Books by Michael Hundley
Cambridge University Press, 2022
In this study, Michael Hundley explores the diverse deities of ancient Near Eastern and biblical ... more In this study, Michael Hundley explores the diverse deities of ancient Near Eastern and biblical literature, from deified doors and diseases to the masters of the universe. Using data from Mesopotamia, Hittite Anatolia, Egypt, the Levant, and non-priestly Genesis and Exodus, Hundley explains their context-specific approach to deity, which produces complex and seemingly contradictory portraits. He suggests that ancient deities gained prominence primarily by co-opting the attributes of other deities, rather than by denying their existence or inventing new powers. He demonstrates that the primary difference between biblical and ancient Near Eastern presentations lies in their rhetorical goals, not their conceptions of gods. While others promote divine supremacy, Genesis and Exodus promote exclusive worship. Hundley argues that this monolatry redefined the biblical divine sphere and paved the way for the later development of monotheism and monotheistic explanations of evil.
Gods In Dwellings examines temples and the gods who inhabit them in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, H... more Gods In Dwellings examines temples and the gods who inhabit them in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Hittite Anatolia, and Syria-Palestine. It is thus concerned with official religion, with exploring the interface between human and divine in the major temples of the ancient Near East (ANE). Rather than offering an exhaustive survey of the data, the study explores the common themes in each region and offers a wide interpretive lens through which to view them. More particularly, this project examines such issues as: 1) ANE perceptions of the divine; 2) what temple structure communicates, how it was understood to function, and its ideology; 3) how to install the divine presence in a temple, often in the form of a cult image; 4) the relationship between deity and image(s); 5) how a god's presence in the temple, particularly in the cult statue, is related to his or her divine essence and presence elsewhere; and 6) how humanity serves the deity in order to ensure continued presence.
Michael B. Hundley examines the Priestly system designed to keep heaven on earth - more specifica... more Michael B. Hundley examines the Priestly system designed to keep heaven on earth - more specifically, to secure and safeguard the divine presence at the heart of the Israelite community through a comprehensive analysis of its constituent parts. His study examines how the Priestly writers describe the nature of divine presence, elicit that presence and prepare for its arrival, and maintain it through regular service and damage control rites. Rather than comparing individual Priestly rites in isolation from their surrounding contexts, his work compares the Priestly system with various ancient Near Eastern systems (Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Hittite, and Syro-Palestinian). Using a multifaceted approach, Hundley reveals the genius of the Priestly writers lies not in their total originality but in their ability to co-opt elements present in the surrounding cultures and adapt them to serve their own rhetorical purposes.
Papers by Michael Hundley
Ancient Near East Today, 2025
This article is the fourth in a 4-part series of articles on the nature of God in the Near East a... more This article is the fourth in a 4-part series of articles on the nature of God in the Near East and Hebrew Bible.
Ancient Near East Today, 2025
This article is the 3rd in a 4-part series of articles on the nature of God in the Near East and ... more This article is the 3rd in a 4-part series of articles on the nature of God in the Near East and Hebrew Bible.
Ancient Near East Today, 2025
This article is the second in a 4-part series of articles on the nature of God in the Near East a... more This article is the second in a 4-part series of articles on the nature of God in the Near East and Hebrew Bible.
Ancient Near East Today, 2025
This is the first in a 4-part series with Ancient Near East Today summarizing my research on gods... more This is the first in a 4-part series with Ancient Near East Today summarizing my research on gods in the Ancient Near East and Hebrew Bible: 1) What is a God in the Ancient Near East?; 2) What is a God in the Hebrew Bible? Divine Cast of Characters; 3) What is a God in the Hebrew Bible? Characteristics and Hierarchy; 4) From Monolatry to Monotheism: The Changing Face of the Biblical Pantheon. There will also be an accompanying webinar in late August 2025.
Cambridge Companion to Law and the Old Testament (ed. B. Wells; Cambridge: CUP), 158-178, 2024
The Oxford Handbook of Egypt and the Hebrew Bible (ed. S. Hollis), 2024
Ancient Egyptians considered contact with the divine essential for prosperity, yet such contact o... more Ancient Egyptians considered contact with the divine essential for prosperity, yet such contact often proved elusive. This chapter surveys their solution, the temples and cult images that concretized divine presence and the rituals that constituted divine service. It includes an outline of the standard Egyptian temple, its decoration, and its ideology, followed by an examination of divine presence and service. It concludes by situating Egyptian temples alongside those of its neighbors in Syria-Palestine, including a discussion of the temple and tabernacle in the Hebrew Bible.
Journal of Near Eastern Studies 82 (1): 119-132, 2023
This article presents a case study in occasional deification by exploring divinized instruments i... more This article presents a case study in occasional deification by exploring divinized instruments in Mesopotamia, followed by a preliminary investigation of the Ugaritian and biblical data in light of the results. Rather than deify instruments by association or because of some intrinsic merit, I argue that their divinization was more pragmatically driven. Mesopotamians, and by extension Ugaritians, deified instruments to augment ritual efficacy in cases where the stakes were particularly high. While the Hebrew Bible does not include divinized instruments, it too employs music in the same ways, to praise and pacify the deity. In each context, music moves the deity, and interpreters use various rhetorical strategies to make its affective powers more potent. By contrast, the Priestly texts reject cultic music, thereby removing the affective component from the cult.
