This reprint of an article in Ami Magazine gives a brief introduction to Israeli excavations of ancient synagogues.
PaleoJudaica has posts on most of those mentioned. Start at the links and keep going from there: Zodiac synagogue mosaics at Beit Alfa and elsewhere, Masada, Magdala Synagogues and Stone, Hamat Tiberias (Hamat Teveryah), Katzrin, Huqoq, and Umm el-Kanatir.
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Debates over the Queen of Sheba have roiled for centuries. Was she a human or a djinn? A wise woman or a temptress? And — given the lack of archaeological evidence — was she a real historical figure, or a figment of multiple imaginations?For many PaleoJudaica posts about and involving the Queen of Sheba, start here and just keep following those links. For more on the Kebra Negast, see here. For more on the Queen's hairy legs, see here.
To update the filmography, Amazon's 2022 movie, Three Thousand Years of Longing, with Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba, includes a hairy-legged Queen of Sheba as a character.
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A New Assemblage of ‘Private’ Stamped Jar Handles from the Mordot Arnona Excavations, Jerusalem (pp. 1–22)For more on LMLK jar handles and seal impressions, see here and links.Neria Sapir, Nathan Ben-Ari, Ido Koch and Oded Lipschits
Keywords: Jerusalem, Judah, Iron Age II, administration, lmlk stamped impressions, ‘private’ stamp impressions, Sennacherib’s campaign
The site of Mordot Arnona is located c. 750 m northeast of Ramat Raḥel, on the eastern outskirts of the Arnona neighborhood of Jerusalem. Recent salvage excavations at the site showed that in the late eighth and the first half of the seventh century BCE, Mordot Arnona held great significance in the physical and political landscape of the area south of Jerusalem, serving as an administrative center, as evidenced by its monumental structures and the dozens of stamped jar handles. In this paper we present for the first time a rare corpus of 17 jar handles bearing ‘private’ stamp impressions, one of the largest exposed in excavations in the region of Judah, alongside 124 lmlk stamped jar handles and 33 handles incised with concentric circles. Furthermore, we discuss their role, function and significance in Judah’s administration system on the eve of Sennacherib’s campaign.
From Nasas to Semakhyahu: Two New Engraved Inscriptions from Iron Age Moẓa (pp. 23–31)For more on the archaeology of the site of Tel Moza (Tel Motza, Tel Moẓa, Tel Moẓah), start here and follow the links.Marion Sindel and Haggai Misgav
Keywords: Kingdom of Judah, cult, potters, economy, epigraphy, Hebrew script
Two inscriptions recently found on jar fragments at Tel Moẓa help clarify the reading of two previously uncovered inscriptions at the site. The four ancient Hebrew inscriptions, all inscribed on jars before firing, render a unique formula, where both the sender and recipient are mentioned, representing a new, heretofore unattested category of ownership inscriptions. Drawing both on the stratigraphic and epigraphic evidence, all four inscriptions can be placed in the seventh century BCE, a time when Tel Moẓa appears to have been an important economic and administrative center, as well as a cultic one.
Evidence of an Edomite Hebrew Scribal Cooperation from Tel Malḥata: One Ostracon–Two Scripts–Three Scribes? (pp. 33–43)For many PaleoJudaica posts on Maresha and the more recent epigraphic discoveries there, see here and links. Cross-file under Phoenician Watch.Stefan Jakob Wimmer
Keywords: Iron Age, Edomite, Hebrew, scribal dialect, epigraphy, Northwest Semitic alphabet, ostraca, numerical systems
Among the epigraphic finds that Itzhaq Beit-Arieh published from Tel Malḥata, Inscription No. 4, the focus of this paper, is unique among the Iron Age ostraca, as it is written in both the Edomite and Hebrew languages. The context of the inscription is clear: a registration of amounts of one or more unknown commodities, with certain amounts described as ‘diminished.’ This paper offers a reassessment of Beit-Arie’s interpretation of the inscription, suggesting that it testifies to interaction and cooperation among several scribes adhering to different scribal dialects. It further discusses the broader implications of the inscription for the research of early Edomite writing.
