CONGRATULATIONS TO DR. SEBASTIAN P. BROCK, who has received The Leverhulme Medal for Humanities and Social Sciences from the British Academy:

2009: Dr Sebastian Brock FBA, Emeritus Reader in Syriac Studies, University of Oxford, nd Emeritus Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford

The Aramaic language is attested over a period of some three thousand years. Already in the late pre-Christian centuries it began to develop into a number of separate dialects, some used especially by Jewish writers and others, in particular Syriac, by Christians. Sebastian Brock is the world’s leading expert in this whole vast field, although his most distinctive contribution has been in the world of the Syriac-speaking communities. In detailed and wide-ranging studies alike, he has opened up whole areas of the history of Syriac liturgy, poetry, theological writing and more. In addition, he has been at the forefront in the publication and evaluation of manuscripts in the monastery collections of Egypt, Turkey and the Levant. His deep sympathy with the traditions of these threatened and increasingly dispersed communities has helped keep these ancient forms of spirituality alive both academically and culturally on a worldwide basis.

A well deserved honor indeed. Dr. Brock's web page is here.

(Via David G. K. Taylor on the Hugoye list.)

SUKKOT (the Festival of Booths or Tabernacles) begins this evening at sundown. Best wishes to all those celebrating.

SOME BACKGROUND to the acquisition of Dead Sea Scrolls fragments by Azusa Pacific University:

Yucaipan brings scrolls to Azusa Pacific
Joy Juedes, Staff Writer
Posted: 10/01/2009 11:25:42 PM PDT

By JOY JUEDES

Staff Writer [RedlandsDailyFacts]

Robert Duke's road to Israel and the Dead Sea Scrolls winds through Yucaipa.

Duke, who grew up in Yucaipa, was attending a blood drive at a Yucaipa church. He had studied in Israel and was teaching at Yucaipa Christian School.

At the blood drive, he ended up next to John Malone, a Redlands resident and member of the Yucaipa Rotary Club. The two men struck up a conversation.

"He asked if I would like to go back to school, and I said yes, and he told me about Rotary's Ambassadorial Scholarship," Duke said.

Rotary paid for Duke to study in Jerusalem for a year, where he continued to fall in love with biblical history - the Dead Sea Scrolls, in particular.
Azusa Pacific University professor Robert Duke, middle, with students at the Sea of Galilee last year. (Courtesy photo)

Now, Duke has helped bring the scrolls to Azusa Pacific University.

Duke, assistant professor in the Azusa School of Theology's Division of Religion and Philosophy, spent most of the summer confirming the authenticity of the five scroll fragments the university recently acquired.

[...]

There follows some personal background on Professor Duke. Then more on the Scrolls:

Azusa acquired four of the scroll fragments from Biondi Rare Books and Manuscripts in Venice, Calif. The fifth came from Legacy Ministries International in Phoenix.

"Ninety percent are in Israel or Jordan, and then there are these fragments that are in private collections," Duke said.

Duke said it is difficult to get ancient artifacts out of their countries of origin because of international rules and a recent antiquity fraud scandal at the Getty Museum.

Azusa Pacific is the third institution of higher education in the country, besides Princeton Theological Seminary and the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago, to own original Dead Sea Scroll fragments.

"That's a great group of schools to be on the list with," Duke said.

"Bobby will play a critical role (in work with the scrolls)," said Kenneth Waters, associate dean of the School of Theology's Division of Religion and Philosophy.

"He is a young scholar but has already established himself as an authoritative source of information on the Hebrew Bible and other ancient Middle Eastern documents like the Dead Sea Scrolls," Waters said.

Duke said when he first saw digital photos of the fragments, he was struck by how genuine they looked.

"I spent a few months poring over photos, going to the seller to make sure they were authentic," he said.

"Some of it is just looking at lettering - they look like what other scrolls look like that came out of Qumran or other caves," he said.

The seller also provided carbon dating information, which helps verify age, he said.

"By looking at it and comparing with other fragments it was pretty clear we were handling the real material," he said.

Azusa's special collections staff is in charge of handling, preservation, and access to the fragments. The school also checked to make sure the fragments were not illegally owned at some point.

Staff "networked with other libraries and museums in Southern California to assure that APU is storing the fragments properly," Duke wrote in an e-mail.

"The last time I saw the fragments, they were being kept between sheets of glass with no potential for oils or residues from hands to come in contact with them," he wrote.

[...]

Background here.

ROBERT R. CARGILL wants Christians to give up the BC/AD dating terminology at Bible and Interpretation:

Why Christians Should Adopt the BCE/CE Dating System

By Robert R. Cargill
Center for the Digital Humanities,
Qumran Visualization Project

UCLA

September 2009

I have heard every argument. I have read every justification. And I have spent far too much time on Wikipedia changing BCs and ADs back to BCEs and CEs. It is a centuries-old argument that some maintain is integral to one’s identity as a Christian. Despite the rise of science, Christians have used—and many times have insisted upon—the continued use of the labels “AD” and “BC” to designate calendrical years, and thereby portray human history as directly relative to the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. But in our modern world of scientific reason and religious plurality, the battle over whether or not to use the increasingly accepted international scientific standard of BCE (“Before Common Era”) and CE (“Common Era”) has not waned, but rather has intensified. However, it is time for this battle to end; Christians should leave behind the BC/AD labels and adopt the BCE/CE dating system for all calendrical references.

