One Year of the Coptic Magical Papyri Project

COPTIC WATCH: 2019 Review: One Year of the Coptic Magical Papyri Project.

It’s hard to believe it, but a whole year has now passed since the three members of our project first sat around a table in Würzburg and began to talk about our new project on Coptic magic. In this post, we’ll discuss some of our achievements so far, and what we have coming up in the next year.

This excellent blog continues to be active. I have not kept up with it well for a while. Besides the retrospective post above, here are a couple of notable recent posts:

Anthropology of Magic IV: Lévi-Strauss on Magic. I noted the first three posts in this series here and here.

Religion in the Coptic Magical Papyri. I noted nine of the ten posts in this series here, here, and here. The tenth is Religion in the Coptic Magical Papyri X: Islam and Coptic Magic. It mentions a magical text from the Cairo Geniza which is written in part in Copto-Arabic (a term I just made up), that is, in Arabic written in Coptic script. I did not know that was a thing.

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Role-playing exorcisms?

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Performing Exercises, Performing Exorcisms (Sara Ronis).

According to the angel Raphael, the secret to exorcising the demon Asmodeus is to burn a particular fish’s heart and liver in the presence of the malevolent Asmodeus. The foul smell apparently repels this finicky demon. At least, that’s what the author of the Book of Tobit believed. Demons are weird. Demonic exorcisms are weirder still. And yet to dismiss them as simply weird is to miss out on the important social and theological work that demons do in both ancient and modern societies. Thus, I decided to devote a day to demonic possession and exorcism in a new course I was teaching on Second Temple Judaism. But how to teach this subject?

[...]

Cross-file under Pedagogy.

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Belatedly, Biblical Studies Carnival 162

THE AMATEUR EXEGETE: Biblical Studies Carnival 163 (August 2019).

Also, a related post by Phil Long, organizer of the carnival, at Reading Acts: Biblical Studies Carnival for August 2019.

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Many Recensions of the Ten Commandments?

PROF. SIDNIE WHITE CRAWFORD: The Many Recensions of the Ten Commandments (TheTorah.com).

Beyond the two version of the Decalogue in Exodus and Deuteronomy, and the usual differences between MT, SP, and LXX, in Second Temple times, liturgical texts in Qumran (4QDeutⁿ) and Egypt (Nash Papyrus), Greek references in the New Testament and Philo, and even tefillin parchments, reflect slightly different recensions of the text.

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More on Stone, Secret Groups in Ancient Judaism

IN THE MAIL FROM OUP:

Secret Groups in Ancient Judaism

Michael E. Stone

• Greatly enriches our understanding of the religious dynamic of this period
• Analyzes the Essenes and other contemporary groups as a secret society

Were there groups in Ancient Judaism that cultivated esoteric knowledge and transmitted it secretly? With the discovery and burgeoning study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and particularly of the documents legislating the social structure of the Qumran group, the foremost paradigm for analysis of the group's social structure has become the "sect." This is still dominant, having replacing the monastic paradigm used by some of the earliest scholars of the Scrolls.

But after studying what has been written on secret societies more generally, Michael Stone has concluded that many known ancient Jewish groupsthe Qumran covenanters, Josephus's and Philo's Essenes, and Philo's Therapeutaeshould be viewed as societies at the heart of whose existence were esoteric knowledge and practice. Guarding and transmitting this esoteric knowledge and practice, Stone argues, provided the dynamic that motivated the social and conceptual structure of these groups. Analyzing them as secret societies, he says, enables us to see previously latent social structural dimensions, and provides many new enriching insights into the groups, including the Dead Sea covenanters.

By examining historical and literary sources, Stone uncovers evidence for the existence of other secret groups in ancient Jewish society. This line of study leads Stone not only to consider the "classical" Jewish apocalypses as pseudo-esoteric, but also to discern in them the footsteps of hidden, truly esoteric traditions cultivated in the circles that produced the apocalypses. This discovery has significant implications, especially considering the enormous growth of study of the apocalyptic in the Judaism of the Second Temple period and in nascent Christianity over the last seventy years.

I am one of the reviewers of this book for the Mysticism, Esotericism, and Gnosticism in Antiquity Group at the upcoming annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in San Diego, California.

Past posts on the book are here and here.

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The Temple on Mount Gerizim

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: The Temple on Mount Gerizim—In the Bible and Archaeology. Worship at Ancient Temples (Megan Sauter). As usual, this is a summary on an article, this one by Anne Katrine de Hemmer in the current issue of Biblical Archaeology Review: "Reactivating Remembrance: Interactive Inscriptions from Mt. Gerizim." The full article is behind the subscription wall.

A couple of related posts are here and here.

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Review of Walsh, The Cult of Mithras in Late Antiquity

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: David Walsh, The Cult of Mithras in Late Antiquity. Development, Decline and Demise ca. A.D. 270-430. Late Antique Archaeology (Supplementary Series), volume 2. Leiden: Brill, 2018. Pp. xii, 146. ISBN 9789004380806. €121 (pb). ISBN 9789004383067. ebook. Reviewed by Matthew M. McCarty, University of British Columbia (matthew.mccarty@ubc.ca).

Ultimately, though, whether Walsh’s boldest arguments will hold true as excavations publish their data may matter less than the way that Walsh successfully re-frames the questions surrounding the end of Mithras-worship.

I noted the publication of the book here.

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Was Emmaus at Kiriath Yearim?

ARCHAEOLOGY: Israeli Archaeologists May Have Found Emmaus, Where Jesus Appeared After Crucifixion (Ariel David, Haaretz premium).

Archaeologists have uncovered the massive walls of a 2,200-year-old Hellenistic fortification that may have been built by the Seleucid general who defeated Judah the Maccabee, the famed Jewish leader at the center of the Hanukkah story. In an unexpected twist, the discovery could also help identify the location of the biblical town of Emmaus, where the Gospels say Jesus made his first appearance after being crucified and resurrected.

[...]

But just to keep things interesting, there may have been more than one ancient town named Emmaus.

For more on the excavation at Kiriath Yearim (Kiriath Jearim), see here and links. And for more on the excavation at the site of Motza (mentioned in the article as another contender for the site of Emmaus), see here and here.

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Psalmen und Chronik (ed. Hartenstein and Willi)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Psalmen und Chronik. Hrsg. v. Friedhelm Hartenstein u. Thomas Willi. [Psalms and Chronicles.] 2019. XXII, 434 pages. Forschungen zum Alten Testament 2. Reihe 107. 99,00 € including VAT. sewn paper ISBN 978-3-16-154010-3.

Published in German.
The Books of Psalms and Chronicles open and close the ketubim in the TENAK. They share some significant mutual linguistic and thematic threads, which demonstrate their cognate character in the Second Temple literature. This becomes even more obvious if one looks at both works as a special example of the relationship of poetics and prose in ancient Jewish tradition. Finally, it is important to note how the presentation of history in Chronicles uses Psalms (from the theocratic books 4 and 5) as interpreting doxologies while conversely certain Psalms show concepts of history comparable to 1–2Chr. This volume contains the contributions of an international conference held at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich where for the first time renowned scholars discussed aspects of the relationship between Psalms and Chronicles fundamentally and in detail.

The essays are in German and English.

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Isaac Luria knew things

KABBALAH WATCH: REPORTS OF MIRACLES FROM SAFED. How the great kabbalist Isaac Luria changed the perception of the world without changing the world itself (Eli Yassif, Tablet Magazine).

To be somewhat less cautious than Leon was, I would say not that most of the original legends about Luria involve his knowledge or recognition of something but that they are all of this sort. Not a single legend told about Luria during his sojourn in Safed (or the fifty years around 1600 that this book is concentrated on; I am not speaking here about legends fashioned centuries later) recounts a miraculous deed. There are no stories of sick people lining up in front of his door so that he could cure them, or stories of threats to the Safed Jewish community that he averted or undid.

