May 2018
Vol. 6, No. 5
The Story of Hebrew
By Lewis Glinert
Is Hebrew an ancient language or a modern language? A sacred, literary, or vernacular language? The story of Hebrew’s survival, adaptations and revivals, shows that it is all these and more.
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The Levantine Ceramics Project
By Andrea M. Berlin
Pottery is the most common find on archaeological excavations in the Eastern Mediterranean. But studying pottery is increasingly difficult for specialists and non-specialists alike. A new crowd-sourced website is beginning to remedy the problem.
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Marduk, the Scribes, and the Problem of the Neo-Assyrian King
By Jennifer Finn
All kings depicted themselves as being wise, fair and just. Most weren’t, but in Mesopotamia, discontent with kings is hard to find. But Neo-Assyrian scribes unhappy with the treatment of Babylonia found subtle ways to express their criticism.
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Alchemy Between the Two Rivers?
By Maddalena Rumor
“Alchemy” makes us think of secret experiments with metals and stones heated in ovens, cauldrons and glimmering flasks. Its Mesopotamian origins were more prosaic; dyeing precious metals, stones and wool, but was this also the origin of chemistry?
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Three Israelite Psalms in an Ancient Egyptian Papyrus
By Karel van der Toorn
It is one of the most spectacular discoveries in ancient Near Eastern studies of recent years – an Egyptian papyrus from the mid-fourth century BCE containing three psalms that originated in the Kingdom of Israel before the fall of Samaria (722 BCE).
