I know I said in another thread that debates of religion are pointless, but whatever, I just found about the largest collection of books that link directly, or indirectly to the OT. Just thought I would share.
Armana Letters: Canaanite Akkadian: 14th Century B.C. Hundreds of letters, written primarily by Canaanite scribes, illuminate social, political and religious relationships between Canaan and Egypt during the reigns of Amunhotep III and Akhenaten.
Amenmope's Wisdom: Egyptian: Early 1st Millennium B.C. Thirty Chapters of wisdom instruction are similar to Proverbs 22:17-24:22 and provide the closest external parallels to OT wisdom literature.
Atrahasis Epic: Akkadian: Early 2nd millennium B.C A cosmological epic depicts creation and early human history, including the flood. (cf Genesis 1-9).
Babylonian Theodicy: Akkadian: Early 1st millennium B.C A sufferer and his friend dialogue with each other (cf Job)
Cyrus Cylinder: Akkadian: 6th Century B.C. King Cyrus of Persia records the conquest of Babylon (cf. David 5:30; 6:28) and boasts of his generous policies toward his new subjects and their gods.
I will add the few dozen more to this list, but at the moment I have to go, so that will be for another day.
Armana Letters: Canaanite Akkadian: 14th Century B.C. Hundreds of letters, written primarily by Canaanite scribes, illuminate social, political and religious relationships between Canaan and Egypt during the reigns of Amunhotep III and Akhenaten.
interestingly enough Yahweh may have originated from a Canaanite pantheon of gods.
