New DSS Fragments from the Cave of the Skulls

A recent article notes that a couple of small, as-yet undeciphered fragments were discovered in recent salvage excavations in the Cave of the Skulls.

HT Daniel Falk

LXX Scholar Interview: José Manuel Cañas Reíllo

Will Ross blogs with an interesting interview with José Manuel Cañas Reíllo, the editor of the Göttingen LXX edition of Judges. José gives an interesting window into the work of an editor and a sneak peak into the edition he anticipates to complete in 2020. Interestingly, he suggests it will be possible to produce a single main text of the book, rather than printing two parallel versions. Best of luck to José as he finishes the edition!

Glenny Reviews Kreuzer's "The Bible in Greek"

In the most recent RBL Ed Glenny reviews Sigmund Kreuzer's The Bible in Greek: Translation, Transmission, and Theology of the Septuagint. It sounds like an apology for the Antiochene/Lucianic text in Septuagint research and a good read for anyone interested in Septuagint studies.

New ZAW Articles

A new issue of ZAW (128, no. 4) is out including some articles of text-critical interest.


The Analysis of the Pentateuch
Kratz, Reinhard G.


Comparing Critical Editions: BHQ Proverbs and HBCE Proverbs
Hendel, Ronald


HT Agade

Forgeries in Accordance?

Arstein Justnes laments the inclusion of several post-2002 Dead Sea Scrolls fragments in Accordance modules. Somewhat annoyingly, he rejects two Exodus fragments identified by Eshel and Eshel as forgeries... :) I guess that makes more work for me in revising my dissertation!

Sibyls, Scriptures, and Scrolls: John Collins at Seventy

A new book has been announced in honor of John Collins that contains a number of articles of text-critical interest.


Sibyls, Scriptures, and Scrolls: John Collins at Seventy
Edited by Joel Baden, Yale University, Hindy Najman,University of Oxford and Eibert Tigchelaar, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.


Abstract:


This volume, a tribute to John J. Collins by his friends, colleagues, and students, includes essays on the wide range of interests that have occupied John Collins’s distinguished career. Topics range from the ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Second Temple Judaism and beyond into early Christianity and rabbinic Judaism. The contributions deal with issues of text and interpretation, history and historiography, philology and archaeology, and more. The breadth of the volume is matched only by the breadth of John Collins’s own work.


TC Papers:


The Social Location of the Scribe in the Second Temple Period
Samuel L. Adams


Heraclitus’s Homeric Problems and Midrash Genesis Rabbah: Comparisons and Contrasts
Philip Alexander


Redactor or Rabbenu? Revisiting an Old Question of Identity
Joel S. Baden


The Dream of a Perfect Text: Textual Criticism and Biblical Inerrancy in Early Modern Europe
Ronald Hendel


Scribal Innovation and the Book of Tobit: A Long Overdue Discussion
Naomi S. S. Jacobs


Deity and Divine in the Hebrew Bible and in the Dead Sea Scrolls
Reinhard G. Kratz


The Place of the Early Printed Editions of Josephus’s Antiquities and War (1470–1534) in the Latin Textual Tradition
David B. Levenson and Thomas R. Martin


Perfecting Translation: The Greek Scriptures in Philo of Alexandria
Hindy Najman and Benjamin G. Wright


Textual Criticism of Hebrew Scripture in the 20th Century
Emanuel Tov


The Samaritan and Masoretic Pentateuch: Text and Interpretation(s)
Eugene Ulrich

An Egyptian-Semitic Bilingual Abecedary?

As an interesting follow-up to the recent discussion about the origin of the Hebrew alphabet, there is apparently an upcoming lecture on a bilingual Egyptian-Semitic abecedary from Theban Tomb 99. Sounds interesting! If anyone is able to attend, do tell!


HT Agade

Hebrew Inventers of the Alphabet?

A recent article publicizes the theory of Douglas Petrovich's theory that Hebrews invented the alphabet. Petrovich claims to identify new letters on inscriptions from Egypt and read them as Hebrew, from which he argues that the Hebrews invented the alphabet. Such a theory has been argued before, but it is interesting to see such a theory revived here.


It's fairly well-established that Egyptian hieroglyphs were adapted into an alphabet to write a Semitic language at an early period. What is most problematic is identifying which Semitic language. We know precious little about the earliest stages of the Northwest Semitic languages, and the language boundaries we are so used to thinking about in later periods do not easily fit the oldest evidence. I heard Petrovich give the same paper last year, and the examples he showed did not strike me as good evidence for identifying them as Hebrew as distinct from other Canaanite languages/dialects. Many of his identifications and translations seemed highly questionable; neither were they really distinctive of Hebrew. I'm willing to give him a hearing, but I remain very skeptical that he will be able to make this case in a compelling manner.


HT Agade

Update: Similar, but more detailed, thoughts from Christopher Rollston on the early Semitic inscriptions.

Samaritan Ten Commandments Tablet Sells Big

An important Samaritan Ten Commandments tablet has sold at auction for $850,000! Apparently it is dated to the 4th century, which would make it a very early witness to the Samaritan version.


HT Todd Bolen

New Expidition for Dead Sea Scrolls

So apparently the Israelis are going to launch another expidition to look for Dead Sea Scrolls in the West Bank. It will be very interesting to see what they find.


HT Todd Bolen

Michael Langlois on the Jerusalem Papyrus

Michael Langlois weighs in on the Jerusalem papyrus in "How a 2,700-year-old piece of papyrus super-charged the debate over UNESCO and Jerusalem".

The Text of the Hebrew Bible and Its Editions

As a fitting follow-up to Hendel's new book, Brill has announced the forthcoming publication of a new book on editions of the Hebrew Bible.


Andrés Piquer Otero and Pablo Torijano Morales, eds. The Text of the Hebrew Bible and Its Editions: Studies in Celebration of the Fifth Centennial of the Complutensian Polyglot.


Abstract:


"In The Text of the Hebrew Bible and its Editions some of the top world scholars and editors of the Hebrew Bible and its versions present essays on the aims, method, and problems of editing the biblical text(s), taking as a reference the Complutensian Polyglot, first modern edition of the Hebrew text and its versions and whose Fifth Centennial was celebrated in 2014. The main parts of the volume discuss models of editions from the Renaissance and its forerunners to the Digital Age, the challenges offered by the different textual traditions, particular editorial problems of the individual books of the Bible, and the role played by quotations. It thus sets a landmark in the future of biblical editions."

New Book on the Hebrew Bible: Critical Edition by Ron Hendel

I just received word of a new book by Ron Hendel laying out the theory behind the Hebrew Bible: A Critical Edition series. I always enjoy reading Hendel's methodological work, so I'm sure this will make for a good read. :)

Steps to a New Edition of the Hebrew Bible
Ronald Hendel
ISBN	9781628371574
Status	Forthcoming
Price:	$45.95
Binding	Paperback
Publication Date	November 2016
Pages	330

Understand the purpose and background of the new The Hebrew Bible: A Critical Edition project


Our understanding of the textual history of the Hebrew Bible has been transformed in the wake of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Hendel explores and refines this new knowledge and formulates a rationale for a new edition of the Hebrew Bible. The chapters situate The Hebrew Bible; A Critical Edition project in a broad historical context, from the beginnings of textual criticism in late antiquity and the Renaissance to the controversies in contemporary theory and practice. This book combines close analysis with broad synthesis, yielding new perspectives on the text of the Hebrew Bible.


Features

• Theory and practice of textual criticism
• Textual history of the Hebrew Bible
• History of text-critical scholarship

Ronald Hendel is the Norma and Sam Dabby Professor of Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He has written many books and articles on biblical religion, language, and culture, and he is the general editor of The Hebrew Bible: A Critical Edition. His most recent book is The Book of Genesis: A Biography.


View the hardcover edition of this title.


Download a printable standing order sheet to see other available volumes in the series and to give to your librarian to set up a standing order.


