Kurtz, Kaiser, Christ, and Canaan

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Paul Michael Kurtz. Kaiser, Christ, and Canaan.
The Religion of Israel in Protestant Germany, 1871–1918. 2018. XIV, 370 pages. Forschungen zum Alten Testament 122. 129,00 € including VAT. cloth ISBN 978-3-16-155496-4.

Published in English.
In this work, Paul Michael Kurtz examines the historiography of ancient Israel in the German Empire through the prism of religion, as a structuring framework not only for writings on the past but also for the writers of that past themselves. The author investigates what biblical scholars, theologians, orientalists, philologists, and ancient historians considered »religion« and »history« to be, how they understood these conceptual categories, and why they studied them in the manner they did. Focusing on Julius Wellhausen and Hermann Gunkel, his inquiry scrutinizes to what extent, in an age of allegedly neutral historical science, the very enterprise of reconstructing the ancient past was shaped by liberal Protestant structures shared by dominant historians from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

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Review of Cataldo, A Social-Political History of Monotheism

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Jeremiah W. Cataldo, A Social-Political History of Monotheism: From Judah to the Byzantines. London; New York: Routledge, 2018. Pp. 242. ISBN 9781138222809. $140.00. Reviewed by Geert Lernout, University of Antwerp (geert.lernout@uantwerpen.be).

Is monotheism based on fear?

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Orsini's new paleography book

THE ETC BLOG: Pasquale Orsini’s New Book on Palaeography (Peter Malik). Notice of a new book: Orsini, Pasquale. Studies on Greek and Coptic Majuscule Scripts and Books. Series: Studies in Manuscript Cultures 15. De Gruyter, November 2018. An open-access book online!

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The Talmud on proper animal slaughter and heretics

THIS WEEK'S DAF YOMI COLUMN BY ADAM KIRSCH IN TABLET: Natural Causes. In this week’s ‘Daf Yomi,’ intentionality and human agency remain at the heart of Jewish law. Plus: the difference between a pagan and a heretic.

Earlier Daf Yomi columns are noted here and links.

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Alter on translating the Bible

INTERVIEW: Robert Alter: “Modern Bible translators have done a wretched job” (Sameer Rahim, Prospect Magazine). Excerpt:

SR: Your translation is very much a literary one. The characters have motivations, for example. Do you feel that’s true to the intentions of the original authors?

RA: The ancient Hebrew writers were certainly motivated by what we would call religious purposes—they had this new monotheistic vision of the world and they wanted to convey what God wanted of humankind and the people of Israel. But for reasons that I don’t think we can understand these writers happened to be brilliant literary artists and they chose to convey their religious vision in extremely artful narrative and sometimes very brilliant poetry.

It’s a great mystery why they were this good. Ancient Israel was this little sliver of land sandwiched in between these large, powerful and sophisticated cultures—the Syrians, and then the Babylonians to the east and the Egyptians to the south. But the Biblical writers developed literary skills that totally eclipsed their neighbours. ...

That's true. The consistently high literary quality of the Hebrew Bible is remarkable.

Background on Professor Alter's now complete translation of the Hebrew Bible is here.

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Jewish Book Month

WITH PODCASTS AND REVIEWS: Yeshiva University and Jewish Book Council Collaborate (YU News).

This year, Jewish Book Month was November 2-December 2, 2018. For this year’s event, the Jewish Book Council (JBC) teamed up with Yeshiva University to highlight new books in the broad field of Jewish scholarship.

Many of the books deal with ancient Judaism. I think you will find more on all of those in the archives of PaleoJudaica.

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Review of Berman, Inconsistency in the Torah

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Book Note | Inconsistency in the Torah (Ethan Schwartz).

Joshua A. Berman. Inconsistency in the Torah: Ancient Literary Convention and the Limits of Source Criticism. Oxford University Press. New York, 2017.

Excerpt:

In this context, Berman’s Inconsistency in the Torah is far less countercultural and iconoclastic than he seems to imagine. To be sure, it is a significant achievement. However, I doubt that it will be remembered as the study that finally overthrew the hegemony of source criticism. Instead, I suspect that it will be regarded as one of the last studies to ascribe to source criticism any hegemony to be overthrown in the first place. It will mark the close of a monumental chapter in biblical studies, not the opening of a new one.

My own view on source criticism is that the concept is sound and it has produced some useful results for, notably, our understanding of the Pentateuch. At the same time, the application of source criticism often carries it beyond what we can realistically hope to know. Sometimes you can't unscramble the egg. For more from PaleoJudaica on source criticism, here and links, here, here, and here.

I noted the book and a related essay here and had some comments of my own, on matters not discussed in this review. And I noted a three-part interview with Dr. Berman here.

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The Babylonian Exile before the Exile?

A NEW BOOK: The Forgotten Biblical Exile That Laid the Foundation for Jewish Life in the Diaspora. Unlike the Babylonian Exile, the Jehoiachin Exile of 11 years earlier was largely ignored by Jewish history ■ The exiles established a social, economic, religious and literary infrastructure for Jewish life outside Israel (Yair Hoffman, Haaretz premium).

This is an interesting reframing of one phase of the Babylonian Exile as an exile in its own right. The article is based on a book by the author, The Good Figs: The Jehoiachin Exile and its Heritage, which has been published in Hebrew by Tel Aviv University Press.

One correction to the article. Nebuchadnezzar did not kill King Zedekiah. He killed his sons and blinded him, then sent him back to Babylon as a prisoner for the rest of his life (2 Kings 25:1-7 and Jeremiah 52:1-11).

For the unprovenaced, but apparently authentic, Judean Babylonian cuneiform archive, see here and links and here. At least I haven't yet seen anyone argue that its contents are forged, and it seems as though it would have been very difficult to forge so many Akkadian tablets convincingly.

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Kiryat Yearim and the Ark of the Covenant

WHILE WE'RE ON PLACES WHERE THE ARK OF THE COVENANT ISN'T: Israeli Excavation Reveals New Findings About the Ark of the Covenant. Excavations at Kiryat Yearim may show the handiwork of King Jeroboam and suggest that the Ark was a symbol of unity between rival kingdoms (Nir Hasson, Haaretz premium). The actual point of this article is that Professor Israel Finkelstein has concluded, on the basis of the excavation of Kiryat Yearim, that any United Kingdom of Israel and Judah was controlled by Israel (the Northern Kingdom) rather than the Judean Kingdom of the line of David:

About two weeks ago, Prof. Israel Finkelstein, an archaeologist from Tel Aviv University and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, presented his findings from the excavations at Kiryat Yearim to a meeting of the national academies of science of Israel and France. Finkelstein is known as the leader of the camp that opposes the biblical approach in archaeology. He vehemently opposes the view that the unified kingdom of David and Solomon existed and controlled extensive parts of the land of Israel.

I don't have any view on this matter, apart from noting that Professor Finkelstein is exceptionally well placed to have an informed opinion. What he thinks should be taken very seriously.

Despite leading the article, the Ark of the Covenant is just a speculative sideline to the story. Unsurprisingly, there aren't any actual "new findings" about it.

The purpose of the Ark of the Covenant story, according to this idea, was intended to give religious legitimacy to Kiryat Yearim. It was told and written in the northern kingdom of Israel, was passed on to Jerusalem through the refugees who arrived there after the destruction of the northern kingdom, and from there it found its way into the Bible. Many other “northern” traditions can be found in the Bible, such as the stories of Jacob, the Exodus and the stories of King Saul.

