Gordon on Second Temple priests, temple, and land

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

The Agrarian Priesthood of Second Temple Judaism

Most Judean priests of the Second Temple period lived dispersed throughout the region, coming to Jerusalem for weekly service periods throughout the year. The patterns of social and economic interaction that governed their relationships with villagers resulted from the failures of the temple to adequately provide for them, pushing them into land ownership. The biblical ideal of a priesthood free from the responsibilities of the farming life or working as if in quarantine within the confines of the sacred precinct in the city gives a false impression. These priests were fully entrenched in the Judean landscape.

See Also: Land and Temple: Field Sacralization and the Agrarian Priesthood of Second Temple Judaism. Studia Judaica 87 (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2020).

By Benjamin D. Gordon
Department of Religious Studies
University of Pittsburgh
August 2020

I noted the publication of the book here.

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Runesson & Gurtner (eds.), Matthew within Judaism

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

Matthew within Judaism: Israel and the Nations in the First Gospel
Anders Runesson (Editor), Daniel M. Gurtner (Editor)

ISBN 9781628372779
Status Available
Price: $77.00
Binding Paperback
Publication Date July 2020
Pages 600

In this collection of essays, leading New Testament scholars reassess the reciprocal relationship between Matthew and Second Temple Judaism. Some contributions focus on the relationship of the Matthean Jesus to torah, temple, and synagogue, while others explore theological issues of Jewish and gentile ethnicity and universalism within and behind the text.

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Arena, Prophetic Conflicts in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Micah

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Francesco Arena. Prophetic Conflicts in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Micah. How Post-Exilic Ideologies Created the False (and the True) Prophets. 2020. XIV, 209 pages. Forschungen zum Alten Testament 2. Reihe 121. 74,00 € including VAT. sewn paper ISBN 978-3-16-159507-3.

Published in English.
In this volume, Francesco Arena investigates false prophecy and prophetic conflicts, taking Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Micah as the three books in the Bible most concerned with prophesying falsehood and false prophets. By building on the studies of G. Auld, R. Carroll, and G. Garbini, who first posited that the Writing Prophets were not prophets at all, but rather intellectuals or poets, the author puts the vexed question of false prophecy into a new perspective. If we accept that Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Micah were not originally true prophets (or prophets at all) what should we do with their quarrels with the alleged false prophets? Can we still consider prophetic conflicts as expressions of a socio-religious phenomenon? Or should we instead consider them as some later creations to serve ideological purposes?

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A new, mile-long Dead Sea cave

GEOGRAPHY: World’s Longest Marlstone Cave Discovered in Israel Near Dead Sea (TPS / Tazpit News Agency via the Jewish Press).

There's no report of any scrolls in this cave. But apparently there are lots of such caves and they develop and go away and open and close over time. I don't know what prospects there are for finding ancient artifacts in these caves. Maybe not many. But let's keep an eye on this project just in case.

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Propaganda coinage

NUMISMATICS: Ancient and Medieval Coins as Royal Propaganda (Tyler Rossi, CoinWeek).

The sections on Alexander the Great and on the Jewish Wars are of particular interest to PaleoJudaica.

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Videos of DSS in Recent Scholarship Conference now available

PROF. LAWRENCE H. SCHIFFMAN: THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS IN RECENT SCHOLARSHIP – RECORDINGS NOW AVAILABLE.

I noted the announcement of this groundbreaking, fully-online conference here. Now you can view recordings of the whole thing.

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McGrath interviews Tony Burke

RELIGION PROF: ReligionProf Podcast with Tony Burke. Professors McGrath and Burke discuss More New Testament Apocrypha, volume 2 and Ariel Sabar's new book, Veritas, about the rise and fall of the Gospel of Jesus' Wife.

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More on Sabar, Veritas

ANOTHER REVIEW: How a mystery note proving Jesus was ‘wed’ led to Harvard prof’s disgrace (Michael Kaplan, New York Post).

Again, the headline is misleading. No one ever claimed that the Gospel of Jesus' Wife fragment "proved" that Jesus was married. The claim was that the fragment preserved an apocryphal legend to that effect.

I don't intend to try to flag all the coverage of Sabar's book, Veritas. But I note this one because the author interviewed both Ariel Sabar and Walter Fritz.

I note that there is no interview with Professor King to balance the coverage. I don't know whether Mr. Kaplan asked her. He doesn't say he did.

Background here and links.

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Biography of the Gabriel Revelation

THE LYING PEN OF SCRIBES: The Gabriel Stone: A Chronological Bibliography (Årstein Justnes).

For past PaleoJudaica posts on the Gabriel Stone (Gabriel Revelation, Vision of Gabriel), see here and here (cf. here) and links.

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Dead Sea mysteries

WORLDATLAS: Mysteries Of The Dead Sea (Jason Shvili).

HT The Bible and Interpretation.

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McGrath interviews Sabar

RELIGION PROF: Interview with Ariel Sabar about his new book, Veritas. James McGrath:

I asked Sabar some questions with a view to posting them this morning when the book became available to the public, to highlight why academics should read it, since I have no real doubt that the public in general will do so.

Background on Sabar's new book and on the long story of the Gospel of Jesus' Wife is here and many links.

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God on screen

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

The Judeo-Christian God on Screen

How do filmmakers go about depicting God on screen? How does one present a non-anthropomorphic god in the visual medium while still maintaining his lack of physicality? Although Christianity does allow for an element of anthropomorphism in the figure of Jesus, the issue is not without complication, for it necessitates making visually clear the idea that this is a divinity made flesh. A range of techniques has been used to show both God and Jesus over the years, with some fascinating changes in the portrayal of these figures on screen in recent depictions.

See Also: Screening Divinity (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2019).

By Lisa Maurice
Associate Professor
Department of Classical Studies
July 2020

I noted a review of the book here.

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Mark Awabdy - SEPT Leviticus interview

WILLIAM A. ROSS: NEW SEPT VOLUME ON LEVITICUS: AN INTERVIEW WITH MARK AWABDY.

The volumes in Brill's Septuagint Commentary Series each focus on a single major manuscript of a single biblical book.

I have noted the publication of Dr. Awadaby's commentary on Leviticus, as well as the volume on Isaiah and the one on Proverbs.

