Elaine Pagels interviewed

ELAINE PAGELS is interviewed by Wil Gafney in Religion Dispatches Magazine: Fight the Power: How to Read, and Re-Read, the Book of Revelation. A conversation with Elaine Pagels. It's an interesting read, despite all the typos. Excerpt:

Since prophecy is an interpretative practice and the text of Revelation is so polyvalent, are there any readings of revelation that are out of bounds?

Well the question is, who sets the bounds? For many groups, people will say, well the way we read it is the only right way. But I would start to look at the whole history of this book, and how it has lived beyond the context in which John wrote it (the Jewish war against Rome and the world that in which he and the Jewish people were suffering under Roman oppression). I found it most useful to look at as many interpretations as we find.

Background (on her new book, Revelations) here and links.

Duke research fellowship

H-JUDAIC: Research Fellowships in Jewish Studies and Hebrew Bible at Duke University

The David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library and the Center for Jewish Studies are pleased to announce the availability of new fellowships to support scholars, students, and independent researchers whose work would benefit from access to the Judaica materials held by the Rubenstein Library, the Duke Divinity School Library, and/or Perkins Library. Applicants must live outside of a 100-mile radius from Durham, NC. Grants must be used between July 1, 2012 and June 30, 2013 Grant recipients will receive up to $1500 per week for funding, plus airfare Grant recipients will be required to submit a research report, either verbally via an informal luncheon colloquia or via written report.

Follow the link for application details.

Article on Judean coin auction

MORE ON THAT AUCTION OF ANCIENT JUDEAN COINS from The Forward:

Collectors Bid for Million-Dollar Shekel
Silver Coin from First Revolt Grabs Spotlight at Auction

By Lisa Amand
Published March 27, 2012, issue of March 30, 2012.

It was a single silver shekel that stole the spotlight at a recent New York coin auction. Its gavel price: $1.1 million.

Back in the day, the shekel might have represented four days of a soldier’s pay. But that was 66 C.E., during a bloody and doomed fight to the death by Jewish nationalists against their Roman overlords. On March 9, under the chandeliers and oil portraits of the Fletcher-Sinclair House, on Manhattan’s tony Upper East Side, this piece was just one of a trove of Roman era Judean coins eyed by a mix of numismatists, some in suits with deep pockets and others in jeans, at one of the largest auctions of coins from that era ever held.

This was an auction at which sela’im and zuzim­ — the equivalent of pocket change in Roman times — made a name for themselves. The event, sponsored by Heritage Auctions, a major house for ancient collectibles, also featured 260 silver-and-bronze pieces from the Bar Kokhba Revolt, a later, separate anti-Roman rebellion that broke out in 132 C.E. Several of those pieces fetched record-breaking amounts topping $100,000. Aficionados armed with loupes and credit cards, looking to start or complete a collection, converged on the turn-of-the-century mansion to pore over the bounty.

[...]

Background here and links.

New book: Patmore, Adam, Satan, and the King of Tyre

NEW BOOK:

Adam, Satan, and the King of Tyre
The Interpretation of Ezekiel 28:11-19 in Late Antiquity

Hector M. Patmore, Protestant Theological University of the Netherlands

The oracle against the King of Tyre, found in Ezekiel 28.12-19, is a difficult text that inspired diverse interpretations in Late Antiquity. For example, according to one rabbinic tradition the text spoke of the first man, Adam, while the Church Fathers found in the same text a description of the fall of Satan. This book studies the rabbinic sources, patristic literature, the Targum, and the ancient translations, and seeks to understand the reasons for the diverse interpretation, the interaction between the exegetical traditions and the communities of interpreters, in particular between Jews and Christians, and the effect the specific form and wording of the text had on the formation and development of each interpretation.

(HT Viv Rowett on the SOTS list.)

Mysticism and the senses (continued)

MORE FROM JARED CALAWAY: God and the Senses (General Suggestions) (Antiquitopia).

Background here.

New book: Mahieu, Between Rome and Jerusalem

NEW BOOK:

Between Rome and Jerusalem: Herod the Great and His Sons in Their Struggle for Recognition
A Chronological Investigation of the Period 40 BC - 39 AD, with a Time Setting of New Testament Events

(Peeters)
Series:
Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, 208

Authors: Mahieu B.

Year: 2012
ISBN: 978-90-429-2497-0
Pages: XXXVIII-668 p.
Price: 96 EURO

Summary:
The present study proposes a challenging new chronological framework for the Herodian age, a critical period in Jewish history. Not only do the rules of Herod the Great and his sons receive altered time settings, but the birth and death of Jesus are also placed several years later than is generally accepted. As a consequence of this the dates of Paul’s apostolate are reexamined. Ostensibly narrow in scope, these modifications entail far-reaching implications for our understanding of the Syro-Palestinian region at the beginning of the present era. Interconnections between numerous events are established and tensions within and between the Herodian and Hasmonean dynasties are laid bare. It is shown that Roman impact on the East was substantial, with a strong Hellenistic influence exerted on local cultures. Several customs of the Jewish and early Christian communities, hitherto unknown, are also brought to light. Both in its details and in its overall sweep this important work sets up a stimulating reference point for future historical investigations of the Herodian and New Testament worlds.

Again, HT Christopher Rollston on FB.

New book: Zuckerman Festschrift

CONGRATULATIONS TO BRUCE ZUCKERMAN, for whom a Festscrift is now in press with Brill:

Puzzling Out the Past
Studies in Northwest Semitic Languages and Literatures in Honor of Bruce Zuckerman

Edited by Marilyn J. Lundberg, Steven Fine, and Wayne T. Pitard

Bruce Zuckerman has transformed the way we look at ancient Semitic inscriptions. Through his efforts, the most important inscriptions of biblical times have been reread and the history of the biblical and Second Temple periods reimagined. He has made contributions to the fields of biblical studies and modern Judaism, and, in founding Maarav: A Journal for the Study of the Northwest Semitic Languages and Literatures, has made the research of many scholars available to the scholarly community. The series of articles included here honor his many contributions through discussions of a wide variety of inscriptional materials, Biblical texts, archaeology, lexicography and teaching methodology. Included in the volume is a republication of his path breaking exhibition catalogue, Puzzling Out the Past.

More on Professor Zuckerman here and many links.

I was the first research assistant for the West Semitic Research Project and I also worked as editorial assistant for Maarav for a while.

HT Christopher Rollston on FB.

Easter articles (archaeology, crucifixion, etc.)

EASTER IS COMING, and the pre-Easter articles are coming in too.

First, Craig Evans gives a preview of his new book in his Huffington Post post: The Archaeological Evidence For Jesus (PHOTOS). As you might guess from the title, the post includes lots of nice photos.

The Jesus Discovery/Talpiot (Talpiyot) Tombs controversy also comes up.

Second, Matti Friedman has a piece in The Times of Israel on the crucified man (also mentioned by Evans): In a stone box, the only trace of crucifixion: An ossuary at the Israel Museum contains the sole physical evidence ever found for the Roman practice of execution on the cross. Excerpt:

After Yehohanan’s body was removed from the cross, it would have been laid out in a burial cave. After the flesh had decomposed a year or so later, leaving only the skeleton, his bones were gathered in a simple stone box, an ossuary, in keeping with the Jewish practice of that time. Today, the box is displayed in a gallery at the Israel Museum alongside other artifacts from the period of Roman rule in Judea.

His name is inscribed in simple letters on one side: Yehohanan, son of Hagakol. (Some scholars, interpreting the letters differently, believe the second name is Hezkil.)

Inside the box, archaeologists found a heel bone with an iron stake driven through it, indicating that the occupant of the ossuary had been nailed to a cross.

The position of the stake was evidence of a crucifixion technique that had not previously been known, according to museum curator David Mevorah. In the image of crucifixion made famous by Christian iconography, Jesus is pictured with both feet nailed to the front of the vertical beam of the cross. But this man’s feet had been affixed to the sides of the beam with nails hammered separately through each heel.

His hands showed no sign of wounds, indicating that they had been tied, rather than nailed, to the horizontal bar.

Professor Evans's book is Jesus and His World: The Archaeological Evidence (WJK, hot off the press).

Background on the crucified man and related matters is here.

As for the Talpiot Tombs, I haven't been paying too much attention, but here's an update from the indefatigable James McGrath from a couple of days ago: Talpiot Photos and a Video that may Change your Perspective. And add to it Antonio Lombatti, Observations on the “Jonah” Iconography on the Ossuary of Talpiot B Tomb (Bible and Interpretation). And earlier background is here.

Secret Mark book in press

GOOD NEWS FROM TONY BURKE: Secret Mark Symposium Papers At Press.

