Death rituals, ideology, and the development of early Mesopotamian kingship

Death rituals, ideology, and the development of early Mesopotamian kingship PDF

Author: Andrew C. Cohen

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 267

ISBN-13: 9004146350

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

At the beginning of Mesopotamia s Early Dynastic period, the political landscape was dominated by temple administrators, but by the end of the period, rulers whose titles we translate as king assumed control. This book argues that the ritual process of mourning, burying, and venerating dead elites contributed to this change. Part one introduces the rationale for seeing rituals as a means of giving material form to ideology and, hence, structuring overall power relations. Part two presents archaeological and textual evidence for the death rituals. Part three interprets symbolic objects found in the Royal Cemetery of Ur, showing they reflect ideological doctrines promoting the office of kingship. This book will be particularly useful for scholars of Mesopotamian archaeology and history.

Experiencing Power, Generating Authority

Experiencing Power, Generating Authority PDF

Author: Jane A. Hill

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Published: 2013-12-11

Total Pages: 480

ISBN-13: 1934536644

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Experiencing Power, Generating Authority offers a cross-cultural comparison of the cosmic ideology and political structure of kingship in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.

Death Rituals and Social Order in the Ancient World

Death Rituals and Social Order in the Ancient World PDF

Author: Colin Renfrew

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 469

ISBN-13: 1107082730

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This volume, with essays by leading archaeologists and prehistorians, considers how prehistoric humans attempted to recognise, understand and conceptualise death.

Caring for the Dead in Ancient Israel

Caring for the Dead in Ancient Israel PDF

Author: Kerry M. Sonia

Publisher: SBL Press

Published: 2020-11-02

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 0884144623

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

A new reconstruction of cultic practices surrounding death in ancient Israel In Caring for the Dead in Ancient Israel, Kerry M. Sonia examines the commemoration and care for the dead in ancient Israel against the broader cultural backdrop of West Asia. This cult of dead kin, often referred to as ancestor cult, comprised a range of ritual practices in which the living provided food and drink offerings, constructed commemorative monuments, invoked the names of the dead, and protected their remains. This ritual care negotiated the ongoing relationships between the living and the dead and, in so doing, helped construct social, political, and religious landscapes in relationship to the past. Sonia explores the nature of this cult of dead kin in ancient Israel, focusing on its role within the family and household as well as its relationship to Israel’s national deity and the Jerusalem temple. Features: A reevaluation of whether burial and necromantic rituals were part of the cult of dead kin A portrait of the various roles Israelite women played in the cult of dead kin A reassessment of biblical writers’ attitudes toward the cult of dead kin

An Ox of One's Own

An Ox of One's Own PDF

Author: T. M. Sharlach

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2017-09-11

Total Pages: 348

ISBN-13: 1501505262

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Shulgi-simti is an important example of a woman involved in sponsoring religious activities though having a family life. An Ox of One’s Own will be of interest to Assyriologists, particularly those interested in Early Mesopotamia, and scholars working on women in religion. An Ox of One’s Own centers on the archive of a woman who died about 2050 B.C., one of King Shulgi’s many wives. Her birth name is unknown, but when she married, she became Shulgi-simti, “Suitable for Shulgi.” Attested for only about 15 years, she existed among a court filled with other wives, who probably outranked her. A religious foundation was run on her behalf whereby courtiers, male and female, donated livestock for sacrifices to an unusual mix of goddesses and gods. Previous scholarship has declared this a rare example of a queen conducting women’s religion, perhaps unusual because they say she came from abroad. The conclusions of this book are quite different. An Ox of One’s Own lays out the evidence that another woman was queen at this time in Nippur while Shulgi-simti lived in Ur and was a third-ranking concubine at best, with few economic resources. Shulgi-simti’s religious exercises concentrated on a quartet of north Babylonian goddesses.

