Product Description
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 be employed in order to increase our knowledge of the complex and multifaceted culture of ancient Palmyra and of neighbouring areas.

Readership: Scholars and students - undergraduates and graduates - in the field of Semitics, Classics, Ancient History, Archaeology and Art, Biblical Studies, and all those interested in the history of ancient Palmyra. ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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The town of Mari is situated on the Euphrates near the eastern Syrian border. This study compares the old Babylonian texts from Mari with the Hebrew scriptures, and the early history of Israel. It is organized into three chapters, dealing with Mari and the West, prophecy, and customs and society. In view of the West Semitic or Amorite character of both Mari and the Bible, this comparison could be called imperative. In 22 chapters of essays, this study considers: Mari and the West, dealing with Mari documents pertaining to Syria and Palestine, as well as the Mediterranean region; prophecy, examining Mari prophetical texts, particularly those recently published as compared to Biblical prophecy; and customs and society, also including topics such as female royal correspondence, the royal harem, the epithet "Great King", and king-lists involving the cult of the dead. ... Read more

Product Description
The Nusayris - also known as Alawis - have been in power in Syria for the last three decades of the 20th century. Little is known of their origins or their long history, while their religious creeds and thought are somewhat better known. The main reason for our fragmentary knowledge of the Nusayri religion is that, since its beginnings, it has always been the secret faith of a self-conscious elite that zealously guarded its sectarian literature. The Nusayri-Alawis faith is a clear example of a syncretistic religion. It combines and fuses elements of cults and creeds of very disparate, and remote, origins. Among these are various pagan beliefs (residues of ancient Mesopotamian and Syrian cults), as well as Persian, Christian, Gnostic and Muslim - both Sunni and Shi'i - religious precepts and practices. All these components have been brought together in a syncretistic religious system that has assumed a heterodox Shi'i garb. This volume presents a mosaic of fundamental aspects of Nusayri theology and liturgy. It demonstrates the complexity of Nusayri theology and the diversity of religious thought within the Nusayri fold. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

great, but i wanted more.
great book, very detailed, i was hoping for more though. I felt the concentration on just the 2 documents was a let down. very fair and scientific piece of work quite impressed. very good start.......

comprehensive work.
im very impressed with the authors for their excellent work in bringing this complex religion to the attention of those who are deep in search for something thats not quite judaism, christian or islam but rather an overall account of what might have been the case in the history of monotheist religion. there are a few discrepencies with respect to some true alawite beliefs, names and dates,but clearly the most accurate of all alawite searches. this book is well worth its price and ofcourse the contents are priceless, great thanks to the authors, job well done. ... Read more

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The empire created by Alexander the Great's general, Seleucus, constituted the largest Hellenistic kingdom of the successor states: yet this is the first substantial treatment of Seleucid history to appear for fifty years. The authors approach this important and successful state from new perspectives, seeing it as part of the Middle Eastern world rather than solely in Greco-Roman terms, and arguing that the Seleucid state is best understood as heir to the great Achaemenid Persian empire and earlier Middle Eastern states.They investigate the economies, social structures, political systems, and cultures of the many peoples making up the empire, and analyze, in the context of colonialism and imperialism, such evidence as exists for cultural changes, including Hellenization.The book makes accessible the great variety of new and important documents that have been recently discovered. It will be welcomed by students, teachers, and all readers with an interest in Hellenistic and Middle Eastern history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Major Contribution to the Study of the Seleucid Empire
This treatise on the Seleucid empire along with other works by the authors are the only major studies done on this subject in over 50 years.Despite its poor editing, this book brings together more recent discoveries and theories as to the formation, administration, expansion, and cultural impact of the Seleucid empire in the Middle East, India, and Central Asia.

Out of the three dynasties that inherited Alexander The Great's vast empire, the Seleucid Empire has been studied the least and brushed off as a sickly empire that was doomed to collapse from its inception despite being the largest and richest of those three. The reason for this conclusion wasn't based so much on historical evidence but the lack of it.Susan Sherwin-White and Amelie Kurt present their own alternative theories about the evolution of the Seleucid empire in an attempt to dispel such misconceptions.They argue that the empire was not one of colonial dominance and segregation but rather one of integration and tolerance as originally envisioned by Alexander The Great.They argue that the vastness of the empire and the diversity of cultures simply made it impossible for the Greeks to hold it for over 200 years by policies of force, colonization and segregation.They support these theories by referring to direct classical sources, later classical texts, and archeological information.

