Skip to main content
Intellect

BYU guest lecturer considers Ancient Near Eastern law, forensics June 1

Bruce Wells, associate professor of Hebrew Bible studies at Saint Joseph’s University, will speak at a Brigham Young University lecture Wednesday, June 1, at noon in 238 Herald R. Clark Building.

The lecture, “The Whole Truth: Forensic Rituals and Forensic Evidence in Ancient Near Eastern Courtrooms,” is hosted by the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies.

Much of Wells’ work has focused on the legal texts of the Hebrew Bible and on the legal history of the broader ancient Near East. He is principal investigator, along with two other colleagues, in a project to study several hundred cuneiform tablets that contain records from legal trials that took place in southern Mesopotamia between 600 and 450 B.C., funded in large part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. 

Wells is the author of “Law of Testimony in the Pentateuchal Codes” and co-author with Raymond Westbrook of “Everyday Law in Biblical Israel,” plus more than a dozen articles on related biblical and ancient Near Eastern topics. 

He received a doctorate in Near Eastern studies from Johns Hopkins University in 2003.

This lecture will be archived at kennedy.byu.edu/archive. For more information, contact Lee Simons at (801) 422-2652 or lee_simons@byu.edu. 

Writer: Mel Gardner

wellsb.jpg
Photo by Kenny Crookston/BYU Photo

Related Articles

data-content-type="article"

A mother, a mission, a major, two minors and a lot of plants

December 07, 2023
It was an Education Week workshop that gave Alyssa Bagoyo the courage to major in chemical engineering and pay tribute to her late mom’s BYU degree and heritage by minoring in business and Japanese.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

National math associations agree: BYU's got some of the best math programs in the country

December 05, 2023
Accolades continue to pour in for BYU’s College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, as both the statistics and math departments have recently received national awards recognizing their programs as some of the best in the country.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

BYU has a new No. 1 ranking: University with the most students studying abroad

November 30, 2023
New data from the Institute of International Education Open Doors Report shows BYU is tops in the United States for the most students who studied abroad this past academic year.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=