Critical Edition of the Samaritan Pentateuch

I just got a book notice that Stefan Schorch's first volume of the large critical edition of the Samaritan Pentateuch is almost out on the book of Leviticus. He kindly gave me a preliminary version of his Exodus edition, which was very helpful during my dissertation work, so I am confident this will be a very valuable resource for the field.

Yardeni on Unprovenanced Artifacts

In memory of Ada Yardeni, BAR has given open access to Yardeni's contributions. One in particular struck me, where she gives her own take on publishing unprovenanced artifacts, which is worth highlighting:

"I think that anybody who is interested in the history of the Biblical lands, of the religions that developed in it, and of the neighboring regions understands the importance of discovering and publishing ancient objects, whether inscribed or not, for a better understanding of our past. Unprovenanced antiquities should be carefully examined, and if there is no obvious reason to reject them as forgeries, they should be published by scholars—the same as those found in controlled excavations. We can hope for more authorized excavations, but it would be ridiculous to ignore the existence of treasures that can enrich our knowledge—or to put back into caves or bury in the earth these important finds—just because they came from the antiquities market."

Death of Ada Yardeni

I recently learned of the sad passing of Ada Yardeni on 29 June 2018. She will be remembered as one of the foremost Hebrew paleographers of our time, who had a profound influence on the study of the Aramaic/Hebrew scripts, especially from the 5th century BCE through late antiquity. Her artistic talents gave her a unique calligraphic perspective on the analysis of ancient handwriting. Her famous Book of Hebrew Script has served as a helpful introduction and general guide to Hebrew paleography for many. And her more detailed and technical work in the Textbook of Aramaic Documents from Ancient Egypt and Textbook of Aramaic, Hebrew and Nabatean Documentary Texts from the Judean Desert and Related Material remain essential reference tools for the Persian-period Aramaic scripts and later Jewish cursives. She has also contributed paleographic analyses of countless documents in the DJD series and other venues. In 2007, Yardeni rocked the world of Dead Sea Scrolls scholarship by suggesting that about 50-100 scrolls in a round semiformal script from the Judean Desert were copied by a single prolific scribe (“A Note on a Qumran Scribe,” pages 287-298 in New Seals and Inscriptions: Hebrew, Idumean, and Cuneiform, edited by M. Lubetski [Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2007]). I have personally been profoundly influenced by her work, and I have no doubt that her legacy will live on in the work of others as well.

Update 5 July 2018 - The Times of Israel has an interesting tribute to Yardeni, as well as a link to a 2017 interview in Hebrew.