Abandoned Jewish town in Morocco rediscovered

SALVAGE ARCHAEOLOGY: Synagogue Ruins Tell Secrets of Jewish Community in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains. A team of Israeli, Moroccan and French researchers on a rescue excavation at a ruined synagogue in Morocco found amulets, the last remnants of a bygone community. The project will soon be expanded to the entire region, under royal sponsorship (Ofer Aderet, Haaretz).

Remainders of a Jewish-Moroccan community that existed for centuries were recently found in a remote town in the Atlas Mountains, on the edge of the Sahara Desert. The small Jewish community of Tamanart lived there from the 16th century to the early 19th century. Recently, researchers from Israel, Morocco and France conducted salvage excavations in its ruined synagogue.

Along with the building’s walls, they found Scriptures and pages from the synagogue’s genizah, a repository for damaged written matter and ritual objects, as well as a few paper amulets. One was meant to protect a woman in labor and her newborn, another a personal charm meant to protect its owner from trouble and disease. “The texts in these amulets are based on formulas found in the Book of Raziel, an ancient Kabbalist book,” says Orit Ouaknine-Yekutieli, a researcher of modern Morocco who teaches at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. The book, which includes texts for charms, was in use by Jewish communities in Morocco.

[...]

This discovery falls far outside PaleoJudaica's usual range, but it is too interesting not to note.

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

Was Job a zombie?

MONSTER THEORY: Goliath, Job and Other Monsters of the Hebrew Bible (S.I. Rosenbaum, The Jewish Experience - Brandeis University)

People read the Hebrew Bible for all sorts of things — spiritual guidance, literary inspiration, moral enlightenment.

Assistant professor of Hebrew Bible Madadh Richey looks for monsters.

She finds them everywhere — in the Book of Numbers, where God sends snakes to punish the Israelites; to the mysterious nephilim, sons of God, in Genesis who cohabitate with human women; to the more well-known ones such as the Leviathan, the giant fish in Jonah, and the demoness Lilith.

[...]

Another post on Monster Theory and the Hebrew Bible is here. See also here.

For PaleoJudaica posts on the Nephilim, see here and links. For some posts on Leviathan and its land counterpart Behemoth, see here and links. For many posts on Lilith, see here and links. Some posts on the biblical giant Goliath are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. I have collected some other giant-related posts here. And how can we omit the post-biblical monster the Golem in this discussion?

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

More on Cleopatra and Judaism

QUEEN CLEOPATRA VII (THE CLEOPATRA) has been in the news a lot lately, ever since the media heard about the the upcoming movie starring Gal Gadot. Ms. Gadot stirred things up last week in a interview:

"I can't reveal a lot, but I can tell you that we're going to celebrate the Cleopatra story," she told InStyle. "We're going to show not just how sexy and appealing she was, but how strategic and smart, and how much impact she had and still has on the world we're living in today.

"I've watched all the Cleopatra movies throughout history, but I feel like we're telling the story the world needs to hear now."

Meanwhile, Dr. Yvette Alt Miller has published an article in Heritage Florida Jewish News on Cleopatra and the Jews.

Cleopatra was a complex figure. Cleopatra VII (there were many Queen Cleopatras in Egypt. The final queen is the most famous) lived 69-30 BCE, and reigned during a tumultuous time in Egyptian history. Her political life touched on many regions, including far away Israel and Rome. Cleopatra didn't rule in a vacuum - she was a real woman, who played a central role in Middle Eastern politics. No matter how much we think we know about Cleopatra, there's always more to discover.

Here are seven surprising facts about Cleopatra and her important relationship with the land of Israel and ancient Jews.

I have mentioned before that (according to Plutarch) Cleopatra spoke Aramaic and Hebrew. This article adds quite a lot about her connections with first-century BCE Judaism.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on Cleopatra VII, start here and follow the links.

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

Mary the "Tower of Faith?"

NICKNAME ONONMASTICS: Was Mary Magdalene really from Magdala? Two scholars examine the evidence. The two scholars suggest Magdalene may well be an honorific from the Hebrew and Aramaic words meaning ‘tower’ or ‘magnify’ (Yonat Shimron, RNS).

In a paper published last month, Elizabeth Schrader, a Ph.D. student at Duke University, and Joan Taylor, a professor at King’s College, London, argue that the assumption Magdala refers to Mary’s place of origin is entirely speculative.

Instead, they say, Magdalene may well be an honorific from the Hebrew and Aramaic roots for “tower” or “magnified.”

Just as the Apostle Peter is given the epithet “rock,” (“You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church”), Mary could well have acquired a title “Magdalene” meaning “tower of faith,” or “Mary the magnified.”

The link to the underlying article the Journal of Biblical Literature is via JSTOR. The abstract is free, but the article is behind a subscription wall.

Some PaleoJudaica posts on Mary Magdalene in recent years are here, here, here, here, and here.

For many posts on the ancient city of Magdala (Migdal today), the two first-century synagogues excavated there, and the Magdala Stone found in the first synagogue, start here and follow the links.

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

A Sasanian-era inscription mentioning Zoroaster

PAHLAVI EPIGRAPHY: Centuries-old inscription discovered near Istakhr ancient city (Tehran Times).

TEHRAN –A Sassanid-era (224–651) rock-carved inscription has recently been discovered near the ancient city of Istakhr, in Marvdasht plain, which is home to the UNESCO-registered sites of Persepolis and Pasargadae as well as tens of other magnificent structures, in southern Fars province.

The inscription bears Middle Persian (or Pahlavi) script in six lines, Said Hamid Fadai who presides over Persepolis World Heritage site.

Because of erosion of the inscription, specialized archaeologists and historians have read and translated it carefully, the official added.

The name of Zarathustra [Zoroaster] is engraved on this inscription that measures 40 by 35 centimeters, he noted.

The name Zarathustra has appeared in historical paper documents, but this is the first time it has been identified on an inscription, he explained.

[...]

Some PaleoJudaica posts on or involving the Persian prophet Zoroaster are here, here, here, here, here, and here. Zoroastrianism had some influence – how much is debated – on ancient Judaism.

For more on the Sasanian (Sassanian) Empire, see here and links.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on the ancient city of Persepolis, see here and links. The Tomb of Cyrus the Great is at Pasargade.

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

Steinhardt artifacts at the Israel Museum

PROBLEM ARTIFACTS: Billionaire's looted art still on display at Israel Museum (Ilan Ben Zion, PhysOrg.).

One of the Israel Museum's biggest patrons, American billionaire Michael Steinhardt, approached the flagship Israeli art institution in 2007 with an artifact he had recently bought: a 2,200-year-old Greek text carved into limestone.

But shortly after it went on display, an expert noticed something odd—two chunks of text found a year earlier during a dig near Jerusalem fit the limestone slab like a jigsaw puzzle. It soon became clear that Steinhardt's tablet came from the same cave where the other fragments were excavated.

Last month, Steinhardt surrendered the piece, known as the Heliodorus Stele, and 179 other artifacts valued at roughly $70 million as part of a landmark deal with the Manhattan District Attorney's office to avoid prosecution. Eight Neolithic masks loaned by Steinhardt to the Israel Museum for a major exhibition in 2014 were also seized under the deal, including two that remain exhibited at the museum.

