The Journal of the American Oriental Society articles from July 2000

The Journal of the American Oriental Society archives from July 2000

THE VERBAL SYSTEM OF THE JEWISH NEO-ARAMAIC DIALECT OF ARBEL.
July 1, 2000... This article examines the syntax of the verb in the neo-Aramaic dialect of the Jews of Arbel (Iraqi Kurdistan). This dialect belongs to the group known as Northeastern Neo-Aramaic (NENA). It exhibits a number of features in its verbal system...

ABU MUSLIM'S CONQUEST OF KHURASAN: PRELIMINARIES AND STRATEGY IN A CONFUSING PASSAGE OF THE AKHBAR AL-DAWLAH AL-[ABBASIYYAH.sup.[subset]].(bibliography included)
July 1, 2000... The Akhbar al-dawlah al-[Abbasiyyah.sup.[subset]] is a major source of information in any understanding of the [Abbasid.sup.[subset]] revolution. However, one critically important passage in it that describes the initial eruption and the steps...

UNDERSTANDING ANCIENT CHINESE SOCIETY: APPROACHES TO REN [CHINESE CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] AND MIN [CHINESE CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII].(bibliography included)
July 1, 2000... The study of ancient Chinese society is fraught with problems and issues and generally hampered by a lack of awareness that many basic terms are in fact still imperfectly understood. The meanings of key designations for social groups have...

TATTOO IN EARLY CHINA.(bibliography included)
July 1, 2000... The paper introduces various modes of tattoo as described in several types of pre-modem Chinese texts. Although the study takes a widely cross-temporal view, covering texts from the Zhou to the Ming dynasties, its organizing focus is the...

BABYLONIAN DIPLOMACY IN THE AMARNA LETTERS.(bibliography included)
July 1, 2000... Modern commentators view the pattern of negotiations in the Amarna Letters as reflecting an imbalance between Egypt and the Asiatic great powers. The Asiatic kings try unsuccessfully to wrest gold and status from the Pharaoh, and in doing so...

SUMERIAN PROVERBS IN THEIR CURRICULAR CONTEXT.(bibliography included)
July 1, 2000... Bendt Alster has published a two-volume edition of all known Old Babylonian Sumerian proverbs. This publication provides an opportunity to look at the proverbs as a corpus and to investigate their actual use. Proverbs are mostly found on school...

COMMENTARY AND XIAOSHUO FICTION.(bibliography included)(Review)
July 1, 2000... David L. Rolston's latest work on the commentary accompanying traditional xiaoshuo narratives brings out the need to reexamine our understanding of how the Chinese used to write fiction. But because he does not challenge current assumptions of...

INDIA AS A PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEM: MCKIM MARRIOTT AND THE COMPARATIVE ENTERPRISE.
July 1, 2000... McKim Marriott's recent efforts to formulate a theory of Indian civilization--which have been seen largely in rather narrow and anthropological terms--itself invite comparison with the works of other theorists of culture, notably Louis Dumont...

ASSYRIAN PROPHECIES, THE ASSYRIAN TREE, AND THE MESOPOTAMIAN ORIGINS OF JEWISH MONOTHEISM, GREEK PHILOSOPHY, CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY, GNOSTICISM, AND MUCH MORE.(bibliography included)(Review)
July 1, 2000... Simo Parpola's Assyrian Prophecies is the latest and longest presentation of the author's theory that much of Judeo-Christian theology and Greek philosophy can already be found in first-millennium B.C. Assyrian sources. This review article,...

Zippalanda and Ankuwa Once More.(author defends evaluation of historic site locations)(bibliography included)
July 1, 2000... Despite recent critical remarks to the contrary by R. L. Gorny in this journal, the Hittite town of Zippalanda is indeed to be identified with the modem site of Alaca Hoyuk, and ancient Ankuwa is probably to be equated with Eskiyapar. Some...

The Politics of Households in Ottoman Egypt: The Rise of the Qazdaglis.(Review)
July 1, 2000... The Politics of Households in Ottoman Egypt: The Rise of the Qazdaglis. By JANE HATHAWAY. Cambridge: CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1997. Pp. xvii + 198. Jane Hathaway has written an excellent book that puts the entire field of Middle Eastern...

