02 Spiritual Warfare God Is a Warrior Part I
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
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. -
Namzitara FS Kilmer
Offprint from STRINGS AND THREADS A Celebration of the Work of Anne Draffkorn Kilmer Edited by WOLFGANG HEIMPEL and GABRIELLA FRANTZ - SZABÓ Winona Lake, Indiana EISENBRAUNS 2011 © 2011 by Eisenbrauns Inc. All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America www.eisenbrauns.com Drawing on the cover and beneath the title on p. iii by Cornelia Wolff, Munich, after C. L. Wooley, Ur Excavations 2 (1934), 105. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Strings and threads : a celebration of the work of Anne Draffkorn Kilmer / edited by Wolfgang Heimpel and Gabriella Frantz-Szabó. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-57506-227-3 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Kilmer, Anne Draffkorn. 2. Music—Middle East—History and criticism. 3. Music archaeology— Middle East. I. Kilmer, Anne Draffkorn. II. Heimpel, Wolfgang. III. Frantz-Szabó, Gabriella. ML55.K55S77 2011 780.9—dc22 2011036676 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. †Ê Contents Preface .............................................................. vii Abbreviations ......................................................... ix GUITTY AZARPAY The Imagery of the Manichean ‘Call’ on a Sogdian Funerary Relief from China ................ 1 DOMINIQUE COLLON Chinless Wonders ................................ 19 JERROLD S. COOPER Puns and Prebends: The Tale of Enlil and Namzitara. 39 RICHARD L. CROCKER No Polyphony before A.D. 900! ...................... 45 DANIEL A. FOXVOG Aspects of Name-Giving in Presargonic Lagash ........ 59 JOHN CURTIS FRANKLIN “Sweet Psalmist of Israel”: The Kinnôr and Royal Ideology in the United Monarchy .............. 99 ELLEN HICKMANN Music Archaeology as a Field of Interdisciplinary Research ........................ -
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. -
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. -
Serpent Symbols and Salvation in the Ancient Near East and the Book of Mormon
Journal of Book of Mormon Studies Volume 10 Number 2 Article 8 7-31-2001 Serpent Symbols and Salvation in the Ancient Near East and the Book of Mormon Andrew C. Skinner Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Skinner, Andrew C. (2001) "Serpent Symbols and Salvation in the Ancient Near East and the Book of Mormon," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies: Vol. 10 : No. 2 , Article 8. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms/vol10/iss2/8 This Feature Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Book of Mormon Studies by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Title Serpent Symbols and Salvation in the Ancient Near East and the Book of Mormon Author(s) Andrew C. Skinner Reference Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 10/2 (2001): 42–55, 70–71. ISSN 1065-9366 (print), 2168-3158 (online) Abstract The serpent is often used to represent one of two things: Christ or Satan. This article synthesizes evi- dence from Egypt, Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, Greece, and Jerusalem to explain the reason for this duality. Many scholars suggest that the symbol of the serpent was used anciently to represent Jesus Christ but that Satan distorted the symbol, thereby creating this para- dox. The dual nature of the serpent is incorporated into the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Book of Mormon. erpent ymbols & SSalvation in the ancient near east and the book of mormon andrew c. -
God Among the Gods: an Analysis of the Function of Yahweh in the Divine Council of Deuteronomy 32 and Psalm 82
LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AND GRADUATE SCHOOL GOD AMONG THE GODS: AN ANALYSIS OF THE FUNCTION OF YAHWEH IN THE DIVINE COUNCIL OF DEUTERONOMY 32 AND PSALM 82 A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE SCHOOL OF RELIGION IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN RELIGIOUS STUDIES BY DANIEL PORTER LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA MAY 2010 The views expressed in this thesis do not necessarily represent the views of the institution and/or of the thesis readers. Copyright © 2010 by Daniel Porter All Rights Reserved. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To my wife, Mariel And My Parents, The Rev. Fred A. Porter and Drenda Porter Special thanks to Dr. Ed Hindson and Dr. Al Fuhr for their direction and advice through the course of this project. iii ABSTRACT The importance of the Ugaritic texts discovered in 1929 to ancient Near Eastern and Biblical Studies is one of constant debate. The Ugaritic texts offer a window into the cosmology that shaped the ancient Near East and Semitic religions. One of the profound concepts is the idea of a divine council and its function in maintaining order in the cosmos. Over this council sits a high god identified as El in the Ugaritic texts whose divine function is to maintain order in the divine realm as well on earth. Due to Ugarit‟s involvement in the ancient world and the text‟s representation of Canaanite cosmology, scholars have argued that the Ugaritic pantheon is evidenced in the Hebrew Bible where Yahweh appears in conjunction with other divine beings. Drawing on imagery from both the Ugaritic and Hebrew texts, scholars argue that Yahweh was not originally the high god of Israel, and the idea of “Yahweh alone” was a progression throughout the biblical record. -
