Science vs religion in the Princeton Guide to Evolution

The Princeton Guide to Evolution is a collection of 107 articles on various aspect of evolution. The editors felt they should address the obvious conflict between evolution/science and religion. There are at least five different approaches they could have taken.

1. An atheist perspective on the incompatibility of evolution/science and religion. Richard Dawkins or Jerry Coyne would be good choices.
2. An atheist perspective on the compatibility of science and religion (the accommodationist view). Michael Ruse or Nick Matzke are obvious choices.
3. A theist view of the incompatibility of evolution and religion. Phillip Johnson could have explained this view but so could a number of other creationists.
4. A theist explanation of the compatibility of evolution/science as long as they stick to their proper magisteria. Francis Collins, Ken Miller, and several other religious scientists could present their case.
5. The editors could have published four articles representing the main viewpoints or commissioned a single article that would have covered all the angles.

The big advantage of an atheist perspective is that it fairly represents the views of a majority of evolutionary biologists. Having a theist write the article would not be as fair. I think we can all agree that option #5 is by far the best choice.

Before reading any further, take a minute to decide what you would do if you were the editors of The Princeton Guide to Evolution.

Read more »

Elliott Sober illustrates (inadvertently) the problem of definitions

One of the problems in most debates and discussions in the problem of definitions. It's common for two opponents to end up talking past one another because they don't agree on what they are arguing about. That's why an important component of critical thinking is to define your terms so that everyone knows what you are defending (or attacking).

But there's more. If you are going to be a good critical thinker, then you have to be aware of other points of view. If there are other, equally valid, definitions out there then you MUST acknowledge them and incorporate them into your argument. You can't, for example, just make up your own definition of words like "noncoding," "junk," or "function," and declare that you are right. Since you know that there are other definitions out there, you are obliged to show why YOUR definition is the only correct one. That's a crucial part of the debate.

If you don't even know that there are other valid definitions then you are not an expert and you should not be pretending to be an authority on the subject. This is why I object to people who argue against the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology without understanding what Francis Crick actually said.

Let's look at a video of Elliott Sober lecturing on "Some Questions for Atheists to Think About." He begins by asking the members of his audience whether they are atheists or agnostics. Apparently, most members of the audience are atheists and ony a few are agnostics.

Next, he defines his terms ...

Theism = God exists
Atheism = God does not exist
Agnosticism = We don't know whether God exists

The lecture is about something called "evidentialism." Elliott Sober claims that the following proposition is true ...

For any proposition, you should believe it only if you have evidence that it is true and you should disbelieve it only if you have evidence that it is false.

He then goes on to show that we can never have evidence that God does not exist. Therefore, "If 'God exists' is untestable, you ought not to be an atheist. You should be an agnostic."

He suggests that all the atheists in the audience should become agnostics because of evidentialism. If I had been in the audience, I would have pointed out that MY definition of atheist is that an atheist is someone who doesn't believe in god(s). My definition is such a common definition that it's part of the Wikipedia article on Atheism. Since I do not need "evidence" to not believe in something, I'll remain an atheist, thank-you very much. My position is perfectly consistent with the proposition about evidentialism.

Here's the problem. Elliott Sober is a prominent philosopher. Doesn't he realize that his argument relies entirely on his definition of "atheism"? Doesn't he realize that his argument is completely useless if an atheist is simply someone who doesn't buy into the God delusion? This sort of thing makes me livid and it makes me wonder whether there's something seriously wrong with modern philosophy.¹

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1. I am not suggesting that Sober's definition is wrong. He should not be ignoring the fact that many members of his audience don't agree with his definition and that's why they are atheists.

Arlin Stoltzfus explains evolutionary theory

A few days ago, I asked the following questions, Is the "Modern Synthesis" effectively dead?, and What do they mean when they say they want to extend the Modern Synthesis?. The point I was trying to make was that there are many different views on evolutionary theory and it's often difficult to figure out which version of evolutionary theory someone is defending.

For example, which version of evolutionary theory is compatible with the "selfish gene" as a metaphor for evolution? Or for adaptation? Which version of the "Modern Synthesis" is being attacked in the book edited by Massimo Pigliucci and Gerd Müller? Is it the version defended by Ernst Mayr? Does it incorporate Neutral Theory and random genetic drift?

Read more »

Exam questions for 2nd year students in a critical thinking course

Here are the questions on yesterday's exam for students in my course. Students will be graded on their explanations and not so much on the actual answer they give. The idea is to reward critical thinking and that includes the ability to see both sides of an issue and recognize problems with whatever side you choose to defend.

1. Assuming that the technology is safe and effective, should we, or should we not, have laws forbidding the cloning of humans?
   
