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UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Death and the Garden: An UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Death and the Garden: An Examination of Original Immortality, Vegetarianism, and Animal Peace in the Hebrew Bible and Mesopotamia A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History by Joshua John Van Ee Committee in Charge: Professor William H. C. Propp, Chair Professor Anthony T. Edwards Professor David Goodblatt Professor Thomas E. Levy Professor Patrick H. Patterson 2013 Copyright Joshua John Van Ee, 2013 All rights reserved. The Dissertation of Joshua John Van Ee is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Chair University of California, San Diego 2013 iii DEDICATION To my wife iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page ................................................................................... iii Dedication .......................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ................................................................................ v List of Abbreviations ............................................................................ vii List of Symbols and Conventions .......................................................... viii List of Historical Periods ....................................................................... viii Acknowledgements ............................................................................. ix Vita .................................................................................................... xi Abstract of the Dissertation ................................................................. xii I. Introduction .................................................................................... 1 II. Mesopotamia ................................................................................. 12 A. Paradise and Civilization ........................................................ 12 B. Human Mortality in The Gilgamesh Epic, Atrahasis, and The Death of Bilgames .................................................................................. 34 1. The Question of Mortality ............................................. 34 2. The Gilgamesh Epic ..................................................... 39 3. Atrahasis .................................................................... 43 4. The Death of Bilgames ................................................. 45 C. Enki and Ninhursaga and the Land of Dilmun .......................... 50 1. Dilmun in General ........................................................ 50 2. Enki and Ninhursaga .................................................... 54 v D. The So-Called Spell of Nudimmud in Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta ....................................................................................... 72 E. Conclusions ........................................................................... 112 III. Hebrew Bible ................................................................................. 116 A. Paradise and Civilization ......................................................... 116 B. Human Mortality in Genesis 2-3 and 6:1-4 ............................... 154 1. Genesis 2-3 ................................................................. 154 2. Genesis 6:1-4 .............................................................. 176 C. Genesis 1:28-31 and 9:1-7 ..................................................... 193 1. Genesis 1:28-30 ........................................................... 193 2. Genesis 9:1-7 ............................................................... 233 D. Eating Meat in Genesis 2-8 and Leviticus ................................. 266 E. Isaiah 11:1-9 and 65:25 ......................................................... 279 1. Isaiah 11:1-9 ............................................................... 279 2. Isaiah 65:25 ................................................................ 320 F. Conclusions ........................................................................... 326 IV. Epilogue ........................................................................................ 330 V. Appendix I: Meat-Eating in the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel .......... 335 VI. Appendix II: Greco-Roman Survey ................................................... 343 Works Cited ........................................................................................ 359 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ANE Ancient Near East ANET Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 3d ed., Pritchard, ed. BHS Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4th ed., Elliger and Rudolph, eds. CAD The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Oppenheim et al., eds. COS Context of Scripture, Hallo and Younger, eds. DDD Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, 2d rev. ed., Toorn et al., eds. ELA Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta ETCSL The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, Black et al., (http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/). EWO Enki and the World Order frg. fragment GKC Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar as Edited and Enlarged by the Late E. Kautzsch, 2d English ed., Gesenius et al. H Holiness source of the Pentateuch HALOT The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, Köhler and Baumgartner, eds. IBHS An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax, Waltke and O’Connor. J Yahwist source of the Pentateuch Joüon A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Rev. English ed., Joüon and Muraoka. LCL Loeb Classical Library LSJ A Greek-English Lexicon, Liddell et al., eds. LXX Septuagint MT Masoretic Text n. note NJPS Tanakh: The New Jewish Publication Society Translation. OTP The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Charlesworth, ed. P Priestly source of the Pentateuch RSV Revised Standard Version of the Bible TDOT Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, Botterweck et al., eds. vii TLOT Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament, Jenni and Westermann, eds. TWOT Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, Harris et al., eds. UET Ur Excavations: Texts LIST OF SYMBOLS AND CONVENTIONS [ ] Brackets enclose restorations. ˹˺ Half-brackets enclose partially destroyed signs. // Two dashes indicate parallel lines ( ) Parentheses enclose additions to the translation. (?) A question mark follows an uncertain sign. X An unidentified sign. …… Five periods indicate a gap in the text or untranslatable word(s). Three periods indicate that text was omitted. LIST OF HISTORICAL PERIODS Neo-Sumerian 2100-2000 B.C.E. Old Babylonian 2000-1600 B.C.E. Middle Babylonian 1600-1200 B.C.E. Middle Assyrian 1250-900 B.C.E. Neo-Assyrian 900-609 B.C.E. Neo-Babylonian 750-539 B.C.E. Persian 539-330 B.C.E. viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank all of my professors at UCSD for their excellent instruction and for their encouragement in my academic development. It has been a pleasure to study with them, and the brief highlights mentioned below do not fully represent the numerous ways they have influenced me. Bill Propp, the chair of my committee, equipped me with the tools to engage the languages and literatures of the ANE. He has also been a faithful guide during the dissertation writing process. His helpful comments have made this dissertation better in many ways, and its continuing deficiencies are not due to his lack of effort. Tom Levy, a member of my committee, gave me the opportunity to get my hands dirty doing archaeological fieldwork in Jordan. It is an experience I will never forget and hope to repeat some day. David Goodblatt, a member of my committee, introduced me to the fascinating world of ancient Judaism. Dick Friedman taught me the many ways to engage the Hebrew Bible in greater depth, from source criticism to literary analysis. David Noel Freedman (l''z) increased my love of Hebrew and introduced me into the world of publishing. I am thankful to Tony Edwards for his mentoring while I served as his TA and for agreeing to serve on my committee. His expertise in all things Greco-Roman has been helpful. I am also grateful to Patrick Patterson for his ix willingness to join my committee and his interest in biblical and Mesopotamian literature. I would like express my appreciation to Niek Veldhuis for reading an earlier version of the Mesopotamian sections of this dissertation. He provided helpful feedback on the content and bibliography; any remaining errors are mine alone. I am also thankful to my fellow faculty members at Westminster Seminary California who have read various portions and versions of this dissertation and provided suggestions for improvement. x VITA 1999 Bachelor of Arts, Geneva College 2002 Master of Divinity, Westminster Seminary California 2007 Master of Arts, University of California, San Diego 2007 Assistant Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament, Westminster Seminary California 2013 Doctor of Philosophy, University of California, San Diego PUBLICATION with David Noel Freedman. "Scribal Interventions in 1QIsaiaha." Pages 787- 799 in Birkat Shalom: Studies in the Bible, Ancient Near Eastern Literature, and Postbiblical Judaism Presented to Shalom M. Paul on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday. Edited by Chaim Cohen, et al. 2 vols. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 2008. FIELDS OF STUDY Major
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