Quantcast
Channel: Maia Atlantis: Ancient World Blogs
Viewing all 136795 articles
Browse latest View live

Antony + Cleopatra Coin from Bethsaida!

0
0

Interesting item from Ha’aretz, although it is behind a paywall. Here are some excerpts:

[...]

A few thousand years is a mere blink of an eye when it comes to the vital ties between this land and Egypt, as attested by a rare coin carrying historical weight far greater than its 7.59 grams, which depicts the notorious lovers – and which emerged last year from the ruins of a first-century house at Tel Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee.

Tel Bethsaida rises from the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee, but the coin was minted in another city by another sea – the Mediterranean port of Akko – today better known as Acre. The coin, made of bronze, is about the size of a quarter, being 21–23 millimeters in diameter (it is not perfectly round, at least not any more). Its date shows that it was minted in the last half of the year 35 or the first half of 34 BCE.

Mark Antony, the most powerful man in the world at the time, is on one side of the coin and Cleopatra graces the other. On her side are the Greek words “of the people of Ptolemais.”

Ptolemais is the Greek name for ancient Akko, which was founded in the 3rd century BCE and named after Ptolemy II Philadelphus. The name appears in the New Testament (Acts 21:7) as the home of an early Christian community that Paul the apostle visited: “And when we had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, and saluted the brethren, and abode with them one day.”

The coin was minted some two and a half centuries after the city was founded, a time when both Mark Antony and his bitter rival Octavian were in their prime and no one knew who would prevail, Arav says.

Why depict them? The cities of the ancient Middle East had a habit of minting coins bearing the portraits of whoever was in power, says Dr. Donald T. Ariel, head of the Israel Antiquities Authority Coin Department.

And Marc Antony was most definitely powerful in the year stamped on the coin. Prof. Rami Arav, director of the Bethsaida Excavations Project, suggests that the minting of the coin may have had to do with Marc Antony’s victory over the Parthians, rulers of a land in what is now northeastern Iran and Armenia, in 35 BCE. He then granted Armenia to Cleopatra’s sons and gave Cyprus to her daughter Selene.

Cleopatra also appears on coins from the same period, found in cities further north up the Lebanese coast, that were among gifts Marc Antony gave his consort.

That same year Marc Antony, still deeply involved with Cleopatra, moved the capital of the empire from Rome to Alexandria, Egypt.

[...]

via: The ancient coin of Cleopatra: There could have been pyramids in Paris (Ha’aretz)

… Rami Arav is then pressed to speculate what might have happened if Tony and Cleo were victorious at Actium. There is no photo of the coin (which was found last year, by the way), alas, but presumably it was like this one from the VRoma site:

via VRoma

That said, I’m not sure if anyone would call Antony’s actions in Parthia a “victory” in anything but a ‘Parthian’ sense; he lost a major portion of his troops — Napoleon-like — to the cold and had to do some serious bribing of those that remained … it’s actually more interesting how little of substance there is about this campaign on the www. One can, of course, read Dio 49.22-33 on it and get a sense of the ‘failure’ (although Dio’s description of the testudo in action here is incredibly interesting)



Documentation for biblical literature Innsbruck (BILDI)

0
0
Documentation for biblical literature Innsbruck (BILDI)

Welcome
to
Aim

Search of biblical and biblical-archaeological literature

Content

Classified documentation on biblical and biblical-archaeological literature, published in articles, collected works and monographs; since 1990 partly with references to book reviews
Base of recording ofarticles: approximately 90 complete and approximately 540 relevant annuals and periodicals (see list of periodicals) of the University Library of Innsbruck and the Jesuit Library Innsbruck; completed by titles of the ZID (theological periodicals of the University Library Tuebingen)
Base of recording of articles of collected works and Festschriften: acquisitions of the Theological Library of the University Innsbruck (search portal); off-prints of authors
Base of recording of monographs: acquisitation of the Theological Library of the University Innsbruck(ALEPH); submissions of authors and publishers
Base of recording of hints to book reviews: data meterial of the Biblical Institute in Rome
Period and media of recording : card-catalogue (1980-1984), since 1985 computerized. Recording and computerization of card-titles in work

Excavating Canaanite remains at Tel Jezreel

0
0

Motes_1By: Ashley Motes, 2013 Heritage Fellow

From May to June, I spent four weeks at Tel Jezreel in Israel participating in the Jezreel Expedition. Norma Franklin of Zinman Institute of Archaeology at Israel’s University of Haifa and Jennie Ebeling of University of Evansville were the directors of the project. The focus of the Jezreel Expedition is to expand our knowledge of Tel Jezreel.

This was the second season of the Jezreel Expedition and the start of excavating the site. The first season dealt with on-foot surveying and the LiDAR surveying of the tel and the lower areas surrounding the tel to determine where the team wanted to start excavating in 2013. Being part of this season’s team, I found myself working alongside supervisors from England, France, Israel, and the U.S. The team itself was broken into two groups, one working on the tel and the other working in a lower area near the Ein Izra’el Spring. The directors picked this area to work in because the LiDAR indicated an unusual anomaly that they thought could be walls to a building.   I was a part of the group that worked near the spring. We got lucky because a month before the excavation someone had caused a fire and it burned all the thorny shrubby that would have taken a while to remove.

