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The Ancient Near EastContext
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Understanding divinity in theAncient Context
Home
Mountain
Beyond Periphery
monsters
Periphery: Foreign
Unknown /Less valuable
Temple: jo ins heaven and earth
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Ancient Near EastOrientations / Contexts
EAST what is knownWe face East
WEST what is behindUs, what we dont knowThe future
SOUTH what is to our rightWhat is secure and associated with
well being
NORTH what is to our leftWhat is sinister, dangerous and
associatedwith the enemies
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The Flow of Time Every moment experienced already
becomes past We remember experiences of the
community as well as the individual Tradition becomes part of
forming ones
identity Community tradition transcends death
because stories can be told and passeddown, oral tradition Words
have a power of their own:
Names are an essential part of onesidentity
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Who was Baal (inUgarit)?
Struggled forkingship over theuniverse
Was the warriorstorm god whosename means Lord.
Rivals: Yamm : god of the
Sea
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Who was Baal (in Ugarit)?
Receives a limitedkingship, not one whovanquishes all enemiesfor
all times
Was a relatively weakdeity aided in hisvictories by
otherdeities.
Baals rule is in threeareas: Cosmic, Human,Nature
Baals struggles mirrorhumanities struggle
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TransformationsinThe Biblical Text
salm 104: a wise design w/outenemies
enesis 1: No conflict-creationbut goodness
hat lies beyond, theanninim is transformedto part of
creation
un, moon, etc. are notresented as deities, butather as part of
creation
enesis 1 shows a displacementf the traditional conflictetween
monsters and theivine Being
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Divine Construction Reflects political
power/powerlessness Encodes human fear / foibles /
problems Expresses visions of hope Represents the social order
and
relationship of human beings toboth the known world and
theunknown beyond
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Rituals in the ANE Prophecy: a response to political
unrest and usually addressed to theking. Early prophecies date
back to
18 th century BCE, and also found inEgypt, Assyria, Babylon
Vows: bargaining with deity, if you
will give me this, I will do this orthat
Blessing and Cursing Omens and Signs from nature Mortuar
Rites