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

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Mighty Baal – Smith Festschrift

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Mighty Baal

Essays in Honor of Mark S. Smith

Series: Harvard Semitic Studies, Volume: 66

Editors: Stephen C. Russell and Esther J. Hamori

Mighty Baal: Essays in Honor of Mark S. Smith is the first edited collection devoted to the study of the ancient Near Eastern god Baal. Although the Bible depicts Baal as powerless, the combined archaeological, iconographic, and literary evidence makes it clear that Baal was worshipped throughout the Levant as a god whose powers rivalled any deity. Mighty Baal brings together eleven essays written by scholars working in North America, Europe, and Israel. Essays in part one focus on the main collection of Ugaritic tablets describing Baal’s exploits, the Baal Cycle. Essays in part two treat Baal’s relationships to other deities. Together, the essays offer a rich portrait of Baal and his cult from a variety of methodological perspectives.

The Harvard Semitic Studies series publishes volumes from the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East. Other series offered by Brill that publish volumes from the Museum include Studies in the Archaeology and History of the Levant and Harvard Semitic Monographs, https://hmane.harvard.edu/publications.

Prices from (excl. VAT): €210.00 / $252.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-43767-8
Publication Date: 13 Jul 2020
Hardback
Availability: Not Yet Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-43766-1
Publication Date: 16 Jul 2020

Congratulations to Professor Smith!

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Nongbri reviews Sabar's Veritas

VARIANT READINGS: Ariel Sabar’s Veritas: Some First Reactions. Brent Nongbri focuses on the failings in the scholarly peer-review of the early research on the Gospel of Jesus' Wife. I have not read the book, but what I am hearing about this process is disturbing.

I have defended scholarly peer review many times as the imperfect, but best way we have to advance human knowledge. A few relevant posts are here, here, and here.

I still think peer review is the best process we have, but Sabar's account, assuming it is accurate, puts a spotlight on the imperfections.

Background on the book is here, here, and here, with more comments and with many links on the Gospel of Jesus' Wife.

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More on that stone table

UPDATE: Israeli archaeologists discover 2,000-year-old decorated table (Xinhua via the Lebanese Star).

JERUSALEM, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Israeli archaeologists have discovered an ancient stone table with decorations on its side, the Israeli Civil Administration in the West Bank said Thursday.

[...]

So we now know that it is a decorated stone table.

There is also an article in Israel's News1. Joseph Lauer says it seems to be a translation, with mistakes, of a Hebrew article in Arutz Sheva: A rare archeological find from the Second Temple period was discovered in Benjamin. Joe corrects the name Hanania Hizmi [חנניה היזמי] for “Hanania the Entrepreneur” in the article.

That article includes a photo of the table.

As far as I can tell, the major English-speaking media have not yet shown any interest in the discovery.

Background here.

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Incense-route milestones

ANCIENT ROAD SIGNS: Inscriptions, milestones shed light on ‘lost’ part of Negev trade route. The previously unknown section of the Incense Route was unearthed in 2018 west of the eastern range of Mount Grafon (Rossella Tercatin, Jerusalem Post). This article summarizes a specialist article in the Palestine Exploration Quarterly.

In 2018 I noted the discovery of that missing part of the Negev incense route. And here a post on ancient Roman milestones. Cross-file under Material Culture.

By the way, let me pause for a word of praise for Rossella Tercatin. I first encountered her work in 2016 in the Times of Israel. Early in 2020 she began publishing high-quality articles on the archaeology of Israel in the Jerusalem Post. She has produced dozens of them this year. I appreciate her work.

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Tal, Tibåt Mårqe (Samaritan midrashim)

NEW BOOK FROM DE GRUYTER:

Tibåt Mårqe
The Ark of Marqe Edition, Translation, Commentary

Series: Studia Samaritana, 9

Edited by: Abraham Tal
De Gruyter | 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110436433


From £109.00
FORMATS
Hardcover
ISBN: 978-3-11-044232-8
Published: 21 Oct 2019
PDF
ISBN: 978-3-11-043643-3
Published: 21 Oct 2019
EPUB
ISBN: 978-3-11-043484-2
Published: 15 Jan 2021

OVERVIEW
Tibåt Mårqe is a collection of midrashic compositions, which, in the main, rewrites the Pentateuch, expanding its sometimes laconic presentation of events and precepts. Most of it aims at providing the reader with theological, didactic and philosophical teachings, artistically associated with the passages of the Torah. Here and there poetic pieces are embedded into its otherwise prosaic text. Tibåt Mårqe is attributed to the 4th century scholar, philosopher and poet, Mårqe. This publication of Tibåt Mårqe follows the monumental Hebrew edition of Ze’ev Ben-Hayyim, Tibåt Mårqe, a Collection of Samaritan Midrashim (Jerusalem 1988), based on a 16th century manuscript. Though he recognized the precedence of an earlier manuscript, dated to the 14th century, Ben-Hayyim was compelled to prefer the former, given the fragmentary state of the latter. He printed its fragments in parallel with the younger one, to which his annotations and discussions chiefly pertain. With the recent discovery of a great portion of the missing parts of the 14th century manuscript, this edition endeavors to present the older form of the composition. The present book may be relevant to people interested in literature,language, religion, and Samaritan studies.

Cross-file under Samaritan Watch

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President Rivlin escorts the Scrolls to the Shrine of the Book

THEY BELONG IN A MUSEUM! President Rivlin accompanies the return of the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum. President Rivlin: At times like this we thirst for the works of art and archeology at this special museum, and we have a responsibility to our cultural institutions which are the spiritual foundations of the Jewish and democratic State of Israel (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs).

It is good to see the Scroll out of their strong-room and back on display.

Background here.

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Ancient stone table excavated near Beit El

ANCIENT ARTIFACT: Table from Second Temple period discovered in Beit El (Arutz Sheva News Brief). The stone table was found near Beit El at Khirbet Kefar Mur. No further details given.

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Review of The Jewish-Greek tradition in antiquity and the Byzantine Empire (ed. Aitken and Paget)

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: The Jewish-Greek tradition in antiquity and the Byzantine Empire.

James K. Aitken, James Carleton Paget, The Jewish-Greek tradition in antiquity and the Byzantine Empire. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014. xxii, 359 p.. ISBN 9781107001633 $112.00.

Review by
Robert A. Kraft, Emeritus University of Pennsylvania. kraft@sas.upenn.edu

[...]

Despite such caveats, this is an excellent work, highly recommended to serious students of the subjects covered. That it is not perfect is no surprise, but many of the shortcomings can be overcome by informed/experienced use of the internet. It greatly advances our knowledge, and suggests many new avenues to explore.

