I wouldn't call a brick-sized stone particularly "large." But I wouldn't want one to fall on my head either! Fortunately there is no report of this one causing any harm. This one fell from a Mamluk-era wall abutting the Herodian wall.
A much larger stone fell from the Western Wall some years ago, fortunately also without harming anyone. It has been in the news recently.
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This article opens with a good, brief summary of the history of Tisha B'Av. But it appears to have been republished from last year without updating the days of the week (and presumably the sunset-sunrise times). The fast day this year is on Monday-Tuesday (i.e., now).
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The Ninth of Av is not specifically a biblical holy day. Rather, it commemorates a number of disasters that happened to the Jewish people, traditionally all on that same day of the year. These include the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple by the Babylonians, the destruction of the Herodian Temple by the Romans, and the fall of Betar during the Bar Kokhba revolt.
Last year's Tisha B'Av post is here, with links.
UPDATE (15 August): Subsequent related posts are here, here, here, here, here, and here.
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SBL 2023 Review Panel | Staging the Sacred: Theatricality and Performance in Late Ancient Liturgical Poetry, by Laura LieberFor parts one and two and background, follow the links.One of the most beloved images within Syriac literature is the treasury. Writers such as Ephrem (d. 373 CE) and Jacob of Serugh (ca. 451-521 CE) invoke this image to impress upon their listeners the magnitude and inexhaustibility of divine largesse.[1] I would suggest that the language of treasury fittingly describes the remarkable book that brings us together today. Staging the Sacred is a scholarly treasury, brimming with erudition and insight. ...
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Brouria Bitton-Ashkelony, Martin Goodman, Essays on Jews and Christians in late antiquity in honour of Oded Irshai. Cultural Encounters in late antiquity and the Middle Ages, 40. Turnhout: Brepols, 2023. Pp. 308. ISBN 9782503602455.Review by
Andrew S. Jacobs, Harvard Divinity School. andrew@andrewjacobs.org“The world of late antiquity” as a field of study since the 1970s is, perhaps, too often associated with a few specific Anglophone sites of elaboration and primarily with the intersections of early Christian studies (or, in another register, “patristics”) and post-Roman history (or, in another register, “classics”). The present volume, a Festschrift for Hebrew University professor Oded Irshai, is a salutary reminder that creative and generative thinking about late antiquity emerges from other, polyglot sites and can just as easily center Jews and Judaism alongside their Christian and “pagan” neighbors. ...
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Another in the useful BHD introductory series on biblical and related languages. For links to previous essays (on biblical Hebrew, Aramaic, biblical Greek, Akkadian, and Coptic), see here.
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Cult and CosmosReprints important essays from the 1930s through the 1990s.
Tilting toward a Temple-Centered TheologySERIES:
Biblical Tools and Studies, 18EDITOR:
Morales L.M.PRICE: 78 euro
YEAR: 2024
ISBN: 9789042953475
E-ISBN: 9789042953482
PAGES: XIV-429 p.SUMMARY:
The association between creation and temple is a key element of the cultural context of the Hebrew Bible, and foundational for understanding its cultic theology. Situated within the common cultic ideology of the ancient Near East, Israel’s temple on the mountain of God was considered the central axis and navel of creation, its architecture, furnishings, and rituals pervaded by cosmogonic symbolism. Having emerged out of the twentieth century’s predisposed disdain for priestly material, the theological prominence of the temple within the Hebrew Bible is increasingly recognized by scholars. This volume, republishing pivotal scholarship on the interface of cult and cosmos, forms a primer on this significant area of study, tracing major voices in the conversation, from archaeological and ancient Near Eastern studies to biblical studies and the theological prospect of Israel’s cultus.
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The Johannine Prologue and its ResonancesSeries:
Johannine Studies, Volume: 4Volume Editors: Stanley E. Porter and David I. Yoon
The Prologue to John's Gospel has been an enigmatic object of inquiry in the history of biblical scholarship. This volume reengages readers with thirteen essays from various perspectives on the Prologue. These perspectives include source oriented approaches, form oriented approaches, functional approaches, and alternative non-traditional approaches. This book attempts to pave new paths to understanding the Prologue and cause readers to think more deeply about the beginning of John's Gospel.
