As is my custom, the first post of the new year summarizes the stats from last year. Here they are:
Visits to the blog: 340,559
Page Views: 875,611
PaleoBabble had significant jumps in both statistical categories from 2010. Thanks to all of you who stop by and read!
Well, I’m finally back from a week on the east coast. That means things will start to return to normal. To get back on the blogging saddle, here’s a cool resource that readers of this blog might be able to use at some point in their own reading and research: 2300 ancient sites via Google Earth. Check it out!
It appears Zahi Hawass has been ousted as head of antiquities in Egypt (recall he had resigned and then came back). Check out the story here (you have to love the picture).
I’d guess that Egyptology might be better off without Zahi (he is something of a huckster, but he drew positive attention to Egyptology). However, since the country is being taken over by Islamo-fascists (disguised as a “democracy movement” – a time-honored tactic), I’m betting we’ll miss the days of rolling our eyes at Zahi’s antics on TV.
Here’s the link to the recent announcement.
I say “finished” because, having been begun in 1921, many volumes are now outdated. But it’s still a great achievement.
The CAD is available for free in PDF (or you can buy all the volumes for $1400).
I mention the CAD on this blog since it was one of the tools I used to create a video showing people how to search through (perish the thought) actual data to debunk the ancient astronaut nonsense of Zecharia Sitchin. Here’s the link for what I mean, and the link to the video is available therein.
Dr. Jim Davila over at PaleoJudaica as this post this morning on the codices. The post features a short, to-the-point, evidence-based analysis by professor Peter Thonemann, of some of the pages of the codices, noting inconsistencies in the story and, more importantly, how the textual contents were copied from a known source in a Jordanian museum!
There are some nice high-resolution photos at the link as well.
How was the professor able to establish fakery so quickly? Simple. Once texts like this are released (that is the key — letting experts see them), it is a simple matter to do what professor Thonemann did: transcribe them and then look up the words in concordances (digital or otherwise). In this case, there were a number of known words (specific forms) and they all happened to occur in the same text(s) — in order (!) once those source texts are checked. This required experimenting a bit with the alpha and lambda letters since they are similar in form (and that was bungled by the forger). Once at this point, you know you have LINES from known texts. The next step is to find where those texts were published through a simple database source. Publications usually note the provenance of a text (where it was found) and where it is now held, in the case of a manuscript or archaeological artifact. Voila!
For any ancient astronaut theorists or cult archaeologists out there — this is *precisely* why the people you blindly follow do *not* submit their work to peer review. It is too easy to be exposed by real experts.It is also precisely why I continually ask people who promote such nonsense, “show me the texts — the specific lines cited.” That demand is never met, which hardly surprises me. When selling snake oil, you don’t hand the recipe to a chemist.
Now, a prediction. None of this will make any difference to “researchers” who want to press some point of nonsense to peddle the paleobabble that makes them money and gives them a following.
[UPDATE: Here is a new link on this story; posted 3/30/2011. It contained the pictures below that I have now added to the original post.]
[UPDATE #2: Here is a paper on the "Mount Zion Cup" alluded to in some of the discussions of these new tablets as having an analogous cryptic script by epigrapher Stephen Pfann.]
This link leads to a press release entitled, “Secret Hoard of Ancient Sealed Books Found in Jordan.” It’s worth a read for sure. Kudos to Kim West and James McGrath.
I’d heard this report about a week ago, and my advice is still the same: let’s wait and see. The press release notes that the texts (which on on lead plates) were found in Jordan and the context is Jewish-messianic. As a result, speculation abounds that these texts (if authentic) might be the earliest Christian texts ever found, as preliminary indications point to a first century AD/CE date.Unless it’s Paleobabble. That is a legitimate fear in the wake of the archaeological forgery trials of recent times in Israel. Hopefully the material is real and can solve some mysteries about early Jewish-Christian thinking (at least for some sect).
Note as you read that there are a number of references to some of the texts being written in “code.” This refers to what is known as “cryptic script.” Some Dead Sea Scrolls were written in this script (and yes, they’ve been published — sorry, no conspiracies). I have a friend who lives in Israel who is an expert in these sorts of texts, so I’m hoping he will at some point be involved in the find. His opinion would be thoughtful and trustworthy. Stay tuned!
I don’t have a Kindle or other hand-held device, but I imagine many of you do. Here’s a nice listing of books you can get for Kindle (and other devices) that pertain to some of things blogged about here.
1 Enoch to be more precise. I thought I’d mention this since my MEMRA course sequence in 1 Enoch begins March 14. There are three six-week modules scheduled. March 14 inaugurates Module 1. I’m hoping we get through chapters 1-36 in Module 1, but that may be optimistic. At any rate, I also bring it up because there are already ten signed up, and I don’t like to have classes of more than 20. Here is the link to enroll (scroll toward the bottom and look for the PayPal registration link; cost is $50). Registration ends on March 6.
I should also note that this is an academic course, not paleobabble. No Elizabeth Claire Prophet on Enoch nonsense.
I checked the stats on my websites and blogs on NY eve. It’s been a great year for PaleoBabble. The traffic of the blog has increased substantially — thanks to all of you who regularly visit and those who lurk! Here are the 2010 stats with 2009′s numbers for comparison:
2010 Visitors: 281,147
2009 = 169,566
2010 Page Views: 542,403
2009 = 290,145
Please link to my blog so we can keep building it!
Just a note that I’m back after a week of conferences. Among the organizations holding meetings this past week were the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), the Near East Archaeological Society (NEAS), the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR), the Institute for Biblical Research (IBR), and the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS). Then Thanksgiving was upon us (hope you all enjoyed the day). I’ll soon get back to blogging.