DSS "paperbacks?"

ALGORITHM WATCH: Dead Sea Scrolls: 2,000 years ago Jews used biblical ‘paperbacks.’ (Rossella Tercatin, Jerusalem Post).

Some 2,000 years ago, Jews used formal beautifully written biblical manuscripts for public reading, but also informal and sloppily written biblical texts for personal use, new research on the Dead Sea Scrolls has shown.

In addition, some of the scrolls might be more ancient than previously thought, suggesting that the current canonical form of the Book of Psalms might date earlier than previously believed.

[...]

For more on "The Hands that Wrote the Bible Project," see here, here, here, here, and here.

The Jerusalem Post article interviews Dr. Drew Longacre, whose Old Testament Textual Criticism blog I link to from time to time. He comments on the article here.

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Litwa, How the Gospels Became History (Yale)

RECENT BOOK FROM YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

How the Gospels Became History
Jesus and Mediterranean Myths

M. David Litwa

A compelling comparison of the gospels and Greco-Roman mythology which shows that the gospels were not perceived as myths, but as historical records

Did the early Christians believe their myths? Like most ancient—and modern—people, early Christians made efforts to present their myths in the most believable ways.

In this eye-opening work, M. David Litwa explores how and why what later became the four canonical gospels take on a historical cast that remains vitally important for many Christians today. Offering an in-depth comparison with other Greco-Roman stories that have been shaped to seem like history, Litwa shows how the evangelists responded to the pressures of Greco-Roman literary culture by using well-known historiographical tropes such as the mention of famous rulers and kings, geographical notices, the introduction of eyewitnesses, vivid presentation, alternative reports, and so on. In this way, the evangelists deliberately shaped myths about Jesus into historical discourse to maximize their believability for ancient audiences.

Format: Hardcover
Price: $65.00

ISBN: 9780300242638
Publication Date: August 6, 2019
312 pages, 6 1/8 x 9 1/4

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Spatial arrangements in ancient Galilee

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Dissertation Spotlight | Religious Identity and Spatiality in Hasmonean and Herodian Galilee (Joseph Scales).

Joseph Scales, “Religious Identity and Spatiality in Hasmonean and Herodian Galilee” (Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Birmingham, 2021).

During the 2nd century BCE, the Hasmonean kingdom began to expand beyond the confines of ancient Judea. The region known as “Galilee” appears to have been incorporated into the kingdom around 100 BCE. My dissertation argues that this incorporation generated various spatial arrangements in the region that enabled Jewish expression.

[...]

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Biblical Studies Carnival 183

THE LIBRARY MUSINGS: Biblical Studies Carnival # 183 (Bobby Howell).

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More non-invasive archaeology

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: A non-invasive procedure allows obtaining archaeological information without excavating (Universitat Pompeu Fabra - Barcelona press release, Phys.org).

An international archaeological study, led by researchers from the Culture and Socio-Ecological Dynamics (CaSEs) research group at Pompeu Fabra University, has advanced in the understanding and preservation of archaeological sites and in improving their analysis and surveying, thanks to the application of pXRF (portable X-ray fluorescence analysis) to anthropogenic sediments in Africa. It is a rapid, inexpensive, non-invasive procedure, which enables generating an additional archaeological record from the anthropogenic deposit by analyzing chemical elements, combined with geostatistics.

[...]

I keep saying it: non-invasive and non-destructive technologies are the future of archaeology. Also see here.

HT Archaeologica News (28 May) and Joseph I. Lauer. Joe also notes:

The underlying journal article, “Identifying anthropogenic features at Seoke (Botswana) using pXRF: Expanding the record of southern African Stone Walled Sites,” was published in PLoS ONE on May 12, 2021, and may be read at https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250776
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0250776

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Berlin & Kosmin (eds.), The Middle Maccabees (SBL)

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

The Middle Maccabees: Archaeology, History, and the Rise of the Hasmonean Kingdom

