Ross, Postclassical Greek and Septuagint Lexicography (SBL)

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

Postclassical Greek and Septuagint Lexicography

William A. Ross

ISBN 9781628374209
Volume SCS 75
Status Available
Publication Date March 2022
Paperback $45.00
Hardback $65.00
eBook $45.00

A long-standing tradition within biblical scholarship sets the Greek text of the Septuagint constantly in relationship with its supposed Hebrew or Aramaic Vorlage, examining the two together in terms of their grammatical alignment as a standard. Yet another tradition frames the discussion in different terms, preferring instead to address the Septuagint first of all in light of its contemporary Greek linguistic environment and only then attempting to describe its language and style as a text. It is this latter approach that William A. Ross employs in this textually based study of the Greek versions of Judges, a so-called double text in the textual history of the Septuagint. The results of his study offer a window into the Old Greek translation and its later revision, two distinct stages of Greek Judges with numerous instances of divergent vocabulary choices that reflect deliberateness in both the original selection and the subsequent change within the textual development of the book. Ross’s study illustrates the practicalities and payoff of a Greek-oriented lexicographical method that situates the language of the Septuagint squarely within its contemporary historical and linguistic context.

William A. Ross runs the Septuaginta &C. Blog to which PaleoJudaica links from time to time.

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Deadly Dead Sea Scrolls?

NEW NOVEL: 'Deadly Scrolls': Jewish mystery book takes place in Jerusalem, Qumran. Ellen Frankel’s new novel, The Deadly Scrolls, book one in the “Jerusalem Mysteries” series, may be the first Jewish contender for the crown (Haley Cohen, Jerusalem Post).

Since The Da Vinci Code hit shelves nearly two decades ago, publishers have eagerly proclaimed a number of titles “the next Da Vinci.” But Ellen Frankel’s new novel, The Deadly Scrolls, book one in the “Jerusalem Mysteries” series, may be the first Jewish contender for the crown.

Set in modern Jerusalem and the desert ruins of Qumran, an American professor’s murder reveals his discovery of a lost Dead Sea Scroll, whose text encodes the secret hiding places of the lost Second Temple treasures. Meanwhile, the protagonist, Israeli intelligence agent Maya Rimon, races against the clock to stop a religious extremist from launching a deadly terrorist attack at the next Blood Moon, bringing the apocalypse to Jerusalem.

[...]

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

Lafitaga, Apocalyptic Sheep and Goats in Matthew and 1 Enoch (SBL)

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

Apocalyptic Sheep and Goats in Matthew and 1 Enoch

Elekosi F. Lafitaga

ISBN 9781628373073
Volume ESEC 24
Status Available
Publication Date March 2022
Hardback $80.00
Paperback $60.00
eBook$60.00

An alternative understanding of apocalyptic eschatology in the Gospel of Matthew

Matthew’s eschatological imageries of judgment are often identified as apocalyptic and referred to as Matthew’s apocalyptic discourses. In this volume Elekosi F. Lafitaga reexamines Matthew’s vision of the sheep and goats in the judgment of the nations, which are often interpreted as metaphors for the saved and the condemned. Lafitaga views these images in the wider context of the rhetoric of apocalyptic communication stretching back to Matthew 3. This broader context reveals that the vision of Matthew 25 serves to exhort Israel in the here and now according to the torah, with salvation for Israel involving an indispensable responsibility to love and serve humanity. Central to Lafitaga’s analysis is the highly probable scenario that the material in Matthew is dependent on the Book of Dreams (1 Enoch 83–90).

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Getty Exhibition: Persia and the Classical World

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Persia and the Classical World.

Through August 8, 2022
The Getty Villa
Pacific Palisades, California
www.getty.edu

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Nero - convert to Judaism??

ANOTHER NERO STORY: The Surge of Converts to Judaism in Ancient Rome (Rabbi Pinchas Landis, Aish.com).

According to a legend in the Talmud, Nero converted to Judaism!

The passage is b. Gitten 56a.

No, I'm not proposing that this really happened. But it's entertaining to look at the ancient stories about Nero that don't fit the narrative. I noted another one here.

The question of the historical Nero is instructive, because it confronts us with how little we actually know about ancient history. The recent British Museum exhibition on Nero was sympathetic to the idea that he may not have been as bad as the mainstream narratives (all in sources hostile to him) portrayed him. And the narrative about his death is not credible. Did he really kill himself? Or did he go into hiding and later try and fail to make a comeback? Who knows?

Cross-file under Talmud Watch.

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Graves (ed. & trans.), Jerome, Epistle 106 (On the Psalms) (SBL Press)

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

Jerome, Epistle 106 (On the Psalms)

Michael Graves

ISBN 9781628374193
Volume WGRW 47
Status Available
Price $56.00
Publication Date May 2022
Paperback $56.00
Hardback $76.00
eBook $56.00

A fresh interpretation of the nature, purpose, and date of Jerome’s Epistle 106

In this volume of the Writings from the Greco-Roman World series, Michael Graves offers the first accessible English translation and commentary on Jerome’s Epistle 106, an important work of patristic biblical interpretation. In his treatise Jerome discusses different textual and exegetical options according to various Greek and Latin copies of the Psalms with input from the Hebrew. Epistle 106 provides insightful commentary on the Gallican Psalter, Jerome’s translation of Origen’s hexaplaric edition. Jerome’s work offers a unique window into the complex textual state of the Psalter in the late fourth century and serves as an outstanding example of ancient philological scholarship on the Bible. Graves’s translation and commentary is an essential resource for scholars and students of patristic exegesis, biblical textual criticism, and late antique Christianity.

HT the ETC Blog.

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The Arabic Bible

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY: The Bible in Arabic (Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala).

The earliest references to Arabic translations of the Bible date back to the pre-Islamic period, although at the present time we have no textual evidence that can prove this hypothesis. The first known evidence would date, according to some authors, to the end of the 8th century CE. This is the case of a fragment of Psalm 78 (Septuagint 77) from the Qubbet el-Khazneh (a repository located in the courtyard of the Umayyad mosque in Damascus) specifically verses 20-31 and 51-61, taken from a Greek text of the LXX, together with the corresponding Arabic translation in Greek script.

[...]

Some PaleoJudaica posts on the Bible in Arabic are here, here, here, here, here, and here.

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

Jewish catacomb inscriptions and literary manuscripts

VARIANT READINGS: The Inscriptions of the Jewish Catacomb at Vigna Randanini (Brent Nongbri).

While the texts are familiar from publications, the inscriptions themselves as material artifacts are something else altogether. For instance, I did not realize how much similarity exists between the scripts used to copy literary manuscripts and the writing used in these inscriptions.

Cross-file under Paleography.

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Review of Wilson, Ancient Wisdom

READING ACTS: Walter T. Wilson, Ancient Wisdom: An Introduction to Sayings Collections. (Phil Long).

Wilson, Walter T. Ancient Wisdom: An Introduction to Sayings Collections. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2022. 321 pp. Hb; $34.99.

... Wilson’s Ancient Wisdom is an excellent introduction to non-biblical wisdom literature found in the ancient world. Each chapter provides sufficient background material to place the wisdom collection into a historical context and examples to illustrate the interests of the author. ...

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Foster, The Semantics of רע (bad) in Ancient and Mishnaic Hebrew (Peeters)

NEW BOOK FROM PEETERS PUBLISHERS:

The Semantics of רע (bad) in Ancient and Mishnaic Hebrew

SERIES: Contributions to Biblical Exegesis & Theology, 106

AUTHOR: Foster P.D.

YEAR: 2022
ISBN: 9789042946668
E-ISBN: 9789042946675
PAGES: XIV-336 p.
PRICE: 89 euro

SUMMARY:

In this monograph, the semantics of the word רע (bad) is examined across the corpus of Ancient Hebrew and the Mishnah. The study takes cognitive linguistic theories as its theoretical base and proceeds by first examining the schematic content that רע tends to modify (as an adjective). It moves on to map the lexical semantic domains of רע and then examines רע with reference to some major terms within these domains. The study concludes by presenting a thorough description of רע derived from the analysis. It relates these findings to the previous studies on רע as well as the lexica before suggesting how a new entry on רע might be written. In addition to the important findings on רע, the study points to what is likely an important difference between עון and און which requires further investigation.

