Remember that Irish bog Psalter?

VARIANT READINGS: The Faddan More Psalter (Brent Nongbri).

One of the most interesting manuscripts to come to light in recent years is the Faddan More Psalter, a parchment codex in a leather cover that contained the Psalms in Latin. It was discovered by a worker harvesting peat for fuel from a bog in central Ireland in 2006. The acidic environment of bogs, famous for preserving human bodies, also preserved parts of this codex in a remarkable way. ...

PaleoJudaica followed the story of the bog Psalter from the annoucement of its discovery. For posts, start here and follow the links back.

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Angelini, L’imaginaire du démoniaque dans la Septante (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

L’imaginaire du démoniaque dans la Septante

Une analyse comparée de la notion de “démon” dans la Septante et dans la Bible Hébraïque

Series: Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism, Volume: 197

Author: Anna Angelini

This book offers a thorough analysis of demons in the Hebrew Bible and Septuagint in the wider context of the ancient Near East and the Greek world. Taking a fresh and innovative angle of enquiry, Anna Angelini investigates continuities and changes in the representation of divine powers in Hellenistic Judaism, thereby revealing the role of the Greek translation of the Bible in shaping ancient demonology, angelology, and pneumatology. Combining philological and semantic analyses with a historical approach and anthropological insights, the author both develops a new method for analyzing religious categories within biblical traditions and sheds new light on the importance of the Septuagint for the history of ancient Judaism.

Le livre propose une analyse approfondie des démons dans la Bible Hébraïque et la Septante, à la lumière du Proche Orient Ancien et du contexte grec. Par un nouvel angle d’approche, Anna Angelini met en lumière dynamiques de continuité et de changement dans les représentations des puissances divines à l’époque hellénistique, en soulignant l’importance de la traduction grecque de la Bible pour la compréhension de la démonologie, de l’angélologie et de la pneumatologie antiques. En intégrant l’analyse philologique et sémantique avec une approche historique et des méthodes anthropologiques, l’autrice développe une nouvelle méthodologie pour analyser des catégories religieuses à l’intérieur des traditions bibliques et affirme la valeur de la Septante pour l’histoire du judaïsme antique.

Prices from (excl. VAT): €134.00 / $161.00 Hardback

Copyright Year: 2021

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-46847-4
Publication Date: 06 Sep 2021

Hardback
Availability: Not Yet Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-46846-7
Publication Date: 20 Oct 2021

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Archaeological evidence for the United Monarchy?

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: King David’s Judah Found? New study examines archaeological evidence for early Judahite state (Nathan Steinmeyer). This essay summarizes a recent article that you can read in full for free:

The 10th Century BCE in Judah: Archaeology and the Biblical Tradition

Citation:
Garfinkel, Y., 2021. The 10th Century BCE in Judah: Archaeology and the Biblical Tradition. Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology , 1 , pp. 126-154. Copy at http://www.tinyurl.com/yk6l8jpp

Abstract:
In the framework of the regional project in the Judean Shephelah, which started in 2007, four sites were investigated: Khirbet Qeiyafa, Khirbet el-Ra‘i, Socoh, and Lachish. The data for the 10th century is presented here together with the relevant biblical traditions. The data is analyzed according to an urban geography model and the gradual development and territorial expansion of the Kingdom of Judah is suggested.

Follow the link for a link to a pdf version of the full text.

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Was the Flood story added later?

PROF. DAVID M. CARR: The Original Primeval History of the Hebrews (TheTorah.com).

Before the flood story was added, the primeval history focused on human mortality, family relationships, and etiological explanations for human behaviors and professions. Only later did this primeval history develop into a broader narrative that included stories of the flood and the Tower of Babel.

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Levantine late-antique earthquakes

I WAS EXPECTING AN EARTH-SHATTERING KABOOM! AND I GOT TWO. Scholar explores impact of Levantine earthquake of 418/419 AD (Saeb Rawashdeh, Jordan Times).

AMMAN — Conclusions about an earthquake that damaged “many towns and villages in Palestine” in 418/419 AD came from the ancient chronicler, Marcellinus Comes, who died in 534 AD, noted an American archaeologist.

“The geological evidence is somewhat ambiguous, as well, in part because another large earthquake happened in 363 AD, and it’s difficult to distinguish geological [and archaeological] evidence from events only a half-century apart,” said Ian Jones from University of California, San Diego.

[...]

Both earthquakes caused a lot of damage to Jerusalem.

