Something My Own Granny Used to say

I just ordered this book -so I haven't yet read it. I do remember some of my Scott's grandma's sayings. When my friends & I were playing noisily inside she would eventually say" Haud your wheesht...my brain's like train oil" This was a reference to the oil in the wheels of the old steam trains & I've always felt it is extremely accurate in describing the condition of one's brain when discordant noise overwhelms your ability to think.

Something old, something new

This book presents new discoveries and ways of looking at previous discoveries in the area of archaeological research and the origins of the Bible. This is one of the latest contributions of major scholars to the continuing quest for clarity and understanding of the development and meaning of the biblical texts. 'We believe that a reassessment of finds from earlier excavations and the continuing discoveries by new digs have made it clear that scholars must now approach the problems of biblical origins and ancient Israelite society from a completely new perspective.

The book is divided into three main sections. After a brief introduction and prologue, the three main sections are 'The Bible as History?', 'The Rise and Fall of Ancient Israel', and 'Judah and the Making of Biblical History'. There follows an epilogue and several appendices that address particular key questions.

Prologue and Introduction
Finkelstein and Silberman begin with a small 'snapshot' of Jerusalem in the time of king Josiah. Josiah is a very important figure, as it is thought by many that it was during his reign (circa 639-609 B.C.E.) that much of the Torah and other major biblical texts came into the beginning forms of what we have today.

Following this brief glimpse into the past, the authors explore key definitions of the Bible (what is meant in this book, for the sake of archaeological research in to ancient Israel, is the Hebrew Bible, a book that contains the same material as the Christian Old Testament, in a different order, without apocryphal or deuterocanonical additions), historical periods, archaeological and anthropological ideas, and set the stage for the authors' main thesis:

Many scholars believe that elements of the Bible were written hundreds of years before this time. Thus, the authors have a task to prove their case.

The Bible as History?
The modern idea of history is a foreign concept to the biblical authors. One of the major problems that arises in biblical interpretation today is the application of twentieth century standards of history, epistemology, and ethics to a set of writings whose origin is upwards of 3000 years earlier. The very ideas of individuality, family, tribal and ethnic identity, economy, justice, and good and evil have undergone major developments through time. While it is true that there are timeless elements of the Bible that continue to speak, this is not due to a parallel sense of history between biblical writers and modern readers. We must always take great care to understand that our interpretations (and yes, 'taking it literally' is an interpretation, one that was most likely never intended by the original authors) are rooted in our modern times and owe more to that culture than to biblical integrity.

The Rise and Fall of Ancient Israel
In this section the authors investigate the historical record as presented both from biblical sources and archaeological data. Finkelstein and Silberman do not see a unified kingdom as a likelihood during the Davidic/Solomonic period. The archaeological record, they claim, does not support such a conclusion. While many biblical scholars and archaeologists have taken the postulated progression of the kingdom of Israel from one of tribal cooperation to royal unity to division to disintegration as a given, the authors here argue that the northern and southern split was always greater in sociological and political terms than the Bible presents.

Judah and the Making of Biblical History
The key to understanding these writings in the Bible is to understand Judah, the place and people who produced it. Judah is not presented in unambiguously glowing terms, but there is a theme of faithfulness and favour that preserves the inheritance of Abraham for Judah. Judah had always been a small and isolated kingdom in relation to the northern kingdom of Israel, without its population, resources, wealth, and international contacts. However, with the fall of the northern kingdom, the importance of Judah increases, and, as it is the origin of the survivors of the tradition, those looking back on the history rate the relative importance in perhaps less than objective fashion.

After examining the development under several kings, the authors come to the reign of Josiah. Josiah institutes religious reforms, based on a 'found' book in the Temple. This 'found' volume is most likely much of the book of Deuteronomy as we have it today. Many scholars believe that this 'found' volume was actually written at the request of Josiah or his advisors, to provide a standard model for history and worship that would serve as a more firm foundation for his rule. Likewise, and important from the standpoint of Finkelstein and Silberman's argument for the seventh-century origins of the biblical text, archaeological evidence shows a widespread and sudden increase in literacy throughout Judah, with extensive use of writing, signet rings, seals, and other literary pieces that speak to the ability of the people to produce an extensive literary text like various books of the Bible.

Epilogue: The Future of Biblical Israel
The authors give a brief essay on the importance of the people after return from exile, the brief periods of freedom (yet always under the domination or influence of some foreign power), and the continuing importance of the Bible as formative document for Jews, then later Christians, then later other cultures that tap into the narratives as part of the collective cultural heritage of the world.

