February 2019
Vol. 7, No. 2
The Post-2002 Fragments and the Scholars Who Turned Them Into Dead Sea Scrolls
By Årstein Justnes and Josephine Munch Rasmussen
The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947 and fully published by 2001. But the next year fragments began appearing on the antiquities market, ready to satisfy eager collectors.
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Salt in Mesopotamia: A Blessing and A Curse
By Sebastian Fink
Salt was common in Mesopotamia; Assyriologists tend to ignore it. A closer look shows Mesopotamian writers were concerned with salinization and that salt was an integral part of diet, industry, and magic.
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The Golden Pome: The Pomegranate from its Deepest Roots to Modern Culture
By Federica Spagnoli
Pomegranates are renowned as health food but that association is very ancient. And it should not be surprising that pomegranates are also associated with powerful deities across the Mediterranean.
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Translating the Bible Against the Ancient Near Eastern Background
By Robert Alter
Translators try to understand the language of ancient texts and the world view of the writers. Doing so requires going beyond the literal text to try and capture the poetic meanings and structures.
