Monthly Archives: March 2009

Charles Halton

Australian Journal Rankings

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In mid-January I wrote about the journal rankings compiled by the European Science Foundation and now the Australian Research Council has released their own rankings.  The Australian ranking score is slightly different than the ESF list.  The ESF list ranks journals either A, B or C while the Aussie list has four categories: A*, A, B, C.  The ESF rankings highlight the fact that they are not necessarily judging the quality of the articles within the journals but rather “issues such as scope and audience” while the Aussie list explicitly ranks according to relative article quality (that is, relative to the other journals) according to the following scale:

A* (top 5%)

Typically an A* journal would be one of the best in its field or subfield in which to publish and would typically cover the entire field/subfield.  Virtually all papers they publish will be of a very high quality.  These are journals where most of the work is important (it will really shape the field) and where researchers boast about getting accepted.  Acceptance rates would typically be low and the editorial board would be dominated by field leaders, including many from top institutions.

A (next 15%)

The majority of papers in a Tier A journal will be of very high quality. Publishing in an A journal would enhance the author’s standing, showing they have real engagement with the global research community and that they have something to say about problems of some significance.  Typical signs of an A journal are lowish acceptance rates and an editorial board which includes a reasonable fraction of well known researchers from top institutions.

B (next 30%)

Tier B covers journals with a solid, though not outstanding, reputation.  Generally, in a Tier B journal, one would expect only a few papers of very high quality. They are often important outlets for the work of PhD students and early career researchers.  Typical examples would be regional journals with high acceptance rates, and editorial boards that have few leading researchers from top international institutions.

C (next 50%)

Tier C includes quality, peer reviewed, journals that do not meet the criteria of the higher tiers.

Some of the differences in rank of journals include:

  • Journal of Biblical Literature–ESF: B; Aussies: A*
  • Ancient Near Eastern Studies–ESF: B; Aussies: A
  • Biblische Notizen–ESF: C; Aussies: B
  • Jewish Quarterly Review–ESF: B; Aussies: A*
  • Journal of the Study of the New Testament–ESF: B; Aussies A*
  • Scottish Journal of Theology–ESF: B; Aussies: A*
  • Semeia–ESF: A; Aussies: B
  • Theological Studies–ESF: B; Aussies: A*
  • Zeitschrift fur Althebraistik–ESF: B; Aussies: A*
  • Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research–ranked by Aussies only: A

Generally, the Australian ranking is a bit more generous, however, some of the differences are due to the fact that the Australian list has four instead of three tiers.  There are a few journals that one list covers that the other does not such as the Australian list includes the Journal of Semitic Studies while the ESF does not.  Neither of the lists include journals that I find helpful such as the Bulletin of Biblical Research, Tyndale Bulletin, Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages, and Ancient Near Eastern Religions.

Since these lists have come out there will likely be more pressure for North American institutions to “empirically” rate the research of their scholars.  This certainly goes on in an informal manner in hiring and promotion decisions but I bet committees will take these lists into consideration if they admit it or not.

So, if anyone is counting I have three articles published or currently in press–here is how they stack up:

  • How Big was Nineveh? in Bulletin for Biblical Research–unranked journal
  • Samson’s Last Laugh in Journal of Biblical Literature–ESF: B; Aussies: A*
  • Allusions to the Stream of Tradition in Ancient Near Eastern Studies–ESF: B; Aussies: A

Maybe I have a shot at tenure in Australia…

What do you think about these two rank lists and how they will be used?

Charles Halton

Review of Les Musiciens et la musique d’après les archives de Mari

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Here’s a review of mine that was recently published in BBR:

Nele Ziegler. Les Musiciens et la musique d’après les archives de Mari. Florilegium marianum IX. Mémoires de N.A.B.U. 10. Paris: SEPOA, 2007. Pp. 343. ISSN: 0959-5671. $75.

Nele Ziegler teaches Akkadian literature at Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes which is affiliated with the Sorbonne, however, this volume was completed while she was a researcher at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

Many topics mentioned in the Bible are discussed in tantalizingly little detail.  In these instances the biblical scholar is usually left only with an “educated imagination” to reconstruct a fuller picture.  However, there are situations in which cognate texts can provide breathtaking context to biblical accounts and the area of music and musicians is certainly one of these.  The Bible often touches upon the topic of music, the Psalter is even devoted exclusively to musical texts, but many issues of music are left unaddressed.  Thankfully, the records of the ancient Syrian city Mari (ca. 18th Century BC) give us an incredibly rich picture of musicians and music.  While we must allow for differences between ancient Israel and Mari, there was probably a great deal of similarity with respect to music and musicians and therefore the records from Mari can be used to provide context to biblical accounts.

In this volume Ziegler presents 74 Akkadian texts (photograph, transliteration, and French translation) interspersed into a narrative that covers topics ranging from the organizational structure of royal musicians, musical training, female musicians from the harem, cultic music, instruments, the correspondence of the chief musician as well as treatments of other musicians.

