The Journal of the American Oriental Society articles from April 2004

The Journal of the American Oriental Society archives from April 2004

A brief history of Beiji (Northern Culmen), with an excursus on the origin of the character di.
April 1, 2004... Chinese preoccupation with astronomical orientation has a very long history. Archaeological evidence from the fifth millennium B.C. Neolithic cultures of North China shows that burials and dwellings were already being oriented with particular...

The Greek prototypes of the city names Sidon and Tyre: evidence for phonemically distinct initials in Proto-Semitic or for the history of Hebrew vocalism?
April 1, 2004... 1. The once virtually standard affirmative answer to the first part of the question posed above was based on a belief that the initial of Gk. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] "Tyre" represented a direct reflex of Proto-Semitic (PS) *t while the...

Features of the verbal system in the Christian Neo-Aramaic dialect of Koy Sanjaq and their areal parallels.
April 1, 2004... 1. INTRODUCTION Koy Sanjaq, an Iraqi Kurdish town located fifty-five kilometers southeast of Arbil, once had two small minority communities of Neo-Aramaic speakers, one Jewish and one Christian, each speaking its own variety of...

A letter to the editors of the Buddhist canon in fourteenth-century Tibet: the yig mkhan rnams la gdams pa of Bu ston Rin chen grub.
April 1, 2004... In the summer of 1364, at the monastery of Zhwa lu in midwestern Tibet, Bu ston Rin chen grub, scholar, artist, teacher, abbot, and zealous collector of manuscripts containing the word of the Buddha, died at the age of seventy-four. (1) During...

Administration and society in Kassite Babylonia.
April 1, 2004... Leonhard Sassmannshausen's book, a revision of his doctoral dissertation, discusses political, social, and economic institutions of Babylonia under the Kassite dynasty. It also publishes for the first time several hundred economic texts from...

The British Museum Nuzi tablets.
April 1, 2004... The very first Nuzi text to be published appeared 108 years ago. (1) That tablet had been acquired by the British Museum. By the time the volume under review appeared, about 160 British Museum Nuzi tablets had been published. (2) Gerfrid...

An oath, its curse and anointing ritual.
April 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION Scholars have long acknowledged that curses were expressed in conventional ways throughout the ancient Near East. (1) Thus, maledictions could endure over many centuries in diverse texts with relatively minor changes in...

More on the "Ur-Nammu" stela.(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2004... It was gratifying to see a review of my work on a famous Mesopotamian monument of the late third millennium B.C. in a journal usually concerned with ancient Mesopotamian written documents. (1) Irene Winter's skepticism about my reconstruction...

On Suryadasa and the invention of bidirectional poetry (vilomakavya).
April 1, 2004... The subject of this communication is the small but well-known genre of bidirectional poetry in Sanskrit called vilomakavya, in which a poem is composed in such a way that it can be read meaningfully from left to right, and from right to left,...

Right section, wrong collection: an identification of a canonical vinaya text in the Tibetan bsTan 'gyur--Bya ba'i phung po zhes bya ba (Kriyaskandha-nama).
April 1, 2004... The Vinaya commentary or 'Dul ba'i 'grel pa section of the Tibetan bsTan 'gyur contains translations of a number of texts important for our knowledge of Indian Buddhism. Perhaps the best known of these is Gunaprabha's Vinaya-sutra and its...

The Correspondence of Sargon II: Letters from Babylonia and the Eastern Provinces, part III.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... The Correspondence of Sargon II, part III: Letters from Babylonia and the Eastern Provinces. By ANDREAS FUCHS and SIMO PARPOLA. State Archives of Assyria, vol. 15. Helsinki: HELSINKI UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2001. Pp. lviii + 280, illus. (paper). ...

The Archaeology of Mesopotamia: Theories and Approaches.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... The Archaeology of Mesopotamia: Theories and Approaches. By ROGER MATTHEWS. Approaching the Ancient World. London: ROUTLEDGE, 2003. Pp. xiii + 253, illus. $23.95 (paper). Roger Matthews has written a short and affordable book summarizing a...

Excavations at Tell Brak: Exploring an Upper Mesopotamian Regional Centre, 1994-1996, vol. 4.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Excavations at Tell Brak, vol. 4: Exploring an Upper Mesopotamian Regional Centre, 1994-1996. Edited by ROGER MATTHEWS. McDonald Institute Monographs. London: BRITISH SCHOOL OF ARCHAEOLOGY IN IRAQ, 2003. Pp. xviii + 446, illus. $135....

