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During the past several decades, family and household religion has become a topic of Old Testament scholarship in its own right, fed by what were initially three distinct approaches: the religious-historical approach, the gender-oriented approach, and the archaeological approach. The first pursues answers to questions of the commonality and difference between varieties of family religion and describes the household and family religions of Mesopotamia, Syria/Ugarit, Israel, Philistia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Gender-oriented approaches also contribute uniquely important insights to family and household religion. Pioneers of this sort of investigation show that, although women in ancient Israelite societies were very restricted in their participation in the official cult, there were familial rituals performed in domestic environments in which women played prominent roles, especially as related to fertility, childbirth, and food preparation. Archaeologists have worked to illuminate many aspects of this family religion as enacted by and related to the nuclear family unit and have found evidence that domestic cults were more important in Israel than has previously been understood. One might even conceive of every family as having actively partaken in ritual activities within its domestic environment. Family and Household Religion in Ancient Israel and the Levant analyzes the appropriateness of the combined term family and household religion and identifies the types of family that existed in ancient Israel on the basis of both literary and archaeological evidence. Comparative evidence from Iron Age Philistia, Transjordan, Syria, and Phoenicia is presented. This monumental book presents a typology of cult places that extends from domestic cults to local sanctuaries and state temples. It details family religious beliefs as expressed in the almost 3,000 individual Hebrew personal names that have so far been recorded in epigraphic and biblical material. The Hebrew onomasticon is further compared with 1,400 Ammonite, Moabite, Aramean, and Phoenician names. These data encompass the vast majority of known Hebrew personal names and a substantial sample of the names from surrounding cultures. In this impressive compilation of evidence, the authors describe the variety of rites performed by families at home, at a neighborhood shrine, or at work. Burial rituals and the ritual care for the dead are examined. A comprehensive bibliography, extensive appendixes, and several helpful indexes round out the masterful textual material to form a one-volume compendium that no scholar of ancient Israelite religion and archaeology can afford not to own.
This volume is the most recent collective contribution of a group of biblical scholars and archaeologists who are engaged in an ongoing debate about the nature of family and household religion in ancient Israel and its environment. It is intended to complement the volume Household and Family Religion in Antiquity, edited by John Bodel and Saul M. Olyan, which grew out of a conference held at Brown University in 2005 on household and family religion in the ancient Mediterranean world, with an emphasis on cross-cultural comparison. Several meetings after the Brown conference carried the theme forward, and a fourth meeting at Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster in April 2009 emphasized theoretical and methodological challenges facing scholars of household and family religion (e.g., the conceptualization of family/household religion, the problem of identifying pertinent artifacts, and the difficulties inherent in using texts together with material evidence). This volume is a direct outgrowth of the Münster meeting. For both the meeting and the volume, the goal was to bring together a group of specialists in biblical studies, epigraphy, and archaeology who would utilize a variety of humanistic and social-scientific approaches to the data and would also be willing to engage in dialogue and debate; during the conference in Münster, there was much vigorous intellectual engagement. The essays published here reflect the energy of that conference and will contribute, both individually and collectively, to the advancement of our knowledge of Israelite family and household religion.
The first book to explore the religious dimensions of the family and the household in ancient Mediterranean and West Asian antiquity. Advances our understanding of household and familial religion, as opposed to state-sponsored or civic temple cults Reconstructs domestic and family religious practices in Egypt, Greece, Rome, Israel, Mesopotamia, Ugarit, Emar, and Philistia Explores many household rituals, such as providing for ancestral spirits, and petitioning of a household's patron deities or of spirits associated with the house itself Examines lifecycle rituals – from pregnancy and birth to maturity, old age, death, and beyond Looks at religious practices relating to the household both within the home itself and other spaces, such as at extramural tombs and local sanctuaries
Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, this collection of erudite essays concentrates on the archaeology of ancient Israel, Canaan, and neighboring nations.
In ‘He is a Glutton and a Drunkard’: Deviant Consumption in the Hebrew Bible Rebekah Welton uses interdisciplinary approaches to explore the social and ritual roles of food and alcohol in Late Bronze Age to Persian-period Syro-Palestine (1550 BCE–400 BCE). This contextual backdrop throws into relief episodes of consumption deemed to be excessive or deviant by biblical writers. Welton emphasises the social networks of the household in which food was entangled, arguing that household animals and ritual foodstuffs were social agents, challenging traditional understandings of sacrifice. For the first time, the accusation of being a ‘glutton and a drunkard’ (Deut 21:18-21) is convincingly re-interpreted in its alimentary and socio-ritual contexts.