I was going to ignore this one, but since the Ark has been in the news again lately, here it is.

Many past PaleoJudaica posts on the Ark of the the Covenant are collected here and links (immediately preceding post).

UPDATE: Also, past posts on the excavation at Kiriat Yearim (Kiryat Ye'arim, Kiriath Jearim), inevitably also mentioning the Ark, are here and here.

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The Ark of the Covenant isn't in Ethiopia?

THAT ZANY ARK AGAIN: Sorry Indiana Jones, the Ark of the Covenant Is Not Inside This Ethiopian Church (Owen Jarus, Live Science).

I'm not sure that what Edward Ullendorf recalled seeing in 1941 necessarily disproves that the Ark of the Covenant is in that church. But at the same time there isn't anything that proves it and I remain cordially skeptical. Incidentally, the late Professor Ullendorf was one of my predecessors at the University of St Andrews.

I have mentioned Professor Tudor Parfitt in connection with another, comparably questionable Ark tradition, this one placing it in Zimbabwe. See here and here and follow all the links.

And while we're on the subject of legends about the Ark of the Covenant, I may as well give myself some publicity: The Treatise of the Vessels in the news.

And for still more posts on the Ark, see here and here and follow those links.

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Bormann (ed.), Abraham's Family

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Abraham's Family. A Network of Meaning in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Ed. by Lukas Bormann. 2018. IX, 497 pages. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 415 154,00 € including VAT. cloth ISBN 978-3-16-156302-7.

Published in English.
Abraham, whom the apostle Paul calls the »father of us all« (Rom 4:16), was a central figure in Judaism from the outset and came to be important in Christianity and Islam. The Abraham tradition is an issue of narrative and counter-narrative, memory and counter-memory. Moreover, Abraham's family is brought in as a network of meaning to express opposition, antithesis or common ground within and between different religious movements. The contributions to this volume discuss the presentation and reception of Abraham's family in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The topics cover Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, Second Temple writings, New Testament, Rabbinic literature, Greek, Latin and Syriac church fathers, as well as Jewish medieval interpretation and a twelfth-century Arabic travel report of a pilgrimage to Mecca.

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Maimonides at the NLI

EXHIBITION: Judaism's original (pre-)Renaissance man comes to Israel. Israel Museum is showcasing manuscripts and artifacts on the life of medieval Jewish scholar, philosopher and physician Maimonides, including his original signature (Inbar Tvizer and Kobi Nachshoni, Jerusalem Post).

Maimonides: A Legacy in Script opened at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem on December 11, and will run until April 27, 2019. https://www.imj.org.il/en/exhibitions/maimonides

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Olyan and Wright (eds.), Supplementation and the Study of the Hebrew Bible

NEW BOOK FROM THE SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE:

Supplementation and the Study of the Hebrew Bible
Saul M. Olyan (Editor), Jacob L. Wright (Editor)

ISBN 9781946527059
Status Available
Price: $30.95
Binding Paperback
Publication Date April 2018

Explore the role supplementation plays in the development of the Hebrew Bible

This new volume includes ten original essays that demonstrate clearly how common, varied, and significant the phenomenon of supplementation is in the Hebrew Bible. Essays examine instances of supplementation that function to aid pronunciation, fill in abbreviations, or clarify ambiguous syntax. They also consider more complex additions to and reworkings of particular lyrical, legal, prophetic, or narrative texts. Scholars also examine supplementation by the addition of an introduction, a conclusion, or an introductory and concluding framework to a particular lyrical, legal, prophetic, or narrative text.

Features:

• A contribution to the further development of a panbiblical compositional perspective
• Examples from Psalms, the pentateuchal narratives, the Deuteronomistic History, the Prophets, and legal texts

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Novick, Piyyuṭ and Midrash

NEW BOOK FROM VANDEHOECK AND RUPRECHT: Tzvi Novick, Piyyuṭ and Midrash. Form, Genre, and History. Journal of Ancient Judaism. Supplements - Volume 030ab 74,99 € * (D).

Piyyuṭ and Midrash
Novick studies the relationship between rabbinic midrash and classical (and to a lesser extent pre-classical) piyyut. The first focuses on features of piyyut that distinguish it, at least prima facie, from rabbinic midrash: its performative character, its formal constraints, and its character as prayer. The second part considers midrash and piyyut together via an analysis of a narrative form that looms large in both corpora. The “serial narrative” is a narrative that binds biblical history together by stringing together instance of the “same” event across multiple time periods. Thereby, Novick surveys basic features of serial narratives in midrash and piyyut. Subsequent chapters take up instance of specific serial narrative forms from Second Temple literature to piyyut: the kingdom series, the salvation history, and the serial confession. Together, the two parts yield a nuanced account of the continuities and discontinuities between the two great corpora produced by rabbinic and para-rabbinic circles in Roman Palestine.

HT The Talmud Blog on Facebook.

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Pregill (ed.), New perspectives on late antique Iran and Iraq

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: New Perspectives on Late Antique Iran and Iraq. Notice of a new conference volume in an open-access journal: Pregill, Michael (ed.). 2018. New perspectives on late antique Iran and Iraq. Mizan. Journal for the Study of Muslim Societies and Civilizations 3(1). It includes this article:

Shai Secunda: “East LA: Margin and Center in Late Antiquity Studies and the New Irano-Talmudica”

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More on the Green Collection papyri from Nongbri

AT THE VARIANT READINGS BLOG, Brent Nongbri continues to cull new information from the DVD of lectures for the "Passages" exhibition of the Green Collection.

A “Second Century” Papyrus of Matthew in the Green Collection. A second-century fragment of the Gospel of Matthew? That would be nice. I'll believe it when I see good evidence for it.

The Green Collection Sappho Papyrus: Some New Details. I wouldn't make too much of the contradictions in the various accounts about who did what with this papyrus and when. Human memory about such things is notoriously unreliable. So unreliable that people often misremember whether they did something or someone they know did it.

I noted the story of the Sappho papyrus here. For later posts on it, see here and follow the links back.

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Review of Dulk, Between Jews and Heretics

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Matthijs Den Dulk, Between Jews and Heretics: Refiguring Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho. London; New York: Routledge, 2018. Pp. 174. ISBN 9780815373452. $140.00. Reviewed by Judith M. Lieu, University of Cambridge (jml68@cam.ac.uk).

In this, apparently substantially reworked, version of a doctoral dissertation submitted to the University of Chicago in 2015,1 Matthijs den Dulk argues that Justin Martyr’s Dialogue with Trypho the Jew should be read as in large part shaped by its author’s desire to demonstrate the superiority of his form of Christianity over other competing forms that characterised the diversity of the second century. Den Dulk identifies these alternatives as ‘Christian demiurgists’ or ‘demiurgical Christians’, that is those who distinguished between the creator (identified with the Jewish God) and the highest God, who sent Jesus Christ; chief but not alone among these was Marcion ...

I noted the publication of the book here.

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The archaeology of scourging?

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY: What Do We Know about the Scourging of Jesus? (Andrea Nicolotti). I'm surprised to see this one published now, instead of in the Easter season.

The short answer to the headline's question is that we know very little about scourging in the first century. But that hasn't stopped people from trying to answer the question. This essay surveys their efforts. Not surprisingly, the Shroud of Turin comes up.

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When was Jesus born?

'TIS THE SEASON: When Was Jesus Born—B.C. or A.D.? How the divide between B.C. and A.D. was calculated (Megan Sauter, Bible History Daily). This essay was first published in 2017, but I missed it then.

