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Untold Stories: The Bible and Ugaritic Studies in the Twentieth Century. By MARK S. SMITH. Peabody, Mass.: HENDRICKSON PUBLISHERS, 2001. Pp. xix + 252. $29.95.
In Untold Stories Mark Smith surveys the history of Ugaritic studies since the first alphabetic texts were published over seventy years ago. He does this by sketching the personalities of the great names in the field, outlining the various tools available, listing scholars and the centers throughout the world where Ugaritic is being taught, and discussing many issues of relevance for the Bible and Ugaritic studies. The book is entitled Untold Stories "because it relates both the larger untold story of how Ugaritic studies contributed so massively to the study of the Bible in the twentieth century and many unknown stories involving the lives and scholarship of the field's major figures" (p. 6).
Smith was inspired to write this book by the recent death of two of his teachers, Marvin Pope and Jonas Greenfield, both senior figures in the field of Ugaritic and to whom the book is dedicated. Realizing that other senior figures whose recollections would be of prime importance were in their twilight years, Smith set out, on the basis of interviews, correspondence, and documented literature, to record as much as he could for the benefit of future generations. But this study pays tribute not only to the senior figures in the field but also to their successors still laboring in the vineyard of Ugaritic studies, and as such it is...