Hundreds of gaming/divination bones found in Maresha caves

LUDIC AND MANTIC ARCHAEOLOGY: 530 Divination Bones Discovered in Ancient Maresha (David Israel, The Jewish Press).

A rare assemblage of “astragali” – animal knuckle bones used for gaming and divination, dating from the Hellenistic period (2300 years ago), was uncovered by Dr. Ian Stern in the Maresha-Bet Guvrin National Park in southern Israel. ...

Tens of the dice bore Greek inscriptions: some were engraved with the names of gods associated in ancient times with human wishes and desires: Aphrodite, the goddess of fertility, love, and beauty; Eros, the god of love; Hermes, the herald of the gods; Hera, goddess of marriage, women, the sky and the stars of heaven; and Nike, the goddess of victory. On other knuckle bones, game instructions and various game roles are engraved, such as “Robber,” “Stop!” and “You are burnt.”

The Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park has produced an impressive corpus of ancient Greek and Aramaic inscriptions, especially in the caves. Alas, a large underground archive of papyri had disintegrated long before the archaeologists arrived. For background, see here (cf. here) and links. And for more on archaeological discoveries there, see here and links.

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McGrath in the footsteps of John the Baptist (6)

RELIGION PROF: In the Footsteps of John the Baptist 6: Ein Kerem and the Birthplace and Wilderness of John (James McGrath).

I have noted the first five installments here and links.

Some PaleoJudaica posts on Ein Kerem (Ein Karem) are here and here and links.

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Ancient artifacts recovered in West Bank

APPREHENDED: Israel recovers rare findings from alleged antiquities traffickers in West Bank. Three Palestinian suspects arrested, illegal weapons seized, in operation that followed arrest of prominent dealer in northern West Bank several months ago (Times of Israel).

Among the items recovered Monday were coins, titles and stone doors from the Roman and Byzantine periods, along with ancient tools from the Iron Age and the 7th Century.

There's a photo of what looks like an olive press too. Cf. the article below.

For additional coverage and more photos, see the article in the Jerusalem Post: Weapons, historic artifacts seized by Border Police in West Bank. Three Palestinian suspects were arrested and transferred for further questioning.

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Amin

HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY: Unique Sites of Israel: Biblical Anim (Nosson Shulman, The Jewish Press).

Amin is mentioned in the Book of Joshua. The site also preserves the ruins of a late-antique synagogue.

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Hayes (ed.), The Literature of the Sages (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

The Literature of the Sages

A Re-Visioning

Series: Compendia Rerum Iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum, Volume: 16

Volume Editor: Christine Hayes

This volume presents the major works of classical rabbinic Judaism as inter-related aggregates analyzed through three central themes. Part 1, “Intertextuality,” investigates the multi-directional relationships among and between rabbinic texts and nonrabbinic Jewish sources. Part 2, “East and West” explores the impact on rabbinic texts of the cultures of the Hellenistic, Roman, and Christian West and the Sasanian East. Part 3, “Halakha and Aggada,” interrogates the relationship of law and narrative in rabbinic sources. This bold volume uncovers alliances and ruptures -- textual, cultural, and generic -- obscured by document-based approaches to rabbinic literature.

Prices from (excl. VAT): €199.00 / $239.00

Copyright Year: 2022
E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-51569-7
Publication date: 11 Jul 2022

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-51542-0
Publication date: 14 Jul 2022

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Review of Star, Apocalypse and Golden Age

LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS: This is the end (Robert Cioffi).

Apocalypse and Golden Age: The End of the World in Greek and Roman Thought
by Christopher Star.
Johns Hopkins, 320 pp., £40.50, December 2021, 978 1 4214 4163 4

Excerpt:

Greek and Roman literature has sometimes been thought immune from apocalypse, or outright opposed to it: Rome was after all known as the eternal city. But in Apocalypse and Golden Age, Christopher Star argues that Greeks and Romans were, in fact, pioneering and often deeply pessimistic thinkers about the long-term future of humanity. In contrast to Jewish and Christian apocalyptic texts, they do not often imagine the survival of humanity, much less a new transcendent world and an eternal reward for the righteous. ...

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Review of Wee, Knowledge and Rhetoric in Medical Commentary

THE BIBLICAL REVIEW BLOG: Review: “Knowledge and Rhetoric in Medical Commentary: Ancient Mesopotamian Commentaries on a Handbook of Medical Diagnosis (Sa-gig)” by John Z. Wee (William Brown).

John Z. Wee. Knowledge and Rhetoric in Medical Commentary: Ancient Mesopotamian Commentaries on a Handbook of Medical Diagnosis (Sa-gig). Cuneiform Monographs 49/1. Leiden: Brill, 2019.

[...]

In short, John Wee’s Knowledge and Rhetorical in Medical Commentary in an erudite and refreshing analysis of Sa-gig and its commentaries. Although a highly specialized subject, some of his broader observations about serialization, canonization, textual sources of authority, and embedded variants may be helpful for folks in religious studies thinking about so-called canon, interpretive practices and textual sources of authority, and the boundaries in the ancient world of what we often designate science and literature.

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Contention over the "Joshua's tomb"-site excavation

ARCHAEOLOGY AND POLITICS: 'First Deny Access, Then Call It State Land' | Israeli University Holds Archaeological Dig in West Bank Area Claimed to Be Palestinian. While Bar-Ilan University insists that the dig follows guidelines by the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria, activist Bassem Tamimi says he has Jordanian documents proving his ownership over the land (Hagar Shezaf and Nir Hasson, Haaretz).

The Jerusalem Post had an article about this excavation a couple of weeks ago: First archaeological dig begins at site believed to be Joshua's tomb. Khirbet Tibnah is located on a hill in the southwest of the Samaria region, east of Shoham near Halamish. The site was populated from the Bronze Age until the beginning of the Ottoman period.

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Redating Codex Siniaticus?

VARIANT READINGS: (Brent Nongbri).

The October 2022 issue of Journal of Theological Studies will contain an article I wrote on the dating of Codex Sinaiticus. It’s out now in pre-print format, and thanks to my institution–MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion, and Society–the article is available open access.

[...]

The abstract:

Abstract

Codex Sinaiticus is generally described as one of ‘the great fourth century majuscule Bibles’, and its construction is often assigned to a more precise date in the middle of the fourth century. This essay surveys the evidence for the date of production of the codex and concludes that it could have been produced at any point from the early fourth century to the early fifth century. This time span may seem uncomfortably wide, but this particular range of dates makes Codex Sinaiticus an ideal candidate for AMS radiocarbon analysis. The shape of the radiocarbon calibration curve during this period means that a well-executed radiocarbon analysis of the codex should have the potential to shed further light on the date the codex was produced.

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Pardee Festschrift

THE AWOL BLOG: New from the Oriental Institute: SAOC 73. "Like 'Ilu Are You Wise": Studies in Northwest Semitic Languages and Literatures in Honor of Dennis G. Pardee.

The volume is published both in print and by EPI open-access.

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Sarcophagi to be displayed at Ashkelon

EXHIBITION: Gorgeous 4th Century Roman Sarcophagi Go on Display in Ashkelon (David Israel, The Jewish Press). HT Rogue Classicism.

The Ashkelon Municipality and the Israel Antiquities Authority are upgrading the display of ancient Roman finds that have been stored for more than 50 years in the Sarcophagi Court at the Beit Ha’am compound in the Afridar neighborhood, and now they will be presented to the general public in a modern and inviting display.

For a comparatively recent (2015) discovery of an ancient sarcophagus at Ashkelon, see here.

