Bryce Haymond has put together a great summary of some of the most recent findings and opinions, organized into evidence supporting their authenticity vs. evidence of forgery.  There seems to be more evidence for them being forgeries. Please see his post at TempleStudy.com here: http://www.templestudy.com/2011/03/31/jordanian-lead-plates-authentic-forgery/#more-2396

Daniel McClellin has the content of an email that was sent by Peter Thonemann at Oxford to David Elkington (the archaeologist who is leading the investigation into the plates) in which Thonemann demonstrates how the (one) bronze tablet that he was shown was apparently made rather recently by someone who did not know Greek, as there are errors in the writing that suggest to Thonemann that the writer didn’t even know the Greek alphabet. Furthermore, the writings don’t make sense as they stand and appear to have been copied from known Greek inscriptions. You can read the full email at Daniel’s site: http://danielomcclellan.wordpress.com/2011/03/31/peter-thonemann-on-the-lead-codices/

Rice University Professor April DeConick gives her opinion (not positive) on the plates: http://forbiddengospels.blogspot.com/2011/03/lead-tablets-come-on.html

It’s beginning to look like the plates, despite all the fun hype, may be too good to be true.

UPDATE: Jim Davila, at PaleoJudaica, has further information on and discussion of the Thonemann email. See here: http://paleojudaica.blogspot.com/2011_03_27_archive.html#7454369078247746754

As Professor Davila notes, the Deseret News now has a good article up about the plates as well: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700123230/Ancient-metal-plates-found-in-Middle-East.html?pg=1

It has come to my attention (via her blog Forbidden Gospels) that Rice University Professor of Biblical Studies, April DeConick, will be a part of an extended research seminar that will be studying how different religions/cultures have prepared themselves for the “afterlife journey” that they anticipate having to traverse at death, including religious teachings and practices.

From her blog:

The semester is a week advanced and this year I am facilitating a Mellon Seminar. The topic? Mapping Death: Religious Preparations for the Afterlife Journey. The Seminar consists of myself, five graduate students from various departments (Religious Studies, French Studies, and Anthropology) and a webmaster. We are in the process of developing a webpage for the Seminar, so if you are interested you can track our progress.

Each student has an individual research project to work on, and then we are collaborating in terms of method and theory, sharing our approaches with each other. It is an exciting seminar and I am so pleased to be part of it. My own individual research project involves mapping ancient Gnostic metaphysics and praxis.

Here is a short description of the seminar:

This is a collaborative research seminar consisting of fellows working on cross-culturally mapping death journeys and religious preparations for them in order to investigate the relationship between the anticipated afterlife journey and the group’s metaphysics and praxis. The fellows will be engaged in the creation and cultivation of a rich interdisciplinary approach to the comparative study of traditions, a ‘new’ history-of-traditions approach that is conscious of the historical contexture of traditions, their referentiality, confluence, communal generation and conveyance, responsiveness, changeability, accumulative nature, and variability in transmission. Members will be working on individual research projects related to the seminar’s mission and their dissertations. At the end of the year, they will present their final projects in a roundtable symposium that also will feature invited papers from three external scholars who will visit the seminar at various sessions during the Spring semester. The papers from the symposium will be edited for publication in a volume.

I will be keeping a close eye on this seminar to see what they up with and look forward to the subsequent publication. This is an important topic and the research done will be significant for anyone interested in Temple studies (and Heavenly Ascents!) — preparation for the “afterlife journey” is one of the main purposes of the Temple, both ancient and modern.

I have met April DeConick and some of her graduate students and I highly respect the work that they do there at Rice University. You can expect it to be very professional and methodologically sound.

Early Jewish and Christian Mysticism – Sunday 4pm

April De Conick

Star Gates: What Were the Gnostics Doing?

The Peratics (perasai, Greek for “Transcendentalists”) say:

We alone have known that genesis is necessary and (we alone have known) have know the roads by which humans have entered into the cosmos. We have been instructed precisely so we alone can pass through and treverse over the perishable. Hip. Ref. 5:16.1

We generally think that Gnostics didn’t know astrology, that it wasn’t a scientific knowledge – W. Forester (in his collection of Gnostic texts) failed to translate the chapter on astrological statements – he evidently considered them not relevant to Gnosticism.

We must become acquainted with ancient cosmology (cosmic architecture) to understand what the Gnostics were doing.

