Books in Brief

Lavish Re-creations

Great Events of Bible Times

Edited by James Harpur (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1987) 200 pp., $29.95

Two-thirds of this handsome book is devoted to the Old Testament, and one-third to the New Testament, with a short section for the Inter-Testamental era. The individual sections deal not only with events such as “The Flood,” “Abraham’s Migration,” “Jesus’ Arrest and Trial” and “Paul’s Conversion,” but also with such topics as “Life in the Wilderness,” “Canaanite Culture,” “Music and Musical Instruments” and “The Spread of Hellenism.”

This work is the result of the coordinated efforts of a team of writers, artists and consultants. The latter included John Ferguson, Bruce M. Metzger and David Goldstein. Ferguson notes that the composition of the team was consciously diversified: “Catholic and Protestant, black and white, female and male.”

The attractive format offers succinct texts accompanied by lavish illustrations. Among the most valuable visual aids are the artistic re-creations of such structures as the Ziggurat at Ur, the Tabernacle and Solomon’s Temple. Visual representations annotated in considerable detail bring to life numerous battles and sieges, such as Joshua at Ai, Deborah over Sisera, Sennacherib at Lachish and the fall of Masada. These alone are almost worth the price of the book.

Many beautiful illustrations, some from medieval works such as the Book of Kells and the Kennicott Bible, supplement these re-creations. Satellite views of the Sinai and the Dead Sea region also appear.