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Porter & Pitts (eds.), Johannine Christology

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Johannine Christology

Series: Johannine Studies, Volume: 3

Editors: Stanley E. Porter and Andrew W. Pitts

Johannine Christology provides a snapshot of the foremost investigations of this important topic by a selection of scholars representing a range of expertise in this field. The volume is organized into four major parts, which are concerned with the formation of Johannine Christology, Johannine Christology in Hellenistic and Jewish contexts, Christology and the literary character of the Johannine writings, and the application of Christology for the Johannine audience and beyond.

The fifteen contributors to this volume comprise an international set of Johannine scholars who explore various ways of both describing and then pursuing the implications of Johannine Christology. Their contributions focus primarily upon the Gospel, but involve other key texts as well.

Prices from (excl. VAT): €153.00 / $184.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-43561-2
Publication Date: 13 Jul 2020

Hardback
Availability: Not Yet Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-42736-5
Publication Date: 16 Jul 2020

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More on Sabar, Veritas

ARIEL SABAR'S BOOK, VERITAS, continues to receive media attention. Here are a couple more articles:

The Harvard Professor Who Told the World That Jesus Had a Wife (Mark Oppenheimer, New York Times).

The New York Times headline is, of course, incorrect. It is disappointing when that happens.

Professor King did not say that Jesus had a wife. She did not say that the GJW proved that Jesus had a wife. At most she thought it likely that an ancient text from long after Jesus' time told a legend about Jesus having a wife.

I was complaining about this media misunderstanding five years ago. Evidently even the NYT does not yet get this nuance.

I do not hold the writer of the review responsible for the headline. But some editor should get in trouble over it. Many more people will read the headline than the article.

The review itself tries too hard ("It’s a barely believable tale, crazier than a tweed-sniffer in the faculty lounge"). But otherwise it seems basically sound.

What Ever Happened to the Gospel of Jesus’s Wife? (Amy Weiss-Meyer, The Atlantic).

The Atlantic broke Mr. Sabar's breakthrough article on the GJW back in 2016.

This piece has a long interview with Mr. Sabar. It recaps the story and includes lots of background to the book. And it reveals who has the GJW fragment now. That will surprise you. At least it surprised me.

Background here and links.

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The Azekah archaeological babysitting service

INNOVATION: Archaeologist moms are provided with a babysitter at Azekah biblical dig. "I really want to send young female archaeologists the message that they can combine career and family and should not give up their dreams,” Tel Aviv University Prof. Oded Lipschits told the Post (Rossella Tercatin, Jerusalem Post).

Well good!

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Israel Museum reopening

EXHIBITIONS: Art, artifacts back on display for Israel Museum reopening. (ILAN BEN ZION, AP). And among them are the Dead Sea Scrolls.

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The "mayor of underground Jerusalem"

INTERVIEW: Meet the man in charge of archaeology in Jerusalem. Yuval Baruch has headed the Jerusalem division at the Israel Antiquities Authority for over ten years (Rossella Tercatin, Jerusalem Post).

“Archaeology is not just an academic issue, it has to be part of the society, of the heritage, of the city’s life,” he concluded. “I think the way people are looking at it is completely changing.”

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Moss on Sabar on the GJW. Plus I boast and speak wisdom.

CANDIDA MOSS: Anti-Catholic Porn Producer Scammed Harvard Professor With Gospel of Jesus’ Wife (The Daily Beast). With reference, of course, to the recent release of Ariel Sabar's book Veritas: A Harvard Professor, a Con Man, and the Gospel of Jesus' Wife.

If you want just one thing to take away from the story of the Gospel of Jesus' Wife, let it be that experts make mistakes. Experts are usually the people to listen to first and carefully, but they are fallible like everyone else.

By the way, as soon as I heard the announcement, I correctly called it that the GJW was probably a forgery. I maintained that position through the whole adventure. This was not because I had any expertise in Coptic or papyrology or ancient ink. I do not. I applied the rule that if it's too good to be true, it probably isn't. The GJW was exactly what the Zeitgeist called for. It was too perfect.

I like to call this the lottery rule. If you get a call telling you that you won a big lottery, you should be cautious. Maybe you did, but the bigger the pot, the more likely it's a scam.

My general expertise in antiquity did help me make that call. I could tell what was too perfect. But the lottery rule works in any area of life as long as you know enough to weigh the probabilities.

Background here and a great many links.

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A university class visits a cemetery

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Materiality of Death and Afterlife: Visit to Local Cemetery (Hanna Tervanotko).

While drafting the syllabus of my course “Death and Afterlife in Early Judaism and Christianity,” I started to brainstorm ideas for experiential learning components. This course introduces students to images of death and afterlife in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. ... Therefore, I decided to take the students to a site visit in a local cemetery where they could compare the ideas reflected in the ancient texts to contemporary traditions and material artifacts.

This is a good idea.

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Lamps, burial caves, and ancient Jewish identity

MATERIAL CULTURE: In Hasmonean times, lamps and burials became a symbol of Jewish identity. Archaeological findings indicate a concentration of the phenomena in the region of Jerusalem and the Judean hills (Rossella Tercatin, Jerusalem Post). Based on a recent article in Palestine Exploration Quarterly.

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Review of Eckhardt, Private associations and Jewish communities ...

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Private associations and Jewish communities in the Hellenistic and Roman cities.

Benedikt Eckhardt, Private associations and Jewish communities in the Hellenistic and Roman cities. Supplements to the Journal for the study of Judaism, 191. Leiden: Brill, 2019. 227 p.. ISBN 9789004405370 €105,00.

Review by
Ryan Boehm, Tulane University. rboehm@tulane.edu

This volume offers a fresh reappraisal of a longstanding debate: did Jewish collectivities in the Hellenistic and Roman periods belong to the wider phenomenon of Greek and Roman private/voluntary associations or were they sui generis? ...

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Steinsaltz obituary in the NYT

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, Who Made the Talmud More Accessible, Dies at 83. He wrote more than 60 books, but his crowning achievement — he called it his hobby — was his 45-volume translation of a key Jewish text (Joseph Berger and Isabel Kershner).

Background here with links.

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Today's Zoroastrians

THE LONG READ: The last of the Zoroastrians. A funeral, a family, and a journey into a disappearing religion (Shaun Walker, The Guardian).

It is a long read.

PaleoJudaica tries to keep up with the ancient Zoroastrians. (For example, the immediately preceding post.) If you would like to know what is happening with Zoroastrians in 2020, have a look at this article.

The demographics look grim in the long run. But demographic projections are rarely correct. Let's hope these aren't.

