When is a name a wall?

DR. MORDECAI DAVID ROSEN: The Cities of Nebo and Baʿal-Meon Were “Musabot Shem” (TheTorah.com).

What does this phrase, found in Numbers 32:38, mean?

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

Maaloula is coming back!

MODERN ARAMAIC WATCH: Syrian village with language of Jesus prepares for returning pilgrims (AFP via i24News).

The Town of Maaloula is one of the last places where Aramaic is (or at least was recently) still a spoken language. It was ravaged by ISIS in the war, then presumably shut down for pilgrims during the pandemic. But now it is preparing to reopen for pilgrimages.

The Saint Taqla mentioned in the current article is better known as Saint Thecla, whose traditional tomb was in Maaloula. It was reportedly descecrated during the war. I don't know its current status.

For PaleoJudaica posts on Maaloula (Ma'aloula, Malula, Maalula - there seem to be endless spellings), start here and follow the links.

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

The Dead Sea Scrolls LOL

ENTERTAINMENT: Back on stage with a humorous theatrical show (Christine DeSouza, Heritage Florida Jewish News).

Who thought the topic of the Dead Sea Scrolls could be so entertaining? Natural story-teller Kenneth Hanson, Ph.D., as done just that. In addition to being an associate professor of Judaic Studies at the University of Central Florida, he is a brilliant actor who brings to life academic topics such as archeology finds in Israel and the Dead Sea Scrolls through his characters known as Jerusalem Jones and Menachem the Essene, also known as the 2,001-year-old man.

[...]

Don't miss the link to the video teaser.

This is a long-running gig. I see that I noted Professor Hanson's show back in 2005.

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

Where was John the Baptist really from?

RELIGION PROF: Could John the Baptist Have Been From Nazareth? (James McGrath). The argument for this is indirect. But maybe.

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

The Copper Scroll: treasure chest or quest?

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY: A Treasure Quest in the Copper Scroll from Qumran (Jesper Høgenhaven).

The Copper Scroll from Qumran sends its reader on a quest to uncover hidden treasures. Is this treasure hunt for real or a symbolic journey? Is this dichotomy even fruitful? Maybe the most important thing is that the text sends the reader’s mind on a quest.

[...]

This essay gives a good overview of the history of the study of the Copper Scroll and the current questions still surrounding it.

One question it does not address is, if the Copper Scroll is entirely fictional, why did someone put in the extensive effort and expense to engrave it on copper sheets and then hide it in a cave? I would not say that is a compelling refutation. After all, someone carved the obviously fictional Treatise of the Vessels on a stone plaque as an addendum to an ambitious stone-plaque presentation of the whole book of Ezekiel. But even so, I would have liked to see some discussion of the question. But presumably he addresses this in his book.

For Professor Høgenhaven's recent book on the Copper Scroll, see here. And follow the links from there for many PaleoJudaica posts on the Copper Scroll. And for more on the Treatise of the Vessels (which I translated into English for the first time in 2013) and the Ezekiel Plates, see here and here and links.

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

AJA review of Stern, Writing on the Wall

AJA ONLINE BOOK REVIEW: Writing on the Wall: Graffiti and the Forgotten Jews of Antiquity.

By Karen B. Stern. Princeton: Princeton University Press 2018. Pp. xxiii + 283. $35. ISBN 978-0-691-16133-4 (cloth).

Reviewed by Haggai Olshanetsky

HT Rogue Classicism. The review is an electronic preprint from the October issue of the American Journal of Archaeology.

For more on the book and the author's work, see here and links (cf. here).

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

Review of Jacobs, Ancient information on Persia re-assessed

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Ancient information on Persia re-assessed: Xenophon’s “Cyropaedia”.

Bruno Jacobs, Ancient information on Persia re-assessed: Xenophon's "Cyropaedia". Proceedings of a conference held at Marburg in honour of Christopher J. Tuplin, December 1-2, 2017. Classica et Orientalia, 22. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2020. Pp. xxxii, 407. ISBN 9783447112833 €98,00.

Review by
Nicholas Sekunda, University of Gdansk. nicholas.sekunda@ug.edu.pl

I noted the publication of the book here and here. It addresses a wide range of topics. Of particular interest are the articles on the relationship of the Cyropaedia to the Greek novel and to Esther and Judith.

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

ANE List anniversary

THE AWOL BLOG: ANE mailing lists (Chuck Jones).

Twenty-eight years ago yesterday John Sanders and I launched the ANE mailing list at the OI Chicago. ...

That was 7 July 1993. I was a charter subscriber!

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

First-century public building excavated in Jerusalem

ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE: Magnificent Second Temple-Era Building Discovered in Jerusalem (Jewish Press News Desk).

According to Dr. Shlomit Weksler-Bdolach, Excavation director on behalf of the IAA, “This is, without a doubt, one of the most magnificent public buildings from the Second Temple period that has ever been uncovered outside the Temple Mount walls in Jerusalem. It was built around 20–30 CE. The building, which, apparently, stood along a street leading up to the Temple Mount, was used for public functions – it may even have been the city council building where important dignitaries were received before entering the Temple compound and the Temple Mount.”

The building is going on display as part of the Western Wall Tunnels complex. For more on the latter, see the links collected here and also here and here.

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

Moses took credit for Jethro's idea?

PROF. BERNARD M. LEVINSON: The Founding of Israel’s Judicial System (TheTorah.com).

Even before Israel receives laws at Sinai, Exodus tells how Jethro the Midianite advises Moses to establish judges, a unique origin story for the judicial system with no parallel in ancient Near Eastern law collections. Deuteronomy revises the story to credit Moses with this idea after the revelation at Horeb.

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

What's on at the Israel Museum

EXHIBITIONS: Divine edibles, rare drawings, magical music: All at the Israel Museum. There is too much going on there to cover everything in a single article, but here are a few highlights and you can check the website for a complete listing of all that is available this summer (Hannah Brown, Jerusalem Post).

I thought this "divine edibles" exhibition was going to be on cannabis at ancient Arad. But the Arad temple used cannabis as incense (mixed with dung!), not as an edible, so that doesn't work. It turns out to be about "a look at the portrayal of maize, cacao, and maguey (agave, a sweetener also used to make tequila) in artworks ranging from pre-Columbian to contemporary art."

The exhibition on the magical use of the Shema sounds interesting.

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

Talmudic books recovered at Surfside collapse

TALMUD WATCH: ‘A piece of somebody’: Sacred Jewish texts recovered from homes in Surfside rubble (SAMANTHA J. GROSS, Miami Herald).

On Tuesday Israeli Col. Golan Vach worked alongside local rescue teams to locate the bodies of a Jewish couple buried in the pile of rubble where the Champlain Towers South condo once stood.

Vach, who heads a specialized search and rescue unit of the Israel Defense Forces, started to gather personal belongings near the couple, mostly shreds of paper, notes and books. He noticed that many books were texts from the Talmud, a compilation of Rabbinical discussions, debates and the teachings of Jewish religious law.

Someone, Vach doesn’t remember who, snapped an image of Vach in an orange helmet and red gloves, handing the small stack of dark blue books to a South Florida Urban Search and Rescue team member.

[...]

The photo is touching. All strength to the surviving victims and the families involved in this terrible tragedy.

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

Greenspoon on the Greek Bible

PROF. LEONARD GREENSPOON: Greek Bible Captured My Imagination (TheTorah.com).

Another in the series On Becoming a Jewish Bible Scholar. I noted some of these here. There have been many others, so have a look. I am only highlighting the ones of particular interest to PaleoJudaica.