The essay also touches on ancient Jewish mysticism and magic here and there.

For past posts on Isaac Luria (Ha'ARI) and Lurianic Kabbalah, see here and links.

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Reviving ancient fragrances?

ANCIENT MATERIAL CULTURE, AROMATICS EDITION: Israeli farmer remixes ancient scents near Dead Sea (Michael Blum, AFP). It's not certain that Mr. Erlich has the right ancient plants, but an expert thinks he probably does.

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Was there a Dead Sea Scrolls conspiracy?

SPOILER: NO. Religious questions: Was there a Dead Sea Scrolls conspiracy? (Wyatt Massey, Times Free Press).

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In honor of Khaled Al-Asaad

PALMYRA WATCH: The Guardian Spirit of Palmyra, Khaled Al-As’aad (The Syria Times).

The 18th of August marks a very distressing occasion for all Syrians; yet a source of pride; in commemoration of Mr. Khaled Al-Asa’ad assassination; the Arabic Cultural Center of Abou Roumani hosted the occasion along with Mada Cultural Project, through displaying a documentary entitled “Palmyra Admirer”, directed by Ghassan Shmit, on Khaled Al-Asa’ad documenting his life and death, but most significantly his passion for his beloved Palmyra.

The Syrian archaeologist, who held the position of head of antiquities at the ancient city of Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for over 40 years; was publicly beheaded by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on 18 August 2015, at the age of eighty three.

For more on the murder of Dr Asaad by ISIS, see here and here.

Many other past posts on Palmyra, its history, the ancient Aramaic dialect spoken there (Palmyrene), and the city's tragic reversals of fortune, now trending for the better, are here and links.

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More on that inscribed Moabite altar

NORTHWEST SEMITIC EPIGRAPHY: Newly deciphered Moabite inscription may be first use of written word ‘Hebrews.’ Cylindrical altar from 3,000 years ago found in Jordan also offers first evidence of early Moabite script — and could repaint picture of geopolitics in the ancient Levantine world (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel). A long and comprehensive article on the new inscriptions from Khirbat Ataruz.

Background here.

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The Talmud on sacrificial restrictions and prostitution

LAST WEEK'S DAF YOMI COLUMN BY ADAM KIRSCH IN TABLET: If a Man Gives a Woman a Lamb in Exchange for Sex. This week’s ‘Daf Yomi’ follows its own logic from animal sacrifice to definitions of prostitution.

The Talmud seldom explicitly reckons with the fact that the laws of animal sacrifice are in abeyance. One exception comes in Chapter 5 of Temura, when the rabbis address the issue of whether it is possible to use “artifice” to get around the obligation to sacrifice every firstborn animal. The problem is that while there is no place to actually sacrifice such animals today, they are still born consecrated to God, which means that they can’t be eaten, shorn, or used for labor. Rather, one is supposed to let them alone until they develop a blemish that would render them unsuitable for sacrifice. Only then is it permitted to derive benefit from them, since they can no longer even theoretically be brought to the altar.

Earlier Daf Yomi columns are noted here and links.

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Lataster and McGrath debate Mythicism

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION has recently published two essays on "Mythicism" — the idea that Jesus did not exist as an historical person. Raphael Lataster argues for agnosticism on the question:

Questioning Jesus’ Historicity

As a secular scholar, I, of course, reject hypotheses involving the Christ of Faith. Critical scholars can only reasonably debate the existence of the so-called Historical Jesus, that figure of the Gospels stripped of all divinity. Most secular scholars of the New Testament believe that this figure certainly existed. I noticed that this is an assumption, however, later finding it to be an unjustified assumption.

See Also: Questioning the Historicity of Jesus (Brill 2019).

By Raphael Lataster
University of Sydney
August 2019

I noted his recent book here.

James McGrath replies and disagrees:

Exorcising Mythicism’s Sky-Demons: A Response to Raphael Lataster’s “Questioning Jesus’ Historicity.”

Historians do not depend on the Gospels, much less hypothetical sources behind them, for their conclusion that there was a historical Jesus. The letters of Paul, written within decades of Jesus’ life by someone who had met his brother, combined not only with the Gospels but also Roman and Jewish sources, together provide a convincing impression that the religious phenomenon known as Christianity owes something to a historical figure named Jesus whose detractors viewed him as a charlatan and/or heretic.

See: Questioning Jesus’ Historicity.
Mythicism and the Mainstream: The Rhetoric and Realities of Academic Freedom.

By James F. McGrath
Butler University
August 2019

I think McGrath gets the better of the debate here, but you can read the essays and decide for yourself. For my own views about the historical Jesus, see here and links and here.

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Interview with Peter J. Gentry

WILLIAM ROSS: LXX SCHOLAR INTERVIEW: DR. PETER J. GENTRY DISCUSSES HIS NEW CRITICAL EDITION. Of Greek Ecclesiastes, that is. I noted the publication of the volume here.

For Dr. Ross's many previous interviews with Septuagint scholars, see here and links and here.

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On Solomon's Temple and archaeology

ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE AND ICONOGRAPHY: Reconstructing the Features of Solomon’s Temple (Dr. Madeleine Mumcuoglu and Prof. Yosef Garfinkel, TheTorah.com).

A small shrine model, found in an archaeological excavation of the 10th century B.C.E. city of Qeiyafa, together with a 9th century B.C.E. Temple excavated at Motza, help us better understand the Temple of Solomon, known only from the biblical text.

For past posts on the model shrines at Iron Age II Khirbet Qeiyafa, see here and links. I noted the discovery of the Iron Age II shrine at Motza here.

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Hamidović et al. (eds.), »Retribution« in Jewish and Christian Writings

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: »Retribution« in Jewish and Christian Writings. A Concept in Debate. Ed. by David Hamidović, Apolline Thromas, and Matteo Silvestrini. 2019. IX, 220 pages. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe 492. 84,00 € including VAT. sewn paper ISBN 978-3-16-154721-8.

Published in English.
The authors of this volume attempt to define the concept of retribution by looking beyond its diversity in Jewish and Christian writings, and seeking the common objects and components that govern it in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity, as well as Greek, Islamic and Buddhist texts. They argue that the concept should not be seen as a set of ideas acquired and accepted, but rather as an on-going process. The epistemological current of the Begriffsgeschichte understands conceptualization as a continual process of contesting and questioning, rather than something fixed or final. Each study therefore explicitly examines the actors involved, their environments and receptions, and whether they were accepted, rejected, or modified as components of compensation. The associations made with concepts of wealth, poverty, power, their exchange, transfer, and instance are also taken into consideration.

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Virtual unfolding of Elephantine papyri

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: Physicists discover hidden text in what was thought to be blank Egyptian papyri. It's the latest example of how cutting-edge physics techniques can unlock the past (Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica).

A team of German scientists has used a combination of cutting-edge physics techniques to virtually "unfold" an ancient Egyptian papyrus, part of an extensive collection housed in the Berlin Egyptian Museum. Their analysis revealed that a seemingly blank patch on the papyrus actually contained characters written in what had become "invisible ink" after centuries of exposure to light.

Most of the papyri in the collection were excavated around 1906 by an archaeologist named Otto Rubensohn, on Elephantine Island, near the city of Aswan. They've been gathering dust in storage for much of the ensuing decades, and because they are so fragile, more than 80% of the text within remains undeciphered. ...

The only fully recovered word is the Coptic word for "Lord." But as the process is perfected, it may help to recover a lot of other ancient text more fully.

Given that these papyri are in Coptic, they must be much later than the fifth-century BCE Judean (etc.?) Aramaic papyri from Elephantine. I don't know whether any such Aramaic texts might be included among those undeciphered texts mentioned in the quote. I hope so.

As I like to say:

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

Non-invasive and non-destructive technologies are the way of the future for archaeology.

The Singularity is Near.

