Book Notice: The Dictionary of the Bible and Ancient Media

I am glad to see that, in just a few months, The Dictionary of the Bible and Ancient Media (DBAM), edited by Tom Thatcher, Chris Keith, Raymond F. Person, Jr., and Elsie Stern, will be published by Bloomsbury T&T Clark. This book is a collection of "individual entries of 300-5000 words on terms and topics commonly encountered in studies of the Bible in ancient media culture." Several years ago, I happily accepted the editors' invitation to author three individual entries ("Papyrus," "Parchment/Vellum," and "Scrolls") and co-author one entry with Profs. Emanuel Tov and Christopher Rollston ("Writing and Writing Materials"). This is a reference tool that will be useful for anyone interested in the ancient world and the Bible. Click here to pre-order your copy and to learn more about the volume, including a full list of entries and contributors.  

About The Dictionary of the Bible and Ancient Media
"The Dictionary of the Bible and Ancient Media (DBAM) is a convenient and authoritative reference tool which relates specific terms and concepts to the study of the Bible and related literature in ancient communications culture. Particularly since the early 1980s, scholars have begun to explore the potentials of interdisciplinary theories of oral tradition, oral performance, personal and collective memory, ancient literacy and scribality, visual culture, and ritual for considerations of critical and exegetical problems in the study of the Bible, the history of Israel, Christian origins,and rabbinics. DBAM responds to the rapid growth of the field by providing a reference tool that offers definitions and discussions of relevant terms and concepts and the relationships between them. 

This volume begins with an overview of "ancient media studies" and a brief history of research to orient the novice reader to the field and the broader research context of the book. It features individual entries of 300-5000 words on terms and topics commonly encountered in studies of the Bible in ancient media culture. Each entry defines the term/concept under consideration, then offers more sustained discussion of the topic often with particular attention to its relevance to the study of the Bible and related literature. For convenience, individual entries are catalogued alphabetically and cross-referenced to indicate connections between the various topics; electronic versions of this resource are internally hyperlinked using the same reference system."

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