Gad Barnea
University of Haifa, Department of Jewish History and Thought, Faculty Member
- École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem, Project BEST, Department MemberRoyal Historical Society, History, Department MemberUniversity of Haifa, Department Of Biblical Studies, Department Memberadd
- Achaemenid Empire, Ancient Near East, Aramaic, Paleography, Papyrology & Epigraphy, Materiality of Ancient Texts, and 31 moreAncient Near Eastern Languages, Old Persian, Middle Persian, Avestan (Languages And Linguistics), Hebrew Bible, New Testament, Northwest Semitic Epigraphy, Epigraphy, Pahlavi / Middle Persian (Religion), Avesta, Achaemenid History, Zoroastrianism, Egyptology, Biblical Hebrew (Languages And Linguistics), Phoenician, Ugaritic, Akkadian, Sumarian, Elamite, Ancient Greek Language, Koine Greek, Greek manuscripts, Demotic, Middle Egyptian, Late Egyptian, Coptic, Magic and Divination in the Ancient World, Digital Humanities, Gnosticism, Monotheism, and Mazdaismedit
This book proposes a comprehensive historical study of the of the early-Jewish colony that settled on the island of Elephantine in Upper Egypt in the sixth century BCE. They had originally arrived at the island from Palestine and built a... more
This book proposes a comprehensive historical study of the of the early-Jewish colony that settled on the island of Elephantine in Upper Egypt in the sixth century BCE. They had originally arrived at the island from Palestine and built a full-fledged temple there, which was dedicated to their chief ethnic deity, Yhw(h)-complete with priests, sacrifices, and an altar-on this important and already millennia-old cultic center at the Nile's first cataract. This colony produced an extensive set of written records representing practically all aspects of daily life: private communications, personal letters, various forms of contracts, cultic expressions, accounts of historical events, copies of ancient literary works, official communications and even correspondence with the governors of Judea and Samaria and the high-priest in Jerusalem. This is, by far, the richest, most variegated and most comprehensive witness to Jewish life prior to the Hellenistic period. Since the first excavations on the island in 1902, our understanding of early Judaism has dramatically increased, with new perspectives coming to light through interdisciplinary collaborations in recent years. This book is the first since 1968 to examine all aspects of the Elephantine Jewish colony-from a comprehensive study of its history to all documented aspects of its daily life and its cultic profile-engaging with the most up-to-date scholarship.
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This book represents the scholarship of an international group of scholars following a three-day symposium in Dec. 2022 dedicated to the memory of the late Prof. Shaul Shaked. Following this luminary’s exceptional legacy, the conference... more
This book represents the scholarship of an international group of scholars following a three-day symposium in Dec. 2022 dedicated to the memory of the late Prof. Shaul Shaked. Following this luminary’s exceptional legacy, the conference and the book that is presented here are dedicated to the study of the touch-points between diverse Yahwistic communities throughout the Achaemenid empire and the Iranian attributes of the empire that ruled over them for about two centuries. This is arguably the most formative period in the development, redaction and composition of some of the most central texts within the Jewish (and, by extension, Christian) heritage. However, there has historically been too little dialogue between scholars of Achaemenid history and linguistics and those of Jewish history, Bible scholarship, archeology and Semitics. To respond to these lacunae, the conference’s approach was fundamentally interdisciplinary and collaborative. It brought together scholars from diverse disciplines, encouraged dialogue throughout the conference and invited them to contribute to the present volume from these interactions and their general research interests.
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According to the Talmud, “four prophets prophesied in one age and the greatest of all of them was Hosea.” The Book of Hosea is in fact a key to the Hebrew Bible, a unique witness to the antiquity of Scripture, as it offers a number of the... more
According to the Talmud, “four prophets prophesied in one age and the greatest of all of them was Hosea.” The Book of Hosea is in fact a key to the Hebrew Bible, a unique witness to the antiquity of Scripture, as it offers a number of the oldest testimonies to various traditions, such as the Exodus, the Decalogue, as well as patriarchal legends such as the cycle of Jacob. But Hosea is much more than a deposit of ancient traditions. Hosea’s prophecy harbors phrases that have transformed the image of God forever, such as “I desire kindness and not sacrifice and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hos 6:6), or “My heart has turned against me together — my consolations have been kindled. I will not do the heat of my anger. […] For I myself am God and not man” (Hos 11:8cd-9ac). Far from the immobile first mover of Greek philosophy, this is the heart of a passionate God who pours out his feelings that are turned upside down with humanity in these inspired pages.
For the first time the four great versions in which this Word has gone through the centuries — the Masoretic text, the Septuagint, the Vulgate and the Peshitta — have been collated and meticulously translated into English on a same page. This is accompanied by a wealth of annotations that allow one to hear echoes throughout various periods, confessions and disciplines, from textual criticism to films, as well as Jewish and Christian traditions, literature, painting and music.
For the first time the four great versions in which this Word has gone through the centuries — the Masoretic text, the Septuagint, the Vulgate and the Peshitta — have been collated and meticulously translated into English on a same page. This is accompanied by a wealth of annotations that allow one to hear echoes throughout various periods, confessions and disciplines, from textual criticism to films, as well as Jewish and Christian traditions, literature, painting and music.
