Old Church Slavonic evangeliary on display in Serbia

OLD CHURCH SLAVONIC WATCH: Miroslav’s Gospel on display at the National Museum to mark UNESCO listing anniversary. In a video message on his Instagram profile, Minister of Culture Nikola Selaković stated that Miroslav’s Gospel is on display at the National Museum to mark 20 years since the oldest preserved Serbian Cyrillic manuscript book was inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World list. (Snezana Rakic, Serbian Monitor).

Created in the 1180s, Miroslav’s Gospel was written on parchment, contains 181 leaves and 296 miniatures drawn with a quill, later coloured with a brush and decorated with gold. An inscription on the last leaf of the Gospel confirms that it was commissioned by Miroslav, the Prince of Hum and brother of Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja. It is believed that the scribe or miniaturist of the Gospel was a monk named Gligorije, whose signature appears on the last written page.

Miroslav’s Gospel is written in Old Church Slavonic, in the Serbian recension and the Raška orthography. Structurally, it is an evangeliary – a liturgical book containing selected passages from the four Gospels. ...

For more on Old Chuch Slavonic and why PaleoJudaica is interested in it, see here and many links (and note also here and here).

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

Whitaker, Eschatology and the Use of Psalms in Hebrews (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

Eschatology and the Use of Psalms in Hebrews

Songs for the Last Days

Seth Whitaker (Author)

Hardback $120.00 $108.00

Ebook (PDF) $108.00 $86.40

Ebook (Epub & Mobi) $108.00 $86.40

Product details

Published Jul 10 2025
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 200
ISBN 9780567720955
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series The Library of Second Temple Studies
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

Seth Whitaker argues that the Psalm texts function as the structural and theological backbone of Hebrews from start to finish, and that few scholars have examined the use of Psalms outside of quotations or connected the author of Hebrews' use of Psalms with his broader eschatological outlook. Whitaker suggests that the author's eschatology is his dominating exegetical assumption, allowing numerous psalms to be read with multiple meanings.

Whitaker further suggests that Psalms, for the author of Hebrews, not only provide messianic material for his exegetical commentary, but also speak to a deeper interpretive tradition that is detectable through scriptural allusions, shared motifs, and narrative structures. Whitaker examines three passages of Hebrews, 1:5–13, 12:18–28 and 13:15, which correspond to three perceived gaps in scholarship: the relationship between quoted texts, the author's cultural encyclopedia, and the function of scriptural allusions. By focusing on Psalms and the eschatological nature of the author of Hebrews' exegesis, Whitaker concludes that readers will be better suited to situate Hebrews in relation to other Second Temple and early Jewish interpretive traditions.

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

A mason's mark on a Temple Mount wall stone?

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Mason’s Mark Discovered on Stone Likely From Temple Mount Wall. ‘Show and Tell’ from the current Ophel Excavations in Jerusalem (Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology).

An informative video.

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

On Jeremiah and the Book of Lamentations

PROF. LIZ BOASE: Why Was the Book of Lamentations Attributed to Jeremiah? (TheTorah.com).

Was it based on an ancient tradition? Inspired by stylistic similarities? A strategy to give legitimacy to a text with controversial portrayals of God? Or does it reflect a broader cultural shift toward authorial attribution in the Second Temple period? And finally—how does this attribution change how we read the Book of Lamentations?

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

Bigtime grant for Heculaneum scrolls research

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: UK’s [i.e., University of Kentucky's] Brent Seales, global team secures Europe’s top research grant to digitally decode Herculaneum scrolls (Lindsey Piercy, University of Kentucky).

The $13.5 million (approximately €11.5 million) grant supports “UnLost: Uncovering Lost Knowledge from the Ancient Library of Herculaneum” — a project led by a global consortium of experts in papyrology and computer science.

Seales is one of three co-principal investigators selected for the highly competitive award, which funds only a handful of projects each year and is widely considered one of the most significant research grants globally — with success rates typically below 10%.

“This Synergy Grant gives us the resources and partnership structure we need to pursue what was once thought impossible — a full-scale recovery of the lost library of Herculaneum,” Seales said. “I’m honored to be part of a project that will rewrite what we know about the ancient world.”

Congratulations to Professor Seales and his collaborators!

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, start here and follow the links.

The decipherment of the Herculaneum scrolls has gained momentum in the last few years. See that last link, plus here, here, here, here, and here.

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

Vintage resurrection using Avdat's pips

ARCHAEOBOTANY: Experts restore Israel's ancient desert wine industry using Byzantine grapes. In a groundbreaking revival of ancient tradition, Israeli researchers and vintners harvest 1,500-year-old Byzantine grape varieties from a restored vineyard in Avdat National Park, aiming to recreate the famed Negev wine once exported across Europe (Ilana Curiel, Ynet News).

During the Byzantine era, the Negev was a global hub for wine production, with historians marveling at its desert vineyards. In September 2023, the heritage vineyard at Avdat was inaugurated, planted with seeds over 1,000 years old, aiming to revive this ancient tradition.

Researchers from the University of Haifa, studying the collapse of the Byzantine Empire, discovered grape seeds in a sealed cave at the Avdat archaeological site years ago. Determined to resurrect what was once considered the world’s finest wine, they identified the genetic traits of these ancient vines, setting the stage for this ambitious project.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on the site of Avdat in the Negev, which flourished from the Nabatean (Nabataean) era into the Byzantine era, start here and follow the links. For posts on the Byzantine-era grape pips recovered there, presumably the ones used in this project, see here and links.

For other efforts at vintage resurrection, see here and follow the links.

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

Three recently excavated shipwrecks at Tel Dor

MARINE ARCHAEOLOGY: What ancient shipwrecks off Dor tell us about trade, empire and resilience (Koray Erdogan, Türkiye Today).

Three newly excavated shipwrecks at Dor, a key port on Israel’s Carmel Coast, are offering the first direct evidence of maritime cargoes from the Iron Age ever found in a harbor context in Israel. Dated between the 11th and sixth centuries B.C., these finds reveal how trade ebbed and flowed during periods of regional upheaval and imperial expansion in the eastern Mediterranean.

[...]

The underlying open-access article (also linked to in the quote above) in the journal Antiquity:

Iron Age ship cargoes from the harbour of Dor (Israel)

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 May 2025

Assaf Yasur-Landau, Marko Runjajić, Evgeny Shegol, Remi Rosen, Karsyn Johnson, Deborah Cvikel, Shirly Ben-Dor Evian, David E. Friesem, Tzilla Eshel and Gunnar Lehmann, Cassandra Donnely, Artemis Georgiou, Harel Shochat, Meir Edrey, Dafna Langgut and Thomas E. Levy

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2025.71

Abstract

Connectivity and trade dominate discussions of the Mediterranean Bronze and Iron Ages, where artefacts travelled increasing distances by land and sea. Much of the evidence for the means through which such networks operated is necessarily indirect, but shipwrecks offer direct insights into the movement of goods. Here, the authors explore three Iron Age cargoes recently excavated at Tel Dor on the Carmel Coast, the first from this period found in the context of an Iron Age port city in Israel. Spanning the eleventh–seventh centuries BC, these cargoes illuminate cycles of expansion and contraction in Iron Age Mediterranean connectivity and integration.

Cross-file under Maritime (Underwater) Archaeology.

Other PaleoJudaica posts on marine archaeology at Tel Dor are here, here, here, and here.

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

A late-antique synagogue in an Iberian town?

ARCHAEOLOGY: Spanish discovery suggests Roman era ‘church’ may have been a synagogue. Oil lamp fragments point to presence of previously unknown Jewish population in Ibero-Roman town of Cástulo (Sam Jones, The Guardian).

Archaeologists excavating the Ibero-Roman town of Cástulo, whose ruins lie near the present-day Andalucían town of Linares, have uncovered evidence of an apparent Jewish presence there in the late fourth or early fifth century AD.

As well as three fragments of oil lamps decorated with menorahs and a roof tile bearing a five-branched menorah, they have also come across a piece of the lid of a cone-shaped jar bearing a Hebrew graffito. While experts are split over whether the engraving reads “light of forgiveness” or “Song to David”, its very existence points to a previously unknown Jewish population in the town, which eventually fell into decay and abandonment 1,000 years later.

