David T. Lamb
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199231478
- eISBN:
- 9780191710841
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199231478.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This book examines not only the dynasty of Jehu within the narrative of 2 Kings, but also the broader context of the dynasties of Israel and Judah in the books of Kings and Samuel. It discusses ...
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This book examines not only the dynasty of Jehu within the narrative of 2 Kings, but also the broader context of the dynasties of Israel and Judah in the books of Kings and Samuel. It discusses religious aspects of kingship (such as anointing, divine election, and prayer) in both the Old Testament and in the literature of the ancient Near East. The book concludes that the Deuteronomistic editor, because of a deep concern that leaders be divinely chosen and obedient to Yahweh, sought to subvert the monarchical status quo by shaping the Jehuite narrative to emphasize that dynastic succession disastrously fails to produce righteous leaders.Less
This book examines not only the dynasty of Jehu within the narrative of 2 Kings, but also the broader context of the dynasties of Israel and Judah in the books of Kings and Samuel. It discusses religious aspects of kingship (such as anointing, divine election, and prayer) in both the Old Testament and in the literature of the ancient Near East. The book concludes that the Deuteronomistic editor, because of a deep concern that leaders be divinely chosen and obedient to Yahweh, sought to subvert the monarchical status quo by shaping the Jehuite narrative to emphasize that dynastic succession disastrously fails to produce righteous leaders.
Amram Tropper
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199267125
- eISBN:
- 9780191699184
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199267125.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism, Religion in the Ancient World
In third-century CE Palestine, the leading member of the rabbinic movement put together a highly popular wisdom treatise entitled Tractate Avot. Though Avot has inspired hundreds of commentaries, ...
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In third-century CE Palestine, the leading member of the rabbinic movement put together a highly popular wisdom treatise entitled Tractate Avot. Though Avot has inspired hundreds of commentaries, this book marks the first effort to situate it within the context of the Graeco-Roman Near East. Following his novel interpretation of Avot, this book relates the text to ancient Jewish literary paradigms as well as to relevant socio-political, literary, and intellectual streams of the contemporary Near East. Through comparisons to ancient wisdom literature, the Second Sophistic, Greek and Christian historiography, contemporary collections of sayings, and classical Roman jurisprudence, the book interprets Avot in light of the local Jewish context as well as the ambient cultural atmosphere of the contemporary Near East.Less
In third-century CE Palestine, the leading member of the rabbinic movement put together a highly popular wisdom treatise entitled Tractate Avot. Though Avot has inspired hundreds of commentaries, this book marks the first effort to situate it within the context of the Graeco-Roman Near East. Following his novel interpretation of Avot, this book relates the text to ancient Jewish literary paradigms as well as to relevant socio-political, literary, and intellectual streams of the contemporary Near East. Through comparisons to ancient wisdom literature, the Second Sophistic, Greek and Christian historiography, contemporary collections of sayings, and classical Roman jurisprudence, the book interprets Avot in light of the local Jewish context as well as the ambient cultural atmosphere of the contemporary Near East.
Stuart Weeks
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198270072
- eISBN:
- 9780191683879
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198270072.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Judaism
This is a new and ground-breaking study of the nature and origins of the earliest material in the book of Proverbs, drawing on evidence from Israel and neighbouring ...
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This is a new and ground-breaking study of the nature and origins of the earliest material in the book of Proverbs, drawing on evidence from Israel and neighbouring countries in the ancient Near East. This literature has widely been believed to have originated as pedagogical material, designed for the education of future administrators in the royal bureaucracy from the time of Solomon. That belief has played an important part not only in the interpretation of the texts, but in reconstructions of Israelite society and history. This book challenges this view, arguing that it is largely founded on assumptions which are now widely discredited, and sets out to re-evaluate the evidence in the light of more recent research. The conclusions drawn here will have important implications for the future study of this material from both a Christian and Jewish perspective, and for our understanding of ancient Israel's society and history.Less
This is a new and ground-breaking study of the nature and origins of the earliest material in the book of Proverbs, drawing on evidence from Israel and neighbouring countries in the ancient Near East. This literature has widely been believed to have originated as pedagogical material, designed for the education of future administrators in the royal bureaucracy from the time of Solomon. That belief has played an important part not only in the interpretation of the texts, but in reconstructions of Israelite society and history. This book challenges this view, arguing that it is largely founded on assumptions which are now widely discredited, and sets out to re-evaluate the evidence in the light of more recent research. The conclusions drawn here will have important implications for the future study of this material from both a Christian and Jewish perspective, and for our understanding of ancient Israel's society and history.
