Michael DeVries
@michaeldevries.bsky.social
PhD @unibirmingham.bsky.social | Second Temple Judaism | Dead Sea Scrolls | Researching ritual, cognition, and the Qumran movement | Adjunct Professor
Reposted by Michael DeVries
PSA: @soraaad.bsky.social does not endorse experimenting with ancient curses at home, even to secure one's home.
A super, awe (fear) inspiring bowl indeed.
#SuperBowl
A super, awe (fear) inspiring bowl indeed.
#SuperBowl
This Super Bowl Sunday, I’d like to introduce you all to the magical curse bowls used in Upper Mesopotamia and Syria in late antiquity. Written in Mandaic (as here) or Syriac Aramaic, they trap demons who trespass on a household by sucking them in with spiraling spells to the center of the bowl.
February 8, 2026 at 9:14 PM
PSA: @soraaad.bsky.social does not endorse experimenting with ancient curses at home, even to secure one's home.
A super, awe (fear) inspiring bowl indeed.
#SuperBowl
A super, awe (fear) inspiring bowl indeed.
#SuperBowl
Reposted by Michael DeVries
Substack Cofounder Defends Commercial Relationships with Nazis
@justinhendrix.bsky.social
2023
www.techpolicy.press/substack-fou...
@justinhendrix.bsky.social
2023
www.techpolicy.press/substack-fou...
February 7, 2026 at 6:09 PM
Substack Cofounder Defends Commercial Relationships with Nazis
@justinhendrix.bsky.social
2023
www.techpolicy.press/substack-fou...
@justinhendrix.bsky.social
2023
www.techpolicy.press/substack-fou...
Reposted by Michael DeVries
In case you were wondering why we moved to Ghost many months ago. Speak with your clicks, speak with your attention—and get off substack.
“The global publishing platform Substack is generating revenue from newsletters that promote virulent Nazi ideology, white supremacy and antisemitism, a Guardian investigation has found…” www.theguardian.com/media/2026/f...
Revealed: How Substack makes money from hosting Nazi newsletters
Exclusive: Site takes a cut of subscriptions to content that promotes far-right ideology, white supremacy and antisemitism
www.theguardian.com
February 7, 2026 at 5:43 PM
In case you were wondering why we moved to Ghost many months ago. Speak with your clicks, speak with your attention—and get off substack.
“The Trump Administration has scrapped existing obligations to collect and report racial, ethnic and gender-based data involving law enforcement, education, federal contracts, public health, environmental justice, and social research.”
The demise of the CIA World Factbook is “part of a broad war on information being waged by the Trump administration,” @dgraham.bsky.social argues in The Atlantic Daily.
The Trump Administration’s War on Data
A series of recent steps have erased the shared facts that help uphold democracy.
bit.ly
February 6, 2026 at 8:09 AM
“The Trump Administration has scrapped existing obligations to collect and report racial, ethnic and gender-based data involving law enforcement, education, federal contracts, public health, environmental justice, and social research.”
Reposted by Michael DeVries
Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos and publisher Will Lewis “are embarking on the latest step of their plan to kill everything that makes the paper special,” Ashley Parker writes. theatln.tc/UIN69Qt0
February 4, 2026 at 8:20 PM
Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos and publisher Will Lewis “are embarking on the latest step of their plan to kill everything that makes the paper special,” Ashley Parker writes. theatln.tc/UIN69Qt0
And I hope that YOU will reconsider the value of the necessary and important work YOUR journalists do to keep citizens informed. Just saying... #WashingtonPost #WaPo
February 4, 2026 at 6:58 PM
And I hope that YOU will reconsider the value of the necessary and important work YOUR journalists do to keep citizens informed. Just saying... #WashingtonPost #WaPo
Incredibly proud of my alma mater! @unibirmingham.bsky.social
February 3, 2026 at 6:47 PM
Incredibly proud of my alma mater! @unibirmingham.bsky.social
Reposted by Michael DeVries
Three rules in FBI firearm training:
1. Always point your weapon downrange
2. Do not point your weapon at anything you do not intend to shoot
3. Don’t put your finger on the trigger unless you intend to shoot
Guns are not for threatening compliance for unarmed people doing things you don’t like
1. Always point your weapon downrange
2. Do not point your weapon at anything you do not intend to shoot
3. Don’t put your finger on the trigger unless you intend to shoot
Guns are not for threatening compliance for unarmed people doing things you don’t like
happening this morning in Minneapolis -- ICE agents drawing guns on observers. I reiterate again that it is only a matter of time before DHS kills more innocent people in Minnesota. Congress needs to shut this shit down right now.
