Babel and Bible
The Impact of Mesopotamia on Biblical Studies 1872–1924
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Description
A compelling exploration of how Mesopotamian discoveries reshaped biblical scholarship, and why their connection to the Bible made them matter. From the first public reading of the Babylonian flood story in 1872 to the controversies sparked by Delitzsch's Babel–Bible lectures, Lasine Thelle traces the formative encounters between Assyriology and biblical studies. This book reveals how excavations in Assyria and Babylonia, and the decipherment of Akkadian texts, transformed the study of the Old Testament and redefined core concepts still taken for granted today.
Through detailed analysis of major figures, including Wellhausen, Gunkel, and Mowinckel, Thelle shows how scholarly debates over creation myths, chronology, and cultural influence shaped modern biblical research. She also uncovers the reciprocal dynamic: Mesopotamia's appeal to Western explorers was inseparable from its perceived biblical significance.
Rich in historical insight and critical reflection, this study illuminates the intertwined histories of two disciplines and offers a fresh perspective on the intellectual currents that continue to inform contemporary scholarship.
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Part I: Introductory forays
1. Approaching the subject
2. “First Contact”: The Chaldean Account of Genesis
Part II: Assyria, Assyriology, and the history of ancient Israel
3. Assyriology in the 1870s and 80s and early responses in biblical studies
4. Julius Wellhausen and the history of Israel: on its own terms or in context?
Part III: Mesopotamian cosmology, myth, and Israelite religion
5. Beyond source criticism and history writing: biblical studies and Assyriology in the 1890s
6. Hermann Gunkel: the transformation of Babylonian myth in biblical traditions
7. The Primacy of Babylon: trends in Assyriology in the 1890s to 1910s
8. Babel and Bible in the German public square: Friedrich Delitzsch's lectures
9. Israel and Babylonia: the place of revelation in Assyriology and theology
Part IV: Assyriology in specific Old Testament fields
10. Creation and flood in commentaries on Genesis
11. Mesopotamian ritual and ancient Israelite ritual practice: Mowinckel's Psalmenstudien
12. The prophets of Duhm, Assyria, and comparative studies
Part V: Concluding ruminations
References
Index
Product details
| Published | 06 Aug 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (PDF) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 288 |
| ISBN | 9780567673831 |
| Imprint | T&T Clark |
| Series | Scriptural Traces |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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