Cover image for Reconsidering the Concept of Revolutionary Monotheism Edited by Beate Pongratz-Leisten

Reconsidering the Concept of Revolutionary Monotheism

Edited by Beate Pongratz-Leisten

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$67.95 | Hardcover Edition
ISBN: 978-1-57506-199-3

384 pages
6" × 9"
2011

Reconsidering the Concept of Revolutionary Monotheism

Edited by Beate Pongratz-Leisten

In February, 2007, a conference entitled “Reconsidering the Concept of ‘Revolutionary Monotheism’” was convened on the campus of Princeton University. The meeting was unique in that it brought together scholars who were engaged in various disciplines of research, and though all were involved in the geographical area of the ancient Near East, everyone brought a different expertise to the question of how to approach the concept of the divine. What followed, in the course of two days, was an intense debate regarding the issue stated in the title of the conference; the dialogue was productive, and the papers—which were reworked in the wake of the conference and in accord with the interaction among the participants—are useful perspectives on the vexing topic of monotheism and the divine.

 

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In February, 2007, a conference entitled “Reconsidering the Concept of ‘Revolutionary Monotheism’” was convened on the campus of Princeton University. The meeting was unique in that it brought together scholars who were engaged in various disciplines of research, and though all were involved in the geographical area of the ancient Near East, everyone brought a different expertise to the question of how to approach the concept of the divine. What followed, in the course of two days, was an intense debate regarding the issue stated in the title of the conference; the dialogue was productive, and the papers—which were reworked in the wake of the conference and in accord with the interaction among the participants—are useful perspectives on the vexing topic of monotheism and the divine.

The papers in the this volume are presented by John Baines (gods in New Kingdom/Third Intermediate period Egypt), Gonzalo Rubio (Mesopotamian pantheon), Francesca Rochberg (polytheistic cosmogony in Mesopotamia), Beate Pongratz-Leisten (astralization of gods in Mesopotamia), Peter Machinist (dying gods and cosmic restructuring), Mark S. Smith (cross-cultural recognition of divinity in Israel), Konrad Schmid (monotheism in the Priestly texts), John Collins (king and messiah as Son of God), and P. O. Skjærvø¸ (Zarathustra and monotheism).

Abbreviations

A New Agenda for the Study of the Rise of Monotheism Beate Pongratz-Leisten

Presenting and Discussing Deities in New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period Egypt John Baines

Gods and Scholars: Mapping the Pantheon in Early Mesopotamia Gonzalo Rubio

The Heavens and the Gods in Ancient Mesopotamia: The View from a Polytheistic Cosmology Francesca Rochberg

Divine Agency and Astralization of the Gods in Ancient Mesopotamia Beate Pongratz-Leisten

How Gods Die, Biblically and Otherwise: A Problem of Cosmic Restructuring Peter Machinist

God in Translation: Cross-Cultural Recognition of Divinity in Ancient Israel Mark S. Smith

The Quest for “God”: Monotheistic Arguments in the Priestly Texts of the Hebrew Bible Konrad Schmid

King and Messiah as Son of God John J. Collins

Zarathustra: A Revolutionary Monotheist? Prods Oktor Skjærvø

Indexes

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