In this newly revised and expanded second edition, Victor Matthews and Don Benjamin have gathered key ancient documents from Eastern Mediterranean traditions that provide a literary backdrop for Old Testament writings.

Cuneiform records made some three thousand years ago are the basis for this essay on the ideas of death and the afterlife and the story of the flood which were current among the ancient peoples of the Tigro-Euphrates Valley. With the same careful scholarship shown in his previous volume, The Babylonian Genesis, Heidel interprets the famous Gilgamesh Epic and other related Babylonian and Assyrian documents. He compares them with corresponding portions of the Old Testament in order to determine the inherent historical relationship of Hebrew and Mesopotamian ideas.

A readable, portable anthology of ancient Near Eastern laws and stories that share parallel themes and issues with biblical stories, now in a fourth edition, revised and expanded.

'The first major collection of cuneiform texts in English' Despite its age, this volume still has a major contribution to make. Unlike other collections, Rogers's volume includes the transliterated Akkadian for each text. This provides an invaluable access to the original texts without having a library that includes every volume of the original publications. A further asset is the collection of forty-eight excellent photographs and line-drawings. Included here are tablets, prisms, cylinders, seals, boundary stones, and bas reliefs. The bibliography is composed of two parts. The first includes the entries from Rogers's ÒList of Books Quoted or Mentioned,Ó but with numerous corrections and supplying much missing data. The second part is an updated list, organized by major cuneiform languages: Diverse Collections, Sumerian, Akkadian, Hittite, Hurrian, Eblaite, and Ugaritic. This will direct the reader to the wealth of primary documents that is now our privilege to read.

Well-respected Old Testament professor Victor Matthews identifies eight landmark stories that shaped Israel's identity.

The Old Testament "stories" about Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and Rahab are about real men and women. The tabernacle, the ark of the covenant, feasts, and even notable battles were all real objects, ceremonies, and events; but just beneath the surface - waiting to be discovered - are lessons about Jesus Christ. Types are Old Testament people, events, items, and ceremonies that foreshadow the coming Messiah and His church. In this study you will embark on a journey of discovery to see what might be learned about Jesus Christ, His church, and God's plan for redemption which were hidden in the pages of the Old Testament to later be revealed in the coming Savior.