Search

In this paper, I reconstruct the networks of Babylonian urban dwellers during the reign of Darius I (522–486 BCE) based on 803 tablets from 10 private archives in Babylon. The main aim is to examine the structure and connectivity of the network that connected different urban families and groups of individuals outside the families. I focus on the positions individuals occupied within the network that yielded them the power to connect smaller parts of the network. The first approach used to identify and analyze these positions is the betweenness centrality measure. The second approach is the analytic concept of brokerage, the role of mediating between two or more individuals or communities that would otherwise have no connection to each other. I identify differences in the ways that the intermediate position of brokers affected the formation of the network. These brokerage roles resulted from families' strategies to increase their household wealth by constructing and optimizing marriage, prebendary, and business relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tablet IM 8790, which comes from Nippur, dates to the 33rd year of Ḫammurapi of Babylon, and deals with the marriage of a nadītum priestess of the god Nergal, is a perfectly preserved document with both case and tablet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how English Catholics imagined Jerusalem and Israel in relation to themselves, their nation and their Church. While English Protestant uses of Jerusalem imagery have been well-studied, their inter-confessional context has received less attention, and yet it was crucial to shaping them. Catholic deployments of Old Testament images and typology were no less sophisticated and significant than Protestant ones; English Catholic texts show how multivalent imagery of Jerusalem and its antithesis, Babylon, could be used both to express and to attempt to resolve tensions between the officially Protestant nation and the "true" Church. Exploring Catholic conceptions of Jerusalem, England and the Church is valuable because it offers insight into the culture that formed English Catholic recusants, missionaries, exiles and politicians, but also because it is important to a properly integrated account of the religious politics of England. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Egibi archive contains a group of texts concerning the tax farming activities of Marduk-nāṣir-apli, son of Itti-Marduk-balāṭu, the head of the Egibi family in the third generation (521–487 BCE). This group of texts includes documents that refer to various taxes, such as ilku and qaštu, mostly in the form of receipts, as well as a dossier of a rab hanše, Bēl-erība, son of Kalbāya, descendant of Šumu-libši, who was closely involved in the collection of ilku. A detailed analysis and contextualization of these texts reveal the ilku taxation processes, and the roles of the rab hanšê Bēl-erība and the tax farmer Marduk-nāṣir-apli in these processes. These texts also add more evidence for the taxation on the military fiefs and qaštu-tax in Babylon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper first examines surviving testimonies on the doctrine of the Great Year in Heraclitus and attempts to demonstrate the reliability of Aëtius' version handed down by the mss., according to which the Great Year is equal to 18,000 solar years. On the basis of such evidence it is also possible to newly examine Diogenes of Babylon's views about this topic. In the second part, the paper better defines the relationship between the Great Year and the theory of cosmic conflagration. It argues that in the sources at our disposal there are enough elements to credit Heraclitus with the doctrine of Ekpyrosis, although, in all probability, the philosopher never provided an in-depth description of it. Finally, the same problem is analysed in relation to Diogenes of Babylon. In the most mature phase of his career, this Stoic departed from the Ekpyrosis doctrine of the early Stoics and especially of his master Chrysippus. The paper formulates some hypotheses on the reasons for this choice (arguing that it most probably reflects an original attitude towards Heraclitus on Diogenes' part) and highlights that it was hardly an isolated, 'heterodox' stance during the final phase of the early Stoa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debates about authorship in cinema have held a privileged position in film studies since the 1950s, when the young generation of critics of the film journal Cahiers du Cinema formulated the politique des auteurs. This critical strategy proposed that the director of a film was the major creative source of the finished work. Since this assumption contradicts the industrial and collaborative character of the film medium, the politique has been questioned, attacked and reformulated ever since its beginnings. The auteur theory was appropriated and deconstructed under the influence of structuralist and poststructuralist theories that questioned the very concepts of individual creativity and self-expression. Nevertheless, questions about authorship in cinema did not vanish but were developed in many ways. If film is regarded not only as an art form but as a commodity, the director's name cannot only be regarded as a sign of a discernible style (a ›world view‹), but as a brand name. ›Scorsese‹, ›Tarantino‹, ›Lynch‹, ›Nolan‹ – these names imply certain images, dramatic approaches, and themes. They also serve as a label for marketing a product. Directors and producers like Steven Spielberg or Ridley Scott lend their names to a certain kind of media production (film or television series) that raises expectations associated with their work. They do not necessarily work as a director. As producers – or even only as the owners of a production company – they may function as a kind of team leader, leaving the creative work to hired teams. In television, the showrunner is the major creative and managing force in the production of a series that is scripted, shot, and directed by several production crews simultaneously. Film and media studies have sought to discern the structures of collective working from historical and contemporary perspectives. Bordwell and others have described the (Hollywood) system and its mode of production, that defined the auteurs' work. When looking closer at ›the system‹, it becomes obvious that there are different kinds of authorship in existence. Recent production studies on the working conditions in todays' television have sought