Description

In this impressive volume leading scholars offer compelling glimpses into the biblical world the world in which prophets poets sages and historians created one of our most important textsthe Bible

For more than a century archaeologists have been unearthing the tombs temples texts and artifacts of the ancient Near East and the Mediterranean world Using new approaches contemporary scholars have begun to synthesize this material with the biblical traditions The Oxford History of the Biblical World incorporates the best of this scholarship and in chronologically ordered chapters presents the listener with an integrated study of the history art architecture languages literatures and religion of biblical Israel and early Judaism and Christianity in their larger cultural contexts The authors also examine such issues as the roles of women the tensions between urban and rural settings royal and kinship social structures and official and popular religions of the region

Understanding the biblical world is a vital part of understanding the Bible Broad authoritative and engaging The Oxford History of the Biblical World will illuminate for any listener the ancient world from which the Bible emerged