Copyright Year: 2024
E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-69894-9
Publication: 24 Jun 2024 EUR €135.00Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-69893-2
Publication: 27 Jun 2024
EUR €135.00
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These are simple pit inhumations, a semicappuccina or with amphora coverings (all of North African import, some with Punic inscriptions, arranged alternately neck-to-puntal in a recurrent number of 7), characterized by the presence of few grave goods (mainly perfume bottles and coins) and by an excellent state of conservation of the skeletal remains, thanks to the immersion of the graves in groundwater, which has allowed the initiation of a paleo-anthropological research campaign on the remains.Unfortunately, none of the punic inscriptions on the jars are visible in the photos.
The article reports on lots of other important paleobotanical and artifactual discoveries in the excavation.
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Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah skillfully structure their petition to inherit land not by confronting the patriarchy, but by couching their request as an attempt to preserve their father’s name.With attention to the exegesis of the story of Zelophehad’s Daughters (Numbers 26:33, 27:1-11, 36:1-12) in Midrash Sifre Numbers etc. For Talmudic exegesis of this story, see here and here.
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For the original frightening but lucky incident, see here. The stone seems to have quadrupled in weight since then. For follow-ups, see here and links.
For more on the Jerusalem Archaeological Garden at the Davidson Center, see here.
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According to the Gospel of Matthew, an earthquake shook Jerusalem on the day of Jesus’ crucifixion. A study of cores of soil deposition and seismic activity near the Dead Sea in the Volume 54, Issue 10 of International Geology Review* may provide scientific data relating to the event described in Matthew 27.The article presents evidence that there was a local earthquake within a few years of the crucifixion of Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew (27:51) says there was an earthquake at the time Jesus was crucified. Maybe there was. Perhaps more likely, the author of Matthew knew there was an earthquake around that time and added it to the story. Or the oral traditions about the crucifixion acquired the earthquake over time. Who knows? As stories are told, they tend to attract and include other signficant characters and events.[...]
The Discovery News article mentioned in the next paragraph reportedly tried to work out the exact date of the crucifixion based on the new evidence about the earthquake. The lead author of the International Geology Review disavowed this claim. See the relevant note to this essay.
For other biblical earthquakes, see here.
The Synoptic Gospels (Mark 15:33 par.) report another upheaval of nature during the crucifixion; the three hours of darkness. For more on that, and a supposed solar eclipse around the same time, see here (scroll down).
For the walking dead episode in Matthew 27:52-53, which, as far I know, no one has tried to connect to some other historical event, see here.
I was about to press publish when I saw that this BHD essay is actually 12 years old. Never mind, I missed it the first time. The comments are still relevant.
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The London-based Egypt Exploration Society has been awarded a grant that could see a redevelopment of their headquarters and the internationally significant Oxyrhynchus Papyri displayed in London for the first time. ...Congratulations to the EES on the initial grant and good luck with the full grant application.They are planning to submit a bid for a full National Lottery delivery grant, which will secure up to two-thirds of the project’s cost. Ahead of that, the National Lottery Heritage Fund has granted them an initial £61,321 which will go towards the cost of producing the full bid documents. ...
I am glad the EES is benefitting from it ... but don't play the lottery.
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Since its emergence as an urban center some 5,000 years ago, the fortunes of Jerusalem have been influenced by great empires. Its greatness was forged more by pragmatists who knew how to navigate and adapt to complex imperialist agendas than by warriors and messianic rebels who took up arms.A long and thorough review of a wide-ranging new book on the history of Jerusalem.
I have just noted the publication of the book here.