   
2. What is the best definition of a "gene"? Explain why you choose that definition and give examples of possible "genes" that don’t fit your definition.
   
   
3. Elliott Sober is a highly respected philosopher. He explains that theistic evolution is a reasonable hypothesis because God could easily cause mutations to occur in a way that scientists would not be able to detect. In other words, a specific, directed, mutation would be indistinguishable from a random mutation. Thus, it would appear that evolution was an entirely naturalistic process while, in fact, its direction was being guided by God. Do you think this is a reasonable argument in support of theistic evolution? Why or why not?
   
   
4. In his book, The Myth of Junk DNA, Jonathan Wells writes.
   

   According to intelligent design (ID), it is possible to infer from evidence in nature that some features of the world, and of living things, are better explained by an intelligent cause than by unguided natural processes.

   What sorts of positive arguments do ID proponents use to support this inference from evidence in nature? Are they effective?

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P. Arzt-Grabner, Papyrologische Kommentare zum Neuen Testament - Band 004: 2. Korinther

Peter Arzt-Grabner
2. Korinther
1. Auflage 2014
583 Seiten Leinen

ISBN 978-3-525-51002-5

Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht


Papyrologische Kommentare zum Neuen Testament - Band 004
120,00 €
Bei Abnahme der Reihe: 110,00 €
Buch
PDF eBook
99,99 €

Mit diesem Band legt Peter Arzt-Grabner erstmals einen umfassenden Kommentar zum 2. Korintherbrief vor, der den Text anhand der dokumentarischen Papyri und Ostraka sowie der Holz- und Wachstäfelchen aus dem griechisch-römischen Alltag auslegt. Der Kommentar dient als wichtige Ergänzung zu traditionellen exegetischen Kommentaren.
Der umfangreiche Einleitungsteil widmet sich besonders ausführlich der Frage, inwieweit Papyrusbriefe mit den Paulusbriefen vergleichbar sind, sowie den Teilungshypothesen zum 2. Korintherbrief – einschließlich einer Erklärung darüber, wie ein Kompilationsprozess abgelaufen sein könnte. Ferner legt Arzt-Grabner die Ausgangssituation sowie die Funktion von Briefboten aus papyrologischer Sicht dar. Die fortlaufende Auslegung des Bibeltextes bietet den papyrologischen Hintergrund zu den einzelnen Briefabschnitten, den größeren und kleineren Themen und zu den von Paulus verwendeten Begriffen und Formeln. Auch die Gliederung des Paulustextes erfolgt entsprechend dem antiken Briefformular. Ausführlicher behandelte Themen sind u.a.: aufgeschobene Besuche, Untersuchungshaft und Gerichtsprozess, Düfte und Gerüche, Empfehlungsbriefe, Vereinssatzungen, die Kollekte für Jerusalem vor dem Hintergrund des antiken Vereinswesens, Verleumdungen und Besuchsankündigungen.
Verzeichnisse zu den behandelten Papyri, Ostraka und Täfelchen, zu den ausführlicher behandelten griechischen Begriffen und Personennamen sowie zu den modernen Autorinnen und Autoren erleichtern den Zugang zu diesem Band.

Talk: (Uni-Leipzig) Amir Zeldes, Corpus Linguistics Tools for Sahidic Coptic

2013 Leipzig eHumanities Seminar Schedule

Abstract

Corpus Linguistics Tools for Sahidic Coptic
Amir Zeldes1 & Caroline T. Schroeder2
1 Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2 University of the Pacific
Coptic, the language of Christian Egypt in the Hellenistic era of the first millennium, offers both a chance and a challenge for digital humanities research in the 21st century. On the one hand, there are comparatively few digital resources available: no publically available automatic tokenization, part-of-speech tagging, or corpus search software, nor any guidelines on how to undertake these tasks (we are aware of only one, incomplete and unreleased effort to tag Coptic in Orlandi 2004; our work bases partly on Orlandi’s lexical resources, kindly made available to us). On the other hand, an explosion of work in digital humanities (standards like TEI/EpiDoc for manuscript digitization, cf. Cayless et al. 2009 or digital infrastructure like Perseus, cf. Crane et al. 2009, to name just two) has led to a wide range of resources one can draw on in bringing Coptic to the level of technology now enjoyed e.g. by Greek and Latin.
To seize these opportunities, we have endeavored to develop comprehensive, freely available tools for the automatic linguistic processing of Coptic manuscripts that can be corrected manually and made available online. We present the first publically available tokenizer (lexicon and rule-based) for the main Sahidic dialect of Coptic, as well as two corresponding part-of-speech tagging schemes and training models, fine and coarse grained. Tokenization for Coptic is a non-trivial task, since manuscripts are written in scriptio continua (without spaces), but Coptic word forms are linguistically segmented at two levels: both into minimal morphemes, and into larger word forms, corresponding to nominal or verbal complexes, including related prepositions and articles (nouns) and multiple concatenated conjugation bases with subject/object pronouns and allomorphy (verbs). Our tokenizer currently addresses only the first task, and assumes that a human annotator has separated the scriptio continua into the coarse word forms. Example (1) shows morpheme borders added by the tokenizer, represented by pipe symbols. In some cases, letters can stand for two sounds that belong to different morphemes. In such cases the tokenizer saves the original diplomatic form and also outputs an alternative orthography which allows morphemes to be represented separately. This is shown in (2) for the letter theta), which stands for a /t/ followed by /h/ coming from different morphemes (individual letters are transliterated in angle brackets). In words of Greek origin, theta, phi and chi should be retained, while coincidental combinations of multiple morphemes leading to these letters must be disentangled. 
Etc. at  Abstract

