 Donations to the Church beyond what is owed in the tithe are known as offerings.None of the extant extrabiblical laws of the Ancient Near East deal with tithing, although other secondary documents show that it was a widespread practice in the Ancient Near East.William W. Hallo (1996) recognises comparisons for Israel with its ancient Near Eastern environment, however, as regards tithes, comparisons with other ancient Near Eastern evidence is ambiguous, and Ancient Near Eastern literature provides scant evidence for the practice of tithing and the collection of tithes.