David Clint Burnett, Studying the New Testament through inscriptions: an introduction. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 2020. Pp. 216. ISBN 9781683071372 $39.95.For more on the book and the author, see here and links.Review by
W. Andrew Smith, Shepherds Theological Seminary.
w.andrew.smith@gmail.com
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Porphyry, ›On Principles and Matter‹For more on Porphyry and why he is of interest to PaleoJudaica, see here and links, here, and here.
A Syriac Version of a Lost Greek Text with an English Translation, Introduction, and GlossariesYury Arzhanov and Porphyry
Volume 34 in the series Scientia Graeco-Arabica
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110747027About this book
The Syriac treatise published in the present volume is in many respects a unique text. Though it has been preserved anonymously, there remains little doubt that it belongs to Porphyry of Tyre. Accordingly, it enlarges our knowledge of the views of the most famous disciple of Plotinus. The text is an important witness to Platonist discussions on First Principles and on Plato’s concept of Prime Matter in the Timaeus. It contains extensive quotations from Atticus, Severus, and Boethus. This text thus provides us with new textual witnesses to these philosophers, whose legacy remains very poorly attested and little known. Additionally, the treatise is a rare example of a Platonist work preserved in the Syriac language. The Syriac reception of Plato and Platonic teachings has left rather sparse textual traces, and the question of what precisely Syriac Christians knew about Plato and his philosophy remains a debated issue. The treatise provides evidence for the close acquaintance of Syriac scholars with Platonic cosmology and with philosophical commentaries on Plato’s Timaeus.
eBook
Published: August 2, 2021
ISBN: 9783110747027Hardcover
Published: August 2, 2021
ISBN: 9783110745771
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For much more on Papyrus Amherst 63, start here and follow the links.
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From the 7th century, the LMLK jars were not produced any more, while by the end of the century and the beginning of the 6th century the rosetta jars appeared in Jerusalem and its surroundings and were used until the Babylonian destruction in 586 BCE.For more on the LMLK jars, see the links collected here.
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I noted the publication of the Oxford Handbook of the Septuagint (ed. Salvesen & Law) here. For notice of Dr. Ross's previous interviews with Septuagint scholars, see here and links.
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Deuteronomy refers to the central cult site as the place where YHWH chooses לְשַׁכֵּן שְׁמוֹ שָׁם, an unusual phrase often translated “to cause His name to dwell there,” and interpreted to mean that an abstracted aspect or hypostasis of YHWH takes up residence in the Temple. A parallel phrase found in many Akkadian inscriptions refutes this understanding, offering us a critically important correction to our reading of Deuteronomy.
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Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr. Tora und Weisheit. Studien zur frühjüdischen Literatur. [Torah and Wisdom. Studies on Early Jewish Literature.] 2021. XI, 717 pages. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 466. 184,00 € including VAT. cloth ISBN 978-3-16-160799-8Published in German.
This volume features essays by Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr on the Jewish Law and wisdom traditions in early Jewish literature. It is introduced by two comprehensive studies on the development and the reception of the concept of Torah in the Hebrew Bible and in early Jewish literature, including the Septuagint, and on the relationship between biblical wisdom and Greek philosophy in ancient Judaism.
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Published in German.
What is it that characterizes the human being? Is it the composition of somatic and psychic parts? Is it the mutual interaction of both? Or is it the cognitive ability of humans, self-reflection and self-awareness? Are humans mainly reason-driven, or are their actions rather guided by instincts? The issue of the meaning of νοῦς (nous, gr. »mind"/"spirit«) in Antiquity and its anthropological implications leads straight to fundamental issues of contemporary anthropological discourses. In the present volume, philologists and theologians enter an interdisciplinary encounter. The central relevance of the term νοῦς, which has so far received little attention in Pauline exegesis, becomes evident in the various intellectual milieus around the New Testament.
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Jeremiah urges Judah to submit to Babylon while Hananiah claims that Babylon will soon fall. Both use the same prophetic tropes to convince their listeners. Maimonides reads this story as a blueprint for distinguishing true prophets from false ones.
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I know next to nothing about the Van Kampen Collection. I see that I have blogged a couple of times on the Holy Land Experience theme park (see final paragraph of this post). One of those posts from 2007 mentions the Scriptorium museum, which consisted of biblical manuscripts owned by the Van Kampen family.
In any case, Brent Nongbri tells us that the collection includes pages from a late-antique Coptic codex with Jeremianic biblical material. Cross-file under Coptic Watch
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I don't see a clear indication that this synagogue is itself "ancient," at least in the way I use the term. But the Jewish community in Crete goes back to antiquity. For on the complicated question of an ancient synagogue at Delos, see here and here.
This article gives a brief history of the Jewish community in Crete from antiquity to the present.
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For more on Korazim (New Testament Chorazin), see here.
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Historiography, Ideology and Politics in the Ancient Near East and Israel
Changing Perspectives 5By Mario Liverani, Niels Peter Lemche, Emanuel Pfoh
Copyright Year 2021Hardback
£96.00eBook
£29.59ISBN 9780367742485
Published July 16, 2021 by Routledge
338 Pages 2 B/W IllustrationsBook Description
In this volume, Niels Peter Lemche and Emanuel Pfoh present an anthology of seminal studies by Mario Liverani, a foremost scholar of the Ancient Near East.
This collection contains 18 essays, 11 of which have originally been published in Italian and are now published in English for the first time. It represents an important contribution to Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical Studies, exposing the innovative interpretations of Liverani on many historical and ideological aspects of ancient society. Topics range from the Amarna letters and the Ugaritic epic, to the ‘origins’ of Israel.