[...]

I have been following the Steinhardt saga, but have not posted on it until now. This is the first time it has overlapped with PaleoJudaica's interests. You can read the full story, for example, in this Live Science article by Ben Turner: Billionaire hands over $70 million of stolen artifacts. The haul includes stone death masks and a chest for human remains. Executive summary:

A billionaire hedge-fund manager has surrendered 180 stolen artifacts worth $70 million and has received a lifetime ban on acquiring more relics as part of a deal struck with the Manhattan district attorney's office.

No one is accusing the Israel Museum of any wrongdoing. According to the PhysOrg article, the Manhattan DA says that the three objects still on display "are 'effectively seized in place.'" The DA "has opened talks with Israel to coordinate the return of" some artifacts.

As for the artifacts discussed in the current article, I posted on the Heliodorus inscription here, here, here, and here. By the end of 2009 it was clear that it was genuine, after fragments of it were excavated at Maresha. There were also serious concerns by then about whether it had been looted. The Greek City Times has an article on this object: US billionaire’s stolen ancient Greek Heliodorus Stele remain on display at Israel Museum. The other two surrended artifacts still on display there are the abovementioned neolithic masks.

I don't think I knew about the Royal Moabite Inscription loaned to the Israel Museum by Steinhardt. It is on display at the Israel Museum, but is not part of the Mahattan DA's looting investigation.

The best-known Moabite inscription is, of course, the Mesha Stele (or Moabite stone), on which PaleoJudaica has many posts. Another fragment of a lapidary inscription in Moabite was found in El-Kerak in 1958. It is in the Jordan Archaeological Museum. And 2019 saw the publication of an inscribed Moabite altar that was excavated in Jordan.

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

The Talmudic Encyclopedia is 75

TALMUD WATCH: The Talmudic Encyclopedia Reaches 75 (Toby Klein Greenwald, The Jewish Press).

An event honoring the 75th anniversary of the Talmudic Encyclopedia took place on December 30 at the residence of the President of Israel, Isaac Herzog. It was especially moving because it also marked three generations of involvement of the Herzog family in the project.

The event was also to honor Rabbi Hershel Schachter, the leading rosh yeshiva and rosh kollel at Yeshiva University, halachic advisor for the Orthodox Union, advisor and mentor for the Rabbinical Council of America, and world-renowned posek. The Talmudic Encyclopedia will dedicate a future volume to Rav Shachter.

The 48th volume was released just a few days before the event. It is hoped that the project will be completed by 2024.

{...]

This is a long and informative article.

I noted this project in 2015, when the editors annouced plans to put it online. The project's website is here. It was conceived of in 1942 and the first volume was published in 1947. In 2015 there were 33 volumes out, so there has been good progress in the intervening years.

Cross-file under Encyclopedia Talmudit.

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

Volume 6 of Italian Talmud translation published

TALMUD WATCH: Sixth volume of Italian translation of Talmud released. The sixth volume of an Italian translation of the Talmud was recently published in Italy (Arutz Sheva).

I have nicknamed this translation the cyborg's Talmud, for reasons explained here. Follow the links from there for more posts on the Italian Talmud. Cross-file under Algorithm Watch.

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

Kazen, Impurity and Purification in Early Judaism and the Jesus Tradition (SBL)

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

Impurity and Purification in Early Judaism and the Jesus Tradition
Thomas Kazen

ISBN 9781628374100
Volume RBS 98
Status Available
Publication Date October 2021
Paperback $55.00
Hardback $75.00
eBook $55.00

This collection of essays by Thomas Kazen focuses on issues of purity and purification in early Judaism and the Jesus tradition. During the late Second Temple period, Jewish purity practices became more prominent than before and underwent substantial developments. These essays advance the ongoing conversation and debate about a number of key issues in the field, such as the relationship between ritual and morality, the role and function of metaphor, and the use of evolutionary and embodied perspectives. Kazen’s research stands in constant dialogue with the major currents and main figures in purity research, including both historical (origin, development, practice) and cognitive (evolutionary, emotional, conceptual) approaches.

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

Croy, Sequencing the Hebrew Bible (Sheffield Phoenix/SBL)

NEW BOOK FROM SHEFFIELD PHOENIX/SBL PRESS:

Sequencing the Hebrew Bible: The Order of the Books
Casey K. Croy

ISBN 9781910928882
Status Available
Publication Date
September 2021
Hardback$75.00

If the order of the Hebrew Bible’s books is significant, as many believe, why did differing arrangements of the Hebrew Bible emerge over time? This is a crucial question for Bible readers generally and especially for scholars of compilational criticism—the study of how the books of the Hebrew Bible were arranged in their various orders. Yet few compilational critics offer a solution to this problem and several fail even to recognize the issue.

Sequencing the Hebrew Bible makes the novel proposal that multiple orders are part of the compositional intent of the framers of the Hebrew Bible. That is, those responsible for producing the final form of the Hebrew Bible’s text created multiple ways in which its books could be meaningfully arranged. No single arrangement, as found in ancient manuscripts and lists of the books, can fully account for the compositional intent of these framers. The task of the compilational critic is to identify these arrangements, classify them, and evaluate the effect of these varying arrangements.

This solution has implications both for the production of modern Bibles and for biblical theology. While some interested in compilational criticism argue that modern Bibles should be reorganized to reflect earlier arrangements of the biblical books, this study would suggest that such attempts would be limited in value. For only one of the several attested arrangements could be presented in any printed Bible. As for the idea of attempting to arrange the Bible chronologically, this study argues that to do so would inhibit the reader’s understanding of the design of the biblical authors. Since biblical theology bridges the gap between historical-critical and theological studies, internal tensions between historical and theological analyses are often apparent within biblical theology. Compilational criticism helps to relieve these tensions by showing how theology underlies the formation of the Hebrew Bible.

SBL Press is the North American distributor for Sheffield Phoenix Press. Customers outside of North America can purchase this book directly from Sheffield Phoenix by clicking here.

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

Viezel, The Intention of the Torah and the Intention of Its Readers (Magnes Press, in Hebrew)

NEW BOOK FROM MAGNES PRESS:

The Intention of the Torah and the Intention of Its Readers
Episodes of Contention

By: Eran Viezel

Publisher: Magnes Press
Year: 2021
Catalog number: 45-131160
ISBN: 978-965-7790-14-4
Pages: 451
Language: Hebrew
Weight: 800 gr.
Cover: Paperback

Synopsis

The Intention of the Torah and the Intention of Its Readers surveys how traditional Jewish exegesis throughout the ages has coped with the literary and topical difficulties found in the Torah, in the context of the belief in the Torah’s divine source and sanctity. “All problems stem from expectations.” Readers and exegetes of the Torah throughout the ages supposed, and many continue to suppose, that the Torah is perfect and flawless. They expect the Torah to reflect superior and timeless standards of morality, as well as precise and eternal theological principles. They believe that everything written in the Torah is true, essential, and well thought out. The history of Torah scholarship from the end of the Second Temple period until our day can be conceived of as an uninterrupted continuum of challenges which this unique and, frankly, impossible level of expectations has imposed upon its readers and exegetes. These are glorious attempts to bring the Torah nearer the time and place of its devotees and to adapt its meaning to theirs. This book is the first attempt of its kind to examine the history of the enterprise of Torah exegesis from a distance. It contains an examination of dozens of key texts from the end of the Second Temple period, from Talmudic and Midrashic sources, dicta of medieval Sages, and the reflections and research penned by scholars of the Enlightenment (Haskalah) and the modern era. A bird’s eye view blurs the details which differentiate between these texts, enabling us to more easily focus upon the similarities; this point of view also allows us to note the central crossroads of change and development which characterize each period. This is an indispensable book for anyone interested in the changing nature of biblical exegesis over the generations.

