The twenty-five new studies in this volume present the reader with an up-to-date picture of some of the issues and the methodologies that engage scholars of the Ancient Near East. These essays reflect the broad span of the field, both geographically and chronologically, from Sumerian texts of the third millennium BCE, to the town of Nuzi in Iraqi Kurdistan in the mid-second millennium, from there to inquiries into Assyrian and Babylonian documents and inscriptions, as well as into recently recovered Aramaic ostraca from Idumea in southern Israel dating to the fourth century BCE. Rounding off this varied and rich collection are several investigations concerning Ancient Israel and biblical matters. Specialists from Israel, Europe, the United States, Canada and Japan have joined together in this volume to honor Israel Eph'al, professor emeritus of Jewish History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, whose many scholarly achievements are hereby noted.