1 Samuel 11:1-11 is royal ideology for the kingship of Saul. The biblical text informs that Saul was divinely sanctioned as leader of Israel. The heroic leadership of Saul was prominent to rescue his people from the imposed national shame by Nahash the Ammonite. The leadership of Saul was endorsed by the spirit of Yahweh. The spirit of Yahweh pinpoints the prophetic connection of Saul with a group of ecstatic prophets from the high place (1 Sm 9). An original textual context for the royal ideology is referred to 1 Samuel 9:1-10:16 that provided a prophetic connection with the royal ideology. 1 Samuel 11:1-11 was involved in various textual and historical processes to form the present text and context. Through delicate redactional intentions the biblical text was incorporated in the macro-context of the royal ideology of David. In 1 Samuel 9:1-10:16 Saul was anointed as nagid by Samuel as the answer for the crying of the people (1 Sm 9:16). The anointing guaranteed a divine sanction for the leadership of Saul (1 Sm 11:1-11). The tradition of Saul (1 Sm 9:1-10:16; 11:1-11) idealized the leadership of Saul as a divinely sanctioned kingship after the defeat of the Ammonites (cf 1 Sm 11:15). However, Saul was judged as the rejected and unfaithful king of Israel throughout the Deuteronomistic History (DH). Strikingly, Saul was connected with the evil origin of the kingship in Israel. The kingship of Saul can be perceived in the background of the ancient Near East (ANE) in terms of royal ideology. A prominent characteristic of the royal ideology in the ANE is to emphasize a divine sanction of the kingship in the ANE. In the ANE the king had to prove his divine sanction for the kingship. The tradition of Saul tells how the kingship of Saul was divinely sanctioned in the perspective of the ANE. On the other hand, the Deuteronomist emphasized the divine sanction of Saul was illegitimate in connection with his prophetic connection with a group of ecstatic prophets from the high place. Further Saul was characterized as lacking of divine knowledge in the DH. The research shows that 1 Samuel 11:1-11 is the royal ideology for Saul. The appearance of the kingship of Saul was inevitable in the critical period of the Israelite history. The leadership of Saul was divinely sanctioned in the prophetic manner. Such a prophetic characteristic of Saul was highly welcomed by the people. It is a comprehensive approach resulting from synthesizing various approaches such as historical critical approaches, new literary approaches, and social scientific approaches. The methodology distinguished embedded historical information in the text from a final redactional intention, that is, theological purpose of the redactor. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Old Testament Studies / unrestricted

In Chapter 1 different phases of the application of exegetical methods with regard to texts in the New Testament were identified. Each phase provided a different perspective in response to questions about the contextuality of the New Testament. From the overview it became clear that the investigation of the historical background had received some attention, but it had not been as effectively utilized in the hermeneutical process as it could be, and had not been taken seriously enough. In Chapter 2, the place and function of the historical context or background of the New Testament in historical criticism, literary criticism and social scientific methods of exegesis were evaluated. Historical criticism often focuses on the different parts (forms) of the text, but does not consider the text as a whole to the degree required. Literary criticism focuses on the text as a whole. The Gospels are regarded as narrative texts. Narratology foregrounds the spatial aspects or topology of the Gospels. Socio-historical research on the world of the text, contributes to the study of the background of the New Testament. To enhance the progress already made, historical criticism and literary criticism can be supplemented by applying selected social scientific models. The use of such models makes it possible for socio-historical data to be systematized in a holistic interpretive framework. The use of social scientific models can bridge the historical distance between the text and its readers to avoid fallacies based on anachronism and ethnocentrism. A social scientific approach provides a holistic frame of reference for the interpretation of Biblical texts. However the approach may not pay enough attention to the topological or spacial aspects of the Gospel of Matthew. The model of advanced agrarian society and the pre-industrial city have not yet been applied effectively to the Gospel of Matthew. The current study fills this gap. In the study the model in terms of which an advanced agrarian society can be descibed, is used as a broad frame of reference within which the place and function of the Biblical jubilee can be studied. This diachronic overview of the research on the Biblical jubilee (Chapter 3) shows that no such study has as yet been undertaken with regard to the Biblical jubilee. Ancient economy developed from a simplistic agrarian society to an advanced agrarian society. The Roman Empire was the result of a long evolutionary process. Land was the primary economic resource in a self-sufficient society. The aim of the current research was to show that the socio-economic background of the first century forms the context within which the land and jubilee can be understood. The socio-economic background can be interpreted within a holistic perspective of first-century Mediterranean society. The social scientific model of advanced agrarian society includes four factors (family institutions, pre-industrial city, land tenancy and social stratification) that all influenced the land and economy of the first-century Mediterranean world. In Chapter 6, homomorphic models were used to simplify important and representative aspects of complex social structures, behaviour and relations. These models were used for the study of the political, economic and social systems of an empire or government. The current study used the social scientific model of advanced agrarian society as frame of reference for the interpretation of the place and function of the Biblical jubilee in the Gospel of Matthew. / Dissertation (DD(New Testament Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2001. / New Testament Studies / unrestricted

