Ugaritic Studies

حولية الآثار اليمنية
حولية الآثار اليمنية "أزال"
العدد الثامن..

باسمكَ اللهمّ

    تطوف بنا تقارير هذا العدد من مجلة "أَزَال" في مساجد أثرية تناولتها الأيدي بالترميم والصيانة في الأشهر القلية الماضية ومازال العمل في اثنين منها قايماً حتى هذه الأيام، فبتمويل وبتعاون من مكتب الأوقاف في محافظة تعز قامت الهيئة بالإشراف على أعمال الصيانة في جامع الجَنَد الذي أسّه الصحابي معاذ بن جبل عند قدومه موفداً من رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله فأعيد ترميم الساقية الرئيسة والمدافن وبعض الأعمدة وترميم حمام بخاري كان مدفوناً ولم يبقَ إلا أن يعاد تشغيله للناس ليُستفاد من ريعه للجامع، أما سقف الجامع فقد استبدل بمصندقاته الخشبية القديمة سقفٌ اسمنتي بتمويل سعودي أيام الملك فيصل بن عبدالعزيز وقيل إن تلكم المصندقات أرسلت إلى المملكة والله أعلم،
    وفي مدينة " أَزَال" صنعاء القديمة (تشرف الهيئة على أعمال ترميم الرواق الجنوبي لجامعها الكبير المقدس ثالث مسجد بُني في الإسلام ويشمل الترميم المصندقات الخشبية في سقفه وأعمدته وجزءاً من جداره، وما زال العمل جارياً.
    وفي قمة حصن غَيْمان جنوبي صنعاء أزيلت أخشاب سقف مسجده التالفة واستبدل بها سقف من نوع الأخشاب نفسها واستخدم القضاض في الترميم للمسجد وملحقاته، وإلى الغرب من صنعاء على قمة جبل النبي شُعيب بن مَهْدَم وهي أعلى قمة في جزيرة العرب قريباً من السماء، كان يقع مسجد أثري له سقف مزخرف بديع تؤدى فيه الصلوات ويناجي فيه العابدون ربهم منذ مئات السنين، وذات ليلة حالكة السواد أقبلت طائرات العدوان السعودي – الأمريكي فأطلقت صواريخها على المسجد وفي ثوان جعلته " ركاماً بعد عين"!!
    ثم.. يستوقفنا تقرير من ظَفار حاضرة الرَيْدانيين وشعبهم حِمْيَر يسرد وصفاً مقتضياً لقطع أثرية عرض بعضُ الإخوة تسليمها لمتحف ظفار، ومنها حجر نحتت عليه مبخرتان وكُتب عليهما بخط المسند: (ب إ ذ ن ك ش م س)          ومعناها: " بجاه قوتك يا شمس"، وهذا النص من الشواهد النادرة التي يرد الكلام فيها بصيغة الخطاب للمعبود (بإذنكِ) لا بصيغة الغائب كما هو المعتاد في مئات الشواهد، وقد خلت الاستغاثة من أداة النداء ولعل ذلك للإيحاء بقرب المنادَى (المعبود)، وينبغي هنا أن نذكر أننا لا نجد لأداة النداء شاهداً فيما نعرفه من نقوش المسند حتى الآن (من نقاش مع معلمنا إبراهيم الصلوي)، وأما التوجه للشمس بالاستغاثة فقد أكده القرآن الكريم في حديثه عن قوم ملكة سبأ: ﴿وَجَدتُّهَا وَقَوْمَهَا يَسْجُدُونَ لِلشَّمْسِ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ وَزَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَعْمَالَهُمْ فَصَدَّهُمْ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ فَهُمْ لَا يَهْتَدُونَ﴾
و عند قيامنا بتصوير أعواد الزبور وهي تلك الأعواد التي يقاس طولها بالسنتيمترات وتسجل عليها موضوعات متعلقة بالحيوات الاجتماعية في اليمن قديماً، كنا قد وجدنا بضع مئات منها يلزمها الترميم وهو ما يقوم به فريق من المتحف الوطني بحهود ذاتية ونسأل من الله العون.
    ثم أخرج لنا محررو المجلة تقارير قديمة عن أعمال مسح وتنقيب أُجريت في بعض محافظات بلادنا، فقد أجرى فريق وطني تنقيبات في محافظة ذمار في حَمّة ذِياب وفي هِرّان، وأجرى فريق آخر حفريات أثرية في موقع جبل حَجّاج في محافظة إب، وأجرى فريق وطني وأجنبي تنقيباً في الهامِد من القُطَيْع إلى الشرق من باجِل في تِهامة وكان قد سبقهم إلى الموقع نفسه أجانب، وتقريراً عن نزول ميداني إلى موقع قُلّة الهلال في مديرية ساقيْن من صعدة.(وهذا الأخير قريب العهد)
لن اُفصّل القولَ في عمليات التنقيب تلك ولا في ذكر نتائجها فمحل ذلك في مكانه من كل تقرير، بيد أني أشير هنا إلى أمرين أحدهما يُذكّر بالآخر:
أما أولهما: فإن النفس لتشعر بالرضا ونحن نرى فِرَقاً من أهل اليمن تقوم بالتنقيب ثم نقرأ تقارير على قدر من النضج (تقرير حمة ذياب وتقرير جبل حجاج)!
وأما ثانيهما: فإن الأسف ليخيّم على النفس ونحن نقابل مواقع أثرية تدعونا للتنقيب فيها والإجابة عن أسئلة تكمن أجوبتها في تلك المواقع، لكن الهيئة مكبلة لا بالأثريين اليمنيين بل بالقدرات المادية اللازمة للتنقيب. (وقد يأتي يوم يتناقص فيه أهل الخبرة)!
والحمدلله لله أولاً وآخراً.