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Freedman Award goes to Andrew Perrin

CONGRATULATIONS! TWU professor honoured for Dead Sea Scroll research. Dr. Andrew Perrin receives 2019 David Noel Freedman Award (Ryan Uytdewilligen, Aldergrove Star).

For some past posts on Dr. Perrin's research, see here, here, here, and here and links.

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A fishy mosaic at Hippos-Sussita

DECORATIVE ART: Miracle of the Multiplication Mosaic Found on ‘Wrong’ Side of Sea of Galilee. The mosaic in the Burnt Church of Hippos-Sussita shows five loaves and two fish, like the ones Jesus used to feed 5,000 men, but the depicted fish look Nilotic, not local (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz premium).

Besides the apparent mixup about what kind of fish Jesus used in that miracle, the Burnt Church also has inscriptions in really bad Greek. So maybe fact-checking was a low priority.

But the archaeologists are very happy with the discoveries. So am I.

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An inscribed Moabite altar!

NORTHWEST SEMITIC EPIGRAPHY: Biblical War Revealed on 2,800-Year-Old Stone Altar. The altar reveals new details about a rebellion against the Kingdom of Israel (Owen Jarus, Live Science).

The altar bears two inscriptions. The words are in the Moabite language and script, while the numerals in the inscriptions are in Hieratic (an Egyptian writing system). The altar appears to date to a time after Mesha, king of Moab, successfully rebelled against the Kingdom of Israel and conquered Ataroth (sometimes spelled Atarot), a city that the Kingdom of Israel had controlled. By this time, Israel had broke in two with a northern kingdom that retained the name Israel and a southern kingdom called Judah.

[...]

The inscriptions were recently published in the open-access journal Levant (Volume 50, 2018 - Issue 2, pp. 211-236): An inscribed altar from the Khirbat Ataruz Moabite sanctuary (Adam L. Bean, Christopher A. Rollston, P. Kyle McCarter & Stefan J. Wimmer).

Abstract
A cylindrical stone incense altar inscribed with seven lines of text in two separate inscriptions was discovered in a cultic context during 2010 excavations at Khirbat Ataruz in Jordan. The two short inscriptions are written in Moabite language, using an Early Moabite script datable to the late 9th or early 8th century BCE. Both inscriptions also employ Hieratic numerals. Inscription A appears to tabulate small quantities of metal, possibly for some purpose relating to the cultic context of the inscription. The longer Inscription B appears to be potentially dedicatory and/or commemorative in focus, but remains largely enigmatic. These inscriptions provide a new important historical witness to the period after the Moabite conquest and occupation of Khirbat Ataruz/Atarot described in the Mesha Inscription.

This is a very important discovery. The decipherment of the inscriptions, especially the second one, are tentative. But any new inscriptions in Moabite are a welcome addition to a small corpus.

The other major Moabite inscription is the Mesha Inscription (Mesha Stele, Moabite Stone), on which more here and keep following the links.

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Review of Nissinen, Ancient Prophecy

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Book Note | Ancient Prophecy: Near Eastern, Biblical, and Greek Perspectives (William Kelly).

Martti Nissinen. Ancient Prophecy: Near Eastern, Biblical, and Greek Perspectives. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.

Opening paragraph:

Through several decades of productive and influential work, Martti Nissinen has established himself as a leading scholar in the study of prophecy in the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East. With Ancient Prophecy, Nissinen weaves together his experience, skill, and insight into an impressive monograph. What results is one of the most complete and authoritative accounts of the prophetic phenomenon in the ancient Eastern Mediterranean.

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Review of The Alexander Romance: History and Literature (ed. Stoneman et al.)

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Richard Stoneman, Krzysztof Nawotka, Agnieszka Wojciechowska (ed.), The Alexander Romance: History and Literature. Ancient narrative. Supplementum, 25. Groningen: Barkhuis & Groningen University Library, 2018. Pp. xv, 322. ISBN 9789492444714. €95,00. Reviewed by Chiara Di Serio, Università di Roma 'La Sapienza' (chiara.diserio@uniroma1.it).

Alexander is connected to Jewish traditions in one recension of the Alexander Romance. The volume under review also has an article on Alexander traditions in some Jewish texts.

For past PaleoJudaica posts involving the Alexander Romance, see here and links, here, and here.

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Carthage exhibition in Rome

PUNIC WATCH: Carthage exhibition at the Colosseum in Rome. From 27 Sep 2019 to 29 Mar 2020 (Wanted in Rome). The title of the exhibition is Carthago. The immortal myth.

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Carthage vs. illegal houses

PUNIC WATCH: Battle of Carthage: Tunisia demolishes homes to protect ancient site. Carthage's place on UNESCO World Heritage list is under threat, due to what the UN cultural body calls "uncontrolled urban sprawl." Residents and civil society activists see government demolitions as discrimination (Reuters via Israel HaYom). This is a difficult situation. Apparently it is especially important to get planning permission to build a house in the vicinity of Carthage.

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Laato, Understanding the Spiritual Meaning of Jerusalem in Three Abrahamic Religions

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Understanding the Spiritual Meaning of Jerusalem in Three Abrahamic Religions

Series:
Studies on the Children of Abraham, Volume: 6

Editor: Antti Laato

Understanding the Spiritual Meaning of Jerusalem in Three Abrahamic Religions analyzes the historical, social and theological factors which have resulted in Jerusalem being considered a holy place in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It also surveys the transmission of the religious traditions related to Jerusalem. This volume centralizes both the biblical background of Jerusalem’s pivotal role as holy place and its later development in religious writings; the biblical imagery has been adapted, rewritten and modified in Second Temple Jewish writings, the New Testament, patristic and Jewish literature, and Islamic traditions. Thus, all three monotheistic religions have influenced the multifaceted, interpretive traditions which help to understand the current religious and political position of Jerusalem in the three main Abrahamic faiths.

Publication Date: 5 August 2019
ISBN: 978-90-04-40685-8

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Knoppers memorial

FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Oded Lipschits, Carol A. Newsom, Konrad Schmid. In memoriam Gary N. Knoppers. (November 14, 1956-December 22, 2018).Section: Editorial. Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel (HeBAI),Volume 8 (2019) / Issue 1, p. 1 (1). You can download this brief obituary as a PDF file for free.

For more on the late Professor Knoppers and his work, see here and follow the links.

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Kaminsky on election in the HB

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

Election in the Hebrew Bible

Much of the Hebrew Bible speaks against the idea that the nations will convert to Israel’s religion and it is rare to find a passage that speaks of a complete dissolution of all distinctions between Abraham’s family and the other nations of the world.

See Also: Yet I Loved Jacob: Reclaiming the Biblical Concept of Election (Wipf and Stock, 2016).

By Joel S. Kaminsky
Morningstar Family Professor of Jewish Studies
Chair, Religion Department
Smith College
August 2019

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Review of Lee, The Greek of the Pentateuch

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: John A. L. Lee, The Greek of the Pentateuch: Grinfield Lectures on the Septuagint 2011-2012. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2018. Pp. xx, 360. ISBN 9780198816133. $99.00. Reviewed by Dries De Crom, Tilburg University (d.j.l.a.decrom@tilburguniversity.edu).

In this study, John A.L. Lee returns to the language of the Greek Pentateuch, the topic of an earlier monograph which is, to the best of this reviewer’s knowledge, one of the most widely quoted studies on this particular topic.2 The driving force behind the present volume is “the overriding objective of demonstrating the Pentateuch translators’ intimacy with the Greek of their time” (p. 2). Indeed, the author repeatedly stresses the independence of linguistic and stylistic features in the Greek Pentateuch from its Hebrew parent text. He deploys numerous examples from papyrological, epigraphical, biblical and non-biblical sources to firmly embed the Greek Pentateuch in the language of its time and place. The result is a study that is exemplary in many ways.

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What does "Lord of Hosts" mean?