Today is exam day and "You shall not pass"

Today is the day of the final exam in my course on critical thinking and scientific misconceptions.

I thought my students would get a kick out of this photo.

I'm certain that all regular Sandwalk readers know what I'm talking about but just in case there's any new readers who don't get it, here's a short clip from the movie.¹

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1. Note to IDiots and other creationists ... Gandalf is a fictional character, he doesn't exist. There are many fictional characters who appear to be powerful and menacing but that's only in stories and myths.

Monday's Molecule #227

Last week's molecule was the drug pantoprazole, a proton pump inhibitor used to treat excess stomach acid or acid reflux [Monday's Molecule #225 ]. The winner is Bill Gunn.

This week's molecule (left) is related to one from last April. That molecule, is one of the essential molecules in the human diet and today's molecule is the reason why. This is one of those molecules that everyone should recognize because it's a key metabolic precursor in a large number of species. This is one of those times when all you have to do is supply the common name (Merry Christmas!) and NOT the IUPAC systematic name that correctly identifies the exact molecule shown in the image. However, if anyone wants to supply the systemiac name, feel free to do so.

Email your answer to me at: Monday's Molecule #227. I'll hold off posting your answers for at least 24 hours. The first one with the correct answer wins. I will only post the names of people with mostly correct answers to avoid embarrassment. The winner will be treated to a free lunch.

There could be two winners. If the first correct answer isn't from an undergraduate student then I'll select a second winner from those undergraduates who post the correct answer. You will need to identify yourself as an undergraduate in order to win. (Put "undergraduate" at the bottom of your email message.)

Read more »

CONFERENCE, (Oslo) The Nag Hammadi Codices in the Context of 4th and 5th Century CHristianity in Egypt

The 2013 NEWCONT-Conference

THE NAG HAMMADI CODICES IN THE CONTEXT OF FOURTH- AND FIFTH-CENTURY CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT

Time and place:Dec 16, 2013 09:00 AM - Dec 17, 2013 06:30 PM, Domus Theologica, room U309

Monday, 16 December
Introduction: 9:00–9:30Session One: 9:30–11:00

Stephen Emmel (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster), 
Toward Reconstructing a Coptic Reading Experience in Late Antique Egypt.


Christian Askeland (Kirchliche Hochschule Wuppertal), 
Dating Early Coptic Manuscripts. Break 11:00–11:15 Session Two: 11:15–12:45

James E. Goehring (University of Mary Washington), 
The Material Encoding of Early Christian Division: Nag Hammadi Codex VII and Its Sub-Group.


Louis Painchaud (Université Laval), 
From Plato, Republic (NH,5) to the Gospel of Judas (CT 3): Some Reflexions on Translation, Rewriting and Interpolations. 

Lunch 12:45–13:45 
Session Three: 13:45–15:15
Hugo Lundhaug (University of Oslo), 
Post-Nicene Christology in the Nag Hammadi Codices.


Lance Jenott (University of Oslo), 
Knowledge of the Father and Movement of the Logos: Echoes of the Arian Controversy in the Tripartite Tractate? 

Break 15:15–15:30 Session Four: 15:30–17:00

Richard Layton (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), 
Didymus as Heresiologist: A Curious Scrap from the Tura Papyri.

Christian Bull (University of Bergen), 
Hermes Between Christians and Pagans in Fourth Century Upper Egypt. Break 17:00–17:15 

Session Five: 17:15–18:45


René Falkenberg (Aarhus University), 
“Not like the idea we have received or seen” – Ritualistic Theology in Eugnostos and the Apostolic Constitutions.


Ulla Tervahauta (University of Helsinki), 
Scriptural Allusions in Authentikos Logos (NHC VI,3) and Early Christian Literature. 

