A strong Egyptian presence and governance of 13th and 12th centuries B.C. Palestine has since long become clear from both textual and archaeological evidence. How this Egyptianization came about in Ramesside Palestine forms the focus of the present study. Carolyn Higginbotham convincingly attends to internal factors affecting the region's cultural and political development. Two models are carefully considered. The prevailing theory, that Egyptian policy shifted from economic and political domination to military occupation, is contrasted with a new, convincing model, elite emulation, derived...

This collection of papers is primarily concerned with transport by wheeled vehicle in antiquity. They shed much light on the construction of the vehicles, the ways their draught animals were harnessed and controlled, and the uses to which the equipages were put. The evidence discussed includes actual remains of vehicles and bridles, as well as figured and textual documents.
Ridden animals and their gear also feature in this collection of papers.
The Selected Writings of Mary B. Littauer and Joost H. Crouwel are important for all those interested in the cultures of the ancient Near East,...

A conspicuous hiatus in literature on Hittite ritual exists on the transfer and substitution techniques or motifs. This is the first full description and analysis of this ritual, and as such provides the readers with an important contribution to our understanding of Hittite religious practice.
The Hittite substitution ritual is here presented making use of much new textual material. It presents the manuscripts with translations and transcriptions of all duplicate texts, an ample glossary of words, full thematic indices, and commentaries.
The latter shed light on the linguistic and...

To Your Tents, O Israel examines the function, form, and symbolism of ancient tents, specifically in the Hebrew Bible, but also in the greater context of the Ancient Near East. Terminology associated with tents and the blending of terms for domiciles are initially explored. Then, using historical, mythological, archaeological, and anthropological insights, tents are examined in their manifold usage: domiciliary, military, nuptial, and religious. Various parallels and models of the Tabernacle will be assessed, and the Tabernacle's historicity will be examined. The book ends by...

For almost a century scholars have been perplexed by Cypro-Phoenician (or Black-on-Red) pottery. In this major study, Dr. Schreiber's research, coupled with her own work in the field, resolves the pottery's origin and provides a fresh assessment of the chronology of the region. Transporting perfumed oil around the Mediterranean and Near East, the pottery offers valuable clues to Iron Age trade - shipping, cargoes, and trading entrepots. Dr Schreiber investigates the sources of perfumed oil and the relative roles of Cyprus and Phoenicia in trade to the Aegean islands. The book provides...

One of the major - and complicating - characteristics of the antique Middle East is the interconnection between the Semitic and Greco-Roman cultures. The current volume brings together studies which relate to the multi-cultural traditions of papyrus writing, with special attention regarding the linguistic, literary, and cultural features of these, often documentary texts. Originally presented at a conference in honour of the retirement of Professor Baruch A. Levine, Skirball Professor Emeritus of Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies (New York University). Important for students of the...

This volume deals with historical and exegetical problems of the Abraham story in the book of Genesis. The first part describes the results of archaeological investigations at Hebron and Mamre in Southern Palestine including remarks on the status of the province of Judah in the first millennium BCE, especially in the Babylonian and Persian period. The second part presents exegetical comments on Genesis chapter 13 and 18. The concluding part of the volume relates the historical and exegetical aspects. The Abraham story is interpreted as a product of the Judaean people of the Babylonian and...

Subject of this book is the god Dagan (biblical Dagon), the principal deity of the Middle Euphrates region. Lluis Feliu, carefully analysing the sources from Ebla and Mari for the third millennium, from Mari for the Old Babylonian period and from Emar and Ugarit for the Middle Babylonian period, here gives a meticulous diachronic survey of the divine subject. A final chapter summarizes the results in describing the character of Dagan, his origin and his area of influence. Of particular interest to Assyriologists, to biblical scholars and to comparative religionists.

This important contribution to the study of Phrygian religious practice and spatial conceptualizations examines the role of the rock-cut monuments in Iron Age Anatolian and provides the reader with new aspects and theories of Phrygian cult and the Mother goddess Kybele.

This volume provides new insights on ancient Near Eastern conceptions of dreams, focusing on the Anatolian (Hittite) material.