Subject: RE: Jerusalem Temple Inscription Warning Gentiles of Death
From: Lisbeth S. Fried (lizfried@umich.edu)
Date: Sun Dec 20 2009 - 19:50:30 EST
Hi Ken,
You know there were signs like this on the doors of Egyptian temples in
hieroglyphs saying none but priests could enter, and I assume that none but
priests could read them.
Except the gods could read them.
Liz Fried
Ann Arbor
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-ioudaios-l@Lehigh.EDU [mailto:owner-ioudaios-l@Lehigh.EDU] On
Behalf Of Kenneth Litwak
Sent: Sunday, December 20, 2009 7:29 PM
To: First Century Judaism Discussion Forum
Subject: RE: Jerusalem Temple Inscription Warning Gentiles of Death
Liz and Others,
Thanks. I was not really seeking to argue that such an inscription did
not exist but if the arguments for a low literacy rate are correct, it seems
puzzling that such a thing would have been provided because hardly anyone
(only 4 people out of 100 in Stanley's reckoning) could even read. So
first, thanks to all who have told me where I could find the inscription.
Second, doesn't its existence suggest that the ability to read had to be
above 4% if it was to be meaningful?
Ken Litwak
Kenneth D. Litwak, Ph.D.
Azusa Pacific University
901 E. Alosta Ave.
Azusa, CA 91702
________________________________
From: owner-ioudaios-l@Lehigh.EDU on behalf of Lisbeth S. Fried
Sent: Sun 12/20/2009 5:39 AM
To: First Century Judaism Discussion Forum
Subject: RE: Jerusalem Temple Inscription Warning Gentiles of Death
Hi Ken,
I saw an inscription of this nature at the Archaeological Museum in
Istanbul. It was on the third floor, a floor dedicated entirely to
antiquities from Israel. It was there along with the Siloam inscription, the
Ta'anach incense altar, and others. The inscription was in Greek warning
gentiles away from the temple mount. I wasn't reading Greek at the time I
saw it, so I won't swear to it's contents, but that was the gist.
Liz Fried
Ann Arbor
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-ioudaios-l@Lehigh.EDU [mailto:owner-ioudaios-l@Lehigh.EDU] On
Behalf Of Kenneth Litwak
Sent: Saturday, December 19, 2009 6:22 PM
To: First Century Judaism Discussion Forum
Subject: Jerusalem Temple Inscription Warning Gentiles of Death
After a quick check of a few scholarly articles, I have two questions
about the warning to Gentiles about not entering the Temple, or rather, the
Court of the Women, on pain of death. First, although I read multiple
references to this being an inscription and a discussion of the significance
of he inscription, I did not see anyone say that we possess physical
evidence of this inscription. It appears rather that this was recorded by
Josephus but we have no epigraphic evidence of it.
So, given this situation, first, is there any good reason to think that
such an inscription actually existed? Second, if Christopher Stanley is
correct, and literacy was down around 4% (and although I think he is wrong,
it appears that the guild in general thinks he is right or close to it), it
seems highly unlikely that anyone, except perhaps a few scribes, entering
the temple would be able to read this or any other inscription, so what
would be the point of it? How could a Gentile be held accountable for
something that virtually no one entering the temple could read since hardly
anyone in the culture at all could read, based on Stanley's account?
Ken Litwak
Kenneth D. Litwak, Ph.D.
Azusa Pacific University
901 E. Alosta Ave.
Azusa, CA 91702
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