Kiel, Sexuality in the Babylonian Talmud

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: Sexuality in the Babylonian Talmud: Christian and Sasanian Contexts in Late Antiquity. Notice of a new book: Kiel, Yshai. 2016. Sexuality in the Babylonian Talmud: Christian and Sasanian Contexts in Late Antiquity. New York: Cambridge University Press.

For a recent popular book by Maggie Anton on the same topic, see here and links.

Lecture on Malta shipwreck

PHOENICIAN WATCH: Exploring the Phoenician Shipwreck off Gozo – Public lecture (Gozo News).

In 2016, the University of Malta conducted another season of underwater operations on the Phoenician Shipwreck off Gozo. An international team of technical divers was used to record this unique site as well as to recover a number of archaeological objects.

This presentation of – Exploring the Phoenician Shipwreck off Gozo – covers aspects such as the logistics of the project, diving procedures, and the recording processes used this season. Works in progress and some preliminary results from 2016 will be shared via numerous illustrations, 3D work, and short videos.

It will be taking place on Monday, the 14th of November, starting at 6.30pm, at the Ministry for Gozo Exhibition Hall, St Francis Square, Victoria.

[...]

Background on the Gozo shipwreck is here. Past PaleoJudaica posts on Maltese Phoenician and Punic history and archaeology are collected here.

Women in ancient Israel

NEWS YOU CAN USE: 11 things about women in Ancient Israel you probably didn’t know (Cassandra Gill, OUP Blog). Some of these generalize a bit much from our limited evidence, but the post has lots of interesting information.

McGrath sets Amos to music

JAMES MCGRATH: Setting Amos’ Hymn Fragments to Music. This is an awesome idea. I too have found these passages in Amos to be fascinating.

Torah-scroll incredible journeys

MANUSCRIPTS: The unbelievable tales of smuggled Torah scrolls that survived incredible journeys These Sifrei Torah made it through hard times in Poland, Iraq, Portugal, Russia and elsewhere, before being reborn in new communities (Jerusalem Post). Technically none of these manuscripts are ancient, although, of course, the Torah itself is an ancient work. But their stories are fascinating, so have a look.

Jerusalem papyrus latest

EPIGRAPHY: Archaeologists question ‘oldest’ Hebrew mention of Jerusalem. After Antiquities Authority unveils papyrus from 7th century BCE, several experts warn it is far from certain artifact is authentic (APF/Times of Israel). I don't want to keep recycling the same news, but I thought one place in this article merits comment. I still think that, on balance and on the basis of the limited information now available, the inscription on the papyrus is more likely to be genuinely ancient than not. Nevertheless:

“If I were a forger, I’d choose a more impressive text,” Shmuel Ahituv said.

This is a very weak argument and actually highlights the main thing that makes me doubt that the inscription is genuine. If I were a forger and were going to forge a late Iron Age II Hebrew inscription, this is exactly what I would come up with. I would make it a banal economic text but put a bombshell reference in it, perhaps naming a specific king of Judah or Israel or, yes, mentioning Jerusalem. There is a real danger that this papyrus is too good to be true.

I hope it turns out to be genuine, but we'll see. Again, publication by press release is just not good enough. The lab reports for materials tests that have been conducted on the object should be released in full immediately and the case for its genuineness should be published in a peer-review journal with good photographs, a full account of how it was obtained, and all relevant details. The latter will take time, but let it be done with all deliberate speed.

Background here and links.

Review of Mroczek, The Literary Imagination in Jewish Antiquity

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Book Note | The Literary Imagination in Jewish Antiquity (Jillian Stinchcomb).

The Literary Imagination in Jewish Antiquity by Eva Mroczek.
Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2016.

I first saw Eva Mroczek speak at Yale in the fall of 2013. She was presenting on the Psalms at Qumran, making an argument that eventually became the first chapter of her 2016 book, The Literary Imagination in Jewish Antiquity. In the talk, she achieved a rhetorical effect that animates her book: the ability to present arguments which are startling, even field-changing, in a way that makes her conclusions seem obvious.

[...]

Some past PaleoJudaica posts on the book and the author's other work are collected here.

Funding for Rome’s Jewish Catacombs

INTERNATIONAL CATACOMB SOCIETY: Rome’s Jewish Catacombs Receive Italian Government Funding for Conservation and Restoration in 2017. Good news.

Seen on Facebook. Background on Rome's Jewish catacombs is here and links.

The phoenix in the Talmud (and the Bible?)

TALMUD WATCH: Is the Phoenix a Real Bird? (Yehuda Shurpin, Chabad.org).