                                  عباد بن علي الهيال
                    رئيس الهيئة العامة للآثار والمتاحف
                                      صفر ١٤٤٧ ه‍

رابط المجلة .
https://www.mediafire.com/file/lwief062ch9yymk/مجلة+أزال+العدد+الثامن.pdf/file

#أزال
#مجلة
#حولية_الاثار
#general_organization_of_antiquities_and_museums
#goam
#yemen
#azal

To every African child taught to memorize but not to question, to obey but not to dream-may your learning be a liberation, not a leash. Part I Chalk Dust And Dogma: Introduction To A Continental Critique The red soil of Africa remembers every footprint, every chalk stroke that ever marked its blackboards. Across Uganda's city peripheries and deep into Kenya's missionary hinterlands, through Zimbabwe's evangelical enclaves and Nigeria's Pentecostal school zones, a quiet but potent pedagogical revolution has been fermenting-The Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) curriculum. But this revolution, if we dare call it that, is not our own. Imported from the conservative evangelical cradle of Texas, wrapped in scripture and moral absolutism, ACE has become one of the most widespread-yet least interrogated-forms of Christian private education in postcolonial Africa. This critique is not a declaration of war on faith; rather, it is a lamentation in the tongue of Hosea: "My people perish for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6). For what kind of knowledge builds a nation? What kind of education do we call "Christian," and does it liberate or domesticate the African mind?

Recent discoveries have made it possible to examine the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt with multiple lenses in addition to the account available in The Five Books of Moses-Torah. A cluster of evidence surrounds 1550 BCE. At that time, we have the accounts of or about Pharaohs Seqenenre Ta's II, Kamose, Ahmose, and Hatshepsut; mummies; a volcanic eruption's devastation; and Manetho. Then around 1200 BCE, in another cluster, we have the Ramesside counter-revolution against the Akhenaten forces; records of Hebrew (Apiru) slaves; records of an Egyptian prince with undocumented birth who ran afoul of pharaoh and who was a party to legal proceeding regarding a slave master; and remains of a Tent of Meeting in the Negev. We conclude that the Exodus did take place, but that the Bible combines two instances of exodus for its story.

During the Late Bronze Age in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, many fragments of pithoi with wheelmade rims have been documented, mainly in Llanete de los Moros (Montoro, Cordoba), with 59 specimens and a chronology ca. 1525-1100 BC and Cuesta del Negro (Purullena, Granada) with 11 fragments, ca. 1450-1325 BC. According to the analysis, they appear to be mostly local productions that used double-chamber ceramic kilns as they reach 850º and imitate containers from the Eastern Mediterranean, with the best parallels coming from the port of Ugarit, Minet el-Beida, ca. 1450-1365 BC.

Keywords: Late Bronze Age, transport pithoi, Iberian Peninsula, Ugarit.

Durante el Bronce Final en el sur de la península ibérica se han documentado numerosos fragmentos de pithoi con borde a torno, principalmente en Llanete de los Moros (Montoro, Córdoba), con 59 ejemplares y una cronología ca. 1525-1100 AC y Cuesta del Negro (Purullena, Granada) con 11 fragmentos, ca. 1450-1325 AC. Según los análisis parecen ser producciones mayoritariamente locales, que usaron hornos cerámicos de doble cámara pues alcanzan 850º e imitan recipientes del Mediterráneo Oriental, procediendo los mejores paralelos del puerto de Ugarit, Minet el-Beida, ca. 1450-1365 AC.

Palabras clave: Bronce Final, pithoi de transporte, península ibérica, Ugarit.

This article presents two previously unpublished Old Babylonian tablets on which are inscribed similar bilingual vocabularies. The language in their right-hand columns is Old Babylonian Akkadian. The language in their left-hand columns is mostly North-West Semitic, with some admixture of Akkadian. Editions of the two tablets are accompanied by a commentary which finds parallels for this language in the grammar and vocabulary of other Semitic languages. Evaluation of the results of this
enquiry lead to the conclusion that the language of the left-hand columns is a variety of Amorite.

Using Late Bronze Age sources from Amarna, Qatna and especially Ugarit (with a telling hunger-in-the-wilderness motif), this article argues that the etymology of the biblical manna should be associated with the root mnn that is widely attested in Arabic to designate benevolence and generosity. The core meaning of the root constitutes a generous provision (be it a prestige good to god or king, an economic transaction between creditor and debtor producing gratitude and indebtedness, or the generosity a superior extends to the favored) given by a benevolent party. This emphasis on gift giving and generosity represents a challenge to the consensus of the field that looks to a botanical explanation (derived from Sinaitic tamarisk trees and insect secretions) for the nature and etymology of manna.