Despite the large number of well-preserved domestic contexts in Bronze and Iron Age sites, household archaeology has not been a common approach to studying the material culture of Ancient Israel. Until recently, the dictates of “Biblical Archaeology” led to a narrow set of questions that ignored issues such as gender, status and production within the household. The present volume, which grew out of a session at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research, attempts to redress this issue. The seventeen papers herein reflect innovative viewpoints on the theory and praxis of household archaeology in this region. The next step in household research is presented here, with the use of tailor-made data collection strategies designed to answer specific questions posed by household archaeology. "The neglect of households and the archaeology of the activities of its members are ambitiously attended to in this volume. Its exceptional breadth of various modes of inquiry coupled with the application thereof justifies the household as a topic of discussion. I would highly recommend this book for institutions, libraries, scholars, and students interested in any aspect of daily life in the southern Levant, and I very much look forward to the future research projects it will inspire." Cynthia Shafer-Elliot, William Jessup University "...as a whole the work is impressive, and most contributions are commendable for their sophistication in engaging interdisciplinary research in order to understand the nature and function of households in ancient Israel and surrounding areas." Carol Meyers, Duke University
This book introduces the special dynamics of women and their close relationships with the gift in both past and contemporary religious settings. Written from a cross-cultural perspective, it challenges depictions of women’s roles in religion where they have been relegated to compliance with specifically designated gendered attributes. The different chapters contest the resultant stereotypes that deny women agency. Each chapter describes women as engaged in an aspect of religion, from that of ritual specialists, to benefactors and patrons, or even innovators. The volume examines topics such as sainthood and sacrifice so as to refine these ideas in constructive ways that do not devalue women. It also examines the meaning of the term “gift” today, embracing the term in both figurative and literal ways. Such a collection of diverse women’s writings and activities provides a significant contribution to their quest for recognition, and also suggests ways this can be understood and realized today.
This book surveys the current landscape of Old Testament studies, offering readers a concise guide to contemporary academic discussions. Bringing together a diverse group of experts, it provides an informed introduction to the many fields of Old Testament research by recognized scholars, presents basic questions in each subfield, surveys the primary methods of answering these questions, engages prominent solutions, and evaluates relevant and up-to-date resources. It is an extensive guide to current research and an ideal supplemental textbook for a variety of courses on the Old Testament. Contributors include Samuel Boyd, Mark Brett, Aubrey Buster, M. Daniel Carroll R., Stephen Chapman, Stephen L. Cook, Matthew Coomber, Katherine Davis, Katharine Dell, Stephen Dempster, Christopher J. Fresch, Diedre Fulton, Rachelle Gilmour, Jamie Grant, H. H. Hardy II, Ralph Hawkins, Richard S. Hess, John W. Hilber, Brad E. Kelle, Will Kynes, David Lamb, Bo Lim, Drew Longacre, Tremper Longman III, Sandra Richter, Ken Ristau, Jordan Ryan, Cynthia Shafer-Elliott, Jason M. Silverman, Brent A. Strawn, C. A. Strine, Heath Thomas, Daniel Timmer, and Eric J. Tully.
Bringing the Bible and ancient Israel into a new and brighter light In the last several decades, archaeological evidence has dramatically illuminated ancient Israel. However, instead of proving the truth of the Bible—as an earlier generation had confidently predicted—the new discoveries have forced us to revise much of what was thought to be biblical truth, provoking an urgent question: If the biblical stories are not always true historically, what, if anything, is still salvageable of the Bible’s ethical and moral values? Has Archaeology Buried the Bible? simplifies these complex issues and summarizes the new, archaeologically attested ancient Israel, period by period (ca. 1200–600 BCE). But it also explores in detail how a modern, critical reader of the Bible can still find relevant truths by which to live.
"Judean Pillar Figurines regularly appear in discussions about Israelite religion, monotheism, and female practice. Erin Darby uses Near Eastern texts, iconography, the Hebrew Bible, and the archeology of Jerusalem to explore figurine function, the gender of figurine users, and the relationship between Judean figurines and the Assyrian Empire"--Back cover.