If you are interested in researching the history, culture, and language of the Moabites the best resource is Erasmus Gass’ book, Die Moabiter.  One of the best features of the book is the presentation of ancient texts that are relevant to the study of ancient Moab.  Gass gives not only a transliteration, translation, and commentary, but he also includes copies of each text.  This is incredibly helpful because he gathers all the texts into one volume and it saves you tons of time tracking down stuff that is scattered in books and journals.  He also discusses biblical and archaeological data.  This would make a great SBL purchase.  Here is more detailed info about the book including table of contents:

Die Moabiter – Geschichte und Kultur eines ostjordanischen Volkes im 1. Jahrtausend v. Chr.
Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palastina-Vereins – ADP-V 38
by Erasmus Gass
Harrassowitz Verlag, 2009
x + 374 pages, German
Cloth
ISBN: 9783447059084
Your Price: $105.00
www.eisenbrauns.com/item/GASMOABIT

Table of Contents:

A. Name und allgemeine Verortung
B. Literarische Quellen
1. Moab im Spiegel vorderorientalischer und ägyptischer Quellen
1.1. Moabitische Quellen
1.2. Ägyptische Quellen
1.3. Neuassyrische Quellen
1.3. Neuassyrische Quellen
1.4. Hebräische Quellen

2. Moab aus der Perspektive des Nachbarn – Das Alte Testament
2.1. Moab-Belege im Kontext
2.2. Syntax und Semantik der Moab-Belege
2.3. Toponyme in Moab
2.4. Hinweise zu Art und Verortung des Toponyms Moab
2.5. Zur Sihon-Tradition
2.6. Zusammenfassung

3. Ein später Textzeuge zu Moab – Flavius Josephus

C. Archäologischer Befund
1. Ausgrabungen
1.2. Einzelne Orte

2. Surveyergebnisse
2.1 Wohnsiedlungen
2.2. Befestigungsanlagen
2.3. Vermutlich landwirtschaftliche Einrichtungen

3. Kultische Einrichtungen
3.1. Heilgtüer
3.2. Schrein
3.3. Figurinen
3.4. Ausblick

4. Zusammenfassung und Ausblick auf die Besiedlungsgeschichte Moabs
4.1. Mittel- und Spätbronzezeit
4.2. Übergang von der Spätbronzezeit zur Eisenzeit I
4.3. Besiedlung in der Eisenzeit II
4.4. Sozioökonomische und politische Gliederung in der Eisenzeit II

D. Literatur

E. Register

Dr. Gottschalk was the chancellor emeritus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.  Here is a bio from HUC.  His funeral will be held today at the Plum Street Temple in Cincinnati.  May his memory be for blessing.

I’d normally agree with the adage, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” however, when it comes to these books I don’t care what they are about I just want them.  Here are more pics of other covers in this series.

Research and writing is a love-hate kind of thing; at least it is with me.  Most of the time I enjoy it but sometimes it feels like pulling teeth.  How do you push through the obstacles and finally create things that are publishable?  How do those really prolific scholars produce so much stuff?  Like many other things in life they just put one foot in front of the other–however, they do it everyday.

An example of this can be seen on John Anderson’s blog in his reproduction of the IVP interview with John Goldingay.  Here is Godlingay’s description of his writing process:

So I had no detailed maps, and no array of books really, because I wanted to let the Old Testament itself set the agenda.  So I started reading it!  And set myself to writing seven hundred words a day.  Then when I had done my own reading and thinking and writing, I went to the books.  That’s the way I tell students to write their papers, too.

When you think about it 700 words per day is not that much.  But, if you put down 700 really good words per day it adds up quickly and this is why Goldingay is able to produce three HUGE Old Testament theology books in a relatively short amount of time.  So, here are just a few tips on how to make writing a part of your daily scholarly life:

• Put a few hours a day of writing time into your calendar and design your day around this time.  Write in a place where there are limited distractions.
• Set an average goal of the amount of words you want to write per day–I normally don’t let myself stop writing until I have at least 500 words but by the time I get around 1200 my brain is usually fried and I need to stop.
• Some days your writing time will be mostly editing, compiling proposals, stuffing envelopes, going over page proofs, or researching.  This is fine because all of these things contribute to the goal of getting your writing published.  However, try to spend just a bit of time actually writing.
• Writing takes practice so don’t get discouraged if it starts out slowly–practice makes perfect.
• Keep a dump file for every writing project and don’t be afraid to use it.  A dump file is a file that you create to store all the stuff that you don’t use in the final version of the article or book.  Instead of deleting paragraphs that you are not happy with, cut and paste them into a dump file–you never know if you might want to come back to it later.  Also, some ideas are great but they just don’t fit a specific project.  David Aaron once told me that as he was writing a book he dumped an entire 40 page chapter that he had written because it just didn’t fit the flow of the rest of the book.  Expect that a lot of the stuff you write will never be published–much of the stuff you write you will never send out for review either and that is okay.
• Read Scot McKnight’s reflections on writing in pages 22-28 of The Professor as Scholar.

What are your suggestions?