Dinner 21:00 

Tuesday, 17 December Session One: 9:00–10:30

Samuel Rubenson (Lund University), 
New Light on the Copto-Arabic Corpus Attributed to St. Antony.


Philip Sellew (University of Minnesota), 
Reading Jesus in the Desert: The Gospel of Thomas Meets the Apophthegmata Patrum. 

Break 10:30–10:45 Session Two: 11:00–12:30

Lillian Larsen (University of Redlands), 
“Know Thyself”:  Nag Hammadi Gnomic Sentences in Conversation.


Blossom Stefaniw (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz), 
Sextus, Silvanus and Monastic Instruction in Egypt. 
Lunch 12:30–13:30 
Session Three: 13:30–15:00

Dylan Burns (Universität Leipzig), 
Sethian, Coptic, Christian: The “Four Luminaries” in Later Roman Egypt.

Kristine Toft Rosland (University of Oslo), 
The Anointing Scene of the Apocryphon of John: Textual Variants and Theological Implications. 

Break 15:00–15:15 
Session Four: 15:15–16:45

Alin Suciu (Universität Hamburg), 
Apocryphal Texts in Egyptian Monsticism after Nag Hammadi: Textual Traditions and Manuscript Evidence.


Julio Cesar Dias Chaves (Université Laval), 
From the Apocalypse of Paul (NH V, 2) to Coptic Epic Passions: Welcoming and Greeting Paul and the Martyrs in Heaven. 

Break 16:45–17:00 
Session Five: 17:00–18:30

Hugo Lundhaug and Lance Jenott (University of Oslo)(I) 
Presentation of forthcoming book, The Monastic Origins of the Nag Hammadi Codices (Mohr Siebeck, 2014).
(II) Conference volume information Dinner 21:00  

What do they mean when they say they want to extend the Modern Synthesis?

As far as I'm concerned, the "Modern Synthesis" has been replaced by modern evolutionary theory that incorporates Nearly-Neutral Theory and random genetic drift as an important mechanism of evolution [see Is the "Modern Synthesis" effectively dead? ]. This extension, and replacement, of the 1940s version of evolutionary theory took place in mainly in the 1970s.

If I'm correct, then why all the fuss in the 21st century about extending the Modern Synthesis?

I think there are two things going on here. First, there are a bunch of biologists who want to incorporate their favorite fad into modern evolutionary theory. They think that their ideas are so revolutionary that this requires an extensive revision of evolutionary theory. Second, those biologists seem to have been asleep during the 1970s when the Modern Synthesis died so they are fighting a strawman.

Read more »

Is the "Modern Synthesis" effectively dead?

The "Modern Synthesis," or modern evolutionary synthesis, refers to a framework of evolutionary theory developed and promoted by prominent biologists in the 1940s. The term comes from the subtitle of a 1942 book by Julian Huxley. The central theme was the integration of "classic" evolution with population genetics.

Although the original version was fairly broad, the later versions of the "Modern Synthesis" were much less so. The so-called "hardening" of the Modern Synthesis has been documented by many historians; notably, Stephen Jay Gould. By the time of the Darwin Centennial (1959) most biologists thought of the "Modern Synthesis" as a form of Darwinism + population genetics where natural selection was pretty much the only game in town.

Read more »

«Papyrologica Lupiensia» Bollettino del Centro di Studi Papirologici 22 (2013)

«Papyrologica Lupiensia» 

Bollettino del Centro di Studi Papirologici 22 (2013), 

Pensa Multimedia, Lecce, pp. 254.

INDICE:

Giovanni Battista Bazzana, New Testament Studies and Documentary Papyri Interactions and New Perspectives; 

Mario Capasso, A proposito della sistemazione dei Papiri Ercolanesi tra Ottocento e Novecento; 

Mario Capasso, Del cattivo e del pessimo uso dei disegni ercolanesi; 

Mario Capasso, La difficile salvezza di un sito archeologico Egiziano: Soknopaiou Nesos/Dime es-Seba; 

Mario Capasso-Paola Davoli, Soknopaiou Nesos Project. Report on Season 2012 of the Archaeological Mission of the Centro di Studi Papirologici of Salento University (Lecce) at Dime es-Seba (El-Fayyum - Egypt);

Enzo Puglia, Considerazioni sul papiro della donna e dell’asino (POxy LXX 4762);

Paolo Radiciotti, Tra Filologia e Storia: esiste ancora la Paleografia?