Background on the 2011 York Symposium on Secret Mark is here and here and links.

Interview with Joseph Cedar's father

PROF. HAYIM CEDAR—renowned geneticist and also father of Joseph Cedar, the director of Footnote—is interviewed by Nir Hasson in Haaretz:

The apple doesn't fall far from the Cedar tree

Prof. Haim Cedar explains his field of genetic research by means of terms used by the Talmud researchers portrayed in the Academy Award-nominated film made by his son, Joseph Cedar: text and footnotes.

Guess what? Prof. Cedar is nothing like Eliezer Shkolnik.

Excerpt:

Another important difference is that Cedar, like the younger scholar in “Footnote,” Uriel Shkolnik, invests great effort in bringing his research to the general public. In recent years he has been teaching a course in molecular biology for humanities students at Hebrew University. He is also currently participating in a university project designed to bring academia and the public closer, called “Professor in Slippers.” Furthermore, in his own home, Cedar hosts a not-for-credit course, entitled “Life’s Footnote.” In this lecture series he tries to explain his scientific work by means of terms used by the Talmud researchers in the film directed by his son: “text” and “footnotes.”

Background on Footnote is here with many links.

More commentary on the forgery trial verdicts

NINA BURLEIGH gives her take on the Israel forgery trial acquittal in the LA Times: Faith, forgery, science -- and the James Ossuary: The particulars of science matter little to zealots defending a creed. Excerpt:

Israeli prosecutors were badly underfunded (the nation has its eye on bigger problems than relic forgery), and its investigators never mounted the kind of international, follow-the-money detective work that would have bolstered their case by showing a pattern of criminality involving a number of lesser-known objects that were also part of the case — allegedly ancient lamps and Old Testament-era royal seal impressions that scientists said were fakes.

Prosecutors relied on a parade of archaeologists and other scholars. These men and women were accustomed to addressing respectful colleagues and students. They had no experience defending their conclusions against the highest-paid lawyers in Tel Aviv.

Like scholars and scientists everywhere, their work doesn't reach a level of precision that can withstand legal cross-examination. They acknowledge doubts. Their opinions don't always agree in the particulars, even when they arrive at a consensus.

And while the scientists for the state conducted their investigations and testified for free, the defense paid for-hire scientists, who were willing to say the objects at issue were entirely authentic.

Background here and here and links. And more from and in response to Nina Burleigh here and links.

Cracked.com on antiquities and a fake

CRACKED.COM: 6 Nobodies Who Stumbled Into World Changing Discoveries. Five major archaeological discoveries and one bogosity. On the Dead Sea Scrolls:

To this day, the goat herders who found the things probably still think the guy who bought them was a sucker for forking over 30 bucks.

Actually, they figured thirty bucks was thirty bucks, so they went back to the site and found more caves with more scrolls and then cashed in bigtime.

On the fake metal codices:

Oh, and then there are some scholars who think that the real reason we can't translate them is because they are bulls**t forgeries written by someone who didn't understand much about the language they were trying to imitate. But as usual, we are reserving hope that there's a little bit of Indiana Jones magic in this world. In the meantime, we're heading to the Middle East, and we're bringing our cave-diving equipment.

Yeah, good luck with that.

Very amusing piece that also covers Pompeii, the Venus de Milo, Otzi, and the recovery of Aeschylus's Achilles stuffed in a mummy. But, as usual with Cracked, if you are easily offended by crudities, you may wish to skip it.

(HT The Jordan Lead Codices are fake FB page.)

Review of Stone, Ancient Judaism: New Visions and Views

BMCR REVIEW:

Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2012.03.38
M. E. Stone, Ancient Judaism: New Visions and Views. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011. Pp. xiv, 242. ISBN 9780802866363. $30.00.

Reviewed by Juan Carlos Ossandón, Pontificia Università della Santa Croce (ossandon@pusc.it)

Preview

In the field of ancient Jewish literature, few authors can display such an impressive list of publications as Michael Edward Stone.1 Despite the title his latest book is not an overall presentation of Second Temple Judaism but rather a collection of specialized studies, with some relationship to each other. Most of its seven chapters deal with aspects that Professor Stone has addressed previously and to which he returns with “new visions and views” written in dialogue with the latest research. Accordingly, the bibliography is extensively updated and the book contains unpublished material, with the exception of chapter 4.

[...]

DSS/OT postdoc at the University of Agder, Norway

JOB: Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the University og Agder, Faculty of Humanities and Education Ref. 18/12.

The postdoctoral position is a part of a four-year project, jointly sponsored by UiA and the Norwegian Research Council, entitled “Biblical’ Texts Older than the Bible” (the project description may be obtained by contacting arstein.justnes@uia.no). Examples of thematic fields relevant for the project include the interplay between so-called ”authoritative” writings, other texts and the social context in the second temple period, ”biblical” diversity in the second temple period (different recensions and reworked ”scripture”), or use of new/material philology in text editions of and interpretation of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Other desiderata in Qumran research with relevance for the project will also be considered.

This is a three-year full-time post and the application deadline is 25 April. Background on the project is noted here.

New book: Golb Festschrift

AWOL: New Book from the Oriental Institute: Pesher Nahum: Texts and Studies in Jewish History and Literature from Antiquity through the Middle Ages Presented to Norman (Nahum) Golb.

New book: Goodacre, Thomas and the Gospels

MARK GOODACRE has a new book out forthcoming, which is noted and briefly reviewed by Larry Hurtado: Gospel of Thomas and the Synoptic Gospels.

Another Joseph Cedar interview

THE REVIEWS OF FOOTNOTE keep pouring in, and I'm no longer going to try to note them all. But I will try to mention reviews etc. that have something new to say. This interview with Joseph Cedar shows that he has quite an insightful grasp of the academic world: Footnore director can't ignore success (Toronto Sun). Excerpt:

"In a way, Talmudic scholars are like some film crew," Cedar said in an interview during the Toronto International Film Festival. "They devote their lives in an obsessive way to something that no one will ever notice as theirs, and that requires an expertise that is narrow and specific.

"And that's their pride, the narrowness of it. There's an integrity to that, which I don't have."

Background here and links.

New book on the Book of Revelation

ETC: New Book: Die Johannesoffenbarung: Ihr Text und ihre Auslegung. Follow the link for details.

This one won't get the same attention as Revelations by Elaine Pagels. But it's this sort of work that makes her more synthetic research possible.

Elaine Pagels meets Buffy

ELAINE PAGELS'S REVELATIONS receives an enthusiastic review by Dwight Garner in the NYT: Into the Apocalypse With an Unruffled Tour Guide. How unruffled?

The cool authority of Ms. Pagels’s voice serves her almost too well in her new volume, “Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation.” She surveys this most savage and peculiar book of the New Testament — an ancient text that is nonetheless, as the novelist Will Self has put it, “the stuff of modern, psychotic nightmares” — as if she were touring the contents of an English garden. She’s as unruffled as the heroine of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” who declared in one of that excellent television show’s best episodes, “If the apocalypse comes, beep me.”

Background here and links.

Greatest archaeological finds in Israel

TODD BOLEN blogs on a recent article on Greatest Archaeological Finds in Israel. I've been meaning to get to it ever since the article came up on Joseph Lauer's list, but now I'll just refer you to Todd's discussion.

Jesus Discovery/Talpiot (Talpiyot) tombs latest

JAMES MCGRATH: The Talpiot Tomb Jumps the Tropical Fish.

Background here and links.

Review of Kampen, Wisdom Literature

BOOK REVIEW:

John Kampen. Wisdom Literature. Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 2010. xiii + 390 pp. $36.00 (paper), ISBN 978-0-8028-4384-5.

Reviewed by Matthew Goff (The Florida State University)
Published on H-Judaic (March, 2012)
Commissioned by Jason Kalman

A Sage Study
John Kampen, a senior scholar who teaches at Methodist Theological School in Ohio, has written the first commentary on the wisdom literature of the Dead Sea Scrolls. As such, this is an important book that will prove very useful to scholars and students who work on the subject.

[...]

This is the second published volume in the Eerdmans Commentaries on the Dead Sea Scrolls series. The first was my volume, Liturgical Works, published back in 2001. I am delighted that another volume is finally out.

