Introduction and General

Introduction and General Christopher T. Begg, Robert N. Marineau, Bradley C. Gregory, Thomas Hieke, and Robert D. Miller II ________ 1501. The Magical-Hymnic Text of Papyrus AMS 23b Susanne Beck, "Der magischhymnische Text des Papyrus AMS 23b (pLeiden I 347) und der falkenköpfige Krokodilgott Horus imi-Schenut (Ägyptische Abhandlungen 33; Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2023). Pp. x + 322 + 13 plates. €98. ISBN 978–3-447–11990–0. The papyrus document cited in B. 's title is a hymnic-magical text featuring an Egyptian god who is generally represented iconographically as a crocodile with the head of a falcon. Since 1840, this text has been housed at Rijksmuseum van Oudheten in Leiden. B. 's treatment of the papyrus is divided into two main parts. In her first part, B. first discusses, e. g. , the papyrus as a material entity (characterized by many mistakes and corrections), date (2nd half of the 18th Dynasty period, ca. 1539–1292 b. c. ), structure and component parts, and then presents the transliterated Egyptian text with a side-by-side German translation and an extensive philological commentary. In her second part, B. focuses on the deity after whom the papyrus is named. Here, she notes, inter alia, that whereas this deity was never a top-ranking member of the Egyptian pantheon, his cult purdured for multiple centuries from the time of the 4th Dynasty down to ca. 200 a. d. In the textual and iconographical attestations concerning the god, it is especially his "fearsome" character that is highlighted and his destruction of his (and Egypt's) enemies, for which purpose he utilizes a "pool of fire. " The meaning of the phrase "imi-Schenut" attached to the GN Horus remains uncertain despite the many suggestions regarding it that have been advanced. The volume's end-matter includes a bibliography, a catalogue providing information about all extant attestations of the god, both textual and artifactual, a glossary, a series of colored plates, and a synoptic text of the papyrus that makes use of other versions of it that have survived in more or less fragmentary form. —C. T. B. ] 1502. A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: the OT John Bergsma and Brant Pitre, A Catholic Introduction to the Bible, Vol. I (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2018). Pp. 1060. 54. 95. ISBN 1–58617–722–5. There is certainly no lack of introductions to the OT/Hebrew Bible today. B. and P. 's volume stands out from other such introductions in its explicitly Catholic approach to each of the 46 books making up the Catholic OT canon in which the perspectives of faith and reason, historical exegesis, Scripture and Tradition and OT and the NT are integrated into a single presentation. Specifically, after treating such typical "introductory" matters as structure, content, dating and historicity, B. and P. round off their discussion of the given book with a section entitled "Book X in the Living Tradition" in which they focus on the use made of the book in the tradition and in the current RC lectionary. The volume's numerous charts and sidebars helpfully address particular questions that are likely to arise for readers of the OT (e. g. , Where Did Cain Get His Wife? ; What Was the Sin of Ham? ). While the authors state their hope that this volume will be of assistance to anyone interested in learning more about the Bible, they qualify it as "primarily … a graduate-level textbook" (p. 8). A companion volume on the NT is projected. —C. T. B. 1503. The Old Hittite Manuscripts of the KI. LAM Great Assembly James M. Burgin, Functional Differentiation in Hittite Festival Texts: An Analysis of the Old Hittite Manuscripts of the KI. LAM Great Assembly (StBoT 65; Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2019). Pp. x + 231. €68. ISBN 978–3-447–11247–5. The large collection of festival texts and fragments of festivals is the focus of study of the 20-year German research project, Corpus der hethitischen Festrituale (HFR). The research for B. 's book was conducted during his participation in this project. B. proposes a new interpretation of the original Sitz im Leben of the tablets of the KI. LAM festival. . .