The current chief editor of BAR, Robert Cargill, published a related essay some years ago. See here. And remember, as per my comments there, that we really have very little idea when Jesus was born.

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Recontextualizing Qumran archaeology?

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY: Qumran in a Mediterranean Context (Dennis Mizzi).

For a small site, Qumran has generated big debates. For one thing, despite the general scholarly consensus that ties the settlement with the group(s) behind the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Essenes, there remain a number of dissenting voices. But here I want to underscore the benefits of studying Qumran in the wider context of the Graeco-Roman Mediterranean, leaving behind the idyllic, romantic notion of a site thriving in splendid isolation.

[...]

This essay reframes the archaeological context of the site of Qumran in what looks like a productive way. It is based on a recent scholarly article in Dead Sea Discoveries. (Scroll down to the bottom of the page.)

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On translating the Joseph story into English

PROF. EVERETT FOX: Torah in Translation: Rendering the Story of Joseph in English.

Translating the Torah from Hebrew into a different language is a huge challenge: What is the right balance between composing a text that reads smoothly while capturing the flavor of its original language? When I translated the Torah and the Early Prophets, I navigated this tension in favor of keeping the Hebrew flavor.

For more on Professor Fox and his translation work, see here.

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Review of Whitmarsh, Dirty Love

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Tim Whitmarsh, Dirty Love: The Genealogy of the Ancient Greek Novel. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2018. Pp. xviii, 201. ISBN 9780199742653. $45.00. Reviewed by David Konstan, New York University (dk87@nyu.edu).

Whitmarsh’s analyses of the hybridizing precursors to the novel, or more strictly to the exogamous subset of the novels, are wide-ranging, subtle and imaginative.

Also, on Joseph and Aseneth:

There is an interesting twist, however: Joseph is gorgeous and “all the women and daughters of the Egyptians used to suffer terribly on seeing Joseph, on account of his beauty” (7.3, quoted on p. 111). I would have wanted more on this unusual reversal of the object of the erotic gaze: in this text Joseph has been thoroughly “Helenized.”

For more on Joseph and Aseneth, see here and links. And for more on the Alexander Romance, see here, here, and here.

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More on the 1 Samuel papyrus from the Green Collection

VARIANT READINGS: More on the Curious Green Collection 1 Samuel Papyrus (Brent Nongbri). Dr. Nongbri relates some more information on this manuscript. I have noted his earlier posts on it here.

In the first of those he said (provisionally) that the handwriting of the manuscript looks to date to the second to fourth century C.E. Things now become complicated. There is now a photo of the mummy mask that supposedly produced the manuscript, and a photo of some exposed text on it. Brent dates them "at first glance" to the Ptolemaic period (first to third century B.C.E.). But it may be that the Samuel material comes from more than one manuscript, so both dates could be correct.

I am summarizing here, so go and read his new post for all the details. If you are like me, you won't feel much the wiser. But it is good that more information about the manuscript seems to be trickling out and that Brent is keeping us appraised of it.

UPDATE: After I posted this, I saw a new post at Variant Readings: The Green Collection 1 Samuel: A Place of Purchase. Read the post to find out where and, in a general way, from whom.

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Deadline extended for St Andrews NT Chair applications

THE CLOSING DATE for applications for the New Testament Professorship at the University of St Andrews has been extended by a month, to 14 January 2019.

Background here.

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That "star in the east"

'TIS THE SEASON: Can astronomy explain the biblical Star of Bethlehem? Experts weigh in on whether the Gospel account of Jesus’s birth, including the wise men who were guided by a ‘star in the east,’ has any scientific merit (The Conversation via the AP via David Weintraub, Times of Israel). This story usually comes up in the Christmas season, usually with the same range of explanations. The one given here is as plausible as any.

If you want to see a planetary "star in the east right" now, look to the east at sunrise. That bright star in the sky is the planet Venus on a very close approach to the earth. For a while it was so close I was pretty sure I could see a disk (which looked more like a crescent with binoculars). I don't know what it's current astrological significance is, but I'm sure there's something.

For my own view about Matthew's star, see here. For the earliest surviving reference, after the Gospel of Matthew, to the Star of Bethlehem (in a letter by Ignatius of Antioch), see here. Another early mention is in the Revelation of the Magi, on which more here and links. And for many other past posts on the Star of Bethlehem, start here and follow the links.

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A hint of Iraqi Jewish archive news?

UPDATE? JIMENA and others ask Pompeo to safeguard Jewish artifacts in Middle East (JTA). This article deals with matters that go beyond the Iraqi Jewish archive, but the latter is mentioned in the final paragraph:

Last year, JIMENA protested an agreement that the U.S. reached with Libya, saying it did not exclude Jewish artifacts. The State Department later told JTA that certain Jewish artifacts were exempt from the deal. Earlier this year, the organization fought to keep an archive of tens of thousands of Iraqi Jewish documents and artifacts discovered in 2003 by U.S. soldiers from being returned to Iraq (the fate of the archive is still undecided).

(The bold font and italics are mine.)

At the beginning of October, I noted that the September deadline for the return of the archive to Iraq had passed and I asked for any news about it. There was none.

Sometimes the story is the absence of the story. Sherlock Holmes's dog that did not bark in the night. This looks like one of those cases. Until today, "Iraqi Jewish archive(s)" has produced nothing new in Google News searches. The State Department and White House websites are silent. Now, finally, we have an unsourced hint that "the fate of the archive is still undecided."

I don't know whether JTA has information or they are drawing an inference. But I have been drawing the same inference. The silence in the news sounds as though the archive is still in the United States and the negotiations with Iraq still continue. I say that because if the archive had been returned to Iraq, that would have been news and it would have been covered.

I emphasize that all this is inference. I don't have any actual information, unless the JTA comment counts as information. I think the inferring is sound, but your mileage may differ.

If anyone has actual information on the current location and status of the archive, I would be grateful if you would share it with me.

For past PaleoJudaica posts on the Iraqi Jewish archives, going back to their discovery in 2003, start here and follow the links. I have given some of my own thoughts on the situation at the links here.

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No vanilla at Megiddo?

ARCHAEO-BIOCHEMISTRY: Did These Ancient Juglets—Found in a Bronze Age Burial in Israel—Contain Vanilla? The finding suggests vanilla was being used 2,500 years earlier and half a world from where we thought, but vanilla experts are skeptical on the findings (Jason Daley, The Smithsonian). There are "vanilla experts?" Of course there are.

Some of these experts have raised objections to the idea that the vanillin compound found in the jars in Megiddo Cave 50 shows the use of vanilla as flavoring. This in response to recent media reports on the ASOR paper presented by Vanessa Linares in November. But Ms. Linares defends her position. The actual research is not even published yet, so it's best to keep an open mind.

Background here.

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A film on the Apollo of Gaza

STATUARY CINEMA: The Mysterious Fate of an Ancient Apollo Statue Pulled From Gaza's Sea. Discovered by a fisherman, the statue garnered world renown before being confiscated by Hamas. The film 'The Apollo of Gaza' raises fascinating questions on the origins and fate of the sculpture (Nir Hasson, Haaretz premium). There isn't a great deal of news about the fate of the statue in this film. Hamas still has it and it has not been seen since they seized it in 2013. But apparently the film does claim to show that forging it would not have been difficult, if enough bronze could be had.

Background on the Apollo of Gaza is here and links.

