June 2008 Archives
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June 30, 2008
David Ker's Parody Carnival
David Ker suggested a parody Biblical Studies meme and Iyov tagged me by reference. While this may have started as an exercise for the Biblical Studies community, it works very well for the larger Blogosphere as well. Since many bibliobloggers...Read all of "David Ker's Parody Carnival"
Posted by Duane Smith at 11:07 AM
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June 29, 2008
The Letter of Gilgamesh: A Translation
While I work my way through a bunch of other texts, I thought I'd post my working translation of the whole Letter of Gilgamesh. It's what started me down a seemly endless path. I've posted on this text a few...Read all of "The Letter of Gilgamesh: A Translation"
Posted by Duane Smith at 6:26 PM
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June 27, 2008
The Memeology Meme
I ran across this at Aydin Örstan's Snails Tales who I saw it at Katzmeow who got it from . . . . Well, you get the idea. TECHNOLOGY What is the wallpaper on your computer? Just a light blue...Read all of "The Memeology Meme"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:44 PM
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June 25, 2008
On Proving a Negative
John Wilkins at Evolving Thoughts has an abnormally interesting post on proving a negative. Of course, in formal logic it is quite possible to prove a negative, no harder than proving a positive. John also explains where the idea that...Read all of "On Proving a Negative"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:02 PM
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June 24, 2008
The Problem With Those Unaffiliated
The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life just published the latest "US religious landscape survey" and it is deserving of more study than I am able to give it at this time. There are a couple of rather strange...Read all of "The Problem With Those Unaffiliated"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:43 PM
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June 23, 2008
Classical Texts Online
Ben Smith and Roger Pearse of Thoughts on Antiquity have found two abnormally interesting online sources. Roger directs us to a rather large collection of many classical texts in English translation, mostly from old Loebs, at a site called Theoi,...Read all of "Classical Texts Online"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:18 PM
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June 22, 2008
Tit for Tat
Yesterday John Hobbins at Ancient Hebrew Poetry wrote on Isaiah 66:11 and the Hebrew word זִיז. Correctly, I think, John says it means "nipple" there and should be translated as such. En passant John refers us to the Ugaritic text...
Posted by Duane Smith at 12:46 PM
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June 21, 2008
I Should Have Known Better
I thought my second post on the colophon of one of the Letter of Gilgamesh tablets would be just a vague memory by now. I thought I'd report on a couple of other examples of tablets with ša itabbalu DN...Read all of "I Should Have Known Better"
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:44 PM
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June 20, 2008
With Just One Exception He Taught Values
I don't know if you've been following the news of John Freshwater and his pedagogical exploits. Mr. Freshwater is was a middle school science teacher in Mount Vernon, Ohio. Today the Mount Vernon School Board fired him for teaching creationism...Read all of "With Just One Exception He Taught Values"
Posted by Duane Smith at 4:47 PM
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June 18, 2008
The German Language and Involuntary Swearing
I've mentioned before that my ability to read German is limited by frequent outbursts of involuntary swearing. I'm sure that a native speaker or anyone who truly knows the language does not have this problem; but I do. Just last...Read all of "The German Language and Involuntary Swearing"
Posted by Duane Smith at 11:02 AM
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June 17, 2008
The Story in a Colophon, Part I
Text A of the three copies of the Letter of Gilgamesh from Sultantepe in Turkey (aka STT 40) has a rather complex two part colophon. One of the copies has no colophon preserved and the third only has qātēII m[...Read all of "The Story in a Colophon, Part I"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:55 PM
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June 16, 2008
Where Can I Find Your Book?
WorldCat reports the location of libraries that hold books by specific authors. The only book that I have ever been associated with is Ras Shamra Parallels: the texts from Ugarit and the Hebrew Bible, volume II. I was one of...Read all of "Where Can I Find Your Book?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 4:35 PM
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June 13, 2008
So Many Papers, So Little Time!
Charles at Awilum reports on Karel van der Toorn's paper, "From Catalogue to Canon? An Assessment of the Library Hypothesis as a Contribution to the Debate about the Biblical Canon" in Bibliotheca Orientalis 63.1-2 (Jan-Apr 2006), 5-15 (subscription required). The...Read all of "So Many Papers, So Little Time!"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:08 AM
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June 12, 2008
Habeas Corpus, What a Concept
By a five to four margin, the Supreme Court of these United States upheld the constitutional privilege of habeas corpus for you and the detainees at Guantanamo. I just can't imagine why the ruling wasn't unanimous. It does show how...Read all of "Habeas Corpus, What a Concept"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:18 PM
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June 11, 2008
Tool Making, Brains and Speech
One of my abnormal interests that I don't post on very often is the origin of speech. The number of areas of competence required (anatomy, neurology, genetics, history of early art and technology, linguistics, etc) are beyond my ability to...Read all of "Tool Making, Brains and Speech"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:49 PM
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June 10, 2008
An Ambiguous Post on the Gilgamesh Letter
The other day I mentioned a supposed letter from Gilgamesh to some king. In that post I focused on the expression kīma nēši, "like a lion" in line 13. Today I'd want to discuss a couple of abnormally interesting things...Read all of "An Ambiguous Post on the Gilgamesh Letter"
Posted by Duane Smith at 4:01 PM
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June 9, 2008
Bill Moyers at the National Conference for Media Reform
If you haven't heard this, please listen to it. If you have heard it, why not listen to it again?...Read all of "Bill Moyers at the National Conference for Media Reform"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:57 AM
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June 8, 2008
Excuses, Excuses
If you think I haven't posted much in the last few days, you are correct. In part, we've been celebrating our anniversary and in part, I've been dealing with a bunch of computer and server problems. And just to add...Read all of "Excuses, Excuses"
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:38 PM
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June 7, 2008
Four Stone Hearth #42
Four Stone Hearth #42 is up at Neuroanthropology. Take a look; I'm sure you'll find several things of abnormal interest. I did....Read all of "Four Stone Hearth #42"
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June 6, 2008
A Work In Progress
Forty-four years ago today, I married Shirley Ann Pletcher. But the most amazing thing about that event on June 6, 1964 is that she married me! Yes, we did pay good money for that picture. Yes, her family name begins...Read all of "A Work In Progress"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:31 AM
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June 3, 2008
That Was Fast
Well, that didn't take long. Volume 98:1, June 2008, of Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie is now available and free online. I haven't had time to read any of the papers but here is the table of contents of...
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:08 PM
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In Which I Equivocate Like About a Lion
John Hobbins has done a preliminary post on a rather famous problem in Psalm 22:17 (verse 16 in most translations). He promises a follow-up in which all problems are solved and the International Standard Version (ISV) translation is vindicated. John...
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Posted by Duane Smith at 7:41 PM
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June 2, 2008
I've Read All Those Blogs
I'm going to be a bit of a spoil sport. N. T. Wrong, the Free Universalist Interfaith Bishop of Durham, North Carolina, has tagged me to perpetuate a meme that is nearly the inverse of another meme. Bishop Wrong may...Read all of "I've Read All Those Blogs"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:56 PM
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June 1, 2008
3D Imaging and the Problem with Photos and Casts
I intended to write on this when it first appeared but somehow I didn't get around to it. An Italian team is working to make three-dimensional models of clay tablets from Bagdad's museums. You can read about it on the...Read all of "3D Imaging and the Problem with Photos and Casts"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:35 PM
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