Joosten is gone from Oxford

RIGHTLY AND AS WE EXPECTED: Update regarding Professor Jan Joosten (Christ Church College, Oxford).

We can confirm that as of Friday 3 July 2020, Professor Jan Joosten will no longer be employed by the University of Oxford, and he will no longer be a trustee of Christ Church or be in any way affiliated with the institution. ...

Background here.

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Review of Fredriksen, When Christians Were Jews

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Book Note | When Christians Were Jews (Shayna Sheinfeld).

Paula Fredriksen. When Christians Were Jews: The First Generation. Yale University Press, 2018.

Paula Fredriksen’s newest book attempts a difficult feat: to understand the first generation of Jesus followers, despite having to do so with an eclectic smattering of passionately biased evidence that also happens to have been cherished as sacred text by almost two thousand years of interpreters. ...

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Barrera, Textual and Literary Criticism of the Books of Kings

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Textual and Literary Criticism of the Books of Kings

Collected Essays

Series: Vetus Testamentum, Supplements, Volume: 185

Editors: Andrés Piquer Otero and Pablo A. Torijano Morales
Author: Julio Trebolle Barrera

This volume contains a collection of the author’s life-long study (along with some new research written specifically for this book) of the text of 1-2 Kings, some of them translated into English for the first time. Julio Trebolle’s career has focused on the history of these biblical books from the triple angle of a combined textual, literary and source-compositional criticism. His usage of the Septuagint and its secondary versions like the Old Latin as a basis for the reconstruction of the history of the text is an invaluable contribution to the panorama of textual pluralism in the Bible during the Second Temple period which has emerged after the discoveries of the Dead Sea.

Prices from (excl. VAT): €115.00 / $138.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-42601-6
Publication Date: 08 Jun 2020

Hardback
Availability: Not Yet Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-38831-4
Publication Date: 22 Jul 2020

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Independence Day 2020

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY to my American readers!

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Teaching Classical Languages (TCL)

THE AWOL BLOG: Open Access Journal: Teaching Classical Languages (TCL).

Teaching Classical Languages (ISSN 2160-2220) is the only peer-reviewed electronic journal dedicated to the teaching and learning of Latin and ancient Greek. ...

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Maier, Hebräisch-aramäisches Glossar zum jüdischen Recht in der Antike

NEW(ISH) BOOK FROM DE GRUYTER:

Johann Maier (†)
Hebräisch-aramäisches Glossar zum jüdischen Recht in der Antike
Hebrew-Aramaic Glossary of Ancient Jewish Law
Mit einer Einführung in das jüdische Recht der Antike und einem Quellenüberblick

De Gruyter | 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110650327

From £36.50
FORMATS
Paperback
ISBN: 978-3-11-064985-7
Published: 21 Oct 2019
PDF
ISBN: 978-3-11-065032-7
Published: 21 Oct 2019
EPUB
ISBN: 978-3-11-065010-5
Published: 21 Oct 2019

OVERVIEW
The Glossary presents documentation for the specialized Hebrew and Aramaic vocabulary of Biblical Jewish law, from Biblical sources through the completion of the Babylonian Talmud, thus furnishing new options for comparative ancient legal history. A detailed introduction into ancient Jewish law is included.

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Asale, 1 Enoch as Christian Scripture

NEW BOOK FROM WIPF AND STOCK:

1 Enoch as Christian Scripture
A Study in the Reception and Appropriation of 1 Enoch in Jude and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahǝdo Canon
BY Bruk Ayele Asale
FOREWORD BY Loren T. Stuckenbruck

Imprint: Pickwick Publications
Category: Biblical Studies

PAPERBACK
ISBN: 9781532691157
Pages: 170
Publication Date: 6/5/2020
Retail Price: $22.00
Web Price: $17.60

eBOOK
ISBN: 9781532691157
Format: epub
Publication Date: 6/5/2020
Retail Price: $22.00
Web Price: $17.60
*All eBooks are non-returnable

About

Since its publication in English translation in 1821, the book of Enoch has enjoyed immense popularity in Western culture as a variety of religious groups, interested historians, and academics have sought to illuminate the Jewish context of Christian beginnings two thousand years ago. Taking the quotation of 1 Enoch in Jude 14 as its point of departure, the present study explores the significance of Enochic tradition within the context of Christian tradition in the Horn of Africa, where it continues to play a vital role in shaping the diverse yet interrelated self-understanding of Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant churches. As discussions on the importance of 1 Enoch from antiquity to the present take on new dimensions among increasingly global and diverse voices, 1 Enoch as Christian Scripture offers a rare orientation into a rich culture in which the reception of the book is “at home” as a living tradition more than anywhere else in the world today. The present work argues that serious attention to 1 Enoch holds forth an opportunity for church traditions in Ethiopia—and, indeed, around the world—to embrace some of their indigenous roots and has the capacity to breathe life into time-worn expressions of faith.

This is timely to mention alongside this week's Enoch Seminar 2020.

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Enoch Seminar 2020 Day 4

ENOCH SEMINAR 2020 DAY 4 took place yesterday. James McGrath has posted another informative summary of the events: Enoch Seminar 2020 #OriginsOfEvil2020 Day 4.

The final session, yesterday evening, was a recap of the conference. It was recorded and you can view it on Facebook here.

I responded briefly to James's paper (a version of which you can watch here) in the Zoom comments. I also sent him my comments in advance of the session. Here is what I posted on Zoom:

Thanks James!

I have a couple of thoughts I have already shared with James about his fascinating paper.

First, I think it is entirely plausible that the Mandaeans preserve some much older polytheistic material, especially names, in their literature. You provide good evidence for that. You mention the Elephantine Judean community. If you haven't yet, you should also look at the Demotic-Aramaic Papyrus Amherst 63, which also may be from Elephantine. Some of the Israelite/Canaanite material in it might arguably be transitional in the direction of the Mandaean material.

Second, I have not found any arguments for a pre- (or non-) Christian Jewish Gnosticism in antiquity persuasive. The development of Gnosticism seems much easier to me once you add Pauline theology (notably its demotion of Jewish law) into the mix of Judaism and Platonism. And, tellingly, as far as I have been able to find, none of the surviving Gnostic texts deal with the halakhic and national/ethnic issues that the demiurgic myth would inevitably have raised. (I have adapted this comment from the first blog post linked below. The other two links develop the argument in greater detail.)
https://paleojudaica.blogspot.com/2015/02/anxious-gnosticism.html
http://paleojudaica.blogspot.co.uk/2003_07_20_archive.html#105889150630213378
http://paleojudaica.blogspot.co.uk/2011_09_04_archive.html#8673893715236393124
I am glad to have the chance to draw this point to the attention of specialists in Gnosticism. I don't think any argument for pre-/non-Christian Jewish Gnosticism can hold up without addressing it.

The mood of the room among the Gnosticism scholars seemed to be that, yes, demiurgic Gnosticism was a Christian innovation. That was reassuring.

For more on Papyrus Amherst 63, start here (cf. here) and follow the links.

This remarkable fully-online conference was a remarkable success. I am glad to have been able to participate. I look forward to more like it.

Past PaleoJudaic posts on Enoch Seminar 2020 are here and links.

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Archaeology and the Gospel of John

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

John: The Mundane Gospel and its Archaeology-Related Features

However, in addition to its theological features, the Fourth Gospel is also the most mundane of the gospels. John has more empirical (sensorily attributed) references, topographical details, and archaeologically attested features than all the other gospels combined—canonical and otherwise. This is an empirical fact, which creates upheaval among scholarly theories regarding John’s character, origin, and implications, as it must also be seen as the Mundane Gospel.