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Bathing pool with bull idol excavated at Zippori

ARCHAEOLOGY: At Zippori pool where Judah Hanasi may have bathed, a rare tiny pagan bull found Archaeologists believe they can connect a peculiar Talmudic story about the head of the Sanhedrin bathing on a fast day to a recently excavated site in the national park (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel).

The bull figurine is remarkable. Apparently there are parallel object in the British Museum, but this is the first one I have seen from the Roman period. A bronze and silver bull figurine dating to the first half of the second millenium B.C.E. was found at Ashkelon. And among the gold and lead (?) codices seized from smugglers in Turkey last year, there was a bull figurine made of gold and stamped with a menorah.

For PaleoJudaica posts on earlier discoveries at the site of Tzipori/Tzippori/Zippori/Sepphoris, start here and follow the many links. Cross-file under Talmud Watch.

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A very international Biblical Archaeology MOOC

UPDATE ON ONLINE COURSE: Students from Pakistan, UAE, Oman join Israeli online biblical archaeology class. 8-week course, open to applicants worldwide, provides an introduction to biblical archaeology and a deep look at the remains of ancient civilizations in the Holy Land (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel).

Students from Malaysia, Pakistan, Oman, and United Arab Emirates — countries that do not recognize the modern State of Israel — have joined hundreds of other curious minds from locations as far-flung as the Caribbean’s Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to study the Holy Land’s ancient biblical archaeology.

The class is Professor Aren Maier's MOOC, which was noted here. It sounds as though it is very successful.

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What do Joseph, Daniel, and Ahiqar have in common?

PROF. SUSAN NIDITCH: Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dreams — An Israelite Type-922 Folktale (TheTorah.com).

The story of Joseph in Pharaoh’s court (Genesis 41), like the story of Daniel in Nebuchadnezzar’s court (Daniel 2), is a Thompson Type 922 folktale in which an underdog gains his fortune by answering hard questions that elude his superiors. Paradoxically, viewing the story of Joseph through the lens of folklore studies allows us to appreciate the uniqueness of Israelite cultural religious orientation.

Aarne and Thomson wrote the book on folklore.

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Edmund Wilson on the DSS

CLASSIC REPRINT: The Scrolls from the Dead Sea (Edmund Wilson, The New Yorker, May 14, 1955 Issue). A long article that tells you just how things stood in 1955.

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Byzantine-era lamp wick from Shivta

HANUKKAH-RELATED, NOTED BELATEDLY: Tiny 1,500-year-old flax lamp wick illuminates ancient Jewish law. Discovered in hitherto unpublished 1930s excavations in the Negev desert town of Shivta, the wick sheds light on how people banished darkness in the Byzantine era — and before (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel).

The Shivta excavation has been in the news a good bit lately. See here and links.

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The Ptolemaic coins, Part 3

NUMISMATICS: CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series: The Ptolemies, Part III.

So many guys named Ptolemy! But the name everyone is interested in from this dynasty, in this period, is Cleopatra VII, the Cleopatra. More on her here. Supposedly, she knew Hebrew and Aramaic.

As far as I know, no one from the Ptolemaic dynasty mentioned in this article appears in the Bible.

This series comes to an end with this installment. Part 1 was noted here and Part 2 here.

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Which Greek version did John read?

THE ETC BLOG: John’s Bible Version in John 19:37? (John Meade). Not the Old Greek at any rate.

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Browsing the Digital Syriac Corpus

THE AWOL BLOG: Browsing the Digital Syriac Corpus. The recent move of the Digital Syriac Corpus online was noted here. Cross-file under Syriac Watch.

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The Gospel of Mark: a rough draft?

CANDIDA MOSS: Are the Gospels Finished Works? An explosive new book from a scholar at Princeton makes the argument that the Gospel of Mark was more like a rough draft or collection of notes than a book (The Daily Beast). That new book is Gospels before the Book (Oxford University Press, 2018) by Matthew Larsen. For more about it from the author, see here.

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Hurtado reviews Fredriksen, When Christians were Jews

LARRY HURTADO: “When Christians were Jews”: Paula Fredriksen on “The First Generation.”

Paula Fredriksen’s latest book is a readable, well-paced narrative of the first decades of what became Christianity, with lots of particular good points made: When Christians Were Jews: The First Generation (Yale University Press, 2018). Intended for a wide readership, the main emphases of the book build upon (and the notes make frequent reference to) her earlier and more detailed studies ...

But he has disagreements.

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The Israel Antiquities Authority

BACKGROUNDER: Welcome to the Israel Antiquities Authority (The Jewish News).

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Why did Genesis like Egypt?

PROF. SUSAN NIDITCH: Why the Joseph Story Portrays Egypt Positively (TheTorah.com).

In the Joseph story, the Egyptian officials, including Pharaoh, are kind and wise. Joseph himself shaves his beard, puts on Egyptian clothes, takes an Egyptian name, and marries the daughter of an Egyptian priest. Nothing in the text implies that the author thinks any of this is problematic.

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van der Toorn, God in Context

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Karel van der Toorn God in Context. Selected Essays on Society and Religion in the Early Middle East. 2018. XIV, 380 pages. Forschungen zum Alten Testament 123. 134,00 € including VAT. cloth ISBN 978-3-16-156470-3.

Published in English.
In this work, Karel van der Toorn explores the social setting, the intellectual milieu, and the historical context of the beliefs and practices reflected in the Hebrew Bible. While fully recognizing the unique character of early Israelite religion, the author challenges the notion of its incomparability. Beliefs are anchored in culture. Rituals have societal significance. God has a history. By shifting the focus to the context, the essays gathered here yield a deeper understanding of Israelite religion and the origins of the Bible.

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Clement's chronology of antiquity

THE SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE BLOG: An Ancient Chronology from Moses to the First Olympiad (Armand D'Angour). Clement of Alexandria tried to fit Moses into the Classical timeline. I give him points for trying.

Also, this seems to be the first time I have linked to this blog, whose purpose is "to bring you some of the most famous (and also most confounding) quotations from the ancient world."

HT AJR.

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Burke on SBL 2018

AT THE APOCRYPHICITY BLOG, Tony Burke chronicles his SBL 2018 experience:

2018 SBL Diary: Day One

2018 SBL Diary: Day Two

2018 SBL Diary: Day 3

Day four also gets a brief paragraph at the end.

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Key according to "Kennicott number" ...

IDAN DERSHOWITZ: Key according to "Kennicott number" with links to Ktiv catalog (and often digitized manuscripts) (Academia.edu). If keeping track of manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible is your thing, then this is the place for you.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day 2018

IT'S THAT DAY AGAIN: Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day. Have fun, but behave yourselves!

One of the original announcements, with some instructions, is here. The Facebook page seems to be gone, but the Twitter hashtag is #PretendToBeATimeTravelerDay.

Past posts on the day and related are here and links.

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The 50 Jewish Objects Project and Blog

ASSIMILATED TO THE BLOGOSPHERE: Welcome to the 50 Jewish Objects blog. Dr. Stefania Silvestri, Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Manchester, has an exciting project running for the next few years. Some of her fifty objects will certainly be of interest for ancient Judaism.

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Swartz, The Mechanics of Providence

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Michael D. Swartz, The Mechanics of Providence. The Workings of Ancient Jewish Magic and Mysticism 2018. XVI, 333 pages. Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 172. 139,00 € including VAT cloth. ISBN 978-3-16-155002-7.

