Divination, politics, and ancient Near Eastern empires
By: edited by Alan Lenzi and Jonathan Støkl
Series: Society of Biblical Literature ancient Near East monographs -- Volume 7; Ancient Near East monographs
Publisher: Society of Biblical Literature
Published: 2014
Place of publication: Atlanta
Language: eng
Number of pages: 209
ISBN-13: 9781589839960; 9781589839984; 9781589839977
Subjects: Occultism; Judaism; Bibel; Religion and politics; Religion; Assyro-Babylonian religion; Middle Eastern Mythology; Mantik; Divination; History
Description: The essays in this volume consider how the ancient imperial setting of the Hebrew Bible influenced prophetic and divinatory communication between the divine and human realms and how this was put to use as and influenced by propaganda from those in power. Drawing upon diplomatic correspondence in second millennium B.C.E. Mari to the eschatological hopes expressed in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the contributions indicate that all forms of prophetic and divinatory communication were used to both uphold and undermine their respective empires. The analyses of the Hebrew Bible show that, while Israelite/Judahite texts attempt to undermine the Neo-Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian Empires, they never openly attack the Persian Empire. Further, the Israelite/Judahite thinkers never criticize empire as such; to the contrary, they paint a picture in which a Jerusalem empire will replace foreign ones. (back cover).
Notes: Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Propaganda, prognostication, and planets / Jeffrey L. Cooley; title: The King at the crossroads between divination and cosmology / Beate Pongratz-Leisten; title: Divination as warfare: the use of divination across borders / Jonathan Stokl; title: Revisiting Biblical Prophecy, Revealed knowledge pertaining to ritual, and secrecy in light of ancient Mesopotamian Prophetic texts / Alan Lenzi; title: Chaoskampf against empire: Yhwh's battle against God (Ezekiel 38-39) as Resistance literature / C.A. Strine; title: Propagandistic constructions of empires in the Book of Isaiah / Goran Eidevall; title: The theological politics of Deutero-Isaiah / Joseph Blenkinsopp; title: The Yehudite collection of Prophetic books and imperial contexts: some observations / Ehud Ben Zvi; title: Power, politics and Prophecy in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Second Temple Judaism / Alex P. Jassen.