Prophecy in the Ancient Near East: A Philological and Sociological Comparison

315 Pages·2012·1.642 MB·English

by  Jonathan Stökl

Prophecy in the Ancient Near East
Culture and History of the
Ancient Near East
Founding Editor
M.H.E. Weippert
Editor-in-Chief
Thomas Schneider
Editors
Eckart Frahm
W. Randall Garr
Baruch Halpern
Theo P.J. van den Hout
Irene J. Winter
VOLUME 56
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.nl/chan
Prophecy in the Ancient Near East
A Philological and Sociological Comparison
By
Jonathan Stökl
LEIdEN • BOSTON
2012
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data
Stökl, Jonathan, 1977–
 Prophecy in the ancient Near East : a philological and sociological comparison / by Jonathan Stökl.
  p. cm. — (Culture and history of the ancient Near East, ISSN 1566-2055 ; v. 56)
 Revision of the author’s thesis (doctoral)—Oriental Institute, Oxford University, 2009.
 Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and indexes.
 ISBN 978-90-04-22992-1 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Prophecy—Early works to 1800. 2. Prophecies—
Early works to 1800. 3. Forecasting—Religious aspects—Early works to 1800. I. Title.
 BL503.S76 2012
 202’.117—dc23
2012005178
This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters
covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities.
For more information, please see www.brill.nl/brill-typeface.
ISSN 1566-2055
ISBN 978 90 04 22992 1 (hardback)
ISBN 978 90 04 22993 8 (e-book)
Copyright 2012 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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CONTENTS
Abbreviations  ................................................................................................... ix
Acknowledgements  ........................................................................................ xv
Chapter One. Introduction  ......................................................................... 1
1.1 On Comparing Prophets  ................................................................. 5
1.2 definition of Prophecy and divination  ...................................... 7
1.3 Prophecy and (Socio-) Anthropology  ......................................... 11
1.4 Comparing Corpora  ......................................................................... 14
1.4.1 Egypt  ........................................................................................ 14
1.4.2 The Hittites  ............................................................................ 16
1.4.3 Ugarit  ....................................................................................... 18
1.4.4 The Aramaic Inscriptions  .................................................. 19
1.4.4.1 The deir ʿAlla Inscription  .................................. 19
1.4.4.2 The Zakkur Inscription  ....................................... 21
1.4.4.3 Ammon Citadel Inscription  .............................. 22
1.4.4.4 deir Rifa  .................................................................. 22
1.4.5 Greece  ...................................................................................... 23
1.5 Summary .............................................................................................. 25
PART ONE
PROPHECy IN OLd BAByLONIAN SOURCES
Chapter Two. Introduction to Old Babylonian Prophecy  ................. 29
Chapter Three. Old Babylonian Prophets  .............................................. 37
3.1 The Professional (āpilum)  .............................................................. 38
3.1.1 A Philological discussion of the Term āpilum  ............ 38
3.1.2 Social Role of the āpilum (‘spokesperson’)  .................. 43
3.2 Lay-Prophets  ....................................................................................... 50
3.2.1 Cultic Officials  ....................................................................... 51
3.2.1.1 The muḫḫûm  .......................................................... 51
3.2.1.2 The assinnu  ............................................................. 58
3.2.1.3 The qammatum  ..................................................... 61
3.2.2 Other Lay-Prophets  .............................................................. 62
vi contents
3.3 The nabû  ............................................................................................ 63
3.4 Prophetic Groups  ............................................................................ 64
3.5 The Gender of Prophecy  ............................................................... 67
Chapter Four. The Prophetic Message  .................................................... 71
4.1 The egerrûm  ...................................................................................... 78
4.2 šuttum—dream or Vision?  .......................................................... 79
4.3 Hair and Hem ................................................................................... 81
Chapter Five. Further Aspects of Old Babylonian Prophecy  ........... 87
5.1 The deities of Prophecy  ................................................................ 87
5.2 The Geographical distribution  ................................................... 88
5.3 The Temporal distribution  .......................................................... 90
5.4 The Workings of Prophecy  ........................................................... 91
Chapter Six. Conclusions ............................................................................. 97
PART TWO
PROPHECy IN NEO-ASSyRIAN SOURCES
Chapter Seven. Introduction to Neo-Assyrian Prophecy  .................. 103
