BiblePlaces Newsletter Sample Issue

Bible Places Newsletter, Vol 2, #1 
January 13, 2003

Things have been busy since the last newsletter, but I finally cleared the schedule to write today's update. Then I saw the news confirming a rumor mentioned in the last newsletter!  I'll give you all the details below. Also, I've been working on a new CD of fantastic photos which will be offered (very inexpensively) to subscribers next month. And, as always, this newsletter includes some free high-resolution photographs - you can use these beautiful shots of Egypt for teaching or as a beautiful desktop wallpaper.

Todd Bolen
Editor, BiblePlaces.com
www.BiblePlaces.com

TEMPLE INSCRIPTION OF JOASH

Update Mar 20 (more recent updates in recent newsletters): The inscription has been recovered by police.  The anonymous owner turned out to be Oded Golan, the same collector who owns the James Ossuary.  Golan has been arrested and interrogated and the Israel Antiquities Authority will begin an investigation of the tablet's authenticity.  Unfortunately, like Golan's other prize find, the Jehoash Inscription has been broken.  The full story is in Ha'aretz.

This item alone makes sending out this newsletter worthwhile. This morning Ha'Aretz (major Israeli newspaper) published an article on the discovery of an inscription from the time of Joash (aka Jehoash), king of Judah. This fifteen-line inscription describes repairs to the temple, and apparently quotes parts of 2 Kings 12:15, "They did not require an accounting from those to whom they gave the money to pay the workers, because they acted with complete honesty." The inscription is written in first person in ancient Phoenician script on a black sandstone tablet that originally came from the region of the Dead Sea, Moab or Edom.

Apparently the inscription was discovered on the Temple Mount in the massive earth-moving projects of the Muslims. The discovery was then acquired by a Jerusalem antiquities dealer who offered to sell it to the Israel Museum. Museum officials questioned the stone's authenticity. The Geological Survey of Israel has since run a series of tests on the stone and insists that it is authentic. Their tests show that the inscription has been buried since the Hellenistic period.

The full story can be found at Ha'Aretz here.  The AP article is here, and the BBC article (with photograph) is here.  More photographs are here.  The largest and best photograph is here!

If you know the paleo-Hebrew script, you can set to work on making a transcription and translation. If this motivates you to learn the paleo-Hebrew script, here's a helpful chart (use the "Moabite" column for closest comparison, third from left).

If you don't want to bother making a transcription, but want to try to translate the inscription yourself (before reading the translation below), here's a site with the old script transliterated into the modern Hebrew script.

This tentative translation was prepared by a friend, Steven H. Sanchez, who is a PhD student in the Department of Old Testament at Dallas Theological Seminary.

Scholars are now debating whether the inscription is a forgery or not. Many forgeries exist in the antiquities market (where ignorant people pay big bucks thinking they are real), and these "professionals" have become quite proficient. It is entirely possible that this inscription is a fake.

On the other hand, many ancient inscriptions found in Israel, now believed genuine, have been challenged, including the Dan Inscription (1993), the Ekron Inscription (1995) and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1947-56).

To sum up one major argument for each side, those who believe it is a forgery believe that a phrase in the inscription (bedek habayit) reflects modern Hebrew usage, not biblical Hebrew. Those who believe it is authentic point to the tests of the geologists which determined that the inscription has been buried for more than 2000 years. What will be the conclusion? Only more careful scholarly analysis will tell.  For more on this controversy, see this article in HaAretz.  One list that has lots of posts covering different aspects of the inscription can be found here.

FOLLOW-UP ON THE OSSUARY OF JAMES
Discussion concerning the authenticity of this discovery continues. Everyone agrees that the ossuary itself is ancient, and most agree that at least the first part of the inscription "James, son of Joseph" is original. Some scholars are claiming that the end of the inscription, "brother of Jesus," was written by a later hand and is thus not authentic. While much has been written about this, I would recommend two articles for those interested:

1. James Was Not a Midget!: Observations on a Visit to the James Ossuary Exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum. This is an excellent summary article about the ossuary. It was written by a good friend who has some very helpful insights.

2. The Experts and the Ossuary: A Report on the Toronto Sessions about the James Ossuary. You can read Shanks' viewpoint in BAR, but for another perspective, read this scholar's summary of the debate at the Toronto meeting. It will give you a good review of the positions and who is on which side.

A GREAT DEAL
The resource I turn to most in biblical studies in the Anchor Bible Dictionary. I have this in Logos/Libronix format and use it very frequently. Though it often has a more liberal perspective than I do, it is the most scholarly and up-to-date reference of its kind. There was a sale on it last month that still seems to be valid - $135 is the cheapest I've ever seen it. You can order it here. We have no association with this company, but want to pass on a good price. They also offer:

INTERNATIONAL STD. BIBLE ENCYCLOPEDIA - $90
KEIL & DELITZSCH OT COMMENTARY - $80
NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARY - $330

BIBLE ATLAS ONLINE
Here's a great tip from subscriber A.D. Riddle. The entire set of maps from the Holman Bible Atlas is online. These are very colorful maps that could be quite useful for studying or teaching. Altogether there are about 150 maps spanning the Old and New Testament periods. Here's the direct link to the Bible Atlas Online.  Here's more about the Holman Bible Atlas itself.

FREE PHOTOS
We have six high-resolution photos taken recently in Egypt.

Images include:
1. Sun over the pyramid
2. Luxor Temple at night
3. Ramses II statue at Luxor Temple
4. Sea Peoples Relief at Medinet Habu
5. Sailing on the Nile River
6. Nile River Sunset

They are beautiful shots, and are available in high-resolution format without charge for personal and educational use here.

Check them out! Put them to use!

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A monthly newsletter on subjects related to biblical sites and archaeology.  New and discounted photo CDs will be announced here, and free high-resolution photos made available for free each month! Problem subscribing? See this page.