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Zoroastrian Dualism in Jewish, Christian, and Manichaean Perspective

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: Zoroastrian Dualism in Jewish, Christian, and Manichaean Perspective. Journal issue:

Volume 96, issue 2 (2020) of Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses is dedicated to the subject of Zoroastrian dualism in Jewish, Christian, and Manichaean perspectives.

Follow the link for the ToC.

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Sabar, Veritas – now out

BOOK REVIEW: Review: 'Veritas: A Harvard Professor, a Con Man, and the Gospel of Jesus' Wife,' by Ariel Sabar. NONFICTION: "Veritas" tells the true story of a Harvard academic who fell for a biblical fraud. (Or did she?) ( Katherine A. Powers, Star Tribune).

PaleoJudaica followed the whole story of the so-called Gospel of Jesus' Wife (GJW) from beginning to end. I noted the book as forthcoming here. For relevant posts about the story and about Ariel Sabar and his work, see the links there. The book is now out and the reviews are starting to come in.

As for what Mr. Sabar has been up to lately, see here.

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The magnetometry of the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: Scholars trace Earth’s magnetic field in 586 BCE through Jerusalem’s ruins. In August 586 BCE, after months of siege, the Babylonian troops breached the walls of Jerusalem and proceeded to destroy and burn the city, including the Holy Temple (Rossella Tercatin, Jerusalem Post).

When objects containing magnetic minerals burn at a very high temperature, those minerals are re-magnetized and therefore record the direction and the magnitude of the field in that precise moment. Artifacts like pottery, bricks and tiles, which are fired in furnaces, ovens and kilns, can all provide these records. However, as precise as their dating can be, it usually spans of at least a few decades. On the contrary, if documented by historical records, destruction lawyers can be pinned down to a very specific moment – in the case of Jerusalem in 586 almost to the date - providing a unique opportunity.

According to the Bible (2 Kings 25:3-4), the wall of Jerusalem was breached on the ninth day of the fourth month. This is the basis for the holy day the Ninth of Av. Traditionally other days of the disaster for the Jewish people took place on the same date, including the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in 70 CE and the fall of Betar, the center of the Bar Kokhba Revolt, in 135 CE.

The PLOS One article where this research is published is: The Earth’s magnetic field in Jerusalem during the Babylonian destruction: A unique reference for field behavior and an anchor for archaeomagnetic dating (Yoav Vaknin , Ron Shaar, Yuval Gadot, Yiftah Shalev, Oded Lipschits, Erez Ben-Yosef).

Abstract

Paleomagnetic analysis of archaeological materials is crucial for understanding the behavior of the geomagnetic field in the past. As it is often difficult to accurately date the acquisition of magnetic information recorded in archaeological materials, large age uncertainties and discrepancies are common in archaeomagnetic datasets, limiting the ability to use these data for geomagnetic modeling and archaeomagnetic dating. Here we present an accurately dated reconstruction of the intensity and direction of the field in Jerusalem in August, 586 BCE, the date of the city’s destruction by fire by the Babylonian army, which marks the end of the Iron Age in the Levant. We analyzed 54 floor segments, of unprecedented construction quality, unearthed within a large monumental structure that had served as an elite or public building and collapsed during the conflagration. From the reconstructed paleomagnetic directions, we conclude that the tilted floor segments had originally been part of the floor of the second story of the building and cooled after they had collapsed. This firmly connects the time of the magnetic acquisition to the date of the destruction. The relatively high field intensity, corresponding to virtual axial dipole moment (VADM) of 148.9 ± 3.9 ZAm2, accompanied by a geocentric axial dipole (GAD) inclination and a positive declination of 8.3°, suggests instability of the field during the 6th century BCE and redefines the duration of the Levantine Iron Age Anomaly. The narrow dating of the geomagnetic reconstruction enabled us to constrain the age of other Iron Age finds and resolve a long archaeological and historical discussion regarding the role and dating of royal Judean stamped jar handles. This demonstrates how archaeomagnetic data derived from historically-dated destructions can serve as an anchor for archaeomagnetic dating and its particular potency for periods in which radiocarbon is not adequate for high resolution dating.

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van den Hout (ed.), Discovering New Pasts: The OI at 100

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY: From “An” to “The”: The OI at 100 (Theo van den Hout).

Celebrating a new book edited by the same author: Discovering New Pasts: The OI at 100 (Oriental Institute Press).

In celebration of the OI’s centennial year, over sixty different authors and contributors have come together to provide a personalized history of the OI’s work past and present. In these pages we invite you to join us on an adventure. Explore the legacy of James Henry Breasted and the institute he founded. Discover the inner workings of the OI and its museum. Travel across multiple continents to learn about groundbreaking research. Enjoy a unique collection of nearly six hundred images, all in one publication for the first time. Learn the story of the institute’s development—from being one man’s dream to becoming one of the world’s preeminent authorities on over ten thousand years of human civilization.

You may download a free copy for your personal use.

I noted the centenary of the Oriental Institute in 2019.

Also, I just noted the online publicat of a biography of James Henry Breasted here in the immediately preceding post.

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Filial biography of James Henry Breasted online

THE AWOL BLOG: New from the Oriental Institute: Pioneer to the Past: The Story of James Henry Breasted, Archaeologist, Told by His Son Charles Breasted. You can download one complimentary copy for your own personal use. For you, special deal!

Cross-file under Egyptology.

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Bühner, Hohe Messianologie

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Ruben A. Bühner. Hohe Messianologie. Übermenschliche Aspekte eschatologischer Heilsgestalten im Frühjudentum. [High Messianology. Superhuman Aspects of Eschatological Figures of Salvation in Early Judaism.] 2020. XIV, 394 pages. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe 523. 94,00 € including VAT. sewn paper ISBN 978-3-16-159606-3.

Published in German.
Messianic expectations in Second Temple Judaism included not only human, but also very different kinds of superhuman aspects. Ruben A. Bühner discusses all relevant early Jewish sources and offers the basis for new approaches for conceptualizing the origin and development of early Christology.

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The statue, the golden calf, and the stone?

DR. NAAMA GOLAN: The Statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream and the Golden Calf (TheTorah.com).

Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a statue made of four metals in Daniel 2 was composed using Persian and Greek historiographic imagery. The crushing of the statue by a stone mountain alludes to the story of the golden calf, and is a message of hope to the Judeans that God will eventually crush their Greek oppressors.

This is a good overview of the historical-thematic background of Nebuchadnezzar's vision in Daniel 2. The part about the stone and the golden calf is new. I am teaching undergraduate course on the Book of Daniel next semester. I will have to think more about this idea.