Earth is the navel of the cosmos – in the middle of the earth is a pole (axis mundi) — the earth is stationary and the various  celestial spheres revolve around it.

The sublunar realm includes

• The Earth
• Tartarus
• The Skies
• The Firmament

The Heavens include:

• the seven planetary spheres
• one zodiacal sphere
• these were considered to be deities

The zodiac band crosses the horizon and is divided into twelve units–zodiacal signs. The stars wander below zodiacal band. Each zodiac sign was a “place” or “house”. Each of the planets rules over a particular sign.

Egyptian Decans (groups of stars) – had 36 divisions instead of 12 – each was a deity – 72 spirits for every 5 degrees of the zodiac for a total of 365 gods.

The Egyptian system was merged into the Greco-Roman system. There were seven main rulers whose houses have a number of assistants. These assistants became demons and the fallen angels. They needed to be regularly appeased with acts of magic.

The skies were populated by demonic archons for the Gnostics. In their view, the Jewish creator god (demiurge) was a powerful, but angry god.

A common Gnostic belief existed that there are paths that allow for a journey out of cosmos into heavens beyond – these stem from a mix of Egyptian, Greek, Jewish, Christian religions. The Gnostics claimed to know certain  greetings, prayers, and secret words that were necessary to pass through the “stargates” into the heavens. For example, they were required to know and give the correct names of all gods that they would have to pass by.

They knew of three journeys that one would have to undertake:

–1^st journey is through the sublunar realm and Hades, beginning at the soul’s release from the body

–2^nd jouney is through the several planetary spheres and the zodiac, beginning at the star or planet gate

–3^rd journey is through the transcosmic realm beginning at the star or planet gate

In the first journey, the individual would have to pass through waters of Tartarus before reaching the heavens.

One must pass the “twelve controlled pyramid” – the guardians of the zodiac. He/she goes through a  gate in the zodiac pyramid which Chronos and assistants guard.

Ou, Aoai, Ouo, Ouoab –  are the first four names of assistant guardians (the fifth name isn’t given).

–Soclam (= Egyptian Osiris) guards hours of the night

–Uno (Isis) guards hours of the day

Why did the Peratics write down the names of gods/demons? These were the deities that soul would initially meet after death. They have the charge of judging the dead on their journey to Hades – they control the fate of the soul after death and before re-embodiment.

The “hymn” of the guardian controls a chasm filled with water in the deepest depths of Tartarus

–Book of Suburbs ? –- the soul is escorted to a chasm – there are two chasms on the left and two on the right. The left go to prison, the right go to heaven. If you are allowed to take the chasm on the right, you journey four days until you reach a pillar of light, then go up the pillar to heaven. Those going down the chasm on the left end up drinking from the forgetful river.

Chronos is understood as a likeness of the Red Sea that one must cross before reaching heaven. The Gnostics had passwords, names, and seals necessary to cross the waters and enter the gate that opens up to Zodiac.

Book 4 of Pistis Sophia – the gates of hell open and release prisoners when certain signs of the zodiac align – souls enter the zodiac before being embodied again. These gates are located at intersection of milky way and the zodiac or at different zodiacal signs.

Sometimes the focus is on planetary gates – the sun and moon, etc. Sometimes the journey is described as an ascent through the sun and descent through the moon or vice versa. The descent through the several planets to the earth involves a series of changes from the  spiritual body to the physical.

On the way one has to get past Chronos and his five assistants and the five chasms. This involves offering prayers to persuade them to let you past.

The planetary spheres are likened to the “desert” of Israel. On the way, one meets fiery serpents who attack the individual. These are also symbolized as stars who want to return them to the world and to their body – the stars are like serpents. In order to pass by these unharmed, one must gaze to the top of the planetary spheres to the constellation “Draco the Serpent”, who is Christ. Draco is located at the roof of the cosmic dome – he started this pattern of ascent and descent. He gets power from the Father and passes it to humans.

The Father is above Draco and is the source of his powers. In some traditions, the Demiurge is the evil god who transfers heavenly powers to earth. Draco is also the river that flows out of Eden and flows to heaven.

Knowing the secrets of Draco causes rebirth and ability to travel to realm of the Father – one must go through Draco/Christ  –you are drawn up like a magnet through him.

