{"title":"Sickness and Healing","authors":"Deborah W. Rooke","doi":"10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190222116.013.19","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190222116.013.19","url":null,"abstract":"Following some methodological remarks the chapter briefly reviews the vocabulary of sickness used in the biblical Hebrew text. It then examines instances of sickness and healing that are described in the Hebrew Bible, in order to establish how sickness is understood and how ritual might therefore relate to it. Aspects considered include the relationship between sickness and sin; whether and how YHWH is involved in causing sickness; epidemics versus individual cases of sickness; and instances of ritual action, broadly understood, that are used to address sickness-related issues. Such instances of ritual action include consulting a functionary such as a priest or prophet, and performing ritual laments and prayers either at home or at a shrine. Two instances of concerns relating to childbearing are also considered, both of which are pictured in the context of ritual action at a shrine.","PeriodicalId":259611,"journal":{"name":"The Oxford Handbook of Ritual and Worship in the Hebrew Bible","volume":"15 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122182806","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Social and Cultural Anthropology","authors":"William K. Gilders","doi":"10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190222116.013.8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190222116.013.8","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter looks at the interpretation of ritual in the Hebrew Bible from the perspective of anthropology, which has had a close symbiotic relationship with biblical studies since the emergence of the comparative study of human culture in the 19th century. Beginning in the 1960s, a new wave of anthropological interest in biblical ritual was catalyzed especially by the work of Mary Douglas. Biblical scholars have drawn on anthropologists’ theories of ritual. The dominant approach to ritual in both anthropology and biblical studies identifies it as symbolic, representational activity. This perspective has been challenged by interpreters who highlight the absence of indigenous symbolic interpretation of ritual in a number of societies and urge caution in constructing elaborate symbolic systems for biblical ritual. Study of biblical ritual involves the ethnography of ancient Israelite texts about ritual activity.","PeriodicalId":259611,"journal":{"name":"The Oxford Handbook of Ritual and Worship in the Hebrew Bible","volume":"49 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131441713","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Islamic Ritual","authors":"R. Gauvain","doi":"10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190222116.013.23","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190222116.013.23","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter begins by introducing readers to the five “pillars of Islam” (arkan al-Islam), as well as to other essential aspects of Islamic ritual (section 1). By so doing, it recognizes the enduring power of these rituals, in particular, to provide all Muslims—despite their differences in historical, socio-cultural and political realities—with a shared sense of religious identity. The following section (2) nuances this presentation of Islamic ritual as intrinsically a cohesive force, which necessarily relies heavily on canonical Sunni legal sources and authorities, by exploring five alternative strategies to ritual: Shi’i, esoteric, folk, rationalist, and reformist. Thereafter, it briefly discusses the potential of Islamic ritual in a variety of sources and contexts to both reflect and generate social hierarchies (section 3). It concludes by reflecting on Western scholarly approaches to Islamic ritual and by suggesting future directions for its study (section 4).","PeriodicalId":259611,"journal":{"name":"The Oxford Handbook of Ritual and Worship in the Hebrew Bible","volume":"96 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122374792","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Syria-Palestine","authors":"A. Curtis","doi":"10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190222116.013.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190222116.013.3","url":null,"abstract":"Knowledge of the religion of ancient Syria has increased significantly in recent years thanks to key archaeological discoveries. Particularly important have been those from Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit), which may offer the best window available for an understanding of Canaanite religious beliefs and practices. Excavations have revealed structures of religious significance, such as temples, sanctuaries, and tombs, as well as numerous texts. Of special interest are those mythological texts which tell the exploits of Baal, El, and the other great gods. There are also legends, sacrifice lists, pantheon lists, and prescriptions for various rituals. Some of these, notably the legends of Keret, and of Danel and his son Aqhat, provide evidence for beliefs about the religious status and significance of the king. This material enables a more considered understanding of ideas and practices that may have impacted upon Israelite religion.","PeriodicalId":259611,"journal":{"name":"The Oxford Handbook of Ritual and Worship in the Hebrew Bible","volume":"12 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115195191","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Hittites Serve Their Gods","authors":"G. Beckman","doi":"10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190222116.013.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190222116.013.2","url":null,"abstract":"In the universe of the Hittites, humans had but a single duty—to serve their deities by providing them with sustenance, praise, and entertainment. This responsibility was organized by the king (T/Labarna), who functioned as both the overseer of his subjects and their representative before their divine masters. On the one hand, in return for their loyal support, the men and women of Hatti received from their gods the boons of agricultural and pastoral plenty, victory in battle, and long years and good health. On the other hand, negligence in regard to the pantheon could result in chastisement in the form of drought, plague, barrenness, military defeat, etc. The cuneiform archives recovered from the Hittite capital and increasingly from provincial cities were compiled precisely to facilitate the supervision by the monarch and his entourage of the performance of the duties of the human community. Most numerous among these texts are programs for the ceremonies of the regular state cult, whose contents provide a detailed picture of the attention required by and accorded to the gods and goddesses of the Hittites.","PeriodicalId":259611,"journal":{"name":"The Oxford Handbook of Ritual and Worship in the Hebrew Bible","volume":"49 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124866001","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"History of Religion","authors":"L. Grabbe","doi":"10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190222116.013.