Abstract
A
This collection of essays was presented to Professor Aaron Skaist to honour his significant contribution to the study of the ancient Near East, the Bible and the Talmud. It provides fascinating insights in the areas of Assyriology and biblical studies. The introduction contains a short biography and a list of the publications of Professor Skaist. The studies are grouped into five sections. as follows. Part 1, ‘History’: Amnon Altman, ‘Reflection on the Alalah Text AT 456’; Yoram Cohen, ‘Ahi-malik: ‘The Last “Overseer of the Land” in the City of Emar’; Moshe Garsiel, ‘The Battle of Michmas (1 Samuel 13–14): History, Historiography, Poetics, and Theology Combined’; Shmuel Vargon, ‘The Riv with the Inhabitants of Judea in the Time of Ahaz (Micah 6:1–8)’; David B. Weisberg, ‘Making Sense of “Garbled Legend”: The Case of Nebuchadnezzar’. Part 2, ‘The Legal System’: Joseph Fleishman, ‘Biblical Laws of Marriage vis-à-vis Seduction and Rape: Exodus 22:15–16 and Deuteronomy 22:28–29’; Marten Stol, ‘Payment of the Old Babylonian Brideprice’; Klaas R. Veenhof, ‘Last Wills and Inheritance of Old Assyrian Traders with Four Records from the Archive of Elamma’; Nathan Wasserman, ‘A Field Purchase Contract from Nippur Dated to the Reign of Warad-Sin’. Part 3, ‘Social and Economic Issues’: Aaron Demsky, ‘Jacob's Herds in Light of Ancient Near Eastern Sources’; Gershon Galil, ‘The Socio-Economic Status of the People Enumerated in Sales of “Land and People” in the Neo-Assyrian Period’; Meir Malul, ‘The Family Hearth in the Ancient Near East and the Social-Legal Significance of Light and Darkness’. Part 4, ‘Literature’: Yigal Levin, ‘The Family of Man: The Genre and Purpose of Genesis 10’; Yitshak Sefati and Jacob Klein, ‘Two Dumuzi-Inanna Love Songs: Dumuzi-Inanna Q and an Unidentified Song’. Part 5, ‘Philology’: Edward L. Greenstein, ‘On the Use of Akkadian in Biblical Hebrew Philology’; Amihai Radzyner, ‘Fifty Shequels of Silver: On the Mishnaic Use of the Term qenas’.
E.W. L
A
The focus of this volume, developed from A.'s doctoral dissertation, is on the relationship between certain biblical words and phrases, and terms used in Sumerian and Akkadian texts, notably melammu, which are thought to describe various types of radiant phenomena. It is suggested that ‘some scholars have seen parallels to melammu in nearly every Biblical passage mentioning divine radiance’ (p. 123), because of a failure to apply an appropriate methodology to determining the extent to which parallels exist and the nature of the parallels. Indeed, for this reader, a major contribution of this book lies not so much in its detail (of which there is much!) as in the way it invites caution in using ANE parallels to illuminate biblical concepts and terminology. It highlights the necessity, when speaking of parallels, to distinguish between the typological and historical, conceptual and verbal, and to differentiate between what is borrowed and what simply reflects shared ways of thinking, common throughout the region. Among the significant points raised are the necessity to be aware of changes in meaning over time (‘Melammu consistently refers to power, but does not constantly refer to radiance until the eighth century’ [p. 352]); and in situations where actual borrowing is claimed, there is an implication that there must have been people (‘literati, an elite group in Biblical Israel familiar with certain types of Mesopotamian literature’ [p. 254]) capable of such borrowing. The invitation (p. 224) to compare figure 6 with 5c is frustrated by the lack of a figure 6!
A.H.W. C
B
This mighty Festschrift for Michael Roaf (whose own views on the publication of Festschrifts is, to say the least, ambiguous) gathers 41 articles, as well as a 10-page bibliography of the honorand's works. As can be expected in such a large work, the individual articles cover a wide range of topics within Near Eastern archaeology, from proto-cuneiform to the history of archaeology in the twentieth century. While most of the articles are fascinating, the five essays treating aspects of the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian empires are of particular interest: F.M. Fales, ‘The Eighth-Century Governors of Kalhu: A Reappraisal in Context’, adds to our understanding of eighth-century Assyrian imperial administration; J. MacGinnis, ‘On the Road to the Rent Farm: Outsourcing the Working of Bow-Land in the Reign of Darius I’, gives more details about some of the environment of the continuing Judaean communities in Southern Babylonia in the Persian period; R. Rollinger and J. Wiesehöfer, ‘Kaiser Valerian und Ilu-bi’di von Hamat. Über das Schicksal besieger Feinde, persische Grausamkeit und die Persistenz altorientalischer Traditionen’, discusses how descriptions of cruel treatment of enemies can be traced from the ANE into the Greek historians; W. Sallaberger and K. Schmidt review what is known about the Neo-Babylonian coronation ritual during the new year festival (’Insignien des Königs oder Insignien des Gottes? Ein neuer Blick auf die kultische Königskrönung beim babylonischen Neujahrsfest’); and A. Schachner writes on ‘Assyriens Herrschaft im Norden—Eine Stele aus Ịdil im südöstlichen Tur Abdin’, adding further details about Assyrian imperial domination, here of southern Anatolia. Regarding the careful, and even somewhat apologetic comments that the editors make in the beginning of the volume, this Festschrift is a very positive example of what can be achieved with the genre. If only they were all as good this. The remaining essays are as