Rediscovering Enoch? (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Rediscovering Enoch? The Antediluvian Past from the Fifteenth to Nineteenth Centuries

Series: Studia in Veteris Testamenti Pseudepigrapha, Volume: 27

Volume Editors: Ariel Hessayon , Annette Yoshiko Reed , and Gabriele Boccaccini

The books of Enoch are famed for having been “lost” in the Middle Ages but “rediscovered” by modern scholars. But was this really the case? This volume is the first to explore the reception of Enochic texts and traditions between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries. Bringing specialists in antiquity into conversation with specialists in early modernity, it reveals a much richer story with a more global scope. Contributors show how Enoch and the era before the Flood were newly reimagined, not just by scholars, but also by European artists and adventurers, Kabbalists, Sufis, Mormons, and Ethiopian and Slavonic Christians.

Prices from (excl. shipping): €147.00

Copyright Year: 2023
E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-53751-4
Publication date: 13 Feb 2023

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-52979-3
Publication date: 16 Feb 2023

Nothing on John Dee? I'm surprised. In the sixteenth century, Dee and his "scryer," Edward Kelley, showed some interest in the quotation of 1 Enoch in Jude 14-15. They also produced their own Enochian apocrypha.

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

Candle handle found on an amble

ARTIFACT: Israeli family discovers ancient Byzantine relic on Shabbat walk. According to a release from the Israel Antiquities Authority, the family noticed a small clay face in the ground, which appeared to be looking up at them (Jerusalem Post).

Researchers at the IAA examined the item and determined that it is the decorative handle of a candle holder from the 6th or 7th century CE.

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

The Phoenix and ancient Judaism

MYTHOLOGY: The surprising Jewish origins of the phoenix. Israeli expert delves into the history of the mythical bird, from the Hebrew Bible to classical Jewish sages and even Harry Potter (Shmuel Munitz, YNet News).

The legend of the phoenix appears in different cultures - from Greek mythology and ancient Egypt to modern fantasy stories. The legendary bird is made of fire and lives for centuries before it bursts into flames and is reborn from the ashes.

However, the mythical winged creature also makes several appearances in Jewish scripture and subsequent commentaries on the Hebrew Bible.

“In all mythologies, there is a concept of hope after loss and death. The possibility for Tikkun (amendment/fixing) exists in the phoenix itself – and it is very strong,” says Ayala Dekel, an author and a spiritual expert who serves as the head of the secular yeshiva The Jewish Movement for Social Change.

[...]

Despite the headline, the article itself (correctly) does not assert that the phoenix originated in Judaism. But the creature does make appearances in rabbinic literature and subsequent Jewish traditions.

For more on the phoenix in the Talmud, see here — alas with bad link, but still with substantive comment.

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

Esther scrolls returned to Turkey

BACK HOME: Turkey earthquake: Israel returns antique Jewish scrolls taken from Antakya. Israeli rescue mission says it was given the texts for safekeeping, but the issue has angered many (Middle East Eye).

However, the reaction on Turkish social media quickly became hostile, with discontent rumbling over the weekend despite the scrolls being returned on Friday. The removal of the texts tap into longstanding fears that historical items have previously been looted from the country in times of crisis, for instance during the Ottoman period.

The Turkish Chief Rabbinate Foundation quickly attempted to quell fears by addressing the issue on Twitter and assuring that the scrolls are in its possession.

"The relevant Esther scroll was received from Israel and is kept in our Chief Rabbinate. [The scroll] will return to its home in Antakya after the renovation of our synagogue," it tweeted on Friday.

Background here.

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

Author summary of Kiperwasser, Going West

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: "Going West" in Talmudic Literature | Publication Preview (Reuven Kiperwasser).

Kiperwasser, Reuven. Going West: Migrating Personae and Construction of the Self in Rabbinic Culture. Vol. 369. SBL Press, 2021.

... My book examines narratives of Late Antiquity in which rabbinic figures travel either westward from Babylonia to Palestine or eastward from Palestine to Babylonia. They encounter local rabbis, local laypeople, and the practices and customs of these new settings. My study is the first in-depth research of the social, cultural, and religious aspects of the encounters between Babylonians and their Palestinian brethren from narratives dating between the third- to sixth-centuries. ...

I noted the publication of the book here.

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

Shelby White's antiquities collection under investigation

MORE PROBLEM ARTIFACTS: American patron of Israeli archaeology becomes focus of New York’s antiquities trafficking unit. Shelby White has already relinquished two dozen items worth at least $20 million due to investigations (Asaf Elia-Shalev, JTA via Times of Israel).

JTA — The crusading New York prosecutor who has been exposing illicit trafficking in the antiquities market through a succession of high-profile raids has zeroed in on his next big target: the private collection of Shelby White, the widow of a Wall Street legend and philanthropist known for donating to Jewish museums in New York and to the Israeli government agency charged with policing the antiquities trade.

As a result of the ongoing investigation into looted artifacts by Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos, White has already relinquished at least two dozen items worth at least $20 million, according to reporting by New York magazine.

