The tale of the combat between the Storm-god and the Sea that began circulating in the early second millennium BCE was one of the most well-known ancient Near Eastern myths. Its widespread dissemination in distinct versions across disparate locations and time periods - Syria, Egypt, Anatolia, Ugarit, Mesopotamia, and Israel - calls for analysis of all the textual variants in order to determine its earliest form, geo-cultural origin, and transmission history. In undertaking this task, Noga Ayali-Darshan examines works such as the Astarte Papyrus, the Pisaisa Myth, the Songs of Hedammu and Ullikummi, the Baal Cycle, Enuma elis, and pertinent biblical texts. She interprets these and other related writings philologically according to their provenance and comparatively in the light of parallel texts. The examination of this story appearing in all the ancient Near Eastern cultures also calls for a discussion of the theology, literature, and history of these societies and the way they shaped the local versions of the myth.

The Gods of Pegana is an imaginative book of fantasy and one of the most important collections compiled of short stories from the early part of the 20th century. Dunsany was the second writer to fully exploit the fantasy and adventure of imaginary lands, which include gods, witches, magic and spirits. The God of Pegana is an important science fiction work both for its ability to be an excellent collection children's fairy tales as well as being sophisticated enough to be enjoyed by adults.

Comprehensive and cross-referenced, this informative volume is a rich introduction to the world of nature as experienced by ancient peoples around the globe. 51 halftones.

Dasha is a gift. Only she’s not very gifted. Both books in the awarding-winning Breathing Sea mini-series in one omnibus edition! Dasha was born at the behest of the gods, her mother’s pledge between the world of women and the world of spirits. The Krasnograd kremlin looks to her to rule with fire, steel, and magic, just as her Imperial foremothers did. Instead, she’s shy, retiring, and the least magically talented girl her tutors have ever seen. Now that she’s almost a woman grown, she needs to learn to harness her gifts, but all she can do is have fits and useless visions. When her father offers to take her on her first journey away from Krasnograd, Dasha jumps at the chance to see her native land. But their journey quickly turns into more than a mere pleasure trip. The wide world is more dangerous than Dasha had imagined, and her rapidly growing gifts may be the most dangerous thing in it. But Dasha is not the only danger in Zem’. War is raging on its borders, and threatens to spill into Zem’ itself. No matter which side Dasha’s people choose, they may not be able to keep their freedom and their way of life. Dasha may hold the key to protecting Zem’—but she may have to lose herself in order to save her people. If you loved First Lessons or The Bear and the Nightingale, try this epic fantasy saga set in a magical Slavic world where trees walk, animals talk, and women rule. With discussion questions at the end.

It is a tale of three men who survived the horror of Nazi Germany during the second world war. the men were able to stay alive during interment in a concentration camp. A struggle was carried out each and every day. Finally they were freed at the end of the war. They came to America and found freedom. Some lost their families and one lost his wife and child. Anger and hate was always in their minds, but they found their faith to be strong and eventually were able to give of themselves to others. It is a remarkable journey. God always finds those in need and hears your prayers. When one finds love in your heart, you can touch the souls of other hearts. Their reward was to be found in the afterlife. There they will continue their struggle to witness and remember those that died during the Holocaust. Their new affirmation was to help people remember and to do good deeds by directly loving others.

At the distant beginning of Western civilization, according to European tradition, Greece stands as an insular, isolated, near-miracle of burgeoning culture. This book traverses the ancient world’s three great centers of cultural exchange—Babylonian Nineveh, Egyptian Memphis, and Iranian Persepolis—to situate classical Greece in its proper historical place, at the Western margin of a more comprehensive Near Eastern–Aegean cultural community that emerged in the Bronze Age and expanded westward in the first millennium B.C. In concise and inviting fashion, Walter Burkert lays out the essential evidence for this ongoing reinterpretation of Greek culture. In particular, he points to the critical role of the development of writing in the ancient Near East, from the achievement of cuneiform in the Bronze Age to the rise of the alphabet after 1000 B.C. From the invention and diffusion of alphabetic writing, a series of cultural encounters between “Oriental” and Greek followed. Burkert details how the Assyrian influences of Phoenician and Anatolian intermediaries, the emerging fascination with Egypt, and the Persian conquests in Ionia make themselves felt in the poetry of Homer and his gods, in the mythic foundations of Greek cults, and in the first steps toward philosophy. A journey through the fluid borderlines of the Near East and Europe, with new and shifting perspectives on the cultural exchanges these produced, this book offers a clear view of the multicultural field upon which the Greek heritage that formed Western civilization first appeared.

"In this volume Gordon McConville and Stephen Williams interpret the book of Joshua in relation to Christian theology, providing exegetical commentary and reflection on an often-troubling book that nonetheless plays a key role in the biblical drama of salvation. McConville and Williams address significant theological themes in Joshua, such as land, covenant, law, miracle, judgment (including the problem of genocide), and idolatry. They posit that the theological topics engaged in Joshua are not limited to the horizons of the author and first readers of the book, but that this ancient text is part of a much larger testimony that concerns readers yet today." ""What a marvelous book! Many commentaries on Joshua are disappointing and dispiriting; after using them, you wonder what the point was. This one helps you understand the book, helps you see the point, and sets you thinking energetically and constructively on the theological issues it raises."---John Goldingay, Fuller Theological Seminary" ""In the light of Qoheleth's tired comment---'Of making many books there is no end'---one can be forgiven for asking whether we need yet another English commentary on the book of Joshua. Having had opportunity to dive into this new one coauthored by Old Testament scholar Gordon McConville and systematic theologian Stephen Williams, I can only respond with another of Qoheleth's sayings: Two are better than one, for they have a good return for their labor.' This collaborative effort in theological exegesis is first-rate both as exegesis and as theological interpretation, brilliantly demonstrating the organic and necessary link between the two."---V. Philips Long, Regent College, Vancouver"--BOOK JACKET.

Containing some 1500 entries, this new bibliography will be widely welcomed for its comprehensive brief, and for the sub-section profiling principal NRMs convering history, beliefs and practices, main publications, braches worldwide and membership.