Chronos must be crossed and the individual must pass through his gate into the Zodiac. The stars and planets must be overcome and then the individual must travel up the tail of Draco to his mouth and then be spit out into the heavens. Then he/she can travel to the realm of the Father, which is far above the heavens in his own realm.

After the presentation, in the discussion period, this question was asked by BYU professor John Hall:

John Hall – As I listened to your presentation, there is a correspondence on every point with the ancient Egyptian cult. Has ancient Egyptian religion been kept alive in Gnostic tradition?

April DeConick – Yes, I do believe so. The names of the deities are preserved.  Egyptian and Greek myths are both preserved in Gnosticism – its a synthesis of all these national religions.

(I take responsibility for the contents of these notes. They are but my own paraphrasing of what she said in her presentation, and are missing a good amount of the detail she put into it. Hopefully these notes help provide, in a small way, some of the great insights that she meant to pass on.)

I wanted to share with you some links to some great religious scholars that I have found on the internet.  This is by no means an exhaustive list, nor my official opinion of who is a good scholar and who is not, but it is a sampling of some sites that I have come across, especially some that I’ve been made aware of just recently.  I hope their sites/blogs will be as helpful to you as they have been to me.

Dr. James R. Davila — www.paleojudaica.blogspot.com

I mentioned Dr. Davila’s blog in my last post.  Again, Dr. Davila is the head of the School of Divinity at the University of St. Andrews in St. Andrews, Scotland.  Dr. Davila is at the very forefront of research on early Judaism, the Second Temple period, Jewish Pseudepigrapha, Jewish Mysticism, and related topics.  I have known of his research in this area for quite some time, but have only recently become acquainted with his blog.  The blog is updated almost every day and contains news, links, insights, and other items of interest for those who enjoy learning about ancient Jewish history, religion, mysticism, and related topics in Christianity, as well.  His site is a great way to keep up on what is going on in the academic world regarding these areas of interest.

His own stated research interests (according to his faculty profile at St. Andrews) include: 

• Judaism from the second temple period through late antiquity
• The Dead Sea Scrolls
• The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha
• Early Jewish mysticism (Merkavah mysticism and Hekhalot literature)
• The Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
• Ancient divine mediator figures and Christian origins
• Ancient Near Eastern literature and mythology

A small sampling of his recent publications:

 The Provenance of the Pseudepigrapha: Jewish, Christian, or Other? (JSJSup 105; Leiden: Brill, 2005)

Descenders to the Chariot: The People Behind the Hekhalot Literature (JSJSup 70; Leiden: Brill, 2001)

Liturgical Works (Eerdmans Commentaries on the Dead Sea Scrolls 6; (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2000)

Qumran Cave 4: VII Genesis to Numbers (Discoveries in the Judean Desert, vol. 12), part one: 4QGenExoda, Genb-h, Genj-k (Oxford: Clarendon, 1994), 7-78, plates I-XII.

“The Macrocosmic Temple, Scriptural Exegesis, and the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice,” Dead Sea Discoveries 9 (2002): 1-19

“The Hekhalot Literature and the Ancient Jewish Apocalypses,” in Paradise Now: Essays on Early Jewish and Christian Mysticism (ed. April Deconick; SBL Symposium Series 11; Atlanta, Ga.: Society of Biblical Literature, 2006), 105-25

“Enochians, Essenes, and Qumran Essenes” and “The Animal Apocalypse and Daniel,” in Enoch and Qumran Origins: New Light on a Forgotten Connection (ed. Gabriele Boccaccini; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2005), 35-38, 365-59

“Melchizedek, the ‘Youth,’ and Jesus,” in The Dead Sea Scrolls as Background to Postbiblical Judaism and Early Christianity, 248-74 (see above)

Shamanic Initiatory Death and Resurrection in the Hekhalot Literature,” in Magic and Ritual in the Ancient World, ed. Paul Mirecki and Marvin Meyer (Religions in the Graeco-Roman World 141; Leiden: Brill, 2002), 283-302

“The Dead Sea Scrolls and Merkavah Mysticism,” in The Dead Sea Scrolls in their Historical Context, edited by Timothy H. Lim, et. al. (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2000), 249-64

“Of Methodology, Monotheism, and Metatron: Introductory Reflections on Divine Mediators and the Origins of the Worship of Jesus,” in The Jewish Roots of Christological Monotheism, 3-18 (see above)