follows: A. Ahrens,’ “From a Country Far, Far Away…”: Remarks on the Middle Bronze Age Scarabs from Tomb Ass. 12949 at Qal’at Šerqat/Assur’; W. Ball, ‘The End of Tepe Nūshījān’; P. Bartle, ‘The “Assyrian Venus” on the Bas-Reliefs of Aššurnasirpal II—An “Indecent Posture” or “Assyrian Purity of Taste and Feeling”?’; F. Blocher, ‘Zum Zweck der Bastion Warad-Sins in Ur’; P. Charvát, ‘Fortitudo, iustitia, prudentia, temperantia: The Sign NITA/UŠ in Proto-Cuneiform Writing’; Reinhard Dittmann, ‘Multiple Sealed Hollow Balls: A Fresh Look at the Uruk System Almost Thirty Years Later’; B. Einwag and A. Otto, ‘Die Torlöwen an Tempel 1 von Tall Bazi und ihre Stellung in der Reihe steinerner Löwenorthostaten’; C. Fink, ‘Gewichte oder bloße Kiesel? Untersuchungen zu Eisenoxidgesteinen aus Tall Bazi, Syrien’; K.A. Franke, ‘Die zoomorphen Darstellungen auf den Stelen von Hakkâri—ein Deutungsversuch’; M. Gruber, ‘KA2 GIBIL—ein altbabylonischer Hausteilungsplan?’; U. Hellwag, ‘Die Symbole auf den Siegeln des urartäischen Königs Rusa, Sohn des Argišti eine urartäische Bilderschrift?’; M. Herles, ‘Zur Darstellung der Wildschweinjagd im Alten Orient’; G. Herrmann, ‘Some Phoenician Furniture Pieces’; M.-I. Hoffmann,’ “… I wished several times that the Sasanians had never been born.” Großbritannien und die Entdeckung der sasanidischen Architektur von 1800 bis 1914’; K. Kaniuth, ‘Another Scot in the East: Robert Wilson on his Way to Persepolis’; S. Kroll, ‘On the Road(s) to Nowhere: A Re-analysis of the Hasanlu “Tripartite Road System” in Light of the Excavated Evidence’; A. Kurmangaliev, ‘Darstellung des Sonnenuntergangs’; M. Lebeau, ‘Dating the Destructions of Ebla, Mari and Nagar from Radiocarbon with References to Egypt, Combined with Stratigraphy and Historical Data’; S. Lundström, ‘The Hunt Is on Again! Tiglath Pileser I's and Aššur-bel-kala's nāḥirū-Sculptures in Assur’; J.L. Miller, ‘The Location of Ni
riya and its Disassociation from Na’iri’; B. Muhle and J. Schreiber, ‘Ein römisches Schwert aus dem Gräberfeld von ‘Umm al-Mā’, Qatar’; M. Novák, ‘The Change of Caliphate Ideology in the Light of Early Islamic City Planning’; A. Nunn, ‘Wider das Vergessen. Ausbesserungen an Objekten in Mesopotamien’; B. Ögüt, ‘Eine Sturmgott-Stele aus Aydinkaya/Gaziantep’; C.K. Piller, ‘Neue Erkenntnisse zur Verbreitung der Kura-Araxes-Kultur in Nord- und Zentraliran’; D.T. Potts, ‘A “Scythian” Pick from Vaske (Gilan) and the Identity of the XVIIth Delegation at Persepolis’; K. Radner, ‘After Eltekeh: Royal Hostages from Egypt at the Assyrian Court’; S. Razmjou, ‘Left Unfinished: The “Unfinished Gate” of Persepolis as Key Evidence for Architectural and Construction Procedure at Persepolis’; E. Roßberger, ‘Just a White Elephant? Eine goldbeschlagene Stoßzahnflasche aus der Königsgruft von Qaţna’; F. Sachs, ‘Die Gefäßzeichen aus der Weststadt von Tall Bazi (Syrien)’; U. Seidl, ‘Ein reliefierter Bronzebecher aus West-Iran’; A. Sollee, ‘Zur Verteilung und Verbreitung der Lochbodengefäße im syro-mesopotamischen Kulturraum’; K. Sternitzke, ‘Spatel, Sonde und Skalpell. Medizinische Instrumente im Archäologischen Befund’; D. Stronach, ‘The Territorial Limits of Ancient Media: An Architectural Perspective’; D. Wicke, ‘Eisenzeitliche Quartzkeramikobjekte aus Nordsyrien—nicht nur zum Stempeln und Rollen’; P. Zimansky, ‘Imagining Haldi’.
J. S
B
This is a collection of eight of B.'s papers, including two previously unpublished. B.'s consistent view is that Israel (Judah) should be firmly contextualized in the matrix of ANE cultures; consequently, it is the comparative insight that informs much of his discussion, to the considerable enrichment of the biblical text. The first essay (’The Ancient Near Eastern Context of the Hebrew Ideas of Creation’; previously unpublished) is a general survey of cosmogonic themes, in which B. insists that the idea of creatio ex nihilo does not pre-date the Hellenistic era, and so cannot underlie Genesis 1. The various Egyptian, Mesopotamian, and Ugaritic materials are discussed; then Genesis 1–9 is compared with Atrahasis, and the whole narrative is seen as a democratization of kingship. In the second paper (’Paradise Reexamined’), the idea of an idyllic past in the Mesopotamian material is questioned, and the biblical Paradise, still not idyllic, is seen as an inner-Israelite/Judahite construction; in the third (’The Institution of Marriage in Genesis 2 and Atrahasis’), the idea of marriage in Genesis 2–3 is compared with evidence from Atrahasis; in the fourth (’The Divine Sovereign: The Image of God in the Priestly Creation Account’), the sovereignty of God in Genesis is compared with that of Marduk and Aššur and their royal representatives, and the democratization of kingship (above) further analysed. The fifth (’The Sleeping God: An Ancient Near Eastern Motif of Divine Sovereignty’) examines the motif of the sleeping (or resting) deity from Mesopotamian and biblical perspectives, culminating in the narrative(s) of Jesus stilling the storm. The sixth (’The Reed Sea: Requiescat in Pace’) vindicates the view of N.H. Snaith (VT 15 [1965], pp. 395–98) that yam sûp cannot mean ‘the Reed Sea’, the seventh (’The Covenant of Peace: A Neglected Ancient Near Eastern Motif’) explores a motif discerned in Atrahasis and the Ugaritic Baal narrative and recurring in various biblical contexts, while the eighth (’The Malevolent Deity in Mesopotamian Myth’; previously unpublished) reflects on the Mesopotamian moral theology implicit in the conception of malign deities.
N. W
B
For a review of this volume, see Section 3 above.
