Ammann et al. (eds.), Authorship and the Hebrew Bible (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Authorship and the Hebrew Bible. Edited by Sonja Ammann, Katharina Pyschny, and Julia Rhyder. 2022. XII, 277 pages. Forschungen zum Alten Testament 158. 134,00 € including VAT. cloth ISBN 978-3-16-161490-3.

Published in English.
Does »authorship« still have a place in the study of the Hebrew Bible? Historical criticism has long sought to uncover the human authors behind the biblical texts. But how might the »death of the author,« so forcefully declared by Roland Barthes over fifty years ago, change the contours of this search? This volume brings together leading experts in the Hebrew Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls, cuneiform texts and cognate literature to reimagine the literary and discursive functions of »authorship« in ancient Israel. Bridging the gap between theoretical reflection and exegetical practice, the volume explores key features of biblical texts, from anonymity to divine speech, scribal editing to textual fluidity, to reveal the complex and varied author functions that shaped biblical literature.

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Happy 2023!

HAPPY NEW YEAR from PaleoJudaica! Have a great 2023. I will be with you as much as I am able.

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

Haaretz's Jewish archaeology stories for 2022

END OF YEAR LIST: King Solomon’s ‘Throne’ and Other Biblical Jewish Archaeology Stories of 2022 (Ruth Schuster).

Jews take collective pride in having sustained their faith over some 2,000 years in the Diaspora, and in sharing rituals the world wide. In fact, we aren’t sure when Judaism as we think of it was born, and many of the rituals taken for granted today also began in the shadows of history. Which means we no longer know when or how. The year 2022 was rich in new theories of old finds and new finds too – including a second administrative center in Iron Age Jerusalem. Why they needed one remains a mystery. Still, at least we now know where King Herod bought his bathroom.

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Allen et al. (eds), New Approaches to Textual and Image Analysis in Early Jewish and Christian Studies (Brill)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

New Approaches to Textual and Image Analysis in Early Jewish and Christian Studies

Series: Digital Biblical Studies, Volume: 5

Volume Editors: Garrick V. Allen , Sara Schulthess , Paul Dilley , and Peter Phillips

The digital world pervades the everyday lives of most people, and online tools have become an essential part of academic research in many disciplines. This reality is true also for biblical studies and related disciplines, areas that work with complex literary traditions, multiple manuscript cultures, and many methodological approaches to the problems at the centre of our discussions. This book shines a light on multiple new and emerging approaches to big disciplinary questions in biblical studies and beyond by highlight projects that are using digital tools, crafting computer-assisted approaches, and re-thinking the resources fundamental to the history of research.

Copyright Year: 2022

Prices from (excl. shipping): €123.00

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-51511-6
Publication date: 17 Oct 2022

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-51813-1
Publication date: 27 Oct 2022

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Blogging

THINGS HAVE GOTTEN BUSIER, rather than less busy. I will blog when I can. Posting may be irregular for some time. Thanks for your patience.

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

Sensational claims about new inscription discoveries

I'M SKEPTICAL TOO: Bible scholar’s sensational Hezekiah inscription claims prompt researchers’ outcry. Academics publish open letter calling for scientific treatment of ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ claims after new round of unsupported popular press headlines regarding Jerusalem ‘discovery’ (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel).

[Prof. Emeritus Gershon] Galil’s most recent announcement, first published in a television report 12 days ago, says he has successfully deciphered five new royal inscriptions of King Hezekiah of Judah, including hundreds of letters and dozens of lines of text. According to Galil, the inscriptions he found alongside archaeologist Eli Shukron are etched into the walls of the City of David’s Hezekiah Tunnel in Jerusalem.

Galil’s announcement has brought a flurry of media headlines in some publications — and a deafening silence in others that generally cover Israeli archaeological finds. (The Times of Israel, which has covered some of Galil’s findings in the past, did not report on his latest Hezekiah inscription claims, among other of his recent claims, because they were not peer-reviewed and lacked accompanying scientific documentation.)

I saw this announcement on Facebook and elsewhere when it came out. Like most others, I decided not to comment on it in the absence of good photographs or peer-reviewed scholarly studies.

I refer you to my longstanding Lottery Rule. If a reported new discovery is the scholarly equivalent of our having won the lottery, we should be skeptical of it unless and until we have strong evidence that it is real.

So far, such evidence for these claims has not been produced. Should more be advanced, the scholarly world will certainly consider it.

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Wigand, Achikar in Elephantine (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Ann-Kristin Wigand. Achikar in Elephantine. Die aramäische Achikarkomposition im Kontext des perserzeitlichen Elephantine. [Achikar in Elephantine. The Aramaic Achikar Composition in the Context of Persian Period Elephantine.] 2022. XII, 268 pages. Orientalische Religionen in der Antike 50. 119,00 € including VAT. cloth ISBN 978-3-16-161021-9.

Published in German.
Ann-Kristin Wigand interprets the Aramaic Achikar composition against the background of Persian Egypt. She combines historical-critical methods with an intertextual approach in order to work out under which conditions the text can be read and understood in its Egyptian setting and which function the text assumes in its multi-ethnic context.