See Also: “On Biblical Forgeries and Imagined Communities—A Critical Analysis of Recent Criticism."

By Paul N. Anderson
Professor of Biblical and Quaker Studies
George Fox University
July 2020

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One like a son of man on a cloud

READING ACTS: Who is the Son of Man in Revelation 14:14? Phil Long continues his blog series on the Book of Revelation, concentrating on the seven sights of chapters 12-15. We have come to the sixth sight: one like a son of man and three more angels.

It looks clear to me that the "one like a son of man" is Jesus (cf. Rev 1:13). But I guess opinions differ.

I have noted earlier posts in Phil's Revelation series here and links.

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Enoch Seminar 2020 Day 3 (2 updates)

ENOCH SEMINAR 2020 DAY 3 took place yesterday. I will fill in information as it comes in, so keep returning to this post for updates. Today is the fourth and final day of the conference. For previous posts on it, see here and links.
__________

UPDATE: James McGrath has posted a very thorough summary of yesterday's events: Enoch Seminar 2020 #OriginsOfEvil2020 Day 3. He says good things about my presentation. I found his paper, which he has pre-posted in a video here, very interesting. I look forward to the discussion later today.

Day 4 will open (at 9:00 EDT) with a public video recap of Day 3. I will link to it around the time it starts.
SECOND UPDATE: The public video recap is live here on Facebook. It will remain as a recorded file.
__________

I was a respondent to Gabriele Boccaccini's paper in the second session. His paper has not been published, but you can infer the main points from his title and my brief opening comments. Most of my response goes on a tangent, but, I trust, a profitable one. I post my response here:

ENOCH SEMINAR 2020
Response to Gabriele Boccaccini, “Same Problems, Different Remedies: The Parables of Enoch and the Synoptics on Evil.”
Panel: How is the problem of evil and its origin addressed in the Parables of Enoch and the Synoptics?

Thank you, Professor Boccaccini, the organizers, and the presenters, for all your hard work preparing and carrying out this remarkable, fully-remote, Enoch Seminar. This is truly a ground-breaking event. I am very happy to be part of it.

First let me say that I agree overall with Gabriele’s conclusions. The Synoptic Gospels and the Parables of Enoch share a virtually identical doctrine of evil. Their interest is in the eschatology of evil rather than its protology. The solutions to the problem of evil are quite different. Both project the judgment of sinners to the eschaton, but only the Synoptics place repentance and redemption in the present.

I would nuance Gabriele’s discussion at a few points. The Parables are very interested in both good and evil angels, but only mention demons once in 69:12. The Synoptics show less interest in angels, and only mention evil angels once, in Matt 25:41. They are more interested in demons, specifically, the activity of demons during the time of Jesus. This focus is likely due to the tradition that exorcism of demons was a major feature of Jesus’ ministry.

The Synoptics show little interest in demonic origins. But one unique element of their demonology may involve primeval matters, if not exactly protology. This is worth exploring. The Synoptic passage about Jesus and Beelzebul (Mark 3:19b-30//Matt 12:22-37 (cf. 10:25)//Luke 11:14-23, 12:10) brings in a demonic figure who does not appear in the Parables. Beelzebul is a Greek transliteration of a Northwest Semitic phrase that means "Prince Baal." It appears as zbl bʻl in Ugaritic and is apparently behind the divine name baʻal-zebub, the god of Ekron, in the MT of 2 Kgs 1:2-3, 6, 16. The latter means "Lord of the flies," but this is probably a deliberate disrespectful corruption of Baal's title.

Evidently the name survived uncorrupted in some circles in Jesus' time. (Symmachus reads it correctly as baʻal-zebul in the Greek translation of 2 Kings 1.) The name had become applied to the chief evil spirit, the prince of demons or Satan. As far as I can ascertain, the use of the term as the title of an evil spirit is limited in antiquity to the Synoptic Gospels and literature dependent on them.

Where did the Beelzebul referred to by the scribes originate? A superficially plausible answer might be from the passage in 2 Kings. But the Beelzebub there is the local tutelary deity of the Philistine city Ekron. If he were demoted to demonic status in Jewish tradition, why would he be simultaneously promoted to “prince of the demons?” There is a better explanation.

We know that some of the Canaanite mythology found in the Ugaritic texts survived in the Hebrew literature of the Second Temple period. The premier example is Isaiah 27:1, which quotes nearly verbatim a line about the sea serpent Leviathan found in tablet 4 of the Baal cycle. In addition, Latin and Manichean traditions about the giants imply that the Enochic Book of Giants contained a now lost account of a battle between Leviathan, the archangel Raphael, and one of the giants. And it is likely that the vision in Daniel 7 draws on Baal mythology. If Beelzebul evolved out of Baal mythology, in which Baal functioned as ruler of the gods, his status of ruler of the demons makes sense. This is not a new point, but I wish to take it further here.

The Baal mythology also has intriguing connections with Jesus’ reply to the scribes. Jesus argues that Satan (Beelzebul) cannot survive opposed to himself. It is difficult to untangle mythology from metaphor here, but Jesus associates Beelzebul with both a kingdom and a house, which Jesus likens to a strong man’s house. Anyone who wishes to plunder that house must first bind the strong man. Elsewhere (Matt 10:25) Jesus also complains that some have “called the master of the house Beelzebul.”

The Ugaritic Baal cycle is set in the kingdom of the chief god El and involves territorial disputes between major gods in the pantheon. The Sea god fails in his attempt to subdue Baal and conquer the earth. After their conflict, a house is built for Baal, where he is enthroned and made king of the earth and ruler of the gods. Then Death does battle with Baal, but he too fails to subdue him. Baal retains his house and his rulership of the earth. Is it a coincidence that Jesus refers to Beelzebul’s kingdom, his house, and an effort to subdue him? Or is Jesus playing with surviving elements of Baal mythology? The parallels are at least suggestive.

In short, the Synoptics may preserve a fragment of another mythology of primeval evil, one in which the god Baal, who ruled the earth under the authority of El, was transformed in Jewish tradition into Beelzebul, prince of the demons. Jesus’ comments may imply that Beelzebul’s myth featured a demonic kingdom, his house, and conflict over control of his territory.

The Parables of Enoch show no awareness of the demonic figure Beelzebul and whatever mythology came with him, although the Enochic giants tradition may remember some Baal mythology involving Leviathan. In other words, the watchers myth and the Satan myth may not have been the only paradigms for primeval evil available to these authors.

If the Synoptics do allude to a late reflex of the Baal myth, we can only hope that new texts emerge which tell us more about the adaptation of Canaanite mythology in Second Temple Jewish tradition.

This needs a more detailed exposition with footnotes, but it presents my basic argument. I posted some early thoughts on Beelzebul (Beelzeboul) here. For many other posts on the diabolical one in his various guises, see here and links.

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Under the Old City of Jerusalem

TIMES OF ISRAEL PODCAST: LISTEN: ToI takes you to a unique excavation deep under Jerusalem’s Old City. Join IAA archaeologist Barak Monnickendam-Givon on a jaw-dropping guided audio tour spanning two millennia some 7 meters under the Western Wall plaza (Amanda Borschel-Dan).

