October 12, 2005

MINNEAPOLIS – In an important and engaging new book, biblical scholar Eleanor Ferris Beach reframes the notorious figure of Jezebel, the much-maligned Israelite queen whose very name has come to stand for license and depravity.

The Jezebel Letters combines top-notch biblical scholarship with a fictionalized first-person account of the biblical character. Beach transforms the stereotype of the notorious biblical queen into a more historically based portrayal of a powerful, literate royal woman.

Presented as a collection of "recently discovered" ninth-century documents, The Jezebel Letters entices readers into an assassination plot supported by the notorious Queen Jezebel. The well-researched fictional letters and memoirs, interwoven with sometimes-conflicting biblical and ancient Near Eastern accounts, document the religious and political developments in Israel and Judah. But these public aspects, traditionally narrated as men's actions, are told from a royal woman's perspective.

Generously illustrated with drawings of contemporary artifacts, The Jezebel Letters incorporates historical and archaeological findings and familiarity with the region's geography, climate, plants, and animals, plus maps, chronology, genealogy, notes, and glossary. It will also prove useful for classes in women's studies, women's history, women and Bible, and for general readers interested in biblical studies, biblical history, and archaeology.

The Jezebel Letters also offers perspectives on an ancient culture and century that may prove enlightening for those concerned with modern Middle Eastern politics: how resistance arises when kinship-based political loyalties and local economies united by religious ties are reshaped under a more global economy and centralized control, perceived as serving foreign interests.

"The author weaves a tapestry of biblical passages, Ancient Near Eastern documents, and archaeological finds together with fictional but not fictitious letters and memoirs written by the ancient Queen herself. The resulting mosaic is colorful and fresh, letting us reverse our cultural opinion of ‘Jezebel' and see her for what she probably was: a regal, wise, politically active wife, mother and queen in Israel." – Athalya Brenner, Professor of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

"Although biblical narrative castigates Ahab and his Queen Jezebel as depraved idol worshipers who led their country to ruin, recent historical and archeological study point to the reign of the Omride dynasty as a period that saw the rise and fall of northern Israel as a major regional power. Eleanor Ferris Beach, in her provocative and insightful construction of the lost archive of Queen Jezebel, provides readers with an alternative account of the events of this crucial period in Israel's and Judah's history. Jezebel emerges not as the notorious and despised ‘painted lady' of biblical narrative and later tradition, but as the urbane and thoughtful Queen of Israel who gives voice to her efforts and those of her family in guiding Israel through one of its most challenging-and least understood-periods." – Marvin A. Sweeney, Professor of Hebrew Bible, Claremont School of Theology, and Professor of Religion, Claremont Graduate University

Eleanor Ferris Beach teaches biblical studies at St. Ambrose University. She has participated in several Syro-Palestinian archaeological digs and lives in Viola, Illinois.

Format: Hardcover, 6" x 9," 192 pp, ISBN: 0800637542, Publisher: Fortress Press, Price: $19.00.

To order The Jezebel Letters please call Fortress Press at 1-800-328-4648 or visit the Web site at http://www.fortresspress.com/.

Fortress Press