Scribal representations and social landscapes of the Iron Age Shephelah / Mahri Leonard-Fleckman.
| Author/creator | Leonard-Fleckman, Mahri author |
| Format | Book |
| Publication | New York : Oxford University Press, [2025] |
| Description | xi, 187 pages : map ; 24 cm |
| Subjects |
| Physical medium | maps. |
| Contents | Irresolution as practice. ; History's relevance ; Identity irresolution ; History marked by tension ; Composition history as a mosaic ; Disclaimer ; Chapter guide -- Entangled landscapes. ; Communities of practice ; Object naming and Tell es-Safi ; Identity -- Political mapping. ; The literary artistry of maps ; Border conflicts : Joshua and the Neo-Assyrian royal annals ; The Chronicler's retelling ; Drawing it together -- David, Gath, and the politics of identity. ; "The Philistines" ; David and Ittai (2 Samuel 15) ; David and Achish (1 Samuel 27) ; Re-presenting the Other, from Ittai to Ruth ; Rewriting Ittai and Achish ; Gath, a colorful whole -- Women as landscapes. ; The landscape of the Samson cycle ; The unnamed woman (Judges 14-15) ; Delilah (Judges 16) ; Tamar (Genesis 38) ; Landscapes as aesthetic representations -- Samson mosaics. ; Samson in Judges ; Becoming Samson ; Samson rewritten ; Tel Batash (Tell el-Batashi) remains ; Samson mosaics ; -- The art of history. |
| Abstract | "The Shephelah borderlands in the southwestern region of Iron Age Israel (ca. 1200-586 BCE) are one of the most intensely excavated areas in the world, a complex social-political place standing between the central highlands and the coastal home of the so-called biblical 'Philistines.' Yet the lives of these people on the margins of ancient Israel are lost to us today, left only in the fragments of archaeological remains and in the Bible's entangled representations of the proximate Other. In Scribal Representations and Social Landscapes of the Iron Age Shephelah, Mahri Leonard-Fleckman delves into how the Other is created and fashioned in ancient witnesses to these regions by analyzing identity in the Iron Age Shephelah. Focusing on two contemporary archaeological sites with plausible ancient connections, Tel Batash (ancient Timnah) and Tell es-Safi (ancient Gath), she journeys through texts and archaeology that bear witness to the social and political complexities of the region. Significantly, she presents irresolution as a practice for scholars of the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Levant and illustrates how resisting conclusions can be an asset to investigating the distant past. Along the way, she advances new hypotheses that illuminate biblical passages describing individuals and communities from the region--such as the stereotypical Philistines, Samson, Tamar, Delilah, and others. The book draws together a range of critical perspectives to spark compelling conversations about identity and history between anthropologists, archaeologists, biblical scholars, literary theorists, and historians."-- Publisher, back cover of dust jacket. |
| Abstract | "Scribal Representations and Social Landscapes of the Iron Age Shephelah presents irresolution as a practice for scholars of the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Levant. While the role of scholarship is often defined by its ability to reach definitive conclusions, Mahri Leonard-Fleckman illustrates how resisting conclusions can be an asset to investigating the distant past. She does so by analyzing identity in the Iron Age Shephelah, a complex social-political place and one of the most intensely excavated areas in the world. Focusing on two sites, Timnah and Gath, Scribal Representations journeys through texts and archaeology that bear witness to the social and political complexities of the region. Along the way, Leonard-Fleckman advances new hypotheses that illuminate biblical passages while maintaining a nuanced position that exemplifies irresolution as practice. This book draws together a range of critical perspectives to create a compelling conversation about identity and history between anthropologists, archaeologists, biblical scholars, literary theorists, and intellectual historians"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages [157]-178) and indexes. |
| Issued in other form | Online version http://id.loc.gov/entities/relationships/onlineversion Leonard-Fleckman, Mahri Scribal representations and social landscapes of the Iron Age Shephelah 1 New York: Oxford University Press, 2025 9780197652992 9780197652985 |
| LCCN | 2024039793 |
| ISBN | 9780197652961 |
| ISBN | 0197652964 (hardback) |
| ISBN | (epub) |
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