Lightstone, What Were the Early Rabbis? (Cascade)

NEW BOOK FROM WIPF AND STOCK:

What Were the Early Rabbis?
An Introduction from a Sociocultural Perspective

Westar Studies

by Jack N. Lightstone
Imprint: Cascade Books

340 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 x 0.68 in

Paperback
9781666762471
Published: June 2023
$39.00 / £31.00 / AU$59.00

Hardcover
9781666762488
Published: June 2023
$59.00 / £47.00 / AU$89.00

eBook
9781666762495
Published: June 2023
$39.00 / £33.99 / AU$56.99

DESCRIPTION

Over the first eight centuries CE, the religious cultures of Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and many European lands transformed. Worship of "the gods" largely gave way to the worship of YHWH, the God of Israel, under Christianity and Islam, both developments of contemporary Judaism, after Rome destroyed Judaism's central shrine, the Jerusalem Temple, in 70 CE. But concomitant changes occurred within contemporary Judaism. The events of 70 wiped away well-established Judaic institutions in the Land of Israel, and over time the authority of a cadre of new "masters" of Judaic law, life, and practice, the "rabbis," took hold. What was the core, professional-like profile of members of this emerging cadre in the late second and early third centuries, when this group first attained a level of stable institutionalization (even if not yet well-established authority)? What views did they promote about the authoritative basis of their profile? What in their surrounding and antecedent sociocultural contexts lent prima facie legitimacy and currency to that profile? Geared to a nonspecialist readership, What Were the Early Rabbis? addresses these questions and consequently sheds light on eventual shifts in power that came to underpin Judaic communal life, while Christianity and Islam "Judaized" non-Jews under their expansive hegemonies.

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The Hasmonean Heritage Museum in Modi’in

HANUKKAH RELATED: Hasmonean Heritage Museum (Hava Preil, Jewish Link).

As the candles glisten, let’s go back to the land of the Chanukah story. According to the book of Maccabees I, the Hasmonean Revolt against the Seleucid Greeks began in the city of Modi’in in the year 167 BCE. When construction of the modern city of Modi’in began in the 1990s, archeological excavations began to reveal Modi’in of the past. These excavations have yielded finds from all eras of history until today. Many of these finds are on display at the Hasmonean Heritage Museum.

[...]

I noted the opening of the Museum a couple of years ago, but all the links in that post have rotted. So here it is again.

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

Circumcision through the ages

HANUKKAH RELATED: Persecuting Circumcision (Dr. Alexandria Frisch, TheTorah.com).

Samson, Saul, Jonathan, and David insult Philistines for being uncircumcised. Antiochus IV prohibited circumcision, while, Mattathias, and later John Hyrcanus, forced others to circumcise. In Roman times too, Emperor Hadrian forbade circumcision and Bar Kochba circumcised Jews by force. Was circumcision a reason for the revolt?

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Wise, Language and Literacy in Roman Judaea (Yale)

BOOK FROM YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

Language and Literacy in Roman Judaea
A Study of the Bar Kokhba Documents

by Michael Owen Wise

Series: The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library

544 Pages, 6.12 x 9.25 x 1.37 in, 18 b-w illus.

Hardcover
$85.00

9780300204537
Published: Tuesday, 26 May 2015

Description

This comprehensive exploration of language and literacy in the multi-lingual environment of Roman Palestine (c. 63 B.C.E. to 136 C.E.) is based on Michael Wise’s extensive study of 145 Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Nabataean contracts and letters preserved among the Bar Kokhba texts, a valuable cache of ancient Middle Eastern artifacts. His investigation of Judean documentary and epistolary culture derives for the first time numerical data concerning literacy rates, language choices, and writing fluency during the two-century span between Pompey’s conquest and Hadrian’s rule. He explores questions of who could read in these ancient times of Jesus and Hillel, what they read, and how language worked in this complex multi-tongued milieu. Included also is an analysis of the ways these documents were written and the interplay among authors, secretaries, and scribes. Additional analysis provides readers with a detailed picture of the people, families, and lives behind the texts.

This is another one that I missed when it came out, quite some time ago. But it seems worth noting now.

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Hanukkah 2023

HAPPY HANUKKAH (CHANUKKAH, CHANUKAH, HANNUKAH) to all those celebrating! The eight-day festival begins tonight at sundown.

Last year's Hanukkah post is here. It links to earlier Hanukkah/Hasmonean-era-related posts. Some more recent Hanukkah-related posts are here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

UPDATE: And more 2023 Hanukkah-related posts are here, here, here, and here.

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The Hasmoneans, the Oniads, and the high priesthood

HANUKKAH RELATED: The Hasmoneans Usurped the High Priesthood from the Oniads (Prof. Daniel R. Schwartz, TheTorah.com).

The family of Onias long controlled the high priesthood before the persecution of Antiochus IV and the Hasmoneans’ (“Maccabees’”) rebellion. When the dust settled, the Hasmoneans found themselves in charge of the priesthood and the Oniads had relocated to Egypt. 1 Maccabees, a pro-Hasmonean work, defends the legitimacy of the Hasmonean accession to the high priesthood, and the fact that it went to the family of Judah Maccabee’s brother, Simon.

For PaleoJudaica posts on the Oniad Temple at Leontopolis, in Egypt, see here and links. For more on the Maccabean Revolt, see the immediately preceding post—here—and links.

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

Two revolts against Hellenistic Kings

HANUKKAH RELATED: Two Major Native Rebellions Against Hellenistic Kings. Here are two stories of Greco-Macedonian rulers of the Hellenistic period coming to blows with the native population of their empires (Benjamin Davies, The Collector).

The Hellenistic period saw Macedonian rulers on the thrones of both Asian and African empires from 323 BCE until 31 BCE. Although there was certainly a division between the Greek culture of the rulers and the native cultures of the ruled, Hellenistic kings were far more invested in cooperating and displaying themselves as the rightful rulers of their native subjects. However, there were still tensions between the rulers and the ruled. Native rebellions did sometimes erupt and two of these rebellions will be the subject of this article: the Maccabean revolt and the Great Rebellion.

[...]

The "Great Rebellion" of the Ptolemies against the Egyptians is the lesser-known one today. But King Ptolemy IV Philopater appears in the Bible. For more on him, see here and links. And the Rosetta Stone is arguably connected with the aftermath of the revolt.

The Maccabean Revolt is the better-know and more immediately seasonal one. This article gives a good, brief but nuanced, account of that revolt.

Some PaleoJudaica posts on the Maccabean Revolt are here, here, here, and links.

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

National Judith Day?

OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA WATCH, SORT OF: National Judith Day 2023: History, FAQs, Dates, Activities, and Facts About judges. This day is observed as an opportunity to express gratitude to those who share the name Judith on an international scale. The feminine given name Judith is derived from the Hebrew name Yehudit, which translates to "woman of Judea" (unatttributed, Newsd).

... The Hebrew form of the biblical name Judith, Yehudit, translates to “Jewess” or “woman from Judea.”

Apocryphal records of the incident [referent unclear - JRD] can be found in the Book of Judith. Judith’s narrative is replete with tragedy, triumph and determination, sex, deceit, and murder. The narrative of Judith is situated during the Babylonian subjugation of Assyria by Nebuchadnezzar. Judith is identified as Manassas’ affluent widow. It was stated that she possessed an attractive countenance and was a sight to witness.

This is a new one to me. But salutes to all readers named Judith.

There seems to be some confusion in the headline and the article between Judith Day and Judges Day.

For PaleoJudaica posts on the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Book of Judith, its historical background, and its reception history, see here and links, plus here.

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Roof tiles from Antiochus's Acra? Maybe.

SAVED UP FOR HANUKKAH? Archaeologists May Have Found Roof Tiles From Antiochus’ Missing Citadel in Jerusalem. Antiochus Epiphanes built a mighty fort in Jerusalem in the second century B.C.E., and may have used ‘pagan’ tiling technology to annoy the Jews a little more (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

Fragments of clay roof tiles dated to the second century B.C.E. have been found in Jerusalem, even though such tiles were unknown in Judea at the time, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Wednesday.

