bummer . . .

I had planned on enrolling in a seminar on Discourse Analysis this fall, but just discovered that the seminar will focus on political discourse analysis. While an interesting topic and potentially useful for my studies of discourse in general, I've opted not to take it (though I may still be persuaded to audit). Personally, I don't find politics in general too interesting and political rhetoric (though fascinating in many regards) just doesn't fit well enough with my interests to entice me to take a course on it . . .

loss . . .

The saddest news from London is that after a brave struggle against a long illness, Raymond Westbrook died early this morning, peacefully and not in pain. He is Professor in Near Eastern Studies at The Johns Hopkins University and leaves us a rich volume of work on Near Eastern and Biblical legal traditions. He was much too young.

(via: agade)

onion . . .

I get my news from two sources: the Daily Show and the Onion. Sadly, the Onion has been sold to the Chinese . . .

god . . .

A couple weekends ago, we were back in Wisconsin for a friend's wedding. One of things we did was go to the church I grew up in. It was strange . . . not least because I haven't been in a church since the last time I was at that church over a year ago (we think maybe last March?).

The fact that I no longer attend a church has apparently sent many people who knew me growing up into a bit of a tizzy, as though this must portend terrible things . . . or, even better, exhibit the dangers of education.

One of my major issues with many Christian churches is the way in which the people who attend these churches understand God. Quite frankly, I would almost say that they don't know the same God that I do. That makes matters of faith and faith community very interesting.

I try very hard to keep matters of personal religion and theology in general out of this blog (if only because one's religion should have no bearing on others' perceptions of his/her scholarship). However, John Anderson's recent post deserves mentioning (and, for the most part, commending), so I didn't feel right simply pointing in his direction without first addressing my own similar frustrations with common (mis)perceptions of God.

Let me be clear: I believe in God. I align myself with the Christian faith tradition. I consider myself wholly orthodox. I just don't think the God I grew up with is the same God I see when I actually started reading the Bible (especially when I started reading the laments for what they were and stopped trying to make excuses based on preconceived theological categories) . . . that's my point.

panic . . .

There is a glaring difference between a good teacher and a not-so-good teacher . . . and I am unfortunately in a desperate situation regarding the latter.

I am now through two weeks of a three week course . . . and I have no idea what the course is about, because I don't comprehend the theory that is the bloody title of the course! So I ask, how is one supposed to write a paper (in less than a week) utilizing a theory that one does not understand? I'm about to find out . . .

And in case anyone's wondering whether it's just my own stupidity, I asked my wife to read the introductory chapter of this professor's book on this theory with the hope that she could then explain it to me . . . my wife (who is monumentally smarter than I, especially when it comes to things of a more psychological, philosophical nature) also could not understand the concept. In addition, I am rather familiar with the glazed-over expression on some of the other students' faces . . .

cibh . . .

Several months ago, I posted on Brian Webster's Cambridge Introduction to Biblical Hebrew. After seemingly endless delays, it has finally been published (received my copy a few days ago). Rob Kashow provides a nice review of the grammar from the perspective of a student who has actually used it.

And as a bit of comment on Rob's post, perhaps negative thought on the complex learning of syllable structure in only the second chapter had more to do with Rob's own experience with it and the failure of his teacher to properly communicate it (and trust me when I say that said teacher cannot possibly be offended at that comment) . . . on the other hand, maybe Rob was being completely objective on the point . . .

UPDATE: Daniel and Tonya did an interview with Brian over at their blog and allow him to explain his approach in his own words. It's definitely worth checking out. Be sure to follow their links to several other reviews of the grammar/TekScroll . . .

influenced . . .

Jim Spinti has tagged me to list the 5 primary sources most influential on my scholarship meme (started by Kevin Scull). The meme has the following caveats:

1.) List the 5 primary sources that have most affected your scholarship, thoughts about antiquity, and/or understanding of the NT/OT.

2.) Books from the Bible are off limits unless you really want to list one, I certainly will not chastise you for it.

3.) Finally, choose individual works if you can. This will be more interesting than listing the entire corpus of Cicero as one of your choices.

I'd honestly have a very difficult time listing "individual works" rather than corpi . . . for the most part, I work with large bodies of texts . . . I can't very well list, say, YBC 09862 . . . that's just one small piece of a larger collection . . . but if I can, I certainly will.

