William Ross's year

WILLIAM A. ROSS: SUMMER ’22 UPDATE. Professor Ross has been busy in the last year with the Septuagint and related matters. Here's an update.

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

The Bible Mapper Blog

ASSIMILATED TO THE BLOGOSPHERE: Bible Mapper Blog.

About This Site The Bible Mapper Blog exists to help people understand God’s Word better by helping them understand the world in which the Bible was written. Just as particular places today can carry significant, unspoken meaning for people (e.g., Normandy Beach, Hollywood, or the Bermuda Triangle), places in Scripture were often mentioned to evoke associations for readers that are not explicitly stated in the text. We hope you find this site to be a rich resource of maps and information that help you see this meaning and the message of Scripture with greater clarity than you have ever experienced before.

You are welcome to use these maps for any non-commercial purposes. The only requirement is that you cite biblemapper.com as the source of the map(s), and if you are including them in an online resource, provide a hyperlink back to biblemapper.com. For any commercial use, please contact us first at the contact information provided here: biblemapper.com/contact.html.

This blog has been running since early 2020, but I have only just encountered it. If the Administrator gives his or her name, I can't find it. Some posts of interest include:

• The First Jewish War against Rome
• The Community at Qumran
• The Near East during the Time of the Maccabees
• The Land of Exile
• Judea under Persian Rule
• Israel under the Maccabees
• Palestine under Roman Rule
• Jerusalem during the Later Old Testament
• Herod’s Building Projects

And there are many other posts relevant to the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and more.

HT Todd Bolen at the Bible Places Blog.

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

Sexual imagery in Balaam's blessing?

DR. ERICA LEE MARTIN: “How Lovely Are Your Tents, O Jacob” – Balaam’s Fertility Blessing (TheTorah.com).

Using imagery of tents, gardens, and flowing water—themes associated with love and sexuality in the Bible and the ancient Near East—Balaam’s praise of Israelite women, מַה טֹּבוּ אֹהָלֶיךָ יַעֲקֹב (Numbers 24:5), also serves as a warning. The Priestly authors, however, invert this blessing to present Balaam as the instigator of the Baal Peor incident.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on Balaam, see here and links.

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

"Jerusalem curse inscription" - controversy and cognitive dissonance?

NORTHWEST SEMITIC EPIGRAPHY? Controversy Rages Over ‘Jerusalem Curse’ Inscription. Is there even any writing at all on the slab found in an ancient temple in Jerusalem, and if there is, what does it say? (Elon Gilad, Haaretz).

The bottom line is that some do see and some don’t see Galil’s sketch and the markings on the rock fully corresponding. Once he publishes his findings and other scholars have the opportunity to evaluate the theory, we should know more. For the time being the rock seems, in my humble opinion, to be like a Rorschach Test of sorts.

It is also a strikingly concrete example of confirmation bias. By that I do not mean that the people who see an inscription are wrong. I mean that specialists can look at the same rock and either see or not see an inscription.

I do think that the definite article and the medial vowel letters are fairly strong evidence against the proposed reading of the inscription, if it is an inscription. If they are really there, specialists need to rethink the history of early Canaanite/Hebrew orthography. Unlikely, but possible.

Background here and links.

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

Elevator archaeology: a priestly mikveh?

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Mikveh Found Near Jerusalem’s Temple Mount May Have Been Used by Priestly Family (Sam Sokol, Haaretz). HT Rogue Classicism.

“During the Herodian period, the area in question was home to the city’s wealthiest residents. While several other ritual baths have been unearthed in the area, the importance of this particular discovery stems from its striking proximity to the Temple Mount—raising the question of who lived in this grand villa on the eve of the city’s destruction,” said Michal Haber, one of the supervisors of the dig, adding, “It may well have been a priestly family.”

Background on the excavation is here and here.

For another ancient and possibly priestly mikveh, see here. For the mikveh discovered under the floorboards of a family's living room, see here and here. For the relocated mikveh near Kibbutz Hannaton in the Jezreel Valley, see here and links.

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

Who was Mary Magdalene really?

FEAST DAY: Creating the Myth of Mary Magdalene (Philip Jenkins, The Anxious Bench).

Tomorrow, July 22 [N.b., that is today! - JRD], celebrates St. Mary Magdalene, a figure who in modern times has become the center of a powerful myth about Christian origins. If that standard mythology can be dismantled pretty easily (which it can), finding the truth is a much tougher project. Mary’s story contains some real mysteries that we are a long way from solving. And no, I’m not referring to the world of Dan Brown.

[...]

A thoughtful discussion of the evidence and its implications.

For a recent review of Taylor and Bond, Women Remembered, see here.

For many PaleoJudaica post on Mary Magdalene, who she may have been historically, and her place in Christian tradition, start here and here and keep following the links.

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

Elevator archaeology in Jerusalem

TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Elevator project at the Western Wall unearths an ancient archaeological trove. Old City excavations, ahead of work to improve disabled access at holy site, uncover ornate 1st century villa, oil lamps and a ritual mikveh that overlooked the Temple esplanade (Ilan Ben Zion, AP via Times of Israel).