Historiography, Ideology and Politics in the Ancient Near East and Israel will be an invaluable resource for Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical scholars, as well as graduate and post-graduate students.
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Nicolaus of Damascus: The Life of Augustus and The AutobiographyThis book was pubished in Hardback in 2016, but I didn't note it then and it is worth noting. For more on Nicolaus of Damascus, see here and here.Edited with Introduction, Translations and Historical Commentary>
REAL AUTHOR: Nicolaus of Damascus
EDITOR AND TRANSLATOR: Mark Toher, Union College, New York
DATE PUBLISHED: July 2021
AVAILABILITY: Available
FORMAT: Paperback
ISBN: 9781107428324£ 39.99
PaperbackDescription
Nicolaus of Damascus, the chief minister of Herod the Great, was an exact contemporary of the first Roman emperor Augustus; he spent considerable time in Roman society and knew Augustus. The extensive remains of his Bios Kaisaros contain the earliest and most detailed account of the conspiracy against Julius Caesar and his assassination. The Bios also presents the most extensive account of the boyhood and early development of Augustus. This edition presents the Greek text and translation of the Bios and Nicolaus' autobiography, along with a historical and historiographical commentary. The Introduction situates the text in relation to the considerable evidence for the life and career of Nicolaus preserved in the works of Josephus, addresses the problem of its date of composition, analyses the language and narrative technique of Nicolaus and discusses the Bios in relation to the evidence for Greek biographical encomium.
- The first critical text of the Life of Augustus in almost a century, based on a re-examination of the manuscript tradition and providing a full apparatus criticus
- Provides an edition and translation of the fragments of the author's autobiography, which is virtually unavailable in English
- The introduction and commentary provide an historiographical analysis of the text that is crucial to understanding its value as an historical document
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Published in German.
Julius Wellhausen, probably the most famous representative of nineteenth century Old Testament scholarship, cannot be understood without those who blazed a trail before him. Martin Gröger examines the works of de Wette, George, Ewald, Graf, Vatke, Kuenen, and Geiger to show that Wellhausen's studies on the religious-historical development of the Old Testament takes further the findings of these researchers.
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Intention in Talmudic LawBetween Thought and Deed
Series: The Brill Reference Library of Judaism, Volume: 65
Author: Shana Strauch Schick
In Intention in Talmudic Law: Between Thought and Deed, Shana Strauch Schick offers the first comprehensive history of intention in classical Jewish law (1st-6th centuries CE). Through close readings of rabbinic texts and explorations of contemporaneous legal-religious traditions, Strauch Schick constructs an intellectual history that reveals remarkable consistency within the rulings of particular sages, locales, and schools of thought. The book carefully traces developments across generations and among groups of rabbis, uncovering competing lineages of evolving legal and religious thought, and demonstrating how intention gradually became a nuanced, differentially applied concept across a wide array of legal realms.
Copyright Year: 2021
Prices from (excl. VAT):€112.00 / $135.00
E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-43304-5
Publication Date: 29 Jun 2021Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-43303-8
Publication Date: 01 Jul 2021
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The Psalms of Solomon: Texts, Contexts, and Intertexts
Patrick Pouchelle, G. Anthony Keddie, Kenneth Atkinson, editorsISBN 9781628374049
Volume EJL 54
Status Available
Publication Date June 2021
Paperback $49.00
eBook $49.00
Hardback $69.00
Explore new approaches to the Psalms of Solomon
The Psalms of Solomon: Texts, Contexts, and Intertexts explores a unique pseudepigraphal document that bears witness to the 63 BCE Roman conquest of Jerusalem. Essays address a variety of themes, notably their political, social, religious, and historical contexts, through the lens of anthropology of religion, cognitive science, socioeconomic theory, and more. Contributors include Kenneth Atkinson, Eberhard Bons, Johanna Erzberger, Angela Kim Harkins, G. Anthony Keddie, Patrick Pouchelle, Stefan Schreiber, Shani Tzoref, and Rodney A. Werline.
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Published in German.
Meike J. Röhrig demonstrates in a redaction-critical study how several layers of priestly additions and »inner-biblical interpretation« have successively formed the stories about the investiture of the Aaronides (Lev 8–10). The results contribute to a clearer demarcation of the term »inner-biblical interpretation« among multiple forms of diachronic text-text-relationships.
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Observing the Scribe at Work
Scribal Practice in the Ancient WorldSERIES:
Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, 301EDITORS:
Ast R., Choat M., Cromwell J., Lougovaya J., Yuen-Collingridge R.SUMMARY:
Scribes are paradoxically both central and invisible in most societies before the typographic revolution of the 15th century, witnessed by every manuscript, but often elusive as historical figures. The act of writing is a quotidian and vernacular practice as well as a literary one, and must be observed not only in the outputs of literary copyists or reports of their activities, but in the documents of everyday life. This volume collects contributions on scribal practice as it features on diverse media (including papyri, tablets, and inscriptions) in a range of ancient societies, from the Ancient Near East and Dynastic Egypt through the Graeco-Roman world to Byzantium. These discussions of the role and place of scribes and scribal activity in pre-typographic cultures both contribute to a better understanding of one of the key drivers of these cultures, and illuminate the transmission of knowledge and traditions within and between them.YEAR: 2021
ISBN: 9789042942868
E-ISBN: 9789042942875
PAGES: XIV-346 p.
PRICE: 110 euro
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Published in English.
