This dissertation deals with the study of ancient diseases mentioned in the historical period of the Scriptures in the region of Syro-Palestine. The definition, history, methodology and etymology of the terms relating to biblical diseases are discussed. Leprosy, syphilis, plague and anaemia amongst other diseases leave skeletal signs and lesions. Paleopathologists may reveal these diseases by studying skeletal remains of the population of Syro-Palestine. Criticisms and recommendations are offered for the practical paleopathologist, anthropologist or archaeologist. More interest should be taken in the study of coprolite in every new discovery of human remains. The scarcity of skeletal remains in the region is well known. The past and present law structure, the Halakah, may partly be to blame. The future of paleopathology worldwide is undisputedly the biochemical science of DNA analysis. With this new science the role for macromorphological examination may diminish. The diseases mentioned in the Bible are finding it increasingly difficult to hide behind the words in the Scriptures. / Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies / MA (Biblical Archaeology)

The question leading this study is whether or not the contents of Hezekiah‘s storehouses and treasuries (2 Ki 20:13, 2 Chr 32:25-28 and Is 39:2) defy or reflect the reality of the Judaean domestic economy in the late 8th – early 7th century BCE. I have adopted a multidisciplinary and holistic approach, considering the literary, political, economic, religious, and socio-cultural dimensions of Hezekiah‘s reign. The study concludes that revenue from agriculture could not have been Hezekiah‘s only source of income. Local goods and taxes were insufficient in volume and value to account for the extent of Hezekiah‘s wealth. While the religious reforms and cult centralisation introduced by Hezekiah would have generated considerable income, alternative sources must have been available to the king. Tolls, taxes, and customs imposed on the international trade traversing the Levant contributed significantly. Examination of the available archaeological evidence reflects a prosperous economy, one that favoured a powerful minority. / Biblical and Ancient studies / M. A. (Biblical Archaeology)

The ancient Near Eastern cultures and the Babylonian Talmud are examined to ascertain whether they can elucidate Biblical descriptions of disease (many of which are mentioned by the Talmudic rabbis in the course of their discussions) to render a better understanding of the Biblical text. Archaeological evidence can verify the existence of tuberculosis, gout and leprosy in Old Testament times because these diseases leave specific lesions on ancient bones. The ancient Israelites used amulets and incantations to ward off or treat illnesses despite Biblical prohibitions. This use was echoed in both the ancient Near Eastern cultures and in Talmudic times because some rabbis realised their effectiveness, but the majority doubted their usefulness. Idolatry, necromancy and sorcery were practiced and demons played a role in illness. Physicians, healers, herbal remedies, therapies and folk medicine in Biblical and Talmudic times are investigated. / Biblical Archaeology / M.A. (Biblical Archaeology)

The Song of the Vineyard, Isaiah 5:1-7, portrays YHWH as a vinedresser who has carefully prepared land and planted a choice vine, a symbol of the people whom the deity has chosen. When the reasonable expectation that the vine produce good fruit is thwarted, the vinedresser destroys the vineyard. YHWH, the vinedresser, may seem to be characterised by these actions as a demanding god who will swiftly and harshly recompense any failure to meet expectations. This thesis poses the hypothesis that although this brief song may at first seemingly present a monochromatic characterisation of YHWH, it may actually present a spectrum of characterisations when viewed through multiple interpretive lenses. Socio-rhetorical criticism is the methodology used to examine this hypothesis. This methodology, developed by Vernon K. Robbins, encompasses diverse interpretive approaches, examining five aspects, or “textures,” of the text to obtain a broad interpretive spectrum. In this thesis, three of the textures, innertexture, intertexture, and socio-cultural texture, are considered in separate chapters. The chapter on innertexture examines the world of the text itself, in particular its progressive nature and emotive content. The next chapter examines the intertextural relationship between this Isaian song and two other ancient songs (The Song of the Reed Sea and the Song of Moses), associative references to Sodom, and parallels with the Song of Solomon. The chapter on the socio-cultural texture examines the portrayal of YHWH in light of the socio-economics and socio-cultural values of the world of the story, eighth century B.C.E. Judah. Through this interpretive lense, YHWH is seen as a patron or benefactor who has been dishonoured by his people. In socio-rhetorical criticism, ideology is often presented as a separate texture; in this thesis, it is considered as part of the act of interpretation of all textures, since readers’ ideologies interact with the text. The sacred texture, the last of Robbins’ proposed textures, is presented as the conclusion, with a summary of the spectrum of characterisations of YHWH that the multi-lensed interpretive approach uncovers. The conclusion also includes suggested implications of these finds for the community of faith. / Old Testament & Ancient Near Eastern Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Biblical Studies)

