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The dissertation examines the experience of the landless in the ancient Near East as expressed in the book of Lamentations. Land theology has focused on land loss but not on the people who lost it. Similarly, the interpretation of Lamentations has focused on human suffering or on God’s absence not on land loss neither on the landless. This study investigates the phenomenon of landlessness in the Near Eastern world (over the span of 6th and 7th centuries BCE) and how people reacted to such experiences. They lamented over the destruction of shrines, homes, towns and land. Land loss is a prominent feature in city laments. Lamentations relied on these kinds of lament to express the Judeans’ land loss experience. The Zion theology which had granted an unconditional blessing of protection and stability to Jerusalem and to its people, completely failed on the Babylonian invasion in 587 BCE. The ‘landless genesis’ of the nation from the period of the ancestors (Cain and Jacob) remains in the memory of Daughter of Zion and of the deported man as they lament over the loss of Jerusalem. / Theology / M. Th. (Old Testament)

The dissertation examines the experience of the landless in the ancient Near East as expressed in the book of Lamentations. Land theology has focused on land loss but not on the people who lost it. Similarly, the interpretation of Lamentations has focused on human suffering or on God’s absence not on land loss neither on the landless. This study investigates the phenomenon of landlessness in the Near Eastern world (over the span of 6th and 7th centuries BCE) and how people reacted to such experiences. They lamented over the destruction of shrines, homes, towns and land. Land loss is a prominent feature in city laments. Lamentations relied on these kinds of lament to express the Judeans’ land loss experience. The Zion theology which had granted an unconditional blessing of protection and stability to Jerusalem and to its people, completely failed on the Babylonian invasion in 587 BCE. The ‘landless genesis’ of the nation from the period of the ancestors (Cain and Jacob) remains in the memory of Daughter of Zion and of the deported man as they lament over the loss of Jerusalem. / Theology / M. Th. (Old Testament)

The objective of this thesis is to identify, isolate, and expound the concepts of sacred space and its ancillary doctrines and to show how they were expressed in ancient temple architecture and ritual. The fundamental concept of sacred space defined the nature of the holiness that pervaded the temple. The idea of sacred space included the ancient view of the temple as a mountain. Other subsets of the basic notion of sacred space include the role of the creation story in temple ritual, its status as an image of a heavenly temple and its location on the axis mundi, the temple as the site of the hieros gamos, the substantial role of the temple regarding kingship and coronation rites, the temple as a symbol of the Tree of Life, and the role played by water as a symbol of physical and spiritual blessings streaming forth from the temple. Temple ritual, architecture, and construction techniques expressed these concepts in various ways. These expressions, identified in the literary and archaeological records, were surprisingly consistent throughout the ancient Near East across large expanses of space and time. Under the general heading of Techniques of Construction and Decoration, this thesis examines the concept of the primordial mound and its application in temple architecture, the practice of foundation deposits, the purposes and functions of enclosure walls, principles of orientation, alignment, and measurement, and interior decorations. Under the rubric of General Temple Arrangement are explored the issues of the tripartite and other temple floor plans, the curious institution of the ziggurat, the meaning of temple pillars, the presence of sacred groves and the idea of the Tree of Life, and temple/palace symbiosis. The category Arrangement of Cultic Areas and Ritual Paraphernalia deals with areas such as elevated statues of the deity in the innermost sanctuary, sources of water for ablutions, the temple as a site for a cult of the dead, and altars and animal sacrifice. The concept of sacred space and its ancillary ideologies provided underlying justification and support for all the peculiar distinctions that characterised temple architecture in the ancient Near East. / Old Testament & Ancient Near Eastern Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Ancient Near Eastern Studies)

This dissertation research examines variability in Natufian settlement and subsistence patterns. The Natufian is a late Epipaleolithic culture that flourished in the Levant during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. There has been considerable research interest in the nature of Natufian settlement and subsistence over the last fifty years. This is due to the apparent pivotal position the Natufian holds in the developmental sequence from mobile hunting and gathering societies to sedentary village communities subsisting on domestic plants and animals. The research has two major components. The first aspect of the research focused on the range of activities and the nature of settlement intensity and duration during the Natufian occupation at one site, Beidha. The second aspect of the research entailed examining data for settlement and subsistence patterns throughout the Levant during this time period in order to gain insight into pan-Levantine variation. Research on the Beidha settlement has provided information on the range of chipped stone manufacturing processes carried out at the site, the nature of the tools produced, the range of activities that these tools imply, and the distribution of these elements between different areas of the site. The minimal evidence of spatial differences between provenience units is indicative of a site that was occupied as a relatively short-term camp site. The interpretation of the site as a short-term settlement, that was occupied repeatedly, fits with the lack of evidence for permanent features such as houses and storage facilities, as well as the lack of large groundstone objects and burials. Analysis of available data on Natufian settlement and subsistence has indicated that there are regional differences in settlement and subsistence patterns, most notably between steppe and desert sites versus sites of the forest and coast. In addition, there appear to be patterns in variability within the steppe and desert area with respect to the permanence of sites and the range of activities carried out in them. One set of sites is characterized by moderate settlement permanence and intensity, while the other set of sites is characterized by less permanent occupation and more specialized activity focused primarily on hunting.

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Images of rural activities become very popular in mosaic floor decoration in the Levant during the Late Antique period. I aim to explore different categories of iconography and discuss the images of people engaged in rural activities, such as pastoralism; hunting, fishing and activities connected with the vintage. I also aim to look at imagery that is often discussed in isolation without relation to other connected iconographic categories. The symbolic meaning of the representations of the zodiac found in synagogues, for example, is often discussed in detail without also looking at the rural calendars that appear in Christian contexts during the same period in the same region. I also want to explore the archaeological evidence for the activities that appear on the mosaic pavements. Studying both the archaeology and the iconography will, I hope, help us understand what the use of these particular categories of iconography in decorative schemes can tell us about the society that created them.

No description available.

The objective of this thesis is to identify, isolate, and expound the concepts of sacred space and its ancillary doctrines and to show how they were expressed in ancient temple architecture and ritual. The fundamental concept of sacred space defined the nature of the holiness that pervaded the temple. The idea of sacred space included the ancient view of the temple as a mountain. Other subsets of the basic notion of sacred space include the role of the creation story in temple ritual, its status as an image of a heavenly temple and its location on the axis mundi, the temple as the site of the hieros gamos, the substantial role of the temple regarding kingship and coronation rites, the temple as a symbol of the Tree of Life, and the role played by water as a symbol of physical and spiritual blessings streaming forth from the temple. Temple ritual, architecture, and construction techniques expressed these concepts in various ways. These expressions, identified in the literary and archaeological records, were surprisingly consistent throughout the ancient Near East across large expanses of space and time. Under the general heading of Techniques of Construction and Decoration, this thesis examines the concept of the primordial mound and its application in temple architecture, the practice of foundation deposits, the purposes and functions of enclosure walls, principles of orientation, alignment, and measurement, and interior decorations. Under the rubric of General Temple Arrangement are explored the issues of the tripartite and other temple floor plans, the curious institution of the ziggurat, the meaning of temple pillars, the presence of sacred groves and the idea of the Tree of Life, and temple/palace symbiosis. The category Arrangement of Cultic Areas and Ritual Paraphernalia deals with areas such as elevated statues of the deity in the innermost sanctuary, sources of water for ablutions, the temple as a site for a cult of the dead, and altars and animal sacrifice. The concept of sacred space and its ancillary ideologies provided underlying justification and support for all the peculiar distinctions that characterised temple architecture in the ancient Near East. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Ancient Near Eastern Studies)

Using the Material Engagement Theory of Cognitive Archaeologist Lambros Malafouris as its framework, the thesis offers a unique synthesis of data from neuroscience, ethnography, linguistics, and archaeology to outline how number concepts are realized, manipulated, and elaborated. The process is described as an interactivity of psychological processes like numerosity, behaviors that manipulate objects into concept-generating stimuli, and material objects with semiotic qualities distinct from those of language and agency distinct from that of brains and bodies. The counting technologies of the Ancient Near East (ANE) are then analyzed through archaeological and textual evidence spanning the late Upper Paleolithic to the Bronze Age, from the first realization of number concepts in a pristine original condition to their elaboration into one of the ancient world's greatest mathematical traditions, a foundation for mathematical thinking today. Insights from the way numbers are realized through psychological-behavioral-material interactivity are used to challenge three dominant conceptualizations of ANE numbers: first, the idea that the ANE numerical lexicon would have counted only to very low numbers; second, that Neolithic tokens were the first counting technology; and third, that numbers were 'concrete' before they became 'abstract'. Considering archaeological evidence from the Epipaleolithic Levant and drawing on linguistic and ethnographic evidence to characterize the regional prehistory, the thesis suggests that the numerical lexicon would have included relatively high numbers prior to the Neolithic; that finger-counting (linguistically attested) and tallies (archaeologically attested) would have preceded tokens; and that numbers are 'abstract' concepts whose content changes in conjunction with the incorporation and use of different material forms. The evidence provided to support these alternatives implies that numbers may have originated in the late Upper Paleolithic and arithmetic early in the Neolithic, pushing the onset of these capabilities further back than is commonly held. In addition to tallies and tokens, the thesis explores fingers and numerical notations as material artifacts, enabling an analysis of how materiality might structure numerical concepts, influence a number system's capabilities, limitations, and elaboration potential, and affect brains and behavior over cultural spans of time. Insights generated by the case study are then applied to the role of materiality in cognition more generally, including how concepts become distributed across multiple material forms; the reasons why materiality might be transparent (or invisible) in cognition; and the differences between thinking through and thinking about materiality.