PHILOLOGOS: Why Does the Hebrew Bible So Often Refer to God as "Lord of Hosts"? Host means army, but who were God’s armies? (Mosaic Magazine).

Past PaleoJudaica posts that deal with this expression are here (scroll down) and here.

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Eschner, Essen im antiken Judentum und Urchristentum

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Essen im antiken Judentum und Urchristentum

Diskurse zur sozialen Bedeutung von Tischgemeinschaft, Speiseverboten und Reinheitsvorschriften

Series:
Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity, Volume: 108

Author: Christina Eschner

In Essen im antiken Judentum und Urchristentum untersucht Christina Eschner die Auseinandersetzungen zum jüdischen Gesetz innerhalb des Urchristentums vor dem Hintergrund vergleichbarer Diskurse im antiken Judentum. Ziel ist es, die urchristliche Praxis des Gesetzes in ihrem größeren Kontext darzustellen und ihr gegebenenfalls einen bestimmten Platz im facettenreichen Bild der zeitgenössischen jüdischen Strömungen zuzuweisen. Dabei finden Schriften aus Qumran, dem griechischsprachigen und dem rabbinischen Judentum Berücksichtigung. Der Fokus liegt auf Vorschriften zu verbotenen Speisen, zur Tischgemeinschaft und zur erlaubten Art und Weise der Nahrungsaufnahme. Auch pagane Traditionen werden einbezogen. Damit ist diese Studie besonders interdisziplinär ausgerichtet. Sie bewegt sich an der Schnittstelle zwischen Themenfeldern der neutestamentlichen Wissenschaft, der Altphilologie, der Alten Geschichte und der Judaistik. Sie kommt zu dem Ergebnis, dass die urchristlichen Diskurse zum Essen nicht auf eine vollständige Abschaffung der entsprechenden jüdischen Gesetzesanordungen zielen.

In Essen im antiken Judentum und Urchristentum Christina Eschner examines the Early Christian disputes about the Jewish law against the background of Ancient Jewish discourses on commands of the law, in order to situate the Early Christian practice of the law within its broader context. Jewish sources include the Dead Sea Scrolls, Jewish writings in Greek and early rabbinic texts. This study focusses on rules concerning prohibited food, table fellowship and the permissible way of food intake. Pagan traditions are also considered. Thus, the work has an interdisciplinary orientation, discussing issues at the junction of New Testament studies, Classics, Ancient History and Jewish studies. It concludes that Early Christian food discourses do not aim for the complete abolition of the law.

Publication Date: 1 July 2019
ISBN: 978-90-04-39190-1

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Tu B'Av 2019

THE FESTIVAL OF TU B'AV begins this evening at sundown. Best wishes to all those celebrating.

Tu B'Av (which just means the 15th day of the month of Av) is an ancient matchmaking festival. Its first mention is in the Mishnah (Ta’anit 4). It has been revived in recent years as a kind of Jewish Valentine's Day. For past posts on it, see here and links.

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Senate building excavated in Pelusium

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Ancient Senate Building Found in North Sinai. In the Roman provincial capital of ancient Pelusium (Jonathan Laden). As the essay notes, the Book of Ezekiel mentions the city of Pelusium.

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The Talmud and speech acts

LAST WEEK'S DAF YOMI COLUMN BY ADAM KIRSCH IN TABLET: THE RULES OF THE SWAP. In this week’s ‘Daf Yomi,’ drawing a distinction between what is permitted and what is legal.

But what if you consecrate one animal to the priests, and then decide you would rather keep it and give up a different animal in its stead? Maybe you want to keep a big, valuable sheep for yourself and give the priest a skinny one; or maybe the reverse is true, you want to make sure God gets the best animal possible. Is this kind of substitution allowed? Or is consecration a permanent state, so that once a specific animal is designated, it cannot be replaced by a different animal, even if the two are equivalent?

This turns out to be a more complicated question than it might seem, because the Torah seems to contradict itself. ...

Earlier Daf Yomi columns are noted here and links.

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Star Trek and Rabbinics?

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Using Star Trek to Teach Rabbinics (Rebecca Kamholz).
Good, creative pedagogy. I like it.

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Ancient synagogue mosaic in Greece on exhibit

DECORATIVE ART: RACE TO PRESERVE RARE MOSAIC OF ANCIENT GREEK SYNAGOGUE. A special exhibition of the 4th Century CE mosaic was opened last week on Aegina Island (Ilanit Chernick, Jerusalem Post).

In a press release, EcoWeek described the geometric mosaic floor as “the most rare and significant finding of Jewish archaeology discovered in Aegina Island in the 19th century. The mosaic is at a dangerous state of damage and neglect and requires urgent preservation and protection.”

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Gold jewelry found in Jerusalem's Babylonian destruction layer

ARCHAEOLOGY: Rare Jewel Found on Mt. Zion Reveals Babylonian Destruction of Jerusalem. First Temple-era Jerusalem was bigger than thought, archaeologists say, adding: ‘Nobody abandons golden jewelry and nobody has arrowheads in their domestic refuse’ (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz premium).

Cross-file under Ancient Bling.

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Review of Berman, Inconsistency in the Torah

REVIEWS OF BIBLICAL AND EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES:

2019.3.4 | Joshua A. Berman. Inconsistency in the Torah: Ancient Literary Convention and the Limits of Source Criticism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. ISBN 9780190658809.

Review by Lindsey A. Askin, University of Bristol.

Excerpt:

... We have always known the Pentateuch repeats itself but historically we have been less certain about why it does so. Berman’s Inconsistency in the Torah demonstrates that the repetition of incongruous laws and “unnecessary” repetitions have their own setting and context in the ancient traditions of common-law, an insight that should have reverberations in Pentateuchal criticism.

Earlier reviews of the book etc. are noted here and links.

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SOTS Book List 2019

IN THE MAIL:

John Jarick (ed.), Society for Old Testament Study Book List 2018 (= JSOT 43.5) (London: Sage, 2019).

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Tisha B'Av 2019

TISHA B'AV (THE NINTH OF AV) begins this evening at sundown. An easy fast to all those observing it.

The Ninth of Av is not specifically a biblical holy day. Rather, it commemorates a number of disasters that happened to the Jewish people, traditionally all on that same day. These include the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple by the Babylonians, the destruction of the Herodian Temple by the Romans, and the fall of Betar during the Bar Kokhba revolt.

Last year's Tisha B'Av post is here with links.

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Louden, Greek Myth and the Bible

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Bruce Louden, Greek Myth and the Bible. Routledge monographs in classical studies. London; New York: Routledge, 2018. Pp. viii, 241. ISBN 9781138328587. $140.00. Reviewed by James J. Clauss, University of Washington (jjc@uw.edu).

Bruce Louden makes his position on the relationship between Greek Myth and the Bible loud and clear, and it will doubtless take many by surprise: “Israel’s oral traditions and scribal culture were not only acquainted with but also influenced and shaped by ancient Greek culture” (p. 2). I will state up front that I am not ready to go as far as Louden wants to take us, but readers will see first-hand that behind the Biblical passages discussed lurk traditional tales from polytheistic cultures. And the connections he points out are many and truly astonishing.

[...]

Some of what this review reports of the book sounds like parallelomania to me. But I haven't read the book, so I shall try to keep an open mind. Perhaps I would find the full arguments more convincing.

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Scialabba, Creation and Salvation

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Daniela Scialabba. Creation and Salvation. Models of Relationship Between the God of Israel and the Nations in the Book of Jonah, in Psalm 33 (MT and LXX) and in the Novel »Joseph and Aseneth.« 2019. XIV, 354 pages. Forschungen zum Alten Testament 2. Reihe 106. 84,00 € including VAT. sewn paper ISBN 978-3-16-156261-7.