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

Write That They May Read (Millard Festschrift) (Pickwick)

RECENT BOOK FROM WIPF AND STOCK:

Write That They May Read
Studies in Literacy and Textualization in the Ancient Near East and in the Hebrew Scriptures:Essays in Honour of Professor Alan R. Millard

Edited by Daniel I. Block, David C. Deuel, C. John Collins and Paul J. N. Lawrence
Imprint: Pickwick Publications
538 Pages, 7.00 x 10.00 x 1.00 in

Paperback
9781725252103
Published: July 2020
$61.00 / £45.00 / AU$88.00

Hardcover
9781725252080
Published: July 2020
$86.00 / £63.00 / AU$124.00

eBook
9781725252097
Published: July 2020
$61.00 / £44.00 / AU$88.00

DESCRIPTION

Write That They May Read is a collection of essays written in honor of our mentor, friend, and fellow scholar, Professor Alan R. Millard. Respectful of his contribution to our understanding of writing and literacy in the ancient biblical world, all the essays deal with some aspect of this issue, ranging in scope from archeological artifacts that need to be "read," to early evidence of writing in Israel's world, to the significance of reading and writing in the Bible, including God's own literacy, to the production of books in the ancient world, and the significance of metaphorical branding of God's people with his name. The contributors are distributed among Professor Millard's peers and colleagues in a variety of institutions, his own students, and students of his students. They represent a variety of disciplines including biblical archeology, Egyptology, Assyriology, Hebrew and other Northwest Semitic texts, and the literature of the Bible, and reside in North America, Japan, the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Germany. ...

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

Wills, Introduction to the Apocrypha (Yale)

NEW BOOK FROM YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

Introduction to the Apocrypha
Jewish Books in Christian Bibles

Lawrence M. Wills

Format: Paper
Price: $38.00

Description

An ambitious introduction to the Apocrypha that encourages readers to reimagine what “canon” really means

Challenging the way Christian and non-Christian readers think about the Apocrypha, this is an ambitious introduction to the deuterocanonical texts of the Christian Old Testaments. Lawrence Wills introduces these texts in their original Jewish environment while addressing the very different roles they had in various Christian canons. Though often relegated to a lesser role, a sort of “Bible-Lite,” these texts deserve renewed attention, and this book shows how they hold more interest for both ancient and contemporary communities than previously thought.

Lawrence M. Wills is visiting professor of Religious Studies and Judaic Studies at Brown University. His books include a commentary on Judith in the Hermeneia series, Not God’s People: Insiders and Outsiders in the Biblical World, and The Jewish Novel in the Ancient World.

ISBN: 9780300248791
Publication Date: June 22, 2021
328 pages, 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
18 b/w illus.

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

Gibson & Taylor, Beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre Jerusalem (1994, PEF, open access)

THE AWOL BLOG: Beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre Jerusalem. The Archaeology and Early History of Traditional Golgotha. (Chuck Jones). This is a 1994 volume by Shimon Gibson and Joan E. Taylor published by the Palestine Exploration Fund and now open access.

For more recent archaeological and social developments at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Holy Sepulcher), see here and here and many links. Notable in particular is the 2016 restoration of the first-century tomb (of Jesus?).

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

Ptolemaic date-palm genomics

PALEOBOTANY: Archaeology meets DNA: peering into the past of the date palm. Scientists have decoded the genetic history of the date palm using a mysterious 2,000-year-old Egyptian artefac (DR CHELSEA SNELL , DR OSCAR ALEJANDRO PÉREZ ESCOBAR , DR NATALIA PRZELOMSKA , DR SIDONIE BELLOT AND DR PHILIPPA RYAN, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew).

Within the [Kew’s Economic Botany] collection we found an ancient Egyptian artefact made of plaited date palm leaves.

The unusual archaeological object was found 50 years ago at the ‘west dump’ in the temple complex of the animal necropolis of Saqqara, 20km south of Cairo and adjacent to the Nile Valley.

The object is from the late Ptolemaic period. The researchers were able to extract DNA from it and gain some insight into the relationship of the ancient palm to modern varieties and what that tells us about the history of its cultivation.

The article does not mention the similar work on Methuselah and Resurrection Genomics in Israel. That involves the cultivation of comparably ancient date palm seeds from Masada and other Judean Desert sites and their successful genomic sequencing.

There is no indication that anyone wants to try to clone the Egyptian palm. But who knows what is coming?

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

Review of Bowman & Crowther, The epigraphy of Ptolemaic Egypt

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: The epigraphy of Ptolemaic Egypt.

Alan Bowman, Charles Crowther, The epigraphy of Ptolemaic Egypt. Oxford studies in ancient documents. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2020. Pp. 384. ISBN 9780198858225 $115.00.

Review by
Stefano Caneva, Università di Padova. stefano.caneva@unipd.it
Julien Dechevez, Université de Liège. julien.dechevezsv@gmail.com

This sounds like a wonderfully comprehensive volume. Several articles deal with religion, including Judaism, in the Ptolemaic-era inscriptions.

The volume would go nicely alongside the online Corpus of Ptolemaic Inscriptions (CPI), on which more here. Follow the links there for more on the Ptolemaic dynasty and its importance for the study of ancient Judaism.

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

Advances in Ancient Biblical and Near Eastern Research (new journal)

THE AWOL BLOG: New Open Access Journal: AABNER: Advances in Ancient Biblical and Near Eastern Research (Chuck Jones).

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

Cyril and Methodius Day 2021, round three

OLD CHURCH SLAVONIC WATCH: Thousands commemorate arrival of Saints Cyril and Methodius to Czech lands. bout 15,000 people took part in the annual pilgrimage mass at Velehrad today, marking the arrival of Cyril and Methodius to Moravia in 863 (Czech News Agency via expats.cz).

Saint Cyril (827-869) and Saint Methodius (825-885), known as "the Apostles to the Slavs," were two Greek brothers from Thessalonica. They translated the Holy Scriptures into Old Church Slavonic, and designed a Slavic alphabet called Glagolithic. Its descendant, called Cyrillic, is still used by Slavs in the Orthodox Church.

They came to the Great Moravian empire in 863 AD.

July 5th is the Day of Saints Cyril and Methodius and a national holiday in the Czech Republic.

This celebration took place yesterday, 5 July 2021.

The day is celebrated on 24 May in Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Russia, and on 5 July in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The Roman Catholic Church celebrates their saints' feast day on 14 February. It is celebrated on other days in other churches.

Their work preserved some ancient literature that otherwise would have been lost, including some intriguing Old Testament pseudepigrapha.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on (Old) Church Slavonic, start here and follow the links.

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

Ghost roads on the Madaba Map?

HOLY HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY: Why Roads Aren't Marked on the Madaba Map, the Earliest Map of the Holy Land. In the 6th century, the earliest map depicting the Land of Israel was created – the only map from the first millennium depicting a country in full, but what purpose did it serve? (Pnina Arad, Haaretz).

What we have here is a picture that combines topography and religious tradition, and that eliminates the gaps between past and present. The inscriptions create a narrative that seemed to have two aims: to place the past of the Scriptures in the geographic space of the land, and to conceptualize that land as a sacred space.

PaleoJudaica posts on the Madaba Map are here and links (cf. here).

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

Fossil-shark-tooth collectors in Iron Age Jerusalem?

ARCHAEOLOGICAL ANACHRONISM: The City of David and the sharks' teeth mystery (Goldschmidt Conference, Phys.org).

The teeth were found buried in material used to fill in a basement before conversion to a large Iron-Age house. The house itself was situated in the City of David, one of the oldest parts of Jerusalem, found nowadays in the largely Palestinian village of Silwan. They were found together with fish bones thrown away as food waste 2900 years ago, and other infill material such as pottery. Intriguingly, they were found together with hundreds of bullae—items used to seal confidential letters and packages—implying a possible connection with the administrative or governing class at some point. ...

But the teeth are 80 million years old.

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

Seven real people in the NT

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: 7 “Real” Religious Figures from the New Testament. Extra-biblical evidence confirms the existence of seven religious figures from the New Testament (Megan Sauter). I suspect that most, if not all, of the named people presented in the New Testament as contemporary historical figures were real people. But this BHS essay introduces an article by Lawrence Mykytiuk in the current issue of Biblical Archaeology Review which makes the case for six of them. The seventh is Jesus, who gets added to make it seven, I guess. After all, they're in the Bible.

Unusually, the full BAR article is available for free. Special deal. For you.

