Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE HBW3019

 
TITLE The Hebrew Bible and Its Ancient Near Eastern Context

 
UM LEVEL 03 - Years 2, 3, 4 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL 6

 
ECTS CREDITS 4

 
DEPARTMENT Middle Eastern and Asian Languages and Cultures

 
DESCRIPTION This study-unit offers a historical introduction to the Hebrew Bible, with a view to situating it in its ancient Near Eastern context. Lectures will explore the formation of biblical texts, the historical and socio-cultural processes that influenced their development, and transtextual links with other Near Eastern texts and traditions. The study-unit therefore highlights the importance of understanding the Hebrew Bible in its historical and cultural milieu. At the same time, it provides a survey of this most important body of literature, which goes on to shape both Jewish and Christian traditions for centuries to come.

Lectures will be carried out in English and no knowledge of Hebrew is required.

Study-unit Aims:

The aims of the study-unit are:
1. to offer students an introduction to the Hebrew Bible;
2. to explore the different historical and socio-cultural processes which influenced the development of the various biblical texts;
3. to highlight the importance of reading the books of the Hebrew Bible within the larger context of the ancient Near East.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

1. relate and cite key details and characteristics about the various books in the Hebrew Bible;
2. describe the literary, historical, and socio-cultural significance of different biblical books;
3. analyze and appraise the Hebrew Bible in its ancient Near Eastern context.

2. Skills
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

1. read secondary literature in a critical manner;
2. analyze and interpret ancient texts and archaeology;
3. synthesize and evaluate complex sets of data;
4. reflect critical thinking in a structured and argumentative essay;
5. develop an interdisciplinary sensibility and read texts as part of an integrated social, political, and cultural discourse.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

- Arnold, Bill T. and Strawn, Brent A., eds. The World around the Old Testament: The People and Places of the Ancient Near East. Ada, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2019.
- Carr, David M. An Introduction to the Old Testament: Sacred Texts and Imperial Contexts of the Hebrew Bible. Chicester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
- Collins, John J. Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. 3rd edn. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. 2018.
- Coogan, Michael D. A Reader of Ancient Near Eastern Texts: Sources for the Study of the Old Testament. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
- Coogan, Michael D. The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures. 4th edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
- Ebeling, Jennie, J. Edward Wright, Mark Elliott, and Paul V. M. Flesher, eds. The Old Testament in Archaeology and History. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2019.
- Greer, Jonathan S., John W. Hilber, and John H. Walton, eds. Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts. Ada, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2018.
- Hulster, Izaak de and Brent A. Strawn, eds. Iconographic Exegesis of the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament: An Introduction to Its Theory, Method, and Practice. Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2015.
- Walton, John H. Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible. 2nd edn. Ada, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2018.

A more detailed bibliography will be provided in class.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Assignment SEM2 Yes 50%
Assignment SEM2 Yes 50%

 
LECTURER/S Abigail Zammit

 

 
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Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

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