Four new Babylonian lunar-omen tablets published

CUNEIFORM LUNAR OMENS: Ancient Babylonians thought solar eclipses predicted disasters. Deciphering four Mesopotamian tablets, team led by Assyriologist Andrew George shows Babylonians understood celestial events as messages from the gods (Times of Israel).

We already knew how omens worked. The point of the underlying article is the publication of these four interesting tablets. The story has been getting some media attention. The article in the Journal of Cuneiform Studies is behind a subscription wall, but you can read the abstract here. Notably:

As products of the middle and late Old Babylonian periods [the tablets] represent the oldest examples of compendia of lunar-eclipse omens yet discovered and thus provide important new information about celestial divination among the peoples of southern Mesopotamia in the early second millennium BCE.

For the possible relevance of Mesopotamian lunar (but not eclipse) omen literature to a famous passage in the Bible, see here.

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Haspia?

ARCHAEOLOGY: Was the Jewish Settlement of ‘Haspia’, Mentioned in Rabbinic Sources, Found in the Golan? (crownheights.info).

Impressive remains of a structure dating from the 2nd century to the mid-4th century CE were uncovered in excavations, conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority, between 2014-2019 in the settlement of Hispin in the Golan Heights, together with the community and students from the nearby Golan School. Researchers speculate that the discovered structure was, in fact, part of the Jewish settlement of ‘Haspia’, mentioned in rabbinic sources.

[...]

First I've heard of this.

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O'Connell, The Hay Archive of Coptic Spells on Leather (British Museum, open-access)

THE AWOL BLOG: The Hay Archive of Coptic Spells on Leather: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Materiality of Magical Practice. A 2022 open-access book by Elisabeth O'Connell in the British Museum Research Publications Series. Follow the link for a link to the pdf file.

Abstract

The Hay archive of Coptic manuscripts consists of seven fragmentary sheets of leather bearing spells for divination, protection, healing, personal advancement, cursing and the satisfaction of sexual desire. Purchased from the heir of the Scottish Egyptologist and draftsman, Robert Hay (1799–1863), the manuscripts arrived at the British Museum in 1869. Since they were first published in the 1930s, they were understood to be the work of a single copyist writing around AD 600 in the Theban region of upper Egypt. The present volume has confirmed, nuanced, or challenged these assessments on the basis of scientific analysis and close study of the manuscripts.

Prompted by the urgent conservation needs of the corpus, this study seeks to provide a model integrated approach to the publication of ancient texts as archaeological objects by providing a full record of provenance and collection history; scientific analysis; conservation approach and treatment; a new complete edition and translation of the Coptic texts; and an extended discussion of the cultural context of production. Written on poorly processed calf, sheep and goat skin, the manuscripts were copied by multiple non-professional writers in the 8th–9th centuries. Employing a striking combination of ancient Egyptian, Graeco-Roman, biblical and extra-biblical motifs, their contents represent a Christian milieu making use of the mechanics of earlier ‘magical’ practice in a period well after the arrival of Islam.

Cross-file under Coptic Watch.

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Boda & Rom-Shiloni (eds.), Crossing Borders between the Domestic and the Wild (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

Crossing Borders between the Domestic and the Wild

Space, Fauna, and Flora

Mark J. Boda (Anthology Editor) , Dalit Rom-Shiloni (Anthology Editor)

Hardback
$120.00 $108.00

Ebook (PDF)
$108.00 $86.40

Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
$108.00 $86.40

Product details

Published Feb 22 2024
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 192
ISBN 9780567696359
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series DNI Bible Supplements
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

The present volume searches for different biblical perceptions of the wild, paying particular attention to the significance of fluid boundaries between the domestic and the wild, and to the options of crossing borders between them. Drawing on space, fauna, and flora, scholars investigate the ways biblical authors present the wild and the domestic and their interactions. In its six chapters and two responses, Hebrew Bible scholars, an archaeobotanist, an archaeologist, a geographer, and iconographers join forces to discuss the wild and its portrayals in biblical literature.The discussions bring to light the entire spectrum of real, imagined, metaphorized, and conceptualized forms of the wild that appear in biblical sources, as also in the material culture and agriculture of ancient Israel, and to some extent observe the great gap between biblical observations and modern studies of geography and of mapping that marks the distinctions between “the wilderness” and “the sown.” The book is the first written product presented on two consecutive years (2019, 2020) at the SBL Annual Meetings in the Section: “Nature Imagery and Conceptions of Nature in the Bible.”

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The rest of the sword has been found in that drainage channel

MARTIAL MATERIAL CULTURE: Lost tip of 2,000-year-old Roman sword reunites with blade in remarkable City of David discovery. The sword likely belonged to a Roman legionary who participated in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD (All Israel News).

"It wasn't until the excavation director, Eli Shukron, arrived at the sifting location and saw the fragment that I realized it was something significant. He was very excited and instantly recognized it as part of the same sword he had found over a decade ago. He even identified remnants of the leather scabbard that had covered the blade," [Ben] Mazuz added.

I noted the 2011 discovery of the larger fragment of the sword here, with more on it here.

I also noted the current excavation of that drainage channel here. The new sword fragment had not yet been found, or at least the excavators hadn't realized they had found it.

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

On the Kingdom of Judah

ANCIENT ORIGINS: Historical, Archaeological, and Theological Debates Surrounding the Kingdom of Judah (Aleksa Vučković).

The Kingdom of Judah, an ancient state established in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age, has long been a focal point for historians, archaeologists, and theologians alike. This small but significant kingdom, centered in Jerusalem, has left a major mark on history through its rich cultural heritage, complex political landscape, and profound religious traditions. The historical narrative of Judah is intertwined with the rise and fall of great empires, prophetic literature, and archaeological discoveries, making it a subject of intense scholarly debate and public fascination, even to this day. Scholars still aim to unravel the controversies surrounding the Kingdom of Judah by examining its historical context, archaeological findings, and theological implications, all of which will help them gain a deeper understanding of the complexities and significance of this ancient kingdom.

[...]

For more on the Siloam Inscription, see here and links. On the Tel Dan Stele, here and links. On the Lachish Letters, here and links.

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Biblical Archaeology Review's 50th anniversary is coming

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Celebrate BAR’s 50th! Share your favorite BAR stories, memories, and controversies. The anniversary is in 2025. There is a comment box at the link where you can share your memories.

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More on the move of that Megiddo mosaic

DECORATIVE ART EXHIBITION UPDATE: On loan from Israel, rare mosaic floor to be flown to museum in Washington. A rare third-century mosaic from an ancient church in Megiddo will be displayed at Washington's Museum of the Bible for three months, then return to Israel for future exhibition in a planned visitor center at its original discovery site (Israel Moskovitz, Ynet News).

I have already noted this story. But the earlier article said the loan was for nine months. This brief notice says three. I don't know if someone has made an error or if the agreement has changed. (I've held onto this post for a few days to check other coverage. It looks as though the three-month period is correct.)

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ANE Today's new website

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY: Introducing The Ancient Near East Today’s New Website.

ASOR is pleased to announce the launch of our new website for The Ancient Near East Today (ANE Today), our open-access digital platform for public scholarship, disseminating the latest research, insights, and news about the ancient Near East and beyond. Free to everyone, ANE Today constitutes an important part of ASOR’s mission to encourage public understanding of the cultures and history of the Near East from earliest times until today.

[...]

PaleoJudaica often links to the essays posted on this useful site.

I hope they preserve the old links when they migrate the old essays to the new site. Link rot is a serious problem on the Internet.

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Another Shroud of Turin study

CONTROVERSIAL MATERIAL CULTURE: Turin Shroud Study Claims Controversial Cloth Does Date to Time of Jesus (Newsweek).

