The news of the discovery of a large public building in Jerusalem has hit the biblio-bloggers and email discussion lists: Jim Davila at PaleoJudaica leads the pack with a great discussion of the news article here. Ken Ristau at Anduril.ca has a brief, but insightful note here, as does Chris Heard at Higgaion. And Jim West at Biblical Theology has an updated post here.
Temple Scroll Exhibited in Berlin
The Canadian Jewish News posted a story about the “The New Hebrews: A Century of Art in Israel” exhibition running until 5 September 2005 at the Martin-Gropius Bau museum in Berlin. One of the main features of the exhibition is the Temple Scroll (11QT). This is the first time it has been displayed publically since its discovery in 1956.
For more information on this scroll, see my Temple Scroll Introduction.
King David’s Palace Discovered – Minimalists Convert!
The International Herald Tribune has posted a story on the recent excavations and discoveries in Jerusalem: “King David’s fabled palace: Is this it?” (Also available at the New York Times). The find purportedly includes “the partial foundations of a sizable public building, constructed in the Phoenician style, dating from the 10th to 9th centuries B.C., the time of the united kingdom of David and Solomon.” (Picture of Mazur by Rina Castelnuovo for The New York Times). Here is an excerpt:
Even Israeli archaeologists are not so sure that MS. Mazar has found the palace – the house that Hiram, king of Tyre, built for the victorious king, at least as Samuel 2:5 describes it. It may also be the Fortress of Zion that David conquered from the Jebusites, who ruled Jerusalem before him, or some other structure about which the Bible is silent.
Either way, they are impressed by its likely importance. “This is a very significant discovery, given that Jerusalem as the capital of the united kingdom is very much unknown,” said Gabriel Barkay, an archaeologist from Bar-Ilan University. “This is one of the first greetings we have from the Jerusalem of David and Solomon, a period which has played a kind of hide-and-seek with archaeologists for the last century.”
Based on the Bible and a century of archaeology in this spot, MS. Mazar, 48, speculated that a famous stepped-stone structure excavated previously was part of the fortress David conquered, and that his palace would have been built just outside the original walls of the cramped city, on the way to what his son, Solomon, built as the Temple Mount.
“When the Philistines came to fight, the Bible said that David went down from his house to the fortress,” she said, her eyes bright. “I wondered, down from where? Presumably from where he lived, his palace.”
“So I said, maybe there’s something here,” she added, referring to East Jerusalem.
While it is obviously too soon to know the significance of the find, it will be fun to see the “minimalists” do everything they can to deny a connection with David and the “maximalists” muster the evidence to “prove” that David existed just as the Bible says! (Gee, do I seem a bit skeptical of the nature and tone of the minimalist/maximalist debate?)
UPDATE: Jim West over at Biblical Theology blog has posted on this story as well. The battle for Middle Earth Jerusalem is about to begin…
All Clean! (Or as clean as it gets)
Bar Mitzvah for Harry Potter?
The Jerusalem Post reports on a paper given by Prof. Cia Sautter at the UK’s first Harry Potter conference, “Accio.” The paper, entitled “Blessed are you for Creating Harry: Jewish Affinity with Rowling’s tale,” argues that Harry Potter is a Kabbalist – or at the very least, he espouses some values and characteristics that make up that Jewish tradition.
Convinced? Judy Silkoff concludes her news story: “Unless J.K. Rowling decides to elaborate by entitling her next book Harry Potter and the Kiddush Goblet or Harry Potter and the Order of the Seder, we may never really know.”
Posh Hebrew Tattoos, David! (Beckhams Inscribe their Love)
This was in the news yesterday (here, here, and here, among others), but I was too overcome with emotion to post it until today! Jewish soccer star David Beckham and his “posh” wife, Victoria Beckham, got matching Hebrew tattoos on their sixth wedding anniversary. The tattoo is apparently from the Song of Songs 2:16:
דודי לי ו×?× ×™ לו “My Beloved is mine and I am his”
There are actually web pages devoted to Beckhams’ tattoos!
I have mixed emotions about tattoos. I personally have no desire to get one and I sure hope this tattooing craze is spent by the time my kids grow up (OK, I guess they’re not so mixed!). The problem with tattoos is that they are just too permanent. I wouldn’t like to know what I would have tattooed on my body when I was 18! I’ve had students ask me (with increasing frequency) how to write this or that in Hebrew or Greek for a tattoo. I’ve been tempted to spell whatever they ask as × ×‘×œ (fool!). Perhaps I should just quote Leviticus 19:28 and send them packing: “You shall not… tattoo any marks upon you: I am Yahweh” (I recall seeing this verse actually used as an argument against modern tattoos; I assume that the prohibition was due to some association with cultic practices of Israel’s neighbours rather than tattooing itself).
