Religion and Ideology in Assyria

Beate Pongratz-Leisten

Published by De Gruyter 2015

Religion and Ideology in Assyria

Beate Pongratz-Leisten

Volume 6 in the series Studies in Ancient Near Eastern Records (SANER)

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614514268

Overview
Contents

About this book

Addressing the relationship between religion and ideology, and drawing on a range of literary, ritual, and visual sources, this book reconstructs the cultural discourse of Assyria from the third through the first millennium BCE. Ideology is delineated here as a subdiscourse of religion rather than as an independent category, anchoring it firmly within the religious world view.

Tracing Assur's cultural interaction with the south on the one hand, and with the Syro-Anatolian horizon on the other, this volume articulates a "northern" cultural discourse that, even while interacting with southern Mesopotamian tradition, managed to maintain its own identity. It also follows the development of tropes and iconic images from the first city state of Uruk and their mouvance between myth, image, and royal inscription, historiography and myth, and myth and ritual, suggesting that, with the help of scholars, key royal figures were responsible for introducing new directions for the ideological discourse and for promoting new forms of historiography.

Author / Editor information

Beate Pongratz-Leisten, New York University, New York, USA.

Reviews

"To summarize, the book is remarkable for its wide thematic scope and is worth reading for everyone interested in ‘Assyrian royal ideologyʼ [...]"
Nikita Artemov in: Orientalische Literaturzeitung 113/1 (2018), 21-25

"L’autrice è attenta a rimarcare il concetto chiave che permette di cogliere davvero il ruolo, la produzione e la riproduzione dell’ideologia e dell’immagine politica dei re assiri nel contesto della Weltanschaaung mesopotamica: la religione, insita in ogni aspetto del pensiero, influenzava tutti gli ambiti sociali, dalla letteratura alla politica, dall’arte all’economia, e allo stesso modo si estendeva all’ideologia regale, permeandola e modellandola. Con questo libro, Pongratz-Leisten riesce a illustrare chiaramente l’indissolubile legame tra religione e potere in Assiria."
Geraldina Rozzi in: Rivista Biblica 1-2/66 (2018), 252-255

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Abbreviations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xv
1. Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. The Dynamics of Cultural Regions and Traditions in Mesopotamia and the Rise of Assyrian Cultural Discourse Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	42
3. The Origins of Assyrian Cultural Tradition Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	93
4. Empire as Cosmos, Cosmos as Empire Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	145
5. Narratives of Power and the Assyrian Notion of Kingship Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	198
6. Administrator, Hunter, Warrior: The Mythical Foundations of the King’s Role as Ninurta Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	219
7. The King’s Share in Divine Knowledge Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	271
8. Between the Fictive and the Imaginary Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	290
9. The Individual Ruler as a Model for Kingship: Rethinking Ancient Historiography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	322
10. The Reinvention of Tradition: The Assyrian State Rituals Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	379
11. The Voice of the Scholar Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	448
Appendix Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	468
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	477

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: All those interested in ANE religion and ideology, in particular Assyriologists and Biblical scholars.
Pages
- Front matter: 17
- Main content: 553
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 44
- Tables: 1
Keywords: Religion; ideology; Assyria

eBook

Published: September 25, 2015
ISBN: 9781614514268

Hardcover

Published: September 25, 2015
ISBN: 9781614514824

Paperback

Published: June 26, 2017
ISBN: 9781501515774