[...]

I can't say I've encountered anyone lately who defends the AD/BC system anymore, but presumably I don't move in the right circles. I completely agree with Robert, although I doubt that anyone who doesn't will be persuaded by his arguments.

Some other random thoughts. First, the objection to Xmas for Christmas (which I have heard) is particularly pathetic in that the X stands for the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of "Christ" in Greek and is just a convenient abbreviation. Second, the argument that Jesus must have been born by 4 BCE at the latest depends, as Robert notes, on the assumption that Matthew's story that connects Herod the Great with Jesus is historical, an assumption that warrants considerable skepticism. In fact, all we know is that Jesus was an adult around 30 CE. Luke says he was about 30 when he began his ministry (3:23). But John has Jesus' opponents say to him that "you are not yet fifty years old" (8:57), which strikes me as a little odd to say to a man in his early thirties and which may imply that John thought he was older. We just don't know when Jesus was born. Third, despite EU directives and the like, I'm not particularly sympathetic to the position that the decimal Metric system should be compulsory for all uses. It's much better than the Imperial system for scientific and engineering purposes, but the duodecimal Imperial system is better for other purposes such as cooking and sewing, which require thirds and quarters and such.

The main argument for the use of BCE/CE is that it gives us all a convenient secular system to use for secular historical purposes. But even this is a Eurocentric argument, in that it is still a convention based on an event important for Christians and requires, for example, Muslims to recalculate completely the dates in their own system. But it's an improvement over BC/AD.

NEW SCROLLS FOR OLD: The Dead Sea Scrolls on exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum will be swapped on 10 October for eight other scrolls, one of which includes the Ten Commandments.

Background to the exhibition is here.

CONFERENCE:

Next year's "Use of the Old Testemant in the New" seminar will take place at St Deiniol's Library, Hawarden, N.Wales from Thurs 18 March to Sat 20th. The all inclusive cost will be around £140. Offers of papers (45 min or 30 min) to Steve Moyise (s.moyise@chi.ac.uk) by Dec 15th.

From the British New Testament Society list.

A GOLEM COIN? Actually it's a coin in honor of Rabbi Judah Loew of Prague, but the Golem is on it:

Czech Coin Honors Saintly Rabbi

by Hillel Fendel

(IsraelNN.com) Yet another Czech commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the death of the prominent Jewish scholar Rabbi Judah Loew of Prague: a silver 200 Kc coin.

Known as the Maharal of Prague, Rabbi Judah died on the 18th day of the Hebrew month of Elul in 1609, corresponding to Sept. 7. The Czech government jumped the gun by issuing the commemorative coin nearly three months earlier. One face features a composition of four Stars of David of various sizes on which are written years in which pogroms occurred against the Jewish population in the Czech lands.

... The Maharal is possibly best known for the story of the Golem – a clay man that he is said to have turned into a living being.

Unique Design: Reversed Texts
The new coin, 3.1 cm in diameter, features a very unique design on its reverse side: a silhouette of the Golem, in between Hebrew passages of Talmudic texts – printed backwards, the official Czech numismatics site explains, in order to express a “look back through history generally and the history of the Jewish community in the Czech lands in particular.”

[...]

Golem background is here.

THE MILWAUKEE PUBLIC MUSEUM is hosting a Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition next year which will include the Vision of Gabriel inscription:

Dead Sea Scrolls at last coming to Milwaukee Public Museum

By Jackie Loohauis-Bennett of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Sept. 30, 2009

After years of international negotiations, the Milwaukee Public Museum has announced that its exhibit of the legendary Dead Sea Scrolls will open on Jan. 22.

"Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible: Ancient Artifacts, Timeless Treasures" is the largest temporary exhibit ever produced by the museum, with more than 200 artifacts.

The show pulls together authentic Dead Sea Scroll fragments, illustrated manuscripts and archaeological findings from Israel, Jordan, France, England, Switzerland and the United States. The scroll segments and other texts in the Milwaukee exhibit have shed new light on the history of two religions: Judaism and Christianity.

"These are the greatest treasures of humankind," said Milwaukee Public Museum president Dan Finley. "You can't put a value on these words. These words changed the world."

The scroll fragments coming here contain parts of the earliest known texts of the Hebrew Bible - the Christian Old Testament - and some texts in the exhibit contain tantalizing references to a Messiah figure.

The exhibit also features pages from the oldest existing version of the Hebrew Masoretic text, as well as pages from hand-copied medieval Bibles and early printed Bibles, including the Gutenberg Bible.

Exhibit highlights include:

•  A fragment of the Copper Scroll, a one-of-a-kind scroll written on deteriorating metal that took scholars more than four years to cut open and translate.