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God's body in the news

DIVINE ANATOMY: Is God circumcised? How people in ancient times viewed the Heavenly Body. In new book, Francesca Stavrakopoulou displays God as portrayed by His early worshipers: with genitals, passions, powers – and a penchant for the monstrous (Rich Tenorio, Times of Israel).

The book touts itself as an “astonishing and revelatory history” that “represents God as he was originally envisioned by ancient worshippers — with a distinctly male body, superhuman powers, earthly passions, and a penchant for the fantastic and monstrous.”

“By mapping God’s body, rather than the Bible itself, we can better navigate the transformation of this ancient southern Levantine deity into the God with whom we are now culturally more familiar,” Stavrakopoulou writes.

The article also touches on Asherah and the goddess tradition in ancient Israel.

The book is God: An Anatomy (Picador, 2021).

For another recent book edited by Professor Stavrakopoulou, see here. For more about her work on Asherah, see here.

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Kutash on goddesses and cultural memory

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY: Goddesses of Myth and Cultural Memory (Emilie Kutash).

Goddesses, it seems, are still among us today. The contemporary goddess movement reflects a quest for an antidote to male divinity and a means to enact a woman-centered religious practice. But goddesses are far more pervasive and far older. Goddesses of Myth and Cultural Memory documents the presence of goddesses in a wide range of literature, philosophy and theology across the centuries. They appear in such divergent contexts as Hermeticism, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, Kabbalah, Medieval allegory, and in our time, feminist and psychoanalytic literature.

[...]

I noted the publication of the book last year.

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Were ancient Israelite women in charge of beer?

ALE AGENCY AND ARCHAEOLOGY? PODCAST: In ancient Israel, a woman’s place was in the home making beer. Through careful analysis of oven placement and grindstones, archaeologist Prof. Jennie Ebeling shows how women in antiquity had much more agency than previously thought (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel).

I noted a recent essay by Prof. Ebeling here. For more on her work on the Jezreel Expedition, see here.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on ancient beer, see here and links (cf. here).

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

Shavuot and Pentecost

FOR SHAVUOT: Between Shavuot and Pentecost (Prof. John Barton and Dr. Rabbi Michael C Hilton, TheTorah.com).

Both Shavuot and Pentecost celebrate the culmination of a fifty-day season in the spring, after Passover and Easter respectively.

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

Raja, ... A History of Palmyra (OUP)

NEW BOOK FROM OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS:

Pearl of the Desert

A History of Palmyra

Rubina Raja

$29.95
Hardcover
Published: 25 January 2022
248 Pages | 38 illustrations
6-1/8 x 9-1/4 inches
ISBN: 9780190852221

Description

Palmyra has long attracted the attention of the world. Well before its rediscovery in the seventeenth century, the ancient city gained legendary status because of its Queen Zenobia, who in the third century CE rebelled against Rome and expanded Palmyra's territory into what is now modern Turkey and Egypt. Even though Zenobia's empire was a fairly short interlude and the Romans struck back hard, devastating the city, her path to imperial power was one which tells us much about Palmyrene identity in the period before the defeat. While Zenobia has gained renewed interest among both scholars and the press, and while she has served as a political symbol for Syria's president Assad--a statue of her was recently erected in Damascus--the time leading up to her reign still remains underexplored.Â

Pearl of the Desert is the most comprehensive history of this fabled ancient city in English. Assimilating the rich archaeological and literary evidence, Rubina Raja unfolds the story chronologically, from the earliest evidence of settlement in the Bronze Age to Palmyra's rise as an urban center in the late Hellenistic and Roman periods, its destruction by Rome in 273 CE, and its survival in the Byzantine and medieval Islamic periods. The book ends with a discussion of Palmyra's modern rediscovery and, more recently, its chaotic misfortunes during the Syrian civil war when it was used as a symbol of, alternately, the resistance of the rebels, the power of ISIS, and the supremacy of the Syrian state. After several years of destruction and looting, securing of the site has begun as well as planning for its restoration. At this turning point in Palmyra's long history, there is no better time to assess the past, present, and future of this remarkable city.

Cross-file under Palmyra Watch. HT the Bible Places Blog.

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

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

Shavuot 2022

THE FESTIVAL OF SHAVUOT (Weeks, Pentecost) begins tonight at sundown. Best wishes to all those celebrating.

Last year's Shavuot post, with links, is here. Subsequent Shavuot-related posts are here and here.

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

McCarter Festschrift (SBL)

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Honor of P. Kyle McCarter Jr.

Christopher Rollston, Susanna Garfein, Neal H. Walls, editors

ISBN 9781628374056
Volume ANEM 27
Status Forthcoming [No, it's out!]
Publication Date May 2022
Paperback $99.00
Hardback $119.00

This collection of thirty-one essays by colleagues, students, and friends of P. Kyle McCarter Jr. covers a range of topics of interest to McCarter. Essays approach the Hebrew Bible, Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Septuagint using various methods, including philology, narrative criticism, and political theory. Contributions on epigraphy cover a range of inscriptions, including Phoenician, Aramaic, and Ugaritic. A final section on archaeology covers sites, architecture, and artifacts. Contributors include Adam L. Bean, Joel S. Burnett, Aaron Demsky, Heath D. Dewrell, F. W. Dobbs-Allsopp, Daniel E. Fleming, Erin E. Fleming, Pamela Gaber, Yosef Garfinkel, Maria Giulia Amadasi Guzzo, Jo Ann Hackett, Baruch Halpern, Ronald Hendel, John Huehnergard, Yoo-ki Kim, Andrew Knapp, André Lemaire, Theodore J. Lewis, Steven L. McKenzie, Christopher A. Rollston, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Joe D. Seger, Hershel Shanks, Mark S. Smith, Ron E. Tappy, John Tracy Thames Jr., Eugene Ulrich, James C. VanderKam, Erin Guinn Villareal, Roger D. Woodard, and K. Lawson Younger Jr.

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The Mandean Book of Kings

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: A Universal History from the Late Sasanian Empire. Notice of a New Book: Häberl, Charles G. The Book of Kings and the Explanations of This World. A Universal History from the Late Sasanian Empire. Liverpool University Press, 2022.

Cross-file under Mandean (Mandaean) Watch.

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Second Temple Mikveh excavated at Western Wall plaza

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Ancient Mikveh Discovered While Excavating Foundation for Western Wall Elevator (Jewish Press).

Excavation and construction work is currently being undertaken at the Kotel (Western Wall) plaza, as they build an elevator to provide easier access from the upper Old City area to the holy site.

Archaeologists discovered steps and an archway while digging the foundations for the elevator. The steps led down to a kosher Mikveh (ritual bath) from the Second Temple period.

Cross-file under Ancient Architecture.

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BAR Summer 2022 Issue

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY (VIDEO): Preview the Summer 2022 Issue. Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Glenn Corbett, highlights articles in the newest issue of BAR. Bibical Archaeology Review, that is.

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

Biblical Studies Carnival 195

THE DUST BLOG: Biblical Studies Carnival 195 - May 2022 (Bob MacDonald).

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

A first-century Galilean fortress

ARCHAEOLOGY: Galilee fort part of string of forts made to fortify Hasmonean territory. Finds at Horvat Tefen also shed light on the little-known material culture of the Hasmonean period in the Galilee (Judith Sudilovsky, Jerusalem Post).

The massive fortification ruins of Horvat Tefen are located in a secluded spot on a prominent hilltop in the Western Galilee overlooking Acre. It is very likely hikers trekking along the path across the ruins are completely unaware that they may well be walking past a unique part of Galilee history: a military fortress built by Hasmonean King Alexander Jannaeus in the early first century BCE.

