Abstract
Fincke, Jeanette C. (ed.), Divination as Science: A Workshop Conducted during the 60th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Warsaw, 2014 (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2016), pp. xiii + 271. $49.50. ISBN 978-1-57506-425-3.
The volume opens with an essay by JoAnn Scurlock, ‘Divination between Science and Religion’, which begs the question as to whether ancient Mesopotamian divination was too involved with the religious sphere to be considered ‘science'—by today's standards. The problem with which this and the following entries wrestle is whether ‘science’ is to be defined synchronically or diachronically—and most contributors vacillate. By using today's rationalistic and ‘impartial’ standards, the diachronic approach judges ancient divination to fall short of the designation ‘science’. But, as the base meaning of ‘science’ is simply ‘knowledge’ (knowing vs. not knowing), and viewed from the standards of human knowledge in their day (synchronic), the ancient Mesopotamian divination compendia certainly qualify as science even if they did not use today's methods or taxonomy. Ulla Susanne Koch, in ‘Bias in Observations of Natural Phenomena Made for Divinatory Purposes’, offers a study in whether there existed a positive or negative bias built into various types of divinatory observations— i.e. did diviners ‘stack the cards’? Krzysztof Ulanowski's paper, ‘ “Šamaš, Great Lord, Whom I Am Asking, Answer Me with a Reliable, Yes!”: The Influence of Divination on the Result of War’, does not directly address the ‘divination as science’ topic; but it does offer an interesting study of the integral role played by diviners in the conduct of military expeditions and warfare. As with the previous paper, Yoram Cohen's ‘Sheep Anatomical Terminology in the šumma immeru Omen Series and Additional Texts’, fascinatingly takes us directly into the innards of sheep and their resultant omens, but does not address whether or not the way diviners conducted their extispicy constituted a ‘ scientific approach’. In ‘Some Remarks about the Old Babylonian Libanomancy Texts’, Maria Stella Cingolo discusses one of the least documented forms of divination—the observation of smoke from burnt offerings, generally thought to be incense. The volume's editor, Jeanette Fincke, provides arguments for the promulgation of omen series as science, in her examination of ‘The Oldest Mesopotamian Astronomical Treatise: Enuma anu enlil’. Clearly, such omen series were comprised of meticulous observations of celestial (and meteorological) phenomena—to the point of accurately predicting eclipses in the latter half of the first millennium bce. In the final paper, ‘Divination and Religion as a Cultural System’, Paul Delnero cogently encapsulates the ‘science vs. religion’ debate, largely through the lenses of two Assyriologists, Jean Bott éro and Francesca Rochberg, both of whom argue against the retrojection of a modern Western definition of ‘science’ onto the ancient Mesopotamian practice of divination, which was both a rational and integral part of the fabric of that society and culture. The volume concludes with a General Index and an Index of Texts. For anyone interested in what constitutes a major portion of the written corpus from Mesopotamia, this volume will be a valuable addition.
Jack N. Lawson
Gabbay, Uri, Pacifying the Hearts of the Gods: Sumerian Emesal Prayers of the First Millennium bc (Heidelberger Emesal Studien, 1; Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2014), pp. xx + 356. €78.00. ISBN 978-3-447-06748-5; ISSN 2195-7037.
This book is an excellent first volume to Harrassowitz's new series on Emesal texts. G., an expert on Emesal prayers, presents a general study of prayers written in Emesal, a sociolect of Sumerian originally spoken by women which developed into the language of prayer. G. shows that there were four main genres of prayers written in Emesal: Balag̃ (lamenting the destructive effect of theophanies), Eršema (laments, at times paired with Balag̃s), Eršaḫug̃a (laments of the individual) and Šuila ([prayers] of hand raising, laments). In the 356 large formatted pages, G. discusses many aspects of these prayers, such as their ritual contexts, their performers (the gala/kalÛ), the instruments used, and many more. Scholars interested in texts and translations of such texts can find them on www.etcsl.ox.ac.uk as well as in G.'s second volume in this series, The Eršema Prayers of the First Millennium bc (see below). Due to their nature as cultic songs and due to their content, many of these prayers provide interesting comparative material for the study of the biblical Psalms. In recent years more and more Mesopotamian cultic songs have become available and it is hoped that their texts will be compared productively with liturgical texts in Hebrew and Aramaic. The volume opens the genre of Emesal prayers to the reader so that the texts can then be used responsibly. G. is to be thanked for his efforts to bring this useful book to production.
Jonathan Stökl
Gabbay, Uri, The Eršema Prayers of the First Millennium bc (Heidelberger Emesal Studien, 2; Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2015), pp. xv + 375 + 30 plates. €89.00. ISBN 978-3-447-06847-5; ISSN 2195-7037.
This is a revised and expanded PhD thesis (supervised by S.M. Maul of Heidelberg and N. Wasserman of Jerusalem) that provides a complete collection of all Sumerian eršema prayers of the first millennium bce. These are laments (accompanied by drum beats), often mourning the destruction of Mesopotamian cities and temples (seen as the result of divine wrath). They were an important part of cultic ritual, addressed to various gods, and apparently sung. A main objective was ‘divine pacification’, calming the deity from destructive wrath. These hymns/prayers are given in transliteration and English translation, with philological notes; hand copies of many of the texts are found in the plates. Many of the Sumerian hymns/prayers have an interlinear Akkadian translation, and G. also provides a translation of the Akkadian text when it appears to differ from the Sumerian. This is an excellent edition for Sumerian specialists; but additionally, those who work in Hebrew and Aramaic prayers might find some useful comparative material.
