New NEH Grants

The NEH has announced many new grants, including the following that I selected that seemed particularly relevant here. Congratulations to all the winners, and good luck on these interesting projects!

New Haven

Yale University Outright: $20,000

[Collaborative Research]

Project Director: Jacqueline Vayntrub

Project Title: The Lasting Impact of Martin Luther’s Anti-Judaism on Biblical Studies

Project Description: Planning and hosting an international workshop exploring the

impact of German theologian Martin Luther’s anti-Judaism on biblical scholarship,

from the 15th century to the modern era.

Atlanta

Georgia Tech Research Corporation Outright: $25,000

[Collaborative Research]

Project Director: David Citrin

Project Title: NEH-BSF: Revealing Hidden Texts of Manuscript Fragments in

Medieval Spanish Book Bindings Using Terahertz Imaging

Project Description: Planning a project to use new technology to access fragments of

Jewish texts hidden in medieval manuscripts.

Cambridge

Harvard University Outright: $23,249

[Collaborative Research]

Project Director: Vladimir Olivero

Project Title: NEH-BSF: A New Comprehensive Grammar of Late Biblical Hebrew

Project Description: Planning the development of an updated grammar of Late

Biblical Hebrew (587– 200 BCE).

Princeton

Princeton University Outright: $300,000

[Scholarly Editions and Translations]

Project Director: Eve Krakowski

Project Title: NEH-BSF: Living with Death in Medieval Egypt: Editions and

Translations of a Cairo Geniza corpus

Project Description: Preparation for print and digital translation of a collection of

medieval Jewish documents about death, from Hebrew, Aramaic, and Judeo-Arabic.

Raleigh

North Carolina State University Outright: $244,367

[Collaborative Research]

Project Director: Timothy Stinson

Project Title: Mysterious Manor Court Rolls: Unlocking Agricultural and Health

Secrets through the DNA-based Analysis of Parchment Skins

Project Description: Research and writing leading to articles on parchment

production, agricultural practices, and the emergence of disease in medieval and

early modern England as revealed through textual and DNA analysis of public

documents (ca. 1300–1799).

Transformations in Translation: Comparing Qumran Aramaic Job and Old Greek Job

I just saw a new book out by SBL Press that looks like a fascinating contribution:

Transformations in Translation: Comparing Qumran Aramaic Job and Old Greek Job

by Alun Morton Thomas

Blurb from the SBL website:

Using insights gleaned from translation studies, Alun Morton Thomas compares the earliest known Aramaic and Greek translations of the book of Job to explore how translators dealt with idiomatic and linguistic difficulties in translating the Hebrew text. Thomas demonstrates that many of the scribal techniques used in both the Qumran and Old Greek versions of Job resemble practices attested in other Second Temple Jewish texts. The scribal choices Thomas reveals provide insights into early interpretations of the book of Job which stem from the Second Temple period. The volume also delves into how earlier Aramaic and Greek translations relate to later translation attempts in these two languages. Transformations in Translation is a critical resource for scholars and students interested in some of the most difficult passages to translate from Hebrew.

Alun Morton Thomas completed his doctoral studies at Trinity College Dublin, where he was awarded a DAAD fellowship to conduct part of the research for this project at the University of Göttingen. He is currently a pastor in North Wales.

Etnachta and Masoretica

Idan Dershowitz has published two different online resources for the study of the Bible:

1. Etnachta (https://www.etnachta.org/) - A site that facilitates study and searching of the Masoretic accents. I haven't poked around much with this one yet.
2. Masoretica (https://www.masoretica.org/) - This site allows you to look up a verse in a number of manuscripts (Hebrew--Masoretic and Samaritan--and Greek). It's a great tool for easily looking up images of manuscripts for a particular verse.

HT Joshua Alfaro 

Masoretic Notes to Daniel and Ezra-Nehemiah

David Marcus has published two volumes transcribing, translating, and annotating the Masoretic notes in the Leningrad Codex to the books of Daniel and Ezra-Nehemiah. I haven't had a chance to look at them yet, but it sounds like they should be a great resource for students and scholars looking to gain more familiarity with the Masorah.

ERC Advanced Grants

I just learned of two new ERC Advanced Grants that are relevant here:

Mladen Popović (University of Groningen), "Tracing Scribes and Scrolls." This project aims to use analytical chemistry, artificial intelligence, and palaeography to determine where the Dead Sea Scrolls were produced.

Hugh Houghton (University of Birmingham), "Exegetical Manuscripts and the Greek New Testament." This project aims to study a number of commentaries on the New Testament as new evidence for the text of the Bible.

Congratulations both Mladen and Hugh for these well-earned awards, and good luck on accomplishing these challenging aims!

Vesuvius Challenge Results

In the news recently, scholars have succeeded in virtually unrolling and reading 20 columns of a scroll from Herculaneum. This technology has been developing rapidly over the past few years, and this is the biggest success to date.

AJR on Working with Manuscripts

Ancient Jew Review has a two-part review series on Liv Ingeborg Lied and Brent Nongbri's new book on Working with Manuscripts. I haven't read it yet, but it sounds like exactly the kind of practical advice I would have liked to have had when I first started working with manuscripts. If you're interested in learning more about working with actual manuscripts, check it out!