City of Culture 2600 BC: Early Mesopotamian History and Archaeology at Abu Salabikh

City of Culture 2600 BC: Early Mesopotamian History and Archaeology at Abu Salabikh PDF

Author: John Nicholas Postgate

Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd

Published: 2024-03-07

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 1803276703

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This book presents the city beneath the surface of Abu Salabikh, southern Iraq. The archaeology and the textual data combine to reveal its architecture, agricultural and industrial enterprises, and social structure. Integrated with our wider knowledge of south Mesopotamia at this time it creates a vivid image of city life in 2600 BC.

International Review of Biblical Studies, Volume 52 (2005-2006)

International Review of Biblical Studies, Volume 52 (2005-2006) PDF

Author: Bernhard Lang

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2007-02-28

Total Pages: 566

ISBN-13: 9047419227

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Formerly known by its subtitle “Internationale Zeitschriftenschau für Bibelwissenschaft und Grenzgebiete”, the International Review of Biblical Studies has served the scholarly community ever since its inception in the early 1950’s. Each annual volume includes approximately 2,000 abstracts and summaries of articles and books that deal with the Bible and related literature, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, Pseudepigrapha, Non-canonical gospels, and ancient Near Eastern writings. The abstracts – which may be in English, German, or French - are arranged thematically under headings such as e.g. “Genesis”, “Matthew”, “Greek language”, “text and textual criticism”, “exegetical methods and approaches”, “biblical theology”, “social and religious institutions”, “biblical personalities”, “history of Israel and early Judaism”, and so on. The articles and books that are abstracted and reviewed are collected annually by an international team of collaborators from over 300 of the most important periodicals and book series in the fields covered.

From Ritual to God in the Ancient Near East

From Ritual to God in the Ancient Near East PDF

Author: Nicola Laneri

Publisher:

Published: 2024-05-02

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 1009306634

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Human belief systems and practices can be traced to ca. 10,000 BCE in the Ancient Near East, where the earliest evidence of ritual structures and objects can be found. Religious architecture, the relics of human skeletons, animal symbolism, statues, and icons all contributed to a complex network into which the spiritual essence of the divine was materially present. In this book, Nicola Laneri traces the transformation of the belief systems that shaped life in ancient Near Eastern communities, from prehistoric times until the advent of religious monotheism in the Levant during the first millennium BCE. Considering a range of evidence, from stone ceremonial enclosures, such as as Göbleki Tepe, to the construction of the first temples and icons of Mesopotamian polytheistic beliefs, to the Temple of Jerusalem, the iconic center of Israelite monotheism, Laneri offers new insights into the symbolic value embodied in the religious materiality produced in the ancient Near East.

Weavers, Scribes, and Kings

Weavers, Scribes, and Kings PDF

Author: Amanda H. Podany

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2022

Total Pages: 673

ISBN-13: 0190059044

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

"This sweeping history of the ancient Near East (Mesopotamia, Syria, Anatolia, Iran) takes readers on a journey from the creation of the world's first cities to the conquest of Alexander the Great. The book is built around the life stories of many ancient men and women, from kings, priestesses, and merchants to bricklayers, musicians, and weavers. Their habits of daily life, beliefs, triumphs, and crises, and the changes that they faced over time are explored through their written words and the archaeological remains of the buildings, cities, and empires in which they lived. Rather than chronicling three thousand years of kingdoms, the book instead creates a tapestry of life stories through which readers come to know specific individuals from many walks of life, and to understand their places within the broad history of events and institutions in the ancient Near East. These life stories are preserved on ancient cuneiform tablets, which allow us to trace, for example, the career of a weaver as she advanced to became a supervisor of a workshop, listen to a king trying to persuade his generals to prepare for a siege, and feel the pain of a starving young couple who were driven to sell all four of their young children into slavery during a famine. What might seem at first glance to be a remote and inaccessible ancient culture proves to be a comprehensible world, one that bequeathed to us many of our institutions and beliefs, a truly fascinating place to visit"--

Lanterna Rally - Theme by Grace Themes