Marc Van De Mieroop
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691157184
- eISBN:
- 9781400874118
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691157184.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
There is a growing recognition that philosophy isn’t unique to the West, that it didn’t begin only with the classical Greeks, and that Greek philosophy was influenced by Near Eastern traditions. Yet ...
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There is a growing recognition that philosophy isn’t unique to the West, that it didn’t begin only with the classical Greeks, and that Greek philosophy was influenced by Near Eastern traditions. Yet even today there is a widespread assumption that what came before the Greeks was “before philosophy.” This book presents a groundbreaking argument that, for three millennia before the Greeks, one Near Eastern people had a rich and sophisticated tradition of philosophy fully worthy of the name. In the first century BC, the Greek historian Diodorus of Sicily praised the Babylonians for their devotion to philosophy. Showing the justice of Diodorus’s comment, this is the first book to argue that there were Babylonian philosophers and that they studied knowledge systematically using a coherent system of logic rooted in the practices of cuneiform script. The book uncovers Babylonian approaches to knowledge in three areas: the study of language, which in its analysis of the written word formed the basis of all logic; the art of divination, which interpreted communications between gods and humans; and the rules of law, which confirmed that royal justice was founded on truth. The result is an innovative intellectual history of the ancient Near Eastern world during the many centuries in which Babylonian philosophers inspired scholars throughout the region—until the first millennium BC, when the breakdown of this cosmopolitan system enabled others, including the Greeks, to develop alternative methods of philosophical reasoning.Less
There is a growing recognition that philosophy isn’t unique to the West, that it didn’t begin only with the classical Greeks, and that Greek philosophy was influenced by Near Eastern traditions. Yet even today there is a widespread assumption that what came before the Greeks was “before philosophy.” This book presents a groundbreaking argument that, for three millennia before the Greeks, one Near Eastern people had a rich and sophisticated tradition of philosophy fully worthy of the name. In the first century BC, the Greek historian Diodorus of Sicily praised the Babylonians for their devotion to philosophy. Showing the justice of Diodorus’s comment, this is the first book to argue that there were Babylonian philosophers and that they studied knowledge systematically using a coherent system of logic rooted in the practices of cuneiform script. The book uncovers Babylonian approaches to knowledge in three areas: the study of language, which in its analysis of the written word formed the basis of all logic; the art of divination, which interpreted communications between gods and humans; and the rules of law, which confirmed that royal justice was founded on truth. The result is an innovative intellectual history of the ancient Near Eastern world during the many centuries in which Babylonian philosophers inspired scholars throughout the region—until the first millennium BC, when the breakdown of this cosmopolitan system enabled others, including the Greeks, to develop alternative methods of philosophical reasoning.
William F. McCants
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691151489
- eISBN:
- 9781400840069
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691151489.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
From the dawn of writing in Sumer to the sunset of the Islamic empire, this book traces four thousand years of speculation on the origins of civilization. Investigating a vast range of primary ...
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From the dawn of writing in Sumer to the sunset of the Islamic empire, this book traces four thousand years of speculation on the origins of civilization. Investigating a vast range of primary sources, some of which are translated here for the first time, and focusing on the dynamic influence of the Greek, Roman, and Arab conquests of the Near East, the book looks at the ways the conquerors and those they conquered reshaped their myths of civilization's origins in response to the social and political consequences of empire. The Greek and Roman conquests brought with them a learned culture that competed with that of native elites. The conquering Arabs, in contrast, had no learned culture, which led to three hundred years of Muslim competition over the cultural orientation of Islam, a contest reflected in the culture myths of that time. What we know today as Islamic culture is the product of this contest, whose protagonists drew heavily on the lore of non-Arab and pagan antiquity. The book argues that authors in all three periods did not write about civilization's origins solely out of pure antiquarian interest—they also sought to address the social and political tensions of the day. The strategies they employed and the postcolonial dilemmas they confronted provide invaluable context for understanding how authors today use myth and history to locate themselves in the confusing aftermath of empire.Less
From the dawn of writing in Sumer to the sunset of the Islamic empire, this book traces four thousand years of speculation on the origins of civilization. Investigating a vast range of primary sources, some of which are translated here for the first time, and focusing on the dynamic influence of the Greek, Roman, and Arab conquests of the Near East, the book looks at the ways the conquerors and those they conquered reshaped their myths of civilization's origins in response to the social and political consequences of empire. The Greek and Roman conquests brought with them a learned culture that competed with that of native elites. The conquering Arabs, in contrast, had no learned culture, which led to three hundred years of Muslim competition over the cultural orientation of Islam, a contest reflected in the culture myths of that time. What we know today as Islamic culture is the product of this contest, whose protagonists drew heavily on the lore of non-Arab and pagan antiquity. The book argues that authors in all three periods did not write about civilization's origins solely out of pure antiquarian interest—they also sought to address the social and political tensions of the day. The strategies they employed and the postcolonial dilemmas they confronted provide invaluable context for understanding how authors today use myth and history to locate themselves in the confusing aftermath of empire.