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What made Alexander so great?

NUMISMATICS: CoinWeek Podcast #140: What Made Alexander Great? (Mike Markowiz).

The headline made me think of this old Far Side cartoon by Gary Larson.

For background on Alexander's connections to ancient Jewish tradition, start here and follow the many links.

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Wordplay in Genesis

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Wordplay in Genesis (Philip D. Stern). With suggested connections with Arabic, Akkadian, and Sumerian.

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New highlights from the Oxford Handbook of Pauline Studies

THE CSCO BLOG: New entries to the Oxford Handbook of Pauline Studies. (Matthew Novenson). Dr. Novenson lists the new entries in this post. He gives taster quotes from some of them in the following posts at the same blog:

New in the Oxford Handbook of Pauline Studies: Laura Dingeldein on Paul the Letter-Writer

New in the Oxford Handbook of Pauline Studies: Cavan Concannon on Archaeology and the Pauline Letters

New in the Oxford Handbook of Pauline Studies: Kathy Ehrensperger on Paul and Feminism

New in the Oxford Handbook of Pauline Sudies: Nijay Gupta on pistis Christou in Paul

New in the Oxford Handbook of Pauline Studies: Emma Wasserman on Paul and Religion

New in the Oxford Handbook of Pauline Studies: Troels Engberg-Pedersen on Paul the Philosopher

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Moodle Midrash and Pandemic Pedagogy

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Moodle Midrash (Daniel Picus).

A few weeks before the class was slated to begin in late March, my institution went entirely remote. This turned my class on its head, and while there’s no need for yet another narrative of how exactly I attempted to transform my class, the remote format and slightly broader scope did combine in order to produce a particularly effective pedagogical activity: the Moodle Midrash.

Pandemic Pedagogy: Pamphlet Final Projects and Laughter (Matthew Chalmers).

Teaching during global pandemic means improvisation. This short article shares my experience of an improvised assignment that worked, how it worked, and what good came out of it: museum-style pamphlets. Take it if you like, adapt it as you will, and let me know what works better when you do.

I am going full online teaching with my classes next year too. I appreciate these essays and others like them, which give out-of-the box ideas for how to proceed.

If we have to do everything differently, we may as well be creative about it.

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Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz z'l'

SAD NEWS: Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, noted Talmudic scholar, dies at 83. The rabbi, who is best known for translating the Talmud into modern Hebrew, had been in the hospital with a lung infection since Tuesday (Jeremy Sharon, Jerusalem Post).

For background on Rabbi Steinsaltz and his remarkable work on the Talmud, start here and follow the links. May his memory be for a blessing.

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Comfort in Deutero-Isaiah

PROF. FRANCIS LANDY: The Prologue to Deutero-Isaiah (TheTorah.com).

“Comfort, oh comfort My people,” says your God, נַחֲמוּ נַחֲמוּ עַמִּי יֹאמַר אֱלֹהֵיכֶם. Thus begins the prologue to Deutero-Isaiah (40:1–11), a passage containing four speech fragments haunted by the past but offering a message of comfort and hope.

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Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies

THE AWOL BLOG: Open Access Journal: Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies. A quick skim through some recent issues turned up a number of articles of interest to ancient Judaism and related matters.

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More from McGrath on Gnostic origins

RELIGION PROF: Talk Gnosis: The Origins of Gnosticism. James McGrath links to an episode of Talk Gnosis in which he discusses his views about the origins of Gnosticism.

Background here, also linked to by James above.

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Review of Praying and contemplating in late antiquity (ed. Pachoumi & Edwards)

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Praying and contemplating in late antiquity: religious and philosophical interactions

Eleni Pachoumi, Mark J. Edwards, Praying and contemplating in late antiquity: religious and philosophical interactions. Studien und Texte zu Antike und Christentum, 113. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018. viii, 229 p.. ISBN 9783161561191 €79,00 (pb).

Review by
Mark Roblee, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. mroblee@history.umass.edu

... Proceeding from a 2016 conference organized by editors Eleni Pachoumi and Mark J. Edwards, Praying and Contemplating captures a range of intimate encounters with the divine sought by late antique intellectuals in papers by international (and long-armed) specialists in Neoplatonism, theurgy, early Christianity, and related late antique currents including Orphism, dreams, Chaldean Oracles, initiation, Greek Magical Papyri, divination, and Manichaeism....

It also gives some attention to late-antique Alexandrian Judaism in the article by Bronwen Neil.

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The Qur'an on the direction of prayer

DR. ABDULLA GALADARI: The Quran’s Lesson from the Shema: Direct Your Heart to God (TheTorah.com).

The Quran makes multiple intertextual connections with the Shema and its rabbinic commentary in its qiblah (“direction”) passages, thus highlighting a point of agreement between Jews and Muslims: Prayer is not about the physical direction you face but about loving God with all your heart.

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Woes unto Babylon!

READING ACTS: Three Woes against Babylon – Revelation 18:9-20. Phil Long continues his blog series on the Book of Revelation, now on the final seven visions. We continue with the second vision in chapter 18.

For notice of previous posts in Phil's series on Revelation, see here and links.

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VR reconstructions of ancient sites

THE NEXT BEST THING TO BEING THERE: Ruined Unesco sites virtually rebuilt before your very eyes! From Jerusalem to Iraq, digital wizardry restores renowned cities and temples to their former glory (Jennifer Newton and Ted Thornhill, Daily Mail).

The project includes digital reconstructions of the Temple Mount, Hatra, Leptis Magna, and Palmyra.

For endless PaleoJudaica posts on the Temple Mount, run "Temple Mount" through the blog's search engine.

Hatra was an important Aramaic-speaking city on the Silk Road in late antiquity. The archaeological site in Iraq was bulldozed by ISIS in March of 2015. It was retaken by Iraqi forces during the annihilation of ISIS in 2017. Follow the links (and cf. here) for more posts on Hatra.

Leptis Magna is a Punic site in Libya. There was fear that ISIS would come for it, but the Libyans successfully protected it. Past posts on Leptis Magna are here, here, and here.

For many posts on Palmyra, its history, the ancient Aramaic dialect spoken there (Palmyrene), and the city's tragic reversals of fortune, which more recently seem to have been trending for the better, start here and follow the links.

Cross-file unde Digitization, Technology Watch, Punic Watch, and Virtual Reality.

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Online lecture on the earliest Coptic books

VARIANT READINGS: Upcoming Talk on Coptic Books. Brent Nongbri is presenting the lecture tomorrow, 6 August, on Zoom. Follow the link for a poster with details.

