Observatório Bíblico

RADNER, K. ; ROBSON, E. (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Cuneiform Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011, 805 p. – ISBN 9780199557301.

The cuneiform script, the writing system of ancient Mesopotamia, was witness to one of the world’s oldest literate cultures. For over three millennia, it was the vehicle of communication from (at its greatest extent) Iran to the Mediterranean, Anatolia to Egypt. The Oxford Handbook of Cuneiform Culture examines the Ancient Middle East through the lens of cuneiform writing. The contributors, a mix of scholars from across the disciplines, explore, define, and to some extent look beyond the boundaries of the written word, using Mesopotamia’s clay tablets and stone inscriptions not just as ‘texts’ but also as material artefacts that offer much additional information about their creators, readers, users and owners.

Este livro examina o Antigo Oriente Médio sob o ângulo da escrita cuneiforme. Porém, os estudiosos que aqui escrevem procuram ir além dos limites da palavra escrita, usando as tabuinhas de argila e as inscrições em pedra da antiga Mesopotâmia não apenas como textos, mas também como artefatos materiais que oferecem muitas informações adicionais sobre seus criadores, leitores, usuários e proprietários.

Karen Radner is Alexander von Humboldt Professor of the Ancient History of the Near and Middle East at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany.

Eleanor Robson is a Professor of Ancient Near Eastern History at the Department of History, University College London, UK.

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Histórias do Antigo Oriente Médio: uma bibliografia

PONGRATZ-LEISTEN, B. Religion and Ideology in Assyria. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2015, 553 p. – ISBN 9781614514824.

The aim of this book is to go back in time and contextualize the development of Neo-Assyrian ideology from its origins in the earliest days of Aššur. Simultaneously, this book seeks to document the enormity of Assyria’s cultural interaction over space and time with “outside groups”. The goal here is to trace Assyrian ideology in its formative stages and to expose the emergence of certain tropes during the early history of Aššur. In other words, my primary interest lies in the development of Assyrian ideological discourse against the backdrop of changing political-historical conditions. Control of a large territorial state required an ideological system that anchored the monarchy in established ideational frameworks and religious traditions. The formulation and promulgation of such an ideology was an act of agency. A further objective of this book, therefore, is to reveal the voice of the ancient scholars and to demonstrate their agency in the shaping of the image of the king in the surviving sources. Narratives of power and ritual served to anchor kingship in the mythical past and were essential strategies for sacralizing kingship. Because ritual and narratives of power were informed by and made use of myth and Weltanschauung, they adapted perpetually to changing political landscapes. The assumption here is that cosmogonies and myths at large not only create their own versions of the world but that they also have a strong impact on the political action of elites and on their ideological discourse.

Beate Pongratz-Leisten is Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University, USA.

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Histórias do Antigo Oriente Médio: uma bibliografia

LIVERANI, M. Assiria: La preistoria dell’imperialismo. Bari: Laterza, 2017, 402 p. – ISBN 9788858126684.

Gli obiettivi di questo lavoro sono pertanto due. Il più ovvio è quello di fornire la mia visione dell’ideologia imperiale assira. L’altro, invece, è di carattere comparativo, e a sua volta ha un duplice intento. Il primo consiste nel trarre dalla comparazione una più completa gamma di idee e di problematiche, di similitudini e divergenze, che giovino a meglio chiarire e meglio articolare il caso assiro. Il secondo intento è di mostrare come lo stesso caso assiro possa contribuire ad una migliore comprensione del fenomeno storico generale – con la peculiarità non trascurabile che esso si pone diacronicamente a monte dei tanti altri imperi successivi. Non c’è alcuna voglia di stabilire ingenui «primati», semmai quello di ricercare le «forme semplici» dell’imperialismo, forme che l’Assiria offre in maniera più diretta ed esplicita delle più complesse e sofisticate ideologie successive (Introduzione. Imperialismo: la materialità e l’ideologia).

Mario Liverani, uno dei maggiori studiosi del Vicino Oriente antico, rivoluziona la storia dell’antica Assiria, mostrando come qui siano emersi per la prima volta alcuni dei tratti caratteristici comuni a tutti gli imperi comparsi nella storia del mondo. Da Roma a Bisanzio, dall’impero britannico all’egemonia USA: il dominio con ogni mezzo disponibile per ricavarne vantaggi, la colpevolizzazione del nemico, l’attribuzione di una valenza universale alla propria missione hanno sempre accompagnato la vita di ogni impero.