The English spelling of Achikar is Ahiqar (Aḥiqar) or Ahikar. More on him here and links, plus here, here, and here.

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Christmas 2022

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all those celebrating!

For posts of Christmases past, see my 2021 Christmas post and links.

More recent Christmas-related posts are here, here, and here.

I have been really busy and have had little time to blog. I hope to get back to it more regularly sometime next week.

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

Paz, From Scribes to Scholars (Mohr Siebeck)

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Yakir Paz. From Scribes to Scholars. Rabbinic Biblical Exegesis in Light of the Homeric Commentaries. 2022. XVI, 372 pages. Culture, Religion, and Politics in the Greco-Roman World 6. 149,00 € including VAT. cloth ISBN 978-3-16-161630-3.

Published in English.
Yakir Paz argues that ancient Homeric scholarship had a major impact on the formation of rabbinic biblical commentaries and their modes of exegesis. This impact is discernible not only in the terminology and hermeneutical techniques used by the rabbis, but also in their perception of the Bible as a literary product, their didactic methods, editorial principles and aesthetic sensitivities. In fact, it is the influence of Homeric scholarship which can best explain the drastic differences between earlier biblical commentaries from Palestine, such as those found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the scholastic Halakhic Midrashim (second to third century CE). The results of the author's study call for a re-examination of many assumptions regarding the emergence of Midrash, as well as a broader appreciation of the impact of Homeric scholarship on biblical exegesis in Antiquity.

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McClellan, YHWH's Divine Images (SBL)

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

YHWH's Divine Images: A Cognitive Approach
Daniel O. McClellan

ISBN 9781628374384
Volume ANEM 29
Status Available
Publication Date October 2022
Paperback $45.00
Hardback $65.00

A reevaluation of Yahwistic divine images in the Hebrew Bible

In YHWH’s Divine Images: A Cognitive Approach, Daniel O. McClellan addresses the longstanding question of how it is that divine images could be referred to as if they both were and were not the deities they represented. Drawing insights from the fields of cognitive linguistics and the cognitive science of religion and applying them to the remains from first-millennium BCE Egypt, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Israel, and Judah, McClellan develops a theoretical framework for divine agency and divine images in ancient Southwest Asia that explains this apparent paradox. He then applies that framework to the Hebrew Bible to show that the presence of the God of Israel was similarly manifested through material media devoted to communicating the divine.

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Lecture on the Newark Holy Stones

NEW WORLD HEBREW FORGERY (OR SOMETHING) WATCH: Newark Holy Stones remain significant despite hoax. Presentation at Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum details history and place of fake artifacts today (LEONARD L. HAYHURST, Coshocton Tribune).

Museum Director Jennifer Bush and archeologist Brad Lepper of the Ohio History Connection recently gave a presentation on the stones and what we can learn from their history at the museum. Bush and Lepper, along with Reba Kocher, had the article "The Newark Holy Stones: Touchstones for the Truth" published in the Public Historian earlier this year.

There's a video of part of the presentation and a summary of all of it

I have been following the story of the nineteenth-century Newark Stones hoax for a long time. For my brief summary of what we know and can reasonably infer about the stones, see here. And follow the links from there for more.

The links to past media seem to have rotted, but you can find good photos of the objects at the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum website.

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A high-priestly Hasmonean calendar?

FOR HANUKKAH: The Hasmonean Calendar Begins with the Rule of Simon the High Priest, 142 B.C.E. (Rotem Avneri Meir, TheTorah.com).

Chanukah commemorates the rededication of the Temple by Judah Maccabee in 164 B.C.E. But the war continued for another 22 years until the Seleucid King Demetrius appointed Simon as High Priest of Judea. To mark their new autonomy, the Judeans use the high priest’s regnal years, like that of a biblical king, to date their documents.

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Kids find a Roman-era oil lamp in the Galilee

FOR HANUKKAH: Children out for a stroll in north discover 2,000-year-old lamp in the ground. Clay item found at Kibbutz Parod; location provides new insights into size of ancient Jewish community that lived there (Times of Israel).

Israel Antiquities Authority director Eli Eskosido suggested seasonal rains helped uncover the lamp and noted the find came just days before the Hanukkah festival, which began on Sunday night.

“Every year, thanks to the timing of rains that hit us before and close to the Hanukkah holiday, we receive ‘Hanukkah miracles’ and amazing surprises, glimpses coming from the ground,” he said referring to the theme of Hanukkah which tells of a small amount of oil for lamps in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem that miraculously lasted for eight days instead of the expected single day.

Good for the kids and the parents for being responsible citizens and turning the lamp over to the IAA.

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

Between 1 and 2 Maccabees

FOR HANUKKAH: The Maccabean Victory Explained: Between 1 and 2 Maccabees (Prof. Katell Berthelot).

1 and 2 Maccabees have different understandings of why the Maccabean revolt succeeded. 1 Maccabees emphasizes the zealous killing of sinners as the element that wins God's favor, while 2 Maccabees emphasizes the tragic death of righteous Jewish martyrs as bringing about God's mercy and compassion.