[...]

As the article notes, the underlying technical article is in the current issue of BASOR (387, May 2022). The full text is behind the subscription wall. The abstract:

Pp. 55–85: “Ḥorvat Tefen: A Hasmonean Fortress in the Hinterland of ʿAkko-Ptolemais,” by Roi Sabar

Ḥorvat Tefen is located on a prominent hilltop in the Western Galilee, overlooking ʿAkko-Ptolemais and its vicinity. The remains of several rectangular towers, curtain walls, a single gate, and reservoirs are well discernible and suggest it was a military post. This article describes the results of the first excavation undertaken at the site, conducted in 2019 on behalf of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The excavations in four of the towers uncovered accumulations above floors as well as the foundations of the walls. The finds indicate this was a short-lived military site that was apparently founded by Alexander Jannaeus in the last years of his reign and abandoned shortly thereafter. The finds are unique in their well-defined chronological range and shed important light on the material culture of the early 1st century b.c.e. Galilee—the heyday of the Hasmonean territorial expansion. Two appendices present the coins and the amphorae finds, both crucial for dating the foundation of the fortress and identifying it as a Hasmonean initiative. In this context, the location of Ḥorvat Tefen suggests it was built to defend a sensitive part of the northwestern border of the Hasmonean state facing ʿAkko-Ptolemais.

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A proselyte's "hex" tombstone at Beit She’arim

FUNERARY EPIGRAPHY: Convert’s ‘Bloody’ Curse Against Robbers Found in Ancient Galilee Grave. The first inscription to be found at Beit She’arim, Israel in over six decades warns would-be thieves that Jacob the Proselyte will curse them (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

About 1,800 years ago, a convert to Judaism named Yaakov died and was interred in a cave at Beit She’arim, with a hex designed to deter grave robbers that looks like it was scrawled on the limestone slab in blood.

It wasn’t. It was scribbled in uneven Greek writing in scarlet paint. We know he was a convert to Judaism because the full reference to the deceased is “Yaakov HaGer” – Jacob the Proselyte. We may also surmise that he died at age 60.

[...]

Other red-painted epitaphs from a century or two later are known from Zoar, in southern Jordan near the Dead Sea. An unprovenanced one, reportedly also from Zoar, turned up some years ago in California. It is now, I believe, at Yeshiva University. These other painted gravestones are written in Aramaic.

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Hakola et al. (eds.) Scriptures in the Making (Peeters)

NEW BOOK FROM PEETERS PUBLISHERS:

Scriptures in the Making
Texts and Their Transmission in Late Second Temple Judaism

SERIES:
Contributions to Biblical Exegesis & Theology, 109

EDITORS:
Hakola R., Orpana J., Huotari P.

YEAR: 2022
ISBN: 9789042946798
E-ISBN: 9789042946804
PAGES: XXII-405 p.
PRICE: 110 euro

SUMMARY:
The volume examines how the making and the transmission of scriptures was shaped and influenced by major changes in the Second Temple societies. The book contains both detailed readings of biblical and related texts (the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint, Qumran Scrolls, and the New Testament) and analyses of what can be known about the societal preconditions of their emergence and use. Many essays discuss the theoretical and methodological premises of our knowledge regarding various social, material, and religious aspects of life in the Eastern Mediterranean in the first centuries before and after the turn of the Common Era. The book offers critical and up-to-date insights into such questions as textual plurality, cultural interaction, the nature of scribal culture and spatial contexts of textual transmission. The essays clarify how the texts and their transmission became an integral part of religious and communal identity building strategies during the Second Temple period.

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

Ancient Roman amphitheatre near Megiddo

ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE: First Roman military amphitheater in Southern Levant revealed at excavations near Megiddo. Less lavish than amphitheaters for the civilian population, the military amphitheaters were used for training and entertainment by the troops (Judith Sudilovsky, Jerusalem Post).

Their work has been made more difficult, noted Tepper, because the stones from the structure were used as building material by the subsequent inhabitants of the area, including residents of a nearby Ottoman-era village on to personnel of a British military camp.

“The main question we were looking to answer was if the bowl shape we were seeing on the ground was actually an amphitheater, and basically we have proved it,” said Adams. “We have determined the shape is artificially made... it looks like they flattened the entire area down to a natural clay source that was already there. Just today we are starting to see monumental stones from the entrance into the amphitheater gate, which is nice and promising because it is clear that at least the foundation of the wall is there.”

It sounds as though this amphitheatre is basically ghost architechture: most of the stones are missing, leaving a bowl-shaped depression in the ground.

For more on the remains of the Sixth Legion Roman camp ("Legio") and on the Megiddo excavation in general, start here and follow the links.

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

Moore, New Aramaic Papyri from Elephantine in Berlin (Brill, open access)

NEW OPEN-ACCESS BOOK FROM BRILL:

New Aramaic Papyri from Elephantine in Berlin

Series: Studies on Elephantine, Volume: 1

Author: James D. Moore

The famous German excavations between 1906 and 1908 of Elephantine Island in Egypt produced some of the most important Aramaic sources for understanding the history of Judeans and Arameans living in 5th century BCE Egypt under Persian occupation. Unknown to the world, many papyri fragments from those excavations remained uncatalogued in the Berlin Museum. In New Aramaic Papyri from Elephantine in Berlin James D. Moore edits the remaining legible Aramaic fragments, which belong to letters, contracts, and administrative texts.

Copyright Year: 2022

€99.00 / $119.00 Hardback

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-50556-8
Publication Date: 20 May 2022

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-50557-5v Publication Date: 19 May 2022

HT the AWOL Blog.

For technological efforts to recover illegible text from Elephantine papyri in Aramaic, Coptic, and other languages, see here and here. I don't know whether this volume has any relation to that project.

For many, many additional PaleoJudaica posts on the Elephantine Papyri and the site of Elephantine, see here and links. Cross-file under Aramaic Watch.

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

Muraoka, The Books of Hosea and Micah in Hebrew and Greek (Peeters, open access)

NEW OPEN-ACCESS BOOK FROM PEETERS PUBLISHERS:

The Books of Hosea and Micah in Hebrew and Greek

SERIES:
Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis, 294

AUTHOR:
Muraoka T.

YEAR: 2022
ISBN: 9789042944732
E-ISBN: 9789042944749
PAGES: XIV-277 p.
PRICE: 85 euro

SUMMARY:
This is a verse-by-verse, text-critical study of two important books out of the Minor Prophets. An English translation by the author is provided alongside its Hebrew original as found in Biblia Hebreaica. The Septuagint text studied is the edition prepared by Ziegler. The main purpose of the monograph is not to discover evidences which could be valuable for reconstructing the original Hebrew text of these books, but to read the LXX as a Greek document of its own, not merely as a translation. Much attention has been directed to a whole range of linguistic issues relating to the Greek and Hebrew grammar and lexicography. Ancient fragments found in the Judaean Desert and Qumran caves of these books in Hebrew and Greek have also been looked at.
The book of Hosea has been published in the series La Bible d'Alexandrie, but not that of Micah yet. Unlike this series we have paid only minimum attention to documents such as patristic commentaries from which one can learn how the LXX was interpreted without reference to its Semitic original.

Follow the link for the link to the free, open-access version.

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

New segment of Lower Aqueduct to Jerusalem uncovered

ANCIENT INFRASTRUCTURE: New segment of Jerusalem’s 2,000-year-old Low-Level aqueduct revealed. Excavations in the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood uncover a 40-meter piece of the capital’s main water carrier, 21 kilometers long, which was used until British Mandate (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel).

[IAA archaeologist Yaakov] Billig said that the new excavations are not being conducting merely for the sake of nostalgia, however. Rather, researchers are still amazed and even somewhat mystified by the precision technology constructed in antiquity without the aid of GPS or modern computation methods.

