Phoenician artifacts in the British Museum

PHOENICIAN WATCH: 21 Interesting Phoenician Artifacts You’ll Find On Display At The British Museum In London (Souad Lazkani, The961). The collection includes a marble coffin, carved ivory decorations, glass and ceramic jugs, metal statues and bowls, carved seals, inscribed objects, and lots of ancient bling.

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T&T Clark Handbook for Septuagint Research (ed. Ross & Glenny)

WILLIAM ROSS: IT’S FINALLY HERE! THE HANDBOOK FOR SEPTUAGINT RESEARCH. I noted the T&T Clark Handbook for Septuagint Research (ed. William A. Ross and W. Edward Glenny) as forthcoming and then available for pre-order. It is now published and shipping.

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Grappling with Joshua's conquest

DR. GILI KUGLER: Joshua’s Conquest: A Cultural and Pedagogical Dilemma in Modern Israel (TheTorah.com).

Ben-Gurion saw the IDF as a modern instantiation of Joshua’s military might. The Israeli writer and politician S. Yizhar, in contrast, asserted that we should discard Joshua because of the violence and wholesale slaughter recounted in the book. Contemporary Israeli teachers grapple with the question of how to teach students such a core story of Jewish history that is fraught with moral problems.

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Avalos obituary

IOWA STATE DAILY: Hector Avalos: A lifelong teacher (Katherine Kealey).

Background here.

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Eliphaz and the Polyanna Psalm

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: Books Against Books (Philip Jenkins).

For PaleoJudaica posts on Psalm 91, some interacting with earlier posts by Professor Jenkins, see here and links and here. And for some interaction with that post on Ezekiel, see here. Yes, I know the link has rotted.

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Garber, Teaching the Historical Jesus (Routledge)

NEW IN PAPERBACK FROM ROUTLEDGE:

Teaching the Historical Jesus
Issues and Exegesis

Edited By Zev Garber

Copyright Year 2015
Paperback
£29.59

Hardback
£104.00

eBook
£29.59

ISBN 9780367738891
Published December 18, 2020 by Routledge
284 Pages

Book Description

Teaching the Historical Jesus in his Jewish context to students of varied religious backgrounds presents instructors with not only challenges, but also opportunities to sustain interfaith dialogue and foster mutual understanding and respect. This new collection explores these challenges and opportunities, gathering together experiential lessons drawn from teaching Jesus in a wide variety of settings—from the public, secular two- or four-year college, to the Jesuit university, to the Rabbinic school or seminary, to the orthodox, religious Israeli university. A diverse group of Jewish and Christian scholars reflect on their own classroom experiences and explicates crucial issues for teaching Jesus in a way that encourages students at every level to enter into an encounter with the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament without paternalism, parochialism, or prejudice. This volume is a valuable resource for instructors and graduate students interested in an interfaith approach in the classroom, and provides practical case studies for scholars working on Jewish-Christian relations.

The book was published in 2015, but I missed it then. The recent paperback release provides a good excuse to note it.

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The Antikythera Mechanism and astronomy

THE ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM has been in the news lately:

World’s first computer was the fusion of finest Greek and Middle Eastern scientific knowledge. Greek physicist Aris Dacanalis who is part of the team that has finally put together the puzzle of how the world’s first computer, the Antikythera Mechanism, worked, spoke to Neos Kosmos about what it would have taken to build such a machine in ancient times. (Alex Economou, Neos Kosmos)

“The device could have been made by one person or a team of up to ten specialists. A Hellenistic kingdom like Egypt under the Ptolemies would have had the vast resources to pay for a highly specialised team that would have included an astronomer, a mathematician and highly skilled craftsmen who would have been engineers in their own right,” said Mr Dacanalis. “There was a tradition of engineering in Alexandria under the Ptolemies who were patrons of the arts and who also funded research.”

[...]

“No single culture had the means to make this device. This is the merging of two cultures – the marriage of Babylonian observations of the stars and the mathematical methods that they developed combined with Greek geometry and cosmological models.

New Model of Ancient Astronomical Device Reveals a ‘Creation of Genius’ (George Dvorsky, Gizmodo)

By building a digital model of the Antikythera Mechanism, scientists may have finally exposed a key function of the ancient device, revealing a design that required some seriously advanced thinking.

[...]

“Solving this complex 3D puzzle reveals a creation of genius—combining cycles from Babylonian astronomy, mathematics from Plato’s Academy and ancient Greek astronomical theories,” wrote the authors, which included mechanical engineer Adam Wojcik, also from UCL.