[...]

For more on Shelby White, see here and here and links. For more on Matthew Bogdanos, see here and here and links. And for the investigation of Michael Steinhardt's collection, see here and here.

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

Lasine, Divine Envy, Jealousy, and Vengefulness in Ancient Israel and Greece (Routledge)

NEW BOOK FROM ROUTLEDGE:

Divine Envy, Jealousy, and Vengefulness in Ancient Israel and Greece

By Stuart Lasine

Copyright Year 2023
Hardback
£120.00

eBook
£33.29

ISBN 9781032261799
Published November 11, 2022 by Routledge
214 Pages 1 B/W Illustrations

Book Description

This book is the first in-depth comparative analysis of envy, jealousy, and vengefulness experienced by divine personalities in the Hebrew Bible and ancient Greek texts and the functions served by attributing negative emotions and traits to one’s gods.

Readers are informed about the vigorous debates concerning the nature of emotion, a field with rapidly growing interest, including the specific emotions of envy, jealousy, and vengefulness. The book charts the complex, multi-faceted presentation of divine beings in the Hebrew Bible and ancient Greek literature, including their negative emotions. While the detailed readings of key biblical and Greek texts can stand on their own, Lasine’s comparative analyses allow readers to appreciate the uniqueness of each tradition. Finally, examining the functions served by envisioning one’s God or gods as jealous, envious, and vengeful offers readers a fresh perspective on biblical theology and the ways in which Greek poets and dramatists imagined the nature of their deities.

Divine Envy, Jealousy, and Vengefulness in Ancient Israel and Greece is intended for biblical, classical, and literary scholars, as well as the general reader interested in the Hebrew Bible and/or ancient Greek literature.

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

On the Diadochoi, the successors of Alexander the Great

THE WORLD IS FULL OF HISTORY: Who Are the Diadochi of Alexander the Great? (The Collector).

This is a good, brief article on the Diadochoi, the generals who succeeded Alexander after his death. Nice coin photos too.

Some of them are mentioned (glancingly or using secret code names) in the Bible in the Book of Daniel.

Ptolemy I is "the king of the south" (a title reused later in the chapter for other Ptolemids) and Seleucus I is "one of his princes" in Daniel 11:5. Verse 4 also says more generally that Alexander's kingdom will be "broken up and divided toward the four winds of heaven" to others besided his posterity. This apparently refers to Ptolemy I, Seleucis I, Cassander, and Lysymachus. Cf. Daniel 8:8, 22 and, more generally 1 Maccabees 1:8-9.

I am unaware of any biblical references to Antigonus I.

For more on the Ptolemaic dynasty, including biblical references and the coins of the rulers, see here and links. For more on Seleucus I Nicator, see here and links. For more on the Seleucid dynasty and their coins, see here and links.

What appears to be a lost history of the Diadochoi has recently been partially recovered in a carbonized scroll from Herculaneum.

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

Review of Jim, Saviour gods and soteria in ancient Greece

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Saviour gods and soteria in ancient Greece.

Theodora Suk Fong Jim, Saviour gods and soteria in ancient Greece. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022. Pp. xii, 319. ISBN 9780192894113

Review by
Tony Keddie, The University of Texas at Austin. tony.keddie@austin.utexas.edu

[...]

This book is in many ways a groundbreaking investigation of a significant religious concept. It should be widely read by scholars of religion in the ancient Mediterranean. Unfortunately, its reduction of “Christian monotheism” to an orientation toward otherworldly soteria is a well-intentioned strawman that nonetheless reproduces a longstanding metanarrative of Christian exceptionalism. Researchers building on this study would do well to recast Jim’s division between this-worldly “protection” and other-worldly “salvation” along the lines of the fluidity Jim has so effectively illustrated elsewhere.

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

Oldest Hebrew Bible up for auction

BY SOTHEBY'S: World's oldest Hebrew Bible could fetch up to $50 million at auction. If the 1,000-year-old holy book sells for near its estimated value, the Codex Sassoon would become the most valuable printed text or historical document ever sold at auction (Reuters via Jerusalem Post).

The world's oldest and most complete Hebrew Bible will go on display in London next week before an auction in May where it could sell for up to $50 million, Sotheby's said on Wednesday.

If the 1,000-year-old holy book sells for near its estimated value, the Codex Sassoon would become the most valuable printed text or historical document ever sold at auction, Sotheby's said.

[...]

Good. Then I hope the new owner donates it to a museum in Israel.

Nadia Khomami has additional details in the Guardian: Oldest complete Hebrew Bible expected to break auction records. Ninth-century Codex Sassoon, critical link between Dead Sea scrolls and today’s Bible, will have estimate of $30m-$50m.

Cross-file under It Belongs In A Museum.

UPDATE (3 March): For more on the Sassoon family and their antiquarian collections, see here.

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

Coins and the date Judaism emerged

NUMISMATICS: Coins Provide Key Evidence in Historic Origins of Judaism (David Hendin, American Numismatic Society via CoinWeek).

