January 2007 Archives
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January 31, 2007
How to Handle a Broken Text
I continue to make progress in my work on the Taanack letters. In fact, except for a couple small loose ends and a methodological decision, I've been done for three or four weeks. The other day I was able to...Read all of "How to Handle a Broken Text"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:32 PM
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January 30, 2007
A Little News on Those Little People
It has been a while since I wrote on the Hobbit (Homo floresiensis?) and I really don't have much to say now that others haven't already said. But there is some news. afarensis (twice), Anthropology.net, and John Hawks have commented...Read all of "A Little News on Those Little People"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:38 AM
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January 29, 2007
Creation in Mesopotamian Context
Over at Codex, Tyler Williams has started what promises to be an abnormally interesting series called "Ideas of Origins and Creation in Ancient Mesopotamia." His first post outlines the pitfalls of such a survey and discusses methodology. He also provides...Read all of "Creation in Mesopotamian Context"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:48 PM
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January 28, 2007
Our New Toy
Once up on a time I would take on just about any type of automotive repair job from routine maintenance to rebuilding engines. But I'm afraid those days are long gone. Just take a look under the hood of...
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:50 PM
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January 27, 2007
What Do You Get When You Mix Kafka and Kurtág?
Life: sometimes exhilarating, sometimes joyous, sometimes confusing, sometimes depressing, sometimes horrifying, often humorous Last night Shirley and I went to hear Tony Arnold and Movses Pogossian perform György Kurtág's Kafka Fragments, Op. 24 (1986), for soprano and violin. Normally we...Read all of "What Do You Get When You Mix Kafka and Kurtág?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:46 PM
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January 26, 2007
Shifting Back Ten Centuries?
The other day Jim Davila reported on PaleoJudaica the public display of the "earliest continuous Semitic text ever deciphered." The Semitic material is written in Egyptian Hieroglyphics and is embedded in an Old Egyptian inscription that has been known to...Read all of "Shifting Back Ten Centuries?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 5:25 PM
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January 25, 2007
Dennett on the Evaporation of the Mystique of Religion
Aydin Örstan over at Snail's Tales directs us to a reflection by Daniel Dennett, Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University, on what makes him optimistic. It begins, I’m so optimistic that I expect to live to see the evaporation of...Read all of "Dennett on the Evaporation of the Mystique of Religion"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:31 AM
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January 24, 2007
An Interesting Take on Dawkins
Brian Leiter points out a discussion by physicist and astronomer Steven Weinberg in which Weinberg discusses Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion, the historical larger context of its claims and offers a truly unique, and I think correct, critique. Where I...Read all of "An Interesting Take on Dawkins"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:28 PM
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January 23, 2007
Perhaps a Little Gasoline Will Put Out This Fire
Joe Cathey and with him Stephen Cook are rubbing up against Jim West and a small fire has erupted from the friction. I thought a little gasoline might help things along. The issue is whether Finkelstein's low chronology best represents...Read all of "Perhaps a Little Gasoline Will Put Out This Fire"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:15 AM
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January 22, 2007
Working with Probabilities not the Possibilities
What follows is a short reflection on methodology. A post I read over the weekend prompted this reflection but I want to generalize it to some extent. Philosophers and mathematicians have written books on this subject, so please treat this...Read all of "Working with Probabilities not the Possibilities"
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:43 PM
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January 20, 2007
Hanan at Beth Shemesh
In Stephen Cook's review of Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman's The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology’s New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, he mentions the discovery of an inscribed game board at Beth Shemesh. Shlomo...Read all of "Hanan at Beth Shemesh"
Posted by Duane Smith at 6:09 PM
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January 19, 2007
Ideology Indeed
Jim West is reviewing a DVD based on Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman's The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology’s New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, so Stephen Cook decided to post his review of the...
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:40 PM
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An Egyptian Word in the Vocabulary of an Akkadian Letter to Taanach
Some time ago, I wrote a post on the possibility of there being Egyptian loanwords in Epigraphic Hebrew. I found one, but it likely came into Hebrew in an indirect way. Well, it turns out that there is likely an...Read all of "An Egyptian Word in the Vocabulary of an Akkadian Letter to Taanach"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:33 PM
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January 17, 2007
In the Face of the Threat of Congressional Oversight . . .
. . . things change. I cite two headlines from today's news: "U.S., N. Korea in talks again amid breakthrough hopes" from Reuters and "Administration to let court monitor domestic spying" from CNN. The first has been the reasonable approach...Read all of "In the Face of the Threat of Congressional Oversight . . ."
