PROJECT UPDATES

The uncollected papers of Hugh Nibley which he has given to FARMS include a mouthwatering assortment of his work for the past twenty years. No decision has yet been made whether to prepare a comprehensive book or to offer them in a separate series of FARMS reprints. They include his 1968-69 series from The Improvement Era on the Book of Abraham, his 1975-76 series for The Ensign on Enoch, multi-part articles on baptism for the dead, "The Stick of Judah and the Stick of Joseph," a study of Book of Mormon criticism, some of his classical studies on the ancient world, Isaiah, the apostasy, the forty-day ministry of Christ, the Lachish letters dating from Lehi 's time in Israel, Zion, Adam, prayer circles in early Christianity, archaeology, and trenchant essays about the state of modern society. Check future issues of the Newsletter for information about how to obtain your copies of these materials.

Chiasmus in Antiquity, a volume of essays tracing this peculiarly Near Eastern-Mediterranean stylistic pattern in an impressive number of literary forms, is now in galley proofs and should be coming off the press in the Fall. It is being published by Gerstenberg Verlag of Hildenheim, West Germany.

Six scholars have contributed to present a surprisingly wide range of languages and literatures in which this form can be seen. Robert F. Smith, non­affiliated writer, researcher, and editor from Independence, Missouri, has explored "Chiasm in Sumero-Akkadian." Yehuda T. Radday, associate professor of Bible and Hebrew at the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, discusses "Chiasmus in Hebrew Biblical Narrative," while Wilfred G. E. Watson of the Hebrew Department in the University of Dublin's Trinity College analyzes "Chiastic Patterns in Biblical Hebrew Poetry." Bezelel Porten, senior lecturer of Hebrew and Aramaic Ancient literature at Hebrew University in Jerusalem also goes beyond Biblical texts in his treatment of "Structure and Chiasm in Aramaic Contracts and Letters."

Jonah Fraenkel. senior lecturer for Hallakhic and Aggadic Literature, also of Hebrew University, discusses "Chiasmus in Talmudic-Aggadic Narrative." Then Jack Welch has contributed four essays, distributed throughout the book, on "Chiasm in Ugaritic," "Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon," "Chiasmus in the New Testament," and "Chiasmus in Ancient Greek and Latin Literatures." As the project's entrepeneur, he has also written the volume's introduction.

David Noel Freedman, director of the program on studies in religion at the University of Michigan, wrote the preface. As general editor of the Anchor Bible and the periodical, Biblical Archaeologist, he is in a good position to evaluate the contribution such a work is likely to make. Several of the essays have been published before in locations as scattered as Linguistica Biblica, Ugaritforschungen, Beth Mikra, BYU Studies, Tarbiz, and The New Era. Just collecting them under one cover alone is a valuable contribution.

John Sorenson reports that his "An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon" in a much scaled-down version, is still wending its way through channels in search of a place in The Ensign. As long as that possibility remains, he will defer from publishing his full-length study. The matter should be decided soon, he has been told. Meanwhile he has been working on expansion of several sections. This is a major piece of work, culminating decades of research. In limited circulation, the manuscript has already begun to have a significant impact on the direction of Book of Mormon-New World studies.