Biblical Archaeology Review

For photographs see Charles W. Hedrick and Nikolaus Olympiou, “Secret Mark: New Photographs, New Witnesses,” The Fourth R 13, vol. 5 (2000), pp. 3–11, 14–16.

In the periodical of the Patriarchate Nea Sion: “Hellenika Cheirographa en tei Monei tou Hagiou Sabba,” 52 (1960), pp. 110–125, 245–256.

Allan J. Pantuck, “Can Morton Smith’s Archival Writings and Correspondence Shine Any Light on the Authenticity of Secret Mark?” Paper presented at the Society of Biblical Literature Meeting, Boston 2008: Synoptic Gospels Section (24–97). He was referring to his activity as an “Anglican Father”; Smith never married (Pantuck, e-mail to Hedrick, dated December 28, 2008).

Morton Smith, The Secret Gospel: The Discovery and Interpretation of The Secret Gospel According to Mark (New York: Harper and Row, 1973), p. 4.

Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 13.12.2, 4. Josephus uses the Greek word tyrannos for the ruler here, which does not necessarily have the same negative connotations as the English translation (it refers to one who has gained power unconventionally, outside of constitutional or heredity means). This Zoilos of Dor should not be confused with Zoilos I Dikaios, the Indo-Greek king who ruled in northern India during the mid-second century B.C.E.

The authors thank Ephraim Sterm of the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, director of the Tel Dor excavations (1980–2000), and current directors Ilan Sharon and Ayelet Gilboa of the Hebrew University and Haifa University, respectively, for permission to publish this material. Bracha Guz-Zilberstein and the other museum staff at the “Glasshouse” at Nachsholim offered assistance at various stages of the project. The mosaic was conserved and restored by Orna Cohen and photographed by Gabi Laron; field photographs were taken by Israel Hirschberg.

See Galatians 1:13–14 and Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Magnesians 10 and Letter to the Philadelphians 6.

See, e.g., Tacitus, Histories 5.4.

The Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (www.tlg.uci.edu) is a research center at the University of California, Irvine. It has collected and digitized most literary texts written in Greek from Homer to the 15th century C.E.

This column is an abbreviated form of an essay I wrote for Bible and Interpretation (www.bibleinterp.com), August 2009.