Page - 72 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 03/02

72 | Isabella Bruckner www.jrfm.eu 2017, 3/2, 71–77 view of and insight into discussions that are part of a dialogue with europe´s biblical and Jewish-Christian heritage. friedhelm hartenstein, who holds the Chair of old testament in the faculty of Protestant theology at the Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, has already edited and published a range of articles and books that have addressed topics such as the development of a theological aesthetics of the old testament, the metaphorical language of the Psalms, the religious history of israel and its background, and the image ban itself. By contrast, Michael Moxter, Professor of systematic theology at the University of hamburg, is a specialist in religious philosophy. He managed dedicated projects and edited volumes to cultural theology in connection with ernst Cassirer and to hermeneutical studies on imagery and aesthetics. hartenstein and Moxter’s co-operation on the topic addressed in this book began in seminars held in hamburg. in the preface the two authors note that the writings published here have therefore been generated over an extended period (5). they invite readers to understand the two parts of the book as forming a dialogical whole. as the book introduces the reader to iron age cultic sites and artifacts and addresses works by modern artists, it includes several pictures – which in view of the topic seems only appropriate. Whereas the drawings of the first part are integrated, placed within the running text, the color paintings and photographs that illustrate the second part appear on additional white pages toward the end of the article. Only two illustrations are slightly lacking in quality (326–327), and all the illustrations are helpful and well chosen. the footnotes list literature for reference and exploration. Unfortunately, the book does not include the bibliography that could have assisted readers by offering an overview of literature that might be useful for further research. CoNteNt In a jointly authored introduction, Hartenstein and Moxter pose questions that will frame the analysis that follows, noting, in particular, the role of the image ban in the evolution of israel´s monotheism and the role of images in general for human cognition and human–world interaction (12). Further, the authors point to how biblical interpretation is enriched by engagement with a philosophical and cultural hermeneutic of the image, particularly through the insights gener- ated by the “iconic turn” (while acknowledging the limitations of this concept), which serves as an essential source throughout the book. in part 1, friedhelm hartenstein undertakes religio-historical and exegetical analysis of the image ban. He first contextualizes the probable pre-exilic cultic practice in the temple at Jerusalem by illustrating the cultic customs of previous and isochronic eastern societies and their varied integration of iconic as well as