Letters, Language Families, Middle Eastern History

Ancient Aramaic and Hebrew Letters

Name: Ancient Aramaic and Hebrew Letters
Author: James M. Lindenberger
ISBN: 9781589830363

by James M. Lindenberger, Kent Harold Richards (Editor), Kent Harold Richards

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Overview

A readable anthology of epistles, rather than a guide to alphabetic characters, is presented for nonspecialist scholars of the Middle East, the Bible, and languages. Some of the better preserved letters in the two languages down to the time of Alexander the Great, was first published in 1994. The second edition includes nine new texts, some subsequently published and others subsequently selected. The original scripts are followed by English translations. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Synopsis

This book presents an up-to-date translation of seventy-nine letters and fragments, virtually the complete corpus of surviving letters in Aramaic and Hebrew down to the time of Alexander, omitting only the most fragmentary and the most formulaic. This includes the correspondence from ancient Jewish writers at Yavneh-Yam (seventh century), Arad and Lachish (sixth century), and Elephantine (fifth century). There are also administrative letters from Persian bureaucrats, private commercial and family correspondence from Egypt, and other scattered letters from Assyria, Egypt, Philistia, and Idumaea. Also included are short notes in Edomite, Ammonite, and Phoenician (one in each language). The second edition is supplemented by an additional nine texts, some of them published very recently, not found in the 1994 edition. Translations are now provided with line numbers, and some have been improved in the light of recent studies. Each letter appears alongside the original text in square script. Brief introductions set each group of letters into its historical and social context. The arrangement within each language group is roughly chronological.