1) The AP reports that researchers at Stonehendge now think that the site originally began as a burial ground:

New studies of cremated human remains excavated from the site suggest that about 500 years before the Stonehenge we know today was built, a larger stone circle was erected at the same site as a community graveyard, researchers said Saturday.

2) The BBC reports that a recently excavated may include a mythical “Viking Sunstone”:

An oblong crystal the size of a cigarette packet was next to a pair of dividers – suggesting it was part of the navigational equipment.

It has now been shown that it is of Iceland spar – a form of calcite known for its property of diffracting light into two separate rays.

Testing a similar crystal, the scientists proved that by rotation it was possible to find the point where the two beams converge – indicating the direction of the Sun.

They say it works on cloudy days, and when the Sun has set.

As an extra bonus, I’d like to point out that Icelandic spar plays a prominent role in Thomas Pynchon’s novel Against the Day.

Comic courtesy of Scenes From A Multiverse

My Mosaic 1 students start on Greek lit this week (a Journey that will take the better part of the month. While we don’t read Epicurus in class, the echoes of his fiery rants on theodicy will resound in our ears through the end of the year.

After too long a period of time, I’m trying to get back in the writing saddle. Teaching a 4/4 load with an additional summer course for several years has really eaten into my writing and research, but I need to get out some thoughts on Gilgamesh.

With new translations (and “translations”), new manuscripts, and new monographs circling about, my well-worn copies of George’s translation are feeling more and more out of dated. I’m hoping to post snipits of translation here on a weekly basis and get some feedback from the scholarly community (and layfolk as well).

Happy Star Wars Day everyone.

BTW: I swear I’ll get back to regular blogging when this semester is over! See you all on the other side of the semester divide.

Update: Here’s the “greater” post of the month’s biblical blogging activity. More links, more posts, more happy goodness.

Courtesy of SMBC.

CALL FOR PAPERS

2012 SBL Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting

Hyatt Regency New Brunswick

March 15-16, 2012

Proposal Due Date: December 5, 2011

Dear Colleagues,

The Executive Committee for the Mid-Atlantic Region of the Society of Biblical Literature (MAR-SBL) cordially invites you to submit proposals for the 2012 MAR-SBL Meeting. The meeting will be held jointly with the Mid-Atlantic and New England/Maritimes Regions of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) on March 15-16, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

We are excited to announce that Dr. P. Kyle McCarter, William Foxwell Albright Professor of Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies of the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Johns Hopkins University, will serve as our plenary speaker and Dr. Stephen Cook, Catherine N. McBurney Professor of Old Testament Language and Literature at Virginia Theological Seminary, will deliver our presidential address.

Please consider offering a paper proposal in any area of biblical studies. Any SBL member may submit a proposal regardless of his or her region. This year’s MAR-AAR/SBL theme is “Interpreting Pluralism and Multiculturalism” (defined broadly). Proposals related to the theme of interpreting pluralism in the biblical text and ancient society and of interpretive pluralism and multiculturalism today are encouraged but not required.

Proposal Guidelines and Submissions

The proposal should state the paper’s topic and purpose and give some indication as to how the argument will proceed. Provide enough context to show that you are aware of the basic literature in the field and summarize the argument of your presentation. You may submit only one proposal for the MAR-SBL meeting.

To submit a proposal, find the section that you feel best fits your presentation. See the list at the end of this document. Then, email a 150-250 word proposal (250 words maximum) to the section head for the appropriate section. When sending your email, you MUST title the subject line of your email: “2012 MAR-SBL PAPER PROPOSAL” (use all capital letters).  Proposals must include your full name, title, institution (or location), email address, and, as available, your phone number, mobile number, and mailing address. Also, it is very important that you indicate any date or time restrictions that you have when you send your proposal. While we try to accommodate all requests, we cannot guarantee that everyone will present during his or her preferred date/time slot. In general, we assume that those submitting proposals will keep March 17-18 open. Proposals are due on MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011, but we encourage you to submit as soon as possible. Proposals that do not conform to these guidelines may be disregarded. You should be notified by the section head regarding the status your proposal by mid-January 2012.

Each section head will determine the time allotted for each paper presentation. Presentations will generally last 20-25 minutes, although presenters are encouraged to set aside a few minutes of this time to allow for questions. Usually, your final paper to be presented should be about 10 double-spaced, single-sided pages. Please do not exceed your allotted time out of respect for your fellow presenters.

