Simcha Gross

And now the discount code (such as it is)! cambridge.org/core/books/bab…

@lefineder The letter undoubtedly mentions the celebration of something akin to Passover, but its fragmentary nature has given rise to interesting debates about its precise meanings. A helpful summary is provided here: thetorah.com/article/the-pa…

A 5th-century BC letter written in Aramaic from a Jewish garrison in Egypt mentions the celebration of Passover, instructing that on this holiday they: “Do not [eat] anything leavened.”

Anyone looking for some last minute Passover reading, check out my article on the odd Aramaic opening "invitation" of the Haggadah: academia.edu/44600798/Whoev…

For anyone interested, a historiographic retrospective on the state of the historical study of the Babylonian Talmud, @ancientjew : ancientjewreview.com/read/2026/3/16…

Important new study by Raashid Goyal: academia.edu/164713457/Arab…

The first book in our new @EdinburghUP series "Critical Approaches to Arabic Historiography" is published next month! Congratulations Prof. Borrut! edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-astrology…

@yashar On the history of this site: x.com/Simcha_Gross/s…

The Tomb of Queen Esther and Mordechai in Iran.

Great episode of Byzantium & Friends w/Aaron Butts! While centering on Aksum, it engages key questions in the study of ancient empires, such as how to historicize religious imagery in imperial self-presentation, & the proxy war model (e.g. Bowersock) open.spotify.com/episode/4gkPVI…

Link to the original here, or message me if you'd like a copy: brill.com/view/journals/…

A 2nd article is out today, w/Michele Scarlassara! We present a previously unpublished Syriac incantation bowl from the Penn Museum, w/a formula paralleling several Mandaic bowls, w/intriguing social-historical implications This is the 1st bowl published using spectral imaging!

Article available here: cambridge.org/core/journals/…

My article “Does an Arrow a Day Keep Satan Away? Late Antique Magical Subtexts in Babylonian Rabbinic Narratives” is now OA in HTR! It argues that a Talmudic story about a rabbi’s encounter with Satan adjudicates between competing incantations in late antique Iraq Great images!

Coming soon: Sasanian Law in its Social Context, Macuch

My most recent article, "The Arabs and the Ummah of Muhammad," has just been published online with Der Islam.

New pod! Matthew D. C. Larson and Mark Letteney on Ancient Mediterranean Incarceration You can now subscribe to the show too. Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mat… Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/2Vysd5…

Why do Jews cover their heads? In JQR 115.3, @Simcha_Gross looks at norms of Jewish male head covering as a proxy for cultural assimilation and difference in rabbinic Rome and Sasania. Learn more on the blog and read his essay FREE thru September 5! katz.sas.upenn.edu/resources/blog…

Excited to share the article that @MinasMonier and I wrote on the Introduction to the Gospels by ibn al-Assal and its Arabic and Ethiopic traditions 🤩 brill.com/view/journals/…

Our summer issue is out and two essays are free for a limited time. Don't forget to peruse the TOC! 🌻 muse.jhu.edu/issue/55233

@shahanSean Would love a post spelling out your disagreements, & in general, your take on the whole "Quran is a levantine product" trend. As an outsider, I find the revisionism quite puzzling, & a throwback to Hagarism & related works of the 70s, but would appreciate your sober expert take!

@Simcha_Gross No, but Stephen and I disagree on just about everything when it comes to the Quran.

“You Pass By Them in the Morning and in the Night”Lot, Laykah, and the Levantine Qur’an online.ucpress.edu/SLA/article-ab…

And for the most recent research on Ashkenazi DNA, see the recently published muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article…. For a study of the politics and preconceptions driving the question of Jewish origins and genetics more broadly, see Steven Weitzman's book here press.princeton.edu/books/paperbac…

For anyone actually interested in the question of the conversion of the Khazars, there is more recent and methodologically sound research on the subject by Shaul Stampfer: Read his lengthy article here: muse.jhu.edu/pub/3/article/… Or watch him here: youtube.com/watch?v=PYbycY…