affiliations'7 (page 94), a tradition that Smith finds in the Yser and traces back to Qumran.

Lawrence Schiffman's chapter is concerned with liturgy at Qumran, which apparently included a regular cycle of prayers as well as supplicatory prayers and possibly a marriage ritual. J. Yahalom discusses the poetics of liturgical compositions in the Byzantine period, noting some parallels with Christian liturgies. Avigdor Shinan uses these liturgies and a wealth of other literature pertaining to the synagogue to contend that divisions of the Torah for synagogue reading were more numerous and less regular than had previously been supposed. Will Soil The School of the Ozarks Jesus and His Times, by Reader's Digest, 336pp. Pleasantville, New York: Reader's Digest, 1987; $24.95. Reader's Digest is not usually associated with the publication of books about archaeology or biblical studies, and Jesus and His Times is an interesting and ambitious move into these areas of study. The book does not aim to present a new perspective or interpretation of Jesus; rather, it seeks to be a descriptive work of the world in which Jesus lived. It was written and illustrated by a large team of writers and editors from Reader's Digest in addition to a board of consultants consisting primarily of biblical scholars from several universities. It is evident that the book is a group effort, and the resulting lack of unity is confusing and distracting. In spite of this weakness, however, Jesus and His Times is successful and accurate in its descriptive t a s k especially with its rich use of illustrations, photographs, and drawings of the world and life of Jesus. It is best labeled as a collection of essays and illustrations for the general reader who is looking for a broad survey of the world in which Jesus lived. The book's style of presentation makes for easy reading, and its appearance is very attractive. One of its strengths is the extensive use of good photographs, maps, and drawings throughout. The book's use of archaeological findings emerges primarily from the photographs and their captions as well as in some parts of the text. Near the end of the

book is a special collection of beautiful artwork on the life and death of Jesus. The contents of Jesus and His Times range from political history to portrayals of daily life in villages and cities, descriptions of the worlds of commerce and education, an account of the religious context of the time, a concise narrative of the birth, life, and death of Jesus, and a brief history of the early Christian community. Each of these topics is handled well by its writers and reflects current scholarship. Such a wide range of topics separates this book from others of this type, which generally concentrate solely on the events in the life of Jesus. Also included is an index that briefly describes 41 of the significant cities of the ancient Mediterranean world. Jesus and His Times focuses more on the greater world of first-century Palestine than on the life of Jesus. The book's major problem is a lack of overall unity and thought that link the various topics. There are no transitions from one subject to the next, and the end of the book makes no attempt to properly conclude the workthe book just stops. Even a descriptive book, which Jesus and His Times aims to be, requires some degree of thought to harmonize and sum up the information that has been presented. Jesus and His Times is an attractive book designed for nonspecialists. It succeeds as a descriptive work because of its good variety of topics, but its lack of unity may make the abundance of illustrations more valuable to many readers than the text itself. Joey A. King Southwest Missouri State University The Egyptians (revised and enlarged edition), by Cyril Aldred, 216 pp., 148 illustrations. London: Thames and Hudson, 1987-, $11.95 (paper). The World of the Pharaohs, by Christine Hobson, 192 pp., 150 illustrations. London: Thames and Hudson, 1987; $19.95. In 1987, Thames and Hudson released two books that could be considered introductions to ancient Egypt. Cyril Aldred's work is a revised edition of his 1961 book of the same title in the series Ancient Peoples and Places. Hobson's book combines the history of Egyptology with Egyptian history.