Die Dissertation "Löwinnen von Juda. Frauen als Subjekte politischer Macht in der judäischen Königszeit" behandelt den möglichen Anteil von Frauen innerhalb von Politik und Verwaltung des antiken Juda (c. 950-589 v.Chr). Eingesetzt wird mit einem kurzen Überblick zu Leben und Arbeit von Frauen in der Epoche. Hierbei erfolgt erstmals eine systematische Zusammenstellung bislang publizierter Frauensiegel. In einem zweiten Schritt werden Frauen am Jerusalemer Königshof in den Blick genommen und besonders ihr Part im "öffentlichen Leben" diskutiert. Hiervon gesondert wird die in der bisherigen Forschung aufgestellte These von einer "weiblichen Leitungsfuktion" am Jerusalemer Hof diskutiert, dem sog. "Gebirah-Amt", das meist von den Müttern der Könige von Juda besetzt worden sein soll. In einem letzten Schritt wird das die politischen Aktivitäten ebendieser Königsmütter betreffende Material untersucht. / "Lionesses of Judah. Women as agents of political power in Ancient Judah" deals with the part women might have played within the politics and administration in the classical period of the Judean Kingdom (c. 950-589 BC). After an introductory chapter, the second chapter sketches briefly what is known on women?s occupations in that period in general. Specail attention is drawn to the existence of a fair number of seals bearing women?s names: The function of these seals equials a credit card in modern times in signifying its owner?s economic and hence possibly political power. The third chapter focusus on women?s presence an functions at the royal court in Jerusalem. Former research in the field having hypothesised that the Hebrew word "Gevirah" denotes a specific office at the Judean court held exclusively by females, viz. the queen mothers, both the meaning of the Hebrew word and the attached theory are exxamined in great detail in the fourth chapter. The last chapter discusses the known material on the diverse political activities of the Judean queen mothers in chronological order.

Listening to Birth asserts that structures of power reproduce themselves by instituting particular modes of listening and sound production. Situating my research within feminist sound studies, I argue that meanings conjured around the audible, material bodies of women were carefully crafted by elites in antiquity, in order to construct gendered ideologies of kingship, civilisation, and nature. I examine these power dynamics as expressed in mythic and magical texts and iconographies, dating from the Bronze Age to later Roman antiquity. Throughout the thesis, I examine the development of symbolic systems and narrative tropes that linked mining and metallurgy with reproduction and vocality. My analysis emphasises how the invention of nature was accomplished, in part, through a metallurgical reclassification of the voices and sexualities of women as indiscrete phenomena: womb, mouth, and voice were elided with mining and smelting to form a unified semantic realm. I argue that this invention of ‘vulvar vocality’ reclassified female sounds as illicit, providing a plaform for the removal of women from the public sphere. I attempt to connect the gendered discourse found in myths and magical rituals to the political and economic domain of state-craft, to demonstrate the importance of hegemonic mythopoeic control of audible female reproduction for establishing ideologies of colonisation and extraction. I link analyses of texts and iconographies from the Bronze Age Mesopotamians, Hittites, Canaanites, Minoans, and Egyptians to later materials from the Iron Age Greeks, Israelites, and Romans—my goal is to demonstrate both the ubiquity and the continual reproduction of metallurgical ideology across the ancient world. I also present my preliminary research into the lasting impact that antique notions of vulvar vocality had on later state-craft. I begin to trace the preservation and elaboration of antique metallurgical literature by Byzantine and Islamic scholars, who in turn exerted strong influence on the Ottomans and late medieval and early modern Europeans. I outline future work to investigate the exponential rise of entrepreneurial metallurgy in late medieval and early modern Europe, arguing that this metallurgical discourse provided symbolic re-enforcement for the rapidly-accelerating mining and metal trade that formed the core of European colonial expansion. I suggest that vulvar vocality was central to early modern metallurgical, demonological, and colonial discourse, and that specific female vocalities and silences were purposefully crafted into the colonial project in order to forcibly redefine women, along with the lands and children stolen from them, as mere natural resources.