“Heavenly Ascents in the Qumran Scrolls,” for The Dead Sea Scrolls after Fifty Years: A Comprehensive Assessment, ed. Peter W. Flint and James C. VanderKam ( 2 vols.; Leiden: Brill, 1999), 2:461-85

“Melchizedek: King, Priest, and God,” in The Seductiveness of Jewish Myth: Challenge or Response?, ed. S. Daniel Breslauer (Albany, N. Y.: SUNY, 1997), 217-34

“Melchizedek, Michael, and War in Heaven,” in the Society of Biblical Literature 1996 Seminar Papers (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1996), 259-72

“The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha as Background to the New Testament,”Expository Times 117 (2005): 53-57

“Assimilated to the Blogosphere: Blogging Ancient Judaism” in the SBL Forum, April 2005

The Book of Revelation and the Hekhalot Literature (PDF, 154 KB) (SBL, November 2008)

“The Hekhalot Literature and the Ancient Jewish Apocalypses” (SBL, November 2006)

“‘Scripture’ as Prophetically Revealed Writings” (SBL, November 2006)

“More Christian Apocrypha” (Ottawa Workshop on Christian Apocrypha, September-October 2006)

“More Jewish Pseudepigrapha” (International SBL, July 2006)

“Ritual in the Old Testament Apocrypha,” (Symposium on Anthropology and the Old Testament, Glasgow University, June 2004)

“The Apocalypse of Daniel: A Newly Discovered Syriac Pseudepigraphon – A Thought Experiment” (IOQS, July 2004)

“Did Christians Write Old Testament Pseudepigrapha That Appear to Be Jewish?”(Intnl. SBL, July 2004) “Is the Story of

“The Rechabites in Patristic and Parabiblical Literature” (SBL, November 2003)

“Ritual in the Jewish Pseudepigrapha” (Symposium on Anthropology and Biblical Studies, St. Mary’s College, June 2003)

Review essay on Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, by Martha Himmelfarb (Ioudaios Review vol. 4.017; August 1994)

Dr. Andrei Orlov — www.andreiorlov.com

For any of you who have been following Heavenly Ascents or have searched through the site, you have probably noticed a large number of references and links to the works of Dr. Andrei Orlov, my professor and adviser at Marquette University.  While not a blog, Dr. Orlov’s website is a great one to check frequently for great research in the areas of Second Temple Judaism, Pseudepigrapha, Enochic literature, and Jewish and Christian Mysticism. 

Some of Dr. Orlov’s publications that he has linked to his webpage include:

Books

The Enoch-Metatron Tradition (TSAJ, 107; Tuebingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 2005), pp. xii+383. $175.00. ISBN 3-16-148544-0. 

From Apocalypticism to Merkabah Mysticism: Studies in the Slavonic Pseudepigrapha (Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism, 114; Leiden: Brill, 2007), pp. xii+481. $207.00. ISBN 90-04-15439-6. 

The Theophaneia School: Jewish Roots of Eastern Christian Mysticism (Scrinium III; eds. B. Lourie and A. Orlov; St. Petersburg: Byzantinorossica, 2007).

L’église des deux Alliances: Mémorial Annie Jaubert (1912–1980) (Orientalia Judaica Christiana, 1; eds. Basil Lourié, Andrei Orlov, Madeleine Petit, Gorgias Press, 2009).

Articles

“Titles of Enoch-Metatron in 2 Enoch,” Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 18 (1998) 71-86.

“Melchizedek Legend of 2 (Slavonic) Enoch,” Journal for the Study of Judaism 31 (2000) 23-38.

“The Origin of the Name ‘Metatron’ and the Text of 2 (Slavonic Apocalypse of) Enoch,” Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 21 (2000) 19-26.

“Secrets of Creation in 2 (Slavonic) Enoch,” Henoch 22 (2000) 45-62.

“Ex 33 on God’s Face: A Lesson from the Enochic Tradition,”   Seminar Papers 39, Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting 2000 (Atlanta: Scholars, 2000) 130-47.

“‘Two Tablets’ Traditions from the Book of Giants to Palaea Historica,” Journal for the Study of Judaism 32 (2001) 137-158.