The underlying article, in Spanish and open access, has just been published:

Vegueta. Anuario de la Facultad de Geografía e Historia
25 (2), 2025, 941-973
eISSN: 2341-1112
https://doi.org/10.51349/veg.2025.2.17

Una posible sinagoga tardoantigua en Cástulo. Estudio del Edicio S de la ciudad

A possible late ancient synagogue in Cástulo. Study of Building S of the city

Bautista Ceprián del Castillo*
Conjunto Arqueológico de Cástulo:
Proyecto Sefarad Primera Luz
https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8989-9330
ceprian.castillo@gmail.com

David Expósito Mangas
Conjunto Arqueológico de Cástulo:
Proyecto Sefarad Primera Luz.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0692-9991
davidexpositomangas@hotmail.com

José Carlos Ortega Díez
Universidad de Granada
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-8580-2904
jcarlosortegadiez@gmail.com

Recibido: 06/06/2024; Revisado: 11/11/2025; Aceptado: 19/02/2025

Resumen

En el centro geográphico de la ciudad iberorromana de Cástulo (Área 1), se encuentra un edificio absidal, Edificio S, tradicionalmente definido como una iglesia de la segunda mitad del siglo iv d.C. Sin embargo, las nuevas campañas de excavación realizadas entre 2011 y 2021, han documentado en dicha área una notable serie de materiales que pueden relacionarse con el establecimiento de una comunidad judía entre los siglos iv y v d.C. Esto, unido a ciertas diferencias del Edificio S en relación con las características que definen las iglesias hispanas de la antigüedad tardía, ha llevado a analizar este edificio con la posibilidad de que hubiera podido ser una sinagoga. Los resultados obtenidos se vinculan con mayor verosimilitud con edificios de culto judíos que con los cristianos.Palabras clave: sinagoga, judío, iglesia, Cástulo, antigüedad tardía.

Abstract

In the geographical center of the Ibero-Roman city of Cástulo (Area 1), there is an apsidal building, Building S, traditionally defined as a church from the second half of the 4th century AD. However, new excavation campaigns carried out between 2011 and 2021 have documented in this area a notable series of materials that can be related to the establishment of a Jewish community between the 4th and 5th centuries AD. This, together with certain differences in Building S in relation to the characteristics that define Hispanic churches of late antiquity, has led to the analysis of this building with the possibility that it could have been a synagogue. The results obtained are more likely to be linked to Jewish religious buildings than to Christian ones.

*Autor de correspondencia / Corresponding author.

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Michael Satlow has a new book forthcoming

MICHAEL L. SATLOW: My New Book: Forthcoming in February.

I have a new book coming out in February.

It’s called An Enchanted World: The Shared Religious Landscape of Late Antiquity, and it’s now officially listed on the publisher’s website.

We look forward to it. The publisher is Princeton University Press. Follow the links for full details.

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

Syriac department opens at Mosul University

SYRIAC WATCH: Mosul University Opens Syriac Language Department (SyriacPress).

MOSUL, Beth Nahrin — In a decision reflecting Iraq’s growing commitment to cultural preservation and linguistic diversity, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research has officially approved the establishment of a Syriac Language Department at the University of Mosul. The announcement, issued on July 26, 2025, affirms the inclusion of Syriac—the language spoken by Chaldeans-Syriacs-Assyrians—into the university’s academic offerings starting this academic year.

[...]

Related news here.

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

Wunrow, Heavenly Space in Hebrews and Its Jewish and Christian Environment (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

Heavenly Space in Hebrews and Its Jewish and Christian Environment

Passing through the Heavens

Stephen C. Wunrow (Author)

Hardback
$120.00 $108.00

Ebook (PDF)
$108.00 $86.40

Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
$108.00 $86.40

Product details

Published Jul 10 2025
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 208
ISBN 9780567721518
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series The Library of New Testament Studies
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

Stephen Wunrow addresses the pressing question of what the author of Hebrews meant by his descriptions of heaven, arguing that the author intended his references to heavenly space to be interpreted as realistic descriptions of a real place. Wunrow posits that language about heaven is neither metaphor nor a description of a “place” outside the creation, by examining other early Jewish and Christian texts that narrate or describe humans ascending into heaven. Given the nature and the function of heavenly space as described in these texts, Wunrow suggests it is most probable that the authors of the texts intended their descriptions of heavenly space to be understood as realistic.

Wunrow thus explores 1 and 2 Enoch, 4 Ezra, 2 and 3 Baruch, the Apocalypse of Abraham, the Testament of Levi, the Testament of Abraham, the Ascension of Isaiah, and Revelation; investigating how other roughly contemporary authors described heavenly space, and considering that the rhetorical aims of most of these authors fail unless their readers understand their descriptions of heavenly space in realistic ways. Turning then to examine Hebrews, Wunrow suggests that while the letter does contain unique features and rhetorical aims, it also fits comfortably with other early Jewish and Christian texts that describe humans ascending into heaven in a realistic manner. He concludes with reflections on how this conclusion helps to clarify other topics in Hebrews, including atonement and eschatology.

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Muraoka, Appendices to the Septuagint Book of Daniel (Peeters)

NEW BOOK FROM PEETERS PRESS:

Appendices to the Septuagint Book of Daniel

AUTHOR:
Muraoka T.

PRICE: 25 euro
YEAR: 2025
ISBN: 9789042953789
PAGES: XIV-91 p.

SUMMARY:

The three short pieces presented in this volume fit into the traditional text of the book of Daniel and can be read and studied very profitably. They richly supplement the stories and history narrated in the canonical book of Daniel. Most likely they were written in Greek and not translated from Aramaic. The Greek text is presented here with an accompanying English translation and philological comments.

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Gold jewelry excavated at Hippos-Sussita

ANCIENT BLING: Roman-era gold jewelry found at Hippos testifies to wealth of city likely visited by Jesus. Although found out of context, unearthed ring and earrings shed light on ancient Galilean affluence in the first centuries of the Common Era (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel).

An exquisite golden ring and a pair of earrings dating to the Roman period (1st-3rd centuries CE) have recently been unearthed during archaeological excavations at the Sussita (Hippos) National Park, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority announced Thursday.

The artifacts help shed light on the affluence that once defined this ancient city overlooking the Sea of Galilee – one of the 10 cities of the Decapolis alliance where, according to the Gospels, Jesus preached, Dr. Michael Eisenberg told The Times of Israel in a phone interview.

“The ring was found a few days ago, while the earrings were uncovered a few months ago,” said Eisenberg, co-director of the Hippos (Sussita) Excavations Project with Dr. Arleta Kowalewska, both from the University of Haifa.

[...]

For many PaleoJudaica posts on artifacts and architecture recovered in and around the site of Hippos-Sussita, start here and follow the links. Another less-impressive ring was found in Sussita National Park a couple of years ago.

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

Review of Pagels, Miracles and Wonder

ON THE HISTORICAL JESUS: Book Review | ‘Miracles and Wonder: The Historical Mystery of Jesus’ by Elaine Pagels. An Exploration of the Mystery of How a Poor Young Man Inspired a Religion That Reshaped the World (David Starkey).

The book’s seven chapters each try to answer a separate question: What happened before, during and after the virgin birth? Who is Jesus? What is the Good News? And so on. Pagels is especially keen to examine how two elements of Jesus’s story that might have been Christianity’s most glaring weaknesses were transformed by his earliest biographers into two of its greatest strengths.

Cross-file under New Book.

For some of my own thoughts on the question of the historical Jesus, see especially here and here, plus there are links.

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

Moabite sex workers at Baal Peor?

DR. ATAR LIVNEH: Moabite Women Seduce Israel into Worshiping Baal Peor (TheTorah.com).

Balaam induced Moabite women to ensnare Israelite men into apostasy at Baal Peor. Philo, 1st century C.E., portrays these women as calculating prostitutes. Later, the Sifrei, ca. 3rd century, recasts the episode as a bawdy Roman farce—complete with marketplace, wine, and brothel-like seductions—portraying the Israelites less as tragic sinners and more as fools blinded by lust.

