In a thorough revision of his May 2009 doctoral dissertation at Bar-Ilan University, Feder (Bible and Semitic languages, Bar-Ilan U.) examines the use of blood to purge the effects of sin and impurity in Hittite and biblical ritual. The idea that blood atones for sins is prominent in both Jewish and Christian traditions, he says, and he traces it back to its earliest documentation in the ancient Near East. His study starts with the discovery of a set of rites documented in Hittite texts from the 14th to 13th centuries BCE in which the smearing of blood is used as a means of expiation, purification, and consecration. Annotation 2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