These special tiles may have come from none other than the missing Acra – the massive fortress built somewhere in Jerusalem (where is quite the question) by the angry Seleucid Emperor Antiochus IV, aka Antiochus Epiphanes, as part of his drive to subdue the rebellious region in the late second century B.C.E.

[...]

It was more the second quarter of the second century BCE.

In 2015 the first claim came in that remains of Antiochus IV (Epiphanes)'s Acra had been excavated at the Givati parking lot in Jerusalem. It was greeted with some skepticism. See here and here.

These roof tiles potentially add some support to the claim, but there is still a lot of inference involved. And part of what we thought we knew about the Acra's location has to be explained away.

This is one of those things that will probably not be resolved unless we find a plaque inscribed in Greek with "Welcome to the Acra." We'll see.

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Statue smasher acquitted and hospitalized

A "JERUSALEM SYNDROME" DEFENSE: Jerusalem court acquits man who smashed 'blasphemous' statues at Israel Museum. The president of the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court sent him to involuntary hospitalization for four years, a period equal to the maximum prison sentence for the offense attributed to him (YOAV ETIEL, SHLOMI WELLER / WALLA!, Jerusalem Post).

I don't think I got around to this episode when it happened, but you can read the whole story at the link.

For some PaleoJudaica posts on the Jerusalem Syndrome, start here and follow the links.

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

Jonathan N. Tubb (1951–2023)

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Milestones: Jonathan N. Tubb (1951–2023). Leading British archaeologist of the biblical lands (Konstantinos Politis).

Jonathan Tubb, renowned archaeologist and long-time curator of Levantine antiquities at the British Museum, passed away on September 25, 2023 in London. He was 72 years old.

[...]

Cross-file under Sad News and Obituary.

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Latest on the Mount Ebal curse tablet / fishing weight

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Hook, Line, and Sinker: Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet Debunked? Archaeologist offers new interpretation of controversial artifact (Nathan Steinmeyer).

A good summary of the evidence that the object is a fishing weight. Includes a photo of ancient lead fishing weights that look strikingly like the Mount Ebal artifact.

Also, at the Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project Official (and Unofficial) Weblog, Aren Maeir reports that Articles on the Mount Ebal lead object have appeared!

Glad to report that the three articles dealing with the lead object from Mount Ebal, have appeared in IEJ.

The new issue is still not up (i.e., for sale) on the IEJ website, but hopefully that will change soon.

Background here and links.

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

Elledge, Early Jewish Writings and New Testament Interpretation (OUP)

NEW BOOK FROM OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS:

Early Jewish Writings and New Testament Interpretation

C.D. Elledge

Essentials of Biblical Studies

Hardback

This item has an extended shipping time. The typical delivery time is 2 weeks.

Published: 21 November 2023

224 Pages

210x140mm

ISBN: 9780190274580

Description

Early Jewish Writings and New Testament Interpretation is a concise, introductory volume to orient undergraduates, seminarians, and interested readers to some of the most important early Jewish writings that currently inform New Testament interpretation. While the literature of Early Judaism is vast, five specific literary categories stand at the forefront of modern New Testament research. These include wisdom writings, apocalypses, rewritten scriptural narratives, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the writings of Philo and Josephus. Individual chapters explain their respective contributions toward interpreting the theological ideas, socio-historical settings, and literary features of specific New Testament writings.

The volume further describes literary collections that the church would later classify as “apocrypha” and “pseudepigrapha,” providing an historically nuanced perspective on what “scripture” might have looked like prior to the formation of the biblical canon. Interpreted within their ancient context, many of these writings offer insight into a religious environment in which Judaism and the nascent church were still emerging religions that had not yet gone their “separate” ways. The reader of the New Testament today can, therefore, understand the indebtedness of the New Testament literature to traditions found in contemporary Jewish works, while also appreciating the creative, new ways in which the church interpreted them.

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Brakke, The Gospel of Judas (AB Commentary)

RECENT BOOK FROM YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

The Gospel of Judas
A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary

by David Brakke

Series: The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries

296 Pages, 6.12 x 9.25 in

Hardcover
$65.00
9780300173260
Published: Tuesday, 22 Feb 2022

A new translation and commentary on the extracanonical Coptic text that describes Judas’ special status among Jesus’ disciples

Since its publication in 2006, The Gospel of Judas has generated remarkable interest and debate among scholars and general readers alike. In this Coptic text from the second century C.E., Jesus engages in a series of conversations with his disciples and with Judas, explaining the origin of the cosmos and its rulers, the existence of another holy race, and the coming end of the current world order.

In this new translation and commentary, David Brakke addresses the major interpretive questions that have emerged since the text’s discovery, exploring the ways that The Gospel of Judas sheds light on the origins and development of gnostic mythology, debates over the Eucharist and communal authority, and Christian appropriation of Jewish apocalyptic eschatology. The translation reflects new analyses of the work’s genre and structure, and the commentary and notes provide thorough discussions of the text’s grammar and numerous lacunae and ambiguities.

This came out in 2022, but somehow I missed it.

For more on David Brakke and his work on the Gospel of Judas, see here. For many other PaleoJudaica posts on the Gospel of Judas, start here and follow the links, notably here.

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Biblical Studies Carnival #212

READING ACTS: Biblical Studies Carnival #212 for November 2023 (Philip J. Long).

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Olyan, Animal Rights and the Hebrew Bible (OUP)

NEW BOOK FROM OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS:

Animal Rights and the Hebrew Bible

Saul M. Olyan

Hardback

Published: 20 September 2023

152 Pages

235x156mm

ISBN: 9780197609385

Description

Does the Hebrew Bible ascribe an implicit form of legal personhood or legal rights to animals? If so, which animals—domesticated or wild, or both—receive which rights, and for what purpose? Scholars have been slow to consider these questions, and animal-oriented research as a whole, in the field of biblical studies. For the first time, author Saul M. Olyan addresses these questions in detail and explores how the evidence of the Hebrew Bible might contribute to contemporary debates about animal rights in the academy, in the courts, in the public square, and in religious communities.

In this book, Olyan demonstrates that seven different biblical texts extend both legal personhood and rights to animals. The rights conferred upon them are mainly specific and situational, and the legal personhood associated them is in most cases best characterized as limited. Nonetheless, he argues that the animal rights described by these texts are genuine because they are not contingent on the needs or demands of others, they do not disappear or give way because of conflict with the interests of another legal person, and they may not be violated with impunity. Finally, Olyan considers how the biblical texts examined in his analyses might be used to extend or strengthen the arguments of those advocating for animals in judicial, academic, political, or religious settings.

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The Assassination of Sennacherib

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: The Assassination of Sennacherib. The history behind a little-known biblical story (Nathan Steinmeyer).

The assassination of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, is presented in the Bible as God’s divine justice against an evil king. Outside of the Bible, however, this was one of the most significant events in the history of the ancient Near East. Collecting records and references from contemporary and later sources, historian Christopher Jones has provided a renewed look at this event and its aftermath in the Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History, allowing for the most complete recreation of events to date.

[...]

You can read the abstract of the underlying article at the link, but the article itself is behind the subscription wall. The BHD essay summarizes it.

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Pioske, The Bible Among Ruins (CUP)

NEW BOOK FROM CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

The Bible Among Ruins
Time, Material Remains, and the World of the Biblical Writers

AUTHOR: Daniel Pioske, University of St Thomas, Minnesota
DATE PUBLISHED: October 2023
AVAILABILITY: In stock
FORMAT: Hardback
ISBN: 9781009412605

£ 85.00
Hardback

Description

Biblical writers lived in a world that was already ancient. The lands familiar to them were populated throughout by the ruins of those who had lived two thousand years earlier. References to ruins abound in the Hebrew Bible, attesting to widespread familiarity with the material remains by those who wrote these texts. Never, however, do we find a single passage that expresses an interest in digging among these ruins to learn about those who lived before. Why? In this book, Daniel Pioske offers the first study of ruination in the Hebrew Bible. Drawing on scholarship in biblical studies, archaeology, contemporary historical theory, and philosophy, he demonstrates how the ancient experience of ruins differed radically from that of the modern era. For biblical writers, ruins were connected to temporalities of memory, presence, and anticipation. Pioske's book recreates the encounter with ruins as it was experienced during antiquity and shows how modern archaeological research has transformed how we read the Bible.

