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“A readable and up-to-date introduction to a most fascinating culture” from a world-renowned Sumerian scholar (American Journal of Archaeology). The Sumerians, the pragmatic and gifted people who preceded the Semites in the land first known as Sumer and later as Babylonia, created what was probably the first high civilization in the history of man, spanning the fifth to the second millenniums B.C. This book is an unparalleled compendium of what is known about them. Professor Kramer communicates his enthusiasm for his subject as he outlines the history of the Sumerian civilization and describes their cities, religion, literature, education, scientific achievements, social structure, and psychology. Finally, he considers the legacy of Sumer to the ancient and modern world. “An uncontested authority on the civilization of Sumer, Professor Kramer writes with grace and urbanity.” —Library Journal
In Psalm 91 and Demonic Menace Gerrit Vreugdenhil offers a thorough analysis of the text, structure and genre of Psalm 91. Already in its earliest interpretations, Psalm 91 has been associated with the demonic realm. The use of this psalm on ancient amulets and in magic texts calls for an explanation. Examining the psalms images of threat from a cognitive science perspective, Vreugdenhil shows that many of these terms carry associations with sorcery and magic, incantations and curses, diseases and demonic threat. The psalm takes demonic threat seriously, but also draws attention to the protection offered by JHWH. Finally, the author proposes an outline of the situational context in which Psalm 91 might have functioned.
Designed to get students to read the Bible for themselves, this introduction to and overview of the Old Testament draws on the most recent research on the Hebrew scriptures to outline the historical, social, and cultural contexts out of which the biblical texts were produced.--From publisher description.
The story of the primeval cataclysmic flood which wiped out all life on earth, save for one family, is found in different ancient Mesopotamian texts whence it reached the Biblical and Classical literary traditions. The present book systematically collects the earliest attestations of the myth of the Flood, namely all the cuneiform-written Akkadian sources - from the Old Babylonian to the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian periods, including Tablet XI of the Epic of Gilgamesh -, presenting them in a new synoptic edition and English translation which are accompanied by a detailed philological commentary and an extensive literary discussion. The book also includes a complete glossary of the Akkadian sources.
For the past several decades, Erhard Gerstenberger has been a leader in the study of the Psalms. These essays bring together some of the key contributions that both reflect on the history of interpretation and the path forward for research. Both the student and the experienced researcher will be enriched by the depth and clarity of perspective that Gerstenberger brings. Two of the essays appear here in English for the first time. Contents 1. The Lyrical Literature 2. Psalms 3. The Psalm Genres 4. Theologies in the Psalms 5. Modes of Communication with the Divine in the Hebrew Psalter 6. The Psalms and Ritual Praxis 7. Non-Temple Psalms: The Cultic Setting Revisited 8. The Psalter as Book and as Collection
Explores the paradoxical symmetry between the divine and demonic in early Jewish mystical texts. Divine Scapegoats is a wide-ranging exploration of the parallels between the heavenly and the demonic in early Jewish apocalyptical accounts. In these materials, antagonists often mirror features of angelic figures, and even those of the Deity himself, an inverse correspondence that implies a belief that the demonic realm is maintained by imitating divine reality. Andrei A. Orlov examines the sacerdotal, messianic, and creational aspects of this mimetic imagery, focusing primarily on two texts from the Slavonic pseudepigrapha: 2 Enoch and the Apocalypse of Abraham. These two works are part of a very special cluster of Jewish apocalyptic texts that exhibit features not only of the apocalyptic worldview but also of the symbolic universe of early Jewish mysticism. The Yom Kippur ritual in the Apocalypse of Abraham, the divine light and darkness of 2 Enoch, and the similarity of mimetic motifs to later developments in the Zohar are of particular importance in Orlov’s consideration.