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The Legacy of Soisalon-Soininen (ed. Kauhanen & Vanonen)

WILLIAM ROSS: SOISALON-SOININEN VOLUME PUBLISHED. Notice of a New Book from Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht:

The Legacy of Soisalon-Soininen
Towards a Syntax of Septuagint Greek

Tuukka Kauhanen (Hg.), Hanna Vanonen (Hg.)

De Septuaginta Investigationes (DSI) - Band 013

I noted the call for papers for the conference that produced this volume here.

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Biblical Studies Carnival 172

ZWINGLIUS REDIVIVUS: Its the ‘Pandemic / Societal Apocalypse / Is June Finally Over? / Ugh What a Miserable Month’ Edition of the Biblical Studies Carnival (Jim West).

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McGrath on Enoch Seminar 2020, Days 1-2 (Updated!)

RELIGION PROF: Enoch Seminar 2020 Day 1: Is Evil the Grandmother of Theology? James McGrath has posted a thorough summary of the first full day of Enoch Seminar 2020.

Background here and links. [Link now corrected!]

UPDATE:

The video of the summary discussion of Day 1 (Monday), which happened on the morning of Day 2 (Tuesday, yesterday) is available on Facebook.

The Twitter hashtag for Enoch Seminar 2020 is #OriginsOfEvil2020.

Also, Professor McGrath has posted his very thorough summary of Day 2: Enoch Seminar 2020 #OriginsOfEvil2020 Day 2.

And the summary discussion of Day 2 is happening now. It can be viewed on a Facebook livestream, which will remain as a video recording.

Today is Day 3 of Enoch Seminar 2020.

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More on the new Jerusalem seal fragments

ICONOGRAPHY: 2,500-year-old seals may show Jews rebuilding Jerusalem after 1st Temple exile. Rare discoveries in City of David confirm that after Babylonian destruction of 586 BCE, city was slowly resettled in Persian era, with a revived bureaucracy, as told in the Bible (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel).

I posted on the discovery of these two seal fragments here. This article explores their possible implications in greater depth.

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In search of King David

ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE BIBLE: In Search of King David’s Lost Empire. The Biblical ruler’s story has been told for millennia. Archeologists are still fighting over whether it’s true (Ruth Margalit, The New Yorker).

This is a long and thorough article that covers a century of the archaeology of David's reign (whatever than may mean) up to the present.

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Job in late-antique Western esotericism at UvA

THE NSEA BLOG: JOB POSTING: ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN THE HISTORY OF WESTERN ESOTERICISM IN LATE ANTIQUITY.

The job is at the Department of History, European Studies and Religious Studies of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Amsterdam. The closing date for applications is 19 August 2020. Follow the link for a description and a link to the full advert.

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Evidence that post-exilic Jerusalem was important?

ICONOGRAPHY: 2,500-year-old City of David seal shows Jerusalem status in Persian period. The seal impressions – known among experts with the Latin term bullae – were usually made of clay and used to sign documents or containers (Rossella Tercatin, Jerusalem Post). Be sure to watch the video.

The jar seal bears faux writing. (What was that about?) The seal impression depicts someone sitting on a chair (a Babylonian king on a throne?). Both impressions are damaged and incomplete.

The Givati (Giv'ati) Parking Lot Excavation is another of those archaeological gifts that keeps on giving. For past posts on it, see here and many links, here, and here.

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More on the supervision of those West Bank archaeological sites

ARCHAEOLOGY AND POLITICS: Israeli campaigners want Jewish ruins included in West Bank annexations (Rinat Harash, Reuters).

Background here and here.

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The third angel and God's full-strength wrath

READING ACTS: The Message of the Third Angel – Revelation 14:9-13. Phil Long continues his blog series on the Book of Revelation, concentrating on the seven sights of chapters 12-15. We are at the end of the fifth sight: the three angels and their messages.

I have noted earlier posts in Phil's Revelation series here and links.

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Samaritan Shavuot 2020

SAMARITAN WATCH: Samaritans Greet the Dawn Atop Their Holiest Mountain to Mark Shavuot Festival. The Samaritan community numbers around 820 people, many of whom live high above the Palestinian city of Nablus (Reuters, rpt. Haaretz).

Past posts on the Samaritan celebration of Shavuot, which comes later in the year than the Jewish celebration, are here and here.

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Enoch Seminar 2020

REMINDER: Enoch Seminar Online 2020: The Origin of Evil in Second Temple Judaism begins today in a couple of hours. It runs through Thursday. It is by invitation only, but I don't doubt there will be blog reports etc. I will keep my eye out for them. I may even come up with one or two myself.

I am a respondent on Wednesday, 1 July, in the session on "How is the problem of evil and its origin addressed in the Parables of Enoch and the Synoptics?"

There are about three hundred attenders total.

The format is mandated by current pandemic travel and assembly restrictions. But nonetheless, it is an exciting, groundbreaking experiment. These online conferences may change the way we do professional meetings.

Earlier PaleoJudaica posts on Enoch Seminar 2020 are here, here, and here. They link to posts by Professor James McGrath, including one with his conference presentation.

I have noted other pandemic-era online projects here, here, here, here, here (cf. here at the link), here, and here.

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Who can touch the Dead Sea Scrolls?

CONSERVATION: Meet the only person in the world who can touch the Dead Sea Scrolls. Hidden in the caves of the Judean Desert for over 2,000 years, the artifacts include some of the most ancient manuscripts of the Bible, as well as other religious texts (Rossella Tercatin, Jerusalem Post).

Her name is Tanya Bitler.

I was able to touch the Dead Sea Scrolls back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when I was writing my doctoral dissertation (on manuscripts of Genesis and Exodus from Cave 4) and revising it for publication. That was back in the transition from the "glass plate" era to the "cardboard plate" era.

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Is Sukenik’s Isaiah Scroll really provenanced?

VARIANT READINGS: Qumran Cave 1 Questions, Part 4: Sukenik’s Isaiah Scroll. Brent Nongbri calls into question the physical evidence that 4QIsa^b came from Cave 1. That doesn't mean it didn't come from Cave 1. But it may mean that there is no controlled archaeological confirmation of its provenance.

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The DSS and new technologies

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: How New Technologies Are Unraveling the Dead Sea Scrolls’ Secrets (VIDEO). DNA analysis, artificial intelligence and particle accelerators shed light on ancient artifacts (Maya Margit, The Media Line).

For PaleoJudaica posts on the use of some new technologies on the Dead Sea Scrolls etc., see here, here, here, here, here, here, and here, and follow the links.

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James (Jimmy) Dunn, 1939-2020

SAD NEWS FROM THE RELIGION PROF: RIP Jimmy Dunn (James D. G. Dunn). Many tributes are pouring in for renowned New Testament scholar James Dunn, who passed away on Friday at the age of 80. I link to a memorial by James McGrath, who got his PhD under Jimmy's supervision. Professor McGrath links to other tributes.

James Douglas Grant Dunn was for a long time Lightfoot Professor of Divinity at the University of Durham. His Wikipedia page is here.

Requiescat in pace.

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Interview with Peter Gentry on Origen and the Hexapla

THE ETC BLOG: Origen and the Hexapla: the Text & Canon Institute Interviews Dr. Peter Gentry (John Meade). For another recent interview with Dr. Gentry on his new translation of the Septuagint of Ecclesiastes, see here.

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Viswanath on Black People in Jewish Tradition

PROF. MEYLEKH (PV) VISWANATH: Black People in Jewish Tradition: Eliminating Racism Requires Honesty (TheTorah.com).

