UPDATE ALERT: to last Friday's post on "Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?"

APOCRYPHA NOW!



No, it's not that kind of Apocrypha, but it's cool.

JOHN'S BAPTISERS: MANDAEANS IN AUSTRALIA is a radio program that is scheduled to air on ABC Radio National on Sunday October 5 at 7.10am. It will also be available online.

This week's Encounter program looks at an ancient Gnostic sect which honours John the Baptist. They have fled persecution in the Middle East and found sanctuary in Australia. The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran bring with them a pacifist belief structure and ancient rituals based on fresh flowing water.

The program shows how they are grappling with their past but also the challenges of life in Australia.

A HEBREW BIBLE/OLD TESTAMENT LECTURESHIP at the University of St. Andrews:

School of Divinity

Lectureship in Old Testament/Hebrew Bible

Salary - £34,793 - £42,791 pa
We are seeking applicants committed to excellence in teaching and research in Old Testament/Hebrew Bible. You will contribute to the School's existing strengths in philological and historical scholarship. Specialism within the canon of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible is open, although the Second Temple period is already well represented by existing staff. In addition a research interest in the interface between biblical studies and Christian theology and/or the history of interpretation is highly desirable. You will teach both Old Testament/Hebrew Bible content and Hebrew language to students from undergraduate to doctoral level.

While applications to the Lectureship are welcome from junior scholars, you will be expected to hold a PhD when you take up the position and you will need to demonstrate a capacity and commitment to research and publication as well as teaching.

This position will be available from 1 September 2009, or as soon as possible thereafter. This is a standard contract similar to an assistant professorship in North America.

Informal enquiries to Professor Jim Davila (Tel. +44-1334-462834; email: divhos@st-andrews.ac.uk).

Please quote ref: SK053/08
Closing date: 1 December 2008

Application forms and further particulars are available from Human Resources, University of St Andrews, College Gate, North Street, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9AJ, (tel: 01334 462571, by fax 01334 462570 or by e-mail Jobline@st-andrews.ac.uk. The advertisement, further particulars and a downloadable application form can be found at http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/employment/.

The University is committed to equality of opportunity.

The University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland (No SC013532)

The further particulars and application form can be downloaded here.

This post is a replacement for Dr. Nathan MacDonald, who is departing temporarily next year with a prestigious Sofja Kovalevskaja Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. He will be chairing a project on Uniformity and Diversity in Early Jewish Monotheism at the University of Göttingen. Dr. MacDonald's secondment to Göttingen is for five years, but this new post is a standard (i.e., tenure-track equivalent) contract, not a fixed-term one.

BIBLICAL STUDIES CARNIVAL XXXIV (an acrostic this time!) has been posted at MetaCatholic. Lots of good stuff, as usual. And I think I neglected last month to link to no. XXXIII at Pisteuomen.

AN OLD TESTAMENT/HEBREW BIBLE LECTURESHIP at Belfast Bible College:

Belfast Bible College invites applications for the full-time post of Lecturer in Old Testament (commencing Autumn 2009). PhD in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament required. Belfast Bible College, Ireland's largest evangelical interdenominational college, offers a range of certificate and diploma courses, as well as undergraduate (BD, BTh) and postgraduate (MTh, MPhil, PhD) degrees as a theological college of Queen's University Belfast. To learn more about the College, this position and how to apply, please visit: www.belfastbiblecollege.com. Applications close October 31, 2008.

From the SOTS list.

A HEBREW MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION IN ARMENIA is getting some attention:

THE OLD COLLECTION OF HEBREW MANUSCRIPTS THOROUGHLY STUDIED
(AZG Armenian Daily)

The old collection of Hebrew manuscripts kept in Matenadaran includes the manuscripts brought from Etchmiatsin in 1940. The new one consists of more than 100 parchment scrolls of the 19th century brought form Ukraine in 1980s. The old collection was enriched in 1920-50s; overall, 21 manuscripts are registered. Yosif Amusin, Dr. of Institute of Oriental Studies of Russia’s Academy of Sciences, studied 13 of these manuscripts in 1969.

From March of this year, Matenadaran’s new scientific worker Ruzan Poghosian, specialized in Hebrew language at Jerusalem Jewish University in 2000, started the study of all the 21 manuscripts.

[...]

The collection seems to include biblical excerpts, some magical texts, and commentary material on the Bible and the Talmud.

