David in Cultural Memory

The studies collected in this volume are the outcome of papers presented at the workshop'David in Cultural Memory,'held at the P zm ny Peter Catholic University Budapest, 9-10 October, 2013. The person of king David of biblical history have long ago been the object of persistent scholarly interest. The present volume aims at offering an assemblage of the diversified memories constructed about David in various collections and communities. Narratives in the Deuteronomistic historiography reflect Ancient Near Eastern social and legal customs, and are added by literary topoi bearing specific meaning, customary motifs of royal biographies. Persian period Chronicles offer a substantially different picture of David. The Psalms'religious poetry memorized him as an author and example, while prophetic literature and its exegesis refer to him in messianic terms. David is one of the rare figures of biblical history remembered also in visual memory, in the synagogue of Dura Europos.