Project description
Comparing Egyptian Demotic Papyri and the Hebrew Bible
The discovery of numerous papyri in Egyptian Demotic script during the last 20 years has offered the research community a considerable new corpus of Egyptian literature. The Demotic literature is comparable to the Hebrew Bible as both emerged from the same historical environment and are rooted in a scribal culture. The EU-funded DEMBIB project will compare the recently accessible Demotic papyri with Biblical literature by investigating the structural parallels between them and identifying the compositional strategies of the two kinds of literature. DEMBIB will also consider these literary features in the socio-historical environment of the 6th to 3rd century BCE, during which Egyptian and Jewish scribal elites faced similar challenges.
Objective
With the discovery of numerous papyri in Egyptian Demotic script during the last two decades, a whole new corpus of Egyptian literature has become available. Based on 25 years of research of the Principle Investigator (PI) on Egypt and the Hebrew Bible, this project, for the first time ever, correlates the newly accessible Demotic papyri with Biblical literature. Since the Demotic literature comes from the exact historical period when the Hebrew Bible received its final form – the Persian and Hellenistic Age – the Egyptian papyri are nothing less than the extra-Biblical evidence Biblical scholarship has asked for over decades. Like the Hebrew Bible, the Demotic literature is rooted in a scribal culture, and thus displays significant parallels to Biblical literature.
The DEMBIB project aims 1) to investigate the structural parallels in Demotic literature and the Hebrew Bible; 2) to identify the compositional strategies of Demotic and Biblical literature; and 3) to contextualize these literary characteristics in the socio-historical situation of the 6th–3rd c. BCE when a scribal elite in Egypt and “Israel” faced similar challenges such as a changing socio-cultural environment and a marginalization of traditional temples.
The groundbreaking character of DEMBIB lies in: 1) the cross-cultural comparison of newly discovered Egyptian papyri and the Hebrew Bible; 2) the analysis of similar literary processes in Egyptian Demotic and Biblical literature; 3) the understanding of the dynamics between a distinct scribal culture and its socio-historical context.
The main goal of DEMBIB is to offer a new paradigm for the understanding of the transformation of textual traditions into complex forms of literature in Egypt and Israel during the Persian and Hellenistic Period. By doing so, one of the most crucial questions in Hebrew Bible scholarship today should be answered: the intellectual and historical context for the final formation of the Hebrew Bible.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-ADG - Advanced Grant
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2020-ADG
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10117 Berlin
Germany
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