In my research as a scholar of the Bible and ancient Judaism, I have been amazed at the potency of the symbol of the tree of life. Not only has the symbol itself transformed over time, but it has the power to transform communities along with it.A brief survey of the Tree of Life theme in the Bible, the Ancient Near East, and the Kabbalah.
For a recent book on the Tree of Life tradition, see here and links.
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Russell E. Gmirkin, Plato's Timaeus and the Biblical creation accounts: cosmic monotheism and terrestrial polytheism in the primordial history. Copenhagen international seminar. Abingdon; New York: Routledge, 2022. Pp. xv, 344. ISBN 9781032020822I noted the publication of the book here, with links to earlier posts on Gmirkin's work and some comments of my own.Review by
Nicholas Banner, Independent scholar. nicholasbanner@gmail.com... Gmirkin’s arguments are welcome in that they remind the reader of this, and remind us of the shakiness of the edifice upon which the accepted scholarly certainties of the field are sometimes established. However, to this reviewer’s mind, Gmirkin’s take on his own Hellenistic composition hypothesis is itself rather too ‘maximalist’: much that is found in this book would be welcome as intriguing parallels suggesting the need for more research, but fails to convince as an open-and-shut case for widespread Platonic and other Greek borrowing in Genesis. ...
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So what do we have, according to Notley? Around 2,000 years ago, Jesus healed a lame man in a pool in Jerusalem called Beth-zatha or Bethesda, and then went north to the Sea of Galilee, where there was a fishing village named Bethsaida. Both locations were lost to memory thanks to the violence of Man and Nature. Meanwhile, the New Testament was written in Greek, the name Bethesda in Jerusalem was “corrected” to read Bethsaida – and at some point in the Ottoman period, the fishing village of Bethsaida was mistakenly identified as the place where Jesus healed the lame man.I can't say I find the argument compelling, at least as presented in this article. John 5:1-2 explicitly presents the healing at the pool as taking place in Jerusalem. Granted the phrase "to the other side of the sea of Galilee: in 6:1 is a bit confusing. It could seem to imply that Jerusalem was in Galilee on one side of the sea. But it would require some poor reader comprehension to mix up the site in Jerusalem with the site of Bethsaida in Galilee.
It's true that poor reader comprehension of the Bible is not unprecedented. But the argument is weakend by the need to assume it.
I don't have ready access to the IEJ article, which may present the case more persuasively.
I do think the current weight of evidence is in favor of el Araj as the site of New Testament Bethsaida rather than the rival site of et-Tell/e-Tell. But I am not an archaeologist. I have discussed the question here. Follow the links from there for many posts on both sides of the debate.
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In a recent article, I argue that a significant part of the historical material of the Book of Esther is in line with evidence that most of the classical sources are unaware of. This independence from the Greek sources makes the Book of Esther more important as a historical source for Achaemenian history than has traditionally been assumed. What follows is a brief discussion of some verses that contain historically relevant information, much of which is not found in the Classical sources.There is a link to the underlying article in Persica Antiqua, but it is behind the subscription wall.
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Most of the coins used in the analysis were discovered between 2014 and 2022 by a Polish-Georgian team at the fort of Apsaros at Colchis, Piotr Jaworski, an archaeologist at the University of Warsaw who is a coin expert on the team, told Live Science in an email. The researchers found that a few of the coins were actually minted by Jewish rebels and that the Romans continued to use the currency. During the revolt, the Jewish rebels minted coins of their own that were inscribed with a variety of images, including pomegranates and chalices.For more on the Legio X Fretensis, see here and links. It was involved in the suppression of both the Great Revolt in 66-70 CE and the Bar Kokhba Revolt in 132-135.The legion would have brought the coins to the site around A.D. 115, when the Roman emperor Trajan (who reigned from 98 to 117) launched an initially successful invasion of the Parthian Empire — an action that pushed the Roman Empire's borders deep into the Middle East. Historical records and archaeological remains indicate that Legio X Fretensis was used in this invasion and spent time in Colchis. The site was "a good logistical base for military operations in the region," Jaworski said.
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Who Is Balaam Son of Beor? Part One. Examining the figure of Balaam in the Bible
Who Is Balaam Son of Beor? Part Two. Examining the figure of Balaam in later traditions
Who Is Balaam Son of Beor? Part Three. Examining the figure of Balaam in archaeology
For many PaleoJudaica posts on Balaam and on the Balaam inscription from Tel Deir 'Alla (Deir Alla), see here and links, plus here.