to analyse the structures of working together and ask questions about individual agency. The growing awareness of collective authorship promotes new ways of close film analysis. The German television series BabylonBerlin here serves as an example of a major contemporary media production with multiple creative influences and explicit collective authorship. A closer look at the successful series reveals the impact of this plurality on its storytelling and form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent excavations by the Department of Archaeology of the University of Babylon (Iraq) have brought to light the ruins of a temple at Tell al-Deylam, about 30 km south of Babylon. Thanks to a number of inscribed bricks it can securely be identified as "E-Ibbi-Anum", the temple of Dilbat's city god Uraš, which confirms earlier attempts to identify the site with that city. The Sumerian text of the inscriptions allows a secure dating of the building to the Kassite period, more precisely, the reign of a king named Kurigalzu (probably I).1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article publishes a royal inscription preserved on a clay tablet housed in the Istanbul Archaeological Museums. The inscription, which was intended for display on a stele, commemorates a royal grant of tax exemptions to nine Babylonian cities and presents the royal protagonist as a second Ḫammu-rāpi. The name and titulary of the king in question are not preserved, and the attribution of the inscription is accordingly uncertain. Following Jean-Vincent Scheil's attribution of the text already in 1902, the study that accompanies an edition of the text argues that it should be attributed to Nabonidus, king of Babylon 556–539 BC, and explores its historical significance in this context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents first editions of three large manuscripts of the Epic of Creation from the "Sippar Library," and eight smaller fragments from the British Museum's "Babylon" and "Sippar" collections. In addition to restoring several lines of various episodes of the text, they provide an almost complete restoration of the two closing verses of the Babylonian version of the poem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on first-millennium cuneiform manuscripts from Aššur, Babylon, and Uruk, this article offers an edition of a ritual against an illness conceptualized as the demon 'Any Evil'. The text sheds light on how the catch-all figure Any Evil corresponds to the idea of a universal cure for any physical ailment, and how the rhetoric of the incantation articulates this relationship and facilitates the active participation of the patient. The ritual instructions of this and a closely related text show that Any Evil is envisaged as a bull-headed, male demon. This points to an adaptation of motifs that are typically associated with ghosts in ancient Mesopotamian thought and raises questions concerning the pictorial representation of Any Evil and its conceptual foundations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In diesem Artikel schlage ich vor, dass im Zyklus der vorpriesterschriftlichen Erzählungen die Geschichte des Turmbaus zu Babel nach der Fluterzählung stand und dass der priesterschriftliche Bearbeiter der Urgeschichte diese an ihren jetzigen Ort platziert hat, um einen Zusammenhang zwischen dem Ende der Urgeschichte und dem Beginn der Vätererzählungen herzustellen. Später fügte ein nachpriesterschriftlicher Bearbeiter die Episode zu Noahs Trunkenheit als Beginn der Zeit nach der Sintflut hinzu, womit die Botschaft lanciert wird, dass Kanaanäer von Beginn an verwünscht sind. In this article, I suggest that in the pre-P story-cycle, the episode of the Tower of Babel was located after the end of the Flood story; and that the Priestly editor of the Primeval History shifted it to its present place in order to create continuity between the end of the Primeval History (which took place in Babylonia) and the beginning of the Patriarchal narratives. Later, a post-P editor inserted the episode of Noahʼs drunkenness into the beginning of the post-Diluvian Age in order to convey the message that the Canaanite people were cursed from the earliest times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "Esoteric Babylonian Commentary" (abbr. EBC) represents an excerpt from a larger commentary tablet LBAT 1601, which was unusual in its wide scope encompassing teratology, medical diagnosis, physiognomy, cuneiform sign exercises, and magical incantations and rituals, and which reinterpreted these diverse fields of knowledge in terms of astronomical phenomena. The topics selectively excerpted into EBC by a lamentation priest suggest a compartmentalization of textual expertise, consistent with professional purviews in the late 1st millennium BCE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many discussions have been devoted to the etymology of Babylon’s name at the conclusion of the Tower of Babel narrative in Gen 11. Many justifiably read this as a polemical etymology against Babylonian texts that explain the name Babylon as »the gate of god«. This, however, explains only the first half of the conclusion, the explanation that Babylon is the site of the confusion of languages: »because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth.« The second half of the conclusion relates to the scattering of nations: »from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.« This part does not seem to have anything to do with the name Babylon. This article proposes that the pair of etymologies at the end of the biblical Tower of Babel narrative relates to two individual Babylonian etymologies, both of which can be traced in Enûma Eliš [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The original biblical Noah was not affiliated with the Flood. An early edition of J told of a devastating famine that afflicted the entire earth from the days of Adam and Eve until it was brought to an end on account of Noah. The Proto-J narrative was supplemented with a version of the popular Babylonian Flood story, ironically transforming a story of drought into a tale of torrential rain. It is this Noah who is referenced in Ezekiel and Deutero-Isaiah – not the familiar Flood hero. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a list of articles published in volume 21 of "Maarav" periodical in 2014 including "What was the Book of Yashar?" by E. L. Greenstein, and "The Time of Hezekiah's Illness and the Visit of the Babylonian Delegation" by S. Vargon.

