Showing papers in "Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions in 2014"

The Tree of Life in Ancient Egypt and the Book of Proverbs

Abstract: Since the mid-twentieth century, scholars have highlighted the similarities between the book of Proverbs and wisdom texts from ancient Egypt, the most recognized being “The Instruction of Amenemope” (ca. 1100 bce). Consequently, some have asserted that this relationship points toward a likely Egyptian provenance and origin of biblical concepts like the Tree of Life in Proverbs 3:17–18; 11:30; 13:12; 15:4. Recognizing the undisputable contact with ancient Egypt, the present work argues through the method of comparative study that the Tree of Life in the book of Proverbs should not be interpreted with an ideological antecedent of a divine tree goddess in the New Kingdom period of ancient Egypt.

Grieving with the Moon: Pantheon and Politics in The Lunar Eclipse

Abstract: In response to the absence of consensus on events narrated in the Lunar Eclipse Myth, this article proposes an interpretation that takes into account the mythological representation of astrological phenomena, the Myth’s meaning in the context of the Utukkū Lemnūtu (“evil demons”) incantation series, as well as its implications concerning royal authority and guilt during the politically unstable conditions of a lunar eclipse. Although human observation alone could not discern the reasons for a lunar eclipse, the Myth suggests that at least some eclipses resulted from malevolent acts of self-will by a group of seven deities or demons (the “Sibitti”) and did not represent the pantheon’s condemnation of royal guilt. By contrast, celestial omens, letters from astrologers, the substitute king ritual, and suilla prayers all envisioned the lunar eclipse as a sign of the gods’ displeasure. Omen verdicts depicting successful acts of treason as divine judgment would have contributed to suspicions and tensions between the king and his courtiers during stressful times of eclipses. In portraying the king as an embodiment of the moon-god and as a fellow victim (together with the pantheon) of the Sibitti, the Lunar Eclipse Myth functioned as royal apology by removing implications of the king’s personal guilt and failure and, hence, the pretext for treason and regime change. Such a radical reinterpretation that contradicted long-held ideas about the lunar eclipse as divine judgment, however, may not have fitted easily with existing traditions. Inter-textual references to the Eclipse Myth are relatively scarce and do not accurately convey meanings original to the Myth itself, suggesting that subtler ways of downplaying royal guilt and safeguarding the king’s status may have been preferred.

Aštata: A Case of Hittite Imperial Religious Policy

Abstract: The Hittite documentation concerning the Land of Astata on the Euphrates, with Emar as capital, can now be better evaluated thanks to a more precise chronological order of the documentation from Emar (1400–1180 b.c.). Hittite rule did not exercise any religious imperialism, on the contrary, it was Mursili ii who transferred to Hattusa some Astata cults for the Syrian goddess Isḫara. He did not refrain from calling to his court priests from Emar in order to celebrate the proper rites to the goddess in an emergency. The king of Karkamis, who exercised Hittite control over Emar, sent there one of his diviners to enquire through oracles if the local gods were in favour of his travelling to the city. A reorganization of cults promoted by Tuthaliya iv was at the origin of the introduction in Emar of a liturgy for some Hittite gods. This was not a superimposition of a theological organized pantheon over the local gods, but personal gods of the king; their cult was committed to the local family of diviners in charge of the cults of the city, with which the Hittites maintained close relations. Apparently, Hittite religion never deeply penetrated Emar society. A group of seals used by some Emariotes, however, presents the same iconographies as Hittite seals, with gods of the Hittite pantheon, an evidence of adhesion to the Hittite rule.

The Semantics of Purity in the Ancient Near East: Lexical Meaning as a Projection of Embodied Experience

Abstract: This article analyzes the primary terms for purity in Biblical Hebrew, Ugaritic, Sumerian, Akkadian and Hittite. Building on insights from cognitive linguistics and embodiment theory, this study develops the premise that semantic structure—even of seemingly abstract concepts—is grounded in real-world bodily experience. An examination of purity terms reveals that all of them can be related to a concrete sense pertaining to radiance (brilliance, brightness, shininess). The article then traces the semantic development of purity terms in distinct experiential contexts and shows how semantic analysis can elucidate the inner logic of fundamental religious concepts.