B
This Festschrift focuses on the Mesopotamia/Akkadian area and Asia Minor, Syria, and Palestine. The majority of the 47 essays are in English, but there are eight in French and one in German, as follows: expenditures by the gu-za-lá official at Maškan-Šapir from the time of Rim-sin of Larsa (K. Abraham and U. Gabbay), the head of a dignitary in basalt at Tell Sakka (M. Al-Maqdissi and E. Ishaq; French), on the Seleucid era and Old Babylonian eras (Boiy), a period of transition at Tell Tweini in the early Iron Age (J. Bretschneider, G. Jans, A.-S. Van Vyve and M. Debruyne), sealing practices at Neo-Assyrian Til Barsib (G. Bunnens), a letter from an unknown king at the beginning of Zimri-lim's reign (D. Charpin; French), the sign URU in proto-cuneiform writing (P. Charvát), the purposes of Berossus's Babyloniaca (G. De Breucker), lead isotopic analysis of copper alloy artefacts from Tell Tweini (P. Degryse, H. El-Desouky, J. Bretschneider, G. Jans, F. Vanhaecke and P. Muchez), a palaeographic analysis of the Amarna letters from 
atti (E. Devecchi), remarks on equative and comparative degree in Hittite and Akkadian (A. De Vos), the Chaldeans as the leading people in Babylonian history and historiography in the first half of the first millennium
L.L. G
B
This is the proceedings volume of the very successful conference held in Paris on 2–3 December 2010, to celebrate the eightieth anniversary of the decipherment of the Ugaritic script. In response to the death of Pierre Bordreuil on 13 November 2013, M. Zink writes a homage to Bordreuil (1937–2013), and C.J. Robin a Preface. There follow nineteen papers, of which sixteen were given at the conference: F. Malbran-Labat, ‘Déchiffrer l’histoire d’Ougarit. Nouveaux apports des textes akkadiens de la Maison d’Urtenu’; H. Rouillard-Bonraisin, ‘L’invention du système alphabétique ougaritique exprime-t-elle une vision spécifique du monde?’; M.G. Masetti-Rouault, ‘Écritures, cultures et mythes: “globalisation” des savoirs et construction d’une identité locale à Ougarit’; T. Römer, ‘Le Baal d’Ougarit et le Yahvé biblique’; W.H. van Soldt, ‘La contribution des textes syllabiques au déchiffrement de l’écriture alphabétique’; É. Bordreuil, ‘Le déchiffrement des listes métrologiques en cunéiforme suméro-akkadien de Ras Shamra-Ougarit’; J.D. Hawkins, ‘The Digraphic Seals of Ugarit: Emmanuel Laroche and the Decipherment of Hieroglyphic Luwian’; V. Matoïan, ‘Ougarit, porte méditerranéenne de l’Asie’; M. Egetmeyer, ‘Ougarit et le déchiffrement de ses inscriptions en syllabaire chypro-minoen’; M. Giorgieri, ‘Diffusion et caractéristiques de la culture écrite d’origine hourrite dans le Proche-Orient asiatique et à Ougarit’; N. Grimal, ‘Diplomatie et écriture: à propos des inscriptions égyptiennes d’Ougarit’; J.-P. Vita, ‘Alphabet ougaritique et langue hourrite: interactions et adaptations’; F. Ernst-Pradal and C. Roche-Hawley, ‘Des signes et des mots’; M. Al-Maqdissi, ‘Notes d’Archéologie Levantine XLIV. Ras Shamra-Ougarit et la sculpture syrienne du deuxième millénaire av. J.-C.’; M. Yon, ‘Kothar, dieu architecte et forgeron, et les Ougaritiens à la fin de l’âge du Bronze’; B. Lagarce, ‘L’image du pouvoir égyptien dans les documents d’Ougarit’; J.-C. Margueron, ‘Dagan, Ba’al et le mont Ṣapanou’; P. Bordreuil, R. Hawley and D. Pardee, ‘Données nouvelles sur le déchiffrement de l’alphabet et sur les scribes d’Ougarit’; and P. Matthiae, ‘La culture figurative médio-syrienne du Palais royal d’Ougarit: un essai d’évaluation’. The coverage gives a rounded view of the significance of this most important of all Levantine archaeological sites, which has so hugely enriched our understanding of the ‘biblical world’ on all fronts, particularly epigraphical, cultural and religious, despite its demise just as the historical Israel came into being.
N. W
C
As the introduction to this revised Strasbourg doctoral thesis explains, the reconstruction of early Cypriot religion is complicated both by the absence of direct literary or documentary evidence, and by the erasure of earlier archaeological evidence brought about by constant rebuilding on the island. Accordingly, religious iconography takes on considerable importance as a source of information, and, although it is set at the end, the heart of this volume is a catalogue of the iconographic evidence relating to the goddess Hathor, which is widely scattered across different museum collections. The main text reviews and assesses this evidence, setting out to answer a series of questions about, on the one hand, the historical developments and links with other cultures that can be deduced, and, on the other, the information that can be gleaned about the nature and place of Hathor in Cypriot religion. C. concludes, amongst other things, that it is possible to detect a process of syncretism between the originally Egyptian Hathor and the Cypriot Great Goddess, but that it remains possible also to see signs of continuing influence from Egyptian and Levantine images of the deity. Of course, the amount of evidence available is not so great that we could treat any general conclusions as proven beyond doubt, but the arguments offered are plausible, and this is a valuable contribution to our understanding of a culture that biblical scholars tend to neglect. The book is well presented, with a general index and numerous plates.
S.D.E. W
C
This useful anthology stands in the tradition of works such as D. Winton Thomas's Documents from Old Testament Times and W. Beyerlin's Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, in that it provides a relatively concise collection of translations of ancient Near Eastern texts judged to be relevant to the study of the Hebrew Bible. It is, however, considerably more comprehensive, and this is certainly one of its strengths. Translations are either by C. or taken from what he judges to be the best available renderings. The nature of the relevance of the texts is not always spelled out and is clearer in some instances than in others. But this may be a strength in that the reader is invited to consider why certain texts may be of value for biblical study. And C. admits to including some ‘personal favourites’, as well as to including some texts because ‘in a broader humanistic way, they give insight into the men and women of the ancient Near East’ (p. xii). After a brief introduction dealing with writing systems, languages and writing materials, the arrangement of the texts is according to literary genre: myths; epics; historiographic texts; legal and commercial texts; letters; hymns, prayers, laments and rituals; burial texts; commemorative and dedicatory texts; love poetry; prophetic texts; and wisdom literature. Within the genres, the arrangement is usually geographical, though a significant exception is the selection of historiographic texts. (It is perhaps surprising to find the Gezer Calendar presented under ‘Abecedaries’.)
A.H.W. C
C
This is an unusually wide-ranging monograph, a revision of the author's Hebrew Union College PhD thesis. It is readable both in terms of the writing style and in the publisher's presentation. C. explores the relationship between the HB and ANE literature in terms of the relationship between astronomy, cosmology and calendars in these texts. It is a huge task, not only to explore the existing material from a new perspective but to conclude convincingly that ‘Ugarit and Israel were demonstrably influenced by Babylonian traditions to a modest degree in the Bronze and Iron Ages’, and that ‘the Levant nonetheless has its own powerful heritage that focused almost entirely on calendrical matters and astral worship and had little serious mantic interest’ (p. 329). The opening three chapters are a welcome introduction to the history of scholarship in Babylonian astronomy and an overview of key Mesopotamian cosmological literary texts. The final three chapters examine the celestial sciences in Ugarit, ancient Israel and the HB with a brief detour into Qumran. Like most scholars in this intellectually heated field, C. has quite strong opinions on the texts that he discusses and does not shy away from confrontation. The fact that he is provocative is no bad thing as there is nothing worse than a dry book on such a stimulating subject. My main problem with this study is that C. has omitted some key scholarly research in Mesopotamian astronomy, and although he includes some very recent work, some of which is generalistic, he excludes much else. Hopefully, that can be rectified in a revised edition. It also needs a subject index. Aside from that, new scholars will undoubtedly benefit from one of the few introductory, and also lively, books around on this subject.