Tractate Mo'ed Qatan, in addition to discussing the mid-festivals of Passover and Sukkot, is the primary source on rabbinic mourning laws and rituals. In her commentary Gail Labovitz thus considers such questions as: when considering whether particular forms of labour should or should not take place during the mid-festival or when one is in mourning, which gender's labour is considered significant, which is overlooked or taken for granted? How are practices that are meant to engender certain emotional states – joy in the festival, grief over a death – impacted by gender? How does gender guide who is mourned, and in what ways? She also explores women's unusually conspicuous and public role in funerals and mourning procedures as lamenters. Although Mo'ed Qatan is a short tractate, women, female characters both biblical and rabbinic, and issues of gender feature prominently throughout.
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For more on the archaeology of Amos' earthquake, see here and here.
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For PaleoJudaica posts on other LMLK bullae, see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
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In my upper-division undergraduate course, “Early Judaism and the Dead Sea Scrolls” I wanted to emphasize the Dead Sea Scrolls’ larger Second Temple context, their diverse traditions, and the prerogatives of the Dead Sea Scroll community. As part of this endeavor, I created an assignment called the “Dead Sea Scrolls Brochure” that asked students to compose a sort of imaginary travel brochure meant to recruit people to join the community. ...Cross-file under Pedagogy.
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The Temple Scroll11Q19, 11Q20, 11Q21, 4Q524, 5Q21 with 4Q365a
Series: Dead Sea Scrolls Editions, Volume: 1
Authors: Lawrence H. Schiffman and Andrew Gross
In this volume, Schiffman and Gross present a new edition of all of the manuscript evidence for the Temple Scroll from Qumran. It includes innumerable new readings and restorations of all of the manuscripts as well as a detailed critical apparatus comparing the manuscripts of the Temple Scroll as well as Qumran biblical manuscripts and the ancient versions. Each manuscript is provided with a new translation, and a commentary is presented for the main text. Also included are a general introduction, bibliography of published works on the text, catalog of photographic evidence, and concordance including all vocables in all the manuscripts and their restorations. This work promises to move research on the Temple Scroll to a new level.
Copyright Year: 2021
Prices from (excl. VAT): €189.00 / $227.00
E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-45950-2
Publication Date: 15 Jul 2021Hardback
Availability: Not Yet Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-43737-1
Publication Date: 18 Aug 2021
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Published in English.
Several early Christians identify Isaiah's Servant of the Lord as Jesus; yet Paul appears to connect the Servant with himself. In this study, Daniel Cole examines the hermeneutical warrants and ethical implications of Paul's use of texts within Isa. 49–54, arguing that this section constitutes a coherent prophetic narrative in which God saves a new people from sin by the Servant's death and subsequent work in his followers, the servants. While several Second Temple works interpret elements of this prophecy with differing conceptions of history, Paul sees Isaiah's Servant fulfilled in Jesus' death and subsequent spiritual union with the apostle. The author thus demonstrates that the coherent salvation history of the Servant prophecy provides both the interpretive framework for Paul's reading of Isaiah and the relational definitions for the imperatives that Paul places on himself and others.
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Theodicy and Hope in the Book of the TwelveGeorge Athas (Anthology Editor), Beth M. Stovell (Anthology Editor), Daniel Timmer (Anthology Editor),
Hardback
$115.00$103.50Ebook (PDF)
$103.50$82.80Product details
Published Jul 01 2021
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 304
ISBN 9780567695352
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies
Publisher Bloomsbury PublishingDescription
This volume explores the themes of theodicy and hope in both individual portions of the Twelve (books and sub-sections) and in the Book of the Twelve as a whole, as the contributors use a diversity of approaches to the text(s) with a particular interest in synchronic perspectives. While these essays regularly engage the mostly redactional scholarship surrounding the Book of Twelve, there is also an examination of various forms of literary analysis of final text forms, and engagement in descriptions of the thematic and theological perspectives of the individual books and of the collection as a whole.
The synchronic work in these essays is thus in regular conversation with diachronic research, and as a general rule they take various conclusions of redactional research as a point of departure. The specific themes, theodicy and hope, are key ideas that have provided the opportunity for contributors to explore individual books or sub-sections within the Twelve, and the overarching development (in both historical and literary terms) and deployment of these themes in the collection.
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The festival calendar in Deuteronomy 16 began as a short revision of the calendar in Exodus 23. As it was expanded to clarify and adjust its details, it merged its springtime Matzot festival with the Pesach offering, which was originally connected to the consecration of firstborn animals.
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Cyril and Methodius invented the Slavonic alphabet in the ninth century, thus not only converting the Slavs, but also translating much ancient literature, some of which otherwise would have been lost. That literature includes some intriguing Old Testament Pseudepigrapha.
In various countries and churches their saint's day is celebrated annually on three different dates. For more on them, their day, and Old Church Slavonic literature, start here and follow the many links.
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THe two contenders for the first-century site of Bethsaida are el-Araj and e-Tell. This article doesn't resolve the debate, but it does give you an idea of what has been going on at both sites. Background here and links.
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Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.
Herod, His Progeny, and the Cutting Edge of PowerThis essay gives a nice capsule history of the Herodian rulers.Typically, these Herodian rulers have been treated as part of the “background” of the New Testament. From the point of view of power, however, they were in the foreground. Unless their policies are taken into account, many aspects of Judaism and Christianity will not be appreciated.
See Also: The Herods. Murder, Politics, and the Art of Succession (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2021).