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An AI system for reconstructing ancient (Latin) inscriptions

ALGORITHM WATCH:

Article Open access Published: 23 July 2025

Contextualizing ancient texts with generative neural networks

Yannis Assael, Thea Sommerschield, Alison Cooley, Brendan Shillingford, John Pavlopoulos, Priyanka Suresh, Bailey Herms, Justin Grayston, Benjamin Maynard, Nicholas Dietrich, Robbe Wulgaert, Jonathan Prag, Alex Mullen & Shakir Mohamed

Nature (2025)

Abstract

Human history is born in writing. Inscriptions are among the earliest written forms, and offer direct insights into the thought, language and history of ancient civilizations. Historians capture these insights by identifying parallels—inscriptions with shared phrasing, function or cultural setting—to enable the contextualization of texts within broader historical frameworks, and perform key tasks such as restoration and geographical or chronological attribution1. However, current digital methods are restricted to literal matches and narrow historical scopes. Here we introduce Aeneas, a generative neural network for contextualizing ancient texts. Aeneas retrieves textual and contextual parallels, leverages visual inputs, handles arbitrary-length text restoration, and advances the state of the art in key tasks. To evaluate its impact, we conduct a large study with historians using outputs from Aeneas as research starting points. The historians find the parallels retrieved by Aeneas to be useful research starting points in 90% of cases, improving their confidence in key tasks by 44%. Restoration and geographical attribution tasks yielded superior results when historians were paired with Aeneas, outperforming both humans and artificial intelligence alone. For dating, Aeneas achieved a 13-year distance from ground-truth ranges. We demonstrate Aeneas’ contribution to historical workflows through analysis of key traits in the renowned Roman inscription Res Gestae Divi Augusti, showing how integrating science and humanities can create transformative tools to assist historians and advance our understanding of the past.

A well-constructed study of a new AI system that may be quite useful as an aid to human reconstruction and decipherment of ancient inscriptions. It would work best with formulaic inscriptions from a period and language with many surviving examples of similar inscriptions.

For discussion of reconstruction of damaged ancient Hebrew and Aramaic (etc.) texts, with and without AI help, see here and here. Again, this would work best for highly formulaic texts, of which few, but not none, survive in ancient Hebrew or Aramaic. Frank Moore Cross's reconstruction of the Aramaic legal texts (slave conveyances) from the Samaria Papyri come to mind.

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

Metaphor etc. in the Bible

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: “Hey, Turtledove!” How metaphors, similes, and nicknames make the Bible sparkle (Robin Gallaher Branch).

As a biblical scholar dealing daily with the Bible’s terseness, I sometimes wryly wonder if the writers kept one eye on the price of papyrus and parchment! Yet the more I study, the more I applaud the authors for the creative, succinct ways they hook our hearts and engage our imaginations.

In particular, as I discuss here, they deftly use a variety of literary tools—including similes (introduced by “as” and “like”), metaphors, and the pronoun “who”—to add color, character, and meaning to the biblical story. Here are some examples:

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Danzig obituary

IN MEMORIAM: Rabbi Neil Danzig, scholar who unlocked mysteries of the Talmud, dies at 74. Longtime professor of rabbinics at Jewish Theological Seminary explored writings of the Geonim, the Jewish leaders and scholars during the late sixth to mid-11th centuries (Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTA via Times of Israel).

JTA — Rabbi Neil Danzig, a longtime professor of rabbinics at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York and an authority on the post-Talmudic Babylonian scholars known as the Geonim, died July 4. He was 74.

A longtime resident of Teaneck, New Jersey, he was buried in Israel.

As a scholar of medieval rabbinic literature, Danzig explored the halachic, or Jewish legal, writings of the Geonim, the Jewish leaders and scholars during the late sixth to mid-11th centuries in what is now Iraq. The Geonim secured the Babylonian Talmud as the central canonical work of rabbinic literature.

[...]

Background here.

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A purple dye factory or fish-salting facility at Tel Dor?

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Eating Salted Fish in Roman Judea. Reinterpreting Tel Dor’s purple dye factory (Nathan Steinmeyer).

This essay summarizes an open-access article published in the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology:

A Roman Fish-Processing Facility at Tel Dor, Israel: Reinterpreting the Roman ‘Purple Dye Factory’

Jackson T. Reecea The Department of Anthropology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA, Thomas Levy, Anthony Tamberino, Alexandra Ratzlaff, Marko Runjajić & Assaf Yasur-LandauO
Published online: 14 Jul 2025
Cite this article https://doi.org/10.1080/10572414.2025.2518959

ABSTRACT

In this article we suggest that the Roman industrial complex on the coast of Tel Dor in Israel, previously interpreted as a purple dye factory, should be reinterpreted as a cetaria of similar scale to those in the western Mediterranean. We use analogous evidence from cetariae in Spain and Morocco to support this new interpretation. The identification of the Tel Dor fish-processing facility sheds new light on the participation of Dor in the globalisation of the Roman Mediterranean economy.

Cross-file under Culinary Archaeology.

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Mendels, A Hellenistic Ethical Lexicon (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

A Hellenistic Ethical Lexicon

Three Hundred and Seven Rules of Conduct of Expanding Empires

Doron Mendels (Author)

Hardback
$120.00 $108.00

Ebook (PDF)
$108.00 $86.40

Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
$108.00 $86.40

In stock

Product details

Published Jul 10 2025
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 160
ISBN 9780567718273
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series Jewish and Christian Texts
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

Building on his previous work on Hellenistic Interstate Political Ethics (T&T Clark, 2022) leading historian Doron Mendels presents three hundred interstate ethical rules of conduct which he has discovered within three reconstructed Hellenistic codes. These codes appear in the work of three major Hellenistic historical writers, with Mendels also adding remarks that appear in The Letter of Aristeas.

Mendels has formulated these – probably originally oral – rules embedded within the historical narratives using a mixture of statements by rulers and other actors concerning interstate relationships, historical events which point to ethical behaviour of states and/or their breach, as well as related thoughts of the historians themselves regarding interstate encounters. The result is a comprehensive catalogue of ethical rules referring to behaviour on the international scene, which include not only rules but also a lexicon of moral terms borrowed from the individual ethical scenarios. The volume constitutes a significant addition to knowledge of the Hellenistic era in the 3rd-1st centuries BC, the universe against which Judaism and early Christianity operated.

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A fifth-century West Bank church was not burned down.

INCENDIARY? Israel Police finds no damage to Christian church after false claims of arson by Jewish settlers draw broad condemnation. US Amb Huckabee & Sen. Graham had condemned incident in Samaria (All Israel News Staff).

The Israel Police announced Monday that, contrary to previous reports, the Church of Saint George in the Christian village of Tabyeh was not damaged by a nearby fire.

"Contrary to misleading reports, no damage was caused to the Church of Saint George in Taybeh. The fire was limited to an adjacent open area, not the holy site. Emergency services received reports from local residents, including both Israelis and one Palestinian caller," the police stated.

Noting that they have started a "thorough investigation", the Police statement added, "If arson is confirmed, justice will be pursued regardless of race or background. Due process is based on facts, not headlines."

[...]

I have been following this story for a while, trying to piece together what actually happened from conflicting reports.

Briefly, on 7 and or 8 July, there was a fire in a field adjacent to the stone ruins of the fifth-century Church of Saint George in Taybeh, on the West Bank. Apparently there was another fire in the same vicinity on the 11th. Contrary to some reports, the church was not damaged. Jewish settlers were accused of starting the fires, but so far I have not seen any evidence advanced for who, if anyone, set them. The fires are under investigation. If they were arson, the perpetrators need to be brought to justice.

I am pretty sure that these specifics are correct. I am not certain of exactly how many fires were involved. The above article has the most detailed account I could find of the current state of the story. It includes photographic and video evidence and more details. But the story remains in some flux.

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Biblical archaeology, interrupted

ONCE AGAIN: War Interrupts Biblical Archaeology. Israel-Iran conflict stalled excavation efforts, forcing international teams to flee (GORDON GOVIER, Christianity Today).

Conflict in the Middle East has once again had the unintended effect of stalling efforts to excavate biblical history. Across Israel, digs were canceled when war broke out in mid-June. Though the war between Israel and Iran lasted only 12 days, it came in the middle of the dig season, when weather conditions and schedules align for archaeological work.

