
The Religions of Ancient Israel
A Synthesis of Parallactic Approaches
Ziony Zevit(Author)
Frances Pinter Publishers Ltd
Published on 1. June 2003
Book
Paperback/Softback
848 pages
978-0-8264-6339-5 (ISBN)
Description
The author draws on textual readings, archaeological and historical data, and epigraphy to determine what may be known about the Israelite religions during the Iron Age (1200 - 586 BCE). The evidence is synthesized within the structure of an Israelite worldview and ethos involving kin, tribes, land, traditional ways and places of worship, and a national deity. Professor Zevit originated this interpretive matrix through insights, ideas and models developed in the academic study of religion and history within the context of the humanities. He is original, for instance, in his conclusions about the pre-canonical history of many psalms, the two-stage history of Israelite altars, and the unrecognised religious significance of some Hebrew inscriptions and archaeological sites. Throughout the book, the author has set a precedent which should encourage dialogue and co-operative study between ancient historians and archaeologists, but particularly between Iron Age archaeologists and biblical scholars.
The work challenges many conclusions of previous scholarship about the nature of Israelite religion, even as it presents scholars with new data, new interpretations of old data, and suggestions for new questions for research.
The work challenges many conclusions of previous scholarship about the nature of Israelite religion, even as it presents scholars with new data, new interpretations of old data, and suggestions for new questions for research.
Reviews / Votes
'... the most ambitious, the most sophisticated, the most important study of ancient Israelite religions ever undertaken.' Professor William G. Dever, University of Arizona; '... thorough, up-to-date.... No comparable work is as methodologically sophisticated... clearly written, rich with illustration and example.' Professor Bill Propp, University of California at San Diego; 'Zevit's work is learned and suggestive, often brilliant, in its relation both to humanistic studies in general and to detailed phenomena and texts in particular.' The Times Literary Supplement; 'This book is a formidable tour de force, a magnum opus.' Journal of Hebrew ScripturesMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 246 mm
Width: 189 mm
Thickness: 45 mm
Weight
1598 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8264-6339-5 (9780826463395)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Ziony Zevit is Distinguished Professor of Bible Northwest Semitic Languages at the American Jewish University, USA. He has published numerous works including Solving Riddles and the Anterior Construction in Classical Hebrew. The editor of Hebrew Studies, he is also on the editorial board of The Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research.
Content
1. Surveying Paths: An Essay about Humanities, Religion, History, and Israelite Religions; 2. Of Cult Places and of Israelites; 3. Architecture Parlante: Israelite Cult Places; 4. Tangible Belief: The Material and Textual Aspects of Cultic Artefacts; 5. Writ on Rock - Script on Stone; 6. Israelite Religions in Israelian and Judahite Historiography and Historiosophy; 7. Israelite Mantic Religions in Literary, Social, and Historical Contexts; 8. Visions of a Foreign Land: Israelite Religions through Enemy Eyes; 9. The Names of Israelite Gods; 10. Israelite Religions: A Parallactic Synthesis; Appendix: Khirbet Beit Lei: The Main Inscriptions