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Ugaritic ritual texts are varied and, by nature, problematic. But another source for ritual understanding is found in the narrative writings of Ugarit--namely, its myths and legends. Ritual texts in myths were not simply textual inserts but an integral part of the narrative. This present study is devoted to the examination of the way that ritual functions within the context of these stories.
Hector Kipling has everything to live for: he is a talented artist with loving parents, a beautiful girlfriend, dependable mates and good health. But when Kirk Church, one of his best friends, and a habitual painter of cutlery, announces that he may have a brain tumour, the prospect of a character-building bereavement, with all the attendant suffering and sympathy, is a little too difficult for Hector to resist. Will it make him a better artist? Will it make him as successful as his friend Lenny Snook, who fills limousines with blood and has just been nominated for the Turner Prize? As events begin to unravel it doesn't take long for Hector's charmed world to fall completely and irreparably ...
Colleagues, students, and friends honor Professor Milgrom by celebrating his contributions to biblical and Near Eastern scholarship with special emphasis on his primary areas of expertise. The first section of the book, Ritual, Law, and Their Sources, contains thirty-five essays on cultic and legal issues found in the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint, and texts from Qumran. The second section, Other Literary, Historical, and Linguistic Studies, includes twenty-four essays, primarily dealing with interpretive issues in the Hebrew Bible.
Most scholars believe that the numerous similarities between the Covenant Code (Exodus 20:23-23:19) and Mesopotamian law collections, especially the Laws of Hammurabi, which date to around 1750 BCE, are due to oral tradition that extended from the second to the first millennium. This book offers a fundamentally new understanding of the Covenant Code, arguing that it depends directly and primarily upon the Laws of Hammurabi and that the use of this source text occurred during the Neo-Assyrian period, sometime between 740-640 BCE, when Mesopotamia exerted strong and continuous political and cultural influence over the kingdoms of Israel and Judah and a time when the Laws of Hammurabi were acti...
"A wonderful, rich, and fascinating book, and a great read. Biale explores the meanings of blood within Jewish and Christian cultures from the blood of the sacrifices of the book of Leviticus to the blood of the Eucharist to the blood of medieval blood libels and the place of blood in Nazi ideology. Biale shows that blood symbolism stands at the center of the divide between Judaism and Christianity. This book will be the point of departure for all future studies of the subject."—Shaye J.D. Cohen, Harvard University "I know of no other work that, through numerous insights and useful distinctions, so alerts us to and comprehensively documents the ongoing constitutive role of Christian and anti-Semitic perceptions of Jewish existence and the interactions between them. Whereas much contemporary historiography has become so specialized that historians have surrendered the larger picture, David Biale's panoramic perspective reveals the great value and interest of this work."—Steven E. Aschheim, author of Beyond the Border: The German-Jewish Legacy Abroad
New Organic Architecture is a manifesto for building in a way that is both aesthetically pleasing and kinder to the environment. It illuminates key themes of organic architects, their sources of inspiration, the roots and concepts behind the style, and the environmental challenges to be met. The organic approach to architecture has an illustrious history, from Celtic design, Art Nouveau, Arts and Crafts, to the work of Antoni Gaud� and Frank Lloyd Wright. Today there is a response to a new age of information and ecology; architects are seeking to change the relationship between buildings and the natural environment. In the first part of his book, David Pearson provides a history and assessment of organic architecture. The second part comprises statements from thirty architects from around the world whose work is based on natural or curvilinear forms rather than the straight-line geometrics of modernism. Each statement is accompanied by full-color illustrations of one or several of the architects' built projects.
Avot, a tractate in the Mishnah (c. 220 CE), is the single most studied and commented upon Jewish text outside the Hebrew Bible. Commonly published as a stand-alone volume with the title Pirke Avot (“Chapters of the Fathers” or “Ethics of the Fathers”), Avot is also included in Jewish prayer books to encourage group and home study in every form of Judaism. A number of scholarly studies over the past three decades have reconceptualized the historical purpose and stylistic character of tractate Avot, which is unlike any other in the Mishnah. Some scholars have recognized that Avot’s content reflects the ideological positions of an elitist fellowship originally formed according to paradigms established by Greco-Roman schools of philosophy. Subversive Principles furthers the argument that Avot was composed to facilitate the formation of such a fellowship by engaging the analytical insights of Pierre Bourdieu regarding symbolic language and other theorists elucidating the role of exchange theory in religions. This volume explores an ethics of reading and the matter of historical relativism as such concerns influence the historical-critical interpretation of a canonical text.
On the Day of Atonement, two goats were brought before the high priest at the temple. One was chosen as the goat for the Lord, a spotless sacrifice, and the other was set aside for Azazel, doomed to bear sins into the wilderness. Jewish Temple Theology and the Mystery of the Cross shows how a theological appreciation for the two movements of Yom Kippur makes it possible to identify the paradox at the heart of Christian soteriology: in his single atoning act, Jesus Christ fulfills the work of both goats, without confusion, without division. Appreciation for this paradox helps illuminate many of the doctrinal debates in the history of Christian soteriology and offers a compelling way forward. ...