You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
We think of the Hebrew Bible as the Book--and yet it was produced by a largely nonliterate culture in which writing, editing, copying, interpretation, and public reading were the work of a professional elite. The scribes of ancient Israel are indeed the main figures behind the Hebrew Bible, and in this book Karel van der Toorn tells their story for the first time. His book considers the Bible in very specific historical terms, as the output of the scribal workshop of the Second Temple active in the period 500-200 BCE. Drawing comparisons with the scribal practices of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, van der Toorn clearly details the methods, the assumptions, and the material means of productio...
The Image and the Book is a richly documented and provocative collection of studies and essays dealing with the historical background of biblical ban on religious images. It describes the role and theology of the divine image in the civilizations surrounding Israel, and shows that there has been long-standing worship of images in Israel. Though the Bible intimates that Israelite religion was aniconic from the very beginning, the archaeological evidence and the dispassionate analysis of the available texts shows otherwise. The iconographical remains yield a fascinating view of the development and varieties in the cult of religious images. The iconoclasm of influential currents in the late Israelite and early Judaic religion went in tandem with the promotion of the Book of the Law as a substitute of the image. In the case of the Bible, the rise of book religion must be seen in conjunction with the battle against images.
This SBL Press edition of an essential Brill reference work deals with the religious practices of the family in the ancient Babylonian, Syrian, and Israelite civilizations. On the basis of a wealth of documents from both the private and the literary realm, the book gives an exhaustive description and analysis of the rites of the ancestor cult and the devotion to local gods. The author demonstrates the role of these two aspects of family religion in the identity construction of its followers. The section dealing with Israel pays particular attention to the relationship between family religion and state religion. The emergence of the state religion under King Saul marked the beginning of a competition between civil and private religion. Though the two had great influence upon each other, the tension between them was never resolved. A study of their interaction proves to be a key for the understanding of the development of Israelite religion during the monarchic period.
Based on a previously unexplored source, this book transforms the way we think about the formation of Jewish identity
Introductory Matters -- The History of Scholarship on Ancient Israelite Religion : A Brief Sketch -- Methodology -- El Worship -- The Iconography of Divinity : El -- The Origin of Yahweh -- The Iconography of Divinity : Yahweh -- The Characterization of the Deity Yahweh : Yahweh as Warrior and Family God -- The Characterization of the Deity Yahweh : Yahweh as King and Yahweh as Judge -- Characterization of the Deity Yahweh : Yahweh as Holy.
Like the biblical Job, many people suffer under the silence of God. This book shows that it is enlightening to retrace the origins of the concept of divine speech and silence in the ancient Near East and Greece.
The new edition of the popular survey of Near Eastern civilization from the Bronze Age to the era of Alexander the Great A Companion to the Ancient Near East explores the history of the region from 4400 BCE to the Macedonian conquest of the Persian Empire in 330 BCE. Original and revised essays from a team of distinguished scholars from across disciplines address subjects including the politics, economics, architecture, and heritage of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt. Part of the Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World series, this acclaimed single-volume reference combines lively writing with engaging and relatable topics to immerse readers in this fascinating period of Near East history. T...