Lester L. Grabbe
Gordin, Shai, Hittite Scribal Circles: Scholarly Tradition and Writing Habits (Studien zu den Bogazköy-Texten, 59: Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2015), pp. xxiv + 461. 54 figures and 26 tables. €88.00. ISBN 978-3-447-10526-2; ISSN 0585-5853.
This revised Berlin dissertation presents a detailed analysis of scribes working in the Hittite capital during the thirteenth century bce. S. identifies about 100 individuals from their signatures on 172 ‘personally annotated’ pieces among the 28,000 fragments of clay tablets and 180 from names on seals and imprints, only 27 per cent of those matching the former, leading him to deduce that many seal holders were secretaries writing unsigned documents, or scribes who had moved into different occupations as literate officials. The signed tablets are predominantly copies of ritual and festival instructions, mostly copied by members of two scribal groups. One group maintained traditions from the fifteenth and fourteenth centuries, whereas, following the fall of Mitanni, the other introduced Mitannian and Assyrian influences. Variations between older and later sign forms and orthography and lack of consistency in modernization among contemporary scribes emphasize the different expectations of ancient and modern scholarship. A certain fluidity is detected in matters of genre, S. challenging the distinction others have made between ‘prescriptive’ and ‘descriptive’ documents and drawing attention to careless initial records of some pronouncements later entered on larger, meticulously organized tablets. Interestingly, scribal authorities are given for rituals and similar texts, but not for historical and political documents. With its many tabulations and photographs of individual signs, this will be a valuable handbook for deeper investigation of the Hittite scribes, distant in time and space from ancient Israel, yet providing analogies for scribal habits there.
Alan Millard
Gunkel, Hermann (edited by K.C. Hanson), Israel and Babylon: The Babylonian Influence on Israelite Religion (Cambridge: James Clarke & Co., 2011), pp. xvii + 78. £16.00. ISBN 978-0-227-17367-1.
This is Hanson's translation of G.'s 1903 book lsrael und Babylonien: Der Einfluss Babyloniens auf die israelitische Religion. With this work G. responded to the contemporary ‘Babel-Bible Controversy’, stirred up by Delitzsch's lectures in 1902 and 1903. G. pointed out various faults in Delitzsch's methodology and reasoning in order to argue against Delitzsch's assumption that the OT is an inferior imitation of Babylonian literature. While G. acknowledged the Babylonian influence on the OT narratives, he highlighted the independence and uniqueness of the Israelite religion. G. further yet briefly discussed the relationship between revelation and history. Although most of G.'s arguments are solid and sound, it is weird to include NT material when discussing the Israelite religion. Regarding editing, this book is well presented and reader-friendly. Instead of following the original format, Hanson divides the main content into six chapters and gives each chapter a title: ‘Delitzsch, Babylon, and the Bible’; ‘The Broad Reach of Babylonian Civilization’; ‘Babylonian Influence and Delitzsch's Misinterpretation’; ‘Babylonian Influences on Israelite Culture’; ‘Babylonian Influences on lsraelite Religion’; ‘Revelation in Israel’. Also, as distinct from the original German version and the first English translation (produced by someone only identified as ‘E.S.B.’) in 1904, Hanson provides a longer foreword introducing the background of the ‘Babel-Bible Controversy’, several illustrations, a three-section bibliography, and three indexes. In addition, Hanson adds extra footnotes to explain or evaluate G.'s statements and to refer to G.'s or later scholars’ works dealing with the relevant issues.
Jo-Ping Hsiao
Hillmann, Reinhard, Brautpreis und Mitgift. Gedanken zum Eherecht in Ugarit und seiner Umwelt mit einer Rekonstruktion des im Ritual verankerten »Schlangentext«-Mythos (Orientalische Religionen in der Antike, 18; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2016), pp. xxx+ 272. €114.00. ISBN 978-3-16-153561-1.
The study investigates the role of bride price and dowry in Ugarit and surrounding cultures (legal texts from Babylon and ancient Assyria, texts from Alalah and Emar, the Amarna correspondence and the HB). Following A. van Selms’ 1954 proposal, H., too, argues that marriage in Ugaritic society is mirrored in the wedded life of the deities and that one has to draw a sharp distinction between marriage customs and the legal aspect of wedlock. H. starts with a detailed analysis of CAT 1.24. Throughout the study all texts are given in transliteration with a facing German translation. The bulk of the book is devoted to a study of the terminology for bride price (Ug. trḫ [terḫatu] and mhr) at Ugarit and other ANE cultures. The second part of the work looks at the terminology in CAT 1.100 (a reconstruction and German translation of which is provided in an appendix) before addressing further verbs that relate to marital law (jtn, Iqḥ and 'rb). H. stresses the significance of the bride price and sees the balancing out (Auswiegen) of it as the distinctive act of Ugaritic marriage. He finds no evidence of the bride price ever being given back to the groom's family. Instead, he argues that the bride price remained in the family of the bride, functioning as financial and social security, and calls for a clear distinction between bride price and dowry. A bibliography and detailed indexes conclude the useful study.
Anselm C. Hagedorn
Jaques, Margaret, Mon dieu qu ‘ai-je fait? Les diĝir-šà-dab(5)-ba et la piété privée en Mésopotamie. Avec une contribution de Daniel Schwemer (OBO, 273; Fribourg: Academic Press Fribourg/Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2015), pp. xiv + 463. 6 plates. €120.00. ISBN 978-3-7278-1770-0 (Academic Press Fribourg), 978-3-525-54403-7 (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht); ISSN 1015-1850.