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Marx, Jalkut Schimoni zum Zwölfprophetenbuch

NEW BOOK FROM DE GRUYTER:

Jalkut Schimoni zum Zwölfprophetenbuch
Yalkut Shimoni on the Twelve Minor Prophets: Translation and Commentary
Übersetzung und Kommentar

in Jalkut Schimoni

Edited by: Farina Marx
De Gruyter | 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110675382

£109.00 Hardcover

FORMATS
Hardcover
ISBN: 978-3-11-067438-5
Published: 08 Jun 2020
PDF
ISBN: 978-3-11-067538-2
Published: 08 Jun 2020
EPUB
ISBN: 978-3-11-067540-5
Published: 08 Jun 2020

OVERVIEW
The Yalkut Shimoni is collection of rabbinical commentaries on the Hebrew bible. Research has not yet explained all of the criteria for selecting these commentaries or clarified whether the work was conceived as a comprehensive reference work for exegetic issues, to be combined with the biblical commentary in the Talmud and Midrash, or to reform rabbinical interpretative tradition. This translation is a first step toward resolving these issues.

The electronic version of this book is currently open access – available for free. I'm not sure, but that may only last until the end of this month. But for now, for you, special deal!

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The daric

NUMISMATICS: The Daric: Persian Gold – CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series (Mike Markowitz).

As the article notes, the daric is mentioned in the Bible. The list of references is not quite complete. It should read Nehemiah 7:70, 71, 72.

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Ben Zvi, Social Memory among the Literati of Yehud

NEW BOOK FROM DE GRUYTER:

Ehud Ben Zvi
Social Memory among the Literati of Yehud

Series: Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 509
De Gruyter | 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110547146

From £118.00
FORMATS
Hardcover
ISBN: 978-3-11-054638-5
Published: 22 Jul 2019
PDF
ISBN: 978-3-11-054714-6
Published: 22 Jul 2019
EPUB
ISBN: 978-3-11-054651-4
Published: 22 Jul 2019

OVERVIEW
Ehud Ben Zvi has been at the forefront of exploring how the study of social memory contributes to our understanding of the intellectual worldof the literati of the early Second Temple period and their textual repertoire. Many of his studies on the matter and several new relevant works are here collected together providing a very useful resource for furthering research and teaching in this area.
The essays included here address, inter alia, prophets as sites of memory, kings as sites memory, Jerusalem as a site of memory, a mnemonic system shaped by two interacting ‘national’ histories, matters of identity and othering as framed and explored via memories, mnemonic metanarratives making sense of the past and serving various didactic purposes and their problems, memories of past and futures events shared by the literati, issues of gender constructions and memory, memories understood by the group as ‘counterfactual’ and their importance, and, in multiple ways, how and why shared memories served as a (safe) playground for exploring multiple, central ideological issues within the group and of generative grammars governing systemic preferences and dis-preferences for particular memories.

I missed this one last year, so here it is now.

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Dusinberre et al. (eds.), The Art of Empire in Achaemenid Persia

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: The Art of Empire in Achaemenid Persia. Notice of a New Book: Dusinberre Elspeth R.M., Mark B. Garrison & Wouter F.M. Henkelman (eds.). 2020. The Art of Empire in Achaemenid Persia: Studies in Honour of Margaret Cool Root (Achaemenid History 16). Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten & Leuven: Peeters.

The volume includes many articles on the Achaemenid ceremonial capital Persepolis. For many PaleoJudaica posts on Persepolis, start here (cf. here) and follow the links.

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Altmann et al. (eds.), Food Taboos and Biblical Prohibitions

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Food Taboos and Biblical Prohibitions. Reassessing Archaeological and Literary Perspectives. Edited by Peter Altmann, Anna Angelini, and Abra Spiciarich. 2020. VI, 158 pages. Archaeology and Bible 2. 54,00 € including VAT. sewn paper ISBN 978-3-16-159355-0.

Published in English.
This volume presents contributions from “The Larger Context of the Biblical Food Prohibitions: Comparative and Interdisciplinary Approaches” conference held in Lausanne in June, 2017. The biblical food prohibitions constitute an excellent object for comparative and interdisciplinary approaches given their materiality, their nature as comparative objects between cultures, and their nature as an anthropological object. This volume articulates these three aspects within an integrated and dynamic perspective, bringing together contributions from Levantine archaeology, ancient Near Eastern studies, and anthropological and textual perspectives to form a new, multi-disciplinary foundation for interpretation.

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Was Genesis-2 Kings written in the Hellenistic period?

THE BIBLE AND INTEPRETATION:

Greek Literature and the Primary History

In recent years, however, a number of scholars have dated the biblical books in the Primary History (Genesis through 2 Kings) very late. Thus, they have raised the possibility that the authors of these books might have been very familiar with Classical Greek texts down to 300 BCE and Hellenistic Greek texts after 300 BCE, and perhaps they even used some Greek texts to craft plot-line and imagery in the books of the Primary History.

See Also: Hellenism and the Primary History. September, 2020 Forthcoming by Routledge.

By Robert Karl Gnuse
Chair of the Department of Religious Studies
Loyola University New Orleans
June 2020

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Wickes, Bible and Poetry in Late Antique Mesopotamia

NEW BOOK FROM UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS:

Jeffrey Wickes
Bible and Poetry in Late Antique Mesopotamia
Ephrem's Hymns on Faith

Series: Christianity in Late Antiquity, 5

University of California Press | 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520972599

£113.00 PDF

FORMATS
PDF
ISBN: 978-0-520-97259-9
Published: 17 Sep 2019

OVERVIEW
Ephrem the Syrian was one of the founding voices in Syriac literature. While he wrote in a variety of genres, the bulk of his work took the form of madrashe, a Syriac genre of musical poetry or hymns. In Bible and Poetry in Late Antique Mesopotamia, Jeffrey Wickes offers a thoroughly contextualized study of Ephrem’s magnum opus, the Hymns on Faith, delivered in response to the theological controversies that followed the First Council of Nicaea. The ensuing doctrinal divisions had tremendous impact on the course of Christianity and led in part to the development of a uniquely Syriac Church, in which Ephrem would become a central figure. Drawing on literary, ritual, and performance theories, Bible and Poetry shows how Ephrem used the Syriac Bible to construct and conceive of himself and his audience. In so doing, Wickes resituates Ephrem in a broader early Christian context and contributes to discussions of literature and religion in late antiquity.

This volume was published in 2019, but it just came to my attention. Cross-file under Syriac Watch.

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Gottlieb, Targum Chronicles and Its Place Among the Late Targums

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Targum Chronicles and Its Place Among the Late Targums

Series: Supplement to Aramaic Studies, Volume: 16
Author: Leeor Gottlieb

Targum Chronicles and Its Place Among the Late Targums heralds a paradigm shift in the understanding of many of the Jewish-Aramaic translations of individual biblical books and their origins. Leeor Gottlieb provides the most extensive study of Targum Chronicles to date, leading to conclusions that challenge long-accepted truisms with regard to the origin of Targums. This book’s trail of evidence convincingly points to the composition of Targums in a time and place that was heretofore not expected to be the provenance of these Aramaic gems of biblical interpretation. This study also offers detailed comparisons to other Targums and fascinating new explanations for dozens of aggadic expansions in Targum Chronicles, tying them to their rabbinic sources.

Prices from (excl. VAT): €192.00 / $231.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Not Yet Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-41763-2
Publication Date: 04 Jun 2020

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-41697-0
Publication Date: 04 Jun 2020

Cross-file under Aramaic Watch.