Indeed, the ancient Babylonians chronicled the motions of the planets, while the ancient Greek philosopher Parmenides developed a mathematical model to explain these movements.

In addition Bryn Mayr Classical Review has just published a relevant review: Hellenistic astronomy: the science in its contexts

Alan Bowen, Francesca Rochberg, Hellenistic astronomy: the science in its contexts. Brill's companions in classical studies. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2020. Pp. xxxii, 751. ISBN 9789004400566 €197,00.

Review by
Ulla Koch, Copenhagen University. aribu@protonmail.com

Babylonian, Greek, and Alexandrian astronomy, perhaps with Ptolemaic engineering, are at work in the Antikythera Mechanism. The book has many relevant articles, as well as a couple on ancient Jewish astronomy and astrology.

PaleoJudaica posts on the Antikythera Mechanism are collected here with comments. Ancient Enochic astronomy also drew on Hellenistic and Babylonian traditions.

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Coins, ancient and modern

NUMISMATICS: Ancient Coins Tell the Story of the Jewish People. From the Roman conquest of Judea to the rebirth of Israel (Harold Witkov, Aish.com). Ancient coins were a vehicle for political propaganda. But that can work both ways.

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Was the Rebellious Son a glutton or an idolator?

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY: Excessive and Deviant Consumption in the Hebrew Bible (Rebekah Welton).

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The Life of Mary Magdalene

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: “Bringing the West Back East, or How to Make Sure the Magdalene Belongs to Byzantium: The Life of Mary Magdalene” (Christine Luckritz Marquis).

This is the third installment of a series on volume 2 of New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures (MNTA 2). I noted the first essay here and the second here.

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King (ed.), The Syriac World (Routledge)

NEW IN PAPERBACK FROM ROUTLEDGE:

The Syriac World

Edited By Daniel King

Copyright Year 2019

Paperback
£31.99

Hardback
£152.00

eBook
£31.99

Open access content is available for this title.
ISBN 9780367732363
Published December 18, 2020 by Routledge
896 Pages

Book Description

This volume surveys the 'Syriac world', the culture that grew up among the Syriac-speaking communities from the second century CE and which continues to exist and flourish today, both in its original homeland of Syria and Mesopotamia, and in the worldwide diaspora of Syriac-speaking communities. The five sections examine the religion; the material, visual, and literary cultures; the history and social structures of this diverse community; and Syriac interactions with their neighbours ancient and modern. There are also detailed appendices detailing the patriarchs of the different Syriac denominations, and another appendix listing useful online resources for students.

The Syriac World offers the first complete survey of Syriac culture and fills a significant gap in modern scholarship. This volume will be an invaluable resource to undergraduate and postgraduate students of Syriac and Middle Eastern culture from antiquity to the modern era.

Chapter 26 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 license. https://tandfbis.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/rt-files/docs/Open+Access+Chapters/9781138899018_oachapter26.pdf

Chapter 26 is on "Syriac Medicine." I noted a review of the book when it came out in hardback in 2019.

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Loader, Sexuality and Gender (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: William R. G. Loader. Sexuality and Gender. Collected Essays. 2021. IX, 463 pages. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 458. 154,00 € including VAT. cloth ISBN 978-3-16-160199-6.

Published in English. This collection brings together a wide range of essays on themes related to sexuality and gender, written by William R. G. Loader, who has published widely on attitudes towards sexuality in early Jewish and Christian literature. The essays explore connections and make comparisons among the ancient texts, seeking to understand them in the light of their religious and cultural contexts, providing summaries, and pursuing key themes, from subtle changes in the Septuagint, to the Pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Philo, and the New Testament.

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Virtual Baalbek

PHOENICIAN WATCH: Virtual Tour Restores Baalbek’s Stunning Roman Temples to Their Former Glory. The free online experience allows users to toggle between views of the ancient Lebanese city today and as it appeared in 215 A.D. (Livia Gershon, Smithsonian Magazine).

The free app—available for computer, mobile devices and virtual reality headsets—offers interactive, 360-degree views of 38 locations in the city, reports Robert McKelvey for Al Jazeera. Users can listen to expert audio commentary in Arabic, English, French or German and call up additional images and text for more information about specific spots. They can also toggle between seeing the buildings as they appear today and as they looked almost 2,000 years ago.

A couple of recent PaleoJudaica posts on the site of Baalbek are here and here.

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They found WHAT in Egypt?

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Egyptian “Lost Golden City” Uncovered Near Luxor. Archaeology reveals aspects of daily life 3,000 years ago, at height of Egypt’s power.

