THE SACRED EXHIBITION at the British Museum is covered in a Times article from Apri:

The writ and wisdom of the Almighty
The British Library’s collection of books and manuscripts from three of the world’s great religions demonstrate what divides us, but also what should unite us
undefined
Rachel Campbell-Johnston

[...]

British Library curators can draw on rich resources. An unparalleled archive includes treasures that range from papyrus scraps rescued from an Egyptian rubbish dump to the most sumptuously ornamented of manuscripts. These are supported by loans of key texts from other museums, including a Dead Sea scroll fragment (one of several pieces never before shown in this country), and by objects from private collections, from an exquisite silver set used during the Jewish ceremony of Passover through the richly decorated curtain that once hung over the door of the Kaabah (the cube-shaped stone structure in the Grand Mosque in Mecca that forms the focal point of all Muslim worship) to the shalwar kameez that Jemima Khan wore at her wedding.

But at the heart of the show are the manuscripts: those most precious survivors of centuries of pogroms and wars and oppressions, of years of neglect and accident. To- gether they tell a story as vividly intriguing as psalter illuminations, as intricately complex as an Islamic carpet, as minutely detailed as the masoretic notes that weave their patterns around the writings of a Jewish Pentateuch.

The more ostentatiously dramatic of these texts seem more like objects than mes- sages, more like spiritual icons than mere books. Admire the wonderful calligraphy on a leaf of the Lindis-farne Gospels, for instance. This manuscript was far more than a practical text. Transformed by the artistic talent of its maker, it attained a symbolic power. It was not there to be read. It was meant to be glimpsed from a reverent distance by those who queued up to bear witness to this piece of solid proof of Christianity’s strength. Jewish scriptures took on a similar totemic importance. They became a sort of substitute for the Temple of Jerusalem after it was razed by the Romans in AD70. “Where two or three study the Torah together,” explained the rabbis, “the Shekhinah [divine presence] is in their midst”.

[...]

Some of the most fascinating displays are the most visually unappealing. A page of inscrutable scribbling, it turns out, is the Diatessoron — an attempt to combine the four Gospels into one narrative account that was so ruthlessly suppressed that no single complete manuscript sur- vives. And yet curators are keen also to show off their most exotic treasures, the most sumptuously ornamental of their manuscripts. Here are Korans in pure sweeps of burnished gold, Hebraic texts scrolled about with extravagant creatures, Christian stories illuminated with a vig-our that brings them springing to life.

[...]

THE BYU ARABIC TRANSLATION PROJECT is profiled in the Deseret News:

Arabic texts translated — thanks to Bennett
By Suzanne Struglinski
Deseret Morning News
WASHINGTON — Historical Islamic books and other works previously only available in Arabic have been translated into English through a program at Brigham Young University that receives funding from the Library of Congress.
Andrew C. Skinner, executive director of BYU's Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, gave Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, copies of the several translated volumes in Washington Tuesday as a way to thank him for helping secure the federal funding needed to produce them.

[...]

Since its inception in 1992, the initiative has published 13 English translations from Arabic or Syriac writings by Middle Eastern philosophers, theologians, scientists and physicians through its four projects: The Islamic Translation Series, the dual-language Eastern Christian Texts, the English-only Library of the Christian East, and the Medical Works of Moses Maimonides. Peterson said 10 of the books have been financed by the university and private donations, but he has a goal of translating and publishing 100 works.
Bennett described the translated works as "not ancient" but "very old."

[...]

I noted the project previously here and here. I've worked closely with a couple of the volumes and, from my nonspecialist perspective, they seem excellent.

JOSEPHUS gets a nice little profile in the Texas Monitor online:

Josephus — traitor or scholar?
William McGee
Special to The Monitor
May 9, 2007 - 7:24PM


Students of early Christianity or Second Temple Judaism are sure to encounter the writings of Josephus Flavius, the most important non-biblical historical source for the First Century CE. His writings are dramatic and full of those details that provoke debate among modern historians. At the same time, he is a controversial person whose life and writings are filled with contradictions.

Recently, while discussing these articles with a Jewish friend, we talked about Josephus as a non-biblical source of information. He commented, “To us, Josephus is the Jewish Benedict Arnold.”

To me, his life and work is as worthy of study as are those about whom he wrote.

[...]

HANAN ESHEL is claiming that the Leviticus scroll was improperly handled by the Israel Antiquities Authority, according to Haaretz:

Antiquities Authority manhandled Leviticus scroll, says archaeologist
By Yair Sheleg

Professor Hanan Eshel, the archaeologist who two years ago uncovered scroll fragments of the Book of Leviticus, says the Israel Antiquities Authority, which now has the finds, has cut out large chunks of the scroll on the pretext that its dating needed to be examined.

