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Syllabus
King, priest, and scholar in first millennium BC
Mesopotamia - 30311
Last update 10-08-2015
HU Credits: 2
Degree/Cycle: 1st degree (Bachelor)
Responsible Department: school of philosophy & religions
Academic year: 0
Semester: 1st Semester
Teaching Languages: Hebrew
Campus: Mt. Scopus
Course/Module Coordinator: Dr. Uri Gabbay
Coordinator Email: [email protected]
Coordinator Office Hours: upon coordination
Teaching Staff:
Dr. Uri Gabbay
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Course/Module description:
The course will deal with the complex relationship between religion and political
ideology in the historical framework of Mesopotamia in the first millennium BCE.
Special emphasis will be given to religious aspects of the royal ideology of the kings
of Assyrian and Babylonia
Course/Module aims:
Knowledge of the religious component behind the historical events of first
millennium BCE Mesopotamia. Religion and politics of first millennium BCE
Mesopotamia as a test case for more general question on the relationship between
religion and history
Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be
able to:
Name the main kings and divinities of first millennium BCE Mesopotamia.
Analyze primary sources (in translation) according to the religious and political
ideology of the period.
Identify the religious component in the historical events of the first millennium BCE.
Describe the religious system standing in the basis of larger historical events.
Distinguish between various religious and political ideologies (especially of
Babylonia and Assyria).
Attendance requirements(%):
75%
Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: lectures, exercises
Course/Module Content:
Part I – Introduction and religious and historical background (lesson 1-3)
Lesson 1: Introduction: Mesopotamia and cuneiform
Lesson 2: The Mesopotamian king and a historical view of the first millennium BCE
Lesson 3: The Mesopotamian gods and a religious view of the first millennium BCE
Part II – The Neo-Assyrian empire
Lesson 4: The Neo-Assyrian empire, the god Assur and the king his representative
Lesson 5: The Assyrian king as a divine mirror
Lesson 6: Sennacherib: Religious changes due to contact with Babylonia
Lesson 7: Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal: Prophecy and divination
Lesson 8: The king as scholar
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Part III – the Neo-Babylonian Empire
Lesson 9: From Assyria to Babylonia: Destruction in Assyrian and Babylonian eyes
Lesson 10: Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar: The return of Babylonian kingdom
and the religious role of the king
Lesson 11: Nanunaid: A madman or a religious revolutionary and scholar?
Lesson 12: The Neo-Babylonian period as a period of change and continuation
Part IV – The Achaemenid and Hellenistic periods
Lesson 13: The Persian empire and the Hellenistic period in Babylonia – Break or
continuation?
Lesson 14: The Babylonian culture towards the end: Cultural influences and
conservatism
Required Reading:
*P. Machinist, “Kingship and Divinity in Imperial Assyria,” in: G. Beckman and Th. J.
Lewis (eds.), Text, Artifact, and Image: Revealing Ancient Israelite Religion (Brown
Judaic Studies 346), Providence 2006, pp. 152-188
*G. Frame, “My Neighbour’s God: Aaaur in Babylonia and Marduk in Assyria,”
Bulletin of the Canadian Society of Mesopotamian Studies 34 (1999), pp. 5–22
*G. Frame, “Babylon: Assyria’s Problem and Assyria’s Prize,” Canadian Society for
Mesopotamian Studies Journal 3 (2008), pp. 21-31
*C. Ambos, “Rites of Passage in Ancient Mesopotamia: Changing Status by Moving
through Space: Bit Rimki and the Ritual of the Substitute King,” in: C. Ambos and L.
Verderame (eds.), Approaching Rituals in Ancient Cultures (Rivista Studi Orientali
Supp. 2), Rome 2013, pp. 39-54
'‫ מ‬:‫ בתוך‬,"‫ אבן יסוד לאשורולוגיה‬,‫ "ספריית אשורבניפל – יד לספרות מסופוטמיה‬,‫*א' ו' הורוויץ‬
33-47 '‫ עמ‬,‫ ירושלים תשס"ו‬,‫ ספריות ואוספי ספרים‬,(‫סלוחובסקי וי' קפלן )עורכים‬
P.-A.
*P.-A. Beaulieu, “King Nabonidus and the Neo-Babylonian Empire,” in: J. Sasson
(ed.), Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, New York 1995, pp. 969-979
*M. Cogan, “Sennacherib and the Angry Gods of Babylon and Israel,” Israel
Exploration Journal 59 (2009), pp. 164–174
*M. Jursa, “The Transition of Babylonia from the Neo-Babylonian Empire to
Achaemenid Rule,” in: H. Crawford (ed.), Regime Change in the Ancient Near East
and Egypt (Proceeding of the British Academy 136), Oxford 2007, pp. 73-94
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*R. J. Van der Spek, “Multi-Ethnicity and Ethnic Segregation in Hellenistic
Babylonia,” in: T. Derks and N. Roymans (eds.), Ethnic Constructs in Antiquity: The
Role of Power and Tradition, Amsterdam 2009, pp. 101-115
Additional Reading Material:
F. Joann‫ט‬s (trans. A. Nevill), The Age of Empires: Mesopotamia in the First
Millennium BC, Edinburgh 2004
M. Van De Mieroop, A History of the Ancient Near East, ca. 3000-323 BC, Oxford
2004, pp. 195-280
A. K. Grayson, “Assyrian Rule of Conquered Territory in Ancient Western Asia,” in: J.
Sasson (ed.), Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, New York 1995, pp. 959-968
E. Leichty, “Esarhaddon, King of Assyria,” in: J. Sasson (ed.), Civilizations of the
Ancient Near East, New York 1995, pp. 949-958
H. D. Galter, “Looking Down the Tigris: The Interrelations between Assyria and
Babylonia,” in G. Leick (ed.), The Babylonian World, New York and London 2007, pp.
527–540
Beaulieu, “Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon as World Capital,” in: Canadian Society for
Mesopotamian Studies Journal 3 (2008), pp. 5-12
Course/Module evaluation:
End of year written/oral examination 90 %
Presentation 0 %
Participation in Tutorials 0 %
Project work 0 %
Assignments 10 %
Reports 0 %
Research project 0 %
Quizzes 0 %
Other 0 %
Additional information:
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