August 2016
Vol. 4, No. 8
The King’s Feast: Power and Propaganda at the Neo-Assyrian Royal Table
By Stefania Ermidoro
Banqueting is a powerful means of communication. Throughout human history, men and women have always done their best to enjoy food as much as possible in social settings in order to communicate something about their lives and worlds.
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New Light on the Priestly Blessing from Ancient Judah
By Jeremy D. Smoak
The most meaningful prayers are not simply recited but lived. And some of the best known have surprising backgrounds. Numbers 6:22–27 instructs the sons of Aaron to recite the following blessing to the Israelites.
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Introducing the Digital Library of the Middle East
By Peter Herdrich
In the winter of 2015, ISIL brought its campaign of terror to the Mosul Museum, launching their devastating attack with sledgehammers and power drills. For readers of the Ancient Near East Today, that paroxysm of violence is indelibly burned in our memories.
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Collecting and the Power of Touch
By Erin Thompson
In April 2016, visitors to Trafalgar Square could touch a second-century Roman triumphal arch – even though they were 4,000 miles away from where the arch was built, in the ancient city of Palmyra, now in Syria, and even though the arch itself was destroyed in October 2015 by Islamic State forces.
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The Ancient Near East Today features contributions from diverse academics, a forum featuring debates of current developments from the field, and links to news and resources. The ANE Today covers the entire Near East, and each issue presents discussions ranging from the state of biblical archaeology to archaeology after the Arab Spring.