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Yamhad (Yamḫad) was an ancient Semitic-speaking kingdom centered on Ḥalab (Aleppo) in Syria. The kingdom emerged at the end of the 19th century BC and was ruled by the Yamhad dynasty, who counted on both military and diplomacy to expand their realm. From the beginning of its establishment, the kingdom withstood the aggressions of its neighbors Mari, Qatna and the Old Assyrian Empire, and was turned into the most powerful Syrian kingdom of its era through the actions of its king Yarim-Lim I. By the middle of the 18th century BC, most of Syria minus the south came under the authority of Yamhad, either as a direct possession or through vassalage, and for nearly a century and a half, Yamhad dominated northern, northwestern and eastern Syria, and had influence over small kingdoms in Mesopotamia at the borders of Elam. The kingdom was eventually destroyed by the Hittites, then annexed by Mitanni in the 16th century BC.
Mari was an ancient Semitic city-state in modern-day Syria. Its remains form a tell 11 kilometers north-west of Abu Kamal on the Euphrates River western bank, some 120 kilometers southeast of Deir ez-Zor. It flourished as a trade center and hegemonic state between 2900 BC and 1759 BC. The city was built in the middle of the Euphrates trade routes between Sumer in the south and the Eblaite kingdom and the Levant in the west.
Zimri-Lim was king of Mari c. 1775–1761 BCE.
Jimmy Jack McBee Roberts, known as J. J. M. Roberts, is William Henry Green Professor of Old Testament Literature (Emeritus) at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey. A member of the Churches of Christ, Roberts attended Abilene Christian University before pursuing doctoral work at Harvard University.
Frank Moore Cross Jr. (1921–2012) was the Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages Emeritus at Harvard University, notable for his work in the interpretation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, his 1973 magnum opusCanaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic, and his work in Northwest Semitic epigraphy. Many of his essays on the latter topic have since been collected in Leaves from an Epigrapher's Notebook.
The Suteans were a nomadic Semitic people who lived throughout the Levant, Canaan and Mesopotamia, specifically in the region of Suhum, during the Old Babylonian period. They were famous in Semitic epic poetry for being fierce nomadic warriors, and like the Habiru, traditionally worked as mercenaries. Unlike Amorites, the Suteans were not governed by a king. They may have been part of the Ahlamu. Hypotheses regarding their identity variously identify them as Arameans, proto-Arabs or a unique Semitic people.
Gerald "Gary" Neil Knoppers was a professor in the Department of Theology at University of Notre Dame. He wrote books and articles regarding a range of Old Testament and ancient Near Eastern topics. He is particularly renowned for his work on 1 Chronicles, writing I Chronicles 1 – 9 and I Chronicles 10 – 29, which together comprise a significant treatment of the work of the Chronicler. In May 2005 the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies/Societe canadienne des Etudes bibliques granted the R. B. Y. Scott Award to Knoppers for his two-volume Anchor Bible commentary on I Chronicles
Michael Czernichow Astour was professor of Yiddish and Russian literature at Brandeis University and from 1969 professor of history at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.
Francis Ian Andersen was an Australian scholar in the fields of biblical studies and Hebrew. Together with A. Dean Forbes, he pioneered the use of computers for the analysis of biblical Hebrew syntax. He taught Old Testament, History, and Religious Studies at various institutions in Australia and the United States, including Macquarie University, the University of Queensland, and Fuller Theological Seminary. His published works include the Tyndale commentary on Job, and Anchor Bible commentaries on Hosea, Amos, Habakkuk and Micah, and over 90 papers.