H.R. J
D
This publication has advanced a long way since its first edition in 1976, and second in 1995 (B.L. 1978, pp. 25–26; B.L. 1996, pp. 162–63). With the second edition the book gained its English title, whence the acronym CAT, although the original acronym KTU remains in place alongside it (for purists!) as the prefix to text references. Now the volume has German and English titles, and all texts published down to summer 2013 are included, though many of the unpublished texts previously listed, especially from Ras Ibn Hani, still await publication, though this was already anticipated in the late 1990s. Enlargement of the sections from the second edition are as follows: religious texts, 182 (up from 176); letters, 113 (83); legal and juridical texts, 35 (10); economic texts, 872 (792); scribal exercises, 34 (25); inscriptions, 107 (77); unclassified and fragmentary, 229 (221); illegible and uninscribed, 37 (34); unpublished, 529 numbered, but 36 of these now published (529); syllabic text, 1 (1). A certain amount of reclassification has been done, as the real nature of some texts has been recognized, and some hitherto independent fragments have been found to belong together. Of particular interest in the religious sphere is the acceptance of Pardee's insight into KTU 1.8 being a further fragment of the Baal cycle (KTU 1.3 vi 1–17), with a consequent renumbering of the lines in the column. There are numerous new readings, and qualifications of readings, based on recent discussion and the increasing availability of high-resolution photography. Each text is prefaced with excavation (and season) number, find-spot details, size, museum number (which identifies location), copies, translations, genre and short bibliography. There are also indexes of excavation numbers, museum numbers, and publications, to complement. This new lamp will continue to be a basic reference tool, illuminating continuing research. The second part of it (AOAT 360.2), due to be published soon, will be a wordlist by Ingo Kottsieper.
N. W
D
This volume of conference proceedings contains 36 contributions, all in English. Following an introduction by K. Duistermaat, the volume is divided into six parts. Contributions are given by title. Part 1, ‘Theory and Methodology’: S. Sherratt, ‘Between Theory, Texts and Archaeology: Working with the Shadows’; D. Panagiotopoulos, ‘The Stirring Sea: Conceptualising Transculturality in the Late Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean’; E. Asouti, ‘Community Identities, Interactions and “Cultures” in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Western Asia: A Commentary on the Production of Historical Knowledge’; N. Mac Sweeney, ‘Strange and Estranged: Perceiving Cultural Contacts in Late Bronze Age–Early Iron Age Anatolia’; A. Simandiraki-Grimshaw, ‘Religious Exchanges between Minoan Crete and its Neighbours: Methodological Considerations’; and S. Cappel, ‘Considerations on Sealing Practice and Agency in Minoan Crete and the Eastern Mediterranean in the 2nd Millennium
N. W
E
The introduction, by the editors, indicates the scope of this anthology. The most significant chapter is the first, by M. Giordano, on the Semitic origins of sophia, where she shows that the term was borrowed from Semitic and principally refers to practical skills, notably seamanship. This is corroborated by Ercolani in the final chapter on Greek wisdom texts, which includes excerpts from the Homeric poems (Iliad, Odyssey), the Sayings of the Seven Sages and the Theognidea. The intervening chapters are on wisdom texts from the ancient Near East. For Egypt (E. Bresciani), the texts are Papyrus Insinger and the teachings of Ankhsheshonqi, Ani, Hergedef, Kheti and Ptah-hotep. Mesopotamia (A. Rositani) is represented by the Sumerian Instructions of Shuruppak, dispute poems and proverbs and by the Babylonian Dialogue of Pessimism and the Dialogue between a Man and his God, Counsels of Wisdom, proverbs and the Theodicy. Little can be gleaned from Ugarit (G. Minunno) but not surprisingly, there are several biblical texts (L.C. Paladino) including Canticles, Job, Proverbs, Qoheleth and wisdom psalms (Pss. 1, 8, 15, 19, 49, 119). Chronological tables, bibliographies for each chapter and a thematic index (prepared by Ercolani) complete the volume. It is refreshing that this collection was not restricted by the need for comparison with biblical texts and it shows how widespread the concept of wisdom was in the Near East and the Mediterranean region.
W.G.E. W
E
This volume contains the proceedings of an international conference focused on the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis in its first 2000 years. It is a specialist volume, aimed mainly at Egyptologists. Of the 29 papers presented at the conference, seven are represented by abstracts: invertebrates in Memphite art, a Memphite origin of blue-painted pottery?, the Memphite ‘linen lists’, historical survey of Memphis and its environs, mortuary landscapes and social change in the Teti cemetery at Saqqara, the prominent appearance of mothers in the tombs of their sons and its significance in the Old Kingdom, and dating the tomb of Hetepet from Giza. The 22 essays printed in full (all in English except for one in French) are the following: Hathor's cult in Memphis (R. Assem), late Fifth and late Sixth Dynasty burial chambers at Abusir South (M. Bárta), Memphite officials and the Gold of Honour (S. Binder), notes concerning Reisner's royal family history of the Fourth Dynasty (V.G. Calender), Old Kingdom metallurgy in Memphite tomb images (C.J. Davey), Memphite, Theban, and Heliopolitan gods of rule in the New Kingdom (K. Eaton), Thebes-Memphis: an interaction of iconographic ideas (A. El Shahawy), pre-Amarna or post-Amarna?: the tomb of the god's father Hatiay at Saqqara (B. Gessler-Löhr), the lost scenes of craftsmen in the tomb of Khuenre at Giza (M. Hampson), the Scene-Details Database and the ‘Egypt in Miniature’ series of the OEE (Oxford Expedition to Egypt) (Y.M. Harpur), recent experiences of the Egyptian Exploration Society's Memphis survey (D. Jeffreys), Memphite control of Upper Egypt during the Old Kingdom: the cases of Edfu, Abydos, and Akhmim (N. Kanawati), butcher queens of the Fourth and Fifth Dynasties and their association with the Acacia House (L.J. Kinney), the Memphite area in the late First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom (C. Knoblauch), the orientation of cult niches and burial chambers in Early Dynastic tombs at Helwan (E. Christiana Kohler), recent discoveries at the necropolis of King Pepy I (A. Labrousse), architects, engineers, and builders in Early Dynastic Memphis (A.S. La Loggia), the foundation and development of Tarkhan during the Naqada IIIA2 period (L. Mawdsley), occupied carrying chairs at Memphis in the Old Kingdom (A. McFarlane), evidence for New Kingdom tomb structures in the Teti pyramid cemetery north (B.G. Ockinga), the north and south walls of Senwosret III's north chapel at Dahshur (A. Oppenheim), and Amenhotep III and the west of Memphis (A. Zivie; in French).