HT Agade

Genizah Research Newsletter

In the latest newsletter of the Genizah Research Institute, Stefan Reif reports on a conference on the Hebrew texts of Ben Sirah.

They also highlight a new book on Greek translations in Byzantine Judaism, which will be of interest to those interested in the Greek Bible:

Nicholas de Lange, Japheth in the Tents of Shem: Greek Bible Translations in Byzantine Judaism (Mohr Siebeck, 2015).

TC Reviews from RBL

The most recent RBL has three reviews relevant to OTTC:


Guide to Hebrew Manuscript CollectionsRichler, Benjamin
Jerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 2014 pp. x + 409.2nd Edition. $60.00


La Biblia griega Septuaginta 3: Libros poéticos y sapiencialesMarcos, Natalio Fernandez, Jose Manuel Canas Reillo, Mercedes Lopez Salva, Inmaculada Delgado Jara, Antonio Pinero Saenz, Lorena Miralles Macia and M. Victoria Spottorno Diaz-Caro, translatorsSalamanaca: Ediciones Sigueme, 2013 pp. 670. $55.77


Reconsidering Nehemiah's Judah: The Case of MT and LXX Nehemia 11–12
Fulton, Deirdre N.Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2015 pp. xv + 258. €79.00










       

Peter Flint Has Passed Away

I just received word from Andy Perrin that Peter Flint has passed away. He will be sorely missed by friends and colleagues. Peter was well known for his important contributions to the study of the text of the Bible (particularly his work on the Psalms scrolls from Qumran and the large Isaiah scroll from cave 1) and the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as his commitment to rigorous Evangelical biblical scholarship.

Christopher Rollston on the Jerusalem Papyrus

Christopher Rollston gets more specific on his concerns about the morphology of the text of the Jerusalem Papyrus in a recent blog post "The Jerusalem Papyrus: Complementary Notations".


HT Rick Bonnie

New Edition of Brotzman's "Old Testament Textual Criticism"

Baker is advertizing a new edition of Ellis Brotzman's Old Testament Textual Criticism, now co-authored with Eric Tully. I enjoyed reading the first edition, which is a great simple introduction to the topic. It will be interesting to see what the new edition includes.

Interview with Shmuel Ahituv on the Jerusalem Papyrus

Eve Harrow has an interesting interview with Shmuel Ahituv on the Jerusalem Papyrus.


HT Agade

Interview with Eva Mroczek

Joseph Ryan Kelly interviews Eva Mroczek about her new book The Literary Imagination in Jewish Antiquity.

Conference on Scribes and Texts in the Persian Period

An upcoming conference has a number of speakers working on scribes and texts in Judah in the Persian period.


From Josette Elayi [mailto:elayi-j@mediatechnix.com]
================================

ASPEP Conferences (Association for the research on Syria-Palestine in the Persian Period), November 16, 2016, Institut Protestant de Théologie de Paris.

1. Conference of Jeon Jaeyoung
« Diverse Socio-religious Groups in the Persian Yehud and their Scribal Conflicts in the Pentateuch ».

2. Conference of André Lemaire
« L’enseignement de l’araméen dans l’empire achéménide».

3. Conference of Matthieu Richelle
« Que peut-on dire du paléo-hébreu à l’époque perse ? ».

4. Conference of Marie-Jeanne Roche
« Une inscription funéraire araméenne d’al-‘Ula ».

5. ASPEP General Assembly.


HT Agade

More Upcoming Conferences and Job Opportunities

More conferences and jobs to consider from the COMSt email list:

Dear COMSt members and subscribers,

 

as usual, I would like to share with you some information/announcements that could be useful or interesting to some of you:

 

Conferences and calls

- Digitised Hebrew Manuscripts: British Library and Beyond, London, 21 November 2016: http://blogs.bl.uk/asian-and-african/2016/10/digitised-hebrew-manuscripts-conference-at-the-british-library-21-november-2016.html

- The 50th Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, Birmingham, 25-27 March 2017, http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/activity/bomgs/events/2017/global-byzantium.aspx

- The Discoveries of Manuscripts from Late Antiquity: Their Impact on Patristic Studies and the Contemporary World, San Juan, 28-31 March 2017, Cfp open until 30 October 2016, http://www.congresodemanuscrito.com/

- 19th International Conference on Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, Lisbon, 16-17 April 2017, Cfp open up to 31 October 2016 https://www.waset.org/conference/2017/04/lisbon/ICGRBS

- Modulations and transpositions: the contexts and boundaries of ‘minor’ and ‘major’ genres in late antique Christian poetry, Lisbon 1-2 June 2017, and Heidelberg 15-16 December 2017, Cfp open up to 16 January 2017 https://www.mommsen-gesellschaft.de/call-for-papers/1924-modulations-and-transpositions-the-contexts-and-boundaries-of-minor-and-major-genres-in-late-antique-christian-poetry

- Ninth Enoch Seminar “From tôrāh to Torah: Variegated Notions of Torah from the First Temple Period to Late Antiquity”, Camaldoli, 18-23 June 2017, http://www.4enoch.org/wiki4/index.php?title=Ninth_Enoch_Seminar_(2017_Camaldoli),_conference

 

Positions and fellowships

- PhD scholarship in theology and religious studies: Jewish, Christian and Islamic Origins, Groningen, deadline 31 October 2016, http://www.rug.nl/ggw/organization/profile/vacancies/phd-scholarship-in-faculty-theology-and-religious-studies-jewish-christian-and-islamic-origins

- research fellow in Early Christianity, Melbourne, deadline 30 November 2016, http://careers.acu.edu.au/caw/en/job/971107/research-fellowsenior-research-fellow-early-christianity

- job in digital humanities: Pelagios community manager, Lancaster, deadline 28 October 2016, https://hr-jobs.lancs.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx?ref=A1683

- 2017 incoming fellowship in Ethiopian manuscript studies, Hamburg, deadline 30 November 2016, https://www.betamasaheft.uni-hamburg.de/en/news/2016call.html

 

COMSt Bulletin

I would like to use the opportunity to remind you that the deadline for the forthcoming issue of the COMSt Bulletin is 31 October 2016, and we look forward to get text versions of the papers from the latest COMSt conference (do let me know if you may need some more days to finalize your contribution).

 

With my very best wishes to everyone

 

Eugenia

 

Eugenia Sokolinski
Project Coordinator
Hiob Ludolf Centre for Ethiopian Studies
Universität Hamburg
Alsterterrasse 1
20354 Hamburg

Tel. +49 40 42838 7777
Fax +49 40 42828 3330
Mob. +49 1632879120
eugenia.sokolinski@uni-hamburg.de
https://www.aai.uni-hamburg.de/en/ethiostudies/

More on the New Hebrew Paprus from the Judean Desert

More news sources on the new Hebrew papyrus seized by the IAA. Eitan Klein is quoted in Live Science as saying that the papyrus is dated to the 7th century BCE, rather than the 8th. Christopher Rollston suspects it may be a modern forgery on ancient papyrus based on 1) "some palaeographic and orthographic anomalies and inconsistencies in this papyrus inscription"; 2) its "sensational" content (I assume he means the fact that it mentions a woman and/or Jerusalem?); and 3) its lack of a solid provenance (he casts some doubt on the IAA backstory, though I am not sure the accounts are contradictory). Jim Davila is optimistic about the authenticity of the papyrus, though noting Rollston's concerns.

HT Eibert Tichelaar


Update 27 Oct 2016
In the official IAA press release, Klein suggests it is from the second half of the 7th century.

9th Enoch Seminar - From tôrāh to Torah: Variegated Notions of Torah from the First Temple Period to Late Antiquity

Jason Zurawski sends word of the 9^th Enoch Seminar, From tôrāh to Torah: Variegated Notions of Torah from the First Temple Period to Late Antiquity in June 2017. Sounds like an exciting lineup!


