The Andient Near East: History, Texts, etc.

Abstract

The Andient Near East:History, Texts, etc. Christopher T. Begg and Fred W. Guyette 19. [Contacts between the ANE and India] Claus Ambos, "Reconsidering the Nature of the Contacts between the Cuneiform Cultures of the Near East and India," WdO 50 (1, 2020) 31-78. After interactions between them already in the 3rd millennium b.c., there were again maritime and overland connections between the cuneiform cultures of the ANE and [End Page 6] India during the 1st millennium b.c. This article presents evidence for direct contact and interaction between the two regions and examines the possibility that these included the exchange of ideas and knowledge as well. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] 20. [Tree of Life in ANE Iconography] Amy L. Balogh, "The Tree of Life in Ancient Near Eastern Iconography," The Tree of Life, 32-73 [see #779]. ANE images of the Sacred Tree are symbolic entities where the lived experience of nature meets the iconographical imagination, and there flourishes a semiotic language, ripe with meaning and always open to yielding more. At its most basic level, the Sacred Tree symbolizes the relationship between the natural cycles and processes necessary for human life and flourishing on the one hand, and humankind's dependence on the nurturing, protective activities of the divine realm on the other. From place to place and era to era, this symbolism takes on different nuances and associations, and does so in such a way that it does not diminish its core definition but rather enhances it by meeting each audience anew—including the innumerable audiences of Genesis 2–3, where the Sacred Tree becomes known as the "tree of life." To use the tree's own metaphor, the symbol of the Sacred Tree is rooted in an ancient past while her branches sway in the shifting winds of history. This ancient past is one in which the terrestrial concerns of sustenance and protection and the role of cosmic activity in addressing those concerns are central in the iconographic imagination. As time moves forward, these concerns endure and to them are added concerns over the fate of particular communities, kingdoms, and empires. This shift is evidenced by the changes in the Sacred Tree iconography at the dawn of the first millennium b.c.e., when iconographers bring together for the first time the themes of kingship, the divine feminine, and cosmic provision. The fact that the Sacred Tree is accompanied by a wide range of supporting motifs and is found on special objects dating from the fourth millennium onward from professional seals, to household devotional objects, funerary objects, jewelry, sacred architecture, and more, speaks to the ability of the symbol to move fluidly through space and time and to accrue new layers of significance in a way that renders it ever more timeless. It is fitting, then, that, like all the Sacred Tree's iconographers, the biblical authors would maintain the symbol's essential connection to eternal life and divinely sanctioned abundance, and at the same time add their own layers of significance, rendering it anew for their intended audience. See also #26. [Adapted from author's conclusion, pp. 68-69—C.T.B.] 21. [Virginity in Hittite Ritual] Billie Jean Collins, "Virginity in Hittite Ritual," Hrozný and Hittite, 455-68 [see #788]. C.'s examination of the role of young girls in three rituals from Ḫattuša, i.e. Paškuwatti, Anniwiyanni, and Ammā suggests that these girls served as ritual assistants with a specific range of duties, which, however, did not include acts of a sexual nature, as has previously been suggested. The term DUMU.MUNUS šuppeššara may refer to a girl (daughter) dedicated for a time to temple service by her family, for whom her pre-sexual state would have been a matter of honor. C.'s paper further offers new interpretations of the first two rituals cited above in light of a newly reconstructed ritual attributed to a Wise Woman named Ammā. A key passage in the Paškuwatti ritual against sexual dysfunction should, according to C., be understood as metaphorical and does not require reading into the text a...