David T. Lamb
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199231478
- eISBN:
- 9780191710841
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199231478.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This chapter shows that Dtr's bias against Jehu's heirs is part of a broader Deuteronomistic pattern of portraying dynastic successors negatively in order to subvert the monarchical status quo. After ...
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This chapter shows that Dtr's bias against Jehu's heirs is part of a broader Deuteronomistic pattern of portraying dynastic successors negatively in order to subvert the monarchical status quo. After focusing on the specific members of the Jehu dynasty, both founder and heirs, in the previous chapters, it is necessary to broaden the focus to compare both the entire dynasty to other DH dynasties and Jehu's promise to other DH dynastic oracles. These comparisons confirm the hypothesis that Dtr views dynastic successors critically. The crucial question of why Dtr would give rulers dynastic promises if he is opposed to dynasty is also discussed.Less
This chapter shows that Dtr's bias against Jehu's heirs is part of a broader Deuteronomistic pattern of portraying dynastic successors negatively in order to subvert the monarchical status quo. After focusing on the specific members of the Jehu dynasty, both founder and heirs, in the previous chapters, it is necessary to broaden the focus to compare both the entire dynasty to other DH dynasties and Jehu's promise to other DH dynastic oracles. These comparisons confirm the hypothesis that Dtr views dynastic successors critically. The crucial question of why Dtr would give rulers dynastic promises if he is opposed to dynasty is also discussed.
Alan K. Bowman, Hannah M. Cotton, Martin Goodman, and Simon Price (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197262764
- eISBN:
- 9780191753947
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262764.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This book covers the whole of the period in which Rome dominated the Mediterranean world. The belief shared by all the contributors is that the Roman empire is best understood from the standpoint of ...
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This book covers the whole of the period in which Rome dominated the Mediterranean world. The belief shared by all the contributors is that the Roman empire is best understood from the standpoint of the Mediterranean world looking in to Rome, rather than from Rome looking out. The chapters focus on the development of political institutions in Rome itself and in her empire, and on the nature of the relationship between Rome and her provincial subjects. They also discuss historiographical approaches to different kinds of source material, literary and documentary — including the major Roman historians, the evidence for the pre-Roman near east, and the Christian writers of later antiquity. The book reflects the immense complexity of the political and cultural history of the ancient Mediterranean, from the late Republic to the age of Augustine.Less
This book covers the whole of the period in which Rome dominated the Mediterranean world. The belief shared by all the contributors is that the Roman empire is best understood from the standpoint of the Mediterranean world looking in to Rome, rather than from Rome looking out. The chapters focus on the development of political institutions in Rome itself and in her empire, and on the nature of the relationship between Rome and her provincial subjects. They also discuss historiographical approaches to different kinds of source material, literary and documentary — including the major Roman historians, the evidence for the pre-Roman near east, and the Christian writers of later antiquity. The book reflects the immense complexity of the political and cultural history of the ancient Mediterranean, from the late Republic to the age of Augustine.
AMÉLIE KUHRT
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264010
- eISBN:
- 9780191734946
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264010.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This chapter examines how an historian of the ancient Near East sets about reconstructing a picture of the past using material of great diversity in terms of type and historical value. It ...
