distant past

HIRBET BURJIN, Israel -- It’s hot. A haze of heat hangs flat over a copse of hundred-year-old oaks and dry scrubland of the Judean foothills where people may have lived for millennium, but not a soul is around today.

“Don’t worry. The air conditioner is on inside,” jokes Boaz Zissu, a rugged, tall archaeologist with a swagger that makes it easy to conjure up his past as the former commander of the unit for protection of antiquities in Israel.

Shortly later, after clambering through the thicket and fig trees, crawling down steps carved into the earth, we are sitting in the cool, darkened halls of a cave staring at its white limestone walls and trying to decipher the mysterious scratches.

“It says ‘Christo.’ It’s the name of Jesus but in vocative, like ‘O Jesus,’” says Zissu, pointing out the ancient Greek letters chi and epsilon carved about chest height.

Ancient graffiti, etched into the walls of burial caves, tombs and quarries, is a postcard from the past and gives us a look into the minds of our ascendants. In a way, graffiti is like the Facebook of earlier eras.

“Graffiti are a way of expressing yourself,” says Zissu, today a senior lecturer at Bar Ilan University. “In a period when Internet and blogs didn’t exist and somebody wanted to express himself and to say something they were doing, they did it with a nail on a wall of a cave.”

[...]

With a smaller daily readership but longer archiving.

The article is difficult to excerpt from here, but it deals with graffiti left by Byzantine monks in Greek and by Second-Temple era Jews in Hebrew.

That project to produce a comprehensive collection of ancient inscriptions from the land of Israel is noted here. And another recent article on graffiti in ancient Israel is noted here.

September 2011 Biblical Studies Carnival Episode III

SEPTEMBER 2011 BIBLICAL STUDIES CARNIVAL EPISODE III has been posted by James McGrath at Exploring Our Matrix.

Steve Caruso on "units of forgery" in the metal codices

FAKE METAL CODICES WATCH: Steve Caruso has an interesting argument in his latest blog post: Jordan Lead Codices: Units of Forgery.

As a greater number of pictures of the codices surface -- in addition to other numerous points of evidence discussed by others -- virtually every specimen revealed can be discounted as a forgery outright as we see various patterns emerge regarding their construction.

Directly to the point: Each plate thus far has shown itself to be a collage of identical master pattern "stamps" of text arranged in such a manner to make each set seem like a full document rather than a collection of component pieces.

Background here and links.

More on the ancient Buckinghamshire "brothel"

MORE ON THE ANCIENT BUCKINGHAMSHIRE "BROTHEL" that may preserve evidence for systematic infanticide: This article supports the infanticide theory:

Terrible secret of Roman brothel finally uncovered

(Henley Standard)

THE rediscovery of infant bones has led to a Hambleden field being identified as the earliest proven site of infanticide in Britain.

An excavation of Yewden Villa at Mill End in 1912 found a number of unusual discoveries, the most startling of which was the remains of 97 newborn babies.

The theory that the villa was used as a Roman brothel has also gained weight after the latest archaeological findings.

A H Cocks, former curator of Buckinghamshire County Museum, noted the discovery but focused on the tonne of pottery that was also found.

The remains of the infants, buried between 150 AD and 200 AD and all the same size, were rediscovered in cigarette boxes at the Aylesbury museum in 2008.

Dr Jill Eyers, director of Chiltern Archaeology, pushed for extensive investigation into the bones, which has confirmed beyond doubt that each baby was killed shortly after birth.

“Refinding the remains gave me nightmares for three nights,” said Dr Eyers. “It made me feel dreadful. I kept thinking about how the poor little things died. The human part of the tale is awful.”

[...]

“Because there was so much trade coming through, they had a little brothel operating.”

There was no such thing as abortion then — the best option was an ointment designed to kill sperm which didn’t work. Dr Eyers said there would have been no place for babies for women who had gone down the road of prostitution. She discounted her colleague’s theory of a birthing centre having been at the site.

“I wanted that as well, as I didn’t want them to have been killed, but it just doesn’t work,” said Dr Eyers.

“There has never been a birthing centre in the Roman empire anywhere in the world and this is an unusually high number of burials.”

Her suspicion that the infants were systematically killed because they were unwanted births has been confirmed by Simon Mays, a palaeontologist who has spent the past year measuring the bones.

Dr Eyers said: “He proved without doubt that all the infants were new-born. They were all killed at birth and all at the gestation period of between 38 and 40 weeks.

[...]

The ancient Judaism connection:

Dr Eyers noted striking similarities between Yewden Villa and a site in Ashkelon in Israel, which archaeologists have concluded was also a brothel.

Background, with support for a different interpretation of the evidence, is here.

UPDATE (1 September): Judith Weingarten directs me to Dead babies still are bad evidence for a Roman brothel , by Rosemary Joyce at the Ancient Lives, Ancient Bodies blog, which responds to that recent BBC article and supports that different interpretation of the evidence.

Children's literature: Going Golem

CHILDREN'S LITERATURE: GOING GOLEM.

More Golem posts here.

