Ancient Tales of Giants from Qumran and TurfanThe volume is already receiving attention in the Blogosphere. Bibliographia Iranica flags an article by Enrico Morano: "Some New Sogdian Fragments Related to Mani’s Book of Giants and the Problem of the Influence of Jewish Enochic Literature." And, not surprisingly, Remant of Giants is pleased with the publication of the book: Gigantobibliophile Goodness: Ancient Tales of Giants from Qumran and Turfan (Mohr Siebeck, June 2016).
Contexts, Traditions, and Influences
Ed. by Matthew Goff, Loren T. Stuckenbruck, and Enrico Morano
[Antike Geschichten von Riesen aus Qumran und Turfan. Kontexte, Traditionen und Einflüsse.]
2016. XII, 257 Seiten.
Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 360
Published in English.
While there has been much scholarly attention devoted to the Enochic Book of the Watchers , much less has been paid to the Book of Giants from Qumran. This volume is the proceedings of a conference that convened in Munich, Germany, in June 2014, which was devoted to the giants of Enochic tradition and in particular the Qumran Book of Giants . It engages the topic of the giants in relation to various ancient contexts, including the Hebrew Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and ancient Mesopotamia. The authors of this volume give particular attention to Manichaeism, especially the Manichaean Book of Giants , fragments of which were found in Turfan (western China). They contribute to our understanding of the range of stories Jews told in antiquity about the sons of the watchers who descended to earth and their vibrant Nachleben in Manichaeism.
I am pleased too. As I have mentioned recently, Professor Stuckenbruck is translating the Aramaic Book of Giants for the second volume of the More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Project. And there's more on other versions of the Book of Giants, which are also being translated for MOTP, here.