Baker Encyclopedia of Bible Places
More than 70 scholars contributed to this work, which lists alphabetically the main towns, cities, bodies of water, mountains, valleys, countries, and other places mentioned in the Bible. The spellings are those used in the New International Version of the Bible with numerous cross-references from alternative spellings. Entries are signed and vary in length from two sentences forZeboiima city destroyed with Sodom and Gomorrah--to 10 pages forJerusalem. The scriptual passage(s) where the place-name occurs is cited, and often references for further reading on individual places are given. Further, most entries include a transliteration and definition from the Hebrew, Greek, Akkadian, etc., form of the name, though a pronunciation guide for the place-names as they appear in the NIV would have been helpful. The work is filled with color illustrations, including photographs of ruins, terrain, and cities as well as reproductions of works of art, maps, and drawings and models of cities, palaces, etc. There is usually some sort of illustration on every page, making this work enjoyable to browse as well as read.Editor Bimson begins with a preface in which he describes the sources from which identification of biblical sites is made. In addition to the Bible itself, scholars rely upon Egyptian sources, early Christian writings, present-day names of ancient sites, Arabic toponyms, and archaeological evidence. The entries in the encyclopedia reflect this, presenting conflicting evidence and varying identifications by scholars, and clearly state when a site cannot be identified. Also included is a list of Bible places. Names in upper case are included in the encyclopedia, those in lower case are not. No reasons for exclusion are given. Scriptural passages are cited for these, and the entire list includes cross-references from alternative spellings and names.Many of the place-names not included in Bimson's work can be found in theAnchor Bible Dictionary(Doubleday, 1994), which is not limited to place-names but seeks to be an encyclopedic reference work on subjects pertaining to the Bible. As such, comparison of the two is unfair. However, in cases where entries appear in both sources, the entries in theAnchor Bible Dictionaryoften are longer and include more substantial bibliographies. Small academic and public libraries that own theAnchor Bible Dictionaryand that do not have much demand for information on biblical studies will likely get along withoutBaker. But the price is certainly right for such a handsomely illustrated volume, so the decision to acquire should be an easy one.