The story is also covered by Judith Sudilovsky in the Jerusalem Post: New segment of Hasmonean aqueduct to Jerusalem exposed in capital neighborhood. An engineering feat of ingenuity allowed the aqueduct that served as Jerusalem's main water supply to be in use for 2000 years. A new section of it was found in Armon Hanatsiv.

For more on the Lower Aqueduct to Jerusalem, see here and here.

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

Restoration of Hasmonean-era fortress near Jerusalem

ARCHAEOLOGY: Remains of a 2,200 year old outpost found near Jerusalem hospital. The outpost, called Ma'ale Romaim, was built during the Hasmonean period, near the road that led to Jerusalem (Jerusalem Post).

In the area of ​​the Herzog Medical Center in Givat Shaul, Jerusalem, the restoration of an ancient archeological outpost was completed this month.

The outpost, called Ma'ale Romaim, was built during the Hasmonean period, near the road that led to Jerusalem.

[...]

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

Archaeologists on archaeology for Jerusalem Day

ARCHAEOLOGY AND POLITICS: Archaeologists speak against misuse of history on Jerusalem Day. “The history of Jerusalem is much more complicated and more complex than anyone wants to admit in the present day” (Judith Sudilovsky, Jerusalem Post).

On Jerusalem Day, three archaeologists spoke to The Jerusalem Post about what it is like to work in a city with so much history underground and so much politics above ground.

Jerusalem Day was yesterday, 28-29 May. The three archaeologists are Ronnie Reich, Matthew Adams, and Zachi Dvira. A fuller quotation from Adams:

“So archaeologists end up being the bad guy unless [the finds] confirm someone’s narrative and it almost never confirms anyone’s narrative. The history of Jerusalem is much more complicated and more complex than anyone wants to admit in the present day.”

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Adams, Performative Dimensions of Rhetorical Questions in the Hebrew Bible (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

The Performative Dimensions of Rhetorical Questions in the Hebrew Bible

Do You Not Know? Do You Not Hear?

Jim W. Adams (Author)

Paperback
$39.95 $35.95

Hardback
$130.00 $117.00

Ebook (PDF)
$35.95 $28.76

Product details

Published Apr 21 2022
Format Paperback
Edition 1st
Extent 312
ISBN 9780567697899
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

This book sets out to describe the multi-dimensional nature and function of rhetorical questions in the Old Testament. Biblical scholars have previously analyzed the use of rhetorical questions in both Testaments, but consistently describe their function in persuasive terms. While this understanding is appropriate in a number of instances, many rhetorical questions do not operate this way, and Jim W. Adams focuses in particular on rhetoric expressing the self-involvement of both the speaker and hearer.

Among linguistic philosophers, speech act theory has illuminated the fact that uttering a sentence does not merely convey information; it may also involve the performing of an action. The concept of communicative action provides additional tools to the exegetical process as it points the interpreter beyond the assumption that the use of language is merely for descriptive purposes. Language can also have performative and self-involving dimensions. In relation to speech act theory, linguistic specialists continue to research the nature of rhetorical questions.

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Keefer, Ecclesiastes and the Meaning of Life in the Ancient World (CUP)

NEW BOOK FROM CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

Ecclesiastes and the Meaning of Life in the Ancient World

AUTHOR: Arthur Keefer, Eton College
DATE PUBLISHED: April 2022
AVAILABILITY: Available
FORMAT: Hardback
ISBN: 9781009100250

£ 75.00
Hardback

Description

In this book, Arthur Keefer offers a timely assessment of Ecclesiastes and what it has to do with the meaning of life. Drawing on recent psychological research, he argues that this Hebrew Bible text associates the meaning of life with various types of suffering in life. Keefer here situates Ecclesiastes within its ancient intellectual world. Offering an analysis of contemporary texts from Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, he demonstrates that concerns about meaning and suffering were widespread in the greater Mediterranean world. Ecclesiastes, however, handled the matters of suffering and meaning in an unprecedented way and to an unprecedented degree. With its rigorous commitment to precise definitions of life's meaning, Keefer's book provides a comprehensive set of definitions for “the meaning of life” as well as a conclusive point of reference for interpreters of Ecclesiastes. It also opens avenues for the interdisciplinary interpretation of texts from the ancient world.

• Provides a clear and comprehensive set of definitions for “the meaning of life”
• Draws definitions of life's meaning from psychological research
• Interprets Ecclesiastes within various intellectual contexts: Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Greek

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

Ehorn (ed.), Exodus in the New Testament (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

Exodus in the New Testament

Seth M. Ehorn (Anthology Editor)

Hardback $115.00 $103.50

Ebook (PDF) $103.50 $82.80

Ebook (Epub & Mobi) $103.50 $82.80

Product details

Published Apr 21 2022
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 272
ISBN 9780567702777
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series The Library of New Testament Studies
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

In focusing exclusively on the book of Exodus and its constant allusions in the New Testament, this new collection of studies seeks both to increase knowledge of the textual transmission of Exodus in the first century, and to encourage further methodological reflection on the use of Scripture vs. scriptural traditions as employed by ancient authors.

First exploring the role of Exodus within Judaism in the Second Temple Period, the contributors then reflect upon the rhetorical impact of Exodus citations and allusions in the New Testament. By taking the reader from the Four Gospels through the Pauline and Disputed Letters and Hebrews, and all the way to Revelation itself, this volume demonstrates both the unity and the diversity of appeals to Exodus traditions in Jewish and Christian literature within the Second Temple Period.

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Tobolowsky, The Myth of the Twelve Tribes of Israel (CUP)

NEW BOOK FROM CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

The Myth of the Twelve Tribes of Israel
New Identities Across Time and Space

AUTHOR: Andrew Tobolowsky, College of William and Mary, Virginia
DATE PUBLISHED: March 2022
AVAILABILITY: Available
FORMAT: Hardback
ISBN: 9781316514948

£ 75.00
Hardback

Description

The Myth of the Twelve Tribes of Israel is the first study to treat the history of claims to an Israelite identity as an ongoing historical phenomenon from biblical times to the present. By treating the Hebrew Bible's accounts of Israel as one of many efforts to construct an Israelite history, rather than source material for later legends, Andrew Tobolowsky brings a long-term comparative approach to biblical and nonbiblical “Israelite” histories. In the process, he sheds new light on how the structure of the twelve tribes tradition enables the creation of so many different visions of Israel, and generates new questions: How can we explain the enduring power of the myth of the twelve tribes of Israel? How does “becoming Israel” work, why has it proven so popular, and how did it change over time? Finally, what can the changing shape of Israel itself reveal about those who claimed it?

• Reveals a continuous and ongoing historical phenomenon of long duration, the efforts to claim an Israelite identity and history
• Employs a uniquely long-term comparative approach to biblical and nonbiblical accounts of the same tradition
• Tells the fascinating stories of peoples around the world who have “become Israel”

I noted an AJR essay by the author previewing the book here.

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

Nongbri on unprovenanced papyri

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW:

The Ethics of Publication: Papyrology

Brent Nongbri, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion, and Society. brent.nongbri@mf.no

The editors of BMCR have asked me to reflect on the current landscape and ethics of publishing in papyrology. ...

In fact, this essay discusses the problem of unprovenanced inscriptions more broadly, including, e.g., cuneiform tablets. Dr. Nongbri covers a broad range of views and gives us some of his own reflections.

By the way, ASOR stands for the American Society for Oriental Research. [CORRECTION: Nope, Brent was right. ASOR has changed its name to the American Society for Overseas Research.]

Regular PaleoJudaica readers are familiar with Brent Nongbri's blog, Variant Readings, to which I link from time to time.

PaleoJudaica has discussed the problem of unprovenanced antiquities, especially inscriptions, many times over many years. For some of these posts, including one addressing Frank Moore Cross's comments quoted in the essay above, start here and follow the links. And see also here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and links.

My main point has been that we should assume that an unprovenanced inscription is a forgery unless someone makes a credible case that it is genuine. I have excepted cuneiform tablets and Aramaic incantation bowls from this rule. Cuneiform tablets would be difficult – arguably currently impossible – to forge. The same is probably true about the magic bowls, for now. But as forgers become more skillful and forgery technology improves, the situation for both may change.

