Cache of Scrolls from Afghanistan

Word is slowly being disseminated out of a cache of Jewish scrolls discovered in the caves of Afghanistan. From JPost:

Scholarly world abuzz over Jewish scrolls find

Ch. 2: If authenticated, historical find in Afghanistan may be on par with Cairo’s Geniza

The scholarly world is abuzz over the discovery of ancient Jewish scrolls in a cave in Afghanistan’s Samangan province.

If the scrolls are authenticated, they may be the most significant historical finding in the Jewish world since that of the Cairo Geniza in the 19th century, Channel 2 Arab affairs correspondent Ehud Ya’ari reported Friday.

“In all, in my opinion, there are about 150 fragments. It may be the tip of the iceberg.”

The scrolls, which were part of a geniza – a burial site for sacred Jewish texts – date from around 1,000 years ago and are in Arabic, Judeo-Arabic and ancient Persian.

One scroll, a replica of which was shown to the cameras, was apparently a dirge written for an important person whose identity has not been determined.

“Where has he gone?” reads the text. “His family members are now alone.”

Other texts said to have been found include an unknown history of the Kingdom of Judea, passages from the Book of Isaiah and some of the works of 10th-century sage Rabbi Sa’adia Gaon.

In addition, rings with names such as Shmuel Bar-Yosef inscribed in Hebrew on them have surfaced.

The area in which the scrolls were discovered is on the Silk Road, a trade route that connected eastern Asia with the Middle East and Europe, and that Jewish merchants often traveled.

Ya’ari quoted sources as saying the scrolls had first been moved to Pakistan’s Peshawar province, and from there been sold to antiquities dealers in Geneva, London, Dubai and Jerusalem.

He said the Prime Minister’s Office and several Jewish businessmen had expressed interest in buying the scrolls from dealers and collectors, but the process was in its early stages.

The Cairo Geniza has produced 280,000 texts, providing a wealth of information on almost every aspect of Jewish history.

Hebrew article from Mako (w/10min video):

המגילות הגנוזות – גרסת אפגניסטן
מי ידע שלפני כאלף שנים חיה קהילה יהודית תוססת במדבריות של אפגניסטן? עכשיו, המגילות הגנוזות מסעירות את עולם היודאיקה וסחר העתיקות. “מדובר כאן בממצא יוצא דופן”, אמרו מומחים לנושא, כאלה המקווים שהממשלה תפעל לרכוש את  המגילות הללו שנמצאות בידיהן של סוחרים בכל העולם

Hopefully more information will appear soon. Further, hopefully scholars will be able to get to this material and the enlighten the rest of the world as to their contents.

HT: J. Lauer!

Ritual Purity Marker Discovered Near Western Wall

All photos on this blog by: Vladimir Naykhin

From the IAA (Hebrew):

Exposed- A Find Indicative of the Activity in the Temple

A first of its kind find, indicative of activity in the Temple, was recently discovered: a tiny item that was probably used as a “voucher” certifying the ritual purity of an object or food in the Temple Mount compound and in the Second Temple

The discovery was presented at a press conference at which the Minister of Culture Limor Livnat and Minister of Education Gideon Sa’ar participated

Layers of soil covering the foundations of the Western Wall, c. 15 meters north of the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount, were excavated beneath Robinson’s Arch in archaeological excavations of the Israel Antiquities Authority in the Jerusalem Archaeological Garden. On top of these layers, dating to the first century CE (the late Second Temple period), was paved the Herodian street which was the main road of Jerusalem at that time. From the very start of the excavations in this area the archaeologists decided that all of the soil removed from there would be meticulously sifted (including wet-sifting and thorough sorting of the material remnants left in the sieve). This scientific measure is being done in cooperation with thousands of pupils in the Tzurim Valley National Park, and is underwritten by the Ir David Association. It was during the sieving process that a tiny object of fired clay, the size of a button (c. 2 centimeter in diameter) was discovered. The item is stamped with an Aramaic inscription consisting of two lines – in the upper line “דכא” and below it “ליה”. “דכא” or “דכי” in Aramaic means pure. Following the preposition “ל” in the word “ליה” is the shortened form (two of the four letters) for the name of the G-d of Israel.