For Dr. Mykytiuk's list of externally verified New Testament persons, see here and links. For his list of externally verfied persons mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, see here and links.

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

Belatedly for July 4th

THE HOLY LAND PHOTOS' BLOG: July 4 in USA — Lycian League — A Model for the Founding of the USA (Carl Rasmussen).

QUICK — what was the Lycian League? Not many of us know, but Alexander Hamilton and James Madison knew! ...

There is an indirect connection with the Apostle Paul too.

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Independence Day 2021

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY to my American readers!

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

Fiensy, The Archaeology of Daily Life (Cascade)

NEW BOOK FROM WIPF AND STOCK:

The Archaeology of Daily Life
Ordinary Persons in Late Second Temple Israel

by David A. Fiensy
Imprint: Cascade Books
388 Pages, 7.00 x 10.00 x 0.00 in

Paperback
9781532673078
Published: January 2021
$49.00 / £36.00 / AU$65.00

Hardcover
9781532673085
Published: January 2021
$74.00 / £54.00 / AU$97.00

eBook
9781532673092
Published: January 2021
$49.00 / £35.00 / AU$64.00

Description

Have you ever wondered what it was like to live in the past? Did they experience reality in a much different way than we do now with our media, our fast travel, our fast food, and our leisure? Do you especially think about what it might have been like to have lived in Bible times? What would your childhood have been like? How would you have chosen a marriage partner? How would you probably have made a living? What sort of house would you have lived in? What diseases would have threatened your daily existence? How long would you have lived? How would you have practiced your religion? These are a few of the intriguing questions answered by this study. The book takes you on a journey into the past to view daily life through the lenses of not only texts but archaeological finds. The information from the past is also filtered through ethnographic studies of more contemporaneous, yet traditional, societies in the Middle East. The result is a presentation that may surprise you--even shock you--at times, but always will interest you.

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

Wolfson, ... Philosophical, Kabbalistic, and Ḥasidic Reflections on Temporality (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Suffering Time: Philosophical, Kabbalistic, and Ḥasidic Reflections on Temporality

Series: Supplements to The Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy, Volume: 30

Author: Elliot R. Wolfson

No one theory of time is pursued in these essays, but a major theme that threads them together is Wolfson’s signature idea of the timeswerve as a linear circularity or a circular linearity, expressions that are meant to avoid the conventional split between the two temporal modalities of the line and the circle. The conception of time elicited by Wolfson from a host of philosophical and mystical sources—both Jewish and non-Jewish—buttresses the contention that it is precisely structural invariability that engenders interpretive variation. This hermeneutical axiom is justified, in turn, by the presumption regarding the cadence of time as the constant return of what has always been what is yet to be. The telling of time wells forth from the time of telling. One cannot speak of the being of time, consequently, except from the standpoint of the time of being, nor of the time of being except from the standpoint of the being of time.

Prices from (excl. VAT): €160.00 / $192.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-44934-3
Publication Date: 25 May 2021
Copyright Date: 01 Jan 2021

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-44933-6
Publication Date: 03 Jun 2021
Copyright Date: 01 Jan 2021

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

Bezzel & Kratz (eds.) David in the Desert (De Gruyter)

NEW BOOK FROM DE GRUYTER:

David in the Desert
Tradition and Redaction in the “History of David’s Rise"

In: Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 514
Edited by: Hannes Bezzel and Reinhard G. Kratz
De Gruyter | 2021
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110606164

About this book

In the course of the last two decades, both the historical reconstruction of the Iron I–Iron IIA period in Israel and Judah and the literary-historical reconstruction of the Books of Samuel have undergone major changes. With respect to the quest for the “historical David”, terms like “empire” or “Großreich” have been set aside in favor of designations like “mercenary” or “hapiru leader”, corresponding to the image of the son of Jesse presented in I Sam. At the same time, the literary-historical classification of these chapters has itself become a matter of considerable discussion. As Leonhard Rost’s theory of a source containing a “History of David’s Rise” continues to lose support, it becomes necessary to pose the question once again: Are we dealing with a once independent ‘story of David’ embracing both the HDR and the “succession narrative” are there several independent versions of an HDR to be detected, or do I Sam 16–II Sam 5* constitute a redactional bridge between older traditions about Saul on the one hand and David on the other? In either case, what parts of the material in I Sam 16-II Sam 5 are based on ancient traditions, and may therefore serve as a source for any tentative historical reconstruction? The participants in the 2018 symposium at Jena whose essays are collected in this volume engage these questions from different redaction-critical and archaeological perspectives. Together, they provide an overview of contemporary historical research on the book of First Samuel.

Hardcover £91.00

Formats

eBook
Published: May 10, 2021
ISBN: 9783110606164

Hardcover
Published: May 24, 2021
ISBN: 9783110604061

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The Cambridge Companion to the Apostolic Fathers (CUP)

NEW BOOK FROM CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

The Cambridge Companion to the Apostolic Fathers

Part of Cambridge Companions to Religion

EDITORS:
Michael F. Bird, Ridley College, Melbourne
Scott Harrower, Ridley College, Melbourne
DATE PUBLISHED: June 2021
AVAILABILITY: Available
FORMAT: Paperback [also hardback & eBook]
ISBN: 9781108454452

£ 26.99
Paperback

Description

The Cambridge Companion to the Apostolic Fathers offers an informative introduction to the extant body of Christian texts that existed beside and after the New Testament known to us as the apostolic fathers. Featuring cutting-edge research by leading scholars, it explores how the early Church expanded and evolved over the course of the first and second centuries as evidenced by its textual history. The volume includes thematic essays on imperial context, the relationship between Christianity and Judaism, the growth and diversification of the early church, influences and intertextuality, and female leaders in the early church. The Companion contains ground-breaking essays on the individual texts with specific attention given to debates of authorship, authenticity, dating, and theological texture. The Companion will serve as an essential resource for instructors and students of the first two centuries of Christianity.

• A cutting edge, thematic introduction to the Apostolic Fathers, a forgotten era in the history of the early church
• Integrates New Testament studies and the study of early Christianity (Patristics)
• Contains ground-breaking essays on the individual texts with specific attention given to debates of authorship, authenticity, dating, and theological texture

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

Stefan Reif on his autobiography

INTERVIEW: The scholar who defied odds to unveil the treasures of the Cairo Genizah - Book Review. Stefan Reif brings post-World War II Edinburgh to life, conveying in indelible verbal images that are unstintingly honest what conditions were like in that bygone era for a child of Jewish immigrants (YAKIR FELDMAN, Jerusalem Post).

His book is Bouncing Back – and Forward. From Immigrant Household to Cambridge Fellowship (Vallentine Mitchell, 2021).

Some PaleoJudaica posts on Professor Reif and his long career directing Cambridge University's Taylor-Schechter Genizah Collection are here, here, here, here, here, and here.

For many, many posts on the Cairo Geniza and its priceless hoard of manuscripts, start here and follow the links.

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

Useful info for time-traveling bibliophiles

VARIANT READINGS: Buying Books in Rome circa 86 CE. With the help of Martial, Brent Nongbri has located not one, but two bookshops in first-century Rome. He has maps and everything.

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

Atonement without blood?

PROF. MARC ZVI BRETTLER, PROF. AMY-JILL LEVINE: Is Atonement Possible Without Blood? A Jewish-Christian Divide (TheTorah.com).

Blood has a significant role in many biblical stories and rituals, most prominently in the atonement sacrifices of Leviticus. With the destruction of the Temple and the loss of sacrifices, Judaism and Christianity took very different paths to achieving atonement.

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

Biblical Studies Carnival 184

ZWINGLIUS REDIVIVUS: It’s The ‘Year is Half Over and You Haven’t Done Much With it Yet’ Biblical Studies Carnival (Jim West). Thanks for the endorsement, Jim.

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

Preview of Ahuvia, On My Right Michael, On My Left Gabriel

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Publication Preview | On My Right Michael, On My Left Gabriel.

Mika Ahuvia, On My Right Michael, On My Left Gabriel: Angels in Ancient Jewish Culture. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2021.

