The Qeiyafa Discovery and King David: The Da Vinci Connection

Perhaps you have not heard but there has been some new buzz in the field over some shrines that were discovered.  Here is a snippet of the recent press release: Jerusalem, May 8, 2012—Prof. Yosef Garfinkel, the Yigal Yadin Professor of Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, announced today [...]

Some Considerations About the Iconography on the Ossuary

There has been a lot of various interpretations of the ‘fish’ on the new ossuary in Talpiyot B.  Absalom’s tomb was the primary response initially; this was due to the misrepresentation of the image (in photos the alignment of the image was sideways to make it appear as though the object were swimming) by various [...]

Defining Mythicism: Parallelomania, Luxor, and Acharya S

This is nothing new for those who read this blog, but Richard Carrier has posted an excellent example of a problem that plagues the case for mythicism: Parallelomania.  I’ve stated over and over (and over and over) again that correlation does not equal causation.  Here is a snippet from his blog on the subject: Parallelomania [...]

Review of the Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit at the Discovery Center

 Where: Discovery Center – New York  When: January 8, 2012  Overall Impression of the Exhibit: Brief Introduction to the Exhibit: Today I traveled to New York to see the much-acclaimed Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Discovery Center (just off Times Square).  This is one of those exhibits I’ve been looking forward to seeing since [...]

Jordan Lead Codices: Palm Tree Iconography

There are two definitive Palm Tree stamps which were used in the production of the iconography on the lead codices.  The first is a 12-branch palm tree (Type A): Found on these codices, for example: The second (Type B) is one that has smaller branches (and more of them) which are shaped in a rounded [...]

Defining Mythicism: The Signs Gospel and the Figure of Jesus

James McGrath highlights a post by the blog Synoptic Solutions on the Signs Gospel and the figure of Jesus.  I tend to think the post is a little ridiculous.  Here is the offending snippet: In the Signs Gospel, Jesus is not being portrayed as a god on earth. Instead, he is portrayed as very human–a [...]

Dorothy King: A Crucified Man from 1st Century Jerusalem

An interesting read!  Quite fascinating!  Go read it now.  Here is a snippet: In 1968 a tomb was excavated at the French Hill, Jerusalem, better known now as Givat ha-Mivtar. Because of pressure from religious Jews, all the bones found in the tomb were re-buried soon after. A right calcaneus or heel with evidence of [...]

Siege of Masada Facing Criticism

Once again, it seems as though archaeology has drawn some critical conclusions about the historical conclusions concerning Masada… David Meadows draws to the new study which suggests that some scholarship on this siege is sketchy. Based on accepted evaluations of wood consumption for these purposes in traditional societies, on the conservatively estimated number of Masada [...]

‘Doing’ History in Light of Memes and Cultural Memory Both Ancient and Modern

A recent article by Paul V.M. Flesher on Bible and Interpretation was posted on cultural memory a few days ago, and it was while I was in the process of writing this post, so I thought I might incorporate it into this discussion.  Here is a snippet and a relevant definition of ‘cultural memory’ and [...]

Gerd Lüdemann – The Death of the Biblical God

Gerd Lüdemann has a new article up on Bible and Interpretation’s website.  Here is a snippet: Ultimately all this presents a problem for all three “Abrahamitic” religions. The Church, regarding herself as the New Israel, has always taken the Old Testament myth of Yahweh’s election and concern for Israel as a firmly established constituent of [...]