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This chapter examines how an historian of the ancient Near East sets about reconstructing a picture of the past using material of great diversity in terms of type and historical value. It demonstrates this approach by considering the figure of the Achaemenid king, Cyrus II ‘the Great’ of Persia. The discussion begins by creating a conventional image of the king and consolidating it. It then analyses the evidence that has been used to strengthen the picture and presents some historical realities. The basis for the standard picture of Cyrus the Great is provided by material in classical writers and the Old Testament. Cyrus introduced a new policy of religious toleration together with active support for local cults, exemplified by the permission he granted to the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple, with generous funding from central government. The chapter also considers the date for Cyrus' defeat of the Median king Astyages (550), as well as his conquest of Babylon itself.Less
This chapter examines how an historian of the ancient Near East sets about reconstructing a picture of the past using material of great diversity in terms of type and historical value. It demonstrates this approach by considering the figure of the Achaemenid king, Cyrus II ‘the Great’ of Persia. The discussion begins by creating a conventional image of the king and consolidating it. It then analyses the evidence that has been used to strengthen the picture and presents some historical realities. The basis for the standard picture of Cyrus the Great is provided by material in classical writers and the Old Testament. Cyrus introduced a new policy of religious toleration together with active support for local cults, exemplified by the permission he granted to the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple, with generous funding from central government. The chapter also considers the date for Cyrus' defeat of the Median king Astyages (550), as well as his conquest of Babylon itself.
Bernard A. Knapp
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199237371
- eISBN:
- 9780191717208
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199237371.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
This chapter provides an island history of Bronze Age and early Iron Age Cyprus, discussing at length all published documentary evidence related to Alashiya, Ku‐pi‐ri‐jo, and Iadnana (Neo‐Assyrian ...
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This chapter provides an island history of Bronze Age and early Iron Age Cyprus, discussing at length all published documentary evidence related to Alashiya, Ku‐pi‐ri‐jo, and Iadnana (Neo‐Assyrian cuneiform texts). Whilst specific focus falls on issues of identity, the more general intention is to situate Cyprus in its eastern Mediterranean context. Each section — on economy, society, and polity — provides commentary on the material dimensions of the textual evidence; a general historical overview concludes the chapter. Given converging streams of evidence, it is argued that Late Bronze Age Cyprus was centrally organized — politically and economically — under a ruling class that had adopted a coherent ideological and symbolic repertoire of material paraphernalia to signal their identity, within and beyond the island. The documentary evidence related to Alashiya demonstrates a role so pervasive and influential in the international world of the eastern Mediterranean and the Near East at this time that it is difficult to see how its king would not have controlled the entire island.Less
This chapter provides an island history of Bronze Age and early Iron Age Cyprus, discussing at length all published documentary evidence related to Alashiya, Ku‐pi‐ri‐jo, and Iadnana (Neo‐Assyrian cuneiform texts). Whilst specific focus falls on issues of identity, the more general intention is to situate Cyprus in its eastern Mediterranean context. Each section — on economy, society, and polity — provides commentary on the material dimensions of the textual evidence; a general historical overview concludes the chapter. Given converging streams of evidence, it is argued that Late Bronze Age Cyprus was centrally organized — politically and economically — under a ruling class that had adopted a coherent ideological and symbolic repertoire of material paraphernalia to signal their identity, within and beyond the island. The documentary evidence related to Alashiya demonstrates a role so pervasive and influential in the international world of the eastern Mediterranean and the Near East at this time that it is difficult to see how its king would not have controlled the entire island.
Fiona Coward
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264522
- eISBN:
- 9780191734724
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264522.003.0021
- Subject:
- Psychology, Evolutionary Psychology
The cognitive, psychological and sociological mechanisms underpinning complex social relationships among small groups are a part of our primate heritage. However, among human groups, relationships ...
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The cognitive, psychological and sociological mechanisms underpinning complex social relationships among small groups are a part of our primate heritage. However, among human groups, relationships persist over much greater temporal and spatial scales, often in the physical absence of one or other of the individuals themselves. This chapter examines how such individual face-to-face social interactions were ‘scaled up’ during human evolution to the regional and global networks characteristic of modern societies. One recent suggestion has been that a radical change in human sociality occurred with the shift to sedentary and agricultural societies in the early Neolithic. The discussion presents the results of a focused study of the long-term development of regional social networks in the Near East, using the distribution of different forms of material culture as a proxy for the social relationships that underpinned processes of trade, exchange and the dissemination of material culture practices.Less
The cognitive, psychological and sociological mechanisms underpinning complex social relationships among small groups are a part of our primate heritage. However, among human groups, relationships persist over much greater temporal and spatial scales, often in the physical absence of one or other of the individuals themselves. This chapter examines how such individual face-to-face social interactions were ‘scaled up’ during human evolution to the regional and global networks characteristic of modern societies. One recent suggestion has been that a radical change in human sociality occurred with the shift to sedentary and agricultural societies in the early Neolithic. The discussion presents the results of a focused study of the long-term development of regional social networks in the Near East, using the distribution of different forms of material culture as a proxy for the social relationships that underpinned processes of trade, exchange and the dissemination of material culture practices.
