How was Haman executed?

THE BOOK OF ESTHER: Was Haman Hanged, Impaled or Crucified? (Dr.Abraham J. Berkovitz, TheTorah.com).

The manner in which Haman’s execution was depicted had real world consequences.

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Roman Roads and Milestones in Judaea/Palaestina

THE AWOL BLOG: Roman Roads and Milestones in Judaea/Palaestina. For more on such ancient milestones, see here and links.

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The Re-Ascension of the Metatron

ARCHANGEL METATRON WATCH: Cult Classic El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron Is Coming To PC (Marcus Stewart, Game Informer).

There’s no release window for the port, but the official announcement says the game is coming "soon." El Shaddai's story follows Enoch, a scribe who tries to save humanity from a great flood by locating seven fallen angels. The story draws inspiration from the Book of Enoch, an ancient bible text that’s widely excluded from most biblical canon. ...

El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron came out in 2011. I have noted many reviews here and links. It was noticed again in 2015. The producer of the game reintroduced its Enoch into another game in 2017. Now the original game is moving from PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 to PC format.

Cross-file under Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Watch and Gaming News.

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Gozo's golden calf?

ARTIFACT? The Golden Calf of Gozo (Matthew Camilleri, Malta Independent). A tragic eighteenth-century story in Malta. It involved a lost treasure, betrayal, torture, and death.

Apparently the terrible public events in the story really happened. Whether the supposed golden calf was real is another matter. According to the account given in the article there is good reason to doubt it. And prudence advises us to assume it wasn't unless other evidence, such as the actual artifact, surfaces.

Nevertheless, I would not entirely rule out the possibility that the object existed. A silver-plated bronze figurine of a calf (a bull) was discovered in Ashkelon. It dates to the sixteenth century BCE. You can see a photo here. Could the ancient Phoenicians at Malta have produced a similar object in gold or plated in gold? I doubt it. But maybe. (Cross-file under Phoenician Watch??)

Another intriguing possibility is that more recently someone produced a golden calf statuette based on the one in the biblical story. This then fell into the hands of the farmer Antonio Pace in Gozo. In 2017 I noted the apprehension of some smuggled artifacts in Turkey. They included gold and lead (?) codices of the same type as the Jordanian lead codices. There was also a miniature golden calf. Photo at the link. For reasons explained there, the Turkish objects look to me to be relatively modern attempts at producing ancient-looking artifacts. Could someone have hidden one in Malta sometime before 1729? I doubt it. But maybe.

This is just speculation for entertainment. Again, in the absence of verification, I disbelieve that Antonio Pace had a golden calf.

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Controversy over the Mount Ebal cultic site

ARCHAEOLOGY AND POLITICS: Settlers take on West Bank archaeology as ancient ‘Joshua’ wall tumbles down. Destruction of barrier at Iron Age Israelite cultic site deep in PA-controlled Area B creates media maelstrom, as right-wing campaign claims Palestinians destroying heritage sites (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel). A long and characteristically thorough article.

At the Jerusalem Post, Tovah Lazaroff also covers the current situation regarding the site: Joshua’s forgotten biblical altar is now at the heart of a land battle. Israel must find a way to protect and preserve the area as an archaeological park.

Background on the recent damage to the site and the resulting political fallout is here and here.

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Why didn't Mordechai bow to Haman?

PURIM IS COMING: Why Mordechai Refuses to “Kneel and Bow” to Haman (Rachel Friedman, TheTorah.com).

A political strategy and a religious wakeup call to Jews in the Diaspora.

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Preparing the Western Wall stones for Passover

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Kotel stones get inoculated? Antiquities Authority prepares for Passover. Among routine restoration works, limestone-based grout is injected into fissures to repair cracks (Rossella Tercatin, Jerusalem Post).

“Over 12 million people visit the Western Wall Plaza each year,” said the director of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, Mordechai (Suli) Eliav. “Although this year, in the shadow of COVID-19, people are increasingly ‘visiting’ the Western Wall virtually, we are already preparing for the return of visitors to the Wall. The Western Wall Heritage Foundation is making every endeavor to preserve the Wall’s ancient stones and ensure its stability for the safety of worshipers and visitors.”

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Rodríguez-Arribas & Greenbaum (eds.), Unveiling the Hidden—Anticipating the Future (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Unveiling the Hidden—Anticipating the Future

Divinatory Practices Among Jews Between Qumran and the Modern Period

Series: Prognostication in History, Volume: 5

Volume Editors: Josefina Rodríguez-Arribas and Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum

In Unveiling the Hidden—Anticipating the Future: Divinatory Practices Among Jews Between Qumran and the Modern Period, Josefina Rodríguez-Arribas and Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum collect ten studies based on primary sources ranging from Qumran to the modern period and covering Europe and the Mediterranean basin. The studies show Jews practising divination (astrology, bibliomancy, physiognomy, dream requests, astral magic, etc.) and implementing the study and practice of the prognostic arts in ways that allowed Jews to make them "Jewish," by avoiding any conflict with Jewish law or halakhah. These studies focus on the Jewish components of this divination, providing specific firsthand details about the practices and their practitioners within their cultural and intellectual contexts—as well as their fears, wishes, and anxieties—using ancient scrolls and medieval manuscripts in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Judaeo-Arabic.