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Godfearers in Aphrodisias

THE HOLY LAND PHOTOS' BLOG: Jews, Proselytes, and God-Fearers at Aphrodisias (Carl Rasmussen). This is quite an interesting inscription. The relationship of its "godfearers" to the "godfearers" in Acts is unclear.

As usual, Carl provides some nice photos. He has other posts on Aphrodisias, an ancient city in Asia Minor (Turkey), here and here.

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

The Aramaic origins of the postal service

ARAMAIC WATCH: The Surprising Origins of the Postal Service. An ancient Persian institution served as the model and inspiration for the United States Postal Service and other such delivery services (Joobin Bekhrad, BBC).

According to Dr Lindsay Allen, a lecturer in ancient history at King’s College London, the Persian postal system was also impressive for its use of a standardised language across such a vast expanse, as well as its consistency in terms of message delivery and format. Although Old Persian was the Persians’ native tongue, the linguistically unrelated Aramaic was the administrative language of the empire and thus used in composing messages throughout it, much in the same way that English and Latin-alphabet transliterations are usually used on envelopes and parcels worldwide today.

“For long distances we’re looking at Aramaic on ink on prepared animal skin, folded up and sealed,” Allen said. “This was the first time that consistently formatted letters, folded and sealed, were used. Unfortunately, we have only a few surviving parchment letters written in Aramaic… [but] even these suggest there was shared administrative practice between letters sent to Egypt and those sent by a local governor in Bactria.”

This is a long article on how the ancient Achaemenid Persian empire developed a postal service that covered the whole empire. It served as the template for subsequent postal services, including the modern ones.

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

More on names in the Bible and in inscriptions

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Personal Names and Biblical Historicity. How do ancient Israelite and Judahite personal names—collected from archaeological materials—contribute to the study of the Bible’s historicity? (Megan Sauter).

I have noted Dr. Mitka R. Golub's recent work on the onomastic history of biblical and epigraphic names here and here. In the former post I noted her BAR article on her research. This BHD post summarizes it.

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

Online lectures on ANE languages in contact

THE AWOL BLOG: Ancient Near Eastern Languages in Contact –eLecture Series. These lectures take place in July and August. several of them are of interest for the study of ancient Judaism

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

The second angel

READING ACTS: The Message of the Second Angel – Revelation 14:8. Phil Long continues his blog series on the Book of Revelation, concentrating on the seven sights of chapters 12-15. We are on the fifth sight: the three angels and their messages.

As I have noted here, the identification of Rome with the Babylonians in Jewish literature goes back to the pre-Christian period. We find it in the Habakkuk Pesher among the Dead Sea Scrolls.

I have noted earlier posts in Phil's Revelation series here and links.

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

Supervision of specific West Bank archaeological sites

ARCHAEOLOGY AND POLITICS, CONTINUED: What happens to West Bank archaeological sites under Trump’s plan? Here are some of the archaeological sites located in the West Bank (Jerusalem Post). Rossella Tercatin follows up her earlier articles, noted here. This one gives some information on the plans for specific sites, including Qumran, Shiloh, and Herodium.

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

Gardner, The Founder of Manichaeism

BILIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: Rethinking the Life of Mani. Notice of a New Book: Gardner, Iain. 2020. The Founder of Manichaeism: Rethinking the Life of Mani. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Some past PaleoJudaica posts on Mani are here and links, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Cross-file under Manichean Watch (Manichaean Watch).

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

Angel or eagle?

READING ACTS: The Message of the First Angel – Revelation 14:6-7. Phil Long continues his blog series on the Book of Revelation, concentrating on the seven sights of chapters 12-15. We move to the fifth sight, the three angels and their messages.

I have noted earlier posts in Phil's Revelation series here and links.

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

Anderson (ed.), From Scrolls to Scrolling

NEW BOOK FROM DE GRUYTER:

From Scrolls to Scrolling

Sacred Texts, Materiality, and Dynamic Media Cultures

Series: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – Tension, Transmission, Transformation, 12

Edited by: Bradford A. Anderson
De Gruyter | 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110634440

The electronic version is (at least currently) Open Access.

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Jan Joosten convicted for possession of child abuse media

THIS IS HORRIFIC: Oxford professor sentenced to jail in France over child abuse images. Former pastor Jan Joosten receives year’s sentence for downloading 28,000 images and videos (Archie Bland and Jon Henley, The Guardian).

Jan Joosten is Regius Professor of Hebrew at Oxford University, one of the most prestigious chairs in the field internationally. Oxford has suspended him from his academic post, "pending further action." A statement from Christ Church College, Oxford, is here.

It is difficult to express how horrifying this story is. Appalling and disgraceful. The entire field of biblical studies is reeling from it. My heart goes out to the victims.

UPDATE (5 July): As of 3 July he is no longer affiliated with Oxford University in any way.

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

The Sifting Project's methodology

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT BLOG: Our Excavation and Research Methodology. I have just noticed this informative post. It is undated, but I have not linked to it before.

It explains the wet-sifting process used by the project. It also covers the innovative strategies the project uses to study artifacts recovered outside of a stratigraphic archaeological context. Well worth reading.

For many, many PaleoJudaica posts on the Temple Mount Sifting Project, start here and follow the links.

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

AJR reviews catalogue for "The World Between Empires" Exhibition

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Book Note | The World Between Empires: Art and Identity in the Ancient Middle East (Alex Istok).

Blair Fowlkes-Childs and Michael Seymour. The World Between Empires: Art and Identity in the Ancient Middle East. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2019.

This catalogue was published in conjunction with “The World between empires: Art and Identity in the Ancient Middle East,” on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, from March through June 2019.

PaleoJudaica posts on this exhibition are here and here.

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

Michigan collection of Coptic manuscripts

THE AWOL BLOG: Written Culture of Christian Egypt: Coptic Manuscripts from the University of Michigan Collection. Cross-file under Coptic Watch.

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

McGrath on "The Shared Origins of Monotheism"

RELIGION PROF: The Shared Origins of Monotheism, Evil, and Gnosticism (Enoch Seminar 2020 Presentation). James McGrath shares his pre-recorded presentation for the upcoming online Enoch Seminar on Concepts of Evil in Second Temple Judaism and Christian Origins. The Seminar begins a week from today. I am a respondent in one of the sessions.

Background here and links.

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Supervision of archaeological sites on the West Bank

ARCHAEOLOGY AND POLITICS: In the Jerusalem Post, Rossella Tercatin has a couple of articles on the shifting political situation of archaeological sites on the West Bank:

Who is in charge of biblical sites in the West Bank? - Explainer. From the legal point of view, several stratifications of national and international law have been applied or partially applied to the matter since 1967.

Trump peace plan puts hundreds of biblical sites under Palestinian rule. There are about 6,000 sites of historical and archaeological importance in the parts of Area C that are supposed to transfer to the Palestinians on July 1.

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

Was Jesus middle class?

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

Middle Groups in Jewish Roman Galilee and Jesus and his Disciples’ Social Location: New Insights

Like many revolutionaries, Jesus saw the attachment of the upper-middle class to money as responsible for their passiveness in spiritual commitment. Jesus’ philosophy developed from the perspective of the middle class, not from that of the poor. He was able to attract followers because he came from a solid background. “The poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard” (Eccl. 9:16, ASV). Had Jesus come from a poor background, it would have been difficult for him to become a leader.