Excerpt:

We need not look to “foreign influence” to make sense of Jewish belief in angels—there is plenty of biblical material on angels for Jews to draw on. That said, angels became very popular among the inhabitants of the Mediterranean in late antiquity, and Jewish thinkers had to find distinctively Jewish ways of conceptualizing them. My research shows that Jewish poets, practitioners, mystics, and rabbis rose to the challenge.

Cross-file under New Book.

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Stroumsa, The Idea of Semitic Monotheism (OUP)

NEW BOOK FROM OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS:

The Idea of Semitic Monotheism

The Rise and Fall of a Scholarly Myth

Guy G. Stroumsa

Description

The Idea of Semitic Monotheism examines some major aspects of the scholarly study of religion in the long nineteenth century—from the Enlightenment to the First World War. It aims to understand the new status of Judaism and Islam in the formative period of the new discipline. Guy G. Stroumsa focuses on the concept of Semitic monotheism, a concept developed by Ernest Renan around the mid-nineteenth century on the basis of the postulated and highly problematic contradistinction between Aryan and Semitic families of peoples, cultures, and religions. This contradistinction grew from the Western discovery of Sanskrit and its relationship with European languages, at the time of the Enlightenment and Romanticism. Together with the rise of scholarly Orientalism, this discovery offered new perspectives on the East, as a consequence of which the Near East was demoted from its traditional status as the locus of the Biblical revelations.

This innovative work studies a central issue in the modern study of religion. Doing so, however, it emphasizes the new dualistic taxonomy of religions had major consequences and sheds new light on the roots of European attitudes to Jews and Muslims in the twentieth century, up to the present day.

£75.00

Hardback
Published: 20 May 2021
320 Pages
216x138mm
ISBN: 9780192898685

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Yoo & Watts, Cosmologies of Pure Realms and the Rhetoric of Pollution (Routledge)

NEW BOOK FROM ROUTLEDGE:

Cosmologies of Pure Realms and the Rhetoric of Pollution

By Yohan Yoo, James W. Watts

Copyright Year 2021

Hardback £120.00

eBook £33.29

ISBN 9780367712051 Published May 31, 2021 by Routledge 178 Pages

Book Description

This collaboration between two scholars from different fields of religious studies draws on three comparative data sets to develop a new theory of purity and pollution in religion, arguing that a culture’s beliefs about cosmological realms shapes its pollution ideas and its purification practices.

The authors of this study refine Mary Douglas’ foundational theory of pollution as "matter out of place," using a comparative approach to make the case that a culture’s cosmology designates which materials in which places constitute pollution. By bringing together a historical comparison of Ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean religions, an ethnographic study of indigenous shamanism on Jeju Island, Korea, and the reception history of biblical rhetoric about pollution in Jewish and Christian cultures, the authors show that a cosmological account of purity works effectively across multiple disparate religious and cultural contexts. They conclude that cosmologies reinforce fears of pollution, and also that embodied experiences of purification help generate cosmological ideas.

Providing an innovative insight into a key topic of ritual studies, this book will be of vital interest to scholars and graduate students in religion, biblical studies, and anthropology.

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Nelson (trans.), Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai (JPS 2006)

NOTABLE BOOK FROM THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY:

Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai

Translated and explicated by W. David Nelson
Edward E. Elson Classic Series
1100 pages

Hardcover
November 2006
978-0-8276-0799-6
$75.00

About the Book

A timeless collection of midrash never before available in English.

The Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai is a collection of classical midrashic interpretation of the biblical Book of Exodus. Lost for centuries, the text was reconstructed and recovered in the 19th and 20th centuries by both German and Israeli scholars from a variety of source materials, including medieval manuscripts of the text and midrashic anthologies. As one of the first collections of rabbinic biblical interpretation, the Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai is an indispensable source for understanding the history, beliefs, and practices of the earliest rabbis. This edition, translated and explicated for the first time in English by W. David Nelson, is The Jewish Publication Society’s latest contribution to making ancient Jewish literature accessible to modern readers. A critical introduction provides the reader with a firm grounding in the historical setting of the text, as well as its source material, reconstruction, subject matter, and significance for understanding the history of Judaism. Set in a modern, readable typeface, the Hebrew text faces the English translation with the author’s annotation beneath. Indexes include scriptural verse citations and rabbinic sages named in the text.

Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai (Yochai) is the traditional (pseudepigraphic) author of the Zohar, the premier book of Jewish mysticisim.

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The four tiers of Paul

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: The Quest for the Historical Paul. James Tabor considers Biblical and external accounts of the apostle.

Baur put his finger squarely on the problem: There are four different “Pauls” in the New Testament, not one, and each is quite distinct from the others. New Testament scholars today are generally agreed on this point.

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The masculinities of Paul

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Becoming a Man: The Apostle Paul and Masculinity (Grace Emmett).

Grace Emmett, “Becoming a Man: Un/Manly Self-Presentation in the Pauline Epistles.” PhD diss., King’s College London, 2021.

... This continual process of reinterpreting Paul shows that in some ways he is also a man forever in the process of becoming.

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Temple sites in Iron Age Transjordan

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY: Temples and Cult Places in Iron Age Transjordan (Margreet L. Steiner).

But what was the situation across the River Jordan, where the kingdoms of Ammon, Moab and Edom were flourishing? Many fewer excavations have taken place there than in ancient Israel. Nonetheless several cultic complexes have been unearthed: three in the Jordan Valley (part of ancient Ammon), four in Moab, and one in Edom. What do these tell us about cult practices among Israel and Judah’s rivals?

For more on the Balaam inscription from Tel Deir 'Alla (Deir Alla), see here and links.

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Scrolling

VARIANT READINGS: The Vocabulary of Reading a Papyrus Roll (Brent Nongbri). It's harder than you'd think.

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Review of NICOT Commentary on Nahum, Habakkuk, & Zephaniah

READING ACTS: Thomas Renz, The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (NICOT) (Phil Long).

Renz, Thomas. The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah. NICOT; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2021. xxxix+703 pp. Hb; $56.00.

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The Society for Late Antiquity

THE AWOL BLOG: Society for Late Antiquity. With lots of print and online resources.

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

Tel Agol and Amos' earthquake

I WAS EXPECTING AN EARTH-SHATTERING KABOOM: Israel’s Earthquake, 8th Century B.C.E. (Nurit Feig, TheTorah.com).

Amos and Zechariah mention an earthquake in the time of King Uzziah. Its effects were uncovered in the excavations at Tel Agol in the Jezreel Valley: It turned the city, fortified for centuries to defend against the Assyrian threat, into a poor squatter town that could not recover.

For more on the archaeology of Amos' earthquake, see here.

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

The ancient coin market

NUMISMATICS: Four Reasons the Ancient Coin Market is Complicated (Tyler Rossi, CoinWeek). You may or may not be interested in the headline topic. But I note the article because it includes nice photos of coins of kings mentioned in the Bible: Alexander the Great (Daniel 8:5, 21 [the he-goat from the west], 11:3) and Antiochus III the Great (Daniel 11:10-19, the king of the north).

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Heller, Shul Going (Wipf & Stock)

RECENT BOOK FROM WIFP AND STOCK:

Shul Going
2500 Years of Impressions and Reflections on Visits to the Synagogue

by Charles Heller
Imprint: Resource Publications
178 Pages, 5.00 x 8.00 x 0.00 in

Paperback
9781532667152
Published: July 2019
$23.00 / £18.00 / AU$32.00

eBook
9781532667176
Published: July 2019
$23.00 / £17.00 / AU$34.00

Hardcover
9781532667169
Published: July 2019
$53.00 / £40.00 / AU$72.00

DESCRIPTION

Covering 2500 years, here are the impressions of synagogue worshipers and visitors, Jews and non-Jews, told in their own words, from Jeremiah to George Washington, Liszt, and Yossele Rosenblatt, from the slums of Rio to the shtetls of Ukraine to the temple in Jerusalem. Here is the Jewish experience--tragic, comic, and inspiring by turns.

