Literary symbols are complex by their very nature. They are inherently polyvalent. At their best, symbols are both denotative and suggestive. They anchor the reader in the storyline and simultaneously direct her to significance and meaning beyond the literal to something less obvious. This article considers how birdcalls and bird imagery help to develop the setting and storyline in the Gilgameš Epic and also function as symbols that accentuate important themes. An appreciation of birds’ denotative and suggestive meanings is facilitated by the presentation and perceptions of these animals in first-millennium lexical lists and commentaries (ur5-ra = ḫubullu, mur-gud), the omen compendium Šumma ālu, and especially the scholarly tablets known as “the birdcall texts.” After drawing upon the cultural associations of birds and their calls to explain the imagery in the Gilgameš Epic, consideration will be given to possible historical circumstances whereby lexical traditions, omen literature, and birdcall texts might have influenced the tradents who standardized this literary composition. Tablet V of the Standard Babylonian Gilgameš Epic1 opens with a scenic description of the Cedar Forest and its soundscape. This mythical woodland was “ . . . the gods’ dwelling place, the goddesses’ exalted abode” (V:7). As such, it was characterized by “luxuriance” and “plenty” (e.g., ḫiṣbu [V:8], nuḫšu [V:23]) with birds and other creatures contributing to the Forest’s lively noises.2
{"title":"Soundscapes, Portentous Calls, and Bird Symbolism in the Gilgameš Epic","authors":"A. Miglio","doi":"10.1086/718002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/718002","url":null,"abstract":"Literary symbols are complex by their very nature. They are inherently polyvalent. At their best, symbols are both denotative and suggestive. They anchor the reader in the storyline and simultaneously direct her to significance and meaning beyond the literal to something less obvious. This article considers how birdcalls and bird imagery help to develop the setting and storyline in the Gilgameš Epic and also function as symbols that accentuate important themes. An appreciation of birds’ denotative and suggestive meanings is facilitated by the presentation and perceptions of these animals in first-millennium lexical lists and commentaries (ur5-ra = ḫubullu, mur-gud), the omen compendium Šumma ālu, and especially the scholarly tablets known as “the birdcall texts.” After drawing upon the cultural associations of birds and their calls to explain the imagery in the Gilgameš Epic, consideration will be given to possible historical circumstances whereby lexical traditions, omen literature, and birdcall texts might have influenced the tradents who standardized this literary composition. Tablet V of the Standard Babylonian Gilgameš Epic1 opens with a scenic description of the Cedar Forest and its soundscape. This mythical woodland was “ . . . the gods’ dwelling place, the goddesses’ exalted abode” (V:7). As such, it was characterized by “luxuriance” and “plenty” (e.g., ḫiṣbu [V:8], nuḫšu [V:23]) with birds and other creatures contributing to the Forest’s lively noises.2","PeriodicalId":45745,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES","volume":"81 1","pages":"165 - 185"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42348231","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sea and the Combat Myth: North West Semitic Political Mythology in the Hebrew Bible. By Joanna Töyräänvuori. Alter Orient und Altes Testament 427. Münster: Ugarit Verlag, 2018. Pp. xiv + 622. €122 (cloth)","authors":"D. Pardee","doi":"10.1086/718431","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/718431","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45745,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43991513","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Friends of the Emir: Non-Muslim State Officials in Premodern Islamic Thought. By Luke B. Yarbrough. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019. Pp. xiv + 361. $120 (cloth), $32.99 (paper).","authors":"Kyle Longworth","doi":"10.1086/718369","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/718369","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45745,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43478555","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Study in the Syntax of the Luwian Language. By Federico Giusfredi. Texte der Hethiter. Philologische und historische Studien zur Altanatolistik 30. Heidelberg: Winter Verlag, 2020. Pp. 227. €40 (paper).","authors":"E. Rieken","doi":"10.1086/718650","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/718650","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45745,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42380221","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
With characteristic arrogance, Abū ʿ Ubayda (ca. 114 ah/ 732 ce–ca. 210 ah/825 ce) boasted that “never did two knights encounter one another [in battle], whether in the jāhiliyya or Islam, except that I knew both horse man and horse.”1 His student ʿ Umar b. Shabba (d. 262/ 876) rather considered him more knowledgeable of Islamic lore than of the ancients, while some proposed that it was correctly the other way around.2 Such qual
