Periodic Reporting for period 2 - AMPS (Ancient Mesopotamian Priestly Scholasticism in the First Millennium BCE)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2023-04-01 al 2024-09-30
Ancient Mesopotamian scholarly activity in the first millennium BCE was mostly carried out by priests who were also in charge of performing rituals. In modern scholarship, though, these two parts of the priestly activity, namely, ritual and scholarship, are often treated as two different fields with very little overlap between them. But if both ritual and scholarship were practiced by the same individuals, or at least by the same social institution, we would expect to find a relationship between them. Therefore, our project is interested in the following questions: How did these two fields, i.e. ritual and scholarship, both dealt with by the same social group, interact together? Where and how do we find "ritual" in the scholarly activity of the ancient Mesopotamian priests? And where do we find "scholarship" in the ritual activity of these same priests?
The engagement with both ritual and scholarship in ancient Mesopotamia is not a unique phenomenon. This is a common feature found in other scholastic societies, that is, societies in which the scholarly activity is carried out by the same groups (often also by the same individuals, but not necessarily so) who are also in charge of the ritual activity. And in such societies indeed we find an interaction between these two activities. Such scholastic societies are of course part of the contemporary world (e.g. certain Catholic orders, Islamic scholarship, Jewish Rabbinic scholarship, Tibetan monastic scholasticism, and other examples), and the understanding of the scholastic society that was active in Mesopotamia more than 2000 years ago can be informed by such contemporary societies.
As part of the project's understanding of the scholar-priests of ancient Mesopotamia in the first millennium BCE within the framework of "scholasticism", the project has the following objectives:
1) To demonstrate that, like other scholastic communities, ancient Mesopotamian scholasticism was closely concerned with the religious activities of its members, especially their rituals;
2) To show how the texts and actions of the Mesopotamian scholar-priests were deeply “internalized” by them through memorization, study, and performance, creating a strong individual/communal identity;
3) To demonstrate how the authoritative status of the texts that were studied and performed by the scholar-priests promoted the creation of exegetical texts and commentaries.
In order to achieve these objectives, the project focuses on different textual corpora that relate to ritual, commentary, or both. Special emphasis is given to ritual and its textualization and interpretation, the relationship between commentaries and rituals, the Sumerian language as a ritual and scholarly language, and the historical and social aspects of the priestly-scholastic activities in the first millennium BCE.
The engagement with both ritual and scholarship in ancient Mesopotamia is not a unique phenomenon. This is a common feature found in other scholastic societies, that is, societies in which the scholarly activity is carried out by the same groups (often also by the same individuals, but not necessarily so) who are also in charge of the ritual activity. And in such societies indeed we find an interaction between these two activities. Such scholastic societies are of course part of the contemporary world (e.g. certain Catholic orders, Islamic scholarship, Jewish Rabbinic scholarship, Tibetan monastic scholasticism, and other examples), and the understanding of the scholastic society that was active in Mesopotamia more than 2000 years ago can be informed by such contemporary societies.
As part of the project's understanding of the scholar-priests of ancient Mesopotamia in the first millennium BCE within the framework of "scholasticism", the project has the following objectives:
1) To demonstrate that, like other scholastic communities, ancient Mesopotamian scholasticism was closely concerned with the religious activities of its members, especially their rituals;
2) To show how the texts and actions of the Mesopotamian scholar-priests were deeply “internalized” by them through memorization, study, and performance, creating a strong individual/communal identity;
3) To demonstrate how the authoritative status of the texts that were studied and performed by the scholar-priests promoted the creation of exegetical texts and commentaries.
In order to achieve these objectives, the project focuses on different textual corpora that relate to ritual, commentary, or both. Special emphasis is given to ritual and its textualization and interpretation, the relationship between commentaries and rituals, the Sumerian language as a ritual and scholarly language, and the historical and social aspects of the priestly-scholastic activities in the first millennium BCE.
The work in the project includes specific sub-projects dedicated to ritual, scholarship, and the interaction between the two. All sub-projects are informed by the other sub-projects and contribute to the overall objectives of the project by discussions in weekly seminar meetings.
The following themes have been, and are still being investigated so far: Ritual, scholarship, language, and history, each in relation to at least one of the other themes, and each examining a specific corpus of texts.