Cross-file under Coptic Watch.

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Rabbi Steinsaltz hospitalized

SENDING ALL GOOD WISHES AND STRENGTH: Talmudic scholar Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz hospitalized, in critical condition. The 83-year-old scholar, most famous for his translation of the Talmud, is battling a severe lung infection unrelated to the coronavirus (Aaron Reich, Jerusalem Post).

For background on Rabbi Steinsaltz, his health difficulties in recent years, and his work, especially his Hebrew and English translations of the Talmud, start here and follow the many links.

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Tu B'Av 2020

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

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

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Video reconstruction of the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE

RITMEYER ARCHAEOLOGICAL DESIGN: The Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD.

Belatedly for Tisha B'Av: Leen Ritmeyer notes a video produced by Megalim, The City of David Institute for Jerusalem Studies in 2019. The graphics and production are pretty good. The YouTube link is here:

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Outdoor exhibit on ancient Ashkelon

EXHIBITION: New outdoor exhibit showcases rich history of ancient Ashkelon. Ashkelon has over 3,800 years of history (Rossella Tercatin, Jerusalem Post).

Outdoor museum exhibitions are a good idea in the era of coronavirus. I noted another one recently here. Of course it helps if you have a warm, dry climate.

Some PaleoJudaica posts on ancient Askhelon and the Ashkelon excavation are here, here, here, here, here, here, and links. I was a staff member at the excavation in the mid-1980s.

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

Enoch Seminar on John the Baptist

RELIGION PROF: Enoch Seminar Nangeroni Meeting on John the Baptist. James McGrath highlights another upcoming online Enoch Seminar event. It takes place in January of 2021. The last one was a success.

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Israelite and Persian Perspectives on Babylon’s Great Monuments (BASONOVA lecture)

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Israelite and Persian Perspectives on Babylon’s Great Monuments: The Tower of Babel and the Ishtar Gate. Notice of an online BASONOVA Lecture on the Ancient World by David Vanderhooft taking place on 5 August 2020. Follow the link for information on payment and reservations.

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4QGenk

THE ETC BLOG: 4QGenk: A Normalized Manuscript. Anthony Ferguson discusses a manuscript that I published many years ago in DJD 12. It's good to see it getting some attention.

I interpret the variant in verse 9 rather differently than he does. He thinks it a scribal grammatical correction. I think it is part of a longer reading also found in Greek in the Septuagint, a reading that may well be more original than that of the Masoretic Text.

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7th century CE shipwreck recovered near Haifa

MARINE ARCHAEOLOGY: Christian, Muslim symbols found in 7th century shipwreck in Israel. Moreover, the ship also offers important insights in terms of ship construction techniques (Rossella Tercatin, Jerusalem Post).

Past PaleoJudaica posts on marine (maritime, underwater) archaeology are here and links and here. And for some posts on the archaeology of shipwrecks specifically, see here and here and links.

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The Underwater Malta project

VIRTUAL MARINE ARCHAEOLOGY MEETS PHOENICIAN WATCH: Underwater Malta – The First Virtual Museum in the Mediterranean Showcasing 10 Underwater Archaeological Sites and Sunken Aircraft and Submarines Usually Seen Only by Divers (Press Release). The article highlights the aircraft and submarines, but also mentions something important in passing. One of the displays is the Phoenician shipwreck from near Gozo, on which more here and links.

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Flee Babylon!

READING ACTS: Come Out of Babylon! Revelation 18:4-8. Phil Long continues his blog series on the Book of Revelation, now on the final seven visions. We continue with the second vision in chapter 18. [Oops! Pardon me. Various errors in the above now corrected.]

For notice of previous posts in Phil's series on Revelation, see here and links.

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Book note: Orlov (ed.), Jewish Roots of Eastern Christian Mysticism

FORBIDDEN GOSPELS BLOG: BOOK NOTE: JEWISH ROOTS OF EASTERN CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM (April DeConick). With some background to the book.

I noted the publication of the volume here.

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God and his horse?

ICONOGRAPHY: Face of God? Archaeologist claims to find 10th cent. BCE graven images of Yahweh. Hebrew U Prof. Yosef Garfinkel asserts small male figurines discovered at digs near Jerusalem are an image of the biblical God; other experts angrily dismiss theory (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel).

This discussion is outside PaleoJudaica's usual range, but I thought it good to mention it. It is also outside my range of expertise. I have no opinion on it. If you read to the end of the article, you can see some of the arguments pro and con for what might show the figurines to be images of a god.

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Free ASOR books

THE AWOL BLOG: Some More ASOR Books Available Open Access. The list includes some older classic volumes, some more recent ones, and many of interest for study of ancient Judaism. For you, special deal!

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Biblical Studies Carnival 173

THE DUST BLOG: Biblical Studies Carnival for July 2020. Biblical Studies Carnival # 173, An odd, deficient, odious, but balanced prime.* July 2020. (Bob Macdonald).

Also, over at Reading Acts, Phil Long has some additional news items from the Biblioblogosphere.

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Dark on the archaeology of Nazareth

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

The Archaeology of Nazareth in the Early First Century

The combined evidence of these three sites indicates that Nazareth was inhabited from at least the early first century, and probably the Late Hellenistic period onward, as a Jewish community, including family groups, judging from the finds and house plans.

See Also: Roman-Period and Byzantine Nazareth and its Hinterland (Routledge, 2020).

By Ken Dark
Professor, University of Reading
July 2020

The article has a particular interest in first-century Nazareth for obvious reasons.

Past PaleoJudaica posts on the archaeology, topography, and epigraphy of Nazareth are here (on Ken Dark's book) and links, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

For the archaeology of nearby Sepphoris (Zipori//Tzipori/Tzippori/Zippori), generally mentioned alongside Nazareth, see here and links.

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Coins of Herod the Great

NUMISMATICS: Coins of Herod the Great – CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series (Mike Markowitz). These are all small denomination coins.

I have mentioned an Herodian prutah here (bottom of post). That one is not featured in this article.

For more on the half-prutah, see here.

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Review of More New Testament Apocrypha 2

READING ACTS: Tony Burke, ed. New Testament Apocrypha, Vol. 2: More Noncanonical Scriptures (Phil Long).

Conclusion. As Burke observes in his introduction to the volume, Christian apocrypha provides an insight into the diversity of early Christian beliefs. Some of this literature is Christian interpretation of canonical documents, some seek to associate current practice with the earliest apostolic community. This second volume of “More Noncanonical Scriptures” is a window into how the early church developed both in practice and in theology. New Testament Apocrypha series will continue to serve scholarship for years to come. I look forward to volume 3!