Chapter Eight. Neo-Assyrian Prophets  .................................................... 111
8.1 The raggintu  ..................................................................................... 111
8.2 The maḫḫû and other (lay-)prophets  ....................................... 118
8.3 The Gender of Prophecy  ............................................................... 121
Chapter Nine. The Message  ........................................................................ 129
9.1 The Physical Shape of the Tablets  ............................................. 129
9.2 Forms and Function of Prophetic Texts  .................................. 131
Chapter Ten. Other Aspects of Neo-Assyrian Prophecy  .................... 143
10.1 Prophecy and the Cult  .................................................................. 143
10.2 The Senders (deities) of Prophecy  ............................................ 146
10.3 The Geographic and Temporal distribution  .......................... 149
Chapter Eleven. Conclusions  ..................................................................... 151
contents vii
PART THREE
PROPHECy IN THE HEBREW BIBLE
Chapter Twelve. Introduction to Prophecy in the Hebrew Bible  .... 155
Chapter Thirteen. The Messengers  .......................................................... 157
13.1 The איבנ (nābīʾ)  ............................................................................. 157
13.1.1 The Etymology of איבנ  .................................................. 158
13.1.1.1 The nabī at Ebla ............................................... 159
13.1.1.2 The nabī at Emar  ............................................. 161
13.1.1.3 Conclusions of the Etymological
discussion  .......................................................... 166
13.1.2 The nbʾ in the Lachish Letters  ..................................... 167
13.1.3 The איבנ in the Hebrew Bible  ..................................... 171
13.1.3.1 Prophetic Groups  ............................................ 173
13.1.3.2 Prophets in the Pentateuch  ......................... 176
13.1.3.3 The Writing Prophets ..................................... 178
13.1.3.4 Female Prophets  .............................................. 186
13.2 The הזֶֹח  ............................................................................................ 192
13.3 The האֶֹר  ........................................................................................... 196
13.4 Comparison of the איבִ נָ, the הזֶֹח and the האֶֹר  .................. 199
Chapter Fourteen. Conclusions  ................................................................. 201
PART FOUR
COMPARISON ANd CONCLUSION
Chapter Fifteen. Comparison of Old Babylonian, Neo-Assyrian
 and Biblical Prophecy  ............................................................................... 205
15.1 Prophetic Groups  ........................................................................... 207
15.2 Cultic Prophecy  .............................................................................. 209
15.3 Music and Prophecy  ..................................................................... 211
15.4 Intercession  ..................................................................................... 215
15.5 Female Prophets  ............................................................................ 216
15.6 Transmitting Prophecy  ................................................................ 217
15.7 deities of Prophecy  ....................................................................... 220
15.8 Being Sent  ........................................................................................ 221
viii contents
Chapter Sixteen. Conclusions  .................................................................... 229
Bibliography  ..................................................................................................... 233
Indices  ................................................................................................................ 281
ABBREVIATIONS
Most abbreviations follow the list of abbreviations found on the website
of the Cuneiform digital Library Initiative prepared by dr. Jacob dahl:
http://cdli.ucla.edu/wiki/doku.php/abbreviations_for_assyriology.
AB The Anchor Bible
AbB Altbabylonische Briefe in Umschrift und Übersetzung
ABd Anchor Bible dictionary
AdOG Abhandlungen der deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft
AfO Archiv für Orientforschung
AHw Wolfram von Soden, Akkadisches Handwörterbuch. Unter Benut-
zung des lexikalischen Nachlasses von Bruno Meissner (1868–1947)
(3 vols; Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1965–81).
AJSL The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures
Ä&L Ägypten und Levante (Egypt and Levant)
ANET James B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the
Old Testament (3rd ed.; Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1969).
AnOr Analecta Orientalia
AOAT Alter Orient und Altes Testament
AoF Altorientalische Forschungen
ARET Archivi reali di Ebla. Testi
AARM Archives Royales de Mari
AS Assyriological Studies
ASJ Acta Sumerologica
ATd Altes Testament deutsch
AuOr Aula Orientalis
AuOrS Aula Orientalis. Supplementa
BA Biblical Archaeologist
BAR Biblical Archaeology Review
BASOR Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research
BBR Bulletin of Biblical Research
BCSMS Bulletin of the Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies
BETL Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium
Bib Biblica
BiOr Bibliotheca Orientalis
BK.AT Biblischer Kommentar zum Alten Testament