Books in Brief
Archaeological Photography
Harold C. Simmons
(New York University Press, 1969) 138 pp. $3.00
Clear, succinct and generously illustrated with ample black and white photographs and diagrams, Harold Simmons’ book, Archaeological Photography, is for anyone whether professional, amateur, or student photographer interested in learning to master the techniques of archaeological photography. Simmons notes that as methods of archaeological excavations improve, so do those of archaeological photography. Both archaeologists and photographers need to keep apace of the advancements since, he warns, to dig is to destroy, but to photograph is to preserve.
Archaeological History of the Ancient Middle East
Jack Finegan
(Westview Press, 1979) 456 pp. $25.00
This new 450-page reference text presents the dynastic histories of Mesopotamia and Egypt as we know them from archaeology. The author follows standard chronologies for both areas, and interrelates them in tables. 121 black and white photographs of sites and artifacts from both the author’s own collection and from museums ate included in the book.
The Luck of Nineveh
Arnold C. Brackman
(McGraw-Hill, 1978) 337 pp. $14.95
The Luck of Nineveh is the story Henry Austen Layard and his life-long love affair with archaeology. The book’s primary focus is on the young Englishman’s fascinating search for the discovery of the fabled seat of the Assyrian Empire, Nineveh. Brackman’s adventuresome and romantic story of Layard’s wonderful and lucky finds there (which even today comprise the bulk of the British Museum’s Mesopotamian collection) is told in a style to match its hero.
The Luck of Nineveh is Brackman’s third archaeological book, and was an alternate selection of the Book of the Month Club. Previous works by this former United Press foreign correspondent are The Dream of Troy (a biography of Troy’s discoverer Heinrich Schliemann) and The Search for the Gold of Tutankhamen (a biography of the archaeologist Howard Carter who found Tutankhamen’s tomb).
An Analytical Concordance to the Revised Standard Version of the New Testament
Clinton Morrison
(Westminster Press, 1979) 770 pp. $45.00
Would you like to know where and how many times a particular word appears in the Revised Standard Version translation of the New Testament, and what nuances the original Greek encompasses? With each entry in this concordance, Clinton Morrison provides the Greek equivalent of each English word as well as each place the word is used in the New Testament. You may be surprised to learn that ekklesia is translated not only as “church” but also as “congregation” and “assembly.” The Greek word for “assembly” may be plethos or synagoge. Morrison has also included a transliterated Greek lexicon where you can find the numerous English translations for such words as anastasis “resurrection” and logos “word”. A good concordance like this one is indispensable for any serious New Testament research.
A Manual of Field Excavation: Handbook for Field Archaeologists
William G. Dever and H. Darrell Lance, eds.
(KTAV, 1978) 240 pp. $10.00
A Manual of Field Excavation is a handbook for practising archaeologists and dig volunteers. Well indexed, and in some sections well-illustrated, this practical book is a collection of basic and detailed ‘how to’ and ‘why’ articles by core staff members at the Gezer excavations from 1968–71. This core staff, together with editors Dever and Lance, developed and refined methods of field archaeology for Bronze and Iron Age sites in ancient Palestine. Through the migration of the Gezer staff to other sites in the Middle East, these methods have spread widely. Topics covered include archaeological tools and their use, field and pottery recording systems, surveying and drafting, and photography and geology.
As a service to its readers, BAR will specially order any of these books. Please add $1 to the price to cover postage and handling and mail your order to 3111 Rittenhouse Street NW, Washington D.C., 20015.