The princes are prostrate, saying "Mercy!"
Jan. 3rd, 2007 03:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hawkwing_lbNot one raises his head among the Nine Bows.
Desolation is for Tehenu; Hatti is pacified;
Plundered is the Canaan with every evil;
Carried off is Ashkelon; seized upon is Gezer;
Yanoam is made as that which does not exist;
Israel is laid waste, his seed is not;
Hurru is become a widow for Egypt!
All lands together, they are pacified;
Everyone who was restless, he has been bound.
- from the Merneptah Stele, an Egyptian border monument, c1250 BC, notable for the first mention of Israel in the historical record, where it appears named not as a city or a nation, but as an ethnic group.
Because it is wet and windy outside, I decided not to go into town to college. This means, of course, that I must construct at least the beginnings of my thesis for my essay, The Development of Kingship in Israel and Sumer here at home.
Because I'm a terrible (or very talented, depending on how you want to look at it) procrastinator, I've decided to share my work.
So. The essay is going to have to rely on the compare-and-contrast method. So far I am at bullet-point thinking:
In Sumer:
- rulership the province of the en, steward of the city god.
- as cities grow large enough that they must compete with each other, there is need for a war leader, the lugal
- at first a temporary position, the lugal quickly becomes the most important post in the city.
- Sargon of Akkad conquers many cities and needs a method of justifying his rulership
- which leads us to the first official royal theology, attributed to his daughter, the priestess Enheduanna
- give examples of subsequent uses of similar royal theology
- do we need to include Assyria and its approach to the gods of the conquered?
In Israel:
- stimulus diffusion? (and thanks,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cristalia, for that very handy term)
- rulership the province of 'judges' - power localised? temporary?
- rise of war leaders
- Saul as the first (recorded? factcheck time) warleader to try to make his position permanent
- the rebellion of David, (competing warleader)
- the construction of Davidian royal theology
- the secession of Jeroboam in the reign of Rehoboam son of Solomon (division of Israel and Judah)
- differing royal theologies of Israel and Judah
- pos. including the reforms of Josiah and the Deuteronomists?
*
Well, I suppose that's a start, anyway. Now all I need is to do the reading tomorrow and Friday, sort out the timeline, and add evidence, quotations, and some insightful analysis, and I'm sorted.
Desolation is for Tehenu; Hatti is pacified;
Plundered is the Canaan with every evil;
Carried off is Ashkelon; seized upon is Gezer;
Yanoam is made as that which does not exist;
Israel is laid waste, his seed is not;
Hurru is become a widow for Egypt!
All lands together, they are pacified;
Everyone who was restless, he has been bound.
- from the Merneptah Stele, an Egyptian border monument, c1250 BC, notable for the first mention of Israel in the historical record, where it appears named not as a city or a nation, but as an ethnic group.
Because it is wet and windy outside, I decided not to go into town to college. This means, of course, that I must construct at least the beginnings of my thesis for my essay, The Development of Kingship in Israel and Sumer here at home.
Because I'm a terrible (or very talented, depending on how you want to look at it) procrastinator, I've decided to share my work.
So. The essay is going to have to rely on the compare-and-contrast method. So far I am at bullet-point thinking:
In Sumer:
- rulership the province of the en, steward of the city god.
- as cities grow large enough that they must compete with each other, there is need for a war leader, the lugal
- at first a temporary position, the lugal quickly becomes the most important post in the city.
- Sargon of Akkad conquers many cities and needs a method of justifying his rulership
- which leads us to the first official royal theology, attributed to his daughter, the priestess Enheduanna
- give examples of subsequent uses of similar royal theology
- do we need to include Assyria and its approach to the gods of the conquered?
In Israel:
- stimulus diffusion? (and thanks,
cristalia, for that very handy term)- rulership the province of 'judges' - power localised? temporary?
- rise of war leaders
- Saul as the first (recorded? factcheck time) warleader to try to make his position permanent
- the rebellion of David, (competing warleader)
- the construction of Davidian royal theology
- the secession of Jeroboam in the reign of Rehoboam son of Solomon (division of Israel and Judah)
- differing royal theologies of Israel and Judah
- pos. including the reforms of Josiah and the Deuteronomists?
*
Well, I suppose that's a start, anyway. Now all I need is to do the reading tomorrow and Friday, sort out the timeline, and add evidence, quotations, and some insightful analysis, and I'm sorted.
