Norman Gottwald

Norman Gottwald was my teacher when I was doing graduate studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California in the early 1970s. One of the courses I took with Gottwald was a class on Old Testament Theology. Gottwald wrote a very influential book: The Tribes of Yahweh: A Sociology of the Religion of Liberated Israel 1250-1050 B.C.E. Read my post today on Gottwald’s contribution to Old Testament studies. The link: http://bit.ly/j5BxRN

My blog has moved to WordPress. Visit the new site of my blog then subscribe to my blog on your Google reader to receive all my posts. He is the link: http://claudemariottini.org/

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Norman Gottwald, Tribes of Yahweh, Roland Boer

Joseph’s Tomb Set on Fire

Israel National News is reporting that the Palestinians have set Joseph’s tomb on fire.

It is tragic that the political situation in Israel is causing the desecration of holy places and historical monuments. Those who perpetrated such an infamous act will not draw sympathy to their cause.

Read the story here.

My blog has moved to WordPress. Visit the site to my new blog and subscribe to my posts.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Joseph, Palestinians

The Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal

Ashurbanipal (668-627 BC) was one of the last great kings of Assyria. Throughout his reign, Ashurbanipal faced many rebellions from those nations under Assyrian control. These military problems presented a mortal danger to his reign and threatened the stability of the Assyrian empire.

Watch the video below, “The Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal,” by visiting the new site of my blog. Here is the link: http://bit.ly/jDera3

My blog has moved to WordPress. Visit the new site of my blog. Click here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary



Tags: Archaeology, Ashurbanipal, Assyria,

Territories and Sites of the Hebrew Scriptures

Burton MacDonald’s book, East of the Jordan: Territories and Sites of the Hebrew Scriptures is a study of the location of territories and sites mentioned in the Bible as being “East of the Jordan,” in the land known today as Jordan. The book seeks to identify each biblical site by suggesting the most likely location based on information provided by the biblical text, extra-biblical literary information, toponymic considerations and archaeology.

The book is available in PDF format and it can be downloaded for free. Click here to read my post.

My blog has moved to WordPress. Visit the new site of my blog and read the article above.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary


Tags: Jordan, Exodus, Sodom, Gomorrah

Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology

Watch a video about Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology . Here is the link: http://bit.ly/hPpHRi


I can’t wait for it to come to Chicago!

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Indiana Jones

Israel in Egypt: The Cultural Influence

There is evidence that words in the Torah reflect Egyptian intercultural influences that are still present in contemporary Judaism and in the Hebrew language. Some Biblical expressions reflect Israel’s presence in Egypt. In my post today there is one of the example that reflect ancient Egyptian culture. Here is the link: http://bit.ly/fIq9hX

My blog has moved to WordPress. Visit the new home of my blog and read the article mentioned above.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Exodus, Egypt, Pharaoh

Were the Israelites in Egypt?

Stephen Rosenberg, Senior Fellow at the W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem, writing an article for The Jerusalem Post, asked the following question: “Was there ever an Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt? If so, who was the Pharaoh who oppressed the Israelites and who let them go?”

Rosenberg acknowledges that, outside the Bible, there is no evidence for the presence of Israelites in Egypt or that the Exodus ever took place. However, Rosenberg wrote: “The Torah is full of references to Egyptian geography and religious cults and customs, and it is clear that the compiler was speaking to an audience familiar with Egypt.”

I have discussed these question in my post today. Here is the link: http://bit.ly/i1NLf0

My blog has moved to WordPress. Visit the new site to my blog, read today’s post, and then subscribe to my blog to read my post regularly.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

El Shaddai - Part 2

Many Christians use the divine name El Shaddai in worship, but most of them do not know the meaning of this title.

Those who try to understand the meaning of this name used by the people of Israel to identify their God, generally translate El Shaddai as “God Almighty,” the name used in several English translations of the Bible (see Genesis 17:1, NRSV, NIV, ESV). However, the translation “God Almighty” does not actually provide the basis for the proper understanding of the true meaning of El Shaddai. Visit my blog and discover the true meaning of the name El Shaddai. Click here.

My blog has moved to WordPress. Visit the site of my new blog at WordPress and read my new posts.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Hebrew Bible, El Shaddai, Asherah, Goddess

Tornado Strikes Shaw University

Shaw University, an ABC-related school founded in 1865 and the oldest historically black university in the south, was severely damaged by a tornado that caused severe damage to the school. Read more about the storm damage and the aftermath here.

