14.1 Ritual Prayer and Spontaneous Prayer
14.2 Spontaneous Prayer in Mesopotamia
14.3 Spontaneous Prayer in the Biblical Context
14.4 The Problem of Intercession
14.5 The Determination of Fate in Mesopotamia
14.6 The Biblical Notion of Intercession
14.7 Mystical Contemplation
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- "Boson1918Assiriologia.d": duplicate bibliography "Boson1918Assiriologia" for site "Akk-lg".
- "Bottero1992Reasoning.d": duplicate bibliography "Bottero1992Reasoning" for site "Mes-rel".
- "Buccellati1972Teodicea.d": duplicate bibliography "Buccellati1972Teodicea" for site "Mes-lit".
- "Cauvin2000Birth.d": duplicate bibliography "Cauvin2000Birth" for site "Mes-rel".
- "DMB.d": duplicate bibliography "DMB" for site "Mes-rel".
- "Edzard2003Sumerian.d": duplicate bibliography "Edzard2003Sumerian" for site "Mes-rel".
- "Oshima2014Sufferers.d": duplicate bibliography "Oshima2014Sufferers" for site "Mes-rel".
- "Trinkaus1983Shanidar.d": duplicate bibliography "Trinkaus1983Shanidar" for site "Mes-rel".
14.1 Ritual Prayer and Spontaneous Prayer
[Kunst des Betens : Form und Funktion, Theologie und Psychagogik in babylonisch-assyrischen Handerhebungsgebeten zu Is?tar / Annette Zgoll.]
– [March 2020]
For a discussion about Mesopotamian spirituality and faith (and its connection to prayer), see Buccellati 1972 Teodicea.
– [ Marco De Pietri, June 2020]
For the Akkadian term teslītu, ‘prayer’, see CAD 18 = T, pp. 369-371.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For the namburbi, cf. supra 9.2 and 13.13.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For Sumerian prayer, see RlA.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For Akkadian prayer, see RlA.
Cf. also Lenzi 2011 Hymns.
On Akkadian prayers in Mesopotamia, see also an online paper on ASOR, ANET March 2016 IV/3, by Alan Lenzi.
For a comparison between Akkadian and Biblical invocations and lamentations, see e.g. Lenzi 2010 Invoking.
On a comparison between Mesopotamian and Israelite relationship with the divine through prayer, see e.g. Davis 2016 Relating.
Finally, a You Tube lecture by Christopher G. Frechette on Mesopotamian ritual-prayers is available here.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
14.2 Spontaneous Prayer in Mesopotamia
For Appendix 17, see here. See mostly Stamm 1939 Namengebung.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For the etymology of ‘George’ from ancient Greek γεωργός, see LSJ.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For the etymology of ‘Michael’, see the Jewish Encyclopedia.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For Appendix 17.1, see here.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For Appendix 17.2, see here.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For Appendix 12, see here. Cf. mostly Gordon 1968 Proverbs (transliteration and translation) and Lambert 1960 Wisdom (autographs and translation).
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
On the goddess Inanna/Ishtar, see here.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For dedicatory inscription to Inanna on bowls from Nippur (such as the one mentioned by G. Buccellati in Chapter 14, Section 2), see e.g. Gotze 1970 Early; cf. Verderame 2019 Text.
For a photo of a dedicatory bowl from Nippur, see here.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For personal prayer in Mesopotamia, see Couvede Murville 1975 Personal.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For personal names in ancient Mesopotamia, see RlA; cf. e.g. Stol 1991 O B P N.
For personal names in ancient Israel, see the Jewish Encyclopedia.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
About theophoric names in Israel and ancient Mesopotamia, see Offord 2013 Theophoric.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
About proverbs in ancient Mesopotamia, see RlA; for proverbs in ancient Israel and the Bible, see the Jewish Encyclopedia.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
On curses in ancient Mesopotamia, see RlA; on benediction and curses in ancient Israel, see the Jewish Encyclopedia, here and here, respectively.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
Against Buccellati’s statement on the absence of Mesopotamian sources on individual spontaneaous prayers, see Gabbay 2020 Thanksgiving, in particular p. 224 in which U. Gabbay discusses instances in which some kind of spontaneous and very personal thanksgiving hymns may be identified in Akkadian and Sumerian formulaic texts, literary works, prayers or related compositions - though the scholar indeed warns that the individuals named in these written sources mostly belong to the elite (high officials, priests and scholars).
– [ Stefania Ermidoro, November 2020]
For an example of prosopographical study see Cousin Watai 2016 Onomastics.
– [ Stefania Ermidoro, November 2020]
For an interesting study on Mesopotamian curses, which compares the Near Eastern sources with the Bible and analyzes curses from a religious perspective, see Kitz 2007 Curses. For an analysis of the role of curses in covenant treaties in the Ancient Near east, cf. Grassi Freire 2017 Oaths.
– [ Stefania Ermidoro, November 2020]
14.3 Spontaneous Prayer in the Biblical Context
Batto views psalmists in a different light, suggesting that their function is to express the «eminence of Yahweh», despite the existence of evil and suffering. «Psalmists» are described as “faithful servants” who seek vindication by Yahweh’s «divine justice». In contrast to Buccellati’s notion that the psalms express a rich spirituality and consciousness, Batto views psalms as deliberate appropriations from more ancient Near Eastern motifs that function to express the eminence of the «sleeping deity». See Batto 1987 Sleeping God.
– [ Iman Nagy, September 2020]
For the text of Psalms (Hebrew/English), see here; for an introduction on the Book of Psalms (Psalter), see e.g. the Jewish Encyclopedia. For an in-depth study on the technical composition of the Psalms, see e.g. Fidanzio 2010 Composition.
About possible counterpart to Psalms in Mesopotamia, see Zernecke 2014 Psalms.
