NATURE OF THE COURSE

The objectives of the course are: (1) to examine critically the Hebrew Bible as source material for reconstructing the history, religion, and life of ancient Israel; (2) to consider the value of inscriptions and other artifacts from the world of the Hebrew Bible for understanding the culture of ancient Israel; (3) to study selected ancient Near Eastern sources which bear a significant relationship to the writings of the Hebrew Bible; and (4) to reflect on the following question: How was ancient Israel like and how was it unlike the other cultures of the ancient Near Eastern world?

The class will take a trip to Discovery Place, Charlotte, to see the exhibit of Dead Sea Scrolls.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS

• Michael D. Coogan, The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures (Oxford University Press, 2006)



• Benjamin R. Foster, Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature (3rd edition; Bethesda, MD: CDL Press, 2005).



• Stephanie Dalley, Myths from Mesopotamia (Oxford University Press, World's Classics, Revised Edition, 2000)



• The Jewish Study Bible (JPS), Oxford. Other Bibles that would be good for this course: HarperCollins Study Bible (NRSV) or the New Oxford Annotated Study Bible (NRSV).

REQUIREMENTS

Paper length (inclusive of notes and bibliography): undergraduate students, 8-10 pages; graduate students, 14-16 pages. The paper should examine a topic in the world of the Hebrew Bible which requires attention to both biblical and non-biblical sources. It is due on the last day of class

The grade for the course will be based on the following percentages:

	Undergraduate	Graduate
Mid-term exam Final Exam Research Paper Classroom Participation Class Report	20% 30% 30% 20%	20% 30% 30% 10% 10%

OTHER COLLECTIONS OF PRIMARY TEXTS

Michael David Coogin, Stories from Ancient Canaan (Westminster, 1978)

William W. Hallo and K. Lawson Younger, Jr., The Context of Scripture, Vol. One: Canonical Compositions from the Biblical World (Brill, 1997); Vol. Two: Monumental Inscriptions from the Biblical World (Brill, 2000); Vol. Three: Archival Documents from the Biblical World (Brill, 2002).

W. G. Lambert and A. Millard, Atrahasis: The Babylonian Story of the Flood (Oxford University Press, 1969)

W. G. Lambert, Babylonian Wisdom Literature (Clarendon, 1960)

James B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (Princeton University Press, 1950, 1955, 1969). Note: The 1969 edition incorporates a Supplement, which was also published as a separate volume.

James B. Pritchard, ed., The Ancient Near East in Pictures Relating to the Old Testament (Princeton, 1954, 1969) Note: An abridged version of the two major Pritchard collections is published by Princeton University Press in two paperback volumes: Pritchard, ed., The Ancient Near East: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures (Princeton, 1958); Pritchard, ed., The Ancient Near East: A New Anthology of Texts and Pictures (Princeton, 1975).

Klaas A. D. Smelik, Writings from Ancient Israel: A Handbook of Historical and Religious Documents (Westminster/John Knox, 1991)

SCHEDULE