A âCommunity of Peoplesâ: Studies on Society and Politics in the Bible and Ancient Near East in Honor of Daniel E. Fleming draws together a diverse community of scholars to honor the career of Daniel E. Fleming as a historian of the Bible and ancient Near East.
Together, these scholars participate in a dynamic historical enterprise, each one positioning themself along a Middle Eastern spatial-temporal continuum stretching from the Old Babylonian to the Persian periods. Each contributor attempts to touch a sliver of ancient history, whether a particular person or community, a text or visual image or scribal process. They do so through a diversity of methods and disciplines, which together reflect the possibilities and promises for history writing.
The Harvard Semitic Studies series publishes volumes from the Harvard Semitic Museum. Other series offered by Brill that publish volumes from the Museum include Studies in the Archaeology and History of the Levant and Harvard Semitic Monographs, https://semiticmuseum.fas.harvard.edu/publications.
Mahri Leonard-Fleckman, Ph.D. (2014), New York University, is Assistant Professor at the College of the Holy Cross. Her numerous publications include The House of David: Between Political Formation and Literary Revision (2016).
Lauren A.S. Monroe, Ph.D. (2004), New York University, is Professor of Hebrew Bible at Cornell University. In addition to her book, Josiahâs Reform and the Dynamics of Defilement (2011) she has two monographs in progress and has published numerous articles.
Michael J. Stahl, Ph.D. (2018), New York University, is Lecturer in Hebrew Bible and Early Judaism at NYU. Among his various publications, Dr. Stahl is most recently the author of the monograph, The âGod of Israelâ in History and Tradition (2021).
Dylan R. Johnson, Ph.D. (2018) is a postdoctoral researcher at the Theological Faculty of the University of Zurich. He is the author of numerous articles and one monograph, Sovereign Authority and the Elaboration of Law in the Bible and the Ancient Near East (2020).
Abbreviations
1 Introduction: âA Community of Peoplesâ (Gen 28:3)
âMahri Leonard-Fleckman, Lauren A.S. Monroe, and Michael J. Stahl
6 The Southwest of the Near East According to Mari: The Example of Qaá¹na
âJean-Marie Durand
7 tapariya- and tapariyalli-: Local Leaders and Local Agency in the Hittite Period and Its Aftermath
âN. İlgi Gerçek and Lorenzo dâAlfonso
8 A Man of Both Aššur and KaneÅ¡: The Case of the Merchant Ḫabdu-mÄlik
âNancy Highcock
9 City Dwellers and Backcountry Folk: Ritual Interactions between Mobile Peoples and Urban Centers in Late Bronze Age Syria
âDylan R. Johnson
10 A Head of Ḫammurabi? Thoughts on the Legacies of Kings and the Goals of Royal Representations
âElizabeth Knott
11 La conclusion des alliances diplomatiques
âBertrand Lafont
12 Kings, Peoples and Their Gods: Bar Rakibâs Political Portrayal of Divinity
âTheodore J. Lewis
13 Teaching with a Dose of Humor in the Mesopotamian Unica
âSara J. Milstein
14 The Sociomorphic Structure of the Polytheistic Pantheon in Mesopotamia and Its Meaning for Divine Agency and Mentalization
âBeate Pongratz-Leisten
15 Unpopulated and Under-politicized: Reconsidering Exterior Spaces in the Practice of Politics in Northern Mesopotamia
âAnne Porter
16 From Babylon to Jerusalem: Water Ordeals in the Ancient World
âJack Sasson
17 âPeopleâ between Liturgical Experience and Political Imagination: Preliminary Observations on Ê¿Äm in the Psalms
âMark S. Smith
18 Pregnant with Meaning: The Politics of Gender Violence in the Mesha Steleâs ḤÄrem-List (KAI 181:16â17)
âMichael J. Stahl
Index
All interested in society, politics, and the history of the ancient Near East. Studies engage texts such as the Hebrew Bible, and material culture from the Old Babylonian to the Persian periods.