Ancient Conquest Accounts: A Study in Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical History Writing

by K. Lawson Younger Jr.

Works on Old Testament historiography, the 'Conquest', and the origins of ancient Israel have burgeoned in recent days. But while others have been issuing new reconstructions this novel work presents a close reading of the biblical text. The focus is on the literary techniques that ancient writers employed in narrating stories of conquest, and the aim is to pinpoint their communicative intentions in their own contexts. This reading is enhanced by engagement with the important discipline of the philosophy of history. Ancient Conquest accounts, replete with extensive quotations from Assyrian, Hittite and Egyptian conquest accounts, is a learned and methodologically sensitive study of a wide range of ancient Near Eastern texts as well as of Joshua 9-12.

Genres: Old Testament

383 pages, ebook

First published October 1, 1981

Reviews

[Leandro Dutra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comparative study of Assyrian, Hittite, Egyptian and Hebrew conquest accounts sheds new light on the Joshua and Judges narratives. Actually, it is quite old light, as it enables it to read the text as it was understood by its original readers, for the first time in probably a couple of millennia.

[Aaron White · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am here because of "The Lost World of Scripture," by John Walton. Having read that book, I cried out for MORE. More answers! So, the reading of this book. This book is very not like Walton's book. They are similar in that they present well-researched, well-thought out arguments and presented new ways of thinking about the Bible as a piece of 'historic' literature. This book, however, is quite academic. It was just within my scope - so that I could understand most of what the author was communicating, but just specialized enough that I missed a bunch of it.
Reading this book, while mulling my thoughts from "Lost World," my understanding of scripture as an ancient document continued to be expanded. As such, what I don't know also expanded, and, again, I am left with more questions. I'd love for more info from this author of additional conquest/war accounts outside of Joshua 9-12.
I'd almost say, read the last chapter for the take-aways, but I really do think you need the background provided by the very scholarly research presented in the first chapters before you get that far.