Slow Posting, Sorry

My posting has slowed down over the last couple of weeks because of a perfect storm of projects crashing down on me. I’ve been feverishly taking advantage of a creative spurt on my Volume 2 follow-up to Genesis Chronology and Egyptian King-Lists, which I would like to get out by the end of the year. I am working on a major revamp of this blog site, which will also add a lot of content to be accessed. I’ve been working an an article for publication, hopefully to be out soon. And I have to prepare a paper for what is now a virtual ASOR Annual Meeting. Oh, and also some time-consuming personal projects. I hope to get over the hump in the next few days. Be patient with me.

June 2020 Biblical Studies Carnival

Catch up in the June 2020 Biblical Studies Carnival roundup of some of the interesting bible-oriented posts you may have missed. Just don’t think you arrived at the wrong place when you take a fast look at the header. This month’s host, Jim West.

Interested in hosting a future carnival. Jim posts the following message from Phil Long, the carnival organizer.

Here are the upcoming hosts. No hosts for October 2020 (Due November 1) and after. I am willing to take a later month if someone wants August. July 2020 (Due August 1) – Bob MacDonald  @drmacdonald

August 2020 (Due September 1) – Phillip Long, Reading Acts @plong42

September 2020 (Due October 1) – Brent Niedergall’s blog. https://niedergall.com  @BrentNiedergall

Are you new to blogging? Are you a lapsed biblioblogger? James McGrath has some encouraging words for you.

Would you like to see your posts included in a future carnival? Start by writing a quality academic post, perhaps a book review. Then send the link to the upcoming host. It is entirely their decision to include your post in their carnival, but you can at least nominate yourself for inclusion. Sometimes you have to toot your own horn.

If you have questions about what writing a carnival involves, contact me via email, plong42@gmail.com or twitter DM @plong42. I would be happy to answer any questions.

So, where did the holiday name Easter come from?

The name “Easter” is widely used for the holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, but the word doesn’t appear to have any biblical origins. The linguistic evidence suggests that the name is a variation on the name of several “dawn” goddesses in the Indo-European language families. More specifically, Eostre was a Germanic goddess whose name was assigned to the month in which the celebratory event usually occurred. Eventually, the coincidence of the holiday falling in the month named after the goddess led to the holiday being called Easter. At least that’s one widely held theory. Here’s a link to a Wikipedia article that discusses some of these issues.

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