A “Community of Peoples”: Studies on Society and Politics in the Bible and Ancient Near East in Honor of Daniel E. Fleming draws together a diverse community of scholars to honor the career of Daniel E. Fleming as a historian of the Bible and ancient Near East.
Together, these scholars participate in a dynamic historical enterprise, each one positioning themself along a Middle Eastern spatial-temporal continuum stretching from the Old Babylonian to the Persian periods. Each contributor attempts to touch a sliver of ancient history, whether a particular person or community, a text or visual image or scribal process. They do so through a diversity of methods and disciplines, which together reflect the possibilities and promises for history writing.
The
Harvard Semitic Studies series publishes volumes from the Harvard Semitic Museum. Other series offered by Brill that publish volumes from the Museum include
Studies in the Archaeology and History of the Levant and
Harvard Semitic Monographs,
https://semiticmuseum.fas.harvard.edu/publications.
Mahri Leonard-Fleckman, Ph.D. (2014), New York University, is Assistant Professor at the College of the Holy Cross. Her numerous publications include
The House of David: Between Political Formation and Literary Revision (2016).
Lauren A.S. Monroe, Ph.D. (2004), New York University, is Professor of Hebrew Bible at Cornell University. In addition to her book,
Josiah’s Reform and the Dynamics of Defilement (2011) she has two monographs in progress and has published numerous articles.
Michael J. Stahl, Ph.D. (2018), New York University, is Lecturer in Hebrew Bible and Early Judaism at NYU. Among his various publications, Dr. Stahl is most recently the author of the monograph,
The “God of Israel” in History and Tradition (2021).
Dylan R. Johnson, Ph.D. (2018) is a postdoctoral researcher at the Theological Faculty of the University of Zurich. He is the author of numerous articles and one monograph,
Sovereign Authority and the Elaboration of Law in the Bible and the Ancient Near East (2020).
Abbreviations
1
Introduction: ‘A Community of Peoples’ (Gen 28:3) Mahri Leonard-Fleckman, Lauren A.S. Monroe, and Michael J. Stahl
2
La gestuelle de l’ alliance à l’ époque paléo-babylonienne: Textes et images Dominique Charpin
3
Commensality and Kinship: Exodus 24 and the Emar Zukru Festival Jessie DeGrado
4
‘Do You Hear the People Sing?’ At the Interface of Prophecy and Music in Chronicles Julie B. Deluty
5
L’ aînesse au Proche-Orient ancien: Droit du premier-né ou choix du père? Sophie Démare-Lafont
6
The Southwest of the Near East According to Mari: The Example of Qaṭna Jean-Marie Durand
7
tapariya- and tapariyalli-: Local Leaders and Local Agency in the Hittite Period and Its Aftermath N. İlgi Gerçek and Lorenzo d’Alfonso
8
A Man of Both Aššur and Kaneš: The Case of the Merchant Ḫabdu-mālik Nancy Highcock
9
City Dwellers and Backcountry Folk: Ritual Interactions between Mobile Peoples and Urban Centers in Late Bronze Age Syria Dylan R. Johnson
10
A Head of Ḫammurabi? Thoughts on the Legacies of Kings and the Goals of Royal Representations Elizabeth Knott
11
La conclusion des alliances diplomatiques Bertrand Lafont
12
Kings, Peoples and Their Gods: Bar Rakib’s Political Portrayal of Divinity Theodore J. Lewis
13
Teaching with a Dose of Humor in the Mesopotamian Unica Sara J. Milstein
14
The Sociomorphic Structure of the Polytheistic Pantheon in Mesopotamia and Its Meaning for Divine Agency and Mentalization Beate Pongratz-Leisten
15
Unpopulated and Under-politicized: Reconsidering Exterior Spaces in the Practice of Politics in Northern Mesopotamia Anne Porter
16
From Babylon to Jerusalem: Water Ordeals in the Ancient World Jack Sasson
17
“People” between Liturgical Experience and Political Imagination: Preliminary Observations on ʿām in the Psalms Mark S. Smith
18
Pregnant with Meaning: The Politics of Gender Violence in the Mesha Stele’s Ḥērem-List (KAI 181:16–17) Michael J. Stahl
Index
All interested in society, politics, and the history of the ancient Near East. Studies engage texts such as the Hebrew Bible, and material culture from the Old Babylonian to the Persian periods.