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

Finkelstein, Essays on Biblical Historiography (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Israel Finkelstein. Essays on Biblical Historiography: From Jeroboam II to John Hyrcanus I. 2022. IX, 592 pages. Forschungen zum Alten Testament 148. 164,00 € including VAT. cloth ISBN 978-3-16-160853-7.

Published in English.
This volume is a collection of articles and new essays by Israel Finkelstein that offers an outline for reconstructing the evolution of biblical historiography over 700 years, starting with Israel in the early eighth century BCE and ending with the days of the Hasmoneans in the late second century BCE. Special emphasis is given to North Israelite traditions which were committed to writing in the days of Jeroboam II; to the arrival of these traditions in Judah after the takeover of Israel by Assyria; to Judahite ideology of the seventh century BCE; and to the legitimacy needs of the Hasmoneans in the days of John Hyrcanus. The analysis is based on the most recent archaeological discoveries, biblical exegesis and ancient Near Eastern records.

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

Laderman, Jewish Art in Late Antiquity (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Jewish Art in Late Antiquity

The State of Research in Ancient Jewish Art

Series:
Brill Research Perspectives in Humanities and Social Sciences
Brill Research Perspectives in Religion and the Arts

Author: Dr Shulamit Laderman

Antique Jewish art visualized the idea that the essence of God is beyond the world of forms. In the Bible, the Israelites were commanded to build sanctuaries without cult statues. Following the destruction of the Second Temple, Jews turned to literary and visual aids to fill the void. In this accessible survey, Shulamit Laderman traces the visualizations of the Tabernacle implements, including the seven-branch menorah, the Torah ark, the shofar, the four species, and other motifs associated with the Hebrew Bible and the Jewish calendar. These motifs evolved into iconographic symbols visualized in a range of media, including coins, funerary art, and synagogue decorations in both Israel and the Diaspora. Particular attention is given to important discoveries such as the frescoes of the third-century CE synagogue in Dura-Europos, mosaic floors in synagogues in Galilee, and architectural and carved motifs that decorated burial places.

Copyright Year: 2022

Prices from (excl. VAT): €70.00 / $84.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-50958-0
Publication Date: 06 Dec 2021

Paperback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-42857-7
Publication Date: 09 Dec 2021

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

More on Sefaria's Jerusalem Talmud

(JERUSALEM) TALMUD WATCH: New online translation by Sefaria may be the Jerusalem Talmud’s ‘Cinderella moment.’ The nonprofit offers free access to Jewish texts, and debuts one of its most ambitious projects yet – an interactive version of a cryptic and oft-overlooked version of the Talmud (DAVID STROMBERG, Times of Israel).

The Jerusalem Talmud was not completely forgotten — but its scarcity, as well as its style, made it more difficult to apply. It’s also written in a different Aramaic from the one that became familiar to yeshiva students who pored over the Babylonian Talmud. As Dr. Moshe Simon-Shoshan, a scholar of rabbinic literature and senior lecturer at Bar-Ilan University, explains, the Jerusalem Talmud is shorter, more cryptic, and less edited than the Babylonian Talmud, also known merely as the Bavli. It’s harder to make sense of the text, he adds, and so that people have to be more careful in reading and interpreting the Jerusalem Talmud — or Yerushalmi, as it is also known — especially since the links in the text aren’t as clear.

“I often say,” says Simon-Shoshan, “that you will never complain about the Bavli being unclear after you open the Yerushalmi.”

This article gives a helpful account of what the Talmud Yerushalmi (Palestinian Talmud) is and why it is important.

For more on Sefaria's new online English translation of the Yerushalmi, see here, with lots of background links.

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

New information on ancient Hebrew inscribed seals

NORTHWEST SEMITIC EPIGRAPHY: Biblical name, seals shed light on First Temple treasuries. New research published in the Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology offers insights on where the Kingdom of Judah kept its wealth some 2,600 years ago (Rossella Tercatin, Jerusalem Post).

It finally occurred to someone to look at the backs of those inscribed seals. They turn out to bear unexpectedly important information.

For more on the Immer seal, see here, here, and here.

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

On Matthew's Magi

'TIS THE SEASON, EPIPHANY EDITION: So Who Were the Magi—AKA the Three Kings—Who Visited Jesus? (Candida Moss, Daily Beast via Yahoo News).

I am bored with the whole magi thing, but I suppose it's good to post on it once a year. According to Matthew 2 some "magi" (magoi) came to Judea to see the "king of the Jews," because they saw "his star in the east." Magos is a Greek spelling of a Persian term for a type of priest. This word, incidentally, is the basis for the English word "magic." They are not called kings, they don't have names, and the text does not say how many there were. People infer there were three because of the three gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. There are later traditions and books about Matthew's magi which make them kings, assign them names, and claim there were up to twelve of them.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on Matthew's magi, see here and links, plus here and here.

While we're on the subject, past posts on the Star of Bethlehem are here and many links. There are many notions about what it may have been. I think it was a midrash on Numbers 24:17.

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

Harper, Paul and Philo on the Politics of the Land, Jerusalem, and Temple (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: John-Paul Harper. Paul and Philo on the Politics of the Land, Jerusalem, and Temple. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe 562. 84,00 € including VAT. sewn paper ISBN 978-3-16-160646-5.

Published in English.
In this study, John-Paul Harper critically compares how Paul and Philo rethought the significant Jewish symbols of Land, Jerusalem, and Temple. Drawing particular attention to their political significance, he demonstrates how these symbols offer important insights into how both Paul and Philo conceptualised authority in the local community (Temple), within the wider »people of God« (Jerusalem), and in relation to the Roman Empire (Land). The author argues that, while both conceptualised authority in charismatic terms, Philo's appropriation tended to be more individualistic and focussed on otherworldly realities, whereas Paul's tended to be more communal and focussed on this-worldly realities. Along the way, the author contributes to contemporary discussions of Paul and Philo's Jewish identity, their perspectives on community leadership and order, and their perspectives on the Roman Empire.

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

Online Second Temple Judaism Conference (Jan 2022)

THE ENOCH SEMINAR: Studies in Second Temple Judaism: A Global Enterprise. An International Online Conference (January 10-13, 2022).

Chairs: Kelley Coblentz Bautch, Rodney Caruthers, Shayna Sheinfeld, with Gabriele Boccaccini, Amy-Jill Levine, John Collins

Secretary: Joshua Scott

Language: English

The study of Second Temple Jewish history, practice and belief is a global enterprise. The Frankel Institute for Advanced Studies and the Enoch Seminar have invited 44 scholars from across the globe to present their work and engage in a conversation about the present status and the future prospects of the field. Specialists and students in Biblical Studies, Judaic Studies, Classics, and Christian Origins are invited to attend.