Further to what is listed in the Contents, this book contains in the end-papers both an abstract in French and a substantial (c. 500 words) English description of the substance of the book, both of which also appear on the publisher's website. The title means: ‘My god, what have I done? [Prayer] to change the “knotted heart” of god’, and represents a form used in personal penitential prayer in Sumerian and Akkadian, where the ‘confession’ is followed by a request to the (hopefully) calmed god for relief from the petitioner's current evil circumstances. The corpus of texts, including bilingual Sumerian-Akkadian texts, and Hittite texts (see below), is fully outlined, described and presented in transliteration, with six plates, four having written texts of five fragments and two having photographs of Copenhagen 10099. The analyses J. provides show that the prayers are always addressed to an unnamed but nevertheless personal deity and that the issues that are addressed are the problem of evil (sins known or unknown, demons or magical practices) and possible solutions (penitence, hearkening, purification and offerings), also including similarities to sapiential texts. J. follows the ‘life’ of phrases through time in the different sources. The final chapter on ‘Hittite Prayers to the Sun-God for Appeasing an Angry Personal God: A Critical Edition of CTH 372-74’ (Daniel Schwemer) is supported by a lengthy glossary (Charles Steitler). Accompanying the bibliography are indexes: thematic, texts cited and Sumerian and Akkadian terms used.
Heather A. McKay
Jordens, Andrea (ed.), Ägyptische Magie und ihre Umwelt (Philippika - Altertums-wissenschaftliche Abhandlungen/Contributions to the Study of Ancient World Cultures, 80; Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2015), pp. viii + 379. 21 figures. €48.00. ISBN 978-3-447-10316-9; ISSN 1613-5628.
In spite of the rather specific title, this volume is in a certain sense an introduction to magic in the ancient world. Many of the contributors are professors or advanced students at the University of Heidelberg. The editor begins by surveying the magical and related papyri in the Heidelberg papyrus collection (in German). The rest of the essays (all but one in German) are divided into three categories. Part I: Magic in Neighbouring Cultures: Magic in Mesopotamia (N.P. Heebel); magic in Syria and Palestine-Israel in the second and first millennia bce (R. Schmitt); magic and the NT (P. Busch); the art of isopsephism [using letters to stand for numbers] in the Graeco-Roman world (R. Ast and J. Lougovaya, in English). Part II: Magic in Ancient Egypt: demons and other higher beings in magic as foes and allies (J.F. Quack); defensive magic in ancient Egypt—the protection of grave sites (C. Theis); serpent and scorpion curses over the millennia (I. Maassen). Part III: Magic in Egypt of the Late Period: Graeco-Egyptian magic according to the Papyri Graecae et Demoticae Magicae (F. Naether); Egyptian, Greek and Roman in love spells—ancient ‘love magic’ through the ages (S. Nagel, with a contribution by F. Wespi); magic and medicine in Graeco-Roman Egypt (L. Wilier); Coptic texts and their illuminations (T. Mössner and C. Nauerth). This volume covers much valuable material on the subject and reaches much wider than just Egypt. It is unfortunate that the editor did not summarize any major themes or conclusions arising from the collective contributions, nor are there any indexes.
Lester L. Grabbe
Kärger, Brit, Leben in der amurritischen Welt. Nomaden und Sesshafte im Reich von Mari im 19. und 18. Jahrhundert vor Christus (Philippika - Altertumswissenschaftliche Abhandlungen / Contributions to the Study of Ancient World Cultures, 68; Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2014), pp. xvi + 400. 5 figures and 35 tables. €78.00. ISBN 978-3-447-10130-1; ISSN 1613-5628.
K.'s book examines nomads and their more or less amorphous relationship with settled life in connection with Mari in the nineteenth-eighteenth centuries bce. The first chapter provides a short but useful summary of the history of research of nomadism especially but not only as it relates to Mari. The issue of seasonal migration that recurs in the volume as an important theme is established already here. The second chapter gives an overview of the environmental context and main economic aspects of the Amorite tribes examined. The third chapter outlines their tribal structure, with particular emphasis on the sugāgum leader. The fourth chapter deals with the Hanaeans, outlining their relationship with nomadism and their various functions and activities. The fifth and final chapter looks at the tribes of the Simalites, Yaminites, Sutaeans, Numhaeans and Yamutbalites that are more conspicuously nomadic, depicting where they were based over the summer months and where they migrated for the winter season, together with their other functions and activities. Primary sources are cited throughout the volume, with a collation of all of these quotations as an appendix where the Akkadian in transliteration is also included, accompanied with some commentary on the originals. All in all the volume includes a good amount of useful information about the time. An interesting question is to what extent the results can be extrapolated to differing times and wider areas in the ANE and even beyond, and this in particular may bear more directly on the study of the OT.
Pekka Pitkänen
Lambert, W.G., Ancient Mesopotamian Religion and Mythology: Selected Essays (ed. A.R. George and T.M. Oshima; Orientalische Religionen in der Antike, 15; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2016), pp. xvi + 279, €99, ISBN 978-3-16-153674-8.
