Vintage resurrection using Avdat's pips

ARCHAEOBOTANY: Experts restore Israel's ancient desert wine industry using Byzantine grapes. In a groundbreaking revival of ancient tradition, Israeli researchers and vintners harvest 1,500-year-old Byzantine grape varieties from a restored vineyard in Avdat National Park, aiming to recreate the famed Negev wine once exported across Europe (Ilana Curiel, Ynet News).

During the Byzantine era, the Negev was a global hub for wine production, with historians marveling at its desert vineyards. In September 2023, the heritage vineyard at Avdat was inaugurated, planted with seeds over 1,000 years old, aiming to revive this ancient tradition.

Researchers from the University of Haifa, studying the collapse of the Byzantine Empire, discovered grape seeds in a sealed cave at the Avdat archaeological site years ago. Determined to resurrect what was once considered the world’s finest wine, they identified the genetic traits of these ancient vines, setting the stage for this ambitious project.

For many PaleoJudaica posts on the site of Avdat in the Negev, which flourished from the Nabatean (Nabataean) era into the Byzantine era, start here and follow the links. For posts on the Byzantine-era grape pips recovered there, presumably the ones used in this project, see here and links.

For other efforts at vintage resurrection, see here and follow the links.

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Three recently excavated shipwrecks at Tel Dor

MARINE ARCHAEOLOGY: What ancient shipwrecks off Dor tell us about trade, empire and resilience (Koray Erdogan, Türkiye Today).

Three newly excavated shipwrecks at Dor, a key port on Israel’s Carmel Coast, are offering the first direct evidence of maritime cargoes from the Iron Age ever found in a harbor context in Israel. Dated between the 11th and sixth centuries B.C., these finds reveal how trade ebbed and flowed during periods of regional upheaval and imperial expansion in the eastern Mediterranean.

[...]

The underlying open-access article (also linked to in the quote above) in the journal Antiquity:

Iron Age ship cargoes from the harbour of Dor (Israel)

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 May 2025

Assaf Yasur-Landau, Marko Runjajić, Evgeny Shegol, Remi Rosen, Karsyn Johnson, Deborah Cvikel, Shirly Ben-Dor Evian, David E. Friesem, Tzilla Eshel and Gunnar Lehmann, Cassandra Donnely, Artemis Georgiou, Harel Shochat, Meir Edrey, Dafna Langgut and Thomas E. Levy

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2025.71

Abstract

Connectivity and trade dominate discussions of the Mediterranean Bronze and Iron Ages, where artefacts travelled increasing distances by land and sea. Much of the evidence for the means through which such networks operated is necessarily indirect, but shipwrecks offer direct insights into the movement of goods. Here, the authors explore three Iron Age cargoes recently excavated at Tel Dor on the Carmel Coast, the first from this period found in the context of an Iron Age port city in Israel. Spanning the eleventh–seventh centuries BC, these cargoes illuminate cycles of expansion and contraction in Iron Age Mediterranean connectivity and integration.

Cross-file under Maritime (Underwater) Archaeology.

Other PaleoJudaica posts on marine archaeology at Tel Dor are here, here, here, and here.

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A late-antique synagogue in an Iberian town?

ARCHAEOLOGY: Spanish discovery suggests Roman era ‘church’ may have been a synagogue. Oil lamp fragments point to presence of previously unknown Jewish population in Ibero-Roman town of Cástulo (Sam Jones, The Guardian).

Archaeologists excavating the Ibero-Roman town of Cástulo, whose ruins lie near the present-day Andalucían town of Linares, have uncovered evidence of an apparent Jewish presence there in the late fourth or early fifth century AD.

As well as three fragments of oil lamps decorated with menorahs and a roof tile bearing a five-branched menorah, they have also come across a piece of the lid of a cone-shaped jar bearing a Hebrew graffito. While experts are split over whether the engraving reads “light of forgiveness” or “Song to David”, its very existence points to a previously unknown Jewish population in the town, which eventually fell into decay and abandonment 1,000 years later.