An Aramaic-Inscribed Cultic Object from Tulûl Mas‘ud, Elyakhin (pp. 45–64)
Rafael Y. Lewis, Nir Finkelstein, Rona S. Avissar Lewis, Esther Eshel, Yuval Baruch, Yonah Maor, Tsadok Tsach and Oren Tal
Keywords: Persian, Hellenistic, cult, epigraphy, Phoenician, ethnicity, copper alloy, metal workshop
A copper-alloy object bearing an incised Aramaic inscription in lapidary script was found on the surface, about halfway up the hill of Tulûl Mas‘ud, in the Sharon plain. The object was recently studied by a multidisciplinary research group of specialists in archaeology, epigraphy, forensic science and analytical archaeology to better understand the artifact in its original cultural and spatial setting. The results attest that the object was probably connected with a nearby Persian-period sanctuary.
Sidonians at Marisa (Maresha) (pp. 65–81)
Dalit Regev
Keywords: Shephelah, Phoenician, Sidonians, ethnicity
One of the most important epigraphical finds of ancient Idumea, which has led scholars to believe that a Sidonian/Phoenician community was present in Marisa during the Hellenistic period (fourth–second centuries BCE), is the well-known inscription uncovered at the site in 1905, reading “Apollophanes son of Sesmaios, Chief of the Sidonians at Marisa.” This inscription was discovered in a large, lavishly painted tomb in the city’s necropolis, allegedly supporting a presence of a Sidonian/Phoenician community in Marisa. Following a comprehensive examination of the material culture from Marisa vis-à-vis that of other Phoenician sites, this commonly-held assumption is put to question. Phoenician pottery, very common in Phoenician cities of the Hellenistic period, such as ‘Akko and Ashqelon, is absent from Marisa, and the Greek onomasticon of Hellenistic Marisa also lacks Phoenician names and includes mainly Idumean and Greek names common in the East. Also, the numismatic evidence from Marisa does not seem to support a Sidonian presence. In this paper I argue that the term ‘Sidonians’ in the Hellenistic context at Marisa implies an instrumental context rather than an ethnic one.
A Nabataean Inscription near ‘Avedat (pp. 121–127)Cross-file under Nabatean (Nabataean) Watch. For some PaleoJudaica posts involving the Nabatean site of ‘Avedat (Avdat, Ovdat), see here and links, here, and here.Ohad Abudraham and Alexander Wiegmann
Keywords: Nabataean, epigraphy, blessing, graffiti, ‘Avedat, personal names, onomasticon
The corpus of surviving Nabataean inscriptions consists of thousands of graffiti written on rock faces and bedrock from Arabia, Jordan, Syria and Egypt, while a few such inscriptions are known from the Negev. The Nabataean inscription presented here was incised in the dark-brown patina of a limestone bedrock outcrop near ‘Avedat, a region dotted with many petroglyphs and inscriptions. The inscription is written in a typical Nabataean signature-type formula, comprising the name of the author preceded by a blessing and ending with the general greeting of well-being. The isolated location of the inscription should probably be connected with the historic Nabataean trade route between Petra and Gaza.
A Boundary Stone from Kafr Nafaḥ and the Preservation of Ancient Place Names in the Northern and Central Golan Heights (pp. 149–158)I noted the discovery of this boundary stone in 2020 here.Danny Syon and Chaim Ben David
Keywords: Golan, boundary stone, Greek, epigraphy, toponomy, private nouns, Via Maris, Kafr Nafaḥ, Roman period, Byzantine period
A Roman imperial boundary stone, erected under Diocletian in c. 300 CE, was reused as a covering stone of a fourth-century CE grave. It bears the Greek names of the villages Ramathana and Kapharnapha, identified as the late Ottoman villages Ramtaniyye and Kafr Nafaḥ. This is the first instance where ancient names were preserved by the modern ones in the central Golan Heights, overturning previous assumptions in this regard. Archaeological evidence from both sites confirms their existence in the Roman and Byzantine periods. It seems that the preservation of the name of Kafr Nafaḥ is due to its location along an important road. Although the original location of the stone remains unknown, its findspot suggests that the boundary between the two villages was near Kafr Nafaḥ.
Two Greek Inscriptions on Mosaics from the Theater at Shuni (pp. 159–172)I have already noted the article "Not a 'Signet Ring' of Pontius Pilatus," by Werner Eck and Avner Ecker, here.Leah Di Segni
Keywords: Greek epigraphy, epigram, literary puns, metrics, titulature of governors, First Palestine
Two Greek inscriptions, set in a mosaic pavement in the pool adjoining the eastern side of the theater of Shuni, celebrate the foundation of this structure by the otherwise unknown governor of First Palestine Flavius Marcianus Antipater, whose term of office can be dated by his titulature to the second half of the fifth or the early sixth century CE. One of the inscriptions, though fragmentary, can be recognized as an epigram. Both inscriptions exhibit a high level of sophistication, fitting the site where they were found, the location of a renowned Maiumas festival known for its cultural refinement.
