The Journal of the American Oriental Society articles from October 2006

The Journal of the American Oriental Society archives from October 2006

The twilight of the Masters: Masters Literature (zishu) in early medieval China.(Critical essay)
October 1, 2006... INTRODUCTION In the early period of Chinese history, the notion of authorship is closely tied to the notion of sagehood. It is not that being a sage necessarily entails creating and writing (zuo [NON ASCII]), but rather that one must be a...

The Buddhist "monastery" and the Indian garden: aesthetics, assimilations, and the siting of monastic establishments.(Essay)
October 1, 2006... --Fur Oskar von Hiniiber als kleines Zeichen eines grossen Dankes-- The vocabulary we use to refer to early Buddhist establishments in India could hardly be more different from the vocabulary that early Buddhist authors or compilers used to...

The fifty names of Marduk in Enuma elis.(Critical essay)
October 1, 2006... Enumu elis is one of the few Akkadian texts that are relatively well known beyond the cryptic domain of the Assyriologist. The "popularity" of Enuma elis seems to relate, at least in part, to one of its most transparent themes, namely, the...

A local historian's debt to al- Tabari: The case of al-Azdi's Ta'rikh al-Mawsil.(Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, Yazid ibn Muhammad al-Azdi)(Critical essay)
October 1, 2006... In 1969 Paul Forand published in this journal the results of his reading of Yazid ibn Muhammad al-Azdi's Ta'rikh al-Mawsil, which was at this point only available to him on a film of the Chester Beatty manuscript. (1) Although chiefly...

To beat or not to beat: on the exegetical dilemmas over Qur'an, 4:34.(Critical essay)
October 1, 2006... THE VERSE AND THE PROBLEM The Qur'an contains many verses that may be described as "problematic." Such verses pose problems because of several factors, including what they mean or whether their meaning should be taken literally or...

Syntactic marginalia in Old Babylonian.
October 1, 2006... This review article consists of two parts: the first briefly refers to the edition itself, while the second and more substantial part points out various important syntactic issues which arise from a close examination of the letters therein....

Wei Yao's disquisition on boyi.(Critical essay)
October 1, 2006... Wei Yao (204?-273?), (1) a scholar-official in the Wu court during the Sanguo period, is said to have written "Boyi lun" or "A Disquisition on boyi" upon command of the heir-designate Sun He (224-253). At the time, he served the prince as a...

Erwin Ritter von Zach (1872-1942), Gesammelte Rezensionen.(Erwin Ritter von Zach (1872-1942), Gesammelte Rezensionen: Chinesische Geschichte, Religion und Philosophie in der Kritik)(Book review)
October 1, 2006... Erwin Ritter von Zach (1872-1942), Gesammelte Rezensionen: Chinesische Geschichte, Religion und Philosophie in der Kritik. Edited by HARMUT WALRAVENS. ASIEN-UND AFRIKA-STUDIEN 22 DER HUMBOLDT-UNIVERSITAT ZU BERLIN. WIESBADEN: HARRASSOWITZ...

Bronzekunst Urartus.(Book review)
October 1, 2006... Bronzekunst Urartus. By URSULA SEIDL. Mainz: VERLAG PHILIPP VON ZABERN, 2004. Pp. ix + 218, plates. [euro]86. Materials in bronze, particularly belts, plaques, and pieces of military equipment, are among the most abundant surviving...

Nineveh: Papers of the [XLIX.sup.e] Rencontre Assyriologique International, London, 7-11 July 2003.(Book review)
October 1, 2006... Nineveh: Papers of the [XLIX.sup.e] Rencontre Assyriologique International, London, 7-11 July 2003. Edited by DOMINIQUE COLLON and ANDREW GEORGE. London: BRITISH SCHOOL OF ARCHAEOLOGY IN IRAQ, 2005. 2 volumes. Pp. xiv + 427, illus. (paper). ...

Judah and the Judeans in the Neo-Babylonian Period.(Book review)
October 1, 2006... Judah and the Judeans in the Neo-Babylonian Period. Edited by ODED LIPSCHITS and JOSEPH BELENKINSOPP. Winona Lake, Ind.: ESENBRAUNS, 2003. Pp. xii + 612. $49.50. This volume publishes the proceedings of a conference of the same title held...

