Scholars' Corner
Intersections Between
the Biblical World
and the Ancient World Collection
at the Walters Art Museum
John E. Roberts The Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies, celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2007, speaks in its mission state-ment of "careful and in-depth studies of sacred writings …" It is my hope that this guide to some of the objects in the Ancient World Collection of the Walters Art Mu-seum will be an aid to careful study of biblical texts.1
The Walters Art Museum, North Charles and Centre Street, is one of the nation's great museums. The An-cient World Collection is ranked among the top four such collections in the United States. The Walters is open Wednesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. On Fridays it is open till 8 p.m. For more information visit the Walters Web site, http://www.thewalters.org, or call 410-547-9000. The museum was beautifully renovated in 2001 and made open to the public without charge in 2006.
On the second floor of the new building, entered by the Centre Street door, many objects of interest to students of the Bible are on display. These notes are arranged according to the rooms in which these artifacts are usually found at the Walters. Objects are sometimes not on display because of loans to other museums, exhibi-tions elsewhere in the Walters, repairs, special study, etc.
The number in parentheses after each object is the Walters' inventory number and will be of help in identi-fication. B.C. and A.D. are used rather than B.C.E. and C.E. only to be consistent with the Walters' manner of dating. Scripture citations are from the New Revised Standard Version.
This study guide concentrates on biblical connections, great and small, rather than on art history. The Walters offers excellent docent-led tours focusing on art history. I encourage you to take advantage of these tours and of the Walters' many other offerings by becoming a member. As a member you will receive advance informa-tion about lectures by outstanding curators and visiting world-class scholars.
How can a visitor begin to take in the riches of this col-lection? One visit will not be enough! When you come, I suggest this approach. Stand before an art work as you would position yourself at an intersection where you look straight ahead, then to the right and to the left before moving on. Look directly at the work of art or artifact. Reflect on it just as it is. Respond to it, ask questions of it, and wonder. Then look to "one side" up the avenue of art history and archaeology at the information prepared by the museum's curators, scholars who share knowl-edge from these worlds. Then look down the "other side" of the street into this guide for connections to the world of the Bible, a real world, not a "once upon a time" imag-inary place like Oz, Hogwarts, or Narnia.
Come back often to visit the Walters. Pick up a Walters audio guide with general information, entries for children, presentations on music, and the Director's favorites.
By posting this guide on the Web site of the Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies (www.icjs.org), the ICJS hopes that clergy, staff educators, and lay teachers in congregations will download it and take it with groups for self-guided tours of the Ancient World Collection. Read in advance the biblical passages cited and visit the links provided with many of the objects. After your visit e-mail questions and comments to johneroberts@ comcast.net. These will be incorporated into updates to the guide.
Click here for a printable pdf version of the guide.
During the ICJS's year-long 20th anniversary celebration I led seven tours of the Ancient World Collection. Those tours and this guide are the culmination of a life-long interest in the Bible and antiquity. I owe much to my teachers and former colleagues in the Department of Classical Languages at Wake Forest University, Dr. Hubert Poteat, Dr. Cronje Earp, and Dr. Carl Harris; to my professor of biblical archaeology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. William Morton, director of the excavations at Dhiban in Jordan; and to my professor of art and archaeology at Princeton University, Dr. Erik Sjöqvist, director of excavations at Morgantina (Serra Orlando) in Sicily.
The many citations from Rabbi Dr. Shira Lander indicate my debt to her for sharing her insights both as a rabbi and a scholar of antiquity. My thanks go to my teachers in an interfaith study group originally taught by the late Dr. Louis Kaplan; later by Michael Wegier, now director general of Melitz in Jerusalem; and currently by Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin. I have also learned much from my fellow students, Peter Culman, Emily Gaines Demski, George Hess, Joseph Langmead, and Wells Obrecht. I am indebted to my ICJS colleagues, Dr. Christopher Leigh-ton, executive director; Dr. Rosann Catalano, the Roman Catholic scholar; and Rabbi Joel Zaiman, the Jewish scholar, for their encouragement, and to Janis Koch, associate scholar, for her many thoughtful suggestions and careful editing. Specials thanks for their support go to my wife, son, and daughter-in-law, Marylynn Roberts, Dr. Christopher Roberts, and Hannah Roberts.
Whether conducting tours for ICJS members as an asso-ciate scholar or leading numerous tours as a pastor over three decades for church groups, campus ministers, and interfaith study groups, I have learned much from the questions and insights of those traveling with me through the Walters' treasure-filled galleries.
Now let us turn to the intersections of biblical texts and objects in the Ancient Collection of the Walters Art Mu-seum. Begin your walking tour by taking the elevator to the second floor of the Centre Street Building. Turn right and enter the Ancient Near Eastern Art room. The first object to consider will be in the display case on your left.
Ancient Near Eastern Art
VOTIVE CONE OF LIPIT ISHTAR, KING OF ISIN(48.1455, 48.1457) with cuneiform dedications, c. 1934-1924 B.C. This votive cone contained a record of the construction of the building and prayers for the builder. It would have been driven into a mud brick wall. This object at the beginning of your tour is a reminder that ancient Israel was a part of the larger culture of the Ancient Near East. Israel was engaged culturally, eco-nomically, diplomatically, and sometimes militarily with its neighbors. 1 Chronicles 18:16 mentions Shavsha, David's scribe, who bears a Babylonian name, suggesting that cuneiform was still in use among the Hebrews for diplo-matic correspondence as late as the time of David. Later on in your tour you will see an Egyptian scribe.
Now move to the display case to the right of the door. The remaining objects in this room will come in order from display case to display case as you move to your left.
