Precursors to the Flood Narrative (Gen 6:5–9:17)

Contrary to some recent proposals that the (incomplete) non-P flood narrative was a scribal extension of the Priestly flood story, this chapter begins by assembling the multiple strong arguments that the non-P flood narrative, though incompletely preserved, originated as part of a separate, pre-Priestly literary source. Both the flood narrative in this pre-Priestly source and its originally separate Priestly counterpart appear to have been modeled on earlier Mesopotamian traditions about the flood and rescue of a flood hero (especially as seen in the Atrahasis epic and tablet 11 of the Gilgamesh epic), even as the P flood narrative also seems to have been influenced in some respects by its pre-Priestly flood counterpart. The present complex form of Genesis 6:5–9:17 in turn is the product of the conflation of the P flood narrative with most parts of the non-P flood narrative, with both elements expanded at points with post-P conflational additions that coordinated them. At the other end of the formation process, this chapter builds a case that the non-P flood narrative was not an original part of the non-P primeval history. Rather, it appears to have been crafted as a literary extension of that history, contrasting with and yet connecting with that history in multiple respects.

(Un)Earthing Civilization: Holocene Climate Crisis, City-State Origins and the Birth of Writing

Today, concern about population displacement triggered by climate change is prompting some sovereign states to tighten security measures, as well as inciting ethically and politically motivated calls to relax border controls. This paper explores resonances between the current climate predicament and events in the mid-Holocene. Paleoclimatic and archaeological evidence is reviewed, suggesting that an abrupt turn to cooler, drier weather in the 4th millennium BCE triggered high volume migration to fertile river valleys—most fully documented in Mesopotamia but also visible in other regions around the world. This unprecedented agglomeration of bodies has been linked to the emergence of intensive irrigated agriculture and the rise of city-states. In conversation with the ancient Sumerian Gilgamesh epic, this paper draws upon archaeological research to conceptualize urban wall building and emergent practices of graphical notation as different forms of mediation. Both city walls and early writing, it is argued, deal with the interplay of mobilism and sedentarism, and both ‘media’ entail tactile, plastic use of local materials—namely riverbank clay. This paper addresses the paradox that the underpinning of ‘civilization’ by these once experimental media may now be fundamentally restricting socio-political, cultural, cognitive and embodied capacities to engage effectively with climate-driven upheaval. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Von Edelsteinen und ihren »Fund«Orten—Ein Beitrag zum Weltbild des Alten Orients

Ancient Near Eastern Sources offer various kinds of descriptions of gemstones and their use, either for healing or for sanctification rituals. Several myths explain their place in the Ancient Near Eastern cosmology. One of these myths is the Gilgamesh Epic, which tells about a garden of gemstones lying behind the way of the sun—out of reach for humankind. The placement of the garden, e.g. the gemstones in Gilgamesh, also demands further investigation of the placement of gemstones in the Old Testament. The article offers a thorough reading of Gilg. IX 170-196; Gen 2:10-14; Ezek 28:11-19; Is 54:11-17a and, briefly, Job 28. The author shows that gemstones are not just to be regarded colorful and precious. They are deeply connected with a realm outside human reach and with primeval times. They function as a marker in this respect when placed at the robe of the king of Tyre. And they transform Zion according to Is 54 at the other end, to an eschatological future.

PUISI INDONESIA ABAD KE-5: KAJIAN STRUKTURAL DAN SOSIOLOGI SASTRA TEKS YŪPA MUARAKAMAN

The history of modern Indonesian poetry often begins in the 1920s. The first modern Indonesian poem refers to the poem “Tanah Air”/ ‘Motherland’ by Muhammad Yamin. The canonization of M. Yamin (1903-1962) as one of pillar modern Indonesian poetry was known from the contribution of A. Teeuw (1921-2012). And, the results of his research on Indonesian poetry continue to resonate in the spaces of literary and language education to this day (2018). However, there is still little attention that explains the process of transformation from old poetry (mantra, pantun, karmina, seloka, gurindam, syair, etc.) to modern Indonesian poetry. The data only explained the milestones of modern Indonesian poetry starting in the 1920s. Even though the history of world literature dived until the time Before Century in his explanation of the history of poetry. Such as the Gilgamesh epic written on the 3rd century BC stone remains of the Sumerians in Mesopatami or the Beawulf long poem derived from oral literature as the beginning of the history of Anglo-Saxon (ancient English) poetry of the 8th century CE. Referring to the not strict definition of poetry, this paper will review the oldest text of the inscription in the Indonesia archipelago (5th century AD) as a form of old poetry by examining the structure and typology, as well as the social history of Indonesian ancient people that produced the inscription text in viewpoints sociology of literature. Thus, the results of this study are also expected to offer an alternative historiography of the history of Indonesian poetry.

Intertextuality in Arabic Criticism: Saadi Yousef’s Mobile Model as an Example

This article traces the development of the notion of intertextuality among modern Arab critics back to its roots in the Western critical theory. It also studies the hypothesis, which supports the presence of a special mythological intertextuality in the poetry of Saadi Yousef, the modern Iraqi poet. His mythological intertextuality is manifested in the composition, and content of his poetry. In the process of employing the device of intertextuality, Saadi invests ancient Iraqi myths. This article, in which we will discuss the famous Babylonian myth known as Gilgamesh Epic, will refer to Saadi’s use of this device as “the intertextuality of the mobile model.” Compared with conventional types of intertextuality, this type combines between the past text, that is the myth, and the present text, i. e. the poem through three axes. First, the investment of a past myth to serve present purposes; second, the employment of a past myth to read the present and the third axis entails the use of the present for the sake of influencing the present text. The purpose is to illustrate the benefits of the past myths and the mechanisms employed by Saadi Yousef and to examine the goals that have motivated the poet to choose one of the most ancient texts written at all.

Gilgamesh and Social Responsibility

This paper proposes that the Gilgamesh epic is constructed as an encoded expression of the wish of the people where it arose to have a more responsible king. The decoding builds to a deeply encoded structure, emerging as a precursor from which all other encodings are derived. Enkidu, Utnapishtim, and the episode of a spiny bush in the Great Deep decode as three assaults on the king’s grandiose self-seeking, a character trait that supports his abuse and tyranny over Uruk’s people. Shamhat, the priestess of Ishtar, decodes as the king’s instrument with which to bring Enkidu under his own influence and to thwart Anu’s reason for creating him—to balance the king. Ishtar decodes as one who creates indebtedness from the king to her in order to later express how the king defaults on his responsibilities. The subtlety of the encoding structure reflects the depth of anxiety in the people of the epic’s time about their king sensing their anger, as well as the length of time over which the epic was elaborated.