Ritual and Sacrifice in the Ancient Near East

Ritual and Sacrifice in the Ancient Near East PDF Author: Jan Quaegebeur
Publisher: Peeters
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : fr
Pages : 590

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Book Description
The volume contains 30 contributions to the theme of Ritual and Sacrifice in Ancient Egypt, Syria-Palestine, Mesopotamia, Anatolia and South Arabia, ranging from early historical to Roman times. These are revised and sometimes enlarged versions of papers read at the International Conference on Ritual and Sacrifice in the Ancient Near East, held in Leuven from 17-20 April 1991 to celebrate the centenary of academic teaching of Ancient Near Eastern languages at the KULeuven. The papers are written in English, French and Germand and sometimes illustrated; by their diversity they reflect the richness of international scholarship related to Ancient Near Eastern religious thinking and practice.

Ritual and Sacrifice in the Ancient Near East

Ritual and Sacrifice in the Ancient Near East PDF Author: Jan Quaegebeur
Publisher: Peeters
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : fr
Pages : 590

Get Book Here

Book Description
The volume contains 30 contributions to the theme of Ritual and Sacrifice in Ancient Egypt, Syria-Palestine, Mesopotamia, Anatolia and South Arabia, ranging from early historical to Roman times. These are revised and sometimes enlarged versions of papers read at the International Conference on Ritual and Sacrifice in the Ancient Near East, held in Leuven from 17-20 April 1991 to celebrate the centenary of academic teaching of Ancient Near Eastern languages at the KULeuven. The papers are written in English, French and Germand and sometimes illustrated; by their diversity they reflect the richness of international scholarship related to Ancient Near Eastern religious thinking and practice.

Sacred Killing

Sacred Killing PDF Author: Anne Porter
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 1575066769
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
What is sacrifice? How can we identify it in the archaeological record? And what does it tell us about the societies that practice it? Sacred Killing: The Archaeology of Sacrifice in the Ancient Near East investigates these and other questions through the evidence for human and animal sacrifice in the Near East from the Neolithic to the Hellenistic periods. Drawing on sociocultural anthropology and history in addition to archaeology, the book also includes evidence from ancient China and a riveting eyewitness account and analysis of sacrifice in contemporary India, which engage some of the key issues at stake. Sacred Killing vividly presents a variety of methods and theories in the study of one of the most profound and disturbing ritual activities humans have ever practiced.

The Role of Human Sacrifice in the Ancient Near East

The Role of Human Sacrifice in the Ancient Near East PDF Author: Alberto Ravinell Whitney Green
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 412

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Book Description


Child Sacrifice in Ancient Israel

Child Sacrifice in Ancient Israel PDF Author: Heath D. Dewrell
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 1646022017
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 253

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Book Description
Among the many religious acts condemned in the Hebrew Bible, child sacrifice stands out as particularly horrifying. The idea that any group of people would willingly sacrifice their own children to their god(s) is so contrary to modern moral sensibilities that it is difficult to imagine that such a practice could have ever existed. Nonetheless, the existence of biblical condemnation of these rites attests to the fact that some ancient Israelites in fact did sacrifice their children. Indeed, a close reading of the evidence—biblical, archaeological, epigraphic, etc.—indicates that there are at least three different types of Israelite child sacrifice, each with its own history, purpose, and function. In addition to examining the historical reality of Israelite child sacrifice, Dewrell’s study also explores the biblical rhetoric condemning the practice. While nearly every tradition preserved in the Hebrew Bible rejects child sacrifice as abominable to Yahweh, the rhetorical strategies employed by the biblical writers vary to a surprising degree. Thus, even in arguing against the practice of child sacrifice, the biblical writers themselves often disagreed concerning why Yahweh condemned the rites and why they came to exist in the first place.