Mesopotamian Mythology
MESOPOTAMIAN MYTHOLOGY The myths, epics, hymns, lamentations, penitential psalms, incantations, wisdom literature, and handbooks dealing with rituals and omens of ancient Mesopotamian. The literature that has survived from Mesopotamian was written primarily on stone or clay tablets. The production and preservation of written documents were the responsibility of scribes who were associated with the temples and the palace. A sharp distinction cannot be made between religious and secular writings. The function of the temple as a food redistribution center meant that even seemingly secular shipping receipts had a religious aspect. In a similar manner, laws were perceived as given by the gods. Accounts of the victories of the kings often were associated with the favor of the gods and written in praise of the gods. The gods were also involved in the established and enforcement of treaties between political powers of the day. A large group of texts related to the interpretations of omens has survived. Because it was felt that the will of the gods could be known through the signs that the gods revealed, care was taken to collect ominous signs and the events which they preached. If the signs were carefully observed, negative future events could be prevented by the performance of appropriate apotropaic rituals. Among the more prominent of the Texts are the shumma izbu texts (“if a fetus…”) which observe the birth of malformed young of both animals and humans. Later a similar series of texts observed the physical characteristics of any person. There are also omen observations to guide the physician in the diagnosis and treatment of patients. -
"Death Is Swallowed up in Victory" (1 Corinthians 15:54): Canaanite Mot in Prophecy and Apocalypse
"DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY" (1 CORINTHIANS 15:54): CANAANITE MOT IN PROPHECY AND APOCALYPSE BY ].F. HEALEY Manchester Since R. Bultmann introduced the term 'demythologization' into the discourse of biblical scholarship to refer to the theologicallkerygma tic project of stripping the New Testament of the cultural baggage of a mythopoeic world-view, it has come to be used also in the study of the way that biblical texts sometimes adopt 'mythic' themes while stripping them of the polytheistic implications of the pagan source from which they were borrowed. This approach to 'mythic' themes is, in my view, too simplistic and it implies far too radical a distinc tion between the pagan culture of the biblical world (polytheistic, myth-ridden, dominated by often immoral ritual, magic and demons) and the uniform monotheistic culture of ancient Israel and the New Testament (only one divine power, free of myth, sanitised and spir itualized ritual). The acceptance of this simplistic contrast is a conse quence of the uncritical acceptance of the official version of ancient Israelite religion presented in the Hebrew canon and of the ortho dox church understanding of the New Testament texts. In fact the (non-biblical) archaeological and epigraphic evidence suggests that the religious reality was not so simple. Temple orthodoxy may have frowned, but the average Israelite entertained a variety of gods and magical practices. In the early church, until orthodoxy asserted itself, the newly converted pagans continued, perhaps less enthusiastically, their devotion to other deities and certainly to magical practices derived from paganism. It is thus arguable that we should speak of'transmythologization', a term used by D.E. -
NABU 2021 1 Compilé 09 Corr DC
ISSN 0989-5671 2021 N° 1 (mars) NOTES BRÈVES 1) Ebla: how many years? — Essays on Ebla by the philologists who collaborate with the Archaeological Expedition to Ebla of the University of Rome – La Sapienza are published rather frequently, one after the other. They concern a society which is different in some way from those studied by other specialists of third millennium B.C. Ebla is something like a New World: personal names and many geographic names sound alien to these colleagues; some documentary forms are unusual; the lexicon coincides in large part, but not completely, with that of the Mesopotamian documents; Sumerian names are applied to local deities. No one can follow everything and must therefore rely (sometimes perhaps with a grain of salt) on what Eblaitologists say. Too many things are not as clear as one would wish, but this is what stimulates research. The situation becomes uncomfortable, however, if Eblaitologists disagree with each other on some basic features. This predicament is evident comparing the two essays, which in some way also concern Ebla, that appear in The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East I (K. Radner ed.), New York 2020, an opus intended to replace the glorious Cambridge Ancient History, as far as the Ancient Near East is concerned. V. Bartash, author of chapter 8, “The Early Dynastic Near East”, gives a concise picture of the Ebla state basing himself on the interpretations offered by the philologists of the Ebla Expedition (Bartash 2020: 579–583). P. Michalowski, author of chapter 10, “The kingdom -
