Ossuary of Caiaphas Daughter-In-Law Authenticated

The Helek Tov blog links a news story about recent authentication efforts for the ossuary of Miriam, daughter-in-law of Caiaphas, the Jewish high priest infamous in the New Testament for his participation in the condemnation of Jesus two thousand years ago. In reading this article I was reminded of probably the best portrayals of the man I've seen on-screen. This was in the 2008 BBC production called The Passion, with Caiaphas being played by actor Ben Daniels. This was the first time I recall seeing Caiaphas as being a complex person with real depth, and not the 2-dimensional stereotypical villain twirling his moustache as he places a bound and hapless Jesus on the railroad tracks to meet His fate from an oncoming locomotive (cue sinister laugh).

Or something like that.

Daniels made Caiaphas come alive to me, a real person with all the passions and human weaknesses that make him who he is. He is shown as a being a family man, a devoted Jew and leader of an oppressed people suffering under foreign occupation. All of these things put together make the story of Caiaphas that much more appealing in one sense because to me it warns each of us how easily we can allow that which we are most passionate about and seek to protect the most regardless of the cost, deceive us and lead us down a very bad path. As Simon Round from the UK's Jewish Chronicle reportedly wrote about this:

In the Gospel according to Stafford-Clark [The Passion’s producer], Caiaphas is portrayed sympathetically. He presides over a volatile Jerusalem (some things never change) where the balance of power is threatened not only by the arrival of Jesus but also the appearance on the scene of violent terrorists (the Judean People’s Front?), all of whom threaten the tenuous autonomy of the Jews in the Holy City.

But however sensitively Caiaphas is treated (we even see him stroking his pregnant wife’s stomach), he still hands Jesus over to the Romans...

What this portrayal of Caiaphas brings home to me at least is that in a sense we are all Caiaphas, easily just as capable of doing what he is reported to have done or worse even if our own particular reasons why might differ somewhat. Now that's a sobering thought.

As for the news linked at Hekel Tov about this ossuary from Caiaphas' daughter-in-law, I'm glad to see this and hope we discover more about the man and those around him whom he loved. I suspect that the more we learn about the real Caiaphas the more we may learn about ourselves.

The Envoy

I recently finished reading this book and the story it told was just amazing. I'd heard of Raoul Wallenberg before of course, but really only a few brief facts about him and never knew that the Nazi he tangled with in saving Jewish lives was none other than the notorious Adolf Eichmann. Wallenberg wasn't alone in his efforts to save Jews from annihilation in the death camps and the book gives some detail about these other good diplomats, but he is the main focus. All in all this is a very fascinating account of a time period that can still surprise one at the level of brutality and pure evil that was unleashed upon the world, yet also such incredible acts of compassion, faith, goodness and grace.

Egypt: Rediscovering a Lost World

Part personal drama, part documentary, part history lesson, Egypt is a first class, six-part BBC production that manages to be at once edifying and entertaining. Whereas the History Channel, for example, might tell its tale with a mixture of reenactments, photos, interviews, and such, the makers of Egypt opt for complete dramatizations focusing on three men and their contributions to archaeology, with each story occupying two episodes.

I can't really put it any better than this editorial review found on Amazon. I've really been on something of a "documentary kick" lately and this particular one from the BBC is one of the most enjoyable I've seen yet. Besides the usual bits about Howard Carter finding Kig Tut's magnificent tomb, which actually were more informative than I expected, I learned about "The Great Belzoni" and the significant contributions of Jean-François Champollion in solving the hieroglyphics mystery. I'd heard briefly of Champollion before, though I'd forgotten everything about him other than that he was French, but I never heard anything about Belzoni who appears from the documentary to have been quite a character. I'm pleased to see that Belzoni left us a couple of books about his exploits, which thanks to Archive.org, Volume 1 can be downloaded here while Volume 2 is here. These books should be enjoyable and are definitely going onto my reading list. As for the BBC documentary, I really liked it and recommend buying it, renting it or see if it can be found online... at say that place that starts with "You" and ends with "Tube".

Sister Wendy's Grand Tour of Rome

There is something about Sister Wendy's passion for art that I find to be captivating. It was good to be reminded of this particular video after seeing Rob Cain's old post about Bernini's masterpiece Apollo & Daphne.

Amazon Store

So I've sold out.

Or have I?

Meh. Not really.

I've added the Amazon Store mainly to give my readers an idea of the books I enjoy reading and the TV shows/movies I like. I honestly don't expect to make a dime from it.

Of course if I do make some money from this store I won't be too troubled by it, but for now click on over to take a peek and check back when you can. I'll be adding more stuff little by little.

Refocused on blogging? Maybe...

While Blogger itself may not seem to be the virtual equivalent of Michael Coreleone, it does have a way of "pull[ing] me back in".

Yep, I'm back.

Well, sort of.

Meh. Truth be known, I'm not exactly sure yet what I want to do with this blog but I do miss being able to comment upon and bring good books, shows and podcasts to other people's attention. I suspect that there will slowly be many changes to it over time and more posts, however sporadic, with less emphasis on politics but instead on other interests of mine.

If you've ever seen the list of my favorite podcasts below you'll have noticed that one I particularly enjoy is Michael Duncan's excellent The History of Rome. Duncan's superb narration and fascinating romp through ancient Roman history in nearly 150 episodes now, has given the world a veritable I, Claudius-esque feast for your ears, though sadly sans the great Derek Jacobi of the TV series. What Duncan may lack in not being chrysostomos ("golden mouthed") a la Jacobi is more than made up for by an enjoyable style of his own combined with a far greater devotion to historical accuracy than the 1970s Brit soap opera.

I had thought that Duncan was the only worthy podcast on ancient Rome out there, until I recently discovered Rob Cain's Ancient Rome Refocused. While I've only listened to the first episode thus far, it appears in some ways to be a mash-up of Duncan's with another favorite of mine: Bruce Carlson's My History Can Beat Up Your Politics. By this I mean that Cain, in the first episode at least, talks about the Western fascination with ancient Rome and draws some comparisons between their history and that of modern times. I must say that the 9/11 recordings from NYC emergency personnel were chilling to hear again, especially so close to the 10th anniversary of that day, but linking this to what the destruction of Pompeii must have been like to the ancient Roman psyche was brilliant. This also means to me that Charles Pellegrino's book Ghosts of Vesuvius, undoubtedly one of the main inspirations behind Cain's first podcast, merits careful attention in its own right. All in all, a very commendable start to what I'm sure will be a podcast that I'll enjoy just as much as I do Duncan's.

Give them both a try if you haven't already, because if you love history as much as I do you won't be disappointed.

One more thing: I didn't mention above the ended podcast of Lars Brownsworth, 12 Byzantine Rulers: The History of the Byzantine Empire, which was so successful that a good book on the subject was spun out of it. Since modern historians like to separate the history of the Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire post-476 from that of ancient Rome prior to the fall of the West, I figured as an amateur myself I'd bow to the conventional wisdom. Yet wherever one may fall in that particular debate, I do highly recommend Brownsworth's podcast and book!