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As I reflect on the support and encouragement that I have received in
moving me toward the completion of this project, first in its dissertation
form (Greer 2011) and now revised as a book, it brings me great joy to
acknowledge those institutions, mentors, colleagues, friends, and family
who have made this work a reality.
I am grateful for the institutional and financial support of The Pennsylvania
State University, the College of the Liberal Arts, the departments
of History and Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, the Penn
State Institute of Arts and Humanities, The Pennsylvania State University
Alumni Association, the Robert G. Price Program, the Charles and
Harriett Pencak Endowment, the Mark and Lucy Stitzer Endowment, the
Hill Fellowship, the Catholic Biblical Association, the Biblical Archaeology
Society, the W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, and the
Educational and Cultural Affairs division of the U.S. Department of State.
I am also thankful for the support of my new colleagues and administrators
at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. Thanks, too, are expressed
for the helpful comments provided by my anonymous reviewers and for
the folks at Brill in providing the opportunity to publish in the excellent
CHANE series.
The most direct influence on my work has come from the individuals I
am privileged to call my academic mentors: especially my two Doktorvaters,
B. Halpern, in his creative capacity and interdisciplinary outlook, and Gary
Knoppers, in his meticulous attention to detail and biblical and scholarly
breadth, as well as my animal bone mentor Brian Hesse, who pushed me
to think in new ways; also, Don Redford in his contagious excitement
ranging from the Bible to Egypt, Gonzalo Rubio in all things Assyriological
and otherwise, and Gary Pratico, my M.A. supervisor, who first introduced
me to the next level of biblical scholarship. My gratitude to these
individuals can scarcely be expressed here and I only hope to emulate the
quality of their ongoing scholarship and, in the case of Brian, to carry on a
little piece of his legacy; in his memory this work is dedicated. |