THE POPE is getting a very nice present:

Polyglot Bible to Be Given to Pope

Initiative Marks October's Synod on Word of God

By Miriam Díez i Bosch

ROME, SEPT. 30, 2008 (Zenit.org).- A multilingual Bible will be given to Benedict XVI in honor of the October synod of bishops on the word of God.

The "Polyglot Bible," illustrated by Cláudio Pastro, will be given to the Holy Father on Oct. 7, in a special white deluxe edition. Red copies will also be given to the members of the synod.

The Bible's Old Testament is in five languages: Hebrew-Aramaic, Greek, Latin, English and Spanish, while the New Testament is in four languages: Greek, Latin, English and Spanish. The Bible is designed for liturgical, academic and exegetical usages.

The 3,220-page deluxe edition was printed by the Brazilian Biblical Society press. It weighs 3,440 kilograms (7,583 pounds). The final presentation of this special edition of the "Polyglot Bible" was endorsed by the American Bible Society and the Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

[...]

That means it weighs more than a kilogram per page. That doesn't sound right.

UPDATE (3 October): Mystery solved!

ARAMAIC WATCH: A rubbing of the Chinese Nestorian (Syriac) tablet has been donated to the California State University, Stanislaus:

Assyrian artifact finds a new home at CSU Stanislaus

BY SABRA STAFFORD
Staff Reporter

For over 40 years a rubbing reproduction of an eighth century Assyrian monument hung in Samuel Ayoubkhani's home as a treasure that only friends and family saw.

Now, the artifact of two cultures is on display for all to see through Ayoubkhani's donation to California State University, Stanislaus.

The rubbing reproduction of the Nestorian Monument was unveiled Friday night to an overflow crowd at the university's library and there it will hang for all to enjoy.

[...]

The discovery of the rubbing reproduction of the ancient Assyrian artifact was itself a monumental moment for Ayoubkhani.

It was 1965 and he was a post-graduate student at Manchester University in the United Kingdom. His landlords would often invite him over for visits and conversation. One day, the chat turned to Ayoubkhani's ancestry and language. As Ayoubkhani described the Aramaic language and how it is written right to left, a twinge of remembrance came up in the man's eye. He shuffled off and a few moments came back with the rubbing.

"I was amazed the first time I saw it," Ayoubkhani said. "I knew it was about my ancestors."

Ayoubkhani bought the rubbing for 500 pounds, paid for in three installments.

[...]

Cool. For more on the Chinese Nestorian tablet see here.

EILAT MAZAR AND GABRIEL BARKAY comment on recent epigraphic discoveries in Jerusalem:

Clay seal connects to Bible
Archaeological find in Jerusalem bears name in Scripture
Jay Bushinksy THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Wednesday, October 1, 2008

AMOS BEN GERSHOM/SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES Archaeological workers collect rubble from the site that has been identified as King David's palace, the first of two clay bullae bearing the names of biblical figures was discovered.

It is the most remarkable find since excavations in the heart of this 3,000-year-old capital of ancient Israel began 140 years ago: a tiny clay seal impression also known as a bulla or stamp, discovered near the ruins of what has been identified as King David's palace and bearing the name of an influential courtier mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.

"It is not very often that archaeologists have surprises that bring them so close to the reality of the biblical text," said Eilat Mazar, whose pinpoint dig in a relatively small site this summer led her to a clay bulla whose ancient Hebrew script identifies its owner as Gedalyahu ben Pashhur.

Speaking to an enthusiastic audience of 1,500 Israelis who converged on the Palestinian-Arab Silwan quarter, known as Kfar Hashiloah, or Siloam in the Bible, Mrs. Mazar said, "One could not have asked anything more than this."

[...]

Well, I wouldn't say no to an extensive lapidary royal inscription from the First Temple period, but I take her point.

For the Passhur seal and the Yehukhal/Jehucal seal, see here. For Professor Barkay's project of sifting the Temple Mount material illictly excavated by the Waqf, see here.

MORE ON THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS EXHIBITION coming to the Royal Ontario Museum:

It’s offical — Dead Sea Scrolls coming to ROM
By SHERI SHEFA, Staff Reporter (Canadian Jewish News)
Thursday, 02 October 2008
TORONTO — With Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty’s recent announcement, it’s now official – the Royal Ontario Museum will present the largest exhibition of the Dead Sea Scrolls outside of Israel next summer.

