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Journalist and San Francisco State University associate professor Chanan Tigay has won the 2020 Anne and Robert Cowan Writer’s Prize for “The Lost Book of Moses: The Hunt for the World’s Oldest Bible,” it was announced this week.Regular readers of PaleoJudaica will be familiar with Mr. Tigay and his book on the Shapira scroll affair. For previous posts on the book, see here and here and follow the links. Those links also lead back to additional posts on the Shapira scroll. And there is one more recent one here.
[...]
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Plague and climate change triggered a severe economic downturn on the fringe of the Byzantine Empire 1,500 years ago, a study of ancient grape pips has revealed.Fortunately, 2020 has not seen any major, climate-busting volcanic eruptions. Let's hope it stays that way.
Researchers from Israel examined thousands of grape pips and cereal grains, as well as ceramic sherds from waste heaps in the Negev left behind in the mid-6th Century.
They found evidence for the rise and fall of wine-making — with the latter likely linked to an outbreak of bubonic plague, as well as global cooling and local flooding.
[...]
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The Israelites travel to the east of Moab, through the wilderness, specifically to avoid encountering them. And yet, we are told that they travel through Ar-Moab, and even buy food and water from the locals. Do they walk through Moabite territory or not?For more on "The Book of the Wars of the Lord," a Lost Book quoted in the Bible, see here and here.
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Published in English.
The underlying perspective of the present volume contributes to the recent historical debate on Yahwistic diversity in the Persian and the Hellenistic periods. A broad variety of different Yahwistic (and not necessarily Jewish) groups existed inside and outside Judah during the sixth to first century BCE, for example in Egypt (Elephantine/Jeb and Alexandria), Babylonia (al-Yahudu), Samaria, and Idumea.
The main objective of the volume lies in the literary-historical implications of this diversity: How did these groups or their interactions with one another influence the formation of the Hebrew Bible as well as its complex textual transmission? This perspective has not been sufficiently pursued in the more religious and historically oriented research before.
The volume comprises thirteen articles by renowned international specialists in the field, which aim at closing this gap in the scholarly discussion.
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Psalm 91 and Demonic Menace
Series:
Oudtestamentische Studiën, Old Testament Studies, Volume: 77
Author: Gerrit C. Vreugdenhil
In Psalm 91 and Demonic Menace Gerrit Vreugdenhil offers a thorough analysis of the text, structure and genre of Psalm 91. Already in its earliest interpretations, Psalm 91 has been associated with the demonic realm. The use of this psalm on ancient amulets and in magic texts calls for an explanation. Examining the psalms images of threat from a cognitive science perspective, Vreugdenhil shows that many of these terms carry associations with sorcery and magic, incantations and curses, diseases and demonic threat. The psalm takes demonic threat seriously, but also draws attention to the protection offered by JHWH. Finally, the author proposes an outline of the situational context in which Psalm 91 might have functioned.
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Publication Date: 13 Jul 2020
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Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-42788-4
Publication Date: 09 Jul 2020
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H-Judaic is saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. Magen Broshi (1929-2020), archeologist, scholar of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and longtime curator of Israel's "Shrine of the Book."
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“The new display provides passersby with a direct glimpse into the splendor of the public buildings, civil and religious, which have stood in the area of the Jewish Quarter throughout the ages,” curator Ravit Nanner-Soriano said in a press release. “Visitors to the exhibition will be able to be impressed by the variety and richness of the items; among them, impressive parts of columns from the Roman, Byzantine and Crusader periods, cornices and decorated items from the Middle Ages to modern times.”
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SPOILER ALERT: Despite my title, this blogpost is not about the modern-day Baptist denomination. These aren’t the Baptists you’re looking for. You can go about your business.These were ancient Baptists. It is not even clear that they were of the Christian variety.
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Toward a Theology of the Septuagint: Stellenbosch Congress on the Septuagint, 2018
Johann Cook (Editor), Martin Rösel (Editor)
ISBN 9781628372700
Status Available
Price: $60.00
Binding Paperback
Publication Date July 2020
Pages 460
Innovative Septuagint research from an international group of scholars
Toward a Theology of the Septuagint: Stellenbosch Congress on the Septuagint, 2018 focuses on the question of whether it is appropriate and possible to formulate a theology of the Septuagint. Nineteen English and German essays examine Old Testament, New Testament, and extrabiblical texts from a variety of methodological perspectives to demonstrate that such a theology is indeed necessary and possible.
