<p> Evidence for violence is found in all periods of Mesopotamian history. Kingship, which was divine in origin, included the exercise of power and the legitimate use of violence. Mesopotamian violence reflects the culture's understanding of ontology, order, and justice. Although there is scant archaeological evidence for its actual practice, the worldview that allowed it to flourish can be reconstructed from myth, ritual, and historiography. </p><p> Approaching Mesopotamian conceptions of violence through these three modes of discourse, this study explores the behavior through the lens of theory, practice, and presentation. The investigation is guided by the following questions: </p><p> &bull; What do the myths say about violence? How is violence imagined and theorized? </p><p> &bull; How do the war rituals promote and normalize the practice of violence? </p><p> &bull; How and why is violence presented in the narrative(s) of the royal annals and in the visual program of the palace reliefs? </p><p> This study moves from offering a general account of Mesopotamian violence directed against the enemy "other" to analyzing the portrayal of a particular act. </p><p> Mesopotamian myths served as paradigms for successful kingship. It is argued that the thematic content, asymmetrical characterization, chronotypes, and emplotment observed in <i>Lugal-e, Bin &scaron;ar dadm&emacr;</i>, and <i>En&umacr;ma eli&scaron;</i> are also operative in the war rituals and the royal historiography. Central to Mesopotamian theorizing about violence is the concept of evil, which is best understood in relation to the culture's ideas about divine and social order. </p><p> Waging war in Mesopotamia entailed various practices that framed the conflict as part of the cosmic struggle against chaos. This study addresses the contexts in which these practices occur and the social structures that make them seem natural, necessary, and desirable. The so-called war rituals involved processes of socialization that allow violence to commence, escalate, and terminate. This symbolically loaded ritualized violence reflected and created (or destroyed) relationships, both natural and supernatural. </p><p> Finally, accounts of ritualized violence were strategically incorporated into the historiography of Mesopotamian rulers as expressions of royal ideology. This study analyzes the sources for the beheading of Teumman, arguing that variations in the textual and pictorial presentation were influenced by the Assyrian conflict with Egypt and Babylonia.</p><p>

Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [93]-111).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [93]-111).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--The University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / (UMI)AAI3266946. Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-05, Section: A, page: 2017. Adviser: Thomas G. Palaima.

The author's inaugural dissertation, Basel. / "Literatur": p. [7]-8.

The author's inaugural dissertation, Basel. / "Literatur": p. [7]-8.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--York University, 2003. Graduate Programme in Social and Political Thought. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 374-382). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pNQ82773.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Classical Studies, 2005. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-01, Section: A, page: 0163. Adviser: Eleanor W. Leach. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed Dec. 12, 2006)."

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Classical Studies, 2005. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 66-08, Section: A, page: 2905. Adviser: Eleanor W. Leach. Title from dissertation home page (viewed Oct. 5, 2006).

The topic of divine kingship in Mesopotamia, and in the Ur III period (ca. 2112-2004 B.C.E.) in particular, has been the subject of studies focused on aspects such as its ideology, rhetoric, political motivation, and place in the history of religion. This dissertation is concerned with more pragmatic aspects of the phenomenon, and investigates what, if any, effect the institution of divine kingship had on day-to-day life. The Ur III period was selected both because four of its five kings were deified during their lifetime, and over 95,000 administrative, i.e. non-ideologically oriented, records dating to this period are available for analysis. The main focus of this thesis is on cult, the essential signifier of divinity in that society, and, specifically, on the manner in which the cult of the deified king was established, extended, and popularized. The primary source utilized was the Base de Datos de Textos Neo-Sumerios (BDTNS). The first chapter demonstrates that at the center of the cult of the deified king were effigies that underwent numerous ritual treatments and were housed in both their own and in other deities' temples, and that in these respects the king's cult was identical to those of the traditional gods. A list of the individual statues and their locations is provided, in chronological order of attestation. Areas where ramifications of the king's godhood might be identified outside of cult are also addressed. The chapter is bracketed by discussions of divine kingship in the immediately preceding (Sargonic) and following (Isin-Larsa) periods, for comparative purposes. The second chapter provides evidence that processions of cult statues by boat and chariot, and offering before them at specific festivals and sites outside of temples were relatively common events. As cult images of the deified kings were among those so treated, it is clear that the Ur III kings saw the benefit of these practices, with their concomitant festivities, banquets and entertainment, for publicizing their own cult among the largely illiterate populace. In addition, I analyzed the movements and activities of the king himself, as recorded in the administrative archives. These show that the kings were frequently in the public eye as they traveled, mainly by boat, among the cities of southern Babylonia, to ritual events both in- and outside of temple settings. The third chapter addresses the issue of the effect of the concerted efforts to publicize the king's cult on the population at large. settling on onomastics as the best proxy for determining the public's reaction available. Two hundred and sixty-seven individual names in which the name of the deified king was used as a theophoric element are identified, with Šulgi, the second Ur III king and the first of that dynasty to be deified during during his life, the most popular honorée by far. I examine the statements that the holders of these names are making about a particular divine king, and show that virtually all such names have a counterpart incorporating the name of a traditional deity. I also provide a representative sampling of the people who were given or had adopted such names in terms of their sex, ethnicity, and job title or function in order to determine if this practice was limited to a particular demographic, and conclude that it was widespread, affecting all levels of society. From this I deduce that the deliberate efforts of the kings to popularize their cult may be termed successful. An appendix contains two tables summarizing the onomastic material. Table A lists all of the names in which the king's was incorporated as the theophoric element, along with their translation. Table B provides the data that was used to differentiate among the individual persons who bore one of the names listed in Table A. / Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations