The Journal of the American Oriental Society articles from April 2006

The Journal of the American Oriental Society archives from April 2006

The Negev "fortresses" in context: reexamining the "fortress" phenomenon in light of general settlement processes of the eleventh-tenth centuries B.C.E.
April 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION The Negev "fortresses" are a group of about sixty enclosed structures that have been discovered over the years in the Negev highlands. The "fortresses" have received a great deal of scholarly attention since they were first...

The priestess and the king: the divine kingship of Su-Sin of Ur.
April 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION The discovery of an administrative tablet of the Ur III period housed in the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the University of Michigan offers an unlikely but welcome opportunity to revisit briefly the topic of divine kingship...

A Theravada code of conduct for good Buddhists: the Upasakamanussavinaya.(Critical essay)
April 1, 2006... The purpose of this article is to provide a description of the Upasakamanussavinaya, a Pali text noted with interest by several scholars but not yet described in any detail in the secondary literature. (1) On the basis of this, I shall also...

No going back, or, youthful bravado at the Baochan Mountain Cave.
April 1, 2006... Wang Anshi's travelogue about the Baochan Mountain Cave is best known as a stern plea to ignore the throng and explore our surroundings. Pithy and plain, almost devoid of description, it has been anthologized, translated, annotated, and held up...

Shao Yong's (1011-77) "Great Chant on Observing Weiqi": an archetype of Neo-Confucian poetry.(Critical essay)
April 1, 2006... Weiqi [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (or go), a board game originating in China, has inspired many poets throughout Chinese history. Among the numerous weiqi poems, Shao Yong's [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (1011-77) "Great Chant on...

The last of the Nishapuri school of tafsir: al-Wahidi (d. 468/1076) and his significance in the history of Qur'anic exegesis.(Ahmad al-Wahidi al-Naysaburi)
April 1, 2006... When asked why he would not write a Qur'an commentary, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 505/1111) is said to have replied, "What our teacher al-Wahidi wrote suffices." This story was first reported by al-Yafi'i (d. 768/1367), who did not divulge the...

Archaeology and nation-building in Iraq.(Reclaiming a Plundered Past: Archaeology and Nation Building in Modern Iraq)(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Reclaiming a Plundered Past belongs to a fairly new genre of history that examines the use of archaeology in the creation of nationalism (see p. 323, n. 14 for references). In this study, Magnus Bernhardsson, a historian of modern Iraq, has...

A fresh look at Sabaic.(Untersuchungen zur Phonologie und Morphologie des Sabaischen)(Book review)
April 1, 2006... In recent years, Norbert Nebes and Peter Stein have been doing an excellent job in fostering a better understanding of Sabaic grammar. Particularly worthy of mention here is the succinct but very well prepared summary of grammar in the...

Die Erzahlung des Wenamun: Ein Literaturwerk im Spannungsfeld von Politik, Geschichte und Religion.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Die Erzahlung des Wenamun: Ein Literaturwerk im Spannungsfeld von Politik, Geschichte und Religion. By BERND U. SCHIPPER. Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis, vol. 209. Freiburg: ACADEMIC PRESS, 2005. Pp. xi + 383, plates. FS118. This volume...

Am Anfang war Agypten: Die Geschichte der pharaonischer Hochkultur von der Fruhzeit bis zum Ende des Neuen Reiches, ca. 4000-1070 v. Chr.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Am Anfang war Agypten: Die Geschichte der pharaonischer Hochkultur von der Fruhzeit bis zum Ende des Neuen Reiches, ca. 4000-1070 v. Chr. By MICHAEL HOVELER-MULLER. Kulturgeschichte der Antiken Welt, vol. 101. Mainz: VERLAG PHILIPP VON ZABERN,...

Les Inscriptions coptes et grecques du temple d'Hathor a Deir al-Medina.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Les Inscriptions coptes et grecques du temple d'Hathor a Deir al-Medina. By CHANTAL HEURTEL. Bibliotheque d'etudes coptes, vol. 16. Cairo: INSTITUT FRANCAIS D'ARCHEOLOGIE ORIENTALE, 2004. Pp. 206, illus. (paper). Near the ruins of the...