February 3, 2026 at 4:50 PM
Three rules in FBI firearm training:
1. Always point your weapon downrange
2. Do not point your weapon at anything you do not intend to shoot
3. Don’t put your finger on the trigger unless you intend to shoot
Guns are not for threatening compliance for unarmed people doing things you don’t like
1. Always point your weapon downrange
2. Do not point your weapon at anything you do not intend to shoot
3. Don’t put your finger on the trigger unless you intend to shoot
Guns are not for threatening compliance for unarmed people doing things you don’t like
This country has become a police state. Pure and simple.
Exclusive: Homeland Security has used what’s known as an administrative subpoena, a legal tool that federal agencies can issue without an order from a judge or grand jury.
Under President Trump, DHS has weaponized the tool to strangle free speech.
Under President Trump, DHS has weaponized the tool to strangle free speech.
Homeland Security is targeting Americans with this secretive legal weapon
Under Trump, the Department of Homeland Security has weaponized administrative subpoenas to attack free speech, according to privacy and civil rights groups.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 3, 2026 at 6:13 PM
This country has become a police state. Pure and simple.
Reposted by Michael DeVries
In response to the deluge of messages on casting in The Odyssey:
Helen was born from an 🥚 Don’t talk to me about historical veracity.
Helen was born from an 🥚 Don’t talk to me about historical veracity.
February 3, 2026 at 1:13 PM
In response to the deluge of messages on casting in The Odyssey:
Helen was born from an 🥚 Don’t talk to me about historical veracity.
Helen was born from an 🥚 Don’t talk to me about historical veracity.
Reposted by Michael DeVries
Dead Sea Discoveries Vol. 33, No. 1 (2026) brill.com/view/journal... Intersectional Investigations into the Complexity of Social Life in Early Judaism Elisa Uusimäki & @hannatervanotko.bsky.social eds. @dgb-relbibtheo.bsky.social @jwmartens.bsky.social @peterjatkins.bsky.social
January 29, 2026 at 6:03 PM
Dead Sea Discoveries Vol. 33, No. 1 (2026) brill.com/view/journal... Intersectional Investigations into the Complexity of Social Life in Early Judaism Elisa Uusimäki & @hannatervanotko.bsky.social eds. @dgb-relbibtheo.bsky.social @jwmartens.bsky.social @peterjatkins.bsky.social
Reposted by Michael DeVries
The momentous unrolling of Prof George Brooke's facsimile Great Isaiah Scroll here at Bristol's Religion and Theology research seminar. George spoke to us on: "From fake news to AI Scribes: the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls since 2000 and its implications."
January 28, 2026 at 6:58 AM
The momentous unrolling of Prof George Brooke's facsimile Great Isaiah Scroll here at Bristol's Religion and Theology research seminar. George spoke to us on: "From fake news to AI Scribes: the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls since 2000 and its implications."
Reposted by Michael DeVries
My latest (published) article “Responsibility for Murder: The Background of Judith’s Legal Argumentation” Journal of Biblical Literature 144.4 is now available. I spoke about the argument with the folk at MF Norwegian School of Theology (recorded and available in the link): youtu.be/tN_6LwMqOVs?...
