A comprehensive, illustrated survey of the world from which the Bible emerged. Geopolitics, symbolic universes, and social and political organization are considered from prehistoric times to the rise of Israel, and from Mesopotamia to Rome. The art, architecture, languages, legal systems, literature and religion of the times are also considered.



The Oxford History of the Biblical World is a comprehensive, fully illustrated survey of the world from which the Bible emerged. The work is written by leading scholars, all of whom have considerable expertise in archaeology and the study of ancient texts. In a series of chronologically ordered chapters, the book presents an integrated study of the geopolitics, symbolic universes, and social and political organization of the many cultures that formed the ancient Near East and the Greco-Roman world. Spanning from prehistoric times (ca. 10000 BCE) to the rise of Islam (seventh century BCE) and from Mesopotamia to Rome, the book focuses primarily on biblical Israel and early Judaism and Christianity. The authors discuss not only the plitical and military history and key events and