Prof. Idan Breier

List of Publications

Books as author:

            1.   International Relationships in the Extended El-Amara Period (1460-1200          

                  BC), (Bar Ilan University Press, 2021). (350 pp.) (Hebrew)

            2.  An Ethical View of Human-Animal Relations in the Ancient Near East,

                 (London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), (254 pp.).

            3. The Kingdom of Judah on the Eve of the Destruction of the First Temple,

                (Bar Ilan University Press), (210 pp.) (Hebrew) (forthcoming)

Chapters in Books:

1. "The Dog as an Image in the El-Amarna Letters", in: M. Heltzer, M. Malul (eds.) Teshurot LaAvishur: Studies in the Bible and The Ancient Near East in Hebrew and Semitic Languages Festschrift Presented to Prof. Yitzhak Avishur on the occasion of his 65th Birthday, (Tel-Aviv: Archaeological Centre Publications, 2004), pp. 169-178. (Hebrew)
2. "The Element 'klb' (“dog”) in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Names", in: Sh. Vargon (ed.), Studies in Bible and Exegesis, vol. 9, (Ramat-Gan: Bar Ilan University Press, 2009), pp. 329-348. (Hebrew)
3. "'And the Dogs Shell Eat Jezebel...' (2 Kings 9:10): The Custom of Throwing Corpses to the Dogs in the Bible and the Ancient World", in: M. Gruber et. Al. (eds.), Teshura Le-Zafrira: Studies in the Bible, the History of Israel and the Ancient Near East Presented to Zafrira Ben-Barak, (Beer Sheva: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Press, 2012) (Hebrew)
4. "Crime and its Punishment as Reflected in the El-Amarna Letters", in: S. Nowicki (ed.), 'They Called Me to Destroy the Wicked and the Evil': Selected Essays on Crime and Punishment in Antiquity, (Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, 2016), pp. 11-27. (KEF 1)
5. "Dog as Derogatory Term for Human Being in Ancient Near Eastern Sources", in: J. Pahlitzsch, T. Schmidt (eds.), Impious Dogs, Ridiculous Monkeys, and Exquisite Fish: Evaluative Perception and Interpretation of Animals in Ancient and Medieval  Mediterranean Thought, (Berlin: De-Gruyter, 2019), 57-72. 
6. "Abraham Isaac Kook (1865–1935): Biblical Ethics as the Basis of Rav Kook’s Vision of Vegetarianism and Peace", in: A. Linzey, C. Linzey (eds.), Animal Theologians, (Oxford University Press). (21 pp.) (In Print)
7. "Long Before Aesop: Sumerian Animal Fables and their Educational Messages," in: A. Linzey and C. Linzey (eds.), A Handbook of Humane Education, (Oxford University Press).  (15 pp.) (in print)

Articles in Periodicals (refereed articles):

1. "The Personal Name 'Akhbar' in the Ancient Near East", Beit Mikra, 49.4 (2004), pp. 144-158. (Hebrew)
2. "The Political Factors in the Decline of the Neo Assyrian Empire", Shnaton: An Annual for Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, 15 (2005), pp. 99-128. (Hebrew)
3. "Time: Present and Past or Can We Interpret the Past through Contemporary Models", Devarim, 4 (2011), pp. 76-87. (Hebrew)
4. ."Representations of the Dog in Seventh-Century BCE Assyrian Letters", Journal of North-West Semitic Languages, 39.2 (2013), pp. 19-36.
5. "Sumer as the Cradle of History—Canine as Well: The Representation of the Dog in Sumerian Proverbial Literature", Ma'arav - A Journal for the Study of the Northwest Semitic Languages and Literature, 21. 1-2 (2014), pp. 83-101.
6. “'He Will Raise an Ensign to a Nation Afar, Whistle to One at the End of the Earth': The Assyrian and Babylonian Armies as Described in Prophetic Texts and Mesopotamian Inscriptions", Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections, 12, (2016), pp. 1-8.
7. "'Who is This Dog?': The Negative Imagine of Canines in the Lands of the Bible", Ancient Near Eastern Studies, 54 (2017), pp. 47-62.
8. "Animals in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Law: Tort and Ethical Laws",  Journal of Animal Ethics, 18.2 (2018), pp. 166-181.
9. "'These are Your Words' (EA 1: 42-43): Direct Citation and Communication  in the International El-Amarna Letters", Journal of North-West Semitic Languages, 44.1 (2018), pp. 15-28.
10. "Humans and Wild Animals in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Texts:  Interactions and Metaphors", Anthrozoӧs, 31.6 (2018), pp. 657-672.
11. "The Influence of Economic Factors on the Political Policies Adopted by the Last Kings of Judah", Revue Biblique, 125.3 (2018), pp. 321-339.
12. "‘The King, My Lord, Wrote to Me in a Tablet: '…”’ (EA 149: 54-55): Direct  Citation and Communication in the Syro-Canaanite El-Amarna Letters", Acta Orientalia, 71.4 (2018), pp. 455-466.
13. "'Beware, Biting Dog…' Untrendy Human-Canine Relations during the Biblical Period", Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society. (17 pp.) (In Print) 
14. "Man's Best Friend: The Comradeship between Man and Dog in the Lands of the Bible", Journal of the Ancient Near East Society, 34 (2020), 1-21. 
15. "'Your Envoys are Speaking to you Untruths' (EA 1: 82): Lies in the International El-Amarna Correspondence", Antiguo Oriente, 17 (2019), pp. 59-92.
16. "Between the Bible, the Midrash, Philosophy and Kabbalah: Ethics and Animals in the Writings of the Maharal of Prague", Journal of Animal Ethics, 10.2 (2020), 135-160.
17. “'If You Are Not the King You Will Be Eventually …': Eastern and Western               Prophecies Concerning the Rise of Emperors", Religions, 11.4 (2020), pp. 1-18.
18. ‘“… Then Pirḥi Did Some Unseemly Deeds in My Land and Slew his Lord' (EA 17:12–14): The Phenomenon of Murder as Reflected in the El-Amara  Archive", Ancient Near Eastern Studies, 57 (2020), 29-51.
19. “'Glory to the Righteous One' (Tzvi la-tzaddik) (Isa. 24: 16): The Use of Biblical Quotations in the Polemic against the Sabbatean Movement", Religions, 11.489 (2020), pp. 1-21.
20. "Biblical History in the Thought of R. Ḥaim David Halevy", Review of Rabbinical Judaism, 24 (2021), 73-94.
21. "'Had I been Writing Lying Words to My Lord?' (EA 117:29-30): Telling Tales in the Correspondence between the Egyptian Ruler and His Syro-Canaanite Vassals in the El-Amarna Archive", Ugarit Forschungen, 51 (2021), 31-55.
22. "Animal Metaphors and Similes in Biblical Prophecies and Royal Mesopotamian Inscriptions", Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages, (25 pp.) (accepted)