Song of Songs.(Book review)
October 1, 2006... Song of Songs. By J. CHERYL EXUM. The Old Testament Library. Louisville: WESTMINSTER JOHN KNOX PRESS, 2005. Pp. xxiii + 263. $39.95. For such a small book, the Song of Songs has always received a prodigious amount of attention, and 2005 was...

2 Samuel.(Book review)
October 1, 2006... 2 Samuel. By ANTONY F. CAMPBELL, S.J. The Forms of the Old Testament Literature, vol. 8. Grand Rapids, Michigan: WILLIAM B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING CO., 2005, Pp. xiv + 242. $50 (paper). This is the second volume of a commentary, the first...

Hosea.(Book review)
October 1, 2006... Hosea.By EHUD BEN ZVI. The Forms of the Old Testament Literature, vol. 21A/1. Grand Rapids,Michigan: WM. B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING Co., 2005. Pp. xiii + 321. $55 (paper). Ehud Ben Zvi's commentary on Hosea is a significant work not only on...

The Tafila-Busayra Archaeological Survey 1999-2001, West Central Jordan.(Book review)
October 1, 2006... The Tafila-Busayra Archaeological Survey 1999-2001, West Central Jordan. By B.MACDONALD et al. American Schools of Oriental Research Archaeological Reports, vol. 9. Boston: American schools of oriental research, 2004. Pp. xvi + 435, illus....

Das altagyptische "Zweiwegebuch": Studien zu den Sargtextspriichen 1029-1130.(Book review)
October 1, 2006... Das altagyptische "Zweiwegebuch": Studien zu den Sargtextspriichen 1029-1130. By BURKHARD BACKES. Agyptologische Abhandlungen, vol. 69. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 2005. Pp. xiv + 466, illus. [euro]98. A composition of texts and images...

Elementa linguae copticae: Grammaire inedite du XVW siecle.(Book review)
October 1, 2006... Elementa linguae copticae: Grammaire inedite du XVW siecle.By Guillaume Bonjour. Edited by Sydney H. AUFRERE and NATHALIE BOSSON. Cahiers d' orientalisme, vol. 24. Geneva: Patrick Cramer Editeur, 2005. Pp. ci + 190, plates. The history of...

Edfou VII.(Book review)
October 1, 2006... Edfou VII. By DIETER KURTH. Die Inschriften des Tempels von Edfu. Abteilung I, Ubersetzungen, vol. 2. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 2004. Pp. xviii + 861. [euro]128. The term "Edfou" in the title of the book under review is the common...

Sources on the Alans: A Critical Compilation.(Book review)
October 1, 2006... Sources on the Alans: A Critical Compilation. By Agusti Alemany. Handbook of Oriental Studies, section 8, vol. 5. Leiden: Brill, 2000. Pp. xxi + 463. The history of the Iranian-speaking Scytho-Sarmatian nomads who ruled over the Eurasian...

Aryas, Aryens et Iraniens en Asie Centrale.(Book review)
October 1, 2006... Aryas, Aryens et Iraniens en Asie Centrale. GERARD FUSSMAN, JEAN KELLENS, HENRI-PAUL FRANCFORT, AND XAVIER TREMBLAY.College de France, Publications de ITnstitut de Civilisation Indienne, fascicule 72. Paris: de Boccard, 2005. Pp. 346, plates,...

The Imperative in the Rigveda.(Book review)
October 1, 2006... The imperative in the Rigveda. By DANIEL BAUM. UTRECHT: LANDELIJKE ONDERZOEKSCHOOL TAALWETENSCHAP (LOT) (= Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics), 2006. Pp. 204. This little book is the published form of a doctoral dissertation...

The Hindu World.(Book review)
October 1, 2006... The Hindu World. Edited by SUSHIL MITTAL and GENE THURSBY. The Routledge Worlds. New York: ROUTLEDGE 2004. Pp. xi + 657. $210. The Hindu World is a volume in "The Routledge Worlds" series that includes nine published works and four others...

Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, vol. IX.(Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, vol. 9: Buddhist Philosophy from 350 to 600 A. D.)(Book review)
October 1, 2006... Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, vol. IX: Buddhist Philosophy from 350 to 600 A.D. Edited by Karl.h Potter. Delhi: MOTILAL BANARSIDASS, 2003. Pp. 762. Rs. 1295. Published in 2003, this is the ninth tome of the Encyclopedia of Indian...