January 26, 2026 at 8:47 AM
My latest (published) article “Responsibility for Murder: The Background of Judith’s Legal Argumentation” Journal of Biblical Literature 144.4 is now available. I spoke about the argument with the folk at MF Norwegian School of Theology (recorded and available in the link): youtu.be/tN_6LwMqOVs?...
Reposted by Michael DeVries
Very exciting to see the new book of Leuven colleague Hanneke van der Schoor has now appeared, who uses Dead Sea Scroll evidence about the mysterious figure of Qahat to think through modern practices of editing and textual classification (brill.com/display/titl...; @dgb-relbibtheo.bsky.social).
January 22, 2026 at 4:57 PM
Very exciting to see the new book of Leuven colleague Hanneke van der Schoor has now appeared, who uses Dead Sea Scroll evidence about the mysterious figure of Qahat to think through modern practices of editing and textual classification (brill.com/display/titl...; @dgb-relbibtheo.bsky.social).
Pretty much spot on.
The Norwegian government is staying fairly quiet for now, but as a sign of the shifting vibe here the former head of Norway’s armed forces has come out and called the US a “neo-fascist banana republic” and a “hostile great power without norms”. www.dn.no/politikk/tid...
Tidligere forsvarssjef om Trumps USA: – Neo-fascistisk bananrepublikk (+)
Tidligere forsvarssjef Sverre Diesen mener USA er blitt «en normløs og fiendtlig innstilt stormakt», og advarer samtidig mot å feste vår lit til Europa. Harald Sunde mener det haster med en plan B.
www.dn.no
January 19, 2026 at 10:33 PM
Pretty much spot on.
Reposted by Michael DeVries
This Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we're celebrating the authors, activists, and historians who have championed and enriched our understanding of civil rights and justice for all. For a limited time, save 25% on these titles with the code MLK25—keep reading below.
January 19, 2026 at 4:11 PM
This Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we're celebrating the authors, activists, and historians who have championed and enriched our understanding of civil rights and justice for all. For a limited time, save 25% on these titles with the code MLK25—keep reading below.
My review of Étienne Nodet's *A Gate to Heaven: Essenes, Qumran: Origins and Heirs* is now live on @readingreligion.bsky.social. Check it out and let me know what think!
readingreligion.org/978056770971...
readingreligion.org/978056770971...
A Gate to Heaven - Reading Religion
Etienne Nodet proposes that Qumran functioned as a pilgrimage site for the Essenes from the 1st century BC onwards. Nodet suggests that the Essenes were scat...
readingreligion.org
January 19, 2026 at 8:55 PM
My review of Étienne Nodet's *A Gate to Heaven: Essenes, Qumran: Origins and Heirs* is now live on @readingreligion.bsky.social. Check it out and let me know what think!
readingreligion.org/978056770971...
readingreligion.org/978056770971...
Reposted by Michael DeVries
Please share widely! 3-year Postdoc in Early Christian Studies. Deadline: 8 March. Let me know if you have any questions or want to nominate a colleague.
Postdoc Position: Early Christian Studies | Radboud University
Do you want to work as a Postdoctoral Researcher: Early Christian Studies at the Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies? Check our vacancy!
www.ru.nl
January 16, 2026 at 11:57 AM
Please share widely! 3-year Postdoc in Early Christian Studies. Deadline: 8 March. Let me know if you have any questions or want to nominate a colleague.
Reposted by Michael DeVries
Some important new government policy that Native Americans might be interested in:
Trump talks about Denmark and Greenland just now: "The fact that they landed a boat there 500 years ago doesn't mean that they own the land."
January 9, 2026 at 10:02 PM
Some important new government policy that Native Americans might be interested in:
And so a new semester begins. Teaching a new-ish Hebrew Bible survey class. Using material from other courses I have taught so not too rough of a prep!
