Abstract
A
Ariel did a Tel Aviv PhD (supervisor: A. Kushnir-Stein) that forms the basis of this book in which he wrote chs. 1–3 and 5–12; however, apart from the important ch. 4 (on the dies), Fontanille shared much research with Ariel, to make this a truly collaborative volume. The study covers all aspects of the coinage of Herod the Great: typology, dies and minting technology, the mints, iconography, inscriptions, archaeological contexts, geographical distribution, and chronology. They observe (correctly in my opinion) that Herod's iconography (whether on coins or elsewhere) was all meant to avoid offence to Jewish sensibilities; indeed, he considered himself a Jew. The ‘year 3’ coins cannot be assigned to a geographical area for certain but were probably minted in 40
L.L. G
C
The origins of this volume lie in a session honouring Rast and Schaub at the 2003 ASOR meeting, held in Atlanta, Georgia. After an introductory tribute (Meredith S. Chesson, ‘“The Depth of their Impression”: Honoring Walter E. Rast's and R. Thomas Schaub's Scholarship and Contributions to Early Bronze Age Studies in the Southern Levant’) the papers are divided into three sections as follows. Part 1: Peoples’ Lives and Deaths in Early Bronze Age Towns: Khaled Douglas, ‘Beyond the City Walls: Life Activities Outside the City Gates in the Early Bronze Age in Jordan: Evidence from Khirbet ez-Zeraqon’; Peter M. Fischer, ‘The Early Bronze Age Societies of Tell Abu al-Kharaz, Central Jordan Valley’; Raphael Greenberg, ‘Life in the City: Tel Bet Yerah in the Early Bronze Age’; Kay Prag, ‘The Domestic Unit at Tall Iktanu: Its Derivations and Functions’; David McCreery, ‘Agriculture and Religion at Bâb edh-Dhrâc and Numeira during the Early Bronze Age’; William G. Dever, ‘Religion and Cult in Early Bronze IV Palestine’; and Donald J. Ortner and Bruno Frohlich, ‘The EB IA People of Bâb edh-Dhrâc, Jordan’. Part 2: Trade, Exchange Networks, and Connections between People through Material Culture: Stephen H. Savage, ‘From Maadi to the Plain of Antioch: What Can Basalt Spindle Whorls Tell Us about Overland Trade in the Early Bronze I Levant?’; Zeidan A. Kafafi, ‘Jordanian-Egyptian Interaction during the Third Millennium
A.H.W. C
D
The goal of this study is to construct a secular history of the ‘ordinary’ people of ancient Israel, which D. limits to the eighth century
B. S
D
D. has already given us an invaluable edition of the Wadi Daliyeh papyri (see B.L. 2008, p. 22). Now his topic is the Aramaic and Hebrew inscriptions on Gerizim (published by Y. Magen et al. in 2004, though apparently not noticed in the B.L.), with the aim of understanding their historical background. In order to gain basic chronological data, D. first investigates the scripts of the inscriptions in ch. 1. He argues that most (though not all) of the inscriptions originated in the first part of the second century
L.L. G
E
This partially revised Mainz doctoral thesis (supervisors: C. Pare and W. Zwickel) has the aim of investigating all temples and cult places of Israel's and Judah's neighbours, specifically the Philistines and the Transjordanian peoples (Geshurites, Gileadites, Ammonites, Moabites and Edomites). After an introduction, a chapter on the cult places of the Sea Peoples and a chapter on those of Transjordanian peoples, ch. 3 deals with ‘sacral architecture’ and cultic installations, while ch. 4 is on offering and cultic paraphernalia. In comparing the Philistines and Transjordanian peoples with Israel and Judah, there is a lot of religious material culture in common in the whole area, even if also numerous regional differences. Palestine was a melting pot of different cultures. One difference was that the Israelite and Judahite cult places did not regularly have votive offering benches, since votive offerings were not an important part of these cults, compared with their neighbours’. It appears that sacral architecture of the Late Bronze Age had little influence on the development of the temples of Israel's neighbours during the Iron Age. There was no continuity of the Late Bronze cult (except at Pella), since Iron Age cult sites were new foundations; however, similar cultic paraphernalia and installations were used. Great influence from the Assyrians, Aramaeans and Egyptians is attested for the eighth and seventh centuries
L.L. G
F
This volume is a revised and expanded English edition of a monograph first published in Hebrew, itself an updated doctoral dissertation originally written in the 1990s. The English version contains extensive updating in its discussions of the archaeological material (but not in the chapters concerning previous scholarship, chs. 1 and 2, which F. has allowed to rest). The explicit objective of the project was to undertake an archaeological study of social issues in ancient Israel and Judah (which are deliberately distinguished) in the eighth and seventh centuries
