On ancient Lebanese cedar

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Lebanese Cedar—The Prized Tree of Ancient Woodworking. From Solomon’s Temple to the Jesus Boat, the Biblical world was built of cedar. This essay is a summary of a 2013 BAR article by Nili Liphschitz which remains behind the subscription wall.

Some PaleoJudaica posts on cedar of Lebanon are here, here, here, and here.

Cross-file under Material Culture.

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

Still more on Leviticus 10

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Leviticus 10, Numbers, and “Theocracy”: A Response to Meike Röhrig (Christophe L. Nihan).

... To describe the process that takes place in the late priestly texts of the Pentateuch, other concepts than the concept of “theocracy” may be more accurate and may therefore serve us better. Borrowing a concept already used in other areas of religious studies, one could speak here of a process of “priestification,” in which the priestly revisions of the Pentateuch—and possibly of other collections of scriptures as well—somehow go hand in hand with a conception conferring increased agency to the priests. ...

Background here and links.

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

More on Leviticus 10

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW has two more essays from the SBL panel on Leviticus 10:

Adaptation to the Story World: a Response to Nathan MacDonald (Liane Feldman)

... In the end it makes little difference to me if Leviticus 8, 9, and 10 were written by one or ten authors, as long as we recognize the interdependence of ritual and narrative in these texts and take seriously the idea that textualized ritual must react to its narrative environment.

A Pair of Pyromaniacs (Meike J. Röhrig)

The first invitation for this workshop settled both the topic: “theocracy”, and the text under discussion: Lev 10 with an emphasis on the first part of the chapter, the death of Nadab and Abihu. This suggests that there is a connection between Nadab’s and Abihu’s mishap with the incense offering and a concept or concepts of theocracy.

Background here.

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

Happy belated 14 February!

OLD CHURCH SLAVONIC WATCH: Saints of the day: Cyril and Methodius (Angelus). I was busy on the day and didn't have a chance to write this up. But here it is belatedly.

Cyril and Methodius invented the Slavonic alphabet in the ninth century, thus not only converting the Slavs, but also preserving much ancient literature that otherwise would have been lost. That literature includes some intriguing Old Testament Pseudepigrapha.

Today the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, and (sometimes) the Lutheran Church commemorate them. Other traditions do so on 24 May or 5 July. Follow the links for details.

Oh yes, and happy belated Valentine's Day. Some relevant PaleoJudaica posts are here, here, here, here, and here.

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

Review of Holt, When money talks: a history of coins and numismatics

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: When money talks: a history of coins and numismatics.

Frank L. Holt, When money talks: a history of coins and numismatics. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2021. Pp. 272. ISBN 9780197517659 £25.99.

Review by
David Hendin, American Numismatic Society. dhendin@numismatics.org

... Some readers will say that Holt’s tour de force is his anecdotal history of coins and money. However, this reader sees his most valuable contribution to be his discussion of the evolution of “Renaissance antiquarianism” (which was generally recognized as a symbol of connoisseurs and culture) to the coin collector/dealer of today, who has been portrayed by some as a pillager of cultural heritage. ...

Also, I like the sound of "cognitive numismatics," even though I'm not sure what it means.

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

Weeks, Ecclesiastes 5-12 (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

Ecclesiastes 5-12

A Critical and Exegetical Commentary

Stuart Weeks (Author)

Hardback
$100.00 $90.00

Ebook (PDF)
$90.00 $72.00

Product details

Published Dec 16 2021
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 752
ISBN 9780567666543
Imprint T&T Clarkv Dimensions 9 x 5 inches
Series International Critical Commentary
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

This volume completes Stuart Weeks' commentary on the book of Ecclesiastes, also known as Qoheleth. Weeks draws together all the relevant tools for understanding this complex wisdom book in the Old Testament. As is the hallmark of the ICC no stone is left unturned as Weeks considers the full range of linguistic, textual, archaeological, literary and theological interpretations of the text.

Week incorporates recent interpretation alongside the history of research to examine the text of Ecclesiastes 6-12 in the closest possible, offering a reading of what may have be the original writer's linguistic and theological intent.

The volume is a companion to Weeks' previous commentary on chapters 1-5 of Ecclesiastes, which also contains his exhaustive bibliography of works relevant to the study of the text.

The entry for his commentary on Ecclessiastes 1-5 is here.

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

Lindstedt et al. (eds.), Religious Identities in Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Religious Identities in Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages

Walking Together & Parting Ways

Series: Studies on the Children of Abraham, Volume: 9

Volume Editors: Ilkka Lindstedt, Nina Nikki, and Riikka Tuori

Religious Identities in Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages contains eight thought-provoking articles that discuss the formation of antique and early medieval religious identities and ideas in rabbinic Judaism, early Christianity, Islam, and Greco-Roman culture. The articles question the artificial disciplinary and conceptual boundaries between traditions. Instead, they stress their shared nature. The collection is a result of discussions at the international symposium “Ideas and Identities in Late Antiquity: Jews, Christians, and Muslims” at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies on March 12–13, 2018.