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The inscription, found on a small stone tablet engraved with letters and numbers, is believed to be a receipt or payment instruction related to commercial transactions during the Second Temple period. It was discovered in an area known for its bustling commercial activity. The find was recently published in Atiqot, a peer-reviewed archaeological journal.The object was found in debris in a salvage excavation, so it was not recovered in situ exactly. But I see no reason to doubt it is genuine. For one thing, a forger would have come up with something more exciting.
A receipt written on a rock seems straight out of the Flintstones. But there you have it.
As indicated, the underlying article is in the current issue of ‘Atiqot, an open-access journal published by the IAA. You can download the article as a pdf file.
‘Atiqot 110 (2023) EISSN 2948-040XThe current issue of ‘Atiqot has some other article on new epigraphic finds and analyses. But I will save those for the next post.
The Ancient Written Wor(l)dEsther Eshel and Nahshon Szanton
Keywords: Jerusalem, Second Temple period, Hebrew, Aramaic, epigraphy, Jewish, ossuary, payment
A stone fragment bearing a Hebrew or Aramaic inscription was discovered in the debris piled up along the Early Roman period Stepped Street in the Tyropoeon Valley, on the west slope of the City of David hill. The inscription preserves part of a list mentioning proper names and sums of money. Similar lists are known from the Second Temple period, commonly interpreted as payment received or rendered from individuals. This is the first inscription to be found inside the city. It is unclear whether the inscription was connected to the ossuary on which it was inscribed, perhaps by the ossuary craftsman?
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The event takes place online and here at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, on 5-6 June 2023. Follow the link for the schedule and (free, but required) registration information.
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The main takeaway of the ToI article is the response of two specialists who were willing to go on record. Christopher Rollston's reaction was very close to mine:
“The published images reveal some striations in the lead and some indentations (lead is, of course, quite soft and so such things are understandable), but there are no actual discernible letters,” Prof. Christopher Rollston, an expert in Northwest Semitic languages and the chair of the department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at George Washington University, wrote in an email. “This article is basically a text-book case of the Rorschach Test, and the authors of this article have projected upon a piece of lead the things they want it to say.” ...On his e-mail list, Joseph Lauer points to a Facebook exchange between Lawson Stone (whom I don't know) and Peter van der Veen, one of the authors of the Heritage Science article. Stone raises a number of good points, including the same orthographic concern I raised and more. Joe also notes that Peter van der Veen has further interactions and comments on his Facebook page.“I don’t accept all the interpretations that were suggested in the article, and I plan to publish a different opinion in an academic journal,” said Bar Ilan University Prof. Aren Maeir, declining to elaborate further. Meir published the open letter criticizing the announcement of findings in the media prior to academic review on his blog last December.
The Jerusalem Post has an article on the story too, but it just repeats the claims of the Heritage Science article without critical analysis: Ancient tablet found on Mount Ebal predates known Hebrew inscriptions. ‘You are cursed by the God’: Israeli-European team of scientists performed X-ray tomographic measurements with different scanning parameters to reveal the hidden text (Judy Siegel-Itzkovich).
My view? It is possible that there are some letters on the "Inner B" surface of the interior of the object. I'm not sure there are, but I would not rule it out entirely.
As for the overall readings proposed in the article, the problems with the spelling (orthography) of the word "curse" (ארור), which I noted, as well as of Yahu (יהו) and "you" (אתה), which Stone adds, raise serious difficulty with the decipherment. Internal and final vowel letters in Northwest Semitic inscriptions are not used until long after the date assigned to this supposed inscription. (The few Ugaritic examples of internal vowel letters proposed in connection with n. 29 do not correspond to normal Ugaritic orthography and have plausible other interpretations.)
I am not persuaded by the case presented in the article for the reading of the inscription as a whole, if there is an inscription.
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The story is also covered by JNS with additional photos: Swimmer finds 1,800-year-old marble artifacts near Netanya. The Roman-era ship sank in a storm along with architectural elements likely intended for a temple or theater.
