Here’s a helpful categorization I found in reading Ancient Near East: Historical sources in translation by Chavalas, et al this morning (what follows is a quotation):
In the ancient Near East three different methods were used (at different times and in different places) to distinguish years:
1. Years were named after an important event (year names)
2. The years of a king’s reign were numbered consecutively (regnal years)
3. Each year was named after a high official called a limmu (eponym)
Here’s my quote of the day from Ancient Near East: Historical Sources in Translation edited by Chavalas.
Tiglath-pilesar’s characterization of utter annihilation of the towns must be understood in light of royal propaganda. The use of hyperbole was a significant feature in ancient Near Eastern conquest accounts. Therefore, extensive archaeological excavations are required in making concrete determinations regarding the extent of military destruction.
I’d say that’s pretty important to know when one reads the Hebrew Bible.
Comments Off on "Shepherd" Rulers in the Ancient Near East I suppose I should take a brief pause from handing out BiblioBlogger theme songs and write something related to Biblical Studies (Just kidding … as if theme songs for BiblioBloggers is unrelated to Biblical Studies). Anyway … I’ve been reading a bit from Ancient Near East: Historical Sources in Translation edited by Chavalas. I know and have discussed in my own teaching that shepherd imagery is, at least sometimes, royal imagery in the Old Testament. I’m thinking of places like 1 Kings 22.17-18:
17 Then Micaiah said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep that have no shepherd; and the Lord said, ‘These have no master; let each one go home in peace.’ ” 18 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy anything favorable about me, but only disaster?”
In this prophecy, the king of Israel is cast as a shepherd. Another fairly clear place that this shepherd – royal imagery is quite clear is Ezekiel 34. It’s extensive, so I won’t cite the whole chapter here. But, it should be easy enough to see for yourself.
I have also known that this kind of imagery, i.e. the king as shepherd, was rooted in broader Ancient Near Eastern thought. However, until reading Ancient Near East: Historical Sources in Translation I didn’t realize quite the extent of this. It is almost despicable how often kings refer to themselves as shepherds or gods refer to kings as shepherds (or at least these words are placed in the mouths of kings in legendary writings). Here are just a few references:
“I am a king who has not looked after his land, and a shepherd who has not looked after his people…” (Naram-sin)
“For Ningirsu, the mighty warrior of Enlil, Gudea, whose name endures – the ruler of Lagash, the shepherd called (chosen) in the heart by Ningirsu, …”
“… Shu-Suen (the purification priest of An, the anointed priest – clean of hand – of Enlil and Ninlil and of the great gods, the king whom Enlil affectionately revealed in his heart as shepherd of the land …”
“… I am the king of the four corners. I am the keeper, the shepherd of the black-headed ones …” (Shulgi)
This is only a very small sampling. I searched the term shepherd in Ancient Near East: Historical Sources in Translation and it turned up 47 results (though not all of those were in the inscriptions themselves most of them are).
Considering how firmly rooted this imagery is, I think I will probably take a bit more pause when I see the word shepherd as I’m reading scripture. When is a shepherd just a shepherd? When is shepherd imagery royal imagery? I’m sure someone has written something about that, but then again my primary area of research is applied linguistics….
Comments Off on The Pride of Naram-Sin I was reading this morning in Ancient Near East: Historical Sources in Translation and found this section from Chapter 2 interesting. King Naram-Sin says:
Thus I said to myself, thus indeed I spoke: “What lion practiced divination? What wolf inquired of an interpreter of dreams? Let me go like a bandit, following the counsel of my own heart. Let me disregard (the counsel) of the god; let me take responsibility for myself.”
As you can imagine, the rest of the story doesn’t go so well for Naram-Sin. I just thought it was interesting. Sounds like a motif one would find in the Hebrew Bible. Or, perhaps like something a Psalmist might place on the lips of his enemies. Go figure …
Related:
Douglas Mangum’s Roundup on the Qeiyafa Ostracon Buzz
Comments Off on Old Testament Timeline – Ralph Klein For those looking for a decent Old Testament timeline, you might check out Ralph Klein’s offering, which places the chronology alongside other events of importance in the wider Ancient Near East.
If any of this seems like it would be useful to you, click the following link to check out the Old Testament timeline.
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