Published in English.
The phenomena we call magic and mysticism had a profound effect on the shaping of Judaism in late antiquity. In this volume, Michael D. Swartz offers a wide-ranging study of the purposes, world-views, ritual dynamics, literary forms, and social settings of ancient Jewish magic and mysticism and their function in religion and history. Based on the author's studies over the past few decades, he proposes innovative methods for the study of these two phenomena. The author focuses especially on the rituals of early Jewish magic and mysticism, their social contexts, and the textual dimension of this complex literature. He also offers introductions to these phenomena. Michael D. Swartz argues that the authors of these texts employed intricate technologies, literary and artistic forms, and physical practices to negotiate between the values and world-views of their cultures and the texture of everyday life.

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Review of Shahin (ed.), Fragmente der Historiker: Nikolaos von Damaskus

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Tino Shahin (ed.), Fragmente der Historiker: Nikolaos von Damaskus. Bibliothek der Griechischen Literatur 84. Stuttgart: Hiersemann, 2018. Pp. 127. ISBN 9783777218045. €158.00. Reviewed by Benedikt Eckhardt, University of Edinburgh (b.eckhardt@ed.ac.uk).

A review should not be pedantic, but as the book offers little apart from a translation, there is not much else to discuss (and the above is only an extract from a longer list of errata). It is good to have Nicolaus in German, but more care should have been given to this project at all stages of production.

Ouch.

Nicolaus of Damascus was an associate of Herod the Great. Most of his works are lost, apart from fairly extensive quotation fragments. Josephus made use of his work.

Cross-file under Lost Books.

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Selecid Coins Online (v.2)

NUMISMATICS: Ancient Coin News – ANS Releases Seleucid Coins Online Version 2 (CoinWeek).

I am not sure of the relationship, if any, between this project and SCADS: Seleucid Coins Addenda System. The American Numismatic Society is involved with both.

For PaleoJudaica's interest in the Seleucid Period, see here and links (cf. here). And for an ongoing CoinWeek series on the Ptolemaic coins, see here and here.

I suppose we can find a Hanukkah connection here too, just to round things out today. (Antiochus IV was a Seleucid.) But in any case, this looks like a useful resource.

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Review of Hau et al. (eds.), Diodoros of Sicily

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Lisa Irene Hau, Alexander Meeus, Brian Sheridan (ed.), Diodoros of Sicily: Historiographical Theory and Practice in the «Bibliotheke». Studia Hellenistica, 58. Leuven: Peeters, 2018. Pp. x, 612. ISBN 9789042934986. €115,00. Reviewed by W. P. Richardson, University of Otago (bill.richardson@otago.ac.nz).

Diodoros of Sicily: Historiographical Theory and Practice in the «Bibliotheke» contains a variety of contributions on this influential ancient historian, based on a 2011 conference at the University of Glasgow. Broad topics include, but are not limited to, Diodoros’ context within the first century B.C.E., the composition of the Bibliotheke, Diodoros’ depiction of mythology, and the concept of New Quellenforschung. The term New Quellenforschung is the name suggested by the editors (p. 8) for a more recent development in the scholarship, the revival, albeit in a moderated form, of the traditional view of Diodoros, which argued that his work was largely restricted to being a copyist of earlier writers and included limited original content.

[...]

Past PaleoJudaica posts on Diodorus Siculus and his work are here and here with many links. Diodorus's history provides important background material for the study of Second Temple Judaism, notably his contribution to the perspective I call "Greek Fantasy Babylon" and his independent account of the Maccabean Revolt.

So, I didn't plan it, but this post is Hanukkah-related too.

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The editing of Daniel 2

HANUKKAH-RELATED: Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream: The Revision of Daniel’s Role During Antiochus’ Persecution (Prof. Michael Segal, TheTorah.com).

The first section of Daniel (chs. 2-6) is a collection of quasi-independent court tales. Once they were combined into the book of Daniel in its current form, the story of Daniel interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, which parallels Pharaoh’s dream in the Joseph story, was revised. It was further supplemented with Daniel’s prayer which creates a contrast between the power of God and that of Antiochus IV.

This is a case in which the application of redaction criticism produces convincing results.

One of the fun things about the Book of Daniel is that comparison of the Old Greek version with the Hebrew Masoretic Text allows us to watch the process of redaction happening. The Old Greek translates an earlier draft than the MT. Not in chapter two, but certainly in chapters four through six.

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The synagogue at Modi'in

FOR HANUKKAH: The Earliest Synagogue in Israel? Used by the Maccabees? (Carl Rasmussen, HolyLandPhotos' Blog). With photos, of course.

Past PaleoJudaica posts on the archaeology of Modi'in (?) (Umm el–’Umdan/Umm el–Umdan) are here and links.

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The Queen of Sheba and Ethiopia?

TRAVEL: In search of the real Queen of Sheba. Legends and rumors trail the elusive Queen of Sheba through the rock-hewn wonders and rugged hills of Ethiopia. (Stanley Stewart, National Geographic). This article is more of a travelogue than a report on history or archaeology. It takes a while even to get to Aksum (Axum) and its legendary connections with the Queen of Sheba (who alternatively may be associated with Yemen) and the Ark of the Covenant. But it is interesting nonetheless and, as far as I can tell, accurate in discussing the historical issues.

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Sefaria adds Jastrow's Talmud Dictionary

LEXICOGRAPHY: A Digitized Dictionary Illuminates The Talmud, Though Some Prefer To Stay Offline (Ari Feldman, The Forward).

Jastrow's iconic Dictionary of the Targumim, Talmud Bavli, Talmud Yerushalmi and Midrashic Literature is outdated in many ways, but remains useful if consulted judiciously. I see from the archives that I have cited it on PaleoJudaica off and on over the years. You can already find it online (e.g., here, here, and here) and it remains in print, but it sounds as though the Sefaria version has been prepared with special care.

Background on the Sefaria website is here and links.

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New edition of Genesis Apocryphon etc.

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: The Dead Sea Scrolls. Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts with English Translations. Volume 8A: Genesis Apocryphon and Related Documents. 2018. XXVII, 354 pages. Edited by James H. Charlesworth, Henry W. Morisada Rietz and Loren L. Johns u.a. 189,00 € including VAT cloth. ISBN 978-3-16-156644-8.

Published in English.
The Princeton Theological Seminary Dead Sea Scrolls Project is providing the first critical edition of all the Dead Sea Scrolls which are not copies of books in the Hebrew Bible (the so-called »Old Testament«) in 10 projected volumes along with 2 concordances. The format of the series is unique; each manuscript is presented with Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek text on the left page with facing English translation on the right. The series intends to be a standard reference work; thus, only probable reconstructions are made and the English translations are as literal as possible avoiding idiomatic renderings. Where a document is witnessed by more than one manuscript, each manuscript is presented separately. Critical notes help the reader to understand the text, variants, philological subtleties, and the translation. An introduction with selected bibliography precedes each document. The documents are prepared by an international team of over fifty scholars with the editors and their assistants providing consistency.
Volume 8A brings together Dead Sea Scrolls that develop stories in Genesis along with other texts. The Genesis Apocryphon (1Q20, 3Q14 frg. 8) is a creative, interpretive, and theologically driven rewriting of a portion of Genesis. Several other documents provide traditions about Noah and his sons, including the Book of Noah, Admonitions Based on the Flood, and a composite text of the Birth of Noah manuscripts (4Q534–536). The collection also provides the manuscript witnesses to A Joseph Apocryphon found on Masada.

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Review of Niehoff (ed.) Journeys in the Roman East

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Book Note | Journeys in the Roman East (Timothy Luckritz Marquis).

Brief Review of Maren R. Niehoff, ed., Journeys in the Roman East: Imagined and Real (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2017).

