The Edomites

2020 ◽  
pp. 122-145
Author(s):  
Brian R. Doak
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Eighth Century ◽  
Twin Brother ◽  
Familial Bonds ◽  
Royal Inscriptions ◽  
Key Sites ◽  
Written Materials

The geographically southernmost entity among Israel’s neighbors, the Edomites, appear in the Hebrew Bible in a fascinatingly close role to Israel—literally as Israel’s twin brother (Gen 25–26). Most like its assessment of the Arameans, the biblical tradition acknowledges the familial bonds between Israel and Edom but at the same time blames Edom for various political infractions and disloyalty. The names of some Edomite kings are known from Assyrian administrative texts in the eighth century BCE, a period of Assyrian domination generally over the region. Not many Edomite written materials remain, and no royal inscriptions. However, a small number of native inscriptions attest to the prominence of the deity Qos as the primary Edomite deity, and excavations at key sites such as Qitmit and En Hatzeva within the last few decades have revealed artifacts that help us begin to understand Edomite religion and iconography.

The Nightmare and the Dream: Edward Bellamy and the Travails of Socialist Thought

2002 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
SAMUEL HABER
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Eighth Century ◽  
Edward Bellamy ◽  
Surplus Value ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
Utopian Socialism ◽  
The Many ◽  
Almost All

In the light of recent events, the once widely accepted Marxist distinction between “scientific” and “utopian” socialism is fading rapidly. For it has become increasingly difficult to believe that any form of socialism is inherent in the workings of history, as the Marxists had claimed for their “scientific” variety. Today Marxism, in its own terms, turns out to be “utopian.” One can now more readily recognize the kinship of the many different socialisms as well as the significance of their link to the social ideals of the past. What had previously been a somewhat antiquarian literature on “precursors,” “forerunners,” and “schismatics” of socialism suddenly appears as especially pertinent and perhaps even central. Today, without difficulty, one turns away from the various contradistinctions developed in this scholarship and toward the interconnections implicit in it.1Surveying this literature, we can recognize three preeminent social ideals that went into the making of the various socialisms – the call for social justice, the aspiration toward a society of brotherly love, and the belief that one could rid society of poverty. It was the eighth-century prophets of the Hebrew Bible who advanced the audacious demand for justice in society. They urged an end to oppression, cruelty, abuse, and more generally that people be given what was rightfully theirs. This demand recurs in almost all the socialist programs. In the Marxist scheme, it takes the form of the theory of surplus value which describes capitalist profit as a surplus product stolen (“entwandt”) from the worker who creates it.

Planting gardens: Mesopotamian influence on a Hebrew trope in Jeremiah 29

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 268-287
Author(s):  
Joseph W. Mueller
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Historical Factors ◽  
Royal Inscriptions ◽  
Literary Coherence

The version of the ‘building and planting’ conceptual pair found in Jeremiah 29:5 differs from the standard trope used elsewhere within the Hebrew Bible; it is the only example in which the object to be planted is a garden (גנה‎). Awareness of the exilic community’s Mesopotamian context potentially illuminates this alteration, as two mutually inclusive historical factors could have influenced the change. Jeremiah’s exhortation could account for the community’s agricultural context. By planting gardens, the exiles participated in the shift toward horticulture during the long 6th century and contributed to the שלום‎ of the region. Alternatively, Jeremiah 29:5 shares language with royal inscriptions of Esarhaddon. This proposed connection builds upon previous explorations of references to a 70-year exile elsewhere in both texts. The plausibility of the latter option would lend support to the literary coherence of Jeremiah 29:5–14, while the former suggests a 6th century provenance for the passage.

The Phoenicians

2020 ◽  
pp. 170-193
Author(s):  
Brian R. Doak
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Eighth Century ◽  
The South ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Burial Customs ◽  
African Coast ◽  
Key Sites ◽  
City States ◽  
New Research ◽  
Art And Architecture

Often reviled in the Bible as overly wealthy traders and false worshipers, the Phoenicians appear in the biblical accounts under the label of their principal cities, Tyre and Sidon. Native inscriptions and new archaeological efforts provide information on Phoenician royal politics, religion, and colonial ambitions as far west as the south of Spain and the far northwestern African coast. The name “Phoenicians” first appears in the Homeric corpus in the eighth century BCE, though it is never clear that any particular group called themselves “Phoenicians” during the Iron Age. Nevertheless, the cities of Sidon, Tyre, Byblos, and others constitute a coherent group of city-states that comfortably fit under the Phoenician label. Though excavation has been sparse at key sites, new research has revealed a plethora of data on Phoenician burial customs, art, and architecture.

Royal Wet Nurses in Seventh- and Early Eighth-Century China: Historiographical Evaluation and Narrative Construction

NAN Nü ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 198-224
Author(s):  
Rebecca Doran
Keyword(s):  
Eighth Century ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
Historical Narratives ◽  
Narrative Construction ◽  
Royal Family ◽  
Moral Assessment ◽  
Historical Judgment ◽  
Written Materials

AbstractThe women who served as wet nurses to powerful and in some cases notorious members of the Tang royal family appear in written materials in various capacities in relation to prominent historical actors. An analysis of historical narratives involving these women indicates that their portrayals were strongly influenced by the historian’s mode of moral assessment, in particular, the historical judgment meted out upon their controversial charges. The manipulation in historical narrative of royal wet nurses thus elucidates a fascinating example of the operation of “praise and blame” in traditional historiography. Wet nurses are used as narrative pawns to emphasize the historical judgment of their famous former charges and become a vehicle or mouthpiece for historical evaluation.

Brahmi legends on Umayyad Fulus: Interrogating local minting practices and numismatic transculturation in Gandhara (ca. 750 CE)

Afghanistan ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-165
Author(s):  
Waleed Ziad
Keyword(s):  
Base Metal ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Eighth Century ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
Unusual Feature ◽  
Complex Relationship ◽  
Contact Zones ◽  
Confessional Identity ◽  
Derivatives Of

This paper concerns a historically significant find of copper derivatives of Umayyad post-reform fulus from Gandhara, probably minted in the mid-eighth century under Turk Shahi sovereignty (c. 667–875). The coins share an unusual feature: two Brahmi aksharas on an Umayyad AE prototype, inversely oriented to a partially-corrupted Arabic legend. These base metal coins represent perhaps the only known caliphal imitative varieties issued by moneyers beyond the eastern limits of Umayyad and Abbasid sovereignty. They have the potential to inform our understanding of the complex relationship between political authority, confessional identity, and coin typology in late antiquity – particularly within early “Hindu”– “Muslim” contact zones. Moreover, they provide invaluable clues into the circulatory regimes of Umayyad coinage.

Family Concerns inThe Vampire Diaries

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-222
Author(s):  
Antonio Sanna
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Importance ◽  
Familial Relationships ◽  
Familial Bonds ◽  
Television Medium ◽  
Precious Stones

This paper examines the TV series The Vampire Diaries to show how the programme responds to traditional gothic tropes and transforms them for the television medium. Vampires and humans shall be read as both preoccupied with the ties of family, in story arcs that explore complex and often dark familial relationships. Especially in the early seasons of the series, objects such as magic rings, compasses, precious stones and magical devices are given fundamental importance for the development of the plot, the interactions among the characters, and the representation of familial bonds. Specifically, the search for and retrieval of the heirlooms shall be interpreted as instrumental to the representation of the characters’ relationships with their respective families, which I argue is a characteristic theme of gothic fictions at large.

The Hebrew Bible and Great Canaan

2006 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-233
Author(s):  
Ana Fund Patron de Smith
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document