Athtart

In this book, Aren M. Wilson-Wright proposes a new model for studying gods in the Ancient Near East. He then illustrates the utility of this model by applying it to a detailed study of the goddess Athtart at three Late Bronze Age sites: Egypt, Emar, and Ugarit. -back of book

Mighty Baal offers a fresh portrait of the ancient Near Eastern god Baal. Its eleven essays are written in honor of Mark S. Smith, who has been the leading historian of Baal over the last four decades.

A wide-ranging study of women in ancient Israelite religion. Susan Ackerman has spent her scholarly career researching underexamined aspects of the world of the Hebrew Bible—particularly those aspects pertaining to women. In this collection drawn from three decades of her work, she describes in fascinating detail the worship of goddesses in ancient Israel, the roles women played as priests and prophets, the cultic significance of queen mothers, and the Hebrew Bible’s accounts of women’s religious lives. Specific topics include: the “Queen of Heaven,” a goddess whose worship was the object of censure in the book of Jeremiah Asherah, the great Canaanite mother goddess for whom Judean women were described as weaving in the books of Kings biblical figures considered as religious functionaries, such as Miriam, Deborah, and Zipporah the lack of women priests in ancient Israel explored against the prevalence of priestesses in the larger ancient Near Eastern world the cultic significance of queen mothers in Israel and throughout the ancient Near East Israelite women’s participation in the cult of Yahweh and in the cults of various goddesses

The issue of how to represent God is a concern both ancient and contemporary. In this wide-ranging and authoritative study, renowned biblical scholar Mark Smith investigates the symbols, meanings, and narratives in the Hebrew Bible, Ugaritic texts, and ancient iconography, which attempt to describe deities in relation to humans. Smith uses a novel approach to show how the Bible depicts God in human and animal forms—and sometimes both together. Mediating between the ancients’ theories and the work of modern thinkers, Smith’s boldly original work uncovers the foundational understandings of deities and space.

One of the leading scholars of ancient West Semitic religion discusses polytheism vs. monotheism by covering the fluidity of those categories in the ancient Near East. He argues that Israel's social history is key to the development of monotheism.

This volume provides a lengthy introduction and detailed translation and commentary for the first two tablets of the Baal Cycle, which witnesses to both the religious worldview of Ugarit and many of the formative religious concepts and images in the Bible.

Revised edition. Volume 1 of 5. The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible has been a classic Bible study resource for more than thirty years. Now thoroughly revised, this new five-volume edition provides up-to-date entries based on the latest scholarship. Beautiful full-color pictures supplement the text, which includes many new articles in addition to thorough updates and improvements of existing topics. Different viewpoints of scholarship permit a well-rounded perspective on significant issues relating to doctrines, themes, and biblical interpretation. The goal remains the same: to provide pastors, teachers, students, and devoted Bible readers with a comprehensive and reliable library of information.• More than 5,000 pages of vital information on Bible lands and people• More than 7,500 articles alphabetically arranged for easy reference• Hundreds of colorful maps, illustrations, charts, and graphs• Scholarly articles ranging across the entire spectrum of theological and biblical topics, backed by the most current body of archaeological research• Over 250 contributors from around the world• Introductions to each book of the Bible• Bibliographies and helpful cross-references