---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Members and Friends of the Enoch Seminar,

 

We have had a wonderful response to our initial announcement of the 9^th Enoch Seminar, From tôrāh to Torah: Variegated Notions of Torah from the First Temple Period to Late Antiquity, which will take place from June 18-23, 2017, at the lovely Monastero di Camaldoli, ideally situated in the forested hills of Tuscany. See below for a detailed description of the topic and themes, as well as a list of the current participants. You may also visit the conference website for all updated information:

 

http://www.4enoch.org/wiki4/index.php?title=Ninth_Enoch_Seminar_(2017_Camaldoli),_conference

 

Participation in the 9^th Enoch Seminar is very limited and is by invitation only. If you would like to attend, please be in touch with Jason Zurawski at j.m.zurawski@rug.nl. Proposals for short papers (3000-4000 words) are being accepted through December 15^th. Online registration for the meeting will begin in December.

 

Thank you for your time and best wishes,

 

Bill Schniedewind

Jason Zurawski

Gabriele Boccaccini

 

From tôrāh to Torah:
Variegated Notions of Torah from the First Temple Period to Late Antiquity

 

June 18-23, 2017

Camaldoli, Italy

 

The Ninth Enoch Seminar

 

With the support of

Alessandro Nangeroni International Endowment

University of Michigan

Frankel Center for Judaic Studies

Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies

 

Conference Chairs: William Schniedewind and Jason Zurawski (in collaboration with Gabriele Boccaccini)

 

The Enoch Seminar and the resultant volume will examine the diverse understandings of tôrāh, beginning with the texts of the Hebrew Bible through to the Second Temple period and late antiquity, moving beyond traditional paradigms such as the early usage of tôrāh as general instruction vs. the transition to nomos, as “law,” or the development of a “normative” notion of Torah (capitalization intentional) in the Second Temple period. Participants are encouraged to rethink our scholarly assumptions and preconceptions on the topic and tackle the questions anew in light of more critical philological and historical approaches. We seek to examine the various notions of tôrāh (and nomos) in all relevant literature, regardless of scholarly or denominational corpora, both within ancient Jewish/Judean traditions and in light of broader influences, whether Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Greek, Roman, Persian, etc. As this meeting follows and builds upon the work from the Fifth Nangeroni Meeting, “Second Temple Jewish Paideia in its Ancient Near Eastern and Hellenistic Contexts” (June/July 2015), discussions pertaining to the connections between tôrāh/Torah/nomos/dat and education, pedagogy, wisdom, etc., are especially encouraging. Our aim will be to discuss the variety of ways that tôrāh was defined and developed in the literature.

 

The pre-circulated papers will be presented briefly (5 min.), followed by a response (10 min.) and a sustained discussion by the participants. Major papers (5000-8000 words) and short papers (3000-4000 words) should be submitted by May 1, 2017. This will allow respondents and other participants sufficient time to prepare.

 

Participants

Samuel Adams (Union Presbyterian Seminary)

Sara Ahbel-Rappe (University of Michigan)

Carol Bakhos (University of California, Los Angeles)

Andreas Bedenbender (Paderborn University)

Gabriele Boccaccini (University of Michigan)

Francis Borchardt (Lutheran Theological Seminary of Hong Kong)

Calum Carmichael (Cornell University)

James Charlesworth (Princeton University)

Esther Chazon (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

Federico Dal Bo (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

Vicente Dobroruka (Universidade de Brasília)

Lutz Doering (University of Münster)

Oliver Dyma (Katholische Stiftungsfachhochschule München)

Steven Fraade (Yale University)

Christine Hayes (Yale University)

Ronald Herms (Fresno Pacific University)

David Jackson (William Carey Christian School, Australia)

Magnar Kartveit (VID Specialized University)

Anne Kreps (University of Oregon)

David Lambert (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

Liv Ingeborg Lied (MF Norwegian School of Theology)

Paul Mandel (Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies)

Eva Mroczek (University of California, Davis)

Jason Myers (Greensboro College)

Rivka Nir (Open University of Israel)

Juan Carlos Ossandón (Pontificia Universitas Sanctae Crucis)

Anders Klostergaard Petersen (Aarhus University)

Patrick Pouchelle (Centre Sèvres – Paris)

Jeremy Punt (Stellenbosch University)

Alexander Rofé (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

Ishay Rosen Zvi (Tel Aviv University)

Jacque van Ruiten (University of Groningen)

Michael Satlow (Brown University)

Brian Schmidt (University of Michigan)

William Schniedewind (University of California, Los Angeles)

Stefan Schorch (Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg)

Malka Simkovich (Catholic Theological Union)

Joan Taylor (King’s College London)

Jacqueline Vayntrub (Brandeis University)

Benjamin Wright (Lehigh University)

J. Edward Wright (University of Arizona)

Jason Zurawski (University of Groningen)

 

--

Dr. Jason M. Zurawski

Postdoctoral Fellow, Qumran Institute

Department of Old Testament and Early Judaism

Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies

University of Groningen

Secretary, Board of Directors

The Enoch Seminar
www.enochseminar.org
4 Enoch
j.m.zurawski@rug.nl

Postdocs in Munich

I have several friends and colleagues working in Munich now, and their Distant Worlds group seems to be quite an exciting research context. See below their announcement for two postdoctoral positions.


From Walther Sallaberger [mailto:WaSa@assyr.fak12.uni-muenchen.de]
=======================

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) in Munich is one of the leading European universities, with a tradition reaching back more than 500 years. In 2012, the university established the Munich Graduate School for Ancient Studies ‘Distant Worlds’ with funding from the German Excellence Initiative. The Graduate School is an interdisciplinary research network bringing together LMU and research institutions in Munich to provide an optimal environment for disciplinary research and the promotion of junior academics in the field of ancient studies. As part of its doctoral study and postdoctoral training programme, the Graduate School combines research from a broad spectrum of disciplines within the field of ancient studies.

The Graduate School invites applications for the following positions:

2 Postdoctoral Positions
Salary grade 13 TV-L / 100%

These temporary positions are available from 1 April 2017 until 31 March 2019.
It is possible to apply for a one-year extension in the form of a scholarship.

Each of the positions will coordinate a junior research group. The junior research groups are oriented towards one of the seven focus areas
below:

1. Constructions of Norms
2. Constructions of Elites
3. Constructions of the ‘Beautiful’
4. Organisation of Coexistence
5. Organisation of Exchange
6. Organisation of Dealing with Dissent
7. Organisation of Memory and Forgetting

Responsibilities:

Successful candidates will conduct an independent research project contributing to one of the seven focus areas, to be chosen by the candidates themselves. In pursuing their research, candidates will be supported by mentors chosen from the group of Principal Investigators of the School.

They will collaborate with doctoral students in an interdisciplinary junior research group and coordinate the activities of that group (supported by mentors).

They will develop new research perspectives in the field of ancient studies together with doctoral students, Principal Investigators and other members of the Münchner Zentrum für Antike Welten.

Requirements:

In order to qualify for application, candidates must have completed their doctorate in the field of ancient studies with outstanding results. Applicants will need to submit a proposal for an independent research project. They should demonstrate their openness towards working in an interdisciplinary context as well as an interest in basic and theoretical questions.

The School offers the scope for individual academic development and an inspiring research environment.

Applicants with disabilities who possess essentially equal qualifications will be given preference. LMU Munich is an equal opportunity employer committed to excellence through diversity, and therefore explicitly encourages women to apply.

Please submit the following required application documents
electronically:

(A) as one pdf file:
(1) Application letter (letter of motivation)
(2) Curriculum vitae
(3) List of publications and list of courses taught
(4) Degree certificates
(5) Research proposal (max. 7.500 characters incl. spaces) plus bibliography
(6) Sample of your written work (app. length: 10–12 pages).

(B) as pdf file:
completed application form
(download via:
www.gs-distantworlds.mzaw.lmu.de/de/Stellen/Postdoc-Stellen/1).