Schede bibliografiche e recensioni

Mario Capasso, Scrinia Curva IX; 

Serena Ammirati-Marco Fressura, Palaeographia Papyrologica. XI (2012); 

Natascia Pellé, Papyri Homericae VII (2011-2012);  

Notiziario; Libri ricevuti

ISSN 1391-2140

€ 32,00

Hemant Mehta buys what Chris Mooney is selling

Chris Mooney thinks that humans have certain innate tendencies that predispose them to believe in god(s) and reject evolution. That's why there's such a strong correlation between a fundamentalist religious belief and rejection of science, according to Mooney.

These innate tendencies are part of our evolutionary history thus providing an evolutionary excuse explanation of religion. It's interesting that these behaviors seem to tilt in favor of the Judeo-Christian gods and not Buddhist or Taoist philosophy. It's also quite interesting that million and millions of non-believers don't seem to have had any great difficulty "overcoming" their genetic predispositions.

You don't suppose that it could be religious brain-washing education that makes people think teleologically or adopt essentialist perspectives rather than the other way around? And what about dualism? Is that an innate belief or does religion teach you to think you have a soul? Nah, that would be too simple [Why don't people accept evolution?].

Here's Hemant Mehta explaining why people Americans have a natural inclination to believe in god(s) and not in evolution [7 Reasons Why People Believe in God and Don’t Accept Evolution].

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Time magazine's person of the year is Pope what's-his-name! WTF?

It's hard to think of anyone who's more irrelevant to my life or the life of my friends and neighbors. Time has also become irrelevant. PZ Myers asks: Seriously, Time magazine?. Hemant Mehta says, Pope Francis Named Time’s Person of the Year, Despite Not Changing the Direction of the Church. What were the editors of Time thinking? You have to wonder whether this isn't some kind of sick joke.

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Archiv für Papyrusforschung

(APF) 59.1 (Nov. 2013)

Homeric papyri at Oslo, Harvard and Graz University
Mirończuk, Andrzej
Editions (transcription and commentary) of four papyri containing the Iliad of Homer: three unpublished from Oxyrhynchus, briefly described in P.Oxy. III 554 (XIX 251-9); P.Oxy. IV 760 (V 715-8, 720-9), now Graz Universität Ms. I 1911, I 1928; P.Oxy. IV 764 (VIII 109-23), now Harvard University Library MS. Gr. SM 4372; and a re-edition of P.Oslo inv. 1465 (I 411-37, 473-80). The dates range from the 1st to 3rd centuries CE.


A Homeric papyrus at Princeton
Mirończuk, Andrzej
Page 17
A critical edition (transcription and a commentary) of an early (1st century BCE) and unpublished papyrus of the Iliad of Homer (XIV 227-283), briefly described in P.Oxy. III 551 by Grenfell and Hunt. The papyrus is now lodged in Princeton (AM 4405).


BKT IX 10 = P.Berol. 21110r: Dorische Lyrik oder Tragödie?
Benelli, Luca
Page 29

BKT IX 10 = P.Berol. 21110r [MP3 1910.01; LDAB 4566] was published by Grace Ioannidou in 1996 and was attributed to Doric lyric. The form στεναξε[ (l. 11), however, is unusual for an Archaic lyric text, but not for tragic texts. It could therefore be a tragic text.


Nauplius at Troy: Aeschylus fr. 451k (Radt)
Sampson, C. Michael
Page 33
Reanalysis of a fragment of Aeschylus ascribed by Sommerstein to the prologue of Palamedes. It is suggested the fragment comes from the latter part of the play.

Nochmals zu Ἱππόλυτος πρῶτος und Ἱππόλυτος δεύτερος
Luppe, Wolfgang
Page 47
P.Oxy. LXVIII 4640 demonstrates definitively that the Ἱππόλυτος (κατα)καλυπτόμενος is the first of the two Ἱππόλυτος-tragedies.


Zum Komödien-Kommentar P.Oxy. LXXVIII 5160
Luppe, Wolfgang
Page 50

P.Oxy. LXXVII 5160 is a commentary to an Attic Comedy, probably Eupolis. The title may be Αἶγες.

P.Sal. Gr. 1: un symbolon di vendita all’asta di una schiavetta
Tepedino Guerra, Adele
Page 55
Dated to the second year of Ptolemy V Epiphanes, this unpublished papyrus probably contains a symbolon with information about the auction of a young female slave: the amount paid (five talents), the name of the director, Heliodorus, appointed to the royal bank of Crocodilopolis for that year, where the purchaser deposed the money for the bid. The onomastics suggest a link to the syngraphe synoikisiou of 231 BC in CPR XVIII 17.


Einblicke in die ptolemäische Verwaltungspraxis
Stern, Matthias
Page 62
In this article, BGU VI 1242 and 1311, which shed light on the implementation of the tax farming system into Ptolemaic Egypt, are re-edited and systematically commented on for the first time. Each text reveals certain administrative procedures by which tax farmers worked in cooperation with public institutions.