Dennis Pardee
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264928
- eISBN:
- 9780191754104
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264928.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Asian and Middle Eastern History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter lays out the peculiarities of the Ugaritic language and hence of its peculiar contributions to our knowledge of the history of culture. It discusses the nature of the language and its ...
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This chapter lays out the peculiarities of the Ugaritic language and hence of its peculiar contributions to our knowledge of the history of culture. It discusses the nature of the language and its place within the languages of the ancient Near East, the nature of the writing system, and the nature of the Ugaritic texts that have been preserved.Less
This chapter lays out the peculiarities of the Ugaritic language and hence of its peculiar contributions to our knowledge of the history of culture. It discusses the nature of the language and its place within the languages of the ancient Near East, the nature of the writing system, and the nature of the Ugaritic texts that have been preserved.
M. WHITTOW
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264027
- eISBN:
- 9780191734908
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264027.003.0015
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
The story of Nicopolis ad Istrum and its citizens exemplifies much that is common to the urban history of the whole Roman Empire. This chapter reviews the history of Nicopolis and its transition into ...
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The story of Nicopolis ad Istrum and its citizens exemplifies much that is common to the urban history of the whole Roman Empire. This chapter reviews the history of Nicopolis and its transition into the small fortified site of the fifth to seventh centuries and compares it with the evidence from the Near East and Asia Minor. It argues that Nicopolis may not have experienced a cataclysm as has been suggested, and that, as in the fifth and sixth century west, where landowning elites showed a striking ability to adapt and survive, there was an important element of continuity on the lower Danube, which in turn may account for the distinctive ‘Roman’ element in the early medieval Bulgar state. It also suggests that the term ‘transition to Late Antiquity’ should be applied to what happened at Nicopolis in the third century: what happened there in the fifth was the transition to the middle ages. This chapter also describes late antique urbanism in the Balkans by focusing on the Justiniana Prima site.Less
The story of Nicopolis ad Istrum and its citizens exemplifies much that is common to the urban history of the whole Roman Empire. This chapter reviews the history of Nicopolis and its transition into the small fortified site of the fifth to seventh centuries and compares it with the evidence from the Near East and Asia Minor. It argues that Nicopolis may not have experienced a cataclysm as has been suggested, and that, as in the fifth and sixth century west, where landowning elites showed a striking ability to adapt and survive, there was an important element of continuity on the lower Danube, which in turn may account for the distinctive ‘Roman’ element in the early medieval Bulgar state. It also suggests that the term ‘transition to Late Antiquity’ should be applied to what happened at Nicopolis in the third century: what happened there in the fifth was the transition to the middle ages. This chapter also describes late antique urbanism in the Balkans by focusing on the Justiniana Prima site.
Harriet Crawford
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263907
- eISBN:
- 9780191734687
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263907.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Asian and Middle Eastern History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter explains the coverage of this book, which is about regime change in the ancient Near East and Egypt. It examines the dynastic change and institutional administration in southern ...
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This chapter explains the coverage of this book, which is about regime change in the ancient Near East and Egypt. It examines the dynastic change and institutional administration in southern Mesopotamia in the third millennium BCE, the social change and the transition from the Third Dynasty of Ur to the Old Babylonian kingdoms, and the role of Islamic art as a symbol of power. It explores regime change in Iraq from the Mongols to the present.Less
This chapter explains the coverage of this book, which is about regime change in the ancient Near East and Egypt. It examines the dynastic change and institutional administration in southern Mesopotamia in the third millennium BCE, the social change and the transition from the Third Dynasty of Ur to the Old Babylonian kingdoms, and the role of Islamic art as a symbol of power. It explores regime change in Iraq from the Mongols to the present.
Denis J. Murphy
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199207145
- eISBN:
- 9780191708893
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199207145.003.0008
- Subject:
- Biology, Plant Sciences and Forestry
This chapter is concerned with the emergence and spread of the major crop groups from their centres of origin in Eurasia, Africa, and the Americas. Although the initial domestication of some crops ...