This book is a major contribution to the study of the Seleucids as previous scholars such as Tarn simply didn't have the knowledge of the major archeological finds that were uncovered after he published his works in the mid-twentieth century.The downside of this book is its horrible editing: it is not reader friendly even for a doctoral format.My reason for the 4 stars is that the passages have too many run-on sentences interrupted with tangential quoted comments that simply distract the reader instead of clarifying anything: it would make no difference if the reader were an expert in the field or not, the book is simply plagued with poor composition and paragraph arrangements.The book's prose is pitifully inferior to the works of the authors' fellow scholars such as Peter Green and Erich Gruen.In addition to the need for propagating its groundbreaking contributions in the knowledge of this area, this book is in desperate need of a second edition to review its syntax and arrangement.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is seriously in need of important and recent information on the Seleucid empire.Other sources like Tarn are simply too old and limited in their source materials to provide a thorough analysis of this neglected subject.The book is extremely hard to find, trust me, as I had to inquire for over a year with almost every vendor in the world only to find that none of them had it available.Amazon, and Alibris seem to be the ones that are most likely to have a copy available from time to time.If you want to get this work, I recommend you get it as soon as it becomes available because there are few copies out there.It's possible that another edition is on the way but that may be long in the future if ever at all.As a last note, the book is not suited for the casual reader as its jacket claims; one would at least need to have a thorough background on Alexander The Great if not Persian and Greek history.The book is also expensive at $100-$150 and not really in the price range of someone who only has a limited interest in the subject.A very good book to go with this one is A. K. Narain's 'Coin Types of the Indo-Greek Kings" that focuses on the Seleucid kingdoms of the Indus valley and Bactria: its several studies focus primarily on numismatic evidence along with archeological and literary sources.The works and theories of the authors as to the development and administration of the Seleucid kingdoms complement each other and therefore make a great pair of books to own.

... Read more

Product Description
The tablets from Emar, a relatively recently discovered city in ancient Syria, reveal much about the religious and social life of second-millennium Syria, as well as further insights into the history of an age in which the Hittites, the Hurrians, and the Assyrians vied for control of the middle Euphrates. ... Read more

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Damascus was for centuries a center of learning and commerce. Drawing on the city's dazzling literary tradition-a rich collection of poetry, chronicles, travel accounts, and biographical dictionaries-as well as on Islamic court records, James Grehan explores the material culture of premodern Damascus, reconstructing the economic infrastructure, social customs, and private consumer habits that dominated this cosmopolitan hub in the 1700s. He sketches a lively history of diet, furniture, fashion, and other aspects of daily life, providing an unusual and intimate account of the choices, constraints, and compromises that defined consumer behavior. Coffee, tobacco, and light firearms had arisen as new luxury items in preceding centuries, and Grehan traces the usage of such goods in order to get a picture of the overall standard of living in the premodern Middle East. He looks particularly at how wealth and poverty were defined and how consumption patterns expressed notions of taste, class, and power, illuminating the prominent role played by Damascus in shaping the economy and culture of the Middle East. In assessing the magnitude of social change in modern times, we have few benchmarks from the period preceding the onset of modernity in the nineteenth century. This informative study will make possible more precise cultural and economic comparisons between different parts of the world as it stood on the brink of a radically new economic and political order. The book's focus on a little-examined period and region will appeal to scholars and students of urban social history and Arab popular culture. ... Read more

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Provides a detailed study of the Great Mosque, using textual, visual and archaeological evidence. The work explores the function of religious architecture within an official visual discourse intended to project a distinctive Muslim identity determined by Umayyad political aspirations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Great Mosque of Damascus
Flood's book is THE standard book on this, one of the only remaining examples of Ummayid religious architecture and practically the only intact mosque from the formative years of Islam.The only way it could be improved would be to have a large portfolio of color illustrations of the mosaic decoration, the work of Byzantine artists brought directly form Constantinople. ... Read more

Product Description

At a time when the turmoil and conflict in the Middle East dominates world news, students need to develop an understanding of the people and culture of this region. This five-volume set, part of the Discovering World Cultures series, examines geographical, historical, economic, and cultural issues in 16 Middle Eastern countries. For each nation, information about people groups, natural resources and geography, economy, and religion is included. A section on everyday life considers education, leisure activities, dress, holidays, the arts, and food, including sample recipes. Tables, charts, illustrations, timelines, and fact sheets provide visual references to support the written material.