I noted this story here, but the current article has more information.

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

Review of Taylor & Bond, Women Remembered

THE CHURCH TIMES: Women Remembered: Jesus’ female disciples by Joan Taylor and Helen Bond. Two scholars delve into their stories, Suzanne Fagence Cooper says.

They are keen to share their scholarship with a wide audience, as they work through the sources — from archaeological remains to apocryphal and Gnostic writings, and close reading of the critics of the new faith.

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

Where did Balaam come from?

DR. ETHAN SCHWARTZ: Balaam from “Divinerville” (TheTorah.com).

In a satirical account, Numbers describes how a local, non-Israelite Transjordanian prophet and diviner is forced by YHWH to bless Israel instead of curse them. Deuteronomy recasts Balaam as a stereotypical Mesopotamian diviner from faraway Aram-Naharaim, making the point that YHWH’s power extends even into the heartland of Assyria.

Some PaleoJudaica posts on the biblical figure of Balaam are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

For posts on the Balaam inscription from Tel Deir 'Alla (Deir Alla), see here and links.

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

Lost and not-so-lost gospels

LOST BOOKS WATCH: Gospels That Were Lost, And Some That Were Not Lost At All (Philip Jenkins, The Anxious Bench).

My current work on icons and iconoclasm has reacquainted me with an old friend, namely the Constantinople patriarch Nikephoros (died 829), who played in a critical role in those ninth century controversies. At the time, he was beyond question the world’s most influential Christian leader, presiding over the greatest church. But Nikephoros is also associated with a document that is of great interest to anyone concerned with Christianity as a whole, and not just that particular historical controversy. That document is a wonderful source on two vital alternative gospels.

[...]

For more on the Stichometry of Nikephoros (Nicephorus), see my original Lost Books post here. The Stichometry includes some lost or noncanonical Old Testament pseudepigrapha as well as lost or noncanonical gospels.

For many subsequent PaleoJudaica posts on Lost Books, start here and follow the links.

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

McGrath in the footsteps of John the Baptist (3)

RELIGION PROF: In the Footsteps of John the Baptist Part 3: Aenon near Salim.

James McGrath continues his travelogue of sites in the Holy Land connected to John the Baptist.

I have noted the first and second installments at the links.

For more on Jerusalem as "Salem," see here. I have a brief mention of the Tel Rehov (Rahov, Rehob) inscription here.

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

On the "Israel Forgery Scandal"

TIMES OF ISRAEL VIDEO: Into the Land: The Forgery Scandal. Two extraordinary archeological finds remain a great mystery.

Does a private individual hold two of the most important archaeological items ever discovered in Israel? In 2002, antiquities collector Oded Golan was accused of forging two items of the highest importance: the ossuary of James, brother of Jesus, and the Jehoash Inscription — the only physical proof of Solomon’s Temple. Twenty years later, after repeated expert examination, it’s still unclear if these items are authentic or at least partially falsified.

In this second episode of The Times of Israel’s new, original “Into the Land” docuseries, we explore the international controversy behind these alleged archaeological forgeries — and the uncertainty and interests that appear inherent to historical verification.

For PaleoJudaica posts on the Israel Forgery Trial, follow the links from here. For posts on the Jehoash (Joash) inscription and the James Ossuary inscription, start here and follow the respective links.

For the recently renewed debate over the authenticity of the Shapira Scroll fragments, start here and follow the links.

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

Name that biblical character!

WHO COULD IT BE? The Most Important Biblical Character You’ve Probably Never Heard of. One of the most influential people in the Bible is only mentioned in four verses—and his story is more a missing person case than a biography (Candida Moss, The Daily Beast).

When Professor Moss says "you," she is not talking about you, my regular readers. From the headline hint, you have already figured out that she is talking about Enoch.

This is a very good article on the current state of research on the Enochic literature. But I have one point of disagreement.

The assumption in the article is that the stories about Enoch, the sons of God and the human women, and the Nephilim in Genesis 5-6 are primary and the stories in the book of 1 Enoch, especially the Book of the Watchers and The Parables (Similitudes) are secondary expansions of Genesis. That is possible. But I read the situation differently.

To me it looks as though Genesis knew the stories about Enoch, the mating of the fallen angels (Watchers) with mortal women, and the rise of the giants.

I assume the stories were in oral form at this point. Any early written versions are probably lost. That is, unless the Book of the Watchers and perhaps the Book of Giants are as early as Genesis or earlier. The Book of the Watchers is widely dated to the third century BCE, but that is really just a guess.

In any case, Genesis didn't like these stories. But the writer couldn't ignore them. They were too well known. So Genesis, holding its nose, told them briefly, obliquely, and allusively, then quickly moved onto other things.

Sometime after the writing of Genesis, other writers who liked the stories decided they merited longer treatment. That would be how we got the Book of the Watchers, the Book of Giants, and the Parables of Enoch.

I cannot prove any of this. But others who think that the Enochic literature is derivative of Genesis can't prove their position either. And I think my reading makes better sense of the oddly brief and oblique stories in Genesis.