This book outlines the basic features of Assyrian imperialism within the framework of the general development of the imperial idea, all the while insisting on noting comparative material. The intent is twofold: (1) to better understand Assyria through comparison with later empires, and (2) to underscore the relevance of the Assyrian model and its influence on later history. Although the first intention profits ancient historians, the second goal is addressed to modern and contemporary historians, who too often ignore (or at least disregard) the long historical background lying behind more recent developments. The world in general, in the present climate of globalization, deserves to be better informed about pre-modern and non-Western trajectories of world history.

Sommario
Introduzione. Imperialismo: la materialità e l’ideologia
1. Dio lo vuole
2. Comunicare con Dio
3. Guerra santa e giusta
4. Esplorare per conquistare
5. La periferia funzionale
6. Collezionismo
7. Esibizione pubblica
8. Marcare il territorio: le stele
9. Le iscrizioni celebrative
10. La titolatura reale
11. La giustificazione difensiva
12. Battaglie e assedi
13. Giuramenti e violazioni
14. Punire e perdonare
15. Distruggere per ricostruire
16. «Exporting Despotism»
17. La città al centro del mondo
18. Le province
19. Da tributari a deportati
20. La rete di comunicazioni
21. Diventare Assiri
22. La prosperità imperiale
23. L’unificazione tecnologica
24. L’unificazione religiosa
25. L’unificazione linguistica
26. L’impero prototipo
27. Traiettorie dell’imperialismo
28. Imperi antichi e moderni
29. Celebrazione e realtà
30. La visione degli altri
Cartine
Immagini
Fonti e bibliografia

Mario Liverani (nato a Roma il 10/01/1939) è professore emerito di Storia del Vicino Oriente antico presso l’Università “La Sapienza” di Roma, Italia.

Recomendo. E muito. O livro acabou de ser publicado em italiano e em inglês. Cf. também aqui.

Para saber onde consultar as fontes assírias usadas por Mario Liverani, clique aqui. Para ver a bibliografia citada por Mario Liverani, clique aqui.

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Histórias do Antigo Oriente Médio: uma bibliografia

BLACK, J. ; GREEN, A. Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia. Illustrations by Tessa Rickards. Austin: University of Texas Press, [1992] 2016, 192 p. – ISBN 9780292707948.

Este livro oferece um guia introdutório às crenças e costumes dos antigos habitantes da Mesopotâmia, conforme revelado em sua arte e seus escritos entre cerca de 3.000 a.C. e o advento da era cristã. Deuses, deusas, demônios, monstros, magia, mitos, simbolismo religioso, ritual e o mundo espiritual são todos discutidos em entradas alfabéticas que variam de relatos curtos a ensaios extensos. Os nomes são fornecidos nas formas suméria e acadiana, e todas as entradas são totalmente referenciadas. Uma introdução útil fornece informações históricas e geográficas e descreve as fontes de nosso conhecimento sobre a religião, mitologia e magia do “berço da civilização”.

This book offers an introductory guide to the beliefs and customs of the ancient Mesopotamians, as revealed in their art and their writings between about 3000 B.C. and the advent of the Christian era. Gods, goddesses, demons, monsters, magic, myths, religious symbolism, ritual, and the spiritual world are all discussed in alphabetical entries ranging from short accounts to extended essays. Names are given in both their Sumerian and Akkadian forms, and all entries are fully cross-referenced. A useful introduction provides historical and geographical background and describes the sources of our knowledge about the religion, mythology and magic of “the cradle of civilization”.

Jeremy Allen Black (1951 – 2004) was a leading Assyriologist, master of Sumerian literature, and Oxford University Lecturer.

Anthony Green (1956-2012) was a field archaeologist and expert in Ancient Near Eastern religious iconography. He has conducted extensive archaeological fieldwork in Syria and Iraq and writes on ancient Mesopotamian art and archaeology.

Tessa Rickards is a freelance archaeological illustrator specializing in ancient Mesopotamia. She has worked as an illustrator on numerous international excavations in the Middle East.

PODANY, A. H. The Ancient Near East: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014, 148 p. – ISBN 9780195377996.

In this slim volume Amanda H. Podany ambitiously covers roughly three thousand years of history in the Ancient Near East, starting with the appearance of cuneiform writing around 3600 B.C. and continuing forward to the fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire to the Achaemenid Iranian Empire in 539 B.C. For The Ancient Near East Podany uses a chronological presentation, as opposed to a thematic presentation. After an introductory chapter, Archaeology and Environment, each of the following chapters looks a specific chronological period in Near Eastern History. An abbreviated chronology of the main periods, references, and a short but well organized selection of suggestions for further reading round out the book. Amanda H. Podany is Professor and Chair of History at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, USA.

Em espanhol:

PODANY, A. H. El antiguo Oriente Próximo: Una breve introducción. Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 2016, 216 p. – ISBN 9788491042754.

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Histórias do Antigo Oriente Médio: uma bibliografia