Thursday, June 28, 2012

Unicode Values for Manually Entering Hebrew


Below is a quick chart I've created listing the Unicode values for transliterated Hebrew, for use in those cases where it is easiest just to enter the characters by their codes. In MS-Word, you simply type the code and then hit alt-x. Do note that you may have to select a proper font to display some of the characters (times new roman usually works well enough; the Brill font is very nice).

ʾ 02be
ʿ 02bf
â 00e2
ā 0101
ă 0103
ê 00ea
ē 0113
ĕ 0115
ḥ 1e25
î 00ee
ī 012b
ĭ 012d
ô 00f4
ō 014d
ŏ 014f
ś 015b
š 0161
ṣ 1e63
ṭ 1e6d
ū 016b
û 00fb
ŭ 016d
 ===========

For entering Hebrew in its normal characters, click here for a very handy chart.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Sudan Government Destroys a Church in Khartoum

 

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The government of Sudan has destroyed an Episcopal Church in the capital, Khartoum (in Haj Yousif, Khartoum North). The Chief of Police of the area simultaneously ordered all South Sudanese to leave the suburb. The demolition of St. John's started Monday evening after sunset, about 9:00. Bishop Ezekiel Kondo (pictured in the inset photo above, with the Archbishop of Canterbury) reports that the entire building has been destroyed. It is the third church attack in Sudan since South Sudan gained independence last year. The connection between Virginia Seminary and the Episcopal Church of Sudan (ECS) is a close one. This is an atrocious act against them.

Here is a letter from the American Friends of the ECS to Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State (click to enlarge):

image

Saturday, June 23, 2012

In Press: Social Theory



Saul Olyan has just sent the cover of the new collection of essays on Social Theory and the Study of Israelite Religion. It is looking terrific! (Click the image to enlarge.) The back cover, also shown above, has two nice blurbs by Susan Niditch and Mark Smith. I'm very pleased to have an essay in the volume, gleaning insights into the Levitical priesthood from Gerhard Lenski's social theory.

Friday, June 08, 2012

In the News: Ghiberti’s Door of Paradise

 

Door_of_Paradise

I have featured Lorenzo Ghiberti's 15th-century door, which bears scenes from the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament, on this blog before (click here). The eight-ton gilded bronze door is so splendid that Michelangelo dubbed it the "Door of Paradise." Now, after 27 years of restoration work in Florence, it will be unveiled to the public again. It will not be going back in its place on the baptistery of Florence's duomo, or cathedral. Instead, starting on Sept. 8, it will go on display in a case at a Florence museum, the Museo dell'Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, to preserve it from renewed damage. The scene above was supplied to news organizations by the Museo. It depicts the creation of Eve out of a sleeping Adam.

Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Neat Link: Loeb Library Free Online

 

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I just learned (via the agade list) that the public domain Loebs  are available in one place (Loebolus) as free downloadable PDFs. To access them, click here.  Enjoy!

Monday, June 04, 2012

A Rap-Chanting Version of Gilgamesh


gilgamesh