Pub Date : 2021-04-16DOI: 10.1163/15692124-12341313
Samuel L. Boyd
The cosmology as described in the creation account in Gen 1:1–2:4a has occasioned endless commentary. One of the more perceptive studies of this text was published by Baruch Halpern in 2003. In this article, I review Halpern’s argument and add evidence from iconography at Ugarit. The Baal Stele (Louvre catalog number AO 15775), in which the deity holds lightning and stands with the king, also displays a cosmology that has intriguing connections with Halpern’s thesis about an “expanse of the earth.” After connecting Halpern’s thesis to this visual representation of cosmology from Ugarit, I explore the ways in which both text and image are mutually illuminating and help to interpret one another, extending the analysis to so-called Deutero-Isaiah and Ps 136 as well.
{"title":"A Double-Plated Cosmos? Gen 1’s Cosmology, the Baal Stele, and the Logic of a Firmament of the Earth","authors":"Samuel L. Boyd","doi":"10.1163/15692124-12341313","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15692124-12341313","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The cosmology as described in the creation account in Gen 1:1–2:4a has occasioned endless commentary. One of the more perceptive studies of this text was published by Baruch Halpern in 2003. In this article, I review Halpern’s argument and add evidence from iconography at Ugarit. The Baal Stele (Louvre catalog number AO 15775), in which the deity holds lightning and stands with the king, also displays a cosmology that has intriguing connections with Halpern’s thesis about an “expanse of the earth.” After connecting Halpern’s thesis to this visual representation of cosmology from Ugarit, I explore the ways in which both text and image are mutually illuminating and help to interpret one another, extending the analysis to so-called Deutero-Isaiah and Ps 136 as well.","PeriodicalId":42129,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2021-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44655134","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-04-16DOI: 10.1163/15692124-12341314
Andrew J. Danielson
This article explores the history and evolution of the deity Qws through a study of the communities affiliated with Qws, presenting also a current collection of all inscriptional references to this deity. Diachronic and spatial analyses of the references reveal nuanced insights into how Qws was understood by his adherents, as well as the patterns of behavior, linguistic practices, and identities that marked these communities. The attestations of Qws demonstrate the deity’s relative obscurity during the Late Bronze Age, a rapid rise in inscriptional popularity among persons associated with the region of Edom during the late Iron Age, and a regional perpetuation of attestation following the dissolution of the Iron Age southern Levantine polities. Furthermore, attestations of Qws among diasporic community’s present insights into the shifting identities and cultic practices of the immigrant communities affiliated with the deity.
{"title":"On the History and Evolution of Qws: The Portrait of a First Millennium BCE Deity Explored through Community Identity","authors":"Andrew J. Danielson","doi":"10.1163/15692124-12341314","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15692124-12341314","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This article explores the history and evolution of the deity Qws through a study of the communities affiliated with Qws, presenting also a current collection of all inscriptional references to this deity. Diachronic and spatial analyses of the references reveal nuanced insights into how Qws was understood by his adherents, as well as the patterns of behavior, linguistic practices, and identities that marked these communities. The attestations of Qws demonstrate the deity’s relative obscurity during the Late Bronze Age, a rapid rise in inscriptional popularity among persons associated with the region of Edom during the late Iron Age, and a regional perpetuation of attestation following the dissolution of the Iron Age southern Levantine polities. Furthermore, attestations of Qws among diasporic community’s present insights into the shifting identities and cultic practices of the immigrant communities affiliated with the deity.","PeriodicalId":42129,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions","volume":"20 1","pages":"113-189"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2021-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42693601","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-04-16DOI: 10.1163/15692124-12341315
Sophus Helle
Most Akkadian epics are organized according to the same structure: the narrative arc is divided into two acts, of which the second mirrors and expands the first. The structure has already been observed in Atra-hasis, Enuma Elish, Gilgamesh, and Etana, but the recurrence of the pattern has not previously been noted. The essay explores the widespread application, individual adaptations, and literary significance of this device, noting its presence in nine cuneiform compositions.
{"title":"The Two-Act Structure: A Narrative Device in Akkadian Epics","authors":"Sophus Helle","doi":"10.1163/15692124-12341315","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15692124-12341315","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Most Akkadian epics are organized according to the same structure: the narrative arc is divided into two acts, of which the second mirrors and expands the first. The structure has already been observed in Atra-hasis, Enuma Elish, Gilgamesh, and Etana, but the recurrence of the pattern has not previously been noted. The essay explores the widespread application, individual adaptations, and literary significance of this device, noting its presence in nine cuneiform compositions.","PeriodicalId":42129,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2021-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41741272","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-06-18DOI: 10.1163/15692124-12341309
Alhena Gadotti
This paper considers the mythological tale Nergal and Ereškigal in an attempt to investigate the nature of Ereškigal’s dominion over the Mesopotamian Realm of the Dead. By using other Mesopotamian literary composition as well as Near Eastern law, the paper demonstrates that Ereškigal never relinquished her power over the Netherworld to Nergal because such a power was never hers to lose.
