The Inscriptions of Assurnasirpal II and His Son

The existence of written records at a site is viewed with great joy because texts impart information that cannot be gleaned from other material remains. When no such texts are found, the archaeologists and other associated scholars must work that much harder to understand what happened at the site. One way this is done is by analyzing the remains of the site in light of other contemporary information, as has been done for Hasanlu in this issue. Contemporary sites of Assyria have produced historical texts recounting the activities of the Assryian kings that not only shed light on the period in general but on the area of Hasanlu in particular. It is only with an understanding of the nature of these texts and their inherent problems that they can be useful for this purpose

Through Assyria\u27s Eyes: Israel\u27s Relationship with Judah

The goal of the Bible was not to record history, and the text does not shy away from theological explanations for events. Given this problematic relationship between sacred interpretation and historical accuracy, historians welcomed the discovery of ancient Assyrian cuneiform documents that refer to people and places mentioned in the Bible. Discovered in the 19th century, these historical records are now being used by scholars to corroborate and augment the biblical text, especially the Bible’s “historical books” of Kings. This field for comparison complements the recent trend among biblical scholars of using new interpretative methodologies and archaeology to question some of the Bible’s historical claims

Nippur Bibliography

The Nippur Bibliography which follows is divided into two parts. The first part, Text Publications and Interpretations, includes all primary publications of Nippur tablets and all studies that make significant use of tablets from Nippur. The secondary studies are included in order to highlight the contribution of the Nippur tablets to the reconstruction and interpretation of ancient Near Eastern literature, history, mythology, economy, law, and lexicography. The second part of the bibliography, Excavation Reports and Secondary Archaeological Publications, includes all publications relating to the Nippur excavations, as well as studies of major archaeological finds. At the end of the section is a list of the Nippur field seasons, 1889-1990

Turbulence transmission in parallel modified shocks using ray tracing

We apply a semi-classical approach of handling waves as quasiparticle gas in a slowly varying flow -- analogous to ray tracing -- to calculate the Alfven wave transmission parameters, the resulting cross-helicity of the waves and the scattering-centre compression ratio, for cases where the shock thickness is large enough for the turbulent waves in the plasma to see the transition of the background flow parameters as smooth and slowly varying. For nonrelativistic shocks the wave transmission produces similar effects on the downstream turbulence and the scattering-centre compression ratio as does the transmission through a step shock: the downstream Alfven waves propagate predominantly towards the shock in the local plasma frame and, thus, the scattering-centre compression ratio is larger than the gas compression ratio. For thick relativistic shocks, however, we find qualitative differences with respect to the step-shock case: for low-Alfvenic-Mach-number shocks the downstream waves propagate predominantly away from the shock, and the scattering-centre compression ratio is lower than that of the gas. Thus, when taken into account, the Alfven wave transmission can decrease the efficiency of the first-order Fermi acceleration in a thick relativistic shock.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, accepted to A&

Mothers of Promise: Women in the Book of Genesis

The women in Genesis played a vital part in shaping Israel\u27s foundation, growth, and development, but most exegetes have not given the women adequate attention--until now. Through a fresh, close reading, respected Hebrew scholar Tammi Schneider examines the roles and functions of these women who, with the men, form the basis for the future of Israel. Schneider looks at each woman\u27s story from various angles and within the context of her relationships and the message of Genesis as a whole. Allowing the details of the text to challenge traditional readings, Schneider also includes ancient Near Eastern background material and archaeological insights for a fresh reading of familiar stories. Sections cover the matriarchs (from Sarah to Rachel), mothers of potential heirs (including those who threaten the promise), mothers before the promise, and women who do not bear children but still play a role. Women not often discussed, such as the wives of Lamech and Esau, are included. The result is a creative and reliable discussion to supplement studies of Genesis and the roles and importance of women in the Bible.https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_facbooks/1009/thumbnail.jp

Sarah: Mother of Nations

Sarah, the wife of Abraham and the mother of Isaac in Genesis, is a central biblical character because of her role in the establishment of the people later called Israel. In recent years the image of Sarah has not fared well in scholarship, where she is depicted as petty, indulgent, and self-absorbed, and as the oppressor of Hagar. This study examines Sarah and her role in Genesis to understand how women function in the biblical text, how the biblical writers constructed women\u27s roles, and how this affects a modern reading of the Hebrew Bible.Tammi J. Schneider is Associate Professor of Religion at Claremont Graduate University. She also co-directs the renewed excavations at Tel el-Far\u27ah (South) in Israel. She is the project director at the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity and serves on the Board of Trustees for the American Schools of Oriental Research. She recently published Judges in the Berit Olam series and is the editor for the Ancient Near East section of Religious Studies Review.https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_facbooks/1010/thumbnail.jp

Judges

The biblical book of Judges contains culturally familiar stories such as that of Samson and Delilah and Deborah and Baraq. But despite the popularity of these stories, other important stories in Judges such as that of Achsah, the raped pilegesh, and the final civil war are virtually unknown to the average reader. Approaching Judges as a unified literary document, Tammi Schneider shows that the unity of the narrative reveals that when the Israelites adhere to the covenant established with their deity they prosper, but when they stray from it disaster follows. This is true not only in the Deuteronomistic refrains, as is recognized by many scholars, but in the whole book, and is reflected in Israel\u27s worsening situation throughout its narrative time. Schneider also highlights the unifying themes in Judges. She emphasizes the role of gender, family relations, and theology expressed in the biblical narrative, and uses intertextuality to better understand the text of Judges and its context in the Deuteronomistic history and the Hebrew Bible.https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_facbooks/1011/thumbnail.jp