JSS current issue

THE JOURNAL OF SEMITIC STUDIES has a few articles of interest in its current issue (57.1, Spring 2012):

Yoo-Ki Kim

The Origin of the Biblical Hebrew Infinitive Construct
J Semitic Studies (Spring 2012) 57(1): 25-35 doi:10.1093/jss/fgr031

Grammarians have long assumed that the Biblical Hebrew inf. cst. has an origin different from that of the inf. abs. They generally suppose that the inf. cst. has come down from the same origin as the imperative and imperfect, while seeking the origin of the inf. abs. in a verbal noun. This article looks into this traditional hypothesis held by most scholars along with the alternative hypothesis that posits shared origin of the inf. cst. and inf. abs. For internal evidence, it will concentrate on morphological features of the Biblical Hebrew inf. cst., while examining other Semitic infinitives for comparative evidence. Based on these examinations, I will show that Hebrew originally knew only one infinitive and that the inf. cst. is an innovation through conditioned phonological change and subsequent analogy.

Zeyad Al-Salameen and
Hani Falahat

Two New Nabataean Inscriptions from Wādī Mūsā, with Discussion of Gaia and the Marzēaḥ
J Semitic Studies (Spring 2012) 57(1): 37-51 doi:10.1093/jss/fgr032

This paper presents two new Nabataean inscriptions, which have come to light from Wādī Mūsā near Petra. They were found accidentally in September 2009 by the writers of the article. Both mention the ancient Nabataean name of Wādī Mūsā and one of them refers to the existence of a rb mrzḥ', ‘Head of the Symposium’, there during the Nabataean period. The texts may be considered an important addition to the small gazetteer of Nabataean remains in Wādī Mūsā, whose most important Nabataean remains are hidden beneath the modern village.
Select this article

J.N. Ford and
Dan Levene

‘For Aḥata-de-'abuh daughter of Imma’, Two Aramaic Incantation Bowls in the Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin (VA 2414 and VA 2426)
J Semitic Studies (Spring 2012) 57(1): 53-67 doi:10.1093/jss/fgr033

This article comprises a new edition of two incantation bowls in the Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin originally published by J. Wohlstein in 1894. The bowls were written for the same client and appear to have originally been bound together. Both are directed against various types of malevolent forces, but each formula is otherwise distinct. The bowls contain a number of non-standard phonetic spellings, including אתאדאבה for אחתאדבוה ‘A.ata-de-'abuh’, ארדי for ערדי ‘wild asses’, בסי for בסים ‘savoury’, שקוה for שבקוה ‘leave her alone’, and ודלאת for ודלא את ‘and that are not’. Both elements of the phrase זיפו ואזיפו ‘be exorcized and rebuked’ appear to derive from the root זו″ף / זע″ף ‘to be angry; to threaten, rebuke’. VA 2414 is remarkable in that the demon is told to leave the client in favour of the flesh and blood of gazelles and wild asses and, surprisingly, flesh-eating maggots.

UPDATE: There are some relevant reviews too, so be sure and have a look at them. James McGrath notes one on a book on Neo-Mandaic here.

Join Bnay Beth Mardutho

FOR YOU, SPECIAL DEAL: Join Bnay Beth Mardutho. And get free stuff! Well, free-ish.

Did Jesus exist?

BART D. EHRMAN: Did Jesus Exist? (Huffington Post). The short answer is yes. The long answer is still yes, but it takes up not only this whole essay, but also Professor Ehrman's new book with the same title.

Talpiot Tombs update

CHRISTOPHER ROLLSTON AT THE ASOR BLOG: PHILOLOGY, ‘MARA,’ AND THE ‘JESUS DISCOVERY’ BOOK AND DOCUMENTARY. Mara need not be female.

Background to the Talpiot (Talpiyot) Tombs discussion here and many links.

New book on Oxyrhynchus Papyri

NEW BOOK (noted by G.W. Schwendner at What's New in Papyrology): L.H. Blumell, Lettered Christians : Christians, letters, and late antique Oxyrhynchus.

DSS coming to Philadelphia

THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS EXHIBITION coming in May to Philadelphia is noted by the Philadelphia Inquirer: Franklin Institute exhibit to feature fragments of Dead Sea Scrolls. Those controversial Talpiot (Talpiyot) Tomb ossuaries are also part of the exhibition and receive their share and more of attention in the article, but at least with a properly critical context for the theories about them.

Background on the exhibition is here and links. Background on the Talpiot tombs is here with numerous links.

Another Footnote review

FOOTNOTE is reviewed in Vogue: Middle Eastern Follies: Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and Footnote (John Powers). Excerpt:

If you asked me to dream up the unsexiest-sounding movie plot imaginable, I’d be hard-pressed to top the one in Footnote—it’s about the oedipal rivalry between two Talmudic scholars at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Sounds dreary, right? Wrong. The crack Israeli filmmaker Joseph Cedar (Beaufort) has taken a subject that sounds dauntingly arcane and turned it into a rich, smart, extremely funny tragicomedy about fathers and sons, morality and selfishness, the old Israel and the new.

(HT Dorothy Lobel King.)

Background and many more reviews here and links.

New book: Pentateuchal Traditions in the Late Second Temple Period

NEW BOOK:

Pentateuchal Traditions in the Late Second Temple Period
Proceedings of the International Workshop in Tokyo, August 28-31, 2007
Ed. Akio Moriya and Gohei Hata (Brill)

The main theme of the collected essays is expressed clearly in the following statement by Eugene Ulrich in the beginning of his article: What was the state of the Pentateuch during the Second Temple period? Was it basically complete and static at the time of Ezra, or was it still developing in substantial ways? To pursue this main theme, the International Workshop on the Study of the Pentateuch with special emphasis on textual transmission history in the Hellenistic and Roman period was held on August 28-31, 2007 in Tokyo. Fifteen papers were read and discussed enthusiastically in the workshop, and they were later revised based on the discussion for this volume. Those who are interested in the Dead Sea Scrolls will find the recent scholarly trend in this volume.

(HT Christopher Rollston on FB.)

Congratulations to Elaine Pagels

LET ME ADD MY CONGRATULATIONS to those of Robert Cargill: Congrats to Elaine Pagels: NY Times Hardcover Nonfiction Bestsellers List. She has made the number 10 spot.

Background on her new book, Revelations, is here and links.

USA Today on Israel Forgery Trial

THE ISRAEL FORGERY TRIAL VERDICT is covered by Dan Vergano at USA Today: 'James ossuary' verdict adds to burial box furor.

Includes a brief review of the background, a summary of the current issues, and an interviewlet with Jody Magness—who is skeptical of any connection of the James Ossuary with James the brother of Jesus.

Not Footnote, but ...

ANOTHER DRAMA INVOLVING THE ACADEMIC STUDY OF THE TALMUD, only this one is in real life:

New Bar-Ilan Talmud program was not approved, says Israeli higher education body

Council for Higher Education in Israel orders Bar-Ilan University to stop registering students for its graduate Talmud program.

By Talila Nesher (Haaretz)
Tags: Jewish World Israel education

The Council for Higher Education in Israel has ordered Bar-Ilan University to stop registering students for its graduate Talmud program, saying the university did not seek the necessary approval before opening the new program.

The university says the program, which was launched in its current format at the beginning of this academic year, is not actually new and is just being branded in a new way. But approval from the higher education council is still required for major changes, like shortening the Talmud curriculum so that students have class just one day a week for one year.

[...]

Bar-Ilan University's spokesman Haim Zisovitch told Haaretz: "Bar-Ilan University completely rejects the position of the Council for Higher Education. The only difference is that three classes are now available online. It's unfortunate that the council chose to ignore the university's detailed explanations. It is also strange that the council's letter was leaked to the press before the discussion in the council's plenum was completed."

Another Footnote review

FOOTNOTE is still getting a lot of reviews. This one is from HollywoodChicago.com:

‘Footnote’ Deserves Prominence as Great Storytelling

Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 16, 2012 - 4:55pm.

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 4.5/5.0
Rating: 4.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Answering the question, “Where are all the great film thrillers about Talumdic Studies?,” the awesome film “Footnote” considers that very subject, pitting the always complicated relationship between a father and son against an treasured academic prize. Even though it sounds starchy, it actually had more verve than most spy movies.

[...]

Background here and links.

Footnote director interviewed again

JOSEPH CEDAR is interviewed about his film Footnote by Angela Dawson for The Examiner: Cedar's Film is More Than a 'Footnote' to the Talmud. Excerpt:

Q: These men are caught up in their academic study, which threatens their personal relationship. Are you saying they may be devoting his life to something that is ultimately irrelevant?

Joseph Cedar: No. I’m saying the opposite. I completely identify with (both the characters). There’s nothing more that matters than the tiniest nuance of language, or it matters as much as anything grand. I can understand that something esoteric and tiny can have a personal magnitude that is equal to the most largest scale conflict in the world.

Q: Is it worth devoting your entire life to it?

