An examination of the Song of the Sea (Exodus 15) and allusions to it in the book of Isaiah

In a recent ZAW article, Michael Chan argues that II Reg 25,27-30 alludes to Gen 40-41, and that this allusion provides a hermeneutical key for understanding the purpose of II Reg 25,27-30 in an Enneateuchal context: it points to an imminent exodus, a return from exile and a gathering of diaspora in the promised land. This article picks up where…[Read more]

In the Ba‘al Cycle’s description of the threshold separating the realms of the dead from that of the living, the key reference point is described as “the two tells (at) the boundary of the netherworld” (CAT 1.4 viii, 4). The specific word used to describe both topographical features is tl, the tell, an object well known in the archaeology of the…[Read more]

An exploration of the book of Chronicles vis-à-vis the concept of utopia

An exploration of Cyrus’s role and function in ancient Judean kingship discourse

The poetry of Micah’s oracle of doom (Mic 1:8-16) combines two undeniable motifs, the motif of the lament and that of geography. The latter motif is not well understood due to the obscurity of the place names found in vv. 10a-12b. A careful study of the oracle’s geographical con-text, however, will lead to a more precise understanding of the top…[Read more]

An exploration of the Hebrew Bible’s prophetic literature vis-à-vis Science Fiction and Science Fiction theory

This article investigates the prefatory material in 2 Maccabees (2:19-32; 15:38-39) in order to reveal the motivation and attitude of the epitomator of 2 Maccabees toward the text he is adapting. The article argues that the concept of auxiliary texts, recog- nized in Graeco-Roman and Hellenistic texts by classicist Markus Dubischar, is the lens…[Read more]

This study highlights features of the Letter of Aristeas that reveal how that story conceives of the royal translation project. It will apply the concept of ‘auxiliary texts’ developed by Markus Dubischar based on the conversation theory of Paul Grice in order to show that Aristeas understands the Hebrew Pentateuch as a failing text. It will be…[Read more]

Project Abstract: Ancient Mesopotamia, birthplace of writing, has produced vast numbers of cuneiform tablets that only a handful of highly specialized scholars are able to read. The task of studying them is so labor intensive that the vast majority have not yet been translated, with the result that their contents are not accessible either to…[Read more]

The aim of this paper is to discuss the authorial persona of Jordanes: who he was, what was his religious/political position and how he identified himself. With this information, frequently overlooked or glossed over by Late Antique and Early Medieval scholarship, I intend to bring his famous work, called Getica, under updated scrutiny. By…[Read more]

This chapter is an introduction to two of the major aspects of the study of Achaemenid Persian art, namely its definition, and the analysis of quotations of other artistic traditions. Achaemenid art is best defined as consisting of two categories of material. One is the art of the empire, i.e. art produced in furtherance of imperial goals. The…[Read more]

The vast territorial extent of the Achaemenid Empire is often assumed to have impeded connectivity and communication within the empire. This paper challenges the validity of this assumption. Two factors in particular favor this conclusion—the presence of an extensive road network and the high communication speed in the empire, made possible by t…[Read more]

This article is a reconsideration of the Second Persian Period in Egypt (c. 340-332 BCE) in light of Ptolemaic propaganda and the reliefs of the Tomb of Petosiris at Tuna el-Gebel.