Monday, September 29, 2008

BMCR BOOK REVIEW:
Nikos Kokkinos (ed.), The World of the Herods. Volume 1 of the International Conference The World of the Herods and the Nabataeans held at the British Museum, 17-19 April 2001. Oriens et Occidens, 14. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2007. Pp. 327. ISBN 978-3-515-08817-6. €62.00 (pb).

Reviewed by Allen Kerkeslager, Saint Joseph's University (akerkesl@sju.edu)

Word count: 1532 words

As the full title indicates, the first volume of The World of the Herods is a collection of papers presented at an international conference held in 2001 that was built around the perceptive decision to bring together some of the foremost specialists on the closely related kingdoms of the Herods and the Nabateans. The editor, Nikos Kokkinos, is already well known for his groundbreaking work on the Herods and related historical issues.1 The publication of a similar collection that he jointly edited is imminent.2 The present book is both highly focused and representative of the cutting-edge of research. Many of the papers it collects even have been updated to as late as 2007. Yet in contrast to most such collections, this book accomplishes the rare feat of being comprehensive and readable enough that it could serve as an undergraduate textbook or introduction for the advanced general reader.

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Dorothy King has commentary.