Keilschrifttexte aus japanischen Sammlungen.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Keilschrifttexte aus japanischen Sammlungen. By OZAKI TOHRU. SANTAG, vol. 7. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 2002. Pp. 148, plates. [euro]68. In this volume, Ozaki publishes 203 new texts from various collections in Japan, including those...

Petra ez Zantur II: Ergebnisse der Schweizerisch-Liechtensteinischen Ausgrabungen.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Petra ez Zantur II: Ergebnisse der Schweizerisch-Liechtensteinischen Ausgrabungen. By STEPHAN G. SCHMID and BERNHARD KOLB. Pt. 1: Die Feinkeramik der Nabataer; Pt. 2: Die spatantiken Wohnbauten. Terra Archaeologica, vol. 4. Mainz: VERLAG...

Legal Transactions of the Royal Court of Nineveh, part II: Assurbanipal through Sin-sharru-ishkun.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Legal Transactions of the Royal Court of Nineveh, part II: Assurbanipal through Sin-sharru-ishkun. By RAIJA MATTILA. State Archives of Assyria, vol. 14. Helsinki: HELSINKI UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2002. Pp. xxix + 381, illus. This volume...

Ancient Near Eastern Seals from the Kist Collection: Three Millennia of Miniature Reliefs.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Ancient Near Eastern Seals from the Kist Collection: Three Millennia of Miniature Reliefs. By JOOST KIST. Culture and History of the Ancient Near East, vol. 18. Leiden: BRILL, 2003. Pp. x + 237, illus. $82. With this volume, Joost Kist, a...

Echnaton: Agyptens falscher Prophet.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Echnaton: Agyptens falscher Prophet. By NICHOLAS REEVES. Translated by B. Jaros-Deckert. Kulturgeschichte der Antiken Welt, vol. 19. Mainz: PHILIPP VON ZABERN, 2001. Pp. 239, illustrations. [euro]29. The Amarna Period is certainly one of...

Poetry and Culture in Middle Kingdom Egypt: A Dark Side to Perfection.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Poetry and Culture in Middle Kingdom Egypt: A Dark Side to Perfection. By RICHARD B. PARKINSON. New York: CONTINUUM. Pp. xxii + 393. [pounds sterling]95. The study of Egyptian literature has made a great deal of progress in the last few...

Agypten und die Fremden im ersten vorchristlichen Jahrhundert.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Agypten und die Fremden im ersten vorchristlichen Jahrhundert. By GUNTER VITTMANN. Kulturgeschichte der antiken Welt, vol. 97. Mainz: VERLAG PHILIPP VON ZABERN, 2003. Pp. x + 322, illus. [euro]45. It is generally known that Egypt came into...

Der Oasenmann: Eine altagyptische Erzahlung ubersetzt und kommentiert.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Der Oasenmann: Eine altagyptische Erzahlung ubersetzt und kommentiert. By DIETER KURTH. Kulturgeschichte der antiken Welt, vol. 103. Mainz: VERLAG PHILIPP VON ZABERN, 2003. Pp. 153, illus. [euro]34.80. The ancient Egyptian text treated in...

Hieratische Ritzinschriften aus Theben.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Hieratische Ritzinschriften aus Theben. By MOHAMMED SHERIF ALI. Gottinger Orientforschungen, IV. Reihe, vol. 34. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 2002. Pp. xiv + 154, tables. [euro]86 (paper). The omission of rock inscriptions from major...

The Wars in Syria and Palestine of Thutmose III.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... The Wars in Syria and Palestine of Thutmose III. By DONALD B. REDFORD. Culture and History of the Ancient Near East, vol. 16. Leiden: BRILL, 2003. Pp. xvi + 272, plates. $103. It is always a pleasure to receive a work that is nicely...

Die datierten und datierbaren Ostraka, Papyri, und Graffiti von Deir el-Medineh.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Die datierten und datierbaren Ostraka, Papyri, und Graffiti von Deir el-Medineh. By WOLFGANG HELCK, edited by Adelheid Schlott. Agyptologische Abhandlungen, vol. 63. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 2002. Pp. 573. [euro]146. The rich...

Seeing Double: Intercultural Politics in Ptolemaic Alexandria.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Seeing Double: Intercultural Politics in Ptolemaic Alexandria. By SUSAN A. STEPHENS. Hellenistic Culture and Society, vol. 37. Berkeley and Los Angeles: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS, 2003. Pp. xvi + 292, illus. $65. Ptolemaic Egypt was a...

