The World of the Bible

The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls

SECOND EDITION Jodi Magness A Choice Outstanding Academic Title and winner of the Biblical Archaeology Society’s Publication Award for Best Popular Book on Archaeology

“Now revised and updated, this second edition is even be er than the rst. Taking twenty years of new data, publications, and interpretations into account, Magness has ensured that her accessible presentation of the archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls will remain at the fore ont of required readings for colleagues, students, and the general public alike for decades to come.”

— ERIC H. CLINE

The George Washington University

“In this uent, clearly wri en book, whose vivid account of the Qumran excavations is no less engaging than a literary thriller, Jodi Magness also succeeds in providing an accurate, updated picture of the archaeological nds and their signi cance against the backdrop of the Dead Sea Scrolls. A straightforward report of con icting scholarly interpretations and academic scandals, accompanied by rich bibliographical notes, creates a robust picture of the status quaestionis of the most dramatic twentieth-century archaeological discovery.”

— VERED NOAM

Tel Aviv University

“ e latest and best discussion of Qumran. . . . is book is essential reading for specialists and general readers alike.” — ARCHAEOLOGY

“An admirably clear and concise progress report on what is known about this spectacular discovery.” — HARPER’S MAGAZINE

Jodi Magness is the Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judaism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. From 2017 to 2020, she served as president of the Archaeological Institute of America. She has participated in over twenty di erent excavations in Israel and Greece, including as codirector of the 1995 excavations in the Roman siegeworks at Masada. Since 2011 she has directed excavations at Huqoq in Israel’s Galilee. EERDMANS LANGUAGE RESOURCES

Aramaic

A History of the First World Language Holger Gzella

Translated by Benjamin D. Suchard “ is book is the rst historical account available of the Aramaic language that covers all the periods of its development om antiquity to the modern period. It unites in a masterly fashion the eld of Aramaic studies, which has become agmented in recent decades in increasingly specialist elds. e book re ects a deep scholarly knowledge of the primary sources and perceptive insights into linguistic and social history, which are presented in a remarkably accessible style. I enthusiastically recommend it to all who are studying and researching Semitic languages and also, more generally, to anybody who is interested in the history of the Middle East.” — GEOFFREY KHAN

University of Cambridge

“As someone who grew up in an Aramaic milieu, I can testify to the magical charms and poetic allures of Aramaic. Now, Holger Gzella gives a fascinating history of Aramaic and how it conquered the ancient world not with the strength of armies but with the simplicity of its alphabet, becoming the rst world language and surviving in an unbroken record for nearly three millennia. Aramaic served empires, religions, and literature. Now, Gzella gives it its due credit.”

— GEORGE A. KI Z

Princeton University

“Holger Gzella has succeeded in condensing the three-thousand-year history of Aramaic into one volume, which is both highly informative and yet easily accessible to the educated layman, student, and scholar. is work is a sweeping synthesis of Aramaic’s long, uninterrupted history om the earliest inscriptions at the beginning of the rst millennium BCE to modern, spoken Aramaic dialects. Along the way the author highlights the use and development of Aramaic as shaped by demographic, political, and social factors. It is a fascinating tale told in clear and elegant prose of Aramaic in the light of local communities, global empires, and cultural traditions.” — STEVEN E. FASSBERG

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Holger Gzella is professor of Old Testament at the University of Munich, Germany. He previously served as professor of Hebrew and Aramaic at Leiden University.

978-0-8028-7908-0 | Paperback | 400 pages | $29.99 US | $39.99 CAN | £23.99 UK Available July 2021 978-0-8028-7748-2 | Hardcover | 380 pages | $70.00 US | $94.99 CAN | £55.99 UK Available May 2021

Eastern Christianity

A Reader J. Edward Walters, editor English translations of Syriac, Armenian, Georgian, Arabic, Coptic, and Ethiopic Christian texts om late antiquity to the early modern period

In order to make the writings of Eastern Christianity more widely accessible, this volume o ers a collection of signi cant texts from various Eastern Christian traditions, many of which are appearing in English for the rst time. e internationally renowned scholars behind these translations begin each section with an informative historical introduction, so that anyone interested in learning more about these understudied groups can more easily traverse their diverse linguistic, cultural, and literary traditions. A boon to scholars, students, and general readers, this ample resource expands the scope of Christian history so that communities beyond Western Christendom can no longer be ignored.

CONTRIBUTORS

Jesse S. Arlen, Aaron M. Bu s, Je W. Childers, Mary K. Farag, Philip Michael

Forness, John C. Lamoreaux, Jeanne-Nicole Mellon Saint-Laurent, Erin Galgay

Walsh, J. Edward Walters, and Je Wickes.

J. Edward Walters is a cataloger of Syriac manuscripts for Hill Museum & Manuscript Library in Collegeville, Minnesota. His research focuses on Christianity in late antiquity, especially among Syriac speakers. Walters is particularly interested in the early period of Syriac literature, and much of his research thus far has focused on the fourth-century author Aphrahat, the Persian Sage. More broadly, Walters has wri en and published on a number of topics pertaining to Syriac Christianity and translated several Syriac texts. He is also the general editor of the Digital Syriac Corpus, an online repository of digitized Syriac texts.

978-0-8028-7686-7 | Hardcover | 448 pages | $55.00 US | $73.99 CAN | £44.99 UK Available November 2021

Augustine and Tradition

Infl uences, Contexts, Legacy David G. Hunter and Jonathan P. Yates, editors An indispensable resource for those looking to understand Augustine’s place in religious and cultural heritage

Augustine towers over Western life, literature, and culture—both sacred and secular. His ideas permeate conceptions of the self from birth to death and have cast a long shadow over subsequent Christian thought. But as much as tradition has sprung from Augustinian roots, so was Augustine a product of and interlocutor with traditions that preceded and ran contemporary to his life. is extensive volume examines and evaluates Augustine as both a receiver and a source of tradition. e contributors—all distinguished Augustinian scholars in uenced by J. Patout Burns and interested in furthering his intellectual legacy—survey Augustine’s life and writings in the context of North African tradition, philosophical and literary traditions of antiquity, the Greek patristic tradition, and the tradition of Augustine’s Latin contemporaries. ese various pieces, when assembled, tell a comprehensive story of Augustine’s signi cance, both then and now.

CONTRIBUTORS

Alden Bass, Michael Cameron, John Cavadini, omas Clemmons, Stephen

Cooper, eodore de Bruyn, Mark Del Cogliano, Geo rey Dunn, John Peter

Kenney, Brian Matz, Andrew McGowan, William Tabbernee, Joseph Trigg,

Dennis Trout, and James Wetzel.

David G. Hunter is the Margaret O’Brien Flatley Chair of Catholic eology at Boston College. A past president of the North American Patristics Society, he is coeditor of the Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies and the Brill Encyclopedia of Early Christianity.

Jonathan P. Yates is professor of historical theology at Villanova University. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. He also served as editor of the international peer-reviewed academic journal Augustinian Studies for over ten years.

978-0-8028-7699-7 | Jacketed Hardcover | 528 pages | $80.00 US | $107.99 CAN £64.99 UK | Available November 2021