Wilfred Lambert (d. 2011) doubted whether an account of ancient Mesopotamian religion as a whole could or should be written until more religious texts had been published and properly interpreted. Despite this, a number of gems hidden in journal articles, Festschriften and collective volumes revealed L.'s profound thinking on the subject. Andrew George and T.M. Oshima have done us a great service by bringing together from scattered locations the most important of L.'s contributions on religion, apart, that is, from his major publications of religious texts. There follows a brief list of the items republished, following the order and headings used in the book; a fuller account of them will be found in the preface to the present volume by George (pp. 1-8), freely accessible at: http://eprints.soas.ac.Uk/21499/2/Lambert%20AMRM%20Contents%20Intro.pdf I: ‘Introductory Considerations'—'Morals in Mesopotamia’ (11-27); ‘Ancient Mesopotamian Gods: Superstition, Philosophy, Theology’ (28-36); II: ‘The Gods of Ancient Mesopotamia'—'The Historical Development of the Mesopotamian Pantheon: A Study in Sophisticated Polytheism’ (39-48); ‘Goddesses in the Pantheon: A Reflection of Women in Society?’ (49-55); ‘The Mesopotamian Background of the Hurrian Pantheon’ (56-61); ‘The Pantheon of Mari’ (62-80); ‘The God Assur’ (81-85); ‘Ishtar of Nineveh’ (86-91); III: ‘The Mythology of Ancient Mesopotamia'—'Der Mythos im Alten Mesopotamien, sein Werden und Vergehen’ (95-107); ‘The Cosmology of Sumer and Babylon’ (108-21); ‘The Theology of Death’ (122-33); ‘The Relationship of Sumerian and Babylonian Myth as Seen in Accounts of Creation’ (134-42); ‘Ninurta Mythology in the Babylonian Epic of Creation’ (143-47); ‘Myth and Ritual as Conceived by the Babylonians’ (148-54); IV: ‘The Religion of Ancient Mesopotamia'—'The Reign of Nebuchadnezzar I: A Turning Point in the History of Ancient Mesopotamian Religion’ (157-65); ‘Syncretism and Religious Controversy in Babylonia’ (166-70); ‘Donations of Food and Drink to the Gods in Ancient Mesopotamia’ (171-79); ‘The Cult of Ishtar of Babylon’ (180-82); ‘The Qualifications of Babylonian Diviners’ (183-99); ‘Devotion: The Languages of Religion and Love’ (200-12); V: ‘Ancient Mesopotamia and Israel'— ‘Old Testament Mythology in its Ancient Near Eastern Context’ (215-28); ‘Destiny and Divine Intervention in Babylon and Israel’ (229-34); ‘The Flood in Sumerian, Babylonian and Biblical Sources’ (235-44). Indexes are added by the editors. The corpus of work collected here, though not providing a systematic account of Mesopotamian religion, reveals common threads in L.'s thinking and will be studied for many years. We should be grateful to the editors for the service they have performed to enhance even further the legacy of a great scholar.
John F. Healey
Lavan, Myles, Richard E. Payne and John Weisweiler (eds.), Cosmopolitanism and Empire: Universal Rulers, Local Elites, and Cultural Integration in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean (Oxford Studies in Early Empires; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), pp. xiv + 282. £55.00. ISBN 978-0-19-046566-7.
This volume is a product of discussions of a reading group on ancient cultural history at Cambridge. It contains 11 papers, as follows: M. Lavan, R. Payne, and J. Weisweiler, ‘Cosmopolitan Politics: The Assimilation and Subordination of Elite Cultures’; S. Richardson, ‘Getting Confident: The Assyrian Development of Elite Recognition Ethics’; K. Stevens, ‘Empire Begins at Home: Local Elites and Imperial Ideologies in Hellenistic Greece and Babylonia’; J. Haubold, ‘Hellenism, Cosmopolitanism and the Role of Babylonian Elites in the Seleucid Empire’; C. Fischer-Bovet, ‘Towards a Trans-local Elite Culture in the Ptolemaic Empire’; T.C. Chin, ‘What Is Imperial Cosmopolitanism?’; M. Lavan, ‘ “Father of the Whole Human Race”: Ecumenical Language and the Limits of Elite Integration in the Early Roman Empire’; C. Ando, ‘Making Romans: Citizens, Subjects and Subjectivity in Republican Empire’; J. Weisweiler, ‘From Empire to World State: Ecumenical Language and Cosmopolitan Consciousness in the Later Roman Aristocracy’; R. Payne, ‘Iranian Cosmopolitanism: World Religions at the Sasanian Court’; and P.F. Bang, ‘ “Zum ewigen Frieden”: Cosmopolitanism, Comparison and Empire’. So far as Alttestamentler interests are concerned, the volume deals only indirectly with them. The first essay touches on the (cosmetic?) gestures great empires probably make to those who are useful to them, local elites (cf Tacitus’ estimate, idque apud imperitos humanitas vocabatur, cum pars servitutis esset!), not a benefit accruing to Israel or Judah. Chin's contribution touches on Philo of Alexandria, who wrote the earliest known analysis of globalism, the Kosmopolitēs. The broad topic of the book is particularly intriguing in view of contemporary tensions widely raised by the idea of globalization, with its hotly contested evaluation, and current political movements perhaps presaging the demise of the European Empire.
Nicolas Wyatt
Linke, Julia,Das Charisma der Könige. Zur Konzeption des altorientalischen Königtums im Hinblick auf Urartu (Philippika - Altertumswissenschaftliche Abhandlungen/ Contnbutions to the Study of Ancient World Cultures, 84; Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2015), pp. viii + 344. 36 figures. €48.00. ISBN 978-3-447-10349-7; ISSN 1613-5628.
As its title indicates, the focus of this 2013 Freiburg thesis turned book is on royal charisma. The first two chapters are on kingship in general and in the ANE followed by a general introduction to Urartu. The main part is on the Urartian king, dealing with his titles, his connection to the deities of the land, his political responsibilities and his military achievements. Also included are brief discussions of hunting, craftsmanship, the Urartian royal dynasty and depictions of the king. There are maps, tables and black-and-white illustrations (including photographs taken by the author) and a bibliography but no index. It is noteworthy that although their royal house was wiped out in 640 bce (p. 136), the Urartians survived to the Achaemenid period, making this civilization of interest to biblical scholars. L.'s detailed survey will certainly help to make this people and their kingdom more widely known.
