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2009 Volume 45

Editorial We apologise for the delay in producing this edition of Buried History. We hope that we can still produce the next edition before the end of the year.  The journal begins with a tribute to Professor Donald Wiseman who died on 2nd February 2010. He made a significant contribution in many areas throughout his life and the tribute attempts to highlight some of these. The Institute had his support from its inception and more recently was fortunate to have him as an Honorary Fellow. The tribute was prepared with the kind assistance and advice of an early student of Professor Wiseman, Professor Alan Millard.  The first paper is by another student of Professor Wiseman, Terence Mitchell, who was also a colleague of Professor Wiseman’s at the British Museum. Before taking up his position at the BM, Terence was employed briefly by Walter Beasley, the founder of the Institute. He was also for a time the Institute’s representative in the United Kingdom. Terence has retired from the British Museum but has maintained his connection with the Museum and, as demonstrated by his paper, has also remained active in research.

The paper by Dr Erica Hunter on the Hebrew inscriptions at Jām, Afghanistan, is on the fringe of the Buried History field of interest, however it does have some Melbourne input. The inscriptions at Jām were part of archaeological work undertaken recently by David Thomas of La Trobe University, and we are pleased to give it coverage amongst our readers. Erica has made a signifi cant contribution to the analysis of Mesopotamian cursing bowls and in fact has the publication of the Institute’s cursing bowl in her program. 

The Institute’s mummy has been the subject of some research by Janet Davey and Pamela Craig in the past as reported in Buried History. Janet is now pursuing formal research and her work on the mummy is part of that endeavour. The advances in digital analysis and presentation have been significant since the mummy was first scanned late last century. The Institute gratefully acknowledges the support of the Victorian Institute for Forensic Medicine in the current research project. 

Dr Anne Gardner lectures in ancient history at La Trobe University and has been working for some years on the circumstances in the southern Levant at the end of the Late Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age. The paper published here is a follow-on from that work. The remains of the building at Jericho about which she writes no longer exist and the original building awaits an adequate interpretation. Anne offers a suggestion. 

The Institute has a significant collection of archaeological material from the two main excavators of the Middle Building at Jericho, Professor John Garstang and Dame Kathleen Kenyon. Most of the material derives from tomb locations and not the Tell. The existence at the Institute of Kenyon Jericho material is generally known, but the Garstang collection is not. 

We have been pleased to include material from Scott Charlesworth in past editions. In this issue Scott reviews Richard Bauckham’s Jesus and the eyewitnesses. This book has been the subject of signifi cant comment in other journals and we are pleased to present Scott’s views. 

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

Professor Donald John Wiseman OBE DLit FBA FKC FSA (1918-2010): A Tribute

Papers

Terence C Mitchell, Nebo-Sarsekim (Jeremiah 39:3) mentioned in a recently noticed Babylonian text... Read Abstract

Erica C.D. Hunter, Men Only: Hebrew-script Inscriptions from Jām, Afghanistan... Read Abstract

Pamela J. Craig and Janet Davey, Mummifi ed Child – A Further Investigation... Read Abstract

Anne E. Gardner, The Function of the Middle Building in Late Bronze Age Jericho... Read Abstract

Reviews

R. Bauckham, Jesus and the eyewitnesses: the Gospels as eyewitness testimony, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006, Scott D. Charlesworth

Don C. Benjamin, Stones and Stories: An Introduction to Archaeology and the Bible, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2010, Christopher J. Davey

Shlomo Sand, The Invention of the Jewish People, (trans. from Hebrew by Yael Lotan) London: Verso, 2009, Christopher J. Davey

Editorial Board
W. I. Edwards, R. G. Jenkins, G.H.R. Horsley, Merrill Kitchen,
A.R. Millard, Lindsay Wilson, John W. Wilson.

Editor
Christopher J. Davey

ISSN 0007-6260

Papers

Terence C Mitchell - Nebo-Sarsekim (Jeremiah 39:3) mentioned in a recently noticed Babylonian text

Abstract: A recently published cuneiform tablet (BM 114789) dating from the 6th century BC mentions a man who can be identifi ed with the Nebo-Sarsekim known in the account given by Jeremiah (39:3) of the last days of Jerusalem. The tablet also includes a number of titles mentioned in Jeremiah the meaning of which has hitherto been uncertain. The new evidence illuminates the history of the Babylonian administration established in Jerusalem
after 597 BC.

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Erica C.D. Hunter - Men Only: Hebrew-script Inscriptions from Jām, Afghanistan

Abstract: In 2005, the Minaret of Jām Archaeological Project team documented five tombstones with inscriptions in Hebrew script at Jām in central Afghanistan. Three of these inscriptions have never been recorded before, and they bring the total number of tombstones with inscriptions in Hebrew script found at the site to seventy-four. The tombstones indicate that there was a sizable Jewish population present at the summer capital of the Ghūrid dynasty, but curiously they only relate to males. The analysis of the inscriptions supports earlier suggestions
that the Jewish community in Afghanistan originated from Persia.

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Pamela J.G. Craig and Janet Davey - Mummified Child – A Further Investigation

Abstract: An Australian Institute of Archaeology mummifi ed child from the Graeco/Roman Period of ancient Egypt has been re-investigated using Computerised Tomography (CT) scan images loaded into a Vitrea Workstation. The Vitrea Workstation produces volume rendered images and three dimensional (3D) reconstructions from the original CT scan data and allows for a more complete examination of the mummy within the wrappings. Most results from the original report published in this journal have been confi rmed, some may have alternate explanations and there are a number of new fi ndings. The child’s injuries are more extensive than fi rst reported and may suggest death due to traumatic injury. The body’s preparation for burial is unusual with the inclusion of supporting panels of an
inorganic material.

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Anne E. Gardner - The Function of the Middle Building in Late Bronze Age Jericho

Abstract: The Middle Building is one of the few structures dated to the Late Bronze Age at Jericho. It has been recognized as a residence but also hypothesized to have been a fort. On the basis of its location and some features it shares with the Stratum IXb structure at Tell Halif, it is argued that the Middle Building in Jericho was more than a private dwelling. Rather, it is likely to have been a way station that was part of the Egyptian administration.

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