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Creating a commentary in a Hebrew Bible seminar

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Creating a Commentary (Julia Rhyder).

In my graduate seminar “History of God: Evidence from the Psalms,” I wanted to explore alternative ways of engaging deeply with the Hebrew psalms without falling into the “circle translation” trap.

Cross-file under Pedagogy.

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Joseph Aviram (1915[?]-2022)

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Milestones: Joseph Aviram (1915–2022). Directed Israel’s leading biblical archaeology organization.

Joseph Aviram, long-time Director and President of the Israel Exploration Society (IES) and a key figure in the development and popularization of the field of biblical archaeology, passed away in Jerusalem on July 27. He was 107 years old.

[...]

Cross-file under Sad News.

I congratulated Dr. Aviram on his 100th birthday here in 2016. I do not know why there is a discrepancy concerning his date of birth.

May his memory be for a blessing.

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A fifth-century inscription petitioning Peter

NEW EVIDENCE FOR BETHSAIDA: Archaeologists Find Entreaty to St. Peter in Early Church by Sea of Galilee. The mosaic more than 1,500 years old cites the church’s donor and a plea for intercession that shores up the case of el-Araj as Bethsaida and the basilica as the Church of the Apostles (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

For years, since discovering an ancient church at el-Araj, the archaeologists had dearly hoped to find a dedicatory inscription, as was typical of Byzantine churches. Now they have.

The inscription starts with “Constantine, the servant of Christ.” This refers to the donor to the church, in keeping with Byzantine tradition of dedicatory mosaics. It isn’t a reference to Constantine, the first Holy Roman emperor to embrace Christianity, the archaeologists explain.

Then comes the exciting bit: The inscription goes on to petition the “chief and commander of the heavenly apostles” for intercession, according to Prof. Leah Di Segni of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Prof. Jacob Ashkenazi of Kinneret College in the north.

This inscription provides important new evidence for the debate on the original site of the New Testament city of Bethsaida. The main contenders are this site, el-Araj, and another site called et-Tell/e-Tell. I have summarized the recent state of the question here. For a balanced account of the case for both sides, see the article, also by Ms. Schuster, linked to here. The article linked to here defends the identification with e-Tell.

This new inscription does not mention Peter by name, but apparently the title it uses was only used for him. That seems to clinch a connection between Peter and the church, offering considerable support for its identification as the Church of the Apostles.

That in turn strengthens the case that in the fifth century el-Araj was identified with Bethsaida.

Does that prove that it was Bethsaida? No. There are several centuries, apparently including a period of flooding and rebuilding, in which confusion about the location of the city could have arisen.

That said, the evidence for el-Araj being Bethsaida has been piling up. The site of e-Tell has not (so far) been producing counter evidence to outweigh it.

I have said before that the debate is likely to continue until we find a first-century inscription at one of the sites that says "Welcome to Bethsaida." This isn't it. But it appears to me (a non-archaeologist) that el-Araj is now the front-runner for identification with Bethsaida.

For background on the debate, which I have been following for years, start here and follow the links.

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Tu B'Av 2022

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

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

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Reports of archaeological destruction in the West Bank

ARCHAEOLOGY AND POLITICS: 'State couldn't care less that Jewish heritage sites are being destroyed.' Jewish leaders and groups detail the heartbreaking damage Palestinian looters cause to Jewish historical sites across Judea and Samaria and lament the lack of action by the government they say has a moral responsibility to protect the site (Hanan Greenwood, Israel HaYom). The concerns flagged in this article sound serious. I would like to hear a response from the Civil Administration and the IAA.

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Where Titus breached Jerusalem?

ARCHAEOLOGY: Archaeologists Pinpoint a Source of Roman Artillery Attack on Ancient Jerusalem. New research suggests that when Roman forces besieged Jerusalem in the year 70, they were firing barrages from what is now known as Cats Square (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

[Archaeologist Kfir] Arbiv’s theory that Cats Square was one point from where the Romans fired on Jerusalem arose following some years of excavation at a site 200 meters away from that square: the Russian Compound, one of the most historic districts in the city.

I noted the discoveries at the Russian Compound here back in 2016.

Cross-file under Tisha B'Av (belatedly).

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The Sifting Project Blog on the Temple

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT BLOG: THE DEEPER MEANING OF THE TEMPLE AND YOUR PART IN CONTINUING REVEALING IT.

The grinding task of researching small finds, a task many would view as tedious and fruitless labor, is likely to cause us to forget the bigger picture. But, when we occasionally arrive at new understandings as a result of an analysis of the finds, when we are asked to present the project to visitors at the sifting site or in public lectures, or when we witness every day the excitement of those participating in the sifting at the moment of a revelation of a special artifact, then we remember it anew and are invigorated to continue in our work with greater dedication.

Funding of the project remains a concern.

Cross-file under Tisha B'Av (belatedly).

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Conference on "The Medieval Afterlife of Hellenistic Judaism"

H-JUDAIC: CFP: Conference on "The Medieval Afterlife of Hellenistic Judaism."

Details at the link. The conference is organized by the Lege Josephum! Ways of Reading Josephus in the Latin Middle Ages project. It takes place on 15-17 March 2023 at the University of Bern.

The deadline for proposal abstracts is 15 September 2022.

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Who Was Ezra?

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Who Was Ezra? Old Testament texts and the history of a priestly scribe (John Gregory Drummond).

Ezra is a mysterious biblical figure, exalted in some ancient traditions and oddly ignored in others.

This BHD essay introduces a BAR article by Charlotte Hempel which is behind the subscription wall. But the essay is informative in itself.

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Ciner & Nunez (eds.), The Discoveries of Manuscripts from Late Antiquity (Brepols)

NEW BOOK FROM BREPOLS PUBLISHER:

The Discoveries of Manuscripts from Late Antiquity
Their Impact on Patristic Studies and the Contemporary World (Conference Proceedings 2nd International Conference on Patristic Studies)

Patricia Ciner, Alyson Nunez (eds)

Pages: 424 p.
Size: 156 x 234 mm
Illustrations: 2 b/w
Language(s): English, Spanish
Publication Year: 2022

Buy print version
€ 100,00 EXCL. VATRETAIL PRICE
ISBN: 978-2-503-59149-0
Hardback
Available

Buy e-version
€ 100,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE
ISBN: 978-2-503-59150-6
E-book
Available

Studies on the impact of discoveries of late antique manuscripts on early Christian studies and the contemporary world

SUMMARY

This book offers an anthology from the proceedings of the Second International Conference on Patristic Studies, “The Discoveries of Manuscripts from Late Antiquity: Their Impact on Patristic Studies and the Contemporary World”, which took place in San Juan, Argentina, in March 2017. The aim of this event was to analyze and assess 20th- and 21st-century discoveries of manuscripts from Late Antiquity. Indeed, complete libraries of manuscripts, as well as individual documents of great importance for our understanding of historical authors and situations, have come to light after having been buried for millennia. Just some examples are the incredible discoveries of the Nag Hammadi Gnostic library, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Origen of Alexandria’s homilies, and Augustine’s sermons, among others. Rather than being passive documents, these manuscripts pose numerous questions to specialists from a diverse array of fields, demanding new evaluations of a past that was already thought to be understood and judged.

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Remembering Dr. Norman K. Gottwald

OBITUARY: Remembering Dr. Norman K. Gottwald, preeminent scholar of the Old Testament. A longtime Berkeley resident, Gottwald was on the faculty of American Baptist Seminary of the West and Graduate Theological Union Gottwald family, Berkeleyside).