In the Heritage study, lead researcher Liberato De Caro, from the Institute of Crystallography in Italy, and colleagues employed a novel method for dating ancient linen threads by inspecting their structural degradations using a technique known as Wide-Angle X-ray Scattering. This was applied to a small sample from the Shroud, which currently resides in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy.

The authors said the results of their analysis were "fully compatible" with analogous measurements obtained from a linen sample whose dating, according to historical records, is A.D. 55-74, and consistent with the hypothesis that the Shroud is a 2,000-year-old relic.

The authors note that the results are only compatible with this hypothesis under the condition that the artifact was kept at suitable levels of average temperature (around 20-22.5 degree Celsius, or 68-72.5 degrees Fahrenheit) and a relative humidity of 55-75 percent for 13 centuries of unknown history, in addition to seven centuries of known history in Europe.

And the authors noted that more research is needed.

This study is far outside my expertise, so I have no comments. Cross-file under Technology Watch.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on the Shroud of Turin, some of which note arguments in favor of or against its authenticity, start here and follow the links. The vast majority of scholarship views it as a medieval forgery.

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

Video on the Temple Mount Sifting Project

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Unearthing Truth: The Temple Mount Sifting Project's Sacred Mission (All Israel News).

Journey to the heart of Jerusalem's sacred history with the Temple Mount Sifting Project. Hosted by Kayla Prague, this All Israel feature uncovers the remarkable story of how ancient artifacts from the holiest site in Judaism are being rescued and studied. Witness how archaeologists and volunteers from around the world are piecing together biblical history, one handful of soil at a time. From First Temple-era treasures to Herodian architecture, discover the fascinating finds that connect us to the spiritual legacy of the Temple Mount. Join us as we explore this unique endeavor that bridges faith, science, and heritage, revealing the enduring significance of this holy site for both Jews and Christians alike. Don't miss this inspiring look at how modern dedication is preserving ancient truths.

Follow the link for a link to the YouTube video.

The Temple Mount Sifting Project Blog, to which PaleoJudaica often links, is here.

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Video reconstruction of Herod's Temple

RITMEYER ARCHAEOLOGICAL DESIGN: Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. Building the Most Detailed Depiction of Herod’s Temple.

This is truly a masterful video that aims to bring together the extensive research that began at the Temple Mount Excavations in Jerusalem in 1968, directed by the late Professor Benjamin Mazar. Many scholars have analysed the result of this and other excavations in Jerusalem to get a full picture of what Herod’s Magnum opus may have looked like. We understand that this 3D video is the first of a series designed to help people better understand this sacred structure.

Looks carefully researched and informative, with much attention to the technical details of reconstructing the architecture of the Temple.

Just so you know, the video is presented from a particular faith perspective.

Cross-file under (Virtual) Temple Mount Watch and Ancient Architecture.

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Another aqueduct arch collapse in Caesarea

MORE DETERIORATION: Caesarea Roman aqueduct collapses in funding dispute. Collapse is the second to happen in one year after the Caesarea Development Corporation refused to fund a preservation project despite early warnings (Asi Haim, Matan Shor, Ynet News).

I noted last year's collapse of a Hadrianic aqueduct arch at Caesarea here.

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Review of Buster, Remembering the Story of Israel

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Remembering the Story of Israel: Historical Summaries and Memory Formation in Second Temple Judaism (Doren Snoek).

Aubrey Buster, Remembering the Story of Israel: Historical Summaries and Memory Formation in Second Temple Judaism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022).

Aubrey Buster’s Remembering the Story of Israel: Historical Summaries and Memory Formation in Second Temple Judaism makes significant contributions in four areas: first, to the study of short, schematic histories in biblical literature; second, to memory studies and biblical literature; third, to study of the biblical work Chronicles, and fourth, to psalmody and prayer in Second Temple Jewish literature. Its primary question is: how did short historical accounts in various genres generate meaning in early Jewish communities? Secondarily, it asks: why did short historical accounts remain productive alongside long-form narrative histories? ...

I noted the publication of the book here.

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Tracing the background of basalt blocks?

LITHIC MATERIAL CULTURE: Israeli Archaeologists Create Method to Analyze Basalt – to Their Own Surprise. Primordial Israel was volcanic and the ancient northern cities were built with basalt. But did they all use the same source to sate their marble envy? (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

Now a team has shown that basalt from different sources can be reliably distinguished and grouped even if the sources remain unknown. Dr. Mechael Osband of Kinneret Academic College and the University of Haifa, with Dr. Michael Eisenberg of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa, and Prof. Jeffrey Ferguson of the University of Missouri describe the methodology they developed to group the basalts at two sites in Israel based on composition. Their groundbreaking paper has been published this year in the journal Archaeometry.

The underlying article is open access:

XRF Analysis of Village and Urban Basalt Architecture in the Hippos Territorium during the Roman Period

Mechael Osband, Michael Eisenberg, Jeffery R. Ferguson

First published: 29 April 2024 https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12975

Funding information: ...

Abstract

This case study examines the use of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) as an effective method for defining distinct chemical compositions of local basalt stone from different sources in the Roman period, even when their quarries have not been identified. It also deals with the archaeological question if public and monumental structures from a village and urban site shared the same stone sources and stonemason's workshops. Ninety-six samples from the Hippos Territorium, mainly from the polis of Hippos and the village of Majduliyya, were analyzed. XRF was found to be an effective method for defining distinct chemical compositions of local basalt materials from different sources. The distinct composition of the basalt stones between the two sites provided valuable insights into socio-economic relationships, shedding light on the nature of city–village dynamics in the region. Additionally, it aids in discerning whether diverse basalt sources were utilized in both private and public constructions, as well as installations within a single site. Methodological questions and the application of this method in the archaeological research of basalt-based architecture are also addressed.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on the archaeological discoveries at and around Hippos-Sussita, see here and links. For stonemasons' marks on the basalt flooring blocks there, see here.

The site of Majduliyya is new to me.

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

Israel's biblical trees

ARBOREAL HISTORY: Hiking through history: Discovering Israel's native trees on the trails. Explore the unique beauty of Israel's native trees on your next hike, where ancient oaks, carobs, and figs bring the rich history and landscapes of the Holy Land to life (SUSANNAH SCHILD, Jerusalem Post).

t took about 20 years of living and traveling in Israel for me to deeply appreciate Israel’s own native trees, and their excellent qualities, suited to the local climate. In this land of rainy and dry seasons, oversized trees need too much water to survive. The low, shrubby forests native to Israel are less susceptible to drought and fire, common dangers of long, hot Israeli summers.

Biblical mentions of Middle Eastern trees are plentiful. ...

For more on the carob, see here and links. And for a bit of fun speculation about oaks and terebinths, see here.

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

Are Egyptians reviving Coptic?

COPTIC WATCH: Egyptians Are Learning The Coptic Language To Revive Their Original Identity (Farah Abdelkarim, lovin cairo).

A Bridge Between Past and Present

Coptic, the latest stage in the evolution of the ancient Egyptian language, is gaining renewed attention. This interest reflects a broader effort to understand and honor Egypt’s rich history, amidst ongoing debates about the true origins of the Egyptian people. Renowned archaeologist Zahi Hawass has reiterated in various media appearances that Egyptians “are neither Arabs nor Africans,” emphasizing cultural and behavioral differences from their Arab neighbors. This perspective has fueled curiosity and enthusiasm for Coptic among those keen to explore their ancient heritage.

Embracing the Language Through Modern Technology

The resurgence of interest in Coptic is being facilitated by modern technology. Social media platforms and online resources have made learning Coptic more accessible than ever. Experts in the field have leveraged these tools to offer online classes, providing educational materials and cultural insights to Egyptians eager to deepen their connection with their linguistic heritage.