The underlying article, in Spanish and open access, has just been published:

Vegueta. Anuario de la Facultad de Geografía e Historia
25 (2), 2025, 941-973
eISSN: 2341-1112
https://doi.org/10.51349/veg.2025.2.17

Una posible sinagoga tardoantigua en Cástulo. Estudio del Edicio S de la ciudad

A possible late ancient synagogue in Cástulo. Study of Building S of the city

Bautista Ceprián del Castillo*
Conjunto Arqueológico de Cástulo:
Proyecto Sefarad Primera Luz
https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8989-9330
ceprian.castillo@gmail.com

David Expósito Mangas
Conjunto Arqueológico de Cástulo:
Proyecto Sefarad Primera Luz.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0692-9991
davidexpositomangas@hotmail.com

José Carlos Ortega Díez
Universidad de Granada
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-8580-2904
jcarlosortegadiez@gmail.com

Recibido: 06/06/2024; Revisado: 11/11/2025; Aceptado: 19/02/2025

Resumen

En el centro geográphico de la ciudad iberorromana de Cástulo (Área 1), se encuentra un edificio absidal, Edificio S, tradicionalmente definido como una iglesia de la segunda mitad del siglo iv d.C. Sin embargo, las nuevas campañas de excavación realizadas entre 2011 y 2021, han documentado en dicha área una notable serie de materiales que pueden relacionarse con el establecimiento de una comunidad judía entre los siglos iv y v d.C. Esto, unido a ciertas diferencias del Edificio S en relación con las características que definen las iglesias hispanas de la antigüedad tardía, ha llevado a analizar este edificio con la posibilidad de que hubiera podido ser una sinagoga. Los resultados obtenidos se vinculan con mayor verosimilitud con edificios de culto judíos que con los cristianos.Palabras clave: sinagoga, judío, iglesia, Cástulo, antigüedad tardía.

Abstract

In the geographical center of the Ibero-Roman city of Cástulo (Area 1), there is an apsidal building, Building S, traditionally defined as a church from the second half of the 4th century AD. However, new excavation campaigns carried out between 2011 and 2021 have documented in this area a notable series of materials that can be related to the establishment of a Jewish community between the 4th and 5th centuries AD. This, together with certain differences in Building S in relation to the characteristics that define Hispanic churches of late antiquity, has led to the analysis of this building with the possibility that it could have been a synagogue. The results obtained are more likely to be linked to Jewish religious buildings than to Christian ones.

*Autor de correspondencia / Corresponding author.

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Michael Satlow has a new book forthcoming

MICHAEL L. SATLOW: My New Book: Forthcoming in February.

I have a new book coming out in February.

It’s called An Enchanted World: The Shared Religious Landscape of Late Antiquity, and it’s now officially listed on the publisher’s website.

We look forward to it. The publisher is Princeton University Press. Follow the links for full details.

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Syriac department opens at Mosul University

SYRIAC WATCH: Mosul University Opens Syriac Language Department (SyriacPress).

MOSUL, Beth Nahrin — In a decision reflecting Iraq’s growing commitment to cultural preservation and linguistic diversity, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research has officially approved the establishment of a Syriac Language Department at the University of Mosul. The announcement, issued on July 26, 2025, affirms the inclusion of Syriac—the language spoken by Chaldeans-Syriacs-Assyrians—into the university’s academic offerings starting this academic year.

[...]

Related news here.