Dr. Norman Karol Gottwald, renowned pioneer in the use of the social scientific method in biblical studies, age 95, passed away peacefully at his home surrounded by his family on March 11, 2022.

[...]

I had heard about Professor Gottwald's passing on social media, but this is the first formal notice I have seen. Requiescat in pace.

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Coptic magical stories and Aramaic incantation bowls

THE COPTIC MAGICAL PAPYRI BLOG: Kyprianos Update (10 July 2022).

We’ve just posted our latest update to the Kyprianos Database of Ancient Ritual Texts and Objects.

The update includes:

36 new manuscript entries, bringing the total to 1059. These contain new Greek, Coptic, Demotic, and Aramaic manuscripts from Egypt and elsewhere dating to the first millennium CE. ...

There are also new text entries, with some Christian-apocrypha-like narratives, and new archive entries pertaining to Aramaic incantation bowls.

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Review of Ganzel, Ezekiel’s Visionary Temple in Babylonian Context

THE BIBLICAL REVIEW BLOG: Review: “Ezekiel’s Visionary Temple in Babylonian Context” by Tova Ganzel (William Brown).

Tova Ganzel. Ezekiel’s Visionary Temple in Babylonian Context. BZAW 539. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2021.

Tova Ganzel’s Ezekiel’s Visionary temple in Babylonian Context is particularly refreshing as it incorporates key texts, history, and information about Neo-Babylonian temples as a means of articulating and clarifying aspects of Ezekiel’s Temple Vision. The monograph is replete with helpful introductions to those not familiar with Neo-Babylonian materials and a range of intriguing arguments that make sense of (or offer potential solutions to) religious aspects of the Temple Vision. ...

I noted the publication of the book here.

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Bratislava Conference on early reception of Paul

RELIGION PROF: Bratislava Conference 2022 – Receptions of Paul during the First Two Centuries: Exploration of the Jewish Matrix of Early Christianity (James McGrath).

I thought I should share this information about an upcoming online conference since there does not seem to be much info about it online and given the topic and presenters I know that my biblical studies colleagues who focus on Paul more than I do will want to attend.

[...]

Thanks James. Now I have shared it too.

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More on the ghost amphitheater at Megiddo

UPDATE: First Roman military amphitheater discovered in Israel’s Armageddon. The excavation, led by USC Dornsife scholars, yielded clues about the lives of ancient Roman soldiers stationed outside the fabled city of Armageddon (Margaret Crable, USC Dornsife).

It wasn’t until 2013 that a team of researchers began the first official excavation of the army base that Schumacher hypothesized was in the vicinity. They uncovered both the walls and administrative center of the Roman 6th Legion’s base and hypothesized that the odd depression was a military amphitheater associated with the legion.

In July, scholars from the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences finally proved this hypothesis to be correct. It’s the first Roman military amphitheater ever uncovered in the Southern Levant, which encompasses Israel, Jordan and Palestine.

Into the pit

Excavation of the amphitheater was led by historian and archaeologist Mark Letteney, a postdoctoral fellow at the USC Mellon Humanities in a Digital World Program, headquartered at USC Dornsife.

I noted the discovery of this amphitheatre depression (which I labeled "ghost architecture") here.

That Jerusalem Post article also referred to a gold coin found at the Legion excavation. This current article has more on its discovery.

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Edelman Festschrift

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: The Hunt for Ancient Israel. Notice of a New Book: Shafer-Elliott, Cynthia, Kristin Joachimsen, Ehud Ben Zvi & Pauline A. Viviano (eds.). 2022. The Hunt for Ancient Israel: Essays in Honour of Diana V. Edelman. Sheffield: Equinox.

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Tisha B'Av 2022

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

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

Last year's Tisha B'Av post is here, leading to many links. More recent posts are here and here.

UPDATE (10 August): See also here and here.

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More on that late-antique convent at Horbat Hani

ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECOVERY: Unbelievable Byzantine-era nunnery discovered by Israeli military (PHOTOS) (Greek City Times).

At Horbat Hani (aka Horvat Hani), among the original finds were dedicatory inscriptions to an abbess; a tower; structures that seem to have been the nuns’ equivalent of hermit cells; signs of economic activity – production of wine and olive oil; and a subterranean burial complex. But only for women and children, it seems. No men.

There some nice photos of the mosaics and an aerial view of the site.

Background here.

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Barmash & Hamilton (eds.), In the shadow of empire (SBL)

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: In the Shadow of Empire. Notice of a New Book: Barmash, Pamela & Mark W. Hamilton (eds.). 2021. In the shadow of empire: Israel and Judah in the long sixth century BCE. Atlanta: SBL Press.

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An app to unpack rabbinic literature

ALGORITHM WATCH: New AI technology hopes to change everything we know about Jewish texts. Prof. Moshe Koppel finds a new way to read Ancient Hebrew text through a groundbreaking AI technology that will be launched this week (Zvika Klein, Jerusalem Post).

This new technology is called Dicta Maivin (dictation expert). It’s a new addition and app of the Dicta organization that makes rabbinic literature accessible by automatically vocalizing and punctuating it, opening abbreviations and identifying source texts.

This (free!) technology is reportedly about to be released to the public. If the claims about it bear up, it sounds like a signficant advance for the study of ancient and medieval Hebrew literature.

A less ambitious, but still impressive, project at the Holon Institute of Technology is working on an algorithm to identify quotations in Jewish texts.

For more on using algorithms to study ancient Judaism etc., see the link in the previous paragraph, plus here and here.

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A mislabled (cheater's?) die from the Temple Mount

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT BLOG: FIND AND FINDER OF THE MONTH: DANIELLE PINTO OF FLORIDA FOUND ANOTHER CHEATER’S GAME DIE.

I noted a cheater's die (presumable the "another" in the title) here. And for a possibly fraudulent First Temple-era weight, see the links here.

There are additional recent Finder-of-the-Month artifacts posted at this blog which fall outside PaleoJudaica's period of interest. Have a look, if you like.

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Tishah B’Av, the Arch of Titus, and a 1926 postcard

YESHIVA UNIVERSITY LIBRARY BLOG: Tishah B’Av at the Arch of Titus in 1926.

A display of pride in Jewish endurance, despite the destruction and sacking of the Temple, is reflected in this photo postcard penned by Rabbi Judah Leib Fishman Maimon on 9 Av 1926 [July 20, 1926] in Rome and sent to his father in Tel Aviv the following day.

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Embodying textual criticism

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Teaching Textual Criticism through Manuscript Creation (Lisa J. Cleath).

... Since textual criticism is analysis and comparison of physical manuscripts, the topic lends itself to a material activity which I will describe here. Ideally, the students come into class having a foundation in the day’s topic from assigned materials, and then the class lesson proceeds to explore and reaffirm those materials.

Cross-file under Pedagogy.

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The palace of the High Priest Annas?

LEEN RITMEYER: Palatial Mansion publication. A palace fit for a High Priest.

My friend and colleague Hillel Geva, director of the Israel Exploration Society and editor cum publisher of the Jewish Quarter Excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem Conducted by Nahman Avigad, 1969-1982, sent me a copy of Volume VIII of this important series. Hillel is to be congratulated on the preparation and publication of this beautiful volume which sets a high standard of how excavations should be studied and published.

[...]

This is considerably more than a book review, since Ritmeyer was himself involved with the publication and restoration of the site.

For discussion of his idea that this building is the palace of the High Priest Annas, see the essay linked to here.

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The slaying of Zechariah and the destruction of the Temple?