I noted the publication of the book here.

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Seth Ehorn - Baylor LXX Handbook interview

WILLIAM A. ROSS: THE NEW BAYLOR HANDBOOK ON THE SEPTUAGINT SERIES: AN INTERVIEW WITH SETH EHORN.

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

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The two destructions of Jerusalem

ONE MORE FOR TISHA B'AV: WATCH: Physical proof of twice razed and rebuilt ancient Jerusalem explained. For Tisha B’av, Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist Joe Uziel presents how new scientific techniques are changing what we know today about the two major destructions (Times of Israel). There is a long, well-illustrated article to go with the video.

PaleoJudaica's Tisha B'Av 2020 posts are collected here.

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

Fire at Susya

SUSPECTED ARSON: Major fire breaks out at Susya archaeological site in Hebron hills. The site features a unique 1,700 year-old synagogue. In the past decades, the area has been a focal point of tensions between the Palestinian and the Israeli population in the West Bank (Rossella Tercatin, Jerusalem Post).

Based on a first survey of the site, the fire seems to have caused no significant damage.

Good.

Past PaleoJudaica posts on Susya are here and links. The site was embroiled in a political controversy five years ago and it suffered vandalism a few years ago.

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

Second-wave sifting straits

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT: THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT BETWEEN THE STRAITS .

When life started to return to normality in the early summer, we invested in advertising and marketing channels in optimistic preparation for a stream of sifting participants during the summer and the school vacation. Then came the second wave of the coronavirus outbreak. Without your generous response to this appeal, we will have to reconsider the scope of our activities, including the possibility of ceasing the sifting and this may also cause us to lose some our best trained staff.

You can support the sifting project with a direct contribution or, if you are local, by signing up for their volunteer program.

For many, many PaleoJudaica posts on the project, start here and follow the links. If the project is new to you, see the BHD article noted here for introduction and orientation.

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

Bye bye Babylon

READING ACTS: A Lament for Fallen Babylon – Revelation 18:1-3. Phil Long continues his blog series on the Book of Revelation, now on the final seven visions. We continue with the first vision in chapter 17. Please excuse the error. We are now on the second vision in chapter 18.

For notice of previous posts in Phil's series on Revelation, see here and links.

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

More for Tisha B'Av

THE NINTH OF AV (TISHA B'AV) is today, as already noted. Here are some additional articles:

A mystery for Tisha B'Av. If consensus is reached on the location of an ancient synagogue built beneath the Temple Mount, it could prove that Jews have been praying at the Western Wall for 1,000 years (Nadav Shragai, Israel Hayom - HT Joseph Lauer).

Time and forgotten history have limited what is known about the secret of the "Cave," an ancient synagogue beneath the Temple Mount that was used by the Jews of Jerusalem. Still, scraps of information, crumbling historical documents, and existing research are gradually shedding light on one of the more intriguing mysteries in Jerusalem.

The only part of the synagogue's story about which there is consensus took place in the first half of the Hebrew month of Av in the year 1099, when Jerusalem fell to the Crusaders. ...

Did Early Christians Mourn the Destruction of the Temple? (Prof. Eyal Regev, TheTorah.com).

When the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in the summer of 70 C.E., the Jews lost their religious and political center. Practically speaking, this did not adversely affect Jesus’s followers, who continued to grow and flourish in this period. But what did they feel about the Temple’s destruction?

Judaea’s Leaderless Revolt Against Rome (Prof. Eric Orlin, TheTorah.com).

The Second Temple was destroyed in the course of the Judaean Revolt (66–73 C.E.) against Rome, and looms large in Jewish history for the way in which it decisively shaped the future of Judaism. But how different was it from other revolts against Rome? Are there elements that mark the Judaean Revolt as unique and essentially different?

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Reviewlet of Jacobson, Agrippa II: the last of the Herods

STRATEGYPAGE: Book Review: Agrippa II: The Last of the Herods (A. A. Nofi).

by David M. Jacobson

New York: Routledge, 2019. Pp. xxiv, 232. Illus., maps, chron., stemma, tables, appends., notes, biblio., index. $124.00. ISBN: 1138331813

A Long-Neglected King of Judea

I noted another review of this book, with additional links on Agrippa II and related figures, here.

Herod Agrippa II had responsibility for the Jerusalem Temple at the time of the Great Revolt against Rome. That offers an indirect connection with today's observation of Tisha B'Av. See the essay by Prof. Eric Orlin noted in the next post.

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Phoenician feud on Seleucid coins

NUMISMATICS MEETS PHOENICIAN WATCH: TALK AMONGST YOURSELVES.

At the Pocket Change blog, Oliver Hoover has an informative post on Phoenician coins of the Seleucid era which display an escalating propaganda feud between two major Phoenician cities, Tyre and Sidon. The coins were minted during the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Seleucid king whose persecution of Jews led to the Maccabean revolt.

I have noted coverage of coins of the Seleucid era here, here (which discusses Antiochus), here, here, and links.

For more on the Seleucid dynasty and its importance for biblical studies, start here and here and follow the links.

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Met relabels "amulet" as "phylactery"

OOPS CORRECTED: So long, ‘amulet.’ Hello, ‘phylactery.’ The Met Museum has updated that tefillin description (Philissa Cramer, JTA Quick Reads).

Joseph Lauer has drawn my attention to this latest development. It sounds like progress. But, like Joe, I would like to know more about the grounds for dating the object to as early as the sixth century and whether there are still scriptural texts inside it. They could be informative about the date, etc.

Background here and here.

