The Journal of the American Oriental Society articles from July 2004

The Journal of the American Oriental Society archives from July 2004

The language of Hariaudh's Priyapravas: notes toward an archaeology of Modern Standard Hindi.(Critical Essay)
July 1, 2004... Priyapravas [The Absence (1) of the Beloved] of 1914 by Pandit Ayodhyasimh Upadhyay "Hariaudh" (1865-1947) (2) is acclaimed as one of the most virtuosic original poetic works in Hindi (3) from the Dvivedi era (4) of Hindi literature, the period...

The onomastic evidence for Bronze-Age West Semitic.
July 1, 2004... 1. BRONZE-AGE WEST SEMITIC The history of the West Semitic family begins in earnest in the late second millennium, more or less around the start of the Syro-Palestinian archeological period known as the Iron Age. (1) It is around 1200...

Evidence in Ottoman courts: oral and written documentation in early-modern courts of Islamic law.
July 1, 2004... I. INTRODUCTION Pursuing the insights of Ignaz Goldziher and Snouck Hurgronje regarding the gap between Islamic legal doctrine and practice, it was perhaps Jeanette Wakin who first explicitly pointed to what she called the "ambiguous"...

Restoration of a poetry anthology by Wang Bo.
July 1, 2004... The abundant scholarly and literary work that Wang Bo [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (650-676?) produced during his short life astonishes students of Chinese literary and intellectual history. (1) Prompting his prolific literary career was an...

The Chinese game of Shengguan tu.
July 1, 2004... It can be argued that board games reflect the society in which they are conceived. Thus Monopoly reflects the entrepreneurial spirit of a capitalist society, while the Chinese game of Shengguan tu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] or "Promoting...

Phoenician-Punic grammar and lexicography in the new millennium.
July 1, 2004... Linguists, Semitists, historians, and biblical scholars will welcome two new research aids by Charles R. Krahmalkov. A specialist in Northwest Semitic languages and epigraphy, the author has produced brief, accessible, and innovative analyses...

William J. Gedney's elicitation questionnaire.
July 1, 2004... William J. Gedney was well known for the accurate and extensive data that he collected in his work on Tai dialects and languages. Unlike some investigators who actually settled in a village to learn and then record a dialect, Gedney worked...

Advaita Vedanta.(Advaita Vedanta: History of Science, Philosophy, and Culture in Indian Civilization, vol. 2)(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... Advaita Vedanta. Edited by R. BALASUBRAMANIAN. History of Science, Philosophy, and Culture in Indian Civilization, vol. II, part 2. New Delhi: PROJECT OF HISTORY OF INDIAN SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY, AND CULTURE, 2000. Pp. 696. This volume...

Seeking Mahadevi: Constructing the Identities of the Hindu Great Goddess.(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... Seeking Mahadevi: Constructing the Identities of the Hindu Great Goddess. Edited by TRACY PINTCHMAN. Albany: STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS, 2001. Pp. 254. $65.50 cloth; $21.95 paper. Recent debates about identity in South Asian studies...

Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D., vol. 62.(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. By IRAVATHAM MAHADEVAN. Harvard Oriental Series, vol. 62. Chennai: CRE-A and Cambridge. Mass.: DEPARTMENT OF SANSKRIT AND INDIAN STUDIES, HARVARD UNIVERSITY, 2003, Pp....

The Citrasutra of the Visnudharmottara Purana.(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... The Citrasutra of the Visnudharmottara Purana. By PARUL DAVE MUKHERJI. Delhi: INDIRA GANDHI NATIONAL CENTRE FOR THE ARTS, 2001. Pp. xlv + 293. Rs. 750. For more than seventy-five years, ever since Stella Kramrisch brought out the first...

The Dravidian Languages.(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... The Dravidian Languages. By BHADRIRAJU KRISHNAMURTI. Cambridge Language Surveys. Cambridge: CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2003. Pp. xxvii + 545. $95. The Dravidian Languages is the latest installment in the Cambridge Language Surveys. While...

Gender in Ancient Cyprus: Narratives of Social Change on a Mediterranean Island.(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... Gender in Ancient Cyprus: Narratives of Social Change on a Mediterranean Island. By DIANE BOLGER. Walnut Creek, Cal.: ALTAMIRA PRESS, 2003. Pp. xvii + 268, illus. $34.95 (paper). Recent attempts to engender Cypriot archaeology have not...