Priests, Pollution and the Demonic: Evaluating Impurity in the Hebrew Bible in Light of Assyro-Babylonian Texts

Abstract: The Priestly Source makes no explicit reference to the demonic when describing pollution which supposedly sets it apart from non-biblical conceptualizations of impurity. Most scholars explain the Priestly disregard for demons by referring to the advance of monotheism and the subsequent eradication of supernatural forces other than God. Depending on whether monotheism is viewed as gradual process or as the foundation of Israelite religion, commentators either detect a weakened demonic quality in Priestly pollution or claim that the Priestly Source has always been of a non-demonic nature. However, in recent years the idea that monotheism pervades most books of the Hebrew Bible has been increasingly called into question. At the same time, the extensive publication of Assyro-Babylonian ritual texts allows for better understanding of Assyro-Babylonian conceptualizations of impurity. These developments necessitate the reevaluation of the current views on Priestly pollution by examining Assyro-Babylonian texts pertaining to impurity and the demonic. Special attention is given to context and dating of the cuneiform sources used to exemplify the non-demonic nature of Priestly impurity. This renewed comparison of Priestly and Assyro-Babylonian impurity highlights how the Priestly writer frames the concepts of pollution within the context of the sanctuary and its maintenance. The Assyro-Babylonian texts dealing with impurity and demons, by contrast, focus on the individual and his/her relationship to the personal god rather than temple maintenance. Likewise, cuneiform texts that deal with pollution and temple maintenance do not concern themselves with demonic affliction. Consequently, it can be argued that the non-demonic nature of impurity in the Priestly Source is the result of the Priestly focus on the sanctuary and does not give witness to an underlying theological ideal.

The Material Culture of Hittite ‘God-drinking’

Abstract: The elusive Hittite cultic phrase DINGIR eku-, “to drink a god,” has long been controversial as regards its precise meaning: Did the phrase refer to a mystical act (comparable to the Eucharist), or was it simply a turn of phrase for toasting the divine? Commentators have thus far remained almost exclusively on philological ground, drawing their conclusions from syntactic arguments and paying little attention to archaeological evidence. This paper offers a new approach to the question of ‘god-drinking’ by focusing primarily on its paraphernalia, namely the vessels themselves, particularly those that are zoomorphic (BIBRU in Hittite texts). The evaluation of zoomorphic vessels centres on the early second millennium forerunners of Hittite BIBRU, namely the large and varied repertoire of the kārum period (20th–17th century b.c.),1 which is exceptionally well-represented at the site of Kultepe-Kanes/Nesa. Also included in the discussion are anthropomorphic vessels and their potential place in cultic drinking. Situating zoomorphic (and anthropomorphic) ritual vessels as part of a continuous tradition throughout the second millennium thus offers a wider scope for understanding their use in the Hittite cult, and their specific function(s) in relation to god-drinking.

The Identity and Function of Ugaritic Shaʿtiqatu: A Divinely Made Apotropaic Figure

Abstract: This study explores the identity and function of the mostly unnoticed figure of Shaʿtiqatu, a creature who plays a pivotal role in the story of the Ugaritic King Kirta. The exploration of this under appreciated figure is situated in the context of Ugaritic apotropea and within the better documented Mesopotamian cultural backdrop. A counterpart article provides the philological and epigraphic analysis to the Shaʿtiqatu Narrative found in ktu 1.16.5.10–1.16.6.14.1

“The Mutation Peculiar to Hebrew Religion:” Monotheism, Pantheon Reduction, or Royal Adoption of Family Religion?

Abstract: Was religion a unifying force in ancient Judah and Israel? In what way did people in this region even have the same religion across different areas and time periods? And what were the fundamental units of religion—were its basic divisions political, into the kingdoms of North and South, geographical, like the coast or highland areas, or individual villages or houses? This book, written in alternating sections by two accomplished historians of Hebrew religion and literature,1 is a major argument for how to approach religion in the ancient southern Levant, in the form of an encyclopedic scholarly resource. In particular, it presents the most detailed claim to date that the Iron Age (11th–7th centuries bce) was a coherent cultural period when seen from the smallest scale, the viewpoint of families and dwellings. As a result, it allows both the biblicist and the scholar of ancient Near Eastern religions access to a unique

Performing Domination/Theorizing Power: Israelite Prophecy as a Political Discourse beyond the Conflict Model

Abstract: This essay considers the image of the yoke (Akk. nīru/absānu; Heb. ʿōl) in the context of ancient Near Eastern political discourse. It analyzes the yoke’s function in Jeremiah 27–29 as a means to developing a clearer understanding of how biblical prophecy operated as political speech. The yoke finds abundant attestation in the neo-Assyrian imperial rhetoric that immediately preceded the period of Babylonian domination in Judah. In manipulating this image, the Jeremian poetry strategically reframed an element of imperial ideology within the discourse of the patriarchal, agrarian household. In the course of this critical engagement, the prophet also restructured the basis for his Judean audience’s political identity, grounding it not in complex bureaucratic structures, but in the lifeworld of the basic kinship unit. The prophet’s speech functioned as a type of subaltern political theorizing in a poetic mode; it discloses a coherent theory of power and models intellective practices capable of operation under conditions of political domination.