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Tisha B'Av 2020

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

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

The following is just out:

What did Jerusalem look like at the time of the original Tisha Be'av? (Rossella Tercatin, Jerusalem Post)

And Joseph Lauer has noted the following online events in one of his e-mails:

On Wednesday, July 29, 2020, Erev Tisha B’Av, at 8:30 pm Israel Daylight Time (UTC+3) [1:30 PM EDT], a Zoom lecture will be presented in Hebrew by Dr. David Gurevitch, as described below. The subject is “Why Did Vespasian And Titus Destroy the Temple?” [?מדוע אספסיאנוס וטיטוס הרסו את בית המקדש]
The ticket fee is NIS 25 for adults, free for children. [And it appears that payment for more than one adult viewer is on the honor system.]
The site for paying the fee is at https://il.funzing.com/funz/28045 or https://tinyurl.com/y3xsa5p9 (not the clickable one in the article below). [The latter link is here - JRD]

Another video interview, this for signed-up The Times of Israel Community members, is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, July 29, at 1 p.m. Eastern/8 p.m. Israel. “ToI’s Jewish World and Archaeology editor Amanda Borschel-Dan speaks with Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist Joe Uziel about the destruction of ancient Jerusalem in honor of the Tisha B’Av fast day. *** Uziel will discuss new finds that have recently hit newspaper headlines, as well as the two major periods of widespread destruction in Jerusalem during the fall of the First and Second Temples.” See “For Tisha B’Av, learn about the archaeological proof of Jerusalem’s destructions -- Access Wednesday’s Behind the Headlines webinar by becoming a ToI Community member today” at https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-tisha-bav-learn-about-the-archaeological-proof-of-jerusalems-destructions/

PaleoJudaica's 2019 Tisha B'Av post is here. The 2018 post has some links.

UPDATE (30 July): More here and here.

UPDATE: (31 July): More here.

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Sixth-century church (monastery?) excavated near Mount Tabor

ARCHAEOLOGY: Large 6th century church compound uncovered near site of Jesus’ transfiguration. Israel Antiquities Authority salvage excavations ahead of construction of playground in Galilee village of Kfar Kama reveals hitherto unknown possible monastery (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel).

The IAA press release refers to it as a "1300-year old church." But it sounds as though it is a little older than that. According to Prof. Moti Aviam, one of the excavators, it was built in the 500s and abandoned in the 600s.

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Writer's Prize for Tigay's Shapira book

CONGRATULATIONS TO MR. TIGAY: Journalist and SFSU professor Chanan Tigay wins Cowan literary prize for Biblical whodunnit (Laura Paull, Jewish News of Northern California).

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.

I have not read Mr. Tigay's book. Evidently it contains the revelation of a "most important discovery." That discovery clearly was not any surviving portion of the Shapira scroll. I would have heard about that.

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Vandalized ancient fort at Yehoram repaired

VOLUNTEER RESTORATION: Yeroham residents help give 2,000-year-old archaeological site a makeover. A small fort, which served as a way station for travelers on ancient trade roads, was already damaged and neglected before vandals spray-painted graffiti on its walls (Yori Yalon, Israel Hayom). This project is all the more impressive in the pandemic era.

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Pip-counting, plague, and pyroclastics

ARCHAEOBOTANY: Plague and climate change triggered a severe economic downturn in the Byzantine Empire 1,500 years ago, grape pips reveal (Ian Randall, Daily Mail).

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.

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.

[...]

Fortunately, 2020 has not seen any major, climate-busting volcanic eruptions. Let's hope it stays that way.

For more on the fascinating field of archaeobotany (archaeo-botany), see here.

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When tattoos go bad

RELIGION PROF: Vspph, Vphdph, Vphcph.

James McGrath shares a photo-meme (via Meredith Warren) of a particularly unfortunate Greco-Latin tattoo disaster. He also shares the following meme, which he created. If it's a meme, I am assuming he doesn't mind if I reproduce it. But I will be happy to take it down if he wants me to.


For many PaleoJudaica posts on tattoos involving ancient languages, start here and follow the links. Most are amusing, whether intentionally or otherwise.

Oh, and for more on the Sogdian language, see here and links. I don't do tattoos, but a Sogdian one sounds cool. Maybe a quote from the Book of Giants ...

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More on those mislabeled tefillin

OOPS UPDATED: Twitter debate ensues after Metropolitan Museum of Art labels tefillin as Egyptian amulet (Marcy Oster, JTA).

I suppose a phylactery (tefillin) could be called an amulet, depending on your definition of amulet. But I prefer to use the more precise, and therefore more descriptive, term.

This is a photo of the object (link here, creative commons license). It is clearly a phylactery/tefillin.


Thanks to Joseph Lauer for the references.

Background here.

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The de-anti-enthronement of the great prostitute

READING ACTS: The Fall of the Great Prostitute – Revelation 17:15-18. Phil Long continues his blog series on the Book of Revelation, now on the final seven visions. We are still on the first vision in chapter 17.

For notice of previous posts in Phil's series on Revelation, see here and links.

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What and where was Ar Moab?

HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY: Ar Moab (Dr. David Ben-Gad HaCohen, TheTorah.com).

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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Yahwistic Diversity and the Hebrew Bible (ed. Hensel et al.)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Yahwistic Diversity and the Hebrew Bible. Tracing Perspectives of Group Identity from Judah, Samaria, and the Diaspora in Biblical Traditions. Edited by Benedikt Hensel, Dany Nocquet, and Bartosz Adamczewski. 2020. VIII, 337 pages. Forschungen zum Alten Testament 2. Reihe 120. 94,00 € including VAT. sewn paper ISBN 978-3-16-158304-9.

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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Vreugdenhil, Psalm 91 and Demonic Menace

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

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.

Prices from (excl. VAT): €138.00$166.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-42789-1
Publication Date: 13 Jul 2020
Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-42788-4
Publication Date: 09 Jul 2020

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BAR, Fall 2020

UPCOMING: Fall 2020 Issue of BAR. In early August, the new issue of Biblical Archaeology Review arrives. Most or all of the articles will be behind the subscription wall, but Bible History Daily will presumably summarize some of them. Meanwhile, here is a preview of the issue.

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Magen Broshi, 1929-2020

SAD NEWS: Passing of Dr. Magen Broshi (Shalom Berger, H-Judaic).

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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Mislabeled tefillin at the Met

OOPS: Met Museum mislabels Jewish phylacteries as 6th-century Egyptian amulet. The tefillin acquired by the museum is kept in the Islamic Art department. (Tamar Beeri, Jerusalem Post).

The article isn't phrased very clearly, but I think it says that the tefillin do date from about this period (500-1000 CE). It would have been helpful to have included a photograph of the object(s).

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More on those hanging gardens

ONE OF THESE THINGS IS NOT LIKE THE OTHERS: We know where the 7 wonders of the ancient world are — except for one. The true location of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon remains an unsolved mystery, but the latest research suggests looking in a different place (J. L. MONTERO FENOLLÓS, National Geographic).

That place, of course, is the Assyrian capital Nineveh. I have already covered this story in a couple of posts (see here and links), but this article lays out the details of the situation very well.

Cross-file under Greek Fantasy Babylon.

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HUCA 90

H-JUDAIC: TOC - Hebrew Union College Annual Volume 90. There are lots of articles on Moses and lots of articles of interest for ancient Judaism.

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