Andrea M. Berlin, Paul J. Kosmin, editors

ISBN 9781628373059
Volume ABS 28
Status Available
Publication DateMarch 2021

Paperback
$73.00

eBook
$73.00

Hardback $93.00

A focused, interdisciplinary examination of a tumultuous, history-making era

The Middle Maccabees lays out the charged, complicated beginnings of the independent Jewish state founded in the second century BCE. Contributors offer focused analyses of the archaeological, epigraphic, numismatic, and textual evidence, framed within a wider world of conflicts between the Ptolemies of Egypt, the Seleucids of Syria, and the Romans. The result is a holistic view of the Hasmonean rise to power that acknowledges broader political developments, evolving social responses, and the particularities of local history. Contributors include Uzi ‘Ad, Donald T. Ariel, Andrea M. Berlin, Efrat Bocher, Altay Coşkun, Benedikt Eckhardt, Gerald Finkielsztejn, Christelle Fischer-Bovet, Yuval Gadot, Erich Gruen, Sylvie Honigman, Jutta Jokiranta, Paul J. Kosmin, Uzi Leibner, Catharine Lorber, Duncan E. MacRae, Dvir Raviv, Helena Roth, Débora Sandhaus, Yiftah Shalev, Nitsan Shalom, Danny Syon, Yehiel Zelinger, and Ayala Zilberstein.

Features

• Up-to-date, generously illustrated essays analyzing the relevant archaeological remains
• A revised understanding of how local and imperial histories overlapped and intersected
• New analysis of the book of 1 Maccabees as a tool of Hasmonean strategic interest

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Berlejung, Divine Secrets and Human Imaginations (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FRO MOHR SIEBECK: Angelika Berlejung. Divine Secrets and Human Imaginations. Studies on the History of Religion and Anthropology of the Ancient Near East and the Old Testament. 2021. XVI, 678 pages. Orientalische Religionen in der Antike 42. 169,00 € including VAT. eBook PDF ISBN 978-3-16-160098-2 DOI 10.1628/978-3-16-160098-2.

Published in English.
The articles in this volume of collected essays, written over the last two decades and all revised, updated, and supplemented with unpublished material, are grouped around two themes: Divine Secrets and Human Imaginations. The first essays deal with the production, initiation, use and function, the abduction, repatriation, and the replacement of divine images, their outer appearance, and the many facets of the divine presence theology in Ancient Mesopotamia. The essays on the second topic deal with human imaginations, human constructs, and constructed memories, which assign meaning to the past or to things or experiences that are beyond human control. Thematically, several aspects of the human condition are examined, such as the ideas associated in the Old Testament and the Ancient Near East with death, corporeality, enemies, disasters, utopias, and passionate love.

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BAR letters, Summer 2021

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: More Queries & Comments, Summer 2021. For more on and from the current issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, see here, here, and here.

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Ashkelon basilica

ANCIENT ARCHTECTURE: 2,000-year-old basilica unearthed in Ashkelon. “The basilica was first discovered in the 1920s by British archaeologist John Garstang who then covered it once again,” said Dr. Rachel Bar Nathan, IAA director of excavation. (Rossella Tercatin, Jerusalem Post).

The remains of a magnificent 2,000-year-old Roman basilica, the largest in Israel, have been uncovered in Ashkelon in an excavation conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority within a development project of the Tel Ashkelon National Park and will soon be accessible to the public, the Nature and Parks Authority announced on Monday.

[...]

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Fishbones pushback

THAT STUDY ON THE FISH DIET OF THE ANCIENT JUDEANS is receving some critical responses.

Those fishy reports on ancient Israelites eating non-kosher seafood. Analysis of fish remains in ancient Israel actually confirms what the Bible tells us and indicates these laws were widely known during the biblical period (JOSHUA BERMAN and ARI Z. ZIVOTOFSKY, Times of Israel). (HT the Bible Places Blog).

The truth is that archeologists have long known that non-kosher fish remains are widely found in ancient Israel. What Adler and Lernau maintain, however, goes much further. They claim that during the first temple period, “all the fish assemblages from Judah available for analysis contained significant numbers of scaleless fish remains, especially catfish.” This, however, is not true, as brought out by the very evidence they adduce.

The authors also argue that the Book of Isaiah alludes to the the kosher laws on fish.

Also, Dr. Sarah Bond addresses the study in a Twitter thread. (HT Rogue Classicism.) She does not dispute its conclusions, but she too points to earlier research that discusses the archaeology of catfish bones in the region.