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Michael Philip Penn, Scott Fitzgerald Johnson, Christine Shepardson, Charles M. Stang, Invitation to Syriac Christianity: an anthology. Oakland: University of California Press, 2022. Pp. xxi, 431. ISBN 9780520299191Review by
Walter Beers, University of Haifa. wbeers@campus.haifa.ac.il... The volume is organized in four parts (“Foundations,” “Practices,” “Texts and Textual Transmission” and “Interreligious Encounters”), each divided into three chapters focused on important themes or generic clusters (“Origin Stories,” “Poetry,” “Doctrine and Disputation”; “Liturgy,” “Asceticism,” “Mysticism and Prayer”; “Biblical Interpretation,” “Hagiography,” “Books, Knowledge, and Translation”; “Judaism,” “Islam,” “Religions of the Silk Road”). Under these headings, the editors provide a diverse set of selections representative of the spectrum of surviving Syriac-language material from its origins in the early centuries of the common era through the “Syriac Renaissance” (12th-early 14th cen.). ...
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Britain’s Sephardi leader Rabbi Joseph Dweck has revealed he chatted to the Archbishop of the Syrian Orthodox Church in Aramaic — the language spoken by Jesus — as they were waiting for the coronation to begin.You never know when your Aramaic will come in handy.
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This essay is a re-run, which I linked to a few years ago, but it's worth mentioning again. For more on the Larsa tablet, see here and here.
You will recall the fake dated inscription of Darius I. This museum has a real one.
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(JNS) A lead tablet found at a site where it is believed the Israelite leader Joshua built an altar, contains the oldest Hebrew text ever found in the Land of Israel as well as the name of God, an academic article published Friday concludes.This popular article will give you the background from the last year or so.[...]
The academic article has been published in a journal called Heritage Science, which I have not heard of before. It is an open-access, peer-review journal with publications paid for by author subvention (which is not unusual for open-access publishing). Its focus is material science in relation to cultural artifacts (my paraphrase). The article:
“You are Cursed by the God YHW:” an early Hebrew inscription from Mt. Ebal (Scott Stripling, Gershon Galil, Ivana Kumpova, Jaroslav Valach, Pieter Gert van der Veen & Daniel Vavrik, Heritage Science volume 11, Article number: 105 [2023])The main area of interest is the supposedly-inscribed inner surface, "Inner B." Due to deformations in the shape of the object, it was not possible to produce a single image of that surface. Instead, the researchers took scans of 46 "planar tomographic slices" of it. There are thus images of many individual supposed letters and a drawing of the whole surface.Abstract
In December 2019, an expedition on Mt. Ebal to examine the discarded material from Adam Zertal’s 1982–1989 excavation yielded a small, folded lead tablet. The east dump pile, from which the object emerged, contained the discarded matrix from two structures that he interpreted as altars dated to the Late Bronze Age II and Iron Age I. The earlier and smaller round altar lay underneath the geometric center of the later and larger rectangular altar. The tablet could not be opened without damaging it. A team of scientists performed X-ray tomographic measurements with different scanning parameters. The tomographically reconstructed data were subjected to advanced processing to reveal the hidden text. Epigraphic analysis of the tomographic data revealed a formulaic curse written in a proto-alphabetic script likely dating to Late Bronze Age II. The inscription falls within the literary genre of Chiastic Parallelism and predates any previously known Hebrew inscription in Israel by at least 200 years.
When I look at the photos, I sometimes think I can see the "letters," sometimes not. In the best-case scenario, the bits add up to a reconstructed inscription. In the worst case, natural irregularities in the surface are providing a Rorschach test of the epigraphic imagination of the observer. In other words, there are no letters. I honestly don't know which or where in between.
It seems like it would help to see the 46 slices assembled into a single image, but I don't know how possible that is. But looking at individual letter images and trying to place them on the drawing makes it hard to judge whether there is a real inscription there. It doesn't help that the lines of the supposed inscription go right to left, left to right, up to down, down to up, and "boustrophedon" (back and forth in alternate lines, "ox plow" direction).
One point that bothers me a lot is the spelling of "cursed," ארור, = 'rwr = (vocalized) 'arȗr. The spelling I would expect in this period is ארר, 'rr. The vav/w should not be there. Internal long vowels were not spelled out in the Canaanite languages until many centuries later. They appear late in the First Temple period sporadically and only become normal after the Babylonian Exile. I think they may appear earlier in Aramaic, but not that much earlier. I don't think the article addresses this problem adequately.
Anyway, that's my first impression as a rusty epigrapher who is not an expert in the script period in question. I am keeping an open mind at present. I look forward to hearing the judgment of experts like Christopher Rollston.
Meanwhile, I congratulate the authors for getting the first peer-review publication out. Now the conversation can start.