Published in English.
In recent decades, the debate on monotheism and religious pluralism has been strongly influenced by the idea that monotheism originating in the Old Testament is the root of intolerance and violence. In this study, Daniela Scialabba investigates inclusive tendencies in Old Testament monotheism, in particular theological principles motivating and supporting the possibility of a positive relationship between non-Israelites and the God of Israel. Thus, she examines three texts thoroughly: the Book of Jonah, Psalm 33 (MT and LXX), and the novel »Joseph and Aseneth«. Despite their difference concerning genre, date of origin and provenance, these texts have important ideas in common: the relationship between the God of Israel and non-Israelites as well as the concept of God as a universal creator who has pity with all his creatures.

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On the Geonim

MICHAEL SATLOW: The Geonim: An Introduction. The Geonim were "the rabbis who lived at the very end of the Talmudic period and the shift to the Middle Ages." Professor Satlow now has a video series on them.

Some related PaleoJudaica posts are here and links.

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Schwartz, Rewriting the Talmud

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK:Marcus Mordecai Schwartz. Rewriting the Talmud. The Fourth Century Origins of Bavil Rosh Hashanah. 2019. XI, 151 pages. Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 175. 99,00 € including VAT. cloth ISBN 978-3-16-154123-0.

Published in English.
In this study, Marcus Mordecai Schwartz argues that there were two distinct periods in which traditions from Rabbinic Palestine exerted their influence upon extended passages of B. Rosh Hashanah. This doubling of influence resulted in a Babylonian-born text with two distinct Palestinian ancestries. This oddly mixed parentage was responsible for Bavli texts that both resemble synoptic passages in the Yerusalmi and differ from them in substantial ways. The main project of this book is to trace the dynamics of this doubled Palestinian influence and to account for the mark it left on passages of B. Rosh Hashanah.

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Dibon-Gad or Dibon and Gad?

PROF YIGAL LEVINE: Dibon-Gad: Between the Torah and the Mesha Stele (TheTorah.com).

In the southern Transjordanian Mishor (plateau), an area that changed hands between Israelites and Moabites, there once lived two neighboring tribes, Gadites and Dibonites…

For many past posts on the Mesha Stele, start here and follow the links.

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The Shekel (journal)

THE AWOL BLOG: Open Access Journal: The Shekel. Includes many articles on ancient Jewish coins. Cross-file under Numismatics.

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Josephus on Phinehas

DR. YONATAN MILLER: Sedition at Moab: Josephus’ Reading of the Phinehas Story (TheTorah.com).

The Torah describes Phinehas as a zealot, who kills Zimri in an act of vigilante fervor, and is rewarded by God with eternal priesthood. Anticipating the rabbis’ discomfort with Phinehas’ vigilantism, Josephus transforms Phinehas into a military general and Zimri’s sin into a dangerous sedition requiring a military response.

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New translations of NT Apocrypha

NEW TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA WATCH: Years in the Making: The Debut of NASSCAL’s Early Christian Apocrypha Series (Tony Burke, Apocryphicity Blog).

The North American Society for the Study of Christian Apocryphal Literature (NASSCAL) is celebrating the release of the first two volumes in their Early Christian Apocrypha series: The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew and the Nativity of Mary, by Brandon W. Hawk, and The Protevangelium of James, by Lily C. Vuong. To be clear, the two books are numbered volumes 7 and 8 because NASSCAL is continuing a series that was begun by Julian V. Hills, who edited six volumes of texts for Polebridge Press.

[...]

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Review of Dhont, Style and Context of Old Greek Job

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Marieke Dhont, Style and Context of Old Greek Job. Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism, 183. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2018. Pp. 410. ISBN 9789004358485. €138,00. Reviewed by Patrick Pouchelle, Centre Sèvres (patrick.pouchelle@gmail.com).

This excellent book offers clear and nuanced conclusions. The application of PST to the OG of Job is productive, as it asks one to consider the OG of Job for itself. The recent renewal of the studies of the Septuagint follows two different paths: treating it as the Old Testament of early Christianity, or as the product of a Greek-Hebrew Jewish translator. This last approach produced the interlinear paradigm in which the LXX is understood as a resource intended to be read alongside its Hebrew original. The PST offers another approach. As a cultural artefact of the Greek-speaking Jewish world, the OG of Job should be studied not against the Hebrew source text, but against the literature of the Greek Jewish communities. ...

I noted the publication of the book last year.

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Walsh on angels and the Qumran sect

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

Claiming Israel’s Angels as their Own: The Angelic Realm and the Religious Identity of the Qumran Sect

Several ancient Jewish texts suggest that a connection, correspondence, or parallel was thought to exist between the faithful angels of heaven and Israel on earth. The Qumran sect put their own stamp on these broader convictions by boldly claiming both fellowship with the angels and that they outranked the angels in some sense. In doing so, the sectarians bolstered their claims to be the true Israel.

See Also: Angels Associated with Israel in the Dead Sea Scrolls: Angelology and Sectarian Identity at Qumran (Mohr Siebek, 2019).

By Matthew L. Walsh
Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies
Acadia Divinity College
July 2019

Cross-file under New Book.

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Are the skeletal remains from Masada non-Jewish?

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

Masada, the Human Remains: An Anthropological Critique

Masada, known throughout the western world for the suicide narrative described by Josephus and later excavations by Professor Yigal Yadin, is not without controversy. Outside the academic world, few are aware of the controversy surrounding Masada; however, scholars have long questioned the veracity of the narrative and its interpretation by Yadin. Unfortunately, few scholars have subjected the narrative to rigorous anthropological research, the basis upon which the final Masada drama rests. Professor Amnon Ben-Tor, who excavated Masada, has attempted to summarize the archaeological along with the anthropological findings for a wider public audience. However honest his attempt, the anthropological findings strongly suggest that nearly all, if not all of the human remains found to date, are ethnically non-Jewish.

By Joe Zias
Science and Antiquity
Jerusalem, Israel
July 2019

For past PaleoJudaica posts on the history and archaeology of, and revisionist views on, Masada, see here and links. And another recent post on Masada is here.

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Review of Alter's book on Bible translation

THE JERUSALEM POST: BOOK REVIEW: AN UNCOMPROMISING BIBLE TRANSLATION. Robert Altar [That's "Alter!" - JRD] pushes back against modern translations, which he thinks interpret too much and translate too little (Neville Teller).

In The Art of Bible Translation, Alter provides an intriguing insight into the complexities he faced in producing, single-handed, his translation of the Hebrew Bible. It makes fascinating reading.

This review too has some good examples of specific biblical texts.

For past reviews of this book and of Professor Alter's translation of the Hebrew Bible, start here and follow the many links.

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Frey et al. (eds.), Between Canonical and Apocryphal Texts

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Between Canonical and Apocryphal Texts.
Processes of Reception, Rewriting, and Interpretation in Early Judaism and Early Christianity. Ed. by Jörg Frey, Claire Clivaz, and Tobias Nicklas, in collaboration with Jörg Röder. 2019. IX, 490 pages. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 419. 149,00 € including VAT. cloth ISBN 978-3-16-153927-5.

Published in English.
The present volume aims at a comparative study of the processes of reception, rewriting and interpretation between canonical and apocryphal texts in early Jewish and early Christian literature. A closer look at the respective developments in both corpora of literature can open up new perspectives for understanding the developments and changes between texts that were already considered authoritative, and their reception in new, 'parabiblical' or 'apocryphal' compositions. The way of reception may also influence the perspective on canonical texts. The range of texts considered includes the LXX, Targumim and Pesharim, books such as Jubilees, the Genesis Apocryphon, the Gospel of Thomas, and Apocryphal Acts, traditions about Esther, Ezra, Manasseh, Peter and Paul, depictions of hell from Enoch to the Apocalypse of Paul, and the development of miracle stories.

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On myth and metaphor in the Hebrew Bible

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

Myth as Story and Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible

Myth constitutes a vital part of the Hebrew Bible; it powerfully shapes the contours of biblical language, its various narratives, and theologies. That is, myth deeply defines what we might call the biblical world – populates the landscape with mythic monsters and deities and animates that world in which the God of Israel rises against forces of evil and, through victorious battle, creates order, erects his temple, and establishes his kingship.

