Customer Reviews

Readings from the Ancient Near East: Primary Sources for Old Testament Study (Encountering Biblical Studies)

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This book is good for doing research in Ancient Near Eastern relgions and culture. Not much is given in terms of connection with biblical material, but it's not meant to be. It's a collection of very diverse primary sources that put the Tanakh (Old Testament) into its greater context - Ancient Near Eastern culture. I would recommend it for anyone doing research in that area. Its not as bulky, robust, and expensive as some other source collections, but it still offers a nice array of materials for a good price.

My professor required this book as part of most of his Old Testament courses. He gave his own commentary showing how writings from other cultures influenced the authors of the Bible, and how the authors of the Bible answered the other cultures. The book helped shed light on Ancient Near Eastern practices that were common during the days of Abraham to the days of the Kings. For those who want to just read other texts and see how they compare to the Bible, it would be useful to have a commentary showing similar texts in the Bible. If it is required reading for class, it would be advisable to the professor to show the important correlations between the Biblical texts and the ANE texts.

This book is helpful when undertaking an in-depth study of the Old Testament, especially when looking at the historical background of the writings. The photos and descriptions of ancient texts, cities and artifacts also added clarity.

This book is kinda boring, i wish there was some sort of way that the ane texts would have some sort of commentary and if it has some more connection with the bibical writings, a correlation between the two would be more benefical to the biblical reader.

Readings... is a collection of ancient writings derived from the Babylonians, Egyptians, Assyrians, etc. that all tell of the mythological beginnings of the earth, mankind, and ancient history. The entire book contains these writings with some photos/lithOgraphs of their sources. Although it was required reading for my Christian Bible course, I found it totally un-Christian. If you are looking for truth or fact, I do not recommend it. However, if you are interested in what ancient tribes, peoples, fancied and wrote about, then you would find it noteworthy.