C.L. C
H
This is a substantially revised PhD thesis done at Andrews University (supervisor: R.W. Younker), though H. is clear about heavy influence from the original excavator, A. Zertal. He mainly focuses on the architecture and archaeology of the Iron I altar on Mt Ebal, making comparisons with other similar structures taken to be religious in nature. However, in trying to put the structure in context, a great deal depends on literary accounts, especially the biblical text. H. is careful to survey scholarly opinion at length, to the point that one sometimes wonders whether he is analysing or only choosing among opinions. In his ‘context’ chapter (ch. 6) he assures us that this was an Israelite cultic site, even though there is no archaeological evidence to demonstrate this (in spite of claiming ‘not to analyze the Ebal site on the basis of the biblical text but on the basis of archaeological data’ [p. 194]). Indeed, he argues that the book of Joshua gives a historical account of the settlement by Israelites coming from Transjordan. Also, B.L. readers will be astonished to hear that many ‘current readings of the book of Joshua understand that the book of Joshua simply records the Hebrew entrance into Canaan without occupation’ (p. 218). This study provides a useful summary of the archaeology and also a good catalogue of many scholarly views, but H. has not demonstrated to the satisfaction of many of us that the altar mentioned in Josh. 8.31 has been found.
L.L. G
H
The proposal made by this interesting monograph is that the fixing of the biblical text has to be understood in terms of its ‘ritualization’. It proceeds by surveying the number and type of variants between copies of different Akkadian texts, showing that there is markedly less divergence in the ritual Mīs Pî tradition than in the other materials surveyed (with the exception of the law-code material in Hammurabi). A survey of Pentateuchal texts from Qumran and elsewhere reveals continued diversity, leading to the suggestion that it is the use of texts in the Jerusalem Temple that brings about their fixing—although this gives rise not only to a chicken-and-egg question of causation, as is recognized, but also to questions about the actual comparability of possible textual uses in the Temple with effective rituals such as the Mīs Pî. Reflecting, perhaps, the origin of the book in a doctoral thesis, there is a great deal here on method, and a lot of detail about the texts and manuscripts, all of which serves to bury the basic argument at times. It does not conceal, however, the problems posed by some of the results, such as the homogeneity of the non-ritual Hammurabi tradition, or the apparent fact that ancient texts of Deuteronomy show much greater divergence than texts of Genesis. The questions addressed are important, and the surveys of variants show an interesting way of approaching them, but the explanation offered seems at best a partial one.
S.D.E. W
J
There has been no book specifically on cosmetics in ancient Palestine, although the topic has been included in various more wide-ranging surveys. The present work draws not only on the Bible but also on archaeological and epigraphic finds from the area in question as well as using iconographic evidence from Anatolia, Egypt, Greece, Italy and Mesopotamia. Brief botanical descriptions (with drawings) are given of balsam, cassia, cinnamon, henna, myrtle, myrrh, nard and spice-reed. Terms in Hebrew and other languages are cited, including Egyptian and Greek but not Ugaritic. There is a discussion of various types of oil and anointing and examples of oils and cosmetics are given from the books of Esther, Judith and Ruth, but there are only references to the Song of Songs. A substantial part of the book (pp. 93–274) is on archaeological finds relating to the manufacture of cosmetics from En-Boqeq, En Gedi, Hazor and Megiddo. These are chiefly of various containers for oils and perfumes, for which sketches and find-spots are provided. To close, there is a comparison of the extant written documentation with the archaeological evidence, a discussion of trade with neighbouring regions and their influence and a note on how a luxury item such as perfume was a status symbol even in the grave. As an appendix, after the bibliography, there are over 100 pages of maps and plans (for many of which a magnifying glass is required) followed by indexes, including one of biblical passages. The presentation, which combines considerable pictorial evidence with texts and archaeological material, helps to provide an in-depth account of the subject for the area in question.