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Crossan Festschrift (Cascade)

NEW BOOK FROM WIPF AND STOCK (CASCADE):

Adventures of an Itinerant Imagination
Essays Celebrating John Dominic Crossan on His Ninetieth Birthday

by Bernard Brandon Scott
Series: Westar Studies

Imprint: Cascade Books
340 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 x 0.68 in

Paperback
9798385249503
Published: June 2025
$41.00 / £30.00 / AU$63.00

eBook
9798385249527
Published: June 2025
$41.00 / £34.99 / AU$59.99

DESCRIPTION

John Dominic Crossan is the most important scholar on the historical Jesus since David Fredrick Strauss in the nineteenth century. Both his scholarly The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant (1991) and the more popular Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography (1994) made the bestsellers list. But the scope of his work goes well beyond the historical Jesus to studies on the death of Jesus and anti-Semitism, Christianity and empire, archaeology, the apostle Paul the Pharisee, and recently apocalyptic and the environment. He addresses both scholarly and popular audiences, ancient sources and contemporary concerns. The essays in this volume explore and access the range of his work for his various audiences. Some of the essays are scholarly in tone, while others are quite personal. A feature of this book is Crossan's complete curriculum vitae.

Congratulations to Professor Crossan, who is now in his tenth decade (b. 1934).

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New photos of P52

VARIANT READINGS: New Images of P52 (Brent Nongbri).

For P52, a very early papyrus fragment of the Gospel of John held by the Rylands Library in Manchester, and the debate over its exact date, see here and links.

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Redfield, Adventures of Rabbah and Friends (SBL)

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

Adventures of Rabbah and Friends: The Talmud's Strange Tales and Their Readers
James Adam Redfield

ISBN 9781967013036
Volume BJS 374
Status Available
Publication Date June 2025

Paperback $50.00
eBook $50.00
Hardback $82.00

Adventures of Rabbah & Friends offers a new reader-centered approach to some of the Talmud’s most challenging stories. James Adam Redfield illustrates how these tales have interacted with diverse interpretive frameworks from ancient myth to modern mysticism. By reevaluating conventional assumptions about coherence, authority, and tradition, the book redefines how stories can function in the Talmud, reorients the study of rabbinic literature around practices of reading and reception, and opens pathways for connecting the Talmud with broader conversations in the study of literature. Redfield’s analysis of the vibrant dialogue between many voices in this literary tradition—storytellers, editors, performers, transmitters, commentators, anthologizers, and more—reveals their diverse and original contributions to the art of interpretation in Jewish culture. Rich appendixes revealing the stories’ reception in late ancient exegesis, medieval responsa, and early modern ethical and mystical commentaries make this volume a valuable specialist resource, while its lively prose is accessible for a wider audience of students and humanities scholars.

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Baden, The Literary History of the Pentateuch (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK:

Joel S. Baden

The Literary History of the Pentateuch

Collected Essays

[Die Literaturgeschichte des Pentateuch. Gesammelte Aufsätze.]
2025. XII, 298 pages.
Forschungen zum Alten Testament (FAT) 187

€139.00
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Summary

In these collected essays, Joel Baden explores the history of the Pentateuch's literary composition. Including detailed analyses of specific passages as well as broad theoretical and methodological reflections, these essays offer a glimpse of both the mechanisms by which the Pentateuch came into being and the scholarly frameworks through which the Pentateuch is viewed. Spanning the first fifteen years of his career, this volume also represents a record of the recent trends in pentateuchal scholarship, especially the growth of the neo-documentary hypothesis.

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Simulations of late-antique viticulture in the Negev

ALGORITHMIC ARCHAEOBOTANY: New study finds secrets behind Byzantine wine economy in Israeli desert. Farmers in the Byzantine-period Negev developed a flourishing wine industry using advanced rainwater harvesting techniques, with new study showing high vulnerability to droughts (Ynet News).

Farmers in the Negev Desert during the Byzantine period, from the 4th to 7th centuries, developed a flourishing wine industry despite the region’s arid conditions, relying heavily on sophisticated rainwater collection systems — according to a new study from the University of Haifa.

The new study published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE, reveals how these farmers achieved remarkable success and why their industry eventually collapsed. Using an innovative computational model, researchers reconstructed the scale of wine production, the conditions behind its prosperity and the vulnerabilities that led to its decline.

[...]

Unhelpfully, the article does not link to that underlying open-access PLOS ONE article. Here it is:

Wine economy in Byzantine Shivta (Negev, Israel): Exploring the role of runoff agriculture and droughts through Agent-Based Modeling

Barak Garty , Gil Gambash, Sharona T. Levy, Guy Bar-Oz
Published: July 10, 2025 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0325204

Abstract

Viticulture was a vital agricultural and economic activity during the Byzantine period, also in marginal regions like the Negev Desert. Innovative dryland farming techniques, such as runoff harvesting systems, terraces, and pigeon towers, enabled intensive grape cultivation and a thriving wine export economy. This study focuses on the resilience and adaptability of viticulture in the hinterland of Shivta, analyzing how climatic challenges like aridification and drought tested Byzantine water management strategies. The AGENTS model, developed in NetLogo, integrates various components to simulate viticulture dynamics in the Zetan watershed, calculating water availability, crop yields, and labor costs. The results show that higher runoff ratios improve yield efficiency, while excessive runoff ratios diminish productivity. Prolonged droughts significantly decrease wine production and extend recovery times beyond a decade. Wetter climatic scenarios slightly enhance yield efficiency but do not overcome structural limitations, highlighting the fragile nature of viticulture in the Negev desert. Overall, this study highlights the importance of effective water management in sustaining agriculture and the constraints that limited resilience in Shivta’s agricultural system. The modeling approach offers insights applicable to other regions and historical contexts facing environmental challenges.

For lots more on the archaeology of Shivta, including its viticulture, see here and links.

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Longacre on Hornkohl on linguistic dating of biblical Hebrew

THE OTTC BLOG: Diachronic Diversity in Classical Biblical Hebrew.

I just saw that Aaron Hornkohl has published an open-access book on Diachronic Diversity in Classical Biblical Hebrew, where he argues that we can see diachronic indications even within the corpus of Classical Biblical Hebrew. He suggests that, on balance, the Pentateuch reflects an earlier stage of Hebrew than the early prophets et al.

[...]

Drew Longacre offers some text-critical thoughts about this recent book.

Background here.

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Reordering an Aramaic ostracon that may mention Passover?

ARAMAIC EPIGRAPHY: Reading Berlin P. 10679 Inside Out

Gad Barnea

Tel Aviv
Journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University

Pages 85-106 | Published online: 12 Jul 2025 https://doi.org/10.1080/03344355.2025.2479279

Abstract

Ostracon Berlin P. 10679 (TADAE D7.24) was first published in 1908 and has since attracted attention mostly due to its use of the term (b)psḥʾ—cognate with the Hebrew psḥ known from the Hebrew Bible in relation to the Passover. The text itself has generally been considered opaque and unclear. However, as shown in this article, the ostracon has thus far been read in the wrong order. It should be read convex-to-concave (cv > cc) rather than concave-to-convex (cc > cv)—a conclusion based upon philological and epigraphic analyses. The new interpretation provides a much improved reading, adding greater clarity and consistency to the text. The article cautions against presupposing a cc > cv flow of writing on ostraca and suggests that other confusing cases could benefit from a reevaluation. Unfortunately, the term (b)psḥʾ remains as obscure in the newly assembled context as it has always been.

Not to be confused with the Elephantine "Passover Papyrus,"—which does not actually have the word "Passover" in the surviving text.

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On linguistic dating of biblical Hebrew

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

Isn’t It Time to Break Up with Linguistic Dating? Rethinking Hornkohl’s Method—and What Comes Next

In the end, Hornkohl’s work represents a well-argued example of an older paradigm trying to survive in a new era. His case studies are meticulously done and worthy of attention. But until we reckon fully with the compositional and textual realities of the Hebrew Bible, linguistic dating will remain, at best, a hopeful guess—and at worst, a circular exercise in self-confirmation.

