UMD HIST 282 - Religion, Ritual, Myth: Bible and Ancient Near East

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1Religion, Ritual, Myth: Bibleand Ancient Near EastFrom last time Religion of the Bible: Some Major Themes Religion of Israel: Women as a point of departureFor today Continuities and discontinuities between “religion of Israel”and other local religious practices “Religion of the Bible” and mythology of the Ancient NearEastSeptember 25, 2006Religion of the Bible: Some MajorThemes Acts: Sacrifice or other dedication, donation of property. Donors maybe pilgrims (Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits/Weeks (Shavuot),Sukkot/Tabernacles) Persons: Priests assigned the role of performing, mediating sacrifices;divination Locations: Sacred locations; may involve pilgrimage. For much of theBible, only one sacrificial place, Jerusalem Temple (e.g., Deut 16 inhandout) Stories: In particular the Exodus is the central story, especially inTorah. Exodus and law-giving at Horeb/Sinai are central toBiblical/Jewish notion of covenant. (Note: agriculturalfestivals—become commemorations of the Exodus). Time: Performance of acts in their appointed times. But time can berelative (e.g., at/after harvest) or fixed (15th day of 7th month)Religion of Ancient Israel:Women as a Point of Departure Religion of the Bible is exclusive—male priests preside—andfocuses on male heads of household Women are markers of “improper” (offering cakes to the Queenof Heaven) or “unofficial” (e.g., virgins bewailing the fate ofJepthah’s daughters) religion Interact with sacred places, personalities in cases generallyrelating to (in)fertility Suggests: a range of practices, concerns, outside the specficinterest of Biblical law or narrative.(E.g., We know that people married, and how it was conceivedas a matter of households and property, but not how/whether itwas celebrated)2“Religion of Israel” and local religion:continuities and discontinuities “High Places” and cultic tradition Mythology: cosmic battle at creation(more later) Discontinuities?“High Places” and cultictradition High places (bamot), aniconic standingstones (matsevot), trees (a/Asherot) aregular feature of regional cult Also feature stories of patriarchs (but “trees”not asherot): a part of the cultural legacy Kuntillet Ajrud: YHWH and hisa/Asherah—possibly not consort of YHWHDrawings, inscriptions from Kuntillet Ajrud, 8th C. BCE3Discontinuities? A national myth, attached to anancestral God: Moabites (Mesha stone)and Israelites use similar descriptionsof their Gods to emphasize difference Some practices (circumcision) markdifference with Philistines in particular“Religion of the Bible” and mythology ofthe Ancient Near East Flood narratives: Genesis 6-8 and theGilgamesh epic Genesis 1 and a de-mythologizedcreation (cf. Enuma Elish) Biblical myths of cosmic battle atcreation, and their near-eastern contextFlood narratives: Genesis 6-8and the Gilgamesh epic Further discussion in section Common features: Dove, Raven to test the receding waters Sacrifice Odor of the sacrifice appeasing But also differences Moral tenor of the genesis account Conflict of the Gods vs. disobediencetoward the one creator God.4Genesis 1 and a de-mythologized creation Genesis 1: orderly, logical creation, progressing fromdarkness and watery deep (tehom) But Enuma Elish:“[Having defeated Tiamat [//Tehom], Marduk] gazed at the huge body,pondering how to use it, what to create from the dead carcass. He splitit apart like a cockle-shell; with the upper half he constructed the arc ofsky, he pulled down the bar and set a watch on the waters, so theyshould never escape.” (Cf. Day 2 of creation)In what follows, Marduk creates the rest of the world from Tiamat’scarcase Genesis 1 possibly an active rejection of a mythologyit knows and understandsBiblical myths of cosmicbattle at creation Enuma Elish Ugarit (Ras Shamra), examples of 13th C-12thC canaanite versions of a cosmic battleover chaos, with Ba‘al the great champion Assigned for class: Is 51, Ps 74, Ps 89include examples of this motif Significance: Genesis 1 (“P”) suppresses notonly “gentile” mythology, but also IsraelitemythologyYHWH as conquerorPs. 85 (RSV):5 Let the heavens praise thy wonders, O LORD, thy faithfulness inthe assembly of the holy ones! 6 For who in the skies can becompared to the LORD? Who among the heavenly beings is likethe LORD, 7 a God feared in the council of the holy ones, greatand terrible above all that are round about him? 8 O LORD God ofhosts, who is mighty as thou art, O LORD, with thy faithfulnessround about thee? 9 Thou dost rule the raging of the sea; when itswaves rise, thou stillest them. 10 Thou didst crush Rahab like acarcass, thou didst scatter thy enemies with thy mighty arm. 11 Theheavens are thine, the earth also is thine; the world and all that is init, thou hast founded them. 12 The north and the south, thou hastcreated them; Tabor and Hermon joyously praise thy


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UMD HIST 282 - Religion, Ritual, Myth: Bible and Ancient Near East

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