Early Buddhist Discourses.(Book review)
October 1, 2006... Early Buddhist Discourses. By JOHN J. HOLDER. Indianapolis: HACKETT PUBLISHING, 2006. Pp. xxiii + 216. While John J. Holder's translation and edition of twenty early Buddhist discourses adds nothing to the scholarly understanding of early...

Domesticity and Power in the Early Mughal World.(Book review)
October 1, 2006... Domesticity and Power in the Early Mughal World. By Ruby LAL. Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Pp. xiii + 241, plates. The book under review is a significant and vital contribution to a...

Monuments, Objects, Histories: Institutions of Art in Colonial and Postcolonial India.(Book review)
October 1, 2006... Monuments, objects, Histories: Institutions of Art in Colonial and Postcolonial India. By Tapati Guha-Thakurta. New York: Columbia University PRESS, 2004. Pp. xxv + 404. $75. When the British began to focus on Indian art and architecture in...

A bibliography of Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy.(Book review)
October 1, 2006... A Bibliography of Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy. By JS. CROUCH.Delhi; INDIRA GANDHI NATIONAL CENTRE FOR THE ARTS,2002.Pp. 430. Ananda Coomaraswamy died sixty years ago, in the summer of 1947. James Crouch's bibliography is likely to be the...

Mantles of Merit: Chin Textiles from Myanmar, India and Bangladesh.(Book review)
October 1, 2006... Mantles of Merit: Chin Textiles from Myanmar, India and Bangladesh. By DAVID W.AND BARBARS G. FRASER. Bangkok: RIVER BOOKS, 2005. Pp. 288, plates.$60. In recent years collectors and researchers have had unprecedented access to regions of...

Die hethitischen Tontafelkataloge aus Hattusa (CTH 276-282).(Book review)
October 1, 2006... Die hethitischen Tontafelkataloge aus Hattusa (CTH 276-282). By PAOLA DARDANO. Studien zu den Bogazkoy Texten, vol. 47. Wiesbaden: HARRASSO-WITZ VERLAG, 2006. Pp. xviii + 396. [euro]98. Among the debris of the archives of the Hittite...

The Iconography of Cylinder seals.(Book review)
October 1, 2006... The Iconography of Cylinder Seals. Edited by PAUL TAYLOR. Warburg Institute Colloquia, vol. 9. London: WARBURG INSTITUTE; Turin: Nino Aragno Editore, 2006. Pp. xiv + 245, plates. [pounds sterling]40 (paper). This handsomely produced volume...

Ritual and Politics in Ancient Mesopotamia.(Book review)
October 1, 2006... July 2001 ("Ritual and Politics in Ancient Mesopotamia"). The essays contained in the volume by Julian Reade, Walther Sallaberger, and Phillippe Talon are revised and expanded versions of the presentations in Helsinki. A summary of the workshop...

Treasures Old and New.(Treasures Old and New: Essays in the Theology of the Pentateuch)(Book review)
October 1, 2006... Treasures Old and New: Essays in the Theology of the Pentateuch. By JOSEPH BLENKINSOPP. Grand Rapids, Michigan: WM. B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING CO., 2004. Pp. x + 228. $26 (paper). Blenkinsopp here presents a selection of revised and updated...

Enoch and Qumran Origins: New light on a forgotten connection.(Book review)
October 1, 2006... Enoch and Qumran Origins: New Light on a Forgotten Connection. Edited by GABRIELE BOCCACCINL. Grand Rapids, Michigan: WILLIAM B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING Co.C>, 2005. Pp. xviii + 454. $40 (paper). The sixty-one essays in this excellent volume...

Books Received.
October 1, 2006... I. Ancient Near East AARON, DAVID H. Etched in Stone: The Emergence of the Decalogue. New York: T & T Clark, 2006. Pp. xv + 352. $39.95 (paper). AARTUN, KJELL. Studien zur ugaritischen Lexikogra-phie, mit kultur-und...

Vedic Ideals of Sovereignty and the Poetics of Power.(NEW FROM THE AMERICAN ORIENTAL SOCIETY)(Book review)
October 1, 2006... American Oriental Series - aos 90 American Oriental Society, 2007 167 pages, English Cloth, 10 x 7 inches ISBN13: 978-0-940490-21-5 $54.00 Vedic Ideals of Sovereignty and the Poetics of Power examines motifs central...