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Title: Stories from Ancient Canaan by Michael David Coogan ISBN: 0-664-24184-0 Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press Pub. Date: December, 1978 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Relates archaeological material to the Hebrew Bible
Comment: Ugarit, the ancient name for modern Ras Shamra, is in northern Syria on the Mediterranean coast. In 1928 a local farmer discovered--stumbled upon--the site, and in the following years thousands of cuneiform (wedge writing) texts were unearthed by French archaeologists. The languages of these cuneiform tablets is primarily Akkadian, Sumerian and Ugaritic (the last being an unknown language before 1928). The tablets all date to a time before 1200 B.C. (the approximate date when Ugarit was conquered and destroyed). The texts are "diplomatic correspondence, legal records, remedies for horses' ailments, long lists of gods, offerings, supplies, and personnel, dictionaries of word equivalents in the various languages used in the city, and the oldest complete alphabet, with an order substantially the same as that of our own."
Dr. Coogan's book is a translation of fifteen tablets recovered from the library of the priest Ilimilku from Shubbani, who was the chief priest of Baal in the city's main temple complex. The texts were commissioned under King Niqmaddu II (c. 1375-1345), and four stories from that commissioning are here translated and published by Dr. Coogan.
The first translated story is titled Aqhat, which is the story of a man, Danel, who wants a son. After entreating the chief god El, Aqhat is born to Danel. The story then traces Aqhat and his struggles with the gods, which ends in his death.
The second story is called The Healers, and is quite fragmentary and only takes up a page of translated text.
The third story is the story Kirta (Keret). King Kirta is a sort of Job figure who entreats El for children and then receives a dream and instructions. He follows the instructions of the dream and has children. However, in the process of carrying out the instructions, he makes a vow to the goddess Asherah which he fails to keep. Kirta is punished with disease, and the rest of the story is about his ability or inability to be a king (challenged, as he is, by his son).
The fourth and final story in Dr. Coogan's book is of the well known Baal cycle, which I will not summarize here.
Dr. Coogan provides introductory material to the whole book and to each chapter, and often has an eye to relating the Ugaritic stories to the Hebrew story. For example, he shows the relation of El to Yahweh, providing ample scriptural references (following through with the OT references is quite enlightening). Another profitable discussion is where he shows the connection of Mt. Zaphon (the abode of Baal) and the usage of Zaphon and mountain imagery in the Hebrew Scriptures. I suggest that even further study on this matter should lead one to Dr. Meredith G. Kline's 1996 article which, in part, traces the usage of Mt. Zaphon in Isaiah: "Har Magadon: The End of the Millennium" Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society #39 (June 1996): pp 207-222.
Dr. Coogan writes from the perspective of the Harvard school of L. Stager, E. Bloch-Smith, etc., which is not intimidated by the minimalist schools, and therefore not afraid to locate the Hebrew ideas in the context of Canaan. Thus, this short and accessible book is a handy guide for students of Israel and the Bible.
Rating: 5
Summary: Four Stories from Ancient Canaan
Comment: Michael Coogan has offered in this volume a translation of four of the stories from Ras Shamra, ancient Ugarit. These he calls Aqhat, The Healers, Kirta, and Baal. Each is preceded by a introduction. So for example, the introduction to The Healers notes that it may be a sequel to the story of Aqhat.
For a comprehensive study these and other religious texts found at Ras Shamra, see _Religious Texts from Ugarit_ by Nicolas Wyatt.
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Title: Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others (Oxford World's Classics) by Stephanie Dalley, C. J. Fordyce ISBN: 0192835890 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: September, 1998 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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Title: The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel (Biblical Resource Series) by Mark S. Smith, Patrick D. Miller ISBN: 080283972X Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Pub. Date: August, 2002 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Ancient Israelite Religion by Susan Niditch ISBN: 0195091280 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: April, 1998 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction by Lawrence Boadt ISBN: 0809126311 Publisher: Paulist Press Pub. Date: February, 1985 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Inanna by Diane Wolkstein ISBN: 0060908548 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 03 September, 1983 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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