See Also: Social Stratification of the Jewish Population of Roman Palestine in the Period of the Mishnah, 70-250 CE (Brill, 2020).

By Ben-Zion Rosenfeld
Department of Jewish History
Bar-Ilan University

By Haim Perlmutter
Jewish Studies
Bar Ilan University
June 2020

I noted the publication of the book a couple of days ago.

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

The Hanging Gardens of ... Nineveh?

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Hanging Gardens of Babylon … in Assyrian Nineveh. Sennacherib’s garden without a rival (Noah Wiener).

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are one of the Seven Wonders of the World. But the archaeological excavation of ancient Babylon failed to find any trace of them. They would be hard to miss!

Instead, it seems that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are a prominent feature of what I like to call Greek Fantasy Babylon, the legendary and often imaginary version of Babylon transmitted by Greek writers. Berossus mentions the Hanging Gardens, as does Ctesias before him and various Greek and Latin writers after them. But they didn't exist. At least in Babylon.

As this BHD essay indicates, Stephanie Dalley has argued that the Hanging Gardens known by the Greek writers were in Nineveh, the capital city of ancient Assyria, not Babylon. Evidently the Greek writers got their ancient Mesopotamian capitals mixed up. For more on her case, see here.

For some past posts touching on Greek Fantasy Babylon, see here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

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

Late-antique Christian town excavated in Galilee

EXCAVATION REPORT: Archaeologists unearth Galilee Christian town sacked by Persians in 7th century. Remains of affluent, rural community discovered at Pi Mazuva in 2007 include crosses, pagan-inspired mosaic; new publication illuminates the Christians who lived there (Luke Tress, Times of Israel).

The analysis of the remains of Pi Mazuva (Pi Metzuba) was published this month in the Hebrew-language journal Atiqot. You can download a pdf of the the article for free here.

Dwellings from the Byzantine Period at Pi Maẓuva in the Western Galilee (with a contribution by Danny Syon) (Hebrew, pp. 31*–39*; English summary, pp. 182–183)
Gilad Cinamon and Yoav Lerer
Keywords: Western Galilee, rural settlement, ṭabun, numismatics, cross, Christianity, ethnicity, villa, art, iconography, epigraphy, nomismata weight
The excavation at Pi Maẓuva revealed building complexes, some separated by an alley, dating from the Byzantine period. The finds at the site included a bronze cross, an ashlar limestone lintel with a cross engraving, and pottery dated to the sixth–seventh centuries CE, which comprised local types, alongside many imported ones, some adorned with crosses. An interesting find is a high-quality, colorful, seventh-century CE mosaic floor adorned with floral motifs, animal and human figures, and two fragmentary Greek inscriptions. The finds at the site point to the existence of a rural Christian settlement, probably destroyed during the Persian conquest of the region in 613 CE.

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

Birds in ancient Jerusalem

OSTEOLOGICAL ORNITHOLOGY: Bird study backs Bible: Pigeons, doves sacrificed in ancient Jerusalem. From the story of Noah and the dove in the Book of Genesis to the issues of ritual sacrifices and dietary restrictions, birds play a very important role in the biblical text (Rossella Tercatin, Jerusalem Post). It looks as though people ate chickens, but sacrificed pigeons and doves.

This article is based on a technical article in BASOR 383 (May 2020 - current issue), pp. 61-78: “Birds in Transition: Bird Exploitation in the Southern Levant During the Late Bronze Age, Iron Age I, and Iron Age II,” by Abra Spiciarich. It is behind the subscription wall, but you can read the abstract here.

Some past PaleoJudaica posts on pigeons and doves in biblical etc. antiquity are here, here, here, here, and here. And for one on ancient chickens, see here.

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

Most iconic archaeological sites in Israel?

TRAVEL: The 10 most iconic archeological sites in Israel (Abigail Klein Leichman , Israel21c). One can always debate top-ten lists. But most people would agree that most of these sites belong on this list. All of them have featured in PaleoJudaica, most of them many times.

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

More on the 144,000

READING ACTS: The Firstfruits of the Lamb – Revelation 14:4-5. Phil Long continues his blog series on the Book of Revelation, concentrating on the seven sights of chapters 12-15. We are now on the fourth sight, the 144,000.

I have noted past posts in Phil's Revelation series here and links.

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

British Museum guidebooks

THE BIBLE PLACES BLOG: Guidebooks for the British Museum (A.D. Riddle). A couple of them pertain specifically to the Bible.

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

Little, Israel's Eschatological Enemy

NEW BOOK FROM WIPF AND STOCK:

Israel's Eschatological Enemy
The Identity of the King of Babylon in Isaiah 14:4-21

BY Timothy Allen Little

Imprint: Wipf and Stock
Category: Biblical Studies

PAPERBACK
ISBN: 9781725256897
Pages: 200
Publication Date: 5/1/2020
Retail Price: $25.00
Web Price: $20.00

eBOOK
ISBN: 9781725256897
Format: epub
Publication Date: 5/1/2020
Retail Price: $25.00
Web Price: $20.00

About

Who is the king of Babylon in Isaiah 14? The early church sometimes identified him as Nebuchadnezzar, but most also saw a deeper meaning in Isa 14:12–14, believing this section referred to Satan. Many current scholars reject both views and offer a variety of alternatives. Little argues that “shining one” (Lucifer) in Isa 14:12 is the king of Babylon.

This book analyzes the mashal (proverb) genre and argues that the Isa 14 mashal must be a real person, not a symbolic, ideal, eclectic, or representative king. Scholars have presented nine historic kings as the king of Babylon. Little compiles a list of fifteen criteria from Isa 13–14, evaluates these nine kings, and demonstrates that no historic king comes close to fulfilling the fifteen criteria.

Instead, Little argues that the king of Babylon is Israel’s eschatological enemy. Through the use of catchwords and temporal particles, he first demonstrates that the oracle is a unit. Then he proves that this Babylonian judgment is eschatological. All foreign languages have been translated, allowing the student of prophecy and theology to benefit from this work. Those interested in the mashal genre, Hebrew poetry, and Isaianic exegesis will also find this book stimulating.

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Rosenfeld & Perlmutter, Social Stratification of the Jewish Population of Roman Palestine ...

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Social Stratification of the Jewish Population of Roman Palestine in the Period of the Mishnah, 70–250 CE

Series: The Brill Reference Library of Judaism, Volume: 59

Authors: Ben Zion Rosenfeld and Haim Perlmutter

This book analyzes Jewish society in Roman Palestine in the time of the Mishnah (70–250 CE) in a systematic way, carefully delineating the various economic groups living therein, from the destitute, to the poor, to the middling, to the rich, and to the superrich. It gleans the various socioeconomic strata from the terminology employed by contemporary literary sources via contextual, philological, and historical-critical analysis. It also takes a multidisciplinary approach to analyze and interpret relevant archeological and inscriptional evidence as well as numerous legal sources.
The research presented herein shows that various expressions in the sources have latent meanings that indicate socioeconomic status. “Rich,” for example, does not necessarily refer to the elite, and “poor” does not necessarily refer to the destitute. Jewish society consisted of groups on a continuum from extremely poor to extremely rich, and the various middling groups played a more important role in the economy than has hitherto been thought.

Prices from (excl. VAT): €154.00 / $185.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-41893-6
Publication Date: 11 May 2020

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-42213-1
Publication Date: 23 May 2020

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On reopening the Israel Museum

CRISIS MODE: With coronavirus restrictions lifted, why is the Israel Museum closed? While some smaller museums have been able to reopen a few of their galleries, Jerusalem’s Israel Museum has remained closed to visitors (Hannah Brown, Jerusalem Post).