My blog has moved to WordPress. Visit the new site of my blog here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Shaw University

The Court Case Against Zahi Hawass

Zahi Hawass, the Minister of State for Antiquities of Egypt, has issued a statement explaining the decision in the court case Against him. Hawass explains the reason the court decided against him, but that the case has been dismissed and he has been allowed to continue to serve as the Minister of State for Antiquities of Egypt.

My blog has moved to WordPress. Visit the new home of my blog and read more about Hawass here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary


Tags: Archaeology, Zahi Hawass, Egypt

El Shaddai - Part 1

One of the names by which God is known in the Hebrew Bible is El Shaddai. This name has been popularized by a contemporary Christian song entitled “El Shaddai.” The real name of God is YHWH or Yahweh. This is the name God revealed to Moses and Israel on Mount Sinai and this is the name by which God himself said people should remember him: “This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered generation after generation” (Exodus 3:15).

Read my post on El Shaddai here.

My blog has moved to WordPress. Visit the new home of my blog, read my post on El Shaddai, then subscribe to my blog to receive new posts as they are published.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary


Tags: El Shaddai, Names of God, El, Elohim, El Elyon

Zahi Hawass Sentenced To Jail

Here is a surprising news story: Egyptian Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs Zahi Hawass has been sentenced to one year of hard labor. Read the story here.

My blog has moved to WordPress. Visit my new home here, read this post, subscribe to my blog, and receive my post as they are published.


Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

The Ancient City of Carchemish

Turkish authorities have announced that the site of the ancient city of Carchemish will be opened for excavation later this year. The excavation will be conducted by archaeologists from Italy and Japan. Read the post here.


My blog has moved to WordPress. Visit my new home and read the post on the ancient city of Carchemish.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary


Tags: Archaeology, Carchemish, Battle of Kadesh

A New Look at the Exodus

My blog today contains a video that presents a modern perspective of how the people of Israel came out of Egypt. Watch the video here.

My blog has moved to WordPress. Visit my blog, watch the video and then subscribe to my blog and receive my posts whenever they are published.



Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Exodus, Moses, Passover

The First Prosthesis

My post today discusses an artificial toe which was attached to the right foot of an Egyptian priest’s daughter. According to a scientist at the University of Manchester, the Egyptians probably were pioneers in prosthetic medicine.

My blog has moved to WordPress. To read my post today click here.

You can also subscribe to my blog at WordPress and receive my posts as they are published.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary


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Tags: Archaeology, Egypt, Prosthesis, Prosthetic Medicine

The Nails from Jesus’ Cross

Recently, Simcha Jacobovici, the Naked Archaeologist, announced that he probably found two of the iron nails that were used to nail Jesus to the cross. According to Jacobovici, these nails were found at the same time two ossuaries were found in 1990.

My blog has moved to WordPress. Visit the new site of my blog, read my post on “The Nails from Jesus’ Cross” and then subscribe to my blog to receive it regularly.

Click here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Crucifixion, Simcha Jacobovici, The Naked Archaeologist

I Am Moving

On August 16, 2005 I began blogging and my first post was posted on Blogger. I have been blogging with Blogger ever since. When Blogger decided not to support FTP, I decided to stay with Blogger by creating a subdomain to my blog, but no longer.

I have decided to move my blog to WordPress. The change may create a lot of inconvenience for me and for the readers of this blog. However, after evaluating both platforms, I have come to the conclusion that both the readers and I will be better served with the change.

I do not know when the change will take place. I have to change my existing nameserver with my domain registrar. Once the change is made and WordPress transfers my blog, my blog will no longer be available at this address.

Hopefully, the new address at WordPress will be http://claudemariottini.org. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you the date when the change will be effective. If all goes well, by next week I should be found at WordPress. Until then, I want to thank you for your support in visiting, reading, and recommending my blog to others.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

UPDATE: The new blog address is already up.


Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

If you enjoyed reading this post, subscribe to my posts here.

Tags: Blogging

Computer Crash

Last week I had one of those experiences that can affect your life for a day or longer. My computer crashed. Days later, I am still dealing with the consequences of having to live without a computer. It is not fun.

Fortunately, I have a back-up of the content of my computer, but it takes time to restore the programs, redo the files, and bring your life back to normal again. The problem is, that in the process of living without your main computer, life is disrupted, work that must be done lingers in limbo, processing emails slows down to a crawl, and it takes time to catch up with overdue work.

