Pseudo-Archaeological Highlights
Thaddeus Nelson at Archaeoporn has posted the Top Ten Pseudo-Archaeological Subjects of 2008. (Actually, he give eleven since there was a tie for number eight.) Among his more interesting musings was #4, Looting Archaeologists:
Hershel Shanks, editor of Biblical Archaeology Review called for museums to fund archaeological research by buying artifacts. However, this throws out ethics and science turning archaeologists into treasure hunters. Instead of entertaining us with Indy, Mr. Shanks would turn us all into him.
Harsh. But then again, his earlier post on Archaeologists as Looters makes a good case.
New Year’s Eve at the Penn
After living in Philadelphia for over a year, we finally got to the Penn Museum on the last day of 2008.
Since Philadelphia is currently celebrating the Year of Evolution, the big exhibit at the Penn right now is one on evolutionary science entitled Surviving: The Body of Evidence. The displays that make up the exhibit are first rate and a must see if one is in the area. I might bring my students from Temple later in the spring semester when we are covering Darwin.
However, a trip to the Penn would not be complete with out a look at their extensive collection of Mesopotamian materials. Unfortunately, a fair number of these pieces are currently on various tours. Only a handful of items from UrIII were on display. Luckily, one of these artifacts was the larger lyre from the “Royal Tombs” of Ur (pictured right).
Apparently, this situation will be changing some time next year. After the evoltuion exhibit leaves, there is talk of showcasing the museum’s Mesopotamian artifacts. As someone teaching Gilgamesh in the Philadelphia area, I can only hope that such an exhibit occurs in the near future.
A Thought on Translation
John Hobbin‘s persistent postings on “dynamic equivalency” translations came to mind while reading the preface to Samuel Butler’s translation of the Iliad (the text, but not the preface, available for download here).
If, however, the mouth of the ox who treads out the corn may not be muzzled, and if there is to be a certain give and take between a dead author and his translator, it follows that a translator should be allowed a greater liberty when the work he is translating belongs to an age and country widely remote from his own. For a poem’s prosperity is like a jests—it is in the ear of him that hears it. It takes two people to say a thing—a sayee as well as a sayer—and by parity of reasoning a poem’s original audience and environment are integral parts of the poem itself. Poem and audience are as ego and non-ego; they blend into one another. Change either, and some corresponding change, spiritual rather than literal, will be necessary in the other, if the original harmony between them is to be preserved.
Butler is, of course, talking about translating epic verse; but I think that his words are equally applicable for other ancient texts.
Canon Comparisons
Michael S. Heiser over at the Naked Bible has posted a link to a cute, interactive chart of comparative canons. Very nice for the layfolk. Just click on the thumbnail for the article and chart.
Merry Christmas
see more pwn and owned pictures
Happy Hanukkah
From Erran Baron Cohen’s Songs In The Key Of Hanukkah
Happy Hanukkah.
The term ṣt in Ugaritic
I’ve spent the better part of a day trying to come up with a suitable translation for the term ṣt. The term occurs in the first scene of the ʾAqhatu Epic. For example CAT 1.17 1 3-5 has:
yd (4) [ṣth . <dnil]
[yd ṣth> yʿl . ] w yškb .
yd (5) [mizrth .] p yln .<Daniʾilu> removed his ṣt
[ went up] and lay down.
He removed [his girded garment], and so spent the night.
However, leaving the term untranslated really bugs me. The Ugaritic term ṣt has found many possible etymologies (see discussion in DUL 793).
J. C. DeMoor (JNES 25[1965], 161) suggests two possibilities, the first of which is Arabic ṣuttiyya with the meaning “stripped garment.” While this is possible, it does not explain the final weak letter. A second possibility put forward by DeMoor is the Phoenician and Hebrew סות, whose meaning is obscure. The word appears in Phoenician in KAI 11. 24:8 (see DNWSI 781 and cf. discussion of סוית on 780). In Hebrew the term appears only in Gen 49:11 (cf. HALOT 749). While both are in the general range of garments, neither is particularly persuasive or descriptive. (The LXX translates *סות in Gen 49:11 as περιβόλαιον “robe, covering.”)
A more helpful etymology is the Akkadian (w)aṣitu (see AHw 1475; CAD A/2 355-6; CDA 435). The term literally means “that which goes out” and when used of garments, would indicate an outer piece of clothing (thus confirming the LXX translation of the word in Gen 49:11).
In regards to the orthography in Ugaritic, the loss of the ʾaleph can be explained by elision. The change of Akk and Ug /ṣ/ to Ph /s/ is attested by Segert (A Grammar of Phoenician and Punic §33.543.2), but I can’t find a similar discussion for Hebrew. (Any one have any source I can grab?)
So, today at least I think Ugaritic ṣt should be translated as “outer garment, robe.”
Beautiful Art
Stephen L. Cook of Bibliche Ausbildung has been publishing some nice posts on art . His latest has the wonderful image I have to the left (earlier posts here and here).
This piece, entitled “The People Who Sat in Darkness Have Seen A Great Light” is by Barbara Mitchell. Her commentary on the art, as well as other beuatiful works can be found here.
History of Mesopotamia in Lego
Ever want a simple clip to teach Mesopotamian history in minutes? Want it to be fun and interesting as well? Try the history of Mesopotamia, in Lego!
(HT: Awilum)
Revisionist Racial History at Bob Jones
One of those stories that slipped under my radar while at the SBL was Bob Jones University apologizing for its previous racist policies.
For those not in the know, BJU did not admit African American students till 1971 (almost twenty years after Brown v. Board of Education). Further, BJU prohibited interracial dating until March of 2000, when the issue gained national prominence during the Republican primaries (over thirty years after Loving vs. Virginia).
Now, some eight years after having caught up with rest of the country, BJU has apologized for these policies. However, the apology contains a revisionist reading of the school’s history. Read more…
Ketuvim: the Writings of James R. Getz Jr. 