Inside BAR

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In the Valley of Hinnom, the Bible tells us, just outside Jerusalem, straying Israelites sacrificed their children to the pagan god Ba‘al. How widespread the practice was, we cannot be sure. We do know a great deal, however, about child sacrifice at several Phoenician sites, especially at the north African site of Carthage. There, a giant cemetery of child and animal sacrifices has been explored by modern archaeologists. In “Child Sacrifice at Carthage—Religious Rite or Population Control?” archaeologists Lawrence E. Stager and Samuel R. Wolff tell us the surprising things they learned concerning child sacrifice at Carthage—and some implications they derived for an understanding of child sacrifice as described in the Bible.

Both Stager and Wolff spent several years during the 1970s excavating the precinct of child sacrifice in Carthage for the ASOR Punic Project, Stager as director and Wolff as area supervisor. Stager is Associate Professor of Syro-Palestinian archaeology at the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute. He has also excavated at Idalion on Cyprus, and at Tell el-Hesi and Tell Gezer in Israel.

Now a Ph.D. candidate in archaeology at the University of Chicago, Wolff’s original career goal was to be a stockbroker. After his junior year in college as an economics major, he spent the summer in Israel, visited some digs and got hooked on archaeology. In addition to his studies, Wolff works as assistant to the curator of the Oriental Institute Museum.

“Probable Head of Priestly Scepter From Solomon’s Temple Surfaces in Jerusalem,” by André Lemaire, describes an exciting new discovery—a ritual ivory pomegranate that may have been used in the First Temple service. Identified and photographed in 1979 by this respected French epigrapher, the unique object is privately owned and its whereabouts today are a mystery to all but a few.

A former student of Roland de Vaux at the École Biblique et Archéologique in Jerusalem, Lemaire has excavated at Tell Keisan and Lachish.

It is rare that BAR—or any other magazine—reviews a book that will never be published. But that is what we do in this issue. In “The Book Albright Never Finished,” by Siegfried Horn, BAR opens for readers a window onto an ambitious writing project of William Foxwell Albright, the greatest Biblical archaeologist of his generation, entitled The History of the Religion of Israel. Shortly after Albright’s death, efforts were made by a number of scholars to arrange for Albright’s manuscript to be completed and published. But their efforts were blocked by Albright’s son. BAR secured a copy of the unpublished manuscript and asked Professor Horn to assess it.

Professor Emeritus of Archaeology and History of Antiquity at Andrews University, Horn directed excavations in Jordan at Tell Heshban and also excavated at Tell Balatah (Biblical Shechem). His many publications on archaeology and Biblical studies include Biblical Records of the Past, Archaeology After 30 Years (1948–1978), and for BAR, “What We Don’t Know About Moses and the Exodus,” BAR 03:02. A popular BAS Vacation Seminar leader, Horn will join the faculty of the BAS Seminar at Pomona College in Claremont, California, this summer.

In 1945, two villagers near Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt discovered a cache of fourth-century A.D. manuscripts hidden in a large pottery jar. The discovery opened vast new areas of scholarship, reminiscent of the impact of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Nag Hammadi documents preserved a number of early Gnostic views of the crucifixion of Jesus, of his resurrection, of God’s essence as both father and mother, and of the nature of the church—that were ultimately rejected by Christian leaders who opposed the Gnostics. In “Nag Hammadi Codices Shed New Light on Early Christian History,” James Brashler describes these documents and charts the course of The Gnostic Gospels, a book by church historian Elaine Pagels that went, metaphorically speaking, from the Nile Valley to the Book-of-the-Month Club. Helping to explain the book’s popularity are Pagels’s fascinating theories as to why these Gnostic documents were rejected by early Christianity.

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Brashler himself has spent nearly 15 years translating and studying the Gnostic manuscripts from Nag Hammadi. This involvement paralleled his career at Claremont Graduate School in Claremont, California. Brashler has been a faculty member at three BAS Vacation Seminars.

Books in Brief provides further insights into the world of early Christianity gleaned from other ancient manuscripts. George Howard reviews Manuscripts of the Greek Bible: An Introduction to Palaeography, by Bruce Metzger, illustrating his critique with photos of unique parchment and papyrus leaves from two of these Greek Bibles. Howard is Professor of Religion at the University of Georgia and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Biblical Literature.

The Other Gospels: Non-Canonical Gospel Texts, edited by Ron Cameron, is reviewed by Charles W. Hedrick, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Southwest Missouri State University (see Books in Brief). Hedrick summarizes the 16 early Gospels reproduced in translation in Cameron’s book and evaluates their influence on the four canonical Gospels.

Also in Books in Brief, Jacob Neusner reviews The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: Volume I, Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments, edited by James H. Charlesworth. Neusner hails the book’s publication as the single most important event of the decade in the study of the Hebrew Scriptures. Professor of Religious Studies at Brown University, Neusner is a renowned and prolific contributor to the field of Biblical studies—as a lecturer, as an editor and as an author.

Each January, BAR presents a roundup of opportunities for archaeology enthusiasts to leave their armchairs and go out into the field. Read “Excavation Opportunities 1984” and start planning—all you need is interest and physical stamina, not experience, to become a volunteer at a dig in Israel or Jordan. One archaeology enthusiast who serves as a rabbi during most of the year has worked for the past two summers as a volunteer excavator at Tel Dan in northern Israel. In “Thoughts In the Dirt at Dan,” Rabbi Daniel S. Wolk of Congregation Emanu-El of Westchester, in Rye, New York, shares vivid impressions of his experiences at the dig.

BAR is pleased to announce the establishment of awards for publications in the fields of archaeology and Bible studies. Nominations are invited in seven different categories. These awards will, we hope, encourage outstanding scholarship in archaeology and in both Old and New Testament studies.

In the Valley of Hinnom, the Bible tells us, just outside Jerusalem, straying Israelites sacrificed their children to the pagan god Ba‘al. How widespread the practice was, we cannot be sure. We do know a great deal, however, about child sacrifice at several Phoenician sites, especially at the north African site of Carthage. There, a giant cemetery of child and animal sacrifices has been explored by modern archaeologists. In “Child Sacrifice at Carthage—Religious Rite or Population Control?” archaeologists Lawrence E. Stager and Samuel R. Wolff tell us the surprising things they learned concerning child sacrifice at Carthage—and some implications […]