See Also: Myth, History, and Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible (Cambridge University Press, 2019).

By Paul K.-K. Cho
Wesley Theological Seminary
June 2019

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JJMJS Issue 6 (2019)

A NEW ISSUE (NO. 6, 2019) OF THE JOURNAL OF THE JESUS MOVEMENT IN ITS JEWISH SETTING IS OUT. Follow the link (for now) for a detailed description of the issue. A permanent link to Issues 1-6 is here.

HT AJR.

All articles are available online for free. Background on the journal is here and here and links

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Biblical Studies Carnival 162

MY DIGITAL SEMINARY: JULY BIBLICAL STUDIES CARNIVAL (162) (Lindsay Kennedy).

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On fire pans

MATERIAL CULTURE: Fire Pans in the Bible and Archaeology (Dr. Raz Kletter, TheTorah.com).

Fire pans (maḥtot) are listed as part of the Tabernacle’s accessories for the menorah and the altar. They also play an important role in the stories of Korah’s rebellion and the death of Nadav and Avihu as incense censors. Archaeological excavations have uncovered what these items were and how they functioned.

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Ecclesiastes in the Göttingen LXX

THE ETC BLOG: New Critical Edition: Ecclesiastes for Gӧttingen Septuaginta Series (John Meade).

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On the high-tech future of archaeology

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: The High-Tech Future of the Ancient Science of Archaeology. Emerging technologies could soon allow archaeologists to virtually excavate an entire site within an hour (Sarah Parcak, OneZero).

This is an excellent article about the technological future of archaeology. I have been saying similar things for years. My only criticism is that the projections are very cautious and conservative. I expect archaeology to achieve this level of technology before 2050. By 2100, and probably well before, archaeologists will be carrying out a molecular scan of the earth's entire surface.

For more on Professor Parcak's work on technological archaeology (using drones and satellite imagery), see here and links. I have some related comments and links in my 2016 post, On curating the past.

Cross-file under The Singularity is Near.

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Frey and Rupschu (eds.), Frauen im antiken Judentum und frühen Christentum

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Frauen im antiken Judentum und frühen Christentum. Hrsg. v. Jörg Frey u. Nicole Rupschus. [Women in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity.] 2019. VIII, 320 pages. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe 489. 99,00 € including VAT sewn paper ISBN 978-3-16-154290-9.

Published in German.
In a wide historical framework, the present volume discusses the legal and social roles and positions of women in ancient Judaism, early Christianity, and the surrounding Greco-Roman world. Sources investigated are documentary texts from Egypt and the Judaean desert, selected writings from the Dead Sea and texts from the Hellenistic-Jewish, early Christian, and Rabbinic traditions. The essays discuss issues of the liturgical function of women, their legal position with regard to marriage and property, piety and purity issues as well as the problems of daily life, but also narrative images, role models and clichés. The combination of historical source analysis and the approaches of gender studies leads to a more precise perception of the construction of those images and patterns and their effects in the various ancient cultures.

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Review of Hartog, Pesher and Hypomnema

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Pieter B. Hartog, Pesher and Hypomnema: A Comparison of Two Commentary Traditions from the Hellenistic-Roman Period. Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah, 121. Leiden: Brill, 2017. Pp. xv, 356. ISBN 9789004353541. €132,00. Reviewed by Andrew M. King V, University of Notre Dame (aking8@nd.edu).

This monograph is a revision of the author’s dissertation completed at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in 2015, which evaluates the similarities and differences between two commentary traditions developed in the Hellenistic world: the hypomnemata (ὑπόμνημα) and the pesharim (פשר). ...

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Fixed-term OT/HB post at the University of St Andrews

ANNOUNCEMENT: Lecturer (Education Focused) in Old Testament/Hebrew Bible - AOAC1295MXSB University of St Andrews - School of Divinity.

I'm late in linking to this, but the deadline is 12 August. So there is still time to apply.

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Diesel still teasing us with "Hannibal" movie

PUNIC WATCH: Vin Diesel Reveals His Birthday Present: The Riddick 4: Furya Script (Jorge Arenas, Bounding into Comics). I hope Mr. Diesel had a nice birthday and I congratulate him on his new script. But PaleoJudaica's interest in this article comes from an aside toward the end:

Hannibal of Carthage

Not only did Vin Diesel reveal the script to Riddick 4, but he also indicated he continues to practice the “archaic arts” of archery and bolas because there is interest in Diesel playing the legendary general of Carthage, Hannibal.

Hannibal was the leading commander of the Carthage forces during the Second Punic War. THe famously led his forces into Italy by crossing the Alps with African elephants. Hannibal would defeat the Romans in a succession of battles. In fact, he would occupy most of southern Italy for 15 years. However, the Romans led by Fabius Maximus avoided confrontation and thus prevented Hannibal from defeating them. He would eventually be defeated at the Battle of Zama by Scipio Africanus, who led a counter invasion of North Africa and forced Hannibal to return to Carthage.

I'm glad to hear that Mr. Diesel is still thinking about this movie, but I hope he gets on with it. We've been waiting almost as long as Hannibal campaigned in Italy.

Background here and links.

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Worth your weight in gold (or onions)

LAST WEEK'S DAF YOMI COLUMN BY ADAM KIRSCH IN TABLET: Your Weight in Onions. This week’s ‘Daf Yomi’ Talmud study explores many ways to pay off a divine debt: in gold, silver, pitch, vegetables—or limbs.

In Chapter 5 of this brief tractate [Arakhin], the focus turns to other kinds of pledges that a person can make based on his own person. For instance, the mishna in Arakhin 19a refers to one who says “it is incumbent upon me to donate my weight.” Perhaps such a vow might be taken on recovery from a serious illness, when a person wanted to express that he owes his entire bodily existence to God. With a vow according to weight, one would ordinarily specify the material to be donated: “if silver silver, and if gold gold.” For a full-grown person, donating one’s body weight in gold could turn out to be quite an expensive proposition.

Yes. The valuation in gold by weight for a person weighing 70 kilograms would be (by the current price of gold) nearly $3,200,000.

Earlier Daf Yomi columns are noted here and links.

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On Aaron's flowering staff

TWO ESSAYS AT THETORAH.COM give different perspectives on the background and meaning of Aaron's flowering staff in Numbers 17:16-26.

Dr. Raanan Eichler thinks the Zadokite priests may have approved of Asherah poles:

Aaron’s Flowering Staff: A Priestly Asherah?

The story of Aaron’s staff reads like an etiological tale, explaining a holy object in the Temple. The description of the object as a stylized tree suggests a connection with the asherah, a ritual object forbidden by Deuteronomy.

Dr. Rabbi David Frankel thinks that the Zadokites may have appropriated a tradition about the election of the tribe of Levi:

The Flowering Staff: Proof of Aaron’s or the Levites’ Election?

The story of the flowering staff in its current form and context, confirms YHWH’s previous designation of the Aaronides as priests. Originally, however, the story presented YHWH’s selection of the tribe of Levi as his priestly caste.

I blog, you decide.

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Dodgy Greek at Hippos-Sussita

GREEK EPIGRAPHY: 6th-century inscriptions near Galilee may show Christians’ fading Greek literacy. So far, ‘Burnt Church’ site at ongoing Hippos-Sussita Excavations Project has revealed three texts — all of which were misspelled and had grammar errors, say archaeologists (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel).

This summer, the settlement’s South-West or Burnt Church was revisited by archaeologists in search of firm dating for the conflagration that both destroyed and preserved the church. They revealed a plethora of interesting artifacts and mosaics — and a nearly illiterate artisan, who had been tasked with inscribing the names of donors and abbots for posterity. Instead, his grammar and spelling mistakes are preserved in a trio of ancient Greek mosaics. (Where is autocorrect when you need it?)