For more historical background on the Coptic language, see here and links.

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

A.I. is finding more Gilgamesh Epic

ALGORITHM WATCH: Piecing Together an Ancient Epic Was Slow Work. Until A.I. Got Involved. Scholars have struggled to identify fragments of the epic of Gilgamesh — one of the world’s oldest literary texts. Now A.I. has brought an “extreme acceleration” to the field (Erik Ofgang, New York Times).

Now, an artificial intelligence project called Fragmentarium is helping to fill some of these gaps. Led by Enrique Jiménez, a professor at the Institute of Assyriology of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, the Fragmentarium team uses machine learning to piece together digitized tablet fragments at a much faster pace than a human Assyriologist can. So far, A.I. has helped researchers discover new segments of Gilgamesh as well as hundreds of missing words and lines from other works. ...

Before 2018, only some 5,000 tablet fragments were matched. In the six years since, Jiménez’s team has successfully matched over 1,500 more tablet pieces, including those pertaining to a newly discovered hymn to the city of Babylon and 20 fragments from Gilgamesh that add detail to over 100 lines of the epic.

HT Todd Bolen at the Bible Places Blog.

Bit by bit, a letter at a time, whatever it takes. Until we're done.

Reconnecting cuneiform tablet fragments by shape seems to be a big part of this project. That's is a perfect task for A.I. The Fragmentarium site at the electronic Babylonian Library (eBL) is here.

For more on the Epic of Gilgamesh, and why PaleoJudaica is interested in it, with a trail of many links, start here.

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Verde & Rossi (eds.), Cultural Hegemony, Ideological Conflicts, and Power in Second Temple Judaism (Peeters)

NEW BOOK FROM PEETERS:

Cultural Hegemony, Ideological Conflicts, and Power in Second Temple Judaism

SERIES:
Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium, 337

EDITORS:
Verde D., Rossi B.

PRICE: 87 euro
YEAR: 2024
ISBN: 9789042952676
E-ISBN: 9789042952683
PAGES: VIII-325 p

SUMMARY:

The literary texts of ancient Israel and early Judaism are infused with ideologies and reflect various social, economic, religious, and political agendas. On the one hand hegemonic and counter-hegemonic ideologies shaped the production of literary texts, on the other hand literary texts helped cement or at least spread such ideologies and worldviews. This volume explores the relationship between authoritative texts, ideologies, and social, religious, and political struggles in Second Temple Judaism by examining both the Hebrew Bible and other literary products of Second Temple Judaism, such as the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Septuagint, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. The volume focuses on a series of case studies and aims to shed light on how literary production in Second Temple Judaism is simultaneously the effect and medium of social struggles for hegemony. The first section of the volume focuses on the texts of the Hebrew Bible and the Samaritan Pentateuch, explicitly engaging with Antonio Gramsci's concept of cultural hegemony. The second section explores the broad themes of power dynamics, conflict, and different types of hegemonies.

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Phoenician Trade Associations in Ancient Greece

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY: Phoenician Trade Associations in Ancient Greece (Denise Demetriou).

With their maritime ventures and their migratory patterns, the Phoenicians transformed the ancient Mediterranean basin and the societies that they encountered. They created the most important pan-Mediterranean artistic movement of the 8th–6th centuries BCE, conventionally called “orientalizing art;” they reintroduced a writing system adopted by the Greeks, Etruscans, Iberians, and later the Romans, among others; they transferred gods and myths to other groups living in the region; and they established new institutions.

One of these novel institutions was the phenomenon of professional associations structured around an occupation, the home state of its members, and that state’s patron deity. ...

Cross-file under Phoenician Watch.

Occasionally I like to link to this post, which explains why PaleoJudaica pays attention to the Phoenicians, the Phoenician language, the Carthaginians, and Punic and Neo-Punic.

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

Tu B'Av 2024

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 and here.

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Meanwhile, in Neolithic Turkey ...

SOMEWHAT OFF TOPIC for PaleoJudaica, but I have mentioned the Neolithic site of Göbekli Tepe before, so I may as well follow that up. It and Çatalhöyük in Turkey preserve remarkable material evidence for high culture, including religious culture, in the Neolithic era. Two recent stories:

A 10,000 Year Old Stone Calendar? (At Göbekli Tepe; Carl Rasmussen, HolyLandPhotos' Blog).

Çatalhöyük Mural: The Earliest Representation of a Volcanic Eruption? 9,000-year-old painting thought to depict an eruption at Hasan Dağ (Noah Wiener , Bible History Daily)

I can't guarantee the credibility of either. My expertise lies elsewhere. But peer-reviewed research underlies both. I blog, you decide.

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

Satlow's Talmud course

TALMUD WATCH: Professor Michael L. Satlow is teaching an undergraduate, English-only course on The Talmud this autumn. Follow the link for the syllabus and a brief, introductory YouTube video. With a bonus A.I. mapping of the similarities between the two Talmuds.

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

Is the Ivory Pomegranate inscription authentic?

BIBLE ARCHAEOLOGY REPORT: Weighing the Evidence: Is the Ivory Pomegranate Authentic? (Bryan Windle).

If authentic, this small artifact has big implications, possibly representing the only physical evidence of the First Temple in Jerusalem. If it is fake, it is a clever forgery that has fooled some of the world’s leading epigraphers and led to Israel Museum, Jerusalem (IMJ) being taken for over half a million dollars.

HT Todd Bolen, just back from an 9,000 mile-road trip, at the Bible Places Blog.

Background on the debate over the authenticity of the Ivory Pomegrate inscription is here and links. The current leaning seems to be in the direction of authenticity, as Bryan indicates. I have no opinion on the question myself.

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

Wisdom Between East and West (open-access, Venice University Press)

THE AWOL BLOG: Wisdom Between East and West: Mesopotamia, Greece and Beyond. An open-access publication from Venice University Press, edited by Francesco Sironi and Maurizio Viano.

The volume publishes the proceeding of the workshop Wisdom Between East and West: Mesopotamia, Greece and Beyond held at the University of Turin on 26-27 October 2022. The volume collects papers from Assyriologists, Classicists and Biblical scholars around the topic of wisdom. Scholars have investigated wisdom from various angles, from speculative thought to literature, from science, to dance, to proverbs.

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

Tu B'Av explainer

COMING THIS SUNDAY: Tu B'Av: Everything you need to know about the Jewish holiday of love and romance - explainer. Tu B'Av is often considered a Jewish version of Valentine's Day. But this ancient holiday has its own distinct traditions and practices, which have evolved until today. Here's what you should know (Aaron Reich, Jerusalem Post).

While not very well-known internationally, Tu B'Av is actually a very old Jewish holiday associated with love. Today, especially in Israel, it is often seen as a Jewish version or alternative to the Christian day of love, Valentine's Day.

A thorough account of an ancient festival that has taken on new life in recent years.

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

ASOR webinar: Magness on "What Makes Jerusalem Special?"

ONLINE EVENT: FRIENDS OF ASOR WEBINARS: What Makes Jerusalem Special?

Friends of ASOR present the first webinar of the 2024-2025 season on September 4, 2024, at 7:00 pm EDT, presented by Prof. Jodi Magness. This webinar will be free and open to the public thanks to partial sponsorship by Oxford University Press. Registration through Zoom (with a valid email address) is required.

For details and free registration, follow the link.

For more on Professor Magness's new book, Jerusalem through the Ages, see here and links.

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

Review of Magness, Jerusalem through the Ages

BOOK REVIEW: Unveiling Jerusalem: Jodi Magness’s comprehensive archaeological journey through time. 'Jerusalem through the Ages' is a wonderful survey of what became, uniquely, a holy city to three of the world’s major religions (NEVILLE TELLER, Jerusalem Post).