For some other treatments of 1-2 Maccabees together, see here, here, here, and here.

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

Jesus and Hanukkah

THE ANXIOUS BENCH: Jesus at Hanukkah: A Storm is Coming (Philip Jenkins).

That Jesus would celebrate all Jewish feasts, including Hanukkah or Sukkot, is no surprise whatever, and as Craig Keener points out, any suggestion to the contrary wrongly diminishes and distorts his Jewishness. But the question does arise of, why mention Hanukkah? Judaism has many high and holy days, and Hanukkah was not a particularly important one. Only in modern times has it achieved its great visibility in Western countries, as a kind of counterpart to Christmas.

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Traditional site of Jesus' baptism - big bucks for "glamping" development

BIBLICAL TOURISM: Jordan unveils $100 million master plan for the second millennium of Jesus’ baptism. 'We decided on a biblical village theme that attempts to re-create a 2,000-year-old experience,’ said an official in charge of developing the site. (RNS).

AMMAN, Jordan (RNS) — Jordan has launched a $100 million master plan aimed at attracting 1 million Christian pilgrims to celebrations of the second millennium of the baptism of Jesus in 2030.

The ambitious plan was unveiled by a not-for-profit foundation created by the Jordanian government to develop the “Bethany beyond the Jordan” area, on the east bank of the Jordan River, long venerated as the place of Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist. Archaeological discoveries of an ancient monastery at Al-Maghtas, Jordan, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015.

[...]

That's a lot of money!

This site, al-Mahgtas, is the traditional site of Jesus' baptism. It is on the Jordanian side of the Jordan River. Qasr al-Yehud, the other side, is the main competitor. For background on both and their competing claims, start here and follow the links.

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Hasmonean-era arrowheads found in box in Tower of David

CARDBOARD BOX ARCHAEOLOGY: Surprise Maccabean-era arrowheads discovered while cleaning house at Tower of David. Some 60 bronze and iron arrowheads were forgotten in a box for decades, but will take center stage in newly renovated museum during Hannukah (MELANIE LIDMAN, Times of Israel).

The Tower of David Museum in Jerusalem recently unearthed dozens of bronze and iron arrowheads dating from around the time of the Maccabees. But the stunningly preserved artifacts weren’t hidden under meters of dirt and carefully excavated by veteran archaeologists. Instead, they were sitting in a dusty cardboard box behind an old air conditioner in one of the guard towers at the Tower of David, which is undergoing a massive renovation.

[...]

Oops! How many boxes of important artifacts are lying around in this place? For another, found last year, see here. Keep looking!

The article also has some good coverage of the Tower of David Museum.

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

Hanukkah 2022

HAPPY HANUKKAH (CHANUKKAH, CHANUKAH) to all those celebrating! The eight-day festival begins tonight at sundown.

Last year's Hanukkah post is here. It links to past Hanukkah and related posts. Some more recent posts on Hasmonean-era stories are here, here, and here.

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

Digitally reconstructing Dura-Europos

VIRTUAL DATA CLOUD AND 3-D MODELING: Digitally rebuilding a lost city. Yale computer scientists, archaeologists, and historians are teaming up to uncover long-lost clues from the ancient city of Dura-Europos (William Weir, Yale News).

... The city, founded in 300 BC and abandoned in the third century AD, wasn’t considered a major metropolis, but historians say its artifacts could tell volumes about the everyday lives of people from that time and region. But because these artifacts are located in numerous locations and are often unmarked or have multiple labels, it is extremely difficult for researchers to study them.

Holly Rushmeier, the John C. Malone Professor of Computer Science, and Anne Chen, a postdoctoral associate at ARCHAIA, an interdisciplinary program at Yale for the study of ancient and premodern cultures, are working to change that. They recently received a $350,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to develop a digital archive of materials related to the archaeological site of Dura-Europos. They will create a virtual data cloud known as “linked open data” to bring together the disparate materials from this region. This will create a user-friendly interface that allows researchers to access the data, as well as add their own contributions.

I noted this project and its NEH funding here. This Yale press release has more information. Follow the links from there for a great many posts on Dura-Europos and its connection with ancient Judaism.

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Review of Arnold, Deuteronomy 1-11

READING ACTS: Bill T. Arnold, The Book of Deuteronomy, Chapters 1–11 (NICOT) (Philip Long).

Arnold, Bill T. The Book of Deuteronomy, Chapters 1–11. New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2022. xxxix+660 pp. Hb; $60.00

... Conclusion. Many surveys of “top commentaries on Deuteronomy” consider Peter Craigie’s commentary one of the best available. Bill Arnold’s new volume is a worthy replacement in terms of additional depth and broad engagement with both the text of Deuteronomy and a vast secondary literature. As is usually the case, Arnold’s volume is far more detailed than the Craigie volume it replaces. Arnold devotes 660 pages to the introduction and first eleven chapters of Deuteronomy; Craigie’s commentary was 424 pages for the entire book of Deuteronomy. Will Peter Craigie’s popular commentary in the NICOT move to the Eerdmans Classic Commentary series? ...

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