This script is baffling me. Definitely not Neo-Assyrian, Old Persian, or Ugaritic, and I'm not able to pin it down to any other cuneiform system that I can identify. (For instance, the second sign on the second line is just not one that gets used.) Any ideas, Assyriologists?

ACADEMIC JOB ALERT: UD is hiring a tenure-track position in "transitional justice and human rights". They are looking for expertise in "human rights/global peacebuilding with an openness or knowledge about Christian social traditions." Come be my colleague! employment.udayton.edu/en-us/job/50...

Eek, I never announced my new book over here! Well, friends, I am very happy to share that “Sacred Unhappiness: Reading the Bible with Feminist Killjoys” is coming out with @eerdmansbooks.bsky.social. It’ll be an accessible volume that you can share with undergrads, book clubs, and congregations.

I’m at #sblaar25, and so is our book!! Ping me if you want to meet up.

Very much looking forward to the book review panel of my book at 4pm today! It’s S22-336 if anyone’s interested. With superstars @drmjcwarren.bsky.social @brownsmith.bsky.social and Acacia Chan. #aarsbl25 #sblaar25

I am beyond excited to share that I am receiving this year’s Brooten Award from the Society of Biblical Literature for my paper, “The Monster at the End of This Essay: Incestuous Whores, Trans Monstrosity, and Genesis 38.” www.sbl-site.org/news/announc...

If you think antifascists are bad, it just might be because you’re a fascist

A man who ruled an empire of hate died today. He once said that empathy was “a made-up, New Age term” that “does a lot of damage.” (1/2)

The new issue of Religious Studies Review is live, featuring responses to Lee Edelman and the Queer Study of Religion that include my own essay, "'She Laughs at the Future' (Prov. 31:24b): Reading Sarah's Queer Jouissance." It's available open access here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

A 1955 writer casually dropping a “Germans tended to go along with Nazis just like your all-American wife goes along with segregation” is both the answer and the question for “how we got here”

Hey everyone, my interview with @gregsoden.bsky.social is live on the Classical Ideas Podcast! Listen up for discussion about my biblical studies journey, nonbinary readings of the Bible, and my exciting upcoming project on biblical killjoys. classicalideaspodcast.libsyn.com/ep-332-nonbi...

Cool stuff!

On the one hand: I do not need to be writing a new article. Also, am not Assyriologist. On the other hand: I found an Akkadian passage that offers a fascinating new possibility for the Sotah laws of Numbers 5. Ugh, decisions.

This stanza from a 1937 Polish poem really spoke to me in these times.

So honored that the inimitable @qgpennyworth.com used a poem that I wrote as part of a mini-zine/pop card! Check it out and share it if you like.

Is the Bible fan fiction? A thread. 📜 ​​

Congratulations to Esther Brownsmith @brownsmith.bsky.social, Ph.D., 2020 HBI Scholar in Residence & @universityofdayton.bsky.social Asst. Prof., on the publication of GENDERED VIOLENCE IN BIBLICAL NARRATIVE, THE DEVOURING METAPHOR, now available in Open Access. 1/ www.routledge.com/Gendered-Vio...

I know that celebrating anything these days seems tone deaf. I know. But: if you've been waiting to read my book, I am so pleased to share that it is now officially available free to read in Open Access. So check it out and share widely! bit.ly/thedevouringmetaphor

Check out the Trans Biblical Podcast for a new episode where I talk about my work on Mordecai as a non-binary character, and why this kind of biblical work is so necessary these days. Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n... Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/7qU3... Youtube: youtu.be/SA9k-T-LvOA

Check out the new Bible & Critical Theory! In addition to several exciting articles, there is a generous book review of my monograph by @alexianafry.bsky.social and my review of @tdbiii.bsky.social's wonderful book on fanfic and early Christianity. bibleandcriticaltheory.com/issues/volum...

We’re partnering w/ a number of groups participating in an #economicblackout THIS Friday, 2/28. Do not spend, if possible. No Starbucks on your way to work. No drinks w/ the coworkers after work. No dining out. No Walmart run. No quick McDonald’s drive-thru hit. Hurt their wallets!

I preached yesterday. It was not easy to know what to tell people in these times. Here is the transcript. medium.com/@esther.brow...

Panic and despair without an outlet can be self-destructive. Interrupt the doom spiral: -Do 1 self-indulgent thing that makes you feel happy or content. -Do 1 thing to make your home environment more calm or comfortable. -Do 1 thing to help your community and people in it. Repeat as needed.

Folks, if you don't have a plan, now is the time to get one.

It’s all shiny and real now!

Our article about reading scripture as an interfaith group is out in Crosscultural Studies of Religion and Theology! Check out the whole issue to get a glimpse of what our Jewish-Christian Young Scholars Network has been doing. eplus.uni-salzburg.at/csrt/periodi...

Today marks the publication of Unruly Books: Rethinking Ancient and Academic Imaginations of Religious Texts, edited by myself, Liv Ingeborg Lied, and Marianne Bjelland Kartzow! We delve into "unruly books" of antiquity and what they tell us about how people have understood books—then and now.