Follow the link for registration information and a provisional schedule.

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

Online seminar: "Traditions in the Land"

THE BIBLE PLACES BLOG: JUC Online Seminar Schedule. Todd Bolen draws attention to an upcoming online event. He is one of the presenters.

Jerusalem University College, where I studied biblical geography, history, and archaeology, first as an undergrad and later for a graduate degree, is hosting an online seminar this weekend. “Transitions in the Land” will feature eight speakers discussing a variety of topics. The schedule has now been released; all times are US Eastern.

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

A biography of Baruch A. Levine

PROFESSOR LAWRENCE H. SCHIFFMAN: BARUCH A. LEVINE: A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY. Professor Schiffman links to a De Gruyter open-access article of his on the career of the late Professor Levine.

Background here and here and links.

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

The Victorian archaeology of Jerusalem

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: How 19th Century Western Archaeologists Made Jerusalem a Zionist Dream. The search for biblical treasures starting in the 19th century fundamentally changed the way Westerners, including Jews, saw Jerusalem. The consequences were enormous (Andrew Lawler, Haaretz). HT Rogue Classicism.

Andrew Lawler is the author of the new book, Under Jerusalem, on which more here. I noted a recent article by him on the search for the Ark of the Covenant in the nineteenth century here and another by him on the historical background of the Gaza conflict here.

For more on Sir Charles Warren, see here and links.

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

Review of new translation of Eusebius' Church History

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Review | The History of the Church: A New Translation (Peter Z. Fraser-Morris).

Jeremy Schott’s translation is a remarkable work of scholarship. The translator manages to convey the idiosyncrasies and ancient conventions of Eusebius’ Greek palpable to English-speaking readers.

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

Intestinal parasites among the ancient Jerusalem elite

ARCHAEOPARASITOLOGY: Ancient toilet shows Jerusalem’s rich wallowed in luxury – and discomfort. Sediment samples swiped from 2,700-year-old privy reveal the presence of intestinal worm eggs that would have caused abdominal pain, diarrhea and itching (Stuart Winer, Times of Israel).

I noted the discovery of the ancient toilet a few months ago. Follow the links from there for more Latrine News.

The latrine at Qumran likewise showed a high incidence of intestinal parasites. For more on the parasitology of antiquity and the Middle Ages, see here and here.

Sanitation was not much of a thing until surprisingly recently. As I have said repeatedly, the ancients lived in a world whose casual degradation and brutality is hard for us to imagine.

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

Archaeology conversations with Israel Finkelstein

THE AWOL BLOG: Free Content for your Bible and Archaeology Classes from the F. W. Albright Institute. Featuring the Shmunis Family Conversations in the Archaeology and History of Ancient Israel with Israel Finkelstein (interviewed by Matthew J. Adams, Director of the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem).

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

Who copied and who canceled the Apocryphal Acts?

THE APOCRYPHICITY BLOG: What Has Apocrypha to Do with Hagiographa? A Reconsideration of the “Editing” of Apocryphal Acts. The following paper was presented at the 2021 Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature (Tony Burke).

Our field today is increasingly skeptical about what church writers say about the texts we study and about their ability to prevent their transmission. We are also moving away from the pursuit of original forms; informed by new philology, we are learning to embrace the variety of text types reflected in the manuscript evidence.

This is a fascinating, albeit technical, account of the transmission of the big-five Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles (Peter, Paul, Thomas, Andrew, and John).

Cross-file under New Testament Apocrypha Watch.

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Archaeological digs to watch in 2022

PREDICTIONS: 5 archaeological 'digs' to watch in 2022. Live Science makes predictions about what archaeologists will uncover in the new year (Owen Jarus, Live Science).

There are a number of archaeological finds and stories we might hear about in 2022. These include discoveries from Egypt's "lost golden city," new finds from Qumran — the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in nearby caves — as well as finds that may shed light on what life was like 11,000 years ago, when humans started building large ceremonial sites. In this countdown, Live Science makes five archaeology predictions for 2022.

I noted Mr. Jarus's predictions for 2017 here. How do you think he did?

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

Egyptian sites in Sohag

PHOTO ESSAY: UNCOVER SOHAG’S COLOURFUL HISTORY THROUGH THESE 7 STUNNING SITES. From ancient necropolises to medieval mosques, Sohag is a unique cultural and spiritual experience that encapsulates the diversity of Egyptian heritage (MENNA SHANAB, Cairo Scene).

Steeped in Pharaonic traditions and Coptic heritage, Sohag played a pivotal role in the development of Egypt’s cultural and religious identity with a handful of historical sites to show for it. The seldom-visited governorate hugs Upper Egypt’s stretch of the Nile and is located about 470 kilometres from Cairo. From Pharaonic-inspired monasteries and medieval mosques to ancient necropolises and lavishly decorated temples, Sohag is a unique cultural and spiritual experience that encapsulates the diversity of Egyptian heritage.

Athribis (Atribis) has just been in the news for the cache of 13,000 inscribed ostraca discovered there. (There is another Athribis in Lower Egypt, north of Cairo, which makes matters confusing.) For more on the White Monastery, of crucial importance for the transmission of ancient manuscripts in Egypt, see here and links. Last year there was an exhibition on the city of Akhmin (Akhmim) at the Berlin State Museum. Ahkmim was the site of the discovery of an important Greek manuscript containing material from the Book of 1 Enoch, the Gospel of Peter, and the Apocalyse of Peter. For still more on Ahkmim, follow the link

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

Studia Orientalia 9.2 (2021)

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: Identity and Empire in the Ancient Near East.

The latest issue of Studia Orientalia Electronica (Vol. 9 No. 2) is dedicated to the theme, “Identity and Empire in the Ancient Near East.” It conveys, inter alia, three articles that fall into the scope of ancient Iranian history and culture:

There are also articles on the Idrimi inscription from Alalakh, religion at ancient Ugarit, and the Chaldean kings of Babylon.

Studia Orientalia is an open-access journal.

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Biblical Studies Carnival 190

READING ACTS: Biblical Studies Carnival 190 for December 2021 (Phil Long).

Phil links to the first ever Biblical Studies Carnival at the Ebla Logs in March of 2005. It turns out that the first link in that carnival was to PaleoJudaica. Good times. Thanks for the reminder, Phil.

By the way, Norman Golb passed away in December of 2020, not 2021.

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Royse Festschrift (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Ancient Texts, Papyri, and Manuscripts

Studies in Honor of James R. Royse

Series: New Testament Tools, Studies and Documents, Volume: 64

Volume Editors: Alan Taylor Farnes, Scott D. Mackie, and David Runia

This volume honors Prof. James R. Royse on the occasion of his seventy-fifth birthday and celebrates his scholarly achievement in the fields of New Testament textual criticism and Philonic studies. An introductory section contains a biographical notice on the honoratus and a complete list of his scholarly publications. Part one contains nine articles on New Testament textual criticism, focusing on methodological issues, difficult passages and various textual witnesses. Part two presents eight studies on the thought, writings, textual record, and reception of Philo of Alexandria. This wide-ranging collection of articles will introduce the reader to new findings in the scholarly fields to which Prof. Royse continues to make such an outstanding contribution.