This was not a necessary procedure, says Eshel, since "experts say it was possible to test the dating without an intrusive examination and in the worst case scenario by cutting a tiny, peripheral portion of the scroll."

[...]

Amir Ganor, director of the unit for the prevention of theft in the Antiquities Authority, said in response that "in order to carry out the examination we could not avoid making certain cuts in the scroll itself. This is acceptable in every examination of this sort. We cut only two small parts, one-half centimeter each, from the end of the scroll. At no stage was there any thought of cutting letters, only to scrape off some ink in order to examine it. The minute it became clear to us that we could not have unequivocal results from such an examination, we did not do it."

However, the photographs published here suggest the scroll cuts are significantly more extensive than what Ganor acknowledges and encompass nearly all the part of the scroll that has no writing on it.

Ganor said examinations of the scroll have undermined Eshel's claim that the finding is authentic.

[...]

Eshel disputes this.

YES, BUT DID THE ANGELS SMITE HIM? Haaretz reports on an interesting inscription currently being displayed at the Israel Museum:

Ancient Greek inscription, dating to 178 B.C.E., goes on display at Israel Museum
By Amiram Barkat

A recently deciphered ancient Greek stele (inscribed stone slab) is currently on display at the Israel Museum. The stele was produced in 178 B.C.E. in Israel at a time when the region was ruled by the Hellenistic Seleucid empire.

The inscription depicts events that preceded the Hasmonean rebellion. It mentions King Seleucus IV, who occupied the throne before Antiochus IV, the target of the Maccabean revolt, and the king's chief minister Heliodorus, who sparked the first open conflict between Greeks and Jews by attempting to seize funds from the Second Temple.

Researchers are unsure where exactly the inscription was discovered, and examinations commissioned by the museum failed to uncover any signs the inscription was inauthentic. The stele was deciphered by two leading ancient inscription researchers: Hannah Cotton-Paltiel of Hebrew University in Jerusalem and Professor Michael Woerrle of the German Archaeological Institute in Munich. American-Jewish philanthropist Michael Steinhardt, who acquired the stele a few months ago, gave the stele to the museum on an extended loan.

Failing "to uncover any signs the inscription was inauthentic" is a less robust conclusion than I would like. I hope they are really more confident than that of its authenticity.

The inscription appears on the uppermost part of a stone column engraved with three letters. To date, this is the second stele from this period to be found in the region. The inscription describes King Seleucus IV's appointment of senior Greek clerk Olympiodorus to oversee sanctuaries in Israel and surrounding areas. In the first letter, King Seleucus IV informs his deputy Heliodorus of the appointment and the second and third announces more minor appointments.

[...]

King Seleucus IV was assassinated in 175 B.C.E., three years after the appointment described in the stele. He was replaced by Antiochus IV Epiphanes (the "Shining One" in Greek), who ruled during the Maccabean revolt. The first instance of open tension between both sides took place when Heliodorus entered the Temple and attempted to confiscate money. He was expelled in disgrace. The Maccabean rebellion actually began in 167 B.C.E. in response to grave, religious edicts imposed by Antiochus IV.

[...]

"Expelled in disgrace" doesn't really do justice to the story as it appears in 2 Maccabees 3 (RSV quoted here):

22: While they were calling upon the Almighty Lord that he would keep what had been entrusted safe and secure for those who had entrusted it,
23: Heliodorus went on with what had been decided.
24: But when he arrived at the treasury with his bodyguard, then and there the Sovereign of spirits and of all authority caused so great a manifestation that all who had been so bold as to accompany him were astounded by the power of God, and became faint with terror.
25: For there appeared to them a magnificently caparisoned horse, with a rider of frightening mien, and it rushed furiously at Heliodorus and struck at him with its front hoofs. Its rider was seen to have armor and weapons of gold.
26: Two young men also appeared to him, remarkably strong, gloriously beautiful and splendidly dressed, who stood on each side of him and scourged him continuously, inflicting many blows on him.
27: When he suddenly fell to the ground and deep darkness came over him, his men took him up and put him on a stretcher
28: and carried him away, this man who had just entered the aforesaid treasury with a great retinue and all his bodyguard but was now unable to help himself; and they recognized clearly the sovereign power of God.
29: While he lay prostrate, speechless because of the divine intervention and deprived of any hope of recovery,
30: they praised the Lord who had acted marvelously for his own place. And the temple, which a little while before was full of fear and disturbance, was filled with joy and gladness, now that the Almighty Lord had appeared.
31: Quickly some of Heliodorus' friends asked Onias to call upon the Most High and to grant life to one who was lying quite at his last breath.
32: And the high priest, fearing that the king might get the notion that some foul play had been perpetrated by the Jews with regard to Heliodorus, offered sacrifice for the man's recovery.
33: While the high priest was making the offering of atonement, the same young men appeared again to Heliodorus dressed in the same clothing, and they stood and said, "Be very grateful to Onias the high priest, since for his sake the Lord has granted you your life.
34: And see that you, who have been scourged by heaven, report to all men the majestic power of God." Having said this they vanished.
35: Then Heliodorus offered sacrifice to the Lord and made very great vows to the Savior of his life, and having bidden Onias farewell, he marched off with his forces to the king.
36: And he bore testimony to all men of the deeds of the supreme God, which he had seen with his own eyes.

Unfortunately it seems that the inscription does not mention this event. But, to be fair, it would have no particular reason to, and it's not clear whether it was produced before or after Heliodorus' visit to the Temple.

UPDATE: Nice photo at the Art Daily. (Via Rochelle Altman on Ioudaios-L.)

HEROD'S TOMB: By now, everyone must have heard of the reported discovery of Herod's tomb at Herodium, confirming what Josephus said. But how could PaleoJudaica not cover it too? Here is the Hebrew University press release:

Tomb of King Herod discovered at Herodium by Hebrew University archaeologist

The long search for Herod the Great’s tomb has ended with the exposure of the remains of his grave, sarcophagus and mausoleum on Mount Herodium’s northeastern slope, Prof. Ehud Netzer of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Institute of Archaeology announced today.

Herod was the Roman-appointed king of Judea from 37 to 4 BCE, who was renowned for his many monumental building projects, including the reconstruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, the palace at Masada, as well as the complex at Herodium, 15 kilometers south of Jerusalem. .

Herodium is the most outstanding among King Herod’s building projects. This is the only site that carries his name and the site where he chose to be buried and to memorialize himself -- all of this with the integration of a huge, unique palace at the fringe of the desert, said Prof. Netzer. Therefore, he said, the exposure of his tomb becomes the climax of this site’s research.

The approach to the burial site - which has been described by the archaeologists involved as one of the most striking finds in Israel in recent years - was via a monumental flight of stairs (6.5 meters wide) leading to the hillside that were especially constructed for the funeral procession.

The excavations on the slope of the mountain, at whose top is the famed structure comprised of a palace, a fortress and a monument, commenced in August 2006. The expedition, on behalf of the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, was conducted by Prof. Netzer, together with Yaakov Kalman and Roi Porath and with the participation of local Bedouins.

The location and unique nature of the findings, as well as the historical record, leave no doubt that this was Herod’s burial site, said Prof. Netzer.

[...]

The sarcophagus was smashed to bits, apparently by Jewish rebels during the Great Revolt of 66-72 C.E., which I guess shows that Herod wasn't any more popular in the first century than he is today.

This SBL Forum article ("Herod's Tomb Discovered at Herodium") doesn't have any new information, but it does have some good photographs of the site. And here's a slide show of the site from Der Spiegel. There has also been lots of discussion on the Ioudaios-L list. The recent archive of this thread is here.

SAMARITAN NEWS: Reader Sharon Dufour Sullivan e-mails the following:

I am writing to you because I have noticed through the years of following your blog that you have on occasion posted information about the Israelite Samaritans. I wanted to let you know about some exciting news. For the past five years I have been working with Israelite Samaritan Elder, Benyamim Tsedaka in the first English translation of the Samaritan Pentateuch. The project was completed one month ago, gracefully accepted by Logos to soon be published electronically. (I would be happy to send you a sample, if you are interested.) Along with the English translation of the Torah, Logos will be recording the oral chanting done by one of the leading Israelite Samaritan vocalists and choir member, Yefet Tsedaka (hopefully ready in one year from now). Mark Shoulson will also play a part in the Logos package, with the Hebrew parallel of the SP and the MT.

Benny and the choir are traveling to London, arriving Sunday, May 13. Benny will be staying an additional week after the choir performance.

I thought you might find both items of interest: The first ever English translation of the complete Samaritan Torah, and the soon arrival of the Samaritan Choir to perform in London.

Indeed.

Also, Benny Tsedaka e-mails with more information:

Following Sharon letter, yes, we are coming to perform
first time in the British Isle, four times in London.