DEAD SEA SCROLL JAR AND COVER (48.2058), ceramic, 1st century A.D. Scolls were used in the ancient world to preserve important documents. For example, Jeremiah instructed his scribe Baruch to take deeds of purchase for a field at Anathoth and "put them in an earthenware jar, in order that they may last for a long time" (Jeremiah 32:14). The Dead Sea Scrolls, pre-served in such jars, are widely regarded as among the greatest archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. The scrolls have caused a revolution in understanding the development of the Hebrew Bible. They contain the only known surviving copies of biblical documents made before 100 A.D. and preserve evidence of the variety of beliefs and practices in Second Temple Judaism. This jar is from Cave 1 at Qumran, on the northwest coast of the Dead Sea. The Cave 1 scrolls became available in 1947. They are generally believed to be from the library of an Essene community, a sect of religious Jews who withdrew from mainstream Judaism and from the world of the unrighteous to study sacred writings in the wil-derness. The scrolls contain material from all the books of the Hebrew Bible (except for Esther), passages from the Apocrypha, and many sectarian works. The scrolls make no explicit mention of the Essenes or of the site near the caves where the scrolls were found. Not all agree that Qumran was an Essene community, e.g., the most recent excavators, Yitzhak Magen and Yuval Peleg, claim that it was a large pottery manufacturing center.2
OSSUARY, (23.240), 1st century A.D. This ossuary held the bones of Yehosef bar Aglon, whose name is inscribed on the back side. Ossuaries contained the bones of the dead. From the first century B.C. to about 70 A.D., the Jewish burial custom was to place the dead in a cave or tomb for a year, then to retrieve the bones and put them in an ossuary. In keeping with Exodus 20:4, the commandment against making graven images, this ossu-ary was decorated simply with palmettes and circles. It is free from representations of the gods and humans that adorn the Roman sarcophagi.3
It is likely that the elegant simplicity of this ossuary is representative of aspects of Judaism that would appeal to those Gentiles attracted to Judaism's monotheism and ethics. Psalm 118:2-4 recognizes those outside of Israel who fear the LORD and calls on these God-fearers to say, "His steadfast love endures forever." The book of Acts mentions God-fearers, e.g., the devout Roman cen-turion Cornelius (Acts 10:2). Remember this Jewish ossuary to contrast it with the Roman sarcophagi you will see later.
Ossuaries have been in the news recently. In 1990, in the Peace Forest in Jerusalem, the ossuary of Joseph Caiaphas was found and said to be that of the high priest mentioned in connection with the trial of Jesus (John 18:22). In 2002, it was announced that in a private collection there was an ossuary with the inscrip-tion, "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus." In the spring of 2007, a Discovery Channel program gave sen-sational publicity to additional ossuaries found in the Talpiot neighborhood in Jerusalem in 1980. Five were inscribed with names associated with New Testament figures, including Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Matthew, Mary Magdalene, and Judah, son of Jesus. Scholars continue to dispute the translation of these two more recently publicized discoveries and their connection with New Testament persons.
DIVINE COUPLE (54.788 and 54.2487), bronze, 3rd - early 2nd millennium. These are votive offerings, dedi-cated to deities in fulfillment of a vow or in gratitude. They represent Baal and his female consort Anat or Anath, warlike fertility deities, bringers of rain, and sup-pressors of floods. The Baal figure may have originally worn a gold skirt and carried a mace. Read about Elijah's dramatic showdown on Mt. Carmel with the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18:20-46. Anath is not mentioned in the Old Testament as often as Asherah and Ashtoreth, other Canaanite goddesses. However, her name appears in several place names, e.g., Anathoth, Jeremiah's birth-place (Jeremiah 1:1). During the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem, Jeremiah bought a field in Anathoth from his cousin (Jeremiah 32:6-15), a hopeful sign that one day "houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land."4 For more information and photos of these two figures see
http://www.thewalters.org/works_of_art/itemdetails. aspx?aid=18537 and
http://www.thewalters.org/works_of_art/itemdetails. aspx?aid=9863.SACRED BULL (54.1671), bronze, silver inlay, late 3rd millennium B.C., and HEAD OF A BULL (54.791) bronze, 8th-7th century B.C. The stories of the Golden Calf in Exodus 32 and King Jereboam's calves in 1 Kings 12:25-33 give evidence of violations of the commandment in Exodus 20:4, 23. The bull was associated with pagan deities in Egypt and Canaan.
FRAGMENTS FROM BRONZE GATE AT BALAWAT (54.2335) set up by the Assyrian king, Shalmanesar III, 859-824 B.C. This king is important in biblical studies because the only contemporary picture we have of a Hebrew monarch is the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III. It depicts Jehu, a king of Israel in the 9th century B.C.5 These fragments call to mind Isaiah 45:2, which refers to God's power to break in pieces "doors of bronze." The original gate was perhaps 22 feet high and made of cedar. Balawat was in northern Iraq. In the next display case we will examine a fragment of a stele of Shalma-neser III.
KNEELING SOLDIER (21:6), alabaster, 668-626 B.C. This is a fragment from the palace of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh, showing an Assyrian soldier undermining the wall of an Elamite City. Elam was situated in southwest-ern modern Iran. A king of Elam captured Lot (Genesis 14:1-12). Jeremiah (25:25 and 49:34-39) speaks of God's judgment on Elam. Acts 2:9 mentions Elamites as among those who heard the message of Pentecost in their own language.
Ashurbanipal's reign paralleled the reigns of kings Manas-seh, Amon, and Josiah of Judah. Genesis 10:11 holds that Nineveh was built by Nimrod, the mighty hunter and grandson of Noah. Nineveh is best known in the Bible for Jonah's visit. Jonah 1:1-2 reads, "Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, ‘Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.’" Mosul in northern Iraq is the location of ancient Nineveh.
MODEL OF A CHARIOT (48.1965), terracotta, c. 1800-1600 B.C. Egyptians and Philistines used chariots against the Israelites (Exodus 14:4 and 1 Samuel 13:5). 2 Sam-uel 8:4 and 1 Kings 10:26 mention the chariots of the kings, David and Solomon (c. 1000-931 B.C.). Psalm 20:7 affirms, "Some take pride in chariots, and some in hor-ses, but our pride is in the name of the LORD our God."
