Festive Meals in Ancient Israel: Volume 424: Deuteronomy's Identity Politics in Their Ancient Near Eastern Context (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur die ... fur die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 424)

312 Pages·2011·20.879 MB·English

by  Peter Altmann

Peter Altmann
Festive Meals in Ancient Israel
Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die
alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
Herausgegeben von
John Barton · F. W. Dobbs-Allsopp
Reinhard G. Kratz · Markus Witte
Band 424
De Gruyter
Peter Altmann
Festive Meals in Ancient Israel
Deuteronomy’s Identity Politics
in Their Ancient Near Eastern Context
De Gruyter
ISBN 978-3-11-025536-2
e-ISBN 978-3-11-025537-9
ISSN 0934-2575
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Altmann, Peter.
Festive meals in ancient israel : Deuteronomy’s identity in their ancient
Near Eastern context / Peter Altmann.
p. cm. - (Beihefte zur zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissen-
schaft ; Bd. 424)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-3-11-025536-2 (hardcover 23 x 15,5 : alk. paper)
1. Dinners and dining - Biblical teaching. 2. Fasts and feasts -
Biblical teaching. 3. Bible. O.T. Deuteronomy - Criticism, interpreta
tion, etc. 4. Food habits - Israel. 5. Food habits - Middle East.
I. Title.
BS1275.6.D55A48 2011
2221.15083942-dc22
2011006107
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet
at http://dnb.d-nb.de.
” 2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
Printing: Hubert & Co. GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen
00 Printed on acid-free paper
Printed in Germany
www.degr uyter.com
Acknowledgements
This monograph represents a revised version of my dissertation com
pleted for Princeton Theological Seminary in 2010. My advisor, Dennis
Olson, stepped in to offer assistance while allowing space to develop
both the thought represented here and as a young scholar in general.
Thanks to Chip Dobbs-Allsopp and Jeremy Hutton, members of my
doctoral committee, whose doors and minds were open for dialogue
both on the dissertation and throughout my time at Princeton. They? as
well as Tremper Longman have seen me through from the early stages
of Old Testament study and continue to offer their expertise.
I am grateful for the many other people who have been willing to
read a draft or a section and provide feedback along the way, including
various SBL sessions and University of Zurich and PTS Old Testament
Colloquiums, as well as Nathan MacDonald, Konrad Schmid, Simi
Chavel, Daniel Fleming, Christoph Uehlinger, Billie-Jean Collins, Beate
Pongratz-Leisten, Dan Pioske, Elaine James, Janling Fu, and Jonathan
Greer. In addition, Jiirg Hutzli, Safwat Marzouk, Sarah Zhang, Blake
Couey, Micah Kiel, and Matt Novenson provided intellectual and
needed social support. The faults in the monograph remain my own,
but they are far fewer as a result of the many cooks in the kitchen.
Thanks to the editors of BZAW for accepting the monograph and
for their helpful suggestions for revisions. The de Gruyter staff have
provided excellent support for turning a dissertation into a book.
Without the financial support of the Green Fellowship from PTS,
grants from the Swiss National Science Foundation and Ziircher Uni-
versitatsverien, the University of Zurich, and my parents, I cannot ima
gine I would have had the means to finish this project.
My early theological interactions at Mars Hill Graduate School in
Seattle birthed the desire for Old Testament study: thanks to the early
dreamers of this dream with me. Andy McCoy and Safwat Marzouk
have been two hearty and hardy companions along the way.
Reu and Eli, my children, continue to wonder how it can take so
long to write one book. Thanks to Birgit for her unflagging support of
me as I shaped this book and it me, and moreso for her repeated
nudges to be about more than a book.
Zurich, April 2011 Peter Altmann

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements V
Table of Contents VII
Abbreviations XI
Introduction 1
1. Overview of the History of Scholarship of Deuteronomy 5
1.1. Compositional History 8
1.1.1. Deuteronomy, Hezekiah, and Josiah 8
1.1.2. Streams of Scholarly Analysis 11
1.2. Methodology for Dating Texts 15
1.2.1. The Relationship Between the Deuteronomic and the
Covenant Codes 18
1.2.2. The Form of Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic
"Code" 22
1.2.3. Deuteronomy's Relationship to Assyrian Imperialism? 31
2. Treatment of the Deuteronomic Cultic Meals 37
2.1. Methodological Note: Interpretation of the DC Meal Texts as
Texts About Meals 41
2.2. The Anthropology of Meals 42
2.2.1. The "Socio-Genetic" Code: Sociological and
Anthropological Perspectives 44
2.2.1.1. Goody 44
2.2.1.2. Sutton 46
2.2.1.3. Montanari 48
2.2.2. The "Psycho-genetic" Code: Biology of Smell and Taste 50
2.3. Recent Uses of Anthropology in Ancient Near Eastern
and Biblical Studies on Commensality 54
2.3.1. Schmitt: Das Essen in der Bibel 54
2.3.2. Belnap: "Filets of Fatling and Goblets of Gold" 55
2.3.3. Janzen: The Social Meaning of Sacrifice 56
VIII Table of Contents
2.3.4. MacDonald: Not Bread Alone 57
2.4. The Use of Ritual Theory 60
2.5. Outline of the Work 66
3. Material Culture and the Symbolic Meaning of Meat in
Deuteronomy 12 72
3.1. Introduction 72
3.2. Importance of Meat as a Symbol in the Biblical Corpus 74
3.3. Iconography and Records of Meat and Banquets in the
Ancient Near East 78
3.4. Diet and Archaeozoology 99
3.5. Deuteronomy 12: Compositional History 107
3.5.1. The Election Formula as a Proposed Key to Relative
Dating Ill
3.5.2. Compositional History and Reading of Deut 12:13-27 113
3.6. Conclusion: Significance of Meat From a Socio-Political
Background 128
4. The Cultic Meals of the Deuteronomic Cultic Calendar
(16:1-17) in Light of Comparative ANE Texts 133
4.1. Introduction 133
4.2. Ritual Texts 136
4.2.1. Emar and the zukru Festival Texts 136
4.2.2. Ugaritic CTU 1.40 (RS 1.002) 148
4.3. Narrative Texts 156
4.3.1. AkkadianAkltu andEnumaElish 156
4.3.2. Ugaritic Narratives 167
4.3.2.1. The Rephaim texts (CTU 1.20-22) 169
4.3.2.2. El's Feast (CTU 1.114) 172
4.3.2.4. Baal Cycle 173
4.3.2.5. Conclusions from the Ugaritic Narrative Material 179
4.4. Inner-biblical Comparison 186
4.4.1. Exodus 12:1-13:16 186
4.4.2. Exodus 23 and Source-Critical Analysis of
Deuteronomy 16 190
4.5. Interpretation of Deuteronomy 16:1-17 198
5. Deuteronomy 14:22-29 in Light of Ancient Near Eastern
Tribute and Modern Anthropology 211
Table of Contents IX
5.1. Introduction 211
5.2. Deuteronomy 14:22-29: A History of Scholarship 212
5.2.1. Comparison with Pentateuchal Texts (Num 18:21-32;
Lev 27:30-33) 212
5.2.2. Compositional History of Deuteronomy 14:22-29 215
5.3. Ancient Near Eastern and Israelite Background 221
5.4. Reading of Deuteronomy 14:22-29 227
5.5. Synthesis of Exegesis, Social Scientific, and Biological
Evidence 238
6. Conclusion 241
Bibliography 245
Index 287