The term "synagogue" is used pretty loosely for the earliest period. Nevertheless the book collects a good array of primary texts.

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Teigen, A Manichaean Church at Kellis (Brill, open access)

NEW OPEN-ACCESS BOOK FROM BRILL:

A Manichaean Church at Kellis

Series: Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies, Volume: 100

Author: Håkon Fiane Teigen

This volume offers a comprehensive account of a Manichaean community in fourth-century Roman Egypt. The study analyses papyrological material from Kellis, a village in Egypt’s Dakhleh Oasis, and their implications for Manichaeism as a socio-religious movement.

Drawing on social network theory and engaging with current trends in the study of lived ancient religion, Teigen explores how lay families at Kellis cohered as a religious community. Whereas recent scholarship has seen the laity here as largely detached from distinctively Manichaean traditions, he argues that the papyri in fac reveal a community immersed in Manichaean ideas and practices. The book thereby shows how new religious identities were deeply entangled in everyday social life in late antiquity.

Prices from (excl. VAT): €125.00 / $151.00 Hardback

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-45977-9
Publication Date: 08 Jun 2021
Copyright Date: 01 Jan 2021

Hardback
Availability: Not Yet Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-45976-2
Publication Date: 10 Jun 2021
Copyright Date: 01 Jan 2021

Cross-file under Manichean Watch (Manichaean Watch) and Coptic Watch. I noted a book on the documentary texts from Kellis here and a PhD dissertation on the the Manichaeans of Kellis here.

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Nissinen, Reste altorientalischen Prophetentums in der Bibel (De Gruyter)

NEW BOOK FROM DE GRUYTER (IN GERMAN):

Martti Nissinen

Reste altorientalischen Prophetentums in der Bibel
Remnants of Ancient Near Eastern Prophethood in the Bible

In: Julius-Wellhausen-Vorlesung, 9
De Gruyter | 2021
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110748253

About this book

Current research has revealed that biblical prophecy was part of Ancient Near Eastern prophecy. The properties typical of Ancient Near Eastern and Eastern Mediterranean prophecy are clear to discern in the Old and even in the New Testament. This includes, for instance, the concept of the word of God, the writing down of prophecy and its political significance, the temple as the "spiritual home," gender inclusivity, and prophetic ecstasy.

Paperback £18.00

Formats

eBook
Published: June 8, 2021
ISBN: 9783110748253

Paperback
Published: June 8, 2021
ISBN: 9783110747188

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Römer et al. (eds.), The Joseph Story between Egypt and Israel (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: The Joseph Story between Egypt and Israel. Edited by Thomas Römer, Konrad Schmid, and Axel Bühler 2021. VI, 178 pages. Archaeology and Bible 5. 64,00 € including VAT. sewn paper ISBN 978-3-16-160153-8.

Published in English.
Within the context of the Torah, the Joseph story can be read as a transition that explains why Jacob and his family came to Egypt. However, if one looks at other texts of the Hebrew Bible, there is no mention of the Joseph story; instead, the arrival of the Israelites is said to be the result of the decision of a »father« or of »fathers« to go down do Egypt. Indeed, there are very few references to Joseph at all in the whole Hebrew Bible. Apparently, the Joseph story is not necessary for explaining why the Israelites found themselves in Egypt. The question therefore arises: Why was this story written, when, and for what audience?
This volume offers an overview of the current discussion on the origins, composition, and historical contexts behind the Joseph narrative. There is a tendency to date the story (or its original version) to the Persian period, but this volume includes divergent voices about this issue. The volume also shows that scholarly discussion about the historical location of the Joseph story requires to bring together Egyptologists and biblical scholars.

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Josephus and the standards

LAUDATOR TEMPORIS ACTI: Standards (Michael Gilleland). All the things about ancient Roman military standards (i.e., banners).

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Yip, Ezekiel's Message of Hope and Restoration (De Gruyter)

NEW BOOK FROM DE GRUYTER:

Hei Yin Yip

Ezekiel's Message of Hope and Restoration
Redaction-Critical Study of Ezekiel 1–7

In: Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 532
De Gruyter | 2021
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110711578

About this book

The first twenty-four chapters of the book of Ezekiel are characterised by vehement declarations of judgement. This observation leaves the impression that Ezekiel 1–7 is devoid of references to hope and restoration. However, there is a redactional stratum in this section that supplemented the texts with material that conveys restoration and hope for the future.

In Ezekiel 1–7, many of these additions focus on priestly topics. The motif of restoration in the redactional material of Ezekiel 3–5 is expressed by the reinstatement of Ezekiel in his priestly role. This editorial emphasis on Ezekiel as priest in the redactional material suggests that the redaction was influenced by Zechariah 3, a text that depicts the reinstitution of the exiled Zadokite priesthood. Moreover, the redactional material of Ezekiel 6-7 drew inspiration from the Law of the Temple in Ezekiel 43-46, as the redactors sought to enhance Ezekiel’s priestly role.

The study provides new insights into how redactors, who may have been associated with the Zadokite priesthood, inserted the message of hope and restoration into the literary unit Ezekiel 1-7 during the post-exilic period.Hardcover £79.00

Formats

eBook
Published: April 19, 2021
ISBN: 9783110711578

Hardcover
Published: April 19, 2021
ISBN: 9783110711264

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Starr, Toward a History of Jewish Thought: The Soul, Resurrection, and the Afterlife (Wipf & Stock)

RECENT BOOK FROM WIPF AND STOCK:

Toward a History of Jewish Thought
The Soul, Resurrection, and the Afterlife

by Zachary Alan Starr
Imprint: Wipf and Stock
456 Pages, 7.00 x 10.00 x 0.00 in

Paperback
9781532693052
Published: March 2020
$46.00 / £35.00 / AU$63.00

eBook
9781532693076
Published: March 2020
$46.00 / £33.00 / AU$71.00

Hardcover
9781532693069
Published: March 2020
$65.00 / £49.00 / AU$88.00

DESCRIPTION

The work is a history of Jewish beliefs regarding the concept of the soul, the idea of resurrection, and the nature of the afterlife. The work describes these beliefs, accounts for the origin of these beliefs, discusses the ways in which these beliefs have evolved, and explains why the many changes in belief have occurred. Views about the soul, resurrection, and the afterlife are related to other Jewish views and to broad movements in Jewish thought; and Jewish intellectual history is placed within the context of the history of Western thought in general. That history begins with the biblical period and extends to the present time.

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Mystical creation theology

PROF. RABBI ARTHUR GREEN: Making Kiddush: Mysticism in the Age of Science (TheTorah.com).

The Torah describes God creating through speech, midrash mores specifically understands creation through the letters of the aleph-bet, and the kabbalists envision it as a series of divine emanations, contractions, and primal pairings. What meaning can we find in these ancient creation myths in light of evolution?

Whatever you make of the modern mystical panentheism, the history of the midrashic and kabbalistic theology of creation is fascinating.

Arthur Green has written a great deal on Jewish mysticism and mystical theology. For an article by him on the Zohar, see here.

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Russia's restorations of Palmyra

PALMYRA WATCH: Russia gains foothold in Syria’s Palmyra through archaeological restoration. Russia has begun a project to rehabilitate Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra in its latest efforts to gain a foothold in the country’s vital sectors (Mohammed Hardan, Al-Monitor).

As you can guess from the headline, the author is concerned about the geopolitical implications of Russia's involvment. I have no view about this. The question is outside my expertise. But I do think it's good news that somebody is concerned about the restoration of Palmyra.

For many posts on the ancient metropolis of Palmyra, its history and archaeology, the Aramaic dialect once spoken there (Palmyrene), and the city's tragic reversals of fortune, now trending for the better, start here and follow the links.

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

Anabasis on the Arkasid world

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: The Arsakid World (Anabasis, 10).

Volume 10 (2019) of Anabasis. Studia Classica et Orientalia is now out. This is a special volume, entitled “The Arsakid World: Studies on the History and Culture of Western and Central Asia” edited by Marek Jan Olbrycht and Jeffrey D. Lerner.

