Professor of Religious Studies, Author, Photographer
Tell Keisan, Israel-Palestine
Canon 5D M3
Tell Keisan is one of my favorite Tells from the ancient world, and I propose that it is one of the most important for understanding the history of the Southern Levant. “According to Pritchard (1981), this excavation is of major importance to the archaeological understanding of the Iron age in this region.” The Tell is situated on the northern coast of the Southern Levant just 8 km from the coast and north of Haifa. I see TK as being perfectly situated in the triangle of Cyprus-Phoenicia (Tyre)-Ancient Israel. We know that Samaria (Ancient Israel) had some types of ties to Phoenician culture(s)–the Ivories, the dressed stone work, etc. The site has barely been excavated beginning with Garstang on to DeVaux and then limited excursions by the IAA in the early 2000’s. Currently, David Schloen and Gunnar Lehmann, two of the finest living archaeologists, are excavating the Tell and recently uncovered a Persian military outpost. I expect, in the coming years, we will find more and more that Samaria (Ancient Israel) has much deeper ties to the north–Phoenicia and Aram–and not to the south. If we read the Hebrew Scriptures critically and carefully, we see this “undercurrent” emerging through the final Judahite gloss. Think about it–“Baal” “El” “Jezebaal” “Tyre” “Cedars of Lebanon” “Elijah and Elisha” “King Hiram”. It goes on and on. And here’s another kicker: king “Omri”? Omri is a Semitic name but not a Hebrew name. Wait, what?
I shot this photo early in the morning a few years, and I think I am shooting SW with the city and port of Haifa in the background.
From Twilight of the Idols or How to Philosophize with a Hammer, Nietzsche
Leica Q2 Mono
I took this photo shooting north from the Zeus Temple ruins. It was January and chilly but not too. As you can see in the photo, the sun is setting to the West (left), and I love this soft light edging twilight. This visit is my first to Jerash, and since then I tell anyone willing to listen, “If you want to see Rome in all its magnificent glory at one site, Jerash is the place.”
But to call this place “Roman” is not accurate. The Romans made it what is was and what it is, but as you well know, next come the Greeks, then the Byzantine Christians, then the Muslims, and they all had this terribly beautiful habit of poaching or ruining, but from this they would rebuild magnificent and monumental architectures. For instance, if one wants to understand Gothic churches in Europe, their “design” began in antiquity with Rome; and yet, each city transformed with the arrival of subsequent civilizations (cultures). The architecture of the “church” is grounded in Roman, Jewish, Persian, Greek, Byzantine, and yes, Muslim, ways of thinking and designing.
On this particular trip to Jerash, I was taking suitcases of warm clothing for Palestinians (mostly from Gaza decades ago) living in the refugee camp nearby. Something as simple as gifting suitcases of clothing is not as simple as it may seem. Many Americans, including good people from my home church, Tazewell Presbyterian Church (Virginia), spread the word, gathered the clothing, packed them in suitcases scavenged from donation stores, and then they sent me on my way. I am what I do best and have done for years: I am a mule, and that is the best news of all because the mule visions much of the journey.
I don’t often do book reviews, but when I do…
Don Michael Hudson
Religion & Literature
University of Notre Dame
Volume 53, Number 2, Summer 2021
pp. 137-139.
Bohinj, Slovenia
Leica Mono Q2
Plucking a blazing ember from the hearth of history, I toss it into the darkness of my days And walk the street alone To reach myself. From "Fadhil's Descent," al-Azzawi Translated by William Hutchins
I took this photo in the early morning from our deck in Anchorage. This is my first time in Alaska during the summer months. The mornings are cool and tranquil reminding me of my Montana summer days. Too bad there is no good fishing here in Alaska 🙂
This shot is a thirty-year dream. We are standing in Jordan shooting west toward the Sea of Galilee in Palestine-Israel. You can see the West Bank and the Mt. Transfiguration (not in this shot, but they are just to the left). You can also see beautiful Syria to the right. This is the place where 4 nation-states’ borders join. The air quality has been poor this trip–I think–because of all the sandstorms north and east of Jordan along with the usual smog. This is near the spot–Gedara–where the gospels tell us that Jesus cast the demons into swine, and they ran headlong over the cliff(s).
Station Thirteen, Chartres
Berlin, 2021
“I’ve been up and down the highway
In all kinds of foreign lands.”
Seward Hwy 1, Girdwood, AK (Oct 21)
Seward Hwy 1, Girdwood, AK (Oct 21)
Seward Hwy 1, Girdwood, AK (Oct 21)
Mono Q2
Highway 1, Girdwood, AK (Oct 21)
In a post earlier this week, I referred to Phyllis Trible and her book, “God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality.” I forget how insightful she is with the biblical text, and I had forgotten what a beautiful writer she is in this work. In my opinion, anyone interested in the Jewish-Christian Scriptures must read her writings. If we listen to Trible execute new readings of old texts, she will alter our worldviews–radically.
I remain quite ambivalent toward sunsets. They’re too easy to photograph and get a “Wow.” Doesn’t take much work at all really. But one must be quick. The sun is the speed of light, no? I know. But in sunsets, the sun is speedy, and the dark overwhelms quickly. I also hold sunsets at a distance with great skepticism because, as a boy growing up in the South, how many “missionary” sunsets did I view on Sunday and Wednesday church services? That “sunset’ slide was always the last slide to almost every missionary slideshow. I forget the sermon-guilt point of the last slide, but it doesn’t matter now, does it? And sunsets are gorgeously sad. But morning waits ready.
Antwerp, Belgium (July 21)
MSK Ghent, Belgium (Jun 21)
Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Ghent, Belgium
Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Ghent, Belgium
National Gallery Prague, Convent of St. Agnes of Bohemia, Medieval Art in Bohemia and Central Europe 1200-1550
Prague, (Jun 21)
Prague, (Jun 21)
Prague, (Jun 21)
National Gallery Prague, Convent of St. Agnes of Bohemia, Medieval Art in Bohemia and Central Europe 1200-1550
National Gallery Prague, Convent of St. Agnes of Bohemia, Medieval Art in Bohemia and Central Europe 1200-1550
St. Marks Basilica, Venice (Jun 21)