The following results have been achieved:
Articles:
- Gabbay, U. 2022. “Becoming Marduk: A New Look at a Commentary on Marduk’s Address to the Demons from Assur,” Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 22, pp. 119–160 (Open Access: https://doi.org/10.1163/15692124-12341330(si apre in una nuova finestra))
- Debourse, C. and U. Gabbay. Forthcoming 2024. “The Late Babylonian Series of ‘Ancient Sumerian’: Structure, Contents, and the Agency of Ritual Text,” Zeitschrift für Assyriologie (accepted for publication)
- Gabbay, U. Forthcoming. “Embodied Knowledge: How Was the Internalization of Knowledge Viewed in Ancient Mesopotamia in the First Millennium BCE?,” Israel Oriental Studies Annual (accepted for publication)
- Gabbay, U. and M. Susnow. Forthcoming. “Between the Real and Ideal: Efficacy in an Ancient Mesopotamia Building Ritual Forthcoming,” Numen: International Review for the History of Religions (accepted for publication)
MA theses:
- An MA thesis on the cuneiform texts on the ritual for a lunar eclipse and its interpretation
- An MA thesis on the first chapter of a lexical series on the Emesal register of Sumerian
PhD dissertations:
Currently, there are five PhD dissertations being carried out in the framework of the project, on the following themes: The language of Emesal prayers; the liturgical history of the city of Uruk; the cultic commentaries of the first millennium BCE; the “Emesal Vocabulary” series; the image of the Mesopotamian landscape according to literature and ritual.
The following themes have been, and are still being investigated so far: Ritual, scholarship, language, and history, each in relation to at least one of the other themes, and each examining a specific corpus of texts.
The following results have been achieved:
Articles:
- Gabbay, U. 2022. “Becoming Marduk: A New Look at a Commentary on Marduk’s Address to the Demons from Assur,” Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 22, pp. 119–160 (Open Access: https://doi.org/10.1163/15692124-12341330(si apre in una nuova finestra))
- Debourse, C. and U. Gabbay. Forthcoming 2024. “The Late Babylonian Series of ‘Ancient Sumerian’: Structure, Contents, and the Agency of Ritual Text,” Zeitschrift für Assyriologie (accepted for publication)
- Gabbay, U. Forthcoming. “Embodied Knowledge: How Was the Internalization of Knowledge Viewed in Ancient Mesopotamia in the First Millennium BCE?,” Israel Oriental Studies Annual (accepted for publication)
- Gabbay, U. and M. Susnow. Forthcoming. “Between the Real and Ideal: Efficacy in an Ancient Mesopotamia Building Ritual Forthcoming,” Numen: International Review for the History of Religions (accepted for publication)
MA theses:
- An MA thesis on the cuneiform texts on the ritual for a lunar eclipse and its interpretation
- An MA thesis on the first chapter of a lexical series on the Emesal register of Sumerian
PhD dissertations:
Currently, there are five PhD dissertations being carried out in the framework of the project, on the following themes: The language of Emesal prayers; the liturgical history of the city of Uruk; the cultic commentaries of the first millennium BCE; the “Emesal Vocabulary” series; the image of the Mesopotamian landscape according to literature and ritual.
The framing of the scholarly and ritual activities of the priestly groups in the first millennium BCE as "scholasticism" is a novel approach that brings together textual corpora that were not hitherto examined together even though they were written by the same social group (and often by the same individuals). Furthermore, the notion of scholasticism provides opportunities for comparisons with other scholastic societies, and through that raises questions which do not always arise from the traditional philological approach to the ancient Mesopotamian texts.
Another aspect of the project that goes beyond the state of the art is the focus on "Late Sumerian" as a phenomenon that should be investigated independently, unlike the common approach which sees it mostly in a historical perspective as the last stage of a 3000 attested language. This approach, again with a comparative look to the use of language in other scholastic societies, raises new questions regarding the use of the Sumerian language in ritual and scholarship, as well as insights into bilingual Sumerian-Akkadian texts of the first millennium BCE. Some of these insights and new approaches will be published in a special issue dedicated to "Late Sumerian" in the journal Die Welt des Orients co-edited by the PI and a postdoctoral researched who is affiliated with the project (scheduled for 2025).
Another aspect of the project that goes beyond the state of the art is the focus on "Late Sumerian" as a phenomenon that should be investigated independently, unlike the common approach which sees it mostly in a historical perspective as the last stage of a 3000 attested language. This approach, again with a comparative look to the use of language in other scholastic societies, raises new questions regarding the use of the Sumerian language in ritual and scholarship, as well as insights into bilingual Sumerian-Akkadian texts of the first millennium BCE. Some of these insights and new approaches will be published in a special issue dedicated to "Late Sumerian" in the journal Die Welt des Orients co-edited by the PI and a postdoctoral researched who is affiliated with the project (scheduled for 2025).