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Wunrow, Heavenly Space in Hebrews and Its Jewish and Christian Environment (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

Heavenly Space in Hebrews and Its Jewish and Christian Environment

Passing through the Heavens

Stephen C. Wunrow (Author)

Hardback
$120.00 $108.00

Ebook (PDF)
$108.00 $86.40

Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
$108.00 $86.40

Product details

Published Jul 10 2025
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 208
ISBN 9780567721518
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series The Library of New Testament Studies
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

Stephen Wunrow addresses the pressing question of what the author of Hebrews meant by his descriptions of heaven, arguing that the author intended his references to heavenly space to be interpreted as realistic descriptions of a real place. Wunrow posits that language about heaven is neither metaphor nor a description of a “place” outside the creation, by examining other early Jewish and Christian texts that narrate or describe humans ascending into heaven. Given the nature and the function of heavenly space as described in these texts, Wunrow suggests it is most probable that the authors of the texts intended their descriptions of heavenly space to be understood as realistic.

Wunrow thus explores 1 and 2 Enoch, 4 Ezra, 2 and 3 Baruch, the Apocalypse of Abraham, the Testament of Levi, the Testament of Abraham, the Ascension of Isaiah, and Revelation; investigating how other roughly contemporary authors described heavenly space, and considering that the rhetorical aims of most of these authors fail unless their readers understand their descriptions of heavenly space in realistic ways. Turning then to examine Hebrews, Wunrow suggests that while the letter does contain unique features and rhetorical aims, it also fits comfortably with other early Jewish and Christian texts that describe humans ascending into heaven in a realistic manner. He concludes with reflections on how this conclusion helps to clarify other topics in Hebrews, including atonement and eschatology.

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Muraoka, Appendices to the Septuagint Book of Daniel (Peeters)

NEW BOOK FROM PEETERS PRESS:

Appendices to the Septuagint Book of Daniel

AUTHOR:
Muraoka T.

PRICE: 25 euro
YEAR: 2025
ISBN: 9789042953789
PAGES: XIV-91 p.

SUMMARY:

The three short pieces presented in this volume fit into the traditional text of the book of Daniel and can be read and studied very profitably. They richly supplement the stories and history narrated in the canonical book of Daniel. Most likely they were written in Greek and not translated from Aramaic. The Greek text is presented here with an accompanying English translation and philological comments.

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Gold jewelry excavated at Hippos-Sussita

ANCIENT BLING: Roman-era gold jewelry found at Hippos testifies to wealth of city likely visited by Jesus. Although found out of context, unearthed ring and earrings shed light on ancient Galilean affluence in the first centuries of the Common Era (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel).

An exquisite golden ring and a pair of earrings dating to the Roman period (1st-3rd centuries CE) have recently been unearthed during archaeological excavations at the Sussita (Hippos) National Park, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority announced Thursday.

The artifacts help shed light on the affluence that once defined this ancient city overlooking the Sea of Galilee – one of the 10 cities of the Decapolis alliance where, according to the Gospels, Jesus preached, Dr. Michael Eisenberg told The Times of Israel in a phone interview.

“The ring was found a few days ago, while the earrings were uncovered a few months ago,” said Eisenberg, co-director of the Hippos (Sussita) Excavations Project with Dr. Arleta Kowalewska, both from the University of Haifa.

[...]

For many PaleoJudaica posts on artifacts and architecture recovered in and around the site of Hippos-Sussita, start here and follow the links. Another less-impressive ring was found in Sussita National Park a couple of years ago.

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Review of Pagels, Miracles and Wonder

ON THE HISTORICAL JESUS: Book Review | ‘Miracles and Wonder: The Historical Mystery of Jesus’ by Elaine Pagels. An Exploration of the Mystery of How a Poor Young Man Inspired a Religion That Reshaped the World (David Starkey).

The book’s seven chapters each try to answer a separate question: What happened before, during and after the virgin birth? Who is Jesus? What is the Good News? And so on. Pagels is especially keen to examine how two elements of Jesus’s story that might have been Christianity’s most glaring weaknesses were transformed by his earliest biographers into two of its greatest strengths.

Cross-file under New Book.

For some of my own thoughts on the question of the historical Jesus, see especially here and here, plus there are links.

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

Moabite sex workers at Baal Peor?