Excavating in this area was a new task since no one had ever excavated the area before, which made everyone wonder what could be under our feet. As we excavated, we realized the whole area was littered with basalt and we had to learn quickly what was and was not worked basalt. We were also finding a lot of flint and Canaanite blades and pottery dating to Early Bronze Age. The most difficult task was working in my square with my teammates, trying to figure out what were just rocks, and what could be a feature. In other squares in this area, walls of a building were being discovered. One square had five walls, practically one on top of another. It would not be until after they closed my square that it turned out we also had a portion of a wall that had been destroyed. The rest of the team excavated in two locations on the tel spend two weeks in each location, one of the locations was an Iron Age winepress. Other side jobs we did were labeling and bagging artifacts, pottery, and flint, which was a long task with all the basalt we were finding.

Motes_2_T8MySquare

Besides being an excavator for the dig, I was also asked to be the photographer for the expedition. My job was to document the happenings during the excavations, pottery sessions, fieldtrips, and dinner parties. It was a great experience to take the photos and my camera became such a part of me that if I forgot to bring it to an event everyone noticed and was shocked. Have to say the best experience as a photographer was taking the last photos of the excavation sites before sunrise and during sunset. I had to stand on a ladder with my camera on a pole to get the overhead shots that the supervisors needed for their work and to wrap up the excavation to a close.

