Welcome to the tenth Biblical Studies Carnival. As usual, quite a lot is going on in the many blogs that deal with biblical studies and related areas, including the Ancient Near East and the Greco-Roman world.

HEBREW BIBLE AND THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST

Was there sex in Eden?: Both Stephen Cook (parts 1, 2, and 3) and Chris Heard have posts discussing the Genesis story of the garden of Eden (parental discretion is advised).

Exodus Decoded: Ever commented on what you thought about a flick (e.g. “I found the repetition of ‘nee’ particularly distracting from the plot-line”) and had the producer contact you directly in an attempt to refute your critique? Well, that’s what happened to Chris Heard over on his blog, Higgaion! Chris has a series of posts dealing with a controversial and slickly-produced documentary called The Exodus Decoded, by Simcha Jacobovici. The documentary claims to unearth “the true story of the Exodus” and Chris shows just how un-true key aspects of Jacobovici’s theory really are, despite how exciting it would be if they were true. (Part 1 is here, and then follow the links to following parts at the bottom of each post. There’s nine–make that eleven–so far!).

Listen to the tunes Abram heard before he listened to Yahweh: Francis Deblauwe discusses the success by a team of archeologists and others in reconstructing a playable Mesopotamian Lyre based on the so called Gold Lyre of Ur, dated to the third millenium BCE. If you watched Live 8, then you may have already seen and heard an unfinished version of the lyre. I wonder what the Edge would do with a Mesopotamian lyre?

Gathered to the ancestors: Stephen Cook has begun an interesting series on Israelite burial practices and conceptions of death, starting with Abraham’s burial of Sarah (part 1, part 2).

God’s crossword puzzle, or “cent, cent, quarter and dollars”: A post on דבר אחר (dawar akher, literally “another interpretation”) investigates and provides an interesting interpretation of the mysterious Writing on the Wall in the story of Daniel (chapter 5). The king won’t be too happy about the solution to this crossword puzzle.

Learning the a,b,c’s in Bronze Age Canaan: Duane Smith continues with his series of posts on evidence for scribal training and scribal schools in Canaan and the Ancient Near East: How to Recognize a Scribal School - Part 4: Evidence for the training of scribes in Late Bronze Age Canaan.

I do not like them (Hebrew and Greek, that is): For those learning Hebrew or Greek, Tyler Williams gathers together a couple of funny sketches in Abbott & Costello Learn Hebrew (written by Rabbi Jack Moline) and Dr. Seuss Learns Greek (written by someone).

SECOND-TEMPLE JUDAISM AND EARLY RABBINIC JUDAISM

Counterfeit prophecy: Torrey Seland discusses a recent article he has written on Philo of Alexandria’s views on “magic”.

Those elusive Essenes by the Dead Sea: Over on Rogueclassicism, David Meadows highlights an article concerning the theory of archaeologist Yizhar Hirschfeld. This archeologist claims that the place where the Dead Sea scrolls were found is not an Essene site and that the Essenes mentioned by Pliny the Elder can be found and, in fact, have been found (by this archeologist). Balancing things out, the article also cites solid scholars who plainly reject this suggested new site for the Essenes mentioned by Pliny the Elder (Natural History, 5.15.17) .

Sects and violence: I’ve recently offered a couple of posts dealing with the diversity of groups in Judaism in the first century and with the tensions that culminated with the destruction of the second temple in 70 CE. And, as the latter post shows, if you thought that the practice of exposing one’s posterior area for comic-affect or insult was a modern cultural convention, you’ve got something to learn.

Come blow your horn: Menachem Mendel discusses Mishnaic and Talmudic traditions associated with Blowing Shofar on Shabbat in connection with the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashannah).

EARLY CHRISTIAN WRITINGS AND THE GRECO-ROMAN WORLD

Is Wright wrong? (and, yes, I came up with that brilliant play on words myself): Jim Davila challenges several aspects of N.T. Wright’s claims regarding the Gospel of Thomas, including the question of whether that Gospel was originally written in Aramaic and whether it reflects early material traceable to Jesus himself. (The Gospel of Thomas is available in many translations online here, for you to decide what you think about it).

Blogen-what?: Blogentary, like commentary but on a blog. Michael Pahl is continuing his interesting series of posts that will add up to an online commentary (blogentary) on Paul’s first letter to the Christians at Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians). Michael’s most recent post deals with what is absolutely essential for understanding this or any letter by Paul, namely, the real life cultural contexts in which the members of the earliest Jesus-groups found themselves (the Greco-Roman city of Thessalonica, in this case). He links to and discusses several photos of the ruins at Thessalonica. On a related note (and thanks to a note on Roman Archaeology), there are recent plans to engage in further excavation of Thessalonica: “Drill aids digs in Thessaloniki: Large-scale metro excavation could illuminate Hellenistic and Roman periods.”

What time did Paul arrive in Corinth (and was he late)?: The perrenial issue of when Paul wrote what is occupying a number of New Testament bloggers. The whole discussion of Pauline chronology was re-started by Mark Goodacre, whose first post was Does Galatians post-date 1 Corinthians?. Several others have responded and they list links to all the relevant posts, including Loren Rosson, Michael Pahl, and Stephen Carlson. Loren in particular offers a post focussing on the the difficulties in dating Galatians specifically.

What a difference an epsilon can make: In Textual Criticism and the Antioch Incident, Stephen Carlson discusses the textual variant which changes the “they [some from James] came” to “he [Peter?] came” in Paul’s run-in with Peter over eating with Gentiles.

Lists: Over on Thoughts on Antiquity, Ben C. Smith has a series of useful posts on early Christian canonical lists, including an introduction regarding the importance of these lists of early Christian works and discussions of the Marcionite canon, the Muratorian canon, and Origen’s discussion of what that church father considers valuable Christian writings.

Bart on the text of the Bible: “The Bible is corrupt, man” (no, the other Bart). The Evangelical Textual Criticism blog has an interview with Bart Ehrman regarding his views of textual corruption and the impact of his works on public perceptions of the Bible.

Do not get drunk with wine: Pliny the Elder joins the author of Ephesians (5:18) in warning of the evils of drinking, but from a more practical perspective. This ancient description of a hangover may be a timely warning in light of forthcoming Oktoberfest.

Cult of the severed head: Moving into religions in territories conquered by the Romans, where Christian groups were soon to be established, Troels Myrup Kristensen has a fascinating post on the cult of the severed head in Gaul (France). He cites the Greco-Roman geographer and ethnographer Strabo, who wrote in the time of Augustus.

Just a final comment on the online “Nerd Test” that several biblical studies types have been completing, some claiming low nerd-levels: Only complete nerds would fill out such a test, so this is redundant and, when it indicates low levels of nerdiness, entirely inaccurate.

The November edition of Biblical Studies Carnival (no. XI) will be hosted by Michael Pahl over at The Stuff of Earth. So submit to him your suggestions of posts to include for the next round.