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This chapter is concerned with the emergence and spread of the major crop groups from their centres of origin in Eurasia, Africa, and the Americas. Although the initial domestication of some crops was sometimes rapid, with non-shattering large seed varieties often appearing within a few decades of cultivation, their subsequent spread across a wider region was relatively slow. In the Near East, domesticated forms of barley and wheat only gradually supplanted wild forms over a 2,500-year period after 10,000 BP. Rice was domesticated before 10,000 BP, but did not become a widespread dietary staple in east Asia until 7,000 BP. Mesoamericans domesticated maize before 9,000 BP, but large cob varieties did not appear until 3,000 BP.Less
This chapter is concerned with the emergence and spread of the major crop groups from their centres of origin in Eurasia, Africa, and the Americas. Although the initial domestication of some crops was sometimes rapid, with non-shattering large seed varieties often appearing within a few decades of cultivation, their subsequent spread across a wider region was relatively slow. In the Near East, domesticated forms of barley and wheat only gradually supplanted wild forms over a 2,500-year period after 10,000 BP. Rice was domesticated before 10,000 BP, but did not become a widespread dietary staple in east Asia until 7,000 BP. Mesoamericans domesticated maize before 9,000 BP, but large cob varieties did not appear until 3,000 BP.
David P. Wright
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195304756
- eISBN:
- 9780199866830
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195304756.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Most scholars believe that the numerous similarities between the Covenant Code (Exodus 20:23–23:19) and Mesopotamian law collections, especially the Laws of Hammurabi, which date to around 1750 BCE, ...
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Most scholars believe that the numerous similarities between the Covenant Code (Exodus 20:23–23:19) and Mesopotamian law collections, especially the Laws of Hammurabi, which date to around 1750 BCE, are due to oral tradition that extended from the second to the first millennium. This book offers a new understanding of the Covenant Code, arguing that it depends directly and primarily upon the Laws of Hammurabi and that the use of this source text occurred during the Neo-Assyrian period, sometime between 740–640 BCE, when Mesopotamia exerted strong and continuous political and cultural influence over the kingdoms of Israel and Judah and a time when the Laws of Hammurabi were actively copied in Mesopotamia as a literary-canonical text. The study offers significant new evidence demonstrating that a model of literary dependence is the only viable explanation for the work. It further examines the compositional logic used in transforming the source text to produce the Covenant Code, thus providing a commentary to the biblical composition from the new theoretical perspective. This analysis shows that the Covenant Code is primarily a creative academic work by scribes rather than a repository of laws practiced by Israelites or Judeans over the course of their history. The Covenant Code, too, is an ideological work, which transformed a paradigmatic and prestigious legal text of Israel's and Judah's imperial overlords into a statement symbolically countering foreign hegemony. The study goes further to study the relationship of the Covenant Code to the narrative of the book of Exodus and explores how this may relate to the development of the Pentateuch as a whole.Less
Most scholars believe that the numerous similarities between the Covenant Code (Exodus 20:23–23:19) and Mesopotamian law collections, especially the Laws of Hammurabi, which date to around 1750 BCE, are due to oral tradition that extended from the second to the first millennium. This book offers a new understanding of the Covenant Code, arguing that it depends directly and primarily upon the Laws of Hammurabi and that the use of this source text occurred during the Neo-Assyrian period, sometime between 740–640 BCE, when Mesopotamia exerted strong and continuous political and cultural influence over the kingdoms of Israel and Judah and a time when the Laws of Hammurabi were actively copied in Mesopotamia as a literary-canonical text. The study offers significant new evidence demonstrating that a model of literary dependence is the only viable explanation for the work. It further examines the compositional logic used in transforming the source text to produce the Covenant Code, thus providing a commentary to the biblical composition from the new theoretical perspective. This analysis shows that the Covenant Code is primarily a creative academic work by scribes rather than a repository of laws practiced by Israelites or Judeans over the course of their history. The Covenant Code, too, is an ideological work, which transformed a paradigmatic and prestigious legal text of Israel's and Judah's imperial overlords into a statement symbolically countering foreign hegemony. The study goes further to study the relationship of the Covenant Code to the narrative of the book of Exodus and explores how this may relate to the development of the Pentateuch as a whole.
Zvi Ben‐Dor Benite
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195307337
- eISBN:
- 9780199867868
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195307337.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter presents the historical circumstances that gave birth to the story of the Ten Lost Tribes in the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. The two most important elements in this chapter are the ...