•  A fragment of a version of the book of Daniel dating from between 50 B.C. and A.D. 50. This is its first display in any exhibit of Dead Sea Scrolls.

• A fragment from Ecclesiastes dating from the second century B.C.

•  The recently discovered Jeselsohn Stone with a late first century B.C. text called "Gabriel's Revelation," an apocalyptic prophecy attributed to the Angel Gabriel. The text speaks of a Messiah called Simon who will rise from the dead after three days. An exhibit label reads that this text is "interpreted by some that the story of Jesus' death and resurrection was not unique but part of a recognized Jewish tradition at the time. However, the translation 'after three days' is uncertain."

[...]

Earlier brief notes of the exhibition are here and (presumably) here. Background to the Vision of Gabriel is here and here.

NEW ARTICLES ETC. AT THE JOURNAL OF HEBREW SCRIPTURES. Ehud Ben Zvi e-mails:

Dear all,

I am glad to announce the publication of the following article in the Journal of Hebrew Scriptures (http://www.jhsonline.org)

Journal of Hebrew Scriptures - Volume 9: Article 22 (2009)

Karolien Vermeulen,To See or Not To See. The Polysemy of the Word עין in the Isaac Narratives (Gen 17-35)

Abstract

This article discusses the polysemy of the word עין in the Isaac narratives (Gen 17-35). The word’s given ambivalent nature is exploited on every level. It fits the major themes in the Isaac story as well as the small nuances in individual sentences. As such it illustrates the potential power of polysemy and its multiple, so to say polysemous, role in biblical narrative.

Those who wish to access this article directly may go to http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/JHS/Articles/article_124.pdf

Journal of Hebrew Scriptures - Volume 9: Article 21 (2009)

Aron Pinker

Intrusion of Ptolemaic Reality on Cultic Practices in Qoh 4:17

Abstract

A new interpretation is offered for Qoh 4:17 that highlights the Sitz im Leben of the Ptolemaic regime. Qoh 4:17, though couched in cultic terms and with a Temple setting, contains allusions to the Ptolemaic reality of spies and informers who helped the Ptolemaic administration exact heavy taxes. It is shown that this dual level (cultic and non-cultic) meaning persists in the unit Qoh 4:17-5:6.

Those who wish to access this article directly may go to http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/JHS/Articles/article_123.pdf

Review Article:

Journal of Hebrew Scriptures - Volume 9 (2009) - Review Article

Jeremy M Hutton, Deuteronomistic History or Histories?: New Approaches to Deuteronomy-Kings. A review article of: Markus Witte, Konrad Schmid, Doris Prechel and Jan Christian Gertz, eds., with assistance from Johannes F. Diehl. Die deuteronomistischen Geschichtswerke: Redaktions- und religionsgeschichtliche Perspektiven zur “Deuteronomismus”-Diskussion in Tora und Vorderen Propheten.

To access this review article directly please go to http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/JHS/reviews/reviews_new/review398.htm

Reviews:

Becking, Bob and Dirk Human, eds, Exile and Suffering: A Selection of Papers Read at the 50th Anniversary Meeting of the Old Testament Society of South Africa OTWSA/OTSSA, Pretoria, August 2007 (Oudtestamentische Studiën 50; Leiden: Brill, 2009). (Reviewed by Adam Oliver Stokes).

Römer Thomas (ed.), The Books of Leviticus and Numbers (BETL 215; Leuven: Peeters, 2008). (Reviewed by Viktor Golinets)

To access reviews (and review articles) please go to http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/JHS/reviews/reviews_vol.html

Note: Readers will notice the new visual version of the reviews. We think that the new version is not only "easier in the eyes" but also far more print-friendly. All the reviews in vol. 9 are now in the new visual format. Any comments you may have about this new version are welcome. Please send them to m. I wish to thank Ms. Melanie Marvin who made the shift to the new version possible and who worked tireless in this project. Thank you, Melanie.

Forthcoming:
An article, a review article and several reviews will be published soon. We anticipate that the hypertext version of the entire vol 8 (2008) be ready in about month time.
---------------

We anticipate to have an hypertext version of vol. 8 (2008) by November 2009. The printed publication of volume 8 (2008) will (hopefully) be ready by November as well. For information on the printed version published by Gorgias of vol. 7 (2007) please go to http://www.gorgiaspress.com/bookshop/p-56292-ben-zvi-ehud-perspectives-on-hebrew-scriptures-iv.aspx

At that page you will find also links to the printed versions of vols 1-6 of the Journal.

