11. Witchcraft and the Law in the Ancient Near East

2009 ◽  
pp. 289-300
Keyword(s):  
Near East ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
The Law

scholarly journals ‘Die pen is magtiger as die swaard’: Oor skrifgeletterdheid, skrifgeleerdes en Israel se Tweede Tempeltydperk

2013 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerda De Villiers
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Near East ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Second Temple Period ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
General Part ◽  
The Law

‘The pen is mightier than the sword’: Literacy and scribes in Israel during the Second Temple period. This article is divided in two parts. Part one examines scribal education and scribes in the ancient Near East and Israel. Although no real evidence exists for scribal schools and education in Israel, it is argued that some form of institutionalised training must have taken place in order to produce literary texts of such a high quality as are found in the Hebrew Bible. Comparative material from Mesopotamia serves to trace the education of scribes in general. Part two focuses on the Second Temple period in ancient Israel. Ezra the scribe emerges as a typical scribe from that era. Post-exilic Israel was grappling with its identity, and sought guidance from ַ [as was written in the Torah]. However, it appears that there were different interpretations of the written Law during this period. Scribes of the Ezra circle advocated a radical policy of exclusivity on the basis of what was written in the Law; others who wrote the texts of Trito-Isaiah and Ruth pleaded for a more inclusive attitude towards foreigners. The conclusion is that the battle was fought not with the sword, but with the pen, therefore: ‘The pen is mightier than the sword.’

scholarly journals Averting Curses in the Law of War (Deuteronomy 20)

2020 ◽  
Vol 132 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-223
Author(s):  
Laura Quick
Keyword(s):  
Near East ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Law Of War ◽  
The Social ◽  
Sitz Im Leben ◽  
The Law ◽  
Ancient Warfare ◽  
The Military

AbstractThis essay explores the military exemption of Deut 20:5–7 in light of the futility curse in Deut 28:30. By uncovering the social and ritual contexts of the futility curse, I argue that Deut 20:5–7 can be productively understood as a warfare ritual against the curse. I explore the ritual dimensions of Deut 20:5–7 in light of rituals for avoiding curses and maledictions from the ancient Near East, arguing that the original Sitz im Leben of these verses can be found in a pre-war ritual responding to the hegemonic aims of enemies as this crystallized in the inscriptional and ritual contexts of ancient warfare.

Of Ancient Codes

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Van De Mieroop
Keyword(s):  
Near East ◽  
World History ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Writing System ◽  
Ancient Mesopotamia ◽  
The Law

This chapter focuses on the genre of law codes in ancient Mesopotamia. Hammurabi authored—or more likely commissioned—one of the earliest surviving law codes in world history. Hammurabi’s code is part of a small corpus of ancient Near East writings about law that was founded on the principles contained in lexical and omen lists. The law codes of the ancient Near East show how aspects of Babylonian epistemology could be imitated by others even if they did not employ the Babylonian writing system that lay at its core. The chapter first considers the historical context of the law codes before discussing the format of these laws. The composition of law codes flourished in Babylonia in the late third and early second millennia, when four kings commissioned them: Ur-Namma and Lipit-Eshtar in the Sumerian language, Dadusha and Hammurabi in Akkadian.

Blessings and Curses in Deuteronomy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Quick
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Near East ◽  
Religious Life ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Near Eastern ◽  
The Law ◽  
And Function ◽  
Ancient Texts

The law code of the book of Deuteronomy is capped with a series of blessings and curses that either promise reward or threaten harm upon the individuals subject to the Deuteronomic laws. While this method of divine encouragement to keep the commandments of God might seem surprising from a theological point of view, blessings and curses were an integral part of the legal, political, and religious life of the ancient Near East, found in a variety of ancient texts, including the Hebrew Bible, Neo-Assyrian treaties, and Northwest Semitic inscriptions. Placing the biblical blessings and curses within the larger context of this ancient Near Eastern material provides new insights into the background and function of the blessings and curses in the book of Deuteronomy, and in the Hebrew Bible more generally.

Zedaqà: Pursuit of Justice and the Instrument of ‘Ius Talionis’

1995 ◽  
Vol 29 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 65-78
Author(s):  
Daniela Piattelli
Keyword(s):  
Near East ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Law

Much has been written on the law of retaliation, both by the specialists who studied the sources of the Ancient Near East that are different from Israel and by those who made Israel the subject of specific studies.Among those who may be numbered in the first group, we shall quote Cardascia. Among his most recent studies connected with the subject considered, we shall mention: “Réparation et peine dans les droits cunéiformes et le droit romain”, in La responsabilité à travers les âges, ed. par M. Boulet-Santel, (Paris, 1989) 1–45; “La peine dans les droits cunéiformes”, in (1991) 55 Rec. de la Société J. Bodin 37–49. But the most incisive study, on which we shall dwell at length, is: “La place du talion dans l'histoire du droit pénal à la lumière des droits du Proche-Orient ancien”, in Mélanges J. Dauvillier (Toulouse, 1979) 169–183.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document