“He used to say that it is strange that we sift out the chaff from the wheat and those useless for war, but we do not forbid scoundrels in politics.”
ἄτοπον ἔφη τοῦ μὲν σίτου τὰς αἴρας ἐκλέγειν καὶ ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ τοὺς ἀχρείους, ἐν δὲ πολιτείᾳ τοὺς πονηροὺς μὴ παραιτεῖσθαι. #Antisthenes
I remember when I was an undergraduate and the university was switching over to canvas and telling everyone how amazing it would be…it was not amazing.
Tonight!
The image is a flyer for a public talk in person and on Zoom titled “The Dead Sea Scrolls: Past, Present, and Future” scheduled for tomorrow March 17, at 5:00pm EST. The three panel members will be Dr. Maxine Grossman of the University of Maryland, Dr. Alex Jansen of NYU, and Dr. Matthew Goff of Florida State University. The talk will be moderated by Dr. Daniel Falk of Penn State University.
Tomorrow!
The image shows a dimly lit room. At the bottom of the image are two fragments of Psalms scrolls from Qumran. I am standing over it with my daughter.
After years of reading and studying the Dead Sea Scrolls in school, I finally had the opportunity to see a few in person.
A very cool experience.
Pictured: Fragments of the Psalms, me and my daughter.
Flyer for event: "Immigration and Apocalypse: Trapped with the Walls of the New Jerusalem," 5:30-7pm.
I will be giving the Harshbarger Lecture at Penn State on Feb. 25, on a topic that is increasingly terrible. Link below, also streaming. Register here: events.la.psu.edu/event/harshb...
I’m looking forward to the talk! Your book is excellent.
The image shows two books. Both books have a black background. On the left is Who Really Wrote the Bible by William M Schniedewind. On the cover is a fragment of the first verse of Genesis found in Cave 4 of Qumran (4QGen-g fragment 1). On the right is the book The Biblical Qumran Scrolls Volume 1: Genesis to Kings edited by Eugene Ulrich.
Another great Christmas addition to my collection. I’m excited to give these a read/look over during the break.
![The image is a fragmentary papyrus sheet containing the proverbs of Ahiqar in Aramaic written with black ink. The papyrus is on a light blue background.
The image includes a restored Aramaic text and translation which reads:
ב[רי] אל תל[ו]ט יומא עד תחזה[ לי]לה
“My son, do not c[u]rse the day until you see [ni]ght.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:yy56wopt4l5emmnn5eecf47p/bafkreianfpztzogzmlsvlnkcp3jpcsdngvate5zvqcwbgzx3e5pwyvkrvm)
The image is a fragmentary papyrus sheet containing the proverbs of Ahiqar in Aramaic written with black ink. The papyrus is on a light blue background. The image includes a restored Aramaic text and translation which reads: ב[רי] אל תל[ו]ט יומא עד תחזה[ לי]לה “My son, do not c[u]rse the day until you see [ni]ght.”
ב[רי] אל תל[ו]ט יומא עד תחזה[ לי]לה
“My son, do not c[u]rse the day until you see night.”
With the sun currently setting prior to 5pm, I guess one can curse the day early!
—TAD C1.1 Ahiqar from the Judean Elephantine Community Late 5th c. BCE
Image credit: Ägyptisches Museum und
Papyrussammlung
These all look so good. Do you have any favorites so far?
Image is an informative statement put out by NOAA saying a G4 high intensity geomagnetic storm is in progress.
Mid to northern latitude people, northern lights are out right now!
My daughter loves when I read her Stellaluna! The board-book edition is great for her to interact with.
Congratulations on the publication! I’ve read about half of it so far, and it’s such a great and informative read!
We just translated TAD A4.7 and TAD A4.9 this past week in an Aramaic course I am taking, and it was quite fascinating to see how they fit into the discussion!
Free to download for two weeks only!
Starting today, you can download my new book:
Between Yahwism and Judaism: Judean Cult and Culture during the Early Hellenistic Period (332–175 BCE)
Download it now, and read it later.
Please share and spread the word!
www.cambridge.org/core/element...
𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗬𝗮𝗵𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗺:
Judean Cult and Culture during the Early Hellenistic Period (332–175 BCE)
Expected online publication date: October 9th.
cambridge.org/core/element...
This image shows a scan of an ancient Aramaic letter. It is divided into two parts. The top portion (recto) is cropped in the photo so only the last two lines are visible. The bottom is cropped so only the top two lines are visible. The script is not particularly clean and the hand writing is slanted across the papyrus somewhat haphazardly.
A fun quote from an Aramaic Letter between siblings 6/5th c. BCE:
“(7)But what is this, that you have not sent a letter (1)to me?! [For] me, a serpent bit me and I was dying. Yet, you did not send [word to inquire] (2)if I was living or dead! I have sent this letter about your welfare!” — TAD2.5
Marking my calendar for this.
I also highly recommend The Origins of Judaism.
You’re welcome. I have little doubt The Origins of Judaism will be a key influential foundation for me as I start my Master’s this fall. I’m looking forward to your next book!
This is an incredibly well written book with an interesting and compelling analysis of the evidence for the rise of widespread Torah observance. I highly recommend it.
The image shows a book sitting on a carpet that is past its prime. On the top left of the book rests the hand of an infant attempting to eat the book. The book is the Iliad translated by Emily Wilson.
The Pout-Pout Fish is my 10 month old’s go to bedtime series but perhaps the Iliad will be her current daytime listen? She’ll probably enjoy it more than when I read her excerpts from the Oxford Handbook on the DSS.
#classicsbluesky #ancientbluesky
It’s a wonderful piece. She does a good job painting the scene of something that’s so hard to describe. It’s fun that her experiences in 1979 are quite similar to the ones I had in 2017 and 2024. (For both everyone was cheering, ect).
The image depicts a small dog (miniature schnauzer) begrudgingly wearing solar eclipse glasses that read “Great North American Total Solar Eclipse”, he has a big nose and a brown beard.
And of course the dogs witnessed it.
The image depicts the moment before the moon covered the sun during the total solar eclipse in 2024. While the bright solar disk is being obscured, the hot gases that surround it are being revealed as a soft cloud like a cotton ball laid around a circle. The bottom left has a bright white light, and looks like a ring with a large stone.
The image depicts the moment of totality during the 2024 Solar eclipse. The image is a wide shot with cars in the foreground, leafless trees in the midground and a hazy sky with a bright white dot. The sky is dark around the eclipse but brighter at the edges.
The image depicts the moment the moon covered the sun during the total solar eclipse in 2024. While the bright solar disk is being obscured, the hot gases that surround it are being revealed as a soft cloud like a cotton ball laid around a circle. Little jets that are like small clumps of thread are in random places around the dark circle of the moon, these are solar prominences.
One year ago today, I was lucky enough to witness a total solar eclipse. It’s easy to see why these events held such fascination to the ancients.
This Friday, I will be participating in a conference in Palermo entitled:
“What Jewishness of Jesus after J.P. Meier?”
The entire conference will be broadcast online (over Zoom).
Registration is FREE and OPEN to all!
See link to register below.
1/2
—𝗦𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 & 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗙𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱—
I will be delivering the plenary lecture at this year’s “Spring Bible & Archaeology Fest 2025” seminar, hosted by the Biblical Archaeology Society on April 5–6 (online).
Link in the following post.
@bib-arch.bsky.social
It’s a shame the anti-intellectual movement has gained so much ground in America. They’re sacrificing our children’s future for profit and power.
“Spreadsheets of empire”. A look at state archives from ancient Girsu during the era of the Akkadian empire founded by Sargon c.2300 BCE.
They show the inner workings of empire (red tape), and moments in the lives of people, like those who swept floors in temples www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Their “protestors don’t have jobs” argument shows they are either disingenuous or clueless (probably both) to the fact that a portion of people don’t work M-F. When I worked in healthcare the schedule was all over the place and every other weekend was a mandatory. Not that Vance cares about logic.
He did not bend his neck
What a mockery these weak men have made of the USA.