From the 1880s through the 1920s a motley collection of American scholars, soldiers of fortune, institutional bureaucrats, and financiers created the academic fields that give us our knowledge of the ancient Near East. Bruce Kuklick's new book begins with the story of the initial adventure of these determined investigators - a twelve year dig near the Biblical Babylon, at Nippur, conducted at intervals from 1888 through 1900 and bankrolled by the Babylonian Exploration Fund. To unearth tens of thousands of cuneiform tablets ...
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From the 1880s through the 1920s a motley collection of American scholars, soldiers of fortune, institutional bureaucrats, and financiers created the academic fields that give us our knowledge of the ancient Near East. Bruce Kuklick's new book begins with the story of the initial adventure of these determined investigators - a twelve year dig near the Biblical Babylon, at Nippur, conducted at intervals from 1888 through 1900 and bankrolled by the Babylonian Exploration Fund. To unearth tens of thousands of cuneiform tablets, the leaders of this venture faced harsh living conditions in the desert and an academic war of each against all that was quickly begun at the site itself. As their knowledge increased, they risked their personal religious beliefs in the search for historical truth. Kuklick discusses their tribulations to illuminate two other contemporary developments: first, the maturation of the American university, particularly in contrast to its German counterpart; and second, the influence of religious-secular conflict on the ways in which Western scholarship appropriated or appreciated other cultures. The Nippur expedition spawned unseemly (and entertaining) fights among the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, Yale, Harvard, and Chicago for leadership in the study of the ancient Near East - not to mention disagreements with their own developing museums and an international scandal called the Hilprecht controversy. More significant than these quarrels was the concern for the meaning of history displayed in this period of Near Eastern scholarship. The field was linked to Biblical criticism and Judeo-Christian interests and many of the orientalists originally possessed strong religious commitments - which some put aside as they struggled for objectivity. As recent critics have shown,"orientalism" was an example of the West's ability to appropriate the "other" for its own purposes. However, Kuklick's study demonstrates that censure of orientalism hinges on modes of argumentation that scholars of the ancient Near East helped to legitimate, and at no small cost to themselves.
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Add this copy of Puritans in Babylon to cart. $22.01, very good condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1996 by Princeton University Press.
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Add this copy of Puritans in Babylon (Princeton Legacy Library, 5224) to cart. $22.93, very good condition, Sold by Redux Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Wyoming, MI, UNITED STATES, published 1996 by Princeton University Press.
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Very Good. Size: 6x1x9; Hardcover. Ex-Library with usual markings: catalogue sticker on cover and spine, stamps on page edges, bookplate inside front cover. NO DUST JACKET. Text is clean and unmarked. Covers show very minor shelf wear. Binding tight, hinges strong. AN EXCELLENT READING OR REFERENCE COPY.; 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed! Ships same or next business day!
Add this copy of Puritans in Babylon: the Ancient Near East and American to cart. $29.00, like new condition, Sold by Oddball Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Burbank, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1996 by Princeton University Press.
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Add this copy of Puritans in Babylon (Princeton Legacy Library) to cart. $84.20, new condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1996 by Princeton University Press.
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