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03.03.2026 08:22
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๐คทโโ๏ธ
Finally received my volumes ๐
It seems that the menorah enters Jewish consciousness together with the Torah, only under Hasmonean aegis. One more thing the Hasmoneans can take credit for!
Shabbat shalom to all ๐ฏ๏ธ๐ฏ๏ธโค๏ธ
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Notably, in the book of Ezra there is no mention of a menorah (nor of multiple menorot) among the gold and silver vessels that Cyrus is said to have repatriated to Jerusalem from the spoils taken by Nebuchadnezzar (Ezra 1:7โ11; 5:14โ15; 6:5).
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And earlier texts that speak of either a single or multiple golden (or silver) lampstands in the Jerusalem Temple (e.g., 1 Kgs 7:49; Jer 52:19; 1 Chr 28:15; 2 Chr 4:7; 13:11; Zech 4:1โ7) provide little correspondence with Pentateuchal prescriptions.
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...the menorah has continuously appeared in Jewish artโoften quite prominently.
Prior to this time, however, the seven-branched menorah does not appear in Judean or Israelite art.
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Both texts and archaeological finds suggest that Jews living as early as the mid-first century BCE were well aware of both the menorah's existence and its general appearance. Beginning from this time and onward (until today in fact!)...
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A menorah like the one depicted in the Torah certainly stood in the Jerusalem Temple prior to its destruction in 70 CE.
2/7
Today is the third of Adar, the day construction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem was completed according to Ezra 6:15. And this weekโs Torah reading includes the instruction to construct a golden, seven-branched menorah to be set up in the tabernacle. My post today honors both occasions...
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And every year, more and more Early Hellenistic, Persian, and Iron-Age levels are unearthed.
From all of them, ๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ค evidence for widespread Torah observance has emerged.
The ๐ข๐ณ๐จ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐น ๐ด๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ only grows stronger as the silence rings ever louder.
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Each new discovery only serves to support the โHasmonean hypothesisโ.
Every year, more and more evidence for widespread Torah observance emerges from the ground.
All of it dates to the Hasmonean period and onward...
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- In Galilee, Iโve directed excavations at two sites near Nazareth: โEinot Amitai and Reina. - In the Golan, one more site has been identified at Lower Wadi es-Sufera, but remains to be excavated. Links:
4/4
- One other site has been excavated nearby, on Mt. Scopus. - South of Jerusalem, one was excavated at Jebel Mukabbir. - North of Jerusalem, one was excavated at Tell el-Ful, and two others at แธคizma.
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...chalk vessel production provide important evidence about Jewish ritual purity observance during the Early Roman period. This new site adds to only a handful of other such sites known today and excavated:
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BREAKING: New Chalk Quarry/Stone Vessel Workshop Discovered The Israel Antiquities Authority has now reported on the discovery of a second chalk quarry and chalk vessel workshop on the eastern slopes of Mt. Scopus, right outside of Jerusalem. Archaeological finds relating to...
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...in their mother's milk, shows himself cruelly brutal in character and compassionless.โ
It seems quite plausible to me that Philoโs interpretation was not unique for his day.
The earliest sources for a blanket prohibition against cooking any meat in any milk are in the rabbinic literature.
3/3
...the meat in ordinary milk.
The problem, according to Philo, is specifically with cooking a young animal in its own motherโs milkโwhen one could have easily obtained other milk:
โSince milk is so abundant, the person who boils the flesh of lambs or kids or any other young animal...
2/3
Philo of Alexandria would have had no problem eating a cheeseburger.
On the famous verse from this weekโs Torah reading (Exod 23:19), he writes (Virtues 142โ144):
โIf indeed anyone thinks it good to boil meat in milk, let him do so without cruelty and keeping clear of impietyโ by cooking...
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For a full course description and link to enroll:
courses.bartehrman.com/judaism-in-t...
๐๐๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐บ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ง๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐:
Torah Law and Everyday Life in First-Century Judea
My new course is now available over at Paths in Biblical Studies.
Thanks to Bart Ehrman and his team for hosting this!
Link in the first comment.
vimeo.com/1162592563/f...
This outstanding, programmatic essay by @gbarnea.bsky.social has just appeared in Marginalia Review of Books.
I sense that we are on the verge of a paradigm shift which will see the approach outlined here becoming the norm in the study of Biblical literature and early Judaism.
Link ๐
I know it's a bit late for last weekโs Torah reading.
But then again, Javier Milei's devar Torah at Davos was a hard act to follow.
Anyway, hereโs an essay of mine on โHow Archaeology Rewrote the History of Tefillinโ, recently shared over @18forty.bsky.social's website.
Link in the first comment.
This is a great opportunity to try crowdsourcing this problem.
Any ideas?
R. Reich, โThe Asymmetrical Pottery Flask of the Early Roman (= Late Second Temple) Period in Judea,โ RB 132/4 (2025): 578โ604.
For the full article (behind a paywall):
poj.peeters-leuven.be/content.php?...
3/3
They appear in the Hasmonean period and disappear after 70 CE.
Reich tried, but ultimately was unable to suggest a plausible explanation for the strange shape, unique distribution, distinct chronology and ultimate function of these very odd vessels.
2/3
A recent article by Prof. Ronny Reich in the journal Revue Biblique examines the strange pottery flasks common in Early Roman (โLate Second Temple periodโ) Judea.
These are wonky vessels.
And they are found almost exclusively at Jewish sites in Judea proper (they rarely make it up north).
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Been keeping myself busy recently filming for an online course Iโve created.
Iโll be posting the details on this soon, so... stay tuned!