Whether scholars should work with unprovenanced inscriptions at all is a difficult question. It involves complicated moral issues and issues of international law. For now, I am content to follow the policies of the various professional societies and journals, although these are not entirely consistent among themselves. The debate continues ...

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

The first recorded employee complaint based on Torah law?

NORTHWEST SEMITIC EPIGRAPHY: Jewish Chutzpah’s Ancient Precedent: Commoner Sues Toxic Boss 2600 Years Ago (Dr. Henry Abramson, Aish.com).

More specifically, this 2600-year-old clay text, called an ostracon, records a common field laborer’s complaint against his abusive employer. It is the very first lawsuit brought by an ordinary Jew that invokes the authority of the Torah to support a claim.

It is more of a complaint to HR or to a supervisor than a lawsuit, but the point remains. It does look as though the worker knows and is invoking his Deuteronomic rights.

For PaleoJudaica posts involving the Yavneh Yam (Mesad Hashavyahu) ostracon, see here and links.

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

Crawford, The Text of the Pentateuch (De Gruyter)

NEW BOOK FROM DE GRUYTER:

The Text of the Pentateuch
Textual Criticism and the Dead Sea Scrolls

Sidnie White Crawford

Volume 493 in the series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110467420

PDF & EPUB £93.50
Hardcover £93.50

eBook
Published: February 7, 2022
ISBN: 9783110467420

Hardcover
Published: February 21, 2022
ISBN: 9783110465846

About this book

In the last several decades since the first publications of the biblical Dead Sea Scrolls, a revolution has occurred in the understanding of the history of the text of the Hebrew Bible during the Second Temple period. The present volume is a collection of articles documenting that revolution, written by Sidnie White Crawford over an almost thirty-year period beginning in 1990. As a member of the editorial team responsible for publishing the Qumran scrolls, the author was responsible for the critical editions of nine Deuteronomy scrolls and the four Reworked Pentateuch manuscripts; thus, her work played a critical role in the changing understanding of the textual history of the Pentateuch,especially the book of Deuteronomy and the Rewritten Bible texts. The author’s lifework is brought together here in an accessible format. While the majority of the articles are reprints, the volume will close with two major new pieces: a text-critical study of the Deuteronomic Paraphrase of the Temple Scroll and a comprehensive overview of the history of the text of the Pentateuch.

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

More on that Bar Kokhba-era tetradrachm

NUMISMATICS: Rare silver coin discovered in Israel. In the caves located on the eastern bank of the Wadi Chariton Canyon (archaeology.wiki). HT Rogue Classicism.

Among the finds is a silver coin in the value of a tetradrachm (also known as sela of the Talmudic sources) that was discovered in the Oil Lamp Cave and is considered particularl rare. Coins of this type have so far been discovered by archaeologists at just three sites (Sela Cave in the upper Naḥal Ḥever, Sabar Cave north of Ein Gedi and the Teʾomim Cave in the western Jerusalem hills), while thousands of Bar-Kokhba’s tetradrachms, known in the antiquities market and in private collections, were discovered during illegal excavations.

I noted the discovery of this coin here. This article gives a lot more information about it.

Cross-file under Archaeology.

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

Review of Georgia, Gaming Greekness

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Gaming Greekness: cultural agonism among Christians and Jews in the Roman Empire.

Allan T. Georgia, Gaming Greekness: cultural agonism among Christians and Jews in the Roman Empire. Gorgias studies in early Christianity and patristics, 76. Piscataway: Gorgias Press, 2020. Pp. xiv, 358. ISBN 9781463241230 $158.00.

Review by
Matthew Kraus, University of Cincinnati. matthew.kraus@uc.edu

... “It is difficult to put the dynamic and fluid interchanges that characterize the ancient world into historically descriptive language,” (p.302) observes the author at the end of Gaming Greekness. Nonetheless, he accepts the challenge, weaving his way through selected texts produced by Jews and Christians. Connecting his analysis through the threads of cultural competition related in shifting ways to Greekness in the Roman World, the reader is left with the sense that Jewish and Christian encounters with Greekness were complicated. ...

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

Phoenician shipwrecks: "They Are Ours!"

PHOENICIAN WATCH: They Are Ours: Mazarron fights to keep Phoenician ships in the Murcia coastal town. Mazarrón's Department of Historical Heritage is collecting signatures to ensure the Mazarrón I and II remain in the municipality (Mazzaron Today).

A concerted effort is being made by Mazarrón Council to keep the Phoenician ships, Mazarrón I and II, which were discovered in 1994 and 1995 respectively off the coast of the La Isla beach, with the launch of a petition.

Announcing the 'They Are Ours!' ('¡Son nuestros!') campaign, which is supported by all groups represented in the Town Hall, Mazarrón's Mayor Gaspar Miras demanded that the Phoenician wreck Mazarrón II return to the town after its excavation and restoration in Cartagena alongside Mazarrón I for conservation and exhibition.

It's refreshing to see so much enthusiasm for ancient relics. I hope Mazarrón and Cartagena can reach an amicable settlement of this dispute.

For more on the Mazarrón I, currently being restored in Cartagena, see here. I didn't know about the Mazarrón II.

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

UPDATE (22 June 2023): I have corrected some confusion above about which ship is which above. I did know about the Mazarrón II. See here. The variable spelling of Mazarrón/Mazzarón seems to have thrown me off.

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

Why did an ancient Galilean family flee from their home?

ARCHAEOLOGY: Stilled life: Why did farmers flee a homestead 2,100 years ago in the Galilee? A salvage excavation uncovers a frozen scene of existential distress during the Hellenistic era and an earlier agricultural community from the Iron Age (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel).

Just what made the family of still unknown origins pack up its precious belongings and quickly flee — leaving behind evidence at Horbat Asad of their everyday occupations through piles of loom weights and other domestic artifacts including large vessels and iron farm tools — is fodder for more research, said [IAA archaeologist Dr. Amani] Abu-Hamid.

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

Hawass on the world of Cleopatra (3)

THE SERIES CONTINUES: The world of Cleopatra – III. Zahi Hawass continues his four-part series of articles with the search for the tomb of the ancient Egyptian queen Cleopatra and her Roman lover Mark Antony (Ahram Online).

However, no one has ever begun a massive search for the tomb of Cleopatra. This is likely because everyone thought that her tomb was next to her palace, which we know is now underwater in the royal quarter of Shatby.

In October 2004, Kathleen Martinez, an archaeologist and historian from the Dominican Republic, came to Egypt to meet me and present to me her theory. She had developed a theory that Cleopatra and Mark Antony were buried inside a temple dedicated to Isis and Osiris at Taposiris Magna, a location about 45 km west of Alexandria near an area called Borg Al-Arab.

The rest of the essay gives a detailed account of the excavation history of this site at Taposiris Magna.

I noted the first essay in the series here and the second here.

PaleoJudaica posts on Taposiris Magna, and the so-far unsuccessful search for Cleopatra's tomb there, are here, here, here, here, and here. The site was in the news last year with the discovery there of some mummies equipped with golden tongues.

For many posts on Cleopatra VII (the Cleopatra), see here and links. She spoke Hebrew and Aramaic and she had quite a few connections with the land of Israel and ancient Judaism.

UPDATE: I may as well take this opportunity to note a couple of recent articles speculating on Queen Cleopatra's personal affairs.

A Pair of Jeans Actually Made to Fit Cleopatra are Part of Campaign to Curb Textile Waste (Branding in Asia).

While they may look like a ‘normal’ pair of jeans, these were tailored to the long-deceased Egyptian queen. Through cutting-edge 3D scanning, plus historical and genetic research to calculate the timeless style icon’s body shape, these jeans demonstrate the possibility of creating a perfect fit for anyone in the world. As a call to arms, these jeans pave the way for a future where every order can be tailored perfectly to the customer – meaning no returns, and no waste.