According to the excavation directors on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, archaeologists Eli Shukron of the IAA and Professor Ronny Reich of the University of Haifa, “The meaning of the inscription is “Pure for G-d”. It seems that the inscribed object was used to mark products or objects that were brought to the Temple, and it was imperative they be ritually pure. This stamped impression is probably the kind referred to in the Mishnah (Tractate Shekalim 5: 1-5) as a “חותם” (seal). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that such an object or anything similar to it was discovered in an archaeological excavation and it constitutes direct archaeological evidence of the activity on the Temple Mount and the workings of the Temple during the Second Temple period”.

HT: J. Lauer

See also:פריט נדיר מבית המקדש השני התגלה בירושלים This notice includes the 16-minute press announcement in Hebrew.

ISAW Lecture, Dec 1st 2011

The Institute for the Study of the Ancient World is holding a lecture today by Karen B. Stern, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York (Designing Sacred Spaces in the Synagogue of Roman Dura-Europos) at 6:00pm. The lecture is in connection with the on-going Dura Europas Exhibit (Pagans, Jews, and Christians at Roman Dura-Europos).

The ISAW is located on Manhattan:

15 East 84th Street
New York, NY 10028
(212) 992-7800

The Jewish Annotated New Testament and Amy-Jill Levine

Oxford University Press recently published the Jewish Annotated New Testament (eds. M. Brettler and A.J. Levine). As described by Oxford, this work,

“Although major New Testament figures–Jesus and Paul, Peter and James, Jesus’ mother Mary and Mary Magdalene–were Jews, living in a culture steeped in Jewish history, beliefs, and practices, there has never been an edition of the New Testament that addresses its Jewish background and the culture from which it grew–until now.

In The Jewish Annotated New Testament, eminent experts under the general editorship of Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Z. Brettler put these writings back into the context of their original authors and audiences. And they explain how these writings have affected the relations of Jews and Christians over the past two thousand years. An international team of scholars introduces and annotates the Gospels, Acts, Letters, and Revelation from Jewish perspectives, in the New Revised Standard Version translation. They show how Jewish practices and writings, particularly the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, influenced the New Testament writers. From this perspective, readers gain new insight into the New Testament’s meaning and significance. In addition, thirty essays on historical and religious topics–Divine Beings, Jesus in Jewish thought, Parables and Midrash, Mysticism, Jewish Family Life, Messianic Movements, Dead Sea Scrolls, questions of the New Testament and anti-Judaism, and others–bring the Jewish context of the New Testament to the fore, enabling all readers to see these writings both in their original contexts and in the history of interpretation. For readers unfamiliar with Christian language and customs, there are explanations of such matters as the Eucharist, the significance of baptism, and “original sin.”

For non-Jewish readers interested in the Jewish roots of Christianity and for Jewish readers who want a New Testament that neither proselytizes for Christianity nor denigrates Judaism, The Jewish Annotated New Testament is an essential volume that places these writings in a context that will enlighten students, professionals, and general readers.”

While I haven’t had enough time to go through the entire work, from what I have seen it is exceptional and unprecedented. The translation is the NRSV (I believe unchanged) with copious notes and an Introduction for each book. In the back of the volume are several helpful articles that help to acquaint the reader to the cultural nuances of the Second Temple period and issues that have arisen from centuries-worth of theological interpretation

C. Berkeley for the NY Times

Amy-Jill Levine,  the chair of my session during this year’s SBL, and the aforementioned publication were recently NY Times (Focusing on the Jewish Story of the New Testament). Her work has been important to the field of Historical Jesus studies.

SAN FRANCISCO — Growing up Jewish in North Dartmouth, Mass., Amy-Jill Levine loved Christianity.

Her neighborhood “was almost entirely Portuguese and Roman Catholic,” Dr. Levine said last Sunday at her book party here during the annual American Academy of Religion conference. “My introduction to Christianity was ethnic Roman Catholicism, and I loved it. I used to practice giving communion to Barbie. Church was like the synagogue: guys in robes speaking languages I didn’t understand. My favorite movie was ‘The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima.’ ”

Christianity might have stayed just a fascination, but for an unfortunate episode in second grade: “When I was 7 years old, one girl said to me on the school bus, ‘You killed our Lord.’ I couldn’t fathom how this religion that was so beautiful was saying such a dreadful thing.”