In the preface to her new book, Jerusalem Through the Ages, Magness asks and answers the obvious question: Why is another book on Jerusalem needed? She points out that most of the books covering the city’s pre-modern history and archaeology are either broad surveys written by non-specialists, edited volumes containing chapters by multiple specialists, or studies by individual specialists focusing on a specific time frame or topic.

I noted the publication of the book here. See also here. There are many PaleoJudaica posts on Professor Magness's work, notably, but far from exclusively, on the Huqoq excavation.

As it happens, another archaeologist, Israel Finkelstein, has also just published a book on the archaeology of Jerusalem: Jerusalem the Center of the Universe (SBL Press). It is a collection of his previous articles, so its remit is rather different from Magness's book.

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

Why is the Gallus Revolt forgotten?

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: Jews And Christians In Roman Palestine (Philip Jenkins).

In other words, the Gallus Revolt of the 350s looks like a straight linear successor or rerun of those earlier and vastly more famous risings, although as I say, it is unknown to non-specialists. It makes nonsense of the idea that the Jewish population was so thoroughly and irrevocably purged after the 130s, and it must remind us of the strong Jewish community that paralleled and confronted the rising Christianity within Palestine itself, with its legendary center at Caesarea Maritima. Inevitably, our sense of actual population statistics is shaky, but there must have been thriving Jewish rural communities.

For more on the Gallus Revolt and the recent numismatic discovery underlying this essay, see here. And for a bit more on the revolt, see here.

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

Diaspora Judaism and the Temple

DR. MICHAEL TUVAL: Judaism Transforms in the Diaspora During the Second Temple Period (TheTorah.com).

Even before the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E., the Jews of the Greco-Roman Diaspora successfully created Judaic systems that provided them with identity, purpose, new ways of thinking, and alternative points of access to the divine, independent of the Temple rituals in far-off Jerusalem.

Cross-file under Tisha B'Av.

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Lieber, Staging the Sacred: SBL review panel, part 4

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Author's Response: An Invitation (Laura Lieber).

SBL 2023 Review Panel | Staging the Sacred: Theatricality and Performance in Late Ancient Liturgical Poetry, by Laura Lieber

... All this is to say that this book panel offered me an opportunity to reflect on the fact that the area in which I work did not exist as a field when I was coming up as a scholar: it is not Jewish Studies, or Rabbinics, or Biblical Studies. My book, Staging the Sacred, and the reviewers who so generously review it here represent at least a new corner in the field of Late Antiquity, if not a new field of study, one that is not Bible (Old Testament or New); not Liturgy or Ritual Studies but impossible without those areas; not Judaism or Christian or Islam, but perhaps all of the above; not necessarily Religious Studies but perhaps Art History and Architecture, or Classics, or Literature, or a mixture of several disciplines into one. It can feel like a very old field in its enthusiastic, omnivorous openness and very new, through its transgressive, almost aggressive desire to cross borders. ...

For the first three essays in the series and some background on the author's work, see here and links.

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The latest on Jewish-Temple denial

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: ‘A Jewish myth': In Arab world, many still refuse to accept existence of the two Temples - analysis. ‘Temple denial’ is a known practice amongst those who seek to deny any historical presence for Jews in Israel, leading to a denial of Israel’s right to exist (Ohad Merlin, Jerusalem Post).

On the backdrop of the political, religious, and diplomatic prospects, Tisha B'Av also catalyzes a well-established practice across the pro-Palestinian world, nicknamed “Temple denial.” This practice provides anti-Zionist voices with a platform to deny the indigeneity of the Jewish people to Israel, negating empirical historical facts, all in an attempt to strip Israel of its right to exist.

PaleoJudaica has been covering this problem for a long time.

I actually found this article a little encouraging. It notes some recent acknowledgement of the existence of the two Judean Temples. Perhaps all the push-back, including ours, has had some effect.

I discussed the issue in detail a few years ago here, with many links.

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

Drainage channel profiles Jerusalem during Great Revolt

MATERIAL CULTURE: Detritus from ancient Jerusalem drainage channel captures moment of city’s destruction. Excavation reveals rare glass and ceramic vessels, oil lamps, tableware and food remains, offering insight into state of city in period before its sacking by Rome in 70 CE (Gavriel Fiske, Times of Israel).

This channel was usually cleaned regularly by municipal authorities, but the archaeologists found that it was half-filled with silt, indicating “a gradual neglect of city maintenance. And indeed, this very neglect and abandonment that we witness here corresponds to the story of the process of Jerusalem’s destruction,” said Dr. Ayelet Zilberstein, who directed the excavation.

I noted the discovery of the mentioned sword here.

Cross-file under Tisha B'Av.

Drainage channels in Jerusalem had preserved much information and many artifacts from the Second Temple Period and occasionally earlier. See here, here, here, here,here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

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Antoninus Pius coin sifted from Temple Mount

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT BLOG: A RARE TEMPLE MOUNT COIN FEATURING THE PORTRAIT OF THE EMPEROR WHO REPEALED THE HARSH DECREES AGAINST JEWS AFTER TISHA B’AV 135 CE.

It is fitting that on the Ninth of Av, the day on which the Jewish people mourn the destruction of their Temple in Jerusalem, we present this coin, minted by Antoninus Pius. As the successor of Hadrian, the Roman emperor who completed the destruction of Jerusalem that began in 70 CE under Emperor Vespasian, paganizing the city and rededicating it as Aelia Capitolina. Antoninus Pius ended the downward spiral of destruction, restored the right of the Jews to practice their religion and rekindled the hope of the Jewish people for a better future.

Cross-file under Numismatics.

This coin is rare, as the article notes. It seems that few coins from the reign of Antoninus Pius have been found in Israel. I noted the discovery of (reportedly) the first ever back in 2010 (here and here) and two more in recent years here and here.

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Another stone just fell at the Western Wall

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: A day before Tisha B’Av, a large Jerusalem stone falls at the Western Wall. A comment on Israeli society, or an odd coincidence? (Louis Keene, The Forward).

I wouldn't call a brick-sized stone particularly "large." But I wouldn't want one to fall on my head either! Fortunately there is no report of this one causing any harm. This one fell from a Mamluk-era wall abutting the Herodian wall.

A much larger stone fell from the Western Wall some years ago, fortunately also without harming anyone. It has been in the news recently.

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Tisha B'Av explainer

BACKGROUND AND CUSTOMS: Tisha B'Av 2024: What the Jewish summer fast day is all about - explainer. On Tisha B'av, the Jewish people mourn the two destructions of the First and Second Temples of Jerusalem. Here is everything you need to know (Jerusalem Post).

This article opens with a good, brief summary of the history of Tisha B'Av. But it appears to have been republished from last year without updating the days of the week (and presumably the sunset-sunrise times). The fast day this year is on Monday-Tuesday (i.e., now).

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Tisha B'Av 2024

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, with links.

UPDATE (15 August): Subsequent related posts are here, here, here, here, here, and here.

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Lieber, Staging the Sacred: SBL review panel, part 3

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: All the (Ancient) World’s a Stage (Erin Galgay Walsh).

SBL 2023 Review Panel | Staging the Sacred: Theatricality and Performance in Late Ancient Liturgical Poetry, by Laura Lieber

One of the most beloved images within Syriac literature is the treasury. Writers such as Ephrem (d. 373 CE) and Jacob of Serugh (ca. 451-521 CE) invoke this image to impress upon their listeners the magnitude and inexhaustibility of divine largesse.[1] I would suggest that the language of treasury fittingly describes the remarkable book that brings us together today. Staging the Sacred is a scholarly treasury, brimming with erudition and insight. ...