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Ostracon Berlin P. 10679 (TADAE D7.24) was first published in 1908 and has since attracted attention mostly due to its use of the term (b)psḥʾ-cognate with the Hebrew psḥ known from the Hebrew Bible in relation to the Passover. The text... more
Ostracon Berlin P. 10679 (TADAE D7.24) was first published in 1908 and has since attracted attention mostly due to its use of the term (b)psḥʾ-cognate with the Hebrew psḥ known from the Hebrew Bible in relation to the Passover. The text itself has generally been considered opaque and unclear. However, as shown in this article, the ostracon has thus far been read in the wrong order. It should be read convex-to-concave (cv > cc) rather than concave-to-convex (cc > cv)-a conclusion based on philological and epigraphic analyses. The new interpretation provides a much improved reading adding greater clarity and consistency to the text. It cautions against presupposing a cc > cv flow of writing on ostraca and implies that other confusing cases could benefit from a re-evaluation. Unfortunately, the term (b)psḥʾ remains as obscure in the newly assembled context as it has always been.
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Ever since its preliminary publication, Xerxes’ “Daiva” inscription (XPh) has been seen as an important and unique witness to early Achaemenid orthopraxy and cultic propaganda. This royal inscription describes a liturgical reform or, at... more
Ever since its preliminary publication, Xerxes’ “Daiva” inscription (XPh) has been seen as an important and unique witness to early Achaemenid orthopraxy and cultic propaganda. This royal inscription describes a liturgical reform or, at least, the enforcement of such a reform, targeting and condemning the cult of the daivā—a designation describing competing deities. The key to decoding this reform hinges upon an obscure expression that appears thrice in the document—normalized as a-r-t-a-c-a : b-r-z-m-n-i-y—the meaning of which yet to be fully understood. In this article, I revisit and analyze the various approaches previously taken to interpreting this remarkable syntagm and provide a methodological approach and a broader and more comprehensive translation which is presented in a more holistic comparative context—including onomastic, epigraphic and archeological data.
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The oracles against Egypt in the book of Jeremiah point to some interesting historical contexts. Unraveling the background to these texts is challenging not only because of their complex redactional layers but also because of the use of... more
The oracles against Egypt in the book of Jeremiah point to some interesting historical contexts. Unraveling the background to these texts is challenging not only because of their complex redactional layers but also because of the use of literary formula and tools such as allegory, metaphor, and simile. A successful conquest of Egypt by an imperial power coming from the west has been expected by the subjects of these empires for a long time. In the oracles against Egypt one can discern various phases of evolution of these expectations and in several cases, also their materialization-ostensibly with the conquest of Egypt by Cambyses. The Persian conquest was a pivotal and earth-shattering event for the entire region and various traditions, stories and legends have been attached to it in various sources, including Persian, Greek, Egyptian, and in the text that was assembled to form the oracles against Egypt in the book of Jeremiah.
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The symbolic interpretation of seals and sealed scrolls, representing authority, altering outcomes, and bridging the human with the divine, has a long and rich history in the ancient Near East (ANE). It stems from the continuous, routine... more
The symbolic interpretation of seals and sealed scrolls, representing authority, altering outcomes, and bridging the human with the divine, has a long and rich history in the ancient Near East (ANE). It stems from the continuous, routine and ubiquitous use of these artifacts in daily life, mostly in legal settings, over millennia. Since sealed scrolls could not be tampered with, they were seen as guarantors of an incorruptible legal reality. Thus, they were viewed as holding contractual stipulations to be revealed in the future—on a day in which a legal document would be unsealed by an authoritative figure, such as a judge, a governor or a king, because of a dispute, and justice adjudicated. In the popular imaginaire, seal and scroll symbolism naturally led to linking the temporal and the mundane with the eternal and the divine. Thus, this very tangible real-life experience intuitively received treatments in various literary and cultic corpora in the ANE. Among the Jews, it found a place in the Hebrew Bible—most particularly within the prophetic corpus, in the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel, as well as in some Pseudepigraphical works. Over time, probably via Iranian influence in the Achaemenid period, a specific type of symbolic scroll emerged—the seven-sealed scroll, in which the typological number seven met the already established image of the sealed scroll. This unique artifact evolved to play a central role in later texts, especially in Apocalyptic literature. The earliest recorded literary and symbolic use of such a seven-sealed scroll is found in a small leather scroll from Qumran (4Q550, “Jews in the Persian court”) , where it is employed to introduce a remarkable legendary-prophetic account set in the Achaemenid court of Xerxes. Although it is not apocalyptic in any way, this humble scroll uses the seven-sealed scroll motif as what can be seen as an evolutionary step in the development of the symbolic literary reception of the theme of the seven-sealed scroll—the opening of the seven seals followed by a seven-fold set of actions—which will receive further development in later literature. This elaboration receives its most well-known treatment in the New Testament’s book of Revelation.
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The question of the Yahwistic identity-especially at Elephantine-has seen a resurgence of scholarly attention in recent years, which has highlighted the complexity of this issue. This article offers a new analysis showing that, already in... more
The question of the Yahwistic identity-especially at Elephantine-has seen a resurgence of scholarly attention in recent years, which has highlighted the complexity of this issue. This article offers a new analysis showing that, already in the Achaemenid period, by the fifth century BCE, the Yhwdy label was, contrary to scholarly consensus, an ethnoreligious identifier that defined all believers in Yhw-not just those from Yhwd. The identity of the Elephantine Yahwists within this overarching Yhwdy identity was modulated by their identification as ʾrmy-an attribute unique to that community.
