NEH SUMMER SEMINAR IN ARAMAIC:

Aramaic in Post-Biblical Judaism and Early Christianity

NEH Summer Seminar
June 14-July 23, 2004
Duke University

In this six-week seminar, participants will study the Aramaic language and literature of post-biblical Judaism and early Christianity. In the mornings, participants will receive intensive instruction in three dialects of Aramaic: Jewish Literary Aramaic of first-century Judea and Qumran, Jewish Palestinian Aramaic of Galilee in the third century and later, and Syriac, used extensively in Eastern Christianity. The Seminar is structured so that participants, upon successful completion, will have mastered at least one dialect for use in their personal research.

In the evenings, there will be seminars discussing the literature written in these dialects and analyzing how that literature can be used in historical and religious studies of ancient Judaism and Christianity. Topics will include: Dead Sea Scrolls, Bar Kokhba, synagogue and ossuary inscriptions, the language of Jesus, Targums and Peshitta, rabbinic literature, and Dura Europos, as well as Ephrem and Aphrahat. One week will be devoted to seminars on the history and development of the Aramaic language.

The six-week program will be organized to give participants support to do original research in Aramaic on a topic of their choice and to compose a publishable paper on it.

The organizers and principal teachers are: Eric M. Meyers, Paul V.M. Flesher, and Lucas Van Rompay.

Guest teachers and seminar leaders: Michael Sokoloff, Bar Ilan University (Israel); Douglas Gropp, Catholic University of America; Hayim Lapin, University of Maryland; Tina Shepardson, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Participants will be selected from applicants who have completed their doctoral dissertation. Knowledge of Hebrew as well as elementary knowledge of (any type of) Aramaic are a prerequisite. Successful applicants will receive a stipend of $3700.

For application information, please contact:

Nancy Hurtgen
Department of Religion
NEH Seminar
Box 90964
Duke University
Durham, NC 27708-0964
919/660-3500
nhurtgen@duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/web/nehdas

SORRY FOR THE LIGHT BLOGGING. I spent more than nine hours at the UCSD Library yesterday and lugged home about nine hundred photocopied pages (to go with the 175 from San Diego State from last week). I have no idea how I'm going to fit it all in our luggage. The last two weeks have been very busy and the last several days especially stressful. I have lots of things lined up to post but very little time for posting. Bear with me.

THE ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTRY has been accused by the Antiquties Authority of damaging a Christian archaeological site - a 1500-year-old Byzantine monastery - during the contruction of the controversial security barrier. It denies the charge.

FURTHER TO MY POST BELOW on favorite Jesus movies, Mark Goodacre likes Jesus Christ Superstar the best - unless we allow The Life of Brian, which is really a satire of first-century Jewish messianism rather than a Jesus movie per se. If we're including The Life of Brian, I would put it second. Very funny and very quotable: "That halibut was fit for Jehovah!" "Romans go home!" "Crucifixion? Yes. Good!" "Bloody favoritism!" And so on.

HERE'S NEWS ON SOME SYRIAC INCANTATIONS from Kurdistan, located at Harvard University and being edited by John Brolley, a scholar at the University of Cincinnati.

TODAY IS SIMCHAT TORAH (also spelled "Simkhat," "Simhat," or "Simchas").

"WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE 'JESUS' MOVIE?"

LATER: I think my favorite is The Last Temptation of Christ, because I like its development of "Gnostic" themes (follow the link for some details). Which ones do other history bloggers like best? And why?

THE WORLD MONUMENT FUND has released a list of the one hundred most endangered archaeological sites. Ten of them are in the Middle East. (Scroll down and - mostly - up to see the other ninety. Via Archaeology Magazine News.)

MEDITATIONS ON THE TEMPLE LIBRARY for Simchat Torah (which is coming up on Sunday).

FOLLOW THE LINK for some images from the "Dead Sea Scrolls to the Hidden Book" exhibit in Dallas (heads-up, Stephen Goranson).

