W.S. McCullough – författare

From the time of Cyrus to the time of Herod, except for a brief period of independence in the second and first centuries BC, Judea was subservient to either the Persians, the Hellenistic kingdoms, or the Romans. Only in the area of religion did the Jews maintain their freedom almost without interruption. Their greatest tangible achievement in these centuries was in literature. During this period Israel’s Scriptures emerged in their final form, summing up a thousand years of Israel’s religious history and becoming the foundation of all subsequent Judaism and of early Christianity. This book examines Jewish history against the background of the successive kingdoms which controlled Judea.The author discusses the political situation in Judea and the social and economic conditions in so far as we can know then, and the early literary and religious developments. He then moves on to a discussion of the literature of the second and first centuries BC: the scholarly and pietistic traditions, apocalyptic and historical writings, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the completion of the canon. A brief general bibliography is appended.The author makes excellent use of the sources available, and assesses them with a finely critical eye. He writes not only for students of early Judaism, but also for the general reader.

The essays in this volume have as their centre the Ancient Near East, the special field of interest of the distinguished scholar of the University of Toronto whom they honour. The authors, specialists in the languages, history, and culture of the Near, Middle, and Far East, are a group of orientalists, classicists, and mediaevalists from among the membership of the Oriental Club of Toronto. T.J. Miik was himself actively concerned with the founding of the Oriental Club, and served as its first president. Theological studies are represented here by W.G. Lambert's discussion of the role of Nebuchadnezzar I in Babylonian religion, by D.K. Andres' inquiry into the origin of the title "Yahweh, the God of the Heavens," and its significance for post-exile Judaism, by J.W. Wevers' evaluation of contributions to Proto-Septuagini studies, by F.W. Beare's description of the concepts of Zeus in the Hellenistic age, by the examination by John M. Rist of the famous literary fraud which led to the acceptance for many years of St. Denis -- Dionysius the Areopagite -- as the convert of St. Paul, by M.E. Marmura's account of Avicenna's theory of prophecy in the light of Ash'arite theology, and by C.C. Shih's discussion of the origin of ancestor worship in ancient China. Two aspects of Egypt are considered: R.J. Williams discusses the role of literature as political propaganda, and G.M. Wickens writes on Mamluk Egypt. An interesting problem in attempting reconstructions of Solomon's Temple is considered by Gilbert Bagnani. R.A.F. Mackenzie, S.J., discusses ancient Near Eastern law, and E.J. Sherry, S.J., comments on the life and works of Joseph Hazzaya, a prolific writer on behalf of the Nestorians.