Modern Semitic palaeography explains the last letter of the Northwest-Semitic sequence-‫ת‬ (tav/ taw)-as a stylised cross-shaped mark. It derives its phonemic value /t/ from the acrophonic naming of that picture with the Proto-Northwest-Semitic noun tāw "mark, signature." This paper gathers the epigraphic, lexical, and symbolic arguments advanced since Gardiner's 1916 decipherment. It shows that (1) every second-millennium exemplar of the sign is a simple cruciform or x-shaped stroke; (2) the Semitic lexeme tāw "mark, sign" provides the lone /t/-initial object that fits the drawing and survives into Biblical Hebrew (Ezk 9:4); and (3) later linearisation-from the balanced Proto-Canaanite 𐤕 to the right-weighted Phoenician 𐤕 and square-Hebrew ‫-ת‬retains the intersecting strokes while fixing a gematria of 400. Thus, Tav still carries, in both shape and sound, the primordial idea of a signature "X.

The twenty-first (or twenty-second, depending on ordering) consonant of the Northwest-Semitic sequence-‫ש‬ (šīn/śīn)-is almost universally traced to a pictograph of a tooth and gains its phonemic values /ʃ/ and /s/ by the acrophonic naming of that image with the Canaanite noun *šin/ *śen "tooth." Synthesising the graphic, lexical and diachronic evidence assembled by Gardiner, Sass, Goldwasser and recent epigraphers, this article shows that (1) every securely dated secondmillennium exemplar of the sign is a serrated, three-or-four-pronged outline that matches both human molars and Bronze-Age denticulated tools; (2) the pan-Semitic root ṯ-š-n / š-n-n "tooth, sharpen" supplies the only plausible /š/-or /s/-initial object with stable, early attestations; and (3) the letter's subsequent evolution-from the jagged Proto-Canaanite 𐤔 to the angular Phoenician 𐤔 and the dotted Hebrew ‫-ׁש/ׂש‬preserves the dentate profile while transmitting a constant gematria of 300. Shin, therefore, remains, in both shape and sound, the alphabet's enduring metaphor for biting, sharpening, and divine fire.

Scholars generally agree that the Semitic letter ‫ע‬ (ʿayin) originated as a stylised drawing of an eye and gained its phonemic value /ʿ/ through the acrophonic principle-naming the picture with the Northwest-Semitic noun ʿayin "eye" and extracting its first consonant. This essay assembles the evidence: (1) Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Ḥôl inscriptions render the sign as a round glyph derived from the Egyptian "eye/see" hieroglyph, which the Canaanite inventors re-interpreted purely by shape rather than Egyptian meaning; (2) Goldwasser's synthesis confirms that the miners explicitly mapped that hieroglyph onto the Canaanite word for eye, ensuring the correct sound value; (3) the letter's later evolution-from Phoenician 𐤏 to Hebrew ‫-ע‬preserves the circular contour while the gematria system fixes its numerical value at 70; and (4) post-biblical symbolism (divine vigilance, hidden insight) grows directly out of the original ocular image. Thus, despite millennia of graphic abstraction, ʿayin still "looks back" at the alphabet's pictorial roots.

Es bien sabido que en el verbo semítico noroccidental hay una doble polaridad vocálica. La primera se establece entre las vocales temáticas del qtl y del yqtl (y en concreto la vocalización a-i-a en qtl corresponde a la vocalización i-a-u en yqtl según la más pura gramática 1 ). La segunda polaridad se encuentra entre la vocal temática del yqt/ y la vocal del prefijo del mismo yqtl. Esta segunda polaridad es la que se conoce como ley de Barth-Ginsberg 2 • Formas verbales yqtl como ilak 3, ylak 4, tlak 5, tlakn 6 compara das con formas qtl como likt 7 y lik 8 permiten concluir que l > k debe • Esta nota es en gran medida la respuesta a una proposición de S. SEGERT. Su sola existencia prueba por si misma el enorme respeto que nos merece el eminente lingüista de la escuela de Praga. 1 Véase S. MoscATI,Lezioni dilinguistica semitica, Roma 1960, n ª 328, pp. 119-120. 2 La existencia de esa ley como característica de las lenguas semíticas norocciden tales fue observada en primer lugar por J. BARTH en « Vergleichenden Studien III», ZDMG 43 (1889) pp. 177-191 y luego en «Zur vergleichenden semitischen Grammatik», ZDMG 48 (1894) pp. 4-6. Más tarde fue observada y aplicada al ugarítico por H. L. GINSBERG primero en «nwspwt I < lylt aliyn b < I» (Addenda a la épica e Aliyan Ba < al),