Wilfred G.E.Watson
Matoïan, Valérie and Michel Al-Maqdissi (eds.), Études ougaritiques IV (Ras Shamra-Ougarit, 24; Leuven: Peeters, 2016), pp. viii + 316. Numerous figures. €76.00. ISBN 978-90-429-3439-9.
This volume is in memoriam Pierre Bordreuil, a point made by the first four contributions: M. Al-Maqdissi, ‘Pierre Bordreuil, “l'humanisme inédit” ‘; C. Michel, ‘Lettre à Pierre (Bordreuil)’; A.-S. Dalix, ‘Pierre Bordreuil et le “monde péri-biblique” ‘ and ‘(Euvre scientifique de Pierre Bordreuil (Alès, 28 aoÛt 1937-Paris, 13 novembre 2013)’. Other chapters are as follows: V. Matoïan, ‘De I'aleph au taw’; F. Ernst-Pradal, ‘Paléographie des tablettes musicales hourrites de Ras Shamra-Ougarit’; W.H. van Soldt, ‘Divinities in Personal Names at Ugarit’; W.H. van Soldt, ‘The Travelling Queen of Ugarit’; M. Dijkstra, ‘El-Kumrsha in Anatyolia, the Levant and Elsewhere’; J,P. Vita, ‘Les gzzm “tondeurs” à Ougarit’; J.-P. Olivier, ‘La “maison d'Ourtenou” à Ougant: les textes chypro-minoens’; B. Lagarce-Othman, ‘Une empreinte au nom de Ramsès II trouvée dans le secteur de la “Maison d'Ourtenou” ‘; V. Matoïan, ‘Les vases égyptiens en pierre de la fin du IVe et du IIIe millénairesav. J.-C. découverts à Ougant’; A. Carbillet ‘De l'“idole-louche” à l'“applique murale”: retour sur une catégone d'objet émgmatique découverte à Ougarit’; K. Al-Bahloul, ‘Rapport préliminary sur les travaux de l'équipe synenne à Ras Shamra-Ougant en 2012’; M. Al-Maqdissi and E. Ishak, ‘Notes d'archéologie Levantine L: Rapport préliminare de la premiere champagne de fouilles a Tell Shamiyeh (Nahr el-cArab) en 2010’; and A. Carbillet, ‘Addendum EO III (RSO XXI, p. 203-292): Poulpes, poisons et coquillages … Essai sur les représentations du monde aquatique dans la céramique mycémenne d'Ougant’. One erratum follows. This publication continues the work of previous volumes of Études. It is extraordinary that as the Synan civil war rages in its fifth year, some work has continued at Ras Shamra (al-Bahloul chapter), with significant results.
Nicolas Wyatt
McDowell, Catherine L., The Image of God in the Garden of Eden: The Creation of Humankind in Genesis 2:5-3:24 in Light of the mīs pî pīt pî and wpt-r Rituals of Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt (Siphrut, 15; Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2015), pp. x + 245. $47.50. ISBN 978-1-57506-348-5.
M. seeks to demonstrate that the creation of ādām in Gen. 2.5-3.24 engages positively and negatively with the Mesopotamian mīs pî pīt pî (washing of the mouth, opening of the mouth) and Egyptian wpt-r (opening of the mouth) divine statue animation rituals. Arguing that Gen. 2.5-3.24 implicitly identifies the ‘first man’ as an ‘image of God’, she shows that the relationship between biblical and comparative materials may be historical rather than typological, and re-examines the relationship between Gen. 1.1-2.3 and2.5-3.24 in the light of her findings. She maintains that in 1.26-27 humanity is identified as a (redefined) cult image, embodying the presence of the deity, and in terms of sonship. In 2.5-3.24 the kinship focus rather concerns Adam and Eve, not God and humanity; kingship is found in Adam's role as ‘gardener’, with priestly overtones in his ‘installation’ to ‘work’ and ‘keep’ the garden; and cultic interest is reflected in the location in the divine garden. Refreshingly, M. aims to understand each source in context before drawing comparisons, and is equally interested in how the biblical authors deliberately distinguish their understandings from ANE precedents. She concludes that in Gen. 2.5-3.24 the image has been democratized, while the opening of the eyes, rather than resulting in vitalization and installation in the Temple, has the opposite effect: eviction from community with God, and a struggle for existence. Employing thorough scholarship, careful methodology and subtle exegesis, this well-written monograph offers a valuable attempt at refining the understanding of the ‘image of God’.
Rebecca S. Watson
Milstein, Sara J., Tracking the Master Scribe: Revision through Introduction in Biblical and Mesopotamian Literature (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), pp. xviii + 244. Several figures. £64.00. ISBN 978-0-19-020539-3.
In this book, M. follows an aspect of her first book (The Buried Foundation of the Gilgamesh Epic, co-authored with DE. Fleming in 2010, and reviewed in B.L. 2011, p. 165): editorial activity, in particular the way that a new introduction can impact the interpretation of a narrative text. She brings convincing examples from the Bible as well as Mesopotamian literature. She does not claim that the observation regarding introductions itself is new, but that this is the first book-length study devoted to the subject. She wants to continue the historical-critical enterprise in general, but to do so with a greater understanding of the literary quality of the texts as well as to ‘establish more controls for literary-historical analyses’. She brings her knowledge of two related textual corpora to bear, with good results. Her two main ANE test cases are Adapa and the South Wind and Gilgamesh; the two biblical examples are taken from Judges 6-8 and 9. But before she studies these in depth she looks at other examples from a variety of genres (lexical lists, legal texts, narratives) to show how widespread the phenomenon is. The book is a pleasure to read both for its content and its form. Anyone interested in the evolution of ANE texts including the Bible ought to read this book.
