Almost since his boyhood, Hugh Nibley has been interested in scholarship of the highest order. As a scholar and teacher, he has inspired others to become scholars themselves and has opened doors to passages and rooms that others will be exploring for years to come.

This first of two volumes of essays honoring Hugh Nibley includes scholarly papers based on what the contributors have learned from Dr. Nibley. Nearly every major subject that he has encompassed in his vast learning and scholarly production is represented here by at least one article. Topics include the influence of Nibley, Copts and the Bible, the Seventy in scripture, the great apostasy, the book of Daniel in early Mormon thought, an early Christian initiation ritual, John’s Apocalypse, ancient Jewish seafaring, Native American rites of passage, Sinai as sanctuary and mountain of God, the Qurʾan and creation ex nihilo, and the sacred handclasp and embrace.

The two volumes contain papers on subject areas that include the Bible and the ancient Near East, early and Eastern Christianity and formative Judaism, aspects of kingship and the sacred, the religion and society of Asia, the Classics, the scriptures of the Latter-day Saints, and modern themes dealing with religion, literature, and society. Especially notable are papers by world-renowned scholars, including Drs. Aziz Atiya, James Charlesworth, Cyrus Gordon, Jacob Milgrom, Jacob Neusner, and Raphael Patai, whose work in these volumes attests to the wide respect in which Dr. Nibley’s work, as well as his personal example, is held. Finally, these volumes include papers by authors representing the second or the third generations of Nibley’s influence, an influence that will surely endure through many generations of future scholars.