The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends of Assyria

Pinches, Theophilus G. (Theophilus Goldridge), 185Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.7
Word count
1.2M words
Chapters
116

Tags

English Originals World HistoryReligion Historical ReappraisalLegendary LivesIntellectual EnlightenmentAcademic StudyEclectic ReadingExotic CultureCultural Change

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends of AssyriaAuthor: Pinches, Theophilus G. (Theophilus Goldridge), 1856-1934,Language: English, Class: BS: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Christianity: The Bible, Old and New Testament, Release Date: Jan 31, 2012

Editor's review

This book is an early representative work by the English Assyriologist Pinches, who sets the text of the Old Testament alongside Assyrian historical records and legendary material for comparative reading. Its value lies not in offering definitive conclusions but in showing how scholars of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries used newly excavated cuneiform material to understand the historical background of biblical narrative: flood legends, Babylonian and Assyrian king lists, temple inscriptions, and more are all brought into the discussion. For today's readers, some of the book's comparative methods and conclusions have been revised by later research, but precisely for that reason it is a specimen for observing the evolution of a discipline. It should be read as a document in the history of scholarship rather than as an introductory guide: one can see both the enthusiasm of the rise of Oriental studies and the risks of inference under limited material conditions. It is suitable for readers interested in the history of biblical scholarship, the early development of Assyriology, or the relationship between the ancient Near East and the Bible; slow reading with notes in a quiet setting works better.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Read the introduction and table of contents first to clarify what the author compares and by what method, then proceed to the specific chapters.
  2. Prepare a comparative table of relevant biblical passages and translations of Assyrian inscriptions, taking notes as you read.
  3. When encountering conclusions now outdated, mark them and consult modern research for comparative reading.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
  74. 74
  75. 75
  76. 76
  77. 77
  78. 78
  79. 79
  80. 80
  81. 81
  82. 82
  83. 83
  84. 84
  85. 85
  86. 86
  87. 87
  88. 88
  89. 89
  90. 90
  91. 91
  92. 92
  93. 93
  94. 94
  95. 95
  96. 96
  97. 97
  98. 98
  99. 99
  100. 100
  101. 101
  102. 102
  103. 103
  104. 104
  105. 105
  106. 106
  107. 107
  108. 108
  109. 109
  110. 110
  111. 111
  112. 112
  113. 113
  114. 114
  115. 115
  116. 116

FAQ

Is this book suitable as an introduction to Assyriology or biblical studies? Not really. It was written long ago, its comparative methods and some conclusions have been revised by later research, and it assumes some knowledge of the Bible and the ancient Near East. Beginners should read a modern introduction first and then approach this book as material in the history of scholarship, understanding how early scholars used newly excavated inscriptions to discuss the biblical background.
What core material does the book discuss? Judging by the title and the author's research direction, the book centers on Assyrian historical records and legendary material, setting Old Testament narrative alongside related content in cuneiform documents and touching on themes such as flood legends, king lists, and inscriptions. Specific arguments should be judged by the original text; readers should not expect a systematic and complete survey of Assyriology.
What language and background preparation does reading this book require? The original is in English, in a style characteristic of early scholarly works, with long sentences and frequent transliterations. Basic knowledge of the biblical text and a general framework of ancient Near Eastern history are advisable. If you read only Chinese, you can consult modern Chinese translations or research surveys alongside it to reduce difficulty.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Pinches, Theophilus G. (Theophilus Goldridge), 185 Author · British · 1856–1934

Theophilus G. Pinches (1856–1934) was a British Assyriologist who devoted himself to the decipherment of cuneiform and to the study of Babylonian and Assyrian texts. His book The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria offers a systematic survey of the religious traditions of Mesopotamia, while The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends of Assyria sets Assyrian sources alongside the text of the Old Testament, seeking to reconstruct the historical background of biblical narrative through ancient Near Eastern documents. Such work reflects the close interplay between Assyriology and biblical studies in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and gave general readers a reliable introduction to cuneiform literature and the civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia. His writings are still cited by scholars in the field of ancient Near Eastern studies, and two of his works are held in this collection.