More on the Beit Shemesh exhibition

ROADWORKS VS. ARCHAEOLOGY, CONTINUED: A FOCUS ON BEIT SHEMESH. Beit Shemesh, at the crossroads between Jerusalem and coast, has been inhabited since earliest times, going back to the pre-biblical Canaanite civilization from whom its idolatrous name originates (MORDECHAI BECK, Jerusalem Post).

The Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem saw a unique opportunity for creating a special exhibition dedicated to this site and to the issues it raised. According to the director, Amanda Weiss, the decision to create an exhibition happened spontaneously. “One of our guides told me about the finds that were being uncovered there,” said Weiss. “She said to me ‘You must come and see for yourself while they are digging.’ So I grabbed Leora (her deputy) and a couple of other of the curators and rushed down in my car. This was last November. It was a very memorable day. Not only was it an exciting place to visit – we saw the site in the pouring rain! We were drenched, but that was part of the experience, with all the beautiful fragrances of the flowers. In just four months we arranged this exhibition.”

For background on the exhibition and on the controversy over Highway 38 and the site of Beit Shemesh, start here and follow the links.

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Was the Sotah rite for saving marriages?

PROF HANNA LISS: The Sotah Ritual: Permitting a Jealous Husband to Remain with His Wife (TheTorah.com).

The root ק.נ.א “jealous zeal” in the chapter on the sotah (Numbers 5) highlights a key goal of the ritual and its accompanying offering, namely, to remove the husband’s jealous zeal and allow him to remain with his wife without guilt.

A couple of past posts on the Sotah rite and its postbiblical interpretation are here and here.

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Deciphering ancient stonemasons' marks at Hippos-Sussita

ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE: Israeli Archaeologists Discover How Ancient Romans Pulled Off Their Monumental Architecture. Ikea didn’t invent the DIY diagram: Ancient stonecutters wanted credit for their efforts just like any artist, signed their work — and also marked the stone blocks with building instructions (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz premium).

At Hippos-Sussita, about 20 percent of the heavy basalt stone-block flooring bears masons’ marks. “We managed to identify 20 different types,” Kowalewska shares. “It is entirely possible that the quarriers couldn’t read or write, but they did know how to make their marks.”

Also, the marks can be a tool for reconstruction of buildings, providing they are preserved on many of the stones. If the marked stone has been reused, they can tell from which structure it was taken. Besides their usefulness for archaeologists, these marks also serve as a simple reminder of all the hard work undertaken by the builders of the past.

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Tomb of the Kings to reopen?

THEOLOGICAL POLITICS: RESTING PLACES OF ADIABENIAN JEWISH QUEEN TO RE-OPEN. The tombs, discovered in Jerusalem by Louis Félicien de Saulcy in 1863, are owned by the French government since 1885 (Hagay Hacohen, Jerusalem Post).

French authorities announced on Wednesday that the site should be open to the public, while Foreign Minister Israel Katz lauded their decision.

The site is generally, although not universally, understood to be the burial ground of the dynasty of Queen Helena of Adiabene. I hope that this new announcement means that the legal issues around the site have been resolved and it will indeed be reopening. For background on Queen Helena and on the site, start here (cf. here) and follow the links.

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On Boyarin on the origin of "Judaism"

NEW BOOK: How Christians Invented 'Judaism,' According to a Top Talmud Scholar. One of the greatest living scholars of the Talmud, Daniel Boyarin ponders the place where the two traditions were born, in brotherly rivalry but with a common biblical origin (Tomer Persico, Haaretz premium).

His latest book thus joins a series of studies that call into question the popular-naive conception of Judaism. Starkly put, Boyarin asserts that until a few hundred years ago, there was no such thing as “Judaism,” in the sense of an abstract category of thought and thus of life. Indeed, the term is not found in the Torah, Prophets or Writings, the Mishna or Talmud, the works of the early medieval Geonim, of Rabbi Judah Halevi or of Maimonides. None of them knew of the existence of such a thing as “Judaism.” The term’s first appearances date from the 12th century (for example, in the “Midrash Sekhel Tov,” by Rabbi Menachem Ben Shlomo), and even then it denotes not a particular culture or a particular religion but a condition – that is, the condition of being a Jewish person.

In antiquity there was no distinction between nationhood and religion. You worshipped your national god(s). Judaism arose in that environment and retains the concept of a national identity.

I haven't read Professor Boyarin's new book (Judaism: The Genealogy of a Modern Notion, Rutgers University Press), so I can't comment on it. Dr. Persico has some criticisms. Have a look at the article and see what you think.

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More on Hebrew historical linguistics from Rezetko and Young

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

Do We Really Think That There Is No Historical Linguistics of Ancient Hebrew?

Ancient Hebrew like all natural languages evolved through time, and silhouettes of its history are traceable in the literary writings of the Hebrew Bible. But, historical linguistics is not text-dating, and the latter is what Hendel and Joosten’s How Old Is the Hebrew Bible? is largely about.