For information about the Logos version of the Journal (vols. 1-7), please go to http://www.logos.com/products/details/4336

Regards,

Ehud

Ehud Ben Zvi
History and Classics
University of Alberta
2-28 HM Tory Building
Edmonton AB Canada T6G 2H4



** This communication is intended for the use of the recipient to whom it is addressed, and may contain confidential, personal, and/or privileged information. Please contact me immediately if you are not the intended recipient of this communication, and do not copy, distribute, or take action relying on it. Any communication received in error, or subsequent reply, should be deleted or destroyed.**



_______________________________________________
Jhs-list mailing list
Jhs-list@mailman.srv.ualberta.ca
http://www.mailman.srv.ualberta.ca/mailman/listinfo/jhs-list

BARUCH HALPERN is interviewed about the Ark of the Covenant by PhysOrg.com:

Probing Question: Is the Ark of the Covenant real?
September 24th, 2009 By Solmaz Barazesh

When you hear the words "Ark of the Covenant" what comes to mind? For some, Steven Spielberg’s film "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark" provides the most vivid pop-culture reference to this mysterious sacred object.

The quest to find the real Ark has inspired generations of adventurers and Hollywood directors, but the trail has always gone cold.

"Different people will give you different answers to that question," said Baruch Halpern, Penn State professor of ancient history, classics and ancient Mediterranean studies, and religious studies. "The Ark is a regular feature in the Old Testament, making several appearances in the first five books of the Bible. There are many consistent references to the Ark, and when you add it all up, it seems like the Ark was a real article."

[...]

It seems plausible enough that some such object was in the first Temple. Similar cherub throne iconography survives from Phoenician contexts (e.g., here; actual miniature cherub thrones, presumably meant to seat an image of the god, survive as well).

Halpern does a good job of gently tamping down the more wild speculations on the Ark. His conclusion is good:

In some ways, the story of the Ark is similar to other Judeo-Christian religious relics such as the Shroud of Turin and Noah’s Ark, Halpern said. "You have to remember why this scripture was written in the first place, and see the Ark’s symbolic power to people as a sacred object. If you try to over-explain it, you lose the power of the story."

For the Ark of the Covenant, see here. There's more on Professor Halpern here and here.

UPDATE (29 September): Dead link fixed. Sorry!

YOM KIPPUR (the Day of Atonement) begins this evening at sundown. A healthy fast to all observing it.

MORE DEBATE about the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum: Hebrew Bible scholar John Van Seters and Scrolls specialist Larry Schiffman are quoted in a review of the exhibition in The Record.

In April, the Palestinian Authority officials sent a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper asking that the exhibition be cancelled.

They challenge the Israel Antiquities Authority’s right to display materials removed from Palestinian territories, alleging at least four international conventions and protocols addressing the treatment of cultural goods, agreements to which Israel and Canada are signatories, are being violated.

The controversy sparked at least two protests in front of the museum calling for a boycott of Israeli institutions in light of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

John Van Seters, a distinguished biblical scholar and professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina who is now living in Waterloo, said the protesters’ concerns must be taken seriously.

Van Seters doesn’t dispute the authenticity or importance of the scrolls. But some scholars, Van Seters included, believe such exhibitions shouldn’t be patronized.

“If they were taken, as the allegations suggest, from the . . . Palestine archeological museum in East Jerusalem, then they should be returned and they should not be sent out by Israel around the world to be put on display as being on loan from them,” he said.

“By accepting them and putting them on display, one only legitimizes and confirms the ownership of these materials that have been confiscated from their rightful owner.”

The Israel Antiquities Authority argues it is the custodian of the scrolls and has the right to display them.

And in response to the protests, the museum has posted a statement on its website indicating that the Israel Antiquities Authority has lent the scrolls to numerous libraries, galleries and museums, including the Vatican, during the past 20 years.

Lawrence Schiffman, a Dead Sea Scrolls scholar and professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University, said protesters are using the scrolls to advance a political argument.

The scrolls are a cultural treasure that should be shared, he added.

In past years people were in an uproar because those who controlled them didn’t share them.

“Now it has been published. And it’s being exhibited. And the world is being allowed to benefit from this important part of our culture,” Schiffman said.

Background here and keep following the links back.

COPTIC SCROLLS is an indy film currently casting in Kansas City:

Stinson McClendon, a local filmmaker, is holding auditions this weekend for his feature-length murder mystery, “Coptic Scrolls.”

McClendon, producer and director for Baby E Films, will hold the auditions from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and from 1:30 to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Southeast Community Center in Swope Park, 4201 E. 63rd St.

“Coptic Scrolls” will be controversial. The film questions the ethnicity of Jesus Christ and will examine how the revelation of Jesus’ background could stir the foundation of Christianity.

McClendon said: “My intention is not to give a history lesson. I’m a filmmaker, and my main objective is to tell an exciting and moving story.”

Sounds like fun, although the part about not giving a history lesson is ominous. In any case, I hope someone has told him that this sort of thing has been done before.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR BURYING THE GENIZA from Ask the Expert at the Jewish Telegraph. Excerpt:

Answer: It sounds like you're talking about burying the contents of a genizah, Linda. Genizah means "reserved" or "hidden" in Hebrew, and is traditionally a place where Jews store sacred documents when they fall out of use.

