Resources for OT Textual Criticism

Brian Davidson of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has put together a helpful resource page for students embarking in Old Testament Textual Criticism. Check it out here.

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New Fragment of Epic of Gilgamesh Tablet V

According to Ancient Histtory, et cetera, 

The new T.1447 tablet, according to the article Back to the Cedar Forest: The beginningand end of Tablet V of the Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgameš published in June, 2014 is:

• The revised reconstruction of Tablet V yields text that is nearly twenty lines longer than previously known.
• The obverse (columns i-ii) duplicates the Neo-Assyrian fragments which means the Epic tablet can be placed in order and used to fill in the gaps between them. It also shows the recension on Tablet V was in Babylonia, as well as Assyria and that “izzizūma inappatū qišta” is the same phrase that other tablets being with.
• The reverse (columns v-vi) duplicates parts of the reverse (columns iv-vi) of the late Babylonian tablet excavated at Uruk that begins with the inscription “Humbāba pâšu īpušma iqabbi izakkara ana Gilgāmeš”.
• The most interesting piece of information provided by this new source is the continuation of the description of the Cedar Forest:
• Gilgamesh and Enkidu saw ‘monkeys’ as part of the exotic and noisy fauna of the Cedar Forest; this was not mentioned in other versions of the Epic.
• Humbaba emerges, not as a barbarian ogre, and but as a foreign ruler entertained with exotic music at court in the manner of Babylonian kings. The chatter of monkeys, chorus of cicada, and squawking of many kinds of birds formed a symphony (or cacophony) that daily entertained the forest’s guardian, Humbaba.
• The aftermath of Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s slaying of Humbaba is now better preserved.
• The passages are consistent with other versions and confirm what was already known. For example, Enkidu had spent some time with Humbaba in his youth.

Review of Ancient Israel's History

Benjamin Kilchör, Staatsunabhangige Theologische Hochschule Basel (Switzer-land) gives a chapter-by-chapter review of Bill T. Arnold, Richard S. Hess (ed.). Ancient Israel's History. An Introduction to Issues and Sources. 

This book, edited by Bill T. Arnold (Asbury Theological Seminary) and Richard S. Hess (Denver Seminary), is initiated by the Institute for Biblical Research (IBR). It contains fifteen contributions, written by fifteen scholars, all of them specialists in the fields they deal with. Within the whole spectrum of research on ancient Israel's history, these scholars are rather conservative, which means that they "hold in common a respect for the biblical text as a legitimate source in the study of Israel's history" (p. 4), but within this consensus they represent a variety of different standpoints. The book is intended to serve as an introduction to ancient Israel's history. The first contribution lays the "Foundations for a History of Israel." It is followed by fourteen chapters that move forward "roughly according to the biblical story of Israel" (p. 21).

NEA 78:3 Special Issue: The Cultural Heritage Crisis in the Middle East

"There has probably never been a time when Near Eastern antiquities have been more a part of the public consciousness than in the past year. Sadly, it has not been to celebrate the richness of the region’s archaeology and history, but rather to collectively watch its destruction in horror and disbelief. The political turmoil and military conflict that has engulfed the Middle East in recent years has produced unprecedented threats to the region’s cultural heritage, including widespread looting of archaeological sites, direct conflict-related damage to monuments, unregulated demolition of historic buildings, and ideologically-motivated destruction of ancient and religious sites. Simply put, there is no historic parallel to the severity and geographic scope of the cultural heritage crisis, now impacting entire countries from North Africa to Central Asia."

In light of this crisis, the editors of Near Eastern Archaeology have made volume 78 open access, dedicated to the concerns over the recent destruction of antiquities.

Mesopotamian Chronicles

Chuck Jones at AWOL provided a link to the Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles, complete with scholarly editions and translations.

Resources on Science and Christian Faith

The American Scientific Affiliation has put together a very impressive website to help people find quality resources related to the issue of science and Christian faith. Topics include Adam & Eve, Age of the Earth, Bioethics, and Environmental Stewardship, among others.

Scripture and Cosmology: Reading the Bible Between the Ancient World and Modern Science

I am pleased to announce that my book, Scripture and Cosmology, is due for release in about 7 weeks.

Christians often claim to hold a biblical worldview. But what about a biblical cosmos view? From the beginning of Genesis we encounter a vaulted dome above the earth, a "firmament," like the ceiling of a planetarium. Elsewhere we read of the earth sitting on pillars. What does the dome of heaven have to do with deep space? Even when the biblical language is clearly poetic, it seems to be funded by a very different understanding of how the cosmos is put together. As Kyle Greenwood shows, the language of the Bible is also that of the ancient Near Eastern palace, temple and hearth. There was no other way of thinking or speaking of earth and sky or the sun, moon and stars. But when the psalmist looked at the heavens, the delicate fingerwork of God, it evoked wonder. Even today it is astronomy and cosmology that invoke our awe and point toward the depths of divine mystery. Greenwood helps us see how the best Christian thinkers have viewed the cosmos in light of Scripture―and grappled with new understandings as science has advanced from Aristotle to Copernicus to Galileo and the galaxies of deep space. It's a compelling story that both illuminates the text of Scripture and helps us find our own place in the tradition of faithful Christian thinking and interpretation.