That encounter with the dark side of her friends’ religion sent Dr. Levine on a quest, one that took her to graduate school in New Testament studies and eventually to Vanderbilt University, where she has taught since 1994. Dr. Levine is still a committed Jew — she attends an Orthodox synagogue in Nashville — but she is a leading New Testament scholar. [See rest here]

HT: A. Amihay for both.

New Resources: Grammar of Qumran Aramaic; Parables of the Sages

Finally, Qumran Aramaic scholars have a reference grammar to utilize. Peeter’s has recently published well known Gramamarian T. Muraoka’s A Grammar of Qumran Aramaic (Ancient Near Eastern Studies Supplement Series, 38; Leuven: Peeters, 2011). Peeter’s site states, “This is a comprehensive reference grammar of Qumran Aramaic. Not only Aramaic texts from Qumran caves, but also contemporary texts originating from other neighbouring locations in the Judaean Desert such as Nahal Hever, Murabba’at, Jericho, and Massada are covered. It would be an important tool of study for specialists in Aramaic linguistics, the Jewish culture of the Second Temple period, and the New Testament. The scope and nature of the grammar is comparable to that of Muraoka – Porten, A Grammar of Egyptian Aramaic (2nd revised ed., 2003).”

 

Just published by Carta is R. Steven Notley’s and Ze’ev Safrai’s The Parables of the Sages: Jewish Wisdom from Jesus to Rav Ashi. While I am having some trouble finding it on either Carta’s English or Hebrew site, I can assure you from the copy I bought at SBL that this has indeed been published. Over the summer the Hebrew edition was published, and this volume is a biglot edition. One can purchase it from Eisenbrauns though it is still in pre-order status. According to the site, “Parables of the Sages is a ground-breaking work in the study of parables in late antiquity. For the first time ever, the authors provide a complete annotated collection of narrative parables found in the earliest stratum of Rabbinic Judaism—the literature of the Tannaim. These pedagogical gems are presented in their original Hebrew language with a fresh English translation. The authors’ notes consider the historical, social and religious aspects of the individual entries, and when relevant their possible contribution to our understanding of the parables of Jesus.”

200 posts in and going forward.

More on the Western Wall Discovery

My previous post was unexpectedly deleted but is now up (Ritual Immersion Bath Discovered Buried Under the Western Wall). Furthemore, there has been some excellent follow up to the story.

Todd Bolen has two posts, one of which  critiques the IAA for presenting an issue which is apparently not an issue (Western Wall Discovery: IAA Desperate for Headlines [Nov 23, 2011]) and more media/blogosphere followup which was posted yesterday (Western Wall Discovery: Follow-Up).

Leen Ritmeyer has a fantastic post on the development of the construction of the Southern most portion of the Western Wall (The Architectural Development of the Western Wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem).

HT: J. Lauer

Qumran through Textiles

This is likely a mystery that will hang in the balance, but it is good to have another perspective to view the evidence. Live Science (Mystery of the Dead Sea Scrolls Possibly Solved) is reporting that there is new evidence in the form of textiles discovered at Qumran which can be applied to understanding the communal makeup of the community. In any event, an important article publishedabout these textiles, and the basis for the Live Science article, appeared in the latest Dead Sea Discoveries 18/2 (Orit Shamir and Naama Sukenik, “Qumran Textiles and the Garments of Qumran’s Inhabitants”).

The Dead Sea Scrolls may have been written, at least in part, by a sectarian group called the Essenes, according to nearly 200 textiles discovered in caves at Qumran, in the West Bank, where the religious texts had been stored.

Scholars are divided about who authored the Dead Sea Scrollsand how the texts got to Qumran, and so the new finding could help clear up this long-standing mystery.

The research reveals that all the textiles were made of linen, rather than wool, which was the preferred textile used in ancient Israel. Also they lack decoration,  some actually being bleached white, even though fabrics from the period often have vivid colours. Altogether, researchers say these finds suggest that the Essenes, an ancient Jewish sect, “penned” some of the scrolls.

Not everyone agrees with this interpretation. An archaeologist who has excavated at Qumran told LiveScience that the linen could have come from people fleeing the Roman army after the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, and that they are in fact responsible for putting the scrolls into caves…[See rest here]

Just a note: It appears that Dead Sea Scrolls in Live Science is being used here as the scrolls found in the caves of Qumran and not those discovered throughout the Judaean Desert.

