"In 2002 Henry T. Aubin published The Rescue of Jerusalem: The Alliance Between Hebrews and Africans in 701 BC. Aubin, an award winning Canadian journalist, explores Jerusalem's survival in 701 BCE in the face of an Assyrian invasion of the Levant. It is unusual for a book in biblical studies to be reconsidered fifteen to twenty years later. The rationale for a book-length collection devoted to Aubin's The Rescue of Jerusalem is, first of all, the importance of the issues it raises for the academy and beyond. This volume brings together excellent scholars from several fields to consider certain issues that are raised by The Rescue of Jerusalem. This volume is important for another reason. Not only does The Rescue of Jerusalem raise issues regarding what may have happened in 701 BCE; it also probes the causes of changes in Western biblical scholarly attitudes regarding the Twenty-fifth Dynasty's involvement in those events. Aubin's approach raises important concerns about scholarly attitudes, not only from the past, but also about the ways in which past attitudes have a way of continuing to color later academic discourse when they are not challenged"--

This little-known story of biblical times is “one of those contingent moments in world history on which whole civilizations pivot” (The Globe and Mail, Toronto). At the turn of the eighth century BC, a mighty Assyrian army entered Judah and fought its way to the very gates of Jerusalem, poised, the prophet Isaiah warned, to “smash the city as easily as someone hurling a clay pot against the wall.” But the assault never came. Instead, the Assyrian army turned and fled, an event that has been called the Deliverance of Jerusalem. Whereas biblical accounts attribute the Assyrian retreat to divine intervention, this account offers an explanation that is miraculous in its own light: The siege was broken by the arrival of an army from Kushite Egypt—an army that is, made up of black Africans. These Kushites figured in historical texts, the author reveals, until the late nineteenth century—when racist scholars expunged them from the record, a process that coincided with the European conquest and colonization of Africa. The Kushite intervention assured the survival of the Hebrew people, and this book is a fresh and fascinating look at this chapter in biblical history and “a joy to read” (South Florida Sun-Sentinel).

This volume investigates the question of how both Assyria and Judah could remember the war of 701 BCE as their respective victory. Whilst surveying available evidences for historical reconstructions, Paul S. Evans compares the Sennacherib's Third Campaign with the War of 1812 between Canada and the USA as an example of disputed victory from military history. Evans examines Assyrian and biblical texts to evaluate the conflict and argues that rather than being intentionally deceptive in their accounts of the events, both sides had reasons to perceive the war as a victory. This examination of military narratives also illustrates how the fluctuating support for wartime leaders in 1812 is analogous to positive and negative oracles regarding Jerusalem's leadership during the war years. With differing opinions regarding the success of the Sennacherib's Third Campaign, this book presents an interesting discussion of the events and demonstrates how our understanding of the war between Assyria and Judah can be illuminated by military history.

Tel Malḥata: A Central City in the Biblical Negev presents the results of nine seasons of excavations—two by the first expedition and seven by the second. Tel Malḥata is an elliptical-shaped mound located in the eastern sector of the Arad–Beer-sheba Valley and spreads across some 18 dunams. Tel Malḥata is generally identified with biblical Moladah, one of the cities of Judah, although other identifications have been suggested. The Arabic name of the site, Tell el-Milḥ (“Hill of the Salt”), is apparently indicative of its association with the production and distribution of salt from the Dead Sea in more recent times. The many Bedouin graves on the upper terrace of the tell significantly hindered the planning of the excavations, and consequently the excavations were concentrated mainly where no graves were discerned. The two-volume report consists of 22 chapters that take the reader through six strata of civilization, ranging from the Middle Bronze Age to the early Byzantine period.

In the 660s BC Egypt was a politically fragmented and occupied country. However, this was to change when a family of local rulers from the city of Sais declared independence from the Assyrian Empire, and in a few short years succeeded in bringing about the reunification of Egypt. The Saites established central government, reformed the economy and promoted trade. The country became prosperous, achieving a pre-eminent role in the Mediterranean world. This is the first monograph devoted entirely to a detailed exploration of the Saite Dynasty. It reveals the dynamic nature of the period, the astuteness of the Saite rulers and their considerable achievements in the political, economic, administrative and cultural spheres. It will appeal not only to students of Egyptology but also, because of the interactions of the Saite Dynasty with the Aegean and Mesopotamia worlds, to anyone interested in ancient history.

Reconciling biblical and extrabiblical history The extrabiblical testimony surrounding Israel's early history is difficult to assess and synthesize. But numerous sources emerging from the ninth century BC onward invite direct comparison with the biblical account. In Ahab's House of Horrors: A Historiographic Study of the Military Campaigns of the House of Omri, Kyle R. Greenwood and David B. Schreiner examine the historical records of Israel and its neighbors. While Scripture generally gives a bleak depiction of the Omride dynasty, extrabiblical evidence appears to tell another story. Inscriptions and archeological evidence portray a period of Israelite geopolitical influence and cultural sophistication. Rather than simply rejecting one source over another, Greenwood and Schreiner press beyond polarization. They propose a nuanced synthesis by embracing the complex dynamics of ancient history writing and the historical difficulties that surround the Omri dynasty. Ahab's House of Horrors is an important contribution to the ongoing discussion of biblical historiography and, specifically, to our understanding of 1–2 Kings and the Omri family.

This book aims to demonstrate that the accounts that feature Muḥammad’s grandfather in Ibn Isḥāq’s Sīra are the product of narrative engineering. Through a narrative sequence in which ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib is the hero, several intriguing episodes follow one another in a causal manner and lead to the birth of a future prophet. Articulated with a historical anthropology, the narrative analysis reveals that the Sīra is the heir to the royal literature of the ancient Near East. Using motifs and themes from the culture of the Fertile Crescent, the Sīra makes ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib a royal figure in the service of legitimising the Abbasid dynasty, heir par excellence to Ishmael and restorer of the Abrahamic covenant. Cet ouvrage entend démontrer que les récits qui mettent en scène le grand-père de Muḥammad dans la Sīra d’Ibn Isḥāq sont le produit d’une ingé nierie narrative. À travers une séquence narrative dont ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib est le héros, plusieurs épisodes intriguants s’enchainent d’une manière cau sale et aboutissent à la naissance d’un futur pro phète. Articulée à une anthropologie historique, l’analyse narrative révèle que la Sīra est l’héritière de la littérature royale du Proche-Orient ancien. À partir de motifs et de thématiques issus de la culture du croissant fertile, la Sīra fait de ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib une figure royale au service de la légitimation de la dynastie abbasside, héritier par excellence d’Ismaël et restaurateur de l’alliance abrahamique.