Notes to Chapter 19. History

Giorgio Buccellati, “When on High…”

August 2023

19.1 History as a Manifestation of the Divine
19.2 The Nature of Contrast
19.3 The Institution as the Center of History in Mesopotamia
19.4 The Community of People as the Center of History in the Bible
19.5 Biblical Political Historiography

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19.1 History as a Manifestation of the Divine

For an investigation on the divine speech in ancient Mediterranean world, see Anthonioz 2019 Divine Speech.
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For the manifestation(s) of the ‘absolute’ in history, see Buccellati 2014 Time.
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For the manifestation of the divine in history, see Buccellati 2012 Coerenza.
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On Mesopotamian myths about ‘creation’, see e.g. the text of the Enūma elīš, in Foster 2005 Before, pp. 436-486; cf. RlA.
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For the definition and development of city in Mesopotamia, see e.g. the RlA. Cf. infra 19.3.
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For the story of the Mesopotamian flood, see Foster 2005 Before, pp. 227-280. Cf. supra 6.2.
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For Inanna’s descent into the Netherworld, see ETCSL c. 1.4.1: transliteration and translation; cf. see Foster 2005 Before, pp. 498-505. See also Buccellati 1982 Descent.
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For the Code of Hammurapi, RlA 3, p. 255-269, § 3.6, today in the Louvre Museum, see the English translation by L.W. King.
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About Yahdun-Lim (King of Mari), see RlA.
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For Mesopotamian ‘Lamentations’, see the RlA. For an example, see ETCSL 2.2.2: The lament for Urim transliteration and translation; cf. other similar lamentations for other Sumerian cities, ETCSL 2.2.3-2.2.6.
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On Biblical ‘Lamentations’, see supra 12.4. For a comparison between Mesopotamian and Biblical ‘Lamentations’, see supra 14.1.
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19.2 The Nature of Contrast

For a discussion of the term ‘People of the country’ (‘m h’rṣ) in the Bible, see Buccellati 1959 B O 3.
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On time in Mesopotamia (cyclical vs. linear), see RlA 15, pp. 246-248.
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«But the notion of a cyclical way of seeing history is not supported by documentation» (G. Buccellati, Chapter 19, Section 2).

Perhaps, some hints to cyclical time in Mesopotamia can be found in Enūma elīš V (see Foster 2005 Before, pp. 436-486), where cyclical time is defined as a creation of Marduk; cf. RlA 15, p. 246 for other texts referring to cyclical time in Mesopotamia; (cf. also supra 16.2).
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For Mesopotamian kings’ lists, see RlA; for texts of Sumerian kings’ lists, see e.g. ETCSL 2.1.1-2.1.2.

Further bibliography on the same topic: Michalowski 1983 History; Michalowski 2012 King.
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About Assyrian annals, see RlA. For an example of Assyrian annals, see Langdon 1903 Ashurbanapal or Luckenbill 1924 Sennacherib.

Cf. also the online versions on RINAP (The Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period) website.
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19.3 The Institution as the Center of History in Mesopotamia

«The royal inscriptions, and here too especially the annals of Assyrian kings, attribute the success of kings to divine intervention, and describe the enlargement of the territory of the state and the increase in the power of the court» (G. Buccellati, Chapter 19, Section 3).

For the role of the divine intervention during the Neo-Assyrian period, see e.g. Liverani 2017 Assyria, chapter 2 (‘God’s Will’).
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About the development of city and institutions in Mesopotamia, see e.g. Liverani 2014 History, pp. 81-114; cf. also Liverani 2006 Uruk, pp. 67-72. Cf. supra 19.1 (about development of city in Mesopotamia).
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See: Ur 2014 Households By reviewing indigenous terminology from later historical periods, the author proposes that urbanism evolved in the context of a metaphorical extension of the household that represented a creative transformation of a familiar structure. The first cities were unintended consequences of this transformation, which may seem “revolutionary” to archaeologists but did not to their inhabitants. This alternative model calls into question the applicability of terms like “urbanism” and “the state” for early Mesopotamian society.
– [ Iman Nagy, December 2020]

19.4 The Community of People as the Center of History 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.
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About the concept and organization of community in the Bible, see the Jewish Encyclopedia.
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For a discussion on history and time in the Bible, see e.g. Buccellati 2014 Time.
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See: Davila 2002 Macrocosm This article analyzes specific instances of the macrocosmic-microcosmic relationship of Biblical temples and their earthly analogies.
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19.5 Biblical Political Historiography

For an investigation on Israel’s exile in Babylon, see Buccellati 1960 Israeliti.
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For an investigation on Israel’s exile in Babylon, see Buccellati 1960 Israeliti.
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Links to text of Psalms mentioned by G. Buccellati: Ps. 144, 3; Ps. 143, 5; Ps. 145, 4.
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For the Hebrew word יָמִים, yāmîm, ‘days’ (here translated by G. Buccelati as ‘history’), see DCH 4, pp. 166-185, under lemma יוֹם, yôm, ‘day’.
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For the Hebrew expression דּוֹר לְדוֹר, dôr l^edôr, ‘generation to generation’, see DCH 2, pp. 428-430, under lemma דּוֹר, dôr, ‘generation’.
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For the links to texts of classical authors mentioned by G. Buccellati, see Herodotus; Thucydides; Livy; Tacitus.
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