The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures, Second Edition continues to be a balanced, engaging, and up-to-date introduction to the Hebrew scriptures, which distills the best of current scholarship. Employing the narrative chronology of the Bible itselfand the history of the ancient Near East as a framework, author Michael D. Coogan covers all the books of the Hebrew Bible, along with the deuterocanonical books included in the Bible used by many Christians. He treats every book of the canon with careful attention to its historical context, itsparticular genre, and its distinctive features. Working in detail with ancient Near Eastern sources and archaeological data, Coogan works from a primarily historical and critical methodology but also introduces readers to literary analysis and current interpretive strategies. For the new edition, rather than beginning right away with a discussion of the specific books of the Old Testament, the author has rearranged the first several chapters so that the book now begins with an introduction to the canon, and the geographical and historical contexts in which the books ofthe Bible were written. He has also thoroughly edited the book for style and content, updated both the text and the bibliographies, and replaced several illustrations with clearer images. The Old Testament, Second Edition is enhanced with a glossary, timelines, photos, illustrations, maps, and a four-color insert on Jerusalem in biblical times. Strategically placed boxes address issues that often puzzle readers of the Bible, provide models of interpretation of particular texts, anddiscuss their significance for Judaism and Christianity. Each chapter includes key terms, questions for review and discussion, and suggestions for further reading. The accompanying Instructor's Manual and Testbank and Companion Website will be updated to reflect changes made to the new edition. The manual includes chapter summaries, pedagogical suggestions, suggested reading, weblinks, essay and objective questions, and lecture outlines in PowerPoint format.Student resources on the Companion Website include chapter summaries, self-quizzes, suggested reading and weblinks; Instructors have access to the PowerPoints on the website as well. More visual material, including maps, timelines, and even photos will be added to the Instructor's Manual on CD andthe Companion Website.