IAA raid seizes Medusa figurines & other artifacts

APPREHENDED: Hundreds of ancient artifacts seized from home in northern Israel. About 270 ancient artifacts were found in the search, including coins from different periods and figurines of Medusa (Jerusalem Post).

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

Another review of Star, Apocalypse and golden age

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Apocalypse and golden age: the end of the world in Greek and Roman thought.

Christopher Star, Apocalypse and golden age: the end of the world in Greek and Roman thought. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2021. Pp. 320. ISBN 9781421441634 $54.95.

Review by
Joseph Gerbasi, University of Toronto. joseph.gerbasi@utoronto.ca

... The aim of Christopher Star’s book is to show that there is an “underappreciated tradition” of apocalyptic thought among the pagans of Greco-Roman antiquity too (p. 5). The book’s ambition, being both interdisciplinary and indeed timely, is exciting and worthwhile. However, I do not think the book accomplishes all that it sets out to do. ...

I noted another review of the book here.

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Exhibition on the myth of Alexander the Great

AT THE BRITISH LIBRARY: How did Alexander become ‘the Great’? A new exhibition explores the making of a myth (Ursula Sims-Williams, Scroll.in). HT Rogue Classicism.

The exhibition, however, is not about history, but the first of its kind to explore 2,000 years of storytelling and mythmaking. With objects from 25 countries in 21 languages, it shows how one figure could serve so many purposes, creating shared narratives of universal appeal. The Alexander Romance, composed originally in Greek in the third century AD, was at the heart of this storytelling. But legends also found their way into epic poetry and drama, and more recently into novels, comics, films and video games. You will see examples of all of these in the exhibition.

It opens on 21 October.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on Alexander and his connection with ancient Jewish traditions, start here and follow the links. For posts on the Alexander Romance, see here and links.

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

Long, The Book of Enoch for Beginners

READING ACTS: The Book of Enoch for Beginners. Phil Long has a new book out:

The Book of Enoch for Beginners: A Guide to Expand Your Understanding of the Biblical World (Rockridge Press, 2022)

His blog post gives the details and a link to the Amazon page.

Cross-file under New Book.

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

Another coin from Elymais

APPREHENDED: Elymais, Seleucid and Parthian relics recovered by police (Tehran Times). HT Rogue Classicism.

The relics, which include an Elymais-era bronze coin and pieces of a marble vessel were seized from smugglers in Dezful of Khuzestan province, CHTN reported on Wednesday.

In addition, an ancient Roman gold coin attributed to Julius Caesar was recovered from the suspects by police forces in charge of protecting cultural heritage, the report said.

[...]

For more on the region of Elymais, and why PaleoJudaica is interested in it, see here. Cross-file under Numismatics.

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

Temple Mount sifters find stone vessel fragments

THE TEMPLE MOUNT SIFTING PROJECT BLOG: FIND AND FINDERS OF THE MONTH: ANDRÉ AND DANIELA LOPES FOUND A PIECE OF A STONE VESSEL. Two other sifters, at present unidentified, also found stone vessel fragments.

For more on ancient Jewish stone vessels, see here and links.

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More on the Gaza mosaic

MORE COVERAGE OF THE BYZANTINE-ERA MOSAIC FROM GAZA:

Work Continues on Byzantine Mosaic Discovered by Palestinian Farmer in Gaza (Yahoo/Storyful.).

The ministry of tourism and antiquities also said that along with the mosaics, the discovery included evidence of the ancient walls, pottery, and glass bottles.

With a video showing good views of the mosaic. Plus disquieting scenes of what appear to be lots of separate mosaic stones being put into receptacles. Does that imply that part of the mosaic was damaged? The next article seems to indicate not.

Photos: Byzantine mosaics discovered under Gaza farm. The mosaics, latest in a series of Byzantine archaeological finds in Gaza, are “in a perfect state of conservation” (Al Jazeera).

Background here.

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

Review of Flower, Empire and religion in the Roman world

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Empire and religion in the Roman world.

Harriet I. Flower, Empire and religion in the Roman world. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2021. Pp. xiii, 277. ISBN 9781108831925 $99.99.

Review by
David Woods, University College Cork. d.woods@ucc.ie

This article is notable for PaleoJudaica's interests:

Contingency and Context: The Origins of the Jewish War against Rome (Erich S. Gruen)

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

Ancient Babylon

THE WORLD IS FULL OF HISTORY: Ancient Babylon, the iconic Mesopotamian city that survived for 2,000 years. Babylon is known for Hammurabi's laws and its hanging gardens (Owen Jarus, Live Science).

