The Journal of the American Oriental Society articles from July 2005

The Journal of the American Oriental Society archives from July 2005

The limits of credulity (presidential address).(interpretation of historical writings)
July 1, 2005... However, skepticism on principle is neither a more estimable nor a more productive intellectual attitude than the credulity with which it is frequently blended in the simpler minds. Marc Bloch (1) For Bill Hallo ...

Images, legends, politics, and the origin of the Great Xiangguo monastery in Kaifeng: a case-study of the formation and transformation of Buddhist sacred sites in medieval China.(Case study)
July 1, 2005... Buddhist sacred sites are places connected with the Buddha, with various bodhisattvas and deities, and leading religious figures celebrated for their role in the development of the religion. Sacred space is an essential component of any...

A note on the genesis and character of Srivara's so-called "Jaina-Rajatarangini".
July 1, 2005... Of the Kashmiri Sanskrit chroniclers, four are available in published form (1) at present: Kalhana, Jonaraja, Srivara, and Suka. (2) With the exception of Kalhana, the received texts each display a peculiar feature. In the case of Jonaraja...

Qumran archaeology.
July 1, 2005... In his new book, Professor Yizhar Hirschfeld of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Institute of Archaeology attempts to sum up systematically the accumulation of archaeological research relating to Khirbet Qumran. The work consists of five...

Tense in literary Old Babylonian.
July 1, 2005... It is of course not the possibility of expressing certain meanings and shades--they may be expressed in any language-but the existence of verbal categories which interests us here. (Kurylowicz 1973: 115) INTRODUCTION The...

A note on the pronunciation of the Manchu vowel e.
July 1, 2005... The pronunciation of the Manchu vowel now usually transcribed as e has been the subject of much discussion. (1) A recently published reading manual for the language characterizes e as follows: (2) As in English bed. After labials b, p,...

The Collected Essays of Bimal Krishna Matilal, vol. 1: Mind, Language and World.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... The Collected Essays of Bimal Krishna Matilal, Vol. 1: Mind, Language and World. Edited by JONARDON GANERI. New Delhi: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2002. Pp. xxxiv + 458. This is the first of two volumes containing essays of B. K. Matilal that...

Kuladatta's Kriyasamgrahapanjika.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... Kuladatta's Kriyasamgrahapanjika. By RYUGEN TANEMURA. Groningen Oriental Studies, vol. 19. Groningen: EGBERT FORSTEN, 2004. Pp. x + 373. Most scholars working on Buddhist and Hindu Tantrism will agree that Oxford is one of the world's best...

Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum, part II: Inscriptions of the Seleucid and Parthian Periods and of Eastern Iran and Central Asia, vol. 2: Parthian, Parthian Economic Documents from Nisa (Texts I pp. 161-215).(Book review)
July 1, 2005... Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum, part II: Inscriptions of the Seleucid and Parthian Periods and of Eastern Iran and Central Asia, vol. II: Parthian, Parthian Economic Documents from Nisa (Texts I pp. 161-215). By I. M. DIAKONOFF and V. A....

The Mahabharata and the Yugas: India's Great Epic Poem and the Hindu System of World Ages.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... The Mahabharata and the Yugas: India's Great Epic Poem and the Hindu System of World Ages. By LUIS GONZALEZ-REIMANN. Asian Thought and Culture, vol. 51. New York: PETER LANG, 2002. Pp. xii + 298. $39.95. The yugas or "ages of the world"...

Nectar Gaze and Poison Breath: An Analysis and Translation of the Rajasthani Oral Narrative of Devnarayan.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... Nectar Gaze and Poison Breath: An Analysis and Translation of the Rajasthani Oral Narrative of Devnarayan. By ADITYA MALIK. New York: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2005. Pp. xxv + 548. Aditya Malik's new work on the Devnarayan epic of Rajasthan...

Jnanasrimitra's Vyapticarca: Sanskrittext, Ubersetzung, Analyse.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... Jnanasrimitra's Vyapticarca: Sanskrittext, Ubersetzung, Analyse. By HORST LASIC. Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde, vol. 48. Vienna: ARBEITSKREIS FUR TIBETISCHE UND BUDDHIS-TISCHE STUDIEN UNIVERSITAT WIEN, 2000. Pp. 188. ...

Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World. By NICHOLAS OSTLER. New York: HARPER-COLLINS, 2005. Pp. xxi + 615, illus. $29.95. Every year sees the publication of a pile of trade books on language: what it is, how it changes, why...

Troy and Homer: Towards a Solution of an Old Mystery.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... Troy and Homer: Towards a Solution of an Old Mystery. By JOACHIM LATACZ. Tr. Kevin Windle and Rosh Ireland. Oxford: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2004. Pp. xix + 342, illus. $45. Jaan Puhvel's 1991 pamphlet Homer and Hittite--one of many...

The Near East in the Southwest: Essays in Honor of William G. Dever.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... The Near East in the Southwest: Essays in Honor of William G. Dever. Edited by BETH ALPERT NAKHAI. The Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research, vol. 58. Boston: AMERICAN SCHOOLS OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH, 2004. Pp. xiii + 184, illus....

The Sword of Goliath: David in Heroic Literature.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... The Sword of Goliath: David in Heroic Literature. By STANLEY ISSER. Studies in Biblical Literature, vol. 6. Atlanta: SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE, 2003. Pp. ix + 196. $29.95 (paper). Isser's work is a refreshing shift from recent...

Theodicy in the World of the Bible.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... Theodicy in the World of the Bible. Edited by ANTTI LAATO and JOHANNES C. DE MOOR. Leiden: BRILL, 2003. Pp. liv + 830. [euro]119. Ascertaining the roots of evil (acts or intents) is at the heart of much theological speculation, the more...

Magic in the Biblical World: From the Rod of Aaron to the Ring of Solomon.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... Magic in the Biblical World: From the Rod of Aaron to the Ring of Solomon. Edited by TODD KLUTZ. JSOT Supplement Series, vol. 245. London: T. AND T. CLARK INTERNATIONAL, 2003. Pp. xv + 261. $59.95 (paper). In the last few years, books on...

Ernst Herzfeld and the Development of Near Eastern Studies.(Ernst Herzfeld and the Development of Near Eastern Studies, 1900-1959)(Book review)
July 1, 2005... Ernst Herzfeld and the Development of Near Eastern Studies, 1900-1959. Edited by ANN GUNTER and STEFAN R. HAUSER. Leiden: BRILL, 2005. Pp. xv + 636. [euro]99. This volume publishes the papers delivered at a symposium held at the Freer...

The King as Exemplar: The Function of Deuteronomy's Kingship Law in the Shaping of the Book of Psalms.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... The King as Exemplar: The Function of Deuteronomy's Kingship Law in the Shaping of the Book of Psalms. By JAMIE A. GRANT. Academia Biblica, vol. 17. Atlanta: SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE, 2004. Pp. xviii + 335. $42.95 (paper). This work...

Manuel d'Ougaritique.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... Manuel d'Ougaritique. 2 vols. By PIERRE BORDREUIL and DENNIS PARDEE. Paris: GUETHNER, 2004. Pp. 177, 206, CD-ROM. [euro]25.29 (paper). The introduction to the book states the authors' aim: to produce a handbook that will enable the...

The God Ninurta in the Mythology and Royal Ideology of Ancient Mesopotamia.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... The God Ninurta in the Mythology and Royal Ideology of Ancient Mesopotamia. By AMAR ANNUS. State Archives of Assyria Studies, vol. 14. Helsinki: THE NEO-ASSYRIAN TEXT CORPUS PROJECT, 2002. Pp. xvi + 202. $57.50 (paper). Anyone familiar...

The Barbar Temples, 2 vols.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... The Barbar Temples. 2 vols. By H. HELMUTH ANDERSEN and FLEMMING HOJLUND. Jutland Archaeological Publications, vol. 48. Moesgaard: JUTLAND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, 2003. Pp. 330, plates, plans. $66.25. [Distributed in the U.S. by David Brown Book...