• The first book that provides a history of ruination in the Hebrew Bible
• Compares the biblical writers' response to ruination with our own contemporary efforts at archaeological excavation
• Draws on an inter-disciplinary conversation involving recent developments in biblical scholarship, historical theory, philosophy, and archaeology

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The Bloomsbury Handbook of Material Religion in the Ancient Near East and Egypt

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY:

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Material Religion in the Ancient Near East and Egypt

Nicola Laneri (Anthology Editor) , Sharon R. Steadman (Anthology Editor)

Hardback
$230.00 $207.00

Ebook (PDF)
$207.00 $165.60

Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
$207.00 $165.60

Product details

Published Jul 27 2023
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 526
ISBN 9781350280816
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Illustrations 106 bw illus
Dimensions 10 x 7 inches
Series Bloomsbury Handbooks
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

With contributions spanning from the Neolithic Age to the Iron Age, this book offers important insights into the religions and ritual practices in ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern communities through the lenses of their material remains.

The book begins with a theoretical introduction to the concept of material religion and features editor introductions to each of its six parts, which tackle the following themes: the human body; religious architecture; the written word; sacred images; the spirituality of animals; and the sacred role of the landscape. Illustrated with over 100 images, chapters provide insight into every element of religion and materiality, from the largest building to the smallest amulet. This is a benchmark work for further studies on material religion in the ancient Near East and Egypt.

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On the Eshbaal inscription

NORTHWEST SEMITIC EPIGRAPHY: Who Are You Eshba‘al ben Bad‘a? (unattributed, crownheights.info).

The Eshbaal (’Eshba‛al / Ishbaal / ’Ishba‛al) inscription was excavated in 2015 at Khirbet Qeiyafa. Ishbaal is the name of a son of King Saul. The name means "Man of Baal" or Man of the Lord." The Masoretic Text prefers the bowdlerized form Ishboshet, "Man of Shame."

PaleoJudaica posts on the Eshbaal inscription are collected here.

For the Jerubbaal jug, mentioned in the article, see here and follow the links back from here.

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Kynes, An Obituary for "Wisdom Literature" (OUP)

NEW IN PAPERBACK FROM OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS:

An Obituary for "Wisdom Literature"

The Birth, Death, and Intertextual Reintegration of a Biblical Corpus

Will Kynes

Paperback

Published: 15 September 2023

352 Pages

216x138mm

ISBN: 9780198898689

Description

An Obituary for "Wisdom Literature" considers the definitional issues long plaguing Wisdom scholarship. Will Kynes argues that Wisdom Literature is not a category used in early Jewish and Christian interpretation. It first emerged in modern scholarship, shaped by its birthplace in nineteenth-century Germany. Kynes casts new light on the traits long associated with the category, such as universalism, humanism, rationalism, empiricism, and secularism, which so closely reflect the ideals of that time. Since it was originally assembled to reflect modern ideals, it is not surprising that biblical scholars have faced serious difficulties defining the corpus on another basis or integrating it into the theology of the Hebrew Bible.

The problem, however, is not only why the texts were perceived in this one way, but that they are perceived in only one way at all. Therefore, Kynes builds on recent theories from literary studies and cognitive science to create a new alternative approach to genre that integrates hermeneutical insight from multiple genre proposals. This theory is then applied to Job, Ecclesiastes, and Proverbs, mapping out the complex textual network contributing to their meaning. With the death of the Wisdom Literature category, both the so-called Wisdom texts and the concept of wisdom find new life.

Published in hardback in 2019, but this is the first time I have noted it.

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More on the Mount Ebal curse tablet / fishing weight

NORTHWEST SEMITIC EPIGRAPHY OR ANCIENT PISCATORY PROCUREMENT? New Studies Debunk Controversial Biblical ‘Curse Tablet’ From Mt. Ebal. A lead tablet discovered at ‘Joshua’s altar’ in the West Bank was trumpeted as the oldest Hebrew inscription. Skeptics suspect it says nothing and the thing was a fishing weight (Ariel David, Haaretz).

Look! It’s a 3,400-year-old inscribed lead tablet that could prove the historicity of the Bible. But actually there is no discernible writing on it and the purported tablet is likely a fishing-net weight commonly used in ancient times.

That’s the short version of the latest chapter in a bizarre archaeological row centered on a minuscule lead artifact and a contested ancient site in the West Bank, believed by some to be the biblical altar built by Joshua on Mt. Ebal.

[...]

Yeah, that about sums it up.

Yesterday I noted a Jerusalem Post article on the as yet unpublished IEJ articles. Follow the links from there for many other posts on the object. This Haaretz piece has more details while we wait for the IEJ articles.

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

Himmelfarb Festschrift (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Above, Below, Before, and After. Studies in Judaism and Christianity in Conversation with Martha Himmelfarb. Edited by Ra'anan Boustan, David Frankfurter, and Annette Yoshiko Reed. 2023. VII, 540 pages. Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 188. 169,00 € including VAT. cloth ISBN 978-3-16-162520-6.

Published in English.
The research of Martha Himmelfarb has pushed scholars to re-examine what we thought we knew about the formative histories of Judaism and Christianity. In studies on such topics as apocalypses, pseudepigrapha, and messianism, Himmelfarb opened up new perspectives on Second Temple Judaism and its legacy within its late antique and medieval successor communities. Inspired by the sweeping breadth of her learning and scholarship, this volume explores the transmission and transformation of Jewish and Christian texts and traditions within and across the boundaries of language, culture, and religion. The volume's contributors range widely across sources, genres, and contexts, from the Dead Sea Scrolls and Hellenistic Judaism to Nag Hammadi literature and Jewish and Christian magic, and from classical rabbinic literature and patristic writings, to Hekhalot literature and medieval midrashim. Contributors not only revisit the histories of apocalypticism, sectarianism, and messianism but also take up questions regarding the materiality of manuscripts, the boundaries of religious communities and identities, the ritual uses of heavenly visions, and the history of Jewish priests and priesthood before and after the destruction of Jerusalem Temple. In dialogue with Himmelfarb's work, the volume exemplifies the value of studying Jewish and Christian traditions in concert as well as bridging the disciplinary divides that too often fragment the fields of Biblical Studies, Second Temple Judaism, New Testament Studies, Rabbinics, Patristics, Late Antiquity, and Medieval Studies.

Congratulations to Professor Himmelfarb. Well deserved!

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Southwood & Morse (eds.), Psalms and the Use of the Critical Imagination (Gillingham Festschrift; T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

Psalms and the Use of the Critical Imagination

Essays in Honour of Professor Susan Gillingham

Katherine E. Southwood (Anthology Editor) , Holly Morse (Anthology Editor)

Paperback
$39.95 $35.95

Hardback
$115.00 $103.50

Ebook (PDF)
$35.95 $28.76

Product details

Published Oct 19 2023
Format Paperback
Edition 1st
Extent 256
ISBN 9780567706188
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

The contributors provide fresh insight into the context surrounding the composition and reception of the Psalms, the relationships between the Psalms, and of early audiences who engaged with the material. Close attention is also paid to specific interpretative problems which emerge in the Psalms, both linguistic and theological.

Consequently, there is the creation of a more sophisticated historical reconstruction of how the Psalms were used originally and in subsequent periods, opening up challenges and possibilities for scholars through emphasizing the need in critical Psalms scholarship for vitality and imagination.

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Is the Mount Ebal "curse tablet" actually a lead fishing weight?

NORTHWEST SEMITIC EPIGRAPHY? Experts question claim of 'earliest Hebrew inscription' on Mt. Ebal. “These claims are quite dramatic and require close inspection,” wrote the doubters, covering some 21 pages in the Israel Exploration Journal. (Judy Siegel-Itzkovich, Jerusalem Post).

But now, Prof. Aren Maeir – head of the Institute of Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University (BIU) in Ramat Gan, and Christopher Rollston (George Washington University), are critically considering the context and dating of the object, along with questions on the character of the site. Most importantly, the very reading that Stripling et al. suggest for the inner inscription (the outer one was not published) is seriously questioned, and it is shown to be problematic at best, and perhaps even non-existent.