Cedar: It’s not only worth it, but also satisfying. It’s easier to devote your life to something controllable and focused, rather than devoting your life to something you know you’ll never really capture or obtain. The father character is really threatened by the big picture. The tiny fragments that he is able to separate from the larger picture gives him a sense that he has some control over the world he lives in.

Background here and links.

Online journal on Classical and Byzantine studies

AWOL: Open Access Journal: Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies.

GRBS is a peer-reviewed quarterly journal devoted to the culture and history of Greece from Antiquity to the Renaissance, featuring research on all aspects of the Hellenic world from prehistoric antiquity through the Greek, Roman, and Byzantine periods, including studies of modern classical scholarship.

The articles are mostly on Classical themes, but occasionally one deals with matters covered in PaleoJudaica. Here are some of interest from the last several years:

Vol 51, No 2 (2011)

A Mosaic of the Book of Daniel in the Ya῾amun Church
Nizar Turshan, Mohammad Nassar

Vol 51, No 1 (2011)

Divine Epiphanies of Paredroi in the Greek Magical Papyri
Eleni Pachoumi

Vol 50, No 4 (2010)

The Invention of Christian Tradition: “Apocrypha,” Imperial Policy, and Anti-Jewish Propaganda
Paul C. Dilley

The Magi: a Rare Mosaic Floor in the Ya῾amun Church (Jordan)
Nizar Turshan

Vol 50, No 1 (2010)

The Symposium of Philo’s Therapeutae: Displaying Jewish Identity in an Increasingly Roman World
Maren R. Niehoff

Vol 48, No 4 (2008)

Reading Ezekiel’s Exagoge: Tragedy, Sacrificial Ritual, and the Midrashic Tradition
Rachel Bryant Davies

Mysticism and the senses

JARED CALAWAY at Antiquitopia: God and the Senses (1): Acts of Thomas. All five senses are important in mystical visions; a point worthy of further exploration.

Pope Shenouda III, R.I.P.

SAD NEWS for Egyptian Copts: Egypt’s Coptic Pope Shenouda III dies at 88 years old (AP). He led them through many difficult times, not least during the past year.

Rollston Epigraphy posts

CHRISTOPHER ROLLSTON has put up some timely posts at Rollston Epigraphy.

Regarding the Jesus Discovery/Talpiot (Talpiyot) Tombs discussions:

The Four-Line Ossuary Inscription from Talpiyot Tomb B (1981): Summary and Restatement

BELIEF IN THE RESURRECTION IN ANCIENT CONTEXT

Background here and here and links

Inspired by the Israel forgery trial verdict:

REFLECTING ON SOME OF THE MOTIVATIONS OF FORGERS

Background here and here and links

AWOL: PG and PL

AWOL has collected links for online versions of the volumes of Patrologia Graeca and Patrologia Latina, plus other resources that will be useful for working with them.

Migne's Patrologia Graeca at Google Books and IA

Migne's Patrologia Latina at Google Books and IA

Another McGrath roundup

JAMES MCGRATH continues to provide useful roundups of discussion of important stories in the biblioblogosphere Round-Up: Talpiot Tomb and James Ossuary Latest.

Goodacre on Sanders on "uniqueness"

ARTICLE NOTE from Mark Goodacre: The Question of Uniqueness in the Teaching of Jesus (E. P. Sanders).

"Uniqueness" is a seductive concept that has done a lot of damage to the study of antiquity, including but not limited to Historical Jesus studies. I have commented on in in another context here. I'm glad to see that Sanders has gone after it so effectively.

Hurtado on Jewish Believers in Jesus

BOOK NOTE from Larry Hurtado: Oskar Skarsaune & Reidar Hvalvik (eds.), Jewish Believers in Jesus: The Early Centuries (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2007).

The Green Collection

SOME BACKGROUND ON THE GREEN COLLECTION:

Archeologist Assembling World's Largest Biblical Artifacts Museum

By Stoyan Zaimov , Christian Post Reporter
March 14, 2012|2:28 pm
A collector deemed "the Indiana Jones of biblical archaeology" has helped amass the world's biggest private collection of biblical texts and artifacts, which are on a worldwide traveling tour and will be on display one day at a nonsectarian Bible museum.

Dr. Scott Carroll has personally inspected, studied and bought nearly 50,000 ancient biblical papyri, texts, and artifacts since Nov. 2009, when he was hired by the Green Collection, named after the Green family, founders and leaders of Hobby Lobby, the world's largest privately owned arts and crafts retailer, the ToledoBlade.com reported.

Among the highlights of the Green Collection are one of the largest private collections of Dead Sea Scrolls; 4,000 Jewish Torahs; rare illuminated manuscripts; early tracts and Bibles belonging to Martin Luther; and the Western Hemisphere's largest collection of cuneiform tablets, an early form of writing.

This month, the Green Collection is showing off its exhibit to the Vatican, featuring 152 artifacts displayed contextually in settings ranging from re-creations of the Qumran caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered to a monastic scriptorium and an excavation of a Roman garbage city in Egypt.

[...]

Read it all. So far the Green Collection does seem to be doing a good job of making the artifacts available for scholars to study.

More on that Vatican exhibition here. More on the 2009 auction mentioned in the article here and links. The Green Collection has also been associated with the reports of some very early New Testament manuscripts, although I don't think the connection has been officially confirmed.

Reflections on Israel Forgery Trial verdict

ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS (really this time): Oded Golan is not guilty of forgery. So is the ‘James ossuary’ for real? (Matti Friedman, The Times of Israel). Excerpt:

[The judge's] decision to clear Golan of forging the inscription on the James ossuary, he wrote, “does not mean that the inscription on the ossuary is authentic or that it was written 2,000 years ago. This will continue to be studied by scientists and archaeologists, and time will tell.

“Moreover,” he wrote, “it was not proven in any way that the words ‘the brother of Jesus’ necessarily refer to the ‘Jesus’ who appears in Christian writings.”

This applies to all of the artifacts in question, he added several hundred pages later in the lengthy text of his decision: “All that has been established is that the tools and the science currently at the disposal of the experts who testified were not sufficient to prove the alleged forgeries beyond a reasonable doubt as is required by criminal law.”

In short, the case’s conclusion does not establish whether or not the James ossuary, the Jehoash tablet, or any of the artifacts in questions are historic discoveries or slick fakes. The only clear conclusion to be drawn from the trial, perhaps, is a frustrating one: Where ancient artifacts are concerned, that distinction is nearly impossible to make.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to identify fakes, which is one reason to treat unprovenanced artifacts with skepticism, especially if they seem to have a direct connection to biblical people or stories. My own view, on philological grounds, is that the Jehoash tablet is a fake. The James Ossuary is a genuine ancient ossuary and the first part of the inscription may be genuine as well. The real question is whether the second part, "the brother of Jesus" is genuinely ancient and, if so, as ancient as the first century. I don't have a strong view myself, except that on principle I am very skeptical.

Background on the trial is here and on the James Ossuary is here, and just keep following those links back to 2003.

UPDATE: James McGrath comments on the story and collects reactions from the biblioblogosphere: Verdict in the James Ossuary Trial: Not Guilty on All Counts.

UPDATE: Bible History Daily: Oded Golan Speaks Out on Forgery Trial Verdict and Robert Deutsch to Sue IAA.

Jesus Discovery/Talpiot tombs latest

DAVID MEADOWS has a clear, concise, and links-rich post up at Rogue Classicism which summarizes the discussion and the current state of play regarding the Talpiot (Talpiyot) Tombs controversy: Talpiyot B / Patio Tomb Roundup ~ The Final Nails in the Ossuary(ies).

Background here and links.

UPDATE: Christopher Rollston at the ASOR Blog: THE FOUR-LINE GREEK INSCRIPTION FROM A TALPIYOT TOMB: EPIGRAPHIC NOTES AND HISTORICAL DISCUSSIONS, with a new and very interesting interpretation of the inscription.

Israel Forgery Trial verdict

THE VERDICT IS IN:

Antiquities collector acquitted of forgery charges in ‘James ossuary’ case

matthew kalman
Jerusalem— Special to Globe and Mail Update
Published Wednesday, Mar. 14, 2012 7:30AM EDT

A Roman-era burial box inscribed “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus” was reprieved from the scrapheap of history on Wednesday when a Jerusalem judge completely exonerated an Israeli antiquities collector who had been accused of forging it.

The verdict, delivered by Judge Aharon Farkash in a tiny, crowded courtroom in the Jerusalem District Courthouse, ended a seven-year ordeal for the accused, Oded Golan, 60, but it will do little to extinguish the decade-long scientific controversy over the authenticity of the limestone box which has raged since it was first displayed to the public at the Royal Ontario Museum in 2002.