For parts one and two and background, follow the links.

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Review of the Irshai Festschrift

ּBRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Essays on Jews and Christians in late antiquity in honour of Oded Irshai.

Brouria Bitton-Ashkelony, Martin Goodman, Essays on Jews and Christians in late antiquity in honour of Oded Irshai. Cultural Encounters in late antiquity and the Middle Ages, 40. Turnhout: Brepols, 2023. Pp. 308. ISBN 9782503602455.

Review by
Andrew S. Jacobs, Harvard Divinity School. andrew@andrewjacobs.org

“The world of late antiquity” as a field of study since the 1970s is, perhaps, too often associated with a few specific Anglophone sites of elaboration and primarily with the intersections of early Christian studies (or, in another register, “patristics”) and post-Roman history (or, in another register, “classics”). The present volume, a Festschrift for Hebrew University professor Oded Irshai, is a salutary reminder that creative and generative thinking about late antiquity emerges from other, polyglot sites and can just as easily center Jews and Judaism alongside their Christian and “pagan” neighbors. ...

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What is Latin?

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: What Is Latin? Exploring the language of Rome and beyond (Jennifer Drummond).

Another in the useful BHD introductory series on biblical and related languages. For links to previous essays (on biblical Hebrew, Aramaic, biblical Greek, Akkadian, and Coptic), see here.

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Morales (ed.), Cult and Cosmos (Peeters)

NEW BOOK FROM PEETERS:

Cult and Cosmos
Tilting toward a Temple-Centered Theology

SERIES:
Biblical Tools and Studies, 18

EDITOR:
Morales L.M.

PRICE: 78 euro
YEAR: 2024
ISBN: 9789042953475
E-ISBN: 9789042953482
PAGES: XIV-429 p.

SUMMARY:

The association between creation and temple is a key element of the cultural context of the Hebrew Bible, and foundational for understanding its cultic theology. Situated within the common cultic ideology of the ancient Near East, Israel’s temple on the mountain of God was considered the central axis and navel of creation, its architecture, furnishings, and rituals pervaded by cosmogonic symbolism. Having emerged out of the twentieth century’s predisposed disdain for priestly material, the theological prominence of the temple within the Hebrew Bible is increasingly recognized by scholars. This volume, republishing pivotal scholarship on the interface of cult and cosmos, forms a primer on this significant area of study, tracing major voices in the conversation, from archaeological and ancient Near Eastern studies to biblical studies and the theological prospect of Israel’s cultus.

Reprints important essays from the 1930s through the 1990s.

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Porter& Yoon (eds.), The Johannine Prologue and its Resonances (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

The Johannine Prologue and its Resonances

Series:
Johannine Studies, Volume: 4

Volume Editors: Stanley E. Porter and David I. Yoon

The Prologue to John's Gospel has been an enigmatic object of inquiry in the history of biblical scholarship. This volume reengages readers with thirteen essays from various perspectives on the Prologue. These perspectives include source oriented approaches, form oriented approaches, functional approaches, and alternative non-traditional approaches. This book attempts to pave new paths to understanding the Prologue and cause readers to think more deeply about the beginning of John's Gospel.

Copyright Year: 2024

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-69894-9
Publication: 24 Jun 2024 EUR €135.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-69893-2
Publication: 27 Jun 2024
EUR €135.00

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Punic pots preserved in Pompeii necropolis

PUNIC WATCH: Fields of Artichokes and Vegetables Preserved Under the Ashes of the 79 AD Eruption and a Pre-Roman Necropolis with Punic Amphorae, Discovered in Pompeii (Guillermo Carvajal, LBV).

These are simple pit inhumations, a semicappuccina or with amphora coverings (all of North African import, some with Punic inscriptions, arranged alternately neck-to-puntal in a recurrent number of 7), characterized by the presence of few grave goods (mainly perfume bottles and coins) and by an excellent state of conservation of the skeletal remains, thanks to the immersion of the graves in groundwater, which has allowed the initiation of a paleo-anthropological research campaign on the remains.

Unfortunately, none of the punic inscriptions on the jars are visible in the photos.

The article reports on lots of other important paleobotanical and artifactual discoveries in the excavation.

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On Zelophehad’s Daughters

PROF. NEHAMA ASCHKENASY: Zelophehad’s Daughters Challenge the Law and Moses is Speechless (TheTorah.com).

Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah skillfully structure their petition to inherit land not by confronting the patriarchy, but by couching their request as an attempt to preserve their father’s name.

With attention to the exegesis of the story of Zelophehad’s Daughters (Numbers 26:33, 27:1-11, 36:1-12) in Midrash Sifre Numbers etc. For Talmudic exegesis of this story, see here and here.

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Fallen Western Wall stone finds a new home

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Massive 900-pound stone from Western Wall finds new permanent resting place. Six years after massive ancient stone fell from Western Wall onto non-segregated prayer section, narrowly missing woman in prayer, stone relocated to join other fallen stones in Jerusalem Archaeological Garden (Itamar Eichner, Ynet News).

For the original frightening but lucky incident, see here. The stone seems to have quadrupled in weight since then. For follow-ups, see here and links.

For more on the Jerusalem Archaeological Garden at the Davidson Center, see here.

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Evidence for Matthew's earthquake? Big maybe.

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Is Jesus’ Crucifixion Reflected in Soil Deposition? A geological study may indicate Earthquake described by Matthew.

According to the Gospel of Matthew, an earthquake shook Jerusalem on the day of Jesus’ crucifixion. A study of cores of soil deposition and seismic activity near the Dead Sea in the Volume 54, Issue 10 of International Geology Review* may provide scientific data relating to the event described in Matthew 27.

[...]

The article presents evidence that there was a local earthquake within a few years of the crucifixion of Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew (27:51) says there was an earthquake at the time Jesus was crucified. Maybe there was. Perhaps more likely, the author of Matthew knew there was an earthquake around that time and added it to the story. Or the oral traditions about the crucifixion acquired the earthquake over time. Who knows? As stories are told, they tend to attract and include other signficant characters and events.

The Discovery News article mentioned in the next paragraph reportedly tried to work out the exact date of the crucifixion based on the new evidence about the earthquake. The lead author of the International Geology Review disavowed this claim. See the relevant note to this essay.

For other biblical earthquakes, see here.

The Synoptic Gospels (Mark 15:33 par.) report another upheaval of nature during the crucifixion; the three hours of darkness. For more on that, and a supposed solar eclipse around the same time, see here (scroll down).

For the walking dead episode in Matthew 27:52-53, which, as far I know, no one has tried to connect to some other historical event, see here.

I was about to press publish when I saw that this BHD essay is actually 12 years old. Never mind, I missed it the first time. The comments are still relevant.

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National Lottery grant for the Egyptian Exploration Society

OXYRHYNCHUS WATCH: National Lottery grant boosts plan to exhibit Oxyrhynchus Papyri in London (Ian Mansfield, IanVisits).

The London-based Egypt Exploration Society has been awarded a grant that could see a redevelopment of their headquarters and the internationally significant Oxyrhynchus Papyri displayed in London for the first time. ...

They are planning to submit a bid for a full National Lottery delivery grant, which will secure up to two-thirds of the project’s cost. Ahead of that, the National Lottery Heritage Fund has granted them an initial £61,321 which will go towards the cost of producing the full bid documents. ...

Congratulations to the EES on the initial grant and good luck with the full grant application.

I am glad the EES is benefitting from it ... but don't play the lottery.

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Review article on Finkelstein, Jerusalem the Center of the Universe

BOOK REVIEW: In the Service of Empires: How Ancient Jerusalem Became Great. New book by leading biblical archaeologist Israel Finkelstein concludes that ancient Jerusalem and Judah thrived best when serving a foreign empire (Ariel David, Haaretz).

