December 2007 Archives
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December 31, 2007
How Did I Do On My 2007 Predictions?
In January, 2007, I made ten predictions for the coming twelve months. Unless something quite unexpected happens in the next couple of hours, I think I'm safe in saying that I did very well: 92.5% correct. Some may question my...Read all of "How Did I Do On My 2007 Predictions?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:26 PM
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December 29, 2007
Please, Send One Scribe ASAP
Charles at Awilum has called our attention to several papers that relate to the general subject of ancient authorship and literacy. While each is abnormally interesting in its own way, I found Parpola's paper on the neo-Assyrian tablet K 652...Read all of "Please, Send One Scribe ASAP"
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December 28, 2007
An Evil Eye On KTU 1.96
In a recent paper, Nili Wazana eyes Qohelet (Ecclesiastes) 4:4-8. What does she see? The Evil Eye, that's what. Well at least she thinks there just might be several allusions to the evil eye in Qohelet 4:4-8. Part of her...Read all of "An Evil Eye On KTU 1.96"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:50 AM
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December 27, 2007
Benazir Bhutto's Assassination and Presidential Politics
Paul Krugman sure got this one right, To all the presidential campaigns trying to claim that the atrocity in Pakistan somehow proves that they have the right candidate — please stop. This isn’t about you; in fact, as far as...Read all of "Benazir Bhutto's Assassination and Presidential Politics"
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:40 PM
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The Big Theological Issue
The Council of Chalcedon and monophysitism? No. The real issue is the placement of ladders. Seven people were injured on Thursday when Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests came to blows in a dispute over how to clean the Church of...Read all of "The Big Theological Issue"
Posted by Duane Smith at 12:36 PM
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December 24, 2007
Merry Christmas
This time of year I like it when people wish me a Merry Christmas. I enjoy using that greeting myself. It is comfortable; it is traditional; it is secular. Of all the holidays that have Christian origins, Christmas (and, I...
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:16 AM
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December 23, 2007
I'm a Grade 6 Athorist
Get over to Clioaudio and let Alun explain what this means. In the course of his explanation, he will also provide insight into the views of Barry Morgan (the Archbishop of Wales), Richard Dawkins, Theo Hobson, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel...Read all of "I'm a Grade 6 Athorist"
Posted by Duane Smith at 4:00 PM
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December 22, 2007
What to Do?
I've been working on an idea involving literacy at Ugarit. Specifically, I'm looking at three tablets that may have been written by semi-literates or literate elites rather than by professional scribes or their active students. There may be more than...
Posted by Duane Smith at 11:24 AM
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December 21, 2007
To Jean Bottéro and Lawrence Toombs
Jean Bottéro died last Saturday, December 15, 2007. He was born in 1914. Bottéro was a leading Assyriologist who took unabashed delight in his craft. In his essay "In Defense of a Useless Science" Bottéro wrote, For a long time...Read all of "To Jean Bottéro and Lawrence Toombs "
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:41 PM
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December 20, 2007
The 30th Installment of Four Stone Hearth Is Up
The GreenBelt has the 30th Installment of Four Stone Hearth up and running. I always enjoy this anthropology carnival. While there are many items that readers of Abnormal Interests will enjoy, I think Alun's thoughts about deep history may be...Read all of "The 30th Installment of Four Stone Hearth Is Up"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:35 PM | TrackBack (0) | Abnormal Archive Link |
December 19, 2007
I-35 - God's Highway
This is a little hard to get my brain around. Some of the faithful believe that in order to fulfill the prophecy of I-35 being the "holy" highway, it needs some intensive prayer first. So we watched as about 25...Read all of "I-35 - God's Highway"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:48 PM | TrackBack (0) | Abnormal Archive Link |
On Our Multi-Tiered College System
Iyov has an interesting post on the history of United States history textbooks and how history our Universities teach history. Now part of the passing of this textbook [Morison and Commager - des] reflects changes in fashion (social history now...Read all of "On Our Multi-Tiered College System"
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December 18, 2007
The King is Dead, Long Live the King
A couple of days ago I wrote a post that contained several blessings, a few of them from Ugarit. All of those blessing came from letters. But as I indicated there, not all blessings come from letters. KTU 1.161 is...Read all of "The King is Dead, Long Live the King"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:02 PM
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December 17, 2007
Reason and Realism
Here are my results from the Ethical Philosophy Selector. Not too many surprises here. If there needs to be a theologian high in my ethics profile, Aquinas is certainly better than Augustine. Via Iyov and Doug Chaplin at Metacatholic....Read all of "Reason and Realism"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:05 AM | TrackBack (0) | Abnormal Archive Link |
December 16, 2007
Happy Birthday to the Transistor
A dear friend sent this along. It is from the latest edition of The Final Report. The first working transistor was created 60 years ago on December 16, 1947, at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey. The three inventors, William Schockley,...Read all of "Happy Birthday to the Transistor"