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:37 PM
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January 16, 2007
A Reminder of Our Responsibility
Bora (Coturnix) Zivkovic has announced the publication of The Open Laboratory, a collection of fifty of the best science blog posts ever. While a few of my efforts were nominated, none made the cut. And this is as it should...Read all of "A Reminder of Our Responsibility"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:31 PM
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January 15, 2007
Ba'al and El at Kuntillet Ajrud
The inscriptions on the pithio from Kuntillet Ajrud seem to get a disproportionate amount of publicity. Perhaps this is because of the implied relationship between Yahweh and Asherah: "husband and wife(?)" But there are several other inscriptions from Ajrud that...Read all of "Ba'al and El at Kuntillet Ajrud"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:32 PM
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January 14, 2007
Is it "His Asherat" or Simply "Asheratah"?
The letters ’šrth occur five or six times in Hebrew epigraphic texts. This post is about the final he. If you don't give a he about the final he, don't read this post. One can see this string of letters...Read all of "Is it "His Asherat" or Simply "Asheratah"?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:19 PM
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January 13, 2007
What is Biological Evolution?
Laurence Moran at Sandwalk has a great discussion of the minimum definition of biological evolution. The answered is simple, Biological "evolution is a process that results in heritable changes in a population spread over many generations." The discussion is engaging....Read all of "What is Biological Evolution?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 6:40 PM
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Confusing Current Facts With Feared Future Results
In Secretary of Defense Roberts Gates' opening statement to the Senate Arms Services Committee yesterday he listed what he saw as five negative consequences of "failure" in Iraq. Senator Jim Webb, in his own statement prior to questioning Gates noted...Read all of "Confusing Current Facts With Feared Future Results"
Posted by Duane Smith at 6:24 PM
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January 12, 2007
One Cool Virgin
Upon seeing the ice formation pictured above, one Stephan Santos, a customer of the grocery store in Texas where it was "discovered" said, "I wanted to cry when I saw it. My mom has all saints in her house....
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:22 PM
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January 10, 2007
Send Them Tomorrow
Tanaach letter TT 5 ends with these words: 13) uš-še-ra-šu ˹nu˺ Send them (all) to me 14) u4-mi ma-ḫa-ri tomorrow 15) a-na URU ma-gi-id-/da to Megiddo. [Please note: if...Read all of "Send Them Tomorrow"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:35 AM
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January 9, 2007
Biblical Studies Carnival - Best of 2006
Tyler Williams as produced a Carnival of the 2006 Biblical Studies Carnivals over at Codex. I think his choices for each month's best post were excellent, including his choice of my series on scribal schools. Tyler wisely didn't attempt to...Read all of "Biblical Studies Carnival - Best of 2006"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:11 PM
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January 7, 2007
The Persepolis Fortification Archive Project
I ran across a site that should be of interest to anyone who studies the Persian Period. But then, those who study the Persian Period may already know about it. The site is called The Persepolis Fortification Archive Project. The...Read all of "The Persepolis Fortification Archive Project"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:52 PM
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January 6, 2007
When the Unthinkable Becomes a Possibility
Israel has drawn up secret plans to destroy Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons. So says The Sunday Times in the UK. Update: January 7, 2007 Israeli Foreign Ministry's office denies this report, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev...Read all of "When the Unthinkable Becomes a Possibility"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:56 PM
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The Gospel of Judas, One More Time
This morning's Los Angeles Times has a front-page article on the controversy over the publication of the Coptic Gospel of Judas. The article by Times staff writer Louis Sahagun contains little news. Anyone who has followed this story will be...Read all of "The Gospel of Judas, One More Time"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:32 AM
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January 4, 2007
A Convocation on Job
If you are going to be in the Southern California area on Monday, March 19 of this year and are interested in the book of Job, you'll want to attend A Convocation on Job at The School of Theology at...Read all of "A Convocation on Job"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:30 PM
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January 3, 2007
What Is Really Going to Happen in 2007 and What Is Not
It seems that Pat Robertson is back in the predicting business. Every year at this time a cadre of soothsayers, spiritualists, clairvoyants and other frauds think it their obligation to enlighten us with their predictions for the coming year. Many...Read all of "What Is Really Going to Happen in 2007 and What Is Not"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:19 PM
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January 2, 2007
I Don't Believe It
But I do believe something else. According to an Associated Press-AOL News poll "25 percent [of Americans] anticipate the second coming of Jesus Christ" in 2007. I just don't believe it. If 25% of American said they anticipated the second...Read all of "I Don't Believe It"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:16 AM
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January 1, 2007
Happy New Year!
I wish the World Peace. I wish you Health and Happiness. Let us all learn from our mistakes....
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:07 AM
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