Since its emergence as an urban center some 5,000 years ago, the fortunes of Jerusalem have been influenced by great empires. Its greatness was forged more by pragmatists who knew how to navigate and adapt to complex imperialist agendas than by warriors and messianic rebels who took up arms.

A long and thorough review of a wide-ranging new book on the history of Jerusalem.

I have just noted the publication of the book here.

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Finkelstein, Jerusalem the Center of the Universe (SBL)

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

Jerusalem the Center of the Universe: Its Archaeology and History (1800–100 BCE)

Israel Finkelstein

ISBN 9781628374995
Status Available
Publication Date July 2024

Paperback $50.00
eBook $50.00
Hardback $85.00

Jerusalem is the center of the universe, the hub of the three great monotheistic religions, yet how did a city located on the desert fringe, in the semi-arid southern highlands of Israel with little tillable land achieve such dominance? To provide answers to this enduring riddle, Israel Finkelstein has collected twenty-four of his best articles and essays covering the Middle Bronze Age to the late Hellenistic period. With critical and well-informed care, he analyzes archaeological evidence that often stands in tension with the biblical text. Topics of particular interest include the archaeology of the tenth century BCE; Saul, David, and Solomon in the Bible and archaeology; the first expansion of the city in the ninth century; its full growth in the late eighth to seventh centuries; Jerusalem and Judah under the Assyrian Empire; the days of King Josiah; and transformations in the Persian-Hellenistic era. Short addenda update the reader on recent developments.

UPDATE: For a long review article by Ariel David in Haaretz, see here.

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Lieber, Staging the Sacred: SBL review panel, part 2

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: That's a Lot More Than Entertainment: Laura Lieber's Staging the Sacred (Michael Swartz).

SBL 2023 Review Panel | Staging the Sacred: Theatricality and Performance in Late Ancient Liturgical Poetry, by Laura Lieber

... Laura Lieber has not set an easy task for herself: she seeks to lead us out of our critical editions of piyyut, poetic Syriac sermons and hymns, and early Byzantine kontakia; and into the living world of performance—the voices, gestures, choreography, and emotions of the human beings who embodied them in ancient churches, synagogues, and streets. There will still be gaps between the textual realm and the lost realm of sound, sight, and affect, but Staging the Sacred brings a wealth of knowledge and insight to bring these worlds closer together. ...

For part one and background, see here and links.

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Review of Korytko, Death of the Covenant Code

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Death of the Covenant Code: capital punishment in old Greek Exodus in light of Greco-Egyptian law.

Joel Korytko, Death of the Covenant Code: capital punishment in old Greek Exodus in light of Greco-Egyptian law. Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism, 211. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2023. Pp. xii, 362. ISBN 9789004682030.

Review by
Dries De Crom, Tilburg University. d.j.l.a.decrom@tilburguniversity.edu

This monograph focuses on laws prescribing the death penalty in Exodus 21-22, a section of the book of Exodus also known as the “Book of the Covenant” or the “Covenant Code”. The main thesis of this study can be summarized as follows. The author argues that the Old Greek translation of Exodus subtly alters and/or excises references to the death penalty in Ex 21-22, while maintaining “superficial semantic fidelity” (pp. 2-4) to the source text. ...

I noted the publication of the book here.

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Pot of gold (darics) excavated in Turkey

NUMISMATICS: Persian gold coins likely used to pay mercenaries found at site of ancient Greek city in western Turkey (University of Michigan Press release).

A team of researchers led by a University of Michigan archaeologist has uncovered a hoard of gold coins, likely used to pay mercenary troops, buried in a small pot in the ancient Greek city of Notion in western Turkey.

The coins show a figure of a kneeling archer, the characteristic design of the Persian daric, a type of gold coin issued by the Persian Empire and probably minted at Sardis, 60 miles northeast of Notion, according to U-M archaeologist Christopher Ratté, professor of ancient Mediterranean art and archaeology and director of the Notion Archaeological Project, the project that discovered the coins.

The hoard, which the U-M team dated to the fifth century B.C., will provide another datapoint that can tell historians about the Persian daric’s timeline and history.

[...]

Everyone else is reporting this story, so I may as well find an excuse to as well.

Gold darics appear several times in the Hebrew Bible: anachronistically in the time of King David in 1 Chronicles 29:7 and in a more plausible sixth-to-fifth-century BCE context in Ezra 2:69, 8:27; Nehemiah 7:70-72. It is the first coin mentioned in the Bible.

For more the daric, see here.

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Roman soldier boot-nails sifted from Temple Mount

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT BLOG: THE NAILS THAT ATTEST THE PRESENCE OF ROMAN LEGIONARY ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT.

While, in the Sifting Project, we have not found stones as described in this account, we do find many stones from the Temple Mount’s paving, some with scratches or grooves possibly from ancient times, as well as over a hundred shoe nails typologically dated to the Roman period. Some are likely from caligae sandal-boots, while others may be from civilian hobnailed shoes.

Which account? Read at the link.

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Lieber, Staging the Sacred: SBL review panel, part 1

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Liturgy and Theater: Hearing Poetry Anew (Susan Ashbrook Harvey).

SBL 2023 Review Panel | Staging the Sacred: Theatricality and Performance in Late Ancient Liturgical Poetry, by Laura Lieber

... A major achievement of the book is the successful setting of Jewish, Samaritan, and Christian hymnody in shared spotlight, as partakers together of their cultural world, its landscapes, society, literary, oral, aural, and visual cultures (and, one might add, olfactory culture as well: with incense everywhere to cleanse and adorn the air of worship, and fragrant lamp oils to illuminate with beauty). ...

For more on the book and the work of the author, see here and links.

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Elephantine exhibition: opening hours extended

STAATLICHE MUSEEN ZU BERLIN: More than 150,000 Visitors Have already Attended “Elephantine: Island of the Millennia”: Opening Hours Extended until 1 September 2024 (Museumsinsel Berlin).

More than 150,000 people have seen the special exhibition Elephantine: Island of the Millennia at the James-Simon-Galerie and the Neues Museum since it opened on 26 April 2024. Due to the overwhelming response to the exhbition, the opening hours have been extended until 1 September 2024 from Tuesday to Saturday from 9 am to 8 pm, and on Sundays from 9 am to 6 pm. The exhibition will be on show until 27 October 2024.

There is more info at the link. Background here.

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BHD: Millard obituary

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Milestones: Alan Millard (1937–2024) (K. Lawson Younger).

Alan Millard passed away in Leamington Spa, England, on June 6, 2024. He was 86 years old. Millard was Rankin Professor Emeritus of Hebrew and Ancient Semitic Languages and Honorary Senior Fellow at the University of Liverpool in England.

[...]

Background here and links.

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Kelle (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Hosea

NEW BOOK FROM OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS:

The Oxford Handbook of Hosea

Edited by Brad E. Kelle

Oxford Handbooks

£115.00

Hardback
Published: 19 June 2024
520 Pages
248x171mm
ISBN: 9780197639597

Description

The Oxford Handbook of Hosea is a collection of essays that provide resources for the interpretation of the book of Hosea. The volume examines interpretive elements and approaches that are deemed essential for interpretation or that are representative of significant trends in present and future study. Each essay addresses one particular element or approach and will critically survey prior scholarship before presenting current and prospective approaches.

In many ways, research on the book of Hosea is representative of the developments and current trends in prophetic study as a whole. Hence, while dedicated to the book of Hosea, the collection of essays in this volume provides a snapshot of what today's fully orbed scholarship on a prophetic book should look like. The collection begins with background-oriented essays that discuss the history, text, and compositional growth of Hosea. The volume includes a section of essays that survey established and emerging perspectives on key representative texts from the book. The essays then treat the book of Hosea's major theological and literary elements, themes, and motifs before moving on to examine diverse interpretive theories, contexts, and approaches. The final group of essays in the volume investigates major trends in the reception history of Hosea, including the book's use in popular movies and novels, as well as Asian and African American interpretation.