FERTILITY FIGURES (48.1807), terracotta, ca. 1000-500 B.C. These figures or teraphim are similar to the household gods taken by Jacob's wife Rachel from her father Laban (Genesis 31:30, 34). Rachel had hidden them in the saddle of her camel.6
FRAGMENT OF A STELE (41.162). This black stone is a monumental inscription of the Assyrian period, probably of the Assyrian king, Shalmaneser III, 859-824 B.C. This inscription in black stone refers to king Hazailu of Da-mascus, the biblical Hazael mentioned in 1 Kings 19:15 and 2 Kings 8:7-15. Elijah was told by God to anoint Hazael king over Aram and Jehu king over Israel after his experience on Mt. Horeb of wind, earthquake, and fire followed by a sound of sheer silence (1 Kings 19:11-18).
CYLINDER SEALS, Protoliterate, 3200-1150 B.C. A leather thong would have been inserted through the hol-low cylinder, tied, and worn around the owner's neck until needed to make an impression in clay to serve as the owner's mark. In the story of Judah and Tamar in Genesis 38, she took his signet and its cord as a pledge: "He said, ‘what pledge shall I give you?’ She replied, ‘Your signet and your cord, and the staff that is in your hand’" (Genesis 38:18). The Walters has another cylinder seal (42.728), unfortunately not on display, that depicts a court musician playing a lyre before the king. It calls to mind how David played for King Saul (1 Samuel 16:23).
KUDURRU BOUNDARY STONE (21.10). This stone tax-exemption grant was issued by Marduk-nadin-ahhe, king of Babylon, 1099-1082 B.C. A "kudurru" was a covenant in which astral symbols such as the snake-dragon (on the top of the stone) were invoked to protect the mon-ument and its message. A copy of the kudurru was kept in the capital, while another was set up to mark the property involved. The king has raised his hand in wor-ship in support of the oath. Deuteronomy 32:40 speaks of swearing by lifting a hand to heaven. Mosaic law took landmarks seriously. Deuteronomy 19:14 says, "You must not move your neighbor's boundary marker …" Deuter-onomy 27:17 reads, "Cursed be anyone who moves a neighbor's boundary marker …" In Matthew 5:34 Jesus says, "Do not swear ... by heaven, for it is the throne of God."
COPY OF VICTORY STELE INSCRIPTION (41.109) ca. 690 B.C. The inscription on this stone tablet commem-orates a victorious military campaign of the Assyrian king Sennacherib. He describes himself as "the great king, the mighty king, king of the universe, king of Assyria, king of the four rivers, your desired king, protector of truth, lover of justice, the one who performs favors, compan-ion of the crippled, he who searches for goodness, the perfect young man, the warlike male, foremost of all kings." Of his enemies he boasts, "I harvested their skulls like shriveled grain and piled them up into heaps."7
The story of Sennacherib's siege of Jerusalem during the reign of King Hezekiah is told in 2 Kings 18:13-19:35. Sennacherib claimed that he besieged "Hezekiah the Jew and shut him up like a caged bird in his royal capital Jerusalem."8 2 Kings 18:13-16 tells how Hezekiah paid tribute to Sennacherib. According to 2 Kings 19:35-36 the angel of the Lord struck down the Assyrians, per-haps by a plague. For a poet's version of this event read George Gordon (Lord Byron), "The Destruction of Sennacherib" at
http://englishhistory.net/byron/ poems/destruct.html.
The first stanza reads:
"The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue waves roll nightly on deep Galilee."RELIEF WITH WINGED GENIUS (21.8), alabaster, 883-859 B.C., from the palace of Ashur-Nasur-Pal at Nimrud (Calah in the Bible). Calah is 20 miles southeast of Mosul in Iraq. Dr. Harry Thomas Frank suggested that such boldly carved reliefs recalled Isaiah 18:1-2, which speaks of winged messengers and a mighty people whose land the rivers divide.9 The figure is considered to be a be-nevolent spirit, carrying a cone to sprinkle some potion carried in his bucket. The anatomical detail on the leg may have come from the Assyrian practice of flaying their defeated foes.10 For more information and a photo of this relief at the Walters' website, click
http://www.thewalters.org/works_of_art/itemdetails. aspx?aid=32526.SIX-WINGED GODDESS (21.16), basalt, late 9th cen-tury B.C. This creature has been called a seraph because of the description of the seraphs that ap-peared to Isaiah during his vision in the temple (Isaiah 6:2): "Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew." Seraphs, sometimes called seraphim from the Hebrew plural, are literally "fiery ones," and in other Hebrew Bible passages are fiery serpents. Here they are beings with six wings.
MYTHOLOGICAL CONTEST (21.18), basalt, late 9th century B.C. This relief perhaps depicts Gilgamesh and Enkidu subduing Humbaba. In the Gilgamesh Epic (Tablet IX), Gilgamesh, a legendary Sumerian king, tried to find the secret of immortality from Utnapishtim, the survivor of a great flood. Noah's flood story in Genesis 6-9 has many parallels to Utnapishtim's but with a different theo-logical perspective. For example, in the Gilgamesh epic a god suggests the flood to punish humans for being so noisy that he cannot sleep, whereas in Genesis the flood occurs when God is sorry that he made humankind after seeing that "every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5). Addition-ally, the Gilgamesh epic differs from Genesis in that the latter holds to creation out of nothing (ex nihilo), the creation of humans as free beings, and creation for the sake of the covenant with the Creator. For more on this relief at the Walters Web site, click
http://www.thewalters.org/works_of_art/itemdetails. aspx?aid=7441.CAMEL DRIVER (21.15), red limestone, late 9th century B.C., from the temple-palace of King Kapara at Tell Halaf. This is said to be one of the earliest known representations of travel on a camel, a mode of trans-portation often mentioned in the Bible. The camel is considered to be an unclean beast according to Leviti-cus 11:4. Read the lovely story of Rebekah watering the camels of Abraham's servant in Genesis 24:10-27. In Matthew 19:24 Jesus says, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."
SERVANT CARRYING A VESSEL (21.19), gray stone. This relief from a stairway comes from the palace of Darius (522-486 B.C.) in Persepolis. It was probably rebuilt by his successor Artaxerxes III (359-338 B.C.). Relief processions on staircases sometimes depicted ser-vants carrying provisions and were rendered to give the impression that they were climbing the staircase. Note the servant's raised right foot. Nehemiah had served as a cupbearer (Nehemiah 1:11b-2:1) for Artaxerxes I (465-424 B.C.). The cupbearer depicted here was a servant; since he has no mustache, he may have been a eunuch. Nehemiah was a far different kind of cupbearer in that he tasted the king's wine and guarded the royal apartment.