This dissertation deals with a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to the socio-economic relations between the Ancient Near East and East Africa during the Old Testament period. In my opinion this multidisciplinary approach by using inter alia Biblical Archaeology, History and Economics has the potential to offer various comprehensive opportunities for the analysis and discussion of such socio-economic relationships. For example, the relationship between the United Monarchy of Israel and Phoenicia involves the geopolitical, economic and other situations. In the last chapter attempts are made to integrate all the relevant dimensions in a wellfounded conclusion. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / M.A. (Biblical Archaeology)

L’apparition du véhicule s’inscrit dans l’espace géographique du Proche-Orient ancien qui joue un rôle de premier plan dans la domestication, le dressage et le contrôle des grands mammifères. Dès les origines, à la fin du IVème millénaire, une iconographie se développe en lien étroit avec l’idéologie royale qui s’exprime sous la forme de rites collectifs. La fonction sociale du véhicule est donc privilégiée au dépend d’un rôle dans le transport dont l’importance reste incertaine. Une composante religieuse paraît souvent présente en arrière plan avec, en particulier, la présence de modèles réduits en terre cuite au rôle probablement votif. La production de ces représentations se poursuit au moins jusqu’au premier millénaire avant J.C. avec des thèmes constants : chasse, domination, ennemi piétiné. Un apogée, dans la variété des scènes et des supports, se situe aux DA IIIb. La production globale reste assez irrégulière et semble associée à des sites spécifiques, souvent dans des périodes d’apogée politique. / The appearance of the vehicule in the Ancient Near East occurs in a space who is a leader for the taming, the training and the control of the big mammals. From the origins, at the end of the 4th millennium, an iconography develops linked with royal ideology (with social rituals). The social function is more important than the transport function. There is always a link with religion. Probably terracotta models have a votive function. There are numerous vehicles in the iconography at least until the first millennium BC. The themes are : hunting, domination, trampled enemy. There is a peak of quality in the ED IIIb. Globally the production is irregular: in some powerful estates.

This dissertation deals with a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to the socio-economic relations between the Ancient Near East and East Africa during the Old Testament period. In my opinion this multidisciplinary approach by using inter alia Biblical Archaeology, History and Economics has the potential to offer various comprehensive opportunities for the analysis and discussion of such socio-economic relationships. For example, the relationship between the United Monarchy of Israel and Phoenicia involves the geopolitical, economic and other situations. In the last chapter attempts are made to integrate all the relevant dimensions in a wellfounded conclusion. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / M.A. (Biblical Archaeology)

