“This is my 56th year in Jerusalem,” he said in a 2006 lecture at Bar-Ilan. “I know the city. But every day, I discover there is more and more to be known about it.”

⚠️ Ce soir je devrais être dans l'avion vers Jérusalem ✈️, pour une semaine de séminaires et rencontres avec des Palestiniens et des Israéliens 🇵🇸🇮🇱, collègues, lycéens, étudiants. Le gouvernement israélien a décidé de me boycotter et de m'interdire d'embarquer. www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

This year’s books from under the tree. Excited for all of them.

My new quarterly list of publications & media about historical Jerusalem that have appeared since August. Now in 2 parts: No. 1 contains new articles/books. No. 2 covers new media, developments, & upcoming events (linked in first comment below). approachingjerusalem.substack.com/p/jerusalem-...

“After World War II, the entire economy was restructured around a single proposition: your spending is your patriotism. Your purchases are your purpose. The economy doesn’t serve you. You serve it.”

Merriam-Webster’s human editors have chosen ‘slop’ as the 2025 Word of the Year.

When I was an undergrad/early grad student, I always felt that profs were nitpicking at my papers. I wanted them to deal with the content of my argument rather than its form. Now I see that is impossible. Bad form obscures good content and distracts from it. Hence, we must teach how to write well.

Combined literary spoils from the ASOR and SBL annual meetings.

Moved over to the SBL annual meeting today, thankfully just down the road from ASOR this year (as opposed to an entirely different city). I have already looked over about one million new books and caught up with many friends and colleagues #aarsbl25

Fun session on orientalism in biblical archaeology

More presentations on foraging wild foods please!

Francesca Romana Stasolla lectures about the new excavations at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Excited for another ASOR annual meeting! @asor-research.bsky.social

Changed my default search engine from Google to DuckDuckGo yesterday, and I am enjoying it.

Fodder for next year’s SBL paper

When I edit an academic book manuscript, one of the key things I do is ask: "What does this [book, chapter, section] promise to do? And what does it ACTUALLY do?" These questions may seem simple, but they take a lot of time to answer, and they generate incredibly helpful insights! #AmEditing

I wrote a little about the "Siloam Dam," which was recently uncovered in Jerusalem.

Free coloring therapy

Perusing the @asor-research.bsky.social annual meeting schedule. Glad to see a paper on ancient foraging and hope to attend.

Dissertation word count (excluding footnotes) at the end of this writing week: 64,005.

What may be the largest recorded Neo-Assyrian lamassu (winged bull) has been unearthed in the ancient city of Nineveh, Mosul, Iraq. It was found in the remains of the throne room built by King Esarhaddon (681-669 B.C.) and is six meters (20 feet) high. www.aina.org/news/2025092...

Dissertation word count (excluding footnotes) at the end of this writing week: 57,914. Much editing, nailing down of loose concepts, and replacement of poor words with better words. Draft of one new section complete.

James Dobson, who founded Focus on the Family in 1977 to promote conservative views on parenting, has died at age 89. religionnews.com/2025/08/21/j...

@eerdmansbooks.bsky.social is launching a Pillar OT commentary series. How slick is that cover art? (even if they were used as orthostats)

Dissertation word count (excluding footnotes) at the end of this writing week: 59,509.

Dissertation word count (excluding footnotes) at the end of this writing week: 53,207.

Hello user, would you like our AI tool to summarize the key points of this four-sentence paragraph?

After 30 years underwater, 22 massive stones from the Lighthouse of Alexandria have been recovered. Not in the Bible—but Alexandria shaped biblical history, from the Septuagint to early Christian thought. #Archaeology #Bible #Pharos

Dissertation word count (excluding footnotes) at the end of this writing week: 51,701. Chapter 2 submitted.

Dissertation word count (excluding footnotes) at the end of this writing week: 49,505. Rough draft of chapter 2 nearly finished.

There's no need to respond (breath deeply) Don't get into an unnecessary fight (breath deeply) Eyes on the ball and your to-do list (breath deeply) Just move on (breath deeply) Watch this substantive point, on which you are absolutely correct, drift on the waves on the ocean, as you wave goodbye

Dissertation word count (excluding footnotes) at the end of this writing week: 47,605. I now live in a word doc.

Oh, chatbot says P? Well, chatbot would have said not-P just as strenuously if you’d asked. That should be the end of the conversation.

A similar observation applies to question phrasing on personality tests, where there is often no circumstantial nuance.

What truly new things have we learned about how the prophetic books of the Bible came to be? An interview I just did with @haydentank.bsky.social made me reflect on how I was completely wrong on a key point and what a great recent book tells us about the values behind ancient Hebrew literature. 🧵

Dissertation word count (excluding footnotes) at the end of this writing week: 45,095.

Dissertation word count (excluding footnotes) at the end of this writing week: 43,190.

Did not have Amy Poehler-led Greek archaeology comedy series on my 2025 bingo card.

A fitting punishment for many scholars.

Dissertation word count (excluding footnotes) at the end of this writing week: 41,592. Finished a chapter section.

Stinging nettles, pickled onions, garlic, pesto, ramp butter.

Last evening’s fare. Rosemary, pistachios, and quick-pickled red onions.

Been a bit. Dissertation word count (excluding footnotes) at the end of this writing week: 39,917.

Margherita pizza with pesto and ramp butter.

Dissertation word count (excluding footnotes) at the end of this writing week: 34,311. A final draft of chapter 1 is done.

Dissertation word count (excluding footnotes) at the end of this writing week: 33,535. Pretty rough draft of chapter 1 done.

Dissertation word count (excluding footnotes) at the end of this writing week: 32,794. Closing in on chapter 1.

Dissertation word count (excluding footnotes) at the end of this writing week: 31,325. I submitted drafts of four chapter sections to my advisor. Good progress.

All all-time title?

Writing is such a magical thing. New connections are made and ideas are generated in a way that feels totally passive. I often find that an old sentence isn't meant to go *here* but instead *way up there*. I don't decide these things but intuit them by immersing myself in the creative process.