By Robert Rezetko
Independent Researcher
Research Affiliate of the Universities of Arizona, Copenhagen, and Sydney

By Ian Young
Professor of Biblical Studies and Ancient Languages
Faculty of Theology and Philosophy
Australian Catholic University

By Martin Ehrensvärd
Associate Professor of Biblical Exegesis
Faculty of Theologyv University of Copenhagen

By Martijn Naaijer
Postdoctoral Researcher
Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies
University of Zurich
July 2025

A critique of an open-access New Book published by OpenBook Publishers which I have not yet mentioned:

Diachronic Diversity in Classical Biblical Hebrew

Aaron D. Hornkohl (author)

According to the standard periodisation of ancient Hebrew, the division of Biblical Hebrew as reflected in the Masoretic tradition is basically dichotomous: pre-exilic Classical Biblical Hebrew (CBH) versus post-Restoration Late Biblical Hebrew (LBH). Within this paradigm, the chronolectal unity of CBH is rarely questioned—this despite the reasonable expectation that the language of a corpus encompassing traditions of various ages and comprising works composed, edited, and transmitted over the course of centuries would show signs of diachronic development. From the perspective of historical evolution, CBH is remarkably homogenous. Within this apparent uniformity, however, there are indeed signs of historical development, sets of alternant features whose respective concentrations seem to divide CBH into two sub-chronolects. The most conspicuous typological division that emerges is between the CBH of the Pentateuch and that of the relevant Prophets and Writings. The present volume investigates a series of features that distinguish the two ostensible CBH sub-chronolects, weighs alternative explanations for distribution patterns that appear to have chronological significance, and considers broader implications for Hebrew diachrony and periodisation and for the composition of the Torah.

For earlier installments of this debate, see here and links.

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Archaeological dating methods

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Dating Game: How Archaeologists Date the Biblical Past (Yoav Vaknin, Biblical Archaeology Review, Summer 2025 issue).

Here, I briefly review the uses (and limitations) of several dating methods, including my own specialty, archaeomagnetism, which I believe can significantly improve our understanding of Iron Age chronology.

Unusually, but welcome, the full text of this BAR article is available for free.

HT Bible History Daily, which summarizes.

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Nir, The Tales of the Sages in Late Midrash (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

The Tales of the Sages in Late Midrash

A Curtain Set with Jewels

Series: The Brill Reference Library of Judaism, Volume: 79

Author: Sivan Nir

How should we read tales about rabbinic sages unique to post-Talmudic works? What theological, poetic, and social changes do they hide? Who could have authored them? The Tales of the Sages in Late Midrash, reveals these narratives’ hypertextuality. Their characters, phrasings, and themes only invert, expand, and mimic other tales. In their own words, they are mosaics of cherished stories set into new narrative tapestries– What Acher thought of R. Akiva’s death? How was Akiva buried? Who was Resh Laqish before he met R. Yochanan? Analyzing twenty little-known such stories from fourteen compositions and discussing many others, Sivan Nir shows how medieval scholars use their stories to explore tensions between rabbis and laypersons, men and women, God and history, medieval culture and the Talmudic past.

Copyright Year: 2025

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-73470-8
Publication: 16 Jun 2025
EUR €119.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-54721-6
Publication: 26 Jun 2025
EUR €119.00

Incidentally, here's a tip for choosing a title for your book.

This book has a good title. It tells you up front what it's about and makes a subtitle of the cute quotation. Lots of books put the subtitle first. That means that social media post titles need either to cut out the title and give the subtitle, or else give the title and leave readers without a clue what your book is actually about.

If the latter, they may not bother to click on that link.

Have your title give the subject of your book. Save any quotes or creative lines for the subtitle.

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On working out naked in Jason's Jerusaelm

CULTURAL CLASH: Jewish priests wrestling naked: How sports shook ancient Judean society. In Jerusalem before the Hasmonean Revolt, priests shocked their community by abandoning Temple duties to wrestle nude at the gymnasion; this vivid clash between Greek athleticism and Jewish tradition exposed deep cultural and religious fault lines (Shmuel Munitz, Ynet News).

“The gymnasion symbolized Jerusalem’s transformation into a Hellenistic city, with even priests engaging in a foreign culture,” said Dr. Haim Kaufman, an expert in Hebrew sports history who taught for years at the Levinsky-Wingate Academic Center. After Alexander the Great’s conquests, a wave of Hellenization swept through occupied territories, blending local and Greek cultures.

In the second century BCE, under the Seleucid Empire, founded by King Seleucus I, a Hellenized high priest named Jason (originally Yehoshua or Yeshua) spearheaded reforms, culminating in the establishment of a gymnasion in Jerusalem, infuriating traditional Jews.

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More on the redating of 4QDanielc

How redating the Dead Sea Scrolls puts new spin on the apocalyptic visions of Daniel (Ian Young, Gareth Wearne and Evan Caddy, ABC Australia).

One manuscript stands out among the new 14C dates — a copy of part of the book of Daniel, conventionally identified as 4Q114 or 4QDanc. The 14C results for that manuscript indicate that it was most likely composed between the years 355–285 BCE or 230–160 BCE. Significantly, the latter of these ranges seems to corroborate the widely held theory that the book of Daniel was completed sometime in the 160s BCE.

The fact that scholars are so excited that a Daniel manuscript seems to date from near the time of composition of the book of Daniel in the 160s BCE may need explanation. A first perusal of the book would appear to indicate that Daniel received these prophecies of the far future in his historical setting of the sixth century BCE. Why second century, then?

This article has a quite good discussion of the implications of the redating of this manuscript of the Book of Daniel.

Background here and here with my own commentary.

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Review of Murphy, Deification in classical Greek philosophy and the Bible

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Deification in classical Greek philosophy and the Bible.

James Bernard Murphy, Deification in classical Greek philosophy and the Bible. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024. Pp. 378. ISBN 9781009392921.

Review by
Zachary T. Hedges, Trinity College of Florida.
zachary.hedges@trinitycollege.edu

... Murphy’s project, then, is to recover a sense of this interconnectedness between philosophy and religion, as it shapes the approaches to deification expressed in (1) archaic Greek religion, (2) the teachings of the three major classical philosophers (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle), and (3) the collective witness of the biblical canon. ...

Sounds like an interesting book. But any discussion of deification in the Bible is going to be incomplete and misleading unless it steps outside the major canons and includes the apocalypses in the book of 1 Enoch.

Some other deification-related thoughts pertaining to the classical and biblical worlds are here and links.

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Syriac department opens in Kurdish university

SYRIAC WATCH: Syriac Language Department opens at Nohadra University (unattributes, SyriacPress).

NOHADRA (DOHUK), Kurdistan Region of Iraq — The Ministry of Higher Education in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has approved the opening of a Syriac Language Department, in its Eastern dialect (Sureth), at the College of Education at Nohadra (Dohuk) University, starting from the current academic year.

[...]

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Archaic Hebrew poetry in the Torah

PROF. TANIA NOTARIUS: Remnants of Archaic Hebrew Poetry Embedded in the Torah.

The poems in the Torah are stylistically, theologically, and linguistically different from the prose narratives surrounding them. They include traces of earlier dialects of Hebrew, Ancient Near Eastern mythical motifs, and resemble an 8th century B.C.E. poetic fragment from Kuntillet Ajrud—all of which suggest that they are ancient remnants of earlier Israelite literature.

A good discussion of archaic Hebrew poetry in the Pentateuch.

Elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible I would include at least Judges 5, 2 Samuel 1, Psalm 29, and a few other bits and pieces as archaic poetry. And there is a good case for Habakkuk 3 and some other passages.

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Review of Wander, Flavius Josephus and artwork of Roman antiquity and the early Middle Ages

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Flavius Josephus and artwork of Roman antiquity and the early Middle Ages.

Steven H. Wander, Flavius Josephus and artwork of Roman antiquity and the early Middle Ages. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag, 2024. Pp. 238. ISBN 9783752007916.

Review by
Honora Chapman, California State University, Fresno.
hchapman@csufresno.edu

Though there is copious recent scholarship on Josephus’ historiography, art historian Steven Wander focuses in his new volume upon Josephus’ “influence on artworks from Roman Antiquity and the early Middle Ages” (p. 19), ranging from the Arch of Titus to the Paris Psalter.[1] This is, indeed, very welcome, since it is the first book-length study of this important topic and is supported by beautiful illustrations throughout.[2] Wander’s detailed yet lucid observations “connecting word and image” (p. 21), found in the 56 mostly color illustrations (listed on pp. 11–16), make it an absolute pleasure to read.

[...]

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Another tomb from the Abgar dynasty excavated at Urfu?