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Open access at: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/10/1324 What was the nature of ritual in ancient Yahwism? Although biblical sources provide some in-formation about various types of cultic activity, we have thus far lacked any... more
Open access at: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/10/1324
What was the nature of ritual in ancient Yahwism? Although biblical sources provide some in-formation about various types of cultic activity, we have thus far lacked any extra-biblical ritual texts from Yahwistic circles prior to Greco-Roman times. This article presents such a text—one that has been hiding in plain sight for almost a century on a small ostracon found on the island of Elephantine. It has variously been interpreted as dealing with instructions regarding a tunic left at the “house of Yhw”—the temple to Yhw(h) that flourished on the island from the middle of the sixth to the end of the fourth century BCE. While there is little debate regarding the epigraphic reading of this text, it has hitherto failed to be correctly interpreted. I present an entirely new reading of this important document, revealing it to be written in poetic form and to match the characteristics of a “prayer for justice” curse ritual. It is, in fact, the oldest known example of this genre, its only known specimen in Aramaic, its unique witness in a Yahwistic context—and the sole record of any ritual performance at a temple to Yhw(h). Significantly, it is administered by a priestess.
What was the nature of ritual in ancient Yahwism? Although biblical sources provide some in-formation about various types of cultic activity, we have thus far lacked any extra-biblical ritual texts from Yahwistic circles prior to Greco-Roman times. This article presents such a text—one that has been hiding in plain sight for almost a century on a small ostracon found on the island of Elephantine. It has variously been interpreted as dealing with instructions regarding a tunic left at the “house of Yhw”—the temple to Yhw(h) that flourished on the island from the middle of the sixth to the end of the fourth century BCE. While there is little debate regarding the epigraphic reading of this text, it has hitherto failed to be correctly interpreted. I present an entirely new reading of this important document, revealing it to be written in poetic form and to match the characteristics of a “prayer for justice” curse ritual. It is, in fact, the oldest known example of this genre, its only known specimen in Aramaic, its unique witness in a Yahwistic context—and the sole record of any ritual performance at a temple to Yhw(h). Significantly, it is administered by a priestess.
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The Yahwistic community at Elephantine, whose document record covers almost the entire fifth century BCE, conserves the most direct, vibrant and authentic witness of Achaemenid-era Yahwism. This article focuses on the process of... more
The Yahwistic community at Elephantine, whose document record covers almost the entire fifth century BCE, conserves the most direct, vibrant and authentic witness of Achaemenid-era Yahwism. This article focuses on the process of interpretatio iudaica through interactions with neighboring and reigning cults: Egyptian, Levantine and Achaemenid-Zoroastrian (AZ), comparing it to other Yahwistic settlements of its time. It shows that these communities behaved as normative citizens of the polytheistic/henotheistic world surrounding them. In what is an expected process of interpretatio of their day and age, they were in full dialogue with the philosophical/theological views and innovations of the cultures surrounding them. They translated their deity/ies with “host deities” when they came into contact with other cultures. Significantly, living in an Achaemenid imperial context, Ahuramazdā was translated with Yhw, and following Artaxerxes II’s reform, a new Yahwistic triad translated both t...
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The Yahwistic communities at Elephantine and Babylonia have preserved significant document records that cover almost the entire fifth century BCE. The Elephantine community conserves the most direct, vibrant and authentic witness of... more
The Yahwistic communities at Elephantine and Babylonia have preserved significant document records that cover almost the entire fifth century BCE. The Elephantine community conserves the most direct, vibrant and authentic witness of Achaemenid-era Yahwism—a record which can serve as a basis for comparison with other Yahwistic communities of its day and age. This paper studies cultic interactions between these communities and their neighboring and reigning cultic-systems: Egyptian, Babylonian, Levantine and Achaemenid-Zoroastrian (AZ), focusing mainly on the process of interpretatio iudaica. It shows that these communities behaved as normative citizens of the polytheistic/henotheistic world surrounding them. In what is an expected process of interpretatio of its day and age, they were in full dialogue with the philosophical/theological views and innovations of the cultures surrounding them. They translate their deity/ies with “host deities” when it/they come into contact with other cultures. Significantly, the Elephantine community, living in an Achaemenid imperial context, translated Ahuramazdā with Yhw, and later, following Artaxerxes II’s reform of Achaemenid Zoroastrian-worship, they constructed a new Yahwistic triad that translated both the new Achaemenid Zoroastrian triad of Ahuramazdā, mithra and Anahitā as well as the local First Cataract triad of Khnum, Satet and Anuket.