Aldred's new version of The Egyptians has far more illustrations, line drawings, maps, and black-and-white photographs than the original and also includes eight color photographs. It is also organized somewhat differently, and new sections have been added. The first chapter introduces the reader to what Aldred calls the "decline and coma" of Egypt due to the coming of Christianity and Islam. It then moves to the "reawakening" of interest in Egypt from Napoleon's expeditions to more recent archaeological projects. Chapters 3 and 4 are a diachronic study of Egyptian cultural history. Chapter 5 is concerned with the earliest residents of Egypt, the hunters and gatherers who left rock drawings in Paleolithic times (around 15000 to 10000 B.C.E.), while chapter 6 treats the Neolithic or predynastic stage of cultural development (around 5000 to 3500 B.C.E.). Chapter 6 covers the archaic period, which comprised Dynasties 1 and 2 and began with the unification of Egypt by Mens. Aldred then proceeds, in chapters 7 and 8, to the pyramid age, an era that fascinates many scholars and nonspecialists. Dynasty 3 witnessed the development of the pyramid from the mastaba type tomb. The famous Giza plateau with its triad of pyramids and the colossal sphinx is also discussed in chapter 7. The Fifth and Sixth Dynasties were periods of decline in the power and authority of the king, eventually leading to the collapse of the Old Kingdom. What resulted was a period of chaos in which the power of the central government was replaced by that of the provincial governors. Chapter 9 describes this gloomy era, called the First Intermediate period, beginning with Dynasty 7 and lasting through part of Dynasty 11 (around 2250 to 2035 B.C.E., according to Aldred's chronology on page 9). From it emerged several new political centers, foremost of which were Thebes and Heracleopolis, just south of Memphis. Hostilities raged between rival power centers for decades and ended when the Theban king, Mentuhotep II, militarily united the two lands, thus beginning the Middle Kingdom. Chapter 10 details the policies that enabled the Twelfth Dynasty kings to oversee this period of prosperity. The following Second Intermediate Period, also called the Hyksos era (1720

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to 1550 B.C.E.), is discussed in chapter 11. In recent decades there has been considerable debate as to how foreign rulers came to power in Egypt. Some say they invaded Egypt following the Manethonian tradition preserved in Josephus, whereas others believe that after many immigrants infiltrated Egypt from western Asia foreigners simply took advantage of the power vacuum and seized control. Aldred suggests that it is not an either/or but a both/and situation. The immigration started well before the end of Dynasty 12 and continued into Dynasty 13, followed by an invasion of a more military-minded group. Regrettably, Aldred continues to propound the still unsupported view that this latter group was an "aristocracy of chariot warriors" (page 140). The first clear reference to a chariot in an Egyptian text is one driven by King Ahmose in the war of liberation against the Hyksos (Pritchard 1969: number 233), and there is no mention of "Hyksos" chariotry. The word htry in Kamose's earlier campaign against the Hyksos capital, Avaris, has been rendered "chariotry" (Pritchard 1969: number 554), but this translation appears to be incorrect (Schulman 1980: 112-13). It is disappointing that Aldred did not include the information about the Austrian excavations at Tell el-dabca, thought to be the Hyksos capital of Avaris. The first volume of excavation reports appeared 15 years ago (Bietak 1975, 1979). In chapter 12 Aldred quickly surveys the establishment of Egypt's empire in Palestine and Nubia under the energetic Thutmoside kings of the Eighteenth Dynasty and the loss of the empire beginning with Merneptah, the son of Ramesses II. Included is some discussion of cultural aspects of the New Kingdom, with literature and architecture receiving major attention. Aldred is an authority on the Amarna period, but his treatment of this intriguing period would have been enhanced had he introduced the results of the Akhenaten Temple Project's excavations in East Karnak, where Akhenaten had built several temples prior to relocating his capital to Tell el-Amarna (Smith and Redford 1976). In chapter 13 he introduces the reader to the late period (Dynasties 21 through 26) and then ends the book with a very useful section on Egyptian social groups in chapter 14. Topics such as the pharaoh,