L.L. G
G
For a review of this volume, see Section 7 above.
I
This conference proceedings volume, in English and French, is divided into four parts, in addition to introductory and concluding sections. Though the subject matter is much wider than, and external to, an Old Testament perspective, it deals with Hellenistic and Roman ideologies which inevitably impinged upon late Judaean history. And the royal cults analysed here were not simply late innovations; they had deep roots in ancient Near Eastern culture, and belong to patterns already familiar to the Levant from the second millennium. The papers are as follows. The introduction is by A.S. Chankowski, ‘Le culte des souverains aux époques hellénistique et impériale dans la partie orientale du monde méditerranéen: questions actuelles’. Part 1, ‘The Pre-Hellenistic Divine Kingship’, consists of M.B. Garrison, ‘By the Favor of Auramazda: Kingship and the Divine in the Early Achaemenid Period’; H. Gitler, ‘Identities of the Indigenous Coinages of Palestine under Achaemenid Rule: The Dissemination of the Image of the Great King’; and C. Baurain, ‘La contribution des Teucrides aux cultes royaux de l’époque hellénistique’. Part 2, ‘The Hellenistic Period: Royal Cult and Divine Kingship’, contains A. Chaniotis, ‘The Ithyphallic Hymn for Demetrios Poliorketes and Hellenistic Religious Mentality’; O.D. Hoover, ‘Never Mind the Bullocks: Taurine Imagery as a Multicultural Expression of Royal and Divine Power under Seleukos I Nikator’; P.P. Iossif, ‘Apollo Toxotes and the Seleukids: comme un air de famille’; C.C. Lorber, ‘Theos Aigiochos: The Aegis in Ptolemaic Portraits of Divine Rulers’; H. Hauben, ‘Ptolémée III et Bérénice II, divinités cosmiques’; D. Plantzos, ‘The Iconography of Assimilation: Isis and Royal Imagery on Ptolemaic Seal Impressions’; and F. de Callatay and C.C. Lorber, ‘The Pattern of Royal Epithets on Hellenistic Coinages’. Part 3, ‘The Emperor Worship: Roman Imperators and Emperors’, contains E. Voutiras, ‘Des honneurs divins pour Marc Antoine à Thessalonique?’; F. Lozano, ‘The Creation of Imperial Gods: Not Only Imposition versus Spontaneity’; M. Kantiréa, ‘Étude comparative de l’introduction du culte impérial à Pergame, à Athènes et à Éphese’; M. Kajava, ‘Honorific and Other Dedications to Emperors in the Greek East’; Z. Sawaya, ‘Le culte impérial en Phénicie: culte civique ou culte provincial?’; and J. de Jong, ‘Celebrating Supermen: Divine Honors for Roman Emperors in Greek Papyri from Egypt’. Part 4, ‘The Periphery of the Greek and Roman Royal Cult: The Arsakids’, consists of A. Invernizzi, ‘Royal Cult in Arsakid Parthia’. The ‘Summation’, by P.P. Iossif and C.C. Lorber, is entitled ‘More than Men, Less than Gods: Concluding Thoughts and New Perspectives’.
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Tell Ahmar is located in Syria, on the east bank of the Euphrates, and close to a river crossing that gave it strategic importance in ancient times. The University of Melbourne excavations of 1989–96 focused upon Area C of the site, and this excellent book is a catalogue and study of the pottery found in Stratum 2 of that area, which dates from the period around the end of the Neo-Assyrian empire; at this time, Area C contained a group of buildings constituting an ‘elite precinct’. As well as presenting the finds, J. examines the distribution within the area, in the light of theories about the function and development of the buildings, but he also goes much further afield, seeking correlations with pottery across the region. The degree of variation that he finds leads him to conclude that ‘the process of Assyrianisation was in many ways selective. It is likely that certain sites or locations were specifically selected by the Assyrians as a focus for their activities and administration’, but also that ‘the ceramic assemblage at Tell Ahmar shows strong affinities with the main Assyrian centres … [it] demonstrates the degree to which Assyrian culture could be strongly transplanted in the peripheral regions of the Empire’ (p. 278).
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This addition to the estimable TUAT.NF series contains a well-chosen selection of Sumerian, Akkadian, Hittite, Ugaritic and Egyptian (including Greek texts) hymns, laments and prayers relating to the Hebrew Bible. Arranged according to themes and subject matter, the new translations are accompanied by short introductions, annotations and brief commentary that provides indispensable background information. In addition to a few illustrations and maps of the region showing relevant sites, a useful time chart is included for Egypt, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, Assyria, Upper Mesopotamia and Syria, Palestine, Anatolia, Iran, Greece and Rome, and South Arabia. A valuable resource.