Ritual, Performance, and Politics in the Ancient Near East

Ritual, Performance, and Politics in the Ancient Near East PDF Author: Lauren Ristvet
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107065216
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 333

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Book Description
In this book, Lauren Ristvet rethinks the narratives of state formation by investigating the interconnections between ritual, performance, and politics in the ancient Near East. She draws on a wide range of archaeological, iconographic, and cuneiform sources to show how ritual performance was not set apart from the real practice of politics; it was politics. Rituals provided an opportunity for elites and ordinary people to negotiate political authority. Descriptions of rituals from three periods explore the networks of signification that informed different societies. From circa 2600 to 2200 BC, pilgrimage made kingdoms out of previously isolated villages. Similarly, from circa 1900 to 1700 BC, commemorative ceremonies legitimated new political dynasties by connecting them to a shared past. Finally, in the Hellenistic period, the traditional Babylonian Akitu festival was an occasion for Greek-speaking kings to show that they were Babylonian and for Babylonian priests to gain significant power.

Human Sacrifice in Jewish and Christian Tradition

Human Sacrifice in Jewish and Christian Tradition PDF Author: Karin Finsterbusch
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 904740940X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 380

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Book Description
This volume asks to which extent ancient practices and traditions of human sacrifice are reflected in medieval and modern Judeo-Christian times. The first part of the volume, on antiquity, focuses on rituals of human sacrifice and polemics against it, as well as on transformations of human sacrifice in the Israelite-Jewish and Christian cultures, while the Ancient Near East and ancient Greece are not excluded. The second part of the volume, on medieval and modern times, discusses human sacrifice in Jewish and Christian traditions as well as the debates about euthanasia and death penalty in the Western world.

Human Sacrifice

Human Sacrifice PDF Author: Laerke Recht
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108687776
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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Book Description
Sacrifice is not simply an expression of religious beliefs. Its highly symbolic nature lends itself to various kinds of manipulation by those carrying it out, who may use the ritual in maintaining and negotiating power and identity in carefully staged 'performances'. This Element will examine some of the many different types of sacrifice and ritual killing of human beings through history, from Bronze Age China and the Near East to Mesoamerica to Northern Europe. The focus is on the archaeology of human sacrifice, but where available, textual and iconographic sources provide valuable complements to the interpretation of the material.

Essays on Babylonian and Biblical Literature and Religion

Essays on Babylonian and Biblical Literature and Religion PDF Author: I. Tzvi Abusch
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004435182
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 403

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Book Description
These studies take up several themes that the author has pursued in addition to his work on witchcraft literature and Gilgamesh. The volume contains general articles on Mesopotamian magic, religion, and mythology; studies, synchronic and diachronic, on Akkadian prayers; treatments of literary classics; comparative studies of terms and phenomena; and examinations of legal texts.

Violence and the Sacred in the Ancient Near East

Violence and the Sacred in the Ancient Near East PDF Author: Ian Hodder
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108476023
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 275

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Book Description
This book is primarily for researchers and students in the archaeology of the Ancient Near East. The volume results from intense interaction between archaeologists at these sites and a group of theorists studying the scholarship of René Girard.

Performing Death

Performing Death PDF Author: Nicola Laneri
Publisher: Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description
This volume represents a collection of contributions presented by the authors during the Second Annual University of Chicago Oriental Institute Seminar "Performing Death: Social Analyses of Funerary Traditions in the Ancient Mediterranean," held at the Oriental Institute, February 17-18, 2006. The principal aim of the two-day seminar was to interpret the social relevance resulting from the enactment of funerary rituals within the broad-reaching Mediterranean basin from prehistoric periods to the Roman Age. Efforts were concentrated on creating a panel composed of scholars with diverse backgrounds - anthropologists, historians, archaeologists, art historians, and philologists - and the knowledge and expertise to enrich the discussion through the presentation of case-studies linked to both textual and archaeological evidence from the Mediterranean region. Fundamental to the successful realisation of this research process was the active dialogue between scholars of different backgrounds. These communicative exchanges provided the opportunity to integrate different approaches and interpretations concerning the role played by the performance of ancient funerary rituals within a given society and, as a result, helped in defining a coherent outcome towards the interpretation of ancient communities' behaviours.