Le propylone d'Amon-Re Montou a Karnak-Nord.(Le propylone d'Amon-Re Montou a Karnak-Nord: Memoires de l'Institute francais d'archeologie Orientale, vol. 117 )(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... Le propylone d'Amon-Re Montou a Karnak-Nord. By SYDNEY H. AUFRERE. Memoires de l'Institute francais d'archeologie Orientale, vol. 117. Cairo: INSTITUTE FRANCAIS D'ARCHEOLOGIE ORIENTALE, 2000. Pp. viii + 570, illus. (paper). The propylon of...

Holy Lives, Holy Deaths: A Close Hearing of Early Jewish Storytellers.(The Pluralistic Halakha: Legal Innovations in the Late Second Commonwealth and Rabbinic Periods, vol. 22)(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... Holy Lives, Holy Deaths: A Close Hearing of Early Jewish Storytellers. Studies in Biblical Literature, vol. 1. By ANTOINETTE CLARKE WIRE. Atlanta: SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE, 2002. Pp. x + 420. $49.95 (paper). The Pluralistic Halakha:...

The Transformation of an Ancient Egyptian Narrative: P. Sallier III and the Battle of Kadesh.(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... The Transformation of an Ancient Egyptian Narrative: P. Sallier III and the Battle of Kadesh. By ANTHONY J. SPALINGER. Gottinger Orientforschungen. IV. Reihe, Agypten, vol. 40. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 2002. Pp. xiii + 389. [euro]98...

Die akkadischen Verbalstamme mit ta-Infix.(Die akkadischen Verbalstamme mit ta-Infix: Alter Orient und Altes Testament, vol. 303)(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... Die akkadischen Verbalstamme mit ta-Infix. By MICHAEL P. STRECK. Alter Orient und Altes Testament, vol. 303. Munster: UGARIT-VERLAG, 2003. Pp. xii + 163. This volume offers an exhaustive philological treatment of Akkadian verbal forms...

The God Dagan in Bronze Age Syria.(The God Dagan in Bronze Age Syria: Culture and History of the Ancient Near East, vol. 19)(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... The God Dagan in Bronze Age Syria. By LLUIS FELIU. Translated by WILFRED G. E. WATSON. Culture and History of the Ancient Near East, vol. 19. Leiden: BRILL, 2003. Pp. xii + 356. $106. The author of this useful monograph, the revision of a...

Elusive Silver: In Search of a Role for a Market in an Agrarian Environment: Aspects of Mesopotamian Society.(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... Elusive Silver: In Search of a Role for a Market in an Agrarian Environment: Aspects of Mesopotamian Society. By G. VAN DRIEL. Leiden: NEDERLANDS INSTITUUT VOOR HET NABIJE OOSTEN, 2002. Pp. ix + 345. [euro]50 (paper). The volume under...

Hatra: Geschichte und Kultur einer Karawanstadt im romisch-parthischen Mesopotamien.(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... Hatra: Geschichte und Kultur einer Karawanstadt im romisch-parthischen Mesopotamien. By MICHAEL SOMMER. Sonderbande der Antiken Welt. Mainz: PHILIPP VON ZABERN, 2003. Pp. 83, ill. [euro]34.80. The opening paragraph of Michael Sommer's slim...

Letters to the King of Mari: A New Translation, with Historical Introduction, Notes, and Commentary.(Letters to the King of Mari: A New Translation, with Historical Introduction, Notes, and Commentary, Mesopotamian Civilizations, vol. 12 )(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... Letters to the King of Mari: A New Translation, with Historical Introduction, Notes, and Commentary. By WOLFGANG HEIMPEL. Mesopotamian Civilizations, vol. 12. Winona Lake, Ind.: EISENBRAUNS, 2003. Pp. xvv + 657, maps. $69.50. The archive...

Die Personennamen der Texte aus Emar.(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... Die Personennamen der Texte aus Emar. By REGINE PRUZSINSZKY. Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians, vol. 13. Bethesda, Md.: CDL PRESS, 2003. Pp. lvii + 311, CD-ROM. $60. Writing a book on personal names requires...