I still can remember the good old days when people lived without a computer. In those days people did not have to worry about computer crashes or the backlog of emails. Then, if you needed a letter sent or a paper typed, you just gave the material to your secretary and things got done on time, without typos, and with a professional appearance that is lacking in computer-generated emails.

I still remember when the university where I was teaching introduced the faculty to computers. The faculty were told that computers would simplify the workflow, that the office would go paperless, and that secretaries would no longer be needed. Computers would make the faculty more productive, money would be saved, and the work would be done much faster.

The university was right on one thing: secretaries would no longer be needed. Once the first computer was delivered to the faculty, the faculty lost their secretaries and they were left on their own to type their papers and other essential documents.

As a result, the number of typos increased whenever emails and other documents were prepared on computers. The faculty spent more time typing their own papers and writing their own memos. More documents were produced and the idea of the paperless office never became a reality.

In fact, with the advent of the computer and the copying machine, the amount of printed documents that crossed a faculty’s desk increased tenfold. File cabinets became almost nonexistent because documents were kept in computers, not filed for future reference. In order for the institution to become green, emails were never printed but archived for future reference.

Computers, then, became the primary file cabinet for important documents. A history of achievement was kept in various files in the computer. Precious mementos, such as photos, letters, notes to family and friends, all those valuable pieces of memorabilia were kept in the computer.

Then came the crash.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary


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Tags: Blogging, Computer

The Water Systems of the City of David

The Jerusalem Post has a video in which Danny Herman explains the water systems of the city of David. In the video, Herman discusses the tunnel the Canaanites used to water their agricultural terraces. He also discusses the Gihon Spring, Hezekiah’s tunnel, and other water systems in Jerusalem.

You can watch the video here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary


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Tags: Gihon Spring, Hezekiah’s Tunnel, City of David

Women, Football, and Domestic Violence

Renee James has a disturbing article about the relationship between women, football, and domestic violence. She wrote:

Then I read about the study by actual Ph.D.'s David Card and Gordon Dahl that may change my mind. Maybe we are that different. Between 1995 and 2006, Drs. Card and Dahl tracked the wins and losses of the following NFL teams: the Carolina Panthers, New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions and Tennessee Titans. That makes them exactly like millions of football fans. But they did something else. They noted when the teams lost a game they were favored to win, and checked the reports of domestic violence in those cities on those dates.

The depressing results of the research show that domestic violence assaults in those particular areas increased by about ten percent when the local NFL team lost a game they were supposed to win. A ten percent increase. For a football game, for God's sake.

Read the article here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary


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Tags: Women, Football, Domestic Violence

Dennis Prager on “Why the Almighty Isn't Doing Well These Days”

Dennis Prager, the host of a national daily radio show, gives four reasons why the Almighty God is not doing very well these days. His four reasons are strong and valid. It is a must read.

To read the article visit the Jewish World Review online.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

If you enjoyed reading this post, subscribe to my posts here.

Tags: Dennis Prager

The Greek Behind John 3:16

Joel Hoffman has prepared a video in which he explains the Greek behind John 3:16. This video is part of Joel’s project, Exploring the Bible videos series.

Joel’s presentation focuses on the proper translation of John 3:16.



Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary


If you enjoyed reading this post, subscribe to my posts here.

Tags: John 3:16

Exodus 20:17: “You Shall Not Covet”

Joel Hoffman has prepared a video in which he explains the Hebrew behind Exodus 20:17. This video is part of Joel’s project, Exploring the Bible videos series.

Joel’s presentation focuses on the proper translation of Exodus 20:17.



Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

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Tags: Covet

The Ancient Christian Codices: A Modern-Day Forgery

Thomas Verenna is working hard to keep the public informed about the discussion of the ancient books discovered in Jordan. Verenna wrote: “I have created a Listserv for Bibliobloggers (actual experts) for the purpose of sharing information and creating an accurate Wikipedia page so the correct status of these relics can be disseminated.”

The information Verenna provides indicates that those ancient codices are a modern-day forgery. Read Verenna’s post here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary


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Tags: Ancient Christian Books

The Prophecies of Joel

The latest issue of The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, Volume 11: Article 6 (2011) is available free online in PDF format:

Tova Ganzel, “The Shattered Dream. The Prophecies of Joel: A Bridge between Ezekiel and Haggai?"