It sounds like there are lots of good things in this book. Let me highlight just one. The psychology of imagination is still a largely untapped resource for the study of ancient literature. I'm pleased to see it put to use here.

I noted the publication of the book last year here.

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Traditionalists vs. assimilationists or just politics?

FOR HANUKKAH: Chanukah and the Politics Behind the Maccabean Revolt (TheTorah.com).

The story of the Maccabees is known as a battle between traditionalists and assimilationists, the latter supported by the Seleucid kings. But what do the books of 1 and 2 Maccabees, with their elaborate descriptions of alliances and power plays, really tell us about the revolt?

For some PaleoJudaica posts that deal with the complicated politics of the Maccabean Revolt, see here and links.

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More on the Pilate ring

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Was Pontius Pilate’s Ring Discovered at Herodium? Bible and archaeology news (Robert Cargill). Professor Cargill offers a new interpretation of the ring and its inscription, but retains the possible connection with Pontius Pilate.

Background here (and note the correction).

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An Oxyrhynchus Papyrus of Exodus and Revelation, Part 2

VARIANT READINGS: Once More: An Oxyrhynchus Papyrus of Exodus and Revelation, Part 2 (Brent Nongbri). Part 1 was noted here. Cross-file under Codicology.

UPDATE (12 December): Peter Malik responds over at the ETC Blog. They appear to have agreed to disagree.

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Hurtado on Christians and codices

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Why Did Early Christians Prefer the Codex to the Bookroll? Early Christian manuscript books (Marek Dospěl). As usual, this BHD column is a summary of a BAR article: Larry Hurtado, “Early Christian Dilemma: Codex or Scroll?” in the November/December 2018 issue. The full article is behind a subscription wall.

For some past posts on Professor Hurtado's work on scrolls and codices, see here, here, and here.

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Tractate Hullin in the Talmud

THIS WEEK'S DAF YOMI COLUMN BY ADAM KIRSCH IN TABLET: Slaughterhouse Shrive. In this week’s ‘Daf Yomi,’ Talmudic rabbis debate who is free to butcher animals piously according to Jewish ritual. Plus: the one transgression that is unforgivable under the Torah. This week Daf Yomi begins tracate Hullin, which deals with the non-sacral slaughtering of animals for food. Also this week, the Samaritans make an appearance.

Earlier Daf Yomi columns are noted here and links.

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Biblical Studies Carnival 153

THE DUST BLOG: November 2018 Biblical Studies Carnival (Bob MacDonald).

There are still no volunteers for 2019 Biblical Studies Carnivals. Contact Phil Long if you are interested.

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An Oxyrhynchus Papyrus of Exodus and Revelation, Part 1

VARIANT READINGS: Once More: An Oxyrhynchus Papyrus of Exodus and Revelation, Part 1. Scroll or codex? Dr. Nongbri is still leaving "codex" open as an option.

Those of us who are not codicologists will still be intrigued to learn of this third-century manuscript that contained the Book of Exodus, with the Book of Revelation on the other side.

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Timna excavation open to public for Hanukkah

HOLIDAY ARCHAEOLOGY: TIMNA PARK OPENS DOORS FOR TO PUBLIC EXCAVATIONS DURING HANUKKAH. The site contains remains of an ancient Egyptian copper mining industry, and is dotted with workshops, furnaces, tunnels, shrines and mining camps, dated to the 12th and 13th centuries BCE (Rachel Bernstein, Jerusalem Post). Visitors can participate in the sifting of the excavated soil.

The Timna Valley excavation covers a period that is early for the usual interests of PaleoJudaica. But I have been keeping an eye on it for reasons explained here and links.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

More on those new Qumran caves

OPERATION SCROLL: Archaeologists Are Looking for Dead Sea Scrolls Inside 2 Newfound Qumran Caves (Owen Jarus, Live Science). This came out a couple of days ago, but I missed when I wrote my post yesterday. It covers some of the same ground as the other reports, but it has more details on the contents excavated in Caves 53b and 53c. My 5 points in yesterday's post still stand, except that point 4 on Cave 53c can be filled out:

Inside cave 53c, the researchers found a fragment of a scroll jar, providing evidence that scrolls were once stored in that cave. Excavations are underway in cave 53c to determine if it still holds any scrolls.

Background here and links.

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The History of the Temple Mount in 12 Objects: #2

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT BLOG: The History of the Temple Mount in 12 Objects: #2 The Early First Temple Period.

Ladies and gentlemen, step right up and meet this month’s guest – the earliest piece of weaponry ever to be recovered from the Temple Mount: ...

The object is a bronze arrowhead. But there is much more to this post. It surveys what archaeology, including the work of the Sifting Project, tells us about the Temple Mount in the "Early First Temple Period" (i.e., roughly Iron Age IIA or the tenth century B.C.E.).

I noted the first post in this series here.

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On 2 and 4 Maccabees

HANUKKAH-RELATED: 2 and 4 Maccabees: Evolving Responses to Hellenism (Dr. Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz, TheTorah.com).

2 Maccabees (ca. 1st cent. B.C.E) presents Judaism as the antithesis to Hellenism. A century or so later, however, 4 Maccabees uses Hellenistic ideas to encourage Jews to hold fast to their ancestral faith.

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CFP: Symposia Iranica 4

CONFERENCE:

CALL FOR PAPERS | SYMPOSIA IRANICA
FOURTH BIENNIAL CONFERENCE ON IRANIAN STUDIES

Hosted by the University of Cambridge at St John’s College, Cambridge, UK, 9-10 April 2019

***Deadline: 13 January 2019***

We welcome proposals that engage with any aspect of Iranian studies within the arts, humanities and social sciences. These include but are not limited to prehistory through to the ancient and post-antique, modern, and contemporary histories; historiography; art and architecture history; anthropology; archaeology; cultural heritage; film and cinema; music and musicology; new media and communication studies; the performing arts; poetry and literature; languages and linguistics; Diaspora and migration studies; diplomatic studies, international relations and political science; social and political theory; law and legal studies; economics, philately and numismatics; sociology; philosophy; religions and theology.

Comparative themes and interdisciplinary approaches are also very welcome.

SUBMISSIONS
Proposals are open to early career scholars at postgraduate and post-doctoral levels from any disciplinary background within the arts, humanities and social sciences:

Postgraduate students (MA, MPhil, MSt, etc. who are currently enrolled or who graduate/d in 2019 or 2018);
PhD students and PhD candidates at any stage of their degree; and
post-docs who graduated within the last three years (2018, 2017, 2016, 2015).

Persons falling into any of these categories are eligible to submit a proposal for an individual paper or pre-arranged panel. Submission is conducted electronically through the website. For any questions, please email us at office@symposia-iranica.com.

The language of the conference is English. All submissions undergo double-blind peer review.

ABOUT US
Symposia Iranica is Iranian studies' leading forum for early career scholars. A dedicated, multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed platform open to emerging scholars working on any aspect of Iranian or Persian Studies within the arts, humanities, and social sciences, our three previous conferences were hosted by the University of St Andrews at St Mary’s College in 2013 and the University of Cambridge at Downing College in 2015 and Pembroke College in 2017.

