Review of Mazza, Stolen Fragments

BOOK REVIEW: Inside the dangerous world of papyrus dealing. Frauds have infested the artefact trade (Alexander Poots, UnHerd).

Kardashian’s coffin made global news. The beautiful object, further burnished by its fleeting contact with television royalty, was a wonderful story. But not all stolen antiquities are so instantly arresting, so immediately recognisable, or so obviously priceless. Their value is measured not in beauty, but in what they can tell us about the ancient world, and they are just as vulnerable to trafficking as a gold coffin. Such objects are explored in a fascinating new book by Roberta Mazza, Stolen Fragments: Black Markets, Bad Faith, and the Illicit Trade in Ancient Artefacts.

A long and informative article. Regular PaleoJudaica readers will be familiar with much of its contents.

Roberta Mazza blogs at Faces & Voices. For the Museum of the Bible and the difficulties regarding some of its holdings, start from the links here. For posts on Dirk Obbink and the Oxford missing-papyri scandal, see there, plus follow-up posts here and links.

Cross-file under New Book.

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Meir, Rethinking Ancient Jewish Politics (PhD diss. University of Helsinki, 2023)

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Dissertation Spotlight: Rethinking Ancient Jewish Politics: The Hasmonean Dynasty in the Seleukid Empire (Rotem Avneri Meir).

Rotem Avneri Meir, “The Emergence of the Hasmonean Dynasty on the Margins of the Seleukid Empire” (PhD diss., University of Helsinki, 2023).

... Was imperial rule indeed so antithetical to local agency, or was it in fact a facilitating factor in the formation and consolidation of local elite identities? Did the Hasmoneans and their supporters really espouse such an anti-imperial political theology as is often associated with them? What would change in our understanding of emerging Judaism and the Jewish political imagination if we were to reimagine the Hasmonean period without such a heavy emphasis on Jewish national and religious identity in opposition to empire? These are the questions that guided me in my dissertation, in which I revisit the emergence of the Hasmonean dynasty on the margins of the Seleukid empire. ...

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Abebe, Apocalyptic Spatiality in 1 Peter and Selected 1 Enoch Literature (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Sofanit Tamene Abebe. Apocalyptic Spatiality in 1 Peter and Selected 1 Enoch Literature. A Comparative Analysis. 2024. XIV, 209 pages. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe (WUNT II) 613. €84.00 including VAT. sewn paper available 978-3-16-162230-4. Also Available As: eBook PDF €84.00.

Sofanit Tamene Abebe analyses the constructions of symbolic space in the later 1 Enoch texts and 1 Peter, and the extent to which their respective vision of reality is constructed on the basis of an axis linking heaven and earth through divine revelation. She argues that the revelatory basis on which the Enochic authors form their text gives their readers access to a new spatial reality. In 1 Peter, through recalling cultic spatial practices and significant events from Israel’s sacred past, she depicts how the addresses form the space where the divine dwells. Such a spatial construal reconstitutes them as the mobile axis linking heaven and earth. In this way, 1 Peter construes the readers’ corporate and corporeal existence in Roman Asia Minor within the Jewish matrix of exile as a mode of existence on an apocalyptic stage newly configured by Christ.

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CFP: Divination Techniques in the Ancient Near East and the Mediterranean World

THE MELAMMU PROJECT:

Divination Techniques in the Ancient Near East and the Mediterranean World

Twentyfifth Workshop of the Melammu Project
Sofia
29–30 May 2025

Organiser: Zozan Tarhan

Workshop Program

Divination and prophecy played an important role in decision-making in the ancient world. Royal courts, political elites, military commanders, and ordinary people relied on divination and prophecy to make the right decisions. The 25th Melammu Workshop is dedicated to divination techniques, provoked and unprovoked omens and prophecy in the Ancient Near East and the Mediterranean World. The workshop aims to analyse divination techniques, their development and the context they have been used in, the experts behind them, their conceptual setting, and their diffusion in the ancient world.

The call for papers, with more information, is here.

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Forty in the Bible

RABBI YEHUDA HAUSMAN: Forty: A Biblical Symbol of Completeness (TheTorah.com).

In biblical texts, the span of forty days or forty years is rarely a measure of precise time. Instead, it holds symbolic significance, shaping narratives in ways that transcend a literal interpretation.

If you liked forty, wait until you see seven!

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Runesson, Judaism for Gentiles (Mohr Siebeck, open access)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Anders Runesson. Judaism for Gentiles. Reading Paul beyond the Parting of the Ways Paradigm. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament (WUNT I) 494. DOI 10.1628/978-3-16-161996-0. eBook PDF Open Access. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. 978-3-16-161996-0. Also Available As: cloth €159.00.