The authors are Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman. Finkelstein has a position at Tel Aviv University, as director of the Sonia and Marco Nadler Archaeological Institute, and is currently working on excavations at Tel Meggido (better known to modern readers as Armageddon). Silberman is director of historical interpretation for the Ename Center for Public Archaeology and Heritage Presentation in Belgium. Both are frequent contributors to major scholarly and popular archaeology magazines and journals, and each has published a number of noted books in the field of Syro-Palestinian archaeology.

Don't myth it...

'Mythology for Dummies' is part of the widely-read 'Dummies' series, and lives up to most of the expectations one might have of a volume in that series. It has the requisite cartoons, the various side-bar items throughout the text, and the the top-ten lists at the end - in this case, the Top Ten Places (which includes Vahalla, Elysium, Atlantis, even Brigadoon) and the Top Ten Monsters (Gorgons, Unicorns, the Sphinx, dragons, etc.).

This is a volume of mythology is not just classical Greek and Roman mythology (that which most people think of when they think of mythology). It does include these in good measure, but also goes further afield to include an overview of the main characters, stories and ideas of mythological constructs in cultures all over the world. These include some that are familiar and related to the Greco-Roman traditions - Egypt, ancient Mesopotamia, Celtic and Nordic mythologies. There are also those that are quite removed from this collection of pantheons - the Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and Native American traditions of mythology are also included here.

The first section gives a brief overview of what mythology is and isn't. It doesn't go too deeply into the debate over religion (after all, one person's mythology might be another person's religion). It does give some insight into the purpose of such stories for the cultures that maintained them, and how we have come to regard such tales in more modern times. Mythology is not just about gods, goddesses and monsters, after all. Often there is a very strong human component in the myths, which can serve for ethical and moral instruction as well as inspiration. These are written in the witty style typical of the series - 'How to spot a myth a mile away' is one section title. Mythology is also shown to be not something exclusively of the ancient world - American myths such as Johnny Appleseed and Br'er Rabbit are highlighted as examples.

Some of the stories included here fall more under the category of 'legend' than 'mythology' in popular definition - the stories of King Arthur, for example, do fall under the category of mythology, although it is rarely assigned such categorisation for a host of reasons. However, the Arthurian legends are contained here (one section is entitled 'Sex, Lies, and Good Jousting'). The text also ventures into the delicate area of the parallels between ancient Mesopotamian legends and early Biblical stories - tales such as the Tower of Babel and the Great Flood bear striking similarity to many extra-canonical tales in the ancient region.

The prose is good and accessible, like most of the Dummies books. There are some graphics and line-art drawings, and the chapters are short enough for the typical reader to finish easily in one sitting. This is a fun way to learn the old stories, and relate them to modern times. I would recommend this book for adults with a general interest, and also for undergraduate students and even high school students who want a survey of the material.

Very detailed account of classical mythology

A very good all rounder. It gives lots of details about East and West mythology even though it is not specialised towards either of these areas

Quietly brilliant

These days, The Odyssey is usually seen as more of an historical artefact than a work of fiction. Clunky translations tend to kill the drama and fail to capture why The Odyssey is still a classic after more than 2500 years. Armitage reinvigorates the tale by completely rewriting it in the form of a radio play. Surprisingly, Armitage plays it straight, writing very naturalistic dialogue and resisting the temptation to render everything in pompous poetry. A strange approach, you might think, for one of Britain's leading poets. But it works brilliantly.<br /><br />In Armitage's version, the timeless themes of the story come in to sharp focus. The story exposes man's weakness when faced with the devastating power of temptation. But we also see the value of courage and loyalty in the face of insurmountable odds - not only from Odysseus, but also from Penelope, forced to wait to for him alone for twenty years. The Odyssey is in many ways a strikingly modern and human story, and that really comes through here. Armitage has put humanity into The Odyssey, allowing us to share Odysseus's pain and longing, as well as his famed cunning.<br /><br />There's humour here, as well as intense drama, and the whole thing is beautifully readable, compulsive, concise and easy to follow. All the romance and excitement of the adventure and the tension of the decisive moments is captured here. It could nearly be a children's classic, but for a few cases of strong language and sexual references (it's a 12A rating, really). There's plenty for grownups to enjoy here though, regardless of whether or not you've read The Odyssey.