Indiana Jones Move Over… The Race for the Ark is On!
The Jewish Press has posted a story on the race for the lost Ark of the Covenant (Not Noah’s Ark — for the search for that Ark see here).
Evidently, both “famous archaeologist” “Dr.” Vendyl Jones and Lt. Barry S. Roffman of the U.S. Coast Guard are searching for the Ark using such proven techniques as the Bible Code (for Roffman) and the Talmud and “a mysterious kabbalist who has now given him his blessing to reveal the Ark by Tisha B’Av (August 14th)” (for Jones).
I’m not familiar with the Jewish Press, so I’m not entirely sure if the following is meant to be tongue-in-cheek:
So now, the world is waiting with bated breath. Will it be Jones or Roffman who finds the Ark of the Covenant? Will it be found in Israel or in Egypt? Will it be discovered by means of ground-penetrating radar?
What will be the religious, political and scientific implications and ramifications if it is found? And what else can we learn of the future from the words encrypted in the Bible codes or the secrets of the Talmud? We may not have long to wait.
At least for Jones there is a deadline! Ten days and counting…
Argh… New Filing System Required!
I am looking for a file. Lately, I have spent too much time looking for files and articles (books are easier to locate because they stand out more). I have a great filing system; the problem is that I don’t use it! I don’t put things back in there proper places and then they get buried under the piles. Sometimes I feel like I should divide my home office into balks and start an archaeological dig! I guess I come by it honestly. I remember buying my Dad a plaque for his office that read, “A Clean Desk is the Sign of a Sick Mind.” When my Dad passed away, I looked everywhere for the plaque as I figured I could use it now!
While I have you here, I may as well give you a tour of my desk. You’ll notice my Dell Laptop in the middle and my Mac monitor to the right (Accordance is up and running on the Mac). My 160 Gig back-up drive and DVD burner are above my laptop. The tel to the left of my laptop has my BHS, New Oxford Annotated Bible (it’s the Bible we require our students to use in Religion & Theology courses at Taylor), as wel as some other books. The tel in front and to the right of the laptop consists of sundry files and articles (You’ll notice the latest Harry Potter by my Telephone). Then to the right of my Mac there is another pile of folders and books. On my desk hutch if you could look closely you’d notice various Simpsons/Lord of the Rings/Coke paraphernalia as well as numerous homemade Father’s Day gifts. And of course, the ubiquitous “Double Gulp” cups filled with my addiction of choice, Diet Coke (in various states of decay — did you know Diet Coke molds? I thought it was indestructible!)
Overseeing the entire mess is my “Buddy Christ” figurine — he is perpetually giving me the “thumbs up” — OK, I’ll persevere!
If anyone knows where my “JetsGo” file folder is, please let me know…
Sinaiticus to Enter the Digital World
BBC News has an article on the digitizing of Codex Sinaiticus (the image to the right is the beginning of Matthew in the codex). This isn’t ground-breaking news (see below), though I have been watching for any stories on Sinaiticus since I am writing a dictionary entry on the codex for The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible.The BBC article has a number of errors. For instance, the tag line indicates that Sinaiticus is “the oldest known Biblical New Testament in the world” which it isn’t. Further down in the article they are correct when they say “it has the oldest complete copy of the New Testament.” Here’s another error: “It is named after the place it was written, the monastery of Saint Catherine in Sinai, Egypt.” More properly it should say that it was named after the place it was discovered. It may have been copied there, but it more likely was produced in Rome, Caesarea, or Alexandria.
I am surprised that BBC picked up the story when it did. Reuters published a similar story by Tim Perry early in July (it is still available here).
More Snow in Sheol (Apple releases multi-button mouse)
I can’t believe it… Satan must certainly be wearing a toque and parka! After some twenty years Apple Computer released a mouse that has more than one button! Unbelievable!! Dubbed the Mighty Mouse, this mouse has side buttons as well as a scroll ball (ball… not wheel!).
First Apple announces Macs are going to be made with Intel inside and now this!
Mark my words… the end is nigh!