Participating in the Jezreel Expedition was a great experience. Not only have I learned what it takes to participate in a dig, I have also come away with connections and new friends. I hope to return to Jezreel for the 2014 season. I want to say thanks to the donors of the Heritage Fellowship, which makes participating in field schools possible for students like me.

~~~

All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this blog or found by following any link on this blog. ASOR will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information. ASOR will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. The opinions expressed by Bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of ASOR or any employee thereof.

The Facts in the Ground: Archaeological resistance during Occupy Gezi

0
0


In Turkey, there appears to be a policy of illegal non-employment of archaeologists in order to ensure the non-recovery and non-documentation of politically-unacceptable cultural heritage.  That is to say that the state seems to violate its own law, which requires the employment of archaeologists for the assessment of development work and the performance of cultural heritage work. This violation prevents archaeologists from prohibiting culturally-destructive activity and excavating and recording material which is evidence of politically-inconvenient pasts.

So when repression provoked democratic resistance in Turkey earlier this year, archaeologists were on the front line as victims of government policy and police brutality and as advocates of real democracy. The first protester hospitalised at Gezi Park was an archaeology student, Hazar Berk Büyüktunca, and both unions and autonomously-organised platforms went to the occupations and squares to resist  out of professional responsibility.

Read the full article on statecrime.org

Cambyses’ Lost Army and the Physics of Sandstorms

0
0

Over the weekend Jen-Luc Piquant found herself pondering the works of Herodotus, specifically the tale of the Lost Army of Cambyses.

Sometime around 524 BC, priests at the oracle of the Temple of Amun decided they didn’t much care for their new ruler, Cambyses II, son of Cyrus the Great. Cambyses decided that he didn’t much care for their insubordination. And he had soldiers — 50,000 of them, sent marching through the Sahara from Thebes to put those rebellious priests in their place.

But they never reached their destination (the Oasis of Siwa, where the mutinous temple was located).  Seven days into their march, a massive sandstorm broke out and buried Cambyses’ entire army, never to be seen again.

Per Herodotus: “A wind arose from the south, strong and deadly, bringing with it vast columns of whirling sand, which entirely covered up the troops and caused them wholly to disappear.”

…Read more on blogs.scientificamerican.com

Past Preservers and International Archaeology Day

0
0
Boston, London & Cairo - 30th July 2013 - Past Preservers is thrilled to be an official Media Partner of the American Institute of Archaeology and the International Day of Archaeology to be held on 19th October 2013.

International Archaeology Day is a celebration of archaeology and the thrill of discovery. Every October the AIA and archaeological organizations across the United States, Canada, and around the world, present archaeological programs and activities for people of all ages and interests.

Whether it is a family-friendly archaeology fair, a guided tour of a local archaeological site, a simulated dig, a lecture or a classroom visit from an archaeologist, the interactive, hands-on International Archaeology Day programs provide the chance to indulge your inner Indiana Jones.


In 2011 the AIA had 115 events, 14 collaborating organizations, 3 countries (US, Canada, UK) and over 15,000 participants. By 2012 the event had grown to include 275 events, 125 collaborating organizations, 8 countries (US, Canada, Australia, France, UAE, Ireland, Germany, Egypt), 49 US states (and most of the Canadian provinces), 78 AIA Local Societies, and over 60,000 participants.

For this year they already have 9 countries (US, Canada, UK, Cambodia, Egypt, Australia, South Africa, Jordan, Iran), 54 collaborating organizations and about 30 events listed. 

International Archaeology Day aims to raise awareness of archaeology as a profession, a discipline, and a resource; to reiterate the idea that archaeology is everywhere and that people can get involved at a local level; and to create a network of archaeological organizations.

To find out more, check out their websitefacebook pageand Twitter; Be sure to use the Hastag #IAD when tweeting about International Archaeology Day!

Rome in Egypt: Roman Temples for Egyptian Gods

0
0
Rome in Egypt: Roman Temples for Egyptian Gods
http://www.romeinegypt.unipi.it/static/it_romeinegypt/assets/images/t_project.jpg
The availability of an updated repertory of the temples built in Egypt by Roman emperors for autochthonous cults is a fundamental tool for every kind of research on Roman Egypt. TheTopographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Statues, Reliefs and Paintings, started by Bertha Porter and Rosalind Moss, shows Roman presence on more than 50 sacred buildings from the Nile Delta until the island of Bigeh. Intense and well known was also Roman activity in Nubia.

New subsequent archaeological researches make possible further enlargements of this picture: among many examples, it is sufficient to mention here the recent important discoveries in the oases of the Western Desert.
This site, outcome of a research project funded by the Italian Ministry for University and Research (MIUR) in 2004-2005 and directed by Edda Bresciani, aims to provide:
• A repertory of Roman temples in Egypt, from the Delta to Philae, with the most recently available information. The list of monuments and their bibliography are being continually updated.
• A multimedia research tool to make available, thanks to the Internet flexibility, plans, photographs, drawings, space oriented and navigable maps and links, related to the temples included in this site, wherever it is possible.
• A searching tool allowing to sort the information for geographical sites or for emperors, and to retrieve the bibliography for authors all over the website.
Only additional bibliography, absent in previous editions of the Topographical Bibliography, is given here. Porter-Moss (PM) reference, when existing, is mentioned at the beginning of each temple file. 
At the moment, Nubian temples are not included in this site.
Rome in Egyptis an evolving Web resource.It is our hope that it becomes a starting point for future research on the subject. To do it, the cooperation with all the researchers working in the field of Egyptology, archaeology and Roman history is fundamental and we thank in advance all colleagues who will send us any new information and/or material.
Please see the News section of this Web site for periodic updates.

Selections from Schröder’s “Titel und Text” – 3

0
0

Here is a rough English translation of the conclusions for part 2 of Bianca-Jeanette Schröder’s book, Titel und Text.  It was made in haste for my own purposes, so is probably not 100% reliable.  Nevertheless, the material is so important, and is apparently so little known, that it seems well worth placing this here.

Part 2 – Conclusion (p.153)

The briefly examined examples, from Hyginus to Cassiodorus, make it clear that questions about the organisation of a text is not a problem that can be separated from the “real” text.  It is important to know how ancient readers intended to “use” a text, and how other, later needs have interfered in the form of organisation taken.  It is  important to examine this issue carefully, assessing the authors and editors of  individual works.

