The Journal of the American Oriental Society articles from January 2005

The Journal of the American Oriental Society archives from January 2005

A Tuvan hero tale, with commentary, morphemic analysis, and translation.
January 1, 2005... INTRODUCTION Tuvan is a Turkic language spoken by both nomadic and sedentary populations in South Siberia, Western Mongolia, and the People's Republic of China. The Tuvan epic tale represents a living but endangered oral genre of...

Rituals that don't reach, punishments that don't impugn: Jia Yi on the exclusions from punishment and ritual.
January 1, 2005... The "Qu li" [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] chapter of the Li ji [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (Record of rituals) contains what may be the best-known ritual prescription that has come to us from ancient China: "Ritual does not extend down...

Relations between god and man in the Hurro-Hittite Song of Release.
January 1, 2005... INTRODUCTION Only a dim outline of the plot of the Hurro-Hittite Song of Release can be gleaned from the fragments that remain. The proemium (KBo 32.11) does tell us it is about the destruction of Ebla. The gods Tessub, Allani, and Ishara...

A new edition of the Epic of Gilgamesh.(The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: Introduction)(Book review)
January 1, 2005... A. R. George's new edition of the Epic of Gilgamesh is in every respect worthy of its great subject. No other work of Mesopotamian literature has attracted as much scholarly and non-scholarly interest. For well over a century, virtually every...

Divine actions, creation, and the human fate after death in 9th/15th-century Imami Shi'ite theology.
January 1, 2005... The 9th/15th century was an important period for Imami Shi'ite scholarship. Following the destruction of the Sunni caliphate in 656/1258 and the religiously tolerant period of the Il-Khans, Twelver Shi'ism had become more and more influential...

A new survey of the Indo-Aryan languages.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... In terms of the number of languages involved as well as in the length and quality of its historical documentation, the Indo-Aryan subfamily arguably constitutes the largest subfield in Indo-European studies. It is blessed in addition with an...

An encyclopedia of ancient languages.(The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages)(Book review)
January 1, 2005... In the last twenty-five years or so the discipline of linguistics has seen a huge outpouring of various encyclopedic compilations that seek to present and catalogue the fruits of a flourishing scholarly activity involving all aspects of human...

Correction to JAOS 124.4.(Correction notice)
January 1, 2005... On p. 677, five lines from bottom, of Gabriel Said Reynolds' article, "A Reflection on Two Qur'anic Words," the sentence reading: "Meanwhile, the Mu'tazilite doctrine of the un-createdness of the Qur'an discouraged scholars from finding...

The Letters of Khwaja 'Ubayd Allah Ahrar and His Associates.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... The Letters of Khwaja 'Ubayd Allah Ahrar and His Associates. Translated by JO-ANN GROSS, edited by ASOM URUNBAEV. Brill's Inner Asian Library, vol. 5. Leiden: BRILL, 2002. Pp. xxii + 542. $134 (cloth). Studies of Khwaja 'Ubayd Allah Ahrar...

The Formation of Hanbalism: Piety into Power.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... The Formation of Hanbalism: Piety into Power. By NIMROD HURVITZ. Culture and Civilization in the Middle East. London: ROUTLEDGECURZON, 2002. Pp. xi + 211. $125. Nimrod Hurvitz, in the book under review, examines the life and career of the...

Morality Tales: Law and Gender in the Ottoman Court of Aintab.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... Morality Tales: Law and Gender in the Ottoman Court of Aintab. By LESLIE PEIRCE. Berkeley and Los Angeles: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS, 2003. Pp. xx + 460, maps, illus. $29.95 (paper). In recent years, some historians of the Ottoman...

Islam and Social Policy.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... Islam and Social Policy. Edited by STEPHEN P. HEYNEMAN. Nashville: VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2004. Pp. 218. $24.95 (paper). At a time when the world's eye seems squarely focused on all things "Middle East" and all things "Muslim," this...

The Texture of the Divine: Imagination in Medieval Islamic and Jewish Thought.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... The Texture of the Divine: Imagination in Medieval Islamic and Jewish Thought. By AARON W. HUGHES. Bloomington: INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2004. Pp. x + 273. $39.95 (cloth). Among specialists in Islamic Studies, medievalists (mostly in the...

Byzantium Viewed by the Arabs.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... Byzantium Viewed by the Arabs. By NADIA MARIA EL CHEIKH. Harvard Middle Eastern Monographs, vol. 36. Cambridge, Mass.: HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2004. Pp. xi + 271. $19.95 (paper). Byzantium Viewed by the Arabs presents an exploration of...

Excavations at the Prehistoric Mound of Chogha Bonut, Khuzestan, Iran: Seasons of 1976/77, 1977/78, and 1996.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... Excavations at the Prehistoric Mound of Chogha Bonut, Khuzestan, Iran: Seasons of 1976/77, 1977/78, and 1996. By ABBAS ALIZADEH. Oriental Institute Publications, vol. 120. Chicago: THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE, 2003. Pp. xxi + 159, plates. $95. ...