1 Kings 17:1-24 “Introducing Elijahu”
1 Kings 17:1-24 “Introducing Elijahu” BAAL: Ancient Temple of BAAL in Palmyra, Syria: 1 Kings 17 – Introducing Elijahuu 1 This past Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015 satellite image provided by UNITAR-UNOSAT shows the main building of the ancient Temple of Bel in the Palmyra, Syria. The main building has been destroyed, a United Nations agency said on Monday, Aug. 31, 2015. The image was taken four days before a massive explosion was set off near the 2,000- year-old temple in the city occupied by Islamic State militants. 1 2 • Baal was the name of the supreme god worshiped in ancient Canaan and Phoenicia. The practice of Baal worship infiltrated Jewish religious life during the time of the Judges (Judges 3:7), became widespread in Israel during the reign of Ahab (1 Kings 16:31-33) and also affected Judah (2 Chronicles 28:1-2). • In general, Baal was a fertility god who was believed to enable the earth to produce crops and people to produce children. Different regions worshiped Baal in different ways, and Baal proved to be a highly adaptable god. Various locales emphasized one or another of his attributes and developed special 1 UrtheCast, UNITAR-UNOSAT via AP; (The Associated Press) 2 http://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/31/middleeast/palmyra-temple-damaged/index.html?eref=rss_middleeast “denominations” of Baalism. Baal of Peor (Numbers 25:3) and Baal-Berith (Judges 8:33) are two examples of such localized deities. 3 • According to Canaanite mythology, Baal was the son of El, the chief god, and Asherah, the goddess of the sea. -
A Synopsis of the Babylonian Creation Myth1 Fresh-Water
A Synopsis of the Babylonian Creation Myth1 Fresh-Water Apsu and Marine-Water Mummu-Tiamat com- mingled and produced the gods Lah.mu and Lah.amu Anshar and Kishar Sky Anu Nudimud = Earth and Water God Ea, “the all-wise” and Enki (Wisdom) They became one big noisy family! So noisy and dysfunc- tional that Father Apsu could not stand it. He wanted the two generations of the gods silenced — by killing them: Their ways are verily loathsome unto me. By day I find no relief, nor repose by night. I will destroy, I will wreck their ways, That quiet may be restored, Let us have rest!” Vizier Mummu advised: Do destroy, my father,” the mutinous ways. Then shalt thou have relief by day and rest at night! When Apsu heard this, his face grew radiant because of the evil he planned against the gods, his sons. But Ea, learning of Grandfather Apsu’s desire to silence/ eliminated the family, slew Apsu before Apsu could slay them. The murdered Apsu becomes Ea’s abode. The god Kingu (also called Weila) married “widow” Tiamat and inspired Tiamat to avenge Apsu’s death. Concurring with Kingu, Tiamat sought to destroy her offspring, so her children and grandchildren wanted to kill her before she can kill them. But Tiamat was too powerful for any or all of them until McDaniel Aug 2002 2 BABYLONIAN CREATION MYTH Marduk (“My son, the Sun! The Sun of the heavens”) was born of Ea and Daminkina. The mighty Marduk was strong enough to slay Tiamat. He used the four winds (Whirlwind, Hurricane, Cyclone, Tornado) and four horsemen (Swift, Relentless, Trampling, Killer), which “bearing poison they were versed in ravage, in destruction skilled” (see Tablet III, lines 30-66, ANET 61–67). -
59 Male Agency and Masculine Performance in the Baal Cycle
Male Agency and Masculine Performance in the Baal Cycle Martti Nissinen 1. Male Agency and Masculine Performance aḫdy d ymlk ʿl ilm I myself am the one who reigns over the gods, l ymru ilm w nšm Indeed orders for gods and mankind, d yšb[ʿ] hmlt arṣ Who satis[fies] the multitudes of the Earth.1 These words are quoted from the Baal Cycle, the largest narrative composition from Ugarit. They are pronounced by Baal, one of the major deities featuring in the Ugaritic texts, 2 whose name bʿl means “lord” and who is called by epithets such as aliyn bʿl “the Mightiest Lord,” aliy qrdm “the Mightiest of Heroes,” dmrn “the Powerful One,” and even bʿl ugrt “the Lord of Ugarit.” Baal is portrayed as a 1 KTU 1.4 VII 49–52. Formatted: English (United States) 2 For Baal and the Baal Cycle, see the many works of Mark Smith, e.g., Smith 1986; 1994; 1997; 1998; 2001; 2003; 2014; Smith and Pitard 2009. 59 king enthroned on Mount Sapan, and he is known as a vigorous weather god, an abundant provider of rain and agricultural fertility with remarkable sexual performance. Moreover, he appears as a club-wielding hero and defeater of the powers of death, as a god who dies but returns to life. If this was his full portrait, Baal could be regarded as the paragon of masculinity, indeed a he-man among the gods. However, the Ugaritic myth does not let his high position among the gods emerge easily, quite to the contrary. Despite his self-assertive speech, his position in the divine realm is anything but stable and he finds himself in precarious positions.