Neo-Sumerian Texts from Ur in the British Museum: Epigraphical and Archaeological Catalogue of an Unpublished Corpus of Texts and Fragments.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Neo-Sumerian Texts from Ur in the British Museum: Epigraphical and Archaeological Catalogue of an Unpublished Corpus of Texts and Fragments. By FRANCO D'AGOSTINO, FRANCESCO POMPONIO, AND ROMINA LAURITO. Nisaba, vol. 5. Messina: DI.SC.A.M.,...

Akten des IV. Internationalen Kongresses fur Hethitologie Wurzburg, 4.-8. Oktober 1999.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Akten des IV. Internationalen Kongresses fur Hethitologie Wurzburg, 4.-8. Oktober 1999. Edited by GERNOT WILHELM. Studien zu den Bogazkoy-Texten, vol. 45. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 2001. Pp. xxiv + 759, 18 plates. [euro]88. This...

The Earliest Text of the Hebrew Bible: The Relationship between the Masoretic Text and the Hebrew Base of the Septuagint Reconsidered.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... The Earliest Text of the Hebrew Bible: The Relationship between the Masoretic Text and the Hebrew Base of the Septuagint Reconsidered. Edited by ADRIAN SCHENKER. Septuagint and Cognate Studies, vol. 52. Atlanta: SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE,...

The Dead Sea Scrolls in Perspective.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... The Dead Sea Scrolls in Perspective. By JOHN C. TREVER. North Richmond Hills, Texas: BIBAL PRESS, 2004. Pp. xv + 63 plates. $19.95 (paper). The stated aim of John C. Trever's The Dead Sea Scrolls in Perspective is to present the author's...

Die Metallindustrie Mesopotamiens von den Anfangen bis zum 2. Jahrtausend v Chr.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Die Metallindustrie Mesopotamiens von den Anfangen bis zum 2. Jahrtausend v Chr. Edited by HARALD HAUPTMANN and ERNST PERNICKA. Orient-Archaologie, vol. 3. Rahden Westphalia: VERLAG MARIE LEIDORF, 2004. Pp. xiii + 149, plates. The...

Rad und Wagen: Der Ursprung einer Innovation: Wagen im Vorderen Orient und Europa.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Rad und Wagen: Der Ursprung einer Innovation: Wagen im Vorderen Orient und Europa. Edited by MAMOUN FANSA and STEFAN BURMEISTER. Beiheft der Archaologische Mitteilungen aus Nordwestdeutschland, vol. 40. Mainz: PHILIPP VON ZABERN, 2004. Pp. 531,...

Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction. By BENJAMIN W. FORTSON IV. Blackwell Textbooks in Linguistics, vol. 19. Oxford: BLACKWELL, 2004. Pp. xviii + 468, illus. $44.95 (paper). If you ever thought about teaching an...

Arabische Dialektgeographie: Eine Einfuhrung.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Arabische Dialektgeographie: Eine Einfuhrung. By PETER BEHNSTEDT and MANFRED WOIDICH. Leiden: BRILL, 2005. Pp. xviii + 269, maps. $133. This book has long been a desideratum--an encyclopedic reference work on Arabic dialect geography...

Dialect, Culture, and Society in Eastern Arabia, vol. 2: Ethnographic Texts.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Dialect, Culture, and Society in Eastern Arabia, vol. 2: Ethnographic Texts. By CLIVE HOLES. Handbook of Oriental Studies, vol. I, 51/2. Leiden: BRILL, 2005. Pp. lxi + 347. $150. Volume 1 of this work, the Glossary, appeared in 2001; volume...

Studies in Semitic Grammaticalization.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Studies in Semitic Grammaticalization. By AARON D. RUBIN. Harvard Semitic Series, vol. 57. Winona Lake, Ind.: EISENBRAUNS, 2005. Pp. xvii + 177. $32.95. This book is a most welcome addition to the literature on grammaticalization, which...

The Places Where Men Pray Together: Cities in Islamic Lands, Seventh through the Tenth Centuries.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... The Places Where Men Pray Together: Cities in Islamic Lands, Seventh through the Tenth Centuries. By PAUL WHEATLEY. Chicago: UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS, 2001. Pp. xvii + 572. $65. The last page of the epilogue of this weighty volume is...

