Tracking the Master Scribe: Revision Through Introduction in Biblical and Mesopotamian Literature

When we encounter a text, whether ancient or modern, we typically start at the beginning and work our way toward the end. In Tracking the Master Scribe, Sara J. Milstein demonstrates that for biblical and Mesopotamian literature, this habit can lead to misinterpretation. In the ancient Near East, "master scribes"--those who had the authority to produce and revise literature--regularly modified their texts in the course of transmission. One of the most effective techniques for change was to add something new to the front, what Milstein calls "revision through introduction." This method allowed scribes to preserve their received material while simultaneously recasting it. As a result, many biblical and Mesopotamian texts continue to be interpreted solely through the lens of their final contributions. First impressions carry weight. Tracking the Master Scribe demonstrates what is to be gained when we engage questions of literary history in the context of how scribes actually worked. Drawing upon the two earliest corpora that allow us to track large-scale change, the book provides substantial hard evidence of revision through introduction, as well as a set of detailed case studies that offer fresh insight into well-known biblical and Mesopotamian texts. The result is the first comprehensive profile of this key scribal method: one that was ubiquitous in the ancient Near East and epitomizes the attitudes of the master scribes toward the literature that they left behind.

About the Author :
Sara J. Milstein is Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies in the Department of Classical, Near Eastern, and Religious Studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

Review :
"In her careful and creative study, Milstein offers new evidence and insight, better preparing the reader to wrestle with ancient texts. At the same time, her evidence and insight shake the foundations we previously thought were firm, leaving us both closer and farther from her beloved and elusive scribes. Because of these and other reasons, Milstein's study is to be highly recommended, helping us to recalibrate our thinking and inviting the reader to follow the path she has skillfully laid to see what treasures it yields."--Michael Hundley, Marginalia "This is a well-written, exciting and programmatic book that makes a great read ... Strongly recommended as a stimulating example of the new wave of textual-historical scholarship." -- E. Tigchelaar, Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses "[Milstein] does not claim that the observation regarding introductions itself is new, but that this is the first book-length study devoted to the subject. She wants to continue the historical-critical enterprise in general, but to do so with a greater understanding of the literary quality of the texts as well as to 'establish more controls for literary-historical analyses'. She brings her knowledge of two related textual corpora to bear, with good results. Her two main ANE test cases are Adapa and the South Wind and Gilgamesh; the two biblical examples are taken from Judges 6-8 and 9. But before she studies these in depth she looks at other examples from a variety of genres (lexical lists, legal texts, narratives) to show how widespread the phenomenon is. The book is a pleasure to read both for its content and its form. Anyone interested in the evolution of ANE texts including the Bible ought to read this book."--Jonathan St�kl, The Journal for the Study of the Old Testament "There is much to commend in this book. For students looking for an exemplar in moving from the hard data of scribal studies to the interpretive light it provides, [Milstein] is worth emulating. Even when I disagreed with her, I found her observations noteworthy and her analysis stimulating."--Michael Seufert, Catholic Biblical Quarterly "Tracking the Master Scribe powerfully represents a new frontier in the study of the formation of biblical and other Near Eastern texts. Drawing on impressive expertise in Assyriology and Biblical Studies, Milstein uses documented cases of textual growth to explore a specific way that scribes revised ancient texts: through adding new material at the beginnings of texts. This kind of specific, inter-disciplinary focus on a type of textual growth, along with Milstein's restrained and thoughtful application of her results to analysis of biblical texts, is an example for subsequent studies to learn from and follow." --David Carr, Professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, Union Theological Seminary "Sara Milstein takes her readers on a fascinating journey along traditions in motion. She demonstrates how ancient scribes have 'reduced, reused, and recycled' traditional narratives such as Adapa, Gilgamesh, Judges, and Samuel by fronting them with a new backstory. Just as the ancient scribes have given the old stories new readings and meanings by way of a revision through introduction, Milstein herself gives her reader a new lens through which the modern reader can rediscover the well-known narratives. A must-read for anyone interested in ancient scribal culture and narrative traditions." --Martti Nissinen, Professor of Old Testament Studies, University of Helsinki "Sara Milstein probes the prefaces secondarily added to texts in the Hebrew Bible and in Mesopotamian literature. Her inquiry questions conventional wisdom about text production in the past. It opens up new ways to understand the scribal part in the transformation and reframing of tradition. Original, important, compelling." --Karel van der Toorn, author of Scribal Culture and the Making of the Hebrew Bible "Adapa and Gilgamesh-two Mesopotamian heroes; Gideon and Abimelekh, Samuel and Saul-four stalwarts in biblical tales. . . these figures are not normally treated together; but under Sara Milstein's finely tuned and critically imaginative mind they are, because their tales had been outfitted with transformative beginnings. Her effort provides a stimulating perspective on how to think about ancient lore. Highly recommended to lovers of literature, ancient and beyond." --Jack M. Sasson, Werthan Professor of Judaic and Biblical Literature (emeritus), Vanderbilt University