Focusing on ancient Near Eastern prophecy, this volume offers translations and discussions of oracle reports, prophetic messages in literature, and references to prophetic figures. It presents a diverse collection of documents from the second and first millennia BCE, making it accessible to nonspecialist readers. The second edition enhances the original work with thirty-four newly included texts, enriching the exploration of this historical and cultural topic.
Nissinen's award-winning book surveys attitudes in the ancient world toward homoeroticism, that is, erotic same-sex relations. Focusing on the Bible and its cultural environmentMesopotamia, Greece, Rome, Israel-Nissinen concisely and readably introduces the relevant sources and their historical contexts in a readable way. Homoeroticism is examined as a part of gender identity, i.e., the interplay of sexual orientation, gender identification, gender roles, and sexual practice. In the patriarchal cultures of the biblical world, Nissinen shows, homoerotic practices were regarded as a role construction between the active and passive partners rather than as expressions of an orientation moderns call "homosexuality." Nissinen shows how this applies to the limited acceptance of homoerotic relationships in Greek and Roman culture, as well as to Israel's and the early church's condemnation of any same-sex erotic activity. For readers interested in the ancient world or contemporary debates, Nissinen's fascinating study shows why the ancient texts - both biblical and nonbiblical - are not appropriate for use as sources of direct analogy or argument in today's discussion.
Prophecy was a wide-spread phenomenon in the ancient world - not only in ancient Israel but in the whole Eastern Mediterranean cultural sphere. This is demonstrated by documents from the ancient Near East, that have been the object of Martti Nissinen’s research for more than twenty years. Nissinen's studies have had a formative influence on the study of the prophetic phenomenon. The present volume presents a selection of thirty-one essays, bringing together essential aspects of prophetic divination in the ancient Near East. The first section of the volume discusses prophecy from theoretical perspectives. The second sections contains studies on prophecy in texts from Mari and Assyria and other cuneiform sources. The third section discusses biblical prophecy in its ancient Near Eastern context, while the fourth section focuses on prophets and prophecy in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Even prophecy in the Dead Sea Scrolls is discussed in the fifth section. The articles are essential reading for anyone studying ancient prophetic phenomenon.
How does iconography depict prophetic actions? How do references to images support prophetic messages? The authors of the essays in this collection look at the interrelationships between text and image. They examine textual and iconographic remains from Israel and Judah, Egypt, Greece and Persia, often with direct relationship with Israelite and Judean religion and prophetic activity. With essays by Izak Cornelius, Helen Dixon, Rolf Jacobson, Yaakov Kupitz, Katell Berthelot, Christl Maier, Nanno Marinatos, Margaret Odell, Thomas Staubli und Brent Strawn.
Die aktuelle Forschung läßt die biblische Prophetie als Teil der altorientalischen Prophetie erscheinen. Die der altorientalisch-ostmediterranen Prophetie typischen Eigenschaften sind im Alten und sogar im Neuen Testament deutlich zu sehen. Darunt