Des matériaux hydrocarbonés façonnés par l'homme ont abondamment été découverts sur les sites du Proche-Orient ancien. Ces matériaux incluent du bitume visqueux suintant le long des rivières ou sur les falaises, des calcaires bitumineux, des sables bitumineux et des asphaltites. Le champ d'utilisation est vaste et regroupe plusieurs qualités physicochimiques mises à profit : adhésivité, imperméabilisant, conservation, poids, couleur noire, matière malléable ou sculptable. L'étude des modes d'exploitation et du cadre technique, menée sur un cadre chronologique couvrant le milieu du 6e au 3e millénaires av. J.-C. en Mésopotamie, au Khuzestân et en Arabie orientale, a permis d'apporter de nouvelles données sur la dynamique culturelle des sociétés proche-orientales. Cette approche axée sur l'homme et la matière n'avait jamais été entreprise auparavant sur ce matériau. Cette recherche est fondée sur un corpus de 4021 bitumes répartis sur 101 sites archéologiques. Les objets et fragments ont été classés suivant leur domaine d'utilisation permettant ainsi d'identifier plusieurs aires techniques. L'étude technologique, réalisée grâce à une approche pluridisciplinaire (archéométrie, ethnographie, épigraphie, expérimentation), restitue des chaînes opératoires pour l'exploitation des bitumes visqueux ou solides. Les textes cunéiformes de la fin du 3e millénaire témoignent de métiers dédiés au façonnage des bitumes, de leur prix et d'une hiérarchisation des sites au sein de leur exploitation. Les modèles de diffusion des techniques identifiés dans cette recherche mettent en évidence l'existence de foyers d'invention dans presque tout l'ensemble du Proche-Orient ancien. / Man-shaped hydrocarbonated materials have been widely discovered in ancient Near East archaeological sites. These materials include viscous bitumen seeping along rivers and cliffs, bituminous limestones, bituminous sands and asphaltites. Adhesiveness, impermeability, conservation, weight, dark color, ductility or sculptability are among the variety of physico-chemical characteristics which allow for a large scope of use. Research on bitumen exploitation methods and corresponding technical framework covers a timeframe from mid 6th to 3rd millennia B.C. over Mesopotamia, Khuzistan and Eastern Arabia. This study, focusing on man and bitumen materials, was never performed before and provides new valuable insights in relation to Near East societies cultural dynamics. We gathered and brought together a comprehensive and organized database composed of 4021 bitumen items from 101 different archaeological sites. The bitumen pieces, artifacts and fragments are presented following their scope of use thus allowing the identification of technical fields. The technological study was based on a pluridisciplinary approach including archeometry, ethnography, epigraphy and experimentation; it brings to light viscous or solid bitumen exploitation operational chains. Cuneiform texts from end of 3rd millennium testify bitumen professions and occupations, bitumen prices and a hierarchy of sites within their exploitation. The techniques spreading models identified in our research highlight the existence of invention spots in almost all ancient Near East.

En quelques décennies, entre le XXIe et le XIXe siècle, le visage de la Mésopotamie fut profondément bouleversé par l'immigration massive de populations amorrites qui se sédentarisèrent et investirent les centres urbains laissés vacants au tournant du millénaire précédent. Le phénomène toucha particulièrement la Haute‑Mésopotamie dans laquelle s'insère un petit ensemble rendu singulier par sa topographie : le sud du Djebel Sindjar.Si cette région n'a encore livré que peu de vestiges archéologiques, la documentation écrite exhumée sur plusieurs sites dans ou à l'extérieur du Sud-Sindjar (Tell Hariri, Tell Leilan et Tell al‑Rimah principalement), apporte de nombreuses informations sur sa géographie, sur ses habitants et leur mode de vie mais également et surtout sur les événements politiques qui la touchèrent entre le XIXe et le XVIIe siècle avant notre ère. C'est l'enjeu de cette thèse que de dater, d'ordonner et d'analyser ces informations dans une optique qui se veut double. Dans un premier temps, il s'agit de reconstituer le paléo-environnement et la géographie historique de cette région, avec comme l'un des principaux points de mire la localisation des villes évoquées dans ces textes. L'autre approche tient à la découverte de son histoire politique en premier lieu par la description des ensembles politiques et humains qui s'y constituèrent, royaumes et groupes tribaux, mais également par l'analyse des rapports que ces entités entretinrent entre elles. Enfin, il s'agit de considérer les enjeux que la région revêt et qui expliquent autant les choix politiques de ces royaumes que les interventions étrangères dans la région. / In a few decades, between the XXIst and the XIXth century, the appearance of Mesopotamia deeply changed because of the immigration on a massive scale of amorite populations which settled down and flooded upon the cities left unoccupied at the end of the previous century. The phenomenon particularly struck the Upper Mesopotamia in which there is a small area made singular owing to its topography : the plains south of the Jebel-Sinjar. This area has revealed only a few archaeological vestiges but the written documentation which was found in several sites inside or outside South-Sinjar (especially in Tell Hariri, Tell Leilan and Tell al-Rimah) brought many pieces of information about its geography, its inhabitants and their way of life, but also, and most importantly, about the political events which occurred there between the XIXth and the XVIIth century before our era. The issue of this thesis is to date, to order and to analyze these pieces of information in a double perspective. On one hand, it is about rebuilding the old environment and the historical geography of this area, aiming especially the location of the cities mentioned in these texts. Secondly, its political history will be studied, first of all throughout the description of the political and human groups which appeared there, kingdoms and tribal groups, and secondly through the analysis of the relationships between these entities. Finally, we will consider the issues represented in the area which explain the political decisions made by those kingdoms as well as the foreign interventions in the region.

