A digital version of this book is available here
The essays collected in this volume explore diverse aspects of literary creativity in the Ancient Near East, including Ancient Israel, with a special emphasis on historical writing.
Cuneiform documents are analyzed in order to test historical consciousness in Ancient Mesopotamia, Anatolia and Israel, and Biblical texts are illuminated through comparisons drawn from neighboring cultures.
The essays are particularly noteworthy for being the product of constant dialogue among leading scholars, noted specialists in their respective disciplines, who comprised a research group at the Institute of Advanced Studies of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem during 1978/9.