New Directions in the Study of Ancient Geography

Edited by Duane W. Roller

This volume brings together five essays that represent the latest directions in the study of geography in classical antiquity. Arranged chronologically, these contributions cover several centuries and cultures, ranging from ancient Mesopotamia to the Roman Empire and deal with topics such as ancient cosmology, literary interpretations of geography, ancient navigation, and geography in the Roman Imperial world. . . (more)

Ur III Texts in the Schøyen Collection

Jacob L. Dahl

Judging from the sheer amount of textual material left to us, the rulers of ancient Ur were above all else concerned with keeping track of their poorest subjects, who made up the majority of the population under their jurisdiction. Year after year, administrators recorded, in frightening detail, the whereabouts of the poorest individuals in monthly and yearly rosters, assigning tiny parcels of land to countless prebend holders and starvation rations to even more numerous estate slaves. The. . . (more)

“An Excellent Fortress for His Armies, a Refuge for the People”

Egyptological, Archaeological, and Biblical Studies in Honor of James K. Hoffmeier

Edited by Richard E. Averbeck and K. Lawson Younger Jr.

James Hoffmeier is a giant in the field of Egyptology. Among his many publications are two volumes of archaeological reports from Tell el-Borg, where he led excavations from 1999 to 2008. He is also well known for his interest in how ancient Egypt and the biblical world intersected, having edited and written several books on the subject. This volume features essays written by more than thirty of his colleagues, former students, and friends. The contributions cover the second and first millennia BCE—from the Egyptian Old Kingdom through the Persian period—as well as New Testament times. The subjects covered include archaeology, biblical studies, Egyptology, and, of course, how these fields intersect with one another. . . (more)

From the Workshop of the Mesopotamian Scribe

Literary and Scholarly Texts from the Old Babylonian Period

Jacob Klein and Yitschak Sefati

This volume presents first editions of a variety of cuneiform tablets from the Old Babylonian period belonging to the collection of the late Shlomo Moussaieff. It makes available for the first time three texts representing varying levels of Mesopotamian scribal education. The first is what the authors argue is the most complete copy of the first fifty lines of the standard version of the Sumerian epic Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven. The second is a hitherto unpublished bilingual (Sumerian-Akkadian) lexical list of unknown provenance, similar to the Proto-Aa syllabary. Each of the 314 entries preserved on this tablet provides a pronunciation gloss, a Sumerian logogram, and an Akkadian translation. A unique feature of this list is that . . . (more)

New Horizons in the Study of the Early Bronze III and Early Bronze IV of the Levant

Edited by Suzanne Richard

The “radiocarbon revolution” has profoundly altered traditional historical frameworks in the Near East. Addressing the ramifications of the new, higher radiometric (14C) chronology, as well as the impact of new excavations and expanded data sets on third-millennium BCE studies, this volume brings together twenty-three essays covering a diverse array of topics, such as urbanism, heterarchy, nomadism, ruralism, terminology, and cultural continuity/discontinuity. . . (more)

From Mari to Jerusalem and Back

Assyriological and Biblical Studies in Honor of Jack Murad Sasson

Edited by Annalisa Azzoni, Alexandra Kleinerman, Douglas A. Knight, and David I. Owen

Jack Murad Sasson, distinguished scholar of the ancient Near East, has enjoyed a long career studying the cultures, languages, and literatures of that consequential region. His many books and articles span a seemingly endless array of topics and materials. Foremost are his in-depth analyses of the Syrian city of Mari and its remarkable heritage. Of comparable importance are. . . (more)

Ramat Raḥel IV

The Renewed Excavations of the Tel Aviv–Heidelberg Expedition (2005–2010): Stratigraphy and Architecture

Oded Lipschits, Manfred Oeming, and Yuval Godot

This is the first of a three-volume final report on the Tel Aviv–Heidelberg Renewed Excavations at Ramat Raḥel, 2005–2010. It presents the stratigraphy and architecture of the excavation areas, including portions of the palatial compound, the subterranean columbarium complex, and the Late Roman cemetery; site formation of the tell; twentieth-century fortifications at the site; and the. . . (more)

Numayra

Excavations at the Early Bronze Age Townsite in Jordan, 1977–1983

Meredith S. Chesson, R. Thomas Schaub, and Walter E. Rast

The emergence of ancient urbanism has long held the interest of archaeologists attempting to understand the origins of inequality and its links to early urban life. This volume presents the results of archeological research at the Early Bronze Age sites of Numayra and Ras an-Numayra, conducted to investigate the rise of Early Bronze Age urban society, with a distinctive focus on links between environmental and social systems.. . . (more)

The Earth Is the Lord’s

Essays on Creation and the Bible in Honor of Ben C. Ollenburger

Edited by Ryan D. Harker and Heather Bunce

Unfolding of Your Words Gives Light

Studies on Biblical Hebrew in Honor of George L. Klein

Edited by Ethan C. Jones