Copyright Year: 2022

Prices from (excl. VAT): €145.00 / $175.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-47116-0
Publication Date: 08 Nov 2021

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-47115-3
Publication Date: 11 Nov 2021

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

Ran Zadok Festschrift (De Gruyter)

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: Individuals and Institutions in the Ancient Near East. Notice of a New Book: Gabbay, Uri & Shai Gordin (eds.). 2021. Individuals and Institutions in the Ancient Near East: A Tribute to Ran Zadok (Studies in Ancient Near Eastern Records 27). Berlin: De Gruyter.

The volume inculdes text-related articles on Persepolis, late Babylonia, and Idumea.

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

Lehmhaus (ed.), Defining Jewish Medicine (Harrassowitz, open access)

THE AWOL BLOG: Defining Jewish Medicine. Transfer of Medical Knowledge in Jewish Cultures and Traditions. An open-access volume edited by Lennart Lehmhaus and published by Harrassowitz (2021). Many of the articles are Talmud related.

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

AJR reviews Schniedewind, The Finger of the Scribe

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Book Note | The Finger of the Scribe: How Scribes Learned to Write the Bible (Ki-Eun Jang).

William M. Schniedewind, The Finger of the Scribe: How Scribes Learned to Write the Bible. Oxford University Press, 2019.

... Through his new interpretation of the Kuntillet ‘Ajrud inscriptions, Schniedewind argues that ancient scribes who wrote the Hebrew Bible were trained according to an Israelite alphabetic scribal education, which emerged out of an earlier cuneiform scribal curriculum during a transitional period between the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age. ...

I have noted other reviews of the book here and here.

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

PhD diss on Ancient Synagogue Coins

THE AWOL BLOG: Ancient Synagogue Coins: A Digital Dissertation Project.

ABSTRACT

Tine Rassalle: Coin Deposits from Ancient Synagogues in Late Antique Palestine
(Under the Direction of Dr. Jodi Magness)

During archaeological excavations over the last century, fifty-seven separate coin deposits have been found in ancient synagogues from Late Antique Palestine and the Diaspora. This project provides an overview of these deposits, the buildings they were discovered in, and the specific coins they contained. Based on their archaeological contexts and an analysis of the Jewish religious and socio-economic circumstances of Late Antiquity, I argue that there are seven possible reasons for why these deposits were placed inside a synagogue building. This dissertation project gives an overview of these categories and explores the different economic and symbolic functions coins in sacred spaces could have had in ancient Jewish society.

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

Review of Adams, Greek genres and Jewish authors

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Greek genres and Jewish authors: negotiating literary culture in the Greco-Roman era.

Sean A. Adams, Greek genres and Jewish authors: negotiating literary culture in the Greco-Roman era. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2020. Pp. xi, 430. ISBN 9781481312912 $79.99.

Review by
Robert Kugler, Lewis and Clark University. kugler@lclark.edu

I noted the book and a related essay by the author here.

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

Hobbyist recovers lost secret of Tyrian purple?

PHOENICIAN WATCH: Biblical royal purple dye from snails recreated by Tunisian enthusiast. So expensive was the color even in ancient times that the Romans restricted its use to the elite, whose purple fringed robes became the mark of the Mediterranean's most powerful dynasty (Reuters via the Jerusalem Post).

Mouhamad Ghassen Nouira works from a hut in his garden to process murex snails using techniques first developed by the Phoenicians to produce a dye known as Tyrian purple that sells online for about $2,500 a gram.

Everyone needs a hobby. This one sounds lucrative. But also work intensive:

Nouira spent 14 years working out how to produce the dye from nets of murex he buys from a local fisherman, extracting the glands, crushing the shells, fermenting and cooking them and eventually producing tiny amounts of purple powder.

It takes 54 kilograms (119 lb) of murex shells to produce a single gram of Tyrian purple, making it hard to be economically viable. Huge mounds of broken shells from the dye industry of centuries past are still found near great Phoenician centers.

For PaleoJudaica posts involving Tyrian purple dye and the Israelite telekhet dye, both made from the murex snail, start here and follow the links.

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

International LXX Day 2022 (belatedly)

INTERNATIONAL SEPTUAGINT DAY WAS ON 8 FEBRUARY. I missed it again. Fortunately, William Ross was on the case: INTERNATIONAL SEPTUAGINT DAY 2022: A ROUNDUP.

Previous posts on the day are collected here.