To continue the tour leave the Ancient Near Eastern Art room and return to the area where you got off the ele-vator. Enter Egyptian Art rooms by going between the two 3,000-pound statues of the lioness-headed goddess Sekhmet. This impressive entrance is a re-creation of an Egyptian temple gateway.
Egyptian Art
NEHY (22.106), white limestone, 1307-1250 B.C. Nehy was a chantress (temple musician). She holds in her left hand the symbol of her profession, a sistrum, or cult rattle, used in the worship of Hathor, a goddess of love, mirth, and joy, often depicted with the head or ears of a cow. The fact that Nehy was a young woman of high station calls to mind another Egyptian woman of high station, the Egyptian princess who found Moses in the reeds in Exodus 2:5: "The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it." Some scholars date the Exodus to c. 1290 B.C. If they are correct, Nehy would have been living at that time. For more on Nehy, click this link to the Walters' Web site:
http://www.thewalters.org/works_of_art/itemdetails. aspx?aid=22976.PRIEST HOLDING FIGURE OF OSIRIS (22.215), white limestone, ca. 665-650 B.C. It was the priest's task to care for the cultic images, to provide food and drink, and to burn incense. Isaiah 40:8-20 records the Hebrew prophet's scorn for such deities, as does Psalm 115:3-8: "Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of hu-man hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; they make no sound in their throats. Those who make them are like them; so are all who trust in them."
Move out of this room and into the next, or second, Egyptian room.
ISIS and HORUS (54.416), bronze, 664-525 B.C. Isis was a great Egyptian goddess, the sister and wife of the chief god of the dead, Osiris. She was believed to have brought Osiris back to life by gathering his body parts after his brother Set had cut him into pieces, which Set then scattered all over Egypt. Here with her child in her lap she represents her role as goddess of marriage and motherhood. The image of a mother holding a child evokes later representations in Christian art of Mary and Jesus.
When you are finished in this second Egyptian room, move to the room on your left. Here you will find some Artists Sketches on the wall to your left.
ARTIST SKETCHES (32.1), painted limestone, ca. 1300-1000 B.C. Notice the stubble on Pharaoh's face, a sign of mourning. Exodus 12:30 records a moment of intense mourning: "Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his officials and all the Egyptians; and there was a loud cry in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead." The occasion was the death of all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. Surely Pharaoh would not have shaved at that time. For image click
http://www.thewalters.org/works_of_art/itemdetails. aspx?aid=5104.Genesis 41:14 mentions shaving. When Pharaoh brought Joseph out of prison to interpret his dreams, Joseph shaved and changed his clothes before coming to Pha-raoh. The Egyptians, unlike the Jews and the majority of peoples in the ancient Near East, were clean-shaven. "By shaving his beard, Joseph immediately transforms himself from a foreigner to an Egyptian. This change foreshadows Joseph's acceptance at court, as well as the fact that later Joseph's brothers will fail to recog-nize him, taking him for an Egyptian."11
On the opposite wall find …
FUNERARY PAPYRUS (10.551), 332-330 B.C. Our inter-est here is in the papyrus itself. Papyrus is a reed or rush that grows along rivers and lakes. The stalks were used to make the ancient equivalent of paper, a word derived from "papyrus." It was also used to make bas-kets, boats, sandals and other objects. Exodus 2:3 tells how the mother of Moses "got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river." In 2 Timothy 4:13 the author asks for his "books and parchments"; "books" were probably written on papyrus. In the display case beneath the funerary papyrus find …
SCRIBE STATUE OF MIN-NAKHT (22.230), grandiorite, 1500-1450 B.C. Scribes in Egypt and Mesopotamia worked in the royal court and temples keeping records for taxes, labor, military affairs, commodities, and build-ing projects. Often they occupied positions as royal secretaries in charge of diplomatic correspondence and served as counselors and high officials. When David engaged Shavsha the Babylonian as his scribe (1 Chronicles 18:16), he was drawing on a well-developed tradition.
In the case on the wall to the left find …
LEATHER SANDALS (73.110), 1550-1307 B.C. In Exodus 3:5 Moses is told to take off his sandals because he is standing on holy ground. It is likely that he would have been wearing this type of Egyptian sandal. Hospitality in the biblical world included the offer to have the guests' feet washed by a servant after a journey made in san-dals on dusty roads. According to John 13:3ff., Jesus himself washed his disciples' feet, a remarkable gesture for a teacher.
When you are finished in this room, walk back into the middle or second Egyptian room. Turn left into the far-thest of the three Egyptians rooms. Find the small statue of Rameses II.
RAMESES II (22.114), Aswan granite, ca. 1279-1224 B.C. Although scholars continue to debate the date of the Exodus and the identity of the pharaoh at that time, the church father Eusebius of Caesarea was apparently the source of the tradition that Rameses II may have been the pharaoh of the Exodus. Exodus 1:11 reads: "Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh." Rameses II, "the Great," ruled over Egypt at the peak of its imperial power. In 1974 when his mummy was taken to Paris for study and for preservation, the Egyptians issued a passport for Rameses II, listing him as "King of Egypt (deceased)." For image click
http://www.thewalters.org/works_of_art/itemdetails. aspx?aid=10112.Rameses II's son Merneptah figures into the first mention of Israel outside of the Bible. It comes from the Mernep-tah Stele found by Sir Flinders Petrie at Thebes in 1896 and now in the Cairo Museum. The stele contains this brief mention of Israel: "Israel is laid waste; its seed is not significant."
When you have finished in this third or back Egyptian room, return to the middle room and turn left into a large room where mummies are prominently displayed. As soon as you enter, look at the center column separating this room from the last room. Here you will find a Model Rowing Boat.