TISHA B'AV IS COMING: What Sin Caused the Destruction of the First Temple? (Prof. Rabbi Marty Lockshin, TheTorah.com).

The prophet Zechariah, son of the high priest Jehoiada, is stoned to death in the Temple (2 Chronicles 24:21). According to the Talmud, his blood bubbled for two centuries, until the destruction of the Temple. Is “a priest and prophet were killed in the Temple” (Lamentations 2:20) a reference to this incident, presenting a reason for the destruction?

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Paul's sea voyage to Rome: maritime mystery solved?

RECONSTRUCTING HISTORY: Israeli Replica of 2,400-year-old Ship Solves Ancient Mediterranean Mystery. For years, researchers wondered how sailors in ancient times sailed westbound in the Mediterranean Sea, contrary to the prevailing wind. A University of Haifa researcher found the answer with the help of both modern and antique hardware (Gid’on Lev, Haaretz).

This description [in the New Testament Book of Acts] comes from one of the few detailed written accounts of sea voyages that remain from that period. “Until recently, we didn’t understand why the Alexandrian grain ship, that Paul joined in southern Anatolia, bound for Rome, chose that particular route,” says David Gal, a doctoral student in the Department of Maritime Civilizations at the University of Haifa.

The journey from the shores of Caesarea toward Rome was not an easy route. The winds in the Mediterranean are virtually all westerly, and researchers have never understood how sailors in ancient times sailed into the wind with the simple ships at their disposal.

Now Gal is proposing a solution to the riddle.

In order to reach the solution, he used “Big Data” analyses of 750 million sets of weather data. He also embarked on a series of voyages in a replica of a merchant vessel that sank near Kibbutz Ma’agan Mikhael (just north of Caesarea) some 2,400 years ago.

This is a long and detailed article on a fascinating project.

PaleoJudaica posts on the reconstructed Good Ship Ma’agan Michael II are here, here, and here. A second shipwreck (the Ma’agan Mikhael B) was found in the same area in 2020. See here and here.

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Talmudic-era storage jugs excavated at Shiloh

ARCHAEOLOGY: Rare Discovery in Ancient Shiloh – 5 Intact 2,000-Year-Old Giant Jugs (TPS / Tazpit News Agency via the Jewish Press).

100 years after the first excavations at the ancient Shiloh site, a number of rare finds were discovered in a new excavation, including five intact large storage jars that were placed in a row inside a building from the Talmud period (200-400 CE).

[...]

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McGrath in the footsteps of John the Baptist (5)

RELIGION PROF: In the Footsteps of John the Baptist 5: Pools of Bethesda and Siloam (James McGrath).

I have noted the first four installments here and links.

Some PaleoJudaica posts on the Pool of Siloam are here, here, and here. And a couple of old posts on the (traditional) Tomb of Zechariah in the Kidron Valley are here and here.

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The IDF restores late-antique convent ruins at Horbat Hani

ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECOVERY: IDF Soldiers Uncover 1500-Year-Old Convent with Mosaic Floor in Military Fire Zone (The Jewish Press).

Over the past month, dozens of IDF soldiers uncovered a 1500-year-old nuns’ abbey at Horbat Hani, in the low foothills east of Shoham in central Israel, 15 miles east of downtown Tel Aviv.

It began after a small area of the site, which is located within a military training zone was accidentally damaged by the army. The consequent recovery project, a collaboration of the IDF educational corps and the Israel Antiquities Authority, was crowned ”The Nature Defense Forces Project: Officers Take Responsibility for the Environment.”

[...]

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Biblical Studies Carnival 197

READING ACTS: Biblical Studies Carnival 197 for July 2022 (Phil Long).

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

Anniversary of the Battle of Cannae

PUNIC WATCH: On 2 August 216 BCE, Hannibal Barca led the Carthaginian army to a major victory over the Romans at the Battle of Cannae in southeast Italy. PaleoJudaica posts on the battle are collected here and links.

Hannibal won the battle but lost the (Second Punic) war. Details at the link.

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

The Magdala Stone returns home

ICONOGRAPHIC ARTIFACT: Magdala Stone in Israel’s Galilee an ‘Oasis of Encounter’ with Christian, Jewish History (Julie Stahl, CBN News).

JERUSALEM, Israel – A unique stone from an unearthed synagogue where Jesus could have prayed has returned to its home in the Galilee and the Magdala stone is expected to be a special draw for visitors.

[...]

For many posts (going back to 2010) on the remarkable Magadala Stone, its international travels, and the site of ancient Magdala, start here and follow the links.

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

Remembering Constantine's Cologne decree of 321

COMMEMORATION: 1,700 years of Jewish life in Germany: Taking stock. Festivities marking centuries-long Jewish-German history are concluding this week. A roundup of what's been achieved. (Deutsche Welle, Tapatrisha Das, Hindustan Times).

Festivities marking centuries-long Jewish-German heritage are concluding this week. Organizers are taking account of all that’s been achieved and are thinking to the future.

The first documented presence of Jews north of the Alps dates back to 321 CE, when the Roman emperor Constantine issued a decree allowing Jews to be members of Cologne's town council. The documents are stored in the archives of the Vatican today.

[...]

For much more on Constantine's Cologne decree of 321, see here.

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Mason, Josephus, Volume 2a: Judean War 4 (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Flavius Josephus: Translation and Commentary, Volume 2a: Judean War 4

Series: Flavius Josephus: Translation and Commentary, Volume: 2a

Author: Steve Mason

Josephus wrote his most impactful history, The Judean War, in seven volumes. The volume translated here and furnished with a full historical commentary, is pivotal. Filled with high drama and penetrating assessments of human behavior under extreme duress, it brings readers from Galilee and mass suicide at Gamala in the Golan to Vespasian’s rise to imperial power. In between, Josephus explains how first John of Gischala and then Simon bar Giora came to be the two dominant figures in Jerusalem, setting up the siege of Titus. This volume also introduces the war’s most famous antagonists: the Zealots (or Disciples).

Copyright Year: 2022

Prices from (excl. VAT): €176.00 / $212.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Not Yet Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-51377-8
Publication date: 15 Jun 2022

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-11708-2
Publication date: 23 Jun 2022

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Review of Wills, Introduction to the Apocrypha

JEWISH REVIEW OF BOOKS: Inside-Out (Malka Z. Simkovich).

In Introduction to the Apocrypha: Jewish Books in Christian Bibles, Lawrence M. Wills makes two important claims. The first is that the Jewish texts that comprise the Apocrypha should not be read through the lens of the Christian Bibles that preserved them. The second is that they should also not be read through the lens of later rabbinic texts that ignored them. The Apocrypha, Wills suggests, must be read on its own terms. Once this is done, however, something unexpected happens: it ceases to exist as a distinct category.

This thoughtful review also amounts to a brief introduction to the Old Testament Apocrypha, with some comments on the Pseudepigrapha thrown in.

I noted the publication of the book here.

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

Protestant Bible Scholarship: Antisemitism, Philosemitism and Anti-Judaism (Brill, open access)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Protestant Bible Scholarship: Antisemitism, Philosemitism and Anti-Judaism

Series: Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism, Volume: 200

Editors: Arjen F. Bakker, René Bloch, Yael Fisch, Paula Fredriksen, and Hindy Najman

Published in Open Access with the support of the Swiss National Science Foundation

Historical criticism of the Bible emerged in the context of protestant theology and is confronted in every aspect of its study with otherness: the Jewish people and their writings. However, despite some important exceptions, there has been little sustained reflection on the ways in which scholarship has engaged, and continues to engage, its most significant Other. This volume offers reflections on anti-Semitism, philo-Semitism and anti-Judaism in biblical scholarship from the 19th century to the present. The essays in this volume reflect on the past and prepare a pathway for future scholarship that is mindful of its susceptibility to violence and hatred.