I have mentioned the earthquake of 363 CE here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. The earthquake of 418 or 419 appears to be new to me, although this post seems to allude to it.

For posts on biblical-era earthquakes, start here and follow the links.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

The Sifting Project has found a Kufic inscription fragment

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT BLOG: FIND AND FINDER OF THE MONTH: YARDEN SHOR DISCOVERED A FRAGMENT OF AN 8TH CENTURY CE ARABIC INSCRIPTION ENGRAVED ON A MARBLE TILE. There is probably not enough remaining of the inscription to decipher it. But wel'l see.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Review of Parks, Gender in the Rhetoric of Jesus

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Book Note I Gender in the Rhetoric of Jesus: Women in Q (Hilary Floyd).

Sara Parks, Gender in the Rhetoric of Jesus: Women in Q (Lanham: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, 2019)

Opening:

In this compelling monograph, Sara Parks combines two scholarly interests that have not been brought together before: studies of Q, a hypothetical source that explains the material shared by the Gospel of Matthew and Luke, and studies of the historical Jesus’ relationship to women. Parks argues that Q uses a unique literary device, which she terms “parallel gender pairs” (e.g., the Parable of the Lost Sheep and the Parable of the Lost Coin; she also refers to them as “gendered pairs”), to treat male and female listeners with a certain kind of equality. Although this literary device does not appear in any extant Hellenistic or early Jewish literature, Parks finds echoes of it in some of the texts that follow Q. ...

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Sefaria releases a new-old German translation of the Talmud

TALMUD WATCH: A pioneering German translation of the Talmud, finished in 1935, is now accessible online (Philissa Cramer and Joe Baur, JTA).

Joshua Foer, an author and cofounder of Sefaria, said in a statement that the translation’s online release represents the triumph of Jewish tradition over the forces of hate that lapped against Goldschmidt as he worked.

“Goldschmidt released the translation at a time of rising antisemitism to dispel dangerous myths and make the text accessible to all German speakers around the world,” Foer said. He added, “That this translation is being made more accessible today with the help of German and Austrian rabbinic students and scholars representing the future of German Judaism is a fitting celebration of Goldschmidt’s legacy.”

For more on the Sefaria website and its Talmud-related publication see here and links.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Evidence for Jewish priestesses in antiquity

EPIGRAPHY: Stone epitaphs of Jewish women in ancient Rome. Gaudentia, Eulogia, Besula (Wall Street International, Brenda Lee Bohen).

These inscriptions from Italy point to the existence of ancient Jewish priestesses, elders, and synagogue leaders. The 3rd/4th century CE catacomb inscription in Rome is another early reference to a Jewish priestess. The earliest such reference I have encountered is to a priestess in the Jewish temple at Leontopolis (Egypt) dated to 28 BCE.

The role of Jewish priestess is not found at all in the Bible, but it has been revived in recent years. I discuss the matter here with links. That discussion is now out of date, thanks to the evidence mentioned above.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Gods, Angels, and Demons in Deuteronomy?

SPOILER: YES. Are There Gods, Angels, and Demons in Deuteronomy? (Prof. Jonathan Ben-Dov, TheTorah.com).

Several poetic verses in Deuteronomy were used in Second Temple times to support the belief in multiple characters in the divine realm. Thus, the scribes of the early Masoretic text, who opposed this belief, sometimes went so far as to revise or excise these references.

I have commented on Deuteronomy 32:8 here and here.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Ritual purity in the time of Jesus

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Clean or Unclean? Ritual Purity and Jewish Identity (John Drummond).

Regardless of religious party, however, a vision of a people set apart by God and fit to dwell in the midst of his holiness was central to the piety of Second Temple Judaism.

To learn more about ritual purity and its role in Jesus’ ministry, read “Jesus and Ritual Impurity” by Matthew Thiessen, published in the Fall 2021 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

The latter article is behind the subscription wall.

Some PaleoJudaica posts on ritual purity in ancient Judaism are collected here (cf. here) and here (cf. here).

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Tenure-track Bible job at JTS

H-JUDAIC: FEATURED JOB: Assistant Professor of Bible, Jewish Theological Seminary. Details at the link. "Applications received by November 1 will be given full consideration."

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Did Nehemiah build a wall?