I will bring with me the last draft of the Israelite
Samaritan Torah Translation, first time in English,
looking for high reputation publisher, as it ought to
be as an explosion in the field of Biblical research
to be in any place where it is studied, all over the
world.

[...]

... The Israelite
Samaritan Choir will perform next week as follows:

May 13, at 7:30 p.m in North Western Reform Synagogue,
Golders Green.

May 15, at 6:00pm in St. Ethelburga's Center for Peace
and Conciliation, Near Liverpool Tube station.

May 16. at 7:00PM at Spiro Ark Center for Jewish
Culture.

May 17, at 7:00pm at Spitz, London

Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it to London next week. But if you will be there, you may want to attend one of the performances. I wish I could.

I'M BACK, at least for the present. Sorry for the long hiatus, but I did need the break to take care of other things. I hope to continue blogging regularly now, but there may be other unscheduled breaks.

Sorry also about the missing archive. It's still in the system, but for some reason the new Blogger system doesn't show it on the blog page. I'll try to figure out how to get it back, time permitting.

Finally, let me just mention that St. Andrews did not fill the two positions for New Testament and Old Testament/Hebrew Bible chairs (i.e., full professorships). So we are about to relaunch the search for both at a more junior level, with a range from Lectureship to Senior Lectureship to Reader. British readers will understand these titles. North Americans and some others may not, but they should think of this as in the range of assistant professor to associate professor. The adverts are cycling through our system, but I will post them as soon as I can.

It's good to be back.

NO BLOGGING FOR A WHILE. I'll be back when I can.

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: The Turkish delegation's report on the Mughrabi Gate excavation should be out in a few days, according to Today's Zaman.

Al-Aqsa report to be presented to PM Erdoğan within days
A report that is being drawn up by a group of technical experts, following an April visit to Jerusalem where they surveyed archeological work near the revered al-Aqsa Mosque, is expected to be finished and introduced to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a few days, Foreign Ministry spokesman Levent Bilman said Wednesday.

The Israeli archeological dig near the Muslim holy site sparked widespread protests amid fears that the work could damage the site. The Turkish delegation’s visit to Jerusalem, inspection of the site and eventual preparation of a report are all the result of an agreement reached in early February between Erdoğan and his Israeli counterpart Ehud Olmert, during the latter’s visit to the Turkish capital.

[...]

ARCHAEOLOGIST JODI MAGNESS is profiled by UNC Chapel Hill's Daily Tar Heel:

Students enraptured by Magness' teaching style
By: Deborah Neffa, Staff Writer

While some people have a hard time memorizing a five-minute speech, professor Jodi Magness can talk passionately about religious studies for more than an hour - without using so much as a note card.

About 200 students, some of whom resorted to sitting on the floor of Murphey 116, listened intently Tuesday as Magness narrated a tale about the Roman siege of Masada, a site of ancient palaces in Israel.

And although many typically consider history lectures dry and trite, Magness' unique teaching style of using vivid anecdotes kept students on the edge of their seats.

[...]

TALPIOT TOMB WATCH: The Jerusalem Post notes changes on the Discovery Channel's website.

Jesus tomb film scholars backtrack
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS

Several prominent scholars who were interviewed in a bitterly contested documentary that suggests that Jesus and his family members were buried in a nondescript ancient Jerusalem burial cave have now revised their conclusions, including the statistician who claimed that the odds were 600:1 in favor of the tomb being the family burial cave of Jesus of Nazareth, a new study on the fallout from the popular documentary shows.

[...]

Pfann's paper reported that a statement on the Discovery Channel's Web site, which previously read "a statistical study commissioned by the broadcasters...concludes that the probability factor is 600 to 1 in favor of this being the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth and his family," in keeping with Feuerverger's statement, has been altered and now reads, "a statistical study commissioned by the broadcasters... concludes that the probability factor is in the order of 600 to 1 that an equally 'surprising' cluster of names would arise purely by chance under given assumptions."

Another sentence on the same Web site stating that Feuerverger had concluded it was highly probable that the tomb, located in the southeastern residential Jerusalem neighborhood of Talpiot, was the Jesus family tomb - the central point of the film - has also been changed. It now reads: "It is unlikely that an equally surprising cluster of names would have arisen by chance under purely random sampling."

[...]

Readers of Mark Goodacre's New Testament Gateway blog will have known about this since the middle of March. Once again the mainstream media comes trailing in behind the Blogosphere.

SAMSON AS SUICIDE BOMBER?

