16.1 Tensional Factors and Social Integration
16.2 Religion and Politics
16.3 Mediated and Un-mediated Systems to Relate to the Absolute
16.4 Spirituality and Ideation
16.5 Kingship and State in Mesopotamia
16.6 Nation and Kingship in the Bible
16.7 The Interlocutors
16.8 The Differential Impact of Spirituality in Politics
ERRORS in databases:
- "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".
16.1 Tensional Factors and Social Integration
«The implicit perception of divine initiative is closely linked to the assumptions that define political institutions. I do not mean this in the sense that the holders of power have cynically used religion to control their subjects, even if this were too often occur as a side effect» (G. Buccellati, Chapter 16, Section 1).
About the ‘political use’ of religion in the Assyrian empire (as a legitimation of political power), see Liverani 2017 Assyria, chapters 2 (‘God’s Will’) and 3 (‘Communicating with God’).
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
«Political structures intend to exercise control over the mechanisms of power within the social group, ideally using not so much, or not only, coercion but also motivation. The fact is that the social group exists as such because of tensional factors that promote its integration, at any level, from village to city, from territorial state to tribe» (G. Buccellati, Chapter 16, Section 1).
On this topic, see e.g. Hodder 2010 Emergence; cf. Schmidt 2011 Costruirono (on the role of religion in the development of first Neolithic villages in Anatolia); cf. Mellaart 1967 Catal (about the specific role of religious beliefs in the promotion of the sense of community in this Anatolian village).
An online lecture by Ian Hodder on Çatal Höyük is also available on You Tube.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
16.2 Religion and Politics
[Gentile, Emilio. Politics as Religion. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2006. 194 pp. $52.50 U.S. (cloth) ISBN 9780691113937.]
– [March 2020]
On the relationship between religion and politics in ancient Mesopotamia see a lecture by DataWORKS Educational research: online slide presentation.
Cf. also the online paper Orlin 2005 Politics, with a useful bibliography.
On the relationship between mythology and politics, see e.g. Liverani 2004 Myths.
For an overview on Mesopotamian religion, with some glimpses on politics, see the entry Mesopotamian religion on Britannica, by Thorkild Jacobsen.
Further bibliography on the same topic: Beard 1990 Pagan; Berlin 1996 Religion; Brisch 2008 Religion; Dandamaev 1996 State; Frankfort 1948 Kingship; Holloway 2001 Assur; Yildirim 2017 Political.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
«The reverse is equally true. Religion, as a system to account for the absolute, seeks to explain the universal order in a way completely parallel to that with which secular politics seeks to organize social forces to arrive at a pragmatic and effective order in the visible world» (G. Buccellati, Chapter 16, Section 2).
On this topic, see e.g. the Sumerian and Akkadian cosmogonical myths as explained by Ira Spar, in a paper on the MET website. Another example regards the foundation of Babylon by Marduk, as told in the Enūma elīš (cf. supra 6.2). The gods, in this case Marduk, are the described founders of cities, a clear mythological and etiological explanation for the actual foundation of cities by communities or kings.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
Similarly to what is stated by Buccellati in this paragraph, when dealing with rituals addressed to images of Mesopotamian rulers Irene Winter maintains that “religious belief involves a prior acceptance of authority (Geertz 1966:25) and that ritual practice engages power dynamics in the exercise of, or acquiescence to, that authority or its representative (…) religious ritual becomes an arena in which political leaders not only may but must function, if they are to establish and maintain their own authority”. Cf. Winter 1992 Idols p. 16.
– [ Stefania Ermidoro, November 2020]
16.3 Mediated and Un-mediated Systems to Relate to the Absolute
For political mediation in the contact with the absolute in ancient Mesopotamia, see Buccellati 1981 Wisdom.
– [ Marco De Pietri, June 2020]
For the different systems to approach the ‘absolute’ in the Bible and ancient Mesopotamian religion, see Buccellati 2014 Time.
– [ Marco De Pietri, June 2020]
For the Mesopotamian approach to the ‘absolute’, see Buccellati 2012 Coerenza.