By Bruce Chilton
Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Philosophy and Religion
Bard College
Annandale, New York
August 2021
For many PaleoJudaica posts on Herod the Great, see here and links, here, and here. For a coin of Herod Archelaus reused in a creative context, see here. For Herod Antipas, see here and links. For Herod Agrippa I, see here and links. For Agrippa II, see see here and links. For the latter's influential sister, Julia Berenice (Berenike), see here and links. For another overview of the Herods, see here.
Cross-file under New Book.
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A 1-to-3-year position at Ca' Foscari University of Venice on the ERC funded project, Early Jewish and Christian Magical Traditions in Comparison and Contact (EJCM - 851466 [project duration: 2020–2015]). Upon approval, the fellowship can be renewed for a total of 36 months. The research fellow will focus on notions of licit and illicit ritual in late antique Jewish and Christian magical traditions. ...The application deadline is noon on 3 September 2021.
The Early Jewish and Christian Magical Traditions (EJCM) website is at the link.
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Divination and Knowledge in Greco-Roman AntiquityEdited By Crystal Addey
Copyright Year 2021Hardback
£96.00eBook
£29.59ISBN 9781138212992
Published July 16, 2021 by Routledge
320 Pages 8 B/W IllustrationsBook Description
Addressing the close connections between ancient divination and knowledge, this volume offers an interlinked and detailed set of case studies which examine the epistemic value and significance of divination in ancient Greek and Roman cultures.
Focusing on diverse types of divination, including oracles, astrology, and the reading of omens and signs in the entrails of sacrificial animals, chance utterances and other earthly and celestial phenomena, this volume reveals that divination was conceived of as a significant path to the attainment of insight and understanding by the ancient Greeks and Romans. It also explores the connections between divination and other branches of knowledge in Greco-Roman antiquity, such as medicine and ethnographic discourse. Drawing on anthropological studies of contemporary divination and exploring a wide range of ancient philosophical, historical, technical and literary evidence, chapters focus on the interconnections and close relationship between divine and human modes of knowledge, in relation to nuanced and subtle formulations of the blending of divine, cosmic and human agency; philosophical approaches towards and uses of divination (particularly within Platonism), including links between divination and time, ethics, and cosmology; and the relationship between divination and cultural discourses focusing on gender. The volume aims to catalyse new questions and approaches relating to these under-investigated areas of ancient Greek and Roman life. which have significant implications for the ways in which we understand and assess ancient Greek and Roman conceptions of epistemic value and variant ways of knowing, ancient philosophy and intellectual culture, lived, daily experience in the ancient world, and religious and ritual traditions.
Divination and Knowledge in Greco-Roman Antiquity will be of particular relevance to researchers and students in classics, ancient history, ancient philosophy, religious studies and anthropology who are working on divination, lived religion and intellectual culture, but will also appeal to general readers who are interested in the widespread practice and significance of divination in the ancient world.
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Here is something I have been saving up for today: The Death Of Lucius Aemilius Paullus At The Battle Of Cannae, Painted By John Trumbull (c. 1756–1843) (thehistorianshut). (HT Rogue Classicism).
Hannibal's victory, however, was not decisive. Around 19 October 202 BCE the young Roman general Scipio Africanus took the war to Carthage and defeated Hannibal and his Carthaginian forces in the Battle of Zama. Some of the soliders in Scripio's army were among the disgraced survivors of Cannae. They had something to prove. Carthage surrendered. The Second Punic War was over.
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Les études philoniennesRegards sur cinquante ans de recherche (1967-2017)
Series: Studies in Philo of Alexandria, Volume: 13
Volume Editors: Olivier Munnich and Sébastien Morlet
This volume gathers the proceedings of the Paris conference in Philonic studies (2017), consisting of 23 papers by contributors from 8 countries. Fifty years after the Lyon conference, it aimed at taking a retrospective look at the intellectual contexts and the academic fields in which Philonic studies have penetrated, as well as the ways in which they evolved.
The work of the Alexandrian became of major importance in the history of philosophy. It has been studied as a source of cultured Christianity, in connection with Second Temple Judaism and the Alexandrian Jewish community, but also in the context of research on rabbinic Judaism, New Testament and philosophy of the imperial era.Ce volume rassemble les actes du colloque de Paris (2017), qui réunit 23 intervenants de 8 nationalités. Cinquante ans après le colloque de Lyon, il s’agissait de réfléchir aux milieux intellectuels et aux disciplines universitaires dans lesquels les études philoniennes avaient pénétré le monde de la recherche, les bases sur lesquelles elles avaient évolué.
L’œuvre de l’Alexandrin a pris une importance majeure dans l’histoire de la philosophie ; elle a été explorée comme source du christianisme lettré, en lien avec le judaïsme de l’Époque du Second Temple et la communauté juive d’Alexandrie, mais aussi dans le cadre des études sur le judaïsme rabbinique, dans le développement des études sur le Nouveau Testament et sur la philosophie de l’époque impériale. See LessCopyright Year: 2021
Prices from (excl. VAT): €154.00 / $185.00
E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-46272-4
Publication Date: 19 Jul 2021Hardback
Availability: Not Yet Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-46273-1
Publication Date: 22 Jul 2021
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The Words of Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas
The Genesis of a Wisdom TraditionBy David W. Kim
Copyright Year 2021Hardback
£96.00eBook
£29.59ISBN 9780367629229
Published July 2, 2021 by Routledge
312 PagesBook Description
This book offers a detailed analysis of the Gospel of Thomas in its historic and literary context, providing a new understanding of the genesis of the Jesus tradition. Discovered in the twentieth century, the non-canonical Gospel of Thomas is an important early text whose origins and place in the history of Christianity continue to be subjects of debate. Aiming to relocate the Thomasine community in the wider context of early Christianity, this study considers the Gospel of Thomas as a bridge between the oral and literary phases of the Christian movement. It will therefore, be useful for Religion scholars working on Biblical studies, Coptic codices, gnosticism and early Christianity.