Die fruhbronzezeitliche Keramik von Hirbet ez-Zeraqon mit Studien zur Chronologie und funktionalen Deutung fruhbronzezeitlicher Keramik in der sudlichen Levante.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Die fruhbronzezeitliche Keramik von Hirbet ez-Zeraqon mit Studien zur Chronologie und funktionalen Deutung fruhbronzezeitlicher Keramik in der sudlichen Levante. By HERMANN GENZ. Deutsch-Jordanische Ausgrabungen in Hirbet Ez-Zeraqon 1984-1994,...

Kellia II: L'ermitage copte QR 195: Ceramique, inscriptions, decors.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Kellia II: L'ermitage copte QR 195: Ceramique, inscriptions, decors. By PASCALE BALLET, NATHALIE BOSSON, and MARGUERITE RASSART-DEBERGH. Fouilles de l'IFAO, vol. 49. Cairo: INSTITUT FRANCAIS D'ARCHEOLOGIE ORIENTALE, 2003. Pp. vi + 525, illus....

Ceramique de l'age du bronze en Syrie, I: La Syrie du sud et la vallee de l'Oronte.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Ceramique de l'age du bronze en Syrie, I: La Syrie du sud et la vallee de l'Oronte. Edited by MICHEL AL-MAQDISSI, VALERIE MATOIAN, and CHRISTOPHE NICOLLE. Bibliotheque archaeologique et historique, vol. 161. Beirut: INSTITUT FRANCAIS...

Sotira Kaminoudhia: An Early Bronze Age Site in Cyprus.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Sotira Kaminoudhia: An Early Bronze Age Site in Cyprus. By STUART SWINY, GEORGE (RIP) RAPP, and ELLEN HERSCHER. CAARI Monograph Series, vol. 4. Boston: AMERICAN SCHOOLS OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH, 2003. Pp. xxviii + 556, plates. $99.95. Few...

On the Reliability of the Old Testament.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... On the Reliability of the Old Testament. By K. A. KITCHEN. Grand Rapids, Mich.: WILLIAM B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING COMPANY, 2003. Pp. xxii + 662, illus. $45. In this volume, K. A. Kitchen, the well-known British Egyptologist, presents the...

In His Own Image and Likeness: Humanity, Divinity, and Monotheism.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... In His Own Image and Likeness: Humanity, Divinity, and Monotheism. By W. RANDALL GARR. Pp. xx + 306. Culture and History of the Ancient Near East, vol. 15. Leiden: BRILL. [euro]55, $66. W. R. Garr has established a sterling reputation in...

The Mandaeans: The Last Gnostics.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... The Mandaeans: The Last Gnostics. By EDMONDO LUPIERI. Grand Rapids, Mich.: WM. B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING Co., 2002. Pp. xix + 273, illus. $25. First published in Italian in 1993, this volume is part of a larger series, Italian Texts and...

Khotanese Manuscripts from Chinese Turkestan in the British Library: A Complete Catalogue with Texts and Translations.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Khotanese Manuscripts from Chinese Turkestan in the British Library: A Complete Catalogue with Texts and Translations. By PRODS OKTOR SKJAERVO, with contributions to Ursula Sims-Williams. Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum, part II: Inscriptions...

Tiruvannamalai: Un lieu saint sivaite du Sud de l'Inde: Rites et fetes, vol. 3.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Tiruvannamalai: Un lieu saint sivaite du Sud de l'Inde, vol. 3: Rites et fetes. By FRANCOISE L'HERNAULT and MARIE-LOUISE REINICHE, with Supplement: Le Pararthanityapujavidhi: Regle pour le culte quotidien dans un temple, by HELENE BRUNNER....

Imperial Fault Lines: Christianity and Colonial Power in India, 1818-1940.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Imperial Fault Lines: Christianity and Colonial Power in India, 1818-1940. By JEFFREY COX. Stanford: STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2002. Pp. ix + 357. $55. The study of Christian missionary activity in British India has been transformed in...

Kerala Brahmins in Transition: A Study of a Namputiri Family.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Kerala Brahmins in Transition: A Study of a Namputiri Family. By MARJATTA PARPOLA. Studia Orientalia, vol. 91. Helsinki: FINNISH ORIENTAL SOCIETY, 2000. Pp. 436, figs. Marjatta Parpola's ethnography of Kerala's Namputiri Brahmans grows out...