HT: J. Lauer

Ritual Immersion Bath Discovered Buried Under the Western Wall

The IAA has officially announced that archaeologists (Eli Shukron w/ Ronny Reich) have found evidence of a ritual immersion bath and the coin of Valerius Gratus, procurator of Judea from 15-26 CE, under the southern end of the Western Wall (near Robinson’s Arch) which indicate that Herod’s expansions of the Temple Mount were not completed until long after his death—something that ancient sources had previously attested and scholars had known.

Building the Western Wall: Herod Began it but Didn’t Finish it

Professor Ronny Reich of the University of Haifa and Eli Shukron of the Israel Antiquities Authority: A ritual bath exposed beneath the Western Wall of the Temple Mount shows that the construction of that wall was not completed during King Herod’s lifetimeWho built the Temple Mount walls? Every tour guide and every student grounded in the history of Jerusalem will immediately reply that it was Herod. However, in the archaeological excavations alongside the ancient drainage channel of Jerusalem a very old ritual bath (miqwe) was recently discovered that challenges the conventional archaeological perception which regards Herod as being solely responsible for its construction.Recently, reinforcement and maintenance measures were implemented in the pavement of Jerusalem’s main street from 2,000 years ago, used by pilgrims when they went up to the Temple Mount. This was done as part of the project to re-expose the drainage channel that passes beneath the street, running from the Siloam Pool in the City of David to the Jerusalem Archaeological Garden near the Western Wall. The excavations at the site are being conducted on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, in cooperation with Nature and Parks Authority and the East Jerusalem Development Corporation, and are underwritten by the Ir David foundation. The excavations are directed by archaeologist Eli Shukron of the Israel Antiquities Authority, with assistance from Professor Ronny Reich of the University of Haifa.In an excavation beneath the paved street near Robinson’s Arch, sections of the Western Wall’s foundation were revealed that is set on the bedrock – which is also the western foundation of Robinson’s Arch – an enormous arch that bore a staircase that led from Jerusalem’s main street to the entrance of the Temple Mount compound. [See rest of announcement: English/Hebrew]

 

 

 

 

 

HT: J. Lauer.

A Brief Response to Witherington’s “Was Jesus Illiterate?”

Recently, Ben Witherington posted the third part of a longer discussion regarding reading and writing in the first century and Jesus’ place on the spectrum of this landscape (Reading and Writing in Herodian Israel– Was Jesus an Illiterate Peasant? Part One; Reading and Writing in Jesus’ World— Was he an Illiterate Peasant? Part Two). Part 3, “Was Jesus Illiterate?,” is the final post and contains the one matter that we will take up today. The comments that concern us are made in the first paragraph,

“That Jesus spoke Aramaic most of the time very few dispute any more. The Gospels are clear enough on this— here is a short list of Aramaic words found on his lips— abba,eloi,eloi sabachthanai, ephphatha, kephas, messias, qorban, rabbuni, talitha qumi, amen, Gehenna, mamonas, pascha, raka, sabbaton, satana, saton, and we could go on. We have not mentioned personal names Jesus used which have the Aramaic ‘bar’ (son) in them like Simon bar Jonah. Generally speaking we see the decrease of Aramaic in the texts of Gospels as we move from the earliest (Mark) to the latest (John). Luke leaves most of Mark’s Aramaic out, but when he includes it, he is unable to translate. Now the point of mentioning this is of course that if the normal language of Jesus was Hebrew, it is inexplicable why we have all these Aramaic words and phrases predicated of Jesus. But what could Jesus read, if anything?”

It has been noted and beyond dispute that the land of Judaea in the first century C.E. was at a minimum tri-lingual (Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic)—perhaps Latin (Fitzmyer). The Gospels texts cannot stand by themselves but must include outside linguistic evidence. Even on a superficial level some attention must be given to the traditions that the Evangelists receive regarding Jesus and in what language those traditions might have been preserved. That said, let us look a bit closer at Prof. Witherington’s comments.

1. “The Gospels are clear enough on this— here is a short list of Aramaic words found on his lips— abba,eloi,eloi sabachthanai, ephphatha, kephas, messias, qorban, rabbuni, talitha qumi, amen, Gehenna, mamonas, pascha, raka, sabbaton, satana, saton, and we could go on.”