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190222116.013.4","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter discusses (1) the general discipline of the History of Religions; then, in line with the focus of the volume as a whole, (2) it moves to developments in the study of the History of Ancient Israel; finally, (3) it gives a short overview of the History of Ancient Israelite Religion. The History of Religions movement is traced through the 19th and 20th centuries, especially as it influenced study on the History of Ancient Israelite Religion. The changing methods and results of the History of Israelite Religion in different periods of study are noted, culminating in the general approach of the present generation. Some of the main writers, works, and influences are mentioned and their contributions (whether positive or negative) are briefly summarized. The contribution of the social sciences is brought in.","PeriodicalId":259611,"journal":{"name":"The Oxford Handbook of Ritual and Worship in the Hebrew Bible","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125359022","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rabbinic Judaism","authors":"S. Reif","doi":"10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190222116.013.26","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190222116.013.26","url":null,"abstract":"In the second Temple period, Jewish ritual and worship, following the example of the Hebrew Bible, centered on the cult of the Jerusalem Temple and on the more democratic institution of individual prayer, but the two elements had drawn closer to each other by the axial age. In their campaign to establish formal communal prayer as a theological priority, leading rabbis of the first two centuries were inspired not only by those two precedents but also by biblical formulas, the example set at Qumran, the notion of the berakhah, and by the development of the synagogue, which added prayer to its earlier interest in study, social activity, and the hosting of visitors. The shema’, ‘amidah, and birkat ha-mazon, as well as qiddush, havdalah, hallel, and the Passover Haggadah, were early components of rabbinic liturgy, and these gradually moved from the domestic and individual contexts to the synagogue and community. Towards the end of the talmudic period, liturgical poetry and mysticism, especially from the Jewish homeland, were incorporated into standard rabbinic prayers, but not until the ninth and tenth centuries did rabbinic leaders in Babylonia succeed in transforming the oral prayers into the written prayer-book. Although use was limited of the Hebrew Bible and lists of sacrifices from the earliest rabbinic liturgy, such scriptural readings acquired a more important, structured role in the late talmudic, post-talmudic, and early medieval periods. Although the temple service and priesthood figured in the liturgical poems, they had lost much of their status as spiritual intermediaries.","PeriodicalId":259611,"journal":{"name":"The Oxford Handbook of Ritual and Worship in the Hebrew Bible","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130599224","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Death and Afterlife","authors":"B. B. Schmidt","doi":"10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190222116.013.20","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190222116.013.20","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter surveys what is known about ancient Israel’s beliefs and practices relating to the end of life, the experience of death, and one’s transformation into the life thereafter. The results were gleaned from the integration of material cultural data, epigraphic sources, and the critical assessment of biblical texts. Ancient Israelites placed significant emphasis on living the good life and experiencing the good death. In addition to the conventional mourning and burial rites performed on behalf of the deceased, both medium-range and long-term rituals were also observed. These comprised such rites as the care and feeding of the dead, who apparently possessed a post-mortem sentience and also a ghostly existence in the netherworld (see the references in 1 Sam 28 to the ʾôb “ghost” and ʾereṣ “earth”—a synonym of Sheol). These rites also included the commemoration of the dead in which the legacy and exemplary lives the dead had formerly led were ritually remembered, recalled, and passed forward. As such, these commemorative rituals also constituted a form of immortality of the dead; one that was perpetuated cross-generationally in the minds of family and community survivors.","PeriodicalId":259611,"journal":{"name":"The Oxford Handbook of Ritual and Worship in the Hebrew Bible","volume":"122 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132185851","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mesopotamian Religion","authors":"T. Abusch","doi":"10.1163/9789004435186_002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004435186_002","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter presents the background situation that gave rise to Mesopotamian religious concepts, as well as the forms of the gods and their service in the classical theology of Mesopotamia. The chapter examines both the temple cult, that is, the public dimension of the religion, and the cult of the individual. It studies several supernatural beings, some active in the state pantheon, others in the sphere of family life, and discusses several literary works of religious significance. The chapter concludes its reflections on Mesopotamian religion with a short piece about the Epic of Gilgamesh, a profound Mesopotamian reflection on the meaning of life and death.","PeriodicalId":259611,"journal":{"name":"The Oxford Handbook of Ritual and Worship in the Hebrew Bible","volume":"47 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129248249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}