See Also: How Old Is the Hebrew Bible?, Can the Ages of Biblical Literature be Discerned Without Literary Analysis?, Flawed Philology

By Robert Rezetko
Research Associate
Radboud University Nijmegen & University of Sydney

By Ian Young
Associate Professor
Department of Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies
University of Sydney
April 2019

As you can see from the "See Also" links, this discussion has been going on for some time. At this point, it is of interest mainly to specialists who are working on the specific problem of historical linguistics of ancient Hebrew.

I have also noted the discussion here and links.

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Weitzman on the Origin of the Jews

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Genealogical Bewilderment: Between the Scholarly and the Personal in the Quest for the Origin of the Jews (Steven Weitzman).

In two recent publications—Solomon: the Lure of Wisdom and The Origin of the Jews: a Quest for Roots in a Rootless Age—I have written works that seem to be about antiquity but are really about how we relate to antiquity from a vantage point in the present. I write as someone genuinely curious about what we can learn from ancient texts by reading them in relation to their history, and for much of my scholarly career, my goal has been to avoid casting the past as a projection of the present. In these works, however, I have tried a different approach, allowing myself into the story in the hope that doing so can lead to a deeper understanding of how we relate to antiquity. Focusing on the Origin of the Jews, I want to reflect on what I was able to learn about my subject from mixing the personal and the scholarly in this way.

[...]

For more on Steven Weitzman's work, see here and links.

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Writing a Torah scroll on Masada

MORE MASADA: INSCRIBING THE JEWISH FUTURE ON MASADA. “By writing a Torah on Masada, we are continuing what the Romans wanted to stop 2,000 years ago,” said Rabbi Shimshon Israeli (ALAN ROSENBAUM, Jerusalem Post).

“By writing a Torah on Masada, we are continuing what the Romans wanted to stop 2,000 years ago,” said Rabbi Shimshon Israeli, the scribe who works each day in the renovated synagogue housing the scrolls. “The Romans are no longer here, but we continue to write the Torah.”

As you might imagine, the article also mentions Josephus.

For some past posts on Masada, see here and links.

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Josephus podcasts

MORE JOSEPHUS: TVL1 has a series of podcasts on the work of Flavius Josephus. So far:

Josephus’s “Jewish Antiquities”

“The Life:” The Biography of Flavius Josephus

They have some introductory comments on Josephus and readings from the old, but still usable, Whiston translation.

I have only listened to the first, but it was good.

More on Josephus here and links.

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Josephus, Jeremiah, and the Essenes

WHILE WE'RE ON THE SUBJECT OF JOSEPHUS, Bible History Daily has a couple of recent essays on him:

Titus Flavius Josephus and the Prophet Jeremiah. Avishai Margalit contrasts the legacies of a historian and a prophet. That's an interesting way to think about him.

Josephus on the Essenes.

Both essays link to BAR articles that give additional information, but are behind the subscription wall.

There are many, many, past PaleoJudaica posts on Josephus. For some of them, see here and links. For the rest, see the archives.

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Review of Magness, Masada: From Jewish Revolt to Modern Myth

BOOK REVIEW: Is one of history’s most rousing speeches apocryphal? Eleazar Ben-Yair’s death-and-glory address at Masada in AD 73 may have been fabricated by Josephus. But that hasn’t deterred devotees from flocking to the site (Justin Marozzi, The Spectator).

Magness ends with a practical and refreshingly non-academic visitors’ guide to Masada. Should you ever visit the place and hear a lot of noise at the top while searching for your inner Eleazar Ben-Yair, you can blame her. ‘Before leaving,’ she writes, ‘listen to the amazing echo created by the sheer cliff of Mount Eleazar opposite, by shouting as loudly as possible across the chasm’.

Masada: From Jewish Revolt to Modern Myth
Author: Jodi Magness
Publisher: Princeton
Page count: 242
Price: £20

For past PaleoJudaica posts on the history and archaeology of, and revisionist views on, Masada, see here and links. And some subsequent Masada-related posts are here, here, here, and here.

For more on Professor Magness and her work, see here, here, here, and links.

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Geniza Fragments 77

GENIZA FRAGMENTS, the Newsletter of the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit, Cambridge University Library has published its April 2019 Issue. Topics include news on more fragments of an early Torah scroll (see also here, here, here, and here, and links), an obituary for Joel L. Kraemer, and a new book on Ben Sira.

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Magical amulets among the Dead Sea Scrolls?

DECIPHERED DEAD SEA SCROLLS POSE QUESTIONS FOR HISTORIANS. Deciphered by Prof. Ariel and Faina Feldman, the segments written in semi-cursive script, folded and were encased in small leather remnants (ALEX WINSTON, Jerusalem Post).

However, unlike tefillin, which contain parchments quoting the Book of Exodus or Deuteronomy, the previously undechipered writing was found found to be prayers and the names of angels, components which are consistent with Jewish amulets, which whilst using holy words, did not directly quote from the Bible.