Volume 1: Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt

Volume 2: Iran, Iraq, Israel

Volume 3: Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman

Volume 4: Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria

Volume 5: Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen

Grades 6-8

Product Description
Thirteen scholars explore possible points of connection between the Bible and its ancient Near Eastern context, illuminating the methodologies, contributions, and limitations of both biblical studies and Assyriology.

Contents include:
"Assyriology and Biblical Studies: A Century of Tension"‹Mark W. Chavalas

"The Quest for Sargon, Pul, and Tiglath-Pileser in the Nineteenth Century"‹Steven W. Holloway

"Sumer, the Bible, and Comparative Method: Historiography and Temple Building"‹Richard E. Averbeck

"Syria and Northern Mesopotamia to the End of the Third Millennium B.C.E."‹Mark W. Chavalas

"Syro-Mesopotamia: The Old Babylonian Period"‹Ronald A. Veenker

"Syria to the Early Second Millennium"‹Victor H. Matthews

"Apprehending Kidnapers by Correspondence at Provincial Arrapha"‹David C. Deuel

"The Bible and Alalakh"‹Richard S. Hess

"Emar: On the Road from Harran to Hebron"‹Daniel E. Fleming

"Voices from the Dust: The Tablets from Ugarit and the Bible"‹Wayne T. Pitard

"The Rise of the Aramean States"‹William Schniedewind

"Recent Study on Sargon II, King of Assyria: Implications for Biblical Studies"‹K. Lawson Younger Jr.

"What Has Nebuchadnezzar to Do with David? On the Neo-Babylonian Period and Early Israel"‹Bill T. Arnold

"The Eastern Jewish Diaspora under the Babylonians"‹Edwin Yamauchi ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A layman's view of Mesopotamia and the Bible
As a layman who turns to scholars for the facts, this is pretty good. Clearly, The authors are scholars writing for scholars first then the general public. I got the book for Wayne Pitard's essay comparing the Tablets of Ugarit and the Bible. He gives some very important facts, such as the high God in Ugarit has the same name as one of the names of God in the Bible, el elyon. His scholarly caution keeps him from drawing too many conclusions. The other essays give some more useful facts. As a layman I wanted more sense of the direction of their thinking; one more level of digestion of the facts we have so far. But scholarly caution is crucial and they can't write for everybody. Better caution than wild speculation.

Some Essays on Mesopotamia and the Bible.
_Mesopotamia and the Bible_ is a collection of recent essays on the relationship between the two named subjects. Coeditor Mark Chavalas begins with an essay on the history of Assyriology and biblical studies. The various approaches of scholars has ranged from Malul who took an "inventorial" approach to comparisons... to G Rawlinson who felt that Assyriology had become "uncom-
fortably close to the Holy Text" (page 27)... to Delitsch who argued that ancient Israelite civilization was in fact derived from Babylonia.

Chavalas' essay is followed by two essays on methodology. S Holloway writes of three sometimes overlapping Assyrias: biblical Assyria, classical Assyria, and historical Assyria. Averbeck writes that some of the problems of comparing historiography may be resolved if attention is paid to S Talmon's principle of noting the integral relationship between a text and its society before comparing that text with another text from another society; the two may not have similar uses by their respective societies.

Among the following essays, M Chavalas surveys archaeological digs in Syria and some of the results from them. R Veenker provides an overview of the Old Babylonian period and includes Mari, Syria, Hammurabi's Babylon, and the advent of the Kassites. And perhaps the most thought-provoking essay is D Fleming's wherein he finds a *cultural link* between ancient Israel and Emar by comparing biblical religious practice with the zukru ritual of Emar.

W Pitard points out some of the similarities and differences between biblical Israel and Ugarit/the Ugarit texts. In particular Pitard argues that the comparisons between concepts of life and death at Ugarit and Israel have been overrated. Pitard points out that one really would not expect a custom to remain the same over a thousand miles or a thousand years ... or even less, of course.