Given this uncertainty, a hasty reopening could do more harm than good.

“If we reopen and bring back all employees by July 1, we could have a 25 million shekel deficit by the end of December and an ongoing deficit for 2021 and 2022,” he said.

IF TOURISM continues to be affected by the virus restrictions in the coming year, “We could have a 44 million shekel deficit by the end of 2022. We need to have a sustainable financial plan for two years.”

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Review of Maurice, Screening Divinity

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Screening divinity.

Lisa Maurice, Screening divinity. Screening Antiquity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2019. xi, 228 p.. ISBN 9781474425735 £75.00.

Review by
Meredith Prince, Auburn University. mdp0007@auburn.edu

[...]

Maurice makes an important contribution to classical reception studies, in particular the reception of antiquity in film and television, with her examination of the divine on screen, especially with her consideration of both mythological/fantasy and religious/biblical epic genres, their links with each other, and their overlapping as one. ...

Cross-file under Cinematography.

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Noonan, Non-Semitic Loanwords in the Hebrew Bible

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY: Non-Semitic Loanwords in the Hebrew Bible: A Lexicon of Language Contact (Ben Noonan).

Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic also contain words borrowed from different languages. Many of the Hebrew Bible’s loanwords are from other Semitic languages, such as Akkadian. However, a good number of the loanwords in the Hebrew Bible come from non-Semitic languages like Egyptian, Hittite, and Persian. These non-Semitic loanwords are the topic of my book, Non-Semitic Loanwords in the Hebrew Bible: A Lexicon of Language Contact.

Published by Eisenbrauns.

Cross-file under Lexicography and New Book.

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Two Arks or one?

DR. RABBI TZEMAH YOREH: The Two Arks: Military and Ritual (TheTorah.com).

Tradition and source criticism both see two ark traditions in the biblical text: The Ark of the Covenant and the Ark of the Testimony. The former accompanies Israelite troops into battle; it appears in Numbers 10 (וַיְהִי בִּנְסֹעַ הָאָרֹן) and in the stories of battles against the Philistines and Ammonites in Samuel. The latter remains in the Tabernacle, serving as a seat for YHWH’s glory and revelation.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on the Ark of the Covenant, start here (cf. here) and follow the links.

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

Krispenz (ed.), Scribes as Sages and Prophets

NEW BOOK FROM DE GRUYTER:

Scribes as Sages and Prophets

Scribal Traditions in Biblical Wisdom Literature and in the Book of the Twelve

Series: Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 496

Edited by: Jutta Krispenz
De Gruyter | 2020

OVERVIEW
Scholars of the Hebrew Bible used to look at „Prophecy" and „Wisdom" as clearly distinct realms represented by antagonistic and mutually exclusive roles of their central characters: the loyal sage, the pillar of administration, on the one side and the rebellious prophet, criticizing the establishment, on the other. While the influence of wisdom thought on prophetic texts has been a topic in the scholarly debate, the complementary question of the influence of prophetic thought on wisdom texts has rarely been asked.

The contributions in this volume look at both questions: They start from the assumption that texts from the Hebrew Bible and the cultures surrounding Ancient Israel all originated from a social stratum of educated scribes, who authored and transmitted these texts. It then seems plausible that wisdom texts might show similar traces of prophetic influence to those of wisdom thoughts found in prophetic texts. The essays give a multifaceted picture concerning the mutual perception of prophets and sages and thus provide a deeper understanding of both wisdom literature and prophecy.

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Magness on Masada

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS: Masada: A heroic last stand against Rome (Jodi Magness).

With reference to Professor Magness's recent book, Masada: From Jewish Revolt to Modern Myth (Princeton University Press, 2019). For more on it, see here and links.

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

The Lamb and the 144,000

READING ACTS: The Lamb and the 144,000 – Revelation 14:1-5. Phil Long continues his blog series on the Book of Revelation, concentrating on the seven sights of chapters 12-15. We move here to the fourth sight.

I have noted earlier posts in Phil's series on the Book of Revelation here and links.

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

Tomb of the Kings/Queen Helena reopens partially

THE HOLY LAND PHOTOS' BLOG: Tomb of Queen Helena of Adiabene — Now Open . . . but (Carl Rasmussen). As usual, with excellent photos (in this case from the 1970s, since the interior of the tomb is not yet open).

For past PaleoJudaica posts on the Tomb of the Kings/Tomb of Queen Helena of Adiabene and on the queen herself and her kingdom, start here and follow the links. As you can see at the link, the site has been "reopening" for some time.

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

The Jerusalem Pilgrimage Road excavation was suspended

STABILITY CONCERNS: Archaeologists briefly pause Jerusalem dig in fear of damage to ancient road. Israel Antiquities Authority reportedly halts excavations at controversial site in Arab neighborhood of Silwan, where residents have previously reported structural damage to houses (Times of Israel).

For more on the Pilgrimage Road/Pilgrims' Path excavation, see here, here, here, here, and links.

For background on Elad and Emek Shaveh, see here and links.

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More on Falerii Novi

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: Hidden temple in a buried Roman city discovered by ground-penetrating radar. No excavation required (Mindy Weisberger, Live Science). This article gives more details about the GPR exploration of the ancient Roman city of Falerii Novi. Excerpt:

For the new study, the researchers deployed a grid of ground-penetrating radar antennae, fixed to a cart and towed over the site by an all-terrain vehicle. They bombarded the site with radio wave pulses, taking measurements every 2 inches (6 cm) and reflecting off objects underground to a depth of 6.5 feet (2 meters), according to the study. This showed Falerii Novi's buried structures in high resolution and in three dimensions.

Each scan provided a "slice" that the researchers then stitched together to create the map. Thanks to the new data, a much sharper picture of the long-hidden city emerged. The exceptional resolution enabled the study authors to perform detailed architectural analysis that would otherwise have been possible only through excavation. One structure, to the west of the city's southern gate, was clearly a temple; "you can see steps leading up to it, the columnated courtyard around it and the altar," [Professor Martin] Millett said.

The project also learned more about the underground plumbing of the city.

Background here and links. I repeat: non-invasive and non-destructive technologies are the future of archaeology.

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

Orlov, Old Testament Pseudepigrapha in Slavonic Tradition (Russian)

NEW BOOK: Professor Andrei Orlov e-mails to let us know about his newest book:

Andrei A. Orlov, Old Testament Pseudepigrapha in Slavonic Tradition (Moscow: Institute of St. Thomas, 2020), [in Russian], ISBN 978-5-6042300-8-4.

The volume is in Russian, but its bibliography and rubrics are in English.

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Review of Religious Studies and Rabbinics (ed. Shanks Alexander and Berkowitz)

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Religious Studies and Rabbinics (Mika Ahuvia).

Elizabeth Shanks Alexander and Beth A. Berkowitz.
Religious Studies and Rabbinics: A Conversation. Routledge, 2018.

... The volume makes the benefits of rabbinics for religious studies evident: rabbinics undermines the Protestant Christian-oriented category of religion, destabilizes universal ideals by upholding the value of the particular and local, and finally offers reading practices that are productive beyond the rabbinic corpora. ...

