'Women's Lives in Biblical Times'

I am very pleased to announce that Jennie R. Ebeling's book - 'Women's Lives in Biblical Times' - will be published next month.

The recent explosion of novels about female characters in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament proves that there is great interest in the lives of biblical women. But can we be sure that these highly dramatized reconstructions are based on actual evidence for the lives of women in ancient Israel? Women’s Lives in Biblical Times looks to recent biblical scholarship along with archaeological, iconographic and ethnographic data to reconstruct the life of a hypothetical woman living in an ancient Israelite village in the period of the Judges, ca. 1100 BCE. Each chapter begins with a narrative describing this woman’s life at various ages from her birth to her final illness and death, and continues with an academic discussion of the daily life activities and lifecycle events described in the narrative. Women’s Lives in Biblical Times is thus a uniquely engaging and accessible source for anyone interested in looking beyond the romanticized accounts of biblical women’s lives to a discussion of what we really know about them.

This volume has received some great reviews, which are displayed below:

'Ebeling's achieves the nearly impossible task of giving life to the largely nameless and barely visible women of ancient Israel. Not only does she draw on multiple sources to reconstruct the tasks and relationships that defined women's lives, but also she gives vitality to those features by tracing the life course of a fictional woman in a highland village. Her sensitive portrayal, based on meticulously researched evidence, helps readers discover what life was really like for women in biblical antiquity'. – Carol Meyers, Duke University, USA.

‘A delightful book! In Women's Lives in Biblical Times, Jennie Ebeling creatively combines an imaginative sketch of the life of an ancient Israelite woman with a rich array of biblical, archaeological, and comparative evidence, both compellingly to describe and convincingly to document the nature of everyday existence for the typical Israelite woman of the late second millennium BCE. The result is a study that is simultaneously learned and fun, a wonderful contribution to our understanding of Israelite women and tradition.’ – Susan Ackerman, Dartmouth College, USA.

‘There have been a few attempts by biblical scholars to tell us about daily life in ancient Israel. But up to now there has been no full-scale account by anyone – and none specifically about women, none by archaeologists who are now the best qualified to write about “how it really was for ordinary folk. This book, by a woman who is a professional field archaeologist working in Israel, and who also has sound training in biblical studies, is the book we have been waiting for. It is conceived in a partly fictional setting – the story of “Orah” – but it is based on the most recent and best archaeological information. “Orah” comes to life and speaks to us dramatically about her varied roles in her small world, her hardships and hopes. The story is riveting.’ – William G. Dever, The University of Arizona, USA.

‘It is exciting to find a book that so knowledgably presents state-of-the-art scholarship about women in Iron Age Israel. In Women's Lives in Biblical Times, Jennie Ebeling takes up a complex and important topic, one that merits intensive study. Her sophisticated analysis of archaeological data, biblical passages and anthropological studies ensures that scholars well versed in the field will find much new to consider. At the same time, her readable style of writing and the fictional storyline that enhances her scholarly presentation make this book appealing to students and other interested readers. Women's Lives in Biblical Times will be an asset in libraries and classrooms, and in personal collections.’ – Beth Alpert Nakhai, The University of Arizona, USA.

‘Jennie Ebeling, an expert in Syro-Palestinian archaeology, masterfully accomplishes her goal to explain what everyday life was like for early Israelite women in a book that is scholarly, engaging, and accessible to the general public. Women's Lives in Biblical Times is unique. Each chapter begins with "Orah's Story," fictional narratives about the life of an Israelite woman in the early Iron Age. Unlike popular novels based on biblical characters, the stories about Orah are informed and written by a scholar of the ancient Near East. Then, Ebeling uses her archaeological and historical expertise to explore stages in the life of women including birth, childhood, puberty, marriage, motherhood, widowhood, death, and burial. She explores the roles women played in agriculture, food preparation, and healthcare, as well as artistic celebrations such as dance and music. Ebeling's book will replace Diamant's novel, The Red Tent, in several of my courses.’ – Michael M. Homan, Xavier University of Louisiana, USA.

Customers in the US will be able to purchase this volume on the 7th of April 2010, whereas all those interested in the UK will have to wait until the 6th of June 2010.

Comments

[Burke]

Very happy to see this one has received good reviews!

[Steven]

You are a very smart person! :)