Author’s Blog
Conrad Schick Conference
On 15 January 2023, Dr. David Gurevich, Chair of the Conference, Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, published the program for the conference. Click here to view it. Read this blog post to learn more about my involvement in this academic conference....
Wrong Readings and Righting a Wrong – Giving Shapira Credit Where Credit is Due
In The Moses Scroll, I presented evidence that Moses Wilhelm Shapira was involved in early efforts to decipher the Siloam Inscription.[1] His daughter reported his work in copying and producing a “tracing” of the inscription, but as this article will show,...
Fragments of a Leather Manuscript Containing Moses’ Last Words to the Children of Israel
In the summer of 1883, Moses Wilhelm Shapira arrived in Europe with sixteen blackened leather strips. They purportedly contained a version of Moses’ final words to the children of Israel, written in Paleo-Hebrew script. Shapira went first to Berlin, then to Leipzig,...
A More Dangerous Fiend – צרעת, and NOT צרעה in Shapira’s MSS
Abstract: The meaning, cause, and remedy of the biblical צרעת have been the source of much debate. Traditional translations have rendered the word as leprosy, usually with the somewhat confusing caveat that despite the retention of leprosy, it does not mean...
Mary F. Burns – The Eleventh Commandment
The story of Moses Wilhelm Shapira contains plots and subplots. The dramatis personae include heroes and villains, a list of who’s who in nineteenth-century biblical scholarship, adventurers, and explorers. These are presented against the backdrop of some of...
The Lead Curse Amulet & Shapira’s Altar-less Alternative Ebal
Photo courtesy of Aaron Lipkin - Lipkin Tours, Ltd, Ofra, Israel. Aaron is a tireless promoter of Professor Zertal's work. His site has many useful resources on a variety of subjects related to the historicity of the Bible. The Background to the Discovery On 26...