Follow the link for a link to the journal and the TOC of the volume.

For PaleoJudaica posts on Parthia and the ancient Parthians and Arcasids (Arkasids), see here and links (cf. here, here, and here).

In addition to its general background interest for PaleoJudaica, this volume of Anabasis has a specific biblical connection. A bonus point if you can find it in the TOC.

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

Lightstone, In the Seat of Moses (Cascade)

RECENT BOOK FROM WIPF AND STOCK (CASCADE):

In the Seat of Moses
An Introductory Guide to Early Rabbinic Legal Rhetoric and Literary Conventions

Westar Studies

by Jack N. Lightstone
Imprint: Cascade Books
478 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 x 0.00 in

Paperback
9781532659010
Published: August 2020
$55.00 / £42.00 / AU$75.00

Hardcover
9781532659027
Published: August 2020
$80.00 / £60.00 / AU$109.00

eBook
9781532659034v Published: August 2020
$55.00 / £39.00 / AU$77.00

DESCRIPTION

In the Seat of Moses offers readers a unique, frank, and penetrating analysis of the rise of rabbinic Judaism in the late Roman period. Over time and through masterly rhetorical strategy, rabbinic writings in post-temple Judaism come to occupy an authoritarian place within a pluralistic tradition. Slowly, the rabbis occupy the seat of Moses, and Lightstone introduces readers to this process, to the most significant texts, to the rhetorical styles and appeals to authority, and even to how authority came to be authority. As a seasoned and honest scholar, Lightstone achieves his goal of introducing novice readers to the often obscure world of rabbinic literary conventions with astounding success. This book is an excellent contribution to the Westar Studies series focused on religious literacy.

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The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures

THE AWOL BLOG: Open Access Journal: Journal of Hebrew Scriptures. I mention this journal from time to time. This is a good excuse to do so again.

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Cambridge lectures on ancient Jerusalem

BIBLE PLACES BLOG: Cambridge Symposium Lectures Online (Todd Bolen).

A number of lectures related to the archaeology of Jerusalem have now been posted from the Cambridge Symposium held in March 2019.

The official title of the gathering was “The Ancient City of David: Recent Archaeological Exploration of Jerusalem. An Academic Symposium co-organized by Megalim: The City of David Institute and Von Hugel Institute of St. Edmund’s College, Cambridge.”

I’ve organized the available recordings in chronological order by topic. The lectures range in length from 13 to 45 minutes, with most approximately 25 minutes.

The lectures and links follow. They cover topics dating from the Bronze Age to after the first Roman destruction.

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Review of Sokol, The Snake at the Mouth of the Cave (Koren)

TALMUD WATCH:: Miraculous Tales of Ancient Judaism Dissected (By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin, San Diego Jewish World).

The title of Sokol’s book, The Snake at the Mouth of the Cave, is the title of one of eight tales and is only one of several strange events in that tale. The stories focus on many human problems: improper behavior by pious men, interpersonal conflict, alienation, pain, triumph, success, failure, love, fear, anger, redemption, yearnings, and more. He analyzes all of the accounts in a rational eye-opening manner. He tells us the sources of each of them and gives us an enlightening introduction to each, including the biography of the main character and the conditions of the time he lived.

Cross-file under New Book:

Rabbi Dr. Moshe Sokol, The Snake at the Mouth of the Cave (Jerusalem: Koren, 2021) $24.95,ISBN: 9781592645473

Description

The Talmud is well known for its complex legal discussions and halakhic discourse, yet the Talmud also contains a large amount of aggada, non-halalkhic teachings about theology, ethics, spirituality, psychology, health, and many other topics, interspersed throughout the text. This fascinating material has not merited the same amount of scholarly attention over the centuries as has the halakhic portion, and its riches are waiting to be mined.
The Snake at the Mouth of the Cave by Rabbi Dr. Moshe Sokol offers eye-opening studies of eight aggadic stories about sages. These narratives contain dramatic explorations of human nature revolving around a common theme: the cost of living a deeply principled life, and the complex ways in which human nature, past experiences, and future hopes shape difficult moral choices. Rabbi Sokol sheds light on these stories, drawing on classical rabbinic commentaries, contemporary scholarship, and insights from such diverse fields as psychology, literature, cultural studies, philosophy, history, and more.
The Talmud has endured for millennia, and despite predictions to the contrary, the study of Talmud flourishes. The talmudic conversation will continue long into the future, and aggadic narratives too, properly understood, have much to teach future generations.

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Liebman, The Evolution of Love (Wipf & Stock)

NEW BOOK FROM WIPF AND STOCK:

The Evolution of Love
Theology and Morality in Ancient Judaism

by Sheldon W. Liebman

Imprint: Wipf and Stock
518 Pages, 7.00 x 10.00 x 1.00 in

Paperback
9781725274716
Published: April 2021
$55.00 / £41.00 / AU$73.00

Hardcover
9781725274723
Published: April 2021
$75.00 / £55.00 / AU$99.00

eBook
9781725274730
Published: April 2021
$55.00 / £39.00 / AU$71.00

DESCRIPTION

This book, an examination of Judaism as it evolved over a period of approximately 1,500 years, is an analysis of the Hebrew Bible and other ancient Jewish writings, with special emphasis on theology and morality. By the middle of the first millennium, with the writing of Deuteronomy, the Psalms, and the works of the prophets, Judaism had embraced the idea that God is a compassionate father; that His relationship with His people is based on love rather than fear; and that His response to their commission of sins is based on the assumption that they are capable of repentance and worthy of forgiveness. In the final stage of its development--culminating in the first and second centuries AD--Judaism was understood to require its adherents to enact the will of God--specifically, to establish a community based on political, economic, and social laws that enforce the principles of justice and mercy. And that process came to be seen as inevitably dependent on human agency--the need for human beings to fulfill God's commandments. In Judaism, loving neighbors (and strangers) came to be understood as the principal--and, for many Jews, the only--way of loving God.

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A new inscription of Pharaoh Hophra

EGYPTIAN EPIGRAPHY: Biblical-era Egyptian stele discovered by farmer. The stele is accredited to the reign of the pharaoh Apries and may discuss a military campaign of his. One campaign saw him try to fight the Babylonians as they sought to destroy the First Temple (Aaron Reich, Jerusalem Post).

The pharaoh Apries, also known as Wahibre Haaibre and identified in the Bible as Hophra, was the fourth ruler in the 26th dynasty.

During his reign, Apries had conflicts in the Levant, east of Egypt. In one such occasion, he led a campaign to Jerusalem to defend it from the Babylonian Empire's Nebuchadnezzar II. This was unsuccessful, however, and the Babylonians would eventually breach Jerusalem and destroy much of the city, including the First Temple. These events were described in the biblical Book of Jeremiah.

For the biblical references to Apries/Hophra, see Jeremiah 37:3-11, 44:29-30, 46:13-17.

Here's a fun fact that I don't think anyone else has noticed in this connection. Jeremiah's oracle against this Pharaoh (which came true) was addressed to two messengers sent by King Zedekiah. One of them was Jehucal (Yehukhal) son of Shelemiah, whose bulla was discovered by the late Eilat Mazar in her City of David excavation.

The new Apries/Hophra inscription is not yet deciphered. It would be cool if it shed light on his campaign against the Babylonians at Jerusalem.

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Witte et al. (eds.), Torah, Temple, Land (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Torah, Temple, Land. Constructions of Judaism in Antiquity. Edited by Markus Witte, Jens Schröter, and Verena M. Lepper. 2021. VII, 316 pages. Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 184. 134,00 € including VAT. cloth ISBN 978-3-16-159853-1.