W Schniedewind writes that the Arameans were not an ethnic group but a social class from the same geographic region. This he derives from the earliest texts which mention Aram. It is a locale and the people who inhabited it were Arameans. They were diverse peoples from across the Euphrates who had pastoral nomadism as a cultural bond. One is quickly reminded of Deut 26.5.

Coeditor L Younger continues his studies of Assyria and the fall of Samaria. This essay includes information on the rations apportioned to Samarian deportees by the Assyrians.

Most of the essays in this volume are very informative. The essays are written by leading scholars and usually the topic is one upon which they have spent a great deal of study. However the reader would be well advised to know that more than one essay is poorly written. Though the writers are experts in their fields, they write by shifting through lateral thoughts with no central thesis in focus. ... Read more

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Antisemitism around the world. Antisemitism in Japan, Antisemitism in the United States, History of the Jews in Lebanon, History of the Jews in Syria, Libyan Jews, History of the Jews in South Africa, Jewish exodus from Arab lands, Antisemitism in Canada ... Read more

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The myths of legend and of pure fable are often of great interest to the student and the general reader.So interwoven are the faith and the folklore of a people with its literature and art that an acquaintance with its mythology is necessary to an understanding of its higher expressions of thought and feeling.Such knowledge is highly essential to the teacher.

In this volume are presented the principal American, British, Norse, German, Hindu, Syrian, Egyptian, and Persian myths, with representative selections from the literature relating thereto.

Hubert M. Skinner is also the author of "The Schoolmaster in Literature." ... Read more

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De Dea Syria ("Concerning the Syrian Goddess") is the title of a work, written in a Herodotean-style of Ionic Greek, which has been traditionally ascribed to the Hellenized Syrian essayist Lucian of Samosata. It is a description of the various religious cults practiced at Hierapolis Bambyce, now Manbij, in Syria. Lucian of Samosata (c125AD-c200AD) was an Assyrian rhetorician and satirist who wrote in the Greek language. He was one of the first novelists in occidental civilization and is noted for his witty and scoffing nature. The first printed edition of a selection of his works was issued at Florence in 1499. In A True Story, a fictional narrative work written in prose, he parodied some fantastic tales told by Homer in the Odyssey and some feeble fantasies that were popular in his time. He also wrote a satire called The Passing of Peregrinus which is one of the earliest surviving pagan perceptions of Christianity. His Philopseudes (Greek for "Lover of lies") is a frame story which includes the original version of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". He almost certainly did not write all the more than eighty works attributed to him - declamations, essays both laudatory and sarcastic, and comic dialogues and symposia with a satirical cast. His best known works are A True Story, Dialogues of the Gods and Dialogues of the Dead. ... Read more

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Nawar constitute a minor ethnic group in Syria and around the middle east, also to be found in Israel (Jerusalem), Gaza, and the West Bank. They are a subgroup of the itinerant Dom people. This numerically small, widely dispersed people seems to have migrated to the region from the east in Byzantine times. As in other countries, they tend to keep apart from the rest of the population, which regards them as dishonorable yet clever. The Roma have traditionally provided musical entertainment at weddings and celebrations. The participation of Roma women in such activities is lucrative, yet at the same time it reinforces the group's low status. Roma also appear at festivals to work their trade as fortune-tellers, sorcerers, and animal trainers. In Syria today, one may still encounter Nawar encampments in rural areas. ... Read more

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An introduction to the history and methodology of Syro-Palestinian archaeology. These essays in honor of Joseph A Callaway, one of the fathers of Biblical Archaeology, whose rigorous methodology laid the foundations of a Near Eastern archaeology concerned with more than merely supporting Biblical stories. ... Read more

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"Excerpt from the book..."
The present volume contains an account of the most important additions
which have been made to our knowledge of the ancient history of Egypt
and Western Asia during the few years which have elapsed since the
publication of Prof. Maspero's _Histoire Ancienne des Peuples de
l'Orient Classique
... Read more

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On December 9, 1973, the Congregation of St. Nicholas Orthodox Church celebrated the burning of the mortgage, and the subsequent consecration of the Church. This book is published to commemorate the memorable occasion. ... Read more