If genuine, the burial box, or ossuary, is the first physical artifact yet discovered that might be connected with the family of the historical Jesus Christ.

Mr. Golan had been accused of adding the second half of the inscription linking it to Jesus, and then fabricating the patina, the bio-organic coating that adheres to ancient objects, to pass it off as genuine.

But Judge Farkash said the prosecution had failed to prove any of the serious charges against Mr. Golan and acquitted him on all but three minor charges of illegal antiquities dealing and possession of stolen antiquities. Robert Deutsch, a co-defendant, was acquitted on all charges.

[...]

The judge wisely emphasized that this was not a ruling on the authenticity or interpretation of the James Ossuary inscription, issues that can only be determined, if at all, by specialists.

So even after all these years of effort and all the expense, the existence of the "monster forgery machine" remains to be established. Nevertheless, I think we are still right to be very wary of unprovenanced artifacts. My comments in 2009 here still seem to hold up (cf. Schiffman's too-perfect principle). See also this post from September 2011.

UPDATE: Incorrect link now fixed. And actually it's Eisenman who used the phrase "too perfect," but it is applicable to Schiffman's formulation "The most exciting things are the things most likely to be forged."

UPDATE: Israel Antiquities Authority press release: Response of the IAA to the Verdict by the Jerusalem District Court in the Matter of the Forgeries. Excerpt:

According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, the benefits of placing the issue on today’s agenda were immense and have led to a dramatic change in the conduct of archaeological research in Israel and abroad: there has been an almost complete cessation of publishing finds that come from the antiquities market without first knowing their exact place of discovery; the trade in written documents and seals derived from illicit antiquities excavations has almost been entirely halted also. This in turn has led to a dramatic reduction in the scope of antiquities robbery occurring at biblical sites in Israel. In addition, ethical practices concerning research have changed and rules have been formulated regarding the “dos and don’ts” of the publication of finds. Furthermore, new methods have been developed for checking archaeological finds, which rely on research methods drawn from the natural sciences, and many collectors have made their collections available to the State for examination and registration.

The Israel Antiquities Authority will continue in its battle against the robbers and forgers of antiquities in order to ensure that the historical truth of the three religions will be preserved for future generations.

The press release includes a high-resolution photo of the Jehoash Inscription, on which more here.

Todd Bolen comments on the verdict and the IAA press release here.

(Via Joseph I. Lauer.)

BHQ Judges

NEW BOOK: ETC: BHQ Judges is out.

Jesus Discovery/Talpiot tombs latest

ANOTHER JESUS DISCOVERY/TALPIOT (TALPIYOT) TOMBS ROUNDUP from James McGrath, also with pre-commentary collected on the imminent Israel Forgery Trial verdict, which is promised today: The Talpiot Mysteries: Featuring the Biblioblog Detectives and the Case of the Ichthyomorphic Ossuary Unguentaria/Amphora.

IAA Chair speaks up about Temple Mount

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH:

Antiquities Authority Rips Netanyahu over Temple Mount
"Prime ministers and ministers know" about Muslim damage to Temple Mount, Knesset is told.

By Gil Ronen (Arutz Sheva)
First Publish: 3/13/2012, 6:19 PM

The Knesset's Education Committee discussed Tuesday the ongoing damage to the Temple Mount caused by Muslims.

The Chairman of the Antiquities Authority, Shuka Dorfman, told the committee that "the Temple Mount is an antiquities site that is not supervised by me like the other antiquities sites are. There are limitations on the supervision. We work in cooperation with the police. We know what goes on there even without being there – I am not pleased with what goes on in the Temple Mount."

"The authority to approve or prevent [excavation] work [on the Mount] is in our hands and I have received criticism for it. I do not want to criticize, bit prime ministers and ministers know what is going on atop the Temple Mount," Dorfman said, hinting at Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

[...]

Preach it, brother.

More on that coin auction

THAT AUCTION OF JUDEAN COINS is covered in more detail by CoinNews.net: Three Ancient Judaean Coins Realize Nearly $3M at Heritage Auctions. There's a photo of the top three, an account of other coins that sold in the tens-to-hundreds of thousands of dollars range, and a notice that much of the Shoshana Collection has yet to be auctioned.

Background here and links.

Jesus Discovery/Talpiot Tombs latest

THE JESUS DISCOVERY/TALPIOT (TALPIYOT) TOMBS DISCUSSION is becoming even more interesting.

Robert Cargill: sins of commission and omission: digitally generated marginal ‘fishes’ and overlooked handles on the so-called ‘jonah ossuary’.

Recent background here, here, and here.

And tomorrow ...

REMINDER: Verdict finally due in trial of alleged ‘James ossuary’ forger: Oded Golan allegedly faked several of the most spectacular archaeological finds of recent decades. After over 100 hearings, the judge is set to rule Wednesday (Matti Friedman, Times of Israel).

Background here and links.

In Edinburgh

I'M IN EDINBURGH a good part of today and may not get much of any chance to blog. But meanwhile here are peeks at one new and one future book for you:

Larry Hurtado: New Book on Paul’s view of Jesus as “Messiah”.

April DeConick: On my way to Groningen.

SBL paper accepted

I'VE RECEIVED THE GOOD NEWS that my paper proposal for the 2012 Society of Biblical Literature meeting has been accepted by the Esotericism and Mysticism in Antiquity Section. Here's the abstract:

The 94 Books of Ezra and the Angelic Revelations of John Dee

The legend narrated in 4 Ezra 14:19-48 reports that Ezra, at God's command, assembled five scribes and then, having imbibed a fiery spiritual drink, he dictated a series of revelations over a period of forty days. The scribes wrote in characters they themselves did not know and at the end of this period had produced ninety-four lost books. Various ancient parallels to this story have been adduced in the commentaries. In this paper I analyse a remarkable parallel from the sixteenth century in the detailed records of the angelic séances held by the English Renaissance polymath and magus John Dee. In the 1580s Dee worked with a "scryer," named Edward Kelley who purported to receive revelations from angels while gazing into a crystal. In a three-month period between April and July 1584, a complex system of ceremonial magic was revealed to Kelley in the form of a table of letters (the so-called Great Table) containing two sets of names—one of angels and one of aetheric realms—with one system superimposed on the other, and nineteen "Calls" or incantations to be used to invoke these angels. The text of the Calls was dictated by Kelley, sometimes letter-by-letter, backwards, in a language which is otherwise unknown, and written down by Dee. An otherwise unknown script was also revealed in which to write them. English translations of the Calls were provided at odd intervals, demonstrating Enochian to be a reasonably coherent language and the Calls themselves to be interesting compositions with some literary merit. Although the story in 4 Ezra is clearly legendary, central elements of it that appear highly implausible are paralleled in the well-documented reception of the Enochian Great Table and Calls by Dee and Kelley, supporting the possibility, intimated by scholars such as Michael Stone, that the Ezra narrative may be based on actual revelatory praxis in ancient Judaism.

Past posts involving John Dee are here, here, and here. As you can see, that back-burner project mentioned in the third post has been moved closer to the front. A couple of earlier posts also involve the Dee-Kelley system of "Enochian" magic (here and here). This system is unrelated to the ancient apocryphal "Enochic" literature.

UPDATE: Incorrect dates in abstract now corrected.

McGrath on the Talpiot Tombs

JAMES MCGRATH is still keeping track of the Jesus Discovery/Talpiot (Talpiyot) Tombs controversy: Talpiot Tombs Latest Round-Up (with fish handles).

Footnote again

STILL MORE FOOTNOTE REVIEWS:

Movie Review: Footnote (Ron Banks, The West Australian): "In the end, Footnote is a subtle rendering of the dissatisfactions of academic life and a sobering reflection that one's career may not always turn out as one would have hoped."

Footnote’ Review: Father & Son Battle Their Wits in Darkly Funny Oscar Nominee (Alonso Duralde, The Wrap). "One of the most interesting aspects of “Footnote” is that this material could, with just a few edits, be a serious and downbeat drama. But it’s Cedar’s knowing satire of academic politics (aided greatly by the sprightly and circus-like score by Amit Poznansky) that keeps the proceedings pungently bubbly."

Earlier reviews etc. here and links.