A Muslim Theologian in the Sectarian Milieu: 'Abd al-Jabbar and the Critique of Christian Origins.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... A Muslim Theologian in the Sectarian Milieu: 'Abd al-Jabbar and the Critique of Christian Origins. By GABRIEL SAID REYNOLDS. Islamic History and Civilization. Studies and Texts, 56. Leiden: BRILL, 2004. Pp. xv + 297. $151. The subject of...

Messianic Hopes and Mystical Visions: The Nurbakhshiya between Medieval and Modern Islam.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Messianic Hopes and Mystical Visions: The Nurbakhshiya between Medieval and Modern Islam. By SHAHZAD BASHIR. Columbia, South Carolina: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA PRESS, 2003. Pp. xxxvi + 328, illus., tables. $49.95. It is especially...

Relics of the Buddha.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Relics of the Buddha. By JOHN S. STRONG. Princeton: PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2004. Pp. xxii + 290. $39.50. Relic worship is a form of religiosity that has recently attracted special attention. Several reasons for this may be suggested,...

Embodying the Dharma; Buddhist Relic Veneration in Asia.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Embodying the Dharma; Buddhist Relic Veneration in Asia. Edited by DAVID GERMANO and KEVIN TRAINOR. Albany: STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS, 2004. Pp. 201. $40. Studies on Buddhist relics have been issued abundantly in recent years. We...

Buddhist Monks and Business Matters: Still More Papers on Monastic Buddhism in India.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Buddhist Monks and Business Matters: Still More Papers on Monastic Buddhism in India. By GREGORY SCHOPEN. Honolulu: UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII PRESS, 2004. Pp. xvii + 422. $29. Buddhist Monks and Business Matters, a selection of Schopen's papers...

The Avesta: A Lexico-Statistical Analysis (Direct and Reverse Indexes, Hapax Legomena and Frequency Counts).(Book review)
April 1, 2006... The Avesta: A Lexico-Statistical Analysis (Direct and Reverse Indexes, Hapax Legomena and Frequency Counts). By RAIOMUND DOCTOR. Acta Iranica, vol. 41. Louvain: PEETERS, 2004. Pp. 666. [euro]105; $116. The aim of this book, as stated in the...

Studien zur Musikarchaologie, IV.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Studien zur Musikarchaologie, IV. Edited by ELLEN HICKMANN and RICARDO EICHMANN. Orient-Archaologie, vol. 15. Rahden, Westphalia: VERLAG MARIE LEIDORF, 2004. Pp. xxvi + 583, illus. This impressive volume reports on a conference and at the...

A Coptic Grammar.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... A Coptic Grammar. By BENTLEY LAYTON. Second Edition, revised and expanded. Porta Linguarum Orientalium, vol. 20. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 2004. Pp. xxi + 544. [euro]78. The publication of Bentley Layton's Sahidic Coptic grammar in...

Kulturkonflikte im Vorderen Orient.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Kulturkonflikte im Vorderen Orient. Edited by KLAUS S. FREYBERGER, AGNES HENNING, and HENNER VON HESBERG. Deutsches Archaologisches Institut, Orient-Abteilung, Orient-Archaologie, vol. 11. Rahden, Westfallen: VERLAG MARIE LEIDORF, 2003. Pp. vii...

Ancient Alexandria between Greece and Egypt.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Ancient Alexandria between Greece and Egypt. Edited by W. V. HARRIS and GIOVANNI RUFFINI. Columbia Studies in the Classical Tradition, vol. 26. Leiden: BRILL, 2004. Pp. xx + 296, plates. $99. This new volume of the Columbia Studies in the...

Biblical Interpretation at Qumran.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Biblical Interpretation at Qumran. Edited by MATTHIAS HENZE. Studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature. Grand Rapids, Mich.: WM. B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING Co., 2005. Pp. xiii + 214. $25 (paper). This very useful volume contains...

Kition dans les textes: Testimonia litteraires et epigraphiques et Corpus des inscriptions.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Kition dans les textes: Testimonia litteraires et epigraphiques et Corpus des inscriptions. By MARGUERITE YON. Kition-Bamboula, vol. 5. Paris: ADPF-EDITIONS ERC, 2004. Pp. 380, illus. [euro]44 (paper). This fine volume continues the...