Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
Loading next page...
/lp/brill/the-mechanics-of-retribution-in-hittite-mesopotamian-and-ancient-D8rsv6gjFs
References
References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.
- Publisher
- Brill
- Copyright
- © 2010 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
- ISSN
- 1569-2116
- eISSN
- 1569-2124
- DOI
- 10.1163/156921210X538089
- Publisher site
- See Article on Publisher Site
Abstract
<jats:sec><jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>This paper reevaluates the anthropological theory, still common in Near Eastern studies, that the belief in gods represents a later evolutionary stage which emerged from the more primitive notion of impersonal forces and taboos. Against this conventional view, an analysis of scribal and literary conventions used in Mesopotamian, Hittite and Israelite texts to describe oath-curses and bloodguilt reveals a growing tendency to depict divine retribution as a mechanical or automatic process. In addition to the importance of this study for the anthropological study of religion, it deals with broader questions pertaining to the dependency of cultural explanatory schemes on linguistic and literary conventions.</jats:p> </jats:sec>
Journal
Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions – Brill
Published: Jan 1, 2010
Keywords: curses; oaths; divine agency; retribution; bloodguilt; taboo