Copyright Year: 2022

Open Access
Prices from (excl. VAT): €104.00 / $125.00 Hardback

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-50515-5
Publication date: 11 Apr 2022

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-50514-8
Publication date: 19 May 2022

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Review of Berthelot et al. (eds.), Legal engagement

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Legal engagement: the reception of Roman law and tribunals by Jews and other inhabitants of the Empire.

Katell Berthelot, Natalie Dohrmann, Capucine Nemo-Pekelman, Legal engagement: the reception of Roman law and tribunals by Jews and other inhabitants of the Empire. Collection de l'École française de Rome, 579. Rome: Publications de l’École française de Rome, 2021. Pp. 544. ISBN 9782728314645 €40,00.

Review by
Erich Gruen, University of California Berkeley. gruene@berkeley.edu

... The principal point of comparison inevitably is that between the Roman legal system and the legal discourse of the rabbis. That is where our principal evidence resides and represents the focus of most of the papers. The two systems emerged in tandem, a fact that naturally stimulates inquiry into questions of influence, adaptation, reaction, overlap, or resistance. ...

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Lugt, The Rhetorical Design of Isaiah 40-48/55 (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

The Rhetorical Design of Isaiah 40-48/55

Zion's Incomparable Saviour and His Servants

Series: Oudtestamentische Studiën, Old Testament Studies, Volume: 82

Author: P. van der Lugt

In this volume, Pieter van der Lugt offers a comprehensive analysis of the rhetorical structure of Isaiah. As in his previous studies on the Book of Job and the Psalter the author demonstrates that classical Hebrew poetry displays a well-defined structure consisting of balanced main parts (cantos) and subdivision into strophes. This rhetorical starting point is of crucial importance for the delimitation of the individual poems in Isaiah 40-48 and in many cases determines their interpretation. Subsequently, it is demonstrated that the successive compositions form well-defined and coherent cycles of poems.

Copyright Year: 2022

Prices from (excl. VAT): €220.00 / $265.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-51476-8
Publication date: 08 Jun 2022

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-51397-6
Publication date: 02 Jun 2022

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More on the Mt. Arbel fortress(es)

LEEN RITMEYER: The fortresses of Arbel. A case of mistaken identity.

For a long time, it was thought that Fahr al-Din’s citadel was the fortress of the Jewish rebels who fought against Herod. The late Zvi Ilan conducted a systematic survey of these caves in 1987- ‘88, in which I participated. ...

I noted the Jerusalem Post article on the Mt. Arbel fortress by Judith Sudilovsky here. This blog essay gives lots of additional information about the site.

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

Maeir on excavation publication

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Publish or Perish. Reflections on publishing archaeological excavations (Aren M. Maeir).

Professor Maeir is powering down the Tell es-Safi/Gath excavation in order to publish its finds. Good for him.

So, in summary, I believe publishing your excavations in your lifetime is perhaps the most important part of an archaeologist’s professional role. I am trying to keep to this standard, and I hope I will serve as an example for my colleagues, students, and future generations.

His excavation blog is at The Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project Official (and Unofficial) Weblog.

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Firth & Melton (eds.), Reading Esther Intertextually (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

Reading Esther Intertextually

David Firth (Anthology Editor), Brittany N. Melton (Anthology Editor)

Hardback
$115.00 $103.50

Ebook (PDF)
$103.50 $82.80

Product details

Published Jun 16 2022
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 256
ISBN 9780567703019
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

Looking at the Book of Esther through the lens of intertextuality, this collection considers its connections with each division of the Hebrew Bible, along with texts throughout history. Through its exploration, it provides and invites further study into the relationship between Esther and its intertexts, many which are under explored. Topics covered in the book include considerations of Esther alongside the Torah and the prophetic books, as well as in dialogue with the Qumran community.

As an edited collection, the book draws together scholars with expertise in the wide variety of texts that are intertextually connected with Esther, offering the reader a more nuanced and informed discussion. By including some reflection on the nature of intertextuality as a 'method', it also enables the reader to appreciate the varying intertextual approaches currently employed in biblical studies. In applying these to a focused analysis of Esther, this collection will facilitate greater insight on both the book of Esther and current methodological research.

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

New Heidelberg Research Center For Aramean Studies

ARAMAIC WATCH: Heidelberg University: Research Center For Aramean Studies Formally Inaugurated (IndiaEducationDiary.com).

A new research unit at Heidelberg University – the Research Center for Aramean Studies – will focus not only on the Semitic language Aramaic but also on the literature, art, history, sociology and migration of Arameans, with special consideration of the recent experience of diaspora. The research unit started work last winter semester at the Semitic Studies division of the Department of Languages and Cultures of the Near East and will be officially opened at a ceremony on 29 July 2022. The guests at the inauguration include Archbishop Mor Philoxenus Mattias Nayis of the Syrian-Orthodox Archdiocese in Germany and Theresia Bauer, Baden-Württemberg’s Minister of Science, Research and the Arts.

[...]

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McGrath in the footsteps of John the Baptist (4)

RELIGION PROF: In the Footsteps of John the Baptist Part 4: Samaria.

Another first for me on my recent trip to the Holy Land was visiting Samaria. I had the absolute best guide possible. Seriously, who could possibly offer more insight to the Samaritans and their way of life than Abood Cohen, the grandson of the Samaritan high priest? ...

I have note the first three installments here and links

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Elman memorial volume (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Land and Spirituality in Rabbinic Literature

A Memorial Volume for Yaakov Elman ז''ל

Series: The Brill Reference Library of Judaism, Volume: 71

Editor: Shana Strauch Schick

This volume is devoted to the texts, traditions, and practices of the Land of Israel from the end of the Second Temple period through late antiquity. Based upon a conference organized by the Yeshiva University Center for Israel Studies, this collection uses a range of critical methodologies and sources, including the Palestinian and Babylonian Talmudim, archaeology, and Samaritan and Jewish liturgical poetry. It presents a vibrant, complex, and multi-layered series of snapshots of rabbinic culture, written by leading contemporary scholars.

Copyright Year: 2022

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

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-50316-8
Publication date: 22 Feb 2022

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-50315-1
Publication date: 15 Mar 2022

For the abovementioned conference in 2019, see here. Follow the links from there for more on the late Professor Elman.

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Diesel channeling Hannibal?

PUNIC WATCH: The Historical Trilogy Vin Diesel Has Wanted To Make Since 2002 (Adam Wescott, SlashFilm).

That trilogy, of course, is the long-awaited one on Hannibal Barca. I have been following Diesel's hopes for the project since 2005. For all the posts (I think), see here and links and here. This article goes over the whole story, including some details I didn't know.

To Vin Diesel, directing movies means bringing the Hannibal Barca trilogy to fruition. "God," he says in an interview with The National, "you promised the universe, very specifically, the Hannibal Barca trilogy, and you haven't delivered." Diesel discussed his efforts to "channel the character" in an IGN interview published in 2003.

It sounds like the project is still on. I hope so. Cross-file under Cinema.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on Hannibal Barca, the valiant Carthaginian general who nearly won the Second Punic War with Rome, see here links.