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Mazar obituary

THE TELEGRAPH: Eilat Mazar, leading light of Israeli biblical archaeology who uncovered what she claimed was the palace of King David – obituary. Her discoveries included a hoard of gold coins and other treasure possibly left after the 7th century Persian conquest of Jerusalem. (You can read a limited number of Telegraph articles with free registration.)

Background here and links.

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Salvage archaeology at Beth Shemesh

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: The Other Side of Beth Shemesh. Salvage archaeology exposes deep history of famed biblical site (Boaz Gross).

In 2018, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) mandated salvage excavations at the ruins of the Arab village, Tel Beth Shemesh (East), to allow for the expansion of Highway 38. The excavations, which I directed, were carried out by the Israeli Institute of Archaeology, on behalf of Tel Aviv University and the IAA, with the assistance of Dr. Aaron Tavger and Yoram Haimi, from 2018 to 2020. The excavations were funded by Israel’s National Transport Infrastructure Company (Netivei Israel).[i] Until our excavations, there had been no investigation of what lay under the abandoned village bordering the site on the east, except for the examination probes conducted by the IAA’s Eli Hadad and Nathan Ben Ari.

This appears to be the full article from the current issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

For many posts on Beth Shemesh (Beit Shemesh) and its archaeology, see here and links and here.

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The Studia Philonica Annual XXXII, 2020 (SBL)

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

The Studia Philonica Annual XXXII, 2020: Studies in Hellenistic Judaism
David T. Runia, Gregory E. Sterling

ISBN 9780884144878
Volume SPhiloA 32
Status Available

eBook
$65.00

Hardback
$65.00

Celebrate the contributions of Gregory E. Sterling

Friends and colleagues of Professor Gregory E. Sterling offer essays honoring his life and work in this special edition of the The Studia Philonica Annual. This volume includes Sterling’s biography and a bibliography of his scholarship. Contributors include Harold W. Attridge, Ellen Birnbaum, Adela Yarbro Collins, John J. Collins, Michael B. Cover, Jan Willem van Henten, Carl R. Holladay, Andrew McGowan, Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr, Maren R. Niehoff, James R. Royse, and David T. Runia. Essays cover a range of topics of related to Hellenistic Judaism, including Philo, the Bible, and Josephus.

Sterling is listed as a co-editor above, but that seems to be an error. I don't think he would be co-editing his own Festschrift. And at the bottom of the page Michael B. Cover is listed as the co-editor.

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Whitt, Exodus Commentary

THE AWOL BLOG: Exodus: A new translation with commentary.

by William Whitt
Publication date 2021-05-22

There is also a link there to his other commentaries on Deuteronomy, Genesis and Samuel. The main link is to the Archive.org version. PDF versions are also available at Dr. Whitt's Academia.edu page. See the bottom of the post linked to above.

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The Byzantine Church mosaic at Aluma

THROWBACK PHOTO: Byzantine Church Excavated In Southern Israel. I noted the discovery of the pictured mosaic back in 2014. Follow that link for better photos. But this one seems to capture the historic moments of its uncovering.

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Sørensen & Petersen (eds.), Theoretical and Empirical Investigations of Divination and Magic (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Theoretical and Empirical Investigations of Divination and Magic

Manipulating the Divine

Series: Numen Book Series, Volume: 171

Editors: Jesper Sørensen and Anders Klostergaard Petersen

In Theoretical and Empirical Investigations of Divination and Magic ten leading scholars of religion provide up-to-date investigations into the classic domains of divination and magic. Spanning historical, anthropological, cognitive, philosophical and theoretical chapters, the volume’s authors invite the reader to explore how divinatory practices and magical rituals, both apart and in interaction, can be reconceptualized in line with 21st century scholarship.

Following an introduction addressing the ever-pertinent discussion of the status and epistemological value of the categories inherited from our scholarly predecessors, the volume includes analyses of divinatory and magic practices in particular historical areas, as well as comparative, theoretical and philosophical discussions, making this an indispensable volume for anyone interested in broader comparative approaches to magic and divination.

Contributors are Lars Albinus, Edward Bever, Gideon Bohak, Corby Kelly, Lars Madsen, Anders Klostergaard Petersen, Jörg Rüpke, Jesper Frøkjær Sørensen, Jørgen Podemann Sørensen, Dimitris Xygalatas.