Greek or Egyptian?
Láda, Csaba A.
Page 95
In this article the origin of the Ptolemaic honorific court title συγγενής is examined on the basis of Greek, Demotic and hieroglyphic sources. It is shown that this title cannot be derived from any pharaonic Egyptian title and that, in fact, it found its way into both Demotic and hieroglyphic usages.


Die Verwendung von Zahlsubstantiven zur Bezeichnung von Monatstagen in den griechischen Papyri
Hagedorn, Dieter
Page 123
In this article the author tries to answer the question, whether a general rule of the ancient Greek language, i.e. to designate the fourth, the twentieth, and the thirtieth days of a month not by ordinal numbers, but by the substantival numerals τετράς, εἰκάς, and τριακάς, was also observed in the 
Greek papyri and ostraca from Egypt.


Loan of Wheat with Antichresis
Claytor, W. Graham
Page 138
Publication of a loan of wheat from the reign of Antoninus Pius found in Bakchias and now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. The penalty clause involves antichretic rights to an aroura of land and the wheat is described with the extremely rare term αὐτοκεφάλαιος.


Creating a New Local Elite: The Establishment of the Metropolitan Orders of Roman Egypt
Broux, Yanne
Page 143
Since membership of the gymnasial order was controlled more strictly than for the metropolites, this group was long considered an elite within an elite. Building on the theory that they were, rather, distinct groups that developed side by side, this paper pursues the question of the origins of these orders and the implications of their 'closing' in the second half of the first century AD.


Problemi di attribuzione di P.Ness. II 1 fr. VII
Fressura, Marco
Page 154
This article discusses P.Ness. II 1 fr. VII, presumed lost until 2010. Examination of the original reveals some material and textual clues that cast doubt on Casson/Hettich’s attribution to Verg. Aen. I 618-619, 624-625. Unfortunately no safe new attribution seems possible, as the fragment is too small and damaged.


Fiscalité et comptabilité dans l᾽Égypte byzantine et arabe À propos d᾽une publication récente d᾽ostraca du Petrie Museum
Delattre, Alain / Fournet, Jean-Luc
Page 161
We propose corrections to and reeditions of ostraca recently published in O.Petr. Mus. - most of them tax receipts or accounts from the VIIIth Theban area (Djeme).

Höfliche Bitte an einen Bekannten um Bezahlung eines Geldbetrags
Shahin, Ayman Aly
Page 176
Edition of an Arabic letter from the 3rd/9th century. The writer politely reminds a friend to pay his debt, five dirhams less seven Ḥabba.


REFERATE
Darstellung und Hilfsmittel
I papiri omerici
Poethke, Günter
Page 184


Actes du 26e Congrès international de papyrologie
Poethke, Günter
Page 186

Literarische Texte der Berliner Papyrussammlung
Luppe, Wolfgang
Page 194


Yahia el-Masry, Hartwig Altenmüller, Heinz-Josef Thissen, Das Synodaldekret von Alexandria aus dem Jahr 243 v.Chr. Studien zur altägyptischen Kultur: Beiheft 11. Hamburg
Pfeiffer, Stefan
Page 196

Albrecht Gerber, Deissmann the Philologist. Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche, 171.
Kramer, Johannes
Page 198

Andrew Monson: Agriculture and Taxation in Early Ptolemaic Egypt
Scheuble-Reiter, Sandra
Page 202

Sandra Scheuble-Reiter, Die Katökenreiter im ptolemäischen Ägypten
Armoni, Charikleia
Page 204
 

Urkundenreferat 2010
Kruse, Thomas
Page 208

Day Conference in Papyrology and Early Christianity/Biblical Studies (Tyndale House, Cambridge UK)

Programme

New Digital images from the British Library

Egerton Papyrus 2

Egerton Gospel (P. Lond. Christ. 1, P. Egerton 2)  … Mid 2nd AD

Papyrus 131

The Aristotelian Constitution of Athens (Ἀθηναίων Πολιτεία), and other texts … 78-c 100 AD

Papyrus 229

Deed of sale of a slave boy (P. Lond. I 229), with original seals … 24 May 166 AD

Papyrus 1442

Papryus codex, imperfect, containing tax register from early Arab Egypt (P. Lond. IV 1419) … 716-717 AD

Papyrus 1531

Gospel of Thomas fragment (in Greek), written on the back of a survey list (P. Lond. Lit. 222, P. Oxy. IV 654, TM 62840) … end of the 2nd-3rd AD

Papyrus 2052

Fragment of Old Latin Genesis (P. Lond. Lit. 200, P. Oxy. VIII 1073, TM 62044) … 2nd half of 5th AD

