The Letter and the Scroll: What Archaeology Tells Us About the Bible

Robin Currie and Stephen Hyslop

Retail Price: $40.00 CenturyOne Price: $27.20 You Save: $12.80 (32%) Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours. Format: Hardcover, 336pp. ISBN: 9781426205149 Publisher: National Geographic Society Pub. Date: November 17, 2009 Book Information: Description Reviews About the Author Table of Contents Customer Reviews Find Similar Books Average Customer Review:

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For 2,000 years and more, the Bible and its precepts have shaped world culture and civilization, whether Judeo-Christian or not. The Bible is a touchstone of religious belief, literary accomplishment, morality, and history unlike any other. Biblical interpretations have changed over the millennia, but the past 100 years have witnessed some of the most important transformations in our perspective, and no recent influence has been greater than archaeology.

In the mid-20th century, the unearthing of the Dead Sea Scrolls—to cite just one of many modern finds—deepened our understanding of the Biblical world, its peoples, and their beliefs. Since then, new evidence has appeared—the Tel Dan inscription, the Merneptah Stele, and the Gabriel Revelation—with each revelation providing richer insights into the scriptural narrative and the way these stories were written and handed down, confirming the details of historical events and personages, or clarifying the meaning and chronology of biblical ideas.

Meticulous, scholarly, yet always accessible, this is required reading for anyone interested in both Old and New Testaments and the creeds, cultures, and civilizations of ancient Hebrews and early Christians alike.

This gorgeous book, filled with National Geographic's typically beautiful photos, illustrations, and maps and covering the people and events of the Bible, placed into their archaeological context, will delight and inform those who are interested in the Bible from a religious, cultural, or historical perspective. Authors Currie (National Geographic's Concise History of the World) and Hyslop (National Geographic Almanac of World History) take the reader beneath the written word and delve into the cultures and peoples who lived in the biblical world. Arranged chronologically, the book does not confirm or deny the Bible itself but rather investigates a variety of topics—such as cities, languages, luxury goods, wars, taxes, writings, and ancient art—through artifacts and archaeological evidence to provide an extensive background for the reader. A time line of the Ancient Near East and further reading suggestions are included. VERDICT This wonderful book is highly recommended for general readers and high school students and undergraduates interested in the Bible, history, art, or archaeology.

—Library Journal, Melissa Aho, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis

Stephen Hyslop is an author and editor who has written several books on American and world history including Eyewitness to the Civil War and National Geographic Almanac of World History. Robin Currie has written for a wide range of publications and publishers, mostly on historical topics.

Archaeology
Bible Archaeology: An Exploration of the History And Culture of Early Civilizations