The history of the ancient Near East is a very important tool to help Bible students to better understand what they read. This article wants to give some illustrations of what can be learned from history to better understand the Bible. It takes a look at the Assyrians and their neighbours, Ahab, Jehu, Jeroboam II, Jehoash, Joram, etc.
Looking at the artifacts of ancient Babylon, this article show how Daniel's reference to Belshazzar (Daniel 5) corresponds with the reality of history. This proves that biblical records correspond with history and are reliable, and that biblical events were real historical events.
This article is about the epic of Gilgamesh and the history of the flood, the early history and the table of nations, and the tower of Babel.
When we consider the relationship between Ugaritic literature and the Old Testament, we are to make a comparison between different genres of literature. It has become customary in modern scholarship to hold that Habakkuk 3 was influenced by Ugaritic poetry. This article questions whether this pays necessary attention to the difference in their literary genre.
The archaeological discoveries of the slabs of Sennacherib helped to shed light on the historical account of Sennacherib as recorded in 2 Kings 18:13-14. This article looks at the history around Sennacherib, showing how rebelling against God leads to a life that is meaningless.
Comparing the historical account of Sennacherib with that of the Bible, this article shows that although the Bible recorded these events before archaeological discoveries, archaeology has shown that the biblical account of history is reliable.
This article is about the accuracy of the Old Testament history.
This article reads Daniel 4 in the light of parallels found in the Gilgamesh Epic.
Looking at the book of Exodus, this article discusses how archaeology can be used to give some background information on the Bible.
This article focuses on the discovery of the Babylonian version of the creation account, namely, the Enuma Elish. The author observes a number of things from the account, including that gods were created, and that man was created to save the gods from working. The author attempts to establish the veracity and superiority of the creation account as presented in Genesis 1.
Citing some similarities between the book of Exodus and the Egyptian Tale of Sinuhe, some theologians have entertained the thought that Exodus is simply a literary work of art much along the lines of the tale of Sinuhe. The author disputes this thinking, citing both similarities and important differences between the two narratives.
This paper demonstrates the antiquity of certain concepts found in the Old Testament. It indicates the antiquity and objective reality of certain concepts that were part of the common intellectual, religious and technical heritage of the Old Testament and ancient Near East. Most of the comparative material is taken from Egypt.
This paper discusses the discipline commonly called Hebrew-Ugaritic studies. The author explores the relationship between the Old Testament and one part of its environment, namely Syria-Palestine, or the Eastern Mediterranean seaboard.
This article suggests that comparative studies, founded upon archaeology and linguistic evidence, constitute the most fruitful field for biblical research. The purpose in this article is to demonstrate with a particular example—the golden calves and the Egyptian concept of deity—the value of this approach for the understanding of the Bible.
How should we understand the high ages of the principal descendants of Adam through the line of Seth in the narrative of Genesis 5:3-32. Harrison reconsiders these ages in the light of the ancient Sumerian King List recovered from Kish.
In the ancient Near East, there was a lively desire to obtain divine knowledge. The Old Testament scorned divination. This essay considers five forms of divination found in the ANE.
What is the location of the cities Sodom and Gomorrah? This essay wants to review the biblical evidence, archaeological evidence, and evidence from tradition.
According to Leviticus 25:39-43, the people of Israel are slaves of Yahweh. The author explores the function of this "slave of God" motif in the ancient Near East, and slavery in antiquity.
This article draws attention to the fact that it is no longer possible to describe Nuzi customs as customs of Hur simply on the basis that they show some divergence from better-known Mesopotamian practices, and because there was considerable influence of Hur at Nuzi. In Near Eastern Studies there is an increasing awareness that the similarities between Nuzi and other Mesopotamian text groups are, in fact, greater than was formerly supposed.
What are the extra-biblical sources for the history of Israel? There is an Assyrian text that offers an account of dealings with Judah, a text renowned since the beginning of Assyriology. That text is Sennacherib's report of his attack on Judah and Jerusalem during the reign of King Hezekiah. This article examines mainly this text.
This article makes a case for the possibility of written literature and thus the skill and knowledge of writing existing in Palestine from at least the tenth century BC onward.
The aim of this article is to examine the reasons why theodicy, as we understand the term today, is virtually absent from ancient Mesopotamian literature. The purpose is to discover what factors in that culture led to the exclusion of theodicy and the idea of innocent suffering from their worldview and literature.
The discoveries at Tell Mardikh have significance for Biblical Studies. The author introduces these discoveries.
A prism now in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, popularly known as the Sumerian King List, is held to have been compiled from as many as fifteen different texts. This King List traces the rulers of certain Sumerian cities in succession. It is of great value because it contains some very old traditions and gives an important chronological framework for the antediluvian period of the ancient Near East.
How does information about building practices from the ancient Near East support an interpretation of the book of Ezekiel? Peterson's thesis is that Ezekiel deliberately omits some key human elements from ANE temple-building practices in his temple vision of Ezekiel 40:1-Ezekiel 43:11, in an effort to help Israel to realize the nature of their sin.
This article examines some of the early interpretations of Ezekiel 17. It notes the relationship between the metaphor of a tree and kingship in the ancient Near East and then examines how it functioned in 4QEzekiel, the Septuagint, Targum Ezekiel, and the Shepherd of Hermas.
What was the function and significance of the Ebal ceremony described in Deuteronomy 27? This study wants to relate this ceremony to ancient Near Eastern treaty agreements and covenants. It reflects on this ceremony as covenant renewal.
