Esther's Revenge at Susa
Subtitle: From Sennacherib to Ahasuerus
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; Oxford University Press
Published: January 11, 2008
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 280
ISBN-13: 9780199216635
Subjects: Asian / Middle Eastern history: BCE to c 500 CE; Biblical studies, criticism & exegesis; Judaism; Myths & mythology; Old Testament; Literary Criticism; Literature - Classics / Criticism; Hellenic languages; Ancient and Classical; Biblical Studies - Old Testament; Literary Criticism & Collections / Ancient & Classical; Assyria; Bible.; Esther; History; Jews; O.T.; To 70 A.D
Description: "Why are the names of the chief characters in the biblical Book of Esther those of Mesopotamian deities? Stephanie Dalley argues that the narrative reflects real happenings in seventh-century Assyria, where the widespread belief that revenge belongs to the gods explains why Assyrian kings described punitive campaigns as divine acts, leading to the mythologizing of certain historical events. Ashurbanipal's sack of Susa, led by the deities Ishtar and Marduk, underlies the Hebrew story of Esther, and that story contains traces of the cultic calendar of Ishtar-of-Nineveh. Dalley traces the way in which the long-term settlement of 'lost tribes' in Assyria, revealed by the fruits of excavation in Iraq and Syria, inspired a blend of pagan and Jewish traditions."--book jacket.