[...]

I don't think we've heard a lot yet about the lecture series:

McGuinty thanked the co-chairs of the Dead Sea Scrolls community advisory panel – Mohammad Al Zaibak, co-founder, president and CEO of Canadian Development and Market-ing Corporation; Tony Gagliano, CEO of St. Joseph’s Media; and Jonas Prince, chairman of Realstar Group – for their dedication in fostering dialogue between diverse communities and faiths.
“I’m grateful as well to the Tanenbaum family for sponsoring the Anne Tanenbaum lecture series, a series of lectures that will help us better understand the significance of the scrolls and their significance to all of us today,” McGuinty said.
ROM director and CEO William Thorsell, who led the press conference, said he hopes the exhibit will be more than just a display, but also an educational experience.
“We hope to generate one of the great conversations in the history of Ontario and beyond about these foundation documents that are shared among great traditions, the Jewish tradition, the Christian tradition and the Islamic tradition that sees these as divinely inspired documents,” Thorsell said.
The Distinguished Lecturer Series, to be presented in conjunction with the exhibit, will feature scroll and Second Temple period scholars, including Emanuel Tov, a Hebrew Univer-sity professor and the editor-in-chief of the Dead Sea Scrolls Publication Project; Yuval Peleg, an IAA archeologist, and Dan Bahat, a Bar Ilan University professor and a former chief archeologist of the city of Jerusalem.

THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS at the Jewish Museum get a glowing review at Bloomberg.com:

Dead Sea Scrolls Tell Spine-Tingling Tales of Salvation: Review

Review by Carly Berwick

Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- How will we know salvation when we see it? And how should you blow a trumpet when the apocalypse comes? Answers to these questions -- and more -- lie on a few dimly lit scraps of parchment.

[...]

This is the first time three of the scrolls have ever been shown: the Book of Jeremiah, which consecrates the Sabbath and concurs with contemporary versions nearly verbatim; the Words of the Luminaries, a hymn; and the Book of Tobit, a tale of piety's reward that was rejected from the Hebrew canon but picked up in some versions of the Christian Bible.

Together, the scrolls provide a spine-tingling narrative of fractious religious tribes jostling for truth, much like various Christian and Jewish factions today.

The ``War Rule'' scroll describes an imminent great and final battle, with priests taking positions among foot soldiers and blowing trumpets to rally the troops, while the ``Community Rule'' scroll lays down strict standards for sect membership.

Then there's the Aramaic Apocryphon of Daniel, dating to the first century B.C. It's of particular interest to devout Christians, since it prophesizes the coming of the son of God.

The exhibition also includes artifacts excavated at the site of Qumran and its vicinity, conjure the lives of the people who saved the scrolls in clay jars.

[...]

A MASADA NOVEL:

Phoenix, AZ (PRWEB) September 29, 2008 -- Ancient history comes alive when the mythical Masada stones are proven to be real. Soon terrorists try to use them in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine in E.W. Bonadio's "The Masada Stones: A Novel" (ISBN 059527566, iUniverse 2008).

Professor Aaron Skorsky has spent his life searching for the truth. Since college, he has been intrigued by the myth of the Masada stones and how they were used during the last days of the Hebrews' rebellion against the Romans. When Skorsky leads a student dig to Masada, he desperately searches for the stones near the excavations of a Roman camp. With the help of a student, Illona, he discovers a set of scrolls written by Jewish historian Josephus Flavius. Once translated, the scrolls reveal the secret existence of a deadly alchemy used against the Hebrew zealots. The myth of the Masada stones and their power are myth no more!

Sounds like fun.

MORE ARAMAIC NEWS:

New book preserves and teaches the Chaldean story

By David Wallace
C & G Staff Writer

WEST BLOOMFIELD — “The Chaldeans,” a new book produced through the Chaldean Cultural Center at Shenandoah Country Club, strives to honor those who paved the way for Chaldeans to thrive while teaching younger generations and others about Chaldean history, culture and accomplishments.

The book traces Chaldean history from ancient Iraq — the cover features the famous Ishtar Gate from Babylon — to the present day. It includes the migration to the United States and Detroit in particular during the 20th century.

We want to pay tribute to the pioneers, those Chaldeans who at the turn of the century came to America — leaving villages in northern Iraq, not knowing the language and coming to America, trying to make a better life for themselves and for their families,” said Mary Romaya, executive director of the Chaldean Cultural Center.

[...]

That heritage poses a challenge.

“Their challenge is to live up to and walk in the shoes of their predecessors,” said Bryon Perry, the book’s author.

And besides the book’s personal meaning for Chaldeans, the center hopes it reaches and educates the general public.

“We want them to know that the Chaldeans are a very hard-working, entrepreneurial, close-knit group of people. That we are Aramaic speaking, which is the language used by Christ and before him back to the Hebrews and ancient Babylonian times,” said Romaya.

[...]

ARIEL SABAR writes about his father Yona in Christianity Today:

When a Professor of Aramaic Meets Hollywood
You get asked some pretty strange things when you speak the language of Jesus.
Ariel Sabar | posted 9/29/2008 07:26AM

The calls come to my father's office at UCLA several times a year, often around Christmas or Easter.

"Professor Yona Sabar?" they ask, after identifying themselves as a priest or a minister or just a curious layperson.

"Yes?"

"May I ask, is it true you speak the language of our Lord?"

[...]

The article also tells about how he acted as consultant for the movie Oh God! and for The X Files.

Somewhat related thoughts here and here.

BMCR BOOK REVIEW:

Nikos Kokkinos (ed.), The World of the Herods. Volume 1 of the International Conference The World of the Herods and the Nabataeans held at the British Museum, 17-19 April 2001. Oriens et Occidens, 14. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2007. Pp. 327. ISBN 978-3-515-08817-6. €62.00 (pb).

Reviewed by Allen Kerkeslager, Saint Joseph's University (akerkesl@sju.edu)
Word count: 1532 words

As the full title indicates, the first volume of The World of the Herods is a collection of papers presented at an international conference held in 2001 that was built around the perceptive decision to bring together some of the foremost specialists on the closely related kingdoms of the Herods and the Nabateans. The editor, Nikos Kokkinos, is already well known for his groundbreaking work on the Herods and related historical issues.1 The publication of a similar collection that he jointly edited is imminent.2 The present book is both highly focused and representative of the cutting-edge of research. Many of the papers it collects even have been updated to as late as 2007. Yet in contrast to most such collections, this book accomplishes the rare feat of being comprehensive and readable enough that it could serve as an undergraduate textbook or introduction for the advanced general reader.

[...]

Dorothy King has commentary.

ROSH HASHANAH, the Jewish New Year, begins tonight at sundown. Happy New Year 5769 to all those celebrating.

More background here.

METATRON WATCH:

Braganza takes a complex route to developing his designs, rethinking the body through unprecedented proportions, a recurring rectangular motif, and his now emblematic panelling. The muted grey, pale pink, and white are anchored by the ever-present black, which reaches new depths of texture with the most luxurious jacquard to silk satin to moiré, neoprene and leather. A splash of colour arrives in the print, where a Metatron’s cube emerges from a collapsing nebula in fuchsia. More geometry appears in the form of lazercuts in a wave pattern.

A Metatron's cube? I didn't know what that is either, but apparently there's one here:



Instructions for building one here. (Related concept here?) Use at your own risk. Remember that child and the Hashmal.

Anyway, interesting collection ...

MORE ANCIENT BLING.

Judith Price, founder and president of the National Jewelry Institute, provides stunning examples of the more sophisticated spoils of such civilizations as Mesopotamia, Persia, Phoenecia and Byzantium in her illuminating book ...

Other ancient bling posts here and here.

THE AP DISCOVERS the Aleppo Codex. And good for them.

Scholars hunt missing pages of ancient Bible

By MATTI FRIEDMAN – 21 hours ago

JERUSALEM (AP) — A quest is under way on four continents to find the missing pages of one of the world's most important holy texts, the 1,000-year-old Hebrew Bible known as the Crown of Aleppo.

Crusaders held it for ransom, fire almost destroyed it and it was reputedly smuggled across Mideast borders hidden in a washing machine. But in 1958, when it finally reached Israel, 196 pages were missing — about 40 percent of the total — and for some Old Testament scholars they have become a kind of holy grail.

Researchers representing the manuscript's custodian in Jerusalem now say they have leads on some of the missing pages and are nearer their goal of making the manuscript whole again.

[...]

Background here.