the royal family, the officers of the state, artists and craftsmen, the armed forces, scribes, and peasants and laborers conclude the book. Hobson's book is well written and beautifully illustrated; once begun, it is hard to put down. The 150 illustrations include 48 colored pictures and many very useful graphic illustrations, such as isometric drawings, maps, and charts. The introduction gives basic information about the geography of Egypt and an outline of its history. The first chapter traces the beginnings of Egyptology and introduces the reader to many men and women who stimulated that awakening. Anecdotes about some of these pioneers, which are most delightful, are sprinkled throughout the book. The renowned explorers and Egyptophiles such as Belzoni, Lepsius, and Ptrie are mentioned, of course, but so are some lesser known but equally important figures such as Hans Sloan, James Bruce, Lady Lucie Duff-Gordon, and Amice Calverley. Included in the profiles are portraits of these people. There is a definite predisposition toward British archaeologists, however; virtually nothing is said of the contributions of North American scholarship, and the only American who is pictured is Fred Wendorf. Regrettably, James Henry Breasted and his successors at The Oriental Institute of The University of in Chicago are passed over. Chapter 2 is concerned with the transition in Egyptian prehistory from hunter to farmer. Hobson is up-to-date with her information. For Dynasties 1 and 2 Hobson tries to sort out the succession of kings and discusses the artifacts of the period along with the architectural developments, namely the mastaba. The isometric drawings of the mastabas are excellent. The site of Saqqara receives some attention, including a brief profile on Walter Emery, the excavator of many of the "royal" mastabas. Moving into the pyramid era (chapter 3), Hobson, like Aldred, gives a thorough treatment of the step pyramid of Djoser. J.-P. Lauer, who has worked in the Djoser complex since 1926, is featured. Hobson's treatment of the pyramids does not stop with the Sixth Dynasty but continues into the Twelfth Dynasty with the pyramids at Dashur and Hawara. The discovery and analysis of the royal jewelry also are featured. Readers of Biblical Archaeologist

might be familiar with English archaeologist John Garstang, who excavated Jericho in the 1930s. From 1901-1903 he excavated the necropolis of Beni Hasan, where he discovered hundreds of tombs with coffins and models, in many instances in lieu of wall paintings. Hobson, who studied at Liverpool University where the Garstang archives are stored, was able to use this material for her section on this important Middle Egyptian site at the beginning of chapter 4. Four pages in chapter 4 are devoted to the enigma of Akhenaten and his famous city, Akhetaten. Hobson speaks of Akhenaten as "an idealist who rejected virtually every old Egyptian tradition" (page 106), but this is somewhat misleading. To be sure, the Amarna period witnessed some new artistic expressions. However, it is now becoming increasingly evident that Akhenaten was interested in elevating the solar religion that had been a dominant force in Dynasty 5 at the expense of Amun of Thebes. The famous Hymns to Aten use terms and expressions that can be traced back to the coffin texts of the Middle Kingdom and the pyramid texts of the Old Kingdom (Hoffmeier, in press). Akhenaten should be seen more as a reformer, a conservative die-hard, rather than an innovator. Like Aldred, Hobson does not mention the important excavations of the Akhenaten Temple Project. Chapter 4 continues with a description, and several excellent illustrations, of the recent work of the English-Dutch team excavating at Saqqara. In recent years, the mortuary complexes of several key officials of the time of Tutankhamun and the following decades have been uncovered. This section has special interest because of the recent discoveries of the tombs of the high official of Maya and of Tia, sister of Ramesses II. The fifth chapter deals with several interesting topics, including the form and function of temples (cultic and funerary). The final chapter, Egypt's Legacy, examines the how and why of painting, reliefs, and sculpture as well as deciphering hieroglyphs (complete with charts of signs that help the reader understand how the writing system worked), the role of the scribe, calendrical matters, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Nubian campaign of the 1960s. These two books are fine introduc-

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tions to ancient Egypt. Aldred's book might be considered an old classic that has undergone a facelift and is now very attractive, while Hobson's is sheer beauty in every way. The skillful manner in which she has woven the archaeology of Egypt with the archaeologists makes for exciting reading, and the illustrations are outstanding. Readers should explore both books, starting with Hobson and then Aldred. Bibliography Bietak, M. 1975 Tell el-Dafca 2. Untersucchungen der Zweigstelle Kairo des sterreichischen Archologischen Institute 1: Vienna. 1979 Avaris and Piramesse: Archaeological Exploration in the Eastern Delta. Proceedings of the British Academy 45: 225-89. Hoffmeier, J. K. forth- Hymns to Aten: Their Antecedents coming and Implications. In Tell el-Amarna 1887-1987, edited by B. Beitzel and G. Young. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. Pritchard, J. B., editor 1969 Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, third edition with supplement. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Schulman, A. R. 1980 Chariots, Chariotry and the Hyksos. fournal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities X(2|: 105-53. Smith, R. W, and Redford, D. B. 1976 The Akhenaten Temple Project, volume 1. Warminster: Aris and Phillips. James K. Hoffmeier Wheaton College Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, by Oded Borowski, xiv + 215 pp. Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 1987; $20.00. A cultural gap that rapidly increases with the passing of each new generation separates us from the biblical environment. Our world is computer driven, predominantly urban, with an economic base built upon advanced technology and heavy industry. Our lives seldom touch the agricultural sphere that stood at the heart of ancient societies. Few of us know the agricultural chores dictated by the seasonal rhythms of the year necessary to sustain life. Students of the Bible, therefore, owe a debt of gratitude to Oded Borowski for giving us a valuable tool to bridge this gap. As Borowski