SYRIAC WATCH: Archaeological discovery in Urhoy possibly tomb belonging to Syriac Abgar dynasty (unattributed, Syriac Press).

The brief underlying article in Anatolian Archaeology is open access:

WRITTEN BY LEMAN ALTUNTAŞJULY 6, 2025

Ancient Tomb Discovered at Urfa Castle: Could It Belong to the Abgar Dynasty?

ANATOLIAN NEWS . SOUTHEASTERN ANATOLIA ARTICLE

Archaeological excavations at the historic Urfa Castle in southeastern Türkiye have led to a remarkable discovery that may shed new light on the region’s ancient past. A rock-cut tomb dating back to Late Antiquity has been uncovered on Dambak Hill, just south of the iconic Balıklıgöl. Experts believe the tomb may be linked to the ancient Kingdom of Osroene—also known as the Abgar Dynasty.

[...]

Orhoy and Urfa are both names of the modern city in Turkey that was known as Edessa in antiquity. The Edessen dialect of Aramaic became Syriac, the language of the Eastern Church.

I noted the discovery of some other rock-cut tombs at Urfa Castle which may be associated with the Abgar dynasty back in 2016. But it sounds like this is a new find. In that same year some mosaics of Abgar V, the subject of apocryphal Syriac correspondence with Jesus, were also discovered. See here and here.

And for more PaleoJudaica posts on the Agbarid dynasty and the apocryphal Syriac correspondence between King Abgar V and Jesus, as well as on ancient Edessa, follow the links collected here.

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Religion and War from Antiquity to Early Modernity (Bloomsbury)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY:

Religion and War from Antiquity to Early Modernity

Irene Polinskaya (Anthology Editor) , Alan James (Anthology Editor) , Ioannis Papadogiannakis (Anthology Editor)

Hardback $190.00 $171.00

Ebook (Epub & Mobi) $171.00 $136.80

Ebook (PDF) $171.00 $136.80

Product details

Published Nov 28 2024
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 512
ISBN 9780567697783
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Illustrations 3 bw illus
Dimensions 10 x 7 inches
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

Responding to the profound challenges of our times, this book provides a comparative and cross-cultural exploration of the role of religion in war in a long historical perspective, from the second millennium BCE, and even earlier, up to early modernity.

Individual chapters focus on the ancient Near East, the Mediterranean basin, Europe and North Africa. Widely diverse case studies explore the historic link between the conduct of war and the growing complexity of human society conditioned by the ownership of ideological authority. The book explores how in most historical societies this authority was religious.

Written by experts from different disciplinary perspectives, the volume challenges common assumptions about the historical relationship between religion and war and extends our understanding of the dangers and complexities of today's world.

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Israel Oriental Studies Annual 25 (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

The IOS Annual Volume 25: "Memories Near and Far"

Series:
The IOS Annual, Volume: 25

Volume Editors: Yoram Cohen, Amir Gilan, Nathan Wasserman, Letizia Cerqueglini, Beata Sheyhatovitch, and Michal Marmorstein

Volume 25 of the Israel Oriental Studies Annual includes nine articles. The Ancient Near Eastern section consists of three articles. The first article is a study of the way that scholarly knowledge was memorized and internalized by the professional classes of First Millennium Mesopotamia (Gabbay). The second article discusses rhotacism in Luwian (Simon). The third article is an edition of an inscribed metal-bowl of King Iddin-Sin of Simurrum, followed by a commentary (Wasserman). The Semitic section includes six articles that touch upon languages attested, although not solely, in Africa. The issues discussed are shared etymologies between ancient Egyptian and Arabic (Borg and Sheyhatovitch), a new Digital Humanities project of Phoenician and Punic insciptions (Cerqueglini, Silber-Varod and Klein), the syntax of Hebrew spoken by the Algerian Jewish community of Wad-Souf (Gębski), the nomina agentis in Tigrinya (Gutgarts), the oral and written Beta Israel tradition (Rom-Shiloni).

Copyright Year: 2025

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-73178-3
Publication: 13 Jun 2025
EUR €117.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-73177-6
Publication: 19 Jun 2025
EUR €117.00

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Hidde & Ilan, Massekhet Shevuʿot (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK:

Tanja Hidde, Tal Ilan

Massekhet Shevuʿot

Volume IV/6. Text, Translation, and Commentary

[Massekhet Shevu' ot . Text, Übersetzung und Kommentar.]
2025. XI, 306 pages.
DOI 10.1628/978-3-16-164525-9

€129.00
including VAT

eBook PDF
available
978-3-16-164525-9

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Summary

Tanja Hidde and Tal Ilan offer a feminist commentary on the Massekhet Shevuʿot of the Mishnah and the Babylonian Talmud by focusing on women and gender in the texts. The tractate deals with oaths, mostly in a legal, court context. In presenting and interpreting the texts in Mishnah Shevuʿot , Tanja Hidde is concerned first and foremost with the discussion of women's participation in court cases that require oath-swearing, as well as women's exclusion from serving as witnesses.
Focusing on the Babylonian Talmud, Tal Ilan shows that, in their commentary on Mishnah Shevuʿot , the Babylonian rabbis continually use chapter 5 of the Book of Numbers, because it includes a wife suspected of adultery, who swears an oath. Tal Ilan illustrates that the Babylonian rabbis use the wife's oath-swearing as a basis for commenting on other actions of both men and women.

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Kim, Redescribing Moral Agency in Sirach, 4QInstruction, and the Hodayot (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

Redescribing Moral Agency in Sirach, 4QInstruction, and the Hodayot

A Triadic Comparison

World Kim (Author)

Hardback
$120.00 $108.00

Ebook (PDF)
$108.00 $86.40

Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
$108.00 $86.40

Product details

Published May 15 2025
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 192
ISBN 9780567719591
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series The Library of Second Temple Studies
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

This book presents the first comprehensive comparison of how moral agency is constructed in Sirach, 4QInstruction, and the Hodayot. World Kim argues that recent scholastic studies have overemphasized differences amongst various Second Temple texts and neglected the similarities between them. By employing four stages of comparison-description, juxtaposition, re-description, and rectification- Kim re-describes moral agency in Sirach, 4QInstruction, and the Hodayot, and aims to rectify the relationship between these texts.

Kim demonstrates that moral agency cannot be described by categories such as affirmation or denial, and argues that such agency should instead be described in terms of degrees and shaped by various factors such as knowledge and desire, that will either decrease or increase moral agency. Through an extensive comparison of these texts, Kim concludes that the degree to which one internalizes and actualizes the teachings of their religious text increases one's capacity for moral agency, and that this agency must be conceived as dynamic rather than static.

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Sofer, Solomonic Magic (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Solomonic Magic

Methodology, Texts, and Histories

Series:
Magical and Religious Literature of Late Antiquity, Volume: 11

Author: Gal Sofer

Solomonic magic has captivated imaginations for centuries, yet its definition remains elusive. Is it a specialized branch linked to King Solomon, or a broader classification of practices attributed to him? This book explores the mysterious world of demon subjugation, examining previously unknown texts in multiple languages (Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and more) to reveal the historical evolution of this magical tradition. Divided into three parts, the book presents analyses of key manuscripts and examines the historical influence of Hebrew texts on later traditions. Featuring many unpublished manuscripts, this book challenges previous scholarly assumptions and offers a new perspective on the textual network that shaped medieval and early modern magical works.

Copyright Year: 2025

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-73078-6
Publication: 19 May 2025
EUR €126.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-54677-6
Publication: 12 Jun 2025
EUR €126.00

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Tenured post in ancient Jewish Studies at Harvard NELC

H-JUDAIC: FEATURED JOB: Tenured Professor in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University.

Position Description: The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University seeks to appoint a tenured professor in Jewish Studies, with a specialization in Jewish history, religion, and culture in antiquity and/or late antiquity. The successful candidate must have demonstrated expertise in Rabbinic and other Jewish literatures of the ancient world; facility with the relevant languages; deep knowledge of the surrounding civilization(s) in which Jews were embedded, i.e., some combination of Hellenistic, Roman, Eastern or Western Christian, and/or Zoroastrian; command of relevant disciplines in the Humanities including historical method. The appointment is expected to begin on July 1, 2027. The professor will teach and advise at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

[...]