En otro lugar • hemos argüido de pasada en favor de la relación entre fenicio ltmn y ugaritico !Jmn, con el resultado de que el Nombre Divino B < / ]Jmn significaría «Baal (del) Hamón» (*Ba c /u Jjamllm) o «Baal del santuario palatino», de acuerdo con el valor que el lexema tiene en la literatura cultual de Ugarit. La argumenta ción filológica y la información bibliográfica alli apuntadas, sobre todo en relación con los testimonios epigráficos e iconográficos del arameo /J,mn > /*/µlmllnll, han sido recogidas de nuevo, desarrolladas y completadas por Drijvers 2 en favor del valor apuntado de <<santua rio, edícula cultual, capilla». Su amplia proliferación en toda la 1 Cf. G. DEL OLMO LETE, «La 'capilla' o 'templete' (�mn) del culto ugaritico», Aula Orienta/is 2 (1984) 278, n. 9 (con bibliografla). Entre los autores que sostienen la equiparación de fen. /,mn con ug. �mn cabe destacar a F. M. CRoss. Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic (= CMHE), Cambridge, Mass. 1973, p. 27, que otorga al lexema el valor toponímico de Monte Amanus. Desconoce, con todo, la presencia de ug. IJmn en los textos cultuales y recoge sólo sus ocurrencias como elemento onomástico ( cf. infra nn. 6 y 9); en el mismo sentido, LIPIÑSKI (cf. infra n. 14); y también, aunque más impreciso, G. GARBINI, OA 1 (1968) 157 ss. (vid. P. MAGNANINI, Le iscrizioni fenicie dell'Oriente [= /FO], Roma 1973, pp. 18-20). 2 Cf. H. J. W. DRIJVERS, «Aramaic /lmn' and Hebrew /lmn», JSS 33 (1988) 165-179. La etimologia propuesta, *Jpnh, 'proteger', era ya cono�ida (asf Elliger; cf. DEL OLMO LETE, art. cit., p. 277, n. 2). De ser cierta tal etimología (cf. Arabe/ar. */lama), el • lexema arameo seria di tinto de ug. IJmn ( cf. • �mm en ar. y ug. ). Pero éste constituye un 'dato' histórico-religioso, la etimología es mera 'especulación'. La equiparación de fen. /lmn con ug. 6mn lleva más bien hacia una etimologia derivada de •�wlym; cf.

The early post-exilic period in Israel's history saw a radical reinterpretation of Yahweh's presence among his people. This re-orientation was prompted by the significantly changed socio-religious conditions during the Persian era. Yahwism had to be defined in the absence of the luxurious sanctuary of the monarchic era, as well as in the context of a diversity of religions. Within this context the radical shift which is witnessed in the second commandment took place. A movement away from cult images to the strong prohibition of images (aniconism) was concluded. This movement is a reflection of the hermeneutical altercation on the mystery and majesty of God. The present paper investigates the hermeneutical implications of the second commandment for reflecting on human dignity in an African context. An overview will be provided of the history of research on the second commandment and the religious-historical circumstances that prompted it. Thereafter, the results of the overview will be brought into interaction with one particular Africentric interpretation of the Second Commandment.

This paper examines the conceptual and translational differences
between “fear of God” (yir’at ˀĕlōhîm) and “fear of
YHWH” (yir’at YHWH) in biblical Hebrew and their renderings
in Japanese Bible translations. The author analyzes the semantic
range of “fear” in Japanese religious contexts, examining the
distinct characters used for fear (恐 vs. 畏) and their theological
implications. The study explores how polytheistic concepts like
“the Deity” in ancient Canaan parallel similar concepts in
Japanese religious thought. Through comparison with Ugaritic
and other ancient Near Eastern sources, the paper demonstrates
that “fear of YHWH” specifically relates to covenant relationships,
while “fear of God/Elohim” often functions in broader
contexts. The study concludes that modern Japanese Bible translations
must carefully distinguish these concepts to maintain the
theological nuances present in the Hebrew text, particularly in
wisdom literature where the positioning of these phrases plays
a significant structural role.

This paper expands on a revised chapter originally drafted in December 2024 as part of my dissertation entitled "Contre la Mer : étude des courants de traditions cosmogoniques au Proche-Orient ancien". It was later presented on June 24, 2025, at the SBL International Meeting in the 'Anthropology and the Bible' section.

The fourth chapter of the Book of Daniel has received extensive attention from recent scholarship. 1 While modern scholarship has long noted the literary connections of Daniel 4 with Ezekiel 31, it has consistently disregarded the theomorphic character of the enormous tree in Ezekiel 31 and the ideological connections of Daniel 4 with the exilic and post-exilic theomorphic anthropology that underlies Ezekiel 31. It has established no associations between Daniel 4 and the exilic and post-exilic interests in Adam's physical resemblance to YHWH and the concurrent concerns with legitimate expressions of iconic venerations. An analysis of Daniel 4 within its context and against the background of earlier biblical and ancient Near Eastern sources will evince the focus of the story on the issue of legitimate channels of iconic worship and the theomor-1 E.g., M. HENZE, Nebuchadnezzar's Madness (Daniel 4) in Syriac Literature // The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception / Ed.

