John A. Tvedtnes was a senior resident scholar at the Institute for the Study and Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts at Brigham Young University when this was written. He earned his degrees from the University of Utah: a bachelor's degree in anthropology and a master's degree in linguistics and Middle East Studies (Hebrew), with minors in Arabic, anthropology, and archaeology. He is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, the World Union of Jewish Studies, and the International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations. He and his wife Carol have six children and several grandchildren.