Features
- Nuanced discussion of whether and how a theology of the Septuagint can be written
- Extensive methodological discussions
- Close textual studies of biblical, Greek philosophical, and Jewish sources
- Abstracts of each essay
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The answer lies in his bed.For lots of PaleoJudaica posts on King Og, start here and follow the links. Another article by Prof. Quick on the same topic is noted here.
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The mummies, which had lain undisturbed for 2,000 years, are in a poor state of preservation because water had seeped into the tomb, according to the Guardian.Was Cleopatra VII (the Cleopatra) buried in Taposiris Magna, rather than Alexandria? Perhaps we will know soon.
But they were originally covered with gold leaf – a luxury reserved for only the top members of society's elite – meaning they may have personally interacted with Cleopatra.
The male and female mummies may have been priests who played a key role in maintaining the power of the legendary Egyptian queen and her lover, Mark Anthony.
Also found at the site were 200 coins bearing Cleopatra's name and her face, which would have been pressed based on Cleopatra's direct instructions.
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Alexandre published a new excavation report on Nazareth in the current issue of the Israel Antiquities Authority’s ‘Atiqot journal that describes its early settlement history and findings from her excavations and those of other researchers. What is arguably of most interest in the report is what was discovered in very bedrock of the village.Another salvage-archaeology success story. If you don't have time to listen to the whole podcast, the accompanying article gives the highlights.
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In revenge for the Midianite seduction (Num 25), Phinehas takes the sacred utensils from the Tabernacle and leads the war against Midian (Num 31). Many details in this story contradict other Priestly texts, giving us a glimpse into how the Priestly Torah was compiled.
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Antony Augoustakis, Emma Buckley, Claire Stocks, Fides in Flavian literature. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2019. xi, 328 p.. ISBN 9781487505530 $75.00.The volume includes an essay on Josephus by Steve Mason.
Review by
Eleanor Mulhern, Temple University. e.v.mulhern@temple.edu
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A collection of what appear to be clay idols was also discovered at the site. According to Sapir and Ben-Ari, “Some of the figurines are designed in the form of women, horse riders or as animals. These figurines are usually interpreted as objects used in pagan worship and idolatry — a phenomenon, which according to the Bible, was prevalent in the Kingdom of Judah.”You can see some of these objects in the photo. Why are they interpreted as having religious significance? Why can't they just be decorations? I'm not an archaeologist or an iconographer, but I would like to know what the evidence is for specifying that use, especially since this installation seems to have been an administrative center rather than a temple.
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A 17-HOUR road trip from Baghdad to Palmyra across the Syrian desert sounds like quite an adventure for any traveller. Incredibly, this journey was taken by my husband’s grandfather, James McManus, in the 1920s when he lived in Iraq with his wife Kathleen and worked as a civil engineer.During the lockdown the family found his firsthand notes on the trip in a cupboard, along with six photos of Palmyra. This article publishes his notes.
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Malatius Jibriel Jaghnoon, is a Syrian engineer and epigrapher specialized in Aramaic and Greek inscriptions. He was born in Latakia , Jableh, in 1943. He graduated as a civil engineer from the University of Aleppo in 1968. His interest in epigraphy led him to learn several ancient languages including Aramaic and Greek.Is he really "the only one in Syria who can read ancient Greek inscriptions?" In any case, it sounds as though he has done a lot of important epigraphic work.
Deciphering a number of Syriac and Greek inscriptions from an ancient church in Tal Eltiten, in the Al-Ghab area in Syria to the west of Apamea, an inscription from Maarrat al-Nu'man Museum and an inscription from the agora of Palmyra, were among his epigraphical works inside Syria.
He is a founding member of the Archaeological Society of Homs " Al-Adiyat" and was elected as head of the society from 2011 until he left Syria several years ago.
[...]
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On Wings of Prayer
Sources of Jewish Worship; Essays in Honor of Professor Stefan C. Reif on the Occasion of his Seventy-fifth Birthday
Series: Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature Studies, 44
Edited by: Nuria Calduch-Benages, Michael W. Duggan and Dalia Marx
De Gruyter | 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110630282
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ISBN: 978-3-11-062995-8
Published: 22 Jul 2019
ISBN: 978-3-11-063028-2
Published: 22 Jul 2019
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ISBN: 978-3-11-063072-5
Published: 22 Jul 2019
OVERVIEW
The contributors and editors dedicate this volume of research to Professor Stefan C. Reif on the occasion of his 75th birthday. Together these twenty papers reflect our appreciation for his exemplary scholarship and lifelong commitment to acquaint our world with the theological and cultural riches of Jewish Studies.
