This volume brings together twenty-one articles, all dealing with the languages, literatures and cultures of Asia Minor. The essays are preceded by a tribute to the late Charles William Carter (1928-1988), a specialist of Hittite, whose bibliography has been compiled by the editor of the volume. The articles, ranging from discussions of problems of etymology, epigraphy, lexicography, and syntax to investigations on the cultural and social history of Asia Minor, are written by specialists in the field (Y.L. Arbeitman, F. Bader, A.R. Bomhard, I.M. Diakonoff, J. Faucounau, C.H. Gordon, J.A.C. Greppin, E.P. Hamp, M. Hutter, W. Jenniges, B.D. Joseph, S.E. Kimball, J. Klinger, H.C. Melchert, N. Oettinger, T. Oshiro, L.E. Roller, V. Shevoroshkin, K. Shields, I. Singer, P. Swiggers, P. Taracha).

This book, derived from the acclaimed Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages, describes the ancient languages of Asia Minor, for the convenience of students and specialists working in that area. Each chapter of the work focuses on an individual language or, in some instances, a set of closely related varieties of a language. Providing a full descriptive presentation, each of these chapters examines the writing system(s), phonology, morphology, syntax and lexicon of that language, and places the language within its proper linguistic and historical context. The volume brings together an international array of scholars, each a leading specialist in ancient language study. While designed primarily for scholars and students of linguistics, this work will prove invaluable to all whose studies take them into the realm of ancient language.

In the words of late Professor Moshe Kochavi, the Philistine repository pit at Yavneh is the kind of discovery made only once every fifty years. It is the richest repository pit ever found from Bronze and Iron Ages Israel/Palestine, containing thousands of cultic finds originating from a temple, including an unprecedented number - more than a hundred - of cult stands (so-called 'architectural models') carrying rich figurative art, dozens of fire-pans, chalices and other objects. The present volume includes the full publication of the excavation, the stratigraphy, the cult stands and the figures detached from cult stands, several clay and stone altars and some pottery vessels related to burning of plant material, most likely incense. This exceptional book raises a host of highly important and intriguing questions. Is this a favissa, or even a genizah? Why are many cult stands badly broken, while some are intact - were cult stands broken on purpose? What is the explanation for the unique stratigraphy and for the layer of gray ash in the pit - was fire kindled inside as part of a ritual? How do we know that these finds are Philistine? Are they part of the 'furniture' of the temple or objects dedicated by worshippers as votives? Do the figures on the cult stands represent mortal beings, or divinities? If divinities, can we relate them with Biblical or extra-biblical data on the gods of the Philistines? What was the function/s of cult stands? Were they models of buildings, supports for images, offering tables, altars, or perhaps incense burners? Why are female figures dominant, while male figures are virtually absent? In discussing such topics, Yavneh I treats issues that are central to many fields of study: religion and cult in Iron Age Israel/Palestine; the history and archaeology of the Philistines and their 'western' relations; Near Eastern iconography, the meaning of cult stands/architectural models and the understanding of votive objects and of repository pits in general. Literally salvaged from the teeth of a bulldozer, these rare finds are now published. Generations of scholars will discuss and reinterpret them - there is no 'final word' for such finds and hence, this final excavation volume is not an end, but a beginning.

The province of Egypt provides unique archaeological and documentary evidence for the study of the Roman army. In this fascinating social history Richard Alston examines the economic, cultural, social and legal aspects of a military career, illuminating the life and role of the individual soldier in the army. Soldier and Society in Roman Eygpt provides a complete reassessment of the impact of the Roman army on local societies, and convincingly challenges the orthodox picture. The soldiers are seen not as an isolated elite living in fear of the local populations, but as relatively well-integrated into local communities. The unsuspected scale of the army's involvement in these communities offers a new insight into both Roman rule in Egypt and Roman imperialism more generally.

Revised thesis (doctoral) - Universit'at, W'urzburg, 2003.

In The Morphosyntax of the Noun Phrase in Hieroglyphic Luwian Anna H. Bauer provides a full and detailed account of the noun phrases in Hieroglyphic Luwian, an Anatolian language attested mainly in inscriptions from the first millennium BC. The available material is analysed according to the different elements found in the NP, and a chapter each is devoted to determination, quantification, modification and apposition. Along with discussing the structures from a synchronic point of view, Anna Bauer also draws parallels to neighbouring languages and ongoing changes within HLuwian itself. It is shown how other languages have left their mark on HLuwian and how that influences the HLuwian system.