Follow the link for further particulars and application instructions. The closing date is 1 September 2025.

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Is Israel's wilderness camp based on mobile Persian camps?

DR. JAEYOUNG JEON: Israel’s Wilderness Camp Modeled on the Persian Military Formation (TheTorah.com).

The Israelite camp’s layout provides a double layer of protection for the Tabernacle and ensures an orderly march through the wilderness. But where does this organizational model come from? New evidence points not to Egypt—but to Persia.

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Prof. Neil Danzig (1950-2025)

SAD NEWS FROM H-JUDAIC: Passing of Prof. Neil Danzig (1950-2025).

H-Judaic is greatly saddened to learn of the untimely passing of Prof. Neil Danzig (1950-2025), emeritus professor of Rabbinics at the Jewish Theological Seminary and a leading scholar of Geniza literature.

[...]

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A Mishnah/Sifra palimpsest from the Cairo Geniza

GENIZA FRAGMENT OF THE MONTH (APRIL 2025): A Hidden Layer of Sifra beneath the Mishnah: A Hebrew Palimpsest in the Cairo Genizah, T-S E2.51 (Elyashiv Cherlow).

Cambridge University Library T-S E2.51 preserves an early Eastern version of the Mishnah, Tractate Pesaḥim. The upper part of the same parchment leaf, housed at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, Heb. C. 27/27, contains the conclusion of Tractate ʿEruvin. Both pieces have been catalogued and occasionally cited for textual variants.1 Yet one striking feature has gone unnoticed: this leaf is a Hebrew palimpsest.

On the verso of the Cambridge fragment, the Mishnah was copied over an erased text. Beneath it – still partially visible – is a passage from the tannaitic midrash Sifra. Hebrew palimpsests are rare to begin with, and even rarer when both upper and lower texts are rabbinic compositions.2

[...]

For many PaleoJudaica posts noting Cairo Geniza Fragments of the Month in the Cambridge University Library's Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit, start here (plus here and here) and follow the links.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on palimpsests (manuscripts with erased, overwritten text), see here and links.

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

Review of Litwa, Early Christianity in Alexandria

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Early Christianity in Alexandria: from its beginnings to the late second century.

M. David Litwa, Early Christianity in Alexandria: from its beginnings to the late second century. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2023. Pp. 350. ISBN 9781009449557.

Review by
Joseph Verheyden, University of Leuven. jos.verheyden@kuleuven.be

... In his most recent book, Litwa takes the reader on an exploratory journey to early Christian Alexandria on the perhaps a bit too optimistic hypothesis that more can be said about the origins and earliest history of Alexandrian Christianity than has often been thought. ...

The book seems also to deal quite a bit with Alexandrian Judaism.

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Stone, Armenian Apocrypha: The Short Questionnaire from Adam to Moses (SBL)

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

Armenian Apocrypha: The Short Questionnaire from Adam to Moses

Michael E. Stone

ISBN 9781628376173
Volume EJL 58
Status Available
Publication Date May 2025

Paperback $60.00
Hardback $80.00
eBook $60.00

Short Questionnaire, an Armenian question-and-answer text that survives in a seventeenth-century manuscript, draws on Armenian parabiblical traditions to systematically explore biblical events from creation to the exodus. The volume includes Michael E. Stone’s translation, extensive commentary, and twenty-seven essays that trace the history of parabiblical concepts and events from the Second Temple and early Christian periods down to the second millennium. Including stories of Satan’s fall from the garden, the raven’s role in Abel’s murder, the burial places of Adam and Eve, and Noah’s fourth son, the book forms a dictionary of Armenian parabiblical traditions for scholars and students interested in reception history in early Judaism and Christianity.

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Berlejung, YHWH's Diversity (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK:

Angelika Berlejung

YHWH's Diversity

A Lot of Names and No Iconography?

[JHWHs Vielfalt. Viele Namen und keine Ikonographie?]
2025. XIII, 204 pages.
Orientalische Religionen in der Antike (ORA) 63

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Summary

By applying a bottom-up approach, Angelika Berlejung examines YHWH's names, epithets, attributes, and functions in biblical and extrabiblical texts, images found in iconographic material, and attempts to correlate these sources. In doing so, her study reverses the usual approach: rather than starting with discussions about the one (and only) origin of YHWH and the search for his primordial theological profile, it aggregates the diversity of the known YHWH names and the fact that there is no specific YHWH iconography into the thesis that there were different origins of YHWH and regional manifestations of this god before the exile, each with different theological profiles and iconographies. This thesis is accompanied by a consistent regionalization of YHWH worship. The study is embedded in modern approaches to the archaeology of religion and a conception of the Southern Levantine religions which are characterized by a high degree of diversity, regionality, exchange, entanglement, hybridisation and dynamics of appropriation and negation. Instead of a uniform YHWH religion shared by all »Israelites«, the polyyahwistic and polyiconographic approach to Yahwism reveals a mosaic of regionally diverse, religiously non-homogeneous clusters that were only harmonised with each other by Judean and Samarian interpretive authorities in the post-exilic period. From this point of departure, the author discusses possible reasons that lead from pre-exilic polyyahwism and polyiconography to YHWH's later differentia specifica, monotheism and the ban against YHWH images.

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Leuchter, The Achaemenid Dynastic Myth and Jewish Scribes in the Late Persian Period (OUP)

NEW BOOK FROM OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS:

An Empire Far and Wide

The Achaemenid Dynastic Myth and Jewish Scribes in the Late Persian Period

Mark A. Leuchter

E-book: £59.00

Hardback
This item is not yet published, but may be pre-ordered now for delivery when available.
Published: 13 January 2025 (Estimated)
184 Pages
235x156mm
ISBN: 978019777274

Description

The Persian period (539-332 BCE) sits somewhat awkwardly within the study of Second Temple Judaism. Amidst a myriad of issues and debates, the approach to the Persian period is fundamentally complicated by the difficulty in labelling communities — whether or not the communities in the province of Yehud, in Egypt, or in the Eastern Diaspora can even be called "Jewish," a label denoting a type of ethnic and religious symbiosis that some scholars are hesitant to identify any time before the mid-2nd century BCE.

This uncertain position of the Persian Period in Jewish memory is nothing new — in fact, it can be traced back to nearly two thousand years. Yet it can lead contemporary scholars to exercise too much caution when dating, analyzing, and discussing ancient scribal texts. Utilizing recent tools to examine scribal methods, Mark Leuchter takes a definitive approach. An Empire Far and Wide focuses on a careful selection of literary test cases to better understand how Jewish scribes in Persian Yehud interacted with a feature of Persian imperialism that has not received adequate attention: the dynastic mythology of the Achaemenid rulers and the way it shaped emerging Jewish identity in the Persian period.

Leuchter works from the determination that we can indeed apply the terms "Jewish" and "Judaism" to certain Persian period communities with certain caveats. This book illuminates the fact that the Persian period is hardly a "dark age" of study — it reveals important dimensions of Jewish culture of the era. The textual record of the learned Yehudite Jewish caste of the Persian period provides us with monumental insight into a larger intellectual history — one shaped by centuries of imperialism extending back, and forward, in time.

I've been holding off posting this one for months and months, waiting for the hardback to come out. Never mind, just enjoy the e-book.

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Did the Babylonian rabbis know the Yerushalmi?

GENIZA FRAGMENTS BLOG: What did the Geonim of Babylonia really know about the Jerusalem Talmud? (Zvi Stampfer.)

For over 150 years, scholars have debated a fascinating question: To what extent did the Geonim—the heads of the great academies of Sura and Pumbedita—engage with the Jerusalem Talmud? The Geonim saw themselves as the guardians and transmitters of the Babylonian Talmud, which became the dominant text of Jewish law. But was the Yerushalmi, composed in the Land of Israel, also part of their intellectual world?

My current research is shedding new light on this issue. While working on previously unpublished teshuvot (responsa) from the Geonic period, I have uncovered evidence suggesting that more Babylonian Geonim made use of the Jerusalem Talmud than previously thought.

[...]

Cross file under (Jerusalem) Talmud Watch.

