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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)

Southern Turkey’s Amuq Valley has been described as a point of convergence bridging distant regions within the ancient Near East. Through an in depth techno-typological and chemical characterization study of 290 obsidian artefacts, this research details changes in deep-time patterns of obsidian use from the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age (6000 BCE – 2400 BCE), arguing that shifting traditions of consumption reflect socio-economic developments both within and beyond the Northern Levant. These artefacts come from the three sites of Tell al-Judaidah, Tell Dhahab and Tell Kurdu, the material excavated during the 1930’s by the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute. Methodologically raw material sourcing was achieved using energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (EDXRF) in the well-established McMaster XRF Lab [MAX Lab]. With these artefacts’ raw materials all being exotic to the Amuq Valley, originating from various outcrops in Cappadocia, the Lake Van region and Transcaucasia (Turkey and Armenia), over 1000km away, this study not only offers new insight into how Amuq Valley communities engaged in long-distance relations, but also contributes to a larger, deep-time regional study of obsidian consumption as a proxy for understanding significant shifts in Near Eastern socio-economics, from hunter-gatherers to the earliest states. In turn, this study, by employing an Annales school framework to consider practice over deep time at the local and supra-regional level further contributes to an ‘archaeology of the long-term’. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA) / This research involved the chemical analysis of 290 artefacts of archaeological obsidian – a naturally occurring substance made of crystallized lava - as a means of studying ancient exchange systems in the Near East. More specifically, this study covers archaeological periods from 6000 B.C.E. (Late Neolithic) to 2400 B.C.E. (Early Bronze Age) in the Amuq Valley region of southern Turkey. These artefacts were procured during excavations under the Oriental Institute Museum (University of Chicago) beginning in the 1930s. All artefacts are exotic to the Amuq Valley from several known obsidian outcrops in Anatolia (Turkey), some over 1000km away. Analysis was conducted using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) to match each artefact to its geological origin thereby identifying the range of exotic materials were exchanged across long-distances. The goal of this research was to uncover social and/or economic dynamics of the Amuq Valley through deep-time with regards to the greater obsidian trade network of the Near East.

Text in Afrikaans / Die proefskrif ondersoek die funksie van fonteine en putte in die religie van ou Israel. Die religie van die Hebreeuse Bybel word tradisioneel beskryf as 'n historiese religie waarin Jahwe, die god van Israel, fundamenteel gemoeid is met die verlossing van sy volk in die gang van die geskiedenis, terwyl die wêreld van die natuur van marginale belang is. Dit is egter duidelik dat die natuur in die vorm van haar grondwaterbronne 'n belangrike rol in ou Israel se leefwerêld gespeel het, nie alleen as lewegewende bronne in die droē fisiese Palestynse landskap nie, maar ook in hulle narratiewe en simboliese wêrelde. Fonteine en putte was kultiese plekke en heilige ruimtes waar teofanieē plaasgevind het, konings gekroon is, regsgedinge gevoer is, voorvadergeeste opgeroep is en die nageslag van ou Israel verseker is toe die voorvaders hulle toekomstige bruide by putte ontmoet het. Deur middel van die ou Nabye Oosterse ikonografie as hulpwetenskap in die interpretasieproses, is gevind dat die rede vir die sakrale waarde wat aan die waterbronne geheg is, opgesluit is in ou Israel se kosmologie wat hulle met hulle mitologies-gesinde en natuurvererende bure gedeel het. Daarvolgens ontspring fonteine uit die kosmiese onderaardse oeroseaan om lewe en vrugbaarheid te bring aan alles wat lewe. Die beeld het daartoe aanleiding gegee dat fonteine en putte metafories vir vroulike seksualiteit en vrugbaarheid gedien het. Die waterbronne tree ook as draers van hoop op. In verhale oor die wonderbaarlike ontstaan van fonteine in die wildernis deur lewensonderhoud aan die Israetiete tydens hulle woestynomswerwinge te voorsien. Ons kan met sekerheid aanneem dat ou Israel hulle watergate as lokaliteite van integrasie, sin en orde teen die aanslae van die chaosmagte ervaar het. Deur die eeue het die mensdom nagedink oor eksistensiele kwessles soos lewe en dood, vrugbaarheid en steriliteit, die redes vir rampe en oor wat die toekoms inhou. Dit is ten diepste religieuse vrae wat die vervloe bybelskrywers vir hulle tyd en omstandighede aangespreek het deur 'n refigurasie van Palestina se waterbronne. Grondliggend aan hierdie studie as 'n herevaluering van die natuur in die Hebreeuse Bybel om menslike wesens as deel van die natuur op te stel en nie as staande bo die natuur nie. / The dissertation investigates the function of springs and wells in the religion of ancient Israel. The religion of the Hebrew Bible has traditionally been descibed as a historical religion in which Yahweh, the god of Israel, was fundamentally concerned with the salvation of Yahweh's people In history in which the world of nature is of marginal interest. However, it is evident that nature in the form of its groundwater sources played an important role, not only as life giving sources in the arid physical environment of Palestine, but also in their narrative and symbolic worlds. Springs and wells served as cultic centres and sacred places where theophanies took place, kings were crowned, lawsuits conducted, ancestral spirits conjured up and the future progeny of Israel was ensured when patriarchs betrothed their future brides at wells. By means of ancient Near Eastern iconography as an interpretation aid, this study finds the reason for the sacred value attributed to groundwater sources in the cosmology of ancient Israel which she shared with her mythically-minded and nature-worshipping neighbours. Springs were believed to arise from the cosmic subterranean ooean to bring life and fertility to all living things. This image caused springs and wells to serve as metaphor of female sexuality and fertility. They also act as agents of hope in stories of miraculous springs in the desert which provide sustenance during the Israelites' desert wanderings. We can safely conclude that ancient Israel experienced their springs and wells as localities of integration, meaning and order amidst the threatening forces of chaos. Through the ages humankind reflected on existential questions regarding life and death, fertility and sterility, the reasons for disasters and what the future holds. These are profoundly religious questions addressed by the biblical authors for their time and circumstances by implementing a refiguration of the groundwater sources of Palestine. Ultimately this study serves to re-evaluate nature in the Hebrew Bible and to construe human beings not as standing above nature, but as part of nature. / Religious Studies and Arabic / D. Litt. et Phil. (Religious Studies)

