Mesopotamia

This thesis examines genres of history and the formation of historical discourses in ancient Israel, Mesopotamia, and Greece. After discussing the didactic nature of historical narratives, the formation of historical narratives, and genre negotiations in the ancient Near East an…

A study of textile production in third millennium northern Mesopotamia is important for understanding the development of the region, which underwent monumental changes in settlement and organization during this period. The purpose of this thesis is to provide a methodological ba…

Ben Sira (ca. 245–175 B.C.E.) was a Jerusalem scribe, among whose functions was the instruction of young men. Near the end of his life Ben Sira collected his notes and reflections into a long Hebrew poem, that came to be known as the Wisdom of Ben Sira (the Apocryphal/Deuterocan…

The environment and landscape of southern Mesopotamia provide the crucial context in which the first urban centers arose. It has long been held that "complex civilized societies depended upon a subsistence base that is sufficiently intensive and reliable to permit sedentary, nuc…

The nature of royal inscriptions is such that it can be extremely difficult to judge the sincerity behind the rhetoric. These texts are replete with statements of self aggrandizement, hyperbole, and exaggeration. Among the many claims within the inscriptions is that the kings we…

This dissertation addresses the problem of the development of cities in Upper Mesopotamia in the third millennium B.C.E. I investigate these cities through their settlement patterns and urban plans. I argue that these cities were not planned or organic, but exhibited degrees of …

This dissertation addresses the formative power of myth from the standpoint of political philosophy. Although a work in political theory, its approach is empirically oriented. Taking up three distinct kinds of myth arising in three different socio-historical contexts, the disser…

This study is an analysis of the creation of mankind in Gen 2:5-3:24 in light of the Mesopotamian "Washing of the Mouth" (mis pî ) and the Opening of the Mouth (pit pî ) and the Egyptian "Opening of the Mouth" (wpt-r ) rituals for the creation of a divine image. The primary goal…

This dissertation examines the organization and administration of the production of food in Mesopotamia during the Ur III period, ca. 2100-2000 B.C.E. In the first chapter, I present a brief history of the period, and argue that the political events---in particular, the Ur III s…

Explanations of the rise of the genre apocalypse in Hellenistic Judaism have typically traced literary influences but left questions about the mechanisms by which the genre itself came about. To address these questions, this dissertation focuses new methodological and philologic…

In the present study, an analysis of the ruling family of Ur III Umma is used to answer questions about patterns of succession and the extent of royal influence on provincial customs as well an attempt to broaden the understanding of the private sphere in opposition to the nonpr…

Focusing primarily on the late sixth-century Cause of the Foundation of the Schools , this dissertation provides an intellectual and institutional history of the School of Nisibis, the major intellectual center of the Church of the East in the sixth and early seventh centuries a…