This collection reflects the breadth of Prof. Reif’s interests insofar as it is a combination of Second Temple studies and Jewish studies on the roots of Jewish prayer and liturgy which is his main field of expertise. Contributions on biblical and second temple studies cover Amos, Ben Sira, Esther, 2 Maccabees, Judith, Wisdom, Qumran Psalms, and James. Contributions on Jewish studies cover nuptial and benedictions after meals, Adon Olam, Passover Seder, Amidah, the Medieval Palestinian Tefillat ha-Shir, and other aspects of rabbinic liturgy.
Moreover, the regional diversity of scholars from Israel, continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Ireland and North America mirrors Stefan’s travels as a lecturer and the reach of his publications. The volume includes a foreword of appreciation and a bibliographic list of Professor Reif's works.
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Thirty-five scholars from around the world pay tribute to Jack Sasson, an emeritus Divinity School professor, for his renowned scholarship on the ancient Near East in a newly published book of essays.Congratulations to Emeritus Professor Jack Sasson! Regular readers will already know that he is the owner of the informative Agade e-mail list, to which you should subscribe if you haven't already.
From Mari to Jerusalem and Back: Assyriological and Biblical Studies in Honor of Jack Murad Sasson, written and edited by some of Sasson’s longtime colleagues and friends, strives to reflect the richness of the cultures, languages and literatures of his research.
[...]
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A fifth century baptismal font that was stolen from its original site by antiquity looters has been located and returned by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, COGAT announced on Monday. However, the reconstruction of the circumstances was denied by the Palestine Liberation Organization, which accused Israel of theft.From what I can work out, looters stole the baptismal font from the archaeological site of Teqoa (Khirbet Tuqu') in 2000. The Palestinian Authority recovered it in 2002 and deposited it in the town of Tuqu' near the mayor's house in anticipation of the building of an antiquities museum. This seems to have happened in a very small geographical area. COGAT seized the font and "returned" it. The reports don't specify where exactly they returned it to. The archaeological site? Questions of jurisdiction about such matters appear to be complicated.
According to COGAT’s release, the artifact, which dates back to the Byzantine period, was looted about 20 years ago from the Tel Tekoa archaeological site in the West Bank. It is about 1.5 meters high and is shaped as an octagon and decorated with a cross and a stylized garland.
[...]
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Ataroth is an obscure Transjordanian city, referenced only twice in the Bible. Nevertheless, due to modern archaeological discoveries, it has become a central piece of evidence for reconstructing the history of the Moabite rebellion against Israel and King Mesha’s expansion of the Moabite kingdom described in both 2 Kings and the Mesha Stele.For the 2018 publication of this inscribed Moabite altar, see here and here.
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In Molly Zahn's new book, “Genres of Rewriting in Second Temple Judaism” (Cambridge University Press), the University of Kansas associate professor of religious studies contends that the literary practices of these early Jewish scribes give us clues about their religious beliefs.Dr. Zahn is also the Secretary of the International Organization for Qumran Studies (IOQS) and the Chief Editor of the journal Dead Sea Discoveries.
By comparing textual differences among various copies of the scrolls discovered in caves at Qumran, and then comparing those with later canonical versions of books like Exodus and Jeremiah, Zahn concluded that the scribes who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls believed they had a literary license to change Scripture. Indeed, she wrote, they saw themselves as partners with the deity in the process of revelation.
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Jesus the Jew and Christianity’s Indebtedness to Judaism
Thus, even decades into the Third Quest with its overall agreement about Jesus’ core belonging to Second Temple Judaism, assessments of his Jewishness as “marginal” continue. Depicting Jesus as a “marginal Jew” allows for distance from and criticism of “common Judaism.” Inadvertently, Jesus becomes somewhat “less” Jewish, enabling identification for today’s Christians.
See Also: Jesus the Jew in Christian Memory (Cambridge; 2020).
By Barbara Meyer
Religious Studies Program
Graduate School of Philosophy
Tel Aviv University
July 2020
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Published in English.