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)

In the historical tapestry of the development of the Goddess, from 10,000 - 330 BCE one golden thread shines through. Despite the vicissitudes of differing status, she remained essentially the same, namely divine. She was continuously sought in the many mysteries, mystic ideologies and through the manifestations that she inspired. In all the countries of the Ancient Near East, the mother goddess was the life giving creatrix and regenerator of the world and the essence of the generating force that seeds new life. While her name may have altered in the various areas, along with that of her consort/lover/child, the myths and rituals which formed a major force in forming the ancient cultures would become manifest in a consciousness and a spiritual awareness. / Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies / M.A. (Language and Culture)

Thesis (D. Litt. et Phil. (Biblical Studies)) / The Fertile Crescent, due to its geographical characteristics, has always been an area troubled with conflict and warfare. The men who participated in these wars, from ca 2000 BCE to 1000 BCE operated from an ethos which was governed by a system of rules, all which were conceived to be the creation of divine will, to which kings and their warriors (keymen) were subject. The cuneiform texts from Mari, Ugarit, Ebla, Amarna and others, have not only thrown light on the political, social, religious and military aspects of those turbulent times, but have also given insight into the formation of armies as well as the commanders who led those armies and the royal officials who governed cities and provinces, all appointed by the monarch in order to effect the smooth running of his kingdom. They also shed light on the formation of coalitions and alliances in order to promote peace, arrange marriages to the daughters of other ruling powers and to promote trade relations. These were no easy tasks, considering the diversity of peoples, the birth and fall of kingdoms and empires, and the ever shifting and changes of loyalties of greedy kings and their men, to attain power and conquest for themselves.. However, these texts also give glimpses of the human side of the king and the close relationships between himself and his men of authority, whilst the women of the court also played their role in some areas of the social field. The responses, of these people towards matters and events, whether they were confrontations, marriage alliances, trade ventures or hunting expeditions, occurred within an ever changing world yet, it was also a world with an ethos of ancient traditions, which did not disappear but instead remained, albeit in adapted or altered form, to be a part of their contextual reality. / Biblical Studies

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)

This study examines the metaphor of the shepherd in Zechariah 11:4-17, which is a prominent and significant one in the Hebrew Bible. It defines Yahweh‟s relationship with the nation of Israel and those who have faith in him. But Zechariah 11:4-17 presents a shepherd image which contradicts to the basic metaphor in the Hebrew Bible. The thesis of this study argues that the differing shepherd image in Zechariah 11:4-17 is the result of the rejection by the people of the responsible shepherd, which caused Yahweh to surrender his shepherd responsibility. It is a metaphor designed to punish an unrepentant Israel. Zechariah 11:4-17 furnishes an example of a situation where Yahweh surrendered his shepherding responsibilities to those irresponsible shepherds. This example should be incorporated into the said metaphor, so as an objective and comprehensive meaning may be achieved, and one should consider this metaphorical meaning in the study of the subject. / Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies / M. Th. (Old Testament)

The bull was a potent symbol of power, strength, and, to a lesser degree, fertility to the peoples of the ancient Near East from the twelfth century until 330 BCE. This symbolism was manifested in several iconographic motifs. These motifs reveal the bull as a manifestation of divine characteristics and as an expression of the power of man, and particularly the authority of the king. The use of these iconographic motifs was not consistent across the entire area of the ancient Near East; some differed in appearance and use in the different areas of the region, and many changed over time even in the same area. In all areas and during all periods the basic core symbolism stayed the same, and the bull was always held in a special respect. / Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies / M.A. (Ancient Near Eastern Studies)