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

Looting arrest near Nablus

APPREHENDED: Man suspected of selling antiquities is arrested. Man suspected of stealing thousands of archaeological artifacts from various periods is arrested near Shechem. 'An important and significant operation (Arutz Sheva/Israel National News).

The individual is suspected of stealing and selling thousands of rare antiquities, worth hundreds of thousands of shekels.

[...]

Among the findings confiscated were archaeological items from the Persian period, the Hellenistic period, and coins from the period of the Great Jewish Revolt, along with equipment which the suspect [allegedly] used to steal the antiquities.

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

Is Jesus, Hermes, or Orpheus on that ring?

ICONOGRAPHY: Does an Ancient Ring Found in a Shipwreck Depict Jesus Christ? The “Good Shepherd” ring caused a stir when it was unveiled last month, but things may not be so clear-cut (Candida Moss, Daily Beast).

The similarities between the bucolic images and the fact that the shepherd was a pagan motif meant that the ring’s interpretation was very much in the eye of the beholder. One person could look at it and see the Jesus of the Gospels, another might see Hermes. It’s a flexible and multivalent image. What this means of course, is that we cannot be certain that the ring’s owner was Christian we can only be sure that they were wealthy enough to purchase such an expensive luxury item.

For more on the Caesarea shipwrecks and the "Good Shepherd" ring, see here and here.

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

SBL Panel on Leviticus 10

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Leviticus 10: an SBL 2021 Panel (Angela Roskop Erisman).

The papers that constitute this forum first appeared as a conference panel at the 2021 meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature. They discuss several different issues that are relevant to questions of the relationship between ritual and narrative, ritual innovation in both practice and ideal, and the historical development of the priesthood in ancient Israel, including its intersection with political power. The place of Leviticus 10 in the development of priestly literature in the Torah bears at every turn on how these issues are understood. ...

The first essay in the series is now posted: Error and Response in Leviticus 10 (Nathan MacDonald).

The main problems that the text of Lev 10 confronts the modern interpreter with are not primarily compositional, but exegetical. There are two intractable problems. First, what precisely was the error in vv. 1–2 that led to Nadav and Avihu being consumed by divine fire? Edward Greenstein memorably described this incident as ‘a punishment in search of a crime’.[1] Secondly, why does Aaron’s enigmatic response in v. 19 mollify Moses and allow an irregular practice to be permitted? I don’t think I misrepresent scholarship when I say that we have not find a compelling solution to either problem. ...

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

Midrash Volume 9 (2021)

H-JUDAIC: TOC: Midrash Volume 9 (2021). The link to the volume at Gorgias Press is here.

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

Tekoniemi, The Textual History of 2 Kings 17 (De Gruyter)

NEW BOOK FROMDE GRUYTER:

The Textual History of 2 Kings 17

Timo Tapani Tekoniemi

Volume 536 in the series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110720792

PDF & EPUB £79.00
Hardcover £79.00

eBook
Published: September 7, 2021
ISBN: 9783110720792

Hardcover
Published: September 7, 2021
ISBN: 9783110720761

About this book

The textual history of the Books of Kings forms one of the most complex and debated issues in the modern text-historical scholarship. This book examines and reconstructs the textual history of 2 Kings 17 in light of the preserved textual evidence. The analysis of textual differences between the LXX, the Old Latin, and the MT allows the reconstruction of the oldest text attainable. The Old Latin version appears to have in many cases best preserved the Old Greek edition of the chapter, now lost in the Greek witnesses due to Hebraizing revisions. The Old Greek version of 2 Kings 17 evidences a Hebrew Vorlage often radically differing from the MT. In most cases the MT exhibits signs of later editing. The LXX can thus help the scholars reconstruct multiple text-historical layers previously out of our reach, as well as shed new light on certain historiographical details recounted in 2 Kings 17. As supposed by the literary critics for well over a century, the textual data shows beyond doubt that there happened vast editing and rewriting of the Books of Kings even at very late date. Text-critical considerations are therefore not only useful, but invaluable to all scholarly work on 2 Kings 17, and the Books of Kings as a whole.

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

Becking, Israel's Past (De Gruyter)

NEW BOOK FROM DE GRUYTER:

Israel's Past
Studies on History and Religion in Ancient Israel and Judah

Bob Becking

Volume 535 in the series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110717266

PDF & EPUB £79.00
Hardcover £79.00

eBook
Published: October 4, 2021
ISBN: 9783110717266

Hardcover
Published: October 4, 2021
ISBN: 9783110717143

About this book

This collection of essays gives an insight into the problems that we encounter when we try to (re)construct events from Israel's past. On the one hand, the Hebrew Bible is a biased source, on the other hand, the data provided by archaeology and extra-biblical texts are constrained and sometimes contradictory. Discussing a set of examples, the author applies fundamental insight from the philosophy of history to clarify Israel's past.

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