The Handbook provides state-of-the-art essays for graduate students and scholars on a wide variety of key subject areas relating to the interpretation of the book of Hosea

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Deluty, Prophet, Intermediary, King (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Prophet, Intermediary, King

The Dynamics of Mediation in the Biblical World and Old Babylonian Mari

Series:
Culture and History of the Ancient Near East, Volume: 137

Author: Julie B. Deluty

In Prophet, Intermediary, King: The Dynamics of Mediation in the Biblical World and Old Babylonian Mari, Julie B. Deluty investigates the mediation of prophecy for kings in biblical narratives and the Old Babylonian corpus from Mari. In many cases, the prophet’s message is delivered through a third party—sometimes a royal official or family member—who may exercise a degree of autonomy in the transmission of the words. Drawing on social network theory, the book highlights the importance of third-party intermediaries in the process of communication that lies at the core of biblical and ancient Near Eastern prophecy. Recognition of the place of non-prophetic intermediaries in a monarchic system offers a new dimension to the study of prophecy in antiquity.

Copyright Year: 2024

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-69077-6
Publication: 02 Apr 2024
EUR €126.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-69076-9
Publication: 03 Apr 2024
EUR €126.00

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Review of Dugan, The apocalypse of the birds

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: The apocalypse of the birds: 1 Enoch and the Jewish revolt against Rome.

Elena L. Dugan, The apocalypse of the birds: 1 Enoch and the Jewish revolt against Rome. Edinburgh studies in religion in antiquity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2023. Pp. 280. ISBN 9781399508650.

Review by Tony Keddie, University of Texas at Austin. tony.keddie@austin.utexas.edu

... Dugan’s book focuses on the Animal Apocalypse (1 Enoch 85–90). Based on material analysis of manuscripts from Qumran and literary and other considerations, Dugan argues that the Animal Apocalypse comprises two subsidiary works, neither of which likely emerged from the Maccabean Revolt as per scholarly consensus. The later of these, dubbed the Apocalypse of the Birds, is absent from the Dead Sea Scrolls. Internal and external factors lead her to propose a new provenance: the First Jewish Revolt against Rome. ...

I noted a thematically related essay by Dugan here.

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On Marta, the Daughter of Boethus

TALMUD WATCH: The Inspiring Teaching of the Talmud’s Tragic Woman. As analyzed by Gila Fine in her recently published "The Madwoman in the Rabbi’s Attic: Rereading the Women of the Talmud," Marta’s ancient story offers a surprising sliver of hope amidst despair. (Rabbi Dr. Stuart Halpern, Jewish Journal).

At first glance, Marta’s undoing reads like that of so many other delicate prima donnas getting their just desserts — a talmudic Marie Antoinette ending up without her cake and without her life. But as Fine astutely notes, one can see in the story a determination to overcome her horrific circumstances that inspires others even if Marta herself does not recover.

I guess she should have kept her shoes on.

You can read the full text of the story of Marta, the Daughter of Boethus, in b. Gittin 56a.11 at the Sefaria website. Sefaria also collects additional sources on Marta here.

For more on Fine's book, The Madwoman in the Rabbi’s Attic, see here and links.

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More on Jerusalem's Har Hotzvim quarry excavation

ARCHAEOLOGY: Israeli Archaeologists Reveal Huge Stone Quarry in Jerusalem From King Herod's Time. Dated to the Late Second Temple period, the quarry at Har Hahotzvim may have produced the slabs used in the Temple and ancient Jerusalem's streets, archaeologists say (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

I noted this story yesterday. There are many more articles on it now, but most of them seem just to be based on the original IAA press release. Ms. Schuster interviewed IAA excavation co-director Michael Chernin and her article has some additional details.

Background here and links.

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More stone vessels from Jerusalem's Har Hotzvim quarry excavation

ARCHAEOLOGY: Hidden for millennia: Enormous quarry find illuminates Jerusalem's past. In one corner of the quarry, archaeologists made a surprising discovery: an intact stone vessel. Hidden for two millennia, the vessel was found almost by chance (Israel HaYom).

A vast quarry dating back to the late Second Temple period has been unearthed in Jerusalem's Har Hotzvim Hi-Tech Park, offering new insights into the city's ancient construction industry. The excavation, led by the Israel Antiquities Authority, has yielded rare stone vessels and enormous building blocks, potentially linked to King Herod's ambitious architectural projects, including the expansion of the Temple Mount.

[...]

There is a YouTube video on the discoveries:

For more on the quarry excavation at the Har Hotzvim Hi-Tech Park, see here. And see the links collected there for some other Second Temple-era quarries in the vicinity of Jerusalem. See also some of the articles noted here.

Also, for more on ancient Jewish stone vessels and their purity implications, see here and links.

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Were the Biblical Authors “Elites”?

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

Were the Biblical Authors “Elites”?

...Biblical texts are invariably anonymous, undated and unprovenanced. If we do not know who wrote the text, and if we are unable to compellingly demonstrate when or where the text was written, it follows that we can hardly expect to know very much at all about the social position the author occupied in the community within which he was embedded

See also The Origins of Judaism: An Archaeological-Historical Reappraisal (Yale University Press, 2022).

By Yonatan Adler
Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology
Ariel University
July 2024

Interesting question. The answer, of course, could vary from book to book, or even within a book. The prophet Isaiah is certainly presented as one of the elite. But much of his book is clearly not by him and we don't know who the other authors were or who originally circulated whatever he did write.

It's also true that we have very little evidence for knowledge of the laws of the Mosaic Torah before the Hasmonean period. But we have very little written evidence at all before that period. And what we do have does contain the odd hint, such as the apparent allusion to a Torah law in the late-seventh-century BCE Yavneh Yam (Mesad Hashavyahu) ostracon or the (reconstructed but arguable) reference to Passover observance in the fifth-century BCE "Passover papyrus" from Elephantine.

Ultimately, as Adler indicates, with our current evidence we just don't know when the biblical texts were written, let alone who wrote them.

For more on Alder's book, see the posts collected here.

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Are Harding's 1Q excavation photos at the École Biblique?

VARIANT READINGS: Gerald Lankester Harding’s Qumran Cave 1Q Excavation Photos.

I think a copy of Gerald Lankester Harding’s photographs of the Cave 1Q manuscripts as they were being excavated in 1949 may be at the École biblique in Jerusalem.

[...]

Brent Nongbri continues to excavate the earliest photos of the Qumran cave excavations.

Can anyone confirm or disconfirm the possibility that a set of Harding's excavation photos of Cave One are deposited with the École Biblique? If this is correct, the photos could offer some material evidence that Muhammad ed-Dhib recovered scrolls from Cave One.

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Albright, Delitzsch, and Methodism

THE INSTITUTE OF HISTORY, ARCHAEOLOGY AND EDUCATION BLOG: The State of Biblical Archaeology and Literature. Albright and Delitzsch: Their Pre-Academic Relationship (Peter Feinman).

One may see in this debate over Babylonia, the first attempt to create a secular synthesis that encompassed Egypt to Elam and the many millennia of the pre-Greco-Roman world: that unity would have been appealing to William in the library of his parents constructing imaginary worlds in his mind (Cross 1973:4). Regardless of whether Pan-Babylonianism was right or not, it represented the attempt by an individual to bring order to this newly revealed ancient universe, precisely as Albright himself would do in From the Stone Age to Christianity in 1940. It was the effort and not the merit of the claim which warrants attention.