Design and Rhetoric in a Sanskrit Court Epic: The Kiratarjuniya of Bharavi.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Design and Rhetoric in a Sanskrit Court Epic: The Kiratarjuniya of Bharavi. By INDIRA VISWANATHAN PETERSON. Albany: STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS, 2003. Pp. xii + 306. $71.50 (cloth); $23.95 (paper). We have here the first full-length...

Die Bildersprache Kalidasas im Kumarasambhava.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Die Bildersprache Kalidasas im Kumarasambhava. By MARTINA JACKMUTH. Beitrage zur Indologie, vol. 35. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 2002. Pp. 252. [euro]58. There has been a recent burst of interest in investigating figurative and...

Classical Civilizations of South East Asia: An Anthology of Articles Published in the Bulletin of SOAS.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Classical Civilizations of South East Asia: An Anthology of Articles Published in the Bulletin of SOAS. Edited by VLADIMIR BRAGINSKY. London: ROUTLEDGECURZON, 2002. Pp. 524. Vladimir Braginsky's introduction to this volume provides a...

Avicenna's Metaphysics in Context.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Avicenna's Metaphysics in Context. By ROBERT WISNOVSKY. Ithaca: CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2003. Pp. 1x + 305. Robert Wisnovsky's Avicenna's Metaphysics in Context is arguably one of the most important works to come out on Avicenna to date....

Early Muslim Polemic against Christianity: Abu 'Isa al-Warraq's "Against the Incarnation.".(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Early Muslim Polemic against Christianity: Abu 'Isa al-Warraq's "Against the Incarnation." By DAVID THOMAS. University of Cambridge Oriental Publications, no. 59. Cambridge: CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2002. Pp. x + 314. $65. The response...

Holding Up Half the Sky: Chinese Women Past, Present, and Future.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Holding Up Half the Sky: Chinese Women Past, Present, and Future, Edited by TAO JIE, ZHENG BIJUN, and SHIRLEY L. MOW. New York: THE FEMINIST PRESS AT THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, 2004. Pp. xxxvi + 313, tables. As women's studies...

An Historical Atlas of Central Asia.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... An Historical Atlas of Central Asia. By YURI BREGEL. Handbook of Oriental Studies, vol. 9. Leiden: BRILL, 2003. Pp. xii + 110, maps. $181. In response to the enthusiastic reception of a portfolio of historical maps of Central Asia which he...

The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 600-1800.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 600-1800. By JONATHAN P. BERKEY. Themes in Islamic History. Cambridge: CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2003. Pp. xv + 286. $58 (cloth); $21 (paper). Berkey begins with a survey of...

Conjugal Love in India: Ratisastra and Ratiramana.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Conjugal Love in India: Ratisastra and Ratiramana. Edited and translated by KENNETH G. ZYSK. Sir Henry Wellcome Asian Series, vol. 1. Leiden: BRILL, 2002. Pp. xiv + 319. Zysk here offers a "critical" edition and translation of two late...

Conjuros Magicos del Atharvaveda: Estudio, transcripcion del texto sanscrito, traduccion y comentario.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Conjuros Magicos del Atharvaveda: Estudio, transcripcion del texto sanscrito, traduccion y comentario. By MARTIN SEVILLA RODRIGUEZ. Oviedo: SERVICIO DE PUBLICACIONES DE LA UNIVERSIDAD DE OVIEDO, 2002. Pp. 183. This book is a representative...

The Oxford English-Urdu Dictionary.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... The Oxford English-Urdu Dictionary. Edited and translated by SHANUL HAQ HAQQEE. Oxford: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2003. Pp. xxiv + 2099. A reliable dictionary is one of the foremost tools necessary to understand the language and culture of...

Burushaski-Texte aus Hispar: Materialen zum Verstandnis einer archaischen Bergkultur in Nordpakistan.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Burushaski-Texte aus Hispar: Materialen zum Verstandnis einer archaischen Bergkultur in Nordpakistan. By HUGH VAN SKYHAWK. Beitrage zur Indologie, vol. 38. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 2003. Pp. xxiv + 506, plates. [euro]148. This book...

An Introduction to Buddhist Philosophy: An Annotated Translation of the Tarkabhasa of Moksakaragupta.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... An Introduction to Buddhist Philosophy: An Annotated Translation of the Tarkabhasa of Moksakaragupta. By YUICHI KAJIYAMA. Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde, vol. 42. Vienna: ARBEITSKREIS FUR TIBETISCHE UND BUDDHISTISCHE STUDIEN...

