A collection of essays by 35 scholars of the ancient Near East, honoring the career of Jack M. Sasson, and focusing on a variety of Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Amorite, Egyptian, Eblaite, Hittite, Ugaritic, Aramaic, Canaanite, Israelite, biblical, and archaeological subjects.

Preface Contributors Abbreviations Publications of Jack M. Sasson Part I. Assyriological StudiesKamiš at Ebla Alfonso Archi“Not Tonight, Josephine!”: Women at War in Third Millennium BCE Syria?Maria Giovanna BigaL’élection du P. Scheil au Collège de France en 1905 Dominique CharpinRoyal Hunt among the Semites, West and East: Fertility and Kingship in Myth and RitualGregorio del Olmo LeteHeurs et malheurs de la vie conjugale en Mésopotamie: La séparation decorps dans quelques sources cunéiformes Sophie Démare-Lafont“Si ce n’est toi, c’est donc ton frère … ” Jean-Marie DurandAlbrecht Goetze: Three Mid-Century Reflections on Cuneiform Studiesand Linguistics Benjamin R. FosterA New Manuscript of Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld Alhena Gadotti and Alexandra Kleinerman Prière à Itûr-Mêr pour le salut de Zimrî-Lîm Michaël GuichardRoyal Women Sages in Aramaic Literature: The Unnamed Queen inDaniel 5 and Saritrah in the “Revolt of Babylon” Tawny L. HolmThe Beginning of the Sumerian Epic “Gilgameš and the Bull of Heaven”and Its Possible Historical-Political Background Jacob Klein and Yitschak SefatiÀ propos d’une défaite de Mari et d’une négociation diplomatique Bertrand LafontPaul Haupt: Between Two Worlds Peter MachinistSumerian Literature at the Crossroads Piotr MichalowskiContributions to the Dossier of Princess Simat-IštaranDavid I. OwenThe Sitting Moon and the Goats of Gilead: A Rare Akkadian Astronomical Term and a Hapax in Song of Songs Gonzalo RubioOld Babylonian Bread Offerings Marten StolIlumma-ila Unveiled Karel Van Lerberghe and Gabriella Voet“Talking to Doors”: Paraklausithyron in Akkadian Literature Nathan WassermanDie Klausel á mu-ú/u8 -a-šè in altbabylonischen Miet- und Feldpachtverträgen aus Nippur, Isin und unbekannter Herkunft: Politische Motive für die Stilisierung von Rechtsurkunden? Claus WilckeHurritische Beschwörungen mit Bezugnahme auf Ursprungsmythen Gernot WilhelmUn enfant à Alep Nele ZieglerPart II. Biblical StudiesTranslating Biblical Dialogue Robert AlterJob and Not Giorgio BuccellatiThe Earliest Israel: Territorial History in the Highlands of Canaan Israel FinkelsteinThe Name Yhwȝ as a People: Reconsidering the Amorite Evidence Daniel E. FlemingJoshua and Anomie: Retrojection, Projection, and RecoveryDouglas A. KnightThe Plague of Darkness and the Creation of Light: A Reading of Psalm 105:26–36 from the Notion of Calamities in Chinese PerspectiveArchie C. C. LeeThe Oracular Insertion in Zechariah 4: Another Look at the Evidence of Akkadian Royal Building Inscriptions Eric M. Meyers and Carol MeyersMyth, Poetry, and Cosmic Construction in Job 38:4–18 Choon-Leong SeowA Mosaic for Miriam Phyllis Trible