Published in English.
The present volume contains the proceedings of a conference held in October 2018 at Humboldt University Berlin. The articles reflect the different categories of describing Judaism of the Second Temple Period in view of their sustainability in characterising an ancient religious community in different historical situations and discuss relevant (re)constructions of ancient Judaism in the history of scholarship. Since the Persian period, ancient Judaism existed in a world which was in constant flux regarding its political, social, and religious contexts. Consequently, Judaism was subject to permanent processes of change in its self-perception as well as its external perception. In all complexity, however, the Torah, the Temple(s) as a place where heaven meets the earth, and the 'holy' or 'promised' land as the dwelling place of God's people can be regarded as institutions to which all kinds of Judaism in the Babylonian and Egyptian dispora as well in Israel/Palestine were related in some way or another.

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Blackpool's "Chariots of the Gods" theme park canceled

Blackpool project drops Chariots of the Gods. There will not be a Chariots of the Gods theme park within the new Blackpool Central project in England after all (Intergame).

Not to worry: The Chariots of the Gods theme park in Switzerland has had its ups and downs, but it abides.

For PaleoJudaica posts on Erich Von Däniken, his goofy ideas about ancient aliens, and a surprise about his influence, see here and links (cf. here). Mr. Von Däniken is still alive and, as far as I know, well. He was still giving public lectures until the pandemic shut them down in 2020.

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The Conversation: McGrath on the Mandeans

MANDEAN (MANDAEAN) WATCH: This tiny minority of Iraqis follows an ancient Gnostic religion – and there's a chance they could be your neighbors too. (James F. McGrath, Professor of New Testament Language and Literature, Butler University, Butler University; Yahoo rpt. from The Conversation).

Professor McGrath is an expert on the Mandeans and a blogger (at Religion Prof) well known to PaleoJudaica readers. He comments on the article, with links, here.

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

More Nero reviews

THE REVIEWS OF THE NERO EXHIBITION AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM KEEP COMING IN. Here are two more. Both noted courtesy of Rogue Classicism.

What to Make of Nero? An exhibition takes on the notorious Roman emperor, from gleaming marble to roaring flames (Michael Glover, Hyperalleric). Good commentary on some of the artifacts, but tries too hard to sound clever.

Was Nero A Hero? Seeking To Rehabilitate The Reviled Roman Emperor, The British Museum Exposes The Politics Of Duplicity (Jonathan Keats, Forbes).

All of that said, Nero’s immorality and extravagance were almost pedestrian by Roman imperial standards. The most interesting aspect of the British Museum exhibit is to show how the facts were spun, why they were exaggerated, how the exaggerations gained traction, and why the image has persisted with sufficient intensity for Nero to be one of the few ancient rulers that still have name recognition.

Good insights on how the exhibition implicity illuminates our own media and social-media culture.

It's remarkable that (as far as I recall) none of the reviews of this exhibition even question Suetonius' dubious report of Nero's suicide or ask whether one of the imposter Neros could have been Nero himself. More on that here.

Nero may well have killed himself. All of the Nero claimants may well have been imposters. But our sources are at the tabloid level of credibility. I make no assumptions about what did or did not happen.

Previous posts on the BM's Nero Exhibition are here and links.

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Staples, The Idea of Israel in Second Temple Judaism (CUP)

NEW BOOK FROM CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

The Idea of Israel in Second Temple Judaism
A New Theory of People, Exile, and Israelite Identity

AUTHOR: Jason A. Staples, North Carolina State University, Raleigh
DATE PUBLISHED: May 2021
AVAILABILITY: In stock
FORMAT: Hardback
ISBN: 9781108842860

£ 29.99
Hardback

Description

In this book, Jason A. Staples proposes a new paradigm for how the biblical concept of Israel developed in Early Judaism and how that concept impacted Jewish apocalyptic hopes for restoration after the Babylonian Exile. Challenging conventional assumptions about Israelite identity in antiquity, his argument is based on a close analysis of a vast corpus of biblical and other early Jewish literature and material evidence. Staples demonstrates that continued aspirations for Israel's restoration in the context of diaspora and imperial domination remained central to Jewish conceptions of Israelite identity throughout the final centuries before Christianity and even into the early part of the Common Era. He also shows that Israelite identity was more diverse in antiquity than is typically appreciated in modern scholarship. His book lays the groundwork for a better understanding of the so-called 'parting of the ways' between Judaism and Christianity and how earliest Christianity itself grew out of hopes for Israel's restoration.

• Traces the development of the concept of 'Israel' from the Bible into the first century CE
• Offers a new paradigm for understanding the relationship between the terms 'Israelite' and 'Jew' in antiquity, explaining the connection between that terminology and the apocalyptic restoration hopes of many Jews in the Second Temple period
• Provides a close reading of a vast corpus of biblical and other early Jewish texts, integrating data and questions typically isolated or treated differently across the fields of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, New Testament, Jewish Apocrypha/Pseudepigrapha, Philo, Josephus, Dead Sea Scrolls, and history of Judaism

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There was a Jewish Sasanian queen?

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: Exilarchal Propaganda and Zoroastrians in Tenth- to Eleventh-Century Baghdad. Notice of an article by Simcha Gross in the current issue of the Journal of the American Oriental Society. Everything but the abstract and the first page of the article are behind a subscription wall.

The text in question dates to the tenth or eleventh century, but it claims to recount events from late antiquity.

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Berkson & Fisch (trans.), Pirke Avot (JPS 2010)

NOTABLE BOOK FROM THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY:

Pirke Avot
Timeless Wisdom for Modern Life

William Berkson
Translated by William Berkson and Menachem Fisch
240 pages

Paperback October 2010
978-0-8276-0917-4
$30.00

About the Book

The great Jewish ethical tradition through a contemporary lens

In this new edition of the well-known Jewish classic, Berkson helps us see that Pirke Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) is more than just a fundamental religious text; it is also a compelling, contemporary ethical guide.

Berkson looks at the individual sayings, or mishnayot, through the interpretations of the great Jewish commentators and also within the broader context of Western thought—through views found in the Bible, the ancient Greeks, the Enlightenment, Buddhism, Confucianism, and American culture today.

The book’s most important and innovative feature is its exploration of the relationship between the beliefs of the ancient Sages and modern psychology, particularly the key to good relationships: ethical conduct. The result is a book that goes far beyond the plain meaning of the sayings to explore their ethical, psychological, and religious significance for us today.

Included are an extensive index and the full text of Pirke Avot in English and Hebrew on facing pages.

Happy summer! The news is very quiet. So in addition to noting new books, I am highlighting older books that I think you may find interesting.

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

A (former) demoniac but not a prostitute and not Jesus' wife

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Was Mary Magdalene Wife of Jesus? Was Mary Magdalene a Prostitute? How did her reputation evolve “from saint to sinner”?. We haven't gone over this ground for awhile, so let's do it again. The answer to the first question is that we have no evidence that she and Jesus were married. The answer to the second is the idea that she was a prostitute came from some much later unfounded inferences about Mary and stories about anonymous women in the Gospels. But Luke (8:2) does say that she had seven demons cast out of her, so that's in the Bible.

This BHD post includes the full text of a 2005 Bible Review article by Birger Pearson.

Many years ago I discussed the question of whether Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. My review of the The Da Vinci Code book is here and of the rather better movie is here. For many, many posts on the infamous Gospel of Jesus' Wife forgery, start here and follow the links. For more on the erroneous idea that the Gospels present Mary as a prostitute, see here and here.

There are many other PaleoJudaica posts on Mary Magdale in the archives. You can find them with the blog's search engine.

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

The Orion Center Newsletter

THE AWOL BLOG: Open Access Journal: The Orion Center Newsletter. I am pleased to see that the Newsletter page is now up to date, including the December 2020 Newsletter. I try to keep up with the links, but they tend to come well after the Newsletter is circulated by e-mail, so I sometimes lose track.

For more on the Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literatures, see here.

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Volunteer to be a Scribe of the Cairo Geniza

CAIRO GENIZA WATCH: UNCOVERING THE SECRETS OF THE EGYPTIAN GENIZA WITH CITIZEN SCIENCE (Science Connected Magazine).

To get started with the project, all volunteers need to do is choose one of our active workflows. Each workflow has a Tutorial and Field Guide providing information on how to get involved. Anyone can participate in the project, even if they have no knowledge of the Hebrew and Arabic language. Since 2017, over 9,500 volunteers have sorted more than 50,000 fragments into Hebrew and Arabic script, started discussions about what they’ve seen and learned and done the important work of transcribing ancient texts.