The inscriptions are still being deciphered and I can find nothing more about their content.

The site of Hippos-Sussita has produced many exciting artifacts and architectural finds. Most recently, there was media attention about ancient stonemasons' marks found there. For additional past posts, start here and follow the links.

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Knoppers, Judah and Samaria in Postmonarchic Times

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Gary N. Knoppers. Judah and Samaria in Postmonarchic Times. Essays on Their Histories and Literatures. 2019. XI, 333 pages. Forschungen zum Alten Testament 129. 129,00 € including VAT cloth. ISBN 978-3-16-156804-6.

Published in English.
Focusing on Judean-Samarian interactions in Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman times, Gary N. Knoppers explores both commonalities and differences, rivalries and relationships, as these communities engaged one another in greater depth and complexity than scholars have previously thought. Some essays elucidate archaeological and epigraphic discoveries (Jerusalem, Mt. Gerizim excavations and inscriptions), while others illumine Jewish (Ezra, Chronicles, Josephus, Pseudo-Philo) and Samaritan (Samaritan 10th commandment, the Chronicon Samaritanum) literary texts. How Judeans and Samarians responded to competing claims to Israel's past by reinterpreting shared scriptures is a unifying theme in these eleven studies.

For more on the late Professor Knoppers and his work, see here, here, here, and here.

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A Lilith musical

CONTEMPORARY ART: Review: ‘Leaving Eden’ in the New York Musical Festival (Deb Miller, DC Metro).

Jenny Waxman (book and lyrics) and Ben Page (music, with additional music by Ada Westfall) consider the myth of Lilith, the Creation of Adam and Eve, and the present-day male-female and female-female dynamics from a post-modern feminist perspective in Leaving Eden – a pop-style musical playing at the Pershing Square Signature Center in this year’s New York Musical Festival (NYMF). Directed by Susanna Wolk, the narrative moves back and forth between the Garden of Eden and a contemporary metropolitan apartment, interweaving the stories of the Ancient Adam, Lilith, and Eve with three of their Modern namesakes, and interspersing references to, and iconography from, the canonical Book of Genesis, the apocryphal tales, and the philosophy of duality with a new vision of what it all means.

I'm not sure what's with the article's dating of the Dead Sea Scrolls (the correct dates are third century B.C.E. to first century C.E.). Also, specialists date the redaction of the Babylonian Talmud a couple of centuries later than in the article. But the musical sounds thoughtful and entertaining.

Lilith has received much attention in various artistic media. For past posts on the ancient and modern traditions about her, start here and follow the many links.

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Rofé on Balaam the seer

PROFESSOR ALEXANDER ROFÉ has a couple of new essays on the the biblical seer Baalam at TheTorah.com:

Balaam the Seer Is Recast as a Villain

The oldest biblical sources see Balaam as a great seer, but as time goes on, biblical texts portray him in an increasingly negative light. The key to this shift lies in Deuteronomy’s attitude to Israel and gentiles.

The Account of Balaam’s Donkey: A Late Polemical Burlesque

Already in 1877, Marcus Kalisch, one of the first Jewish scholars to engage in the critical study of the Bible, noted that the story of Balaam’s donkey is a late insertion which contradicts the rest of the story, both narratively and ideologically. Indeed, in the main story, Balaam is a prophetic character to be respected, while the supplement lampoons him.

I have fallen well behind on the essays posted at this site. There are some interesting new ones. I will catch up as time permits.

Meanwhile, for past PaleoJudaica posts on Balaam and on the Deir ʿAlla Inscription, see here (cf. here) and links.

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Ross on Psalm 51

WILLIAM ROSS: NEW ARTICLE ON PSALM 51 IN JSOT. It is his article. He can't post the whole text, but he does summarize it and give the "punch line."

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A church dedicated to the Apostle Peter at Bethsaida?

ARCHAEOLOGY: Shrine to Apostle Peter unearthed: Israeli archaeologist (Stephen Weizman, AFP). Two elements of this story are inferential and open to debate.

First, the site, El-Araj, is only one contender to be the ancient city of Bethsaida. The other is et-Tell. Second, there is no direct indication — such as an inscription — in the ruins of the church that it was dedicated to Peter. The inference is based on an account by an eighth-century visitor.

Read the whole article for details.

Past posts on the two contending sites for Bethsaida are here (cf. here) and links.

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Reviews of Barton, A History of the Bible

THE ETC BLOG: Barton on the Bible. Peter Gurry notes a couple of reviews of John Barton's new book, A History of the Bible: The Story of the World's Most Influential Book (Viking).

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Lataster, Questioning the Historicity of Jesus

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Questioning the Historicity of Jesus

Why a Philosophical Analysis Elucidates the Historical Discourse

Series:
Value Inquiry Book Series Online, Volume: 336
Value Inquiry Book Series
Philosophy and Religion

Author: Raphael Lataster

This volume moves beyond the mainstream scholarly scepticism over the Christ of Faith and considers if there is sufficient evidence to establish the existence of the more mundane Historical Jesus. Using the logical tools of the analytic philosopher, Lataster finds that the relevant sources are unreliable as historical documents, and that the key method of those purporting that the Historical Jesus existed is to appeal to sources that do not exist. Considering an ancient hypothesis suggesting that Jesus began as a celestial messiah that certain Second Temple Jews already believed in, and was later allegorised in the Gospels, Lataster discovers that it is more reasonable to at least be agnostic over Jesus’ historicity.

Publication Date: 1 July 2019
ISBN: 978-90-04-40878-4

Brill has published a Mythicist book on Jesus. It will be interesting to see how it is received.

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More from the AJR series on Jensen, "The Cross" and Fine, "The Menorah"

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW has concluded the series with two more essays:

SBL 2018 Book Review Panel | Menorah and Cross, Signs and Things (Pamela Eisenbaum).

SBL 2018 Book Review Panel | Response from Robin Jensen (Robin Jensen).

I noted the earlier essays in the series here.

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Barlaam and Josaphat

THE BRITISH LIBRARY: The Buddha’s long ‘journey’ to Europe and Africa. Yes, I know the Buddha is not usually a subject for PaleoJudaica. But the Legend of Barlaam and Josaphat is of some interest because of its wide transmission in relevant languages, including Hebrew, Greek, Ge’ez, Armenian, Georgian Arabic, Uigur, Syriac, and Judeo-Persian. There is a connection with Turfan (cf. here) as well. It went on to be transmitted in many European languages.

I have never posted on this remarkable text before, so have a look at this post at the British Library's Asian and African studies blog, with reference to their upcoming exhibition, Buddhism.

HT Steve Dodson at the Language Hat Blog.

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Eating fish in ancient Jerusalem

NEWS YOU CAN USE: What Kinds of Fish Were Eaten in Ancient Jerusalem? (Prof. Omri Lernau, M.D., TheTorah.com).

Fishbone remains discovered in eight different excavations in Jerusalem, from the Iron age to the early Islamic period, give us a sense of what fish the locals ate, and from where they were imported.

With implications for biblical studies and the history of food purity rules.

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Newsom, Rhetoric and Hermeneutics

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Carol A. Newsom. Rhetoric and Hermeneutics. Approaches to Text, Tradition and Social Construction in Biblical and Second Temple Literature. 2019. XX, 382 pages. Forschungen zum Alten Testament 130. 149,00 € including VAT. cloth ISBN 978-3-16-157723-9.

Published in English.
This collection of essays by Carol A. Newsom explores the indispensable role that rhetoric and hermeneutics play in the production and reception of biblical and Second Temple literature. Some of the essays are methodological and programmatic, while others provide extended case studies. Because rhetoric is, as Kenneth Burke put it, »a strategy for encompassing a situation,« the analysis of rhetoric illumines the ways in which texts engage particular historical moments, shape and reshape communities, and even construct new models of self and agency. The essays in this book not only explore how ancient texts hermeneutically engage existing traditions but also how they themselves have become the objects of hermeneutical transformation in contexts ranging from ancient sectarian Judaism to the politics of post-World War I and II Germany and America to modern film criticism and feminist re-reading.