The Persian Presence in the Islamic World.(Review)
July 1, 2000... The Persian Presence in the Islamic World. Edited by RICHARD B. HOVANNISIAN and GEORGES SABAGH. Thirteenth Giorgio Levi della Vida Conference. Cambridge: CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1998. Pp. xii + 267, 8 plates. This volume represents the...

In Praise of Prambanan: Dutch Essays on the Loro Jonggrang Temple Complex.(Review)
July 1, 2000... In Praise of Prambanan: Dutch Essays on the Loro Jonggrang Temple Complex. Edited by ROY E. JORDAAN. Translation Series, vol. 26. Leiden: KITLV PRESS, 1996. Pp. vi + 253 + plates. HFl 50. Roy Jordaan has been forging a name for himself as...

Society, Economics, and Politics in Pre-Angkor Cambodia: The 7th-8th Centuries.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Society, Economics, and Politics in Pre-Angkor Cambodia: The 7th-8th Centuries. MICHAEL VICKERY. Tokyo: THE TOYO BUNKO 1998. Pp. 486, 5 maps, 4 plates, 3 tables, bibliography. [yen]5000. Among the handful of Western-trained historians...

Le pitrkalpa dii Harivamsa: Traduction, analyse, interpretation.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Le pitrkalpa dii Harivamsa: Traduction, analyse, interpretation. By MARCELLE SAINOON. Sainte-Foy, Quebec: LES PRESSES DE L'UNIVERSITE LAVAL, 1998. Pp. xi + 380. In her 1994 Ph.D. dissertation at the Universite Laval, Marcelle Saindon...

Syntaktische Analyse von Verbalpartizip und Infinitiv im modernen Tamil: Unter Berucksichtigung synthetischer und analytischer Strukturen und des Verbalaspekts.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Syntaktische Analyse von Verbalpartizip und Infinitiv im modernen Tamil: Unter Berucksichtigung synthetischer und analytischer Strukturen und des Verbalaspekts. By JOSEF DEIGNER. Beitrage zur Kenntis sudasiatischer Sprachen und Literaturen,...

Die Sprache von Nisheygram im afghanischen Hindukusch.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Die Sprache von Nisheygram im afghanischen Hindukusch. By ALMUTH DEGENER. Neuindische Studien, vol. 14. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 1998. Pp. ix + 588. DM 114. The Nuristani (formerly known as Kafiri) languages of the isolated valleys...

Initiation pratique a l'etude du sanskrit bouddhique.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Initiation pratique a l'etude du sanskrit bouddhique. By BORIS OGUIBENINE. Collection Connaissance des langues. Paris: PICARD EDITEUR, 1996. Pp. 274. FF 280. This book is offered as a more comprehensive and up-to-date alternative to the...

Paninis Grammatik: Herausgegeben, Ubersetzt, Erlautert und mit verschiedenen Indices Versehen. Abteilung und II (in one volume).(Review)
July 1, 2000... Paninis Grammatik: Herausgegeben, Ubersetzt, Erlautert und mit verschiedenen Indices Versehen. Abteilung und II (in one volume). Reprint edition. By OTTO BOHTLINGK. Delhi: MOTILAL BANARSIDASS, 1998. Pp. xxxix + 480 + 358. Rs 995. This...

Contesting Interpretations of the Sikh Tradition;.Historical Perspectives on Sikh Identity.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Contesting Interpretations of the Sikh Tradition. By J. S. GREWAL. New Delhi: MANOHAR PUBLICATIONS, 1998. Pp. 315. Rs 500, $30. Historical Perspectives on Sikh Identity. By J. S. GREWAL. Patiala: PUNJABI UNIVERSITY, 1997. Pp. x + 101. Rs...

The Samdesarasaka of Abdul Rahman.(Review)
July 1, 2000... The Samdesarasaka of Abdul Rahman. Translated by C. M. MAYRHOFER. Delhi: MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS, 1998. Pp. xvi + 259, indices. Rs 400. C. M. Mayrhofer has rendered a signal service to the field of Apabhramsa studies and to scholars...

