Thesiss

This dissertation is an examination of terminology for realia in the corpus of Northwest Semitic during the Late Bronze Age and the Iron I and Iron II periods (ca. 1400–600 BCE). In light of developments in the field of contact linguistics, this study first formulates a methodol…

Reclaiming Γαρ is a curious title for readers oblivious to the fact that the meaning of γαρ has been lost. Indeed, γαρ is but one of several linguistic signals of Koine Greek that allude the grasp of the modern scholar. This has created an environment within NT studies described…

This study examines a well-established idea in normative Egyptological discourse, that there exists in the inventory of Egyptian symbolism a distinct and unique symbol called sed-em-ra ('tail-in-mouth') in Egyptian, though usually referred to today by the Greek term ouroboros ('…

The composition of Deut 27-28 is shaped by its ritual and performative function and by the narrative device of a script within a speech: the oral and ritual performance of the covenant ceremony by the Levites is framed within the speech-command of Moses. Studies of Deut 28 have …

The focus of the paper is to examine the phrases "And YHWH restored the fortunes of Job" and "For all the evil that YHWH had brought upon him" found in Job 42:10–11. Using the method of "inner biblical allusion," the paper argues that the author of Job intentionally alluded to p…

This dissertation focuses on the dissemination and use of texts originally used in royal pyramids during the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom. As late as the reign of Unas (ca. 2375-2345 BCE), the prominent priesthood at Memphis undertook the task of fixing these…

The Sentences of the Syriac Menander is a document which appears in two separate Syriac manuscripts located at the British Library in London. The full version is found in Or. Add. 14.658, and a far shorter version, comprising only a small fraction of the full text, is found in O…

One of the most memorable tales in Homer's Iliad is that of Bellerophon, the Corinthian hero sent as courier with a message deceitfully intended to arrange his death. A similar story is related in the Sumerian Sargon Legend of the eighteenth-century B.C.E., which tells of how Sa…

This text linguistic study investigates both the literary device of parallelism and the linguistic theory of the semantic field in ancient Hebrew literature. The purpose of the study is to examine whether or not a semantically related pair of verbs or predicate phrases that impl…

This study focuses on the degree to which three religious rituals--Sabbath observance, fasting, and circumcision--took on a particular shape for ancient Israel during the period of the Babylonian exile (ca. 6th cent. B.C.E.), and influenced the final shape of the covenant narrat…

The poetry of the Psalms has a unique place in the Bible and a long history of transmission through both oral and textual media in many languages, as well a rich interpretive tradition. The depth of this tradition becomes evident in this study of Psalm 62.11-12. These two verses…

This study sets forth a new examination of the translation technique evident in Peshitta Zechariah. The study defines translation technique as the translator's process of decision-making employed in the translation project. The most fundamental aspect of this translation techniq…

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the African and the Ancient Near Eastern tradition with regard to the ancestral consultation. 1 Samuel 28:3-25 was used as a point of departure. This text was used because it is the only text in the Hebre…

This dissertation provides an analysis of the parallelistic structure of the first three poetic chapters of the Book of Job: Job's famous cri de coeur in chapter 3 and Eliphaz's response in chapters 4-5. The methodologies have been drawn largely from those discussed by Dennis Pa…

The notion of a primeval paradise is often associated with the absence of death for both humans and animals. Humans are envisioned as immortal, both humans and animals are restricted to a vegetarian diet, and all live together in perfect peace. This dissertation is an examinatio…

This dissertation looks at the ways in which the Tannaitic Sages portrayed and discussed non-Jewish ritual. Although this has been traditionally characterized as "idolatry," this dissertation argues that that is not a category which would have been applied by the Sages of the Mi…

This study explores the techniques and socio-cultural norms of the Greek Septuagint (LXX) translation corresponding to Hebrew Psalms 146-150. The literature review covers scholarly contributions from Translation Studies and Septuagint Studies, integrating both fields into the me…

The prosody of the stanzaic poems called madrasê, written in Syriac by Ephrem of Nisibis in the fourth century, has long been studied by scholars. Until now, these studies have focused on meter, but this has left many questions unanswered. The present study examines the intercla…

This paper defines Pilegesh(im) and clarifies the role of the Pilegesh and other women in establishing and maintaining an Israelite monarchy.

The funerary literature from ancient Egypt has long been studied. However, the final manuscripts in this tradition have received negligible attention. In the first two centuries of the Common Era, a new funerary composition appeared, with papyrus as its most common medium for tr…