The North-West Semitic epigraphic contributes considerably to our understanding of the Old Testament and of the Ugaritic texts and to our knowledge of the North-West Semitic languages as such. This dictionary is concerned with the North-West Semitic material found in inscriptions, papyri and ostraca in Phoenician, Punic, Hebrew, various forms of Aramaic, Ammonite, Edomite, the language of Deir Alla et cetera. The material covers the period from ca. 1000 B.C. to ca. 300 A.D. Besides translations, the entries include discussions and full references to scholarly literature. The book is a translated, updated and considerably augmented edition of Jean & Hoftijzer, Dictionnaire des inscriptions sémitiques de l'ouest. The additions concern newly found texts as well as references to new scholarly literature. The book is an indispensable tool for research in North-West Semitic epigraphy, on the Old Testament and on Ugaritic texts, and for Semitic linguistics. Please note that this version is an unrevised reprint of the original version published in 1995.

This is an attempt to gather together Palestinian Aramaic texts of various sorts and varying lengths from the last two centuries B. C. and the first two centuries A. D. The texts are of diverse character: a few of them are biblical; a number belong to the so-called intertestamental literature of Palestinian Jews; some of them are letters, contracts, or business documents of different sorts, reflecting various elements of Palestinian life of that period. The last part of the collection of texts presented here comes from ossuaries or tombstone inscriptions. The collection made here provides the texts of these documents, a translation of the text, a brief introduction, and a bibliography of secondary literature on each of the texts. A glossary of the texts complete the collection.

The discovery of the Babatha archive provided scholars with unique opportunities for reconstructing the life of Jews in second-century Arabia. Although legal issues and especially the question of the relationship between Roman and local law have received attention in a number of publications, this study presents the first complete overview of the legal situation as presented in the Babatha as well as the Salome Komaise archive, using references to law in the documents' texts as the key element for understanding what law is applicable to these documents. By distinguishing between two levels in the papyri, of substantive and of formal law, a new understanding is reached of the part both Roman and local law played in legal reality.

Using a division between substantive and formal law as the key element for understanding the applicable law in papyri, this study offers a new understanding of the distinct parts Roman and local law played in the legal reality of second-century Arabia.

Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral)--T'ubingen, 1989.

Ever since the Elephantine papyri were first published over a century ago, scholars have speculated on the origins of the well-developed legal formularies used in these documents. Since then, many more Aramaic deeds of conveyance both from Elephantine and from elsewhere have been published, especially within the last decade or so. With this expanded text base now available, the time is ripe for a comprehensive re-assessment of these legal formularies. This book endeavors to show that these disparate Aramaic documents, whose chronological scope spans several centuries, form a discrete and coherent tradition. It isolates and identifies the distinctive elements that form the core of this tradition and traces the histories of these elements back through the cuneiform record.

A premier New Testament scholar explores how Jesus' trial and execution are portrayed in the New Testament and how that portrayal has affected biblical studies, Christian theology, and Jewish-Christian relations through history. Tomson has written an accessible, responsible analysis of the biblical accounts of Jesus' death, demonstrating how, through compounded misunderstandings, they contributed to anti-Jewish sentiment in the early church and later history. Tomson's question of how Jesus is to be understood in his first-century Judean context is a critical one not only for biblical scholars, but for anyone concerned about human rights and interreligious dialogue today.

The study of the Roman Empire has changed dramatically in the last century, with significant emphasis now placed on understanding the experiences of subject populations, rather than a sole focus on the Roman imperial elites. Local experiences, and interactions between periphery and centre, are an intrinsic component in our understanding of the empire's function over and against the earlier, top-down model. But where does law fit into this new, decentralized picture of empire? This volume brings together internationally renowned scholars from both legal and historical backgrounds to study the operation of law in each region of the Roman Empire, from Britain to Egypt, from the first century BCE to the end of the third century CE. Regional specificities are explored in detail alongside the emergence of common themes and activities in a series of case studies that together reveal a new and wide-ranging picture of law in the Roman Empire, balancing the practicalities of regional variation with the ideological constructs of law and empire.

This volume addresses the similarities and differences in the role played by law and religion in various societies across the Eastern Mediterranean. Approaching these subjects in an all-encompassing manner, it also looks at the notion of law and religion in this region as a whole, in both the geographical as well as the historical space.