Furthermore, Langdon has also advanced a comparison between Sumerian liturgies and Psalms: see Langdon 1919 Psalms.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For Ps. 102, see here.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
Buccellati outlines the structural differences between Mesopotamian «ritual activity» and «spontaneous prayer» as it exists in the biblical tradition. Knohl also stresses the fundamental differences between prayer - especially as an act of silence - and the ritual nature of temple rites. See Knohl 1996 Prayer Temple.
– [ Iman Nagy, October 2020]
For an example of dedicatory inscriptions from the Yahwistic sanctuary from the Persian and Hellenistic Period excavated on Mount Gerizim (Nablus) see d H Gudme 2012 Dedicatory.
– [ Stefania Ermidoro, November 2020]
14.5 The Determination of Fate in Mesopotamia
For a comparison about ‘fate’ and ‘destiny’ in the Bible and in Mesopotamian culture, see Buccellati 1973 Adapa.
– [ Marco De Pietri, June 2020]
For the concepts of ‘fate’ and ‘destiny’ in Mesopotamian religion, see Buccellati 1981 Wisdom.
– [ Marco De Pietri, June 2020]
For the determination of ‘fate’ in ancient Mesopotamia, see Buccellati 2014 Time.
– [ Marco De Pietri, June 2020]
About fate in ancient Mesopotamian thought, see RlA.
On the Akkadian expression for ‘determining Fate’, see supra 13.11.
For an attempt of defining ‘Fate’ in ancient Mesopotamia, see e.g. Lawson 1994 Fate.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For Hammurapi of Babylon and his “Code”, see supra 2.8 and 8.4.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For the god Enlil, see here.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For the Akkadian verb nukkuru (< nākaru), ‘to change’, see CAD 11 = N1, pp. 159-171. For nukkuru (D stem, a factitive, of nākaru) see specifically CAD 11 = N1, p. 166, no. 7.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For the text of the Epos of Gilgamesh, cf. supra 6.6.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For the god Anu, see here.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For the Akkadian verb arāru, ‘to curse’, see CAD 1 = A2, pp. 234-238.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For Anzu, see here.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For the Myth of Anzu, cf. supra 13.9.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
On the “rethorical stunt” identified by Buccellati in Mesopotamian literary texts cf. Watts 2009 Rhetoric.
– [ Stefania Ermidoro, November 2020]
14.6 The Biblical Notion of Intercession
For the biblical passages mentioned in Chapter 14, Section 6, see below:
Ex. 32, 11-14 (Moses and the people);
1 Kings 17, 20 (Elijah and the widow);
Ps. 41, 5 (repentance of the behalf of an individual);
Jd. 10, 10-16 (repentance of the behalf of the community);
Is. 9, 11 (his, i.e. of God, anger ‘does not return’);
Ex. 32, 14 (repenting God);
Nb. 23, 19 (‘God does not change’);
Gen. 1, 5 (God giving names to the creation);
Gen. 2, 19 (God comes to see the names given by man);
Gen. 1, 10 (God creates good things);
Gen. 1, 28 (creation has to regenerate and expand);
Gen. 18, 23-32 (Abraham’s prayer in favour of Sodom);
Lam. 5, 19-22 (lamentation on the destroyed Jerusalem).
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For the Hebrew term זָכַר, zākar, ‘to remember’, see DCH 3, pp. 105-110.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For the Hebrew term שׁוּב, šûb, ‘to return’, see DCH 8, pp. 273-298.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For the Hebrew term נָחַם, nāḥam, ‘to repent’, see DCH 5, pp. 663-665.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For the Hebrew term קָרָא, qārā’, ‘to call, to give a name’, see DCH 7, pp. 287-304.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For the Hebrew term פָּרָא, pārā’, ‘to regenerate, to flourish, to prosper’, see DCH 6, p. 753.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For the Hebrew term רָבָּה, rābā(h), ‘to expand’, see DCH 7, p. 394.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For the passage לִרְאֹ֖ות מַה־יִּקְרָא־לֹ֑ו, lire’ôt mā iqrā’ lô, ‘to see what he would call them’ (quoted by G. Buccellati in Chapter 14, Section 6), see Gen. 2, 19.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
On the concept of “repentant god” in the Mesopotamian and Biblical accounts of the Flood see Ermidoro 2019 Repentant.
– [ Stefania Ermidoro, November 2020]
See Landolt 2016 Qohelet on divine anger.
– [ Jonah Lynch, January 2021]
14.7 Mystical Contemplation
For the biblical episode of Jacob’s struggle with God, see Gen. 32, 25-31.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For the biblical episode of Elijah on Mount Horeb, see 1 Kings 19, 8-17; cf. supra 11.1.
pānîm ‘el pānîm
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For the passage קֹ֖ול דְּמָמָ֥ה דַקָּֽה, qôl demāmā daqqāh, ‘the voice of a subtle silence’, see 1 Kings 19, 12; cf. supra 11.1.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For the English text of the Book of Wisdom, see here; the Greek version can be retrieved here.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For the Greek term φρόνεσις, see LSJ.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For the Greek term πνεῦμα, see LSJ.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For the Greek term σοφία, see LSJ.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
On mysticism in ancient Israel, see the Jewish Encyclopedia.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
Buccellati’s mentioning of the story of «Elijah’s ascent to Mount Horeb» provides another dimension to Knohl’s argument, likening Yahweh to “the voice of a subtle silence” reinforces Knohl’s argument that silence was considered a divine attribute and was vigilantly practiced in temples. The recurring theme of the mystical aspect of «asceticism»; that God can be found in the most remote places (which are presumably silent), further illustrates the importance attached to silent religious activity. See Knohl 1996 Prayer Temple.
– [ Iman Nagy, October 2020]