Crisis is that moment in which the old is dying and the new struggles to be born (Slavoy Zizek after Antonio Gramsci, Quaderno 3, XX) "Change, Order, Remembrance. Crisis and Religion in the Ancient Near East" is the result of a workshop held at the 18 th EASR Conference in 2021. We would like to thank first Ludovico Portuese who originally designed this workshop with us and then, due to the beginning of his new working position, had to leave the planning and the making of the conference as well as of the proceedings to us. We thank him for suggesting the topic and advising us on the contributors and we hope to have managed to stay in line with his ideas when we he proposed to be co-organizers of the workshop. To the contributors of the workshop and of this volume we are particularly thankful for the lively discussion during the conference as well as for the in-depth analysis of the case-studies presented here. Also, we warmly thank them for having followed our guidelines and met our deadlines, without their engagement this volume would not have been possible. We also want to warmly thanks the reviewers of the articles for their thorough job and for having met our rash deadline. Our gratitude goes to the editorial board of the series Kasion for having enthusiastically accepted our volume for publication, we are honored to see our volume published in this prestigious series.

The origin of the 364-day calendar attested in Dead Sea scrolls and in the books of Jubilees and Enoch is disputed. While it is often considered as a sectarian invention during the 3rd or 2nd centuries bce, Jaubert, VanderKam and Gardner claim that it is already used in the Torah and may be as old as Pg. Using the number seven and the notion that the actual Flood period marks the interruption of time and calendar, this article shows that the 364-day calendar is used by the Priestly writer both in Genesis 1 and in the Flood Narrative, thus suggesting that one of the aims of the Priestly writing was to establish a new calendar to mark the end of the Babylonian rule.

This essay explores the concept of the divine council in ancient Near Eastern (ANE) religions, examining its theological significance and cultural functions across Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Hittite, and Israelite traditions. Central to many ANE cosmologies, the divine council typically featured a high god presiding over an assembly of subordinate deities who collectively governed the cosmos. By comparing the hierarchical and deliberative structures found in texts such as the Enuma Elish, the Baal Cycle, and Psalm 82, this study highlights both shared features and culturally distinct variations of divine assemblies. The paper investigates how these councils mirrored earthly governance, reinforced societal order, and shaped theological developments, especially within the context of Israelite monolatry. It also engages with modern scholarly debates on the continuity of divine council motifs and the transition from polytheism to monotheism in the Hebrew Bible. Despite interpretive challenges posed by fragmentary sources, the study affirms the central role of divine councils in ancient religion, revealing their enduring influence on theological and political thought in the ancient world.

İnsanlık tarihi boyunca tanrılar, tanrıçalar ve kutsal figürler, inanç sistemlerinin merkezinde yer almış ve kültürel gelişimi derinden etkilemiştir. Bu figürler yalnızca dini inanışları değil, aynı zamanda toplumsal yapıları, siyasi düzenleri ve bireylerin dünyayı algılama biçimlerini de şekillendirmiştir. Ugarit panteonunun önemli tanrıçalarından biri olan Aşera, bu çerçevede özel bir yere sahiptir. Ne var ki, Aşera'nın kimliği ve tarih içindeki yeri, farklı kültürlerin etkileşimi sonucunda sıklıkla bulanıklaşmış, isimleri ve işlevleri birbirine karışmıştır. Kimi zaman Astarte ile eş tutulmuş, Ugaritçede Athirat adıyla anılmış, hatta İbrani geleneklerinde Tanrı Yahve'nin eşi olarak betimlenmiştir. Ancak bu isimlerin ve rollerin gerçekte birbirinden farklı mı, yoksa aynı tanrıçanın farklı kültürel tezahürleri mi olduğu konusu tarihçiler, arkeologlar ve din araştırmacıları arasında süregelen bir tartışma konusu olmuştur. Ugarit'te yapılan arkeolojik kazılarda bulunan yazıtlar ve ikonografik tasvirler, Aşera'nın çivi yazılı belgelerde yer alan unvan ve sıfatları ile ilişkilendirilmesine dair ipuçları sunmuştur. Bununla birlikte, bu çalışmada Aşera'nın Yahudilik içindeki tartışmalı konumuna detaylı olarak girilmeyecek, odak noktası Geç Bronz Çağı çerçevesinde ve Eskiçağ tarihi metodolojisi kapsamında ele alınacaktır. Çalışma, Aşera'nın Ugarit tanrılar panteonundaki yerini netleştirmek ve onun kimliğine dair yanlış anlamaları gidermek için yapılan bir girişimdir. Ugarit dünyasında Aşera'nın edindiği konum ile ilgili Türkçe literatüre katkı sunmak da makalenin amaçları arasında yer almaktadır.