Copyright Year: 2021

Prices from (excl. VAT): €139.00$ / 167.00 Hardback

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-46557-2
Publication Date: 02 Dec 2021

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Paulsen-Reed, The Apocalypse of Abraham ... (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

The Apocalypse of Abraham in Its Ancient and Medieval Contexts

Series: The Brill Reference Library of Judaism, Volume: 69

Author: Amy Paulsen-Reed

The Apocalypse of Abraham is a pseudepigraphal work that narrates Abraham’s rejection of idol worship and his subsequent ascent to heaven, where he is shown eschatological secrets through angelic mediation. This fascinating text was only preserved in Old Church Slavonic and must be studied as both a medieval Christian and an ancient Jewish text. This monograph addresses the following questions: -Why were medieval Slavs translating and reading Jewish pseudepigrapha? -How much, if at all, did they emend or edit the Apocalypse of Abraham? -When in antiquity was it most likely written? -What were its ancient Jewish social and theological contexts?

Prices from (excl. VAT): €108.00 / $130.00

Copyright Year: 2022

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-43062-4
Publication Date: 22 Nov 2021

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-43061-7
Publication Date: 25 Nov 2021

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BAS's 2021 archaeology top 10

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: 2021’s Top Ten Biblical Archaeology Stories. BHD's year in review: from new Dead Sea Scrolls to early Canaanite writing (Nathan Steinmeyer).

Again, PaleoJudaica noted all of these stories. You can find links for some of them in the 2021 archaeology roundup posts collected here.

For the revival of the debate over the Shapira scroll fragments, see here and links. For the discussion of King David's Judah, see here. For the passing of Hershel Shanks in 2021, see here, here, and here and links. For the new inscribed Lachish ostracon, see here. For the First-Temple-era weight that has been accused of cheating, see here and here. And I have mentioned the new manuscript of the Book of the Dead found in a funerary temple at Saqqara here.

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The underwater ecology of a Punic warship ram

MARINE ARCHAEOLOGY: More than 100 animal species are found living on the ancient ruins of a 2,000-year-old warship that sank during a battle between Romans and Carthaginians off the coast of Sicily (Stacy Liberatore, Daily Mail).

For more on the underwater archaeology of the Carthaginian defeat at the Aegates in the First Punic War, see here and here.

For many other posts on ancient shipwrecks, see here and links. Cross-file under Punic Watch and Marine (Maritime, Underwater) Archaeology.

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Review of Myers & Kline, A Hebrew Reader for the Psalms

WILLIAM A. ROSS: REVIEW: A NEW HEBREW READER FOR THE PSALMS.

It’s been a while since I did a book review, but I want to make sure to highlight a great new resource that is likely to interest my readers. Hendrickson Publishers has just produced A Hebrew Reader for the Psalms: 40 Beloved Texts, compiled and edited by Pete Myers and Jonathan G. Kline.

[...]

The volume was published by Hendrickson in 2021.

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Happy 2022!

HAPPY NEW YEAR from PaleoJudaica!

Best wishes again for a safe, healthy, and better new year. And do keep PaleoJudaica as a regular part of it.

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

The IAA's top-10 discoveries for 2021

THE FRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY: TOP IAA DISCOVERIES IN 2021.

PaleoJudaica has kept track of all of these stories. For the Solomonic-era purple cloth from the Timna Valley excavation, see here and here. For the lucky half-face lamp, whose other half turned up in Hungary, see here, here, and here. For the Arbel amulet, see here. For the unbreached wall in Jerusalem, see here, here, and here. For the intact chicken egg (eggshell, really), see here. And for the silver shekel found in Jerusalem, see here.

I have collect PaleoJudaica links for the other stories in in this post on Christianity Today's 2021 top-10 biblical archaeology list and in this top-10 archaeology list by the Greek Reporter. I also linked to an excellent list of lists by the Bible Place Blog here.

And that, my dear readers, is 2021 for PaleoJudaica. 2022 is nearly upon us. Celebrate well and safely tonight.

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Review of Lawler, Under Jerusalem

HISTORY OF ARCHAEOLOGY: 150 years of excavating Jerusalem: A rich layer cake. Book: Under Jerusalem by Andrew Lawler (RANDY ROSENTHAL, Jerusalem Post).

In Under Jerusalem, American author Andrew Lawler tells the story behind a century and a half of excavating the world’s most contested city, paying as much attention to the aboveground politics as to the subterranean discoveries. Part history, part journalism and part adventure story, the book is nearly as fun to read as exploring the underground passages it describes.

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Moses more than mortal?

DR. ALEXANDRIA FRISCH: A Not-Quite Mortal Moses (TheTorah.com).

Moses transformed into an angel, sat upon the divine throne, and was an instantiation of the Greek God, Hermes: These are some of the ways Second Temple authors reimagined Moses.

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An algorithm to index Judaism?

ALGORITHM WATCH: Science Ministry issues grant for historical Jewish texts algorithm. A Holon Institute of Technology (HIT) research team has received a grant to program an algorithm that will identify links from across Jewish source texts (Jerusalem Post).

I'm not sure exactly what this algorithm is supposed to do, but it sounds ambitious.

For PaleoJudaica posts on the application of algorithms to the study of antiquity, see here and here and follow the links.

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

Calderon nominated to head Jewish Agency

A NEW ROLE? Lapid nominates Ruth Calderon to head Jewish Agency (J-Wire).

Dr Calderon is an educator and Talmud scholar who holds a master’s degree and a doctorate in Talmud from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. From 2013-2015, she was a Knesset Member from the Yesh Atid Party, where she was Deputy Speaker, member of the education and state control committees, and Chairperson of the Lobby for Jewish Renewal.

For PaleoJudaica posts on Ruth Calderon and her wide-ranging work, see here and here and links.

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

Neglected ancient burial caves in Jerusalem

UNHEEDED HERITAGE: Turning over in their graves. (Nadav Shragai, Israel HaYom).

Dozens of ancient heritage sites in Jerusalem, some located in the heart of residential neighborhoods, are suffering from long-term neglect. Doctoral student Yosef Speizer has submitted a list of 120 key sites to the city, and Mayor Moshe Leon says he plans to address the issue.

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Hadrian's Wall is turning 1900

COMMEMORATION: 1900 FESTIVAL: Join us as we celebrate 1900 years since the building of Hadrian’s Wall. 2022 will see hundreds of events and activities taking place in a yearlong festival across Hadrian’s Wall.

For PaleoJudaica posts on Hadrian's Wall, some with photos, see here and links. For posts on Vindolanda, an ancient Roman fort in Northumbria near the wall, see that post and links, plus here and here. Vindolanda is best known for the vast archive of Latin documentary tablets found there, sometimes known as the Dead Sea Scrolls of Britain.

In ancient Jewish tradition the Emperor Hadrian is mainly remembered for his role in the Bar Kokhba Revolt in 132-135 CE. Some posts on him are collected here. If you want an educated guess at what he looked like, see here. One of his outrages was the rebuilding of Jerusalem as a pagan city named after him: Aelia Capitolina.

I will keep an eye on the Wall commemorations in 2022 and will keep you posted on any interesting developments.

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

Bible Places top 10 lists

THE BIBLE PLACES BLOG: Top 10 Discoveries in Biblical Archaeology in 2021 (Todd Bolen).

