When Gods Speak to Men: Divine Speech According to Textual Sources in the Ancient Mediterranean Basin (Orbis Biblicus Et Orientalis) 9042941324, 9789042941328

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Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis

289

Stéphanie Anthonioz / Alice Mouton /  Daniel Petit (eds)

When Gods Speak to Men Divine Speech according to Textual Sources in the Ancient Mediterranean Basin

PEETERS

WHEN GODS SPEAK TO MEN

ORBIS BIBLICUS ET ORIENTALIS Founded by Othmar Keel Editorial Board: Susanne Bickel, Catherine Mittermayer, Mirko Novák, Thomas C. Römer and Christoph Uehlinger Published on behalf of the Swiss Society for Ancient Near Eastern Studies and the Bible+Orient Foundation in cooperation with the Institute of Egyptology, University of Basel, the Institute of Archaeological Sciences, Near Eastern Archaeology section, University of Bern, the Departement of Biblical Studies, University of Fribourg, the Institut romand des sciences bibliques, University of Lausanne, and the Department of Religious Studies, University of Zurich Editors Stéphanie Anthonioz is a professor of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament studies at the Faculty of Theology, Catholic University of Lille. Qualified to supervise and direct research, she is a member of the research unit « Mondes sémitiques » (UMR 8167 Orient et Méditerranée) and teaches biblical Hebrew at the École normale supérieure, Paris. She has published on religious representations in antiquity in historical and comparative perspective. Alice Mouton is a research director for Hittite studies at the CNRS. She teaches Hittite language at the École des Langues et Civilisations de l’Orient Ancien, Catholic Institute of Paris, and presently serves as a visiting lecturer in religious studies at the École Pratique des Hautes Études. Her research explores religious beliefs and practices of Hittite Anatolia. Daniel Petit is a professor of Indo-Europan linguistics at the École normale supérieure, Paris, since 2003, and qualified to direct research on Baltic and Indo-european Linguistics at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, 4th section, since 2011.

Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis

When Gods Speak to Men Divine Speech according to Textual Sources in the Ancient Mediterranean Basin

edited by Stéphanie Anthonioz, Alice Mouton, Daniel Petit

Peeters Leuven - Paris - Bristol, CT 2019

289

Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis publishes monographs, multi-author volumes and conference proceedings in the fields of Biblical Studies (Hebrew Bible and Septuagint), Ancient Near Eastern Studies and Egyptology broadly understood (including archaeology, history, ­iconography and religion). The editorial board and affiliated institutions reflect the series’ high academic standards and interdisciplinary outlook. Manuscripts may be submitted via a member of the editorial board. They are examined by the board and subject to further peer review by internationally recognized scholars at the board’s discretion. The series is committed to worldwide distribution, notably through open access publication (Gold or Green). Past volumes are archived at the digital repository of the University of Zurich (www.zora.uzh.ch). Senior editor: [email protected]

The open access publication of this book has been facilitated by the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN 978-90-429-4132-8 eISBN 978-90-429-4133-5 D/2019/0602/117 © 2019, Peeters, Bondgenotenlaan 153, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage or retrieval devices or systems, without the prior written permission from the publisher, except the quotation of brief passages for review purposes.

CONTENTS

Preface and Acknowledgments ................................................................ Abbreviations ...........................................................................................

VII IX

Stéphanie Anthonioz, Alice Mouton, Daniel Petit When Gods Speak to Men: Divine Speech according to Textual Sources in the Ancient Mediterranean Basin. Introduction ...................................

1

Dominique Lefèvre When Egyptian Gods Speak: Divine Discourse in Context .....................

9

Alice Mouton Divine Speech in Hittite Dreams .............................................................

21

Amir Gilan “Now See How the Mighty Storm-God My Lord is Running Before Me:” Revelation of Divine Power in Hittite Historiography ...................

33

Martti Nissinen Oracles as Artefacts: The Material Aspect of Prophecy ..........................

49

Stéphanie Anthonioz Biblical Prophecy: Writing and Media Associated ..................................

65

Claire Le Feuvre Language of Gods, Pythian Apollo and Plato’s Cratylus .........................

81

Manfred Lesgourgues Gods’ Secretaries: On Preserving Oracles in the Greek Oracular Shrines during Hellenistic and Roman Times .......................................................

105

Romain Loriol Divine Signs in Ancient Rome—Or How to Put the Voice of the Gods into Words ................................................................................................

