Handbook of Ugaritic Studies

Handbook of Ugaritic Studies

Author: Wilfred Watson

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2016-02-15

Total Pages: 913

ISBN-13: 9004294104

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Over the past seven decades, the scores of publications on Ugarit in Northern Syria (15th to 11th centuries BCE) are so scattered that a good overall view of the subject is virtually impossible. Wilfred Watson and Nicolas Wyatt, the editors of the present Handbook in the series Handbook of Oriental Studies, have brought together and made accessible this accumulated knowledge on the archives from Ugarit, called 'the foremost literary discovery of the twentieth century' by Cyrus Gordon. In 16 chapters a careful selection of specialists in the field deal with all important aspects of Ugarit, such as the discovery and decipherment of a previously unknown script (alphabetic cuneiform) used to write both the local language (Ugaritic) and Hurrian and its grammar, vocabulary and style; documents in other languages (including Akkadian and Hittite), as well as the literature and letters, culture, economy, social life, religion, history and iconography of the ancient kingdom of Ugarit. A chapter on computer analysis of these documents concludes the work. This first such wide-ranging survey, which includes recent scholarship, an extensive up-to-date bibliography, illustrations and maps, will be of particular use to those studying the history, religion, cultures and languages of the ancient Near East, and also of the Bible and to all those interested in the background to Greek and Phoenician cultures.


Untold Stories

Untold Stories

Author: Mark S. Smith

Publisher:

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13:

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This book traces the history of Ugaritic studies and their impact on the study of the Bible. From the first discoveries in the late 1920s through the end of the millennium, Ugaritic studies have revolutionized the modern understanding of the Bible. The stories told in this book combine analysis of the major trends and intellectual approaches taken in various periods with firsthand accounts of the major Ugaritic and biblical scholars drawn from personal interviews and letters, including previously unknown sources from several archival collections.


Ugarit at Seventy-Five

Ugarit at Seventy-Five

Author: K. Lawson Younger

Publisher: Eisenbrauns

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 197

ISBN-13: 1575061430

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In the spring of 1928, a Syrian farmer was plowing on the Mediterranean coast near a bay called Minet el-Beida. His plow ran into a stone just beneath the surface. When he examined the obstruction, he found a large man-made flagstone that led into a tomb, in which he found some valuable objects that he sold to a dealer. Little did he know what he had discovered. In April of 1929, C. F. A. Schaeffer began excavation of the tombs, but a month later he moved to the nearby tell of Ras Shamra. On the afternoon of May 14, the first inscribed clay tablet came to light--thus the beginnings of the study of Ugarit and the Ugaritic language. Seventy-five years have passed, and the impact of this extraordinary discovery is still being felt. Its impact on biblical studies perhaps has no equal. In February 2005, some of the preeminent Ugaritologists of the present generation gathered at the Midwest Regional meetings of the American Oriental Society to commemorate these 75 years by reading the papers that are now published in this volume. The first five essays deal with the Ugaritic texts, while the last three deal with archaeological or historical issues.


A Primer on Ugaritic

A Primer on Ugaritic

Author: William M. Schniedewind

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2007-07-02

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 1139466984

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A Primer on Ugaritic is an introduction to the language of the ancient city of Ugarit, a city that flourished in the second millennium BCE on the Lebanese coast, placed in the context of the culture, literature, and religion of this ancient Semitic culture. The Ugaritic language and literature was a precursor to Canaanite and serves as one of our most important resources for understanding the Old Testament and the Hebrew language. Special emphasis is placed on contextualization of the Ugaritic language and comparison to ancient Hebrew as well as Akkadian. The book begins with a general introduction to ancient Ugarit, and the introduction to the various genres of Ugaritic literature is placed in the context of this introduction. The language is introduced by genre, beginning with prose and letters, proceeding to administrative, and finally introducing the classic examples of Ugaritic epic. A summary of the grammar, a glossary, and a bibliography round out the volume.


Word of Tree and Whisper of Stone

Word of Tree and Whisper of Stone

Author: Nick Wyatt

Publisher:

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13:

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"This flagship volume of the Gorgias Ugaritic Series is a book of selected essays dating from 1992 to the present, devoted to themes in Ugaritic literature. Providing a glimpse into the worldview of ancient Syria, Word of Tree and Whisper of Stone includes the following chapters: A New Look at the Term sdmt; The Titles of the Ugaritic Storm-God; The Pruning of the Vine in KTU 1.23; Understanding Polytheism: Structure and Dynamic in a West Semitic Pantheon; Religion at Ugarit: an overview; Epic in Ugaritic Literature; "May Horon Smash Your Head!": a Curse Formula from Ugarit; and Word of Tree and Whisper of Stone, from which the volume takes its title. The shorter chapters, 1 and 3, deal with details in textual analysis, the intermediate ones, 5 and 6, with matters of religion and genre. The longer ones, 2, 4, 7 and 8, cover broader issues, respectively the surprisingly large range of Baal's epithets; the theology of the so-called "pantheon lists" form Ugarit, and the tension they invite between pluralistic and unitary conceptions of deity; and the question of prophecy in Ugarit. Prophetic figures have now been widely attested in the ancient Near East, from the time of Zimri-Lim of Mari down into the Iron Age. It was only a matter of time till the phenomenon was observed in Ugarit. This final chapter explores the language of divine communication in the light of some archaic features in Israelite oracular procedure."--Publisher's website.