The Dragon, the Mountain, and the Nations

An Old Testament Myth, Its Origins, and Its Afterlives

$64.95 $35.72 (45% off!)

The dragon-slaying myth has a hoary ancestry, extending back long before its appearance in the Hebrew Bible, and a vast range, spanning as far as India and perhaps even Japan. This book is a chronicle of its trajectories and permutations. The target of this study is the biblical myth. This target, however, is itself a fluid. . .   (more)

Cursed Are You!

The Phenomenology of Cursing in Cuneiform and Hebrew Texts

$59.50 $32.72 (45% off!)

In the ancient world, curses functioned in a way markedly different from our own, and it is into the world of the ancient Near East that we must go in order to appreciate the scope of their influence. For the ancient Near Easterners, curses had authentic meaning. Curses were part of their life and religion. They were not inherently magic or features of . . . . . (more)

A Grammar of the Hittite Language

Part 1: Reference Grammar

$69.50 $38.22 (45% off!)

Hoffner and Melchert’s long-awaited work is sure to become both the standard reference grammar and the main teaching tool for the Hittite language. The first volume includes a thorough description of Hittite grammar, grounded in an abundance of textual examples. Moreover, the authors take into account a vast array of . .  .  (more)

Diachrony in Biblical Hebrew

$64.50 $35.47 (45% off!)

Diachrony in Biblical Hebrew is an indispensable publication for biblical scholars, whose interpretations of scriptures must engage the dates when texts were first composed and recorded, and for scholars of language, who will want to read these essays for the latest perspectives on the historical development of Biblical Hebrew. For Hebraists and linguists interested in. . . (more)

Exploring the Composition of the Pentateuch

Edited by L. S. Baker Jr., Kenneth Bergland, Felipe A. Masotti, and A. Rahel Wells

Just arrived!
Covering a wide spectrum of topics and diverging perspectives, the chapters in this book are grouped into two parts. The first is primarily concerned with the history of scholarship and alternative approaches to the development of the Pentateuch. The second focuses on the exegesis of particular texts relevant to the composition of the  . . (more)

Ashkelon 7

The Iron Age I

Lawrence E. Stager, Daniel M. Master, and Adam J. Aja

Just arrived!
The Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon continues its final report series with a study of the Iron Age I. Following the dramatic collapse of the Mediterranean world at the end of the Bronze Age, new groups emerged across the Levantine littoral. One of those groups was the Philistines, famous archenemies of the Israelites in the Hebrew Bible. This volume shows how Ashkelon became. . . (more)

Scribal Tools in Ancient Israel

A Study of Biblical Hebrew Terms for Writing Materials and Implements

Philip Zhakevich

Just Arrived!
In this book, Philip Zhakevich examines the technology of writing as it existed in the southern Levant during the Iron Age II period, after the alphabetic writing system had fully taken root in the region. Using the Hebrew Bible as its corpus and focusing on a set of Hebrew terms that designated writing surfaces and instruments, this study synthesizes the semantic data. . . (more)

The Royal Inscriptions of Amēl-Marduk (561–560 BC), Neriglissar (559–556 BC), and Nabonidus (555–539 BC), Kings of Babylon

Frauke Weiershäuser and Jamie Novotny

Just Arrived!
Amēl-Marduk, Neriglissar, and Nabonidus were the last native kings of Babylon. In this modern scholarly edition of the complete extant corpus of royal inscriptions from each of their reigns, Frauke Weiershäuser and Jamie Novotny provide updated and reliable editions of the texts. The kings of the Neo-Babylonian Empire left hundreds of official inscriptions on objects such as. . . (more)

The Royal Inscriptions of Sargon II, King of Assyria (721–705 BC)

Grant Frame

Just Arrived!
The Neo-Assyrian king Sargon II was one of the most important and famous rulers of ancient Mesopotamia. In this volume of critically important ancient documents, Grant Frame presents reliable, updated editions of Sargon’s approximately 130 historical inscriptions, as well as several from his wife, his brother, and other high officials. Beginning with a thorough introduction to the reign of Sargon II and an overview of the previous. . . (more)

A Handbook of Gods and Goddesses of the Ancient Near East

Three Thousand Deities of Anatolia, Syria, Israel, Sumer, Babylonia, Assyria, and Elam

Douglas R. Frayne and Johanna H. Stuckey, with illustrations by Stéphane D. Beaulieu

In press!
From the tragic young Adonis to Zašhapuna, first among goddesses, this handbook provides the most complete information available on deities from the cultures and religions of the ancient Near East. . . (more)

The Usefulness of Scripture

Essays in Honor of Robert W. Wall

Daniel Castelo, Sara M. Koenig, and David R. Nienhuis, eds.

“[T]he chapters of this book will tease the mind into serious reflection on the task of hermeneutics, on the value of theological interpretation, and of canonical readings.”—Derek Tovey, Auckland, New Zealand in Review of Biblical Literature, October 2020

Textbook of Aramaic Ostraca from Idumea, volume 4

Bezalel Porten and Ada Yardeni

“Die Textausgaben sollten daher in keiner Bibliothek fehlen, denn sie erlauben in der Zukunft vielfältige Möglichkeiten der wissenschaftlichen Auswertung.”—W. Zwickel, Mainz, in Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 132 (2020): 508–9

Rhetoric and the Dead Sea Scrolls

Purity, Covenant, and Strategy at Qumran

Bruce McComiskey

Forthcoming!
“Bruce McComiskey is the first in rhetorical studies to conduct a systematic reading of seven Dead Sea Scrolls manuscripts, examining how identification, distinction, persuasion, performative strategies, dissociation, and ideas about material rhetorics are present and enacted through these manuscripts. In doing so, he makes an important case for the rhetorical significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls as well as the methodological utility of a hermeneutics/rhetoric approach for reading these texts.”—Jim Ridolfo, author of Digital Samaritans: Rhetorical Delivery and Engagement in the Digital Humanities

Friendship in Jewish History, Religion, and Culture

Edited by Lawrence Fine

Forthcoming!
“This innovative and accessible anthology highlights the significance of a frequently neglected facet of Jewish life. I know of no other scholarly work that explores the varieties of human friendship in such a wide range of Jewish sources. The attention to gender is particularly noteworthy and adds immensely to the value and interest of this important volume.”—Judith R. Baskin, author of Midrashic Women: Formations of the Feminine in Rabbinic Literature