The bulk of this article summarizes Professor Yonatan Adler's case for the late origin of Torah-observant Judaism. See also here and here. But keep reading and it does get to the coin evidence in some detail.

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

Old Esther scrolls recovered in Turkey

NOW SAFE: Ancient Book of Esther scrolls survive Turkey earthquake, brought to Israel. Local elder salvages centuries-old documents from rubble of collapsed Antakya synagogue and hands them to Israeli rescuers; 'this is one of the most moving moments of my life,' says rescue mission chief (Korin Elbaz Alush, YNet News).

As Israeli rescue teams were rummaging through the rubble in the Turkish city of Antakya after last week's devastating earthquake in hopes of finding survivors trapped underneath, a local elderly Jewish man approached them holding something unique in his hands — two centuries-old Book of Esther scrolls that were kept in the local synagogue before the shock.

[...]

Unlike many of the manuscript "discoveries" that have been coming out of Turkey, this looks real. From the photos, they do look like Esther scrolls and they do look old, perhaps centuries old.

They aren't exactly ancient, but right now we'll take any good news coming from Turkey.

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

Rocca, In the Shadow of the Caesars (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

In the Shadow of the Caesars: Jewish Life in Roman Italy

Series: The Brill Reference Library of Judaism, Volume: 74

Author: Samuele Rocca

The main contribution of this book is that it tries to determine how the Jews answered the challenges of Roman society. Thus, the book presents a refreshing approach to the nature of the Roman attitude toward Judaism and the Jews. In addition, it provides the first detailed examination of the demography and geography of the Jewish communities in Roman Italy. The book also offers a new look at the legal standing of the Jewish communitarian organization. Last but not least, this study also addresses the various facets of the culture of the Jews living in Roman Italy.

Prices from (excl. shipping): €145.00

Copyright Year: 2023
E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-52562-7 Publication date: 19 Sep 2022

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-51704-2
Publication date: 08 Sep 2022

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

"Legends of Destruction" film dubbed in English

CINEMA: Award-winning animated feature about Second Temple destruction now in English. Gidi Dar says ‘Legend of Destruction’ film is ‘warning sign to Israelis’ at a time of renewed national discord (Jessica Steinberg, Times of Israel).

Director Gidi Dar’s award-winning film “Legend of Destruction” about the Jewish revolt against Rome in 70 CE has been dubbed into English, with voices by Oscar Isaac, Evangeline Lilly, Elliot Gould, Billy Zane and others.

The 2021 film, made entirely of still drawings, was written by Dar and actor Shuli Rand, and drawn by Michael Faust and David Polonsky of the Oscar-nominated, Golden Globe-winning 2008 animated film, “Waltz with Bashir.”

[...]

I noted the release of the film here.

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

Did curse tablets influence the Book of Revelation?

IMPRECATORY APOCALYPSE? New Testament's Book of Revelation Was Influenced by Curse Tablets, Scholar Deduces. The style of John’s Revelation, the apocalyptic final book of the New Testament, smacks of formally cursing one’s enemies in true Middle Eastern tradition, proposes scholar at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

John’s Revelation includes wording and phrases that smack of curse tablets such as: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again.” (Revelation 18:21)

This is the stuff of curse-ritual material, Hölscher feels (albeit talking about the fallen Babylon, not the neighbor), and the text goes on: “The music of harpists and musicians, flute players and trumpeters, will never be heard in you again” – (Revelation 18:22) and it goes on and on and on.

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

Lead sarcophagus excavated in Gaza

ARCHAEOLOGY: Roman-era sarcophagus uncovered in Gaza. 90 individual and mass graves have been found at the site (Reuters via Jerusalem Post).

A Roman-era sarcophagus, likely to have belonged to a prominent individual, was uncovered at the site of a 2,000-year-old Roman cemetery discovered last year in the northern Gaza Strip, the territory's antiquities ministry said on Tuesday.

[...]

For more on the Roman-era cemetery found last year in Gaza, see here and here.

Another, evidently smaller, cemetery from the same period was found in a Gaza resident's back yard in 2018.

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

Were the Ten Commandments an afterthought?

DR. CYNTHIA EDENBURG: The Origins of the Decalogue (TheTorah.com).

The Decalogue was not originally part of the Sinai theophany but was added later, both in Exodus and Deuteronomy. Its origins lie in wisdom literature.

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

Saqqara still holds secrets

WHAT I SAID: Egypt’s pharaonic treasure trove of Saqqara still holds secrets waiting to be unlocked (NADA SHAKER, Arab News).

For background and implications, see here and here links.

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

A 50-year career retrospective by Leen Ritmeyer

LEEN RITMEYER: 50 years of visualising the Bible.

So – if this turning of the year makes you feel like hearing the story of Ritmeyer Archaeological Design, gather round and I will try my best to tell it. And for those of you who on occasion have asked: “How can we learn to do what you do?”, you may pick up some hints or feel that you have had your fill already.

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

A Nietzschean Avestan manifesto

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: Towards a Manifesto for Middle Iranian Philology. A programmatic essay by Arash Zeni.

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