There are many, many PaleoJudaica posts on the Enochic literature. Too many to try to link to. If you are interested, run the search term "Enoch" throught the blog search engine.

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

Was Khirbet Qeiyafa a "cultic compound?"

INTERPRETING ARCHAEOLOGY: New Theory for Khirbet Qeiyafa: Not King David’s City but a Vast Cultic Compound. No consensus was ever reached about the fortified hilltop site of Qeiyafa in central Israel, but now we have a whole new theory for everybody to argue about (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

A 3,000-year-old walled hilltop city in central Israel is the archaeological gift that keeps on giving. Is that a palace archaeologists found there and, if so, was it King David’s? Was this an Iron Age stronghold manned by bristling warriors – and if it was, whose warriors? Judahite, Israelite, Canaanite, Philistine, perchance? And why did its story end after a mere 20 or 30 years?

This article will bring you no answers, but does present a startling new theory. Prof. Emeritus David Ussishkin of Tel Aviv University, publishing in the Israel Exploration Journal, postulates that Iron Age Qeiyafa was not a walled city. It was a vast walled cultic compound.

[...]

I am not an archaeologist, so you should probably ignore what I think about this. But my personal rule of thumb is, if archaeologists refer to a site or artifact as "cultic" or "ritual" it means they haven't a clue what the thing is.

I think that principle holds up well here. But read the article and see what you think.

For PaleoJudaica posts on the Khirbet Qeiyafa excavations and the inscriptions, Iron Age public buildings, and miniature shrines found there, see here, here and here and follow the many links.

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

Richard A. Freund (1955-2022)

SAD NEWS: RICHARD FREUND OBITUARY (Legacy.com).

For nearly 40 years, Richard worked as a professor in Jewish history and archaeology, starting at Oberlin College and traveling to the University of Denver, the University of California-San Diego, the Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano, the University of Nebraska at Omaha, the University of Hartford, and finally ended his career at Christopher Newport University in Virginia. Through his time in academia, he mentored thousands of students and collaborated with countless other faculty members from across the country in pursuit of answers to some of our history's greatest questions.

At San Diego Jewish World, Prof. Laurie Baron also has an obituary for Prof. Freund: Jewish Studies Scholar Richard Freund (1955-2022). His Directory page at Christopher Newport University is here.

Some PaleoJudaica posts on Prof. Freund's sometimes controversial work are here, here, here, here, and here.

May his memory be for a blessing.

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

Balaam and the Calf in the Targums

DR. SHLOMI EFRATI: Balaam Sets His Face Towards the Calf—A Targum Tradition. (TheTorah.com).

Targum Onqelos usually offers a straightforward Aramaic rendering of the biblical verse. The Palestinian Targums (=Targum Yerushalmi), in contrast, offer more expansive, midrashic renderings of the verse. Numbers 24:1, in which Balaam looks to the wilderness, offers us a further glimpse into a world with multiple Targumic traditions.

The essay opens with a brief, useful introduction to the Targums in question.

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

McGrath in the footsteps of John the Baptist (2)

RELIGION PROF: In the Footsteps of John the Baptist Part 2: Yardenit, Tiberias, and Bet Alfa.

James McGrath continues his account of his travels to John the Baptist-related sites (etc.) on his visit to the Holy Land.

I noted part one here.

For more on the zodiac mosaics in those late-antique synagogues, see here and here and links.

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

Llewellyn-Jones, Persians: The Age of the Great Kings (Basic Books)

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: Persians: The Age of the Great Kings. Notice of a New Book: Llewellyn-Jones, Lloyd. 2022. Persians: The Age of the Great Kings. New York: Basic Books.

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

Another review of Keddie, Class and Power in Roman Palestine

THE CHURCH TIMES: Class and Power in Roman Palestine by Anthony Keddie. Henry Wansbrough reviews an economic study of Palestine.

A common picture is of vast estates in fertile Galilee, farmed by impoverished peasants to the huge profit of their absentee landlords. Is this really confirmed by archaeology?

I noted another review of the book here.

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

Brand, Religion and the Everyday Life of Manichaeans in Kellis (Brill open-access)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Religion and the Everyday Life of Manichaeans in Kellis

Beyond Light and Darkness

Series: Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies, Volume: 102

Author: Mattias Brand

Published in Open Access with the support of the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Religion is never simply there. In Religion and the Everyday Life of Manichaeans in Kellis, Mattias Brand shows where and when ordinary individuals and families in Egypt practiced a Manichaean way of life. Rather than portraying this ancient religion as a well-structured, totalizing community, the fourth-century papyri sketch a dynamic image of lived religious practice, with all the contradictions, fuzzy boundaries, and limitations of everyday life. Following these microhistorical insights, this book demonstrates how family life, gift-giving, death rituals, communal gatherings, and book writing are connected to our larger academic debates about religious change in late antiquity.

Copyright Year: 2022

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

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-51029-6
Publication date: 20 May 2022

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-50822-4
Publication date: 25 May 2022

Cross-file under Manichean Watch (Manichaean Watch) and Coptic Watch. For additional publications on the Manichean texts from Kellis, see here and here and links.

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