The Talmud (Shabbat 115a) stipulates that all sacred writings (scrolls of Torah, Prophets, and Writings), should be preserved in a place where they cannot be destroyed. Though this idea originally was closely tied to a prohibition from ever erasing God's name, Maimonides ruled that holy books, such as the Talmud and midrash, should be retired to the genizah as well, even though they do not contain God's name (Mishneh Torah, Hilhot Yesodei HaTorah 6:8).

For a long time, Jewish communities set aside a room in each synagogue exclusively for this purpose and called that space the genizah. Anything from a worn-out siddur to a contract written in Hebrew would be put in the genizah when it was no longer useful, and often ritual objects such as a tallit or a lulav were added as well.

Most synagogues now have a closet or a box where they collect used papers and ritual objects that are considered sacred. The general rule is that anything dealing with sacred subjects should be placed in a genizah rather than thrown out. An Israeli newspaper, though written in Hebrew, would not need to go in a genizah, but a Megillah that had been damaged would.

Most synagogues clean out their genizot every few years by burying the contents in a Jewish cemetery as a sign of reverence and respect. Some communities even have cemetery plots that have been donated expressly for the purpose of burying the genizah. It is considered a great sign of respect to bury a Torah scroll or other sacred work near a prestigious Torah scholar. However, you are welcome to bury your household genizah in your backyard, as long as it is done respectfully.

Fortunately, the keepers of the Cairo Geniza paid no attention to any of these instructions.

THAT ANGLO-SAXON GOLD HOARD whose discovery in Staffordshire, England, was announced yesterday contains a Latin inscription that quotes from the Vulgate Old Testament:

Huge Anglo-Saxon gold hoard found

(BBC)

The UK's largest haul of Anglo-Saxon treasure has been discovered buried in a field in Staffordshire.

Experts say the collection of 1,500 gold and silver pieces, which may date to the 7th Century, is unparalleled in size and worth "a seven-figure sum".

It has been declared treasure by South Staffordshire coroner Andrew Haigh, meaning it belongs to the Crown.

Terry Herbert, who found it on farmland using a metal detector, said it "was what metal detectorists dream of".

It could take more than a year for it to be valued.

The Staffordshire hoard contains about 5kg of gold and 2.5kg of silver, making it far bigger than the Sutton Hoo discovery in 1939 when 1.5kg of Anglo-Saxon gold was found near Woodbridge in Suffolk.

Leslie Webster, former keeper at the British Museum's Department of Prehistory and Europe, said: "This is going to alter our perceptions of Anglo-Saxon England as radically, if not more so, as the Sutton Hoo discoveries.

"(It is) absolutely the equivalent of finding a new Lindisfarne Gospels or Book of Kells."

The Book of Kells and Lindisfarne Gospels are intricately illuminated manuscripts of the four New Testament Gospels dating from the 9th and 8th Centuries.

[...]

The piece with the inscription is pictured in the article with the caption:

Anglo Saxon Gold
This gold strip carries the Latin inscription: "Rise up O Lord, and may thy enemies be dispersed and those who hate thee be driven from thy face." It has two sources, the Book of Numbers or Psalm 67, taken from the Vulgate, the Bible used by the Saxons.

A somewhat related item (the Irish bog Psalter) is discussed here.

JUNK HISTORY DAY! Haaretz rounds up recent daft notions about the Ark of the Covenant:

Dreamers of the lost ark
By Uzi Dann
Tags: Israel news, Ark, Bible

About three months ago, Abune (Father) Paulos, patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, announced that the time had come for him to reveal the answer to one of the greatest mysteries in the history of civilization: the whereabouts of the biblical Ark of the Covenant, ostensibly guarded for millennia in a church in Axum, Ethiopia. Prior to his visit to Rome and his audience with Pope Benedict XVI, the patriarch decided to announce, at a press conference with the head of the Roman Catholic Church, the public unveiling of the ark.

In any other century in human history, this would have been a cosmic event. However, at that time, the world was focused on the death of pop star Michael Jackson.

The fact that Paulos changed his mind 24 hours later - even someone who was sentenced to prison and exiled under the Derg military regime cannot always withstand the Church's pressure - destroyed, at least temporarily, any chances of discovering what happened to said ark, or of crossing off another theory regarding its location.

Alas.

I first became acquainted with Ethiopian beliefs and their connection to the Ark of the Covenant during a course in the late 1980s given by Dr. Steven Kaplan, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's department of African studies (which was since closed; there's no budget for frivolities). The course fired my imagination, and I vowed to learn more about the matter. Furthermore, I was troubled by what I learned in elementary school about the gross injustice suffered by naive Uzzah, who tried to prevent the ark from touching the ground and was immediately annihilated by God.

The Ethiopian Church is convinced that Ethiopia's kings are part of the Solomonic dynasty - i.e., descendants of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. The queen's visit to Solomon's bedroom resulted in Menelik, who later returned as a prince to visit his father in Jerusalem, whereupon he craftily "borrowed" the ark and its two tablets. According to Ethiopian tradition, it has been in Axum for the past 3,000 years.