January 7, 2026 at 6:48 PM
And so a new semester begins. Teaching a new-ish Hebrew Bible survey class. Using material from other courses I have taught so not too rough of a prep!
Reposted by Michael DeVries
ICYMI: Texas A&M admin is requiring a faculty member to either remove *Plato* from their syllabus for being too woke
or
be reassigned to teach “Ethics for Engineers” at 8am
or
be reassigned to teach “Ethics for Engineers” at 8am
From an email to one of our faculty members....
Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!
Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!
January 7, 2026 at 1:11 AM
ICYMI: Texas A&M admin is requiring a faculty member to either remove *Plato* from their syllabus for being too woke
or
be reassigned to teach “Ethics for Engineers” at 8am
or
be reassigned to teach “Ethics for Engineers” at 8am
Reposted by Michael DeVries
📢 #OpenAccess 🔓 Objects, Qualities, and Attributes as Deities in the Ancient Near East 🪔 By Jennifer Singletary
A cross-cultural study of near-eastern texts from the 2nd and 1st millennia BCE, applying research in cognitive science of religion and prototype theory.
🔗 brill.com/display/ti...
A cross-cultural study of near-eastern texts from the 2nd and 1st millennia BCE, applying research in cognitive science of religion and prototype theory.
🔗 brill.com/display/ti...
December 23, 2025 at 8:38 AM
📢 #OpenAccess 🔓 Objects, Qualities, and Attributes as Deities in the Ancient Near East 🪔 By Jennifer Singletary
A cross-cultural study of near-eastern texts from the 2nd and 1st millennia BCE, applying research in cognitive science of religion and prototype theory.
🔗 brill.com/display/ti...
A cross-cultural study of near-eastern texts from the 2nd and 1st millennia BCE, applying research in cognitive science of religion and prototype theory.
🔗 brill.com/display/ti...
Reposted by Michael DeVries
Scholars, please cite yourselves when relevant! You are creating a body of work, a world even, and we want to know where all the pieces are, and how they fit together.
I saw a LinkedIn post making fun of senior scholars for citing themselves, but I've seen academics Columbus entire well developed fields of study and be applauded for it by the AHA, so...?
January 5, 2026 at 4:12 PM
Scholars, please cite yourselves when relevant! You are creating a body of work, a world even, and we want to know where all the pieces are, and how they fit together.
Reposted by Michael DeVries
I didn't want to write this piece on Christmas stealing from pagan festivals because I have always thought that was a myth. BUT in researching it I realized something interesting 1/6
www.nationalgeographic.com/history/arti...
featuring: @praxeas.bsky.social @zafulotus.bsky.social
www.nationalgeographic.com/history/arti...
featuring: @praxeas.bsky.social @zafulotus.bsky.social
Was Christmas moved to eclipse Rome's Saturnalia festival?
Ancient scribes often calculated Christ’s birth as falling in early spring.
www.nationalgeographic.com
December 26, 2025 at 5:55 PM
I didn't want to write this piece on Christmas stealing from pagan festivals because I have always thought that was a myth. BUT in researching it I realized something interesting 1/6
www.nationalgeographic.com/history/arti...
featuring: @praxeas.bsky.social @zafulotus.bsky.social
www.nationalgeographic.com/history/arti...
featuring: @praxeas.bsky.social @zafulotus.bsky.social
Wonderful interview with Daniel Falk on the upcoming three volume *Prayer in the Ancient World* with @degruyterbrill.bsky.social
open.spotify.com/episode/3ES1...
open.spotify.com/episode/3ES1...
Daniel K. Falk and Rodney A. Werline, "Prayer in the Ancient World Vol.1" (Brill, 2027)
open.spotify.com
December 24, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Wonderful interview with Daniel Falk on the upcoming three volume *Prayer in the Ancient World* with @degruyterbrill.bsky.social
open.spotify.com/episode/3ES1...
open.spotify.com/episode/3ES1...