Revelations reviewed again

REVELATIONS is reviewed in Salon by Laura Miller: “Revelations”: The Bible’s scariest book. Don't worry, the title in quotation marks is Pagels's book, not John's. Excerpt:

Pagels’ sympathies clearly lie with the small religious communities that had sprung up throughout the region (though particularly in Egypt) in Athanasius’ time. These are the inward-looking, simple-living mystics who incorporated into their Christian worship spiritual ideas and practices from all over the ancient world and who preserved the gnostic texts found at Nag Hammadi. Some of those texts are as weird and visionary as the Book of Revelation, and some are far more beautiful, egalitarian and inspiring to many modern eyes. But they were not politically useful, and the Book of Revelation was. So it ended up in the New Testament and they did not. And there it remains, at the end of the Bible, providing fodder for bad Demi Moore movies and disastrously misconceived Mideast policies to this very day.

John would have hated to be blamed for bad Demi Moore movies.

Background here and links.

More on the CIIP

THE CORPUS INSCRIPTIONUM IUDAEAE/PALESTINEAE is covered in a long article in Haaretz:

The writing on the wall, tablet and floor
An ambitious international project led by two adventurous Israeli classicists aims to analyze and catalog every ancient inscription that has been made in Israel. Their meticulous work includes crawling through caves and cellars and Indiana Jones-style adventures.

By Ofer Aderet Tags: Palestinians Palestinian Authority West Bank Gaza

Over the last few years. Hannah Cotton-Paltiel and Jonathan Price have spent much of their time far from the comfortable confines of the Ivory Tower, crawling through caves with flashlights in their hands, squeezing into crowded old basements and storage spaces, and rummaging through piles of old stones in private collections, churches and museums around the world. Cotton-Paltiel, who holds the Shalom Horowitz Chair in classics at the Hebrew University, and Price, who chairs the parallel department at Tel Aviv University, are part of the Israeli arm of a unique international project that bears the scientific title Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae.

[...]

The article is so richly detailed (a must-read-it-all) that it is hard to excerpt further. But this snippet seems timely.

The instincts that Price and Cotton-Paltiel have developed allow them to easily recognize and weed out attempted forgeries. For example, Cotton-Paltiel has learned from experience that "there is no such thing as a complete inscription on a stone that is broken on all sides."

Other cases demand more careful scrutiny. "Occasionally you read in the paper about sensations such as inscriptions connected to the brother of Jesus, and so on," explains Cotton-Paltiel. "We will go check them out for ourselves. In many cases we found that in a place where other people found riches beyond the imagination, there were merely worthless stones."

Last week, a front-page story in this newspaper included a photograph of an inscription that was discovered recently in a cave beneath a residential building in Jerusalem's Armon Hanatziv neighborhood. The person who made the discovery is Simcha Jacobovici, a journalist and filmmaker who deals in archaeology. The article said that he believes the discovery is earth-shattering and could potentially change everything we know about Christianity and its founder.

As in similar cases, Price is maintaining a guarded suspicion for now. "I won't believe it until I see it for myself," he says.

Again, read it all.

Background on the project is here and links. Background on that ongoing front-page inscription story is here and links

Million dollar shekel sold

THE MILLION DOLLAR SHEKEL has sold for more that 1.1 million dollars. Art Daily:

Ancient Jewish coin brings record $1.1+ million at Heritage Auctions sale in New York

NEW YORK, NY.- The first silver shekel struck in Jerusalem by Jewish forces rebelling against Roman oppression in the first century CE, one of only two specimens known, brought a world record price of $1,105,375 at Heritage Auctions on March 8 as part of the auction of The Shoshana Collection of Ancient Coins of Judea. The coin sold to an anonymous overseas collector. The collection, consisting of more than 2,200 coins in total, is expected to realize more than $10 million over multiple auctions this year, the first of which began Thursday.

[...]

The article also has news on some of the other big-ticket items at the auction. No word if any are being donated to a museum.

Background here and links.

Philly DSS exhibit, plus replicas in Colorado

THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE has issued a press release about its upcoming Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition (which is moving from Discovery Times Square): Turbulent and Inspiring Period of History that Determined Course of Western Culture to Come to Life at The Franklin Institute: Unique and Moving Exhibition on View From May 12, 2012 to October 14, 2012 .

An earlier notice of this exhibition is here. For much more on the Discovery Times Square exhibition in New York City, see here and links.

Also, facsimiles of some of the Cave One Scrolls are to be displayed in Colorado: Display offers insight into Dead Sea Scrolls: Reproductions of manuscripts to visit Calvary Chapel Castle Rock.

The facsimiles were reproduced from photos of the original scrolls, which deteriorated after being removed from the dry climate of the Dead Sea region. The exhibit includes facsimiles of the Great Isaiah Scroll, a Commentary on the Old Testament book of Habakkuk, the Community Rule, a code of conduct for the Essene community, and various fragment scrolls.

More on the Isaiah Scroll facsimile here and links.

Hurtado on The Zealots

LARRY HURTADO has a reviewlet of the third edition of Martin Hengel's The Zealots.

Postdoc research fellowships

Six five-year postdoctoral research fellowships

The European Research Council funded project

The Bible and Antiquity in Nineteenth-Century Culture

[...]

Applications are encouraged with regard to any relevant field including history, art history, classics, literary studies, Jewish studies, history of archaeology, history of education, cultural history, history of scholarship, theology, history of biblical interpretation, philosophy, history of science, Egyptology, Assyriology.

Applicants are asked to submit a proposal on any relevant aspect of the five major themes of the project: the bible in and as history; the bible in and as fiction; the bible and its institutions; the material bible; archaeology and the bible. The proposal should be no more than 1,200 words and must indicate the work the candidate intends to complete during the fellowship and how this work is integrally related to one or more of the themes of the project. Candidates whose proposal does not do this will not be considered. Proposals may be from within any single disciplinary field or may combine fields or may be interdisciplinary, but the candidate should also indicate how such a proposal relates to the wider themes of the project.

[...]

Follow the link for full details.

(Via the H-Judaic list.)

Temple Studies Group meeting

FROM THE SOTS LIST:

Temple Studies Group
Sixth Annual Syposium

The Temple in the Johannine Writings
Saturday June 16th 2012.
10.00 am- 4.00 pm
Temple Church, London EC4Y 7BB

Confirmed speakers:
Prof Robert Hayward, Durham:
The Temple and the Word. Light on St John’s Gospel from the Aramaic Targumim.

Dr Dominic Rubin, Moscow,
Russian Orthodox Cosmists on the Jewish Temple, the Divine Liturgy and the Johannine Writings.

The Rev. Robin Griffith Jones, Master of the Temple.
‘“One at the head and one at the feet” (John 20.12). John’s Easter Audience attains the Edenic Holy of Holies’.

Dr Margaret Barker, Temple Studies Group.
First Temple Imagery in St John’s Gospel. Who were “the Jews?”’

Please bring a packed lunch. Coffee and juice are provided
Cost £35.00. Students with proof of status £5.00
Pay on the day, cash or cheque only. We have no means of accepting card payments.

Booking essential, to prepare handouts etc.
Book via templestudiesgroup@hotmail.co.uk
Final details of the programme will be sent to you mid-May.

Jesus Discovery/Talpiyot tombs latest

FOR YOU, SPECIAL DEAL! NEA issue (from 2006) that discusses Talpiot Tomb available for free for a limited time (ASOR Blog).

ASOR is pleased to announce that it has made an issue of Near Eastern Archaeology (NEA 69:3/4 [2006]) available for free on JSTOR for the next month. This issue of NEA contains articles by leading scholars that examine the hypothesis that a Talpiot Tomb belonged to Jesus’ family. The issue contains articles by Eric M. Meyers, Shimon Gibson, Sandra Scham, Christopher Rollston, and Stephen J. Pfann. The issue also contains an extensive response by James D. Tabor.

Follow the link for a TOC and links.

For other recent blog posts, see James McGrath's latest: Round-Up on the Talpiot Patio Tomb (to fish or not to fish – that is the question). Also, Christopher Rollston: James Tabor’s Iota: A Palaeographic Problem for his Inscriptional Reading, in response to a reading by Tabor (followed by Bauckham, although his overall interpretation is very different from Tabor's).

More on those early NT mss

DANIEL WALLACE is interviewed by Hugh Hewitt and reveals a little more about those early New Testament manuscripts. Excerpt:

HH: I’ve got to tell you, Professor, you turned a lot of heads when you alluded in your recent debate with Bart Ehrman to a new manuscript, or fragment of a manuscript concerning the Gospel of Mark. I know you’ve got scholarly restrictions on what you can and cannot say, but can you tell the audience what you’re allowed to disclose about that?

DW: I’ll be happy to. First of all, there is a fragment of Mark, and it’s a very small fragment, not too many verses, but it’s definitely from Mark. And the most amazing thing about this is that it’s from the 1st Century. We don’t have any other New Testament manuscripts that are written within the same century that the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament were written in. This is the first. And it’s dated by one of the world’s leading paleographers, whose name I’m not allowed to reveal yet. It will be published in a book with six other manuscripts that are either probably or definitely from the 2nd Century in about a year from now. And this is very, very exciting news, frankly. To have a fragment from one of the Gospels that’s written during the lifetime of some of the eyewitnesses to the resurrection is just astounding.