İnsanlık tarihi boyunca tanrılar, tanrıçalar ve kutsal figürler, inanç sistemlerinin merkezinde yer almış ve kültürel gelişimi derinden etkilemiştir. Bu figürler yalnızca dini inanışları değil, aynı zamanda toplumsal yapıları, siyasi düzenleri ve bireylerin dünyayı algılama biçimlerini de şekillendirmiştir. Ugarit panteonunun önemli tanrıçalarından biri olan Aşera, bu çerçevede özel bir yere sahiptir. Ne var ki, Aşera'nın kimliği ve tarih içindeki yeri, farklı kültürlerin etkileşimi sonucunda sıklıkla bulanıklaşmış, isimleri ve işlevleri birbirine karışmıştır. Kimi zaman Astarte ile eş tutulmuş, Ugaritçede Athirat adıyla anılmış, hatta İbrani geleneklerinde Tanrı Yahve'nin eşi olarak betimlenmiştir. Ancak bu isimlerin ve rollerin gerçekte birbirinden farklı mı, yoksa aynı tanrıçanın farklı kültürel tezahürleri mi olduğu konusu tarihçiler, arkeologlar ve din araştırmacıları arasında süregelen bir tartışma konusu olmuştur. Ugarit'te yapılan arkeolojik kazılarda bulunan yazıtlar ve ikonografik tasvirler, Aşera'nın çivi yazılı belgelerde yer alan unvan ve sıfatları ile ilişkilendirilmesine dair ipuçları sunmuştur. Bununla birlikte, bu çalışmada Aşera'nın Yahudilik içindeki tartışmalı konumuna detaylı olarak girilmeyecek, odak noktası Geç Bronz Çağı çerçevesinde ve Eskiçağ tarihi metodolojisi kapsamında ele alınacaktır. Çalışma, Aşera'nın Ugarit tanrılar panteonundaki yerini netleştirmek ve onun kimliğine dair yanlış anlamaları gidermek için yapılan bir girişimdir. Ugarit dünyasında Aşera'nın edindiği konum ile ilgili Türkçe literatüre katkı sunmak da makalenin amaçları arasında yer almaktadır.

Reservados todos los derechos. Ni la totalidad ni parte de este libro puede reproducirse o transmitirse por ningún procedimiento electrónico o mecánico, incluyendo fotocopia, grabación magnética o cualquier almacenamiento de información y sistema de recuperación, sin permiso escrito

Cet essai propose une analyse du discernement spirituel dans les textes en langue grecque issus du monachisme primitif (jusqu’à Maxime le Confesseur). C’est en effet avec les premiers théoriciens de l’ascèse du désert que se développe pour la première fois une véritable doctrine sur cette faculté d’abord évoquée par Paul de Tarse. Avec l’essor de la nouvelle forme de vie chrétienne des moines le discernement devient le pivot de la vie religieuse: il définit et valide l’intériorisation de l’expérience spirituelle, en devenant de ce fait un élément fondamental de la dimension mystique du monachisme. Au plan de la méthode, l’analyse se situe dans l’histoire des concepts et s’appuie sur une lecture attentive des sources. Le but consiste à rendre compte de la réflexion des auteurs anciens sur l’instrument principal d’une praxis conduisant à la transformation du soi et, par là, à la transcendance. Après avoir abordé des questions générales de méthode et l’état de l’art sur le sujet (premier chapitre), on tentera de montrer que le discernement est centré sur l’homme et sur l’indétermination sous-jacente à son pouvoir décisionnel (deuxième chapitre); le besoin d’activer une faculté spéciale pour exercer avec profit le libre arbitre souligne l’ambivalence du monde, dans la perspective de celui qui entend s’en arracher (troisième chapitre); se pose alors le problème de la mesure parfaite à laquelle on doit se conformer pour déjouer les multiples conditionnements de la réalité cosmique environnante (quatrième chapitre); il apparaît finalement que la non-différence perçue à l’extérieur mène à rechercher la différence à l’intérieur, plus précisément dans la volonté qui inspire toute pensée, parole et action (cinquième chapitre).

This chapter explores the interplay between memory, recall, and identity perception through spatial depiction in Chaim Potok’s novel My Name is Asher Lev, contextualizing the semantic codification of memory as seen in the comparison of Indo-European derivations with Proto-Semitic roots. The primary objective of this chapter is to demonstrate how the underlying values within the verbal class related to memory semantics influence spatial perception, representation, and the dynamics of the novel’s creative ecology.
To fulfill and validate this research hypothesis, a strictly linguistic-typological
method was employed, analyzing key idiomatic branches from Indo-European to Romance languages in relation to core Semitic languages, alongside a narratological and geocritical analysis of Potok’s work.
This study reveals that the verbal semantic values associated with memory
in Indo-European languages maintain a strictly teleological aspect in their
verbal classes, with Romance branches preserving a directional prepositional
system. In contrast, Semitic languages assign a strongly deontic charge to the verbal classes related to memory. In relation to Potok’s novel, understanding the construction of space and spatial perception within the Hasidic Jewish community directly stems from an understanding of the semantic value shaping mnemonic discourse.
Following this, an examination will address how the deontic values of
memory interact with narrative loci as vehicles for geographic recollection in
identity formation.

