Table of Contents

Figures

Tables

Contributors

Abbreviations

General Introduction

Gillan Davis and Kyle H. Keimer, Communicating in the Past; Connecting with the Past

Part I. Imperial and Court Communications

Introduction to Part I

Chapter 1

Noel Weeks, The Disappearance of Cuneiform from the West and Elites in the Ancient Near East

Chapter 2

Samuel Jackson, Contrasting Representations and the Egypto-Hittite Treaty

Chapter 3

Luis R. Siddall, Text and Context: The Question of Audience for Sennacherib's 'Public' Inscriptions

Chapter 4

Wayne Horowitz, Communication and Miscommunication in the Southern Sky: The Case of Scorpio and the Southern Cross in Cuneiform

Chapter 5

Samuel N. C. Lieu, Imperialism and Language: Observations on Bilingual Inscriptions from Palmyra

Part II. Community Communications

Introduction to Part II

Chapter 6

Gareth Wearne, ‘Guard it on Your Tongue!’: The Second Rubric in the Deir ʿAlla Plaster Texts as an Instruction for the Oral Performance of the Narrative

Chapter 7

Rachelle Gilmour, Juxtaposition and Narrative Evaluation in Joshua 1-2

Chapter 8

Ian Young, Literature as Flexible Communication: Variety in Hebrew Biblical Texts

Chapter 9

Rachel Mansfield, Benjamin Overcash and Stephen Llewelyn, The Use of Paleo-Hebraic Script on Jewish Revolt Coins: A Semiotic Focus

Part III. Communications Between Families and Individuals

Introduction to Part III

Chapter 10

Peter Zilberg, From Dragomans to Babel: The Role of Interpreters in the Ancient Near East in the 1st Millennium B.C.E.

Chapter 11

Louise M. Pryke, Sex, Lies and Beautiful Eyes: Divine Communication and Premarital Relations in Sumerian Poetry

Chapter 12

Alanna Nobbs, Communication within a Dysfunctional Family in Late Antique Egypt

About the Author

Kyle H. Keimer is Lecturer in the Archaeology and History of Ancient Israel and the Near East at Macquarie University, Australia.





Gillan Davis is Director, Program for Ancient Mediterranean Studies at Macquarie University, Australia.

Reviews

Encompassing a wide spectrum of civilizations and periods, from the Early Bronze Age to the Roman imperial period, and ranging in its coverage from Mesopotamia to Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, this volume provides many penetrating insights into the ways Near Eastern people communicated with one another, on personal, state, and international levels. Through its multi-disciplinary approach and use of modern research methods which enhance our understanding of both verbal and written interactions between the ancient Near Eastern peoples, it will be of great benefit to students and scholars engaged in any field of Near Eastern studies, from the Bronze Age through the biblical and Classical eras. - Professor Trevor Bryce, University of Queensland, Australia