(C) 2 Letters of reference:
To be emailed directly by the referees to application@mzaw.lmu.de citing the reference number DW-PostDoc/17_your_name


Please submit your complete application in German or English citing the
reference number DW-PostDoc/17 at the latest by 1 December 2016
exclusively via email to: application@mzaw.lmu.de

You can find further information on the Graduate School "Distant Worlds“
on the following website: http://www.gs-distantworlds.mzaw.lmu.de/

For further questions please contact Ms Anna Waldschütz
(anna.waldschuetz@mzaw.lmu.de).


HT Agade

New 8th Century Papyrus from Judah?

I have just heard of reports of a new papyrus from Judah mentioning Jerusalem that sound very exciting (NB the photo on the news article is not of this papyrus, but a much later semicursive document)! It was discovered in the Judean Desert and purchased on the antiquities market, placing it in a somewhat compromised position in the eyes of some. Supposedly it can reliably be dated to the 8th century BCE, which makes it a remarkably rare document from pre-exilic Judah on a perishable writing support. Apparently it will be presented in Jerusalem at the annual New Studies in the Archaeology of Jerusalem and its Region conference on Oct. 26-27, 2016. If anyone has the chance to see the presentation, I would greatly appreciate any important details about this interesting document!

HT Todd Bolen


Update - Årstein Justnes pointed out the following related links:


http://israelnewsonline.org/discovery-jerusalem-on-hebrew-papyrus/


Roberta Mazza


Jim Davila


Times of Israel - who provide the first picture of the papyrus and give the date of the 7th century or approximately 700 BCE

Aramaisms in the Septuagint

New from SBL Press:


L’influence de l’araméen sur les traducteurs de la LXX principalement, sur les traducteurs grecs postérieurs, ainsi que sur les scribes de la Vorlage de la LXX
Anne-Françoise Loiseau
Loiseau presents examples of Greek translations of verses from the Hebrew Bible that clearly illustrate the influence of Aramaic or Late Hebrew on the semantics of the Septuagint translators. The author postulates that the Greek translators based their translations on Hebrew-Aramaic equivalents maintained as lists or even on proto-targumim such as those found at Qumran, both predecessors of the later Aramaic targumic translations. Loiseau’s examples provide convincing explanations for different coincidences occurring between the Greek translations and the interpretative traditions found in the targumim and help elucidate a number of puzzling translations where two Aramaic words that are very similar graphically or phonetically were erroneously interchanged.
Paper $45.95, ISBN 9781628371567
Hardcover $60.95, ISBN 9780884141938
Kindle, ASIN B01M0PUT0T 
Google Play, ISBN 9780884141921
270 pages • 2016 • Septuagint and Cognate Studies 65

More Coverage on Possible DSS Forgeries

Nina Burleigh has a recent, short Newsweek piece out on possible DSS forgeries: "Newly Discovered Dead Sea Scrolls are Skillfully Crafted Fakes, Experts Suspect". Not much new, but interesting to see coverage in popular media outlets.


HT Rick Bonnie

Ancient Worlds in Digital Culture

I just received word of a new Brill volume on Digital Humanities projects and Biblical Studies that looks interesting.

Ancient Worlds in Digital Culture, Edited by Claire Clivaz, Paul Dilley, David Hamidović in collaboration with Apolline Thromas.

The volume presents a selection of research projects in Digital Humanities applied to the “Biblical Studies” in the widest sense and context, including Early Jewish and Christian studies, hence the title “Ancient Worlds”. Taken as a whole, the volume explores the emergent Digital Culture at the beginning of the 21st century. It also offers many examples which attest to a change of paradigm in the textual scholarship of “Ancient Worlds”: categories are reshaped; textuality is (re-) investigated according to its relationships with orality and visualization; methods, approaches and practices are no longer a fixed conglomeration but are mobilized according to their contexts and newly available digital tools.

HT Agade

Article on New DSS Fragments

Owen Jarus writes about newly purchased DSS fragments in the Museum of the Bible and Schøyen collections in Live Science. An interesting--if brief--account of how these collections were assembled.

HT Årstein Justnes

ACOR Fellowships in Jordan

ACOR in Amman, Jordan has opened up a call for applications for upcoming fellowships that might be worth considering for some readers.

From China Shelton [mailto:acor@bu.edu]:
======================================

ANNOUNCEMENT OF ACOR FELLOWSHIPS  2017-2018
Deadline for all applications is February 1, 2017

NEH Fellowship <http://www.acorjordan.org/neh-fellowship/ >: One to two awards of four to six months for scholars who have a Ph.D. or have completed their professional training. Fields of research include: modern and classical languages, linguistics, literature, history, jurisprudence, philosophy, archaeology, comparative religion, ethics, and the history, criticism, and theory of the arts. Social and political scientists are encouraged to apply. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or foreign nationals living in the U.S. three years immediately preceding the application deadline. The award for six months is $25,200. Awards must be used between August 15, 2017 and December 31, 2018.

ACOR-CAORC Post-Graduate Fellowship <http://www.acorjordan.org/caorc-fellowships/ >: Two or more two- to six-month fellowships for post-doctoral scholars and scholars with a terminal degree in their field, pursuing research or publication projects in the natural and social sciences, humanities, and associated disciplines relating to the Near East. U.S. citizenship required. Maximum award is $32,400. Awards must be used between August 15, 2017 and December 31, 2018. Funding for this fellowship provided by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

ACOR-CAORC Fellowship <http://www.acorjordan.org/caorc-fellowships/ >: Two or more two- to six-month fellowships for masters and doctoral students. Fields of study include all areas of the humanities and the natural and social sciences. Topics should contribute to scholarship in Near Eastern studies. U.S. citizenship required. Maximum award is $23,800. Awards must be used between August 15, 2017 and December 31, 2018. Funding for this fellowship provided by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Jennifer C. Groot Memorial Fellowship <http://www.acorjordan.org/named-fellowships/groot-memorial-fellowship/ >: Up to three awards of $1,500 each to support beginners in archaeological fieldwork who have been accepted as team members on archaeological projects with ASOR/CAP affiliation in Jordan. Open to undergraduate or graduate students of U.S. or Canadian citizenship.

Bert and Sally de Vries Fellowship <http://www.acorjordan.org/named-fellowships/de-vries-fellowship/ >: One award of $1,500 to support a student for participation on an archaeological project or research in Jordan. Senior project staff members whose expenses are being borne largely by the project are ineligible. Open to enrolled undergraduate or graduate students of any nationality except Jordanian citizens.

Harrell Family Fellowship <http://www.acorjordan.org/named-fellowships/harrell-fellowship/ >: One award of $2,000 to support a graduate student for participation on an archaeological project or research in Jordan. Senior project staff members whose expenses are being borne largely by the project are ineligible. Open to enrolled graduate students of any nationality except Jordanian citizens.

Pierre and Patricia Bikai Fellowship <http://www.acorjordan.org/named-fellowships/bikai-fellowships/ >: Two awards for one month each or one two-month award for residency at ACOR in Amman. It is open to enrolled graduate students of any nationality, except Jordanian citizens, participating in an archaeological project or conducting archaeological work in Jordan. The fellowship includes room and board at ACOR and a monthly stipend of $600.

Burton MacDonald and Rosemarie Sampson Fellowship <http://www.acorjordan.org/named-fellowships/macdonald-sampson/ > : One award for either eight weeks residency at ACOR for research in the fields of Ancient Near Eastern languages and history, archaeology, Bible studies, or comparative religion, or a travel grant to assist with participation in an archaeological field project in Jordan. The ACOR residency fellowship option includes room and board at ACOR and a monthly stipend of $400. The travel grant option provides a single payment of $2,000 to help with any project related expenses. Both options are open to enrolled undergraduate or graduate students of Canadian citizenship or landed immigrant status.