Some of the terms noted here are Hebrew, not Aramaic, or Aramaic incorporated into the Hebrew language.

a. “abba” (‏אַבָּא) is a term that is utilized in Mishnaic Hebrew (Pes 2:4)—there is significant evidence that elements of Mishnaic Hebrew were already in use during the time of Jesus.

“eloi, eloi sabachthanai” First, Matthew 27:46 contains the more Hebraic “Eli, Eli” (ηλι ηλι), and it has been argued by some “sabach” (שבק) is in fact a mishnaic term and is evidence of this Aramaic term entering the Hebrew language. So for instance we have the term ‏שִׁבּוּקִין, a techical term for ‘divorce’ which derives from שבק and appears in m. Gittin 9:3. Though it appears in an Aramaic sentence it has been argued by Moshe bar Ashre to be purely Hebrew (Randall Buth, forthcoming article).

“qorban” and “amen” are both Hebrew, not Aramaic. ”qorban” (‏קָרְבָּן) appears for the first time in Lev 1:2. “amen” is as well-attested Hebrew term (multiple occasions of the Hebrew A/M/N appear in the Hebrew Bible, and the nominal “Amen” appears in Hebrew in the m. Ber. 2:4).

“rabbuni” (‏רַבּוּנוֹ) is also attested in a Hebrew portion of the Mishnah (Ta’an 3:8).

We should note that Mishnaic Hebrew retains some Aramaic terminology and grammatical elements, for example the “ן” as a plural case ending (but one would not suggest that Mishnaic Hebrew is Aramaic). Rather, this indicates how a language develops in a poly-linguistic setting. Therefore, authentically Aramaic terms, of which we have noted are not well established by Witherington, could have easily been incorporated into Hebrew and not necessarily indicate the language that was originally spoken. Two thousand years from now it would be mistaken for a scholar to presume that I spoke Yiddish because I use the terms schlep, and tuckus.

In a different way, this is seen with Jesus’ parables. Parables as they appear in Jewish literature (which are used pedagogical tool)—as stated by Shmuel Safrai—always appear in Hebrew, even when they are surrounded by Aramaic commentary. This indicates that it was Jewish custom to teach a parable in Hebrew. The same can be said of Jesus’ parables which appear only in Greek only because they appear in the Gospels, not because this was the original language of instruction. The linguistic evidence of parables elsewhere indicates that Jesus likely taught them in Hebrew. This is important since Young has suggested that parables consist of a third of the teachings we have preserved.

2. “We have not mentioned personal names Jesus used which have the Aramaic‘bar’ (son) in them like Simon bar Jonah.”

Personal names do not function as good indicator of spoken languages, but may assist in indicating linguistic influence. That said, the use of בר (bar) appears in the names of several Tannaitic rabbis but is not an indication of their primary language. In fact, many of the traditions associated them are persevered in Hebrew. Bar may simply indicate a connection with the thriving Babylonian Jewish communities or rather the appropriation of Aramaic terms into Hebrew, as mentioned above.

3. “Now the point of mentioning this is of course that if the normal language of Jesus was Hebrew, it is inexplicable why we have all these Aramaic words and phrases predicated of Jesus.”

I am not sure the point is to determine Jesus’ “normal” language but rather to uncover the language(s) that function in Jesus’s ministry and teachings. If we focus our attention on the evidence from Eretz Israel, specifically numismatics (i.e. coins), inscriptions, and texts, not only will it be noted that we are dealing with three languages but that within Jewish communities it is apparent that Hebrew dominated. This comes to light among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Those documents that are formative to the Qumran community, as well as those texts that speak to the larger Second Temple Jewish world, appear again, in all three languages, but are dominated by Hebrew. To that, one might add that on several occasions, especially in Luke, where Jesus is shown interpreting Scripture or bringing together two disparate passages from the Bible indicate that Jesus is working in the Hebrew scriptures and that his audience readily recognized his Hebrew exegesis.

Thus, things are not as clear as Witherington might suggest.

Review of Discovery Time Square’s Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit

The Scrolls are back in New York!  Recently a colleague and I were treated to an educator’s preview of the new Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit which opened on Friday. The Discovery Times Square Museum, located on 44th between 7th and 8th ave. (the heart of broadway), is the latest museum in New York to exhibit some of the Scrolls, as well as over 500 archaeological artifacts (e.g., “the Jesus, Son of Joseph” ossuary, Qumran phylacteries, and a 3-ton Herodian stone that was once part the Kotel, i.e., the Western Wall).