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This is a fitting swan-song to L.'s life's work. The volume was completed after his death by J.S. Cooper and other collaborators. It falls into five parts. Part 1 is devoted to Enūma eliš (EE), with a detailed introduction and the transliterated and translated text following, based on 85 Assyrian (of which seven are usually left out of account, but constitute the oldest parts of the poem) and 95 Babylonian tablets and fragments, facing one another (this pattern is repeated with some later texts in the book). There follow ancient commentaries and the triple-column god-list. Part 2 discusses various themes within EE, Marduk's 50 names (51 including Marduk), cosmology, the various combat traditions, and Marduk's rise to supreme position in the pantheon. Part 3 contains a further 16 origin myths, and some fragmentary introductions to such myths. Part 4 comprises further theogonic texts related to EE, and Part 5 is a long essay on the composition of EE, paying particular attention to the role and motives of the putative author, whom L. takes to be an eleventh-century
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This massive collection of 49 essays is divided into seven sections, four in vol. 1 and three in vol. 2, with content as follows. Part 1, ‘The Land of Egypt’: ‘The Physical Context of Ancient Egypt’ by S. Parcak. Part 2, ‘Historical Narratives’: ‘Prehistory’, by E.C. Koehler; ‘The Early Dynastic Period’, by T. Wilkinson; ‘The Old Kingdom’, by M. Baud; ‘The First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom’, by H. Willems; ‘The Second Intermediate Period and the New Kingdom’, by L.D. Morenz and L. Popko; ‘Libyans and Nubians’, by C. Naunton; ‘Saites and Persians (664–332)’, by O. Perdu; ‘The Ptolemaic Period’, by K. Vandorpe; and ‘The Roman Period’, by L. Capponi. Part 3, ‘State and Economic Structures’: ‘The Pharaoh and Pharaonic Office’, by E.F. Morris; ‘Administration and Law: Pharaonic’, by B. Hering; ‘Administration and Law: Graeco-Roman’, by J. Rowlandson; ‘Priests and Temples: Pharaonic’, by N. Spencer; ‘Egyptian Temples and Priests: Graeco-Roman’, by W. Clarisse; ‘The Economy: Pharaonic’, by C. Eyre; ‘The Economy: Graeco-Roman’, by D. Kehoe; ‘Settlements—Distribution, Structure, Architecture: Pharaonic’, by G.D. Mumford; ‘Settlements—Distribution, Structure, Architecture: Graeco-Roman’, by P. Davoli; ‘Transport in Ancient Egypt’, by R.B. Partridge; ‘Science and Technology: Pharaonic’, by C. Rossi; ‘Science and Technology: Alexandrian’, by T.E. Rihll; ‘Military Institutions and Warfare: Pharaonic’, by A.J. Spalinger; and ‘Military Institutions and Warfare: Graeco-Roman’, by N. Pollard. Part 4, ‘The Social Order’: ‘Social Structure and Daily Life: Pharaonic’, by E. Frood; ‘Social Structure and Daily Life: Graeco-Roman’, by E. Cruz-Uribe; ‘Religion in Society: Pharaonic’, by S. Szpakowska; and ‘Religion in Society: Graeco-Roman’, by D. Frankfurter. Part 5, ‘Language and Literature’: ‘Language, Scripts, and Literacy’, by J.P. Allen; ‘Middle Kingdom Literature’, by R. Enmarch; ‘New Kingdom Literature’, by G. Moers; ‘Late Period Literature’, by K. Ryholt; ‘Coptic and Coptic Literature’, by L. Depuydt; and ‘Greek Literature in Egypt’, by A.D. Morrison. Part 6, ‘The Visual Arts’: ‘Temple Architecture and Decorative Systems’, by P. Wilson; ‘Mortuary Architecture and Decorative Systems’, by A. Dodson; ‘Early Dynastic Art and Iconography’, by S. Hendrickx and F. Förster; ‘Old Kingdom Sculpture’, by H. Sourouzian; ‘Sculpture of the Middle Kingdom’, by R.E. Freed; ‘New Kingdom Sculpture’, by B.M. Bryan; ‘Late Period Sculpture’, by E.R. Russmann; ‘Ptolemaic and Romano-Egyptian Sculpture’, by S.-A. Ashton; ‘Pharaonic Painting through the New Kingdom’, by B.M. Bryan; ‘Mosaics and Painting in Graeco-Roman Egypt’, by H. Whitehouse; and ‘Egyptian Art of Late Antiquity’, by T.K. Thomas. Part 7, ‘The Reception of Egyptian Culture’: ‘The Reception of Pharaonic Egypt in Classical Antiquity’, by A.B. Lloyd; ‘The Reception of Egypt in Europe’, by A. Bednarski; ‘The Reception of Pharaonic Egypt in Islamic Egypt’, by M. Cooperson; and ‘Ancient Egypt in the Museum: Concepts and Constructions’, by C. Riggs. Extensive bibliographies relevant to foregoing chapters are found at the end of each volume. Every major aspect of Egyptology is covered here in authoritative and up-to-date detail, in what constitutes an excellent work of reference.
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This book is in two parts, each very different from the other. The first collects documentary evidence from the Old Babylonian period for the objects belonging to deities, that is to say, the jewellery, clothing and many other objects worn by or associated with cult statues. This catalogue is supported by subsequent indexes of objects and gods, and is a very useful source of information. Sandwiched between the list and the illustrations, the second part is less than 30 pages long, and consists of brief reflections on ‘gift’, ‘the ornamentation of divine statues’, and ‘the conservation of precious objects’ (in the original temples, that is, rather than modern museums). The first of these lists terms and reports the evidence for the practice of giving, broadly affirming Marcel Mauss's theories. The second looks at evidence in the period for the use and treatment of the statues themselves, while the third wonders where the precious objects were kept. All three studies are too brief to be of any real significance, and the same may be said of the four-page ‘Conclusions’ that follow them. I have the impression that the second part has been added so that the book can be claiming to address broader issues, but it tends rather to weaken and confuse it: this is a useful sourcebook rather than a general study.
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This contribution to the Ras Shamra-Ougarit series, with 28 contributors and collaborators, follows a second volume of Études by the same editors together with Yves Calvet (B.L. 2013, p. 197; the first volume in the series, edited by M. Yon, was reviewed in B.L. 2003, p. 155). After an introduction by V. Matoïan, the 19 chapters are arranged under five headings, as follows. Part 1, ‘Recherches sur le tell de Ras Shamra’: ‘Le “pont-barrage” du Nahr ed-Delbé (Ras Shamra–Ougarit, Syrie)’, by B. Geyer and Y. Calvet (in collaboration with V. Matoïan, M.-L. Chambrade, N. Marriner, J.-P. Goiran, X. Huang, F. Onnis, M. Leconte); ‘Premières observations réalisées sur le puits 3150 du chantier “Grand-rue” (Ras Shamra–Ougarit)’, by B. Geyer and V. Matoïan (in collaboration with L. Herveux); ‘La “résidence nord” à Ougarit. Les fouilles complémentaires effectuées entre 1999 et 2005’, by J.-Y. Monchambert; and ‘Le bâtiment “au trône”, un nouveau sanctuaire à Ougarit?’ by O. Callot. Part 2, ‘Études sur les techniques de construction à Ougarit’: ‘Les roches de construction d’Ougarit: production, façonnage, mise en œuvre’, by J.-C. Bessac; and ‘Identification d’essences de bois dans l’architecture d’Ougarit’, by V. Asensi Amorós. Part 3, ‘Recherches sur la culture matérielle d’Ougarit’: ‘La Maison dite “de Rashapabou”: inventaire des objets découverts lors de la fouille de l’édifice et essai d’interprétation’, by V. Matoïan; ‘Poulpes, poissons et coquillages … Essai sur les représentations du monde aquatique dans la céramique mycénienne d’Ougarit’, by A. Carbillet; ‘L’analyse du bitume des éléments de faucilles en silex d’Ougarit (Bâtiment B du chantier “Grand-rue”)’, by P. Adam, P. Schaeffer, J. Connan, É. Coqueugniot, V. Matoïan and F. Onnis; ‘Les emplois du bitume à Ougarit au Bronze récent’, by V. Matoïan; and ‘Ras Shamra–Ougarit (Syrie), 62e campagne, 2002. Poterie des chantiers 173 et 178 dans le Palais Nord’, by J. Mallet. Part 4, ‘Recherches sur les textes et les objets inscrits d’Ougarit’: ‘Un nouveau vase inédit d’Horemheb’, by B. Lagarce-Othman; ‘Une fusaïole inscrite en ougaritique au Musée d’Archéologie nationale de Saint-Germain-en-Laye’, by C. Sauvage and R. Hawley; ‘À propos des textes akkadiens alphabétiques conservés au Musée d’Alep: notes épigraphiques’, by R. Hawley, D. Pardee and C. Roche-Hawley; and ‘Interactions à Ougarit entre textes administratifs et textes d’un autre genre (lettres, textes juridiques, rituels, étiquettes)’, by J.-P. Vita. Part 5, ‘Recherches archéologiques à Ras Ibn Hani’: ‘Notes d’archéologie levantine XL. Structures du Bronze ancien à Ras Ibn Hani, campagne de 1987’, by M. Al-Maqdissi; ‘Notes d’archéologie levantine XXXIX. Rapport préliminaire sur les travaux syriens à Ras Ibn Hani (campagne 2011)’, by M. Al-Maqdissi; ‘Timbres amphoriques de Ras Ibn Hani (campagne 2011)’, by Y. Calvet; and ‘Note sommaire sur les figurines en terre cuite de Ras Ibn Hani (campagne 2011)’, by E. Ishaq. The volume joins its predecessors in being largely devoted to updating the record, and well illustrates the sophistication of modern archaeological research in its capacity to glean the maximum information out of the least likely source materials.