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Ethiopic biblical manuscripts identified

ETHIOPIC WATCH: Researchers uncover oldest-ever Ethiopian Jewish scriptures. Two 15th-century Orit scrolls discovered through Tel Aviv University program documenting sacred texts of Beta Israel; scholars say find reshapes global understanding of Jewish history preserved in oral tradition and Ge’ez script (Yaron Drukman, Ynet News).

The headline overstates the case, although the subheader is correct. These are the oldest mauscripts of the Jewish Scriptures belonging to the Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews now in Israel). The article explains:

“The Orit of Beta Israel includes the Five Books of Moses as well as Joshua, Judges and the Scroll of Ruth," said Prof. Dalit Rom-Shiloni of the Department of Biblical Studies.

The oldest Ethiopic (i.e. Ge'ez) Old Testament manuscript I know of dates to before 1270 CE. The oldest Ge'ez manuscript I know of is the Garima Gospels, which dates to the fourth to seventh centuries.

Nevertheless, these are early Ge'ez manuscripts and it's great to have them and to know they are well cared for.

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Was Zenobia Jewish?

PALMYRA WATCH: Third-century queen, target of Syrian government, may have converted to Judaism. “The ancient sources implying Queen Zenobia converted to Judaism are possibly accurate,” Haggai Olshanetsky, of University of Warsaw, told JNS (Menachem Wecker).

The underlying article summarized in this one is published open access in Clio 107.1.

Zenobia, the Great Jewish Queen? Re-analysing Zenobia’s Attitude to Monotheism, Judaism and Its Reasonings

Haggai Olshanetsky

Published/Copyright: May 22, 2025

Summary

The current article wishes to reassess the Christian texts mentioning Queen Zenobia’s potential affinity to Judaism, or her conversion to Judaism. It will be shown that the claims against the reliability of these texts are deficient or inaccurate. Furthermore, it will be clarified that she was not Jewish from birth. Instead, the sources indicate that she had a special relationship with monotheism, and Judaism in particular, and that she may have wished to convert to Judaism or did so in secret. The reasoning for this action and her relationship with Judaism will be examined while considering her politically precarious position, as well as the place of monotheism and Judaism in Palmyra, the Roman East and the Roman Army. Through this, the current article wishes to provide a better, more accurate presentation of Zenobia’s religious inclinations, how she used and manoeuvred between an ambiguous monotheism and Judaism in order to gain power and support, and what was her raison d’être for such a move and choice.

For more on Queen Zenobia of Palmyra, see here and links, notably here.

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

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Review of Garfinkel, The First Expedition to Lachish

BOOK REVIEW: The First Expedition to Lachish: A Colonial Archaeology Story. Archaeology at the biblical city of Lachish began a century ago and went neither well nor smoothly. In a new book, Yosef Garfinkel tells the fascinating tale of the hazards the archaeologists faced (Robin Twite, Haaretz).

Yosef Garfinkel, Colonial Archaeology in Palestine in the 1930s: The First Expedition to Lachish. Jerusalem: The Israel Exploration Society and Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2024. 712 pages, ILS 260 (about $75 US dollars).

Though the title of the book by Garfinkel, a professor of archaeology at Hebrew University, is somewhat forbidding, its content is the reverse. In his new book, Garfinkel tells the fascinating tale of the first archeological expedition to Tel Lachish and the many hazards those involved faced – among them incomprehension from the local population, the fear of violence in a time of trouble, distance from health and other services, and difficult relations with donors.

[...]

Lachish is a very important archaeological site. For some of the many PaleoJudaica posts on its archaeology and epigraphic discoveries (including the famous Lachish Letters and the Canaanite lice comb), see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and follow the links

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Tony Burke's Regensburg Year: June 2025

THE APOCRYPHICITY BLOG: My Regensburg Year Part 11: June 2025.

Tony Burke is on research sabbatical for the 2024-25 academic year at the University of Regensburg in Germany. Less than one month to go now!

June included a visit to Dublin and a look at the Chester Beatty Papyri, then to Bratislava and Oslo. At a workshop in the latter he presented on his work on Longinus the centurion traditions.

For earlier posts in the series and more on Tony's work, see here and links.

Cross-file under New Testament Apocrypha Watch.

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Update on the Tomb of Nahum in Iraq

RESTORED AND OPEN FOR VISITORS: In Iraq, restored tomb of biblical prophet Nahum quietly attracts Jewish pilgrimage. Despite geopolitical tensions, dozens of Jews, including Israelis, have journeyed to shrine in Kurdish city of Alqosh since its rehabilitation in 2022, says project organizer (Rossella Tercatin).

I have been following the fate of the (traditional) Tomb of Nahum in Alqosh (al-Qosh, Al Qosh, Al-Quosh) for years. For past posts, start here and follow the links.

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

Eight new scrolls at the Reagan Library Exhibition

SCROLL ROTATION: Eight newly installed Dead Sea Scrolls on display at Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, U.S. (Chris Eyte, Christian Daily).

The newly installed scrolls include the Community Rule Scroll 4Q260, also known as the Manual of Discipline, which details the governing structure, daily practices, and core values of the 1st century BC Qumran community. They replace the previous set of eight scrolls as part of a regular rotation to preserve the ancient manuscripts, which are highly sensitive to light and environmental exposure.

I can't find any information yet about the other seven scrolls.

Background on the exhibition is here and links.

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Biblical Studies Carnival #227

READING ACTS: Biblical Studies Carnival #227 for June 2025 (Phil Long).

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

Is the Moabite Stone a forgery?

IT'S COME TO THIS: Is the Mesha Stele Also a Forgery? (Yigal Bin-Nun, Times of Israel Blogs).

Two famous cases of forgery are associated with the figure of Moses Shapira, an antiquities dealer: the Moabite sherds sold to the Berlin Museum in 1872, and the pseudo-scroll of Deuteronomy written in ancient Hebrew in 1883. These two episodes were preceded by the discovery of the Mesha Stele, attributed to Mesha, king of Moab (1868), with which Shapira is also indirectly associated. A reassessment of this stele, based on archival material from the time, leads me to believe that the authenticity of the inscription it bears must now be called into question.

[...]

Fair enough to raise the question. I doubt that epigraphers would have continued to be fooled by an epigraphic forgery from the nineteeth century. They know too much about the details of the Northwest Semitic scripts for that to be likely. To really make the case for forgery, one would have to show that the script of the Mesha Stele gets details wrong that no one would have noticed in the nineteenth century.

It's true that we don't have many substantial lapidary royal inscriptions from ancient Israel. But we do have Hezekiah's Siloam Tunnel Inscription and some other fragments from his era. Perhaps not as many as have sometimes been argued. For discussion, see here and links. And there also is the fragmentary Tel Dan Stele, which was set up by an Aramean king, but which mentions the House of David.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on the Mesha Stele (Moabite Inscription), start here (plus here and here) and follow the links. For the renewed debate over the authenticity of the Shapira Scroll fragments, start here and follow the links.

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

Still more on that ancient mass grave in the Negev

PODCAST TRANSCRIPT: Treasures in the Desert (Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology).

From the May-June 2025 Let the Stones Speak Magazine Issue

An ancient tomb complex containing 60 mostly young female bodies was discovered in the Negev region of southern Israel. Among the bodies were a plethora of exotic artifacts, including jewelry, alabaster vessels for spices, mortar-​and-pestle figurines, weights, scales and arrowheads.

In February, Let the Stones Speak podcast host Brent Nagtegaal interviewed Dr. Tali Erickson-Gini, senior researcher at the Israel Antiquities Authority, about the discovery. Here is their fascinating discussion.

[...]

I noted this story here and here.

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

What is a god in the ANE?

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY:What is a God in the Ancient Near East? (Michael B. Hundley).

What is a god? While the question is simple enough, the answer depends on context and perspective. For those raised in the shadow of the great monotheisms — Judaism, Christianity, and Islam — the god category has a singular member who is the creator and perfect unchallenged ruler of the cosmos. For most other modern religious traditions, gods are multiple and variable.

[...]

First in a series.

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Safeguarding archaeological artifacts in Israel

SECURING THE COLLECTIONS: How Israel safeguards archaeological treasures amid Iranian attacks. DOMESTIC AFFAIRS: Museum staff members across Israeli institutions face the challenge of protecting some of the most important artifacts of humankind. (Joanie Margulies, Jerusalem Post). The Dead Sea Scrolls, of course, present a particular challenge.

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