The article reports that a new issue of IEJ contains three articles on the object, but I can't find the issue online yet.

For lots of PaleoJudaica posts on the Mount Ebal "curse tablet" (or whatever it is), start here and here (posts in which I give my own provisional assessment) and follow the links. I share the skepticism reported of the writers of the IEJ articles.

UPDATE: At his blog, Aren Maier explains why I can't find the IEJ issue. (HT Joseph Lauer.)

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

Job: Associate Prof in OT/HB at Aarhus University

H-JUDAIC: FEATURED JOB: Associate Professor in Old Testament Studies, Aarhus University.

The position

We are seeking a talented and dedicated colleague with a strong track record and an innovative future research plan in Old Testament Studies. The successful applicant is expected to contribute to the development of the Department of Theology and its core activities in the areas of research, education, talent development and knowledge exchange. The successful applicant will play a key role in the ongoing creation of internationally recognised research areas within Old Testament Studies and take active part in the work of the research group in Biblical Studies, contributing to its current profile with new areas of expertise. The successful applicant will also develop collaborative research initiatives with other disciplines and develop projects with external financing.

We emphasise the importance of taking part in the daily life of the Department of Theology, as well as the significance of good working relationships, both among colleagues and with our students. The successful applicant is expected to be present in the department on a daily basis.

Follow the link for further particulars and application information. Also note: "Applicants must be able to teach and communicate in Danish at university level. If the successful applicant is not fluent in Danish, they will be expected to learn Danish within two years."

This quite long advert mentions an application deadline day, but I can't find a place where it gives one. In any case the post commences on "1 August 2024 or as soon as possible thereafter."

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Tenure-track OT/HB job at Sewanee: The University of the South

INSIDE HIGHER ED CAREERS:

Assistant Professor, Old Testament/Hebrew Bible

Employer
Sewanee: The University of the South
Location
Sewanee, TN, TN
Position Type
Tenured & Tenure-Track
Employment Type
Full Time
Institution Type
Four-Year Institution
Sewanee: The University of the South

Job Details

Position Overview
The School of Theology of the University of the South, a seminary of the Episcopal Church, invites applications for a tenure-track position in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, beginning July 2024. The successful candidate will be an effective teacher and scholar who can equip students with skills to engage critically with the texts of the Old Testament. They will teach two courses per semester in our degree programs, plus an additional course from time to time in either our summer or non-degree programs.

[...]

Follow the link for further particulars and application information. "Review of applications will commence on December 1st, with initial interviews by Zoom to follow in January." Also note: "Ordination in the Episcopal Church is preferred; affinity with the mission and ministry of the Episcopal Church is required."

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

The Leiden Jewish Studies Association

ANNOUNCEMENT: In-Depth Knowledge on Judaism, Jewish History Crucial Now (Mirage News).

The newly established Leiden Jewish Studies Association aims to bring together Leiden scholars working on Judaism. The first annual conference will take place in Leiden on 6 and 7 December. Leiden professors and co-organisers of the LJSA Sarah Cramsey and Jürgen Zangenberg talk about their plans.

[...]

Although the agenda of the Association is more general, it looks like it has a good bit of interest in ancient Judaism.

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

The last of the Ptolemies—Guess who?

THE WORLD IS FULL OF HISTORY: The last of the Ptolemies. Zahi Hawass describes the life and background of Cleopatra VII, Egypt’s last and most famous Ptolemaic queen (ahram online).

This essay gives detailed information on the historical, cultural, and geographic background of Cleoptra—starting with the Pyramid Age of the Old Kingdom! Very useful in that regard. But it says little about the life of Cleopatra herself. It reads like part one of a series, but there is no other indication of that.

Dr. Hawass also published an earlier series on the world of Cleopatra but, again, the current essay is not presented as a continuation.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on Cleopatra VII (the Cleopatra), who reportedly spoke Hebrew and Aramaic, start there, plus here and here, and follow the links.

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

Mastnjak, Before the Scrolls (OUP)

NEW BOOK FROM OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS:

Before the Scrolls

A Material Approach to Israel's Prophetic Library

Nathan Mastnjak

£54.00

Hardback
Published: 29 August 2023
264 Pages
235x156mm
ISBN: 9780190911096

Description

Before the Scrolls traces the media history of the biblical prophetic corpus to propose a material approach to biblical literature. Although scholars understand that the material of composition was the scroll rather than the codex, they persist in imagining the form as a single textual object. This assumption pervades centuries of scholarship and drives many of the questions asked about biblical composition. Nathan Mastnjak raises the question of the original physical format of biblical texts and argues that many of the literary works that would eventually become the Bible's prophetic books were not written initially as books. Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel were originally composed on loosely organized collections of multiple short papyrus scrolls and sheets. Though rarely considered in scholarship, the realia of a text's form, format, production, and material substance have a profound influence on the meaning of the text. Unlike works committed to single book-scrolls, these collections did not have predetermined orders of reading and were susceptible to multiple arrangements. Only in the Hellenistic era were these compositions edited, organized, and copied into single volume book-scrolls such as those known from the Dead Sea.

By investigating the relationship between form and meaning and the transition from the collection to the book, Mastnjak suggests novel solutions to classic problems in biblical scholarship, such as the relationships between the MT and LXX of Jeremiah and that between First and Second Isaiah. The failure to account for the materiality of the prophetic corpus has led scholarship to occasionally ask the wrong questions of these compositions and has blinded it to the vital role that Hellenistic bookmakers played in the creation of the Bible as we know it. Reconceiving much Judean literature on a collection-model rather than book-model has significant implications for our understanding of how the Bible itself was composed and read.

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Schiffman: No, the Vatican doesn't have the Temple treasures

PROF. LAWRENCE H. SCHIFFMAN: THE MYTH OF VATICAN TREASURES, ONCE AGAIN. DESPITE RECENT REPORTS, KEILIM FROM THE BAYIS SHEINI AREN’T HELD IN ROME. This post links to a pdf reprint of an article in Ami Magazine.

Professor Schiffman explains why he concludes that the Vatican does not, and indeed could not, have the Temple treasures.

I've also seen some of these recent claims about the Vatican having these artifacts, but I did not post on them. I tend to ignore such stories and the related ones on how the Ark of the Covenant has been located and is about to be revealed. If someone wants to produce some actual authenticated artifacts, I will be happy to reconsider.

Background here and many links. I have commented on the matter here and here.

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The West Semitic Research Project

THE AWOL BLOG: West Semitic Research Project.

The West Semitic Research Project is an academic project affiliated with the University of Southern California School of Religion and directed by Professor Emeritus Bruce Zuckerman. For the past 40 years WSRP has used advanced photographic and computer imaging techniques to document artifacts and texts from the ancient Near East and Mediterranean worlds. In doing this we have built a vast collection of images that are available to scholars, students, educators and the general public through the USC Digital Library.

It's always good to have an excuse to mention the West Semitic Research Project. Jeepers, has it really been 40 years since I was its first research assistant?

For many past posts on it, see here and links, plus, here, here, and here.

UPDATE: Broken link fixed!

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Burr, Authenticating Criteria in Jesus Research and Beyond (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Authenticating Criteria in Jesus Research and Beyond

An Interdisciplinary Methodology

Series: Biblical Interpretation Series

Author: Kevin B. Burr

Are the criteria of authenticity of Jesus research idiosyncratic to New Testament studies, vehicles of subjectivity, and fundamentally flawed vestiges of form criticism as some claim today? If so, why do opponents of the criteria-approach still use them? Or, are the criteria the tools of general historiography as others assert? If true, none have adequately demonstrated where and how principles such as multiple attestation, general and historical coherence, dissimilarity and embarrassment feature in general historiographic method—until now. This study analyzes the methods of general historians and Jesus researchers (who favor or oppose the criteria) and demonstrates that, regardless of sub-discipline, authenticating criteria are inherent to the practice of historiography.

