This anthology brought together the most important historical,
legal, mythological, liturgical, and secular texts of the ancient
Near East, with the purpose of providing a rich contextual base for
understanding the people, cultures, and literature of the Old
Testament. A scholar of religious thought and biblical archaeology,
James Pritchard recruited the foremost linguists, historians, and
archaeologists to select and translate the texts. The goal, in his
words, was "a better understanding of the likenesses and
differences which existed between Israel and the surrounding
cultures." Before the publication of these volumes, students of the
Old Testament found themselves having to search out scattered books
and journals in various languages. This anthology brought these
invaluable documents together, in one place and in one language,
thereby expanding the meaning and significance of the Bible for
generations of students and readers. As one reviewer put it, "This
great volume is one of the most notable to have appeared in the
field of Old Testament scholarship this century."
Princeton published a follow-up companion volume, "The Ancient
Near East in Pictures Relating to the Old Testament" (1954), and
later a one-volume abridgment of the two, "The Ancient Near East:
An Anthology of Texts and Pictures" (1958). The continued
popularity of this work in its various forms demonstrates that
anthologies have a very important role to play in education--and in
the mission of a university press.
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