– [ Marco De Pietri, June 2020]
16.5 Kingship and State in Mesopotamia
NA mDP ND 18 September 2020 TO nation; chosen people
On the concept of ‘nation’ in the Bible as ‘chosen people’, see the related entry in the Jewish Encyclopedia.
[Regalità e stato in Mesopotamia
la città precede l’universo in Timeo/Repubblica]– [March 2020]
About the Mesopotamian kingship, see the related entry in the RlA.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
About the Mesopotamian State, see the related entry in the RlA.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
«There are different ways in which kingship manifests itself, different territorial areas in which it is exercised, and different terms to refer to the “king.”» (G. Buccellati, Chapter 16, Section 5).
The main terms for ‘king’ attested in Mesopotamia are the Sumerian lugal, en, and ensi(k), the Akkadian šarru(m), and the Hurrian endan (attested also at Urkesh/Tell Mozan).
Cf. also the entry ‘Herrscher’ in the RlA.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For the Code of Hammurapi, cf. supra 8.4.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
«The explicit divinization of the king is a phenomenon that rarely happens in Mesopotamia, and never plays a structural or institutional role, serving only as an extreme form of glorification. But it is certain that kingship as an institution is “divinized,” as the priesthood in its various forms never is» (G. Buccellati, Chapter 16, Section 5).
On divinization of kings in Mesopotamia, see Matthiae 2012.
A fact which could support the interpretation of the king as a ‘divinized’ figure (i.e. a person in touch with the divine = absolute) is the possible etymology of the aforementioned Sumerian term for “ruler”, ensi(k), which could be derived from the Sumerian word ensi, ‘interpreter (of the divine will)’, both written with the same Sumerogram ENSI2.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
About the sacred marriage, see the related entry in the RlA. Cf. also Jones 2003 Embracing and Lapinkivi 2004 Sumerian.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
For the text of the Enūma elīš, see supra 6.2.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
On the Sumerian King List, see Marchesi 2010 S K L.
– [ Stefania Ermidoro, November 2020]
Besides the Sumerian King List discussed by Buccellati, another interesting example of kingship “descending” from the gods is the Akkadian composition “The seed of kingship”: here, Nebuchadnezzar I is represented as the One who has been chosen by Marduk, who (through Marduk) knows the art of divinations, and teaches it to the specialists, his contemporaries.
– [ Stefania Ermidoro, November 2020]
On the divination of the king in ancient Mesopotamia, see Vidal 2014 Divinization (esp. p. 31: “divinization of the king was an exceptional ideological tool, always used with a political purpose”) and Brisch 2013 Divine Kingship. On the priestly functions of Mesopotamian kings see Glassner 1993 Roi Pretre.
– [ Stefania Ermidoro, November 2020]
16.6 Nation and Kingship in the Bible
For a discussion of the term ‘People of the country’ (‘m h’rṣ) in the Bible, see Buccellati 1959 B O 3.
– [ Marco De Pietri, June 2020]
«It is not only that kingship does not fall from the sky: it is even a phenomenon that takes shape late in history, that is born in an atmosphere of hostility, and that is involved in various situations before it can be properly conceived as a political ideation» (G. Buccellati, Chapter 16, Section 6).
For the figure of the king in the Bible, see e.g. the related entry in the Jewish Encyclopedia.
On the historical development of the biblical concept of kingship, see e.g. Liverani 2009 Oltre, chapters 4-6, 16.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
On the biblical concept of ‘covenant’, cf. supra 4.6 (about the term berît). Cf. also the related entry in the Jewish Encyclopedia.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
«With regard specifically to royalty, the concept of messianism develops. From the biblical point of view, the alliance of royalty is extended into an indeterminate future» (G. Buccellati, Chapter 16, Section 6).
On this topic see specifically Buccellati 2014 Time.
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]
«“Daughter of Babylon … blessed is he who will take and throw your little ones against a rock.”» (G. Buccellati, Chapter 16, Section 6).
For the text mentioned here by the author, see Ps. 137, 8f..
– [ Marco De Pietri, September 2020]