Papyrus 2068

Sophocles, Ichneutae, fragments (P. Lond. Lit. 67; P. Oxy. IX 1174, P. Oxy. IX 1175 [=Papyrus 2069] fr.46 and P. Oxy. XVII 2081a; TM 62741) … 2nd half of the 2nd AD

Aula Coptica Barcinonensis

We would like to inform you that Aula Coptica Barcinonensis, the Spanish Coptic language and culture study group, is inviting you to take a look at the new website we have created (www.aula-coptica-barcinonensis.org), which is intended to disseminate Coptic-related contents, via the Internet. Although it has been conceived for a Spanish-speaking target, we also include international aspects, such as forthcoming congresses, seminars, courses, recent publications, etc. Hence, if you wish to achieve the best possible exposure for what you are doing in our community (particularly new or forthcoming publications, courses or projects you are working on), please let us know, as we will be delighted to include it on this new website.You can also follow us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/aulacoptica.barcinonensis), where we will also be publishing current news related to the Coptic world. If you are on Facebook or belong to a group, please send us a request so that we can add you.Yours sincerely, Alberto J. Quevedo

Razib Khan doesn't like Gould and doesn't like new-fangled ideas like "neutralism" and "random genetic drift"

The article by David Dobbs [Die, selfish gene, die] has stirred up a lot of biologists. Some of them (Coyne, Dawkins) pointed out why David Dobbs is wrong about this particular attack on Darwinian ordodoxy while others (PZ Myers) have defended Dobbs.

Razib Khan has weighed in [Evolutionary orthodoxy may be boring, but it is probably true]. I strongly disagree with his post but it's important to be clear about the disagreement. If "evolution orthodoxy" means evolution by natural selection then, yes, it is definitely true. That's not being disputed. The question isn't whether evolution orthodoxy is correct, it's whether it is sufficient.

I'm also not defending the specifics of Dobbs' article. Many of the most recent attempts to extend evolutionary theory are misguided and Dobbs happens to focus on one of these misguided attempts. However, the main point of Dobbs' article was that the "selfish gene" metaphor is an inappropriate metaphor for evolution and I agree strongly with this conclusion even though Dobbs' argument was faulty.

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Monday's Molecule #226

Last week's molecule was sucrose 6-phosphate or α-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-D-fructofuranoside 6-phosphate [Monday's Molecule #225 ]. The winner is Jean-Marc Neuhaus (again). He appears to be the only Sandwalk reader who has a copy of my book!

Today's molecule (below) looks a bit strange. It should be obvious that this is not a "natural" molecule. What is it and what does it do? You don't need to give me a long systematic name. The common name will do quite nicely.

Email your answer to me at: Monday's Molecule #226. I'll hold off posting your answers for at least 24 hours. The first one with the correct answer wins. I will only post the names of people with mostly correct answers to avoid embarrassment. The winner will be treated to a free lunch.

There could be two winners. If the first correct answer isn't from an undergraduate student then I'll select a second winner from those undergraduates who post the correct answer. You will need to identify yourself as an undergraduate in order to win. (Put "undergraduate" at the bottom of your email message.)

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from Alin Suciu's blog: Two New Articles on the von Scherling Collection of Coptic Papyri

Click here

Steven Pinker defends "neo-Darwinism," whatever that is

Jerry Coyne posted a couple of tweets (see below) from Steven Pinker (photo) at Dawkins responds to Dobbs.

We shouldn't be surprised at the first one since Pinker is an evolutionary psychologist with a strong tendency to adaptationism. I don't know exactly what he means by "neo-Darwinism" (does he?) but I strongly suspect that it's very much like Darwinism. I'd love to know whether he thinks Neutral Theory and random genetic drift have been successful challenges to neo-Darwinism. If not, then it must mean that neo-Darwinism has incorporated those views. In that case, neo-Darwinism must have begun in the 1970s and somebody picked a very bad name for this view of evolutionary theory.

I think it's more likely that Pinker is just not thinking about Neutral Theory and random genetic drift when he says that challenges to neo-Darwinism have all failed to hold water.

The second tweet means that molecular biologists never knew about tRNA genes or ribosomal RNA genes or the genes for other RNAs that have won Nobel Prizes. I find this very surprising. It's true that some biochemists and molecular biologists are a bit behind in their field but I don't think it's fair to say that "molecular biologists" (i.e. the knowledgeable experts in the field) re-defined the word "gene" in that way.

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BASP 49 (2012)

A New Epic Fragment on Achilles' Helmet?