Prices from (excl. shipping): €109.00

Copyright Year: 2024

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-54902-9
Publication: 16 Oct 2023
EUR €109.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-54901-2
Publication: 19 Oct 2023
EUR €109.00

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Review of Nutzman, Contested Cures

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Contested Cures: Identity and Ritual Healing in Roman and Late Antique Palestine (Mika Ahuvia).

Megan S. Nutzman. Contested Cures: Identity and Ritual Healing in Roman and Late Antique Palestine. Edinburgh Studies in Religion in Antiquity. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press, 2022. Pp. xvii + 272.

A gift to those of us in Jewish and Christian Studies, Nutzman presents a regional study of Roman Palestine that focuses on its non-Jewish and non-Christian populations and their shared ritual practices. ...

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The latest on Christian Apocrypha studies

THE APOCRYPHICITY BLOG: What More Do You Need? The Next Wave in Christian Apocrypha Texts and Translations. The following paper was presented at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature (Tony Burke).

If you are interested in ancient Christian Apocrypha, or the heavily overlapping category New Testament Apocrypha, read this paper. It has the latest news on both from an immensely authoritative expert on the subject.

I was at that historic 2006 meeting, held at a conference organized by Pierluigi Piovanelli at the University of Ottawa. I reported on the conference here, here, and here. The end of the third post has my notes on the meeting.

Tony kindly mentions the More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Project, which was the inspiration for his More New Testament Apocrypha Project. MOTP volume 2 is in the hands of the publisher, Eerdmans. It should be out by early 2025.

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National Library of Israel's new building opens

RENOVATED: Unveiling the new National Library of Israel's building. About a month after the postponement of the official opening date, most of the people who used to spend hours in the old building are going to National Library of Israel in its new building (Peggy Cidor, Jerusalem Post).

Founded in Jerusalem in 1892, NLI serves as the major institution of national memory for the Jewish people worldwide and Israelis of all backgrounds and faiths. Its collection includes handwritten works by Maimonides and Sir Isaac Newton, Islamic manuscripts dating back to the 9th century, and the personal archives of leading cultural and intellectual figures such as Gershon Sholem, Martin Buber, Natan Sharansky, and Naomi Shemer. The NLI also holds the world’s largest collections of textual Judaica, Jewish and Israeli music, and maps of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, as well as world-class collections of manuscripts, ancient maps, rare books, photographs, and communal and personal archival material.

Background on the renovation of the Israel National Library is here and links.

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The Medinet Madi Library of Manichaean Codices at 90 (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

The Medinet Madi Library of Manichaean Codices at 90

Papers from the Symposium at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, 18-19 October 2019

Series: Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies, Volume: 104

Volume Editors: Jason D. Beduhn , Paul Dilley , and Professor Iain Gardner

The Medinet Madi Library comes of age in this landmark volume as one of the 20th century’s major finds of religious manuscripts. Discovered in Egypt’s Fayum region in 1929, these Coptic codices contain a cross-section of the sacred literature of the Manichaean religion. Early work on the collection in the 1930s was cut short by the ravages of the second world war. Recent decades have brought multiple new editorial projects, on which this volume offers a comprehensive set of status reports, as well as individual studies on aspects of the Manichaean religion informed by the library’s contents.

Prices from (excl. shipping): €124.00

Copyright Year: 2023

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-54293-8
Publication: 26 Jun 2023
EUR €124.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-53982-2
Publication: 04 Jul 2023
EUR €124.00

Cross-file under Manichean (Manichaean) Watch.

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T&T Clark Handbook of Food in the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

T&T Clark Handbook of Food in the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel

Janling Fu (Anthology Editor) , Cynthia Shafer-Elliott (Anthology Editor) , Carol Meyers (Anthology Editor)

Paperback
$54.95 $49.45

Hardback
$175.00 $157.50

Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
$49.45 $39.56

Ebook (PDF)
$49.45 $39.56

Product details

Published Aug 24 2023
Format Paperback
Edition 1st
Extent 640
ISBN 9780567702913
Imprint T&T Clark
Illustrations 39 bw illus
Dimensions 10 x 7 inches
Series T&T Clark Handbooks
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

Food and feasting are key themes in the Hebrew Bible and the culture it represents. The contributors to this handbook draw on a multitude of disciplines to offer an overview of food in the Hebrew Bible and ancient Israel. Archaeological materials from biblical lands, along with the recent interest in ethnographic data, a new focus in anthropology, and emerging technologies provide valuable information about ancient foodways.

The contributors examine not only the textual materials of the Hebrew Bible and related epigraphic works, but also engage in a wider archaeological, environmental, and historical understanding of ancient Israel as it pertains to food.

Divided into five parts, this handbook examines and considers environmental and socio-economic issues such as climate and trade, the production of raw materials, and the technology of harvesting and food processing. The cultural role of food and meals in festivals, holidays, and biblical regulations is also discussed, as is the way food and drink are treated in biblical texts, in related epigraphic materials, and in iconography.

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Fried, Ruth: A Commentary (Sheffield Phoenix)

NEW BOOK FROM SHEFFIELD PHOENIX PRESS:

Ruth: A Commentary
By Lisbeth S. Fried
£58.00 £25.00

After the significant and ground-breaking commentaries on Ezra and Nehemiah by Lisbeth Fried, she now turns her attention to a different genre of biblical literature and to the book of Ruth. Fried approaches Ruth as folktale, specifically, a fairy tale. This new reading of Ruth allows the book to be experienced in a new way, a way infrequently recognized, that provides novel but compelling insights into the author’s intentions and goals.

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The Power of Parables (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

The Power of Parables

Essays on the Comparative Study of Jewish and Christian Parables

Series: Jewish and Christian Perspectives Series, Volume: 39

Volume Editors: Eric Ottenheijm , Marcel Poorthuis , and Annette Merz

The Power of Parables documents the surprising ways in which Jewish and Christian parables bridge religion with daily life. This 2019 conference volume rediscovers the original power of parables to shock and affect their audience, which has since been reduced by centuries of preaching and repetition. Not only do parables enhance the perspective on Scripture or the kingdom of heaven, they also change the sensory regime of the audience in perceiving the outer world. The theological differences in their applications appear secondary in view of their powerful rhetoric and suggest a shared genre.

Prices from (excl. shipping): €149.00 Hardback

Copyright Year: 2024

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-68004-3
Publication: 07 Nov 2023

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-68002-9
Publication: 08 Nov 2023
EUR €149.00

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Feldman & Sandoval (eds.), Torah in Early Jewish Imaginations (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Torah in Early Jewish Imaginations. Edited by Ariel Feldman and Timothy J. Sandoval. 2023. XI, 231 pages. Forschungen zum Alten Testament 171. 124,00 € including VAT. cloth ISBN 978-3-16-162664-7.

Published in English.
Torah is a topic of keen interest among scholars of the Bible and Second Temple Judaism. The Hellenistic age especially witnessed an undeniable textual pluriformity of not only the Pentateuch (Torah), but of a host of other works concerned with traditions of authoritative »teaching« or »instruction« (torah) that was related in complex ways to books that would become part of the Hebrew Bible. In the Second Temple period, the term torah was thus a robustly multivalent term, deployed in discourses emerging from different contexts, and toward a range of rhetorical ends. The essays in this volume employ a plethora of methodologies to offer innovative studies of a range of early Jewish literature – including texts from the Hebrew Bible, the so-called Apocrypha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Septuagint – that is concerned in different ways with Torah / torah.

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Cook, Men, Masculinities and Intermarriage in Ezra 9-10 (Routledge)

NEW BOOK FROM ROUTLEDGE:

Men, Masculinities and Intermarriage in Ezra 9-10

By Elisabeth M. Cook
Copyright 2024
Hardback £130.00
eBook £35.09
ISBN 9781032342177
154 Pages
Published October 9, 2023 by Routledge

Description

Offering a reading of the intermarriage debate and expulsion of the foreign women in Ezra 9-10, this book engages with the production and performance of masculinities in this biblical text, shifting the focus away from the 'foreign women' to the men who are the primary actors in this work.