Giriraj Kisor's Yatraem: A Hindi Novel Analysed.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Giriraj Kisor's Yatraem: A Hindi Novel Analysed. By THEO DAMSTEEGT. Gonda Indological Studies, vol. IV. Groningen: EGBERT FORSTEN, 1997. Pp. xiv + 354. HFl 110. The book under review is one of the few that have undertaken to analyze a...

The Poetics of Decadence: Chinese Poetry of the Southern Dynasties and Late Tang Periods.(Review)
July 1, 2000... The Poetics of Decadence: Chinese Poetry of the Southern Dynasties and Late Tang Periods. By FUSHENG WU. SUNY Series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture. Albany: STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS, 1998. Pp. 227. $23.95 (paper). In his work...

Semantisme et classification dans l'ecriture chinoise: Les systemes de classement des caracteres par cles du Shuowen jiezi au Kangxi zidian.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Semantisme et classification dans l'ecriture chinoise: Les systemes de classement des caracteres par cles du Shuowen jiezi au Kangxi zidian. By FRANCOISE BOTTERO. Memoires de 1'Institut des hautes etudes chinoises, vol. 37. Paris: COLLEGE DE...

Wandering at Ease in the Zhuangzi.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Wandering at Ease in the Zhuangzi. Edited by ROGER T. AMES, SUNY Series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture. Albany: STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS, 1998. Pp. 239. $24.95 (paper). This is a collection of eleven articles by various...

TANG HOUQI WUDAI SONGCHU DUNHUANG SENGNI DE SHEHUI SHENGHUO.(Review)
July 1, 2000... TANG HOUQI WUDAI SONGCHU DUNHUANG SENGNI DE SHEHUI SHENGHUO [CHINESE CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (The Social Life of Monks and Nuns at Dunhuang in the Late Tang, Five-Dynasties Period, and Early Song). By HAO CHUNWEN [CHINESE...

Comparative Semitic Linguistics: A Manual.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Comparative Semitic Linguistics: A Manual. By PATRICK R. BENNETT. Winona Lake, Ind.: EISENBRAUNS, 1998. Pp. xii + 269, maps, illus. $29.50. The author of this work has undertaken a worthy task. His subject is important, underworked, and...

Archives and Libraries in the Ancient Near East 1500-300 B.C.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Archives and Libraries in the Ancient Near East 1500-300 B.C. By OLOF PEDERSEN. Bethesda, Md.: CDL PRESS, 1998. Pp. xxii + 291, maps. $42. Olof Pedersen has dedicated several books to archives and libraries discovered in the city of Assur...

Cemetery and Society in the Aegean Bronze Age.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Cemetery and Society in the Aegean Bronze Age. Edited by K. BRANIGAN. Sheffield Studies in Aegean Archaeology, vol. 1. Sheffield: SHEFFIELD ACADEMIC PRESS, 1998. Pp. 173, maps, illus. $21.50. This is a mixed bag, typical of an edited...

Economie antique: Prix et formation des prix dons les economies antiques.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Economie antique: Prix et formation des prix dons les economies antiques. Edited by JEAN ANDREAU, PIERRE BRIANT, and RAYMOND DESCAT. Entretiens d'archeologie et d'histoire, vol. 3. Toulouse: SAINT-BERTRAND-DE-COMMINGES, 1997. Pp. 412. This...

Joshua: A Commentary.(Review)
July 1, 2000... By RICHARD D. NELSON. The Old Testament Library. Louisville, Ky.: WESTMINSTER/JOHN KNOX PRESS, 1997. Pp. xviii + 310. This learned commentary is remarkably thorough in scope, yet written in a lucid, concise and enjoyable style. A...

The Kings-Isaiah and Kings-Jeremiah Recensions.(Review)
July 1, 2000... The Kings-Isaiah and Kings-Jeremiah Recensions. By RAYMOND F. PERSON. Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur die alttesta-mentliche Wissenschaft, vol. 252. Berlin: WALTER DE GRUYTER, 1997. Pp. viii + 127. DM 98. This volume comprises a short...