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This chapter presents the historical circumstances that gave birth to the story of the Ten Lost Tribes in the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. The two most important elements in this chapter are the imperial deportations and the prophetic culture that “processed” them into a divine punishment understood to be an overall exile of an entire nation. The chapter tells how the rise of the Assyrian Empire to world dominance during the 8th century BCE resulted in the destruction of the Israelite kingdom in Northern ancient Palestine and the deportation of several tens of thousands of its subjects to the eastern provinces of the Empire. This was an uncommon occurrence in the ancient Near East as other small kingdom and nations were deported as well. However, this particular deportation was recorded in the Bible. The chapter then describes how prophets in Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judea‐most notably Hosea, Amos, and Isaiah turned the deportation into a divine punishment enacted by God through Assyria. Most crucially, Isaiah (and he was followed by other prophets such as Jeremiah and Ezekiel) promised that the tribes would return. When they did not, their search began.Less
This chapter presents the historical circumstances that gave birth to the story of the Ten Lost Tribes in the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. The two most important elements in this chapter are the imperial deportations and the prophetic culture that “processed” them into a divine punishment understood to be an overall exile of an entire nation. The chapter tells how the rise of the Assyrian Empire to world dominance during the 8th century BCE resulted in the destruction of the Israelite kingdom in Northern ancient Palestine and the deportation of several tens of thousands of its subjects to the eastern provinces of the Empire. This was an uncommon occurrence in the ancient Near East as other small kingdom and nations were deported as well. However, this particular deportation was recorded in the Bible. The chapter then describes how prophets in Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judea‐most notably Hosea, Amos, and Isaiah turned the deportation into a divine punishment enacted by God through Assyria. Most crucially, Isaiah (and he was followed by other prophets such as Jeremiah and Ezekiel) promised that the tribes would return. When they did not, their search began.
David P. Wright
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195304756
- eISBN:
- 9780199866830
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195304756.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This introduction provides an overview to the comparative study of the Covenant Code and Mesopotamian law, particularly the Laws of Hammurabi. It provides a summary of the argument of the book and ...
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This introduction provides an overview to the comparative study of the Covenant Code and Mesopotamian law, particularly the Laws of Hammurabi. It provides a summary of the argument of the book and contrasts the views of other recent academic studies, including those of Eckart Otto, Raymond Westbrook, Ludger Schwienhort-Schönberger, Ralf Rothenbusch, and Bernard Jackson. It also discusses methodological questions and problems arising in the comparative study of Near Eastern law, including similarities as proof of literary borrowing and the "hermaneutics of legal innovation" (as pioneered by Bernard Levinson) or compositional logic of the text.Less
This introduction provides an overview to the comparative study of the Covenant Code and Mesopotamian law, particularly the Laws of Hammurabi. It provides a summary of the argument of the book and contrasts the views of other recent academic studies, including those of Eckart Otto, Raymond Westbrook, Ludger Schwienhort-Schönberger, Ralf Rothenbusch, and Bernard Jackson. It also discusses methodological questions and problems arising in the comparative study of Near Eastern law, including similarities as proof of literary borrowing and the "hermaneutics of legal innovation" (as pioneered by Bernard Levinson) or compositional logic of the text.
Richard S. Briggs
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195383355
- eISBN:
- 9780199870561
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195383355.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, History of Christianity
This chapter looks at the issues occupying the interpretation of Genesis at the time of Darwin and notes that the impact of the discovery of ancient Near Eastern creation accounts came at more or ...
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This chapter looks at the issues occupying the interpretation of Genesis at the time of Darwin and notes that the impact of the discovery of ancient Near Eastern creation accounts came at more or less the same time as the impact of Darwin's writing. As a result, the interpretation of Genesis could operate within two completely different hermeneutical frameworks, neither of which was directly linked to the plain-sense concerns of the Genesis text. A variety of examples of interpreting Genesis in the light of ancient Near Eastern texts is explored, seeking to demonstrate that there is a variety of ways in which hermeneutical benefit may be derived from reading a text in the light of other concerns, and a similar case is then made with respect to the hermeneutics of reading Genesis after Darwin.Less
This chapter looks at the issues occupying the interpretation of Genesis at the time of Darwin and notes that the impact of the discovery of ancient Near Eastern creation accounts came at more or less the same time as the impact of Darwin's writing. As a result, the interpretation of Genesis could operate within two completely different hermeneutical frameworks, neither of which was directly linked to the plain-sense concerns of the Genesis text. A variety of examples of interpreting Genesis in the light of ancient Near Eastern texts is explored, seeking to demonstrate that there is a variety of ways in which hermeneutical benefit may be derived from reading a text in the light of other concerns, and a similar case is then made with respect to the hermeneutics of reading Genesis after Darwin.
