Book Specifications
col. 651-880 pp.
softcover
2014 | BiOr Volume 71 5/6 ISSN: 0006-1913
For the recent publication of volume 13 in the Handschriften des Altägyptischen Totenbuches (HAT) series, the authors S. Töpfer and M. Müller-Roth have brought to our attention two Late Ptolemaic Books of the Dead (P. Tübingen 2012 and P. Louvre N 3085) that have considerable interest, in part because of the content of texts and illustrations and in part because both documents are so nearly identical, save for occasional minor issues likely the result of scribal errors, that they both appear to have been produced from a common source at around the same time. Our interests, however, are raised to an even greater level by the fact that the Tübingen also includes a passage from the Book of Breathings that contains a long genealogical family tree on the paternal side that goes back seven generations and thereby connects several other Books of the Dead. What began as a routine book review proved to be inadequate due to simple limitations in the scope of a normal review because there was much to be said about what the authors produced, and there is so much more to be said about what the authors missed, information that is of considerable value to other scholars of Ptolemaic Books of the Dead. Therefore the format of the accompanying essay is modeled after that of a book review, but the comments go extensively beyond the scope of a review, and I offer them for the benefit of all with interests in Ptolemaic Books of the Dead.
Review article of Scott B. Noegel, Nocturnal Ciphers: The Allusive Language of Dreams in the Ancient Near East, American Oriental Series 89, New Haven 2007.
The book al-Fuṣūl wa-l-ghāyāt fī tamjīd Allāh wa-l-mawā'iẓ ('The Headings and Endings in Praise of Allah accompanied by Admonitions') is a prose work by Abū l-'Alā' al-Ma'arrī which signifies the turning point in his promising career. The Fuṣūl is an apparently chaotic collection of sentences of varying importance (reminiscent of the style of quranic verses) which continually offer praise to Allah, Who manifests Himself in His creation, such as the world of humans and jinn, of minerals and living beings, large and small, even the soul and tiny insects. It consists of the author’s fantastic confusing monologues which are descriptive of the sufferings of humans and animals. No answers from the Almighty are expected nor are they forthcoming. When confronted with this work the question arises: if here is not any Message, is it not then a Masterpiece composed by a failed Prophet?
The field of Cypriot epigraphy has recently been presented with two related volumes titled Cypro-Minoan Inscriptions, by Silvia Ferrara (2012, 2013). One compiles most known documented objects inscribed in this undeciphered script and the other examines them primarily from the point of view of archaeology. The present article offers a review of the two books, with special attention given to their contributions to the palaeography of Cypro-Minoan, and how they compare to the first collection of Cypro-Minoan texts, Jean-Pierre Olivier’s pivotal Édition holistique des textes chypro-minoens (Pisa/Rome, 2007).
Faraonisch Egypte, Grieks-Romeins Egypte, Assyriologie, Hittitologie, Semitica, Ugaritisch, Hebreeuws, Aramees, Oude Testament, Archeologie, Iranica, Islam, Midden-Oosten, Varia
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