Thoughts on Antiquity

It’s late here, but my mind is still ticking over, and I’ve remembered something that I had half forgotten, and started investigating.  I read somewhere that Norman McLean, then lecturer in Aramaic at Cambridge University, made a translation of the apology of Nestorius, which was discovered in a Syriac manuscript about 800 years old in the early […]

I’ve been reading Robert M. Berchman’s translation of the fragments of Porphyry’s attack on the Christians.  It’s good to have this book, because those fragments were not really accessible to English-speaking readers.  
Half of it is full of introductory stuff, with lots of philosophical jargon.  This isn’t nearly as useful as T.D.Barnes article in the JTS from 1973 […]

In case you didn’t notice from the previous post, I’d like to welcome Roger Pearse to Thoughts on Antiquity. Roger is known for the Tertullian Project and for QuickLatin. He’s a Christian from England and informed me that he’ll be focusing mostly on Syriac studies, an oft ignored subject, although expect anything.
Please everyone welcome Roger […]

At the moment I’m doing things with Syriac. Since this is obscure, perhaps a few words of introduction would be appropriate.
The Syriac language is a late dialect of Aramaic originating in the city of Edessa. It became the common tongue throughout the ancient near-east and literature exists written in Syriac from the 2nd […]

Rick Sumner has tagged me for the book meme that Ben Myers started. Here are my answers…
1. One book that changed your life:
1984 by George Orwell. It launched me on my path to skeptical inquiry…trust nothing. There’ve been many other books that have helped me along this path, probably even mroe significantly than 1984, but […]

Sorry folks, there was some problem with the host, but everything should be fixed now. Looking forward to catching up on some interesting discussions.

From the Florida Sun-Sentinel:
ROME — A team of archaeologists announced Wednesday they have uncovered part of what they believe is the birthplace of Rome’s first emperor Augustus.
Leading archaeologist Clementina Panella said the team has dug up part of a corridor and other fragments under Rome’s Palatine Hill, which she described as “a very ancient aristocratic […]

A new museum has now been opened in Jerusalem: the Dorot Foundation Information and Study Center (why is information after foundation?), exhibiting ancient Jewish artifacts including the Scrolls.
A unique blend of contemporary and ancient, miniature and magnificent sets the scene at the Israel Museum’s newest exhibit featuring the Second Temple Era model of Jerusalem it […]

Jim West writes of David Ritsema’s newest blog:
I’ve added already a link over on Biblioblogs- so now, he’s officially recognized as a Biblioblogger by the official Biblioblogging Committee of Two. As we like to say, if we don’t recognize you, you really don’t exist!
Oh, dear. I suppose this means that I am not part of […]

Yesterday, I introduced “Brooks Vermuli” to make a quick post on why Matthew was Jewish, as opposed to my real position. Today, I’d like to address the arguments used. I will not, however, be addressing in this post Hebrew or Aramaic Matthew as original. I’ll save that for another time.
To begin, Matthew did not change […]