The video explains the process in more detail. If they actually do find Cleopatra's tomb, and her body is still in it, it may be possible to test the effectiveness of the process.

What Did Cleopatra Smell Like? Researchers are using chemical analysis to concoct the fragrance possibly worn by the last Egyptian pharaoh (Elaine Velie, Hyperallergic).

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

The Urfa Mosaic Museum

SYRIAC WATCH: Urfa mosaic museum reflects ancient history of the Turkish city. Roman, Christian and unique Seleucid-period mosaics in Turkey’s third-largest mosaic museum (Judith Sudilovsky, Jerusalem Post).

In 2006 when the southeastern Turkish city of Urfa, officially known as Şanlıurfa, was undertaking a construction project next to renovation work on the Şanlıurfa Archaeological Museum, workers unearthed sections of such Roman mosaics. Work was halted and in the subsequent three years of excavations, the spectacular mosaic floors of an entire Roman villa were revealed.

[...]

In antiquity, Urfa was known as Edessa, and it is believed that as early as 190 AD Christianity had taken root among the people of Edessa and its surroundings, and was soon made the official religion by King Abgar IX. It became a prominent center of Christian learning but under Roman rule, many Christians were martyred. Following numerous changes of rulers, the area adopted Islam as the official religion.

Cross-file under Decorative Art.

As the article notes, the Aramaic dialect spoken at Urfa in the early centuries CE became known as Syriac. It became the religious language of the eastern church for many centuries. It is still the liturgical language of the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Assyrian Church today.

For more on the Agbarid dynasty and the apocryphal Syriac correspondence between King Abgar V and Jesus, see here, here, here, and here. For some other PaleoJudaica posts on ancient Edessa, modern Urfa, see here, here, here, here, here here and links.

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

A Jewish gladiator's helmet in Pompeii?

MARTIAL MATERIAL CULTURE: A JEWISH GLADIATOR IN POMPEII. Gladiatorial games were not uncommon to the Jews before the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, says a noted historian in Jews and Judaism Professor Samuele Rocca. (Brenda Lee Bohen, Toronto Tribune).

In his essay “A Jewish Gladiator in Pompeii,” Rocca focuses on a bronze gladiatorial helmet that depicts a seven-branched palm tree.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on the eruption of Vesuvius and its destruction of Pompeii and Heculaneum, see here and here and follow the links. For additional evidence for a Jewish presence in Pompeii, see here and links.

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

Dobroruka, Persian Influence on Daniel and Jewish Apocalyptic Literature (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

Persian Influence on Daniel and Jewish Apocalyptic Literature

Vicente Dobroruka (Author)

Hardback $115.00 $103.50
Ebook (PDF) $103.50 $82.80

Product details

Published Apr 21 2022
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 264
ISBN 9780567205056
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series Jewish and Christian Texts
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

Vicente Dobroruka explores Iranian influence on Second Temple Judaism, providing a new explanation of Persian culture and history in the context of biblical accounts by focusing on the spread of Zoroastrian ideas in the period c.300 BCE–200 CE.

Dobroruka begins his investigation with an overview of the problems posed by a dualistic worldview-he examines the Indo-European origins of Zarathushtra and his ideas, explores the long-term implications for the notion of free-will, and clarifies the lightness/darkness paradigm that originated in Persia. Following this, Dobroruka discusses a variety of concepts that illustrate this influence, such as the role of matter and the material world, aspects of dualism and the cosmic struggle, the perspectives on the rewards for the just and the opposing punishments for the wicked, the idea of an 'Anointed One', shamanistic visionary experience, the resurrection, and the concepts of Sheol and Paradise.

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Review of Koskenniemi, Greek writers and philosophers in Philo and Josephus

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Greek writers and philosophers in Philo and Josephus: a study of their secular education and educational ideals.

Erkki Koskenniemi, Greek writers and philosophers in Philo and Josephus: a study of their secular education and educational ideals. Studies in Philo of Alexandria, volume 9. Leiden: Brill, 2019. Pp. x, 352. ISBN 9789004391932 €138,00.

Review by
Maren Niehoff, Hebrew University in Jerusalem. maren.niehoff@mail.huji.ac.il

This monograph aims at identifying the explicit references to Greek writers and philosophers in the vast corpora of two Greek-speaking, Jewish authors, namely Philo of Alexandria and Josephus Flavius. ...

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Steven Fine on the Arch of Titus

INTERVIEW: THE ARCH OF TITUS WITH PROFESSOR STEVEN FINE. (Brenda Lee Bohen, Toronto Tribune).

For more on Professor Fine's recent book and on the YU exhibition, see here and links. Follow the links from there for many other posts on the Arch of Titus. For more on the "second" Arch of Titus, see here. And for many other posts on ancient menorahs and representations of menorahs, see here and links.

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"A 'material historical, scroll approach' to the Bible"

PROF. DAVID M. CARR: What Ancient Scrolls Teach Us about the Torah’s Formation (TheTorah.com).

Examining ancient Egyptian papyri, as well as scrolls from animal skins in Levantine sites such as Deir Alla and Qumran, highlights how scribes would add text to preexisting scrolls and showcases the limited size of scrolls intended for regular use.

Cross-file under Material Culture.

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Press Conference After Daniel Didn't Get Eaten By Lions

THE TEN MINUTE BIBLE HOUR: Press Conference After Daniel Didn't Get Eaten By Lions. HT Bible Places Blog

Somewhat related PaleoJudaica posts are here, here, and here.

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

Restoration of Palmyra's Arch of Triumph begins

PALMYRA WATCH: Restoration work for ancient Arch de Triumph in Palmyra begins (SANA).

Palmyra, SANA- In the archaeological city of Palmyra located about 250 kilometers northeast of Damascus, the first phase of the project to restore the ancient Arch de Triumph, which was destroyed by Daesh (ISIS) terrorist organization in 2015, has started on Friday

[...]

[Deputy Director of Antiquities and Museums Hammam] Saad revealed other archaeological restoration projects in Palmyra will be started after completing the Arch restoration project, including the restoration of the Temple of Baal Shamin, the Tetrapylon, the façade of Palmyra amphitheater and the famous Temple of Bel, all of which were attacked by terrorists.

This is very good news.

Six years ago I noted some hope of restoring Palmyra's monuments. Meanwhile, reconstructions of the Arch of Triumph have been created in London, New York, and Florence.

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

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

Nelson & Ulmer (eds.), ... 21st Century Approaches to the Study of Midrash (Gorgias)

NEW BOOK FROM GORGIAS PRESS (VIA DE GRUYTER):

Emerging Horizons. 21st Century Approaches to the Study of Midrash
Proceedings of the Midrash Section, Society of Biblical Literature, volume 9

Edited by: W. Nelson and Rivka Ulmer

Volume 26 in the series Judaism in Context
https://doi.org/10.31826/9781463243661

eBook £85.00
Published: March 21, 2022
ISBN: 9781463243661

About this book

The chapters in Emerging Horizons: 21st Century Approaches to the Study of Midrash pertain to an intriguing midrash that appears in a Masoretic context, the Qur’anic narrative of the red cow, midrashic narratives that rabbinize enemies of Israel, the death of Moses, emotions in rabbinic literature, and yelammedenu units in midrashic works.

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Review of Jewish Inscriptions in Greece exhibition

REVIEW: 'Integral': New show reveals ancient Jewish roots in Greece (AFP). The review highlights some details of the exhibition, including an inscription from the third century BCE which refers to a freed Judean slave.

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

Bockmuehl, Jewish Law in Gentile Churches (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

Jewish Law in Gentile Churches
Halakhah and the Beginning of Christian Public Ethics

Markus Bockmuehl (Author)

Paperback $39.95 $35.95

Hardback $200.00 $180.00

Product details

Published Jan 27 2022
Format Paperback
Edition 1st
Extent 336
ISBN 9780567706799
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

Why did the Gentile church keep Old Testament commandments about sex and idolatry, but disregard many others, like those about food or ritual purity? If there were any binding norms, what made them so, and on what basis were they articulated?In this important study, Markus Bockmuehl approaches such questions by examining the halakhic (Jewish legal) rationale behind the ethics of Jesus, Paul and the early Christians. He offers fresh and often unexpected answers based on careful biblical and historical study. His arguments have far-reaching implications not only for the study of the New Testament, but more broadly for the relationship between Christianity and Judaism.

