This dissertation examines early Enochic literature, namely the Astronomical Book and the Book of the Watchers, in the context of traditions concerning Greco-Roman culture heroes and the debates about the origins of civilization during the Hellenistic age. I argue that the emphasis on the spread of antediluvian knowledge in both these works should be understood as a Jewish response to debates about the origins of cultural knowledge essential to Hellenistic civilization, especially astronomy and metallurgy. Chapter one surveys recent scholarship on the Astronomical Book and Watchers. Recent interpretations of Watchers have read the violence in the text as part of a program of resistance to Greek imperial hegemony, while similar readings for the Astronomical Book have not gained much support. While the resistance reading is a leading model for understanding early Enochic literature, there is an important dimension that has not been extensively explored for interpreting this body of literature, namely the debates surrounding the origins of cultural knowledge during the Hellenistic age. There was a robust discourse in the Hellenistic age about the origins of civilization and types of knowledge, such as astronomy and writing, that were widespread throughout the known world. On the one hand, Greek authors, including Herodotus and Diodorus, give evidence that some Greeks were seeking the origins of civilization in the cultures conquered by Alexander. On the other hand, native writers felt a nostalgia for the past and a time when their respective culture’s held greater power and prestige, causing them to focus on the greatness of their community earlier in history. Thus, in light of both these circumstances there developed a competition among native communities to appear to be the oldest culture and the source of popular knowledge essential for Hellenistic civilization. Chapter three turns to the early Enochic literature by examining the importance of astronomy and writing in both the Astronomical Book and Watchers. Both of these texts emphasize that legitimate knowledge of the heavens was given to the Jewish antediluvian figure of Enoch and that this knowledge was written down by Enoch. I argue that the choice of Enoch is meant to place the origins of astronomy, which was increasingly seen as a byword for antiquity generally, in a Jewish figure. In turn, a written tradition connected to this astronomical data would imply that all Hellenistic understanding about the movements of the heavenly bodies is because of the Jewish people and their preservation of this written knowledge down through the centuries. In addition, Watchers claims that an illegitimate form of astronomical knowledge was given to humanity by the fallen watchers. I argue that the depiction of the watchers is meant to parody accounts of antediluvian culture heroes in other traditions, most especially the Babylonians. Chapter four explores the role of violence in Watchers, and its connection to the origins of metallurgy in making weapons. I argue that the text seeks to account for the violence of the Hellenistic period by claiming that this violence was a result of wicked forms of cultural knowledge given in the antediluvian period. The text seeks to undercut claims made by rival cultures to the origins of metallurgy by arguing that these origins are wicked. Chapter five summarizes the main results of the project. I argue that reading early Enochic literature in the context of the Hellenistic debates over the origins of civilization provides a way to understand the Book of Watchers and the Astronomical Book together. Furthermore it makes the aims of these works similar to contemporary Jewish and non-Jewish works from the 2nd and 3rd centuries BCE. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 9, 2018. / Apocalyptic Literature, Enoch, Technology / Includes bibliographical references. / Matthew Goff, Professor Directing Dissertation; Trevor Luke, University Representative; David Levenson, Committee Member; Nicole Kelley, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_653497 |
| Contributors | Roark, Kyle A. (author), Goff, Matthew J. (professor directing dissertation), Luke, Trevor S. (university representative), Levenson, David B (committee member), Kelley, Nicole, 1975- (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Arts and Sciences (degree granting college), Department of Religion (degree granting departmentdgg) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text, doctoral thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (283 pages), computer, application/pdf |
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