HH: Now when you say verses, can you tell us how many verses are in the fragment?

DW: Well, not really. I can say we have fragments, some of our fragments are so small that it might be part of one verse. This is bigger than that. And we have some of these early papyri, this is on papyrus, that are as much as, well, P-46, which is our oldest manuscript, or was our oldest manuscript for Paul’s letters, has nine of Paul’s letters in it almost intact. That’s a pretty large papyrus. So all of our papyri are fragmentary because of the nature of the material, and because of the age of the material. There’s leaves that just got eaten away or just eroded. But this is one leaf, I should say, or part of one leaf. So it can’t be very many verses on it.

That "one of the world's leading paleographers" is still keeping his head behind the parapet. Again, it's very odd that a scholar would announce a conclusion like this by proxy and not want to be named as the source. I wonder what that is about.

Professor Wallace also talks a little about the six other NT manuscripts that are supposed to be dated to the second century. Four are of Pauline letters (he declines to say which), one is of the Gospel of Luke, and one is a homily on Hebrews. (This paragraph was incomplete at first and I have now corrected it.)

Read it all. Via Larry Hurtado.

Background here and links.

NPR interviews Pagels

ELAINE PAGELS is interviewed by NPR about her new book:

Book Of Revelation: 'Visions, Prophecy And Politics'

Revelations
Visions, Prophecy, And Politics In The Book Of Revelation
by Elaine H. Pagels
Hardcover, 246 pages
Nonfiction
Faith & Spirituality

March 7, 2012

The Book of Revelation, the final book of the New Testament, has some of the most dramatic and frightening language in the Bible.

In her new book Revelations: Visions, Prophecy and Politics in the Book of Revelation, Princeton University religious professor Elaine Pagels places the Book of Revelation in its historical context and explores where the book's apocalyptic vision of the end of the world comes from.

"The Book of Revelation fascinates me because it's very different than anything else you find in the New Testament," Pagels tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "There's no moral sermons or ethical ideas or edifying things. It's all visions. That's why it appeals so much to artists and musicians and poets throughout the century."

[...]

Follow the link for interview highlights as well as a link to listen to the whole interview. And you can read an excerpt of the book here.

HT reader Gerald Rosenberg.

Background here.

Palmyra a war zone

THE SITE OF PALMYRA in Syria is reportedly being used by the Syrian Government as a military camp and sniper nest, with any movement in the ruins bringing down gunfire: Syria's ancient desert city besieged: residents (AFP).

If the reports are true, this is barbaric.

More on Palmyra here, with lots of links.

Jesus Discovery latest

ASOR BLOG: The Talpiot Tomb and the Beatles (Mark Goodacre). No, really.

There continues to be a lot of discussion in the biblioblogosphere. For a recent roundup, see James McGrath here.

UPDATE: ASOR Blog: The Four-Line Ossuary Inscription from Talpiyot Tomb B – an Interpretation (Richard Bauckham)

Reflections on Haman

ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS for Purim: Would Israel's Courts Hang Haman?

Another Footnote review

MOVIELINE: REVIEW: Israeli Comedy-Drama Footnote Makes Talmudic Scholarship Seem Almost Dynamic.

What's this "almost?"

More reviews etc. here and links.

Happy Purim

THE FESTIVAL OF PURIM begins tonight at sundown. Best wishes to all those celebrating.

Top seven Bible verses in the Talmud

THE TALMUD BLOG reveals the top seven scriptural verses quoted in the Babylonian Talmud: The Bible in the Bavli: Some First Numbers- Guest Post by Michael Satlow. They aren't the first ones you would guess. Or at least that I would have guessed.

Background here.

Coptic manuscripts of John

SOME ACTUAL ANCIENT GOSPEL MANUSCRIPTS IN AN ORIENTAL LANGUAGE (not like this one) are profiled at Alin Suciu's blog: Guest Post: Christian Askeland on the Coptic Versions of the Gospel of John.

The Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palestinae (CIIP)

CURIOUSLY, this article never gets around to giving the name of the project:

Ancient 'Graffiti' Unlock the Life of the Common Man

ScienceDaily (Mar. 6, 2012) — History is often shaped by the stories of kings and religious and military leaders, and much of what we know about the past derives from official sources like military records and governmental decrees. Now an international project is gaining invaluable insights into the history of ancient Israel through the collection and analysis of inscriptions -- pieces of common writing that include anything from a single word to a love poem, epitaph, declaration, or question about faith, and everything in between that does not appear in a book or on a coin.

Such writing on the walls -- or column, stone, tomb, floor, or mosaic -- is essential to a scholar's toolbox, explains Prof. Jonathan Price of Tel Aviv University's Department of Classics. Along with his colleague Prof. Benjamin Isaac, Prof. Hannah Cotton of Hebrew University and Prof. Werner Eck of the University of Cologne, he is a contributing editor to a series of volumes that presents the written remains of the lives of common individuals in Israel, as well as adding important information about provincial administration and religious institutions, during the period between Alexander the Great and the rise of Islam (the fourth century B.C.E. to the seventh century C.E.).

These are the tweets of antiquity.

[...]

"The tweets of antiquity." Not bad.

More on ancient graffiti in Israel, as well as this particular project here and links.

More Footnote reviews etc.

THE ACADEMY AWARDS have come and gone, but the Footnote coverage continues to pile up:

Prize Fighters: Joseph Cedar’s Footnote pits a Talmudic scholar against his academic son in a tale equal parts midrash, riddle, and Israeli political tragedy (J. Hoberman, Tablet Magazine)

On The Oscars, Talmud Scholars And Risky Filmmaking: An interview with ‘Footnote’ director Joseph Cedar. (Eric Herschthal, The Jewish Week)

Movie Review: Footnote (Marshall Fine, Huffington Post)

Background here and here and links.

Green Collection (etc.) exhibition in Rome

THE GREEN COLLECTION is certainly getting around:

Interfaith Bible Exhibit Opens in St. Peter's Square (136)

Verbum Domini Runs Through Lent. A working Gutenberg press. Seeing early scriptural papyrus led one viewer to quip: ‘I feel like Indiana Jones.’

by TIM DRAKE 03/06/2012 (National Catholic Register)

VATICAN CITY — Visitors to Rome will have the opportunity to view a free, one-of-a-kind exhibition looking at the Bible at the Braccio di Carlo Magno Museum adjacent to St. Peter’s Basilica in St. Peter’s Square.

The exhibition, “Verbum Domini,” opened March 1 and runs through April 15, and offers a collaboration between the Vatican, the Green Collection (aka Museum of the Bible) and the American Bible Society.

It features more than 150 manuscripts and artifacts from the Catholic, Jewish, Protestant and Orthodox traditions.

The exhibit is the brainchild of business executive Steve Green, with the exhibit under the direction of Scott Carroll, both of whom were motivated by their love for the Bible.

“We wanted to make this exhibit available, on faith’s largest stage and one of the most visited religious sites in the world, to people of all faiths and no faith, to engage tourists and scholars alike,” said Green, president of the Hobby Lobby retail chain.

“Verbum Domini” features items “found nowhere else in the world,” arranged in eight galleries from different time periods, said Carroll, who chose the items for display. “They tell the story of how we got the Bible from an interfaith perspective.”

Among the items included in the exhibit are some the earliest fragments of the Book of Genesis from the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Codex Climaci Rescriptus, which is one of the earliest-surviving, near-complete Bibles containing the most extensive early biblical texts in Jesus’ language of Palestinian Aramaic. It also includes previously unpublished and never-before-exhibited biblical papyri, Torah scrolls from around the world and the Jeselsohn Stone, a 3-foot-tall, 150-pound sandstone tablet discovered near the Dead Sea in Jordan. Dating from 100 B.C., the stone contains 87 lines of Hebrew text prophesying the coming of a Messiah who will suffer, die and rise again.

Visitors said that they were struck by the diversity and quality of items found in the exhibit.

[...]

It certainly sounds that way. I edited the Cave Four manuscripts of Genesis from the Dead Sea Scrolls (in DJD 12). I wonder if the Genesis fragments mentioned above are from those, or does the Green Collection have something new I haven't heard of?

More on Codex Climaci Rescriptus and on the Green Collection in general here and links. More on the Jeselsohn Stone/Gabriel Revelation/Vision of Gabriel here and links.