For clergy, scholar, and lay person, Paul's letters hold weight and continue to draw in new readers. In this collection of essays, Anders Runesson listens to the voice of the historical Paul - a Jew proclaiming a form of Judaism to non-Jews to save them from divine wrath - but also probes what it means to breathe new life into this historical figure in the twenty-first century.

HT the AWOL Blog.

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Cover (ed.), Philo of Alexandria: On the Change of Names (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Philo of Alexandria: On the Change of Names

Introduction, Translation, and Commentary

Series: Philo of Alexandria Commentary Series, Volume: 8

Author: Michael Cover

In the treatise On the Change of Names (part of his magnum opus, the Allegorical Commentary), Philo of Alexandria brings his figurative exegesis of the Abraham cycle to its fruition. Taking a cue from Platonist interpreters of Homer’s Odyssey, Philo reads Moses’s story of Abraham as an account of the soul’s progress and perfection. Responding to contemporary critics, who mocked Genesis 17 as uninspired, Philo finds instead a hidden philosophical reflection on the ineffability of the transcendent God, the transformation of souls which recognize their mortal nothingness, the possibility of human faith enabled by peerless faithfulness of God, and the fruit of moral perfection: joy divine, prefigured in the birth of Isaac.

Copyright Year: 2025

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-68742-4
Publication: 15 Jan 2024
EUR €219.00

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-68743-1
Publication: 08 Feb 2024
EUR €219.00

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JOB: Regius Professor of Hebrew, Cambridge University

SENIOR ACADEMIC POSITION: The Regius Professorship of Hebrew

Regius Professorship of Hebrew, University of Cambridge, UK

The Board of Electors to the Regius Professorship of Hebrew invite applications from senior scholars with an established track record of research and leadership in Hebrew and Semitic Studies, to take up appointment in October 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Candidates will have an outstanding research record of international stature in the study of Hebrew and Semitic Studies and the vision and experience to maintain the reputation of FAMES as an international centre of excellence in Hebrew and Semitic Studies. Current strengths involve research on endangered Semitic languages and the Semitic languages as a group, the integration of Hebrew research and teaching on Classical, Medieval and Modern Hebrew Studies in a Middle Eastern context, the fostering of complementary but distinctive approaches to the posts in the Faculty of Divinity and the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit.

Standard professorial duties include undertaking and publishing original research, grant capture, mentoring post-doctoral researchers, instructing undergraduate and postgraduate students in the department's team-taught teaching programme on the Middle East and North Africa. The Professor will play a leadership role in the Department's Hebrew and Semitic Studies team and will fill administrative duties and faculty roles in the Faculty and accept appointment to University Committees.

The Professor will be based in Cambridge. A competitive salary will be offered.

Follow the link for detailed further particulars. The closing date is 11 November 2024.

HT the Agade List.

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International Catacomb Society Online Event (13 October)

H-JUDAIC: 10/13: International Catacomb Society Online Panel with Recent Shohet Grant Recipients.

Join us on Oct. 13 at 1pm ET for an online panel with recent recipients of the International Catacomb Society's Shohet Scholars Grant. Panelists will discuss the research projects that were supported by the ICS grant.

• J. Gregory Given (Harvard University), Open Letters: Ignatius of Antioch and the Reconstruction of Early Christianity
• Rebecca Harris (Messiah University), Living in the Liminal: The Present as a Place of Access in Qumran Literature
• Rachel Patt (Notre Dame University), Portraits and Pothos in the Premodern Mediterranean: A Work-In-Progress Update

Follow the link for more details and (free) registration information.

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Lichen is eating Persepolis!

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Archaeology’s Unexpected Enemy. The battle to save Persepolis from a tiny threat (Nathan Steinmeyer).

When thinking about threats to archaeological sites, some of the first things that come to mind are looters, war, or maybe earthquakes. What doesn’t come to mind is lichen. But that is exactly what poses an existential threat to the archaeological site of Persepolis, the ancient capital of the Persian Empire (c. 550–330 BCE).

[...]

For many PaleoJudaica posts on Persepolis, the ancient Achaemenid ceremonial capital city, see here and links. For more on the Behistun inscription, see the links collected here.

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On the Amarna letters

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Missives to the Egyptian Court. The Canaanite Amarna Letters and the scribes who wrote them.