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

Finitsis (ed.), Dress Hermeneutics and the Hebrew Bible (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

Dress Hermeneutics and the Hebrew Bible

"Let Your Garments Always Be Bright"

Antonios Finitsis (Anthology Editor)

Hardback
$115.00 $103.50

Ebook (PDF)
$103.50 $82.80

Product details

Published Jun 16 2022
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 296
ISBN 9780567702685
Imprint T&T Clark
Illustrations 8 bw illus
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

Antonios Finitsis and contributors continue their examination of dress and clothing in the Hebrew Bible in this collection of illuminating essays. Straddling the divide between the material and the ideological, this book lends shape and texture to topics including social standing, agency, and the motif of cloth and clothing in Esther. Essays also explore the function of dress metaphors in imprecatory Psalms, the symbolic function of headdresses, and the divine clothing of Adam and Eve and the hermeneutics of trauma recovery. Together, the contributors continue to shape scholarly discourse on a growing body of scholarship on dress in the Bible.

By turning their analytical gaze to this primary evidence, the contributors are able to reveal the social, psychological, aesthetic, ideological and symbolic meanings of dress in the Hebrew Bible, thereby producing insights into the literature and cultural world of the ancient Near East.

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

New director for JPS

PUBLISHING: JPS Selects Dr. Elias Sacks as New Director (Boulder Jewish News).

Dr. Sacks has published widely on modern Jewish thought, including the 2017 book “Moses Mendelssohn’s Living Script,” which explores the writings and contemporary relevance of Moses Mendelssohn, the German-Jewish thinker often seen as the founder of modern Jewish philosophy. Dr. Sacks also sits on the board of the Society of Jewish Ethics and the editorial board of “The Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception.” He plays leadership roles in a wide range of efforts to elevate the voices of emerging scholars and promote conversations between academia and the broader public, including spearheading partnerships with civic, philanthropic, and Jewish institutions.

Congratulations to Dr. Sacks and to the Jewish Publication Society.

JPS publishes a wide range of books on Judaism, including many of interest for the study of ancient Judaism. I have noted quite a few of their publications in recent years.

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

Despotis & Löhr (eds), Religious and Philosophical Conversion in the Ancient Mediterranean Traditions (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Religious and Philosophical Conversion in the Ancient Mediterranean Traditions

Series: Ancient Philosophy & Religion, Volume: 5

Volume Editors: Athanasios Despotis and Hermut Löhr

The interest in interdisciplinary research on the experience of religious conversion or spiritual transformation grows progressively. In light of this burgeoning area of study, this volume explores conversion or converting experience in the ancient Mediterranean with attention to early Judaism, early Christianity, and philosophy in the Roman empire. The contributions include both historical and philological reconstructions relying on source material and utilizing interdisciplinary approaches. Similarly, the authors analyze the literary use of the motif of conversion, the topic of philosophical conversion as well as ritual, social and embodied aspects of spiritual transformation.

Copyright Year: 2022

Prices from (excl. VAT): €149.00 / $180.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-50177-5
Publication date: 07 Mar 2022

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-50176-8
Publication date: 18 Mar 2022

I noted the announcement (posted by James McGrath) of the 2018 conference on which the volume is based.

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

Gmirkin, Plato’s Timaeus and the Biblical Creation Accounts (Routledge)

NEW BOOK FROM ROUTLEDGE:

Plato’s Timaeus and the Biblical Creation Accounts
Cosmic Monotheism and Terrestrial Polytheism in the Primordial History

By Russell E. Gmirkin
Copyright Year 2022

Hardback
£120.00
eBook
£33.29

ISBN 9781032020822
Published May 3, 2022 by Routledge
360 Pages

Book Description

Plato’s Timaeus and the Biblical Creation Accounts argues that the creation of the world in Genesis 1 and the story of the first humans in Genesis 2-3 both draw directly on Plato’s famous account of the origins of the universe, mortal life and evil containing equal parts science, theology and myth.

This book is the first to systematically compare biblical, Ancient Near Eastern and Greek creation accounts and to show that Genesis 1-3 is heavily indebted to Plato’s Timaeus and other cosmogonies by Greek natural philosophers. It argues that the idea of a monotheistic cosmic god was first introduced in Genesis 1 under the influence of Plato’s philosophy, and that this cosmic Creator was originally distinct from the lesser terrestrial gods, including Yahweh, who appear elsewhere in Genesis. It shows the use of Plato’s Critias, the sequel to Timaeus, in the stories about the Garden of Eden, the intermarriage of "the sons of God" and the daughters of men, and the biblical flood. This book confirms the late date and Hellenistic background of Genesis 1-11, drawing on Plato’s writings and other Greek sources found at the Great Library of Alexandria.

This study provides a fascinating approach to Genesis that will interest students and scholars in both biblical and classical studies, philosophy and creation narratives.

I have commented on Gmirkin's earlier work here, here, and here. Those comments apply equally well to this book.

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Moon goddess coin found in Haifa seabed

NUMISMATICS: Moon goddess Luna rises from waves on rare ancient bronze coin found off Haifa coast. Currency minted during reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius in 2nd century CE; discovered on seabed during survey carried out by Israel Antiquities Authority’s Marine Archaeology Unit (Times of Israel).

Cross-file under Marine (Maritime, Underwater) Archaeology.

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Prof. Joseph Dan (1935-2022)

SAD NEWS FROM H-JUDAIC: Passing of Prof. Joseph Dan.

H-Judaic is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Joseph Dan (1935-2022), emeritus professor of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University, where he held the inaugural Gershom Scholem chair; winner of the Israel Prize; and the foremost scholar of his time in the field of Jewish mysticism and thought. Born in Budapest, Dan and his parents immigrated ("illegally") to Palestine to escape the Nazis. He studied at the Hebrew University where he worked with Profs. Scholem, Tishby and Urbach. He proceeded to publish widely across all areas of Jewish literature from the Second Temple to the present, specializing in Kabbalah, mysticism, Hasidut, Ethical literature and Homiletical literature. Toward the end of his life he published,in Hebrew, a thirteen-volume scholarly overview of Jewish esoteric literature.

[...]

May his memory be for a blessing.

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Baumgarten, Studies in Qumran Law and Thought (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Studies in Qumran Law and Thought

Series: Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah, Volume: 138

Author: Joseph M Baumgarten
Editors: Ruth A. Clements and Daniel R. Schwartz

The study of the laws of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the light of ancient rabbinic law, and vice versa, by a master of both corpora, sheds light on their interpretation, their history, and the spiritual stances they bespeak. The thirty-two studies united in this volume, a selection of Joseph M. Baumgarten’s work in the three decades that followed the appearance of his Studies in Qumran Law (Brill, 1977), focus on legal concerns, both general and detailed, shared by the Qumran sectarians and the ancient rabbis—concerns that elicited responses that were sometimes similar, sometimes different, even to the extent of arousing polemics. An introductory essay by Lawrence H. Schiffman contextualizes the studies and points out the broader themes to which they relate.

Copyright Year: 2022

Prices from (excl. VAT): €132.00 / $159.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-50508-7
Publication date: 07 Mar 2022

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-50458-5
Publication date: 13 Apr 2022

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Hensel et al. (eds.), About Edom and Idumea in the Persian Period (Equinox)

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: About Edom and Idumea in the Persian Period. Notice of a New Book: Hensel, Benedikt, Ehud Ben Zvi & Diana V. Edelman (eds.). 2022. About Edom and Idumea in the Persian Period: Recent Research and Approaches from Archaeology, Hebrew Bible Studies and Ancient Near Eastern Studies. Sheffield: Equinox.