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In her magnum opus, "A History of Zoroastrianism," Mary Boyce perceptively noted that often in the history of this Iranian religion, "developments within Iran itself have to be deduced from the ripples which they caused abroad." This is... more
In her magnum opus, "A History of Zoroastrianism," Mary Boyce perceptively noted that often in the history of this Iranian religion, "developments within Iran itself have to be deduced from the ripples which they caused abroad." This is certainly true of the history of Achaemenid-era Zoroastrianism, whose characteristics and, in some circles, even its existence, continue to be a matter of debate-even as more and more information regarding its possible features continues to emerge. This article aims to complement the current body of knowledge with data from Yahwistic sources outside of Iran, to enhance and solidify our understanding of Achaemenid-Zoroastrianism and its contours. It reviews at the current state of scholarship and the significant progress that has been made in the recent decades, and studies some Zoroastrian/Avestan echoes preserved in Yahwistic sources in Upper Egypt, mostly at Elephantine, which provide first-hand documentation of Zoroastrian devotion.
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The question of the nature of the contacts between Judean literati, including those in Qumran, and the Parthian empire has only been sporadically addressed in scholarship thus far. Yet, some of the most formative events in the history of... more
The question of the nature of the contacts between Judean literati, including those in Qumran, and the Parthian empire has only been sporadically addressed in scholarship thus far. Yet, some of the most formative events in the history of first century BCE Judea took place in close association with this empire. Recent research shows that the Judeans maintained closer relations with the Parthians than previously thought—to the point of sowing serious distrust among the Romans. The Parthians conquered Jerusalem in 40 BCE and installed the last Hasmonean king, Antigonus II Mattathias, on the throne whence he ruled as a puppet king for a period of three years. This paper looks at recent historical research and studies traces of Iranian contacts left behind in various documents found in Qumran. I will focus especially on an extraordinary and hitherto unknown prophetic legend preserved in one extraordinary scroll (4Q550, “Jews in the Persian court”), which I am currently preparing for publication. 4Q550 conserves an Achaemenid “Midrash Haggadah” of sorts—i.e. an exegetical legend expounding a famous passage of the Behistun inscription with the passage itself quoted in context. This scroll, which uses Iranian and even Avestan terms, shows that at least some of the Qumran community were most likely conversant with their meaning and that the Midrashic genre can also be found in Iranian sources and possibly contributed to the development of this genre amongst the Judeans.
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The Yahwistic community at Elephantine, whose document record covers almost the entire fifth century BCE, conserves the most direct, vibrant and authentic witness of Achaemenid-era Yahwism. This article focuses on the process of... more
The Yahwistic community at Elephantine, whose document record covers almost the entire fifth century BCE, conserves the most direct, vibrant and authentic witness of Achaemenid-era Yahwism. This article focuses on the process of interpretatio iudaica through interactions with neighboring and reigning cults: Egyptian, Levantine and Achaemenid-Zoroastrian (AZ), comparing it to other Yahwistic settlements of its time. It shows that these communities behaved as normative citizens of the polytheistic/henotheistic world surrounding them. In what is an expected process of interpretatio of their day and age, they were in full dialogue with the philosophical/theological views and innovations of the cultures surrounding them. They translated their deity/ies with "host deities" when they came into contact with other cultures. Significantly, living in an Achaemenid imperial context, A h uramazdā was translated with Yhw, and following Artaxerxes II's reform, a new Yahwistic triad translated both the new AZ triad as well as the local Egyptian triad.
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Determining the time of the Yahwistic mercenaries’ migration to the island of Elephantine in Upper Egypt has important implications for understanding the history of this community during their time on the island, their identity, and their... more
Determining the time of the Yahwistic mercenaries’ migration to the island of Elephantine in Upper Egypt has important implications for understanding the history of this community during their time on the island, their identity, and their cultic profile. In this article, I study this question through all available datapoints, deriving from different disciplines: archeology, onomastics, genealogies, and, of course, written narratives from Elephantine Yahwistic and Egyptian texts, the Hebrew Bible, and Greek/Hellenistic sources. While the dating of each individual datapoint can certainly be debated, the overall picture, when adding up the available data, points to the reign of Amasis II (570–526 BCE), and specifically its latter part, as the most likely period in which the migration—or at least its first wave—occurred. I further suggest that the Yahwistic community first settled in Syene, during which time the temple was being prepared and built. Their settlement on the island itself came at a later stage.
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The blessings and curses formulae in Deuteronomy 27–28 reveal a rich, complex and innovative interaction with ancient Near Eastern and Achaemenid parallels.
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The Behistun (Bisotun/Bisitun) inscription of Darius I (DB), from 520–519 BCE, is certainly the most important Achaemenid royal inscription. This tri-lingual creation—written in Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian-Akkadian—was... more
The Behistun (Bisotun/Bisitun) inscription of Darius I (DB), from 520–519 BCE, is certainly the most important Achaemenid royal inscription. This tri-lingual creation—written in Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian-Akkadian—was energetically promulgated throughout the empire. It was not merely a piece of propaganda, but an outright manifesto—expressing, in engaging literary fashion, Darius I’s religious, moral and philosophical worldview, his vision for the empire and his version of history. The magnitude of the impact of these texts (since each version is somewhat different)—and especially the Aramaic version which was the one that was disseminated across the empire—on the literature of the peoples it came into contact with, cannot be exaggerated. Darius boasted that “this inscription was sent by me everywhere among the provinces. The people universally were pleased” (DB IV:92)—and this indeed seems to have been the case. It, or certain portions of it, seems to have enjoyed a particularly warm reception among Yahwists. A fragmented and fascinating Aramaic version of DB was found in the possession of the Yahwistic community on the island of Elephantine. Remarkably, a paraphrase of a certain paragraph of this inscription also plays a key role in an Aramaic scroll from Qumran (4Q550)—containing an Judeo-Persian court-legend—of which I am currently preparing a critical edition for publication. It, therefore, should not be surprising to find its imprints in the biblical text as well. The proposed paper studies the reception of this inscription—and related Achaemenid inscriptions—in the ancient word, among Greek, Egyptian and Yahwistic cultures, and the manner in which imperial literature underwent both assimilation and polemics.