Recently I noted that, surprisingly, Egypt is still producing important archaeological discoveries even in heavily explored areas like the Pyramid grounds. I wondered, "Who knows what important archaeological treasures remain to be found in Egypt and elsewhere?"

And now archaeologists have just noticed a misplaced city near the Valley of the Kings.

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Heyden et al (eds.), Jerusalem II: Jerusalem in Roman-Byzantine Times (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Jerusalem II: Jerusalem in Roman-Byzantine Times. Edited by Katharina Heyden and Maria Lissek with the assistance of Astrid Kaufmann. 2021. IX, 593 pages. Civitatum Orbis MEditerranei Studia 5. 54,00 € including VAT. cloth ISBN 978-3-16-158303-2.

Published in English.
The present volume gives insights into the shape, life and claims of Jerusalem in Roman-Byzantine Times (2nd to 7th century). Regarding the history of religions and its impact on urbanistic issues, the city of Jerusalem is of special and paradigmatic interest. The coexistence and sometimes rivalry of Jewish, Hellenistic, Roman, Christian and later Islamic cults had an impact on urban planning. The city's importance as a centre of international pilgrimage and educational tourism affected demographic and institutional characteristics. Moreover, the rivalry between the various religious traditions at the holy places effected a plurivalent sacralisation of the urban area. To show transitions and transformations, coexistence and conflicts, seventeen articles by internationally distinguished researchers from different fields, such as archaeology, Christian theology, history, Jewish and Islamic studies, are brought together to constitute this collection of essays.

The essays are in English and German.

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Review of Kraemer, The Mediterranean diaspora in late antiquity

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: The Mediterranean diaspora in late antiquity.

Ross Shepard Kraemer, The Mediterranean diaspora in late antiquity: what Christianity cost the Jews. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2020. Pp. 520. ISBN 9780190222277 $99.00.

Review by
Görge Hasselhoff, Technical University Dortmund. goerge.hasselhoff@udo.edu

The review is in German. For more on the book, see here.

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9 Facts about Hannibal

PUNIC WATCH: Hannibal Barca: 9 Facts About The Great General’s Life & Career. One of the greatest generals ever seen, Hannibal Barca, crossed the Alps and almost brought Rome to its knees. Hannibal of Carthage was one of Rome’s greatest but most respected enemies (Edd Hodsdon, The Collector). A good summary of the life of Hannibal and the course of the Second Punic War.

For PaleoJudaica posts on Hannibal and his remarkably military campaign against Rome, see here, here, here, and links. For posts on the Battle of Cannae, see here and links.

Now and then I link to this post, which explains why PaleoJudaica pays attention to the Phoenicians, the Phoenician language, the Carthaginians, and Punic and Neo-Punic.

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Jensen, The Greco-Persian Wars (Hackett)

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: The Greco-Persian Wars. Notice of a New Book: Jensen, Erik. 2021. The Greco-Persian Wars: A Short History with Documents. Cambridge: Hackett Publishing.

Important primary sources for the Greek conflicts with the Achaemenid Empire in the Persian Period.

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New Perspectives in Biblical and Rabbinic Hebrew (ed. Hornkohl & Khan; Open Book)

NEW BOOK FROM OPEN BOOK PUBLISHERS:

New Perspectives in Biblical and Rabbinic Hebrew

Aaron D. Hornkohl and Geoffrey Khan (eds)

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-80064-164-8 £24.95
Hardback ISBN: 978-1-80064-165-5 £34.95
PDF ISBN: 978-1-80064-166-2 £0.00

Description

Most of the papers in this volume originated as presentations at the conference Biblical Hebrew and Rabbinic Hebrew: New Perspectives in Philology and Linguistics, which was held at the University of Cambridge, 8–10th July, 2019. The aim of the conference was to build bridges between various strands of research in the field of Hebrew language studies that rarely meet, namely philologists working on Biblical Hebrew, philologists working on Rabbinic Hebrew and theoretical linguists.

This volume is the published outcome of this initiative. It contains peer-reviewed papers in the fields of Biblical and Rabbinic Hebrew that advance the field by the philological investigation of primary sources and the application of cutting-edge linguistic theory. These include contributions by established scholars and by students and early career researchers.

That's right, there is a free PDF edition. For you, special deal!

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Amun Amen?

AFP FACT CHECK: ‘Amen’ is of Hebrew, not Egyptian, origin (Natalie Wade).

Facebook posts claim the word “amen” is derived from the ancient Egyptian god Amun Ra. This is false; experts say the common ending to prayers has Hebrew origins -- not Egyptian.

Yes. Silly Facebook.

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