James A. Sauer Fellowship <http://www.acorjordan.org/named-fellowships/sauer-fellowship-2017-18/ >: One award of $1,250 open to enrolled graduate students of Jordanian citizenship, studying in Jordan or another country, and participating in an archaeological project or pursuing independent research in Jordan. This cycle the fellowship is open only to enrolled graduate students of Jordanian nationality.

Kenneth W. Russell Fellowship <http://www.acorjordan.org/named-fellowships/russell-fellowship/ >: One award of $1,800 to support a graduate student (any nationality except Jordanian) for field work or participating in an ACOR approved archaeological research project. This cycle the fellowship is open to enrolled graduate students of any nationality except Jordanian.

Frederick-Wenger Memorial Endowment <http://www.acorjordan.org/named-fellowships/frederick-wenger-memorial-endowment/ >: Two awards of $1,500 to assist a Jordanian student with the cost of their education. Eligibility is not limited to a specific field of study, but preference will be given to study related to Jordan's cultural heritage. Candidates must be Jordanian citizens and currently enrolled as undergraduate or graduate students in a Jordanian university.

Jordanian Graduate Student Scholarship <http://www.acorjordan.org/fellowships-master-page/jgss-16-17/ >: Four awards of $3,000 each to assist Jordanian graduate students with the annual costs of their academic programs during the period May 1, 2017 through May 31, 2018. Candidates must be Jordanian citizens and currently enrolled in either a Master's or Doctoral program in a Jordanian university.

Eligibility is limited to students in programs related to Jordan's cultural heritage (for example: archaeology, anthropology, linguistics/epigraphy, history, conservation, museum studies, and cultural resource management related issues). Awardees who demonstrate excellent progress in their programs will be eligible to apply in consecutive years.

Jordanian Travel Scholarship for ASOR Annual Meeting <http://www.acorjordan.org/fellowships-master-page/asor-participation/ >: Two travel scholarships of $3,500 each to assist Jordanians participating and delivering a paper at the ASOR Annual meeting in mid-November in the United States. Academic papers should be submitted through the ASOR's website (http://www.asor.org/am) by February 1, 2017. Final award selection will be determined by the ASOR program committee.

New Fellowship - ACOR Fellow MESA Award < http://www.acorjordan.org/acor-fellow-mesa-award/ >:  One award of $1,000 to a former ACOR Fellow of any nationality for participation in the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) annual meeting. Eligible applicants are graduate students or post-doctoral scholars who had previously been awarded any ACOR Fellowship and whose abstract has been accepted for presentation at the 2017 MESA annual meeting.  Former CAORC, NEH and fellows from our 'named' scholarships or our scholarships for Jordanians are eligible. Former Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) students of Arabic who were resident at ACOR between 2006 and 2012 are also eligible to apply. For more information, please see our announcement on MESA's website: http://mesana.org/professional-opportunities/grants-competitions.html#ACOR.

Please Note: NEH, CAORC, MacDonald and Sampson (residency option), and Bikai Fellows will reside at the ACOR facility in Amman while conducting their research.

Further information can be found at http://www.acorjordan.org/about-acor-fellowships/
Other fellowships administered by the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) are available. Please visit http://www.caorc.org/fellowshipsto learn more.

HT Agade

The Emergence of Multiple Text Manuscripts

In November there will be an interesting codicological conference on manuscripts consisting of multiple different texts. While only a handful of the papers explicitly address biblical texts, this phenomenon is of great interest for the study of late antique and medieval manuscripts.


From Cécile Michel [mailto:cecile.michel@mae.cnrs.fr]
 =================================

The Emergence of Multiple Text Manuscripts
A conference at the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures
Warburgstraße 26, Hamburg
9-12 November, 2016

Program and abstracts available at:
http://www.manuscript-cultures.uni-hamburg.de/register_mtm2016.html

Tentative Programme
Wednesday, 9 November 2016 (room 0001) 5.00 pm Registration
6:00 pm Welcome & Introduction
6.15 pm Chair: Eva Wilden, Hamburg
Nalini Balbir, Paris:
"Functions of Multiple Text Manuscripts in India: the Jain case"

8.00 pm Dinner

Thursday, 10 November 2016 (room 0001) 9.00 am Chair: Cécile Michel, Paris
Niek Veldhuis, Berkeley Multiple-Composition School Extracts from Mesopotamia
Matthieu Husson, Paris Erfurt F.377, a Late Medieval MTM in Mathematical Astronomy
10.45 am Coffee Break
11.15 am Chair: Bruno Reudenbach, Hamburg
Matthew Crawford, Melbourne The Eusebian Canon Tables as a Corpus-Organizing Paratext within the Multiple-Text Manuscript of the Fourfold Gospel
Paola Buzi, Rome The Ninth-Century Coptic Book Revolution and the Emergence of MTMs

1.00 pm Lunch

2.45 pm Chair: Christian Brockmann, Hamburg
Lara Sels, Leuven The Emergence of MTMs in Slavonic: On Mixed Content Manuscripts and Erotapokriseis
Francesca Maltomini, Florence Poetic MTMs in the Byzantine era

4.30 pm Coffee Break

5.00 pm Chair: Philippe Depreux, Hamburg
Paolo Divizia, Brno Textual Units of Transmission vs. Texts. Normalizing Apparent Anomalies and Particular Cases in Textual Transmission
Lucie Doležalová, Prague Selection, Association, and Memory: Personal MTMs in Late Medieval Bohemia

8.00 pm Dinner

Friday, 11 November 2016 (room 0001)
9.00 am Chair: Michael Friedrich, Hamburg
Donald Harper, Chicago Ephemera or illustrated multiple-text-manuscript? The case of the “Hakutaku hikai zu” 白澤避怪圖 (White Marsh diagram to repel prodigies) in Edo Japan
Imre Galambos, Cambridge Multiple Text Manuscripts from Medieval China

10.45 am Coffee Break

11.15 am Chair: Giuseppe Veltri, Hamburg
Andreas Lehnardt, Mainz Hebrew and Aramaic MTMs Discovered in Binding Fragments
Ronny Vollandt, Munich MTMs in the Judaeo- and Christian Arabic Tradition

1.00 pm Lunch

2.45 pm Chair: Sonja Brentjes, Berlin
François Déroche, Paris The Prince and the Scholar. About the Use of Miscellanies in Late Medieval Marocco
Konrad Hirschler, Berlin Composing / Editing Arabic Multiple-Text Manuscripts in the Late Medieval Period

4.30 pm Coffee Break

5.00 pm Chair: Jürgen Paul, Hamburg
Nuria Martinez de Castilla, Madrid Morisco Single Volume Libraries
Lucia Raggetti, Berlin Rolling Stones Do Gather: MS Instanbul Aya Sofya 3610 and Its Collection of Mineralogical Texts

8.00 pm Dinner

Saturday, 12 November 2016 (room 0001)
9.00 am Chair: Alessandro Bausi, Hamburg
Nikolay Dobronravin, St. Petersburg A Fluid Standard: Text Selection in the kundi Manuscript Books in Brazil
Alessandro Gori, Copenhagen Text Collections in the Arabic Manuscript Tradition of Harar: the Case of the Mawlid Collection and of šayḫ Hāšim’s al-Fatḥ al-Raḥmānī

10.45 am Coffee Break

11.15 pm Chair: Marilena Maniaci, Cassino
Alexandra Gillespie, Toronto Bookbinding as Codicology – Medieval English Manuscripts and the Case of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales

Final Discussion
Discussants: Sonja Brentjes, Berlin and Marilena Maniaci, Cassino

HT Agade

Hugh Houghton Reviews "The Erotic Life of Manuscripts"

Hugh Houghton recently published a review of Yii-Jan Lin's The Erotic Life of Manuscripts: New Testament Textual Criticism and the Biological Sciences. He is generally appreciative of her attempt to prompt conversations on important issues about how textual critics describe and conduct their work, but also worries she overplays her hand at points.

