Exile and Return ― The Babylonian Context

Originating in a 2011 workshop in London, this volume contains most of the presentations that were delivered at that time. The essays follow a roughly geographical order starting with Mesopotamia and going west. This volume cites growing awareness among biblical scholars that cuneiform texts from the Neo-Babylonian and Persian periods might offer useful information that will elucidate questions related to the historical reconstruction of the Babylonian Exile, its impact on ancient Judaism, and its relevance for understanding certain biblical texts. Stokl and Waerzeggers hope that Assyriologists, biblical scholars and ancient historians will continue to interact with each other and that the essays will be an encouragement and an invitation to dialogue that will be interesting, enriching and productive. Thirteen papers are: identifying Judeans and Judean identity in the Babylonian evidence; negotiating marriage in multicultural Babylonia; from Syria to Babylon and back; west semitic groups in the Nippur region between c.750 and 330 b.c.e; Egyptians in Babylonia in the Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid periods; Babylonian kingship in the Persian period; “a youth without blemish, handsome, proficient in all wisdom, knowledgeable and intelligent”; the setting of Deutero-Isaiah; picking up the pieces of the little prince; the reality of the return; Sheshbazzar, a Judean or a Babylonian?; the impact of the second and third-generation returnees as a model for understanding the post-exilic context; temple funding and priestly authority in Achaemenid Judah. Annotation c2015 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Jonathan Stokl, King's College London, UK; Caroline Waerzeggers, Leiden University, Netherlands.