Jonathan Stökl
Pummer, Reinhard, The Samaritans: A Profile (Grand Rapids, Ml/Cambridge, UK: Eerdmans, 2016), pp. xiv + 362. $30.00/£19.99. ISBN 978-0-8028-6768-1. [Distributed in the UK by Alban Books.]
Few, if any, scholars worldwide are as fully informed about the whole range of Samaritan studies as Pummer. It is therefore very much to be welcomed that towards the end of his career he has produced this substantial but eminently readable overview of all aspects of the field. He covers history, archaeology (including a full survey of every known Samaritan synagogue), literature, religious practices, sects, culture, social customs, demography, current status and more. His stance is generally cautious, anxious not to say more than the sometimes very limited amount of evidence can justify. So far as the HB is concerned, he rightly maintains that there are no references to the Samaritans in it whatsoever; it was not until the destruction of their temple at the end of the second century bce that we may start to distinguish them from the previous Samarian Yahwists. Even after that he is hesitant to accept that several supposed references to the Samaritans are correctly so termed (though he seems to me to be too cautious in regard to 4Q371 and 372). His analysis of the Samaritan Pentateuch is also fully abreast of modern research in finding here very little indeed that can be properly attributed to the Samaritans; most of the differences from MT, including some that at first sight might be considered ‘sectarian’, are in fact no more than a reflection of an earlier form of the shared text. Specialists and general readers alike will learn much from this comprehensive and sympathetic portrayal.
H.G.M. Williamson
Roche-Hawley, Carole and Robert Hawley (eds.), Scribes et érudits dans I'orbite de Babylone: Travaux réalisés dans le cadre du projet ANR Mespériph 2007-2011 (Orient et Méditerranée, 9; Paris: éditions de Boccard, 2012), pp. 268. Numerous figures and four tables. €54.00. ISBN 978-2-7018-0323-4; ISSN 2101-3195.
Roche-Hawley, Carole and Robert Hawley (eds.), Devins et lettrés dans I ‘orbite de Babylone: Travaux réalisés dans le cadre du projet ANR Mespériph 2007-2011 (Orient et Méditerranée, 16; Paris: éditions de Boccard, 2015), pp. 313. Numerous figures. €59.00. ISBN 978-2-7018-0436-1; ISSN 2101-3195.
These two volumes contain the proceedings of the ‘Projet Mespériph’, reflecting contemporary discussions across a range of disciplines on the question of relations between imperial and cultural centres in the ancient world, and the outer zones of their influence (the ‘periphery’). The contents of volume 1 fall into three sections. Section 1 (‘Les scribes d'Ougarit: Entre culture locale et culture babylonienne’): F. Ernst-Pradal, ‘Ad-lugal, “un cas d'école”?’; and D. Pardee, ‘RS 5.229: Restitution d'une nouvelle signature du scribe
The contents of volume 2 are also grouped in three sections. Section 1 (‘Tradition scribale mésopotamienne et pratiques locales’): B. Foster, ‘Centre et périphérie: une perspective mésopotamienne’; B. Lion, ‘Remarques sur les tablettes scolaires de Nuzi’; S. Anthonioz, ‘Miroir d'une transmission du Gilgameš akkadien en périphérie (2e partie)’; C. Roche-Hawley, ‘Mesopotamian Cuneiform at Ugarit: Learning versus Using’; R. Hawley, ‘On the Transmission of Knowledge and Lore in the Alphabetic Tradition of Ugarit’; M.-F. Besnier, P. Boutrolle, C. Chanut and R. Hawley, ‘On the Junipers of Ugarit, Part 2: The Word diprānu and the Genus Juniperus’. Section 2 (‘Scribes d'Ougarit et du Hatti’): J.-M. Marin, ‘Le rôle singulier des traits séparatifs dans l ‘Hymne à Nikkal; D. Pardee, ‘Nouvelle attestation de prln “devin” en ougaritique’; F. Ernst-Pradal, ‘RS 17.028, une tablette corrigée … et revue’; A. Mouton and C. Roche-Hawley, ‘La polyvalence des scribes d'Anatolie hittite et d'Ougarit’. Section 3 (‘Sciences divinatoires mésopotamiennes et pratiques locales’): A. Mouton, ‘Hépatoscopie à Hattuša’; M.-F. Besnier, ‘Diffusion et transmission de la série šumma izbu: les textes de la “périphérie” au Bronze recent’. As the section headings and titles indicate, this is a wide-ranging survey of divinatory motifs, ‘science’, and the conventions and scope of scribal practice in the outer reaches of the ‘cuneiform culture’ zone, enlarging on the materials covered in volume 1, reflecting the enormous spread and diffusion of Babylonian values throughout the ANE. The Anthonioz chapter concludes the article begun in volume 1 above, while the Besnier et al. study of the jumper in both volumes (59 + 76 pp.) amounts to a monograph on the subject, and is a model of collaborative interdisciplinary research.
