RELS 203/303 Ancient Religion: Egypt to Mesopotamia
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Asherah in the Hebrew Bible and Northwest Semitic Literature Author(S): John Day Source: Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol
Asherah in the Hebrew Bible and Northwest Semitic Literature Author(s): John Day Source: Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 105, No. 3 (Sep., 1986), pp. 385-408 Published by: The Society of Biblical Literature Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3260509 . Accessed: 11/05/2013 22:44 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The Society of Biblical Literature is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of Biblical Literature. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 143.207.2.50 on Sat, 11 May 2013 22:44:00 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions JBL 105/3 (1986) 385-408 ASHERAH IN THE HEBREW BIBLE AND NORTHWEST SEMITIC LITERATURE* JOHN DAY Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University, England, OX2 6QA The late lamented Mitchell Dahood was noted for the use he made of the Ugaritic and other Northwest Semitic texts in the interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. Although many of his views are open to question, it is indisputable that the Ugaritic and other Northwest Semitic texts have revolutionized our understanding of the Bible. One matter in which this is certainly the case is the subject of this paper, Asherah.' Until the discovery of the Ugaritic texts in 1929 and subsequent years it was common for scholars to deny the very existence of the goddess Asherah, whether in or outside the Bible, and many of those who did accept her existence wrongly equated her with Astarte. -
Functions and Uses of Egyptian Myth Fonctions Et Usages Du Mythe Égyptien
Revue de l’histoire des religions 4 | 2018 Qu’est-ce qu’un mythe égyptien ? Functions and Uses of Egyptian Myth Fonctions et usages du mythe égyptien Katja Goebs and John Baines Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/rhr/9334 DOI: 10.4000/rhr.9334 ISSN: 2105-2573 Publisher Armand Colin Printed version Date of publication: 1 December 2018 Number of pages: 645-681 ISBN: 978-2-200-93200-8 ISSN: 0035-1423 Electronic reference Katja Goebs and John Baines, “Functions and Uses of Egyptian Myth”, Revue de l’histoire des religions [Online], 4 | 2018, Online since 01 December 2020, connection on 13 January 2021. URL: http:// journals.openedition.org/rhr/9334 ; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/rhr.9334 Tous droits réservés KATJA GOEBS / JOHN BAINES University of Toronto / University of Oxford Functions and Uses of Egyptian Myth* This article discusses functions and uses of myth in ancient Egypt as a contribution to comparative research. Applications of myth are reviewed in order to present a basic general typology of usages: from political, scholarly, ritual, and medical applications, through incorporation in images, to linguistic and literary exploitations. In its range of function and use, Egyptian myth is similar to that of other civilizations, except that written narratives appear to have developed relatively late. The many attested forms and uses underscore its flexibility, which has entailed many interpretations starting with assessments of the Osiris myth reported by Plutarch (2nd century AD). Myths conceptualize, describe, explain, and control the world, and they were adapted to an ever-changing reality. Fonctions et usages du mythe égyptien Cet article discute les fonctions et les usages du mythe en Égypte ancienne dans une perspective comparatiste et passe en revue ses applications, afin de proposer une typologie générale de ses usages – applications politiques, érudites, rituelles et médicales, incorporation dans des images, exploitation linguistique et littéraire. -
Idolatry in the Ancient Near East1
Idolatry in the Ancient Near East1 Ancient Near Eastern Pantheons Ammonite Pantheon The chief god was Moloch/Molech/Milcom. Assyrian Pantheon The chief god was Asshur. Babylonian Pantheon At Lagash - Anu, the god of heaven and his wife Antu. At Eridu - Enlil, god of earth who was later succeeded by Marduk, and his wife Damkina. Marduk was their son. Other gods included: Sin, the moon god; Ningal, wife of Sin; Ishtar, the fertility goddess and her husband Tammuz; Allatu, goddess of the underworld ocean; Nabu, the patron of science/learning and Nusku, god of fire. Canaanite Pantheon The Canaanites borrowed heavily from the Assyrians. According to Ugaritic literature, the Canaanite pantheon was headed by El, the creator god, whose wife was Asherah. Their offspring were Baal, Anath (The OT indicates that Ashtoreth, a.k.a. Ishtar, was Baal’s wife), Mot & Ashtoreth. Dagon, Resheph, Shulman and Koshar were other gods of this pantheon. The cultic practices included animal sacrifices at high places; sacred groves, trees or carved wooden images of Asherah. Divination, snake worship and ritual prostitution were practiced. Sexual rites were supposed to ensure fertility of people, animals and lands. Edomite Pantheon The primary Edomite deity was Qos (a.k.a. Quas). Many Edomite personal names included Qos in the suffix much like YHWH is used in Hebrew names. Egyptian Pantheon2 Egyptian religion was never unified. Typically deities were prominent by locale. Only priests worshipped in the temples of the great gods and only when the gods were on parade did the populace get to worship them. These 'great gods' were treated like human kings by the priesthood: awakened in the morning with song; washed and dressed the image; served breakfast, lunch and dinner. -