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What is a "liturgy?"

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: What is an Ancient Jewish Liturgy? (Jeremy Penner).

With these issues in mind, I would suggest that a liturgy can be defined as a publicly accepted ordering of rituals, which are, in turn, “the performance of more or less invariant sequences of formal acts and utterances”[8] for the public good, that may or may not include communication with the divine. I have not yet had the opportunity to fully explore the potential payoff of this definition, but I suspect it may shift the focus to thinking about ancient Jewish liturgy more as a way of life rather than prayerful acts. ...

Could be.

I am wary of efforts to define an etic term based on ancient usage of cognates, especially when we're dealing with terms in multiple languages. For etic usage, it is more important to define your terms clearly than to debate the meaning of the terms.

I encourage the author to explore the implications of this definition of liturgy. Others may define the term differently, with different implications.

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Archaeology tools

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Archaeology Tools from Trowels to Tech. Biblical Archaeology 101: Exploring the Archaeologist’s Toolkit (Nathan Steinmeyer).

With advances in technology, there are more archaeology tools than ever to help excavators dig into the past. Yet sometimes there is no substitute for a trusty trowel and bucket. Archaeology tools vary greatly by location, budget, and even research question. But, from surveying to recording, what are some of the most common tools used in biblical archaeology today?

[...]

For some thoughts (some mine, some from others) on the technological future of archaeology in coming decades, see here and here. Cross-file under Technology Watch.

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

Greek inscriptions exhibition at Jewish Museum of Greece

GREEK EPIGRAPHY: Jewish Museum of Greece: “Stone Paths – Stories Set in Stone: Jewish Inscriptions in Greece” exhibition opens (Greek City Times).

The Jewish Museum of Greece (JMG) inaugurated the “Stone Routes – Stories from Stone: Jewish Inscriptions in Greece” exhibition on Tuesday.

The exhibition presents, for the first time, archaeological findings that document the presence of Jews in Greece since the end of the 4th century [BCE].

[...]

The exhibition, supported by the culture ministry, the foreign ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Hellenic-German Fund for the Future, is characterised by an innovative dual structure and originality.

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

Herod's alabaster bathtubs were locally made

MATERIAL CULTURE: King Herod the Great bathed in locally made calcite-alabaster bathtubs. Though most high-quality calcite-alabaster items here were thought to be made in Egypt, a new multidisciplinary Israeli study shows otherwise (Judith Sudilovsky, Jerusalem Post).

“These results attest to the fact that the calcite-alabaster industry in Judea in the second half of the first century BC was sufficiently developed and of high enough quality to serve the luxurious standards of Herod, one of the finest builders among the kings of that period,” the researchers concluded in their report.

The story is also covered by Amanda Borschel-Dan in the Times of Israel, with an interview with Ayala Amir: Alabaster for Herod the Great’s lavish bathtubs traced to quarry in Israel. Daughter-father scientific study rules out Egyptian quarries and shows ancient Holy Land industry was potentially much more developed than previously thought.

The latter also links to the open-access underlying article in Nature, which is here.

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

Ancient underground Turkish city hid Christians and Jews?

SUBTERRANEAN ARCHAEOLOGY: Underground city unearthed in Turkey may have been refuge for early Christians. Archaeologists in southeastern Turkey have unearthed a vast underground city that was built almost 2,000 years ago (Tom Metcalfe, Live Science).

Now, 49 chambers have been unearthed in the colossal complex, as well as connecting passages, water wells, grain storage silos, the rooms of homes, and places of worship, including a Christian church and a large hall with a Star of David symbol on the wall, which appears to be a Jewish synagogue.

Artifacts found in the caverns — including Roman-era coins and oil lamps — indicate that the subterranean complex was built sometime in the second or third centuries A.D, Tarkan told Live Science.

For another underground complex in Turkey, this one in Kars Province and used by late-antique Armenian monks, see here.

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

Vast haul of antiquities recovered in Israel

APPREHENDED: Huge Cache of Stolen Antiquities Found in Central Israel. Cuneiform tablets, jewels, and 1,800 coins, including one bearing the name of Shimon Bar Kochba, found in antiquities trader's house in Modiin (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

Ancient cuneiform tablets, a bronze figurine, jewelry, seals, and no less than 1,800 coins were seized from the home of an antiquities trader in Modi'in on Sunday by police working with the Israel Antiquities Authority theft prevention team.

Among the coins:

One rare item was a silver "shekel" coin from the time of the First Jewish-Roman War in 67 C.E., the IAA stated. It bears the legend "Holy Jerusalem" in Hebrew on one side with the image of a bunch of three pomegranates. The other side says "Shekel Israel Year 2" (the letter bet) and the image of a goblet.

Another Year 2 silver shekel was excavated in Jerusalem last year. I'm not a numismatist, but it looks to me to be of the same design as the newly recovered one.

In 2016 a Year 2 silver shekel sold for $5,280, while ten years ago a Year 1 silver shekel sold for $1.1 million. I don't know how much the newly recovered coin is worth. Much depends on its condition and how rare its features are.

Cross-file under Numismatics.

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Lag B'Omer 2022

LAG B'OMER, the 33rd day of the Counting of the Omer, begins tonight at sundown. Best wishes to all observing it.

My 2021 Lag B'Omer post is here with links. Subsequent posts are here, (sadly) here, and here. Please stay safe this year!

For the biblical and rabbinic background of the holiday, see here.

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

What was the Bread of the Presence?

PROF. JENNIE EBELING: Lechem Hapanim: Bread in the Presence of YHWH (TheTorah.com).

Each week, twelve fresh loaves of bread were placed before YHWH in the Tabernacle and Temple. What do we know about the practice and its significance?

For more on the Phoenician Ahiram sarcophagus inscription, see here (with photo).

For more on the Aramaic Kuttamuwu (Kuttamuwa) inscription, see my notices on its discovery in 2008 here and here.

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Green, A Guide to the Zohar (De Gruyter)

NEW BOOK FROM DE GRUYTER:

A Guide to the Zohar

Arthur Green

In the series The Zohar: Pritzker Edition
https://doi.org/10.1515/9780804782913

eBook (€82.95/£75.00/$95.00)
Published: April 21, 2022
ISBN: 9780804782913

About this book

The Zohar is the great medieval compendium of Jewish esoteric and mystical teaching, and the basis of the kabbalistic faith. It is, however, a notoriously difficult text, full of hidden codes, concealed meanings, obscure symbols, and ecstatic expression. This illuminating study, based upon the last several decades of modern Zohar scholarship, unravels the historical and intellectual origins of this rich text and provides an excellent introduction to its themes, complex symbolism, narrative structure, and language. A Guide to the Zohar is thus an invaluable companion to the Zohar itself, as well as a useful resource for scholars and students interested in mystical literature, particularly that of the west, from the Middle Ages to the present.

Cross-file under Zohar Watch. For many PaleoJudaica posts on the Zohar, see here and here and follow the links.

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Supreme Court approves Jerusalem cable car plan

KARAITE-AND-CABLE-CAR-CONFLICT COURT DECISION: Israeli court rejects petitions against 'megalomaniacal' Jerusalem cable car plan. Court green lights Israeli government project to build controversial cable car connecting city's east and west (Mustafa Abu Sneineh, Middle East Eye).

Israel's Supreme Court has rejected several petitions against a controversial cable car project set to alter the historical skyline of the Old City in occupied East Jerusalem.

On Sunday, the court dismissed four petitions filed by Palestinian residents of the Silwan neighbourhood, store owners in the Old City, the Jewish Karaite community, the Israeli archaeological group Emek Shaveh, and Adam Teva V'Din, an environmental group.