Abstract:

Using a linguistic-topical examination, this article suggests that Joel’s prophecies reflect the historical reality in the land of Israel immediately following Cyrus’ Declaration (538 BCE); namely, the early days of the restoration period, preceding the building of the Temple, and perhaps even of the altar. From this perspective Joel fills the lacuna in prophetic literature between Ezekiel, whose latest prophecies date to c. 570 BCE, and Haggai and Zechariah, whose earliest prophecies date to the second year of Darius’ reign, 520 BCE.

To access the article visit the JHS online.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary


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Tags: Hebrew Bible, Joel

The First Ever Portrait of Jesus?

Many bloggers have written about the 70 ancient books which had been hidden in a cave in Jordan for nearly 2,000 years. The Verdict: most bloggers believe that the metal codices are forgeries.

The media has taken the story of the discovery of these 70 books and focused on the contribution these books make to the study of early Christianity.

One of the sensational claims made by a recent article is that one of the books contains “the first-ever portrait of Jesus Christ, possibly even created in the lifetime of those who knew him.” You can see the so-called picture of Jesus here.

As I said above, many bloggers are claiming that the books are forgeries. You can read their posts by following the links below.

http://danielomcclellan.wordpress.com/2011/03/31/peter-thonemann-on-the-lead-codices/

http://paleojudaica.blogspot.com/2011_03_27_archive.html#7454369078247746754

http://paleojudaica.blogspot.com/2011_03_27_archive.html#713567844176202329

http://forbiddengospels.blogspot.com/2011/03/lead-tablets-come-on.html


I am very skeptical about this portrait of Jesus. If the evaluations of the bloggers are true, then, the books are forgeries and so is the portrait of Jesus. However, readers must remember that no one has seen these books yet. The books have not been published and their content has not been evaluated by scholars. The plain fact is that the contents of these books have not been made available to the public yet.

The bloggers’ evaluations of the codices come from examining the photos published in several newspapers. Although the conclusions offered by these bloggers are very strong, it is better to hold judgment until the books are opened and their contents are evaluated by independent scholars.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

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Tags: Ancient Books, Portrait of Jesus

The Samaritan Pentateuch

Photo: A Samaritan Pentateuch Scroll

Courtesy: Photo Courtesy of Haaretz.com



Haaretz has published an excellent review of The Pentateuch: The Samaritan Version and the Masoretic Version, edited and annotated by Avraham Tal and Moshe Florentin. Tel Aviv University Press (Hebrew),763 pages, NIS 149. The review was written by Yair Hoffman, Professor Emeritus of Bible at Tel Aviv University.

Below is an excerpt from the review by Professor Hoffman:

The Samaritan community is comprised today of fewer than 1,000 people, who live primarily in Nablus and Holon. During the Samaritan golden age in the fourth century, it had up to one million adherents, living in all parts of the country. The Samaritans revere the Pentateuch - they have their own version of it - as the sacred part of the Bible, and this serves as the sole source of religious law for them. They view the Masoretic text as a forgery created by Ezra Hasofer in the fifth century.

There are clear differences between the Samaritan version of the Pentateuch and the Masoretic text. The most conspicuous difference is the writing itself: Letters in the Samaritan Torah are similar to ancient Canaanite-Phoenician writing (an example of such lettering can be found on the NIS 10 coin, above the image of the palm tree ); scholars acknowledge that such letters represent the original writing of the Torah, which was subsequently replaced by our familiar Hebrew lettering. Another conspicuous difference between the Masoretic and the Samaritan texts is the lack of diacritical and cantillation marks in the Samaritan version.

Linguistically, the Samaritan text shares traits with other writings and cultural phenomena of the Second Temple period. "The Samaritan version went through a process of linguistic adaptation and adoption by members of the community; and it is no surprise that this version has features resembling language patterns in the Second Temple Period," write Tal and Florentin.

In the preface to their book, the authors cite 6,000 differences between the Samaritan and Masoretic versions. They divide the discrepancies into two broad categories: unintentional ones, the category that most of the differences fall into, and deliberate ones, which are subdivided into linguistic editing and content editing. The main intention of linguistic editing is to "remove grammatical forms and structures that seem irregular," the authors write. As for content editing, the authors describe several different forms, including "logical arrangement of the writing" and "religious-ideological revision."

Most Christians have no knowledge of the Samaritan Pentateuch. For this reason, I encourage readers to read Hoffman’s review to gain an overview of the book and learn a little about the Samaritan Pentateuch.

You can read the review by visiting Haaretz online.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

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Tags: Samaritan Pentateuch, Yair Hoffman, Avraham Tal, Moshe Florentin