Books in the Ancient Near East: Classic Studies series

The remains of ancient societies often require decades to unearth, but much longer to interpret and understand. The methods of archaeology have progressed dramatically in recent years. Archaeologists have continuously refined their tools, methods, and techniques. Today archaeology is characterized by pottery identification, classification, and cataloging; disciplined excavation of squares; use of sophisticated electronics, such as GPS, infrared, and computer-aided design; and the integration of multiple methodologies, such as epigraphy, art history, physical anthropology, paleobotany, and climatology. The interpretation of ancient Near Eastern history and cultures has also progressed. An increasing number of documents has been unearthed. The vast document collections from Tel el-Amarna, Nippur, Mari, Nuzi, Ebla, Ugarit, and the Dead Sea caves are just some of the more spectacular examples. These provide an enormous amount of detail about royal administrations, business transactions, land tenure systems, taxes, political propaganda, mythologies, marriage practices, and much more. And things that sometimes seem unique about one culture at first look often fit into larger patterns of relationship when the surrounding cultures are better understood.> K. C. HANSON Series Editor

Many scholars during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries argued that ancient Israel simply borrowed most of its culture and religion from Babylonia. In this volume Clay counters that West Semitic cultures (the Amorites) were already a developed civilization before Israel came under Babylonian influence. Writing a decade before the discoveries of Ugarit and Mari, Clay noted that there were numerous clues to West Semitic cultures. While some of his arguments and conclusion are no longer tenable, this work retains its interest for its place in the discussion. Without directly referring to Clay, George Mendenhall affirms Clays fundamental point in this volume: from the MB Age on there was no region of the Levant that had not been influenced by the Amorite language and culture in various ways and various degrees. Their cultural and linguistic influence was a lasting one that is gradually coming to light, especially in the areas of religion and law (The Amorites, in 'Anchor Bible Dictionary').

""In addition to the discussion of the cuneiform inscriptions in these lectures, which bear more particularly upon the Old Testament, several chapters have been included on life in ancient Babylonia. Besides facts published by others, these chapters include a presentation of certain discussions of general interest which I have published in a more technical form in the series: 'The Babylonian Expedition of the University of Pennsylvania.' These chapters, however, also contain much material that appears for the first time. -- from the PrefaceAlbert T. Clay (1866-1925) was the William M. Laffan Professor of Assyriology and Babylonian Literature at Yale University. Among his other publications are 'Babylonian Epics, Hymns, Omens, and Other Texts'; 'The Empire of the Amorites'; Neo-Babylonian Letters from Erech'; and 'The Origin of Biblical Traditions.'

The following work was written to give in a permanent form some account of the excavations undertaken in 1873 and 1874 on the site of Nineveh; and the principal discoveries which have resulted from these operations. The honour of having started this enterprise belongs to the proprietors of the 'Daily Telegraph' newspaper, and at the close of the first expedition they presented the firman and excavating plant to the trustees of the British Museum to facilitate the renewal of the work. The second expedition was only to take advantage of the remainder of the time allowed by the firman, and I was directed to close the excavations within the period allowed by the concession of the Porte. --from the Preface

During the last hundred years scholarship has revealed the existence of two other eastern literatures which are not only as old as that of the Hebrews but very much older, namely those of Egypt and Babylonia. . . . Although much of Babylonian literature is know to us mainly from the Assyrian versions found in Assurbanipal's library, recent discoveries have shown that many of its best epic and lyric productions go back at least two thousand years further, and have their roots in the Sumerian civilization. In Egypt, too, religious literature is found in a highly developed state as early as the Pyramid Texts, which, in the form in which we have them, are as old as 2500 B.C., and possibly go back in part to much earlier originals. These discoveries make it no longer possible to regard the literature of the Hebrews as an isolated phenomenon in the ancient East, and they furnish a host of new criteria which must be applied to any attempt to explain and to appraise the Old Testament. --from the Preface