“Paradigms of the Transformational Vision in the Macarian Homilies,” Vigiliae Christianae 55 (2001) 281-298 (with A. Golitzin)

“The Heavenly Counterpart of the Visionary in the Slavonic Ladder of Jacob,” in:  Evans, Craig A. (ed.), Of Scribes and Sages (Studies in Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianity, 10; Library of Second Temple Studies, 51; London; New York: T &T Clark, 2004) 59 – 76.

“Vested with Adam’s Glory: Moses as the Luminous Counterpart of Adam in the Dead Sea Scrolls and in the Macarian Homilies” in: “Mémorial Annie Jaubert (1912—1980),” Xristianskij Vostok 4.10 (2002) 740-755.

“The Flooded Arboretums: The Garden Traditions in the Slavonic Version of 3 Baruch and in the Book of Giants” Catholic Biblical Quarterly  65 (2003) 184-201.

“Celestial Choirmaster: The Liturgical Role of Enoch-Metatron in 2 Enoch and Merkabah Tradition,” Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 14.1 (2004) 3-29.

“Noah’s Younger Brother Revisited: Anti-Noachic Polemics and the Date of 2 (Slavonic) Enoch,”  Henoch 26 (2004) 172-187.

“‘Without Measure and Without Analogy:’ Shiur Qomah Traditions in 2 (Slavonic) Enoch,” Journal of Jewish Studies56 (2005) 224-244.

“’The Learned Savant Who Guards the Secrets of the Great Gods’: Evolution of the Roles and Titles of the Seventh Antediluvian Hero in Mesopotamian and Enochic Traditions: Part I: Mesopotamian Traditions,” Scrinium I. Varia Aethiopica. In Memory of Sevir B. Chernetsov (1943-2005) (eds. B. Lourie et al.; St. Peterburg, 2005) 248-264.

“Resurrection of Adam’s Body: The Redeeming Role of Enoch-Metatron in 2 (Slavonic) Enoch,”   From Apocalypticism to Merkabah Mysticism: Studies in the Slavonic Pseudepigrapha (JSJSup., 114; Leiden: Brill, 2006) 231-236 .

“God’s Face in the Enochic Tradition,” Paradise Now: Essays on Early Jewish and Christian Mysticism (ed. A. De Conick; Symposium Series, 11; Atlanta: SBL/Leiden: Brill, 2006) 179-193.

“The Heirs of the Enochic Lore: ‘Men of Faith’ in 2 Enoch 35:2 and Sefer Hekhalot 48D:10,” in: Old Testament Apocrypha in the Slavonic Tradition: Continuity and Diversity. (ed. L. DiTommaso and C. Böttrich, 2007) (forthcoming).

“The Heir of Righteousness and the King of Righteousness: The Priestly Noachic Polemics in 2 Enoch and the Epistle to the Hebrews,” Journal of Theological Studies 58.1 (2007) 45-65.

“Moses’ Heavenly Counterpart in the Book of Jubilees and the Exagoge of Ezekiel the Tragedian,” Biblica 88 (2007) 153-173.

“Roles and Titles of the Seventh Antediluvian Hero in the Book of the Similitudes: A Departure from the Traditional Pattern?” Enoch and the Messiah Son of Man: Revisiting the Book of Parables (ed. G. Boccaccini; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007) 110-136.

“Praxis of the Voice: The Divine Name Traditions in the Apocalypse of Abraham,” Journal of Biblical Literature127.1 (2008) 53-70.

“‘The Gods of My Father Terah’: Abraham the Iconoclast and the Polemics with the Divine Body Traditions in the Apocalypse of Abraham,” Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 18.1 (2008) 33-53.

“The Pillar of the World: The Eschatological Role of the Seventh Antediluvian Hero in 2 (Slavonic) Enoch,” Henoch30.1 (2008) 119-135.

“In the Mirror of the Divine Face: The Enochic Features of the Exagoge of Ezekiel the Tragedian,”  The Significance of Sinai: Traditions about Sinai and Divine Revelation in Judaism and Christianity (eds. G. Brooks, H. Najman, L. Stuckenbruck; Themes in Biblical Narrative, 13; Leiden: Brill, 2008) 183-199.  

Also very interesting and useful are three webpages created for projects that Dr. Orlov helps chair:

Jewish Roots of Eastern Christian Mysticism, originator, designer, webmaster. Launched April 2002. Original contents include collection of scholarly articles and extensive bibliographies.

