Temples, Tithes, and Taxes: The Temple and the Economic Life of Ancient Israel

"Temples, Tithes, and Taxes" analyzes what can be known about the economic role of the Jerusalem temple from an analysis of the late Assyrian and Babylonian temples and the economic transactions therein. Scholarly discussion of the temple in the lives of ancient Israel has primarily discussed the temple as the focal point of religions and worship. But since scholarship has now recognized the role of the temple as an economic institution in Mesopotamia, the author looks synchronically at what might be inferred about Israel. The book explores possible ways in which the Jerusalem temple likely did follow the other temples in the greater Ancient Near East over the ages in terms of its impact upon the economics of the country, both during the monarchy and the Persian period. It opens new insights into some of the Biblical vocabulary used in relationship to the Jerusalem temple.