Men of Dikes and Canals: The Archaeology of Water in the Middle East.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... Men of Dikes and Canals: The Archaeology of Water in the Middle East. Edited by HANS-DIETER BIENERT and JUTTA HASER. Orient-Archaologie, vol. 13. Rahden, Westphalia: VERLAG MARIE LEIDORF, 2004. Pp. xi + 424, illus. This imposing report of...

Fruhagyptisches Worterbuch.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... Fruhagyptisches Worterbuch: Fascicle 3, h-h. By JOCHEM KAHL, with the assistance of Markus Bretschneider and Barbara Kneissler. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 2004. Pp. 281-376. [euro] 42 (paper). History by definition begins when writing...

Gods and Men in Egypt: 3000 BCE to 395 CE.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... Gods and Men in Egypt: 3000 BCE to 395 CE. By FRANCOISE DUNAND and CHRISTIANE ZIVIECOCHE. Translated by David Lorton. Ithaca: CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2004. Pp. xvii + 378, illus. $45. Although much has been written about ancient Egyptian...

The Ma'agan Michael Ship: The Recovery of a 2400-Year-Old Merchantman, vol. 1.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... The Ma'agan Michael Ship: The Recovery of a 2400-Year-Old Merchantman. Final Report, vol. I. By ELISHA LINDER, YAACOV KAHANOV, ET AL. Jerusalem: ISRAEL EXPLORATION SOCIETY, 2003. Pp. xii + 256, illus. $72. In the 1980s two sensational...

Arabic Sources of Isaac Ben Barun's Book of Comparisons between the Hebrew and Arabic Languages.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... Arabic Sources of Isaac Ben Barun's Book of Comparisons between the Hebrew and Arabic Languages. By DAN BECKER. Hebrew Language and Related Subjects, vol. 12. Tel Aviv: CHAIM ROSENBERG SCHOOL FOR JEWISH STUDIES, TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY, 2005. Pp....

A War of Words: Language and Conflict in the Middle East.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... A War of Words: Language and Conflict in the Middle East. BY YASIR SULEIMAN. Cambridge Middle East Studies, Vol. 19. Cambridge: CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2004. Pp. xiii + 270. $70. The author, Professor of Arabic and Middle East Studies...

Classical Islam: a Sourcebook of Religious Literature.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... Classical Islam: A Sourcebook of Religious Literature. Edited and translated by NORMAN CALDER, JAWID MOJADDEDI, and ANDREW RIPPIN. London: ROUTLEDGE, 2003. Pp. x + 275. $110 (cloth); $34.95 (paper). As the subtitle suggests, this new work...

The Koran from a Vernacular Perspective: Vocabulary Strings and Composition Strata.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... The Koran from a Vernacular Perspective: Vocabulary Strings and Composition Strata. By I. B. T. DAOUK. Erlangen: I. B. T. DAOUK, 2004. Pp. 220. The story of Albert Einstein serves as an inspiration to many aspiring independent scholars. In...

Revival and Reform in Islam: the Legacy of Muhammad al-Shawkani.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... Revival and Reform in Islam: The Legacy of Muhammad al-Shawkani. By BERNARD HAYKEL. Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilisation. Cambridge: CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2003. Pp. xv + 265, illus. $26.99 (paper). Born in the village of Hijrat...

Crossroads to Islam: The Origins of the Arab Religion and the Arab State.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... Crossroads to Islam: The Origins of the Arab Religion and the Arab State. By YEHUDA D. NEVO and JUDITH KOREN. Amherst, New York: PROMETHEUS, 2003. Pp. viii + 462. $32. Crossroads to Islam is a work of profound historical and religious...

The Alhambra.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... The Alhambra. By ROBERT IRWIN. Cambridge, Massachusetts: HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2004. Pp. 213. $19.95. Robert Irwin, following a basic and factual chronology presented in the form of a chart, opens the introductory chapter of his study...

Ibn al-'Arabi's Barzakh: The Concept of the Limit and the Relationship between God and the World.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... Ibn al-'Arabi's Barzakh: The Concept of the Limit and the Relationship between God and the World. By SALMAN H. BASHIER. Albany: STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS, 2004. Pp. xii + 206. $45. A systematic analysis of one of the key terms in...