Jesus Discovery update

THE JESUS DISCOVERY controversy over the Talpiyot tombs continues to generate blog posts etc.:

ASOR Blog: The Talpiot Tombs and New Testament Historical Criticism (James McGrath).

NT Blog (Mark Goodacre): Was there a predisposition to find Jonah and the whale? One's own blog archive can be a treasure trove, as I know well.

Christopher Rollston: Joseph of Arimathea and Talpiyot Tomb B? An Absence of Reasonable Evidence for a Connection. Professor Rollston makes it all the way through this post without a single reference to Monty Python, which shows he is a better man than I.

Also, Peter Mucha at the Philadelphia Inquirer announces: ‘Jesus Tomb’ objects coming to Philadelphia. Oh, and the exhibition also has some Dead Sea Scrolls or something, whatever.

Sigh.

The local small press does rather better on this story: Franklin Institute to host ‘Dead Sea Scrolls’ this May (Tim Ronaldson, Rittenhoused).

Forgery Trial verdict coming soon

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Date Set for James Ossuary Verdict. The date being March 14th. It is unfortunate that judges have had to be called in, in effect to decide whether artifacts are forgeries (or a partial forgery, nuance, nuance). Whatever happens, it is bound to have an impact on the field.

Background here and endless links.

Bibi, Obama, and Purim

HINT, HINT: Netanyahu Gave Obama Purim Scroll on Ancient Persian Plot.

Jesus Discovery latest

THE JESUS DISCOVERY DISCUSSION CONTINUES, and I can't claim to be paying close attention. But here are a couple of blog posts from over the weekend.

ASOR blog: The Talpiyot Unguentarium (Joan Taylor).

Tom Verenna: Some Considerations About the Iconography on the Ossuary.

In brief, both are arguing that the supposed fish-plus-Jonah representation on Talpiyot Tomb B is actually a representation of a jar used for funerary unguent.

In his post on the ASOR blog, Robert Cargill also questions whether the photograph has been altered at some point, and Tom picks up on this. I have not followed the discussion enough to have a view on this, but you can read the various arguments and decide for yourself.

Background here and links.

UPDATE: Here's James McGrath's update for today: Talpiot Tombs Latest (Including Fish-Reorientation and Unguentaria).

Harold Bloom, The Flight to Lucifer

HAROLD BLOOM wrote a novel based on Gnostic theology? Who knew?

2. The Flight to Lucifer: A Gnostic Fantasy by Harold Bloom (1979)
The only novel that the famous literary critic ever wrote — and he has disowned it utterly. Don't let Harold Bloom see you reading this book! It's a quasi-sequel to the space-faring novel A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay. And like Lindsay's book, this involves a flight to another world, in which Gnostic philosophy is explored — and this time, it's the planet Lucifer, where a guy named Olam guides the travelers to escape from Crystalman. As one Amazon reviewer explains:

set on a distant world where time and space shift back and forth and where the conflicts of first-century religion are still being played out. Harold Bloom's story begins with an Aeon, Olam, descding to earth to bring two men, Valentinus, a reincarnation of a Gnostic prophet, and his young warrior escort Perscors, back to Lucifer on a quest to help Valentinus recover the call that motivated his previous life. For Perscors, the quest is a search for a transcendental principle, but to reach it, he has to do battle with enemies both divine and semi-divine, to finally reach his inner discovery of his own uniqueness.

I usually know about these things.

(Charlie Jane Anders, 10 Weirdest Science Fiction Novels That You’ve Never Read, io9.)

Review of Pagels, Revelations

A NEW BOOK BY ELAINE PAGELS is reviewed by Adam Gopnik in The New Yorker: The Big Reveal: Why does the Bible end that way? Key excerpts:

In a new book on those end pages, “Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation” (Viking), Elaine Pagels sets out gently to bring their portents back to earth. She accepts that Revelation was probably written, toward the end of the first century C.E., by a refugee mystic named John on the little island of Patmos, just off the coast of modern Turkey. (Though this John was not, she insists, the disciple John of Zebedee, whom Jesus loved, or the author of the Gospel that bears the same name.) She neatly synopsizes the spectacular action. ...

Pagels then shows that Revelation, far from being meant as a hallucinatory prophecy, is actually a coded account of events that were happening at the time John was writing. It’s essentially a political cartoon about the crisis in the Jesus movement in the late first century, with Jerusalem fallen and the Temple destroyed and the Saviour, despite his promises, still not back. All the imagery of the rapt and the raptured and the rest that the “Left Behind” books have made a staple for fundamentalist Christians represents contemporary people and events, and was well understood in those terms by the original audience. Revelation is really like one of those old-fashioned editorial drawings where Labor is a pair of overalls and a hammer, and Capital a bag of money in a tuxedo and top hat, and Economic Justice a woman in flowing robes, with a worried look. “When John says that ‘the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear’s and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth,’ he revises Daniel’s vision to picture Rome as the worst empire of all,” Pagels writes. “When he says that the beast’s seven heads are ‘seven kings,’ John probably means the Roman emperors who ruled from the time of Augustus until his own time.” As for the creepy 666, the “number of the beast,” the original text adds, helpfully, “Let anyone with understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person.” This almost certainly refers—by way of Gematria, the Jewish numerological system—to the contemporary Emperor Nero. Even John’s vision of a great mountain exploding is a topical reference to the recent eruption of Vesuvius, in C.E. 79. Revelation is a highly colored picture of the present, not a prophecy of the future.

I haven't read the book and I don't know how well the review reflects what she actually says, but I think it's a mistake to regard a "hallucinatory," or at any rate visionary prophecy to be mutually exclusive with a coded allegory of contemporary (with John) events. I don't think Professor Pagels would disagree with me.

After decoding Revelation for us, Pagels turns away from the canonic texts to look at the alternative, long-lost “Gnostic” texts of the period that have turned up over the past sixty years or so, most notably in the buried Coptic library of Nag Hammadi. As in her earlier books (“The Johannine Gospel in Gnostic Exegesis”; “The Gnostic Paul: Gnostic Exegesis of the Pauline Letters”; “The Gnostic Gospels”), she shows us that revelations in the period were not limited to John’s militant, vengeful-minded one, and that mystic visions more provocative and many-sided were widespread in the early Jesus movement.

As an alternative revelation to John’s, she focusses on what must be the single most astonishing text of its time, the long feminist poem found at Nag Hammadi in 1945 and called “Thunder, Perfect Mind”—a poem so contemporary in feeling that one would swear it had been written by Ntozake Shange in a feminist collective in the nineteen-seventies, and then adapted as a Helen Reddy song. In a series of riddling antitheses, a divine feminine principle is celebrated as transcending all principles (the divine woman is both whore and sibyl) and opening the way toward a true revelation of the hidden, embracing goddess of perfect being who lies behind all things:

More on the Thunder-Perfect-Mind Prada ad and related matters here, here, and here. The link to the YouTube video of the Prada ad has rotted, but you can find the ad here. And the video of Meredith Brooks's "Bitch" is here.

Putting "Revelations" in the title of a book about the biblical Book of Revelation is unfortunate, or perhaps mischievous. People have enough trouble getting the title of the biblical book right without having the wrong title next to it on the same line. I see that Eric Herschthal at the New York Jewish Week has fallen into the trap: A Revelation: Elaine Pagels and the Jewish Cult Behind the Book of Revelations.

But that's a quibble. This sounds as though it is as interesting a book as we have come to expect from Elaine Pagels.

UPDATE: Liv Ingeborg Lied e-mails to point me to Current 93/Nurse with Wound, Thunder Perfect Mind.

Gravestones at Zoar

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Ancient Gravestone Epitaphs Give Insight into Early Jews and Christians: Understanding Christian and Jewish tombstones from ancient Zoora.

Summarizes and links to a couple of BAR articles which are mostly behind the subscription wall.

Khirbet Midras update

MORE ON KIRBET MIDRAS, the supposed site of the tomb of a prophet Zechariah:

More on Discoveries at Horbat Midras in Israel

A team of archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority have published a report on results of excavation works conducted in 2010-2011 on the slopes of the Judaean hills at Horbat Midras, including a groundbreaking discovery of a Byzantine-era church.

(Sci-News.com)

About a year ago the archaeologists announced that they unearthed a church which they believe is a memorial designed to mark the tomb of the prophet Zechariah.

Now the team describes their remarkable finds in a report, published in the journal Hadashot Arkheologiyot.

[...]

The Hebrew article is here. Both articles have some very nice photos of the mosaics, some of which were valdalized last year. For background, follow that link back. It leads eventually to here, where I register some skepticism about the supposed tomb of Zechariah.