The Use Of Numbers And Quantifications In The Assyrian Royal Inscriptions

The numbers in the Assyrian royal inscriptions are wildly exaggerated." Such sweeping generalizations, common in the past, can no longer be accepted uncritically, since this work for the first time makes a detailed analysis of the nature of the numbers (and other quantifications) used in the Assyrian royal inscriptions, taking account not only of their relationship to the context of the inscription, but also of the overall purpose of the inscriptions themselves. Based primarily on the "annals" of the Assyrian kings, this study shows how the numbers can vary in different editions of the same text and explores the possible reasons behind these variations, pointing out the various devices (both literary and mathematical) that were used to manipulate the numbers and suggesting some of the reasons behind the manipulations. The study also points out the different categories of objects or activities that were subject to quantification, explaining how these quantifications were used to reinforce the purpose of the inscriptions. The discussion includes numerous tables and appendices and concludes with an index to the numerical quantifications in the royal inscriptions.

Israel: Ancient Kingdom or Late Invention? is a collection of essays responding to the radical claims that Israel and its history actually began following the Babylonian exile, and that the history of Israel we read about in the Bible is a fictionalized account. Contributors are leading Bible and archaeology scholars who bring extra-biblical evidence to bear for the historicity of the Old Testament and provide case studies of new work being done in the field of archaeology and Old Testament studies.

What are archaeologists and biblical scholars saying about Jerusalem? This volume includes the most up-to-date cross-disciplinary assessment of Biblical Jerusalem (ca. 2000-586 B.C.E.) that represents the views of biblical historians, archaeologists, Assyriologists, and Egyptologists. The archaeological articles both summarize and critique previous theories as well as present previously unpublished archaeological data regarding the highly contested interpretations of First Temple Period Jerusalem. The interpretative essays ask the question, "Can there be any dialogue between archaeologists and biblical scholars in the absence of consensus?" The essays give a clear "yes" to this question, and provide suggestions for how archaeology and biblical studies can and should be in conversation. This book will appeal to advanced scholars, nonspecialists in biblical studies, and lay audiences who are interested in the most recent theories on Jerusalem. The volume will be especially useful as a supplemental textbook for graduate and undergraduate courses on biblical history.

What makes one crime more serious than another, and why? This book investigates the problem of "seriousness of offence" in English law from the comparative perspective of biblical law. Burnside takes a semiotic approach to show how biblical conceptions of seriousness are synthesised and communicated through various descriptive and performative registers. Seven case studies show that biblical law discriminates between the seriousness of different offences and between the relative seriousness of the same offence when committed by different people or when performed in different ways. Recurring elements include location and the offender's social statue. The closing chapter considers some of the implications for the current debate about crime and punishment.

William G. Dever is recognized as the doyen of North American archaeologist-historians who work in the field of the ancient Levant. He is best known as the director of excavations at the site of Gezer but has worked at numerous other sites, and his many students have led dozens of other expeditions. He has been editor of the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, was for many years professor in the influential archaeology program at the University of Arizona, and now in retirement continues actively to write and publish. In this volume, 46 of his colleagues and students contribute essays in his honor, reflecting the broad scope of his interests, particularly in terms of the historical implications of archaeology.

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 a useful reference for all students interested in Assyrian historiography and the history of Assyria and Syria-Palestine. It includes an appendix on a new edition of the Kurkh Monolith, based on the author’s collation.

Despite considerable scholarly efforts for many years, the last two decades of the Kingdom of Israel are still beneath the veil of history. What was the status of the Kingdom after its annexation by Assyria in 732 BCE? Who conquered Samaria, the capital of the Kingdom? When did it happen? One of the primary reasons for this situation lies in the discrepancies found in the historical sources, namely the Hebrew Bible and the Assyrian texts. Since biblical studies and Assyriology are two distinct disciplines, the gaps in the sources are not easy to bridge. Moreover, recent great progress in the archaeological research in the Southern Levant provides now crucial new data, independent of these textual sources. This volume, a collection of papers by leading scholars from different fields of research, aims to bring together, for the first time, all the available data and to discuss these conundrums from various perspectives in order to reach a better and deeper understanding of this crucial period, which possibly triggered in the following decades the birth of "new Israel" in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, and eventually led to the formation of the Hebrew Bible and its underlying theology.

Dr. Gallagher brings together both Biblical and Assyrian sources on Sennacherib's 710 campaign against Judah, Philistia and Phoenicia. Part of the Assyrian materials are new, which enables the author not only to give valuable and fresh insights into the event itself, but also to offer new, carefully supported interpretations of the relevant Isaiah oracles, and of both the Assyrian, and Biblical narratives of Sennacherib's campaign.