THE BIBLE AND INTEPRETATION:

The Walls that Nehemiah Built: The Town of Jerusalem in the Persian Period

The biblical books Nehemiah 2 and 3 relay the story of Nehemiah’s trip around the destroyed town of Jerusalem and of the rebuilding of its fortifications. Despite the detailed description of walls and gates, scholars debate the actual size of the settlement in Persian times and even question whether the walls were really reconstructed. This paper investigates the facts `on the ground’. Was any town wall of the Persian period ever excavated? How large was Nehemiah’s Jerusalem and how did it function within the Persian empire? Was it a walled town with a central temple, the seat of the governor, a centre of administration, religion and economy? Or was it a small undefended settlement in which only the local temple had any significance? Spoiler alert: there are as many opinions as there are scholars, and the archaeological evidence is meagre.

By Margreet L. Steiner
Independent Archaeologist
October 2021

For more on the question of Nehemiah's wall, see the links collected here.

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The Oxford School of Rare Jewish Languages

From Judeo-Greek to Karaim, Oxford courses on 12 rare Jewish languages aim to keep heritages alive (Michelle Krasovitski, JTA).

The Oxford School of Rare Jewish Languages in the UK has launched its inaugural semester of courses in 12 Jewish languages, belonging to the Aramaic, Arabic and Turkic language families. They range in number of speakers, from millions to none.

The courses, which began this week, run for an hour a week online and are free for all students.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Was Eve Adam's helpmate?

PROF. GARY RENDSBURG: Woman: Helpmate No Longer (TheTorah.com).

Eve was created as Adam’s עֵזֶר כְּנֶגְדֹּו ʿezer ke-negdo (Genesis 2:18). What is the meaning of this enigmatic phrase?

The suggestion in this essay is possible, of course, but I am not convinced. The Hebrew meaning "helper" makes sense in the context. The word is not attested elsewherein Hebrew with the meaning "woman." Anytime you have to move to an Arabic cognate to explain a Hebrew word, you are conjecturing. And I don't see the gain in doing so here.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Vast Byzantine-era winepress complex excavated at Yavneh

VINTAGE ARCHAEOLOGY: Archaeological Sensation in Yavne: Ancient World’s Largest Complex of Winepresses Uncovered (The Jewish Press).

It appears that the town of Yavne, home to the Sanhedrin in exile after the destruction of the Second Temple, became a worldwide powerhouse of wine production some 1,500 years ago. A vast, well-designed industrial estate from the Byzantine period with an impressive wine production complex—the largest of its kind in the world in that period—has been excavated in the city of Yavne over the past two years.

[...]

PaleoJudaica posts on ancient winepresses, mostly in Israel, are collected here, plus here and here.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Roman-era temple excavated in Tyre

PHOENICIAN WATCH: New Roman Temple Discovered in Ancient Phoenician City of Tyre. The temple's location "in the most elevated area of the ancient island highlights this building's particular status." (Jesse Holth, ARTNEWS). So far the excavators don't know which god was worshipped in the temple.

Some of PaleoJudaica's posts on the ancient city of Tyre are here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. And Tyre is, of course, mentioned from time to time in the Bible.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Without form and void?

PROF. JAMES A. DIAMOND: Creating Order from Tohu and Bohu. (TheTorah.com).

God encounters the primordial תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ (tohu and bohu), dividing it into its constituent parts and reshaping it into a wiser, more orderly world, a task entrusted to humans thereafter.

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Neumann & Thomason (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of the Senses in the Ancient Near East

BIBILOGRAPHIA IRANICA: The Routledge Handbook of the Senses in the Ancient Near East. Notice of a New Book: Neumann, Kiersten & Allison Thomason (eds.). 2021. The Routledge Handbook of the Senses in the Ancient Near East. London: Routledge. Follow the link for details.

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Review of Hannestad, Nicator Seleucus I and his empire

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Nicator Seleucus I and his empire.

Lise Hannestad, Nicator Seleucus I and his empire. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press, 2020. Pp. 181. ISBN 9788772191737 249,95 Kr.

Review by
Branko van Oppen, Tampa Museum of Art. branko.vanoppen@tampamuseum.org

Excerpt:

While acknowledging throughout that sources for Seleucus are scarce, Hannestad presents her interpretations with surprising certainty. The point is not so much that this reviewer disagrees with her interpretations, but that historians ought to differentiate established facts from their own understanding – if only for the sake of the general reader.

King Seleucus I Nicator is mentioned in the Bible in Daniel 11:5 as one of the princes of the king of the south. For more on him and on his son Antiochus I Soter and on Seleucus's second wife, Queen Stratonice, who also married Antiochus, see here and links.

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