C. Michael Sampson … 7

An Addition and Multiplication Table

Nikos Litinas and Stephen M. Bay … 15

Two More Fragments of the Vienna Jannes and Jambres

Albert Pietersma … 21

A Greek Christian Liturgical Hymn (P.CtYBR inv. 1584A)

Alan Gampel and Céline Grassie … 31

Instructions for Islamic Prayer from the Second Century AH/Eighth Century CE

W. Matt Malczycki … 41

A Temple Declaration from Early Roman Egypt

Chris Eckerman … 55

Payment of a Financial Obligation from Tebtynis

Gabriel Nocchi Macedo … 63

A sitologos Receipt from Roman Tebtynis

Jesse E. Hoffman … 73

Letter from a Soldier in Pannonia

Grant Adamson … 79

An Epikrisis Document from Oxyrhynchus (P.Mich. inv. 261)

Daniel W. Leon … 95

A Third-Century CE List of Wine from Five Estates

Taco Terpstra … 109

Des nouvelles de Paniskos

Paul Heilporn … 119

A Cancellation of a Contract of Debt from Hermopolis

Andrew Connor … 139

Receipt for embole from Aphrodito

James G. Keenan … 147

A Contract for the Advanced Sale of Wine

Scott Gallimore … 151

Deux ordres du supérieur du monastère de Baouît 

Alain Dellatre … 167

Missing Papyri: The Greek and Coptic Papyri in the von Scherling Papyrus Collection 

Klaas A. Worp and Renate Dekker … 175

The Oxyrhynchus Distributions in America: Papyri and Ethics 

William A. Johnson … 211

Notes on Various Texts Preserved on Payrus 

Grace Ioannidou and Ioannis Polemis … 225

Notes on Five Herodotean Papyri 

Andrzej Mirończuk … 229

One More Footnote to “Two More Pages” 

Albert Pietersma and Susan Comstoc … 235

Per la data di P.Golenischev della “Cronaca universale alessandrina” 

Guglielmo Cavallo … 239

Three Fragments from a Coptic Codex of the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles 

Alin Suciu … 243

The Authorship of P.Cair.Zen. 3.59308 

Trevor Evans … 253

New Light on the Hawara Undertakers: P.Ryl. 4.587 and 588 and the Expression of Identity in Ptolemaic Egypt 

Sandra Coussement … 261

PSI 4.311: Early Evidence for “Arianism” at Oxyrhynchus? 

Lincoln H. Blumell … 279

Freight Charges in SB 18.13948 

K.A. Worp … 299

Notes on Papyri … 303

Reviews 

,,... vor dem Papyrus sind alle gleich!“ Papyrologische Beiträge zu Ehren von Bärbel Kramer (P. Kramer)

(Peter van Minnen) … 309

“Festschrift für Günter Poethke zum 70. Geburtstag,” Archiv für Papyrusforschung 55 (2009) Heft 2

(Peter van Minnen) … 313

N. Gonis and D. Colomo (eds.), The Oxyrhynchus Papyri 72

(John Lundon) … 317

Paul Heilporn, Thèbes et ses taxes. Recherches sur la fiscalité en Égypte romaine (Ostraca de Strasbourg II)

(Peter van Minnen) … 325

Thomas J. Kraus and Tobias Nicklas (eds.), Early Christian Manuscripts: Examples of Applied Method and Approach

(Geoffrey S. Smith) … 331

Karlheinz Schüssler (ed.), Biblia Coptica, die koptischen Bibeltexte, Vol. 4, fasc. 3 (sa 673–720)

(Christian Askeland) … 337

Roger S. Bagnall, Everyday Writing in the Graeco-Roman East

(William A. Johnson) … 341

Bernard Legras, Les reclus grecs du Sarapieion de Memphis. Une enquête sur l’hellénisme égyptien

(Marja Vierros) … 345

Robert W. Daniel, Architectural Orientation in the Papyri(Amin Benaissa) … 351

Michael Sabottka, Das Serapeum in Alexandria. Untersuchungen zur Architektur und Baugeschichte des Heiligtums von der frühen ptolemäischen Zeit bis zur Zerstörung 391 n. Chr.

(Jitse H.F. Dijkstra) … 357

Steven E. Sidebotham, Berenike and the Ancient Maritime Spice Route

(Carol Meyer) … 361

Richard J.A. Talbert, Rome’s World: The Peutinger Map Reconsidered

(Ekkehard Weber) … 365

Ewa Wipszycka, Moines et communautés monastiques en Égypte (IVe-VIIIe siècles)

(Peter van Minnen) … 373

Eva Mira Grob, Documentary Arabic Private and Business Letters on Papyrus: Form and Function, Content and Context

(Khaled M. Younes) … 377

Books Received … 381

American Studies in Papyrology … 385

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