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William Ross's year

WILLIAM A. ROSS: SUMMER ’22 UPDATE. Professor Ross has been busy in the last year with the Septuagint and related matters. Here's an update.

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

The Bible Mapper Blog

ASSIMILATED TO THE BLOGOSPHERE: Bible Mapper Blog.

About This Site The Bible Mapper Blog exists to help people understand God’s Word better by helping them understand the world in which the Bible was written. Just as particular places today can carry significant, unspoken meaning for people (e.g., Normandy Beach, Hollywood, or the Bermuda Triangle), places in Scripture were often mentioned to evoke associations for readers that are not explicitly stated in the text. We hope you find this site to be a rich resource of maps and information that help you see this meaning and the message of Scripture with greater clarity than you have ever experienced before.

You are welcome to use these maps for any non-commercial purposes. The only requirement is that you cite biblemapper.com as the source of the map(s), and if you are including them in an online resource, provide a hyperlink back to biblemapper.com. For any commercial use, please contact us first at the contact information provided here: biblemapper.com/contact.html.

This blog has been running since early 2020, but I have only just encountered it. If the Administrator gives his or her name, I can't find it. Some posts of interest include:

• The First Jewish War against Rome
• The Community at Qumran
• The Near East during the Time of the Maccabees
• The Land of Exile
• Judea under Persian Rule
• Israel under the Maccabees
• Palestine under Roman Rule
• Jerusalem during the Later Old Testament
• Herod’s Building Projects

And there are many other posts relevant to the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and more.

HT Todd Bolen at the Bible Places Blog.

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

Sexual imagery in Balaam's blessing?

DR. ERICA LEE MARTIN: “How Lovely Are Your Tents, O Jacob” – Balaam’s Fertility Blessing (TheTorah.com).

Using imagery of tents, gardens, and flowing water—themes associated with love and sexuality in the Bible and the ancient Near East—Balaam’s praise of Israelite women, מַה טֹּבוּ אֹהָלֶיךָ יַעֲקֹב (Numbers 24:5), also serves as a warning. The Priestly authors, however, invert this blessing to present Balaam as the instigator of the Baal Peor incident.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on Balaam, see here and links.

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

"Jerusalem curse inscription" - controversy and cognitive dissonance?

NORTHWEST SEMITIC EPIGRAPHY? Controversy Rages Over ‘Jerusalem Curse’ Inscription. Is there even any writing at all on the slab found in an ancient temple in Jerusalem, and if there is, what does it say? (Elon Gilad, Haaretz).

The bottom line is that some do see and some don’t see Galil’s sketch and the markings on the rock fully corresponding. Once he publishes his findings and other scholars have the opportunity to evaluate the theory, we should know more. For the time being the rock seems, in my humble opinion, to be like a Rorschach Test of sorts.

It is also a strikingly concrete example of confirmation bias. By that I do not mean that the people who see an inscription are wrong. I mean that specialists can look at the same rock and either see or not see an inscription.

I do think that the definite article and the medial vowel letters are fairly strong evidence against the proposed reading of the inscription, if it is an inscription. If they are really there, specialists need to rethink the history of early Canaanite/Hebrew orthography. Unlikely, but possible.

Background here and links.

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Elevator archaeology: a priestly mikveh?

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Mikveh Found Near Jerusalem’s Temple Mount May Have Been Used by Priestly Family (Sam Sokol, Haaretz). HT Rogue Classicism.

“During the Herodian period, the area in question was home to the city’s wealthiest residents. While several other ritual baths have been unearthed in the area, the importance of this particular discovery stems from its striking proximity to the Temple Mount—raising the question of who lived in this grand villa on the eve of the city’s destruction,” said Michal Haber, one of the supervisors of the dig, adding, “It may well have been a priestly family.”

Background on the excavation is here and here.

For another ancient and possibly priestly mikveh, see here. For the mikveh discovered under the floorboards of a family's living room, see here and here. For the relocated mikveh near Kibbutz Hannaton in the Jezreel Valley, see here and links.

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

Who was Mary Magdalene really?

FEAST DAY: Creating the Myth of Mary Magdalene (Philip Jenkins, The Anxious Bench).

Tomorrow, July 22 [N.b., that is today! - JRD], celebrates St. Mary Magdalene, a figure who in modern times has become the center of a powerful myth about Christian origins. If that standard mythology can be dismantled pretty easily (which it can), finding the truth is a much tougher project. Mary’s story contains some real mysteries that we are a long way from solving. And no, I’m not referring to the world of Dan Brown.

[...]

A thoughtful discussion of the evidence and its implications.

For a recent review of Taylor and Bond, Women Remembered, see here.

For many PaleoJudaica post on Mary Magdalene, who she may have been historically, and her place in Christian tradition, start here and here and keep following the links.

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

Elevator archaeology in Jerusalem

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Elevator project at the Western Wall unearths an ancient archaeological trove. Old City excavations, ahead of work to improve disabled access at holy site, uncover ornate 1st century villa, oil lamps and a ritual mikveh that overlooked the Temple esplanade (Ilan Ben Zion, AP via Times of Israel).

I noted this story here, but the current article has more information.

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

Review of Taylor & Bond, Women Remembered

THE CHURCH TIMES: Women Remembered: Jesus’ female disciples by Joan Taylor and Helen Bond. Two scholars delve into their stories, Suzanne Fagence Cooper says.

They are keen to share their scholarship with a wide audience, as they work through the sources — from archaeological remains to apocryphal and Gnostic writings, and close reading of the critics of the new faith.

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

Where did Balaam come from?

DR. ETHAN SCHWARTZ: Balaam from “Divinerville” (TheTorah.com).

In a satirical account, Numbers describes how a local, non-Israelite Transjordanian prophet and diviner is forced by YHWH to bless Israel instead of curse them. Deuteronomy recasts Balaam as a stereotypical Mesopotamian diviner from faraway Aram-Naharaim, making the point that YHWH’s power extends even into the heartland of Assyria.

Some PaleoJudaica posts on the biblical figure of Balaam are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

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

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

Lost and not-so-lost gospels

LOST BOOKS WATCH: Gospels That Were Lost, And Some That Were Not Lost At All (Philip Jenkins, The Anxious Bench).

My current work on icons and iconoclasm has reacquainted me with an old friend, namely the Constantinople patriarch Nikephoros (died 829), who played in a critical role in those ninth century controversies. At the time, he was beyond question the world’s most influential Christian leader, presiding over the greatest church. But Nikephoros is also associated with a document that is of great interest to anyone concerned with Christianity as a whole, and not just that particular historical controversy. That document is a wonderful source on two vital alternative gospels.

[...]

For more on the Stichometry of Nikephoros (Nicephorus), see my original Lost Books post here. The Stichometry includes some lost or noncanonical Old Testament pseudepigrapha as well as lost or noncanonical gospels.

For many subsequent PaleoJudaica posts on Lost Books, start here and follow the links.

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

McGrath in the footsteps of John the Baptist (3)

RELIGION PROF: In the Footsteps of John the Baptist Part 3: Aenon near Salim.

James McGrath continues his travelogue of sites in the Holy Land connected to John the Baptist.

I have noted the first and second installments at the links.

For more on Jerusalem as "Salem," see here. I have a brief mention of the Tel Rehov (Rahov, Rehob) inscription here.

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On the "Israel Forgery Scandal"

TIMES OF ISRAEL VIDEO: Into the Land: The Forgery Scandal. Two extraordinary archeological finds remain a great mystery.