For the Kebra Negast and notions about the Ark in Ethiopia, see here and keep following the links back

Steven Spielberg's "Raiders of the Lost Ark" is based on the theory that the Pharaoh Shishak, who captured Palestine in the 10th century B.C.E., took the ark back to Egypt, where it was buried with the pharaohs.

Raiders is the most tolerable of the lot, in that it doesn't pretend to be anything other than entertaining fiction. The Kebra Negast is pretty innocuous too. It's the modern ones that claim to be real which irritate me.

If we can believe the "Kebra Nagast," the chronicle of Ethiopia's kings written in 1210, or a story floated in a Hollywood movie with no historical basis - why not also give some credence to the biblical narrative?

In 2 Chronicles, we read how more than 300 years after Solomon and Shishak, King Josiah returns the ark to the Temple in Jerusalem. The Bible sadly reports that when the First Temple was destroyed, Nebuchadnezzar's soldiers demolished the ark, perhaps even melting it down and reusing its gold.

Predictably, no passage is cited. And understandably, in that there is no such passage in the Bible. (Not that I doubt that that's what happened to the Ark.) In the Bible we last hear of the Ark in an enigmatic passage in the book of Jeremiah, discussed here.

However, quasi-biblical works contain more uplifting narratives. In the Book of Maccabees, included in the Apocrypha ("external writings") for political reasons, we learn that after the Temple's destruction, God commanded Jeremiah to bury the ark in a secret cave on Mount Nebo. The exact location of this cave, the site of Moses' grave, is unknown. Undoubtedly, Mount Nebo's inclusion in the Hashemite kingdom is part of the divine plan. Had it been in Israel, the mountain would have been privatized, a franchise would have been issued for excavations and a scandalous entrance fee would be charged - probably a two-for-the-price-of-one deal.

The reference is 2 Maccabees 2:4-8.

According to another narrative, the ark was removed from Jerusalem before the city was destroyed, and ended up in the Jewish community on Elephantine Island in Aswan (some Ethiopians argue it was thereafter transported to Axum). Some people believe the Temple's priests buried the ark before Jerusalem's destruction, which would mean it's under the Dome of the Rock (as if we need more headaches!).

I've not heard of a connection with Elephantine (on which, see here, here and here) before.

Wendell Jones, who believes he was the inspiration for the character of Indiana Jones, is an American archaeologist who excavated Qumran with Israel's leading archaeologists. A few years ago, he claimed he had found the ark in that site, near the Dead Sea, and he promised to reveal it on Tisha B'Av, the Jewish fast day commemorating the destruction of both temples. Only Arutz Sheva (a radio station primarily serving West Bank settlers) took his declaration seriously. Meanwhile, there are some eccentric Europeans who believe that when the Crusaders returned from the Holy Land, they hid the ark somewhere on their grandmother's estate.

On Vendyl Jones, see here. To be fair, he didn't quite say this. I don't know anything about those Europeans.

The most captivating explanation also comes from Africa: The Lemba tribe, who believe they are descendants of Jews, tell stories of a holy box called the Ngoma Lungundu (literally, the voice of God), which came with their ancestors from Yemen to the Great Empire of Zimbabwe. Prof. Tudor Parfitt of the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies discovered that the box's size and shape match the ark's description, that it was not supposed to touch the ground, and that the Lemba tribe brought it to the battlefield, where it usually changed the course of war. A large clan within the tribe, the Buba clan, has a gene characteristic of the Kohanim (descendants of Aaron).

Lemba tradition holds that the ark self-destructed when the Great Zimbabwe kingdom collapsed, and a wooden copy of it was made. The copy was discovered in a cave in 1940 and is now in a museum in Harare.

Food for thought.

Years after my class at Hebrew University, I traveled to Axum to visit the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, which is actually a complex of buildings, some of which are open only to men, and one of which, Chapel of the Tablet, is open only to priests. A monk guards the ark in the chapel's sanctum sanctorum - it's a lifetime job. No one but this monk can see the ark. Most people who try to sneak a glimpse are stopped at the gate by guards bearing large sticks and rocks to fend off troublesome children and curious foreigners. You can try getting past them, but then you will confront a soldier with a loaded Kalashnikov. Like the others, I could not get past him.

For Tudor Parfitt, the Lemba, and the Ark, see here and follow the background link.

For those who believe in the New Testament and the Gospel of John, God will miraculously return the ark to the Temple when Jesus' Second Coming occurs. However, under the safe assumption that this will not happen, the mystery remains intact. Meanwhile, one can make do with the twice-weekly, early-morning procession in Axum, when priests bring out a copy of the ark and thousands of believers, wearing white and bearing candles, march after it around the church's massive complex. A truly spiritual experience.

Once again no passage in the NT/Gospel of John is cited, and once again, this is because there is no such passage. It really is quite easy to find a Bible these days and check what it actually says. It's remarkable that so many journalists find this concept difficult.

UPDATE (28 September): More on the Ark here.