HEBREW POSITION AT PENN STATE (via G-Megillot):

Rank-open
Penn State is seeking candidates for a rank-open, tenure-line appointment in Hebrew. Tenure-track or tenured according to rank and qualifications. Starting date: August 2004 preferred. Ph.D. in Hebrew, Comparative Literature, Near Eastern Studies, Jewish Studies, or related field, and relevant teaching experience required. Candidates must have broad knowledge of the Hebrew language: areas of further specialization and research program may include (but are not limited to) Classical, Rabbinic or Modern Hebrew, comparative approaches to Hebrew texts (including ancient, medieval, and/or modern), comparative Semitics, classical Hebrew elements in later literatures, literatures of the diaspora and Israel, Israelite or Jewish texts, parshanut or Jewish thought. Ability to teach Hebrew at all levels of the curriculum required. Knowledge of additional languages a plus. The successful candidate will help direct and develop our Hebrew language curriculum. S/he will hold an appointment in the Jewish Studies Program, with a tenure home, as appropriate, in the Department of Comparative Literature or the Department of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies or another unit. Salary competitive. Our tenure-track teaching load is 4 courses per year (2 per semester). Applications received by November 17, 2003, will receive full consideration; however, all applications will be considered until the position is filled. Send letter, c.v., and names and addresses of 3 references to Chair, Hebrew Search Committee, c/o Cindy Bierly, Box CB, Department of Comparative Literature, 311 Burrowes Building, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 USA. Applications may also be sent by email to or by Fax to (814) 863-8882. Penn State is committed to Affirmative Action, equal opportunity, and the diversity of its workforce.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cindy Bierly (cqb2@psu.edu)
Administrative Assistant I
School of Languages and Literatures
College of the Liberal Arts
311 Burrowes Building
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802-6203
(814) 865-1168
FAX: (814) 863-8882
http://www.la.psu.edu

MEL GIBSON'S MOVIE RENAMED: it's now The Passion of Christ.

HERE'S AN ACCOUNT of a visit to the reputed tombs of the prophet Nahum and his sister in an Aramaic-speaking Christian town in Iraq.

HERE'S A COMPLETE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE PSALMS TARGUM by the well known Aramaist and Qumranologist Edward Cook.

THE "PETRA: LOST CITY OF STONE" EXHIBIT at the American Museum of Natural History opens Saturday (via Rogue Classicism).

AN EARLY PAPYRUS FRAGMENT OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN has become the subject of a big lawsuit.

JESUS IN THE TALMUD: Mel Gibson's The Passion and Sanhedrin 43a have been generating some debate among Jews, started by an article by Steven Bayme. The article has been taken down, but you can read the Google cache copy here. More rabbinic passages that deal with Jesus, or may deal with him, can be found at Alan Humm's Ancient Jewish Accounts of Jesus website. The Talmud, of course, gives no new useful historical information about Jesus but, for what it's worth, it does tell us what kind of spin Babylonian rabbis c. 400 C.E. wanted to put on the Jesus story. How much should that inform the current discussion? I blog, you decide.

PRETTY QUIET on the PaleoJudaic front in the media, and I'm pretty busy here, but ancient Aramaic is represented in the current news by roundup articles on Mel Gibson's The Passion and the San Antonio Vocal Arts Ensemble.

AN ISRAELITE HOUSE IN 12TH CENTURY B.C.E. EGYPT? Maybe. Does it prove the Exodus happened? No. (Via Archaeologica News.)

THE UNOFFICIAL "GENEVA ACCORDS" would grant sovereignty of the Temple Mount to the Palestinians. According to the New York Times:

On another delicate issue, the plan calls for the Palestinians to have ultimate control over Jerusalem's most important and contested holy site, the mosque compound in East Jerusalem, called the Noble Sanctuary by Muslims. Israel would relinquish its claim of sovereignty over the site, which Jews call the Temple Mount. Israel would keep full control of the Western Wall, the Jewish place of prayer that borders the compound.

More here in the Guardian.

Sorry for the light posting lately. Family things are not leaving much time for blogging.