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It seems particularly appropriate at this 75th anniversary of its discovery, to reconsider a trait that has been dogging the field of Qumran scholarship since its inception—namely, the “siren song” of an inquiry overtaken by projections... more
It seems particularly appropriate at this 75th anniversary of its discovery, to reconsider a trait that has been dogging the field of Qumran scholarship since its inception—namely, the “siren song” of an inquiry overtaken by projections of scholarly and even devotional preconceptions rather than by critical scientific analysis. From the designation of the Qumran settlement as a “monastery,” to “proto-Christian” echoes in 1QSa, or the existence (or lack thereof) of a tripartite canon in 4QMMT—projections and preconceptions have naturally played a role in Qumran studies, for better and for worse. A representative case in point is 4Q550 which for many years was known as “proto-Esther.” The desire to find some echo of this canonical book— missing in Qumran—launched successive waves of attempts at making this text “fit” preconceived ideas about the transmission history of its text. This paper looks at the phenomenon of preconception critically—underlining its negative as well as its positive aspects (when held in check). In the case of 4Q550, the attempt at fitting a square peg into a round hole led to obscuring the importance of this text and denying its unique “voice” from coming to light. At the same time, these very same preconceptions produced important positive contributions to the study not only of the transmission history of Esther, but also to other related literature such as the Wisdom of Aḥiqar—in an attempt to find correspondences with the text of 4Q550 as it was initially restored. This paper examines the history of interpretation of this scroll, reviews its new scientific material-restoration which I am currently preparing for publication—including my own preconceptions—and draws insights and methodologies for future restoration and interpretation efforts, in an attempt to arrive at an ontologically viable approach to producing critical editions of fragmentary scrolls.
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The seven-sealed scroll started out as an artifact of legal administration in an imperial context. As such, it was closely associated with authority, secrecy, foreknowledge, and justice. It received an early literary treatment as part of... more
The seven-sealed scroll started out as an artifact of legal administration in an imperial context. As such, it was closely associated with authority, secrecy, foreknowledge, and justice. It received an early literary treatment as part of a non-apocalyptic legend in one extraordinary Qumran scroll (4Q550, “Jews in the Persian court”) and developed into a central feature of several apocalyptic works—most notably in the book of Revelation—and even in the later Aramaic incantation bowls. This paper analyses the history of the seven-sealed scroll from its use in daily life through its significant literary reception. It starts by examining the archeological evidence, such as the contract found in Wadi Daliyeh bearing seven bullae. This is followed by an analysis of the legend found in 4Q550, its reference to a seven-sealed scroll, its use of theodicy, and the numerology of the number seven. A synopsis of this legend is provided, according to the new reconstruction and edition of this scroll that I am currently preparing for publication. While the tale of 4Q550 and its counterpart in the book of Revelation differ in scope and genre, they share a common message of divine justice, authority, and retribution.
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The Amosian oracles against the nations (Amos 1:3–2:16) with the superscription (Amos 1:1–2), present an important source for all disciplines of peri-exilic scholarship—from biblical studies to Ancient Near Eastern history and archeology.... more
The Amosian oracles against the nations (Amos 1:3–2:16) with the superscription (Amos 1:1–2), present an important source for all disciplines of peri-exilic scholarship—from biblical studies to Ancient Near Eastern history and archeology. This paper suggests a new approach to their dating. While scholars have generally maintained that Amoian corpus displays no knowledge of the Neo-Assyrian campaigns of the eighth century BCE,1 the analysis presented here shows a striking adherence—specifically to the annals of Tiglathpileser III—revealed through paronomasia, allegories and metaphors carefully crafted by the Amosian author(s).
Research Interests: Hebrew Bible, Metaphor, Akkadian Language, Akkadian, tiglath-pileser III, and 6 moreBook of Amos, Cognitive linguistics (especially metaphor and metonymy, conceptualization of emotions and relationship between language, mind, and culture), Akkadian Empire, Prophetic Literature, Assyrology, and sargon II
Certain grammatical and syntactical elements of the Greek language employed by the Gospel writers have been characterized as ''improper'' or ''demotic''. This is especially true of their treatment of prepositions. However, our analysis... more
Certain grammatical and syntactical elements of the Greek language employed by the Gospel writers have been characterized as ''improper'' or ''demotic''. This is especially true of their treatment of prepositions. However, our analysis shows that the evangelists used extraordinary grammatical constructs quite purposefully in order to convey complex ideas. We examine the use of the preposition Εἰς; in the baptism of Jesus in the gospel of Mark (Mark 1 :9-10) and the narrative and grammatical synkriseis surrounding it, and suggest that its choice was not as a mere synonym for ἐν, but was calculated: being driven by literary and theological concerns.