This approach addresses the diversity of masculinities and the ways in which they are implicated in the production of power relations in the text. It explores the ‘feminized’ masculinity of the peoples-of-the-lands, the unstable masculinity of the golah, Ezra’s performance of penitential masculinity, and the rehabilitation of divine masculinity. The rejection of the marriages and the call for the expulsion of the women and children are addressed as sites on which masculinities and power relations are configured. In doing so, this book sheds light on how women and the traits and performances culturally ascribed to women, femininity and inferior masculinities, are appropriated to produce masculinities and negotiate power relations between men. It posits that the debate in Ezra 9-10 is not, ultimately, about the women themselves, but about bringing the masculinities, bodies and practices of dissenting men under the ‘management’ of those who wield the Torah in the narrative world of the text.

Men, Masculinities and Intermarriage in Ezra-9-10 is of interest for scholars and students working on the Book of Ezra specifically, as well as the Hebrew Bible and its world more broadly. It is also a valuable study for those working on masculinities and gender in the biblical world and ancient Near East.

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Like Nails Firmly Fixed (Qoh 12:11) (Gentry Festschrift; Peeters)

NEW BOOK FROM PEETERS PUBLISHERS;

Like Nails Firmly Fixed (Qoh 12:11)
Essays on the Text and Language of the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures Presented to Peter J. Gentry on the Occasion of His Retirement

SERIES: Contributions to Biblical Exegesis & Theology, 115
EDITORS: Marshall P.S., Meade J.D., Kiel J. M.

PRICE: 125 euro
YEAR: 2023
ISBN: 9789042949461
E-ISBN: 9789042949478
PAGES: XIV-461 p.

SUMMARY:

This Festschrift honors the life and work of Peter J. Gentry on the occasion of his retirement (2021) from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary after 22 years of faithful service. The volume includes two personal reflections by family members and a close friend, followed by nineteen essays written by an international assemblage of scholars, all of whom admire the work of Gentry, and some of whom were his own doctoral students. These essays cover several of the academic fields with which Peter Gentry’s own research and writing intersect: biblical languages and linguistics, and the translation, transmission, and reception of the sacred texts of Judaism and Christianity.

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Oh, and ...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to my American readers and anyone else celebrating!

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

Nodet, The Samaritans (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

The Samaritans

Etienne Nodet (Author)

Hardback
$115.00 $103.50

Ebook (PDF)
$103.50 $82.80

Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
$103.50 $82.80

Product details

Published Sep 07 2023
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 174
ISBN 9780567709660
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series Jewish and Christian Texts
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

Etienne Nodet examines the Samaritans and their religion, using Jewish and Christian sources, including rabbinic literature and the latest archaeology. Nodet tells the story of the Samaritans and their religion, showing how they were faithful to a classical form of monotheism.

Nodet traces the Samaritan story from more recent to more ancient times. He begins by looking at the importance of the Samaritans in the time of Josephus and the New Testament, taking in the area formed by Galilee, Samaria, and Judea and recognizing how this corresponds approximately to Canaan at the time of Joshua, between the Jordan and the Mediterranean. He then examines the account of 2 Kings 17, which shows the Samaritans as descendants of the settlers sent by the Assyrians, who were initiated to a certain Yahwism after the fall of the kingdom of Israel (North) in 721 BC. Next Nodet looks at the time of the Maccabean crisis, when the Samaritans separated from the Jews, showing how before then there was a peaceful coexistence.

Finally, Nodet turns to the Persian period, showing how after the return from exile there was a restoration of the Babylonian-derived form of religion, which the local Israelites (including the Samaritans) opposed. Nodet contends that, as such, the Samaritan religion, with its succession of high priests up to the present day, and is of 'immemorial permanence', linking to the earliest worship of YHWH in Israel.

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What did "inspiration" mean?

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Inspiration in Biblical Times (Rodney Caruthers II).

The concept of biblical inspiration is classically captured in 2 Timothy 3:16: “All scripture is inspired by God (theopneustos) and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.” Yet this verse also raises some questions. What does “inspired by God” mean, and what did it entail? How did ancient writers and readers understand it?

There follows a survey of the biblical and Classical evidence, which has a surprising amount of conceptual overlap.

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Greenspahn, Judaism and Its Bible (JPS)

NEW BOOK FROM THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY:

Judaism and Its Bible
A People and Their Book

Frederick E. Greenspahn

294 pages
Index

Paperback
August 2023
978-0-8276-1510-6
$29.95

eBook (EPUB)
August 2023
978-0-8276-1904-3
$29.95

eBook (PDF)
August 2023
978-0-8276-1905-0
$29.95

About the Book

Judaism and Its Bible explores the profoundly deep and complex relationship between Jews, Judaism, and the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew Bible has been ubiquitous in Jewish life and thought: Jews read it, interpret it, and debate it. They translate the Bible even as they deem those translations inadequate, and they cite the Bible as the basis for observances that are not even mentioned in it. Jews quote the Bible as authority for their tradition’s preservation and innovation, as both the word of God and the language of humans, and as justification for both pro- and anti-rabbinic movements. Fascinating and comprehensive, Judaism and Its Bible describes the extraordinary two-and-a-half-millennia journey of a people and its book that has changed the world.

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News about the Coptic Magical Papyri Project

THE COPTIC MAGICAL PAPYRI BLOG: 2023 Review: The End of the Coptic Magical Papyri Project and the Beginning of the Papyri Copticae Magicae.

It’s hard to believe that a little over five years have now passed since the three original members of the Coptic Magical Papyri project sat in the Egyptology department in Würzburg and began to plan how we could contribute to the study of Coptic magical texts. In August of this year our project ended, and so in this blog post we will discuss what we achieved in the last five years, beginning with our exciting news, the publication of the first in a new series of Coptic magical texts, Papyri Copticae Magicae.

[...]

Congratulations to the Project on its many achievements. They include a New Book, which initiates a new series.

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Tesei, The Syriac Legend of Alexander’s Gate (OUP)

BIBLIGRAPHIA IRANICA: The Syriac Legend of Alexander’s Gate.

Notice of a New Book: Tesei, Tommaso. 2023. The Syriac Legend of Alexander’s Gate. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Follow the link for description and link to the publisher's site. Cross-file under Syriac Watch.

UPDATE: More Alexander the Great! Just noticed. See previous post.

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Alexander the God?

SACRED ARCHITECTURE: Ancient Temple Discovered in Iraq Dedicated to Alexander the Great (Tasos Kokkinidis, Greek Reporter).

Archaeologists uncovered signs that Alexander the Great was worshipped as a divine figure in an ancient temple in Iraq.

Scientists had been puzzled by the discovery of more recent Greek inscriptions at the ancient Sumerian temple of Girsu, in the modern-day town of Tello.

Now, British Museum archaeologists believe a Greek temple to Alexander the Great was founded on the site, possibly by Alexander himself.

[...]

Not directly relevant to ancient Judaism, but Alexander is an important figure in Jewish tradition and I like to keep track of what's going on with him.

The argument that Alexander was worshipped jointly with Zeus and (as his brother) Heracles/Ningursu, is plausible, but involves a good bit of inference. It does cohere with Egyptian traditions that deify him.

For many posts on Alexander the Great and his connection with ancient Jewish traditions, notably in the Alexander Romance, see here and links, plus (more or less) here and (sort of) here.

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Yale postdoc in ancient Judaism

H-JUDAIC: Yale University, Jewish Studies Program: Post Doctoral Associate in Ancient Judaism/History.

The Program in Jewish Studies at Yale University is offering a two-year Postdoctoral fellowship that will begin on July 1, 2024. Candidates for the fellowship must have a Ph.D. in hand by July 1, 2024 and must have received the degree no earlier than 2021. The Program seeks a specialist in Ancient Judaism who will work closely with appropriate members of Yale’s faculty.

[...]

Follow the link for further particulars. "The deadline for receipt of application materials is January 15, 2024."

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AABNER issue on Material and Scribal Scrolls Approches to the HB

ADVANCES IN ANCIENT BIBLICAL AND NEAR EASTERN RESEARCH: Vol 3 No 2 (2023): Material and Scribal Scrolls Approches to the Hebrew Bible. Follow the link for ToC and full text of all the articles.

HT the AWOL Blog.