In this study, Domenico Lo Sardo shows that the section of MT Exod 35–40 dedicated to the construction of the Tabernacle involves textual and literary problems. It has different textual forms according to MT, LXX, and Vetus Latina (Monacensis ms): LXX Exod 35–40 shows a different order of the literary material and its extension is shorter than the MT. One of the most important differences is the absence of MT Exod 36:8b–34 in the LXX. The Monacensis ms is even shorter than the Greek text. In a text-critical analysis, the author demonstrates that the ‘Short Hebrew Vorlage’ behind the Latin manuscript is the oldest text. In the MT there was post-priestly editorial work marked by expansions, rewritings, and reinterpretations. Employing literary criticism, the author proves that with the expansion of Exod 36:8b–34 and the stressed use of the term miškān (Tabernacle), MT points to legitimate the centralization of the Jerusalem Temple.
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Sacred Texts and Disparate Interpretations: Qumran Manuscripts Seventy Years Later
Proceedings of the International Conference Held at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, 24–26 October 2017
Series: Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah, Volume: 133
Editor: Henryk Drawnel
The essays in Sacred Texts and Disparate Interpretations cover an array of core themes from various areas of Qumran studies, including textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible, Second Temple history, philology, paleography, Wisdom and religious poetry.
Contributors to this volume generally consider these themes from a historical perspective, trying to find new solutions to old questions and entering in constructive dialogue with the opinions of other scholars. Paleographic investigations, textual criticism as well as literary and philological approaches make this volume a valuable contribution to the variegated and often highly specialized directions of inquiry into the contents and historical background of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
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ISBN: 978-90-04-43279-6
Publication Date: 13 Jul 2020
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Availability: Not Yet Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-43156-0
Publication Date: 19 Aug 2020
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Valentinian Christianity
Texts and Translations
Translated by: Geoffrey S. Smith
University of California Press | 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520969803
£64.00 PDF
FORMATS
ISBN: 978-0-520-96980-3
Published: 22 Jun 2020
OVERVIEW
Valentinus, an Egyptian Christian who traveled to Rome to teach his unique brand of theology, and his followers, the Valentinians, formed one of the largest and most influential sects of Christianity in the second and third centuries. But by the fourth century, their writings had all but disappeared suddenly and mysteriously from the historical record, as the newly consolidated imperial Christian Church condemned as heretical all forms of what has come to be known as Gnosticism. Only in 1945 were their extensive original works finally rediscovered, and the resurrected “Gnostic Gospels” soon rooted themselves in both the scholarly and popular imagination.
Valentinian Christianity: Texts and Translations brings together for the first time all the extant texts composed by Valentinus and his followers. With fresh, carefully annotated translations throughout and new transcriptions of the original Greek, Latin, and Coptic on facing pages, Geoffrey S. Smith provides an illuminating, balanced overview of Valentinian Christianity and its formative place in Christian history.
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Intertextual Explorations in Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature
Series: Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature Studies, 31
Edited by: Jeremy Corley and Geoffrey David Miller
De Gruyter | 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110416930
From £72.50
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ISBN: 978-3-11-041592-6
Published: 06 May 2019
ISBN: 978-3-11-041693-0
Published: 06 May 2019
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ISBN: 978-3-11-041695-4
Published: 06 May 2019
OVERVIEW
This volume explores the fundamentals of intertextual methodology and summarizes recent scholarship on studies of intertextuality in the deuterocanonical books. The essays engage in comparison and analysis of text groups and motifs between canonical, deuterocanonical and non-biblical texts. Moreover, the book pays close attention to non-literary relationships between different traditions, a new feature of research in intertextuality.
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Indeed, the dilemma of whether to preserve the scrolls for future generations or to advance research is one of the fundamental questions that the staff of the unit faces on a daily basis, considering how some of the most interesting research avenues, such as carbon dating or DNA analysis, involve some damage of the material.Without expressing a view on this specific question, I note that I have been saying for some time that non-invasive and non-destructive technologies are the future of archaeology. I have some thoughts on related issues here. For lots of specific cases, start here and follow the links.
“For example, we ask ourselves if today is the time to conduct radio-carbon analysis on the scrolls, when perhaps in one, three or five years, the techniques might be much more developed and less invasive,” Uziel pointed out.
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Professor Helen Bond, former CSCO Director and now Head of the School of Divinity at Edinburgh, took her PhD at Durham under the supervision of J. D. G. (Jimmy) Dunn, who died on 26 June. Here she recalls her friendship with Dunn.Background here.