Bishop Budde's sermon is SO GOOD that it nearly brought me to tears. If you've only been encountering it in sound bites, I encourage you to listen through all fifteen minutes of it. This is true prophecy. Listen/watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwwa... Read: www.wral.com/story/bishop...

In my writing group today, I realized that there isn't a good antonym for "gaslighting." So I created one: "incandescing." We incandesce any time that we mutually affirm our reality, giving voice to our personal experiences, even and especially when they're uncomfortable, unhappy, or unpopular. 1/2

AUTHORITARIAN KRYPTONITE IS NONCOMPLIANCE the only thing they have is people choosing to go along with the ruse. The minute alllllll the people busy propping up the evil say: Nah, not today, they are out of business. Decide how you’re gonna help gum up the works of harm.

Today I am thinking about kintsugi—the art of mending broken pottery with precious metals. Things are broken right now. A lot of people are suffering, and a lot more will suffer in the days to come. I am especially holding space in my heart for trans and immigrant friends today. (1/2)

“[Resistance] will come through our insistent and urgent love for each other. We have the collective memory and mapmaking to guide us. That does not mean it won’t be scary. It will. It just means we will turn our fear towards care not chaos. … I put my faith in us.” — @chasestrangio.bsky.social

Hot off the press: Julie Faith Parker's wonderful new book, Eve Isn't Evil, reviewed for RBL. While it's not an academic book per se, it's an excellent model of how to speak to the public about liberatory biblical readings from an academically grounded perspective. www.sblcentral.org/home/bookDet...

I needed a reminder to take a break from doomscrolling, and I suspect I'm not the only one. So: it's okay to take even five minutes to put the phone down, minimize the window, whatever. Get a drink of water, unclench your jaw, relax your shoulders. Take care of yourselves & each other, friends.

96% of children in Gaza feel that death is imminent; 49% wish to die because of the war. The psychological toll is devastating. The trauma experienced by these children will have lifelong consequences. www.warchild.org.uk/news/war-chi...

well, hey, look what cool new edited volume is showing up on Google Books! (attn: @brownsmith.bsky.social) books.google.com/books?id=P3k...

They want you to be shocked. Remember that. Find joy. Somewhere. Anywhere. Practice gratitude. For something. Anything. Embrace awe. Let it into some part of your soul. Any part of your soul. Shock will activate only the parts of your brain that make bad choices. Steady on. The best you can.

It’s that time of year: SBL/AAR is in less than two weeks. If you’ll be there, I would be delighted to catch up. Leave a reply or send me a PM. I’m staying in San Diego through Wednesday morning, and my Tuesday in particular is wide open!

Hello new and old friends! I’m glad we’re all considering the good ol’ switch to this platform. My name is Alexiana Fry, and I’m a postdoc at the University of Copenhagen using migration and diaspora studies to inform my work in the Hebrew Bible.

I wrote a sermon about today’s scripture reading and Tuesday’s election and race. It’s not terribly hopeful. But I hope it’s helpful. medium.com/@esther.brow...

"The arc of the moral universe is feeling pretty stiff this morning. The arc of the moral universe overslept. The arc of the moral universe didn’t sleep at all." www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/upd...

You’re probably all bored with this but we (the tech workers of The NY Times) are still on strike because management refuses to come to the table. Thanks for your support and continuing to boycott Cooking and Games. #BreakYourStreak

Hello, avalanche of new followers! I tend to follow people sparingly, but please do introduce yourselves. About me: trying to save the world by changing how it reads the Hebrew Bible. Living in hope that one day tears will be turned into joy. Also, nerding out over cooking, languages, and crochet.

We’re all hurting. I don’t have all the answers. But I know that things won’t be this bleak forever. I ran against a MAGA incumbent in a “safe red” district in KY as a progressive, openly queer, 28-year-old trans woman. And I won. Please, don’t let your heartbreak turn into apathy or cynicism 💙

Some words for this week from Nayyirah Waheed's collection "Salt."

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; [...] a time to break down, and a time to build up." This is a time of breaking down. Care for yourself and each others. Cry if you need to. The time to build up will come soon.

I have never, in all my years as a therapist, witnessed such a rapid and precipitous decompensation in 24 hours. The fear is so palpable and pervasive that infrastructure is buckling. Whatever you do, please support lgbtq orgs and crisis lines as much as you can. Pour resources into the community.

In honor of Veilguard releasing today, I made Frilly Orlesian Cakes! (Chocolate cake infused with apricot brandy, layered with apricot preserves, topped with dark chocolate ganache and a physalis berry.) H/t to @trickweekes.bsky.social for the recipe inspiration.

okay, the second starter pack i want to create is folks attending + presenting + advertising panels at #SBLAAR24. like this skeet if, and only if, that’s you. we’ll get a good running commentary going in anticipation of and during the conference! please reskeet to signal boost.