Your first stop is a darkened room where four translations of Gen 12:1 appear on the wall. To begin, the Hebrew verse is lit and a woman’s voice (in the style of a Bat Qol) is heard chanting the passage. After the English version is highlighted and recited, you are welcome to the exhibit and ushered into a room where you are surrounded  with six HD screens. Part of the floor is decorated with sand and gravel and upon the screens is a moving panoramic video of somewhere on the shore of the Dead Sea. Accenting the room are three ancient jars, the last of which is the jar-type attested at Qumran. A presenter appears standing by the first of the three jars as images of excavations and the Dead Sea begin to appear on the screens. As he moves from jar to jar, he explains the importance if the Land of Israel to the three Abrahamic faiths. He concludes at the Qumran jar just after the audience is treated to a moving panorama of the Western Wall.

Two doors are then opened to next part of the exhibit and you begin walking down a hallway length display that is intended to usher you back into the ancient world by way of artifacts (starting with the Ottoman period). The display is complemented in the center of the hallway with several lights that indicate you century by century passage into antiquity. The length of the hall works to give some sense that you are passing into the past. Your entry into ancient Israel is complete as you pass large ancient limestone jars and a display which reveals the kind of house your normal Israelite might inhabit. Against the back wall are two large displays of different artifacts. LCD tv’s centered on each side help to tell some of the story of the artifacts on display, as well as provide a digitized 360 degree view of some others. Some of the highlights of this area were the giant Pheonician inspired column capital, several beautifully preserved bullae, a small pomegranate with a dove perched on top, two four horned altars, and finally a fully restored terra-cotta bath from Dan. Surprisingly this lovely part of the exhibit was only the first half of the total exhibit and helped to contextualize the Israelite backgrounds of the world that eventually developed into the diverse landscape of Second Temple Judaism.

A quick walk downstairs brings you a large open space. Centered in the middle of this room is a large circular table with a single Qumran jar in the middle. But the Scrolls are now intended to be te first thing you see. The flight of stairs leaves you at the very beginning of a long circular display that houses artifacts from the Second Temple, Islamic, and Christian periods. All told, the circular format seems intended to mimic the inside of a Qumran jar which eventually leads you to the scrolls themselves—although it seems that none of the scrolls were actually found in the jars (though these jars are peculiar to the Qumram site). Some of the highlights here, apart from the Scrolls, are the architectural friezes from the Huldah Gates, the newly announced menorah etching discovered in the Siloam drainage ditch (see blog here), and the ossuaries from the so-called Jesus Family Tomb (which in fact has nothing to do with Jesus)—unfortunately, the inscription from the famous “Jesus, Son of Joseph” ossuary is turned away from the view of the spectators. Accenting the room are three side rooms, one which reads portions of the decalogue from the Deuteronomy Scroll, one that has a short video where L. Schiffman, E. Tov, and J. Magness appear discussing the discovery of the Scrolls, and one final room with a live camera of the Kotel. Just beside this room is a 3-ton Herodian stone laying on the floor. Prayers which are written and placed upon the stone will be shipped to Israel and placed in the Western Wall.

After all this, you are finally ready to see the Scrolls—even though you can always just skip all of the side artifacts and go straight to them (Its up to you how you go about seeing the exhibit). Making your way around the circular table there are several scroll fragments, the majority of which are in Hebrew, except for one Greek text from Nahal Hever, and Aramaic Levi. The Hebrew texts you will see are one of the recensions of the Community Rule (1QS), a Psalms Scroll, and Pseudo-Ezekiel, among others. Though the writing is often minuscule, and the scrolls are kept dimmed in order to prevent further deterioration, the display provides a well lit close up of the text and an English translation of a portion. Overall, the exhibition is phenomenal and perhaps even better than the San Diego exhibition held during SBL’s annual meeting in 2007. I look forward to going back and taking students. It is an exhibit that shouldn’t be missed.

Several Reviews have already been posted (here are some):
CSN News
AM New York
News Network Archaeology
CBS News
Discovery News
New York Post
HT: J. Lauer for the news links.