It may be noted how new ways to make information accessible came into existence and were disseminated.  The (probably) numbered table of contents, as an influential innovation, was made known through Pliny’s Natural History in the 1st century AD, was promptly adopted (by Columella in the later-added book 11) and was increasingly used in other genres (Gellius, Augustine, historical writing); tables of contents for other works were created subsequently.

The adoption of the table of contents had influence on the preface; an important role of the proemion, to provide information on the content to follow, is shifted on to the more precise summaries.  In this way the author can bypass a stylistically unappealing task, and, in addition, getting an overview is much easier and makes lookup and retrieval possible (in connection with numbering).  In a similar way the relatively monotonous formulae for closing a subject and transitioning to the next give way over time to the sub-title. The use of diaeresis, which, in imitation of oral teaching, is used in systematic text books to structure information, is not abandoned but receives a serious competitor in the use of chapter headings.

Mutschmann (p.99-100) accepted the following development, particularly in view of the Didymus papyrus: the first step is the column heading: the second is the collection of column headings into a table of contents (συγκεφαλαίωσις); from the column heading the chapter heading develops. But it has been shown that these phenomena are more complex. In the papyri we see already early headings for lists, and disengaged lemmata in lexica.  There are centred headings, and numbered and marked chapter beginnings in Latin bronze  tablets of laws.  Pliny and Columella do, inter alia, have tables of contents but they certainly did not devise chapter headings.  A two-way exchange may be expected, namely that works with tables of contents (e.g. Columella) acquired chapter headings, while for works with leading lemmas (e.g. Hyginus) tables of contents were then created.

The tendency towards dividing things up extends beyond prose.  Probably because of the influence of articulated textbook prose, didactic poems were provided with helps for orientation:[184] in the manuscripts of Lucretius, Manilius and also Ovid’s Metamorphoses, lists of Capitula may be found and also corresponding chapter headings, as in prose textbooks.[185] Reeve (conclusion, p.507 f.) points out that Ovid’s Fasti is, since R. Merkel’s 2nd edition of 1851, divided into days identified by headings, and content-related sections, and he gives examples of how the interpretation is affected by this classification. That these subtitles are not by the poet is shown by the structure of the text.  The same formulae for transitions and new subjects appear as in textbook prose (see above, p.107); signal words indicate the beginning of a new concept, e.g. in Lucretius: quaeres, inquis, nec me fallit, praecurrere cogor, sed nunc ut repetam, nunc et scrutemur, nunc age quoniam docui, nunc age quod superest cognosce, denique, tum porro quoniam etc.; likewise Manilius introduces new sections thus: nunc vero, iam vero, restat ut, his adice, accipe, percipe nunc, ergo age, nec te praetereat, nunc age, ergo age, forsitan et quaeras etc.  – The headings in Lucretius have been dated by Fischer to the 2nd century AD, after analysing the content of them (so also Diels, p.xii: “neque indoctus fuit ille editor qui primis haud dubie saeculis capitula praefixit”).[“nor unlearned was that editor who first at an unknown date added capitula to the front”]

184. Haye has commented on the types of divisions in medieval didactic poems (p.348-358 ‘Optische Präsentation’); it may be added that this does not merely apply to manuscripts of the 12th century (so Haye, p.352), but also for example in mss. of Ovid and Lucretius of the 9th century.

185.  Vergil’s Georgica are equipped with metrical argumenta (like the books of the Aeneid and the comedies), but, as far as I can see, they were not divided into chapters like other didactic poems. – In the relevant manuscripts for Ovid’s Fasti (A = Vat.Reg. 1709, 10th c.; U = Vat.Lat.3262, 11th c.) there are no calendrical entries as headings, such as are often silently added in editions (an example of their insertion for clarity is Robert Schilling, Ovide, Les fastes, Tome I, Paris 1992, p.LIX), and are found in the younger manuscripts. In Vat.Lat.3265 (12th c.) there are references to the content in the margin (e.g. fol. 9v, de cursu solis, de lirae occasu, de pectore leonis); but I have seen calendrical information in Vat.Ottob. 1464 (13th c.) (e.g. fol. 3v.: VII kl F, III kl F).

Housman gives a list of chapter titles in the appendix to his edition of Manilius (vol. 5, p.55-99); Goold devotes a chapter of the praefatio to his edition of Manilius to the chapter titles (p.xii ff), but does not discuss when they developed. – In the manuscripts of Ovid’s Metamorphoses there are chapter titles (e.g. Chaos in species; terra in varias personas; mundus in saecula quattuor, aureum, argenteum, aereum et ferreum; item annus in tempora quattuor; edited by Magnus), and sometimes prose summaries, which like the chapter titles are inserted before the passage in question. These summaries (by “Lactantius”) must date, on grounds of vocabulary, to late antiquity.

The increasing tendency for labelling and dividing is not limited to didactic poetry, but extends to the whole of the book trade.  The divisions in tragedy and comedy have already been thoroughly researched, so here I will limit myself to only a few notes.  Already, in the oldest mss. (Terence: ‘Bembinus’, 4-5th c.; Plautus: Palimpsest Ambros., 5th c.), the change of scenes is indicated in various ways (names, rolls, notes, Greek sigla),[186] and Donatus refers to comedies with divisions: (Ter. Ad. praef. 3,1f.) primus actus haec continet [...]. secundus actus [...]; (Ter.Ad.254) in hac scaena gratiarum actio est [...]; (Ad.praef. 1,7) [...] saepe tamen mutatisper scaenam modis cantata, quodsignifi­cat titulus scaenae habens subiectas personis litteras [...]. [...] secundum persona­rum nomina scriptis in eo loco, ubi incipit scaena.  That the division into acts and scenes, and also the insertion of the names of the speakers, was not provided by the authors, has been shown systematically by Andrieu. — The following information was obtained on the age of these things in the mss.: Bader dates the scene-headings, in Plautus, to the late first / early second century A.D. (p. 150-154) and Tarrant (in: Reynolds, p.306) considers that it is unlikely that the creation of an edition equipped with these things can be later than the 2nd century AD. — Likewise the archetype for Terence (before the Cod. Bembinus) was similarly equipped (Reeve in: Reynolds, p.413). — Zwierlein showed that the archetype for Seneca’s comedies, which should be dated to the 3-4th century, contained a basic set of scene-headings and people-sigla (Prolegomena, p. 52) and that this information was added to or  modified by editors or copyists during the process of transmission (ib., p.249).

186. On the origin and development of the various types of information, see the relevant chapter in Andrieu.

Here again, as with prose textbooks, we observe several phases of philological activity.

