Mesopotamia and the Bible: Comparative Explorations [Paperback]

Mark W. Chavalas (Editor), K. LawsonJr. Younger (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2002 | ISBN-10: 080102420X | ISBN-13: 978-0801024207

Thirteen scholars explore possible points of connection between the Bible and its ancient Near Eastern context, illuminating the methadologies, contributions, and limitations of both biblical studies and Assyriology. Contents include: "Assyriology and Biblical Studies: A Century of Tension" --Mark W. Chavalas "The Quest for Sargon, Pul, and Tiglath-Pileser in the Nineteenth Century"--Steven W. Holloway "Sumer, the Bible, and Comparative Method: Historiography and Temple Building"--Richard E. Avergeck "Syria and Northern Mesopotamia to the End of the Third MIllennium B.C.E."--Mark W. Chavalas "Syro-Mesopotamia:The Old Babylonian Period"--Ronald A. Veenker "Syria to the Early Second Millennium"---Victor H. Matthews "Apprehending Kidnapers by Correspondence at Provincial Arrapha"--David C. Deuel "The Bible and Alalakh"--Richard S. Hess "Emar: On the Road from Harran to Hebron"--Daniel E. Fleming "Voices from the Dust: The Tablets from Ugarit and the Bible"--Wayne T. Pitard "The Rise of the Aramean States"--William Schniedewind "Recent Study on Sargon II, King of Assyria: Implications for Biblical Studies"--K. Lawson Younger Jr. "What Has Nebuchadnezzar to Do with David? On the Neo-Babylonian Period and Early Israel"--Bill T. Arnold "The Eastern Jewish Diaspora under the Babylonians"--Edwin Yamauchi

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Archaeological investigations of the past 150 years have yielded much evidence on the ancient Near Eastern world of the Bible. Such evidence is fascinating, but its significance is often difficult to ascertain. Mesopotamia and the Bible brings together an international group of esteemed scholars who explore the points of connection between the Bible and its ancient Near Eastern context, specifically upper Mesopotamia and surrounding areas. Each of these scholars seeks to integrate the disciplines of Assyriology and biblical studies, with full respect for the methodologies, contributions, and limitations of each. The result is a fascinating look at ancient Mesopotamia that will be appreciated by students, scholars, and all those interested in the world of the Bible.

Contributors: Bill T. Arnold Richard E. Averbeck Mark W. Chavalas David C. Deuel Daniel E. Fleming Richard S. Hess Steven W. Holloway Victor H. Matthews Wayne T. Pitard William Schniedewind Ronald A. Veenker Edwin Yamauchi K. Lawson Younger, Jr.

Mark W. Chavalas (Ph.D., UCLA) is professor of history at the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse.

K. Lawson Younger, Jr. (Ph.D., University of Sheffield) is professor of Old Testament at the divinity school of Trinity International University.

About the Author

Mark W. Chavalas (Ph.D., UCLA) is professor of history at the University of Wisconsin, Lacrosse. He has edited five volumes on ancient Near Eastern history and is the coauthor of the IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament.

K. Lawson Younger Jr. (Ph.D., University of Sheffield) is professor of Old Testament at the divinity school of Trinity International University. He is the author of Ancient Conquest Accounts and coeditor of the three-volume reference work The Context of Scripture.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Baker Academic (June 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080102420X
• ISBN-13: 978-0801024207
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,874,147 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some Essays on Mesopotamia and the Bible., August 1, 2002

By 

Virgil Brown (White Oak, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mesopotamia and the Bible: Comparative Explorations (Paperback)

_Mesopotamia and the Bible_ is a collection of recent essays on the relationship between the two named subjects. Coeditor Mark Chavalas begins with an essay on the history of Assyriology and biblical studies. The various approaches of scholars has ranged from Malul who took an "inventorial" approach to comparisons... to G Rawlinson who felt that Assyriology had become "uncom-
fortably close to the Holy Text" (page 27)... to Delitsch who argued that ancient Israelite civilization was in fact derived from Babylonia.

Chavalas' essay is followed by two essays on methodology. S Holloway writes of three sometimes overlapping Assyrias: biblical Assyria, classical Assyria, and historical Assyria. Averbeck writes that some of the problems of comparing historiography may be resolved if attention is paid to S Talmon's principle of noting the integral relationship between a text and its society before comparing that text with another text from another society; the two may not have similar uses by their respective societies.

Among the following essays, M Chavalas surveys archaeological digs in Syria and some of the results from them. R Veenker provides an overview of the Old Babylonian period and includes Mari, Syria, Hammurabi's Babylon, and the advent of the Kassites. And perhaps the most thought-provoking essay is D Fleming's wherein he finds a *cultural link* between ancient Israel and Emar by comparing biblical religious practice with the zukru ritual of Emar.

W Pitard points out some of the similarities and differences between biblical Israel and Ugarit/the Ugarit texts. In particular Pitard argues that the comparisons between concepts of life and death at Ugarit and Israel have been overrated. Pitard points out that one really would not expect a custom to remain the same over a thousand miles or a thousand years ... or even less, of course.

W Schniedewind writes that the Arameans were not an ethnic group but a social class from the same geographic region. This he derives from the earliest texts which mention Aram. It is a locale and the people who inhabited it were Arameans. They were diverse peoples from across the Euphrates who had pastoral nomadism as a cultural bond. One is quickly reminded of Deut 26.5.

Coeditor L Younger continues his studies of Assyria and the fall of Samaria. This essay includes information on the rations apportioned to Samarian deportees by the Assyrians.

Most of the essays in this volume are very informative. The essays are written by leading scholars and usually the topic is one upon which they have spent a great deal of study. However the reader would be well advised to know that more than one essay is poorly written. Though the writers are experts in their fields, they write by shifting through lateral thoughts with no central thesis in focus.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A layman's view of Mesopotamia and the Bible, July 6, 2009

By 

J. Ragir "layman" (Chicago IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mesopotamia and the Bible: Comparative Explorations (Paperback)

As a layman who turns to scholars for the facts, this is pretty good. Clearly, The authors are scholars writing for scholars first then the general public. I got the book for Wayne Pitard's essay comparing the Tablets of Ugarit and the Bible. He gives some very important facts, such as the high God in Ugarit has the same name as one of the names of God in the Bible, el elyon. His scholarly caution keeps him from drawing too many conclusions. The other essays give some more useful facts. As a layman I wanted more sense of the direction of their thinking; one more level of digestion of the facts we have so far. But scholarly caution is crucial and they can't write for everybody. Better caution than wild speculation.