The full call for papers is on our website: symposia-iranica.com
Updates will be posted to our Facebook page: facebook.com/SymposiaIranica
A virtual preview of our programme is at: symposia-iranica.com/preview
Highlights from all three conferences to-date: symposia-iranica.com/past

PARTNERS
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Shahnama Centre for Persian Studies and the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge; St John's College, Cambridge; Trinity College, Cambridge; British Institute of Persian Studies; Iran Heritage Foundation; Soudavar Memorial Foundation; Ancient India and Iran Trust; Institute of Iranian Studies, University of St Andrews; Pembroke College, Cambridge; Brill Publishers; I.B. Tauris Publishers; Edinburgh University Press; and the German Oriental Studies Trust.

With thanks,

Armin Yavari, Founding Chair
Michael Pye, Co-Chair


-----------
Armin Yavari, FRSA
Founding Chair, Symposia Iranica
Exchange at Somerset House, South Wing, Strand, London WC2R 1LA
E. armin@symposia-iranica.com W. www.Symposia-Iranica.org
F. Facebook.com/SymposiaIranica T. Twitter.com/SymposiaIranica

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Hanukkah 2018

HAPPY HANUKKAH (CHANUKKAH, CHANUKAH) to all those celebrating! The eight-day festival begins tonight at sundown.

National Geographic has a brief, pretty good, background article on Hanukkah: Hanukkah: How an ancient revolt sparked the Festival of Lights. When the days grow shorter and the nights get longer, people around the world celebrate Hanukkah. For eight days and nights, candles are lit, songs are sung, and dreidels are spun to remember a people’s revolt and holy miracle from more than 2,000 years ago (Amy Briggs). It could have mentioned that the Talmud was written many centuries after the events, which bears on the credibility of the story about the lamp that burned for eight days.

Last year's Hanukkah post is here. It links to past Hanukkah posts with additional historical background. For PaleoJudaica posts in the last year that relate to Hanukkah, see here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

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Two more caves unsealed at Qumran

OPERATION SCROLL: Newly discovered caves may hold more Dead Sea Scrolls. Though no new manuscripts found so far, archaeologists are hopeful after unearthing objects at Qumran used in the storage of ancient scripts (Times of Israel). Okay, all this talk of new scrolls caves at Qumran is getting complicated. I think I have sorted it out, so here goes.

Back in 2017 there were reports of "Qumran Cave 12," in which some blank parchment and jar fragments were found. There was hope that some actual Dead Sea Scrolls fragments might turn up there too. Now they seem to be calling this cave "Cave 53." I take that as a tacit admission that, no, there were no Dead Sea Scrolls in it apart from the blank fragments.

Past posts on "Qumran Cave 12" (Cave 53) are here, here, here, and here.

In January of this year, there was a report of the discovery of a new cave at Qumran, for which no cave number was specified (at least in the report that I saw). Once again, the report expressed hope that more Dead Sea Scroll fragments would be found in it.

Then last month National Geographic published an article on the search for ancient Bible-related manuscripts and the discoveries and fakes that resulted. It opened and closed with a discussion of Cave 53 (with no mention that it was once called "Cave 12"). It disclosed that excavation was still ongoing in Cave 53 and they were still finding pottery.

Now we have this new report, at the first link above, which refers to two new Qumran caves, 53b and 53c, which are currently being excavated. So far the excavation has produced "jars, wrappings, and possible scroll fragments," but no verified inscribed scrolls or scroll fragments. It turns out that the Cave 53 of the National Geographic article is apparently Cave 53b. It is also the undesignated cave in the news in January (above).

What does all this add up to? As far as I can figure out: (1) No inscribed scrolls turned up in Cave 12/53; (2) another cave, in some unexplained way closely connected to Cave 53, turned up in January and is called Cave 53b; (3) Cave 53b was partially looted 40 years ago, but nevertheless some interesting ancient artifacts (but no scrolls) have just been excavated there; (4) a third cave, again closely related in some unclear way to Cave 53 has turned up and is called Cave 53c and there is no report on its contents or whether it is important; and (5) the excavators really hope that if they just keep digging they will find the "mother load," presumably of new scrolls.

I think the above is accurate, but if anyone else has better information, please send me corrections.

In sum, Operation Scroll is still unsealing new caves that we occupied in antiquity, but they haven't found any new scrolls yet.

UPDATE: More here, especially pertaining to point 4 above.

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Cuneiform tablet found on coast of Israel

PHILOLOGY: DISCOVERED CUNEIFORM REVEALS BABYLONIAN SLAVE TRADE IN BIBLICAL SAMARIA. The fall of Samaria, which has been known in the Bible to be ruled by the Israelites, has been discussed by numerous scholars and remains a key issue in the Bible (Rachel Bernstein, Jerusalem Post).

The cuneiform tablet documenting a slave sale refers to a pym weight, a polished stone weighing about 7.6 grams. Since these stones were in common use in biblical Israel but not in ancient Mesopotamia, Spar, Paley and Stieglitz concluded the text was written in the Levant, and reflected a business transaction regarding moveable property, namely slaves, in the biblical kingdom of Israel.

It was discovered "at Tel Mikhmoret on the Mediterranean coast north of Netanya."

It is very unusual to find a cuneiform fragment in Israel. See, for example, here and here. There is, however, a large archive (unprovenanced but apparently genuine) of cuneiform tablets produced by Judeans in Babylonia. See here and links (cf. here).

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Coin inflation in the Roman Empire.

NUMISMATICS: NGC Ancients: The Decline of Roman Imperial Silver Coinage, Part I (CoinWeek). You can follow the decline of the Roman Empire by the debasement of the value of its coinage. Cross-file under Material Culture.

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Babies born hands-first in the Bible

GOOD QUESTION: Why Does the Torah Describe Babies Born Hands First? (Dr. Eran Viezel, TheTorah.com).

Jacob is famously born with his hand grasping the ankle of his twin brother, Esau. Similarly, Zerah puts his hand out first, before being overshot by his twin brother Peretz. Does this reflect men’s ignorance of childbirth or their familiarity with other realia?

Or both. The answers proposed here seem plausible to me.

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Garroway on children in the Hebrew Bible

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

The World of Children in the Hebrew Bible

For its part, the archaeological record helps to uncover tangible items related to children and their lives, and in this regard, it is one of the most exciting strategies to use.

See Also: Growing Up in Ancient Israel (SBL Press; 1 edition, 2018).

By Kristine Henriksen Garroway
Visiting Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible,
Hebrew Union College
November 2018

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Huqoq fellowship report

ASOR NEWS: PATCHY PLASTER AND HIDDEN POTS: MY EXPERIENCE AT HUQOQ, ISRAEL (SUMMER 2018). John Huggins, 2018 Eric and Carol Meyers Excavation Fellowship Recipient.

For many past PaleoJudaica posts on the Huqoq excavation and its remarkable mosaics, see here and links.

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Andruska, Wise and Foolish Love in the Song of Songs

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Wise and Foolish Love in the Song of Songs
Series:
Oudtestamentische Studiën, Old Testament Studies, Volume: 75

Author: Jennifer Andruska

For some time scholars have debated whether the Song of Songs has connections to the wisdom genre and how this changes our understanding of it. In Wise and Foolish Love in the Song of Songs, J.L. Andruska shows that the influence of the wisdom genre on the Song is pervasive, running throughout the book, and offers an entirely new understanding of the book’s wisdom message. She demonstrates that the Song has combined elements of the ancient Near Eastern love song and wisdom genres to produce a wisdom literature about romantic love, inspiring readers to pursue a particular type of love relationship, modelled by the lovers throughout the poem, and aiming to transform them, through character formation, into wise lovers themselves.

Publication Date: 26 November 2018
ISBN: 978-90-04-33101-3

Hello, BRILL! The wrong TOC is posted for this volume.