In the course of transmission, the “organisation” of texts by means of numbering and tables of contents has not been without drawbacks.  The chapter number, which in early examples (bronze tablets, see above p.116 f., early mss., see above p.119) is under or before the text break of the new chapter, changes position over the course of time, for various reasons:187 the situation of the chapter number in the codex, where usually a page contains one or two columns, is very different from that in the roll, where one column follows another.  If the page has only a single area of text, and the chapter number is in the left margin, there is a risk that on the recto the number will partially or completely disappear in the rebate (in the binding); on the verso, the number may disappear if the pages of the book are trimmed. — If the work is written in two columns, there must be enough space in the middle, between the two columns, for the numerals belonging to the second column.  If instead the numbers, while the numbers for the first column are on the left of it, the numbers for the second column are written on the right hand side, uncertainty is introduced for the reader, just by changing the position in that way, and it has the same risks as before; one part of the numbers may disappear into the fold, while the other is threatened by cutting off the margin.  Another factor with great influence on the chapter number is the rise and expansion of the initial letter.  The more elaborate the design of the letter, the less important will be the – consistently simple – numeral before it (see plate 1), if there is room for it at all. It may be observed that the numeral appears more and more frequently in the Spatium at the end of the last line of the preceding chapter, to the right over the relevant section within the textblock.  There is it safe from the trimmer’s knife and the binding, and leaves room at the start of the chapter for the development of the initial – however, having given up their special place in the margin, the only way to emphasise them is with colour; if the numeral is the same colour as the text, it no longer catches the eye. This general trend may be observed in mss. containing the same text but from different centuries,e.g.188 In Cod.Troyes Bibl.mun. 504 (7th c.; the oldest ms. of the Liber pastoralis of Gregory the Great; fol.48v.)

187. This description of a general tendency does not mean that in some cases the earlier form was not retained.

188. See Glenisson for illustrations of the folios in which this phenomenon may be seen (plates 8, 9, 11, 12 on pp. 47, 49, 52, 53).

the chapter numbers (alternately red and green) stand in the left margin and are accentuated by an ornate frame.  The first line of each chapter, except for the first letter, is written in red. The first letter of the chapter is somewhat enlarged, but does not extend into the margin.  The number XXIII extends into the text block and pushes the first letter more to the right.  In a younger manuscript of this text (12th c., Cod. Troyes Bibl. mun.955, fol.57) the first letter of each chapter is done in different colours, two lines tall, and is positioned half in the margin, half in the text block.  The chapter numbers (in red) stand in the free space at the end of the last line of the preceding chapter: the number is displaced into the text block by the enlarged first letter of the chapter.  – Similarly we may compare the Hincmar bible (9th c. Reims, Bibl. mun. 1, fol.8) with the bible of Saint-Benigne de Dijon (12th c., Cod. Dijon, Bibl. mun. 2, fol.7v.).  Both versions have, at the beginning of the book of Genesis, a decorated first column as far as the words “et facta est lux”, and the second column consists entirely of text.  In the Hincmar bible the chapter numbers stand in the margin before the second column, before the slightly enlarged and decorated chapter initials.  In the bible  of Saint-Benigne there is very little room between the right edge of the decorated first column and the text block of the second column, so that the chapter initials cannot protrube more than slightly into the margin, and the chapters do not always begin a new paragraph. The red chapter numbers stand wherever there is room; at the end of the last line of the preceding chapter, or, when there is no line break, in the right margin.

It need hardly be said that with the change of position came an increased risk of damage to the numbering or omission.  But we must emphasise this:  if the numbering is not complete or consecutive, or that in the text does not correspond to the table of contents, this is no indication that it does not derive from the author; the degree of incompleteness or incorrectness corresponds to the increasing distance from the author (see especially p.146 on Isidore).

Likewise numbered tables of contents are not transmitted without error. The dangers that lists and numbers are exposed to, during the process of coping, are obvious.  However defects are not observed only in the numeration, or lack of numeration, because of the lack of rubrication, and the loss of elements from the tables of contents, but there are also spontaneous and individual errors. There are other sources of errors and changes, which are due to more or less conscious decisions by the copyist.

Particularly influential is the desire to save space, and to create a more unified and compact block of text, whether for pragmatic reasons such as saving materials, or aesthetic ones.  In the table of contents, as in the beginning of chapters and the chapter numbers, the text is squeezed together more tightly.  There is a tendency, as with the beginning of chapters, to only separate the first letter, and often the text is written left-justified, and not always with the first letter of each argument highlighted.

But even if only the number is in the margin, and the text of the table of contents is written as a block without protrusions into the margin, still a lot of space can be lost if one considers that numerals like I or C or even CLXXXIII can be in the margin.  Sometimes there is a block where the text is written directly after the number and under the number.  Another possibility is that the numbers go in the space at the end of the preceding argument (i.e. on the right, above the argument in question), so that there is no longer a vertical list of numbers.  Finally the table of contents can be written as text, abandoning the list format completely and writing it as continuous text, but simply alternating numbers and text.  So long as the numbers are written in red, one need only examine the start of the table to see whether the number belongs to the previous argument, or the next one; but if the numbers are written in the same colour as the text, it becomes a tedious task.

As has already been indicated, a tendency can be observed that clarity diminishes over time, and is never improved.  In three manuscripts of Aulus Gellius, arbitrarily chosen from different centuries (Vat. Reg. 597, 9th c.; Vat.Reg. 1646, 12th c.; Vat.Reg.3452, 13th c.), it seems to be no coincidence that it is easiest to find a specific chapter in the oldest of them.  In Vat.Reg.597 the chapter number is always in the same place, before the (undecorated) chapter initial; in the table of contents, the number always stands before the argument.  – In Vat. Reg. 1646 the chapter number stands at the end of the last line of the preceding chapter, and catch the eye because written in red.  But more striking are the chapter initials (alternately in blue and red), which are two lines of text high.  In the table of contents, the numbers move about.  On the verso they stand on the left before the argument, on the recto to the right of it, because not enough space has been left before the text.  – The Vat. Reg. 3452 is in two quite different parts.  In the first part the chapter numbers (in Greek letters) always stand before the chapter initial, and likewise in the tables of contents.  In the second part (from p.57), the tables of contents are not written as a list but as continuous text, with red numbers between each of the individual arguments.  A new line is not used at the start of each new chapter, but the end of one chapter is immediately followed by the (red) chapter number for the next chapter, and then immediately the text of the next chapter.  While the numbers are written in red, they can be found, but very soon they too are written in the normal ink colour, and so can only be found by reading through the text.