Also, we sincerely regret that we cannot supply any audio-visual equipment due to prohibitive rental costs. So please plan accordingly.

Important Pre-Registration Information

Online preregistration will be available in January through the AAR website (NOT THE SBL WEBSITE). If you are an SBL member, you may still register for the meeting through the AAR website even if you are not an AAR member.  Simply check the SBL member box on the online pre-registration form. You will be notified by email when the online preregistration is live. Please utilize the AAR website for registration as it saves paper and helps the region advance the efforts of SBL to foster not only biblical scholarship but also environmental stewardship and fulfill the national AAR mandate to promote environmentally sustainable gatherings.

Presenters are REQUIRED to pre-register for the conference to appear in the program book.

 

Important Hotel Information

The Hyatt Regency offers online hotel room registration for the regional meeting athttps://resweb.passkey.com/Resweb.do?mode=welcome_ei_new&eventID=5388435. In order to receive the discounted conference rate of $119 when booking online, you must reserve your room through this website and NOT through the general Hyatt website.

Alternatively you may call Hyatt Central Reservations at 888-421-1442 to reserve rooms. Please indicate that you are attending the AAR/SBL conference so that you can receive the conference rate. Discounted single and double-occupant hotel rooms ($109 plus state and local taxes) will be held untilMarch 1, 2012. After that date, normal hotel rates will apply. Since only fifty discounted rooms have been reserved for Wednesday, March 14, and Thursday, March 15, and fifteen discounted rooms have been reserved for Friday, March 16, we strongly encourage you to reserve your room early. Parking is available at the Hyatt for conference participants at a discounted rate of $6 a day.

Hyatt Regency New Brunswick

Two Albany Street

New Brunswick, NJ 08901Phone: 732-873-1234

Fax: 732-873-1382

http://newbrunswick.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp

 

The New Brunswick Hyatt is three blocks from the local Amtrak/New Jersey Transit station, with trains running from Newark Liberty International Airport, New York City, and Philadelphia (via Trenton).

 

SBL Conference Awards

MAR-SBL will confer the Howard Clark Kee Award of $100 for the best student paper by an SBL student from the region. We will also participate in the SBL Regional Scholars Program, sponsored by the society-wide conference of Regional Coordinators. Our region’s nominee for this honor will receive a $100 prize upfront, in addition to whatever awards and recognition she or he may receive in the society-wide program. To qualify for the SBL Regional Scholars Program scholars should be at least ABD and no more than four years past the receipt of their Ph.D. Women and underrepresented minorities are encouraged to apply. Those interested in either of these prizes should copy their full paper to Robert Miller (millerb@cua.edu) when submitting a proposal to the appropriate section head by December 5, 2011. Please clearly indicate: (1) for which prize or prizes you would like to be considered and (2) your exact student status (Kee Award) and/or your exact status between ABD and when you received your Ph.D. (Regional Scholars Program).

 

List of Sections with Section Head Email

Pentateuch/Law

James Getz, Temple University, jimgetz@temple.edu

                                                                                                       

Deuteronomistic History/Former Prophets  

David Lamb, Biblical Theological Seminary, dlamb@biblical.edu

 

Latter Prophets

Mark Leuchter, Temple University, mark.leuchter@temple.edu

 

Wisdom Literature/Writings

John Herbst, Union Presbyterian Seminary, John.Herbst@upsem.edu

Second Temple/Apocalyptic Literature

Matthew Gordley, Regent University, mgordley@regent.edu

 

Gospels/Acts

Kim Paffenroth, Iona College, kimpaffenroth@msn.com 

 

Epistles                    

Robert Seesengood, Albright College, rseesengood@alb.edu  and Jason Coker Jason@wiltonbaptist.org.

If you are unsure which section best fits your proposal, you may contact our regional coordinator, Robert Miller (millerb@cua.edu). Priority will be given, however, to proposals that best fit with the sections listed above. You may also direct general inquires about the meeting to Robert Miller. All other inquires regarding your proposal should be sent to the appropriate section head.

Regards,

Robert Miller

Mid-Atlantic Region SBL Regional Coordinator

Of course, this isn’t the earliest reboot. For that you’d need to look at some of the distinctive in different editions of the Gilgamesh epic. Still, this is a lovely way of illustrating some of the “continuity errors” in the larger biblical corpus. I also recommend  James McGrath‘s post relating the latest debacle from Lucas to epic storytelling in the ancient world.

(Courtesy of SMBC)