History & Geography

Abstract

History & Geography Christopher T. Begg, Isaac M. Alderman, William J. Urbrock, John W. Wright, Paul L. Redditt, Victor H. Matthews, Joseph E. Jensen, OSST J. Edward Owens, and David A. Leiter 233. Damien Agut-Laborère, "Beyond the Persian Tolerance Policy: Great Kings and Egyptian Gods during the Achaemenid Period," Religion in the Achaemenid Persian Empire, 319-28 [see #609]. A.-L.'s article examines how Persian rule in Egypt disrupted the balance of power there between the crown and the temples to the benefit of the former. The extant evidence indicates that Cambyses introduced long-lasting changes in local religious policy, which [End Page 55] were continued by Darius I, but then modified to some extent by Darius II. Overturning the status of Egyptian temples that prevailed when they first arrived in Egypt, the Persian kings privileged the priesthoods of the temples in Memphis to the detriment of those of Thebes. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] 234. James Anderson, "Creating Dialectical Tensions: Religious Developments in Persian-Period Yehud Reflected in Biblical Texts," Religion in the Achaemenid Persian Empire, 9-23 [see #609]. A.'s article explores how the Hebrew Bible transmits two contradictory portraits of Yhwh: as the only, universal god and as one god among many. This tension has generally been explained as deriving from the composite nature of the biblical texts, which overlay more recent traditions atop older ones. However, in light of the growing consensus that a Persian-period context provides the formative era for the writing and editing of the Hebrew Bible, a more tenable explanation would understand the tension as the deliberate creation of a Yehudite dialectic on the part of the scribal elites in Yehud. This dialectic generated continuity as well as discontinuity with the past. In delineating this Yehudite dialectic, A. suggests that a Persian-period context presents the most likely setting for its emergence, in which context the dialectic ultimately sought to address an ideological debate by advancing Yhwh's takeover of the pantheon. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] 235. [Dan 6:1; 11:1] Steven D. Anderson and Rodger C. Young, "The Remembrance of Daniel's Darius the Mede in Berossus and Harpocration," BS 173 (2016) 315-23. Modern commentators on the Book of Daniel commonly assert that there is no reference in ancient extrabiblical literature to Daniel's Darius the Mede (see Dan 6:1; 11:1), apart from writings such as Josephus which are themselves dependent on Daniel. However, the ancient writers Berossus and Valerius Harpocration are independent of Daniel and yet refer to a king named Darius who reigned before the king who is currently called Darius I. These references should prompt contemporary scholars to reconsider the assertion that Darius the Mede is unknown in extant ancient extrabiblical literature. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] 236. Nathanael J. Andrade, "Assyrians, Syrians and the Greek language in the late Hellenistic and Roman Imperial Periods," JNES 73 (2014) 299-317. While Syrians and Assyrians are characterized geographically as situated either west or east of the Euphrates, the Syrians were seen by Greeks and Romans to be a subset of the Assyrians. Syrians themselves used the Greek language in maintaining a complex identity as Greeks, Romans, and Assyrians which allowed them to participate in Western culture as well as critique its arbitrary geographical distinctions.—I.M.A. 237. Shawn Zelig Aster, "Israelite Embassies to Assyria in the First Half of the Eighth Century," Bib 97 (2016) 175-98. A.'s article shows that the kingdom of Israel sent ambassadors on an annual basis to the Assyrian empire during much of the reign of Jeroboam II, and explores the implications of these contacts for the interpretation of Isaiah 1–39 and Hosea. These diplomatic contacts are based on points Frederick Mario Fales has raised regarding Nimrud Wine List 4 (ND 6212), whose importance for biblical studies has hitherto not been recognized. The recipients of the wine rations in this list are to be identified as ambassadors of vassal [End Page 56] kingdoms, among them Samaria, who visited Assyria to pay annual tribute...