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the African and the Ancient Near Eastern tradition with regard to the ancestral consultation. 1 Samuel 28:3-25 was used as a point of departure. This text was used because it is the only text in the Hebrew Bible that shows the act of consulting the dead except those texts explicitly condemning the act. The study was divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 focused on the introduction and the research problem. Chapter 2 focused on the study of 1 Samuel 28:3-25 and this was done via and intratextual and intertextual analysis. The intratextual analysis of 1 Samuel 28:3-25 focused on the interrelatedness of the text on its literally level. This was done by means of a morphological, syntactical and structural analysis. The intertextual analysis focused on 1 Samuel 28:3-25 in relation with other texts in the Hebrew Bible, especially with reference to the practice of ancestral consultation. In Chapter 3 the main focus was on the Ancient Near Eastern tradition with regard to ancestral consultation and thus focused upon extratextual material. In this chapter, Mesopotamian and Israelite cultural practices were mainly considered. Customs relating to the act of consulting the dead were studied. It included funerary customs, death and mourning rites, the place and role of the dead in society. The study concluded that the act of ancestral consultation in the Ancient Near East was part of their religion. In Ancient Israel, however, it was prohibited by Yahwistic religion. Chapter 4 focused on ancestral consultation in African tradition. In this chapter, personal knowledge and experience were also important. Ancestral consultation in Africa is still a living tradition. The role of the ancestors was studied and also the role that the living have in relation to their ancestors. In this chapter the role of Christianity in Africa played pivotal role because Christianity shaped African religion of today. It is clear from the study that African Christianity still pays tribute to their dead relatives as they are believed to be closer to God. Both Christians and those who practice traditional religion agree on the role of the ancestors. In Chapter 5 the researcher brought together the information in Chapters 1 to 4. In that sense it can be regarded as the climax of the investigation into ancestral consultation as an ancient and modern cultural and religious practice. This chapter contains a comparison between African and Ancient Near Eastern tradition regarding ancestral consultation. The chapter indicates that there is a lot to compare between the two traditions, but one needs to consider the differences in time, religious perceptions, geography, economic and political background of the two traditions. This should especially be considered in evaluating the Ancient Near Eastern tradition because it is in the “archive”; we can only read and learn about it with reference to available sources, while African tradition is an existing one. In Chapter 6 the researcher summarised the main findings of the study with special reference to the research problem as discussed in the first chapter. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Ancient Languages / unrestricted

No description available.

Literary tales about the lives and vicissitudes of officials serving in the courts of powerful kings are attested throughout the writings of the ancient Near East. Such ‘court tales’ were a popular literary form during the Jewish Second Temple period (515 BCE-70 CE). With the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, a collection of previously unknown ancient Jewish court tales was discovered, along with others preserved in their original languages. The discovery of these texts has expanded our corpus of extant Jewish court tales. Research on these texts has yet to be systematically integrated into broader analyses of the Jewish court tales. This dissertation addresses this desideratum and integrates the court tale evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls into research on the already extant Jewish court tales, with a focus on the themes of punishment, exile, and restoration. Chapter One outlines the history of scholarship on the Jewish court tales. Chapter Two examines the literary themes and concerns of other ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean court tale traditions. Chapters Three and Four analyze the themes of punishment, exile, and restoration within the Jewish court tales, and highlight their uniqueness to the Jewish tales. Chapter Five discusses the development and decline of the Jewish court tales. In doing this, I demonstrate that a major purpose of the Jewish adoption of the court tale tradition was to upend earlier convictions that exilic life was solely a form of punishment, with the purpose of demonstrating the benefits of exilic life and God’s sovereignty over foreign political actors. My examination of the court tales contributes to discussions about the origins of Jewish apocalyptic literature, with the court tales employing eschatological terminology to address the theme of restoration. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)