Contributors are Michael D. Swartz, Helen R. Jacobus, Alessia Bellusci, Blanca Villuendas Sabaté, Shraga Bar-On, Josefina Rodríguez-Arribas, Amos Geula, Dov Schwartz, Joseph Ziegler, and Charles Burnett.

Prices from (excl. VAT): €127.00 / $153.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-44570-3
Publication Date: 15 Feb 2021

Hardback
Availability: Not Yet Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-44506-2
Publication Date: 18 Feb 2021

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Reports of carnage at Axum

VERY BAD NEWS: Witnesses recall massacre in Ethiopia city claimed to be home to Ark of Covenant. Survivors of clashes between pro-government forces and militias in the Tigray region describe horrific war scenes; hundreds dead in city of Axum; Eritrea denies involvement (Cara Anna, AP via TOI).

In January I noted reports of fighting in the area. According to these latest reports, it was worse. The London Times cites a witness who says that people rushed to the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion to help the priests protect the artifact that their tradition identifies as the Ark of the Covenant: Ethiopian worshippers risked lives to save Ark of the Covenant from soldiers (Jane Flanagan). The eyewitness believes that some of them were killed doing so.

For background on the Ethiopian Ark and the ancient city of Axum (Aksum), follow the links at the first link in the previous paragraph.

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Zoomcast on Timna

INTERVIEW: Findings at Timna change what we know of biblical history. JPost One-on-One weekly 'Zoomcast': Rossella Tercatin with Tel Aviv University associate professor of archaeology, Prof. Erez Ben Yosef - Episode 7. There is also a full transcript of the interview at the link.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on the remarkable finds at the Timna Valley excavation, see here and links and here.

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BAR Spring 2021 is imminent

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Spring 2021 Issue of BAR Coming Soon. In Homes Late February. Follow the link for a preview and the TOC.

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Zuber, Jalkut Schimoni zu Daniel, Esra, Nehemia, Chroniken

NEW BOOK FROM DE GRUYTER:

Jalkut Schimoni zu Daniel, Esra, Nehemia, Chroniken

In: Jalkut Schimoni

Translated by: Beat Zuber
Edited by: Dagmar Börner-Klein
De Gruyter | 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110705966

ABOUT THIS BOOK

The Yalkut Shimoni compiles rabbinical interpretations of the entire Hebrew bible. We do not know the criteria for selecting the interpretations, nor whether the book was conceived as a comprehensive exegetical reference work to be linked to biblical interpretations in the Talmud and Midrash or for reforming the rabbinical interpretive tradition. The translation of this work is a first step toward answering these questions.

FROM £91.00

FORMATS

Electronic
Published: January 18, 2021
ISBN: 9783110705966

Hardcover
Published: January 18, 2021
ISBN: 9783110705904

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Revisiting the Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia

THE AWOL BLOG: Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia. I noted this important resource ten years ago. It is worth mentioning again. It is much further along than in 2011, but it remains a work in progress. Cross-file under Coptic Watch.

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Wilk (ed.), Paul and Moses (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Paul and Moses. The Exodus and Sinai Traditions in the Letters of Paul. Edited by Florian Wilk. Studies in Education and Religion in Ancient and Pre-Modern History in the Mediterranean and Its Environs 11. 59,00 € including VAT. hardcover ISBN 978-3-16-159490-8.

Published in English.
Within the framework of Paul's use of Scripture, the contexts of biblical narratives are of great significance, although this has long been underestimated. This conference volume deals with the reception of traditions about Moses in the letters of the apostle to the Gentiles, especially the exodus and Sinai traditions. It focuses on the important and much-discussed passages about the danger of idolatry in 1 Corinthians 10 as well as on the glory of Paul's apostolic ministry in 2 Corinthians 3. The collected essays are methodologically oriented towards the issue of the relationship between education/formation and religion, and they thus perceive Paul's use and interpretation of those biblical traditions as a process of religious education. Tradition-historical backgrounds and the contexts of the situations are also taken into consideration, as well as literary structures and communicative intentions.

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Kelle & Strawn (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Historical Books of the Hebrew Bible

NEW BOOK FROM OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS:

The Oxford Handbook of the Historical Books of the Hebrew Bible

Edited by Brad E. Kelle and Brent A. Strawn

Oxford Handbooks

• Offers a wide range of interpretive perspectives and methodological approaches to key questions concerning the Historical Books
• Touches on all major interpretive issues for the Historical Books and incorporates newer approaches and concerns such as trauma theory, gender analysis, and economic studies
• Provides a particular window into the reception of the Historical Books and key elements within them.