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In the Roman period, the time that is best known from the archaeological evidence, we know of no fewer than 19 different religious buildings, many of which had been built under Arsacid (Parthian) rule in the centuries before. Some religious structures, like the Mithraeum, Synagogue, and Christian building, focused on single deities. Others were home to a range of gods. Together, the evidence for the many gods and goddesses of Dura-Europos, preserved through inscriptions, sculptures, and paintings, give us a sense of the complex cultural and religious interconnections of the Roman era in Syria.PaleoJudaica has posted mostly, but not exculsively, on the synagogue. See here and many links. But many gods were worshipped at Dura-Europos.
Posts on Dr. Baird's book and her work on Dura-Europos are here and links. For Yale's Dura-Europos collection, see here and links.
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For more on the renovation of the site of ancient Carthage, including the Carthage Museum, see here and links.
Also from Carthage: Tunisian Man Revives Ancient Phoenician Craft. He takes on an incredible journey! (NATALIE KEBBE, About Her).
No, this is not another recreation of a Phoenician ship.
Mohamed Ghassen Nouira, a history-obsessed Tunisian, revives in his garden an antiquated craft that was once considered a sign of riches in the ancient world: making purple dye from sea snail shells.I have already mentioned Mr. Nouira's hobby here. But this is good excuse to mention it again. Follow the links from there for PaleoJudaica posts involving Tyrian purple dye and the Israelite telekhet dye, both made from the murex snail.A while back, while taking a leisurely walk along the beach in Carthage, a suburb of Tunis in northern Tunisia, Nouira stumbled upon a murex shell. This discovery evoked memories of his history classes and sparked a desire to recreate the ancient dye.
[...]
Coincidentally, here is newly announced research on the prodution of Tyrian purple dye in ancient Israel: Ancient Tel Shikmona factory probably supplied the First Temple with dye. A new study by the University of Haifa claims to completely change the story of the biblical Shikmona (Judy Siegel-Itzkovich, Jerusalem Post). Cross-file under Phoenician Watch.
I noted the discovery of the Phoenician dye factory at Shikmona here. The new research argues that the ancient Israelites took over the site and continued the dye production.
However, after several years of in-depth research into Elgavish’s findings and even after completing their new excavation in a limited area of the mound in recent weeks, Gilboa and Shalvi now present the full historical story of the mound during this period. The historical reconstruction suggests the Kingdom of Israel took over the Phoenician production site and turned it into the largest and most significant production site known in the Mediterranean basin.
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Students of Jewish philosophy tend to focus on the Middle Ages: Saadia Gaon, Judah HaLevi and Maimonides, among others. But the first Jewish philosopher, Philo of Alexandria, lived long before them. He was born perhaps 10 years or so after Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide and grew up during the time when Octavian became Caesar Augustus, and the Roman Republic became the Roman Empire. He was a contemporary with Hillel the Elder and with Jesus, living most of his life in the first century of the common era.This is a nice, brief overview of the life and writings of Philo.[...]
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2nd Edition
Kabbalistic Visions
C. G. Jung and Jewish MysticismBy Sanford L. Drob
Copyright 2023
Paperback £23.99
Hardback £96.00
eBook £20.99
ISBN 9780367461249
302 Pages
Published April 6, 2023 by RoutledgeDescription
In 1944, C. G. Jung experienced a series of visions which he later described as "the most tremendous things I have ever experienced." Central to these visions was the "mystic marriage as it appears in the Kabbalistic tradition", and Jung’s experience of himself as "Rabbi Simon ben Jochai," the presumed author of the sacred Kabbalistic text, the Zohar. Kabbalistic Visions explores Jung’s 1944 Kabbalistic visions, the impact of Jewish mysticism on Jungian psychology, Jung’s archetypal interpretation of Kabbalistic symbolism, and his claim late in life that a Hasidic rabbi, the Maggid of Mezhirech, anticipated his entire psychology. This book places Jung’s encounter with the Kabbalah in the context of the earlier visions and meditations of his Red Book, his abiding interests in Gnosticism and alchemy, and what many regard to be his Anti-Semitism and flirtation with National Socialism. Kabbalistic Visions is the first full-length study of Jung and Jewish mysticism in any language and the first book to present a comprehensive Jungian/archetypal interpretation of Kabbalistic symbolism.
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Marc Van De Mieroop, Before and after Babel: writing as resistance in ancient Near Eastern empires. New York: Oxford University Press, 2022. Pp. 360. ISBN 9780197634660Second, William Brown reviews the book at his Biblical Review Blog:Review by
Sophus Helle, Freie Universität Berlin. email@sophushelle.com... The historical narrative of Before and After Babel is propelled by a simple claim: that the nature of writing in the ancient Near East changed radically during the “Dark Age” that separates the late second and the early first millennium BCE, yielding two epochs in the pre-Classical history of writing that are treated separately in each of the book’s two parts. The straightforwardness of this claim lends the book a clarity of structure and argument, but it is also balanced in each chapter by a wealth of details and nuance that prevent the claim from falling into oversimplicity. ...
