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Prophecy was a wide-spread phenomenon in the ancient world - not
only in ancient Israel but in the whole Eastern Mediterranean
cultural sphere. This is demonstrated by documents from the ancient
Near East, that have been the object of Martti Nissinen's research
for more than twenty years. Nissinen's studies have had a formative
influence on the study of the prophetic phenomenon. The present
volume presents a selection of thirty-one essays, bringing together
essential aspects of prophetic divination in the ancient Near East.
The first section of the volume discusses prophecy from theoretical
perspectives. The second sections contains studies on prophecy in
texts from Mari and Assyria and other cuneiform sources. The third
section discusses biblical prophecy in its ancient Near Eastern
context, while the fourth section focuses on prophets and prophecy
in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Even prophecy in the Dead Sea
Scrolls is discussed in the fifth section. The articles are
essential reading for anyone studying ancient prophetic phenomenon.
Prophecy was a wide-spread phenomenon in the ancient world - not
only in ancient Israel but in the whole Eastern Mediterranean
cultural sphere. This is demonstrated by documents from the ancient
Near East, that have been the object of Martti Nissinen's research
for more than twenty years. Nissinen's studies have had a formative
influence on the study of the prophetic phenomenon. The present
volume presents a selection of thirty-one essays, bringing together
essential aspects of prophetic divination in the ancient Near East.
The first section of the volume discusses prophecy from theoretical
perspectives. The second sections contains studies on prophecy in
texts from Mari and Assyria and other cuneiform sources. The third
section discusses biblical prophecy in its ancient Near Eastern
context, while the fourth section focuses on prophets and prophecy
in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Even prophecy in the Dead Sea
Scrolls is discussed in the fifth section. The articles are
essential reading for anyone studying ancient prophetic phenomenon.
The title of this volume, Sacred Marriages, consciously plays with
the traditional concept of sacred marriage, but the plural form,
"sacred marriages," gives the reader an idea that something more is
at stake here than a monomaniacal idea of manifestations deriving
from a single prototype. Following the guidelines of one of the
contributors, Ruben Zimmermann, the editors tentatively define
"sacred marriage" as a "real or symbolic union of two complementary
entities, imagined as gendered, in a religious context." "Sacred
marriages" (plural), then, refers to various expressions of this
kind of union in different cultures that seek to overcome, to cite
Zimmermann again, "the great dualism of human and cosmic
existence." The subtitle indicates that the contributors are
primarily interested in different aspects of the divine-human
sexual metaphor-that is, the imagining and reenactment of a
gendered relationship between the human and divine worlds. This
metaphor, which is essentially about relationship rather than
sexual acts, can find textual, ritual, mythical, and social
expressions in different times and places. Indeed, the sacred
marriage ritual itself should be considered not a manifestation of
the "sacralized power of sexuality experienced in sexual
intercourse" but one way of objectifying the divine-human sexual
metaphor.
Nissinen's award-winning book surveys attitudes in the ancient
world toward homoeroticism, that is, erotic same-sex relations.
Focusing on the Bible and its cultural environment-Mesopotamia,
Greece, Rome, Israel-Nissinen concisely and readably introduces the
relevant sources and their historical contexts in a readable way.
Homoeroticism is examined as a part of gender identity, i.e., the
interplay of sexual orientation, gender identification, gender
roles, and sexual practice. In the patriarchal cultures of the
biblical world, Nissinen shows, homoerotic practices were regarded
as a role construction between the active and passive partners
rather than as expressions of an orientation moderns call
"homosexuality." Nissinen shows how this applies to the limited
acceptance of homoerotic relationships in Greek and Roman culture,
as well as to Israel's and the early church's condemnation of any
same-sex erotic activity. For readers interested in the ancient
world or contemporary debates, Nissinen's fascinating study shows
why the ancient texts - both biblical and nonbiblical - are not
appropriate for use as sources of direct analogy or argument in
today's discussion.
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