Ultimately, it is important to understand Canaano-Akkadian not as a language per se, but as “a scribal code that adapted cuneiform to the unique needs of Canaanite scribes.” This system was employed in various ways not by a single scribal community, but by individuals writing on behalf of rulers across Canaan. Thanks to the discovery of the Amarna Letters, we are able to study the writing practices of these scribes and learn about their vital role in Late Bronze Age diplomacy.

As usual, this BHD essay summarizes a BAR article (by Dr. Alice Mandell) which is behind the subscription wall. Dr Mandell is also giving an online lecture on the Amarna Letters this Saturday for BAS. For registration and payment information, see here.

As for the essay, Canaano-Akkadian is a funny hybrid language. But it's very useful for helping philologists understand what LBA Canaanite in Palestine and Lebanon was like. I suspect it was less useful as a diplomatic communication tool. I recall many years ago one of my teachers saying that he imagined the Egyptian courtiers rolling on the floor laughing as they heard the letters from the Canaanite kings read out. Hopefully they paraphrased for the Pharaoh's ears.

Some related PaleoJudaica posts are here, here, here, here, and here,

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

Brown Judaic Studies

THE AWOL BLOG: Open Access Monograph Series: Brown Judaic Studies.

Lots of great titles here, many open access. I noted this site several years ago, when last posted by AWOL. But there are more titles now.

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Review of Kazen, "Dirt, Shame, Status"

READING ACTS: Thomas Kazen, Dirt, Shame, Status: Perspectives on Same-Sex Sexuality in the Bible and the Ancient World (Phil Long).

Conclusion. Kazen provides an excellent foundation for understanding what ancient Greek and Roman writers thought about homoerotic behavior as a background for reading Hellenistic Jewish writers (like the New Testament) in the correct context. Readers on either side of modern arguments may not appreciate the implication that these ancient texts do not (always) answer modern questions. No one, for example, considered gay marriage a possibility even if they regularly engaged in homoerotic behavior.

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More on the MOTB's "oldest Jewish book"

EXHIBITION: Museum of the Bible unveils world’s ‘oldest Jewish book’ in new exhibit. The handwritten manuscript of prayers and poems dates back 1,300 years and originates with Jews who lived in a Buddhist civilization in what is now Afghanistan (Asaf Elia-Shalev, JTA).

Anchoring the scholarly discussion surrounding the book is a 2019 laboratory test that used carbon dating to estimate the book’s age at 1,300 years, astonishing researchers at the museum. Far more ancient written Hebrew texts had been discovered, but only on scrolls, most famously the roughly 2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls that are displayed prominently in Israel. The carbon dating indicated that this was the earliest intact Hebrew codex by more than a century.

The relationship of this codex to the "Hebrew siddur" codex first announced by the Museum of the Bible in 2013, is not addressed in this article either. I think they must be two different manuscripts: the Hebrew siddur was C-14 dated to the mid-ninth-century CE and its layout looks different from the one now on display. And other details vary. But it would be helpful if the Museum of the Bible, or somebody, would take up the question.

UPDATE AND CORRECTION (1 October): No, just one manuscript. See here.

Background here and links.

Also, the article mentions a book on the codex to be published by Brill. It is already listed on the Brill website:

The Afghan Liturgical Quire: Its Codicology, Texts and History

Series: Études sur le judaïsme médiéval

Volume Editor: Rahel Fronda

The Afghan Liturgical Quire: Its Codicology, Texts and History is a diplomatic edition that explores one manuscript’s material and textual evidence, as well as its history and wider cultural milieu. The volume not only includes essays by twelve world-leading scholars in their respective fields of study but also ample documentary material (photos, letters and reports). Scholars and professionals ranging from the fields of medieval manuscript studies to Jewish liturgy and history of Afghanistan to the fields of manuscript trade are among the possible audience.

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Not Yet Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-72106-7
Publication: 15 Apr 2025
EUR €150.00

Hardback
Availability: Not Yet Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-72105-0
Publication: 15 Apr 2025
EUR €150.00

Cross-file under Forthcoming Book.

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Note on Galil, Mount Ebal Inscription

BOOK REVIEWLET at the Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project Official (and Unofficial) Weblog: Mount Ebal Inscription publication by Gershon Galil (Aren Maier). HT Todd Bolen at the Bible Places Blog.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on the Mount Ebal curse tablet/fishing weight, start here and follow the links. My own preliminary assessment of the evidence (I have not seen the book) is here. Like Aren Maier et al., I am unpersuaded that there is an inscription on the object.

Cross-file under New Book.

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Review of Brenk (ed. Lanzillotta), Plutarch on literature, Graeco-Roman religion, Jews and Christians

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Plutarch on literature, Graeco-Roman religion, Jews and Christians.