Woeful

I've never particularly been a fan of 'stocking fillers', and coupled with the hindsight that this is a truely shocking example of the aforementioned, I have to question how this ever ended up in my shopping basket. <br />In short, the content is very poor, obviously there wasn't much stupid history to work with as large areas of the book include, well, just general facts. Buttermilk doesn't contain any butter apparently, and french poodles are originally from germany, its enthralling stuff. <br />The actual historical stories are pretty tepid aswell, and ironically the only high point of the book, we're talking about a low bar here, is the dreadful one liners that conclude most of the stories. Such witiscms, that are usually followed by tumbleweeds, or someone going 'bo-boom tsch' provide cringe entertainment for a short time, but thats about it.

Of Gods & Men

This translation by Dorothea Wender is well set out and easy to read.

Taking the works in order, Wender presents Theogony, Works and Days and the elegiac poetry of Theognis in a clear and concise manner bringing both life and a sense of excitment to the text.

Theognis' elegies are, as Wender herself proclaims, more freely translated. This should not be seen as a distraction; the same vigour evident in Hesiods works is retained in the poetry but the reading is easier because the language is contemporary.

Collected together, the work of Hesiod and Theognis can be viewed as having a common thread; the inconsistency of men and society and the need to trust in the gods. Whilst Hesiods 'Works and Days' gives common sense advice for the farmer, sailor and society, Theognis provides us with maxims and psychological attributes by which to organise our lives. Despite being written perhaps 200 years apart, Theognis' elegies reflect Hesiods words: Hesiod says"Shun evil profit, for dishonest gain is just the same as failure". Theognis echoes this thought with"Possesions come from Zues ... but if a greedy man ... acquires them ... he ends in sorrow."

In summary this book is enjoyable for many reasons; the translation is clear and a joy to read, the morals and observations still have a resonance today and the works are an excellent place for those interested in ancient Greek literature and intellectual thought to start or extend their investigation. Dorothea Wender is here congratulated for her presentation and style in bringing the works to life. An excellent read.

Faeries

This is beautifully illustrated and extrememly sweet, as well as giving you a background to the myth of the fairy. Couldn't put it down.

fantastic glossary of a mystical nature!!!

Having already owed another book from this series, i found this to be exactly what i expected, a diamond of resource! fully comprehensive encyclopedia, well researched and well presented - a must for any interested in myths, legends and cryptology!

Fascinating subject, uneven quality

The re-issue in paperback by a general publisher of an academic work originally from the CUP is a rare event. But even the original edition cast a sidelong eye at the general public, who might be willing to bear with academic minutiae for the sake of its astonishing revelations (to all but professional historians) on a subject they thought they knew about.

If you're going to write an academic work, footnotes and all, for the"educated layman", you'd better be a good writer, lively and stylish, as well as a good academic. From that point of view, the essays in this collection are very uneven, ranging from the occasionally tongue-in-cheek polish of Hugh Trevor-Roper (on the invention of the Highland Tradition in Scotland) to the convoluted and occasionally asyntactic sentences of Prys Morgan (on"the hunt for the Welsh past"). The one invites you on an enthralling voyage of discovery, the other requires you to wade through a viscous Sargasso Sea. Nonetheless, both journeys are well worth undertaking, as are the others in the collection.

But perhaps the most valuable aspect of the book is that it encourages us to reflect in general, quite aside from the specific examples studied, on the human need for a link to the past and evidence of superiority, if not now, then at least in a prior Golden Age. If human communities divide the world into"them" and"us", how do they define who"we" are? And what makes"us" special? On the lines of Voltaire's famous comment that"if God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him." we are forced to the conclusion that if a national history and culture do not exist, it is necessary to invent them. (A process traced also by Y. Nevo and myself in our study of the early history of the Umayyad State). It appears that the need to define one's community as valid -- by reference to an historic past -- is most acute when that community is only just established or is in decline. The lessons of this book should be kept in mind when reading the history of any nation.

A nice little companion book

Only 55 pages long this is a little gem that i enjoyed reading but I can only recommend it as a companion to 'Gods and myths of northern europe' (see my reviews) or something similar. This is not suitable for a first time reader of the old Gods as it doesnt give you enough information.

Be Advised

After reading other customer reviews about this book I couldnt wait to have it to hand for I was running out of ideas for the childrens' bedtime story.When you open it up you find hundreds of stories to choose from but unfortunately as I started to read it I was constantly being interupted with questions of"what does 'hast thou' mean daddy ?" and"whats 'ran thither to entreat him' mean ?" and"whats 'hark thee'?".For the book is full of oldy worldy sayings. I found it quite useful to read ahead before reading it at bedtime. It saves lots of questions and time.

Absoluely beautiful

These tarot cards are breathakingly beautiful- I've even scanned in some of the pictures and put them on the wall, without their tarot numbers! These lovely cards make using the tarot easy as well.