This top 10 list is my own, reflecting what I judge to be of greatest interest for biblical archaeology and history. I tend to attach greater significance to stories more closely related to the biblical lands and biblical time periods. Following the top 10, I have included several lists of noteworthy stories from Jerusalem, Israel, and elsewhere.

In addition, I’ve compiled lists of the top stories related to tourism, notable resources of 2021, and a review of some we lost this year. A final section provides links to other top 10 lists of 2021. I am of course greatly indebted to many, including the archaeologists who made the discoveries, the journalists who reported them, and many friends who sent links. In terms of archaeological discoveries, 2021 was a very good year.

This is an excellent array of lists.

For other 2021 top-ten archaeology lists, see here and here. At both posts I have linked to PaleoJudaica posts on many of the same stories.

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Jones, Translation and Style in the Old Greek Psalter (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Translation and Style in the Old Greek Psalter

What Pleases Israel's God

Series: Septuagint Commentary Series Septuagint Monograph Series

Author: Jennifer Brown Jones

While some describe the Greek Psalter as a “slavish” or “interlinear” translation with “dreadfully poor poetry,” how would its original audience have described it? Positioning the translation within the developing corpus of Jewish-Greek literature, Jones analyzes the Psalter’s style based on the textual models and literary strategies available to its translator. She demonstrates that the translator both respects the integrity of his source and displays a sensitivity to his translation’s performative aspects. By adopting recognizable and acceptable Jewish-Greek literary conventions, the translator ultimately creates a text that can function independently and be read aloud or performed in the Jewish-Greek community.

Copyright Year: 2022

Prices from (excl. VAT): €124.00 / $149.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-47230-3
Publication Date: 15 Nov 2021

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-47125-2
Publication Date: 11 Nov 2021

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Late-antique synagogue excavated in Turkey

ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE: Excavations reveal ancient synagogue in Turkish town near tourist hotspot. Excavations reveal ancient synagogue in Turkish town near tourist hotspot of Antalya. Synagogue dates back to 7th century (David I. Klein, JTA via Arutz Sheva).

The synagogue was found recently in the town of Side, not far from the tourist hotspot of Antalya, in southern Turkey.

Among the remains was a plaque with a menorah motif and an inscription in Hebrew and Greek stating that it was donated by a father in honor of a son who passed away at a young age. The plaque ends with the Hebrew word “Shalom.”

In 2009 there was a report of the discovery of another synagogue, dating to the third century CE, in the same region. According to Acts 13:13-15, there was a Jewish community with a synagogue in Pisidian Antioch, near Pamphylia (in Antalya Province) in the first century CE.

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Looting picnic at Horvat Zaak?

APPREHENDED: Antiquities thieves busted plundering ancient cave in southern Judea. Seemingly innocent picnic revealed to be an antiquities robbery with five suspects from the Negev arrested (Israel HaYom).

A group of antiquities thieves were caught red-handed as they were allegedly plundering an ancient archaeological site in southern Judea, the Israel Antiquities Authority reported last week.

The robbers were digging at Horvat Zaak, an ancient Jewish village dating back to the Second Temple period.

[...]

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Apocryphal Christmas continued

SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE: The Magi, Herod, and A Flight to Egypt.

Continuing the series of excerpts from the Gospel of James (the Protevangelium of James).

This story sounds more familiar. It is basically an imaginative retelling of Matthew chapter 2, with a cameo appearance of two charactes from Luke chapter 1 toward the end.

Cross-file under New Testament Apocrypha Watch and (still) 'Tis the Season.

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Stone, Armenian Apocrypha from Adam to Daniel (SBL)

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

Armenian Apocrypha from Adam to Daniel
Michael E. Stone ISBN 9781628374162
Volume EJL 55
Status Available
Publication Date December 2021
Paperback $59.00
Hardback $79.00
eBook $59.00

This latest book by Michael E. Stone is the sixth volume in a series of translations from Armenian to English, which he began with the publication of Armenian Apocrypha Relating to Patriarchs and Prophets in 1982. His initial aim, to search unstudied Armenian manuscripts for works dating back to the Second Temple period, developed into a career-long search for reworkings of biblical traditions, stories, and persons in the Armenian tradition. In this collection Stone focuses on texts related to heaven and hell, angels and demons, and biblical figures from the Hebrew Bible and apocrypha. Texts, introductions, translations, annotations, and a critical apparatus make this collection a key resource for students and scholars of apocryphal and pseudepigraphical literature.

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Holladay, Hellenistic Jewish Literature and the New Testament (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Carl R. Holladay. Hellenistic Jewish Literature and the New Testament. Collected Essays. Ed. by Jonathan M. Potter and Michael K.W. Suh. 2021. XXI, 714 pages. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 468. 189,00 € including VAT. cloth ISBN 978-3-16-154789-8>.

Published in English.
Like Philo and Josephus, as well as those who earlier produced the Septuagint and the Hellenistic Jewish fragmentary texts, the writers of the New Testament were Jews writing in Greek. They may have been articulating and promoting a particular form of Jewish messianism that eventually became a distinctive form of religious belief, but in the first and early second centuries, those Christ-followers who were writing in various genres operated with many of the same assumptions as their Jewish counterparts in the land of Israel and in other places such as Alexandria and Rome. This collection of essays, spanning the scholarly career of Carl R. Holladay, investigates the Hellenistic Jewish writings in their own contexts and explores how they illuminate the writings of the New Testament. Included are six new essays on such topics as Hellenistic Judaism, the Beatitudes, and Luke-Acts.

For more on Professor Holladay, see here.

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Porter, Johannine Social Identity Formation after the Fall of the Jerusalem Temple (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Johannine Social Identity Formation after the Fall of the Jerusalem Temple

Negotiating Identity in Crisis

Series: Biblical Interpretation Series, Volume: 194

Author: Christopher A. Porter

In Johannine Social Identity Formation after the Fall of the Jerusalem Temple Christopher Porter reads the Fourth Gospel through the lens of social identity theory as means of reconciling the social dislocation and trauma of the destruction of the Jerusalem temple. Analysing the Fourth Gospel in conversation with other temple-removed texts of Qumran, Philo, and Josephus the gospel’s intent to renegotiate cultic life without the temple can be seen. Through this analysis it is argued that the Fourth Gospel primarily functions as an intra-mural Jewish text, attempting to negotiate the formation of a Jesus-follower social identity in direct continuity with earlier Jewish shared social narratives. Finally, this work reviews the Johannine Community as an outcome of the Gospel identity formation.

Copyright Year: 2022

Prices from (excl. VAT): €106.00 / $128.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-46982-2
Publication Date: 25 Oct 2021

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-46981-5
Publication Date: 28 Oct 2021

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Dumped ancient sarcophagus lid recovered at Ashkelon

DISCARDED DISCOVERY: Antiquities inspectors find 1,900-year-old sarcophagus lid in dump (Israel HaYom). HT the Bible Places Blog.

There was a similar episode in 2016, also at Ashkelon, involving an ancient sarcophagus found at a building site.

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Aramaic magic bowls in the Kyprianos Database

THE COPTIC MAGICAL PAPYRI BLOG: Kyprianos Update (22 December 2021). The Kiprianos Database now includes Aramaic incantation bowls. This seems to have been the case for a while, but I just noticed.

