New Aramaic Papyri from Elephantine in Berlin

New Aramaic Papyri from Elephantine in Berlin
Author: James D. Moore
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 275
Release: 2022-05-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004505563

The famous German excavations between 1906 and 1908 of Elephantine Island in Egypt produced some of the most important Aramaic sources for understanding the history of Judeans and Arameans living in 5th century BCE Egypt under Persian occupation. Unknown to the world, many papyri fragments from those excavations remained uncatalogued in the Berlin Museum. In New Aramaic Papyri from Elephantine in Berlin James D. Moore edits the remaining legible Aramaic fragments, which belong to letters, contracts, and administrative texts. To view supplementary material from the volume go here.

New Aramaic Papyri from Elephantine in Berlin

New Aramaic Papyri from Elephantine in Berlin
Author: James D. Moore
Publisher: Studies on Elephantine
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2022
Genre: History
ISBN: 9789004505575

"The famous German excavations between 1906 and 1908 of Elephantine Island in Egypt produced some of the most important Aramaic sources for understanding the history of Judeans and Arameans living in 5th century BCE Egypt under Persian occupation. Unknown to the world, many papyri fragments from those excavations remained uncatalogued in the Berlin Museum. In New Aramaic Papyri from Elephantine in Berlin James D. Moore edits the remaining legible Aramaic fragments, which belong to letters, contracts, and administrative texts"--

Studies in the Aramaic Legal Papyri from Elephantine

Studies in the Aramaic Legal Papyri from Elephantine
Author: Yochanan Muffs
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 362
Release: 2015-11-02
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 9004294236

Long recognized as a brilliant cross-cultural study, Yochanan Muffs’ work analyzes the legal formulary of the Aramaic papyri from Elephantine, at the first cataract of the Nile, where a Persian garrison comprised of Jewish soldiers and their families lived throughout most of the 5th century B.C.E. These documents are of exceptional importance for the study of ancient Near Eastern law, and Muffs has investigated their formative background through extensive references to cuneiform law, by a method he calls “the Assyriological approach”. Virtually every aspect of law-sale of land, marriage and family law, loans and credit, the taking of oaths, and the granting of bequests is studied in great depth and with unusual clarity. Muffs’ work has enjoyed renewed interest in the light of more recent discoveries of Aramaic legal documents from later periods, as in the Judean Desert.

The Elephantine Papyri in English

The Elephantine Papyri in English
Author: Porten
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 651
Release: 2023-10-09
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9004669078

175 documents, spanning more than 3,000 years, from the ancient mounds on the island of Elephantine are translated into English here for the first time. A massive collection of papyri and ostraca, written in many scripts and tongues - including hieratic, demotic, Aramaic, Greek, Latin, Coptic and Arabic.

Yahwism Under the Achaemenid Empire

Yahwism Under the Achaemenid Empire
Author: Gad Barnea
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 604
Release: 2024-11-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 3111018636

The Achaemenid period (550-330 BCE) is rightly seen as one of the most formative periods in Judaism. It is the period in which large portions of the Bible were edited and redacted and others were authored--yet no dedicated interdisciplinary study has been undertaken to present a consistent picture of this decisive time period. This book is dedicated to the study of the touchpoints between Yahwistic communities throughout the Achaemenid empire and the Iranian attributes of the empire that ruled over them for about two centuries. Its approach is fundamentally interdisciplinary. It brings together scholars of Achaemenid history, literature and religion, Iranian linguistics, historians of the Ancient Near East, archeologists, biblical scholars and Semiticists. The goal is to better understand the interchange of ideas, expressions and concepts as well as the experience of historical events between Yahwists and the empire that ruled over them for over two centuries. The book will open up a holisitic perspective on this important era to scholars of a wide variety of fields in the study of Judaism in the Ancient Near East.

Aramaic Papyri of the Fifth Century B.C.

Aramaic Papyri of the Fifth Century B.C.
Author: A. E. Cowley
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 373
Release: 2005-09-14
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1597523631

The Aramaic papyri found on the island of Elephantine, Egypt (ancient Yeb, opposite Syene) come from the fifth century BC. They include letters, personal archives, public archives, the 'Words of Ahikar,' the Behistun inscription, accounts, and lists. Cowley provides here the Aramaic transcriptions and English translations for all the texts available to him. In this edition, an updated bibliography is provided.

The Elephantine Papyri in English

The Elephantine Papyri in English
Author: Bezalel Porten
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 664
Release: 1996
Genre: History
ISBN: 9789004101975

175 documents, spanning more than 3,000 years, from the ancient mounds on the island of Elephantine are translated into English here for the first time. A massive collection of papyri and ostraca, written in many scripts and tongues - including hieratic, demotic, Aramaic, Greek, Latin, Coptic and Arabic. Each entry, arranged thematically, includes information on date, size, parties, objects, content and significance, as well as general comments and cross-references. An important source, previously scattered among various museums and institutions, brought together here for the first time.

Literary Depictions of the Scribal Profession in the Story of Ahiqar and Jeremiah 36

Literary Depictions of the Scribal Profession in the Story of Ahiqar and Jeremiah 36
Author: James D. Moore
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2021-12-06
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 311075312X

This is the first study to compare the allusions to scribal culture found in the Aramaic Story of Ahiqar and the Hebrew Tale of Jeremiah and Baruch’s Scroll in Jeremiah 36. It is shown that disguised in the royal propagandistic message of Ahiqar is a sophisticated Aramaic critique on the social practices of Akkadian scribal culture. Jeremiah 36, however, uses loci of scribal activity as well as allusions to scribal interactions and the techniques of the scribal craft to construct a subversive tale. When studied from a comparative perspective it is argued that the Story of Ahiqar, which has long been associated with the well-known court tale genre, is an example of a subgenre which is here called the scribal conflict narrative, and Jeremiah 36 is found to be a second example of or a response to it. This observation is arrived at by means of rigorous manuscript examination combined with narrative analysis, which identified, among other things, the development of autobiographical and biographical styles of the same ancient narrative. This study not only provides new perspectives on scribal culture, Ahiqar studies, and Jeremiah studies, but it may have far reaching implications for other ancient sources.