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Mark W. Chavalas and K. Lawson Younger Jr., eds. Mesopotamia and the Bible: Comparative Explorations. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002. 395 pp. $29.99.
Mesopotamia and the Bible is a collection of fourteen essays by biblical and Ancient Near Eastern scholars. The essays represent expansions of papers given at the 1995 meeting of the Near Eastern Archaeological Society. They discuss the relationship between the OT and its Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) context with an emphasis on the Mesopotamian background. These essays are meant to introduce the non-specialist to the issues involved in the interplay between these two fields. They note the tension and the antipathy that often arise among the scholars of one field towards another field. Each essay has a bibliography which will allow the reader to follow up on the issues mentioned in any particular area of interest.
Space does not permit a detailed analysis of each essay, so only two representative essays will be discussed in this review. First, Chavalas's introductory essay, "Assyriology and Biblical Studies: A Century and a Half of Tension" (pp. 21-67), describes how nineteenth-century Mesopotamian archaeological discoveries were generally discussed in relation to their biblical relevance and resulted in antipathy by many scholars towards the OT's account. He notes a trend that can be seen in "the last 30 years" (p. 43). When a discovery is made prior to a thorough investigation of the new...