Ziegler discusses many fascinating details of music and the lives of musicians.  For instance, while some male singers were castrated, presumably to prevent the effects of puberty upon their voice, many males were not as evidenced by the existence of musical families in which all members—father, mother, and children—were singers (20-21).   Prominent musicians enjoyed a high standard of living provided by the king and some were bold enough to forcefully complain when they felt that they did not receive an ample supply of gifts (26).  Furthermore, in an instance in which an official title did not necessarily connote official function, a musician led a royal envoy to Eshnunna (27-31).

While a full picture of music and the cult is not possible, several texts reveal the highly liturgical nature of religious ceremonies at Mari.  A tablet outlines the Celebration of Ishtar including the precise positions of participants, garments and utensils that participants were required to wear or possess, the specific times in which different songs were chanted, when participants sit and stand, and the timing of offerings and libations (57-63).  One can assume that the Israelite temple contained documents such as this that outlined specific liturgies of which certain Psalms likely were mentioned and incorporated into celebrations and rituals.  Also, some priests at Mari functioned as lamenters and they were under the authority of the chief musician (64-5).  Lamentation-priests not only performed at the temple, but also marched out in front of the army on a campaign to Ekallatum (65).

Overall the photographs of the tablets are excellent and allow one to read directly from them.  Additionally, Ziegler’s treatment is elucidating, careful, and thorough.  Since French translations are provided for all of the ancient texts, one does not need to know Akkadian in order to use this volume with great profit.  Because of her fine work Ziegler has greatly enhanced our understanding of music and musicians in Mari and beyond.

Charles Halton

New Books on the Ur III Period

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Here are two fantastic new books on the Ur III period:

The Growth of an Early State in Mesopotamia:
Studies in Ur III Administration
Proceedings of the First and Second Ur III Workshops at the 49th and 51St Rencontre assyriologique internationale, London July 10, 2003 and Chicago July 19, 2005

Edited by S. J. Garfinkel and J. Cale Johnson
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), 2008
233 pages, English

ISBN: 9788400087166
Your Price: $45.00
www.eisenbrauns.com/wconnect/wc.dll?ebGate~EIS~~I~GARGROWTH
Table of Contents:
M. Molina, The corpus of Neo-Sumerian tablets: an overview

S. J. Garfinkle, Was the Ur III state bureaucratic?: Patrimonialism and bureaucracy in the Ur III period

C. Fischer, Of kings and cups

T. Sharlach, To everything there is a season, turn, turn, turn

W. W. Hallo, Day dates in texts from Drehem

P. Mander, The messenger texts from Girsu

F. D’Agostino / F. Pomponio, The Umma messenger texts

N. Vanderroost, Distribution géographique et organisation administrative des équipes agricoles de la province d’Umma

B. Studevent-Hickman, The workforce at Umma: some new questions

N. Koslova, Bezeichnungen der Arbeitskräfte in Umma der Ur III-Zeit

M. Widell, The Ur III metal loans from Ur
K. De Graef, Rest in pieces: The archive of Igibuni

And the second book:

Workers and Construction Work at Garshana
Cornell University Studies in Assyriology and Sumerology 5
by Wolfgang Heimpel
CDL Press, 2009
xx + 380 pages, English
Cloth
ISBN: 9781934309049
Your Price: $83.00
www.eisenbrauns.com/wconnect/wc.dll?ebGate~EIS~~I~HEIWORKER

Charles Halton

Of Horses and Harassment

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Two stories appeared recently that are worth a read:

1. The first article discusses current theories that are pushing back the date of the domestication of the horse to around mid-fourth millennium.  One of the scholars mentioned in the article is Sandra Olsen from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh.  I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Olsen and discussing her research on equids when I was at the museum in January collating some of the tablets that I am working on.

2. We all knew that people who work with the Dead Sea Scrool are a bit off kilter, but now we have proof.  The son of the emminent scholar Norman Golb has been accused of harassing scholars that disagreed with his father’s work.  In seriousness, it is a sad story, but strange things are often associated with the DSS.  Check out the Manhattan DA’s press release for more details.  For another wrinkle in the story is seems that fellow biblioblogger, Claude Mariottini, has been caught up in this affair since the accused Golb posted comments under a psuedonym on Mariottini’s blog.

Update: Add Chris Heard to the list of blog owners who hosted a forum for Golb’s harassment.  Glad I don’t blog on DSS stuff too often.

Charles Halton

Seth Sanders, Tzemah Yoreh, and Biblical Sources

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Seth Sanders has a very helpful post which informed me of an another very helpful site–Bible Criticism–by Tzemah Yoreh–which presents the biblical text up through 2 Sam 5 in colors representing presumed sources.  It can sometimes be quite bewildering to follow various discussions of the delimitation of passages according to E, D1, N, H, and so forth and the color-coded arrangement greatly helps in this regard.  Furthermore, Yoreh’s introductions are a good overview of the supplementary approach to biblical formation which has long since supplanted the antiquated Documentary Hypothesis as the dominant perspective within critical biblical studies.  In fact, the introductions would be very helpful to introduce students to this approach.