Review: “Before and after Babel: Writing as Resistance in Ancient Near Eastern Empires” by Marc Van De MieroopNOTE: This book is not to be confused with the somewhat similarly-titled recent book by Steven Fraade: Multilingualism and Translation in Ancient Judaism. Before and After Babel.... Overall, Van De Mieroop synthesizes and compiles a range of topics, regions, and fields of study into a single, accessible monograph. In doing so, he has constructed a history of writing, scripts, vernaculars, and cosmopolitan languages in the ancient Near East. Undoubtedly, this volume can be a helpful starting point for a general audience and students. And, indeed, Assyriologists and biblical scholars may find small nuggets throughout his work. Even so, the monograph offer no particularly striking or ground-breaking analysis that will significantly impact Assyriology, biblical scholarship, or other adjacent fields. In fact, many will find themselves disagreeing with Van De Mieroop as they read this monograph. ...
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Early Classical Authors on JesusMargaret H. Williams (Author)
Hardback
$120.00 $108.00Ebook (PDF)
$108.00 $86.40Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
$108.00 $86.40Product details
Published Oct 20 2022
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 248
ISBN 9780567683151
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Series The Reception of Jesus in the First Three Centuries
Publisher Bloomsbury PublishingDescription
Margaret H. Williams examines how classical writers saw and portrayed Jesus, engaging with the fact that as the originator of a new (and still existing) world religion, Jesus of Nazareth, otherwise known as Christus (Christ), is an individual of indisputable historical significance.
Williams shows how from the outset Jesus was a controversial figure. Contemporary Jews in the Roman province of Judaea tended either to adore or to abhor him. When indue course his fame spread throughout the wider Roman empire, reactions to him there among both Jews and non-Jews were no less divergent. Each of the early classical writers who makes mention of him, the historian Tacitus, the biographer Suetonius, the epistolographer Pliny and the satirist Lucian, takes a different view of him and presents him in a different way. Williams considers these different depictions and questions why these writers had such differing views of Jesus. To answer this question Williams examines not only to the different literary conventions by which each of these writers was bound but also to the social, cultural and religious contexts in which they operated.
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The Historical and Cultural Memory of the Babylonian WorldNote in particular the chapter: "Traces of Babylon in the Old Testament — ALESSANDRO CATASTINI."
Collecting Fragments from the 'Centre of the World'Marco Ramazzotti (ed)
Pages: viii + 193 p.
Size: 216 x 280 mm
Illustrations: 28 b/w, 5 col., 2 tables b/w., 2 maps b/w, 1 maps color
Language(s): English
Publication Year: 2022Buy print version
€ 75,00 EXCL. VAT
RETAIL PRICE
ISBN: 978-2-503-59536-8
PaperbackSUMMARY
In the study of the ancient world, Babylon can be considered as the most impressive representation, historically, archaeologically, and in literature, of urbanism in the Near East. This first example of an urban centre and its cultural heritage — both tangible and intangible — provides a focal point for discussions of historical and cultural memory in the region. The eleven contributions gathered here draw together multidisciplinary research into Babylonian culture, exploring the epistemic foundations, contacts, resilience, and cultural transmission of the city and its milieu from ancient times up until the modern day. Through this approach, this volume is able to support conversations concerning the historical and cultural memory of Babylon and promote a dialogue that cuts across, and unites, both cultures and academic disciplines.
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Journeys to Heaven and Hell
Tours of the Afterlife in the Early Christian Traditionby Bart D. Ehrman
Course Book
344 Pages, 6.12 x 9.25 inPaperback
9780300271041
Published: Tuesday, 7 Mar 2023
$23.00Hardcover
9780300257007
Published: Tuesday, 5 Apr 2022
$32.50
Out of Stock (as of this posting)A New York Times bestselling scholar’s illuminating exploration of the earliest Christian narrated journeys to heaven and hell
“[An] illuminating deep dive . . . An edifying origin story for contemporary Christian conceptions of the afterlife.”—Publishers Weekly
From classics such as the Odyssey and the Aeneid to fifth-century Christian apocrypha, narratives that described guided tours of the afterlife played a major role in shaping ancient notions of morality and ethics. In this new account, acclaimed author Bart Ehrman contextualizes early Christian narratives of heaven and hell within the broader intellectual and cultural worlds from which they emerged. He examines how fundamental social experiences of the early Christian communities molded the conceptions of the afterlife that eventuated into the accepted doctrines of heaven, hell, and purgatory.
Drawing on Greek and Roman epic poetry, early Jewish writings such as the Book of Watchers, and apocryphal Christian stories including the Acts of Thomas, the Gospel of Nicodemus, and the Apocalypse of Peter, Ehrman demonstrates that ancient tours of the afterlife promoted reflection on matters of ethics, faith, ambition, and life’s meaning, the fruit of which has been codified into Christian belief today.