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A. Jordan Schmidt
Wisdom, Cosmos, and Cultus in the Book of Sirach
Series: Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature Studies, 42
De Gruyter | 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110600223
From £118.00
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ISBN: 978-3-11-060110-7
Published: 04 Mar 2019
ISBN: 978-3-11-060022-3
Published: 04 Mar 2019
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ISBN: 978-3-11-060017-9
Published: 04 Mar 2019
OVERVIEW
Despite the attention that has already been paid to the theme of creation in the book of Sirach, scholarship has yet to provide a comprehensive analysis of Ben Sira's instruction regarding the cosmic order and its role in the divine bestowal of wisdom upon human beings.This book, which consists of two parts, fills a lacuna in scholarship by offering such an analysis. The first part of this study examines Ben Sira's three main treatments of the created world, thus providing a comprehensive description and synthesis of Ben Sira's doctrine concerning the created order of the cosmos. The second part of this work analyzes the place of human beings in general, and the Jewish people in particular, within the cosmic order. This second part includes an analysis of the role of the created order in Ben Sira's wisdom instruction in 1:1-10 and 24:1-34 as well as an elucidation of the way in which his treatments of various kinds of people—civic leaders, wives, doctors, manual laborers, scribes, and cultic personnel—are integral to Ben Sira's doctrine of creation. This study demonstrates that the created order is a fundamental category that Ben Sira relies upon in articulating his instructions about wisdom and wise behavior.
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The standard Aramaic translation of the Torah, Targum Onkelos, usually renders place names in the original Hebrew or leaves them out. However, there are exceptions.
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Published in English.
From the Wisdom of Ben Sira to the writings of Paul, many Second Temple Jewish and early Christian texts recognize the inescapable role of testing and temptation in human experience. Though God is often presented as one who tests, testing is also attributed to Satan, Mastema, the people of God, and individual humans. How did ancient interpreters react to texts that depict the God of Israel as testing, tested, or intervening on behalf of those undergoing a test? What assumptions do authors have about the role of testing in human experience? How does the vocabulary used for testing and temptation influence the meaning of the text? The essays in the present volume constitute an opening foray into addressing these questions, and this volume aims to catalyze further research into additional dimensions of testing and overlooked motifs in the relevant literature.
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Jalkut Schimoni zu RutI think the English title should read "Ruth" not "Esther." The Esther volume, also edited by Dagmar Börner-Klein, was published in 2019.
Yalkut Shimoni on Esther [sic]
in Jalkut Schimoni
Edited by: Dagmar Börner-Klein
De Gruyter | 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110688290
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ISBN: 978-3-11-068825-2
Published: 23 Mar 2020
ISBN: 978-3-11-068829-0
Published: 23 Mar 2020
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ISBN: 978-3-11-068834-4
Published: 23 Mar 2020
OVERVIEW
The Yalkut Shimoni is a compilation of rabbinical interpretations of the entire Hebrew Bible. The criteria for selecting the interpretations are not fully understood, nor whether the book was conceived as a comprehensive reference work for exegesis to link with the Biblical interpretation in the Talmud and Midrash, or for reforming the rabbinical tradition of interpretation. Translating this work is a first step toward answering these questions.
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Published in English.
The Hebrew versions of the five poems in the book of Lamentations are riddled with debated readings. Debated readings are words, phrases, or sentences whose forms and meanings modern readers find difficult or objectionable. In this book, Gideon R. Kotzé adopts a text-critical approach to the interpretation of such readings and suggests that some of them make sense as expressions of images and ideas that circulated widely in the cultural and intellectual environment of Lamentations. After surveying examples of passages in Lamentations where the Hebrew wordings show remarkable resemblances to the images and ideas exhibited by cultural products from all over the ancient Near East, the author discusses five case studies of debated readings that can be explained along similar lines. On this interpretation, the readings in question are not corrupt and do not have to be emended for that reason.
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Kylie Crabbe
Luke/Acts and the End of History
Series: Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft, 238
De Gruyter | 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110615197
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ISBN: 978-3-11-061455-8
Published: 18 Nov 2019
ISBN: 978-3-11-061519-7
Published: 18 Nov 2019
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ISBN: 978-3-11-061475-6
Published: 18 Nov 2019
OVERVIEW
Luke/Acts and the End of History investigates how understandings of history in diverse texts of the Graeco-Roman period illuminate Lukan eschatology. In addition to Luke/Acts, it considers ten comparison texts as detailed case studies throughout the monograph: Polybius's Histories, Diodorus Siculus's Library of History, Virgil's Aeneid, Valerius Maximus's Memorable Doings and Sayings, Tacitus’s Histories, 2 Maccabees, the Qumran War Scroll, Josephus's Jewish War, 4 Ezra, and 2 Baruch. ...