For PaleoJudaica posts on the Mount Ebal tablet, start here and follow the links.
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Hannah M. Cotton, Ofer Pogorelsky, Roman rule and Jewish life: collected papers. Studia Judaica, 89. Berlin; Boston: De Gruyter, 2022. Pp. xxxii, 607. ISBN 9783110191448I noted the publication of the book here.Review by
Shoni Lavie-Driver, Jesus College, Cambridge. sbl31@cam.ac.uk... Overall, this book contains something to appeal to scholars of many different interests—the relationship everyday subjects of the Roman Empire had to the imperial system and its treatment of them; the relationship between culture, language and empire; the legal and administrative functioning of the empire; the evolution of Jewish law; and the history of Roman Judaea and Nabataea-Arabia specifically. None of the papers have been superseded, but some have arguably received less attention than is due. ...
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The debate over how, if at all, scholars should handle unprovenanced artifacts is not going away. There are signs that it is just getting going.
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(May 9, 2023 / JNS) The Israeli Cabinet approved a nearly $9 million budget on Sunday for the restoration and development of Sebastia, a major archaeological site that served as the capital of the Kingdom of Israel nearly three millennia ago.[...]
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Two visitors and two security guards were killed in a shooting near the ancient El Ghriba Synagogue (also known as the Djerba Synagogue,) in the city of Djerba in Tunisia on Tuesday. It is as of yet unclear if the visitors were worshipers taking part in a pilgrimage at the synagogue.Reports are still coming in. They currently conflict on how many people were killed and wounded. The most recent information I can find:[...]
At least three killed in attack near synagogue in Tunisia (By Eyad Kourdi and Hande Atay Alam, CNN)
Tunisia: Five people shot dead near synagogue. Israel said one of the two civilians killed in the attack near Ghriba synagogue held Israeli citizenship (Middle East Eye)
The reports agree that the shooter (who was killed by police) was a naval installation security guard.
There have been longstanding concerns about terrorism in Tunisia, including at Djerba in connection with Lag B'Omer. That seems likely here, but it's too early to be sure yet what happened.
For the Ghriba Synagogue at Djerba and the annual pilgrimage associated with it, see here and links.
UPDATE (11 May): More information here:
Djerba Tunisia: Worshippers killed near Africa's oldest synagogue (BBC News)
Tunisia’s Jewish pilgrimage and Tuesday’s shooting, explained (Ben Sales, JTA)
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My 2022 Lag B'Omer post is here with links.
For the biblical and rabbinic background of the holiday, see here and here.
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Radiocarbon dating, or carbon-14 dating, is a scientific method that can accurately determine the age of organic materials as old as approximately 60,000 years. First developed in the late 1940s at the University of Chicago by Willard Libby, the technique is based on the decay of the carbon-14 isotope. Radiocarbon dating has been used for historical studies and atmospheric science, and triggered archaeology’s “radiocarbon revolution.”This is a good, reader-friendly introduction to radiocarbon dating. Not surprisingly, the Dead Sea Scrolls are mentioned.[...]
For PaleoJudaica posts on C-14 dating, start here (cf. here) and follow the links.
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1 MaccabeesCame out this time last year, but I've only just noticed it.
A New Translation with Introduction and Commentaryby Daniel R. Schwartz
Series: The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries
504 Pages, 6.12 x 9.25 in, 2 b-w illus.
Hardcover
9780300159936
Published: Tuesday, 26 Apr 2022
$85.00A new translation and commentary on I Maccabees that offers a fresh interpretation of the author’s values and purpose
First Maccabees, composed in the second century BCE, chronicles four decades of clashes between Hellenistic Syria and Judea, from Antiochus Epiphanes’s ascent to the throne in 175 BCE to the Hasmoneans’ establishment of an independent Judean state, ruled by Simon and his sons.
In this volume, Daniel R. Schwartz provides a new translation of the Greek text and analyzes its historical significance. In dialogue with contemporary scholarship, the introduction surveys the work’s themes, sources, and transmission, while the commentary addresses textual details and issues of historical reconstruction, often devoting special attention to the lost Hebrew original and its associations. Schwartz demonstrates that 1 Maccabees, despite its Hebraic biblical style and its survival within the Christian canon, deviates from biblical and Judaic works by marginalizing God, evincing scorn for martyrs, and ascribing to human power and valor crucial historical roles. This all fits its mandate: justification of the Hasmonean dynasty, especially the Simonides.
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