Liber Annuus

The purpose of this article is to identify the remains of ancient buildings in the village of Nain (Lower Galilee - Jizreel/Esdrelon Valley). The starting point is the remains of ancient mosque found today in a private property and was already identified and described in the late 19th century by travelers and pilgrims. This first area has been studied in relation to the surrounding landscape. It is predominantly rural and now abandoned. Two other areas studied are the ancient water sources as a strategic focal point of the economy and social life of the village. Finally, the third location is the religious center of the modern population of Nain composed of the Franciscan church sanctuary and a modern mosque. These buildings were mentioned since the Byzantine time.

The first season of the Khirbat al-Mukhayyat Archaeological Project focused on excavations in three areas of the site: Field A along the southern slope of the acropolis, Field B to the south of the acropolis, and Field C located on the flat area north of the acropolis. Field A revealed a series of east-west running walls and pottery ranging from the Iron Age to the Late Byzantine/Early Islamic Period. Excavations in Field B focused on two squares and yielded the corner of a large Hellenistic structure. Additionally, several intact Hellenistic cooking pots were recovered from this area. Although the central area of Field C contained no architecture, a rock-cut installation and a plastered reservoir dating to the Hellenistic Period were unearthed. In addition, the western area of Field C produced a large plaster-lined stepped installation.

The dedicatory inscription in question, found in the Rotunda of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem in the late 1960s or early 1970s, refers to various duties and offices of an anonymous benefactor-dedicator, who was also engaged in a construction (architectural) project, probably in Caesarea Maritima, the capital city of the province. The inscription is engraved on a broken grey-veined marble column, which suggests that it was quarried at Proconnesus (the Island of Marmara) or perhaps at Dokimeion (Phrygia) in Asia Minor. Only one-third of the circumference of the column has survived. It can be assumed that the column once stood in a public place in light of the public nature of the inscription. It seems plausible that the inscribed column was brought to Jerusalem from Caesarea Maritima, together with other marbles (columns, slabs, statues, etc.), either in the mid-11th century or at the time of the Crusaders in the 12th century; and was then reused as a paving stone in the church.

Based on various circumstantial evidence, the terminus post quem of the inscription is 231-232 CE and its dating can be attributed as up to the end of the 3rd century CE.

The baptismal font, carved in the shape of a cross, which is now in the property of the Benedictines of Tabgha, hails from Beit-'Awwa a few kilometers west of Hebron. It has under its exterior edge a Greek inscription of the dedication by the priest Ku(i)tianos for the baptism of repentance in the name of Christ and Savior.

507 Brink Laurie, Soldiers in Luke-Acts. Engaging, Contradicting, and Transcendingthe Stereotypes (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament II/362), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2014, xii-222 pp. (L.D. Chrupcała).

512 Kyrychenko Alexander, The Roman Army and the Expansion of the Gospel.

The Role of the Centurion in Luke-Acts (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 203), Walter de Gruyter, Berlin - Boston 2014, xi-228 pp. (L.D. Chrupcała).

516 Moffitt David M., Atonement and the Logic of Resurrection in the Epistle to Hebrews (Supplements to Novum Testamentum 141), Brill, Leiden - Boston 2011, xix-338 pp. (G. Bissoli).

519 Allison Dale B., James (International Critical Commentary), Bloomsbury T&T Clark, London, U.K. - New York 2013, xlix-790 pp.; $ 130 (G.C. Bottini).

521 Gowler David B., James Trough the Centuries (Wiley Blackwell Bible Commentaries), Wiley Blackwell, Chichester, West Sussex, U.K. 2014, xx-340 pp.; $ 65.00 (G.C. Bottini).