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2024
Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, 2022
“Magic” is a term that continues to feature in popular and scholarly circles, yet scholars contin... more “Magic” is a term that continues to feature in popular and scholarly circles, yet scholars continue to disagree vehemently about its definition and utility. This article uses the various definitions of magic as lenses through which to compare the ritual texts of the Priestly Pentateuch, ancient Egypt, and ancient Mesopotamia. The results offered illumine both the texts and the scholars who interpret them. Regardless of the definition employed, the biblical and other ANE ritual texts are quite similar, leading to the conclusion that magic should not be used as a dividing line between biblical Priestly and other ANE ritual texts.
To Be or Not to Be: A Reexamination ofNam Language in Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomistic History
Vetus Testamentum, 2009
The Oxford Handbook of Ritual and Worship (ed. S. Balentine; Oxford, 2020)., 2020
This article addresses sacred and common spaces in the ancient Near East (ANE) with a special foc... more This article addresses sacred and common spaces in the ancient Near East (ANE) with a special focus on biblical Israel. It considers temples and other sacred spaces in the ANE before moving to sacred spaces in the Hebrew Bible: altars, standing stones, the tabernacle, the temple and other sacred spaces. It will conclude by tracing the evolution of sacred spaces in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Huffington Post, 2017
With Christianity and Islam as the two dominant religions in today’s world, most assume that, if ... more With Christianity and Islam as the two dominant religions in today’s world, most assume that, if there is a god, there is only one. However, the vast majority of world religions today believe in multiple gods. Even in the ancient Middle East, the world from which these two major religions and Judaism emerged, the belief in monotheism was a relative newcomer to the religious landscape. For example, the Hittites of Anatolia (modern Turkey) proudly boasted of their three thousand gods. How did this idea of monotheism emerge against the grain and gain such momentum?
Oxford Bibliographies in Biblical Studies, 2017
Temples were nearly ubiquitous across the ancient Near East. Rather than serving as a gathering p... more Temples were nearly ubiquitous across the ancient Near East. Rather than serving as a gathering place for a worshipping congregation, a temple served as a terrestrial divine abode. In it, the god(s) lived amid society, yet carefully sequestered from it behind walls and doors. While primarily a residence, the temple also granted people limited access, usually for the purpose of divine service. The people believed that gods dwelt outside of the realm of human experience. Temples bridged the gap between human and divine, allowing regulated access to the deity, usually present in the form of a cult statue, and giving people the opportunity to influence the gods. Through this mutually beneficial interchange, the gods received the service they desired, while the people hoped their service would elicit divine protection and blessing. Protection and blessing, though, were conditional. The gods would remain and stay favorably disposed only if they were satisfied with their accommodation and service. Temples then, at least in theory, were lavishly and fastidiously constructed and maintained in order to keep the gods happy. This article focuses on the major temples, especially those from 1500–500 BCE, in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Hittite Anatolia, and Syria-Palestine. The article also focuses on the structure and ideology of the temples, not the rituals performed within them. For the most part, biblical and Israelite references will be kept to a minimum, as they are numerous enough to warrant their own article. Too numerous to include, archaeological reports generally have been excluded, yet they are referenced in the works cited and may be found with a Google web search.
Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 2017
The golden calf episode in Exodus is both popular and perplexing. While it has a shared ancient N... more The golden calf episode in Exodus is both popular and perplexing. While it has a shared ancient Near Eastern heritage of understanding divine presence, it chooses to undermine that heritage to promote its particular agenda. This study clarifies the text by situating it more firmly in its ancient Near Eastern context and by addressing the biblical adaptations that emerge when we address each of the chapter’s distinct voices. It also considers the importance of perspective—what each character sees and how their vision affects their viewpoint—and the importance of divine visibility both within Exodus 32 and in the larger non-Priestly narrative.
Journal of Theological Studies, 2016
Angels are and have always been a popular topic. Nonetheless, much confusion remains in popular ... more Angels are and have always been a popular topic. Nonetheless, much confusion remains in popular and even scholarly literature. The present study aims to provide clarity about angels (מלאכים, literally ‘messengers’) in Genesis and Exodus by situating the texts in their ancient Near Eastern contexts and examining how they adapt the ideas of those contexts to fit their own unique theological agenda. The resulting portrait is derived from but clearly distinct from its ancient Near Eastern analogs.
Altorientalische Forschungen, 2014
Building on an earlier article on Mesopotamian conceptions of the divine (Hundley 2013a), this pi... more Building on an earlier article on Mesopotamian conceptions of the divine (Hundley 2013a), this piece turns to the complex world of Hittite deities and offers a synthetic analysis with Mesopotamia as a conversation partner. While many commonalities emerge, the Hittite divine world is also distinct in important ways. Most notably, while Mesopotamian gods, especially Marduk and Assur and before them Enlil and Ninurta, tend to collect attributes, the Hittites themselves collect gods, proudly boasting of the thousand gods of Ḫatti. Likewise, Hittite deities tend to overlap without redundancy, such that each overlapping (weather) god is an independent actor with an essential role to play, whose absence could signal the dissolution of order. The article also posits various modern analogs like franchises, which although imperfect, help the modern mind to grasp the ancient complexity.
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Books by Michael Hundley
Papers by Michael Hundley