The Relationship of Yahweh and El: a Study of Two Cults and Their Related Mythology
Wyatt, Nicolas (1976) The relationship of Yahweh and El: a study of two cults and their related mythology. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2160/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] .. ýýý,. The relationship of Yahweh and Ell. a study of two cults and their related mythology. Nicolas Wyatt ý; ý. A thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy rin the " ®artänont of Ssbrwr and Semitic languages in the University of Glasgow. October 1976. ý ý . u.: ý. _, ý 1 I 'Preface .. tee.. This thesis is the result of work done in the Department of Hebrew and ': eraitia Langusgee, under the supervision of Professor John rdacdonald, during the period 1970-1976. No and part of It was done in collaboration, the views expressed are entirely my own. r. .e I should like to express my thanks to the followings Professor John Macdonald, for his assistance and encouragement; Dr. John Frye of the Univeritty`of the"Witwatersrandy who read parts of the thesis and offered comments and criticism; in and to my wife, whose task was hardest of all, that she typed the thesis, coping with the peculiarities of both my style and my handwriting. -
Proof-Of-Concept Experiments for Quantum Physics in Space
Proof-of-Concept Experiments for Quantum Physics in Space Rainer Kaltenbaek, Markus Aspelmeyer, Thomas Jennewein, Caslav Brukner and Anton Zeilinger Institut f¨ur Experimentalphysik, Universit¨at Wien, Boltzmanngasse 5, A-1090 Wien, Austria Martin Pfennigbauer and Walter R. Leeb Institut f¨ur Nachrichtentechnik und Hochfrequenztechnik, Technische Universit¨at Wien, Gußhaussstraße 25/389, A-1040 Wien, Austria Quantum physics experiments in space using entangled photons and satellites are within reach of current technology. We propose a series of fundamental quantum physics experiments that make advantageous use of the space infrastructure with specific emphasis on the satellite-based distribution of entangled photon pairs. The experiments are feasible already today and will eventually lead to a Bell-experiment over thousands of kilometers, thus demonstrating quantum correlations over distances which cannot be achieved by purely earth-bound experiments. I. INTRODUCTION Space provides a unique ”lab”-environment for quantum entanglement: In the case of massive particles, the weak gravitational interaction enables the expansion of testing fundamental quantum properties to much more massive particles than is possible today [1]. In the case of photons, the space environment allows much larger propagation distances compared to earth-bound free space experiments. This is mainly due to the lack of atmosphere and due to the fact that space links do not encounter the problem of obscured line-of-sight by unwanted objects or due to the curvature of the Earth. Quantum experiments over long distances are usually based on the transmission of photons. Earth-based transmission is limited, however, to some hundred kilometers both for optical fibers [2, 3] and for ground-to-ground free-space links [4]. -
Babylonian Populations, Servility, and Cuneiform Records
Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 60 (2017) 715-787 brill.com/jesh Babylonian Populations, Servility, and Cuneiform Records Jonathan S. Tenney Cornell University [email protected] Abstract To date, servility and servile systems in Babylonia have been explored with the tradi- tional lexical approach of Assyriology. If one examines servility as an aggregate phe- nomenon, these subjects can be investigated on a much larger scale with quantitative approaches. Using servile populations as a point of departure, this paper applies both quantitative and qualitative methods to explore Babylonian population dynamics in general; especially morbidity, mortality, and ages at which Babylonians experienced important life events. As such, it can be added to the handful of publications that have sought basic demographic data in the cuneiform record, and therefore has value to those scholars who are also interested in migration and settlement. It suggests that the origins of servile systems in Babylonia can be explained with the Nieboer-Domar hy- pothesis, which proposes that large-scale systems of bondage will arise in regions with * This was written in honor, thanks, and recognition of McGuire Gibson’s efforts to impart a sense of the influence of aggregate population behavior on Mesopotamian development, notably in his 1973 article “Population Shift and the Rise of Mesopotamian Civilization”. As an Assyriology student who was searching texts for answers to similar questions, I have occasionally found myself in uncharted waters. Mac’s encouragement helped me get past my discomfort, find the data, and put words on the page. The necessity of assembling Mesopotamian “demographic” measures was something made clear to me by the M.A.S.S. -