As with the numbering of chapters, no improvement is seen in the numbering of tables of contents in the Middle Ages.  Scribonius Largus, most likely also Pliny and Gellius, and certainly many late antique authors organised their text using numbers and so it may be assumed that the numbering of the chapters and tables of contents was initially congruent and usable.189  But they have been much distorted in the course of transmission, because only actually using the table of contents to find specific chapters, i.e. only from a copyist aware of the needs of the reader, will produce a set of usable numbers.

Now that we have the results of the first two parts, it is possible for us to examine poetry headings.  Both the linguistic form of the book titles, and the relationship between title and text, as well as the (partly retrospective) ‘organisation’ of the text into longer and shorter sections of text, observed in many genres, using tables of contents and headings, and their influence upon the text, should be observed when assessing the headings of poems.

189. Some examples of numbering that became unusable with the passage of time: Columella, see under p. 134; Isidore, see under p. 146; see also the discrepancy between index and chapter headings in Firmicus Maternus, Mathesis, ed. W. Kroll, F.Skutsch, Leipzig 1897 (repr. Stuttgart 1968).


Worthy of Worship?

0
0

I’ve assigned Aaron Smuts’ chapter “‘The Little People’: Power and the Worshipable” from Philosophy in The Twilight Zone when I’ve taught my class about religion and science fiction in the past. Here is a link to the episode “The Little People” to which the title refers, in case you’ve never seen it:

Click here to view the embedded video.

It turns out that not only is an earlier draft of Smuts’ chapter available online, but so too are many others of his writings. Among them, and of related interest, is a piece called “The Power to Make Others Worship.” Here’s the abstract:

Can any being worthy of worship make others worship it? I think not. By way of an analogy to love, I argue that it is perfectly coherent to think that one could be made to worship. However, forcing someone to worship violates their autonomy, not because worship must be freely given, but because forced worship would be inauthentic—much like love earned through potions. For this reason, I argue that one cannot be made to worship properly; forced worship would be unfitting. My principal claim is that no being worthy of worship could exercise the power to make others worship it, since the act of making another worship would necessarily make one unworthy of worship.

There are also a great many papers related to topics such as what makes life worth living.

Reza Aslan

0
0
THE NOW INFAMOUS INTERVIEW of Reza Aslan by Fox News presenter Lauren Green has had the Biblioblogosphere all abuzz for the last couple of weeks. If you haven't seen it yet, here it is:



I've been following the story, but haven't had time until now to post on it. Briefly, Professor Aslan has published a book on the Historical Jesus. Ms. Green handles the interview badly by belaboring the fact that he is a Muslim and wondering why a Muslim should have any interest in Jesus. Professor Aslan gets the better of the interview overall, but he in turn embarrassingly belabors his own credentials (if you need to mention more than once that you have a Ph.D., you've lost the frame) and makes claims about their relevance to the subject matter of the book which have not gone undisputed.

I have not read the book, but such reviews as I have seen indicate that it says nothing new or particularly interesting, covering well-traveled ground and reaching conclusions that are somewhere between debatable and outdated. To be fair, it is exceedingly difficult these days to write a book about the Historical Jesus which doesn't share these flaws. The ground is simply too well covered by experts already and our very limited sources simply cannot tell us much more about Jesus than they already have.

Here are links to reviews by novelist Naomi Alderman in The Forward: Separating Jesus the Man From the Myth and by (well-known to PaleoJudaica) literary critic Adam Kirsch: Jesus Was a Rebel and a Bandit. What Made Him Also the Christian Son of God? Aldeman's evaluation is very positive and Kirsch's positive but with qualifications. Of special interest are reviews by two biblical scholars: Greg Carey: Reza Aslan on Jesus: A Biblical Scholar Responds; and Anthony LeDonne: A Usually Happy Fellow Reviews Aslan’s Zealot – Le Donne. Both are highly critical and Le Donne's is brutal.

As for Professor Aslan's credentials as a biblical scholar, Matthew J. Franck has a detailed evaluation of his claims: Reza Aslan Misrepresents His Scholarly Credentials. In Did Reza Aslan Lie about His Credentials? - Le Donne Anthony LeDonne regards Franck's post to be "motivated by religious distrust" and indirectly rebuts part of it in the discussion that follows. In what follows he quotes some criticisms from Stephen Prothero on Facebook and a defense from the supervisor of Aslan's dissertation, Mark Juergensmeyer, and then concludes that indeed some of Aslan's claims in the interview are problematical:
What Prothero says about his expertise in NT Studies still stands. I have now read the book and I can say (without question) that Zealot is not written by an author conversant with the field of NT studies or Second Temple Judaism more generally. More on this point in the coming days.

As to the credentials issue, where Aslan might be in the biggest danger of falsehood is in his claim to be a teacher of religious studies, or that he does this "for a living". He is not a religious studies instructor in the traditional sense of that title. A colleague of his from Riverside has confirmed this for me.

No doubt, he overplayed his credentials, but there is a difference between setting the record right and tearing a colleague to shreds.
Buzzfeed also collects some of Professor Aslan's more acerbic tweets: Author Attacked By Fox News Is Actually Kind Of A Jerk On Twitter (strong language warning). I realize that the tweets are doubtless selected from a much larger output, but still. Call me old fashioned, but I think this kind of rhetoric fails to show scholarly dignity. But here's an interview with the Boston Globe in which he speaks in a more scholarly mode.

There is much more in the blogosphere about the whole episode and about Professor Aslan's book. Returning to the issue that started the whole episode, I can say with confidence that having Muslim scholars do original work in New Testament studies is something most New Testament specialists would welcome. There was a time in the early 90s when it was PC to think that only those "within the tradition" should publish scholarly work in any given area of religious studies. I thought then and still think that this idea is unhelpful and corrosive. Muslim scholars should publish on Christianity, Christian scholars on Judaism, and Jewish scholars on Islam. And fill in all the rest of the permutations. And, of course, add agnostics, atheists, etc. In the first place, we as historians and historians of religion are all following the same scholarly approach, which at least aims for objectivity in its results, so there is scope for considerable agreement. In the second place, scholars coming out of different religious traditions will start with somewhat different assumptions, interests, and focuses, and are likely to see avenues worth following up which those "within the tradition" or from other traditions might miss, even though the latter would recognize the importance of those avenues once pointed out.