W.G.E. W
L
As it has been a long time since the series included anything other than a collection of papers, Semitica avoids classification as a periodical perhaps more than anything by the irregularity of its appearances in recent years. A brief preface to this new volume explains that matters have been put on a more secure footing by the appointment of Thomas Römer to his chair at the Collège de France, and a subsequent reorganization of the editorial board. It is certainly to be hoped that we shall see volumes appear more frequently in the future, if the quality of this one can be sustained. It is divided into two parts. The first, ‘Documents inédits’, contains Jean-Marie Durand (with a note by Michaël Guichard), ‘Noms d’équidés dans les textes de Mari’; Michaël Guichard, ‘Relations entre Carkémish et Mari: nouveaux fragments’; André Lemaire, ‘Quatre nouveaux ostraca paléo-hébreux’; Michael Langlois, ‘Un nouvel ostracon mentionnant la ville biblique de Maqqéda’; André Lemaire, ‘Trois nouveaux ostraca araméens d'Idumée’; Marie-Jeanne Roche, ‘Deux graffiti thamoudiques dans la région de Bayḍā’, Pétra’; François Bron, ‘Une nouvelle inscription sabéenne du règne de Laḥay'athat Yarkham, roi de Saba’ et dhū-Raydān’. The second part, ‘Études épigraphiques, philologiques et historiques’, is more miscellaneous, although much of it retains a strong epigraphic component: Reinhard Achenbach, ‘The Protection of Personae miserae in Ancient Israelite Law and Wisdom and in the Ostracon from Khirbet Qeiyafa’; Matthieu Richelle, ‘Notes épigraphiques sur l'ostracon numéro 3 de Tell el-Mazar’; Jürg Hutzli, ‘The Procreation of Seth by Adam in Gen 5:3 and the Composition of Gen 5’; Thomas Römer, ‘Le “sacrifice d'Abraham,” un texte élohiste? Quelques observations à partir de Gn 22, 14 et d'un fragment de Qumrân’; Hans-Peter Mathys, ‘Exode 12, 38 et Nombres 11, 4: Éléments d'interprétation philologique et historique’; Christophe Nihan, ‘Garizim et Ébal dans le Pentateuque. Quelques remarques en marge de la publication d'un nouveau fragment du Deutéronome’; Ido Koch, ‘The “Chariots of the Sun” (2 Kings 23:11)’; and Torleif Elgvin, ‘Notes on the Gabriel Inscription’; David Hamidović, ‘An Eschatological Drama in Hazon Gabriel: Fantasy or Historical Background?’
S.D.E. W
L
The first volume in this three-volume series by L. was also the first volume of Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta (1975; see B.L. 1976, p. 23); the second was OLA 57 (1994; see B.L. 1997, pp. 25–26); here we reach OLA 200 in 2010. The previous volumes of Studies in Aramaic Inscriptions and Onomastics were collections of essays on diverse topics. This latest is a monograph devoted entirely to the Aramaic documents from Ma‘lānā, imprecisely located between Tell Halaf/Guzana and Hasake in north-east Syria. The 23 Aramaic deeds of the archive, now in the Royal Museum of Art and History in Brussels, date from c. 700
J.F. H
L
The scholarly world owes Lipschits and Vanderhooft for this magisterial book. Much more than a mere corpus of the Yehud stamp impressions, it also continues the authors’ argument in favour of a new chronological arrangement of the stamp types which, in turn, underlies their understanding of the role of Ramat Rahel in relation to Jerusalem. The one point of criticism that I would make is that it seems to me that the publication of a printed corpus is no longer necessary: most such publications are out of date as soon as they are published and an electronic corpus would allow Lipschits and Vanderhooft to add to their corpus in the future. It would also have allowed them to focus on their analysis and the relevant individual examples. But this point does not detract from their impressive achievement in publishing this volume. It will be the trusty companion for anyone working on the history and politics of Second-Temple Yehud, and the definitive work on the stamp seals for many years to come.