121

Indexes Modern Authors ....................................................................................... Ancient Authors ....................................................................................... Ancient Sources ....................................................................................... Biblical Texts ...........................................................................................

131 134 134 135

Contributors .............................................................................................

137

PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

As with all scientific endeavours, this volume experienced a long germination period starting with a seminar first held in Paris during the academic years 2015 and 2016 up to a final symposium organized in Lille, in “La maison des chercheurs” on the 14th and 15th of June 2018. The aim of the seminar was to discuss the ways divine speech is articulated in ancient sources, this articulation encompassing the modalities of language and script, the material medium used to convey the message, and the literary but also socio-historical contexts. The subject was found suggestive enough to organize an international symposium. It was the aim of this symposium to bring together specialists from different fields of the ancient Near East and the Mediterranean basin, history, religion, epigraphy, linguistics, to analyse divine speech as it is articulated and mediated and to witness to the status of divine speech in special relation to the literary and material forms it takes and eventually the changes that could be pointed to over the centuries. Though some aspects of the research had already been the object of various studies, the question of the relation between language, genre, script and medium in preserving divine speech revealed itself innovative. In other words, what is the connection between divine speech and the materiality of its preservation, whether linguistic, literary or concrete? And does this connection modify the nature of divine speech? The realization of the final symposium was made possible thanks to the collaboration of researchers Stéphanie Anthonioz, Alice Mouton and Daniel Petit and their institutions, the Catholic University of Lille with its “Fonds fédératifs pour la recherche,” the CNRS with the help of the team “Mondes sémitiques” (UMR 8167 “Orient et Méditerranée”), the University of the Sorbonne with the “École doctorale ‘Mondes anciens et médiévaux’” and the “Fonds d’intervention pour la recherche” (FIR), and finally Labex TransferS from the École Normale Supérieure.

ABBREVIATIONS

AIL ANEM ANRW AOAT ARM BETL BJRL BIFAO BiOr BZAW CBET CHANE CHD CID 2

CTH DMOA ERC FD III, 2

FRLANT GMTR HdO HED HEG HeBAI HUCA IFAO IG IX,2

JBL JSJSup JRA JRS

Ancient Israel and Its Literature Ancient Near East Monographs Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt Alter Orient und Altes Testament Archives royales de Mari Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium Bulletin of the John Rylands Library Le Bulletin de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale Bibliotheca Orientalis Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft Contributions to Biblical Exegesis & Theology Culture and History of the Ancient Near East The Hittite Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago Corpus des inscriptions de Delphes. Tome II, Les comptes du quatrième et du troisième siècle, J. BOUSQUET, Paris: De Boccard, 1989 Catalogue des Textes Hittites Documenta et monumenta Orientis antiqui Éditions Recherche sur les Civilisations Fouilles de Delphes. Tome III, Épigraphie. Deuxième fascicule, avec planches. Inscriptions du trésor des Athéniens, G. COLIN, Paris: Fontemoing & Cie, 1909 Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Alten und Neuen Testaments Guides to the Mesopotamian Textual Record Handbuch der Orientalistik Hittite Etymological Dictionary, J. PUHVEL, Berlin-New York: Mouton (Trends in Linguistics 1–), 1984– Hethitisches Etymologisches Glossar Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel Hebrew Union College Annual Institut français d’archéologie orientale Inscriptiones Graecae. Volumen IX, Inscriptiones Graeciae septentrionalis: voluminibus VII et VIII non comprehensae. Pars secunda, Inscriptiones Thessaliae ed. O. KERN, Berlin: G. Reimerum, 1908 Journal of Biblical Literature Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism Journal of Roman Archaeology Journal of Roman Studies

X KBo KUB LAPO LSG LHBOTS OBO PUF RINAP SAA SAAS SANER SBL SEG SJSJ STJD Syll.3 TSAJ TTKY TUGAL VTSup ZAH ZAW ZPE

ABBREVIATIONS

Keilschrifttexte aus Boghazköi Keilschrifturkunden aus Boghazköi Littératures anciennes du Proche-Orient Lois sacrées des cités grecques, F. SOKOLOWSKI, Paris: De Boccard, 1969 The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis Presses Universitaires de France Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period State Archives of Assyria State Archives of Assyria Studies Studies in Ancient Near Eastern Records Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, Amsterdam: Gieben, 1923– Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah Sylloge inscriptionum graecarum, W. DITTENBERGER, Leipzig: S. Hirzelium, 1915–1921 Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 7UN7DULK.XUXPX