Celem niniejszej pracy jest analiza fenomenu Lamy/Lamassu w religii, sztuce i literaturze starożytnej Południowej Mezopotamii. Autor podejmuje próbę wyjaśnienia, w jakim zakresie Lamassu funkcjonowało jako odrębne bóstwo (zwłaszcza bogini) oraz kiedy i dlaczego zaczęło być rozumiane jako pospolity duch opiekuńczy. Zastosowana metodologia opiera się na analizie źródeł pisanych w językach sumeryjskim i akadyjskim, ikonografii (m.in. pieczęciach cylindrycznych, figurkach, stelach) oraz onomastyce starobabilońskiej. Praca porządkuje i klasyfikuje wystąpienia Lamy/Lamassu, ukazując ich ewolucję od niezależnego bóstwa w Lagasz i Uruk do roli podporządkowanej w strukturze duchów opiekuńczych oraz jako epitet innych bogów, m.in. Isztar i Ninsun. Wskazuje także, że znaczenie Lamassu było zależne od kontekstu – miejsca, czasu oraz funkcji religijnej lub magicznej. Istotnym wnioskiem jest trwałość i uniwersalność tej postaci w kulturze Mezopotamii, widoczna w jej obecności w źródłach przez blisko dwa tysiąclecia. Praca wnosi istotny wkład w badania nad religią i systemem symbolicznym Mezopotamii, prezentując Lamassu jako kluczową postać opiekuńczą i pośredniczącą między światem boskim a ludzkim.

This volume contains twenty-four contributions by colleagues, friends, and students of the late Wilfred van Soldt. The articles reflect the depth of his research interests, including, but not limited to Old Babylonian, Middle Babylonian, Ugarit, Peripheral Akkadian, Archaeology, Kurdistan, Mesopotamian science, Omens, Astrology, and Astronomy.

In the Hebrew Flood narrative the syntax is conducive to the identification of the chronological sequence of events. Syntactical sequences confirm that the total time aboard the ark was 371 days. Noah’s family and the animals entered the ark the same day the Flood began — the day noted in 7:11 by year, month, and day. The 7 days of 7:10 are a fulfillment of the declaration given in 7:4 and are not part of the overall chronology of the Flood itself. There are two 40-day periods. The first 40 days began on the date given in 7:11 and are part of the first 150 days of the Flood. The second 40-day period began on the day after the mountaintops were seen, day 226. After this second 40-day period, three periods of 1 week are related to the releases of the raven and the dove. On day 315 the surface of the ground was described as drying (8:13) and the earth was dry on day 371, the day the ark’s occupants disembarked. An analysis of the narrative as a unit supports a global cataclysmic Flood....

The paper focuses on Hebrew and Greek Basic Color Terms (BCT) for the color white in the Bible. They are part of the Verbal color language that includes Prototype Terms (PT-light, milk, and snow), Rival Terms of prototypes (RT- linen), and Terms for Basic Features of the Prototypes (TBFP-pure, clean). The aggregation of all words is called mega-white, me ga-black, etc. The verbal and the visual colors differ. Verbal and visual Colors are treated as the Cultural Unit Color, e.g. Cultural unit White. The words' inner form and word derivation are essential methodological tools. The method includes translation as a criterion and semiotic value, cultural and linguistic context, and the Norm of Free Word-Associations as sources of non-color (secondary) meanings of verbal colors. Secondary cultural meanings of BCTs are specified.

One of the advances in scholarship in recent decades has been the discovery of various types of wordplays in the Hebrew Bible. One of the newer types has been called pivotal polysemous parallelism, or, evoking the two-faced Roman god of entries and exits, “Janus” parallelism (Cyrus Gordon, 1978). In Janus parallelism, there may appear three or more lines of poetry, and a term in the middle line is delightfully or disturbingly ambiguous: it pivots. Tracked with a prior line, it takes one meaning; tracked with a following line, it takes another meaning. Such a case is labeled “symmetrical,” i.e., there is balance fore and aft. Some cases are labeled asymmetrical. This sort might have only two lines, or in some other way lack the balance of the first type. Scott Noegel (1996) has shown that Janus parallelism is a sometime weapon in Hosea’s poetical arsenal.
Regarding Hosea 6:7, no consensus translation exists, a dispute that goes as far back as LXX and Vulgate. Two approaches are mainly evident today, one using the personal name Adam, as in the Vulgate (“like Adam,” NIV, ESV), the other reading ’adam as a reference to the Jordan Valley town, following Wellhausen’s textual emendation (“at Adam,” RSV, NRSV). The long contested translation can be resolved by recognizing an asymmetrical Janus parallelism. The first clause tracks (rightly) as a reference to the first human; the second clause tracks (rightly) as a reference to the Jordan valley town (note the sham, “there,” in verse 7b). Thus the author of Hosea 6:7 conceived of Yahweh’s covenant with Israel as in some sense parallel to a covenant with Adam; both covenants were violated, with disastrous results:

"Like [their ancestor] Adam, they broke the covenant;
Like [the residents of] Adam, they double-crossed me there."