Frederick E. Brenk, Lautaro Roig Lanzillotta, Plutarch on literature, Graeco-Roman religion, Jews and Christians. Brill's Plutarch studies, 11. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2023. Pp. xxiv, 338. ISBN 9789004531956.

Review by
Inger N. I. Kuin, University of Virginia. ik6mg@virginia.edu

... Reading through the collection of articles from beginning to end once again brings home the inspiring, impressive, and exemplary nature of Brenk’s scholarship. Following his example means to always read Plutarch’s works as literature, with attention to plot, characterization, and rhetorical devices, and to fully understand the author as rooted in the highly complex religious and philosophical landscape of the Roman Empire of the first and second centuries CE.

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Late-Antique Church of Saint Bacchus excavated in Israel

ARCHAEOLOGY: 1,400-Year-Old Byzantine Church Discovered in Israel. This ancient Byzantine church was dedicated to the Christian martyr Bacchus the Holy, according to archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). (Sci News).

The remains of the ancient Byzantine church were discovered at the archaeological site of Khirbet Tinshemet in the Shoham Community Forest, the central part of Israel.

[...]

With interesting iconographic and epigraphic material, as well as Byzantine coins. The church had a depiction of the Greek goddess of fortune, Tyche, at its entrance, but also a Christian dedication in its main hall. Bacchus is a suprising name (at least to me) for a Christian martyr.

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Nessana in the Negev

ARCHAEOLOGY: A Large Byzantine Pilgrimage Hostel Complex Found in the Ancient City of Nessana in the Negev Desert (Guillermo Carvajal, LBV).

A team of researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev is conducting excavations at the Nessana site, located in the southwestern Negev desert on the border between Israel and Egypt. This settlement, which reached its peak during the Byzantine and early Islamic periods (6th-7th centuries AD), has become a focal point for archaeologists seeking to unravel the mysteries of the material culture of pilgrimages in late antiquity.

[...]

The underlying article by the excavator, just published in Antiquity, is open access through Cambridge Core:

Excavating ancient pilgrimage at Nessana, Negev
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 September 2024

Yana Tchekhanovets

Type
Project Gallery Information
Antiquity , First View , pp. 1 - 7 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.132

Abstract

The ancient site of Nessana in the south-western Negev had an important role in the logistics of early-Christian pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The arid climate, which preserved organic material, and the richness of multilingual epigraphic evidence from this region make Nessana a key site for archaeological study of the material culture of pilgrimage.

For more on Nessana, see here (cf. here).

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AJR reviews Walsh, The Origins of Early Christian Literature

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: The Origins of Early Christian Literature: Contextualizing the New Testament within Greco-Roman Literary Culture (Tyler Blaine Wilson).

Robyn Faith Walsh, The Origins of Early Christian Literature: Contextualizing the New Testament within Greco-Roman Literary Culture (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021).

Walsh argues that the Synoptic Gospels are not primarily religious texts, but literary works created by “elite cultural producers” (p. 110), Greco-Roman authors who had an interest in Judaean culture and religious motifs, but who may not have understood themselves as belonging to a Christian community.

I noted the publication of the book here and another review of it here.

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Hendel, Genesis 1-11 (AB Commentary)

NEW BOOK FROM YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

Genesis 1-11
A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary

by Ronald Hendel

Series: The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries

488 Pages, 6.12 x 9.25 in, 13 b-w illus.

Hardcover
9780300149739
Published: Tuesday, 3 Sep 2024
$85.00

eBook
9780300175363
Published: Tuesday, 3 Sep 2024
$85.00

The first volume of a groundbreaking two-part commentary on the book of Genesis by leading biblical scholar Ronald Hendel

The first eleven chapters of Genesis narrate the origin of the universe; the creation of the first human beings; the beginnings of moral reasoning, society, and culture; and the cataclysmic global flood. By showing how life and civilization came into being, Genesis 1–11 offers a richly drawn map for understanding the world as a meaningful cosmos and an ethical guide for human purpose and responsibility within it.

The culmination of over thirty years of research, this long-awaited study by leading Genesis scholar Ronald Hendel is the first comprehensive scholarly commentary on Genesis 1–11 in a generation. Drawing on archaeological discoveries from Israel and the ancient Near East as well as contemporary methods of scholarship, it presents a multilayered view of the classic text. The extensive introduction, notes, and comments explore ancient textual versions and editions, historical contexts, literary style and design, compositional history, cosmology, ethics, and the book’s interpretive life in Judaism and Christianity. Featuring numerous illustrations, this engagingly written commentary is an indispensable, field-defining guide to the first eleven chapters of the Bible.

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