New Testament Mysticism Project Seminar,  originator, designer, webmaster. Launched March 2006. The official web page of the Society of Biblical Literature New Testament Mysticism Project Seminar.

The Slavonic Pseudepigrapha Project, originator, designer, webmaster. Launched December 2006. Original contents include collection of scholarly articles and extensive bibliographies.  

April DeConick – www.forbiddengospels.blogspot.com

I had the privilege of meeting Dr. DeConick through Dr. Orlov — they work together on the New Testament Mysticism Project, about which they meet at the annual Society of Biblical Literature conferences.  Dr. DeConick is a professor of Biblical Studies at Rice University in Houston.  She is a very creative and adventurous scholar who is well known for her research into “alternative” Christian traditions, including Jewish and Christian Mysticism, Gnosticism, the Nag Hammadi texts, and some of the Gospels that never quite made it into the canon (Thomas, Judas, etc.).  According to her personal website, www.aprildeconick.com, she has “a deep love for exploring the various expressions of ante-Nicene mysticism, including the spirituality of classic Gnostic thinkers.” 

Her blog, www.forbiddengospels.blogspot.com, provides a great variety of news, notes, insights, commentaries, and tidbits pertaining to Christian Apocrypha, Nag Hammadi, Lost Gospels, and many other topics of interest in the area of Judaism and early Christianity, especially the more mystical strains. She updates the blog frequently, so it is another good one to check regularly.

Dr. DeConick has a number of intriguing webpages set up related to the projects she is working on and her areas of interest:

The Forbidden Gospels Web page
Gospel of Thomas
Gospel of Judas
Information about the Mandaeans
Early Christianity Resource Page
April DeConick – Rice University Web page
Information about the Codex Judas Congress
Information about the New Testament Mysticism Project
Early Jewish and Christian Mysticism Web page

To have a look at some of the great articles she has authored which are available on her site, go to this link:  http://www.aprildeconick.com/articlesauthored.html

Also, for a look at some of the amazing books she has published (I highly recommend especially Seek to See Him), see here: http://www.aprildeconick.com/booksauthored.html

Grandpa Enoch – www.grandpaenoch.blogspot.com

Despite the cool (and fitting) pseudonym, Grandpa Enoch is a real scholar who I greatly respect.  His blog, entitled Pronaos (the hall or entry-way before the Naos, or Holy of Holies), is a great resource for the latest and greatest info, news, announcements, book releases, commentaries, and insights on items related to Temple and Ascent traditions from an LDS perspective.  Granpa Enoch is a top expert in these areas and guides readers to some wonderful insights.  Readers of Heavenly Ascents would greatly enjoy the content Grandpa Enoch provides. 

Margaret Barker – www.margaretbarker.com

It is no secret that Margaret Barker is one of my favorite religious scholars.  Her pioneering research into “temple theology” has opened up brave new roads into the interpretation of scripture and the history of Judaism and Christianity.  Her many writings provide mountains of evidence for how the roots of Christian belief can be traced back to the theology of Solomon’s Temple. These early Israelite traditions were greatly modified through the reforms of King Josiah and then during and after the Babylonian exile.  While the religion of the Jews became modified, the temple traditions were preserved in non-mainstream sources, such as the apocryphal and pseudepigraphal texts.  Early Christian beliefs were very similar to these traditions, and they had a great interest in the theology of the First Temple. In Barker’s words, “Christianity was heir to the Temple tradition and so was by no means a ‘new’ religion in the first century.”

By visiting her website, you can see a list of her many wonderful publications, all of which I highly recommend.

Also, Dr. Barker has organized a Temple Studies Group which meets periodically to hold symposia on important topics concerning the ancient temple tradition. You can find out more about the topics discussed at past and future meetings by visiting the group’s site here: http://www.templestudiesgroup.com

Other Scholars’ Sites

Dr. Rachel Elior: Professor of Jewish Philosophy at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University; Author of a number of books on Jewish Mysticism and Temple traditions – http://pluto.huji.ac.il/~mselio/index.html

Dr. Michael S. Heiser: PhD in Hebrew Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages from University of Wisconsin–Madison; Has done significant research on the Divine Council of the Elohim in the ancient Hebrew tradition – http://www.thedivinecouncil.com/

Dr. Robert Kraft: Professor of Religious Studies at University of Pennsylvania – http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/kraft.html