[...]

This is the first I have heard about this story in a few years. I was following it back in 2019. See here and links.

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More on the Neo-Assyrian Aramean gods relief

PARIETAL PETROGLYPHS UPDATE: Unique Assyrian Relief With Aramaic Text Found Beneath Turkish House. First came the robbers, then the cops, then the archaeologists: This is the only Assyrian relief ever found underground, and with Aramaic names for the gods (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

Within that artificial cavern carved into the bedrock, artists began – but apparently did not finish – a wall relief almost 4 meters in length. Time-worn but unmistakably Assyrian in style, the panel shows a procession of eight major gods, the archaeologists say.

Moreover, the first three gods are accompanied by inscriptions. The gods are Syro-Anatolian but their names are Aramaic, in style and in writing. This is the only Neo-Assyrian relief found to date that has Aramaic text, the archaeologists say and as said is the only Neo-Assyrian relief ever to be discovered underground, though one was found in a cave at the source of the Tigris, the team philologist Dr. Selim Ferruh Adali qualifies.

This article has more details that I have seen in others, especially about the engraved divine images and the accompanying Aramaic inscriptions.

Background here.

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Ancient Samaritan priestly (?) residence opened on Mount Gerizim

SAMARITAN WATCH: The Samaritan connection to Mount Gerizim restoration, conservation. ARCHAEOLOGICAL AFFAIRS: Early Hellenistic period dwelling opened to visitors • Samaritan community has mixed feelings about park on its holy mountain (Judith Sudilovsky, Jerusalem Post). HT Rogue Classicism.

In 2012 the Israel Nature and Parks Authority began new works under the authority of the Civil Administration, and two weeks ago a newly restored, impressive Samaritan residential compound was open for visitors, enabling them to experience history by walking through the ancient rooms.

The compound, dated at around 200-300 BCE, is part of a large city from the Persian and Hellenistic periods which was built around a sacred precinct where once stood the Samaritan Temple, and where today stands the remains of a large Byzantine church built on top of the destroyed Temple, a heavy wall cutting right through the holy Samaritan site where Samaritan tradition holds the Tabernacle stood. During the Muslim period a military guard post was built over one of the church’s towers.

The date 1011 BCE for John Hyrcanus' destruction of Mount Gerizim is, of course, a typo. I think it is supposed to read 111 BCE.

Another golden bell, which everyone seems to think is priestly, was excavated in Jerusalem in 2011.

For PaleoJudaica posts on the Samaritan Temple etc. on Mount Gerizim, see here and links and here. And for a current museum exhibition on the Samaritans, see here.

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When were rabbinic liturgical prayers fixed?

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Were Early Rabbinic Prayers Scripted? (Ruth Langer).

... Are we correct to presume that early rabbinic liturgy had a textual tradition coherent with the models we know, including from their predecessors at Qumran? Did early rabbis have a system of memorized, orally transmitted yet fixed texts, or did their worship operate in a more free-form system? When and where did the verbal worship of the rabbinic elite spread to other social groups and geographic areas? These questions, with answers not yet fully resolved in my mind, have dominated my current investigations into early rabbinic liturgy.

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How many people in ancient Israel?

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: Peopling the Biblical World (Philip Jenkins).

The Biblical world at various eras is probably the most intensely studied society in human history. Just how many books, for instance, have been written about Palestine in the time of Jesus? Despite all that work, though, we still have major areas of ignorance about such a basic issue as population. If we look at a country today, that is such a critical theme. How many people are there to pay taxes, to serve in armies, to populate cities, and to feed those cities? Numbers are not everything, but nor are they nothing. So just how many people lived in Palestine – broadly defined – at any given time? And how many in Jerusalem itself?

[...]

Like so much in our ancient sources, ancient claims about the population statistics of Palestine and Jerusalem are on the tabloid level of credibility.

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Review of Price, Evolution of a Taboo

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Review: Evolution of a Taboo.

Evolution of a Taboo: Pigs and People in the Ancient Near East
By Max D. Price
(Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2020), xxii + 312 pp., 19 figures
(maps, graphs, plans, drawings, photos), $34.95 (hardcover)
Reviewed by Aren M. Maeir

As someone who has been studying the Philistine culture for some 25 years, I am greatly interested in the dietary patterns of the Iron Age Philistines and their neighbors—including who did and who didn’t eat pig. And this is one of the central issues addressed in the recent book by Max Price. An anthropologist and zoologist at MIT, Price explores the complex relations between pigs and humans in the Near East, focusing on ancient times but also providing perspective on the deep cultural ramifications until today.

[...]

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Ofer, The Masora on Scripture and Its Methods (Magnes Press - in Hebrew)

NEW BOOK FROM MAGNES PRESS:

The Masora on Scripture and Its Methods
By: Yosef Ofer

Special price $33 $23

More details

Publisher: Magnes Press
Collaborators: De Gruyter
Year: 2022
Catalog number : 45-101139
ISBN: 978-965-7790-35-9
Pages: 357
Language: Hebrew
Weight: 700 gr.
Cover: Paperback

Synopsis

The starting point for any study of the Bible is the text of the Masora, as designed by the Masoretes. The ancient manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible contain thousands of Masora comments of two types: Masora Magna and Masora Prava. This book presents the way in which the Masoretic comments preserve the Masoretic Text of the Bible throughout generations and all over the world, providing comprehensive information in a short and efficient manner. The book describes the important manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, and the methods of the Masora in determining the biblical spelling and designing the forms of the parshiot and the biblical Songs. The effectiveness of Masoretic mechanisms and their degree of success in preserving the text is examined. A special explanation is offered for the phenomenon of qere and ketiv. The book discusses the place of the Masoretic text in the history of the Bible, the differences between the Babylonian Masora and that of Tiberias, the special status of the Aleppo Codex and the mystery surrounding it. Special attention is given to the comparison between the Aleppo Codex and the Leningrad Codex (B 19a). In addition, the book discusses the relationship between the Masora and other tangential domains: the grammar of the Hebrew language, the interpretation of the Bible, and the Halakha. The appendix to the book contains a description of books and computer software that are tools for researching the Masora. The book is based on the author's research and the research of the great scholars of the Masora in recent generations. It is a necessary tool for anyone interested in the text of the Bible and its crystallization.

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Feldman, Tefillin and Mezuzot from Qumran (De Gruyter)

NEW BOOK FROM DE GRUYTER:

Tefillin and Mezuzot from Qumran

New Readings and Interpretations

Ariel Feldman

Volume 538 in the series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110725377

PDF & EPUB £81.50
Hardcover £81.50

eBook
Published: April 4, 2022
ISBN: 9783110725377

Hardcover
Published: April 18, 2022
ISBN: 9783110725261

About this book

This monograph studies ancient tefillin (also known as phylacteries) and mezuzot found in the Caves of Qumran. Most of these miniature texts were published by the end of 1970s and thus have long been available to scholars. And yet in several respects, these tiny fragments remain an unfinished business.

A close scrutiny of their editions reveals a presence of texts that have not been fully accounted for. These fall into three categories. First, there are multiple tefillin and mezuzot that contain legible fragments which their editors were unable to identify. Second, several tefillin and mezuzot feature imprints of letters that have not been deciphered. Third, there are texts which were provisionally classified as tefillin and mezuzot yet left unread.

This monograph offers a detailed study of these unidentified and undeciphered texts. It thus sheds new light on the contents of ancient tefillin and mezuzot and on the scribal practices involved in their preparation.

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New book on Hannibal

BOOK REVIEWLET: Hannibal: Rome’s Greatest Enemy (Pegasus Books), by Philip Freeman (David Luhrssen, Shepherd Express). HT Rogue Classicism.

With some fun counterfactual speculation on what would have happened if Hannibal had won. Cf. here.

For many more posts on Hannibal Barca and his role in the Second Punic War, see here, here, here, here, and links. Cross-file under Punic Watch.

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