Local Manifestations of Yahweh and Worship in the Interstices: A Note on Kuntillet Ajrud
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors draw attention to specific local manifestations of Yahweh at Kuntillet Ajrud and their respective archaeological contexts, locating those expressions within the larger regional and pan-Israelite religious system.
Abstract: The Shema (Deut 6:4) has long posed a crux interpretum in studies of early Israelite religion. Although the verse is often understood as a rejection of “foreign” deities in favor of Israel’s God Yahweh, some have understood the verse as a textual consolidation of Yahweh’s multiple identities. The present study draws attention to the specific local manifestations of Yahweh at Kuntillet Ajrud and their respective archaeological contexts, locating those expressions within the larger regional and pan-Israelite religious system. Attentiveness to the archaeological provenance of each pertinent inscription suggests that distinctions obtained between the devotional expressions towards each local manifestation of Yahweh. Insofar as it is possible to draw conclusions from the extant epigraphic and iconographic data, the expressions of devotion towards Yahweh of Teman was officially sanctioned; no such official recognition of Yahweh of Samaria existed. When no sanctioned space existed for such recognition, personal expressions of piety were expressed interstitially.
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01 Jan 2014
TL;DR: The economic rationale behind the Deuteronomistic reforms of centralization and aniconism, as demonstrated through the biblical texts and extra-biblical material, is explored in this paper.
Abstract: This thesis explores the economic rationale behind the Deuteronomistic reforms of centralisation and aniconism, as demonstrated through the biblical texts and extra-biblical material. The aniconistic centralised Temple complex promoted by Dtr was a repository of wealth, power, and influence, which was threatened by the iconographic system of shrines and temples spread throughout the Judahite and Israelite areas. This is evidenced through the economic underpinnings of the society which have contributed to these 'reforms', such as the development of an ethnos Israel and the fiscal manipulation of the temple complex and system of tithing. The iconography of the goddess Asherah is used as an example of this, but other forms of iconography associated with the early cult of YHWH are also considered.
66 citations
12 Dec 2019
TL;DR: In a recent work as mentioned in this paper, the efeitos do movimento interregional, como mobilidade e migracao, sobre as praticas e crencas religiosas dos antigos povos do Mediterrâneo, especificamente daqueles que vem a ser chamados de israelitas.
Abstract: Migracao e um processo social. A religiao e fundamentalmente uma empresa social. Como outros aspectos de suas identidades culturais, os humanos carregam suas identidades religiosas com eles enquanto atravessam as geografias. Este artigo explora os efeitos do movimento inter-regional, como mobilidade e migracao, sobre as praticas e crencas religiosas dos antigos povos do Mediterrâneo, especificamente daqueles que vem a ser chamados de israelitas. Varios estudos que explicam as diferencas religiosas internas em Israel e Judah explicam as multiplas associacoes geograficas de Yahweh como "Poli-Javismo", presumindo que a veneracao de diferentes associacoes geograficas e, na realidade, atos de culto dirigidos a diferentes Yahwehs. Os estudos de migracao, especificamente aqueles que envolvem a instrumentalizacao migratoria da religiao, nao tem sido parceiros centrais de conversacao nessas exploracoes de personagens divinos. Assim, argumento que as complexidades do intercâmbio cultural nas regioes levantinas do Mediterrâneo no primeiro milenio aC e o desenvolvimento da diversidade religiosa interna no antigo Israel podem ser melhor compreendidos pela integracao dos dados modernos sobre mobilidade e migracao. Alem disso, a explicacao da relacao dialogica entre mobilidade, migracao e religiosidade permite que os estudiosos respondam melhor pelas respostas culturais observadas nos espacos de colonizacao, onde a religiao funciona tanto como fonte de controle quanto como recurso empregado para minar estruturas de poder colonizadoras. Para este fim, este trabalho aborda especificamente a ocorrencia de modos variantes da religiosidade Javista atraves de dois estudos de caso: O primeiro e uma leitura informada de migracao de juizes 17-18. A segunda e uma analise informada das mobilidades de quatro inscricoes de Kuntillet "Ajrud (Horvat Teman). Juntas, essas exploracoes fornecem respostas a perguntas sobre a multiplicidade de Yahweh e sua natureza movel.
19 citations
Cites background from "Local Manifestations of Yahweh and ..."
...He argues that the presence of multiple inscriptions declaring Yahweh’s origins in Teman and only one proclaiming “Yahweh of Samaria/Shômron” denote that designating a Temanite origin for Yahweh is the more accepted expression of divine manifestation at the site (Hutton 2010)....
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...For example, McCarter (1987) cites Ištar’s two main geographic associations and posits that dIštar ša uruNinua (Ištar of Nineveh) and dIštar ša uruArbela (Ištar of Arbela) were conceived by worshippers to be two distinct goddesses (cf. Allen 2015; Hutton 2010; Porter 2004)11....
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...…the fragmentation of Yahweh’s person across various geographies, he notes that spaces of religious discourse “could be permeated by other manifestations of the same deity to whom the shrine was dedicated, even if they were in ‘competition’ with the ‘host’ manifestation” (Hutton 2010: 178)....
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...Hutton (2010) importantly places the epigraphic record in conversation with the biblical text....
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...For example, McCarter (1987) cites Ištar’s two main geographic associations and posits that Ištar ša Ninua (Ištar of Nineveh) and Ištar ša Arbela (Ištar of Arbela) were conceived by worshippers to be two distinct goddesses (cf. Allen 2015; Hutton 2010; Porter 2004)(11)....
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TL;DR: The anti-Ba'al polemics of Hosea 2.16-18 have typically been interpreted as evidence for the existence of a cult of Ba'al in 8th century B.C.E..
Abstract: The anti-Ba’al polemics of Hosea 2.16-18 have typically been interpreted as evidence for the existence of a cult of Ba’al in 8th century B.C.E. Israel. However, research on the semantic range of th...
10 citations
Book•
23 Jul 2020TL;DR: The Hebrew Bible is permeated with depictions of military conflicts that have profoundly shaped the way many think about war as discussed by the authors, and the Bible is fundamentally a project of constructing a new national identity for Israel, one that can both transcend deep divisions within the population and withstand military conquest by imperial armies.
Abstract: The Hebrew Bible is permeated with depictions of military conflicts that have profoundly shaped the way many think about war. Why does war occupy so much space in the Bible? In this book, Jacob Wright offers a fresh and fascinating response to this question: War pervades the Bible not because ancient Israel was governed by religious factors (such as 'holy war') or because this people, along with its neighbors in the ancient Near East, was especially bellicose. The reason is rather that the Bible is fundamentally a project of constructing a new national identity for Israel, one that can both transcend deep divisions within the population and withstand military conquest by imperial armies. Drawing on the intriguing interdisciplinary research on war commemoration, Wright shows how biblical authors, like the architects of national identities from more recent times, constructed a new and influential notion of peoplehood in direct relation to memories of war, both real and imagined. This book is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
9 citations