Iam YAM As Hayah Part2
YaHshua servant's Home Page // About Us IAM or YAM (haYaH) I AM or YAM? Part 2 of 3 (Part 3) (Part 1) By Your servant, Dan Baxley www.servantsofyahshua.com www.yahshuaservant.com Special Note from the author of this article: I would like to make it plain that this article is covering a new look at the "IAM that IAM" and the Greek influence upon the Hebrew Scriptures and no one, that is, NO ONE, is making this observation. This is not a point of "salvation", and it is not an absolute and I admit to this being my own speculation and even guessing in some places to make my point. Scripture is always first and it is the scriptures you should be most attune to not the ranting of someone like me with a new "theory" to push. But I do find this observation concerning IAM that IAM interesting and worth a look. First you need to know that there is a Hebrew Bible avoiding the use of our Creator's Name but put some kind of "holy" value on their substitution, replacing His Holy Name just as those have replace His Name, YHWH, with the term, LORD, so these Jews have replace His Name with this term -- HASHEM. What does HaSHEM mean, it means and is to say, THE NAME. I hope you can understand the following example. This is not speculation, that comes later in seen the IAM or YAM as another form of revelation concerning our Creator, and Savior. HaShem = The Name IAM = HaYaH = The YaH Knowing and understanding that our God and Savior has a personal Name and that the God of Israel also has a Personal Name we can look at the Hebrew Scriptures and the correct wording, without the Greek, and we come up with the Hebrew "ha" for the Greek "I" and the Hebrew YaH in place of the Greek for "AM". -
THE SUPREMACY of BA'al OVER MOT in UGARITIC CYCLE of COSMOGONIC MYTHS and ITS INFLUENCE on the OLD TESTAMENT Interprets the Bi
AJBT. Volume 21(6). February 9, 2020 THE SUPREMACY OF BA‘AL OVER MOT IN UGARITIC CYCLE OF COSMOGONIC MYTHS AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE OLD TESTAMENT Abstract The supremacy of Ba‘al over Mot in Ugaritic Cycle of Cosmogonic Myths was a prominent tradition within the world of the ancient Near East. This custom projects Ba‘al as the god of fertility and rain, but Mot as that of death and underworld. Since the world of the time was agrarian, most of the peoples involved in the worship of Ba‘al for bumper harvests but cast aspersion on Mot. The paper, therefore, claims that the incessant drifting away by ancient Israel from Yahweh for the worship of Ba‘al was on account of this cultural influence from the surrounding nations. The paper employed the canonical approach which interprets the biblical text in its canonical context, to analyse the influence of this type in the OT setting. In this direction, the writer examined ancient Ugarit from the perspective of archaeology. The paper also considered lexical analyses of the concepts of “Ba‘al” and “Mot” from the general worldview of the ancient world, especially within the cultural understanding of the people of Israel. The basis of this analysis was to identify possible supremacy of Ba‘al over Mot, the god of the dead. The writer finally investigated the possible areas of influence and the paper identified the following elements, namely, naming off some towns and cities after Ba‘al within the geographical locations of ancient Israel, worship of Ba‘al beginning from Israel’s contact with the Moabites in the wilderness and throughout the Judges and prevalence of Ba‘al worship during the United Kingdom and the time of Monarchy. -
CLEAR II Egyptian Mythology and Religion Packet by Jeremy Hixson 1. According to Chapter 112 of the
CLEAR II Egyptian Mythology and Religion Packet by Jeremy Hixson 1. According to Chapter 112 of the Book of the Dead, two of these deities were charged with ending a storm at the city of Pe, and the next chapter assigns the other two of these deities to the city of Nekhen. The Pyramid Texts describe these gods as bearing Osiris's body to the heavens and, in the Middle Kingdom, the names of these deities were placed on the corner pillars of coffins. Maarten Raven has argued that the association of these gods with the intestines developed later from their original function, as gods of the four quarters of the world. Isis was both their mother and grandmother. For 10 points, consisting of Qebehsenuef, Imsety, Duamutef, and Hapi, the protectors of the organs stored in the canopic jars which bear their heads, these are what group of deities, the progeny of a certain falconheaded god? ANSWER: Sons of Horus [or Children of Horus; accept logical equivalents] 2. According to Plutarch, the proSpartan Kimon sent a delegation with a secret mission to this deity, though he died before its completion, prompting the priest to inform his men that Kimon was already with this deity. Pausanias says that Pindar offered a statue of this god carved by Kalamis in Thebes and Pythian IV includes Medea's prediction that "the daughter of Epaphus will one day be planted... amid the foundations" of this god in Libya. Every ten days a cult statue of this god was transported to Medinet Habu in western Thebes, where he had first created the world by fertilizing the world egg. -