The Development of incense Cult in Israel.(Review)
July 1, 2000... The Development of incense Cult in Israel. By PAUL HEGER. Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, vol. 245. Berlin: WALTER DE GRUYTER, 1997. Pp. ix + 314. DM 188. This book, originally the author's doctoral...

When Aseneth Met Joseph: A Late Antique Tale of the Biblical Patriarch and His Egyptian Wife, Reconsidered.(Review)
July 1, 2000... When Aseneth Met Joseph: A Late Antique Tale of the Biblical Patriarch and His Egyptian Wife, Reconsidered. By ROSS SHEPARD KRAEMER. New York: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1998. Pp. xviii + 365. $60. Aseneth research is enjoying a renaissance....

Mond, Stier, und Kult am Stadttor: Die Stele von Betsaida (et-Tell).(Review)
July 1, 2000... Mond, Stier, und Kult am Stadttor: Die Stele von Betsaida (et-Tell). By MONIKA BERNETT and OTHMAR KEEL. Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis, vol. 161. Gottingen: VANDENHOECK & RUPRECHT, 1998. Pp. vii + 175, illustrations. FS 56. In 1997 during...

Arabic Grammars of Turkic.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Arabic Grammars of Turkic. By ROBERT ERMERS. Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics. vol. 28. Leiden: E. J. BRILL, 1999. Pp. xv + 435. HFI 199, $117.25. "This study discusses the way Arabic grammarians analyse Turkic languages" (p....

Le livre prophetique d'Osee: Texto-Bibliographie du [XX.sup.eme] siecle.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Le livre prophetique d'Osee: Texto-Bibliographie du [XX.sup.eme] siecle. By JEAN-GEORGES HEINTZ and LISON MILLOT. Travaux du Groupe de recherches et d'etudes semitiques anciennes de l'Universite des sciences humaines de Strasbourg, vol. 5....

Berenike 1996: Report on the 1996 Excavations at Berenike (Egyptian Red Sea Coast) and the Survey of the Eastern Desert.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Berenike 1996: Report on the 1996 Excavations at Berenike (Egyptian Red Sea Coast) and the Survey of the Eastern Desert. Edited by STEVEN E. SIDEBOTHAM and WILLEMINA Z. WENDRICH. CNWS Publications Special Series, vol. 3. Leiden: RESEARCH SCHOOL...

Die aramaischen Inschriften aus Assur, Hatra und dem ubrigen Ostmesopotamien (datiert 44 v. Chr. his 238 n. Chr.).(Review)
July 1, 2000... Die aramaischen Inschriften aus Assur, Hatra und dem ubrigen Ostmesopotamien (datiert 44 v. Chr. his 238 n. Chr.). By KLAUS BEYER. Gottingen: VANDENHOECK & RUPRECHT, 1998. Pp. 191. The book presents a catalogue of about six hundred...

Konkordanz der Keilschrifttafeln III/1: Die Texte der Grabung 1933, 1/c-13000/c.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Konkordanz der Keilschrifttafeln III/1: Die Texte der Grabung 1933, 1/c-13000/c. By SILVIN KOSAK. Studien zu den Bogazkoy-Texten, vol. 42. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 1998. Pp. xii + 281. DM 68. This volume is the latest installment of...

A Reconstruction of the Assyro-Babylonian God-Lists, AN: [d.sup.A-nu-um] and AN: Anu sa ameli.(bibliography included)(Review)
July 1, 2000... A Reconstruction of the Assyro-Babylonian God-Lists, AN: [d.sup.A-nu-um] and AN: Anu sa ameli. By R. L. LITKE. Texts from the Babylonian Collection, vol. 3. Bethesda, Md.: CDL PRESS, 1998. Pp. xv + 281, 47 plates. $55. It is unusual for a...

The Sanskrit Language: An Introductory Grammar and Reader.(bibliography included)(Review)
July 1, 2000... By WALTER HARDING MAURER. Two volumes. Richmond, Surrey: CURZON PRESS, 1995. Pp. [x] + 830. $75. The author of this book wisely commences by posing the question, "Why... is it desirable to write yet another textbook to join this long line...