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The volume gives some attention to the Jewish population in this late antique Italian port city.
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Published in English.
This volume contains papers read at the seventh meeting of the Aberdeen Prophecy Network, an interdisciplinary symposium held in June 2018 in Jena. From the points of view of Classical and Old Testament/Hebrew Bible studies, the contributions ask how phenomena of divination and concepts of prophecy were understood in the Mediterranean oecumene after the conquests of Alexander the Great.
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Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.
Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.
The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea ScrollsI had a couple posts on the first edition (here and here) shortly after it came out. A lot has happened since then. It is good to have the second edition now.
Second Edition
Jodi MagnessPAPERBACK; Published: 7/22/2021
ISBN: 978-0-8028-7908-0
Price: $ 29.99
340 Pages
Trim Size, in inches: 6.125 x 9.25vA Choice Outstanding Academic Title and winner of the Biblical Archaeology Society’s Publication Award for Best Popular Book on Archaeology
The Dead Sea Scrolls have been described as the most important archaeological discovery of the twentieth century. Deposited in caves surrounding Qumran by members of a Jewish sect who lived at the site in the first century BCE and first century CE, they provide invaluable information about Judaism in the last centuries BCE.
Like the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Qumran site continues to be the object of intense scholarly debate. In a book meant to introduce general readers to this fascinating area of study, veteran archaeologist Jodi Magness provides an overview of the archaeology of Qumran that incorporates information from the Dead Sea Scrolls and other contemporary sources. Magness identifies Qumran as a sectarian settlement, rejecting other interpretations including claims that Qumran was a villa rustica or manor house. By carefully analyzing the published information on Qumran, she refines the site’s chronology, reinterprets the purpose of some of its rooms, and reexamines archaeological evidence for the presence of women and children in the settlement. Numerous photos and diagrams give readers a firsthand look at the site.
Considered a standard text in the field for nearly two decades, The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls is revised and updated throughout in its second edition in light of the publication of all the Dead Sea Scrolls and additional data from Roland de Vaux’s excavations, as well as Yitzhak Magen and Yuval Peleg’s more recent excavations. Specialists and nonspecialists alike will find here an overview of the Qumran site and the Dead Sea Scrolls that is both authoritative and accessible.
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Technically the Severan dynasty was of Punic descent (i.e. of colonial Phoenician descent from North Africa) rather than Phoenician. The article says that Severus's wife "Julia Dominia" (Julia Domna) was also Phoenician, but she was born in Emesa, Syria, to a local royal and priestly family.
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In the Bible, Tubal-cain is the inventor metallurgy, the Canaanites fight with iron chariots, and the Philistines control iron usage. What does archaeology tell us about when and how iron was introduced into the Levant?
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For more on the neopagan revival of Canaanite religion, see here.
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A Walk to Caesarea: A Historical-Archaeological Perspective By Joseph Patrich
(Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society and Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi, 2018), xii + 174 pp., 193 ill. (maps, plans, reconstructions, photos), $34 (hardcover) Reviewed by Joseph L. Rife... It is a marvelous accomplishment that Patrich has captured the complexity of Caesarea’s history and archaeology in such a lucid, authoritative, and compact book. A day of focused reading will suffice to finish it, and the traveler can easily pack it for the road. ...
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The agrarian import of Deuteronomy 11:14‒15, found in what Jewish readers know as the second paragraph of the Shema prayer, may not be self-evident to modern readers, the majority of whom live in urban and suburban settings. The text speaks directly to both those who grew crops and those who engaged in animal husbandry.
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Yes, yes, they didn't bark because they were dead and buried. You have to know your Sherlock Holmes to get the titles.
The mystery is - why did people at Ashkelon bury 1,400 street dogs who were not pets?
I have collected some other posts on dogs in antiquity here.
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Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.
Spoiler: the current archaeological research indicates there were two routes between Judea and Edom in the Iron Age. This would make better sense of the route reconstructed by earlier research.
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As usual, the article garbles the question of the language of the fragment. The sentence about it mentions both Sumerian and Akkadian in a way that makes no sense and isn't even grammatical. The tablet fragment is part of the Epic of Gilgamesh, which is written in Akkadian. There were also stories about Gilgamesh written in the very different Sumerian language, but this is not one of them.
Background here, here (underlying article no longer available), here and links.
For more on Gilgamesh and on his importance for ancient Judaism, see here and links and here.
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Several years ago I noted the project by Wojciech Kosior at Jagiellonian University in Poland to catalogue the supernatural entities mentioned in the early rabbinic literature. The project is now expanded to include the Hebrew Bible.
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John Jarick (ed.), Society for Old Testament Study Book List 2021 (= JSOT 45.5) (London: Sage, 2021).In all the havoc of the last couple of years, I missed noting the 2019 and 2020 issues. I'm pretty sure they did arrive. In any case, this is the current one.
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Background here and links.
Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.
Unesco says online that Hima is “located in an arid, mountainous area of southwest Saudi Arabia, on one of the Arabian Peninsula’s ancient caravan routes, Ḥimā Cultural Area contains a substantial collection of rock art images depicting hunting, fauna, flora and lifestyles in a cultural continuity of 7,000 years.” Inscriptions are in different scripts, including Musnad, Aramaic-Nabatean, South-Arabian, Thamudic, Greek and Arabic.I have a couple of posts on the history and languages of this region (which is also known as Bir Hima) here and here. For some ancient rock art in Jordan with a similar linguistic profile, see here.