JUNK HISTORY DAY! The Wall Street Journal has an editorial about Palestinian denial of the Jewish Temple and the Jewish connection with Jerusalem:

Palestinian Leaders Deny Jerusalem's Past

By BARI WEISS

Jews have no history in the city of Jerusalem: They have never lived there, the Temple never existed, and Israeli archaeologists have admitted as much. Those who deny this are simply liars. Or so says Sheik Tayseer Rajab Tamimi, chief Islamic judge of the Palestinian Authority.

His claims, made last month, would be laughable if they weren't so common among Palestinians. Sheik Tamimi is only the latest to insist that, in his words, Jerusalem is solely "an Arab and Islamic city and it has always been so." His comments come on the heels of those by Shamekh Alawneh, a lecturer in modern history at Al Quds University. On an Aug. 11 PA television program, "Jerusalem—History and Culture," Mr. Alawneh argued that the Jews invented their connection to Jerusalem. "It has no historical roots," he said, adding that the Jews are engaging in "an attack on history, theft of culture, falsification of facts, erasure of the truth, and Judaization of the place."

As President Barack Obama and his foreign-policy team gear up to propose yet another plan for Israeli-Arab peace, they would do well to focus less on important but secondary issues like settlement growth, and instead notice that top Palestinian intellectual and political leaders deny basic truths about the region's most important city.

[...]

It's true: there is scant archaeological evidence of the First Temple. But not so for the Second Temple, which is accepted as historical fact by most archaeologists. From the Herodian period, aside from dozens of Jewish ritual baths surrounding the temple that have been uncovered, one retaining wall of the temple, the Western Wall, still stands.

[...]

Regarding the last paragraph, that would be "all archaeologists," not "most."

For the historical evidence for the existence of the second and first Temples on the Temple Mount, see here and here. This is of interest as well. For Shamekh Alawneh, see here. For the 1924 Waqf pamphlet, see here.

THE JUNK HISTORY FILE gets a new entry, once again from Egypt. MEMRI reports:

Leading Egyptian Daily 'Al-Ahram' Reports: Coins from Era of Biblical Joseph Found in Egypt

According to a report in the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram, by Wajih Al-Saqqar, archeologists have discovered ancient Egyptian coins bearing the name and image of the Biblical Joseph.

Following are excerpts from the article: [1]

"Koranic Verses Indicate Clearly That Coins Were Used in Egypt in the Time of Joseph"

"In an unprecedented find, a group of Egyptian researchers and archeologists has discovered a cache of coins from the time of the Pharaohs. Its importance lies in the fact that it provides decisive scientific evidence disproving the claim by some historians that the ancient Egyptians were unfamiliar with coins and conducted their trade through barter.

"The researchers discovered the coins when they sifted through thousands of small archeological artifacts stored in [the vaults of] the Museum of Egypt. [Initially] they took them for charms, but a thorough examination revealed that the coins bore the year in which they were minted and their value, or effigies of the pharaohs [who ruled] at the time of their minting. Some of the coins are from the time when Joseph lived in Egypt, and bear his name and portrait.

"There used to be a misconception that trade [in Ancient Egypt] was conducted through barter, and that Egyptian wheat, for example, was traded for other goods. But surprisingly, Koranic verses indicate clearly that coins were used in Egypt in the time of Joseph.

"Research team head Dr. Sa'id Muhammad Thabet said that during his archeological research on the Prophet Joseph, he had discovered in the vaults of the [Egyptian] Antiquities Authority and of the National Museum many charms from various eras before and after the period of Joseph, including one that bore his effigy as the minister of the treasury in the Egyptian pharaoh's court…

"Dr. Sa'id Thabet added that he had examined the sarcophagi of many pharaohs in search of coins used as charms or ornaments, and that he had indeed found such ancient Egyptian coins. This [find] prompted researchers to seek and find Koranic verses that speak of coins used in ancient Egypt, [such as]: 'And they sold him [i.e. Joseph] for a low price, a number of silver coins; and they attached no value to him. [Koran 12:20].' [Also,] Qarun [2] says about his money: 'This has been given to me because of a certain knowledge which I have [Koran 28: 78].'"

[...]

I'll skip over the middle part, which has more of the same, and excerpt the best part at the end:

"One Coin... [Had] an Image of a Cow Symbolizing Pharaoh's Dream about the Seven Fat Cows and Seven Lean Cows"

"The researcher identified coins from many different periods, including coins that bore special markings identifying them as being from the era of Joseph. Among these, there was one coin that had an inscription on it, and an image of a cow symbolizing Pharaoh's dream about the seven fat cows and seven lean cows, and the seven green stalks of grain and seven dry stalks of grain. It was found that the inscriptions of this early period were usually simple, since writing was still in its early stages, and consequently there was difficulty in deciphering the writing on these coins. But the research team [managed to] translate [the writing on the coin] by comparing it to the earliest known hieroglyphic texts…

"Joseph's name appears twice on this coin, written in hieroglyphs: once the original name, Joseph, and once his Egyptian name, Saba Sabani, which was given to him by Pharaoh when he became treasurer. There is also an image of Joseph, who was part of the Egyptian administration at the time.

