Extensive archives in Alakh, Ebla, Emar, Hamath, and Ugarith give evidence of intense literary activity.84 Epigraphic material from Syro-Mesopotamia, although not always having a direct bearing on the Bible, continues to give evidence of a massive literary tradition in the ancient Near Eastern world to which the Israelite writers belonged.85 These inscriptions have been preserved on clay tablets. In addition to annals, they include descriptions of rituals, of prophetic announcements, of stories