The mediaeval Islamicate world was dominated by a language-obsessed culture that placed great value on words and their meanings. These words and meanings could, for those who used them, make the difference between both earthly success or failure, and salvation or damnation in the hereafter. Scholars were also conscious of the contingency of the links between words and their meanings, and the potential this created for ambiguity. This dissertation is about the mechanisms, models, and assumptions those scholars used to manage linguistic ambiguity. My investigation focuses on ar-Rāġib al-Iṣfahānī (fl. ≤ 409/1018), one such language-obsessed scholar. I provide a comprehensive review of his life, works, and times. He put together a portfolio of intellectual positions in exegesis, theology, ethics, and poetics that was guided by a philosophy of language which accepted and negotiated linguistic ambiguity. Underpinning that philosophy was a theory of meaning that used the pairing of expression and idea (lafẓ and maʿnā) to deal with polysemy, the intent of the speaker, and the function of the lexicon. Ar-Rāġib’s philosophy was emblematic of what I call the Arabic Language Tradition, the shared assumptions of which constituted an indigenous philosophy of language that was able to supply its own answers to the central questions of linguistics and then use those answers across all of the genres encompassed by its scholarship, from grammar to poetics, law, and theology. It was an Arabic Language Tradition that is best understood through comparison to an alternative Classical Language Tradition that had its roots in the Organon and a theory of meaning with little space for ambiguity. Re-telling Islamic intellectual history through the lens of language in this way shows us that in addition to the well-known and oft-studied Islamic engagement with Hellenistic philosophy there was another, indigenous, tradition with its own answers to the problems of mediaeval scholarship. This Arabic Language Tradition saw in language a solution to these problems, rather than seeing language as just another hurdle to be overcome. / Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations

Since Julius Wellhausen's synthesis of the Documentary Hypothesis—and no doubt owing in part to the Protestant Reformation—dominant portrayals of the Priestly material have described a self∼interested legist with little or no concern for those outside the Levitical ranks. Though this negative characterization is recognized by some to be reductionist and misguided, none has undertaken to examine Ishmael's critical role in what is better understood as a universal mode of thinking in P. Examining first the narratives that give indication of Ishmael's status in J and E, I have contrasted Ishmael with the other non∼chosen siblings of Genesis, concluding that he is favored in these sources in a way that the others are not; also, that Ishmael and his mother adumbrate not only the distress of Israel's bondage in Egypt, but also their deliverance. With this background from J and E, I have sought to elucidate P's relationship to these sources through its representation of Ishmael in the Abrahamic covenant. It appears that P has recast the promises that Ishmael receives in J and E so that Ishmael is more explicitly excluded from God's covenant with Abraham, on the one hand; but P also identifies Ishmael with the blessing of fertility, invoking the divine injunction to all humanity through both Adam and Noah to “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen 17:20), on the other. P's emphasis on fertility also relates to Ishmael's own participation—though he is non∼chosen—in circumcision as the sign of the covenant. Therefore P accounts for God's universal regard for humanity through Ishmael even in his particular covenant with Abraham. / Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations

My dissertation, Writing Amrika: Literary Encounters with America in Arabic Literature is an examination of this cross-cultural literary encounter primarily through fictional prose written in Arabic from the beginning of the 20th century into the 21st century. The texts studied in this dissertation are set in America, providing a unique entry point into questions about how Arab authors choose to represent Arab characters experiencing their American surroundings. While each text is treated as a unique literary production emerging from a contingent historical moment, an attempt is made to highlight the continuities and ruptures that exist in both the content and form of these texts spanning a century of the Arab literary experience with America. I argue that this body of literature can be understood through its own literary history of the American encounter in Arabic literature; a literary history in dialogue with an East-West encounter that has more frequently represented the western 'Other' through European characters and locales. In focusing on the process of identification by Arab characters in America this dissertation argues that the American encounter initiates a particular ambivalence resulting in multiple, and often contradictory, identifications on behalf of the Arab characters which result in poignant crises and strained narrative resolutions. / Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations

<p>This dissertation investigates Iron II Judean pillar figurines and their place in Judean ritual. First, the project identifies major trends in the interpretation of figurines and evaluates them using ancient Near Easter texts, archaeological context, the Hebrew Bible, and iconography. Second, it focuses on the significance of major iconographic shifts in figurine production, using the various types of data to understand these shifts and their implications for figurine function. </p><p>The dissertation first analyzes four major trends in the study of these statuettes, showing that interpreters begin with assumptions based upon figurine iconography and only then take into account Israelite religion, biblical texts, and archaeology (Chapter 2). The study then explores textual descriptions of figurine rituals from the Neo-Assyrian Empire. These suggest that figurine rituals were highly complex and that the absence of accompanying ritual texts is a barrier to interpretation (Chapter 3). </p><p>Chapters 4-7 examine the archaeological contexts and technological characteristics of the figurines. Chapter 4 focuses on Kathleen Kenyon's excavations in Jerusalem, Chapter 5 focuses on Yigal Shiloh's excavations in the same area, Chapter 6 describes the results of a new petrographic study of Jerusalem figurines, and Chapter 7 summarizes the data and compares them with the archaeological contexts of figurines found in other areas of Judah. The analysis demonstrates that the majority of figurines were found as random trash in domestic structures, that figurines were used by people from various socio-economic levels, that most figurines were not associated with domestic shrines, and that figurines have no significant correlation with artifacts associated with women's activity areas. The data also have important implications for the understanding of iconography in Jerusalem and surrounding areas.</p><p>Turning to the Hebrew Bible, Chapter 8 explores the descriptions of clay objects and idol production in biblical texts. This survey of passages shows that production from clay was never prohibited in the biblical text and that concerns over the production of idols focus on images from stone, wood, and metal. It also demonstrates that clay, as a production material, had a unique ability to bridge the gap between sacred and profane realms. </p><p>Chapter 9 investigates the various components of the figurines through stylistic analysis and comparative iconography. The chapter argues that the figurines were probably associated with protection and healing. It also discusses the rise of the pillar figurine style in Judah and Jerusalem, the significance of its regional adaptation, and the importance of the image's ambiguity for its function and dissemination. </p><p>Finally, Chapter 10 locates the figurines in their socio-historic context within Iron II Judah, as a part of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The chapter evaluates the likelihood that the Neo-Assyrian Empire provided the cultural context for the spread of figurine rituals associated with healing and protection in the Iron II. It also summarizes biblical depictions of healing rituals and the role of divine intermediaries, closing with a final evaluation of the dominant interpretive paradigms and a summary of figurine development and function.</p> / Dissertation

The thesis is an examination of the wisdom literature preserved in the book of Proverbs, and of evidence pertinent to the nature and historical setting of this material. The first section examines the arrangement of sayings in the sentence literature, reviews the comparative Near Eastern material and its significance for the exegesis of Proverbs, and discusses the claims that early wisdom was secular, rejecting them. The second section concentrates upon the setting of the literature, with studies of 'wisdom' and 'wise men' in the Old Testament, the internal evidence for associating Proverbs with the royal court, the nature of the Joseph Narrative, Solomon's wisdom and the influence of Egypt on his administration, and, finally, the biblical and epigraphic evidence for formal education in Israel. On the basis of these studies, it is concluded that conventional views of the wisdom literature as scribal and pedagogical are ill-founded and in need of revision. It is suggested that indications within Proverbs itself are a better guide to the nature of the material, and that early wisdom literature should be viewed as an integral part of the literary culture within Israel, not as the product of an international movement or specific professional group.

Thesis (M.C.S.)--Regent College, 2007. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 168-190).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [53]-61).

Thesis (MA(Ancient Languages and Cultures))--Universiteit van Pretoria, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-81).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1954. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 249-258).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [53]-61).