Ancient Near East in the Bible

This book serves as a virtual guide to the rich items on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Ancient Near East Gallery that relates to the Bible. I have carefully curated items to show how much the Christian faith is connected geohistorically to the Cradle of Civilization. Although Christianity is often seen as a European religion that began 2000 years ago, it in fact began as a Jewish religion in the Roman province of Palestine. St. Paul drew on his pedigree as a Roman citizen trained in the art of rhetoric to argue his points, leveraging Hellenistic philosophy and logic. This was because before General Pompey conquered the region in 63 BCE, Palestine was ruled by the Hellenistic Seleucid dynasty who succeeded Alexander of Macedon. Prior to this, the region was ruled by the Achaemenid Persians who liberated them from Babylonian rule, which itself replaced the Assyrians who conquered the region from as far back as the 8th century BCE.

With this book, anyone living anywhere in the world can appreciate the artifacts of the museum in living color without making the trip to New York City. The charts, maps, photographs and comments, alongside four introductory chapters describing the history of museums, illustrate and explain the geohistory of the Ancient Near East, the beliefs and gods of the Canaanites, and the remarkable impact of the Ugaritic Library upon modern interpretations of the Bible. Full-color plates of illustrations and photographs are included to enhance the reading experience.

As this is first and foremost, a biblical guide, every artifact will be introduced within a biblical context. It is also related to the wider Ancient Near Eastern culture, which includes Canaanite and Israelite religious thought. Finally, this book reflects the 30-year ministry of the author. His method of investigating his inherited beliefs with candor, transparency, spiritual conviction and intellectual integrity includes research, teaching and publishing for non-technical reader. His unique interdisciplinary, boots-on-the-ground method of investigation includes comparative religion approach that delves into the history of each doctrinal belief, how it evolved under economic, political and scientific pressures, as well as its reception through the ages.