| Mathbatu The Cyber Dwelling of a Canaanite Pagan |
| Literature Comments |
Near Eastern Mythology by John Gray I came across this old hardcover book in my college library a couple of years ago when I was doing my initial research into Canaanite religion. It was the first book I read about the subject. Even though it�s nearly 40 years old, I would still recommend it if you can a hold of a copy. Near Eastern Mythology is divided up into 3 sections; Mesopotamia, Canaan, and Israel. The Mesopotamian section is the largest and focuses on the religions of the Sumerians and Babylonians. The Canaan section concentrates mainly on Canaanite religion with some Phoenician information mixed in. The Israel section discusses early Judaism and Christianity. The three sections bleed into one another at times as comparisons and contrasts are made. For this reason I would recommend thoroughly reading all three sections to get the full appreciation for the connections Gray makes. Each section is broken down into four parts; a brief description of the history and geography is discussed, then an overview of the religion is laid out, the main myths are touched on, and lastly kingship is examined. I found the layout of the book to be easy to follow and Gray does not get so academic as to talk over the average layperson�s head. One does not need to be familiar with these religions in order to read the book. From what I could tell in the Canaan section, some detail is sacrificed in order to give a coherent overview, but I thought the overviews were done rather well. One of my favorite aspects of this book is the collection of pictures. Near Eastern Mythology is brimming with some excellent black & white and color photographs of art and artifacts. I also liked the fact that when the author chose to include portions of the Canaanite myths, the translations match up well with the more up-to-date translations available today. My familiarity with the Mesopotamian and Biblical stories is lacking so I cannot speak with any confidence about whether they are just as accurate, but if the Canaan section is any indication, I suspect the other translations are good quality as well. Conclusion: Near Eastern Mythology offers a succinct overview of Mesopotamian, Canaanite, and Israelite religion in a manner that does not leave the beginner overwhelmed with academic jargon. This is not a common book to come across because it�s out of print and won�t be found in a bookstore, but some libraries and online booksellers carry used copies for an affordable price. For anyone interested in collecting some wonderful images of ancient near eastern religious artifacts, I would recommend trying to get the hardcover version. Interested in this book? Check it out at Amazon.com |
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