{"title":"Rebel’s Advocate: How Abū ʿUbayda Maʿmar b. al-Muthannā Came to be Labelled a Khārijite","authors":"Raashid S. Goyal","doi":"10.1086/716039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/716039","url":null,"abstract":"With characteristic arrogance, Abū ʿ Ubayda (ca. 114 ah/ 732 ce–ca. 210 ah/825 ce) boasted that “never did two knights encounter one another [in battle], whether in the jāhiliyya or Islam, except that I knew both horse man and horse.”1 His student ʿ Umar b. Shabba (d. 262/ 876) rather considered him more knowledgeable of Islamic lore than of the ancients, while some proposed that it was correctly the other way around.2 Such qual","PeriodicalId":45745,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES","volume":"81 1","pages":"119 - 137"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43930444","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Lost Archive: Traces of a Caliphate in a Cairo Synagogue. By Marina Rustow. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2020. Pp. 624 + 83 color illustrations + 17 black and white illustrations + 4 maps. $45 (cloth).","authors":"Lucian Reinfandt","doi":"10.1086/718652","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/718652","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45745,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49112913","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Prophet has Appeared: The Rise of Islam through Christian and Jewish Eyes, A Sourcebook. By Stephen J. Shoemaker. Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2021. Pp. 320. $90 (cloth), $34.95 (paper).","authors":"Christian C. Sahner","doi":"10.1086/718559","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/718559","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45745,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46473155","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Much has been said about the Ottoman courts of law and their functions since the 1970s. Scholars interested in the topic have justifiably emphasized the important roles that the courts played in the governance of a large empire, in defense of the dynasty’s ideological claims to power, in the implementation of a sharia-based judicial system in fashions responsive to local, customary expectations of justice, and within interand intra-communal relationships in many provincial settings.1 Thus, we know
{"title":"The Price of Justice: Revenues Generated by Ottoman Courts of Law in the Late Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Centuries","authors":"Zeynep Dörtok Abacı, Boğaç Ergene","doi":"10.1086/718561","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/718561","url":null,"abstract":"Much has been said about the Ottoman courts of law and their functions since the 1970s. Scholars interested in the topic have justifiably emphasized the important roles that the courts played in the governance of a large empire, in defense of the dynasty’s ideological claims to power, in the implementation of a sharia-based judicial system in fashions responsive to local, customary expectations of justice, and within interand intra-communal relationships in many provincial settings.1 Thus, we know","PeriodicalId":45745,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES","volume":"81 1","pages":"25 - 52"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48899190","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Recent years have seen considerable progress in Middle Bronze Age chronological research throughout the eastern Mediterranean and ancient Near East. New radiocarbon dating initiatives have cast doubts on some long-held synchronisms and especially on the dating of the key-site of Tell el-Dabʿa (ancient Avaris) in the eastern Nile Delta. The excavator’s dating of this site was used to argue for the New (ultra-low) or Mebert Chronology of Mesopotamia, but recent radiocarbon data from Tell el-Dabʿa, the southern Levant, and Anatolia challenge the low Middle Bronze Age chronology for the Levant and endorse the Middle Chronology for Mesopotamia, as we demonstrate in what follows. Chronology can be regarded as one of the most essential but also contested fields of research within ancient Near Eastern studies. Every historical or archaeological argument stands or falls with the (relative or absolute) chronology applied, as “the question when is a prerequi-
{"title":"A Synchronized Early Middle Bronze Age Chronology for Egypt, the Levant, and Mesopotamia","authors":"F. Höflmayer, S. Manning","doi":"10.1086/718498","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1086/718498","url":null,"abstract":"Recent years have seen considerable progress in Middle Bronze Age chronological research throughout the eastern Mediterranean and ancient Near East. New radiocarbon dating initiatives have cast doubts on some long-held synchronisms and especially on the dating of the key-site of Tell el-Dabʿa (ancient Avaris) in the eastern Nile Delta. The excavator’s dating of this site was used to argue for the New (ultra-low) or Mebert Chronology of Mesopotamia, but recent radiocarbon data from Tell el-Dabʿa, the southern Levant, and Anatolia challenge the low Middle Bronze Age chronology for the Levant and endorse the Middle Chronology for Mesopotamia, as we demonstrate in what follows. Chronology can be regarded as one of the most essential but also contested fields of research within ancient Near Eastern studies. Every historical or archaeological argument stands or falls with the (relative or absolute) chronology applied, as “the question when is a prerequi-","PeriodicalId":45745,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES","volume":"81 1","pages":"1 - 24"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46841307","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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