Kallirrhoe ('En ez-Zara): Drittes Grabungskampagne des Deutschen Evangelischen Instituts fur Altertumswissenschaft des Heiligen Landes und Exkursionen in Sud-Peraa.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... Kallirrhoe ('En ez-Zara): Drittes Grabungskampagne des Deutschen Evangelischen Instituts fur Altertumswissenschaft des Heiligen Landes und Exkursionen in Sud-Peraa. By AUGUST STROBEL and STEFAN WIMMER. Abhandlungen des Deutschen...

The Invention of Cuneiform: Writing in Sumer.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... The Invention of Cuneiform: Writing in Sumer. By JEAN-JACQUES GLASSNER; tr. Zainab Bahrani and Marc Van De Mieroop. Baltimore: JOHNS HOPKINS UNIV. PRESS, 2003. Pp. xvii + 266, illus. $42. Johns Hopkins University Press has published what...

Style and Form in Old Babylonian Literary Texts.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... Style and Form in Old Babylonian Literary Texts. By NATHAN WASSERMAN. Cuneiform Monographs, vol. 27. Leiden: BRILL-STYX, 2003. Pp. xxvii + 239. In his book about style and form in Old Babylonian Akkadian literary texts Nathan Wasserman...

Gender and Aging in Mesopotamia: The Gilgamesh Epic and Other Ancient Literature.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... Gender and Aging in Mesopotamia: The Gilgamesh Epic and Other Ancient Literature. By RIVKAH HARRIS. Norman: UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA PRESS, 2003. Pp. xvi + 288. $24.95 (paper). By employing admittedly eclectic methods from the social sciences...

Democracy's Ancient Ancestors: Mari and Early Collective Government.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... Democracy's Ancient Ancestors: Mari and Early Collective Government. By DANIEL E. FLEMING. Cambridge: CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2004. Pp. xxvii + 395. $75. Choosing a misleading title for a work of literature has its purpose, as Umberto...

Vom Zweistromland zum Kupfergraben: Vorgeschichte und Entstehungsjahre (1899-1918) der Vorderasiatischen Abteilung der Berliner Museen vor fach- und kulturpolitischen Hintergrunden.(Wiedererstehendes Assur: 100 Jahre deutsche Ausgrabungen in Assyrien, Die Nachfolger der Exegeten: Deutschsprachige Erforschung des Vorderen Orients in der ersten Halfte des 20. Jahrhunderts)(Book review)
January 1, 2005... Vom Zweistromland zum Kupfergraben: Vorgeschichte und Entstehungsjahre (1899-1918) der Vorderasiatischen Abteilung der Berliner Museen vor fach- und kulturpolitischen Hintergrunden. By NICOLA CRUSEMANN. Beiheft des Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen,...

Beholders of Divine Secrets: Mysticism and Myth in the Hekhalot and Merkavah Literature.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... Beholders of Divine Secrets: Mysticism and Myth in the Hekhalot and Merkavah Literature. By VITA DAPHNA ARBEL. Albany: STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS, 2003. Pp. xii + 250. $71.50 (cloth); $23.95 (paper). Beholders of Divine Secrets is a...

Der Amun-Re Hymnus des P. Boulaq 17 (P. Kairo CG 58038).(Book review)
January 1, 2005... Der Amun-Re Hymnus des P. Boulaq 17 (P. Kairo CG 58038). By MARIA MICHELA LUISELLI. Kleine agyptische Texte, vol. 14 Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 2004. Pp. xxii + 109, plates. [euro]38.00 (paper). The long hymn to Amun preserved in...

Die Lehre Ptahhoteps und die Tugenden der agyptischen Welt.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... Die Lehre Ptahhoteps und die Tugenden der agyptischen Welt. By FRIEDRICH JUNGE. Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis, vol. 193. Freiburg, Switzerland: UNIVERSITATSVERLAG, 2003. Pp. 286. FS85. Returning to a well-known Egyptian text, Friedrich Junge...

Zephaniah: A Commentary.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... Zephaniah: A Commentary. By MARVIN A. SWEENEY. Hermeneia, Minneapolis: FORTRESS PRESS, 2003. Pp. xviii + 228. $47. The ample format of the Hermeneia series lets Sweeney present a truly comprehensive treatment of Zephaniah, integrating...

La route de Myos Hormos: L'armee romaine dans le desert Orientale d'Egypte.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... La route de Myos Hormos: L'armee romaine dans le desert Orientale d'Egypte. Edited by HELENE CUVIGNY. Fouilles de l'IFAO, vol. 48/1-2. Two volumes. Cairo: INSTITUT FRANCAIS D'ARCHEOLOGIE ORIENTALE, 2003. Pp. xliv + 688, illus. (paper). ...

Untersuchungen zur Gottesvorstellung in der alteren Anonymliteratur des Pancaratra.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... Untersuchungen zur Gottesvorstellung in der alteren Anonymliteratur des Pancaratra. By ANDREAS BOCK-RAMING. Beitrage zur Indologie, vol. 34. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ, 2002. Pp. vi + 405, plates. [euro]99. Pancaratra is an important Hindu...