Ce mémoire de doctorat développe une réflexion sur les pratiques funéraires et mortuaires de la région de la Djéziré syrienne et du Moyen-Euphrate entre le XIIIe et le IXe siècle av. J.-C. Sont pris en compte l’emplacement des sépultures, les types de tombes, le traitement du corps des défunts ou de leurs restes osseux, ainsi que la présence d’objets dans les sépultures. On y trouvera aussi une tentative de reconstruction de certains gestes opérés dans le cadre des funérailles ou après la fermeture de la tombe. L’ensemble de ces éléments permettent de questionner les informations qu’il est possible de tirer de l’étude des tombes, dont les vestiges requièrent un cadre interprétatif solide en raison de leur caractère multi contextuel. La période choisie se caractérise par l’expansion territoriale et culturelle de la puissance assyrienne dans le Nord-Est de la Syrie et des mouvements de populations. Le caractère multiculturel et multiethnique de la Djéziré syrienne ne faisant aucun doute, il s’est agi de questionner l’identité des objets, des pratiques et des défunts, à la recherche de démarcations culturelles, d’analogies ou de persistances de traditions funéraires locales.

11) Old Assyrian mazlagum "fork" or maslaqum "a (metal) pot"? -The word mazlagum, attested in five Kültepe texts, one of them is yet unpublished, is defined as "a fork or hook" (CAD M/I, 438) or "Dreizack" (AHw, 637). Gelb related the word in OIP 27, 62: 34 to the Hebrew mazlēg/mizlāg meaning "fork", "trident" and the Arabic mizlāg (OIP 27, 68). Lewy discussed this etymology but interpreted the word as "hook" or "flesh-hook" (Lewy, Or. 19, 15-31). These suggestions have frequently followed by other scholars. The contextual associations of the word in Old Assyrian texts prove further evidence its potential function. Mazlagum is frequently listed alongside household goods, including: CCT 4, 20a: 4-12 (Lamaššā's letter to Musa and Pūšu-kēn): bronze tong, knife? (šugarriā'um), ladle, container (supannum), axe, implement (arzallum), and cauldron. PRAG I, 705: 4-9 (listed inventory of a deceased merchant's house): a container (qablītum), table, knife? (šugarriā'um), a cup (samallum), and hides.

This article represents the first publication of substantive results obtained from a major research project which has been in progress for a number of years. The tools developed as part of the project are meant to magnify our power of analysis, and as such to increase our ability to understand the documentation. It is in this light that I am especially pleased to present these pages as a tribute to Claude Schaeffer, a scholar who through his discoveries has dramatically increased the documentary range pertaining to the ancient Near East. The effort at a systematic and comprehensive retrieval of interconnections within the data may in some ways be compared with the initial retrieval of the data themselves: they both contribute to the ultimate goal which is t o obtain a higher level integration of data and pertinent correlations. Schaeffer's research has been of great importance on both counts, whether he was dealing with the presentation of his findings or providing a broader analytical picture of the "comparative stratigraphic" data.

A naked goddess with crossed legs is depicted on some near eastern artifacts, mostly cylinder seals and seal impressions, dated for the largest part on the Late Bronze Age.
Although there are several interpretations that propose, among many others, some link with the Underworld, this paper suggests that this rare iconography may be the representations of the Ishtar’s hypostasis named Agushaja and known from her own myth written during the Reign of Hammurabi of Babylon.

d8aa-449e-b227-6a473c7cf07a.txt (English version below) Cette thèse de doctorat a été numérisée par l'Université libre de Bruxelles. L'auteur qui s'opposerait à sa mise en ligne dans DI-fusion est invité à prendre contact avec l'Université (

This article examines how the exorcist (āšipu/mašmaššu), the main purification expert in first-millennium Mesopotamia, established and maintained his purity, despite frequent exposure to pollution in the performance of his job. Juxtaposing his self-presentation with that of the diviner (bārû) reveals the unique confidence the exorcist projects about his purity. I show how the exorcist's self-presentation in his ritual speech shifts attention away from the process of self-purification to establish his purity as absolute owing to his close relationship with the gods. The unquestioned nature of his purity has further implications for the exorcist's social status, as the one with unlimited access to the gods and in control of the rules to approach them.

At the start of the dialogue between Habakkuk and God, he interpreted
righteousness according to his understanding of the notion made applicable to circumstances. Yahweh refused to react based on the prophet’s understanding but revealed that life comes through an ongoing covenantal relationship with Yahweh. The relationship with Him thus became the standard and not the relationship between people. Therefore, it may be inferred that Habakkuk found the answer to his questions in the realization that the actual matter is not what the level of people’s righteousness might be but that all should acknowledge the Lord’s sovereign rule.

Abstract: This paper uses the mathematical evidence in the Torah (Pentateuch), specifically the reckoning of the “150 Days” of the flood record in Genesis chapters 7 & 8, to unequivocally disprove all variants of lunar calendars: the Hillel II Calendar, the Luni-Solar Calendar, the Lunar Sabbath Calendar, and any other variant of lunar calendar that uses a lunar month. By the process of eliminating all lunar calendars via math, astronomy, and the biblical record, this paper proves the biblical calendar to be a solar calendar variant. This paper also examines Dead Sea Scroll 4Q252 Commentary on Genesis and explains the 150 Day actual day count on the 364 Day Calendar. Additionally this second edition paper now includes calendrical evidence from the Book of Revelation that confirms the calendrical information in the Book of Daniel that additionally and further disproves all Lunar calendars. By the process of eliminating all lunar calendars via math, astronomy, and the biblical record, this paper proves the biblical calendar to be a solar calendar variant.