Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Jack M. Sasson, distinguished scholar of the ancient Near East, has enjoyed a long career studying the cultures, languages, and literatures of that consequential region. His many books and articles range over a seemingly endless array of topics and materials. Foremost are his in-depth analyses of the Syrian city of Mari and its remarkable heritage. Of comparable importance, his definitive studies of the Hebrew Bible include in particular his commentaries on the books of Judges, Ruth, and Jonah. In addition, the encyclopedic four-volume set he initiated and edited, Civilizations of the Ancient Near East (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1995), stands out as an exceptional contribution to peers, students, and the general public.
To honor him and his scholarly achievements thirty-five of his longtime colleagues and friends have collaborated to produce this volume of original essays. They are grouped according to the two general areas of his own work: Assyriological studies and biblical studies. The articles in each section appear in alphabetical order according to the authors' last names, not according to the diverse fields of study. These fields are in fact as numerous as the cultures on which they focus: Sumer, Babylonia, Assyria, the Amorites, Egypt, Ebla, the Hurrians, the Hittites, Ugarit, the Arameans, Canaan, and Israel. They all share in common the wider geographical area of the Near East, yet their differences are as significant, or more so, as their similarities.
The studies in this volume display the richness of these cultures--their literary legacies, languages, political and social histories, material remains, religions and rituals, history of ideas, and even their reception in modern times. The volume intends to be both a contribution to the evolving study of the ancient Near East and also a fitting tribute to Jack Sasson, whose friendship and scholarship we have long cherished and esteemed.
Synopsis
A collection of essays by 35 scholars of the ancient Near East, honoring the career of Jack M. Sasson, and focusing on a variety of Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Amorite, Egyptian, Eblaite, Hittite, Ugaritic, Aramaic, Canaanite, Israelite, biblical, and archaeological subjects.