Courtly Culture and Political Life in Early Medieval India.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... Courtly Culture and Political Life in Early Medieval India. By DAUD ALI. Cambridge Studies in Indian History and Society, vol. 10. Cambridge: CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2004. Pp. xx + 296. $75. This ambitious and persuasively written work...

Crisis and Knowledge: The Upanishadic Experience and Storytelling.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... Crisis and Knowledge: The Upanishadic Experience and Storytelling. By YOHANAN GRINSHPON. New Delhi: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2003. Pp. xii + 160. Rs. 395. Upanisadic narratives have often been relegated to a subordinate position in the...

'Gos Lo tsa ba gZhon nu dpal's Commentary on the Ratnagotravibhagavyakhya (Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos kyi 'grel bshad de kho na nyid rab tu gsal ba'i me long).(Book review)
January 1, 2005... 'Gos Lo tsa ba gZhon nu dpal's Commentary on the Ratnagotravibhagavyakhya (Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos kyi 'grel bshad de kho na nyid rab tu gsal ba'i me long). Edited by KLAUS-DIETER MATHES. Nepal Research Centre Publications,...

Essays on Tang and pre-Tang China.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... Essays on Tang and pre-Tang China. By EDWIN G. PULLEYBLANK. Variorum Collected Studies Series. Burlington, Vt.: ASHGATE PUBLISHING, 2001. Pp. xi + 286. $124.95. The Ashgate Variorum Series provides a distinct service by reprinting between...

Court Culture and Literature in Early China.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... Court Culture and Literature in Early China. By DAVID R KNECHTGES. Variorum Collected Studies Series. Burlington, Vt.: ASHGATE PUBLISHING, 2002. Pp. xiii + 280. $124.95. Although David R. Knechtges's ongoing translation of the...

An Outline of Islamic Architecture.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... An Outline of Islamic Architecture. By RAFIQUE ALI JAIRAZBHOY. Rpt. Oxford: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2003. Pp. 216, maps, illus. $19.95 (paper). Oxford University Press's recent reprint of R. A. Jairazbhoy's An Outline of Islamic...

Ume Tabuti "I giorni favorevoli.".(Book review)
January 1, 2005... UME TABUTI "I giorni favorevoli." By MARIA CRISTINA CASABURI. History of the Ancient Near East, Studies, vol. 8. Padua: SARGON EDITRICE, 2003. Pp. vi + 152, plates. (Paper). The texts studied in this volume deal with months and days,...

Yeki bud, yeki nabud: Essays on the Archaeology of Iran in Honor of William M. Sumner.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... Yeki bud, yeki nabud: Essays on the Archaeology of Iran in Honor of William M. Sumner. Edited by NAOMI F. MILLER and KAMYAR ABDI. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, Monograph vol. 28. Los Angeles: COTSEN INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF...

Questions de linguistique semitique: racine et lexeme: histoire de la recherche 1940-2000.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... Questions de linguistique semitique: racine et lexeme: histoire de la recherche 1940-2000. By GREGORIO DEL OLMO LETE. Paris: JEAN MAISONNEUVE, 2003. Pp. 226. This book, based on a bibliographically rich course given by the author at the...

Roman Wives, Roman Widows. The Appearance of New Women and the Pauline Communities.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... Roman Wives, Roman Widows. The Appearance of New Women and the Pauline Communities. By BRUCE W. WINTER. Grand Rapids, Mich.: WM. B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING Co., 2003. Pp. xvii + 236. $26 (paper). A significant scholar in both ancient history...

Flavius Philostratus: On Heroes.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... Flavius Philostratus: On Heroes. Translated by JENNIFER K. BERENSON MACLEAN and ELLEN BRAD-SHAW AITKIN. Writings from the Greco-Roman World, vol. 3. Atlanta: SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE, 2003. Pp. 1xxxv + 187. $24.95 (paper). The...

Jerusalem in Bible and Archaeology: The First Temple Period.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... Jerusalem in Bible and Archaeology: The First Temple Period. Edited by ANDREW G. VAUGHN and ANN E. KILLEBREW. Society of Biblical Literature Symposium Series, vol. 18. Atlanta: SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE, 2003. Pp. xiii + 510. $49.95...

Rechtsgeschichtliches zur Ackerverpachtung auf Tempelland nach demotischen Formular.(Book review)
January 1, 2005... Rechtsgeschichtliches zur Ackerverpachtung auf Tempelland nach demotischen Formular. By TYCHO QUIRINUS MRISCH. Veroffentlichungen der Kommission fur Antike Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 10. Vienna: OSTERREICHISCHE AKADEMIE DER WISSEN-SCHAFTEN, 2003....

Books received.
January 1, 2005... I. Ancient Near East ACKERMAN, SUSAN. When Heroes Love: The Ambiguity of Eros in the Stories of Gilgamesh and David. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 2005. Pp. xvi + 353. $45. ALBENDA, PAULINE. Ornamental Wall Painting in the Art of the...