This dissertation deals with the study of ancient diseases mentioned in the historical period of the Scriptures in the region of Syro-Palestine. The definition, history, methodology and etymology of the terms relating to biblical diseases are discussed. Leprosy, syphilis, plague and anaemia amongst other diseases leave skeletal signs and lesions. Paleopathologists may reveal these diseases by studying skeletal remains of the population of Syro-Palestine. Criticisms and recommendations are offered for the practical paleopathologist, anthropologist or archaeologist. More interest should be taken in the study of coprolite in every new discovery of human remains. The scarcity of skeletal remains in the region is well known. The past and present law structure, the Halakah, may partly be to blame. The future of paleopathology worldwide is undisputedly the biochemical science of DNA analysis. With this new science the role for macromorphological examination may diminish. The diseases mentioned in the Bible are finding it increasingly difficult to hide behind the words in the Scriptures. / Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies / MA (Biblical Archaeology)

The question leading this study is whether or not the contents of Hezekiah‘s storehouses and treasuries (2 Ki 20:13, 2 Chr 32:25-28 and Is 39:2) defy or reflect the reality of the Judaean domestic economy in the late 8th – early 7th century BCE. I have adopted a multidisciplinary and holistic approach, considering the literary, political, economic, religious, and socio-cultural dimensions of Hezekiah‘s reign. The study concludes that revenue from agriculture could not have been Hezekiah‘s only source of income. Local goods and taxes were insufficient in volume and value to account for the extent of Hezekiah‘s wealth. While the religious reforms and cult centralisation introduced by Hezekiah would have generated considerable income, alternative sources must have been available to the king. Tolls, taxes, and customs imposed on the international trade traversing the Levant contributed significantly. Examination of the available archaeological evidence reflects a prosperous economy, one that favoured a powerful minority. / Biblical and Ancient studies / M. A. (Biblical Archaeology)

The ancient Near Eastern cultures and the Babylonian Talmud are examined to ascertain whether they can elucidate Biblical descriptions of disease (many of which are mentioned by the Talmudic rabbis in the course of their discussions) to render a better understanding of the Biblical text. Archaeological evidence can verify the existence of tuberculosis, gout and leprosy in Old Testament times because these diseases leave specific lesions on ancient bones. The ancient Israelites used amulets and incantations to ward off or treat illnesses despite Biblical prohibitions. This use was echoed in both the ancient Near Eastern cultures and in Talmudic times because some rabbis realised their effectiveness, but the majority doubted their usefulness. Idolatry, necromancy and sorcery were practiced and demons played a role in illness. Physicians, healers, herbal remedies, therapies and folk medicine in Biblical and Talmudic times are investigated. / Biblical Archaeology / M.A. (Biblical Archaeology)

The Song of the Vineyard, Isaiah 5:1-7, portrays YHWH as a vinedresser who has carefully prepared land and planted a choice vine, a symbol of the people whom the deity has chosen. When the reasonable expectation that the vine produce good fruit is thwarted, the vinedresser destroys the vineyard. YHWH, the vinedresser, may seem to be characterised by these actions as a demanding god who will swiftly and harshly recompense any failure to meet expectations. This thesis poses the hypothesis that although this brief song may at first seemingly present a monochromatic characterisation of YHWH, it may actually present a spectrum of characterisations when viewed through multiple interpretive lenses. Socio-rhetorical criticism is the methodology used to examine this hypothesis. This methodology, developed by Vernon K. Robbins, encompasses diverse interpretive approaches, examining five aspects, or “textures,” of the text to obtain a broad interpretive spectrum. In this thesis, three of the textures, innertexture, intertexture, and socio-cultural texture, are considered in separate chapters. The chapter on innertexture examines the world of the text itself, in particular its progressive nature and emotive content. The next chapter examines the intertextural relationship between this Isaian song and two other ancient songs (The Song of the Reed Sea and the Song of Moses), associative references to Sodom, and parallels with the Song of Solomon. The chapter on the socio-cultural texture examines the portrayal of YHWH in light of the socio-economics and socio-cultural values of the world of the story, eighth century B.C.E. Judah. Through this interpretive lense, YHWH is seen as a patron or benefactor who has been dishonoured by his people. In socio-rhetorical criticism, ideology is often presented as a separate texture; in this thesis, it is considered as part of the act of interpretation of all textures, since readers’ ideologies interact with the text. The sacred texture, the last of Robbins’ proposed textures, is presented as the conclusion, with a summary of the spectrum of characterisations of YHWH that the multi-lensed interpretive approach uncovers. The conclusion also includes suggested implications of these finds for the community of faith. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Biblical Studies)