MODEL ROWING BOAT, Middle Kingdom (22.18), wood, 2134-1786 B.C. The idea of death as departure on a voyage was widespread in the ancient world. When the author of 2 Timothy (4:6) speaks of his coming death as the time of his "departure," he uses a word for loosening the mooring lines of a ship for departure: "As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come." The image of dying as de-parting on a sea voyage is a persistent one across the centuries. The 19th-century English poet, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, wrote in "Crossing the Bar":
"Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea, …"In a large glass case you will find the next two objects.
MUMMY COVER (79.1), wood painted and plastered, gold and glass, 945-712 B.C. In the final verse of the first book of the Bible, Genesis 50:26, we read: "And Joseph died, being one hundred ten years old; he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt." Earlier in Genesis 50:2-3, we read of the death of Joseph's father Jacob and his embalming process: "Joseph commanded the physicians in his service to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel; they spent forty days in doing this, for that is the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days." Part of the embalming processing would have involved the use of the next item to inspect, canopic jars. Look for the canopic jars at the foot of the mummy cover.
CANOPIC JARS (41.171-174), limestone, 1070-712 B.C. The lungs, intestines, stomach and liver were removed before the mummification process. These organs were then dedicated to sons of Horus, identified respectively by the heads on the jar stoppers -- ape, human, falcon and jackal. Canopic jars take their name from the Egyp-tian town of Canopus, where Osiris was worshipped in the form of a jar with a human head. According to the Book of the Dead, Osiris weighed the heart in a balance of righteousness in a court for the judgment of the dead. Proverbs 21:2 uses this same image: "All deeds are right in the sight of the doer, but the LORD weighs the heart." Daniel interpreted a portion of the hand-writing on the wall at the feast of King Belshazzar as meaning "you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting" (Daniel 5:27). For images click
http://www.thewalters.org/works_of_art/itemdetails. aspx?aid=116,
http://www.thewalters.org/works_of_art/itemdetails. aspx?aid=1199,
http://www.thewalters.org/works_of_art/itemdetails. aspx?aid=15233, and
http://www.thewalters.org/works_of_art/itemdetails. aspx?aid=40647.Return now to the area outside the elevators and enter the door to the left of the entrance for the Egyptian Art room. Make your way through the first room, going around to the left into the area where Greek art is ex-hibited.
Greek Art
In the display case on the wall opposite the entrance to the large room containing Greek art find a small figure of a MAN WITH FORE PARTS OF A PIG (54.1483), bronze, early 5th century B.C. This object may be reminiscent of Book X of Homer’s Odyssey, where the sorceress Circe turns Odysseus’s men into pigs, the symbol par excel-lence of gluttony. In various Greek texts, whether one yields to the sensual power of Circe in general or to the specifically sensual temptation of gluttony, one has allowed one's passions to become master instead of mastering one's passions. Examples of such a loss of self-mastery can be seen in Philippians 3:19, which speaks of those whose "god is the belly," and in Titus 1:12, which cites brutish gluttony in an ethnic slur tar-geting Christians in the community being addressed. The quote, sometimes attributed to Epimenides of Crete (600 B.C.), reads, "Cretans are always liars, vicious brutes, lazy gluttons." In the Hebrew scriptures Leviticus 11:7-8 and Deuteronomy 14:8 declare the pig to be an unclean animal.
Go to the right side of the room and into the ANCIENT TREASURY. In the first display case on the left in the bottom left corner find TWO CROWNS WITH GOD-DESSES (57.968), 10th-9th century B.C., gold. These beautifully crafted crowns show the eclecticism of Phoe-nician art. They contain elements from Egypt, Mesopotamia, and other places in the ancient world. The crowns were created in the same period as the con-struction of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. Dorothy Kent Hill wrote that Solomon turned to the Phoenicians because "in craftsmanship Phoenicians surpassed all their neighbors."12
2 Chronicles 2:13-14 tells how in response to a request from King Solomon, King Hiram of Tyre wrote, "I have dispatched Huram-abi, a skilled artisan, endowed with understanding, the son of one of the Danite women, his father a Tyrian. He is trained to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and in purple, blue, and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and to do all sorts of en-graving and execute any design that may be assigned to him, with your artisans, the artisans of my lord, your father David."
Near the center of this case there is a display with Egyptian jewelry, e.g., Object 11 (57.1484), TILAPIA FISH AMULET, gold, inlaid with Egyptian faience, chal-cedony and clock stone, 1991-1783 B.C. Exodus 12:35-36 mentions how the Israelites left Egypt with such Egyptian jewelry: "The Israelites had done as Moses told them; they had asked the Egyptians for jewelry of silver and gold, and for clothing, and the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. And so they plundered the Egyptians."
Tilapia "was appreciated for its taste, and was also re-garded as a symbol of rebirth and resurrection because it carries its eggs in its mouth, and was, therefore, believed to be self-created."13
Look on the right side of the center wall in the Ancient Treasury at the Roman jewelry. On the bottom row near the center you will see No. 22.
BRACELETS FROM OLBIA (57.375, 57.376), gold, garnet, amethyst, emerald, pearl, glass, enamel, Greek, 1st century B.C., reworking of elements of the late 2nd century B.C. The New Testament contains admonitions against wearing such gorgeous and flamboyant jewelry. 1 Timothy 2:9-10 warns that Christian women should "dress themselves modestly and decently in suitable clothing, not with their hair braided, or with gold, pearls, or expensive clothes, but with good works, as is proper for women who profess reverence for God." 1 Peter 3:3-4 also warns against wearing gold ornaments. For more information and photos of these bracelets from Olbia, click on
http://www.thewalters.org/works_of_art/itemdetails. aspx?aid=10024 and
http://www.thewalters.org/works_of_art/itemdetails. aspx?aid=9857.Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin has called my attention to a somewhat similar passage. She writes: "Mishnah 6:1 in Massekhet Shabbat states the following (Danby trans-lation, p. 104; my comments are in the square brackets): ‘With what may a woman go out [on Shab-bat] and with what may she not go out? A woman may not go out with bands of wool or bands of flax or with her head-straps ... or head bangles …’ [These all seem to be common types of jewelry or hair accoutrements/ decorations. It seems these can be taken off somewhat easily to be shown and admired, or alternately, can be-come loose and fall off. Either way, there seemed to be the fear that something would happen to cause them to be removed from the head and held in the hand and carried while in public. And that would, of course, be a violation of the Sabbath.]"