HT Eibert Tigchelaar

New Articles in Biblica and JSCS

Innocent Himbaza has a new article out in Biblica.


Innocent Himbaza, «Critique textuelle et critique littéraire en 2 Samuel 6,2: une généalogie des témoins textuels.», Biblica 97 (2016) 440-453.


2 Sam 6,2 raises both textual and literary questions. On the textual level, no witness provides the original reading, since all the readings are the result of a literary development. However, the LXX of 2 Sam 6,2 is later than the MT since it depends partially upon it. The reading of 4QSam^a does not depend upon the MT of 2 Sam 6,2. Instead, it may have originated from the MT of 1 Chr 13,6 with which it shares literary concerns. Moreover, the presence of the name Baal in a verse concerning the ark of God may explain textual changes not only in the MT but also in the LXX.


Also, the new issue of JSCS is out with numerous articles and reviews of relevance.

Editorial	p. 3
Articles
Constructions Denoting “To Have” (Predicative Possession) in the Greek Genesis Theo van der Louw	5
Quelle est la Septante du Lévitique? Innocent Himbaza	22
Antiochian Readings of 1–4 Reigns in Early Church Fathers Martin Meiser	34
Θεκεμείνας und תַּחְפְּנֵיס in 1 Könige 11,19 (Wevers Prize Paper 2015) Christoffer Theis	50
“Ipsissima verba”: The translator’s “actual words” in Old Greek Job and what they tell us about the translator and the nature of the translation Claude Cox	61
Shall I Surely Translate This? The Hebrew Infinitive Absolute in the Greek Twelve Prophets Joshua L. Harper	81
Ruins, Zion and the Animal Imagery in the Septuagint of Isaiah 34 Anna Angelini	97
A Note on Papyrus 967 and Daniel 2:1 Carson Bay	110
Dissertation Abstracts
The Language and Style of Old Greek Job in Context Marieke Dhont	117
Quasi Nahum — Ein Vergleich des masoretischen Texts und der Septuaginta des Nahumbuchs Nesina Grütter	118
Book Reviews
Nicholas King, The Bible: A study Bible freshly translated Harold Scanlin	119
Natalio Fernández Marcos and M.a Victoria Spottorno Díaz-Caro, La Biblia griega: Septuaginta, III: Libros poéticos y sapienciales; IV: Libros proféticos Theo van der Louw	122
Joseph Bali, Gillian Greenberg, George A. Kiraz, and Donald M. Walter, The Syriac Peshiṭta Bible with English Translation: The Twelve Prophets Michael Tilly	123
Alain Le Bouluec et Philippe Le Moigne, Vision que vit Isaïe. Traduction du texte du prophète Isaïe selon la Septante Arie van der Kooij	125
James K. Aitken, No Stone Unturned: Greek Inscriptions and Septuagint Vocabulary Marieke Dhont	128
Kristin De Troyer, T. Michael Law and Marketta Liljeström, eds., In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes: Studies in the Biblical Text in Honour of Anneli Aejmelaeus Matthieu Richelle	129
Barbara Schmitz and Helmut Engel, Judit Jeremy Corley	132
Friederike Oertelt, Herrscherideal und Herrschaftskritik bei Philo von Alexandria Adam Kamesar	135
Emanuel Tov, The Text-Critical Use of the Septuagint in Biblical Research Mark A. Hassler	138
Pieter W. van der Horst, Saxa judaica loquuntur: Lessons from Early Jewish Inscriptions Julian Elschenbroich	140
Wolfgang Kraus, Michaël N. van der Meer, and Martin Meiser (eds.), XV Congress of the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies, Munich 2013 Siegfried Kreuzer	143
James Aitken (ed.), T&T Clark Companion to the Septuagint Theo van der Louw	152
Siegfried Kreuzer, Einleitung in die Septuaginta Johanna Erzberger	153
IOSCS Matters
I. Minutes, Annual Business Meeting, 2015	158
II. Treasurer’s Report

International Conference: “Who Wrote the Pentateuch?” – “Qui a écrit le Pentateuque?”

There is an upcoming conference in Lausanne on the authorship of the Pentateuch in light of documented scribal practices and contexts that sounds interesting. The emphasis on scribes does not seem immediately evident from the paper titles, but hopefully the presenters will do a good job incorporating documented processes and scribal contexts.




From Jaeyoung Jeon [mailto:Jaeyoung.Jeon@unil.ch]
==============================

International Conference: “Who Wrote the Pentateuch?” – “Qui a écrit le Pentateuque?” 
IRSB Seminar Day - Journée de l’IRSB (Institut romand des sciences bibliques)
26 October 2016. Université de Lausanne / Geopolis 2208

Organizers: Thomas Römer and Jaeyoung Jeon
Contact: mailto:jaeyoung.jeon@unil.ch
Link to the main page (IRSB):  <https://www.unil.ch/irsb/home/news.html?showActu=1475668133282.xml&showFrom=1>

Under the l title “Who Wrote the Pentateuch?” the conference will focus on the issue of the formation and completion of the Pentateuch and Hexateuch, especially on the socio-historical context of the scribal activities that contributed to it. Recent scholarly efforts to provide a new compositional model that would replace the classical Documentary Hypothesis have produced more divergence than convergence, giving for many scholars a rather pessimistic outlook regarding the possibility of a new consensus in the near future. Against this backdrop, the conference will initiate discussions about the various scribal groups that stood behind those redactional and compositional activities, such as their identity, socio-historical contexts, and the social, political, and religious purposes of their scribal activities. Also, aspects of conflicts and coalitions between the scribal groups reflected in the Pentateuchal texts will enrich the discussions.

Sous le titre “Qui a écrit le Pentateuque?”, ce colloque se propose d’aborder la formation du Pentateuque et de l’Hexateuque, en particulier à partir du contexte socio-historique de l’activité des scribes qui y ont contribué. De récentes tentatives pour substituer un nouveau modèle de composition à la classique hypothèse documentaire ont produit un clivage, à tel point que le scepticisme à l’idée  d’atteindre un nouveau consensus dans un futur proche a gagné de nombreux chercheurs. Dans ce contexte, ce colloque vise à susciter des discussions sur l’identité, le contexte historique et social, ainsi que sur les portées sociales, politiques et religieuses des différents groupes de scribes à l’origine de cette activité de composition et d’édition. Les éléments de conflits ou d’harmonisation entre ces différents groupes alimenteront également les discussions.


Program:

Reception (Coffee and Snack)
08:30 - 09:00

Greeting Speech: Frédéric Amsler (Director of IRSB)
 9:00 - 9:15

Session 1.
Presiding: Christophe Nihan (Université de Lausanne)

9:15 - 10:00
Konrad Schmid  (University of Zurich)
“Textual, Historical, Sociological, and Ideological Cornerstones of the Formation of the Pentateuch”

10:00 - 10:45
Olivier Artus (Institute Catholique de Paris)
“La Transjordanie dans le livre des Nombres : une Interprétation”
(“Transjordan in the Book of Numbers: an Interpretation”)

-----------------------------------
10:45 - 11:15 Coffee Break
-----------------------------------

11:15 - 12:00
Tom Dozeman (United Theological Seminary) & Jaeyoung Jeon (Université de Lausanne)
“The Composition of the Conflict of Korah, Dathan and Abiram in Numbers”

-----------------------------------

Lunch Break: 12:00 - 13:15

------------------------------------

Session 2.
Presiding: Jaeyoung Jeon (Université de Lausanne)

13:15 - 14:00
Thomas Römer (Université de Lausanne)
“Centralisation du culte et publication de la Torah entre Jérusalem et Samarie”
(“Cult Centralization and the Publication of the Torah Between Jerusalem and Samaria”)

14:00 - 14:45
Ndikho Mtshiselwa (University of South Africa)
“Pentateuchal redaction in the wilderness traditions and book of Numbers”

14:45 - 15:30
Itamar Kislev (University of Haifa)
“Equating the Ger and the Israelite and the Question of the Book of Numbers”