Nicolas Wyatt
Röllig, Wolfgang, Die aramäischen Texte aus Tall Šēḫ Hamad / Dūr-Katlimmu / Magdalu (Berichte der Ausgrabung Tall Šēḫ Hamad/Dūr-Katlimmu, 17. Texte, 5; Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2014), pp. lxiv + 291. Numerous figures and tables. €84.00. ISBN 978-3-447-10205-6.
As one might expect from R. and Harrassowitz, this is an impressive and well-produced edition of Aramaic inscriptions from Tall Šēḫ Hamad in the Neo-Assyrian period. After initial remarks about the archaeological situation, the kinds of documents, their language and the writing system, the vast majority of the volume is dedicated to the careful edition of each individual text (pp. 23-263). A glossary and helpful indexes complete the volume. Not included are the Aramaic epigraphs on cuneiform tablets which were already published by K. Radner (Die neuassyrischen Texte aus Tall Šēḫ Hamad [Berlin: Reimer], 2002). This still leaves 183 dockets and 27 other texts. These documents are especially interesting as they indicate that the Neo-Assyrian Empire had already implemented a standardized scribal training for their alphabetic scribes. Particularly touching is an object that R. understands as an adoption document which even includes the impression of the foot of a child. This volume is a masterpiece of how to present epigraphic finds to the public (with a relatively low price-tag to boot, compared to books by other publishers), and R. is to be thanked for his timely and expert handling. Anybody who is interested in the development of Aramaic and the way in which the Neo-Assyrian Empire was administered in Akkadian and Aramaic will want to consult this volume, particularly as the presence of Aramaic texts underlines the use of the language as a bridge between Akkadian texts and traditions and local traditions. The reviewer hopes that the author's note that the items are today in the National Museum in Dēr ez-Zōr is not currently accurate and that the Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums had enough time to save these items (and many others) from the onslaught of ISIS which has led to the deaths of so many people over the last few years.
Jonathan Stökl
Salah, Saqer, Die mittelassyrischen Personen- und Rationenlisten aus Tall Šēḫ Hamad/Dūr-Katlimmu (Berichte der Ausgrabung Tall Šēḫ Ḥamad/Dūr-Katlimmu, 18. Texte 6; Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2014), pp. lxxiv + 460. Numerous figures and tables. €118.00. ISBN 978-3-447-10243-8.
This volume, a dissertation by the author, is a publication of 81 cuneiform tablets from Dur-Katlimmu, consisting of lists of persons and rations, plus some references to clothing and agricultural products. Most tablets are about unfree workers (šiluḫlū) but some pertain to more free personnel (urdē šarre). A number of the individuals have family members listed and the names may recur across the tablets; accordingly it is possible to construct some family trees and tables (see pp. 6-34). Many of the tablets include year names (limu), and the names of persons that recur are on many occasions listed according to the age range of the individual at the time of composition (see esp. p. 56), which enables a fairly good reconstruction of the chronological order and even absolute dating of the texts. Transcriptions of all tablets have been included, together with transliterations, translations and a commentary on textual details. A glossary, list of month names, names of persons and a sign list conclude the volume, together with photographs of the tablets (save for a few that could not be accessed by the author). The texts give a window on daily life in Dūr-Katlimmu in the thirteenth century bce, roughly the time when the Israelites tend to be seen as having started settling the Palestinian highlands. For one thing, the tablets show a number of foreign names, indicating a mixed population in the town. As far as I can see, this is careful work and nicely documented for anyone to check and draw their own conclusions if and as needed.
Pekka Pitkänen
Sasson, Jack M., From the Mari Archives: An Anthology of Old Babylonian Letters (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2015), pp. xx + 454. $59.50. ISBN 978-1-5750-6830-5.
Half a century's immersion in the Mari archives enables S. to present about 750 texts, fluently translated with brief introductions, instructive footnotes and cross-references, arranged under Kingship, Administration, Warfare, Society, Religion (including ‘prophetic’ texts) and Culture. Coming from palace archives spanning about 50 years (c. 1810-1760 bce), the letters deal with matters their senders believed the king should know, or give responses to his messages. S. removes the standard salutations and omits irrelevant or damaged passages, but gives sources for all texts and notes different interpretations. A few other texts are included, notably extracts from the recently published ‘Epic of Zimri-Lim’ (M. Guichard, 2014), a paean written during the king's reign (pp. 32-35). The mass of bureaucratic texts falls outside his scope. As a noted biblical scholar (see lately Judges 1-12, reviewed above on p. 69), his suggestions that scores of verses are paralleled or illuminated by Mari texts (e.g. Abraham's status in Gen. 23, p. 339, n. 134) deserve study. Letter writers reporting recent events in story-telling style, perhaps imply innate skill, leading S. to deduce, ‘Hebrew narratives need not come from learned circles or achieve their artful forms long after the events that they report’ (p. 6). This masterly work is instructive for everyone concerned with the biblical world. S. has opened to all a window on to a lively, complex ancient world of different customs but easily recognizable human behaviour.
Alan Millard
Svärd, Saana and Robert Rollinger (eds.), Cross-Cultural Studies in Near Eastern History and Literature (The Intellectual Heritage of the Ancient and Mediaeval Near East, 2; Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, 2016), pp. 249. €96.00 (hardback), €105.00 (e-book). ISBN 978-3-86835-204-7 (hardback), 978-3-86835-205-4 (e-book); ISSN 2365-9874.