explores ancient Israel's agricultural base, he casts a light upon the rich biblical imagery and vocabulary drawn from agrarian life. As the title of this book indicates, Borowski intends to describe agriculture as it was practiced in Israel during the Iron Age (1200 to 586 B.C.E.). He utilizes insights culled from excavations, the Hebrew Scriptures, and modern agricultural practices in Israel to paint his portrait. The discussion ranges from land use and tenure to factors affecting soil fertility and crop yield. Borowski makes most effective use of archaeological material in the section titled. Field Work and Grain Production. Each facet of field workplowing, sowing, harvesting, and storage receives attention and is illustrated by archaeological data. A section on the produce of fields, vineyards, and orchards also incorporates valuable insights drawn from the increasing body of evidence derived from excavations. Twenty-two line drawings illustrate the text, including nine gathered from Egypt and Mesopotamia that depict actual field labor. Borowski incorporates into his discussion the few nonbiblical written sources from Iron Age Israel that bear upon his subject (the Samaria and Arad Ostraca, a letter from Mesad Hashavyahu). Especially helpful is his more extensive and incisive analysis of the tenth-centuryB.c.E. Gezer Calendar, which, in my judgment, offers greater insight than previous discussions. Borowski has admirably accomplished his primary goal and presents us with a good overview of agricultural practices of this period. Moreover, he presents technical material in a manner that nonspecialists will not only appreciate but enjoy. Biblical students can profit from the copious use of biblical references embedded in the book, complete with a comprehensive index of biblical citations and a glossary of Hebrew terms related to agriculture. The work can be a useful tool for exegetical studies and should prove valuable in casting light on those numerous passages that touch upon agriculture. The archaeological data are accurate, well presented, and as up to date as the rapid pace of excavation allows. Specialists undoubtedly will question whether one can treat all of the Iron Age as one period. Should not one take into

consideration factors that distinguish the Iron I period (1200 to 1000 B.C.E.) from Iron II (1000 to 586 B.C.E.)? TO be sure, Borowski is aware of this problem and touches on some of the technological advancements, but his work is essentially a kind of still life portrait. The more complex range of factors, including demographic, political, and socioeconomic matters delineating the two phases of the Iron Age, need more careful consideration. The Highlands of Canaan: Agricultural Life in the Early Iron Age, an earlier book by David C. Hopkins (1985, Decatur, Georgia: Almond Press), with its narrower focus and somewhat broader range of issues may be more satisfying in this regard. However, Borowski has succeeded in synthesizing much valuable information in a manner that places the fruits of his technical research at the disposal of a wider audience. For this Borowski should be highly commended. He has given us another lens through which to view the biblical world. Thomas V. Brisco Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Discovering Eve: Ancient Israelite Women in Context, by Carol Meyers, ix + 238 pp. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988; $24.95. Recognizing that the Bible is used to justify many beliefs or policies regarding women, Carol Meyers wrote this book to promote awareness of the existence of the unseen life led by women in ancient Israel and to help make that existence more visible. She discusses the limitations of using biblical texts alone to deduce women's roles in ancient Israelite society. Meyers reconstructs the daily role of women in premonarchic Israelite society based on village layout in the Iron I highland settlements and comparative ethnographic studies of women's roles in societies where the household was the basic unit of production and consumption. She argues that knowledge of the ancient Israelite social world is essential for understanding the actual function and status of women in the biblical world and their ideological depictions in biblical texts, which may differ. Recognizing that the Bible was produced by a small circle of urban male ruling elites, Meyers cautions that any depic-

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