Unlike some other mythical creatures found in fantasy books, there is reference to the phoenix in ancient Jewish sources as far back as the Book of Job. When Job reminisces about his “good old days,” he says, “And I said, ‘I will perish with my nest, and like a chol [ וְכַחוֹל] I will multiply my days.’”1 According to many translations, the word chol refers to the phoenix.

[...]

The reference is Job 29:18. I would make a distinction here. The word clearly means "phoenix" in rabbinic texts, but we shouldn't retroject that meaning into the much earlier reference in the Book of Job. The Revised Standard Version (cf. the NIV) translates the word as "sand," which indeed is one of its meanings and which fits the context.

Be that as it may, the Talmud and a midrash do take the meaning to be "phoenix" and they run with it. Follow the link for details.

Bet-sefer

YONA SABAR: Hebrew Word of the Week: bet-sefer 'School.'

More authenticity questions about the "Jerusalem" papyrus

EPIGRAPHY: Papyrus With Earliest Hebrew Mention of Jerusalem Likely Fake, Experts Say. Archaeologists are usually wary of any finds not discovered in a supervised dig, though Antiquities Authority insists ancient scroll is authentic (Nir Hasson, Haaretz).

But at Thursday’s session of an antiquities authority conference on Innovations in the Archaeology of Jerusalem and its Region, archaeologist Prof. Aren Maeir of Bar-Ilan University cast doubt on the document’s authenticity. He also assailed the authority for deciding to publicize it even though “it was clear in advance that it would be controversial.”

Maeir said there were too many unanswered questions about the papyrus. “How do we know it isn’t a forgery intended for the antiquities market?” he demanded, adding that forgers could have deliberately “sacrificed” this document in order to prepare the way for selling other papyri that they would “discover” later.

The fact that carbon-14 dating proved the papyrus’ age is insufficient, he added. “After all, there are well-known cases in which writing was forged on an ancient ‘platform,’” he said. “It’s very possible that only the papyrus itself is ancient.

“In my humble opinion, the need for additional tests is glaring, especially if a government agency is publishing this and giving it a seal of approval. Why wait for the arguments and only then do the additional tests? They should have done them first.”

Prof. Christopher Rollston of George Washington University also voiced skepticism, writing on his blog that he believed the document was a forgery.
read more: http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/archaeology/.premium-1.749603

PaleoJudaica readers will already be familiar with Professor Rollston's concerns. He doesn't say that he believes the document to be a forgery, he says it may be one. Professor Ahituv and others defend its authenticity, though. I think Professor Ahituv's comment is worth highlighting: “Would a forger buy an ancient, dry, fragile papyrus, write text on it that’s typical of the seventh century, and then fold it up and tie it with a cord and thereby endanger all his work?”

Two thoughts. First, the IAA should release the lab reports for all the tests they did on the papyrus, so that other specialists can evaluate them too. Really, this should be the industry standard. It's not that hard these days to post a pdf file online.

Second, this latest announcement exemplifies an unhelpful trend to give potentially important discoveries early media attention with enthusiastic press releases that sometimes later have to be walked back. Perhaps there's no way to get around this in the modern world, but I wish such things could be delayed to coincide with the publication of peer-review research about the discovery. It is only at that point that a real case can be made for authenticity. Even then, for a given discovery the debate may continue in the peer-review literature for years before any kind of consensus is reached.

Peer-review is not a panacea, but it is the best tool we have for making sober judgments about historical questions. I know I harp on this a lot, but it is important to keep it in view. Scholarship is a slow and painstaking process and it does not conform well to the timetable of news cycles. With this case, as always, let us proceed with all deliberate speed, but with caution, rigor, and method.

Background here and links.

Early Syriac mosaics from Turkey

SYRIAC WATCH: Rare 1st-century mosaic unearthed in southeastern Turkey (Daily Sabah).

Rare ancient mosaics, believed to date back to the 1st century BC, have been unearthed in the southeastern Şanlıurfa province of Turkey, the municipality said Wednesday.

Archaeologists have discovered five base mosaics from Abgar V (BC 4 – AD 7), the fifth king of the kingdom of Osroene (132 BC to AD 244), depicting fine engravings and Syriac inscriptions, as part of a project titled "The Castle Skirts". The mosaics will be displayed in museums after their restoration is completed.

[...]

The Syriac dialect of Aramaic developed in this region at about this very time, so it is quite significant to have such early Syriac inscriptions. Syriac was the dialect of the city of Edessa, but it developed from there into the language of the Eastern Church for many centuries.

Update on St. Matthew's Monastery near Mosul

MODERN ARAMAIC WATCH: Mountainside Monastery a Sanctuary From the Battle for Mosul (ALEXANDER MARQUARDT, ABC News).

