When Did Judaism Emerge?

HISTORY OF RELIGION: When Did Judaism Emerge? Far Later Than Assumed, New Theory Suggests. Vast review finds no evidence that the Torah laws were commonly observed before the second century B.C.E., says Prof. Yonatan Adler. Not all agree (Ariel David, Haaretz).

A broad review finds no historical or archaeological evidence that the ancient Judeans, whether in the Holy Land or in the diaspora, observed or were even aware of the laws of the Torah until the second century B.C.E., says Yonatan Adler, a professor of archaeology at Ariel University and author of the new book “The Origins of Judaism,” published Tuesday by Yale University Press.

I noted a recent essay by Professor Adler on the same topic here. And this post is also relevant (but cf. here too).

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Watson & Curtis, Conversations on Canaanite and Biblical Themes (De Gruyter)

NEW BOOK FROM DE GRUYTER:

Conversations on Canaanite and Biblical Themes
Creation, Chaos and Monotheism
Edited by: Rebecca S. Watson and Adrian H. W. Curtis
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110606294

About this book

Arguments over the relationship between Canaanite and Israelite religion often derive from fundamental differences in presupposition, methodology and definition, yet debate typically focuses in on details and encourages polarization between opposing views, inhibiting progress. This volume seeks to initiate a cultural change in scholarly practice by setting up dialogues between pairs of experts in the field who hold contrasting views.

Each pair discusses a clearly defined issue through the lens of a particular biblical passage, responding to each other’s arguments and offering their reflections on the process. Topics range from the apparent application of ‘chaos’ and ‘divine warrior’ symbolism to Yahweh in Habakkuk 3, the evidence for ‘monotheism’ in pre-Exilic Judah in 2 Kings 22–23, and the possible presence of ‘chaos’ or creatio ex nihilo in Genesis 1 and Psalm 74. This approach encourages the recognition of points of agreement as well as differences and exposes some of the underlying issues that inhibit consensus. In doing so, it consolidates much that has been achieved in the past, offers fresh ideas and perspective and, through intense debate, subjects new ideas to thorough critique and suggests avenues for further research.

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

Was Jesus a carpenter?

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: Jesus the Carpenter, and the Search for Biblical Words.

Philip Jenkins addresses this question (the answer is probably yes) with a guided tour of the online resources you can access to explore this and related sorts of original-language questions. Many of those resources do require a knowledge of the Greek alphabet, but not much else.

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Review of Felle & Ward-Perkins (eds.), Cultic graffiti in the late antique Mediterranean and beyond

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Cultic graffiti in the late antique Mediterranean and beyond.

Antonio E. Felle, Bryan Ward-Perkins, Cultic graffiti in the late antique Mediterranean and beyond. Contextualizing the sacred, 11. Turnhout: Brepols, 2021. Pp. xx, 190. ISBN 9782503593111 €95,00.

Review by
Peter Keegan, Macquarie University. peter.keegan@mq.edu.au

... While attention is briefly paid to Jewish and Islamic devotional texts, the volume focuses in the main on Christian graffiti practices over the period 300-1000 CE across the Mediterranean world, Arabia, and Nubia. ...

Chapter 3, by Leah Di Segni, deals with Jewish devotional graffiti in the Holy Land.

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Ecosystemic collapse at the Timna copper mines?

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: How the Timna Mines Went Bust. Iron Age copper mining caused large-scale environmental collapse (Nathan Steinmeyer).

Once again, the spectacular preservation of organic remains in the Timna Valley provides archaeologists with valuable information.

For much more on the Timna Valley excavation and the possible implications of its organic remains, see here and links.

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Ryan, From the Passion to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

From the Passion to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Memories of Jesus in Place, Pilgrimage, and Early Holy Sites Over the First Three Centuries

Jordan J. Ryan (Author)

Paperback
$39.95 $35.95

Hardback
$115.00 $103.50

Ebook (PDF)
$35.95 $28.76

Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
$35.95 $28.76

Product details

Published Sep 22 2022
Format Paperback
Edition 1st
Extent 296
ISBN 9780567697745
Imprint T&T Clark
Illustrations 25 bw illus
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series The Reception of Jesus in the First Three Centuries
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

Since the early 4th century, Christian pilgrims and visitors to Judea and Galilee have worshipped at and been inspired by monumental churches erected at sites traditionally connected with the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. This book examines the history and archaeology of early Christian holy sites and traditions connected with specific places in order to understand them as interpretations of Jesus and to explore them as instantiations of memories of him.