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This comprehensive survey and assessment of archaeological activity in the ancient Near East is divided into six main parts (five in vol. 1 and the sixth in vol. 2), comprising 58 chapters. These are as follows. Part 1, ‘The Framework’: ‘Introduction to Geography, Climate, Topography, and Hydrology’, by T.J. Wilkinson; ‘Antiquarianism, Copying, Collecting’, by M.B. Garrison; ‘Early Excavations (pre-1914)’, by N. Chevalier; ‘The Foundations of Antiquities Departments’, by P. Magee; ‘The Political Dimension of Archaeological Practices’, by R. Bernbeck; and ‘The Antiquities Trade and the Destruction of Ancient Near Eastern Cultures’, by O.W. Muscarella. Part 2, ‘Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Hunters and Gatherers’: ‘The Levant’, by A.H. Simmons; and ‘Anatolia’, by K. Schmidt. Part 3, ‘Developments in Farming, Animal Husbandry, and Technology’: ‘The Beginnings of Cereal Cultivation and Domestication in Southwest Asia’, by G. Willcox; ‘Fruit-growing’, by M. Tengberg; ‘Animals in the Ancient World’, by B.S. Arbuckle; ‘Fish and Fishing’, by D.T. Potts; ‘Lithic Industries during the Holocene Period’, by S.A. Rosen; ‘Irrigation’, by A.M. Bagg; ‘Ceramic Production’, by C.A. Petrie; ‘Metallurgy’, by L. Weeks; ‘Glass’, by W. Reade; ‘Textiles’, by I. Good; and ‘Watercraft’, by R.A. Carter. Part 4, ‘Varieties of Early Village and Town Life’: ‘The Northern Levant’, by K. Bartl; ‘The Southern Levant’, by E.B. Banning; ‘Northern Mesopotamia’, by S. Campbell; ‘The Late Epipaleolithic, Neolithic, and Chalcolithic of the Anatolian Plateau, 13,000–4000
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This publishes 51 documents and 103 seals from a private house of the Middle Assyrian period (c. 1400–1250
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The vast majority of S.'s most recent volume consists of a collection of Neo- (and Late) Babylonian curses and oaths (pp. 167–454). For each text she offers a short bibliography, a transcription and translation; the 41 pages of plates (!) contain a significant number of drawings of hitherto unpublished tablets. S. follows the evolution of oaths and curses in administrative documents and classifies them according to their specific use. For scholars of the Hebrew Bible, the Neo- and also the Late Babylonian texts provide a rich and so far mostly untapped source of material. In particular for the groups of Judaeans who continued to live in the Nippur region, understanding the legal and administrative practices may prove to be more fruitful than the older material with which most of the comparative work has been done so far. Biblical scholars should find S.'s collection useful in understanding the way that oaths and curses operated in the Mesopotamian contexts of at least one sizeable and important group of Judaeans. While not all the minute distinctions between different classes of documents on the basis of potentially different formulae convinced this reviewer, I recommend the book to anybody interested in curses and oaths in the ancient Near East, and it will surely form the starting point for any future work on oaths and curses in the latter half of the first millennium
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Most of the seventeen papers in this volume were delivered at a Midwest meeting of the SBL and ASOR held at Bourbonnais, IL in 2011. They are thematically organized in six sections. Contents are as follows: (1) ‘Creation and Chaos’: K. Sonik, ‘From Hesiod's Abyss to Ovid's rudis indigestaque moles: Chaos and Cosmos in the Babylonian “Epic of Creation” ‘; D.R.M. Campbell, ‘On the Theogonies of Hesiod and the Hurrians: An Exploration of the Dual Natures of Teššub and Kumarbi’; W.G. Lambert, ‘Creation in the Bible and the Ancient Near East’; and J. Scurlock, ‘Searching for Meaning in Genesis 1:2: Purposeful Creation out of Chaos without Kampf’. (2) ‘Monster-Bashing Myths’: D. Frayne, ‘The Fifth Day of Creation in Ancient Syrian and Neo-Hittite Art’; A. Gilan, ‘Once Upon a Time in Kiškiluša’; J. Töyräänvuori, ‘The Northwest Semitic Conflict Myth and Egyptian Sources from the Middle and New Kingdoms’; and B.C. Benz, ‘Yamm as the Personification of Chaos? A Linguistic and Literary Argument for a Case of Mistaken Identity’. (3) ‘Gunkel and his Times’: S. Lundström, ‘Chaos and Creation: Hermann Gunkel between Establishing the “History of Religions school,” Acknowledging Assyriology and Defending the Faith’; P. Feinman, ‘Where Is Eden? An Analysis of Some of the Mesopotamian Motifs in Primeval J’; and A. Tugendhaft, ‘Babel-Bible-Baal’. (4) ‘Power and Politics’: W.T. Pitard, ‘The Combat Myth as a Succession Story at Ugarit’; and R.D. Miller II, ‘What Are the Nations Doing in the Chaoskampf?’. (5) ‘Kampf and Chaos’: B.F. Batto, ‘The Combat Myth in Israelite Tradition Revisited’; and R.E. Averbeck, ‘The Three “Daughters” of Baal and Transformations of Chaoskampf in the Early Chapters of Genesis’. (6) ‘Chaos and (Re)Creation’: J. Scurlock, ‘Chaoskampf Lost—Chaoskampf Regained: The Gunkel Hypothesis Revisited’; and D. Melvin, ‘Making All Things New (Again): Zephaniah's Eschatological Vision of a Return to Primeval Time’. Questions of creation, chaos and Chaoskampf, and associated themes, are currently very popular themes for discussion, generating lively disagreement, and the present volume has addressed them in a fruitful way by a combination of comparative treatments, consideration of local spin-offs and developments of the themes, and specific reassessment of the influential work of Gunkel. The last word has not been said, or written.