Description

The Oxford Handbook of Historical Books of the Hebrew Bible is a collection of essays that provide resources for the interpretation of the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah. The volume is not exhaustive in its coverage, but examines interpretive aspects of these books that are deemed essential for interpretation or that are representative of significant trends in present and future scholarship. The individual essays are united by their focus on two guiding questions: (1) What does this topic have to do with the Old Testament Historical Books? and (2) How does this topic help readers better interpret the Old Testament Historical Books? Each essay critically surveys prior scholarship before presenting current and prospective approaches.

Taking into account the ongoing debates concerning the relationship between the Old Testament texts and historical events in the ancient world, data from Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian culture and history are used to provide a larger context for the content of the Historical Books. Essays consider specific issues related to Israelite/Judean history (settlement, state formation, monarchy, forced migration, and return) as they relate to the interpretation of the Historical Books. This volume also explores the specific themes, concepts, and content that are most essential for interpreting these books. In light of the diverse material included in this section of the Old Testament, the Handbook further examines interpretive strategies that employ various redactional, synthetic, and theory-based approaches. Beyond the Old Testament proper, subsequent texts, traditions, and cultures often received and interpreted the material in the Historical Books, and so the volume concludes by investigating the literary, social, and theological aspects of that reception.

£97.00

Hardback
Published: 05 January 2021
616 Pages
248x171mm
ISBN: 9780190261160

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The Joel Roth Jubilee Volume (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Hakol Kol Yaakov

The Joel Roth Jubilee Volume

Series: The Brill Reference Library of Judaism, Volume: 61

Editors: Robert A. Harris and Jonathan S. Milgram

Hakol Kol Yaakov: The Joel Roth Jubilee Volume contains twenty articles dedicated to Rabbi Joel Roth, written by colleagues and students. Some are academic articles in the general area of Talmud and Rabbinics, while others are rabbinic responsa that treat an issue of contemporary Jewish law. In his career, Joel Roth has been known as a scholar and teacher of Talmud par excellence, and, without question, as the preeminent decisor of Jewish law for the Conservative movement of his generation. In the meticulous style and approach of the Talmud scholarship of his generation, Roth painstakingly and precisely assayed the vast array of rabbinic legal sources, and proceeded to apply these in pedagogy, in scholarship and particularly in the production of contemporary legal responsa. The articles in this volume reflect the unique and integrated voice and vision that Joel Roth has brought to the American Jewish community.

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-42046-5
Publication Date: 08 Feb 2021

Hardback
Availability: Not Yet Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-42045-8
Publication Date: 11 Feb 2021

Open Access
Prices from (excl. VAT):
€125.00$150.00
Hardback

Note that the electronic version is open-access (free!).

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More on those bones in the tomb of James the Younger

RELICS REVISED: The Bones of Jesus’ Disciple Might Not Be His. The bones of two of Jesus’s close followers have turned out to have different origins than the faithful initially believed (Candida Moss, The Daily Beast). If the press release on the new tests is accurate, it looks like they aren't his. I haven't read the underlying article in Heritage Science. Nor do I think I would be qualified to evaluate it if I did.

Background here

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Mesopotamian Chronicles

THE AWOL BLOG: Online Prepublication: Mesopotamian Chronicles. The wonderful Livius website has a comprehensive collection of translations of Mesopotamian chronicles, ranging from the Sumerian King List to Seleucid- and Parthian-era chronicles. I hardly need to mention their importance for biblical studies and the study of Second Temple-era Judaism.

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Hugoye 24.1 (2021)

A NEW ISSUE: Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies 24.1 (2021). This is a high-quality, peer-review, open-access journal. Issue 23.1 (2020) was noted here. And for more, follow the links from there. Cross-file under Syriac Watch.

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Schröter et al. (eds.), Dreams, Visions, Imaginations (De Gruyter)

NEW BOOK FROM DE GRUYTER:

Dreams, Visions, Imaginations
Jewish, Christian and Gnostic Views of the World to Come

In: Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft, 247

Edited by: Jens Schröter, Tobias Nicklas and Armand Puig i Tàrrech
De Gruyter | 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110714746

ABOUT THIS BOOK

The contributions in this volume are focused on the historical origins, religious provenance, and social function of ancient Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature, including so-called ‘Gnostic’ writings. Although it is disputed whether there was a genre of ‘apocalyptic literature,’ it is obvious that numerous texts from ancient Judaism, early Christianity, and other religious milieus share a specific view of history and the world to come. Many of these writings are presented in form of a heavenly (divine) revelation, mediated through an otherworldly figure (like an angel) to an elected human being who discloses this revelation to his recipients in written form. In different strands of early Judaism, ancient Christianity as well as in Gnosticism, Manichaeism, and Islam, apocalyptic writings played an important role from early on and were produced also in later centuries. One of the most characteristic features of these texts is their specific interpretation of history, based on the knowledge about the upper, divine realm and the world to come.

Against this background the volume deals with a wide range of apocalyptic texts from different periods and various religious backgrounds.

FROM £91.00

FORMATS

Electronic
Published: February 8, 2021
ISBN: 9783110714746

Hardcover
Published: February 8, 2021
ISBN: 9783110713527

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