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Archaeological Thinking: How to Make Sense of the Past by Charles E. Orser Jr (review)

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prophecy of Isaiah 11:1–9. The authors seek to connect the pastoral image of animals dwelling in peace (vv. 1–5) with that of the young political leader (vv. 6–9). The authors… Click to show full abstract

prophecy of Isaiah 11:1–9. The authors seek to connect the pastoral image of animals dwelling in peace (vv. 1–5) with that of the young political leader (vv. 6–9). The authors trace the representation of lions in Assyrian, Egyptian, and other art as either pets or display items in royal collections; this contrast to the imagery of Isaiah 11 suggests the prophet’s goal was to promote a vision of YHWH that challenged the typical portrayal of powerful foreign kings. In a fascinating study departing from 1 Kings 20:23–25, Izaak de Hulster (pp. 226–50) contrasts coastal Levantine images of the “smiting” weather god with those of the corresponding deity from Aram. He discovers that the former typically depict the god striding over stylized, rolling mountains, whereas those depictions from Aram characteristically portray the deity positioned above a flat line (indicating a plain). This divergence in representation, argues de Hulster, corresponds with the complaint of the Arameans in 1 Kings 20 that their army had been defeated because Israel’s god was a “god of the mountains.” Hans Ulrich Steymans (pp. 251–84) provides a rereading of Psalm 89:51–52, arguing from the surrounding context that the psalm has been editorially adjusted to incorporate key terms from the preceding psalms. The reconstructed underlying form of the psalm, he argues, originally served as a funeral dirge for Davidic kings, picturing the deceased king being carried to a celestial afterlife by a (semi-)divine intercessor. This image is drawn, Steymans avers, from Egyptian imagery of Menkeret, a deity frequently pictured as carrying deceased pharaohs to heaven. Finally, in a helpful appendix (pp. 285–95), Izaak de Hulster offers an array of advice on finding, collecting, and publishing iconographic data. This essay provides not only a bibliographic compendium of resources for consultation, but also a series of hints for securing permissions and avoiding entanglements when preparing images for print. Despite some unacknowledged interaction between essays—especially those by Bloch-Smith, Wyse-Rhodes, and Klingbeil indicated above—these chapters fill out a remarkably coherent volume. The editors are to be commended for compiling a compelling and consistent volume from so many diverse essays; skilled editing has produced an overwhelmingly clean and readable text, replete with well-positioned images. As a reviewer, however, I would register one complaint with the copy of the volume that I received: the press has issued a paperback edition in which the printing devoted only about 5.5” x 3.5” to the text panel, with 1.25” outside and top side margins and a full 2.0” of bottom margin. This reduction in the size of the panel represents a departure from the size of the print of the hardcover version and from comparable volumes by the same press. This shrinking of print size is paired with a reduction in print quality, producing a volume with sometimes excruciatingly small and difficult-to-read text. I consulted one of the editors, who attested that both editors had protested the change. I would hope that adding the admonishment of a concerned reviewer will spur the press to rethink this change in future printings. Producing a more legible version in the financially accessible paperback edition will do justice to the volume’s significant contribution to the field.

Keywords: make sense; volume; sense past; archaeological thinking; past charles; thinking make

Journal Title: Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies
Year Published: 2017

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