AABNER, as noted here, is a recently launched open-access, peer-review journal.

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Nodet, ... Essenes, Qumran: Origins and Heirs (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

A Gate to Heaven

Essenes, Qumran: Origins and Heirs

Etienne Nodet (Author)

Hardback
$115.00 $103.50

Ebook (PDF)
$103.50 $82.80

Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
$103.50 $82.80

Product details

Published Jun 01 2023
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 252
ISBN 9780567709714
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series Jewish and Christian Textsv Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

Etienne Nodet proposes that Qumran functioned as a pilgrimage site for the Essenes from the 1st century BC onwards. Nodet suggests that the Essenes were scattered everywhere within Palestine in rural communities and that they used to commemorate a renewal of the early Israelites' entrance into the Promised Land, after crossing the Jordan river and celebrating Passover at Gilgal with Joshua, Moses' heir. The Essene dead were moved to be buried at Qumran in a well-organized graveyard, as the place was deemed to be a kind of gate to heaven.

Nodet shows how the Jewish movement of the Essenes did not did not disappear after the war in 70 CE, rather its customs had a strong influence upon early Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism. The chapters of this book examine the Essenes in the period after the war in Jerusalem, showing how this community developed and its longer term significance. This is linked to the texts of the New Testament, to the writings of Josephus and to the Qumran community's own documents, the Dead Sea Scrolls.

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Profile of the Vesuvius Challenge prizewinner

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: Husker is first to decode word on ancient scroll. FARRITOR’S EFFORTS MAY HELP DOUBLE AMOUNT OF READABLE TEXT FROM GRECO-ROMAN ERA (Scott Schrage, University of Nebraska–Lincoln).

Greek letters are not difficult to find at a place like Nebraska U, where sigmas, thetas, deltas, kappas and epsilons grace plenty of signs and even more sweatshirts. But Farritor is busy training his eyes, and his model, on digitized scraps of an ancient document that lends fresh meaning to invisible ink and purple prose. That document — a rolled-up papyrus scroll charred into a lump of carbon by Italy’s Mount Vesuvius, which famously smothered Pompeii and, less famously, nearby Herculaneum in A.D. 79 — had gone unread for nearly two millennia.

Most feared it always would. If Vesuvius has seared that fateful day into history textbooks, it also burned away many of the era’s own texts, leaving the remnants under 60-plus feet of volcanic mud. And it left scant hope that the scroll, or hundreds of others excavated from a Herculaneum library — the last of its kind — would ever yield its words.

Until, in October, [UN-L Senior Luke] Farritor joined Brent Seales and researchers at the University of Kentucky for a news conference that would jar the world, igniting the hope of doubling the readable text from Greco-Roman antiquity.

“If we can do this, and I’m very confident we can,” Farritor said, “this will probably be the largest revelation of text from the ancient world since the Dead Sea Scrolls.”

That sounds about right.

Background here. For many PaleoJudaica posts on the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE and its destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and on the efforts to reconstruct and decipher the carbonized library at Herculaneum, follow the links from there.

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

TC 28 (2023)

THE ETC BLOG: New Volume of TC: A Journal of Biblical Textual Criticism is Out (Tommy Wasserman).

The new volume 28 (2023) of TC: A Journal of Biblical Textual Criticism has just been published here, and it is packed with twelve articles and some reviews. I have pasted contents and links below.

[...]

Most of the volume is devoted to New Testament related matters. But the following article is of more direct interest to PaleoJudaica:

Juha Pakkala, The Rebuilding and Settlement of Jerusalem in Ezra-Nehemiah and 1 Esdras (pp. 1–18)

Abstract: This paper reviews Dieter Böhler’s theory about the conception of Jerusalem in MT Ezra Nehemiah and 1 Esdras. According to Böhler, 1 Esdras preserves earlier versions in variants dealing with the rebuilding and settlement of Jerusalem, while the MT was revised to accommodate Ezra (and Neh 8) to the Nehemiah story. This paper argues that Böhler’s theory is highly unlikely. It is based on things lacking in the MT, while there is little positive evidence for the theory in the MT variants. The theory also neglects many passages that contradict the conception of an unsettled and unbuilt Jerusalem before Nehemiah. Textual variants used in favor of the theory are often controversial, heavily edited, and/or the result of textual corruption. In none of the cases does 1 Esdras unambiguously preserve the original reading. A conceptional connection between the MT variants remains unclear or is based on the variants in 1 Esdras. The 1 Esdras variants are connected by Jerusalem, its physical spaces, and temple gates. This may be an attempt to highlight the accomplishments of the Davidic Zerubbabel, which fits well with the anti-Hasmonean stand of 1 Esdras. Nehemiah and his accomplishments (such as references to the wall) were omitted because he was a non-Davidic leader whose memory 1 Esdras sought to eradicate.

For more on the debate about the relationship of Masoretic Ezra-Nehemiah to Septuagintal 1 Esdras, see the book edited by Lisbeth S. Fried noted here.

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Berlin, The JPS Bible Commentary: Psalms 120–150

NEW BOOK FROM THE JEWISH PUBLICATIONS SOCIETY:

The JPS Bible Commentary: Psalms 120–150

The Traditional Hebrew Text with the JPS Translation
Commentary by Adele Berlin
Sidebars on Ritual and Liturgical Uses of Psalms 120–150 by Avigdor Shinan and Benjamin D. Sommer

JPS Bible Commentary Series

248 pages
3 tables

Hardcover
August 2023
978-0-8276-0940-2
$40.00

eBook (PDF)
August 2023
978-0-8276-1891-6
$40.0

About the Book

The Jewish Publication Society’s highly acclaimed Bible Commentary series provides the Hebrew text of the Bible, the JPS English translation, and a line-by-line commentary. This volume presents commentary on Psalms 120–150, based on the most recent research on the language of the Bible, its literary forms, and the historical context that may have given rise to the psalms. The commentary pays special attention to the message of each psalm and to how the poetry shapes the message. At the same time, it draws on traditional Jewish interpretations of the meaning of the psalms.

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Review of Bernstein, Silius Italicus: Punica, book 9

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Silius Italicus: Punica, book 9.

Neil W. Bernstein, Silius Italicus: Punica, book 9. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2022. Pp. 272. ISBN 9780198838166

Review by
Clayton A. Schroer, Agnes Scott College. cschroer@agnesscott.edu

... These quibbles aside, Bernstein has offered us a commentary that is tremendously useful, erudite, and accessible—not to mention timely. It will find a spot on the shelf of every scholar of Silius’ Punica and post-Vergilian Latin epic. The book is handsomely produced, and I noticed virtually no typographical errors. Bernstein has long had a place as one of the patres of the renaissance of critical appreciation for the Punica, and we should thank him for this most recent contribution. More commentaries on the poem will surely follow. Book 5, anyone?

Cross-file under Punic Watch.

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Jesus Sirach, Jüdisches Gesetz und kosmische Weisheit (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK; Jesus Sirach, Jüdisches Gesetz und kosmische Weisheit. Herausgegeben von Markus Witte. Eingeleitet, übersetzt und mit interpretierenden Essays versehen von Markus Asper, Christine Ganslmayer, Gerhard Karner, Marko Marttila, Werner Urbanz, Oda Wischmeyer, Markus Witte und Burkard Zapff. [Jesus Sirach, Jewish Law and Cosmic Wisdom.] 2023. XX, 518 pages. Scripta Antiquitatis Posterioris ad Ethicam REligionemque pertinentia XLIV. 124,00 € including VAT. cloth ISBN 978-3-16-158251-6.

Published in German.
This volume offers a bilingual edition of all Hebrew fragments of the early Jewish book of Ben Sira and selected texts of the ancient Greek version of this work. Accompanying essays introduce the reader to the literary and cultural contexts of the book and interpret its ethical and religious topics.

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2023 BAS Publication Awards

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: 2023 BAS Publication Awards. These prestigious awards have been made possible by a grant from the Rohr Family in memory of Sami Rohr. Congratulations to all the winners!

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Dead Sea Scrolls etc. moved to bunkers

AS A PRECAUTION: Israel's museums enact war protocol to protect most precious treasures ( Ari Rabinovitch and Rami Amichay).