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How well do certain portions of the biblical text correspond to actual historical realities? Careful critical examination of the historical reliability of various passages found within this corpus can provide an important source of... more
How well do certain portions of the biblical text correspond to actual historical realities? Careful critical examination of the historical reliability of various passages found within this corpus can provide an important source of information not just for biblical scholarship, but also for historians of ancient Judaism and the ancient Near East seeking additional anchors and evidence for the analysis of events, social contexts and cultural realities. The new book by Aren M. Wilson-Wright takes on the immensely difficult and precarious task of studying the Egyptian references in the book of Jeremiah and is a welcome contribution to the field. The breadth of sources used in Wilson-Wright's study is impressive and her navigation of the notoriously thorny landscape of the textual criticism of this biblical source is admirable and mostly even handed. The main feature of the book is the author's thesis that the period of Saite rule over Judah was a cataclysmic event. The little kingdom was a vassal of the Saite kings and it is the author's stated goal to "interpret the book of Jeremiah in light of this historical background" (1). This thesis is developed across five chapters, preceded by an introduction and followed by a conclusion.
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Lecture at a "doctoral colloquium" at Göttingen university. Dienstag, 06. Februar 2024, 14:15 Uhr Theologicum, Seminarraum Theo 0.113A
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This lecture focuses on the rich and complex process of interpretatio iudaica through interactions with neighboring and reigning cults: Egyptian, Levantine and Achaemenid-Zoroastrian (AZ). It shows that these communities behaved as... more
This lecture focuses on the rich and complex process of interpretatio iudaica through interactions with neighboring and reigning cults: Egyptian, Levantine and Achaemenid-Zoroastrian (AZ). It shows that these communities behaved as normative citizens of the cultic world that surrounded them. In what is an expected process of interpretatio of their day and age, they were in full dialogue with the philosophical/theological views and innovations of the cultures surrounding them. They translated their deity/ies with “host deities” when they came into contact with other cultures. Significantly, living in an Achaemenid imperial context, Ahuramazdā was translated with Yhw, and following Artaxerxes II’s reform, a new Yahwistic triad seems to have translated both the new AZ triad as well as the local Egyptian triad.
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This three-day international symposium—in memory of the late Prof. Shaul Shaked—is dedicated to the study of the touch-points between diverse Yahwistic communities throughout the Achaemenid empire and the Iranian attributes of the empire... more
This three-day international symposium—in memory of the late Prof. Shaul Shaked—is dedicated to the study of the touch-points between diverse Yahwistic communities throughout the Achaemenid empire and the Iranian attributes of the empire that ruled over them for about two centuries. This is arguably the most formative period in the development, redaction and composition of some of the most central texts within the Jewish (and, by extension, Christian) heritage. However, there has historically been too little dialogue between scholars of Achaemenid history and linguistics and those of Jewish history, Bible scholarship, archeology and Semitics.
To respond to these lacunae, the conference’s approach is fundamentally interdisciplinary. It brings together scholars of Achaemenid history, literature and religion, Iranian linguistics, historians of the Ancient Near East, archeologists, biblical scholars and Semiticists.
To respond to these lacunae, the conference’s approach is fundamentally interdisciplinary. It brings together scholars of Achaemenid history, literature and religion, Iranian linguistics, historians of the Ancient Near East, archeologists, biblical scholars and Semiticists.
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The paper studies the pericope of the burning bush (Exod 3:1-4:17) from the perspective of Achaemenid royal propaganda (specifically the Bīsitūn inscription) and the Avestan textsmostly from the Gāϑās. Special attention is given to the... more
The paper studies the pericope of the burning bush (Exod 3:1-4:17) from the perspective of Achaemenid royal propaganda (specifically the Bīsitūn inscription) and the Avestan textsmostly from the Gāϑās. Special attention is given to the concept of "divine existence" and of the deity as related to the divine fire.
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The dialogue of certain parts of 2nd Isaiah with the Avesta has been noted from the 19th century to our day and studied in various forms throughout this period. This paper provides the context in which both corpora might have converged as... more
The dialogue of certain parts of 2nd Isaiah with the Avesta has been noted from the 19th century to our day and studied in various forms throughout this period. This paper provides the context in which both corpora might have converged as well as specific echoes from Achaemenid inscriptions and other archeological finds that relate to them. It covers sources from across the empire—from Arachosia in modern-day Afghanistan to Egypt.
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neighboring and reigning cults: Egyptian, Levantine and Achaemenid-Zoroastrian (AZ). It shows that these communities behaved as normative citizens of the cultic world that surrounded them. In what is an expected process of interpretatio... more
neighboring and reigning cults: Egyptian, Levantine and Achaemenid-Zoroastrian (AZ). It shows that
these communities behaved as normative citizens of the cultic world that surrounded them. In what is an
expected process of interpretatio of their day and age, they were in full dialogue with the
philosophical/theological views and innovations of the cultures surrounding them. They translated their
deity/ies with “host deities” when they came into contact with other cultures. Significantly, living in an
Achaemenid imperial context, Ahuramazdā was translated with Yhw, and following Artaxerxes II’s
reform, a new Yahwistic triad seems to have translated both the new AZ triad as well as the local
Egyptian triad.
these communities behaved as normative citizens of the cultic world that surrounded them. In what is an
expected process of interpretatio of their day and age, they were in full dialogue with the
philosophical/theological views and innovations of the cultures surrounding them. They translated their
deity/ies with “host deities” when they came into contact with other cultures. Significantly, living in an
Achaemenid imperial context, Ahuramazdā was translated with Yhw, and following Artaxerxes II’s
reform, a new Yahwistic triad seems to have translated both the new AZ triad as well as the local
Egyptian triad.
