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Tuesday, May 13, 2003
Consistency, please Facts on File book today—Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia. Kinda cool to work on it after all that Biblical archaeology; I actually know who, say, Sennacherib was. And therein lies today's complaint: they're not consistent about using common/Biblical names vs. actual closely-transliterated names. (I'm not sure how to phrase that; original names? Real names?) Anyway, the entry for the King Commonly Known As Sennacherib is in fact under "Sennacherib," and if you are such an overeducated snob that you look up his real name, Sin-ahhe-eriba, you will be directed to the Sennacherib entry. However, if you are such an uneducated galoot as to look up the common/Biblical name Nebuchadnezzar, you will be directed to the entry for "Nabu-kudurru-usur." (C'mon, who doesn't know that?) I realize this is not a big deal, in the grand scheme of FoF screw-ups; at least they've got the important kings in the book. (In one of their encyclopediae, either on ancient Egypt or ancient Africa, they left out Hatshepsut.) Still...is a little consistency too much to ask? (From FoF? Yes.) Disclaimer: This isn't libel. At least I don't think so. And I am happy that FoF keeps sending us work. Still, this is the publisher who allowed a book referring to Chekhov's play "The See Gull" to get into print. [ at 4:23 PM • by Abby • permalink • ] |
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