G:\Lists Periodicals\Periodical Lists B\BIFAO.Wpd
Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale Past and present members of the staff of the Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Statues, Stelae, Reliefs and Paintings, especially R. L. B. Moss and E. W. Burney, have taken part in the analysis of this periodical and the preparation of this list at the Griffith Institute, University of Oxford This pdf version (situation on 14 July 2010): Jaromir Malek (Editor), Diana Magee, Elizabeth Fleming and Alison Hobby (Assistants to the Editor) Clédat in BIFAO i (1901), 21-3 fig. 1 Meir. B.2. Ukh-hotep. iv.250(8)-(9) Top register, Beja herdsman. Clédat in BIFAO i (1901), 21-3 fig. 2 Meir. B.2. Ukh-hotep. iv.250(4)-(5) Lower part, Beja herdsman. Clédat in BIFAO i (1901), 21-3 fig. 3 Meir. B.2. Ukh-hotep. iv.250(8)-(9) III, Beja holding on to boat. Salmon in BIFAO i (1901), pl. opp. 72 El-Faiyûm. iv.96 Plan. Clédat in BIFAO i (1901), 88-9 Meir. Miscellaneous. Statues. iv.257 Fragment of statue of Ukh-hotep. Clédat in BIFAO i (1901), 89 [4] El-Qûs.îya. (Cusae) iv.258A Block of Djehutardais, probably Dyn. XXX. Clédat in BIFAO i (1901), 90 [top] Text El-Qûs.îya. Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Statues, Stelae, Reliefs and Paintings Griffith Institute, Sackler Library, 1 St John Street, Oxford OX1 2LG, United Kingdom [email protected] 2 iv.258 Fragment of lintel. Clédat in BIFAO i (1901), 92-3 Cartouches and texts Gebel Abû Fôda. -
The Lost Book of Enki.Pdf
L0ST BOOK °f6NK1 ZECHARIA SITCHIN author of The 12th Planet • . FICTION/MYTHOLOGY $24.00 TH6 LOST BOOK OF 6NK! Will the past become our future? Is humankind destined to repeat the events that occurred on another planet, far away from Earth? Zecharia Sitchin’s bestselling series, The Earth Chronicles, provided humanity’s side of the story—as recorded on ancient clay tablets and other Sumerian artifacts—concerning our origins at the hands of the Anunnaki, “those who from heaven to earth came.” In The Lost Book of Enki, we can view this saga from a dif- ferent perspective through this richly con- ceived autobiographical account of Lord Enki, an Anunnaki god, who tells the story of these extraterrestrials’ arrival on Earth from the 12th planet, Nibiru. The object of their colonization: gold to replenish the dying atmosphere of their home planet. Finding this precious metal results in the Anunnaki creation of homo sapiens—the human race—to mine this important resource. In his previous works, Sitchin com- piled the complete story of the Anunnaki ’s impact on human civilization in peacetime and in war from the frag- ments scattered throughout Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Hittite, Egyptian, Canaanite, and Hebrew sources- —the “myths” of all ancient peoples in the old world as well as the new. Missing from these accounts, however, was the perspective of the Anunnaki themselves What was life like on their own planet? What motives propelled them to settle on Earth—and what drove them from their new home? Convinced of the existence of a now lost book that formed the basis of THE lost book of ENKI MFMOHCS XND PKjOPHeCieS OF XN eXTfCXUfCWJTWXL COD 2.6CHXPJA SITCHIN Bear & Company Rochester, Vermont — Bear & Company One Park Street Rochester, Vermont 05767 www.InnerTraditions.com Copyright © 2002 by Zecharia Sitchin All rights reserved. -
The Mesopotamian Origins of Byzantine Symbolism and Early Christian Iconography
The Mesopotamian Origins of Byzantine Symbolism and Early Christian Iconography BY PAUL JOSEPH KRAUSE The eagle-god is a prominent iconographic symbol of ancient Mesopotamian religion which wielded tremendous power in the Mesopotamian imagination. The eagle-like gods of Mesopotamia eventually evolved into double-headed gods whose depictions became widespread in imperial and religious symbolism and iconography in Sumer and Akkad.1 These symbols now have common misapprehension as in the common public as being tied to Byzantine Empire of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Rather, the Byzantines most likely inherited these Mesopotamian symbols and employed them in a similar manner as the Sumerians, Akkadians, and Hittites did. Likewise, the iconographic symbols of the moon god Nanna-Sin, who had the power to render the fate of humans,2 re-appeared in early Christian iconography depicting Christ in the Last Judgment. To best understand the iconographic practices and symbols used by the Byzantine Empire and emerging early Christian Church is to understand the foundational contexts by which these symbols first arose and the common religious practice of transferring and re-dedicating prior religious shrines to new deities. “Today the Byzantine eagle flutters proudly from the flags of nations from Albania to Montenegro, and though each state has its local version of the church, the heritage they all bear 1 C.N. Deedes, “The Double-Headed God,” Folklore 46, no. 3 (1935): 197-200. 2 See Samuel Noah Kramer, The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971), 132; Georges Roux, Ancient Iraq (New York: Penguin Books, 1992), 88.