{"title":"Never Truly Hers: Ereškigal’s Dowry and the Rulership of the Netherworld","authors":"Alhena Gadotti","doi":"10.1163/15692124-12341309","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15692124-12341309","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This paper considers the mythological tale Nergal and Ereškigal in an attempt to investigate the nature of Ereškigal’s dominion over the Mesopotamian Realm of the Dead. By using other Mesopotamian literary composition as well as Near Eastern law, the paper demonstrates that Ereškigal never relinquished her power over the Netherworld to Nergal because such a power was never hers to lose.","PeriodicalId":42129,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2020-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/15692124-12341309","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45972252","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-06-18DOI: 10.1163/15692124-12341310
A. Kryszeń
The study proposes a revaluation of the sources dealing with the first days of the great Hittite spring AN.TAḫ.ŠUM-festival. It offers a close comparison of the so-called outline-tablets, which present a brief but essential overview of the entire festival, with the tablets that provide detailed descriptions of individuals days. Through an in-depth analysis of all the key elements of the celebrations, it is argued that the texts previously thought to represent the second day of the AN.TAḫ.ŠUM are misattributed and in fact depict the initial day of the festival.
{"title":"The First Day of the AN.TAḪ.ŠUM-Festival","authors":"A. Kryszeń","doi":"10.1163/15692124-12341310","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15692124-12341310","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The study proposes a revaluation of the sources dealing with the first days of the great Hittite spring AN.TAḫ.ŠUM-festival. It offers a close comparison of the so-called outline-tablets, which present a brief but essential overview of the entire festival, with the tablets that provide detailed descriptions of individuals days. Through an in-depth analysis of all the key elements of the celebrations, it is argued that the texts previously thought to represent the second day of the AN.TAḫ.ŠUM are misattributed and in fact depict the initial day of the festival.","PeriodicalId":42129,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2020-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/15692124-12341310","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47391831","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-06-18DOI: 10.1163/15692124-12341312
A. Mouton, Y. Erbil
Through the combined study of Hittite cuneiform texts and the iconography of Hittite relief vases (Anatolia of the second half of the second millennium BCE), this paper addresses the ceremonial garments of key participants in cultic ceremonies, namely the royal couple, priests and priestesses, as well as festival entertainers. The paper also discusses a particular gesture which is frequently mentioned in Hittite religious texts: the act consisting of seizing someone else’s šeknu-garment. We argue that such a gesture might be related to the purity rules regarding the Great King’s body. Throughout this paper, several correspondences between the iconography and the textual evidence are also suggested.
{"title":"Dressing Up for the Gods: Ceremonial Garments in Hittite Cultic Festivals according to the Philological and Archaeological Evidence","authors":"A. Mouton, Y. Erbil","doi":"10.1163/15692124-12341312","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15692124-12341312","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Through the combined study of Hittite cuneiform texts and the iconography of Hittite relief vases (Anatolia of the second half of the second millennium BCE), this paper addresses the ceremonial garments of key participants in cultic ceremonies, namely the royal couple, priests and priestesses, as well as festival entertainers. The paper also discusses a particular gesture which is frequently mentioned in Hittite religious texts: the act consisting of seizing someone else’s šeknu-garment. We argue that such a gesture might be related to the purity rules regarding the Great King’s body. Throughout this paper, several correspondences between the iconography and the textual evidence are also suggested.","PeriodicalId":42129,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2020-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/15692124-12341312","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46467494","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-06-18DOI: 10.1163/15692124-12341311
N. Miller, P. Jones, R. Zettler, H. Pittman
The statuettes commonly referred to as “Ram Caught in a Thicket” (2500 BC) may well be associated with what is known from later texts (2nd millennium BC) as the (daily) determining-of-the-fates ritual that occurred at sunrise. Symbolic elements (tree, rosette, leaf, possible mountain), and motifs (quadruped facing a tree) occur in other media—glyptic, musical instruments—and their meaning informs the unique combination of elements found in these two statuettes. It is proposed that the statuettes are offering stands. The composition as a whole represents a sacred landscape rather than a charming genre scene. It is likely that the statuettes were associated with the daily ritual of the determining of the fates, which would push the later attestations of that ritual and the cosmological view behind it back to the mid-third millennium BC.