This is intriguing and could be very important. It would be the first evidence for the existence of Jewish magical amulets in the Second Temple period.

I have not yet had a chance to look up the two peer-reviewed articles mentioned at the end of this article. But I look forward to reading them.

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Letters in defense of Peter Schäfer

CONTROVERSY: Jewish Studies Scholars Support Resigned Director of Berlin’s Jewish Museum with Two Public Letters. Leading Jewish studies scholars came out in defense of Peter Schäfer, himself a prominent Talmud Scholar, and called accusations of anti-Semitism against him “false” and “outrageous” (Hakim Bishara, Hyperallergic). This situation only came to my attention very recently. As regular readers know, I have had other things on my mind.

Professor Schäfer is a superstar in the field of Jewish studies. His work has had a massive influence on mine. I have the highest respect for him and confidence in him. That does not mean I always agree with him. I have yet to meet that person.

To be quite clear, I utterly reject BDS. I also respect free speech. Let controversial ideas be debated so that the bad ones can be debunked and discredited through rational discourse.

It is also worth underlining that the twitter account* of the Jewish Museum of Berlin clarified that the link to the article in question was not intended to take a position against the resolution against BDS by the German Bundestag. I accept that clarification.

Sometimes people do not express themselves clearly in the first instance. I don't want to live in a hell world where they can't clarify what they say. Or, for that matter, even change their mind upon reflection.

Beyond that, I should let Professor Schäfer speak for himself. He addresses the major points of criticism in this interview in Der Spiegel. Google English translation here.

For some past posts on Professor Schäfer, see here.

*The original link to the twitter account was incorrect. Now corrected. Sorry for the error.

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New documentary on the Cairo Geniza

THE ETC BLOG: From Cairo to the Cloud: The World of the Cairo Geniza (John Meade). I agree that the trailer looks great, but the DVD is pretty expensive.

For many past posts on the Cairo Geniza, see here, here, and here and links.

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The Talmud on when human life begins.

A RECENT DAF YOMI COLUMN BY ADAM KIRSCH IN TABLET: When Does Human Life Begin? This week’s ‘Daf Yomi’ Talmud study happens to pit contemporary abortion law against Jewish views of conception and viability in all animals. Indirectly, but yes.

Other Daf Yomi columns are noted here and links.

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A Geniza Torah fragment with nonstandard Tiberian vocalization

GENIZA FRAGMENT OF THE MONTH (APRIL 2019): Standard Tiberian Pronunciation in a Non-Standard Form: T-S AS 64.206 (Estara J. Arrant).

To summarise, we have a grouping of features in T-S AS 64.206 which together demonstrate that while the scribe used pataḥ, shewa, and ḥatef pataḥ in unique ways, he took measures to ensure that they did not lead to confusion with regards to the silent shewa and quiescent letters. Therefore, the text was mainly still pronounced according to the rigours of the ST tradition. This represents a tidy compromise between the scribe's individualistic use of particular signs and the accepted Tiberian pronunciation of the text. This unique document reminds us that non-standard placement of vowel signs does not always result in a non-standard reading of the text.

Past posts noting Cairo Geniza Fragments of the Month in the Cambridge University Library's Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit are here and links.

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The Yazidis

NOT BY EVERYONE: The Yazidis - the forgotten people. Opinion: The Yazidis are today the most oppressed people on earth - yet are totally forgotten by the United Nations and liberal aid groups (Joseph Frager, MD, Arutz Sheva).

PaleoJudaica's readers have been hearing about the Yazidis since 2003 (see links collected here). And for many additional PaleoJudaica posts on the Yazidis, their Gnosticism-themed religion, and their tragic fate in the hands of ISIS, start here and follow the many links. Cross-file under Yazidi Watch.

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Ritual impurity or contagious disease?

DR. YITZHAK FEDER: Tum’ah: Ritual Impurity or Fear of Contagious Disease? (TheTorah.com).

Already in the early 2nd millennium B.C.E., people knew that diseases were contagious, and fear of contagion plays a key role in the Torah’s laws regarding the skin ailment, tzaraʿat. What does this mean for understanding other kinds of tum’ah?

It makes sense to me that fear of contagious disease (in our terminology) was included in the ancient concept of ritual impurity. But the ancients did not have our modern germ theory. Ritual purity for them was a broader concept. It is somewhat artificial to try to parse our distinctions out of it.

That said, this is a good and thought-provoking essay. Have a look.

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PhD thesis: Elder, The Media Matrix of Early Jewish and Christian Literature

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Dissertation Spotlight | The Media Matrix of Early Jewish and Christian Literature (Nicholas Elder). A recent PhD thesis from Marquette University.

Taken together, the application of my five criteria to Joseph and Aseneth and Mark and the afterlives of these texts makes the case that there are remarkable similarities between the two narratives, explained by composition via dictation.

For some earlier comments on Joseph and Aseneth see here and links. And some related posts are here, here, here, and here. Cross-file under Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Watch.

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