If this little episode causes us to think in a constructive way about what we are doing as scholars and how each of us can contribute, some good will have come of it.

UPDATE: The story has now found its way into the New York Times: Return of the Jesus Wars (Ross Douthat).

UPDATE (6 August): The book is reviewed in the NYT by Dale B. Martin: Still a Firebrand, 2,000 Years Later: ‘Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth’. The review concludes:
By profession, Mr. Aslan is not a scholar of ancient Judaism or Christianity. He teaches creative writing. And he is a good writer. “Zealot” is not innovative or original scholarship, but it makes an entertaining read. It is also a serious presentation of one plausible portrait of the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
UPDATE: Another review, by Charlotte Allen in the L.A. Times: Reza Aslan's 'new' take on Jesus: The controversy over his book about Jesus' life misses the point.

How Many Adam?

0
0

I have often said (in particular with reference to the creation account in Genesis 1) that one can read a text with great frequency and still fail to notice something for a surprisingly long time.

We can also fail to notice what the text does not say, and what we are reading into it.

Yesterday in a Facebook group I participate in, it was pointed out that, unless one has the Genesis 2 creation account in mind, when one reads Genesis 1, one will not necessarily get the impression that God, creating Adam (which means humankind) male and female, made only one of each.

What do others think? If one doesn’t already have the “Adam and Eve” story in mind, could it be read as God creating a tribe of humans?

Creationist depictions of Adam and Eve concerned to cover their private parts with hair, leaves, and when necessary lily pads, could also be used to argue that there must have been other people around. And of course, some have gotten that impression from Genesis 4:14 as well.

Amazing Week 5 concludes Gabii Project 2013

0
0
The 2013 Team
The final week of work at Gabii could not be more rewarding! Impressive results were achieved in all departments of the dig, making this a very successful season.

Hut floors emerging in Area F (with students presenting!)
Excavation and recording continued with full steam in both areas D and F. Bedrock was finally reached in the north part of Area D, revealing a series of rock-cut features, such as post-holes and sunken floors, belonging to the earliest phase of occupation beneath the Archaic compound. This horizon has been exposed also in the south sector, where the excavators identified more linear cuts and concentrations of ashy layers that sit on top of a natural level. This sequence will be the object of excavation next year. 

Cleaning new features in Area F
In Area F, more built structures of the monumental complex emerged below the dumps that covered the back of the lower terrace. These features include a very well-preserved drain made of slabs of tufo, and part of the original pavement of this open space. The continuation of the staircase connecting the upper and lower terraces was also uncovered, totaling 21 steps! On axis with this, another room of the complex has been found, which features in its northeast corner a whole dolium sunken into a cut in the bedrock. 
Stepping on a column base

A sondage was excavated in the front part of the building, providing evidence of modifications dating to the Early Imperial period, and exposing tantalizing architecture (including a column base) predating the construction of the building. The west half of the complex will be investigated in 2014.

One of the highlights of the week were certainly the presentations given by the students on their work on site. It was incredibly gratifying to see how much they grew as archaeologists in 5 weeks: they described the sequence they excavated as professional diggers. As every year, the end of dig was celebrated with a big lunch offered on site.

Looking forward to welcoming new participants and returning students next year.

Until then, arrivederci Gabii! 

Nic Terrenato leads the final trench tour in Area F

Narrow vs. High Standards

0
0

Stuff Fundies Like shared this questionnaire that would-be guest speakers at a fundamentalist church have to complete:

I suppose the main point to make in response is that rejecting lots of things does not mean that your standard is high, only that it is narrow. And unless one figures out the difference early enough, the narrow approach will inevitably end up excluding things that are true, rather than holding oneself and others to the high standard of truthfulness.

Day of Archaeology Discussion on Best Practice in Artefact Hunting and Sustainable Management of the Archaeological Record

0
0

Yesterday, I wrote on the discussion ensuing from Scott Clark's contribution to the Day of Archaeology.  Note this is on a website about archaeologyand archaeologists, what they do etc. In the discussion of Mr Clark's contribution, a question was asked (by a metal detectorist) about how to reach the understanding needed for artefact hunters to work for the common good alongside archaeologists. I added a few comments and the reaction from th metal detectorist was predictable:
Dick StoutAugust 5, 2013 at 1:46 am#
Well now that Mr. Barford has entered into this conversation I will depart. His goal is and always has been kill the metal detecting pastime, and if you doubt me please subscribe to his blog, and see how many posts are devoted to “tekkies” who hoik things out of the ground.  To continue any dialogue with this individual is a waste of time. [...]
Yes, it is if the person taking part in it sees absolutely no difference between what Mr Clark does with his metal detector and what the majority of 'relic hunters' use it for (the clue is in the name). Equally it is a waste of time if the person taking part sees no difference between Mr Clark's attitude towards archaeologists and that of the constant anti-archaeological campaign of the likes of the Stout-Howland blog. But then, I doubt whether anyone really ever had any intention of inviting someone like Messrs Stout or Howland to the negotiating table. When the time comes for the inevitable public debate about the treatment of the portable archaeological heritage (which of course need not entail "killing" anyone or anything), it will be about the thugwit element in artefact hunting and collecting which is preventing progress and not with them. Mr Stout's demonstrative walking out of a discussion is therefore a loss to nobody. 


Mr Stout might also consider the wisdom exhibited by complaining to archaeologists that digging a narrow little hole blindly into an archaeological site at the spot where a metal-seeking tool suggests there is a potentially collectable archaeological find is described as "hoiking". I would imagine most archaeologists who've seen a site riddled with these holes (or the grass plugs which hide the damage) and a significant but unknown part of the archaeological evidence missing would describe the activity in much the same way.
 