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Once again, a story about the recovery of an improbably old Hebrew manuscript in Turkey. Obsevations:
As always, I commend the Turkish police for going hard on antiquities smuggling.
But the authorities need to consult with some actual experts before making these extraordinary claims about seized manuscripts. Repeatedly we read reports of one-thousand- or two-thousand-year-old Hebrew or Aramaic manuscripts being recovered. These reports, dubious to start with, mostly sink into oblivion without followup. The photographs that sometimes emerge are generally of obviously modern fakes, which seem to abound in Turkey.
The photo in the article is of an actual 1,100-year-old manuscript, the Codex Sassoon. It was recently sold to a private buyer who has commendably donated it to a museum in Israel. But the photo has nothing to do with the 28-page book seized in Turkey. The latter seems likely to be another modern fake, although I would have to see photographs to be sure.
In recent years I usually have been ignoring such stories coming out of Turkey, but occasionally once comes up that I think calls for a response. I have collected many such stories here (cf. here).
Turkey produces many geninue, fascinating stories about archaeology, antiquities, and history. I have noted a few in the last year or so here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. It is a pity that someone feels the need to dilute them with stories like the current one.
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Thousands who were illegally holding antiquities in their homes returned the items during a two-week campaign this month, the Israel Antiquities Authority and Ministry of Heritage reported on Thursday.For the story of the returned late-antique anchor, see this Jerusalem Post article: Israeli returns 1,700-year-old anchor to Antiquities Authority after 26 years. This anchor, a rare find in the country, was recovered by a citizen named Moshe during a diving expedition off Palmahim Beach in 1996.The campaign — “If it’s old – return it with a click!” — encourages private citizens who have artifacts to report them online and return them anonymously and without questions.
[...]
For background on the antiquities amnesty campaign, see here.
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Explore some of the world’s earliest surviving biblical papyrus books.The site has a 3D virtual exhibition page as well. It allows you to go through the exhibition and look at each of the scrolls.The surviving remains of early biblical papyrus books are amazing artefacts of the past. The Chester Beatty’s current exhibition First Fragments: Biblical Papyrus from Roman Egypt focuses on the internationally important collection of manuscripts known as the Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri. Dating from the 2nd to 4th century AD, these ancient pages reveal a world of book production and early Christian scholarship in Roman Egypt.
These papyrus fragments have much to tell us about the material histories of writing and bookbinding, textual histories of translation and transmission, and later object histories of ownership, publication and display. Explore their fragmented histories through the lens of scribes and bookbinders, authors and readers, scholars and collectors throughout the centuries. This exhibition offers a glimpse into the past through the histories of these ancient books.
Featuring some eighty objects from Roman Egypt, this exhibition includes pages from some of the earliest surviving biblical papyrus books alongside early Coptic bindings, ostraca (pieces of pottery used for writing), related papyrus fragments, illuminated Coptic manuscript pages and loans from the National Museum of Ireland.
Bible History Daily also has a notice of the exhibition, with some additional details: First Fragments: Biblical Papyrus from Roman Egypt.
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For the first time, archaeologists are excavating a Hasmonean fortress from the second century B.C.E., known as “Hyrcania" after John Hyrcanus, who was a Maccabean leader and a Jewish high priest during that time.[...]
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The papers from the Mark 16 conference around this time last year have now been published in the latest issue of Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies Bulletin. I haven't had a chance to read them yet myself but look forward to.The ToC follows.
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Although the current Tower of David was built in the 17th century, its architectual origins go back to the Herodian period:
“Parts of the fortress were built during the Herodian period, over 2,000 years ago. Other major sections were built during the Crusader and Mamluk periods and it was finished in the early Ottoman period. In many respects the Tower of David constitutes a kind of miniature of the entire city,” [geographer Prof. Yehoshua] Ben Arieh wrote.For PaleoJudaica posts on the renovation of the Tower of David, see here and here.The soubriquet “Tower of David” was attached to the site by the Roman-Jewish historian Josephus about 1,000 years after the time of King David. In his book “Wars of the Jews,” Josephus wrote, “The city of Jerusalem was fortified with three walls, on such parts as were not encompassed with unpassable valleys; for in such places it had but one wall. The city was built upon two hills, which are opposite to one another, and have a valley to divide them asunder; at which valley the corresponding rows of houses on both hills end. Of these hills, that which contains the upper city is much higher, and in length more direct. Accordingly, it was called the ‘Citadel,’ by king David” – (Translated by William Whiston, A.M. Auburn and Buffalo, John E. Beardsley, 1895).
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