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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.

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