The passage continues, "Nor [may she go out with] a ‘golden city’ [that is, a tiara shaped like the skyline or architecture of Jerusalem] or necklace or nose-rings or with a ring that bears no seal. Yet if she went out [with any of these] she is not liable for a sin-offering." Rabbi Cardin writes, "It seems here that the rabbis are giving in to the pressure of fashion, that is, these items are clearly jewelry that possesses some real value and therefore is less likely to be taken off, and shown around. The items will have to be admired while on the woman's head (or face) and therefore will be less likely to cause the wearer to transgress by carrying them. Given the unlikelihood of transgression, and the great desire to wear them and show them off (Shabbat was one of the few times it would be appropriate to dress up so), the rabbis seem to have given in to their wives' and daughters' desires to show off. That is, they forbade wearing such items, but removed any real consequence for such a transgression."
Leave the Ancient Treasury room and return to the Greek Art room.
Look on the wall for several helmets on display, remin-iscent of Isaiah 59:17 and the image in Ephesians 6:17, both referring to "the helmet of salvation":
CHALCIDIAN HELMET (54.2468), bronze, ca. 500 B.C.
CORINTHIAN-TYPE HELMET (54.2303), bronze, 7th-6th century B.C. For more information and a photo of the Chalcidian helmet at the Walters' Web site, see
http://www.thewalters.org/works_of_art/itemdetails. aspx?aid=22640.The next two objects are in the display case in the cen-ter of the room, just beyond the helmets.
CARYATID MIRROR WITH APHRODITE (57.769), bronze, ca. 460 B.C. A caryatid is a human figure who, in this case, gives support for a mirror. The disk would have been silvered to provide a reflective surface. There is a moralizing aspect to this mirror. The siren at the top is a reminder of the attraction of the sirens, those myth-ical bird-women, whose songs lured men to their deaths. It served to remind the woman using the mirror that a woman's power to attract resided not only in her appearance but also in her voice and words.14 In 1 Co-rinthians 13:12, Paul reflects, "Now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then [i.e., in the age to come] we will see face to face." For more information, see
http://www.thewalters.org/works_of_art/itemdetails. aspx?aid=17020.BLACK FIGURE PANATHENAIC AMPHORA WITH DISCUS THROWER (48.2109), glazed ceramic. The Pan-athenaic games were held every four years on what was considered to be the birthday of Athena, patron goddess of Athens. The prize for winners in the various events was oil (about ten valuable gallons) from the holy olives. Their oil was stored in large amphorae with Athena depicted on one side and the winner's particular athletic event on the other. This vase is a small version of the prize vase and was produced as a commemorative object.
Jason, the high priest (175-172 B.C.) in Jerusalem un-der the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes promoted Greek culture and athletics. 2 Maccabees 4:12-14 records with disapproval his construction of a gymna-sium at the foot of the Temple Mount: "He took delight in establishing a gymnasium right under the citadel, and he induced the noblest of the young men to wear the Greek hat. There was such an extreme of Hellenization and increase in the adoption of foreign ways because of the surpassing wickedness of Jason, who was ungodly and no true high priest, that the priests were no longer intent upon their service at the altar. Despising the sanctuary and neglecting the sacrifices, they hurried to take part in the unlawful proceedings in the wrestling arena after the signal for the discus-throwing."
Paul (Philippians 3:14) used the image of winning a prize in an athletic event when he wrote, "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus." Sports Illustrated presents its Sportsman of the Year with a replica of a Panathenaic amphora.
Turn back to the wall and look on the upper row of a group of Greek objects for a sculptured panel of a BANQUET scene (23.222), marble, ca. 300 B.C. Like many of their contemporaries, Jews and Christians inclu-ded banquets and feasts as part of their eschatological imagery. Isaiah 25:6 anticipated a banquet for all peoples on Mount Zion, a feast of rich food and of well-aged wines. Revelation 19:9 looks forwards to the marriage supper of the Lamb.15
At one time the Walters identified these figures as Asklepios, the god of healing, and his daughter Hygeia. Asklepios's Greek epithet was "Soter," Savior. The author of Revelation referred to Pergamum as Satan's throne (Revelation 2:13) in part because of a large shrine there dedicated to Asklepios, the Greek god who carried a staff with a serpent coiled around it, and because of the association of the serpent in Genesis 3 with Satan, e.g., Revelation 12:9 and 20:2.
At the left corner of the room in a display case find ...
RED-FIGURE CALYX KRATER (48.262), 470-460 B.C. by Altamura Painter. The man depicted here is wearing the very broad-brimmed Greek hat that Jason induced young men to wear in 1 Maccabees 4:12.16 A funerary cere-mony in antiquity often included a farewell libation to the deceased and was connected to prayer. The libation, poured out onto the earth, was offered to the dead and to infernal gods in ancient Greek religion. A good example of this practice is described in the Iliad, where during the funeral of Patroclus Achilles offers libations in honor of his friend: "The whole night long swift Achilles, holding a two-handled cup [the calyk or kylix] in his hand, drew wine from a golden bowl and poured it on the earth, and wetted the ground, calling ever on the spirit of unhappy Patroclus" (Iliad, Book 23).
A Greek inscription records the duty of the foster son to pour libations on the tomb of the Jewish deceased.17
In Philippians 2:17 Paul speaks of being "poured out as a libation over the sacrifice and offering of your faith." In 2 Timothy 4:6 the author writes, "I am already being poured out as a libation."
Behind you and across the room there is a small corner room. By the first pillar on the left find …
ALEXANDER THE GREAT (23.121), marble, 2nd century B.C. 1 Maccabees (1:1-8) begins with a summary of the achievements and death of Alexander the Great. Daniel 11:3 is a reference to him: "the warrior king … who shall rule with great dominion and take actions as he pleases." Daniel 8:8 alludes to the four generals who divided his kingdom at his death.