--------------------------------------
Coffee Break 15:30 - 16:00
---------------------------------------

Session 3.
Presiding: Thomas Römer (Université de Lausanne)

16:00 - 16 :45
Jaeyoung Jeon (Université de Lausanne)
“The Elders Redaction (ER) in the Pentateuch: Scribal Contributions of an Elders Group in the Formation of the Pentateuch”

16:45 - 17:30
Christophe Nihan (Université de Lausanne)
“Les traditions sur Abraham et la politique des sanctuaires à l’époque perse: Moriyyah en Gn 22 et Shalem en Gn 14”
(“The Abraham Traditions and Cult Politics in the Persian Period: Moriah in Gen 22 and Shalem in Gen 14”)

17:30 - 18:15
Jürg Hutzli (Université de Lausanne)
“Images opposées de l'Orient dans les différentes strates littéraires de la Genèse”
(“Conflicting Images of the « East » in the Different Literary Strata of the Book of Genesis”)

Palaeography in Context - Aramaic scripts from the Ancient Near East

Mladen Popovic informs me of an upcoming conference on Aramaic paleography. If you are in Leiden tomorrow, I highly recommend it. Mladen will be discussing the Groningen digital paleography project, and the other papers sound interesting as well.


Palaeography in Context - Aramaic scripts from the Ancient Near East
Speakers from various disciplinary backgrounds will focus on recently published Aramaic texts and innovative approaches towards Aramaic scripts from the Ancient Near East. They will deal with palaeographic traits of a variety of Aramaic texts from a technical perspective and will bring them into dialogue with their sociohistorical settings.
Leiden University, 13 October 2016


Morning programme (09:00 – 13:00 hrs) in Lipsius Building, room 227   

09:00         Coffee

09:30        G. van der Kooij     - Classifying early NW-Semitic scripts by studying script as artefact.

10:30             M.L. Folmer - Palaeographic aspects of the Aramaic Akhvamazda letters from ancient Bactria  (4th c. BCE)

11:30               Coffee

12:00        R. Sonnevelt – Aramaic epigraphs on clay tablets from the Āl-Yāhūdu archive

12:30          J.K. Zangenberg – Granddaddy in the Synagogue. Reflections on a Recently Found Late Roman / Early Byzantine Mosaic with Inscription from the Galilee   

13:00         Lunch


Afternoon programme (14:00 – 17:00 hrs) in Huizinga Building, room 004   

14:00        M. Popović – Digital Palaeography of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Textual Community and Control-Copy in the Ancient World

15:00         H. Gzella – The Aramaic Scripts of Syria in the Roman Period and their Socio-Cultural Underpinnings

16:00        Coffee

16:20        Concluding remarks and round table discussion (until 17:00)     

18:00        Dinner


Registration: Rieneke Sonnevelt (d.a.m.sonnevelt@hum.leidenuniv.nl)

Modern Forgeries of Dead Sea Scrolls

Eibert Tigchelaar suggests that a number of new DSS fragments are likely modern forgeries or authentic fragments from sites other than Qumran in a new Live Science article Are These New Dead Sea Scrolls the Real Thing? There is a rising suspicion about the authenticity of many of these newly purchased fragments, and it will be interesting to see how these scrolls bear up under further scholarly scrutiny and how the field adjusts to the changing situation.

Sotheby's Auction of Charles Ryrie's Collection of Bibles

If you have many thousands of dollars to spare, Sotheby's is currently auctioning off the collection of Bibles by Charles Ryrie for a pretty penny.


HT Todd Bolen

David Willgren on the "Book" of Psalms

I recently saw David Willgren's new book The Formation of the 'Book' of Psalms: Reconsidering the Transmission and Canonization of Psalmody in Light of Material Culture and the Poetics of Anthologies. I am currently reading his dissertation, of which the monograph is a revision, and it is very interesting. I look forward to interacting more with his work in the future.


ABSTRACT


In this study, David Willgren attempts to provide answers to two fundamental questions in relation to the formation of the ‘Book' of Psalms: “how?” and “why?”. The first relates to the diachronic growth of the collection (how are these processes to be reconstructed, and on what grounds?), while the second relates to questions of purpose (to what end are psalms being juxtaposed in a collection?).
By conceptualizing the ‘Book' of Psalms as an anthology, and by inquiring into its poetics by means of paratextuality, David Willgren provides a fresh reconstruction of the formation of the ‘Book' of Psalms and concludes, in contrast to the canonical approach, that it does not primarily provide a literary context for individual psalms. Rather, it preserves a dynamic selection of psalms that is best seen not as a book of psalms, but as a canon of psalms.


HT Agade

Florida State University and University of Utah Positions

Via Agade, news of two relevant openings:


From Matthew Goff [mailto:mgoff@fsu.edu]
===================================

Job Title:  Postdoctoral Scholar in Religion
Job ID:  40904
Location:  Tallahassee, FL
Temporary
Department of Religion

Responsibilities
The Religion Department at Florida State University seeks candidates for a two-year post-doctoral research and teaching fellowship in the track of Religions of Western Antiquity which focuses on ancient Judaism and early Christianity. The research specialization of the position is open. Candidates whose research focuses on the Hebrew Bible, or Christianity and/or Judaism in late antiquity are especially welcome.

The appointed fellow will be expected to teach two courses each semester. Applicants must expect to have their doctorate in hand by August 10, 2017, and must have earned their doctorate no earlier than August 1, 2011. For full consideration a cover letter, curriculum vitae, writing sample, transcripts, and teaching dossier must be submitted (in one pdf file) by December 15, 2016.

Three confidential letters of reference must also be submitted by that date to mailto:REL-search@fsu.edu. Candidates must be able to show valid U.S. work authorization at the time of hire.

Qualifications
Promise of excellence in teaching and research in the context of a comprehensive program (8.A. through Ph.D.) is required.

Anticipated Salary Range
$47.658.60

Criminal Background Check
Effective August 1, 2015, all new hires require a pre-employment criminal history background check.

Pay Plan
Other Personal Services (OPS) positions are temporary and at-will appointments.

How To Apply
If qualified and interested in a specific job opening as advertised, apply to Florida State University at https:/obs.fsu.edu.If you are a current FSU employee, apply via myFSU > Self Service.

Applicants are required to complete the online application with all applicable information. Applications must include all work history up to ten years. and education details even if attaching a resume.

Affordable Care Act
OPS employees are covered under the Affordable Care Act. OPS employees that meet certain criteria will be offered affordable health care coverage. For more information, please visit the following website regarding the Affordable Care Act, http://hr.fsu.edu/?page=benefits/insurance/insurance_home&ops=1.

Tobacco Free Campus
Effective January 1, 2014, tobacco use, including simulated tobacco use, is prohibited on property, interior and exterior, owned or managed by Florida State University. This policy applies to all Florida State University students, employees, consultants, contractors, visitors, and external individuals.

Equal Employment Opportunity
An Equal Opportunity/Access/Affirmative Action/Pro Disabled & Veteran Employer.

FSU's Equal Opportunity Statement can be viewed at: http://www.hr.fsu.edu/PDF/Publications/diversity
/EEO_Statement.pdf


____________________________________________________________________




Via Bradley James Parker [mailto:bradley.j.parker@utah.edu]
==================================

The Department of History at the University of Utah seeks to appoint a tenure-line Assistant Professor specializing in the history of the ancient Mediterranean world. We are particularly interested in scholars working on cross-cultural contact, material culture, archaeology, or who have contributed to digital humanities projects, but we welcome applications from all qualified candidates.

The successful candidate will be expected to demonstrate a strong commitment to research and to teach at all levels of the undergraduate and graduate curriculum, including upper-division courses on the history of both the ancient Greek and Roman worlds, Western Civilization to 1300, as well as contributing to the teaching of an undergraduate course in historical methodology. PhD in hand by July 1st 2016 preferred.