Samson, the Jewish suicide bomber
By israelinsider staff April 10, 2007

This April the Canadian Victoria Philharmonic Choir is performing Handel's Samson, but with a different spin, thanks to Artistic Director Simon Capet. The Irishman managed to transform the biblical story of the Samson into the story of a Jewish suicide bomber in pre-state Palestine.

According to the biblical story, Samson has superhuman strength, but fails to follow God's instructions. After being captured and blinded by his enemy, the Philistines, he prays and repents to God and is able to bring down a Philistine temple, thus killing everyone inside, including himself.

Musically, Capet left Handel's work unchanged. However, in the climactic scene in Capet's version, there is no trace of the Philistine temple. Instead, Samson's mother unbuttons her coat, removes the explosives belt she had concealed, and attaches it to Samson's beaten body. She then helps him put on a shirt and he is led offstage. Moments later there is the blast of an explosion and a burst of light offstage.

[...]

The Samson story is morally repugnant in any number of ways, but it's a big stretch to transform him into a suicide bomber. Besides the fact that, as the article notes, there have not been any Jewish suicide bombers. This sounds to me like one of those artsy modernizing adaptations that regularly ruin Shakespeare and the like.

MORE JEWISH-TEMPLE DENIAL, this time from the Chief Palestinian Justice, according to the Palestine News Network:

Dozens of settlers enter grounds of Al Aqsa Mosque
(Jerusalem) Palestine News Network
Sunday, 08 April 2007

After the Chief Palestinian Justice warned of an impending attempt by Jewish fundamentalists to storm Al Aqsa Mosque on Sunday, dozens did.

Sheikh Taysir Al Tamimi said that the support that the Israeli government gives not only to political, but religious extremists, is an illustration of its own fundamentalism. The military did not try to stop the settlers, but instead provided them protection.

“This provocation, for which the military provides full support and protection, directly wrongs the religious feelings of Muslims."

He continued, "It is sinful to desecrate the sanctity of the Mosque and is a flagrant abuse of the role of worship.”

The Sheikh pointed out the political folly of claims that an ancient Jewish temple exists in the area. He said, “The claims of the alleged temple are pure fabrications which fact, archaeologists and history prove wrong. The work of the extremists is contrary to heavenly and divine laws, and also to international law.”

[...]

My emphasis. I'm not sure what the "storming" of the site by religious extremists is about, but whatever happened seems not to have attracted any attention by the major media outlets.

RICHARD FREUND is lecturing on the Cave of the Letters at Washington University in St. Louis:

Dead Sea cave archaeology is focus of Richard Freund lecture, April 20

By Gerry Everding

April 9, 2007 -- Richard Freund, director of the Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Hartford, will discuss "Temple Treasures in the Dead Sea Caves: New Insights from Archaeology" at 11 a.m. April 20 in Room 301, Lab Sciences Building, Danforth Campus.

[...]

TOO BUSY TO BLOG right now and the news seems to be quiet anyhow. But you might want to have a look at posts on blogging and tenure by Mark Goodacre and April DeConick. Also, happy second blogiversary to Tyler Williams's Codex blog. And Pete Williams is blogging on Sogdian and Middle Persian Psalters.

ST. VERONICA has been deleted from the Via Dolorosa by the Vatican because she comes from apocryphal traditions. Tony Chartand-Burke takes exception.

I have no theological stake in this issue, but, for what it's worth, the New Testament quotes from lost and not-so-lost apocrypha and pseudepigrapha from time to time (see, e.g., 2 Timothy 3:8 and Jude 9 and 14-15). So in purely historical terms the biblical corpus cannot be sharply separated from noncanonical texts.

ANNIE JAUBERT'S THEORY that Jesus celebrated the Last Supper according to the Qumran solar calendar seems to have been mentioned recently by the Pope. The theory, first published half a century ago in French, is being "hailed as radical" by the press.

ANOTHER 60TH-ANNIVERSARY ROUNDUP on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Looks like an accurate and well done summary of the mainstream scholarly views on the Scrolls.

Dead Sea Scrolls fuel imagination

Found 60 years ago, they remain iconic

By Craig Nelson
Cox News Service
April 8, 2007

KIBBUTZ KALIA, Israel -- Whenever fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls are put on exhibition anywhere in the world, throngs of religious believers crowd in front of display cases.

The fragments are faded, some even black, with age and the effects of the amino acids in the animal skins on which they were written. Most are illegible.

Still, the ancient scrolls, discovered 60 years ago this year, have an enduring grip on the imagination and offer important insights of life in ancient Israel at the dawn of Christianity.

[...]

HAPPY EASTER to all those celebrating. More on Easter here.