{"title":"A Sacred Landscape of Sumer: Statuettes from Ur Depicting a Goat on a Tree","authors":"N. Miller, P. Jones, R. Zettler, H. Pittman","doi":"10.1163/15692124-12341311","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15692124-12341311","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The statuettes commonly referred to as “Ram Caught in a Thicket” (2500 BC) may well be associated with what is known from later texts (2nd millennium BC) as the (daily) determining-of-the-fates ritual that occurred at sunrise. Symbolic elements (tree, rosette, leaf, possible mountain), and motifs (quadruped facing a tree) occur in other media—glyptic, musical instruments—and their meaning informs the unique combination of elements found in these two statuettes. It is proposed that the statuettes are offering stands. The composition as a whole represents a sacred landscape rather than a charming genre scene. It is likely that the statuettes were associated with the daily ritual of the determining of the fates, which would push the later attestations of that ritual and the cosmological view behind it back to the mid-third millennium BC.","PeriodicalId":42129,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2020-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/15692124-12341311","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41724935","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-12-10DOI: 10.1163/15692124-12341306
W. Sallaberger
{"title":"The Cupbearer and the Cult-Priest in the Temple: External and Internal Cultic Practitioners in Early Bronze Age Mesopotamia","authors":"W. Sallaberger","doi":"10.1163/15692124-12341306","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15692124-12341306","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42129,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions","volume":"19 1","pages":"90-111"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2019-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/15692124-12341306","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43318869","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-12-10DOI: 10.1163/15692124-12341307
P. Steinkeller
This article offers an overview of the early Babylonian priesthood, as it was organized and operated during the third millennium BCE. It is emphasized that the priests and priestesses proper, i.e., individuals who were specifically concerned with cultic matters, represented a relatively small segment of the employees of temple households. Much more numerous within these institutions (which might more appropriately be termed “temple communities”) were the individuals whose roles were of either administrative or economic character. Focusing on the administrators of temple households, and identifying them as “Managerial Class,” the article argues that, during Pre-Sargonic times, this social group wielded great economic and political power, which at times even exceeded that of the emerging secular leaders (such as ensiks and lugals). To demonstrate this point, an interaction between these two competing centers of powers (particularly in the city-state of Lagaš) is studied in detail. In memory of Itamar Singer
{"title":"Babylonian Priesthood during the Third Millennium BCE: Between Sacred and Profane","authors":"P. Steinkeller","doi":"10.1163/15692124-12341307","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15692124-12341307","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This article offers an overview of the early Babylonian priesthood, as it was organized and operated during the third millennium BCE. It is emphasized that the priests and priestesses proper, i.e., individuals who were specifically concerned with cultic matters, represented a relatively small segment of the employees of temple households. Much more numerous within these institutions (which might more appropriately be termed “temple communities”) were the individuals whose roles were of either administrative or economic character. Focusing on the administrators of temple households, and identifying them as “Managerial Class,” the article argues that, during Pre-Sargonic times, this social group wielded great economic and political power, which at times even exceeded that of the emerging secular leaders (such as ensiks and lugals). To demonstrate this point, an interaction between these two competing centers of powers (particularly in the city-state of Lagaš) is studied in detail.\u0000In memory of Itamar Singer","PeriodicalId":42129,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions","volume":"19 1","pages":"112-151"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2019-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/15692124-12341307","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47061899","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-12-10DOI: 10.1163/15692124-12341308
Shana Zaia
Despite a relative dearth of information in the surviving corpus about Assyrian priests’ more routine concerns, the Assyrian state correspondence contains some details that can improve our knowledge of priests’ daily lives, rights, and responsibilities. Using four case studies, this paper analyzes situations in which priests are accused of misconduct or crimes to better understand the powers and expectations of individual priestly offices as well as the realities of everyday life that might have rendered these boundaries more flexible or surmountable. These cases of irregularities reveal that cultic personnel had distinct economic, legal, and judicial roles and were sometimes able to extend their powers when necessary to manage issues such as crime and shortages in resources, only requesting royal intervention as a last resort.
{"title":"Kings, Priests, and Power in the Neo-Assyrian Period","authors":"Shana Zaia","doi":"10.1163/15692124-12341308","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15692124-12341308","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Despite a relative dearth of information in the surviving corpus about Assyrian priests’ more routine concerns, the Assyrian state correspondence contains some details that can improve our knowledge of priests’ daily lives, rights, and responsibilities. Using four case studies, this paper analyzes situations in which priests are accused of misconduct or crimes to better understand the powers and expectations of individual priestly offices as well as the realities of everyday life that might have rendered these boundaries more flexible or surmountable. These cases of irregularities reveal that cultic personnel had distinct economic, legal, and judicial roles and were sometimes able to extend their powers when necessary to manage issues such as crime and shortages in resources, only requesting royal intervention as a last resort.","PeriodicalId":42129,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2019-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1163/15692124-12341308","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44614073","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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