Research Interests:
The Amosian oracles against the nations (Amos 1:3–2:16) with the superscription (Amos 1:1–2), present an important source for all disciplines of peri-exilic scholarship—from biblical studies to Ancient Near Eastern history and archeology.... more
The Amosian oracles against the nations (Amos 1:3–2:16) with the superscription (Amos 1:1–2), present an important source for all disciplines of peri-exilic scholarship—from biblical studies to Ancient Near Eastern history and archeology. This paper suggests a new approach to their dating. While scholars have generally maintained that Amosian corpus displays no knowledge of the Neo-Assyrian campaigns of the eighth century BCE, the analysis presented here shows a striking adherence—specifically to the annals of Tiglathpileser III—revealed through paronomasia, allegories and metaphors carefully crafted by the Amosian author(s).
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Ever since its preliminary publication in 1936, Xerxes’ “Daiva” inscription (XPh) has been seen as an important and unique witness to early Achaemenid Mazdean orthopraxy and cultic propaganda. This royal inscription describes a liturgical... more
Ever since its preliminary publication in 1936, Xerxes’ “Daiva” inscription (XPh) has been seen as an important and unique witness to early Achaemenid Mazdean orthopraxy and cultic propaganda. This royal inscription describes a liturgical reform or, at least, the enforcement of such a reform, targeting and condemning the cult of the daivā—a designation describing competing deities. The key to decoding this reform hinges upon an obscure expression that appears thrice in the document—normalized as a-r-t-a-c-a : b-r-z-m-n-i-y—the meaning of which is yet to be fully understood. Close to nine decades of research into the meaning of this syntagm have made significant strides towards helping us understand it but have yielded only partial and unsatisfactory results. The methodology followed in this article analyzes and synthesizes the previous attempts and offers a new and systematic approach to considering and evaluating all the parameters involved. It looks separately at each component of the expression through the careful consideration of a number of Avestan sources, combined with etymological, onomastic, epigraphic and even archeological data to produce a broad and more comprehensive annotated translation. It shows that the expression ṛtācā brzmniy was more widely adopted than previously thought and its most probable interpretation—taking all available datapoints into account—is that ṛta refers to the yazata representing the cosmic concept of “Order/Truth” with an enclitic “-cā”, i.e. “and,” and brzmniy refers to the concept of height/exaltation—a concept physically symbolized by the barsom twigs.
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The significance of ṛtācā brzmniy in Xerxes' cultic reform: a new light on the "Daiva inscription" (XPh) Ever since its preliminary publication in 1936, Xerxes' "Daiva" inscription (XPh) has been seen as an important and unique witness to... more
The significance of ṛtācā brzmniy in Xerxes' cultic reform: a new light on the "Daiva inscription" (XPh) Ever since its preliminary publication in 1936, Xerxes' "Daiva" inscription (XPh) has been seen as an important and unique witness to early Achaemenid Mazdean orthopraxy and cultic propaganda. This royal inscription describes a liturgical reform or, at least, the enforcement of such a reform, targeting and condemning the cult of the daivā-a designation describing competing deities. The key to decoding this reform hinges upon an obscure expression that appears thrice in the document-normalized as a-r-t-a-c-a : b-r-z-m-n-i-y-the meaning of which is yet to be fully understood. Close to nine decades of research into the meaning of this syntagm have made significant strides towards helping us understand it but have yielded only partial and unsatisfactory results. The methodology followed in this article analyzes and synthesizes the previous attempts and offers a new and systematic approach to considering and evaluating all the parameters involved. It looks separately at each component of the expression through the careful consideration of a number of Avestan sources, combined with etymological, onomastic, epigraphic and even archeological data to produce a broad and more comprehensive annotated translation. It shows that the expression 1 E 5 B tācā brzmniy was more widely adopted than previously thought and its most probable interpretation-taking all available datapoints into account-is that 1 E 5 B ta refers to the yazata representing the cosmic concept of "Order/Truth" with an enclitic "-cā", i.e. "and," and brzmniy refers to the concept of height/exaltation-a concept physically symbolized by the barsom twigs.
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(in Hebrew)
English title: "'Evil for good' (Gen 44:4): the royal inscriptions at the tomb of Darius I (DNa, DNb), in Qumran and in the Joseph cycle."
English title: "'Evil for good' (Gen 44:4): the royal inscriptions at the tomb of Darius I (DNa, DNb), in Qumran and in the Joseph cycle."
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Final class for semester 1.