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Review of Andrade, Zenobia: Shooting Star of Palmyra

BYRN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Nathanael J. Andrade, Zenobia: Shooting Star of Palmyra. Women in Antiquity. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2018. Pp. xvii, 284. ISBN 9780190638818. $35.00. Reviewed by Gustavo A. Vivas García​, Universidad de La Laguna (gusgarvi@gmail.com).

Neither Odainath, nor of course Zenobia or her son, intended to separate from the Empire nor to break with Rome or usurp the Imperial throne. Nathanael Andrade’s book is clear in this respect. Zenobia behaved like a Hellenistic queen who surrounded herself with men of letters like Callinicos, and who had Cassius Longinus as her chief philosopher, who was rapidly eliminated by Aurelian after the Queen’s defeat. An Empress who conquered Egypt and in passing subdued Arabia, inserting her name onto all the milestones along the kingdom’s roads. A woman who was interested in religious questions and who built a contact with the Christian bishop, Paul of Samosata. A monarch whose objective was to try to obtain a place in the Empire, even on equal terms with Aurelian in the West. In 272, however, Zenobia’s Imperial and dynastic dream met an abrupt end. Aurelian proved himself to be her match and made-to-measure rival.

Past PaleoJudaica post on the Empress Zenobia are here and links.

Cross-file under Palmyra Watch. Many other past posts on Palmyra, its history, the ancient Aramaic dialect spoken there (Palmyrene), and the city's tragic reversals of fortune, now trending for the better, are here and links.

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AJR series on Jensen, "The Cross" and Fine, "The Menorah"

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: SBL 2018 Book Review Panel | Art and Religion in Antiquity. Felicity Harley-McGowan introduces the series at the link.

At the 2018 meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in Denver, two program units collaborated in reviewing two books published by Harvard University Press: Robin Jensen’s The Cross: History, Art and Controversy (2018) and Steven Fine’s The Menorah: From the Bible to Modern Israel (2016).

The first essay is by David Frankfurter:
JEWISH (AND CHRISTIAN) SYMBOLS IN THE LATE MODERN PERIOD: JENSEN’S CROSS AND FINE’S MENORAH

There are two themes that I do think could bring these symbols together, and in their material rather than abstract manifestations. First, both authors alert us in various ways to the vitality and importance of the symbol in motion – in procession – rather than emblazoned on a coin or a door lintel. And from this processional vitality comes the second theme that struck me as key in the discussion of these symbols: their intrinsic agency as material things – that is, not just what they convey in terms of “memory” or “tradition” but their capacity to work in the world.

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Trotter, The Jerusalem Temple in Diaspora

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

The Jerusalem Temple in Diaspora: Jewish Practice and Thought during the Second Temple Period

Series:
Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism, Volume: 192

Author: Jonathan Trotter

In The Jerusalem Temple in Diaspora, Jonathan Trotter shows how different diaspora Jews’ perspectives on the distant city of Jerusalem and the temple took shape while living in the diaspora, an experience which often is characterized by complicated senses of alienation from and belonging to an ancestral homeland and one’s current home. This book investigates not only the perspectives of the individual diaspora Jews whose writings mention the Jerusalem temple (Letter of Aristeas, Philo of Alexandria, 2 Maccabees, and 3 Maccabees) but also the customs of diaspora Jewish communities linking them to the temple, such as their financial contributions and pilgrimages there.

Publication Date: 24 June 2019
ISBN: 978-90-04-40985-9

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Postdocs for LXX project

AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI: 2–3 POSTDOC­TORAL RE­SEARCH­ERS IN THE PRO­JECT THE SEP­TUAGINT AND ITS AN­CIENT VER­SIONS.

HT William Ross, who also gives some interesting background on the texts that the project is studying.

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Septuagint Song of Songs in French

WILLIAM ROSS: NEW VOLUME IN LA BIBLE D’ALEXANDRIE: SONG OF SONGS. It's good to have another volume in this series out.

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Jason’s Tomb

THE HOLY LAND PHOTOS' BLOG: Jason’s Tomb (2nd Temple Period) (Carl Rasmussen).

Jason’s tomb is a beautiful funeral monument from the late Hellenistic – early Roman period. It was the tomb of a high priestly family that was forced out of Jerusalem in 172 B.C. (2 Maccabees 5:5-10) by their rival, Menelaus....

It is in West Jerusalem. Follow the link for photos.

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On digressions in the Talmud

THIS WEEK'S DAF YOMI COLUMN BY ADAM KIRSCH IN TABLET: Neither Less Than X nor More Than Y. In this week’s ‘Daf Yomi,’ minima and maxima decorate the memory palaces Talmudic rabbis built to sustain the oral tradition of Babylonian learning.

The reason why digressions are so common in the Talmud is that it began as an oral tradition, not a written text—a vast memorized accumulation of the debates held in the Babylonian academies. What look like digressions on the page usually served some mnemonic purpose. The appearance of a certain sage’s name, for instance, might trigger the recollection of his opinions on different subjects. Often, the common principle is grammatical: When a teaching that takes a certain verbal form arises in the Gemara, the sages will recount other, unrelated laws that happen to follow the same pattern.

This is a deployment of the catchword principle, which was also a major feature of ancient Jewish exegesis of scripture. It is also used often in the New Testament.

Earlier Daf Yomi columns are noted here and links.

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Larry Hurtado

LARRY HURTADO: Health Issues and Blogging. Larry shares sad news. The leukemia for which he was treated last year has returned. There is little that can be done in the way of treatment. He has signed off indefinitely from further blogging.

We wish Larry and his family all the best. They will be in our thoughts and prayers.

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Ezekiel's Merkavah anniversary 2019

TODAY IS THE 5TH OF TAMUZ: This Day in History – 5 Tamuz/July 8 (Harmodia).

In 3333, Yechezkel Hanavi received a nevuah at the river of Chebar about Maaseh Merkavah. That perek is read as the haftarah on Shavuos.

To unpack that, this is the anniversary of the prophecy of the prophet Ezekiel concerning Maaseh Merkavah, "the working of the chariot." This was a vision of the heavenly realm, some of its frightening denizens, and the throne of God and its occupant. It took place by the river Chebar in Babylonia in 593 BCE. The relevant biblical passage, Ezekiel chapter 1, is the prophetic synagogue reading on Shavuot. There are further details in the links below.

Past posts on this anniversary and on Ezekiel 1 and its mystical and cultural afterlife, are here and here. And this year's post from Shavuot is also relevant.

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Biblical Studies Carnival 161

ZWINGLIUS REDIVIVUS: The Incredibly Hot June Biblical Studies Carnival, Including Lots of Scandal Because of an Unprovenanced Manuscript…

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Babylon named a UNESCO World Heritage site.

HISTORICAL LANDMARK: Iraq celebrates naming Babylon a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was from the 4,300-year-old city that Nebuchadnezzar sent his vast army to Jerusalem to put down an uprising and bring the Jews back as slaves. (QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Times of Israel). This is a good development. I am sometimes hard on UNESCO, but they got this one right.

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Belated happy Cyril and Methodius Day 2019!

OLD CHURCH SLAVONIC WATCH: CZECHS MARK LEGACY OF GREEK MISSIONARIES CYRIL AND METHODIUS (Daniela Lazarová, Czech Radio). The work of Saints Cyril and Methodius, whose invention of the first Slavonic alphabet led to the preservation of much ancient literature that would otherwise have been lost, is celebrated by various traditions on 14 February, 24 May, and 5 July. Details here. Some of that ancient literature includes important Old Testament Pseudepgrapha. Details here and links.

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