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Visit virtual Babylon

THE AWOL BLOG: Digital Model of Babylon.

I have a feeling this wrbsite will be useful when I next teach my upper division course on the Book of Daniel

Last spring I noted a recent book on Babylon by the owner of this site, Olof Pedersén (also via the AWOL Blog). Other posts on the history and archaeology of ancient Babylon are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

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Christmas 2021

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all those celebrating!

For posts of Christmases past, see my 2020 Christmas post and links.

More recent Christmas posts are here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

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The Cave of Treasures etc.

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: The Magi and the Cave of Treasures (Philip Jenkins). Some more Christmas apocrypha!

The Cave of Treasures presents itself as an extended prequel to the New Testament account of the gifts of the magi. It was composed, apparently, in Syriac. It survives also in various derivative translations.

We published a translation of it by Alexander Toepel in Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: More Noncanonical Scriptures, volume 1 (ed. Bauckham, Davila, and Panayotov; Eerdmans, 2013), pp. 531-84. But one could also make a case for including it among the New Testament Apocrypha.

I have collected links on the Cave of Treasures, including to an old German edition and an old English translation here, with more here, here, and here.

Cross-file under Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Watch, More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Christian Apocrypha Watch, New Testament Apocrypha Watch, Syriac Watch, and 'Tis the Season.

UPDATE: Please pardon the glitched links above. I have unglitched them!

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Jesus' birth in the Gospel of James.

SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE: Virgin Birth in the Wilderness: The Apocryphal Gospel of James for Christmas Eve.

Continuing the series of excerpts from the Gospel of James (the Protevangelium of James). More on it here and follow the links.

This is quite a different version of events from Luke chapter 2. No inn or manger (or whatever), no angel choir, and no shepherds. Instead a grotto, a cloud, a midwife, the angel of the Lord, and a burned and healed hand.

Cross-file under New Testament Apocrypha Watch and 'Tis the Season.

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Apocryphal Christmas, once again

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Christmas Stories in Christian Apocrypha. The birth of Jesus in the apocryphal gospels (Tony Burke). I have linked to this essay before, but this is a good time to do it again.

For more on the Protevangelium of James, see here and links. For more on the infancy gospels, see the links collected here.

Cross-file under New Testament Apocrypha Watch and 'Tis the Season.

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Demythologizing the Cairo Geniza?

GENIZA FRAGMENTS BLOG: Q&A Wednesday: Deconstructing Genizah mythology, with Rebecca Jefferson (Melonie Schmierer-Lee and Rebecca Jefferson).

The discovery of the Cairo Geniza involve mored people than just Solomon Schechter. I learned a great deal from this blog post. I look forward to Rebecca Jefferson's book: The Cairo Genizah and the Age of Discovery in Egypt: the History and Provenance of a Jewish Archive (I. B. Tauris, 2022).

For PaleoJudaica posts on Solomon Schechter and his relationship with the Cairo Geniza, see here and links, plus here and here.

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

A stop in a grotto

SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE: Travel Plans for the Holidays: On to Bethlehem with the Protoevangelium of James.

Another excerpt. The more common spelling of the title of this work is the Protevangelium of James.

Cross-file under New Testament Apocrypha Watch and 'Tis the Season.

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Surprise sifting soil

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT BLOG: 22 YEARS LATER… some Temple mount soil shows up at the Project for sifting.

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Schiffman on Fraade's Damascus Document commentary

PROF. LAWRENCE H. SCHIFFMAN: S. D. FRAADE’S THE DAMASCUS DOCUMENT, THE OXFORD COMMENTARY ON THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS. Remarks from the online book launch, December 16, 2021..

I would like to use my opportunity today to take the new volume as a jumping off point and to ask how the Damascus Document fits into the wider questions pertaining to the history of Jewish law.

I noted this event as upcoming here. A related post is here.

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More on the late-antique Caesarea shipwreck

UPDATE: 1,700-year-old coins, Jesus ‘Good Shepherd’ ring, found in shipwrecks off Caesarea. Divers’ discoveries include gold ring with green gemstone carved with Christian image of the ‘Good Shepherd’ – an early depiction of Jesus – and carved image of ‘David’s Harp’ (Amy Spiro, Times of Israel).

I posted on this story yesterday. This article has more photos, notably of the red gem inscribed with an image of a lyre. It was mentioned in yesterday article, but not pictured.

It looks as though the full text of the IAA press release is posted here, along with the accompanying photos.

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St. Catherine's Monastery in the news

ST. CATHERINE'S MONASTERY IN THE SINAI is getting some media attention this week.

First, the Greek Reporter has a useful orientation article, with a brief history and some information on its manuscripts:

Historic St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai (Philip Chrysopoulos).

Then the Jewish Press reports on a new digitization initiative by the Israel National Library:

Ancient Christian Manuscripts from Mount Sinai Monastery Go Online via Israel’s National Library.

The INL took the 1,600 photos of the manuscripts and the monastery in the 1960s, but they only digitized them in recent years.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on St. Catherine's Monastery, its manuscripts, and their digitization, start here (cf. here) and follow the links. And for other manuscript digitization projects, see here and links.

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

Two shipwrecks found at Caesarea

MARINE ARCHAEOLOGY: Ancient underwater treasure found in Caesarea with Christian gold ring, Maritime archaeologists found several precious artifacts, hundreds of silver coins from two shipwrecks dating over a millennium apart in the ancient harbor (Rossella Tercatin, Jerusalem Post).

I noted another report of a late-antique shipwreck found at Caesarea five years ago. It sounds like the one in the current article is a new one. In any case, there are new discoveries coming from it.

For many other posts on ancient shipwrecks, see here and links and here. Cross-file under Marine (Maritime, Underwater) Archaeology.

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CT's biblical archaeology top ten 2021

CHRISTIANITY TODAY: Biblical Archaeology’s Top 10 Discoveries of 2021. Evidence of Herod’s green thumb, Roman crucifixion methods, and Philistine bananas add to our understanding of the world of the Bible (Gordon Govier).

As usual, PaleoJudaica has posted on many of these stories. For the Ashkelon basilica, see here. For the inscription of Pharaoh Hophra, see here. For the rediscovered Egyptian city, see here. For the Cambridgeshire crucifixion, see here and here. For the new Dead Sea Scroll fragments recovered in the Cave of Horror, see here, follow the links back from here, and also note the space coin from the same cave. For the recent discoveries at Yavneh, see here, here, and here. For that public building ("banquet hall") in the Western Wall Tunnels, see here. For the Jerubbaal (?) jug, follow the links back from here. And for the second synagogue found at Magdala, see here.

For another 2021 archaeology top-ten list, see here.

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In memory of Baruch Levine

OBITUARY: Baruch Levine, Bible scholar who grew Judaic Studies at NYU, dies at 91. The Emeritus Skirball Professor of Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at New York University, Levine passed away on December 16th in Hamden, Connecticut at age 91 (ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL, JTA via Jerusalem Post).

Background here.

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Review of Litwa, Posthuman transformation in ancient Mediterranean thought

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Posthuman transformation in ancient Mediterranean thought: becoming angels and demons.

M. David Litwa, Posthuman transformation in ancient Mediterranean thought: becoming angels and demons. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2021. Pp. 248. ISBN 9781108843997 $99.99.

