Untold Stories: the Bible and Ugaritic Studies in the Twentieth Century.

• Author: Marcus, David
• Position: Book Review

By MARK S. SMITH. Peabody, Mass.: HENDRICKSON PUBLISHERS, 2001. Pp. xix + 252. $29.95.

In Untold Stories Mark Smith surveys the history of Ugaritic studies since the first alphabetic texts were published over seventy years ago. He does this by sketching the personalities of the great names in the field, outlining the various tools available, listing scholars and the centers throughout the world where Ugaritic is being taught, and discussing many issues of relevance for the Bible and Ugaritic studies. The book is entitled Untold Stories "because it relates both the larger untold story of how Ugaritic studies contributed se massively to the study of the Bible in the twentieth century and many unknown stories involving the lives and scholarship of the field's major figures" (p. 6).

Smith was inspired to write this book by the recent death of two of his teachers, Marvin Pope and Jonas Greenfield, both senior figures in the field of Ugaritic and to whom the book is dedicated. Realizing that other senior figures whose recollections would be of prime importance were in their twilight years, Smith set out, on the basis of interviews, correspondence, and documented literature, to record as much as he could for the benefit of future generations. But this study pays tribute not only to the senior figures in the field but also to their successors still laboring in the vineyard of Ugaritic studies, and as such it is a veritable "Who's Who?" for the field of Ugaritology.

Smith has divided his book into four time periods. The first is from 1928 to the end of World War II, which was the period of the discovery, decipherment, and publication of the major texts. The second period is from 1945 to 1970, when research was continued on these major texts. The third period commences with publication of important new material in Ugaritica V (1968), and the last period runs from 1985 to the present. For each of these periods Smith presents a list of the basic texts and tools (including grammar books, dictionaries, concordances, translations, studies, and synthetic studies on grammar, religion, etc.) and discusses advances in language, literature, and religion.

In addition, for each of these periods, Smith surveys an issue of Ugaritic and Biblical studies which he holds to be representative of the intellectual climate of the period. So Smith presents a discussion of the monotheism debate between W. F. Albright and Theophile Meek, an exploration of the myth-ritual...