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The Dead Sea Scrolls, which have long captured the public imagination, are now all available in principal editions and accessible translations. This book addresses the next stage in their analysis by raising questions about how they should be read and studied. The essays collected here illustrate two approaches. First, some essays argue that traditional methods of studying ancient texts need to be refined and broadened in the light of the Scrolls. The volume thus contains studies on text criticism, literary traditions, lexicography, historiography, and theology. Second, the book also argues that innovative methods of study, applied fruitfully in other areas, now also need to be applied to the Scrolls, such as studies that consider the relevance for the Scrolls of deviance theory, cultural memory, hypertextuality, intertextuality, genre theory, spatial analysis, and psychology. Many of the examples in these studies relate to how authoritative scripture was handled and appropriated by the groups that gathered the Scrolls together in the caves at and near Qumran, so some of the same texts are analyzed from several different perspectives.

    This lively translation of Devins, Dieux et Démons is the first English-language edition of Jean-René Jannot’s highly informative examination of Etruscan religion.  Jannot tackles this elusive subject within three major constructs—death, ritual, and the nature of the gods—and presents recent discoveries in an accessible format.  Jane K. Whitehead’s translation updates Jannot’s innovative text and introduces readers of all types—students, scholars, and the general audience—to this thorough overview of ancient Etruscan beliefs, including the afterlife, funerary customs, and mythology.
    Provocative insights and thoughtful discussions contribute to an understanding of the prophetic nature of Etruscan culture.  Jannot investigates the elaborate systems of defining space and time that so distinctly characterize this ancient society.  Religion in Ancient Etruria offers a unique perspective that illuminates the origins of some of our own "modern" religious beliefs.
    This updated edition includes more than 100 illustrations that demonstrate early temples, statues, mirrors, tablets, and sculptures.

1998 French edition, Picard