Posted by Duane Smith at 11:44 AM
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December 15, 2007
Rated R for Metaphysics
Here is how Manohla Dargis of the New York Times described the rating of Coppola's new movie "Youth without Youth." "Youth Without Youth” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). Gun violence, sexual congress, female nudity,...Read all of "Rated R for Metaphysics"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:52 AM
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December 14, 2007
The Priestly Benediction as a Beefed Up Letter Opening
The other day I was wondering if the so called Priestly Benediction in Numbers 6:22-26 might have its origin in epistolary address and greetings formulas. Well, I still haven't found any secondary sources that address this possibility. If you know...Read all of "The Priestly Benediction as a Beefed Up Letter Opening"
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:28 PM
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December 13, 2007
Top Ten Discoveries of 2007
Afarensis directs us to Archaeology Magazine's top ten (or is it top nineteen) discoveries of 2007. The Nebo-Sarsekim Cuneiform Tablet is second on the list. But it wasn't really discovered in 2007. Only what it said was revealed this year....Read all of "Top Ten Discoveries of 2007"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:52 PM | TrackBack (0) | Abnormal Archive Link |
The Archaeology of Blogging
Bill Caraher has an abnormally interesting post on "Blogging Archaeology" over at the new Ancient World Bloggers Group. Give it a look. This post is the second in a series called "Blogging Archaeology or the Archaeology of Blogging: Metablogging the...Read all of "The Archaeology of Blogging"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:36 PM | TrackBack (0) | Abnormal Archive Link |
December 11, 2007
Is the Book of Numbers Still In the Torah?
Ever since John Hobbins posted a somewhat critical review of Ziony Zevit's recent paper "Scratched Silver and Painted Walls: Can We Date Biblical Texts Archaeologically?" and Jim West wrote an even more critical post on John's post, I've been thinking...Read all of "Is the Book of Numbers Still In the Torah?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 4:02 PM | TrackBack (0) | Abnormal Archive Link |
December 10, 2007
A New Home for My Research
This morning I received an unsolicited email from Wiley-Blackwell with the following title, "A new home for your research." I was so excited. Someone was asking me to publish something, anything, in his or her journal. But then I read...Read all of "A New Home for My Research"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:06 AM
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December 9, 2007
The Wadi Qelt
Yesterday Todd Bolen at Bible Places wrote about an article by Sami Backleh. Backleh, a biologist, reported on his birding outing in and around the Wadi Qelt. The article is abnormally interesting. So are Todd's pictures of the Wadi Qelt....Posted by Duane Smith at 8:20 PM | TrackBack (0) | Abnormal Archive Link |
Fun With a Hieroglyph Editor
I've been wasting my time with a new toy, the JSesh hieroglyph editor, written by S. Rosmorduc. Nearly everyone who thinks about the Near East bumps up against hieroglyphic Egyptian from time to time. It just can't (and shouldn't) be...Read all of "Fun With a Hieroglyph Editor"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:10 AM | TrackBack (0) | Abnormal Archive Link |
December 8, 2007
An Evening of Music
As an infidel, I don't miss much by not going to church. But one thing that I do miss is coral music. So last night Shirley and I got a coral music fix at the annual Holiday Concert by the...Read all of "An Evening of Music"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:21 AM
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December 6, 2007
A Couple of Blogs of Interest ("and More")
Ancient World Bloggers Group is a new meta-blog. This group blog has the following mission: A space where we can communicate notices of real world bloggers meetings; a space to arrange and coordinate themed blogfests; a space to review the...Read all of "A Couple of Blogs of Interest ("and More")"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:58 PM
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December 5, 2007
Where the Real Action Is
Afarensis made me write this post. These are exciting times for that subset of Syro-Palestinian archaeology that on occasion informs our understanding of the Hebrew Bible and on very rare occasion is informed by the Hebrew Bible. The excitement is...Read all of "Where the Real Action Is"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:56 PM | TrackBack (0) | Abnormal Archive Link |
Four Stone Hearth is Up at Remote Central
Drop by Remote Central and take a tour of recent posts on anthropology. There's a lot of great stuff to be found there....Read all of "Four Stone Hearth is Up at Remote Central"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:36 PM
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December 2, 2007
Socrates' Taste for Learning
This is Socrates, aka Soc. Normally he's a good boy or so he thinks he is. He looks like he is behaving in this picture. But looks deceive. What he is doing is trying to figure out why I yelled...Read all of "Socrates' Taste for Learning"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:20 PM
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December 1, 2007
How Shallow Was Ancient Hebrew?
Some scholars have suggested that it is easier to learn to read and write languages written with "shallower orthographies" than languages with "deeper orthographies." Not only is this issue supposedly germane to literacy, it also enters into discussions of scribal...Read all of "How Shallow Was Ancient Hebrew?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:28 AM
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