By the way, unlike many collectors' forums and discussion lists, you do not need to "subscribe" to  (register with) my blog, just click on the URL and it's fully open access as a public resource.

Scott Clark, "Metal Detecting and Archaeological Advocacy – Some Observations and Ideas from a Detectorist", July 26, 2013.

Open House at the Narbonne House

0
0
Salem Maritime National Historic Site
Exhibition
Saturday, October 5, 2013 - 11:00am - 3:00pm

Tours of the Pickering House

0
0
The Pickering Foundation
Exhibition
Saturday, October 12, 2013 - 10:00am - 3:00pm

Objective Ministries

0
0

Objective Ministries is clearly a parody site. But it is just close enough to what some extreme Christian groups claim and try to accomplish, that you have moments of doubt. I had come across it before, but having found my way there again yesterday, I thought I’d share the site with you.

My favorite elements on the web site are the following: The suggestion that the ancient Israelites were attacked by Pterosaurs, and Moses scared them off with a divinely-provided “brazen pterosaur-scaring device”:

The plan to put Orbital Cross Alpha into space:

And the warnings about the error of triclavianism:

Their complaints about the other more famous parody site, Landover Baptist, make it all the more amusing.

What Christian or other parody sites have you come across that you enjoy? The Onion is another favorite, although not focused exclusively on religion. One of my favorite bits of religious satire from The Onion depicts the Sumerians looking on with bewilderment as the Judeo-Christian God creates the cosmos.

Pottery Pitcher 760-750 BC Late Attic Greek (Source: The British...

Restauratiepremie voor Lange Max in Koekelare

0
0

Vlaams minister Geert Bourgeois heeft een premie 77.000 euro toegekend voor de restauratie van het bakhuiscomplex van de Lange Max in Koekelare. De site is in 2003 beschermd als dorpsgezicht, de geschutsbedding en het boerenhuis met bakhuis als monument. De site wordt nu gerestaureerd met het oog op de herdenking van de Eerste Wereldoorlog. De Lange Max was 17,50 m lang en had een gewicht van 75,5 ton. Het was het grootste kanon dat tot dan toe in de krijgsgeschiedenis gebruikt werd.

Het kanon was voornamelijk gericht op de haven van Duinkerke dat 44 km verderop ligt. De plek speelde een belangrijke rol als geschutsbasis voor lange afstandsaanvallen door de Duitsers tegen de Geallieerden.

“Dit complex is een uniek restant van de krijgsverrichtingen in het achterland van de frontstreek,” aldus Bourgeois. “Op de geschutsbedding werd op 27 juni 1917 het kanon, in de volksmond Lange Max genoemd, voor het eerst in gebruik genomen door de Duitse bezetter. De site van Lange Max is een van de weinige plaatsen waar het verhaal van de Duitse bezetter kan worden verteld aan de hand van materiële overblijfselen.”

Met het oog op de 100-jarige herdenking van de Eerste Wereldoorlog wordt nu het bakhuis van de hoeve gerestaureerd. Op de site was eerder al een herinneringspark en museum ingericht. Je kan er de resten zien van de geschutsbedding en de ondergrondse bunkers. Na de restauratie zal in de stal van het bakhuiscomplex een filmzaal worden ingericht waar de bezoeker toelichting krijgt over de bouw, werking en vernieling van het langeafstandskanon Lange Max. De filmzaal functioneert dan als een inleiding op het museum.

Foto:Erf-goed.be

Changing Churches

0
0

Patheos is hosting a conversation about passing on the faith, and I encourage you to click through and read other participants in the conversation. My Sunday school class has been working through Hebrews, but as we encountered mention of people ceasing to meet together, our discussions have turned towards discussion of millennials, church attendance, communication and technology, and many other subjects related to this topic.

One of the things we discussed in my Sunday school class this past Sunday was the fact that, in some rural areas, a church is the social center of the community. As this changes, attendance is changing. Yet the earliest church was not a social center in the way that became the case much later in Europe and then the Americas.

VorJack made much the same point when he wrote:

Americans are under less social pressure to be part of a church than at any time since WWII. It seems less important to be part of a church community. In most areas there is little stigma attached to those who do not attend. Combine this with an increasing value on leisure time – since modern consumer capitalism is eager to give us new ways to spend it – and you see people who would rather stream Netflix on their tablets than get out of bed and go to that church social.

Without that pressure we are simply drifting back to a state in which a fair percentage of the population is unchurched. Not un-religious or un-spiritual, but unchurched. Belief has not declined, but belonging has.

Scot McKnight asked whether Christians gathering for coffee is church, and if not, then what makes a gathering “the church.” (See also the satirical Lark News item about a church becoming a coffee chain.)

Another thing that we discussed in my class yesterday is whether the modes of communication that were a main rationale for gathering people in the past make sense any longer. And if the main thing we need is actual time spent with other people (since notices, discussions, and sermons can happen all throughout the week using current technology), and maybe eating, then why do we not spend more of our Sunday morning focused on that?

It was also mentioned that celebration is one thing we cannot do effectively via the internet or on our own. And so perhaps this cartoon depicting an empty church has an important message:

I also emphasized in my class that, when young people seem addicted to their phones, in most cases they are addicted to being constantly connected to other people whom they consider important. If people feel that sense of connectedness, they will want to meet in person. But if we have a meeting that is not of that sort, and feels more like an obligation, then even adults will reach for their phones and text someone who means more to them than the speaker at the meeting.

There seemed to be a consensus that we naturally forge community with those with whom we share something important in common. Often our best friends attended school with us, or have a common hobby, or something else of the sort. Once we feel connected, we want to gather. But we also want to use that time to accomplish something. Sermons can be listened to anywhere, so perhaps we should explore new models, such as listening to sermons at home and discussing them when we gather? Or perhaps discussion can be online too, and over coffee informally on various occasions, and we should gather to feed the hungry and defend the oppressed?

Barney Zwartz’s and Pippa Evans’ articles about the creation of an atheist church are worth mentioning in this context. And it raises the question of whether lack of belief in God is a sufficient point of commonality to cause people to want to come together regularly and meet in person.

Of related interest, Fred Clark blogged about young-earth creationist dishonesty as a factory impacting the church and the disillusionment many young people feel. See also Billy Kangas’ post on the role of sacraments in keeping him Christian.

The overall takeaway message from all these recent discussions seems to be this: The church needs to adapt to changing needs and modes of communication, without simply trying to adopt a facade of relevance or pandering to demands and desires in a way that ceases to challenge those who are or would become a part of it.

Viewing all 136795 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images