DR. ATAR LIVNEH: Moabite Women Seduce Israel into Worshiping Baal Peor (TheTorah.com).

Balaam induced Moabite women to ensnare Israelite men into apostasy at Baal Peor. Philo, 1st century C.E., portrays these women as calculating prostitutes. Later, the Sifrei, ca. 3rd century, recasts the episode as a bawdy Roman farce—complete with marketplace, wine, and brothel-like seductions—portraying the Israelites less as tragic sinners and more as fools blinded by lust.

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An AI system for reconstructing ancient (Latin) inscriptions

ALGORITHM WATCH:

Article Open access Published: 23 July 2025

Contextualizing ancient texts with generative neural networks

Yannis Assael, Thea Sommerschield, Alison Cooley, Brendan Shillingford, John Pavlopoulos, Priyanka Suresh, Bailey Herms, Justin Grayston, Benjamin Maynard, Nicholas Dietrich, Robbe Wulgaert, Jonathan Prag, Alex Mullen & Shakir Mohamed

Nature (2025)

Abstract

Human history is born in writing. Inscriptions are among the earliest written forms, and offer direct insights into the thought, language and history of ancient civilizations. Historians capture these insights by identifying parallels—inscriptions with shared phrasing, function or cultural setting—to enable the contextualization of texts within broader historical frameworks, and perform key tasks such as restoration and geographical or chronological attribution1. However, current digital methods are restricted to literal matches and narrow historical scopes. Here we introduce Aeneas, a generative neural network for contextualizing ancient texts. Aeneas retrieves textual and contextual parallels, leverages visual inputs, handles arbitrary-length text restoration, and advances the state of the art in key tasks. To evaluate its impact, we conduct a large study with historians using outputs from Aeneas as research starting points. The historians find the parallels retrieved by Aeneas to be useful research starting points in 90% of cases, improving their confidence in key tasks by 44%. Restoration and geographical attribution tasks yielded superior results when historians were paired with Aeneas, outperforming both humans and artificial intelligence alone. For dating, Aeneas achieved a 13-year distance from ground-truth ranges. We demonstrate Aeneas’ contribution to historical workflows through analysis of key traits in the renowned Roman inscription Res Gestae Divi Augusti, showing how integrating science and humanities can create transformative tools to assist historians and advance our understanding of the past.

A well-constructed study of a new AI system that may be quite useful as an aid to human reconstruction and decipherment of ancient inscriptions. It would work best with formulaic inscriptions from a period and language with many surviving examples of similar inscriptions.

For discussion of reconstruction of damaged ancient Hebrew and Aramaic (etc.) texts, with and without AI help, see here and here. Again, this would work best for highly formulaic texts, of which few, but not none, survive in ancient Hebrew or Aramaic. Frank Moore Cross's reconstruction of the Aramaic legal texts (slave conveyances) from the Samaria Papyri come to mind.

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Metaphor etc. in the Bible

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: “Hey, Turtledove!” How metaphors, similes, and nicknames make the Bible sparkle (Robin Gallaher Branch).

As a biblical scholar dealing daily with the Bible’s terseness, I sometimes wryly wonder if the writers kept one eye on the price of papyrus and parchment! Yet the more I study, the more I applaud the authors for the creative, succinct ways they hook our hearts and engage our imaginations.

In particular, as I discuss here, they deftly use a variety of literary tools—including similes (introduced by “as” and “like”), metaphors, and the pronoun “who”—to add color, character, and meaning to the biblical story. Here are some examples:

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Danzig obituary

IN MEMORIAM: Rabbi Neil Danzig, scholar who unlocked mysteries of the Talmud, dies at 74. Longtime professor of rabbinics at Jewish Theological Seminary explored writings of the Geonim, the Jewish leaders and scholars during the late sixth to mid-11th centuries (Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTA via Times of Israel).

