The Hebrew Bible is filled with references to people, places, deities, customs, beliefs, practices and traditions of the ancient Near Eastern world. Egyptians, Assyrians, Canaanites, Hittites, and Babylonians appear as central figures in many biblical narratives. Thus it is fitting that students of the Bible turn to the literary remains of these civilizations to understand how they shaped the biblical world.
The Context of Scripture is an impressive three-volume collection of these ancient Near Eastern writings in English translations. Each translation is accompanied by cross references to related biblical texts, allowing users of the electronic edition to easily search for ancient writings that relate to a given passage. The translations also sport extensive notes and thorough bibliographies, to help the student understand the texts and provide avenues for further study.
Volume II, Monumental Inscriptions from the Biblical World, is devoted to building and votive inscriptions, seals, weights, treaties, collections of laws, and other genres originally inscribed on durable mediums or in multiple copies for long-term survival. Many are royal inscriptions, and nearly all are crucial to the reconstruction of the history of the Biblical world.