The Graven Image: Representation in Babylonia and Assyria.(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... The Graven Image: Representation in Babylonia and Assyria. By ZAINAB BAHRANI. Archaeology, Culture, and Society. Philadelphia: UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA PRESS, 2003. Pp. x + 242, illus. $49.95. In The Graven Image, Bahrani tackles the...

Sumerian Grammar.(Sumerian Grammar: Handbook of Oriental Studies, vol. I/71)(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... Sumerian Grammar. By DIETZ OTTO EDZARD. Handbook of Oriental Studies, vol. I/71. Leiden: BRILL, 2003. Pp. xviii + 191. $94. This book by the late D. O. Edzard presents the latest comprehensive grammar of Sumerian. It is befitting that this...

Mesopotamian Witchcraft: Toward a History and Understanding of Babylonian Witchcraft Beliefs and Literature.(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... Mesopotamian Witchcraft: Toward a History and Understanding of Babylonian Witchcraft Beliefs and Literature. By TZVI ABUSCH. Ancient Magic and Divination 5. Leiden: BRILL/STYX, 2002. Pp. xiv + 314. $87. The work under review is a volume...

Excellence and Precedence: Medieval Islamic Discourse on Legitimate Leadership.(Excellence and Precedence: Medieval Islamic Discourse on Legitimate Leadership, Islamic History and Civilizations, Studies and Texts, vol. 36)(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... Excellence and Precedence: Medieval Islamic Discourse on Legitimate Leadership. By ASMA AFSARUDDIN. Islamic History and Civilizations, Studies and Texts, vol. 36. Leiden: BRILL, 2002. Pp. x + 310. $124. Scholars of Islamic history should...

Cities and Saints: Sufism and the Transformation of Space in Medieval Anatolia.(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... Cities and Saints: Sufism and the Transformation of Space in Medieval Anatolia. By ETHEL SARA WOLPER. Buildings, Landscapes, and Societies Series, 3. University Park, Pennsylvania: PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2003. Pp. xviii + 134,...

A Medieval Critique of Anthropomorphism: Ibn al-Jawzi's Kitab Akhbar as-Sifat, A Critical Edition of the Arabic Text.(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... A Medieval Critique of Anthropomorphism: Ibn al-Jawzi's Kitab Akhbar as-Sifat: A Critical Edition of the Arabic Text. By MERLIN SWARTZ. Islamic Philosophy, Theology, and Science: Texts and Studies, no. 46. Leiden: BRILL, 2002, Pp. 297 + 107....

The Construction of Knowledge in Islamic Civilization: Qudama b. Ja'far and his Kitab al-kharaj wa-sina'at al-kitaba.(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... The Construction of Knowledge in Islamic Civilization: Qudama b. Ja'far and his Kitab al-kharaj wa-sina'at al-kitaba. By PAUL L. HECK. Leiden: BRILL, 2002. Pp. 283, $124. In this work, Paul Heck offers an important contribution to our...

A Challenge to Islam for Reformation: The Rediscovery and Reliable Reconstruction of a Comprehensive Pre-Islamic Christian Hymnal Hidden in the Koran under Earliest Islamic Reinterpretations.(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... A Challenge to Islam for Reformation: The Rediscovery and Reliable Reconstruction of a Comprehensive Pre-Islamic Christian Hymnal Hidden in the Koran under Earliest Islamic Reinterpretations. By GUNTER LULING. Delhi: MOTILAL BANARSIDASS, 2003....

Mercanti e politica nel mondo antico.(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... Mercanti e politica nel mondo antico. Edited by CARLO ZACCAGNINI. Rome: "L'ERMA" DI BRETSCHNEIDER, 2003. Pp. 361. [euro]180. Zaccagnini's volume addresses the question of how mercantile activity in the ancient world was affected by...

Mujmal al-Tawarikh wa-'l-Qisas.(Mujmal al-Aqwal fi al-Hikam wa al-Amthal)(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... Mujmal al-Tawarikh wa-'l-Qisas. Edited by MAHMOUD OMIDSALAR and IRAJ AFSHAR. Persian Manuscripts in Facsimile, no. 1. Tehran, 1379/2001. Pp. 14, 189 folios. 4500 tumans. Mujmal al-Aqwal fi al-Hikam wa al-Amthal. By AHMAD IBN-I AHMAD IBN-I...