Ancient Babylon was an influential city that served as a center of Mesopotamian civilization for nearly two millennia, from roughly 2000 B.C. to 540 B.C. It was located near the Euphrates River, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of Baghdad in what is now Iraq.

Babylon had a significant impact on Mesopotamia. One of its early rulers, Hammurabi, created a harsh system of laws, while in later times, the Babylonian language was used across the Middle East as a way of communicating across borders. The law code, while not the oldest in the Middle East, is one of the most famous. The city is also famous for the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (if the ancient stories are true), a wonder of the ancient world that some people believe was built by the biblical king Nebuchadnezzar II.

[...]

This is a long, informative article. It surveys the entire history of the city of Babylon from antiquity to the present.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on Babylon see the links collected here, plus here and here. For the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which, if they existed at all, may not have been at Babylon, see here and links. See the latter link, and follow the links, for what I like to call the Greek Fantasy Babylon tradition. For the parallel Aramaic Fantasy Babylon tradition, especially in relation to the Book of Daniel, see here and here.

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

Rosh HaShanah 2022

HAPPY NEW YEAR (ROSH HASHANAH - Jewish New Year 5783) to all those celebrating. The New Year begins tonight at sundown.

Last year's Rosh HaShanah post, with links, is here. A more recent post is here. For biblical background, see here.

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

Treasures in vessels of clay?

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Treasures in Clay Jars (Mark Wilson).

The ubiquity of hoards in antiquity, both in time and region, suggests that the phenomenon was so well known that Paul could reasonably use it as an analogy. However, these treasures—the coin hoards mentioned in 2 Corinthians 4:7—were never placed in clay lamps but rather in clay jars.

Cross-file under Numismatics and Metaphor.

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

Review of Ran Zadok Festschrift

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Individuals and institutions in the ancient Near East: a tribute to Ran Zadok.

Uri Gabbay, Shai Gordin, Individuals and institutions in the ancient Near East: a tribute to Ran Zadok. Studies in ancient Near Eastern records, 27. Boston; Berlin: De Gruyter, 2021. Pp. xxii, 294. ISBN 9781501520525 $124.99.

Review by
Michaela Weszeli, Universität Wien. michaela.weszeli@univie.ac.at

This small volume is dedicated to a scientist who has a name in Ancient Near Eastern, Iranian and Jewish studies. His specialty is onomastics (personal, geographic, tribal names), ethnolinguistics and lexical studies of single words, as his extensive list of publications (p. xiii-xxii) shows. His studies concern, i.a., Old Iranian Anthroponyms as well as ancient survivals in modern Palestinian Toponymy, Jewish Onomastics, as well as historical and linguistic studies in the wide region of the Ancient Near East.

[...]

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

Ishoʿdad of Merv: Commentary on Daniel (ed. Schmidt; Gorgias)

NEW BOOK FROM GORGIAS PRESS:

ISHO‛DAD OF MERV
Commentary on Daniel

By T. C. Schmidt

Ishoʿdad of Merv’s (fl. 850 AD) Commentary on Daniel provides an important witness to East Syriac exegetical technique. In it Ishoʿdad typically emphasizes an historical reading of the Old Testament above any kind of allegorical, spiritual, or even Christological interpretation. Most notable is Ishoʿdad’s belief that the Maccabees fulfilled several of the visions described in the book of Daniel, even including the Heavenly Kingdom of Daniel chapters 2, 7, and 8, and the physical resurrection of Daniel 12. These interpretations dramatically depart from most eastern and western commentators who considered Daniel’s visions to portend the rise of the Roman Empire and the advent of Christ. Ishoʿdad’s commentary is translated here into English for the first time.

Availability: In stock
SKU (ISBN): 978-1-4632-4278-7
Formats: Paperback, eBook

Publication Status: In Print
Series: Texts from Christian Late Antiquity 62
Publication Date: Aug 23,2022
Interior Color: Black
Trim Size: 7 x 10
Page Count: 106
Languages: English, Syriac
ISBN: 978-1-4632-4278-7

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

Review of Matt, Becoming Elijah

BOOK REVIEW: Becoming Elijah: Prophet of transformation by Daniel C. Matt. Anthony Phillips reads about Elijah and how he has been revered (Church Times).