JTA — Rabbi Neil Danzig, a longtime professor of rabbinics at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York and an authority on the post-Talmudic Babylonian scholars known as the Geonim, died July 4. He was 74.

A longtime resident of Teaneck, New Jersey, he was buried in Israel.

As a scholar of medieval rabbinic literature, Danzig explored the halachic, or Jewish legal, writings of the Geonim, the Jewish leaders and scholars during the late sixth to mid-11th centuries in what is now Iraq. The Geonim secured the Babylonian Talmud as the central canonical work of rabbinic literature.

[...]

Background here.

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A purple dye factory or fish-salting facility at Tel Dor?

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: Eating Salted Fish in Roman Judea. Reinterpreting Tel Dor’s purple dye factory (Nathan Steinmeyer).

This essay summarizes an open-access article published in the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology:

A Roman Fish-Processing Facility at Tel Dor, Israel: Reinterpreting the Roman ‘Purple Dye Factory’

Jackson T. Reecea The Department of Anthropology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA, Thomas Levy, Anthony Tamberino, Alexandra Ratzlaff, Marko Runjajić & Assaf Yasur-LandauO
Published online: 14 Jul 2025
Cite this article https://doi.org/10.1080/10572414.2025.2518959

ABSTRACT

In this article we suggest that the Roman industrial complex on the coast of Tel Dor in Israel, previously interpreted as a purple dye factory, should be reinterpreted as a cetaria of similar scale to those in the western Mediterranean. We use analogous evidence from cetariae in Spain and Morocco to support this new interpretation. The identification of the Tel Dor fish-processing facility sheds new light on the participation of Dor in the globalisation of the Roman Mediterranean economy.

Cross-file under Culinary Archaeology.

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Mendels, A Hellenistic Ethical Lexicon (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

A Hellenistic Ethical Lexicon

Three Hundred and Seven Rules of Conduct of Expanding Empires

Doron Mendels (Author)

Hardback
$120.00 $108.00

Ebook (PDF)
$108.00 $86.40

Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
$108.00 $86.40

In stock

Product details

Published Jul 10 2025
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 160
ISBN 9780567718273
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series Jewish and Christian Texts
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

Building on his previous work on Hellenistic Interstate Political Ethics (T&T Clark, 2022) leading historian Doron Mendels presents three hundred interstate ethical rules of conduct which he has discovered within three reconstructed Hellenistic codes. These codes appear in the work of three major Hellenistic historical writers, with Mendels also adding remarks that appear in The Letter of Aristeas.

Mendels has formulated these – probably originally oral – rules embedded within the historical narratives using a mixture of statements by rulers and other actors concerning interstate relationships, historical events which point to ethical behaviour of states and/or their breach, as well as related thoughts of the historians themselves regarding interstate encounters. The result is a comprehensive catalogue of ethical rules referring to behaviour on the international scene, which include not only rules but also a lexicon of moral terms borrowed from the individual ethical scenarios. The volume constitutes a significant addition to knowledge of the Hellenistic era in the 3rd-1st centuries BC, the universe against which Judaism and early Christianity operated.

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A fifth-century West Bank church was not burned down.

INCENDIARY? Israel Police finds no damage to Christian church after false claims of arson by Jewish settlers draw broad condemnation. US Amb Huckabee & Sen. Graham had condemned incident in Samaria (All Israel News Staff).

The Israel Police announced Monday that, contrary to previous reports, the Church of Saint George in the Christian village of Tabyeh was not damaged by a nearby fire.

"Contrary to misleading reports, no damage was caused to the Church of Saint George in Taybeh. The fire was limited to an adjacent open area, not the holy site. Emergency services received reports from local residents, including both Israelis and one Palestinian caller," the police stated.

Noting that they have started a "thorough investigation", the Police statement added, "If arson is confirmed, justice will be pursued regardless of race or background. Due process is based on facts, not headlines."

[...]

I have been following this story for a while, trying to piece together what actually happened from conflicting reports.