The Royal Palace of Mari was the royal residence of the rulers of the ancient kingdom of Mari in eastern Syria. Situated centrally amidst Palestine, Syria, Babylon, Levant, and other Mesopotamian city-states, Mari acted as the “middle-man” to these larger, powerful kingdoms. Both the size and grand nature of the palace demonstrate the importance of Mari during its long history, though the most intriguing feature of the palace is the nearly 25,000 tablets found within the palace rooms. The royal palace was discovered in 1935, excavated with the rest of the city throughout the 1930s, and is considered one of the most important finds made at Mari. André Parrot led the excavations and was responsible for the discovery of the city and the palace. Thousands of clay tablets were discovered through the efforts of André Bianquis, who provided archaeologists the tools to learn about, and to understand, everyday life at the palace in Mari. The discovery of the tablets also aided in the labeling of various rooms in terms of their purpose and function.
Prof. Christopher A. Rollston is a scholar of the ancient Near East, specializing in Hebrew Bible, Greek New Testament, Old Testament Apocrypha, Northwest Semitic literature, epigraphy and paleography.
Michael Patrick O'Connor was an American scholar of the Ancient Near East and a poet. With the field of ANE studies he was a linguist of Semitic languages, with a focus on biblical Hebrew and biblical poetry.
Richard Samuel Hess is an American Old Testament scholar. He is Distinguished Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages at Denver Seminary.
Daniel Edward Fleming is an American biblical scholar and Assyriologist whose work centers on Hebrew Bible interpretation and cultural history, ancient Syria, Emar, ancient religion, and the interplay of ancient Near Eastern societies. Since 1990, he has served as a professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies in the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University, where he has spent his whole career.
Rapiqum, ra-bi-qa-wiKI, was a city of the ancient Near East. The city was located in the north of Mesopotamia, probably on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, in modern Iraq. It is firmly attested from early in the 2nd Millennium BC until early in the 1st Millennium BC.
Abarakkum is translated in Akkadian as "steward, house-keeper or administrator" of a temple, palace, or private household. The term was a loan word from the Sumerian lexicon. Sumerian literature described this position as an official entrusted with state secrets (ad-hal). In documents from the royal archives of Mari, Syria, the title designated the male administrator of the palace kitchens.
Itūr-Mēr was a Mesopotamian god worshiped in the kingdom of Mari, and after its fall in the kingdom of Khana, especially in Terqa. His name is structured like a theophoric name rather than a typical theonym, which lead to the proposal that he was originally a deified hero or ancestral figure. An alternative theory considers him a hypostasis of the god Mēr, though unlike him he was not a weather deity.
Ḫišamītum or Ḫišametum was a Mesopotamian goddess worshiped in the kingdom of Mari. She was the tutelary deity of the city of Ḫišamta, and it is presumed she originated as a hypostasis of Ishtar. Sacrifices to her are mentioned in various administrative documents from the reigns of kings such as Yaḫdun-Lim and Zimri-Lim. She is also known from letters and a compendium of divination.
Dērītum or Dīrītum was a Mesopotamian goddess associated with Dēr in the kingdom of Mari. While she was originally a hypostasis of Ishtar, she eventually developed into a fully separate deity, and achieved a degree of prominence in the local pantheon during the reign of Zimri-Lim in the 18th century BCE. She is attested in various administrative texts, as well as in personal letters. A celebration focused on her was one of the main festivals in the kingdom of Mari, and participants included both members of the royal family and foreign dignitaries.
Ikšudum or Yakšudum was a Mesopotamian god worshiped in the kingdom of Mari, possibly a deified ancestor. He was closely associated with Lagamal. A possibly related deity is also listed among the hounds of Marduk in the god list An = Anum. Texts from Mari mention a ritual procession of Ikšudum and Lagamal. The pair was also invoked in oath formulas.
References
- 1 2 Vanderbilt Divinity School Faculty Pages
- 1 2 3 4 5 Lew Harris (28 August 2000). "Syrian-born divinity professor discovers America as the land of opportunity". Vanderbilt Register.
- ↑ Who's Who in Biblical Studies and Archaeology, 2nd ed., 1993, 258.
- ↑ Klebba, Caryn E. Directory of American Scholars 2002. 10th ed., vol. 4, 437.
- 1 2 Jack M. Sasson's Curriculum Vitae