Does a private individual hold two of the most important archaeological items ever discovered in Israel? In 2002, antiquities collector Oded Golan was accused of forging two items of the highest importance: the ossuary of James, brother of Jesus, and the Jehoash Inscription — the only physical proof of Solomon’s Temple. Twenty years later, after repeated expert examination, it’s still unclear if these items are authentic or at least partially falsified.

In this second episode of The Times of Israel’s new, original “Into the Land” docuseries, we explore the international controversy behind these alleged archaeological forgeries — and the uncertainty and interests that appear inherent to historical verification.

For PaleoJudaica posts on the Israel Forgery Trial, follow the links from here. For posts on the Jehoash (Joash) inscription and the James Ossuary inscription, start here and follow the respective links.

For the recently renewed debate over the authenticity of the Shapira Scroll fragments, start here and follow the links.

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

Name that biblical character!

WHO COULD IT BE? The Most Important Biblical Character You’ve Probably Never Heard of. One of the most influential people in the Bible is only mentioned in four verses—and his story is more a missing person case than a biography (Candida Moss, The Daily Beast).

When Professor Moss says "you," she is not talking about you, my regular readers. From the headline hint, you have already figured out that she is talking about Enoch.

This is a very good article on the current state of research on the Enochic literature. But I have one point of disagreement.

The assumption in the article is that the stories about Enoch, the sons of God and the human women, and the Nephilim in Genesis 5-6 are primary and the stories in the book of 1 Enoch, especially the Book of the Watchers and The Parables (Similitudes) are secondary expansions of Genesis. That is possible. But I read the situation differently.

To me it looks as though Genesis knew the stories about Enoch, the mating of the fallen angels (Watchers) with mortal women, and the rise of the giants.

I assume the stories were in oral form at this point. Any early written versions are probably lost. That is, unless the Book of the Watchers and perhaps the Book of Giants are as early as Genesis or earlier. The Book of the Watchers is widely dated to the third century BCE, but that is really just a guess.

In any case, Genesis didn't like these stories. But the writer couldn't ignore them. They were too well known. So Genesis, holding its nose, told them briefly, obliquely, and allusively, then quickly moved onto other things.

Sometime after the writing of Genesis, other writers who liked the stories decided they merited longer treatment. That would be how we got the Book of the Watchers, the Book of Giants, and the Parables of Enoch.

I cannot prove any of this. But others who think that the Enochic literature is derivative of Genesis can't prove their position either. And I think my reading makes better sense of the oddly brief and oblique stories in Genesis.

There are many, many PaleoJudaica posts on the Enochic literature. Too many to try to link to. If you are interested, run the search term "Enoch" throught the blog search engine.

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

Was Khirbet Qeiyafa a "cultic compound?"

INTERPRETING ARCHAEOLOGY: New Theory for Khirbet Qeiyafa: Not King David’s City but a Vast Cultic Compound. No consensus was ever reached about the fortified hilltop site of Qeiyafa in central Israel, but now we have a whole new theory for everybody to argue about (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

A 3,000-year-old walled hilltop city in central Israel is the archaeological gift that keeps on giving. Is that a palace archaeologists found there and, if so, was it King David’s? Was this an Iron Age stronghold manned by bristling warriors – and if it was, whose warriors? Judahite, Israelite, Canaanite, Philistine, perchance? And why did its story end after a mere 20 or 30 years?

This article will bring you no answers, but does present a startling new theory. Prof. Emeritus David Ussishkin of Tel Aviv University, publishing in the Israel Exploration Journal, postulates that Iron Age Qeiyafa was not a walled city. It was a vast walled cultic compound.

[...]

I am not an archaeologist, so you should probably ignore what I think about this. But my personal rule of thumb is, if archaeologists refer to a site or artifact as "cultic" or "ritual" it means they haven't a clue what the thing is.

I think that principle holds up well here. But read the article and see what you think.

For PaleoJudaica posts on the Khirbet Qeiyafa excavations and the inscriptions, Iron Age public buildings, and miniature shrines found there, see here, here and here and follow the many links.

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

Richard A. Freund (1955-2022)

SAD NEWS: RICHARD FREUND OBITUARY (Legacy.com).

For nearly 40 years, Richard worked as a professor in Jewish history and archaeology, starting at Oberlin College and traveling to the University of Denver, the University of California-San Diego, the Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano, the University of Nebraska at Omaha, the University of Hartford, and finally ended his career at Christopher Newport University in Virginia. Through his time in academia, he mentored thousands of students and collaborated with countless other faculty members from across the country in pursuit of answers to some of our history's greatest questions.

At San Diego Jewish World, Prof. Laurie Baron also has an obituary for Prof. Freund: Jewish Studies Scholar Richard Freund (1955-2022). His Directory page at Christopher Newport University is here.

Some PaleoJudaica posts on Prof. Freund's sometimes controversial work are here, here, here, here, and here.

May his memory be for a blessing.

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

Balaam and the Calf in the Targums

DR. SHLOMI EFRATI: Balaam Sets His Face Towards the Calf—A Targum Tradition. (TheTorah.com).

Targum Onqelos usually offers a straightforward Aramaic rendering of the biblical verse. The Palestinian Targums (=Targum Yerushalmi), in contrast, offer more expansive, midrashic renderings of the verse. Numbers 24:1, in which Balaam looks to the wilderness, offers us a further glimpse into a world with multiple Targumic traditions.

The essay opens with a brief, useful introduction to the Targums in question.

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

McGrath in the footsteps of John the Baptist (2)

RELIGION PROF: In the Footsteps of John the Baptist Part 2: Yardenit, Tiberias, and Bet Alfa.

James McGrath continues his account of his travels to John the Baptist-related sites (etc.) on his visit to the Holy Land.

I noted part one here.

For more on the zodiac mosaics in those late-antique synagogues, see here and here and links.

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

Llewellyn-Jones, Persians: The Age of the Great Kings (Basic Books)

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: Persians: The Age of the Great Kings. Notice of a New Book: Llewellyn-Jones, Lloyd. 2022. Persians: The Age of the Great Kings. New York: Basic Books.

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

Another review of Keddie, Class and Power in Roman Palestine

THE CHURCH TIMES: Class and Power in Roman Palestine by Anthony Keddie. Henry Wansbrough reviews an economic study of Palestine.

A common picture is of vast estates in fertile Galilee, farmed by impoverished peasants to the huge profit of their absentee landlords. Is this really confirmed by archaeology?

I noted another review of the book here.

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

Brand, Religion and the Everyday Life of Manichaeans in Kellis (Brill open-access)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Religion and the Everyday Life of Manichaeans in Kellis

Beyond Light and Darkness

Series: Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies, Volume: 102

Author: Mattias Brand

Published in Open Access with the support of the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Religion is never simply there. In Religion and the Everyday Life of Manichaeans in Kellis, Mattias Brand shows where and when ordinary individuals and families in Egypt practiced a Manichaean way of life. Rather than portraying this ancient religion as a well-structured, totalizing community, the fourth-century papyri sketch a dynamic image of lived religious practice, with all the contradictions, fuzzy boundaries, and limitations of everyday life. Following these microhistorical insights, this book demonstrates how family life, gift-giving, death rituals, communal gatherings, and book writing are connected to our larger academic debates about religious change in late antiquity.

Copyright Year: 2022

Prices from (excl. VAT): €134.00 / $161.00 Hardback

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-51029-6
Publication date: 20 May 2022

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-50822-4
Publication date: 25 May 2022

Cross-file under Manichean Watch (Manichaean Watch) and Coptic Watch. For additional publications on the Manichean texts from Kellis, see here and here and links.

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