Israel's ancient rebel caves

NOT FOR THE CLAUSTROPHOBIC:

Israel's ancient rebel caves, a hidden adventure

By Ari Rabinovitch

JERUSALEM | Tue Aug 30, 2011 10:09am EDT

(Reuters) - You'll need a headlamp, a tight waistline and no fear of the dark in order to enjoy one of the most extreme, yet lesser known, archaeological wonders of the Holy Land.

[...]

These tunnels have come up from time to time over the years in various posts, e.g., here, here, and, more recently, here and here.

More Elad controversy

POLITICS: The Elad controversy continues.

Leftists in Last-Minute Bid to Halt Ir David Excavations

After failing to halt the Elad organization's archaeological work at Ir David, leftists are decrying the 'privatization of archaeology'.

by David Lev
First Publish: 8/30/2011, 11:37 PM (Arutz Sheva)

A group of 150 archaeologists and students sent a petition Tuesday to Environment Minister Gilad Erdan and Sport and Culture Minister Limor Livnat, asking them to drop their support for a law that formalizes private archaeological digs and research at national parks and historical sites. The petition says that the law would “politicize archaeology in Israel and damage the independence of researchers," and calls for the ministers to oppose the "privatization of archaeology," which, they write, would be the death knell of archaeology in Israel.

But supporters of the law said that there were already hundreds of independent and private groups conducting archaeological research around the country. In fact, supporters say, there is only one dig that the group is interested in halting – the one going on in Ir David (the City of David), conducted by the Elad organization.

[...]

For background links and a rather different take on the current controversy, see here.

New articles on the Miriam/Mariam ossuary

ARTICLES ON THE MIRIAM (MARIAM) OSSUARY appeared in a couple of places yesterday:

2,000-Year-Old Burial Box Could Reveal Location of the Family of Caiaphas (Science Daily)

Ancient burial box offers biblical clues (UPI)

I'm not sure of the reason for the renewed interest, since there are no significant revelations in either article. But the following from the Science Daily piece seems to give a few new details:

A genuine among fakes

In the Laboratory for Comparative Microarchaeology, Prof. Goren conducted a thorough examination of the limestone box, which boasts decorative rosettes in addition to the inscription. "When a rock is deposited in the ground for millennia, it is affected by the surrounding environment and affects the surrounding environment," he notes. Processes such as erosion by acidic ground water and the accumulation of calcareous or siliceous coatings, biological activity such as the development of bacteria, algae, lichens, and the nearby activity of flora and fauna lead to a coating of the stone. Most of these features are impossible to replicate in the lab.

Conclusive evidence of these natural processes was found not only on the stone of the ossuary, but also above and below the inscriptions. "Beyond any reasonable doubt, the inscription is authentic," says Prof. Goren.

Background here and links.

The Libya Museum in Tripoli is safe

THE LIBYA MUSEUM in Tripoli is safe according to Luke Harding in the Guardian. He reports that it was liberated by local supporters on 21 August.

(HT Dorothy King.)

Fake metal codices latest

FAKE METAL CODICES WATCH: Steve Caruso has identified a letter sequence in one of the codices (full picture here) which overlaps with a letter sequence on a coin of John Hyrcanus I. I do not have sufficient expertise on the scripts he is dealing with to comment ex tempore on his arguments for mixed scripts. The letter sequence itself is short and is suggestive, but not compelling.

Also, more bogosity from the Jordan Codices Facebook page has been noted by Dan McClellan (More Dishonesty from Jordan Codices) and Tom Verenna (Alert the Press! Real Academics Don’t use Facebook or Blog!). I had a good chuckle over the pistachio nuts too. And note the misapprehension of the Jordan Codices commenter (shared, as it happens, by David Elkington) that "Paleo-Hebrew" is a language rather than a script.

The supposed "team of leading scholars" working on the codices are sounding increasingly like those "top men" working on the Ark of the Covenant at the end of Raiders. But if they do exist and if they have seen this Facebook page (as the Jordan Codices commenter claims), they must be cringing.

Background here and here and follow the many links back.

Lecture on Qumran Tefillin by Yonatan Adler

LECTURE: The Tefillin of Qumran: Archeology and Halacha, by Yonatan Adler at Chabad Oxford, Friday at 1:00 am, British time. It appears that it will be live-streamed at the link.

Rabbi and archeologist, Yonatan Adler, tackles a medieval rabbinic debate about the proper arrangement of the parchments within tefillin by comparing these opinions to actual 2,000-year-old phylacteries found in Qumran.

Rabbi Dr. Yonatan Adler is an Israeli archaeologist, and has recently completed his Ph.D. dissertation at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, entitled: “The Archaeology of Purity: Archaeological Evidence for the Observance of Ritual Purity in Ereẓ-Israel from the Hasmonean Period until the End of the Talmudic Era (164 BCE – 400 CE)”. Adler is also a graduate of Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav in Jerusalem, where he received rabbinical ordination from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. He is currently resident at Oxford, as a Visiting Scholar at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies.

Travel piece on Ein Gedi

EIN GEDI is profiled in a travel piece in Arutz Sheva.