It is the elusiveness of Elijah which Matt seeks to explore, as he uncovers “the various portrayals of the immortal prophet”; for, whoever Elijah was in real life, he is still active.

I noted the publication of the book here.

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

SBL Seminar Papers volumes now online

THE AWOL BLOG: Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting Seminar Papers.

The first link in the AWOL post is (at present) incorrect. It should go here.

This Emory University archive contains the full text of all the SBL Seminar Papers volumes from 1971 to 2003. Note that they are still copyrighted.

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

Lieu on "The Parting of the Ways"

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: "The Parting of the Ways": Reflections on the Journey (Judith M. Lieu).

A common thread through much of what precedes here is the dilemma regarding how we negotiate the largely inaccessible patterns of life and personal interaction “on the ground” together with the inevitable degree of abstraction and narrative projection — and hence the need for descriptive terms and even labels — with which the historian must labour. ...

This essay is the second in a series on Careers in Jewish-Christian Relations, on which see here.

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

Yale academic post: Judaism in 1st to 11th centuries CE

H-JUDAIC: FEATURED JOB: Assistant/Associate Professor, Judaism of 1st–11th Centuries, CE, Yale University.

Follow the link for details. Review of the applications commences on 24 October 2022.

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

Himmelfarb becomes professor emerita at Princeton

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: Sixteen faculty members transfer to emeritus status. Sixteen Princeton University faculty members were transferred to emeritus status earlier this year by the Board of Trustees. Transfers were effective July 1, 2022, except where noted.

Congratulations to all sixteen, but especially to Martha Himmelfarb.

Follow the link and scroll down for her entry.

Martha Himmelfarb is a leading scholar of ancient Judaism and early Christianity. A member of Princeton’s faculty for more than 40 years, she joined the University in 1978.

[...]

Her scholarly work has had a profound impact on the study of ancient Judaism and early Christianity, challenging and reorienting the long-standing paradigm that assumed the inevitability of Judaism and Christianity diverging into distinct religious traditions. Her research has pioneered new ways of understanding this ongoing relationship from the Second Temple period through the Middle Ages.

[...]

Related recent post here. Professor Himmelfarb has appeared many times in PaleoJudaica posts. See the archive.

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

AJR on "Careers in Jewish-Christian Relations"

ANCIENTJEW REVIEW has commenced a new series: Careers in Jewish-Christian Relations.

At the 2021 annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, two senior scholars (Adele Reinhartz and Judith Perkins) and two junior scholars (Deborah Forger and Krista Dalton) whose work relates to the study of early Jews and Christians convened to reflect upon their career trajectories.

One essay is published so far.

The Study of Early Jewish Christian Relations: Then and Now A personal reflection (Adele Reinhartz)

The growth in expertise, the move towards more complex and nuanced understandings of the history, text, and peoples of the ancient Mediterranean, the opening up of boundaries not only between early Christian and early Jewish studies but also with the field of classics, and the availability of new approaches and methods all bode well for the study of early Jewish Christian relations. The sky is the limit when it comes to the new questions that can be addressed, and the old questions that can be approached from new and exciting perspectives.

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

Canaanite opium obsequies?

ORGANIC REMAINS: Israeli archaeologists uncover earliest known use of opium in the ancient world. Traces of psychoactive drug found in pottery from Tel Yehud; with new forensic scientific protocols at sites in Israel, discovery may herald many exciting new ‘firsts’ (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel).

The opium residue was found in high-quality ceramic base-ring juglets that were imported from Cyprus and others used in a burial assemblage discovered at Tel Yehud, in a salvage excavation conducted by Israel Antiquities Authority dig director Eriola Jakoel in 2012-2017.

A number of Canaanite graves from the Late Bronze Age were discovered and the vessels removed for further residue analysis.

The opium traces were found in grave goods, which could imply some sort of funerary-ritual use. But we should be cautious about drawing too many inferences from this context. And to her credit, the lead researcher, Dr. Vanessa Linares, is cautious.

Ariel David's article on this story in Haaretz deserves a mention just for the title: Bong Age? Israeli Archaeologists Find Opium in Bronze Age Ceramics. Residue analysis of 3,300-year-old vessels from Canaanite tombs at Tel Yehud sheds light on ancient drug trade between Cyprus and the Levant.

There is archaeological evidence from Arad that ancient Israelites used a psychoactive substance (cannabis) in a ritual context. There is also evidence that the Philistines of three-thousand years ago used other psychoactive substances in their rituals.

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