Petra and the Nabataeans: A Bibliography.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Petra and the Nabataeans: A Bibliography. By GREGORY A. CRAWFORD. ATLA Bibliography Series, vol. 49. Lanham, Md.: THE SCARECROW PRESS, 2003. Pp. xxii + 275. $65. The forty-ninth publication of this bibliographic series captures the...

Agypten - Munster: Kulturwissenschaftliche Studien zu Agypten, dem Vorderen Orient und verwandten Gebieten, Donum natalicium viro doctissimo Erharto Graefe sexagenario ab amicus collegis discipulis ex aedibus Schlaunstrasse 2/Rosenstrasse 9 oblatum.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Agypten--Munster; Kulturwissenschaftliche Studien zu Agypten, dem Vorderen Orient und verwandten Gebieten: Donum natalicium viro doctissimo Erharto Graefe sexagenario ab amicus collegis discipulis ex aedibus Schlaunstrasse 2/Rosenstrasse 9...

Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies.(Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, vol. 33)(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, vol. 33 (2003). [pounds sterling]42. In content and appeal the attractive and weighty proceedings of the Arabian Seminar of 2003 show the strong development characteristic of Arabian studies...

Jerusalem in Original Photographs, 1850-1920.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Jerusalem in Original Photographs, 1850-1920. By SHIMON GIBSON. London: STACEY INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHERS, 2003. Pp. 204, photos. [pounds sterling]25. This attractively designed and produced work is the first of three planned volumes, which...

A Dictionary of Judean Aramaic.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... A Dictionary of Judean Aramaic. By MICHAEL SOKOLOFF. Ramat-Gan: BAR ILAN UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2003. Pp. 88. This short volume reviews the attested vocabulary of the non-literary (i.e., excluding Qumran Aramaic) Judean Aramaic texts "between...

Kanaanaische und aramaische Inschriften.(Kanaanaische und aramaische Inschriften, vol. 1, 5th ed.)(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Kanaanaische und aramaische Inschriften, vol. 1. Fifth expanded and revised ed. By HERBERT DONNER and WOLFGANG ROLLIG. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 2002. Pp. xviii + 79. [euro]24.80 (paper). During the late nineteenth and early twentieth...

Beginning Biblical Hebrew.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Beginning Biblical Hebrew. By MARK D. FUTATO. Winona Lake, Ind.: EISENBRAUNS, 2003. Pp. xii + 351. $35. This work, another introductory textbook of Biblical Hebrew in an apparently insatiable market, claims to have "an easy-to-learn...

Hebrew for Biblical Interpretation.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Hebrew for Biblical Interpretation. By ARTHUR WALKER-JONES. SBL Resources for Biblical Study, vol. 48. Atlanta: SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE, 2003, Pp. xviii + 276. $34.95 (paper). What? Yet another textbook for introductory Biblical...

Narrative Structure and Discourse Constellations: An Analysis of Clause Function in Biblical Hebrew Prose.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Narrative Structure and Discourse Constellations: An Analysis of Clause Function in Biblical Hebrew Prose. By ROY L. HELLER. Harvard Semitic Studies, vol. 55. Winona Lake, Ind.: EISENBRAUNS, 2004. Pp. xi + 494. $49. This work, based on a...

Kurzbibliographie zu den ubersetzten Tempeltexten der griechisch-romischen Zeit.(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... Kurzbibliographie zu den ubersetzten Tempeltexten der griechisch-romischen Zeit. Edited by CHRISTIAN LEITZ. Bibliotheque d'Etude, vol. 136. Cairo: INSTITUT FRANCAIS D'ARCHEOLOGIE ORIENTALE, 2002. Pp. 171 (paper). Those wishing to promote...

The Greek and Latin Inscriptions of Caesarea Maritima.(The Greek and Latin Inscriptions of Caesarea Maritima: The Joint Expeditions to Caesarea Maritima Excavation Reports, vol. 5)(Ramat Hanadiv Excavations: Final Reports of the 1984-1998 Season)(Book Review)
April 1, 2004... The Greek and Latin Inscriptions of Caesarea Maritima. The Joint Expeditions to Caesarea Maritima Excavation Reports, vol. 5. By CLAYTON MILES LEHMANN and KENNETH G. HOLUM. Boston: AMERICAN SCHOOLS OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH, 2000. Ramat Hanadiv...