Abstract: The 'pedestal, dais' ( parakku) of Ninurta's temple Eḫursaĝtila in Babylon is described as a bipartite monument in a topographical text (George 1992, no.9). This allows identification with the so-called 'altar' excavated in front of the temple's gate. The pedestal's nomination after Asakku refers probably to its adornment with an image of the monster conquered by Ninurta, thereby pointing to the location of his temple. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is argued that the exilic period among the exiles in Babylon provides the context proper of the crisis which Deuteronomy presupposes and also of its leading features, for example its ethos of »encroachment«. The book is shot through with apprehension for continued fidelity to YHWH, which evidently cannot be taken for granted - hence its authors' distinctive hortatory style: exhorting, cautioning, promising, threatening. The book has been aptly described as one of »memory making« in the face of a prevailing state of »forgetfulness« among those whom its authors addressed. Responding to historical circumstances that had overtaken much inherited religious practice and symbolism, the thinking and teaching of its authors reflect a shift from Israelite religion and institutions of the pre-exilic period to the antecedents of post-exilic Judaism. On présente ici la thèse que le contexte de la situation de crise présupposée par le Deutéronome correspond à l'exil à Babylone, et il en est de même pour son éthique de l'empiètement - implication (»encroachment«). Le livre est traversé par le souci de la fidélité permanente à Yhwh, qui n'était apparemment pas évidente. C'est ainsi que s'explique le style persuasif de ses auteurs: encourageant, avertissant, promettant, menaçant. On a bien défini ce livre comme une oeuvre créatrice de mémoire face à l'oubli progressif de l'histoire, qui caractérise ses destinataires. Répondant ainsi aux circonstances historiques qui font paraître désuètes la pratique et la symbolique religieuses anciennes, la pensée et l'enseignement des auteurs du Deutéronome reflètent le passage de la religion et des institutions d'Israël de l'époque préexilique vers les précurseurs du judaïsme post-exilique. Es wird die These aufgestellt, dass das babylonische Exil sowohl für die vom Deuteronomium vorausgesetzte Krisensituation als auch für bestimmte Charakteristika, etwa sein Ethos des Übergriffs] (encroachment), den passenden Kontext bildet. Das Buch ist durchsetzt von der Sorge um die fortgesetzte Treue zu Jhwh, die offensichtlich nicht selbstverständlich war. So erklärt sich der eindringliche Stil seiner Autoren: ermahnend, warnend, verheißend, drohend. Das Buch ist treffend beschrieben worden als eines, das Erinnerung stiftet angesichts einer unter den Adressaten andauernden Situation der Geschichtsvergessenheit. Antwortend auf die geschichtlichen Gegebenheiten, welche die ererbte religiöse Praxis und Symbolik überholt erscheinen ließ, spiegelt das Denken und Lehren der Verfasser des Deuteronomiums den Übergang von der israelitischen Religion und den Institutionen der vorexilischen Zeit hin zu den Vorläufern des nachexilischen Judentums wider. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the themes of the myth of Tower of Babel in relation to languages. It mentions that in the myth, God inflicted a punishment to the people through confusion of languages wherein all people could not understand each other. It says that the myth concerns the complexes of Jewish hermeneutics. It argues that the Jews become confuse of the languages in the Babylon because it is where languages and dialects interlace. It states that as a consequence of the construction of the tower, the people know and confess only the Name of God who redeemed Himself for the people.

This article focuses on the significance of historical accounts that discuss the ancient metropolises of Babylon, Jerusalem, Athens, Greece, and Rome, Italy. The article discusses how ancient texts such as "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" by the Greek poet Homer, "The Aeneid" by the ancient Roman poet Virgil, and the Old Testament described these cities, how the European humanist philosophers interpreted these texts during the 15th century, and how the historical accounts of these cities have affected European perception, history, and religious thought from the Middle Ages until the end of the early modern period. Other influential texts that are mentioned include works by the Greek author Athenaeus, the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Bible), and the Roman author Juvenal's writings.

This paper traces the Babylon episode in the Middle English Floris and Blancheflour (ca.1250) to the Daire le Roux episode in the Old French Roman de Thèèbes (1155--60), which itself derives from western medieval chronicle accounts of the siege of Antioch during the First Crusade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]