The Joseph story between Egypt and Israel /
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"Within the context of the Torah, the Joseph story can be read as a transition that explains why Jacob and his family came to Egypt. However, if one looks at other texts of the Hebrew Bible, there is no mention of the Joseph story; instead, the arrival of the Israelites is said to be the result of the decision of a 'father' or of 'fathers' to go down do Egypt. Indeed, there are very few references to Joseph at all in the whole Hebrew Bible. Apparently, the Joseph story is not necessary for explaining why the Israelites found themselves in Egypt. The question therefore arises: Why was this story written, when, and for what audience? This volume offers an overview of the current discussion on the origins, composition, and historical contexts behind the Joseph narrative. There is a tendency to date the story (or its original version) to the Persian period, but this volume includes divergent voices about this issue. The volume also shows that scholarly discussion about the historical location of the Joseph story requires to bring together Egyptologists and biblical scholars."
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vi, 178 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
316160153X
9783161601538
The Magic in the Image : Women in Clay at Mohenjodaro and Harappa /
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Hundreds of clay figurines of women, and their fragments, were found in the remains of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, major cities of the Indus civilization, but almost none in the other Harappan towns or villages. What could be the explanation? This study begins with the background: the archaeological history, various studies of figurines, and how they came to be linked with the idea of the mother goddess. There is also an attempt to draw a general picture of popular religion of the time, and to detect archaeological traces of Harappan beliefs and religious practices. There follows an analysis of the figurines themselves: what were their antecedents? Do the few male clay figurines fall in the same genre as the plentiful remains of women's images? There were youthful women, mothers, portly matrons, and also women at the grinding stone, but nothing that could be a representation of 'womanhood'. Attention is paid to the variation in headgear, hairstyles, ornamentation, and the all-pervasive hip-girdles. Nudity is also a topic of discussion. Besides, they cannot be stood upright. As for their distribution, it was significantly irregular. Although attempts to replicate the firing of these solid objects using simple methods failed, it is doubtful to what extent they were made by skilled potters, the modelling being unpractised and even clumsy, as the photographs of some profiles, published here for the first time, shows.
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1 online resource (444 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004753242