Kalatatvakosa: A Lexicon of Fundamental Concepts of the Indian Arts, vol. 4: Manifestation of Nature--Srsti Vistara.(bibliography included)(Review)
July 1, 2000... Kalatatvakosa: A Lexicon of Fundamental Concepts of the Indian Arts, vol. 4: Manifestation of Nature--Srsti Vistara. Edited by ADVAITAVADINI KAUL and SUKUMAR CHATTOPADHYAY. New Delhi: INDIRA GANDHI NATIONAL CENTRE FOR THE ARTS; Delhi: MOTILAL...

Paul Thieme: Kleine Schriften, vol. II.(bibliography included)(Review)
July 1, 2000... Paul Thieme: Kleine Schriften, vol. II. Edited by RENATE SOHNEN-THIEME. Glassenapp-Stiftung, vol. 5.2. Stuttgart: FRANZ STEINER VERLAG, 1995. Pp. ix + (815-1278). DM 124; OS 967. This collection of Thieme's articles (one or two not...

Sir William Jones: Volume Commemorating the Bicentenary of His Death (1794-1994).(bibliography included)(Review)
July 1, 2000... Sir William Jones: Volume Commemorating the Bicentenary of His Death (1794-1994). Edited by K. PADDAYA et al. Bulletin of the Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, vols. 54-55 (1994-95). Pune: S. T. BARNE, REGISTRAR, 1996. Pp....

The Sun God's Daughter and King Samvarana: Tapati-Samvaranam and the Kutiyattam Drama Tradition (Text with Vivarana Commentary).(Review)
July 1, 2000... The Sun God's Daughter and King Samvarana: Tapati-Samvaranam and the Kutiyattam Drama Tradition (Text with Vivarana Commentary). Edited by N. P UNNI and translated by BRUCE M. SULLIVAN and N. P. UNNI. Delhi: NAG PUBLISHERS, 1996. Pp. 320. Rs....

Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction.(text in French)(Review)
July 1, 2000... Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction. By DAMIEN KEOWN. Oxford: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1996. Pp. 141. $7.95 (paper). Les Philosophies bouddhistes. By EMANUEL GUILLON. Que sais-je?, no. 3003. Paris: PRESSES UNIVERSITAIRES DE FRANCE, 1995....

Eleven Mon Dhammasat Texts.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Eleven Mon Dhammasat Texts. Collected and translated by NAI PAN HLA, assisted by RYUJI OKUDAIRA. Bibliotheca Codicum Asiaticorum, vol. 6. Tokyo: THE TOYO BUNKO, 1992. Pp. xxxvi + 620. [yen]10,000. The ancestors of present-day Mon, a...

Golden Letters: Writing Traditions of Indonesia.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Golden Letters: Writing Traditions of Indonesia. By ANNABEL TEH GALLOP, assisted by BERNARD ARPS. London: THE BRITISH LIBRARY, 1991. Pp. 152 (paper). This is the catalogue of an exhibition of Indonesian manuscripts held in British...

Classical Dance and Theatre in South-East Asia.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Classical Dance and Theatre in South-East Asia. By JUKKA O. MIETTINEN. New York: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1992. Pp. xx + 175. $75. This is a lavishly illustrated survey of the "dance traditions" of Burma, Thailand, Java, Bali, Cambodia...

Dictionary of Traditional South-East Asian Theatre.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Dictionary of Traditional South-East Asian Theatre. By GHULAM-SARWAR YOUSOF. Kuala Lumpur: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1994. Pp. 327. $32 (paper). The present dictionary, the "first of its kind," complements the work reviewed above, and...

Treasures of Tibetan Art: Collections of the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Treasures of Tibetan Art: Collections of the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art. By BARBARA LIPTON and NIMA DORJEE RAGNUBS. Oxford: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1996. Pp. xviii + 295. $29.95 (paper). The Jacques Marchais Museum is located...

Micronesian Religion and Lore: A Guide to Sources, 1526--1990.(Review)
July 1, 2000... Micronesian Religion and Lore: A Guide to Sources, 1526--1990. By DOUGLAS HAYNES and WILLIAM L. WUERCH. Westport, Conn.: GREENWOOD PRESS, 1995. Pp. xxi + 300. $75. This annotated bibliography is a model of such works, and will be the...