Promise Giving And Treaty Making

This book challenges the current view of the Homeric epics, according to which they reflect only the institutions and ideas of their own time, telling us nothing about the Mycenaean Age preceding it. Using a comparative analysis of evidence from the Near East and the Homeric corpus, Peter Karavites comes to the bold conclusion that the epics actually contain much that harks back to the Mycenaean Age, and that the two eras may not be completely discontinuous after all. Most contemporary scholars maintain that the mighty Mycenaean period was almost completely separated from the Dark Ages and that virtually no evidence of the former remains, with the exception of the archeological finds and the meager testimony of the Linear B tablets. However, the Near Eastern evidence about treaties and other forms of promising suggests that the Iliad and Odyssey may indeed provide historical pictures of the Mycenaean times featured in their narratives.

This book challenges the current view of the Homeric epics that they reflect only the institutions and ideas of the Dark Ages, during which they were composed, telling us nothing about the Mycenaean Age preceding it. Comparing evidence from the Near East with the Homeric corpus, Peter Karavites argues that the epics actually contain much that harks back to the Mycenaean Age, and that the two eras may not be completely discontinuous after all. Most contemporary scholars maintain that the mighty Mycenaean period was almost completely separated from the Dark Ages and that virtually no evidence of the former remains, with the exception of the archeological finds and the meager testimony of the Linear B tablets. However, the Near Eastern evidence about treaties and other forms of promising suggests that the Iliad and Odyssey may indeed provide historical pictures of the Mycenaean times featured in their narratives.

While many studies explore the literary role of the oath in general literature, none have contended with the role of the oath in the biblical narratives. This study seeks to fill that vacuum. This study demonstrates that by perceiving the oath as a literary device for plot and character development, additional or more precise meanings may be revealed in the biblical stories.

This book focuses on oath-making narratives in the Iliad, through which it articulates a theory of ritualized violence.

In recent years there has been a flourishing body of work on the Law of Treaties, crucial for all fields within international law. However, scholarship on modern treaty law falls into two distinct strands which have not previously been effectively synthesized. One concerns the investigation of concepts which are fundamental to or inherent in the law of treaties generally - such as consent, object and purpose, breach of obligation and provisional application - while the other focuses upon the application of treaties and of treaty law in particular substantive (e.g. human rights, international humanitarian law, investment protection, environmental regulation) or institutional contexts (including the Security Council, the World Health Organization, the International Labour Organization and the World Trade Organization). This volume represents the culmination of a series of collaborative explorations by leading experts into the operation, development and effectiveness of the modern law of treaties, as viewed through these contrasting perspectives.

While the canonical scriptures were produced over many centuries and represent a diverse library of texts, they are unified by stories of divine covenants and their implications for God's people. In this book, Scott Hahn shows how covenant, as an overarching theme, makes possible a coherent reading of the diverse traditions found within the canonical scriptures. Biblical covenants, though varied in form and content, all serve the purpose of extending sacred bonds of kinship, Hahn explains. Specifically, divine covenants form and shape a father-son bond between God and the chosen people. Biblical narratives turn on that fact, and biblical theology depends upon it. The author demonstrates how divine sonship represents a covenant relationship with God that has been consistent throughout salvation history. --From publisher's description.

Over the last sixty years scholars have increasingly become aware of links connecting early Greek poetry with the literatures of the ancient Near East. Martin West's new book far surpasses previous studies in comprehensiveness, demonstrating these links with massive and detailed documentation and showing they are much more fundamental and pervasive than has hitherto been acknowledged. - ;Ever since Neolithic times Greek lands lay open to cultural imports from western Asia: agriculture, metal-working, writing, religious institutions, artistic fashions, musical instruments, and much more. Over the last sixty years scholars have increasingly become aware of links connecting early Greek poetry with the literatures of Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Canaan, and Israel. Martin West's new book far surpasses previous studies in comprehensiveness, demonstrating these links with massive and detailed documentation and showing that they are much more fundamental and pervasive than has hitherto been acknowledged. His survey embraces Hesiod, the Homeric epics, the lyric poets, and Aeschylus, and concludes with an illuminating discussion of possible avenues of transmission between the orient and Greece. He believes that an age has dawned in which Hellenists will no more be able to ignore Near Eastern literature than Latinists can ignore Greek. -