Ryan's overarching aim is to construe these places as instantiations of what historian Pierre Nora has called “lieux de mémoires,” sites where memory crystallizes and, where possible, to track the course and development of the traditions underlying them from their genesis in the Gospel narratives to their eventual solidification in the form of pilgrimage sites. So doing will bring rarely considered evidence to the study of early Christian memory, which in turn helps to illuminate the person of Jesus himself in both history and reception.

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List of best sites for Jerusalem's ancient history

TOURISM: 10 best places to experience Jerusalem’s ancient history. Jerusalem is peppered with fabulous ancient archeological sites that reveal the story and secrets of this most unique city (Marion Fischel, Israel21c).

This is a good list. You will find PaleoJudaica posts on most of the sites (see the search engine).

I didn't know about the "Finger of Og" (the giant). Cool. For posts on Og, see here and links, plus here, here, and here.

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Article: "The Past Decade in Septuagint Research (2012–2021)"

WILLIAM A. ROSS: NEW ARTICLE SURVEYING SEPTUAGINT RESEARCH. I am glad we have this survey, even if less than ideal conditions inspired it (see the post).

It appears to be open access: The Past Decade in Septuagint Research (2012–2021) (William A. Ross, Currents in Biblical Research 21 [2022]).

Abstract
This article overviews the very active past decade in the discipline of Septuagint scholarship, including publications dating from the beginning of 2012 through the end of 2021. It organizes and discusses this activity within numerous categories, beginning with a brief overview of previous disciplinary surveys before moving on to the many new publications that have appeared, including primary texts, commentaries, general introductions, handbooks and companions, and reference works. Further sections give attention to important trends and publications in the main disciplinary journal, as well as in the major conference volumes and series. The second half of the article gives attention to several important areas of development and debate in the discipline, with attention to how it has developed globally over the last ten years. In the course of this discussion, this article, while not exhaustive in scope or coverage, also contributes to the tradition within modern Septuagint scholarship of compiling a bibliography of scholarly publications in the discipline.

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Rollston on the so-called "Hezekiah" inscription

THE ROLLSTON EPIGRAPHY BLOG: Restorations are *not* a Good Foundation for Dramatic Proposals: Reflections on the New, So-called, “Hezekiah” Inscription. Christopher Rollston has a very sensible discussion of this fragment of a Hebrew lapidary (i.e. stone), and presumably monumental, inscription. Excerpt:

Of course, if the question is “could these restorations be correct?,” the answer is yes. But there is a vast difference between suggesting something is “possible” and suggesting it is “probable,” “compelling,” or “certain.” Someone might say, “well, is it plausible?” The answer to that may be yes as well. But there is also a lot of distance between something being “plausible” and something being probable, compelling, or certain.

Background here.

And while we're on the subject, Bible History Daily has republished a 2009 BAR article on the fragment by Hershel Shanks, originally published when it was first announced: Hezekiah’s Monumental Inscription? Revisiting an inscription from the pages of BAR.

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Review of Pioske, Memory in a Time of Prose

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Book Note | Memory in a Time of Prose (Jillian Stinchcomb).

Memory in a Time of Prose: Studies in Epistemology, Hebrew Scribalism, and the Biblical Past by Daniel D. Pioske. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.

... In this tight, readable book, Pioske weaves together related but distinct studies of scribalism and memory with newly discovered material evidence to give a useful insight into the study of early biblical narratives. ...

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On the Cave of Letters

SPELUNCIC ARCHAEOLOGY: Cave of Letters: Probably the Most Important Cave In Ancient Jewish History (Molly Dowdeswell, Ancient Heritage).

The Cave of Letters is quite literally a cave of secrets. Rediscovered by archaeologists in the 1960s, its contents told of uprisings as well as everyday life in ancient Israel.

What at first appeared to be an unassuming cave located in a cliff face in the Judean desert actually turned out to be a perfectly preserved time capsule, full of letters and documents from the 1st and 2nd centuries. Archaeologists have worked hard to pick apart these letters and the other items found in the cave in order to understand who used the cave and why.

