Cyrus H. Gordon: East

Cyrus H. Gordon was American linguist. Explore interesting quotes on east.
Cyrus H. Gordon: 146 quotes1 like

“The thesis of this book is simply that Greek and Hebrew civilisations are parallel structures built upon the same East Mediterranean foundation. …the evidence is so abundant that our problem is one of selection and arrangement.”

Cyrus H. Gordon

Introduction
The Common Background of Greek and Hebrew Civilizations (1965 [1962])

“The parallels that form the core of this book fit into a historical framework in the wake of the Armana Age during the closing centuries of the second millenium. Prior to the Armana Age (i. e., before 1400 B. C.) Egyptian, Canaanite, Mesopotamian, Anatolian, Aegean and other influences met around the East Mediterranean to form an international order, by which each was in turn affected.”

Cyrus H. Gordon

Introduction
The Common Background of Greek and Hebrew Civilizations (1965 [1962])

“The central problem of the Greek tragedies is why we suffer so at the hands of God. The movement that evoked Greek tragedy in the fifth century B. C. was spread over the East Mediterranean evoking a parallel response in Israel. …And as in Greek tragedy, Job deals with the problem of why man suffers so at the had of God.”

Cyrus H. Gordon

Source: The Common Background of Greek and Hebrew Civilizations (1965 [1962]), Ch.VIII Further Observations on the Bible

“For every mound excavated in the Near East, a hundred remain untouched. …most of the excavated mounds have been dug only in small part.”

Cyrus H. Gordon

Introduction
Adventures in the Nearest East (1957)

“Transjordan, or Palestine east of the Jordan Rift is not sufficiently known and has therefore been in need of archeological study. …these nations in antiquity belonged to a group of people called the Canaanites. Culturally and linguistically they were practically identical with the Judean and Israelite 'Canaanites' west of the Rift.”

Cyrus H. Gordon

Source: Adventures in the Nearest East (1957), Ch.1 Exploring Edom and Moab

“The prevailing attitude (which is gradually losing its grip) may be described as the tacit assumption that ancient Israel and Greece are two water-tight compartments… One is said to be sacred; the other, profane; one, Semitic; the other, Indo-European. One, Asiatic and Oriental; the other, European and Occidental. But the fact is that both flourished during the same centuries, in the same East Mediterranean corner of the globe, with both ethnic groups in contact with each other from the start.”

Cyrus H. Gordon

Introduction
The Common Background of Greek and Hebrew Civilizations (1965 [1962])

“Despite the polytheism of the East Mediterranean nations, monotheistic trends were always present even in such crass polytheisms such as we find in Homer and in Egyptian literature.”

Cyrus H. Gordon

Source: The Common Background of Greek and Hebrew Civilizations (1965 [1962]), Ch.VII Further Observations on Homer