Three Blind Vices?

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-201
Author(s):  
K.L. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Near East ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Sensory Impairment

Abstract Frequently Samson’s blindness is linked with newfound spiritual insight, with physical humiliation, and occasionally with instrumental talion. Few question the role of blindness in the text through other lenses or with knowledge of ancient theories of vision. Balancing this, I investigate Samson’s sight and blindness in the context of Judges 13-16, asking what his sensation and sensory impairment signified in the broader context of the Hebrew Bible (HB) and wider Ancient Near East (ANE).

The Good, the God, and the Ugly: The Role of the Beloved Monster in the Ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible

2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 132-145
Author(s):  
Ryan S. Higgins
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Near East ◽  
Speculative Fiction ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Near Eastern ◽  
Contemporary Speculative Fiction

Ancient Near Eastern texts teem with horrifying and grotesque beings that pose some significant threat to the cosmos, humanity, and its institutions. Adopting Noël Carroll’s definition, such beings are monsters: interstitial not only physiologically and ontologically, but also cosmically and morally. This essay takes a comparative and literary approach to beloved monsters in Ugaritic, Mesopotamian, and Hebrew Bible texts. It suggests that in Ugarit and Mesopotamia, such monsters play a crucial role in advancing the goals of antipathic heroes while maintaining the integrity of sympathetic deities. It then considers the beloved monster in the Hebrew Bible and its interpretations. Finally, the essay makes note of the phenomenon’s transformation in contemporary speculative fiction. The essay argues that the beloved monster in Ugarit and Mesopotamia keeps together a fragmented cosmos, while in the Hebrew Bible it refracts through the facets in a prismatic God.

Female Prophetic Traditions in the Old Testament

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-82
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Grey
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Near East ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
National Life ◽  
Prophetic Tradition ◽  
Women Prophets ◽  
Gender Limitations

Abstract This article explores the tradition of female prophets in the Old Testament utilizing Isaiah’s woman (Isa. 8.1-4) as a case study. First, it discusses the general evidence for a female prophetic tradition in the Old Testament, locating it in the broader ancient Near East context. It then focuses on examples of women prophets within the Old Testament to demonstrate the role of female prophets in shaping national life and politics despite the gender limitations of women in ancient Israelite society. Following this broader discussion, a case study of Isaiah’s wife is presented to explore her function and role as a prophet. In particular, the role of hannevi’ah as a possible mother within the prophetic guild is examined. Finally, the implications for the Pentecostal community are considered, focusing on retrieving the role of prophetic mothers to function alongside prophetic fathers.

scholarly journals Praise by animals in the Hebrew Bible

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 500-513
Author(s):  
Peter Joshua Atkins
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Near East ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Near Eastern ◽  
Biblical Texts

Among ancient Near Eastern societies was a widespread and particularly intriguing belief that animals were able to worship and praise deities. This study shows the Hebrew Bible evidences the idea that animals were capable of praising God too and proceeds to observe and document the presence of numerous examples of this in specific biblical texts. Through understanding the place of animals in the Hebrew Bible, and their perceived activity in the ancient Near East, this study suggests animals are distinct agents of praise in their own right in the biblical texts.

Archaic lists, writing and mind

2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 484-504
Author(s):  
Rita Watson
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Near East ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Near Eastern

Theories of writing and mind have proposed that the uses of literacy give rise to a distinct repertoire of cognitive skills, attitudes, and concepts. This paper reconsiders the earliest lexical lists of the Ancient Near East as one type of evidence on writing and mind. Past and present conceptions of the lists are briefly reviewed. Early views cast the lists as reflecting a Sumerian mentality or a uniquely literate mode of thought, while recent accounts suggest they may simply be routine scribal exercises. A view from the philosophy of science, on which lists are considered a sub-type of ordering system, suggests a way of aligning a scribal practice account with aspects of earlier views by articulating the nature of list entries and the intentions of the list makers. On this account, the Ancient Near Eastern lists can be seen both as uniquely literate and as uniquely informative on the role of writing in mind.

Introducing the Oxford History of the Ancient Near East

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Karen Radner ◽  
Nadine Moeller ◽  
D. T. Potts
Keyword(s):  
Near East ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
North African ◽  
Inter Tropical Convergence Zone ◽  
The North ◽  
Western Asia ◽  
History Of ◽  
Key Issues

With the emphasis of the Oxford History of the Ancient Near East firmly placed on the political, social, and cultural histories of the states and communities shaping Egypt and Western Asia (including the Levant, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Iran), this introduction to the five-volume series seeks to place the region in its environmental context. It discusses the lay of the land between the North African coast and the Hindu Kush, including the role of tectonics and geomorphology. It also considers some key issues regarding climatic conditions, focusing in particular on the significance of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone and the potential impact of megadroughts and pandemics.

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