Genesis: World of Myths and Patriarchs

by Cyrus H. Gordon

The time was the Bronze to the Iron Age, the third to first millenniums B.C. Great leaders arose from Iraq to Eygpt-- Sargon of Akkad, Gudea of Lagash, Hammurapi of Babylon, and Akhenaten of Egypt--and from these lands of the Fertile Crescent came the underpinnings of Western civilization: law, science, arts, and the alphabet. But the human spirit wanted more.
In a universe run by mercurial gods who kept humankind in bondage, there emerged...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814726682
• ISBN13: 9780814726686
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: New York University Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 3.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 10.4" x 12.3"

Customer Reviews

Fascinating

Biblical archeology helps us to understand. the Bible and what times were like then. A very scholarly endeavor. Wonderful photos. Great book.

Excellent, it enlightens Genesis greatly

This book is wonderful. I had never read Genesis in light of it's contemporaneous society, but that is exactly the approach the book takes. It demonstrates that Genesis was a radical revolution in thought about God, humanity and creation. Genesis takes themes of neighboring societies and religions and uses them in radically different ways to develop an entirely new ethic. Case in point: in ancient Mesopotamian religion, the gods created man to take the burden off of them, to take care of the earth, and grow food for them, so that the gods could relax and bicker without needing to participate in the affairs of the world unless they chose to. Man was created to serve the gods. Genesis changes this immensely, reversing the roles, saying that God created humanity and provided a Garden of Eden where food, for the people, was plentiful. This God, rather than being distant, loved his creation, which he had made in his own image. A new ethic is created, using the same imagery, but putting it to a new purpose. The book is full of such fascinating material, and excellent photos. My only criticism is that I wish it went into greater depth on some subjects, but it is still wonderful.

well illustrated account of the historical cultural context

Genesis as history is hardly a novel idea but in this package word and text show just how close and how far away are ancient near eastern literary approaches to what we call history. We have been reading the Patriarchal narratives through the centuries without knowing the customs and traditions of the peoples from which the Patriarchs came. That is like looking at Irish and Italian Americans with no knowledge of Ireland or Italy; like trying to understand the American Southwest with no notion of the existence of Spain; like gazing at Plymouth and Concord and Boston without knowing that there is an England. Feyerick offers insightful accounts about the fuller context of the Genesis stories. The time was the Bronze to Iron Ages, the third to the first millenniums B.C.E. Great leaders arose from Iraq to Egypt-Sargon of Akkad, Gudea of Lagash, Hammurapi of Babylon, and Akhenaten of Egypt- and from these lands of the Fertile Crescent came a brilliant legacy to Western civilization of law, science, arts, and the alphabet. But the human spirit wanted more. In a universe run by mercurial gods who kept humankind in bondage to their wills, there emerged the need for one all-powerful divinity, one omnipresent as mentor and protector. The book of Genesis, with its narratives of real people struggling to survive, gave them and us that God, and thus the roots of monotheism arose in a whirl of great wars, captive peoples, and uncertain allegiances. GENESIS: World of Myths and Patriarchs is an in-depth look at the civilizations that formed the background of the first book of the Bible. Drawing upon the major archaeological discoveries in the Middle East over the past century, everyday life of the people of Genesis is viewed through politics, arts, nomadic migrations, commerce, religion, and moral values. With over 250 illustrations, including sixty-four color plates, this rich visual panorama tells us what the authors of Genesis saw, and what events and ideas moved them to write the story of their people's origins. It includes fourteen maps and charts, a selected chronology, and a list of gods of the Middle East. Cyrus Gordon and Nahum Sarna, two of the most renowned scholars of ancient Near Eastern history and Bible, provide the text preceding the illustrations. GENESIS: World of Myths and Patriarchs acquaints us for the first time not only with the people we know from this familiar book of the Bible but with the places they inhabited and the culture they developed. We trace what was borrowed, rejected, and transformed to create a new and unique ethic which has continued to shape the world.Great for a general audience.