The Archaeology of Ancient Israelite Knowledge

"The Archaeology of Ancient Israelite Knowledge is a brilliant book, filled with insights and beautifully written, about the conceptual world of the Hebrew Bible."—Ronald Hendel, University of California, Berkeley

"The Archaeology of Ancient Israelite Knowledge constitutes an important intervention in Hebrew Bible scholarship, but also in comparative literature and the study of ancient myth."—Austin Busch, State University of New York, Brockport

"It is hard to think of any scholar I would rather read than Robert Kawashima. His work unfailingly reminds us of the way in which sustained and intelligent analysis can rearrange what we think we know. The present book synthesizes an extraordinary amount of learning and textual engagement in order to trace – with precision and rigor – the biblical "rupture in thought" which allowed for the emergence of the metaphysical dualism lying behind distinctions between God and world, mind and body, and myth and history. Really, this is a stunningly original work of scholarship with profound and far-reaching implications."—Tod Linafelt, Georgetown University

"Kawashima invites us to consider the revolutionary conception of God in the Hebrew Bible by drawing insightful comparisons with Mesopotamian and Greek configurations. The Archaeology of Ancient Israelite Knowledge is a work of erudite and original scholarship."—Ilana Pardes, Author of The Song of Songs: A Biography