J. S
L
Following an elegant preface, which shows the considerable impact of Bruce Zuckerman on epigraphy, through his enormous contribution to the high resolution photography of ancient texts and artefacts, and the dissemination of his results with all interested scholars from lowly undergraduates upwards, there are 18 contributions to this Festschrift, mostly on epigraphic themes. A. Azzoni reconsiders the Aramaic papyrus TAD B3.8, J. Bitton, N. Dweck and S. Fine analyse the funerary marker of Hannah b. Levi from Zoar, E.M. Cook looks again at 4Q541 fragment 24, and F.W. Dobbs-Allsopp discusses the formatting of biblical poetic texts in texts from the Judaean desert. A. Faust and E. Eshel examine a bulla from Tel cEton, Z. Garber offers a methodological analysis of Bible teaching techniques, E.L. Greenstein considers the criteria for determining the ‘so-called Jehoash inscription’ to be inauthentic, and S.A. Kaufman discovers some hitherto unrecognized Syriac words. T.J. Lewis discusses Job 19 in the light of inscriptions and amulets from Ketef Hinnom, and unearths a number of hither-to unrecognized biblical allusions to Israelite incantations. M.J. Lundberg publishes drawings and photographs of four Cypriot inscriptions, P. Kyle McCarter, Jr publishes an inscribed arrowhead belonging to a Babylonian crown prince, and S.M. Paul discusses Jonah 2.7 in the light of Mesopotamian references to the Netherworld. W.T. Pitard, using macro-photography from the West Semitic Research Project, analyses scribal errors in cols. iii-v of CAT [= KTU] 1.14 from Ugarit, and A.F. Rainey (†) uses WSRP photographs in the re-examination of letters from Tell el Amarna. C.A. Rollston discusses an inscribed stone from the City of David (IAA 1986-354), and concludes that it is a scribal exercise, M.S. Smith considers the implications and likely motives by scribes of the incorporation of old poems such as Judges 5 in prose narratives, L.S. Dodd looks at the 1993 İncirli inscription, appreciating the skill of the WSRP staff in making it comprehensible, and Z. Zevit discusses human sacrifice in Moab and Israel reflecting the institutions of ryt and ḥrm. Pages 255–308 (numbered 1–48, with unnumbered pages before and after) comprise a catalogue of an exhibition on epigraphy held from 5 April to 15 November 1987 at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple reformed synagogue, Los Angeles, while the colour plates are found on pp. 309–34.
N. W
M
This publication of a conference on the media and archaeology and the Bible fills a long-standing gap. The papers (a number of which have responses) are the following: the media and archaeological preservation in Iraq (P. Gerstenblith); the distortion of archaeology by the media and pseudoarchaeologists and what we can do about it (E.H. Cline), with a response by J. Zias; the Talpiyot tomb and the bloggers (M. Goodacre), with a response by A.K.M. Adam; the effects of press releases and popular magazines on the antiquities trade (M.M. Kersel), with a response by A. Wharton; lessons I learned from the Talpiyot tomb fiasco and other media encounters (J. Magness); popular media, history, and the classroom (C. Spigel); sensationalism and archaeology in the media (B.R. McCane); the future of the historical documentary (M. Moreland); an ancient medium in the modern media: sagas of Semitic inscriptions (C.A. Rollston); Protestant pilgrims and the Holy Land (T.W. Cartledge); community and antiquities at Umm el-Jimal and Silwan (B. de Vries), with a response by S.T. Parker; archaeology, identity and the media in Cyprus (T.W. Davis), with a response by D.C. Haggis; the quest for the Temple Mount: the settler movement and national parks in Israel (E.M. Meyers), with a response by R.L. Stein; responses from a television producer (R. Bruce); areas of concern as we go forward (M. Bucciarelli); a journalist's perspective on the Oded Golan case (N. Burleigh); the Holy Land experience in America (M.I. Pinsky); and how it looks from the other side (E. Bronner). The editors provide a welcome introduction that summarizes and contextualizes the various essays. An engrossing and much-needed volume.
