THE ANCIENT WORLD OF THE BIBLE

The big stories of the Old Testament are retold in this attractive volume by newcomer Day. It's all here, from creation through the building of the Second Temple, and Day remains pretty faithful to the original, although the story of Sodom and Gommorah is gratuitously plucked out of context. Also, all the racy stuff is taken out. There's no mention of circumcision, even though it was an important part of Abraham's covenant with God, and certainly no sex. As far as Day is concerned, Potiphar's wife didn't try to seduce Joseph; Rahab is just ``a woman,'' not a harlot; and there was no monkey business between Lot and his daughters. The flora, fauna, and various ancient doo-dads that pepper these pages are interesting; the maps and time line are extremely useful aids. A plot summary of the Hebrew Bible with nifty factoids thrown in. Not a bad reference. (Index) (Bible stories. 7+)