A Cylinder of Nebuchadnezzar II up for Sale
ABEBooks is currently selling a clay cylinder of Nebuchadnezzar II for the unbelievably low price of US$ 1,750,000.00.
The description reads:
Oldest Book – from 605-562 B.C. Large Clay Cylinder of Nebuchadnezzar II, King of Babylon 605-562 B.C. Royal Proclamation of his re-building-to-perfection efforts of the Temple E-barra/E-ulla at Sippar (in ancient country of Babylonia). Nebuchadnezzar II was famous for: The Tower of Babel, The Stepped Pyramid (Ziggurat) & The Hanging Gardens, etc. All for his God Marduk. 8 1/4″ high, filled with cuneiform writing. Full translation & documentation included. Fine original condition, no damage. $1,750,000.
Not sure about that “oldest book” bit; but still a pretty cool buy, if you’ve got some loose change sitting around.
(HT: Claude Mariottini)
Gender Bending in Esther 2
One of the little oddities in Esther 2 is the strange phrase used to describe the encounter between the king and each of his new ladies. On the surface, the escapade of the king with every attractive, eligible young woman seems like the ultimate show of masculine virility. However, a closer look at the text reinforces the weak portrayal of Ahasuerus in Esther 1 and seems to effeminate the king further. Read more…
Bible’s Buried Secrets Website
PBS has launched a companion website for its upcoming NOVA special The Bible’s Buried Secrets. The special will premier Nov 18th at 8:00PM. Read more…
Phoenician Genetics
While there has been much debate over the last month concerning Anson Rainey and the Phoenician language (see a good summary by Duane Smith), the New York Times has an article on their genetics:
The Phoenicians, enigmatic people from the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, stamped their mark on maritime history, and now research has revealed that they also left a lasting genetic imprint.
Scientists reported Thursday that as many as 1 in 17 men living today on the coasts of North Africa and southern Europe may have a Phoenician direct male-line ancestor.
Read more here.
(HT: David Wright)
Biblical Studies Carnival XXXV is up
Duane Smith’s Abnormal Interests is hosting Biblical Studies Carnival XXXV.
Duane brings his usual abnormal perspective to this undertaking by including wonderful pix for each category and using clear methodological principles:
I consistently relied on two well known and equally well developed decision making methods. I was capricious and I was arbitrary.
How abnormally postmodern for one interested in the ancient world!
As an extra bonus also look at the new list of top fifty biblioblogs compiled by NT Wrong. This will obviously be a periodic affair (if the wrong reverend chooses to take that burden upon him).
Unfortunately, I didn’t make this elite list. But given how infrequently I’ve been blogging and how obscure my subject matter, I’m not surprised. Congrats to those who are among the elect.
I’ve been labeled a Liberal
NT Wrong has created a list of bibliobloggers that includes how conservative or liberal NT Wrong deems that blogger to be. I’m categorized as a liberal Early Judaism and ANE (ancient Near East) blog.
In answer to the question of what qualifies as a liberal or conservative blog, NT Wrong commented on mu-pàd-da that, “The classifications are based on the attitude to bible and doctrine, not politics.”
Personally, I’m still not sure how that makes me a liberal. I’ve always thought that it was my conservative attitude towards the Bible that made me a liberal more generally. After all, if the infighting between P, H and D could make it into the canon, then who am I to nitpick someone’s theology?
Of course, it might be exactly my use of sources P, H and D that deemed me a liberal in the first place.
Update (10/30): NT Wrong has now posted a more definitive set of criteria for his categories. His definition of liberal is as follows:
You esteem the Bible for the work it is. You spend a lot of time working out ways to read the Bible which can liberate it for different readers. You have a book on queer readings of the Bible on your bookshelf.
I guess this then might be a good time for me to recommend Ken Stone’s Practicing Safer Texts: Food, Sex and Bible in Queer Perspective…
Winking Texts
I’ve taken a lot of flack over the years for my literary neologisms — mostly from colleagues with a background in more contemporary literary theories. One neologism that I’m particularly proud of (and particularly convinced of the existence of) is a “winking text.” Simply put, such “winks” are places in a narrative where we get an indication that the text doesn’t want us to take it too seriously. These instances abound in the Bible, but often folks miss them and attempt to interpret them literally. This misunderstanding, of course, leads to a misreading of the text. Read more…
Background on Persia
The book of Esther centers on the town of the ancient Persian town of Susa (שושן). Livius has a nice archive of pictures from the ancient site (complete with photos of tablets and architectural schematics).
Additionally, National Geographic ran its cover story on Persia back in August. The article has an accompanying photo gallery that is also pretty nice. The pictures focus on Persepolis not Susa, but the art and architecture are similar.
This is the one of a series of posts on Esther inspired by my cell‘s close reading of the text. Some will be academic, some will be pedantic. Hopefully all will be edifying.
Swing-state Blogging?
So I live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (aka God’s own country). Apparently we’re considered a swing state at the moment, even though Obama has a 15 point lead in all the polls here.
And as such, I’m getting sick of all the attention. Obama had a rally the other week two blocks from my house. I’m getting a couple of robocalls from the McCain campaign every day. Palin has been to town several times most recently to drop the puck for the Flyers and to get booed by the fans. Apparently, part of McCain’s plan to win the race at this point is to wrangle PA over to his side of the column.
So this morning I checked the recent stats on this here blog and found out that the top search that’s landing folks here over the last week has been “McCain.” Can’t I get away from these guys even when I’m blogging on the ancient world?
A Libertarian Tablet
The Oct 27th issue of the New Yorker contains an article by Raffi Khatchadourian on the Libertarian candidate Bob Barr. While the article is interesting in and of itself (a darling of the religious right turned libertarian), what struck me most was this little bit:
In his living room, Barr directed me toward a bookcase holding several Presidential biographies and a cuneiform tablet. The tablet was a relic that he and his family had discovered in a pile of ruins in Iraq. “We found it in Babylon,” he said. “I suspect the statute of limitations has run out on it.”
That’s right folks, Bob Barr has a cuneiform tablet in his Atlanta living room.
Personally, I don’t care about statutes of limitation or provenance of the text. I just think that we need to get a couple of photos of that tablet and a good transliteration in a peer-reviewed article.
Any Assyriologists living in the greater Atlanta area want to take this on?
Ketuvim: the Writings of James R. Getz Jr. 