E. W. Heaton
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780198263623
- eISBN:
- 9780191601156
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198263627.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
The presuppositions of the comfortable outlook – ‘God’s in his heaven: All’s right with the world’ – had been questioned from time to time over the centuries, but Job and Ecclesiastes are the only ...
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The presuppositions of the comfortable outlook – ‘God’s in his heaven: All’s right with the world’ – had been questioned from time to time over the centuries, but Job and Ecclesiastes are the only major works in the Old Testament deliberately undertaken to articulate the doubt and debate then current in the Israeli schools. They are generally thought to come from the fifth or fourth and third centuries BC respectively, but there is no evidence to support the speculation that it was at this period that the age-old conflict between the theories of the theologians and the facts of life became more than usually acute. The two parts of the chapter look first at doubt, disaster, despair and pessimism in Job and then at the same attitudes in Ecclesiastes, and in doing so make comparisons between the two books. The Egyptian and Babylonian precedents to passages in Job suggest that its author is writing within a convention well established in the circles of schoolmen of the Ancient Near East, rather than presenting actual experiences, and the sustained protest of Job’s speeches challenges the two principal (and contradictory) dogmas that had become fossilized in the Israeli school tradition: ‘God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform’, and ‘God’s way in the world is not in the least mysterious and may be traced in the prosperity of the righteous and the suffering of the wicked’. Any interpretation of Ecclesiastes, who like Job was a literary stylist, must give due weight to the fact that he was a teacher, but the application of doleful description in the body of the work is discriminating, and probably represents his thought.Less
The presuppositions of the comfortable outlook – ‘God’s in his heaven: All’s right with the world’ – had been questioned from time to time over the centuries, but Job and Ecclesiastes are the only major works in the Old Testament deliberately undertaken to articulate the doubt and debate then current in the Israeli schools. They are generally thought to come from the fifth or fourth and third centuries BC respectively, but there is no evidence to support the speculation that it was at this period that the age-old conflict between the theories of the theologians and the facts of life became more than usually acute. The two parts of the chapter look first at doubt, disaster, despair and pessimism in Job and then at the same attitudes in Ecclesiastes, and in doing so make comparisons between the two books. The Egyptian and Babylonian precedents to passages in Job suggest that its author is writing within a convention well established in the circles of schoolmen of the Ancient Near East, rather than presenting actual experiences, and the sustained protest of Job’s speeches challenges the two principal (and contradictory) dogmas that had become fossilized in the Israeli school tradition: ‘God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform’, and ‘God’s way in the world is not in the least mysterious and may be traced in the prosperity of the righteous and the suffering of the wicked’. Any interpretation of Ecclesiastes, who like Job was a literary stylist, must give due weight to the fact that he was a teacher, but the application of doleful description in the body of the work is discriminating, and probably represents his thought.
Sacha Stern
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198270348
- eISBN:
- 9780191600753
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198270348.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Ancient sources including the books of Enoch and Jubilees, Qumran and related literature, Philo, Josephus, Graeco‐Roman, and early Christian sources, reveal that a variety of solar and lunar ...
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Ancient sources including the books of Enoch and Jubilees, Qumran and related literature, Philo, Josephus, Graeco‐Roman, and early Christian sources, reveal that a variety of solar and lunar calendars were used by Jews in the second century b.c.—first century c.e. From the first century c.e., however, lunar calendars became the norm throughout the Jewish world. This stands in contrast with the development of non‐Jewish calendars in the Roman Empire, and especially in the Roman Near East: after the arrival of the Romans, the lunar, Seleucid calendar was generally abandoned in favour of solar calendars modelled on the Julian. Thus the Jewish lunar calendar would appear to have become, in the context of the Roman Empire, a marker of Jewish identity and distinctiveness.Less
Ancient sources including the books of Enoch and Jubilees, Qumran and related literature, Philo, Josephus, Graeco‐Roman, and early Christian sources, reveal that a variety of solar and lunar calendars were used by Jews in the second century b.c.—first century c.e. From the first century c.e., however, lunar calendars became the norm throughout the Jewish world. This stands in contrast with the development of non‐Jewish calendars in the Roman Empire, and especially in the Roman Near East: after the arrival of the Romans, the lunar, Seleucid calendar was generally abandoned in favour of solar calendars modelled on the Julian. Thus the Jewish lunar calendar would appear to have become, in the context of the Roman Empire, a marker of Jewish identity and distinctiveness.