The Intellectual Heritage of the Ancient and Mediaeval Near East project of the University of Helsinki aims to examine the cultural, linguistic and literary relations between the Near East and the West (especially ancient Greece). These essays (all in English)-by doctoral students, post-docs, and university academics from various places in Europe-publish one of their conferences: condiments and sweetening agents in Assyria and their role in the development of royal food-writing (S. Gaspa); translation and transmission in the first millennium ce Near East (J. Hämeen-Anttila); ancient North Arabian and early Islamic Arabic graffiti (J. Harjumäki and I. Lindstedt); references to coloured animals in the omen series Šumma ālu ina mēlê šakin (J. Hirvonen); Antiochus the Great and the robe of Nebuchadnezzar: intercultural transfer between Orientalism and Hellenocentrism (I. Madreiter); warrior elites on the verge of Islam: between court and tribe in early Arabic poetry (N. Miller); Arrian, the Second Sophistic, Xerxes, and the statues of Harmodios and Aristogeiton (S. Müller); methodological considerations on disability in the ANE (S. Pittl); the battle of Arbela in 331 bce, disloyal ‘Orientals’ and the alleged ‘panic’ in the Persian army: from Neo-Assyrian kings to Alexander III (Rollinger). The editors provide a preface that explains the project and summarizes the essays. Their overall conclusions to the volume are, first, the importance of approaching the ancient sources from a methodologically rigorous perspective and, secondly, that we can only understand ancient concepts correctly if we understand them on their own terms, two important lessons for us all.
Lester L. Grabbe
Vidal, Jordi (ed.), Historiae, vol. 12 (Barcelona: Grup d'Estudis Historiogràfics, 2015). pp. 123. €20.00. ISSN 1697-5456.
The contributions of most interest to B.L. readers are on the origin of the history of Israel in Palestine in respect of the Merneptah Stele (E. Pfoh) and on the origins and development of the synagogue (G. del Olmo Lete). Articles on the ANE concern four Ugaritic words (W.G.E. Watson), officer training in the Assyrian army (F. de Backer). with lively illustrations, and the expansion of the kingdom of Pontus (I.A. Morales). The editor discusses the contribution of biblical studies to the rise of anti-Semitism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and there is a review article by A. Planelles of a recent translation of the Hittite myths in Spanish by B. Pajares plus other book reviews. This journal keeps biblical scholars in touch with the wider world of the ANE.
Wilfred G.E. Watson
Wilson-Wright, Aren M., Athtart: The Transmission and Transformation of a Goddess in the Late Bronze Age (FAT, II/90; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2016), pp. xv + 179. €54.00. ISBN 978-3-16-155010-2; ISSN 1611-4914.
This revision of a doctoral dissertation begins with a survey of all known variant forms of the divine name Athtart across the Afro-Asiatic language family, arguing that the evidence points to a borrowing from an early Indo-European form, ∗Haster, “star” entering at the pre-Proto-Semitic level. The author cautions against the facile equation of all deities of the same name (and certainly not of the same type), even though a common link with the planet Venus in many cases seems likely, noting that occurrences appear across a wide temporal and geographical range, with a range of distinct functions. The study concentrates on three geographical contexts. Regarding Egypt, W. argues that four distinct forms of the goddess appeared in New Kingdom times, including two distinct equestrian forms, and offers a plausible historical and sociological explanation. horse- and chariot-management entering Egypt through the skills of specialist prisoners of war under the Tuthmosids, with Amenhotep II's experiences as a young man (ANET 244) making him a devotee. Emar yields evidence of at least 17 different forms of the goddess (the table on pp. 77-78 lists 21 !), again reflecting local political, economic and social realities. Thus rural Athtart of the Hunt and the Harvest are older forms, reflecting longer-established practices than the various urban forms, attested during the later period of Hittite hegemony, reflecting military and royal concerns among other sectional interests. The evidence from Ugarit is no less complicated. W. notes references to 16 forms, and analyses in some detail the cults of Athtart of the Field (or Steppe), and Athtart of Ḫurri (‘Human/Syrian’ Athtart), drawing particular attention to their royal aspects. While itself restricted to Late Bronze Age evidence, the study concludes with a number of proposals for further applications of the interpretative strategy developed here to later periods, notably Israelite, Judahite and Phoenician. This is a very sophisticated approach to its data, and succeeds in achieving remarkable results from its skilful analysis of very fragmentary and dispersed raw materials. It raises our understanding of the sociology of LBA religion to a new level, and invites above all a reappraisal of the psychological bases of the experiences described.
Nicolas Wyatt
Note also the following books reviewed in other sections of this Book List.
Bosworth, David A., Infant Weeping in Akkadian, Hebrew, and Greek Literature -see p. 139
Dietrich, Jan, Der Tod von eigener Hand. Studien zum Suizid im Alten Testament, Alten Ägypten und Alten Orient -see p. 143
Elliott, John H., Beware the Evil Eye: The Evil Eye in the Bible and the Ancient World -see p. 146
Fitzpatrick-McKinley, Anne (ed.), Assessing Biblical and Classical Sources for the Reconstruction of Persian Influence, History and Culture - see p. 29
Fox, R. Michael, A Message from the Great King: Reading Malachi in Light of Ancient Persian Royal Messenger Texts from the Time of Xerxes - see p. 75
Gordon, Robert P., Genesis 1-11 in its Ancient Context - see p. 57
Keel, Othmar and Silvia Schroer, Creation: Biblical Theologies in the Context of the Ancient Near East -see p. 149
Kryszeń, Adam, A Historical Geography of the Hittite Heartland - see p. 32
Pfälzner, Peter et al. (eds.), Contextualising Grave Inventories in the Ancient Near East - see p. 21
Walton, John H. and Craig S. Keener (eds.), NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible -see p. 13
Yoder, Tyler R., Fishers of Fish and Fishers of Men: Fishing Imagery in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East - see p. 135