An Introduction to Islam.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... An Introduction to Islam. Second edition. By DAVID WAINES. Cambridge: CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2003. Pp. xi + 367. $65 (cloth); $23 (paper). The text of David Waines' second edition of this Introduction is almost exactly that of the...

In Praise of Books: A Cultural History of Cairo's Middle Class. Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... In Praise of Books: A Cultural History of Cairo's Middle Class, Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century. By NELLY HANNA. Syracuse: SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2003. Pp. viii, 219. $19.95 (paper). In In Praise of Books Nelly Hanna artfully...

Sanctity and Mysticism in Medieval Egypt: The Wafa' Sufi Order and the Legacy of Ibn 'Arabi.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... Sanctity and Mysticism in Medieval Egypt: The Wafa' Sufi Order and the Legacy of Ibn 'Arabi. By RICHARD J. A. MCGREGOR. Albany: STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS, 2004. Pp. xiii + 246. $55. Of the many books that have come out recently...

The Formation of the Classical Tafsir Tradition: The Qur'an Commentary of al-Tha'labi (d. 427/1035).(Book review)
July 1, 2005... The Formation of the Classical Tafsir Tradition: The Qur'an Commentary of al-Tha'labi (d. 427/1035). By WALID SALEH. Leiden: BRILL, 2004. Pp. 282. $100. With The Formation of the Classical Tafsir Tradition, Walid Saleh has made a fine...

The Collected Essays of Bimal Krishna Matilal, vol. 2: Ethics and Epics.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... The Collected Essays of Bimal Krishna Matilal, vol. 2: Ethics and Epics. Edited by JONARDON GANERI. New Delhi: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2002. Pp. vii + 445. Rs. $75. This is the second of a two-volume collection of Bimal Krishna Matilal's...

Rhetoric Before and Beyond the Greeks.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... Rhetoric Before and Beyond the Greeks. Edited by CAROL S. LIPSON and ROBERTA A. BINKLEY. Albany: STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS, 2004. Pp. vi + 267. $62.50 (cloth); $20.95 (paper). As the editors note, the study of ancient rhetoric is...

Von Berlin nach Meroe: Erinnerungen an den Agyptologen Fritz Hintze (1915-1993).(Book review)
July 1, 2005... Von Berlin nach Meroe: Erinnerungen an den Agyptologen Fritz Hintze (1915-1993). Edited by ERIKA ENDESFELDER. Asien- und Afrikastudien der Humboldt-Universitat, vol. 3. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 2003. Pp. 111. (paper) Volume 3 of...

The Rabbinic Targum of Lamentations: Vindicating God.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... The Rabbinic Targum of Lamentations: Vindicating God. By CHRISTIAN M. M. BRADY. Studies in Aramaic Interpretation of Scripture, vol. 3. Leiden: BRILL, 2003. Pp. x + 187. $65. This volume consists of an analytic study of the Targum of...

Biblical Mourning: Ritual and Social Dimensions.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... Biblical Mourning: Ritual and Social Dimensions. By SAUL M. OLYAN. Oxford: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2004. Pp. x + 174. [pounds sterling]5. Olyan's subject is the temporal and spatial settings, the ritual patterns, and the social...

Redescribing Christian Origins.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... Redescribing Christian Origins. Edited by RON CAMERON and MERRILL P. MILLER. SBL Symposium Series, vol. 28. Atlanta: SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE, 2004. Pp. xvi + 539. $49.95 (paper). Ron Cameron and Merrill P. Miller have edited a...

The Year-Names of the First Dynasty of Babylon.(Book review)
July 1, 2005... The Year-Names of the First Dynasty of Babylon, vol. 3: DATABASE, VERSION 1.0. By MALCOLM J. A. HORSNELL. Hamilton, Ontario: MCMASTER UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2004. CD-ROM. CDN $74. Malcolm J. A. Horsnell has devoted a large part of his academic...