Applications should include a letter indicating research and teaching interests, a c.v., three letters of recommendation, and a writing sample, and should be submitted online
(http://utah.peopleadmin.com/postings/56675)  by November 1, 2016, attention Isabel Moreira, search committee chair.

The University of Utah is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer and does not discriminate based upon race, national origin, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, status as a person with a disability, genetic information, or Protected Veteran status. Individuals from historically underrepresented groups, such as minorities, women, qualified persons with disabilities and protected veterans are encouraged to apply. Veterans¹ preference is extended to qualified applicants, upon request and consistent with University policy and Utah state law. Upon request, reasonable accommodations in the application process will be provided to individuals with disabilities. To inquire about the University¹s nondiscrimination or affirmative action policies or to request disability accommodation, please contact: Director, Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action, 201 S. Presidents Circle, Rm 135, (801) 581-8365.

The University of Utah values candidates who have experience working in settings with students from diverse backgrounds, and possess a strong commitment to improving access to higher education for historically underrepresented students.

ISAW Now Accepting Applications for 2017-18 Visiting Research Scholar Program

The Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University has opened 7 appointments of visiting research scholars. The institute has a broad scope, which would easily include readers of this blog.

review of Hugh Houton's The Latin New Testament: A Guide to its Early History, Texts, and Manuscripts

Andrew Dunnin writes a critical, but appreciative review of Hugh Houton's The Latin New Testament: A Guide to its Early History, Texts, and Manuscripts. Hugh's book focuses on the NT manuscript tradition, but it is also valuable for studying Latin OT manuscripts.

The Text of the Hebrew Bible and Its Editions

Brill announces a new book to be looking for this year:


Andrés Piquer Otero and Pablo Torijano Morales, eds. The Text of the Hebrew Bible and Its Editions: Studies in Celebration of the Fifth Centennial of the Complutensian Polyglot


The volume has a great selection of contributors, so I have no doubt it will be a wonderful addition.


ABSTRACT

In The Text of the Hebrew Bible and its Editions some of the top world scholars and editors of the Hebrew Bible and its versions present essays on the aims, method, and problems of editing the biblical text(s), taking as a reference the Complutensian Polyglot, first modern edition of the Hebrew text and its versions and whose Fifth Centennial was celebrated in 2014. The main parts of the volume discuss models of editions from the Renaissance and its forerunners to the Digital Age, the challenges offered by the different textual traditions, particular editorial problems of the individual books of the Bible, and the role played by quotations. It thus sets a landmark in the future of biblical editions.

Tracking the Master Scribe: Revision through Introduction in Biblical and Mesopotamian Literature

OUP is soon to publish Sara Milstein's new book Tracking the Master Scribe: Revision through Introduction in Biblical and Mesopotamian Literature. I had the chance to read through parts of her dissertation and found it very interesting, so this will undoubtedly be a welcome addition to the secondary literature on scribal practices and textual change.


From the OUP website:


Description

When we encounter a text, whether ancient or modern, we typically start at the beginning and work our way toward the end. In Tracking the Master Scribe, Sara J. Milstein demonstrates that for biblical and Mesopotamian literature, this habit can yield misleading results.

In the ancient Near East, "master scribes"—those who had the authority to produce and revise literature—regularly modified their texts in the course of transmission. One of the most effective techniques for change was to add something to the front—what Milstein calls "revision through introduction." This method allowed scribes to preserve their received material while simultaneously recasting it. As a result, numerous biblical and Mesopotamian texts manifest multiple and even competing viewpoints. Due to the primary position of these additions, such reworked texts are often read solely through the lens of their final contributions. This is true not only for biblical and cuneiform texts in their final forms, but also for Mesopotamian texts that are known from multiple versions: first impressions carry weight.

Rather than "nail down every piece of the puzzle," Tracking the Master Scribe demonstrates what is to be gained when engaging questions of textual transmission with attention to how scribes actually worked. Working from the two earliest corpora that allow us to track large-scale change, the book provides broad overviews of evidence available for revision through introduction, as well as a set of detailed case studies that offer fresh insight into well-known biblical and Mesopotamian literary texts. The result is the first comprehensive and comparative profile of this key scribal method: one that was not only ubiquitous in the ancient Near East but also epitomizes the attitudes of the master scribes toward the literature that they produced.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations
List of Figures
Preface
1. Spotlight on Method: (Revision through) Introduction
I. The Transmission of Mesopotamian Literature
Advantages and Limitations of the Mesopotamian Evidence
Assyriological Studies on Textual Change
II. The Transmission of Hebrew/Biblical Literature
Advantages and Limitations of the Hebrew/Biblical Evidence
Recent Evaluations of Scribal Methods and Hard Evidence in Biblical Studies
III. The Scope of Tracking the Master Scribe
The Case Studies
Terms, Aims, and Methodologies
2. "Evident" Cases of Revision through Introduction
I. Revision through Introduction in Mesopotamian Literature
a. The Sumerian King List b. The Epic of Etana
II. Revision through Introduction in Hebrew/Biblical Literature
a. The Community Rule b. The Books of Esther
III. Conclusions
3. A Second Wind: Revision through Introduction in Adapa
I. Back to Eridu: The Revision of Adapa in Akkadian
The Middle Babylonian Version of Adapa (Fragment B) The Neo-Assyrian Version(s) of Adapa
Continuity and Discontinuity across the Akkadian Tradition
Fragments A and D: Expansion or Elimination?
II. Which Way the Wind Blows: From Adaba to Adapa
The Tell Haddad Version of Adapa Continuity and Discontinuity between Tell Haddad and Fragment B
The Tell Haddad Introduction and "South Wind Ending": Addition or Elimination?
III. Conclusions
4. Surpassing All Versions: Revision through Introduction in the Gilgamesh Epic
I. The Akkadian Huwawa Narrative and the Emergence of the Epic
Competing Sets of Logic in the Old Babylonian Epic The Epic Act of Revision through Introduction
II. Surpassing All Kings: The Ugarit and Standard Babylonian Prologues to the Gilgamesh Epic
The Middle Babylonian Prologue to Gilgamesh at Ugarit Standard Babylonian I 1-28 and Its Contrasting Features
The Two Prologues as "Revision through Introduction"
III. Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld and Tablet XII of the Standard Babylonian Version
Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld and Tablet XII Tablet XII and Its Relation to Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld
The Absence of GEN 1-171 in Tablet XII
IV. Conclusions, or One More Circuit around the Wall
5. Delusions of Grandeur: Revision through Introduction in Judges 6-9
I. The Early Abimelekh Account (Judges 9:26-54)
The Antiquity of Judges 9 The Independent Logic of Judges 9:26-54
II. The Early Gideon Account (Judges 8:4-21)
The Independent Logic of Judges 8:4-21 The Parallel Nature of the Old Gideon and Abimelekh Episodes
III. New Backdrops for the Gideon-Abimelekh Block: Judges 6:1-8:3
Judges 7:1-22: Yahweh to the Rescue! Judges 6:25-32: A Yahwistic Etiology for "Jerubbaal"
IV. Conclusions
6. Echoes of Saul: Revision through Introduction in Judges 19-21, 1 Samuel 1, and 1 Samuel 11
I. Competing Sets of Logic in Judges 19-21
Contrasts between Judges 19:1-20:13 and Judges 20:14ff The Composite Nature of Judges 21
II. Shiloh and Benjamin: Evidence for an "Old Saul Complex"
The Origins of 1 Samuel 1 as a Saul Birth Narrative The Links between Judges 21:15-24 and 1 Samuel 1
III. The Old Saul Complex and Its Polemical Recasting
The Unexplained Markers of Judges 19 The Inclusion of 1 Samuel 11:1-11 in the "Saul Complex"
IV. Conclusions
7. The "Magic" of Beginnings (and Endings)
Works Cited
Index of Authors
Index of Primary Sources
Index of Subjects