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Did this ring belong to Pontius Pilate?

ONOMASTIC ARTIFACT: 2,000-year-old ‘Pilate’ ring just might have belonged to notorious Jesus judge. Uncovered 50 years ago at the Herodian palace near Bethlehem, a simple copper-alloy ring is now given a good cleaning — and a second look by skeptical scholars (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel).

This is a well-balanced article that explores the implications of this find cautiously and thoughtfully. On the one hand, the name Pilate seems to have been uncommon, although not unique. On the other hand, would a Roman governor have worn a cheap copper ring? I would say the connection with Pontius Pilate is plausible, but there's no way to be certain.

Past PaleoJudaica posts on Pontius Pilate are collected here. This object, if it is his, would be the only surviving personal possession of the Pilate of the Gospels. But he is mentioned by Philo, Josephus, and Tacitus, and his name also appears in other archaeological finds. The "Pontius Pilate Inscription" from Caesarea certainly refers to him. There was only one man with that name who was a Roman governor of Judea. Pilate also issued some coins bearing his own name during his administration.

CORRECTION (5 December): Pilate's coins did not bear his name. Apparently we know they are his from the dates and location. Apologies for the error.

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Review of Mirguet, An Early History of Compassion

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Françoise Mirguet, An Early History of Compassion: Emotion and Imagination in Hellenistic Judaism. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2017. Pp. viii, 271. ISBN 9781107146266. $99.99. Reviewed by Andrew R. Krause, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster (ankrause@uni-muenster.de).

This sounds like a very interesting book. But, and I keep saying this, the Greek Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs is a second-century Christian work. True, in some cases it is based on Jewish material, verifiably mainly in the Testament of Levi and the Testament of Naphtali. But it is poor methodology to use the whole thing as testimony to Hellenistic Judaism.

Similarly, the Testament of Job is often assumed to be a Hellenistic Jewish work. But I have explained here why this assumption is methodologically weak.

But most of the material covered in this book is relevant to the topic, and the topic is certainly worthwhile.

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Workshop on cognitive approaches to ancient magic

THE NSEA BLOG: COGNITIVE APPROACHES TO ANCIENT MAGIC. A workshop at the University of London Senate House on 17-18 January 2019 on a very promising subject. Free, but requires advance registration.

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Review of Gallagher and Meade, The Biblical Canon Lists from Early Christianity

BOOK REVIEW: Juan Carlos Ossandón Reviews The Biblical Canon Lists from Early Christianity Reviews of the Enoch Seminar 2018.11.10

Edmon L. Gallagher and John D. Meade. The Biblical Canon Lists from Early Christianity: Texts and Analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. £35/€40. ISBN 9780198792499. Pp. 359. Hardcover.

I noted the publication of the book here last year.

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Reading ancient Judean obituaries

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY: RIP: Reading Obituaries in Ancient Judah (Alice Mandell and Jeremy Smoak). A nice discussion of the Khirbet el-Qom tomb inscriptions which focuses refreshingly on something other than their mention of Asherah. And this is the first time I have seen an explanation — indeed a convincing one — of the "ghost letters" in the Uriah inscription.

Some past posts involving the Khirbet el-Qom inscriptions are here, here, and here.

UPDATE: I forgot to include the authors. Apologies — they are listed now.

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CFP: The Study of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements

CONFERENCE: The Study of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements: Critical and Interdisciplinary Approaches.

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Centre for the Critical Study of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements (CenSAMM) is pleased to announce its first annual conference, to be held at the University of Bedfordshire (Bedford Campus) 27-28 June 2019.

The theme of the conference is The Study of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements: Critical and Interdisciplinary Approaches.

The aim of the conference is to facilitate critical and interdisciplinary discussion of apocalypticism, millenarianism and associated movements across time, place, and culture, and will cover academic fields such as anthropology, archaeology, biblical studies, critical theory, cultural studies, history, literary studies, political studies, psychology, religious studies, sociology, etc. The interdisciplinary scope is broadly understood to include methodologies, comparative approaches, and showcasing of research more specific to individual fields of expertise.

[...]

Follow the link for instructions for registration and submitting a paper proposal. The proposal deadline is 31 March 2019.

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More on Jesus' face at Shivta

ARCHAEOLOGY AND DECORATIVE ART: Earliest Depiction of Jesus Christ in Israel Discovered. Here's What It Shows (Tom Metcalfe, Live Science).

Emma Maayan-Fanar was looking for shade from the desert sun when she saw the face of Jesus.

Yeah, that can happen. But this case is unusual.

This article goes over familiar ground on the story of the discovery of the painting of Jesus' face at Shivta. But it also gives some interesting background on the site. Did you know that Lawrence of Arabia explored it?

Tom Metcalfe' photo essay on Shivta was noted here.

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Photo essay on Shivta

ARCHAEOLOGY AND DECORATIVE ART: Photos: The Ancient Ruins of Shivta in Southern Israel (Tom Metcalfe, Live Science). Shivta is the late-antique site in the Negev where an ancient drawing of Jesus' face was recently discovered.

Background here. And some previous posts on Shivta are here, here, here, here, and here.

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"The Incredible Lady Bible Hunters" of St Andrews! (Bumped)

LECTURE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS: "The Incredible Lady Bible Hunters:
St Andrews’ first female Doctors of Divinity, Dr Margaret Gibson and Dr Agnes Lewis."

It will be presented by Professor Janet Soskice (Cambridge) on Thursday 29 November 2018 (in two days tomorrow!) at 5.15 pm in School III St Salvator’s Quadrangle.

If you can be in St Andrews on Thursday, don't miss it!

Professor Soskice is the author of The Sisters of Sinai, a book about the Gibson and Lewis sisters. I have noted many reviews of it here and links. The title refers to their identification of Codex Syriacus or the Sinai Palimpsest, an important Syriac manuscript of the Four Gospels, at St. Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai.

Their connection with the Cairo Geniza was explored by Adina Hoffman and Peter Cole in their book Sacred Trash: The Lost and Found World of the Cairo Geniza. The Geniza manuscripts that the sisters brought back to England were recently acquired by Cambridge and Oxford Universities. See here, here, and here.

I'll see you at the lecture.

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NG on the search for sacred texts

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: Inside the cloak-and-dagger search for sacred texts. In the shadowy world where religion meets archaeology, scientists, collectors, and schemers are racing to find the most precious relics (Robert Draper). I noted mention of the print version of this article under a slightly different title ("Bible Hunters") here, but it is now online.

This is a very good article that deals with most of the recent stories about Bible-related (etc.) manuscripts, whether genuine or fake. These include Operation Scroll, which continues; Konstantin von Tischendorf and Codex Sinaiticus; the Sisters of Sinai and Codex Sinaiticus Syriacus; the Oxyrhynchus papyri; the Dead Sea Scrolls; P52, the Rylands fragment of the Gospel of John; the Museum of the Bible's fake Dead Sea Scrolls fragments and Hobby Lobby's improperly acquired cuneiform tablets; the no-longer-first-century fragment of the Gospel of Mark; and more. Read it all.

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Mahanaim and Penuel

DR. DAVID BEN-GAD HACOHEN: Jacob’s Journey to Mahanaim and Penuel in J and E (TheTorah.com).

The merging of two different accounts of Jacob’s return home is reflected in the double etymologies for Mahanaim and Penuel. Why do both sources have Jacob pass through these two cities one after the other? The answer lies in geography.

Another example of J-E source criticism in Genesis. Cf. my earlier comments here.

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