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This substantial reference work is divided into five sections, and comprises 52 essays, dealing with the following topics. ‘Introduction: The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia’, by G. McMahon and S.S. Steadman. In Part 1, ‘The Archaeology of Anatolia: Background and Definitions’: ‘The Land and Peoples of Anatolia through Ancient Eyes’, by G. McMahon; ‘A History of the Pre-classical Archaeology of Anatolia’, by R. Matthews; and ‘Anatolian Chronology and Terminology’, by J. Yakar. In Part 2, ‘Chronology and Geography’: ‘The Neolithic on the Plateau’, by M. Özbaşaran; ‘The Neolithic in Southeastern Anatolia’, by M. Rosenberg and A. Erim-Özdoğan; ‘The Chalcolithic on the Plateau’, by U.-D. Schoop; ‘The Chalcolithic of Southeast Anatolia’, by R. Özbal; ‘The Chalcolithic of Eastern Anatolia’, by G. Palumbi; ‘The Early Bronze Age on the Plateau’, by S.R. Steadman; ‘The Early Bronze Age in Southeastern Anatolia’, by A.T. Ökse; ‘Eastern Anatolia in the Early Bronze Age’, by C. Marro; ‘The Kārum period on the Plateau’, by C. Michel; ‘Southeastern and Eastern Anatolia in the Middle Bronze Age’, by N. Laneri and M. Schwartz; ‘The Late Bronze Age in the West and the Aegean’, by T. Bryce; ‘The Plateau: The Hittites’, by J. Seeher; ‘Southern and Southeastern Anatolia in the Late Bronze Age’, by M.-H. Gates; ‘The Iron Age on the Central Anatolian Plateau’, by L. Kealhofer and P. Grave; ‘The Iron Age of Southeastern Anatolia’, by T. Matney; ‘The Iron Age in Eastern Anatolia’, by L. Khatchadourian; and ‘The Greeks in Western Anatolia’, by A.M. Greaves. In Part 3, ‘Philological and Historical Topics’: ‘The Hittite Language: Recovery and Grammatical Sketch’, by G. Beckman; ‘Luwian and the Luwians’, by I. Yakubovich; ‘Urartian and the Urartians’, by P. Zimansky; ‘Phrygian and the Phrygians’, by L.E. Roller; ‘Hittite Anatolia: A Political History’, by R.H. Beal; ‘Anatolia: The First Millennium
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For a review of this volume, see Section 7 above.
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This study of covenant theologies in the Near East originates in what appears to be a Harvard PhD thesis, finished in 2011. The book sets out to put the understanding of the Deuteronomistic History and its God into a new historical framework, by taking seriously not only the Neo-Assyrian but also other Near Eastern evidence, as well as the Bible itself. T.'s key to the DH is his reading of the ‘law’ as a command for continuous warfare, which he dates to a seventh-century context as a response to Neo-Assyrian imperial rule. T. casts his net widely, treating Ugaritic texts as well as some Amarna letters and Hittite treaties before he turns to the Neo-Assyrian evidence itself and the Levantine response to it. His discussion is learned and informative, and the collection of material will aid future studies of royal and covenantal theologies. But due to the breadth of the subject one is not always certain that the material has been covered with the attention to detail that it deserves. One point of criticism would be that the book could have done with some more editing to turn it from a doctoral thesis into a book. Thus, the frequent literature reviews dotted throughout surely owe their presence to the manuscript's prior life as a doctoral thesis; in a book they are less necessary and decrease the readability.
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This conference hosted 123 presentations, of which 61 (including introductions to sessions) are published here. Though some discussions are tangential to Old Testament interests, they all enrich our understanding of the original background and are included here for completeness, as follows: W. Sallaberger, ‘Das Ansehen eines altorientalischen Herrschers bei seinen Untertanen’; D. Charpin, ‘L’exercice du pouvoir par les rois de la Ière dynastie de Babylone: problèmes de méthode’; E. Cancik-Kirschbaum, ‘Verwaltungstechnische Aspekte königlicher Repräsentation. Zwei Urkunden über den Kult der verstorbenen Könige im mittelassyrischen Assur’; D. Bonatz, ‘Bild, Macht und Raum im neuassyrischen Reich’; T. van den Hout, ‘Die Rolle der Schrift in einer Geschichte der frühen hethitischen Staatsverwaltung’. A. Otto introduces a workshop on collective governance and the role of the palace in the Bronze Age Middle Euphrates and beyond, and contributes a paper on ‘Archaeological Evidence for Collective Governance along the Upper Syrian Euphrates during the Late and Middle Bronze Age’, followed by D.E. Fleming, ‘Textual Evidence for a Palace at Late Bronze Emar’; B. Faist, ‘Die Rolle der Stadt im spätbronzezeitlichen Emar’; S. Démare-Lafont, ‘Les “Frères” en Syrie à l’époque du Bronze récent: réflexions et hypothèses’; C. Kepinski, ‘Organization of Harrâdum, Suhum, 18th–17th centuries atti’; Z. Simon, ‘Hethitische Felsreliefs als Repräsentation der Macht: einige ikonographische Bemerkungen’; B. Stipich,’ “… Ich bin bei meinem Vater nicht beliebt…”: einige Bemerkungen zur Historizität des Zalpa-Textes’; P.J. Huber, ‘Dating of Akkad, Ur III, and Babylon I’; W. Jaworski, ‘Cuneiform Documents Search Engine’; J. Lorenz, ‘Fluchformeln in den Urkunden der Chaldäer- und Achämenidenzeit’; B.M. Nasrabadi, ‘Arbeitszimmer eines Schreibers aus der mittelelamischen Zeit’; G. Neumann, ‘Siegel für Jedermann: Neue Erkenntnisse zur sog. série Élamite populaire und zur magischen Bedeutung von Siegelsteinen’; M. Roaf, ‘Did Rusa Commit Suicide?’; J. Sanmartín, ‘Über die (Un-)Möglichkeit eines “Glossary of Old Syrian [GlOS]?” ’; I. Vorontsov, ‘Adapas Licht’; and K. Wagensonner, ‘Early Lexical Lists and their Impact on Economic Records: An Attempt of Correlation between Two Seemingly Different Kinds of Data-Sets’. There is a good spread of discussion here in many areas, and the coverage is particularly rich for students of royal ideology.
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