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2010 Volume 46

Editorial The publication of Buried History is again a little late and we apologise for that. The main reason for the delay is that the rejection rate for papers has left us short of a full issue until now, although the situation has not been as severe as last year. Some of the rejected papers will appear in the future after some revision. One difficulty that faces us is that, while our contributors, reviewers and readers are predominantly international, the Australian ERA journal ranking system has awarded Buried History the lowest ranking; we are not aware of any objective assessment in this matter. The ranking means that Australian academics and researchers are not able to publish with us. There is a review of journal rankings currently underway and we hope that the standard that we have maintained over the last decade will be recognised. Our Editorial Board has seen a number of recent changes. Dr John Wilson sadly passed away in January. He was Vicar-General of Victoria prior to his retirement a few years ago and his scholarly research was undertaken at Duke and Yale Universities. Over the last decade John was a staunch supporter of the Institute providing valuable advice, practical assistance and great encouragement. Joining the Editorial Board in 2011 are Kenneth Kitchen, Emeritus Professor of Egyptology, University of Liverpool, and Dr Thomas Davis, who from July will be Professor of Archaeology and Biblical Backgrounds, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth. We hope to appoint a number of additional scholars to the Editorial Board during the year.

The recent death of Professor Emeritus Anson Rainey also saddened us and we have commenced this edition of Buried History with a tribute to him. Anson was a scholar of great academic stature having mastery of his fields of research and the ability to offer well supported independent opinions. We will greatly miss his scholarship and friendship. We are indebted to David Bivin, Todd Bolan and Dr John Monson for assistance with illustrations.

Dr Thomas Davis visited Australia as a guest of the Austral­ian Institute of Archaeology in 2010 and gave a number of fascinating lectures and seminars. The paper published here was one of them. Dr. Davis has been the director of the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute in Nicosia, Cyprus, since 2003 and has excavated in Cyprus, Jordan, Egypt, and in the United States, where he has substantial archaeological experience in cultural resource management. He is the author of Shifting Sands: The Rise and Fall of Biblical Archaeology (Oxford, 2004). Tom earned his Ph.D. at the University of Arizona, under the direction of Professor William G. Dever.

The Institute has a number of unpublished objects and in time we hope to remedy the situation. Emeritus Professor Kenneth Kitchen presents a reading of a rather fine frag­ment of an Old-South-Arabian inscription in the possession of the Institute. We hope that this exposure will contribute to the knowledge of the pre-Islamic culture of Southern Arabian peninsula.

Merrill Kitchen recently retired as Principal of the Churches of Christ Theological College in Melbourne. She was President of the Melbourne College of Divinity and will be awarded a Fellowship by the MCD in early May. Her paper explores early Jewish thought as demonstrated by synagogue mosaics as a background to the Gospel of Matthew.

Dr Lamia Salem el-Khouri is Associate Professor, Depart­ment of Archaeology, Yarmouk University, Jordan. She received her doctorate in 2001 at Mannheim University, Germany for a thesis entitled The Nabataean Terracotta Figurines. We are pleased to publish her paper on the stone grinding tools from the site of Barsinia in Northern Jordan.

As always we thank our reviewers and all who have con­tributed to this issue of Buried History.

Christopher J. Davey

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Table of Contents

Editorial

Anson Frank Rainey 1930 - 2011

Papers

Thomas W. Davis, Earthquakes and the Crises of Faith: Social Transformation in Late Antique Cyprus... Read Abstract

Kenneth A. Kitchen, Fragment of an Old-South-Arabian Dedicatory Stela IA17.127... Read Abstract

Merrill Kitchen, Uncovering the Kingdom of Heaven: Archaeological Exploration and the Gospel of Matthew... Read Abstract

Lamia el-Khouri, Stone Grinding Tools of the Northern Highlands of Jordan in Classical and Early Islamic Periods Case Study: Barsinia... Read Abstract

Reviews

Thomas E Levy (ed.), Historical Biblical Archaeology and the Future: The New Pragmatism, London and Oakville: Equinox, 2010, Christopher J. Davey

Editorial Board
T.W. Davis, W. I. Edwards, G.H.R. Horsley, K. A. Kitchen
Merrill Kitchen, A.R. Millard, Lindsay Wilson.

Editor
Christopher J. Davey

ISSN 0007-6260

Papers

Thomas W. Davis - Earthquakes and the Crises of Faith: Social Transformation in Late Antique Cyprus

Abstract: The fourth century AD marked a watershed change for the development of Cyprus cultural identity.  Transformed by external factors, the Cyprus that emerged by AD 400 is recognizably the forerunner of modern Cyprus. A series of earthquakes during the course of that century caused both the traditional pagan religions and the newly visible and vibrant Christianity to undergo crises of faith. The Cypriot pagan response is to reject the temple cult and turn inward following neo-Platonic teachings before quietly fading away. This is inferred from surviving mosaic floors. The Christian response is expressed in a massive campaign of church construction. The theological framework for this expansion is an understanding of the Providence of God as mercy and judgment inseparably together which forms the foundation for the Cypriot church.

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Kenneth A. Kitchen - Fragment of an Old-South-Arabian Dedicatory Stela IA17.127

Abstract: The paper identifi es object IA17.127 as a fragment of an Old-South-Arabian stela from Qataban (east of Saba/Sheba), of 1st centuries BC/AD, recording a family’s offering to the deity Anbay; only the top right-hand section survives.

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Merrill Kitchen - Uncovering the Kingdom of Heaven: Archaeological Exploration and the Gospel of Matthew

Abstract: The ‘Kingdom of God’ is a common term found in the New Testament Gospels as a descriptor of the reign of God, but the Gospel of Matthew uniquely and consistently replaces this term with the ‘Kingdom of Heaven.’ Interestingly, the mosaic art uncovered in a number of second to fifth century CE synagogues excavated over the last sixty years in Israel-Palestine also portray the heavens symbolically using the form of zodiacs and surrounding them with symbols of Israel’s ancient story. In particular, the story board of the mosaic fl oor of an excavated fifth-century CE synagogue in Zippori (Sepphoris) shows remarkable similarities with a narrative structure discernible within the Gospel of Matthew. This may point to a period of common cultural understanding, and even dialogue, between Rabbinic Judaism and Early Christianity.

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Lamia el-Khouri - Stone Grinding Tools of the Northern Highlands of Jordan in Classical and Early Islamic Periods Case Study: Barsinia

Abstract: The paper describes and discusses the forty-two grinding stones found during the 2006 and 2007 excavation seasons at the site of Barsinia in northern Jordan. The basic types are identified and while most of them are known from as early as the Neolithic period, one type, the rotary basalt quern, seems to be a new arrival during the Late Byzantine period.

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