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Established in 1887, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology is one of the oldest institutions of its kind in the nation. With quotations from letters, journals, and field notes, and numerous archival photographs, this handsome, oversized volume is not only a history of an influential institution but an important contribution to the history of archaeological and anthropological research.
In this groundbreaking work that sets apart fact and legend, authors Finkelstein and Silberman use significant archeological discoveries to provide historical information about biblical Israel and its neighbors. In this iconoclastic and provocative work, leading scholars Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman draw on recent archaeological research to present a dramatically revised portrait of ancient Israel and its neighbors. They argue that crucial evidence (or a telling lack of evidence) at digs in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon suggests that many of the most famous stories in the Bible—the wanderings of the patriarchs, the Exodus from Egypt, Joshua’s conquest of Canaan, and David and Solomon’s vast empire—reflect the world of the later authors rather than actual historical facts. Challenging the fundamentalist readings of the scriptures and marshaling the latest archaeological evidence to support its new vision of ancient Israel, The Bible Unearthed offers a fascinating and controversial perspective on when and why the Bible was written and why it possesses such great spiritual and emotional power today.
Written to celebrate the centennial of the Sphinx's arrival in Philadelphia, The Sphinx That Traveled to Philadelphia tells the fascinating story of the colossal sphinx that is a highlight of the Penn Museum's Egyptian galleries and an iconic object for the Museum as a whole. The narrative covers the original excavations and archaeological history of the Sphinx, how it came to Philadelphia, and the unexpected ways in which the Sphinx's story intersects with the history of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Museum just before World War I. The book features ample illustrations—photographs, letters, newspaper stories, postcards, maps, and drawings—drawn largely from the e...
The following work was written to give in a permanent form some account of the excavations undertaken in 1873 and 1874 on the site of Nineveh; and the principal discoveries which have resulted from these operations. The honour of having started this enterprise belongs to the proprietors of the 'Daily Telegraph' newspaper, and at the close of the first expedition they presented the firman and excavating plant to the trustees of the British Museum to facilitate the renewal of the work. The second expedition was only to take advantage of the remainder of the time allowed by the firman, and I was directed to close the excavations within the period allowed by the concession of the Porte. --from the Preface
ÒIn addition to the discussion of the cuneiform inscriptions in these lectures, which bear more particularly upon the Old Testament, several chapters have been included on life in ancient Babylonia. Besides facts published by others, these chapters include a presentation of certain discussions of general interest which I have published in a more technical form in the series: 'The Babylonian Expedition of the University of Pennsylvania.' These chapters, however, also contain much material that appears for the first time. -- from the Preface
The remains of ancient societies often require decades to unearth, but much longer to interpret and understand. The methods of archaeology have progressed dramatically in recent years. Archaeologists have continuously refined their tools, methods, and techniques. Today archaeology is characterized by pottery identification, classification, and cataloging; disciplined excavation of "squares"; use of sophisticated electronics, such as GPS, infrared, and computer-aided design; and the integration of multiple methodologies, such as epigraphy, art history, physical anthropology, paleobotany, and climatology. The interpretation of ancient Near Eastern history and cultures has also progressed. An i...
Archaeology is a science in which progress can be measured by the advances made backward into the past. The last one hundred years of archaeology have added a score of centuries to the story of the growth of our cultural and religious heritage, as the ancient world has been recovered from the sands and caves of the modern Near East-Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, and Iraq. Measured by the number of centuries which have been annexed to man's history in a relatively few years, progress has been truly phenomenal. This book deals with the recent advance and with those pioneers to the past who made it possible. Interest in biblical history has played an important part in this recov...
The remains of ancient societies often require decades to unearth, but much longer to interpret and understand. The methods of archaeology have progressed dramatically in recent years. Archaeologists have continuously refined their tools, methods, and techniques. Today archaeology is characterized by pottery identification, classification, and cataloging; disciplined excavation of "squares"; use of sophisticated electronics, such as GPS, infrared, and computer-aided design; and the integration of multiple methodologies, such as epigraphy, art history, physical anthropology, paleobotany, and climatology. The interpretation of ancient Near Eastern history and cultures has also progressed. An i...
"In these lectures [the Schweich Lectures of 1916] an attempt has been made, not so much to restate familiar facts, as to accommodate them to new and supplementary evidence which has been published in America since the outbreak of the war. . . . Hebrew achievements in the sphere of religion and ethics are only thrown into stronger relief when studied against their contemporary background. "The bulk of our new material is furnished by some early texts, written towards the close of the third millennium B.C. They incorporate traditions which extend in unbroken outline from their own period into the remote ages of the past, and claim to trace the history of man back to his creation. They represent the early national traditions of the Sumerian people, who preceded the Semites as the ruling race in Babylonia; and incidentally they necessitate a revision of current views with regard to the cradle of Babylonian civilization." -from the Preface
This volume includes two lectures given by Friedrich Delitzsch to the members of the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft and Kaiser Wilhelm II. These lectures deal with the relationship of Babylonian sources to the Old Testament, and they created a major controversy.