In numerous ambitious expeditions Shalmaneser III of Assyria (859-824) lay the foundation of the subsequent remarkable military advance to the West of the Neo-Assyrian empire. While systematically scrutinizing and analyzing all accounts of these western campaigns, Shigeo Yamada not only discusses the historiographical problems encountered, together with their impact on the jigsaw of ninth century Ancient Near East history, but also offers new results, and an original historical reconstruction. Ample attention is given to the campaigns' economic and ideological aspects. The book will serve as...

Over the decades, Anatolian metal artifacts have been the focus of extensive scientific analysis. Now fifteen years of field work, current surveys, excavations, and analytical programs regarding transformations in metallurgy in this highly metalliferous region have enabled Aslıhan Yener in Domestication of Metals to focus for the first time on the organization of production within a broader social context. In so doing, the author introduces convincing evidence for a revision of existing models concerning the metal industry. The volume locates a core of technological...

Creditors have always sought the protection of the law to secure themselves against loss if the debtor cannot or will not pay the debt. This volume examines the legal instruments of security available to creditors in the earliest known legal systems, their use and abuse, and the ways in which the law sought to satisfy the differing interests of creditors, debtors, and society in general, with varying degrees of success.
The book covers all the major legal systems of the ancient Near East, from Sumer to Ptolemaic Egypt, as well as comparative historical developments up to the present day....

Steven Holloway's work is the first monograph devoted to Neo-Assyrian religious imperialism. Neo-Assyrian religious imperialism was expressed by punitive measures such as "godnapping," the violent deportation of a vanquished foe's divine images, but also, and this is a far less-studied facet of this topic, by the geographical focus and extent of the material support the Assyrians lavished on favored polities, in effect a Marshall Plan aimed at winning over the elite citizenry pivotal to maintaining economic and political equilibrium.

This volume presents a functional and typological study of the Iron Age artefacts recovered during six years of excavation at the site of Tall Jawa, in central Jordan.
The introduction presents information on the recording and classification system used to identify artefact types. The main chapter presents each category of artefact with examples of the most representative items, and their parallels from sites in Israel and Syria. Examples include jewellery, figurines, weapons, food processing tools, and tools used in a variety of crafts and industries. A CD-ROM is included, containing the...

A Journey to Palmyra originates from the desire to remember Delbert R. Hillers, who greatly contributed with his work to Palmyrene studies. However, it is not meant just as a memorial volume, but as a research tool. It contains thirteen papers by scholars in the field of Palmyrene studies and Semitics focusing on different aspects of Palmyrene history, social history, art, archaeology and philology, with publication of newly discovered inscriptions. It offers a state-of-the-art discussion on several issues pertaining to the field of Palmyrene studies, and illustrates methodologies to...

This book is about nothing less than Genesis 1, or human creation. Humanity, the author convincingly argues, is created within the Priestly tradition as a replacement of God's divine community; human creation marks the decisive moment that P's God separates himself from other gods and institutes monotheism.
After discussing the references of God's self-inclusive yet plural first person speech and examining the ramifications of this speech pattern in other biblical texts, Randall Garr discusses the divine-human relationship as it is represented by carefully analysing the prepositions and...

This volume constitutes the final report on the excavations at the royal necropolis of the city of Mendes, which occupied 5 summer seasons from 1991 to 1995. The burial of king Neferites I, founder of Dynasty 29 (399-393 B.C.) is described along with other burials, the city walls, the shrine of the fish-goddess and sundry inscriptions. The pottery recovered is treated in extenso, and sheds a flood of light on Mendes' trade relations in the 5th-4th Cent. B.C. with Phoenicia and the Greek islands.
Of particular interest is the startling new discovery of a massive destruction layer which can...

The book presents the results of a complete and detailed archaeological survey in the area of ancient Shechem and Samaria. This survey is being conducted since 1978, and it relates to some 400 square kilometers of the heartland of the central hill country of Israel/Palestine. It is a detailed and thorough archaeological and historical work, which deals with the most important area for Biblical and other researches. This territory and its survey is a most valuable tool for every scholar involved in Bible, Theology, Ancient Near Eastern history and other schools concerned.

This volume examines various aspects of the narrative, legal, prophetic, and wisdom genres of Biblical literature, with a major emphasis on elucidating the text with the aid of Sumerian, Akkadian, and Ugaritic source material.