For more posts on Aramaic in Saudi Arabia, see here, here, here and links.
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The project The Coptic Magical Papyri: Vernacular Religion in Roman and Early Islamic Egypt at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg is pleased to announce a vacancy within the Department of Egyptology. This will be a 23-month 65% position, paid at the level of TVL E-13, suitable for a scholar with a master’s degree, who may be presently working on a doctoral degree. The position will begin 1 October 2021 and continue until 31 August 2023.HT Rogue Classicism.[...]
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Clementina Caputo, Julia Lougovaya, Using ostraca in the ancient world. New discoveries and methodologies. Materiale Textkulturen, 32. Berlin; Boston: De Gruyter, 2021. Pp. vi, 245. ISBN 9783110712865 $91.99.The volume includes an article on the Aramaic ostraca from Elephantine. It is good that they are getting some attention. They tend to be ignored in favor of the Aramaic papyri. For more on Elephantine island and its ancient Aramaic and other inscribed objects, see here (arguably), here, here, here, and many links.Review by
Sofia Torallas Tovar, University of Chicago. sofiat@uchicago.edu
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Calev Ben-Dor argues that the fight raging today between Israeli politicians about how to interpret the meaning of ancient Jewish texts reflects the political chasm currently separating the two national-religious parties. ‘One focuses on the dangers of zealotry, the other on the importance of principles come what may,’ he writes. Some Zionists have long heroised Bar Kochba, the leader of the doomed Jewish revolt of 132-135 CE against the Romans, while in recent decades others have warned of the suicidal consequences of contracting ‘Bar Kochba Syndrome’.Cross-file under Talmud Watch.
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The introductory post by Melonie Schmierer-Lee: Introducing the Genizah Fragments Blog.
The Unit's Geniza Fragments Newsletter has been on hold during the pandemic. It's Geniza Fragment of the Month series is still active and I link to it from time to time. The addition of the blog is very welcome.
Cross-file under Cairo Geniza Watch.
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Cross-file under marine (maritime, underwater) archaeology.
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Expressions of Sceptical Topoi in (Late) Antique JudaismHT the AWOL Blog.Funded by: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Edited by: Reuven Kiperwasser and Geoffrey HermanVolume 12 in the series Studies and Texts in Scepticism
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110671483About this book
Open Access
Scepticism has been the driving force in the development of Greco-Roman culture in the past, and the impetus for far-reaching scientific achievements and philosophical investigation. Early Jewish culture, in contrast, avoided creating consistent representations of its philosophical doctrines. Sceptical notions can nevertheless be found in some early Jewish literature such as the Book of Ecclesiastes. One encounters there expressions of doubt with respect to Divine justice or even Divine involvement in earthly affairs. During the first centuries of the common era, however, Jewish thought, as reflected in rabbinic works, was engaged in persistent intellectual activity devoted to the laws, norms, regulations, exegesis and other traditional areas of Jewish religious knowledge. An effort to detect sceptical ideas in ancient Judaism, therefore, requires a closer analysis of this literary heritage and its cultural context.
This volume of collected essays seeks to tackle the question of scepticism in an Early Jewish context, including Ecclesiastes and other Jewish Second Temple works, rabbinic midrashic and talmudic literature, and reflections of Jewish thought in early Christian and patristic writings. Contributors are: Tali Artman, Geoffrey Herman, Reuven Kiperwasser, Serge Ruzer, Cana Werman, and Carsten Wilke.
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Routledge, Robin L. Hosea. Tyndale Old Testament Commentary. Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic, 2020. xxxiii+181 pp. Pb. $25.00 Link to IVP AcademicThis new volume in the Tyndale Old Testament Commentary series replaces the 1989 volume by David Allan Hubbard. Routledge previously published Old Testament Theology: A Thematic Approach (IVP Academic 2012) as well as several articles on the prophets.
[...]
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The City of BabylonHT Bibliographia Iranica.
A History, c. 2000 BC – AD 116Stephanie Dalley, University of Oxford
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Online publication date: June 2021
Print publication year: 2021
Online ISBN: 9781316479728
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316479728Subjects: Ancient History, Classical Studies v Book description
The 2000-year story of Babylon sees it moving from a city-state to the centre of a great empire of the ancient world. It remained a centre of kingship under the empires of Assyria, Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, Alexander the Great, the Seleucids and the Parthians. Its city walls were declared to be a Wonder of the World while its ziggurat won fame as the Tower of Babel. Visitors to Berlin can admire its Ishtar Gate, and the supposed location of its elusive Hanging Garden is explained. Worship of its patron god Marduk spread widely while its well-trained scholars communicated legal, administrative and literary works throughout the ancient world, some of which provide a backdrop to Old Testament and Hittite texts. Its science also laid the foundations for Greek and Arab astronomy through a millennium of continuous astronomical observations. This accessible and up-to-date account is by one of the world's leading authorities.
I have noted other recent books on the city of Babylon here and here.
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Israelite women are conspicuously absent from the Decalogue’s Shabbat law. Three stories in the Prophets featuring female characters—Rahab the prostitute, the great woman of Shunem, and Queen Athalya—each tie to Shabbat in some unconventional way.
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For those interested in the problem of the Gospel infancy narratives, Pieter Craffert's framing of the issue in his book, The Life of a Galilean Shaman, is worth reading. He argues that shamanic figures like Jesus often acquired a story of their special birth, so it is not surprising that such stories are associated with him. Craffert covers many of the same issues discussed in the essay above. For more on his book, see here and here.