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Indeed, the Roman glass industry was prolific, mass producing wares for drinking and dining, window panes and wall mosaics. One of the most outstanding achievements, though, was “Alexandrian” glass—a colorless glass favored for high-quality drinking ware. The name of the glass, as declared by Roman Emperor Diocletian in the fourth century, led researchers to believe it had Egyptian origins. However, large amounts of Roman glass are known to have been made in Palestine, where archaeologists have uncovered furnaces for colorless glass production. But, no such furnaces have been found in Egypt.Cross-file under Material Culture.
So, despite archeologists’ best efforts, the origins of Alexandrian glass have been muddled—until now. Researchers with Aarhus University (Denmark) employed an ion chromatography-based method that revealed a high level of the rare isotope hafnium in the glass, providing compelling evidence that the glass was indeed made in Egypt.
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José Lucas Brum TeixeiraCross-file under Old Testament Apocrypha Watch.
Poetics and Narrative Function of Tobit 6
Series: Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature Studies, 41
De Gruyter | 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110615074
From £79.00
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Hardcover
ISBN: 978-3-11-061296-7
Published: 04 Jun 2019
ISBN: 978-3-11-061507-4
Published: 04 Jun 2019
EPUB
ISBN: 978-3-11-061342-1
Published: 04 Jun 2019
OVERVIEW
Tobiah’s travel with the angel in Tobit chapter six constitutes a singular moment in the book. It marks a before and after for Tobiah as a character. Considered attentively, Tobit six reveals a remarkable richness in content and form, and functions as a crucial turning point in the plot’s development. This book is the first thorough study of Tobit six, examining the poetics and narrative function of this key chapter and revisiting arguments about its meaning. A better understanding of this central chapter deepens our comprehension of the book as a whole.
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Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.
Jerusalem's Survival, Sennacherib's Departure, and the Kushite Role in 701 BCEI noted Aubin's theory about Taharqa (Taharqo) back in 2008, in connection with a movie that Will Smith was reportedly planning. It has not yet come out.
An Examination of Henry Aubin's Rescue of Jerusalem
Series: Perspectives on Hebrew Scriptures and its Contexts, 32
Edited by: Alice Bellis
Gorgias Press | 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31826/9781463241575
£115.00 PDF
FORMATS
ISBN: 978-1-4632-4157-5
OVERVIEW
What saved Jerusalem from destruction by the Assyrian army in 701 BCE? The seemingly invincible Assyrians — the only superpower of the day — had been about to assault the city when they suddenly departed. The Bible says the “angel of the Lord” swept down on the Assyrian camp, killing 185,000 troops as they slept, obliging the survivors to retreat to their homeland in present-day Iraq. Historians for more than a century have generally agreed that if Jerusalem — the only Hebrew city that the invaders had not destroyed — had been seized and the survivors deported (as per imperial policy in such cases), Hebrew society could have been permanently extinguished. Judaism would therefore never have evolved several centuries later and neither of its two kindred monotheisms, Christianity and Islam, would have developed. As if to underscore the event’s importance to Hebrew society, the Bible tells the story of Jerusalem’s miraculous deliverance, three times — in the books of Second Kings, Isaiah and Second Chronicles. The Old Testament/Tanakh/Hebrew Bible presents no other story so often. Modern historians have proposed more down-to-earth explanations for the failure of the Assyrian emperor, Sennacherib. These include an epidemic that caused him to flee, a crisis elsewhere in the empire with which he had to deal, and a simple surrender by Jerusalem’s King Hezekiah. But now another theory — advanced in a 2002 book, The Rescue of Jerusalem: The Alliance between Hebrews and Africans in 701 BC, by a Canadian journalist, Henry Aubin — is rallying new respectability: an army led by Africans from present-day Sudan repelled the Assyrians. The army’s commander would have been a young Kushite, Taharqo, who later became Pharaoh. After 18 years of the book’s obscurity, the Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, is breathing new life into it, commissioning eight specialists in this period of history to judge the theory’s plausibility. The verdict: six of the scholars tilt in favor of the theory, one is undecided, and only one rejects it.
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Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.
Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.
Describing the Israelites crossing the Arnon Stream into Amorite territory, the Torah quotes the Book of YHWH’s Battles that speaks of “Waheb in Suphah,” a phrase that appears nowhere else in the Bible. Many creative explanations have been given, but based on a survey on the ground we can identify it as the “Town in the Stream,” an ancient biblical town whose name had long been forgotten.The "Book of the Wars of the Lord" is one of the lost books quoted in the Hebrew Bible. For more on it, see here and here. Dr. Ben-Gad HaCohen believes he has found the location of "Waheb in Suphah," which looks like a place name in the quotation from the book. He may be right.
Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.
Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.
Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.
Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.
This is just a note, given your interest in 1 Enoch, to let you know that a colleague of mine at the University of Gloucestershire, Angus Pryor, head of our School of Arts and a practicing artist, has over the last few years painted twelve 2m x 2m paintings on scenes from 1 Enoch and created a large-scale, illuminated model of an Ethiopian church. This is the outcome of a collaboration that Angus and I have been working on since 2015, beginning in a British Academy funded program the results of which were published as The Blessing of Enoch: 1 Enoch and Contemporary Theology in 2017.Cross-file under Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Watch and Decorative Art.
These works were going to be exhibited in Gloucester and Canterbury Cathedrals in May and September 2020, but those dates were vacated due to Covid-19.
But, as of 3 July 2020, we have taken the exhibition, Enoch: Heaven’s Messenger, online at: https://www.bookofenoch2020.com/
I hope you will be able to see it and enjoy it. If you feel like telling others about it, that would be greatly appreciated.
We also have an article on the whole project coming out in the Biblical Theology Bulletin in August 2020: Philip Esler and Angus Pryor, ‘Painting 1 Enoch: Biblical Interpretation, Theology and Artistic Practice.’
Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.
Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.
The Edicts of Ashoka are 33 inscriptions engraved on pillars, large stones, and cave walls by Ashoka the Great (r. 268-232 BCE), the third king of the Mauryan Empire (322-185 BCE) of India. One set, the so-called Major Rock Edicts, are consistent in their message that the people should adhere to the concept of Dhamma, defined as “right behavior”, “good conduct” and “decency toward others”. The edicts were inscribed throughout Ashoka’s realm which included the areas of modern-day Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan and most were written in Brahmi Script (though one, in Afghanistan, is also given in Aramaic and Greek). ...It's been quite a while since I have posted on ancient Buddhist Aramaic. This new article gives me an excuse to do so again.
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For the first time in Kazakhstan, a complete specimen of ancient writing was found in Kultobe settlement, Turkistan region. The age of the inscription is almost 2,000 years. The find is a clay brick of three fragments, on which seven lines of 218 characters in the ancient Aramaic alphabet are carved. A great find for paleolinguists was already partially deciphered by Professor Nicholas Sims-Williams at Cambridge University.The inscription is indeed in the ancient Aramaic alphabet, but not in the Aramaic language:
“The piece is about the creation of a city by the leader of the Chach army named Sapadani, who came here to create a city on the area of gardens and tents where nomads lived. ...
The writing is done in the ancient Iranian dialect, which scientists call the Protosogdian or Kangui language, since the city was founded during the Kangui state in the first centuries A.D.There is a good photo of the inscription. The Hebrew/Aramaic script is very clear.
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Benjamin D. Gordon
Land and Temple
Field Sacralization and the Agrarian Priesthood of Second Temple Judaism
Series: Studia Judaica, 87
De Gruyter | 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110421026
From £79.00
FORMATS
Hardcover
ISBN: 978-3-11-042546-8
Published: 06 Apr 2020
ISBN: 978-3-11-042102-6
Published: 06 Apr 2020
EPUB
ISBN: 978-3-11-042116-3
Published: 06 Apr 2020
OVERVIEW
This exploration of the Judean priesthood’s role in agricultural cultivation demonstrates that the institutional reach of Second Temple Judaism (516 BCE–70 CE) went far beyond the confines of its houses of worship, while exposing an unfamiliar aspect of sacred place-making in the ancient Jewish experience. Temples of the ancient world regularly held assets in land, often naming a patron deity as landowner and affording the land sanctity protections. Such arrangements can provide essential background to the Hebrew Bible’s assertion that God is the owner of the land of Israel. They can also shed light on references in early Jewish literature to the sacred landholdings of the priesthood or the temple.
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Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.
Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.