The Social Audience of Prayer

A Rhetorical and Canonical Study of Individual Lament Psalms

W. Derek Suderman

Available Open Access!
“Suderman’s monograph is a significant contribution to psalm studies. Expanding on his earlier work, he offers a compelling, book-length argument for considering not just the speaker in a psalm but also the audience being addressed. His analysis of jussive verbs is especially insightful, showing how they engage a broader social context indirectly. Rich in exegetical depth, this study is thought-provoking and well worth your attention.”—Andrew C. Witt, author of A Voice Without End: The Role of David in Psalms 3–14

The 2008 Season at Tall al-ʿUmayri and Subsequent Studies

Edited by Larry G. Herr, Douglas R. Clark, Lawrence T. Geraty, and Monique Roddy

This volume presents the official report of the 2008 excavation season at Tall al-ʿUmayri, a key settlement for understanding the Bronze and Iron Ages in western Jordan. Part of the long-running Madaba Plains Project, it documents the discoveries, methods, and personnel of that summer’s fieldwork while situating them within the project’s broader aim of tracing cycles of growth, decline, and adaptation in ancient settlement and land use.

Syria, Mesopotamia, and the Comparative Study of Semitic Languages

Proceedings of the 7th and 8th Meetings of the International Association for Comparative Semitics

Edited by Tawny L. Holm and Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala

This volume offers a wealth of perspectives on comparative Semitic linguistics emerging from the seventh and eighth meetings of the International Association for Comparative Semitics (IACS): the Madrid symposium (2016) was devoted to the role of Akkadian in the study of Comparative Semitics, and the Córdoba meeting (2019) focused on Syria at the historical crossroads of Semitic languages.

Hippos (Sussita) of the Decapolis

The Civic Basilica and the Southern Bathhouse

Arleta Kowalewska and Michael Eisenberg

“A major achievement in Classical Archaeology of the Near East. The volume presents a wealth of new data with clarity and scholarly precision, offering fresh insights into Hippos’s urban development and cultural history. Particularly striking is the Civic Basilica, whose stucco decoration makes it a unique monument in the region. With contributions by leading experts, this book is an indispensable resource for researchers and libraries alike.”—Achim Lichtenberger, coauthor of Hellenistic Nysa-Scythopolis I: The German-Israeli Tell Iẓṭabba Excavation Project, the 2019–2020 Seasons

Sumeromania

The History of the British Museum’s Girsu Collection

Edited by Sébastien Rey

Sumeromania uncovers the dramatic and complex story behind one of the British Museum’s most important holdings: its vast collection of objects from the ancient Sumerian city of Girsu (modern Tello, Iraq). From statues of rulers to thousands of cuneiform tablets, these artifacts entered the museum during a period of fierce competition among empires, archaeologists, and dealers.

The Dawn of Philology

Textual Practices Between the Tigris and Nile

Eva Cancik-Kirschbaum and Jochem Kahl, in collaboration with Klaus Wagensonner

The emergence of complex writing systems in Mesopotamia and Egypt enabled the creation of vast textual traditions spanning administration, medicine, law, religion, literature, and political life. The preservation and transmission of these materials required highly trained specialists working within courts, temples, and other institutions. In the activities of these specialists—collecting, copying, interpreting, and curating texts—we can observe the earliest foundations of philology, the disciplined engagement with written knowledge that underlies all scholarly traditions.

From the Patriarchs to the United Monarchy

Early Israel and Its Literature, Volume 1

Nadav Na'aman

Nadav Naʾaman, Professor Emeritus of Jewish History in the Biblical Period at Tel Aviv University, and one of today’s leading historians of ancient Canaan and Israel, has published hundreds of studies and monographs in the course of an illustrious career of more than five decades. His scholarship combines biblical studies with research on geographical history, archaeology, and historiography in the ancient Near East to shed light upon the land and people of Israel in the second and first millennia BCE.

Excavations in the Tyropoeon Valley 2003 (Givʿati Parking Lot—Area M)

Eli Shukron

Excavations in the Tyropoeon Valley 2003 (Givʿati Parking Lot—Area M) marks a significant milestone in the long-standing archaeological investigation of the City of David. The excavations conducted by Eli Shukron in the southern sector of the Givʿati Parking Lot from 2002 through 2003 represent the initial phase of what would evolve into one of the most extensive and continuous archaeological projects undertaken on the southeastern slope of ancient Jerusalem.

Read the latest issue of Journal of World Christianity (16:1)! This issue features articles on the theological politics of Black Pentecostal historiography; a personal tribute to the work and legacy of David D. Daniels III and research on African Christian agency and polycentricity in the history of World Christianity; and more.

Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies recently published a special issue, “Rise, Decline, and Revival: Plaster Casts of Ancient West Asian Artifacts in the Collections of Europe and the United States of America.” The issue includes an Open Access article titled “Transformation from Stone to Silicone: The Use and Reuse of Harvard’s Plaster Casts.” Read the issue on the Scholarly Publishing Collective.

Azrael

Encounters with the Angel of Death in Islamicate Thought and Culture

Dunja Rašić

“With remarkable precision, Rašić’s Azrael situates death not merely as an event but as a form of knowledge—one that has shaped Islamic intellectual history. The exploration of the angel of death, especially, marks a pioneering contribution, as this is the first to treat this figure’s legacy in Islamic writings and, to a lesser degree, art. As with her previous books, Rašić’s monograph breathes new life into Ibn ʿArabī studies.”—Cyrus Ali Zargar, author of Religion of Love: Sufism and Self-Transformation in the Poetic Imagination of ʿAṭṭār

Whistler’s Legacy

Daniel E. Sutherland

“Dr. Sutherland’s well-established expertise continues with his insightful conclusions drawn. Whistler’s Legacy will assuredly enrich and enliven Whistlerian contexts as did his previous publications. Dr. Sutherland deftly steers readers through past scholarship while introducing impressive original perspectives to inspire new topics to pursue. He examines witnesses, offers explanations, and ultimately frames Whistler’s established image via popular culture to provide a fuller portrait of one of the most consequential artists of the nineteenth century.”—Catherine Carter Goebel, Director, Centre for Whistler Criticism