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History
1 Both in Mesopotamia and in the Bible, the sense of history is imbued with a profound perception of divine initiative. The Mesopotamian view of history does not exclude divine intervention, seen in creation and diluvian myths, political literature where rulers record assistance from the gods, and accounts of military victories and defeats. But the structural impact of these themes is very different in the Bible.
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Time and the subject of history in Mesopotamia
2 There is no documentation of cyclical time in Mesopotamia: historical writings show a narrative progression including development of continuity and unique events. The difference in conceptions of time can better be accessed by looking at the nature of the spiritual center of history, the subject that is transformed in time. This subject is the institution in Mesopotamia, and the people in the Bible.
3 In Mesopotamian thought, the city and the kingship have a particularly sacred nature, and historical development is based on the institution.
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Time and the subject of history in the Bible
4 In the Biblical conception, the subject of history is the singular individual and the community of which he is part. The conception of history as a manifestation of God through events therefore radiates from this center.
5 In the Biblical historical conception, there is a vision of evolutionary processes that transcends the temporary. The past of the people was ideologized during the monarchy but took on a force which outlived the monarchy. The people were the subject of this story. But it was so in accordance with the role that was attributed, in a universally shared perception, to the other great protagonist, that God whose touching presence in history was felt to transcend events at the very moment in which he participated.