"Dr. Sa'id Thabet called on Egypt's Antiquities Council and on the Minister of Culture to intensify efforts in the fields of Ancient Egyptian history and archeology, and to [promote] the research of these coins that bear the name of Egyptian pharaohs and gods. This, he said, would enable the correction of prevalent misconceptions regarding the history of Ancient Egypt."

Where does one start with this sort of thing? Coins weren't invented until something like the seventh-to-sixth century BCE in Asia Minor. The Joseph story, if it has any historical basis at all, is perhaps a vague memory of events of the Hyksos era or perhaps even later. There is no archaeological evidence for the existence of Joseph as a real person and any such find would receive immediate, enthusiastic, international attention. I don't know anything about the so-called researchers cited, but I will be very interested to see if Dr. Zahi Hawass has any comments. Meanwhile, are there any Egyptologists or numismatists out there who can enlighten us as what artifacts are being discussed here and what they really are?

Via Joseph I. Lauer, who asks, "was September 22, 2009, the date of the article underlying the following report, the Egyptian April Fools Day?!"

UPDATE: No replies from Egyptologists or numismatists but reader Daniel O. McClellan e-mails to note that photos of the two bigger scarabs at the bottom of the article's photo are found here and here. And reader Larry Rabinovich e-mails to note an online review by Morris Silver, whom I don't know but whom Larry says " I believe to be a respected economic historian" and "who takes issue with the consensus that coins did not exist until the 7th century BCE or so. He feels that some of the items described in the sources qualify as coinage." Fair enough, but as usual with such things, when I'm not an expert I am going with the (apparently very strong in this case) consensus until I see peer-review articles or monographs by experts (in this case numismatists) which argue otherwise. And the business about Joseph being named and pictured on one of these "coins" is nonsensically described (the period Joseph is supposed to have lived in is much later that that of the earliest hierogylphs) and is not to be taken seriously.

MORE ON THE GENETIC RESEARCH on the Jewish priesthood:

Study of Jewish lineages reveals genetic 'heirloom'
By Tom Beal
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.24.2009

Genetic researchers have revised an earlier hypothesis that members of the Jewish priestly caste, the Cohanim, can trace their paternal lineage to a single progenitor, perhaps the biblical Aaron, brother of Moses.
Jewish men who report such family lineage still share a remarkable set of similarities in the genetic makeup of their Y chromosomes, but further study by UA population geneticist Michael Hammer and a group of Israeli colleagues has now traced several lineages of the priestly caste to several unrelated men in the Near East more than 3,000 years ago.
"I think it's still sort of amazing that there is a genetic marker," said Rabbi Sam Cohon of Temple Emanu-El in Tucson.
"The question of whether it was one progenitor or was it four or five, it doesn't damage my faith in any way," Cohon said.
"The original idea was to test the idea of a single male lineage," said Hammer, director of the UA's Human Origins Genotyping Lab.
Hammer said the new research, while revising the initial conclusion, actually offers more evidence than before for the direct line of descent from a core of early priests who lived in the Near East in the time between the Exodus from Egypt and the dispersion of the Jews.
Hammer describes the Cohanim tradition as "a family heirloom passed from father to son."

[...]

Background here.

FAROUK HOSNI, the Egyptian Cultural Minister, did not get the director-generalship of UNESCO after all:

Egypt bitter about UNESCO vote
Egyptian Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, who has been accused of making anti-Semitic remarks, says 'there was a conspiracy against me' after losing a bid to lead the U.N. cultural organization. (Los Angeles Times)


Reporting from Cairo - Conspiracy theories hummed through Egypt's media and political elite Wednesday as Culture Minister Farouk Hosni returned home from Paris after facing accusations of anti-Semitism and losing a bitter fight to become the first Arab to lead the United Nations' cultural organization.

The 71-year-old abstract painter and ally of President Hosni Mubarak had carried the hopes of an Arab world seeking cultural prominence and closer ties with the West. But Hosni's bid to become director-general of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization unraveled in part because of comments he made in 2008 in which he told parliament he would personally burn any Israeli books in Egypt's Alexandria library.

A hurried public relations campaign by Hosni and the Egyptian government muted some criticism, and when the 58-member UNESCO board met last week, Hosni led in the first round of voting. But in subsequent rounds his early supporters abandoned him as the United States and key European countries backed Bulgarian candidate Irina Bokova, who won the post in Tuesday's fifth round by a vote of 31 to 27.

Upon his return to Cairo on Wednesday, Hosni told reporters at the airport:

"It was clear by the end of the competition that there was a conspiracy against me. There are a group of the world's Jews who had a major influence in the elections who were a serious threat to Egypt taking this position."

[...]

Somehow I don't think that comment will do anything to assuage the doubts of his critics.

In recent weeks, Hosni apologized for his book-burning remark and his ministry announced that it would translate into Arabic novels by Israeli authors Amos Oz and David Grossman. The ministry also began restoration of the neglected Maimonides synagogue in Cairo's ancient Jewish quarter. By late August, it appeared that Hosni would win the UNESCO post.

[...]

Background here.