For PaleoJudaica Posts on the multi-institution Scribes of the Cairo Geniza Project, see here and links. And for many, many other posts on the Cairo Geniza and its manuscripts, start here and follow the links.

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

A gold coin hoard and the Persian conquest of Jerusalem

NUMISMATICS: Ancient Gold Coin Hoard Pinpoints Persian Destruction of Jerusalem (David Hendin, CoinWeek).

The Givati hoard is singularly homogeneous, and [IAA senior numismatist Gabriella] Bijovsky concludes that “during this time (608-615 CE), and especially after the capture of Antioch by the Persians in 611 and until 613, the presence of a Byzantine military garrison in Jerusalem could explain the operation of a temporary mint in order to pay the troops and emphasize Byzantine sovereignty over the city… Given the fact that all Antioch surrendered to the Persians in 610, Emesa and Apamea in 611, and Damascus in 613, Jerusalem remained the only major Byzantine stronghold in the region capable of coin production.”

This is the first I recall hearing about this coin hoard. For PaleoJudaica posts about other discoveries at the Givati (Giv'ati) Parking Lot Excavation, see here and links.

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Kutash, Goddesses in Myth and Cultural Memory (Bloomsbury)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY:

Goddesses in Myth and Cultural Memory

By: Emilie Kutash

Published: 05-20-2021
Format: Hardback
Edition: 1st
Extent: 256
ISBN: 9780567697394
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Dimensions: 6 1/8" x 9 1/4"
List price: $115.00
Online price: $103.50
Save $11.50 (10%)

Hardback
$103.50

EPUB/MOBI eBook (Watermarked)
$82.80

PDF eBook (Watermarked)
$82.80

About Goddesses in Myth and Cultural Memory

How have the goddesses of ancient myth survived, prevalent even now as literary and cultural icons? How do allegory, symbolic interpretation, and political context transform the goddess from her regional and individual identity into a goddess of philosophy and literature? Emilie Kutash explores these questions, beginning from the premise that cultural memory, a collective cultural and social phenomenon, can last thousands of years.

Kutash demonstrates a continuing practice of interpreting and allegorizing ancient myths, tracing these goddesses of archaic origin through history. Chapters follow the goddesses from their ancient near eastern prototypes, to their place in the epic poetry, drama and hymns of classical Greece, to their appearance in Platonic and Neoplatonic philosophy, Medieval allegory, and their association with Christendom.

Finally, Kutash considers how goddesses were made into Jungian archetypes, and how some contemporary feminists made them a counterfoil to male divinity, thereby addressing the continued role of goddesses in perpetuating gender binaries.

Note in particular chapter 8: "Asherah, Sophia, Shechinah: Are they Hebrew Goddesses?"

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Getatchew Haile 1931-2021

SAD NEWS: Getatchew Haile, renowned Ethiopian philologist and beloved St. John's professor, dies at 90 (Star Tribune via MSN).

Getatchew Haile was two very different people in one body.

One version of Haile, who died this month at 90, was an eminent scholar at the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library at St. John's University in St. Joseph, Minn. In his field of philology, the study of the historical development of languages, Haile worked in eight languages, from ancient Hebrew and Arabic to ancient Ethiopian tongues such as Amharic and Ge'ez. A recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship — the "genius grant" — Haile studied and cataloged manuscripts from the early days of Christianity in Ethiopia, dating back some one and a half millennia.

[...]

The Manuscript Man, Father Columba Stewart, is quoted. And read on for the other version of Professor Haile. Cross-file under Ethiopic Watch.

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

Samaritan Shavuot 2021

SAMARITAN WATCH: Samaritans celebrate Shavuot atop Mount Gerizim The Samaritan religion closely resembles Judaism, but with several marked differences, including its own Torah written in their own ancient Hebrew, and Mount Gerizim being their holiest place (Jerusalem Post). The celebrations began this morning. As always, best wishes to those celebrating.

Past posts on Samaritan Passover are here and links.

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

Fine (ed.), The Arch of Titus (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

The Arch of Titus

From Jerusalem to Rome—and Back

Editor: Steven Fine

The Arch of Titus: From Jerusalem to Rome—and Back explores the shifting meanings and significance of the Arch of Titus from the Jewish War of 66–74 CE to the present—for Romans, Christians and especially for Jews. Built by triumphant Romans, this triumphal monument was preserved by medieval Christians, lauded by modern visitors and dictators and imitated around the world. The Arch of Titus has special significance for the once-defeated Jews. Its menorah is now the national symbol of modern Israel.

The Arch of Titus: From Jerusalem to Rome—and Back assembles an international array of scholars to explore the Arch in all of its complexity. This volume celebrates an exhibition mounted at Yeshiva University Museum and is the final statement of the Yeshiva University Arch of Titus Project.

Prices from (excl. VAT): €110.00 / $132.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-44779-0
Publication Date: 25 May 2021
Copyright Date: 01 Jan 2021

Hardback
Availability: Not Yet Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-44778-3
Publication Date: 20 Jun 2021
Copyright Date: 01 Jan 2021

For background on the Yeshiva University Arch of Titus Project and Exhibition, see here and follow the links.

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What William Ross is doing this summer

WILLIAM ROSS: SUMMER ’21 UPDATE. Despite the pandemic, Dr. Ross remains busy with Septuagint-related activities and projects.

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

Yale Digital Dura-Europos Archive (YDEA)

THE AWOL BLOG: Yale Digital Dura-Europos Archive (YDEA).

YDEA IS HARNESSING THE POWER OF LINKED OPEN DATA (LOD) TO REASSEMBLE AND RE-CONTEXTUALIZE ARCHAEOLOGICAL DATA FROM DURA-EUROPOS.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on the site of Dura-Europos, its late antique synagogue, and that synogogue's remarkable murals, start here (cf. here) and follow the links.

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

Where did the Israelites cross into the Promised Land?

HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY: Wadi Zered (Dr. David Ben-Gad HaCohen, TheTorah.com).

Crossing Wadi Zered marks the end of Israel’s 38-year sojourn in the wilderness and their entry into the land. Why does its location differ in Numbers and Deuteronomy?

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Burnett on interpreting the New Testament through inscriptions

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Interpreting the New Testament Through Inscriptions: An Introduction (D. Clint Burnett). For more on Dr. Burnett and his recent book on the New Testament and inscriptions, see here and links.

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

Review of Henderson & Thomas (eds.), The Loeb Classical Library and its progeny

BRYN MAY CLASSICAL REVIEW: The Loeb Classical Library and its progeny.

Jeffrey Henderson, Richard F. Thomas, The Loeb Classical Library and its progeny: proceedings of the First James Loeb Biennial Conference, Munich and Murnau, 18–20 May 2017. Loeb Classical Monographs. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2020. Pp. 456. ISBN 9780674248717 $30.00.

Review by
Mirte Liebregts, Radboud University. mirte.liebregts@ru.nl

[...]

This volume is not just a promotion of the four Harvard bilingual series; the bilingual format itself and the accessibility of a text through the vernacular are now and then challenged (Wilson, Tyler). The publication is more broadly relevant for understanding the ways in which the act of translating ‘classical’ texts has functioned in the past and functions in the present, and it exemplifies that the study of translation transcends disciplinary borders. ...

PaleoJudaica has mentioned the Loeb Classical Library from time to time. For the Digital Loeb Classical Library®, see here. Many of the volumes are out of copyright and are available for free at the Loebolus website, on which see here and links. And follow the links from there for more.

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

The archaeology of fingerprints?

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Archaeological Forensics. What fingerprints on ancient pottery reveal about their creators (Marek Dospěl).

To learn the nitty-gritty of the science behind these observations and to explore the social implications of how ancient pottery work was organized, read Kent D. Fowler’s article “Making an Impression: How Fingerprints Can Identify Ancient Potters,” published in the Summer 2021 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

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