Prices from (excl. VAT): €119.00 / $144.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-44758-5
Publication Date: 03 May 2021
Copyright Date: 01 Jan 2021

Hardback
Availability: Not Yet Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-44757-8
Publication Date: 06 May 2021
Copyright Date: 01 Jan 2021

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Tigay & Berlin (eds.), The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization (Yale)

NEW BOOK FROM YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, Volume 1
Ancient Israel, from Its Beginnings through 332 BCE

Edited by Jeffrey H. Tigay and Adele Berlin

The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, Volume 1, covers the earliest period of Jewish civilization, from the second millennium BCE through 332 BCE. Organized by genre, this book presents a collection of some of the earliest products of Jewish culture, including extensive selections from the Tanakh and the Hebrew Bible; extrabiblical inscriptions and documents by and about Israelites and Jews, found by archaeologists in the lands of Israel, Egypt, and Mesopotamia; and images representing the visual culture of ancient Israel. Combining genres that have never been presented together in a single publication, Volume 1 illustrates ancient Israel’s cultural innovations and commonalities with neighboring societies.

Format: Hardcover
Price: $175.00

ISBN: 9780300135503
Publication Date: March 23, 2021
600 pages, 8 x 10
140 color illus. + 149 b/w illus.

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Knoppers, Prophets, Priests, and Promises (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Prophets, Priests, and Promises

Essays on the Deuteronomistic History, Chronicles, and Ezra-Nehemiah

Series: Vetus Testamentum, Supplements, Volume: 186

Author: Gary N. Knoppers
Editors: Christl M. Maier and Hugh G. M. Williamson

Shortly before his untimely death Gary Knoppers prepared a number of articles on the historical books in the Hebrew Bible for this volume. Many had not previously been published and the others were heavily revised. They combine a fine attention to historical method with sensitivity for literary-critical analysis, constructive use of classical as well as other sources for comparative evidence, and wide-ranging attention to economic, social, religious, and political circumstances relating in particular to the Persian and early Hellenistic periods. Knoppers advances many new suggestions about significant themes in these texts, about how they relate one to another, and about the light they shed on the various communities’ self-consciousness at a time when new religious identities were being forged.

Prices from (excl. VAT): €120.00 / $144.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-44489-8
Publication Date: 03 May 2021
Copyright Date: 01 Jan 2021

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-44485-0
Publication Date: 15 Feb 2021
Copyright Date: 01 Jan 2021

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Review of Flower & Ludlow (eds.), Rhetoric and religious identity in late antiquity

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Rhetoric and religious identity in late antiquity.

Richard Flower, Morwenna Ludlow, Rhetoric and religious identity in late antiquity. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2020. Pp. 304. ISBN 9780198813194 $100.00.

Review by
Jaclyn Maxwell, Ohio University. maxwelj1@ohio.edu

Mostly the essays address Christianity and paganism. But some glance at Judaism and one is about rhetoric in the Manichaean Kephalaia.

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Evans & Johnston (eds.), Scribes and Their Remains (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY (T&T CLARK):

Scribes and Their Remains

Editor(s): Craig A. Evans, Jeremiah J. Johnston

Published: 05-20-2021
Format: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Extent: 336
ISBN: 9780567700407
Imprint: T&T Clark
Series: The Library of Second Temple Studies
Illustrations: 182 b&w illustrations
Dimensions: 6 1/8" x 9 1/4"
List price: $39.95
Online price: $35.96
Save $4.00 (10%)

Paperback $35.96

Hardback $117.00

EPUB/MOBI eBook (Watermarked) $28.76

PDF eBook (Watermarked) $28.76

About Scribes and Their Remains

Scribes and Their Remains begins with an introductory essay by Stanley Porter which addresses the principal theme of the book: the text as artifact.

The rest of the volume is then split into two major sections. In the first, five studies appear on the theme of 'Scribes, Letters, and Literacy.' In the first of these Craig A. Evans offers a lengthy piece that argues that the archaeological, artifactual, and historical evidence suggests that New Testament autographs and first copies may well have remained in circulation for one century or more, having the effect of stabilizing the text. Other pieces in the section address literacy, orality and paleography of early Christian papyri.

In the second section there are five pieces on 'Writing, Reading, and Abbreviating Christian Scripture.' These range across numerous topics, including an examination of the stauros (cross) as a nomen sacrum.

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