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Jerusalem the Center of the Universe: Its Archaeology and History (1800–100 BCE)UPDATE: For a long review article by Ariel David in Haaretz, see here.Israel Finkelstein
ISBN 9781628374995
Status Available
Publication Date July 2024Paperback $50.00
eBook $50.00
Hardback $85.00Jerusalem is the center of the universe, the hub of the three great monotheistic religions, yet how did a city located on the desert fringe, in the semi-arid southern highlands of Israel with little tillable land achieve such dominance? To provide answers to this enduring riddle, Israel Finkelstein has collected twenty-four of his best articles and essays covering the Middle Bronze Age to the late Hellenistic period. With critical and well-informed care, he analyzes archaeological evidence that often stands in tension with the biblical text. Topics of particular interest include the archaeology of the tenth century BCE; Saul, David, and Solomon in the Bible and archaeology; the first expansion of the city in the ninth century; its full growth in the late eighth to seventh centuries; Jerusalem and Judah under the Assyrian Empire; the days of King Josiah; and transformations in the Persian-Hellenistic era. Short addenda update the reader on recent developments.
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SBL 2023 Review Panel | Staging the Sacred: Theatricality and Performance in Late Ancient Liturgical Poetry, by Laura LieberFor part one and background, see here and links.... Laura Lieber has not set an easy task for herself: she seeks to lead us out of our critical editions of piyyut, poetic Syriac sermons and hymns, and early Byzantine kontakia; and into the living world of performance—the voices, gestures, choreography, and emotions of the human beings who embodied them in ancient churches, synagogues, and streets. There will still be gaps between the textual realm and the lost realm of sound, sight, and affect, but Staging the Sacred brings a wealth of knowledge and insight to bring these worlds closer together. ...
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Joel Korytko, Death of the Covenant Code: capital punishment in old Greek Exodus in light of Greco-Egyptian law. Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism, 211. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2023. Pp. xii, 362. ISBN 9789004682030.I noted the publication of the book here.Review by
Dries De Crom, Tilburg University. d.j.l.a.decrom@tilburguniversity.eduThis monograph focuses on laws prescribing the death penalty in Exodus 21-22, a section of the book of Exodus also known as the “Book of the Covenant” or the “Covenant Code”. The main thesis of this study can be summarized as follows. The author argues that the Old Greek translation of Exodus subtly alters and/or excises references to the death penalty in Ex 21-22, while maintaining “superficial semantic fidelity” (pp. 2-4) to the source text. ...
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A team of researchers led by a University of Michigan archaeologist has uncovered a hoard of gold coins, likely used to pay mercenary troops, buried in a small pot in the ancient Greek city of Notion in western Turkey.Everyone else is reporting this story, so I may as well find an excuse to as well.The coins show a figure of a kneeling archer, the characteristic design of the Persian daric, a type of gold coin issued by the Persian Empire and probably minted at Sardis, 60 miles northeast of Notion, according to U-M archaeologist Christopher Ratté, professor of ancient Mediterranean art and archaeology and director of the Notion Archaeological Project, the project that discovered the coins.
The hoard, which the U-M team dated to the fifth century B.C., will provide another datapoint that can tell historians about the Persian daric’s timeline and history.
[...]
Gold darics appear several times in the Hebrew Bible: anachronistically in the time of King David in 1 Chronicles 29:7 and in a more plausible sixth-to-fifth-century BCE context in Ezra 2:69, 8:27; Nehemiah 7:70-72. It is the first coin mentioned in the Bible.
For more the daric, see here.
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While, in the Sifting Project, we have not found stones as described in this account, we do find many stones from the Temple Mount’s paving, some with scratches or grooves possibly from ancient times, as well as over a hundred shoe nails typologically dated to the Roman period. Some are likely from caligae sandal-boots, while others may be from civilian hobnailed shoes.Which account? Read at the link.
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SBL 2023 Review Panel | Staging the Sacred: Theatricality and Performance in Late Ancient Liturgical Poetry, by Laura LieberFor more on the book and the work of the author, see here and links.... A major achievement of the book is the successful setting of Jewish, Samaritan, and Christian hymnody in shared spotlight, as partakers together of their cultural world, its landscapes, society, literary, oral, aural, and visual cultures (and, one might add, olfactory culture as well: with incense everywhere to cleanse and adorn the air of worship, and fragrant lamp oils to illuminate with beauty). ...
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