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HMML School teaches about scripts and manuscripts, introducing learners to the sciences of paleography and codicology. Choose a manuscript culture and follow the development of scripts through the centuries!I have posted many times about the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library and about Fr. Columba Stewart, the "School Concept, Project Director and Editor." For both, start here and follow the links. But this is the first I've heard of the Library's School website. It has lessons on Arabic, Latin, and Syriac manuscripts and paleography.
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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 here and links.
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We know that Nabonidus spent ten years in Teima (Tayma) in North Arabia during his reign, so it isn't a big surprise that he left an inscription in Saudi Arabia. That said, al-Hait looks to be about 275 kilometers southeast of Tayma. I am surprised that the inscription is so far away from it.
Nabonidus does not appear in the Bible, although the story of Nebuchadnezzar's madness in Daniel 4 may be a confused legend about him. The legend appear in a form closer to historical events in the Aramaic Prayer of Nabonidus found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. For more on all of that, see here and links, here, and here.
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Paul’s Negotiation of Abraham in Galatians 3 in the Jewish ContextDe Gruyter's new and improved website doesn't appear to include prices. At least I can't fine them.
The Galatian Converts — Lineal Descendants of Abraham and Heirs of the PromisePer Jarle Bekken
Volume 248. In the series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110722109About this book
This work offers a fresh reading of Paul’s appropriation of Abraham in Gal 3:6–29 against the background of Jewish data, especially drawn from the writings of Philo of Alexandria. Philo’s negotiation on Abraham as the model proselyte and the founder of the Jewish nation based on his trust in God's promise relative to the Law of Moses provides a Jewish context for a corresponding debate reflected in Galatians, and suggests that there were Jewish antecedents that came close to Paul’s reasoning in his own time. This volume incorporates a number of new arguments in the context of scholarly discussion of both Galatian 3 and some of the Philonic texts, and demonstrates how the works of Philo can be applied responsibly in New Testament scholarship.
eBookv Published: July 5, 2021
ISBN: 9783110722109Hardcover
Published: July 5, 2021
ISBN: 9783110721928
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Apocryphal and Esoteric Sources in the Development of Christianity and JudaismThe Eastern Mediterranean, the Near East, and Beyond
Series: Texts and Studies in Eastern Christianity, Volume: 21
Volume Editor: Igor Dorfmann-Lazarev
Apocryphal traditions, often shared by Jews and Christians, have played a significant role in the history of both religions. The 26 essays in this volume examine regional and linguistic developments in Ethiopia, Egypt, Syria, Armenia, the Balkans, and Italy. Dissenting groups, such as the Samaritans, followers of John the Baptist, and mediæval dualists are also discussed. Furthermore, the book looks at interactions of Judaism and Christianity with the religions of Iran. Seldom verified or authorized, and frequently rejected by Churches, apocryphal texts had their own process of development, undergoing significant transformations. The book shows how apocryphal accounts could become a medium of literary and artistic elaboration and mythological creativity. Local adaptations of Biblical stories indicate that copyists, authors and artists conceived of themselves as living not in a post-Biblical era, but in direct continuity with Biblical personages.
Copyright Year: 2021
Prices from (excl. VAT): €220.00 / $265.00
E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-44592-5
Publication Date: 17 Jun 2021Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-44593-2
Publication Date: 17 Jun 2021
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The RephaimFor PaleoJudaica posts pertaining to the Rephaim, see here and here and follow the links.Sons of the Gods
Series: Culture and History of the Ancient Near East, Volume: 121
Author: Jonathan Yogev
In The Rephaim: Sons of the Gods, Jonathan Yogev provides a new theory regarding the mysterious characters, known as "Rephaim," in Biblical and ancient Near Eastern literature. The Rephaim are associated with concepts such as death and the afterlife, divinity, healing, giants and monarchy among others. They appear in Ugaritic, Phoenician and Biblical texts, yet it is difficult to pinpoint their exact function and meaning. This study offers a different perspective, along with full texts, detailed epigraphic analysis and commentary for all of the texts that mention the Rephaim, in order to determine their specific importance in societies of the ancient Levant.
Prices from (excl. VAT): €118.00 / $142.00
Copyright Year: 2021
E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-46086-7
Publication Date: 12 Apr 2021Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-46085-0
Publication Date: 08 Apr 2021
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Yesterday I learned by accident of the death of Steven Ring, one of the first enthusiasts online to promote Syriac studies. He died on March 28th 2021 of cancer. He had been ill for the previous four years, during which time he undertook and completed a PhD at SOAS.Dr. Ring was a longstanding and active member of the Hygoye List. I have mentioned his name a few times in connection with it.[...]
Requiescat in Pace. And cross-file under Syriac Watch.
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Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.
Lived Wisdom in Jewish AntiquityStudies in Exercise and Exemplarity
Elisa Uusimäki (Author)
Hardback
$115.00Ebook (PDF)
$103.50Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
$103.50Published Jul 01 2021
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 240
ISBN 9780567697950
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series Education, Literary Culture, and Religious Practice in the Ancient World
Publisher Bloomsbury PublishingDescription
Moving away from focusing on wisdom as a literary genre, this book delves into the lived, embodied and formative dimensions of wisdom as they are delineated in Jewish sources from the Persian, Hellenistic and early Roman eras. Considering a diverse body of texts beyond later canonical boundaries, the book demonstrates that wisdom features not as an abstract quality, but as something to be performed and exercised at both the individual and community level.