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Zohar Siyyum

ZOHAR WATCH: Judy Barrett e-mails:

On Monday, June 22 a 5 ½ year project of reading the Pritzker translation of the Zohar will complete its first cycle. A Siyyum will be held via Zoom on Sunday June 21 at 3-4pm ET. All are welcome. Speakers will be: Judy Barrett, Joel Hecker, Arthur Green, Elie Spitz and Daniel Matt.

Topic: Zohar Siyyum
Time: Jun 21, 2020 03:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89955335765

Meeting ID: 899 5533 5765
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Past posts on the Daf Yomi Zohar study group are here and here.

For many other posts on the Zohar, start here and follow the links.

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

Reviews of Edmonds, Drawing Down the Moon

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW has published two reviews of this book:

Drawing down the moon: magic in the ancient Greco-Roman world
Radcliffe G. Edmonds III, Drawing down the moon: magic in the ancient Greco-Roman world. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2019. xiii, 474 p. ISBN 9780691156934 $45.00.

Review by
Jack Lennon, School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester. jjpl1@le.ac.uk

In Drawing Down the Moon, Edmonds has produced an extensive, engaging and, crucially, accessible overview which is likely to establish itself quickly as essential reading for anyone seeking to learn more about the vast array of topics that fall under the sweeping category of magic.

Drawing down the moon: magic in the ancient Greco-Roman world
Radcliffe G. Edmonds III, Drawing down the moon: magic in the ancient Greco-Roman world. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2019. xiii, 474 p. ISBN 9780691156934 $45.00.

Review by
Thomas Galoppin, (MAP - 741182)—PLH-ERASME (EA 4601)—Université Toulouse 2 Jean Jaurès. thomas.galoppin@univ-tlse2.fr

Drawing Down the Moon can be recommended as an updated gateway into ancient “magic” for English-speaking academic and public readers.

Cross-file under New Book.

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

Remote Temple Mount sifting

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT BLOG: JOIN THE REMOTE SIFTING!

“Remote Sifting” is a unique, first-time-ever archaeological experience, which enables people all over the world to remotely participate in the sifting of the soil of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem – via a live online video interaction with the archaeologist on-site.

For many, many past posts on the Temple Mount Sifting Project, see here and links and here.

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

Names in Jeremiah and the inscriptions

NORTHWEST SEMITIC EPIGRAPHY: Comparing biblical names, epigraphs back Book of Jeremiah’s historicity. Golub examined collected names from excavated artifacts published in journals, corpora and books to gather as many names as possible (Rossella Tercatin, Jerusalem Post).

However, one important difference that Golub found out is that within the Yahwistic names mentioned in Jeremiah, the groups of letter yod-hei-vav and just yod-vav seem to be used interchangeably (53% v. 42%) while almost all the epigraphic artifacts present yod-hei-vav.

As the first combination of letters was more commonly used in the ancient kingdom of Judah while the latter in the ancient kingdom of Israel, the archaeologist explained that this element might simply be a sign that the author did not perceive the difference as important, but also that the book was actually compiled in a later period, when the use of yod-vav had become more common.

Scribes tend to update the spelling of words when copying an old book. The spelling of the names in the Book of Jeremiah is pretty much what I would expect even if the book was mostly compiled in Jeremiah's time. The profile of the names fits the time of Jeremiah, but their spelling is a mixture of early and late forms.

For more on Dr. Mitka R. Golub's recent work on the onomastic history of biblical and epigraphic names, see here. You can also read some of her articles at her Academia.edu page here. Her technical article on the names in Jeremiah is there. It nuances the argument more than in the Jerusalem Post article.

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

Pandemic paralyzes Petra

NABATEAN (NABATAEAN) WATCH: Ancient Petra a ghost town as pandemic hits Jordan tourism (KAMAL TAHA, AFP).

As is generally true at tourism sites, the situation is dire for the local economy.

Some past posts on the ancient Nabatean capital Petra are here, here, here, here, and links.

For many past posts on the Nabateans and their written language (Aramaic used by native speakers of Arabic), see here and here and links.

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

An appreciation of Harold Attridge

BRICE C. JONES: Harold Attridge Retires from Yale: A Personal Reflection.

This course was difficult. Prof. Collins was right on the mark when she told me that. We read difficult passages from Philo, Josephus, wisdom literature, poetry, and so on. The syllabus indicated that we should read about "6-8 hours" of Greek each day in preparation for the weekly seminar. When we were in the seminar, each student took a turn reading passages in sequence from the selected text. In our second seminar on September 10, we read three chapters from 2 Maccabees. (For those who don't know, that's a lot of Greek!)

Best wishes to Professor Attridge for a long and productive retirement.

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

Daf Yomi: 100 days into Tractate Shabbat

TALMUD WATCH: Daf Yomi Shabbos 100: One-hundred days of living through the Talmud (Times of Israel Blogs). Reflections from Penny Cagan one hundred days into Tractate Shabbat in the new Daf Yomi cycle and a few more since the New York coronavirus lockdown began.

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

On the synagogues of Israel

THE AWOL BLOG: Synagogues Interactive Map. This is one page on the Bornblum Eretz Israel Synagogues Website.

About The Project

The main goal of this website is to display the world of synagogues from the Land of Israel for the scholar, student and layperson. This website provides information such as bibliographical references, geographical location, photos, plans and brief descriptions of ancient synagogues from the Roman and Byzantine periods in the Land of Israel. It also presents information on selected historically significant synagogues from the Middle Ages through the beginning of the 20th century. This site will be constantly updated including the latest relevant research news and scholarly works. A search of bibliographical references is currently in preparation.

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

Simantov

JUST FOR FUN: SIMANTOV REVIEW: LESSONS IN MYSTICISM. Here’s our review of Asaf Ashery’s supernatural thriller, Simantov (Becky Lea, ScifiNow). A missing persons case involving ritual and mysticism, the Nephilim, and "Lilith's Daughters." Originally published in Hebrew.

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

Review of Johnson, Constructing Paul

THE JESUS CREED BLOG: The Apostle Paul in Context: Jewish, Scriptural, Greco-Roman. Paul's multi-layered context. Scot McKnight reviews Luke Timothy Johnson, Constructing Paul (The Canonical Paul, vol. 1) (Eerdmans, 2020).

Cross-file under New Book.

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

Rösel (ed.), Tradition and Innovation: English and German Studies on the Septuagint

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

Tradition and Innovation: English and German Studies on the Septuagint

Martin Rösel

ISBN 9781628372205
Status Available
Price: $52.00
Binding Paperback
Publication Date October 2018
Pages 392

Explore the opportunities and challenges of Septuagint studies

Recent research into the Septuagint has revealed numerous examples of modifications of the meaning of the Hebrew text in the course of its translation into Greek. This collection of essays by one of the leading scholars on the Septuagint shows how complex the translation of individual books was, provides reasons for differences between the Hebrew and Greek Bibles, and paves the way for a theology of the Septuagint. Articles introduce the field of Septuagint studies, the problem of the Letter of Aristeas, and the Hellenistic environment and the hermeneutics of Hellenistic Judaism.

Features:

• A methodological discussion of whether and how a theology of the Septuagint can be written
  
• Essays introducing the field of Septuagint studies and its Hellenistic environment and the hermeneutics of Hellenistic Judaism
  
• Fifteen English and German essays covering twenty-five years of Septuagint research

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

"I bore you on vultures' wings?"

BIBLICAL ORNITHOLOGY: Biblically mislabelled, Israel's griffon vultures get new lease of life (Reuters). Reuters also has a photo essay on the griffon vulture here.

The reference alluded to in the article is Exodus 19:4.

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