[...]

This essay ably demonstrates the importance of the Cave of Letters for ancient Jewish history. But I am still going with Qumran Cave 4 as the most important.

For PaleoJudaica posts on Richard Freund's work on the Cave of Letters, see here, here, here, and here. For some posts on the Babatha archive, see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. And for more on the Cave of Letters, see here and links.

For additional posts on the Bar Kokhba Revolt and the texts and artifacts (mostly coins) associated with it, follow the links collected here, and see also here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and links.

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Now showing: documentary on the Samaritans

SAMARITAN WATCH: Film shines a spotlight on Israel’s tiny Samaritan community fighting for its future. Trifecta of published book, film that opened Nov. 8 and ongoing exhibit examines how unique people struggle to ensure survival without compromising their unique religious practices (Renee Ghert-Zand, Times of Israel).

A new multi-faceted project by the Yeshiva University Center for Israel Studies introduces the Samaritans to a wide and varied audience, and explores how they have managed to survive for millennia despite efforts by conquering powers to erase them. Crucially, the project asks how the Samaritans plan to continue to survive into the future when today they number a mere 862. ...

The Samaritans Project features a book of academic essays, a full-length documentary film, and an exhibition at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC. All three share the same title: “The Samaritans: A Biblical People.” A Samaritan cookbook and artworks created through a collaboration with the Jewish Art Salon are also part of the project.

For more on the project and its various elements, see here and links.

Cross-file under Cinema.

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A Canaanite inscription on a lice comb from Lachish

NORTHWEST SEMITIC EPIGRAPHY: Israeli Archaeologists Find First Whole Sentence Written in Canaanite. On a Lice Comb. The earliest sentence found in Israel petitions the gods, but not to rain down good fortune or extirpate the foe (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

Found in 2017 in the biblical city of Lachish, the artifact joins the pantheon of ancient combs assumed to be for lice that have been found up and down the Holy Land. But this one is different.

This one bears the earliest sentence ever found in Israel, seven words in the world’s first alphabet, archaic proto-Canaanite: “May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard.”

The object was found in a scientific excavation. And epigrapher Christopher Rollston says the inscription is real. It looks like this is the real deal.

This is an important discovery. Also, Eww.

UPDATE: Amanda Borschel-Dan has a characteristically thorough article on the comb and inscription: Ivory lice comb – a dating head-scratcher – may hold earliest Canaanite sentence. With a paucity of contemporary Bronze Age examples for comparison, scholars believe relatable 7-word inscription is first recorded complete proto-Canaanite sentence in Holy Land (Times of Israel).

Among the extras in the article is the story of how "the world has a camera thief to thank for this discovery" (of the inscription).

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A tunnel to Cleopatra's tomb? Maybe.

EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLGYArcheologists hope tunnel under Egyptian temple leads to long-lost tomb of Cleopatra. Uncovered tunnel, located more than 13 meters underground, has been described by Egyptian authorities as a ‘geometric miracle’ (Tobias Siegal, Times of Israel).

Archeologists in Egypt have uncovered a vast underground tunnel near the city of Alexandria, and hope it may lead them to the long-lost tomb of Egypt’s last pharaoh and possibly its most famous ruler, Queen Cleopatra VII.

This sounds like the logline for a new Mummy movie.

Be that as it may, I hope something interesting comes of the the discovery. Presumably the tunnel was built to lead to something.

For PaleoJudaica posts on Queen Cleopatra VII (the Cleopatra) and on the excavation at Taposiris Magna, start here and follow the links.

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

Review of Whitacre, A grammar of New Testament Greek

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: A grammar of New Testament Greek.

Rodney A. Whitacre, A grammar of New Testament Greek. Eerdmans language resources. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2021. Pp. 522. ISBN 9780802879271 $49.99.

Review by
Erich Merkel, University of Virginia. em7ec@virginia.edu

It is worth emphasizing at the beginning what this book is not. It is not, on the one hand, an exhaustive reference grammar of Koine Greek. Nor, on the other, is it an introductory textbook. It rather occupies a somewhat ambiguous middle position, that of a “pedagogical grammar” aimed at beginning and intermediate students, and intended both for “occasional reference” as well as “reading through” from cover to cover (ix). Its stated purpose is to help beginner-intermediate students to read the Greek of the New Testament (ix-x). To a lesser degree it also covers Koine Greek generally; but its aim and its focus are narrowly tailored to reading and interpreting the NT. ...

