This book discusses women in a polytheistic and monotheistic society by analyzing their social and religious position according to the literary and non-literary texts of Ugarit and Israel.

In a unique way this study probes the linguistic, sociological, religious and theological issues associated with being physically disabled in the ancient Near East. By examining the law collections, societal conventions and religious obligations towards individuals who were physically disabled Fiorello gives us an understanding of the world a disabled person would enter. He explores the connection between the literal use of disability language and the metaphorical use of this language made in biblical prophetic literature as a prophetic critique of Israel's dysfunctional relationship with God. COMMENDATIONS "In this well-researched volume Michael Fiorello has made a significant contribution to the study of disability in the Bible in the context of its ancient Near Eastern world. Fiorello's work needs to be taken seriously in the church, the academy, and the world." - Richard E. Averbeck, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, USA

This unique commentary provides historical, social and cultural background for each passage of the Old Testament. From Genesis through Malachi, this single volume gathers and condenses an abundance of specialized knowledge, and includes a glossary, maps and charts, and expanded explanations of significant background issues.

Detailed historical and archaeological essays give insight into the many people groups who interacted with and influenced ancient Israel.

After more than fifty years since the last publication, the cuneiform texts relating to the treatment of the loss of male sexual desire and vigor in Mesopotamia are collected in this volume. The aim of the book is to present Mesopotamian medical tradition regarding the so-called nīš libbi therapies. šà-zi-ga in Sumerian, nīš libbi in Akkadian, lit. "raising of the 'heart'", is the expression used to indicate a group of texts intended to recover the male sexual desire. This medical tradition is preserved from the Middle Babylonian period to the Achaemenid one. This broad range testifies to the importance of the transmission of this material throughout Mesopotamian history. The book provides the edition of this textual corpus and analyzes it in the light of new knowledge on ancient Near Eastern medicine. Moreover, this volume aims to show how theories and methodologies of Cultural Anthropology, Ethnopsychiatry and Gender Studies are useful for understanding the Mesopotamian medical system. This edition is an important tool for understanding Mesopotamian medical knowledge for Assyriologist, however since the texts have been translated and discussed using the anthropological and gender perspectives they are accessible also to scholars of other research fields, such as History of Medicine, Sexuality and Gender.

A novel account of pollution in the Hebrew Bible, from its embodied origins, to its metaphorical expression in moral discourse.