On the side wall to your right in the first display case find …
WRESTLER LIFTING AN OPPONENT OFF THE GROUND (54.742), bronze, 2nd-1st century B.C. Recall Jacob's wrestling at Peniel in Genesis 32:22-32 or the image of wrestling as spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6:12.
Return to the Greek Room, turning right into the room (which is beside Cathedral Street), and find on the wall to your left …
RELIEF WITH PROCESSION OF TWELVE DEITIES (23.40), marble, 1st century A.D. Here are the major Greek gods, the twelve Olympians. From right to left we see Apollo, Artemis, Zeus, Athena, Poseidon, Hera, Hephaistos, Demeter, Ares, Aphrodite, Hermes, and Hestia. A photo of this relief is the cover illustration of the paperback edition of Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Exodus 20:3 declares: "[Y]ou shall have no other gods before me." In Ephesus the silversmiths who made shrines of Artemis (Diana) were enraged because Paul's teaching that "gods made with hands are not gods" was bad for their business (Acts 19:26).
Roman Art
PORTRAIT HEAD OF A MAN (23.209), marble, 1st cen-tury B.C. The face of this strong, resolute Roman speaks of the determination and pragmatism prized by Romans of the Republican period. This Roman may well suggest to the reader of Romans 2:14 the kind of Gentile Paul mentions: "For when gentiles, who do not possess the [written] teachings of the law by birthright, do what the law teaches, they themselves, though not possessing the law, embody the law in themselves."18 For more information and a photo at the Walters' Web site, click on http://www.thewalters.org/works_of_art/itemdetails.
aspx?aid=26063.HEAD OF AUGUSTUS (23.21), marble, 27 B.C.-14 A.D. The first Roman emperor is mentioned in Luke 2:1: "In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered." Originally a separately sculpted piece covered Augustus head, prob-ably a veil signifying his office as Pontifex Maximus, the most important position in Roman religion. It was politi-cized under Augustus. Today Pontifex Maximus is one of the titles of the Pope. Augustus established by military means peace throughout the Roman world, the Pax Romana. For more information and a photo, click on http://www.thewalters.org/works_of_art/itemdetails. aspx?aid=767.
EMPEROR WEARING A TOGA (23.226), Carrara marble. The identity of this emperor is not clear, but the statue may represent the emperor Domitian (81-96 A.D.). His persecution of Christians is the context of the book of Revelation. Domitian's brother and predecessor as em-peror, Titus, led the siege of Jerusalem, leading to its fall in 70 A.D.
At the end of this room turn right into a room filled with Roman sarcophagi.
SARCOPHAGUS AND COVER WITH THE INDIAN TRIUMPH OF DIONYSUS (23.31), marble, ca. 190 A.D. A sarcophagus was a coffin or tomb. The word comes from two Greek words meaning "to eat flesh" because limestone sarcophagi caused a rapid disintegration of the contents. The Walters Web site tells us: "This sarcoph-agus was discovered just outside Rome in the underground tomb of one of the most illustrious families in Roman history (the Calpurnii Pisones). With its multiple planes of figures, many worked almost in the round, and the enormous attention to detail including many ele-ments of landscape, the sarcophagus exemplifies the masterful talents of the best of Roman relief carvers in the late second century A.D. The triumphal march of Dionysus (or Bacchus as he was known to the Romans) through the lands of India was equated in Roman thought with the triumph of the deceased over death."
Some scholars see in the reference to the noisy gong and clanging cymbal of 1 Corinthians 13:1 an allusion to triumphal processions in such Hellenistic cults and mys-tery religions as the worship of Dionysus. Paul speaks of the triumph or victory of the resurrection: "When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’" (1 Corinthians 15:54-55).
As Christianity emerged in the Roman Empire, part of its appeal to the lower classes and slaves came through its offer of a victory over death for any believer, not just for kings and heroes. Its rites were not secret like those of the mystery religions. After comparing a dead body to a planted seed of grain that is transformed into wheat, Paul wrote, "Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed" (1 Corinthians 15:37, 51).
As in the case of ossuaries, a sarcophagus has been in the news recently. In May 2007 Israeli archaeologist Ehud Netzer announced the discovery of Herod's tomb on the slope of the Herodium, eight miles southwest of Jerusalem. He found fragments of an elaborate sarcoph-agus that he believes was vengefully destroyed about seventy years after Herod's death by a member of the First Jewish Revolt against Rome.
For more information and a photo of the Walters' Diony-sus sarcophagus, see
http://www.thewalters.org/works_of_art/itemdetails. aspx?aid=33305.Before you leave this room, just for fun, look for a sar-cophagus lid with a likeness of Elvis Presley on one corner. On August 16, 2007, the 30th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley, the on-line edition of American Public Media's Composer Datebook wrote that Elvis was "the archetypal rock 'n' roll superstar, revered more as the modern day reincarnation of the Greek god Diony-sus ... a mere mortal (italics added) ... some people claim he never died at all ... American composer Michael Daughtery has taken pop icons like Elvis as the inspira-tion for a number of his concert works. He even wrote a bassoon concerto titled ‘Dead Elvis’ -- a set of vari-ations on the Dies Irae theme from the Latin Mass for the Dead." An interesting comment to consider in this room with a sarcophagus depicting a triumph of Dionysus!
Now move on to the next small room. Look for the exhib-it on Roman Domestic Life.
STATUETTES FROM A ROMAN LARARIUM (54.752, 54.751, 54.748, 54.750, 54.2290, 54.749), 1st century A.D. This lovely household shrine includes statuettes of various deities, all action figures, implying a belief in gods who were active. Among them are the chief Roman god, Jupiter (Zeus to the Greeks), and the messenger of the gods, Mercury (Hermes to the Greeks). When Paul and Barnabas visited Lystra, the people shouted, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" "Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker" (Acts 14:11-12).
Walk through the door to the left of the Roman Lararium through the Ancient Near Eastern Art room back into the open court area outside the elevators. Find a portrait head to the left of the large mosaic map.