JERUSALEM/TEL AVIV, Nov 14 (Reuters) - When Hamas gunmen stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7 and rocket sirens pierced the early morning quiet across the country, Israel's premier museums went into war mode, rushing to protect their most precious artwork and artefacts.

The Dead Sea Scrolls. Ancient dedication plaques on loan from the Louvre. A 1916 masterpiece by Austrian painter Gustav Klimt. These and other treasures were quickly taken off display and brought to special bunkers to ensure they are not damaged during the war.

[...]

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What was a "Millo" and where was the one in Jerusalem?

MONUMENTAL ARCHITECTURE: Lost Biblical Monument in Jerusalem Is in Plain Sight, New Theory Claims. Study suggests the monumental fortifications surrounding Jerusalem’s Gihon Spring may be the enigmatic ‘Millo’ that the Bible claims Solomon built (Ariel David, Haaretz).

This is a complicated argument, so take your time reading the article. I am not qualified to evaluate it. The underlying article in JBL is behind a subscription wall.

The gist of the case, according to the Haaretz article, is that the word Millo ("filled thing" or the like) is usually taken to refer to something full of soil, i.e.. a terrace. But it could mean something full of water, i.e., some sort of waterworks. In that case, the fortifications around the Gihon Spring fit the description of the Millo. These fortifications are much older than the time of David and Solomon, but there is some evidence that parts of them were built in the early Iron Age II. Maybe David and Solomon, like Hezekiah later on, were renovating a preexisting larger structure.

Lots of maybes and could bes here. This story is another illustration that archaeology involves many judgment calls and is not an objective science. All the more so when we try to correlate it with the Bible. Not a criticism. It's good that archaeologists and biblical scholars are out there trying.

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The Egyptian Book of the Dead at the Getty Museum

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY: Exploring the Book of the Dead through the Getty Collection (Sara E. Cole).

Getty’s Book of the Dead manuscripts include seven papyri and 12 fragments of linen mummy wrappings that are now undergoing new scholarship spearheaded by Foy Scalf, an Egyptologist who is the head of research archives at the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures at the University of Chicago. Along with Getty’s ongoing provenance research (discussed below), Scalf is studying the texts and preparing translations and analysis in order to place them within the broader context of the long history of the Book of the Dead.

The group of writings that we call the Book of the Dead developed from multiple different sources, including earlier funerary inscriptions, priestly oaths, and household spells. It was likely embedded in a strong oral tradition, as most people could not read or write. By the New Kingdom, starting around 1550 BCE, scribes started writing Book of the Dead spells on papyrus scrolls. Vignettes often illustrated key points in the text, as in the example above from spell 125, in which the deceased has his heart weighed in the presence of Osiris. Book of the Dead spells were meant to be spoken aloud. Priests would read from scrolls during the funeral, and much of the text is written as direct speech that the deceased is envisioned reciting in the netherworld.

The Book of the Dead has been getting more attention lately, perhaps due partly to the recently discovered manuscripts in Egypt. But there are many manuscripts already in museum collections. It's good to see work being done on them too.

The essay notes that there is currently a Getty exhibition on their Book of the Dead manuscripts.

As usual, PaleoJudaica has been on top of this trend. See here and links and here for recent posts.

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Upcoming Sifting Project event

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT BLOG: SPECIAL GALA EVENT SHOWCASING NEW DISCOVERIES FROM THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT RESEARCH.

For these reasons, we’ve decided to conduct a special online gala event that will take place next month, on the eve of the 4th night of Chanukah. In this event, we will present new discoveries in our research that have not yet been published, with hope of generating interest in helping to fund our operation in 2024.

Follow the link for the program.

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Archaeological evidence for the United Monarchy?

ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE: David and Solomon’s Biblical Kingdom May Have Existed After All, New Study Suggests. Monumental structures at Gezer have been redated to the early 10th century B.C.E., which means maybe Solomon built them after all, biblical archaeologists say. But colleagues remain skeptical (Ariel David, Haaretz).

Most likely, the debate on the existence and extent of the United Monarchy will not be solved by this study, says Prof. Aren Maeir, an archaeologist at Bar-Ilan University who heads the dig at the ancient Philistine city of Gath.

The paper provides “seemingly solid dating to the 10th century B.C.E. for the fortifications and public structures at Gezer 8. This very logically could be connected to the United Monarchy,” Maeir tells Haaretz. “I doubt though this can provide a final answer for the historicity of David and Solomon.”

Probably not.

Those six-chambered city gates at Gezer, Megiddo, and Hazor sure have given archaeologists something to argue about since Yadin noticed them.

The underlying PLOS ONE article has a lot more going on than just the 10th century dating of a stratum. The Haaretz article gives a nicely readable summary. If you want the nitty-gritty details:

The chronology of Gezer from the end of the late bronze age to iron age II: A meeting point for radiocarbon, archaeology egyptology and the Bible

Lyndelle C. Webster , Samuel R. Wolff, Steven M. Ortiz, Marcella Barbosa, Cameron Coyle, Gary P. Arbino, Michael W. Dee, Quan Hua, Geraldine E. Jacobsen

Published: November 15, 2023 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293119

Abstract

The ancient southern Levantine city of Gezer is well-known from Egyptian, Biblical and Assyrian sources, associated with power struggles, conquests, and intriguing tales involving figures such as Milkilu and Amenhotep III, Merneptah, the Philistines, Solomon and his unidentified pharaonic father-in-law, and Shishak / Sheshonq I. Since the identity of Gezer with “Tell Jezer” is quite literally ‘set in stone’ by some dozen boundary inscriptions, along with impressive Bronze and Iron Age remains, research at this site provides a unique opportunity to compare text and archaeology, as well as bring to light the undocumented everyday lives of the city’s inhabitants. In this endeavour, independent scientific dating is crucial for anchoring the remains chronologically. This paper presents the first substantial radiocarbon dataset and Bayesian chronological analysis for Gezer spanning the last part of the Late Bronze Age (LBA; LB IIB) through Iron Age II. The dataset derives from an essentially continuous stratigraphic sequence exposed in recent years by the Tandy expedition along the central-southern edge of the site. The results allow us for the first time to independently determine the site chronology, test the viability (from a chronological perspective) of proposed historical correlations, and contribute to debates on Philistine and Iron Age chronology.

For some PaleoJudaica posts on whether archaeology supports the existence of a Davidic and Solomonic United Monarchy, see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and links.

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The Lailashi Codex

H-JUDAIC: NEW PUBLICATION: The New Ancient Masoretic Pentateuch: The Lailashi Codex - The Crown of Georgian Jewry.

I have never heard of this Hebrew Bible codex before. The claim that it could be as early as the tenth century CE doesn't sound very well established, so I would receive it with caution. But I look forward to following the reception of this new volume to see what specialists think.

The most informative link I can find on this codex is this JewTh!nk Blog post by Thea Gomelauri, cited at the bottom of the History of the Book Blog post noted in the H--Judaic post: Introducing the best kept secret of Georgian Jewry: The Lailashi Codex.

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More on Wright and “Why The Bible Began"

AUTHOR PROFILE: Emory Professor Jacob Wright Thrives on Big Ideas. His new work about the origins of the Bible is already acclaimed as one of the best books of 2023 (Bob Bahr, Atlanta Jewish Times).

Now Wright, who is also an active congregant of the Modern Orthodox Congregation Ohr HaTorah on LaVista Road, has taken a new and distinctly iconoclastic view of the scriptural foundation of Judaism. His new book, “Why The Bible Began,” has been hailed by the New Yorker magazine and Publisher’s Weekly as one of the best books of 2023. It’s likely to be a lively contender for a National Jewish Book Award and other significant prizes. ...

What he theorizes, based on both historical and archeological courses, is that the intellectuals of the time, the courtly scribes and educated elite of both Israel and Judah, realized the need for a new approach to survival. This new generation of thinkers came to believe that their lack of worldly success might not doom them. A deeper study of their fate they believed, might yet be able to rescue victory from the jaws of defeat. The direct result, Wright says, is our Torah.

For more on Professor Wright and his new book, see here and links.

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