This is the second IHARE essay by Peter Feinman on the influence of Methodism on the biblical-scholarly ambitions of the young William Foxwell Albright . I noted the first one here.

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Burnet (ed.), The Letter to the Hebrews (Peeters)

NEW BOOK FROM PEETERS PUBLISHERS:

The Letter to the Hebrews

SERIES:
Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium, 335

EDITOR:
Burnet R.

PRICE: 126 euro
YEAR: 2024
ISBN: 9789042950528
PAGES: XVI-447 p.

SUMMARY:

The 70th Colloquium Biblicum Lovaniense was the first in the history of the colloquium to be dedicated exclusively to the Letter to the Hebrews. It indicates the growing scholarly interest in the Letter, which occupies a special place in the Pauline corpus and in the canon because of its literary sophistication and intricate and profound theology. Moving beyond the old debates about its authorship, the colloquium focused on a number of other questions, including the Letter's contextual meaning, its roots in a Jewish context, its innovative use of intertextuality, in which Scripture is used not only as divine narrative, but also as a dynamic tool for exploring and formulating new forms of theological discourse, and the political dimensions of the text playing on the contrast between imperial discourse and a vision of heavenly citizenship. In addition, one will find essays on the Letter's complex portrayal of God, its peculiar stylistic and text-critical features, the significance of the figure of Melchizedek, reflections on the balance between divine wrath and mercy, and chapters from its ancient reception history. This wide-ranging approach illustrates the Letter's historical importance in the development of earliest Christian theology and its impact on Christian theology through the ages.

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How To Fuse Metatron

ARCHANGEL METATRON WATCH: Persona 3 Reload: How To Fuse Metatron (Joshua Leeds, Game Rant).

Now you know.

The archangel Metatron has been around in gaming for a long time. This is the first I've heard of this one. Background here and many links.

Cross-file under Gaming News.

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Sifting out a holey stone vessel fragment

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT BLOG: FIND AND FINDERS OF THE MONTH — THE GROSS FAMILY FOUND A PIERCED STONE VESSEL FRAGMENT.

Pierced stone vessels are uncommon, so why did someone drill through this one?

For more on ancient Jewish stone vessels and their purity implications, see here (cf. here) and links, notably here. The Sifting Project found more stone vessel fragments a couple of years ago.

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The Hazor dragon seal again

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Hazor and the Seven-Headed Serpent (Nathan Steinmeyer).

What do a Mesopotamian cylinder seal, a Greek vase, and the Book of Revelation have in common? Seven-headed serpents. The only issue is that scholars are not certain why. ...

I have already noted coverage of this story here and here. But this essay has a good overview and includes some new details about the earliest dragon-battle traditions for those who can't access the original peer-review article.

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Speeding through the Talmud

TALMUD WATCH: Teenage girl goes through entire Talmud in 2.5 years, breaking gender and speed norms. Amid an upswell of women in a typically male pursuit, Elke Bentley took advantage of newly available resources and a changing landscape to achieve her goal (JACKIE HAJDENBERG, JTA via ToI).

Studying the Talmud at this fast pace, called bekiut, or surface-style learning, has its benefits and drawbacks. (Bentley began learning at this pace when she was 16, utilizing the skills from her father’s Zoom class.)

“What it gives you is scope: It gives you a sense of all the different stuff that’s in the Talmud,” explained Rabbanit Leah Sarna, director of high school programs at Drisha, an institute for advanced Jewish learning that was initially just for women when it was founded in 1979 in New York. “I think it gives you access to a lot of vocabulary and concepts that other people who go at a slower pace might not access.”

“On the flip side, you’re not learning all of the classic commentaries and questions and things like that,” she added. “But when you do this at a young age, what you’ve gained is scope. And then you go back and you do it more slowly, and you read all the commentaries and ask all the questions and you bring that whole scope into those questions. So it all just builds on each other.”

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Tiberius Julius Alexander

PROF. JACOB L. WRIGHT: Tiberius Alexander: The Jewish General Who Destroyed Jerusalem (TheTorah.com).

The most powerful Jew in antiquity, Tiberius Julius Alexander, served as procurator of Judea, governor of Egypt, and general in the Roman army. Without his support, Vespasian wouldn’t have become emperor, and his son Titus wouldn’t have led the siege of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. Though his uncle Philo and Josephus Flavius may have disapproved of some of his choices, Tiberius acted out of loyalty to Rome, not apostasy from Judaism.

For a somewhat different understanding of Tiberius Julius Alexander, see the links here.

For more on Julia Berenice (Berenike), see here and links.

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Saint Hilarion Monastery now on UNESCO's endangered site list

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR: UNESCO puts monastery in Gaza, one of Middle East’s oldest, on endangered site list. UN’s World Heritage Center says fourth-century site faces risk of destruction amid ongoing war between Israel and Hamas (AFP/Times of Israel).

For more on the Saint Hilarion Monastery, see here and links. The site was already under UNESCO's provisional enhanced protection.

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Muhammad ed-Dhib...?

VARIANT READINGS: Another Photo of Muhammad ed-Dhib (Brent Nongbri).

Background here. To continue the theme: we're not even certain of the correct name of the discoverer of the first Dead Sea Scrolls in the 1940s. Yet we think we can figure out the sobriquets in the Qumran pesharim? Well, maybe.

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Golb, The Qumran Con (Archway)

NEW BOOK FROM ARCHWAY PRESS:

The Qumran Con

A Dead Sea Scrolls Memoir

by Raphael Golb

Formats

E-Book $3.99

Softcover $35.99

Hardcover $56.99

Book Details

Language : English Publication Date : 6/17/2024

Format : E-Book Dimensions : N/A Page Count : 524 ISBN : 9781665758284 Format : Softcover Dimensions : 6x9 Page Count : 524 ISBN : 9781665752848 Format : Hardcover Dimensions : 6x9 Page Count : 524 ISBN : 9781665758291

About the Book

Why did Professor Norman Golb of the famed Oriental Institute need to be silenced? Why did a small clique monopolize access and publication rights to the Dead Sea Scrolls for more than four decades? Why does the truth matter about where the scrolls came from?

And what do these questions have to do with scholarly ethics, freedom of speech, and the criminal justice system?

In this documented memoir, Raphael Golb exposes the inside story of the Dead Sea Scrolls controversy and its scandals. He describes how he himself became involved in the controversy—and ended up fighting to stay out of Rikers Island.

For over seventy years, the true historical significance of the scrolls has been obscured by the institutional influence of a threatened scholarly establishment. Never were the stakes made clearer than when powerful Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau took action to protect the reputation of well-connected scroll figures, both in New York and across the United States.

Raphael Golb’s memoir of his journey through the system—in a case that almost reached the Supreme Court—poses the question of where we stand with the First Amendment today. While reigniting the great debate over who wrote the scrolls, Golb’s account also sheds light on broader issues involving academic revolutions, censorship, and how easily power can be abused in a democratic society.

“Institutions and museums, international conferences and books may ostracize the scholar who transmits a new message … A crisis emerges … Eventually … the new paradigm gradually gains adherents and replaces the old.” — Joel Kraemer (2012 essay on Norman Golb)

HT Todd Bolen at the Bible Places Blog.

I followed the developments in the Raphael Golb internet impersonation case for years and years, because of its sad connection with the Dead Sea Scrolls. For the many posts, start here and follow the links.

In 2011, shortly after Golb's conviction and before his appeal (which I noted was in planning), I published an essay on "The Golb Affair" in Religion in the News. It gives background to the case and my own analysis of the situation at the time. For a legal analysis of the case which came near the end of the appeals process, see here. Over the years I linked to other legal analyses from time to time.

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