L.L. G
M
M. is an art historian at the University of Vermont. His areas of scholarly production and interest are Greek and Roman art and archaeology, particularly in the western Mediterranean region and the ANE. He explains that he wrote this book as a response to frustration. He had worked on Roman temple designs on the Iberian Peninsula, where he constantly found references to Semitic influences caused by Phoenician colonization. How should this connection between the western and the eastern Mediterranean be explained? He found excellent literature on Semitic and Levantine culture and architecture, but not much on how this had developed westward. Therefore he had to write this book, in order to fill a void. His emphasis is on the Bronze Age and Iron Age. The book covers geography and people in general, Iron Age temple remains, construction techniques and building forms, as well as how Semitic influences in temple designs spread to the western Mediterranean. Source materials for the book were found in a series of museums in the Middle East, England and the USA. The latter part of the book comprises 90 pages with maps and illustrations, in addition to a bibliography and indexes of authors and topics. The book is well written and to be recommended also to biblical scholars, as it covers much of the Old Testament world and history.
H. H
M
This issue of Strata, under new editorship, contains the usual combination of articles, book reviews and other reports. Three of the articles focus on issues of cultural identity in antiquity, and the other three describe small finds from both antiquity and the modern period; they are David Jacobson, ‘Ehud Netzer and Herodian Archaeology’; Amir Gorzalczany, ‘A British Mandate Military Bonnet Badge from Archaeological Excavations at Lod, Israel’; Sam Wolff, ‘A British “Hamilton” Soda Bottle from Jerusalem’; Yoav Farvi and Yoav Alon, ‘A Bronze Ring from Roman Palestine Depicting Zeus Heliopolites’; Ian Stern, ‘Ethnic Identities and Circumcised Phalli at Hellenistic Maresha’; and Estēe Dvorjetski, ‘Maioumas Festivities in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin: Maioumas-Shuni as a Case Study’. In addition to the articles, there are 14 substantial book reviews; summaries of 12 lectures given under the auspices of the AIAS during 2012, covering topics from Canaanite temples to the British Mandate in Palestine; monthly reports of archaeological news from Jerusalem for the period September 2011 to November 2012; and reports from students who have been enabled to visit Israel with the help of grants from the AIAS. For those who want to keep abreast of the latest archaeological developments in Israel, and of scholarly interpretations of such developments, this is an important resource.
D.W. R
P
This is the second edition of EPE, which was first released in 1996. It provides an exhaustive English edition of the texts from Elephantine and Syene, which extend from the Pharaonic Sixth Dynasty to the fourth century of Islam. There are 175 documents in the collection, representing seven languages and scripts: 10 hieratic, 52 Aramaic, 37 demotic, 52 Greek, 20 Coptic, 2 Arabic, and 2 Latin. In addition to the usual updates to bibliography, footnotes and introductions, the new edition supplies omissions from three of the Aramaic documents (B15, B16 and B17) and several new figures. The translations, which were strongly criticized in the first edition (wrongly in this reader's view), have been smoothed at many points. The demotic and hieratic chapters are most thoroughly revised; the first three demotic texts there are also reordered so that the former C1 is now C2, former C2 is now C3, and former C3 is now C1. The result is a work of incredible erudition and energy, useful not only to specialists but to anyone interested in the legal, social, religious or political histories of the ethnic groups who bequeathed us these remarkable texts.
W.A. T
T
This is an update of DJD 31 (Texts from the Judaean Desert: Indices and an Introduction to the Discoveries in the Judaean Desert Series [2002; see B.L. 2003, p. 28]). Changes have been made in some 25 per cent of the lines in the database. This edition incorporates contents from other DJD volumes; inscriptions from pottery, ostraca, and so on; references to other editions of the Dead Sea Scrolls; fragments published since 2002; fragments from the Schøyen Collection; unpublished (and unprovenanced) fragments; and changed names and identifications of manuscripts. Although one reason given for publishing this now is the end of the publication of the DJD project, these indexes are not yet complete. With editions of the Great Isaiah Scroll just out in 2011, and the revised DJD 5 (Cave 4 Allegro) volume outstanding, it goes without saying that this will not be the final edition.
D. S