Review by Tom Mackenzie, University College London. t.mackenzie@ucl.ac.uk

This is an enjoyable, erudite, and informative book, even if the argument could at times be presented with greater precision. ... The method of covering such a wide range of texts in such a short span has the benefit of readability and brings to light some very interesting overarching connections. He provides a wealth of material to support his central historical claim, that Jewish and Christian discourses of angelification were part of the same intellectual tradition as Platonic daimonification. ...

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Baruch A. Levine (1930-2021)

H-JUDAIC WITH SAD NEWS: Passing of Prof. Baruch A. Levine.

H-Judaic is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Professor Baruch A. Levine (1930-2021), Skirball Emeritus Professor of Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at New York University, and one of the foremost Jewish biblical scholars of our time. ...

May his memory be for a blessing.

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Runia, Philo of Alexandria: an Annotated Bibliography 2007-2016 (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Philo of Alexandria: an Annotated Bibliography 2007-2016

With addenda for items earlier than 2006

Series: Vigiliae Christianae, Supplements, Volume: 174

Author: David T. Runia

This volume is a further continuation of the annotated bibliographies on the writings and thought of the Jewish exegete and philosopher Philo of Alexandria, following those on the years 1937–1986 published in 1988, 1987–1996 published in 2000 and 1997–2012 published in 2012. Prepared in collaboration with the International Philo Bibliography Project, it contains a complete listing of all scholarly writings on Philo for the period 2007 to 2016. Part One lists texts, translations, commentaries etc. (75 items). Part Two contains critical studies (1143 items). In Part Three additional items up to 2006 are presented (27 items). In all cases a summary of the contents of the contribution is given. Six indices, including a detailed Index of subjects, complete the work.

Copyright Year: 2022

Prices from (excl. VAT): €183.00 / $220.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-49911-9
Publication Date: 08 Nov 2021

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-47196-2
Publication Date: 11 Nov 2021

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What did Pontius Pilate ever do for Jerusalem?

ANCIENT INFRASTRUCTURE: Notorious Pontius Pilate Is the One Who Built Jerusalem Aqueduct, Study Finds. The researchers, who collected their data while spelunking into shafts and digging through mud and chilly water, also discovered the aqueduct’s 'cutting-edge' method of construction (Nir Hasson, Haaretz premium). HT Joseph Lauer.

You can find the underlying article in Geoarchaeology here, but it is behind a subscription wall.

I was hoping for an inscription that said "Pontius Pilate built this aqueduct." No such luck. I wasn't really expecting one. Such things are exceedingly rare.

The Haaretz headline overstates the certainty of the connection with Pilate. This case for the building of the aqueduct under him rests on archaeological dating correlated with comments by Josephus. The Geoarchaeology article favors the connection but is cautious about it. It keeps a second-century CE dating as a live possibility.

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CT on Obbink and the missing Oxford papyri

CHRISTIANITY TODAY: Missing Papyri Professor Must Return $7 Million to Hobby Lobby. Dirk Obbink has lost a federal lawsuit over the fraudulent sale of Gospel fragments. (Gordon Govier). HT Brent Nongbri.

Obbink was arrested in 2020 and then sued in 2021. Shortly after that, court records show, he moved to a houseboat named the James Brindley and started hiding from the private investigators attempting to serve him summons.

For PaleoJudaica posts tracking the missing-Oxyrhynchus-papyri scandal, start here and follow the links. This story does not seem to be getting any less strange.

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Top 10 "ancient Greek archaeological discoveries" 2021

ARCHAEOLOGY: The Ten Best Ancient Greek Archaeological Discoveries of 2021 (Patricia Claus, Greek Reporter).

It's end-of-year-list time again!

I have commented on that bronze bull figurine from Olympia here.

Israeli archaeology is well represented. I noted the discovery of the winepress complex at Tzipori/Tzippori/Zippori/Sepphoris back in 2018, so it is not exactly a 2021 story, except that that seems to be when the Greek Reporter covered it. Likewise with the Dionysius mosaic at the same site, which I noted back in 2013. I noted the discovery of the gold coin of Heraclius here and the "Christ born of Mary" inscription here.

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Ben-Dov & Rojas (eds.), Afterlives of Ancient Rock-cut Monuments in the Near East (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Afterlives of Ancient Rock-cut Monuments in the Near East

Carvings in and out of Time

Series: Culture and History of the Ancient Near East, Volume: 123

Editors: Jonathan Ben-Dov and Felipe Rojas

This book concerns the ancient rock-cut monuments carved throughout the Near East, paying particular attention to the fate of these monuments in the centuries after their initial production. As parts of the landscapes in which they were carved, they acquired new meanings in the cultural memory of the people living around them. The volume joins numerous recent studies on the reception of historical texts and artefacts, exploring the peculiar affordances of these long-lasting and often salient monuments. The volume gathers articles by archeologists, art historians, and philologists, covering the entire Near East, from Iran to Lebanon and from Turkey to Egypt. It also analyzes long-lasting textual traditions that aim to explain the origins and meaning of rock-cut monuments and other related carvings.

Copyright Year: 2021

Prices from (excl. VAT): €158.00 / $190.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-46208-3
Publication Date: 27 Sep 2021

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-46207-6
Publication Date: 23 Sep 2021

HT Bibliographia Iranica.

The final three essays of this volume are of particular interest to PaleoJudaica:

Chapter 9 Neo-Babylonian Rock Reliefs and the Jewish Literary Imagination
Author: Jonathan Ben-Dov
Pages: 345–37

Chapter 10 Translatio studii: Stelae Traditions in Second Temple Judaism and Their Legacy in Byzantium
Author: William Adler
Pages: 380–401

Chapter 11 The Long History of an Imaginary Inscription: Josephus’ Two Pillars in Early Modern European Histories of Astronomy
Author: John Steele
Pages: 402–426

For more from Jonathan ben Dov on this subject, see here and here.

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Litwa, The Evil Creator (OUP)

NEW BOOK FROM OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS:

The Evil Creator

Origins of an Early Christian Idea

M. David Litwa

• Interprets the evil creator as a distinctly Christian idea
• Contrasts Judaist readings with Gnostic and Marcionite analysis
• Connects ancient understandings of God to modern theology and atheism

Description

This book examines the origins of the evil creator idea chiefly in light of early Christian biblical interpretations. It is divided into two parts. In Part I, the focus is on the interpretations of Exodus and John. Firstly, ancient Egyptian assimilation of the Jewish god to the evil deity Seth-Typhon is studied to understand its reapplication by Phibionite and Sethian Christians to the Judeo-catholic creator. Secondly, the Christian reception of John 8:44 (understood to refer to the devil's father) is shown to implicate the Judeo-catholic creator in murdering Christ. Part II focuses on Marcionite Christian biblical interpretations. It begins with Marcionite interpretations of the creator's character in the Christian "Old Testament," analyzes 2 Corinthians 4:4 (in which "the god of this world" blinds people from Christ's glory), examines Christ's so-called destruction of the Law (Eph 2:15) and the Lawgiver, and shows how Christ finally succumbs to the "curse of the Law" inflicted by the creator (Gal 3:13). A concluding chapter shows how still today readers of the Christian Bible have concluded that the creator manifests an evil character.

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