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Seen from the East Session 10: Samaritans II
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Seen from the East Session 9: Samaritans I
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Seen from the East Session 8: Beyond Elephantine; The Hebrew Bible from an Indo-Iranian perspective; The Pentateuch; Isaiah; Ezra and Nehemiah; Apocalypticism
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Seen from the East Session 7: Xerxes, Artaxerxes I, Darius II, history and Inscriptions. The Murašū Archive; Āl-Yāhūdū
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Chance, Context and Content: Some New Perspectives on Elephantine
(University of Oldenburg, Tuesday, January 30th, 14:00-18:00 [CET/UTC +1])
(University of Oldenburg, Tuesday, January 30th, 14:00-18:00 [CET/UTC +1])
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Chance, Context and Content: Some New Perspectives on Elephantine
(Hybrid-Workshop)
Tuesday, January 30th, 14:00-18:00 (CET/UTC +1)
(Hybrid-Workshop)
Tuesday, January 30th, 14:00-18:00 (CET/UTC +1)
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Seen from the East Session 4: Xerxes, Artaxerxes I, Darius II, history and Inscriptions. The Murašū Archive; Āl-Yāhūdū
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Class 2 of the course "Seen from the East."
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The Achaemenid era is seen, with good reason, as a major formative period in the evolution of Judaism, the structuring and composition of the biblical text and the elaboration of early Jewish theology. Impactful contacts between Second... more
The Achaemenid era is seen, with good reason, as a major formative period in the evolution of Judaism, the structuring and composition of the biblical text and the elaboration of early Jewish theology. Impactful contacts between Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity with the Iranian world continued under the Parthian Empire as well. This course proposes to situate the biblical texts in their eastern historical contexts through an introduction to the history of the Iranian empires, an analysis of archaeological, epigraphic and numismatic data from Egypt (especially Elephantine), Babylonia and Persepolis via Qumran and apocryphal texts to the Magi and the book of Revelation.
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The introductory class to "Seen from the East"
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The course's objective is to provide a solid introduction to the history of the Achaemenid and Parthian empires in order to highlight the Iranian context surrounding the formation of the Hebrew Bible, Second Temple literature and the New... more
The course's objective is to provide a solid introduction to the history of the Achaemenid and Parthian empires in order to highlight the Iranian context surrounding the formation of the Hebrew Bible, Second Temple literature and the New Testament. The Achaemenid era is seen, with good reason, as a major formative period in the evolution of Judaism, the structuring and composition of the biblical text and the elaboration of early Jewish theology. Impactful contacts between Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity with the Iranian world continued under the Parthian Empire as well. This course proposes to situate the biblical texts in their eastern historical contexts through an introduction to the history of the Iranian empires, an analysis of archaeological, epigraphic and numismatic data from Egypt (especially Elephantine), Babylonia and Persepolis via Qumran and apocryphal texts to the Magi and the book of Revelation.
Research Interests:
The course's objective is to provide a solid introduction to the history of the Achaemenid and Parthian empires in order to highlight the Iranian context surrounding the formation of the Hebrew Bible, Second Temple literature and the New... more
The course's objective is to provide a solid introduction to the history of the Achaemenid and Parthian empires in order to highlight the Iranian context surrounding the formation of the Hebrew Bible, Second Temple literature and the New Testament. The Achaemenid era is seen, with good reason, as a major formative period in the evolution of Judaism, the structuring and composition of the biblical text and the elaboration of early Jewish theology. Impactful contacts between Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity with the Iranian world continued under the Parthian Empire as well. This course proposes to situate the biblical texts in their eastern historical contexts through an introduction to the history of the Iranian empires, an analysis of archaeological, epigraphic and numismatic data from Egypt (especially Elephantine), Babylonia and Persepolis via Qumran and apocryphal texts to the Magi and the book of Revelation.
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The third of three decks used to teach international MA students about Jewish Feasts in collaboration with Polis Institute, Jerusalem
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The second of three decks used to teach international MA students about Jewish Feasts in collaboration with Polis Institute, Jerusalem
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The first of three decks used to teach international MA students about Jewish Feasts in collaboration with Polis Institute, Jerusalem
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A musical composition to the Hebrew text of Jeremiah 15:10-21 (Grand-organ, Trumpet and Mezzo-soprano) written for "Syllabes Divines". Paris, Saint-Étienne-du-Mont, 05/12/2016.
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Paper presented at the "Yahwism under the Achaemenid empire" conference," Haifa, 20/12/2022
https://youtu.be/y-sz2ywHVwY?si=fpaSU-gbnJcC94yI
https://youtu.be/y-sz2ywHVwY?si=fpaSU-gbnJcC94yI
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A musical composition to the Hebrew text of Jeremiah 15:10-21 (Grand-organ, Trumpet and Mezzo-soprano) written for "Syllabes Divines". Paris, Saint-Étienne-du-Mont, 05/12/2016. The English version is as follows (KJV): 10 Woe is me,... more
A musical composition to the Hebrew text of Jeremiah 15:10-21 (Grand-organ, Trumpet and Mezzo-soprano) written for "Syllabes Divines". Paris, Saint-Étienne-du-Mont, 05/12/2016.
The English version is as follows (KJV):
10 Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.
11 The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.
12 Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?
13 Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.
14 And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you.
15 O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.
16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?
19 Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.
20 And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.
The English version is as follows (KJV):
10 Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.
11 The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.
12 Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?
13 Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.
14 And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you.
15 O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.
16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?
19 Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.
20 And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.