As ISIS swept through northern Iraq in the summer of 2014, the six Syriac Orthodox monks and their bishop prepared for the 1,600-year-old monastery to be overrun. They quickly packed up their most valuable items, texts and manuscripts, and sent them deeper into Kurdish Iraqi territory for safekeeping.

They watched as ISIS took over Christian towns nearby, ransacking churches and driving thousands from their homes. As militants came within three miles, occupying the village of Bashiqa, they did what their predecessors have done for centuries and braced for the invaders.

“We think if they harm us, it’s a reward,” said Father Joseph Ibrahim, referring to martyrdom.

[...]

They are still there and are still safe for the present, although they can hear the fighting. I wish them continued peace and safety. There is video at the link.

I have not been posting on the current campaign to retake Mosul from Isis, but I have been following it and will continue to note any stories that seem relevant to PaleoJudaica. Past posts on St. Matthew's Monastery are here and here.

Ancient burial caves discovered in Jerusalem

ARCHAEOLOGY: Burial caves discovered on road to Shimon Hatzadik's tomb. During maintenance work on road to Shimon Hatzadik's tomb, ancient burial caves were discovered, rendering the road inaccessible to kohanim (Yoel Domb, Arutz Sheva).

..During the course of maintenance and upgrading work on the road leading up to Shimon Hatzadik's tomb, more ancient burial caves were discovered.

The work, which is being performed by the Moriah company for the Jerusalem Municipality, is taking place on Derekh Shekhem near the Pierre Van Passan traffic circle in the Wadi Joz neighborhood adjacent to Shimon Hatzadik's grave, in order to ease traffic on the main road leading up to Sheikh Jarrah.

During the course of the work, a number of ancient burial graves were discovered on the site of the road, including a burial cave with crypts, which testify to it being a Jewish burial site.

[...]

As noted in the sub-headline, this is causing some halakhic difficulties. The article does not give any more specific information about the date of the burials.

Maggie Anton on "Fifty Shades of Talmud"

INTERVIEW: ‘Fifty Shades of Talmud.’ Novelist Maggie Anton comes to North Jersey to talk about her new book (Joanne Palmer, New Jersey Jewish Standard).

Ms. Anton, the novelist who wrote the “Rashi’s Daughters” trilogy and the more recent “Rav Hisda’s Daughter” (and who has a wide-ranging intellect — she also is a clinical chemist and worked in that field for three decades), has been entranced by the Talmud since she first encountered it 25 years ago. She’s studied it seriously ever since — in fact, and non-coincidentally, one of her teachers, first in class settings and then in chavruta, was Rabbi Aaron Katz, at whose shul she will be speaking next week — and used much of what she’s learned in her books.

There follows an extended quotation from Ms. Anton about the writing of the book, about its content, and about the origin of its cover. A brief excerpt:

“At first, it was so surprising to me, how progressive the rabbis were,” Ms. Anton said. “We are talking about guys who lived more than 1,500 years ago, more or less.” (The Mishna, the Talmud’s inner section, was compiled about 200 CE, and the Gemara, which surrounds, explicates, and dances its ideas into wild intellectual and fanciful flourishes, was compiled around 500 CE.)

“So I thought that I really could write ‘Fifty Shades of Talmud,’” she said.

And the ideas came flying at her.

Background here and links.

Politics and the "Jerusalem" Papyrus

THAT DIDN'T TAKE LONG: Holding Up Ancient ‘Jerusalem’ Papyrus, Netanyahu Condemns UNESCO’s ‘Scandalous’ Resolution (David Israel, The Jewish Press).

Speaking Wednesday at the dedication of the Adelson School of Entrepreneurship at IDC Herzliya, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu connected the announcement of a rare, First Temple era Hebrew language papyrus that mentions the name Jerusalem, with the second UNESCO resolution this month that contradicted the Jewish history of the eternal city as well as the fact that two Jewish temples had stood on the compound now taken up by the Al Aqsa mosque.

[...]

I think this sort of political use of the newly announced papyrus is premature and unhelpful. It illustrated the concern I expressed yesterday about the papyrus, with its mention of "Jerusalem" in Hebrew in a late Iron Age II setting, as being "too good to be true." Like the Gospel of Jesus' Wife, the papyrus is exactly what the present Zeitgeist would want to have turn up in an ancient inscription. That doesn't prove it's a forgery, and so far the chances of it being genuine look pretty good to me, but it does make me worry. And if it turns out to be a forgery — and it may — the Prime Minister's action here will backfire.