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Perrin, Horizons of Ancestral Inheritance (T&T Clark)

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:

Horizons of Ancestral Inheritance

Commentary on the Levi, Qahat, and Amram Qumran Aramaic Traditions

Andrew B. Perrin (Author)

Hardback
$115.00 $103.50

Ebook (PDF)
$103.50 $82.80

Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
$103.50 $82.80

Product details

Published Jul 14 2022
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 272
ISBN 9780567705433
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series The Library of Second Temple Studies
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

Description

In this study of the Aramaic materials at Qumran, Andrew B. Perrin examines the Aramaic Levi Document, Words of Qahat, and Visions of Amram, showing how they exhibit a concentration of priestly concerns/knowledge and exploring new models for evaluating their potential textual or traditional connections. The Aramaic texts among the Dead Sea Scrolls are among the most understudied items in the Qumran collection, and with open questions posed around their origins, transmission, and reception in and beyond the Second Temple period, these writings provide both new materials and fresh insight into the thought, identity, and practice of ancient Judaism.

Perrin's analysis includes a new transcription, critical notes, and translation of the Aramaic Levi, Qahat, and Amram fragments based upon the latest digital images. He pairs them with a comprehensive commentary on the conceptual elements, codicological features, and cultural contexts of the materials, and he concludes with a fresh synthesis regarding the textual formation of these Aramaic, priestly pseudepigrapha as a “constellation” of texts within a larger world or scribal-priestly activity and traditions.

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Lehman on the Temple in b. Yoma

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Author’s Musings: Bringing Down the Temple House.

Author’s Musings
Bringing Down the Temple House: Engendering Tractate Yoma (Brandeis University Press)
Marjorie Lehman
Professor and Chair of Rabbinic Literatures and Cultures
Jewish Theological Seminary of America

Cross-file under Talmud Watch.

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

Which tree did Eve and Adam eat from?

WAIT, WHAT? What Really Happened in the Garden of Eden (Jack Sasson, TheTorah.com).

The primordial man and woman may believe they ate from the Tree of Knowledge, but they actually ate from the Life-Giving Tree. This causes a chain reaction leading to the emergence of sexuality, procreation, and continuity for the human species.

Raises some interesting points that I had never thought about, notably the woman's apparent confusion over which tree was forbidden. But I think that to say that they ate from the tree of life goes against the grain of the narrative. For example, in 3:22 God expresses worry that the humans will eat "also" from the tree of life, which implies they had eaten from the other tree. That said, it is hard to make all the details in the story fit together.

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Exhibition: "First Fragments" at the Chester Beatty

VARIANT READINGS: First Fragments at the Chester Beatty. Brent Nongbri draws our attention to a new manuscript exhibition. M

I am please to note that the Greek “Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri” include not only New Testament and Old Testament LXX manuscripts, but also Apocrypha (at least Susanna and Ecclesiasticus) and Pseudepigrapha (Epistle of Enoch and Apocryphon of Ezekiel).

For PaleoJudaica posts on the Chester Beatty (Library), start here and follow the links.

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

Review of Heger, Institutionalized Routine Prayers at Qumran

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Book Note | Institutionalized Routine Prayers at Qumran: Fact or Assumption? (Patrick Angiolillo).

Paul Heger, Institutionalized Routine Prayers at Qumran: Fact or Assumption? Posthumously edited by Bernard M. Levinson. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2019.

... In other words, perhaps the “intrinsic distinction between the various approaches to God” (p. 41) that Heger insists is necessary to understanding ancient Jewish prayer on its own terms is not so intrinsic, after all. It therefore remains to be seen whether we can produce a functional “grammar” or uncover a “native theory” of prayer in ancient Judaism, but Heger’s study, by pushing to apply strict definitions to the terms we employ in describing ancient Jewish prayer, invites us to think about what consensuses we should revisit in order to achieve such a goal, while also displaying for us the potential shortcomings in any scholarly attempt to taxonomize ancient literature.

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