The analysis specifically concentrates on notions of a 'wise' person, including the rise of the sage as an exemplary figure. It also looks at how ancestral figures and contemporary teachers are imagined to manifest and practice wisdom, and considers communal portraits of a wise and virtuous life. In so doing, the author demonstrates that the previous focus on wisdom as a category of literature has overshadowed significant questions related to wisdom, behaviour and social life. Jewish wisdom is also contextualized in relation to its wider ancient Mediterranean milieu, making the book valuable for biblical scholars, classicists, scholars of religion and the ancient Near East and theologians.
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The ancient festival of Tu B'Av, recently revived as a kind of Jewish Valentine's Day, begins on Friday at sundown.
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Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.
Brandon W. Hawk, Apocrypha for Beginners: A Guide to Understanding and Exploring Scriptures Beyond the Bible (Rockridge Press, 2021)Professor Hark introduces the book on his blog here.
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John and Anti-Judaism
Reading the Gospel in Light of Greco-Roman CultureMcMaster Biblical Studies Series
by Jonathan Numada
Imprint: Pickwick Publications
302 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 x 0.60 inPaperback
9781725298163
Published: June 2021
$35.00 / £26.00 / AU$47.00Hardcover
9781725298170
Published: June 2021
$55.00 / £40.00 / AU$73.00eBook
9781725298187
Published: June 2021
$35.00 / £26.00 / AU$47.00DESCRIPTION
This study argues that the Gospel of John's anti-Judaism can be well understood from the perspective of trends apparent within the context of broader Greco-Roman culture. It uses the paradigm of collective memory and aspects of social identity theory and self-categorization theory to explore the theological and narrative functions of the Johannine Jews. Relying upon a diverse range of historical testimony drawn from Greco-Roman literature, inscriptions, and papyri, this work attempts to understand the social identities and social locations of Diaspora Jews as a first step in reading John's Gospel in the context of the political and social instability of the first century CE. It then attempts to understand John's theology, its portrayal of Jewish social identity, and the narrative and theological functions of "the Jews" as a group character in light of this historical context. This work attempts to demonstrate that while John's treatment of Jews and Judaism is multivalent at both social and theological levels, it is primarily focused upon strengthening a Christologically centered Christian identity while attempting to mitigate the attractiveness of Judaism as a religious competitor.
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The siege of Masada is well known, but other important sieges during the Great Revolt, including those of Gamla and Yodfat (Jotapata) much less so.
Naturally, PaleoJudaica readers are better informed. I have posted on the siege of Jotapata/Yodfat with reference to the Josephus Problem, the little algorithm tha Josephus claimed he used to escape having to commit suicide as the Romans approached.
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Background here, here, and here.
Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.
I tracked the Dura-Europos: Crossroads of Antiquity Exhibition at the McMullen Museum of Art at Boston College back when it was showing in 2011 (see here, here, and here). This is the first I've heard that the informative and well-illustrated exhibition volume is available at archive.org.
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For more on Champollion's decipherment of hieroglyphic Egyptian using the Rosetta Stone, see here.
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“Legend of Destruction” is filmmaker Gidi Dar’s latest creation. Made entirely of still drawings, the movie was written by Dar and actor Shuli Rand, and drawn by Michael Faust and David Polonsky of “Waltz with Bashir” fame. Actors Moni Moshonov, Yael Abecassis, Igal Naor and Amos Tamam also provide voices in the film.The 90-minute film tells the story of the Jewish revolt against Rome in 70 CE, from the perspective of Ben Batiach, a good-hearted scholar who turns zealot, leading to the Roman siege on the city and the destruction of the Second Temple.
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Jonathan Price, Katell Berthelot, The future of Rome: Roman, Greek, Jewish and Christian visions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020. Pp. ix, 315. ISBN 9781108494816 $99.99.I noted the publication of the volume here.Review by
Michael Girardin, Université du Littoral – Côte d’Opale. michael.girardin@univ-littoral.fr
The volume itself is in English, but the review is in French.
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Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.
Volume 8 of Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History (2021) is just published. This is a special issue entitled “Scholars, Priests, and Temples: Babylonian and Egyptian Science in Context.” It consists a handful of papers falling in the scope of ancient Iran.There are lots of other papers in the volume too. Many are of background interest to ancient Judaism. One involves Talmudic traditions directly.
You can read the abstracts for free. Most of the articles are behind a subscription wall.
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For more than 160 years people have disagreed over whether the Newark Holy Stones are authentic. These carved stones engraved with Hebrew letters were found in and near the Newark Earthworks in the 1860s. Two of the Stones are in the collections of the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum in Coshocton.No specialist argues today that the Newark Stones are genuine ancient artifacts. They may have been created in the mid-nineteenth century as emancipationist propaganda aimed at preventing a civil war. It has also been suggested that they are stolen European medieval Jewish artifacts. To my knowledge, no peer-reviewed study has been published defending either hypothesis.[...]
In any case, they are remarkable objects. They are on display at present at the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum in Coshocton, Ohio. If you happen to be in the vicinity, do go and have a look.
For PaleoJudaica posts that go over this ground in much more detail, start here and follow the links.
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More Papyrus Roll Vocabulary: frons, cornua, umbilicus. The terms seem to refer, respectively, to the decorated top and bottom borders of a scroll and the wooden rod the scroll was wrapped around.
Stands for Holding Open Papyrus Rolls? The title is self-explanatory.
I noted an earlier post in this series here.
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Madaba is, of course, the home of the famous late-antique Madaba Map mosaic of the Holy Land. More on it here and links.
Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.