Briefly, on 7 and or 8 July, there was a fire in a field adjacent to the stone ruins of the fifth-century Church of Saint George in Taybeh, on the West Bank. Apparently there was another fire in the same vicinity on the 11th. Contrary to some reports, the church was not damaged. Jewish settlers were accused of starting the fires, but so far I have not seen any evidence advanced for who, if anyone, set them. The fires are under investigation. If they were arson, the perpetrators need to be brought to justice.

I am pretty sure that these specifics are correct. I am not certain of exactly how many fires were involved. The above article has the most detailed account I could find of the current state of the story. It includes photographic and video evidence and more details. But the story remains in some flux.

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Biblical archaeology, interrupted

ONCE AGAIN: War Interrupts Biblical Archaeology. Israel-Iran conflict stalled excavation efforts, forcing international teams to flee (GORDON GOVIER, Christianity Today).

Conflict in the Middle East has once again had the unintended effect of stalling efforts to excavate biblical history. Across Israel, digs were canceled when war broke out in mid-June. Though the war between Israel and Iran lasted only 12 days, it came in the middle of the dig season, when weather conditions and schedules align for archaeological work.

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Crossan Festschrift (Cascade)

NEW BOOK FROM WIPF AND STOCK (CASCADE):

Adventures of an Itinerant Imagination
Essays Celebrating John Dominic Crossan on His Ninetieth Birthday

by Bernard Brandon Scott
Series: Westar Studies

Imprint: Cascade Books
340 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 x 0.68 in

Paperback
9798385249503
Published: June 2025
$41.00 / £30.00 / AU$63.00

eBook
9798385249527
Published: June 2025
$41.00 / £34.99 / AU$59.99

DESCRIPTION

John Dominic Crossan is the most important scholar on the historical Jesus since David Fredrick Strauss in the nineteenth century. Both his scholarly The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant (1991) and the more popular Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography (1994) made the bestsellers list. But the scope of his work goes well beyond the historical Jesus to studies on the death of Jesus and anti-Semitism, Christianity and empire, archaeology, the apostle Paul the Pharisee, and recently apocalyptic and the environment. He addresses both scholarly and popular audiences, ancient sources and contemporary concerns. The essays in this volume explore and access the range of his work for his various audiences. Some of the essays are scholarly in tone, while others are quite personal. A feature of this book is Crossan's complete curriculum vitae.

Congratulations to Professor Crossan, who is now in his tenth decade (b. 1934).

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New photos of P52

VARIANT READINGS: New Images of P52 (Brent Nongbri).

For P52, a very early papyrus fragment of the Gospel of John held by the Rylands Library in Manchester, and the debate over its exact date, see here and links.

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Redfield, Adventures of Rabbah and Friends (SBL)

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

Adventures of Rabbah and Friends: The Talmud's Strange Tales and Their Readers
James Adam Redfield

ISBN 9781967013036
Volume BJS 374
Status Available
Publication Date June 2025

Paperback $50.00
eBook $50.00
Hardback $82.00

Adventures of Rabbah & Friends offers a new reader-centered approach to some of the Talmud’s most challenging stories. James Adam Redfield illustrates how these tales have interacted with diverse interpretive frameworks from ancient myth to modern mysticism. By reevaluating conventional assumptions about coherence, authority, and tradition, the book redefines how stories can function in the Talmud, reorients the study of rabbinic literature around practices of reading and reception, and opens pathways for connecting the Talmud with broader conversations in the study of literature. Redfield’s analysis of the vibrant dialogue between many voices in this literary tradition—storytellers, editors, performers, transmitters, commentators, anthologizers, and more—reveals their diverse and original contributions to the art of interpretation in Jewish culture. Rich appendixes revealing the stories’ reception in late ancient exegesis, medieval responsa, and early modern ethical and mystical commentaries make this volume a valuable specialist resource, while its lively prose is accessible for a wider audience of students and humanities scholars.

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