Let's be cautious and take our time here. The IAA should release the full lab report of the carbon-dating testing so it can be evaluated independently. And all the media coverage and blog commentary in the last day is interesting and informative, but the real scholarly discussion of the new fragment only begins when we start to have peer-review publications on it.

Background on the "Jerusalem" papyrus is here and links. Background on the UNESCO resolutions is here and links.

Temple Mount pottery display

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Israel Displays First Temple-era Pottery Fragments Found on Temple Mount. State antiquities agency hopes disclosures will quell competing claims about work carried out at the holy site (Nir Hasson, Haaretz).

Discoveries found in situ on Temple Mount dating to the late First Temple period, excavated and collected by the Israel Antiquities Authority over the last 10 years, were displayed by the agency in Jerusalem on Wednesday. Other finds on display include the remains of a previously unknown monumental Muslim edifice that had been on the northern part of Temple Mount.

With these finds, the IAA hopes to refute that claims on the political right that archaeology on Temple Mount is in a state of anarchy, and also claims leveled by the Palestinians and UNESCO that Israeli archaeologists are party to damaging Muslim antiquities on the Temple Mount and are “Judaizing” Jerusalem.

[...]

Then there is some new information about an old story:

Come 2007, there was another incident in which the Waqf dug a channel to lay an electricity cable. Temple Mount activists and the Public Committee Against the Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount claimed that the Waqf had again destroyed archaeological finds on the Mount.

Following that incident, the state comptroller wrote a report on the cable project, but at the request of the government, the report remained sealed and confidential.

In a paper in publication, written with Dr. Ronny Reich and Deborah Sandhaus, Dr. Yuval Baruch, head of the Jerusalem District at the IAA, reveals that during the process of digging for the cable, a great number of archaeological finds were made and hastily excavated.

The excavations were carried out by IAA people on the site while the cable channel was being dug, with the acquiescence of the Waqf people, under spotlights (since the digging for the cable was being done at night).

The finds included pottery, broken bowls, cooking pots and pitchers dating to the late First Temple period (Kingdom of Judah). By them the excavators found animal bones and olive pits.

The pits were sent for carbon 14 dating, without revealing that their source was the Temple Mount, lest that fact influence the conclusions, Baruch told Haaretz.

The results complied with the dating of the pottery to around 2,500 to 2,600 years ago.

I covered the story of the cable excavation back when it happened here and here. It looks as though none of this important information was made public then. Past posts on the State Comptroller's report mentioned in the article are here, here, here, and links. Recent posts on the relevant UNESCO resolutions are here and here and links.

Another UNESCO resolution adopted

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Israel recalls ambassador after second UNESCO vote (APF). The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has adopted the latest resolution, whose full text I still have not seen.

Background here and links.

The Holy Sepulchre tomb uncovered in renovations

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: Exclusive: Christ's Burial Place Exposed for First Time in Centuries. Restorers working in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Israel uncover stone slab venerated as the resting place of Jesus Christ (Kristin Romey).

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL For the first time in centuries, scientists have exposed the original surface of what is traditionally considered the tomb of Jesus Christ. Located in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem, the tomb has been covered by marble cladding since at least 1555 A.D., and most likely centuries earlier.

"The marble covering of the tomb has been pulled back, and we were surprised by the amount of fill material beneath it,” said Fredrik Hiebert, archaeologist-in-residence at the National Geographic Society, a partner in the restoration project. “It will be a long scientific analysis, but we will finally be able to see the original rock surface on which, according to tradition, the body of Christ was laid."

[...]

Whoever may have been buried there (and I neither insist on nor exclude Jesus), this is an excellent opportunity for scholars and archaeologists to study a rock-cut tomb that probably dates to the first-century CE. At least the other tombs nearby fit that description. Todd Bolen has some helpful background on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Holy Sepulcher) at BiblePlaces.com. Background on the current renovations to the Church are here (cf. here) and links.

DSS fragments on sale in London

MORE NEW DEAD SEA SCROLLS FRAGMENTS: Dead Sea Scrolls fragments put on sale for first time by Hampstead dealer (Anna Behrmann, Ham & High).

The 2000-year-old relics originally from the West Bank are being marketed for $1million dollars in London as part of a unique exhibition

Hampstead dealer Bernard Shapero is putting the 2,000-year-old relics up for sale at his private sale of Jewish books, manuscripts, art and jewellery.

The five Dead Sea Scroll fragments in Mr Shapero’s possession are extremely rare, with the vast bulk of the fragments now belonging to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

[...]

Interesting, but buyer beware. There is good reason to believe that some of the supposed Dead Sea Scrolls fragments now circulating are forgeries. I have no idea what the situation is with this particular set of fragments, but in general caution is warranted.

Background here and links.