PORTRAIT OF EMPEROR NERO, RE-CARVED AS CLAUDIUS (23.118), 54-68 A.D., re-carved ca. 70 A.D. Claudius, the fourth Roman emperor (41-54 A.D.) ban-ished Jews from Rome. Acts 18:1-2 records that "[a]fter this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome." Nero, the fifth Roman emperor, reigned from 54-68 A.D. His early years as emperor showed promise, and it may have been during this period that Paul appealed to appear before Caesar (Acts 25:12): "Then Festus, after he had con-ferred with his council, replied, ‘You have appealed to the emperor; to the emperor you will go.’" Many scholars believe that both Peter and Paul suffered martyrdom under Nero.
John Ewing Roberts
Associate Scholar (2001 - 2007), The Institute for
Christian & Jewish Studies
Pastor Emeritus, Woodbrook Baptist Church
johneroberts@comcast.net(Revised December 10, 2007)
Endnotes
1Much more comprehensive studies of museum antiqui-ties with biblical connections served as models for this comparatively modest guide. E.g., R. D. Barnett, Illus-trations of Old Testament History (London: British Museum Publications Ltd.), 1966; Suzanne M. Helm, Ladders to Heaven -- Our Judaeo-Christian Heritage 5000 B.C. - A.D. 500 (Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum), 1979; Dorothy Kent Hill, The Fertile Crescent -- Art and History of the Bible Lands as Illustrated in the Walters Art Gallery (Baltimore: Walters Art Gallery), 1944; T. C. Mitchell, The Bible in the British Museum -- Interpreting the Evidence (London: The British Museum Press), 1988; P. R. S. Moorey, Archaeology, Artefacts and the Bible (Oxford: The Ashmolean Museum), 1969.
2Herschel Shanks, "Qumran -- The Pottery Factory." Bib-lical Archaeological Review, Vol. 32, No. 5, September/
October 2006, pp. 26-32.3Rabbi Dr. Shira Lander has pointed out that human figures do appear in the Jewish Necropolis at Beit She'ar-im in Israel.
4Rabbi Dr. Shira Lander has called to my attention the worship of Baal and Anath by Jews living in Egypt. A 5th-century B.C. papyrus from Elephantine (modern Ashwan) at the first cataract of the Nile mentions a contribution for Anathbethel. This name either refers to the Canaan-ite fertility goddess Anath or may mean "Sign of the House of God." Cf. James Pritchard, editor, The Ancient Near East -- An Anthology of Texts and Pictures (Prince-ton: Princeton University Press), 1958, p. 279, and G. Ernest Wright, Biblical Archaeology (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press), 1957, p. 207.
5The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III is in the British Museum. See http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/ highlight_objects/me/t/the_black_obelisk_of_ shalmanes.aspx.
6By remaining seated Rachel showed her disrespect for Laban. By sitting on his household gods in her condition she showed her contempt for them. Leviticus 15:19-20 indicates that such contact would render them unclean. I am indebted to Rabbi Dr. Shira Lander who pointed out these connections to me.
7Jeanny Vorys Canby, The Ancient Near East in the Walters Art Gallery (Baltimore: Walters Art Gallery, 1974), unnumbered page.
8This quote comes from the Taylor Prism in the British Museum. Its larger context reads, "As for Hezekiah the Judahite, who did not submit to my yoke: Forty-six of his strong, walled cities, as well as the small towns in their area, which were without number, by leveling with battering-rams and by bringing up siege-engines, and by attacking and storming on foot, by mines, tunnels, and breeches, I besieged and took them. I took as spoil 200,150 people, great and small, male and female, hor-ses, mules, asses, camels, cattle and sheep without number. I shut up [Hezekiah] himself like a caged bird in Jerusalem, his royal city. I threw up earthworks against him -- anyone who tried to leave the city-gate, I turned back to his misery. I gave his cities, which I had de-spoiled and cut off from his land, to Mitinti, king of Ashdod; Padi, king of Ekron; and Silli-bêl, king of Gaza. And thus I diminished his land. I increased the former tribute, and I forced him to surrender his land and imposts -- gifts for my majesty. As for Hezekiah, the terrifying splendor of my majesty overcame him, and the Arabs and his mercenary troops which he had brought in to strengthen Jerusalem, his royal city, deserted him. In addition to the thirty talents of gold and eight hundred talents of silver, gems, antimony, jewels, large carne-lians, ivory-inlaid couches, ivory-inlaid chairs, elephant hides, elephant tusks, ebony, boxwood, all kinds of valuable treasures, as well as his daughters, his harem, his male and female musicians, which he had delivered to me in Nineveh, my royal city. He sent his messengers to pay tribute and to accept servitude ..."
9Harry Thomas Frank, Discovering the Biblical World, re-vised edition edited by James F. Strange (Maplewood, New Jersey: Hammond Incorporated), 1988, p. 136.
10Rabbi Dr. Shira Lander has reminded me that a panel in the British Museum from the palace of Sennacherib de-picting the siege of Lachish appears to show Assyrians flaying alive some of their enemies.
11Lisbeth S. Fried, "Why Did Joseph Shave?" Biblical Archaeological Review, Vol. 33, No. 4, July/August 2007, p. 37.
12Hill, op. cit., p. 32.
13Sabine Albersmeier, Bedazzled -- 5,000 Years of Jewelry (Baltimore: The Walters Art Museum), 2005, p. 14.
14Ellen D. Reeder, Pandora's Box -- Women in Classical Greece (Baltimore: Walters Art Gallery), 1995, p. 133.
15Rabbi Dr. Shira Lander has pointed out numerous cita-tions from the historian Josephus -- epitaphs, and other inscriptions that speak of Jewish funerary feasts.
16Rabbi Dr. Shira Lander brought this connection to my attention.
17Corpus Inscriptionum Judaicarum 1511, from Leon-topolis (Egypt, 1st c. C.E.), as pointed out to me by Rabbi Dr. Shira Lander.
18This translation of Rom. 2:14 is a more accurate ren-dering of the original Greek than is found in the NRSV. It is the work of Stanley K. Stowers, presented in A Rereading of Romans (New Haven: Yale University Press), 1994, p. 139. This translation was suggested to me by ICJS associate scholar Janis L. Koch.
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