1. The corpus of lamentations out of CLAM (Canonical Lamentations of Ancient Mesopotamia . . . a collection of balaĝ laments), Sumerian Hymnology: The Eršemma, and the 5 primary City Laments (Ur, Sumer and Ur, Uruk, Eridu, Nippur). This was my first extended foray into Sumerian literature and what cemented my desire to work in Assyriology.
   
2. The collection of Inana-Dumuzi songs in Love Songs in Sumerian Literature. This was actually my first major attempt at reading Sumerian literature for a research purpose. I was doing an analysis of a particular metaphor (love like alcoholic drink) in ANE love songs and was most engrossed with these songs of the shepherd and the woman/goddess he woos (of course, I got even more of the Inana-Dumuzi story once I started reading the eršemmas).
3. Schooldays . . . I first read this in Sam Kramer's History Begins at Sumer . . . I think it's one of the very first texts he discusses. I realize that book is woefully outdated and written for a broader audience, but when I read it, I was that broader audience . . . I was a student of the Hebrew Bible trying to dip into the wider cultural milleau . . . reading Kramer's book made me want to learn more about Sumer and Mesopotamia in general. This text was the hook that I remember. Even more, it gave me a nice glimpse into scribal education (or at least one view on it) . . . an interest which has yet to leave me.
4. The Tetrad . . . of the works on this list, this is the one I've worked on the latest. The Tetrad--Lipit-Ishtar B, Iddin-Dagan B, Enlil-Bani A, Nisaba A--was a scribe's first exposure to literary texts (following the phase of elementary education including lexical lists, sign lists, proverbs, and model contracts). These four hymns have a wonderful myriad of grammatical forms and constructions utilized in educating Akkadian-speaking scribes in Sumerian grammar . . . they're pretty useful for English(and other modern languages)-speaking students as well.
5. The corpus of legal texts from Hellenistic Uruk (found on HBTIN) . . . I'll admit it's strange that I would count this on this list (after all, I thought that Mesopotamian history stops at 330 BCE . . . [at least according to most major history books]). However, prior to my exposure to these texts, my research was almost exclusively linguistic and literary in nature . . . never really historical. Moreover, I've always loathed reading legal texts (for reasons related to my noted research interests). But being a part of this project has made me appreciate the value of administrative texts for historical reconstruction as well as the use and craftsmanship of seals. Furthermore, it's working on these texts that's shown me the value of computational linguistics on a particular corpus. Yes, it's still somewhat painful to read about prebend sales or quitclaims, but now that I actually perceive value . . .

There are several others that I really wanted to put on this list, so these quick notes are bonuses: Ba'al Cycle (you mean Yahweh isn't the only god who does this stuff?), Laws of Hammurapi (where I cut my Akkadian teeth), Enuma Elish (where I sharpened my Akkadian teeth and converted to Mardukism . . . ), ŠÀ.ZI.GA incantations (how can you not like ancient Viagra?), OB Izbu (divination isn't all about the inner eye and reading tea leaves . . . after reading Izbu, I actually found I loved omens), Amarna letters (cheers for West Semitic Akkadian!), Nanše and the Birds (er . . . actually listing this would just be for sucking up . . . I've never actually read the whole text), Psalms and Lamentations (my two favorite biblical books for many many reasons), Ammon Citadel inscription (I'm not sure why, but I really enjoyed this text), Curse of Agade (there's nothing like finding someone to blame for a fall from power), 1Q Pesher Hab, 1QM (War Scroll), and I've never read a letter from any ANE culture or period I didn't like (er . . . nevermind . . . some of the OB letters in UCP 9 are a major pain . . . but only because they're a mess . . . for the most part they're fascinating).

And to prove I don't only read stuff from the ANE, First Enoch (the first non-canonical [depending on one's tradition, I suppose] biblical text I ever read . . . and a thrillride to boot), Judith, The Illiad, Thucydides, The Aeneid, Augustine's Confessions and City of God, Martyrdom of Ignatius, Against Heresies, Caesar's Gallic Wars, and Marcus Aurelius' Meditations

dccmt . . .

I didn't mention it in my previous post on maths (I was waiting for it to appear on the CDL portal), but the Digital Corpus of Cuneiform Mathematical Texts is now open for viewing. Beyond the texts themselves, Robson has a nice summary of Metrology (including charts) . . . this may mean I don't have to carry a copy of Powell's "Masse und Gewichte" RlA article or Huehnergard's summary with me anymore . . .